I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed under general anaesthetic yesterday. I'm on a cocktail of drugs to help ease pain and decrease the risk of infection. The house is stocked to the brim with soups, smoothies, mousses, and ice-cream which I am indulging in until it is safe to eat solids again!
It was the first time I have ever had an operation of any kind. I've never even had a standard tooth extraction under local anaesthetic, so I didn't know what to expect. The whole experience was a little surreal. I had been very nervous beforehand, but had begun to feel a peace about it all by the time we rocked up at the day surgery. My fiance and my mum came to the hospital with me and stayed with me until I was called to gown up ready for the op. Shortly after I was wheeled from the recovery room to the ward I saw them wander in, and was able to limply wave at them. I was so glad to have them there. It was a simple procedure, and it all went well. I still have a numb lip and tongue, but that's normal. I'm very tired still, the pain comes and goes, especially on my left-side as that is where they had to remove some bone too, yeuch! And that is also why I look like Popeye! Hopefully I will look less like him before I start my new job next week!
My fiance is proving to be a wonderful nurse and is taking great care of me. Knowing I had him and my mum to wake up too helped me immensely, but it was God who really kept me cool throughout. Even a simple procedure like mine was daunting for me. I didn't like the idea of going under anaesthetic whilst someone sliced at gums and teeth (Who named them wisdom teeth for goodness sake??? It's so ridiculous!), and I was a little afraid that there would be lots of blood and adverse consequences to the op. Many people offered kind words and support, others would scare me with horror stories, but God, and the people who put round me, showed me there was nothing to be afraid of.
I am back home, in some pain, being taken care of, I look like Popeye, and now I fancy some soft pudding, hooray!
Unplanned writing that just spills from my mind...
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Saying Goodbye
I left my job today. It was very strange indeed. I'm moving on to something new in my home town which means I can now walk to work - the long commute is over, hoorah! I'm really looking forward to starting my new job, getting different experience, and having 3 hours a day back!
I had been so eager to leave my job. I was working for an international development and humanitarian aid charity, one of the bigger ones. It is a place of passion and inspiration, and so much of the work they do is fantastic. After eighteen months I had begun to tire of my role though. There wasn't much scope for me to move up in the organisation as I was lacking in a lot of the key skills such as fluency in another language. Whilst I could have taken evening classes to improve this the long commute was taking its toll and I found myself too worn out, with a number of other commitments already, that it was out of the question. My health was affected by the long hours and travelling, which I found to be very stressful. This was coupled with the fact that I was itching to try something a bit more challenging intellectually. I had plenty of challenges in the role, just none that required my degree-level research and reporting skills. That is something which my new job will provide some scope for, and I am looking forward to trying something new.
Despite this, I have left the a place that has actually done a lot for me. It was my first real job after leaving university. I'd done a load of part-time work during my studies, but this job was my entry into the working world. It was an incredibly enlightening and eye-opening experience. I got the opportunity to understand how an international development organisation works behind the scenes at every level. On a daily basis I was in contact with the people who put this work into action and also with those who were offering us valuable support, either financially or through campaigns etc. I also got to encounter all the different office stereotypes - the good and bad - the ones who other people warn you about ;)
And so, actually, although I was excited to be going, I realised this was the end of an era for me. I have made some good friends - two lovely women who I worked on our staff conference with - we became "ladies who lunch". I was part of a lunchtime prayer group that met once a week, I had a friend who described himself as a "discoverer of shadow artists" and once he found out I write fiction we became firm friends :) And I also had a great team - they were only 5 of us, and despite the occasional bad day for any one of us, we all got on really well. I know I was lucky to have such a team, and I don't know if I will find one like that again. I didn't realise that I made any impact at all at the organisation until it came to my leaving... The prayer group surprised me with a card signed by them all and a Bible. My lunching ladies, one of whom was also leaving, surprised me with a filofax because of my hectic life at the moment! My shadow artist friend threw a small leaving tea for me, with an enormous creamy chocolate cake. And my team surprised me today with a lunchtime party in the office and lots of gifts - they had made a special effort to get me fair trade and ethically sourced presents, some of them as joint engagement gifts for me and my fiance. I was so touched by the effort they had made. I know when people leave somewhere they do get a lot of attention, cake and presents are common, but even so, I felt like I had received far more than I deserved, and I hadn't been expecting any of it. I didn't cry over any of the gestures, but it did emphasise for me how blessed I have been over the last almost two years I've been working there. For all the ups and downs I have a lot to be thankful for - this was something I believed I needed to see before I left, and the last two weeks, as I prepared to leave, highlighted this for me more than ever. Hindsight is wonderful thing - I need to remember that more during the rubbish times.
So, it's not "goodbye" it's "see you later". I have lots of happy memories, and I know that I've also gained a lot of valuable experience - both work and life wise - that I would now be lacking if it hadn't been for this job and the people I have met through it. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. As with everything that's happened to me in my life so far, this is further proof :)
I had been so eager to leave my job. I was working for an international development and humanitarian aid charity, one of the bigger ones. It is a place of passion and inspiration, and so much of the work they do is fantastic. After eighteen months I had begun to tire of my role though. There wasn't much scope for me to move up in the organisation as I was lacking in a lot of the key skills such as fluency in another language. Whilst I could have taken evening classes to improve this the long commute was taking its toll and I found myself too worn out, with a number of other commitments already, that it was out of the question. My health was affected by the long hours and travelling, which I found to be very stressful. This was coupled with the fact that I was itching to try something a bit more challenging intellectually. I had plenty of challenges in the role, just none that required my degree-level research and reporting skills. That is something which my new job will provide some scope for, and I am looking forward to trying something new.
Despite this, I have left the a place that has actually done a lot for me. It was my first real job after leaving university. I'd done a load of part-time work during my studies, but this job was my entry into the working world. It was an incredibly enlightening and eye-opening experience. I got the opportunity to understand how an international development organisation works behind the scenes at every level. On a daily basis I was in contact with the people who put this work into action and also with those who were offering us valuable support, either financially or through campaigns etc. I also got to encounter all the different office stereotypes - the good and bad - the ones who other people warn you about ;)
And so, actually, although I was excited to be going, I realised this was the end of an era for me. I have made some good friends - two lovely women who I worked on our staff conference with - we became "ladies who lunch". I was part of a lunchtime prayer group that met once a week, I had a friend who described himself as a "discoverer of shadow artists" and once he found out I write fiction we became firm friends :) And I also had a great team - they were only 5 of us, and despite the occasional bad day for any one of us, we all got on really well. I know I was lucky to have such a team, and I don't know if I will find one like that again. I didn't realise that I made any impact at all at the organisation until it came to my leaving... The prayer group surprised me with a card signed by them all and a Bible. My lunching ladies, one of whom was also leaving, surprised me with a filofax because of my hectic life at the moment! My shadow artist friend threw a small leaving tea for me, with an enormous creamy chocolate cake. And my team surprised me today with a lunchtime party in the office and lots of gifts - they had made a special effort to get me fair trade and ethically sourced presents, some of them as joint engagement gifts for me and my fiance. I was so touched by the effort they had made. I know when people leave somewhere they do get a lot of attention, cake and presents are common, but even so, I felt like I had received far more than I deserved, and I hadn't been expecting any of it. I didn't cry over any of the gestures, but it did emphasise for me how blessed I have been over the last almost two years I've been working there. For all the ups and downs I have a lot to be thankful for - this was something I believed I needed to see before I left, and the last two weeks, as I prepared to leave, highlighted this for me more than ever. Hindsight is wonderful thing - I need to remember that more during the rubbish times.
So, it's not "goodbye" it's "see you later". I have lots of happy memories, and I know that I've also gained a lot of valuable experience - both work and life wise - that I would now be lacking if it hadn't been for this job and the people I have met through it. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. As with everything that's happened to me in my life so far, this is further proof :)
Monday, 20 July 2009
Black Holes
On Saturday my belly dancing class held an 'Arabian Nights' party in order to raise some money for the local village hall. It was great fun. My fiance made loads of Moroccan style food - couscous, tabouleh, houmous and flat bread - bizarrely most other people bought standard quiches and sausage rolls...but they can't all be as talented as he is ;)
The dances all went really well. It was my class' first time putting on a show, and thankfully everyone loved it. Luckily for me, the table I happened to be dancing nearest to most of the time was where my fiance, our housemate, and some friends of my brother and his girlfriend were sitting. I would have felt a little uncomfortable shimmying that close to a bunch of strangers!
Anyway, I am pleased to say that mine and my brother's girlfriend's duet went brilliantly. We managed to find proper belly dancing skirts made of black chiffon from Bellylicious (see my post 'Fashion is my Foe'). Our dance was inspired by this article I found on twin black holes that dance around each other, so what better song to set it to that one by our favourite band? We danced to 'Supermassive Black Hole' by Muse, which we had previously decided was crying out for some good belly dancing choreography :D We wore black, purple and silver to represent the sparkling universe, and used big black satin-y veils, decorated with silver stars. The idea was to give the impression of black holes dancing around each other. The audience loved it, so thankfully it went really well. We were both incredibly nervous, but hopefully we did both the song, and the concept of dancing black holes, justice.
I love dancing, and for me, being inspired by something like these black holes gives the dance meaning. Of course we had artistic licence and creativity to guide us - I'm sure the black holes don't really look like two young women swinging pretty veils around, but they captured our imagination. It used to do a lot of dance and drama in my school days, especially improvisation, and this was the first time since then I was able to create something of that nature. It was so much fun that we are both thinking of what we should come up with next. Ideas on a postcard! And special thanks to my brother's girlfriend for being such an awesome dance partner - you rock! :D
The dances all went really well. It was my class' first time putting on a show, and thankfully everyone loved it. Luckily for me, the table I happened to be dancing nearest to most of the time was where my fiance, our housemate, and some friends of my brother and his girlfriend were sitting. I would have felt a little uncomfortable shimmying that close to a bunch of strangers!
Anyway, I am pleased to say that mine and my brother's girlfriend's duet went brilliantly. We managed to find proper belly dancing skirts made of black chiffon from Bellylicious (see my post 'Fashion is my Foe'). Our dance was inspired by this article I found on twin black holes that dance around each other, so what better song to set it to that one by our favourite band? We danced to 'Supermassive Black Hole' by Muse, which we had previously decided was crying out for some good belly dancing choreography :D We wore black, purple and silver to represent the sparkling universe, and used big black satin-y veils, decorated with silver stars. The idea was to give the impression of black holes dancing around each other. The audience loved it, so thankfully it went really well. We were both incredibly nervous, but hopefully we did both the song, and the concept of dancing black holes, justice.
I love dancing, and for me, being inspired by something like these black holes gives the dance meaning. Of course we had artistic licence and creativity to guide us - I'm sure the black holes don't really look like two young women swinging pretty veils around, but they captured our imagination. It used to do a lot of dance and drama in my school days, especially improvisation, and this was the first time since then I was able to create something of that nature. It was so much fun that we are both thinking of what we should come up with next. Ideas on a postcard! And special thanks to my brother's girlfriend for being such an awesome dance partner - you rock! :D
Friday, 17 July 2009
Scrumptious
My lunch was a little disappointing today. This was because it was shop bought. Time and supplies at home were both against me this morning so I had to buy my lunch. I got a chicken and noodle salad from the Marks & Spencer Food up at the station near work, and it was satisfying enough, especially as it was followed by fruit.
The reason I found today's lunch disappointing is because I have been enjoying salads, home-made by my fiance, all week and home-made is well and truly the best, and always will be. I take a packed lunch into work most of the time. The exceptions to this are when I go out for lunch with friends or when we've run out of food at home, so it is rare that I am without my lunch box on a weekday. Three days this week I have enjoyed an exceptional cheese and houmous salad. My fiance made the houmous himself, using a recipe that my childhood best friend and her husband gave us when we visited them recently. Delicious :D I loved it because the houmous was so full of flavour, the cheese was mature, and the rest of the salad was spinach, lettuce, red peppers and carrot - that's how I like my salads, good and simple. I hate dressings (other than houmous), so this was close to my perfect salad. Yesterday it was a sardine salad - less scrumptious than the cheese and houmous one, but better for my iodine levels. When we don't take salads into work we take sandwiches, often made with our own bread, my favourite of which is tomato and herb bread, filled with cheese, houmous and salad...am I boring you yet?
Moving on...enjoying said scrumptious home-made houmous, bread etc got me thinking about how much better my home-made packed lunches are. Marks & Spencer do fairly decent sandwiches and salads, but they are still lacking because they are pre-packed. There is a Boots opposite the office but their Meal Deals never satisfy. When my fiance and I make our own packed lunches they taste wonderful (I'm allowed to say that because he makes virtually all of them, not me...) and we can have a good portion that will keep us full until we get home.
Thinking of food in this way often makes me a little nostalgic for the university days when we seemed to find it quite acceptable to eat loads of take-away pizza, processed food, or anything that had a value sticker on it even though it looked suspiciously unedible... I was happy enough to live like that in my first year. I was in catered halls and the food was edible most of the time, occasionally quite good, sometimes vile, and once or twice would look and taste worryingly like something you would expect my fiance to be examining under a microscope for signs of disease... Ah, such is the joy of university canteen food... In my second year I lived in a house with four fellow Classics girlies, and the quest for better food began. One housemate took it a tad too far and would buy the most expensive version of everything, something the rest of us couldn't really afford to do. However, I enjoyed learning to cook more for myself. I didn't get terribly adventurous because I was afraid of cooking meat for some time - that was all thanks to a Food Tech teacher at secondary school terrifying me about food poisoning when I was at a particularly impressionable age (she called us her "little munchkins", wouldn't that terrify you!?) Anyway, being an impoverished student there was plenty of unhealthy eating and takeaway pizzas in the mix, but because I didn't drink much and rarely went out clubbing, I was able to spend more on reasonable quality food - unlike some people I knew who were living off Tesco Value beans on toasted Tesco Value bread most of the time (on good days they could even sprinkle on some grated Tesco Value cheese as a treat!)
Then I moved back into catered halls for my third year. I didn't think it was possible, but the canteen food tasted far worse than it had before, and was about twice the price *shakes fist at inflation*. It was worth eating flavourless cardboard food just to live in these particular halls though - I had a top-floor room between two turrets in the university's Victorian chateau-style building. But still...some of the food... all I can say is I don't miss it at all. That being the case, I was immensely grateful that I was part of a brilliant church in the local town during this time. So many of the people there took pity on us unhealthy students and invited us round for dinners and parties where there would be such delicious home-made food that we would weep to return to halls afterwards. I also appreciated the wonderful cooking my dad does more than I ever had before when I went home for the holidays.
Now I am lucky enough to be engaged to a fantastic cook. My fiance makes brilliant meals, included the best mashed potato I have ever tried as well as some of his own invented recipes. Now it is time for me to work on my skills. A few weeks ago I tried my hand at a Brazilian fish stew, which came out very well. My other specialities are vegetarian stuffed peppers and fish risotto. My baking skills extend to chocolate rice krispie cakes, which isn't really baking at all. So I've acquired a few recipe books, old and new, so I can practise and become a half-decent chef (other than my specialities I currently cook fairly mediocre meals). So here's to some cooking and baking adventures!
Added to this we've been a little adventurous in our house - in our patio garden we have lots of plant pots that promise to develop into yummy broccoli, squash, oregano and thyme. Last year we grew tomatoes, courgettes, and both sweet and chilli peppers, but alas those plants succumbed to the snow and frosts this winter. But we are hoping to grow more. With both the cooking and the growing, it'll be a real learning experience, hopefully with "fruitful" results ;)
PS. Thanks again J & J for the houmous recipe!
The reason I found today's lunch disappointing is because I have been enjoying salads, home-made by my fiance, all week and home-made is well and truly the best, and always will be. I take a packed lunch into work most of the time. The exceptions to this are when I go out for lunch with friends or when we've run out of food at home, so it is rare that I am without my lunch box on a weekday. Three days this week I have enjoyed an exceptional cheese and houmous salad. My fiance made the houmous himself, using a recipe that my childhood best friend and her husband gave us when we visited them recently. Delicious :D I loved it because the houmous was so full of flavour, the cheese was mature, and the rest of the salad was spinach, lettuce, red peppers and carrot - that's how I like my salads, good and simple. I hate dressings (other than houmous), so this was close to my perfect salad. Yesterday it was a sardine salad - less scrumptious than the cheese and houmous one, but better for my iodine levels. When we don't take salads into work we take sandwiches, often made with our own bread, my favourite of which is tomato and herb bread, filled with cheese, houmous and salad...am I boring you yet?
Moving on...enjoying said scrumptious home-made houmous, bread etc got me thinking about how much better my home-made packed lunches are. Marks & Spencer do fairly decent sandwiches and salads, but they are still lacking because they are pre-packed. There is a Boots opposite the office but their Meal Deals never satisfy. When my fiance and I make our own packed lunches they taste wonderful (I'm allowed to say that because he makes virtually all of them, not me...) and we can have a good portion that will keep us full until we get home.
Thinking of food in this way often makes me a little nostalgic for the university days when we seemed to find it quite acceptable to eat loads of take-away pizza, processed food, or anything that had a value sticker on it even though it looked suspiciously unedible... I was happy enough to live like that in my first year. I was in catered halls and the food was edible most of the time, occasionally quite good, sometimes vile, and once or twice would look and taste worryingly like something you would expect my fiance to be examining under a microscope for signs of disease... Ah, such is the joy of university canteen food... In my second year I lived in a house with four fellow Classics girlies, and the quest for better food began. One housemate took it a tad too far and would buy the most expensive version of everything, something the rest of us couldn't really afford to do. However, I enjoyed learning to cook more for myself. I didn't get terribly adventurous because I was afraid of cooking meat for some time - that was all thanks to a Food Tech teacher at secondary school terrifying me about food poisoning when I was at a particularly impressionable age (she called us her "little munchkins", wouldn't that terrify you!?) Anyway, being an impoverished student there was plenty of unhealthy eating and takeaway pizzas in the mix, but because I didn't drink much and rarely went out clubbing, I was able to spend more on reasonable quality food - unlike some people I knew who were living off Tesco Value beans on toasted Tesco Value bread most of the time (on good days they could even sprinkle on some grated Tesco Value cheese as a treat!)
Then I moved back into catered halls for my third year. I didn't think it was possible, but the canteen food tasted far worse than it had before, and was about twice the price *shakes fist at inflation*. It was worth eating flavourless cardboard food just to live in these particular halls though - I had a top-floor room between two turrets in the university's Victorian chateau-style building. But still...some of the food... all I can say is I don't miss it at all. That being the case, I was immensely grateful that I was part of a brilliant church in the local town during this time. So many of the people there took pity on us unhealthy students and invited us round for dinners and parties where there would be such delicious home-made food that we would weep to return to halls afterwards. I also appreciated the wonderful cooking my dad does more than I ever had before when I went home for the holidays.
Now I am lucky enough to be engaged to a fantastic cook. My fiance makes brilliant meals, included the best mashed potato I have ever tried as well as some of his own invented recipes. Now it is time for me to work on my skills. A few weeks ago I tried my hand at a Brazilian fish stew, which came out very well. My other specialities are vegetarian stuffed peppers and fish risotto. My baking skills extend to chocolate rice krispie cakes, which isn't really baking at all. So I've acquired a few recipe books, old and new, so I can practise and become a half-decent chef (other than my specialities I currently cook fairly mediocre meals). So here's to some cooking and baking adventures!
Added to this we've been a little adventurous in our house - in our patio garden we have lots of plant pots that promise to develop into yummy broccoli, squash, oregano and thyme. Last year we grew tomatoes, courgettes, and both sweet and chilli peppers, but alas those plants succumbed to the snow and frosts this winter. But we are hoping to grow more. With both the cooking and the growing, it'll be a real learning experience, hopefully with "fruitful" results ;)
PS. Thanks again J & J for the houmous recipe!
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Wiltshire
Words can't do my brilliant holiday to Wiltshire with my fiance and his family justice. We went to so many places that I can't even begin to start writing blog entries about each place we went to. So here are some of my favourite photos (am working on my photography skills) from our trip. Enjoy :)
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| Salisbury Cathedral |
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| A day on the Kennet & Avon Canal |
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| Old Wardour Castle |
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| Stourhead |
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| The bottom of the infamous Caen Hill Locks |
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| Crofton Pumping Station |
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