A Year in the Life

As it was my birthday this week I have been thinking about what a year really is and how it is defined in different circumstances.

For example, we have the calendar year which starts on 1 January, the financial year on 1 April, a year of our life which starts on our birthday, anniversaries, special events etc, etc. I think you get the picture.

I think the year which probably means the least to me is the calendar year. Such a fuss is made each year about New Years Eve and having a good time. But to me, it’s just another day and a chance for businesses to make some money. It doesn’t really mean anything when the clock strikes midnight. It happens every day!

I know other people will feel differently about New Year, but it’s just a total anticlimax for me.

This week I was thinking about the past year in terms of the year I was 25, and whether it was a good or a bad year for me.

I’ve come to the conclusion that actually, it was a pretty good year in the grand scheme of things. I went on holiday, had a day out in London, felt confident enough to visit London on my own, made some fab new friends, went on a creative writing course and have read loads of great books. And even better, I have finally started to be comfortable in my own skin and not worry so much about the fact that I am ‘different’ and a bit of a geek. I’ve found that there are plenty of other people out there like me and that the people I care about like me as I am, not how I think people want me to be!

That is quite a revelation for me. To be able to be yourself shouldn’t be that difficult, but it is something I have always struggled with to an extent as I have been too worried what other people think of me and surrounded by those who are very ‘normal’ and basically, not like me.

Well, anyway, here’s to being who you want to be and not following the crowd! And let’s hope that 26 will be even better than 25!!

 

Come fly with me

So it's been a long time since I have blogged as I have had a little break, but I'm back and I expect there to be an up in my blogging action as I am going to review some books and get back into the blogging swing!

July was a big month for me as I went on my first ever holiday abroad, and it was amazing!!

We went to Playa Taurito in Gran Canaria, which is a small resort between the towns of Puerto Mogan and Puerto Rico. This is the gorgeous view from our balcony:

We stayed in an all inclusive couples hotel which was great as we had as much food and drink as we wanted and there were no screaming kids to contend with. It was lovely and relaxing being able to sit by the pool with a pina colada and a book!

The water park you can see was next to our hotel and a little bit noisy, but nothing you couldn't get over. Every afternoon a "DJ" came on and played the same three songs and shouted over them which was quite funny. Particularly as when we got home and put the ipod on, the first song that came on was one of the three the waterpark dude played!




On the Friday we visited the pretty market town of Puerto Mogan. There was a full on tourist market with some "lookey lookey men" trying to flog us the same crap they sell in our local market, but it all said Gran Canaria on for the tourists!

We didn't think much of the market, but the town itself was very pretty with a harbour full of a mixture of yachts and fishing boats and canals running through the town.

It was a lovely change to walk around the town and strange to see the canals when the rivers we passed on the way down had dried up.

It was really hot because it was a built up area so we were relieved when we got back to the pool!






The hotel had entertainment was a bit hit and miss, but there were a few crackers. My favourite acts were a drag act (I have posted a pic of him being Tina Turner) and the flamenco dancers.



We had an amazing holiday, although, after being back for three weeks, it now feels like we have never been away! On to booking the next one then...



P.S. This is my 100th post! Woohoo!


We went to London to see the Queen!

We had a big day out this week and went sightseeing in London!

First of all we popped up to the Queen's house to see if she was in. I think she was as the flag was up, but we didn't get to see her. I was impressed with how clean her net curtains were though!

The Queen's Guards were putting on a bit of a parade outside. The American's were complaining that they weren't wearing red, but I bet it gets a bit nippy outside in the winter, so they had long coats on. There were loads of people outside. It was like a match day or something. I bet the Queen gets annoyed at having so many people hanging round outside all the time. It's bad enough for me when the kids are on the trampoline next door.

We went along to look at the Houses of Parliament too. I've seen them before, but I'm generally in a rush. It was nice to have a proper look. Although the smell of partially treated sewage from the Thames wasn't the most pleasant.

The floating restaurant in this picture was pretty impressive. I'm not sure I would like to go on it though as I like to eat my food without the smell of poo surrounding me generally.

When we were crossing Parliament Bridge we noticed that the sunshine made some interesting shadows on the pavement. We had a bit of a giggle at what are now known as the Westminister Willies!

 We visited Nelson's Column, looked at the Olympic countdown clock in Trafalgar Square and went up to Picadilly Circus. We also saw a lot of other cool stuff and did a shitload of walking! We have come to the conclusion that we need to go back and spend some more time enjoying the best of British!

Oh and I know they say the Welsh are short, but this bloke takes the piss!

Words of wonderment and a water update

Well, I thought last week was bad. I've been off baddy sick this week with what I thought was a virus, but was actually an infection so am feeling very sorry for myself!

I have spent the week reading, sleeping and watching crap TV. I have watched a lot of old sitcoms on Gold and have just watched a Carry On film, but I draw the line at anything with Noel Edwards. He's been out of favour with me since he stopped doing Noel's House Party. Although I am now watching Wedi 7, just because there is nothing else on and I can't be arsed to get up and put a DVD on (or make my lunch to be honest). Although I have just rediscovered the Welsh word for forward slash - blaen sleis. It always makes me giggle. Perhaps you have to be here though.

I have a couple of book reviews to publish, once I've had my lunch and Bruce stops trying to attack my Um Bongo (for vitamin C to make me feel better, although the antibiotics might do a better job).

One thing I have been thinking about from my sick bed (apart from how fed up I am!) is how many words there are out there that frankly don't get enough use in this day and age.

Canoodling being one. The words you hear being used these days are so much more vulgar and less innocent.

Hoot, as in he is a complete hoot. Noone uses hoot enough for my liking. I try to bring it back into conversation but it usually results in someone taking the piss out of me.

Kerfuffle. Why is this not used more? There are all sorts of kerfuffles happening these days. Like those riots last year where loads of kids broke into sports shops to get new daps. They caused a bit of a kerfuffle.

Wondorous. What wondorous weather we are having this fine day. What a fine and wondorous cover is upon that book. A fine and wondorous word indeed.

These are just a few of the underused words I can think of. Maybe we should just start using the less used words more rather than adding new ones to the dictionary. Maybe that would save the country some money on printing new dictionarys and signs. Maybe I will put this idea forward.

Anyway, I went off on a bit of a tangent there. I think it might be the cold getting to me. You might remember my water related issues of last week. Well they were solved when we found that the stop cock (yes I said it!) that was under our sink only seemed like it wasn't working for one reason. It was the wrong effing one!!! We have found that we have two stop cocks, one for the outside tap and one for the water supply to the house. So the reason the water wasn't going off when the "plumber" (who might as well have shouted yee-hah and rode off into the sunset on the back of his trusty steed) was turning the stopcock was that it was the wrong bloody one!! And the stupid twonk (another good word) didn't even think of testing it!!!

So, since this enlightening discovery of the correct stop cock which wasn't fully open, hence the pressure issues, we have had no heating. We have water, and indeed hot water, but no heating. And the bloody boiler is leaking. And our normal plumber is on holiday until Monday. So I have been half freezing to death, as well as suffering with my illness (noone can call me a drama queen) with only a convector heater and a grumpy cat to keep me warm.

But on the plus side I have read loads and am on the mend! Yay!! Anyway, enough of my ramblings (for now!) I am off to make some lunch and watch either Dudley ar Daith (the Welsh Gordon Ramsay, but with less effing and jeffing) or I might put a dvd on and carry on reading Rob Brydon's autobiography!!

Why is nothing ever simple?

Well, what a week. Last weekends dripping tap has ended up with Welsh Water coming out to dig my street up. Pretty impressive eh?

In the last week we have found out that our bathroom tap is buggered (technical term, naturally), our stop cock under the sink doesn't work and leaks (although I have found out from the water company that the term is now stop tap as cock is offensive) and that the stop cock/tap out in the street doesn't work either! Hence the digging up of the street to replace it. I wouldn't be suprised if they find a problem with the sewer out there too, but that's just me getting a bit techy.

So if we had happened to have some major leakage incident in the house, we would have been well and truly screwed! But at least it's getting fixed now. Although I do now need a new bathroom tap and a new indoor stop cock/tap.

Enough about water though (although I could have made the story a lot longer, but refrained!).

In other news, its freezing cold, although the snow hasn't yet made a return.

Well, I just looked out the window and saw white stuff coming down, so that's a lie before I start! I don't think it'd enough to stick, but it's definitely coming from the sky!

I finished reading the new Mike Gayle book yesterday, The Stag and Hen Weekend. It was so crap though that I'm not going to bother with a review. I'll just say that it was a bit of a non-story and didn't really have a tidy plot.

I've started reading The Woman in Black by Susan Hill, which I believe has been released as a film in the cinema today. I'm hoping I will enjoy the book as I've heard it's a bit like The little Stranger by Sarah Waters and I love that book.

What are we all up to for valentines? Anything exciting? We're going for a meal tomorrow as on the day its all so forced. They hike the prices up by 20quid, give you a set menu of foods that are either messy as hell or designed to recreate the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp and it always makes me think of a prison visiting area the way all of the tables are laid out and you have to look at each other across the table. I'll just clarify here that I've never been in a prison, but I have watched a lot of Bad Girls, so feel qualified to make this comparison.

Big city adventures

I'm currently on the train to London for a big city mini adventure. It's not as exciting as it sounds but I am going to get a quick glimpse at Big Ben and Westminister Cathedral.

Will keep you posted on how it goes!