lionheartedgirl promises to let it shine :)

lionheartedgirl

welcome Rosa, great to see you

not much to report here, am back at work, didn't sleep brilliantly and had a very weird dream about a friend who has got married recently I need to add up what I have to pay out for Italy, and check it's all OK with what I have coming in for harp stuff, then I can stop worrying (well, about that at least!)

everyone at work has been lovely about the pooch

I'm really looking forward to jam night later! :j

LittleBoots

Was going to say hello but too tired after reading your done list!
Good job

Wordsmith

How was the jam night?

lionheartedgirl

Jam night was fantastic for all sorts of reasons, mainly because my friend/former housemate came with me!!!! :j :T

I had put on FB that I was going, basically for my close friends and family to gee me on to get me to go. And I got a text from her saying she was home for a week and would I like some company

Needless to say I was absolutely thrilled - I was going to go anyway, really and truly, so obviously the universe decided to make my life somewhat easier.

It was a good night and I was very brave and went to chat to the house band while they were having a break, found out all about how it works, what I need to know, the kind of chords they use etc. The style of music was quite bluesy which suits me fine, although there were a couple of jazzier numbers too which I knew :cool:

They said if I want to try with them first, just to go a little earlier so I can set up and have a little go. Best of all, I can plug straight into all their PA equipment so I don't need my own amp :j

They were rather apprehensive as to how a harp might fit in but I did a good job of convincing them it helped when I said it was electric :rotfl:so I am going to work hard so that I can feel really confident when it comes to joining in. I would love to take big harp one night too, but will see how it goes with leccy harp first

There is an open mic night on Wednesday which I was also plannign to go to, and now lovely housemate has said she would like to come too while she is around so that's even better she knew lots of people in the pub so that really helped me feel like I could fit in.

There are some acoustic nights which I would like to aim for, and a couple of battle of the band style events too, which would be great fun with harp buddy when we are a little more sorted. So now I am really looking forward to Italy even more as I will get some real practice time, no excuses, no distractions.

Overall a very successful night in all sorts of ways. And I am feeling that I have a social life this week. It will mean forgoing a haircut but I will be fine with a quick fringe trim hair will grow loads in Italy anyway so probably best to go when I get back. Last night was a cheap night, spent a fiver on two drinks so can't complain - housemate is good at drinking slowly too :rotfl:

burntfingers_2

You sounded to have had a fabulous cheapo night out and built up some new contacts too, so when you do go again at least you will know someone and can always say hello.....and then other peeps will join in and not only will you be playing with a band, plus then you will also have increased your social circle without even trying too hard.

Someone once told me' A stranger is just someone that you haven't met yet'. Or the other trick is or so I have been told if you are really nervous is to imagine them without any clothes on......sounds a bit dodgy to me especially if they are a really fit bloke too.....I would be blushing with embarrassment.....but basically its saying we are all the same underneath.

Happy fun times ahead for you which is nothing more than you deserve.:)

lionheartedgirl

thanks BF. I am not a particularly shy person normally, but something about being in a new environment and having to strike up a conversation with someone who may be there with a group of mates and therefore be thinking who is that and why is she on her own etc. - it's more the fear of rejection or being made to look silly, or being ignored altogether, rather than worrying about how to start conversation as normally I can talk the hind legs off a donkey

I am still very wary of people seeming to be nice but turning out to be anything but.

But by Wednesday I will have been twice, will hopefully chat to some more people there while my friend is there to boost my confidence a little, and then the next time I go I will be able to smile and nod at a few faces and then take it from there. Having someone else there really helped

It's bike night at the pub, but not sure if I will go tonight. I saw a couple of people at the supermarket on Saturday (the first time in ages I have seen someone who recognised me!) who go and they have dogs too so told them about last week. Really I need to spend some time practising a few new requests for Saturday's wedding, so may well just stay home and pop up to one of the bike meets another time. I know social butterfly status won't come knocking at my door, but I have made some big steps the last couple of weeks so am happy with that.

lionheartedgirl

afternoon all

well, my first work from home day with no prospect of canine company I'm adjusting but am really missing his big old stripey body around the place - I will dig out a picture to post some time.

feeling pretty low today - looks like i have been given the elbow by MrP in the normal man way. He was due to come this weekend, but I haven't heard from him in over a week now. He has posted on FB so I know he hasn't bent his bike again, so now just need to get on with it. The MUG on the forehead is flashing away but I am resolving to do better next time and not let myself get so caught up in it all.

it's not the only reason for being low, but it is hitting hard because I have ignored the gut feeling of being taken for a ride (and not in a nice, bike-related way!). but, nothing bad happened like last time so that's something.

money is tight, but on the plus side I am half way through the month and haven't spent any more of my spends than I should. The envelope system seems to be working well (well, the back section of the wallet) for me so this is great news. Plus I am very focused on keeping my food spends within budget this month.

My new SOA starts from the end of June so hopefully I will be in control for the rest of the year and be a bit less fraught about money. I have 2 harp gig payments to come in for a gig last month and this coming Saturday's wedding, these will cover the tuition/accommodation costs for Italy, so I just need to cover the flight, airport parking and spends while I'm out there. There may be a little unplanned CC balance while everything unravels but this is very short term and mostly relates to harp money I have had to spend at the osteopaths and I will catch this up with weddings through July and August.

My friend's wedding is next weekend, I was hoping to stretch to something new so I could feel really fab for the single bloke fest :rotfl: but I think I will just have to shop from my wardrobe instead. There are many lovely things in the wardrobe, but it's hard to fight the rush of something new

need to go and salvage something from a very unproductive morning :cool:

LittleBoots

Awww I wish I could send my cat down to you for a hug. She's lovely (despite being a cat) and always knows when a cuddle is needed .
Have you looked on boohoo.com for something to wear? A bit hit or miss but they had some lovely maxi dresses recently, all around £20...or ebay even?

lionheartedgirl

thanks LB, some cats make me sneeze but I could take drugs for that

i have heard of boohoo but haven't looked before, so will check it out.

OK. exciting news of the highest order!

Last night I went out to the open mic night at the pub I went to for the jam night on Monday.

Ably assisted by my lovely ex-housemate friend, we pitched up and within minutes she had spotted a few of her friends in the pub who play in a band. Before I know it she is telling them why we are there, and asking them to guess what instrument I played. Needless to say I had to tell them. Cue lots of excitement, and an invitation to join their band :eek: :T :j

this was re-iterated several times in the evening, as we were leaving the singer checked I would be coming next week, and I made sure with housemate that these were people who if they offered, they meant it and weren't spinning me a line (see I am getting wiser!)

We were there in time to hear them do a couple of songs -the guy hosting the open mic night is in the same band so mentioned over the mic that they would soon be joined by a harpist, pointed me out to the entire pub and kept referring to me all night :rotfl: - there was another guy there with a mandolin and the host was joking with him about how he had 8 strings to tune rather than 6 or 4, and then asked me over the mic how many I had to tune, I felt very conspicuous but in a nice way

So I just need to add them on FB from my friend's page, and see what they say and check they haven't changed their minds! How excited am I!!!!

We spoke a lot through the evening and I much preferred the atmosphere to Monday's jam night, so think I will stick to the Wednesday instead.

Best of all, I have people to chat to next time I go, and although it will take a monumental amount of bravery to get up there next week, I think it will lead to a lot of great, fun stuff. So, back to the rules - start immediately, be flamboyant and no excuses!

speaking of flamboyant, I had better thing of something to wear. That isn't too flamboyant :rotfl: but gives me lots of confidence

Thinking about this week's events, I am really questioning what is happening because I feel that someone is looking out for me.

I had put off the jam night for various reasons, I finally decide to go, and lo and behold a friend appears to make the journey easier.

I now have a regular event to go to on Wednesday - not long after my harp pupil changes his night from a Wednesday to a Friday, making me free on a Wednesday. This also happens the week after everything with the dog, so I no longer have to worry about leaving him alone for too long.

I'm not sure why it's all happening this way, but I am so, so glad it is and I am so excited about what will come out of this.

Back to earth now to get some work done and get rained on going to the hairdressers to get my fringe trimmed.

Wordsmith

Your guardian angel is certainly looking out for you. As I keep saying to people (and keep annoying them) ... everything really does happen for a reason. Your night sounds great, really great. Well done on being brave - I know how hard that is in these situations. Keep up the bravery for next week, and after that things will get easier. I can't tell you how excited I am for you at these doors opening. Keep us updated, won't you?

So ... how cute is the open mic host?