Antis Grasping at Straws!!

I felt I really had to share this article because it is hilarious. LACS have now told us that exercising hunt hounds in the snow is cruel.  So all of you out there with dogs, be careful before you walk them, you might be being cruel.  The antis really do come out with the biggest pile of tosh at times.  I particularly liked this bit:

“First of all, if the conditions in the kennels are such that the hounds are not freely able to exercise the five freedoms, there is a serious animal welfare problem that needs to be addressed.”

Yes, the hounds are kept in kennels in packs (which is a damn sight more natural than being kept in a house on its own by a fire) and therefore cannot exercise when inside, much as your average pet dog can’t exercise when in the house.  So what do they do?  They exercise them!!!  Yet apparently that’s cruel.  Ah dear, my sides are hurting from laughing so much.  It would appear that nothing the hunting community does can be right in these people’s eyes.  But then… when you’re talking to people who refuse to hear reason what more can you expect!

With a repeal of the hunting act looking more and more likely it would appear the antis are getting rather desperate.

Christmas, New Year and New Ink!

I have been very lax in updating my blog lately.  Partly because I’ve been busy but mostly because I wanted to do my Jeremy tribute post first and it took me a while to feel up to writing it.

So, I’ll try not to do a massive post but I may fail miserably!

Firstly, the CEVA Christmas party!  Well that was a lot of fun.  I ended up getting a piggy back from my boss and sliding across the floor while holding onto the shirt of the CEO (I didn’t realise it was him… we were racing and I was getting too competitive).  Here are a few pictures of the craziness.  I should explain that is was a gambling/Las Vegas themed party so we had a ‘horse race’ in which some of us were picked to run around the place like a bunch of loonies.

This was just before I realised I’d been nominated and was therefore happily going along with it all.  That’s Katerina on my right and the CEO on my left.

Getting our numbers pinned on (check out the awesome curly hair).

Probably the most embarrassing picture of me ever taken in my entire life.  But it made me laugh so no doubt it will make you laugh too

Look at the speed… zooooom!!

And the now infamous piggy-back!

Christmassy Katie!

The three girlies.  Me, Erica and Mara.  the 3 of us basically all work together.

And its just guaranteed when there is alcohol involved that I’ll end up kissing somebody at some point!!

Farid and Erica… nice  rambo tie Farid

And towards the end of the night, me and Colin who’s on my team… both of us looking a little worse for wear!!

Then after that we also had a Sinterklaas celebration at work.  Here is me having my first meeting with Sinterklaas.

I also had a visitor from way back in my youth.  My boyfriend from when I was 17!!!  We had a great weekend together and hopefully there will be many more… we’ll see

Me, Bru, Nancy and Mo

My favourite

And Bru playing my sexy bass.

What else has happened since then?  Well obviously just before Christmas I lost my gorgeous Jeremy Bear but I’m not going to go into that again as I’ve already written a massive post which still doesn’t do him justice.  Oh yeah, Christmas.  I stayed in Holland this year and ended up having 3 friends round for Christmas dinner. One is no longer a friend as he’s turned into a complete nut job, loony and general psycho (and no, I have no problem with him reading this).  But me and Evy are better friends than we’ve ever been.  We now have standing Monday night dates for girly catch ups which is great.  Plus is gives you something to look forward to at the end of a long Monday.  I don’t have all my Christmas pictures with me so you’ll just have to look at them on my Facebook page instead.

New Year was a relatively quiet affair.  I ended up in Rotterdam to watch the fireworks but that was about it.  I was really ill over Christmas and New Year which started out as a cold and ended up as a sinus infection.  As soon as I went to the doctor and got antibiotics it was totally fine though.

On a related doctor’s note, many of you will have read my blog from a few months back when I decided to share that I found a lump in my breast.  Well, I had to go back to the hospital to get the procedure done again so that they could be 100% certain of what it is.  This time I didn’t go alone though, Evy came with me (coz she’s a superstar).  We actually ended up having a great morning together.  Went for coffee first and she kept me amused and chatting so I didn’t get nervous until about 15 minutes beforehand.  She was allowed to come into the room with me and I wasn’t at the hospital this time, I was at the Ultrasound Diagnostics Centrum and they were SO much better.  For a start there was just one doctor and one nurse in the room with us rather than the world and his wife as there was last time.  And they were so much more professional and seemed to know what they were doing.  I only had to be stabbed once this time and I even got a plaster!!  Anyway, on Friday I got the results back and its confirmed that its just a fibrous abnormality but it still needs to get removed so I have an operation coming up!! Fun fun :S  Anyone who wants to bring me grapes and lucozade feel free.  And speaking of… why is lucozade the beverage of choice when in hospital?  It makes no sense.

The other big piece of news so far this year is that last Thursday I finally got my third and final tattoo.  Its been something that’s been brewing in my head for about 2 years now but I tend to be like this.  It takes me a long time to make a decision but once I have I want it NOW!  Found a great place that I can thoroughly recommend to anybody wanting to get one called On Edge in The Hague.  The guy who designed and did it for me was Canadian so no translation problems there (he was also really hot which was a bit of a treat).  But oh my god!!  I have never known pain like it.  Time completely ceased to have any meaning.  It didn’t help that I forgot to eat beforehand and apparently low blood sugar makes you shake more when you’re getting it done.  After he’d done the outline I literally could not stop shaking… he force fed me sugar energy cubes and coke to try and get my sugar levels back up again.  It worked a bit but I was still shaking.  By the end I was moaning and swearing like a trooper.  I am clearly not cut out for pain… guess that means kids are out of the question! 

However, it was totally worth it as I adore the final piece.  The design is for me and my sisters.  Each is our favourite flower… daisy for me, orchid for Jenny, bluebells for Sally and lily for Lorna.

R.I.P. My Jeremy Bear – 1992-2009

OK, its taken me a few weeks to get around to writing this as I need to be able to do it without crying.

As many may know, when I was 16 I got Jeremy aka Jerry Maguire II.  He was my first horse after having 2 ponies and was a super star.  The nicest horse you could ever possibly hope to meet.  The Saturday before Christmas 2009 I got a phone call from Jenny to let me know that he had broken his leg in the field and had to be put down on the spot.  We don’t know how he did it as there wasn’t a mark on him but his leg was broken above the knee.  The only thing we can assume is that he slipped or tripped and the leg just snapped as there was no kick mark on him.

I was obviously devastated as he was my baby boy.  Had him since I was just 16 and although he’d been on long term loan for the last few years with a fantastic girl who has taken such good care of him, he was still my baby and always will be.  So this post is a bit of a tribute to the fantastic Mr Jeremy Bear…. a nicer person you couldn’t wish to meet.  Unfortunately it turns out that I don’t have that many pictures of him but I’ll put up what I’ve got.

He came over from a hunting yard in Ireland as a rising 5 year old.  I’d been trying him out at Blackdyke for a few weeks and then I went to Paris on a sixth form art trip.  We got delayed on the way home and at London Waterloo I decided to give home a call.  My Mum was quite surprised to hear from me and said “you’ve only just caught us, we’re just leaving the house with a cheque in our hand”.  At which point I burst out crying.  I got off the phone and all my friend’s were like “what’s wrong? What’s happened?”  To which I replied “My Mum’s just bought me a horse!”  I must have sounded like such a spoilt brat but I didn’t care!

Some pics at Blackdyke the first winter I had him.  He had the biggest shoulders I’ve ever come across, it was almost impossible to fall off there was that much in front of you!

Check out the fuzzy mane

Sleepy bear (sleepy and pissed off at getting his photo taken without his rug on I think).

At our first x-country at Blackdyke.  Note the snaffle bridle… yeah that didn’t last into our second year when he figured out that this galloping across country business was far too much fun, he knew exactly what he was doing and didn’t really need me

I remember the first winter I had him at the Pony Club Christmas Show and we ended up in the Joker class and did the 4′ 2″ course.  I was terrified, but very proud… bless the little bear.  I believe he was probably covered in tinsel at the time as well… not very dignified!

This was taken at a Pony Club team competition (the only reason I can tell is the blue sweatshirt) but cannot remember for the life of me where.  Took a bit of a flier though!!

At Hopetoun House near Edinburgh.  This was a great day, just me and my Mum took the wagon with just one horse which was a bit of a treat.  Check out the very young me sorting out studs

And then taking an absolute flyer at the tiger’s teeth.  This is just after the dreaded trakenher (anybody who’s done this competition will know the jump I’m talking about).  For some reason Jeremy always had a thing about ditches.  If we ever got over one first time it was always cause for much celebration.  The year after this photo when we went back the trekenher was our downfall.  He saw the ditch from the top of the hill and decided there was not way he was going over it.  However the year this was taken we beat Oliver Townend thank you very much *smiles smugly*

This was at Castletown Horse Trials.  We got an amazing dressage score and clear showjumping and were absolutely storming around the x-country.  One of the best rides of my life and its a BIG track (this pictures if of fence number 1).  However, the water jump was the second to last fence and you jumped a wall at the top of a hill, then rode down the bank, then over a ditch, two strides and into the water.  Well he flew over the wall… got to the bottom of the bank and then just stood there.  There was no way in hell he was going over that ditch.  And it wasn’t like he was standing there peering into it terrified like a lot of horses do.  Nah, he was there all relaxed taking in the sights while I flailed about on top like some kind of demented chicken!!  Needless to say we didn’t complete!!

By this time we’d moved into the middle of nowhere on the England/Scotland border so had the horses at home for the first time.  Here is Jenny riding out the boy on one of the roads.  Terrible road safety I must say, no reins, no stirrups and in the middle of the road.  At least she had a hat on.  And Jeremy was the most unflappable horse you could ever hope to meet!

Winning the Discovery class at BSJA in the summer. And beating Johnathan Dixon which I was always rather smug about – yes us teenage girls can be rather petty.  Jeremy was a star as always.  BSJA was always amusing as you always end up with the people with the nutters careering around the warm up arena.  I remember once one t*sser deciding it was a really good idea to belt his horse while he was cantering right past me.  The back hooves ended up about 3 inches from my nose!  Needless to say the language coming out of my mouth was rather blue!  Jeremy however didn’t bat an eyelid!

Look how little we all look!

Some black and white pics from us messing about on the yard at home.  A very young Lorna on a Jeremy all ready to go to a party.

And me on my bear.  You really could do anything with this horse.  I’d frequently walk under his belly.  If he was lying down in the field when we went to get him in I’d sit on him and he’d get up with me on him then plod his way back to the stables.  When I had him in Edinburgh the farm I kept him at had two little girls aged 2 and 4 and they used to come running into his stable and wrap their arms around his legs.  He’d stand like a statue and just lean down and blow on their hair.  I don’t know any other horse that would have put up with that.

looking a bit chilly in his stable at home – check out the duvet.  Why buy expensive rugs when you can just use old duvets under this normal rugs… worked a treat!

We wer also in the paper when Brougham was shut down.  Both me and Jeremy and also Jenny and Tucker (though its really not the most flattering picture of them!).

And here is the proof of the photo used, which I love and is currently my background on both home and work computers, my mobile and my blackberry and is printed out and on my whiteboard at work!!

After I moved away Lorna rode Jeremy for a couple of years including hunting him which is absolutely loved.  We knew this anyway as I remember one PC rally when the hunt went past on the other side of the valley with the horn going and Jeremy went absolutely bonkers.  Broncing like a mad man.  If his shoulders hadn’t been as big as they were there was no way I’d have stayed on.  As it was everybody expressed their shock at the fact I stayed on.

After Lorna he went on loan to a friend of the family who unfortunately did not treat him well at all.  The culmination of which ended up with him getting laminitis and then being stuffed with bute and competed anyway.  Jenny went to see him and got him out of there that day.  Luckily one of Jenny’s friends then took him on permanent loan and she was an absolute star with him.  He took 18 months to get sound again but by the end he was out competing again and being adored by everybody at the yard.  The week before he died I got an email from Jenny telling me about the arguments he created on the yard because everybody wanted to bring him in from the field.  I never met anybody who didn’t love that boy. 

Here he is at Hannah’s yard.

I really cannot thank Hannah enough for looking after him in his last few years.  He was happy and healthy and loved and that’s the most you can ever hope for from a loan home.  The only regret I have is that I didn’t get a chance to go and ride him again and say goodbye.  I’ll always remember how he’d know if I was upset and stand behind me with his chin on my shoulder and just breathe down my neck.  I’m now crying writing this at work which is probably not the best idea!!

Rest in peace my gorgeous boy.  You were the horse of a lifetime and will never ever be forgotten or replaced.

Bees, Pigs and Dogs

Been a very busy few weeks, hence the lateness of the post.

Firstly, I finally got to see my comedy idol, Mr Eddie Izzard in Amsterdam.  He was fantastic and I got rather over excited.  I was actually squeaking before he came on… yes, squeaking like a small mouse!  Poor John and Bas who were sitting with me, they must have thought I was having some kind of fit!!

Bas looking… well… like Bas and John looking thorougly fed up with my giddiness!

Excited Katie

Ken who came all the way from Belgium to see Eddie… then came to find us in the crowd.

And the mighty Izzard himself!

By the end of the show I was actually feeling quite ill from laughing so much!  My sides and cheeks were killing me.  I then spent too much money on Eddie Izzard stuff.  Including the programme for the tour, a Covered in Bees t-shirt which I love and a Cake or Death mug which I really need to remember to bring into work!

We then met up with Ken and Marjan from Belgium and went for some drinks in the bar across the way, of course a couple of drinks turned into 4 or 5.  During the course of these drinks we discovered that Ken and Marjan’s brilliant plan for the evening was to hang out watching DVDs on the laptop till they got a train home in the morning.  Of course I told them not to be so stupid and they could come and stay with me.

We then went to get the last train from Amsterdam Arena that was due to leave at 1.32, we arrived on the platform at 1.28 to see the train pulling away!!  I was not amused, least of all as I was wearing a teeny tiny skirt (of course, this is me we’re talking about here!).

So we ended up waiting for a bus for about 20 minutes, had to take that to Amsterdam Centraal and from there get a train to The Hague.  Well we got on the train and then get the announcement that it was only going as far as Leiden (that’s about half way).  So at Leiden we had to get off and get on a coach which took us to The Hague HS station and then get a taxi home.  3 HOURS it took to get home!!

Then everything went quiet for a week and a half as I had suspected pig flu!!  Not so much fun.  Being ill when living on your own is horrible as well.  You actually have to get out of bed to go and get your own drugs and food!!  What’s that all about?  Last weekend I missed out on Nancy’s 29th 80s themed birthday party which was really annoying as I’d been looking forward to it for about 2 months!!  Stupid pig flu!!

So was back at work last week which I have to say was a blessing as I was so bored at home!!  There is only so much TV you can watch while curled up in your PJs!  Tuesday night I went to see New Moon and LOVED it.  My review of the movie here.  Then ended up going for 1 drink… well we all know how 1 drink turns out!  Was a little bit fuzzy round the edges on Wednesday!

And that brings us nicely to this weekend!  I had 3 parties planned, 2 leaving parties and on Saturday Katerina’s name day party.  In Greece you basically get 2 birthday’s.  One is your actual birthday and the other is your name day which is the saints day with the same name as you (so my name day is the same at Katerina’s).  But your name day is actually the bigger deal in Greece so lots of presents and parties.

Friday night was OK, bit of a quiet party for my liking even if I did manage to lower the tone quite effectively with my drunken banter.  But when the acoustic guitar came out that was too much for me and I left.  Ended up going round to John’s for more drunken banter and then crashing out in a drunken stupor.  Not good the next day when you have to do the walk of shame from a friend’s house!!!  I did have the beautiful shoes on which look gorgeous and are OK for standing about but not exactly designed for walking long distances in.  By long distances I mean anything further than about 50 feet!!  So by the time I got home my feet were killing me and I had time to leap in the shower and get changed before meeting Mo for lunch in town and do a bit of Christmas shopping.

Then Saturday headed into Amsterdam which is a bit of a trek as its 50 mins on the train to central station.  But once there went to Werck which was where Katerina’s party was and I have to say was one of the best night’s out in ages!!  I think I was the only one there who was new to the group so it could have been a disaster as sometimes its difficult to get to know people who are already an established group.  But not problems at all on Saturday.  All Katerina’s friends are really lovely and great fun.  My cheeks were hurting from laughing so much!!

Going to be bad and not comment on all of them as I was very drunk and I can’t remember everybody’s names *looks ashamed*

Me and Katerina

Dancing Girls

Some really drunk people!!

Wow I’ve written a lot so far!!

Sunday I was meant to be going round to Mark’s for Kriszta’s leaving dinner and party but I went for a nap at 5pm and woke up this morning!!  So clearly I fail at multiple nights out!!  The hang over yesterday was rather impressive though!

So far no plans for this week until Friday when hopefully me and Erica are going to see New Moon again and then head to the expat Christmas Party.  But Erica is looking a little peeky at the moment so she may not be well enough to do anything.  Then Saturday I’m going Christmas tree shopping which I’m rather excited about.  First time I’ve decorated for Christmas since I’ve lived here so am really looking forward to it.

The other nice bit of news is I’m going to be dog sitting a toy poodle from 9 Dec till 3 Jan   He’s a very laid back dog so doesn’t need much walking and is more than happy in a flat.  Haven’t had a dog for ages so really looking forward to it.  I also have a very old friend coming to visit on 10-14 December which should be a bit of a riotous weekend knowing him!!

Amsterdam

Just a short update really.  Had a very cultured weekend last weekend.

Friday I managed to be extremely blonde and left my wallet on my desk at work – only me!  Luckily I’d put my bank card in my pocket at lunch so I was still able to actually do stuff… but then I got on the wrong tram without realising it and ended up having to walk about 3km home so did not go out on Friday night, just got home and vegged out – which is also good

Saturday I met up with John and we went to see the Cezanne, Picasso and Mondrian exhibition in The Hague which was ace.  We also had a wander around the rest of the museum as well while we were there.  Luckily the rain held off till we were actually in the museum!  It was quite a complete collection and really documented the progression of the cubist technique throughout the 3 artists lives and how the took inspiration from each other (which on a few paintings I’m sorry, it wasn’t inspiration, it was copying ).

Then on Saturday night I went through to Amsterdam for Museum Night.  This is a night where you buy one ticket and get access into all the museums in the city plus you can use it once more before the end of the year in case you miss anything.  The city was heaving and there were queues in front of every museum.  We went to the City Archives which was interesting… live music and free beer as well.  And then we headed for the Handbag Museum which was ace, though funnily enough almost totally female dominated   We also got to dress up in 1920s style and get our photo taken which was fun.

Then on Sunday I headed through to John’s and we had a bit of a jam session which was ace… though I got homework, not sure what that’s all about!!   Then had roast dinner which is always good

Still busy this week, got dinner with Mo tonight out on Thurs then visitor on Friday and Saturday is Eddie Izzard in Amsterdam.  So so so so so excited about that!  Been a fan for years but never seen him live so have high expectations.  Not sure what’s happening for the rest of the night – would be good to go out in Amsterdam but will see what everybody else fancies.

Crazy busy at work as usual, but still enjoying it so its all good   Got the Christmas party to look forward to in the second week in December which looks like it could be rather interesting.

Halloween – warning, millions of photos!!!

Wow, I’ve actually managed to bruise my toes!!  Quite an impressive feat.  But more on that later!

As you all know last night was Halloween which is the best excuse I can think of to get all dressed up.  Firstly, at work we had Halloween drinks in the canteen on  Wednesday so I got to spend my afternoon decorating the canteen with the other girls and up to my elbow in pumpkin.  I haven’t carved a pumpkin in years and I have to say it was great fun.  I do have an uncanny ability to get mess everywhere though… but I think that adds to the fun.

The place looked amazing and the guys in the canteen did a great job with the catering.  Here’s a selection of pictures from Wednesday.

The master at work!

Rebekka, Erica and me hard at work

Rebekka gutting her pumpkin

Fred the Pumpkin

Kiki, me and Erica – I appear to be pulling a rather strange face!  Situation normal then!

Me, Erica, Ernst (my boss) and Rebekka

The pumpkin carver extraordinaires!!! (Erica, Rebekka and moi)

And personally I think Erica should make this her Facebook profile pic, its brilliant!!!

Then on Friday I was at an expat party, just a quiet one but we got to burn alcohol and recite a spell to keep the evil spirits away (ghosty spirits, not alcoholic spirits) which was great fun.  I need to steal some pics off Facebook of the flaming alcohol as its was very very cool.  And so pretty!!

And then came Saturday!  Now I haven’t done a Halloween party since I was living in Edinburgh and that generally involved going to The Mission – oh how miss that club, though I’d probably be bored of it if I was still living there – and dressing up not dissimilar to how we normally dressed.  So I spent Saturday afternoon going round town looking for inspiration with the help of Mo who I think I called about 6 times over about 3 hours!  I didn’t like any of the costumes in the costume shop so decided to go as a devil and try and get a red dress or skirt.  This was a much better idea.  Though I did have to go back to the costume shop for horns and a tail (never thought I’d have to say that sentence) and it was like a rugby scrum!!  Thought I was about to pass out by the time I’d paid.

Spent about 3 hours getting ready which is always good fun even on my own and got picked up by Dave at about 9 and went round to Mark’s first for pre-party drinks.

Leaving the house.. and yes, that is a bottle of Pimms in my hand!  And LOVE my new pink fluffy jacket… I saw it and spoke to me.  Well its pink and its fluffy… and pink and fluffy… and….

Sober Kate… last picture of that for the evening!!!   And look at the beautiful shoes… so beautiful…. so painful!!  Managed to bruise my toes from dancing so much!!

Attempting to spike Dave’s hair…. the spikes did not last long!

Mark and Dave all ready to go (note the spikes have already fallen over!!).  Mark looking slightly disturbing here… and also kinda like Keith from the Prodigy (I had to explain to him who that is!)

Ready to rumble!!

Couldn’t find a pitchfork so had a whip instead – attempted to crack it but ended up hitting myself.  Its more difficult than cracking lunge whips which I’m a dab hand at

All of us ready to go.  Me, Mark, Krizsta and Fran… and Dave but he’s behind the camera!

We then went on to Dean’s party which was in his garage.  He’d done a really good job, whole place was decorated and there was a proper DJ and disco lights and everything.  Plus fridges full of booze!  So here comes millions and millions of pictures!!  In no particular order as I can’t remember what order they were taken in!

Small disclaimer here… Krizsta had orange hair spray on which rubbed off on everything including me as I kept kissing her!!!!  So any pictures of me with stupid orange stuff on my face, that’s why!!!  Also, as it was dark in there you couldn’t see it… you can only see it on the pictures.

Fran, Dave and me… me and Fran looking a little drunk (Dave was designated driver).

Mark and Miriam

Miriam and moi

Miriam looking fabulous dahling!

I don’t think I can really say much about this picture… it speaks for itself

This was clearly later on in the night!!  And the hole in my tights was there when I put them on!!

Tra la laaaaa

Please don’t kill me Krizsta!

Me and Dave

Me, Miriam, Lilly and Krizsta doing some kind of can-can

Me and Jennifer having a whale of a time dancing like loons

Red lady, orange lady

Ah ha… Dave has an orange forehead… it wasn’t just me!!

Fran, Miriam and mark

LOVE this pic!!

This was clearly later on after vast quantities of alcohol

More and more hole appearing in my tights… by the end of the night they were basically in shreds.  Didn’t help that I thought it was fun to rip more in them!

Fran was trollied by the end of the night… you could just spin him round and off he’d go.  He also lost his cloak, bless!

A prize for the best caption me thinks!!

Aawww

Looking fricking ace Krizsta

Lily

Another stabbing one… should probably have put them together… ah well, can’t be bothered now!

This is a great pic, such a shame about the stupid orange stuff… and the fact I was clearly rather hot after dancing all night!

Sexeh!

Boobs x 4!!

Drunk… us… nevah!!

At about 1am we decided to try another party we had been invited to.  Turned out not such a good idea.  The place was fricking weird.  It was a house, but the ground floor was basically a lounge/bar type thing with an actual bar in the corner.  And the basement was club, with strobe lights, a dj booth and mirrors.  So had a bit of a dance downstairs then some guy came along at about 2 and told everybody they had to leave.  Who ends a party at 2 in the morning!!!!  So we went to leave and this guy basically grabs me and goes ‘where are you going?’… urm, with my friends.  ‘No no, they can leave, you stay here with me’!!!  He then started trying to push/drag/persuade me towards the stairs… luckily at that point rescue came in the form of friends.  Very weird guy.  We went back to Dean’s party but it had also finished by the time we got back.  So the night ended at about 2.30 in the morning which was a bit of a disappointment but it was still an excellent night!!

Looking forward to all the fun this month now.  Got expat drinks on Friday, then Saturday I’m off with John to see the Cezanne, Picasso and Mondriaan exhibition in The Hague which I’m really looking forward to.  Weekend after that I’m going to see Eddie Izzard in Amsterdam which I’m actually giddy with excitement over.  Then its Nancy’s 80s themed fancy dress party and then the week after that is Katerina’s name day party (its a Greek thing) in Amsterdam.  Oh, there is also work fitting in somewhere in all of that!

Urgh, just looked out of the window and its started raining… looks like winter is here.  Maybe we could all just hibernate until May.  Oh, with a brief wake up at Christmas!

The Texting Theory… OK, more of a rant!

In this day and age with so many ways of communicating there are whole new ‘rules’ about what you should and shouldn’t do.  Lately this has been driving me crazy!  Now I’m very much a what you see is what you get kind of girl.  I’m also impatient and impulsive.  So, if I get a text you will get a reply as soon as I read the text which is generally straight away – regardless of who you are.  What’s the issue with that I hear you cry…. well with friends this is perfectly fine, however when it comes to the opposite sex apparently new rules come in.

For instance, if a guy you’re interested in texts you, you shouldn’t reply back straight away.  Now personally I think this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!!  Surely if you are interested in someone you want them to like you for you, not for some fake image you portray.  Why the hell should I pretend to be this ice-queen who doesn’t give a shit if actually I do.  And if I do have to pretend to be someone I’m not surely I shouldn’t want to be with them… if only it were that simple!  Nowadays it’s all meant to be about games and tactics when it comes to relationships, well I can’t do that.  Never have been able to.  I like someone, I tell them… I’ve had guys tell me I’m scary because of this before

The other downside to this is I generally get impatient to get replies to texts… because I expect everyone to reply like I do.  But then I just lose patience and call instead

So from now on, no more games.  I mean, I’ve never really done them anyway but I’m going to stop even trying.  This is me, take it or leave it.  If you don’t like me for me then bugger off   I’m very happy with the person I am   Coz I’m great… mwa ha ha!!

Boycott Lush for Christmas

This is something I feel strongly about so thought I’d put up a post.  Lush will be producing a bath bomb this season from which proceeds will got to support hunt saboteurs.  Not just anti-hunt people, but the sabs… those lovely people who spray mace in hounds’ eyes yet the people who humanely dispose of vermin are apparently the cruel ones.  So take a stand with me and boycott Lush.  I won’t just be boycotting for Christmas but forever, I will not give a single penny of my hard earned cash to something I feel is just wrong.

Full article with the details can be found here.  There is also a Facebook group with the same name as this blog post which would be worthwhile joining.

On a more cheery note, Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize!!  Nice to see that people who are actually trying to make a difference are being recognised!!

Peanut Butter and Ice-Cream

Yes… that was my sustenance this weekend.  Leaving the flat seemed like far too much effort after the carnage of Friday night, so my diet got based on what was left in the house.  So peanut butter and Ben & Jerry’s!!

So yeah, Friday!!  It was Erica’s birthday so we were going out in Haarlem which is just south of Amsterdam.  First we went out for a lovely tapas with the obvious sangria   We then moved on to a bar/club just around the corner which was really good fun.  Haarlem is really pretty as well which I wasn’t expecting, there is this massive square right in the middle with a bit old cathedral.  I would have taken pics but was a bit drunk by that point!  I didn’t get many pictures throughout the entire night actually.  But here are a few:

Birthday girl looking gorgeous as usual.  She has to be one of the most photogenic people I’ve ever met!

Mara (who I also work with) looking very cute.

All the ladies looking fabulous

And in the bar towards the end of the night.  I only took one pic in there so its not great but Almi’s (the girl doing the pointing ) face made me laugh.

I decided to go home about midnight.  I was feeling very tired and there were a couple of coupley couples (wow that’s a lot of couples) who I was fighting the urge not to scowl at

So ended up talking to Bas for like half an hour on the way home about god only knows what.  Then was sitting on the train with my ipod on full volume which usually indicates that I don’t really want to talk to anybody.  At Leiden a load of late teens/early twenties got on  and proceeded to poke me till I took my headphones out and then spent the rest of the journey back trying to chat me up.  With cracking lines such as “Will you have sex with me”, my response “tempting though that is I think I’ll pass”.  There was another one who’s age dropped 2 years every time he spoke to me and then another who was asking me if I knew every British person he’d ever heard of.  I think he’s now convinced that I know Prince William personally.

Got back to The Hague and decided that actually I didn’t feel like going home yet so texted some people and went and met up with Gustavo and Mo and some of their friends.  Now I was already pretty damn drunk by this point.  Ended up staying out till about 3.30 after going to the Paap and then walking the longest route ever with Gustavo to find a damn taxi.  Got home about 4 then decided I couldn’t be bothered to go to bed so more chatting to Bas on the phone and then watched TV till 6!!!

The hang over on Saturday was very impressive I must say.  I was meant to be going to another birthday party on Saturday night but fell asleep on the sofa at 4 in the afternoon and woke up at midnight…. oops!!  I had one of those really really lazy weekends where I didn’t move off the sofa, didn’t get dressed and ended up eating the remains of my fridge which was ice cream and peanut butter… very Bridget Jones.  It was also the first time I let myself wallow a bit which I must say was very therapeutic and I’ve been totally hyper all week.

This week has been fairly quiet so far, Monday I ended up chatting to an old friend from Carlisle who I haven’t spoken to in years which was fabulous!!  Not only that I got offered a permanent contract at work which was fantastic news.  I was expecting to get offered a contract for 1 year to start with so I was bouncing off the walls after hearing that news.

Tuesday we had drinks at work to celebrate some good news and I’d hardly eaten anything at lunch so got a little tipsy from one beer… which was interesting seeing as I was getting a lift home with my boss!!  Then last night was great fun, went out with Clare who I haven’t seen since my birthday and since then has gotten engaged   So a big congratulations to Clare and Andy.  Now I have to start saving to get to Boston next September for the wedding!!  It was really great to catch up and give each other all the gossip as so much has happened in the last month and a half (plus there was a very very yummy bar man who was game for a little flirting ).

So tomorrow night I am out again then so far no plans for the rest of the weekend.  Will see what happens.  There is the possibility of going out in Amsterdam which I’ve never done but have to look at the cash flow before I decide upon that one!  If I end up with no plans I think I’ll go out with the camera again and see if I can get some nice local photos from the area I live in.

Lille Part 2

I have most of my SLR pictures rom Lille back and some have turned out well but for some, specifically the close up ones, I actually prefer the ones taken on my teeny tiny digital. 

I feel this has potential but didn’t quite make it

The Lille coat of arms

I really like this one…. its very French

I’m really liking stuff taking from this kind of angle at the moment.  I’ve got quite a few.

Again, not a very technically brilliant photo but I like the colours and the feel of it.

Misty French Morning

This was the fountain I got yelled at by Crazy French Lady for photographing!

Love this picture

Pigeon and Mark

I took quite a few of these pigeons, this is my favourite though.

Rainbow

These guys looked so chilled out.  They also had a dog that they’d tied 3 balloons to so could see where he was all the time, very cute!!

These next two were me playing around with different focues

Quite a good one of Mark I thought

Again, playing about with focus

And again.  I think this looks a bit like something out of Honey I Shrunk the Kids

And lastly the big picture of the fountain.