I took four days off work this week to study for an exam at work. How much did I study? Nothing, nada, niente, niets, rien.
Ah, what a surprise...

As for sports, I've been a bit more disciplined. I'm still doing the mp3 Start-to-Run training sessions, although only twice a week instead of three times. I'm at lesson 16 currently, and still wondering when it will be pleasant instead of painful... As my shoulder no longer hurts, I've started weight training again, at the moment I'm "relearning" the movements.

PS: funny anecdote about the dinner party mentioned two blog entries ago. I had made the date-bacon rolls in advance, and bf had taken them out of the fridge while the oven was heating up. When I return to the kitchen to put the rolls in the oven, I notice that three dates don't have any bacon rolled around them. As I call out to bf to ask what happened, the answer hits me... Our lovely little feline friend Of course we didn't mention this to our guests, we just took out some new bacon to roll around the dates... And kitty dearest didn't get any supper...

I am a HUGE fan of Stricly (btw, I hope Ali and her smooth American win), but apparently it's not the only show where we can see great ballroom and latin dancing. I found this on youtube, an awesome paso doble:

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aukdG7X30xM[/url]

Work, not enough sleep, nothing new

Well, except the fact that they FINALLY installed our new doors. Good timing, because it's getting quite cold and heating with no doors in the house isn't very efficient.

And tonight some friends are coming over for dinner.
The menu:

Hors d'oeuvre:
dates wrapped in strips of bacon (baked in the oven)
salmon mousse (with a hint of port) on toast

Main course:
Risotto with pumpkin and prawns

Dessert:
Almond and pecan cake with vanilla ice cream


I baked the cake yesterday and forgot to take it out on time, so I hope it won't be too dry... That's what the ice cream is for

Yesterday: great mood despite everything, and yes it was my birthday...

Today: every frustration of the past few months catching up with me, the foulest and most depressed mood, mentally I feel at the end of my rope.

Sorry for people with unanswered PMs, not feeling very "interactive" at the moment, hopefully it'll be better in a few days...

Crappy start to the week, it can only get better... Me and my headache are off to bed, tomorrow is gonna be a long day again... I hope it won't be too bad, I'd hate to have a crappy birthday

I arrived at work at 8.05am. I left at 8.33pm. A record. And the crappiest work day I have ever had, hands down. Usually I can understand why my boss does certain things, even if I don't agree, but today was simply unacceptable in my book. And tomorrow I have to be back in the early morning, ready to face whatever else will be coming my way... It's bedtime, time to forget.

PS: no, my overtime is NOT paid, but I can take those hours off from work at a later date.

Day 1, September 6th:

After getting up at 7AM, bf picked me up at 8AM and we set off for Dunkerque. I had been finishing some "home work" (our annual report) the night before, so I wasn't terribly awake. I regularly felt my eye lids getting heavy, but my navigational skills were required for the last part of the drive, as the ferry port was on a "non digitalized" road according to the GPS. We arrived at the ferry port less than 15 minutes before the latest check-in time, a bit too close for comfort.

The ferry trip itself was uneventful, we just played some Monopoly (travel version which we bought on the ferry). As we approached Dover, we went outside to watch the Albion coast come nearer. I tried to capture the different shades of white in the intermittent sunshine, but I found my pictures to be quite dull, especially in composition.

Then we drove from Dover to our rented cottage near Penrith. An uneventful drive, if not for the little detail of having to drive on the wrong side of the road. Roundabouts were especially scary... Combined with some very narrow winding roads that made me wish no one would be coming from the other direction... But we made it to the cabin safe and sound.

The main building was beautiful, very picturesque. Our own wood cabin was less pretty, but contained all the necessary commodities.


One of the less boring shots of the cliffs of Dover:



The main building, next to our cabin:

I'm a bit schizophrenic. I'm horribly lazy and messy sometimes, but at the same time I enjoy organizing things efficiently, etc.

I've decided that it's too late now to continue blaming the mess in the study and the garage on "having moved in recently", it's been four months! Even though the study will be renovated somewhere next year (I hope), it's no excuse for leaving boxes lying around and other messes.
And the garage is a nightmare, I try to avoid going in there. The old fridge and dishwasher have been sold, but the old stove has not. There are bookcases that should be in the study. My weight training equipment is right in the middle, making it very hard to hang clothes up to dry. And then there are boxes, boxes, boxes...

Sundays shouldn't be entirely lazy

And with any luck, my first travel blog entry should be posted this evening or tomorrow

The holiday was "up", the return to work "down"... Yesterday shouldn't repeat itself soon, otherwise steps will have to be taken.

Processing the holiday pics is going well enough though. I think I'll write down a day to day journal-blog with the best pics included.

And tired, and feeling too lazy to start sorting through my 500+ pictures of the beautiful landscapes...