New Flat or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Brick

Good Morning All. Great game yesterday if you were at all interested. I stayed up way too late watching it, but was very impressed with the quality of the game and happy in the outcome. I found beers at the Aldi grocery store (kind of like buy-low foods) called Brassiere, a french beer stubbie. Good value I tell you...they were 3.09 for a 10 pack. That alone should tell you how they tasted. Regardless, I enjoyed a few while watching some low-quality superbowl video.

We had a nice weekend. On Friday, we went out for a curry on the curry mile. Pretty good, but we picked one that was a little too creamy/buttery. Next time we will go with an ol' standby and stop being so adventurous. Later on we went to a pub-type place for a few pints with Heather's work peers. On Sunday, before our skype//opening mail date with Sandra and Dan, we went to a dance piece called "ROTOR" at the Whitworth Gallery. It was three parts and I really liked one of them, one was ok, and one was boring. It had the most intense backward running I could have ever imagined--It was really cool. We were going to check out the big Chinese New Year celebration in town, but it got too rainy and cold and we went home.

Two stories of note from Friday night:

1) I said 'mate' without even thinking about it. I believe it might enter my lexicon.

2) Not sure if this one translates as well, but I was absolutely cracking up. We were out with Catriona, from Ireland. Heather asked her where she was from in Ireland and she replied, "Oh in Offaly. It's kind of in the center of Ireland". Heather says, "Sounds nice. Was it a good place to grow up?". I really like that question, becasue it usually gives the person the excuse they can say it was a good place to grow up but a better place to leave or something like that, but Catriona says, "Well...No. It's in a bog. Offaly means 'small hole' too. So it's a small hole in the bog. I was happy to leave". I was dying. Super funny.
Fun Ireland trivia fact--It's also the same area where the now ex-prime minister is from!

Our place is shaping up nicely. It's mostly being furnished with Ikea things (from the landlord and us), but starting to feel a little more like 'our' space. I wish we had things for the walls--I might have to make some things. Here are some photos of it and the outside! It's a 300 year old cotton mill that was turned into apartments in 2002. I don't have any shots of the canals, but they run just 20 meters away from us.

My mom told me never to wear plaid on plaid, but I like to do it at home. Please note what our landlord described on the inventory list as, "One large, two seater brown leather sofa".

 It's actually a pretty big bedroom from what I originally remembered it as, which is really nice. I wish it was queen bed though....arrgghh doubles are about 1.5 inches too short for me.

 Glass tables are very deceptive in low light conditions too. I've already bumped into it three times.

It has a lot of really good natural light during the day. At night, different story. Hopefully we have rectified it with Ikea lamps.

 Wow. A bathroom.

 I really love the old smokestack from the kitchen. It's sweet. It's the same one as the top picture.

Notice the lamps that we bought. I almost cut my finger off the first day chopping veggies! It was sooo dark.

Well, now you kind of have an idea of where we are living. Still haven't solved the internet problem, but I have passed notes under the doors of the neighbors, so hopefully soon I'll hear back from them and be able to be in more constant contact with 'the peeps'.

Blast-er!

I hope you enjoyed last post's Blast-er from the Past-er. It was delicious. This week, let's go waaaaay back to 2009 and my old man. I still have the shirt too, but haven't had the guts found the right occasion to wear it myself.

Also another Manny cat- A little out of focus, but what a beauty! I'm going to call him Tim.

Take care. Out. CC.