Gay Mumps.

My housemate has been struck down by the MUMPS !

MUMPS!

Poor old Jordy, his neck has swollen up good and proper and he’s been advised to stay in bed until it clears up. He’s also still contagious and as such we have had to quarantine him to the house. I was immunised as a teen (this has not stopped me from developing a suspiciously sore throat, which is clearly psychosomatic) and so was Barnaby but Phil, alas, is not sure. As he is the most regular visitor to the house bar Nic, he’s been exiled to his little flat till further notice. I saw Jordy last night and his neck was hoooge. If he wasn’t in pain, it would actually be funny ;) I’d won a goody bag from work in relation to the LiveWell week they’ve just started and amongst other things it contained a cold-pack which I handed over to help ease the swelling.

How funny is the word MUMPS? If you say it too many times, as with so many other words, it ceases to sound like a real word.

Mumps mumps mumps. Mwahahaha.

But I digress. LiveWell is a nice idea, encouraging positive health and fitness changes to your life via free apples, healthy canteen food, free stress-relief workshops, stop-smoking courses and a free 12-week weight management course. Ultimately, I decided to give that a go, because it sounds a lot like weight-watchers and it won’t cost me a penny.

Sleep and Coffee Beans and Rainbow Brite

Sleeps.

NEED SLEEPS.

Was unable to sleep till 2.30am approx, and as such am a complete mess of sleepy-faced tiredness. I can honestly say that the chocolate-coated coffee beans were probably not a good idea, although they didn’t appear to be a problem at the time. I did grab a few hours snooze in the early evening, woke up at 7.30 just in time for CSI on 5US. I watched rather aimlessly and eventually wound up wide awake, surfing the interwebs for Patty O’Green costumes at silly o’clock. You see, Phil’s sister-in-law is having a fancy-dress party for her birthday on 7^th March and we all have to go as 80’s or 90’s cartoon characters. Sounds reasonable, except that I will have my lovely new dreads by then and this severely limits my dressing-up options. Patty O’Green is the Color Kid who is, obviously, green, and very cute. It’s going to be a bit of a long-shot, but it will be doable I think. I’ve been investigating online and I’m sure I can put something together in time. Maybe no-one will know who I am, but what the heck ;) It’s in Gunwarf, somewhere which normally you couldn’t convince me to go to...and I am not sure I want to go even now, but we shall see.

I am SO tired! I honestly think I am going to fall asleep at my desk.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I feel like a zombie. A zombie I tell you!

I’ll have lots of water to drink and a few coffees, but no caffeine after 4pm or I’ll screw up my sleeping patterns again and this would suck most utterly.

*UN GRUMP*

I’m in MUCH better spirits today, oh yes.

Had a really lovely evening with Phil, Barnaby and Jordon. I made French Onion Soup with a twist (cider instead of wine, it works, trust me) and then we played ATMOSFEAR II in the living room. It was great! Much faster than the original one, and a bit more complicated, but we did our best and sat about drinking pear cider (me) and Leffe beer (the boiys). Ok, so the Baron beat us, but it was still ace.

Early start at work again today, but not too busy. Plus, I also sorted out a big problem all on my own with various phone calls in French and felt really great about that. I do get to leave at 3.30 today, which is fab. I’m nipping to Lush to get facemask and then going to the Caroline for a drink with Bala and Agneiska from work.

Also, hot off the press, the office I used to work in is downsizing in the extreme in June and 53 of the 78 staff are being made redundant! This is the same company who suspended me back in October! I’m not shocked, very sad for my friends there, but nonetheless...what goes around, eh? *pokes out tongue*

*GRUMP*

Today, most likely due to hormones, everything but everything is getting me down.

Money – I need to make a very long and uncomfortable call to the bank at lunchtime to try and sort out the a/cs with them which I don’t need anymore, which have overdrafts and charges left on them. I aim to close the majority as I now bank with Smile.co.uk but will have to keep one open with which to make the loan repayments, because an emergency consolidation loan with the bank looks like my only option right now.

Work – not because I don’t like the job, but because it’s taking SO much out of me. Who knew that an office job could be so demanding? *wry grin* to be fair, compare it to the stressful days at the bank and it’s nothing really; during the crisis of Bank charges we were taking 40-50 calls a day and taking a huge amount of abuse, the majority of which became personal pretty quick. It wore us down. No, it’s not that my new job is more stressful emotionally, but because it requires so much more concentration. I’ve only been here for 8 weeks and Ive still got so much to learn. My brain feels so tired some days, its untrue. Yes, my level of French has dramatically improved but I still find myself struggling for the words when it counts, which is usually in a social context. Blah. Feel a bit mute and introverted.

Rent – too much really but such a lovely flat and don’t really want to move – plus the cost and hassle would be awful.

Health – everything feels WRONG. Slow, and just wrong. I’m going to the docs this week hopefully to see if there’s anything they can help me with.

And as a consequence, everything else, no matter how small it is, is making me feel worse.

*GRUMP*

ARGH

I think I might have to kill the woman who sits behind me at work

Intuition - a Dove Campaign For Real Beauty film

May I please direct your attention to the Dove website:

www.dove.co.uk/intuition

where you can view the wonderful new film “Intuition”, which stars, amongst others, myself ;)

The site is also packed with other interesting bits and bobs, surveys and facts and is well worth a proper look. It’s great stuff. I especially love the other Dove films, most particularly “Onslaught” – I can very much relate to that, oh yes.

Nights on Black Satin...

Work is not as bad as I thought it would be. Well, actually, work itself is quite busy and horrid, but being here with my vicious head-cold isn’t that appalling after all. I’m dosed up to the eyeballs, wearing a great many layers and wrapped in my huge black and white scarf. I’m surviving. One thing I have noticed though, is the lack of actual SNOT. I’m bunged up, but no streams of icky green stuff. HURRAH! Cutting out dairy seems to be helping...

Only one hour 'til lunch and I’m going to the canteen to meet Rachel (I used to work with her at the bank and I got this job through her, if you remember). Technically, Le Rendez-Vous is a restaurant, but calling it that just sounds silly. It reminds me a bit of the school canteen at Jean Valette and the food is pretty good and very cheap. I’ll probably opt for the Soup of the Day and a roll, a snip at £1. Just hope it’s something yummy, I need something warm inside me – no innuendo please ;)

In other news, my brand new satin bed set arrived yesterday! I now sleep upon black satin sheets and have satin pillowcases and a duvet cover too! To be honest, it’s lovely, but highly impractical as it keeps sliding off the bed. It really feels amazing though and as such it is worth the inconvenience. I feel like sleeping in very dramatic poses or dimming the lights and smoking a long cigarette from a posh cigarette holder *purrrrrr*...

I shall take a few photos when my room is tidied and reorganised – it was my NY resolution to sort, organise, and tidy my bedroom by the end of Jan and keep it that way. By the time I’m finished, it truly will be a Boudoir... ;)

SPLODEY!

My face feels like it is going to explode and cover everyone and everything nearby with green snot.

However, I'm off to work today...

I;m sure I will get through the day, somehow...

No cheese please...

Our detox at the weekend went really well in the end. We opted for the apple juice and fruit detox with plenty of water, and felt much better for it.

Since 3^rd Jan I’ve not eaten any dairy products at all and plan to carry this on for the whole of Jan. Now, a little clarification – by dairy products, I mean anything that could viably have come from a dairy, so cows, sheep, goats etc. No milk, cheese, chocolate, or anything which contains those. I’m not including eggs in that because A) I don’t consider them dairy – dairy farmers don’t tend to keep them and you can’t milk a duck or chicken ;) B) I need some protein and I’m not quite prepared to go fully vegan. I’d love to think I could, but given my history, I’m not sure how smart it would be to start restricting so much in my diet. I’m sure my lovely vegan friend Becca would argue that I’d probably be healthier and fitter and happier, and she’d probably be right too...but I don’t think it would be the right decision to make just yet. We’ll see how things progress with no cheese and suchlike...and of course, cutting out the cheese means that my snot should decrease, hopefully. It’s possible that my dreams will change too, will have to keep an eye on that as I love my fabulous flights of fancy and would really miss them if they go...

In other, non cheese related news, I should be having my new hair put in this weekend with any luck. I was meant to be having it done the weekend just done but the girl who is doing it had been so poorly that she hadn’t had time to make the dreads. Fair dos really! Hopefully it will be done in time to go visit Cassie and Sean and lil’ baby Ryan on the 24^th! Watch this space for photos.

Detox....Go?

Hahaha, so it didn't quite work the way I anticipated - that's to say that I took one look at the vast amount of oil I'd bored into my cup and cringed, took one sip and was promptly quite sick :)

GROSS.

So, I put the oil and lemon-juice to one side to make salad dressing (and stir fry) and we've opted for the apple juice side of things instead ;)

Much less vomit-inducing.

Detox...Get Set!

Here’s the outline :

427.5 ml-570 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil mixed with the juice of two lemons.

Take 2 tablespoons every 15 minutes from 7.30 onwards tonight. It will take a while to consume the whole lot, but consume it we must!

Then it advocates sleeping and staying in bed – sounds alright to me!!

Throughout the day tomorrow we are to drink water and unsweetened apple-juice but avoid eating any food while the cleanse takes place. One day without food after a whole 12 days of sumptuous eating, I am pretty sure I manage that ;)

RIGHT, I’m off to Sainsbury’s at 4pm to buy oil and lemons and juice.

Despite it sounding totally gross, I’m also feeling surprisingly intrigued by this....

This detox was explained to me by my friend Becca who was give the instructions by her doctor. I also found it online, just incase you were wondering

Detox...On Your Marks!

I’m starting a liver cleanse detox tonight at 7.30 – it should take all weekend but it should help me feel better! I’ve over-endulged in rich foods and alcohol since Yule and tonight marks 12^th night since then, so a good time to start the detox! I’ll update on my progress as I go.

It’s pretty straightforward – olive oil and lemon juice, followed by plenty of water and apple juice throughout the day tomorrow...think that The Boy is going to join me for moral support, bless him