A bit stressed.....

The day got off to a bad start - it rained.... and I had a big pile of washing to do and try to dry ready to be packed away. As I write it is still hanging damply all around the house, I just hope it will dry overnight.

Last week we ordered the Western European map for son-in-law's TomTom. The money for it went out of my account exactly one week ago. To my mind, ordering over the internet is supposed to be not only convenient but QUICK. As there was absolutely NO information about delivery on the pages leading up to the ordering process we naively assumed that it would be pretty prompt, two or three days, and after picking the item it showed as being in the warehouse. I mentioned on an earlier blog that there seemed to be no way of getting in touch with these people. This morning I found it - they hide it well. I waited 8 minutes to get to speak to a customer services person (for whom English is NOT their first language!). After a two minute conversation I was then put on hold for 6 further minutes while this person spoke to the warehouse. When he came back to me it was to say that the item would be shipped later this week and we would receive it next week. I said that wasn't good enough, it was needed by Wednesday and if it came any later it would be too late for our trip. Told him to cancel it. Can't do that apparently, once it's in the system it's too late to amend or cancel. What kind of a shit system is that? I ask you! So told him that it would be returned and I would expect a full refund, none of this administrative handling crap that costs a third of the product cost. Phoned DD to tell her, she said she'd try PC World. She phoned me later to say that TomTom themselves sell the accessories exclusively but she could buy a new model TomTom for £355, including the map we wanted. No point - we have a TomTom in the car in Spain so a waste of money unless we ebayed it later.

Just came off that call when DH decided he wanted me to go with him to take the car to the Toyota dealer, who were buying it back off us. He didn't feel like driving today. This was the very last thing I wanted - car dealerships I find only have one speed when dealing with customers - reverse. And so it proved. We waited nearly 20 minutes for the person we were dealing with to come to talk to us. Five minutes to do the paperwork. Another 20 minutes while he went to get a cheque raised. Told DH the surefire way of getting him back and getting on our way was for me to go outside for a ciggy. Worked like a charm!

Half an hour or so after getting back to the house DD rang, told me to sit down or I may fall down. Christ I hate when she does that! Always get a bad feeling in my gut. Guess what? The map accessory for the TomTom had arrived. Wayhay! But does anyone know what they're doing these days? I get a sense of deja vu - I think I've asked that question on here quite recently.

Made pretty good progress on the packing front today, most of the stuff for the van is piled in DS2's 'dining room', just have to bring the cases downstairs tomorrow, pack the mattress toppers, pillows and quilts, the possibly still damp laundry, and the stuff we're actually taking with us on the plane.

Can't think of anything else to talk about and may not blog for a couple of days, but next time it will be from SPAIN!!!!!!!

Sunday Blog 4#

SarahJane's Sunday Blog #4 prompt:

So many of us rush through our days - Not letting the little things that usual mean so much to us get a look in, we fill our time doing things for other people, and putting so many people before us.If you could spend a day, doing everything for yourself, with no indulgence spared - what would you do.... 24 solid selfcentred beautiful hours!

My first thought was to indulge myself with 24 hours of pampering but then I realised it would mean interacting with other people, when in fact I think I would prefer solitude and the complete absence of responsibility of any description. No phones, no callers, just me in my own comfortable place. It doesn't have to be a grand place but it would have to be mine. It would have a comfy bed in it somewhere, but I wouldn't spend any more time there than I do now. It would have a wonderfully comfortable sofa where I could snuggle up with books or magazines and the tv controls, to be able to do whatever I choose - snooze, read, watch tv, I have no preference except to be ALONE for this 24 hours. I really do enjoy my own company - I was an only child and grew used to amusing myself, and while I often speculate what it would feel like to have a sibling or two, I realise I would be a totally different person if I did.

So pure indulgence for me would be 24 hours by myself.

Saturday and Sunday

First on the agenda today (Saturday) was to take a thank you card and a very large tin of sweets to Jane, my hairdresser, and her staff, to thank them in some small way for the wonders they have achieved with my hair over the years. The plan was to go mid morning and have a light snack at YOTS as well but other things intervened and I quickly did the trip on my own.

After lunch went to Waitrose with DD to pick up food for tomorrow - the whole family is gathering at DD's for a final get-together.

DD managed to arrange for us to view the property they are buying (cross fingers!). It's a three bedroomed bungalow, bigger rooms than they have now. It needs some work as the layout is a little strange but SIL is in the building business and there's nothing that needs doing which will present any problems to him. They are getting a lot for their money and at the same time are reducing their mortgage by almost half. The vendors are two brothers who are selling on their mother's behalf to fund her nursing home fees and the one who lives close by has given DD a key so they can come and go whenever they wish.

Finally we went to spend the evening with friends - a farewell dinner, just six of us. Wonderful home made vegetable soup, roast beef with all the trimmings - C's yorkshires rose spectacularly! - and lemon meringue followed by cheese and biscuits. Great quantities of booze were consumed by some but not me as I was driving. Fabulous evening, and they gave us a farewell gift, a'figurine' - four teddies bearing the message 'When friends meet, hearts warm'. It will find pride of place in our Spanish house - well away from curious fingers!

It was just on midnight when we got home, DH was so tired (and pretty well oiled!) that he immediately fell asleep in his chair and didn't wake until after 6 this morning (Sunday) - when this happens I sleep on the sofa beside him, I never leave him to sleep on his own.

Managed to pack a couple of suitcases with clothes that can travel out with the van. Trying to keep what we will take with us to a minimum as there'll be a lot of non-clothes items we'll need before the van arrives. Also packed away a lot of stuff that was cluttering the desk, and we plan to take the desk to pieces tonight or tomorrow morning. I need to get everything that's to go in the van in one place so DS2 doesn't forget anything!

This afternoon's get together went well - DS1 texted to say they'd be arriving about 4 but didn't say whether they would have eaten already. As it was the rest of us had just sat down to eat when they arrived and as we were so many anyway it would have to be two sittings. DGS1 has just taken his 11+ exams and we're crossing our fingers he passes for grammar school; he was quite happy to sit playing on SIL's laptop while the younger children tore through the house, thumped up and down the stairs and generally caused mayhem in the garden and the close! Baby E was crawling everywhere, my goodness can she move! She played hide and seek and then crawl away at high speed, giggling, with her uncle, DS2. DH and I left before everyone else, so for the first time in a very long while our three children and their families were together without us being present. I wonder what they talked about? !!!!!

Last full day in the UK tomorrow, lots to do - praying for a nice sunny day so I can get the washing dry before packing it away.

Off to complete the Sunday Bloggers #4.

Kimmy tagged me last week to list 5 quirky or weird things about myself - it's taken me this long to come up with these:

1. Strong winds/gales affect me badly - they make me bad tempered and very tired! I don't know anyone else who is affected this way. And actually the wind doesn't have to be that strong - anything above 20 mph qualifies.....
2. I admit to being somewhat pedantic when it comes to English grammar and the use of, or more likely, the misuse of...... I don't like the use of '&' instead of 'and' in letters, or the use of 'text' abbreviations, such as 'u' for you and 4 for, well, for, or b4 for before.
3. And as for apostrophes..... DGD2 went to the dentist a couple of days ago. She got a sticker which showed two hippos and the legend which read: 'The hippo's say brush your teeth twice a day' - call me old fashioned but if children are not being taught the correct use of the apostrophe at school, then I fear for humanity - this is basic stuff! And no, I haven't read 'Eats, shoots and leaves'. And I'll also lump poor spelling and bad grammar in this - I spent more than 40 years working in a secretarial role of one form or another, these things grate like nails down a blackboard. I don't care about the freedom of the individual to express themselves regardless of their ability to spell - this is their mother tongue for god's sake, if they can't write it properly, god help us. Anyone who ever applied to me for a job never got a second glance if they presented a badly spelled and presented CV or letter. *rant over*
4. I have a thing about how I arrange the mugs I use when I make tea or coffee - I did this digi layout some time ago to illustrate it as part of a challenge! We were challenged to scrap 'a quirk' - I was sure I didn't have any - until the following morning when I found myself doing this! Haven't been able to arrange the cups like this for a while but I'm sure once we move this particular quirk will once again be evident!

5. I think my final quirky weirdo thing must be that I don't really regard these things as odd at all - they're just part of my character, they are what makes me me!

I don't know who to tag for this, Kimmy tagged anyone who wanted to do it - so I'll do the same but do let me know if you do it so I can read about your quirks too!

I've spent the best part of the day doing the work the accountant asked me to do. I am SO glad I didn't start it yesterday late in the day - this really needed a fresh brain and some concentration. Finished it at 3.30 and rushed off down to his office as they close at 4 pm on Fridays. Consequently I haven't done any more packing and now I'm starting to panic a bit.

DD and SIL are still waiting to hear if their offer on the house they want has been accepted. She is trying to arrange for her dad and me to view the house on Monday, she'd like us to see it before we go.

Last weekend we ordered a Western Europe 'card' for SIL's Tom Tom, so he and DS2 can use it to get to Spain. Haven't heard a thing - no email acknowledgement, there isn't even a way of tracking the order, and apparently no customer service department either. Bit of a rum do, if you ask me.

DD bough a 'soft' stairgate on ebay as well, specifically to take to Spain because baby E is getting everywhere now. She sent postal orders as payment and emailed the seller to ask for prompt posting because of the upcoming trip. No gate, no word from the seller, it's just not good enough.

To cap it all, the weather today has been DREADFUL.... rained nonstop the entire day, utterly miserable. Let's hope tomorrow's better (yep, I used an apostrophe - tomorrow is)......

End of the day

Another day nearly over, and again I am shattered. This damn wind has been blowing for about 4 days now and it's really getting to me!

Received a big envelope of stuff from the accountant this morning, including a long letter full of requests for various documents which I hoped to sort this evening. However, DS2 phoned about 5.30 on his way back from Scotland, asking if we'd have DGD2, bath her and put her to bed as there was some kind of cock-up at the house where she and her mum are currently staying. So the paperwork didn't get done. Must do it first thing in the morning and get it posted back.

More boxes packed today but now we've reached the nitty gritty - what goes in the van, what goes in our hold baggage, what I can pack now, what I have to leave till the last minute.

Went into town to sort out this dormant building society for DH. When I chased it up earlier in the week 'they' said I hadn't sent any ID documents, well the form says specifically NOT TO unless asked. So 'they' told me to take the ID to the local branch to get it verified, the local branch could send it to the relevant department and a cheque would be sent as soon as possible. Got home to find the post had been - and lo and behold, there was the cheque for the funds from the dormant account! What do they do to earn their wages I wonder?

Regular visit to the surgery tomorrow for DH's INR, and I expect they'll do a blood sugar check as well. I hope it's come down from last week's reading and the one we took mid-week.

Off to bed, can't keep my eyes open and can't type either! Time to call it a day!

Too tired to blog

Last night I really was pretty whacked out. During the day I managed to pack a few more boxes, seemed to spend an enormous amount of time on the phone too. The registration number of the van we're renting for the move has changed yet again, about an hour after I'd phoned P & O to give details of the first alteration!

Had a brief visit from DD and baby E. DD and I had tentatively planned to go shopping to find a present for baby E. who'll be a year old on 14th October. Too busy to fit it in though, so I handed over some money instead - always feel like that's the easy way out, no effort involved and I feel a bit guilty but sometimes it can't be helped. Finally we had DGD2 here for a few hours - she'd been to the dentist with her dad (DS2) and it was too late for her to return to school. He was going to Scotland last night for work, so she stayed here until her mum finished work and collected her.

One of the reasons I was so tired was because of the wind (mother nature's own!) - I've no idea why I react to high winds like this. Not only does it make me tired, it also makes me angry - my temper increases in direct proportion to the wind speed! It's weird! I've never met anyone else who has this problem - well, at least I'm unique!

My 'Creative Scrapbooking' magazine arrived. SarahJane (ScrappyFairy) has an LO in there as well this month. I phoned CS and SI to check whether I could receive them in Spain - I CAN!!!! I pay a bit more for postage but I don't care about that, so long as I can still get them. My bingo prize arrived from CathyC. - a paperbag kit - full of beautiful papers, ribbons and embellishments, she's such a generous person, I'm thrilled to bits with it. My order from Rebecca arrived too - I went overboard with an order for blossoms. I'd been browsing some layouts and marvelling that peeps always seemed to have exactly the right colour flowers, whereas while I have lots of blossoms, my colours are fairly limited. When I saw how many Becs had on her site I couldn't choose so went for the lot. Well, at least I'm stocked up now!

Hoping to get a quick trip into town this morning to the bank and building society. Then more box packing and hopefully make a start on the clothes (that won't take long). Want to take the desk to pieces this weekend if we can.

More later.....

Stashed away

Boo hoo..... I packed my scrapbooking stash away today. I'm expecting one more kit before we leave but have left room for that (will give it a really good stroke and fondle before I pack it though!). Just have photos and a couple of albums to pack and then I won't see it again for nearly two weeks! Digi scrapping will have to fill the gap......

Also managed to pack some of the 'junk' that didn't get properly packed when we left our house nearly three months ago - I said to DH that this particular box would be the one that takes the longest to unpack when we get to Spain, it's full of odds and ends that I can't see ever finding a proper home again! Actually, looking around me now, I think by tomorrow it will have a mate.

DH had an eye test this afternoon as a result of his diabetes diagnosis. We were there almost two hours, I wish I'd taken something to read. I was in such a funk when we'd finished that I completely forgot to take some documents into his building society to be copied and sent off (to retrieve his dormant account). So that's another job for tomorrow, or the next day, or the next......

Came home to a ParcelForce note to say a parcel had been left at the local post office - signature required. It was from Amazon, with the latest Dick Francis book, and also Simple Scrapbooks Scrapbooking Made Easy. I am SO pleased Dick Francis is writing again and can't wait to get started on this one, Under Orders.

Sorting out the insurance for transporting our bits and pieces next week - we originally gave a figure for the value of our stuff off the top of our heads. After some debate we doubled it, now I've written it down and put replacement values against everything it's come to more than three times what we first estimated! However, there are some things that can't be replaced and I haven't been able to put a value on them at all - my dad's teddy bear, bought when he was a baby in 1912 (wish it was a Steiff!), the doll my dad brought home from America for me in 1952, and the photograph the children had taken of themselves, printed on canvas, for my christmas present in 1992 - these are irreplaceable but they have to be listed and valued all the same. Will talk to the insurance company again tomorrow!

DH's sister K. phoned this evening, having caught up with this blog, thinking we'd already left these shores! No, dear K., it's next week! We hope to see her and P. in Spain around christmas time, when they arrive to spend the winter on a caravan site quite near us.

That's it - that's my day today - hope tomorrow's a bit more lively and I hope I can fill a few more boxes. Night night.......

Manic Monday 2

... and, unlike last week, today it was.... Started off with a phone call to Thomsonfly (took 13 minutes to get the call answered), with whom, despite our previous experience, we are again flying to Spain. DH and I swore that the first time we went with them in July would be our last. However, the choice of flights next Tuesday was between Thomsonfly from Doncaster and EasyJet from East Midlands. Unfortunately EasyJet leaves at 8.30 in the morning, far too early for DD and the two DGDs who are coming with us. So it had to be Thomsonfly, departure 15.45. But I digress (as usual)......

I wanted to check that we could take the two blood monitoring machines on board with us, both have their own little cases. We can't take them on as separate items, only in the one piece of hand baggage allowed per person. Which for DH and me will be our laptop bags. So the laptops will be in the bags (no mice, chargers or anything else), the machines will have to be taken out of their cases, and I hope to goodness there's room for them both. Oh, and we have to have a doctor's letter to say they're a medical necessity. Similarly, DD can't make up bottles for baby E. and use ice packs to keep them cool. She has to take the water in the bottle and the formula in the sachets. Except they're not in sachets because she gets the formula on prescription because E. is lactose intolerant, so it comes in either a big box or a tub.... and yes, she has to have a doctor's letter for that too.

What else was there? Oh yes, send an email to book taxis from Alicante, write to DH's consultant asking where the scan results are, phone the accountant, chase up the re-activation of DH's dormant Building Society account, renew the postal redirection, contact an old school friend who's going to take over the database for our school reunions, print duplicate copies of booking confirmations for DD and DS2. Doesn't look much written down but it's taken me most of the day and there are still things left to do.

My monthly kit from Scrapagogo arrived today! (Oh yes, that was another change of address I did!) ..... Cherry Arte papers, Bazzill c/s, alphabet rub ons, paint, chipboard, paisley foam stamp etc. - fab kit - but it's going to be packed away this week *sob*. I hope to see it again in under two weeks time - but you never can tell.

Today is DD and SIL's wedding anniversary - 8 years!

Sent them some roses, Belgian chocs and a cute teddybear. However, possibly the best anniversary present they could have had is an offer on their house - let's hope I haven't jinxed it by mentioning it, and please cross your fingers everything proceeds without a hitch. They're going to look at a prospective purchase tomorrow. If it all goes through I shall be very happy - one, because they've wanted to move on for quite a while, and two, if she has to think about moving, she'll have less time to fret about DH and me being in Spain. *wags finger in DD's direction - LOL!*

My final plan for the day was to sort out my stash and start to pack it away. DS2 brought some boxes and packing tape home this evening. Suitcases etc. will be coming back tomorrow, so really I have no excuse now to get started.

This week will fly by, I just know it!

Sunday Blog

This was the challenge set by SJ (ScrappyFairy) today:

SUNDAY BLOGGERS #3
"If you could meet anyone famous or not, dead or alive, and sit down somewhere quiet for a chat.. who would It be and what would you talk to them about?"

I would have to choose two people, neither of whom are famous - they are my two grandmothers.

I'll begin with my dad's mother, Rachel. She died in December 1944, just two months after I was born, so I never knew her at all. She was the mother of four children, the youngest of whom was my dad (born in 1912). My dad's dad was the miller in the village where they grew up, and they did indeed live in the cottage attached to the mill. I would love to have known what life was like back then, when the mode of travel was by horse and cart (I do have a picture of my grandad with his horse and cart, which is how he made his deliveries). While my dad was alive I failed to realise the importance of the details of his childhood that he could have given me. I don't know how close Rachel and I would have been had she lived longer, I don't think there is a photograph of the two of us together.

My mum's mother was Rhoda, I called her Nan; we lived a few doors away from her and Pop until I was about 12. We became very close when she looked after me for a few months when I was 2 while mum was in hospital. I was also her first grandchild which made the bond even more special. She would often say she could write a book - my goodness, how I wish I'd done it with her, or at least listened more closely to what she had to say. She came from quite a sizeable family and so did Pop - what stories they could have told me!

It's only since I started scrapbooking last year that I've come to realise, not just the importance of their memories, but the interest they have for future generations of our family. Such a shame I wasn't paying attention .......

WooHooo!!!!

My prize for winning the Summer Contest on Scrapitude arrived today! You can see what I won here. Thank you Kimmy (and Junkitz!). The package included papers I'm familiar with and some I haven't seen before, and tons of embellishments, the cutest I think are the Buttonz and the Labelz - can't wait to use them! Just to show the gorgeous colours of these papers and embellies, below is a layout I did a little while ago for one of Scrapitude's Scrapidares - the lovely bright paper I cut these shapes from is one of the papers included in the Junkitz prize package - and I now have another two sheets of it, along with many others! Yummy! (it's mounted on white cardstock, which is probably why it looks like it's floating!)



Also in the parcel was a RAK for the August challenge, and things I ordered this week including a couple of mags.

My prints from Photobox of the Elegance photos came today too. I think I can stop stalking the postie now - everything I've been expecting has arrived safely!

We took a trip out to our old neighbourhood this morning and met up with various friends, partly to say goodbye to some of them. I hate goodbyes! Our closest friends we will see again later this week.

Managed to get a few long outstanding emails answered today, one of which was to my cousin B. Reading her last one to me reminded me that her brother (my cousin Hugh) is an extremely accomplished photographer and lecturer. I have his book, Earthsong, it is stunning - visit his web page here to see some really atmospheric fine art landscape photography. I'm very proud of him! B. is also an excellent amateur photographer. And here's me, can't even understand the manual for my camera!

DS2's daughter R. will be staying here tonight but for once I'm not keen on letting her do any scrapping. The chances of me starting a new LO this week are slim to non-existent - I think with the move very close now I will have to start packing my stash away properly, just need some boxes. Hope to fetch some suitcases from the lock-up this weekend as well.

I've started to list all the phone calls I must make on Monday which will doubtless lead to more as the week goes on. That depresses me because I know that for every successful phone call I can tick off the list, there'll be one where we'll go to the wire playing phone tag or not getting my calls returned at all. *sigh*

To finish on a lighter note, I texted my former boss this evening, suggesting we swap email addresses and I gave him mine in the text. He phoned me shortly afterwards to tell me he doesn't even have a connection to the internet! Well, at least he knows how to read text messages! And he is hoping to get broadband soon. We exchanged a few insults as normal, and hope to meet up sometime this week.

Should have taken a pack-up.....

We were at the surgery for close to three hours this morning - glad I took my Scrapbook Inspirations mag with me! Should have taken a packed lunch as well...... The GP wanted to tell DH that the blood test last week had shown a lower than normal potassium level (eat more bananas!) - to improve this one of the tablets he takes (a diuretic) is having to be changed to a type that 'hangs on' (GP's words) to some of the ?whatever? that's being flushed from his body with the current one. So that's OK, I really thought he was going to tell us to postpone moving. Which is what, I think, all the medical staff would like us to do.

The nurse we saw to discuss the whole diabetes thing was a bit nonplussed when she realised that the process of monitoring, advising, controlling etc. which she normally likes to spread over a 6 week or so period is going to have to be condensed into 10 days max. We asked questions, she told us what we wanted to know and gave me some booklets which we would normally have acquired elsewhere - I had to photocopy them this afternoon, as these are her only copies. However, they look to contain the information I've been anxious to get, so I was pleased to do it.

Then we moved on to the second nurse who showed us how to use the blood sugar monitor we're being provided with. Easy peasy.... we already have our own coagucheck machine for checking INR (warfarin) levels when we're in Spain. The BSM machine is just a smaller version using the same procedure - lancets to prick the skin and a test strip to take a drop of blood. The only difference is we shall be doing the blood sugar check twice a week to begin with.

All I have to do now is persuade the airline that, as well as our laptops, we also need to take these two bits of kit into the cabin with us - no way on this earth are they going in the hold to be thrown, dropped or otherwise abused by the baggage handlers. If those machines don't work properly DH's health is in danger.

On the scrapping front, I finished my Clippykit bag - well, almost - I may alter one or two bits yet, going to use it for a few days, see how I feel about it.

Some good news - Kimmy, the owner of the Scrapitude board, took part in the Ready, Steady, Scrap! in this month's Scrapbook Inspirations, I'm sorry she didn't win because she did some really wonderful, inventive work on the embellishments. Another Scrapitude member SarahJane (ScrappyFairy) also had a fab layout published. And Rebecca has become a member of the Design Team for Scrapagogo, one of the three kits I sub to (the others are Scrapitude, of course, and Claire Malvern's Surprise Supplies).

Think that's it for today, very late to bed last night so would like an earlier one tonight!

Later and later

I'm getting later and later with this blog. Where did the time go today? Well, yeah, I've been doing a bit of scrapping......

Started the day with a visit to the bank to get some documents certified. The bank is a mess - literally. They're either decorating or altering around the main door area. We had to go in via the back door, which is also the disabled entrance normally - handy for us as DH uses an electric scooter. As well as deal with these documents I needed to pay in a cheque as well. There was NOT ONE SINGLE sign indicating that you had to go right to the back of the bank and down a pokey corridor. The cashiers (just 3 of them) are where some offices used to be (I know because I've been in them!). When we finally got to see someone, it took about half an hour for her to find out what she should be doing - grrrrrrr, don't they train them in anything these days? While we were sitting waiting, we watched at least three people look around for the cashiers and, not finding them, turning and walking out. Presumably they would find another branch and do their business there.

Nipped into M & S for a bit of food shopping - we're quite liking their stuff at the moment. DH said to be sure I spent over £35 so we'd get a free bottle of wine - £36.03! And I wasn't keeping count, honest.

Had a near hissy fit when we got back to the car. When I park I try and leave plenty of room behind me because I have to get DH's scooter out of the boot, no mean feat. Even though it's called an UltraLight it still weighs plenty. When we came back to the car there were two vehicles parked behind me, the first one about 18" from my boot, the second illegally parked behind him. The driver of the one behind me was in his car, yakking on his mobile. As I folded the scooter down, the illegal parker drew away, leaving enough room for Mr. Mobile to reverse and give me more space. But did he? No sir...... Now you may ask why I didn't ask him to shift back - truth is I was so angry I would have lost the plot completely. I don't do rows in public. Had to remove the battery to make it lighter so I could manouevre it into place to lift it in. It is so damned awkward having a boot with a high threshold. And having watched me struggle, Mr. Mobile drew away as soon as I slammed the boot down. I hope he rots....... better still, I hope he has problems when he's older...

Decided to have lunch out and treat DD as well. We met up with her and baby E. at Yots, the first time she's eaten there and she loved it as much as we do! Hope we'll get down there again before we leave. After lunch she went home instead of coming back here with us - she's getting headaches a lot lately, mainly due to sleep deprivation but also I suspect some stress because it's getting near the time when we'll be leaving, she doesn't want us to go and she's worrying.

This afternoon I made a start on my Clippykit bag. I chose the pictures and printed them off, then started work on the 'scrappy' inserts. I've made one major mistake - I chose the medium sized bag (9 pockets each side) and bought the red/white spot lining to go in it. Only when I started thinking about the non-picture inserts did I realise how I'd limited myself with regard to colour choices. The lining is too expensive not to use but I do wish now I hadn't bought it. My inserts are mainly red, white and black, but I've added one or two other colours in small amounts. I printed the pictures in black and white but they need some decorative elements as they now look a bit bland. Hope to tackle that tomorrow.

And that's been it for today. Still haven't managed to find 5 weird things to fulfil Kimmy's tag - see, I don't think there's anything weird about me at all - think I'd better get a second opinion and see what comes to light!

Busy

This morning DD and I had our 'Elegance' photo shoot at Olan Mills. As anyone who's ever had one of these done will know the make-up is administered with a trowel - for someone who doesn't wear much of it these days it felt as if my face was sliding south with the weight of it all. DD looked amazing with hers though. I did like my hair, it was all fluffed and spiked out - and lasted all of 5 minutes, then it flopped. She had her pics done first, then the two of us together, and finally on my own. We're very pleased with them, although I have to say the miracle I was hoping for (20 years off my age - as if!) didn't happen....



Not bad huh?

We bought just the CD package with all the pictures taken on it. As part of the purchase of the CD we get the copyright, so we can do whatever we please with the pictures. I've ordered two sets of 7 x 5s from Photobox.

Was pleased to find my Clippykit bag had arrived when I got home - that was a surprise, didn't expect it until next week! Postie came up trumps once again! I hoped to make a start on it but it hasn't happened. Maybe tomorrow......

What else have I done today? Not a lot as a matter of fact.

Kimmy tagged me to list 5 weird/quirky/strange things about myself - I'm still thinking about it - maybe tomorrow for that as well.

Thank you postie!

My cookbook arrived and so did my photos!

When I ordered the book I hadn't noticed that it was produced in association with Diabetes UK, we've been visiting that website a lot over the last few days. I gave the book to DH to browse through first and he likes the look of what's in there, so that's a start! Of course, he cut straight to the chase to look at the food - when I got my hands on it naturally I started with the first section which goes into detail about diabetes and the reasons for following a healthy diet. It isn't a restrictive way of eating by any means, and really looks no different to a normal healthy diet - in fact it resembles the Slimming World Green choice in many ways, with its' emphasis on carbohydrate foods; one difference is that eating breads of all types is also encouraged. I think we'll get the hang of it. I need to find relatively easy recipes to try until we actually get moved, as lack of food storage space is a real problem at the moment, particularly for fresh foods.

I'm far more satisfied with DD's wedding photos received from Photobox this morning; although they are still a bit darker than I would have liked they are 100% improvement on the last lot. I must now sort out the rest of the rubbish pictures and get new ones done of those before we leave.

Thanks to having to stay in for the postie this morning (because I'm never sure what they'll do with large items if I'm out) we never got to the bank or the accountant. But we can do the bank thing on Thursday morning and I can drop the stuff into the accountant tomorrow when I go with DD to Olan Mills for our 'Elegance' photos, which we've been trying to get done since the beginning of the year! DD is anxious to get this shoot done before I go to Spain as she wants a pic of the two of us together.

Which reminds me - I have to sort out a few outfits to take with me - well, that won't be difficult, as I brought the barest minimum of clothes with us, the rest being packed away ready to go. Just of question of what fits me and if I have any variety of colours - best gear is mostly black.

Off to wash my hair - byeeeeeeeeeeee

Manic Monday

Not here! Spent the morning on paperwork... Information for the accountant, information for the new bank. Then a bit of grocery shopping, followed by a visit to the car wash at DH's insistence. Actually that was a good thing, because the mark he'd found on the side of the car when he got in it had disappeared after going through the wash. Thank heavens! One less gripe to listen to....

My plans for this afternoon were to vacuum the sitting room and then do some scrapping. Achieved neither. Because I fell asleep. Did eventually print some of the pictures I want to use in the 'music' album and picked out a few papers which might fit the theme.

DH is having difficulty accepting the diabetes thing. I'm struggling with it on the food front. I am used to buying low fat foods, been doing it for years. Not sure about low sugar though, I don't know what 'low' means for this. Also, DH has always been a meat eater - and how! - meat and fish protein can now only make up one quarter of his meal, veg another quarter and carbs in the form of potatoes, rice, pasta one half. It is this increased carb intake that he is having difficulty with. Anyway, yesterday I ordered a diabetic cookery book from Amazon and I expect it to arrive tomorrow. We are both keen to read it and see what's in it. I badly need some guidance!

We had a call from the surgery this morning - the doctor wants to see DH - something to do with the test results. As we already have a 20 minute appointment with the 'blood' nurse and a half hour appointment with another nurse for the diabetes 'induction' (?), we've been slotted in before both of them - I can see we'll be most of Friday morning in the surgery - better take a book!

Had an email to say my photos have been despatched - hope they'll be here tomorrow, along with the book. I've also ordered a ClippyKit bag, medium size with a spotty lining to go with it. This was on the strength of seeing Rebecca's, it looks absolutely fabulous and I want to have a go!

It's been a gloriously hot, sunny day, had difficulty keeping cool, trying to get a breeze through by opening as many windows as possible. I can't believe how early it becomes twilight now - it seems to have happened so suddenly.

A rant.... Since moving I've been gathering my emails by webmail instead of using Microsoft Outlook. I am PLAGUED with junk mail advertising Viagra, watches and futures, as many as 100 during the course of a day. How do you STOP these people? The filters on Orange are not very good, although they're now working better than they were. I will be so glad to get my Outlook set up properly in Spain.

Keeping it short(ish!) tonight, I don't want to be boring ......

Sunday Bloggers #2 - Favourite layouts

The second of the Sunday Bloggers challenges posted by ScrappyFairy on the Scrapitude board (here) is to choose two layouts, one of our own and one done by someone else who inspires us, and then to write words of praise about both. I'm going to find it difficult to choose one of my own. All my albums, other than the one I'm currently using, are packed away and although most of my LOs have been uploaded to galleries, they're all a bit scattered, and I'd much rather have the real things to go through and make a choice!

So while I'm pondering and searching various places to find something of my own I like above anything else, I'll start with my favourite LO by Cathy C., a fellow Tude. Cathy knows I 'wannabe' her, I worship at her feet. A Cathy LO is never overdone. The picture is positioned in exactly the right place, the paper choice is always exactly right, embellishments are neither too many nor too few, be it blossoms, ribbons, whatever. And tidy... and neat..... Whereas most of us at some time have had a ribbon lie not quite straight or put an embellishment on a page and thought it would be better elsewhere when it was too late to alter it, I'm sure this has never happened to her. I can't ever imagine her making a single mistake. I imagine her choosing a picture to scrap, knowing instantly which c/s and paper, ribbon, blossoms and stitching (a Cathy trademark) will display the picture to perfection, and finally there'll be a perfectly executed title to set it all off. She is truly one of the most creative and talented people I 'know' and if I was half as good as she is, I'd be 100 times better than I am now. My all time Cathy favourite is this one, 'Faliraki'.

As for my own layout, I have chosen this one. It's a layout of DGD2 and our dearly loved but now departed Dobie, Tickle. Apart from the memory it conjures up of the sweetest dog we've ever known, I'm particularly proud of it because with this LO I finally found a way to scrap Urban Lily! I love UL papers and bought loads, then didn't know what to do with them, they were such strong designs! This LO was copied from a layout I found in (I think, and apologies all round if I'm wrong) a Creating Keepsakes magazine. Oh, but it meant cutting into my precious paper and I really didn't want to do that! But it was either that or the paper would never see the light of day on a layout. I'm more than pleased with the relatively neat hand cutting around the flowers, I HATE handcutting, but even if I'd had my Craft Robo then it wouldn't have helped me.

I love ALL my layouts and don't have a particular favourite - I am just so thrilled to have found a hobby which gives me so much pleasure. I have no desire to be on a DT or to get published - this is just for me and my family. That I, so un-creative and un-artistic, can produce a piece of work that I'm proud of gives me a huge buzz!

Glad to say DH is much improved today. Another lazy day for us, and this afternoon our best friends and former neighbours called round for a cuppa and a chat. We miss each other so much; when we lived next door to them we saw each other every day. We hope they'll visit us often when we get to Spain.

I had hoped to scrap like a demon this weekend; instead I've spent a lot of time organising photos for our DD's wedding album. After the disappointment of my previous photo order I've been through every single one very carefully, and I hope the time I've spent will be worth it. Can hardly wait for them to arrive! I've also ordered what I hope will be a beautiful album, additional page protectors and some wedding themed embellishments, I expect to do up to 50 LOs. It will take me some time!

I also hoped to do a couple of challenges this weekend too. One I've had to abandon because the picture I need is among those already packed away, the other I'm still pondering over a suitable picture for. I could have started the 'Musical' album I suppose, and maybe I'll have a look at it later.

All the time though I feel as if I should be doing something else, preparing for our move to Spain - it's only just over two weeks away. But I'm not sure there's anything I can do until tomorrow at the earliest - nevertheless, it's making me feel restless, and when I feel like this I'm practically incapable of doing anything - so irritating!

I talk too much! Night night.......

Disappointed

All week I've been waiting for some prints I ordered last weekend to turn up. They arrived today. Am not impressed, there were some truly awful prints, but even half decent ones in some cases were missing the heads of the people in them. Can someone please explain why it's the top of the picture that gets cropped, not the bottom? Doesn't make sense.

While I was tearing my way into the photo envelopes my breakfast smoothie tipped and went all over my keyboard - over the course of the day the right hand side shift, enter, /? and a couple of function keys have become sticky and hard to use. My fault, I should have my breakfast well away from here! But back to the photos......

When I had a good look through them I realised that most of them date back between 8 and 10 years - before I had a digital camera. So these pics were SCANNED between 1996 and 1998. Scanners have come a long way since then! And the pictures were scanned simply to email to family and friends. They were almost entirely of DD's wedding and DGS1's christening. So I got DD's wedding albums to re-scan the 40 odd photos I'd done before. Instead I've spent a couple of hours (maybe more!) scanning all 150 pictures because now, with a scrapper's eye (even if not a very good one), I can see the potential in many more of the pictures than I expected. I've done them in pairs to save time but will split them up when I look at them properly. In the end the photo company have done me a favour. But I will be ordering prints from the company I usually use. I'm not expecting top quality but hoping for better than I received today.

It's been a relatively calm and quiet day (apart from the smoothie incident) - DS2 and his daughter have gone to a friend's 40th birthday celebration - a bouncy castle has been provided for the children who are going, and once R. knew that she was out of the door like lightening! Don't expect to see them home until 9 or 10 this evening.

I've booked flights to Spain for the 26th - return for DD and her two girls, one way for me and DH. Tried to book the ferry crossing for DS2 and SIL but came to a halt over the registration number of the lorry they're taking. Seems the one they plannd to take is not man enough for such a long journey (over 2000km) so we'll have to hire one. Can't continue with the booking until we know the reg. number - what a pain! Hope to sort it on Monday.

DH is having a very quiet day, back pain still a problem - do hope antibs kick in soon - still there's been sport and Italian Grand Prix qualifying today on tv and of course the Grand Prix itself tomorrow.

I almost forgot to publish this post, having spent the entire evening splitting those photos. All look pretty good so I'm going to take a chance and send them out for printing. DD said I could use the originals if I wanted because they aren't in a proper album, just a bog standard one provided by the photographer. That's because she and her husband weren't prepared to pay the exorbitant price of the album! And she reckons I'll make a much nicer job because it will be more interesting with all the bits of journalling etc. Not sure I want to risk the originals though ......

Right, that's it for today - thanks for reading!

Blessing in disguise

I hope this is how we're going to approach the fact of DH's diabetes. It is giving us the kick we need to adopt (and keep) a healthier lifestyle. As a (feels like!) lifelong dieter I understand how important it is to eat healthily and take exercise. It's a pity I don't always put these things into practice. There are usually two things that scupper me - one, when things aren't going right I comfort eat, the other is when meal plans have to be altered at the last minute for any reason (having to go out unexpectedly or cater for more than I'm expecting at short notice). The last four months have been totally chaotic and as a result I've gained more than a stone (that's 14 lbs for my overseas friends!). DH's weight fluctuates a lot depending on his state of health. We both need to take a more sensible approach, starting now. Let's hope that a little way down the line both of us are feeling much better!

We had a surgery appointment this morning - another urine test, another fasting blood test and his regular INR check. The stick from the urine test turned all colours immediately which shocked the blood nurse somewhat. Decided DH must have a kidney infection (that would explain the back pain) and after checking with the GP antibiotics were issued. Didn't get the expected detailed diet sheet, instead it's a poster sized thing with green, amber and red columns - self-explanatory. Bit disappointed, as in special menu planning I like to be told what to do - precisely. I am not a creative cook. Same as scrapbooking - I really love using sketches.

We were so late leaving the surgery I had to cancel my Indian Head Massage, which I have immediately before having my hair done - the two salons are very conveniently next door to each other. I have the IHM to stimulate my scalp following some serious hair loss a couple of years ago. Not only is it relaxing, it's also doing my hair good. Anyway, instead of the IHM I made an appointment to have a manicure AFTER having my hair done. So I did get quite a bit of ME time early this afternoon.

This evening we went out. A Dutch ex colleague (when we were all working people) was visiting our town with his wife and a couple of friends. We have a small club associated with our former company and a group of us got together for dinner this evening to welcome J, T and their friends. A lovely meal, fabulous company and we all had a great time. It will probably be the last time we see these people for some while - I absolutely hated saying goodbye! We all worked together for many years, and it's a little bit sad. My ex boss always makes me feel good though! Ten minutes with him and I can believe I was the greatest PA, organiser, and 'office wife' in the world!

It's late, I'm off to bed!

Productive......

Achieved quite a bit today for once! And that includes the ironing - at last....... More than pleased to get that out of the way.

What is it about banks? Seems everybody either works part time, attends A LOT of meetings, or spends the day out and about 'seeing customers'. Whatever, I can never get anything other than voicemail for my account manager and getting someone to phone back .... well, you know the story. The accountant needs a whole load of bank statements - I can't get at the originals so I've had to ask for copies. The cheeky so and sos charge £1 per printed sheet, what a con.

On the offshore banking front I've taken matters into my own hands and made direct contact with the international office of the bank instead of waiting for someone to call me back following referral from my local branch. Within minutes of talking to a very nice lady based on the Isle of Man I had the necessary account application emailed to me which I now need to complete (it's nine pages long!). I do need to visit my local branch to get some documents certified though, a prospect which does not fill me with joy, and that will have to wait till Monday. But at last something is happening!

What else? Oh yes, my bulk order from Boots arrived, a day early! Nice surprise, especially as tomorrow is going to be a busy day and I expect to be out for at least half of it. Don't have to worry about parcels being left on the doorstep - yay!

DH has had a very bad day today, thank goodness we had no plans to go out. His back has gone into 'spasm' again (don't know how else to describe it) which makes getting in and out of the chair and walking even short distances absolutely agonising. We wish we knew what it is that triggers these bouts of intense pain but we can't pin it to anything specific. Diazepam helps as a muscle relaxant but it's yet another medication for him to take which we don't like.

Had a long phone conversation with DH's sister and brother in law this evening, a catch-up call to let them know what's going on. She has type 2 diabetes too but injects insulin as the diet and medication route weren't working. She's fine now, thank goodness, and we spent most of the hour plus we were on the phone talking about all our various ailments - getting old is the PITS! Glad to hear they intend to go to Spain for the winter as usual and this time won't be too far from us, maybe a half hour drive, so we'll have the opportunity to see lots of them. It's a rum job when you have to go to another country to see your rellies! It's a bit of a joke that P. (BIL) has finally got a computer and launched himself onto the internet. A lot of his working life was spent working on a computer and when he retired he had no intention of ever touching one again. However pressure from their children and grandchildren have forced him to change his mind and he's finally given in. But he doesn't pay attention to his emails, hence the phone call. Still, I've found a way of making sure he checks his email soon - told him I was sending him this blog addy, so they can keep up with us! P. - this is for you!

Enough for today, see you tomorrow......

Eventful day.....

DH saw our GP this morning, a follow up appointment from something he had going on last month. He also needed to get results from a blood test done last week, following sugar showing up in a urine sample. Yep, it's diabetes, type 2, the commonest kind. Well, there had to be something crop up to try and foul up our plans, we wouldn't be us otherwise! Our GP is determined to bring it under control before we go away, a tight schedule but we're all confident it can be done. Friday he goes back for his regular INR check and they'll have diet sheets and other info ready for him. He needs to take another urine sample with him.

As usual, I had hoped that he'd feel inclined to drive himself to the surgery so I could tackle some long overdue ironing. However, he is in awful pain at the moment (his back) and didn't feel he would be comfortable driving so I had to go. After the surgery visit we called in home for me to have a quick look on the net to see what I could find about this diabetes. I had told him earlier that, since I am currently doing Slim Fast, I would get him some ready meals, rather than cooking from scratch. There are a few reasons for this, other than me eating completely differently - the way we're living at the moment and having a very small kitchen with little storage space are just two of them!

Anyway, the meals..... We were going to M & S (amongst other places) to try and find DH some clothes for a 'do' on Friday, so we went round their food hall and he chose what he fancied. On the way to M & S we found a new men's shop that's opened - ye gods the prices, and that's in the sale! Waaaay too expensive... Got fixed up in M & S - nice pair of black trousers and a blue/black flecked jacket to go with them. DH decided he'd have a new white shirt while he was at it, and he needed a tie as his are all packed away. He chose a very bright blue and pink striped affair - everyone will see him coming!

While in M & S we bumped into a friend from the village we lived in many years ago and then a friend of DH's whom we also hadn't seen for years (should go into town more often!). I stocked up in Boots with Slim Fast bits (I have a bulk order coming on Friday) and then we decided to treat ourselves to lunch out.

We went to 'Yots', a bar/bistro at Burton Waters, where they serve some very tasty things for lunch! We try to sit outside overlooking the moorings when we go there, today it was a bit breezy. There were quite a lot of people on the boats today and one was just preparing to leave for what was probably a bit of a jaunt up the river. We both had paninis - lovely.

Then it was home, DH by now being tired and uncomfortable, so we spent the afternoon chilling out. I SHOULD have tackled that ironing but couldn't be bothered.

The absolute highlight of the day was coming home to find postie had been and delivered my order from Scrapitude which I placed as soon as Kimmy announced she was closing the shop - poor Kimmy, she's been totally overwhelmed with orders since that day. Lots of lovely stuff in my box! Just waiting for my prize for winning the summer contest on the board - a huge amount of Junkitz stash - and a couple of magazines I've ordered since. Then I'd better stop buying, apart from kits, and let everyone know we're moving again. Hope to get some scrapping done tonight. This is the LO that won the Summer Contest for me, to my great surprise, considering the awesome talent I was up against.

Big day

Up at 6.30 and on the road to Hull by 7.45 for our appointment at 9.20. Traffic is always a nightmare on the A15 with heavy vehicles heading to Hull and Immingham. Still, we were in the hospital car park just before 9. We were seen by one of Mr. C.'s sidekicks. The scan results from last week have not made it to his department yet (we didn't think they would!) so it was basically a non-event, the outcome being if DH is feeling reasonably OK and there are no symptoms of the aneurysm having changed in any way we should just get on with our lives! However, once the scan results have shown up and been examined by someone (Mr. C. most probably) they will write and let us know. Should take about a week.

DH didn't want breakfast before we left, but once out of the clinic he declared himself ravenous. This is a sign that his lack of appetite over the last week has been due to nervousness about today's appointment. We celebrated what seems to be goodish news with an 'Olympic Breakfast' at a Little Chef on the way home! And it really was huge! Big mistake for me though ..... been trying to diet this week as weight is getting out of hand again .... and this meal is still sitting heavily several hours later. Must find the Rennies!

So, it seems to be 'all systems go'! Spoke to DS2 about how he plans to transport our stuff out to Spain - he'd like to leave on a Thursday and return the following Tuesday so it minimises the amount of time he's away from work. The weekend of 30th September is the only time the vehicle he's using is available - he would actually leave on 28th. DD wants to come out with us to help us settle in - hopefully her OH will be sharing the driving with DS2. Co-ordinating that lot will be a task in itself.

In the next two or three days we'll have to talk to the accountant to see where he is with the latest accounts and how close we are to closing the building company, to the solicitor to get a few legal bits sorted, and to the bank yet again to find the best home for our money to keep it out of the grasp of the IR and anyone else who thinks they have a right to it. That is a priority really because we then have to let DWP know where to pay our pensions! Then we'll have to amend our english wills to reflect the lack of bricks and mortar property in the UK, and do the same with our Spanish wills when we get over there. Lots to do!

Would love to do some scrapping tonight but feel unsettled and fidgety. We should really be out celebrating our wedding anniversary but neither of us is hungry enough after that breakfast to face any kind of meal.

DH bought a double CD of Bob Newhart (http://www.bob-newhart.com/) - a really funny comedian from way way back. He performed kind of one-sided conversations such as The Driving Instructor. There are lots on the CDs we haven't heard before and they are making us howl with laughter, pretty much as we did 30 to 40 years ago. Such a funny man.

Tomorrow we plan a trip to town - DH needs something 'smart casual' to wear for an event at the weekend which came up unexpectedly after we had packed all his decent stuff away. As everything is nailed up in 4 wooden crates it's easier to buy something new than open the crates and find the clothes. I must add that we would not normally be this extravagant!

It's still here ......

... my blog, that is. Unbelievably I woke up thinking about it and what I would talk about today. To begin with, until I get used to the idea, I think I'll add bits throughout the day, as stuff happens (and before I forget!), or if I have a thought worth sharing. Reading yesterday's again, I thought I could have said more about why I like the fact that I'm a 'calm' person, but then again maybe not, without going into specifics, and I'm not sure I'm quite ready for that yet.
But I did think of something else that I like about myself - my nails! Now at the moment they're not in very good shape - they really suffered while we were packing up and moving house; now they've got a bit of length back I just need to give them some TLC and I can paint them again.

I've just spent time learning how to edit the HTML to show lists of blogs I read and sites I visit but I still have loads more to learn about this blogging business!

It took till lunch time for DH to get himself out of bed, for the second day in a row. Trouble is, once he gets up the back pain starts so he tends to stay there as long as he can because he's comfortable! Nothing wrong with that except it does tend to mess my day up - can't vacuum because of the noise, don't dare start anything that may take a while, like a scrapbook layout, because I hate getting engrossed and being interrupted, don't like to go to the shops and leave him, meals get totally out of kilter, and at the end of the day he doesn't want to go to bed until the small hours, by which time I'm flagging. He'll have to have an early night tonight because we have an early appointment with his specialist at Castle Hill Hospital in Hull. Tomorrow is a very big day for us........

Meanwhile, to occupy myself today I began to get together the lyrics of some songs. The idea came to me a couple of weeks ago, of doing a small album of songs that have meanings for us. Scrapidare challenge #3 on Scrapitude required us to do a layout using a song, film or book title. I did one based on Nancy Sinatra's 'These Boots are Made for Walking', which was No. 1 in the UK Hit Parade (!) in March 1966 when DS1 was born. The event which formed the story behind the LO took place exactly one month before he was born. Last year, one of my first LOs was called 'True Love Ways', by Buddy Holly, which we regard as 'our song' - I intend to copy that LO, which is 12 x 12, and adapt it to 8 x 8 for the album. The lyrics I'm getting together now are those that were No. 1s on the day we got engaged, the day we got married and when DS2 and DD were born as well, plus those we've enjoyed particularly over the last 40 odd years. I'm using a Bazzill mini album with 16 pages, not including inside/outside the covers - I think I will find enough music to fill it!

Back to tomorrow - we should be celebrating as it's our 42nd wedding anniversary. It is also the 9th anniversary of my mum's death - she died 6 days after Princess Diana and the same day as Mother Theresa (she's in good company!) .... But uppermost in our minds right now is DH's visit to the specialist who performed the thoracic aortic aneurysm repair surgery back in May 2000 (a very frightening time). He still has an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which has been checked regularly for the past 6 years. Last year's check up brought the news that it had reached a size of 6.4cm - 7cm is regarded as critical. Back then there was the possibility he would be called for surgery, depending on what the specialist team decided. We didn't get the call..... It is probably too much to hope the aneurysm hasn't increased in size in the past year and we are just wondering what we'll find tomorrow. Here we are - no home, possessions packed in crates, living in cramped but not unpleasant conditions with DS2 - and hoping against hope that Mr. C. will give us the green light to get off to Spain (coincidentally he holidays in the town we're moving to!).

Jeez, I've really waffled for England on this one! If you've got this far, thank you for sticking with me! Will call it a day and publish - back tomorrow with the news from Hull......

First Blog ......

ScrappyFairy challenged us to update our blogs each Sunday (if at no other time) and for the first challenge we have to write about what we like about ourselves .... Another member kind of challenged me to start my own blog ("I will if you will, I'll show you mine if you show me yours" kind of thing!).....

So, what do I like about myself? If truth be told, I don't THINK about myself an awful lot so I'm going to pick up on something someone said to me at a crop earlier this week. We swapped seats because she was feeling a chill from an open door. She sat down and at once said she felt I was a calm person, she picked up my 'vibes' from the chair. Now I don't really think of myself as a calm person, I do get wound up and things do upset me, but mainly I keep it to myself (oh, except when someone phones wanting me to upgrade my mobile and lock into another long contract - but that may be the subject of another blog another day!).

Maybe being calm means I can take what life hands out (and some of it has been pretty lousy), adapt and make changes, and get on with it. I'll accept that as something to like about me.

You may be surprised that I haven't mentioned physical features that I like - well, actually I like the colour of my hair! Not the hair itself - it's thin and fine and pretty pathetic - but the colour I am rather fond of. I was relieved not to go 'salt and pepper' grey and although it's a bit darker at the back, the front is a not unpleasant silvery colour. The style is hopeless at the moment as I've decided to grow it a bit longer, I've had it very short for a very long time, but with our imminent move to Spain I realise I may be a while before I find a decent hairdresser - meanwhile a bit more length means I can toss a few velcro rollers in it to give it a lift - I can't be doing with blow drying every touch and turn.

OK, that's enough for my first blog. To recap - I like the fact that I can take what life throws at me, adapt and move on. And I like my hair colour!