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)

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.

I Love SuzyB

Yep, I love SuzyB, it's official :O) She is my source of inspiration in the blogging world (thank you Suzy) and if I could chose anyone to write my diary for me it would be her. She is fab at taking photos, creating scrapbook pages, designing and making cards and has a wicked sense of humour. I was reading the wonderful tales about her family last night and how there seems to be a new craze going on at the moment, where by, everyone's taking a photo a day for 365 days. After googling it and reading more about it I thought I would join in. Don't know how far I'll get but hey. Luckily it doesn't have to be a super dooper photo, just an everyday 'something' or other. I sort of do it already but I really need to get into the habit of taking my camera everywhere. Note to self: I may need a bigger bag ;O)

No.1 Everyday before work I look around to see what I can take with me for lunch & nibbles. I always end up with a couple of pieces of fruit from the dish. You can't beat Comice pears, Pink Lady apples & satsumas :O)

The sad news today is that Lisa & Liam have gone. Now we are back to three bodies rattling around in a much emptier four bedroomed house. I managed to grab this quick photo before they said goodbye and this one as they were getting in the car (I was in the porch still in my dressing gown ~ maybe a bit too much info lol). Elena will be home from school soon, probably soaking wet because it's blowing a hooley out there so I'll say goodbye and go and run a nice hot bath for her. Did someone say they were making tea?

Back now for a late news flash. Gemma's made a blog and it's fab :O)

Mum & Dad have been to see us and have been telling us about Auntie Mal (Marilyn). She is my Dad's youngest sister and is only 1 year older than Andrew. She lives in France with her husband. They went on holiday to Egypt just before Christmas and on the flight back she complained of feeling ill. To cut a long story short she is now in intensive care in a hospital in France. She is paralysed from the waist down with a disease called Guillians Barre. It's an auto immune disease caught in African countries and there is no cure! Poor thing :O(

Other family news; Uncle Vaughn has lost his job and cousin Lee's working a 4 day week. He's split up with his partner & is living at home. Cousin Matthew has lost his job (bless him) and his sister, Alison, has split up from her husband. Everyone else seems to be OK.

Oh and Teresa *waves* you need to update your blog xXx

Eddie The Eagle Edwards?

Just pinched this from Skateboard Steve ~ thank you X Quick update ~ Lisa has finished her last essay :O)

Just remembered... We bought a Mr Potato head for Max for Christmas (Andrew's idea) and he loved it. Andrew wanted to buy it as a joke for Teresa because she loves Daniel Craig but we call him Mr Potato Head. Max was a star and soon picked up on the joke. Every time we asked who it was he would say 'Daniel Craig' lol.

Lisa was on the pill and had to come off it because her blood pressure was sky high. The Doctor suggested that she have injections every few weeks instead (it's a relatively new form of contraception) but you should have seen the state of her skin. Her back and face broke out in huge spots poor thing. So she made yet another appointment at the doctors to see what could be done. This time they suggested an implant in her arm, which she agreed to, so an appointment was made to have it put in. Liam took her to the Doctors and they went to the desk and said Lisa H to see Dr Rocher please. A puzzled looking receptionist said she was sorry but they had no Dr Rocher? Both Lisa & Liam were stumped until the receptionist suggested a Dr Ferroro roflmao. An easy mistake to make I guess ;O) God I love that girl !!!

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!

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.

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.

Ring, Ring

Mum & Dad came round this afternoon with a few cards & presents to put under the tree. We laughed at 2 of the cards as one of them spelt my name Wanda & the other called Elena, Fiona lol.

Lisa & Elena came to Shanklin with me this afternoon to the opticians. I was much happier with the eye test this time even though I have to pay for it. I struggle to find new glasses because I'm as blind as bat when I don't have them on. Lisa was a star & made sure my new ones were OK :O) I have to have varivocals this time as I knew I would. It will be so lovely when I can sit down and read a book again :O)

While we were in Shanklin we called at the jewellers to pick up my rings. I can't remember the last time I was able to wear them. They had cleaned them too & they look so sparkley, can't wait to show Andrew :O)Lisa & Liam are cooking tea tonight ~ Bubble & Squeak with with sausage. Tomorrow they are cooking chicken curry with coconut milk & spinich. Sounds fab!

Andrew tried to make some bread in his new bread maker yesterday & guess what, the bl***y thing didn't work. He had to take it back to Argos before work this morning to get a new one. Don't you just hate it when items you buy these days aren't checked first. Breadmaker mark 2 works thank goodness and hopefully will be cooking delicious loaves tomorrow :O)

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!

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 ...