geraldine and me

and it's now mid-november.

house: i'm enjoying living in my new place; the landlord and i are getting along and it's been fun having his little boy around the house and two cats that like to be cuddled. i might not be the only tenant though...

a little while ago i had a very scary dream. i don't have nightmares often but when i do they're pretty vivid and pretty frightening. i won't go into the details but suffice it to say it involved ghosts. i woke up so scared that i turned on all the lights and slept with them on until morning. when i went downstairs to the kitchen the next day my landlord asked why i had the lights on so late at night, as he saw light coming through the cracks around the door when he woke up to use the loo. i felt kind of silly telling him it was because i had a dream about ghosts, but my embarrassment grew into fear when he said he believes ghosts do "live" on the premises. WHAT??? he said him and his ex-wife always had a strange feeling about the house and that previous tenants have mentioned the same feeling. uh-oh, this didn't sound good. thank goodness it's only been strange feelings so far and nothing visual - feelings i can handle but visuals? oh HELL no.

anyhoo, i was pretty scared for the rest of that week but things have somewhat settled and i'm fine with it all now, whether or not they do exist. half the time i think it's just my imagination as my mind can get carried away pretty quickly; case in point: while reading a blog i came across a picture of a zombie for literally a millisecond, but it was enough for me to have ANOTHER bad dream, this time involving zombies, knives, blood and murder. talk about taking something and running with it!

job: i started my new part-time pharmacy job last week. even less time for coursework but the money is much needed. it's pretty good as i'm learning a lot and it's a busy pharmacy so the day just flies by. between my pharmacy job and bar job i'm on my feet for almost twenty hours a week...they are pretty sore by the time my shift's done.

barack obama: WOOHOO!!! GO BARACK! i was overjoyed when he won the election. i hate the election coverage and couldn't stand to watch it, plus we're five hours ahead here of washington and it would've been 4am by the time the results came in; i ended up going to bed and then checking the news online the moment i woke up. sheer happiness. i, along with many people - dare i say most of the world - were beaming and giddy with hope for the rest of that day. a black (bi-racial) president in my lifetime. sweetness.

westfield: a new mall opened up in west london recently; malls are largely a north american phenomemon but it's been catching on in these parts in the last few years. on wednesday i went with a couple of friends to check it out/window shop/procrastinate. i must say it's a pretty nice mall, all shiny and new. the support beams have been made to look like trees, all wrapped in fairy lights; we were hoping they'd turn them on while we were shopping there but they didn't. highlights included trying on hideous-looking dresses at topshop, inhaling a limited edition, cookies and cream cupcake from the buttercup cupcake stand, and snatching up a pretty cool hoodie for ten quid from republic. lowlights included a toilet seat that wasn't even screwed on and no hooks in the stall to hang your coat or purchases. boo.

body mass index: so during a quiet period at the pharmacy one day i decided to check my bmi. i got a bit of a shock as it's on the borderline between "okay" and "overweight", for someone of my height. i'm a little weary of bmi's being a true marker of one's weight/general health but even so, it threw me a little. i mean to look at me you wouldn't see an obviously overweight person - at all - but knowing me and even through reading this blog you would know that i do love my food and can never really say no to another helping of dinner or another biscuit or chocolate bar. heck, i ate a limited edition, cookies and cream cupcake without even blinking. hmmm. it's going to be hard but i'm going to try to lay off the sweets a bit and eat more fruits and vegetables. on the fruit and veggie front i'm actually doing pretty good - i add fresh fruit to my cereal in the mornings and at times i'll eat a bowl full of berries, yoghurt and honey - i think the challenge for me will be limiting my sugar intake. CET LOOOOOVES SUGAR. LOOOOOOOOOOVES IT. it's going to be hard.

ball committee: i joined the midsessional ball committee at school. back in high school i was on the ball committee as well. i think i joined it so i can make sure the ball won't suck. i think that's a good reason to join, don't you? we're hoping to hold it somewhere cool like a museum or something, instead of your run-of-the-mill hotel, but these places are pretty pricey so we'll see what we end up with (probably a run-of-the-mill hotel).

have a great week people!

CET :o)

the opposite end of the spectrum

i went to a baby shower yesterday.

don't get me wrong, i think kids are great, but i've realized that my yearly baby shower quota stands at one. one and one only per year thank you; that's all i think i can tolerate.

yes, baby clothes are cute - so tiny and soft like the babies that wear them - but after the millionth "awwwww" over a onesie or towel or bib with an animal of some sort stitched on it i think i was ready to scream.

it seems like you need a whole shitload of things to care for a baby nowadays; people back in the day raised kids with barely more than a rag and they survived - does one really need a top-of-the-line stroller that's as big as a SUV? or a bassinette made of some quality wood or strips of wood or whatever the fuck they make bassinettes with? seriously!

this post isn't meant to sound bitter so i apologize if it does; i personally think baby showers are a big to-do when it's not necessary. i'm not a mom but if there are any moms out there that read this blog (i can think of one), can you tell me if you prefer yet another baby outfit or diapers to last you the month? if i was a mom i know which one i'd prefer.

in other news, it was halloween on friday! i had to work at the bar but dressed up as a cat. here is a pic of my tail, as that's the only pic where you can't see my face:



it was a good night but i got verbally slaughtered by my fellow barman and another friend, who could not stop with the "pussy" jokes because they're mature like that. i knew (too late) that i would be subject to their merciless teasing but oh well! what i could not tolerate was this one student who came up to the bar and screamed "PUSSY!" to get my attention so that i could serve him drinks; i told him to shut the fuck up, as he screamed this in full earshot of my professors who were also at the bar! dickwad.

anyhoo, in addition to my bar work i'm starting a part-time pharmacy job this week; i slightly regret taking this job as it means even less time for schoolwork, but i know i'd regret it if i didn't take it as it's money that's (always) needed. this is the prime difference between me and the other foreign students at my school - they spend their halloween getting VIP table service at a high-end london nightclub (no joke) while i work the bar. :o/

have a great week everyone!

CET

do dee do dee do...

currently at a temp admin job this week...they're not giving me much to do so i am very, very bored and spending way too much time on facebook...

dislike: air conditioning so cold your nose runs.

did a four-hour shift at my old pharmacy last night - re-orienting myself to the way they do things so that once i do full day shifts (covering holidays) i'll know what the heck i'm doing - holy crap was it busy or what!?! i was hoping for a quiet tuesday night so i could ease back into things but i quickly remembered that quiet nights are hard to come by at this place. and people are so impatient! they have absolutely no idea what it's like working in a pharmacy and sometimes i just want to backhand them and tell them to piss off. great pharmacist i'll make, eh? :o)

speaking of which, i had a slight panic attack speaking with the pharmacist last night. she told me how the licensing exams are so hard now, and that there's going to be an oral component, and how the heck am i suppose to get an internship in canada when i already have so many other students to compete with? made me freak out a bit. and training my brain to think "canada pharmacy" instead of "british pharmacy" is going to be hard. damn u of t and other canadian pharmacy schools for having such few places and such ridiculous admission hoops to jump through, argh!

anyhoo.

looking forward to friday - drinks, dinner and a concert with sue and e-mail and company. can't wait!

roll on lunch, roll on...

CET :o)

new beginnings...

HAPPY NEW YEAR DEAR READERS!

after a christmas hiatus from my blog i am back! i hope everyone had a lovely holiday/christmas/hanukkah/kwanzaa/etc. and a fantastic new year!

the end of another year always brings about a bit of personal reflection; looking back on 2006, i can say that it was a very good year. i finished my first year of pharmacy school, worked a summer job that allowed me to meet wonderful people, and it even provided a bit of excitement in the romance department, albeit short-lived :o). one of my best friends got married and another six (six!) couples i know got engaged; i continued with my dragonboat racing and have made many more happy memories. second year of pharmacy school started and i couldn't be happier living where i'm living in london and with who i'm living with; i truly feel blessed!

emotionally, 2006 was much better than 2005. my heart was slighty bruised by office boy, but nothing that couldn't be mended; i continued to drool into my coffee over coffee shop hottie - he has indeed provided me with much fun and fodder for my blog :o) - and i leaped outside my comfort zone by giving a random boy my number! oh, and we mustn't forget forging new limits with french canadian :o).

anyhoo, here's to a fresh new year and clean slate of 365 days to fill with LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST!

CET :o)

matchmaking

so i'm at the same pub as i was last night, using their free internet - again. gotta mooch where necessary!

handed over a huge amount of money to pay for the deposit and first month's rent today, that really hurt. being poor sucks ass! i will try not to complain though, as i am living in a great city and am privileged enough to get an education.

so one of the managers at the pharmacy where i work part-time has been rentless in his matchmaking for me; all last year he was trying to set me up with another part-timer that worked a different day than me. i humour my manager because he is just so sweet and nice about it and is a pleasure to work with, but i don't know about this whole matchmaking business. anyway, i'm to head over to the pharmacy this afternoon to say hello to my manager as well as my match, as he is working today. maybe we'll hit it off but for some reason i doubt it. oh well, no harm in trying i guess!

i'm off to my lovely coffee shop near spitalfields this afternoon with vij - i want to show her my favourite place, as well as check out whether coffee shop hottie is still there. it's funny, reading my blog you'd think all i do here in london is blog and check out boys! sad, but slightly true...

CET :o)