Knobs, Books & Hard Drive.

Lisa showed me how to download a book last night & import it into my itunes so I can listen to it on my ipod. We bought the first 2 books in the series of Twilight for Andrew's Mum & since being recommended by SusieB, I've wanted to read them. Liam's been trying to sort out my hard drive this morning but unfortunately he can't. I'll have to take it to the shop for them to sort out. I'm a bit gutted about it because it contains all my photos, so as long as they can rescue those, I'll be happy. Sam stayed last night, so this afternoon every one's been playing on the Wii Fit. A competition has arisen with the Hula Hula game. Liam is in the lead at the moment but it won't last lol. Elena & I are going to practice like mad when they have all gone back to Uni. We've had Skateboard Steve & his girlfriend round after dinner too as well as Gemma & Matt. Gem came round to use the washing machine & tumble drier.

Andrew's been finishing off the painting in the utility room & fitting new door knobs, so all that needs to be done tomorrow is the cupboard doors and then I can put everything back in the cupboards :O)

No 20. of 365

A view of my new utility room :O)

Love Thy Neighbour?

Last night Andrew took the doors off the fridge and we wheeled it through the dining room, hall & kitchen into the utility room with ease. It didn't look as bad as I thought it might, in fact I think it's pretty snazzy :O) The thing I like about it most of all isn't the cold water or the ice dispenser it's this ...

No. 19 of 365It's the egg rack :O) We go through loads but our old fridge never had enough egg holders to hold them all.

We did have to laugh though at the name on the door SAMSUNG. Obviously it's the make but it's also what Sam does every time he's with us ~ sing! Not ordinary singing more like Barry Gibb in Saturday Night Fever type singing and it's hilarious :O)

This morning Antonia & her mum moved out next door and another family moved in. I wasn't that bothered as we've always been lucky with our neighbours & got on with all of them. Then Gemma said they looked like chavs & they are taking a drum kit into the house! I still wasn't too bothered and tried not to judge them. Then Elena came home from school a bit upset. She said the boy who was moving in next door was the school bully & he's always being expelled (OMG). By then I was getting a bit worried. Tonight Lisa came in from her driving lesson laughing. She asked me if I had called the police about them already? The police were next door confiscating the drum kit!!! Heaven help us.

Poor Gemma hasn't been having a very good day today. Her & Matt went to the bank and called at Morrison's on the way back. An old man in a huge estate car pulled in the parking space next to them and scraped the side of Gem's car from the back door right to the front. Poor thing.

On a brighter note, Liam, Lisa & Sam are back from Uni for the weekend so we've had loads of cuddles. We've caught up with all the news and sat down to eat the gorgeous Cottage Pie that Andrew cooked (with vegetables on the side, yum). Lisa had a driving lesson tonight as she has another driving test on Monday. Sandy (Lisa's driving instructor) bought round a box that she had taken delivery of, for us (Sandy is our next door neighbour too and she's lovely). It was the Wii Fit :O) So we've all had a go, got our BMI readings and made a plan of how much exercise/ weight loss we want to achieve. Our goal is to lose a stone in weight before we go to the Maldives ~ watch this space lol.

Livewire

It was another uneventful day at work today. Well, unless you count the telling off I gave Nicky for not replacing the battery in her smoke alarm at home. (This has been going on for 2 weeks now). She promised me that she would sort it out tonight! If you're reading this PLEASE make sure your smoke alarms work :O)

Got home from work and non of the sockets worked downstairs. Checked the fuse box and one of the switches had tripped out. Reset it and put the kettle on and the flippin thing went again. Thought it might be the kettle so unplugged it and reset the trip. Just walked out of the kitchen and there was an almighty bang in the utility room and the trip switch tripped out again. The culprit ... Andrew's new socket. He had replaced the sockets with new ones last night but the wire in one of them had split, causing the trip switch to activate. God you just have to love safety devices don't you :O) Andrew's now rewired the socket so all is well tonight :O) Anyway the utility room is nearly done. One more coat of emulsion and some cupboard doors & the jobs a good'un. Mind you I could have done with a bigger fridge after the trip to Tesco tonight lol, it won't be long now :O)

No. 18 of 365My rearview mirror ;O)

I'm Late, I'm Late, For A Very Important Date.

Lisa's photos from the Fairytale Fez :O)

Lisa AKA the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland & no, she wasn't late lol.Lisa & Abby (Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz)Lisa & Emily (Minnie Mouse)

It will soon be Gemma & Lisa's birthdays, where does the time go? Lisa has hers all organised. She is coming home for the weekend with all her friends from Uni and they all want to sample Andrew's roast Chicken dinner with homemade sausage stuffing. I'm presuming it will be syrup sponge & custard for pudding although I think profiter rolls & birthday cake might be a better choice??? I know Abby is staying with us but I'm not sure about the others. There's plenty of room for them all but I think we may need ear plugs lol.

Not done that much today. Paid some bills, phoned the doctors to organize some holiday jabs and bought about 20 different cards. The cards range from Valentine cards to 21st birthday cards to leaving cards. It's in an effort to get organised lol.

Spent the afternoon with Gemma. We got talking about holidays and Gem said we are going to be black when we come back. Then we started laughing because we remembered what Elena said. I was telling her about the beach bungalow we are going to stop in and how it has an outside bathroom. A look of horror crossed her face and she said there was no way she was having a bath when everyone could see her as they walked passed ROFL. I explained that the bathroom would have walls but no roof so she would be OK :O) You just have to love the way kids minds work :O)

No.17 of 365

It's really strange when there's only Andrew, me & Elena in the house.

Checkmate!

Opened the curtains this morning and it had been really frosty. Not only that the sun was shinning & it was foggy too. How much weather can you have in one go?

The fog looked really eerie. The frosty Ivy.

No.16 of 365The frosty grass Some frosty leaves

I had to go to the Red Funnel terminal in Cowes this morning so set off a bit earlier to take some photos up on the downs. The fog looked even more dramatic up there :O)

Looking over Brading Down

Got to the ferry terminal in Cowes and told the lady in the kiosk I had come to pick up a parcel. Pop yourself into Lane 5 says she and then just nip down to the ticket office to collect it. So I did as I was told but noticed there were about 4 cars in front of me & umpteen cars both in lanes 4 & 6. Nevermind I thought, I'll pick up the parcel & reverse out ~ simples! By the time I got back to the bus, 3 cars had pulled in behind me! I was boxed in and all the cars were waiting to board the ferry that was due.

Red Funnel terminal at Cowes

To make matters worse it was freezing, so after a while I went back to the ticket office to find a hot drink. To cut a long story short, the ferry had been cancelled because of the fog, so I had to wait an hour & a half to get out. I made it back to work at 12:15pm. It was a very short shift :O)

'E' Bye Gum

Apart from listing all the things I've done today which is pretty boring or telling you that we are all shattered, not much has happened unless you count poor Lisa's disaster with her mobile phone. She decided it was time she gave it a clean so put it in the washing machine on a hot wash along with her bedding. Poor thing was gutted. Nothing anyone can do apart from be thankful no one was hurt, phones can be replaced. can't they. What a pain in the donkey though!

I have a bit of a confession, I've been spending money again! I've ordered a Wii Fit with the intention of losing the excess fat that's sitting around my middle. Elena's really excited about it too. We have 10 weeks to get to a size where we feel comfortable wearing a bikini :O)

No.15 of 365

Elena's made a necklace in Technology.

Home Again

After saying our goodbyes & thank yous to Claire, Matthew & Zoe this morning we made a quick detour to my bestest friend, Teresa's. Well we couldn't go all that way & not see her, could we :O) We had 2 lovely cups of tea & some hot cross buns & caught up with all the news, while Max entertained us with his antics. He is so lovable and always on the go. We couldn't stay long unfortunately as we were catching the 6pm ferry. The traffic was kind to us again & we made it back to Southampton in record time. We're all shattered now so it's time for bed.

No.14 of 365

Red Funnel had temporarily moved the ferry terminal to Dock Gate 4. Luckily it was easy to find :O)

Hospital Visit

This morning Andrew & I walked down through Whitehough, along the old tramlines & back up Charlie Lane with Claire's dog Holly. It was lovely to stretch our legs although it was quite wet & muddy under foot. After lunch we went to see Andrew's Mum in hospital. She seemed really pleased to see us and looked surprisingly well after her ordeal. We spent two & a half hours talking & laughing with her until the bell went for us to leave. She had read all the books she had, so we went to Sainsbury's on the way home and bought her some more. By 7pm we were back at the hospital for one last visit. She hadn't had a very good sleep the night before because one of the elderly female patients had kept everyone awake, shouting for her niece. Poor thing had died whilst we were visiting in the afternoon, the worst bit was she was still there when we left at 8:30! I knew the NHS was stretched to the limit but flippin heck. Anyway, we said our goodbyes and went back to Claire's calling for a Chinese food on the way. Andrew seemed much happier after he had seen & talked to his Mum, so all's well :O)

No.13 of 365

You're never bored when you have a Nintendo DS and a few games to play with.

Monster Fridge & Motorways

Yesterday, whilst we were both at work the monster fridge arrived. Gemma very kindly came round to wait in for it. They couldn't get it through the back door so it's stood in the conservatory at the moment. It's worked out well though because Andrew just didn't get chance to finish painting. So when it's all done it should fit through the internal doors quite easily as they are all normal 2'6" wide doors. Gemma decided we were going to the arctic so dressed for the occasion in thermal leggings & two pairs of socks lol. Elena arrived home just after 3pm so we packed the car, eat some homemade soup & got on our way to the ferry in Cowes. The crossing was good but we were a little apprehensive about travelling through Southampton on a Friday night in the rush hour. The traffic is notoriously busy! Luck was on our side though and we weren't held up once and after one stop at Cherwell Valley services for some food, we arrived at Claire's house at 10:30pm.

No.12 of 365

There's something lovely about travelling in the dark.

The Frozen North.

This afternoon I've been packing my thermals ready for our visit to the frozen north. When I spoke to Claire last night she said it had been snowing. I'm looking forward to going like a hole in the head. I don't mean that in a horrible way, I just don't enjoy the cold, damp weather or the travelling, especially when it's only for 2 nights. Like Andrew says we could do with a Stargate to get us from A-B, dial in an address and off you go. It's our fault for moving down south lol.

Mum in Law seems to be improving but they are still trying to sort out her blood pressure & irregular heartbeat. I hope they manage to get her well again. As long as Andrew gets to see his Mum all the hassle will be worth it :O)

Now going abroad is a different kettle of fish. I don't mind the travelling because I know there will be something lovely waiting for us, it's called, ermmm, oh yes ~ SUNSHINE :O) 73 days left according to my Maldives countdown ~ can't wait!!!

No.11 of 365

Spongebob & Gary don't need feeding everyday according to Google! One thing that pet owners do wrong, is over feed their fish, which can be very harmful. You learn something everyday!

Hair & Hoody

When Gemma came round to see us yesterday she made us laugh so much :O) She sat on the chair opposite us, talking, then all of a sudden she undid the zip on her fleece. Inside it was Bobs (lol) a hot water bottle rabbit that she's had since she was a baby. It was so funny, it's not the sort of thing you expect someone to do. ROFL :O) I thought I was nesh!

I spent this morning sat in the hairdressers whilst Caroline permed my hair. The last time I had it done was the 2nd September so it's lasted quite a long time. Poor thing was working in the salon by herself. She was doing a great job but you could tell she was working too hard. It's not fair that people should be expected to work so hard that by the time they get home they are shattered & fit for nothing. I suppose you just have to be grateful these days, you have a job.

I hate my hair at the best of times but even more so when it's first been permed. It settles down after a few days & it's OK. I am going to use this photo as the 10th of my 365 project.

No.10

I HATE MY HAIR. If I could change just one thing about myself, it wouldn't be bigger boobs, less fat, being taller or thinner it would be to have lovely hair.

Gemma came round again this afternoon as we were going to Newport shopping. Elena got home from school, got changed and off we went. Elena spent part of her Christmas Boots gift voucher on some Dream Matte Mousse & bought a pair of fingerless gloves in New Look that turn into mittens with her Christmas New Look voucher :O) Gemma managed to find some brown boots to go with the trousers she's wearing tomorrow at Age Concern. I treated her to a gorgeous pink hoody that just screamed 'Gemma' :O) I think she'll look lovely in it. It seemed to cheer her up. We took some photos while we were there (& before it began raining). I wanted to take a photo of the church now all the scaffolding has been taken down. Gemma always, always gets in the shot just as you're about to tak the photo! I love it really and it made for a fab photo. Andrew's still painting the utility room but unfortunately putting the new shock absorbers on the washing machine didn't work. It's still as noisy as ever and OMG have you seen the colour of it now the walls are white! Gemma said it reminds her of the Daz advert on TV where the woman thinks her whites are white until the Daz lady puts it up against something that is really white lol. See what I mean. We're not having a new one until it that one conks out!

House

Ooooo I've been waiting for this day for ages and ages. The brand new episode of House, Painless, aired last night across the pond on Fox 8/9 central. So after work and filling & switching on the washing machine & dishwasher, I booted up the lap top and sat back and indulged myself. Was it worth waiting 5 weeks for? You bet ya ~ it's the best program on the TV interweb :O)

Last night I spoke to Lisa on the phone for over an hour. Poor thing had had a REALLY bad day so I tried my hardest to cheer her up. I must have done something right because not long after she put the phone down, I received a lovely e-card with this message ... Thank you for making me feel better and always being there for me!!!! I love you! Your the best! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
How gorgeous is that :O)

Talking of last night ...

This is No. 9 of my 365 photos

Andrew fixed the washing machine last night by fitting some new shock absorbers. I love him more everyday, which is saying something, because I've known him for nearly 10600 days!

Gemma's been to see Elena & I this afternoon. We're going to Newport tomorrow when Elena gets in from school as Gem wants some shoes to go with the outfit she's wearing on Thursday. She's doing some voluntary work for Age Concern in their events department. I hope she enjoys herself.

When Life Is Jolly Rotten

Here is the 8th photo of my 365 ...

My comfy slippers that are falling apart but I don't want to throw them away.

Had a much better day at work today. Mr P has been working hard all weekend on the new bookings system & it's looking fab. All the worrying & panicking I've been doing has hopefully come to an end. I even pressed my 'panic over' button on the keyboard this morning, just to make sure it was working. Things could be looking up ... famous last words ;O)

Andrew's Mum is still in hospital and Andrew is really worried about her. I hope she's going to be OK. I think he really needs to see her but when you're 250 miles away it's not always that easy. The plan is to travel up to the frozen north on Friday & come back Sunday. My wonderful work colleagues have very kindly offered to cover my weekend shift. They are so good, they make the holiday park such a great place to work.

Talking of the A team, Nicky came to work this morning with a huge grin on her face. Her boyfriend took her to the top of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth at the weekend, got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. How romantic is that :O)
Congratulations Nickypoos xXx

Today, according to the experts, is the most depressing day of 2009!

So with that in mind, do you ever wonder if you could have been a better person? You know, things like, maybe I could have been kinder, maybe I could have kept my mouth shut instead saying what I think, maybe I could have put others first instead of thinking about myself & so on. I did that again today and then, as I was mooching around the internet I found this ...

The Good Tree. Matthew 7:17-18,20: Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.... Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

My girls are good and kind and thoughtful and sensible and hard working and gorgeous and wonderful and well, just the best in the world. Good fruit from a good tree? Things aren't that bad if you really think about it :O)

My advice ...

Decorating

Sunday again, where do the weeks go? I've been at work all day. Managed to get lots of stuff sorted out so it's been OK. Captain John kept me company for about an hour or so this morning. I've always liked John and get on with him really well. I call him Captain John because a few years ago he took me out for a spin round the Island in his helicopter :O) It was a really warm summers day & I was hanging the washing out in the garden when the phone went. It was John asking me what I was up to. Nothing much I said, stood there holding a pair of wet pants and some pegs in my hand. "Do you want to come flying?" Well what would you have said ~ ermm yes!!! So off I went, bursting with excitement, to the airfield in Sandown. We flew over Sandown Bay and saw Mum & Dad sat outside their beach hut. He showed me the river Medina, the coast, Osborne House the lot. We were up there for about 30 minutes, it was fantastic. I walked round for more than a week with a permanent grin on my face lol. Anyway, after putting the world to rights, he left & I was back on my own.

I took my camera with me so thought I would use this as the 7th photo of my 365 project.

No.7

The sun was so warm through the window at work this afternoon, I had to open the door. Fresh air & sunshine makes you feel so much better doesn't it.

I've been pinching photos off Facebook again of my gorgeous Lisa & Liam. They look as if they are having the time of their lives don't they :O)

Lisa & Abby Lisa Lisa & Liam

Elena's been baking today just look at these beauties :O)
They started off like this ...Then with a bit of decorating ended up like this ...And look, some gorgeous chocolate cornflakes too! So much for losing weight lol. Talking of decorating, Andrew's been painting the Utility room. Guess what colour .... white! It looks loads better and has changed it completely. It will change again when the new fridge/freezer is in there. I hope it will look alright.

The utility room last night The Utility room today ROFL, Andrew trying to get away from the photographer Look at those sexy legs! Hubba, hubba ;O)