happiness is my default position

Its been a long time since I posted again. It's sad really, because I miss LJ so much. Tumblr generally makes me mad and it's hard to have conversations or make friends. I miss the days of joining a community and making friends and being able to avoid wank so much easier.

So an actual update is necessary I think before everyone disappears entirely.

I started a new job two weeks ago and there are good and bad parts to it. The good part mainly being that I get to finish at 3.30 every day now which means I'm home at 4pm. Perfect for cold and dark winter evenings. The bad isn't really that bad. I have nothing to do, which I'm assured won't last for long. They're very laid back back about showing me how to do anything. And I don't have anyone to talk to because my team is a small group of older men who spend most of their time out on the track. On the plus side though I get to take as many training courses as I want to push me up the engineering ladder, which is exciting.

Today I'm starting this "healthy living detox" that my sister had been doing for the last two years. It lasts for three weeks, which takes me up to the 1st of December and I can enjoy the holiday season after this period of no carbs, sugar, caffeine or alcohol. I've actually been looking forward to it all week. Maybe I'll update more with my progress.

I still have to post something about my holiday in Europe with ditchwitchbitch which was fantastic. I also want to get back to writing which I've failed to do as much of this year as I wanted to. I'd quite like a challenge of some sort.

To everyone else, happy Wednesday!

I am celebrating with a day of rest, though it has unsurprisingly turned into a day of productivity the levels of which I never achieve at work. I have been awake for 6 hours. I have taken a test (for a new job as Records Controller - a step up from where I am right now), done my food shopping for the week, done some laundry, played with the rabbits and cleaned their hutch, completed a level of Marvel Ultimate Alliance (only 3 to go), uploaded a few of my fics to AO3 (link below if anyone's interested), painted one wall of my bedroom & two walls of the back hall, and made my lunch.

Now I plan to watch Captain America, because it's the 4th of July and when better to watch it? Not that I need a reason. If I did need a reason, surely these would do...

( Who's strong and brave, here to save the American way? )

Just a few links to things in-case anyone wants to add me on anything:

Tumblr : Bambiesque
Twitter : jacqueline_c
AO3 : miss_whimsy
Pottermore : ProphecyAsphodel14473

Today was my first trip to Weight Watchers in about 6 weeks. They've moved the time and it kind of messes things up for me, but I wanted to go this week because last Friday was my one year anniversary of getting down to my target weight and I wanted to see if I'd managed to stay at a healthy weight for a whole year, which I've never done for years.

Happily, I made it! I'm 2lbs less than I was this time last year in fact, which is another little bonus. I got a little charm for my keyring to say congratulations and I'm feeling quite pleased with myself right now.

In other news, Shawn moves in on Saturday and his room is now free of all my junk - though I'm not sure how I managed it. I have thrown away a lot of crap, which is always a good feeling. I've rearranged my room, which will take some getting used to, but is so much warmer, I'm glad I did it. And I've completely redecorated the living room - I had a very busy weekend - and I'll post some photos at some point. I can't get over how much brighter it is now. It's beautiful. I also painted half of my bedroom - the other half will be done eventually.

My great-aunt's funeral is tomorrow in Newcastle, so I'll be going up for the day. I just wish it was under better circumstances, since it's my mum's birthday on Tuesday.

My back isn't as bad as it was, but it's still aching almost constantly. I tried taking the pills I was prescribed but they make me tired, dizzy and gave me terrible nightmares, so I felt even worse when I was taking them. I went back to work on Thursday, which was probably stupid but I felt guilty about leaving my colleagues to do my work since my route is one of the two busiest on the railway and therefore my inbox is always full.

Everything's set now for Shawn to move in on the 17th of March. I'm still a little nervous about it, but I know it's a good thing and it will help with a lot of stuff. He's very excited at least.

I've also got everything planned for my sister's 30th birthday in May, which is a relief, and I've made a start on booking things for my holiday in September with ditchwitchbitch. I have my flights booked and all the hotels in Italy are sorted. I'm excited now I know it's actually happening.

I'll be back to posting more this week, including a new top 5 as soon as I work out work to do next. Any suggestions?

Last night I set my laptop down and went to put the kettle on. When I got back 20 seconds later and picked up my laptop, the screen part fell off. It's completely broken in two. Tomorrow I'm taking it to hopefully get fixed, but it's going to cost at least £50 (the 'diagnosis' fee). This means I'll be without internet probably over the weekend. How will I survive? What did people do before the internet? Read books?

Right now I have the laptop hooked up to the TV, which is actually pretty awesome. Everything's huge. I may play The Sims just to see what it looks like. I kind of want to make graphics too.

My mum is coming tomorrow so at least that's something to look forward to. I want her to watch the new Sherlock, but I also want to show her Suits. We'll only have time for one. Oh, decisions, decisions.

I did actually watch the Suits pilot again this week, to introduce my new housemate - Shawn - to it. He's taking the spare room in March which will give us all some spare cash, now hils is staying in the UK. I have been educating Shawn in good TV for months now. We've done Community (which he loves), Arrested Development, Spaced and Pushing Daisies. He's enjoyed everything, so at least he has good taste. He loved the Suits pilot (Harvey and Mike have an excellent dynamic, don't you know? I tried to rein in my exclamations of "omgyestheyresoinlove!" Whether I will be able to contain it indefinitely remains to be seen) and is watching the rest when they air.

And finally, ( because it makes me happy and will never not be awesome )

The first week of the year is over already. Hope it was a good one for you. Mine hasn't been that great. I haven't been sleeping and work has been pretty bad. Friday was bad enough to make me cry with frustration. None of the management team wants to take responsibility for anything and we end up having to have meetings about things which could be sorted out by telling certain other people to just do their job. Anyway, I'm kind of dreading going to back tomorrow. At least Sherlock is on tonight.

I've been thinking this week about last year and the year ahead. Last year was a pretty amazing one for me. For a lot of people it seemed to be quite depressing, but I achieved a lot and I did a lot I'd never done before.

- I lost an extra 13lbs since the start of 2011 and have kept all the weight off.
- I ran 10K in June doing the Race for Life in June.
- I completed and posted a 25,000 word Psych fic, which I'd been writing for 2 years.
- I met Russell Howard in York after one of his shows
- I went to Comic Con for to the first time in July and had one of the best times of my life. I met Dominic Monaghan and hi-fived Dule Hill. Doesn't get much better than that.

I don't really like the idea of New Year resolutions. I mean if you want to change something, change it. But it's nice to have goals and something to work towards, so I've put together some for the year ahead.

- Stay at a healthy weight and preferably under 10.7 stones.

- Read 12 books. Yeah that doesn't sound like many, but somewhere along the way I've stopped reading actual books as much as I used to. So one a month is a nice goal to get me started again.

- Learn to play the violin. I used to play when I was younger but I gave it up. I've always loved it though and my mum bought me a new one, so I'd love to learn again.

- Write 100,000 words.

- Learn to drive. This has been on my list for years and it may not happen this year either, being so expensive and all, but I'd really like to try.

Apparently I'm only updating once a month now? It's odd because I have lots to say. Sadly not much of it is good stuff this week. Something has gone wrong every day now. Work's pretty crappy at the moment, my rabbits are fighting again, I'm sick and of course, NBC is treating Community like crap so it's in danger of being cancelled. This is sad for so many reasons. Not just that it's a great show, probably the best thing on TV right now in fact, but because it's another sign that smart TV is constantly passed over for mindless drivel and if something is easy and dull and doesn't do anything interesting or different, it can stay there for a hundred years so long as it raises a ton of money. So whether or not you like Community, if you like television written by intelligent people, instead of the other 99% of predictable crap and reality dreck that gets produced, please support.


In happier news, Psych this year continues to be amazing. The writing is at a level it hasn't been at in a couple of years. Season 4 had it's moments but the overall standard wasn't great. Season 5 had about 2 episodes I actually enjoyed, so that fact that we're up to episode 6 now and I think the standard is still excellent, says a lot. I've enjoyed what they're doing with the relationships this year. Lassie and Jules have had plenty of screen time and some good stories. The guest stars are guests rather than the main focus. I still think the Chief needs to be involved more, but who's to say that's not going to happen. I'm optimistic about the show again.

On a related topic, I'm almost half way through my psychbigbang fic, I really need to get on and get it done though. I only have a couple of weeks left now.

It's my 31st birthday, today. I've had a lovely day so far and I'm expecting lots more fun tonight when hils and I go out for dinner. Hopefully there will be some photos later. I bought myself a gorgeous new dress at the weekend so I'll be showing that off again.

My mum cam down today and took me to lunch and my sister was here at the weekend and took us to Scarborough for the day so I feel all happy and relaxed and loved.

If you haven't watched this, do it now. It made my day that much happier. A reference to Psych and Jeremy Piven dancing. What's not to love about this video?

Today's story is postponed until tomorrow on account of me being pretty depressed right now.

My day started out so well too, but the past few days I have been miserable and as I have just managed to make the weekend a total write-off by reading something I shouldn't have read. I don't know why the little things manage to upset me so much. Still it's not the best day for writing.

I can't believe its been a month since I posted. Well actually I can, considering. The weather has been strangely gorgeous for the last few weeks and I've enjoyed being out in it. Sunshine and heat are strange phenomena to the British, so it's best to take advantage while you have the opportunity. You never know when it's going to decide to rain for 40 days straight.

I have lost 2 and a half stones now (35lbs), so I am super excited and looking forward to buying myself a whole load of new clothes very soon.

I am now off work for 11 days. \o/ I have lots planned actually, starting with heading back to my parents tomorrow. Monday will be spent painting my sister's house. Wednesday I'll be visiting flakmagnet then taking the rabbits to the vet for their one year check up. Friday is the Royal Wedding and maybe I'm the only person in the country who cares, but I'm rather looking forward to it.

Naturally I was very sorry about Elisabeth Sladen who I grew up watching in Doctor Who and who made past seasons of this new series all the more enjoyable. I'm sure she'd be as excited as I am about new Doctor Who on Saturday though. I will no doubt have something to post about after that.