Sunday 28 April 2013

Another 40th and this time for the love of my life

Today is a special day for Hubby but it isn't.  Which sounds a little strange.  People think I am strange but really Hubby is strange too - he just hides it very well.

You know when your parents get to the age where you have no idea what to buy them for their birthdays and anniversaries?  Yes, well Hubby got there at about his 34th birthday and he isn't helpful in any way, shape or form when you try and get out of him what he would like for his birthday.

Which makes this birthday, his 40th, a bleeding nightmare for everyone.  Almost all of the family have asked me what Hubby would like for his birthday and all of them have received the same response - no idea; as far as Hubby is concerned it isn't a special birthday and even worse, his birthday's are just another day to him.

Hubby is my world; along with Beautiful B we are a gorgeous little family and Hubby protects Beautiful B and our with his life.  He adores me and he adores and loves Beautiful B. Hubby knew that being with me meant no children of his own but he considers Beautiful B his own and he loves her like he would his own biological child and I couldn't ask for anything else.

Hubby came along when I wasn't looking for love, maybe being happy in myself opened the doors for love and he barrelled through them and grabbed my heart and has run with it ever since.  There is nothing better than staring into his eyes and seeing the love he has for me shining through them.  He centres me and I am so much calmer since he came into my life. 

Hubby cares more for everyone else than himself and he has put Beautiful B and I above himself since we started dating.  So far he has given me 8 years of his life and I know that he loves and adores me no matter what size, shape, age, wrinkly skin or not.  He loves me for who I am and I love him more than I ever thought I could love a man.

On the 8th of October 2012 he vowed to be my husband for the rest of his life and despite how he worries he was so much more relaxed than I expected when I stood next to him and vowed to love and cherish him forever.  I know that Beautiful B and I are safe in his heart and I have never ever felt love like I do for him. 

The love that I feel for Beautiful B surrounds and fills me and she is my world and always will be.  Hubby came along and extended that world by emcompassing Beautiful B and I with his love and we feel safe and secure here. 

Being in love with Hubby and loving Beautiful B with every fibre of my being means that I do not need anything else yet my best friends and family surround all three of us with their love and I feel like the richest person on earth.

All of this sounds very contrite and may make you feel physically sick but I really don't care.  I am more than happy; the happiest I have ever been and I am lucky to have such family and friends.

Hubby has been with Beautiful B and I for 8 years and it does not matter than he thinks his 40th birthday is just another day because his family and friends will make sure that he knows that it isn't just another day; it's a day to celebrate his life, his family and to feel the love we all have for him.

I feel honoured to have Hubby in my life; always have and always will and I will make damn sure that he knows it on his 40th just as I make sure that he knows it every day that he is with me.

Happy 'any other day' Hubby - we love you and we always will.  Never mind all this 'til death us do part' business - we will love you until all of the stars fall out of the sky.

Saturday 27 April 2013

Half a Harry Potter

My favourite caption this week a day early as tomorrow requires a special post:

 

Friday 26 April 2013

Shoooooeeeees

I'm not completely obsessed; honestly.  Some might disagree but even I will refuse to buy shoes that cost more than £100. I do, however, currently own over 25 pairs of shoes some of which are in boxes because they deserve better homes.

While in Newcastle last year I was minding my own business walking back to the hotel from the Metro.  I don't like window shopping; what is the point if you have no money to spend?  However, I do randomly look in shop windows if I pass a shop I like.  I happened across Dune this particular day. 

I like this shop because it sells shoes.  Years ago when I first started studying accountancy I studied in Liverpool and shocked a saleswoman in Dune when undecided about 2 pairs of red shoes.  Not being able to afford both she asked what occassion they were for.  I looked at her like she had just appeared from another planet and said "They are for work" at which point she looked at me in horror.  Oh the shame, wearing Dune shoes for a normal work day!

Anyhoo, I digress.  Back to the Dune shop that I wasn't window shopping in when I walked past.  Having drawn my eye I then sent two pictures from my mobile home to Hubby and Beautiful B - viola!

Hubby responded immediately expressing his utter disgust at the second pair.  Of course, these were the ones i preferred.  After all, there is nothing better than a pair of beautiful shoes to brighten up the most boring suit on a work day.

I couldn't afford the shoes anyway but a discussion commenced about how they would go with different coloured suits, tops etc; I am guessing none of which mattered to Hubby seen as his work attire consists of a pair of jeans and a polo shirt.

Fast forward to Christmas and Beautiful B and Ry presented me with a few presents one of which was a shoe sized box.  On opening them out popped the zebra shoes.  I was ecstatic.

Only....they were too big. Having looked at my shoe size Beautiful B had ordered a size bigger and no matter what I tried I couldn't carry them off in the bigger size without risking blisters and my foot falling out.  Unfortunately, when trying to exchange for a smaller size of course they did not have the size required.

Dune were very good and sent a gift voucher which I had great fun spending during a recent work trip.  What better way to spice up a work trip for a meeting than shoe shopping!

I came home with these.  You can only imagine what Hubby thinks of them so I will let your imagination run away with you.  He is convinced I am going to break my neck wearing them.  Beautiful B likes them. I love them and shoes are the one area where I tend to ignore Hubby's opinion. 
 

So thank you, Beautiful B for my lastest beautiful shoes.  I think these deserve a special box to live in too.








 

Thursday 25 April 2013

Preparing for CenterParcs

Today is the first day of a long weekend away from work. Why?  Because Hubby and I are off to CenterParcs with my Brother C and his fiancee and one of my best friends, A.  Beautiful B and Ry are having a romantic weekend (ignoring the work they have to go to) at our house looking after the fluffers and having some much needed time together as a couple.
 
We go away tomorrow so I am off work today to prepare.  My brother is a fabulous cook and has instructed us to leave the food shopping and cooking to him which is an excellent idea considering that I have boiled carrots dry and exploding a boiled egg while cooking in the past. I may have to go out and buy beer and I am more than happy to do that and I have a list of what must be packed and I will remember to pack the asthma inhaler this time! 
 
We have all been on the website and looked at the activities available.  My brother C is still trying to convince Hubby that he should do something special on his 40th birthday such as quadbiking.  Hubby doesn't drive because he once drove over a roundabout while concentrating on gears when learning to drive so he thinks he may be too dangerous on a quadbike and as much as I hate to admit it, a little part of me agrees with that.



There are other activites and as the site we are staying at covers 40 acres bikes can be hired.  I much prefer a less active mode of transport to get around the complex though......



See now these look like lots of fun and I am sure even Hubby could manage to get around on these without injury or accident.






I quite fancy some zipwiring and I have more chance of convincing my brother and my best friend A to join in with me. Hubby may sit with a beer and cheer us on.











Or how about some tree treking......I'm thinking Hubby might think this is a bit too much exercise for a holiday.  I am wondering whether me and my brother are too heavy for both of these two activities seen as both of us have settled into our relationships more than comfortably shall we say.




There are two places I will definitely be visiting!  They will be the candy shop and the pancake house.  After all, you have to let go when on holiday.....
 
  Yum, Yum!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Having said all of that, I have to get us there yet.  Being nortorious for not being able to find my way out of a paper bag my brother is supplying a sat nav system in an attempt to get Hubby and I there safe and sound.
 
I am sure I will be posting some beautiful pictures of scenery on my return.  Having been there before my brother knew which woodland chalet to book and it backs onto a lake.  He fully intends to do a BBQ one evening.  Seen as it is only April and the weather is more indecisive than I am along with the normal attire I will be packing a blanket, hot water bottle, gloves, scarf and hat because I am determined that I will sit outdoors enjoying a BBQ even if it is a bit chilly.  Unless you have figured it out, I am always the one saying that it is cold outdoors.
 
I cannot think of a better way to celebrate Hubby's 40th birthday than taking him away to relax.  A birthday party such as mine would have been his worst nightmare.  My brother and his fiancee A have been through an awful time these last 6 months and so some rest and relaxation is definitely on the cards for them.
 
See you all on the other side!
 
x 

Wednesday 24 April 2013

You buy a steam cleaner and it is never good enough

Years ago, in fact, when Hubby and I first started dating I had a steam cleaner and it was fabulous.  It made short work of my laminated floors and dried almost before I had chance to blink.  When it broke, I grieved deeply because having insufficient funds I was unable to buy a brother or sister for the demised steam cleaner.  Instead a spray bottle and mop type thing made do.  Hubby would argue that for a while the spray bottle was attached to my hand, once sitting me down and explaining that so much cleaning was impossible and bordered on insanity.

Over time, I have learned to relax somewhat with the cleaning for the sake of Hubby and Beautiful B's mental state, even if it does grate on my nerves when it isn't as clean as I would like and even when I am unable to concentrate on one thing because my eye is being drawn to the fluff on the carpet that should really have been hoovered up or the thin layer of dust that has settled on the black shiny TV stand since it was polished an hour before.  

It would appear that steam cleaner manufacturers have also relaxed somewhat since the demise of my last steam cleaner.  I am very much like my dad, in fact, especially in terms of cleaning as he moulded me in that regard and it became apparent a few months ago that Dad had been watching the same infomercial about a steam cleaner that I had.  It looked very much like my old one but with an updated snazzy and yellow colourful body.  Later that day I received a text from my dad to tell me he had bought himself one and had also treated me to one too.

I sat in anticipation waiting for it's arrival and was truly like a child at Christmas opening the box when it did arrive.  I lovingly put all it's nice, new, shiny parts together and switched it on only......to be disappointed.  

Yes it billowed steam out but so much that it leaves the laminated floor wet.  Yet it cleans it so what is the problem I hear you say.  Well, I will tell you!  Besides the obvious excess water on a laminated floor, it takes ages to dry which gives plenty of time for the 4 fluff bags to walk on it.  Again, what is the issue you say!

My big brown comfy chair is opposite the patio doors and the sun shines through those doors so when I am happily sat in the chair watching TV my eye is drawn to the floor where the water has dried and left little fluff foot prints or even worse smudges and shapes where the excess water has dried (imagine one eyeball on the floor and another on the layer of dust/dog fluff settling on the TV stand AGAIN).  All of this means I do not concentrate on the TV, or relax and eventually get up from the chair to polish the floor with a cloth to get rid of the smudges.

This leaves a question; I can keep the steam cleaner because it has lots of fandangled attachments and bits you can pull apart to clean things such as grubby corners, tile grout, round taps, in the oven etc etc but what do I do about the floor?  I could try another steam cleaner I have taken a fancy to on TV, which besides appealing to my cuteness nature because it looks kind of space age yet cute, appears to keep the floor dryer when cleaning.  The argument there though, is that the first one dried the floor well on TV - blast that CGI stuff! 

Alternatively I could go back to my trusty spray bottle and mop thing that isn't a mop as it uses single use clothes that are thrown away after use because there is NOTHING worse than using a mop over and over again...just imagine the bacteria even if you clean it....oh and the bacteria.

I'm signing off now as I am feeling a bit creepy around the shoulders thinking about bacteria on multi-use mops but what would you do; new steam cleaner, or one use mop thingy?  Or would you put me in a mental institute because clearly I am so much fun to live with? 

Tuesday 23 April 2013

What I learned this week

It's been a funny old week and I have learned a lot of random things:

  • Despite it being a quicker trip driving to Newcastle and back for meetings is not a good thing when I get sleepy on motorways.  I would much rather risk falling asleep on a train and missing my departure station than get sleepy at the wheel of a car and risk my life and others on the road so my manager can just put up with the longer journeys.
  • It can be sunny in Newcastle and quite warm. 
  • The new Vauxhaul Corsas have the stupidest locking mechanism ever!  While central locking controlled by a button inside the car is a good thing not being told that you need to use it because the key only locks the driver door is a tad risky.
  • The new Vauxhaul Corsas require you to turn the engine over and use the internal central locking button to lock the boot after you have emptied it - which is just plain stupid! Their seats are very comfortable though and being a midget I like feeling taller in the car.
  • It is a great idea to remember to pack my inhaler when travelling because having to walk in strong wind kicks an attack off so you kind of struggle to breathe.
  • Sometimes it is impossible to stay awake through a whole film no matter how much you try.
  • My dogs have smelly feet; how do dogs get sweaty feet - note to self; google it.
  • Cleaning takes far too long when you get back from a 2 day trip away and you seem to be washing forever.
  • Sometimes there is no better feeling than sitting down after you have cleaned the house from top to bottom and relaxing because everything is clean and right with your immediate world.
  • That last statement makes me look like a very sad individual. 
  • The baby fluffer may continue to cry even though the back door is open, a treat has been provided and the water bowl is full.  Conclusion: she is as needy as her female owner and just wants snuggles.
So what have you learned this week.  As ever, I love to hear your comments and if you wish to join please leave a comment or if you have a blog follow the instructions below.  Look forward to hearing from you.

For complete carnival rules, click here.
1. Any time this week, publish your What I Learned This Week post on your blog.
2. Within that post, please mention the What I Learned This Week carnival and link back to this post and to Julie's blog: From Inmates to Playdates. If you don’t know how to link, have a look at the rules on Julie's blog.
3. Then link up with Mr. Linky on Julie's page.
4. Visit the other participants and see what they learned this week. Then leave a comment because comments are fun!


Monday 22 April 2013

Joan Collins is right. Any woman who wants to stay beautiful needs to diet every day of her life


For the love of everything I am not saying the above is true because I think it is complete and utter tosh!  Nor can I credit myself with finding this gem of title for a post or the article that followed it in the newspaper – that is thanks to one of my friends who along with every one of her friends that saw it was more than a tad annoyed after reading it.

I have linked to the full article here – I will wait a while for you to go and read it, rant to yourself either in your head or out loud (although if the latter be in a secluded space when you do for fear of being carted away in a white van screaming “I am sane, I promise” safe in the knowledge that truly only nutty people say that in which case you are doomed to a life in a mental institute – which incidentally is where the deluded woman who wrote this article belongs).

Have you read it?  Now breathe and calm down. 

I am not saying I am right, in fact, I very rarely am and I am sure she is not the only woman that feels the way she does in some way but is it just me that thinks this woman has severe emotional issues?

Let’s set aside the fact that she thinks that if you are “fat” you can only be lazy and doomed to a life of achieving nothing, never having a boyfriend or someone that loves you, or happy for a moment because that doesn’t just annoy me and make me want to stamp on her head a teeny weeny bit but I think there are more important underlying issues.

In what world is it normal for a woman to think that being married to a man who would divorce you because you put weight on is acceptable?  Whatever happened to ‘til death us do part, in sickness and health…’ and all of everything else you promise to each other when you take your vows or make the decision to spend your lives together? 

Yes, maybe you are considered to be more attractive when you are thinner, in fact you may (like me) feel more comfortable with your body image when thinner and let it affect your mood when you do put weight on but that can be argued to be superficial (and changeable) and only part of what is, after all, a very complex make-up of what your husband or partner fell in love with?

How sad it must be to live with someone who loves you but would willingly leave you if you put weight on.  In fact is that really love?  Because it certainly isn’t my understanding of what unconditional love is and surely that is what marriage and a lifetime commitment means?

What about when this woman gets old and wrinkles start to appear – is that acceptable to her husband or will he leave her for that too?  Why would you want to be loved for something which is superficial and can be changed?  She may argue that being overweight is not superficial, for some (and I will admit me) there are fundamental reasons for putting on weight whether that be comfort, laziness, stress, hang-ups carried on from childhood and rarely health reasons and maybe it is for those underlying reasons that he would leave her.

Everyone is different, I of all people know that because I am more different than most and I am sure that my work colleagues think me very strange whereas my friends don’t because they have taken the time to get to know me and realise that I am not completely mental, nor do I truly believe I have aliens in my head – these are after all, a metaphorical description of how my mind works when I am buzzing around and happy. 

Even taking into account that as humans we are fundamentally all different, what I find amazing is that this woman has sought out boyfriends and now a husband that would leave her if she put on weight!  Whilst she may not, therefore, experience the feelings of rejection, fear, and need to be thin to be desired/loved that I most certainly would it begs the question – does she have a fundamental underlying and far greater issue; that her sense of what it means to be truly loved and desired is skewed?

Her comment that ‘any woman with a modicum of self-respect should watcher her figure with the same vigour’ as Joan Collins and that ‘any self-respecting woman wants to be thin’ are laughable at best.  She may consider she needs this to respect herself but how much of that is wrapped up in her belief that it is being thin that makes you beautiful (to men). 

For a start, I don’t live to be beautiful to men and my life is worth something with or without a man.  I have self-respect because of the way I live, the way I instilled a work ethic in my daughter and for the way I treat other people.  I do not need a man to have self-respect.  The fact that I have one adds to my life, I will admit but only because he loves me for who I am whether I am fat, thin or in-between.

I am sure that I would NOT want a ‘weight-loss’ coach for a boyfriend – how much fun would that be?!  Her first love reminded her that you cannot be too rich or too thin and maybe this is where she gets some of her issues from but for whatever reason she has taken this to an extreme.  She certainly appears to have an obsessive nature and her belief system is most certainly skewed by the people she surrounds herself with who seems to cement this belief system.

Her comment that male bosses will always give a role to a thin person because they appear to be more in control has some merit bearing in mind that there is still some sexism in the workplace but is the role being given for the appearance of control or just the appearance overall. 

This woman likes hunger pangs because it reminds her that she is not eating pizzas – surely she has her eyes for that and the fact that she eats less than a 1000 calories a day is shocking.  Drinking coffee for breakfast with enough caffeine in to make her tremble is shocking and renting homes without kitchens and denying food seems to have bought ‘rewards to make it worthwhile.’  Eating such a low calorie diet 4 times a year to result in insufficient mental or physical ability to work is shocking.

I read the latter part of the article wondering what the ‘rewards to make it worthwhile’ were; all I can see is a skewed understanding of love, self-respect, shallow friends and colleagues coupled with denial, an diet almost as unhealthy as mine on occasion and starvation at times.  If that is what gets a person rewards I will happily live as I am.

I am overweight at the moment having gotten lazy since my marriage last year however; I am lucky enough to be far richer than this poor woman will ever be.  I have a husband who adores me and will continue to love me no matter how thin, fat or in-between and a daughter who knows how to treat family, friends, herself and others with empathy, respect and love.  She will love unconditionally as I have taught her to do and knows what qualities to look for in a husband.  She certainly would not settle for a man who would leave her just because she put on weight as she has more self-worth in her little finger than this woman appears to have in her whole body.

I only hope three things; that this woman wakes up and smells the roses before she is led on her deathbed wondering why she denied herself all her life, that she finds unconditional love and that she does not have a child that she is bringing up with the same belief system.

Sunday 21 April 2013

Smashing Sunday

Happy Sunday everyone.  Have a great week.  Today's funny:


 

Saturday 20 April 2013

Grrrrrrrrr is for...............(and it's not a grissly bear!)

Friday I was back in the office having had a wonderful 4 days on leave and then 2 days in Newcastle.  91 emails isn't so bad and normally I can plough through them in a couple of hours, separating the wheat from the chaff quite happily.  I was happily doing this until I happened upon a weekly update email that everyone gets in the department I work in, including my 2 immediate bosses.

Highlighted on both the email and more so in the update itself was a note about 6 vacancies for qualified accountants at the grade above mine.  Normally I get quite excited about this and print off the said vacancy and spend an exorbitant amount of my free time at home writing competency examples for the application.

Except on this occasion I can't because the closing date is FRIDAY, as in the day I first found out about it, as in YESTERDAY. As work have very recently changed our performance framework I cannot tweak and use my previous competency examples so it was impossible to apply for the post in time.

To say that I was annoyed was a slight understatement and I banged off an email to both managers asking them if they would be so kind as to notify me of any future vacancies that are published while I am on leave.  As the application can be submitted on an internet site (as in not on our work intranet) I can make an application while on leave if I so wish.  It is not as if both managers did not know I was actively seeking promotion.

To her credit my line managers manager immediately called me and said she would note it for the future and although she did not specifically apologise it was very much implied and for that I have respect for her. 

Maybe I am expecting too much and maybe this would not happen in most other work places but I am a firm believer of treating people how you would want to be treated.  If I had staff (and I have had a lot in the past) I would know which of those wanted promotion and besides ensuring that their work was tailored to give them the best possible evidence and examples would actively let them know if a suitable vacancy arose that they could apply for.

Granted I was on leave but a quick text message does not hurt, offend or take 2 minutes to send.  This could just be a genuine oversight or a deeper seated (either realised or not) need to keep me on the team because there is NO succession planning or they want to develop me to take over my managers role should she leave - after all, she is also actively seeking promotion.

Either way; I am annoyed, upset and feel that their needs have been put above my development which goes against every part of my own manager/leader beliefs.  

There is no point staying angry and I will certainly be taking up the need to a) obtain a lower graded resource as I am being paid far too much for some of the work that I do and the resource I put into it detracts from my development and ability to do higher level strategic work and b) have some succession planning.

It is a good job I am not a grissly bear (and a good job my immediate line manager was not in the office) because I would have likely ripped someone's head off and how much trouble would that have gotten me into?
 
In the meantime, Hubby whisked me off to our favourite restaurant last night, Sapori, where we had our wedding reception to make sure I relaxed, sounded off and drank enough alcohol to help me put these feelings aside (somewhat) until next week.

As ever it was delicious.



 

Friday 19 April 2013

Five things Friday

I'm home safe after another excellent day yesterday and to top it off I got home from Newcastle in just over 3 hours and that included the 30+ minutes it took me to get out of Newcastle traffic.

Today's five things are things I enjoy when I'm working away from home.

1 No cooking. We are of course assuming that I cook a lot at home which I don't. I would argue that my version of cooking is mainly warming stuff up with a bit of stirring involved. Hubby does much better in the kitchen than me; at least he can get all parts of the meal cooked at the same time. All of that does not detract, however, how much I enjoy knowing I can relax after work rather than deciding what I should burn that day.

2 No cleaning goes hand in hand with no cooking though I do make the bed and tidy up before leaving the hotel room in a morning. Dad always said (when he was making beds army style) that it takes little effort to make a bed and help housekeeping out. This is under the assumption that they don't change all the bedding and sheets everyday lol.

3 Not having my list in mind all the time - I have lists, everywhere and run 3 diaries which even I admit is a bit excessive. When I'm away I don't need to think about it too much as generally it contains things I have to do at home or at my normal office. I am beginning to trust myself to be able to pack everything to come home without a list now which is an improvement - even if it do check drawers, cupboards, bathrooms etc 3-4 times before I leave.

4 Relaxing - it is generally one place where I do tend to sit down and do nothing other than watch TV or read for more than 1/2 hour without adding to a list, doing something from a list, checking family have done jobs or worrying I have missed something from a list.

5 Learning something new - generally, I'm away with work and as I somehow managed to bungle my way through my exams I am not sitting tests or classes but I am generally learning something new which is refreshing. I've learnt all sorts of things this week and really enjoyed it which is always refreshing.

So there we go. I'm waiting for the hire car to be collected and so far am not happy with the company concerned. They brought the car over 2 hours late and so far they are 1/2 late collecting it which is eating into the time I have at work to do 2 weeks work in 4 days.

Maybe I should revert to using trains next time even if it takes me longer to get to my destination.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

What a day!

Yesterday was day 1 of 2 in Newcastle. Having slept amazingly well I didn't want to get out of bed and would have preferred to go back to the dream I was enjoying despite not being able to remember it now. Instead I battled with a hair straightener and my nest of hair for an hour until the latter surrendered and admitted defeat.

I found a warm comforting fire to sit next to for a meeting with my mentor. After slapping me around the face with a wet fish for the lack of confidence in my current role the meeting went the way they always do: I say what I need help with and my mentor then probes my labyrinth of a mind to work out what I really want to discuss but haven't realised.

My mentor interviewed me for the accountancy leadership course I qualified on. After my interview he told me he would mentor me if I was successful; I'm still undecided as to whether it is because I'm mental and a bit nutty like him, reflective or I had the leadership skills his previous mentees hadn't had.

He has been outstanding and uses probing questions to draw out my thought processes and needs. In conversation he told me what his team does and that there may be vacancies. It's such a shame his team are based half way down the country as he would be excellent to work for.

After lunch I visited the PAYE team, the counterparts to the VAT team I work on. I had a few questions related specifically to work I do at year end but primarily I was there for an overview of what they do, what their risks were etc.

What I came away with is that I could work on that team too! Pity they are based half way across the country too! I would love to do a period of detached duty with them as it would benefit them but I would get some great experience out of it.

So in short I had a great day and would like to do a stint of a month or so in both areas. Now all I need to do is convince my manager that it would benefit the department strategically....,doubtful. Although it would she probably can't afford to lose 50% head count on the team considering she and I are it.

I took myself off to see a film and I am jealous at both the cinema facilities (being far superior to ours in Blackpool) and the Krispy Kreme drive-thru night next door. Of course it would have been rude not to partake.

P

What I learned this week

I was in two minds as to whether to dedicate this wholly to P!nk but as I am going to write a full post about my night of fun I will stick with:

• I'm jealous of those peoplewhose wrists P!nk signed because I would have totally had a tattooist trace over that the very next day! I'm not jealous of all the standing they did though!

• I can still drive and go "aaah" at the tiny lambs in the field and "ooooh" at the beauty of the hills when driving over the top of them on the way to Newcastle.

• Like many, I feel physically sick at the antics of those twisted people who think they have a valid reason for blowing people up (honestly I already knew that).

• I learned how grateful I am to the woman who arranged quick courier pick up of hubby's 40th birthday gift so a replacement can be here in time for his birthday! After all, how awful would it be to not get a gift from ANY of your family as they all contributed to the 'damaged in transit' extremely expensive present??

• You really should not lie down on a hotel bed after travelling for 4 hours to decide whether to go back out to the cinema because you will realise how tired you are.

• You can be away for 4 1/2 hours and miss your hubby and Beautiful B.

• Tou will jump more at a film such as Paranormal Activity 4 when in a strange hotel room than you would in a cinema or at home.

So what did you learn this week? As I am away to join the club and publish what you learned this week go to last weeks post on my blog called 'What I learned this week' and follow the destructions. As always, looking forward to your comments. X




Tuesday 16 April 2013

On a dilly dally

I'm on a jolly; otherwise known as a couple of days worth of meetings in Newcastle. Serious meetings, well I'm not promising that the meeting with my mentor will be totally serious because he knows I'm a bit mental and that's why he requested me as a mentee. Anyhoo, I digress.

First things first, I'm not able to format my post on my iphone so I will tidy it up when I get home. If it looks okay to you then I'm already home and have already done it.... Unless you are reading this on an app in which case it will look normal.

Did you notice on my post about being exhausted that there were lots of spelling and grammatical errors (more than normal)? Well that is because I was falling asleep at the time. Not sure whether I should correct them or leave them to show just how tired I was. The OCD part of me wants to correct it and worries people may read it and just think I am stupid or lack an attention to detail. What do you guys think I should do? Well all the 1 of you that regularly reads this blog.

Going off on a complete tangent; I have the news on in the background and have just checked that it wasn't Cheryl Cole talking on the TV. It wasn't; another woman from Newcastle. She could be a voice decoy for her. I wonder if there is a market for that? Must be; advertisements and all....

I've driven here this time on my bosses advice. I downloaded an audiobook as they keep me awake on the road. Mind you, it avoids falling asleep on the train, missing the Newcastle station and ending up in the middle of Scotland! Again!

I'm undecided. Do I have a lazy and early night tonight or do I go to the Metrocentre (shopping centre) and watch a film? I could do the film tomorrow night but then I wonder if I will be too tired after a day of meetings. Decisions, decisions.

I've been a little quiet this weekend as I spent an evening with P!nk. Well, with another 16,000 people.... It was truly amazing and well worth every penny of the extortionate amount I paid for the tickets. I will do a proper post on it when I get back home. Beautiful B took photos and videos (not great quality as done on an iPhone) so I could enjoy every second of it so once they are all downloaded I can include them in the post. I'm still buzzing from the experience and wish I was a teeny bit loaded so I could see her again next week.

I'm off now to get my drug of choice out of the car... Coca cola. Talk to you tomorrow xxxxx

Sunday 14 April 2013

Facebook can be fun

Finding random things on Facebook can brighten my day.

Thursday 11 April 2013

Pain or pills; that is the question

Having given myself backache over the weekend, because let's face it that is what I did - lugging about heavy bin bags full of things for recycling and cleaning almost all weekend is not the best of ideas, I have suffered for 2 days (today is Wednesday and I am trying to be organised and get a post done for tomorrow).

I have some pills which are great.  I only take them intermittently and they are prescribed to help the pains I get in my arms and hands when the barrage of other pills I have for my condition aren't enough.  Luckily I don't have to take them very often but I do know that they are that strong if I take more than 4 I get a bit cuckoo.

On Monday night I took two as I was in agony with my back; they help the pain in my hand so it stands to reason they would help the back pain.  I woke up at silly o'clock on Tuesday morning courtesy of Cala Fluff and took another two.  We are looking, therefore, at a 6 hour time frame between doses.

I drove to work as normal and started work quite happily; gingerly but happily - pain, after all, doesn't affect my sense of humour.  I was passing sweets around work; after all if I am going to ruin my teeth others can share the fun.

By 10am I was feeling sleepy and I was suffering from some double vision.  I wasn't overly worried because I have had those side effects before.  However, they just continued to get worse and by the afternoon I was struggling to keep my eyes open at work.  The need to constantly try to adjust eye focus was tiring and more than a little frustrating.

I did actually nod off at one stage and I am not sure if anyone noticed but I was mortified none the less.  By 5pm I'd had enough and made an appointment at the GP to discuss the medication.

The need for medication, in my head, is simple.  I want medication that will take away (or at least take the edge) off the pain so I can stay at work and still do a half decent job.  Instead I have a pill that I cannot function with and I'd like to know how I would cope if ever need to take more than 4 pills!

I cannot take any pill that is codeine based as it can cause migraines (if only they had told me that prior to the operation because that was one of the medications they systematically provided me with - rant over.

I had arranged to see Angel last night and i wasn't about to postpone just because I was seeing 2 of everything.  She knew immediately that something was wrong and when I agreed to go home at 9am no other evidence was needed to demonstrate how tired i must have been.

Leaving Angel's house after insisting I did not need a taxi to get home she made me promise to call her when I got home.  That I did from my bed because on arriving home I took myself off to bed without passing go or collecting £200.  

I slept most of the night and when the dogs did look as though they were going to start insisting I get up I put them back at the bottom and thankfully they settled back down.  

So did I sleep well - yes, but I don't feel refreshed today.  I don't have any vision issues but I amd getting extremely tired at work.

Morral

Don't take any more Tramadol, put up with the pain at least until Friday morniing because i at least have to be able to work and important look like I am working.  I'm on leave tomorrow so I can lie in bed or potter about at lest so I don't have to struggle at work. 

In the meantime I have to get through today and at this rate it will be another day of trying to look like my eyes don't want to lose a battle and sleep and quietly remind myself that I can go straight to bed when I get homes.


 





 

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Relaxing…..or not!


Yesterday I mentioned that I blitzed the house this weekend.  Well I did that plus a lot of other chores that needed doing.  As Beautiful B was away on a short holiday and Hubby was spending Saturday with my brother and staying at his house overnight it was an ideal time to sit and relax by myself with a good book or catch up on the Sky planner which was screaming out to be watched with only had 18% of free space.  The only problem is that I cannot sit and relax when I decide a lot of jobs need completing. 

Beautiful B was on a long weekend away with Ry and his family.  Having dropped Hubby off to spend the day watching the horse racing and Grand National and win us a fortune I formed a plan of attack.

My plan was:
Saturday Morning:                 Blitz the house
Saturday Afternoon:              Do more accounts (I have been doing these for days)
Saturday Night:                    Catch up on the planner with a cross-stitch and the fluff bags

That didn’t work out – what actually happened:
Saturday                             cleaning, scrubbing and throwing stuff away
Saturday night                     less than an hour in front of the TV
Sunday                                more cleaning, scrubbing and throwing away of stuff with bit                                     of accounts thrown in

So what on earth did I do I hear you ask?

Friday
On Thursday night I had thrown some old clothes in a big bag ready for the recycling centre on Friday. 
  • On Friday morning I ordered some clothes for our forthcoming long weekend at Centerparcs; seen as I am not fitting in a lot of my clothes; a result of being more than content in my marriage and having a preference for snuggling with Hubby instead of going to the gym
  • Systematically emptied every bin in the house to take to the recycling centre with the old clothes and then took off to the recycling centre after work
  • Played at being a Treasurer of the Football Club for a while paying for the annual memberships and collecting cash to balance and bank for last 3 weeks having a sneaky non-alcoholic drink in the process
  • Rang 2 banks to discuss documentation needed for my name change on the 2 Treasury Accounts I do – what a pain!  It is such a good job he is worth it.
  • Issued duplicate invoices to 2 of the snooker clubs
  • Admitted to apparently being a professional person on a passport application for one of Beautiful B’s friends
  • Collected mum to do the weekly shop
  • Having delivered mum safely home, I picked Hubby up from work, made a quick stop at home to collect Cala and took her to the vet as she has a worrying lump near one of her legs –given the all clear thankfully though Cala deciding to leave the vet a very special present was mortifying! REALLY Cala really!!!!.
  • Picked up and filled enough medication to make me rattle like a maraca.
  • Took the car to the beauty salon, otherwise known as Halfords for some new eyelashes windscreen wipers and rear lights including those for the number plate – how I hadn’t already been stopped by the police I do not know (shame though; men in uniform are usually worth stopping for).
  • After ½ hour of fiddling the nice Halfords man had fitted the lights (badly I was to find out) and I visited the pet shop to pick up some food for the girlie fluffs.  Despite instructions to the contrary I returned home with no only the required dog food but 2 essential fluffy squeaky dog toys because they do not have enough, they don’t, they don’t, they don’t – their toy box is just too small.
  • I noticed the car sounded like it was on speed when using the indicator – great!  Less than 5 minutes out of the beauty parlour and already she was sulking.
  • Drove the car to the nice doctor man at our usual garage who, after telling me off for taking her to a quack, fixed her lights up good as new so she could flash her lights at random strangers who dared to stare at her behind.
  • I left vowing to never treat the car badly by providing inferior plastic surgery in the future.
  • Having been out of the house for over 2 hours to do one simple job I decided to treat myself Hubby to McD’s – while the cat’s away the mice will play eat fast food.
  • Snuggled with Hubby watching our daily quiz show together, bit of a play on computer games to quiet the brain and bed.
Almost forgot - fit a 7.5 hour day in at work around all of the above.
So far so good……and other than a couple of additional things, all of the above is the norm for me.

Saturday
Having been woken up at 4.30am by the fluff bags I made an early start on the dining room:
  • Emptied the entire wall unit to determine what was needed and what wasn’t, splitting the items we didn’t need into recyling and the charity shop
  • Removed all overflow items from the top of the wall unit as they drive me mental (I mean what must people think when they walk past the house and nosy through the window!) determined to store at least half in the cupboard space freed up by my ruthlessness
  • Started in on the storage held in the bay window, throwing accountancy monthlies in recycling (Yes I have read them )
  • Separated books to be flown to Spain and lovingly handed over to my Aunty S who loves reading the same thriller/crime/serial murder books as me
  • Wrote a letter to include in said box to Aunty Sylvia
  • Transferred pop to fridge for Hubby; I am sure he would put them in the freezer if they didn’t explode when defrosting!
  • Removed loving verse from the frame given to me by my gorgeous mum over 10 years ago. 
  • Hung framed photos on the wall
  • Polished and swept the room 
  • During this time I washed and dried two loads of washing
  • Hubby woke up so I made him some breakfast and put more washing on
  • While catching up with Hubby, or rather Hubby being bombarded with a blow by blow account of my dreams while he had no choice but to listen because I had made him breakfast and it would just be rude, I sorted this weeks pills into neat little piles and popped them in an organiser to make sure I a) remembered to take them and b) didn’t overdose on them.
  • Following Hubby out to the car ½ hour later with a handful of bags for the charity shop, recyling and a bottle of windscreen washer fluid tucked under one arm I insisted on filling the water bottle first while convincing him what a fantastic idea it was to stop at the recycling plant before I dropped him off at my brothers - after all 2 people are quicker than one, aren’t they?
  • Dropped Hubby off at my brothers with a kiss and a cuddle and drove the car directly to the garage for her annual check up desperately hoping I wasn’t going to be told she needed to be put out to pasture
  • Potentially scaring the man half to death with a look of total disbelief I informed him I would not take him up on his offer of waiting around for 45 minutes when I could be home completing a job on my ‘must do today list’
  • Returned home to remove everything stored in the storage area under our bed.  Abi jumped in to help investigate sniffing around the Christmas wrapping I had stored under there.  She soon jumped out when I started throwing stuff out over my shoulder for speed
  • An hour in and I received a phone call to say my little car had passed it’s MOT with no repairs (hurrah).  After negotiating a later pick up I decided to throw away half of our spare bedding along with various other ex-necessities
  • Returned to pick up the little car and treated her to a beauty session the car wash.  After being scrubbed and polished to show off all her bumps we took off to the shop to treat the dogs to new dog beds – after all, I had money to spare now that the little car had taken good care of herself this year
  • 3 dogs beds, printer ink and an extension cable later (which by the way I think I have broken already) I surprised Fred with a dog bed big enough for him to stretch out on; ignoring the fact that it takes up half of the floor space in the living room
  • Another load of washing and I returned upstairs to sort out the wardrobes – all 3 stretch 12 foot across the bedroom.  After an hour I felt much better as all clothes were now stored in colour and type order (not that I have Organised Cleaning Disorder or anything)
  • I had found a pair of my shoes I could throw away and impressed myself by throwing away at least 5 handbags – none of them Radley though – oh no, they can stay in my house until they are falling apart!
  • Next to be stripped bare was my bedside cabinet drawer; after a ½ hour that was cleaned and organised into nice neat compartments courtesy of Lakeland Plastics drawer dividers.
  • All bedroom drawers were next on the list and two of them are now wonderfully neat and organised with more dividers (Hubby looked more perplexed at my excitement at the organisation of the drawers than impressed on Sunday when I showed him).
  • Another 3 bin bags later for recycling and I was ready to polish and hoover that room after changing the bedding and deciding all this work is not good for my back complaint.  Something to do with the fact that it had started screaming in despair at what I was putting it through
  • Having blitzed the two rooms it could be in I did a quick search of the living room cupboards and resigned myself to having thrown my Kindle and Season 7 of Supernatural away during a mad cleaning session on return from our honeymoon – no point crying over spilt milk; it won’t fetch them back.
  • Next on the list was the ordering of Hubby’s 40th birthday present and it was probably the quickest job I did all day long.
  • After clipping the dogs nails, a quick sweep up downstairs and I was ready to play some more computer games to relax.
  • An hour later and another load of washing later I was in Tesco buying a new Kindle!
  • Half way through the first programme I sit down to relax too a phone call from A had me out of the house in a rush to see her and pick up Hubby who decided not stay overnight at my brothers after all.
So, that was Saturday concluded and I will admit I was grateful for my bed that night.


Sunday
For the third day in a row the fluff bags woke me up at stupid o’clock 4am so in retaliation I systematically brushed every single dog until the girlies looked like teddy bears and Freddy had at least started shredding hair quite as much.

Having woke up to an empty space Hubby came downstairs to see if I was okay; like he does every weekend; I am still unsure what he expects to find. I am always okay and have been for the past 6 years that he has lived with us.

After making Hubby coffee and crumpets we got dressed while the fluff bags danced around our ankles somehow knowing we were going to take them for a carefree run around a nearby field.

An hour and half later, I realised what a mistake it was to take the fluff bags out before 8am as the dew had assisted in the collection of enough mud on the fluff bags to turn their legs and underbellies a dark brown instead of white.  Like a little old woman I twittered about what a waste of time it was to brush them not 3 hours earlier.

Returning home I sorted through nearly 100 books to find the ones I had read so that mum and dad could take them to my Aunty S when the visit Spain. 

When visiting mum and dad and the attempt to pass secret messages about birthday presents and deliveries between mum and I without Sean noticing began.  If only he was so much easier to buy birthday presents for.  This year the whole family is clubbing together to buy him a huge present and the working together as a family will mean as much, if not more, as the present itself.

The need for heavy medication was called for to cope with the back pain as I was still insistent that I had more chores to do but today I had Hubby to help – hurrah.  He does not recall offering to power wash the garden in his drunken state the night before so after a negotiation I began power washing the garden while Hubby hovered the stairs for me.

After attempting to put the hose back on the power washer without turning the water off, the power washer switched itself off in disgust at my laziness and so far has refused to help me again.  Not to be outdone and prove to it that I could cope without its help I finished the garden with the good old hose and a brush.

As Beautiful B is insistent that she wants to move in with her boyfriend later in the year I have started to save household items for her.  As a result, I could next be found under her bed trying to store an ironing board and iron for her.

Next on the list was the need to clean the extractor fan and replace the filter.  The steamer is a great help in this area and does a much better job than simple elbow grease.  Already working near the oven dictated to my cleaning mode that it was time to clean the trays in the oven while I was there.

After sweeping up Hubby took advantage of the steamer insisting I was in too much pain to clean the floors.  I retaliated by negotiated polishing the house instead.

Hubby then banned me from doing more cleaning after noticing that I was walking around the house very gently and grimacing once I was more than half way up the stairs – blasted face, it hides nothing!

So I found jobs I could do that did not involve manual handing;
  • ordering Sean’s birthday card which took an age!  Wanting to put my own verse inside requires the need to use one of the stupid card sites on the internet and trying to find an appropriate card takes far too long for my liking.
  • Ordering the Apple iPad cleaner for my dad (mum and I are still in a debate as to whether I will accept the money for it from them – I insist not!)
  • Completed forms for the car’s log book and my driving licence to change them to my married name
  • Start yet more accounting – I am beginning to wonder if it will ever end

Since then my job has been to manage the resulting back pain which isn’t going too well, especially after a day of trying to cope with the side effects of such strong painkillers.  Even I have put off any cleaning chores and have concentrated on accounts instead.

So you see, while there aren’t a tremendous amount of chores there, some of them took ages and clearly my initial timetable of blitzing the house in ½ a day was a tad optimistic.  It’s a good job I am better at judging the time required to do tasks at work!