Friday Five!

Well done Larabee for starting on the garage.  Mine took me all last Saturday and it's not perfect, but it's much better!

I have you to thank for even getting started!  I got up early and did half a day's work before I had to go and take care of things inside. I would have managed more if I'd been able to keep going but once I've stopped, it's pretty much over for the day for me haha!

Maybe I'll make Saturdays, garage days until I'm finished! 

There are so many things about this post I don't understand that I don't know what to ask first.

1. Fried olives?  What?

2. What kind(s) of olives make cats stoned?

3. Do brined olives work, or fresh ones?  Do people even eat fresh ones?

Why don't I know anything about olives?!

Fried olives was an experiment. I thought I wanted crispy olives. They didn't get crispy, they just dehydrated. I still want crispy olives.

Any olives will do. Brined or in oil. I've never even seen a fresh olive.

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I'll do my very first Friday Five... 

1. Was praying to see a "decision made" email today but to no avail so it's a bit of a sad Friday as now I have to get through the long weekend.
2. I am happy because I saw the large anole lizard who I call "my boyfriend" in the tree outside my window today. I was concerned because a tropical storm blew through a couple days ago and I hadn't seen him since then. Thankfully, he's alive and well.
3. I am looking forward to watching the US Open men's semifinals tonight. Go Rafael Nadal!
4. I chatted with one of my LA girlfriends who is currently in Dublin right now doing some singing gigs! Kinda jealous! 
5. I put on my favorite scent from Bath & Body Works today even though I am sitting at home doing nothing. Trying to spoil and pamper myself with nice things so I can keep my spirits up. 

Welcome, MrsMagpie!

These stories about cats and olives are hilarious!  Next time I make nachos I'll have to see what the boys think.

My FF is late this week because the Tapatalk app was updated a couple of days ago and hasn't been working.  But today - a miracle!

1. Sooooooo glad to have my furbabies back now that we have returned from Mexico.  The only horrible thing about going on holiday is having to leave them behind!  And as per usual, they are being incredibly clingy this week.

2. When we dropped the cats off at the cattery before heading off, there was a fellow boarder named Sid Vicious who was quite a... Well, vicious guy.  He hissed at me just for peeking into his run.  Apparently we was quite a difficult guy to handle, scratching, hissing, and just generally kicking off at every little thing.  A Russian blue moved in a few days later, and apparently lil ol' Sid had the hots for her and settled right down.

3. Virgin Media.  UGH.  What can I say?  Not long before we went on holiday, our cable box gave up the ghost (and, mind you, not long before that they bricked our router with a firmware update and had to replace it).  We don't really watch a whole lot of TV anyway, so we figured we'd just cut back our services now that we're out of contract and pay for just the broadband because switching to any other company would mean 1/4 of the speed at best.  Bearing in mind we paid £100+ for the package we had before, taking just the broadband would have been a reduction to £45.  We were quite pleased with that.  After phoning them 4 times and waiting on hold in excess of 90 minutes in total, we told the guy we wanted to reduce to just the broadband and he was like, "But if you do it this way, it'll be cheaper and you'll still have TV and phone!"  Dave said we didn't want to do that.  And the guy on the phone said, "Can you explain to me why?  That just doesn't make sense.  It's better if you do it this way."  I'm like, hang on a minute... I don't need to explain sh*t to you.  Soooo now we have another contract with Virgin.  They are so lucky they have the best broadband where we live.  If there was anything even remotely comparable, I'd have given them the big ol' middle finger.

4. Had to say goodbye to my beloved Texas flipflops on Sunday.  RIP.  You will be missed.


5. One thing we did on holiday was take selfies every time we were in the elevator.  We had a lot of fun with it as we were the only ones ever in there!  Here are a few:


Bonus Saturday Six:

6. I'm kinda glad to be back at work.  It is absolutely manic at the moment.  We are short a member of staff for personal reasons, and we have a new one starting on Monday.  We are so not ready.  Well, here we go!

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My FF is late this week because the Tapatalk app was updated a couple of days ago and hasn't been working.  But today - a miracle!

1. Sooooooo glad to have my furbabies back now that we have returned from Mexico. 
...

4. Had to say goodbye to my beloved Texas flipflops on Sunday.  RIP.  You will be missed.

Welcome back!  I love those elevator selfies! The top-right one is my favourite... I think I like it for that sweep of hair coming down across your forehead.  And your guy's hat.  My dad had a hat like that.  He wore it any time he was taking his canoe out to the river.

Sorry about your flip flops.

Welcome back!  I love those elevator selfies! The top-right one is my favourite... I think I like it for that sweep of hair coming down across your forehead.  And your guy's hat.  My dad had a hat like that.  He wore it any time he was taking his canoe out to the river.

Sorry about your flip flops.

Thank you!

We were quite amused by our "sweatbox selfies." (It was sooo hot in the elevator.)  And I love that I can remember what we were doing on some days just by looking at the pictures.

Top right was obviously a beach day because of Dave's hat (my grandpa had one just like it ) and my messy hair.  The one below that was sunrise day - it was 6am and I was not impressed.  The pictures where I don't have sunglasses on my head were evening pictures and we were going out for dinner.

My memory is pretty bad otherwise.

Thanks for your flip flop condolences. Guess I'll just have to buy more when we're in the Austin airport next. Fortunately, they broke right in front of one of the resort shops so I was able to replace them with some Havaianas straight away.  Almost like it was meant to be...

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Sorry about the flip flops.

Glad yours broke at a good time.  I had the bit between the toe break while on the Las Vegas strip.  I had to walk barefoot on the strip back to my hotel to get another pair of shoes.  Is there a more disgusting street than the strip?  I washed my feet soooooo much when I got back to my room.   

I had the bit between the toe break while on the Las Vegas strip.  I had to walk barefoot on the strip back to my hotel to get another pair of shoes.  Is there a more disgusting street than the strip?  I washed my feet soooooo much when I got back to my room.   

Fremont Street (the old strip)?

Sorry about the flip flops.

Glad yours broke at a good time.  I had the bit between the toe break while on the Las Vegas strip.  I had to walk barefoot on the strip back to my hotel to get another pair of shoes.  Is there a more disgusting street than the strip?  I washed my feet soooooo much when I got back to my room.   

Eeeewwwwwww!!  I might have actually considered amputation.

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Friday Five (a day late):

1) After being up working on it for 50 hours straight (with a few breaks for food), the Daughter finally finished and has submitted her masters' thesis. We walked to the printers yesterday afternoon, after she had some sleep, to get the copy printed, and it has been dropped off at the University.  Mission Accomplished.  Now there is just ordering the graduation gown and hood, getting some nice photos made, and relaxing. (And carting an amazing amount of books back to the campus library.)

2) I ordered chili sauce and Harney Tea from the States and it arrived - or, rather, the gray card from the PO asking for customs payment first arrived - yesterday. The total of the package came to 15.31 pounds (drat - if it had been 14.99 no issues would have arisen). In the HMRC manuals it says that goods purchased abroad and sent via the post are supposed to incur VAT on the same level/rate as they do in the UK. In the UK chili sauce and tea is not taxed at the grocery store. SO, I'll be challenging the VAT assessment. Of course, it could be that we got popped with the extra punitive tariffs on USA goods (thanks to the Donald for that!) on the tea, not sure. So, I paid the fee, it'll be delivered on Tuesday, and I'll send all the paperwork in to see if I can challenge it.

3) I have a bad back. If I twist it wrong while sleeping I will wake up with a godawful leg cramp. If I then turn over on my stomach and stretch the cramp stops. (Have had this on and off for years.) So on Wednesday I had a truly evil spasm, where one calf almost ripped itself. On Thursday that foot was swelled and puffy, and the calf was still exceptionally sore. The swelling has FINALLY gone down, and although the calf is still sore I can massage it without wincing.  The culprit is, of course, too much time sitting in front of the computer, between proof-reading and trying to learn the driving code. SO, I have to limit myself to a couple of hours a day. The back can't take it anymore. Some parts of getting old just... stink.

4)  We are going to a shopping center called "The Fort" next week, which has a crafts store in it. That has some quilted mason jars for half what I just paid for them online. Daughter says they have her favorite knitting yarns. There are also some interesting-looking shops there. It's an outdoor mall, like in SoCal, so I have to remember to take my umbrella. Looking forward to exploring it. Going to have lunch there - several places to choose. Might try "Nandos" as we've heard a lot about it. Supposedly The Fort is where Denny's is going to open - checking to see if there are any signs of that while we were there. 

5) My hydroponic lettuce and rocket are up. The spinach didn't come up, so I replanted last weekend and the replants are up. I had one lemon balm plant that I had ordered online. It has never done really well, and was in ICU in the kitchen. Had like three spindly, sickly leaves on it. Went in there yesterday morning and there was a freaking cabbage looper on it, and no leaves left! In my kitchen! Arrrrrgh! Looper learned how to fly several stories straight down. Washed the soil off what was left of the lemon balm and it is now in with the alternate hydroponic setup - little round clay things that soak up nutrients and that the plant can get to - under the grow lamp. Not looking worse, but not looking better. Will be happy if I see a new leaf on it.  A cabbage looper in my house. I ~hate~ cabbage loopers. I guess no more open widows at night!

Welcome, MrsMagpie!

4. Had to say goodbye to my beloved Texas flipflops on Sunday.  RIP.  You will be missed.

Thanks for the welcome! And I totally feel you on the flip flops. I used to have these cute Sketchers wedge ones and the straps had skulls on them. They were my absolute favorite ever. It's probably been 10 years and I still think about them on a regular basis. LOL!

Glad yours broke at a good time.  I had the bit between the toe break while on the Las Vegas strip.  I had to walk barefoot on the strip back to my hotel to get another pair of shoes.  Is there a more disgusting street than the strip?  I washed my feet soooooo much when I got back to my room.   

Ok but besides the fact that the ground is disgusting on the Vegas strip, how did you not burn your foot completely off on the hot pavement?!    Oddly enough, I had a flip flop break while walking on the strip as well. I had to go into a souvenir shop and buy some cheap ones!

1. Was meant to go to a live taping of a podcast show tonight in London but between work stress, house stress (we have a viewing Tuesday), and being ill there's just too much to do with not enough time to do it and I'm not interested in going anymore so husband and I are going to stay home and get the house sorted (because we might not have enough time this weekend or Monday).
2. I was feeling much better yesterday than I was at the beginning of the week so thought I was on the road to steady recovery...but today I feel like I was hit my a lorry. I can feel mucus in my chest and it feels AWFUL when it starts moving upwards when I cough. Obviously coughing it out is a good thing, but it doesn't *feel* good....so I just want to lay in bed when I get home despite the need to be productive.
3. I have to go to bed early tonight because we are camping tomorrow night. YAY (sarcasm). I sort of feel I have to go because one of the dudes there will have so much to say (he's already pissy we're going going for ONE night as opposed to two like we originally discussed and I'm sure he's grumpy that we're sharing a tent with a different friend and he's "left out" - this is the no-longer-groom-to-be who also was "hurt" that we didn't do more to include him on the trip to Poland for his wedding that didn't happen). I mean, I know I just need to put my foot down logically, but I like to just keep the peace even though I can be firm and fiesty and stubborn at times. I know no matter what, he'll have somethinggggg to say about it (I.E. I stay home, he'll have something passive aggressive to say about it. I go and hack my lungs out all night, i'll be "annoying" and keeping him up or he'll be like "ew don't get me sick" or "why didn't you stay home?" which he doesn't actually mean because if I stayed home, he'd be pissy) .
4. It's my husband's birthday on Sunday and I'm a pretty horrible wife who hasn't actually planned anything for him and only just got his card earlier this week when I realised how close his birthday was (because, again, I'm horrible and hadn't even realised we were already closed to September 16th and totally blanked on his birthday).
5. My pissing laptop is going to go out a window in a minute.


Sorry for the extra grumpy mood today. It's just not my day. I should;ve stayed in bed lol

Ugh, KoD, that cough sounds terrible (I mean... the way you described it.  I can't literally hear it from way over here.)  Definitely cough it up if you can.  But take some Benadryl (to hopefully prevent congestion--it works for me!) or pseudoephedrine (to dry up congestion)... Also, consider seeing your GP if you can get in.  You might have pneumonia.

Your anti-groom friend sounds tedious.  If you can't win with him, anyway, I'd go for comfort and stay home.  You're sick.  Camping sounds like a terrible idea right now.

My Five:

1. I woke up at 7:30 this morning and my husband hadn't left for work yet (he had 9am starts this week, so he has been leaving a bit later in the morning than usual), so I got to spend a little bit of time with him.  I mean, we spend so much time together, anyway, but this morning felt like a little bonus.  Yay!

2. It's Friday, so that means our new regular Friday night "celebration" meal of fillet steak & chips for dinner.  We've got into a bit of a routine with our meals, but I don't care because they are really tasty.  Still, I bought "Chinese leaf" and I have pre-portioned packets of 250g of pork mince in the freezer... I'm going to have to make eggroll wrappers again before the leaf goes wilty...  Eggrolls!

3. Our workshop is coming together.  We bolted down the large bandsaw last week, and I made some cuts with it yesterday (I bought a bag of kiln-dried hardwood firewood from B&M and re-sawed some birch to see what it looks like inside... it's like butter!).  I love band saw.

4. Thanks to Pass the Parcel, I am in possession of a Hawaiian Punch singles-to-go pouch.  Thanks to my FIL, I will soon be in possession of a 20oz bottle of Mountain Dew.  Because I know how to Internet, I can make sour mix by adding lemon juice to simple syrup.  And thanks to Aldi, I have a bottle of cheap white rum.  Happy birthday month to me!

5. We have a far infrared heating panel in the bedroom that we're trialing to see if that's the heating technology we want for our house.  We have had it on some evenings when it's a bit cooler lately until the room gets so stuffy that we can't stand it.  But last night, my husband asked if we were to the point where we should leave it on overnight (in future, it'll be thermostat controlled, obviously!).  I quite stupidly said, "No, definitely not.  It's too soon for that."  So we turned it off and went to bed.  Then I woke up in the night to use the toilet and came back to bed shivering and wishing we'd left it on...  Autumn time is here!

Oh no KoD! You have to take care of yourself. Going camping in this cool weather with a chest cold is a recipe for developing pneumonia. That guy doesn't sound like a great friend if he's more worried about your presence than recognizing you have a lot going on in your own life right now. He's likely still reeling from the wedding, but if you're sick AND trying to sell your house he genuinely should be understanding of your priorities.

1. Theory test tomorrow. Worried about the hazard perception but very ready for the written part.

2. My husband finally got his provisional license, so hopefully there will be 2 drivers in the house soon! Unfortunately he will be stuck with lessons until he has his full license because I can't supervise him, thanks UK for not recognizing the 20 years of driving before moving.

3. Work issues are done, not in the way I would have preferred as I now have to find a new job, but the stress was making me very very ill. I'm out of the benadryl gel caps I brought with me so now I have to hope I'm not allergic to liquid piriton as pills don't dissolve quickly enough during a reaction.

4. I slept so soundly last night I woke up panicking it was Saturday and I'd slept through my alarm. Oops!

5. Wishing we had a tumble dryer. Laundry is seriously never ending!

5. We have a far infrared heating panel in the bedroom that we're trialing to see if that's the heating technology we want for our house.  We have had it on some evenings when it's a bit cooler lately until the room gets so stuffy that we can't stand it.  But last night, my husband asked if we were to the point where we should leave it on overnight (in future, it'll be thermostat controlled, obviously!).  I quite stupidly said, "No, definitely not.  It's too soon for that."  So we turned it off and went to bed.  Then I woke up in the night to use the toilet and came back to bed shivering and wishing we'd left it on...  Autumn time is here!

We turned the heat on and put the heavy duvet back on the bed. Definitely autumn time!