Category Archives: Friends

Holiday Plans 2009

Friends, , ,
Cologne - Germany 2006
Image by Junnn via Flickr

January is the time for holiday planning apparently. I’m planning to go across to Germany in the car (haven’t been there in a few years) and on the way stop over in Amsterdam (1 night) and Cologne (1 night). Amsterdam just because it  makes sense (the ferry goes from Newcastle to there, and it’s a pretty city 😉 ), and in Cologne I’ll be meeting up with a few friends hopefully while staying overnight at one of my oldest mates.

I’ll also be taking B. with me, so he’s going to ‘meet the parents’ for the first time. He’s never been to Germany either, so it’s going to be an interesting one for him. I’m quite looking forward to it. I don’t even mind the driving. With the ferry etc. involved it’s going to be a wee adventure 🙂

Once the Italy house has been sold (this year hopefully), I’m also aiming to visit Vienna and Berlin for a holiday, as well as, New Zealand (where B. has a really good friend, and where an ex BF of mine is doing a PhD). Also maybe Budapest/Hungary, as that’s where my very good friend A. is from.

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To Pill or not to Pill

Daily life, Friends, , ,
Combined oral contraceptive pill
Image via Wikipedia

This one is about contraception 😛

I haven’t been on the pill for about 9-10 years or so, for a variety of reasons which I’m not going to go into. However, the fact that D&J now have their baby, combined with my age (35), and the point that neither myself nor the BF want babies makes me think that now might be a good idea to go back on it.

I just don’t want to be in a situation where I fall pregnant by accident, then having to make a decision which is likely going to be an abortion. The problem is that, while D&J’s baby hasn’t kick-started any maternal feelings and in fact turned me off even more (having to get up every 2-3 hours and pander to the baby’s needs WTF), it is a cute wee thing and so obviously made out of and born into love. Plus, it’s got both D&J in it.

But this is me, lenina, who doesn’t want a baby. And at this point in time, I want to be absolutely sure that there isn’t going to be one and importantly, I don’t want to be in a situation where there might be one that then needs to be gotten rid of.

The safest way to ensure there won’t be any pregnancy, and thus no abortion, is to go on the pill. Shall I?

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Plans for 2009

Daily life, Friends, , , , ,

I’m going to keep this one short. First of all, a quick revisit of what my plans were for 2008 and how I’ve done:

* move back up to Edinburgh (by mid-2008 the latest)
* sell Italy-house (by autumn 2008 )
* get a cat
* start MA in Translation (Sept 08 )
* buy a 52″ or bigger high-end HD TV

I’ve done 1., 3., and sort of 5. (I got a new HD-ready TV, though not 52″ !!).

The reason I didn’t, or only half-heartedly, tried selling the Italy house is that I found out you have to pay capital gains tax if you sell it under 5 years of ownership. That means I can reasonably aim to sell it in autumn 09, as from some time in October I will have owned it for 5 years.

The reason I didn’t start the MA in Translation was that I simply didn’t see the point any more. I now work 9-5 Monday-Friday and have no ambition to become a freelancer/teleworker in the near future, which made the MA redundant. Plus I was way too busy!

Now the plans for 2009:

  • Sell the Italy house, taking advantage of the weak pound and strong Euro as the world is in recession hehehe (October onwards i.e. past the 5-year-date)
  • Cranking up the frugality (I’ll be posting about that in bits and bobs and share my ideas)
  • Keeping on the straight and narrow (no cigarettes, not too much drink) –> I don’t have to *go* on the straight and narrow, but I have to stay on it for a bit and iterate it

Hm.. I don’t have many *concrete* plans it seems, other than the Italy house. The rest is more to keep my overall positive attitude and, I suppose, ‘spread the love’!

The older I get, the more love I feel. Not for every Tom, Dick, and Harry. But for those few that count. I’ll continue to nurture that all the way in 2009 😀