New Year coming.

I hate this time of year. It encourages me to look back at the year thats gone, and for some reason I always focus on the bad things I've done and the mistakes I've made. I can't seem to help it.

A year is a long time, and the difference in my life and myself, is actually quite incredible, even to me.

This time last year, I relied on a man for emotional support and company, now I really, really don't. At best, I might need to spend an hour or two a week on the phone to one of my friends, or 16 hours at work, for example. Nowadays, as of 6:30pm every evening I am in one of two places, at home or at work. That's ok with me. Which surprises me, but then, I'm not the person I was a year ago. My life may be boring, and dull, and lonely, but ITS MINE. I, now, rely on NOBODY for anything. If I need something that I can't do for myself, eg, babysitting, I PAY SOMEONE. If I need furniture moving, or putting up, or dismantling, I do it myself. If I need food shopping, I walk up and do it. It's nice. I KNOW right in the bottom of my shoes that at the end of the day, I no longer NEED anyone. Anyone who's in my life, is there because I want them to be, not because I have to have them. Even Phil. I can and do do it without him for a lot of things, if not everything, but I've made the choice to put my son first, and therefore, the choice to have him in my life, for all the shit he gives me!

I'm actually feeling hopeful for 2007, which is a new thing for me. Things seem to be just where they need to be. I'm revelling in my independence, forging new friendships, building a new relationship, on my terms and at this stage, with a level of caution that means its still in its baby steps stage, things are looking good. My son is growing, fast and furiously, emotionally and physically, and so am I.

Happy New Year all, I probably wont post till I do my moaning at 2am about my neighbours tomoro night!

Thursday Thirteen #11 (a day late!)

Thirteen Things I aim to do in the following year.

1…Give up smoking.

2...Eat better, gotta stop nibbling!

3...Exercise more...I will lose another 2 stone!!!

4...Have more sex (I know this is supposed to be at least a little family friendly but quite honestly, the clash in our schedules means its been A MONTH...A MONTH PEOPLE....THIS WILL NOT BE HAPPENING AGAIN!)

5...Make even more new friends. I've learnt how to do it now, and am on a bit of a roll!

6...Redecorate the house, I've started putting the money by for it!

7...Get the 3 armchairs OUT of my bedroom!

8...Learn to drive. I can drive, I just need to take the test, so I'm considering a crash course before the summer!

9...Spend more time with my son. Cos there is no such thing as too much time with him!

10...Maintain this relationship (there, I said the word) properly, so that I can introduce him to my son.

11...Laugh in my ex-husbands face (but then, I do that as often as I can)

12...Destroy a woman whos been deserving it since September (I know, not very nice of me but then I'm not always very nice and she's taken something that was mine and is not doing as she should, its all very complaicated!)

13...Blog more, and have a more exciting life to blog about!!!!
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Belated Merry Christmas to all!

Can you believe I actually FORGOT to post this Christmas, how unlike me!!!

Christmas was actually quite uneventful, my boy was good, my ex was well behaved, my family were too!!!!

I got the following for Christmas...

A book (one that I wanted!)
A 'mum' locket, from Emily and my boy
A cordless drill (LOVE my parents)
A new screwdriver set (again LOVE my parents)
A 3D Jigsaw (LOVE my aunt)
Some bath stuff that makes me glittery
A diary (I already have one but I didnt like to say)
Some odds of sweets from Graeme, which was a really nice pressie actually!
A small box of Milk Tray
and a bottle of wine and packet of fags from Secret Santa!!!

A very good haul this year actually!!!!!

And thats about all my gossip really, work has been fun, and my boy was far too good, but I don't really have the energy to wax lyrical tonight, I'm having a bath and then monging on the sofa!

tired, wired, and generally crazy!

We'll start with the tired, which is a no-brainer as I worked tonight!!! On the plus side there wasnt that much to do, and our sales were amazing for today over 7K!!!!!!! Thats actually all there is to report about work!

The wired then, that to has to do with work, and the fact that I am sat up waiting for a very important phone call (yes, I know its 12:30am, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!), and that I have just finished Thomas Harris' 'Hannibal Rising'. IT IS FANTASIC!!! Any fans of Thomas Harris' work will love it, I could barely put it down to go to work, but I figure that its not the sort of thing I can get a Dr's note for!!! But, despite having to put it down for 5 hours, I started it today, and finished it today, and its stunning. Its plot-line is based on Hannibal Lector's childhood and early adulthood, one imagines it is trying to explore the sort of experiences that lead to such a diabloical character that he created with Lector. Its gripping, gory and definately the sort of book you try to read while the sun is up. Having just read Karin Slaughter's 'Faithless' yesterday, I'm surprised I can sleep with the light off!!! I highly recommend Karin Slaughter to any fans of Patrica Cornwell or Lee Child, and I recommend Thomas Harris' books to EVERYBODY IN THE WORLD. I picked up my first one when I was 12 and have been hooked since. I shouldnt really have bought it but I couldn't walk past it and not own it. I know that the library is a wonderful resouce and so on, but frankly, I'd rather own the books that are gonna become my best friends than have to give them back to someone who couldnt possibly love them as much as I do!

To any newcomers to this blog, yes I am a book freak, and I'm proud of it. To illustrate this I should mention that any month in which I read less than 20 books, at least 10 of them completely new to me, is a slow month. If I could get paid to read all day every day, that would be my absolute dream job. I spend more on books a month than I actually spend on clothes, shoes, and cigarettes combined. But at least its not money wasted. The only books in my house that have only been read once are the ones I've bought this month. Most of my books have been read at least 5 times, and some of them I have been reading and re-reading since I was 12. And still I never tire of sinking into another world, another time, another life. Either I take escapism too far or I am a bit on the odd side!!!!

JAMMIE DAY!!!! YAY!!!!!

Me and the boy are having a jammie day today, they are our favourite sort of day!!!! Therefore, a whole lot of nothing has been going on!!!!

But I must point something out. The other day, I was complaining about my not to stellar record of Christmas', and Dave mentioned last Christmas in the comments section. So, I decided to address this. The part of Christmas that I was referring to as being crappy was the fact that it was my first Christmas on my own, that I cooked a full turkey roast just for myself, that I didnt get a present from my son, that Phil could only stomach my company for an hour so Edward barely saw him. In my eyes, although there were some good parts during the day, made it a crappy Christmas. I was in no way suggesting that there wasnt any part of the day that I enjoyed, but that overall, it was crappy, and I challenge anyone to disagree with that!!!

So this Christmas is gonna be much the same really, am doing the traditional Christmas morning fry-up and apparently Philip is staying for that. We're going to my Aunt's for dinner, despite my insistance that we dont spend Christmas day with any one side of the family, cos it makes for all sorts of tugs of war over Edward, but thats just my opinion as his mother, which holds no sway with anyone really.

In other random unrelated news, I'm thinking of changing the template for Christmas, but if I do, it'll be back to normal with a couple of weeks!!!!!!

Thursday Thirteen #10

Thirteen Things I should be doing instead of sitting and reading Karin Slaughter's 'Faithless'

1…Cooking Christmas cookies.

2...Making bows for presents.

3...Working out what to buy the ex-in-laws from the boy.

4...Cooking a Devil's food chocolate cake for Sue.

5...Having a bath.

6...Wrapping presents.

7...Finding the boys stocking.

8...Writing my last few Christmas cards.

9...Prep-ing for Christmas eve's roast.

10...Cooking up the apple sauce.

11...Finding table cloth, candles, and place settings for Christmas dinner.

12...Phoning my parents.

13...Washing, the washing up, and ironing.

But hang it all, they'll all still need doing tomoro, cos it was all I could do to put my book down long enough to write this!!!!!

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Tired now

I'm so tired, I should be asleep, instead I'm wired from working.

Work was actually reasonably easy tonight, I LOVE it when the delivery is completed by the time I start, it makes my job much easier. Thou I'd love to know who got what looks like some sort of tar on our floors, it didnt matter what I did, it wasnt coming off!!!

In other news, today, me and my boy went to town, and he bought his bus ticket all by himself!!!!! He's growing up so fast!!! He stepped up, asked for a 1/2 to town, and then handed over his money and took his ticket. Bless him. I figure that if he's determined to be independent then I might as well help him to be, rather than blocking him from it. Its exciting for me, because he's such a strong willed, well adjusted little boy, who is growing into a young man right in front of me. In the same breath its terribly heart breaking as he needs me less and less, and he's only 5!!!!!

I think thats possibly enough pointless rambling from me, I should never be allowed to talk or type once I'm this tired....I should just be locking in a room all by myself, until I sleep!!!!

I don't like Mondays very much

Thou, to be fair the title has so little to do with this post!

I don't have much to report...things between me and Phil are strained, things between me and mum are strained, things between me and some of my friends are strained.....dontcha just love Christmas!!!!

As far as Christmas goes, all I've done so far is put the tree up. I can't be bothered with much else, it seems that every Christmas for the last 6 years has been kinda crappy, so I'm only bothering for the boy this year. I even have to go and pick out and pay for my own present from him, and then get his father to take him to pick it up, cos Phil wont even pay for his son to buy me a present, but its ok, cos it will be my first ever present from Edward. How sad is that.

If I had my way, there would be no tree, no presents, no anything. I'd spend the day on my own, with no phone calls or other things. But I'm not allowed to do that because of the boy, but I can honestly say that I'm not looking forward to it even a little bit. It seems my life has beaten my love of Christmas out of me.

Thou, on a more positive note, I sat and watched part one of the first ever Terry Pratchett to be televised.......Sky One have done an adaptation of 'HOGFATHER' and it is FANTASTIC. I can't wait for the other half, thats on tonight. My phones going off, my door is gonna be locked, and I may be drinking wine. The only reason I've avoided the bottle of wine thats been in my house for the last 10 days is because I don't like drinking when I'm lonely, strikes me as drinking to numb the pain, which I wont do.

And thats it. I still have to go and do mums, and then try to get a handle on some of my own stuff. Then I get the spend a lot of the next 2 weeks with the boy, cos its the last day of school today!

I am NOT a morning person

Not even slightly.

Once the alarm went off, me and the boy staggered downstairs still asleep and crashed back out on the sofa. Opps.

Its now after 10am and I am still only just waking up, not the ideal state to be in when faced with the evil ex-hubby. But thats ok, cos despite the fact that I definately looked like s**t.....I really did, he STILL came on to me. So now I know that it actually has nothing to do with the fact that its me, and everything to do with the fact that he's trapped.

I actually have nothing else to report today. Last night was so deathly dull, there was nothing on the telly that I wanted to watch, the only people who talked to me were Graeme and Adrian, always fun, but still, that was it, 2 people all night. I nearly went looking for a chat room to hang out in...but they scare me, and move too fast for me to keep up and I couldnt face the confusion just for some sort of human contact.

So, plans for the day...housework, housework, housework, and then I may possibly take myself out for coffee, and maybe a trip to Waterstone's, I need a pick me up and a book might just do the trick.

Have a good day all!

Randomness

*puts finger over mouth and makes 'shhhhhh'-ing sound*.....not a word, oh manager of mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not one single 'I told you so'!!!!!!

Title to be inserted by anyone who can think of one!

BLEUGH.

That is kinda my theme for the day today. I have offically had quite enough of the chaos and hassle, and am just feeling BLEUGH.

Last night was a nightmare. Work was ok, actually nice and gentle, I took it kinda slow, and it still got done...I even faced-up!

But then, unintentionally, ended up in a row of sorts with Philip. It started because I rallied against the injustice of all the things that his new girlfriend gets from him that I didnt ever. Not just the emotional support and the help around the house, but that he can get home straight after work for her, and she always knows where he is. Things that I got down on my knees and abased myself to try and get from him. He just couldn't do it for the mother of his child and the woman he married.

He had mentioned to me that he had to get home because she is unwell. Now, as a general rule I don't wish ill on anyone, so I was sympathetic to his plight, but there's a 'but. On at least 2 occasions I phoned him and asked him to come home because I was miscarrying and I needed him to have the boy. He didn't come home when I phoned, or after he finished work, infact on one of the occasions he didnt come home till 9pm (he worked until 5:30). So, naturally I took issue with the way he is happy to take care of her, when he couldnt do it for me. HE HAD FORGOTTEN THAT IT EVER HAPPENED. I kid you not, MY HUSBAND FORGOT THAT I HAD 2 MISCARRAGES DURING OUR RELATIONSHIP. I actually had 3, but I didnt ever tell him about the first one, and I shant ever, because Edward stayed where he was, so there was no reason to tell him.

I MARRIED THIS MAN.

THROUGH MY OWN CHOICE.

I SHOULD BE SECTIONED.

On Tuesday I was unwell, I had a stomach bug, and the first thing Philip asked was whether I was pregnant or not, and I lost my temper, and he didnt realize why until last night.

Sometimes, when I look back, I HATE myself for being so spineless. For putting him above all else, protecting him and helping him. I can't believe, looking at myself now, that I let it happen. That I put up with the way he treated me. In the same breath, sometimes I look back and wonder if I dont deserve to be treated any better, because the man I married is capable of treating a woman like something other than a possession, a toy, something to treat anyway you liked, but he couldnt do it for me, and one has to ask why not.

So, the bleugh makes sense, but tomorrow will be a brighter day, as it's my weekend off, so I have ALL DAY with my beautiful boy, who makes any pain, suffering or torment that I endured with Philip completely worth it.

Thursday Thirteen #9

Thirteen Things I missed while I wasn't online

1...BLOGGING!!!! I may not do it as regularly as I should......But there's been more than a few things that I wanted to blocg about this last 3 weeks.

2..THURSDAY THIRTEEN'S....I got up one Thursday morning, ready to do my 13, to find my internet was down....I nearly cried!

3...Being able to Google anything that took my interest.

4...Chatting to friends.....I have so few in the 'real' world.

5...Checking my favorite blogs daily......I had to spend HOURS in front of the computer yesterday..............Oh well!

6...Window shopping. I don't buy online at the moment, but I love looking at the pretty things I would buy if I could afford it.

7...Keeping up to date with my favorite shows.

8...GOSSIP.....I missed out on LOTS of gossip!

9...Support. I still find it amazing how supportive people online can be, and I really could have used some support just lately.

10...Random emails. You know, the ones that are just plain random but make you laugh anyway!

11...Telling people about the amusing things my son has done, or the annoying things my ex has done.

12...VENTING.......My lounge door has taken a beating lately....I need to buy a new one now *blushes*

13...All the things I do online that aren't especially important, but do stave off the boredom!




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WOO HOO I'M BACK ONLINE!!!

YAY..... my internets been reconnected.......FINALLY......I've been without it for 23 DAYS.......so I'm off to do all the things I've been missing and will post properly later!!!!

Monday Madness

1. In order to protect my computer from viruses, I use _______.

In order to protect my computer from viruses, I use AntiVir adn Zone Alarm.

2. I also use _______ for protection from spyware.

I also use *blushes* nothing for protection from spyware. (Adds to the to-do list)

3. I don't spend nearly enough time _______.

I don't spend nearly enough time on myself.

4. The first person I usually talk to in the morning is _______.

The first person I usually talk to in the morning is either my son, or a special friend.

5. It takes me about _______ to get ready in the morning.

It takes me about 10 minutes to get ready in the morning.

6. I keep all my appointments in/on _______.

I keep all my appointments in my head if they are soon, on my phone if they are more than 3 months away (gotta love my memory sometimes!)

7. It takes me about _______ to fall asleep at night.

It takes me about anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours to fall asleep at night.

In Loving Memory...

Dearest Gun-Gun,

I heard of your passing just yesterday. I was at work, and it was as if the world had stopped for a moment or two.

I never have been good at articulating my deepest feelings, and it saddens me that you might not know just how much I love you, and always have. How I was always so proud to be your Granddaughter.

I put off getting in touch with you, because I was ashamed of how I was struggling, and I didnt want you to see it. I wanted so badly to be the person you wanted me to be, and I didnt want to show you that I'm not there yet. I'm so sorry. I wish I could do these last few years over.

I miss you already. As soon as I heard the news, the first thing that came into my mind was the smell of being safe in your arms, pipe tobacco and aftershave. You've always been larger than life to me. Then I remembered all the times I visited as a child, to find speacial treats in the cupboard, bought just for me and Johnathon. Speacial times when I felt so spoiled, so cared for.

I remember how you refused to have your Granddaughter accept charity. How you made sure that I was able to afford the things that stopped me being the target of bullys. How you showed me that I could be better than I was expected to be. How you never judged me, even when you felt I was making the wrong choices. How you let me make my own mistakes and didnt ever hate me for them.

I wish I had listened more, spent more time with you, told you more about me. I wish I could show you who I am right now, how I've changed in the last 6 months. I wish that I had posted the letter that I wrote. I wish that I had made more of an effort. I hope you never doubted my love for you.

I hope you find peace, wherever you are now.

All my love
Your Tizzie

Thursday Thirteen #8

Thirteen Things I say on a daily basis

1…"Look where your going or you'll fall over" - to my son, the dreamer, who will walk into lamp posts, walls, puddles, hedges, you name it!

2..."ARGGGHHHHHHHH" - normally at work!!!!

3..."Don't make me beat/bite you!" - to anyone who happens to annoy me

4..."Come on then, what else have you got?!" - directed heaven-wards, normally after my day has progressed to utter chaos.

5..."WHERE ARE MY GLASSES?" - I'm blind as a bat without them, and I lose them at least once a day!

6..."I'll see you later, in your dreams" - to my son, after a night time kiss and cuddle.

7..."Why is there a pencil/piece of string/small creature/handful of mud in your pocket?" - again to my son...I don't talk to adults much

8..."ok, that was REALLY gay!" - to Adrian, cos he really does get gay-er as the day gets later!

9..."YOU DID WHAT?" - to the ex-husband

10..."No baby, Daddy doesnt love his new family more than you" - this is the saddest one, especially as 'daddy' has only known the woman for 8 weeks, and is living with her and playing daddy to her kids...my poor boy.

11..."yes mum" - need I say more?!

12..."I love you and I am so proud of you" - to my boy, of course!

13..."I'm gonna f***ing kill him" - with passion and deep hatred, to anyone who I happen to talk to about the ex-husband!!!




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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Monday Madness

1. From ch'i:If you could only read one blog every day- which one blog would be on your daily list?

I really couldnt choose just one...Maybe two or three, but not just one!

2. From kat:What do you do to de-stress from a hectic day?

Have a hot bath, with a good book, pop my jammies on and snuggle up and watch telly/read/jigsaw.

3. From paxil princess:What is your favorite piece of clothing to wear in the winter?

JEANS......actually, they're my favourite at all times of year!

4. From sherle:Do you prefer discussing problems with a sibling, a parent, a significant other, a psychologist, or a total stranger?

With a significant other if I have one, but failing that, myself.

5. From trista:How long have you been blogging?

About 18 months give or take

6. From lisa e:Which side of the bed?

The WHOLE bed thank you very much (and its a King-Size!)

7. From elton:How often do you pig out when you eat?

Far too often, I have a complex about clearing my plate, stemming from going hungry too often. Unfortunately, this does mean that if I'm not watched I will eat until I hurt!

8. From karen:Do you watch the space shuttle launches?

Nope, never, holds no interest for me.

9. From dawn:What's your favorite leisure-time activity?

READING, READING and READING.

10. From sherle:When is the last time you said, 'I love you' and to whom? What about hugs? Who is the last person you hugged?

This morning, to my son, who replied with 'I love you till I burst'...as for hugs, same goes, my son, this morning.

An Open letter to customers of ___ ____ in __________.

(I wont actually mention the store name or location......I do like having a job!)

After dealing with your charming selves for nearly a year, I feel it is time to mention a couple of things.

First off, just because I work behind a till does not make me an idiot. I work in a shop, this is true, but it is my CHOICE, not because I am too stupid to work anywhere else. I am intelligent and capable, and 9 times out of 10, I generally have a higher IQ then you. The action of working behind a till makes me in no way inferior to you, and there is no reason to doubt that I am able to speak coherently or keep up with current events.

There is no reason to look at me in shock when I say something like 'Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening', it's just plain good manners, its not special treatment, its not because I am attracted to you, it is simply because I have manners and use them. It worries me that you find this so surprising. Looking at me like I've grown an extra head, or, my current favorite, looking up and saying 'WHAT?' is not necessary. Just because I am able to pay attention to you as I serve you, whilst you are oblivious to my existence is no excuse for being rude.

I do not appreciate trying to serve you your goods while you are chatting away on your mobile phone. Again, we are back to basic manners. How am I supposed to be able to ask you for the money you owe for your goods while you are busy making up with your girlfriend?

Also, if I ask you if you require anything else, I am generally referring to the tobacco products that are behind the till. I do not expect you to say......'yes, butter.' and then head down to the other end of the shop while other customers are waiting for you to come back just for butter. This is also bad manners! And by asking if you want to purchase anything else, I am, again, not signaling that I am attracted to you, but asking politely if you need anything else. Therefore, when you ignore me, and then 2 minutes later come back and say 'oh....I need (insert product here)', it makes me just a little cross. I understand that you don't really see me, that I am just white noise to you, but manners people, MANNERS.

If you have a problem with a member of staff, there is no reason to come and find me and tell me about it incessantly. For a start, you likely treated him with as much disrespect and indifference as you do me, and secondly, if you have a complaint, talk to management. Why you seem to expect me to send him home and run the shop on my own is beyond me. There is nothing I can do, expect waste 10 minutes of my shift listen to you repeat yourself.

When you are drunk, it is in no way amusing to see you come in, walk to a section of the store that I have actually faced up and start rearranging stock. You may think your funny, but your not, and I think its possible you have this problem in a lot of areas of your life.

Asking me if I would let you 'make love to me', 'take me home and **** me senseless', or 'bend over again so I can see your bum' in no way makes me think better of you. If I was interested in you, I would display this in some other way than asking you to leave the store. I am not at work for your amusement, or for you to hit on. Can I make this any clearer?

As for my collar. It is discreet. Most of the time, the buckle is tucked under my hair so it just looks like a chocker anyway. It is a symbol of the fact that I am comfortable with, and proud of, who and what I am. There is no reason to assume that it means I am either easy or 'making a statement'. Nor am I rebelling in anyway. It is not a 'phase', or just decoration. It is personal to me, and while I am happy to explain its symbolism to you, its impolite to ask. I don't ask you why you wear the absurd clothes that you do, or the ridiculous jewelry. At least mine is just plain black.

And finally, when I tell you something that you don't want to hear, for example, that we don't have any carrier bags, or that you can only purchase Lottery products with cash, I AM NOT LYING TO YOU. Why would I be lying about carrier bags? With all the effort I put in to be pleasant and polite, what makes you think that the words 'I'm very sorry but we are out of carrier bags' is actually me telling you that I am hiding them behind the till/out the back/up my ass. I am not trying to inconvenience you, I am letting you know something that is fact. There is no reason to lean over the till, into my personal space to check whether there are any bags there. And as for Lottery products, for as long as I have worked in retail, (6 years or so) LOTTERY HAS ALWAYS BEEN PAID FOR WITH CASH. It is store policy, and always has been. I am not denying you the right to a ticket or scratchcard, and I am not doing it for my own amusement. It is the way it always has been, and its just the way it is.

Oh, and one thing I forgot...

THE EGGS ARE IN THE MIDDLE AISLE, AT THE END, ON THE LEFT HAND TOP SHELF.

Your long suffering, friendly shop-girl.

Booking through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday

Mary wants to know...

1. Do you keep a list of books to read? No, thou I keep a wish list of books, and a list of publication dates for the next book out in any series I'm currently reading. My reading schedule is too random for a list!


2. Where do you keep your list (computer, PDA, paper, etc.)? Wish list....on amazon of course!!!! As for publication dates, they go on my calendar and in my diary *blushes*


3. How often do you refer to your list? Every time you go for a new book to read? When book shopping? Or? Only when I really want to get a book in a series and cant remember the title really. I tend towards finding new authors in my local bookshop, and as for a book to read, I'll pick up the closest one to my hand, and if I haven't read it in the last 6 months, then I'll read it. Most of my books are on their 20th plus reading!

Thursday Thirteen #7

Thirteen Things I like about living alone

1…I can eat cereal for dinner if I want to!!!!!

2...I never have to share chocolate.

3...If I dont want to wash up...I dont!!!!

4...If I want to go to bed at 7pm I can.

5...Conversly, if I want to stay up til 2am I can.

6...There's no-one to laugh at me when I'm wearing pink flannel jammies.

7...I can curl up with my teddy bear, and not have to worry about putting someones nose out of joint.

8...All descions about interior design are MINE and MINE ALONE

9...I never have to share chocolate (did I mention this before??? It bears mentioning twice!)

10...If I choose to spend 7 hours reading, no-one cares.

11...No-one steals my socks anymore!!!!!!!!

12...When I do wash up, its usually 2 plates, 2 cups, 2 sets of cutlery.

13...No-one can moan about the length of time I spend online!!!!!!




Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Sometimes you just gotta scream

ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHH



See, sometimes you just gotta!!!!!!!!

My bloods still boiling right now so I will do a real post later, but I just had to get that out!

NEW TEMPLATE ALERT!!!!!

I know, I've done it again, but I could resist it when I saw this one......so pretty, next I just have to get some snowflakes in time for Christmas!!!!!!!

Monday Madness, a day late......D'OH

Using the letters in your name (first, last, both, whatever), describe your life!

T...Thankless (see previous posts that contain the phrase 'ex-husband')
H...Hopeful
E...Endlessly full of Chaos
R...Ridiculous at times
E...Eternal gratefulness (for my son!)
S...Sad
A...Apspiring

D...Dark (I have my moments!)
R...Risque (at least my sense of humour is!)
A...All over the place
K...Kindness of friends
E...Echoes of 'what could have been'

Does this make ANY sense??? If not, then I don't particuarally care!

Please note: I ma not responsible for any spelling mistakes, I am eating chocolate cake as I type!!!!!

SHHHHHHH.............I have a secret

I do, honest, well actually I have lots, but this one is a biggy........

I have an infamous temper. I don't mean to but I can go and go and go and not lose my temper, and then one lil thing will send me insane............As in rip the lounge door of its bottom hinge insane........Its viscous and violent (and secretly, I love it, so much passion when I lose it, it reminds me I'm alive). Today, I got pushed over that edge, it was my own fault, I should have looked before I opened the document. HOWEVER, I DIDN'T BREAK ANYTHING........Not even a nail. I didn't even shout or lose it at the person who actually would have deserved the dressing down I so badly did.....This was cos of my secret you see, I have found an outlet for my oh so expressive temper!!!!!!! I would tell people what the secret to it is, but for one, its not gonna make me any money, so why bother, and two, its not something that is widely available due to my dislike of sharing things!

In other news.........A whole lot of nothing really.....My son's father has moved in with a woman he has known for 7 weeks and been seeing for 5 of them, my son's father is not a good father, and he is STILL coming onto me.......Now, I know I'm kinda hot at the moment, but come on.........I'm not that good...............I know this all too well today!!!!

Oh, and I baked today.........Which is a big thing for me, cos I haven't been able to afford ingredients for any non-essential cooking for so long that it was pure pleasure to bake a devil's food chocolate cake.....I may have to take some in to Graeme in the morning, he may need the chocolate by the school run!!!!!!!!!

So, other than explaining to my 5 yr old that 'daddies new family' (his words not mine) is not more important than him, and explaining to my parents that there's only so many hours in a day, and explaining to random staff members that I am ONLY A SUPERVISOR PEOPLE, and explaining to my ex-husband that I may have to hurt him if he doesn't buck his ideas up, and explaining to myself just why randomly attacking people is not allowed, its been a good weekend, full of cooking, food shopping and rearranging furniture.........Don't you wish you had my life???!!!!!

A COUPLE OF IMPORTANT ANNOUCEMENTS!!!

Firstly I must mention that I didn't get half of the things done I wanted to yesterday.......They have just had to be added to Monday's list............sometimes I hate my life!

Now on to the important announcements.......

Work got 19 cages in today.............and IT'S MY WEEKEND OFF I'm so thrilled!!!!!!!!!!

My boy brought his first homework home today................my boy has homework.............it's very exciting, I have to help him with some spelling, and some maths...........I'm really disproptionally excited about it all, but its a rite of passage and it shows how he's growing up!!!!

I finally fixed my dishwasher........WOOHOO........it's running right now, which means I actually only have to wash up a frying pan (from my bacon and tomatoes!)

Oh, and I've made Graeme's 'Featured Blog's' today.........very cool, I think at least...............may make me even more popular!!!!!

And, there's been nothing from my stalker since my post about her.............LOL!

Thursday Thirteen #6

Thirteen Things on my 'to-do' list today.

1...Post my TT!!!!!

2…Housework, and LOTS of it. Washing up, washing, hoovering, and just everything!

3...Bill paying, especially my council tax.

4...Chat to my bank and see what is happening there!

5...Wash my hair. It is wild and unruly at the moment.

6...Cook dinner before the school pick up.

7...Drink more coffee (I had a bottle of wine last night, it was an accident thou!)

8...Find my work keys (gotta love the 5 yr old!)

9...Deal with my ex-husband, which is becoming harder everytime I see the ****

10...Take some sort of seditive BEFORE I see the ex.......just so that I don't actually kill him!

11...Go to work..........and before that PRAY that the s**t doesnt hit the fan before my shift, I just wanna go in and do my job, thats all!!

12...Buy bacon............I have a real letch on for a fry up, I've started DREAMING about one, I am officially crazy!

13...SLEEP, SLEEP and SLEEP.....as my son felt I should be up at 6:30am this morning!!!!


Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

So tired...so very tired

I thought I'd add another installement of my exciting, nail-bitingly tension filled life. I apologise in advance if it puts anyone to sleep!!!!!!!

I would have blogged last night, but I was just too tired.

I got into work and there were 8 cages of the 9 cage delivery that arrived at 8:30am. This shows you just a little how busy we were. I actually spent all of my 4 hours on the till, and I was supervising!!!!! In that 4 hours, my GA and I took £2597........£1100 and odd of that was from MY till, we were BUSY. REALLY REALLY BUSY. I was actually crazy in there. I know that it was halloween and all, but even so!!!!!!!!!

And thats actually about it. I cleaned for mum, moved furniture for my aunt, and tided my house, cooked dinner and played with my boy.

Thou I do have to mention the conversation I had as I was scrubbing the dirt off my boy the other morning...

Me: "WHERE did all this dirt come from? You've been SLEEPING"

Boy: "ummm.......internet?!"

I have a stalker!

I really do....perhaps stalker is the wrong phrase to use, but any one who visits my blog 11 times in less than an hour, and stays for 36 minutes is odd to say the least. I know who it is, but I'm not gonna name and shame them, cos I'm laughing too hard to be honest. Why would someone spend that much time here? Delving into my pyshie perhaps??? This is not the place I would post such things. Seeing whats going on in my life???? sounds reasonable, but really, I dont post anything THAT riviting.....honest I dont, even I know that!!!!! Perhaps they find my Thursday Thirteens and work life utterly fasinating............well, lucky them, I'm living my life and its not THAT thrilling!!!!! I am just beside myself with amusement to be honest, given that I'm a private person, why would I post things that are really winding me up or whatever on MY PUBLIC blog??????? Honestly, its absurd............but I thank them for putting a smile on my face at their expense, cos I was due a giggle......................and I really enjoyed it!

Monday Madness

1. From bev:
Small town or big city?

Small town, at the most, given a choice I would live in a tiny tiny rural village........but as I can't afford to move or be that far from a town that has shops with food in them, small town is what I have to put up with!

2. From turtlemoonwave:
Do you have a favorite childhood memory, and if so, would you share it?

I don't really, not a 'favourite' one, some nice ones, and some nasty ones, but not one of those memories that makes you feel warm inside.

3. From cat:
How do you calm down when something has really upset and/or angered you? Do you swallow it? Call a friend and rant? Go in the bathroom and cry? Punch a wall? Walk around muttering to yourself, complete with scary hand gestures?

All of the above, also, cause random destruction, verbally bite anyone who looks at me a funny way (or a normal way for that matter), chain smoke, and strop around!

4. From dna princess:
What attratcs you to memes?'

They are addictive!!!!!! I only tried one out for fun........and havent stopped!! They are like cookies!

5. From mads:
How reliant are you on computers to get through your day?

Actually, not really, sometimes I go days without turning it on, and then some days I'm on here all day!

6. From tizzie:
In a crisis, are you calm or do you panic?

(YAY, my question!) BOTH. I'm calm and coping on the outside, taking control if necessary etc. However.........inside, a BIG BALL OF PANIC!

Thursday Thirteen #5

Thirteen Things on my wish list.

1...A Nindeno DS (I'm a 15 yr old boy at heart sometimes)

2...Wireless internet (I just wanna IM people from my bed!)

3...Sky Movies back......I MISS SKY MOVIES!!!!!

4...PEACE AND QUIET (its half term.....he's been home all week, and nothing I have tried today has got him dressed yet!)

5...The ability to do a full food shop. (ok, a daft thing to have on your wish list I guess, but frankly, I never have the money, and when I have got the money, I cant get the damn stuff home!)

6...To learn to drive (see above mentioned shopping!)

7...new clothes......as I am now A SIZE SMALLER........I only have one pair of jeans that stay up!

8...a shower in my bathroom...........I just want to hop in, get clean, and hop out again, instead, I can never resist taking my time in the bath!

9...A garden..........or a house with a garden..........I want to be able to sit outside in a garden without looking like a freak for being sat on the concrete balcony outside!

10...To actually decorate this house. I've been here 3 years next month and only one room's been done so far.

11...a divorce.

12...more patience....I'm short on patience and long on temper this week.

13...more quality time with my son. Whilst I do enjoy my job, and love that he goes to school and loves it, I miss being a stay home mum, and I miss him!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

I ROCK.....I REALLY REALLY DO

My first post of the day (I need to post my 'tackle' for this week) HAS to be about my shift last night. I was too tired to blog last night, cos as I got to work (early no less) there was a 9 cage delivery arriving.............yes, at 18:30 or there abouts, there was me, walking in to 9 cages and just me and Trish. So, being as insane as I am, I pulled in the cages and everything, and got stuck in at about 19:20. I knew I had about 2 1/2 hours so thought I'd see just how much I could do in that time. One of the cages was the cigarettes, so I simply handed them to Trish. Then I worked 5 cages completely. Not spotted, not just glanced at, actually worked. Admittedly I played it a little safe cos I didnt fancy having tons of backstock, so things only went out if I could get at least half of the case. But still, for one person to do that much is pretty damn good. This being said, I HAVE TO STOP DOING THIS. Its no wonder that people expect me to do so much, when I keep actually doing it, damnit. I think laziness might be in order this weekend........no wait, I'm working with Graeme........we can't seem to help working when we're on weekends together............D'oh. So I guess I'll just be lazy tonight, and enjoy my last day off till next Wednesday!!!!!!

Oh, and to add to the chaos of today, had to take the boy for his booster jabs today..............that was not a good idea!!!! He hates me because I didnt explain that injections meant someone would be "putting pointy things in me". Bless 'im!

Monday Madness

1. From: cassie:Dramas or comedies?

Both, Love either, depending on my mood and how much wine I have with me!!!!!!!

2. From: nutmegnine:Your neighbor has frequent noisy parties on nights before you need to get up early. Do you confront him directly, call the police, call your landlord, join in the debauchery, or seethe quietly and do nothing?

Seethe quietly, and then play loud music early in the morning when I know they have hangovers!!!!

3. From sherle:Are you more comfortable in big crowds or small groups?

Small groups as a preference, thou I manage quite well in large crowds too.

4. From zeno:Do you prefer Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox?

Maxthon actually, I love the tabs and just, well everything about it really!

5. From briar:They say you learn something new every day. What new thing did you learn today?

That every smile you fake has a price!




Monday Madness

Weekend off.......WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

The first, and most exciting thing to report is that IT IS MY WEEKEND OFF!!!!!!!! This, in actuality, means that I got up at 6:30 this morning, and was in Philip's car heading to Edward's football by about 8:40........but still, it is a weekend off. It also means that shortly I will be at my mothers, as Edward has been asking to see them all week, and its something to do that costs NOTHING.........NOTHING IS GOOD!!!!!!

The second piece of exciting news is something that I keep forgetting to tell anyone..........I HAVE LOST 1 AND 1/2 STONE IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY ME..........I am offically slimmer than I was at 18, so now I only have another 2 and a bit stone to go to get to my ideal weight...........how excited am I???!!! The only downside is the fact that none of my jeans fit and I had to steal a pair off my sister cos mine keep falling down (not as fun as it sounds, trust me!)

I actually think thats about it. I'm making an effort to keep my emotions off of here for now, cos quite frankly, there are some people who check this blog quite regularly, if only to hear how depressed I might be and then gloat............so I am definately denying them that satisfaction and getting on with things with.......wait for it........A SMILE ON MY FACE.



Daily LIfe

Thursday Thirteen #4

Thirteen Things I couldn't live without.


1. My son.

2. COFFEECOFFEECOFFEE!!!!!!!!!!

3. Chocolate.

4. My son.

5. Books.

6. My friends at work.

7. The few friends that have stood by my thru the last year.

8. My son (he crops up a lot!).

9. My collar ('tis a statement of part of my identity)

10. Sky TV.

11. Cuddles on a stormy night.

12. Thunder and lightening.

13. Being online (not that I've been doing that much lately.)

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!





Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants


Thursday Thirteen

Back, I think

ok, so you may have noticed the big-ass blogging hiatus. I just couldnt seem to get my head around blogging or anything else for that matter. HOWEVER.......I think that I should be able to manage the mindless task of putting details of my oh-so-boring life on here again, now that my emotions aren't overspilling into everything I try to say or do. Cos althougth I blog, I tend to wait until my emotions are under control before I do so, cos if they are under control I can talk about them without decending into my my hated state of snotty crying big mess. So I think I'll post a Thursday Thirteen and see how it goes from there!

An anniversary of sorts

I know that its been a little quiet on here of late. And here is why. This is a quote from my blog written on this day a year ago. The day that my husband moved out.

"Today is the big day.......I'm terrified.........Absolutely quaking in
my boots.........Whilst I KNOW deep down inside that I can do this, right now I
am panicking like mad..........He's still sleeping at the moment so I've decided
to leave him til he wakes.......Just that little more time to get my emotions
back under wrap before I have to face this."

So, I have been just a little reflective, as well as trying to sort out my own emotions, and things have been just a little crazy in my head. I've been floundering in chaos and confusion, all the while trying to keep a happy face on it all for both my son and the outside world. I haven't even been able to articulate my feelings with any sort of coherence to myself, let alone to others. I'm sure that people the world over have gone through what I am going through, but, as human nature dictates, it seems to me that I am all alone. And I know I'm not, but I also know that part of the problem I'm having right now is because I relied to heavily on others this time last year, when I should have been doing things myself. I've also been discovering a couple of things about myself, things that I'm not entirely proud of, and that is taking some adjusting to as well. It seems that I'm having to reassess every aspect of my life, every decsion I have made in the last 6 years, and every consequence of my actions. Its not a fun place in my head right now....But its getting better, it must be as I am able to actually load up the computer today.....Which is kinda new for this last couple of weeks. Also, I'm starting to make a couple of positive changes, as difficult as they may be.

So, I thought I would blog today, as today is a huge day for me, a big,scary, pit of tangled emotions, but also a huge day. And now I must away to chat to the neighbour's as if there is nothing going on and then to go into work and play pretend for a little longer.

Thursday Thirteen #3

heres one I made earlier.

Thirteen Things that make me smile



1Â…My son. If itdidn'tt lackoriginalityy, he'd be all 13 things!

2...Thee smell of an autumn morning.

3...Myy work mates. The best thing about the job is them really.

4...Bakingg bread.

5... Terry Pratchett's books!

6... (at this pointIi had to stop for a few minutes to think of other things!) My family.

7...Musicc that needs to be headbanged too!

8... 'A Town called Eureka'......Aa fantastically funny new series on Sky One.

9... A hot bath, a glass of good wine, a good book, scented candles and 3 hours of not needing to do anything but enjoy.

10... Special people who can coax a smile out of me no matter how down or crappy I feel.

11... My son.Welll he is the best thing in my life.

12...Cleaningg (its shameful I know!)

13...Thee first cup of coffee of the day.


Links to other Thursday thirteener's!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. Its easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants



Thursday Thirteen

dont panic

i know this will set people worrying, they dont need to, but I wont be blogging for at least a couple of days. things seem to have gotten a touch too much, and i just dont have to mental capacity to blog as well, certainly not to be light and cheery. But i am ok, just very very 'bleugh'.

Monday Madness

Ok, I know my posts have been meme heavy lately......but in fairness, theres not much going on in my life lately, and certainly nothing exciting enough to share with the world.......so here's another meme!

Monday Madness

1. How do you eat an oreo cookie? (from tricia) Being remarkably English I can honesty say I have never eaten one!
2. How long does it take you to eat lunch? 7-8 minutes. If I actually remember to eat it!
3. Caffeine or decaf? CAFFEINE.......lots and lots of caffeine.
4. Chicken or beef? Chicken, cos its cheaper.
5. Pen or pencil? Whatever's closest or hasnt been stolen by the boy!
6. Autumn or spring? Autumn. My favourite season, crisp air, brisk winds, beautiful colours; whats not to love!
7. Baseball or basketball? Neither on account of them being sports.
8. 'Survivor' or 'The Amazing Race?' Again neither, I DETEST reality TV with a firey passion.
9. Come up with one question I can ask our Monday Madness participants in the weeks to come. In a crisis, are you calm or do you panic?

Monday Madness Meme

I knew I forgot to do something on Thursday!

Booking Through Thursday

1. Do you tend to read more books written by one gender over the other? There's a fair representation of both genders on my bookcase. I truely have no preference. As long as something is well written, I'll read it!


2. If so, which one? Men? Or women? Is this a deliberate choice? Or just something that kind of happened? ummmm.............all of my books are something that 'sort of happened', if I am attracted to a book or author, then I read it.


3. And (without wanting to get too personal), is this your gender? Unless I'm more confused than I thought, no!!!!!LOL

Thursday Thirteen, Edition #2

I always mention my addiction to books. I never fully explain the extent of my problem. So I thought that the books that I've read since the 1st of September would be a fantastic 'Thursday Thirteen' on account of the fact that I'm on my 13th book so far this month!!! I have a tendancy to read as many as books by the same author as I can which is why you will see the same authors in the list. I'd have written a list of my favourite authors, but that would have to be a list of 60 odd. I am an addict and I either need help or a life!

Thirteen Books I've read this month.

1…'A Game of Thrones' - by George R.R. Martin. Its the first in an epic series of fantasy books, all knights and honour and intrigue and politics. I was hooked on the first page and went on to also read...

2...'A Clash of Kings', Book two by George R.R. Martin.

3...'A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow', Part ONE of book three!!!(George R.R. Martin again!)

4...'A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold', Part TWO of book three!!!(and again with the George R.R Martin!)

5...(last one by George R.R. Martin!) 'A Feast for Crows', Book four!

6...'The Killing Floor' by Lee Child. Am loving the protaganist in his books, rough, manly, and addictive!

7...'Tripwire' by Lee Child.

8...'Echo Burning' by Lee Child.

9...'Going Postal' by Terry Pratchett. I LOVE this man, I want to be his stalker. His writing actualy makes me laugh out loud frequently.

10...'Priestess of the White' by Trudi Canavan. Having read her first trilogy last month, I had to read this!

11...'Shadowfall' by James Clemens. The next book in the series goes into print next month, so I wanted to recap on the first book!

12...'Proven Guilty' by Jim Butcher. I had to order this one from amazon as it doesn't come out in the UK til next year, but I've already read the others he's written.

13...'The Enemy' by Lee Child. But I'm only half way thru this one!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants




Thursday Thirteen Books

Monday Madness and Tackle it Tuesday!

Ok, so we'll start with the Monday madness, as it is still officially Monday.

I was instructed to wait in today between 8-6, for an engineer who would come and fit my pre-pay gas meter. Which I dutifully did, it gave me chance to do my Tackle it Tuesday project.

Then, at about 2:30 I decided to just double check what was going on with this blokey from the gas company. It would seem that they hadn't booked the job in properly. Now I have been raving about this company's incompetence for endless posts, cos they really are incompetent, but frankly, I booked this job 4 weeks ago, sorted out people to take my boy to school and so on, and THEY screwed up AGAIN, NOT ME!!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRR. I was NOT impressed!!!!!!

That's actually about it for Monday, as I DIDN'T LEAVE THE HOUSE!!!! So, on to

TACKLE IT TUESDAY

Project:Paperwork

As with last week I kinda bit off more than I wanted to chew. I THOUGHT that sorting out my paperwork would be a simple case of putting things into piles, until I realized that there were A LOT of phone calls I had to make to sort things out too. It was actually 3 hours worth of phone calls to official people. I started talking to my neighbours just to talk to humans! I have heard every single variation of Greensleves, and been on hold for a total of 50 minutes...........50 MINUTES!!!!!!!!!

So, here is what I started with...

You may notice that these yellow and black tubs feature heavily in my storage spaces, they are FABULOUS, they are the ones that fold down flat and hold a stupid amount of stuff, I LOVE THEM!!!

5 HOURS later, after phone calls, shredding, and much sticking on of labels I now have...

JUST ONE BINDER........YAY!!!!! Inside I have dividers, neatly labeled address labels that I picked up from work cos they were cheap, describing everything behind each divider, along with what action I have taken regarding whatever it is up to today's date. This then means that at a quick glance I can not only see what paperwork I have, but what still needs dealing with, what bills are unpaid, and what school notes/hospital appointments I need to book etc!!!!!!

I am so chuffed, mainly because now I can find everything, and tomorrow, I am heading to the CAB, (for anyone who isn't based in the UK, it is a fantastic free service run by volunteers who will negotiate repayment plans for your bills for you, give you debt management advice, legal advice, you name it) cos thou I'm not heavily in debt, I'm definitely feeling the pinch of dropping from a household of two full-time earners, to being a part-time worker who keeps losing benefits, and is currently on an income of less than £600 a month!!!!!

Also, I'm sick of eating baked beans on toast!

Happy Tackling to all Tacklers!!!

Daily Life Tackle it Tuesday

(insert appropriate title here as I can't think of one)

I have to admit that I am posting more out of boredom than anything else.

There is nothing on the telly, I need to take a little break from my book (thou it is stunning, but I think completing a 502 page book in a couple of hours just shows how dull my life is!)

I have to comment on my boy. I would add a picture of the most stunning injury that he has ever had, but he wouldn't stand still long enough for me! He had an 'incident' at school, his new teacher was terribly apologectic, obviously being totally unaware that my son thinks he's made of rubber, and will randomly throw himself into/onto/over things just to see if he can.

Anyway, the 'incident'...it would seem that my boy pi**ed some kid off, one who was bigger than him (so anyone in the school really) and got pushed over, onto a pile of Duplo, on his head. Only my son could do this, and end up with two neat Duplo bumps, from the top of the bricks, imprinted on his forehead for all to see. He had his forehead iced down, and in true Edward style he cried out..."Get off, I have to go and finish my hat!" The boy has NO concept of pain...unless he wants kisses. He's gonna be straight!

Thats about it really, unless everyone really wants to know about the endless piles of bills sat in my kitchen, or my various problems with my various lumps and bumps (its been a crazy day!)


Oh, and theres this I forgot to post earlier!

I've got an interview at "5 Minutes for Mom".

Have you been to 5 Minutes for Mom before? It's a moms blog run by two wahms who own a retro collectibles specialty store and a kids furniture and toy store. They love helping other work at home moms promote their businesses. So take a stop over at their blog and help support all mom blogs and mom sites.


Daily Life Parenthood 5 Minutes for Mom

Sorry I'm about an hour late!

Booking Through Thursday

1. We asked last week about what draws you to your favorite kind/genre of book. This week, we want to know--how often do you depart from that comfort zone? If you love mysteries, do you ever read fantasy? If you primarily read cookbooks, do you ever read a good romance? I will happily read anything that contains words! These days I've been reading everything from Terry Prachett to peoples blogs online. I just can't resist reading!


2. How MUCH variety is there in your reading? Do you mostly stick to one type, with just the occasional toe-dip into a different style? Or do you generally read a variety of things, just, maybe more of your favorite style than anything else? I tend to stick to one author at a time! Just lately I picked up a book by George R. R. Martin, loved it, so read the rest of the series thats out at the moment (A Song of Ice and Fire). If I'm attracted to an author, or a particular book seems to be telling me to buy it then it doesn't matter too much which genre it is. This being said, I own more Sci-Fi/fantasy books than anything else!

Thursday Thirteen

OK, so this is my first 'Thursday Thirteen'!!!!! I'm actually a little excited! I guess I should call it Edition #1 but I'm doing the one suggested for Edition #57!

So, 13 things I like about myself....thats actually far harder than it sounds but I'll give it a go!

Thirteen Things I like about myself



1…. My hair. I know it sounds odd but I do love my hair, its thick, full and annoying most of the time but I still love it!

2.... My sense of humour. I'll admit that it can be an aquired taste at times, but I find myself funny!!!!

3.... My dress sense. It might not always be fashionable, but I do look good most of the time!

4.... My ablity to make meals out of nearly empty cupboards. My son and I have had a few strange meals, but I always seem to manage to find something. (I truely don't know how!)

5.... My memory. Its not quite photographic but I do have crystal clear recall on the strangest things. I never really think about it but I just have the strangest things in my head!

6.... My addiction to books. There are far worse things I could have become addicted to at points in my life, I'm glad that it was books!!!!

7.... My son. Not something about myself, but a reflection of it. A happy, healthy, well-adjusted boy who is growing up too fast, and who's teachers told me that there was no change in his behaviour when his father left, which to me says I must be doing something right!

8.... My commitment to my family. It has never mattered how much they beat me down (metophorically!) I still love them and stand by them. This can only be a good thing.

9.... The fact that now I have the strength to not take whatever s**t is dished out to me (unless its from my parents!). Confiedence in oneself is a beautiful thing.

10.... That I am still naive enough to be surprised when people betray me.


11.... The 'twins'. I can't do a list about things I like about myself without added them!

12.... That I still write letters to my friends. Even the one's I have email addresses for!

13.... That I managed to actually write this. Its taken me the last 45 minutes!




Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Tracie

2. My two cents

3. caylynn (couldnt find a link!)

4. incog & nito (no link again)

5. Mommyba

6. Tink

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants





Daily Life Thursday Thirteen

TACKLE IT TUESDAY!!

As a first time 'tackler' I must admit it launched into this far to vigorously.....I really did......I thought I would simply sort out my bookcase



But to do that, I needed some tubs of books from one of my cupboards (which as you can see also needed 'tackling')



Then I tripped over my clean clothes and I saw where I was going to put those clothes




and nearly died when I saw the state I'd let my room get in. I'm only ever in there to sleep, so just lately it's ended up kinda neglected..........So I got stuck in.

I've always found it fascinating to look back at all the random 'stuff' that gets collected in a short space of time, even if I'm then going to put it in the bin, but really, I had an EXCESSIVE amount of stuff. For instance, I owned 21 sets of various nightwear........21........WHY?????

As I looked through them I realised that a few of them were from when I was 18 and still living at my parents...............I think I have a problem!!!!!!!

Then there was the 58 pairs of socks......I KID YOU NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..............58 seems just a little ridiculous, and some of them were only held together by a hope and a prayer!

Also, in my bedroom cupboards was a dis-mantled junior bed that my son hasn't slept in for at least the last 2 1/2 years, that one made it into the loft finally, and barely fit. So there was I, balancing on the top of a ladder, trying to wiggle the base of this bed into the loft and realising that I am also at the TOP OF THE STAIRS..............And singing along to my MP3 player and adding a lil jiggle or two..............I am officially crazy!

As I was cleaning, sorting and throwing out, I was also picking up things like lighters and pennies and popping them into my pocket...........this pic is actually of exactly what was in my pockets when the weight got so bad my jeans fell down all by themselves!!!!



Within my pockets I discovered I had picked up, 10 lighters, a screwdriver, some batteries and over £5 in loose change!

However, I persevered and here are the 'after pics'




All my clothes are now hung up, and the linen is all in the tubs on the top shelf.




This pic is not taken well, but it is of the other cupboard and you will notice the lack of plastic tubs!



Another not so good pic, but this is where the bookcase was.......unfortunately as I wentto move it into my empty cupboard...it fell apart!

And one of the 12 bags of rubbish, broken chest of drawers and box of broken toys I should have thrown out 3 months ago, cos this has to be seen to be believed.




Next week, I'm doing my paperwork, where I can sit all comfy and not have to do any heavy lifting or ladder climbing.

Any other visiting 'Tacklers', let me know and I shall make a list!

Daily Life Tackle it Tuesday

tired girlie

Damn I'm tired. But I know why.........

The 7am start this morning, trying to motivate the boy and convince him he needed to eat breakfast.

Doing an hour and a quarter of intensive cleaning for mum......you know its bad when you're working up a sweat!

Doing more than the same at home, then having the boy take 30 minutes to get home.

Going into work and discovering the 2 trolleys and bottom of a cage of milk to work, the best part of 4 bread trays, and 69 (yes 69) boxes of wine to work, plus the loose bottles. I have to admit that I only managed to face up a few bits......but I did get everything else done . The only issue now is that it hurts to walk.

Tonight, I am going to bed to rest up before I tackle something tomoro, not sure which part of the house to start with, cos theres SO much to do!

Back to school checklist

Find everything the boy could possibly need for school.
Discover the hiding place of the new school shoes.
Name EVERYTHING that could possibly get lost/stolen/eaten/hidden.
Locate child's 'secret hiding places' for PE bags, plimsoles, and other essential items.
Hem, wash, dry, iron all new school uniform.
Twist ankle trying to find school jumper that is inexplicably under the bed.
Name lunchbox, juice bottle, spoon.....or they never get seen again.
Make school lunch while resisting the urge to eat the Hula Hoops and KitKat
Collapse exhausted with coffee, light a cigarette and panic about what you could have forgotten
Dash upstairs and change EVERY alarm you can find whilst praying that they might possibly wake you in the morning

Thats it, I'm done for the night I reckon!!!!

Daily Life Parenting Back To School

OH THE CHAOS

I wanna take my ball and go home now please.

This weekend has been chaotic, crazy and full of madness.

Work has been crazy, I did loads of stock yesterday, and much supporting of B. I have no problem with this, cos on this one I do feel that she can do with the support. If she was in the wrong, I'd likely be the first to say something, most people know this about me (first hand for a lot of people). However, I'm definately on her side on this one.....which may seem strange as I've not been the most supportive of our new assistant manager up till now, but to be fair, she's doing alot better than she was just a few weeks ago.

On top of work I'm having fun turning up trousers by 3 inches, and name tagging everything, and finding everything for the back to school tomoro! I'm sooooooooooo excited! On the down side, it means I'm back to cleaning mums every morning, but never mind!

And then, my Aunty Sally was taken to casuality today. She's home and feeling a bit better now, but the Doc's aren't sure what the problem was/is, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping like mad that she's ok.

I'm sure thats all the glamour and excitement in my life at the moment, with the exception of my new template. Regular readers (so, dave and graeme) will be more than aware that me and templates for this blog have been having an odd relationship lately (to say the least). I loved my last template, but commenting was complicated, and as I want to start doing things like 'Tackle it Tuesday' and 'Thursday Thirteen' commenting needs to be simple!!!!!!!!!!

And thats definately it. I have nothing more to say, and certainly nothing interesting!

Work Daily Life Chaos

PS

commenting ISNT working yet!

a quick note

I'm still playing with this template, so not everything works as yet..........give me time thou!!!! I'm trying to make commenting and so on easier, thou its proving harder than I hoped, I think I've looked at about 4,500 templates!

Busy girlie!

I have been busy today, but haven't actually done anything that I need to do!!!!

I've signed up with Blogrolling..........my links page is now completely up to date, and if anyone would like to be added to it, just let me know.

I've also signed up properly with 5 minutes for mom .....which is FABULOUS..........it is STUNNING, and I happily send any mothers that way!

Thats about it really, so now I have to tidy up like a maniac so that its at least presentable before my sitter gets here!

Random Musings.

Its after midnight, so allow me a little randomness, I have been short on it lately!

First, work wasnt too bad, there was more stock than there really should have been, but I managed to get it done, and even managed to make the store look reasonably pretty.......then walked on my freshly mopped floor........D'OH.

I have been doing a lot of 'blog surfing' lately, and there will soon be many new links on my page, but I have to mention a couple.......

5 minutes for mom. this one HAS to be mentioned as it is a great read, a fantastic resource for us mums, and funny too! They have a thing called 'Tackle it Tuesday' where everyone taking part chooses a part of their house that needs tackling and tackles it, including before and after photos.........so watch this space for frantic mastering of uploading photos to blogger (which hates me when I try to do it btw) in time to tackle something next Tuesday.

Technorati.

THIS IS FANTASTIC.....for those of you who use a blogger platform to create your blogs (sorry Dave, dont know how it would work for you).....I stumbled onto it, and found that it is basically a directory for the whole blogosphere. Imagine my surprise when I found my blog was already listed there, as is Graeme's, Adrian's, and probably loads of others that I wasnt bored enough to look for. You can 'claim your blog', see how many other blogs link to yours, who adds your blog in there posts etc, I had much fun on here, and it has links to practically anything you might want to find a blog or blog post about............I really recommend this one.

As for the others, I'll update my links page as soon as I get chance.

Thats about it folks, I would write something that would impact the world in some way, or spark some sort of huge philosphical debate but right now I am 1, too tired; 2, too self-absorbed (and unashamed to admit it!); and 3, well, I dont think THAT many people actually read this anyway!

A quickie!!!!!!!

So, a quick post, as I have to restore the trashed house before my sister babysits tonight, and work tonight (which could either be really good, or not as the case maybe, depending on how much gets done this afternoon).

For some reason, my body thought it was a good idea to stay up until 4am.......partly because I was really close to the end of my book (now I have to wait the best part of a year for the next one in the series) and partly because it hates me, and knew I had to be up early. So I get up at about 8 after the alarm went off forever, and tidied the house........which the boy then destroyed, I am sorely tempted to just not bother tidying until next week!

Then a full scale catastophe hit..........I RAN OUT OF TOILET ROLL.........this would never have happened when Phil lived here as he had some sort of fetish that involved buying about 200 rolls a month, but alas, with all the chaos, I managed to go to Tescos and still FORGOT...........................DAMNIT!!!!!!!!

And thats it, as my life is still rated a -7 on the 1-10 scale of dullness!

a quick break from my book!

so, I succumbed, I went to Graeme's blog and had to try out the Seasme Street quiz.....turns out I am....

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

YAY ME!!!!!!!

And today, I went carbooting with Em, followed by a spot of shopping in Christchurch................so tonight I am gonna spend some quiet time with my book, my MP3 player (I got new batteries today) and possibly some wine, if I can find any in the house!!!!!!!!

******I have just realised how to leave a comment on my blog ......when you click to add a comment, it'll take you back to the home screen.......click on 'blog' again, and scroll down, it should allow you to do it there........I think!!!!******************

OPPS.......I have new books

SO, its been a while since I've posted properly. There is a valid reason for this that is other than the absolute chaos that is the SUMMER HOLIDAYS (a punishment for parents I think) So other than the fact that the small boy has trashed my house, cost me money in the form of new uniform stuff and generally been a nightmare, and that is that I have 'found' a new author who I love. George R. R. Martin, who's first book in the series I'm currently reading was 800 pages long! Its a fantasy epic written in glorious detail, and I can barely tear myself away from it to have a bath (actually I just take it with me, and take it to town as well) I'm on the fourth book, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who loves David Eddings, cos its a lot like his writing but on a far grander scale. So, thats all I have to write today, as I took the boy to town and acccidently bought myself a new jigsaw too (I know how sad that is, honest I do) and I must go read, so that once I'm done reading I can puzzle. Maybe something exciting will happen next week!!!!!!!

Oh, thou I should mention the tit-ish-ness of my fellow staff. One in particular was asking that the afternoon staff take some of the load off of the evening supervisors. This was a valid request, as there is a lot to do of an evening. HOWEVER, not only was the staff member in question unable to 'take some of my load off' when she worked in the afternoon the other day, but she also left me the stuff SHE had been asked to do, which I did, cos I always do pick up the slack, but I am mighty pissed off by it, to the point where I may have told someone to NEVER help her out by doing evening work in the afternoon

I think this might just be it!

AHHA.......I think that I have finally found my favourite template............i HOPE at least, cos I really cant be bothered to do anymore tonight at least!!!!!!

The tag board is now working........feel free to tag......PLEASE!!!!!!

Thats it for now I reckon!

tweaking the template still

ok folks, my apologies but I shall be messing about with the template again, for the next couple of days i reckon!!!!!! Feel free to comment on it as i go!!!!!

DAMNIT.......STILL TWEAKING

Am still tweaking this template, so there are a couple of things that arent working.....and i seem to have lost my archives somewhere!..........Commenting is enabled, but if you cant see the text, just hover your mouse just under where it says 'random ramblings' and it should show up. If theres something not wotking, then please leave a comment!!!!!

However, i do love this template, i think its very pretty!

I shall actually post a little later, but, am gonna have a play with templates, just to warn anyone who wanders in and realises that i actually let a monkey (possibly one of the ones that I'm sure hides in the stock room and messes up all my hard work) do my posting for me!

Return of the template

Ok, so I've returned to the original template......There is a reason for this, I have a big ass blog entry today and the other template just doesn't like them!!!!!!!

I began my day in a flurry of glasses hunting......Damn the boy, and then with a phone call from my mother that went something like this...Random chat, pointless noise, 'oh, let me chat to Edward.' now, being the good daughter I am I asked my son if he wanted to talk to granny.......Which he didn't.........However, this was apparently 'putting in a negative' (and what is that exactly? My mental pic involved a minus sign and my girl parts!). So on the second phone call, she asked to talk to him again, and I tried to hand him the phone.......It must be mentioned that he is 5, overtired, and not a morning person right now....His answer 'NO, I don't want to cos I hate her'.................Oh the shame.........This was something, that obviously I have trained him to say when I signal to him, being the trained seal that he is.................But never mind. Then there was some random 'Tizzie beating'.......Its the sport of the summer I'm telling ya! Then the debacle that was the CAB. I am not against the CAB, in fact, I think they do a wonderful and much needed job, and I donate whenever I can..............HOWEVER...............I went there, and saw a rather handsome young man (a miracle in itself), for an hour......And we sorted out a plan of action for dealing with Scottish Power, and away I went, happy that it was over............(another mistake of my day!).......I walk in the door, and there is a phone call, from the aforementioned handsome man, asking me to GO BACK IN........damnit, I barely had time to inhale my FIRST coffee of the day! But that's sorted out now, so I go to my mothers to do some cleaning, where she starts rattling on about my arrogance and generally having a beating session. It seems that I must speak in tongues or something, as when I said 'would you mind if I just pay attention to what I'm doing' and this is obviously code for 'I wont argue with what you are saying so feel free to follow around bitch-slapping me with my inadequacies' ARRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Then, icing on the cake, I FOUND HIS GLASSES.......ON MY BED...........WHERE I PUT THEM THIS MORNING............I am a tit.

Wine is a beautiful beautiful thing and that is all I'm gonna say!

Someone pass the wine please...

Evenin' All!

I give up. The chaos is just never gonna end, so I am gonna do the only thing a girl in my position can do......put my feet up, pop a film on (possibly 'Shall We Dance' again) and have a nice glass of wine. Its the only option really!!

My boy decided that he wasnt gonna go to sleep till 11pm last night, which threw both our mornings off, mine cos I was tired, and his cos he strangely wasnt! Then I couldnt get a sitter for the boy, so had to phone work, thou I did get to explain some of the more crazy bits of the last couple of weeks, and then we did the normal trip to my Aunts. On our way back, the boy decided to declare that he (and i quote) 'didnt like the attitude i had on', and he was 'going to get his spider friends to eat me'. Have I mentioned how eagerly I am anticipating the return to school???????????????

So now, I am off to my wine and film, but before I disappear I must mention......every now and then, Graeme will send me an amusing text message, as he did today......the downside........I'm actually reading the text message, in a room by myself, and laughing like a crazy person.......this cant be a good thing!!!!!