I know that Dragon Dada sometimes takes a little while to wake up fully in the mornings, but I was nevertheless a little surprised to be greeted with the words: "Welcome to 30, you old duffer!"

I wouldn't mind, but we both passed thirty over a year ago.

... I give you....

Emotion Eric!

I've been warily watching this go round the blogs of my friends and waiting for somebody to pass it on to me. Fortunately, the only person to do so was Dragon Dada, but he at least recognised that I was probably too busy. Busy I am, but I'm lousy with cold and want to sit quietly for ten more minutes before I get the Dragonets up so here goes.

Four jobs I've had in my life:
classroom assistant - work experience and then voluntary work with the rising fives class. This was incredibly rewarding and made me seriously thing twice about my vow never to be a teacher;
cashier/stock assistant - working for Iceland: I started off collating figures from district stores when we were head store, moved through working on the shop floor to, eventually, being deputy cash administrator;
deli worker - in my college Deli. Officially the worst job I ever had - it was the only one I could fit in with my erratic college hours at the time, but I didn't enjoy handling the meat, and as someone who likes cooking, it was very frustrating to have no input into the food preparation whatsoever;
temp - mainly secretarial and administrative, but I've worked for a large variety of different people including Probation Services (the most interesting by a long way), Social Services, an IFA, a solicitors, etc.

Four films I can watch over and over:
Three Men and a Baby - this really is my most-watched film. I love it. It got even funnier once I had children of my own;
The Muppets Take Manhattan - 'The Frog is Stan!';
Holiday Inn - I love Fred Astaire films; I love Bing Crosby films. All this would need would be Judy Garland to make it perfect;
What About Bob? - possibly one of the funniest films I have ever seen.

Four places I have lived:
London (Woodford, Hampstead, Cricklewood, Streatham, Croydon);
Aylesbury - and I couldn't wait to leave;
Granada (in Andalucia - for three months);
Paris - in the 15th arrondissement for five months.

Four Things I'm on the verge of learning:
How medieval moralists responded to the blurring of the boundaries between sacred and secular;
How to sell a house;
How to move house with two small children;
What our new home will be like.

Four things I've done to impress a member of the opposite sex:
learn about cars;
take an interest in motor racing;
remember to close the lid on the washing-up liquid;
paint gloss without making a mess.

Four nationalities I've been mistaken for:
Actually I've only ever been mistaken for French, as far as I can remember. But that has happened a lot.

Four places I would rather be right now:
Oh this is a hard one! Only four? Can I bring my bed? And my family? Ok, here goes:
Granada - an incredibly beautiful city. I would go back again and again;
Rome - amazing, mind-blowing place, with incredible people and wonderful food;
Venice - it really was like I dreamt it would be;
Toulouse - visiting my favourite cousin;

Or maybe you want
Four places I would rather be right now that I have never visited:
in which case the answer would be:
Latin America - anywhere really: Mexico, Columbia, Peru, and Argentina are probably top of the list;
Malta - it just sounds like a lovely place
Egypt - must be pretty amazing;
Southern Africa - there's a lot I'd like to see down south: Victoria Falls, some safari, Table Mountain...

and to add a couple:

Four things that frustrate and/or annoy me:
People complaining about being bored: - when I've got two small children to look after, a house to clean, redecorate and sell, a stack of paperwork to do, and a thesis to finish, I don't like having my face rubbed in the fact that some people have time to spare (unless they're offering to come over and do things for me);
dishonesty and falseness - especially the way some people say things because they think it's what you want to hear. Oh, and people who pretend to like you when they really don't. I've had enough of that in my life and it drives me up the wall because I have to pretend to like them too!;
trusting people and being let down - I have some incredible friendships and I'm really lucky, but every so often I realise that I actually view a friendship in a very different light to the other person. It's really hurtful when it happens and the only way of defending against it is to keep one's guard up at all times, which prevents one from being really close to anyone, so that's not really an option. Part of life, I guess, but I still hate it when it happens;
blasphemy - it offends me so much more than swearing.

Four pets I have had:
Because they really deserve a mention here:
Squeak
Gimble
Pippi
Fuzzypeg

All guinea pigs, all crazy, all lovely. All sorely missed.

I'm not going to pass this on to anyone because I know that most people have got better things to do with their time. It's now ten twenty, I had to break off earlier to get the Dragonets up, ready, fed, take the elder one to Nursery, and now I want to get on with my thesis. So, that's all folks!

It's been a while since I commented on the passing of any celebrity on this blog, mainly because towards the end of last year I had to contend with the passing of a lot of people closer to me, and it seemed too personal a matter to comment on in a blog entry, and therefore seemed inappropriate to comment on the death of people I didn't know personally, when I wasn't prepared to talk about the deaths of people I did.

But I suppose that I have come to terms with these losses sufficiently now to be saddened by and able to discuss the deaths of others and I was saddened just now and moved to comment on the death of Al Lewis, who was best known for his role as Grandpa Munster. I really enjoyed watching The Munsters as a child and therefore, as I mourn his passing and pray for those of his family who survive him, I am thankful to have benefitted from his life and thank God for the laughter that he brought. To paraphrase a Spinner's song, So long, Grandpa Munster, it's been good to know you.