It Finally Happened

So as you guys out there in cyberspace probably know due to a few of my past blogs, I am a massive chicken when it comes to scary things... well.

It finally happened, after years of waiting... 

The girl from The Ring finally came to get me in the middle of the night. 

Source: Imdb.com

(I just googled the ring and my heart is hammering because I saw a picture of the girl)

I was laying in bed hugging my pillow as I always do, beginning to think and dream of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings. Just as I was beginning to slip off into the land of nod I heard a curious noise. Having lived alone before when I hear a strange noise in the night I immediately assume someone is creeping into the house to murder me. 

Source: mikamiteru37.deviantart.com

My heart hammering I told myself not to be ridiculous, at the same time I was straining my ears to see if I could hear any movement in the house... Nope, there I knew I was being insane. 

This has all been a bit scary so far so lets have a picture of a puppy and a kitten snoozing to lighten the mood a bit. 

Source: dilshil.com

Immediately as I thought everything was fine and dandy, the handle of my bedroom door creaked, my entire body tensed as I frantically tried to think of something I could reach to use to protect myself. I opened my eye sightly and looked towards the door not daring to breathe as it slowly opened the only sound the slight squeaking of the hinges. There in the doorway stood... The girl from The Ring. 

This is what I saw

Source: thegypsytraveljournal.blogspot.com

This is how I felt

Source: zedge.net

Never have I felt my heart accelerate at such speed, I'm fairly sure I was close to having a heart attack. The girl just stood there, not moving or speaking... My brain worked at about a million miles an hour trying to understand how the girl from The Ring had got into my house, how after terrifying me for years she had finally tracked me down. She had clawed her way out of that deep dark well and found her way to my bedroom door. I'm not going to lie here and say I jumped up with a bat and saved myself, I did what all us chickenish people do and froze completely and broke out in a cold sweat. I was about to die at the hands of the most horrendous child horror film star ever...

As my brain caught up and I recognised the over sized Disneyland tee shirt and long brown hair of my twelve year old sister, stood sleepwalking. It took me every ounce of self control not to shout every swearword under the sun. 

Eventually off she went back to bed. I lay back down and my heart gradually returned to it's normal rhythm (that's a reaaaaaally hard word to spell) 

Turns out she hasn't come for me yet after all. 

Source: homepage.ntlworld.com

Source: Funnyasduck,com

 

Happy Thursday. 

Love you!

Love, me. 

Tweet: @nataliefurlong

Tumblr: natfurlong.tumblr.com

 

S'no Problem

So this weekend I almost got trapped in Middlesbrough after a night out and froze to death. 

Source: gracesgraphics.com

Ok so that isn't entirely true, however had my friends knight in shining armor not shown up to give us a lift home in the midst of a snowstorm then that may have been the case! Whilst me and my bestie were drinking £2.60 double vodkas and dancing to the indie songs we had listened to when we were eighteen the snow outside was falling thick and fast.

Eighteen year old selves. 

 So long story short we didn't die, we got a lift home. Loooook at the snooooow though! 

The only other remotely interesting thing that happened this weekend was that i discovered that there is such a thing as Mushroom Ketchup. Lets just take a moment to process this.......... MUSHROOM KETCHUP. 

There it was just innocently nestled between Jack Daniels BBQ sauce and Mayonnaise (horrendous) In fact it was hidden behind one of those random plastic things that they hang off the shelves. I can't remember what it was but they are usually irrelevant so lets not dwell on it. 

Also this: 

Just what I fancy, Tuna and Creamed Corn

Who in their right mind thought... lets cream some corn and see what that's like. I'll tell you who, the same weirdo that thought making mushrooms into ketchup was a good idea. 

Source: quickmeme.com

Moving on from there, I made some absolutely AMAZING chocolate chip cookies yesterday that are chewy in the middle and crunchy round the edges. I am not kidding guys, these are perfection. Here's a photo...

 Here is a link to the Recipe:

 http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/4807/best-big--fat--chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.aspx

It's easy peasy too so get some made and if you have kids then get them involved they'll love these!! 

source: Funnyasduck.net

Lastly it has become a bit of a 'thing' at work that I happen to have amazing socks so here is a little peek into one side of my sock drawer mainly so you can feel jealous that your socks aren't as good as mine. 

Well guys I hope your weekend has been as good if not better than mine. 

Small fun fact for you, this blog is available in mobile phone format just type in the url and it specially formats it for you! You can read it on your way to work, if you don't drive obviously. 

I feel like i'm forgetting to tell you all something... Maybe it was just about finishing the classroom training and actually having to go and do the job i'm paid for this week. Waaah. I am unsure. Never mind! 

Love you!

Love, me. 

Twitter:@NatalieFurlong

Tumblr www.natfurlong.tumblr.com

New Year, New Job... and stuff.

Hey guys! 

So I've been a bit quiet on here for a little while because... dun dun duuuun I have a new job! Let me take this opportunity to do that weird disclaimer thing whereby even though I haven't actually said where I work all views expressed on this blog are entirely my own and not that of the place that I work. Does that count? No idea. 

On with the show. 

SO I've been in training for the past few weeks which has consisted mainly of classroom learning, to be honest its totally made me want to go back to uni and do another course.

Source: Sodahead.com

We did our first bit of actual work today, you know when people say "It's always me' Well it really is ALWAYS me! Today I managed to get the first person demanding to speak to a manager, I was the last person to finish and in my last job most people were put in a team with someone else from training, but not me... noooo. I somehow always manage to stand out. 

Can you spot the odd one out? Hi it's me.

Source: http://tx.english-ch.com/teacher/julia/odd%20one.jpg

We've also had some assessments in the past few weeks, put a paper in front of me, call it an assessment, tell me I have to pass and hey presto...

Me

Source: favim.com

I had a wonderful Christmas (thanks for asking)! 

A very fun night out with my ladies! 

Can you tell it was sweaty? My hair looks horrific!
(also Rosie you look a bit sad in this!!)

Then what i'm fairly sure happened was some absolute horror of a human being must have sneezed in my direction because I managed to contract the most horrific Chest Infection/ Flu AND and Eye Infection. So for my entire second week of my new job and New Year I spent looking and feeling just like this... 

Source: justiceleaks.net

I just sneezed as I wrote that. My god if I get ill again it is going to be the worst thing ever! 

So lets finish on a brighter note, the past two days I have almost been late for work so if that happens again tomorrow lets just say it's not going to be good! 

I'm also in the midst of a new fun project that's staying under wrap for now! 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand am trying to plan some fun trips for this summer. Woohoo 

Well the battery is going to die so lets leave it here for today. 

Muchos love to you all. 

Source:knowyourmeme.com

Love you! 

Love, me. 

Twit me up @Nataliefurlong

Happy Birthday to me!

Hey, Let's talk!

I had my birthday on Friday, I have never been the biggest fan of birthdays mainly due to the fact that in past years I have either been ill and had to cancel plans or I have tried to organise something and people haven't had the money because Christmas is coming up. This year though, I had the extra special delight of having to go to a job interview at 9am  I call it an interview, they called it an 'assessment day'. It comprised of a presentation, three tests, a face to face interview and two roleplay exercises. Horrific.

Also I would just like to point out that if you know me at all you will understand that the thought of having to do a maths test, never mind on my birthday is just, well, not ideal. 

Maths makes me feel like this: 

Source: Memegenerator.com

So I walked out of the assessment roughly three hours later, popped in to see a friend and headed home 99% sure I wouldn't have the job. I wasn't going to dwell on it, it was my birthday after all. So I went home and waited for a little while for my Mum to get back. Opened my cards and presents and began to feel a bit cheerier about the whole thing. 

Here's the thing about life... When you think you know exactly how something is going to go, things can change. 

My phone rang and at about 1pm I found out I had excelled in all aspects of the interview Including the maths! (thanks Hannah!). So i'm starting a new job very soon which means I will actually have money YAY. 

Throughout the day I was getting Happy Birthdays via text and Facebook and I got more cards this year than I have for quite a few years. What can I say? I love you all, so much.

It means a lot that I have so many people out there who care. I care about you all too and should you need me, you know where to find me! 

source: http://www.american-buddha.com/ablab209d.jpg

I really do think in lyrics and film quotes.

Moving on, my Mum, Sister and I decided to go to the cinema in the evening to see Great Expectations which was SO good, I fully recommend it. Oh man also I really can't wait to see Life of Pi when it comes out. The advert makes me feel a bit emosh, Para, para, para-dise!!

While I was there I had message off a friend of mine asking if I was in as they had something to drop over, I explained I wasn't but my Dad was. Then got this picture message through to my phone. 

I should probably explain why they call me Charlie... Youtube Charlie and the Unicorns. 

Nicole, Cayler and Faye... you are actually legends! So I got home from the cinema to find a cake waiting for me, made by three crazy kids that I met at my last job. 

Source: Mtv.com

It tasted amazing too!

One day I really must learn to control my eyebrow

So despite thinking this was going to be an awful, awful day. It wasn't, not at all. I felt lots of love from lots of people, I got a job, a cinema trip and TWO birthday cakes, cards and I even got a new hat. It really does get better! 

My other cake in case you care!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, I have just returned from a trip to Newcastle which SHOULD be tomorrows blog. 

Love you, 

Love, Me. 

x

Tweet me? @nataliefurlong

Tumblr me? @natfurlong.tumblr.com

Banana Drama

If we're going to be friends there are two things you should probably know about me. 

1. I have an insanely good sense of smell. 
2. I hate bananas.

Today I did something that I would usually avoid at all costs, I accompanied someone to the bank (having worked for a bank in the past I tend to avoid going to the branches if at all possible). Little did I know I was going to be sat in the waiting area for the better part of an hour... I heard people discussing expensive important payments that needed to be sent immediately, lost cards, inactive accounts and all manner of other banking problems. 

When all of a sudden I got that awful overwhelming smell of banana. Whenever I can smell banana I feel strangely and inexplicably panicked, I picture the small black seeds inside and the stringy bits that hang off and I have this really vivid memory of being a child and chewing it too much so it was just pure slime in my mouth. 

Me being cute as a child

How I feel about bananas
Source: theinfothority.com

 I glanced around and couldn't see the person who was eating it, then heard the garbled sound of a child behind me. I instantly knew I had found the culprit and a very smooth look behind me confirmed it. All I could do was hope they would move and luckily they did! 

So I got back to people watching and trying to hold my phone at an angle that would give me a decent enough signal to allow me to read through twitter. Being nosy though I was looking at this small family in front of me discuss how they were going to get the pushchair up the stairs to the meeting room. In case you are wondering they decided the Dad would just go shopping. Then all of a sudden the banana eating toddler opened her mouth and honest to god spat at least a quarter of the banana on the floor... Mushed but still pretty much intact. The Dad then did the right thing and picked it up, with his bare hand 

Me.
Source: hollywooddame.com

Then, unexpectedly, there was a game changer! He left a small chunk on the floor... I am pretty sure the girl who was running the front of the branch saw it, I saw it. There was no way in hell I was going to touch it and apparently neither was she. Do you have any idea how close to the edge of my seat I was for the next half an hour?! I thought about telling someone about it BUT before you judge me for not saying anything, I've worked in shops and restaurants before and when someone comes up and tells you about a mess that needs cleaning you do not mean it when you say 'oh thanks very much, i'll get it sorted now'. Really you are thinking WHY THE F**K did you have to tell me?! 

There were staff members in stilettos dashing past it, children running around near it and at one point an old man very nearly stood on it (can you imagine my guilt had he fallen).  Seriously. Anyway you are probably waiting for the fact someone fell over and broke their leg but guess what, they didn't. The closest someone got was a woman in the thinnest stilettos that ran over it but the toe of her shoe landed in front and the heel landed behind the banana chunk. Who knew wearing insane shoes could potentially save your life?!

I also saw a man trying to chat up the girl at the front of branch, remember? The one who pretended not to see the banana chunk of doom? Anyway she was just like this 

Source: betbomb.com

Which made me chuckle quite a lot to myself. As the man doing the chatting up had been sat next to me earlier on and call me judgmental if you like but he sounded like an arrogant arse. 

Anyway! 

Happy Wednesday

Love you!

Love, me. 

Twitter @NatalieFurlong 

Tumblr natfurlong.tumblr.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

So we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in the UK, However I do have a lot of family over in America so this post is dedicated to all you lovelies celebrating today. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Source: greekpeak.netShare

I thought I would share with you guys ten things that I am thankful for I'm going to do five serious ones because I don't want you all to think i'm a complete arse... 

1. My Family! As insane as we all are, everyone is kind of awesome.

New Year 2011/ 2012

2. My Friends... My awesome, awesome friends.

Halloween 2012

V Fest 2012

Clare there are NO photos of us since 2011. WTF?!

3. Mine and my family's health... Just saying

4. The internet... I'm not even kidding! 

Source: Gagful.com

5. As much as this country is in trouble it could be soooo much worse! I'm thankful i'm British... But not in an intensely scary way. 

Ok that's enough of the 'serious' stuff. 

6. Caaaake - Making and eating... nom nom nom...

I fking LOVE cake

7. Music... You tube... Music! 

I have written a blog about that recently so we'll leave that one there. 

8. Camera phones...

Enough Said. 

9. Hats. hee!

10. YOU! I am thankful that you click and look at this blog...

Those of you in the States, eat LOADS and drink even more! 

Love you! 

Love, me. 

@NatalieFurlong

 

Writers are forgetful - Forgive me?

To all of my wonderful friends and family who may sometimes feel forgotten... I promise I haven't forgotten you! I stumbled across this on Tumblr and thought it summed me up rather well, I have had a million conversations where people are surprised at the detail I can remember of a relatively random situation, yet their birthday/ Christmas/ anniversary card turned up about a month too late with profound apologies. 

I genuinely think I have a condition that stops me remembering important days and physically stops me from writing them down. Upon seeing the writing below I now understand it is in no way my fault... Right? I also realise this is written about falling in love BUT imagine it isn't and it's just talking about everyday things... I LOVE all of you! 

Writers are forgetful,

but they remember everything.

They forget appointments and anniversaries,

but remember what you wore,

how you smelled,

on your first date…

They remember every story you’ve ever told them - 

like ever,

but forget what you’ve just said.

They don’t remember to water the plants

or take out the trash,

but they don’t forget how

to make you laugh.

Writers are forgetful 

because

they’re busy 

remembering 

the important things.

(Source: http://ofheightsandhollows.tumblr.com/)

I aim to be better at writing and remembering the small and big things next year. I vow to buy a diary and a calendar and use both at least until the end of January 2013. 

Love you, 

Love, me.

Also I really like this font, do you? I might change from Arial to Trebuchet from now on. Trebuchet - that is a good word, i've just googled it and its one of those massive caterpult things from medieval times. Is that a bad message to send? I just don't know. 

@NatalieFurlong