Thursday 3 January 2013

What a first week!


Well, it’s 3 days into the New Year, and so far it’s a little interesting…

The New Year came in, a quite night at home with just the Mrs Stace (and occasionally the cat) and the TV. And long distance drinking - I had one bottle of Babycham left so I called my mum and joined her drinking my last Brandy and Babycham until I go back to the UK and get some more.

Midnight came, fireworks went off, I drank some Champagne and we called our parents to wish them a happy New Year! Then after an hour, whilst the fireworks were still going off (until 5:30 according to Mrs Stace – I was out like a light once I went to bed) my parents called us to wish us a happy New Year! A little stupid thing we do each year so that we each get New Year wishes at the right local time…  Once that was done we went to bed and, as I said, I was out like a light instantly!

New Year’s Day started with a 7KM run, start the year as you mean to go on I suppose J The rest of the day was spent relaxing and trying to get over the last few days of stress in the office (every time someone sent me an SMS I thought it was a message from the monitoring system!)

Whilst cooking dinner in the evening I made a start to the recipe book that Mrs Stace got me. I started with the recipe for my healthy chips that I put on the site a while ago. (I called them “Non Fried Double Fried Chips” in the book).  Seeing as we had some time we had these on New Year’s Day.  Lovely!

Then on the 2nd it was all over.  Back to work, and back to seeing what needs to be done in the New Year.  And trying to get the energy levels up!  I think that everyone is struggling this week.  The developers with the stress of ensuring everything worked as we wanted, and the operational people with the pure amount of work that they had in the last 5 days of the year (yes, including the weekend!).

I think that we are starting to find out feet again after the break, and I think that after the weekend (which starts today for me, yay!) things will start to move back to normal.

And I finished the work week with another 7KM run this evening.  It took me back to my youth, running through the countryside, in the dark, with fields on either side of me.  With the wind howling through my headphones it made me think of nigh exercises with the ATC!  Spooky, but a nice run anyway :)

The downside of this week?  Well I managed to find the perfect way to start a new year.

Yesterday I had an appointment with the mouth hygienist, as I put on a Facebook post whilst waiting I am terrified of pain in my mouth more than anything other thing – having had a butcher for a dentist as a child.

And the constant pulling, scrapping scratching that they do fills me with dread.  Plus I have a few sensitive spots where I can climb the ceiling if it’s not done right.

She managed it quite well, only making me jump a couple of times.

Phew.

Then today I had part two – a trip to the dentist for a check-up!  Great! The week is getting better and better. And she commented on how good my teeth are, and how healthy my gums are.

Phew.

And then how even with all that I still need another filling.  Crap.  Double crap.

Still it could have been worse, it could have been the root canal that she said I might need last time.  You never know, that may come back in the summer!

And then of course on Saturday I have the first laser session to prepare for surgery.  I’m trying to work out what is causing me more stress at the moment, going back for the filling or going on Saturday for the first laser session.

Please let the second week go better!

Right time to prepare for the good day in-between! I took tomorrow off as vacation, Mrs Staces has had a couple of weeks and tomorrow is her last, so I thought that I would spend it with her.  So Ikea, Cinema and Sushi is on the cards.  That is a day I am looking forward to!

8 comments:

  1. Babycham? We are no longer friends :)

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    1. Ahh, Babycham in Brandy (or cognac) is a wonderful drink!

      Why should you complain, you make cider! ;p (Or do you do perry as well?)

      And, did you not see the Oz and Hugh series where they were looking for English drinks? They went to a perry weekend, taking a barrel of babycham labelled as something sounding home made. It won over the visitors and even the judges! Much to Os' disgust, I'll add :)

      Stace

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    2. Ooh, where do I start? :)

      To be fair, I was joking. But I would probably avoid a product like Babycham because it would do my cred as a maker of full-juice Real Cider no good at all. That class of drink takes imported juice concentrate, adds water and a lot of sugar before fermentation, then dilutes the result with more water to reach the desired alcohol content. Resulting juice content: rather low.

      Yes, if I wasn't transgender and happy to have it all lasered away, i'd probably be one of those real-aley types with a beard...

      I'm reminded of Lucy Melford's recent piece on drinking. http://lucymelford.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/female-drinking-bit-of-what-you-fancy.html

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    3. I knew :) But I know enough people who hate certain music because "It's popular" that it makes me sad that the people telling you to open your mind to their music, close theirs to anything that they consider too many people like. And I feel the same can be done in the drinking world. Real Ale is far better than a larger. But a Heineken or Grolsch can still be so very refreshing on a hot summers afternoon!

      And so I think you can do both! I love microbrewery beers and ciders (and love yours!) But I also love things like Babycham and Baileys. I read the article, but I prefer the adage of drink what you want to drink. And how :) Nearly...

      Room temperature wines should be held with the bowl, as the wine can take the temperature of your hands, and can help to release the aroma.

      Chilled wine should only be held on the stem as it keeps your warms hands from warming the wine itself.

      I appreciate the artisan methods of creating something special. But there are times when it's not what I want :)

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  2. We used to drive past the Babycham factory in Shepton Mallet regularly. It was lovely seeing the giant fawn on top of the factory. Sadly they took it down a couple of years ago.

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    1. It is one of the best logo's for a drink! The only one that I think gets close is the witch from the Hobgoblin brewery :)

      Stace

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    2. Thanks for that Jenny! Great picture!

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