The Adventures of Bear and Butterfly

5 channels & the options are antique shows, motorsports, old western movies (2 channels) & Big Brother highlights. Ridiculous! I cannot believe the way people display themselves for the cameras- don’t they ever think that their parents or younger kids who may be influenced by their performances will be watching, so surely they’d be conscious of the way they portray themselves? Tone the swearing down definitely!  I caught an initial glimpse of it & was quite worried by one of the characters behaviour, but the girls at HOF have explained to me he has Tourettes. Heheh, now he is my fav character- not that I watch it enough to have favourites! (Honestly!)

Last Saturday we had a luxurious lazy day in front of the laptop.  Saw an amazing movie called ‘Running Scared’- finally an original action thriller with tonnes of twists!  My tummy was aching at the end of it from the suspense.  Also ‘Glory Road’ which was a nice feel good family flick with a similar line to ‘Coach Carter’ but just without the swearing- Basketball & a firm yet supportive Coach.  It was set in the 60’s so there was also that black discrimination issue too.

Sunday I went for a Mother’s Help interview.  All the way over in Holland’s Park- my tube line was meant to get me right there but as per usual there was maintenance being done on the line.  So I caught a bus from Tottenham Court & used my A-Z to ensure I got off at the right spot.  I sat in the above seats on the Double Decker.  There was a vent blowing smelly warm air at my feet- yuck!  We drove past Hyde Park along Bayswater Road & along the fenceline there was all different styles of paintings on display.  Heaps of Lions & Elephants making me think of Kimmy & Ez.

I felt super nervous as I walked down the road towards the house.  Pretty flash looking abodes!  Through some scary looking pointy gates, push a few buttons to get to the right appartment.  Masha opened the door with baby Andreus in arm.  Eepp!!  Gorgeous blue eyes that wouldn’t stop staring at me!  I met her husband Doug & we sat in the kitchen talking about the position.  It sounded like a fun possibility to learn all those mummy skills I lack!  & also to share my interest in kids & art.   Paul & Alexandria woke to dominate the kitchen, I painted a lion & tiger on their faces & watched them eat.  I really enjoyed the time I spent with the family, but it was a 5 & 1/2 days 60 hour a week job for £300- £5 an hour.  Motivation to try being a day relief teacher really!

Anyway, the week flew by super quick-we had the bank holiday on Monday so Bodra & I decided to head over to the British Museum for the Michelangelo’s Drawings exhibition.  It was sold out so we booked tickets for Saturday & viewed it yesterday.  Heheh, I dressed up especially for it which was fun- Bo was in shorts & t-shirt & I had my wedge shoes & red-velvet angel skirt & my golden top from our wedding on.  Having a Sarah Jessica Parker moment!  The exhibition was quite interesting- he was certainly a master of shading!  Can’t believe he started when he was 12.  We sat below a projection of various views of the Sistine Chapel.  There was a photograph of the Pieta’- I’ve never seen it before & can’t wait to stand before it one day!  The face of Mary seemed so real, as if she was just frozen in time & any moment she would come to life.  The drawings themselves were all practice sketches for sculptures & architecture.  He was really focused on all the details of the human body- muscles, tendrils of hair, contours on a face- everything besides willys.

So as we didn’t get in to the Michelangelo exhibition on our first attempt, we chose to go & view the Word Into Art Exhibition.  Arabic scripture, so beautiful.  Some works looked like Alien codes.  Bodra & were so blown away by the artwork here & kind of regretted bothering to pre-book the Michelangelo tickets.

Then we went to Bow to check out Ez & Kim’s flat.  Surprisingly they have quite a large bedroom & even a little backyard witha Jasmine vine growing.  They’ve done quite well for themselves!  We went for a wander through Victoria Park & I ogled the doggies.  We saw a helium Patrick fly fast through the sky- someone had let go of him & set him free!  Lots of crows in the park scavenging from picnickers.  Little kids on their leashes running wildly.

The third floor has been fun, I haven’t been twiddling my fingers too much although I spent nearly an entire day going through all the displayed stock & checking for security tags & ticktets.  Beats standing around.  The girls I work with are lively & friendly but sometimes I just don’t feel like participating in the babble & giggles.  I’m a bit on the older side of them so not really too into the topics.

I had yummy fish ‘n’ chips on Friday night, I ordered a Haddock & Cod I think.  It was an entire piece of fish, longer than my plate.  One piece was absolutely delicious, as were the chips.  The other piece tasted like it was a mutated smelly sock so I didn’t eat much of it.  I had over ordered though so I was stuffed!

Saturday morning Bo & I caught a tube to Woodford & met Tony there.  Liz & he took us to a humungous open air market.  Absolute cloudless blue sky, eternal sunshine.  I saw a rottweiller puppy & a gorgeous Staffy who was a slate grey colour.  Highlights of the day will always be interactions with doggies for me!  We got to taste some scrumptious Greek treats, non-salty feta cheese, macadaemian nuts, pickled garlic, olives etc…  Picked up a few presi’s for Kimmy & Dave.  Liz & Tony then took us to yet another cosy, quiet & authentic english pub in the countryside for a delicious meal, I had prawns in filo pastry.  I think it is the Irish in me desiring all this fish!
Home for an afternoon nap, I got sunburnt while wandering around the market!  Didn’t think it was possible.  Then we went out to Michelangelo.  Afterwards we had a lovely Hoegaarden Belgian Beer.

So now I’m at home, Bodra is out at the Laundrette.  I have sniffles so don’t really feel like embracing the day.  I have one more week at HOF, & as I get to know the girls the attachment develops.  It’s sometimes difficult to really be in the moment when you’re sensing dissatisfaction.  I wish I cold just turn off my expectations button.  & my future button.

The hopes for this week are, Bodra’s potential job in Reading becoming a reality.  I’m not looking for nannying positions any longer as we’re not sure where our base is now.  Perhaps after this week I will have a bash at teaching.  An absolute plus for us is that Bodra managed to get tickets to the Tool concert.  It had sold out so we ended up searching all over ebay & gumtree to find tickets.  At £55 each it’s not cheap but it’s not as expensive as it could be.  So yay, I have been reading reviews from their concerts & getting excited!

Well, I’ve spent a week at House of Fraser-City working as a Retail Sales Assistant in the ‘Smart Career’s’ section. Gorgeous people to work with, quite a number of super stunning men & ladies from Ghana. Such amazing bone structure, features & skin! & there are some lovely ladies from Italy too. But alas! What can I say? By the afternoon of the first day my feet were killing me & I wasn’t even wearing the chunky wedge shoes I had bought especially for the job, luckily! I learnt the pain of those the next afternoon. Yes, donned in black (except for today- the last Friday of the month we get to wear our own clothes & nearly everyone came in denim jeans; funny how people still opt for uniform when they have freedom of choice!) I strutted around the second floor tidying up racks bearing Mosschino (spelling?) & Paul Smith Black. Oh lah lah! A dress for over £320 & it looked absolutely disgusting- haven’t sold it yet. Next week I get to go upstairs & tidy amongst Armani & Jean Paul Gautier etc… how very!

By the evening of the Monday I had had it. I’m completely superfluous on the floor as the store is super quiet & only has a couple peak periods during the day, lunchtime & early evening. But even then I wouldn’t call it busy. There are quite a few of us on the floor too, so there isn’t much to do besides hanging out with the till or chatting away with other Sales Assistants. Which I don’t want to do. I really want to be useful to someone! Solve problems & help out- all the time! Not just for like 20 minutes of the shift! & I want to be in a stimulating environment! Honestly, the time I have spent in my brain trying to keep myself entertained while being there has been soooo trying! Fortunately I have started reading The Compass of Zen so now I have a focus to keep my thoughts a little less loopy-lah-lah! So I’ve talked with Hilary & Rebecca & handed in my verbal notice today. Not the shortest career I’ve had, I think I did maybe 3 hours at McDonalds. I will be working there for the next two weeks & Rebecca is going to help point out all the agencies around HOF so I can go visit before work & during my lunch break & hopefully get something far more stimulating than this. I’d really like to get into Human Resources somehow.

Bodra is still on the search for a job. People piss around here & never get back to you when they say they will. Grrr… he’s going to check out some potential jobs outside of London now too, as he has already had a fair number of jobs offered outside. Money is getting to the point where we just have to go where the work is. I will get into relieving too once I have finished at HOF.
We went to a wicked as dance party the other week at The Coronet. Awesome decorations with a huge hummingbird in the centre of the stage & flowers & a fairy. The venue was much like the St James, but just way WAY better. All these awesome security guards, skin headed & super stocky. Very friendly & helpful, making everyone feel quite relaxed. Awesome music & lasers. Bodra took some pics using his phone, so we’ll upload that as soon as we get around to it.

It’s funny how when you’re unemployed (I still consider myself to be) you have all these things that need to be done, but your mind can only handle one major task- find job. Everything else goes into storage. I guess I’ll keep looking for a nanny job too. I’ve applied for one as a mother’s help & already received an email from the family saying to contact them. Task number one for tomorrow.

This coming Monday is a Bank holiday. I wish NZ banks had Bank holidays! They seem to have quite a number in the UK. Bodra & I don’t have any extravagant plans- we’re down to veges & rice & water on our food shopping list- heheh! Maybe a trip to the British Museum as they are having an exhibition of Michelangelo’s Drawings. I just finished a book called The Mission of Art by Alex Grey & in it he wrote about so many different artists. So I’m all motivated to go & see their works now.
What else…? Oh, we also went to another dance party, before the Coronet one. To some place called the Renaissance Rooms. It was a pretty cool venue too, but Bodra & I didn’t have the energy to stay there dancing until the tubes started back up again. They stop running after midnight, & restart maybe around 7am. So we decided to take the buses back home. An epic journey with not much to get excited about. & it was cold. We didn’t know the landmarks for the stops & the drivers aren’t too keen on interacting with you. We had to change buses 4 times! So nearly 3 hours later we got home. Fun fun!

Kim has enjoyed her past two weeks at FairyLove making fairy goodies. She came back last weekend with a Fairy Wish button for me- a badge with pink fluffy feathers, ribbons & a flower attached to it. Very sweet! Ezra is still job hunting too. They moved into their flat this evening with Cameron & Nik- living in Bow or Mile End. Not too far away from us so hopefully we will still see them. Although it is too cold to get out. Sometimes. This is Spring!