Friday Five!

It's done - I'm legit.

Braw!!

It's done - I'm legit.

Congratulations!  Woooo!  Have a great dinner celebration!  Yay!  You can tell us more details about the private ceremony (and how you felt!) later. 

It's done - I'm legit.

Congratulations!!!  What a lovely way to end the week

5.  This just happened (addressed to my husband):  "You were previously placed on a reserve list for the position listed above. The vacancy holder has found a role and would like to offer you the position. This offer is provisional because it is subject to the satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks.  If the outcome of these checks is satisfactory, we will agree a start date with you."  I'm glad I bought that tequila!  Celebrations!

Yay!!!  So happy for you guys!!

1.  TODAY IS THE DAY I BECOME BRITISH!!!!!!!  Ceremony is at 2:30 and then we are going for a nice early dinner to celebrate.

Yay!!  Welcome to the maroon passport club!  (or will you end up with one of those new blue ones?)

Yay!!  Welcome to the maroon passport club!  (or will you end up with one of those new blue ones?)

Maroon until October 2018.  By the skin of my teeth!!!!

Maroon until October 2018.  By the skin of my teeth!!!!

Wait, only 2018?  I thought it was 2019...!  Hrm.  Okay, I will get ILR on or around May 9th... how do I apply for citizenship immediately like you did?  I will find the cash to make this happen!  I need a maroon passport, otherwise it won't look special next to my US one.  (I know that this will only be special for the first issue, and then renewals will be the stupid new/old blue ones, but I want my maroon one!)

Edit:  Nevermind!  It is 2019!  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42443253  Phew!  No worries, everybody.  I will be fine.  You can all relax. 

Whew!  Glad I was misinformed!!

Happy Friday

1.) Work 

2.) Craving a curry. So I think I will be making curry tonight, washed down with some homebrew.   

3.) Quiet weekend ahead. Not too much planned, may potter in the garden if the weather is okayish. 

4.) Trying to pin down some dates to go to the USA for a holiday and see family and friends.   

5.) Sight read the Brass Band Championship test piece last night.   Not too bad of a piece, but like all of them, after 3 months of practising and playing it, we'll be sick of it.   

Star Trek night tonight!  We watched the latest episode of Discovery on Monday since it was my boy's birthday.  That means TNG on the couch with Christmas chocolates.

Going to Camber Sands tomorrow for kiting.  It will be good to get out after carrying the buggy to France over new Years  and it rained all week and the wind blew 50 mph.

1.  Today is supposedly decision day for Job A.  Hopefully I actually hear today and hopefully it's a yes.

2.  Lots of other things are kicking off, so at least I'm not too depressed.   

3.  Sobe has now started sitting in the window staring out when we aren't home.  I worry about him now that Copper isn't here.  I don't think he'd be happy with another cat....  but then I think maybe he would.  I wish he could talk.

4.  I have a massage this afternoon.  Woohoo!

5.  I've finished analysing our personal accounts spend for 2017.  We spend a LOT of money.  Especially on food.  Hoping to cut that big time in 2018!

Good luck with the job decision, KF!

Mixed bag this week:

1. My husband comes home tonight!

2. This whole saga.  (It gets its own post.)

3. My neighbor came by on Monday.  She and her husband are getting over flu. She went on at length about how awful it was, it was "chesty".  What you all don't know about me (I don't think I've mentioned it here) is that I have extremely reduced lung capacity and have to be extra careful to avoid coughs and colds because I don't have any reserves and a cold could kill me.  My neighbor knows this.  Why the f@%*! was she in my house when she still had symptoms?!  I spent the next three days paranoid that the slightest catch in my throat was indication that I might be coming down with flu.  The news reports about the "deadly" strain going around didn't help.  I'm now 96 hours post exposure and have no symptoms, so I should be safe, but this has been an annoying week.

4. I had a rather large credit balance with the electric company (levelized billing, but we don't use as much as they predicted we would), and yesterday, they deposited the surplus back into my current account.  Yay, moneys!

5. Noms tomorrow will be braised shin of beef with fresh horseradish sauce, creamed potatoes, and steamed asparagus.  I also have a pork tenderloin that I'm going to roast and serve with slow-cooker "baked" apples, cheesy mashed potatoes, and tenderstem broccoli tonight.  Sunday was going to be Mexican Platter, but now I don't know.  Either leftovers or pierogi and sausage nuggets.  Stupid mice.

BRAISED SHIN Of BEEF!!!!!!   Call the ambulance, I'm having a jealousy attack.

BRAISED SHIN Of BEEF!!!!!!   Call the ambulance, I'm having a jealousy attack.

It'll be our first time making it.  We have high hopes, though... we had it at Y Polyn about a year ago, and it was so good that we still talk about it.

Ewww on the "chesty" infection thing.  I've also got lung issues, and am kind of dreading catching much of anything.  I go out for a walk in the cold and those bits that still do work don't work as well, so I come back from a half-mile walk on level ground feeling like I've just done a marathon. I'm hearing about some "Australian" flu and now some other kind of flu that seems to be targeting children in the UK as well. Whoopie, how thrilling to hear (not).   Now avoiding contact with humans as much as possible until the weather warms up! 

1) On the good side, Zizzi sent out 40% off your meal coupons and we went a bit ago  and had a lovely meal with bruschetta, pizza rustica, and fruppy mock-tails and got out of there for 15-ish pounds. (Yum.)  On the bad side, the walk home with the few groceries I decided to lay in for this weekend so I don't have to go out (marathon broadcasts on Sat and Sun of "The Stand" and supposed to be nastier weather) got really heavy. Was wheezing audibly coming up the stairs. Oh, well. Old and wheezy and walking is still better than dead. 

Darn it! Forgot the chips. Crisps. Whatever.

2) Made curry last night from a kit, and it was surprisingly good. (Have to figure out the proportions of spices and make it from scratch, though, as buying the kit doubled the cost of the meal.) I have decided that, yes, I ~do~ like curry and I don't crave Mexican food nearly as much as before I found curry. Had leftover curry for breakfast, with eggs. Not bad.

3) Made good progress on moving things still in packing boxes into position or into big plastic tubs that now fit in the storage closet where the boxes used to be.  Was able to get all the holiday stuff stowed as well. And since I did the laundry and vacuuming earlier this week, I have this afternoon completely off. (Sounds like a wonderful time for a nap.)

4) My daffodil bulbs are flowering in my kitchen. Daffodils always make me happy.

5) Four of the 5 Terry Pratchett books I ordered have now arrived in the post. I can now be content if we have like a five-day blizzard or anything, as I can just stay in bed and read the books. (And think of the chips I forgot to buy.)

Have a good weekend, all.