Catherine’s Blog

22/52 Catherine through the liquid glass.

Originally uploaded by LPM

Wake, car, train, tram, work, phone roulette, work, tram, train, car, swim, skype, sleep.
Wake, car, train, tram, work, phone roulette, work, tram, train, car, skype, sleep.
Wake, skype, car, train, tram, work, phone roulette, work, tram, train, car, skype, sleep.
Wake, car, train, tram, work, phone roulette, work, tram, train, car, skype, sleep.
Skype, car, train, tram, work, phone roulette, work, tram, train, car, skype, gin, sleep.
That was my week. Not very exciting. It is a long weekend, I have done a little house hunting today, and bought important laundry and organisational items. Tomorrow quilts and Monday, not sure.

54/365 i have a head ache

Originally uploaded by LPM

Well, I start with large retail company (LRC) today, this is what they will be called as i have signed stuff saying I won’t talk about them on the internet.   Also I think the secret squirrels of LRC may read this.  You never know, well I do and hence being on good behaviour.
I am exhausted, i still hate full on data entry as it is guaranteed to give me a head ache and I make mistakes and there are no red lines. That is possibly a Gin in the background to help sooth my nerves.  I know this is training and it will change thankfully.
So the last few days in pictures:

Yesterday job and house hunting, really depressing. I went out for dinner.

With Catherine whom I went to High School with. High school, for me was not a very happy time of my life and my first year out of school was up until last year the horrible year from hell. Catherine and I had a great summer 1993 to 1994 and we rocked it country girl style. Since then lots of things have happened and we lead busy lives, we have now an agreement of catching up every three weeks for dinner and and seeing how awesome stuff is.

I have done a little pattern drafting but am finding it hard to settle, just a lot of stuff in my head. I will be okay once I have some space.

Rikard is in Sweden, we are not communicating that much which is very strange, I miss him but he is taking photos, stunning ones with his camera phone. I can not wait to see what he does with film!

Ice cube soup,
originally uploaded by anglerud.

He has a lovely eye and although he is unsure of himself he seems to have that in built geek talent for photos.

I have also had the most flattering photo job offer of my life as well, but more on that possibly much, much later.

Tomorrow i pick up the camera and send it off to the insurers.

51/365 needle in a haystack

Originally uploaded by LPM

This week is going to be a bit mad. New Job at large retailer, thank you the fairy who helped me get my foot in the door.
I am in two minds about the job, yes it is a job but it is not in the industry I want to be in and i am very concerned about getting stuck. The retail giant is well known so comments about my job will be kept to a minimum, I am working in the call centre which could be moderately exciting.
I have moved into Melbourne which is very pleasant, I am most likely going to be fairly transient until I find a place to live. Looking at the rental sheets has been very disheartening and I am having to rethink being on the Ballarat/Melton side of Melbourne. Trying to find property in my price bracket is hard. I have found on place, will have to call the estate agent again to find out about it.
i really am not wanting to compromise and take a place to have to take house mates for. I need some space that is mine, for my own mental health.
So onwards and upwards, hopefully a unstable month followed by some stable ones.
Bonus it there is a three month old kitten living in the house I am staying at the moment, he is lovely.

35/365 The endless hunt

Originally uploaded by LPM

In the Melton Library, hunting for work.
The large public library turned me down.
Meh.
sucks to be me.
good news, ummm, it has cooled down and I got my e-tag fro the car.

Today is a tale of two endings.

I have finished my job here at Westminster University; it has been a good place to work and a great experience. It has been stressful in the last four months but the last month the staff have been supportive.
I have learnt a lot and like working in the academic environment. I have made good friends on the staff and will miss them.

Anthony is moving out today. I am very sad it has come to this but I really did try and I still love him a lot. I really feel an anchor in my life has gone, his company and personality leave very large holes, it is like a death without a finality of a funeral. There is much more I miss about him than I don’t miss having to deal with. Having him in the house was a constant reminder that closeness had gone. I feel much more centred, now I know what direction I am taking, even though it is a direction I never thought I would go. I have always taken comfort in planning and things like that, so planning to go home has helped. My parents will be pleased to have me back.
At the moment my plan is to spend the next three weeks with my brother and his family. Then pack up the house and head home. Leaving about the 14th of October, I figure there will be a party of some sort for this. I will be living with my brother for a bit and then see what I can do, in the way of buying a home and new job.
Other things are I will be reverting to my maiden name and start a business without my married name in it. Suggestions being taken. Colonial to stay. I have a wedding dress, bouquet, photos and stuff and really have no idea what to do with them. As for removing my wedding ring… gah. I feel naked without it on as well as betraying promises I made.
I am not sure how I feel about our intertwined internet lives and will understand if friends and family decide to remove me from theirs. I have to think about this for a while longer I think. I am not sure what the healthy option is and how I will feel if if I am cut out of his life without being spoken about it. I don’t want to be communicating through lawyers.
All in all there are some lighter clouds on the horizon and I am keeping sort of together but this is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. At some point, facebook will have to be changed, and I will have to email people. Not things I relish, I really feel I have failed, that I missed something or could have done things differently. I know that is possibly not logical but I that is how it feels at the moment.
I just want to thank those people who have supported me (and Anthony) through out this, I really can’t tell you how important that has been to me

Last week and this week I am home alone.  Anthony is in South Africa, organising the house renovation.

I have been busy.  I have decided to try and sell my sewing online.  Mainly gothic and steampunk wear.  At the moment it is just waistcoats with some sporran type bags on the way as well. Vegan ones made up out of the left over scrapes from the waistcoats. I may expand into shirts although not the winged collar styles as they are very easy and cheap to get hold of.  Maybe some high collared ones.  I have been having fun being creative, having some fun pattern drafting and generally sewing for relaxation.  Now to hope they sell.
Work has been interesting.  I have been applying for jobs internally and getting no where, after a couple of attempts to get more money or a change and more skills this is disheartening.  I had earlier, expressed an interest in moving campuses.  I had said I was happy to go to Harrow.  Harrow is outside of central London quite a way but reasonable close to home.  There is also a possibility of driving as well. The fact that there will be no Zone one means the cost of public transport will be minimal.  Also there is not as much food on tap, this hopefully will help with my waistline, although things like the post office will be difficult.
Another plus is all the art and fashion subjects are out on the campus, my skills maybe finally be put to good use.  At least I will have very good access to an interesting collection.
Besides that very little has been happening besides cleaning and general house stuff.  I have been enjoying pottering around and leaving the dishes, opps.  The weather has been lovely, around the 25 degree mark, very pleasant.

46/52 Kissing

Originally uploaded by LPM

Hmmmm, I have been doing very little this week. I applied for a job, got stressed out about the interveiw, big time. Did not get the job, gutted.
This weekend I have spent having out with Ela and Josh, teaching him to sew and eating good food. Indian in Brick lane for lunch yesterday, pesto and salad for dinner and bagels, cream cheese and pickled stuff for out in the sunshine for lunch. It has been a relaxing day.
(We put in a bid for a Berina Industrial machine on e-bay, goodness knows what will happen if we win the auction.)
I wish I had more to write about!

Week Thirty Three

Originally uploaded by LPM

This weekend we have laid very low.
I have been pretty much a social hermit, recovering from the op, I think I pushed myself to much last week.
Friday I just felt awful and looked pretty bad as well. I had a nasty time on the tube when I got all sweaty and I thought I was going to faint. The almost fainting on the tube frighted me and I left work early and then pottered around in Camden which was pleasant.
Friday night was laying around the flat and drinking red wine. Yana stayed with us and kept me amused with her getting ready to see Tina for her birthday. I should have been going but frankly the thought of being jostled in a pub was a little much for me. It is amazing how much your breasts are on the receiving end bumps and scrapes in every day life.
Saturday I received my first smoothie delivery for my 12 moths supply. We got six litres but I was expecting 12 so I must check the email again. Anthony was very pleased and has already made a dent in the supply.
I then spent the rest of the day constructing a waistcoat for Anthony which I finished after dinner and I am very pleased with. I am finding sewing very soothing at the moment, quite relaxing and constructive use of time.
Today was spent with Yana and her parents eating and drinking. Anthony had a good nut roast (not as good as mine apparently) and I had game pie and we drank a lot of red wine.
I am not looking too tired and have removed the bandage so have had showers which I am very pleased about. Although not having to wash my hair with Anthony is a little sad.
I can not see the cut site but the bruise from the operation is very impressive, a very golden yellow colour and huge. You guys are just going to have to settle with the bruise from the drip.
I am back at work tomorrow, moving my desk and beginning my new role at work. I will be moving my desk and getting settled in my new desk. also I am starting my working late routine with leaving early on a Wednesday which will be interesting.
I have cut out a waist coat for me and am about to launch into making that as well as the final outfit for Whitby.

This week is flying past.  Things have been hectic.
On Monday I had the day off as I had an interview for a job at the university I work for.  I am currently on contract and wanted something ongoing until I move countries.
I got offered the job on the Monday evening and have accepted it.  It is not ideal but I have a pay increase and I don’t have the hassle of learning a new routine and meeting staff.  I will be changing my role but that is good because I need a change.
I have also managed to get my cards on line and have a shop up and running on etsy, of which I am very proud of and pleased with.  The logo looks very cool and I have to say thanks to Andrew at Sable Industries for doing it for me.
Last night Ela came over and we cooked a wonderful meal involving steak and blackberries and mushrooms for Anthony.
Tonight is a nodermeet and tomorrow test results.  Fun!

You are going to hear a lot about holds, this is one of the main parts of my new job. Someone reserves a book and I print out a list and go in search. The list was 14 pages long this morning with an average of 6 items per page. I got half way through the list on Friday morning even though we had the fire alarm go off and we evacuated the building. I was impressed with that. The campus supports a computer science course here so there are lots of program how to guides including the bible series and in a nutshell series. Given the tendency of people around me to talk of such things I recognise such words as Tomcat, SQL and 3ds Max. Along with Biochemistry it makes for some very heavy books and lots of CDs.
So far the job is good, the people supportive and helpful. Even when I really did not realise all the noise was the fire alarm and I had no idea what was going on. The students are much different from the Academy students, I suspect that they have chosen to be here helps but of course they still use their phones and eat food.
I have been doing some processing, not too much, of which I pleased. The processing will not be my job come November which is nice, also I don’t have to do much shelving, they employ students to shelve books, which is great, I dislike shelving as most people who are employed in libraries. As a student job it would be ok, flexible hours and not as soul destroying as say Mac Donald’s.
I suspect there is some nasty weather heading our way, or I hope that is the reason my hip is aching recently. Perhaps the fact I am now working is a factor, which will mean it will ache on and off until I am used to the standing, trolley pushing and walking, the good thing is although there is a high circulation desk there are draughtsman chairs to sit on. The boss was also very good when I told here and sent around a lovely email to the staff telling the not to fuss which was really good.

So the rest of my weekend has been fairly relaxed. Friday Phil the Aussie house guest, Anthony and I headed to Jo’s Halloween Party. It was on top of her block of flats and had a great view of London although the Gherkin was hidden behind a tree. We headed home with the addition of Becky who was coughing up her lungs. So we had a full house. Nothing against our house guests recently but I am in need of my house back, we have had guests on and off for the past couple of months and the washing and being nice is getting on my nerves.

We pottered around the house on Saturday, I only ventured out late in the evening in search of ice cream with the guest and Anthony. It was very good.

Today Phil and I drove to Oxford and wandered the town in the drizzle. We were lucky that it stopped pelting after we found the tourist information shop but the map got a touch damp. We climb the Virgin Mary church town which had one of the narrowest stair wells I have ever climb and got our work out for the day. The view was great and I discovered that Phil is scared of heights, which was enlightening. We then made our was to Magdalene College strolled around their grounds, very posh and green with century old buildings. They even have a heard of deer in a meadow! The gargoyles were great as well. The weather was pretty rubbish on the way back and tonight we made proper Pimms and lemonade for Phil as he had not had any due to missing out on the summer here. I must go back to Oxford in the summer and check it all out.

Daylight savings has finished here which is the death knell for any warm weather here, it is dark by 5.30pm and there are many over cast days a head. Not really looking forward to that, I hate the long day winters here, they drag at my soul. Pah.

Tomorrow, off to work, getting really stuck into the job.