It's kinda chilly inside, as I can't quite bring myself to turn the heating on yet. I'm snuggling into thick jumpers, stuffing my knitted-sock clad feet into the sheepskin slippers that P brought back from Australia - honestly, if they didn't have that association, I would be base-over-apex in love with them - and sporting a hot water bottle at every available opportunity. I'm also making hot drinks, although on Thursday, I shivered so violently while putting my coffee on the table, half the coffee ended up on the floor, which was less than fun.

It's only just half term. Can't turn the heating on until half term. Preferably, can't turn the heating on until after half term. We shall see how cold I get next week.... it's just the sitting in the sitting room which is chilly.  Bedroom still has the window open, for heaven's sake (at this point, I'd tell you all about the similarities between myself and my boy, but, in all honesty, it's a list that's only of interest to me, so I'll forbear.  We do both like our bedroom windows open, though).  Am I being stubborn enough? You'd have thought a woman who'd had a somewhat prolonged asthma attack on Thursday night - it went on for what felt like hours - would be slightly keener on staying warm. This one isn't. If it's cool in the flat, then when I go outside, it's not so much of a shock to the old lungs.  The Thursday asthma attack was such a shame, too: we'd been having a lovely evening until that point. We went to an exhibition of Venice photos, had dinner (mmmm, boeuf bourginon), and then meandered over to the Old Vic tunnels for an exhibition entitled 'Minotaur'. It was a great, intriguing exhibition, but, alas, full of smoke, and it was a bit of a struggle. Then out from the warm to the cold, and boom! I started trying to self-eviscerate my lungs!  It was a very long walk from the tunnels to the train station where there were both seats and water.  And then it was cold, and a taxi home was required.  My boy is very good at looking after me: he noticed, almost immediately, that I was struggling. He hugged me, he looked terribly worried, he went at my speed, and he made sure I got home safely, despite this meaning that he missed the last train home and, really, being at home on Thursday night was slightly necessary as he went on tour with his heavy metal band yesterday. Plymouth last night, Portsmouth or something similar tonight.

Yes, I'm going out with a guy who's in a heavy metal band. The Brownies are particularly impressed (well, the seven of them that were at Brownies - out of 19 Brownies, 9 didn't show up, and 3 managed to apologise late on Thursday night!).  "He plays an electric guitar? In a band? Is his hair really dyed red?" No, that would be the lights in the picture... no, I don't quite know how we got onto the subject of Brown Owl's boyfriend, but there you go. He thought it was all ridiculously sweet, and then went to be all grr metal on stage (we're going to watch on Monday, they're playing a local bar. I have no idea what to wear, but it's OK. M's taking me shopping in the market this afternoon).

This was not meant to be a ramble about him. I digress. I miss him. Wah!

Anyhow. A list.  I like the way these things seem to have become slightly more manageable recently

• Laundry
• Supermarket Shop
• Knitting - Sir's Fair Isle, F's cowl, E's hat, N's hat.
• Buy appropriately metal-top. Visit F on her stall in the process.
• Email everyone who was trying to find visitors for Brownies for 11th November to say that, really, there seems to be too much going on this year, what with dinners and whatnot, and next year...
• Rugby
• Visit the divine @FotheringtonThomas, Mrs @FotheringtonThomas and their very new daughter
• go for a run (laundry dependent)
• acquire gaiters
• Sort out calendars for Christmas presents
• Something else which will doubtless come to me later.

xxx

Ah. The joys of an online course. I'm working my way through FIM - Forefront Identity Manager, upgrading my skills from ILM2007. I am an overachiever. One day in, 3.5 modules (out of 10) completed, and I have until Thursday. Also, I'm slightly annoyed at only getting 90% for the second quiz.  Because I got 100% for the first and the third.

Anyhow.  I'm tired, almost stir-crazy, and considering a trip to John Lewis to get my Japanese Mummy's Christmas Goodies.  They'll need to be mailed soon, if I send them surface.  And the store is open until 8pm. I don't need to decide for another half hour.  The hot water bottle on my toes is making me distinctly disinclined to go out, plus I didn't have the most enthusiastic night's sleep last night (it wasn't awful. There just wasn't enough of it).  If I put my mind to it, then I think I can get the ribbing on this darn slipover done tonight.  A good film, instant supper.

There's always Thursday before I go on date #no-idea-which-who's-counting-anyway?

I think I've just talked myself out of going out in the cold, and into staying in the warm. I want this corrugated rib DONE, you understand, and it is just so incredibly slow.  Pretty, but slow.

And I must remember to photograph the socks tomorrow, before I hand them over.

Hmmm. What to watch?  Has to be something without a complicated menu system. The DVD player in the TV @dozydormouse gave me has begun giving up the ghost (two perfectly good DVDs have refused to even register as existing recently), and the spare DVD player's remote is currently awol.  However, it is functional, so that's OK.

xxx

But not very much else. And that's partly because I now have a lovely, interesting job, and I don't blog at work. My job keeps me occupied, happy, challenges me. Ties me to a computer all day and I'm less enthused about the idea of writing anything when I get home. Work is fun - work has me working today, briefly, but I'm not that bothered. I mean. SQL 2008 SP3. Let me at it. Let me geek out.

Besides, I'm rarely at home, or so it feels.

On Monday night, I was at home. I didn't achieve terribly much, I think I did the Brownies Admin that had been leftover from the weekend - there was more important stuff to do over the weekend. So it happened on Monday. Cheques were written, the accounts were balanced. Emails sent.

On Tuesday, I went out on a date. We walked so far that I have enormous blisters. I don't particularly care. It was a lovely date. I'm cooking risotto for him tomorrow night. I don't quite know what to do about pudding, I shall think of something. Or there may just be ice cream. This is all I am going to say. I'm happy. Actually scrape-me-off-the-ceiling mustn't bore my friends to death happy. Suffice to say, that, when he smiles. When he really really smiles, rather than just looking a bit pleased, it's like the sun is shining.

Wednesday, I helped at an extra Brownie meeting, made leaderish-noises at the Brownies, rather than letting them go their own sweet way (two of them have very strong personalities, and in a group of 8, this rather wrecks the dynamic).  I sorted out a panicking Queen's Guide Candidate, showed up at the Morris AGM late, and drank gin until 11pm. Only one gin, mark you, but I felt it was needed.

Thursday we had coffee, and post-coffee steak. I felt ill and exhausted after the steak, but much better on Friday morning. Since the last batch of antibiotics for bronchitis, my digestion has been somewhat delicate, and I tire vastly more easily. I keeping thinking that I'd like to go for a run: I'm doing lots of lying in on weekend mornings.

Friday was Brownies. We filtered water. We made really mucky water, and filtered it. It looked much better once it had run through gravel and sand and towel and cotton wool - but we lost about 2/3 of the water in the process. One of the Brownies remarked that they'd done this at school - but it was much better at Brownies because they got to make their own filters.  Grand fun.  Less grand fun was scrabbling round the gate of the local gated community trying to assemble four decent handfuls of gravel when we realised that the gravel that we had fondly imagined was gravel was actually closer to cat litter in consistency, and thus not exactly what was required.

Saturday I actually went for a 4.5 mile run. Still a bit slow, but I wasn't really pelting about the place, and I'm less than bothered about the pace.  Since I didn't manage the half marathon, and the next isn't until March, it's just "ticking over" for now.  I might go for another tonight, or tomorrow morning before work. We shall see. Then an awful lot of rugby - the park was warm, the sun shone, autumn leaves are beginning to carpet the grass, and making a delicious rustling noise as passers by (and I) scuff through them. It got colder, I applied more layers. We had our ambulance of the season (totally unnecessary: it will be interesting to hear if it is really broken or not), and I skived off post-match as I wanted to get ready for L's birthday dinner. Dinner was lovely. Funny, silly, stupid, no-holds barred, and there was a TARDIS cake. L makes excellent gluten-free cake. Everyone who makes me gluten free cake makes excellent cake (although Mum's do get a bit experimental sometimes...)

And, today?

• sleep in
• launder sheets
• make flapjacks, biscuits, pack up biscuits to mail
• photo socks
• some calligraphy
• supermarket shop
• some knitting
• maybe a later run Nah. I've eaten now, at 7.14pm.
• Brownies Admin

xxx

• Retrieve bedspread
• Brownie admin I just need to update my phone list in my phone.
• Brownie accounts
• Write up notes from Div meeting and publish
• Tidy bedroom
• Tidy sitting room
• Sew badges onto camp blanket/Em's blanket
• Go for a run
• Supermarket shop including Cif and furniture polish
• Rugby
• Find parts of bedstead for dolls house and work out what's needed to assemble I need epoxy resin to stick it together. And maybe gold paint or find the black enamel paint to make it shiny and hide any imperfections.
• Prep for brownies (locate source of gravel)
• Knitting: unravel hat and elongate for Eff, continue with Sir's slipover, sort out mittens plan, finish off socks by darning in ends, and take pictures if the light ever improves
• Upload photos
• Link to photos from Lake District for y'all Here be pictures.

The editor has gone a bit weird in firefox on the iPad, so please excuse the partial line of text at the bottom of this. It is nearly noon, and I am still in bed.... I wonder if there is a xanga app to make life simpler. I shall wander off and see.

ETA: No Xanga app, but, apparently, the whole ruddy lot came through in plaintext. So, now I have Rich Text Editor again, I have dealt with it. And will remember the html next time I use the iPad.  Honestly. Technology. Who'd have it?

Xxx