Tis I the Fluff

You Are Brave and Cheeky

When You Are Comfortable: You are a strong person. You're driven and assertive. Success is yours, as much as you want it. People find you to be clever and spirited. You're a bit saucy too... delightfully so! When You Are At Your Best: You are a hard worker. You need security and stability in your life, even if that means putting in long hours. People see you as solid and dependable. You are always able to see the good in situations. Other find this comforting. When You Are in a Social Setting: You are a determined and responsible. You strive for success, and you know what it takes to get things done. People find you to be trustworthy and a good leader. You treat people well, and they benefit from your wisdom.

*snort*
All accurate bar the last paragraph.

In other news I have caught the sick (it seems to be going around the interwebs, feel better crowfam and Rhub!) or if you want the technical term a chest and sinus infection according my my doctor. I've never had a sinus infection before, it feels like my forehead has filled up completley with snot and then a paving slab has been placed on top. It goes nicely witht he paving slab on my chest. Not. Bring on the my favourite sickie food, mashed potato with realy butter. Mmmm

Mmmm pancake tuesday how do I love thee....

Although pancake has different meanings. A pancake to me is a deliciously light thin crispy at the edges piece of heaven, the object is to barely coat the surface of the frying pan with the lightest of batter. This does not make it a crepe!! A pancake to others is a more doughy cakey concoction. Some even buy those prepackaged just add milk/water and shake malarkies. No no no. I suppose its all about what you grew up eating, if you ate the doughy cake thing then of course its going to be preferable to my delicious version.

My preferred way of adorning my crispy piece of heaven is once you have flipped your pancake place three squares of fine quality chocolate (cadburys in a pinch)on one side then flip the other side over omlette style and place this deliciousness gently on a plate. Then to top it off pour golden syrup (not maple, much as I love it I feel it clashes with the chocolate gooeyness, if you want maple syrup may I suggest serving it alongside some fine quality vanilla ice cream with crushed pecan nuts sprinkled on top) on top of this and devour immediately (ha like your gonna wait). Owning to the decadence of this gorgeousness I can only manage two at a time before the sugar ehadache starts (and my arteries close) but I encourage you to try for lucky number three!

Which brings me to lent, now I usually give up something every year with the exception of 2007. So I put it to you, gentle lovely sweet nice reader what should I give up? Sweets, Chocolate, crisps, oxo cubes (sob) or somkething of your own making? I'll go with the majority (and will quite possible cuss you out here as the withdrawal symptoms kick in)

*Sweet cake in Irish, I don't like the bastardised Pancog!

Happy Valentines day lovelies!


It may seem strange on valentines day but I've decided to stop trying to find Mr Right or Mr Right now. I've deleted my online dating account. I'm fine with this decision too.Its been coming for a while. It makes me a little sad when I see how wonderfully my friends partners treat them that I have no one in my life like that but I'm happy they've found their lobsters. As for me well unless Mr Wonderful walks up to me and declares his undying love I see myself remaining singularly wonderful for the time being.

Speaking of friends I'm off to the cinema with two of them in a hour being the third wheel on their date day :)

Silly question but if everyone in the world was to turn vegan what would we do with all the cows/pigs/sheep etc.? I mean they're a little too big to keep as house pets.....

Oh I passed my latest round of exams, woot! 3 down and one more lot to go before I get my diploma. Still puzzling over whether or not to do the degree. Still no closer to making a decision.

I miss friendboy, I know I was the one who deleted him as a friend on bookface/msn after the whole "your stupid" thing but I miss his sarcastic wit and his kind hearted but inept ways at cheering me up. Maybe it's male company I miss?

Speaking of male company I heard from Al he of ex fiance fame. He gave up the chef career and now has a BA in English and is teaching part time. He plans on emigrating to Bangkok in 2.5 months to teach English. Craziness. He asked me to meet for coffee and a chat but I'm on the fence on this, I don't really feel as if there is anything for me to gain by doing this.

Manchild (he of the age difference) is emigrating to Oz in April so I guess there goes the whole someone crushing on me. A little boo but if this is what he wants then I'm happy for him.

A very belated happy birthday to the lovely crowjoy, I know you'll rock 41 just as much as you did 40, knowing you probably more :-)

Bought the wii fit earlier on this week and I'm a bit meh about it.

Plus points: most of the games are fun and it does encourage you to keep at it by unlocking new games the longer you persist at it. Plus its good to see your actual progress on the graph thingys and the trainers if slightly bland are encouraging. You can password protect your mii and its weight if you don't want prying eyes to see. It also has a scoreboard after each game you do so those of a competitive nature have another incentive to stick with it.

Minus points. When I got weighed on it the first time it immediatly flicked to the obese end of the scale. Now I accept I'm overweight, fine even obese. However the fecking game then started shrieking in that whiny computery voice as if my fatness was crushing the inanimate wii board when it showed I was obese. Thaaaanks for that. Then my mii automatically expanded to reflect my wii weight i.e. My mii is now a round ball with little stumpy hands and feet sticking out the side. Then you come onto how much your clothes weigh. How in the fuck would I know? I don't weigh my clothes. So I guesstimated heavy? So already I know its not going to be an accurate reflection of my weight.

Still though its good to change up my routine and I plan to add it to my dvd workouts and walking.

In other wii news I actually finished a game, for the first time ever! I discovered my favourite genre, point and click mysteries/puzzles games. This one reminded me somewhat of "escape from the crimson room". This game was called "Secret files: operation tunguska". Thing that slightly irritated me was it was based in russia and all the main characters were russian yet all had american accents. That aside it was highly enjoyable.

Now I leave you with a rather funny story. I'm too tired to make it a pretty link but I reccomend reading it if you want a laugh :)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4344890/Virgin-the-worlds-best-passenger-complaint-letter.html

Goodbye 27!

Last semester of college started tonight, the two subjects this term are introduction to business law and accounting 2. Law was really interesting, it was just an overview tonight (barristers v solicitors etc) but it kept my attention and I even managed to ask some semi relevant questions. Accounting I have always found difficult but the lecturer is loooovely, same guy we had last term for accounting 1. He explains the most basic obvious things without making you feel stupid. We are going to try covering the curriculum while bringing relevant balance sheets, analysis etc into it (in irish financial news one of our main banks has been taken over by the goverment after the ceo hid 100mil in loans which prompted the financial regulator to resign)to keep it interesting.

I am trying to think more long term on the college thing too as in do I want to go on and do the degree. I'm finding it tough at the moment only doing one evening a week but the degree is two evenings a week plus saturdays. For three to four years. On the plus side I'll probably have saved loads as I'll be too exhausted to have a social life. Sigh. Aside from the financial burden this degree will bring (work pay for the course only if I pass the exam and per semester so I have to pony up the money first which will mean taking out a loan)I'm not entirely sure I even want to stay in this line of work. I've been feeling pretty unsatisfied for a while now and while I don't dislike my job I am feeling very meh about it. However in this dwindling craptastic recession heading economy it seems like a really stupid idea to leave the job and the security it brings.

Sigh what to do what to do :/

It came out of the blue. A former co-worker of mine who I look up to enormously and had a bit of a girl crush on when we worked together sent me an email. She asked about my christmas my new year and how my Dad was doing. Then she dropped the bombshell "I had a bit of a dry one cos guess what, I'm preggers!" My jaw dropped and I spent a good minute or so staring at the screen before I replied. You see she was always the one I looked up to as a singleton. Even when she got with her boyfriend and moved in with him she always retained that streak of independance, that hey why don't we try this salsa club it starts tonight at 8 in an email sent at 5 type of thing. I'm afraid she'll lose that and like so many of my friends who have met the one and/or have a baby have less and less time for her friends aka me. Sigh it's selfish I know the baby and their spouse should of course be their main priority. However it's tough out there as a singleton and my friendships really matter to me perhaps they are not reciprocated as I would hope but I am trying to understand and accept this.

What a lovely xmas. Nothing too crazy or sociable but good food and catching up with dad were the high points of the day. Xmas presents were on the whole pretty good, some randoms (hello cutlery set?) but all in all just lovely. On the food front my ham once again turned out gorgeous. Boiled until cooked then glazed in the oven using my time honoured (3 xmasess old) glaze. We are finishing up the last of it today.

Today is my last day off and truth be told I'm really not looking forward to going back to work. I can't remember the last time I felt this rested. I haven't bothered with an alarm clock and am coming to the conclusion my natural sleep cycle is 12 hours give or take 20 mins. In the real world this won't work. I only get in at 6.30pm and would need to be in bed by 7. Still though maybe I could manage it one or two nights a week? The house is sparkling clean and I even bought a new hoover. Xmas seems to be the only time its really spring cleaned so I am basking in the prettyness while it lasts. I really shouldn't be moaning about time off, I'm in the next two days then have thursday and friday off. Like I said I could get used to having this time off :-)

I had some friends over last night. Myself C, E and her boyf J. After it was over I asked C "is it just me or have they become incredibly stingey?". Which she answered that yes they have. They said to us they were going to treat me an C to take out as our xmas present. Cool. So we decided what to get then they started hmming and hawing over money. C and I offered to pay but we were turned down. The bill came to 47.50 and they gave the delivery dude exactly 47.50. No tip. This is most definitely not cool in my book. I've had friends who have done the delivery boy thing and the wage is minimum. The tips they make go towards petrol seeing as the takeaway places won't subsidise them round here. I called the guy back and gave him 4 euro (10%ish right?) E and J got sniffy about this saying it was against their principles. Oooohkay. Dinner was eaten in silence. The mood picked up later but I felt like I was in the wrong even though I don't think I did anything wrong!

( Rant )

Maybe I am being over sensitive and cranky about this I don't know. I do know if I was broke I would just say so and bring something non alcoholic if I couldn't afford vino etc. I most definitely wouldn't go scabbing off my friends constantly. I don't mind sharing a bottle of wine with friends because I know when I go to their houses the favour is always returned. With E and J though it never is. Ever. A lot of our friends have recognised this and almost all will be there on NYE so I hope E and J don't make it awkward if they "forget" to bring anything.


Rant over now to decide what to do as a starter for C's dinner. I'm thinking antipasto platter?

I caved and bought the t-tapping dvd on amazon today, I must say I am quite addicted to it, it's relatively painless (after the first few times) and gives results. If only I didn't combine those results with chocolate :/. I also found a few cheapo 10-15 minute workout dvd's for fat blasting and dancing. Can't hurt and at home workout dvd's are great for me as I have no excuse not to do them. It amused me when I read the recommendations, they have me sussed!

Aparently I am all about

1. Star trek (enterprise, TOS and TNG only please none of that DS9 rubbish)
2. Rosemary Conley fitness dvd's and cookbooks
3. Dr Atkins (a short lived phase)
4. Grief, overcoming grief, coping with the loss of a parent etc
5. Erotic short stories (ooh la la, but a girl has needs :))


In other news I posted this on the OS but I deleted friendboy from my bookface page and MSN due to some rather hurtful comment he made last night. I have too much crap in my life that makes me feel bad anyways without adding yet more to it, so a few clicks and thats that. He has my number if he wants to get in touch but I doubt he will. He's one of these people who believe they are the rightest of the right and I doubt he would ever begin to fathom as to how to go about making an apology.

I called in sick today as the glands in my neck have swollen. I look like a frog. My throat isn't sore as such but it hurts to turn my head and I'm just so so tired. I did some studying over the weekend but not a whole lot and am kinda freaking out but its behind a haze of neurofen and hot tea. I'll try for an afternoon/evening nap and see how I feel when I wake up. Mmmmm sleep and tea...

So what say yee on re-gifting? Going through the pit that is my bedroom I found two gift sets of smelly body stuff and two bottles of perfume still in their plastic packaging. The perfume I'm pretty sure will be a hit but if the body stuff is from last christmas (I gave you my heeeeeart) will it still be ummmm fresh? I looked on the boxes but couldn't find any use by date? Last thing I want to do is give someone an allergic reaction by my cheapness!

Operation cheap gifts is progressing smoothly. With grim determination I scoured my favourite cheap clothes shop last night until I found four sets of pyjamas for under a tenner. For my four close girlfriends I have set limits of 20 quid. The last is at 60, she always makes an effort to get me something I like and when I asked her what she wanted was very practical in her response. Bravo.

We went shopping in the department store her aunt works in last night where there was a 20 percent sell on. With her presence we were also able to get a staff discount of 35%. Huzzah. I scoured two body gift sets, some makeup, a real leather bag and one of those thick black leather belts with three buckles on it all for under 70 euro. Score! Am quite liking this bargain shopping and her aunt said she is going to be in the shop on Sunday if I wanted to go along for more bargain hunting. We shall see how the cheap shopping goes this afternoon after my cheap haircut :)

x-posted from the other site. Would anyone have any ideas on the below? Pretty please?

Help! I would love to make my Dad a cake my Mam used to make him for his birthday on Monday. Only problem is she never acutally wrote it down. It was an upside down strawberry jam sponge cake she used to cook in the microwave in a plastic xmas pudding bowl. I've done afew searches online and all I can find is the recipe for a pineapple upside down cake. I've also asked my Mams sisters with no luck. My baking skillz aren't great so any and all help is very much appreciated!