Labels: Todd

Labels: Coralie

Finally getting a job after six months.

Spending a great weekend out with my man taking photos and visiting art galleries.

No car day on Sunday.

A night out with friends.

Receiving an email from another firm that I sent my CV to, requesting an interview - but they were too late. Everybody loves me baby.

Learning that a friend got married.

Finding out that on a couple of pages of my Hello Kitty colouring book Joanna had coloured in one picture - and added a picture originally drawn by Lucy Pepper here. I would like to state that I am NOT Hello Kitty's martian friend - I'm quite normal on a good day.

And I am SO happy still.

The Twat left me to cook for the kids tonight and so far no one has thrown up. The kitchen didn't catch fire and I didn't have to call the hospital.

The Twat's on his way home - drunk.

That's happiness.

I can't believe that I'm going back to being employed after so many months but I'm so happy about it. The small office looks very friendly and I think I'll be the fourth person there. None of us have the same nationality but are joined together by English - and working for the same outfit. It's very relaxed and I wanted the job at once and after the phone call asking me if I'd work there I've been dancing, skipping, smiling (my god, do my cheeks hurt) and knitting after a bottle of wine.

Wine and knitting do not mix. I looked at the disaster that was going to be Todd's scarf this morning and oh.my.god. I've dropped stitches everywhere, managed to add on stitches in places - you really don't want to know. So I'll start again. BB suggested that I knit truly awful jumpers for everybody for Christmas which has given her the great pleasure to find truly awful knitting patterns in car boot sales. And believe me, she'll find something so god-awful that it will be a pleasure to knit. Especially if I picture it with the Twat's poncy-poofy-tracky-trainers. Oh joy.

Now in today's picture (that sounds like Playschool for all you oldies) we can see the other half of my Hello Kitty knickers, a notepad, stickers, more jewelry, a Hello Kitty box and so much more. The doll thing was made by Joanna and is called Mary Shelley. The doll comes complete with butt crack where I think I may have ripped it when opening the box and so I believe Mary Shelley needs surgery.

Thank you everyone for the congratulations - and thank you Quarsan for making me apply for the job. I wasn't all that interested at first you see, so now he's sitting like a smug twat next to me.

He merits his name you know.

I know the picture is still pink, but chickadees, at least it's a break from Hello Kitty, don't you think?

We had a lovely weekend being entertained by Andy Ramblings who promised to cook but his sweet and ever-so-nice mum prepared a beef fondue for us, followed by me falling out of bed, landing on my nose and then there was blood everywhere. My nose is still sore.

The following day we invited Gemmak and her gorgeous bloke, Fletch for supper and apart from being asked if dungarees are the fashion in Belgium or if I was a dyke (Fletch) the evening was a hoot and we still have loads of beer in the fridge - cheers Fletch - just don't eat my chocolate next time.

And today. Well, I met Quarsan when I was 38 (you see, there's hope for all you spring chickens) and that was seven years ago today. Exactly. At Euston station where Quarsan stood there, looked at me and said "wow".

Happy Anniversary, Q - I may still love you.

The interview went so well yesterday that they called me two hours later for a second interview today which really boosted my confidence and had me doing a little happy dance. I've just come back from the second interview and it's either me or the other candidate that was nominated for a second interview and so I'll find out next week ... So I prefer not to be too confident from now on as I probably won't get the job.

When I got home I found a letter notifying me of my court date where I'll be represented by my lawyers in the very near future. Great news for me as I simply want to move on with my life.

And then I noticed a stain on my bedroom wall by the mirror and decided after poking it that it was nothing until I noticed that the mirror was tilted slightly allowing me to see a big, black stain. After taking the mirror off the wall I noticed a large, black stain behind it: damp, fucking rot. It appears that my damn shower has been leaking again and has affected the wall behind me in my study and also the wall between my study and bedroom as well as the other wall going through to the landing.

I asked my mate Tony down the road if he'd come and look at my wall and after much poking about, looking into my shower, touching the pipes in the garage concluded that my shower needs to be totally re-tiled once it's dried out after the old tiles have been removed. He's sending ET (Etienne) to come and give me a second opinion and hopefully it can be done relatively cheaply as I don't think I can get an insurance claim this time round.

Bloody psychotic shower. The last time this happened I had a gaping hole as a shower for about six months while I was dealing with the insurance. This really isn't what I need right now. Not.At.All.

The day ended fabulously with a lovely meal with an ex-boyfriend in a very swanky Italian restaurant. The company was great, the wine was excellent and the food was divine, despite my sciatica deciding to flare up mid-afternoon which made movement dissolve to that of an old woman.

And now you can't wait possums, can you? Yes, the contents of the bag from Joanna ....

A Hello Kitty doll, Hello Kitty knickers, pencil case, glue, pencils, hair clips, jewelry, a Hello Kitty to clip onto your back pack, a Hello Kitty table cloth, a couple of mirrors, lip balm and a colouring book (which I think may be intended for the Twat - one never knows) and oh! so much more. Just what every gal wanted.

So apart from my psychotic shower, things are looking up.

Apart from the clouds.

They are definitely looking down. Very much so.

Just a short little Hello Kitty post today as I have an interview today.

Yes. Me.

So you can all stop your sighs of relief as I go on to tell you that the wonderful Joanna of whom none of you visited to say congratulations on not having cancer which means that my readers are not as nice as I thought they were, sent me my latest addition to my collection.

All I will say is what you can see: a Hello Kitty bag (stuffed full of Hello Kitty goodies - I bet you can't wait), wool and knitting needles and a doll made by Joanna called Mary Shelley. All wonderful, pink goodness.

Thanks to my interview today I don't have to go to the middle of nowhere today, nor do I have to go next week - a lawyer will represent me. My lawyers had to send him something for this particular case - ie: getting unemployment money - and so they sent him 27 pages of stuff. How I sniggered. And there will be another hearing on a different subject in two weeks time.

Oh yes, it's all lawyers, lawyers, lawyers with me. Anybody would think that I've been done for something.

Well, perhaps I have.

But innocent until proved guilty, eh?

It's no secret that I sleep-talk but what really infuriates me is my inability to shut-up - especially when the Twat starts asking me questions. If I start sleep-talking he thinks that this is the great opportunity to climb into my little brain and find out my most sordid thoughts. So he talks back to me.

Now the strangest part of this is that somewhere, my sub-conscience or whatever it is, must be awake as it is fighting me to shut the fuck up and go back to sleep. But no, there is something about my mouth that enjoys moving and making sounds in a manner of talking, so I take sides with my sub-conscience with the hope of shutting me up.

It is a peculiar thing, fighting against yourself.

When still asleep.

Anyway, all the Twat found out was that "I have a plan". He couldn't understand the rest of my replies.

The next addition to my Hello Kitty collection isn't actually there as I lost it and went around the house as advised by Joanna, feeling like a right plank yet mumbling "Dear Saint Anthony, I have lost my Hello Kitty doll and I can't find it" over and over again. I got as far as chanting it two times and then found the doll in my laptop back-back. I don't know what I was happiest about - having found the doll or being able to stop the chanting.

And so the latest addition is a pair of summer PJs bought lovingly for me in H&M in the kiddie's department by Honey who insisted that despite the fact that they are for a ten year-old, they would fit. And they did and so she bought them for me to thank me for keeping her company all day. The silly-billy - you don't have to thank a friend for doing that.

I had thought of modelling them for you, but all my readers have disappeared.

Labels: Hello Kitty

I went to work, I bullied the kids, I bossed the Twat around, the Twat made rude comments and we all laughed. And then another small box arrived in the post, this time courtesy of Joanna who lives all the way across the pond and has just had surgery to remove a rather large 'mass' - which, halleluja, is not cancerous. So you can all go and do a Mexican Wave for her on her blog. Because that's what nice bloggers do.

And so, to add to my Hello Kitty collection, I received a marshmallow Hello Kitty lollipop (I found out that they sell them in a supermarket near me too - so bought one for Quarsan. He devoured it with pleasure.), some cute little stickers, a box of Hello Kitty plasters and a Hello Kitty thing to shove in the freezer for times when you go and knock yourself out.

It's no secret that I tend to be rather accident-prone - hence the plasters and cold compress. Little does Joanna know but I have an entire collection of Walt Disney plasters too that I bought in 1994 in the States - when the kids were young, not for me - and we still use them. Tatiana was sporting a beautiful 101 Dalmation plaster on her toe the other week.

The house is very quiet without Coralie shrieking like a harpy at Todd so Tatiana has decided to start shouting at him instead. It was his own fault as Tatiana was trying to catch up on her sleep while Todd was making a noise on his blasted guitar.

Quarsan disappeared to attend a conference all afternoon as he has become obsessed with the situation in Georgia and I sat at home knitting whilst re-watching 'Desperate Housewives' and lo and behold, another stitch has been born.

I then received a couple of letters which pointed out the stupidity in Belgian administration. Basically, I have to go to the middle of nowhere, somehow, on two different dates just to see whether I am eligible for the dole. The reasons for this are complicated (and unusual) - but christ, will someone offer me a job before Thursday so that I don't have to go.

Quarsan is owed money from several people, I'm owed money and the bills won't stop rolling in. Sometimes I wish money did grow on trees.

Oh well. I'm meeting an Aardvark and a Rambler for lunch today, and after dreaming about Mike and K last night (sorry, I spilt tea on your beautiful, wooden floor) I think that I've just about had my fill.

People, if you are going to invade my dreams - don't make me wake up feeling full of guilt.

Labels: Hello Kitty

Children, children, I am so sorry to keep you waiting two, whole days before telling you what was in the bag but I've been side-tracked a bit as I've taken up knitting again. Although this doesn't actually make me shut-up completely, what worries the Twat even more when I sit down next to him with my knitting as he watches some boring film in black and white - are the needles.

He can't make any of his infamous quips about me in case he gets prodded by a needle, and I don't always use the blunt end. Fortunately for him I have to wait until I've finished a row as I have already dropped one stitch and appear to have three extra stitches than I started off with. But at least I look cool and fashionable. Everybody's knitting these days, possums.

We finally celebrated Todd's birthday on Saturday with spag bol made by moi. This was a rather humiliating experience as no, I hadn't forgotten where the cooker was, but mid-stirring the spag bol sauce Todd came flying into the kitchen, stopped, and looked at me.

"What are you doing here?"

What a bloody stupid question.

Wooden spoon in one hand, blobs of tomato purée down my tshirt and steamed-up glasses from peering into the saucepan while stirring.

And my son asks me what I'm doing. Here.

"I'm cooking your supper Todd."
"But you don't cook. Where's Quarsan?"
"In the garden. Oh yes, I hate cooking and gave up years ago as it's such a bloody waste of time so I just told you guys to get on with it but here I am cooking your birthday spag bol at YOUR REQUEST might I add -"

But Todd had gone somewhere between the word 'ago' and 'add'. Give me a baby any day - at least they can't move and have to hear me out.

When Tatiana came home after winning her hockey match 9-1 although not entirely on her own, she helped me convince her sister that she does not need two suitcases for a week's holiday in Spain. I had started showing her my fantastic packing abilities but Coralie was convinced that her hairdryer, make-up, shampoo etc and shoes would never fit in.

Now if there is one thing on earth that I can do well - it is pack a suitcase. It's re-packing it to come back that is always the problem but Coralie will just have to find that out for herself. I squeezed everything in mainly by rolling up her skimpy tops into sausages so as not to get them creased and finding places to put them. Easy. And there was even room for a large beach bag to go on top and it still shut. So she's away this week and the weather doesn't look that great there ...

And so from a suitcase to a pink bag. Would you believe that everything in the photo was in the bag? The two box things: Hello Kitty meets Ikea. These were actually flat-packed and as you can see the black one holds all my pens and a bag of gummy bears. Sticking out of the bag is one of a pack of Hello Kitty seal-tight bags - very useful when going away to put your Omega 3s in. A pink tissue box with tissues in, a mirror, two rubbers - or erasers to those of you with heads in the gutter, a Hello Kitty school box with a (missing) ruler and biro and a toothbrush with (missing) toothpaste.

Many thanks to Jo for these wonderful goodies - Whatever did I receive next?

Remember, possums, Hello Kitty is your friend.

And you can spend hours on the internet finding the most absurd gadgets.

I tell you. It's a riot.

Labels: Hello Kitty

Confession time.

Dear Internet, I have a 'thing' for Hello Kitty.

There. I've said it. Only this 'thing' may be getting out of hand and so over the next ten days I've decided to drive you all mad by telling you about my Hello Kitty collection given to me by wonderful people all over the world.

It started years ago as a joke where I used to work. A male colleague introduced me to Hello Kitty because he finds anything kitsch absolutely hysterical. I won't link to him in case I ruin his reputation which is probably down the pan already. So this bloke who is also a very close friend of mine would show me stuff about Hello Kitty on the internet - usually really bizarre things - and we'd quietly snigger for several hours. Then we'd stop and go home.

Last year I was given a Hello Kitty wrist pad for when using my mouse at work but that slowly died a sad and tragic death as it slowly froze in the freezing conditions of my office, turned white and ended up stiff as a board until I finally threw it away as things were oozing out of it, rather like a corpse.

I then received a pretty Hello Kitty bag stuffed with goodies from Jo - another friend of mine. I've often used the bag for my toothbrush etc when going somewhere and the other Hello Kitty items that were in the bag have been put to good use too. But I'll tell you about those items next time as I know the suspense is going to have you begging for more.

Won't it?

Hello?

Errr..... Anyone still there?

I've not lost all my readers to Hello Kitty Hell already, have?

Come back. I've only just started.

Gimme a chance.

Please.

Labels: Hello Kitty