Life is a rollercoaster...

just gotta ride it.

Having excelled myself with my previous long post, full of information, updates and innuendo, I've exhausted my blogging insipiration for a while I think.

All sorts of complicated things going on, most of which not directly involving me, but seeing people turn to me for support - which is a nice position to be in in a way - I'm always happy to be a listening ear and be dispensing some (probably useless) advice. I can only hope that it does some good somewhere along the way...

Resolution Review

In January, I posted what amounted to 9 New Year's resolutions.

They were:

1. Learn to play the sax
2. Learn to speak Italian again
3. Watch more films
4. Try to get less injuries
5. Make a good attempt at the ITEX walk
6. Do as much travelling as possible
7. Get more sleep
8. Spend more time exploring London
9. Complete the BBC Big Read Top 100 book list (which I've already been attempting for the past two years, I'm 45 books in!)

Although it'’s not half way through the year yet, which would be the logical time to do this (but hey, I can'’t be logical in all aspects of my life!), it has occurred to me to review how I'm getting on with them. So, as at Saturday 20 May, roughly a bit more than a third of the way through the year, here is my progress report on each resolution so far:

1. Learn to play the sax

No action at all. Rubbish. Need to hire one to give it a try

2.Learn to speak Italian again

Also no action at all. Maybe I need to do what The Stig does when tearing cars round the Top Gear race track and listen to language tapes in the car

3. Watch more films

This one is actually going ok - see the list on the right hand side. The long plane journeys to Vegas, Marty and Richelle's crusade to improve my film knowledge, and the Naomi-originated film nights have helped!

4. Try to get less injuries

This one has actually been successful too - touch all the wood in the world! So far this year I've not had any major injuries, so far as I can remember, but do comment and correct me if you think I'm wrong! My knee is still playing up from the stupid frisbee injury (see a post about the beginning of September), especially today (see below) so that'll keep me in the feeb club for a while!

5. Make a good attempt at the ITEX walk

Well. There has been training going on, so that's got to be a good start! At the moment I'’m thinking that a realistic target for my '‘good attempt'’ would be halfway - 24 miles. That would still be a major achievement, so I'’d be happy with that. It's only 5 weeks away now!! Today Helen, Pete and I completed 17 miles (in just under 6 hours) and, apart from my stupid knee, not much hurts at the moment, so that's all good. Tomorrow I'll no doubt be suffering, but at the moment I feel ok, and that gives me confidence that I'll be able to make a decent attempt at the ITEX... might need a bit more training first though, and not sure where that's going to fit in!

6. Do as much traveling as possible

This one is panning out ok too. I've been to Edinburgh/ Glasgow, Las Vegas, and Aberdeen so far. I'’ve got 5 trips to Jersey, a trip to Edinburgh, a trip to Singapore, Bali and Lombok, and a trip to Canada booked. Plus a potential trip to New York and a possible trip to somewhere in Eastern Europe. And New Zealand, Fiji and San Francisco for Christmas and New Year. So I reckon I'll be able to give this one a great big tick at the end of the year!

7. Get more sleep

Hmpf. Might be better to skip this one. Given I'’ve had only 1 night where I've had more than 7 hours sleep since I got back from Vegas, I'm clearly failing miserably. If only the body and mind could actually function perfectly on four hours of sleep a night, I'’d be a happy bunny.

8. Spend more time exploring London

Really need to pay more attention to this one. I've managed to visit more restaurants and bars, but that isn't really what I had in mind when I made the resolution. I've got some exploring planned for the forthcoming bank holiday, so that will be a good start.

9. Complete the BBC Big Read Top 100 book list (which I've already been attempting for the past two years, I'm 45 books in!)

Ho hum. So this one isn't going too well either - I've not got my up to date list here, so I'm not sure what the actual numbers are, but I have a feeling that I'm up to 52 - so not much of an increase since January! I have lots of books ready to be read, but am seriously lacking in the time to read them.

Not too bad. A further review will follow some time in the next couple of months when I get a similar sort of urge to do it - but an update on the Itex walk will follow in advance of that, as it's on 23 June.

In the meantime, I'm very much enjoying being at home on a Saturday night. I can't remember the last time I was - and I've not woken up in my own bed on a Sunday morning for 8 weeks... that sounds deliberately debauched, just for my mum! I just hope I can sleep for a substantial period of time... I'm all set, clean sheets, clean pj's, just had a bath, nice dinner and a glass of wine, plenty of exercise today... let's see what happens!

I love having the occasional night like this where I can potter round the house and not do much - and I've just had a lovely dinner (tuna, Jersey potatoes (Yay!) and roast tomatoes). Such nights remind me of Saturday nights at Uni, when everyone used to go home and leave me to my own devices. It could have been lonely, but it wasn't, because I relished having the time completely to myself, being able to do exactly what I wanted to do, and having some peace to catch up with myself.

That's exactly what I'm doing tonight - it's 'Kate time' - and it's important. I'm alone, but I'm not lonely. Such nights add balance (and much needed rest!) and I can't help but think that I need to have them more often. The trouble with that is that it would mean compromising on other things, which I don't want to do. Ho hum. Time for some dessert to help me solve that conundrum...

Champagne

Tonight I have had a fantastic night with Helen, Pete and Steve, welcoming Steve into London life. We went here and here. At the former, we had dinner next to Andrew Lloyd Webber. At the latter... notice the date of the relaunch on the link. We happened in there and found out that they were intending to be closed, but because they finished the refurbishment early, they were open, so we were one of the first to experience the new surroundings (we went there a few months ago, and the decor has changed a fair bit). But, to be honest, it's not really about the decor - it's about the view.

28 floors up, and a nearly 360 degree view of London. Amazing. Awe inspiring, and 'happy and proud to be in London' thought provoking.

And to leave you with a quote we stumbled across in the drink menu on champagne:

I drink it when I'm happy, and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry, and I drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it... unless I'm thirsty.

Update: Very touching post about the evening from Steve here

Damn we're grown up

For the second time in as many weeks, I'm getting some inspiration for a post from Steve's blog (and stealing the wording of the title too). This is not good, it's got to stop. But, in the meantime, it kind of illustrates the point of this post...

Because we are grown up, in more ways than one. The title is prompted by Steve's comment on his blog describing me and accompanying a photo of me (a particularly horrendous photo, but he will be correcting that on threat of death - won't you Steve?!?) in a post about his birthday celebrations on Friday - which were really good. And mean he's a year older, so he is grown up in that sense, but he actually means something slightly different.

It's taken Steve and I a lot of time and effort to get to the stage of friendship and understanding which we enjoy now. When we spilt up (for he is my ex, just in case you don't know that) we were forced to deal with everything pretty quickly for a variety of reasons, and I firmly believe that forced us into establishing a strong and determined friendship. Had we not had that push, I'm not sure what would have happened. Maybe we would have worked things out to the stage they are at now anyway, but it would probably have been a whole lot harder and more complicated.

I'm very proud of us. We've built a strong and supportive friendship, although a lot of people don't understand how we have. I'm not sure I do all the time either, but I don't really care to analyse it too much, because it works, and that's what's important.

I've had another experience recently where I've had to draw on that kind of strength. I've learnt the true value of being open and honest with each other, of being realistic about your own strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly I've learnt that a sensible approach to things can ensure that people don't get hurt. Oh, and I've learnt the value of rhythm too.

Strong and lasting friendships are built on the basis of being sensible, honest and grown up.

Pictures from the weekend and various other recent things are in the usual place: here.

My 100th post

It might be a long one, it might not. The words in my head have not been forming themselves into bloggable sentences for some time now, hence the short and punchy postings.

When I started this blog back in August, I wasn’t really sure how long I’d keep it up, especially when, although I could access it for a while, my access from work was blocked. That was probably a very good thing, because it means that I can’t come on Blogger and unleash my frustration in the middle of the day. But it also means that I can only blog in the evenings and at the weekends – and this has the effect that the majority of my postings are affected by alcohol. I’m assured by those who are bearing with me and are still reading (although there's not been any comments for a while, so they may not still be with me!) that this makes my blog interesting to read, especially when they know I’ve been on a night out and can log on in the morning and see what I’ve been rambling in the small drunk hours of the morning.

I might also therefore be giving the impression that I drink a lot. On balance, I certainly drink more now than I did a few years ago. But my circumstances are completely different – I have a different job, different flat, different friends and a different relationship situation. This has an impact. My job falls into the ‘work hard play hard’ category, and if I couldn’t sustain a fulfilling social life, I don’t think I’d be able to manage the work. I need to get out and do normal things with friends in the evenings and weekends to add some perspective to my life. There are often massive contrasts, such as a few weeks ago when I was at a black tie dinner with some big big big wigs on a Monday night, and the Act2 gang were at karaoke at a formerly dodgy pub in our student town. Weird – but good.

I love that kind of contrast, and I also love my job. I think however that the time is nearly here for me to have a month off the booze. I did that last year, and the year before that, and it made a big difference. Trouble is, when I’ve done it before, it’s been in the winter, and it seems easier then somehow – now that we’re into May, the evenings are lighter, beer gardens are open, there are BBQ’s, and we’re into ‘birthday season’. Maybe I should aim to do what I vowed in Vegas instead (whilst battling a grade 10 hangover) – never to drink so much that I get a hangover.

The slight problem with that is that my hangovers are a bit unpredictable – I can get a shocker from three and a half pints of beer one time, and then the next time I’m completely fine. So I’m not sure that’s going to work either… but I really should pay attention to being a bit more sensible.

So, summer is here. I love summer. I’m very much more a summer person than a winter person. As I sit here on the balcony at 9pm, the sun is setting over the city, I’m having a glass of wine (oopss; see above!) and thinking that the feeling I had at the BBQ on Wednesday that good times and things are ahead is still here. I like it. On the whole, I love my life. I’m in a happy place, and I like it.

I’ve also done one of my favorite things tonight – cooked myself dinner. That might sound like a run of the mill chore-like thing to do to some, but actually I love cooking, and find it very relaxing. Trouble is, it’s not really very compatible with the aforementioned work-hard-play-hard lifestyle, and I don't therefore get to do it very much, and it's great when I do. Most people take eating at home for granted. Another one of those contrasts eh…

Those contrasts which are part of my life, and they add to it – I embrace them and make the most of them.

So, a long post. A varied post. The 100th post. I’m not sure that I’ve done that significant landmark in my blogging history justice, but at least there are coherent sentences, and not too much alcohol influence.

Onwards, to the weekend. Looking forward to it, and it should be comparatively relaxing compared to the past few. Perhaps apart from the 18 mile walk on Sunday – eek!

Number 99

There are (finally) Vegas pictures here.

There are also no sensible words forming themselves into sentences in my head, so this will be a short post.

Steve has posted about last night - it was really a very good night, and I too have a feeling that it marked the beginning of something good.

The next post will be my 100th, so I'm going to save my effort for that!

Exhausted, but happy

So much has happened this week that I just can't condense it into anything sensible, not least because I'm totally exhausted and I ache all over.

It's been an eventful week, finished off with a fantastic weekend... and I'll leave it there for now.

Pictures from Andy and Lyndsay's wedding, which was just perfect, and very special, are in the usual place.

Pictures from Vegas should be there on Wednesday once I have Helen's and we therefore have a full set.

Sleep for me now, much needed!!