Monthly Archives: September 2011

Anyone for canapes? No thanks, mine’s an amuse-bouche…….

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I’ll start by saying that I didn’t make it to boxing class last night.  I am still having difficulty managing stairs so I thought it best to rest up for another day or so

That doesn’t mean I won’t go back. I shall make it to tomorrow mornings class and it will be good

Anyway, this weekend is my BIRTHDAY weekend.  Not actually my birthday, that’s on Monday, but the celebrations begin today!

It’s not a significant or special birthday, I will be 52.  The sort of birthday you don’t shout about but a birthday nevertheless

Tonight I am being taken to a very nice boutique restaurant in the West End of London.  I am very much looking forward to it

The menu looks gorgeous and I am sure I will have a wonderful time

There will also be MISE EN BOUCHE as part of the dining experience

Now, being the philistine I obviously am, I had never heard of MISE EN BOUCHE before last year when friends spoke of these little hors d’oeuvre once.  I know they are ‘nibbles’ but that is about it

So, I’ve looked it up

I have discovered we call them AMUSE-BOUCHE here.   Which I find amusing in itself.  Probably someone misheard it once and it stuck.  Personally I like amuse-bouche better as it means entertainment for the mouth and that’s got to be good. ‘Mise en bouche’ means ‘setting for the mouth’ – not nearly as appealing.  No wonder they changed it…..

Anyway, they look the same as canapes

They ARE canapes

Canapes I know are those little munchy things on a platter, yummy. Obviously they are so last year now

Which begs the questions –

Are amuse-bouche the new canapes?

Were canapes the new Cheesy Wotsits?

How come we never had “amuse-bouche” or “mise en bouche”, or whatever they are called – or even canapes – when I was growing up?

It’s all a bit pretentious if you ask me

But I will still scoff a plateful tonight – it would be rude not to

All or Nothing……

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Tonight I ticked off the last thing on my ‘To Do’ List

# 10 on my list was ‘join a Boot Camp and get super-fit. (I now have four left on the list to do!)

Now, I must admit, when I wrote the list I was on a bit of a high.  I had just finished my dissertation and a general feeling of well being and elation had enveloped me.

I felt free, relieved and full of new ideas.   Including the Boot Camp one

This wasn’t a totally random idea, however.   A couple of weeks ago I held a small party at mine and a friend told me about this course that was due to start in September.  It sounded just what I needed.  Vigorous exercise three times a week.  She said it was fun and that I would love it…..after a few glasses of wine it sounded like a FABULOUS idea. I agreed to do it with her

In the cold light of day, I wasn’t so sure but I decided I would give it a go

So, there I was tonight, bottle of water in hand and with a determined attitude

Less than half way through, my determined attitude had been replaced by one of defeat.   I had to stop.  It was when I started to feel faint and dizzy and as though I was about to be sick that I decided enough was enough

I spent the rest of the hour drifting in and out of consciousness (ok, I exaggerate – I sat on the bench feeling a bit odd)

I really think there should be a law preventing 52 year old women who don’t normally walk farther than their car from embarking on this sort of exercise…..

It’s my own fault.  I should have remembered that I have done absolutely NOTHING for six months, since I had surgery.  This was my first attempt at ANY exercise at all (apart from one game of badminton a couple of weeks ago, which near enough killed me too)

I’m NOT fit and I’m NOT very young.  I should have thought of all that when I was trying to keep up with everyone

I just can’t do things half heartedly

I’m going again tomorrow anyway.  I’ve signed up now, and paid, so  I WILL finish the course!!

Tomorrow is boxing training

Expect another story (if I survive)

The curse of the wobbly pollen filter

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Having sorted out the mystery of the faulty central locking system on my car, I started noticing a KERCLUNKING sort of noise on closing the door.  I did the obvious – checked that there was nothing rattling around in the glove compartment or the side pockets and established it wasn’t anything silly like that

I decided to pretend it wasn’t happening until it got to the point where I couldn’t start the car one day.  This attitude is probably not the most sensible (it resulted in a cam belt disaster on my previous motor) but it is how I roll…..

So anyway, this afternoon I left a meeting, got into my car, and was greeted by the now strangely comforting KERCLUNK when I shut the door.  What I didn’t expect was the KNOCKITY KNOCK noise that went on for a couple of minutes after that

Oooo dear, I thought.  Something is about to FALL OFF

Always the risk taker though, I decided it wasn’t going to stop me going home

However, at some point during my journey, after remembering the horrific moment when my cam belt broke and I ‘fizzled’ to a stop on a motorway, I started to worry again 

I convinced myself the car was veering to the right (I did this by letting go of the steering wheel and observing the direction the car went in – it went to the right – the fact we were on a bend is neither here nor there)

By the time I was almost home I decided that something MUST have fallen off the steering mechanism – it was the only explanation!

So I phoned my garage, who know me well, and asked if I could swing by (in a veering rightward sort of way)

After a lot of door shutting and opening and a bit of a fiddle about, they decided that I probably have a ‘wobbly pollen filter’. Ok, they didn’t say that exactly but that’s my interpretation of it

I haven’t a clue what that means

But it isn’t life-threatening. Or, indeed, car threatening

I have to use the ‘recycle’ facility on my air vent system for the next few days and see if it stops.  If it does, we’re laughing.  New pollen filter and it’s sorted.  I now feel very eco-friendly, using my ‘recycle’ facility.  Even though I am now having to breathe in OLD air 

If it doesn’t stop, well, they’ll get to the bottom of it I suppose.  As long as nothing falls off in the meantime….

Stupid car

Do NOT touch my buttons!

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NEVER let your friends tinker with your gadgets

Today, I was explaining the world of blogging to a friend of mine. It fell on deaf ears I have to say. She doesn’t read blogs, she doesn’t even FACEBOOK!

She is one of those ‘I’m not very interested in the internet’ type of people

Weird

Anyway, I showed her the inspiration for my posts. Well, the gadget that captures my inspirational thoughts, to be more accurate.

My little Sony dictaphone

It’s a neat little thing, nice and small, easy to operate and great for storing just about everything I would otherwise forget. I use it a lot, not just to blog, but to remind myself of things I need to do. I find I have of most of my ideas whilst driving – I do a lot of driving – and my dictaphone is always there, on the passenger seat, ready to capture my flash of inspiration or to record that I need to phone someone or something

Anyway, I showed her my little gadget and she was most impressed. I left her to fiddle with it for a moment – a MOMENT, that’s all. I was distracted. She handed it back and said it was an amazing little gadget and that was that…….

I’ve just gone to switch it on and retrieve my gems of wisdom

And they’ve all gone

She’s only gone and bloody well wiped the lot off!!!!!

Now, if I were a suspicious-minded person, I’d say she’s nicked my ideas and plans to take over the blog world

As it is, I think she accidentally pressed a button

And erased the lot

They were such BRILLIANT thoughts as well – and now the world will never know

Ho hum

Now I have to start ALL over again
*****
Errrrr….ok

UPDATE

I was just fiddling with my gadget and found all my ramblings. I forgot I had ‘folders’ on this bloody ridiculously COMPLICATED little thing!!

How embarrassing

Spider shoes

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Don’t you just hate it when you have to start wearing tights?

(Men, you don’t have to answer that but you can if you wish )

I mean, when the weather turns cold enough to cover your legs but not quite cold enough for full on winter gear

The main problem is FOOTWEAR for me.

I have LOADS of pairs of summer shoes and quite a few pairs of boots but nothing really in the way of ‘in between’ shoes

Anyway, yesterday I dug out the one pair of flat shoes I have (because I am crap at wearing heels, my feet hurt by the end of the day)

And then I had to go through the bit I hate the most. The SPIDER inspection

When your shoes have been at the back of the shoe rack for a year, they inevitably become a holiday home for creepy crawlies (well, I am convinced they do anyway) and so they must be CHECKED for spiders before wearing

Luckily, none found. In fact, I’ve NEVER found any spiders in my shoes. But there’s always a first time

Do you do the ‘spider check’ in your shoes?

Or is it just me

5.55am

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alarm clock, bought from IKEA

Image via Wikipedia

That’s the time my eyes pinged open this morning.  Again.  I seem to wake before 6.00am nearly every day now.   And, once I have woken, there is no going back to sleep again.

The time has gradually been getting earlier and earlier and if it carries on like this, I’ll be awake before I’ve gone to sleep by this time next year!!

I’m guessing it’s age related.  Or hormones, or something.

But the truth is, I’ve never really enjoyed a lie-in since I had my children.   The oldest is 29 this year so that’s a long time to go without a lie-in!!!

I mean, she doesn’t wake me up NOW, obviously.   She doesn’t even live at home.  But the legacy of being a mummy and having to get up early lives on.   And, no matter how hard I try, I cannot force myself to stay asleep longer, or go back to sleep once  I’m awake.

Well, unless I have to be somewhere first thing in the morning of course.  Then you can bet your life my body will be pleading with me to let it sleep a bit longer.

Hmmmm….maybe the answer is to book early appointments at weekends.  And set my alarm to wake me up to cancel them just before it is time to be there.

Now, where can I arrange to be at 9.00am on a Sunday morning……

‘To Do’ List

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Now that the awful studying is out of the way, I can get on with my life.

As I have said previously, I do like a good list to help me focus

So, here is my ‘get on with my life’ list (in no particular order)

1. Get drunk (in celebration)

2. Socialize madly

3. Write a fantastically successful screen play (with my partner, who will be known as KD from now on)

4. Learn CSS and all that web design stuff

5. Blog profusely

6. Go on holiday

7. Party a bit more

8. Celebrate my birthday

9. SLEEP

10. Join a BOOT CAMP to get super fit (probably)

Obviously, some of this items are dependent upon others…and quite a few of them involve my beloved significant other, KD, who deserves a special mention for being so supportive, supplying me with food, keeping the house ship-shape and filling up my wine glass on request (all things he does anyway!).

Time to resume my life!!!!!!!!

Words words words……….

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I have done my work.    No more stress and no more late nights.

To show my joy, I shall write this post with words of just one syllable (well, if you do not count that one, there is no word like that to use!).

I have used lots of big words in the last few days and I am sick of them.

It is hard just to talk in small words!  But I just do not think my brain has more big words in it. They are all used up.

I still do not see why big words must be used to say things when a small word would do just as well.

But that is what you have to do when you write words for a course. 

And I think I have used all the big words there are in the WORLD this week.

So, none in this post, as you can see.

And that is that. I have no more small words to say……

(Normal service will be resumed later – oops!!!!!)