awkward.

So much of my time here I feel like has been one awkward experience after another. Not awkward in a bad way, just awkward in an awkward way.  For example, a bit ago I finally decided to get ready and I opened up all of the blinds in my room and let all the light in.  A second later, the window washers start washing my windows from the outside.  In case you've never been in this situation, it feels rude to just go up and shut the blinds on them...but they move quickly.  I move to the kitchen, then there he is again.  And the windows are big here, and multiple exist in every room.  So....

Last night wasn't any better.  While at the pub I noticed a girl with very closely cropped hair, which I love as a haircut.  It doesn't help that I have been recently wondering if I should cut mine off that short again.  So, usually I don't compliment random strangers, but I've been trying this new thing called being friendly, so I go up to her to tell her how much I like her haircut.  Turns out she had cancer, so it wasn't even a choice.  Uh. Was not expecting that, at all.  So of course I got all awkward about it, but I think it turned out alright.  Then, twenty minutes later I thought about it again and realized that I didn't even fucking congratulate her on beating cancer.  I mean, that deserves congratulations.  I think all I actually said was "Oh, my god. I'm so sorry. Well, you wear that hair very well."  So, I had to go back over of course, and tell her how happy I was for her. But still. How strange.

I need to blog on this more, even if only about all of my awkward experiences.  There are a lot, I know this. But am I invested in describing all of them right now?  No.  So here's just a small sampling.

hair.

Made an egg yolk + olive oil mixture today for my hairs. I think that they do look softer and shinier...hard to tell from this picture, I know.  I tried. But I think I'll start trying this a few times a week.  Egg whites are yummy and healthy too, so nothing even goes wasted.

It's about time to head out to a work party with my Dad...I'm forced to wear my combat boots with my nice dress because my black flats have been compromised...but I'm hoping nobody will feel inclined to notice...

the domestic life, sigh.

Was particularly domestic today.  Made these delicious peanut butter & chocolate brownies (half of which have coconut pecan icing on them...yum) and mended things - like buttons on coats, and pillows with holes in them - made dinner, and cross-stitched.  All whilst wearing my apron and listening to Patsy Cline, which I discovered is perfect baking music.  

busy busy

So its been a few days.....

Friday was (once again) another night of too many ales...but this time, it was in lovely Alston..not Derby, as per usual.  Turns out our wigwam tent place had experienced high wind volumes and had some wreckage on their farm...which is sad, because then we didn't get to wigwam it up.  Instead though, I scrambled to find a different place to stay last minute and we ended up in Alston...about 30 minutes from where we wanted to be but SO GORGEOUS of a place that it really wasn't even close to awful at all.  (I finally uploaded all of my pictures so those will be coming soon).


ANYWAY.  We headed up to Hadrian's Wall (about 3.5 hours north) area to meet up with John and Carol.  After getting lost a couple of times, we finally found them at Vindolanda, an old Roman fort that is currently in the process of being excavated (for the past 20 years is what i mean by current..turns out just about anybody can sign up to participate in the excavations when they are happening, which is pretty awesome).

But it was gorgeous up there, in the whole area.  I kept thinking about how wonderful it would be to hole up in a cottage or farmhouse out there and escape from the world...

Hadrian's Wall is a HUGE Roman wall built in 112 AD that spans across the northern half of the UK (almost right below Scotland)  and was built in only 6 years (WHOA) and a lot of it is still remaining. They have hiking trails and such that you can walk along the wall, and a bunch of little villages along the way that are all so cute and quaint.

(to be continued...I have to go get out laundry and go to bed soon)

normal.

Today was a pretty typical day....normal, anyway.  It involved a short bike ride, lots of coffee, and crafting! (and making dinner and hanging out).

But the accomplishments of the day are:

Europe trip ALL BOOKED!!
it is as follows:  paris-munich-prague-vienna-zurich-florence-nice-barcelona-paris

WOO!!

also, our pastry making class is booked - we will learn how to make quiches and tarts and pies!

and also,

We rode our bikes on the street today!  With the English traffic patterns, wahoo!

Tomorrow, we're off to Hadrian's Wall to meet up with John and Carol and do some hiking and sightseeing...I'm excited to see some things from as old as 112 AD (damn) and spend the night in a wigwam !!

Charity Shops = Death

Seriously.  These charity shops are going to kill me.  Financially, anyway.  They just have SO MANY wonderful things that its impossible for me to pass them up!!! Today, I got many a nice clothes (I know, last thing I need) and I'm very excited about all of them!!!

Oh, and then going to Ikea didn't help much....

Found some lovely fabric there, which I will use to attempt to follow my first pattern EVER and make a skirt (wish me luck!) and some really cute woodland creature fabric that I will use to make my dad a curtain for his bathroom out of...so exciting.

Lea and I also found aprons that are necessary for our kitchen activities (dinner and dishes...we can be messy)...

aaaaand now we know how to hem them properly, so they will be fabulous.

I need to start uploading all of the pictures that I take of these random things...and perhaps I will take pictures of my outfits with my new clothes (!). Maybe not.


Also, I was officially initiated into the vest club today when I bought myself a poofy vest.  Hurrah. Now we have to go camping!

yikes.

I can't let myself slip up on my blog posting here...

but anyway.  It's official, it seems, that I have to go back to the U.S.of.A. at the end of February. womp womp.

I suppose its good for a few reasons:
1.  I know for sure
2.  I don't have to worry about having all of the money i have now last for 2 years

So that means...

PARTAY
no just kidding.

It means I'm going to be less worried about all of that, which is a relief.  And it means I think I am going to add one more tattoo to myself....turns out they're about as close to dirt cheap as you can get over here..

but anyways.  There was lovely shopping again today...and I got a christmas present out of the way (though I have to put it together..which seems more complicated than originally thought).  AND I taught Lea how to cross-stitch today! yay!

Tomorrow, I think we're going to Ikea.  I'm going to find me some fabric!!

and other cute things, of course.

good song, this is.

Well, the bad news is that I don't think any of this is going to work out as I wanted it to, after all.  Both the university websites, and the UK Border Agency sites say that I cannot change my status from UK visitor to a student visa.  AKA...I have to go back.  Because I also must apply for the student visa from my country of residence (and who knows how long that will actually take...and the cost of flying back and forth will be awfully expensive).  But, of course, it is my own fault.  If I wasn't so busy working so much this past year, I probably could've figured all of this out.  So as much as I hate it, I'm inclined to say that if I have to go back...I'll probably stay there.

But I can say that it would be nice to have all of this figured out soon, so then I can know for sure and know what I'm going to do and not worry about it anymore.  So, I'm still going to visit the university tomorrow.

And in other news, today was a great dressmaking workshop day!  I learned many things, such as: how to make darts, read patterns, sew a zip, and hem pants.  And we made little baby change purses.  woo!!

trend.

Apparently I am beginning a trend of not posting on Friday nights because I have had too many ales at the pub and pass out as soon as I get home...


So yeah, that's what happened yesterday.

The day before was very nice though - Lea and I went on a very long bike ride, attempted yoga (then the DVD started skipping) and had an ale and cooked a carb-filled dinner for my dad when he got home.  And then we went out for another night with Colin....too much too much...but we did meet some very lovely people (who loved our American accents).


So, needless to say, we all had a rather late start today.  But we did still make it out to see a castle (Kenilworth Castle) in Warwickshire.  That was awesome. It was nothing like the Warwick that I had seen before...it was largely in ruins but it was still HUGE and it was crazy to imagine what it all had looked like when it was fully complete...and insane to imagine that they still used it all the way up to the 19th century...blows my mind.

I've been using my film camera...and now I have to find some place that will develop them..merp.  I want to see my pictures though!

Anyway,
tomorrow Lea and I have our dressmaking class in Sherwood! I hope that it turns out alright...

hokay.

I'm trying to avoid dragging this out tonight...it seems that every night, after being completely exhausted and almost falling asleep or actually falling asleep on the couch (tonight being the latter), I come to bed only to not be tired anymore and I end up staying awake on the computer for another three hours.  


Not tonight.


Things went very well today, yet again - Lea and I went on our first bike ride, played in Darley Park, and then ventured down to the library to pick up our first book club books, which was Silence of the Lambs.  BUT THEN - they only had two copies of Silence of the Lambs (my dad is reading with us, you see!) so we thought, 'Oh, maybe he can just read it at night and we'll read in the day.'  BUT THEN, as we were leaving the library, we went across the street and found the Cat's Protection Charity Shop ! HUZZAH! and, as our luck has been, they have a double copy of The Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs in there! (The Red Dragon came out as a prequel after the SOTL movie, but was actually published before SOTL).  So, after I bought that copy for my dad, and Lea bought a singular copy of The Red Dragon that they also had, we decided to change our book club route and read The Red Dragon first and SOTL second.  So, we went back to the library and checked out a third copy of The Red Dragon, for me to read, of course.


Then, on the way back, we stopped at The Flower Pot and had a couple ales and left quite tipsy (and some two random old guys made fun of us :( ).

Then we came home, and facetimed with Stinky for some moments- and then my dad came home and we cooked him a delicious indian type meal with chicken and veggies and rice and a very good sauce.



Then, we were quite tired and all sat about reading and fell asleep. Blargh.

Maybe tomorrow we'll make it to ten o'clock.

ahhhh

well. besides the fact of there was a GIANT spider that just crawled under my bed and I have no idea where it went and the sort of constant headache that I can't identify the cause of....today was a great day.


Got some shopping in...(bad, I know)...but Lea and I spent a good deal of time down in city centre today, picking up a few things (like planties to decorate the house and a ceramic sealion and this awesome watch...and of course a couple clothes) but it was quite successful and left me feeling quite rejuvenated. 

woo!

We followed that up with some errands with my dad... to the Toyota dealer to pick up the new Yaris (which i can drive...still eek though!) and then to Costco and then Dunelm Mill, a Bed-Bath-and-Beyond type store that was quite confusing and had none of the things we were looking for.  Blargh.  Not even a grown up paint-by-number (which I am now very much on the search for...I hear they are quite relaxing).


the end.

she's here!!

Lea has officially arrived, safe and sound!!

Very exciting, because now I have somebody to go on adventures during the day with!

Including today, when we went with my Dad to the pub for dinner and then to the Dolphin Inn, the oldest pub in Derby (from 1530 A.D.)

another day.

Once again, I am up way too late for an early morning and I'm not quite tired, but I'm not actually making a concerted effort to sleep, either.  And I was putting off this blog, and half forgot, until now.

But anyways, LEA COMES TOMORROW!!!

so that is VERY EXCITING news.

and i went on a walk today, and found some secret sit spots, and things.

pictures will come.

otherwise, things are about the same.

its setting in now...

Well.  After ANOTHER 6 miles of walking today, I can surely say that my body definitely feels it! Perhaps because of the speed at which my father insists on walking...which usually I am up for.  However, I am not up for it when either A). I would like to sight see or B). I'm not adjusted to much exercise.  So, I feel the burn. But that's not a bad thing at all. 

I am however, looking forward to casual strolls with one Leanna Kleppick! (I just don't know how we'll both fare with Rickles....)


But in other notes.  I discovered today that I can (hopefully) get a Masters in Film and Photography at University of Derby, which would be exciting! I can't even imagine taking classes that actually seriously interest me....I just hope it works out! I sent out to schedule an appointment with an advisor for next week..so we'll see!

At this point, I'm pretty excited for Lea to arrive.  I know its silly, and I'm not lonely here, but I suppose I just feel left out..or forgotten.  Not so good. But I'm very excited also to show her all of the lovely things that I have seen and for us to spend many a times exploring during the week days!

2 in 1.

i'm procrastinating this blog post...though i'm not exactly sure why...but i do know that about three hours ago i got on my computer to type this up and to send lea a message...and i have sent the message but not begun this, for whatever reason.

well its a 2 for 1 special, as i obviously did not post yesterday...

and that is because...i had a couple too many ales, i'd say.

but beyond that...i'll start where i left off.

Friday morning was pretty typical...i woke up around eleven to an empty house and got ready and went for a couple walks (one to take my post, the other to come back and change after realizing how warm it was and then go out again to explore), and then came home to meet my dad after he got home from work.  And he says: "Hey, Colin wants to meet up at the pub tonight!"  So alright, why not?  After two days, its about time that I meet Colin and we check out a few pubs around.  And I must say, we went to some pretty good ones! Will have to go back...


BUT anyway. After getting home and passing out right into bed...I wake up today to my Dad cooking breakfast (yum) and we head out to city centre to get my keys made (hopefully).  Success! and in the meantime we sit and sip some costa and i think about how glorious the city centre truly is...no cars...just people, and little shops, everywhere (and quite intriguing shops, as it is).

later, we go on a 5 mile hike in Hambleton Village, in Leceistershire.  it was a glorious location...and perfect weather. not a drop of rain, and perfectly blue skies...wonderful.  I have pictures, but I am too lazy to post them right now.  And, I want to say more about all of this, but I'm too lazy for that too. must end this early. finally getting tired....

"its everywhere i will be after i walk for two weeks"

First Official Day One:  no rain.  That's a good start, right?  After sleeping off my 24-hour-flight fatigue for half of the day, I finally awoke and began to unpack and put my room together and set everything up. After finishing one of my first tasks given to me by my father (fixing the internet), he came home from work and we walked down to eat at La Tasca, a Spanish tapas restaurant.  Very Delicious, and quite filling, as we got a huge paella to split for just the two of us (and the English aren't very keen on sending home leftovers...so we had to eat it all up).  After we walked home from there, we went out to Asda Supercentre to pick up a few items (and bargain hunt....like rhubarbs for only 5 pence! Amazing.), and of course waltzed over to The Five Lamps after that so I could have my first ale after my arrival was official.  Glorious!






After getting home, I finalized all of my unpacking needs, and my room is officially complete!  See:

Wahoo!  Successful first day, I'd say.  Tomorrow, I'm actually going to get up early and go for walks around and send some post and figure out even more things!