Day 285 of 365: Sometimes A Girl's Just Gotta Dance

This, my dears, is the main cast of the new show on Sky1 Pineapple Dance Studios.

Ian and I are watching the first episode at the moment and some of the people are incredibly.....strange.

The lad 2nd in from the left is the campest man I've ever seen in my life.

And the blonde bloke wants to be the next Justin Timberlake.

I think this MAY just be my newest obsession.....

Day 271 of 365: "I'm Surviving On Only Water!"

The title is a quote from one of our neighbors this morning.

Last night, shortly after Ian and I had turned out the lights in bed (about 11pm), we heard this large humming noise, and then the sky lit up outside our window.

About 10-20 minutes later, it happened again.

Between the sparks, I realised that we no longer had electricity. The heater in our bedroom was off, no lights, no nothing. Ian looked out the window and noticed that the village was starting to gather up the street, so he opened the window (and let any heat we had out! lol) to listen to what everyone was saying.

At one point, he heard someone saying "Oh, it's on fire now!"

So, we huddled up in bed (well, I huddled up to Ian because he can handle the cold better than I can) and we hoped that everything would be turned back on in the morning.

Woke up about 6:30am today and still no power, and I was freezing! I also looked outside and the road didn't look too good. So, I phoned work well before I had to be in, and told them I would try and get in, but would doubt I'd be able to get in today. Ian's boss told him not to go anywhere. The A3 was closed, and Ian takes that to get into Horndean for work (no chance today).

So, after laying in bed trying to stay warm for awhile, we got up when we noticed it was starting to get light out, threw on some clothes, and walked up the road to see what happened. Someone living in a house just up the way from ours told us what happened, because he lives right across from where the "Oh, it's on fire now!" came from.

Basically, the snow was heavy and knocked a large branch onto a power line. It sparked, and the tree caught on fire. "The snow eventually put the tree out" our neighborhood informer told us.

So, Ian and I didn't know what to do. It was cold, snowing heavily, and we still couldn't even boil the kettle for a hot drink. We met a few other villagers as well.

One man, named Gil, we met when we walked up to the pub to see if they maybe had power so we could atleast go somewhere warm. He yelled out "It's a little early for a drink!" and laughed. We talked with him for a bit, and he offered to come around with a flask of coffee, which he did after about an hour. Bless his heart! He was also checking on some of the elderly in the area. "The Old Dears" as he called them. Probably the nicest guy we've met in the village, apart from the woman that works in the post office. :)

Ian and I couldn't do anything or go anywhere. I huddled under 3 blankets and we read our books for awhile. I fell asleep at one point, and woke up to the lights coming back on.


Ian then brought the heater from our bedroom downstairs (night storage heaters don't work when you've had a power outage, so we had no heat in the house). We sat with the lights off most of the day still...lol. Watched Batteries Not Included, we made soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, and I slept a lot.

Tomorrow Ian will most likely drive me to and from work, because I'm afraid to take on the large hill I have to drive during my journey to/from work.

It's amazing though that we only got a few inches of snow, and yet we still couldn't go anywhere. When we were venturing out this morning meeting the villagers, the roads were absolutely atrocious! Buses weren't even running (I was going to take one in an attempt to get to work).

So anywho, my last photo of today is of the front garden....taken through the post flap in our front door (no way I was going outside again after I FINALLY feel warm).


Be safe, everyone!

Day 241 of 365:

Went into Winchester today to head to the estate agent to set up a time to get our keys on the 31st. That means that we got the cottage! :)

So after we went and made our appointment, Ian and I went to The Slug and Lettuce for brunch. Ian noticed that there's a toilet specifically for handicapped Nazi's....strange.....lol.

Day 166 of 365: What a Day For a Daydream....

The weather was gorgeous today.

Warm, breezy, and sunny.

But I was afraid to leave the house incase I missed the all important call about my start date for my new job.

So I did laundry.

I hung out with Fudge....



...and Domino.



And I discovered Yearbook Yourself. I know, I'm a bit behind on it....but it's great.



HA!

And P.S. I got the call from my new manager, and I start on Thursday. WOO HOO!

Day 142 of 365: Hey! What's the Big Idea????

So, another day of painting and whatnot was today.

Buuuttt......I had to do some more pre-employment things for the new job. I phoned the FBI (yes, that big ol' group in the US) to find out what to do for my background check. Basically, I paid a lot of money for a computer to tell me to go online to their website.

Then I called the American Embassy to ask about the local police check. They told me to go to their website as well.

I DID look on both of their sites for quite some time, but I didn't realise that I had to phone to find out the ACTUAL page on the website. Crazy?!

Both sites told me I needed to have my finger prints done, so I paid 35 quid at the Romsey police station to have old fashioned prints done. Thankfully, Kathryn was there to make light of the matter.

Around tea time I also phoned the Wickliffe police (it was weird to hear 1) an American ring tone, 2) an American voice on the phone, and 3) talking about my HS because the officer also graduated from Wickliffe). Anywho, long story short, they're doing a check for me and mailing out here to England. Yes, folks, I need both checks. But, I COMPLETELY understand why.

Anywho, but while waiting for the bus to come home this afternoon, this poster caught my eye:


Looks harmless...but a friend of mine pointed out what the first letter of each word spells out on the can.

Yes. Need I say more?

Day 121 of 365: No No No No

Took this photo on the bus today. The socks with sandals look is just WRONG. This woman wasn't elderly, but she sure does have a strange fashion sense.

Went into Shirley with my MIL to look for an outfit for a party Ian and I are going to tomorrow night.

I found a dress, which I loved, but would probably never wear it again AND it was more than we can afford right now. So...I came home empty handed.

But to drown my sorrows, I ate some bread pudding. It's amazing stuff.

Day 104 of 365: You Better Slow Down...

Have you seen this turtle? Saw this while walking to and from Romsey today. I had seen the signs before, but today I actually remembered to take a photo of one of them.

Ian and I are convinced it's just in the back garden at their house or something. Oooorr.....when it IS found it's going to be pretty pissed off because it probably took it weeks to get at least 10 feet away from its home.

Poor guy.

Day 63 of 365: I Wonder How Long It'll Take Til' I'm Home Again

So, today was busy.

Woke up a bit later than I wanted to. Ordered my wedding shoes (photo #1).

Had to fast since I had to go to the hospital to have some blood work drawn. Will get results on Friday.

Then went out and FINALLY ordered the wedding cake. Woot! Then ran some more errands. Saw that furry thing advertising for Alltell (photo #2).

Then stopped and got some crickets on the way home for Gordon (photo #3).

Now just painting my toenails, listening to Lily Allen once again, and going to call Jessie here shortly so I can go to bed early. I've got a headache. And I miss Ian terribly. Bah.