"Love" doesn't even come close ...

to explaining how I felt about this movie. I ADORED it. It really was an "epic" reminding me of those timeless, classic movies like Gone With The Wind. Both Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman were stunning - all I can say is OSCAR!

I have already downloaded the soundtrack and will most definitely buy the movie when it is released onto DVD.

Off to "Australia"

Not back home but to the movie "Australia". Going to see it with my Mum and Dad today. Really looking forward to it as I think it's going to be great!

I love this mug!

As it so happens, I am already a fan of Emma Bridgewater (I love her "Daniel Craig" teatowel) but this is one of my favourite mugs. I first spotted it for a friend of mine (a bookworm) and have been waiting for an excuse to buy it for myself ~ but Santa beat me to it! I absolutely love it .... and it's so true!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I can't believe it - it's almost here!

One more sleep!!

All I can say is

MERRY CHRISTMAS

(to my Finnish family: Hyvää Joulua!)

(to my Swedish friends: God Jul!)

(to my Flemish friends: Zalig Kerstfeest!)

(to my Colombian friends: ¡Feliz Navidad!)
(to my friends in China this year: Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan!)

(to my Irish friends: Nollaig Shona Dhuit!)

I need me some smouldering Elvis.... STAT!

Ahhh that's better. Having a really horrible time at work (every day I get another example of why I need to leave here and find a new job STAT) and my boss is determined to make this a really horrible Christmas for me. Let's look at this effort so far:

1. He didn't pay me! I was due to be paid (with a contracted bonus) last Friday - the last weekend before Christmas (i.e. perfect timing to finish off my shopping - both gift and food).

2. He finally paid me last night (AFTER the weekend) but grudgingly!

3. Despite giving him and my two other bosses, really nice and expensive presents, he hasn't given me anything and has WITH-HELD the presents my other bosses gave him to pass on to me.

4. We haven't had a Christmas lunch or meal.

5. I was due to be off tomorrow (we should be closing today and re-opening on 5th January) and had used my overtime to take the day off to chill out and do all the last minute things I couldn't afford to do on the weekend when I didn't get paid and he's just demanded I come in tomorrow to print off an email for him (????!!!!!) and I have to be in early and he'll let me know LATE afternoon, when I can leave .... and I might have to come in as well on the 27th and 2nd ... to PRINT EMAILS?!?!!

It's just one thing after another and I am so upset, I could just burst into tears (although I don't want to give him the satisfaction).

Every single day I look for a new job and I hope and pray one of my applications that I've submitted comes off EARLY in the new year!

Two sleeps!

until Christmas?!

I am so excited and cannot wait! Eeek! Eeek! Eeek! Squeeeeeal!

Happy Birthday to my friends Liv & Tania!

I thought this was soooooo appropriate, Liv! CAKE!

Have a fantastic birthday today Liv and Tania!

Twilight ... the short review

Simply, I adoooooooooooored it!

In other words, if I had to give it a number from 1 to 10, I'd give it a gazillion. :-)

T Minus Eight Hours

until I see

TWILIGHT!!!!

It is released today in England (can anyone say .... EEEEK??!) I am so excited. I am going to the 5pm session which means I got into work early, am working through lunch all so I can leave early and see this movie.

Keep the Faith

I had a interview yesterday (from 11.30pm to 2.45pm) for a position I really wanted. You know when everything comes together and it just feels right?!

They promised to call us at 5pm (same day) and let us know but it was at 6pm, I was called and told I didn't get it. However Andrew (the Principal) was really lovely and said I was (and I quote) a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry close second and that they had spent the last hour trying to decide between me and the ultimately successful candidate.

He said what swayed it was the amount of PR / Marketing duties required and the lady they went with had more experience in that field. He said I couldn't have improved my application or interview as everything excellent and I was an incredibly strong candidate. He actually was very sweet and made me feel quite good for doing so well, despite of the end result.

I KNOW my job is out there (I did think this might be it) so I am acknowledging the disappointment and just congratulating myself for coming so close. And most of all? I'm keeping the faith.....

Success!

I have this written on a little plastic card in my diary and I was reading it this morning and thought I'd share it here.

To laugh often and much,
to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children,
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others,
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier, because you have lived,
this is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Christmas Tag!

Tagged by Gena so here goes...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Can I say both? I love wrapping presents and then putting them in a gift bag (yes, I am destroying the planet one gift bag at a time...)

2. Real tree or Artificial? (Chanting...) Fake, Fake, Fake! I am too much of a neat-freak to handle dropped pine needles.

3. When do you put up the tree? The 1st December or the weekend before...

4. When do you take the tree down? Quite soon after Christmas but I leave something up for the 12 days of Christmas (don't want bad luck).

5. Do you like eggnog? Never had it but that doesn't stop me from thinking I would really dislike it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Barbie Campervan. I STILL remember opening it.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Parents.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Sometimes you stumble upon something you just know is perfect for someone but there's no one per se that is easy to buy for.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Old-fashioned snail mail.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I am too diplomatic to say here....

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a Wonderful Life

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? EARLY! (I am talking January early). I have to get everything bought, wrapped and sent by September to make Sea Mailing dates for Australia!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope. Do not dig re-gifting.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? The whole traditional Christmas meal Mum makes.

16. Lights on the tree? Love lights on the tree - especially twinkly ones. I have static coloured ones on mine - bargain from Asda for about £3!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Grown Up Christmas List by Michael Buble

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Being with family - so I travel four miles most years to my parents and every now and then 10,000 miles back home to Australia!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Arrrhhhh.... there's Rudolph. And Dasher. Dancer. Prancer. Comet. Vixen............ It'll come to me...

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I have a star but I love Angels.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? If home in Australia, we open the presents on Christmas Eve with the Finnish-side of the family (as per the Finnish tradition) but here in England, I open them on Christmas Day morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Grumpiness of shoppers (including me), big crowds and being unable to find a parking space anywhere.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I like traditional colours (red and green) and love my fun ornaments like a koala with a santa hat, flip flops, and a girl wanting to go shopping!

24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? ALL of it!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A new job and my Christmas bonus!

I tag everyone who loves Christmas!

Page Clips .... I love them!!!

My newest favourite thing. Magnetic page clips! Oh my! Now I have a "thing" for bookmarks anyway and have about 200 stuffed into a Tiffany & Co bag on my nightstand and ceremoniously select a new bookmark when I start a new book but since I've taken to bringing a book with me to work, these magnetic page clips are a Godsend! They are small, extra cute, and keep your place no matter how much your book gets thrown about in your hang bag!

The two designs I have are the penguin and cat (cuuuuute) and I am loving them. You also get four or six in each pack (I can't remember how many). Bargain!

You can check out more designs at: http://www.writing.com/main/shop/item_id/12345/id/1065

P.S. I Love You

I used to belong to LoveFilm (a DVD rental service) but when I was cutting back, I got rid of my membership. Anyway I was thinking about it the other day, wishing I had my membership back when low and behold, they sent me a Gift Card for 2 months free rentals :-) WOO HOO

So today I sat down and watched "P.S. I Love You".... and cried from probably the opening scene.... and then continued all the way through.

One of my favourites part ..... (below)....

Jeffrey Dean Morgan! YUM! I love him (love him as Denny in Grey's and as John Winchester in Supernatural!) I just love him! Lovely, sad, uplifting, film!

Pub Quiz

As you know I am in a local Village Pub Quiz team and once a month on a Friday we meet at the pub and test our wits, (finally an outlet for all those random factoids I've accumulated over the years).

We have never come lower than third and last time we WON! WOO HOO! Anyway I thought I'd share the quiz for a bit of fun and you can see how many you got right. There are two parts - a general quiz and then a picture quiz. I'll post the answers below too!

GENERAL QUIZ

1. Who replaced John Prescott as the new deputy leader of the Labour Party?

2. Who has the most Chirstmas Number 1s since the Singles Chart began in 1955?

3. How many countries make up Great Britain?

4. Who plays Inspector Clouseau in the 2006 remake of Pink Panther?

5. What animal is the Hippopotamus most closely related? Pig, Whale or Rhinoscerous?

6. What is the name of the neighbours in The Simpsons?

7. Who is Joseph Ratzinger?

8. How many full caps for England does David Beckham have?

9. How many children (biological and adopted) does Angelina Jolie have?

10. After Smith & Jones, what are two of the next three most common English-sounding surnames in Great Britain?

11. What number is known as "half way" in a game of Bingo?

12. Which is the largest Desert in the world?

13. What did Louise Brown become famous for in 1978?

14. How many men has America claimed have walked on the moon?

15. What is the race of the "Mighty Quinn" in the song by Manfred Mann?

16. Who is Caryn Elaine Johnson also known as?

17. Constantinople changed it's name to .....?

18. Which sea in the North Atlantic ocean shares no shore line?

19. Which city had the world's first Skyscraper? Chicago, New York or Philadelphia?

20. Which British comedian (part of a comedy double act) was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson in 1890?


THE PICTURE QUIZ
(Click on the image to enlarge)

GENERAL QUIZ ANSWERS:

1. Answer: Harriet Harman

2. Answer: The Beatles

3. Answer: Three (England, Scotland and Wales). The UNITED KINGDOM consists of four (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)

4. Answer: Steve Martin

5. Answer: Whale

6. Answer: The Flanders

7. Answer: Pope Benedict XVI

8. Answer: 107

9. Answer: Six

10. Answer: Two from: Williams, Taylor, Brown

11. Answer: 45

12. Answer: The Antartica

13. Answer: She was the world's first "test tube baby".

14. Answer: 12

15. Answer: Eskimo

16. Answer: Whoopi Goldberg

17. Answer: Istanbul

18. Answer: Sargasso Sea

19. Answer: Chicago

20. Answer: Stan Laurel

PICTURE QUIZ ANSWERS:

1. Answer: The Scream

2. Answer: The Laughing Cavalier

3. Answer: Sunflowers

4. Answer: Val Donnican

5. Answer: Cleo Laine

6. Answer: Perry Como

7. Answer: Copenhagen

8. Answer: Berlin

9. Answer: Barcelona

10. Answer: Ed Stewart

11. Answer: Jimmy Young

12. Answer: Mike Reid

SOB!

My favourites, Austin Healy and his professional partner, Erin Boag, were eliminated last night from "Strictly Come Dancing". Soooooob!!!

I am now cheering on Tom Chambers and his professional partner, Camilla Dallerup (see below)

Movies! Movies! Movies!

I had a lovely relaxing weekend (after doing some household chores) watching some DVDs that I have been meaning to get around to watching. The first (and best) was "Mamma Mia" with Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan. I really, REALLY enjoyed it and so glad that Mum owns it on DVD so I can borrow it and watch it again! (Incidentially I now TOTALLY understand why so many people have been flocking to Greece after watching it. BEAUTIFUL!)



The second was "Palo Pinto Gold" with Trent Willmon (the whole reason I bought the DVD). It was ... ok. I thought Trent was good in it but the script and cinematography was, honestly, quite horrible. It was a low budget and amateurish attempt which is a shame. It could have been fabulous or at the least, better.



The third was Toby Keith's "Beer for my Horses". I don't know what it is but I just really like Toby Keith. I definitely prefer "Broken Bridges" to this endeavour and I prefer the storyline in the "Beer for my Horses" music video to the storyline in the movie but hey ho, what am I gonna do? :-) I might watch it again and see if my opinion improves....

Odd Thomas

What a great book. I've only read 279 pages of 420 but boy I'm really enjoying it. The funny thing is my very VERY first impression was that the story was, well "odd" but within the first fourteen pages, my interest was piqued and I kept reading .... and I am so glad I have. It's been a great and gripping story.

Four Christmases

I had yesterday off and went to see "Four Christmases" (because Tim McGraw was in it) and it was ooooooooooooooooooooooookay. I did laugh out loud at some parts but overall it was pretty cringe-worthy and I couldn't help but think it could have been so much better. Still I got to see Tim on the big screen.