Eden - A novel with a lot of truth to it

Title: Eden - A novel with a lot of truth to it
Author: D. Kevin May, Ph. D.  

Phil lent me this book a few days ago, telling me it's a really good book and I have to read it. I'm glad he did.

The first thing that came to mind as I started reading it is that May is not a writer, the writing style can be a bit confusing at times and the layout of the book is not what you would expect from a novel. However, that's understandable as it is a retelling of true events with varying degrees of accuracy as May himself writes in the prologue.

The book has a lot of religion in it. The main character (May) is a very religious person and thinks about God a lot, God has a big influence on his life. I'm not a religious person, and the first time I realised just how religious he was while reading the book it almost made me a little uncomfortable, but his belief is an important part of the book and it was quite interesting to get an insight into his thoughts on his own beliefs.

It's a very thought provoking book, I actually already started writing this post while I was on page 44, I just had to make sure I got my thoughts on it down before I forgot. However, although it was thought-provoking and I wanted to find out what would happen, I did struggle getting through it, it didn't really keep my attention. Starting to write this review, of sorts, helped me finish the book I think, as I wanted to finish the review also.

The first half of the book was weird and very thought provoking, but the second half was just weird, to me anyway. It was an interesting book, to be honest I can't quite believe it's supposed to be true, but weird things happen in real life.

Memorable quotes:

"[...] we must take things down to the human level. We are here to live out our destiny. Your path is already plotted, it's up to you to see that path and trust that which [...] the Universe places in your footsteps. Carpe diem!"

"Life is about each of us reaching our full potential. Our destiny. Self-actualization, that place where we actually become like God. To reach that level, you must learn to view the world through your passions. That which drives you from the heart. What is it that your heart desires?"

Provincetown, MA

I went to Provincetown, also known as P-town, today. I had bought a ferry ticket before I left England, booking it for the wrong date... Ooops!! The 7th of July was stuck in my head and so that's the date I booked it for. The 7th of July was stuck in my head because that's the day my flight leaves from Boston! Luckily I noticed it right after my payment had gone through, and when I called them up they were nice enough to change the date on it for me.


It was a lovely day for a ferry ride and to walk around outside today. I've actually been surprised by how warm it's been up here, as Massachusetts gets so cold in winter I was expecting a fairly cool summer like we get in northern Europe, but it's been around 30 degrees (Celsius).


Now, silly me. I remembered to put on suncream before I left the guest house but then I left it in my room instead of putting it in my bag! Being on the sea on a sunny day without topping up your layer of suncream... That's just begging to get burned! Which is what I got.

Anyway. Provincetown was really lovely. There are lots of art galleries and speciality shops, as well as fudge and taffy shops and souvenir shops, perfect for a place with a super long beach! There's about 3000 people living in Provincetown... Unless it's summer and then it's 60000!! So of course it was really busy now!

If you have a problem with same-sex couples holding hands and kissing in public this is not the holiday destination for you. P-town is very popular with the LGBTQ community, and it was really interesting to see the influence of that in the various shops. I noticed one shop that had baby clothes saying things like I love my gay [(mums, aunt, uncle, brother etc)]. It seemed to me there were more gay men than anything else, there was approximately 10 men to 1 woman (at least!) in any given place.

Provincetown is really nice and quaint. Even though it was busy I just really liked the laid-back feel of the place. However, the best part of my day in Provincetown was when I walked past the main shops and got into the residential area, it was nice and quiet, and the houses and front gardens were so pretty I loved just walking around looking at all of them.

Suck it, Nerds!

Been a while since I've done a meme now, but the title of this was just so funny; how could I not do it? As usual I got it from Sunday Stealing. Feel free to join in!

What would you totally eat right now? Chocolate!

Do you always wear a certain piece of jewellery? Although I'm not Catholic I always wear the St Christopher necklace a friend gave me while I was in Australia.

What kind of jeans do you like? I'm extremely picky when it comes to buying a new pair of jeans, but I tend to go for bootcut.

What's something on your want list? A holiday

Is animal print tacky? Depends on how much you're wearing and how.

Give me a good quote that you like? I'm not great at remembering quotes but I do like Tesco's "Every little helps", because it's true.

Do you bite your nails? No.

What kind of smells do you like? Clean clothes that have been hanging outside to dry in the summer.

Do you wear perfume or cologne? Perfume but if I'm not working I don't put perfume on if I washed my hair that morning.

What do you think is overrated? 50 Shades of Grey.

Next movie you want to see? The next hobbit movie.

Would you change your eye colour if you could? Depends if I could change it back again if I didn't like it or if I could change it whenever I would, that could be cool; change your eye colour depending on your makeup and what clothes you're wearing, without spending money on coloured lenses.

What are your goals for the remainder of this year? Try not to kill the customers at work.

When is the last time you were at the hospital? About 5-6 months ago for a scan.

Who introduced you to your current significant other? If you're single, who introduced you to your last ex? Met my last ex at a party, neither of us knew the host but had been brought to the party by friends, who also didn't know each other. 

The Worst Expiry Date...

Isn't it strange, and rather sexist, that most people feel that in a straight relationship it's more natural for the guy to be older than the girl? People tend to think it's weird, or "wrong", if a woman is with a man more than a few months younger than her. A relationship seems to be more socially acceptable if the guy is the older one (as long as he's not 30 years older), double standards anyone?

To be honest I do prefer it when the guy is the same age or older than me...

I think it's because from a young age we're taught the whole "women mature quicker than men" thing, and therefore women will be more compatible with an older man.

Which is silly really, men never mature!

I'm not saying I would never go out with someone younger than me, or that there is anything wrong with women dating/marrying men younger than themselves, but personally I wouldn't actively go out looking for someone younger than me. From what I've noticed, a lot of men in their 20's just want to have fun, they don't want to commit. Of course everyone is different, and I do know men that have gotten married and had kids in their 20's, but most men don't want to think about all of that until they're in their 30's or later. Which is fine…. For them.

It doesn't really matter how old a man is before he decides to settle down and have kids, his sperm quality might get worse as he gets older, but technically a man can have kids until the day he dies. 

For woman it's worse. We have an expiration date. Which sounds really bad but it's true; at a certain age we can no longer have kids the natural way. It's the worst expiration date in the world.

I'm not saying my "clock has started ticking", but as I get older it is something that I think more about. I don't want kids yet, but I might want some when I get older, something that I might struggle with anyway due to my PCOS.

Say I want kids in my early to mid thirties… I'll be 27 soon, I want to find someone to spend some "alone time" with before possibly having kids. So I want to find someone that is ready to at least think about settling down, which will probably be someone my age or older. 

When looking at online dating profiles I always avoid the ones where the guy is younger than me, even though I've had crushes on guys that are younger than me in real life. 

I think I need to find something to do outside of work, to get out more, and try to find someone offline, instead of looking at profiles and judging people too quickly based on picture, age, location or whatever information they decide to share about themselves. And also to do an activity to make me happy and stop over-thinking the whole relationship thing… It will happen when it happens, online or offline.

Life isn't a fairytale, a prince won't suddenly come riding on a white horse to whisk you away. You can't just sit around waiting for something to happen, you have to get out, live life, have fun, meet new people... In the end one of those people will turn out to be your prince.

Kissing Frogs

I’ve been doing some online dating lately… Now don’t worry, I’m careful, the first few dates until I know them better will always be in public places! 

 Although online dating has become quite common there is still a fair bit of negativity about it. A lot of people still have quite strong opinions about it. And I admit, a couple of years ago when someone told me they were online dating I my first thought would be that whatever they started probably wouldn't last, and also that it was dangerous; all weird guys… Why would someone "normal" need to go online to find someone? Actually I still think that when I see the profile of a good-looking guy that seems normal, why would he need to go online to meet someone? I get suspicious straight away; does he only want sex? Is it a different person with a fake picture? … But then again I’m online so why not him?

 Then of course there is the whole discussion about going on a dating site you have to pay for versus one that's free. At first I was thinking that if you go on one that's free there is going to be even more weirdoes as they don't have to pay anything, so you're probably more likely to meet a "sane" person on a pay site, but then I heard about someone that had met their partner on a free site… I've tried both. Judging from the pay site I tried there seems to be less choice on the pay one as not that many people want to pay a small fortune a month to meet someone, and there are just as many crazies! So to be honest I don't think it makes much of a difference.

 I decided to try online dating once I moved back to the UK before I actually moved back here. The thing is I do have a few friends here but I already know that most of them don’t have anyone they might introduce me to that I might be interested in (although maybe one will suddenly surprise me?!), so I decided that I would try online dating as a way to meet people I probably wouldn’t meet otherwise. 

 One of my friends is in a serious relationship (as in planning to get married and having children etc.) with a guy she met online, which I admit did help me decide to actually go ahead with it.

 There are some real weirdoes out there! I won't pretend there isn't. But the good thing about online dating is that you're not sitting face-to-face with that weirdo (hopefully). You can just ignore them or send them a message saying you're not interested. Yes, you might "judge the book by its cover" on the profiles, but you don't have to worry too much about their feelings about it (as long as you don't write abuse to them) they do the same to you.

 One guy sent me a message saying "Would you like a much older guy to be your sugar daddy once a month?" Er, NO! At least he was honest about what he wanted though…. But I do shudder at the thought. Urgh!

 I never reply to messages saying; "you're gorgeous", thank you but I'd rather have someone that's interested in getting to know me than just focus on my looks! 

 I was talking to one guy, he seemed alright to start with, we even arranged a date, but in the days leading up to the date his messages just got really needy and clingy, it doesn't sound very nice but I could tell he would be a very needy boyfriend that would ask a thousand questions about where I was going and with who every time I went somewhere. When I cancelled on him, which I hate doing but sometimes you just have to, he basically tried to make me feel guilty about it… Dude! We've not even met! I have no obligations to you. He sounded very lonely but that's not my problem and I don't want it to be.

 I have only been on two dates so far, with two different guys. I would never date more than one guy at a time so these dates have obviously been a few weeks apart. It could have been 3 dates, but one stood me up(!), his loss. 

 The one that stood me up didn't send me a message to cancel and didn't send me a message with an explanation, but he did try to message me again the next day and most recently two weeks after he stood me up, still without an explanation but wanting a second chance. I don't think so. Why should I waste my time on him again?

 So, the two dates I've actually been on: 

 One was about a month ago, the guy was really nice, we'd been messaging and texting for a while and the messages was always long because we had so much in common and so many things we wanted to tell each other. We met up, the date went fine but unfortunately there was no romantic connection there at all on my part. It felt like I was just out for dinner with a friend, I didn't want anything other than friendship from him. 

 It was the same story with my second date. We got along but there just wasn't that romantic attraction on my part. There has to be something there to start a relationship! Both guys took it well when I said I didn't want to see them again (not in those words but they got the message). 

 I'd like to think I'm honest but nice when I tell them I don't want to see them. I know some people tell lies. One of my friends told me to tell the first guy that I had other plans when I cancelled the second date. I don't want to do that. 1. You're making that person think the date can still be had another day, and 2. It's lying! If someone cancelled on me I'd rather they just told they didn't want to see me than pretend they were busy, I'd be more hurt by the lie and at least I’d know where I was standing with them if they just told me the truth.

 No, it doesn't feel nice to have to say to someone "I don't want to see you again" but at least you're honest, and people take it better than you think they will. When you do cancel on someone just keep in mind that you don’t have to be rude, think about how you’d feel if you got the same message from someone and compose it accordingly. You/they might think "bastard/bitch" as soon as you/they see the message but it's not like you were in a serious relationship; you don't have any obligations to each other after ONE date. Just be honest, it's not that hard.

 Anyway, I digress. 

 I'm not sure if I'll actually meet anyone I will want a relationship with on any of these dates but I do hope to meet up with some more guys, just to see what happens, maybe I'll meet my prince charming, maybe not, but I won't know until I've tried. I just hope I don't have to kiss too many more *frogs before one of them turn out to be a prince! 

 What are your thoughts on online dating?

*When I say frogs I don't refer to their looks in any way at all! All it means is that they are just “plain” frogs that don’t turn into a prince for me, but they will be someone else's magic frog.

Manchester

A friend and I made plans to meet up in Manchester and catch up yesterday, by coincidence it was actually exactly one year to the date since the last time we saw each other! Since we were meeting up after he finished work I decided to go to Manchester a few hours earlier to get the most out of my train ticket there, and of course to see a new city.

It was raining most of the day unfortunately so I didn't walk around as much as I had planned, but at least it's close enough to Chesterfield that I can go back. Krishan, my friend, did say when I met up with him later that it pretty much always rains in Manchester though so I guess next time I will ave to remember to bring my umbrella. At least I didn't do any shopping even though I went into a lot of stores to get out of the rain.

To get out of the rain I also went inside the Manchester Art Gallery. It's free admittance but they do have a collection box by the entrance for a 3GBP donation, or more. I like going in art galleries, I'm not a big art buff and I don't know much about art but I just like looking at the pictures. I find it so impressive that paintings that are several hundred years old can look like photographs simply because of the painting style. I like seeing old paintings with people in beautiful clothing, and it's interesting to see how the painting style has changed through the years. I do prefer art where you can see what it's supposed to be, I don't get the whole white canvas with a yellow line on it type style, and I like the pictures with hidden things in it, like when you look at a painting for a while and then suddenly realize there's a cat hiding in a dark corner or something, or when you can make out shapes in a picture in different shades of blue.

If you are able to get to Manchester before the 26th of May I would definitely recommend going to the art gallery. They have an exhibition on by Raqib Shaw which is really good. When you see the pictures from a distance they are just pretty with strong colours and sparkly bits, but then you get close enough to see what the pictures actually are and you notice that a lot of the pictures are actually quite disturbing, sexual and morbid, might not sound like a good exhibition to some of you but it was really interesting and I wouldn't mind going back. 

Manchester has got free shuttle buses in the town centre, it does three different routes so it's possible to see a lot of the city just by getting on one of those for a bit. I got on one of them just to kill some time before I met up with Krishan, one problem with it though is that the stops isn't announced before you get to them. I know it's not a tourist bus but it would still be nice to know where you can get off to get where without having to pay attention to the map and when to press the stop button.

When Krishan finished work we had dinner and a little wander around the city, it was really nice to catch up with him, hopefully it won't be a year until the next time we meet up again!

I have to admit that when I first got off the train at Manchester I got a little overwhelmed, I'm not a big city girl, I prefer smaller places. There were so many people everywhere and I was all on my own, I actually got a little scared for a minute, but then I haven't really heard the best things about Manchester; loads of crime and violence and I think that was the main problem, I've been to loads of big cities before and I've been fine. I find it's better not to know too much about a place before you go, especially negative things. 

I'd love to go back to Manchester and see more of it, I will have to try to go on a day it's actually sunny though so I can get some better pictures instead of getting raindrops on my camera lens.

What do you recommend seeing in Manchester?

The basically obscure meme

Another meme from Sunday Stealing

1. Do you notice a person's eye colour? I usually do as I'm talking to them as I try to maintain eye-contact, but I often forget the eye colour, unless it's quite special...
2. If you could get a tattoo free, would you do it? What would it be? Yes, I would get a small pink breast cancer bow.
3. What kind of smoothie sounds really good right now? The one I usually make; frozen tropical mix, blueberries, avocado, banana, egg, hazelnuts and orange juice. The last few times I've also put some passion fruit in it.
4. Have you ever fired anyone? No, but I think I might have contributed to someone getting fired or leaving, I don't like it when people don't do their jobs properly and so I will tell the manager about it.
5. Did you like swinging as a child? Do you still get excited when you see a swing set? I did, not sure if I get excited but I do like to get on them if they are proper "strong" ones.
6. If you could have any pet in the world, illegal or not, what would you get? A tiger! They are so beautiful and majestic, but since they are illegal I will settle for a regular house cat.
7. Have you ever watched the Superbowl all the way through? I've never watched it at all.
8. Which continents have you been on? In a few weeks I will have been on all except South America and Antarctica.
9. Why did you name your blog whatever you named your blog? I used the name Lilly on the blog for myself as I didn't want to use my real name, so I named my blog "The Lilly Pad" as in lily pad; my own personal space.
10. Longest plane ride you've ever been on? Flying to Australia, I think the last flight was 14 hours!
11. If you had to move to another country, where would you move? I am moving to another country! The United Kingdom.
12. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
13. How did you spend Valentine's Day? I was at work and then I was at home relaxing and playing with my new camera. Valentine's Day
14. Do you eat enough vegetables? Probably not, which is a bit rubbish of a vegetarian...
15. Do you like horror movies? What about thrillers? I used to love them both when I was a teenager but now I seem to scare a lot easier, I could still watch them though but I need a safe pair of arms around me.
16. If you could change your natural hair colour, would you? To what? I liked my hair in the summer when I was younger, it went a nice golden colour. Now it's usually just mousy brown, so I guess I would change it to be that golden colour again maybe.
17. What subject would you take if your were forced to take a free class? I would love to study but I keep changing my mind about what all the time, at the moment I'm thinking maybe a health and fitness class.
18. Do you use a reusable grocery bag? When I remember to bring one with me yes. I used to always keep one in my bag, but now I keep forgetting to put it back in after I've used it.
19. City or nature person? Nature. Cities can get too busy for my liking.
20. Do heights bother you? Can you look out the window on the top floor of a skyscraper? Heights doesn't really bother me. I don't like it on top of a cliff because there's the chance I can fall over and die but I don't mind looking out of windows of a skyscraper.

Apparently it's a good day to die hard...

When I got off the bus into the city today this is what met me:

I must say it's one of the best advertisements for a movie I've seen in a long time! I was meeting my friend for dinner and a movie anyway. we were planing to finally watch Skyfall, but it seemed a bit silly seeing as it's out on DVD in not too long, so after seeing the above advertisement we decided on watching "A good day to die hard" instead. I quite enjoyed it actually, and I must say, the guy playing the son is much cuter on screen than he looked on the poster, I actually didn't recognise him from the poster at first! A good movie if you like watching car chases and lots of things blowing up. I also have to say I kind of love that it came out on Valentine's Day...

I am looking forward to summer now. I'm tired of all the snow and ice everywhere, I can't wait until 3 weeks from now when I'll be in Florida!

One step taken...

I just booked my return flights to the US and my ticket to Orlando!!! It's quite scary! I'll need to transfer some of my saving into my account before I can book anything more though like a place to stay in Boston and tickets from NYC to Orlando. Anybody know the cheapest way to get there by the way? Plane?

I'm so excited!!

I was going to have a meeting with the store manager today but he pushed it back until tomorrow, about what I don't know, but I will tell him that I'll be resigning soon at the meeting. I'm both dreading and looking forward to telling him when I'll be resigning. My work hasn't been the best lately, that's what I think anyway. I think it's because all I can think of is getting back to the UK. And visiting the US of course.

Right before I booked my tickets I also made some enquiries about a place to stay in the UK. I sent a message to my friend if his offer to let me one of the rooms in his house was still standing, and if not if he knew anyone else that was letting rooms. So hopefully it won't take to long before he replies. I know from last time I moved to England how difficult it is to find a place to live and a job while I'm still in Norway. Before I became an au pair I was trying to just get a "normal" job, but it proved too difficult when I was still in Norway. However, I didn't know anyone in the UK back then, except for my friend who was studying in Wales, so it might be easier now.

It's a bit scary to think about all the things I still have to do both for my holiday and my move, I kind of just want someone else to do it so I don't have to deal with it, but at the same time it's quite exciting.

I can't wait for my new adventures this year!

I want to leave now!

I had a meeting with the store manager last week. One of the questions he asked me was one of the worst questions I know: What are your plans for the future? Anyway, I told him that I'm planning to move back to the UK eventually.

The manager was really supportive about it. He said he didn't want me to leave but that if I decided to leave earlier than planned then I shouldn't worry about my contract or anything. I mean I still have one month's notice but I don't have to stay until I've worked for them 1 year. So of course since he was so supportive I want to go right now!

There are things to think about though. I have friends that I can stay with but I wouldn't feel comfortable staying with them without paying rent, which I of course would do, but if I don't get a job straight away I'd be spending a big chunk of my America money on rent, and I don't want to do that.

I am considering going over as an au pair again.. Just to get started. Find a family that only need someone for a few months and spend those months finding my own place and a job to start when I finish au pairing.

I might know where I want to move in England. It's a place I've never been, but it depends how things go with a certain someone, and I won't find that out until at least March, maybe later...

I don't know, I'll have to do some more planning. But at least I'm closer to my goal and I don't have to feel bad if I decide to go in a month or so.

What makes me smile:

A message from a friend. 
- Be it letter, a post on Facebook, an e-mail or sms. A cheerful message from a friend will always make me smile.

The few songs I have on my phone.
- I don't have much music on my phone, and it hasn't been changed in ages, but most of the music there makes me smile. Everyone else think my taste in music is weird, but they usually smile, dance and sing along to the music. It's what I like to call good mood music.
- I hate the question: what bands are you into? Or: what kind of music do you like? I like anything that puts a smile on my face. It might change from time to time, but as long as it makes me smile I like it.

A picture. 
- It can be a picture of anything almost. A picture of a friend will make me think of happy memories or just how much I like my friend. Funny pictures might make me laugh. Pretty pictures make me smile.

Funny quotes.
- The first time I read the following quote was before work one day and it cheered me up for the whole day:

Laughing babies.
- It's one of the best sounds in the world, how can anyone not smile at that. And their smiles as well of course.

Seeing a friend.
- They are friends for a reason...

Seeing a good-looking person.
- Don't necessarily mean a man that I fancy, but anyone that looks good. It can of course be a man that I fancy, or just a man that I think looks good. Or it can be a woman that looks good and I'm just happy for them because they've obviously found some clothes that enhances their beauty.

The sound of the wind through the trees.
 - I just love sitting inside when it's really windy outside and I can hear the wind through the threes and around the corner of the house. It's one of the things I miss now that I live in Oslo; people here hardly know what wind is.

A pretty sunset or sunrise.
- I just love the beautiful colours. My favourite sunrise so far was at Yulara, looking over at Uluru on ANZAC day. (here)

The kindness of strangers.
- Just a smile from one, or a compliment. Seeing someone help someone thy don't know. Seeing someone pick up something someone's lost and give it back...

The seasons.
- The colours at autumn.
- Thick white snow at winter. The thicker the blanket the better.
- The new leaves and flowers in spring.
- The flowers and sunshine in the summer.
- Really heavy rain.

Someone giving me a compliment when I have a bad day.

A good film, or even the laughable rubbishness of a bad one.

Seeing a friend or family member happy.

A good book.

Nice decorations.

The kindness of friends and family.

A nice blog post.

The smell of clean clothes that's hung outside to dry on a warm summer day.

Seeing wild animals in the wild.

Going somewhere new, meeting new people and learning about other cultures.

The English language.

Old buildings and ruins
- York! And most other places in England
- Rome!

Thinking about and seeing the reaction of a friend when I hope I've found a suitable gift for them.

Tasty food.

A kind and good-looking man.

Cats.

A man in uniform or suit.

There are many more things that makes me smile, and sometimes new things can be added every day which makes the list endless!

What are some of the things that make you smile? Leave a comment or make your own post and leave a link below.

Share the happiness!

One person.

That's all it takes.

One person that I really don't like at work that makes me dislike work so much I really don't want to go anymore. And he's on my team so I can't "escape" from him. He's making me want to hand in my resignation. Only reason I don't is because I feel bad about doing that so short after getting a full-time position. I try to avoid him if possible though, but without being to obvious about it. He doesn't like me either, any time I try to tell him how to do something, because he didn't listen the first 10 times, he gets mad at me and tells me I'm singling him out! Only because you're not able to do your job properly dude.

I don't want to say I hate him. It's a strong word, but I really cannot stand him!

I used to kind of look forward to go to work before. Now I want to leave. Just because of one person. I'm glad he only works until 11am. At least I don't have to deal with him ALL day.

This is one of the reasons I've never really wanted a leader position. I just thought it would be good experience and a good thing to put on my CV.  But I take things too personally. I get in a bad mood if things aren't done exactly the way I want it to (possibly minor OCD). I'm one of those leaders that I hate.

I try to improve.

I want to go to the manager and see if something can be done, but I'm worried that the only reason I don't think he's doing a good job is because I just don't like him, and I would feel bad about getting someone sacked or anything just because of personal feelings.

So I try to "suck it up".

It's strange though... That ONE person has so much power over my negative feelings. Of course it goes the other way as well, but that's a post for another day.

Is there one person that you really can't stand but can't avoid  That make you in a bad mood as soon as you see them?

(source)

The Bell Inn

While I was in Thetford I stayed at the Bell Inn.

It's a really old building, but the bathrooms are modern and the rooms are a good mix of modern and old. Although the staircase, doors and hallways are really narrow and crooked, which was annoying with my suitcase, it was also kind of charming.

There was a perfect size TV in my room as well as hot chocolate instead of just tea or coffee. And both the room and bathroom was quite big.

The pressure and heat in the shower was great.

Its location is really good.

The staff was really friendly.

There was free WiFi but it was really bad.

The food was really nice in the pub downstairs. In the restaurant downstairs where I got my complimentary breakfast the food was really nice as well. As well as the continental breakfast with fresh fruit and croissants (even chocolate ones!) I got warm breakfast included, and there was a big selection, from full English to just an omelette, which is what I had both mornings. I would have been disappointed if I didn't get any breakfast included though as it's not the cheapest hotel in the world.

The hotel is apparently haunted, which is kind of exciting, but also a bit scary; I used to watch a lot of horror movies when I was younger... I wish I had had someone to snuggle up with in bed while I was there just to feel a bit "safer".

Röyksopp!!

I'm actually doing something this weekend! 

I'm going to visit a friend in Aas. I've not seen her in a while so I'm really looking forward to seeing her again. I've felt like a crappy friend for not visiting her sooner as it only takes half an hour on the train to get there.

There is a festival in Aas this month, and a guy at work, that also lives in Aas, told me that Röyksopp is performing there today and that I should go to the concert. I wasn't sure I wanted to go at first, I'm not a huge Röyksopp fan or anything (I'm not sure I've actually listened to anything by them) and I want to save my money for my holiday, but then I had a look online and the tickets were fairly cheap, so I called my friend to ask if she wanted to go with me. Luckily she could afford it even though she went to a concert last weekend (CC Cowboys) and is going to another one next Saturday (Timbuktu). It's something to do together and also I've never really been to a proper concert, so I'm really looking forward to it. Not that this is going to be a proper concert, apparently it's a DJ-set, I'm still looking forward to it though.

I've also never been to Aas, so I'm looking forward to seeing a new place.

Eple - one of the few Röyksopp songs that I've actually heard and know is Röyksopp and I quite like it. It's from 2003 so it's fairly old.

Sign language

Ever since I lived in England and worked as an au pair I've been wanting to learn British Sign Language, especially Makaton. I used to watch a program called "Something Special" with the youngest girl I was looking after, and I did use some signs with her before she could speak and it was really fun to see her actually learn them and sign them back to me, like for example "finished" when she was finished eating.

I had forgotten most of the few signs that I learnt while I lived in England, except for please and thank you (Never forget your manners!), and I've been wanting to learn some more for a while. I know I won't be able to use the signs in Norway since the sign language here is different, but it will open up more windows for me if I get to move back to the UK, and allow me to get to know more people.

It is a shame though that sign language isn't the same all over the world, it would have been cool if it was, then everyone could have sign language in school and that way you could talk to people all over the world even if you couldn't speak or write their language! Of course it's not really doable since a big part of sign language is lip reading, so everyone would have to mouth the words the same as well. There is also the "problem" with for example holding up two fingers both for two and to because they rhyme, you can't do that in a different language because those words aren't the same. But one thing that is doable is to have sign language in schools, so if you didn't want to learn French, German or Spanish or anything like that you could choose to learn sign language instead. Is that a thing in any countries? I've never heard of it being like that in Norway anyway...

There is actually a British guy at work, L, and he grew up in a deaf home! He learnt to sign before he learnt to speak, so BSL is his first language, English his second. So the last few weeks he's been teaching me some sign language. I don't know much yet but I know how to sign "how are you today?", "what's up dog" (just because of the fun factor), and a few other short phrases and words. It's really fun to learn something new, maybe it'll even come in handy in the future.

The hard part is actually mouthing the words with out making a sound. Usually I just say it out loud while I sign, but to make sure I will make myself understood to someone that is actually deaf I will have to be able to make the right amount of facial expression and mouth movements.... So when I try to sign without speaking I either hold my breath or I'm kind of whispering it. I can understand why some deaf people make sounds while they sign even if they're not saying the actual words since they don't know what they sound like.

Do you know any sign language And if so, which one?

A stressful few days

So far this week I've been on my own in the "office part" of the warehouse. The three other guys were sick, on holiday and at a course.

It's been a little bit scary, I feel there is still quite a bit I don't know, but at the same time I learn quicker when I'm just thrown into things. In a way it's been super stressful, everything has happened at once and it feels like every time I feel like I've managed to start clearing out the delivery reception area, twice as much has come and there is no room for it!

Despite the stress and nervousness I've really enjoyed it! I do like filling in merchandise as well, but I like the "office" work even more, at least then I get to use a bit more of my brain as well as getting some exercise. I think it's also because I don't like to not have anything to do when I'm at work so it's better to have 50 things to do at once than having to try and find something that needs doing.

I also feel like I've been well looked after while I've been on my own! The guys have all been calling me to ask how I'm getting on and telling me to just call them if I need help of anything, which is really nice. I'll be happy tomorrow when the manager is back from his holiday though, I hope he won't think I've done a rubbish job.

I can't have done too bad a job though, everybody has been bragging about me and to me the last week, I have to say it feels nice to know that someone actually notices that I try to work hard. I hate people that doesn't do anything when they're at work, especially when there are things that needs to be done, work is for working, you can relax and do nothing when you're at home.

Paris - Day 2. Versailles!!

Friday J and I got up early and met up with a guy, D, staying at the hostel that J had met a few days ago and we all went to Versailles for the day!

View from the hostel room in the morning.

First look at Versailles

Since it's in the middle of the busiest tourist season Versailles was crazy busy, we got there when it opened so the line wasn't too long when we got there, but after a little while inside the Château it just got busier and busier until we were basically just herded along like sheep. So just like the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel I kind of felt like I didn't get to see and appreciate everything. J's guide book had said that Friday was one of the best days to come since it wouldn't be as busy then, just so that all of you know if you're planning to go there, but outside the main tourist season would probably be best. I would love to go back when it's quieter.

Even though it was busy, the Château was absolutely beautiful. There was some strange modern art things in there, but I loved seeing all the old rooms, pictures and furniture.

The hall of mirrors was beautiful, although it would have been more amazing if there were less people there. I can imagine it would look magical in there at night, and I would like to learn some more ballroom dancing so that maybe I can go to a ball there one time, not very likely but a girl has to dream. I don't even know if they do balls there, but it would be truly incredible if they do!

After being a sheep in the Château it was nice to get out into the gardens. The gardens is REALLY beautiful, and incredibly big, we probably only saw about half of it, but we saw the parts that we mostly wanted to see.

We hired a boat and went on the "lake" for half an hour as well. D started with the rowing, but I just couldn't deal with how rubbish he was so I took over after a few minutes, I used to row a lot on the fjords at home when I was younger.

We also went into Marie Antoinette's little house. It was really cute. In a way I think I liked that more than the Château. But that might be because it wasn't as busy. But I did like that it was just the size of a normal house and not as lavishly decorated, it was fairly "normal" (royalty normal).

If you ever visit France you should definitely pay Versailles a visit, there is so much to see, and just a perfect day out if the weather is nice. I even got a little sunburnt!

I have noticed that tourist attractions in Paris (maybe all of France) isn't too badly priced. In many countries you have to pay out of your ears and nose to get into attractions, but it was only €18 for the passport to Versailles, which pretty much included everything there, and if you're an EU citizen under the age of 26 you get in for free (Curse Norway and the EEA!). It's nice to finally be in a place where it's actually affordable to go to the tourist attractions even for people with little money.

Seriously... I'm Kidding

Seriously... I'm Kidding
By: Ellen DeGeneres

Outer back cover: Oh, hi. I'm so glad you decided to turn the book over. Inside you will find and assortment of wonderful things - words, pictures, advice, tidbits, morsels, shenanigans, and, in some copies, four hundred dollars cash. So you might want to buy a few.
I don't have enough room on this back cover to tell you all the reasons why you should buy this book, but I can tell you this and it's a guarantee: If you buy it, you will feel better, look better, be happier, grow taller, lose weight, get a promotion at work, have shinier hair, and fall madly, deeply in love.

I absolutely love Ellen DeGeneres and I've been wanting to read this book since the first time Ellen talked about it on her tv-show, so when EG sent me this copy as a gift I was super happy!

You know how it is with celebrities, they don't seem like "real"people in a way because they're on TV all the time and you can't really imagine seeing them in real life, but after reading this book I can kind of imagine Ellen being the type of person I can just hang out with, she seems like any "normal" person.

Ellen always makes me smile. The book made me laugh out loud a few times, I was sat smiling the entire time I read it, and I would definitely recommend it, I would also love to read the other books by Ellen; My Point...And I Do Have One and The Funny Thing Is...