Dear Body,

There is no reason whatsoever to be giving me stomach cramps. Not one single reason. I have eaten nothing you don't like, it isn't the right time of the month and I'm not having a stressful day. So could you quit it now, please?

No love,
Me


I'm just going to curl up in a corner with a hot water bottle and my dw_femslash fic *sigh*

There be rampant spoilers behind the cut for both episodes, just to warn everyone.

( Spoilers! Get your spoilers here! )

Last night I got a call from Best Friend in America (BFIA). She announced earlier in the year that she's getting married and I couldn't be happier for her. We've known each other for more than half our lives and, even though we haven't lived in the same country for ten years, she's still my best friend.

Strictly speaking, I have three people that I'd consider my closest, best friends but BFIA has a special place in my heart for many reasons. It's great to finally be on the same continent.

Anyway, the call was to invite me to her wedding (d'uh!) and then ask me to be her bridesmaid.

I can't believe that I actually teared up over that, but I did and babbled something about yes and of course and I feel so privileged. I really do feel honoured because this is such a special, important day for her and she wants me to be a part of it.

The practicalities still need to be worked out, but on the weekend of June 13th next year I will be in Aspen watching my BFIA get married and probably crying bucketloads.

In fact, I'll hopefully get to see her married twice over because she's having a Hindu wedding on the Friday (for her fiance) in addition to her white wedding on the side of a mountain.

OMG, I sm so excited!

Today has been a day filled with frustration. Yuck. The biggest frustration is something that's so simple in England.

I need to give my mother some money. In England I would have simply set her up as a payee and transferred the money. It would take thirty seconds and nobody would charge me for it. I'd even be able to set up a regular payment to her - for example, to pay rent! - without a hitch. We don't bank with the same bank but that's never been a problem.

Then there's Canadian banks. Who apparently charge (both of us!) any time I want to transfer money straight to her.

Grrrr.

I'm now trying to find out whether we can do this if she sets up an account at my bank or whether they'll still charge us and, importantly, whether I can set up a regular payment to her for rent. It's never the hard stuff that turns out to be hard, it's the stuff that I'm accustomed to doing easily that takes time!

On top of that, our landscaper hasn't turned up for the second day in a row (he promises to come tomorrow, honest) and the guy installing our central vac has promised to turn up at some stage today but with no particular time, thus scuppering any chances Mum had to leave the house today. Grrrr. She's threatening to leave Canada and never come back. I'm sure she'll be OK when she's calmed down, but her entire time here has involved waiting around for people or phone calls or deliveries and she's never getting to do anything else. I know that a lot of it is because there were so many things to get done and delivered (and Mum decided to do all of them at once when some could have waited until next year) but I think that's hard for Mum to see when she's the one constantly inconvenienced.

</whine>

ETA: Not added anything, but changed the subject to spare my f-list from heart attacks.

I was out at a party for one of the girls that I've met through Ravelry on Friday night. I fully intended to get home to see the first presidential debate but it was suddenly quarter to midnight and...well...that wasn't quite the way I planned things :-)

So instead I sat down and watched it today through the glories of teh Internets. It's still amazing to me that I can do that.

It was definitely an interesting debate, but I didn't feel like one came out the clear winner from the exchanges. My sympathies are firmly with Obama and the debate backed up the reasons for that, but I'm not sure that either one came out really far ahead.

Just checked the wires and it appears that polls over the weekend have declared Obama the winner including getting a lead with the undecideds. So that's good :-)

Friday night I had one minor triumph - I turned my first heel on a sock :-) Hooray! The rest should be pretty simple and I'm feeling very good about it. Lesley at the Ravelry group was the key, showing me how the pattern's vague instructions actually worked on the yarn, so I owe her a debt.

My little kittens have already grown, I think. They're not looking quite so tiny as they did, although other cats still look huge compared to them. Annie is turning out to be the snuggler, but both of them seem to feel that me sitting at the computer is the signal for nap time. They'll sleep on my lap for hours if I let them! It's totally adorable.

I am downloading Merlin to see what they do with the second episode when they don't have to introduce the world and all the characters.

I'm trying to decide whether I sign up for muskratjamboree in April. The sign-ups are in a month so I'll have a better idea on whether I can afford it (both tickets and time). It's very tempting, but can I really afford to jet off to a con when I'm going back to England in Feb for one already?

I have two kittens asleep in my lap. They've decided that it's the Best Place Eva! for their mid-morning nap :-)

The kitties and I are currently in jail (i.e. in the computer room) while a nice man fits a new back door. I don't think the kitties are ready to face the big wide world yet and I know that Annie would be trying to see what's outside if we didn't have her in here! They had a good run-around and tussle session before the door guy arrived, a bit more running and tussling once we got locked into here and now they're tired babies. Awww.

I had planned to spend the day at home today but there is now a chance that I might need to give my aunt a lift this afternoon to pick up her computer. historyterry, I'll drop you a line if I have to go out.

There be spoilers for Heroes under the cut.

( This cut )

Happy Birthday danamaree!

Hope you have a great day :-)

Ever wanted to know what advice Jed Bartlet might give to Obama? Well, now you can find out.

*That* is why I love the West Wing and think Aaron Sorkin is brilliant.

Also, who wants Bartlet out there as a candidate? *holds up hand*

I downloaded the new show, Merlin, last night (my sister and Da were both talking about it) and hooked up my lappie to the TV to watch it. I'm quite impressed with how well that worked, BTW.

It's definitely in the Robin Hood genre, appropriate for the time slot. I found it slightly silly, but also quite compelling and I'd definitely download next week's to see where it goes.

One question - am I the only one who thinks that Merlin/Arthur is going to end up the OTP of choice for 90% of fans?

The kittens are settling in very well. So well that they're causing lots of mischief now :-) They 'helped' us to build a DVD storage cupboard yesterday and they've just been banished to keep me company due to being too 'helpful' while Mum builds a bookcase. Kate promptly stood on the power button for the UPS, which wasn't a problem for my lappie but did rather disable the modem. All sorted now but I can see 'no power cords' is going to become rather a mantra.

Annie has discovered that she can turn complete somersaults and enjoys doing so while playing with the little mice I bought. She loves those mice and keeps carrying them around so that she has something to play with whenever she needs it. Annie also gave me a heart attack today by falling over the edge of the railings upstairs, all the way to the ground floor. Eep! She looked rather startled but unhurt and I suspect that the humans were more worried than the kitten.

There are no jobs up on the job boards today. Yet. OK, so it's only 10am and I was probably being overly hopeful but...I want to apply for jobs! Or possibly go to sleep with a kitten my lap...

Over lunch, Mum and I discussed names for the kittens and we've come up with ones that we're both happy with.

June, the little short-hair, is now called Kate. The foster mum thought she looked like a Katherine. We couldn't call her that for various reasons, but we decided that Kate worked for her. It was pretty and dignified, which suited her perfectly. It turns out that she's not quite so dignified as she appeared - she goes crazy for a little raccoon on elastic and can play with a bit of dangled ribbon for ages.

Kate still works for her, though :-)

Jewly has been renamed Annie. She's a bit of a tom boy and very curious and she reminds us of Anne of Green Gables.

After a busy afternoon they're both have a nap somewhere - probably under my chair! They seem to like sleeping under the recliners. I can tell that I'll need to be careful every time I stand up from now on.

You can see photos on Flickr of both of them. Try not to fall in love, I dare you!

I have two thoroughly adorable kittens exploring my feet :-)

They are the two that I posted links to yesterday - I managed to get there early enough today to secure them and the shelter let me take them home with me straight away. They are gorgeous and curious and playful.

I am a happy Sel.

Currently they're still being called June and Julie (rather than Jewly) and we are in two minds over changing their names. I'm not sure that I want two 'J' cats but we're struggling with other names.

June is quite vocal, with a little reedy chirp that she seems to indicate "Ohh, cool new thing!". She also just meouwed (v. quietly) because I wasn't paying enough attention to her.

Julie is the more adventurous of the two, venturing the furthest and climbing into the bath when she found the bathroom. She also plays catch-the-tail. Julie purrs if you stroke her paws.

It will be thinking caps on this weekend so that I've fixed on names by the time they see the vet next week for the check-over. I'm sure there will be a few photos in the offing (as soon as I can catch them in one place for long enough!).

Last night I toddled along to the meeting of fellow Ravelry knitters and had a great time. It's good to meet some people of my age around the place and they've all got such varied interests. Plus I get to oggle their projects and see what kinds of things other people get up to. One of the girls had a lovely sock that she was finishing...

I took along a half-finished blanket patch, which is now finished, and got about 6cm of my first ever sock done. So far, it's looking pretty good. Of course, I have to turn a heel at some stage and that's going to be scary!

The SPCA called yesterday evening to say that the kittens I've had my eye on will be at the shelter tomorrow (Saturday) for me to view. They haven't been taken yet, hooray!

For the curious, there is one little girl called Jewly and her sister June.

I'm not sure that I'm going to keep those names - the entire litter was given 'J' names. I used to have a huge long list of names that I'd give to cats, but most of them were rather, ah, flowery. Mythical people, literary heroines, that sort of thing. So I might get a little stuck for names. Hmm. I'd been thinking about Kero (fellow Lackey fans will know where I got that from) but now I'm not sure.

I'll have to see what they're like tomorrow and what names might suit :-)

The other adventure yesterday was trying out a new hair salon. The ladies on my f-list will understand about the pain and trauma this can inspire. Will they do a good job? Am I going to spend weeks growing out a cut I hate? Will the colour turn out well or am I going to look like something from a bad eighties movie until I can get to the drug store and cover it up?

The good news is that the trip went well. I like the colour a lot, although I might go for a slightly brighter red next time. I didn't want to go straight for the bright, bright colours just in case they were too bright. Still, I like it.

The cut was also good. A little different to what I've had done before, but currently I like it. She's cut it a little shorter and tighter around the back and let the front sections stay a little longer. Then she styled it as she dried, an entirely new experience for me. There was product! And possibly serum! It looks really nice - lies right, doesn't flick out in unexpected directions (always an issue for me) and the stuff she smoothed over it at the end (er, serum? Maybe?) has tamed all the fly-away frizzy bits.

So I need some advice. She rubbed something into my hair before she started to dry it. What kind of thing might that have been? It seems to have made it style nicely and hold its shape without being all funny and sticky. And the stuff at the end, does that sound like some kind of serum?

Colour me clueless on girly hair styling products. Um, this may also be why I've always had problems with flicking out and fly-away bits and the other stuff that drives me crazy!

As I walked out of my job interview yesterday, I realised that I didn't have a book with me for the salon. I know that there's usually a decent length of time while I wait for dye to do its thing, so I usually have a book with me to read. Eeep! Obviously the only solution was to stop at Chapters on the way to the salon (Chapters being conveniently located just opposite the mall) and buy Blood and Iron by matociquala. Er, and a little handbag can of yummy Godiva's choccies as a treat for flunking the interview ;-) I'm only 30 pages in, but I can already safely say that I'm enjoying the book muchly. However, I must wait until I've finished my re-read (this time in hardback!) of Three Go to the Chalet School before I can carry on. I'm determined not to have more than three books on the go at once!

Well, first of all I am fairly confident that I didn't get the job but it was good experience. Not least because the guy asked me 'what is normalisation and how is it achieved' and I went totally blank. So I now know that in addition to revising all those typical interview questions, I need to go back to basics and revised my relational theory to be better prepared for the next one. So that's cool.

The work does sound really interesting and I liked the company. In the highly unlikely event that they did offer it, I'd seriously consider saying yes. However, they are looking for someone with C# and ASP.Net who can hit the ground running and those are two skills that I don't have.

It was really good experience, though, so I'm glad that I went. Back to the drawing board then!

On the kitten front...I have already been approved as an adopter by the SPCA. They're now going to get into contact with the foster mother of the two that I spotted on their website to arrange a meeting. And if those two have been adopted, they've got lots of others for me to choose from. I'm approved as an adoptive mother!

My aunt has concluded that she'll take her computer down to the repair shop at the end of the road. This is not due to any failure on my part, more due to all the work that her house-mate is insisting they have done around the house resulting in the house (and her computer room in particular) being complete bedlam. There is nowhere for us to sit and work on the thing and the constant noise, banging and construction dust isn't helping. The repair shop do sound like they know what they're doing, though, so I don't feel too awful.

Someone reassure me that I'm right to advise my aunt not to run two anti-viruses at once? Apparently a friend advised her that it would be a good thing to do when the machine is sorted out (one is good, two must be better!) and I'm trying to talk her down from it.

And that is it. Today is going to be a quiet day. Or at least it will be when the piano tuner has finished playing!

A day late (although it sounds like you'd have preferred the big day to be today), but...

Happy Birthday hhertzof! Hope today brings lots of lovely things and is a big improvement on yesterday. Although it sounds like it ended well and I do like your new bunny :-)

I am not certain at all that I want the job that I'm interviewing for today. In fact, it's more a case of "talk me into it" than me feeling all desperate and dying for the job.

So why am I flailing and terrified of this interview? I've even done lots of prep including sitting down with a long list of possible interview questions and thinking up answers to them. Flail!

Seriously, the only thing that's making me feel not unhappy right now is the idea that I'll have some pampering at the salon afterwards, but even that isn't without it's problems because it's a new salon and they could totally muck up my hair.

Flail!

Today has been pretty productive:

- Got a monitor and set up my docking station so that I'm now working on a keyboard, mouse and monitor rather than the lappie gizmos when I'm at my desk. Much more comfortable and I can also plug in the graphical tablet to play with graphics later.

- Downloaded XAMPP to install so that I can make adjustments to Haven Reviews if necessary. Note to self: fix professional website in IE7.

- Took my application form into the SPCA and starting the process to adopt some kittens. Also found out that they need volunteer cat cuddlers so I might have found somewhere to go on slow afternoons when I need comfort :-)

- Bought cat carrier, litter tray and some bowls in preparation. Joined membership scheme at local pet store.

- Applied for jobs and made my resume searchable on the big job websites.

- Looked through Monster's list of potential interview questions. Mental note: revist questions tomorrow morning and make notes on possible answers.

When I write it all down, it sounds like I've been really busy except it doesn't feel like I've been busy. More like I've faffed around all day except I've achieved a ton of stuff. Tomorrows plans are:

- Prepare for job interview
- Go to job interview
- Get hair cut and coloured after job interview
- Eat Dairy Queen hot fudge sundae if in need of comfort after interview
- Apply for more jobs

It all sounds terribly grand and grown-up, but I don't feel it. However, I suspect that hormones are playing games on me and that's why I don't feel as good about today's activities as I should. Hmmm.

This evening I'll sit down with some knitting or possibly sew an arm onto my sister's cardigan. I tried The Fringe last week and I'm not sure about it. I might give it another go tonight if there is nothing else on but it didn't catch me quite the way I thought that it would.

Feel free to agree or try to change my mind, though :-)

ETA: Why am I crazy? It's the season premier of House tonight! The Fringe is on at 10pm if I'm still awake to watch it. Guess that will tell me whether I'm persevering with that one...

I have a job interview on Wednesday!

I'm not sure whether I'll take the job, but it's good practise and they might be able to talk me into it. The company provides call centre 'solutions' that aren't outsources to India, which is nice, and the job would be developing and maintaining the software that they provide for clients. There would be a nice mix of database work and web application work, so stuff that I'm familiar with and lovely new things to learn as well. It's even based locally - less than 30 minutes drive on a good day.

I'm reluctant to take the first thing that I get offered (mostly because I have apps in for jobs that I'm much more enthusiastic about) but odds are that I won't have to make that tough decision. It's going to be good practise and I'm glad that the rest of my good interview shirts arrived last week with the shipping.

I've done my good worky stuff today (did some work for the Quakers as well as more job apps) so I'm going to sit back with episode 2 of this year's Atlantis and knit a neckband on my sister's cardigan.

I really need to get myself a nice monitor.

I am sitting in my office, listening to the Proms on Radio 3 in beautiful quality through the Internet. It's the last night and it's usually a family thing. But Da is in England, watching the Proms on TV, and we had a chat during the interval through Skype with vidcam in operation. Mum is sitting at the other desk in the office with a book, we both have cups of tea after a busy day, and even though it's not quite the same, it's still lovely.

We finally made it over to the local yarn shop so that Mum could buy wool and a pattern because she was getting knitting withdrawal after discovering the project she brought with her required an errata from the manufacturer. It was great just to explore and discuss knitting with her and the girl in the shop. Slightly embarrassingly (but really nice, too) the girl in the shop knew who I was from Ravelry. Really nice moment.

The quality of the Proms broadcast that I'm listening to is amazing. A few years ago I couldn't have hoped to have this from a streamed broadcast. Technology is what's helping me to settle in here - all my job apps have been on-line (got a telephone interview on Monday, yay), I've met up with knitters from Ravelry and I can talk to Da regularly through Skype. I'm not sure that I could have done this move so well without all that lovely technology.

Now I'm getting back to listening to nationalistic songs and looking forward to some Sea Shanties.

Thing the first, the newsletter index on The Haven has been updated with several new newsletters for Superman, Iron Man, Tin Man and The Professionals.

Thing the second, the reviews at Haven Reviews have been updated! There are 9 new reviews in a mixture of gen, het and slash for:

Doctor Who: 4
Babylon 5: 1
Doctor Who, Chalet School (cross-over): 1
Harry Potter: 1
NCIS: 1
Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood (cross-over): 1

Go read and enjoy!

My father asked me to take some photos around the house now that it's starting to acquire furniture and pictures and shipping so that he could see the changes. As someone else asked me for photos of the house as well, I thought that I'd share them here.

You can see the full set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/archerygirl/2848365165/in/set-72157607231643116/

I might have got a little closet obsessive :-)