h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've had a good 10 days

On 6th December I was at a friend's birthday party - she turned 32 so everyone was younger than we are but it was fun anyway, they're all music fans and we always have a good chat about "old school" rock and all the bands we've seen that they were too young for.

On 8th it was my birthday, so that was fun opening 50 presents (individually wrapped) from my mum, and getting nice things from and the Gruesome Twosome. Followed by The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten at the Düsseldorf Opera (part of my anniversary present of 4 pairs of Opera tickets)

On 9th I took the day off to get my cool, new, every-ten-years tattoo. (although all these nice things were interspersed with horribly hysterical tears about an essay which was due to be handed in on 10th)

On 11th I was grabbed, dragged into our big meeting room where the whole company had gathered to make fun of my great age (but the Koreans have respect for age, so as they congratulated me all the Koreans bowed which is odd, but cute). They gave me a walking stick, a puzzle book with extra-large print, a trashy romance novel, a gift basket full of yummy goodies and an Amazon voucher. so now I can buy a LOT of books

Plus the MD summoned me to his office and gave me a personal from him - and since I do the expense claims sometimes I know he hasn't claimed that on expenses

On 12th I got my essay back with a 2, which was an even better feeling than when I got 98% for a previous essay, because i was so sure I'd failed miserably.

13th was our company Christmas party. I won an LG G-pad (which is sort of like an iPad) which is turning out to be the thing that may fix the problems I'm having with my economics course (i can download everything I need and read / watch / listen on the G-pad during my train commute, which is a huge advance in terms of logistics for me). And then I found out that they are horribly expensive which made me even happier.

Yesterday in our weekly team meeting it was announced that I've been given a company incentive award. Which will amount to a bit of cash which is always nice, but also recognition of my work and experience which goes some way to ameliorating my feelings about always being passed over for promotion etc.

And on Friday my mum is coming over for 10 days to spend Christmas with us. I'll be working on 27th but otherwise off over Christmas - I'm glad to work as by then we'll all be at each other's throats. Possibly.

My clothes seem to fit better, so even though I haven't made it to the gym much lately something seems to be going well in that department.

Plus I didn't wake up the day of my 50th looking like a wizzened hag.



Sorry, had to get it off my chest, and since usually when I say that it's a huge moan I thought I'd buck my trend.

Who are you and what have you done with Sho?

Good stuff, Sho. You must have all your midichlorians streaming in the right direction at the minute

well back to normal. The annual appraisal results are out and I'm "average" which pretty much means no promotion (again) and that I definitely (after 14 years with nothing to show for it) need to change jobs.

Sigh.

I seriously don't even know how to go about that these days.

I withdrew from my OU course just before we went on holiday. I was struggling mentally and really bogged down with my assignment. I've lost my course fees but I feel much happier. It meant I could enjoy the cruise much more without worrying about a course I no longer enjoyed.

I'm glad to hear that your course is going OK, Sho, and it's great that things have been going well recently.

Oh gosh - I am so sorry I didn't mention your birthday. First resolution for next year: To not get bogged down with stuff and to remember everyone's birthday.

Thanks for sharing your jolly good December with us - you deserve it. Lots of love to you and the gruesomes and and have a great Christmas with your Mum!!!

I think we are excused, TC. How can we possibly remember Sho's birthdays when she never looks any younger

aw, you are all so cute.
although I have to say I do look so darned hot and sexy (and young) that I quite forget about my birthdays anyway

CD - will you register for another course for the OU, or start that one again? it seems a shame to stop now when you have already done so much, but on the other hand it's one of those things that is supposed to enhance your life so sometimes you have to know when to stop

I will do another course to complete my degree, just not that one. I'm tempted by course E303, which is about written and spoken grammar. I opted for E301 because it sounded more interesting. In fact, it turned out to be anything but. And the set book was impossible to get into, a very hard read even for a final year university course.

They offer so many fascinating courses, don't they? I read a lot of the online course material for courses I'm not even doing.