A Tag and a Thud

Well, here I am again, back to earth with a resounding thud. More on the week away later, I think, when I'm not feeling so immediately depressed about being at work in the rain rather than in the garden of an old farmhouse in the sun. Eating proscuttio crudo. And pecorino. And cantucci. And maybe later, some gelati. And then some pesto. And astonishingly good grapes.

I'm really not helping myself here, am I?

The region we were in (and that is in that photo, although that wasn't the exact place we stayed) was the Crete Senese - the hills just south of Siena. Which is surely some of the loveliest scenery on earth - not dramatic, but it's a landscape I don't think I'd ever tire of (not that I'm ever likely to find out).

Anyway, while I was away I was tagged twice, by Lori and Tiffany. Rather than doing 14 things, I've listed 7 random things about me, and 7 random things I wish I had known before I went away.

7 random things about me

1. I have a PhD in metallurgy.

2. My family lived in Kenya for two years when I was a child.

3. I'm banned from ever donating blood, because I had malaria when I was six and my blood still has antibodies (see #2). I even got a letter about it from the blood service - it said ' if we want your blood, we will contact you. Please do not ever contact us again'. Nice.

4. I'm really frightened of driving. I have a license, but almost never hop in the drivers' side of the car. We live in the centre of our town, so I get around everywhere by bus and walking. As far as phobias go, I think it is a pretty logical one - I'd much rather face a spider than get in a car. I know this is pathetic.

5. I subscribe to Vogue.

6. Despite all the inspiration in #5, I'm not the world's snappiest dresser. My resolution for the next year is 'dress less like a librarian'. Sorry to any librarians.

7. I grew up in Australia, and apart from the 2 years in Kenya, spent my whole life there until I moved to England to study (see #1). All my family still live there.

7 random things I wish I had known before I went away:

1. Just because you can work out what 'reservazione' 'stazione' and 'caffe' mean, it doesn't actually mean you can speak Italian. Don't get cocky.

2. If there's no menu, and the waiter just suggests things to eat, your meal could be quite expensive.

3. Don't take my mother on at Cluedo, because you will lose.

4. Don't pin all your hopes of a happy return on seeing the cat, because he will be mad that you left in the first place. If you ignore his obviously bristling fur and pick him up, hoping for nose kisses, you'd better be within scream earshot so someone can rescue you from having his angry claws buried in your face.

5. If you decide to change the cat's litter tray immediately on returning home, check that you have spare litter before doing so. Otherwise you may have to then lock the cat outside until you can go to the supermarket, exacerbating his foul mood.

6. Think long and hard before inviting your parents in law over to spend the whole day with you and your parents immediately after you return from holiday.

7. If you have a social worker's visit on the monday immediately after going away, do email a colleague to remind work of this fact. Do not email the one colleague who happens to be away sick.

Hmmm... who needs to be tagged? I tag filoli , anna, courtney, misty, steve & jen, brenda, and lucy. Some of you may have already been tagged, but if you haven't actually posted yet... that's good enough for me.

Here are the rules.

I can't really read them, but I think they basically say: Tell us 7 random things about you. Tag 7 people. Let them know by commenting. Link to the person who tagged you. Send them your bank details, so that you can receive the $1,000,000 owing to you from the estate of a Nigerian oil baron. Okay, maybe not that last one. Worth a try, though, huh? (Lucy, obviously you won't be linking to me, or you'll be in all kinds of trouble!!)