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.

Freezing

We all had a bit of a lie in this morning which was lovely.

Elena needed to take her tea with her to her first show tonight, so we went up to Morrison's to get some of her favourite pasta. I asked her if she had everything she needed when we set off and of course she said yes and of course I believed her. We got to the church in Ryde and as she got out of the bus a look of shock & horror appeared on her face. She had forgotten her costume!! OMG I had to drive all the way home and return with the said costume ~ kids!!! That will teach me not to go through every little thing with her :O) Maybe she's not as grown up as I hoped lol. The show went according to plan so all was good in the end. She's just got 2 more performances next weekend to do and then that will be the end of running her all over the Island for a little while.

Andrew has now completed 4 bedrooms. This was the official announcement this evening as he looked at me with a huge grin on his face. God I love that man :O)

So back to the kitchen and we've had yet another idea. It's funny how things snowball isn't it.

My original idea was to replace the chest freezer in the utility room with a new one. Then I got to thinking, if we replaced the chest freezer with an 'under counter' freezer, the work top would go straight through from wall to wall. The down side being the gap it would leave.

Plan B was to have the full work top with the dishwasher, washing machine, freezer & an extra fridge underneath. We are always short on fridge space. Andrew decided we could put the chest freezer in the garage and use it for big stuff, bread, turkey etc. as the small freezer wouldn't have enough space in it. The only down side to this plan would be 4 appliances being plugged in & the electricity they would use. Not only that, I think we would get annoyed hunting for stuff. The law of Sod states that the item you were looking for is always in the last place you look lol. So a visit to Curry's yesterday was in order. Huge problem, we've seen one of those American fridge freezers with ice & cold water dispensers and fallen in love with it. It ticked every box. One appliance with an energy rating of A. Big enough to have double the fridge space & the same amount of freezer space. No more ice cube making, cold water whenever you need it, heaven. It would allow another cupboard in the kitchen where the fridge is now. This would be extremely handy as the wall cupboards are going to have to be removed above the cooker. Just one downside, the size! It is huge and our utility room is very small. The only other suggestion I could make was to move, so Andrew could have a big kitchen but we both laughed at that one and said Nah! He couldn't see a problem taking a couple of cupboards out to fit it in, so as of 5pm tonight it's this one but we may change our minds tomorrow lol. OMG did you hear the news? Theo Paphitis is interested in buying Woolies, did he hear me?

Great Expectations :O)

Andrew's nearly finished our bedroom today. The new carpet's arriving on Wednesday morning so it's all coming together nicely. He's taken all the handles off the wardrobes & doors (there are loads) and sprayed them all silver. He's finished all the painting and even replaced 5 double glazed units around the house that were broken. Not only that he's made Christmas puddings this morning and they are steaming as I type. Elena slept at Gemma's flat last night so I went to pick her up. She had had the best time ever & can't wait to do it again. That's not a hint or anything. Gemma's looking after her on the 13th December when we go out for our Christmas dinner. Have I got the best family in the world or what :O) Look at them, all grown up ~ aww.

Took Elena back to the Methodist Church in Ryde this afternoon for yet another rehearsal for her forthcoming show, Rock Nativity. We called in at McDonald's for lunch & to get our BOGOF cinema ticket. They are running a promotion at the moment so it would be rude not to get a free ticket wouldn't it. Called in at Tesco on the way back home to get my eyes checked. I'm not sure if it was me or not but I didn't feel as if the lady checked them properly? It was so rushed. I have to have varifocal (granny) glasses this time so may try somewhere else before I order some. I don't want to fork out a lot of money & not be happy with them. Good job the test was free.

I had a chat with Lisa this afternoon about what she'd been up to this weekend. Liam asked if I'd read the synopsis of the next House episode and told me of a new (well new to me) website ~ TV.com

House

Airs: Tuesday November 25, 2008

A man takes over Cuddy's office and holds House, Thirteen, and several patients hostage. His demand? A diagnosis. The man forces Thirteen to act as a guinea pig for his treatments and House has to end the standoff before a SWAT team opens fire.

Now that's got to be worth watching hasn't it :O)

Then my lovely, wonderful, mad friend Teresa phoned me and asked if she could book a caravan for 7 at New Year. Of course I told her no, but I knew of a lovely house with central heating, double glazing & it was available on an all inclusive basis. Then it struck me ~ 7 ?!! Teresa, Nik, Dan, Josh, Jake, Max & who? OMG she's pregnant. Teresa is having another baby, how cool is that :O) The only down side to it all is the 250 miles & a ferry crossing between us. But the best news is that they are still coming to see us at New Year! Andrew & I are going to sleep downstairs so Teresa & Nik can have our bed. I can't have a pregnant lady sleeping on the floor can I. I've told her there will of course be some very strict rules, no cooking, no washing or drying up infact the only thing she is going to be allowed to do, is anything that isn't classed as housework :O) OMG we are going to have another little baby I can't wait (((insert a huge grin here))) how flippin exciting is that :O)

Prince Edwards Visit

Elena had the day off school today with permission from Miss Chase. HRH Prince Edward was visiting the Island & Elena, along with most of the members of South Wight Youth Theatre, performed their Roman Roots Show whilst he was there. Unfortunately we weren't allowed anywhere near but Elena said she was stood next to him so she's made up. This year she has seen 2 members of the Royal family :O) The Isle of Wight County Press has the story here. All I have to do now is track down a photo.

Viva Pinata

I treated Elena to the Viva Pinata game today, on the DS. Liam treated Lisa to the Xbox 360 version of it too. So guess what they're doing this afternoon? Lisa loved the original version and would play nothing else :O)

It's Liam's last night with us tonight. He goes off to start his 2nd year at Uni tomorrow. He seems excited about it but probably doesn't want to leave Lisa. They have the rest of their life together but that's easy for me to say isn't it. It will be starnge without him & then even stranger when Lisa goes next week.

Elena started back at drama this morning and has been asked to perform in 'Roman Roots' again. This time {drum roll please} infront of Prince Edward!!! How cool is that. She needs to be at the rehearsal next Saturday and we need to be in Roehampton next Saturday too. Isn't that always the way! Gemma has very kindly offered to look after her for the day whilst we take Lisa & all her stuff up to Uni. I have the best family in the world don't I :O)

Last but not least, a photo from the Bestival (which I can hear as I sit typing this through closed windows/doors & heavy rain ~ 6 miles away) don't know who they are but look at the mud ;O)And a video from You Tube ROFL ~ here

What a load of Rubbish :O)

Apart from getting the last bits ready for Lisa we've been making Elena's costume for her party at drama on Friday night. Last year it was a 'T' party where she had to go dressed as something beginning eith the letter 'T'! She went as a game of Twister ~ lol. This year it's an 'R' party, so she wanted to go as Rubbish ~ ROFL. So that's what we made! A dress made from a bin bag and covered it in rubbish :O)

Roman Roots Part 2

Just come back from watching Elena and I'm so proud of her. She did really well, spoke all her lines clearly and in a good strong voice so we could hear her every word ~ bless. We watched the play in one part of the Roman Villa then moved to the top and watched a second part. For part 3 we were supposed to go outside and watch them dance but the weather was so wet and windy that we had to stay inside. We ventured outside for part 4 and OMG it was freezing.The wind was soooo strong you couldn't even hold up an umbrella! 5th July, it's more like the middle of November! Don't laugh but I took this really terrible photo of me & Andrew just to show how awful it was. This is the audience freezing to death ~ lol!These are the wonderful kids performing & what a great job they did too. Back inside for a cup of tea and then the final part of the play. All in all they did a fantastic job despite the awful weather. These last photos are of the Roman Villa itself. It's a wonderful place and definitely on my top ten list of places to visit on the Isle of Wight.Apologies for the photos, I've still got to learn how to use my camera indoors and from a distance :O)

Roman Roots Part 1

Got home from work today to find Gemma with a new car. I don't mean new as in brand new, I mean new to her. She's done a straight swap for her VW Golf and got a soft top instead. She seemed pleased with it but we didn't have that much time to talk as she was just on her way to work. When I got in the house, Andrew was sat in the front room having a drink with a work collegue. Now I don't profess to be the best dressed person in the world and neither does Andrew but this guy looked like a Union Jack. He was wearing white trousers, white shirt & a red, white & blue tie in the widdest diagonal stripes you've ever seen. I know it's awful but I had a job not to laugh. He seemed such a nice person too. Lisa came downstairs when he'd gone and asked me who he was and, I quote, "What the hell was he wearing"??? LOL!
It's Elena's big night tonight, I've scanned the poster :O) I bet you can't guess what the weather's doing {rolleyes} raining for a change. I tell ya, we'll all be sprouting webbed feet in a bit if it doesn't stop soon. I'm praying it's dry tonight just for the drama groups sake. Picked Elena up from school, otherwise she would have been like a drowned rat. "Guess what", she said, "I thought it was sports day today and it wasn't, it's next week!" She had gone to school this morning in her PE kit but had luckily taken her school uniform with her. She didn't seem bothered and saw the funny side of it, so we both laughed :O)