Received at work yesterday
"Dear Mrs__
" I am pleased to say that your application for British citizenship has been successful and you will shortly receive a letter inviting you to attend a citizenship ceremony. When you attend a ceremony you will be presented with a certificate of British citizenship.
"Please note, this letter is not an invitation to a ceremony. You should not contact your Local Authority until you have received your invitation. If you have not received your invitation within 2 weeks of the above date, you should contact the Home Office at **** *** **** to request a further copy."
So! Now I'm eagerly awaiting this invitation. Then I will call my Local Authority and arrange a private ceremony in my local register office (so I don't have to travel to Warwick, although this will cost me an additional fee of £35) and I will take the following oath:
"I (name) do solemnly and sincerely affirm that on becoming a British citizen, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, her Heirs and Successors, according to law.
"I wil give my loyalty to the United Kingdom and respect its rights and freedoms. I will uphold its democratic values. I will observe its laws faithfully and fulfil my duties and obligations as a British citizen."
New citizens are presented with their certificates of British citizenship and a welcome pack as well as a commemorative gift with a 'local flavour'. The national anthem will be played.
Then I get to apply for a British passport, which will cost £66 plus shipping charges and involves yet another interview. Still, it looks like I might be able to reach my goal of having a valid UK passport by the end of 2007!
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I felt so proud of myself yesterday. Before work, I did Super Body Sculpt, a 40 minute weight lifting workout. Then when I got home, I felt fine and decided to do a second workout. I chose Cathe's Basic Step, which I did on the 8" Club Step. I'm proud of doing this because on Thursday my rotation called for a weightlifting workout (Jen Carmen's evil Body Sculpt), but I just felt so knackered that I decided to skip it. Doing two in one day sort of made up for skipping one.
Tomorrow I'm doing Jari Love's Get Ripped Slim & Lean!
We had spaghetti for lunch and now I feel so stuffed and stodgy. This is why I hardly ever make spaghetti. I used Vegan Deli veggie mince, onion, garlic, cabernet savignon and a jar of Lloyd Grossman's tomato basil sauce on whole wheat pasta. To garnish I used black pepper and nutritional yeast flakes. It tasted great, but I bet I'll be retaining water tomorrow! For dinner it's definitely going to be vegetable stir-fry. I try to make it a practice to eat wheat only one meal per day. Today I had whole wheat toast for breakfast then whole wheat pasta and garlic bread made from whole wheat rolls. I'm wheated out! I can't believe some people eat this much wheat every single day. Urgh. Not only did I used to do this, but it was all refined white wheat as well. No wonder I was fat!
Guess what, someone in Sainsbury's (grocery store) today asked me where I got my top! She said it looked nice. That never happens to me! I guess all this clothes shopping I've been doing lately is a good thing. It's just, when I see myself in trendy clothes, I look to myself like I'm in costume, or dressing too young for my age. "Mutton dressed as lamb" as they say over here. Actually, DH took a picture of me before we went shopping. I will post as soon as his football match is over (Chelsea vs. Manchester United). My hair has grown out quite a bit since my last extreme waif pixie cut (aka Biafran refugee chic) but it's still really short!
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So how about another recipe?
Coconut Rice
(serves 6-8 and isn't low in fat, but that's okay!)
This recipe is so easy and it is absolutely delicious. It is delicious with a simple dish of stir-fried vegetables and tofu, or you can use it with any southeast asian dish, thai, Carribean or curry dish.
14 ounces thai jasmine rice
400g can coconut milk
8 oz water
1/4 tsp salt
finely grated zest of 1 lime
1.5 ounces dessicated coconut (the big flakes are best)
Combine first four ingredients in saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Add the lime zest and fluff with fork. Remove from heat, cover and let sit 10 minutes more.
In a frying pan, toast the coconut, turning frequently, to golden brown.
Sprinkle the toast coconut over each serving of rice (or over the veg if you've put stir-fried vegetables on top of the rice). Garnish with a lime wedge if desired.