Poor cat

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=479110&in_page_id=1770

How cute....

Spin

OK, I'll say now I'm going to sound like a gym nerd:)

Tonight I had an appointment with Billy the trainer and he kicked my butt. In some of the classes I've been taking I'm getting friendly with some other women (another of my objectives remember - getting friends) and they "bullied me" into going to a spin class. I guess I could have said no, but with people there to cheer you on, it seemed like a good idea.

Spin classes have always intimidated me - but I have to tell you, I survived. Better than I thought. I cycled constantly for 40 minutes - some of it at a hard level and following along, some cowered in the back willing my legs to go around and around.

I was out last night with friends so had been feeling slightly fragile today - and feeding that fragility with really bad food. I was OK but I managed to eat a WHOLE PACKET OF COOKIES - and I'm not talking about 100 calorie pack.

I guess Spin Class makes that OK....

Two Blonde Jokes

My friend Quack sent a bunch of blond jokes out - these are the two that had me laughing out loud:
--------------------------------------
Two blonde guys were standing at the base of a flagpole, looking up.
A woman walked by and asked them what they were doing.
"We're supposed to measure the height of this flagpole," said blonde guy number one, "but we don't have a ladder."
The woman took a wrench from her purse and loosened some bolts. The guys helped her lay down the flagpole.
Then the woman got a tape measure from her pocket, took a measurement and said, "Eighteen feet, six inches," and walked away.
Blonde guy number two shook his head and laughed.
"Isn't that just like a girl? We ask for the height and she gives us the length!"
--------------------------------------
An Irishman, a Mexican and a blonde guy were doing construction work on scaffolding on the 20th floor of a building. They were eating lunch and the Irishman said "Corned beef and cabbage. If I get corned beef and cabbage one more time for lunch I'm going to jump off this building." The Mexican opened his lunch box and exclaimed, "Burritos again! If I get burritos one more time I'm going to jump off, too." The blond opened his lunch and said, "Bologna again. If I get a bologna sandwich one more time, I'm jumping too." The next day the Irishman opened his lunch box, saw corned beef and cabbage and jumped to his death. The Mexican opened his lunch, saw a burrito and jumped, too. The blonde guy opened his lunch, saw the bologna and jumped to his death as well. At the funeral the Irishman's wife was weeping. She said, "If I'd known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage, I never would have given it to him again!" The Mexican's wife also wept and said, "I could have given him tacos or enchiladas! I didn't realize he hated burritos so much." Everyone turned and stared at the blonde's wife. "Hey, don't look at me," she said. "He makes his own lunch."

I learnt something in excel...

I'm soooooo excited. I think I'm a nerd for being this excited, but I am. I learnt something new in Excel today - and it's soooooooooo cool.

You can do a "find and replace" and have it colour cells so you can locate info easily. I never knew that. For example, if you wanted to highlight in a file of 20000 lines all the cells with "smith" you can tell it to search for "smith" and turn the cells yellow.

Now, if you could only sort in colour I'd be ecstatic!

Never done this before...

OK so I'm crap at meeting new people outside of work. I am making a point of talking with other women at the gym in the classes etc as we obviously have something in common and that's nice.

That said, it'd still be nice to meet up for a beer etc with people. So...I've taken a brave step. I've never done this, and I do feel a little bit silly - but quite frankly with Trev away so much I need a life. I've answered a couple of ads on craigslist for women wanting platonic friendship.

Obviously I've not met them or given out personal details (duh!) and I have an email address that obscure enough that they can't trace me....so we'll see.

The two people I emailed returned back and we're exchanging formalities. I think I started both emails with "i'm not into any funny business".

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Do things really come in 3s?

I sincerely hope not.

First bad thing - I left work in a rush so I could get to my 5.30pm Pilates class tonight. Millie is my usual instructor and she's amazing. It's a hard class but she encourages you and you feel like you've worked out. Oh my....tonight there was some ditz running the class. We were still warming up with stretches 30 minutes into an hour's class. I have to tell you, I'm normally quite British at the gym and I don't complain a lot - but tonight I got one of the new managers and told him he would have been better off cancelling the class than the crap we got served up. I told him I thought I'd wasted my time and it was awful. I also said that if they were planning on using that teacher for Saturday then not to bother.

Second I drive home from the gym and get home only to find some idiot had parked his SUV right in front of our entrance. I waited then drove round the corner, paid 50c to park my car.... to wait for the idiot to move.

Hmmmmpfh - not happy

Gym

OK, so an update on my keep fit campaign...

1) I did 3 visits last week with Billy the trainer....something i've never done before. Man...by Friday my muscles were definitely achey. I survived though, much better than I thought I would have.

2) I did a new class at the weekend called "Explosive Muscles and Abs". This was a class that I thought would be weight training and then ab work....perfectly complimentary to the other classes/sessions I do. Obviously with new trainers they take one look at my physique and think I don't work out....so they give me light weights....hahah. This guy gave me a 3lb and 5lb weight....I looked at him and said "I can handle more than that" (I normally curl 20lb each arm). He said I should start light...so I took him up on it. I needed heavier weights, but at least I'll know for next time. What I wasn't banking on was the cardio aspect of this class - now, as most of you know, I'm not built for running or star jumps (think boobs) so was none too happy when the start of the class was 2 minutes of star jumps. No amount of "I don't like this" or "I'm not built for this" seemed to work with this instructor. I think he got the message though when he wanted me to do curls with weights, but so they were close together in front. He realized, that for some women (ie me), it's just not possible. That said, I think I'd do the class again - I certainly felt brilliant when I was done....and it may help with the losing weight thingy.

3) Yoga. I went to yoga last night - hahahdiha. It's good after all the cardio and weight training to stretch and I always feel so "zen" after. Now I'm not good at the bendy stuff at the best of times and last night had me in fits. I'm going to try and describe what they had people doing - needless to say I couldn't do this for crap. OK, I tried writing the instructions and it sounded like crap - all you need to know is that you end up with your legs wrapped around one arm and both arms on the floor lifting your whole body off the ground. Quite frankly I couldn't lift my body off the floor, but even if I could I am not build to be that bendy. Still, it's quite theraputic to sit on the floor in fits of laughter.

OK I'm done - I'm doing alright and my muscles are OK. Off to pilates tonight. My schedule is now...

Mon - Yoga
Tues - Pilates
Wed - Billy
Thur - off
Fri - Billy
Sat - Explosive Muscles/Abs and/or Pilates
Sun - Explosive Muscles/Abs and/or Yoga

Can you believe this? Who'd have thought I'd have become this workoutaholic? I consider this an achievement.

Men

Why is it that men think that by sitting on a seat they can take all the available leg room but leaving their legs apart? The bus to work is ALWAYS full of people, sitting and standing. I watched 2 guys today try and take up 3 seats between them....just because of the way their legs were. Hmmmm. Nice to see that a 21st century woman said "excuse me" and sat between them. I have to tell you though - she had to sit with her legs so close together.....

I tell ya - if women sat like that they'd be called tramps and told it was "unladylike".

Top Gear

Oh man....it's so cool. Top Gear is on the BBC America channel.

Top Gear is a TV program about cars. 3 guys run the program and they review new cars, take road trips. It's been going for years - I'm looking forward to watching it. Cool beans.

I have had about 3 weeks off weight training at the gym - I've been doing cardio and classes regularly so it's not like I've been doing nothing. Billy went off for a holiday to Florida and the gym got taken over with new managers. For the last several months we've paid Billy in cash so we had to do it the legitimate way. The nice thing is if you buy 50 (!) sessions you get 25% of the fee - that's pretty good, especially as Trev works out with Billy too. So, to get back in the groove I'm meeting Billy 3 times this week. The only thing I'm upset about is they keep changing the class schedule and telling no-one. It's flipping annoying. My most favourite ever yoga class got taken off the schedule....very annoying. I'm sad about that.

If I could only give up the chocolate I'd get thin.....I really should figure out how to do it!

Sad

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/20/nyregion/20fire.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

A sad story - turns out one of the firefighters who died is the husband of one of my boss' best friends....

Feet

This is a quick entry to rave about a fantastic product - since moving to NYC I have a lot of hard skin on my feet. While I'd love to be able to have a pedicure 3 times a week, that's not possible (1. because of the time it'd take and 2. it's a waste of flipping money).

Years ago Carrieanne held a Body Shop party at her house and I picked up loads of stuff - primarily a body scrub and body creme - have used it on and off over the years and like it a lot. BJ gave me the "matching" honey butter tub when we were last in Iowa....and I have to tell you - it's a miracle worker.

I had a pedicure two weeks ago, and while I use some kind of foot scrubby thing about once a week usually by week 3 I'm in desperate need of a pedicure. For the last week I've been smothering on this honey butter stuff and I have to say it's brilliant. I still have soft feet.... who knew?

It's not the cheapest product....but compared to all those pedicures it probably is. It means now I only need a pedicure when the nail varnish chips. Fantastic!

Check it out at: http://www.thebodyshop.com/bodyshop/browse/product_detail.jsp;jsessionid=17091592F6AB44D86DCCBED234BC01DD.bsprd-app-101-bssfolapp04?productId=prod1440005&categoryId=search

Ksenya and Peter visit

So, last weekend it was a busy for us. Peter was in town for a week visiting as he had a conference in the city and then Ksenya came in from San Francisco and we all met up for dinner on Saturday night.

We had a great time - dinner in China Town at a restaurant called the Golden Bridge followed by a few beers in a bar in Soho.

The restaurant was great although when we arrived there was barbie-pink taffeta all the way up the stairs....weird. When we got up the stairs there was a wedding going on (hence the pink....felt sorry for the groom I have to say). The strangest thing was they walked us right through the middle of the wedding to the second dining room. A good sign of a fantastic restaurant is when you're in the minority - and we were. It was terrific. The address and number is in in my phone ready for next time.

The Zimmers

Oh check this out... I just saw this on a Graham Norton TV show....and it's hilarious. It's raising money for Age Concern (UK Charity) and is a big choir of elderly people singing "My Generation". My you tube of the week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY

Cute picture

It's not often I feel the need to upload a cute pic I find on a website - but this is soooooooooo cute.

It's what I looked like when I was on vacation in Jamaica!

My back is somewhat better today, although I have a pain on my right side. I'm glad of the ice packs in my freezer (thanks Mum!!) as they're coming in handy right now.

I went back to the gym today and while pilates was difficult the stretching really helped. I'm definitely making the effort for yoga tomorrow as I think it'll really help. Needless to say my evening will be in front of the TV with a lot of ice!

I need friends

This weekend I'm on my own and it's dawned on me that I don't have any friends at all that are local to me. The friends I have around here live in Connecticut, Long Island or Manhattan. It'd just be so nice to grab a coffee or lunch locally here and hang out for a couple of hours. I've decided this has got to change...so tomorrow I'm actively going to walk around my town and try and meet some people. I'm not really good at that, but I have to make an effort. I"m not sure I want to be advertising on craigslist, so any ideas are welcome!

I'm going to look for some kind of class - cooking would be fun, or wine tasting or something - we'll see. I have loads of time this weekend to figure it out.

I miss my friends from Cedar Rapids and St Louis. I miss the guys in England too, but I get to see them relatively regularly. Maybe I should have got on a plane this weekend and gone to see someone. Maybe I'll do that next time.

Oh yeah, and after my fall earlier in the week my back is killing me....I had a massage tonight thinking that'd help, but it'll be a couple of days yet before I know whether it has or not. Wesley (my massage therapist) is great, but he gives "deep tissue massage" a whole new meaning. I have never really figured out why I like it to hurt so much because I saw "oooowwwweeeeee" a hell of a lot - that said, I know I always feel better in the end.

I'm even bored with TV - so I know I need to do something else......

Embarrassing

Ok, so you'd think this would happen in the snow or ice or when it was raining....but oh no, a beautiful sunny day and in the bus station. I got to the top of the escalator, and I admit, I was in a VERY fast walk to the bus stop... was day dreaming listening to my ipod (Danny Baker, UK Radio DJ...flipping brilliant) and 5 steps after the top of the escalator....I came crashing down (with an #$?! expletive....of course).

No idea what happened but imagine my not-so-small frame crashing to her knees and then skidding about 5 feet in her Jones New York pants before coming to a halt. Yeah yeah, I wasn't hurt, although my knees are a little sore....but man, don't you feel stupid?

Anyway, as you can imagine in NYC most people ignore you but there were a couple of nice people who stopped to make sure I was fine.

Hopefully that'll prevent any more falls for the next 5 years!

Stop press!

We have had our work permits approved for our Green Card.......yeeeeha! They should be with us in the next 30 days. This is huge for us - it means that we are not tied to particular employers and we finally have choices. Yippee

Only piece left to go now is the adjustment of status....watch this space!

Boots and high heels

had a good weekend, albeit busy. Both Peter and our friend Ksenya were in town so lots of eating and drinking. I did manage to get to the gym too, so it wasn't all bad.

First off, check out the pic of the Blueberry Gin. Looking good.... It now has it's own jar, courtesy of Target. Now I just swish it around every couple of days.

Two things I learnt this weekend.

1) "Boots the Chemist" is now in Target. Boots is "the" pharmacy in the UK, it's in every town and very well known. I'm very excited to find "Boots No. 7" makeup etc.

2) High heels. I'm done with them. Being in NYC I rarely wear anything that isn't flat or close to flat. On Saturday night I ventured out in a pair of high heel sandals. I'm telling you - I got to the point where I couldn't walk...and I was hobbling around Union Square in bare feet. that sucked. never again. Needless to say those shoes went straight in the bin.

Teeth

I've always been wary of dentists - usually because it costs a lot and always appears unnecessary. Oh yeah, and I've had some terribly experiences.

I do miss my dentist from St Louis -and I've been searching for a dentist who does sedation for fillings etc. I'm blessed with strong teeth so never usually have a problem. For my whole adult life I don't think I've regularly gone to a dentist....and I still only have about 4 fillings. Pretty good I think.

Trev searched for a dentist and found one. He had a dentist a year ago who said everything was fine. So he went this week....and returned with "the dentist says I have to renew all my old fillings - there are 10".

Is it me - or does this sound like a money making opportunity. I can't help but think this is a complete rip off.

Funny website

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/dmstandard/article.html?in_article_id=395777&in_page_id=1766

Check this out.....especially the exams......
hahahahahaha


Way too much time to find ways not to work:)

Youtube

It's my new friend....here are two that I find hysterical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osnUB9bUm-E This Natalie Imbrulia singing her song "Torn" but with a unique twist. If you've not seen it yet you'll laugh your ass off!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC_-Nx2CWR4 Found this one tonight - it's a Post It man.

Enjoy....

My blueberry gin

Ok, so many moons ago I learnt about damson gin, thanks to my ex-mother in law. Sounds gross, but it's fabulous. Damsons are in the plum family if you've never heard of them. The recipe is:

- 1 pint of white liquor (gin, vodka, rum....doesn't really matter, AND you can use the cheap stuff)

- 1lb of sugar

- 1lb of damsons

It takes about 3 months to "stew"....

Now, I've never seen damons in the US, so I figured that I'd try something different. I'm doing the same with blueberries. In the pictures above the first one is from day one....lots of sugar on the bottom. The second pic is the one 5 days later. All I have to do now is shake it around every couple of days until Thanksgiving.

A funny - the reason I changed to the jug is that I had a tad of an accident with the bowl....first day I shook it it went all over the table and floor. I figured I should go with a jug. I'm hoping that I'll be able to shop for a nice jar.

Let's hope it works. Periodically I'll check in and show process.

The Five Factor Values Test - Pretty Accurate I think:)

Your Values Profile

Loyalty: You value loyalty a fair amount. You're loyal to your friends... to a point. But if they cross you, you will reconsider your loyalties. Staying true to others is important to you, but you also stay true to yourself. Honesty: You don't really value honesty. You do value getting your way, no matter what. And if a little lying is required to do that, no problem. A few white lies never hurt anyone (at least, that's what you tell yourself!) Generosity: You value generosity a fair amount. You are all about giving, as long as there's some give and take. Supportive and kind, you don't mind helping out a friend in need. But you know when you've given too much. You have no problem saying "no"! Humility: You value humility a fair amount. You tend to be an easy going, humble person. But occasionally your ego takes over. You have a slight competitive streak - and the need to be the best. Tolerance: You value tolerance highly. Not only do you enjoy the company of those very different from you... You do all that you can to seek it out interesting and unique friends. You think there are many truths in life, and you're open to many of them.

The Five Factor Values Test

Yoga

OK, why is it that anyone who I see in any yoga class is a size 2 and very bendy....? I can keep up with the best of them, and actually today feel fantastic having taken that class - but it does irk me that everyone's so damn small. I feel like the size of a mountain.

Good job I don't give a crap....

Our gym has new owners so there's lots of changes. We had a few days this past week when it was shut, but now it's open again. Hopefully it'll mean the end of no towels (on occasion) and classes that don't get canceled.

One day, I hope, I'll be a size 2. ........ yeah, right!

Great weekend

We have had an awesome weekend.

Friday we went out with my friend Mary Ann - was at our favourite bar near work. Bar 41. It's on 41st St and 7th Avenue. We had a great time, it's so nice to have a place where you can unwind.

Saturday after the gym we shopped for stuff we can't get on Freshdirect.com and then went and saw the Bourne Ultimatum. I have to tel you - if you're going to see a movie, see that one. It's FANTASTIC. the whole theater was "into it" - cheering and we all burst into applause at the end. Brilliant. The quickest two hours ever. Afterwards we ordered a brilliant curry from karma Kafe in Hoboken. We hadn't tried it before, and I have to say that was awesome also. Later, we watched the movie Crank, again, brilliant.

Today's plan is to head to yoga, I've cooked leek and potato soup and we're having a full roast chicken dinner tonight. We haven't had one for ages, and I think we're in need of it. That's my job later.

Skype is brilliant too - a very cheap way to make calls. I even found out this weekend that any freephone number is free via Skype. I just got a new phone that allows us to let people in via security AND make skype calls. Only downside is when using Skype your laptop has to be connected to the phone. Most inconvenient. However, most of the time it's fine. Love it.

Peter's coming into town next week and we're hoping Carrieanne will come for some rehabilitation at somepoint. We also have friends in from San Francisco so we're very very busy again.

I have just loved this weekend....

Hair

Got my hair done on my birthday and it looked fab as always. The colour is always so good with these guys and the cut is good too. I love Marissa (colour) and Jason (hair). I gave Jason a challenge. I'm fed up of having "humid hair" - you know, where it goes all frizzy and stands up. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have a fringe (ie Bangs for you US folks). It sticks up and looks completely dumb, just a fraction less than if I didn't have one at all.

So....Jason recommended I get this Japanese relaxing thing done on the front of my head. It's intended to straighten the hair so that it can't go frizzy. On Wednesday I went for an appointment with Jessica (note there's a different stylist for a different thing). I had about 400 questions - I'm always nervous when stuff is done to my hair, a result of having some very very bad hair experieneces.

Here's the process
- put protectant around all the hair that's not getting process and then layer it in clingfilm
- put a light coat of protectant on all the hairs that have been highlighted
- put on the magic stinky stuff, sit around til it's cooked (for me it was 10mins, can be up to 40 mins)
- rinse, take off cling film, shampoo
- dry hair, hot iron the hair to "set" it
- rinse again after 10 mins, neutralize, wait 10 more minutes
- wash, blow dry
- wait a full 48 hours before wetting, adding products, washing, clipping or anything

took about 2 hours. It's now Friday afternoon - it's been 20 hours and it still looks good. I'm surprised. I have to tell you having my hair down straight for 2 full days has been a challenge. I've had lots and lots of compliments, I just really can't be bothered. Now bear in mind I wash my bangs (ie fringe) every day i was really worried whether it would be OK or not. Have to say it's looking good. I had to give up the gym for 3 days as I sweat way too much and wet hair was not allowed - that was weird, but I've survived.

Tomorrow will be the key when I wash my hair for the first time. That's the test. I'm worried they'll be a line showing where it was treated and where it wasn't. I'll keep everyone posted.