Best laid plans, birthdays and mopes.

Naturally of course, it takes us much longer to do anything that we planned. Parental units are still deciding where to move too (having narrowed it down to… Essex. I am investigating finding my own place (I intended to do so within 2 years anyway) but I’ve worked out the only place I can afford to live in this area is Colchester, which though lovely is a good 60 miles from where I’ll be doing my PhD, which is fine if said PhD has a high “work-from-home” quotient and not so fine if I’m working 9-5. So it’s all a bit up in the air currently. Best time to buy for me of course – no house to sell, prices almost rock bottom, and I’m particularly keen on Colchester for myself. I can’t see any of us moving before Christmas though.

Anywho, time is moving on apace and what was 2.5 months left to work is now a matter of weeks *whips out calendar* 38 days, 31 working days total. Work is particularly difficult at the moment as I’m being taken advantage of, but counting down helps. ’tis a shame – I like my job, but I hate being used. To compound matters the normal politics rubbish is in full swing at the moment as well, so even non-stressful days have little bite-sized portions of stress in them.

Like the new layout? I liked the old one, but I got a set of post-its with the phrase “Every life should have 9 cats” on it from Mum and Dad for my birthday and given that my new way of dealing with stress at work is to spend lunch with the hospital cats, I thought it sufficiently fitting to make a new layout to fit. All of our cats are featured. Ding will be able to tell which is which without reading this 😉 but for the benefits of others they are from left to right; Fe, Tigger (9 month old ginger boy run over when I was 11), Spock, Thom, Chill and Pumpkin. Not quite nine, but working towards it.  When/if I move out I might leave Pumpkin with my parents as she prefers them (she loves my Dad) and of course take Spockie, which means he’ll get bored on his own and I may just have to get a kitten…

Birthday was good, Ding (and Dong) got me Wii My Sims which is very cute and has certainly kept me occupied, Mum and Dad got me a bunch of silly stationary items for my PhD (a tape dispenser with floating ladybirds inside it for example) and a voucher for Wii Fit, and AnM is taking me to the Dorchester for afternoon tea (after which I take her to a Queen concert for her birthday). We’ve been out for a couple of meals and such, so it’s all been very nice. Unfortunately my fed-up-ness today means my writing of it all is a bit lack lustre 😉

Christmas is coming – saw the first “seasonal products” in Tesco’s today – and we haven’t even had Hallowe’en yet O.o

Mope. I have no good reason to mope, but mope I shall. Mopety mope mope.