What an odd couple of days.

Yesterday I got all overwhelmed at work which hasn’t happened in ages [probably more to do with me missing months of work than anything else]. I started the day with tidying up our newsletter which went out at 10:30, moved to stats, then A needed a standard e-mail checked/re-written [his writing is technically correct but it is very dry] and then R decided he’d get me started on the next big thing. So I had the chat with R, started on A’s e-mail and then R came back through to see how I was getting on [I'd barely started]. I was also trying to finish some of the statistics stuff and then E arrived and she wanted to know what the response to our newsletter was – two hours after it had been sent [short answer: nothing]. Meh. I was also slightly tense given the impending arrival of my cousin.

Melissa and her friend arrived in the country yesterday morning. They said they wanted to go around London before coming up to us on the 4:15 train, but I thought jet-lag might make them want to come up sooner. So I gave them Weasel’s mobile number and told them to call her when they were on their way so I could come meet their train. So half of me was waiting on tender hooks to see if I’d have to leave work early or not and I hadn’t told anyone at work that she was even visiting. Anyway, they came up on the 4:15 in the end so I left work on time. There was a train that arrived from Kings Cross at 4:54 so I waited by the platform and they didn’t show. I only panicked for one second before I checked the arrivals board again and saw another Kings Cross train arriving at the same platform at 5:04.

We walked home, got them settled, had lovely long chats. Weasel and I made some food. We ate and chatted some more. It was really nice having someone who knows the town I grew up in, I didn’t have to explain anything and I could reference specific streets! Novel. After dinner we played Speed Scrabble* and Rummikub Word. It was finally late enough that they could go to bed without making jet-lag worse so off we went.

* Speed Scrabble was new to me. You place all the Scrabble tiles in the middle of the table face down. Everyone takes seven tiles and turns them over. You create your own little Scrabble style board on the table with your collection of letters. Once you’ve used all seven tiles you say ‘Go!’ and everyone takes two new tiles. You can then re-arrange your nine tiles and again once you’ve used all nine you say go again and so on and so forth. It was very good fun. The scoring system of adding up all your used tiles and subtracting unused ones was strange. Melissa and I were very evenly matched but I drew both blank tiles so I was immediately at least two points short of what I could have been. Her friend won in the end simply because she had the Z and the X even though she hadn’t used all her tiles. Will definitely be playing again!

Today was excellent. I woke up at 5:30 again, but I did manage to get about 20 more minutes later. Must figure out why my body has decided that wake up time is 5:30. Anyway. We all got up and put together and headed into town – we arrived at 8:50. We had a few shopping things to do then we headed to the river for punting. I’ve been twice before with the same company, this time we got approached by a different company first. I prefer this one, the ride is a little longer and the factual facts talk was more interesting.

We went for lunch at the Rainbow Cafe afterwards, I had a very yummy thing called tajine a l’algerinne. Sweet potatoes and aubergines in a yummy tomato, onion and garlic sauce served over cous cous and lentils. Very tasty. I also had the yummiest strawberry and chocolate torte for dessert. I love the Rainbow. They both had Latvia Potato Bakes on my suggestion, it is my favourite thing there. So good.

After lunch we had another little wander through town and the market. I bought some lovely lovely chocolates from a perfect little chocolate shop. We walked back a different way so they could see more of the city. They got a 2:30 train and they’ll continue their tour of Europe tomorrow.

All in all it went perfectly, it was so fun getting to know her. We went to the same high school [briefly, she was a senior when I was a sophomore] but we didn’t see each other. At family reunions she ended up hanging out with the older cousins so again I didn’t know her very well. I think the more I play the hostess the better I get at it too.

Weasel sadly had a meeting today out of town so she left here at 7:15 this morning. She did get last night with us though.

Happily it seems that my emotional funk has moved on, so I can finally move on too.

Last Thursday. I usually only wear my contact on days that I work [including Thursdays] and by the time I get home my eyes are usually pretty tired and they just want liberty and a good rub down. I’m happy to oblige as their pleasure really is mine.

So I’m home, I’m about to get in the shower and my eyes are tired so the contacts need to come out. I try to grip one. No luck. I figure my finger nails are too long again and keep trying. I finally try switching to the other eye.

After a few minutes it dawns on me: I didn’t wear contacts today.

I clearly win. I suspect [and Weasel agrees] that I have been wearing contacts for so many years that my eyes just don’t get that worked up about the manhandling anymore.

Story number two. I’ve been very tired lately, and this morning I figured out why. I know that I’ve been waking up before my alarm, but I never knew what time it was because I wear a sleeping mask and I was trying to fall [unsuccessfully] back asleep. This morning I decided to have a look in case knowing the time would help me go back. Sadly it didn’t, so I’ve been awake since 5:30.

This doesn’t please me. The problem gets exacerbated when bedtime rolls around, I’m so tired that I want to go to bed early, which in turn means I wake up early. Stupid body clock.

My ear is all traumatised by the grommet. The fluid is still there and trying to plug my ear again but it can’t so instead I just get treated to a series of pops and gurgles all the time. It doesn’t hurt as such but it is uncomfortable. I’m hoping it’ll all calm down in the next few days.

In other news, I’m still in the midsts of this depressive funk. I’m hoping it passes quickly.

I can hear again! My appointment was for 9:30 yesterday. They didn’t see me until 10 and I had to wait for an hour and a half for the numbing cream to numb my ear drum. Getting all the very nasty sticky gunk out of my ear was bliss. Getting the grommet inserted into my ear drum did not feel so good. I had 20 minutes to get my bearings after that then a hearing test where she said I had excellent hearing. Everything should continue improving.

When I asked about my teeth aching during exercise he said he’d never heard of that and he’d have a think. I’m not allowed to swim and I should to my best to not get my ear wet. The grommet lasts about a year and it should work itself out when its ready. I have another appointment in a month so we’ll see how I am then. He told me yet again that if I’d got these infections in medieval times they would have killed me. Also stressed that I was still recovering so I suspect I might be expecting too much too soon as per usual.

Everything seems very loud – including my typing. Equally my left ear seems kind of muffled; I suppose because it has spent the last six months compensating for the right. There has been a lot of popping noises which I presume are various air bubbles and fluids trying to plug my ear again even though they can’t. Some minor [very minor] pain along my jaw which I hope will improve as I get used to the lack of pressure in my Eustachian tube.

After I finished at the doctor I met Weasel in town. We got her some exciting new underwear that we’re both pleased with. We got migraine drugs for a friend and posted them to her. We bought lotion, Lush has put the price up – £22.50 for a pot of my favourite one. The only other one I fancied was £35, so I supposed I still win. Finding a face lotion I like is hard. We were just about to wander off to find a beaded curtain for a doorway when I realised it was 10 past three and I was supposed to call my parents 10 minutes ago. Our front door has hooks for a curtain and having the front door open as well as the back gives a wonderful through breeze that cools the whole house down. Bliss.

Most of the call with my parents was planning their visit here in September. I realised that the day they arrive [the 5th] is my 8th anniversary for moving here. So it’ll be a very awesome day. We also discussed my cousin’s tour of Europe and her visit with me [she and her friend arrive next Tuesday, they'll spend the night then continue their tour]. I’m excited and nervous as per usual, anything outside my routine gets the same treatment.

Doodle arrived after my call and we had a fairly low-key practice because my ear was just crazy and I was completely exhausted. I managed to convince them to watch a film over dinner and we settled on The da Vinci Code. I enjoyed it, they were mostly faithful to the book and the majority of it was so over the top that it was easily mockable so mock it we did.

We finished at 11:30 so it was after midnight by the time I fell asleep. I woke up around 8:30 and I still felt tired. But Doodle won’t eat breakfast or do much until I’m awake and so I made myself get up. We watched the rest of Big Love season one and the first episode of season two. After Doodle went home Weasel and I got to cleaning. We did two batches of laundry, scrubbed the bathroom, tidied and vacuumed everywhere downstairs and I finally got around to washing the front door and side windows.

Watching The da Vinci Code meant that we could return both our LoveFilm.com movies [for the second week running!] so we headed to the post box. We got most of the way down the street and the heavens opened. We rushed home to get the laundry in and the rain stopped within minutes. We went out again and it was sunny the whole time. This has been the weather all day. One minute it is sunny, another it is cloudy, then there’s thunder and scary clouds, torrential rain followed by sun. It keeps things interesting.

I’ve been feeling a bit blue today, I’m hoping it is simply a combination of a stressful work week, planning for my cousin, ear trauma and exhaustion.

Weasel and I have moved away from the bereft phase of our break-up with The Other Boy; we’re bitter and angry now. This probably hasn’t helped my general mood either.

I’ll get better.

I worked in the garden again today and yet again I’ve done a major project that can’t be seen from the house. I mowed the lawn then I trimmed the hedge. The lawn can be seen, but I usually keep up with it anyway. The hedge can only be seen from the lounge and it isn’t very eye catching. Bah.

Today was fairly routine other than that. I went to the gym, stopped off at the grocery store for over a kilogram of spicy cheese, made bread, played a game of Settlers with Horatio, had lunch, received my grocery delivery, watched Gnome Mobile [which was even better than I remembered!], had dinner and now I’m here.

Things I probably should have done instead of gardening? Homework. Cleaning.

I finished the sixth Harry Potter book the other day. Now I feel all caught up and I can wait with heighten anticipation for the seventh book next month.

My cousin is taking a tour of Europe with a friend and when I found out I wrote and said that I’d love to see her while she was around. She happened to mess up the hotel booking so next Tuesday they’re going to come spend the night. I’m excited, I haven’t seen her since 1999 [I think!].

I thought I had more to say but I guess not.

I stayed up until 1:30 last night. I feel so rebellious.

Yesterday. Doodle, Weasel and I went out to acquire Father’s Day presents and ingredients for Tequila Sunrises. We got both. But when we bought the tequila from the wine shop that didn’t have grenadine the shop guy suggested using pomegranate syrup instead. He said it was in a Polish supermarket down the street; he didn’t know the name. We parted ways, Doodle went home and Weasel and I went in and out of many exotic food stores. We finally found the one in question with the syrup. We also found Middle Eastern Mountain Dew… which I have a photo of, but I haven’t got it on the computer yet. It was quite good, a little different, but definitely Mountain Dew. The list of American things I cannot get here is slowly decreasing.

The walk exhausted me and gave me a killer headache. I had some drugs and tried to ignore it using the power of Harry Potter book five. I read all afternoon, Weasel offered to make dinner so I read while she did that. Then I read while I ate and read over my ice cream and finally finished the book at 1am.

One thing that I realised. I love the books. I do not love the films. I haven’t read the books since the last one came out in 2005 and I saw the last film twice in the cinema. I didn’t like the film very much and everyone’s negative reactions to the books managed to make me think that I didn’t like them. It isn’t true. I love the books, I love the layers and the hints and the sub-plots and all of it. I’m roughly halfway through the sixth book since I spent most of the afternoon today reading too. I love reading.

Today. I went to the gym [even though I really really didn't want to]. They’re remodelling the main cardio/weights bit from the 27th to the 29th. I’m going to take Horatio with me on the 1st of July so we can see it. Exciting stuff. Afterwards I went to get my pill prescription filled, this was my third attempt. I got it and came home. I had a shower then I read. Weasel invited me for a walk so we went.

When we got to the footpath entrance there was a man with a double buggy and two little boys. One of the wheels was stuck under the fence bordering the path. Of course Weasel and I offered our help. We tried just pulling but it wouldn’t budge. So we released the boys with Weasel guarding. Tried a few other things. He finally took the boys to a nearby friend’s house and when he got back we tried a few more things. Finally with all three of us pulling on the buggy at just the right angle the wheel popped free. Thankfully no one was hurt and the buggy was fine. We finished our nice [if exhausting] walk and I came home to my hammock and my book.

Then we ordered pizza and we watched The Worst Witch. Which was so beyond wonderful I’m sure I cannot put it into words. I loved it when I was a kid, really classic stuff. Very cutting edge blue screen technology and special effects. Looking at it now it looks so camp. And the cheese! The innuendo! The poor rhymes! Love it. We started early enough that we decided to take in our second film – You, Me and Everyone We Know. My sister recommended it to us ages ago and I can say that I loved it. I just don’t know why. The best way I can think to describe it is as a series of sub-plots with references to the main plot [if there was one?]. It left me feeling fairly happy, I’m not sure why though. Go see it.

I was talking to Doodle yesterday morning before Weasel woke up, about The Other Boy. When I was talking I said that I didn’t understand why he broke up with us. Which actually hit something in me and helped me feel better about the whole thing. I think by acknowledging that on some level I have been broken up with too I can finally start to move on… although I’d really rather not have to. I also explained to Doodle that we were feeling our way in the dark with this whole end-of-a-relationship thing. Weasel is my first serious relationship – I met her when I was 16 and I’m 26 now. I met Horatio at 21 and we’re still together too. I’ve never had to figure out the whys and the pain and the confusion before. Weasel only had one other serious relationship before me and it ended so oddly that I think she felt more relief than anything else. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks.

I think I drank too much Dr Pepper over the films.

Weasel’s just told me that our latest LoveFilm.com film is The Worst Witch. I am very pleased.

I’ve been looking up hotels tonight, we’re seeing Tori on the 3rd and 4th of July and it seemed silly to pay for all three of us to traipse to London and back twice. I’ve found one that has a double bed and a sofa bed for £149.

In my long journey to being a ‘proper’ girl I’ve bought eye shadow. I’ve looked up all kinds of websites to find out how to best apply it. Arrested development sure is fun. Maybe by the time I’m 50 I’ll have figured out how to wear complicated underwear and dresses with fancy shoes.

Weasel and I are trying to come up with something fun to do this weekend. We know we’re going to take two walks. That’s about it. There’s nothing much we fancy in the cinema at the moment… she’s not quite able to travel great distances yet. We shall keep thinking.

I’m re-reading all the Harry Potter books in preparation of the seventh volume’s release at the end of July… I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed the first few. I’m in the middle of the fourth book and I keep going back to it. I forget the majority of plots between readings, but the bits I do remember seem more clever this time because if I’d been paying attention before I might have guessed what was coming, the clues are there. Very enjoyable. Very excited for the next book.

This has been the most bland and boring Debbie in years, I apologise. I think I’m just a bit off lately.