Random stories from a Kingston girl

attention attention please

2006-10-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry guys. This time I'm not setting the trend, I'm merely following the crowd!

See you there!

Sunday morning shock

2006-10-17T11:33:00.000-05:00

I was on my way home from church on Sunday morning and stopped off to buy newspapers from a man at the side of the road. He was normal newspaper selling man, just on a corner, in a residential area, near a supermarket.

I was counting out my change, trying to get rid of as much silver as possible, when a lady came up to the car selling something. I wasn't really paying her attention, being too busy with the silver (earlish Sunday morning, holiday weekend, brain wasn't working too quick) and just kinda replied with a huh?

When I glanced up, I saw something bright red being shoved into the car. As I already mentioned, it was still earlish and my brain wasn't working too well so I had to do a double take. It was bright red, velvety, part of it was cup-like and there wasn't much of it. Just as I was processing this information, the woman yelled at me

'Is a man thang'

And indeed it was. Bright and early on a Sunday morning, she was trying to sell me a man thong with my Sunday newspaper.

I laughed too much to even find out how much it was before I drove off, leaving it behind.

(I've tried to find a photo online to match this post but haven't had any luck. Instead, I am debating stealing one from Cali-J ... )

Asking for advice...

2006-10-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

I have a question for the men out there. When you see a woman driving down the road and you yell something along the lines of 'hey brownin, me like yuh, yuh know', what do you expect to happen?

Should I stop the car at the next available point, get out and come and talk to you? Or should I yell my number out as I drive by? Should I just ignore you? Or should I copy one of my friends who has taken to yelling something along the lines of 'me like yuh too - let me when you buy the diamond and I'll come check yuh' back at them?

Just wondering. Because you see, I was always taught it is rude to ignore someone who is talking to me. But at the same time, I really don't want to accidentally get into a relationship with a man who I met while he was sat at the side of the raod at 8:00 in the morning with his morning red stripe and spliff.

Ladies - have you got any alternative responses?!

Twice in one day!

2006-10-11T16:09:00.000-05:00

I’ve been contemplating writing about this for a while and have been ummming and ahhhhing and have decided to finally post something on the topic of Transfigure. You see, I'm interested in politics. But disheartened with it all.

To start with, my problem is that I’m confused. I’m confused as to what really is going on. You see, as far as my law knowledge goes, if it is indeed a ‘gift’ then the PNP technically have done nothing wrong. Until we face issues of funding political parties and pass some legislation, then there is nothing to say that they can’t take gifts. However, yes they are on iffy ground taking a 'gift' just before a contract is renewed.

Of course, ideally we don’t want our politicians to owe anyone anything. But being realistic, unless they are funded from public funds, they are going to have to take money from the private sector.

We need to set up laws that say that all donations over X amounts need to be declared. That we can or cannot accept donations from foreign. That companies giving money can or cannot get state contracts.

But the other side that no one seems to be mentioning is that JLP has been campaigning big style for months now. Where is that money coming from? Is it just that they have better bank contacts that mean that nothing about their donations gets leaked?

I’m still confused though. I feel that having one party in power for so long isn’t good for democracy. They become settled and they feel they can get away with anything. A change is good, new ideas, shakes everyone up, prevents complacency. But at the same time, the JLP have done absolutely nothing to convince me to vote for them. They have not said a word about any policies they’d introduce. They say they’d spend more on education and health, but not said how or where it would come from. Instead, they seem happy to just go on allegations and accusals.

I hope that we deserve better. I have a dream that these elections will actually revolve around what is good for the nation, what they would do with power, how they would help us. Give us some concrete ideas rather than just ‘we’ll fix it.’ Because lots of bad things happen in Jamaica that need facing. But also, lots of good things happen in Jamaica. I’d love to hear the JLP say that we think PNP has done X badly and Y well so we will change X by doing this and we’ll keep Y.

I’ve registered to vote and my vote is up for grabs. I just hope that someone can convince me to vote for them using a positive reason, rather than relying on the cass cass.

Food glorious food

2006-10-11T10:09:00.000-05:00

Now without wanting to sound like a hungry belly, I'm going to do a review of my food from the weekend because it was a good food weekend! And I'm having to put in some extra hours at the gym this week to make up for it...

Friday as you all know was lunch at coffee mill. Their frappes are heavenly and their smoked marlin bagels are out of this world. I just love that place, it is so calm and mellow depite being right in the middle of New Kingston. Shame about the parking though...

Friday night I kinda skipped food. Gin and Tonics and birthday cake provided all the sustenance that I needed! I was too busy talking and laughing to eat food, a great time was had by all. (Although looking back at the photos now, I didn't realise quite how precarious my new dress was on top - no wonder all the guys loved it!)

Saturday morning the man was at a golf tournament so I was required to smile sweetly at people which have pre-lunch drinks there. Then it was lunch with the girls at Restaurant East, our favourite lunch spot. It's a gorgeous Japanese restaurant with good service and great food. Although I had one misfortune - I enjoyed the food so much that I was unable to eat most of my dessert! Sushi, teryaki chicken... mmmmm

Saturday evening I was supposed to go to a friend's birthday party, but I skipped it... stayed in bed instead... (and someone needs to tell me how to use iconthingys in blogger as I wanted to put in a nice wink!) Apparently the jerk there was excellent though!

Sunday I was taken to Cafe Aubergine for lunch. Although they have just opened a branch in Kingston, we decided that it was a good day for a drive out so headed out of town - it's in Monegue on the way to Ochi, the drive takes just over an hour. The hills were looking good and the trucks weren't on the road so it was a good journey. And it was totally worth it. The food was excellent - stuffed crabs, salmon in dill sauce and lemon mousse with a really nice bottle of chardonnay...mmm.... The only problem was staying awake on the drive home!

And the weekend was finished with homemade melted cheese on toast - perfect sunday evening food!

So now I'm looking forward to the Kingston Restaurant Week which is coming soon, an excellent opportunity to try out all those places you've been meaning to go but haven't quite made it to yet!

It's my birthday...

2006-10-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

... so a very bad for me coffee was in order at lunchtime. Decided to save the alcohol until this evening but in the meanwhile, this drink on the right hit the spot!

I got one of those forwards today about your personality based on the month of your birth. Apparently, someone born in october...

Loves to chat (I think most people who know me would agree with that!)
Loves those who love them (Of course!)
Loves to takes things at the center (Not sure what that means)
Has inner and physical beauty (Glad that's been recognised!)
Lies but doesn't pretend (Hmm, white lies or proper lies?)
Gets angry often (Not really)
Treats friends importantly (Definitely)
Brave and fearless (Er, no, I'm a scaredy cat)
Always making friends (yup)
Easily hurt but recovers easily (Yes, I tend to get upset and then get over it quick)
Daydreamer (Sorry, didn't read that, my head was in the clouds)
Opinionated (Of course as I am always right!)
Does not care to control emotions (Hmm, not quite - I care to, I'm just not good at it)
Unpredictable (Nah)
Extremely smart (I wish!)
but definitely the hottest AND sexiest of them all! (Well, I'd agree with this one... but every month ended with it!!)

Not Christmas yet!!!

2006-10-05T08:58:00.000-05:00

My computer is behaving rather strangely at the moment. Well, actually I lie. It’s not my computer that’s behaving odd, it’s other peoples. My office computer is just behaving dead. Apparently it is being fixed today … I am waiting anxiously. So in the meanwhile, I am forced to wander around the office, grabbing anyone else’s when they step outside for more than 2 minutes. And the one that I was on this morning was being rather odd.

I tend to be in early in the mornings as I like to make myself a hot drink and read the newspapers online before everyone else arrives and the day starts. I did that this morning and was dismayed to see every single blog and newspaper site that I looked at was talking about Christmas! I got upset – it is way too early to think about Christmas. After all, we haven’t even had my birthday yet (which is October 6 i.e. tomorrow!!!).

After huffing and puffing and trying more sites, it finally dawned on me. I’d seen all of these stories before. In fact, they were all old news. And when I finally let the coffee sink in and rubbed my eyes, I realized why. All of the pages were dated 23 December 2005.

I am now slightly concerned by how long it took me to work that one out.

Stories from the past

2006-10-03T15:05:00.000-05:00

This post is the fault of island spice - another addition to the caribbean blogger family.

I had this 'boyfriend' once. Fortunately I didn't have him for too long. I quickly learnt his very strange ways. He was one of those short-term guys you get involved with after a long-term relationship, you know the type - someone who is so different from the ex (and hence you soon realise sooo wrong for you).

Anyway, I don't know what I did to this guy. But he decided that it would be good to fall madly in love with me in a very short length of time. He decided that we had a cosmic connection and the stars meant us to be together.

And about the time he said this, I was trying to figure out how to get away from him... So I broke it to him as kindly as possible, we were not meant to be together. It wasn't working. And I wanted out.

At which point he got rather upset. And started to try and pile guilt on me. Apparently he has been thinking that we should get married (hell, I'd known him for 2 months!!!) and I was just running away from the strength of my feelings for him.

When I pointed out that this was in no way the case, he eventually gave up and left with the parting line of 'I think you need to see a psychologist to help you sort out your inability to truely find love and to give of yourself.'

Obviously if I wasn't in love with him, I was mad.

Well I have to say that if that was the case, I'm happily mad until this very day!

Uptown Girl

2006-09-26T16:17:00.000-05:00

I have this saying that if you are not careful, Jamaica turns you into a snob. And it does it in so many different ways...

Example 1: Yesterday I had a flat tyre. Now, I know how to change a flat and if this was while I was living abroad, I’d have knelt down by the roadside and got on with it. But no, I can’t do that here, my car limped the short distance up the road to a gas station and got a guy there to change it and gave him a money.

Example 2: If I go to a big party or concert somewhere like Mas Camp, I’ll only go now if I am going to the VIP section – I can’t deal with the hassle and harassment in the cheap area.

Example 3: If my car is in the garage, I’ll call a friend to come and pick me up as I’m not going on the bus. And this is the girl who used to walk to the underground station, then take a train, then get a bus and then walk again to get to work when I lived abroad.

Example 4: I was in Notting Hill carnival one year, and was quite ok with the jumping up with anyone and the crowd reaching through the security at points. Yet when I came home and jumped carnival last year, not only did I pick the ‘uptown’ carnival, but I also picked the band which had the rep as having the best security people. And I made sure that these security people kept the crowds away when we went through certain areas.

And if you live in uptown Jamaica, you have to make a distinct effort to ensure that this snobby side doesn’t completely take over. To avoid joining in with all the uptown conversations that say Jamaica is going to the dogs, that say that everyone who lives below half-way-tree is lazy, that take for granted that you should never have to do anything manual for yourself which you can pay someone else to do.

I’m lucky – everyday my job reminds me of the problems out there, but also introduces me to people who are trying to make the best out of what they have. Hopefully that will help me not to let the snobby side take over completely…

Why come back?

2006-09-22T15:51:00.000-05:00

Every now and then, one of the little things happens that make me glad I came home. I had one of those moments in the gym last night.

I was in the process of dying, that bit when I have just finished my cardio stuff before heading to do weights, and went into the changing room to put down my MP3 player. And I saw a little girl in there who must have been about 6 or 7. I’d seen her around before – she seems to wander around with a book or watching tv while her mum exercises. Yesterday, she was talking on a phone, a pink razor phone. So I stopped to admire it and told her it was very pretty and that she must have important phone calls to make. She smiled shyly back at me, and I started to walk off. At that point, she came up to me (remember I am very sweaty at this point) and gave me a huge hug and then ran off.

Why does that make me glad to be back in Jamaica? Well, children in foreign don’t do that. They’ve all been taught that strangers are nasty and dangerous and if you even smile at a child in a shop, their parents will run and grab them and give you a dirty look.* I want to have children somewhere where they can talk to strangers, where adults they vaguely know will pick them up if they start to cry and where they can be hugged by a teacher when they do their work well without the teacher fearing a lawsuit.

*And yes, I know that parents are cautious for a reason, there are paedophiles out there and I am not denying that. However, statistically children are a lot more likely to be abused by someone they know well…

Fareign

2006-09-18T16:24:00.000-05:00

We were talking at work today about ‘people who go a fariegn’ and the discussion went around to what their responsibilities are. This all came about because someone had been to a funeral where the relative from foreign stood up and said ‘Me always loved mi auntie. Even though I was in fariegn, she did always send me tings and look after me.’

Now apparently that is not acceptable and the woman who stood up should have been so ashamed of herself that she should have kept her mouth shut. For how can we expect someone in Jamaica to support someone in foreign? Things should always be the other way around!

They should send you…
… Barrel at Christmas
… Barrel with school bag and shoes at the start of the school year
… Medicines for whoever in the extended family might be sick
… Food supplies (as even if you can get them here, they taste better when they come from foreign)
… Clothes to wear to funeral, wedding, Easter Sunday church, graduation, court, hospital …
… Supplies in case of an emergency

And if they aren’t able to fulfil these duties? Then they disappear and never visit home. People can’t face coming back to Jamaica and having people think that they were not a success. As everyone knows, once you work hard a fariegn, then you will become rich.

Which is why people are confused by people like my friend who gone to fareign but her fariegn is to work for UN in Africa.... not really going to be sending back barrels from there!!!

More on the issue...

2006-09-13T15:19:00.000-05:00

Thank you for your comment anonymous aka Marissa. To explain, 'Anonymous' annoys me because I never have a positive comment from anonymous, always negative. And it’s not the ‘real name’ that I need, it’s just some identifying feature that makes you seem more real.

To clarify… I am not insecure. In fact, I see it that I am secure in that I am able to contemplate this relationship, weigh up the pros and cons, ask others opinions, and deal with the negatives that come from people who know me as well. However, (and I don’t want this to come across like I am a slut!) I have dated a fair number of men over the years, the vast majority of whom were in the more acceptable age-range for me. And I know that there are many other men out there who are my age who I could date. I am not settling with an older man due to lack of options. And these men come from a wide variety of circles – I’ve dated men from church, men I’ve met in clubs, men I’ve met through work, men I’ve known from school, men I’ve met while travelling, men who are friends of friends, (never dated a man I’ve met at the gym… maybe I should work on that...), men I’ve met in the National Art Gallery and men I've met dancing salsa.

Maybe it is that I am boring for my age. Maybe I am too old for my age. Maybe I should start looking in other places! However, I find that the guys I know near my own age do nothing for me at the end of the day. Guys my age who I am good friends with admit that they don’t like dating girls my age as ‘we have issues’, we ‘want too much from them’ and we ‘are too independent’. I even had a good friend (a guy with a good job, just finishing his MBA, cute etc) tell me that he couldn’t deal with a girl like me as we would expect to have intelligent conversation in an evening after work when all he would want is sex! And I want a man who is secure in himself, knows what he wants and can deal with me being who I am.

I know that this sounds like I am generalising – I know that there are some really great guys out there who are my age. However, I think most of them are taken by the smart girls who saw them early. Or they live abroad, and I can’t deal with long distance. Or maybe they are gay… but that’s a whole other post!

So at the end of all of this… I am still continuing. I am getting to know this great guy more. And I am thinking about the issues. And talking about them with him. He wants to know that I am fully aware of what I’d be getting myself into. And I want to know that he is fully aware of what he is getting himself into.

So I’ll continue to discuss it here, because it is something that is in my mind a lot. And after all, it is my blog!
And all comments are welcome – positive or negative! However, please just make up a name or something? It makes everyone seem more real, more human and more friendly!

PS - I notice that the usual male suspects who comment here and who are in the age-range of the 'older man' are missing at the moment!

Replying

2006-09-12T13:48:00.000-05:00

I like comments. Getting an email to tell me that someone has commented while I am engaged in some mind numbing task on the computer can be enough to make me smile. I like feeling that there are some (yes, some. not huge numbers but enough) people out there who enjoy reading my rubbish. I like reading other people's blogs and commenting there and getting comments in return, it makes me feel part of something.

But there is something I don't like.

Why is it that whenever someone has something negative to say, they are 'annoymous'? Can't they even bother to make up a name? I don't mind negative comments - if I did, then I'd stop writing or close comments. But I do find it sad that someone who wants to criticise me does it annoymously.

And in answer to my recent Mr or Ms Annoymous - my parents knew who I was with in Treasure Beach. And yes, I am fully aware that there are issues to be thought about - otherwise I'd have been calling him MY man for ages now! So a challenge to you...

Please let me know if you can introduce me to any men who are of a more suitable age who..

... make me laugh when i'm in a mood
... call me to check up on how things are going if he knows i'm having a rough day
... would be willing to leave their friend's party early because I want to
... would be happier sitting around talking in Christophers than being upstairs dancing in quad
... wouldn't be freaked out by the fact that I want to get married and have kids soon
... is supportive of that fact that I have a job which I am good at, which takes a lot of my time and which I intend to progress at
... don't think it is clever to spend more on their car payments than on their house
... keep pink wine in their fridge for whenever i come round
... would rather attend jazz and blues festival than ATI weekend

I know lots of my friends who are looking for someone like that and have been looking for a very long time. Yes it's a decison for me to make - would it be better for me to take the risk with someone who is older and deal with those related issues as I go along, or wait around for someone who is nearly as good as him but younger that might never show up?

And also - thanks for the assumption that I am a trophy girlfriend - I'd always thought that I wasn't quite pretty enough for that category and also was too outspoken for that!!!

Housekeeping

2006-09-06T16:10:00.000-05:00

I've just tidied up my links. Some new people come along, some old people leave blogland and some people just get too annoying for me to continue reading (that would be you, you shameless self-publist!).

And I have no idea why it is that my links seem to keep falling to the bottom of the page.

On completely different news, I signed for the apartment yesterday!!! So it will be mine one day! All I have to do now is wait on the surveyor, valuer, mortgage company, tax office... to do their work. Hmm, I guess I'll get the jeys one day!

Why did I have to come back?

2006-09-04T14:18:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning, still hoping to be in Treasure Beach. I opened my eyes and couldn't see the sea through windows that covering most of the bedroom walls. There was no smell of coffee in the air and I couldn't hear the pelicans hitting the water as they dived for their breakfast. I was back.

And to make it worse, the school year begins this week which means that traffic was back on the road. And that cold that had disappeared in the fresh air and sunshine? It was back as well.

But at least I have some good memories of my weekend. A gorgeous villa, complete with a private beach and a veranda with a fabulous view of deserted coast line. Good company - we've managed to come out of our first weekend away together feeling happy. Excellent food.

But the good weekend does mean that I now have to do some serious thinking - can I really picture my life with a man 18 years older than me?? If so, then I suppose I'd better upgrade him and find him a new name!

Why is it that...

2006-09-01T09:15:00.000-05:00

... I am going away for the weekend to Treasure Beach and I wake up this morning with a bad cold?

Grrrrr

I've had some medicine, am drinking lots of green tea and orange juice and hoping that lying in the sun will cure it quickly!

A Good Excuse

2006-08-30T11:46:00.000-05:00

I got a call from one of my friends yesterday saying 'I need help with something I am doing for work'.

At which point mild panic sets in. What does she want? Will it be painful? Will it involve sitting for hours stuffing envelopes or putting stickers on envelopes?

And then she says she needs me to meet her after work for the Jazz evening at Christophers. Things are looking up.

And they get even better when she explains what is happening. Her large private sector organisation is about to do a new advertising campaign and is in need of some talent. And that evening, they were looking out for cute young male talent.

So I was needed to go to Christophers, to sit down with a drink, listen to live jazz, and discuss the merits of the different men in the room. So far, sounds like a regular girls night out. But this time we had an excuse - if we saw any men we liked, we had a legitimate reason to approach them and get their contact details and a photo.

Excellent.

So being the good friend I am, I went and helped her. And we found some good talent! Now that's a good way to get rid of the blues.

And in case any one is interested, the band was good!

Feeling off colour

2006-08-23T15:57:00.000-05:00

I'm having one of those days when nothing is wrong, but I'm not quite right. You know, when you had a good night's sleep, but you are feeling tired. When you are doing something at work which is interesting, but you can't quite concentrate. When you are hungry, but nothing appeals. When you end up picking fights with someone, but there is no real reason. When you want to listen to music, but everything you try sounds boring.

The most annoying bit of it all? You don't know what's wrong, so you can't make it right.

And to add to it all, no one seems to have updated their blogs so I've got nothing new to read!

I'm having one of those days today - and I am looking forward to going to bed tonight so I can get up tomorrow on the other side of the bed and try it all again.

From the mouths of children

2006-08-18T11:35:00.000-05:00

I walked into work this morning and saw a little girl standing there. Her mum had obviously come to the office for something and left her standing there by the door. She looked about 3 or 4.

The reason she was standing there was pretty obvious - she was talking on her cell phone. Well, by cell phone I mean one of those you get with sweets inside it, not a real one. But the fact that it wasn't real didn't hinder her in any way. She was standing outside to get better reception apparently.

I could hear some of her side of the conversation which went something like this...

'Where yuh deh?'
'Oh, me deh a town'
'No, me caan afford dat, me no get di money yet.'
''Im say it soon come, but me no inna dat'
'So me say'
'Me credit soon done so later'

She has clearly been listening lots and knows what you say on the cell phone well!

Starting to get bored

2006-08-15T17:49:00.000-05:00

I'm not well. I ate something at the weekend which obviously didn't want to be eaten by me. It is now getting revenge by making my legs feel like jelly, giving me cramps worse than any period and causing me to make frequently trips to the bathroom. I've had to stay home from work and do nothing.

But I must be getting better now as I am starting to get bored at home. My head hurts so my concentration span is zero which means that I can't manage to read a book and I can't follow the plot of any movie whcih I don't already know by heart. I have had to resort to watching lots of MTV and falling asleep during the tennis which is on at the moment. And I keep having strange dreams... which I'd tell you about but I think I have now been on the computer for long enough as the screen is starting to blur!

Online Petition

2006-08-11T08:46:00.000-05:00

I usually avoid discussing overly serious things here. But I'm going to break my rule this time. Here is a link. Please follow it. It's a petition calling for a ceasefire in Lebannon and Israel. I'm not sure how much good these things actually do, but at this point, I figure anything is worth a go.

So please, click here and go and add your name.

Thanks

Weekend Break

2006-08-09T14:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted - I've been away from computers. I've been in Negril. Well, I suppose there are computers in Negril, I just choose not to use them!

Negril was busy this weekend as it was a public holiday, Monday was Independence Day. and to celebrate this great occassion, a group of young entrepreneurs comes together to thrown 10 parties in 4 days, occasions for rich kids to drink all they want, make lots of noise and party in their bikins! I restrained myself and didn't go to a single party - I was too busy sleeping in the sun in the days to go anywhere and too busy sleeping after the sun in the evenings to move. And when I did feel energetic, I had my new camera to play with... results of which playing are shown above!

However, after three days of sunsets and rum punches with three happily married couples looking cozy and me saton my own, I need reminding of the joys of being unmarried! So any ideas on this subject would be gratefully received...

More dreaming!

2006-08-03T11:48:00.000-05:00

I hope this works - I'm stealing ideas from cream today!

create your own visited country map

Seeing this makes my feet itchy. It reminds me that there is so much of the world left for me to visit! Until then, some notes on my limited travels...

I think that my favourite city would have to be Barcelona. It is just so alive and so colourful, and the food is great!

I'll admit that I have kinda cheated with one bit of colouring - Kenya. I haven't been outside of the airport. But I did spend an enjoyable 6 hours or so there in the departure lounge which was also in use by their national rugby team... mmmmm. Need to go back properly. I was tempted but didn't cheat by putting in Zimbabwe as I never actually got out of the plane there!

I think that the place I found 'most foreign' to me was the Ukraine. Coming from the Caribbean where we place so much emphasis on education as the way out of poverty, I found it hard to comprehend that there were people sitting around who were unemployed despite having PhDs in Physics and other similar areas.

I tried to come up with a best memory but I couldn't narrow it down! Options included riding a camal in the Sahara, watching the sun rise after trecking for hours up a mountain in Malawi, dancing salsa in Prague, drinking too many cocktails in New York, just sitting and watching the world go by in Amsterdam and too many more.

And when I think of those memories, I realise that I am making the right decisions again - other people mnay have expensive cars and lots of clothes, but I'd rather have those memories and be able to look forward to making more!

So next on the list is Cuba...

So, where do you love?

Memories

2006-08-02T14:50:00.000-05:00

I can't quite put my finger on why exactly it happened this morning, but as I drove out of my gate I was suddenly reminded of Greece. Maybe it was the bright bright blue sky, the incredibly vivid green of the bushes, the red of the poinciana standing out as I came down the hill. Or maybe it was a song on the radio that brought it all back, or a reminient of a dream that I had had. Maybe it was the smell in the air, that hot yet clean smell you get after rain.

Whatever the reason, I was suddenly struck with memories. Memories of my one and only trip to Greece, a week in Kefalonia about 5 years ago. I could almost taste the fresh salads you got with your meals - if you were able to convince the restaurant that although you had a british accent, you didn't need chips with every meal. I could feel the hot sea and the sand between my toes. I could smell the lethal ouzo - smelling it was enough for me. I remembered the twin beds in our room, and falling through the gap that always developed in the night after we'd pushed the beds together.

I hadn't thought of that holiday for ages. It was packaged away at the back of my mind - like much of the rest of the two years I spent with that boyfriend. Yet this morning, it decided to come out. And despite having moved on from him a long time ago, it made me smile.

I'm Very Sorry..

2006-07-27T08:41:00.000-05:00

... that I missed the great Jamaican blog meet-up last night! According to Dr D, no excuse is good enough, but I'll tell you mine anyway.

The apartment I thought I was buying fell through yesterday. For the second time, the seller liked someone else more than me so sold it to her. (Note to self - maybe I should start taking flowers and a bottle of wine for the house sellers to make them like me?)

So I wasn't in an overly good mood yesterday evening. But then, a ray of sunshine emerged from around the back of the cloud - someone knew someone who had a place in the same complex which they wanted to sell. So last minute plans were made - I went to see it last night. The idea was that once I'd been there, I'd head to the link up.

Well, the lady who is selling it did mention that the place 'needed some work' so I wasn't expecting a super pretty place. However, I also wasn't expecting to be met at the door by 3 dogs - it's a one-bed apartment!!! Well, some work would firstly include a heck of a lot of bleach and fresh air - I haven't been in somewhere so dusty and dirty for a while. It would then involve tearing out and burning the carpet in the bedroom, which currently looks like it is made of dog hair. Then a new bathroom would need to be installed - I don't think that the current one is supposed to look black... and the same with the kitchen... There's no a/c or water heater... However, if she makes it cheap enough, then I would buy it... and spend the difference making it nice.

So the end of the story was that by the time I left there, I felt so dirty and smelt of dogs so much that I decided I couldn't come and be sociable - you'd all be wondering who the miserable smelly person was which isn't the first impression I wanted to make with the blogging community in real life!!

However, I promise promise promise that next time, I'll be there... and if I get this apartment, La Kabana would be a great place to meet as I'd be living less than 5 minutes away!