No need!

I am behaving like a recluse tonight as I always do at this time of the year. Bah humbug and all that, but I can't be bothered with answering my door to crowds of feral beggar children demanding sugar-laden treats. No, I want the family-sized tub of Haribo and multipack of small sized chocolate bars for myself. Not that I have either of those, but if I did I sure wouldn't hand them out to strangers. I have not answered my door to at least three groups so far this evening.

Instead, I am enjoying my house which is getting clearer little by little - a bookcase has gone into work along with all my medical books that were taking up 2 shelves in the lounge, and my huge computer desk is attracting attention on eBay and has at present 11 people watching it with one bid so far of £25 which hopefully will be bettered in the three remaining days of the auction. It's half-price listing day tomorrow and as I have an early finish at work, I will be sticking another load of things on there. For the first time in around 6 years I don't have any furniture on the landing and it's gradually becoming the uncluttered home that I strive for (ish, as I really don't think I can do properly minimal). My bedroom is now done as my dad put up the curtains I had bought (off of eBay strangely enough) to cover my fitted wardrobe - I took the doors off when I was redecorating and decided it looked better with them off - kind of like a walk-in closet, so it's now covered with chocolate brown voile panels to shield it from the room and looks really good, I think.

Going to go and have a go on my piano thing now, that will be upgraded when I have a bit more money (so not for ages, really), but I got the Muse book that I had ordered and it comes with a CD so you can play the piano bit along to the music which is all good fun, although is rather difficult and designed for people who have fingers slightly less short and stumpy than mine.

Still great after 20 years!

Just watched Dirty Dancing for about the hundredth time, still really cheesy and sad but I love it! Nobody puts Baby in the corner you know.

Had a nice meal out for lunch today for my dad's belated birthday meal (postponed from last night for obvious reasons) - apparently the place we went to is going to be on the next series of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares which should be interesting, the food was excellent and very reasonably priced, so would like to see what it was like before. I will watch out for it in the next series and no doubt let you know.

Got a nice pair of shoes in town today as well, I'd gone in to collect the rest of my holiday photos from the summer (took too many to print out in one go), and got waylaid in Debenhams where I got a bargain pair of boots reduced from £99 to £37. Ok, I said shoes originally, but I meant boots. They are ankle boots but the term ankle boots always makes me think of nasty footwear, and these are really nice. Really need to stop spending money though, as over lunch today my mum and I came up with the idea of a pre-Xmas trip to New York as she's retiring next month and I have some leave to use up and have never been there at this time of year, I've always wanted to go skating in front of the Rockefeller Centre and other such tourist rubbish, and with the pound being so strong, it would be a good place to get some of the shopping in. So I will ask at work next week if there are any times when I can take a few days off, and take it from there. Sod the money, isn't it what credit cards are for?

(I wasn't going to mention the rugby, but in my view it definitely should have been a try and so who knows what the proper final score might have been...?)

England Expects

Well, I must admit I didn't actually expect this, but it's been a very pleasant surprise that we've got into the final again! Managed to watch some of the game at the weekend, was down in Brighton with some friends and myself and the other one who was into it there were grossly outnumbered by disinterested sceptics, but we fought our ground and eventually were allowed to watch. My Dad was inconsiderate enough to be born on the 20th October (final day) so I had wondered if I'd have to watch it on repeat if we were doing a family birthday dinner, but good (not so) old Dad wants to watch it too so the family stuff has been deferred at his request.

My eBay sales are going well, I have made 60 quid in the past fortnight selling off old clothes and stuff, there's still quite a few things left to try and sell but I'm going to put a few things up each week as I haven't got the time to do too many at once. It's amazing what people will pay money for! All good money towards the next holiday fund, I have been told by work that I need to sort out my leave over the next few months and so I have been looking through the brochures again trying to find some weird and wonderful places to go to. Am just hoping that we get some snow at Christmas for the ski trip.

Show me the money...

Just going to rub it in, very slightly, for any Australian readers... Wasn't expecting us to win to be honest, but victory is sweet and I think we have saved a little face.

Have been a bit quiet on the blog front recently, this week I have been suffering from a cold which has thankfully now almost gone, I was rather bunged up but thanks to the remarkable Vicks First Defence stuff that you squirt up your nose at the first sign on an infection, it wasn't half as bad as it could have been. Essentially it is supposed to attack the virus before it takes hold and on the times I've used it, it certainly seems to have made symptoms more manageable. Like, you don't get that horrible miserable feeling at night when you are so bunged up that you can't sleep, and despite sounding awful I have been able to breathe. And no, I don't have shares in the company, but it's the best thing I've found lately for colds!

This week I have also made my first foray onto eBay in terms of selling stuff - I've bought things from there before but decided that it would be a good way of getting rid of some of the old clothes that I have decided to out. I put a few things on last weekend and the auctions close today - so far I have made around 26 quid profit which is pretty good, and means I can go and get some nice new things that fit! I am surprised at what people seem to go for - the most popular item was a pair of old jeans from New Look that are too big for me now - I just bought another pair from there in the new size which cost all of a tenner, but someone has paid 6 quid for my old pair! Can't complain, and it has spurred me to put some more things like old books up there and some more clothes and shoes, whatever doesn't sell can go to the charity shop. I still have to work out what to do with the old furniture that is sitting around on my landing, a friend did suggest I eBay that as well but specify collection only, but I think that is easier for people that live in more densely populated areas like London, as I had a look for people selling the same things and there didn't seem to be many takers. Might be better to contact a house clearance company and ask if they know any shops who would take a desk, CD towers, and bookcases off my hands. I want to get rid of them so I can get a new carpet for the landing and stairs that isn't navy blue and therefore doesn't show the dirt, then I can make a start on the lounge which is going to be repainted and refloored and all the furniture moved around.

Today, in between all my online trading and tidying, I have also been having another go on the piano (although that also needs to be replaced as I'd like to upgrade to a Clavinova rather than what I have at the moment which is essentially a large keyboard on a stand that wobbles when I play fast things). Had been inspired to after listening to a lot of Muse recently and wanted to learn some new stuff, sort of like this - the sheet music is on order and once the bloody postal strike is over, I will be able to have a go! But this one I worked out for myself today, but certainly won't be sticking any videos of me doing it on YouTube.