I have a sunburn in April

I’m on lunch, where I seem to always be whenever I blog. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. I was meant to go to the gym, but I’ve got a meeting at 2 and wouldn’t have been able to work out and shower in time to be back. I could always NOT shower, but then, that just makes me gross, doesn’t it?

Last night we had a games night at our flat. It was only myself, Mark, Krystin and Alex, but it was a great time. We played Rumikub and then Boogle, which I forgot how much I enjoy! Although we have the Master Boogle version – meaning it flashes red constantly and could possibly give me an epileptic fit. Regardless, I still enjoyed it. I even found the word ‘chav’ in one of the turns (of course, the two Englishmen in the group didn’t, but Krystin did which cancelled that would-have-been-awesome point out!).

I’ll write a more detailed blog next time with pictures, but Mark and I went to his parents’ place in Shropshire for the Easter holiday break. We got the best weather in the whole of the UK – and I managed to even get a sunburn (in April? IN ENGLAND?!). I didn’t know that was possible… But we had a really great time, in short, drank a lot of wine, relaxed outdoors, had some hikes throughout the fields and hills, harassed a LOT of baby lambs, and ate a lot of great food.

Oh and last week I got an iPhone. This can either be perceived as ‘awesome’ or ‘I'm a sell-out’ to most people. However, I’ve been dying to get it since Apple first released it in the States in June 2007 (I was actually home in July so I made sure to go to an Apple store to play with it. Love at first sight.). I’ve named it iLoveIt. I think that’s appropriate. It’s also got me out of being lost twice now – which is impressive considering I’ve had it for a week now and 4 of those days I was out of service (not the phone’s fault, Shropshire’s fault). Or maybe that's not impressive and I have a poor sense of direction?

Anyways, I have to get back to work. I’ll be sure to upload pictures from Shropshire, if you’ve not seen them on Facebook yet.

The ideal location

The weather has been ideal for the past few weeks. Which means that since the Easter holiday break starts at 5.30pm on Thursday – rain is forecasted for the next four days in a row, including Thursday and Friday. Typical Murphy’s Law. Or as Will calls it in About a Boy by Nick Hornby, Sods Law. At least for the time being it’s still nice out and Krystin and I may even get in a cheeky barbeque before it all goes south.

Yesterday I spent a fantastic day in Highgate, North London. It’s technically called ‘Highgate Village’ – which suits the area well. For an area located in London, it honestly felt just like a village. It was such a surprise! And of course I’ve added it to Mark and my (ever growing) list of possible locations we will want to move to. Which of course means I’ve now already gone through a number of pages in Primelocation to check out how far the pound can go there.

We’ve come up with a list of necessities for our future property, where the majority of them need to be ticked in order for us to say ‘yes, we’ll take it!’. It must have:
• Storage space for all of our luggage and things we don’t want out in the open
• A large double bedroom or a double bedroom with a single bedroom which we can use as storage/study room. We’ve got a lot of stuff between us!
• A kitchen big enough for Mark to make a mess of while I clean up as he cooks (Monica Gellar style)
• A shower with appropriate water pressure
• Ground floor would be ideal, light and airy
• Possible garden access – if not, then a nearby park
• Safe area so I don’t worry about coming home at night
• Close enough to local transport and food shopping

We’ll see how we do. Sadly we can’t start looking until Jun/July, since we’re probably not going to start the lease in Aug.

It's a sunny day in L-Town, despite the anarchy!

I just had a great lunch. The food wasn’t the part that was great. It was the news! I ran into the canteen, like most days here at News Int, and I grabbed a cup of soup (26p) and a portion of chips (57p) – I normally stay away from the chips but I had a craving and couldn’t help myself – and scanned the room to see where I could sit. Andy (my line manager) was seated at a small table on his own so I pulled up a seat.

Most would think sitting with their manager during lunch isn’t the best way to go, however Andy is really easy going and great to chat to. Plus, I’ve been so busy with other work with the team this week we haven’t had a proper catch-up, so it was a good opportunity to hear how I was doing. (Being ‘in limbo’ – his words – is stressful at times, so it’s good to know!) Thankfully, he gave me good news! It doesn’t seem likely that come the end of my ‘temporary’ period (30 Jun) I’ll be gone from News Int. Even if I am not hired on full time (due to the budget, not my performance) he’s going to come up with a way to keep me around.

Well thank God for that!

Other work related news – I’m at News Int for the whole of April. No Blackbridge at all, which gives me the opportunity to fully invest myself with work here. Never a bad thing, especially when things are so busy.

It’s the G20 Summit here in London (it started yesterday) and things were meant to really kick off yesterday. We were told to dress down yesterday and today so as not to ‘stand out’ and avoid briefcases (not that I own one) in case they might make us any more of a target. I’m not sure if it’s the fact I’m too far south east from the City (it’s probably two miles away at the most) but I didn’t see any disruption other than the helicopters hovering overhead. Although, it was cool knowing Obama was within miles of me. He may be my president, but he’s also a superstar! Although the chances of me passing by his cavalcade are slim! I can still hope…

Oh and other news, Mark, Kerry and I are going to the Reading Festival on 28 Aug! Ages away, I know, but the line up is getting me excited, mainly for the fact I’m going to see Kings of Leon finally!