Up in the Air!

No, not the Clooney movie, but my life.

The last month has been tumultuous to say the least. Batman visited for the Tall Ships weekend here in Waterford, which was a great weekend. Then he went home. And thats when it started. The distance has proven too much for the caped crusader and he/we decided it was time to call it quits. Unwillingly it happened. Then less than 5 days later I received word about an interview. In Hull. Ironic. So, I went to the interview, got the job, and am moving to Hull in less than a week.

Three years with him, trying to find work to be in the same place as him. We break up and the universe gets a sense of humour. But, beggars can't be choosers, and as there are no jobs on this side of the water I accepted and am now leaving Tramore. Again. How many times is this?

So, my future is all a bit of a jumble. I have a good job, but no guy to come home to at the end of the day. I have great friends who let me stay on their couch, but no place of my own. I have a fantastic family that are loving and supportive and encouraging....and I am choosing to leave them behind. I think that is going to be the hardest part.

But new beginnings and all that jazz. New job will lead to new friends. Living on the couch will push me to find somewhere to live. And Batman and I are going to go back to the beginning and date for a while, see how things lie.

All in all, I have no idea whats going to happen, but I'm excited to find out.

Look, I've been writing.

Dumbing Down

Sixty years ago it wasn't uncommon for some people to be unable to spell correctly, mostly due to a lack of education or the family's need for more regular incomes. You would like to think that we as a society have gone beyond that. It is not illegal to refuse anyone their right to an education but unfortunately our modern ways mean that people are still – or should that be again – losing a fighting battle with the English language.

Commonly regarded as the most complex language to master for those coming to it later in life, I believe it should be given the respect it deserves by those who call it mother tongue. But modern technology is gradually degrading it. With the invention of text messages and instant messaging services our communication age rounded a corner – leaving half of the alphabet behind. Words have been shortened, others replaced by symbols or numbers and even vowels removed – all in an attempt to save space and time. Even sites such as Twitter constrict the amount you can write in one go, at 140 characters a turn.

Why are we all in such a hurry?

The written word is a wonderful part of our lives. Think to those well thumbed books on your shelf; letters from an old friend; an invitation to a weddings; cards on your birthday. Without these things our lives would ultimately be wildly different and without the written word none of these would be possible. One could argue that there have been entire societies and tribes who used merely pictures and images to convey messages, but none of those people have ever felt the joy of following “Once upon a time...” to its conclusion, or reading a love letter dedicated solely to them.

Spring time

It's Spring. There are snowdrops and crocuses all over the place, and the stems of daffodils poking their heads up out of the ground. And there are daffodils and tulips in the shops. It is Spring and it is glorious. The tulips are vivid colours. Reds and yellows and pure white. Just knowing they're there makes me smile.

However, A box of Cadbury's Roses does not a bouquet make.

Valentines Day

A day for love; for romance; for being over the top about the one that you're lucky enough to be with. So I did what I do best....I baked. Valentines cookies.
The paler ones are yummy sugar cookies, a recipe borrowed from my sister. The darker ones are chocolate cookies, the recipe gotten here. They were fun to make, and fun to eat. I drizzled white chocolate over them once they were cooled, to give them that little something more. To make them a touch more interesting. I tried writing on a number of them, but they didn't turn out quite right. More practice I believe.


The day itself was fairly typical. Batman cooked for me, which is always nice. As a day it wasn't what I was expecting, but when do Holidays turn out like you thought they would?

One Month

Today is the one month anniversary of my leaving home. And it's really starting to kick in. The homesickness I mean.

I guess I had high hopes, and thought I'd be in employment of some kind by the start of February. So far I have had one - unsuccessful - interview, and thats been it. Not a hint of a word from anywhere else. Oh well. Don't have the magic powers to sort it all out unfortunately.

What bothers me is this: I graduated two and a half years ago, and since then everyone has said to me that it will happen. "Something will come up for you." I'm kind of done with being patient and trying to find work and nothing happening. I can be a very patient person, but two years of waiting for something thats right for me to appear is about a year too long.

Fingers crossed for the next leg of the journey. Hopefully there won't be too many hurdles in this one.

Boys are stupid - Throw rocks at them.

Boys are messy. And smelly. And loud. And inconsiderate. And I am aware I sound about 12 years old right about now, but it is kind of how I feel. I am in a house with four boys. Its tough. I am more comfortable here than I was ten days ago; but I'm still feeling the urge to jump ship. If only slightly.

With Batman working all day Monday to Friday, it leaves a lot of time to fill. And though I am filling it in an attempt to find a job, there is only so much time I can research non existant jobs. The average daily job posting per jobsite is about 15. Take into account being under- and being over-qualified for about 90% of them and we can work out that I'm applying for about 2 jobs a day. Which is good, especially the way things are, but its also not very positive.

I am doing my best to stay focused and keep searching; keep applying. Even when I know the chances of my getting an interview are slim I will still apply. Which I think is the main aim. Surely someone out there is going to like what they see on my application.

I'm Here!!

I've been in the Uk for less than a week. I already kind of want to abandon my plan. Because I'm still scared. I thought being here with Batman would make me feel less scared, but it doesn't. It helped for a day or two and then wore off.

I've had a few days of not having to do anything, besides a little tidying up. So I've been thinking. And we all know thats a bad idea. But I've come to the conclusion that I don't really like the person I've become. The girl I was 3 years ago would hate me right now. And I'm not sure how to change that. I don't want to go backwards, thats for sure, but I'm not sure yet how to go forwards and still get back to liking myself.

I do promise updates though. Because it seems that I will have some time on my hands in the upcoming weeks, I will try to write more often. I say that alot though. But we'll see how it goes.