Okay. Today was a very trying day. I was absolutely shattered by about 1pm, and had to work through until 7pm.
About 6:45 a woman came up to the desk with her son and they wanted to have some things printed off the internet, so I printed them off. While the printer was happily humming away, they're in a conversation which includes the phrase from the 14 year old son "I'm with the Canadians... they hate the Americans as much as we do..." and then the Mum says to me "I don't hate Americans... my dad was an American... they're just stupid!" So I give her an "i'm-only-just-this-close-from-giving-you-a-knuckle-sandwich-lady" smile and say "Cheers." She totally had no clue I was American. No clue.
argh.
feels like I'm losing my identity....
my last blog title is proof that I need to get out of here....
no self-respecting American would ever utter the word Tipperary... much less know the phrase it's a long way to....
oy.
please help!
and an even longer way to America.
not just distance, you see... but time-- I've been ready to move back for a couple of years now, but Andy wasn't quite ready. He's always had the desire to move back, but previously it was always "well, *you* need to find out this and *you* need to work out what paperwork needs filling in... etc." and then when we were in Ohio over Thanksgiving this past year, (and this is usually my line!) he actually said "I don't want to go back." And then I knew we were finally on the same page and ready to go. So we set the wheels in motion.
which is why it's a long way-- and a lot of effort, which sometimes seems depressingly overwhelming. like right now.
help.
and as my hubby has already blogged-- Wickes (hardware/DIY store) replaced our friends' wallpaper steamer for us for free-- without a receipt or anything!
It was rather interesting-- Andy didn't want to be the one to return it, saying we didn't have a leg to stand on without the receipt (which we didn't) and that I'm the cheeky one and with my powers of persuasion can usually get things fixed. So I went in, and basically said "right, here's my situation. We borrowed this steamer from a friend. She bought it in June of last year and used it on one room in her house, and I was 3/4ths of the way through a room in our house and it went bang and took out the circuit breaker for the whole house. My friend doesn't have the receipt. Is there anything you can do to help us?" And within minutes, she had asked another colleague and they were on the phone and turned to us to say that we can have a new one but they can't give us a receipt for it, which in my opinion, was so much more than fair. So we went away with the new one, and I was able to finish stripping the paper last night.
whohoo. I'm exhausted. I painted the ceiling yesterday afternoon, and then in the evening after dinner, Andy and I painted the top section of the walls-- above the picture rail. So today I have to get some sandpaper (because dear Andrew forgot to put his cordless sander on charge!) to rough up the gloss paint on the picture rail so I can paint it! yippee.
that is if my arms don't fall off.
it's really nice to get to sit down at the computer! Sometimes I can't get to the PC because absohoggincomputerly needs to relax by using the computer-- he's on computers all day long and his idea of relaxing is.....?
anyhooo--- I'm here!
I'm not dead... and I even had a request played on Saturday Lunchtime Requests on ClassicFM!!!! We were on the way to Ben & Liz's UFM thingy and we were stuck in this nasty saturday traffic in Manchester, and they played the advert on the radio about how you can txt in and request things-- so I did! I said Hiya Jamie (Crick)! We're hopelessly stuck in traffic in Manchester-- on our way to visit friends in Leeds. Please play anything by Aaron Copland-- thanks very much! Love, Kristen & Andy. And he played this lovely relaxing piece from the Appalachian Suite. And I was going nuts!!! whohooo!!
So if you want to txt the ClassicFM Lunchtime Requests (12 til 2 most days) the txt line is 07870150100.
whohooo!
I've just been spending all my time doing the opposite of blogging....
publishing things that nobody ever gets to read. :)
If you want to know what I'm on about.... you can ask Pastor Danny....
hee hee.
stripping wallpaper that is!
waiting for the Pastor to climb back into his seat after his near-apoplexy...
:)
I've been prepping our bedroom for some new wallpaper. It began with a simple purchase of new duvet covers and curtains, to match the carpet that we've had in there for 5 years now. I've recently been inspired to look around at our rooms (in the light of the impending doom of selling the house) and try and make things look as though they are co-ordinated! After said purchase, it occurred to me that the wallpaper border that I had put up (a "removable" border!) 5 years ago to match the old duvet sets-- clashed with the new pattern. So I reached up and without thought to consequence, tried to remove the border.
Welp, it weren't very removable. It was pretty much sealed to the wallpaper. So, since I'd already done the deed of ruining the wallpaper irreversibly, I went ahead and ripped the whole border off, tearing the paper all the way round the room.
I must say it was fairly exhilarating, that experience... I've been wanting to get rid of this wallpaper since I moved here. It isn't yellow, it isn't terracotta, and it isn't cream... it's kind of like a dirty sandy color... Andy's parents and Andy put it up 10 years ago when Andy moved in to this house. Since then, however, it has gotten grotty and stained and mankey. And I can honestly say, I have never liked it. :(
I have a wonderful friend called Shirley. I met her because she stopped in Crewe Library one day (I wasn't even there!) and asked about any cross stitch clubs in the area. My lovely fellow staffmates told her about me, and phoned me to ask if it was okay for them to give her my details. I was thrilled and she contacted me and got the time and date of the next Sewing Club at church and came along! I have since found out through various outings with her that she loves to wallpaper!!!
Are you sensing a theme here?
good.
Long story short, I apologised to Andy about the wallpaper and promised to redecorate the room properly -- planning on taking Shirley up on an offer she'd made to help me any time I wanted her to!
We talked about it at the last Sewing Club and she said the only dates she has free to help me between now and June is this Thursday/Friday. So I booked it with her, and made all arrangements in my schedule to be there.
Yesterday we took all the furniture out of the bedroom except the bed and a bedside table and this morning I began the bohemoth task of stripping off the wallpaper. It was incredibly freeing-- knowing how much I'd hated that paper, to scrape it off and watch it fall to the floor in pieces.
I even put the cds I'd borrowed from Danny by Philip Glass-- the Akhnaten opera (which sounded very much like my favourite cd at the moment-- the soundtrack to the movie the Hours-- also by Philip Glass!). I'm afraid I like the soundtrack better than the opera, Danny. I'd like to know what your thoughts were on it-- if you listened to the cd and thought... hmmm... this sounds VERY familiar.... there are some pieces that he hardly changed from one project to the other!
Anyhooo-- now I'm knackered... I'm not quite finished though-- still have a quarter of the last wall to do. The steamer ran out of steam and then all of a sudden the circuit breaker for the whole house went, and I was sitting there in utter darkness.
It was a sign.