cul's comfy corner

been a bit of a hectic day today to top off a hectic week so far.

managed to get to see my sister at the weekend and take her the homemade hamper for her birthday today - happy birthday sis!  

had an awful dream last night about rob and the divorce so i felt a bit unsettled this morning when i woke up. i didn't let it deter me though and was soon racing about at work.

we've been making some brilliant rudolph the reindeers at school with hugely gorgeous big red glittery noses. i'm starting to feel christmassy now :D i'm really looking forward to it now.

one thing i'm not looking forward to is a friend of mine leaving the school. she's a really excellent teacher, the sort of teacher that everyone loves. she's moving to the other end of the country so i don't know when i'll see her again and i'm feeling pretty choked about it.

i'm in the throes of planning her leaving party which is along the theme of 'old rockers' as that's what she is. we've put a deposit of a pink electric guitar today as her leaving present. the fancy dress outfit is easy enough, lots of demin, leather and a cher wig!

as we are known to perform at these sorts of functions, it has been decided that we will be singing 'goodbye' by the spice girls for our friend, at the end of her party. we had our first rehearsal today. good lord.

normally, i'd suggest we stayed clear of alcohol until after the performance but this time i think it can only improve it...

oh my goodness!  how did things get so busy so quickly?

i feel like i haven't blogged for weeks but things here have been so busy that i just haven't had a minute to write anything.

i've had a bit of a rough time over the last week health wise.  it all started with the whole sore-throaty-need-tablets thing towards the end of last week, followed by a recommendation that i slow down and take some time off, which i declined. 

i was excited about the weekend and so travelled up to my sisters in luton to help her move into her new house.  it was hard work, but we got the old house sparkling before we left it, especially the bathroom as i'd spent 4 hours steaming and scrubbing every tile.  i helped unpack the van at the other end and moved the furniture in to the new house. 

unfortunately, as i went out to get the last thing from the van, i fell out of the front door, tripping on the door 'lip' and as it's on a very high step, i fell down the step and landed on the front lawn, face down.  of course, it all sounds hilarious right now, but at the time i was in agony and completely humiliated.  

i wasn't able to get up and dust myself off because i'd really hurt my left ankle, right knee and right forearm so just sat on the floor to get my breath back.  i called my sister over, who thought i was having a rest and told me off! *grin*

once she saw my ballooning ankle swell before her eyes, she tried to get an icepack onto it to bring the swelling down but there was nothing in the house except a pack of frozen sausages and a few binbags, so we tied the sausages to myankle with the binbags and we were away.  several hours later at luton accident and emergency, it was declared that it wasn't broken and just a very painful sprain.  i wasn't much use for the rest of the weekend and mostly sat and watched my sisters unpack the house.

my injuries have been getting better gradually each day thanks to ice packs and support bandages whilst i've been at work and then elevating it when i get home.  today, however, i was feeling brave and went in without the support bandage and my ankle has been hurting like a bitch with shooting pains up my leg so i'm going to have to do some restorative work on that tonight.

weight loss is going well, with a total of 17lb off now which is great.  all the talk of vegetables i now eat prompts me to sing the sesame street 'captain vegetable' song most days at work as i prepare my lunch*

for those who don't know it, here it is for your delectation. 

* i only sing the first part**

**  and the eddie/spaghetti part if i am being silly***

***which is quite often... 

so three films to review since my last filmage entry.

the first of those was the very silly but very funny 'open season'

i *loved* this film. it was original and funny. it had bits that made me laugh and bits that made me cry. i suppose, if i'm nitpicking, the animation isn't up to the standards of maybe a pixar, but i thoroughly enjoyed it.

a hearty 4 out of 5

***

next on the list was the moralistic but entertaining 'a good year'

i was unsure about this film at first. i don't find russel crowe sexy in the slightest and i considered this film to have little else to offer. despite myself, i actually enjoyed the film.

it started well, establishing crowe to be an utter arse who inherits his uncle's magnificent estate. what transpires after that seems to take a loooooooooong time to come to a predictable ending.

none too shabby in a 'message to the story' kind of way.

3 out of 5

***

lastly, i finallygot round to seeing 'click'

already being a huge fan of adam sandler is a great advantage. if you're not a fan, look away now, this could get gushy.

i absolutely *loved* this film! i laughed out loud, got angry and howled my eyes out. in fact, i don't think there were many emotions i didn't feel during the film.

the idea of having a universal remote to control your life is something many of us have toyed with on those dark days when things aren't going our way.  oh, to be able to fast forward through an argument or rewind and see those things that we loved.  how brilliant would that be?  not very, thank you very much, is my conclusion after seeing this film. 

despite hating adam sandler, my friend came along to watch it for a second time because it really is just that funny.

and if it's got the hoff:

it's good enough for me.

i shall be buying this one on dvd. it's a keeper

5 out of 5!

i've had a few weeks of ups and downs (do you see what i did there?)

i've been working really hard to keep busy and get on with having a life rather than dwelling on the crapness that is my looming divorce.  i've put my efforts into work and been rewarded with more work.  i've been sorting a lot out at home and keeping things there tidy so i feel ok about that.  parent's evenings this week have meant late nights at school and coming home knackered. doesn't matter though, i had a great time.  i got really nice comments from the parents and they all said how happy their children were to come to school each day.  i can't really ask for any more than that.

i was really proud of myself today because i came home and cooked myself a proper meal.  i've had to do a lot of reconditioning because the old me would have had a piece of toast and a packet of crisps instead of a meal.  the old me wouldn't eat if i was on my own.  the old me only ever cooked if it was for someone else.   naturally, this meant that i was really hungry most of the time and along with the loneliness i felt, caused me to snack a lot.  tonight though, i came home and cooked chicken, broccoli and cauliflower in a peppercorn sauce with wild brown rice.  i was proud as punch.

realising that i was feeling a little low tonight, i tried to cheer myself up with some comedy.  i watched a bit of this and a bit of that and it did the trick for a little while.  then i decided that i'd watched something i'd taped a few nights earlier.  i settled on the sofa and pressed play...nothing.  i forwarded and rewound the entire video and it was all blank.  not one thing had recorded.  great.  

determined to sort it out, i pressed every button combination i could think of to make it work.  i tried desperately to recall my conversations with rob, going over what he said to press trying to work it out.  i thought i had it at one point and did a little dance, but alas, it was not to be. 

i remember when rob set the system up.   it seemed overly complicated to me.  there seemed to be ever increasing wires and everything was interconnected.  five remote controls was more than i could beleive was necessary.  the amp had to be connected to the video and speakers, blah blah blah basebox, blah skybox blah blah blah video.  press this one twice, change that to this, jump on one leg and shout 'orange'.  it made no sense to me. 

i'm not a stupid person.  i do have an above average iq but nothing i pressed or read in the gajillion 'how to' or instruction leaflets mentioned anything about this shitty I.T. guy setup that defied definition. 

in the end, i burst into tears and screamed.  sheer frustration.  i hate to think that something's beaten me.  i really don't want to ever have to contact rob again and ask him to tell me how to work the video.  i'd rather take all the wires out and set the damn thing up myself from scratch.  in fact, i'd rather throw the whole fucking lot in the bin and buy new ones than do that, but it didn't help.

so yeah, ups and downs.   

what an evil day! 

went in with a full workload today and that was only the beginning!  every time i turned a corner, something new came up which demanded my full and immediate attention.  gah!

after school was my first parent's evening this year.  i met with 19 sets of parents tonight and told then how delightful their child was and how much fun we were having *yawn*  

you can imagine how overjoyed i am to have to see the remaining 11 sets of parents tomorrow night, can't you?

i suppose the good thing about all of this is that i can spend some time timorrow compiling my new 'top ten dads' list for the staffroom wall.  it's getting the photos that's the tricky part *grin* 

right then, back to work.  11 summaries to be written for tomorrow and i've yet to put fresh bedding on my bed and get my clothes for tomorrow.  oh, and i need to eat too at some point.  

*yawn* 

1. My ex is still... listed as ‘cheating wanker’ on my mobile

2. I am listening to... athlete – I love everybody here

3. Maybe I should... get on with my work instead of talking about doing it

4. I love... my friends

5. My best friend... is so like me it’s untrue

6. I don't understand... why love is so complicated

7. I lost... my amy winehouse cd

8. People say… get yourself back out there

9. The meaning of my screen name is... my favourite book character

10. Love is... something which escapes me

11. Somewhere, someone is... wanting the love I have to give

12. I will always... be a bad influence

13. Forever seems... like a long time

14. I never ever want to... be sensible

15. My mobile phone is... full of messages that need deleting

16. When I woke up this morning... my sheep was dead </stupid song>

17. I get annoyed... by spitefulness and mindgames

18. Parties are... my lifeblood

19. My pet(s) are... very naughty boys

20. Kisses are the best when... I get some

21. Today I... am avoiding doing anything productive

22. Tomorrow I will... be rushing to do the things I have avoided today

23. I really want...  to be happy