Good News

Y’all know that I don’t really do moaning blogs – glass is half full and all that jazz...but this is a blog of pure good news.

We found a house, and it’s not just a house, it’s Raine and Em-ville...until Raine’s house is built this is the kind of house to which we aspire. It’s a really solid Victorian terrace, near the canal in Lancaster (so I can bike it to Uni once I’ve had a few more lessons – I’d rather not fall in the canal...), it’s tucked down a little back street, but it’s about 3 minutes walk from the City Centre. It’s owned by a Green Party candidate, and all the rooms are in funky earthy colours (non of this all white washing that everyone else is so fond of). There are two reception rooms, and one leads onto a lovely little kitchen - that’ll be our main living room. There’s a little courtyard garden, where we can have BBQs and grow herbs, the landlady’s made a mosaic mural at the bottom of the garden. Upstairs there are two double bedrooms, and a big bathroom, with an old fashioned bath, which she’s put a shelf around and decorated with shells, the room’s all tiled with blue mosaic tiles. In the winter we can snuggle in front of the log fire in the living room. We just can’t believe our luck!! Part of me’s thinking it’s all going to fall through... it’s just so perfect. Plus, in two years she’ll put it on the market (it was on the market, but she had no interest, so she’s decided to rent out), so if we love it as much then, and we’ve settled in Lancaster, we might be able to buy it!

I’ve lost 11lb now, and my ‘motivational pants’ go all the way up my legs and fasten...I think they might be too big by the time I finish. Let me explain ‘motivational pants’...I decided I wanted to get some funky cords or jeans that I didn’t fit into, but that would fit by the end of my diet. First day of searching I found some very cool (and cheap!) jeans in TK Maxx. At that point they went half way up my thighs (beautiful image...), I tried them on this weekend and I could get them up and fasten them. Now I’m not saying I wouldn’t have done myself an internal injury trying to sit down in them, but this is a major achievement. Inspired I went searching the house for some of my old clothes, and they fit perfectly.

Bank holiday rocked. We went with my dad to see Oleanna in Bolton – good stuff, I was really impressed (I’ve never read/seen any David Mamet before). The character progression between the first and second act was stunning. Sunday, Raine and I went to the beach, I had a bike riding lesson – I’m getting pretty good, at going in a straight, flat line - though I can turn gradual corners now-a-days. Raine built a sand crocodile (in the spirit of our famous Newquay sand speed boat, and World War I trench), who we named Cuddles, he may or may not have eaten annoying children and yappy dogs that day. We had our tea at West Coast, and then we listened to some of the early artists playing North-by-Northwest.

Now I’ve got the house to myself, so I’m going to play my guitar to try and get somewhere with a song I’ve been writing.

From Blackpool to Lancaster to Rome

We’re going to Rome:-D It’s all booked now. It’s so exciting! We’ve managed to get a private room in a little hotel right in the centre of the city. You have breakfast on the terrace, which overlooks the Colisseum, they have Spaghetti parties every other night, with Spaghetti and wine for 2 Euros - we can afford that! We went to see ‘Angels and Demons’ (in case you’re interested, it wasn’t good!) the other night, I was trying to figure out all the places I wanted to go out of it!

Watch out Lancaster – we’re coming back! It’s hard being in Blackpool – the commute is a killer for our time together, quality of life and money (petrol’s setting us back at least £250 a month). We’ve had a little talk and we think it makes sense for us to be back in Lancaster. We’ve started looking at properties there and we’ve been struck by our property hoodoo. We found a perfect flat, then we were told it was £200 to apply! We accept that letting agents rip you off, but I thought the £75 Blackpool ones charge was bad. We just don’t have £200 to give away (if you’re denied they keep the money, go figure if it’s in their interest to turn down the first few people who apply on a popular property!), I don’t appreciate being ripped off. Giving up on letting agents we got the local paper, and went to view a ‘spacious’ 1 bedroom cottage in the city centre. It all sounded good, until we got there – spacious!?! I cannot believe a building company would build something that small (and it was modern, not ye olde cottage), Raine said it was a duplex bedsit, and that about explains it – we have a friend who lives in a bedsit and he has at least as much floor space as that place had. The kitchen didn’t have room for a fridge, a freezer and a washing machine. So, if you know of anywhere to let in Lancaster let us know, we’d prefer to have our own place (but we’d share with the right people), two beds would be best but we’d definitely consider a spacious one bed.

It was my mum’s 50th birthday last weekend. We got her tickets to see a stage show of ‘Dinnerladies’ (the Victoria Wood comedy). We also threw her a party. Paul came up for it, I made a meal and then we all went into town – to Gay Pride (at my mother’s request!). She was desperate to buy us a rainbow flag; I compromised with a rainbow friendship bracelet. We managed to catch the end of a free show at ‘Funny Girls’ (a cabaret bar, with men dressed as women doing dancing acts). I’ve never wanted to go there, but the show was really good. It would make me think about going in the future. The dancers were really talented – it was amazing what they could do; but at the same time they didn’t take themselves too seriously, so it was funny.

In the evening we took Paul to Wah Wah’s for noodles. We’re all planning a surfing trip to Hawaii in 2013! Long distance planning, but it’s for his big birthday and we’re going to need plenty of time to get the cash together. We got some hassle on the tram back from Blackpool... from a guy wondering why gay Pride exists, and why the council closes off the streets for it. He was sure that most of the people there weren’t gay - they were just showing off. He really annoyed me, more than I should have let him. It made me wonder how many people were thinking the same sort of thing (or worse...I’ve heard my own family say worse), I wondered a majority of people were saying things like that – as we left the Pride enclosure you could hear people making horrible comments.

Despite an absolutely epic workload I’m managing to fit in gym sessions. I’ve lost 9lb now. I feel really good for it. I can tell my fitness levels are increasing massively, and I suspect I’ve lost a bit more than 9lb because I’m gaining quite a bit of muscle (and muscle weighs more than fat). My dad and I are going to Tai Chi every week... I didn’t think it would be so complicated to master. I’d like to do Bodycombat classes, too – it’s kind of like intense boxercise - it incorporates a load of martial arts in a non-contact workout... I’m going to see if I can drag Raine along to the Saturday morning class.

This weekend is Blackpool’s first North-by-Northwest festival! As someone who’s always wanted to go to South-by-Southwest I’m amused by the name, but I suspect the acts won’t compare! It’s a good concept, though – five venues around town will be putting on acts, and it’s just £2 to get into all the venues. It’s running over three days but we’ll probably just go on the Saturday. There’ll be a few of us, so if anyone else fancies tagging along, let me know. We’re going to the theatre in the afternoon (to see David Mamet’s ‘Oleanna’), so we won’t be at the festival until the evening.

Rome baby

We’re probably going to Rome for my birthday:-D I’m so excited! We thought we would go away for my birthday, but figured it’d be in the tent, surfing in Wales or North Yorks. Then Raine suggested I look at the flights to and accommodation in Rome, I thought they’d be way out of our budget, but they’re not. I can get us flights and accommodation for under £200. Only thing stopping us is Raine’s work – she mightn’t be able to take my birthday off, and she really needs to if we’re going to be able to do it - otherwise we’d be in Rome for a day, which is obviously no good. I’m so excited, it’d be a dream come true. I’m going to eat pizza and pasta and ice cream and look at Roman things...

I’m losing weight, I’ve lost 4lb so far, I’m aiming for 2lb a week, so I should be where I want to be somewhere in August. I’m on a diet (calorie controlled, not a fad one – people ask me ‘what diet are you on’. Answer: the eat less diet - the one diet that works, and doesn’t kill you!) and I’m exercising. When I feel tempted not to go to the gym or to eat something calorific I use the Chandler (‘Friends’ geek joke) mantra, “I’m a strong, beautiful woman”...I use it a lot.

Blackpool sports facilities are brilliant! I can’t believe what I get for my money (swimming, gym and classes). My dad and I are going to Tai Chi together on Thursday. That’s my first class, once I get tired of exercising on my own I’ll sign up for some others. Going to the Gym is very entertaining. It’s mostly full of older people, and the women are hysterical. Both gyms are being fitted with new equipment, and people aren’t amused. The stuff is really good, but I don’t think they like change, and they seem to like whinging a lot. One woman told her friend, “I’ve been coming here for four years and I haven’t lost any weight.” I imagine they reward their workout with a McDonalds. Another woman got on the exercise bike next to me, stayed on it for what couldn’t have been more than a minute and complained that “it can’t be right – it says I’ve only burned 7 calories.” I strongly suspect it was right. The general consensus seems to be that being in the gym building alone should burn a few hundred calories, and if it doesn’t there is something wrong with the gym.

I’m getting very interested in food groups (I’m so cool;-)), and making our diet even healthier. I’ve always tried to get my 5+ of fruit and veg a day, but now I’m also trying to swap foods for wholegrain alternatives (they’re all really tasty, so far) and integrate more beans and pulses. All but one of my tablets makes me very hungry (it was when I went on this mix of drugs that I put on weight), so it’s really important that I find foods that keep my energy levels up and hunger to a minimum. We’ve been having a lot more vegetarian food. Everyone knows how much I *love* cooking, so it’s not something I’m giving up while I’m dieting, I’m just finding new meals (although most of our meals aren’t too calorific, I’m just tweaking the recipes a bit, or having fun finding new dishes).