Standing in a wishing hole...

S'been a while f-list.

Life has been pretty good lately, if stressful.

Waz and I have been going through a worrying health related period. He's fine, pretty much got the all clear and just a follow up appointment in 6 weeks to ensure he's definitely fine and he doesn't have anything sinister at all. It's been hard though and taking a fairly serious toll on our some aspects of our relationship whilst at the same time bringing us closer together.

With this my step-dad has also been in and out of hospitals for tests. He's finally agreed to find out what actually is wrong with him. So far they have several avenues to explore because he has several possibly unrelated health issues. It's a constant waiting game. We have a bit of an argument on the phone about it the other day because I finally told him how I felt about living with not knowing what was wrong with him and him doing nothing about it for 5 years and how he doesn't know everything and he's just scared and I was proud of him for finally manning up about it but he didn't take it well and wound up putting mum on the phone.

She's coping well as usual. She's a stronger lady than she gives herself credit for.

We've had lots of social occasions - birthdays and things which have been welcome distractions and this will only continue.

Last weekend his parents were up which was lovely, if a bit exhausting. Weekend before that was Ann's murder mystery party. 1840s wild west extravaganza that was :D Yestereday was Leon's 80s movies themed party and Wendyhouse. I didn't make it to Wendy but I did get to dress up as Rachael from Bladerunner and that was pretty fun.

Work is still driving me a bit mad and Waz thinks the project he's working on is coming to an end so he's looking elsewhere.

Christmas planning is going well. I've decided to throw a Christmas party at ours because it was high time I hosted something! So I've got that to look forward to - plus I have Jay's 40th bash which falls in the middle of a 6 day stretch of annual leave. It is a weekend away at a castle and we're having a medieval style banquet and it's gonna be lovely I've probably posted about this already but I'm excited! I I am really in need of some time out not least to do Christmas prep/crochet/crafting and some very serious unwinding. I also have 2 days booked to make a nice 4 day weekend in a few weeks as well - thank goodness.

Not much else to report really.     

This week has been a hell of a one. Shit going down at work has been stressful. Can't really talk about it yet due to HR issues but needless to say it doesn't involve me directly but is making life at work heavy going in part. However it also made me realise how much I adore my job and my team which is strange, unexpected and awesome. My colleagues are so ace and that's what mostly makes it a really good job. So yeah, that's a great thing ^-^

Paul went in for hospital tests this week so I'm gonna ring home today/tomorrow to try and find out all that's happened. Hopefully we have some answers. Marmie found out that her job is moving to Lincoln which is down the road but rather futher down the road than where she currently works. This may of course also mean that actually there are redunancies on the table. She's a nurse with a mental health ward and it's a long accepted fact that mental health is one of the department that suffers when the cuts come in. It's pretty under-funded anyway, all considered.

Rolemaster on Monday was great - there was no Tard which meant less tension in the group because he is always very deliberately antagonistic both IC and OC o.O' And we had Big Si (named very aptly for he is an incredibly large Simon. Tall and built like the proverbial brick house) who is lovely and nice and calm and is playing my character's brother. Hopefully together we two can beat convince some sense into the other party members. It's all good fun really though. :)

Tuesday saw drinks with work - I posted about that already.

Wednesday was ... I don't remember much! I've a feeling it was home and crochet...Yep.
Thursday saw working an extra hour and a half to try and catch up - yay over time. Not to be done too often for it is tiring but done often enough to bump my pay cheque up =D And I made the first stew of the winter. =D Yaaaaay chicken stew.

And then yesterday work got better. Our Big Boss was not in the office so we all were very chilled out and it was Jay's 21st so there were balloons and a jovial atmosphere in spite of the out of hours team in Scotland wanting all the details on our sites and engineers and call out rotas and being generally rude and dickish about it at 4:30pm on a Friday it was a goooood work day. Then Waz decided to take me for dinner ^o^ Yaaaaay. So we had date night and watched Mindhunters. Which all in all is a pretty ok film and then we gossiped in bed before sleeps.

Today the plan is pop into town for some yarn and some bits and pieces for Hornby Laithe  and a new bath mat (I'm trying to program that into my mind so I don't forget) and come home for crochet and slippers (crocheting slippers possibly I found the cutest pattern for little slipper boots) and possible X factor related viewing and of course some hardcore NaNo plotting. Characters are developing in my mind really well. Now to try and plan the plot a bit more and where everyone fits in. I don't need it set in stone but I think I need a good strong Plan with a capital P to get this done. Particularly as 1 - 2 nights a week I'll still be roleplaying and my weekends often get busy without my noticing until I'm at them. So yeah.

Oh, also on Date Night Waz brought up the wedding. Now we're a bit more financially comfortable he said he wants to start doing some serious planning. I basically said that I don't want to start seriously planning until we have a bit of money put aside. Not a massive amount, but something to say that we're on the way to getting there. When he proposed (Valentines 2010 you understand) I started planning and hoping and then all sorts of crap happened and the planning stopped and all hope of actually tying the knot just disappeared. We're not talking a massive affair here! I'm thrifty and don't want to spend a fortune but even for the ceremony and suit hire/dress and a hotel for parents to stay in so they can come is out of our price range right now. -_-' Stupid recession. So I want about £1500 put aside so we can at least have that much sorted and then consider our options for the reception. We have a LOT of friends that I would absolutely love to all come but feeding that many people even with a hog roast/ buffet style aint cheap. So yeah. Save a bit and then work on decided on definitive guest list and venue. (Also note to self after Hornby Laithe and Chalkies birthday I need to stop buying Stuff on eBay. I did need/want them but it has to stop for Christmas is creeping up on me)

It doesn't help that some of our other close friends will be getting married in the mean time. Both of which due to high flying careers or very well off families will mean no expenses spared. I didn't know I had such a green monster but apparently this is one of them! I'm not saying I want anything fancy at all... I'd just like it to happen before I turn 30 lol.

Anyway. That's my very silly rant over. I should really be grateful for the following:

1: My boy-man. He is silly but I do love him
2: The winter weather coming in =D I love this time of year
3: A weekend mostly to myself :) Oh yes tomorrow there will be sleeping and sleeping and more sleeping and possibly just a day of PJs.

So the grouchiness has subsided at long last. I am feeling a great deal better this morning. Work was good this week - I actually really like my job. It does my head in and it stresses me but I like the atmosphere, the banter, my crazy engineers (even the grumpy ones) and the fact that I feel like I'm doing a good job at it. I think so. I hope so anyway!

Shadowrun last night was good. We have once again landed ourself in Deep Shit which is always great roleplay. 6 intrepid shadow runners have gone back in time and are now infiltrating a camp of a million Persians gearing up to beat on the Greeks. In order to weedle into the camp we have disguised ourselves as traders and tarted up our very Icelandic cat-burgler girl as a virgin princess spoils of war from The North beyond the Sea to sell. It's worked so far with the exception of the fact that the party decided to throw Peaches, my troll character, into the bargain as an abomination type gladiator -_- We finished the session with Peaches in the middle of an arena about to face off against a four-armed orc.

Fun times!

Today we are chilling out and catching up on chores around the house. Must get to a bottle bank and also do lots of washing because I am a slack bastard and have gotten really behind in the laundry stakes lately. Urgh.

Then off to an engagement party tonight where our friends are enforcing a smart dress code. I guess it's an excuse to get all dolled up but I'm not entirely feeling it today. I'm sure I will be laters.

For now I have much planning and plotting and.. oh look Waz is still in bed maybe I'll just go and snuggle and go back to sleep for a bit. =D

:) So today is a good day. I get paid my first 'grown up' pay cheque tomorrow. First time I've been paid monthly, also I'm earning a fair bit more than I was through the agency so I was very squeaky when I found out that I have lots of pennies to play with for the first time in a loooooooooooong ass time.

Money will be sensibly set aside for rent/bills and I will buy a monthly bus pass and put some in my savings account to make up for the all the dipping I've been doing. The rest is for FUN TIMES. Maelstrom is soon so there's money for that. Also I want to take my boy out for dinner. And I will treat Annie when she comes up next weekend. Woot. =D

This Bank Holiday weekend we're off to my parents to see my little brother before he moves all the way down south and then Monday that is extra and off will be for pjs and sleeping (unless the Other Half comes up with something clever to do)

Following weekend is Annie visiting and there will be lunch and shopping and then who knows. :)

Also... just to make this day mega awesome? Vampire Diaries season 2 is finally on the Virgin On Demand :D So it is vampire three-way angst on The Big TV for me. =D Oh Damon, you break my heart. Nom.

Also Also Also... Tattoo plotting is going very well. Am at the stage where I'm looking for the right artist as my idea is a little more concrete and easier to describe.

^-^

Today I am feeling a great deal better :) YAY! Yesterday was pretty lovely, even though I was fairly groggy for most of it. Work was good, I wrote my 'goodbye' email inviting my colleagues out for a lunch time booze-a-ma-hol at our local and only cried a little. Then I rang the West Yorshire Archives Service to book myself in for a tour and chat with the archivist. Figured I might as well do something productive next week! I'd been emailing back and forth and sometimes a phonecall is just quicker.

The lady I spoke with was an absolute dear and I'm really looking forward to going to meet her on Wednesday. This is all with the view to getting this job at the university/ seriously considering librarianship.

Home, snuggled Waz and tasty dinner. :) One of my favourite things to do is wash his hair while he's in the bath. Is that weird? There's something very innocent and intimate about it at the same time. Plus omg his being back on building sites and doing electrical work again means he's in really good shape right now O.o' In need of a hair cut, but really fit. :D

Faffed with leaving presents, sorted my life out a bit more and then played NWN for a while. I'm going to try not to game -too- much and I think I will justify myself a small amount of my paycheck for some aida for cross stitch or something similar to embroider this on:

So I walked home last night too. Go me. I walked a total of just over 2 hours yesterday because I had to go to the bank at lunchtime as well. I feel great for it! So I think I'm going to walk to work two to three times a week if I can. We'll see how that goes. Although how I feel when I'm walking it in the rain I don't know - so far the weather has been gorgeous.

Got home last night, fed myself and the boy, showered, dolled up and scooted on over to a gorgeous little country pub where Ann and Char were having their little reception. They actually had the service yesterday and the big bash is at the weekend where I think they'll receive a blessing. Ann looked absolutely gorgeous as she always does. Utterly herself, really natural and the dress was perfect for her. I'm so so thrilled for them both. It was really chilled out, loads of my friends were there and it was just great to see everyone and share that day with them. I love our Ann, she's such a doll.

A tiny tiny part of me is very envious though.. I want to get married! :o(

Said goodbye to the Neko-chan for a week, she's off to her motherland of N.Ireland. I told her not to get petrol bombed. -_-

Work is quiet. Boss is off and I probably should have brought a book to read between stuff because it's pretty dead right now. Particularly today as our director is in a meeting for most of the day.

Falling Skies starts tonight - it looks pretty sa-weet. Otherwise though no plans for this evening. Might try and take pictures of my shrug. Maybe an early night. Maybe I can coax the boy into spending some quality time - we've been fairly neglectful lately. Sadly when he's on a downward turn so goes 'us'. I love him but when things aren't going the way he wants them to then he suddenly fails to see past the end of his own nose. I guess we're all guilty of that but it's not nice being on the receiving end of it and feeling a little neglected.

Patience and perseverance, I guess!

3 things I'm grateful for:

1 - My knee being stronger than I thought! It's not complaining at all inspite of the extra work I'm putting it through.
2 - Ann - she made such a blushing bride :o)
3 - The £200.00 of my deposit from the last house being returned. Yay. Straight into my savings account with you, I say!

New house = space for my computer to be up and running. Woot. It's been under the bed for a year so has been thoroughly dusted and I am now slowly going through the super-slow process of updating EVERYTHING. This baby was a bit moody about the Windows updates as it was, particularly anything related to service pack 3. I've a sad feeling this may entail an almost total reformat in the end but I think I can cope. Hell, it's not like I've missed much on it over the last year.

Once everything is up to date I'm going to use Waz's external harddrive to store my crap that means something to me on it and then if it needs wiping it can be wiped.

Fingers crossed for me though!

Happily today is also brought to you sans toothache. I was nearly tearing my hair and my eyes out on Monday night with the sheer amount of pain involved. Can't really afford dental work - might not have much choice if the tooth-pain returns.

Waz has lost and found work in the space of a week. It comes of having 'a trade' as well. He's a qualified electrician, don't-ya-know. Which is a life saver at the moment because it does make him very employable. He is, on the other hand, somewhat annoying me because his guild on WoW are doing new content for them tonight and someone else got the tank spot so he's now bimbling about. Suddenly because he is no longer raiding I'm expected to entertain him. Sorry babe, I've got my own stuff to do right now.

Meh.

Also I had to frog my new shrug because I wasn't paying attention and it was all wonky. Not in the quirky-this-looks-intentional kind of way. But cocked up, cock-eye sort of wonky. Still, it's coming together a treat on a nice tasty 8mm hook with chunky chunky pretty yarn. Pics when done, I imagine, because Cat finally 'found' my camera which she swore wasn't in her room but I knew she'd been the last person to use it.

Meh.

Meh.

Meh. Is it the weekend yet?

HOT I say. Today is not the sort of day to be cooped up indoord deep-cleaning a kitchen. Nope. But that's what I'm doing.

This will be my last post from Student-Ville. The computer goes over to the new house tonight and internet in the new house tomorrow so I won't be out of action or anything.

I'm currently sat in an almost bare room - just one of my prints on the wall, the computer and the washing that is drying waiting to come on over.

Waz and I have been at it non-stop since Friday night, moving and shifting and cleaning. Soon to be ex-housemate Cat hasn't done a thing yet. Already we've packed her kitchen stuff and the stuff she left in the lounge and moved two car loads for her. What's left for her is the BOMBsite that is her bedroom. It's tragic. At this rate she's going to have to throw it all in bin-bags and move it that way. We should have brought some of our moving boxes back for her really but we haven't unpacked very much yet. Plus she hasn't spoken to me in weeks. The only time I've heard from her is if I've texted her first and only if I ask a direct question do I stand a chance of getting a reply. Her other half is tearing his hair out because she's just being shit about it all. The stupid cake-topper on the whole matter is that she is moving a MASSIVE distance of two streets over. I'm not even being snotty there, it's a 2 minute walk and 2 streets over and she has keys because she's moving in with her poor boyfriend. She could have been moving MONTHS AGO because she's never freaking here anyway.

But no. She's leaving it until the day before our inspection and key-hand over.

WTF.

Argh.

In less infuriating news the new house is lovely. The mattress on our bed sucks but we'll get our own I think because with Waz's dodgy back investing in a nice memory foam jobby will be money well spent I feel. Other than that the important things like the kitchen and the shower are a treat. Last night Kat and I cooked up a chilli and nachos feast and there was beer and movies and it was a great way to have our mini housewarming.

Today has been spent entirely on cleaning the kitchen. Ick. Soon I will chill out though. Chill out, feed my boy and maybe have a naaaap. And a shower, a nice cool one because lordy lord it is warm.

Looking back over the year here it's been.... emotional. This bedroom was the first one that Waz and I have shared and lived together in and I will miss it for that. We've gone through a great deal this past year here and I have grown a hell of a lot. We moved in just before my graduation from university and here I am a year later in a sucky job I dislike but at least I've got a job, he's unemployed, we're both barely managing to keep on top of our finances and life doesn't seem to be getting much better any time soon in that respect. But... I think truly Waz and I have only grown stronger as a couple for all the hardship and hell, it's not been all bad! This house has seen some great nights - lots of fun roleplay, lots of quiet nights in, a fair(ish) share of Mothers Meetings and some really lovely nights 'just us'.

I guess now that only time will tell what the new house will bring.

I'm kinda nervous about tomorrow....House moving begins. Also house planning begins. We still haven't ironed out where the rent is going to come from bank account wise (there are four of us so it really needs to come from us all in one place so it's easier for the letting agent) or bills, or anything. Nothing is sorted in that regard. I think there might be some ego/organising issues a bit at first because we will want things done, done now, done their way. Eep.

I just hope beyond all hope that everything goes smoothly. Or you know, as smoothly as possible.

Oh, I feel much better by now =) But jittery. And also needing chocolate. Or cake. Or both.

Yesterday was fab!

Lunch and shopping with Annie ~ She is such a dear. I will miss her when she does finally abandon me to go and live in the US. She's currently planning and preparing to apply to do her postgrad study out there. Crazy lady. I can't say I'm not jealous and I'm not sad at the thought of losing her but I'm proud of her for knowing what she wants and going after it.

Then I came home, did some packing and then we head over to Ann and Char's for some pre-Wendyhouse drinks and stuff. Was nice to see Waz out the house - and it was his idea, le gasp. Usually he'd just drop me straight at the union for Wendy and not bother with being social. He didn't come to wendy but predrinks was good.

The theme was 'fairytale' and we had quite the selection. We had Buttercup and Dread Pirate Roberts, The Scarcrow and Dorothy, Princess Fiona, Captain Hook, a Fairy Godmother, The Queen of Hearts, several Prince Charmings and an Evil Demon Queen (me)

Twas tres fun. What was less fun was my poor knee not standing up to the job, my poor feet hurting after the dancing and the walking all day prior to the dancing. Apparently I really am starting to get to old and broken for this shit. Meh.

Was lovely to see Neko-chan and her boy out together as well. By this time next week we'll pretty much be roomies; dun dun dun.

What was less fun, however, was Waz knocking a pint of juice all over his computer desk at 3:00 this morning after picking me up. We'd decided to chill out with an episode of something to unwind a bit before sleeping and he threw the whole pint of juice over the desk with his elbow. Thank fook for surgeproof extensions that's all I can say. His computer and him are fine so we're very grateful. I dunno how though, it went freaking everywhere.Whatever. Something big and shiny somewhere smiled on him in that moment. I am grateful for it. He'd have been bloody unbearable if he was poorly and without computer. Ick.

This afternoon I think we're gonna go see X-men. =D Yay for nectar points which will hopefully make the trip free.