My First Day in the Office ...

I survived my first day at my new job! I think it'll work out well. The work is easy enough to pick up, that's for sure. There's a lot to remember, but after meeting some of my fellow employees I'm sure that if they can do it, so can I! Most of them look like they're closer to Malorie's age than mine, but seeing as how I just spent three years at university with fellow students young enough to be my children, I can handle that with no problem.

In fact, one of my former classmates works in the same office! I thought the blonde at the mopier (no, not copier, mopier ...) looked familiar, and it turns out it's my friend Nicola! She was my roommate when we went on the trip to Strasbourg and Brussels in February. The first thing she did after asking what the hell I was doing there was tell me that I have to go with her next Wednesday to our old uni to watch the annual student/teacher Christmas debate. I went last year and it's the most hysterical thing you could ever see! She has big plans for dragging me out clubbing afterwards, but somehow I don't think that showing up on a Thursday morning hung over, and when it's only my second week on the job, would go down too well ... I'll stick with Coke ...

But the company itself seems like it's a good place to work. One of the first things the woman who lead the induction this morning asked is if I have any kids under 12. When I told her about Ricky and Jack, she signed them up for the company's Christmas party for kids, and since I can't do a lot for the boys for Christmas this year due to lack of money, I'm glad I can at least take them to this party. Santa will be there handing out pressies ... They're both very excited about it!

The company is also paying for each team to go for a Christmas lunch next week and giving us an extra hour (paid) so we can enjoy ourselves. Plus there's a New Year's Ball at the end of January. I'm not overly thrilled at the idea of going, especially since it's employees only so I can't even drag someone along with me in case I don't know anyone else going, but the partners and senior management will be there, so it's a chance to let them get to know who I am.

I'm quite excited about having a full-time job, and though I'm sure the work will become pretty routine and boring because it's hardly what you could call challenging, it still gives me my weekends off! Seeing as how things have been happening at the pub lately that have made me reluctant to work there anymore, I'm well out of there and off on the first step of what I hope is a career ladder!

Thanks for the Meme-ories ...

Thanks to Gary, I've been tagged with a meme! Now I've just got to figure out who to tag ...

The instructions: you now have to share five little-known facts about yourself, and inflict the Meme on five other unsuspecting Bloggers (or, since I don't really know many Bloggers, I'll post this on MySpace as well!).

1. I was once a movie extra in a film called "Necessary Roughness". It wasn't a box office success, but kinda funny, and it starred Scott Bakula, Sinbad and Kathy Ireland. I got $50 a night for sitting in a football stadium in Denton, Texas for 12 hours, and I was there four nights.

2. When I was in grad school I worked as a dish washer in a Mexican restaurant. The job lasted less than a week because I was grossed out when I discovered they wouldn't let me use the dish washer or hot water, and they recycled uneaten food!

3. I once got job as an "operator" on a sex chat line, but I chickened out and never actually worked. Oh well ...

4. When I was about 14 I wrote the names of all the boys from school that I fancied on a shelf in my bedroom closet. When my dad was painting my old room after I moved out, he found it, and when he got to the shelves he painted around it so it's probably still there!

5. In the middle of the night when I can't sleep, I like watching "Ed, Edd and Eddy"! It's the only reason I had Sky installed in my new house ... Okay, not really, but I do watch cartoons in the middle of the night!

Now five people to tag ...
1. Coco
2. Lisa-Lisa (from Texas)
3. Lisa (from Chesterfield)
4. Joy
5. Jason

How to Tell If Your Next-Door Neighbour is a Witch

One of my friends on MySpace posted this a couple of days ago, and I thought it was funny, so I decided to re-post it here ... with my own commentary, of course!


How To Tell If Your Next-Door Neighbour is a Witch
By Andie Gilmour

Fifty sure-fire ways to detect paganism without having to resort to a dunking stool or wart-inspection.

1) Never puts any rubbish out on refuse-collection day. I mean, re-cycling and composting is fine, but you can take it too far. Okay, I'm working on recycling and have the perfect place for a compost heap in my big back garden ...

2) You casually ask what phase the moon is in, and she tells you down to the exact number of days, hour and minute of rising, position on horizon, and current angle of declination. I have a lunar calendar on my MySpace profile!

3) All the stray cats in the neighbourhood tend to congregate in her garden
(and use your own as their litter). I was wondering why there were so many cats hanging around my house!

4) A screech owl has chosen the lamp-post outside her house as its favorite calling-post. That's just when it's getting warm at night and you like to sleep with the window open. Okay, I've yet to see an owl in the wild ... even in the wilds of Chesterfield!

5) Doesn't cut down the weeds in her garden; in fact it looks more like she's cultivating them. Needless to say, you get the seeds wafting over onto your pristine lawn. I don't have a lawn mower yet! The weeds are just biding their time!

6) Most of her clothes on the washing line are black. Nah, I prefer to be a bit more colourful. Even the robes I have picked out are blue!

7) The local kids talk in whispers as they go past her house, then start running at the last moment. The kids in the neighbourhood like talking to me because they think I have a funny accent!

8) Nobody trick-or-treats her house; not after the incident when the kids' costumes were less scary than hers when she opened the door to them. (She was embracing the Crone that year no doubt!) I ran out of candy this year, but I think Malorie may have been eating more than she handed out!

9) Footprints on the roof. And the trees in her flight-path have been pruned down. I swear it's true! Footprints from Santa's reindeer? Oh, from take offs and landings on brooms! I haven't made my broomstick fly ... yet ...

10) She can't even make a simple sandwich without adding fresh herbs to it. And don't ask her for a cup of tea unless you want something yellow coloured and smelling of flowers. I still prefer Mexican food or a nice Indian (though I have the perfect spot for an herb garden when I can finally get out there and do some planting), and I tend to drink Pepsi, even if it is flavoured with a bit of amaretto when I don't have to drive anywhere!

11) She hardly ever gets junk mail. You ask her what her secret is and she confides that she returns it to sender after writing something on in strange curly writing. Is that how it works????? Damn, I was just recycling the crap!

12) When you pop next door for a chat, the kettle is always already on. Usually only because I get a message from my ex-husband saying "Put the kettle on, bint!"

13) The Jehovah's Witnesses never call (not anymore; not after the last time! :-). Oh I'm just waiting for them to show up and start making the sign of the cross at me!

14) Keeps the local scented-candle shop solvent. Buy scented candles? Hell, I'm about to start my candle making business back up again! And I'm my best customer!

15) Has a pond full of frogs (and you haven't seen that bothersome double-glazing salesman around for a while). I don't need double-glazing salesmen, I live in a council house. As for the pond, I have a big puddle of mud in the front garden where they had the skip when they were putting in my new kitchen, but that's it.

16) She's always smiling, darn her! Life is good!

17) She goes dressed as normal to a Hallowe'en fancy dress party; and wins first prize. Maybe next year, you never know ... though I did go as a witch to a Halloween party this year ...

18) Her house always smells of incense. Too true! I love the stuff!

19) Has named her four cats Beelzebub, Kali, Diana, and Moonbeam. (Or her rats Devon and Cornwall). I don't have a cat, but those are pretty good names, come to think of it! And the closest thing to a rat I've ever had was guinea pigs.

20) Her bumper sticker reads "I brake for toads". Where can I get one? Plenty of men in Chesterfield I prefer to think of as toads, and I suppose I should brake for them too!

21) Frequently gets raided by the drug squad who confiscate large amounts of dried green leaves; they always return them with apologies after analysis. Nah, the only dried leaves I have are herbs, dammit!

22) At Christmas, it seems like half the garden has been moved into the house. I'm going to try anyway!

23) You sometimes hear the sound of singing and dancing through the wall. If you look out of the window, it is usually a full moon. I haven't quite gotten into singing and dancing during ceremonies, but there's still time since I'm fairly new to this!

24) She was given a bodhram drum for her birthday. And she plays it at midnight in the fields. And she's got a blasted tamborine. I didn't know I was a pagan at February so no drums. I thought I was just weird back then ...

25) You discover that her realistic resin skull ornament in her living room, actually is real. I have a candle shaped like a skull but no ornaments ... real or otherwise ...

26) You catch her washing a crystal ball along with the dishes. Haven't bought one of those yet, though I do have two glass balls I bought at IKEA!

27) She wears a lot of silver jewelry, even when doing the gardening. And bat ear-rings for goodness-sake. I did buy a pentacle ring and necklace at Witchfest that I tend to wear most of the time.

28) You knock on her door and she answers it naked except for a toweling robe. You apologize for disturbing her in the bath, but notice that her hair isn't wet. If I'm busy during anything witchy, I don't answer the door, naked or dressed!

29) Irritating tendency to hum a lot. What's she got to be so happy about, huh? Life?

30) She has a tame robin that will eat from her hand in the garden. That can't be natural. Wrong season to go looking for robins, I think! I don't know much about birds.

31) Never catches a cold, even though she walks barefoot most of the time. In the snow as well. I do walk barefoot a lot, but I had a rotten cold about a month ago.

32) Doesn't kill spiders. Not even big hairy long-legged ones that suddenly appear from the waste-pipe whilst you're having a bath. I prefer the catch and release method to killing them. Except the one in the kitchen. I kinda like him so I've left him alone.

33) She listens to what you are saying like she really cares. And I do!

34) She has lots of female friends who come round every few months. When you ask what they get up to, she tells you that they just have cakes and ale and a good natter. No, I'm a solitary so any friends who come round for cakes and ale are actually coming round for cakes and ale!

35) You catch her hugging a tree. As if I'd let anyone see me ... On this estate?

36) Her dinner-set is decorated with Celtic patterns. Where can I get one of those? IKEA doesn't seem to have them in stock!

37) She has a mail-order account with a semi-precious gem wholesaler. I found a shop in town where I can pick them up so don't need to mail-order.

38) You notice that the parish priest crosses himself whenever he walks past her house. What would Father William make of me ... LMAO

39) She never watches television. And she has shelves full of books with black spines and silver-lettered titles. Oh I watch plenty of telly! CSI, all kinds of crime documentaries, motor sports, other sports, Grey's Anatomy, Friends, shall I continue?

40) To your certain knowledge she has never set foot in the local church. In fact, you have heard rumours that she has been barred from it. I have a weird story about that ... the first time I met David, we arranged to meet outside the "Crooked Spire" in town. I needed the toilet, so I thought I'd go into the church to see if they had a public loo. As soon as I set foot in the door, my mobile rang - it was David. He was running late, and I used the time to go do a bit of shopping. I walked back to the church, and as soon as I got close to it, my mobile rang again. David again, he was going to be a bit longer. SO I went to pick up a new top to go out round town in. I got back to the church, got close to it, and ... well, you can guess what happened ... I don't think I was meant to go near that church that day!

41) She makes jars of quince and mandrake relish for the Women's Institute coffee morning jumble sale. What's quince? And aren't mandrakes those things that look like babies on Harry Potter?

42) You ask to borrow a pack of cards for an impromptu bridge evening, and there are 78 in the pack. I don't have a complete set ... yet.

43) You have never known her to visit her GP. I did last week! For a new patient health check ... I passed.

44) When you talk with her, she maintains eye contact all the time. Well to do otherwise is RUDE!

45) Expectant mothers are forever visiting her. Also women who become expectant mothers a month after visiting her. OMG if any of my friends ends up pregnant they're going to blame me now!

46) You ask her for suggestions for nice walks in the area, and they all go by way of stone circles and strange earth mounds. Excellent idea! I do that in the Peak District!

47) She only buys organic. And you just bet that she's a vegetarian as well. (Well, maybe not stricly vegetarian....) I grew up in Texas. I can't give up beef. It's sacrilege!

48) When you ask her about her vacation plans, she tells you she will be camping in a tee-pee in the Brecon Beacons. I want to go to Australia! Or to any European Grand Prix ...

49) There aren't any mirrors in her house. Or clocks. Like Malorie would let me live in a house with no mirrors! And I need clocks or I'll be late for work on my first day Monday!

50) She tells you that she is coming out of the broom closet, joins Witches' Voice, and erects a stained-glass pentacle window in her front door . I want one of those in my front door!

Another Brit in F1 Next Year!

I saw Lewis Hamilton compete in the British Grand Prix this year in the GP2 race. This guy is good! He overtook for the lead of the race right in front of me, and at one point was alongside two other cars, three abreast. I'm glad to see he's signed with McLaren because Ron Dennis tends to favour drivers, and I have a feeling it won't be Alonso who gets the special treatment since Lewis has come up through McLaren's Young Driver's programme. I'm not much of an Alonso supporter ...



Lewis: I'll be ready for Oz
Friday, 24, November, 2006, 15:02

Lewis Hamilton says his focus over the winter will be on being as prepared as humanly possible for his Formula 1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix next March.

The 21-year-old Briton, who will become the first black driver to compete in F1 at Melbourne, is currently under-going one of the most comprehensive preparation programmes in the sport's history.

Hamilton is spending more than four hours a day in McLaren's gym, as well as receiving intensive training in mental focus, dealing with pressure and F1's rules and regulations.

"I'm not afraid of making mistakes, I understand how tough the challenge is," said Hamilton.

"But what I can do is make sure I prepare everything for the first races, but you have to make mistakes to learn to become a better driver."

Hamilton is also working with a trainer from the Finnish Olympic team who has devised a programme mental exercises to counter the pressures faced when racing for a top F1 team.

One of those pressures will be the inevitable comparisons that will be made to his double-world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso as the season unfolds.

But Hamilton already sees driving alongside the reigning title-holder as strength to his bow.

"It's a positive having such a strong team-mate," he said.

"I am not worried about it. He'll do what he does, which is drive really well, and I'll do the best I can and try eventually to compete with him"

..Hamilton says that he has yet to speak to Alonso about his appointment but revealed that while having dinner with his father during the Turkish Grand Prix weekend, the then-Renault star had come over and introduced himself to the Brit.

Hamilton described this as a "pleasant surprise" adding that he believed he would have a strong relationship with the Spaniard.

As for results, Lewis says he'll take them as they come.

"I've not thought about it," he said.

"We'll play it by ear. Every driver has a target to get to Formula 1, then the target is to win the championship at some point.

"I am going to learn as much as I can from Fernando and do the best job possible."

Despite his lack of top level experience, the GP2 Series champion reckons that not since pre-1993 has there been a better time for a rookie to enter Formula 1 with a top team.

The 2007 regulations will see Friday practice turn into three hours of unlimited running, allowing drivers the opportunity to gain experience of new cars and circuits.

Hamilton admits this was "a key factor" in stepping up to a race-seat now rather than doing a year's testing.

"I'm doing what I always wanted to do," he said.

"I was six when I first saw Ayrton Senna drive for McLaren and I knew I wanted to that."


http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=38001

What is Yule?

By request (Gary), I found an explanation of what "Yule" is as part of the Wiccan calendar. Rather than reproduce the whole thing (and risk violating copyright laws), you can click here and read a basic outline. There is a lot more to it, but this gives a good idea of what I'll be celebrating this year!

Not a Bad Day ...

My dial-up hell is over! AOL have finally reconnected my broadband at the new house, and now I only have to deal with a desktop computer badly in need of a reformatting. But in the meantime at least I don't have to live with a dial-up connection that disconnects me every five minutes. That made chatting on MSN rather difficult to say the least! So I'm back now!

I also have a working fridge as well as a freezer! The washing machine decided it didn't want to work after standing unused for eight months, but the fridge is fine. (I know, how boring am I, blogging about a fridge and a washer ...)

Malorie had her first ride on a train yesterday, and boy! is she a miserable traveller! On the trip up to Leeds she complained that she was worried the train would crash, she was bored and there were no cute boys on the train with us. I think she forgot all about that when we got there and had a great Thanksgiving dinner ... plus she had an internet connection she could sit on for hours! I haven't told her the broadband is working here at home though.

At least she was a fairly good traveller on the way home today. I introduced her to Starbucks at the station (we don't have one in Chesterfield, too much of a hick town I guess), where she immediately fixated on a double chocolate muffin that, after I bought it, she decided to give to Braden when we got home. He never got it though. She changed her mind as soon as he saw it. Still no cute boys on the train for her to look at, but she didn't complain about it as much!

David was an absolute doll in inviting us up for Thanksgiving. He didn't let me lift a finger, and he'd even bought my favourite drink! While Malorie was on the computer we watched three movies (plus two episodes of Red Dwarf), and it was the most chilled Thanksgiving I've ever had!

I have so got to get a cooker as soon as I can ... I owe David a couple of meals I promised to cook, and I didn't intend them to be microwave meals when I said I'd demonstrate my skills in the kitchen!

Help Me Get an iPod! LOL

Well it's worth a try! David referred me so he can get a laptop. I'm trying for the iPod. I don't have a real one, just an MP3 player that looks like one ... So any help would be appreciated!

http://gifts.freepay.com/?r=34608551

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know that it's a typically American thing to say and that it would only apply to my friends in the US (unless any of you in other parts of the world are also celebrating), but I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! It is one of the things I miss by living in England because I love my family and have wonderful memories of Thanksgiving dinners through the years. My earliest memories are of going to my great-grandmother's house in Dallas and her incredible stuffing! I wish I'd managed to get the recipe for that, it was my favourite part of the dinner. My sister Kim preferred the pumpkin pie. Then again, because her birthday is in November, whenever my mum asked her what kind of birthday cake she wanted, she would always say she wanted a pumpkin pie! (I always preferred angel food cake!)

I've cooked a couple of Thanksgiving dinners since I moved to England. My second mother-in-law's birthday fell on that Thursday one year, and she asked me to cook a traditional turkey dinner for her as her present. The past few years I haven't bothered, either because I've been working or at university, but today I'm having a real turkey dinner being prepared by David for Malorie and me! Next year I will have to return the favour since I should have an oven by then!

So I hope all of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving have a delicious meal and a stress free day!

And I just have to say it ... Go Cowboys!

Getting There ...

A couple of weeks ago Malorie decided that she was going to move out and go stay with friends. They had her convinced that she was 17 and didn't have to follow any of my rules, so I couldn't tell her what to do. When I grounded her, they talked her into moving out and in with them. I knew it wouldn't last very long, and it didn't. Wednesday I started getting texts from her saying that she missed me, and Thursday I got a phone call asking to come pick her up.

I think she has recovered from her "ordeal" of living away from home. I don't think she had it too bad while she was there, but she admits that she just wasn't ready for it. She's emailed her dad and asked if she can go stay with him for a while. Braden's already supposed to be flying over there in a couple of weeks, but he says he'll be back the first week in January, so that's not too bad.

It'll be a strange Christmas season this year. Malorie and Braden will be away, Ricky and Jack will be with their dad (it's his year) and I won't be celebrating Christmas in the same way I have done in the past (for me it will be a Yule celebration rather than Christmas). I'm looking forward to it, actually. It'll be different, but different doesn't always have to be bad! For one thing it will be less stressful without having two teenagers demanding presents that I can't afford (I can always buy their presents before they come back from Texas but after the Christmas rush is over).

My new employment contract came in the post this week, and I realised that my first payday will be something like one or two days before Christmas! Now that's going to make things interesting ...

I basically handed in my notice at the pub last night. The landlady said they had a form come through for a reference - she said when she first saw the envelope and that it was from a solicitor's firm, she wondered who was suing them this time! - and the landlord told me that a good reference for me was a foregone conclusion. That was nice of him. He's a weird man, but basically I think he's okay. I've agreed to work next weekend and to see how it goes after that, but my employment contract says that I can't work another job without permission because of European law work-time directives. I understood that because it was a topic we covered in EU law in my second year at uni!

And, finally, the house is starting to look more and more like a home. Richard found a sofa for me (he's a dickhead but can be nice when he wants to be, and I had to call him a dickhead because he doesn't like it when I say nice things about him), and yesterday he and his mate Nick picked it up and brought it here, along with my washing machine from the old house (yay! clean clothes!). It was nice walking in from work last night and seeing a living room that doesn't look like a storage facility. All I need for now is a cheap rug, like the one for £10 I saw at IKEA on Thursday, to go in front of the sofa, and I'll be quite comfortable until I can get a new sofa and carpets!

I've taken some pics to post, but for the life of me I can't find the cable to plug my camera into the laptop, so it'll be a bit longer before I can post them! When I do finally get them onto the laptop, it's going to take a while to upload them. Because I've moved I've had to go back onto dial-up (sorry for swearing, that's such a nasty word!) while my broadband service is switched to this house. It's better than nothing but when you're used to a high speed connection ... damn is it slow!

I Got the Job!!!!!

I had a phone call this afternoon offering me the job I interviewed for last week! I start a week on Monday, and I'm looking forward to getting away from the pub and into a full-time job that will hopefully lead to bigger and better things! I'm not bothered that it's only a low-paid entry level position. Money isn't everything, as long as I have a roof over my head and food on the table, I'm happy. Any extras will come along when the time is right.

Life is definitely looking up! New house, new job and fabulous man in my life ... I'm sure there will be more dips in the road ahead but I can deal with anything knowing that problems are only temporary!

New House, New Man ...

Things are going really well at the moment! (Fingers crossed because every time I say that I end up jinxing myself ...) I've spent the past few days painting in my new house, and today I finished the kitchen! It looks incredible with the new cupboards and work tops, and now with freshly painted walls! Here's before and kind of during. After will be when I get everything moved in and the kitchen set up properly.





I haven't had to do it all myself either. Ricky and Jack helped me today by painting the first coat in the niche under the stairs.



And just proof that I'm the one doing the rest of the painting ... No comments on my ass, please!



I've started on the living room today but was so knackered from climbing on things, under things, around things to paint in the kitchen that after one wall I came home to rest my aching muscles!

As for the new love interest, he's an incredible man named David. I won't spill too much for now because, like I said, I tend to jinx things. We went to Witchfest together last weekend and had a wonderful time! I don't think we stopped talking the entire drive down to London and back! He's also come down from where he lives (about an hour's drive) to help me with things like sort my car out and pick out paint for the house. We've already had one trial with dealing with a "cyber stalker" on MySpace who tried to convince me that he wanted her instead of me, but the woman was obviously nuts! She started to target me on there, but now she's switched back to focusing on him. Instead of driving us apart though it's brought us closer together, and now we just laugh at the nerve of the woman! She seems to think she's the centre of the universe!

I also had a second interview with a company this week, and I should hear Monday if I've got the job. It's an entry level position with a legal company, but it's a start. It's regular hours, decent pay, and the kind of job where I can leave the headaches of work at my desk at 5 o'clock! With the little two monsters still so young, it's perfect!

North Garland HS Alum Killed in Iraq

I remember Eric. I can't believe it.

By KARIN SHAW ANDERSON / The Dallas Morning News

A graduate of North Garland High School was killed in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near the military vehicle he was riding in, the Defense Department announced Monday.

It appears that Army Lt. Col. Eric Kruger had been in Baghdad only days before he was killed Thursday. Military officials said the 40-year-old's mission was training Iraqi civilians and police and working on reconstruction efforts in Baghdad.

Two other soldiers, Lt. Col. Paul J. Finken of Mason City, Iowa, and Staff Sgt. Joseph A. Gage of Modesto, Calif., were also killed in the explosion.

Col. Kruger's unit had been sent to replace the one that Col. Finken was leading, and the two were riding together in preparation for the transfer of duties when the bomb detonated.

Col. Kruger grew up in Garland and graduated from North Garland High in 1984. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Southern Methodist University before taking a commission in the Army in 1989.

His Army unit was based at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colo., and news reports have said he was the highest-ranking officer from Fort Carson to be killed in the war.

Col. Kruger was serving his third tour of duty in the Middle East. He had served in Bahrain in 1997 and 1998 and had been deployed to Afghanistan before his assignment in Iraq. He earned several honors, including the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Awards and an Army Commendation medal. Army officials said it wasn't clear whether any of those awards were presented after his death.

Family members couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Witchfest!

Today I went to my first Witchfest, and I have to say it was probably the best day out I've had since Donna and I went to the British Grand Prix in June! Partly because of the experience of the whole gathering, but also because of the wonderful company I had.

It was only just over a week ago that I had my first opportunity to sit down face to face with another person in the Craft when David came down to meet me, and today it felt absolutely wonderful to be surrounded by hundreds of others! Okay, it was also very weird seeing so many grown women dressed as fairies ... but that's fine. To each their own. The one with the Spock ears was a bit much. Oops, sorry David. I forgot I'm not supposed to call them Spock ears!

One of the real highlights of the day was getting a book signed by Kate West. The first book on Witchcraft I read was written by her, and I think I have all but one of her books. I did have two missing from my collection, but today I bought "The Real Witches' Book of Spells and Rituals". She was very nice, and I'm pleased that I had a chance to meet her.

The stalls were great, and I ended up buying a pentagram ring and pendant, and a new chalice. It's only a little one ... but I thought it suits me quite well. Very simple. There were so many other things I could have bought, including a very witchy dress. That can wait for a while though. It was quite sexy though.

And I really have to thank David again for taking me down there, for being such wonderful company, and for helping me make coffee when we made it back to Chesterfield ...