tea for one

So, while Sweden got kicked out of the Euros after losing to Russia, at least Spain made it to the finals. Woo! I’m so excited! Spain against Germany, that could be a good match. Both teams have played well so far, but, I’m clearly leaning towards Spain. Sure, Germany have Podolski and Klose and Ballack, but Spain have got Fernando Torres, David Villa, David Silva, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas… If they lose, I’m going to be sad. Really, really sad. So, please let them win? Mmmkay? Please, boys, win it for mama?

*chews nails until Sunday* 

You know, it just hit me about the job next term. I was talking to my hairdresser about it, and she was all, aren’t you nervous? And I was all, no! Not at all, I’m looking forward to it! And I am, a lot, but now that she mentioned it, I’m getting a little nervous, too. I mean, sure, I’m good at this. But teaching it to others? That is going to be sca-ry.

Still, you know, it’s an in at the department. I get to go to the staff meetings, work with the lecturers… I’m gonna get my claws into a position there. They’ll never get rid of me. I’m there to stay.

Yay! I’m hired at the university! I just love the sound of that.

There’s this fun meme thing going around LJ, where you draw yourself as a teen, possibly with a current version to compare. And of course, I couldn’t not do it.

In 1999, Katarina was fourteen/fifteen, short, chubby, quiet, tagged along with people who weren’t that interested in having her around, and wasn’t very happy. See frowny face.

In 2008, she is still as short, slightly less chubby and much less quiet, has gained confidence from moving abroad to London for a year and standing on her own two feet, has fully embraced being a linguistics geek and made friends of that same sort, and is much happier. Yay! 

Dear fifteen-year-old self,

You are not missed. At all.

Not much love,
current self 

How cute is he?! 

Jesus Christ. Remind me, that when my dad worries about Gizmo flying at him when he’s out, never to say ‘Dont worry, he never goes far away from the cage’ again. Because today, he did. Fly far away from the cage, that is.

I was cleaning the cage and put it on the floor, and Gizmo was sitting on the candlestick (what? it’s an excellent place for him to sit) on the dresser above me. And I guess I got too close or moved too fast and scared him, because suddenly he took off. Into my room. Which is a complete mess. Okay, granted, my room is nearly always a complete mess, but even more so now that they’ve redecorated the hall and my parents’ bedroom - my room is still full of bags and stuff that they had to move out. It’s the storage area.

So, I followed him in there, and I couldn’t find him. Then, I heard these scratching noises and thought he’d ended up behind my desk, maybe. And then I realised that they were more rustling than scratching noises, and lo, somehow he’d ended up at the bottom of one of the paper bags full of heavy books, a couple of smaller pantings, and a lamp. I have no idea how. And the worst bit was that when I started to move the stuff, to get him out, it all moved around and sort of fell down, and I was so sure he was being squashed. He was chirping hysterically, too.

But somehow I got him out in one piece. No wing breaks, he flew as normal, and he’s been playing inside the cage with his bell and mirror, so I guess there were no serious injuries.

And now to something completely different. My mum and dad are in Denmark today, coming home later, and they will be bringing the new puppy! I’m way excited. His name is Morris - I think, unless my dad managed to change my mum’s mind during the drive. God, I hope not. I will probably be spamming you with pictures at some point the next couple of days.

Phonetics exam yesterday, and I think it went fairly well. I did realise a couple of really unneccessary mistakes on the way home that probably cost me the ‘with distinction’ - like mixing up parallel and complementary distribution, and forgetting that the reason why ‘magnetic’ is pronounced the way it is, is that ‘-ik’ is one of those suffixes that causes stress to fall on the syllable immediately preceding it - but I’m relatively sure I passed, at least. Only history & culture left for next Saturday, and then I’m finished for the term!

And finally, a YAY! for Frida who finished her BA thesis and did an awesome job on it!