You have to see this video. It’s beyond cute!
I used to take two buses to get to work. I’d grab one about a 2 minute walk from my house and then another in Golders Green. It wasn’t a bad way to go and I got into work in about 30 minutes or so. But it also meant that I had to go and wait outside in the cold not just once, but twice.
Before we moved to our house, only a ten minute walk from our old flat, I used to take different buses to work. And it seemed to take ages at times. But I also left a lot later then. So I decided to walk to the other side of our development (about 3 or 4 minute walk) and take a bus from there. I have two choices…one that goes all the way to where I work and so is very convenient. And if, like the other day, there is an insane amount of traffic, thus slowing down my trip, I can get off and take the tube. The other bus goes directly to a tube, and so I have to get out, walk a bit and get on the tube. I prefer the first bus and being able to have 30 minutes of uninterupted book reading or lesson planning time, but I like having the options.
Today I took the second bus as it was cold and a bit snowy/rainy. I had to make a guy move his bag which was on a seat I wanted to get into. I’m sure he wasn’t so happy about it, but I didn’t care. You do what you gotta do to get a good seat on the bus. It was a quick ride to the tube station adn luckily a train came almost immediately.
One thing I notice about the people riding the tube at this time in the morning is that most of them are in jeans. I guess many are either blue collar workers, work in shops or have much more casual jobs than I do (I’m so jealous!). One woman was clearly NOT blue collar. And she definitely had a love of purple. On her back was a lovely lilac wool coat with a funnel collar. Around her neck wound tightly was a pale purple and white knit scarf. On her lap she had a royal purple Mulberry purse on which she leaned a crossword puzzle she was doing in with a purple pen.
It’s always interesting riding both the bus and tube. Most of the time I’m in my own little world, but when I look up and pay attention, I always am entertained. It makes the beginning and end of my working day much better.
Last night, I went with my friend, Mariam, to see Waiting for Godot. It is a unique and unusual play which is up for interpretation.
Two characters, seen as tramps, are waiting for someone, Godot. They don’t really know him, but they know that they must wait for him during the day next to a tree. Why they wait we are uncertain. Why they don’t seem to remember much of their wait, is also uncertain. And Godot never appears to be arriving. Only one character seems to realize that the days are passing. The others don’t know that they have been here before.
You can definitely put your own meaning onto the play. There were religious, metaphorical and philosophical references throughout the play. I left feeling that it had an existential meaning…who are we, what are we here for? The repetition of thought, the feelings of being in a dream and questioning your reality all brought forth to mind what I learned in my college philosophy course. It’s definitely not a play for someone who needs direction or a storyline, but is thought and discussion provoking. I wish the play hadn’t gone on so late (for us teachers) as I would have liked to have gotten a drink afterwards and talked more about it.
Mariam and I were particularly interested in this show because of Ian McKellen being in it. I must say that he did a super job at being the dim witted old tramp. He has an amazing use of his voice to portray strength, sadness and weakness. He is very expressive, which you can see in some of his movies (loved him in Lord of the Rings).
Despite our not so hot seats, we still felt great about the experience (especially as our tickets cost £10). And we look forward to future outtings!
You might know by looking at my blog that I am into photography. Not driven or anything but I really enjoy it when I have the time and energy. What you might not know is that I love doing art work in general and have taken a few classes. The reason it means quite a bit to me is that my one grandmother was an artist. She encouraged me to explore art as a child and while I don’t have a ton of talent, I still enjoy getting stuck in and think I’ve done a few decent pieces of work.
Here is one piece that I did along with a more detailed view.
Today my husband has his birthday. He is 3 years and 11 months younger than I am. But his parents don’t know that. Yes, this is one of our little secrets that Roy felt he had to put out there to make our relationship be less horrible for them. Obviously, we now all get along, but it was precarious for a good long time. So I always laugh as we celebrate our birthdays…it’s a darn good thing that I look younger than my age.
I’m going to be making individual steak and ale pies for his birthday meal along with a devil food cake with buttercream frosting. He’s not that hard to please. 
And I’m not putting what I got him in case he reads my blog…but I know he’s going to LOVE the three items he’s receiving. Love.
Happy Birthday my hubby bybby!
I did it. I fell down on my resolve. My resolve to never, ever, ever let my husband buy a deep fat fryer. I said in a weak moment after watching a program where a chef used one and talked about how there was less fat entering the food at these high temps than pan frying…and it made a lot less mess. And so I said, fine, you can buy one. It’s been a struggle for years as Roy loved his old deep fat fryer which died right before we met and has pleaded for one since.
With utter glee, after I said, “okay”, Roy began to do a lot of research. He declared that he was NOT getting the one that only used a tablespoon of oil as we couldn’t do fish in it. We had to get one with a big rectangular basket that would fit what we’d eat. He found two that he thought would work and went shopping. It took him a while, but he came home with a huge monstrocity, which was luckily black and silver so went with our kitchen. Unfortunately it didn’t work. We went through the whole stage of making a scotch egg to try out and the machine didn’t even turn on. Bother. So back to the store it went and a replacement eventually came on in. Here’s the one that we have:
Luckily we don’t eat a lot of fried food, but when we do it, it will be nice not to have a mess all over the kitchen (cleaning grease off of our hob is a pain). I just hope that Roy doesn’t think that now we’re going to start eating a lot more chips or other fried items. At least I’m not gonna!
Found on a post on the blog, Pillar Box Post, the coolest cookie company and the best cookies that you could send to a friend:
These are made by the company Biscuiteers…and they have so many more to check out. Wouldn’t the above be a great gift for someone who has just moved to London or who are moving from London? There are cookies for every theme…definitely check the site out!
It started before Christmas. A bit of coughing here and there. Sneezing. But nothing much more than that. It was irritating at the most. I was willing the cold to not arrive.
Two weeks ago. I felt kinda bad. I was coughing a lot more. But I still didn’t get very sick. I didn’t play hockey and was able to sleep a lot on the weekend, and that made me feel a lot better. Yay! I had beaten it. And on top of this, I was eating better and not drinking any longer, plus I was weight lifting. Getting healthy.
Wednesday of last week. I don’t feel so hot. Glad that training has been cancelled. Decide to sleep in a bit on Thursday and just go in for 1/2 a day. I feel horrible, get a massive headache by the end. But no choice…had to go into work on Friday as I was hosting a stress reduction day (yes, fully ironic that I was stressing out my body on a stress reduction day). I make it though the day but keep having to leave the room due to hacking coughs. It’s getting worse. I sleep upstairs as I don’t want my coughs to keep up the hubby. Feel even worse on Saturday, but not too bad. Then Sunday night comes. And it’s in full throttle. I start off in the bedroom. I begin to cough uncontrollably. I try putting my head up on three pillows in hopes that it’s just nasal drip. No joy. Then I cough so much I actually throw up. That’s when I knew I had to get out of the bedroom. Roy had to go to work. Can’t sleep next door as it’s too loud. Upstairs is okay, but I’d have to re-arrange the furniture again to open up the futon. So, I have to sleep down in the living room (sorry Barney) as I feel like coughing a bit less when I’m sitting up. But I can’t stop coughing. I think I got about 3 hours of sleep max. Maybe 2 hours. I downed tons of cough syrup. I took Tylenol PM. Nothing worked. And today…still coughing and I feel horrid. Wah. I usually try to fight through these things, but right now I just want to do nothing. Absolutely nothing. And I want to feel better. No. More. Coughing. My tummy and chest muscles hurt.
At work today, I am hosting a stress reduction day. I have commandeered a room in the high school and made it into a relaxation den. I have pushed back all the chairs, grabbed all the pillows, beanbags and cushions I could find, brought in herbal teas and am playing some lovely relaxation music on iTunes (repeat). In addition, my Psychology class did a presentation on stress reduction for an assembly.
I wasn’t sure how well it would go over, but it’s been a great success as far as I can tell. Tip toeing into the room come groups of young students. They respect the silence of the darkened space. Some go and lay their heads on the pillows, some pour themselves a cup of peppermint tea. They smile and you can see the day draining from their faces. I walk through the hall to get more water for the kettles and I hear kids talking about how they need to go to the stress room or how excited they are to relax.
I feel like I’ve added something to the school and to the kids lives, even if only for those few minutes. I think they feel cared for, a bit pampered. And that is a good thing to feel.
Here’s a visualization to share along with a link to some great relaxation music:
Find a quiet place where you can concentrate in peace for a few minutes. Sit down and close your eyes if you wish. Choose a color that you find unappealing. Imagine that your entire body is filled with this color. Now choose a color that you find calming. Take deep breathes and every time you inhale imagine the calming color going into your body. Each time you exhale imagine the unappealing color leaving your body. Continue with the deep breathing until you feel that only the calming color is left.
