pimped up

i watched Last Stop Larrimah on netflix last month. it was almost Tiger King level, similar vibe, entertaining. then we together started watching Outlast on Netflix. it was cool until like episode 3 or so. Then team alpha started "playing the game", but in such ways that it just seemed immoral and wrong and left such a bad taste in my mouth i dropped out and wont finish the season. looking up online im certainly not alone feeling like that. if they make a 2nd season i hope there would be some changes to the rules but i guess that depends on how the ratings were for the first...   then, we started watching 007: The Road to a Million on Prime. it was like, somene learning to do reality tv, and failing miserably. actually, i think they wanted to combine elements of Bond films and do something a little different in terms of reality tv format.. but it just fell really flat. i am personlly ok with the slow pace, but it just feels really simplistic, and the great views (so far all Craig film locations... why the favouritism?)  dont really make up for the missing excitement or drama. finally, the timeline is just totally off and Brian Cox's role seems weird and fake. it doesnt annoy me though so i think i'll finish, just disappointed and surprised thats all. 

i was in finland for company christmas parties and other work, and saw friends. then our "holiday friends" from Texas, Mike & Trent, were here and we spent time together, celebrating Trent's birthday amongst other things. our british holiday mates also came from essex so it was a proper St Lucia reunion. 

Eufemia was on her way from Cambridge to finland (by land, and sea) and stopped over at ours for a few days. that was a nice mini visit, altho i was not able to help with her hunt of pashminas. 

according to Spotify my genre this year was danish jazz. ummm?

Amazing Race Finland is a bit of a disappointment. the tasks are too easy and theres barely any time difference between the teams. also seems more readible organised for the teams unlike in the US version. 

we got this new bigger suitcase in the summer. because we pack pretty economically and share a suitcase, instead of both bringing their own. why grey? long story, lessons learned, but it also looked metallic grey online. and i didnt want to bother with return to we kept it. anyway decided to pimp it up a bit to make it more spottable on the carousel.

we r going to try separate mattresses (with a shared mattress topper) so that i would wake up less to doctor moving around at night. which he does, a lot. his tempur mattress just arrived a week ago so i went an ordered mine from Button & Sprung. it should arrive in january. im excited and nervous to see if it will improve my sleep. HRT already seems to help a bit, but like... 30% maybe. sleep quality is so hugely important im pretty obsessed in improving it in any way i can. HRT also improved other things, mood etc. so i wanna stick to it for now. ive been keen on improving things in general. walking more, eating healthier - not that i didnt before but still. i joined Our Future Health also, UK's largest ever health research study. they target at 5million volunteers and  have over 1 million now. i just had to fill some forms and go to central london for blood and other tests. got my cholesterol numbers handily checked too - they are GOOD. as always, but even slightly better than in the spring for example. i think i'll go get botox again too, in Jan, should book a time. like i think im going to make it an actual habit, instead of popping in once every 5 years. now i actually think its useful for my frown lines. i went a few months ago and was really happy. it was this surgeon and he got me i think - i dont want to freeze my forehead and lose expressions, just ...ease the frowning look. so at 43, yeah i think i might sign up for regular botox.

i watched Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. it wasnt amazing, i felt like it suffered from some illogicalities and over-dramatisation, however overall positive and interesting. i would still say worth watching.  

Miriam sent me a gift along with a cute card! im working on the puzzle now...  its got nice metallic shades. love the design too.

going to see PamAnn at Royal Vauxhall Tavern tonigh. excited, wanted to see her for ages.