Have just got back (well, ok, yesterday) from a fantastic few days away in Brussels in Belgium. I was expecting to enjoy the sightseeing, the chocolate, the waffles and the general being away on romantic city breakiness, all of which was achieved in abundance - you haven’t lived til you’ve sampled a Belgian waffle and gone chocolate shopping Brussels-style What I wasn’t expecting was to return home an engaged woman, but that is what I now am as Kev proposed to me on Friday whilst we were standing at the Palais de Justice overlooking the rest of Brussels - proper down-on-one-knee job with beautiful sparkly white gold diamond ring!! Once I’d asked if it was for real and got over the shock a bit I of course said yes and am now looking forward to being the future Mrs Kev :D

Obviously nothing could come anywhere close to beating that as the highlight of the trip but we did enjoy the rest of our time there - saw most of the major sights including Grand Place, the Mannekin Pis and the Royal Palace although bit miffed that most of the museums seemed to be shut on Mondays! Did manage to visit the Museum of Costume and Lace though which was both warm and dry (which Brussels was not for most of the trip) and kept me entertained for a couple of hours on Monday while Kev was busy being clever with other clever people from the world of Jabber. Should any of them find their way here by way of Kev’s blog post, it was very nice meeting you all and thank you very much for letting me join you and making me feel so welcome

Now all I need to do is find a new job and I can start giving this being engaged lark the full attention it deserves!

Categories: Important events
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There is now - hoorah to my wonderful (and very clever!) bf for passing his Viva on Friday!

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It’s official - I am now an 8th gup, or Yellow Belt in TKD. I’m obviously pleased to have passed but I don’t feel I did as well as in my last one and am starting to feel like a blimp in a dobok struggling through at the bottom of the class. Some of my techniques just seem to be so bad compared to everyone else’s, especially where balance is required, which is becoming more and more frustrating :/ Really want to get a lot lot better for my next grading if I can.

In other news, spent a very pleasant time with Kev’s family last weekend (once the grading was over) to celebrate his dad’s 50th - the Ashoka and homemade Beef Wellington, what more could you want?

On a sadder note, RIP Uncle Dave who passed away recently…

Categories: Family, Important events, TKD
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Yesterday we went down to Cornwall for the wedding of two mutual friends from uni. Traditional service (lovely dress!) in Truro and then a reception in Falmouth in the very nice indeed Falmouth Beach Hotel where we stayed the night. The food was superb, the speeches were most amusing, the band was excellent, and to top it all off we got to catch up with another good friend from uni and her boyfriend who were also there Aside from the traditional loss of children or gaining of children-in-law (depending on how you look at these things), the day also involved the loss of a handbag, the omission and consequent purchase of footwear and the gaining of a flower arrangement - not quite up there with Eastenders but fairly eventful for the South West I thought! A fun weekend all told Congratulations to the happy couple!

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Lie in, lovely card, day off work, KFC lunch, brownies, meal in evening - v. good day

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Or so Kev so nicely put it at about 1am this morning

Yes, it be my birthday and so far I’ve had a nice wodge of money in the form of a handy single cheque from my parents and a Phantom of the Opera DVD from Kev’s parents (I know you sometimes read this so thank you!!) Kev also gave me a lovely card and is taking me shopping (where the taking is sitting me in a chair and the shopping is done online) over the weekend Got more pressies and some meetups with friends to look forward to over the next week or so - nothing like extending celebrations for as long as possible, this single day malarky is so pre-teens :p

Categories: Friends, Important events
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Well, Florida was AMAZING - will make a longer post on Monday while I’m at work and looking for something to do (I could cry at the thought of going back!) but for now, know it was AMAZING!

Have just been to the wedding of the now Mr and Mrs Seward - nice service with added Star Trek and a great party in the evening I’m sure they’ll be very happy together and yes, I am jealous that they’re off on holiday despite the fact I’ve just had one :p I must get myself one of those wedding things one day - they’re fun

Categories: Holiday, Important events
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Last night Kev and I went to Starz Bar along with his brother, brother’s gf and parents to celebrate his brother’s birthday and a good time was had by all! Our waitress was lovely, the food was even lovelier (I had Louisiana Lamb which was very nice altho I think I’ll stick to ribs there from now on as they are the best thing evar!) and much laughter ensued throughout the evening

Afterwards we went back to his brother’s place where we had some gorgeous chocolate cake baked by his gf - I have now promised to take over homemade cookies next time we visit them as I took brownies last time and they seemed to be a hit

Anyways, it’s now Friday so I’ve got a few more hours to get through before hometime and the weekend Shall prolly go to the gym a bit later on to get away from computers and the office (which is rapidly turning into a garden centre), and tonight may well end up teaming with Kev to do an instance in WoW (ST - worst one ever), having attempted it on Wednesday and failed abysmally due to incompetence, some of which was on my part and none of which was on Kev’s, as is usually the case, what with me being crap and him being quite good at these things.

Categories: Friends, Games, Important events
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Yesterday there was a 2 minutes silence in memory of the London bomb victims last week - people in London itself left their offices and stood outside to show their defiance to the people responsible which I think was a nice gesture to make It’s thought that most of the bombers died in the explosions - too good for them if you ask me. Queen are holding their concert in Hyde Park that was postponed from last Friday and have invited all the emergency personnel who worked to deal with what happened as a tribute to them which I think shows what down to earth nice guys Queen are

Been playing WoW a bit again recently, having gone off it for a while. I’ve started an Undead Warlock on Mal’Ganis (going to be Demonology/Destruction I think) and a Human Mage on Icecrown (going to be Frost/Arcane), which I thought would be nice as one is PvP/dark and sinister and the other is PvE/light so to speak. So far, I’m preferring the warlock, I think because the Undead lands are totally new to me and the human lands are getting to be as familiar as the Troll/Orc lands are. I also like having a pet Much to Kev’s delight I’ve also started getting a bit more into my (now 57) priest, and did a disastrous UBRS raid last night which was my first ever. We’re both in a largeish guild and are both a bit concerned that desire for numbers and classes may have overtaken the desire for quality a bit

In a rare diet update, I’ve decided to start eating 2 small meals during the day (other than breakfast/dinner) as opposed to just lunch as my blood sugar seems to go through the floor if I don’t have something every couple of hours :S

Anyways, only another 5 and a half hours including the gym to go and I can go home

Categories: Diet and fitness, Games, Important events
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After the shock of yesterday’s explosions, London picked itself up, dusted itself off and got on with things this morning, which makes me feel immensely proud to be British. Not to focus too much on the past but this country has been through a lot over the years, and each time we’ve come through it standing tall and refusing to be beaten. I’m not normally that openly nationalist, but I think everyone woke up feeling it a little bit today. Still haven’t heard from Louise tho, but I expect all is fine and I’m just being paranoid as usual. You can’t help but worry tho…

There are some who have said that what happened in London wasn’t on the same scale as what happened on September 11th, and others who seem to imply that we were asking for it by going into Iraq. I can see both sides to the Iraq issue, but the only people I hold responsible for yesterday are the people who triggered the bombs and noone else. Things like this should never happen, whether it be here, in the US, or anywhere else in the world. It’s disgusting to me that any group should demonstrate their beliefs in this way, and especially purport to do so in the name of a religion, the true followers of which are as appalled by such acts as we are. It’s even sadder to think that despite the horror of what happened, many thousands more die in the world’s poorest countries on a daily basis.

And that is what is so good about today - the G8 got results

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This morning the London Tube and bus networks were driven to a halt by a series of explosions that are apparently the work of terrorists Got no idea if a friend of mine was affected or not which has been worrying me since I found out about it.

What is wrong with some people????

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Made another slight change to my site today, doing my (very small and insignificant) bit for the cause. As the good people at Sainsbury say, every little helps.

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It’s that time of year I hate again - the General Election happens today and tomorrow someone else may or may not be in No. 10. It’s not this that I hate - I think it’s great to have a system that’s dependent on public votes rather than dictatorship and am all for democracy! What I hate is that suddenly *everyone* is on your case to vote and make a stand, and women everywhere are declaring that Miss Pankhurst died for us girls and therefore it is our moral obligation to put a tick or cross or whatever it is you put in the box! I admit I’m something of a cynic when it comes to political parties - I think whoever is in No. 10 will screw up at some point, none of the really annoying things in life like tax and poverty are ever going to get fixed by anyone, and they all have a hidden agenda. I’m leaning towards Lib Dems this time around for no other reason than Labour have had their chance and the Conservatives have based their entire campaign on a hate-Blair non-policy. I will probably vote this year as that is the closest I’ve come to ever having a valid reason to do so, but a large part of me is screaming at me to stand firm and not submit to the masses who persist in making me feel obliged to do so.

If I vote I want it to be because I feel moved to do so, not because I’ll feel guilty if I don’t! Two people so far today have made me feel like I’m letting my country down for saying I might not vote I can’t be the only one in the world who sees that democracy goes both ways; that I have the right to choose not to vote and by doing that I am voicing my opinion as well as if I choose *to* vote! Why can’t choosing no party be a viable option?? It doesn’t make me a nasty person! I would never even think of telling anyone that they should or shouldn’t do something that was down to a personal choice (barring that something being wrong/illegal/harmful to someone)…that’s fundamentally why I don’t follow an organised religion. I just wish other people would treat me with the same respect

Categories: General, Important events
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