Of brains and brides, and bitter cold

As of yesterday I am no longer on probation but am a successfully employed full-time employee =) Today is actually my 6-month anniversary because I started work on the 28th July 2008! The time has flown for sure. I was very pleased with my appraisal and soon I'll be having a meeting with the boss to discuss pushing up my ka-ching! factor ;)

Yesterday we had another work meal and we went to Hanks where naturally something has to go 'wrong'. We had a really incompetent waitress who looked and sounded like Girl from Mars, and although we had booked our table it wasn't ready and they tried to squeeze 8 people on 3 small tables! We made them add another table because it was ludicrous to be so squashed, especially since the place wasn't even full! But the food was good. I had a chicken salad with nuts which was very tasty.

This evening I went to the 6:30 p.m. film with Niki. We went to watch Bride Wars which is a really sweet, girly film! We were 6 people in the cinema, three girl couples hehe. I don't think any man would live through that kind of film. So I told Niki that we must not get married on the same day! Hehe...

I am dying with this cold weather. My toes freeze to the point of numbness and I can barely function when I'm outside, and tomorrow afternoon we're going on a tour! I'm thinking two pairs of socks and my tennis shoes cos I cannot wear anything thicker than pop socks with my boots and that is why my toes freeze :/ Plus scarf, gloves and beanie hehe. Roll on summer!

iPhone Monopoly

I am addicted to Monopoly on my iPhone! I never enjoyed playing the game as a child; I don't think I was greedy enough then, but it's all changed now! Muhahahaha! =P

Winter activities

Working my last shift at SJ Cav this morning. I decided to give the second job a rest and focus on just one main job and focus on myself too! I had a great time working here - 18 months! - but it reached its end.

Yesterday evening I went to The Pub in Valletta for a reunion of sorts of the cast of our One-Act. It was a fun evening and I'm glad that I did actually go out because in winter it's all too easy to stay indoors cos of the weather (which was rather horrible admittedly) but then it gets boring after a while. Especially after being a whole week at work. This coming week I have two meals of work so that should provide some entertainment too.

On Tuesday we have a Marketing Day with meetings in the morning followed by a light lunch at the office and then a guided tour of Ta' Qali Crafts Village, Mosta Dome and Mdina (plus coffee and cake) since our UK colleagues are going to be here. And then we'll be going for dinner at Ta' Marija so that they can sample traditional Maltese food. It should be a fun day - I hope the weather holds out. Thursday will then be dinner at Hanks, very un-traditional hehe, but the cocktails are great ;)

I will 27 in one month's time. I have no idea how I will be celebrating my birthday. It falls on a Tuesday so not quite a party day lol... but we'll see.

Experiencing the spa experience

I'm just back from an amazing back massage and cinnamon body scrub! Bliss!

This was the Christmas present from my brothers thoughtfully chosen by me ;) I love having a spa next door to home because after the sessions I lounged about on the sofas having herbal tea and reading a magazine, no hassles, no pressure.

The massage was lovely and very much needed. In fact I think it's something that will need to be done regularly because of my job. Although we're given ergonomic chairs and accessories, spending so much time at a computer day in day out has its negative effects.

After the massage, I then went into the adjacent room where I was given a full body cinnamon scrub. My skin is singing praise; my pores are alive! The rooms are beautiful and warm and the atmosphere is so relaxing. After the scrub she left me to relax a bit (I think I may have nodded off almost!) and then there's a shower in the room which she prepared for me (made sure the water was warm) and I showered and the difference that I felt in my skin was radical.

Definitely recommended!

The Spa Experience

I am feeling so(!!) tired today. It could be the exercise that's taking its toll because my body is still building up its stamina. And it's also early afternoon and I know that this is my downtime when my brain (and body) just want to sleep. It's the siesta effect - that's what you get for being Mediterranean! hehe.

I spent an hour at the gym yesterday - 15 minutes more than Monday and it was ok. So I think I'll stick to an hour a day for the time being. And then I get that lovely hot, steaming shower at the end =)

I've booked my massage and body scrub (thanks to the voucher) for Saturday week and I'm really looking forward to it! Two days of gym did not result in any muscle pain, but two days at my desk again has my neck screaming. I've now tried moving my monitor closer to me, because I have a habit of leaning forward and straightening my desk chair more. For some reason I tend to sit at an angle! I do it in the car too. I sit leaning to the left, and I don't know why!

I have another parcel waiting for me at home =) I think it's the earrings. Yesterday I received a bracelet and a wrap over top, both of which are very pretty. And the day before I received a black messenger-style bag which I am currently using. The women at the post office are just so used to me now! I'm in there once a week at least either collecting something or sending.

Resolutions

Back to work today after Christmas & New Years leave. It was a good day because I didn't feel as though I had been gone for ages but just enough to have a break and come back and pick up with new energy. And today was also the beginning of my Gym-for-30-days strategy. I'm got myself a month's membership at Le Meridien gym - being next door is utterly convenient - and I had a really nice, invigorating session. After the first 3 months my thighs were burning (so unfit! lol) but I stuck it out on the machine for 15 minutes. And then I spent just over 30 minutes on the treadmill at an incline and a decent speed - power walking not jogging yet. Slowly I'll increase my stamina and increase my workout. But 30 days is a good biteable chunk of time that isn't too overwhelming. And hopefully once the time is up I'll be in a rhythm where I'll sign up for another month.

I love my RSS feeds. I come across the wildest stuff like Catholic Google or GodTube. The search is basically Google with Safe Search permanently on, and it's meant to bring up Catholic-approved searches although it tends to jump off the rails at times apparently!