Got up, went to work, did some shopping at lunch time, worked some more, went home.  There, that about covers it.  Extrapolate backwards and forwards for every weekday until you hear from me otherwise! 

However, yesterday I also had a quick dinner with Dee and went to see St Trinians at the cinema.  Which were both very nice.  We went to Orgasmic, which is on the river off Coney Street, on a colleague's reccomendation for a hot chocolate and found they had a real wood fired pizza oven and proper cracker crust pizzas, and better yet, on Wednesdays it was buy 1 get 1 free!  However, since we'd just had hot chocolates I only managed half my pizza and shoved the rest in my emply bento box and Dee got a doggy bag for hers.  It was equally good for lunch today!  I will totally be going there again at every opportunity. 

St Trinians was also fun, the plot, as always, was merely decorative and Tennant was a nice addition to the cast.  I half feel like watching the first one again coz I like the cool/confident thing that rubs off on me when I watch them.  I'm trying to make the effort with my work clothes now that it's a little warmer.  So far I've mostly just worked towards warm but now it might actually start warming up a bit I'm gonna try and be a little funkier... well, I say funky, I still stick to simple and classic stuff but go in a more Chanel direction... with my own sort of twists... hm, yeah. 

Speaking of Chanel and the associated pearls I lost and broke an earing at work on Tuesday while shifting desks (Oh yeah, moved desks now and causing consternation in the ranks!) and mum took them to the jewelers to see if they could fix them if they were real.  Turns out I'm a terrible jewelery keeper as I keep my earings in overnight and consequently in the shower.  The shampoo had removed all the lustre from the pearls!  Since they couldn't tell and they were basically ruined mum bought me some lovely new ones as a replacement!  Lucky me!

Today was mental, as it has been for a few days, we've got a huge case on atm so I'm busting a gut trying to keep up with everything.  I had to do a really urgent dictation and then email it to two people, one at their home address... only I cocked up and sent it to his work address and he happens to be my boss!  Luckily I could remember the other person's address so I got home and emailed him to ask him to forward his email to my boss.  Hopefully I won't get too bollocked for that as I sorted it as fast as I could and no actual harm will ahve come from it.  However the perfectionist in me is just dying to have one sodding day where I don't cock up in any way! 

I now have a nice relaxing evening planned of may be watching Location and possibly doing some baking after dinner.  I'm thinking 2 dozen red velvet cupcakes! 

Quite frequently when cooking a main meal in the oven I'll throw in a baked dessert too, a brown betty, pie or crumble for instance.  Mum does this too, as I'm sure many people do, it's a more efficient use of fuel.  At the minute we're eating a lot of roasted rhubarb while it's in season.  Tonight's menu was lasagna with roasted rhubarb and panna cotta for dessert... only something went wrong.  I don't know what as I didn't cook.  Somehow the rhubarb was placed underneath the lasagna. 

When serving our dessert I noticed distinctly orange swirls going through the juices.  I thought it was odd but never connected the dots until I had my first spoonful and there it was... Lasagna flavoured rhubarb!  ICK!!!!!!  The tomatoey oil that bubbles out had obviously bubbled over and into the rhubarb.  Mum swears she couldn't taste the difference but it nearly made me sick, what a waste of rhubarb!!!

I would have to say that on balance today was a good day.  But I reserve the right to have a tantrum or pitch a fit at any point.  Life is so fucking unfair!!!!!!

I'm finally feeling like I'm settled in at work now and then today I was told I have to switch desks with one of the other secretaries because she gets migranes from the flourescent lights.  Now, fair enough, it's a health and safety bollocks.  But I like my desk!  I'm in the corner with a window.  Her desk is in the middle with a tiny section of wall.  I'll be right in the middle of the room, exposed on all sides and the desk will be a mirror so having finally figured out where everything is I'll have to move and try to remember everything is on the other side.  I also won't be able to use the floor to dump files I'm done with on as it blocks the place where people walk.  I was just getting everything sorted out to my liking and settled and then this arsing well happens!  She's only in 2 1/2 fucking days a week!!!!  I'm so pissed off.  I like things as they are, so my OCD tendancies are kicking off big time.  Expect me to be majorly cranky next week when we do this swap!

The other thing that has kicked my arse today is my phone. I may as well have sold my fucking soul!!!  This fucking contract is impossible to break.  I am stuck with it for the whole 24 months.  I can't even alter it to pay less, which I would consider doing until 23 months.  If I could knock it down to £5 I'd happily pay that for 2 years and pay for another contract with someone else and a better phone as well. I'll have one last shot tomorrow and then I'll start working on faking my own death or emmigrating or having myself declared insane and unable to have signed up for a contract coz I was doolally or something!!!!!  I am willing to contemplate just about anythign at this point and I've only had the bloody thing for a month!!!  Don't sign up with T mobile, they'll eat your soul!!!!!!  (And the Samsung Jet is not at all what you think it is.  You don't want that, you want a Blackberry or an iphone.  It does fuck all!!!)

So yeah, a generally alright day spoilt by two pieces of universal fuckwittery!

I should not have had that sneaky pizza before dinner.  Despite the fact that it was only a small one and I enjoyed it so very much pizza + meatballs = exploding Anna.  I may never move again!  But the pizza was so verry very good!  I haven't had takeout in months!!!  I was in town and there was the pizza shop and it seemed like a great idea!  One plus point is that now I have a sample of the most delicious garlic sauce in existence and can try to work out what's in it!!  Just as soon as I can move again...

Slightly belated but I just discovered that while my mobile has enough signal to receive a txt it won't send them for me.  So all your christmas greetings are stuck in the bloody thing!  I haven't forgotten you dear members of the flist but my phone won't cooperate.  So MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!  I hope you all had a good one and did no permanent damage to family members! 

Everone liked the gifts I gave them so that's a relief!  Anyone who was barred from AnnaintheKitchen can now return and anything you particularly liked can be recreated from the recipes there.  Except for the truffles, I'm never sodding making truffles again!!!!  I'm so glad I can finally talk about what I've been doing!  I have really grafted this year.  Next year it's gift certificates!

I also made homemade stuff as well as edible homemade stuff for everyone.  Sam and Robyn got aprons with their names on, mum got a little onigiri toy and an umbrella food cover with appliqued stuff, dad got a crappy fleece scarf as it's really really hard to find a homemade craft that is manly, and Frodo got a santa suit that he HATES!!!  But I'm the human, I'm in charge and he bloody well wore it!!!

I slept the day away as for the last week I've been up until the wee small hours sewing frantically and then getting up bright and early to get on with tidying and cooking!  Now I'm going to play with my prezzies!  Thanks for the book Sam!  I've already read a lot of it while the rellies whittered on in the background!

Right, big news first.  I went for a job interview the other month and it was down to me an this other woman. I didn't get the job.  She just handed in her notice.  I have a second interview on January 4th to make sure I'm what they want and they're what I want and then hopefully I'll get this job!!!!  As far as I'm aware I'm the only person they're seeing as they liked me so much last time!!!!  YAY!!!!! If that doesn't work out, although there is very little reason why it shouldn't but I've leanrt over the last 18 months not to get my hopes up, I am going to be volunteering for the Citizens Advice Bureau, I'll start my training in the new year and I've signed up for a whole bunch of other volunteering opportunities such as an Intergenerational healthy eating thing with Help The Aged and some other thing that's all youth based skills workshops plaiing an event or something but it'll get be a huge range of training and workshops on things like media, PR, business plans etc.  Due to the fuckwittery of the Jobcentre I could have been doing these things for the last 6 months but noone told me about them and I should also have been going to monthly meetings but I fell down some paperwork black hole and am now nearly out of time on a bunch of things.  I get outsourced to a private company at the end of the month!

In general news I'm so over the snow... well, sometimes I am.  It's currently -6*C outside. I haven't felt my toes in days.  But then I go for a walk with the dog and he's frollicking about and it's all so beautiful, deep deep powder everywhere, all the roads are iced over so it's just a blanket of white across everything and I love it again.  Then I need to go and do something outside of the village and I need to get dad to drive me as I choose life.  I could never handle my car in these conditions, it's madness!  But it's the week before christmas and so much stuff I needed to do got buggered about because of the snow, it's a right pain!  But I did get Sam's Christmas present sent off today.  Bloody hell, post office!  I'll take out a mortgage next time!!!  You're all getting scarves next year, very light to post scarves. 

I have been crafting and cooking my little heart out recently.  7 hours of sewing last night!!!  I watched 3 movies... well listened while I concentrated on stitches, but still, a bloody long time.  My eyes had stopped focusing on distances by the end!!!  I finally made Christmas cards today... they're very very "Kirstie Special" (Loved Kirstie's Homemade Christmas so much and it gave R and I this new phrase.  ie looks like it was made by a drunk 5 year old but it was made with love!)  Totally forgot to post the damned things but hey ho, tomorrow will have to do!  I've also been cooking like a demon trying to get all the Christmas stuff on the go. 

Right, off to update AnnaintheKitchen as I've got some yummy recipes to go up.  Sam, Robyn you're both still barred til after xmas, sorry!!!

ETA: Ianto the fish has passed on.  He'd been sick for a few days and goldfish don't usually recover from sick so it was expected but still a little sad.  Poor goldfish! Poor Manolo, alone for Christmas!