jenepel

Oh goodness it's Friday. Couldn't come soon enough. The best thing this week is getting to know the kitten - who now officially has a name. And that name is (drum roll!) NIMBUS! (Yeah, I know it didn't win the survey - suck it up!) I guess the Harry Potter love won out! I was forced to choose this afternoon when I took him to the vet for a quick check up (everything is fine) and registration visit. It was good because it forced me to make a decision and go for it. And then I put it on Facebook, which (according to Rach) definitely makes it official. So there you go. Anyway, he is ever adorable and so so sweet. Also, crazy. Seb is calling him Psycho and Trouble, interchangeably, because we do seem to spend a lot of time hauling him out of places he shouldn't be, or dodging as he comes hurtling out from who knows where, moving at breakneck speed. It's fun. And then there's me, waking up in the morning to this purring ball of fur who wants to cuddle. Amazing. Also, you should notice the cool new icon that I have already made of him. More to come I am sure. I actually added about ten new icons today - a big sort out of ones I had been saving and considering - so that's pretty exciting too.

In other news, the dollar/pound exchange rate is at $1.52 today. Which is fine, it doesn't really affect me anymore, so it shouldn't bother me. I barely have any dollars anymore, I'm not earning dollars, and I rarely spend them. So why should I care? And yet I heard that number and my stomach dropped. It's just the idea of it, I guess. And I think part of me is sad that if this had happened a year ago I would have been rejoicing right now. This time last year I was working at the Embassy, and every small fluctuation in the rate was watched with eagle eyes as we all thought about what it meant for our finances. At that point it was going up up up to over $2, so actually we were all pretty depressed about it, but the point remains. I've spent my entire life worrying (or at least thinking) about the exchange rate, because I was always spending both dollars and pounds. I always straddled that line between off-base and on. And my mind can't seem to get used to the idea that it actually doesn't matter to me anymore. Of course it matters to the people around me (Rachel, my parents) but technically it doesn't have an effect on my own finances. Or not much of one anyway. (Of course you could argue here that one of the reasons I changed jobs was that my salary at the Embassy was so low, and now that number would be worth about 25% more because of the rate change, but that's neither here nor there.)

Also on the subject of "this time last year" I was thinking about Starbucks. The end of October is traditionally when I start thinking about the red cups, and when will they be here! I actually get quite excited about it. Gingerbread lattes are pretty much the only thing I ever drink at Starbucks. Otherwise, if pressed (like if there with other people) I get a caramel frappacino in the hot and a caramel machiatto in the cold. (Boring I know.) The rest of the year I'm kinda take it or leave it, not being a huge coffee girl (TEA!) but the red cups lure me in just for the gingerbread. (A side note here to say, why yes, I do have an obsession with gingerbread. Raise your hand if you remember my "perfect gingerbread recipe quest" last year, which led to an incident we don't talk about, which may or may not have been molassas on my macbookpro keyboard.) ANYWAY, I have sadness this year, because I just realised I will have very little access to Starbucks on a daily basis. There isn't one near my house, and there isn't one near my work, which leads to me having to actually go into the city to get it. Whereas last year, there were like three on my commute, so for two months I had the daily question of "can I resist today?" I'm actually quite sad about this. So then I started thinking about the holiday season in general, and what I'm going to miss by being stuck working out here in BFE (otherwise known as zone 4). I love living out here, but it's not too good for working. I miss working in the hustle and bustle of zone 1, because in Finchley Central it doesn't quite feel like London. I mean what's the point of living in the city if you never get into the centre of it? I used to complain like crazy at all the shoppers and insanity on Oxford Street the later into December we got, but at least it felt like Christmas. This year, the weather will be the only Christmassy thing I see, giving that people don't decorate their homes much. I guess I'll need a lot of carols to get me through it! And we'll have to do a really great Christmassy decorating job on our own house (I mean inside really). I don't know, it's just that I've felt somewhat nostalgic towards the Embassy lately - not that I want to go back and work there exactly, just that I've been thinking about it at lot. Eh.

Seb and I were talking about Nano yesterday. It is now literally a week away, which is TERRIFYING. I have no idea what I'm doing at all, and it's in A WEEK! That's insane. And worrying. Lucky old Rach has her entire thing sketched out already. I'm excited, but it's also very strange going into it for a second time. Last year I had no idea what to expect, and winning was great. This year I've got an idea of how it was, and also if I don't win then I'm doing worse than last year, so that's added pressure.

I'm at home tonight, but tomorrow I actually have to go to my parents' again. Yes, I know I was just there last week, but I'm having a dilemma with my dress for the wedding. The thing is that it FINALLY came in the mail, but it doesn't quite fit. It was made for (how can I put this delicately?) someone with less up top. This is what happens when you try to pick out a dress to work for several people's body type. I may have linked it before, but this is the dress. So I'm having alterations done - the good thing is that of course it's too long (everything is) so the plan is to take the foot or so of fabric that gets removed from the bottom and add some of it somehow to the bust area. We shall see! But yes, I have to go home for the fitting. I guess I could have found someone to do it in London, but that would have meant finding a good seamstress when my mom already has a friend who always does that stuff for us and we trust her, plus you know it would have cost at least twice as much to get it done in the city. So, going home. And leaving Nimbus for a night. Sob.

One good thing about going home is that I'm hoping to convince my mom to come see HSM3 with me on Sat night. (Yeah, isn't that just the most ridiculous Sat night plans ever! HSM3 with my mom!) I can't find anyone in London who will agree to see it with me (are you guys surprised by this?) and dang it I WANT TO SEE IT. I don't even care, and my ears are deaf to your mockery. Look at the good review! I wish it had existed when I was younger. And, btw, HMS is so much better for kids (and more wholesome) than Twilight. Not that that's saying much...

I leave you with an old meme that I've been meaning to do for ages, because I'm just in that kind of mood:

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