In case it wasn't obvious, work has been cray-cray.  Exciting crazy, and I'm loving my job, but still, crazy.  It's not even like I don't have time at home to blog.  Trust me, there is a lot of watching Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond going on around here.  But it's just that when I get home I don't even want to get on the computer anymore.

Let me repeat that for emphasis.

I don't even want to get on the computer anymore.

Tonight I am making up for this drought of blog posts with two items of questionable entertainment value.

Firstly, Halloween costume pictures!

Craig:

It's a combination of actual bandages and a sheet that was soaked in tea water and cut into strips.  It took over an hour wrapping and pinning it all.

And mine:

From eBay.  And Craig had to drive me to Gatwick to pick it up.  But lest you think I am a lazy cheat, check out my make up which I am pretty darned proud of:

Next up, here is a little game I would like to call:

Who Can Spot the 18th Century Spy in the Crowd?

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I'll give you a hint:

I am both amused and impressed.

There seems to be an inverse relationship between how much I blog vs. how much I'm enjoying my work.

Needless to say I think y'all have noticed I love my job lately.

About a month ago Craig and I went to Bristol with a couple of our friends, Dave and Jude.  We went there to see the Banksy exhibition at the Bristol museum. For those of you who haven't heard of Banksy, he's this amazing artist who is most notorious for his "street" art. He started as a graffiti artist but I think he's just really elevated himself to what I call "Cool Shit".

I didn't really know what he was about but now I really like him.  I guess you can call his stuff modern art, but it's spelled out enough for me to "get it".  His bluntness might turn off some people but I think it's fun, funny, and thought-provoking stuff.

In addition to pieces he had in the areas dedicated to displaying his work, he also did some subversive art throughout the museum and it was fun trying to spot the stuff he planted.

I've put up about a million more pictures on my Flickr album.

Bristol the city was very cool... the little we saw of it. We stood in line for 4 hours!!! But I'd definitely like to go back to check out the city.  Two notable notes:

1) We ate at a buffet that served Indian, Chinese, Italian, AND Mexican. This is the result.

2) I found my wedding bouquet!

Whew it seems like it's been ages since I've posted... 3 weeks, which isn't to bad, I've been worse before.  But lately I've been struggling with managing all my interests and activities and it's making me a bit sad.  I think something's gotta give.

• Blogs - Yes multiple. I'm a nutter.  So I've got this one, the personal wedding one, posting over at WC Brides, and the knitting one (more on that in a mo).  Right now, I think my posts are all mediocre and that's lame for me and for you.
• Actual knitting - I have a tiny bit left on my current sweater, just the neckline! It's pink, and 80's and fabulous! But I can't seem to find the quiet time to finish it.
• Other crafts - I have fabric to make some cute projects. I want to refinish some old mirrors we have. I want to reupholster a chair. I want to paint the dining chairs. I want to practice using Photoshop and Illustrator (currently on hold until I get a new computer).  I want to MAKE THINGS.
• Wedding planning - Ok so I kinda freaked out (mainly for your amusement) the other day but seriously need to get cracking on some big decisions.
• Reading - I really admire how Craig churns through books.  In fact, he read the last book I bought for myself. I keep going back to my friendly familiar favorites when there is a large stack just waiting for my attention. But come on, HP6 just came out, of course I had to read the entire series again!
• Cooking - It's kind of been a while since I road-tested a new recipe but new recipes inevitably take longer and time in the evenings seems to be a rare commodity lately.
• Work - This is a new one. Normally I would not list work as something I want to make time for, but I seriously love my new job and I haven't even officially started! But it's something I could easily spend a lot of my time on and be happy about it as well. Tough life eh?

And when I do try and hunker down on one project, I freeze up and then just end up watching reruns of Friends and SATC. And then before I know it, it's time for bed and I walk past the computer, wedding magazines and unfinished sweater to see that Craig's finished another book while waiting for me.

There's no getting around it: My powerbook is dying.  It starts to wheeze after about an hour of use and then it starts freezing up and I have to tilt it to make it keep going.  Yes, that's right. There's been instances where I've actually had to orient it with the keyboard on my chest and the screen on my lap.

Trouble is, I don't really have money for a new laptop. Correction, I don't really have money for a new Apple laptop and fine you can call me brainwashed or whatever but I want a mac.  5+ years of not a single bit of trouble (well til now, in its death throes) has convinced me of that.

Anyway, even if I had two grand jingling in my pocket I would feel guilty that it wasn't going in the wedding fund.  Do you know how many bouquets that would buy?  Ok, I wouldn't need that many but it would be sooo faaaaaaaabulous with like rainbows and unicorns jumping out of it blessing people with 100% Pure Sparkle as I walked down the cashmere aisle.

But then I think ok now it's the wedding but then afterwards I would feel guilty if extra money wasn't going towards saving for a down payment.  And then I'd feel guilty it wasn't going towards furniture.  And maybe eventually I'd feel guilty it wasn't going towards diapers.

And oh man, is that what you want?  Do you really want me to resent my hypothetical kid's diapers because I don't have a mac?  Please, think of my (hypothetical) children!

Which is why I seriously contemplated using a credit card to spread out the risk. Unfortunately I've only been approved for a few hundred pounds because I'm a foreigner who has been paying cash for everything since she moved here so I don't have a credit history.

Damn you cautious fiscal habits! You owe me a laptop!

Guildford Adult Learning Centre's fall program is out!!  I can't decide!!!

Scottish Country Dancing (only if Craig joins too)
Round the World Cookery
Traditional Upholstery Skills
Enjoying the wines of Chile & Argentina
Enjoying the wines of France
Enjoying the wines of Italy
Understand, Choose, & Enjoy Champagne and other Sparkling wines
Understanding, Choosing & Enjoying wine

I am pretty sure I will do pretty well in any of those last 5 classes.  It'll be like when I was in college I took Introductory Chemistry and I totally aced it because I took AP Chem in high school but didn't take the exam.

It'll be like that except this time there will be a lot more high-fiving going on.

You know what's funny?  When you are finally ok with being thirty and then the next morning you wake up with a pimple on your chin.

Oh wait, that's not funny. That is a MEAN JOKE.  Why am I still getting pimples? And if I'm still getting pimples it would only be fair if it came with a size 4 waist and the ability to do a toe touch.  I mean, come on!

And then yesterday I went to the gym being all smug that I'm trying to stay in shape and then I hurt myself stretching.  From what I understand, stretching is what you do to NOT hurt yourself.

Sigh, chin up.

(see what I did there?)