coffee and gingerbread men

A Dog’s Dinner

On Thursday morning, I was up first.

I blearily made my way downstairs, let Rubin out, and began going through the motions of the morning routine, totally on autopilot. I was thinking about something else (actually, I was thinking about what I’d wear for that day’s adventure, let’s be honest…), but I managed to switch on the kettle, get out coffee mugs for me and Terry, plus Rubin’s bowl, for his breakfast (Because Rubin must be fed the very SECOND he wakes up, or he threatens to phone the RSPCA.). I was absently-mindedly spooning the food into the bowl, when suddenly I realised that something felt WRONG. I glanced down at the worktop, and, yup… I had just spent the last two minutes filling my coffee mug with dog food. And kind of smashing it down to get it to fit. YUCK.

It’s been that kind of week. Don’t worry, though: it’s not been THAT kind of week. That was LAST week. This week has been a bit of a muddle, true, but for good reasons rather than bad ones: because we’ve been blessed with such nice weather for a change, we’ve been doing our best to make the most of it, so we’ve been out and about most days, and catching up with work in the evenings instead. The result is that every day has felt like the weekend, and I’ve spent the entire week having to check my phone to remind myself what day it is. Oh, and putting Rubin’s dinner into my coffee mug, obviously. (Seriously, YUCK.)

Because of that, I’m a bit behind with all of the things I usually do during the week, so the house is a mess, the laundry basket is full, and I’m not quite sure I even know what I’ve been writing in the blog posts I’ve been frantically typing up each evening. Still, it’s been a fun week, though, which makes it totally worth it. As well as the North Berwick and Scone Palace trips I’ve already written about, on Sunday Terry and I went out to dinner at BadaBing in Wishaw, which is an Italian restaurant located in a converted theatre:

Badabing, Wishaw

Badabing Wishaw

Now, Wishaw isn’t a place I’ve ever visited before, other than to drive through, but we both love Italian food, and the restaurant had been recommended to us by friends, so off we went. Well, suffice to say the recommendation was a good ‘un, and we practically had to be rolled out of the place… as well as my antipasti starter and huge plate of mac n’ cheese, I was also given a complimentary Cosmo to try, while Terry got a hand-spun mini pizza, in addition to his ravioli. It was all absolutely delicious, in that, “I should really have stopped eating at least five minutes ago, but I just can’t stop myself,” kinda way, so I suspect we’ll be back there soon – or as soon as we sleep off the food coma, anyway.

On Tuesday we headed into Glasgow to see The Gaslight Anthem, who are one of our favourite bands…

The Gaslight Anthem

It was a great show, spoiled only slightly by the giant mosh pit which opened up right next to us and was pretty violent (we saw at least one broken nose and a girl getting punched hard in the mouth) … oh yeah, and the fact that I thought I was going to die during Great Expectations. Well, I mean, it’s one of my very favourite songs, by one of my very favourite bands, and I’d waited the entire night to hear it, so it figures that THAT would be when the heat/crowd would finally get the better of me, huh? It went a bit like this:

Me: OMG! OMG! IT’S GREAT EXPECTATIONS!

*bounce* *bounce* *bounce*

Huh. I feel a bit sick, actually. Oh well!

*bounce* *bounce* *bounce*

Um, no, I feel REALLY sick. Maybe I’ll just stand still and clap my hands in time to the song instead?

*clap* *clap* *clap*

Actually, I don’t think I can breathe any more, either. Hmmm.

*clap* *clap* *clap*

Yup, definitely can’t breathe. Also: am totally dying. GOD.

At that point, Terry noticed that all was not well, and got me out of the crowd and over to the bar, where they were handing out cups of water. I was fine again within a few minutes, but I think I’ll probably stick to the seated area next time. You know, like I should have done THIS time? (Also, the irony of thinking I was going to die while listening to a song about which song will be playing when you die did not escape me…)

Anyway, I did have some other stuff I’d planned to show you from this week, but as I said, the fact that I’ve actually been having a life, rather than just writing about my life, has left me with less time than usual for rambling, so I think I’ll just leave it there. I’ll also leave you with this snippet from Tuesday night, featuring another of my favourite Gaslight Anthem songs: this one is called Handwritten, and it basically sums up everything I was trying to say in my ‘Why I Blog‘ post, but in much fewer words:

https://youtu.be/QR1jF6RSj2c

Pull it out, turn it up, what’s your favorite song?
That’s mine, I’ve been crying to it since I was young
I know there’s someone out there feeling just how I feel
I know they’re waiting up, I know they’re waiting to heal
And I’ve been holding my breath,
Are you holding your breath, for too many years to count?

(The fact that I just posted SONG LYRICS here also sums up pretty neatly what I was trying to say in this post. I mean, what is this, MySpace?)

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books by Amber Eve
COMMENTS
  • Fran

    Oh, I am sorry you felt that way at the concert! I completely sympathise because it happens to me sometimes too, and just last week a fellow PhD student almost fainted while delivering a paper. Not fun, nope.

    Also, if it is any consolation, I once managed to put the cat’s medicine in my cup instead of hers. Well, thank goodness I realised that :p

    June 13, 2015
  • This whole getting overheated and having to be drip-fed water to recover only happens when you get older, right… I swear I went to enough gigs etc when I was a teen and never once did I have to have a break… but now…

    June 13, 2015
  • I’ve totally given up seeing bands now, I just feel so old (I’m in my thirties!!) I much prefer as nice sit down watching a comedian instead!

    June 13, 2015
  • Mel

    Badabing looks great, I visited there many years ago when it was Koi (Chinese/Japanese restaurant) and remember being told that Linda Barker from Changing Rooms had been there the night before, the height of celebrity!

    June 15, 2015
  • Oh I like them a lot, they’ve always reminded me a bit of my favourite band The Replacements! A shame it got so violent, I grew up going to rowdy gigs and I just have never gotten the point of it, especially nowadays, it seems so 90’s to me! Sorry you felt so ill, I felt overheated at the last couple of concerts I went to and always make sure I have a bottle of water but it’s not a nice feeling 🙁

    June 15, 2015
  • No, not only when you get older – I remember going to many gigs at the student club and being pretty squashed by the crowd and being close to fainting. Yuk. It sort of put me off standing tickets.

    June 16, 2015
  • Jenny

    Oh I LOVE The Gaslight Anthem. I remember the first time I heard ’59 sound – aaaah! Love at first listen! I’ve seen them live a few times but it’s never been crazy rowdy or mosh-y. Glad you got to see them live though. Even my dad likes them

    June 18, 2015

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