Friday Five!

5. This one's for KoD:  I decided we'd have burgers and chips for a meal this weekend, and I wasn't sure if we still had French's yellow mustard so I went to check the 'fridge.  Our mustard was best before 2015.  The worrying thing is, I remember eating mustard last summer.  I disposed of it and have ordered a new bottle to be delivered with today's groceries.  No more old mustard for us (even if it is mostly vinegar and probably safe to eat)!

My condolences! haha

4. TRYING MY FIRST PENGUIN AS WE SPEAK! Here's the joke on mine: Who is a Penguin's favourite family member? (Aunt Arctica ....QUALITY JOKE).

5.I need to get my dress dry cleaned ASAP as I'm off to the races Tuesday!

You need to help an American girl out... "Trying my first Penguin" gave me more questions than answers, and that was a really challenging Google search!  I assumed it was a food or drink, but you can't just google "Penguin food".  In the end, I have decided it's McVitie's Penguin biscuits, but man... that was not easy to get to.

Good luck with your dress hunting!  Another zero-hour smashing success coming?  Cleaned!  There's a word in there that I glossed over.  Ignore me.  I'm not doing morning well today.

Happy Friday!

KF, would the activity of teaching the class allow you to do less starvation in your diet, or is teaching young children not active enough?  (I think you said somewhere that it would be young girls...?)

It would be an active two hours.  But not enough for me to continue my love affair with Mr. Kipling...

I'm not actually starving... just trying to eat for nutrition.  It's so boring.   

You need to help an American girl out... "Trying my first Penguin" gave me more questions than answers, and that was a really challenging Google search!  I assumed it was a food or drink, but you can't just google "Penguin food".  In the end, I have decided it's McVitie's Penguin biscuits, but man... that was not easy to get to.

Good luck with your dress hunting!  Another zero-hour smashing success coming?  Cleaned!  There's a word in there that I glossed over.  Ignore me.  I'm not doing morning well today.

Haha yes it's McVities Penguin Biscuits We have "Feed Tori Fridays" at work where basically I just get free food LOL They are helping me try all the quintessential British biscuits/chocolates "for my citizenship" hahah Last week it was Club Bars (I highly recommend mint clubs as they reminded me of the taste of Thin Mints) and this week it's Penguin Bars. Next time it will be "finger of fudge" (whatever that is - but it sounds gross...)


haha I already had the zero-hour smashing success getting the dress the day before the wedding we went to two weekends ago! Now I have t find a fascinator and clutch bag to match it!

It would be an active two hours.  But not enough for me to continue my love affair with Mr. Kipling...

I'm not actually starving... just trying to eat for nutrition.  It's so boring.   

Haha yes it's McVities Penguin Biscuits We have "Feed Tori Fridays" at work where basically I just get free food LOL They are helping me try all the quintessential British biscuits/chocolates "for my citizenship" hahah Last week it was Club Bars (I highly recommend mint clubs as they reminded me of the taste of Thin Mints) and this week it's Penguin Bars. Next time it will be "finger of fudge" (whatever that is - but it sounds gross...)

A tale of two posts...

A tale of two posts...

I'm allergic to nutrition, to be fair.

I'm allergic to nutrition, to be fair.

My husband loves nutrition and non-nutrition, so I try to strike a balance.  We eat good food, but then we use bad ingredients like butter and butter.  And creme fraiche.  And butter.  And cheeeeeeeeeese!  And butter.

My husband loves nutrition and non-nutrition, so I try to strike a balance.  We eat good food, but then we use bad ingredients like butter and butter.  And creme fraiche.  And butter.  And cheeeeeeeeeese!  And butter.

I've brought mine over to the dark side..oops.

My husband loves nutrition and non-nutrition, so I try to strike a balance.  We eat good food, but then we use bad ingredients like butter and butter.  And creme fraiche.  And butter.  And cheeeeeeeeeese!  And butter.

Those old farming folk who live on red meat, whole milk, cheese and butter, live to a great age! 

My Friday Five:

1. We're finally out of the easterly airflow over the UK and have gone back to a southwesterly... which is such a relief! The last few weeks have been a nightmare to forecast, due being stuck with easterly winds bringing low cloud and/or fog over our area every single night !

2. I've had bad neck/shoulder ache on my right side for the last 2 days... I must have slept weirdly after my night shift on Wednesday morning because I woke up not being able to move my head to one side. I switched pillows Wednesday night to see if it helped, but I woke up Thursday feeling even worse . Thankfully, this morning it's a little better, but it's still sore .

3. I'm off to Portugal for a long weekend in 5 weeks (for a friend's 30th) .

4. I'm going back to the Falklands again in 6 weeks, for 2 months this time (I'll admit, I'm mostly going for the money... my savings are almost non-existent at the moment, after buying my new car and going to Italy, and I need to replenish them).

5. Given that I only have 5 weeks until Portugal, I really need to get back into the exercise and dieting again... I lost about 10 lbs between Feb and May, but I think I've put about 3 lbs back on since then... so I'm aiming for another 6 lbs by late July. Unfortunately, due to my shift patterns this month, I've only been able to get to 1 spinning class a week (on a Friday morning), compared to 3 or 4 a week back in March and April, so I really need to make more of an effort to exercise at other times as well.

I've brought mine over to the dark side..oops.

<sigh>

That's what's hard with us.  My husband is always trying to put ON weight.  Ugh.

4. I'm going back to the Falklands again in 6 weeks, for 2 months this time (I'll admit, I'm mostly going for the money... my savings are almost non-existent at the moment, after buying my new car and going to Italy, and I need to replenish them).

Exciting!  Are you looking forward to it, knowing what you're going to? Will the internet access be any better this time?

Exciting!  Are you looking forward to it, knowing what you're going to? Will the internet access be any better this time?

I am looking forward to it, though it will be hard work, and the weather won't be great, since it's middle of winter there right now (this week, it's supposed to be highs of between 4 and 8 Celsius, with 30-40mph winds!).

I don't believe the internet access has changed there (at least not according to people who were there in the last few months) - there's only 1 internet provider, via satellite link, so they can charge a bomb for it. I believe we get 100 minutes of free WiFi per week, and then it costs £10 for every extra 100 minutes. However, we do have free internet access in the office between midnight and 6am every day. You can also get up to 45 minutes access at a time in the base computer room too .

Those old farming folk who live on red meat, whole milk, cheese and butter, live to a great age! 

His paternal grandparents are in their 90s, and it's easy to think "You come from good stock, so we can do what we want!"  Except I know them.  They are the most maddeningly sensible people I've ever met.  Lovely, sweet, good... but they don't have any vices.  They literally get 5 a day every day.  I don't even eat five things a day, and they get their veg in.  Their one indulgence is a small glass of red wine with their tea evening meal, which might actually be good for them, too.

My Friday Five:

1. We're finally out of the easterly airflow over the UK and have gone back to a southwesterly... which is such a relief! The last few weeks have been a nightmare to forecast, due being stuck with easterly winds bringing low cloud and/or fog over our area every single night !

2. I've had bad neck/shoulder ache on my right side for the last 2 days... I must have slept weirdly after my night shift on Wednesday morning because I woke up not being able to move my head to one side. I switched pillows Wednesday night to see if it helped, but I woke up Thursday feeling even worse . Thankfully, this morning it's a little better, but it's still sore .

That southwesterly airflow brings me moisture.  I prefer the easterly. 

I had a similar (increasing) problem with my neck/shoulder.  My husband bought us new pillows a week or two ago (four for £16!... we don't care if they go flat in a month's time at that price...!  We'll just keep replacing them as needed) and they did help me.  I'm sorry yours didn't resolve.  Hopefully, it'll be better before your trip to Portugal!

That near lack of Internet would be a non-starter for me.  Is there no other remote assignment you can get to bring in the extra income?  I would die!  (Not literally, but...)

<sigh>

That's what's hard with us.  My husband is always trying to put ON weight.  Ugh.

Before I moved here, I told my husband I couldn't gain weight.  My sister taught me a mantra: "Eat past the pain."  I told my husband about it.  He used to say it to me at every meal.  Now I actually eat about twice as much food as I did when I first moved here, and I have a bit of a belly now.  He teases me, reminding me how I claimed I couldn't put on weight.  But, seriously, I had tried before.  My theory is I didn't have good food 'til I came over here and he and I started cooking delicious things together.

That southwesterly airflow brings me moisture.  I prefer the easterly. 

Ah, yes - the western side of the UK has had lovely weather recently... on days that the west had 22-24 degrees and barely a cloud in the sky, here in the East, we had grey cloud and highs of 14 degrees (last week we had one day where the overnight min was 12.8 degrees and the daytime high was 14.6 degrees)!

I had a similar (increasing) problem with my neck/shoulder.  My husband bought us new pillows a week or two ago (four for £16!... we don't care if they go flat in a month's time at that price...!  We'll just keep replacing them as needed) and they did help me.  I'm sorry yours didn't resolve.  Hopefully, it'll be better before your trip to Portugal!

Thanks . Yeah, it's getting better already, but not quite pain-free yet. I use firm pillows from John Lewis which are about £20 each... they're the best ones I've found so far (I have a lot of pillows that have been tried and tested with no luck), and usually I don't get many problems with them.

That near lack of Internet would be a non-starter for me. 

It's not that bad (though it is really slow internet) - I've spent 12 months there in total now (it'll be 17 months by this time next year).

I just make sure I take a ton of TV shows/movies down with me so I don't need to stream anything (plus there's a good library on base with a ton of DVDs), and then I just draft my emails and messages (and even UK-Y replies) offline and quickly log on to the WiFi to send them (plus I can use as much internet as I like between midnight and 6am when I'm on a night shift - so I usually Skype my parents in that time) .

Is there no other remote assignment you can get to bring in the extra income?  I would die!  (Not literally, but...)

Not in the next few months, no - this one was an urgent tour that needed filling ASAP, so I volunteered (also the Falklands pays the most, because you work about 70 hours a week and can claim the overtime). The only other tour this year was Ascension Island between October and January, but I have a trip to Germany planned in November and I'd like to actually be home for Christmas this year.

I've also volunteered for 3 months in the Falklands next February as well (well, I said I would do either the Falklands or Cyprus and they put me down for the former).