Friday Five!

5. Beef Burgundy for dinner tonight.  It has all of my favourite things in it; particularly, tastiness.

That's what we had last night!

Bet you can make all kinds of crazy things in that pizza oven. Wow!

I hope so!  I am really looking forward to experimenting with it.

Our plan is to also one day buy (or have made) a smoker.  The Uuni, smoker, and our small gas grill will comprise our outdoor kitchen*.  This will give us hot and fast cooking in the Uuni; long, slow cooking in the smoker; and direct flame cooking.  All the options.  Our outdoor kitchen is going to be better than our indoor kitchen.  You'd think we lived in a Mediterranean climate, or something. 

* We also want a yakitori grill, but that can wait as we do have a BBQ grill and can make do with it.

Is that memory drive like this except in the shape of Ian Mcnabb?

LOL ... yeah, I probably could have phrased that a bit better!

1.   8am and a woman in my office is sobbing because today is the day her 22-year old son is moving out of the family home and into his own flat.  Nevermind that he is a grown adult, and is only moving 5 miles away.  I’m feeling more annoyed than sympathetic.
2.   Fresh, still-warm sugar doughnut and a cuppa for breakfast this morning.
3.   No plans for the weekend, thankfully.  I am so, so tired.
4.   My friend Emma left work yesterday with brown hair dyed purple at the ends, and has come in this morning a peroxide blonde!  She looks amazing!
5.   Spag bol for tea tonight, and a bottle of red.

Ugh, that woman is annoying ME Albatross.  I'd be throwing a party!  Why do I have a feeling Mommy still cooks all his meals, does his laundry, and tidies up after him?

1.  Really fun American Ladies Dinner last night with some new faces.

2.  I had a job interview next to Waterloo yesterday.  I do NOT want that commute but I quite liked the role.  Recruiter has something more local for me brewing which is good.

3.  My cleaner said my Sobe cat cries and cries when I leave the house.  Breaks my heart.  He's definitely lonely after the loss of a Copper.  But I don't think he actually wants me to get another cat!

4.  Baby is SIX MONTHS old today.  That's pretty crazy!

5.  I finally broke down and bought an Oral B electric toothbrush this week.

Reading to Waterloo is way too long.  I used to do the other way, Twickenham to Reading and that was a solid hour on the train.  Not too bad because you always had a seat and could relax.

Reading to Waterloo is way too long.  I used to do the other way, Twickenham to Reading and that was a solid hour on the train.  Not too bad because you always had a seat and could relax.

Luckily not *quite* as far as Reading but would still be a solid hour...  I guess we'll see if I even make it to the next round.  There just isn't anything out there nea home at the moment.  I have the luxury of time as I'm not itching to go back just yet, but good to get the ball rolling.

1.   8am and a woman in my office is sobbing because today is the day her 22-year old son is moving out of the family home and into his own flat.  Nevermind that he is a grown adult, and is only moving 5 miles away.  I’m feeling more annoyed than sympathetic.

When I moved 900+ miles for grad school, my parents agreed to help me move (my dad drove the U-Haul while my mom and I followed in the car).  We left on Saturday morning and arrived Sunday morning after grossly underestimating how long it would take to drive a truck limited to 55mph 900+ miles.  They moved the contents of the truck up to my fifth floor apartment, helped set up my bedframe, and then said, "Well, we gotta get back to work.  Good luck with school!"  I didn't see them again 'til Thanskgiving.  Barely spoke on the phone.  (I'm beginning to see that my move to the UK was pre-destined...)

5.  I finally broke down and bought an Oral B electric toothbrush this week.

For years, I was all about my manual toothbrush.  I even had a particular brand/shape that I would use, religiously.  But my husband convinced me to try the Philips Sonicare, and it was like "New Toothbrush Day" every day!  Now I don't get New Toothbrush Day anymore, because my standards have risen, so every day feels like that.  But that's good, right?  It means I'm getting a better clean all the time?

Anyway, on with my countdown!

1.  My husband comes home tonight!  Yay yay yay!

2.  My husband had apparently booked a week's holiday and then forgotten about it.  So now he doesn't go away again 'til November 6th.  YAY!

3.  My sister randomly sent us a 70cl bottle of Basil Hayden whiskey.  She ordered through Amazon, and it's sitting on the coffee table, still in the Amazon-taped box, waiting for my husband.  I'm going to pretend I have no idea what it is, but that she said it's for him. 

4.  We have sunshine today, and hopefully that's a good sign for the rest of this bonus holiday week.  Pizza oven in our future?  *hopeful*

5.  A pork shoulder is about to go into the slow-cooker for tonight's dinner.  Pulled pork (optional buns), skin-on ("Southern style") mashed potatoes, sweetcorn with a dusting of cajun spice (trust me on this one), and maybe a chopped salad on the side.  I forgot to get cabbage, so there will not be coleslaw, and for that I have deep regret.

There's nothing to regret about that meal.  Bon appetite.

1. Tonight is Star Trek night.  The kids have requested those plastic bucket snacks from M&S for desert.

2. New dishwasher getting delivered tonight

3. Old dishwasher has 4 bids on Ebay , high bid is £6.55.  That giant silver monument to my failure should be out of the kitchen by Sunday and out of my life soon after.

3. Eating pizza tonight but it's not gonna be good flavoured with jealousy for JF KIMBERLEY'S fancy oven.
4. Might take my boy to see Thor, at the least we'll build a fan from scratch using a motor, batteries and a switch.
5. Taking my girl to trapeze lessons indoors at Greenwich on Sunday.

1. Tonight is Star Trek night.  The kids have requested those plastic bucket snacks from M&S for desert.

2. New dishwasher getting delivered tonight

3. Old dishwasher has 4 bids on Ebay , high bid is £6.55.  That giant silver monument to my failure should be out of the kitchen by Sunday and out of my life soon after.

3. Eating pizza tonight but it's not gonna be good flavoured with jealousy for JF KIMBERLEY'S fancy oven.
4. Might take my boy to see Thor, at the least we'll build a fan from scratch using a motor, batteries and a switch.
5. Taking my girl to trapeze lessons indoors at Greenwich on Sunday.

Ooooooo.....trapeze. AIN'T gonna happen here. I've jumped out of a plane a few times. But trapeze is scary.

Ugh, that woman is annoying ME Albatross.  I'd be throwing a party!  Why do I have a feeling Mommy still cooks all his meals, does his laundry, and tidies up after him?

I left home a week before my 18th birthday.  My parents were thrilled to get rid, and bought a brand new car a few weeks later...presumably to celebrate!

  My cleaner said my Sobe cat cries and cries when I leave the house.  Breaks my heart.  He's definitely lonely after the loss of a Copper.

I left home a week before my 18th birthday.  My parents were thrilled to get rid, and bought a brand new car a few weeks later...presumably to celebrate!

My parents redecorated my room within a few weeks!  They didn't mourn my move.  Weirdly my mom cried when I moved to the UK 10 years later - and I was already a 4 hour flight away at that point!

Weirdly my mom cried when I moved to the UK 10 years later - and I was already a 4 hour flight away at that point!

My mom cried too, but I suspect it was less about missing me, and more about having less control over me.

Ooooooo.....trapeze. AIN'T gonna happen here. I've jumped out of a plane a few times. But trapeze is scary.

I'm not doing it myself, but not because it's scary.  There's really nothing dangerous going on, she's wearing a harness and there's a person belaying her.  She's doing it for her Duke of Edinburgh award and I'm proud of her. 

I also had a short interest in skydiving. Did one jump with a round army surplus parachute and landed in the woods.  Unbelievably, I went back for more and did two jumps with modern style parachutes before deciding that there was no way I was going to pull a rip cord and I was not getting less terrified.