Just wanted to send some hugs to my lovely friend Marie and her family, who lost a really close friend today. It was very sudden and they're all very shocked and obviously upset.
We love you Marie and the rest of the Cookie clan and we're thinking of you.
Friday, 15 May 2009
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Happy Birthday Cus!
You know you're getting old when your 'baby' cousin hits 30!
My lovely cousin (and soon to be bride, 18 days, eeek!) Laura has hit the big 30 today. She was always the little one who we used to pick on, launch 'bean bag attacks' on and convince we had phsycic powers! And now she went and got all grown up and is a 30-something! Add to that she's getting married in just over 2 weeks and produced Xander's little playmate Evie a couple of years ago, and I'm guessing there'll be no more 'bean bag attacks' on her anymore (she'd probably lamp me one these days!)
Anyway, at the crop on Saturday, I made her a little present. I'd gathered together some pics from the hen do a couple of weeks back and I made her this book:
It's the first time I've ever done one of these 'word' scrapbooks but I had loads of fun doing it! Didn't take pics inside but there's lots of pics, badges from the day, betting slips etc.
So, happy birthday my little cus, love ya even though you're cracking on a bit! x
My lovely cousin (and soon to be bride, 18 days, eeek!) Laura has hit the big 30 today. She was always the little one who we used to pick on, launch 'bean bag attacks' on and convince we had phsycic powers! And now she went and got all grown up and is a 30-something! Add to that she's getting married in just over 2 weeks and produced Xander's little playmate Evie a couple of years ago, and I'm guessing there'll be no more 'bean bag attacks' on her anymore (she'd probably lamp me one these days!)
Anyway, at the crop on Saturday, I made her a little present. I'd gathered together some pics from the hen do a couple of weeks back and I made her this book:
It's the first time I've ever done one of these 'word' scrapbooks but I had loads of fun doing it! Didn't take pics inside but there's lots of pics, badges from the day, betting slips etc.So, happy birthday my little cus, love ya even though you're cracking on a bit! x
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
The Dress!
So, last night I took Emily to her final dress fitting along with Gemma and the other bridesmaid. The girls looked very very cute all dressed up and then we got Gemma into her dress. She looked fab and Ann had done a beautiful job of making it fit just perfectly.
I took my camera and got a few pictures and they all looked fabulous!
So then, me, Gem and Ann got the dress all packed up ready to go on the plane for the big day.
So, who wants to see a picture?
Go on, do you really want to?
Do you really really want to see it?
Oh...
OK then....
You see, we fitted it in beautifully!
What?
Oh, you weren't expecting me to post pics of the dress were you?!
:P
I took my camera and got a few pictures and they all looked fabulous!
So then, me, Gem and Ann got the dress all packed up ready to go on the plane for the big day.
So, who wants to see a picture?
Go on, do you really want to?
Do you really really want to see it?
Oh...
OK then....
You see, we fitted it in beautifully!What?
Oh, you weren't expecting me to post pics of the dress were you?!
:P
Sunday, 10 May 2009
Loo/Lou Art!
I've had so many comments about the pictures we took of the bluebells last weekend and I have to admit, I LOVE how they came out. So obviously, they needed to be scrapbooked without a doubt.
So the other day, I was sat on the loo (where I do my best thinking! Is that TMI?) and suddenly had some inspiration! Our downstairs loo is cream but with a blue carpet and purple and blue accessories, not unlike bluebells. We also have a tall narrow wall at the head of the room, perfect picture hanging spot. So, why not scrapbook the pics but do them in a format that will look good as wall art too?
So, here's what I did. It's a double layout but sits portrait instead of the traditional landscape, and this afternoon I will be going to buy 2 12x12" frame then sending Rob into the loo with a hammer and a couple of nails! Voila!
Yesterday I was at the Leeds Paper Dolls crop with my lovely new scrapping buddies. Lots of cake and coffee later, we did get some scrapping done, but as May's a big birthday month, my project is unbloggable at the moment due to it's top secrecy! However, just wanted to wave 'Hi!' to all my LPD buddies!
Right, onwards and upwards! I have frames to buy!
So the other day, I was sat on the loo (where I do my best thinking! Is that TMI?) and suddenly had some inspiration! Our downstairs loo is cream but with a blue carpet and purple and blue accessories, not unlike bluebells. We also have a tall narrow wall at the head of the room, perfect picture hanging spot. So, why not scrapbook the pics but do them in a format that will look good as wall art too?
So, here's what I did. It's a double layout but sits portrait instead of the traditional landscape, and this afternoon I will be going to buy 2 12x12" frame then sending Rob into the loo with a hammer and a couple of nails! Voila!
Yesterday I was at the Leeds Paper Dolls crop with my lovely new scrapping buddies. Lots of cake and coffee later, we did get some scrapping done, but as May's a big birthday month, my project is unbloggable at the moment due to it's top secrecy! However, just wanted to wave 'Hi!' to all my LPD buddies!Right, onwards and upwards! I have frames to buy!
Friday, 8 May 2009
I Suppose It Had To Happen...
So, check up with the dicky ticker docs yesterday. I ran into my cardiologist in the corridor with a Costa coffee in my hand, aaarrrggghhh!!! 'It's decaff I swear!' I declared before he could open his mouth (then I remembered this was the guy who told me to go and get hammered at Xmas!). Anyway, was nice to see him even though he is a little scary these days, blokes who give you messages of doom tend to have that effect!
Anyway, I ended up seeing his registrar, the wonderful Petra (er, she does have a Dr name but we never get to that!). After hugs and discussions on the joys of Primarni, we got down to the nitty gritty. She showed me my last CT scan which was weird. The CT takes pictures in slices from the hips up and it's very weird seeing hip bones, then lungs, then liver (which is suprisingly healthy! :P) then this old ticker of mine. Was really weird seeing my stent with all it's little tenticles gripping on for dear life!
Anyway, good news was that it all looked fine and after a little listen, the bloods flowing nicely and the ticker's still beating, which is always a winner! But, a trip to the hospital is never complete without a down side. Well, I say a down side, it's really more of an inevitability.
My blood pressures been all over the place lately: up and down and varying from one arm to the next. Anyway it's now not going to get better on it's own but they need to get it under control, so I'm now on medication. I've been very lucky, 12 1/2 years from diagnosis and it's the first time I've had to be drugged (apart from the cocktails you get when you board with them!) but it's still a little defeat in a way. So, pill popping for the rest of my life now but if it makes my BP stable then that's a good thing.
I also have some scarring on my right lung from the pneumonia which is causing the odd bit of breathlessness. So I also now have an inhaler to help with that.
The most gauling thing was having to pay over £14 for the blooming prescriptions (no wage, no benefits student with a life long illness and I still have to pay, I can feel a rant coming on!).
Anyhoo, thought I'd update you all, I know how you all love my gory medical details! :P
Have a good weekend everyone! x
Anyway, I ended up seeing his registrar, the wonderful Petra (er, she does have a Dr name but we never get to that!). After hugs and discussions on the joys of Primarni, we got down to the nitty gritty. She showed me my last CT scan which was weird. The CT takes pictures in slices from the hips up and it's very weird seeing hip bones, then lungs, then liver (which is suprisingly healthy! :P) then this old ticker of mine. Was really weird seeing my stent with all it's little tenticles gripping on for dear life!
Anyway, good news was that it all looked fine and after a little listen, the bloods flowing nicely and the ticker's still beating, which is always a winner! But, a trip to the hospital is never complete without a down side. Well, I say a down side, it's really more of an inevitability.
My blood pressures been all over the place lately: up and down and varying from one arm to the next. Anyway it's now not going to get better on it's own but they need to get it under control, so I'm now on medication. I've been very lucky, 12 1/2 years from diagnosis and it's the first time I've had to be drugged (apart from the cocktails you get when you board with them!) but it's still a little defeat in a way. So, pill popping for the rest of my life now but if it makes my BP stable then that's a good thing.
I also have some scarring on my right lung from the pneumonia which is causing the odd bit of breathlessness. So I also now have an inhaler to help with that.
The most gauling thing was having to pay over £14 for the blooming prescriptions (no wage, no benefits student with a life long illness and I still have to pay, I can feel a rant coming on!).
Anyhoo, thought I'd update you all, I know how you all love my gory medical details! :P
Have a good weekend everyone! x
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Someone Restore My Faith!
***RANT ALERT!!!****
I'm having a complete and utter career crisis!
As many of you know, I've been working towards becoming a teacher for a couple of years now. I'm coming to the end of my degree and looking at training possibilities and it just seems like all the cards are stacked against me. I don't recieve my degree classification until December, so can't start training this September like all the normal students. So, I was looking at starting in January; that was until the only college round here to do a January start cancelled it! So, I now have to wait a year before I start.
OK, so I thought I'd look at working in school temporarily for a year and have applied for a couple of TA jobs. Trouble is, they'll cost me more in childcare than I'll actually learn (TA's wage is appalling for everything they do!).
On top of all that, I am sick of people* telling me that teacher training is hard (of course it's bloody hard, it's post graduate!) and that there's too many applicants for each job (so is the training hard or not then, because if there's a lot of applicants then it can't be that bad if ALL those people are getting through it!).
My beef is, where's the support? Why does everyone always have to knock you down? I'm trying to improve myself here and go and do something worthwhile and all people can do is knock it. I just feel like jacking it in and phoning McDonalds!
Plus the fact that I've been in school today and they've been little horrors! I've also been asked to go on the school trip tomorrow to lend a pair of (free) hands, but the head says I have to find my own way there! So I have to work for free and pay the petrol money!
Next time I see one of those adverts on TV asking for teachers I'm throwing something at it!
RANT OVER!
* Obviously plenty of people reading this will not fit into this category, lots of you are great about it! ;)
I'm having a complete and utter career crisis!
As many of you know, I've been working towards becoming a teacher for a couple of years now. I'm coming to the end of my degree and looking at training possibilities and it just seems like all the cards are stacked against me. I don't recieve my degree classification until December, so can't start training this September like all the normal students. So, I was looking at starting in January; that was until the only college round here to do a January start cancelled it! So, I now have to wait a year before I start.
OK, so I thought I'd look at working in school temporarily for a year and have applied for a couple of TA jobs. Trouble is, they'll cost me more in childcare than I'll actually learn (TA's wage is appalling for everything they do!).
On top of all that, I am sick of people* telling me that teacher training is hard (of course it's bloody hard, it's post graduate!) and that there's too many applicants for each job (so is the training hard or not then, because if there's a lot of applicants then it can't be that bad if ALL those people are getting through it!).
My beef is, where's the support? Why does everyone always have to knock you down? I'm trying to improve myself here and go and do something worthwhile and all people can do is knock it. I just feel like jacking it in and phoning McDonalds!
Plus the fact that I've been in school today and they've been little horrors! I've also been asked to go on the school trip tomorrow to lend a pair of (free) hands, but the head says I have to find my own way there! So I have to work for free and pay the petrol money!
Next time I see one of those adverts on TV asking for teachers I'm throwing something at it!
RANT OVER!
* Obviously plenty of people reading this will not fit into this category, lots of you are great about it! ;)
Sunday, 3 May 2009
The Bluebell Trail
We, as English people know how to moan. In fact, it is our birth right to moan, especially about England. No one else is allowed to diss our great nation, but we love nothing better than reeling off long lists about what's wrong with living on this island.
So, every now and then it's nice to find something that we love about England and that we wouldn't get anywhere else in the world. Yesterday, Emily told me she was glad we lived in this country as we could be in the city one minute, then out in the country the next. How very observant of her! Indeed, where we live, we can be slap bang in the centre of the city in 10 minutes and a 30 minute walk will get you to the nearest shopping mall.
However, on the opposite end of the scale, we can literally walk to the end of the street and see this:
Our (very) local woods are lovely, but look amazing a couple of times a year. First of all in the snow, looks like a scene from Narnia (as I blogged here) and this time of year we get a swarm of bluebells. They don't last long but they look wonderful while they're here! For the past couple of evenings, we've taken the kids for a walk and today I took my camera along (the scene's a scrapbooker's dream I tell you!):
Our (very) local woods are lovely, but look amazing a couple of times a year. First of all in the snow, looks like a scene from Narnia (as I blogged here) and this time of year we get a swarm of bluebells. They don't last long but they look wonderful while they're here! For the past couple of evenings, we've taken the kids for a walk and today I took my camera along (the scene's a scrapbooker's dream I tell you!):
On top of that, once we got to the other end of the wood, we found the blossom trees starting to shed their flowers; more photo ops!
Sigh! So lovely.
However, along with the idyllic scene, we had to have a bit of fun too! Here's Emily and Xander's latest came 'To The Resue!'. I love how Xan has to play the damsel in distress and Emily the hero!
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