checking out

Lately, I've just been getting on with it. Not in a negative or unhappy way, just... not in a very interesting way. I've been living, working, knitting, reading, doing things, but not as an active participant in the world. This isn't that unusual, and were I to define my life I could probably classify much of it as "just getting on with it." I just don't feel like I have much to share these days, even if I've actually been doing a lot.

But to reassure myself that I've actually been doing things, here are some things I have been doing:

Working almost full-time
This is excellent because it means getting paid in real money. Bonus points for being good experience for my supposed eventual career path. However, that particular assignment is over and I'm taking a bit of holiday this week, which is lovely.

Getting used to my new hair cut
It's been about a month since I had a large portion of my hair cut off and donated to Little Princess Trust to make wigs. This is the first time in years I've had bangs, and also the first time in years I've been to a hair dresser. Here's the before and after, dirty-mirror-style.





Watching many movies
This past weekend we went on a movie binge and rented The Artist, Cabin in the Woods, Iron Sky, and War Horse (which we had already seen in the cinema). The Cabin in the Woods was surprisingly enjoyable - I don't generally like horror films, but it's Joss Whedon and despite outward appearances it's not a standard horror film. Iron Sky is about moon Nazis. Enough said? Quite entertaining, as long as you're only expecting a B-movie. We also went to see Dredd 3D in the cinema. Neither of us are 3D fans so far, so we usually choose the regular 2d version, but this one has only been released in 3D. It was entertaining, but I still wasn't impressed with the use of 3D, to be honest.

Reading many books
At this last work assignment, there wasn't much for me to do a lot of the time, so I spent a lot of time checking the BBC website and reading books. I'm up to Volume 7 of Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic series, which I'm thoroughly enjoying.

Knitting
Finished some socks for my dear that I started on our honeymoon, took lots of photos that all turned out blurry, lost enthusiasm for blogging about the FO because it requires a second photo-shoot for some frankly boring manly ribbed socks. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to it. Just imagine some 4x1 ribbed forest-green socks in the mean time.

Working out
DH and I got gym memberships at the beginning of August, and I've been aiming for two or three times a week at the gym. I've never been that fitness-motivated, but it's good to get some exercise other than walking. We also bought some badminton racquets, so every few weeks we go whack birdies at each other and laugh hysterically at our own terrible badminton skills. Good fun.

Waiting for my visa to come through and trying not to freak out
Still. It's been 3 months. This whole thing is getting old, especially since I can't go anywhere since the UKBA has my passport (and my husband's). Unfortunately, it looks like people on the internet who applied for their visas months before I did still haven't got theirs... so I may be in for an even longer wait. If you ever need a UK spouse visa / leave to remain and are applying from within the UK, may I suggest coughing up the hideous fee for premium service and getting it done in person? I should have done that, but it's such a cash grab to begin with that I couldn't stomach paying even more, and I'd never had to wait long to visas when I applied from Canada, so I didn't think it was going to be an issue.

Applying for jobs
I've got an interview for a permanent job next week that I'm pretty excited about, other than the whole "I still don't have a visa" awkwardness. All I can do is tell the truth, but if it disqualifies me I'm going to be rather peeved.

That's about it... I hope you've all been having fun and doing more interesting things than I have!