Fun - I'm Loving It

I LOVE been off work. OMG you can do so much :O) Done lots of cleaning of things I don't usually get around to, today. The turkey's defrosting in a bucket of water & everything is wrapped & labelled.

Went round to see Avril (Andrew's work colleague who retired a few months ago) to give her a Christmas present & caught up with all the news & gossip. Had a houseful of gorgeous people this afternoon and had a laugh with them all. As well as Me & Elena, Lisa & Liam we had Skateboard Steve, Tillett, Topley & Topley's girlfriend. Liam played on his X-Box while Lisa & I were trying desperately to beat Tilletts new Geo challenge score on facebook. The rest of the gang were studying the Where's Wally books lol.

Geo challenge has become an obsession at work as well as home. At home Tillett has been in the lead for ages with a pretty amazing score of 21000 until last night, when Lisa & I joined forces. About 11:30pm (told you we were obsessed lol) we beat his score by 1000 points and were in firstplace for 12 whole hours!! He's now beaten us again *tut*. So the challenge is back on and it's not over till it's over!

Andrew's last day a work today thank goodness. He's pretty tired bless him so I hope he can recharge his batteries over the next few days. Lisa & Liam cooked us a gorgeous tea again tonight, chicken & sweet potato curry with cocnut milk & spinach. It was fab-u-lous, thank you both of you xXx Not only that, they even did the shopping at Tesco's for me, aren't they the best :O)

Gemma rang tonight and asked if I would nip round to Woollies to pick up a Christmas tree. (It's so depressing in there, now that most of the shelves are empty.) Someone (a member of staff) asked Sharon (the boss) if they could have one of the trees off the shop floor and she said yes so Gem asked her if she could have the one in the staff room and she said yes to that too. It's 6" tall, fully decorated, so Gemma could hardly carry it home lol. It's in the back of the bus as we speak. Elena spotted a smaller tree so Gemma gave to it her :O) That's got loads of decorations on it too so she was well happy.

Kerri's put some photos on facebook of her trip to New York & they're brill. I really want to go now but it's so expensive. When you think you could spend the same amount of money for 2 weeks lazing in the Caribbean sun, all inclusive, there's no contest is there BUT I still want to go lol. Andrew's been to New York & loved it but then he's been to America 3 times lucky thing. He even climbed the statue of Liberty which you can't do anymore. He stayed in Boston with his God father Brian and visited Canada & Niagra Falls, Buffalo & Manchester! Well I've been to Manchester he, he!

Anyway I've pinched these from Kerri's facebook :O)
Look there's my taxi outside Macey's. Look at the size of those baubles! These are the snowflakes she was telling me about that ran down the side of one of the skyscrapers & played the 'Carol of the Bells' (which I love). Just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, listen to this.

Christmas Cards

It was my last day at work yesterday ~ yipee. A whole 2 weeks off OMG it's bliss :O) Got everything I need for Teresa & the gang now, caravan mattresses, quilts, pillows etc. (Gemma says it looks like the princess & the pea lol) .The freezer is full to the top so I think we are all organised. It seems so long since we've seen them but it was only a few weeks ago. Just one disappointment today so not too bad I suppose in the grand scheme of things. I ordered a new 13.5 tog duvet so that we would have one for Teresa & Nik . It was delivered today but when I unfolded it, it had a big black stain on it. It looked as though it was part of the material so I've parcelled it up & they are collecting it on Tuesday. Andrew found another one on the BHS website so we've ordered that instead. Fingers crossed it will get here before the 27th Dec.

Lisa & Liam came back from Uni yesterday too so we now have a full house again. Tonight Andrew cooked a gorgeous roast beef diner for the five of us plus Liam, Sam & Matt with trifle to finish. It was scrummy! Thank you Andrew xXx

We've spent the day doing housework, shopping, washing etc. the usual Saturday jobs. Elena's done a load of ironing for me too. She's a good un :O) Blutacked all the Christmas cards to the doors today. I love receiving Christmas cards. The really special ones from the girls are on the hearth in the front room. I had a lovely one from Kerri at work saying to a fabulous friend with love ~ aww. Sandy & Steve sent one with 'For Our Neighbours' on it. But the one that's had me in tears arrived this morning. Just a little card, nothing very special until we opened it ~ to Andrew, Vanda & the girls from Tony (& Edith). Edith died when we were on holiday in Jamaica back in May and she was Andrew's favourite Auntie. She was my favourite too. The Christmas card is a teddy looking out of the window up to the heavens. Not everyone is going to have a great Christmas are they.

Angels & Gordon Ramsey

Guess what we've done tonight for the first time ever :O) We cooked along with Godon Ramsey! He showed us how to cook Chicken Tikka Masala & ooooo it was lovely. We will definitely be having that again. I wanted to take photos obviously but it was so good, we'd eaten it before I even thought of the camera lol. So here is Gordon's curry and, even if I say so myself, ours looked as good as that!! Lisa took some decorations from home to put up at her house in Roehampton. The only thing she was missing was an angel for the top of her tree so she made one :O) Isn't it fab ROFL :O) Liam's very, very busy for the next 2 weeks with exams, so we all have to keep our fingers crossed that he survives, poor thing.

I can't believe Elena will be 14 tomorrow. Today after school she asked if I had bought her a badge. Well, it never crossed my mind, so we went and got some diesel & called at the card shop. Luckily they had 1 left with 14 on it so she's a happy bunny. I think she wants to wear it to school tomorrow so everyone will know it's her birthday lol.

What a Wonderful Week

OMG it's nearly a week since I blogged. It's not because I haven't wanted to it's because I just haven't got round to it. We've had a lovely week and a fantastic weekend so here goes ...
1) The Christmas tree is up and decorated and so are the decorations around the house (but not as many as last year). 2) House was fab on Wednesday as usual.
3) The fridge freezer has been ordered but no delivery date as yet.
4) The new curtains are up in our bedroom.
5) Went out with the girls from work on Thursday night and had a brilliant time. We had a meal at the Royal China in Sandown & then spent the evening drinking 'Jacques' in the Kinges :O) 6) Lisa, Liam & Sam have been home for the weekend and it has been brilliant. 7) Gemma & Matt spent most of Saturday with us too & stayed for tea.
8) We made some homemade 2008 baubles.9) Andrew & I had a lovely walk along the sea front in Sandown this morning. It was beautiful and so nice to have some warm sunshine on our backs.Someone had written Merry Christmas in the sand lol
10) Went to see Elena's show tonight in St Thomas's Church in Newport. We had a great time and saw some friends from the days of tomato tasting. Didn't realise it's been 10 years since the last time we saw each other. Where does time go. 11) Liam & Sam have me hooked on the online puzzle Zahada
12) Oh & Joe Swash won I'm a Celebrity!!! I'm glad it's over, an hour & a half out of your evening is a long time to sit and watch TV lol.

Do You Feel Christmassey?

A month today will be Christmas day! Do you feel Christmassey? I do :O) It's the adverts on TV that get me started lol These are the ones that do it for me ...

Pirate Flags

OMG, OMG, I'm jumping up and down with excitement, I have 100 flags!! I have been waiting over 6 months for my Neocounter to reach a century ~ wow!

It's funny really because when we've had nothing to do at work this week & last, we've been playing the Geo Challenge game on face book. A bit of a competition has arisen between Kerri, Nicky & myself and although I lost my lead yesterday I regained the top score today :O) There are 3 stages, naming flags, naming countries & placing cities of the world in the correct place. It's very addictive lol. Tonight Andrew came home a bit earlier than usual so made the Christmas cake & mincemeat whilst I cleaned up after him. Team work hey! Took Elena to the dentist after school for her 6 month check up. The orthodontist signed her off in March but wrote a letter to the dentist saying when her upper right 5 breaks through she needs it extracting. Well it's broken through and is poking out the roof of her mouth. This is good news (although she says it feels horrible) because it hasn't affected the alignment of any teeth. Her appointment is in January.

I swear the words over at HSMSHS are definitely getting harder. Today's word is Fake?!!! Elena has come to the rescue again with a photo she took the other day in Ryde. It's a pirate ship in the fun fair on Ryde seafront. Talking of pirates have you seen the news about the Somali Pirates. I wonder how many more boats they're going to Hijack?

Christmas Is Coming

It really is :O) I LOVE Christmas, I love everything about it. Friends & family being together, having fun, decorations, lights, music, everything. Just in case you're thinking, flippin heck it's ages away yet, well, according to my Christmas countdown, there's only 39 days left! I've been wrapping up again today look ...Andrew came home yesterday with an armful of minced beef from Lidl (the best shop, in our opinion, to buy less fat, more taste, minced beef) & this ... It's something for me to make (gulp) it's a gingerbread house that you assemble yourself then ice and decorate ~ we'll give it a go :O)

This morning after our usual trip to Tesco, we emptied our bedroom and Andrew started decorating. Last but not least, one of the 4 tops I bought from Matalan last weekend just for Lisa ;O)

Christmas Recipes

Pub. Mmmmm, not a place we usually go but HSMSHS wants a photo. Last time we went to a 'pub' was in Jamaica so this is just another excuse to show some holiday photos :O) Last night after tea Andrew had all the cookery books out in the kitchen trying to make a list of ingredients for a Christmas cake, Christmas puddings & mincemeat. No matter how hard he tried going from one book to another he couldn't get to grips with how many ounces of flour, dried fruit etc. we needed. After making fun of him trying to multi task, we made a table of ingredients we needed to buy, in a spread sheet on the computer (anal I know). We must have spent half an hour doing it as he kept adding to the list. As far as I'm concerned you buy marzipan in a block from the shop, but no, Andrew wants to make his from scratch. Andrew, I said, you can buy royal icing in powdered form from Tesco. Nope, he wants to make that from scratch too. I wouldn't mind but 10 minutes before the cookery books came out, he was planning the decoration of our bedroom this weekend and changing the cupboard doors in the kitchen.

Yes I know he's fab :O)

Anyway, we printed off the table of ingredients and got the packets of dried fruit, nuts & cherries out of the kitchen cupboards. Easy now we had a list. We soon fell about laughing, all the packet stuff was in metric and we had spent ages working out imperial measurements lol. Does that make us old or just daft???

Christmas Hampers

I've made my first Christmas hamper tonight. It's taken ages but I'm pretty pleased with it. It just needs some ribbon, a bow & a gift tag & then it's finished :O) I'll upload a photo tomorrow because it's late now & I'm pooped. Been at work all day, we've started our winter rota now, which means no more evening or weekend shifts until next year. It was great to see Kerri & catch up with all the news at work. We picked the pets up from her tonight too & took some chocolates as a thank you. She loves chocolates!! I've also made something rather fab (if I say so myself) for a very special friend of mine whom I love dearly. It just needs finishing off tomorrow and then posting. I'm not going to say anymore because she reads my blog ;O)

The word today at HSMSHS is broken. I haven't had chance to sort out a photo so I thought I would upload this one from Hardwick Hall.

Got A Lot To Do Today

Just one more sleep until our week away! I’ve spent the last week shopping for birthday & Christmas presents & wrapping them as prettily as I can. I’ve made a food hamper for Claire which is now all finished. I’ve made a special hamper for Teresa as a thank you for letting us stay. I’ve added Lisa’s Uni phone number to my mobile so we can still talk whilst we’re away & her address is in my handbag so we can send a postcard or two. I’ve just got to find the airbeds & pump & gather all the clothes together in a suitcase & the jobs a good un.

Today's word over at HSMSHS is Apple, so not having any left on the tree (Andrew made a gorgeous apple pie & crumble with them) or one on the fruit dish (because of our holiday) I am going to have to cheat. This is what Elena would like for Christmas, an Apple iPod. Did you see what I did there lol. Oh not just any old iPod, no, she wants a green one, the only one that still isn't in stock at Argos *tut*. Took Monkey the hamster & Spongebob & Gary the fish to Kerri's house last night. Kerri is very kindly pet sitting (thank you Kerri xXx). Monkey was fine & sat in the back of the car with Elena but the fish were a bit of a problem. We had taken half their water out and decanted it into clean plastic milk bottles lol. That was the easy bit! Poor Andrew sat in the front of the car with a towel on his knee and the fish tank half full of water. It was like being part of a Top Gear challenge to get to the finish line without getting soaked ROFL. The Island roads are terrible at the best of times, goodness knows what the Council spend the money, oh yes I forgot, speed bumps, every 200 yards! Maybe they should use the extra tarmac to fill in the pot holes!! Anyway, I drove as slowly as possible to minimise any trauma. Good job Kerri's house isn't far away. The fish were fine when we got there, still swimming around as usual. Not sure about Andrew though lol ;O)

If I get chance later I'll up date my blog, if not, I bid you adieu until I am able to connect to the Internet again :O)

Mother Christmas

I'm doing very well so far with my Christmas presents :O) This year I thought I would split the shopping into 3 parts ~ presents for the girls & Andrew ~ presents for family & friends ~ presents for the stockings. I've done a budget so I know how much I have to spend on each person.

So far I've managed to buy the majority of gifts for family & friends with the exception of Nik who is very difficult to buy for lol. I've got an idea but Andrew didn't seem very impressed with it when I got out the shower this morning & announced my plan. Mind you that could be because he was just waking up at the time (he has a lot to put up with doesn't he). He did that man thing of hesitating for a split second longer than he should have done, which always leads to me doubting my original idea ... men lol!

So the next job is to buy 3 x M&S gift vouchers for the grandparents, a gift voucher for Jack, a pressie for Max & I'm nearly there :O) I'm hoping a trip to Newport this week will sort all that out. I have to do it in small shopping trips because I'm not a great lover of shopping.

Talking of shopping, Kerri has gone to the mainland today on a shopping spree with Nicky!! Kerri LOVES shopping & is shopping like a woman possesed at the moment according to the text message I've just recieved lol. I'm at work ~ saving money!! Actually, I would have loved to have gone with them for a girlie day out but we never get the time off work together *tut*. Looking on the bright side though, this is the last Sunday I have to work this year ~ yipee!!

Lisa & Liam have to go back to Uni today. I think they have had a lovely weekend, the weather's been especially good for this time of year. It's been great to see them both :O)

Spent last night tarting up my blog after finding the pictures of Hugh Laurie. Then when I'd changed it all, the clock didn't match so changed that too. I've really got to knuckle down over the next couple of days and get organised for our week away.

Just had a final tot up of Tesco Clubcard points for this quarter and .... drum roll please .... 35263pts so £1410.52 for the Jamaican Holiday fund. This plus the £952 leftover from last quarter has given us a good start :O)

House Rules :O)

I found this & thought how great it was :O)

If you get it out, put it back.
If you drop it, pick it up.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you sleep in it, make it.
If you open it, close it.
If you empty it, fill it up.
If it rings, answer it.
If you wear it, hang it up.
If you eat out of it, wash it up.
If it howls, feed it
If it cries, love it.

I can tell it's Autumn, the girls are saying ~ I know what I would like for Christmas Mum!! Elena more than anyone so I thought I had better start planning so we can spread the cost. These are the folks I have to buy for. I say I have to buy for, that's not true, these are the people I love giving presents to :O)

Andrew ~ Stargate DVD's
Gemma ~ GHD's
Lisa -
Elena ~ iPod
Liam ~ Sorted :O)
Matt
Sam
Mum ~ Gift Vouchers & a Calendar
Dad ~ Gift Vouchers
Jack ~ Gift Vouchers & Wine
Jordanna Boots cupcake, Sundae Glass & DIY Calendar
Andrew's Mum ~ M&S gift voucher & a Calendar
Alistair ~ sweets ~ beer goggles lol
Lorna ~ sweets & a DIY Calendar
Matthew ~ gift voucher
Zoe ~ Boots cupcake, Sundae Glass & DIY Calendar
Teresa ~ sorted :O)
Nik ~ Port
Jake ~ Lynx & DIY Calendar
Josh ~ Voucher
Dan ~ Voucher
Max ~ Playdoh
Chris ~ ?
Kerri ~ Book
Avril ~ Thorntons & Wine

It would be great if that was all (money wise) but we have quite a few birthdays just before Christmas too ~ yikes.
Elena ~ sorted
Mum ~ Sorted
Andrew's Mum ~ Gift voucher & Thorntons
Matthew ~ Gift Voucher

So far Gemma has asked for some GHD hair straighteners & the Spiderwick Chronicles in paperback, Lisa has asked if I could buy Liam a printer, & Elena has asked for ... well to be honest it would be easier if I wrote the things she hasn't asked for lol. Well she would like an iPod that holds loads of songs, a digital camera, a pack of Happy Family playing cards (I kid you not lol), hair straighteners & money to buy iTunes.

One of my favourite website is PTS & the other day someone posted this. (Liam, if you're reading this, print it off, remember it, and all will be well :O))
Nine words women use ...

1.) Fine : This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

2.) Five Minutes : If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

3.) Nothing : This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

4.) Go Ahead : This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

5.) Loud Sigh : This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing.)

6.) That's Okay : This is one of the most dangerous statements a woman can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7.) Thanks : A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome.

8.) Whatever : Is a women's way of saying F@!K YOU!

9.) Don't worry about it, I'll do it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to #3.

ROFLMAO, how true is that !!!

Last but not least, Elena's been taking photos again. I adore this one, it's the evening sun, shining through the snow globe on to the dining room wall :O)

Isn't it beautiful ~ thank you Elena xXx

Still Saving Money

Just sent this to Andrew who's at work ...

OMG I've just been to Tesco!!! Hello by the way ~ lol
I went because I promissed Liam & Lisa I would get 2 more pillows for them before Lisa came home, to save Liam keep carting them from our house to Uni & back again. Lisa also asked me if I could get some sure deodrant for her so she doesn't have to bring loads of stuff with her (remember how heavy her suitcase was last time) :O)
Anyway, went to Mr T's (tesco) after work and spent £44.73 !!!
Bought a few BOGOF's which reduced the bill to £36.08
Used a load of coupons & paid £19.40 !!! How cool is that, the pillows were £5.50 and got loads more stuff including more centrum vitamins etc. & 3 pairs of socks for me {insert huge grin} I used the coupons to get some more toilet roll which had 2 free rolls in the pack. Paid 84p for 6 rolls of loo paper ~ he, he.
Not only that, I managed to get 461 clubcard points added to the bill which is worth £18.40 in club card rewards ~ ROFL. I think I'm getting the hang of this now :O)
How sad is it to get this excited about shopping! Love you lots ~ ME xXx

On the way home I stopped to post some letters and ended up buying 3 Christmas cards to take with us to Claires house on Saturday. One for Claire, Nana Jean & one for our little Godson Max :O)
Elena's been to lantern club after school and finished her lantern ready for the parade on 5th November.

It's Bee(n) a Hive of Activity

Been a busy bee today :O) Ironing done, bed changed etc. etc. I'm feeling in a spring cleaning mood which is a bit worrying seen as it's September??!! It may have something to do with trying to help Lisa get organised for her move to University? OMG there is so much to do. We have to get a TV licence for her ~ £135.50! That's beside the one we have to have at home, scandalous it is, piggin' scandalous!! We have to sort out some kind of insurance so if any of her belongings are damaged or stolen we are covered. We're trying to make a list of all the stuff she'll need. I don't know if it's me, but it seems endless. We have to mark all her belongings with a security pen for obvious reasons. She's made a menu plan so at least she'll know what shopping she needs to get. I think I'm worrying too much ... last night I woke up wondering what she's going to do with a bag of frozen sweetcorn once it's been opened ~ ROFL. Today I'm worrying what Liam will sleep on when he goes and stays with her at the weekends :O) I think I need to chill out a bit don't you ~ lol!

Elena had an OK sort of day at school. She wasn't that thrilled when she came home but nothing had upset her so that's OK. I went to Woollies this afternoon and bought her a DS LITE for Christmas shhh! We got 20% off because it's double discount week for people who work there and their Mum's ~ thank you Gem X

It's been really hot and sunny today ~ bonus! You never know what to wear, one day you're freezing the next you're boiling {rolleyes}! Well there have been some other busy bees here today too, buzzing around the garden :O)

Back To School Tomorrow!

Elena's not happy. She's got to go back to school tomorrow :O) She'll be fine when she gets there, I think it's just the thought of it. So today, we've got to sort out her school bag & PE kit, find all her school uniform and make sure we've got enough stuff for her packed lunch :O)

A bit of a confession, I bought my 1st Christmas present last night off e-bay. Can't say what it is for obvious reasons but it's brand new and a snip of the RRP! Love a bargain I do :O)

Still doing well saving money. My target this month is £300!! Which is a hell of a lot but I'm determined to do it. We've made a menu for this week and next and bought all the ingredients. Tesco are delivering them tomorrow afternoon. We booked the cheapest delivery spot which costs money I know but there is a method in my madness. Because we've cut the food bill by a third my clubcard points have been cut by a third too. We are trying to save them up to pay for bed & breakfast at the Gatwick Hilton the night before we fly to Jamaica. I had a coupon last week that allows you 1000 extra points if you spent £50 or more online. Well, 1000 points is worth £10 or £40 worth of clubcard deals so how could I not take advantage :O) Sad I know ~ lol!

Had some of Andrew's fabulous soup for lunch. We had to defrost it first and when we opened the lid we found this ... Elena said it looked like a mushroom and I told her I thought it looked like a stalagmite. I didn't realise she didn't know what a stalagmite was so we had a long conversation about how they are formed etc. I've promissed her that next time we go back to Buxton to stay with Claire (Andrew's sister) we'll take her to the magnificent Pooles Cavern :O)

Treated Elena this afternoon to a game of crazy golf :O) We went down to Shanklin seafront and had a great time.
Had a Mr Whippy icecream and walked along the seafront to the clock tower :O) My mistake, school doesn't re-open until Wednesday ~ sorry Elena X