men

possibly not the wisest thing to do, writing about men. but here i go.

this summer's been quite busy, on the men front. for me, that is. but however i look at it, i always end up in the weirdest situations. first, i met a guy whom i really fell for. that hadn't happened in a long time, so i went out of my way to make sure we'd meet again, and even went out on a date with him. unfortunately, timing was incredibly poor, as he was between various trips around the world, and thus, only 'around' once every other month or so, and then only for a few days before setting off again. he eventually told me he wouldn't really have much time before october. fine. i can understand that this six-month long extravaganza is more important to him right now, as we barely know each other. but as he hasn't said anything further, like, he really wants to see me when he comes back, and as he really could have called me to tell me he couldn't, in fact, meet up with me the weekend we'd said we'd go out, i decided that meeting other people was an option.

guy number two, a guy i'd met previously, and whom i'd been attracted to the first time around, but he'd seemed otherwise engaged. this time he definitely wasn't, and we flirted a lot, and i gave him plenty of opportunities to 'act' (like, we were both lying in the grass watching the stars, the only light coming from a a dying grill, totally alone), but for some reason, he didn't. he did ask me whether i'd be willing to relocate to Germany (where he lives). i really doubt he's a regular emailer, so if we meet next year and we're both still single, something might come out of it then. third time lucky?

guy number three, my estate agent. first time we met, he insisted we'd met before. i thought he was just being lame. turns out he was right, as we eventually found out we'd gone to school together (it was a very big school). as he'd outrageously flirted with me the first time we met to discuss appartment buying, i called him up to ask him out the other day. don't know if he was just flustered, nervous, or not really interested anymore, but he said 'it doesn't bother me'. my friends think he was probably just flustered about being asked out on the phone (i tried to go to his office and talk to him face to face, but he was in a meeting, and as i had no other way of contacting him, i really had to call him at work). anyway, he said he'd call me to arrange a time this week. to which my male friend F says that he could have at least decided on a time when we were talking. he doesn't doubt the guy will call, but he finds it weird that he had to think about it.

so there you have it. am i doomed? i can't remember dating being this hard.

protein pets

my father loves walnuts. he really does. and every year, he buys tons, so that they will last him till the next season. and he's now going through the very last bag, which is very nicely timed, as the new ones will come out in about 2 weeks. anyway, the point is, these nuts are, by now, quite old, and quite a few of them are totally unedible. quite a few of them have some kind of maggot, or other form of 'protein' in them. yesterday, the maggot in question was really bold and actually made it off the plate.

me: dad, your protein's escaping.
dad: oh, where are you going, protein?

followed by 5 mns of my father trying to get the maggot back onto the plate without actually touching it. it was doomed to fail. this maggot wanted freedom. eventually, he picked it up and put it in his empty chocolate mousse container.

dad: wow, the protein likes chocolate. it's stopped moving. it's eating the stuff.
me: dad, stop referring to it as if it were a pet. it's not. it's a maggot.
dad: come on protein, eat up!

me, giving up.

okayed!

got a letter from the bank today: loan accepted! yahoo!!!! that was the one thing i was the most worried about. now, all i need is for the sellers to sign the papers (they were on holiday, and should have signed them yesterday, a full 2 weeks after i did).

spent the afternoon at IKEA, checking out elements for my new kitchen. it was all very exciting. colours, handles, types of bottom and top cabinets, revolving trays inside, sliding drawers within drawers... i've always loved kitchens, so imagine the state i was in. now i've just got to make it all fit into the small room allocated.i'm sure i can make it work out. :)

10 things i did last weekend

flirted
drank
took pictures
ate too much food
ate amazing food
saw shooting stars
enjoyed crazy stories
caught up with friends
laughed a lot
didn't sleep that much

fabulous weekends

weekends are always good, of course, but i've observed a dramatic increase in their fun element. i think i can say without any doubt that i've had the four best weekends of my life in the past one and a half year. which begs the question: am i having more fun cos i'm older, or is it the way these weekends are (i.e., actually not being home, being at someone's place/hotel for the whole 2 days, which is not actually something i do often - actually, when i think about it, probably only these 4 times in that 1.5 year).


anyway, just to say that this was another of those weekends that went amazingly well. the weather was terrible but the company and the location were both really great. and this second weekend in my friend's summerhouse in the middle of nowhere in Denmark has already become a yearly event in everyone's book. we can't wait till next year. catching up once a year is nice. it'd be nice to see all these people more often, but on the other hand, if we did this weekend thing too often, it wouldn't be as much fun. we can only try our best to see each other in smaller groups throughout the year...

4 days off!

and here i am, nearly in a plane taking me to Denmark. i've got 4 days off during which i'm going to do NOTHING. i'm going to spend my time in a summer house in the middle of nowhere, with about a dozen friends, and it's going to be great and amazing, like it was last year. i can't wait!

then there were two

and so today, after having been home for a lot longer than planned, my sister left us to got back to London, where she works. in the meantime, we were actually lucky enough to have her by herself, meaning, without the other members of our family. just the 3 of us. it was really nice. like old times. i've really missed that, and so, i suspect, have my sister and my father. so now, it's really weird that she's gone. possibly, she won't be back before the house is sold. we are hoping she'll make time, though, especially as she's voiced her wish to help me with my own move into my new apartment. we went for another visit the other day, measuring everything, and we got talking about where to put what. it was really nice to have her input. even though we often disagree, she has a sound sense of aesthetics. miss her.

nearly a home owner...

so, after the various hurdles of having to look for a flat while otherwise engaged, of making a decision and of then making an offer, then another one (first one refused), i've now actually been at my sollicitor's to sign the first agreement, ie, saying i'm really willing to buy and they're really willing to sell. i was all apprehensive about meeting the current owners, and worried that they might not like me for some reason and refuse to sell, but they weren't even there. they won't, actually, even sign the papers until mid-august, as they're on holiday. which is technically to my advantage in some ways (French law, too many details), but could possibly also delay things further. anyway, this step has now been passed, the next is various visits to banks. yeah...hopping for joy... but, things are moving in the right direction, and, with a bit of luck, i should move in mid- to end-october. into MY place.