 | | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Nov 15, 2001 by FG
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 | | Such is the vast wasteland my social life has become that I get excited over the simplest things. Take, for instance, my recent foray into the world of big-time consumer shopping; or, as I like to call it these days, "Doing My Patriotic Duty". I am the proud owner of a new bed. This may not seem like much to you, but to someone who is tight-fisted with money, who's suffered from a perpetual backache for the past few years, and someone who yearns to achieve the same economic status she enjoyed under her parents' roof this is a big thing indeed.
I already had an antique maple bed frame, but to that I have added a new chi-chi mattress and box spring, a new Egyptian cotton mattress pad and pillows, new percale sheets (in the color of plum), a new white comforter, and a new cream-colored duvet. All told, this spending spree put me back hundreds of dollars and three feet higher in the air. I'm now above my old footboard and headboard and need a stepladder to get into bed. But it was worth it. Why?
I sleep like a baby now. No, even better. A narcoleptic baby.
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Nov 15, 2001 by  Galaxy Babe - eclectic editor
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 | | I could have written that.
I have arthritis in my spine, hips and knee, and just been diagnozed with osteoporosis in my neck.
I bought myself a new bed a couple of years ago, with drawers for the spare bedding.
This year I've redecorated the room, which meant pulling down the old suspended ceiling as it was and getting a plasterer in {who left behind one hellava mess} then paint, paint paint.
I did it a plum/mulberry, as there's no way I could have managed wallpapering, as well as paint the ceiling plaster white. {That took 3 coats to cover, and I can still see streaks}.
I bought myself a bargain in a sale, a duvet set with matching curtains {the last pair!} in a mulberry, with chinese signs down one side in cream, the design is called "chopsticks" and I got the lot for £15.
But the carpet is/was blue, so I am working on getting the money together to replace that as it's over ten years old and has paint splatterings and plaster bumps.
I may replace the mattress first though, as my back still hurts when I get up in the morning, even though I deliberately bought an orthopaedic mattress.
As for no social life....
We can discuss that here, if you like.
Much less public than Mark's journal 
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Nov 15, 2001 by FG
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| | Sounds like you and I have similar tastes in interior decorating! I would love to paint my (future) walls red, with a white ceiling. And the Chinese characters sound fun too! Over here, the whole Chinese-thing in decoration is on the wane, but I still like the whole 'joss house' look. Especially when the ideographs are in gold or silver.
I say future walls because I currently rent a basement apartment. My landlady lives upstairs and is very sweet (she just ended a stint in Guatemala, courtesy of the Peace Corps) and did a good thing painting the downstairs walls white and adding lots of white cabinetry and paraphenalia throughout the apartment so it would seem light and bright and airy. So, it's pretty nice for a basement, but it's still underground and it's not mine. Someday I hope to acquire an Arts and Crafts/Craftsman/Mission bungalow, circa 1910. With lots of shiny dark wood built ins, doors, floors, and cabinets, original fixtures, and plenty of sunshine!!! 
Ah...dream on...
My backache was entirely due to my crappy old mattress set. It's older than I am--when my parents gave me their former bedroom set, they gave me their mattress/box spring as well. I think I was conceived on the darn thing. By the time I finally got rid of it, one side had the springs poking up. As I'm not Hindu nor proficient on lying on a bed of nails that side definitely was not for me! However, the other side had a crevasse the size of the Grand Canyon down the middle of it, and of course during the night my body would sink into it sideways and my back would wake me up screaming in the morning.  Not even my yoga regimen helped overcome the pain. A lose-lose situation. It took me a while to save the money to get a proper set with all the luxurious accoutrements I ever wanted...I thought, if I'm gonna do something big, I ought to do it right.
My social life is not so much of a wasteland as a disaster, but I didn't really want to mention that....
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Nov 18, 2001 by Galaxy Babe - eclectic editor
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I don't blame you for getting your new bed!
No wonder you're chuffed.
I bought an orthopaedic mattress but my back still hurts.
I know I need a really hard mattress but I love to be comfortable too...
I'm sorry you have to rent.
How close are you to getting your own place?
Won't the landlady let you paint your walls red if you promise to paint them back white if you ever leave?
You do yoga?
I keep meaning to find a class to get my body into shape...I must do that.
*adds to "to do" list*
I've heard about the "Peace Corps" before, could you explain to me what that is?
Oh please tell me about your social life. Or lack of it. Or how disasterous it is.
You might make me feel better
*wishes you a peaceful, comfortable nights sleep*
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Nov 19, 2001 by FG
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| | Renting is okay for now...I do not have enough money saved to make a down payment on the sort of house that I would want. I'm very picky and my town has a very tight housing market. A mortgage would be about the same as the amount of rent I pay, and I know that I am throwing away my money--there's really no investment in a rental. But finding the right home for me will take a long while. Plus, I'm not ready to do yard work. I'm too lazy.
I'd paint the walls red if I live above ground. Down in "the burrow" (as I like to call my place) red would make things too dark for me. The white, as I said before, was a good choice on her part. Plus, I like the color. Although there is this wallpaper in the living room with little hearts and flowers on it. Really not my style. I insisted on taking down the lace curtains with imprints of hearts and geese. No faux-country look for me please.
The Peace Corps is a program started by John F. Kennedy to send Americans outside of our country to help developing nations and work as farmers, health clinic workers, teachers, community organizers, etc. We get to learn about other cultures while helping struggling people take care of themselves and their communities. Applicants must go through a series of tests and physical exams before they are allowed to take part. Another friend of mine will be going to one of the "Stans" in Central Asia next year.
I got into yoga as a means of relaxation at a very stressful point in my life. It really works, especially if you add a period of meditation at the end. I don't go in for special mats and outfits, I just do it at home with some relaxing music and a large pillow. My practice takes about an hour. The most interesting positions I can get into are a shoulder stand and something called the "Camel". This is where I lay on the floor with my hands grasping my ankles beneath me. My back is slightly arched, my pelvis is in the air, and my head is on the floor. Somedays my back does not want to cooperate. Ouch!!!
I'm being slightly facetious when I say my social life is a disaster. It's more confined to my love life. I've been in three relationships in the past year and none have panned out. One fellow disclosed that he abuses prescription medication on our dinner date, and asked if I would join him on his next procurement trip. The most recent ended on a sour note when his girlfriend (he told me they were a thing of the past) found out. Oops, silly me! How was I to know when someone is and is *not* lying. I assume if you want to have a relationship with someone, ideally you're single. Apparently that's not the case these days... 
I'll get a good night's sleep just as soon as my  stops yowling at three in the morning! 
I'll get a good
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Nov 20, 2001 by Galaxy Babe - eclectic editor
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| | Thanks for explaining all that about the Peace Corps.
I've heard it mentioned so many times on American tv programmes, and never quite got what it was.
Do you watch "Friends" at all?
Can you tell me how true to life, or how utterly b/s that is?
"Plus, I'm not ready to do yard work" - do you mean gardening?
I have a front garden and a back garden...
I love them but they're hard work.
Been reshaping both over the years.
Last year I had all the grass in the back dug up, and dug down about 3', then got the builders in & they laid me some flagstones on top of a base. Popped a stone birdbath in the middle, and it looks great.
A lot less work for me & a lot less pain on the old back
Lawnmowing & ironing are the worst jobs when you have a painful back!
"I insisted on taking down the lace curtains with imprints of hearts and geese" - My parents have those exact same net curtains!
"The most interesting positions I can get into are a shoulder stand and something called the "Camel". This is where I lay on the floor with my hands grasping my ankles beneath me. My back is slightly arched, my pelvis is in the air, and my head is on the floor. Somedays my back does not want to cooperate. Ouch!!!"
I may start off just meditating.....
"I'm being slightly facetious when I say my social life is a disaster. It's more confined to my love life"
Me too. Me too.
What love life????
"The most recent ended on a sour note when his girlfriend (he told me they were a thing of the past) found out. Oops, silly me! How was I to know when someone is and is *not* lying. I assume if you want to have a relationship with someone, ideally you're single. Apparently that's not the case these days... "
Don't I know it!!!
There seem to be plenty of married men making passes....but I rarely meet a single man.
I go from one disaster to another.
I had one b/f who tried to remortgage my house.
The last but one man I lived with, had debt collectors after him, and he never saw fit to tell me, and guess where they caught up with him?
And guess who answered the door?
The last one - oh, why do we bother?
I find myself much happier when I am alone, but it's boring!
I just had lunch with another researcher & I think she has got the most ideal relationship going, her boyfriend lives next door!
Is your male or female?
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Nov 20, 2001 by FG
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| | To tackle the subjects in reverse order:
1) The perpetrator is a 15 year old female Siamese.
2) It's a shame my cheating fellow turned out to be such a dud. Not that I am normally this shallow, but he is extremely hot. My absolute physical ideal. I still see him on a regular basis, and everytime I do my heart (well, actually other vital parts of my body ) goes all aflutter.
3) Yoga would be good for you to start. You don't, unlike jogging or aerobics, have to look good or be incredibly proficient right away. Since it is also a spiritual activity, it stresses your comfort level rather than your muscles or wallet. You don't have to be able to practice all positions right off the bat. Rather, you slowly get into each position and allow your body to work at it's own pace. And there are variations of each that allow different body types and physical conditions to practice even the most difficult forms of yoga.
Er... I can't keep up with the questions anymore!
I would love to have a garden with loads of native plants and a few of my favorite perennials, vegetables, fruits, and herbs...but the amount of work (read: weeding and mowing) it takes to get to that point is rather daunting. Gardening as a passion runs in the family but the onset doesn't occur until middle age. So, at some distant point in the future I will be talking basil, raspberries, iris, and tomatoes like a pro! 
I don't watch Friends. I did, however, watch a new Ab Fab last night. When Edina and Patsy announced that they going to travel to the States, Edina's daughter said that she thought they (we) didn't let people in who have drug convictions. To which Patsy replied:
"It's not a conviction...it's a firm belief!"
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Dec 4, 2001 by Galaxy Babe - eclectic editor
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| | I apologize for the delay in replying!
Last week I finished my family therapy and had a lot of loose ends to tie up, so I wasn't online much.
Now I've got a stinking cold and trying to catch up, 
Bit of an oxymoron that, catching up with h2g2
I must admit, I came to gardening late, my first garden never got touched at all, we bought the house, the back garden was a rubbish tip, it was a rubbish tip when we sold it.
The second house we bought was brand-spanking-new. I mean it was just put-together bricks with floorboards.
The "garden"{ } was a mud quagmire, front and back. My father-in-law dropped us off some paving slabs so I could get from my front door to the pavement with my baby's pram.
As it wasn't long before I had another baby, that garden didn't get a lot done to it either.
I remember buying turf and putting it down myself as they delivered it hours earlier than they said they would and my husband was at work and it was a baking hot day...
I was so scared I'd done it wrong but it was alright, and we put a few rose bushes alongside the drive...very low maintenance.
My next house I had another baby in, ho hum...
*This* house I'm in now, I've been here 16 years and I have re-sculpted it as I mentioned before.
I wish I could demolish the eyesore of the garage, but I rent it out.
My son-in-law {who rents it} is supposed to be painting it for me...ho hum.
I am actually happy with my gardens now, and am amazed by how much I have learned in the past few years.
Plants love me, or I do something right...I am always taking cuttings and passing them on.
I have two buddlieas which grow to over 10ft every summer. {Butterfly bushes} I love the   I bought the plants especially to attract them
There are two passionflowers which are incredibly fast growers, I am training one to grow over the eyesore.
I'm sorry I didn't mean to bombard you with questions!
You would be surprised to hear that Ab Fab is regarded here as a "girlie" programme, the men don't like the humour, apparently...
I think it's funny, my last ex- hated it! Joanna Lumley {Patsy} is an incredible actress. She sends herself up something chronic!
If you ever get the chance to see the old show "The Avengers" {the series after Emma Peel} - Joanna was "Purdey" and you would not believe it's the same girl!
Sometimes British humour doesn't travel well, so I am pleased to hear you like Ab Fab.
I'm sure you would enjoy "Only Fools and Horses" too, have you ever seen that?
Oops, there I go with the questions again, and I promised myself I wouldn't ask you one this post!
*slaps hand*
Thanks for being so patient, gonna try and answer my threads in reverse order from now on!
That reminds me, almost time for New Year's Resolutions...
I know what #1 is! Find myself a yoga teacher!
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Dec 4, 2001 by FG
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| | Ab Fab is only shown on one (cable) channel here--Comedy Central. It's marketed to both sexes and it's big promo line is "Sin Is In".
That said, I too don't know a lot of guys who watch it. They think its a pair of horny old bags who drink too much...which is a little too close to home. It's just like me and my friends!
I haven't seen the other show you're referring to there. British programming is split between cable and public (i.e. government owned) television in the US. Some of the comedies being shown haven't aired on a regular basis in the UK since 1976! Which explains why so many Americans think you guys are a bit off in your fashion sense and dental work...
But then again the 70's fashions are coming back. I refuse to wear bellbottoms and duster coats. I even had an afro at one point. (Don't ask.) I had to suffer and wear them the first time around...never again!
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Dec 5, 2001 by Galaxy Babe - eclectic editor
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I've seen those coats!
Afghans, we used to call them.
Like a washleather, with an edging of fur, and didn't half pong!
Won't catch me wearing one either!
I've just progressed to studded jeans, I was tempted by a pair of sparkly jeans, but I knew that phase wouldn't last.
Bellbottoms
Say no more!
Afro? Do you mean bubble-perm, like the one Kevin Keegan had in the 70's?
Or Leo Sayer still has
I used to get perms too, blimey.
I have a pic of me & my kids at the Humber Bridge and I am wearing my mums blouse because my son had been car sick, all over me.
Luckily mum was wearing a blouse under her cardigan so she slipped it off so I could dunk my top in the washbasin and bag it for home in dad's boot {trunk?}
What a day out that was, must have been '85 or so, as my lad was born in '83.
That photo mum's blouse and my bubble perm!
Never again...
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Dec 5, 2001 by FG
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| | Exactly. We call the more extravagant perms Afros after the outrageous hairdos you'd see in the "blaxplotation" films of the early 70's. You know, like "Shaft" or "Cleopatra Jones"...ususally about pimps, detectives, con artists, and hookers in Harlem, New York. Unintentionally absolutely hilarious. The clothes alone...fabulous!! Who'd have thought leopard-print sombreros would be hip?? In any event, I'm not Afro-American, but I have very dark, very thick, very naturally curly hair. My mom got the bright idea, back in 1979, that I needed a perm (I was about nine at the time). My hair took on the look and dimensions of a giant brown puffball mushroom. It was awful...
 I was so embarrassed I could not go to school the next day--I had to be forced, and even then, I would not line up with the other children for morning roll call. I begged my teacher to let me hide in the classroom. I was never laughed at or stared at so much...until I became a goth in my adolescence.
My jeans had these quilted satin cherries and rainbows on the back pockets. I cringe now when I think of them.
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Dec 6, 2001 by Galaxy Babe - eclectic editor
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| | Good heavens!
Your memory of school is worse than mine!
I remember my mother sending me in pleated skirts {knee-length} when every other girl was wearing a mini-skirt and tights.
Yes, I was the only one wearing white socks too.
I also wore a brace and I didn't start to develop until I was 15...by then, all the nice boys had left.
Now at reunions, they don't know who I am!
I am glad I was a late blossomer as some of the "popular" girls at school look right  dinners now
I have very dark naturally curly hair too, it used to be thick but has thinned with age.
Cleo Jones! I remember her. And those types of films you mentioned.
Starsky & Hutch....
I remember those padded cherries too!
In the seventies, I had a pair of "wedge" sandals, the sole of which must have been 5 or 6", they were blue with white circles on the sides, I thought they were the coolest shoes ever! I bought them from London and all my friends went mad when I got back, one of them found the shop when she went and she bought a white pair!
I also had a matching blouse { } it had puff sleeves, and round edge to the collar.
I must have looked a right sight.
My mother hated jeans {still does!} and she would never buy me any so I bought my first pair with my own wages when I was 17.
Even now she hates to see me in them and I wear them all the time.
I've bought a nice sparkly outfit for their diamond wedding doo in a fortnight's time though.
A gold sequined chevron top, sleeveless, with pale gold pants, and a crotched cardigan with sequined edges..draped open.
It makes me look busty but my daughter has seen me in it and she says I look fantastic.
They are used to seeing me in black dresses so hopefully they'll like this.
It cost enough!
The range was all co-ordinated, I could have got a light gold skirt instead of the pants, and a short-sleeved sequin top instead of the sleeveless one.
I have some cream slingbacks which I wore to my brother's wedding a few years ago {and never worn since} and they will have to do because I can't afford another pair! I looked for some cheap gold stiletto's, which would set the trousers off great, but couldn't find any.
My daughter said "Buy a white pair & spray them gold", which I *just* might do.
I would rather be in heels than on flatties....
Don't know what colour to do my hair though.
At the moment it's black.
I dyed it dark brown - well the box said it was dark brown, but it's definately black.
My local shop assistant nice-person laughed when she saw me and said "Hello Morticia!"
Anyway that was a few weeks ago and I've left it long enough.
I've bought a red colour and a mid-brown.
Shall I toss a dice?
What do you think?
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Dec 6, 2001 by FG
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| | In my humble opinion, the older a woman gets the lighter her dye job should get. Those old ladies (NOT that *you're* one, dear ) with jet black hair look hideous and obviously fake. So, if I were you, I'd go with whichever of those two colors are lighter. Although, I've always wanted to be a redhead, meself. For a year back in the mid-eighties I went with being a cherry-red redhead. Not quite the same thing....
I spent a lot of time with my hair being colors other than natural. First the red, then blue, black, white, pink, purple, red again, black again, black with a white streak, black with burgundy roots, black with purple roots, midnight blue....by the end of it all my hair was straw-like in texture and had to be practically shaved off in order to grow right and look healthy. I haven't dyed it since. I have a lot of red highlights and gray hairs mixed in with the dark brown, so my hair is no longer as dark as it used to be when I was a kid. I figure I will let myself go gray--but only if I turn the lovely shiny silver that my dad did. Since I take after him anyway, there's a good chance of that happening. But if I go p**s yellow gray someone *will* have to pay!
Your daughter is right. Gold shoes are what's needed with that outfit. I don't think white (or any other color, for that matter) will cut it. Can you spare a few pounds for new shoes? Something strappy and delicate would look great!
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| | | Subject: At Last, At Rest
Posted Dec 10, 2001 by FG
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| | Isn't it wonderful when you have an idea of the perfect item, not knowing if it exists, and then finding it? Almost as if they were created just for you! They sound like just the thing I was thinking of...I love it when that happens.
It doesn't happen often enough, though, in certain areas.. Now, when I go out, I picture this particular type of guy...but I've not found him yet. Not a lot of strapping red-headed Scotsmen in kilts wandering around my neck of the woods.
Sigh. If only men were like shoes.
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