… which went ok.

Also today, I am mostly … continuing to moonlight as a taxi driver

… having taken Marion to the airport this morning after having ferried her around for much of the weekend (mostly on errands that coincided with my own, to be fair) and having taken Colin’s folks up to one of the Belfast hospitals yesterday.
Also tonight, I will be taking Colin to work for his midnight shift and then picking him up at 8 tomorrow morning.

After that, I intend to refuse all passengers for at least a week.

… thanks to a broken gas pipe near my office which saw us evacuated from around 10:50 am onwards. Most of us ended up walking to the Odyssey, and a lot of us piled into the noon showing of The Simpsons Movie since we knew we’d be out of the office for a good while. It was a pretty decent film - they managed to translate the twenty-minute cartoons into a feature-length film quite well, with a plot that did fill the time without too many unrelated tangents (well, no more than usual, anyway), and the level of jokes was sustained decently. Although since I’m capable of watching 3 episodes of The Simpsons back-to-back anyway, maybe I’m not the best person to judge. No Patty or Selma though, which was odd. Spider-Pig made me giggle though…. As did the Alaska references!

Also saw the trailer for Stardust - although it’s the same one I’ve already seen on the net. Was good to see it on the big screen though. I don’t like the way they introduce Yvaine as the fallen star though; the dialogue seems edited to make her cute and sweet… which she definitely isn’t in the book, and the tone of voice of her bits of dialogue indicate that she’s feisty and pissed off… but the words themselves make her sound nicer. Hmm. I’m not explaining very well, but I know what I mean.
Still, I’m looking forward to seeing it - Neil’s had enough involvement that it’s definitely still true to the original text.

Also today, I am mostly … munching homemade oatmeal-choc-nut cookies

… that were supposed to be for the people attending my presentation (which was about our technical writing team, such an exciting subject). Although now I need a cup of coffee…

… and have put myself in 10th place (out of 12) on the work darts ladder. Why I’ve joined the fledgling darts league, I have no idea, but I suppose every good group needs a whipping boy (or girl, since I’m the only female). I need to find the set of darts I have at home, and get some practice in the garage I think. I’m not so bad that I’m likely to damage the cats.

… because I seem to have been very absent.

Well, ok. I know why I haven’t been blogging, and it’s not because hayfever did get the better of me (despite what Mr Anonymous suspected from my last post). However, work /did/ get the better of me for April and May, and I’ve only really just caught up with myself in the past few weeks.

So what has happened? Well….

Work happened. Lots of it, with lots of accompanying stress and long hours and hair-tearing. But it was all over and done with, with much rejoicing, on May 31st…
… which was the day that George was killed by a couple of greyhounds, which completely ruined my good mood. But at least I never have to wonder again about who he’s living with and where he is; he’s buried in my back garden, safe and sound. I do miss him though.

I bought a new car at the beginning of June - a bloody big diesel-fuelled dark blue Nissan Primera - and Colin & I took it all over Wales in the middle of June. Ferry to Holyhead from Dun Laoghaire on Saturday 9th; a night’s stay in Llandudo; a drive the length of Wales down to Barry to stay with my parents; much visiting of relatives and places (a couple of trips into Cardiff, and a visit to the Roman Baths in Bath); a night’s stay in Llangollen on the way back up, and then the ferry home again on Sunday 17th.

My birthday present from Colin was an engagement ring to replace the one I’d lost that I’d had last year in June - garnet & silver again, naturally. On my birthday, I also got a new cat, Clover, who’s a skinny little tabby about a year old. She’s my lap-cat replacement for George, although I’d already arranged to have her well before he died (she was being looked after by a friend who volunteers for the rehoming centre, and had already had her kittens rehomed). She’s a sweet girl and I’m very fond of her already - she’s settling in with the other 3 ok.

Had a week off work in July too, and cleared out the study so we could paint it. I have several other decorating projects in mind for the summer, too, especially since my parents will be over at the start of September. It’s a good excuse to clear out various rooms though… but I have to sort through all the junk that came out of the study first into keep/chuck/charity piles, before we can start on anything else.

I need to start my regular blogging again, anyway. It’s good for my creativity (which was entirely stifled by trying to meet my last work deadline) and I really need to start writing other things again, too.

Just under nine weeks to my next deadline anyway, and I’m going to try and enjoy having a busy life for the next few months.

Also today, I am mostly … recovering from reading the seventh Harry Potter novel twice in two days

… but it had to be done. I can’t help reading it fast the first time. I’m too greedy and impatient to ration it out as friends of mine do; I had to read it in one sitting (just under three hours) and never mind the fact that I spent the final 40 minutes desperate for the loo but unwilling to move. The re-read was much more leisurely and almost more enjoyable in some ways because I could see where things were leading.