what's that smell?

Sad…it’s raining. Happy…it’s sunny. Oh no, sad again…the rains back. Yay!...I see the sun. Wait…it was only momentary.
Seriously! If I wanted a weather roller-coaster I’d go to Thorpe Park. Instead I’ve been subjected to lunch indoors for the last 2 weeks and I’m now suffering from severe cabin fever.
What’s with the weather on our planet? It’s snowing in Cape Town, flooding in the drought stricken regions of Aus and raining incessantly for weeks, mid-summer in UK (oh wait, that’s actually quite normal).
I arrived at work this morning in the foulest of foul moods. I was wet, my trousers were sodden at the ankles and I was feeling miserable due to the lack of Vitamin D. I’m just grumpy and all I ask is for a few consecutive days of summer sun to lift me out of my misery.
That aside, London suffered yet another terror threat today. My main concern (it’s okay, I can be a little flippant as no one was hurt), on sighting pictures, was that the bomb-car was parked right next to a 14 bus stop in Central London - just a bit close to home for a No. 14 regular!
As usual, I’m feeling that special Friday relief start to descend as I begin to envision 2 days of freedom from my office. Judging by the number of FWD emails flying between us, the boredom is undoubtedly mutual. I can smell it – that beautiful aroma that signals freedom – yes, it’s the smell of the weekend!

just a ramble to pass the time

"I want to break free-e. I want to break free…" Freddie Mercury's crystal voice echoes through my head as I sit and stare blankly at my workstation, bound by the clutches of 9-5 and tormented by the restraints of boredom. Hark, the day cometh when I will have a workload full enough to see me through the day!
For some reason our internet has been unblocked today so I have been able to check my emails and Facebook any time of the day. As chance would have it, no one had Facebook’d me anything. Why, oh why have my cyber friends chosen to go quiet today?! Until…an email arriveth in my inbox, “Jo Nicholson has written on your wall”. Elation! Someone is awake in Facebook land. Jo had noticed the absurdity of my Facebook “online” status, mid-workday.
Despite all my whingeing and I must admit to a twinge of nostalgia this afternoon while speaking to one of my regular suppliers. As I drew the call to a close he ended his side of the conversation as he does, everyday, “Alright then Rox, love. Chat soon.”
I realised how dangerously comforting familiarity can be. It's just not comfortable enough to make me complacent. Never that.

another day another...pound

We're well into the start of another week and the effort to drag myself out of bed this morning was an indication of my outlook. Work is incredibly tedious. I can usually find something to occupy myself for the morning but afternoons are dreadful as I long for the end of the day to arrive quicker than it ever does. All of a sudden, on hearing of my impending departure, I have been receiving emails of distress (one such email entitled "Oh No!!") from various staff who reason that my presence at work will be sorely missed. Hello, people! Where has the love been for the last 2 years? Human nature is a fascinating thing. Most days we don't even talk in my department. Maybe they will just miss my smell (note to self: don't change perfume).
It has been raining in London for 4 days straight. Who forgot to turn on the summer sun? As a result I spent most of the weekend indoors, under the duvet, playing on my new laptop. Ooh, I love new gadgets. Call me a nerd if you must but, honestly, are you ever too old to enjoy new toys?
Apart from reveling in the novelty of Windows Vista the weekend was a good balance of socializing and down-time. Fox is away again, this week it's to Poland - don't ask me to tell you where, it's pronounced too differently to how it's spelt.
In summary, I guess it's just another week in London Town; minus the sun, but full of bright prospects.

wise words on the 414

As well as a number of really odd people (was it a full moon?) Fox and I spotted this on the 414 bus on the way home from date night at Shikara in Chelsea…

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit and not a vegetable; wisdom is knowing not to include it in a fruit salad. (Anon)

Cracked me up!

oh happy day

After yesterday’s email regarding the pain of waiting, finally I can tell you my news that I have been so desperate to share! Now that it’s all official I am free to air my excitement.
I HAVE A NEW JOB!!
I got the call yesterday after a particularly disheartening day at work which left me close to tears the minute I walked out of the building.
The call came totally unexpectedly while Ian and I were deciding on dinner options in Waitrose (Squash? Carrots? Salad!)
So, in 5 weeks I will leave behind the world of fabric and wallpaper and start working for my church, HTB. I don’t think I have ever been so excited to start a new job. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been excited about a new job at all.
I will be working in the worship department, which means that I can sing as loud as I want to and hopefully no one will throw things at me. Feel free to drop me a mail for more detail but, there we go, may your curiosity now be sated. YAY! YAY! YAY!

the weight of a wait

I am an anxious waiter. Not the type that serves you food (although I’m really nervy when it comes to that too!) but the type that is told to be patient. I really don’t like waiting around. To me, waiting around is time that I could be busy doing something productive – moving forward. I know that this approach, however ambitious, has an adverse impact on my attitude. While walking to work I get really riled if I have to wait behind a couple of mom’s taking up the sidewalk while chatting and pushing prams; I get antsy waiting to hear back about a new job (nudge nudge, for those who read “what curiosity did”); I look at my watch no less than 10 times when waiting for friends/family who run late; I struggle with waiting to make large purchases (this, however, is definitely improving); I just dislike waiting, in general.
It’s not necessarily the waiting that irks me, but more the unknown. Waiting generally stirs a sense of uncertainty and if I don’t know what to expect from tomorrow I get panicky.
I’m not naïve; I know there is value in using time spent waiting, to learn and grow. But I just figure that I’m only here for a limited time and 1/3 of that is spent sleeping so I’d really like to make the most of the other 2/3’s. I know that every time I’m told to be patient it is a lesson in handing over control to He who is bigger and wiser than me. As a good friend told me, “We think that life lessons are a combination lock and if we just get the right combination we’ll move on when, in actual fact, they’re a time lock.” So, no matter what we do, we just have to wait it out. *sigh* If patience is a virtue, I think I’m one down.

brother too big to avoid

I have a confession. I just need to get it off my chest but, before I do that, let me just establish that my actions were totally unintentional. I found myself in a compromising situation…and I caved.
This morning, while eating my breakfast, I watched last night’s repeat of Big Brother.
For all of you who thought I couldn’t resist all 3 months…well…you were right. The thing is, I had the intention of watching the morning news but when I switched on the TV it was already on Channel4. Before I knew what I was doing I caught myself hanging on every one of Ziggy’s words as he relayed his struggle to BB as to whether the lovely Chanel is perhaps a little too young for him. Then there was the fight between Charlie and another housemate over the hair-straighteners (you go girl – fight for that GHD!).
I would also like to clarify that there is no connection between my watching BB and being late for work this morning. That was due to an early morning run with Fox and my inability to regain full functionality of my legs, post-exercise. Thus, an unavoidable bus trip which landed me in rush-hour traffic. See, nothing to do with the urgency to watch the final 5 mins of the show just to see how all the shenanigans worked out.
My craving is still manageable. But then I think to myself, why fight it? Who needs to know what is happening in the real world when you can eat your brekkie and watch a bunch of people who have created a world that is, frankly, a little less depressing than the news? I guess it just means a decline in commentary regarding current affairs, but then, I’m rarely inclined to subject my bloggees to such dreariness anyway.

semi-update

I know I've been really cruel in leaving you hanging for so many days. I'm afraid I still have my hesitancy's at divulging too many details regarding recent events but I hope to be able to reveal all by early next week. Sorry bloggees!
This week has been really stressful, made evident by headaches, loss of appetite and water spillage from my eyes at the most inappropriate times. Sometimes I've come so far from being that girl who used to worry herself to sleep at night and others I can't remember what ever made me think that.
Other than that there really isn't much to report. A few activities planned for the weekend - work drinks, watching Oceans 13, Portobello market, catching a bit of SA whipping some Wallaby bums in the rugby, maybe a trip to Greenwich and some sleep if I can find the time. Hhm, normality really isn't a writer's greatest inspirtaion. But sometimes it's just what a girl needs.

what curiosity did

I have something quite exciting coming up tomorrow. I would love to blog all about it but, unfortunately, I have to keep mum for another few days.
Doesn’t it just drive you mad when people do that? “I have something that I really want to tell you…but I can’t.” Uhm, okay. Now you are left in a personal battle of ethics whereby you could either plead it out of them, in the full knowledge that they are breaking someone else’s confidence, or just leave it there and appear disinterested. At this point, if you were a cat, you’d be dead.
So I’m really sorry that I’m doing this to you but I’m excruciatingly bored at work today and tomorrow’s event is really all that is on my mind.
Okay, there’s other stuff there too…
Fox returned to London for the weekend *big smile* which somehow swept past in a haze of activity; catching up, watching him demonstrate his skill in touch rugby at Battersea Park, church and the Casting Crowns concert on Sunday night. I would be far saner if my work-week rushed by as quickly.
I’m looking into doing pump classes at the local leisure centre from next week. I distinctly remember the last time I undertook this particular exercise regime. Every step I took in the subsequent week was sheer agony. I was acutely aware of each and every muscle in my entire body. It was more pain than I thought I could bear. And here I am considering doing it all again. Perhaps it’s that work induced lunacy.
I know I’ve been a little slack on the blog updates lately but it seems that a life of routine is counterproductive to a full-life of blogging. But you know what curiosity does? It brings you back.

big brother’s summer snare

It’s that time of the year again. Summer is here and TV producers need the “good stuff” to keep us indoors rather than leave us to enjoy the sunshine (I’ve merely heard of this phenomenon) and all that the outdoors has to offer.
This is when they pull out Big Brother.
I’m not even lowering myself to the depths of trying to describe the characters that we get to observe for 3 months. But as ludicrous as I might find the whole shenanigans, all it takes is one episode to hook me…and then I just can’t get enough. So, the trick is just to steer clear of channel-surfing during summer months because, low and behold, if BB is the only thing showing while I eat my dinner, I’ve had it! I’ll find myself coming home late at night and tuning into channel E4+1 just to watch the housemates sleep; or logging onto BBC each Monday to see who was evicted while I was out living my “real” life; or looking over my shoulder in Sainsbury’s as I page through a Heat magazine to read the latest on the quirkiest characters.
So far so good. I’ve merely caught snippets on the news of the latest evictee being thrown out of the house thanks to her use of the “n” word and have obtained minor feedback from Mom who gave me the rundown on her favourites. I might have lingered around reception a little longer than necessary this morning as I eavesdropped on a conversation, regarding evictions, between colleagues. But I’m really quite disinterested.
In reality, there is no avoiding the BB hype - you either get involved or you happen upon it. I’m well aware that the summer is in its infancy and I only have so much willpower. Perhaps I’ll make a habit of eating my dinner in the park.

beauty hidden within

As I dressed for work this morning I decided to wear a top that I’d been saving for a special occasion. As I gave myself a once over in the passage mirror I realised that the top was slightly more elegant than I had originally thought. Just as I was about to rethink my days attire I stopped to assess why I felt it necessary to dress down. Why was I changing my outfit when I felt really good in it? When did femininity become a trait inappropriate for the work day? It seems that, a lot of the time, if we feel too attractive we must be overdressed. I wonder when we started apologizing for our loveliness. I love getting dressed up and feeling pretty; it’s not about being “girly” but a connection with the essence of who I was created to be. We were made to be beautiful. I decided that there was no way that I was going to be apologetic about how I looked and felt today. And I think I’ll wear this top more often.

friday to sun-day

I got word from Dad today that Desi is doing fine. There’s no apparent organ damage but, of course, she’s still suffering the broken pelvis. Thanks so much for all the prayers!
So, it’s practically the weekend and I couldn’t be happier to get out of this office today. After losing my assignment due to an unexplainable technical glitch, hearing of Desi’s accident, missing Fox and sleep deprivation, I’ve really had enough for this week.
I’m off to Mom’s tonight to watch “Little Miss Sunshine” (that movie SERIOUSLY cracks me up) and appreciate a mom-cooked meal.
Jo and I are taking a road trip to Oxford tomorrow. As much as I love London for its ‘big city’ qualities, I LOVE getting out of it too.
Then it’s Sunday and then it’s….no, I can’t bear to even think it.
If you happen to have sunshine in whatever country you inhabit this weekend, please enjoy it for me. London seems to have mislaid it.