12 of 12 (v4.0) - October

First off, I'm sorry for the supremely boring 12 of 12 you're about to see. I'd got the day off, and planned to go out and about in London, taking photos to show you. But then I got a stomach ache yesterday which persisted into today - small enough to not be worth taking something for, but noticeable enough to be annoying and make me sluggish. I spent most of yesterday just reading in bed, and a good part of this morning too. Maybe next month I can be more creative!

As always, thanks to Chad for the idea, and click here to see everyone else's 12 of 12s!

1) 10:22am - House, N2, London

One of my goals this year was to read 100 books. To motivate me (and see how I'm doing compared to my friend Jenn who's been logging her books read, pages per month, etc.), I've been putting my book totals into a spreadsheet. For those of you who even pretend to know me, my geekiness shouldn't surprise you. It is helpful to see what my predicted total is, based on the number of books read so far and number of weeks done.

2) 10:28am - House, N2, London

Checking the Blackberry, once I set it charging up. I've got the day off, but everyone else is in. Nothing came in that can't wait until tomorrow.

3) 10:50am - House, N2, London

I moderate 3 forums on the NaNoWriMo boards, and I'm still trying to catch up from having been away for a few days with work. Those people get mighty posty.

And no, I'm not sure what I'm writing this year, but it's my 6th attempt and I want another win!

4) 11:16am - House, N2, London

Having finished a book last night, I went to choose my next one. This is just my bookcase, I have 3 large stacks of unread books on my dresser... (for the curious, I went for Caroline Graham's Murder At Madingley Grange - she wrote the books which went on to become the Midsomer Murders TV show.

5) 2:54pm - House, N2, London

Watching some of the weekend's Strictly Come Dancing, courtesy of BBC iPlayer. Two things which really bug me:

1) Alesha Dixon constantly (and I do mean constantly, like for every contestant) saying "You was". No dear, "You WERE". The sheer number of times she does this is really starting to grate on me.

2) When all the contestants have walked in and lined up and the camera pans along the line, the music stops and Leila Rouass always does this annoying two handed point in the air thing. I've taken a majorly irrational dislike to this as it's every damn week. I don't like her though. Zoe and Ali being all shy and low confidence (despite being good) is one thing, and possibly genuine. But Leila said in week 1 she wanted to beat Zoe (her co-star on one show) and she came off as too aggressive.

Sorry, been holding that rant in for about 4 weeks now!

6) 3:07pm - House, N2, London

Minestrone soup, bagel, and eating while I watch more dancing.

7) 4:08pm - Post Office collection centre, N2, London

Figuring I should go out and run a few errands, I head out into my local area. First stop is the collection office, to pick up a parcel Gem (and Jon, Will and Jacob) have sent me for my birthday. It's a little early, because of the disruption of postal strikes. Gem's much more organised than me on things like this! ;-) However, the collection office is only open 8:30am-12:30pm, and as my timestamp above shows, it's 4:08pm. So I'll have to be slightly late to work tomorrow, and take the parcel with me.

8) 4:18pm - Charity shop, N2, London

Stop number 2 on my list, a local charity shop (North London Hospice). They have a wide (and often changing) selection of books, and most of them for only £1! There are quite a few pretty new books as well, some hardbacks and some which look barely read, so it's a bibliophile's dream. I picked up one book this time, quite restrained of me.

9) 4:26pm - Iceland, N2, London

Stop 3, Iceland. They have some Weight Watchers meals for £1, and recently I've been doing one of those (beef hotpot, chicken casserole, etc.) with a heap of broccoli and sweetcorn. All from Iceland. The broccoli and sweetcorn bags are big and £1 each, and each of the WW meals are only £1. And healthy too! (well OK, I add a dollop of butter to the veg, but that's all). I also love the little WW chocolate mousse cakes, which are 2 in a pack for £1. Low fat and yummy!

10) 4:31pm - N2, London

Dramatic sky as I walk back to the house.

11) 4:47pm - House, N2, London

Being healthy! Ages ago, I bought some raspberries and wouldn't have gotten chance to eat them before they went mouldy, so I froze them. Much, much later, I worked on my part of the freezer at the weekend, trying to hack off most of the ice which had formed over my food (yet only my part of the freezer oddly enough). I mean seriously, the stuff at the back had iced in like an igloo. I got one of the packs of raspberries out to defrost, and had them today with some sugar. I think frozen raspberries are OK in smoothies (I know you can buy bags of them frozen in supermarkets) or on pavlovas or cheesecakes, but on their own, they're a little soft and mushy.

BONUS - 6:55pm - House, N2, London

While ironing, I put on one of my favourite Cary Grant films (and one of his last), Walk, Don't Run. Romantic comedy set during the Tokyo Olympics.

12) 8:07pm - House, N2, London

The ironing pile when I'm done. I'd actually finished much earlier, but the landlady's Dad came to work on my en-suite's toilet, so I only got the photo after he'd left.

And that's it for this 12 of 12, sorry again for the lack of interesting stuff! Maybe next month, as I have that 12th off too.