Two Little Boys

I was feeling very nostalgic last night and downloaded one of Rolf Harris's hit songs, Two Little Boys, from iTunes. It was the Christmas No.1 in 1969 and I loved it, I still do :O) Mum & Dad came round to see us this afternoon and I told them what I'd done. Dad told me about the time we had gone to the Palace in Manchester to see a show starring Jimmy Tarbuck. I would have been about 5 or 6 and second on the bill was Rolf Harris. I didn't remember any of it apart from some distant recollection of the gap between Tarby's front teeth lol. Anyway, Rolf had just had a hit with Two Little Boys the Christmas before and apparently asked the audience what they wanted him to sing. I had shouted out 2 little boys and so he sang it. How flippin cool is that! I adore Rolf Harris :O)
Back at work today after the Christmas break. It wasn't as bad as I thought, it never usually is. It was great to see Kerri and catch up with all her news from the Big Apple.

Christmas Presents

Oh my goodness me I was spoilt rotten yesterday. I don't think I've ever been as spoilt in my life before :O) Elena bought me Mamma Mia on DVD, Lisa bought me a gorgeous green pashmina & 2 bracelets. Gemma bought me Josh Groben's new CD & I had money from both my Mum & Dad & Andrew's Mum which is going to pay for the taxi to the airport in 100 days time, yes we're on the countdown to the Maldives! One of my best friends Kerri, had given me a lovely little bag with a mirror, lipstick & a pack of Casino Royale playing cards inside. How lucky can one person be :O) If that wasn't enough Andrew wrapped up lots of things for me including chocolates, a universal card reader, a digital photo frame, a tripod for my camera and some necklaces that match the bracelets from Lisa & Liam :O)

I didn't recognise the last present under the tree (you know what's what when you've spent ages wrapping up lol) and was surprised to find my name on it ... to Vanda love from Andrew? I started taking the Christmas paper off it & underneath was another layer of birthday paper. I had no idea what it was. I tore the birthday paper off to find a lap top & bag. I couldn't believe it and emotions got the better of me and started to cry. How spoilt am I? Andrew had wrapped it up with both kinds of paper because it's my birthday present too & I love it :O)

I had another fabulous present from Kerri, which I love (thank you Kerri). It's a little gift bag with a label saying "This kit contains everything you will ever need in life".

Inside is a poem ...
An eraser, to erase all your mistakes.
A penny, so you will never be completely broke.
A marble, for when you lose yours.
Elastic, so you can stretch beyond your limits.
String, so you can hold it together when you are falling apart.
And this gift to let you know someone cares!
How brilliant is that and even more special to think that she took the time to make it for me :O)

Tomorrow's a very exciting day too because Teresa & the gang are coming to stay for a week. We are enjoying the piece & quiet today before Max arrives lol. I can't wait to see them all and catch up with their news. We are having a chill out day today and a big tidy up tomorrow.

Hopefully we will be able to go for another walk this afternoon. We went down along the seafront again yesterday but it was freezing cold. The muscles on the tops of our legs were frozen solid lol. Hopefully it will be a bit a warmer today.

Update: We did go for a walk and the sun was out. It was still freezing cold though :O) We met Kerri, Colin & Colin's Mum on the cliff path and had a bit of a natter with them. We walked along the seafront into Sandown and back again. Gemma & Matt came for tea and Andrew cooked us an amazing Christmas dinner with roast Turkey and all the trimmings.

Taxi

Kerri's back from New York and I was on taxi duty this morning. Look what she bought me, carried all the way home just for me, isn't she just the best :O) It's a Christmas tree decoration all the way from New York and I laughed my head off when I opened it, look it's a taxi :O) Thank you Kerri I love it xXx It sounds as if they had a wonderful time and when they are feeling less jet lagged I'm hoping to go round and look at all the shopping she's bought & the photos she took.

Yesterday morning Andrew went to the doctors to have a piece of vein cut out of his leg. Every time he caught it, it bled for England so the doctor suggested some minor surgery. It hasn't stopped him doing anything but I think it hurts him sometimes. He has to have the stitches taken out on New Years Eve. So when he suggested going to Argos this afternoon to buy a bread maker, I could hardly say no could I. We had a £10 gift voucher which needed using anyway so we've been to get him one which has cheered him up no end :O) It will keep him out of mischief I'm sure not to mention all the fresh bread we'll be getting over the Christmas holidays :O)

After dinner we gave the front garden a spruce. All the dead plants have been chopped down and the leaves picked up, it looks so much better. Steve, Andrews colleague at work, gave him a huge bag that he had some building materials delivered in and it's made the gardening so much easier. We piled all the stuff in the bag, threw it in the back of the bus and took it to the tip. Within half an hour the job was a good un. Much, much easier than trying to get it into smaller plastic bags I can tell you.

Not sure if I mentioned Elena's trip to Newport after school with Lucy on Friday. She had a lovely shopping trip and of course didn't buy anything for herself :O) She is so good with money, she really knows how to look after it. But bless her heart she bought me something, a gorgeous bauble for the tree, isn't she just a sweetheart :O) Thank you Elena but you shouldn't have xXx Received a gorgeous little gift from do Ron Ron at work. A Thornton's truffle ~ yummy!His name's Ron but when we say his name it makes us sing ' Met him on the corner & my heart stood still, a do ron ron ron, a do ron ron' lol. Anyway this is what he gave me with a really sweet little card saying 'to Vanda, ta for lots of help & northern witt n charm this year, all the very best ~ Ron. Just before you say anything, all the girls in the office got one too ;O)

Can't go without mentioning the final of Strictly Come Dancing last night. I really wanted Lisa Snowden & Brendan Cole to win but Kerri did say to me no one has ever won the competition if they've been in the dance off. So I wasn't really surprised that tom Chambers won. I have to say he is rather handsome, an older version of Orlando Bloom? His last dance was brilliant and he did deserve to win. Last but not least, it's a very sad day as we've drunk all the banana & coffee rum between us. We're going to crack open the coconut rum tonight and then we will have to go and get some more next year. That's the best excuse I've heard for another holiday he, he.Just pinched this from Abby's facebook lol. It's all the girls Lisa lives with at UNI, Lisa, Abby, Katy, Emily & Andy :O)

Can't Think Of A Title

Yesterday morning I took Kerri, Colin & Colin's Mum to the catamaran in Ryde. Kerri was so excited because it was the start of their journey to New York. On Saturday I made a CD with some songs of New York on it and played it full blast all the way to the boat. I hope they have a fantastic time. I'm missing Kerri already, work just isn't the same when she's not there.

Mum & Dad bought Jack & Jordana round to see us. Jack was on good form as usual, telling us loads of jokes :O) Unfortunately I can only remember two of them ... Two packets of peanuts were walking down an alley & one was assaulted lol. Two bags of crisps were jogging down the road when a taxi pulled over & asked if they wanted a lift. "No thanks," they said, "we're Walkers!" He never changes does he :O)

My new bedding was delivered yesterday too, it's lovely. Today it's been washed & dried and put on the bed so the bedroom's looking very swish :O)Not done a lot today apart from work and eat tea, oh and play Tetris on Facebook (damn you Nicky for sending me the link lol). The new oven & hob are arriving tomorrow which is a bit of a pain in the bum because I had the day planned but C'est la Vie! Can't complain can I :O)

Had loads of Christmas cards over the last few days including one from my best friend from school, Nicki and her husband Simon. She'd enclosed a lovely montage of snapshots of all the family. Can't believe how grown up her girls look. I've done a similar thing to put inside the Christmas cards to the older members of the family. They always seem to like it.

Start Spreading the News ...

What a great day at work today :O) We've had loads of work to do which didn't need much concentration so we just laughed & talked our way through it. Kerri's off to New York on Monday so it called for a three part harmony of 'Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today, I want to be a part of it, New York, New York' lol. Between us (Me, Kerri & Nicky) we actually made it rain lol. We listened to the Fairytale of New York by the Pogues & Stings, I'm an English man in New York, just to get in the mood. I am so excited for her & can't wait for her to come back & tell us all about it :O) I volunteered for Taxi duty and in return Kerri is going to bring me back a decoration for the Christmas tree. How cool is that! It will go lovely with my Rastafarian snowman & black Santa from Jamaica. My Christmas tree from Egypt & the lovely Mickey Mouse head that Gemma bought me from Disneyland Paris.

Dotty Di called round when we got home to give Elena a belated birthday present. Di is one of Elena's Godparents. I haven't seen much of her lately and no wonder. Her husband Steve has had mental health problems for years now & a few months ago had a massive stroke. He spent 12 weeks in intensive care in Southampton and they thought they'd lost him. I'm not so sure luckily is the right word but luckily he made it and he's now at home. The problem is he can't be left alone at all. His mental health problems are even worse. He's lost the sight in his left eye and has only just started walking again. He keeps trying to set light to things so poor Di has to be with him 24/7. She's not much older than me and I feel so sorry for her. She's the same old Di though, keeps smiling through it all. Goodness me it makes you thankful for what you have doesn't it.

I'm An Office Manager Get Me Out Of Here!

I am shattered today. Not physically, just mentally. We haven't done anything at all at work this week until today & then everyone wanted something from me and everything had a deadline. It's like waiting for a bus, you don't see any for ages & then 3 come along at once. I had fun though trying to juggle it all so I'm not complaining. I have got the brochure to the printers (with the help of Phil) and tried on numerous occasions to pay them over the phone with the bosses credit card, but everyone was too busy to talk to me so I'll have to try again tomorrow. The Sun newspaper wanted a photo of the holiday park and a 25 word summary to put in there glossy booklet. I mean, how can you sell a holiday park in 25 words? Paul is writing a bookings programme which is now scheduled to go live on Monday so fingers crossed it will be OK. He's worrying me slightly as the enquiries programme is not working at all. He assures me it will be OK when he's finished so I'm not going to lose sleep over it just yet. The touring boards are finished and I've sorted out the prices for next year & designed a new flyer to go in the brochure. We didn't know we were doing touring until last week when the boss came into the office and told us. We've had to come up with how it's all going to work, how to advertise it etc. We've got to sort the ferries out next and OMG I could go on & on there's so much to do. Then I'm losing Kerri for a week. She's off to Blackpool in the morning for a big dancing competition. She usually does really well & comes home with armfulls of trophies so I wish her all the luck in the world. Go get um Kerri :O)

Mum & Dad came round about 10 mins after I'd got in from work and bought Elena an advent calendar. They left about 10 mins before Andrew got home. We had tea, did the housework and watched I'm a Celebrity and that's about it. Well apart from talking to Lisa on the phone which was fab. I love chatting to her. She sounded sooo tired poor thing. She's got a couple of plays to read tonight so she's got her work cut out. But apart from that we chatted about Christmas & sleeping arangements, secret santas & food and all was good :O)

Hiroshima, Japan

I've learnt something new today. Kerry was playing Facebook's Geo Challenge at work this afternoon and cursing because she was struggling with the cities. The game gives you a world map & a list of cities and you have to click where you think they all are. Now most of them are OK, we're both fine in Europe & America but when it comes to the middle & far East we really struggle. We know Seoul is in Korea but to find Korea on the map is quite hard. Then Hiroshima came up which sparked a conversation about the atom bomb. Tim (at work) asked us if we knew the name of the plane that dropped the bomb? Both Kerri & I looked blank. It's the Enola Gay said Tim, OMD (Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark) sang about it in the 80's. Did you know that?

Got home tonight and my dearest friend had sent two BOGOF McDonald cinema vouchers. Isn't that thoughtful, and in her delicate state too. Thanks Teresa xXx

These will come in very useful for taking Elena's friends to the Cinema for her birthday. She's still undecided what she wants to do. I hope she makes a decision soon, there's only fourteen days left! She's very busy at the moment with drama so I have even suggested that she has two birthdays like the Queen. A family one on the 10th December & one for her friends on 10th January. Watch this space.

Now I've been very naughty & pinched this off Teresa's blog (I hope she's not cross) just look, isn't it gorgeous :O) This is my little peanut, I say MY peanut because I have the best job in the world. I am it's mummys best friend (grin) what do you think, is it a girl or a boy? Half of me wants it to be a boy so Tree can pass all Max's clothes down to him but the other half of me want's it to be a little girl. Do you know what, I don't really care as long as both Teresa & the baby stay healthy. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving on the other side of the pond. So I just want to wish Chris and all her friends a happy thanksgiving :O)

The Duchess

Kerri came round yesterday so showed her the new carpets that were fitted in Elena's room. We went to Ryde after Elena had got home from school to pick up a second hand guitar that I'd found on Wightbay. Elena loves it :O) Went to the cinema & watched The Duchess. It wasn't the best film I'd seen but I did recognise a lot of Chatsworth House which was fab. It's based on a true story which was really interesting. Made me & Kerri grateful of the life we lead nowadays. Next time we start moaning we are just going to think of the way the Duke of Devonshire treated his wife lol.

It's Kerri's birthday today. I received a text message from her this morning (remember the gift I bought) saying ... I just wet myself laughing. It's not the beak it's the motion! When I opened it I thought ahh, you know me so well ... phew, she's still talking to me then lol.

Bit of Everything ~ not for the faint hearted!!

OMG I am SO excited, I can hardly contain myself lol.

It's a very important day today on the Vanda calendar.

Wilson, Thirteen, Chase, Kutner, House, Foreman, Cuddy, Cameron, Taub.

Season 5 of House is being aired tonight over in America so we will be able to watch it via the tinternet sometime tomorrow ~ woo whooo!! I just can't wait :O)

I have a bit of a confession too. I went on the Internet on Sunday night to find a birthday pressie for my friend Kerri. We get on so well & have loads in common so I thought I could would push the boat out & buy her something she will love. Something she has been talking about for weeks, months even. Something I know she will get a lot of pleasure from. It arrived today in a very discreet box and when I opened it I had second thoughts. Is this the type of gift you buy your friend? Will she find it amusing or will I have crossed a line? Dare I tell you what I've bought?

Let me give you a bit of background info first. Kerri & I share the same taste in men, thoughtful, hardworking, loving but unfortunately not typical specimens. Apparently most men think about sex every few minutes but ours certainly don't lol. In fact it can go months before it even enters their heads PMSL. So Kerri & I talk about what we haven't had, all the time. Some of the conversations we have had in the past have been hilarious and very, what's the word, explicit. She is much more open with her husband about the situation than I am with Andrew, (not for the want of trying I might add) but then how can I possibly moan about a man who works hard, cooks, always comes home and looks after us all fantastically. I can't can I BUT women have needs. So with this in mind I have bought her (insert embarrassed giggle) a pink duck for the bath. Not just any pink duck, one that vibrates ROFLMAO!! OMG will she continue to be my friend after Thursday? Watch this space.

She's coming round tomorrow afternoon & then we are going with Gemma to watch The Duchess at the cinema. I'm not sure if I will like it or not but it was filmed at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire so I want to see if I can recognise any of it. We visited Chatsworth last October.

Kerri's husband is working away all week so she is all on her own. She's used to him working away but spending your birthday on your own is a bit pants so she's coming to us for tea :O) That's if she's still talking to me lol.

Changing the subject completely I am hooked at the moment on the BBC iPlayer. I'm not one of those women who sit all night watching TV (I sit infront of the computer instead lol). But I do like catching up on all the programmes I would have watched if I'd rembered they were on. This afternoon I watched the first programme in a series about the Amazon. This week I have caught up with Dawn gets a Baby, Mock the Week, Mutual Friends and after our visit to the cinema tomorrow night I will catch up with Who Do You Think You Are ~ After I've watched the new episode of House of course lol.