I'm still alive

I've blogged here and here in the last couple of days, but not here, and I apologise. I've had a busy few days. I've been on the train with the little one, I've sat in a traffic jam for 2 hours and arrived an hour late for my doctors appointment, and I've done lots of other stuff that I can't remember!
The doctor did let me still see him rather than having to make a new appointment, and I'm now set up with prescriptions for medication for the next 6 months. Another step closer to going to Texas...

Here we are on the train on Monday,and here I am eating lunch with J today.

Photos now uploaded :-)

Accountability In My Eating

Over the last few months my weight-loss journey (as talked about more over at one weigh or another than here) seems to have been more of a weight-gain journey. In an attempt to be accountable and be aware of everything I eat I've resolved to take a picture of every single thing I eat during the next week.
These pictures can be found on my blog Can Big Change to Beautiful
Please feel free to drop over there and see what I'm eating, or just ignore it, as you wish!
Just a warning, the omlette I had this morning didn't really look all that appetising because it pretty much fell apart as I tried to put it on the plate, however it did taste ok!

In other news I'm really sneezy today, and collapsing in a big heap after my way too busy week. Actually, I'm not totally collapsed, I'm doing all the things that need to be done at home (catch up with my accounts, tidy my room, make something exciting with sewing that I'm not going to tell you what it is in case it's a surprise for someone - I haven't totally decided yet, take photos of things to put on ebay, list things on e-bay, think about buying an mp3 player and camera, and start making lists of things to take to Texas) So not too much then.

Editedto add: Some of those things may get done, but something has come up so I'm going to be looking after the little one today for a few hours.

Today

Even if it does seem like all I do lately is put up pictures, I just want to share a few more from my time today with Suzanne and Sarah. We've had a day full of sharing news, good food and and awful lot of giggling.

We ate at TGI Fridays.Sarah didn't like this picture, but I though it was sweet. (She wants me to point out that making that face was deliberate rather than accidental. I'll just say that I've got several that look worse than this one, so I think she got away lightly on this occasion. If only I could get videos off my phone it'd be a different story...!)After going in TGI Fridays we wandered around Homebase for a little while. I told Suzanne to stand next to the groovy chick thing and she did, so I took her picture.Sarah then posed with a basket on her head, so I had to take a picture of that too.Finally, a picture of the three of us together sat on the sofa back at Suzanne's house.We had a lovely day :-)

Sue's Birthday

Updated to inclure comments on the photos

I have no idea what Adrian is doing in this picture (right hand side). Sue, the birthday girl is in red.Adrian, Andree and their youngest son, George
Fran tucking in to the yummy food
Nikki and baby George
George waving (or at least waving his arms around so it looks like he's waving!)

Will add comments later. Have to go now as I'm late for getting to Suz-pie's house to see her and Crox (two friends from university, aka Suzanne and Sarah!)
Better still, feel free to comment in the comments!

A day up London

Today I met up with my friend Jenny. We'd arranged to meet as she is on half term at the moment, and she suggested going to Tate Modern, so we did. Maybe it was because we were both quite tried, or maybe we're just uncultured, but neither of us really saw anything that really appealed, however it was a good day out. We started at Tate Modern (well, actually we started at Jen's house, but once we were up town). Come to think of it, that's not right either. We got off the tube at Blackfriers so that we could walk across the Millennium Bridge and we took some pictures of the view up and down the river.

Looking towards London Bridge

Looking towards Blackfriers bridge. Jenny taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.
Jenny, with a spider behind her (not actually on her head, despite appearances)The view looking from the top floor of Tate Modern. You can just see a little of the spider in the bottom of the photo.The reflection of our legs on a mirror cube in the surrealism section. It wasn't that impressive, but we thought it made a cool picture.
After the Tate Modern we walked along the river to London Bridge and had a bit of a wander in Borough Market and then got the tube and train back to Jenny's house because we were totally worn out by that point!
Right, now I must go and get dressed to go out to celebrate Sue's birthday (Mum of the little one and the little flower). Pictures to follow if I remember to take any...

The presliced banana trick

Rather than try to explain it in long and complicated detail which would probably not make much sense anyway you can look here or here or here. (Depending on whether you prefer written instructions, video or a diagram!) I think they are all variations on the theme, but try it and see which works for you!

Books

I've decided I need to read more of the classics. By which I mean things like Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice. I've seen both those books in at least one screen adaptation, but it occurs to me that I have never actually read the books themselves. To start to rectify this at once I am taking copies of both out babysitting with me tonight, in the hope that one of them will draw me in. And even if it doesn't straight away, they're the sort of books that it seems worth keeping reading on in hope(!)

Thanks much go to HP because I just raided her bookshelf for copies of both these books, and once I've read these I might go back and get Rebecca.

Update: I'm home from babysitting and halfway through Pride and Prejudice. I'm finding it really funny in places and it helps that I've seen it so can remember what happens. I think the problem with Jane Eyre is that I'll want to skip past the stuff where she's growing up to when she starts to live at Thornfield Manor, so we'll have to see how that goes. I read a couple of pages, but then put in down in favour of the other.

The banana trick

Have you ever opened a banana and discovered it was pre-sliced?
Simeon has....

Tune in next next time to find out how.

Appointments aplenty

(Myself, Alison and Sarah at Imogen and Greg's wedding)

This morning I finally had the opportunity to sleep in a bit, which was great. I tihnk I'm generally just a bit run down and needed to catch up on some sleep. I finally went to see the doctor on Friday for the cough and nasty gunk that I've had on and off for the last few of months. I'd tell myself I really ought to go to the doctor, but then I'd begin to feel better again and not go. This timeI told myself I had to go whatever I felt like because it wasn't going to go away on its own, and sure enough he gave me antibiotics which I'm hoping will kick the cough and gunk out once and for all. I've still got the cough (pause for coughing fit - does it know what I'm typing?) but there are still several days of antibiotics left so I haven't given up hope on their working.

I've got to go to the dentist this afternoon. It occurred to me that I was actually meant to go for my six monthly check-up in about May, and since it's now October and I'm going to be away for the next year, that maybe it might be a good time to go and get my teeth checked any any work that needs to be done out of the way before I head off to Texas. I'm really not keen on going to the dentist. So far as those sorts of appointments go (haircut, eye test, visit to the doctor, seeing the dentist) it's my least favourite so I probably put it off for longer than I ought to. Hopefully I won't have a coughing fit while in the dentist chair!

Life seems to be full of those appointments at the moment. Last week I saw the doctor and a couple of weeks before that I saw a nurse about my asthma medication. She wanted me to see a different nurse, so that appointment is coming up next week. Tomorrow I'm going to get a tetanus shot so that I'm up to date with that. I got my hair cut last week, and went to the opticians in the summer and got new glasses. Finally, I need to make an appointment with the main doctor at my surgery to ask if he authorise me having more than two months worth of medication in one prescription, otherwise my parents are going to have to post stuff out to me in Texas every two months. I think that's pretty much all the different appointments of that nature covered!

On Friday I got my photograph taken (passport sized pictures) and was able to get my International Driving Permit issued. Talking of photos, I need one for my visa application and on the form it says it should be 50x50mm. However, normal passport photos which are used for this sort of thing are usually 50x40mm ish. Is the 50x50mm a typical size for American photos for this sort of thing? Do you think I can just use one of the photos I have, or should I get one done specially to be that size? Any suggestions?! I'm going to try to go on the American Embassy site and see if I can find anything useful regarding photos on there.

Picture (maybe we'll be able to see it in this post!)

Imogen and Greg

I had a lovely day at Imogen and Greg's wedding. It was a chance to catch up with old friends and enjoy celebrating the start of Imogen and Greg's lives together.

This was taken outside after the wedding service.

Ok, in my post as I'm writing it I can see the picture, why can't I see it once the post is published?

Introducing

Tales from Exeter

Yes, HP and Barney (that's HP's boyfriend) now have a blog.
Go welcome them to the blogosphere.

Can't think of a good title for this post

Ok, so after this weekend I'm hoping that maybe life can get a little less chaotic and I might actually find some time to blog (who am I kidding, with a visa application to get done, insurance to get sorted, Christmas presents to buy...).

This weekend is the weekend of the weddings. Unfortunatly I have owned up to the fact that Leicestershire and Bristol are too far for me to even think of driving from one to the other to make a bit of both the wedding celebrations I wanted to be at, so instead I'm going to the whole of Imogen and Greg's,

and sending lots of love and hugs to Sarah and Jon.

I have a few blog posts I want to write. In particular one about living in Walthamstow. More of that next week hopefully...

CHEESE

I had a wonderful time with J yesterday. His Mum had to work so I looked after B and J for an extra morning. Firstly I finally got to go and discover for myself the delights of Edmonton Green shops. They are quite close to where B and J live, but somehow I'd not yet been to them. So adter we dropped B at school and been home again for J to have some more breakfast we headed to the shops.

I can see why noone thought I was missing much when I said I'd never been to them. Actually, that's a bit harsh. There are lots of market stalls, so it looks like it would be a good place to get fresh fruit and vegetables. There's also Boots, Tesco, HSBC, the post office and an awful lot of pound shops. The sorts of shops which are good for a lookif you have lots of time because you might find a bargain, although you may just find lots of clutter. Finally, there's Woolworths which has a big bargain section at the back of the store. It's the place where all the end of line stuff gets put, and ovbiously not ever looked at again. I had great fun rummaging through the piles of stuff, but the best thing I found was this.
(Notice the date, and then that it still costs £2.49!)

Later back at J's house we had great fun playing with bricks and saying 'cheese' for the camera. The photo at the top of the post was J walking towards the camera while saying cheese - a trickier combination than you might have thought!

when shall we three meet again?

Me on the Beach

Happy Birthday Bekki

She probably won't like this picture, but hey, it's my blog!
We're going to Cambridge for her birthday party this evening. Yay :-)

The morning after the night before

This photograph was taken outside Imogen's house on the morning after our girly sleepover. We all look pretty awake surprisingly.

Scruffy Debs

I'm home from my weekend of assorted visiting. I've has a lovely time but now feel really tired. I'm off to bed now (half 8) in the hope that I'll be more awake tomorrow.
I've got some photos to upload of the hen parties (I think you call them bachelorette parties in the US), but in the menatime this is one I took of myself the other evening when I was having a bit of a scruffy moment!

jon's joke

My dog's got a damp nose.

How does he smell?

Damp.

Debs is going going gone

Well nearly, I'm kind of still in my pyjamas. But once I've found al lthe stuff on HP's list, packed, had breakfast, posted a parcel, wrapped a parcel, got in the car, bought some petrol, brushed my hair (not necessarily in that order) I am off to Exeter to see HP, then at the weekend it's Bud's hen party in Bristol, and then I'm going to see my grandparents for a couple of days. Blogging may or may not happen, so I'll see you when I see you, or rather when you see me. Hmm, too confusing.
I'm gone.

This is me and Bud and Mucker (aka Sarah and Sarah) outside out house in Cambridge a couple of years ago. I think I look different now, so the other two probably do too, but hey!

Debs is...

Ok, so this is one of those posts that I was going to write eventually, so I might as well get it over with, and then Bekki can teach me how to... wait a second, let's start at the beginning.

I have a facebook account. I'm not one of these people who spends every minute of every day on facebook (would would do that when there are so many cool blogs out there to read?) but I do log in a couple of times a day, and most times I log on I change my status. For those of you who don't know facebook, it's basically a little box that says 'Debs is..' and I can complete the sentence. Then anyone who is my friend can see (if they so desire) what I am doing.

That's about all I have to say about facebook. I think it's the sort of thing that you either love or hate and you don't really need me talking about it. However, I do want to share with you some of my favourite 'Debs is..' moments from the last week.

Debs is pretty sure that eating chalk can't kill you.

Debs is having fun.

Debs is Tuesday tackling in ten minute time slots.

Debs is hungry. It must be dinner time soon.

Debs is excited about all the people she's friends with on facebook. (ok, so that one was pretty sad, but I'd just connected with some lovely people that I hadn't been in touch with for ages, and I was excited!)

Debs is happy but tired, or should that be tired but happy?

Debs is happy that the engineer fixed our internet and it's been working ever since. Long may it last :-).

Debs is freaking out about all the stuff that needs to be done before November.

And those are just highlights of the last week. Hmmm, maybe I do spend too much time on there.

(Turns out the spellchecker on blogger doesn't like the word facebook. Come on people, get with
the technology!)
(So Bekki, how do you turn a blog post into a note on facebook?)

Works for me Wednesday with a difference

I'm going to be moving to El Paso, Texas from London, UK in early November to go and work for a lovely family as an au pair.
Does anyone have any tips that could work for me?

* I've never been an au pair before, so any experience you could share on that would be great.

* I've also never been on a plane before.

* Does anyone have experience of getting\providing health insurance for Brits coming to live in the US?

* What are the essentials of life I ought to be packing?

* Do you have any sort of experience related to this kind of thing that you'd like to share?

(Sorry to ask so many questions!)

Most of all, thanks to Shannon for coming up with this genius idea of a WFMW which provides me with a whole host of people whose brains I can pick.

Tackling on Tuesday in Ten minute Time slots (or I like alliteration)

I've always thought that Tackle it Tuesday was a cool idea, well as Janice and Susan say it makes housework blog-able and therefore actually gives me something to write about today.

I'd like to say that this is my first tackle it Tuesday, but I have a feeling I may have done it before. Certainly it's my first tackle it Tuesday for a very long while!

Anyway, down to business. Today I tackled several of the rooms in the house, but before anyone faints with exhaustion at the thought of that, let me explain. I have a countdown timer on my phone and I set it for 10 minutes. I give myself ten minutes in each room, and try to go in an order that means I can move things that need to be moved without spending all my time going here there and everywhere.

I started in my bedroom and got all my clothes put away, books on bookshelves and the bed tidy. I didn't dust or hoover, but the way is made clear to do that later on. Then I moved to the landing and the bathroom and did a quick sort out of those areas - cleaning the sink, tidying the towels and then carrying a pile of washing downstairs to the kitchen which is the next room. I got the washing on and did the washing up, and then moved on the hall. I tidied up the desk in the hall and found found several things that needed to go up to my bedroom. At the end of that ten minutes I took those things upstairs and quickly put them away in my bedroom. I'd come full circle, spent less than a hour tidying and several areas of the house looked significantly tidier. I still need to travel round with the duster and hoover, but now that all the 'stuff' is away that will be much quicker.

That left me with enough time to write a blog post and check my emails before I think about making dinner.

and the leaves that are green turn to brown