Gingerjo’s Blog

As for the when …
I decided some time ago that I wouldn’t get married until I was 10 stone in weight. I haven’t weighed myself recently because I think it will be too depressing, but I know I’m a helluva lot heavier than that at the mo.

Starvation calls, but I’m rubbish at being hungry. When I’m hungry I eat, and I eat well, which is, of course, what got me into my size 20s in the first place. I think it calls for a campaign of military proportions. It’s the only way I’ll manage it. Mark doesn’t mind and it certainly isn’t his idea, but I can’t face photos as I am.

As for the where …
Mark and I are rather keen on tying the knot in Las Vegas, and then honeymooning in Arizona and perhaps also visiting the West coast (San Francisco, Seattle maybe?). I guess it depends how long we can afford to go for. Don’t worry, Elvis will be nowhere to be seen.

We don’t expect everyone to come with us, but it would be nice if we could fill at least the front row of the chapel.

The gel nails look nice by the way.

St Valentines Day… a day for romance, especially for me as I got engaged to my lovely Mark today!!

I confess I’ve been pestering him for a while, but whenever I mentioned it he just gave me a big hug and then left the room without saying a word. I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant and didn’t dare to ask in case it meant ‘no thanks, I’m perfectly happy just the way things are’. However, it seems my romantic little bunny was biding his time, waiting for the right opportunity.

I was a bit confused when I opened my Valentine’s card and a ring pull fell out. But when I read that this was in lieu of a more valuable kind of ring, one that I could help him choose I was very excited, delighted, overjoyed!! And just a little nervous, but that soon passed.

We rushed off to Goldsmiths to choose a ring - a white gold round solitaire. It’s beautiful - see for yourself:

But because my nails are so badly bitten at the moment I’ve had to make an appointment to go get gel nails on Saturday. I can’t show it off to everyone with my scratty little stumps in this state!

Still considering my options. I’m thinking 30 mins on Wii Sports a night wouldn’t hurt me. Relaxation and a smidgeon of exercise. For January we (me and Mark) are trying to eat less. Not so much diet, more return to pre-Christmas munching levels really. So far it’s not working, but there’s still loads of Christmas food left in the cupboards so that’ll probably get easier as the stores are depleted. Also thinking that frugality is a good idea. I’ve spent far too much money and February is an expensive month with the car needing servicing, taxing and insuring, oh, and with buying a new bathroom. I’m also thinking seriously about my career plans this year - I think it’s nearly time for a change, but do I stay in education or move out into the wider world of public sector work? Either way I’ve got to pass this blooming CIM course before I can do anything, so that’s on the list too. At least I don’t have to stop smoking.

To be honest, my only real plan is to survive. Survival seems good and most likely achievable.

Hurray. My work’s syndicate has won a pound on Daily Play!! Only another £999,999 to go.

I went to the dentist too today. All is well, no fillings necessary. He just had a bit of a poke around and looked mildly disappointed that he wouldn’t be making much of a profit out of me.

He’s very good though and doesn’t do unnecessary work. One of my previous dentists filled this tiny little hole in one of my molars and that filling fell out after only a couple of years (I expect a toffee was the culprit). I asked my current dentist to refill it but it said it was so small it wasn’t worth it and it should never have been filled in the first place. I never get any pain or anything in that tooth so I guess he must be right.

I had my eye’s tested today. Once again my sight has deteriorated - my astigmatism has got worse. Hopefully this explains why I keep getting headaches - my eyes are having to work really hard and maybe I’ve been squinting a bit too? Anyway I’ve ordered a new pair of rimless glasses for £239 (ouch). They’re a bit square and trendy, but the optician assures me that they suit me. It’ll be nice to see clearly again!

Arrggh. Why do I seem to do nothing but bloody housework all weekend? There seems to be self-replicating pile of washing and I’m sure greese oozes out of the kitchen work surfaces while I’m not looking. Certain types of housework I don’t mind, but some of the necessary chores really irritate me:

1. Taking the bin out - that’s Mark job. I loathe touching the bin. I can just about cope with putting a new bin liner in it after it’s been emptied.

2. Making the bed. Stripping the bed’s OK, washing the bedding is OK, drying the bedding is OK. But I hate wrestling with the duvet trying to get it back in the cover. And why do pillows seem to expand when you remove their cases making it really hard to squeeze them back in?

3. Tidying the living room. It should be such a simple task, but where do all the bits of paper come from? Everywhere you look there are bills, TV magazines, letters from Oxfam, kitchenware catalogues and supermarket receipts. What do you do with them? Should you file them, throw them away, build a bonfire, recycle them or leave them to evolve into a new paper-based lifeform?

4. Cleaning the microwave. I never even use it so why is the inside always covered in tomato splats?

5. Cleaning the fridge. Everything is kept in plastic packaging so just how does it escape to form a crud on the bottom beneath the salad/vegetable boxes?

6. Mopping the floor - it’s not really the mopping of the floor that is the problem. It’s the having to hoover it first to get rid of all the bits, then fill the bucket with water (which means you have to have done all the washing up first so that you can get in the sink). Then you mop the floor for a couple of minutes, and try to squeeze the mop out sufficiently to vaguely dry the floor, rinse the mop (in dirty water - what’s the point?) and slide around on the wet floor trying to get back to the sink to throw the dirty water away. Yes, you should refill the bucket so that you can rinse the mop properly, but by then you’re so demoralised by the experience that it’s all you can do to rinse out the sink.

7. Washing up. Is it me or do dishes dirty themselves? I’m sure we don’t use that many pots and pans and yet, there they all are crowding the worksurface, jostling to see who can get close enough to the edge to fall off and smash into a thousand tiny pieces when someone walks past.

8. Cleaning up a broken glass. You never do find every shard at the time, no matter how long you spend carefully hoovering the room. You find the last bit later - with your bare feet. Are feet magnetic for broken glass (and three-pronged plugs)?

9. Cleaning windows. Well, that should just be left to the professionals.

10. Cleaning the oven. Life’s too short. Buy a new oven.

LL and I, who’s party I went to a few weeks ago after a long time no see, went to see Forrest Gump at the cinema last night. It’s one of my favourite films and I’d never seen it on a big screen, so when I saw it advertised I just had to go. I bought a box of chocolates to take with us in honour of Mrs Gump’s most famous saying. And it’s true, in the dark of the cinema you really never know what you’re gonna get. Why do I always manage to pick a truffle?

It was wonderful to watch as always. I cried at all the usual bits, and afterwards felt utterly emotionally drained. I’m still feeling chilled out now. It’s such a lovely movie, so tender, so heartbreaking and hopeful, and so well cast and executed. I really don’t think it could have been made any better.

It’s only taken two years, but finally I’ve managed to meet up again with my best mate from uni and her fella. Last time I saw them was at their wedding which was only a few weeks after I moved back up to Manchester from Norfolk. I wouldn’t mind but they only live 10 miles away. I’m a disgrace.

I was a bit nervous to tell you the truth - we haven’t really seen each other properly since I moved to Glasgow an eon ago. What if we didn’t get on anymore? What if we’d both changed so much that we had nothing to talk about? What if they didn’t like my Mark? Anyways, I needn’t have been such a little yellow coward all this time - we all got on really well and it was great to see them. They hosted a fantastic party to celebrate their 10 year anniversary and I had the best time I’ve had in ages. I was very sorry to have to go home!!

I’m definitely not going to leave it two years before I call her again.

I probably shouldn’t be posting this as I’m sure it will be costing me a fortune on my Vodafone mobile connect card, but I’m a long way from home and I need to communicate so what the hell! At present I’m staying in an Express by Holiday Inn in Newcastle or Gateshead (not sure where exactly) trying to persuade a teabag to give me a third cup of tea.  I’m losing the argument. Why are these places so stingy with the tea bags?

I peddled our university’s wares to the sixth formers of County Durham today (after staying in the similarly unimpressive A1 J61 Premier Travel Inn last night).  Frankly, I’m amazed that anyone ever makes it to university from County Durham. The schools seem utterly apathetic about tertiary education.  Half the schools would only let their students come to the HE Fair if they had a free period so of course hardly anyone came to the afternoon session. Don’t these schools realise that their stats look bad if none of their students progress to HE?  What the hell are they thinking?  Of those students that did attend very few were prepared - most didn’t have a clue what course they want to do or what careers they could lead to.  What are the careers teachers doing around here?

On the plus side though the sun was shining, and County Durham is very beautiful.  So I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.