waiting for 2009

so I'm at home waiting for midnight...its shockingly quiet in Dublin, unlike back home where the noise builds up as it gets closer to midnight. I've spent New Year's Eve alone before, but even that time was far more exciting than now. I have not heard anything that closely resembles a firecracker, have not seen anything that looks like fireworks. I guess its just not an Irish thing.

So what's a girl to do on a quiet nice like this? Well, eat of course! I was hoping to wait til midnight...but the un-excitement (yes, there is no such word, I know) of it all has made me hungry. So off to the oven goes the chicken, and to the pans go the veggies and the couscous. The result...voila! A humble meal for one.


With an hour left til midnight and the threat of sleep looming at the back of my head, I decided to take a photo of the view from my balcony. I had earlier imagined that I'd be seeing fireworks, even if from a distance. But as the clocks draws nearer to 12, I'm becoming almost certain that it won't happen.

I'll try and post another update later, provided that there will be something worthy to post. In the meantime, Happy 2009 everyone!

those little things

the little joys...

It started with the handing over of the keys. It didn't matter that there were still men working on some parts of the apartment, hammering away. All I knew at that moment was that it was MY home. My first ever apartment at the (relatively) late age of 30. Independence in its truest form. I was literally jumping up and down minutes later from the excitement of it all.

Since then, it was one small thing after another: the blue plastic basket I bought to hold my cleaning materials, the little white jar to hold my kitchen utensils, the sets of tea towels for my kitchen, pillowcases, pillows, fitted sheets...its all the tiniest things that make me smile everytime I come home and unwrap them. Every single piece that I buy from my own pocket and place in my humble little flat is mine. And everytime I place them where I think they ought to go, I feel like I'm placing brick upon brick, building up a house.

This afternoon I made a quick trip to the city to excitedly buy a...wait for it...a Trash Bin! Oh yes, pretty cool huh? Argos has it at half price and I decided to buy it instead of the cheaper plastic alternative. I now have a metal bin with push-to-open door in matte black! Exciting times! heehee! I'm not being sarcastic by the way, I AM excited. Over a Trash bin! hahah!

...and the little frustrations

The flat has been far from perfect since I moved in. My living area heaters only started working last week, two weeks after I had reported them to my landlord. My kitchen sink had no hot water until last week as well, and I was locked out of my own living room because of a faulty door lock. My landlord's handyman had to come in on a Saturday and force it open with two or three shoves. It looked easier on television, for sure.

And then there's the issue of having too big furniture for too little space. I've moved them around four times in the three, almost four weeks, I've lived here. This morning, I started out by heating water for my coffee and ended up letting it get cold since I was moving the furniture around. I think I've found a better layout, for now. Of course that may change when I bring in more furniture.

And I need more furniture because I lack storage space. There are no shelves in my closet, none in the laundry area, none in the bathroom and nothing but the coffee table in the living room. These things I actually take with me when I sleep, and this morning, I was intent on maybe finding a different flat. Either that or spend for storage space. Right now, the addition of my trash bin together with the new layout has made me happy. I think I'll stay here 'til the end of next year.

Or at least until I grow frustrated again.

the move that stole christmas

Moving around a month before Christmas meant sacrificing the flight home for the holidays. I've psyched myself up enough so that I knew what to expect, but seeing people leave the office for their vacation one by one was disheartening. When the last person said goodbye and happy holidays, I wanted to kick myself for staying. If I had gone home, I would've spent my Christmas with the family at the new place.

Our family christmas tradition has always been simple...just food at midnight and some gifts, mostly for the kids. Nothing fancy, no big reunions outside our (not so) small circle. But the excitement of waiting for midnight just so you can eat what was laboured over just hours before is always memorable. Every year, there's one kid that is either asleep or half asleep at midnight. At one point, that kid was me. But of course, there are now five of them who can have that claim to fame. For a few years we even had the kids wear coordinating shirts and/or pajamas. And kids being kids, there were a few musical numbers which they prepared for themselves.

This year, I bought my own pajamas and slipper socks and comfort food, armed myself with broadband access and a webcam and decided that my Christmas would be spent sleeping, surfing and chatting.

So...in a way, I wasn't alone on Christmas. I rushed home from work on the 24th just in time for midnight back home and I was sort of with them at that time. The kids had coordinating striped shirts, they had easy-to-prepare food (its never a good idea to cook to much anyway) and this year, it was decided that gifts would be skipped. As expected, someone was asleep when the clock struck 12...and as expected, it was the youngest member of the family.

Just being online wasn't too bad actually, until everyone back home goes to bed. That's when I had to raid my borrowed DVD stash (I am now into Family Guy) and comfort food. It got so boring that I ended up cleaning my living area, dining area, kitchen and bathroom in two hours. By midnight, I was asleep.

I think its safe to say that this will be the last Christmas I will ever spend alone.

(It wasn't that bad, really. It just wasn't that exciting either).

Meal for one

Lemon jelly special and a latte.

(posted this originally from my mobile..didn't realize I had to rotate it haha! but anyway, just to remind myself of phone blogging do's and dont's, I'm keeping this the wrong way up -- or right side, er, to the side )

phone blog!

Trying out blogger frm phone