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)

BNG

Yesterday I started clearing out the cupboards in the kitchen above the cooker, so when Andrew needs to take them down, they will be ready. I've thrown half the stuff away & found new homes for everything else ~ nearly! I was really surprised at the amount of muck *cringe*, I'm not joking, the only thing I can put it down to is my new glasses lol. Can I blame it on them? BNG (before new glasses) everything looked clean, granted not spotless because there aren't enough hours in a day (and shhhh ~ Andrew's a really messy chef lol) but it looked OK. Now I have new glasses I can't believe how grubby everything is, so it was lovely to have a good clear out & clean up :O) I suspect one of the main reasons really is that I spend far too much time attached to my laptop instead of investigating all the nooks & crannies around the house. Oh well, life's too short isn't it.

Andrew did a bit more filling etc. We have a delivery date for the new monster size fridge/freezer. It's arriving next Friday 23rd Jan. It's going to be so nice to be able to fit everything in there and not have to take a dozen things out to find the grated cheese that you know is somewhere amongst the stacks of food lol. One of the things I threw away yesterday was the ice cube trays because *drum roll please* we won't be needing them. The new appliance makes it's own ice cubes!! How cool is that, well yes I know ice cubes are cool, but you know what I mean :O)

Andrew finished filling etc last night. Usually the alarm clock wakes us up in the morning. It's not a horrible buzzer or anything like that because that would be just cruel. Instead we are woken up by music being broadcast from the best radio station in the world ~ Wave 105. Well this morning, while it was still dark and we were still in the land of nod, the telephone rang. Talk about stick you to the ceiling! Andrew's sister Claire was on the other end telling Andrew that his Mum is in hospital. Now this might sound horrible but what can Andrew do at that time in the morning? Could she not have phoned an hour later? Andrew's Mum's always ill so you never know if it's serious or not. Maybe I'm being a little harsh.

This is the fourth photo of my 365 project, only another 361 to go lol ...

No 4 The cupboards have been emptied ready for Andrew to work his magic in the kitchen & utility room :O)

This morning, while I'm sat here typing, I'm listening to the Beach Boys singing 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'. It always reminds me of the film 50 First Dates. If you haven't seen it, watch it, it's hilarious. Right I'm off to work now, toodle pip.

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OMG what a day at work. The one thing I've been dreading for weeks has happened. The Sun £9.50 bookings have started to arrive and to cut a very long story short, I have no computer programme that works beyond 23rd September. The big boss has now got involved and is 'kicking his son's bottom' as I type. Those weren't his exact words ;O) His son has been installing a new booking system since Whit week last year. The panic button has been pressed a few times today I can tell you!

Gemma followed me in as I got home from work. Bless her heart, she had picked up some minced beef from Lidl's for me on her way. She's taken Elena to see the film 'Bedtime Stories' isn't she the best :O) Look how gorgeous these two are.

Don't Panic Duck!!!

Do you want the good or the bad news from work today? The good news is, that Lauren has got engaged to the man of her dreams, Jay. I hope they will be really happy together :O) This is her engagement ring, unusual isn't it. The bad news is, Paul STILL hasn't done anything about updating our bookings system and I am getting really worried now. Never mind, Teresa bought me some extra buttons for my keyboard at work, which have been stuck in place this morning, I'm sure they will come in very handy, lol. Last night after tea, Andrew, although he felt cream crackered, continued working in the utility room. He took out the double cupboard on the left hand side, finished plumbing in the washing machine & dishwasher and plastered over the wall where he'd moved the plugs etc. It's getting there now and should be ready for the new mighty fridge freezer that's due to be delivered sometime next week. Here's the second photo of my 365 project ...

No. 2Andrew thought I'd lost the plot when I bought Elena these ducks for the bath at Christmas but I knew she'd love them ~ and she did (cos she's quackers) :O)

One headline that caught my eye in the news today was this...

Almost the entire 1911 census goes online for public access on Tuesday. Organisers hope to avoid a repeat of the deluge that shut the 1901 census website last time.

The answers to thousands of questions lurk within the two kilometres of shelving space taken up by the 1911 census documents at the National Archives in London.

Among the eight million returns are family secrets that have lain undiscovered for generations and pages inhabited by the previously unknown relatives of those alive today.

I hadn't realised the 1911 census was due out so soon. I presumed it would be out on the 1 Jan 2012 as the 1901 was online 1 Jan 2002. I've downloaded a couple of pages of my family which is really exciting. It was the first time people filled out the census returns themselves so it's great to see their handwriting :O)

Andrew's not very happy today, his beloved Stargate Atlantis is coming to an end. Tonight they are showing the last ever episode and he's gutted. Me, I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment of House. It's being aired in the USA on Monday 19th Jan ~ roll on!

Resolutions & Passamaquoddy

I have forgotten to blog my New Years resolutions so here goes...
1) To eat less
2) To exercise more
or should that be eat more & exercise less?? I always get those two mixed up ;O)
And just for Teresa
3) DRINK MORE TEA!! lol

So it's Sunday & I'm sat at work on the most uncomfortable chair in the world, (note to self: bring in a cushion to stop certain body parts from falling asleep) waiting for the bookings to pour in. Nothings happened yet so I have decided to read the book Elena bought me for Christmas (along with the Mamma Mia DVD & wheat bag). I can read now, did I tell you :O) It's Stephen Fry's book of his tour around America. Guess what greeted me on the first page! This ... I know, it's nothing to get excited about really, but we are a very rare breed you know, us 'Vanda's' lol.

Anyway, in between phone calls that have since trickled in & the paper work related to them I have begun my tour around all 50 states of the USA courtesy of the wonderful Mr Fry. I'm in Maine at the moment. The only thing I know about Maine is their famous lobsters! You know, in the film Crocodile Dundee, when the baddy announces he's had his lobsters 'flown in from Maine' ;O) Another piece of useless but exciting information (for me anyway) is a place called Passamaquoddy ~ it really exists! Is that not the place they go on about in the Disney film Pete's Dragon? I thought they'd made it up lol.

So Maine & New Hampshire have been and gone (along with a piece of Andrew's homemade bread smothered in homemade lemon curd & several cups of tea) and I'm now about to travel through Massachusetts. The land of Andrew's Godfather, Brian & the source of lots of Andrew's photos before he found me. This is what the title says ~ 'By twelve o'clock it's all over and everyone is in bed. There's more true Gothic horror in a digestive biscuit, but never mind.' ROFL I love Stephen Fry or more to the point, I love the way his brain works :O) Laugh, indeed I have!

A few phone calls for brochures & a couple of bookings later my donkey (ass) is still numb so I've fashioned a pillow out of my coat & made a make shift book stand from a mouse pad & sellotape dispenser (who said all those years of Blue Peter wouldn't come in handy ~ I was built for comfort). This, if you were wondering, is to stop me from getting neck ache, sheeesh it's a hard life! Digressing for just a minute, the coat cushion is wonderful but I could feel something hard between my legs, on investigation it turns out to be a pair of gloves & a small packet of tissues roflmao. Back to the marvellous Stephen Fry in America (and another cup of tea of course)! So I've visited Rhode Island, albeit through words & photographs, Connecticut & we're now wandering happily through Vermont.

Today, as you can imagine has gone super fast. Roll on next Sunday if it's going to be this good :O)

While I've been gallivanting across America, super hero Andrew has been dismantling the utility room and moving the plumbing to accommodate the new & old kitchen appliances. Is there no end to this man's talents :O) The downside to this is... no dishwasher tonight, which I'm not that bothered about and Sponge Bob & Gary the fish, are on holiday in the dining room. Again it's not a great problem except the tank makes a Chinese dripping water torture sound as it's being filtered. I managed 10 minutes in there before I needed to go to the toilet AND our bedroom is directly above it !!! Tonight is the last meal we'll have with Lisa & Liam before they head back to the mainland for another semester at University. The next time they are back will be the Easter holidays unless they come for an odd weekend.

And finally Elena ~ apparently she's bored!