Wow, what a busy week! I’ve made a good start on lots of my list (and notice I’ve been avoiding starting on other bits!)
The week started with a relaxed evening in with a new film, Kingmans: The Secret Service. Although it was released last year, I never got around to see it at the cinemas and was excited to see it arrive via Love Film this week. There’s something quite surreal about seeing Colin Firth, normally known for being a stern romantic interest (Bridget Jones, Pride and Prejudice, Love Actually, Mama Mia!), suddenly becoming a very efficient assassin. Good fun, if not very realistic!
Saturday saw another film added to the list, seeing ‘Brooklyn’ at the cinema. The most surprising thing about it was that my partner Matt actually enjoyed it, despite it being a fairly soppy romance. He apparently liked that it didn’t end the way you thought it would. Plus it has Julie Walters in. We finished the evening off with an Indian meal in Jashan’s (thereby adding another restaurant off the list) and enjoying, for the first time, a Crabbie Alcoholic Ginger Beer (my first alcohol of the challenge). Not something I’d normally choose, and not something I think I’d choose again!
The week started with a relaxed evening in with a new film, Kingmans: The Secret Service. Although it was released last year, I never got around to see it at the cinemas and was excited to see it arrive via Love Film this week. There’s something quite surreal about seeing Colin Firth, normally known for being a stern romantic interest (Bridget Jones, Pride and Prejudice, Love Actually, Mama Mia!), suddenly becoming a very efficient assassin. Good fun, if not very realistic!
Saturday saw another film added to the list, seeing ‘Brooklyn’ at the cinema. The most surprising thing about it was that my partner Matt actually enjoyed it, despite it being a fairly soppy romance. He apparently liked that it didn’t end the way you thought it would. Plus it has Julie Walters in. We finished the evening off with an Indian meal in Jashan’s (thereby adding another restaurant off the list) and enjoying, for the first time, a Crabbie Alcoholic Ginger Beer (my first alcohol of the challenge). Not something I’d normally choose, and not something I think I’d choose again!
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The week also brought my first book, a somewhat unexpected choice of ‘Hello Dudley!’ I was visiting my friend Lindsey and was asked by one of her (very adorable) sons if I would read it to them. I particularly enjoyed the fact that it has a hand-puppet mouth poking through the middle of the book that you can use to act out the story. Needless to say, the kids found it hilarious, as did Lindsey and I!
Lindsey also taught me to do ‘rope plaits’ in my hair, so with a bit of practice the next morning, I was able to create my first new hairstyle from the list, using rope plaits to keep my hair off my face. Matt’s verdict: “An improvement on how you normally look, even if you do look like a 4-year old from the front.”
Lindsey also taught me to do ‘rope plaits’ in my hair, so with a bit of practice the next morning, I was able to create my first new hairstyle from the list, using rope plaits to keep my hair off my face. Matt’s verdict: “An improvement on how you normally look, even if you do look like a 4-year old from the front.”
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Tuesday evening saw my first ‘say yes to an opportunity’ as I joined Helen, a friend of mine from my NLP Practitioner course, on a walk along the Water of Leith near my house. Helen is currently undertaking a ‘Make a Change’ challenge, and part of her challenge is to get outside on these cold Autumn nights, and enjoy things that you wouldn’t normally do in the summer. This is not something I would normally have done, generally preferring to spend a dark night under a blanket on my sofa, but we had a great chat, felt energised by getting out in the fresh, crisp air, and finished the evening off nicely in the Blue Goose pub with a meal, thereby meeting 2 of the things on my list (opportunity and restaurant). I’m hoping to meet up with Helen again later in November for a night-time ascent of Arthur’s Seat to see all the Edinburgh Christmas lights.
Thursday saw my first free coaching session another NLP friend, Nikki, combined with my 30 minutes walking for the week (although I had already fulfilled the 30 minutes walking the night before with Helen – the weather was good and we knew we’d both benefit from some exercise and a good view.) We walked up to Craiglockhart Hill from my house, and each spent some time coaching the other on a current issue.
I also send my first letter. This was a birthday card to my Gran. Her birthday was in August, and I diligently bought a card about 2 weeks before, but forgot to send it! So, when I found it a few days after her birthday, I thought I’d surprise her at a random point in the year with a ‘non-birthday card.’ I’ve not heard from her yet, but I think it’ll appeal to her sense of humour and will mean much more to her that I’m thinking about her on some random day and making an effort to do something nice, than just getting lost in a pile of other cards with a cursory glance on her actual birthday.
Thursday saw my first free coaching session another NLP friend, Nikki, combined with my 30 minutes walking for the week (although I had already fulfilled the 30 minutes walking the night before with Helen – the weather was good and we knew we’d both benefit from some exercise and a good view.) We walked up to Craiglockhart Hill from my house, and each spent some time coaching the other on a current issue.
I also send my first letter. This was a birthday card to my Gran. Her birthday was in August, and I diligently bought a card about 2 weeks before, but forgot to send it! So, when I found it a few days after her birthday, I thought I’d surprise her at a random point in the year with a ‘non-birthday card.’ I’ve not heard from her yet, but I think it’ll appeal to her sense of humour and will mean much more to her that I’m thinking about her on some random day and making an effort to do something nice, than just getting lost in a pile of other cards with a cursory glance on her actual birthday.
I finished the week off with another Swing Dance class. While this doesn’t count as a new exercise, as I did it last week, I did meet my first ‘interesting person.’ He was called Michael and normally did swing dance in Berkshire. However, he was in Edinburgh for work for a few days and thought he’d look up to see if there were any classes in Edinburgh. I didn’t get around to telling him about my 30 for 30 challenge, and therefore didn’t think to ask him for a photo either. That might have come across as a bit random!
Finally, tonight, I made another recipe and have to say I have fallen out with Nigella Lawson. Her recipe for ‘Rapid Ragu’ led to me spending the best part of 30 minutes searching everywhere in Asda for a jar of caramelised onions (NOT caramelised onion chutney) only to finally track down a lady that worked there who said she’d never heard of it. I then had to spend about 45 minutes making my own caramelised onions (which I have never done before, so needed another recipe) before I could make ‘Nigella’s Not-So-Rapid Ragu’. I’m tempted to claim 2 recipes for this effort, given I had to look up how to make the onions (turns out its just oil, onions and a bit of sugar) but its all gone into the same pot in the end, and smells pretty good…..
Finally, tonight, I made another recipe and have to say I have fallen out with Nigella Lawson. Her recipe for ‘Rapid Ragu’ led to me spending the best part of 30 minutes searching everywhere in Asda for a jar of caramelised onions (NOT caramelised onion chutney) only to finally track down a lady that worked there who said she’d never heard of it. I then had to spend about 45 minutes making my own caramelised onions (which I have never done before, so needed another recipe) before I could make ‘Nigella’s Not-So-Rapid Ragu’. I’m tempted to claim 2 recipes for this effort, given I had to look up how to make the onions (turns out its just oil, onions and a bit of sugar) but its all gone into the same pot in the end, and smells pretty good…..
So, that what I’ve been up to this week. My tips for this week are:
- Make an effort to get outside on these dark winter nights and do something you wouldn't normally do. It’s refreshing, energising and you get to see things looking different to the daytime, often in a quite magical way.
- Never trust Nigella Lawson and her ‘quick and easy’ recipes
- Birthday cards can be more fun and meaningful to send when it’s not someone’s birthday than when it is.
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