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Filming has begun on The Hobbit, the prequel to The Lord of the Rings. After many problems, delays, director’s illness, and other detriments, it looks like everything is going ahead and the release of the film has been scheduled to summer 2013.
It’s going to be a long wait.
I am happy, though, to see that the most important part of the cast remains the same (Wood, McKellen, Blanchett, Serkis, etc) so it will feel like the proper prequel rather than just another film based on the old-favourite book, if you know what I mean…
I hear that Peter Jackson had a nasty stomach ulcer, and I can see that he’s lost lots of weight.. I hope you’re feeling better mate!
Next week will be our first anniversary in the new house. Yes, one year has gone past… Soon we won’t be able to call it “the new house” anymore!
Needless to say, we are still very happy, haven’t regretted the move, and we haven’t had any problems. We were “warned” that new builds usually have structural problems early on in their lives, but so far (and fingers crossed) we haven’t come across anything terrible to be scared of…
Both Jon and I know that this is the house we want to be in, regardless of the long commute to work and all the other little inconveniences, like not having a pub or a shop within walking distance. However, the estate is only in its early days and we are hoping that these facilities will arrive in the next couple of years.
The house is looking good in the inside, although we still have lots of decorating to do. We managed to finish off the first floor in the first few months after moving in, doing the coving and painting the walls, but so far the downstairs is still pretty virgin. We have taken it easy, we are not in a hurry to finish it all right now as we know that we’re going to be here for a while.. however, we shouldn’t relax too much and get on with it!
Spring is approaching quickly, the days are getting longer, so I am hoping that we can get everything that is left to do done before the summer. It may seem like a long time still, but 3/4 months can fly away!
We’ve got a lovely staircase going up to the first floor. There’s a massive piece of wall where the staircase is that is screaming for some decorating too (see pictures below):
I bought quite a few picture frames in Ikea last year, just after we moved in. From the very beginning I knew what I wanted to do with that piece of wall… The idea is to hang a big mirror that we already have, and then, surrounding the mirror, the Ikea frames with some of my pictures. But not “people” pictures, but “arty” pictures, in black and white only.
Something similar to this, but arranged differently:
Now I’ve got to go through my B&W picture portfolio and choose the ones that I want to print. I already have an idea, but I need to make sure that the pictures are going to be well coordinated and won’t clash with each other. Among my favourite images are these three:
I will make sure that I take a photo of the finished “article” and show you all!
I put my application for some London 2012 Olympics’ tickets forwards today. If I was to get all the tickets that I applied for, I would have to pay £575 in one hit. For some reason I know I won’t be getting them all, if any at all.. but you have to try hard in order to succeed!
So the tickets that I’ve ordered are the following:
2 sets of Artistic Gymnastics (male and female)
1 of female Rhythmic Gymnastics
1 of Table tennis
1 of Tennis
1 of Football
1 of Basketball
1 of Closing ceremony
The sports I’ve chosen are my favourite ones.. I know a lot of people think the essence of the Olympic games lies in the Athletics and Triathlon, but I honestly believe that I would get bored watching people run the 50 meters over and over again for a whole day. With team sports it’s actually different, there’s a whole atmosphere surrounding the match, where everybody is rooting for a team or the other.. and it doesn’t even matter if they are not representing your country..
I didn’t make it to the Olympics in Barcelona and I regret it a lot (although I was a bit young back then) so I hope I can make it this time.
I’ve just had one of the most dramatic flashbacks ever in my life.
Suddenly this song comes into my head out of the nowhere and I go into google to try and find out who sings it. It takes me a good 5 minutes to find it, because I didn’t fully remember the words and I was pretty much making them up.
But I DO find the song. I find the artist. And with the help of youtube I also find the video…
How could I have forgotten Halo James? I remember fancying him big time back in the day! I had this photo as a poster and everything on my wall!
This was I suppose back in 1989 or 1990.. So I was 11 or 12.. How sweet.. Back them I was into Bros, too.. and even Big Fun!! (yes, I am ashamed to admit it… hahahaha)
I wonder if my old box with Smash Hits and Popcorn magazines is still in my old bedroom back at my mum’s… I must look next time I visit. Definitely…
I know, I haven’t been updating this blog as much as I should… I haven’t given it up, it’s just that the other one and what it entails keep me too busy!
So here’s a summary of what’s been going on lately in the uninteresting life of Maria La Chica:
Card making. Yes, I’ve been spending quite a lot of time making cards. You can visit my other blog if you want to have a look at some of my creations. I am loving it, but it is a difficult hobby to have, because it requires lots of concentration and imagination. And I can tell you that sometimes it is very hard to concentrate on what you’re doing when your cat is jumping on your desk and walking back and forth over your card and tools…
The imagination bit I am overcoming by looking at lots of other blogs for inspiration. One of my favourite cards was inspired by a photo that I saw on the net. It was just a very rough sketch and idea, but it worked out perfectly in the end.
Work work work. Many things have been happening at work lately. I was finally given a promotion, after 3 and a half years at my previous position. I am quite excited about what the new position means and changes that it will bring to my daily routine. But at the same time, there are things going on in the office that I am not happy about. As I already told you, my company was recently bought by a multinational company and I can already see that it is going to take me longer than I thought to get used to all the changes and politics involved with a large organisation. I have had many a frustrating day lately, and there is very little I can do about it. “It is like it is and I can’t change it” – I’ve been told.
I will be travelling to Copenhagen in a couple of weeks for an Exhibition. I will be there for almost 5 days and I have plans to “disappear” for a few hours one day… There is no way that I will be in Copenhagen and won’t see any of the city! I was quite excited about the whole Exhibition thing at the beginning, but the more I think about it the more nervous I become. I am not a real talker and making small talk is quite hard for me. I am not a technical person either, so I wonder how I am going to get by. I will be fine, I know.. but all these questions keep popping up in my head.
Visiting friends. Jon and I have been a tiny bit more social lately (not hugely, but a bit more than usual). It is very handy than Jon’s best friend lives in Basingstoke as well, so he already goes out with him often enough in town. We’ve met Jon’s friend and his wife and kid a few times now and also met up with another couple who are mutual friends. We’ve also seen quite a bit of the family, doing our usual “games evening” thing (almost all of us love board games and meet up for a games evening from time to time. However, very rarely we manage to actually finish the game because we get caught in conversations, dinner and other bits and pieces and the game stays unfinished. I don’t mind too much, but Jon finds it frustrating and you can see his face and whole attitude changing the moment he realises we won’t finish that game…)
We also went to meet fellow Spaniard Elena and her other half (aka the Welshman) in the roman city of Bath just the other day (sorry, the photos are still in the camera!). It was a very enjoyable day, despite the freezing cold weather. I’ve just had my hair cut quite short too, so my poor little ears were suffering considerably…
Bath is gorgeous, I love it… The roman baths were very interesting.. you can’t beat a bit of roman history! And the company was great too… Sometimes it’s weird meeting someone face to face when you’ve only met them online. It’s strange to finally put a voice to the face and things like that… But at the end of the day, you realise that it is the same person that you’ve “known” for all these years!
Changing car? I am thinking of upgrading my car. There is actually nothing wrong with my little Micra, but if I am honest it is not the most comfortable car to be doing 70 miles everyday on. It probably isn’t the safest either if I was to have an accident (god forbid). So I believe now is a good time to make the change.
The biggest two contestants are the Ford Focus and the Hyundai i30. I like both and can’t really decide. I think the Focus is a bigger car (longer) and maybe I would struggle a bit more with it than with the i30. But the Focus is a safer bet than the Hyundai (despite the 5 year guarantee that Hyundai give you when you buy new). There are other cars that I like too, but they are far too expensive for me.. for example the Audi A3, the Mazda 3 or the Mercedes A160 (among others).
I will keep you posted in the coming weeks with these dealings…
Focus Zetec
i30
Other “smaller” issues:
I am a great aunt now… My teenage niece had a baby just last week. It’s a little cute baby girl who will be called Aroa (I hate the name… what’s wrong with “Maria”? xD). So yeah, my 17 year old niece is now a mum and my 40 year old brother is a grandfather… Wow.
I am really looking forward to our little break in Cornwall at the end of April. We’ve rented a self catering apartment for a whole week for only £250, which is amazing value. Plus I have never been to that part of the country and I am really excited about it (I know Jon doesn’t count holidays in England as real holidays – but for me this is amazing! Hopefully we will also be having another break abroad, so Jon can say that he’s had a proper holiday this year, lol)
And I believe this is pretty much it! I promise to update more often!
