Behold, the queen of random thoughts and procrastination...

My husband took his daughter to Morocco for a five-day graduation pressie. I, who was given the opportunity to go with them, declined so that I may continue earning the big $$'s in my temp job. Of course, chance/luck/fate being the wench(es) she(they) is(are), smote me with a horrible flu thing. So, here I am, smote, bored, and wheezy. Hence my random thoughts...

1. I don't think I actually have the flu. I think I am one of those rare birds who develop flu like symptoms before the onset of my period. No, I am not crazy. It has dawned on me that this has happened, like clockwork, every month. The chills, the fatigue, the scratchy throat...It makes me wish for the good old days of back cramp and abdominal pain. Scouring the literature on herbal remedies, my liver, it turns out, may be wonky, so I need large doses of red raspberry leaf tea, tinctures of dandelion, echinacea, ginkgo, you name it. Does this happen to anyone else? What does a girl do?

2. Lying here with my flu-like symptoms, I revisited some old favorite movies. I just love All About Eve. How sinister was Ann Baxter? Bette Davis, what a diva.

3. Is anyone else as excited by the release of the final Harry Potter book as I am? Is anyone else re-reading Book 6 in eager anticipation? Is anyone else as much of a 30-year old dork?

4. I love feeling wanted. Although it causes me stress. I was just hired by this one company on a temporary contract, only to be offered an interview by my dream company--three days after I'm supposed to begin the temp job. Of course, I'm going to the interview for the dream job, but it doesn't mean I won't feel guilty kicking the other guys in the pants, if I'm offered the job, if I accept it. Also, what lie should I tell that would get me out of work on day 3 of job the first? Just what I need in my faux flu muddled mind.

5. Boy, nettle tea makes you pee a lot.

6. That's supposed to be a good thing, huh?

7. This better be flushing out my liver.

Our little spot of East Anglia.

Welcome to St. Neots, our humble market town.

I think I might want to live in a barge. This one is cute.

Look at the pretty river! Veli likes to chase swans here. Did you know they mate for life?

Look at the baby ducks! It's Spring and all the babies have sprung.

Aw. There's Veli, relaxing in the sun. Don't we all think she's gorgeous?

I have just set a new standard in unbelievably crappy TV viewing...

I just watched an hour of Amish in the City.

Not quite as bad as watching live coverage of Big Brother contestants sleeping. But bad.

And right now, at this very moment, as my fingers go tappity-tap on the keyboard, I want to take issue with the notion that we Americans have the lame-assiest, crappiest television programming in the whole world. Clearly, those people do not fully appreciate the celebrity infested, gossip suffused cesspools in which the British viewing public paddle around in on a daily basis. Lest you call me a fibber, I will direct your attention to the Sun and the Mirror, where you can wallow in Big Brother mania.

These people take their reality television seriously. As in "Damn!"

An undo amount of time spent giggling over this...

and this....

Show me the bunny. Get it? Show me the bunny. Oh, I could laugh about this for hours, days...

And what is up with buttermilk made by the U.S. Forces Europe? Is this where our hard-earned tax money goes? "Now, for your next assignment boys, get down on your knees and milk that cow. Hooah!"

Good ol' U.S. Commissary. How you make me laugh.

I am one lazy blogger...

...But I got a job, which half explains my laziness. Very difficult to keep one's personal work, well, personal, when you're on reception. Then, I come home, help the Huz with dinner, work out for a measly half hour, and collapse into bed.

I know. Can you stand the excitement?

Sadly, not working in Bosnia primed me for any job that I was offered in England. Meaning, when I was hired for a temporary job at a Cambridge U. reception desk (exact location to remain anonymous), I thought, "Me? You want little ol' me? I'll take it!"

And take it I did, with very few regrets. Unfortunately, some of my ever so charming colleagues are one samosa short of an Indian take-away, as one incident with a handicapped bathroom proved very recently. No time to go into that now. But I promise, now that I am back in the groove, I will share my torment. And pictures! For those of you who wanted pictures, I will post them. Promise! And that's not an empty promise, but an honest-to-God real one!

Really.