Wordless Wednesdays

Husband of the Year

7:00am Monday morning I am most of the way to London on the train. I sit mentally going over what I have packed in the way of my uniform for work and realize I have forgotten my suite jacket. I panic and dial my husband’s cell phone, wake him up on his first day off in ten days, and frantically beg him to please bring my suite jacket to me in London. My husband rushes to London and has it to me ½ an hour after my shift starts. So after working 10 early morning shifts he get about 2 hours more lie in than normal. If a two hour round trip in rush hour does not qualify you for Husband of the Year I don’t know what does.

Weekend Rambling

The Nieces

Okay I know I am a little bias but I do think I have two of the cutes nieces ever.

We had a great day yesterday at Darby Lake and Hyde Hall. For all of you who live in England and near London, Hyde Hall is a must. It is a Royal Horticultural Society site. It is only five pounds to get in and it is huge. I am excited to head back at a later date as by the time we got there the girls were pretty tired and we did not get to see a lot of it.

I am so amazed at how different they are. The older on is such a girly girl. The moment a camera comes out she poses. It is so hard to get a photo of her not posing. The younger one is crazy. She was running on some gravel and fell over. Getting up she laugh and said "I hurt myself" and laughed again like it was a joke. If this had happened to the other one she would have wailed loud enough for the queen to hear in her private chambers in Buckingham Palace and would have limped all day as if she were mortally wounded.

The older one also never stops talking. Really never. At one point I told her if she carried on talking at this rate she would run out of things to say before she was six. She stopped for a second to think about it and then said "No way" and carried on.

They are very fun to be with, they are even more fun to hand back to their parents at the end of the day.

Kids say the darndest things

Five year old niece picks up two sticks on quite a bit longer than the other

Five year old niece holds up longer stick “This is the daddy stick” then holds up the shorter stick “This is the mommy stick”

Three year old niece points to shorter stick “No that’s the daddy stick”

Five year old niece holds up longer stick again “No this is the daddy stick it is taller and tells you off when you do something bad” then holds up the shorter stick “and this is the mommy stick because it is shorter and does not tell you off”

Things being owned by a kitty has taught me

It is time to get up whenever it becomes light out. Even if this is 4am. God forbid if I move any farther north or I might have to for go sleeping all together during certain times of the year. I am excited to see if this works to my advantage in winter.

Wordless Wednesday

Simple Pleasures

The only decent Ice Cream parlour I have been able to find in the great UK has brought back my favorite flavor. Mmmmmmmm rhubarb crumble.

Weekend Rambling

Kicking it old school
This weekend my husband and I kicked it old school and engaged in games of Slap Jack and War. I don’t know that our down stairs neighbour appreciated us slapping on the card table at 9:30 at night but we enjoyed ourselves.

American History and Geogrophy 101
My co worker at my current site on Monday asked for a brief American history lesson. This lead to the drawing of the really bad ruff hand map of the US of A the squiggly east coat, Florida a C for the Gulf of Mexico and the squiggly west coast. This also led to a demand to name all 50 states. I made it to 45 quite quickly managed to get two more and then had a complete brain fart. If anyone is wondering I left out Arkansas, Minnesota (neither one a huge loss) and Missouri. Missouri led to me to feel a little stupid as I lived there for several years growing up. The next day as soon as I arrived a blank map of the US was placed in front of me and I was told to fill it in, I should have seen this coming. I missed two, Rhode Island was not very easy to see and as I had completely forgotten about Delaware I labelled Delaware as Rhode Island. I am surprisingly happy with these results since I have never been very good with the Upper east coast states and I had no advanced warning. I am happy to report that after a week my co worker can name all fifty states in alphabetical order and place 32 of the 50 on a map at last try. Next week I thought it was only fair that we learn the counties of England since my English co worker can’t even name them. If we can get through this the following week with be the counties of Europe. I have to say this makes me nervous as I have never been very good with the Eastern block countries.

Things being owned by a kitty have taught me

When above mentioned kitty is in close proximity applying eyeliner and mascara becomes a extreme sport which may end in blindness.

Wordless Wednesdays

+1

15. I hate cast iron grille pans. To be clear I don’t hate the food that comes out of them I just hate cleaning them. One has to wonder of that yummy steak was yummy enough to constitute the 20 min it takes to properly get the pan clean.

Monday, Monday

I have kind of jumped feet first into the whole blogging thing and just let it take me where it may. Over the past few weeks I have spent a lot of time looking at other people’s blogs and discovering what I like and what I don’t and I hope to start implementing that on my blog. Having said that I am starting what looks like a five week stint at a site that does not allow us to access the internet so I am not sure how much I will get around to for the next month or so just because I do spent a lot of time either gathering ideas for the blog or actually putting the blogs together at work. I am excited at the prospect of all the new changes and hope that in the coming months things will start taking shape.

For some time now I have been wanting to get back into paper craft. I grew up with my mom being heavily into stamping and card making and I found scrapping in my early twenties and loved it. Getting back in contact with friends who are crafty paper wise or other has reawakened this desire. After trolling the internet for local classes and crops I have found one in my area and am very excited to form a new community of friends with similar interest. I have a feeling that this will lead to a second blog that focuses heavily on crafting as I want to be able to share my projects with friends and family.

One blog I have really enjoyed looking at and have added to my blog roll but I want to give an extra shout out too is http://kwernerdesign.com/blog/ She is one of those talented people who is so crafty and creative that is blows your mind. She has a video of a card she has designed every Monday as well as lots of other useful information.

I also want to say a big Thank You to Michael 5000. I guess that I would have to say that he was the person who I have looked to the most with the creation and ongoing process of my blog. I have tried very hard not to steal his ideas outright but have taken a good look at a lot of his blog entries and projects and you can see snippets of then coming through in my blog. So for anyone who has not had a chance yet take a look at The Life and Times of Michael 5000, I particularly like the Monday and Thursday quizzes.

Big thank you to all of you who visit on a regular basis leave a comment it makes my day.

Weekend Dribble

Things I've learned this week

Going shopping after a bad day is not a good idea. I walked out with a tub of Ben & Jerry's a slice of cheese cake two packs of crisps a Pepsi and a chocolate bar. The only remotely decent thing in my bag was lunch meat for sandwiches.

My grandmother reads my blog. This made my heart skip a beat, had I said anything really horrible, how many curse words had I used, and had I mentioned anything about my drug habit. Luckily I had not mentioned my drug habit so I think we are okay.

I only have one thing to say grandma, leave a comment now and then. I think old college professor 5000 is getting tired of being the only person who leaves comments.

Things I probably should not have laughed at this week

While on the train Friday night all of a sudden a huge amount of white downy feathers flew in the open windows and started floating around. It was kind of surreal like that plastic bag video in American Beauty. Then I realized that the reason there were a bunch of feathers floating around in the carriage was probably that we had hit a bird and I felt terrible for the loss of life.

My husband spent a good amount of time re caulking the seal around the tub a few weeks ago, Rat boy was not too impressed by this and the other day scraped most of it up. My husband told me this over the phone and I just could not help it.

Things you should probably not laugh at but I give you permission

While stepping out of my door yesterday I caught my foot on the threshold and as I was already twisting to turn out the door this cause me to fall on my backside in a non elegant fashion. Luckily our street was empty so no one witness my unplanned acrobatics. My tail bone will probably be reminding me of it for a few days though.

Things I found this weekend

A card I bought over a year ago for Philip's Aunt's birthday in October. I could not find it when said birthday arrived so I had to buy another one. Luckily the musical part of the card still works so we will give it another try this year. I set a reminder on my calender that tells me where I put it.

Things I did not find this weekend.

My really cool metal ruler I use for my scrap booking and card making. It has to be around here somewhere.

Things you could probably do without knowing

Rat boy is now Rat eunuch, this whole process does not seemed to have bothered him too much so I should just get over my guilt.

Things that bug Emma

1. There is a way to fill a train carriage so that a majority of people have the most available space for the most amount of time, no one thinks of this when they sit down.

2. Cold calls were they mispronounce your name so badly you wonder what planet they are from.

3. Shops that only take cash. I never have any on me unless I know I will need it. Hello your a cafe outside a really busy train station take my freaking debit card.

4. The fact that all of the sales start the third week of the month and I don't get payed till the last week of the month meaning that by the time I have money they don't have what I want in my size.

5. Small print and the * signs in ads. Either you are offering what you say you are offering or you are not. I was reading one for a bank one time and they had so many * and other symbols that I realized that you could only get the deal on the 29th of February as long as it fell on a Tuesday, there was a crescent moon, and it was the year of the dragon.

6. Yellow cars-it is just wrong

7. Folding Duvet covers wrong side out. I know there is an argument for it being easier for you to put them on but this is not how I do it nor my husband, but someone in my house who shall remain unnamed(yup you guessed it the cat) folds them inside out.

8. People in a crowded shop or street who just stop like there is no one behind them.

9. People who don't seem to realize that their white cotton gauze dress is shear enough to show their (insert any bright color here)knickers.

10. People who don't realize that as in driving there is a slow lane in walking, KEEP TO THE RIGHT. There is a congestion zone for cars in London. I think there should be a congestion zone for tourist if they want to be in the way during rush hour. Nothing pisses me off more than when a group of 30-50 people just stop and block 4 city blocks because they don't know where they are going. I know where I am going and I only have 2min to catch the 5:56 train.


11. When they discontinue my favorite Ben&Jerry's flavor or my favorite sugar laden ice blended coffee flavored drink. The worst is when they bring out seasonal items. This leads me to over indulge since I know that they will only be available for a few months.

12. When two branded (insert large coffee shop chain) can not make (insert high calorie blended ice coffee flavored drink)the same. If I go into any Starbucks I want my drink of the moment to taste the same as the one I got last week at a shop three towns over.

13. Whole basil leave in sandwiches, I cant believe anyone likes them they are too strong. Chop them up and use sparingly.

14. Ring tones that play the whole latest annoying song and the people who know their phone is ringing but let it go on for the whole 3 1/2 min so they can hear the song.

Timing is everything

The building I have been working at for the last three days has those turnstile doors that you step into push and go around until you are in the building. This in and of itself is not remarkable, the way that the tenants of the building use it however is. It is absolutely amazing to watch during busy times there is a perfect rhythm to the going in and coming out. The door is not automatic it relies on you to push it but some how no one misses a beat. I have given this way to much thought and come to the only conclusion that makes sense to me. The building is occupied by a German bank and about 75% of the employees are German. I know this sounds like the old stereotypes for the Germans being so efficient, but I have worked at a number of other building where people could not seem to manage to exit and enter the same space of the turnstile door. This left empty spaces and therefore caused a longer wait to leave and enter the building.

This whole process is like art to watch and I find myself mesmerized by it on my lunch and cigarette breaks. It also makes it quite daunting to try and enter the building knowing that if you break the rhythm that everyone will be staring at you think oh my gosh what a stupid girl she can’t even manage to keep the rhythm going. As I approach in the morning I do so slowly and watch as one might what the ropes in a double Dutch jump rope game I find the rhythm and only then do I approach the door to enter.

Maybe if I used this process in other parts of my life I would not be so apt to stick my foot in my mouth or make a fool of myself. I don’t think that slowing down watching the rhythm and then making my move is such a bad idea.


Sodoku Update

For all of you who really probably don't care, I was able to finish the medium difficulty sodoku puzzle first time yesterday on the train. I feel that I did quite well I was able to quickly skim the newspaper to the part where sodoku is and then finish the puzzle all in 20 min.

Weekend Ramblings

Emma's New Hair Cut

Yup Yup here it is for all those waiting with baited breath.





Kitty Time

This is when I like him the most. Poor Rat Boy is getting his balls chopped of this week.

The Soduku Quest

I have mastered the art of Sodoku. This may not seem like much but I realized recently that I could not do it. I had tried unsuccessfully for a week to completely the easy puzzles in the evening newspaper. Now I am okay at word games not amazing, you will never see my name in the same sentence as scrabble world champion but I am not humiliatingly bad. Therefore it was terrible upsetting that I could not seem to master even the simple puzzles in the newspaper. This led to some what of a quest and off I went to buy the simplest sodoku book I could find, one that taught the theory in it. I had a basic understanding of the 1-9 for every row, column and grid but how to make that happen was not coming as easy. The book explained a technique I had never used before so after a few of the puzzles in the book I made my first attempt at the easy puzzles in the newspaper. I am now hooked and finish the easy puzzles every day and have started to try the medium difficulty puzzles. I have yet to finish one in the time it take me to get home on the train but that is my goal for next week. Instead of starting with the easy one and then moving on to the medium one when I finish I am going to start with the medium on and see if the extra time will allow me to finish it.


Teenage Debauchery

While exploring a park I have never been in yesterday I found the local spot for teenage debauchery. Off the beaten path you come across a stagnant steam which has way to much algae growing on it for my liking. You also come across a gaggle of underage drinkers making out. This made me realize that there really is nothing left in my life that I am not legally old enough to participate in. This was some what of a let down knowing that the next big age required activity would be joining the AARP.

Stupid things Emma thinks about

Something that I have been contemplating and honestly has taken up way more of my time and thought than I would like to admit is people's shirts. Those people who always looks as perfectly pressed as the moment they put their shirts on even when you know they have had it on for the last 18 hours. I met some one like this on Friday which is why this topic was brought back to mind. I knew for a fact that this particular person had been on a very early train to Brighton. He had taken part in training some of which had been very physical out on the beach. He had taken a train back to London gone back to work for an hour to tie things up for the week and I met him about 8pm in a bar. His shirt looked as perfectly pressed as the moment he picked it up from the dry cleaners. I however had taken a train to London sat on a chair all day and then met him at the bar and I looked like I had slept in my shirt for the last month. I have spent many an hour trying to decide what the cost to type of material to really good dry cleaner ratio has to be and have yet to figure it out. This I guess will continue to plague my mind.

Great birth control

My youngest sister was born when I was 13, I was in the room to witness the birth and if this was not birth control enough she ended up being a handful as a baby and a child. So I had no delusion of children being easy to rear growing up. This had just about worn off when we acquired the swamp rat. This was the best purchase in the world for deterring the thought of having children. Hemingway, as he is properly named, believes that play time starts as soon as it is light outside. In England this happens to be 4am right now. For the first six weeks we had him he whined horribly all morning when I was getting ready for work, then he learned my normal routine and would just hide himself and pounce on my bare unsuspecting feet so that I did the kitty pounce dance. I have now come to expect the pouncing so no longer dance and he just hangs off the leg of my pants for a few steps. He truly believes that any human who has entered his domain has done so to give him love and affections and if neither of these is given he makes known his displeasure.



Who ever invented trash cans that pop open when you touch the lid did not have a cat. This took rat boy about 30 seconds to figure out and now a heavy sack of potatoes lives on top when we are not home.



In many ways we have it easy, no diapers to change I just clean out the litter box every day or so. We also have no child care to worry about and the amount of toys he has is quite minimal compared to what children seem to acquire. He is actually happiest playing with the little plastic tops that come on sports drinks.



I think that Hemingway will be an only child for quite a while and that will suite him just fine