Disgraceful Desk

My desk at home was a disgrace. I could put nothing on it and papers were sliding off. So I took a picture of it and started at it.

So I started pulling things off the desk and out of the drawers and things just got worse.

(Raechelle, is your heart beating fast? Do you want to come here and sort this for me? Too bad!) I went to work and made a list. I love making lists. Lists make me feel grounded. In order to organise all my papers and things in the following manner:

1. Citizenship Papers- Anything I think I would need when I apply for Permanent Leave to Remain and then UK Citizenship went in this pile.
2. Finances UK- All my UK bank statements, etc. went in this pile.
3. Finances US-All bank statements, etc. from the US went here
4. Health- Anything having to do with my health insurance, the ultra-sound from when I had that pain, etc.
5. Living-This was a bit more general. My leases, recent bills, and documents pertaining to my current living situation.
6. Manuals- for all my electrical appliances. You know, just in case I forget how to use my stereo.
7. Memorabilia- Pictures, cards, and various crap that means nothing to anyone but me.
8. Menus- All my take out menus with Joy, the restaurant we ordered from this weekend on the top.
9. Pension- As if that's worth anything right now.
10. School- All paperwork I need for work. Not papers to mark but contracts and such.

Then I had degrees, certificates, visa stuff from Mexico, and various other important things I didn't know how to categorise, but I knew I would need one day. They went into another pile.

In my drawer I put the stuff I needed to grab quickly: post-it notes, paper clips, passport, checking books, stamps, usb cables, usb stick, etc.

But then there was stuff I needed for recording podcasts and voiceovers-headphones, microphone, etc. I put these things in a box. Oh and all this stationary and 3 random clipboards. What the hell was I going to do with them?

Then I took another look at the piles. I combined piles 1 and 3 into a big accordion file. The Memorabilia went into two boxes which I marked. I put all the Manuals in the top drawer of the little wooden drawer organiser thingy next to my desk. My printer paper was in the 2nd and the rest of my stationary went the bottom drawer. The three clipboards and a box of stationary I put on top of the little wooden drawer organiser thingy. Everything else went into separate large envelope files. I labelled everything.

Then I started to put it all back together. I had some random little decorative things which I placed in the appropriate places. The files that I would need to grab with more frequency I put in the bottom part of my desk. And after about 6 hours, I was done.


And this is how I spent my day. I had every intention of sorting my kitchen and bathroom as well, but lost my steam. I will be cleaning a bit more tomorrow. I've made a list a list of what needs to get done.

Don't Worry!

I didn't forget. I mailed in my absentee ballot last week. What about you? Did you vote early? If not will you remember on November 4?

A Blog to Procrastinate By

Ahhhh what to do what to do. It is my October break and I have made no plans to travel. I have a stack of papers to mark, a desk to organise, a flat to clean, and it is a beautiful day so I probably should go for a run. However, I think I will blog a little instead of all of those.

Procrastination at its finest.

I had a lovely weekend. On Friday I went to see Aimee Mann at Indigo in the O2 with my friend Jason. I'm not a big fan, but she put on a great show.

On Sat. I went out to SO, a Japanese restaurant in Soho to celebrate Dave, May's fiancée's, birthday. It was through Dave that I met J- , the man I mentioned in a previous post, thus I first met up with him and we went together. It was a fun dinner with drinks afterwards and then J- came back to mine for the rest of the weekend more or less. :-) He did leave to go to a football game on Sunday, but returned later that eve and we ordered an outrageous amount of Indian food from my favourite Indian restaurant in Surbiton, Joy. I just realised that both SO and Joy promote themselves as 'contemporary' food. So is this as opposed to traditional or ancient??? Does this mean that the food is fresh and not made a week ago? Or was it made with modern means as opposed to being over a wood fire? Well whatever 'contemporary' means when it comes to Japanese and Indian food, both were very yummy!

J- and I stayed up to an ungodly hour Sat eve/ Sun morn watching YouTube videos of Bill Bailey. This one is one of my favourites. I encourage you to go to YouTube and find some more.



So, J- left this morning. And, here I am blogging about my weekend to avoid doing work. I've also been hanging out on Facebook and chatting with friends. Later this eve I'm headed off to having a drink with a friend in London. Thus, I think I'm best to go and get some work done especially as it is almost 4-oops.

Getting Back in the Groove...Slowly...Kinda

Surprise! A post!

I know I haven't been blogging as I was before. I've not even been a faithful reader to those on my blogroll. Sorry about that. I will endeavour to be a more avid reader, as it is something I greatly enjoy.

I'm trying to overcome whatever this is that has kept me from writing furiously. I know that within these last two months I have thought about blogging and then thought, "Naah...I don't really have anything to say." As if that has ever stopped me from blogging before.

I've also thought, "I'm just too tired to write," on more than one occasion when I thought about blogging. It's almost like I just shoved all thoughts and feelings within me and kind of became a virtual hermit. In a way my creativity just shrivelled up. The well went dry.

I am not writing to say, 'Hey look, I'm back!' I don't know if I am really. However, I do think that if maybe I sit and force myself to write things, post here that maybe...just maybe this block or what ever it is that keeps me from sitting and writing will go. Hell maybe I'll actually get back up to snuff with 'My Luck with Cars and Boys'

Items of note...

* Still in the lead, but just barely, in this biggest loser competition. I've lost 11% off my initial weight so far. I stopped dieting this week just to see what would happen. I'll bet that I end up gaining weight.

* Bought my plane tickets back to the US for the holidays. It turns out that my parents are on the same leg of the flight from Atlanta to Tucson that I am, although they bought their tickets months before me. Serendipitous, no?

* My ballot has been mailed, and I'm anxiously awaiting the election.

* I met Stephen Fry and had him sign my copy of Stephen Fry in America. He wrote, 'Heather, loved your country and your state,' and he chatted with me for a few seconds as well. I was like a giddy teenager all gah-gah about meeting a pop star.

* Went Ceilidh dancing in prep for James and Dawn's wedding last weekend. It was a great time. Their wedding isn't for a couple of weeks, so I hope I remember what I've learned then.

* Went to Festival of Sins, which some friends of mine put on every other month. Not something I normally do, but always a good time. Ended up meeting a friend of some friends. (FoS is not something he normally does either) It's very early days, so I am keeping mum about details and might be for some time. Let's just say that things seem to be going well thus far (touch wood, touch wood). He made me a roast dinner last weekend-you gotta love that. :-D Not saying much else. I'm not feeling very comfortable about broadcasting my personal details all over the internet, which maybe is why I've not been blogging much.

Suddenly I want to keep my life to myself. Well, not suddenly really. But, I have or the last few months. I still like blogging, but I guess I feel that unless I have something really funny or interesting to say, it's best not to say anything. When I lost my internet connection, I got used to not having my blog as my outlet. My job has also been keeping me busy. Now that I'm a HoD there seems to be a lot of writing and thinking involved. It rather takes away the urge to do so on one's personal time (good God, that sounded really English!)

And so thank you my dear readers, who faithfully check in on me only to be disappointed lately, for being patient. I can't promise that I will be blogging with as much fury as I have in the past, but I will still be here and I will still write...from time to time at least. Oh and I'll be reading my blog roll more. That I do promise.