Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a

Happy New Year!

I shall see you all in 2011.

xx

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!

Today (16th) is my sisters 30th birthday. In some ways I can't believe she is turning 30 already, but I also can't believe it's taken her so long! It seems like forever ago that I turned 30, and it feels like Laura should have turned 30 shortly afterwards.

Anyway, she's finally there and I'm very happy for her (although she isn't too happy about it).

Happy Birthday Laura! Have a lovely day!

Lots of love from Me

xxx

Cold and Frosty England

Today I took my dog Saffy for a walk over to the Downs near my house, and I couldn't believe how beautiful it looked! We had a really heavy frost over night which has turned the entire countryside white. Frost is so much prettier than snow. I'm not sure my pictures do it justice, but here are a few to give you an idea of how beautiful it looked.

Blue Christmas

Surely this isn't what Elvis was referring to when he sang 'Blue Christmas'?

NB: Apologies for poor photo quality but I had to take this picture in secret. :o)

My Nephews 1st Birthday

This weekend my nephew celebrated his 1st birthday and his Christening.

Christenings normally reduce children to tears, but Harry is such a happy chappie and took the whole thing in his stride. He sat on his mothers lap and paid attention to the vicar the whole way through the service. He didn't make a sound and looked genuinely interested in what was being said. When he was taken to the font and had water thrown on his face he still didn't cry. In fact he just wanted to put his hand in the water and swish it around. He truly was a very well behaved little boy.

Me & Harry

After the Christening everyone went to a hall where we had a party to celebrate Harry's 1st Birthday. Harry had had a 2 hour nap earlier in the day so he was well rested and full of energy. His parents had hired a bouncy castle for the older children to play on, but Harry was desperate to have a go.

My brother and his family

It was a very nice afternoon, but I was exhausted by the end of it. I spent a lot of the afternoon running around after a very energetic Harry. Charlotte also had a great time and spent most of the time with her friends, in fact I hardly saw her all afternoon. I occasionally saw a shock of blonde hair run past me.

Some of the family

I can't believe Harry is 1 already, and Charlotte will turn 4 next week. Time goes by way too fast for my liking.

Harry with his Mum & Dad

25 Most Played

I was having a moment of boredom so I thought I would listen to some music on my iPod. Here are my top 25 most listened to songs.

1) Piece of Mind - Boston

2) Fireball - Deep Purple

3) Now or Never - AG Silver

4) Dream On - Aerosmith

5) Please Don't Let It Go - HIM

6) Stone Cold Sober - Paloma Faith

7) Salt In Our Wounds - HIM

8) Wuthering Heights - Angra

9) Kick A Hole - Imperial Vipers

10) Say You Don't Want It - One Night Only

11) English Country Garden - The Darkness

12) The Funeral - Band of Horses

13) Lost - Coldplay

14) Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors - The Editors

15) Midlife Crisis - Faith No More

16) On A Day Like Today - Keane

17) Man In The Rain - Mike Oldfield

18) Vampire - People In Planes

19) Hurting Kind - Robert Plant

20) Caught By The Fuzz - Supergrass

21) Animal Nitrate - Suede

22) Union of the Snake - Duran Duran

23) Take It On The Run - REO Speedwagon

24) Need Your Love So Bad - Fleetwood Mac

25) Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas

I haven't listened to some of these songs in a very long time so I'm really not sure where my iPod conjured this list up from. However, I I am now going to make a point of listening to all of these. There are some great tracks here! I would also like to point out that England (actually the UK because one of them is Welsh) can lay claim to 16 of these great bands.

England may be a fairly dire country to live in, but we've made some great music.

:o)

When Harry met Saffy

This is a tale of unrequited love between a young boy and a golden retriever. Harry loves nothing more than to crawl around after Saffy, and Saffy loves nothing more than to run away from him as fast as she can (she's 13 so she can't run that fast these days). The already fragile relationship took a turn for the worse today when young Harry pulled a rather large clump of fur out of Saffys tail. Harry loves hair pulling. He's only 9 months old so there's nothing vicious about it, he just can't help himself.

Saffy is actually really good with him. She plays hard to get, but I can tell that she is secretly very fond of him. She tantalises Harry by walking past him swooshing her tail.

Harry has gone home now and I think Saffy might be a teensy bit relieved. She no longer has her tail hidden between her legs so that Harry can't grab it, and she is finally able to go to sleep without fear of being poked in the eye or having her ear tugged.

:o)

The Cutest Thing

My sister and I were on our way home from work yesterday when we saw the cutest thing. We were stuck in traffic (a regular occurrence in England) and noticed that cars were swerving in the road. I was expecting to find that people were swerving around road kill (also a regular occurrence), but as we got closer we saw this:

Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to take a photo, but what I saw looked very much like this. Mummy duck and her fluffy ducklings were strolling along the gutter by the side of the road, blissfully unaware of the chaos they were causing. I counted 7 duckings, but there may have been more. I'm so disappointed that I didn't get a picture.

It was such a lovely sight, and it made my day!

My VERY Cute Nephew

The title says it all, this is my incredibly cute nephew. He is 8 months old and a real bruiser.

He is very well travelled. In fact he has just come back from Florida where he learnt how to crawl (I'm fairly sure he would have learnt how to crawl even if he hadn't been to Florida, but you know what I mean).

He almost never cries.

He laughs A LOT.

He has beautiful blonde curls in his hair.

He is sporting 2 brand new front teeth (he has 4 in total now - 2 up, 2 down).

He loves pulling your hair out.

He likes to pull Granddads glasses off his face.

He loves to dance, and has great rhythm.

There is so much more I could say about him, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I turn 34. I would love to give some inspirational speech about how it doesn't matter how old you are, it's what you do with your life that counts, but I don't buy in to all that.

I actually don't feel too bad about my birthday this year, 34 is a nothing age. I think next year will be tougher. I'm not looking forward to that one!

Anyway, for now I would just like to wish a big Happy Birthday to anyone who happens to share my birth date. Like Bono and (when he was alive) Sid Vicious, and apparently Homer Simpson! Who wouldn't want to share their birthday with Homer Simpson?

:o)

What is your definition of bullying?

It is election time here in the UK, and (as you might expect) this brings out a lot of emotion in people. Actually it's bringing out a side of someone I really didn't want to see.

I am a fairly opinionated person. I generally keep my opinions to myself as some of them are not very PC, and I have no wish to offend anyone. I believe that if someone wants my opinion they will ask for it. To force my opinions on to someone is (in my opinion) tantamount to bullying, particularly when the opinion is voiced in an aggressive fashion. However, it would appear that one of my friends does not share this view.

The various political parties have been taking part in a series of debates where the leaders of each party come together to argue why they are the best party to rule our country. This is the first time they have done this type of thing, although I am aware that this is common place in the US.

At the end of each debate there is a poll to see which party is in the lead and likely to receive the most votes on May 6th (election day). After last nights debate it was deemed that David Cameron (Conservative Leader) had performed the best. My friend responded to this on their Facebook status by saying (I've removed my friends name from this quote) "..... is wondering what retards YouGov have sampled?!". (YouGov are the online company who put the poll together), implying that only someone who is mentally challenged would vote Conservative.

This was just one of a series of comments and possibly doesn't sound like much to complain about, but I was shocked and disappointed by this. The use of the term "retard" is unnecessary at any time, and why does someone have to be so aggressive. Is it not possible to voice your opinion without offending and alienating people - in this instance, your friends? As far as I am concerned these are the words of a bully. This person is aggressively forcing their opinion on to their Facebook friends, and making their Conservative friends feel that they are wrong for having their own opinion.

I am so disappointed in my friend. I am shocked that they could behave like this and I now feel very differently towards them. Hopefully once the election is over we can put this behind us, but until then I shall keep my distance.

I feel better for venting. Thanks for listening. :)

Fast Food

When did fast food stop being fast? I just had the misfortune to go to a well known burger chain, and I was asked to go and wait in the lay-by because my food wasn't ready. The mere fact that this restaurant (I use that term loosely) even has waiting bays suggests they know they are not able to supply fast food. I have, on occasion, been asked to park up in one of the disabled parking spaces to wait for my food. Given that there are 3 waiting bays this means that I am, at best, 4th in the queue!

So, as I sit here nursing my chronic burger induced heartburn, I have to wonder why on earth I bother. The convenience has been removed from convenience food, and all I am left with is indigestion and a much lighter bank balance!

No more burgers for me thanks.

Happy Birthday Mum! xxx

Today is my mums birthday. Don't worry mum, I won't divulge your age.

This afternoon we all got together to celebrate/commiserate. Here are a few pictures:

Mum, Charlotte & Harry

Mum & Harry

Charlotte & Laura

Me & Charlotte

Charlotte

Happy Birthday Mum

Love you lots,

xxx

Visit From A Friend

On Tuesday our friend Clayton came to visit with us all the way from Glendale, Utah. We first met him when he was serving a mission in England in 1988. In 1990 my family and I went to stay with Clayton's family, but we haven't seen him since. It was so much fun to see him again after all these years.

Sadly we didn't have a lot of time with him, but we gave him a tour of our neck of the woods. Here are some of things we got up to:

Laura and I at Stockwood Park Classic Car Museum

Clayton and I inside The Priory Church of St Peter. It was at this church in 1533 that the marriage between King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon was annulled.

The Old Hunters Lodge. A 15th century house, now a country pub/restaurant.

Clayton and I outside The Priory Church of St Peter.

View from the Dunstable Downs.

It was so much fun to have Clayton stay with us. I just hope it isn't another 20 years before we see him again.

The Lovely Bones

I started reading The Lovely Bones back in December, and I finished reading it last week. The reason for this isn't that I'm an incredibly slow reader, it's that I found it a chore to get through.

I would sit down to read the book, open to the page I was at and start reading. Ten minutes later I would realise that, despite having routinely turned the pages, I hadn't actually read anything. I found myself wondering what I would have for dinner, or why hadn't the vacuum picked up that tiny speck of fluff on the carpet?

It isn't a bad book. In fact I can't really put my finger on what the problem was, but I really struggled with it.

I think I can sum the book up fairly quickly without giving too much away. I'm going to use bullet points because... well, because I like bullet points.

• There's a horrific murder (I seriously debated whether to carry on or not. I found it very uncomfortable to read)
• Then there is 250 (circa) pages of mourning (understandable, but very drawn out)
• Then it's suddenly 20 years down the line
• Then the book ends.

The ending felt very rushed in comparison to the rest of the book. It seemed as though the author suddenly realised she had exceeded her word limit, and needed to bring it to an end quickly.

So the question is would I recommend this book? Yes, I think I would. Don't ask me why, but I actually think it's probably worth a read. Just don't expect too much from it.

A Nasty Accident

A nasty accident took place on Monday involving my leg and boiling water. I now have a golf ball sized scald on my left thigh that is really rather nasty. It is very sore, and I am having to visit the doctor a couple of times a week to have my dressing changed.

This is the worst thing I have ever done! When I was 12 I cut a small portion of my thumb off, but this is far worse. When I was 13 I tore the ligaments in my leg and was on crutches for a few weeks, but this is far worse. When I was 15 I (possibly, although it was never confirmed) broke 2 of my fingers whilst playing netball, but this is far worse.

So, just to clarify, this is really bad and I'm not at all happy about it.

Whilst I am sitting on my backside resting my leg, I am going to try and get stuck in to The Time Travellers Wife. I have finally finished reading The Lovely Bones, and TTTW is going to be my next read.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what is going on with me. I'm feeling very sorry for myself so please feel free to give me as much sympathy as you like.

:o(

Mental Block

It's 12.23pm on Friday, and at 11.00am on Monday I have a load of work I have to hand in to my assessor. What am I doing right now? I'm changing the background on my blog (which I'm not too happy with, but I got bored looking)!

I desperately need to knuckle down and get this done. I have been looking at the same piece of work for days now, and I can't find any motivation to write anything. So, it very much looks as though my weekend will be spent working.

I really hope I find some inspiration from somewhere! Wish me luck!

Things That Annoy Me

I can't believe that my first post of 2010 is going to be a moany one, but I really feel the need to vent right now. Bear with me and I'll make my next post a happy one.

1. Why do people get so worked up about absolutely nothing? I have recently witnessed someone make a completely innocent comment on Facebook, and get rounded on for it! The content of said comment isn't really important, but I can assure you there was no need for the tongue lashing that ensued.

2. Why do people (women) assume that I'm an idiot just because I don't have children? Apparently when a woman gives birth they don't just have a baby, they also become a complete know all! I'm so sick of mothers saying to me "you won't understand until you have kids" when the topic of conversation had nothing to do with children!!! I have always wanted to be a mother, but now I have the added reason of wanting children so that I can become a pain in the butt, mouthy know all.

3. My new job involves me visiting my local airport regularly (my students work at the airport). I am finding it such a palava getting in and out of the place. Last week I spent 15 mins driving to the airport car-park, 15 mins waiting for the bus to take me from the car-park to the airport, 5 mins walking to my destination, 5 mins waiting for someone to escort me to the information desk, 40 mins waiting to see my student, blah, blah, blah. I was there for 3 hours and only spent 45 mins with my student! It's a nightmare! Sadly there is nothing I can do about this.

I could go on forever, but this will suffice for now. I actually feel better for that! Happy post next time, I promise.

:)