Strictly: My Dance of the Night

I do love musicals week! Tough choices again tonight but I do love a Charleston and Emma and Anton's was such a classic that I had to choose it, even though Hairspray is among my favourite musicals and I thought Karim and Amy's jive was epic.



Only two more weeks to go!

Fave Friday

This week, a simple fave of a drink after work turning into several hours of fun chatter in good company. I've made it out with my work friends two Fridays in a row. Definitely winning. This morning I slept through my alarms and woke up 18 minutes after I needed to leave the house for my usual bus, but I held my nerve and caught a later one (the same time as the one I caught when I was almost late for interview for my current job, a journey that probably shaved 2 years off my life) so I could still have a drink and not have to slope off early because I was nearly asleep. 

I am very pleased to be working in Bristol now and have such lovely colleagues. I mean, I always had lovely colleges, but it is much easier to sit here on a bus home than the palaver of going out after work in Wiltshire and having to make plans around my car. 

Three on Thursday

I'm devastated that I forgot to blog yesterday. I don't really know what happened, but I also forgot to upload the fourth episode of my podcast and I didn't realise until this evening. I forgot I hadn't blogged until I opened Blogger to blog today. It's like Wednesday didn't happen. I'm blaming the Y13 marking: I worked on it before and after The Apprentice, to the detriment of my actual life. But, ah well. I nearly cheated and back-dated but I would have known. And I had Y13 parents' evening tonight so it really did have to be done (I didn't find it but, close).

What am I thankful for this week? Mr Z says him but I have already said him and it is ongoing.

I'm thankful for my PT, Jenny. For months now she has not pushed me too hard in our sessions, but she's noted that I've gone back to the gym/yoga in the past few weeks and she set me a killer circuit last night. I have been seeing her now for nearly 10 years and she's very good at knowing how much I can cope with on any given week.

I'm thankful for my lovely work colleagues. I remember when I moved schools and decided I wouldn't make friends because I had enough friends. I'm glad that didn't last. Three weeks until skiing with some of them. Very exciting.

I'm thankful for knitting group. I made a mental calculation this morning on my drive to work, that after this weekend I can't go again until early February and then not until April, which made me sad, though I now see there is a 5-Saturday February - a phenomenon that happens only once every 28 years - so the extra one will keep me going. It is so nice to hang out with other crafters and chat and get help and cheerleading.

Tuesday Ten

Ten new things I've done this year

1. I went snow tubing on the ski trip. Bundles of fun. So much laughing.

2. Jumped off a boat in Malta.

3. Went to a Scandinavian country.

4. Ate southern fried chicken in the American south.

5. Shortlisted, interviewed and appointed a new staff member.

6. Ran a pub quiz...two, in fact. Another one coming up in January if you're feeling historical.

7. Went on the end-of-year boat party with my colleagues. I always miss it because it clashes with the conference I go to every year, but not this year!

8. Steeked a cardigan.

9. Donated my 10th pint of blood to Blood Donors.

10. Adopted baby rabbits. They're not such babies now but they are still very cute. Maybe not quite this cute, but close.

They struggle to keep still for long enough to take a non-blurry photo. 

Blue Monday

Nearly 10 years old, this one! November Timehops are always full of me planning, packing and going to Malaysia on those school trips in 2009 and 2010, so I often end up back looking through my pictures. This was from when I went there on holiday, to stay with an old work friend, Rhiannon. We went to the bit of rainforest still in the centre on Kuala Lumpur and this is a picture taken directly up into a tree, next to the communications tower. An excellent place for exploring.

I like this picture because it looks as if extra-terrestrial life might be landing on the tower. 

Weekend WIP

I have really put some rows on the back of Volt this weekend.

Excuse the very lazy photo taking. As I said - exhausted. I nearly fell asleep round the Parents Z after dinner tonight.

I've managed to put around 80 rows on it since last week. I have finished the increases and joined the 4th ball of yarn. I have 36 rows left before I can join the shoulders. I've got to go to London tomorrow so I am hoping to get a lot of those done on the train journeys. It would be the best possible scenario to get the front and back joined before next weekend, so I can do the boring sewing up at knitting group, pick up and knit the neck and then start on the sleeves. The sleeves are meant to be worked flat but that doesn't sound like something I would do.

This would make a very good skiing jumper so that gives me a heavy incentive to get it done before December 15th, so I can take it with me (or 17th if I can cope with not blocking it first). I think sleeves in the round will help with that.

Sunday Selfie

As I mentioned, I've been trying to get more exercise in, with the impending ski holiday. Three weeks in a row now, I've been to the gym and done a leg workout and the past two weeks I have managed to make use of the squat rack, purely by being there in a gap between when men are using it. The first time, I was waiting patiently, but it then became clear that other men who had arrived did not realise I was waiting, and I didn't want to have to be pushy about it, so I used other equipment. Last week a man actually started using part of the squat rack while I was squatting in it, without asking or commenting about what he was doing, which I understand is poor squat rack etiquette. Maybe it's listening to Invisible Women that is influencing me, but the free weights area is definitely not a gender neutral space.

Anyway.

Today I was a bit more confident and set the rack up just as I wanted it, so I squatted heavier and more sets than last week. I am exhausted. And then I took a gym selfie and posted it on my Instagram stories with a hashtag. I hated myself just a bit for being a parody, but I still spent less time on my phone than anybody else in the free weights area today.