Indian Food Addict

I have discovered something NEW and WONDERFUL! Indian food!
Indian food is relatively simple, as far as ingredients go, but the taste is FAR from simple!
Chicken biryani, chicken korma, chicken tikka masala (seeing a trend here?)... YUM! All are made with a rich blending of spices... coriander, cardamom, ginger, garlic... often mixed with yogurt to create a divine sauce. Chicken is cooked in the sauce and the whole lot served over basmati rice or the tortilla-like naan bread.

Of course, the dishes aren't limited to chicken. All these dishes can be made with lamb, or vegetarian! And of course, this is just the tip of the iceburg for Indian cuisine, but since it's my new favorite food (can't get enough of the stuff) and you don't find much of it in the USA, I thought I'd tickle your taste buds (and your tummy) with visions of some truly FABULOUS dishes!

Moving Along

Not a whole lot new to report. After dashing about madly for the last couple of weeks I finally got all the documents needed for my EEA2 application together and handed over to my advocate on Saturday. He sent them off today and is hoping for a 3 week turn around, so keep fingers, toes, etc. crossed!

The job is going well. I did miss Friday due to a bad cold, but it just made everyone at work realize how vital I am! lol I got no less than 3 calls on how to operate various highly technical devices such as the telephone. They did manage to figure out our Star Trekian coffee machine, but I think they broke it in the process.

Since I wasn't feeling well, I spent most of the weekend either reading or watching movies. The Chronicles of Riddick was at Woolworths for £2 (that's less than 4 bucks, people!) so I got my dose of Vin Diesel blowing things up. Must of worked because I'm back at work today, still a bit tired and with a nasty cough, but mostly just peachy.

Going to take it a bit easy this week. Not much on the books for the moment and I think I need a bit of a break. Until the next round of excitement anyway... ;)

Two Hundred Feet

Well, I've moved ahead another 200 feet in my quest to remain in London. I have an appointment tomorrow with an immigration advocate. He's going to help me apply for my Residence Permit which is the next step in the process. Looks like it will go quickly and smoothly with him behind the wheel!

I have started training with free weights at the gym. The theory being that when you have MORE muscle, it burns more calories. Thus not only can you eat more (HOORAY!!) without gaining fat, but you can actually burn fat more effectively. Well, we shall see about that. What I can DEFINITELY tell you is that every muscle in my body hurts. Those trainers are EVIL!

My Hour of Power class at the gym is on Thursday, but I'm planning on skipping it this week (don't tell Darren!). Rajko, the man who got the whole Hour of Power class thing really started (his father invented it), is also a musician. He's playing at the local

Starbucks that night, so Mish and I are taking our books and settling

down with a cuppa joe for a good read while listening to Rajko.

We could both use a nice, relaxing evening!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Here's the gang at Nonna Rosa's celebrating my birthday! What fun!

On the left is Paul, stuffing his face (as usual). Upper left is me with Margaret.

Above is Michelle (James on her right) lifting a glass to my good health.

Afraid the pics are a tad... fuzzy. That's what you get with a cheap camera phone! :)


Also there were Owen (who serenaded us with Eagles' songs), Darren (James' older brother and my Hour of Power instructor. Well, one of them, anyway.), and Jen (Darren's girlfriend). We had a good time chatting, eating, and generally having a fun time!

Today I woke up to 3" of snow outside my window and it's still snowing! But I soldiered on and made it in to work anyway. An hour late, but who's counting? Everyone else was late, too. Like Portland, London pretty much stops when it snows.

I was supposed to go into central London again today to pick up one of my copworker's passports from the Polish Embassy, but there is no way I'm braving that cold and yuckiness again today! So, tomorrow, it's into London once again.

Bob Proctor in London

Had an amazing time Friday night, 31 Jan. Went with Michelle and Paul into central London to hear Bob Proctor, a motivational speaker from Canada. He was at the YES group (a networking/speakers group) in central London speaking about changing your inner image of yourself and achieving the goals you want to achieve. What a fantastic night! Over 800 people there!

I've attached a couple of pics of me with the man himself... Bob Proctor!

Well, tomorrow is the big 33!!! I should get some nice pics to post from the party! I've met a new friend, Margaret, from the gym who promises to be there. Margaret is originally from the Caribbean, but has lived in London for about 20 years. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow!