It's good to talk

Right, so what random ramblings are going round in my head today?

It's good to talk. Seriously it is. I think sometimes we can get far to lost in our own heads. The smallest of things can be blown up into all manner of over the top proportions and over exaggeration by our synapses.

Like last night I was getting myself into such a tizz about the daftest thing. In fact it wasnt even a thing - there was no problem. But such is the inner workings of my mind all I could think was "blah blah blah!" Anyway walking to the station with Kirsty, had a bit of a rambling rant and immediatly felt better. The more I was saying stuff out loud the more ridiculous I realised I was sounding. This combined with Kirsty being possibly one of the worlds best listeners and always knowing what to say really helped! I left the office with my brain being all fried and got to the tube smiling and forgetting about my "non-problem"

Anyways point is - dont allow yourself to get lost in your head. Human beings are designed to be communicative. We need to let all that shit pour out of our heads and ideally into the arms of a friend who can ball it up and throw it away. And then we feel better. Promise.

Which is why I am always here to listen. I know that more often than not you wont need a response or a solution or even a reason to why your feeling like that - you just need to unload. Feel free to come to me to unload whenever you want. Promise!

Hehe my sister did just that today and I could tell how much better she felt after getting everything off her chest. I love my little sister! (I wonder if she reads this? hehe)

I had something else I was going to witter on about....oh yeah!

I've worked out why I procrastinate so much at work. Its because it requires me to think. I know that sounds daft but to sit at a desk and have to write a letter or a plan or web copy or something else that requires a spark of creativity is really frickin hard if your not in that frame of mind. Now I know there are a lot of talented people out there (many of whom I know read this blog!) who have this amazing capability to write. I always need to work hard to make my brain focussed unless I'm feeling particullarly inspired. And I normally feel most like writing when I feel like I'm speaking to someone. Hence epic length posts and blog entries.

I'm not a slack worker. When I did jobs where I had to "do" something (serve food, take tickets etc etc) I worked my damn ass off. And when I have a task I need to "do" at work I like clearing out the stock cupboard or such I relish it. I like being physical and having something to do with my hands. Maybe its because I have so much energy at the moment. I bet when I come back from America and end up working in retail or something I'll be wishing I was back behind a desk with the chance to be creative.

As a good friend says to me:

The glass is always greener on the other slide!

And on that note I'm off to attempt to stop procrastinating.

Much love people!

The Flying Alarm Clock

As anyone who even vaguley knows me will tell you - I dont do mornings! If I need to be out the door at 9 I will roll out of bed at 8:45 and run out the door at 9:05 with odd shoes shoving toast in my mouth.

Ok that might be a slight exageration but I was thinking "Hmm maybe it would be nice to be able to take my time in the shower, have a cup of tea, make my lunch and maybe even get to work on time"

And its not like I dont try. My old phone has 6 (6!) different alarms going off at varying intervals from 7:30 - 8:30. I dont even acknolwedge it until the third or fourth one....

So when Kirsty (the queen of finding all manner of marvalous things online!) suggested getting one of these I  thought it was a FANTASTIC idea!

I was quite chuffed actually, I ordered it on Monday and it came yesterday! So much for "5 working days" - result!

Bascially you set the alarm, then not only does it goe off with a mega loud siren sound but you cant turn it off until you find the lil propeller thing that goes flying off somewhere.

So my mum mananged to get it working (I get frustrated with tiny screws and fiddly buttons, I end up wanting to throw the damn thing across the room). And BOY does it work. Not only was I awoken to a siren but the wind from the thing taking off blew in my face too. I spent 10 minutes looking for the damn propeller (had to shove the base unit under a pillow so as not to wake the whole of East London) only to find it on the blooming bed!

But yeah it works. Now if only it could also remind me to not forget my lunch dispite being up 2 hours before I needed to leave the house...

Smiling

I want to hear about all the random, happy little things that make you smile. The more random the better.

I started playing this game with Alaya the other day. It started because I randomly emailed her "I hate..." and then we started compiling lists of things that were pissing us off/upsetting us. Then I decided that was much to negative a game for a Monday morning and changed it to things that were making me smile.

So here we go things currently making me smile:

• A simple message (or not so simple) that brightens my entire day
• Having girlie chats with my sister
• Eating Fish and Chips and not feeling guilty about it
• Emailing my randomness to Alaya throughout the day
• Texting my randomness to Nat
• The GORGEOUS purple and pink sunset we had this evening
• That I'm leaving work in 15minutes
• That when I get home from work I'm going to be on the phone
• The trip is close to having all the details finalised and then I can book it!
• Wondering what other people are going to comment that makes them smile

So go go go! Comment away and make others smile too!

PS: Even The Guardian today is giving us reasons to smile!

Choose Life!

Sent the obligatory "I will be leaving..." email out today. Had some really nice messages come back. Reading emails from people saying that they'll miss me is really sad. I briefly wondered if I was doing a smart thing.

Then I remember all the rubbish I've had to deal with here, how unbelivably excited I am to be coming to the states and the fact that I'm living the dream man!

I'm not subjecting myself to the "social norms" I belive the wonder of Ewan McGregor (actually the very talented writer but still its Ewans voice I hear that told us to Choose. I Choose Life baby! Maybe not in the same way as Renton. I'd rather avoid strange hallucinations of babies crawling across my ceiling (By the way if anyones not seen Trainspotting you must go and rent it immediatly!)

But yeah to sum up:

Choose smiles

Choose doing something scary

Choose telling the boss to shove it

Choose making new friends

Choose taking a risk and giving your heart to someone

Choose laughing until it hurts.

And most of all Choose Life!

This is not a dress rehearsal - this is the real thing. So go and live it. It's never to late to start and its never to early to stop.

Thats my truth and I plan on living by it!

I did it!

Yesterday was a scary exciting day - I handed my notice in! Yep I did it! That means America is truly happening. (Well I knew it was anyway but even more so now!)

I was really nervous actually. Because I wasnt doing it off the back of anger (which is always a good thing) I actually felt kind of guilty. I believe my exact words were "Errm I'm kind of...handing in my notice...if thats ok?" Yeah like its gonna make a difference if its not! hehe

They were pretty cool about it. So now its just a case of making sure everythings done and in place before I leave. There's no way I'm leaving my collegues in the shit like other people have in the past when they've left.

It's quite scary knowing I have no idea what I'm going to do when I get back but flipping it on its head how refreshing is it to have the oppurtunity to do anything I choose when I get back if I wanted to?

Update on the fitness:
Went for a run on Monday lunchtime at work...got lost, I wasn't even going far! Goodness knows how I managed that...made it back though eventually!
Yesterday I was going to do some yoga and exercises and stuff on the Wii Fit but it was having a bit of a temper tantrum (probably from not being used for so long!) so instead I was skipping in the garden (as in with a rope...not just "la la ls" up and down like an 8 year old!) and then did sit ups and those sideway weight/waist toning exercise things that Matt showed me.

Oh and this was my dinner:

Yup bunny food! And you know what? I actually enjoyed it!

(By the way mushrooms in salad is pure genius! Thanks again Matt!)

Annnd! I've gone 4 days now without chocolate. (oh wait I had two choc chop cookies yesterday) but thats the whole point, I'm not denying it completly just not eating it unless I really crave it. I'm sure Becca will fix that when we crack into Candy Mountain though!

So yup thats me at the moment.

I'm feeling good!

Hellloooo Sunday!

Exercise with Matt and Alaya today was SOO much fun! Ok running still totally not my strong point but I think if I can keep up with this amount of energy I might even be able to do a 5K without too much difficulty! (I say this now...)

And the stomach muscles arnt complaining too much from sit ups and what not so woo hoo!

ANND I'm not even as tired as I should be. Especially considering it took me forever to fall asleep last night.

Wow I hope this level of energy keeps going. It feels SOOOO good to be healthy and energetic and happy!

Woah I can feel the energy and hyperness even seeping into this blog with the overuse of capital letters and exclamation marks. hehe

And if you think this is bad you should've seen my hyperself at Sylvia's birthday last night!

What can I say I'm in a good mood, I wanna share it with the world and hopefully bring at least a smile to your face with my crazyness.



Right off now to help Janny with her moodboard.



Keep smiling people!

Achievements

So I did indeed get abslolutly dreched bike riding but it felt SOOOO good!

To be exercising, feeling my body working, fresh air, rain, trees. It was totally invigorating. One of those "it feels good to be alive" moments!

I was absolutly drenched when I came in though. God bless hot showers!


3 miles in 35mins after far too long not exercising shows I'm not as unfit as I thought I was. I used to be able to do the same distance I rode today in just under 20minutes without too much trouble so thats what I'm aiming towards.



Tommorow I'm going to Alaya's to do some toning exercises with her (good to exercise with someone me thinks) and her Matt is also good at pushing her to keep going so we even get a personal trainer! Yay :)



I tell you what I've noticed, riding a bike on the road after starting drivers gives you a whole new perspective. I desperatly wanted wing mirrors! Especially going round roundabouts...


Anyways just thought I'd update you on the beginning of my Get Fit Challenge

Good morning!

Morning everyone! Welcome to Saturday! :-D


First of all have to tell you about the amazing-ness if FanFiction that is Clipped Wings and Inked Armour Thank you Obs! It is my new obsession. Although I have managed to resist the urge to give up sleep unlike with Wide Awake. However maybe thats because I've been going to bed really late this past few nights.

I have set myself a goal. I want to be in much better shape for when I go to America. I've been saying for far too long now "I need to do more exercise, eat less chocolate" etc. Now the prospect of being able to justify going shopping for new clothes before my trip is just all too tempting! So I went to bed last night deciding that today I woud either go for a run (dont laugh too hard - I know I dont really run and that would be an amusing sight) or a bike ride. (Much more my type of exercise!) And OF COURSE its raining. But I take that to be a sign of my determination, I WILL cycle in the rain dammit!

The plans for America are all formulating nicely. First draft of schedule is looking pretty good, should only need a few minor alterations and then its just a case of booking it! Can anyone else say "Excited?!"

Hehe, just saw a group on Facebook that says something like "Realising what I've just said and instantly regretting it" I think the worst way of doing that is with Freudian slips! (Wikied that shit for you) Although you can learn an awful lot about yourself that way....You can also severly embaress yourself unintentinally.



Right breakfast then exercise. Then out tonight for my friend Sylvia's birthday celebrations. Good day today!

Interesting things to pass the time with

So I'm browsing through internet quotes and things to make a new banner. Some of them just HAVE to be shared!


35 fun things to do whilst driving:
10. Occasionally wave a stuffed animal/troll doll/Barbie out your window or sunroof. Feel free to make it dance.


I have done this! Sitting in traffic I had a collection of hand puppets in the car. So we decided to entertain everyone else on the motorway by creating puppett shows out the sunroof. Needless to say there were some very amused children and happy parents that day on the M1!

Actual "Safety Instructions"
On a child's Superman costume -- "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly."



(I don't blame the company. I blame the parents for this one.)



I blame the parents too!






The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington engineering mid-term. The answer was so "profound" that the Professor shared it with colleagues, and the sharing obviously hasn't ceased...


Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or Endothermic (absorbs heat)?


Most of the students wrote Proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:


"First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let us look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.


Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:


1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.


2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.


So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa Banyan during my Freshman year, "...that it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you.", and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then, #2 cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze."

This student received the only A.


Did you know that?

• Mosquitos have teeth?
  
• The Caspian Sea is the largest lake in the world?
  
• We are currently hurtling through space at 66,700 MPH? And we cant feel it because we have no "speed organ" and can only determine speed realitive to something else?

Queen of finding excellent YouTube videos = Kirsty.

Here are two that had us giggling over lunch!


Scottish Sock Puppets tribute to Michael Jackson



Darth Vadar in the canteen (Eddie Izzard is the most hysterical comedian I've ever seen)



Enjoy!

Happy Thursday people! :)

Little grumblings to get me through the day...

So I could start off by talking about the fact that Britain has again been snowed in. After nearly a week straight of not leaving the house I simply had to get to work though to avoid the Cabin Fever!

Got my results from my Events Management Course. Me and my group are VERY unhappy! We all got Merits (Grade goes Pass, Merit, Distinction). Normally I'm not one to complain but we KNOW we did better than that. So we're all asking for our grades to be re-looked at. We did not basically give up sleep (literally on a couple of occasions including the crazy all nighter at my office), social lives and any discussion that did not involve events for 3 months for MERITS!

Ok rant over...promise. Fingers crossed and happy thoughts wished that our grades get sorted out please?

So.....on to more exciting news! Look at my map of my plans for American Adventure! These are just beginning thoughts and happy to add in more people to visit (if you want me!) I think as much as I'd like to, Forks will have to be avoided. It's miles away from anyone and anything :)


View Sarah's American Adventure in a larger map

Hehe quote of the day (not that I do them every day...in fact this may be the first. Oh well!) comes from Kirsty. Talking about how we sometimes come out with really common sounding phrases (ie yesterday I yelled at Mitchell to "git daaawan" [translation - Get Down]) Then Kirsty turned to me and said "Yeah, but you are a bit common aint ya?" AND THEN added... "And your mum is a bit too - shes more common than you"

I feel I need to defend Kirsty at this point. She is neither insulting me or my mum. She's just Kirsty and I love her!
Resulted in hysterical giggles from me and Lady Lishu Bug.
For the record I dont normally sound like an
extra from this abomination of a sitcom...

S-M-I-L-E!!!

My mood this evening:

That is all for tonight! :-D

Pain. Ow!

Had an excellent weekend! One of those spontaneous "just hanging out" ones that turn into a 24hr guitar hero, eating junk food and generally chiling out fun sessions!

However what was not so cool was straining muscles *cough, cough* "overdoing" exercises Matt was showing us to tone stomach muscles. Not exactly a work out, I did a grand total of about 3 elevated push-ups. Evidently this is proof that my body is not made for exercise and it must never be attempted again!

Everytime I've moved today its been agony. Of course this meant a day in bed resting and reading Eclipse then Breaking Dawn. Shame that...

Nearly drowned myself in the bath trying to wash my hair though. - Very stupid Sarah!

Here's a selection of the highly amusing photoshoot me and my friends encountered upon whilst "lazing on a Sunday Afternoon"

Giraffe                                              Angry

Pouting (apparently I                     "You disgust me"

have no idea what a pout is!)                                                   

Boredom, Being Human annnnd more bliming snow!

So back at work today. Thought I better attempt to make the effort to be in the office. Especially as my friend Lady Lishu Bug (as she will now be known) was back in today and us and Kirsty got to swap very belated xmas prezzies. Thanks for the choccies Lis - they were scrummy! 

The work Secret Santa prezzies are still sitting in a box on my desk. We'll get round to it eventually...

Work is boring and crap and boring again. I have nothing to do. Which is annoying because there is technically stuff to do - we have £1.4million to raise this year. But because the Chief Exec in his infinite wisdom has decided not to let us in on the fundraising plans no-one knows what the frick they're meant to be doing. Joy.

I bet some people think "Omg, ranting on about work - what if someone reads it?" Well the short answer is (and this is for the benefit of anyone who shouldn't do stumbling across this blog) I dont care! :-D This is a personal blog and I can say what I like. I'm not saying the name of where I work so its not like I can be sued for slander or similar (although is it slander if its true? Lol). Anyway for anyone reading this who shouldnt be "Got a problem with anything I say? Come and talk to me about it - you know where my desk is!"

Any suggestions for things to do at "work" once you've basically looked at Facebook's entire Flair collection, posted on the Lex, updated your blog and checked your email?

 

Maybe this is how I should catch up with Wide Awake? Can I cope with the lemons whilst at work though...probably not!

Talking of which I'm waiting on a quote from our printers to see what it would cost to print after the lovely Pharmer supplied us lucky lucky Lexlings with the PDF he's been working on!

Exciting if its not too expensive.

Fun in the snow!

• Snow ball mid flight
• Me and Alaya
• Our snow caterpillar - his name is Fred
• 5 scary looking snowmen and women on Wanstead Flats

Being Human Premier

This was the premier of Season 2 at the Curzon Cinema. My friend Lia won tickets and took me! (THANK YOU Lia!)

It was so much fun. Sadly didnt meet the cast afterwards athough they did hang around. Another time hopefully...

Snow....and tales of adventure!

Snow! More snow! And of course London and indeed most of Britain has shut down because we cannot cope with any form of weather.

All good for me though! I did attempt to get to work, jammed onto an overcrowded train only to discover the tube wasnt running. So I turned around and came home again to work from home. (Read as watch Top Gear, check Facebook, Blog and play in the snow when Alaya gets here in about an hour!)

View from my window last night. The sky wasnt actually that beautiful red colour. Thats just the iPhone camera. Makes a stunning photo though doesnt it? :)

What else is happening? Oh yes me and my sister are going to see Blue October at the end of Feb!  In Germany!!! We are SOOO excited! My sister especially as it will be the first time shes ever been on a plane. I was so scarted the first time I went on one but now I LOVE it. Shes braver than me so she'll love every second! :) I'm going to get a hoodie made! I made a t-shirt when we went to see them at the 02 Islington (and got it signed!) Omg I forgot to say the most exciting news - we paid extra for VIP tickets which means we get to meet the band! And listen to their soundcheck and stuff. W.O.W Im so excited! Seriously MEGA excited!

And then I get home on the first and I'll be pretty much back on a plane the next day to see my lovely Scottish Lexling Becca! I get to sleep on the sofa I saw in the store on my first visit! Expect more Candy Mountain and alcohol infused shennanigans and barminess. I fear there will also be tears as we prepare to pay tribute to our beloved tenth doctor. *Sob*

So on to the exciting news of adventures. Oh yes my friends as if Munich and Glasgow (and Ireland and possibly somewhere else on account of Oli's wedding) wernt all enough. I have been well and truly bitten by the travel bug! It's so weird I totally never got the whole "wanting to see the world" thing. But then something hit me the other week. I dont know call it my "youth" catching up with me. Since I was in school all I've wanted is my own home and a family etc. Nice cosy little life. (Oliver always said I was 18 going on 40!) And I do still want that. But when I get it am I going to have regrets? "Why didnt I DO more first?" Its like when I was in a realationship. I regretted not having done more with my single life and I thought it was gone forever. As fate would have it things dont always role that way. And I was glad. Glad I could go out and do stuff that means when I next get into a realationship, in the words of Mr Robster it will be with "No Regrets"

So anyway random rambling aside (I did warn you there would be odd lil tangents) I have decided to take a trip to America. By myself. For at least a month. Theres so much out there I want to see and do. I want to meet people! I also would love to have the oppurtunity to meet up with some of my Lexlings in the US. (hopefully you guys read the Lex group on Facebook - if not that was me officially asking you!)

I want to be reckless. To just take out a loan, quit my job and go! I was planning on March but thats meant to be when Oli's stag do is. Also dont know if I'm quite brave enough to be on my own for my birthday...

And yep of course I'll miss people but I will make it an experience I never forget. To say that I did it.

Also I've told quite a few people about it now which hopefully means I will be stubborn enough not to change my mind!

America here I come!

Happy New Year!

Oky doky! Welcome to a New Year. New start, new challenges, new-ness in general! :)

Looking at the lovely Ninna's blog I thought I might do a quick re-cap of 2009, Sarah style! To be honest I'm not really sure I remember everything that happened. But here are a few bits and pieces I remember from each month.

Before that though...I must bid a sad farewell. Goodbye and Adieu to my beloved.

Goodbye to David Tennant as the 10th Doctor. His final show was yesterday. No spoilers I promise but all I will say is you will be sobbing. *Sniffs* Im actually watching boxsets now to try and get through this awful time.

Although Christopher Eccelston had a VERY special place in my heart it was like that of a first love. However David will always be my true love. He is my Doctor and I just dont feel I will be able to cope.

I am ashamed to admit that seeing the trailor for the new series made me want to see it HOWEVER it is because of the stories (Stephen Moffatt is a genius). The Weeping Angels look set to make a reapparence. But Matt Smith totally has his work cut out to even enter my periphery as an acceptable doctor.

   

January

After watcing the fantabulous Jim Carey in "Yes Man" I decided to become a 'Yes Girl'. I'd had a long period of being rubbish and unsocialble so I decided that unless I had a good reason not to I would say Yes to things more! (Technically this was around December time but nothing much interesting happened in January!)

February

We got Mitchell! Can't believe we've had our gorgeous lil' kitten for nearly a year now. Well he's not really a kitten anymore. But he is gorgeous still. This is him doing a "Sid" from Ice age impersination!

March

My 22nd birthday! Excellent night out at Kokosn costume. Overal a very good night that offered huge boosts to my self esteem :) Followed by another lovey night out at Luna Lounge restaruant where everyone - boys included - wore bright red lipstick! hehehe :)

April

Riaz and Jamal, my friends twins turned one! They are two of the cutest kids in the world and I love them to bits. I just realised that at the turn of the next decade they will be in secondary school. And we will be 32! Scary thought...

May

May...may...may. Not much happened to be honest. It was my mums birthday on the 1st. Oh! May may well (forgive the awful pun) have been the month I was finally seduced by Wide Awake. Still not finished it though. Loss of momentum and all. However thanks to Pharmers wonderful-ness I will hopefully be able to print it out and re-read it from the start in its entireity.

June

Italy! Went to Italy for Nura's wedding. Had an absolutly fantastic time! Much drinking, much dancing, much laughing. Sadly much rain but luckily her Wedding Day was beautiful. Certainly set the standards for Oliver's Wedding this year! :) Also began the joke of "I love my Girlies" being "I love..." Well lets just say something else. Thanks again for that guys!

July

Lots of things happening. Started driving lessons, Janna left to live in Paris for a few months, baking cookies with Alaya, Zakiyyah my very talented friend graduated Uni and also went to Lyme Regis with mumsie! Lots of fun in the sun during the summer of '09!

August

More fun in the sun! Daytrip to Eastbourne to celebrate Holly's 21st birthday. Super fun with my girlies! (Dispite a minor bleeding then throwing up incident and ghost stories in the car on the way home)

September

Month of many running events. Great North Run with Lisa, Nat and Kirsty - thank you so much to you girls for working so hard! And super proud of my mum, Carol and sister for completing the adidas Women's Challenge. Well done guys!

October

Blue October in concert who were AMAZING! (Blue October in October - how cool is that) Then I went up to Glasgow to see the amazing Lexling that is Becca! Had a super fun time giggling about Charlie and Candy Mountain whilst squeeing about our new found love that is Johnny Flynn! hen Halloween. My official day of moving on :)Fantastic night overal, had so much fun! And FYI dark shots in test tubes will always be dangerous. hehe!!

November

My Events Management Course came to a very succesful culmination. Our pitch was amazing. On top of that me and the girls have decided on our business. Its going to be hard work but we're confident about it. Exciting times!

December

Christmas of course. New Years eve. The month I started this blog. And on the 20th one year since I joined the Lex and discovered the joy that are my Lexlings! Becca, Honey, Jasmine, Megan, Sonia, Misty, Maria, Ninna, Tilly and Cody. I am so glad to have each of you in my life. And to everyone else who I chat to and hope to get to know better in 2010.

So there it is. My 2009. Actually a lot better than I remember it. I've obviously been focussing too much on the negative.

Here's to 2010 being an even better year. This time next year I hope to be able to report new job, new home, passing my driving test and maybe even new person in my life...

And I WILL do because I have decided this is going to be a GOOD year! Woo hoo!

And I hope every single person I know and love does too. Happy 2010 everybody! xxx