A Stab in the Knee

I've been preoccupied with my ridiculous knees this week. On Tuesday I went back to the hospital to have them looked at again. The doctor decided to give me a cortisone injection in my left knee (the worse one of the two); I agreed because anything that might help me not be in pain is fine by me. Basically this big ol' needle gets poked under your kneecap and injects into the joint; the cortisone is a steroid-based anti-inflammatory that's supposed to help soothe pain. It was the most traumatising thing ever. I'm cool with needles and injections, but having one in the joint was the grossest feeling, and it hurt. It's not a permanent fix, but it's all they can really do. It turns out that my cartilage is soft and rough because of my hyper-flexible joints (I can bend them backwards slightly, it's really creepy), so basically my own body has screwed up my knees. Rad! Here's a photo of me looking miserable before the doctor returned with the biggest needle I've ever seen:

My knee felt so weird for days, like it was hollow and full of liquid. I had some pretty crap side effects, especially when I defied doctor's orders to rest and went to work on Thursday. I kept flushing (my cheeks went red, and my face was really hot), so much so that my boss actually sent me out back to sit down and have some water. My knee was killing me after standing on it for hours, and swelled up. I also had some pretty bad chest pains, which wasn't worrying at all (lie). I'm feeling much better now, but my knee is still hurting on and off. When it doesn't hurt though, it's bliss. My knees have been paining me since I was 15, I can't remember what not being in pain feels like. It's bloody weird.

On Wednesday, I baked some Easter nest cakes to take to work on Thursday. They've gotten positive reviews so far, so I'm happy with that. They were delicious, if I may say so myself! Mum has gotten me some Mary Berry books as an early birthday present, and I'm currently perusing those to decide what to bake next!

On the most adorable nephew front, Ethan has figured out how to get onto his hands and knees, and is beginning to learn how to shuffle forward (he could only shuffle backwards before). So he'll soon be crawling around, and his parents better watch out! I can't believe how fast he's growing - he's over 8 months old already. Here's a gorgeous photo of him looking very pleased with himself:

I've also finally made a start on the travel scrapbook I bought after my two months in America, in 2014. Yes, it's taken me this long to be bothered to do it. My problem is that I want the scrapbook to look as beautiful as all the ones I see online, but I know I'm not talented enough to make it that way (and I can't afford all the materials/equipment). So I end up putting it off because I don't want to spoil it by actually doing it. Does that make sense? I'm sure most of you understand unless you're ridiculously creative, in which case I hate you a bit.

Today, I also started my Yearly Purge. I only did a little bit, but today is the official beginning of the Purge, and I will do a little every time I have a moment/the motivation. I sorted out my toiletries hamper, first aid box, and expanding file for all my documents. I plan to be ridiculously brutal this year, get rid of everything that I don't need or will never use/wear.

It's 10 days until my 24th birthday. I can't believe how quickly that's come around this year. 2016 is flying by with horrifying vigour. I have embryonic plans to go to London and stay at Lana's for a weekend, a Bristol trip with Susie, and I'm planning to ask Mum and Caz if they want to do lunch/dinner/something with me around my birthday. It's gonna be gooood.


P.S. My Iwako collection has grown - I now also have a hamster, panda, and pig:

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Well, it's not really. Here in England it's just cold and grey, and quite often rainy. But I'm really starting to feel the festive spirit, especially since Liam came home on Friday evening and Caz returned from Manchester yesterday!

It's been three(??) weeks since my last entry on here. I knew I wouldn't stick to the weekly thing for very long. I've been busy working my backside off, and I'm still having a lot of fun. The people I work with are such a laugh, and they're really easy to get along with. The job itself is starting to feel like second nature now; I'm a lot more familiar with the way things work around the store. My confidence has shot up even more, and my social skills are getting back on track again. I'm finding that I'm much better at small talk and making the first move in a conversation now. I'm really thankful for this job and how much it's helped me to come back to the world.

Things on the baking front have been going well. I made some Lebkuchen for practice (I'm making some for my stepmum as part of her Christmas gift, and wanted to do a test-bake), and they came out really delicious! Susie and I have had a couple of baking scenarios, and they were both beautiful but disastrous. First we made what was basically a light version of the Black Forest gateau we made back in August. It was really tasty and so rich, but for some reason the white chocolate ganache had a bit of a tantrum and was really runny, so it ended up engulfing our poor cake.

We also attempted a stollen the other day, and that was just a disaster through and through. NEVER use a recipe from Paul Hollywood - this recipe was just.. Not functional. He reckoned that the stollen needed a whole pound of dried fruit in it. We couldn't even get the entire quantity of fruit into the dough, and then it was so heavy that it barely rose at all. It looked and smelled nice at the end - I've yet to try a piece, but it was 'ok' according to Susie. Here she is looking pretty disillusioned with our stollen slab, and with Paul Hollywood who sits on a throne of lies:

I treated myself recently, too. For literally years, I have wanted the clothbound classics version of Dracula by Bram Stoker. For literally years, I have continuously made some excuse or another not to spend the money on it. But then I put my foot down and said "Treat yo' self!" and now I own it. It's totally beautiful, and looks wonderful on my bookshelf!

All of my favourite TV shows are currently on mid-season breaks, so my life is completely boring and empty until they return. I have hit 2,500 followers on my twitter and since surpassed that number. It's mad that people are actually finding me entertaining (though I do find myself very funny). I also changed my screen name on there to 'Kayligula' (a parody of the Roman emperor Caligula), which I still find endlessly funny.

I have also had a haircut, finally. I have my fringe back, and my hair isn't as unkempt as it was rapidly getting.