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.

The Jolly Sailor

Oh dear, poor Andrew, he's been in a bit of a tizz today. He's been waiting for Claire to phone to tell him how is Mum is and at one point he was ready to drop everything and go up north. The hospital said she's had a comfortable night but was still very poorly. Towards dinnertime he was feeling a bit better because he'd actually managed to talk to his Mum. They let you use mobile phones now in hospitals luckily. She told him she was feeling a bit better and not to bother going to see her. It still hasn't eased the way he's feeling. I don't think it will until he's been up to see her. We had a chat and he wants to finish work early on Friday and travel up to the hospital and come back on Sunday. Of course I'll go with him but it's going to be such a problem at work as I usually do the Sunday shift *tut*. I just hope she doesn't take a turn for the worse in the meantime.

No.6 of my 365 project :O)My keys; Andrew bought me the red fob for Christmas, it's a torch and will come in very handy :O)

This afternoon Gemma, Elena & I decided to go for a walk. We drove down to the Jolly Sailor car park in Sandown so we could walk to Yaverland & back. Just near the chip shop Gemma spotted Mum & Dad so we pulled over and had a chat, they were going for a walk too. We met up in the car park a few minutes later and set off to Yaverland.

Gemma, Mum, Dad, Me thanks Elena xXx Gemma's photo of the swan on the pond Elena's photo of the swan Me trying to straddle the wall ~ ouch! Mum, Dad & Gemma in the car park at Yaverland Elena with Culver Cliff in the background
A man actually windsurfing & it was freezing! The Champions with Gemma starring as Alexander Bastido lol A Pepsi for your thoughts :O) Gemma with a nice warm coffee Gemma, Elena & the Jolly Sailor

Senses

A few days ago, my lovely Gemma started a blog of her own and I think it's fab. If you want to have a look it's called Little Gem. It makes me feel so much more closer to her since she moved out. (Lisa & Liam say that about my blog too when they read it, so I now know what they mean.)

Elena's been a good girl too & written on her blog everynight this week. She loves taking photos and seems to have the 'eye' for it. Her blog is here if you're interested :O) I'm hoping it will help her with her English if nothing else.

Here's the fifth photo of my 365 project.

No.5We have some hyacinth bulbs flowering in the conservatory. I wish you could smell the scent, it's gorgeous. It beats any shop bought air freshner hands down.

Lisa & Liam look as if they've been having fun since they went back to Uni. I snook these off facebook, I hope Andy doesn't mind (thank you Andy). All the girls together, Abby, Lisa, Katie, Emily & Andy at Laverstoke GdnsAll the girls again outside the theatre (I'm not jealous, honest) :O) Liam & Abby eating pizza :O)

Andrew had a night off from the utility room last night & I don't blame him either. He did, however, go shopping at lunch time today & get new shock absorbers for the washing machine because it's making such a racket on the spin cycle. He's a real superstar isn't he :O)

Me, well for the first time in my life I feel fat! I know what it's down to, eating the wrong foods (chocolate & cheese being the main culprits) and not enough exercise. When I went to the doctors a few weeks ago for the dreaded smear test the nurse weighed me. As we have no scales in our house I had no idea how much I weighed (not that it matter's really) but I was shocked to find out I was 12 stone ~ yikes! So I'm going to start by walking more & eating a lot less chocolate & cheese ~ easy ;O)

Update: Some bad news today, Andrew's Mum (involuntarily visualisation of a hippo wallowing in mud (thank you Reginald Perrin)) has had a heart attack. The reason she was taken into hospital was because she had fluid on her lungs & round her heart which resulted in an irregular heart beat. This in turn triggered the heart attack. She's poorly obviously but in the best place. There's no love lost sadly but I do feel sorry for Andrew because it's his Mum after all.

Musical Appliances

Poor Elena is really tired since she started back at school yesterday. It's not that she's been going to bed late or anything like that, she's got a cough. One of those tickly coughs that drives you mad. She sounds like a dog barking & it keeps her awake most of the night. I've suggested ear plugs so she can't hear herself coughing, but she didn't find that funny, she must be tired.

Tomorrow the electrician is coming at something stupid o'clock, to upgrade the fuse box. Good job I've been in a tidying up/sorting out/getting rid of all the cr*p mood, cos if he had tried getting in the under stairs cupboard a month ago, he would never have found his way out lol. Luckily for him, there is only a few coats, the hoover, ironing board, dressing up box etc. under there now. Well I say it's in there, I've just moved it all out so he can see what he's doing. Elena in the under stairs cupboard.The big problem I have with him doing it is that it's my day off. I won't have any electric until he's finished! No heating, no kettle, no computer, no radio, no nothing and it's the coldest week of the year -6o OMG!!!! I'm just going to have to get in bed with Lisa & Liam, there's nothing else for it lol.

Last night Liam helped Andrew move the chest freezer from the utility room to the garage to make room for the fridge. OMG you should have seen the muck underneath! I think a lot of it was saw dust from Monkey the hamster's house, or that's what I'm telling myself *cough*. We are playing musical kitchen appliances at the moment don't you know. Mind you I still haven't got a delivery date for the enormous fridge freezer we ordered from John Lewis. Must give them a ring to see what's happening.

I must phone the opticians tomorrow to see where my glasses have got to too!?? Working for a living takes up too much free time doesn't it!!!

I got in from work this afternoon & Gem had let her self in and made a cup of tea for me. She's a good un. She's made herself a CV which she bought round for me to look at. Apart from adding a couple of things she'd done a brilliant job. I just hope she finds a new job soon. She's a hard worker and an asset to any company.

Andrew cooked us a fry up tonight. I say fry up, most of it was grilled apart from the eggs. He really is Superman :O) What have Lisa & Liam been doing?

Well Liam is on an Xbox marathon & Lisa has been doing work, work & more work in between attending the allergy clinic (she isn't allergic to anything, it's a trial she's been part of since she was a baby) and driving lessons.

Woolworths Doors Are Officially Closed

Today Teresa and the gang made an early start home. I hate saying goodbye, it's the worse part. Max was not a happy chappy poor thing but he seemed OK when he got in the car.

Me & Andrew spent the day cleaning & tidying up and made yet another trip to Lynnebottom Tip. This afternoon I've been sorting through some old photos trying to put them in some sort of order. Suzy B has given me an idea of publishing them all into a book, similar to the one's she's made from her blog. I'll have a go.

Gemma is officially redundant from her job. Woolworths is no more! I will miss poping in to see them all but not as much as they will miss their jobs poor things. Nobody can dampen their spirits though. Hope they can all find a job soon.

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.

Festive Happenings

Gemma came round last night to borrow the fairy costume. She found the tutu but no wings or halo. We spoke to Lisa on the phone and she had them at Uni so she's going to bring them home tomorrow. I did offer a Santa suit that I made years ago so she tried it on. We were in hysterics laughing at her as I thinks it must be 2 sizes too small lol. The reason she wanted the fairy outfit's because she's dressing up at work on Christmas Eve. The last time she will be able to do it unfortunately as Woolworths closes a week later and Gemma, Skateboard Steve, Sharon & all the gang will be made redundant. What a lovely Christmas present hey! I spoke to Kat yesterday in Newport Woolies and she's going to go back to college to be retrained. She was hoping that Gemma would go with her. I hope she does.Elena's last day tomorrow at school. She's finishing at lunch time so her & Lucy are going to Newport on the bus to do some shopping. They are going to get a lift back home with Andrew so I will have a couple of hours on my own when I finish work tomorrow, well until Lisa & Liam come home that is. It's beginning to feel like Christmas now :O) It could be all the decorations around the house, or all the presents I've been wrapping. I'm not sure what it is but I am feeling very festive :O)

The new cooker & hob came yesterday so the kitchen is all ready for it's face lift now. All Andrew needs is a few more hours in a day and some energy to go with it & then the kitchen will be done. He's been baking tonight especially for Liam as he asked for some mince pies the other day. So we have home made mincemeat covered with home made pastry & they are gorgeous. In fact I'm eating one as I type ~ yummy scrummy :O) Not only that, he's put his homemade marzipan on the Christmas cake too. I can't wait to get my teeth into that!

I Love Wednesdays :O)

I watched the new episode of House this morning and what a great episode it was too.

Gemma & Matt came round to see me & bring season 4 of House back. It was lovely to see them. We spent a good couple of hours playing Wii games and chatting.

The carpet fitter called while they were here & fitted the new bedroom carpet. It looks fab and has changed the room completely. It's exactly the same as the one in Lisa's & Elena's room. I've left it up to Andrew to get what he wants. I went to order the new curtains so they will be here at the end of next week. By then we will have all four bedrooms finished :O)

Andrew is dying to get back working down stairs on the kitchen & is hoping to get one side of the kitchen & utility room finished before Santa arrives. It means 2 new worktops & cupboard doors. The problem with decorating is that it makes the old stuff look really old. So we've had a long discussion about replacing the freezer. We have a small chest freezer at the moment which is working fine but is really rusty (and unsightly) on the outside. We are going to put it in the garage and use it for 'big stuff' so Andrew informs me. Seen as he's the chef I'm not arguing. We are going to buy a small freezer with drawers in, to go under the work top in the utility room. That way we can have a full work top from one end to the other. I think he's sick of us putting stuff on the freezer lid which is a pain when you need to get something out. So it's all happening :O)

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)

The Dairyman's Daughter

Ooo err misses. Andrew asked me out tonight!! :O) :O) :O)

This is going to be a short blog as it's late. Andrew's been superman again today. Emulsioned our bedroom & glossed the door. Touched up Lisa's ceiling where he's fitted the new light. Planted the bulbs we bought in the front garden & came shopping with me this morning. I can't tell you how much I love that man, the words just don't exist.

Elena's been to drama this morning and gone back with Gemma this afternoon to her flat. It's Elena's first sleepover & isn't it fantastic to have an older sister that loves you so much that she's prepared to look after you like that ~ thanks Gem xXx I am a very lucky Mum to have such fabulous daughters aren't I.

So tonight, Andrew came downstairs and said, 'do you fancy going out?' Of course I jumped at the chance (when you've been married as long as us you have too lol) so we went to the Dairyman's daughter in Arreton for a bite to eat & a drink. We discussed all the things we'd love to do to the house & the things we'd buy if money was no object. We made a decision (a hard one) & decided that the outside Christmas lights were not going up this year. Not because we were being Bah Humbug, it just boiled down to the amount of work & time it takes (and Andrew's earned a rest) and the cost of the electricity. Then we both agreed that we have to get our priorities in order & holidays have to come first. It's so lovely when you think the same way.

So I missed Strictly Come Dancing & the X-Factor and do I care, no way, going out with Andrew tops the list every time. I did manage to watch I'm a Celebrity though & it was a good one :O)

Just pinched these from Lisa's facebook. The theme of their bop last night was Beauty & the Geek ROFL. So may I present, Lisa, Liam & Katy ...

Flatmates

It's SPS (self portrait Saturday) at HSMSHS today. Usually I don't join in because I hate seeing photos of me. I am much happier the other side of the lens. Today I've made an exception and put this one on my blog. I can't take any credit for it (obviously), as it was taken by my best friend in the whole wide world ~ Teresa :O) Although I am cringing at the sight of it I like it because it has encapsulates how I felt at the time ~ happy :O) Did I tell you we had a really fab time up north? (grin)

We've had a busy day today. Took Lisa to the doctors this morning and did a bit of shopping while I was waiting for her. Went to Tesco with Andrew & managed to get season 4 of House on DVD ~ yay!! Went to Newport this afternoon with Elena so I am definitely all shopped out this week :O) Andrew cooked us all a fabalicious roast chicken dinner with home made sausage & chestnut stuffing tonight with syrup sponge & custard for pudding. Then after tea we helped Gemma move all her stuff into her new flat. We made a chain of people down the stairs and passed things down from person to person until everything was moved from our bedroom to the bus, team work or what!! Then once we'd loaded it all in the bus we made another chain at Gemma's flat and passed it from outside right through to the front room. Hopefully now she'll be able to find all the stuff she knew she had but couldn't find :O)

A few weeks ago I was trying to find photos of the girls to make into calendars for the grandparents for Christmas. I realised how few pictures I have with all 3 of them. So I ceased the opportunity tonight. You can see by every ones red faces how hard we'd worked :O)