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3rd-May-2008 08:51 am - Trip to Malta
random, i_strawberry, Virginia Waters, Butterfly
The holiday in Malta was lurvely! I had a fantastic time with Amydillo and Naomi. One travelled from Edinburgh to Stansted, one from Denmark and I came along from Wales on the plane before we all left the airport a few hours later to make our way to the Selmun Palace hotel, Malta, where we arrived at about 5am. (Even with the hour change ahead, Ouch!)
Unsurprisingly this meant that the first day was spent mostly passed out near the pool. Split between being in the sun and in the shade to reduce my lobster-like abilities! The breakfast waiters (who we ended up naming after all seven dwarves and Snow White) had asked in the morning where we were from. One Amydillo had uttered the word England, two of the dwarves teamed up to say "you must be very careful of the sun or you will die!". A lovely welcome which had us laughing :p ..well, up to when the tomato-effect had taken two of our number (see also lobster, burnt), myself I remained luminous white of course. In fact the reflection off of me had probably contributed to the tomato-effect of the others! (*No, neither of you are allowed to blame me!)
Once we'd had our day of recovery, the appeal of Gozo took over and we took the ferry over the clear waters, past the blue lagoon of Comino (an even smaller island) North to Mgarr harbour. The Maltese buses (which are worth following the link for and an adventure in themselves - making all rollercoasters suddenly tame by comparison and not to be used straight after food) took us to the capital city of Victoria. Once there, we went in search of the Cathedral - laughing on the way as we passed a nunnery with a cannon on the roof which pointed at their neighbours washing line. We also went on to explore the town a bit and then over to the Azure window, where we had the compulsory photos and ice cream. As we travelled back to Mgarr we picked up a couple of souvenirs and postcards, before travelling back to the hotel via a pizzeria in the nearby Mellieha.
The next day we had decided to go in search of the capital city,Valetta. Arriving at the crowded bus terminus and walking through the gates we joined the throng of people walking down the high street. Exploring took us to St Paul's Shipwreck Church, which although impressive, I can't say I was a fan of. Large amounts of gold on display is not uncommon, but I hate the pictures promoting the rascist views or the approach of showing as much gore as possible to make people repent. Not my thing. Good vs evil is not the white man versus the black man. Complete bull. Aaaanyway, there was also the display of St Paul's wristbone... I don't know, follow the link if it interests you! We wandered down to the Victoria Gate, where you could see the Grand Harbour - which appears in many lovely oil and watercolour paintings - including one I saw at the Wallace Collection in London on my return! We also found the Siege Bell, Oliver Reed's last pub (for Amydillo to explore), Fort St Elmo (which was a little odd and not really what I'd recommend as a tourist attraction, but we have the photos anyway...) The bus ride back will probably be remembered for some time. For a fairly long ride back, we spent remarkably little time actually touching the seats!
A rest day was very needed again by this point. There was a bit more of a breeze than there had been, but it was still nice so we occupied our spots by the pool with the teeny magazines we'd picked up in Stansted and dissected the advice given and the beautiful free gifts! (Oh dear! Why people have a love of purple footless tights we don't know!) In the evening we walked over to Mellieha and found Il-Mithna, a gorgeous restaurant that has been converted from an old windmill and serves lovely food. This restaurant I would recommend to anyone visiting Malta. Really enjoyed!
After our day of rest, it was the turn of Mdina, the silent city, to be invaded by our group. We explored the Cathedral of St Paul here too, as well as the Cathedral museum and the Knights of Malta - a walk-through museum of lifesize models. We enjoyed the views from the Battlements of the island and getting swallowed by the glass shop, before heading via St Paul's Bay and Bugibba, back to the hotel to pack and be ready for our early return!
18th-Apr-2008 02:06 pm - To Do Continued
random, i_strawberry, Virginia Waters, Butterfly
Get new, suitable photo for driver's licence - Done, checked and submitted
Finish sorting out paperwork - ok, i'll attempt to finish it now, but it keeps filling up the new files I get, so I might have to pop out again
Pack - okay, i'll get the suitcase down from the loft now...
Food shopping - Done
Pick up rail tickets - 6pm tonight before the sauna.
Find out if I can still attend the course in London on 28/29th - (Still no idea. (Trying to avoid the joke here)Awaiting callbacks!
Breathe - sometime?
Have nice drink at pub in sun - sometime
Go on holiday - Saturday!
Remember the holiday is coming soon - about 2 minutes into 'moments' of stress
and thanks James, for the remaining two points:
Remember to enjoy holiday and relax at times.
Drink tea and be happy.

mmmmm.....tea :)
17th-Apr-2008 04:41 pm - To Do's and Done's
random, i_strawberry, Virginia Waters, Butterfly
Got Travel cash - Done
Transfer some money to savings - Done
Get forgotten pin's - Done
Get Tax disc - Done
Get new drivers licence form and complete - Done
Get new, suitable photo for driver's licence - (for tomorrow when i look more like me)
Get storage stuff for my room - Done
Finish sorting out paperwork - (nope, not yet)
Pack - (I've made sure clothes are washed...does this count?)
Food shopping - going in a minute!!
Do job application form(s) - Done
Chase funding people - Done
Send forms to training people - Done
Chase legal/HR people - Done
Pick up rail tickets - (umm...tomorrow?)
Find out if i can still attend the course in London on 28/29th - (Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. No idea. Need to wait for tomorrow! There's nothing like the last minute!!)
Send Stamps to Hearing Dogs for the Deaf - Done
Breathe - sometime?
Have nice drink at pub in sun - sometime
Go on holiday - Saturday!
Remember the holiday is coming soon - about 2 minutes into 'moments' of stress.
14th-Apr-2008 08:52 am
random, i_strawberry, Virginia Waters, Butterfly
OK, now my brother has finally announced it himself I can say my brother's engaged!!! :) Scary (but cool) stuff! (Congratulations again Si)

In other, less impressive news, I went up to watch the London Marathon yesterday..lots of fun and I actually managed to see Ky run too!!

Knackered on return to Swansea, I then put in a job application form. Mixed information on the vacancy meant that I missed one of the advertised deadlines.. I put a note on it explaining and got it in for Monday morning in the hope that they might still consider it. Time will tell.

Trying to organise birthday celebration of some sort, combining it with looking at my calendar and realising how little I'm actually around. I think it's going to have to end up being on 17th May, which means some small celebrations will need to be beforehand..I'm actually on a course in Reading for my actual birthday. Such was the extent of my stress about not getting on the previous course that I did not actually notice this until someone pointed it out afterwards!

So..as i'm running around like a maniac until practically the end of May..and I only have a house until the end of May... I guess i'd better get hunting!
14th-Apr-2008 08:49 am
random, i_strawberry, Virginia Waters, Butterfly
Philippa Leslie --
[adjective]:

Visually addictive
'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com



..whilst Pippa Leslie smells like teen spirit....apparently..
11th-Apr-2008 10:51 pm - Breathing
random, i_strawberry, Virginia Waters, Butterfly
ah yes, that well know plan! Ideal for any situation.
I think i'm actually getting somewhere on doing that!

I've now had confirmation of funding of all the courses :) One of the courses has had to be rescheduled because it wasn't in time for me to carry out the pre-course work, but it is sorted.

Tomorrow I'm heading to the old neighbourhood for dinner :) then Sunday I'm off to London to see the London Marathon! :)

I now have a holiday planned to Malta with Amy and a friend of hers I've come to know! :D R+R will be mine!!

I've still got a lot to do...but this is a start..
9th-Apr-2008 05:35 pm - Sorting out Forms
random, i_strawberry, Virginia Waters, Butterfly
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhh!!

*That is all*
1st-Apr-2008 12:14 pm - Up and At Them
random, i_strawberry, Virginia Waters, Butterfly
I've fiiiiiniiiiished!

I got all the major things done too! (Yay!)

I did not succeed on finishing at lunchtime though. I left about four. I am having to resist the urge to log into my work email from home. It's not mine anymore. I should not worry any more. I set up the out of office thing just fine.

I have piles of reading to do, I have forms to chase, but I also have a house that I have neglected for the past month, a computer that has acquired a Trojan determined to rip out it's insides (I'm on the laptop at the mo) and a body in dire need of rest. Therefore reading and forms can wait another day. I still need a couple of things sent to me before I can complete the forms properly anyway.

I've given myself a project for the afternoon though. I've invited a couple of friends over for food and scrabble this evening, therefore I need to:
a) tidy the flat (ah-ha! motivation for tidying!)
b) go shopping (motivation for this was also needed, which is odd because there is no food in the house right now)
c)cook (I'm actually looking forward to this bit - the find nice recipe bit goes before the shopping though)

Currently I'm working on the tidying, which, as is normally the case, involves things getting a whole lot worse first :S
30th-Mar-2008 11:11 am
random, i_strawberry, Virginia Waters, Butterfly
I don't want to work today.

I don't want to have lots to do tomorrow.

I don't like leaving big things unfinished.
It is my interview weakness (along with joe's ice cream) and it's true.

My PC is very unhappy and I can't be bothered to sort it out when i'm trying to get things done!
I love my laptop!
27th-Mar-2008 07:08 am - ..must...stop...laughing!
random, i_strawberry, Virginia Waters, Butterfly
OK, I can't paste images into this, but I shall try to describe why i can't stop laughing.

I'm travelling somewhere near Cambridge today.

I asked my autoroute for directions from Swansea (sounding fair so far I think).


Apparently, it will take me 2days, 3 hours and 15 minutes to travel 462.2miles to get there.

Step 1: I leave Swansea, check the Swansea to Cork timetable and get on the ferry. (end of Day One)
Step 2: Enter Ireland, then drive to Rosslare
Step 3: Check the Rosslare to Fishguard timetable
Step 4: Enter the UK, turn right at the roundabout and drive towards the M4 (End of day two)
Step 5: Continue on M4, M25, M11 and slightly more well-known routes..


What?!?!?<

hehehehhehehehehehehhe!

(Don't worry I'm not taking that route!)
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