Great expectations!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday.  It is utter bliss not having to do the school run or go to work.  Lazy mornings, not getting up early and spending time in your dressing gown.  No rushing around, lovely lovely.  My Mum and I went up to Marlborough (lovely market town, Kate Middleton went to school there, very posh) on Boxing Day to mainly get out of the house.  The sales had started, but there was no rushing around for parking spaces, hardly any traffic on the road, it was great.  Plus I picked up a few bargains in the sale...I love the January sales.  However, I don't get up at silly o'clock to bag a bargain.....I go online instead!

I watched Great Expectations, somehow the story had escaped me.  I vaguley remember watching it as a kid, I think I was a bit scared, you know weird woman living in a spooky house.  What a great story, I loved it.  May be one day I will write something vaguely worthy of being a s successful as that.  That Charles Dickens, bloody good writer.  Any way, festive greetings to one and all.  I am going to enjoy the rest of the holidays, may be a little more retail therapy, and pottering around.

Happy New Year, I hope 2012 will be fabulous for you all!

Driving home for Chirstmas....nightmare!

I drove back to the homeland last weekend to celebrate 2 birthdays and to pick my Mum up.  It normally takes me 2 hours and 15 minutes to get to Peterborough.  I was driving with my 2 bored Children in the back of the car.  Who were constantly asking me can we go to Mcdonalds.  They were totally oblivious we were lost somewhere in Buckinghamshire.  I got past the M40 and one of the roads I usually go down was closed.  I followed the diversion which took me through lots of fields and a lovely little village called Croughton.  I made it back to the usual road, only to find the next road was closed.  I again followed the diversion, and regretted the fact that I left my sat nav on the kitchen side.  Hindsight is such a beautiful thing!  My Husband said to me my sat nav is on the side if you want to take it.  Yes, it was a good idea, however, in my hurry to leave, I forgot it!  Not something I will do again in the future.

So picture this, me driving down the country lanes following the yellow diversion signs, until they end!  Yes, they end, and I am somewhere near Milton Keynes.  I have no clue where Milton Keynes actually is.  This is not the first time this has happened.  Are the people who put the signs out having a laugh or do they start it and then think home time now and do half a job?  Luckily, I have something called common sense.  I kept driving and came across a sign for Northampton and knew I could get to where I was going.  Unbelievable, if you are going to put a diversion up, please do the job properly!  In the end the journey took me 3 hours, deep joy!

Breakthrough filming!

I was really chuffed that the Charity Breakthrough for Breast Cancer asked me if they could come to my house and do a short piece of filming.  Of course I had to bring forward my hair appointment.  No-one wants to see bad roots.

3 guys came from the Charity to do the filming.  They bought me a lovely bunch of flowers and were fantastic company.  They all have lively and vibrant personailities.  I had a fantastic few hours with them talking about my journey through breast cancer.  It seems like along time ago now (3 years ago).  breast cancer is not an easy thing to go through but hopefully other Women can see me and think if she did it, so can I.  I remember when I was going through it I looked at Kylie Minogue for inspiration.  I thought to myself if she can do it so can I (and look stylish and gorgeous whilst going through it).

The message Breakthrough want to get through is that they need the continued funding for finding a cure for breast cancer.  They do a phenomenal job, funding research to banish it.  I truly believe that one day it will not exist, or if it does there will be a simple treatment to get rid of it.  One of the hardest things about cancer is that there are still so many unanswered questions, what switches on or off for that matter.  Breakthrough funds the scientists to find out these answers and so that one day we can combat the disease.

Thank you Breakthrough for giving me the opportunity to talk about my experience and to hopefully spread the message of why you are so important to many Women and their survival through Cancer.  Let's face it most of us all know someone who has been affected by cancer and some of us may not realise the important work that Breakthrough does.  80% of women who have Breast Cancer now survive.  They are making leaps and bounds to a Breast Cancer free future, but they need the continued support of sponsorship and fundraising.

Supermarkets you have been found out!

I was really pleased today that supermarket pricing has been looked into.  I blogged about it ages ago, and how frustrated I was with them trying to blindside us.  We are all not stupid.  I was in one of the aforementioned the other day, and there was a branded tin of biscuits that was now the bargain price of £5.00 instead of £9.90.  Who do they think they are kidding they were never £9.90 in the first place. 

They are ceasing on the fact that everyone loves a bargain.  It is truly missleading and not only on biscuits.  Many a time I have seen dishwasher tablets that were £9.00 marked down to the bargain price of £5.00.  These supermarkets have got too big for their boots and need a large dose of honesty.  I look forward to reading their report.  We are constantly bombarded with advertisements of price watch this and that.  One of them offers you can go home and do a price checker and if it is cheaper they give you the difference, who can be bothered to do that?  Just price your products right in the first place.

Another supermarket always gives you silly little pieces of paper with offers on.  I always lose them or forget about them.  Why don't they put their offers straight onto the clubcard and if you met the criteria you get the deal and if not it expires.  Really a quite simple idea and with all the technology around today very easy to do and better for the environment.

Supermarkets have become giant marketing machines, but us the general public are getting wise to their shananigans!

Bereavement

This week my dear Aunty died.  It was the most sadest moments of my life so far.  She was a major player in my life, not a random Aunty that you never see.  She was the matriarch of our family and the glue that held us together.  She has left a huge void.  Luckily, I managed to say goodbye to her.  On Monday and Tuesday I cried almost all day.  I thought I was never going to stop.  I got myself to a point when I felt sick and if I did not feel sick my head was throbbing from all the tears.  She is the first signaficant person in my life who I have lost.  My Father died when I was 6 years old, however, unfortunately, I did not have the pleasure of spending much of my life with him.

It makes you realise all we really have is each other and our time.  I am so glad I spent a lot of time with her and made the effort to see her when I did.  I know now these were precious moments.  I know it sounds ridiculous but I never thought she would die.  It reinforces the fact that none of us know what is around the corner so we have to live out lives right every day, and treat each other with kindness and respect.  The tears are getting less and less and I am now trying to see the positives.  I was very lucky to have such a wonderful and generous Aunty.  Whenever, we went to her house it was like a party.  Plentiful food and drink and nothing was any trouble.  One thing that does make me sad was my Aunty and my Uncle are/were very generous to people, however, the favour was not always returned.  For her 60th birthday, we celebrated it in style and spoilt her, I am so glad we did.  Grief is not easy to deal with but everyday it will get easier.  God rest her beautiful soul.

X Factor - boredom factor!

I am finding this year's X Factor simply boring.  I like the new judges line up, but I look at the acts left and I don't see anyone who is a world wide star.  In all essence it is not a singing competiton it is an entertainment programme.  Look at the previous contestant debris, last year's winner Matt Cardle has just released his new single and album.  I suspect if I look on itunes now it is not even in the top 100.  He sang his new song on the show that was written by Gary Barlow and it was rubbish, he could not even make it sound good.  Nevermind, at least he has his paint and deocrating skills to fall back on.

What I don't understand is who votes for these people.  The phone lines are really expensive, so who is voting?  I think whoever is voting is not the same people that buy the music.  I have started to feel sorry for the contestants as the majority of them are being set up for failure. 

I prefer watching the results show on Sundays.  However, I must say when the world class acts come on the stage you can see why they are in the position of world domination.  It makes the contestants look like glorified karoke singers.  I am not sure about the longjevity of how long it can go on. 

New carpets...lovely!

Tomorrow I am getting new carpets in my house.  I am ridiculously excited about this.  I have lived in my house for 2 and a bit years.  In my lounge I have a red and yellow mexican style large rug in the middle that does not go with anything.  It is covering up the distgustingly stained carpet that I think used to be some sort of muted biege.  Where we have taken out the old ceramic fireplace there is a gap in the carpet which shows some lovely black floor boards!  Great for spiders or other horrible insects to crawl up in the Winter.  Best of all underneath one of the sofas is a piece of carpet over the bare floor boards.  The reason there is a large section cut out of the carpet is because the last resident in the house (Mike - God rest his soul) died on it!

We thought it was strange when we looked around the house and the Estate Agent was vague about the last occupant.  After we moved in our neighbours told us that he died from a brian hemorrage in the lounge.  Everything then made sense, bare bit of floor boards in the lounge where the guys who do the cleaning must have taken it out.  The door that looked like it had been mended after a forced entry.  We thought it had possibly been burgled before.  The poor fellow lived on his own, he was only in his thrities and he had ear ache for a year.  The Doctor kept giving him antibiotics!  My friends think it is hillarious that the carpet has not been changed yet.  Everything has to happen in it's own good time.  First we had to decorate then we decided to have an extension, neither very condusive to having new carpets.  I hate horrible carpets, but alas they are the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

My poor house had been neglected for years.  I feel that we have bought it back to where it should be.  It has given me so much pleasure reinvigourating it's proud soul.  Still more to do though!  When the new carpets are in tomorrow I will roll around on them.  The house will feel like it is truly ours, we have definitely put our stamp on it. 

The Winter Blues........

This week I am suffering from the Winter Blues.  On Monday and Tuesday I was not feeling my normal bouncy self, and nor was anyone else at work.  Is there some kind of weird equinox thing going on?  The weather has been particularly dull, grey, cold, damp and wet. 

The clocks changed last weekend and we gained an hour for one day.  I did not realise until 4 pm Summer time in the afternoon the clocks had changed.  I was deliberating the usual of can I be bothered to go out for a run.  I switched on the TV and then reaised with the Sky TV menu the time was 3 pm, instead.  I knew I had to go out as I had an entire hour spare. 

I need some sunshine.  I don't mind it if it is cold but at least give us a bit of sunshine to go with it.  On speaking to my friends they were all feeling a little bit miserable as well.  Winter fashion I find boring, grey jumper, black jumper, leggings, and boots.  All you want to do is eat mash potatoes and drink hot drinks. 

I hope by the next time I blog I am over the Winter blues and a bit of sunshine has appeared.  Only 46 days to Christmas.......at least when we get into January the nights start getting lighter again.

Anti-captalist protestors...I support you!

I totally support the anti-captalist supporters at St Pauls in London and throughout the world.  How can these fat cats in companies award themselves bonuses or pay increases whilst their staff working for them get nothing.  Where is the justice in that.  All these utility company are making profits and not passing it onto their customers.  The government needs to step in and put some measures in place to stop these greedy people paying themselves exorhbitant salaries that are totally inequitable with the rest of their workplace.

I read an article recently about a female banker complaining about about how hard done by she is.  It was along the lines of poor us we are so hard done by.  She had only had 5 holidays this year and her bonus had been cut in half, she only got £30,000 instead of £60,000 but had to work long hours just to get that!  Most of us did not have one holiday.  The word deluded comes to mind.  Bankers are part of the problem of the greedy system that got us into this mess in the first place, borrow, borrow, borrow.  They have to take their responsiblity.  I think that is part of the ongoing problem no-one is taking responsibilty for their actions and blaming everyone else.  We have to make sure this does not happen again.   The government need to start make tough decisions and make changes for our future.

Happy Halloween!

No sign of any trick or treaters yet........  On Friday at work we had a Halloween extravaganza.  It was absolutely amazing, we had zombies, vampires, witches, mummies (Eygptian ones), and Ghost Busters.  Everyone got into the spirit of the event.......lol.  My Daughter prompted it, basically, as she remembered how many sweets she got when she went last year.  I emailed my boss and asked if we were doing it again, and she said if you organise it, so I did.  To be honest all I did was send out one email and then it took a life of all it's own.

In the afternoon we could take our Children in to do trick or treat.  I personally think the adults were having more fun.  It looked like something out of a horror film.  When I walked downstairs there was one Mummy (again Eygptian one) on a chair being wheeled around.  I could not tell who it was, other than they wear glasses.  The whole office was decorated and a lot of fun was had by all.  We did it last year but this year it was bigger and better.  I think it really boosted morale and got everyone out of their usual routine by having some fun at work.  Everyone, made such an effort.

Sometimes, it is easy to forget that going to work does not have to be dull, afterall, you live entire chunks of your life with your work colleagues and spend more time with them than you do at home with your family.  It is a rich tapestary we weave going to work and I would like to think that I make a difference by just being there.  Yes, of course I work while I am there, but I make it my mission to spread the joy.  I smile at people and take an interest in them.  It helps shape a culture and an ambiance.  No one likes miserable people....so spread the joy!

Half term holidays

As it is the half term holiday this week, I am on holiday with the kids.  I am enjoying not having to get up in the morning.  Here in the Uk it is cold (around 5 degrees) in the morning and dark.  I am still doing really well resisting not turning on the heating. 

I have decided this week I will make it really boring for the kids, the reason for this is so that next week they will be really pleased when they go back to school.  Yes, you see I think that is where parents go wrong they make the holidays too interesting, taking them to theme parks etc.  Then the next week they don't want to go back to school, and who can blame them.  Yesterday we went to the tip to take some rubbish, tomorrow we might be going to B&Q (DIY store).  My advice is make it really boring so they are itching to get back to school.  It is the intelligent thing to do. Plus it is really cheap doing nothing!  OMG I am laughing out loud at what I have just written.

This morning I discovered that my Son has chicken pox, so doing anything would have been off the menu anyway.  That boy is impressive he has got great timing.  He has timed it so I am off work and don't have to take time off, great.  After my pearls of wisdom I shall go.......remember folks make it boring!

TOWIE versus Made in Chelsea

I have a few guilty pleasures at the moment.  I am enjoying the reality shows TOWIE (The Only Way is Essex) and Made in Chelsea.  For any of you that do not know where Essex is, it is in North London and Chelsea is a posh place in central London.  I watched the Hills and never thought that we could replicate it in the UK, but we have and it is compulsive viewing.  Essex seems to have it's own microcosm going on, mostly all the women have false boobs, fake tans, botox, would never been seen without full make up or hair extensions, basically, and look like they are going to a nightclub in the middle of the day.  I have seen several reality stars from Essex that do not appear to have gone to any of their geography lessons as they have no clue as to where anything is, unless it is the tanning or beauty salon.  There is something charming about all the stars of the show.  Essex has it's own culture going on, even it's own language.

Made in Cheslea are a totally different breed.  There are all privately school educated and terribly posh.  However, the stark difference to me is that the Men don't have a clue about Women or how to relate to them.  They tend to come across as not very manly, camp and wet.  One of them called Mark Francis delcared in the first series that he would never buy any of his clothes from Topshop, only from Paris and Milan.  I am sure his new co-star Chloe Green (daughter of Phillip Green who owns Topshop) would be pleased to know his thoughts!  What a distorted view of the world that you should judge someone on where they buy their clothes.  He is definitely an uber snob.  It comes across as very distasteful and I wonder why his parents never bought him up properly with some basic life skills.  To me he is incredlibly narrow minded and must miss out on meeting a lot of good people if he judges them on materialistical values.  They live in their own microcsom of their priviledged lives.  However, they have not got the flamboyant characters that are in TOWIE.  Still very entertaining though to see how the other half live.

Cut backs, cut backs, cut backs! Less is more!

I am having to make cut backs to survive this stupid economy that the bankers got us into!  I hope lessons are learnt from this current predicament that is affecting everyone so badly.  Everyday, the news is really depressing, if it is not Greece going to the wall it is some other country.  The news is doom and gloom, so I stopped watching it.  I have decided to less house work to use less energy and to save money:-
Less hoovering - using less electricty
Less washing - using the washing machine less, showering instead of bathing, bathing the kids less.
Not putting the heating on so much and putting more clothes on.
Not buying branded items and going for a cheaper alternative.
Not buying unneccessary things, like mouth wash.
Not doing as much in general really.
Blah blah, when is our boom time going to come? I am waiting.........

It pays to complain!

I have had an argument with a certain utility company for months.  Everyone, seems to be trying to get money out of you.  The utility company told me that I owed them £369 extra on top of the £199 I pay every month.  Now I have not got a big house, so how did that happen?  I rang them to complain, as it is their job to calculate my payments correctly.  I am not a consumption expert nor do I understand any of it.

Their first step of complaining is to log it on the computer.  That is it they log it on a computer database.  My response to that was, "What is the point in that?  Take it to the next level please, keep it going as I am taking it to offcom.".  I must have made about 3 phone calls before I think I got to speak to someone who could actually do something.  They asked me what I wanted to happend and I said, "I want it written off.".  I stood my ground.  I got to speak to someone called Lynne who was very nice and said she could reduce it to £125.  I said, "That is very good of you, but I will still persue the remainder of it to be written off.".  Lynne called back 5 minutes later and told me, "We have written it off for you,".  I have now been put on a different tariff and I am paying half of what I was?  I saw the money expert Martin Lewis on a programme and he said that energy companies will leave their loyal customers on more expensive tariff's unless you call them to change.  I think that is an absolute joke.  Take heed in my advice call them and you can get a cheaper deal.

This Winter I am going to be mainly cold as I will not be putting my heating on unless I have to.  I am now paranoid about leaving lights on and I am forever switiching them off.  What I find astounding is that this week the news said energy companies are making £125 per customer on profits.  That is a staggering amount of money they are making.  I would not like to cast aspertions but I bet there is some fat cat at the top of the organisation awarding him or herself mega bonuses.  Between them and the greedy bankers they are making people's lives unbearably poor.  I hope they enjoy themselves on their yachts in the Summer!  I don't understand why the government are not doing anything to tackle these companies.

Jog on mate!

As a family at the weekend we did the Swindon half marathon fun run.  It is only 2 miles, but great to do with the kids.  I love being part of the event even if it is the fun run.  The Charity this year is Macmillan.  Macmillan is a fantastic Charity as a dear relative of mine is going through Cancer and being nursed by Macmillan.  What a great way of people coming together for a good cause.

I saw in the news this week a guy who came 3rd in a marathon.  Later, they discovered he cheated and caught the bus!  I know I should n't find it funny, but I do.  Apparently, when he was being interviewed some Women he was on the bus with noticed him and told some officials.  I know it is very naughty, but there is a part of me that admires the brass neck on the fella.  When I ran the mad March Hare I was tempted to go the other way when I saw the sign that said 5k runners this way, but I did n't.  Lets face it nobody died, but I wonder how his sponsors felt?

October - it is Breast Cancer Awareness month

It is Breast Cancer Awareness month for Break Through.  There will be lots of events taking place this month to raise awareness.  At work I am arranging wear it pink day on October 28th.  I will never forget the irony that I organised it in 2008 and unkown to me a few weeks later I was diagnosed.  I see it as an important event to raise awareness for Women to check themselves regularly and if they do find a lump to get it checked out.  Don't ignore it!  It is mostly likely nothing, but you do not know until you get it checked. 

Breast Cancer survival is the highest it has ever been.  I know this is going to sound ridiculous but it is one of the best types of Cancer you can get and thanks to the work of the charity Breakthrough there has been and still is a lot research going into Breast Cancer.  I truly believe that one day it will be irradicated.  The major breakthoughs they are making with Cancer is staggering.

I watched a TV programme with Martin Freeman (Guy who was in the office) called Who do you think you are.  It traces people's family trees.  In his family tree, there was 6 Children who never made it past the age of 18 months, they all died.  Then they went on to have surviving Children.  Martin was intrigued by this and asked the geneoligist why?  She assumed it was because they had syphillis without knowing.  Syphillis takes 8 years to work it's way out of the body, so that is the reason their Children stopped dying and started surviving.  Nowadays, syphillis hardly exists and is treatable.  Maybe in 10 years time this might be the same for Cancer.  That is the reason it is important to raise funds for Breakthrough because we can continue to make advancements against this disease that has touched so many of our lives.

Autumn is the new Summer!

Wow, what fabulous weather we are having in October!  Today my car thermometre said it was 29 degrees.  Wowzers,  I love hot weather.  I went to one of my Son's birthday parties and it was the best kids party I have ever been to.  It was at the back of a pub in a small village called Wanborough.  At the back of the pub was a jungle party bus. 

I dropped him at the party my Husband and I then went and sat in the beer garden.  We had a lovely Sunday lunch and half a lager shandy.  There were a few other parents who had the same idea as us who we know.  We had a fabulous afternoon chilling in the garden.  Usually when I take my Children to parties you are bored, but not this time.  The only trouble is when I drink a lager shandy it makes me feel sleepy, which is fine if you can have a sleep. 

I am enjoying the weather whilst it lasts.  A few people have said to me that they are predicting snow?  I don't really see how that can be right as they cannot even predict next week let alone a few weeks time.   I am hoping this burst of mediterianian weather continues, as our Summer was rubbish.

Mini heatwave

I am very excited that we are having a mini heatwave.  Last weekend I nearly put my Winter wardrobe away.  I am very glad I did n't as this week I can wear it again.  Today I am now going to have to do my Summer routine of painting my toe nails and shaving my legs.

I think we all feel a bit cheated in the UK with our Summers.  You blink and you miss it.  However, when the season changes it is fabulous on a Saturday to be in with a bar of chocolate, your joggy bottoms on and watching X factor.  Strictly Come Dancing starts this Saturday as well.  More great TV on a Saturday night.  You can tell you are getting old when you prefer staying in to going out.

At least we can drag out putting the heating on for another few weeks.  I think we are all very mindful of what are utility bills are costing us.  Everyone I have spoken to is trying not to use it.  I used to be terrible I hate being cold, so I would put the heating on.  Now I put a jumper on instead.  We are praying for a mild Winter, but in the meantime I am going to enjoy the last of the sunshine.  This also means I have hunted around the house to wash everything and get it dried outside whilst the Sun is out.

No that is against my Human Rights!

I can not believe this week how many times in the news I have heard the term Human Rights.  This term these days seems to be banded around for anything.  It is yet another example of political correctness gone barmy.  It is like a get out of free card on monopoly.  I first heard it as a man who had raped a woman was not deported because of his Human Rights!  What about the Human Rights of the victim?  Then there is the ongoing battle for Dale Farm in Essex.  Will the gypsies stay or go?  It will most likely go to a high court and then the term Human Rights will be banded around and they will end up staying.  I don't get it.

Yes, of course I understand people have human rights but it has gone too far.  Human Rights are there to protect people not to be used as an excuse for vile crimes. 

I watched the documentary about Dale Farm and my conclusion is that Gypsie ways don't really have a place in society anymore.  In essence they used to roam the country in a nomadic state, now they can't do it because no-one wants to be near them as they have a bad reputation for theiving, leaving mess behind where ever they go, and they get away with living outside of the law.  The documentary enlightened me that they do not go to the toilet in their caravans, because who wants to cook food near a toilet.  Instead they shit in bushes, nice!  The ones that were interviewed all used the tag lines, "That is gypsey ways, ", or, "That's travellers for you,".  I have decided that these are all great excuses and I am going to start using them.  I think my favourite will be, "No, that is against my Human Rights, sorry", I am going to start by not paying my utility bills with my new tag line.  I will let you know how I get on?

The Great North Run....count me in!

I watched The Great North Run on Sunday and it has inspired me to do it next year.  I love running and have done the Swindon half marathon twice.  Apparently, the Swindon half marathon is the second hardest in the country.  It is bloody hard, each time I have done it, I have vowed never to do it again.  The last time I ran it, I got roped in at work by one of the Directors who wanted to put in a corporate team.  Everyone, knew I had done the London Marathon.  Before, I had agreed to say yes my name went out on an email saying I was in the team.  The London Marathon was easier than the Swindon half.

I love all the stories of why people are running it and of course that it is all for Charity.  I find it compulsive viewing.  I will rope in a few of my friends and we weill all run it for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.  I hope I get a place now I am putting it out there!  I am not sure if it is a ballot or not.  I will keep on running until I find out.

Bake a cake Monday...whoops!

On Monday at work we had a team meeting, the team decided we would bake cakes.  I decided to bake a chocloate cake.  I have tried to do this before not with very much success.  They came out the oven gooey and then went hard!  I got the receipe off the BBC website for this ultimate chocolate cake.  My Daughter helped me bake it, as she loves cooking and baking.  She did a good job of doing all the mixing.

I went to get the cake out of the oven and the one on the top was a bit burnt, but not to bad.  My excuse is that I have a fairly new oven and I am not quite used to it.  When it had cooled down I added double cream and nutella, and for a finishing touch sprinkled a flake on top. 

When I came to slice the cake, I could not get the knife through it!  I some how managed to slice it up.  We all sat around the table and had a slice.  It did taste alright but very sickly sweet.  The receipe did have a lot of sugar in it.  My Husband finished his and looked at me whilst looking a bit pale.  He then proceeded to run to the bathroom to vomit!  Then my Daughter started crying saying she felt sick.  I felt a little nauseas but not too bad.  My Husband does tend to vomit easily.  He looked at me and said, "You can't take that into work tomorrow,",  I hesitently looked at him and said, "I know,".  So, that was my attempt at chocolate cake.  I think I need to get Lorraine Pascale around to give me a few pointers, if anyone has her number or knows her do let her know!

Instead, I baked a banana cake, an old faithful.  It went down a treat at work (well so they told me?).

9/11 Anniversary

I cannot believe it has been 10 years since 9/11.  This is probably going to be the biggest single global event in our life time.  Everyone remembers where they were when they heard about 9/11.  I was at a tuperware party.  I did not have any Children at the time and was at my friends house.  There was lots of Mum's with their new borns.  My Husband rang me on my mobile and told me that there had been a terriost attack on The Twin Towers in New York.  First of all I thought he was joking.  At the time I don't think I realised the magnitude of what had happened.

I remember telling everyone in the room what had happened.  All the Mum's looked at me with like I was from another planet.  They were more interested in their babies and probably thought I was a lunatic.  I went home straight away and watched the burning Towers with disbelief.  I had been to New York and seen The Towers.  I could not beileve they were not there anymore, they were vast, I stood at the bottom you could not see the tops of them. 

This week I have been watching all the documentaries.  What those people went through in those Towers I can only describe as horrific.  It is the epitomy of Human Tragedy.  I only hope all the memorial ceremonies tomorrow go smoothly and that the family's who have lost a loved one can grieve peacefully.

Legally blonde..who moi?

A dear friend of mine told me she went to see the musical Legally Blonde in the West End in London.  She said, "The lead character reminded me of you!", I responded, "Thanks,", she then clarified, "No she acts really dumb but she is really intelligent,".  I felt a little better with the clarification.  I had forgotten about the bit that she became a Lawyer. 

I know what she is saying I can come across as a bit dizzy, but really I am not, honestly!  Any way, I have decided it is time that I reinvent myself.  I want to be a proper bonefied Author.  I have done the HR thing and I am now over it.  The beauty of being an Author is touching lots of people and taking them on a journey.  I have written a book and I have decided now is my time.  I read One Day by David Nicholls and I believe my book is just as good if not better.  I have decided to approach agents in New York, why not.  If I am deluded then I am happy.  I have always thought my day will come.  Does everyone think like that or is it just me?

Royal Wootton Bassett

I am very proud of Wootton Bassett and the homage it pays to the fallen.  Last night the small town had a celebration to end the convoy of the fallen.  I know many people who live in Wootton Bassett.  I have been in various pubs when a casuality of the war has taken his/hers last journey through the streets of Wiltshire.  These people wait for hours along the route to pay their respects, and lets face it they could be doing other things.  There is no less than 49 locations where people gather to say farewell.

This all started when 3 people from Wootton Bassett stopped on the day of a courtege.  Then more and more people started to pay their respects until the entire high street was lined with people.  I think this has been a great way to show the world how this has affected the family's who have had to cope without their loved one.  

Wootton Bassett is only a 15 minute drive from my house and now it is globally renowned, even Barrack Obama has mentioned it in a speech.  It would be nice if a village or town takes on the same responsibility of respect when they arrive at the new base.

Fit roofers!

On a dreary Monday morning I was cheered up to see 3 fit roofers, working on my neighbours roof.  Two of them did my roof, and what a lovely view.  It really cheered up my Monday morning.  These are 3 of the best looking guys I have seen in my town. 

When I got home they were still there, and they had their tops off.  Now usually I am not a fan of men parading around with their tops off, but this was different.  Tanned torsos, slim and toned.  I haved never had so much fun putting my washing out.  I suggested to my Boss that we should get them in at work to raise morale, all they would have to do is walk around the building a few times.

I must be turning into a sad old cougar!  They must be at least 10 years younger than me, but it did cheer me up!  Spread the joy!

The Great British holiday!

This year as most British family's in these austere times, we went on holiday in the UK.  The kids absolutely loved it, but I can't seem to get my head around it and I am not sure why.  We went on holiday in a caravan in the Cotswold for one week and the New Forest.  The New Forest is gorgeous, really lovely.  One day we went down to the beach.  The weather was warm and dry but not boiling hot.  May be it is the fact that I don't feel like I am on holiday in the UK and am I the only person who feels like this. 

In the Cotswolds which is only a 15 minute drive from home the park is very geared up for the kids with entertainment and an indoor and outdoor swimming pool.  For me the holiday atmosphere was missing.  A lot of the parents and other campers seemed miserable.  Is this because they were all wishing they could afford to go somewhere else?  No-one seemed to be in great spirits.  People hardly made eye contact to even say hello.  However, when Brits are abroad they smile and take a keen interest in where you are from.  May be it is the economic climate or that is what it is like to holiday in the UK.  To me I find it strange and I can't understand why?  Next year we are going to France.

London's burning!

This week's news has been crazy. Watching the news every morning to see if there was anymore riots over night.  It was basically a load of young kids having a free for all and thinking there was no consequences to their actions.  I saw a few peopled interviewed from various backgrounds saying that there are no consequences for them and the prisons are full.  It was like saying come on you can get away with it.  What disgusts me the most is that these youngsters destroyed their own areas.  Lets face it Comet are not going to put another shop in their area.

It has been pleasing to see that the culprits are now being named and shamed.  I read in one paper today that one person has been evicted from their council flat.  Haha, so there are consequences to their actions.  So they should be evicted, why should the tax payers pay twice for their indiscretions.

I saw one young white girl being interviewed and banging on about respect.  She was talking in this weird clipped afro-caribean accent which I am sure she thinks is really street.  Those youngsters have no clue as to what respect is.  If they think respect is going in and ransacking shops and nicking goods, then they are deluded.

I do think the government is taking really good measures in making sure this does not happen again.  It is time we played hard ball and stop playing this nannying state that lets people get away with anything they want.  Whilst usually spouting out the "It's against my human rights.".  It seems these days you can get away with a lot by simply saying that.  Who made up that bollocks about Human Rights.  As usual this country has taken it to the wrong end of the spectrum!   It is used all to often as the get out jail free card!

Horse poo!

I am not sure if I am alone in my thinking, but should people who ride horses not pick up their poo!  We make dog owners pick up their poo and fine them if they don't.

Horses poo is a lot bigger than dog poo.  I cycle along a track in the morning and evidently a horse has gone down it and left a big massive poo in the middle of the path.  I am being serious, the owner needs to clean it up.  Imagine if I went through it on my bike, ewe. 

The person on the horse needs to get off, get a pooper scooper out, shovel it in the bag, put it over the back the horse and then dispose of it, simple.  If anyone has any ideas as to why we fine dog owners and not horse owners do let me know.

Amy Winehouse RIP

Lets face it no-one was surprised to hear the news Amy Winehouse had died.  It was evident from her appearence she was unwell.  For years we have seen her image degenerating.  It is sad that someone so talented and only 27 years old could only find some sort of solace in drugs.  It is a warning to us all of how destructive narcotic substances are and how they can wipe out a life.

There has been much debate about the 27 club, who includes Jim Morrison, Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Curt Kobain.  My theory is that the human body can only go on for so long being poisoned with drugs until it can take no more and ultimately one day gives up.  Looking back at the images of Winehouse you can see when the rot started to set in.  She was catapulted at a young age into a global mega star and evidently did not have the resilence to deal with it.

Paul Gambacini made a really good point that all fame and money does is emphasise all the problems that were already there.  Fame gives you the vehicle to supply your habit.

Amy had an amazing voice and was a talented musician who broke the mould.  Now when I listen to her voice it is almost haunting.  I hope all of those media types that hounded her feel guilty for exploiting a sick young woman.  For me personally, it has made me realise that drug addicts need more help and support to kick their habits.  I applaud Amy's Dad for starting a foundation to help drug addicts.   

With decisions you design your life!

This is my Husbands mantra, with decisions you design your life.  It is so true.  This week I am on operation flat stomach.  I was weighed last week at the Doctors and I am about half stone heavier than I should be.  We all know what to eat or not to as the case may be.  It is so difficult when nice food is put in front of your face.  I have my determined head on, I will not deviate from my diet. 

I am doing slimming world which I find easy to do as it is a low fat balanced diet.  I watched a programme that said your brain wants you to eat the foods with the most calories in.  I am going to blame my brain and my human instinct for lard. 

I am cylcing into work this week (16 Mile) round trip and running.  It is working I think I have lost 4lbs, but you have got to be resilient and resist temptation!  When I see something yummy I repeat to myself, "Nothing tastes better than being thin,".  Wish me good luck!

Get the pidgeon!

I am having a strange time with nature at the moment, pidgeons in particular.  I was walking through the garden to put my washing out, and noted a pidgeon on the step.  At first I was confused as to why it was not flying away and though it was odd.  I then realised it could not fly.  Poor thing, it looked really scared.

My Husband then took charge and decided to catch it and put it in a tree!  He has apparently tried to save pidgeons before by putting them in a box with some bread, in case they get hungry, unfortunately they all died.  This time he put the pidgeon that could not fly in a tree.  Whilst he was getting his ladder out to put it in a tree, our next door neighbour was finding the whole situation extremely funny. 

The next day the bird was still in the tree (as it could not fly).  Being the generous animal lover that he is, he chucked a piece of bread at it.  It was so scared it jumped and fell out the tree!  Poor birdie.

The next day there was another pidgeon not flying in the street.  It looked badly hurt and could not fly.  My Children were fascinated by it as they walked on by to school.  When I returned it had gone.  My neighbours Daughter Georgina came and asked me if I had seen what had happened to the bird, as she had rang the RSPCA of course I did not know.  Later on, I went into our back garage, and to my surprise in a black box, there was a pidgeon with bread next to it!  I ran back to see Georgina and she informed me the RSPCA told her to take it to the nearest vets.  That is what I did.

We must have an evil cat or something stalking pidgeons in our area!  My Husband obviously fancy's himself as a pidgeon rescurer and like to feed them bread!

Getting a snail drunk?

I have noticed since we have had the extension that there are a fewshiny trails in the kitchen.  Me thinks there is a snail or a slug in the vicinity.  At the weekend my Mother-in-law advised me to put down a saucer of beer to catch it.  At the time I did wonder if she was taking the Mickey out of me.

That night I put down a saucer of Guiness.  The next morning I came down and my Husband shouted "Have you caught anything?".  I had totally forgotten about it.  I went into the kitchen and there was a drunk snail on the edge of the saucer.  It was hillarious, it's tenticle thingys were slowly going in and out.  Obviously pissed as a fart.  I was really pleased with my endevaour to stop the snail trails, and put it out in the garden.  Thinking it will sleep it off and have one hell of a hangover.

When I got home the Children were playing in the garden and I found the snail.  He was dead!  Whoops.  I gave it alcohol poisioning and then it snuffed it.  At least it had a good time before it died.  I am going to look at it as I gave it one hell of a send off!  Great way to go!

Later on that night, my Husband informed me, he had got the snail out of the garden before I got up and put it on the saucer.  Technically he murdered the snail and not me! Aparently they don't live long anyway.  I might have to do it again to get the little blighter!

School sports day or get your hair done?

I had a tricky choice today, sports day or get my hair done?  Yes you guessed it, getting my hair done won!  I get my roots done every 8 weeks and I don't work on a Wednesday, which is my one day to get all my bits and bobs done.  Being a bleach blonde my roots need doing and I feel like a new woman when my hair is done, I love it. 

I did contemplate not going to the hairdressers until my boss told me she went to her Son's sports day and said they sat around for 4 hours and saw them in 2 races.  My question to her that sold it to me was, "Would you do it again,", she immediately retorted with, "No,".  That was all I needed to know.  It was touch and go whether it was on as it was raining intermitently.  I thought if I cancel it then it rains, the blasted sports day will be moved to next Wednesday when I have rebooked it.  Another 2 weeks on my roots!  If I left it that long I would get heckled in the Street and people would give me money thinking I sell the big issue, get my drift.  Okay I am exagerating a bit.  My friends thought it was hillarious that I was sacking sports day for my hair.

I went last year and had a lovely afternoon.  It was sunny and only lasted for an hour.  This year it started at 9.15 and went on until 1.30.  Mmmmm sitting around a school field for 4 hours with a bored 4 year old was not appealing.

I know one of the Mum's has branded me a bad Mother for not doing all that ra ra stuff, but the fact of the matter is she does not work and has no concept of having to juggle and squeeze everything in.  Any way I have nothing to prove to her or anyone else.

I turned up for the last hour after it had finished.  My friends said I had the right idea and it was too much sittting about and other than watching their children race it was dull and that they said they would not go next year.  None of the Dad's could go as it went on too long.  The children came out to have a picinic when it had finished but unfortunately it started raining, so we left.  My Daughter is none the wiser that I did not see her race and thinks I saw it all?  Great result for me and my hair looks great!

Our headmaster always asks for feedback, but as I did not go, I could not really comment!

Naughty Little Birdies!

My 4 year old Son said the word "Twat", to our Neighbours Grandsons, nice one!  Great for our relationship with their Grandparents thinking our Son is rude, probably that we swear all the time in front of him, and worst of all that we have said they are "Twat's", which of course we have never said, nor do we use that type of language infront of him.  They are very humble sweet natured people, I think they are Indian.  Any way, great Neighbours, just how you want them polite and will help you out if you need it, but most of all keep themselves to themselves.

When questioning my Son, "Where did you learn that word Twat from?", he paused for thought and then told me, "A birdie in the garden told me it,", I then explained to him that it was a rude word, not to say it again, and next time he speaks to the neighbours very well behaved boys to apologise.

On Saturday, we had a BBQ in the garden, and my Son was told that if he did not finish his food he could not have his pudding.  A few minutes later he came in the House with an empty plate and announced, "Finished,", great time for desert.  My Husband and I had a cup of tea and were enjoying the wonderful Summer Sun on our swing bench, near to the table where we had eaten our dinner.  The kids were playing in the garden, when my Husband noticed my Son's half eaten burger under the table, "What's that under the table, it is your burger,", my Son then nodded and said, "It was the birdie,".  We all then cracked up laughing.  That damn pesky birdie, teaching my boy bad language and then throwing his food on the floor.  I wonder what the birdie will get up to next time!

Spread the joy!

Yesterday I took part in the Old Town festival with my Daughter.  We walked around the streets and danced to Shakira's Wacka Wacka song, whilst dressed in bright colours and Hawian skirts.  There was a real carnival atmosphere.  Crowds had gathered to watch the parade.  We did it last year and won and we did again this year!  It was fantastic, I enjoyed every second of it.  I felt like I was spreading joy.  No-one should ever take themselves too seriously, dressing up like an idiot and dancing around the street, makes people smile.

Doing something like this gives you a real sense of community, it was brilliant.  My Daughter was so excited she was up at the crack of dawn and in her outfit, and then kept asking me, "When are we going Mum?".  It was great for Mother Daughter bonding.  I loved getting involved in it and look forward to doing it next year.

It looks like today I can wear one of my Summer outfits!  Thank goodness for that, my Summer wardrobe thinks it has been made redundant....come on sunshine we need a few weeks of warmth and sun!

Brand new customers only!

I am a member of the AA and have been for 7 years.  This week they really annoyed me.  They sent through a statement to say they were going to take £178 off me for the year, 2 days before they were going to do it!  I nearly fell off my chair at work when I saw how much it was. 

I immediately went online and googled the RAC who were offering £69 without home start.  I rang the AA and said, "You are having a laugh if you think I am paying that,".  They then gave me some old blarney about on their website I can discounts for various concerts, tyres, etc.  I then said, "All I really want you to do is fix my car if it breaks down,".  I am not interested in some website with discounts, that A) I never knew about anyway, B) I would never use it, C) Never heard so much rubbish.  I then said, "I am walking unless you do something.".  The guy said straight away we'll do it for £70!

I am flabbergasted they do this, where is their customer loyalty?  I have come to the conclusion they are not interested in how long you have been a customer and more interested in bumping up their prices and hoping you won't notice so they get more money!  I am sure there are loads of people paying more than they should without knowing.  From now on I am going to check everything carefully.  I saved myself £107 for a few minutes on a phone call.

Operation bingo wings ahoy!

As I am getting older my arms have got really flabby.  I find some short sleeve tops are tight across the top of my arms.  When I wave my arms I have this wobbly bit doing it's own thing underneath.  I decided to start operation bingo wings.  I went to Tescos and bought some weights.  I could hardly lift them into the trolley (there are 3 in a pack).  I struggled getting them into the car.  I also bought myself a fitness ball. 

Tonight is the night I am blowing up the ball and getting my dumb bells out.  I used to got to the gym so I know what to do.  For the last few Fridays I have been cylcing into work (16 mile round trip) and then running at lunchtime.  Not ideal doing it all in one day, but with various other committments it is the best I can do.  On Saturdays I am really tired, I am hoping I get used to it more as the weeks go on.  I call it fitness Friday.  I am hoping the weather picks up so I can wear some of my Summer wardrobe which is lying redundant in my closet!

Any way must dash got a ball to blow up!

Britains not got no talent!

Once again Britain has got talent has been proved wrong!  I can not believe the low grade standard of the programme.  I did not watch one single episode, my Husband told me he caught a bit of it with a girl on it singing Lady Ga Ga in the semi-finals and she could not sing!  Why do people watch this and give it the ratings?  May be I am totally missing the point of it, as I see no point in watching it. 

The only small snippets I have seen is a few barmy women dancing with their dogs on stage.  Why is that entertaining?  I hope that was the last one.  I am not sure if my opinion is in the minority,I would prefer to watch paint dry to be honest with you.  I did not see the who the winner was, some bloke from some where or other.  I hope he goes onto be more of a success than last year's winner who was some acrobatic dance group that I have never seen on anything either (No I did not watch that one either, I saw them on This Morning).  Okay so admitidely Susan Boyle and Paul Potts were launched from obscurity into mega stardom.  It did give them a platform that they never would have had if it was not for the show.  Pleas no more dull talentless talent shows!

Sky plus?

We cancelled our sky subscription, mainly due to it costing us nearly £60 a month and there is never anything on.  600 odd channels of rubbish.  I think one of my main hobbies was flicking through the channels.  I realised I only really watch free view channels.  My favourite programmes are TOWIE (The only way is Essex) and The Vampire Diaries, both on ITV2.

I am not bothered by all those channels going, however, no-one told me Sky plus goes with it!  I am absolutely gutted, I will now have to watch adverts!  I know it is horrendous.  I thought if you had the box you would still be able to use it and not have all the channels, but oh no!  I am not sure how I am going to survive without Sky plus!  Stiff British upper lip...sob, sob!

How ironic I went to publish my blog and there was a google add to join Sky!  We did try and call them to see if they would give us a deal if we had our broadband and phone with them.  We were then told all deals are for brand new customers only and you have to leave Sky for 1 year before you can get a free this that and the other.  To get the full package including all your gubbings Sky would charge us an extra £90 for the privelidge....no thanks!

Big brown bug!

This week I was ambling around my house, when I saw what looked like a 2 inch piece of wood on the floor.  I thought one of the kids had probably bought it in from the garden.  I bent down to pick it up and realised it was a bug!  A big brown bug!  Ewe.

I quickly went and got a glass to catch it.  Once it was in the glass I studied it closer fearing it was a cockroach.  My senses soon returned when I realised cockroaches are black and shiny.  This bug was the biggest I have ever seen, it was massive.  It had little pincers at the front and brown wings.  OMG I thought I was in an episode of "I am a celebrity get me out of here.". 

I called my Husband and the kids to have a look.  My Husband informed me he found it crawling up his leg and then put it in the bin.  Phew, it crawled out the bin.  What he was thinking of putting something like that in the bin I don't know.  Obvious it could get out, as it has bloody wings.  He took it into the garden and disposed of it.

I was flabbergasted to see such a massive bug in this country.  I have never in all my years seen anything like it.  I googled it thinking it might be from some foreign parts, but no called a brown bug and does come from this country.  It really freaked me out seeing it in the house and I kept thinking are there any more, did it create a little nest in the bin and had some babies in it?

What it must be like living in Australia I don't know.  One of my friends who emigrated there once found a load of cockroaches in her knicker draw.  I said to her, "I would have thought you would be used to having a cock in your pants by now,". 

On that note I'll be off!  Have a nice weekend.

Eurovision.....love it or hate it?

I watched the Eurovision song contest last night and absolutely loved it.   I wanted JEdward to win.  Blue did not do too badly, I thought they gave a good solid performance.  Lets face it with all the political horseplay going on we were never going to win.  All our European counterparts voting for their neighbours or a country they have had an altrication with.  You have got to laugh at the scrupels of the contest.  It is not about music, more for uniting Europe in a weird way.  I was surprised that all the songs I saw were sung in English.  For me it made it better to watch.

Next year I am going to have a Eurovision party where there will be lots of booze.  I have decided it is better to embrace the singing (political) contest and celebrate it's tackiness.  It is time we accepted it for what it is.  The winners of the night I am sure will be JEdward, they will get some sort of advertising deal out of it.  Anything, they do seems to turn to gold and I have to admit, I love'em, they are brilliantly entertaining, it does not matter that they can't sing!

Breast feeding...shut up!

I am fed up with all these surveys about breast feeding making ridiculous claims.  Now they are saying if you have breast fed for more than 4 months your child is better behaved?  What a load of rubbish.  How on earth do they measure that one?  If you have a criminal conviction before you reach the age of 25 years old then your Mother obviously did n't breast feed you long enough! 

I wonder how they measured this, who did it, and whats more who paid for it.  They probably sampled a few families in the outer Hebredies.  Most of us 70's babies were bottle fed, I include myself in that category.  I don't understand where they get all these claims about breast feeding from.  They make it sound like it is a wonder drug and if you do it your Child will be best in the class and never be sick.

I know a lady with 4 Children she breast fed all of them except the youngest, due to complications.  The youngest is the one who is always ill.  My Health visitor rammed it down my throat that breast is best.  I gave up with my Daughter at 3 months as I could take it no longer and she made me feel really bad and told me a load of rubbish.  She said, "If you stop now, you will undo all the good work you have done,", what she said defies logic.  Mothers these days are bullied into breast feeding and made to feel inadequate if they don't do it.  They tell you at your most vulnerable when you can not fight back or even think in straight lines.  I could no longer do it as I had no energy and felt drained.  I wanted to enjoy the rest of my maternity leave so I stopped, much to the dismay of my aggressive Health visitor.

Any way, I am not buying into this breast is best malarchy as most of the time it defies logic and common sense.  At the end of the day you have to do what is right for you and your baby.  Until I see any evidence otherwise I am standing my ground.

4 day weekend

This weekend I have really missed my 4 day weekend.  I really could get used to one every weekend.  I would like to know who invented the fact that we go to work 5 days a week and only get 2 poxy days off for a weekend.  When you think about it, it is ludicrous.  I think there sould be a campaign for at least a 3 day weekend.  Imagine how much happier everyone would be.   There could possibly be less road rage, and generally people more relaxed.  Or would everyone get used to it quickly and everything revert to the norm?

Which ever political party coming up with the 3 day weekend would definitely get into power.  What a great vote winner.  I would vote for that party regardless of who they were or their other politics.  I think this idea is revolutionary, may be I should suggest it to my MP?

A right Royal knees up!

Thank you Kate and Wills for giving us a 4 day weekend, but most of all for warming our hearts.  It was lovely to see 2 young people evidently in love getting married.  I definitely think William has a lot of his Mother's sense of humour.  In the Abbey you could see him glancing at Kate with a smirk on his face.  Kate being as demeur as ever glancing back with a twinkle in her eye.  You can tell there is a lot of fun in their relationship. 

The icing on the cake of the day was when they left in the Aston Martin for a drive around.  Nobody knew they were going to do that, they kept it secret and what a wonderful way to display their personality and thank all the well wishers.  Lets face it they took a risk doing that.  It goes to show the Royal family are at peace with modern times and realising a lot of the old pomp and ceremony is a thing of the past.

In these austere times to have another long weekend and watch a wonderful wedding has lifted the entire country's spirits.  I was invited to several parties.  It was a great excuse to get the pink champagne out before 11.00 am.  How outrageous!

I applaud you William and Kate and wish you every happiness.....and yes I want to see the love story unfold with the tiny pitter patter of little feet.  I hope they don't keep us waiting too long.

Sod the Easter eggs...have an ice cream instead!

Wow what pheneomenel weather we had over Easter.  I was wearing my shorts and flip flops it was like being in Ibiza but without the sea, a swimming pool, and no Sangria.  Not that I am complaining, loving the heat and the sunshine, about bloody time after the freezing Winter we had.  I bought a paddling pool for the kids and spent all day in the garden, absolutely fabulous.

However, what does annoy me is we have 2 days of good weather and the news has to report that if it continues there will be a water shortage or hose pipe ban.  For crying out loud, give us a break.  Are we not allowed in this Country to have some good weather without the media bleating on about the environment or how some farmer's crops need a water!  Lets face it next week it will probably be teaming it down with rain, lets not panic just yet!  We should enjoy the good weather whilst it lasts.  I have noticed a pattern that in this country it tends to be nice in May and June, July and August the weather is usually crap!  Well I am going to enjoy it and not worry about something may be never happening!

Another, note on the weather, why do they make statements like, "It is going to snow,".  You listen onto the rest of the report and find out it will snow in Scotland in the outer hebridies, where lets face it a few sheep live!  This Country is so sensationalist about the weather.

Gona ride my bike until I get home!

This week as I did not have to do the school run, I got on bike and cycled to work.  It is an 8 mile ride, therefore a 16 mile round trip.  The fantastic thing was that there is a path so I do not even touch a road.  I have been absolutely loving not getting into my car and have bored the pants off most of my work colleagues this week blabbering on about how great it is.

There are so many benefits, of course great exercise, no petrol to pay for and all of the endorphins that have made me feel great this week.  I am not sure if it is the endorphins or the smugness that comes along with it.  The great thing is that it only takes me 5 minutes longer than in the car, no traffic queues, or fighting for a parking space when I get to work and even worse ending up in the overflow car park and having to walk miles to get to the office (It is not miles but feels like it).

It is a pity I can not do it more often.  I am going to try and do it on Friday as I have more flexibility to do it with my Son going in earlier to Nursery.  I love my bike it has given me a new lease of life and renewed a bit of vigour with my job.

Katie Piper we love you!

I watched the final episode last night of Katie Piper and her beautiful friends.  I remember watching her harrowing story of when she had acid thrown in her face by one of her x boyfriends friends.  She has gone through absolute agony, mental torment and countless operations to enable her to look better.  Her beauty still shines through and she is truly beautiful on the inside and out.  She is an inspiration to anyone who has been through adversity.

As I myself have been operated on I found her inspirational and my little niggles pale into insignificance compared to the battles she has had to go through.  Her series has been thought provoking.  I saw a disfigured woman walking in the street and I viewed her differently.  Katie's programme has educated people to think differently about how that person feels when they walk out the door and the challenges they have had to face on a daily basis.

Thank you Katie for opening my eyes from ignorance and enlightening me to view disfigurement differently.  If I ever met you in the street I would shake your hand.  You are an inspiration.  I know you will go on to do great things in your life and I hope what happened to you does not hold you back from doing anything you want to in the future.

Get your flip flops out!

This week (apart from Wednesday but we won't mention that) the weather has been fantastic.  I am seizing the day as you never know how long it will last.  This week I got my Summer Wardrobe down from the loft.  It is funny as I had not seen it for 6 months it was delightful to see my dresses.  I am a total Summer babe.  I love it, the dresses, the shorts, the sunglasses, not having to bother with a coat.  I even purchased a cheeky pair of shorts to celebrate...not cheeky as in bum cheek, I am too old for that. 

I will have to start my Summer rituals of painting my toe nails, shaving my legs and slapping the fake tan on.  I have worked hard on getting my Summer wardrobe just right. 

You know when you are an old fart when you delight in putting your washing out to dry on the line!  I love it when you can wash your sheets put them on the line and put them back on before you go to bed.  I know sad but true!  I can't imagine twenty somethings getting a kick out of doing that.  One thing I don't understand is I have neighbours who put their washing out when it is cold!  What is the point in that, surely they will have to dry it when they go and fetch it back in again????  There must be an optimum temperature for getting your washing dry outside.  Now I think it must about the 15 degree number, obviously depending on if it is windy as well.  If anyone is a sad old fart like me and has any idea's on the optimum temperature do let me know!

I now have to go and get my washing in!  I hope it is dry?

Tipped over the edge!

I am now fatigued by having an extension.  It is like the last few miles of a journey, you can see the end but still have a way to go.  It is all starting to come together nicely, okay so we are in a mess most of the time but it I can cope with it........until my fridge freezer broke!  Why is it that theses things happen at the most inconvenient time.  We have had our fridge freezer for 10 years and moved it a few times.  The little capability I had for preparing food is now gone and it has sent me over the edge.  It is really annoying, why now?  The plasterers are coming in next week, no point in buying a new one has it will get filthy.  Also, we are bit strapped for cash with the expenditure of the extension, bloody great.

My Mother-in-law has got a fridge in her garage and is going to test it to see if it still works, may be next week I might be able to keep things cool again.  In the middle of the week I was really irritated by the whole fridge freezer thing.  Everything, that was in it was going mouldy quickly.  Cheese is going off in it quickly.  The freezer defrosted itself and I had to bin it all.  Therefore, microwaveable meals are out the window.  I rang up a chirpy refridgeration engineer, who said his call out charge is £30 for half an hour plus parts.  It is not worth getting him out I would rather buy a second hand fridge.  If it is not a quick fix I would end up paying more than a second hand fridge.  When I get my all singing and dancing new one I can shove it in the garage and it would be great for barbeques.

I hope to have something sorted by the end of this week.  In the meantime I am calling on favours from friends for feeding the kids and eating out.

Lighting up the sky for Sian

I went to our local Polo ground to light up a lantern for Sian O'Callaghan.  Even though I was tired I knew I could not miss it.  I felt like I had to do something.  Seeing over thousand lanterns in the sky was a beautiful sight and I am sure if Sian was looking down she would have appreciated the gesture.  The event was amazing, at times sombre and at times uplifting that an entire community came together to mourn a young girl's tragic death.  A few times people nearly had their scalps burnt by the lanterns.  The lanterns are tricky to get them up in the sky. 

It made me feel proud of Swindon.  A lot of people slag Swindon off as it is not a pretty place in the Town centre and it is not a City.  One thing we do have is a strong sense of community.  The mood in   the Town is one of shock and utter horror that one of our youngsters was taken from us.  I went out Friday night and got into a black cab on my own.  I was scared getting in a taxi.  Apparently, one girl was questioning a cabbie about his ID and he was getting annoyed with her.  There were loads of police out on Friday night. 

The most shocking part of the murder of Sian was that she did nothing wrong.  She did not put herself in any danger.  She got into a licensed cab with someone she knew.  That is what the majority of us can not get our heads around.   It has made us all hyper paranoid.  It will take Swindon along time to forget this.  They still don't know who the other body belongs to.

I was glad to see when Chris Halliwell was formerly charged that over 100 people turned up at the police station to demonstrate the anger we all feel for this abhorant man.  Aparently his Children have left Swindon for fear of reprisals.  At the end of the day they have not done anything wrong, and yet there is another example of his actions devestating another family.  Why did he do it?

Sian O'Callaghan....missing.

In the early hours of Saturday morning Sian O'Callaghan went missing.  I am really shocked about this as it happened a five minute walk from my house.  One girl from my work was out with her that night and another is a good friend of hers.  Everyone is very worried as to what has happened to this young girl.  We know she left the club on her own and that half an hour later her mobile phone signal was picked up 12 miles away in Savernake Forest.  We can only assume she either got into what she thought was a taxi, or got into a car with someone she knew. 

I can not believe something like this has happened so close to my home.  I had a police officer around to ask me if we heard or saw anything suspicious.  I did hear a drunk shout in the early hours of the morning which is not unusual on a Saturday night.  I wish I would have got up and looked out the window.  Friends of mine were out at that time and they are all thinking what if I saw her and could have done something.

The aftermath of it is there are lots of what I can summize as hoax text messages going around saying there have been other incidents of women trying to be abducted into vans.  There is definitely an air of uneasiness in the town.  I am going out this Friday night and it makes you fretful to go out with your friends.  This goes to show that you should never walk home alone no matter how close your house is from the pub or the club.  We are all praying that they find her alive even though we know as time goes on it is less likely.

Red Nose Day - knackering!

I am amazed that Red Nose Day raised a record amount of cash and all of it is not in yet.  At work I organised lots of events to raise money.  I watched the programme where the celebraties went to live with people in Africa and found it heart breaking.  Kids living on the streets with nothing. 

I stupidely suggested car washing, thinking that the guys in Training would do it.  My boss then said she would do it, and then I thought I have got to do it to.  We washed 6 cars in the rain.  Much to the dismay of my boss's newly straightened hair.  There were 5 of us washing the cars including our Managing Director.  It was totally knackering, I definitely earnt the cup cake I bought after all my efforts.  We raised £70, not bad. 

In the afternoon I set up sing star in the restaurant and made people pay 50 p to come and watch singers.  At first no-one was joining in and I thought "Oh no this is going to be a complete flop".  There was only a few customers.  However, I had been cajoling people into for weeks.  A new girl called Nikki sings in a band and promised to come up.  After about 20 minutes loads of people turned up and Nikki took to the microphone and another really good singer called Sarah.  I was relieved, it actually turned out quite well, however, it was a bit touch and go.  What is that saying you can take a horse to water but you can not make it drink!  Part of the reason we were doing it was to raise morale.  For 3 years we have not had a Christmas Party due to the economic down turn.  Most people took part in dressing up.  I was dressed as a red crayola (crayon), there was also, a blue one, lilac, pink and brown.  Genious idea (not mine) it was funny and cheap.  There were people dressed in their pyjamas, a croup of monkeys, beach wear and people wearing lots of red wigs (including the guys). 

I was running around like a mad banshee woman all day to make sure everything went smoothely.  I hope everyone had fun and on Monday I will tot up exactly how much we raised. 

Next weekend I am doing the mad March Hare for Breast Cancer Awareness dressed as a bunny girl.  My friend bought me the outfit as there will be several of us dressed up for the 10k race.  The outfit does n't leave much the imagination I would call it really more whore bunny!  I love doing stuff for Charity.  I find it really humbling.

Coldsore....ouch!

Coldsores are only as I can describe them as hideous!  From the moment you feel the tingle you know what is in store for you.  I know the name says sore and it really is.  They are sore, tingle and itch, even though you can not scratch them.  They are the most infuriating little things.  I always get them when I have had a bad cold or in this case the flu. 

I almost don't want to leave the house as you can not forget they are there as they are sore.  I feel like they are a beacon on my face and I look to see if anyone I am talking to is staring at them.  I have found my own remedies for getting rid of them quick smart.  I use nail polish remover on them and it does dry them up within the day.  I found this speedy remedy by searching on the internet and thought give it ago.  I found Zovirax makes no difference to them what so ever.  This time it appeared on my lip.  At first it looks like botox gone wrong as your lip swells abnormally on one side.  Mmmmm trout pout not a good look.  At about day 2 it looked like a giant bogey on my lips, really unattractive.  Your skin on your lips is so delicate that it cracks and bleeds, bloody lovely.  I never leave the house without lipgloss on but during my coldsore episode I have had to go out with a bit of vaseline on, hardly great for being uber glam.  They really make you feel rubbish.  You can not forget about them because you can feel them throbbing and generally being a nuisance.

At day 4 it is now a scab on my lip.  If anyone asks me what it is I will lie and say I got it caught in a zip!  Ewe err misses how naughty am I?

Ps I found the nail polish idea on the internet on a website so sue them not me!

Actually, another good remedy I found on the internet was a cure for a verruca.  I had a stubborn verruca for years.  I tried everything to get rid of it Bazuca, Bazuca freeze spray.  Nothing worked, stubborn little git.  I then googled and found clear nail varnish as a cure, and it worked.  I starved the little git of oxygen.  What an earth did we do before the internet, brilliant and saved me loads of money.

My weird week

My week this week has been completely chaotic.  It started on Monday when this stupid woman nearly knocked over my Daughter walking on a pavement.  She swung her car onto the pavement without looking and I had to push my Daughter out of the way.  There were 3 other Children on the pavement including my Son.  I shouted out her, "Be careful, you nearly knocked my Daughter over,", then my friend behind me joined in.  The woman in a navy Clio said nothing.  I have seen her at the School I don't think she is British, possibly Spanish.  I glared at her a few times at the School and she looked suitably embarressed.  An apology would have gone down nicely.  I did mention it to one of the Dad's at the School who happens to be a police officer.  He told me to tell him if I ever see her doing anything else again.

Later on that day I had a conversation with my Daughter's Teacher about an incident that happened in the playground.  I was polite as always and her response was defensive and argumentative.  How delighful!  I will bring it up with her on the next parents evening that I found her to be totally unnecessarily defensive and felt like I had an argument with her.  If she gets shirty again I will patronise her with my HR head on and tell her she needs coaching on how to talk to parents.  This is her second year of Teaching.  In my house the builders knocked down a wall they did not need to!  Not a problem though as they are putting it back up.  The dust or is soot was messy.  Then the Sky TV did not work!  That was Monday.

Wednesday night my Daughter was sick 5 times in the night.  Thursday I did not go to work and had two Children at home with no TV!  Luckily, the Sky man came after lunch to fix it and said it was nothing to do with the building work going on, purely coincidental.  I thought someone up there is having a laugh at me!  Out with flu last week and then off with the kids this, goes down brilliantly with the boss.

I know have a coldsore which I usually get after I have had a bad cold or the flu.  It is like a hangover from being ill for me.  They live up to their name, sore!  Anyway, I have a method that I found on the internet which gets rid of them within days.  I put nail polish remover on them, it dries them up a treat and works for me.  What normally takes a week goes in a few days.  Much more effect and cheaper than Zovirax.

My saving grace this week is that our extension is coming on fast.  They have been doing it since 19th January and we are water tight already!  Now for the messy phase.  What was delightful on Friday was there were two young fit guys doing my roof, it took all of the hassle of the week away!

Ps Please don't hold me accoutable if you try the nail polish thing and it does n't work out for you, you are on your own to try it!

Colour tester paint pots!

I have been decorating my bedroom and became frustrated at those colour charts and paint tester pots never looking the same on the wall!  Therefore you end up buying loads of tester pots and driving backwards and forwards to B&Q to try and get the right one.  My bedroom theme is going to be French boutique.  Your probably wondering what that is and so am I?  I kept getting theses colours and putting them on the wall and they were all Lilac.  I did not want lilac and none of them looked lilac in the catalogue or on the front of the pot, but on the wall, oh yeah lilac, yuk!

Then I went backwards and forwards to B&Q about 4 times until I found my parfait colour!  Yes Parfait, I can not describe it, sort of a light grey with a hint of mauve (not Lilac).  I am really pleased I perservered with it as the colour was exactly what I was looking for, perfect.  I must admit it was quite a stressful experience at times and yes I nearly did give up and paint it magnolia. 

My Husband when we decorate makes me laugh he uses kitchen utensils for his DIY.  We have gone through several spoons as he is ruined them polyfiller.   His biggest mistake was using one of my Laura Ashley mugs to put gloss paint in!  Not the cheap Asda ones that cost 67p, no he used the ones that cost £6!  Luckily I managed to salvage it.  He also uses my tuperware, I have of course complained to him about this but he still does not take any notice.

His timing of decorating is great coinciding with all the building work going on at the moment.  Last week my wardrobe was emptied into a large pile and I could not find any of my clothes.  My bedroom was like living on a boat with no where to stand.  Fortunately, I only had to endure that for a week and could my put my clothes back, at least I can walk around my bedroom now.  However, it is still not finished only one side of the room is finished.  We had that horrible 1970's anaglypta paper in the room which is usually put on to hide bad walls.  Luckily enough though they were okay underneath.  I think this weekend we are going to do a joint effort to get it finished, fingers crossed!

This week I was struck down with the flu!

It all started on Wednesday feeling tired and not my usual 100% full of beans.  I soldiered on during the day, until night time descended and my glands were sore!  Here we go 3 days full of feeling rubbish.  Then the aches came on and the having no energy to do anything.  Even getting up to get a drink was an effort.  Instead of feeling hungry I would feel nauseas and not feel like eating as my glands felt like they were trying to burst out of my body.  However, I did manage a meagre piece of toast to keep the feeling sick at bay. 

Day 2 consisted of me planting my butt on the sofa and watching day time TV.  Day 3 was again another day of sitting on the sofa and getting bored of watching daytime TV.  I did not even have the energy to plug my laptop in and blog.  Now I am on 5 and I have felt a lot more energetic today but as the evening has gone on my glands have become sore again.  I am sure I will be fine for work tomorrow.  I had forgotten how energy zapping the flu is.  The weird thing is out of my immediate family I am the only one who has had it.  How does that work when I live in close proximity to 3 other people?  I would love to know where I picked it up from.  My dear Cousin taut me a trick to get rid of colds and bugs, take raw garlic!  Yes I know it makes you stink but when you are desperate you will do anything to feel better.  I chop it up like little tablets and swallow it with water.  It is a phenomenel thing they say if you take half a clove of garlic every day when you have a cold it can half the time you have it. 

My training for the Mad March Hare has been rubbish this week with not one run which is frustrating.  For 2 days all I ate was a few peices of toast.  Yesterday, I cooked a roast dinner which was my goal of the day.  My Daughter loves my roasts and I had bought it all at the beginning of the week, plus I thought all the vitamins from the veg would do me some good and the Children. 

Onwards and upwards for next week! 

I am sure Spring was here last week!

Last week the weather was lovely for a few days.  About 12 degrees and no rain, yippee Spring has finally arrived.  I even took the kids to the park, I thought I can start wearing my newly acquired biege cropped trousers with my black brogues.  Today I wore my new outfit to work with no socks to be uber trendy.  I was freezing, the temperature has dropped to about 3 degrees and my feet are still not warm and I now haved socks and slippers on.  I was lulled into a false sense of security.  The only way I am going to get warm now is to have a bath.  I can tell it is cold as all I have wanted to do today is eat!

I have been waiting for Spring to burst and naively thought as we had such a cold Winter it might come early.  This week it is bloody freezing.  I have been preparing my Spring/Summer wardrobe for sometime now.  I buy hardly any clothes in the Winter and then I indulge myself with lots of dresses in the Summer.  Well, I suppose I had better put it all on hold whilst I am waiting for Spring.  I will get my woolly tights and boots back out for tomorrow!  I know you are thinking it is still February, but it is March this week!  Roll on Summer!

10 Things tips to make you slimmer

It made me feel really sad to see the news in the week that the UK is the fattest country in Europe.  I think the problem with diets is they are too radical.  You can sustain them for a short while and starve yourself.  In the long-term it only takes minor changes to make a huge difference, but be patient, you will see the results in 6-8 weeks, not over night!

Here I have noted a few tips that over 6-8 weeks make a difference:-

1) Cut out junk food in the week, no biscuits, crisps or high fat foods.
2) For one day, have a day off and eat whatever you like (remember the 80%, 20% rule).
3) Eat normally in the week, 3 meals a day, but no snacking unless it is fruit or veg.
4) If you do want a snack, eat something like Ryvita with a low fat cream cheese.
5) If you eat cereal in the morning cut out ones with high sugar contents, study the packet side, most of them are full of sugar.
6) Instead of eating a lot of bread opt for low fat wraps at lunchtime.
7) At tea time eat meat and two veg, including carbs, ie potatoe or pasta.
8) Where possible walk or cycle, ditch the car.
9) Get your running shoes on, if you feel so inclined, or do some speed walking for 30 minutes, a couple of times per week. (There are lots of websites out there to help you get started).
10) When you buy your normal food always opt for the lighter or low fat option.

A friend of mine started cycling to work when the weather is good and she has lost 2 stone without dieting.  I know it is not always possible depending on where you work and if you have little ones to drop off and then have to get to work.  I think that is where the majority of us go wrong, by trying to change too much too quickly.  You have to think of it as a way of life for the future and not a short term fix.

Now I am not a dietician or a Doctor, so please do not sue me for my tips.  They are simple tips that I have found work.  It would be a sad life if you can not indulge yourself at least once a week.  I personally do not drink alcohol unless I am going out with the girls or friends which is not very often.  Booze is packed full of calories, if you drink moderate it to one night on the weekend.  You can break habits but you have to go cold turkey.  It took me 10 days to break my sugar addiction and I had to be strong to not reach for the biscuit barrel.  I do think because the UK is colder than other countries it does not help our plight.  I am sure when it is cold we have a natural instinct to eat more.  Lets face it no-one fancies a salad on a cold day.  I stopped eating chocolate or biscuits in the week and I feel so much better for it and my stomach is flatter.

Where for art thou olives!

I have developed a penchant for green olives.  They are definitely an acquired taste, but once you have the taste you can not stop eating them.  I happen to be passing through Waitrose which is about a 20 minute drive from my house and to my delight saw they have an olive bar.  Lots of different types of olives, black ones, green ones, big green ones, ones in garlic and coriander, ones stuffed with different cheeses.  It is olive heaven.

I lusted after going back to the olive bar for two weeks.  I have carefully prepared my Saturday night feast with tapas.  Coupled with three of mine and my Husbands favourite shows on plus for a fabulous Saturday night in.  On Saturday we went to my Mother in laws as my Husband's car was there because we are having building work done at the moment.  We dropped the Children off and went on to get my olives.  After we took his car for a drive to give the battery a charge we went home in my car.

Later on that evening the kids were in bed, and my Husband made a strange oh no noise and said, "You know what we have n't done,", I exclaimed, "What?", he looked at me and said, "The olives are in the back of the car!", yes my beloved lusted after olives were a 20 minute drive away.  In fact they are still there spoiling! 

I might attempt to get some more for this weekend!  I wonder if I will be able to get to eat them this time!

Karma - Straight back at you!

I had a really good start to my day on Friday.  In my last blog I told you about that idiot in bald bloke in a BMW who was reversing down the road at ruch hour in front of a junction, just to say hello to his friend!  Well, on Friday I was driving to drop off my Daughter at school and I turned around the corner to see the guy who was driving like an idiot at the side of the road with his hands in dispair on the top of his head!

Oh yes, he had smacked his beloved BMW into another car.  The person driving the other car is another Mum at the school.  The front of his car was crumpled up like a crisp packet, where as the other car had not a mark on it.  I think it was a SAAB with a really high bumper.  I could not believe it, it has restored my faith in the universe.

When I saw the Mum whose car had a few small scratches on it, she was understandably a bit shaken, and she said she slowed down to let someone out he was driving practically on her bumper and hit her.  She said he was swearing his head off, she went to his house to get his details as he lives with Mummy and Daddy still.  It is evident to me that he has obviously been driving like a complete idiot for some time.  I am sure his car is either a right off or will cost him an astriconomical amount of money to fix.  Not to mention how much his car insurance will go up.  I wonder whether he will even be able to afford the repair bill and may have to buy a lesser car!  I hope this has taught him a lesson and that in the future he will take a more sensible approach to driving.

One thing that annoys me about driving is how rude people are, they take on a completely different persona and forget any common decency.  It is almost like their car is their armour in a battle.  I always drive with courtesy.  I would never be led by my ego, shoving other drivers out of my way to get 2 minutes ahead.  On my way home from work there is a long dual carriage way with traffic lights at the bottom.  There has been countless times I have been driven into the slow lane as some idiot has sped up behind me and been aggressively flashing me, even though I am driving the speed limit of 70 mph.  I then arrive at the traffic lights and there they are in the next lane to me, was it worth it.  If I am in a cheeky mood I either wave at them or blow them an air kiss!  Some drivers seem to forget that there is another human being behind the wheel.

BMW Drivers - Bald Men Watchout

I must say that more often than not when there is someone driving badly, it is almost always in my experience some little bald man in a BMW, who thinks he is God's gift behind the wheel! 

The other day I was getting off my drive which is on a busy main road.  When I saw this BMW driver reversing down the road to say hello to someone!  This guy was reversing down a busy road right before a junction.  I could not believe his stupidity, just because he wanted to say hello to his mate!

I am not sure what goes on in these people's heads when they purchase these cars.  I think there must be some small print that they sign to say they must act like they are king of the road, drive like an idiot and get anyone else out of their way who is not driving a BMW!

Every time when I am on the motorway if I am in the fast lane, I look in my rear view mirror and there is nothing there.  Then low and behold 2 seconds later there is a BMW 2 cm off my bumper, flashing me to get out the way, because of course I am driving a humble bog standard car.

I personally don't get all this car snobbery and I don't buy into it.  Cars are a waste of money, you buy them at an exorbitant price and then a year later they are worth less than a third of the value.  Not the most astute return on investment.  I could not care less what car I drive.  To me cars are a luxury and it is fine to have a nice one as long as you don't over stretch yourself.  I choose to spend my money in other ways, as when I step out of my car I make sure I look fabulous.  Please do not be so shallow to judge me by the car I drive.  Where as these bald men still look like bald men when they step out of their cars!  Ewe harsh but true!

Breast Cancer is on the rise!

I was outraged today at so called Doctors saying Breast Cancer is now 1 in 8 ladies, and the reason they have come up with is lifestyle.  What a load of rubbish, there is no substance to this what so ever it is an assumption.  Lets face it, they still have no idea what causes it, therefore to blame it on lifestyle is ludicrous.

I have always had a fairly healthy diet, never been over a size 12, never smoked, drank in my twenties but gave up in my thirties and have always exercised.  What would they have proposed that I do differently?  I ran the London Marathon in 2006, may be I should have done another one and then it would not have happened?  There is no history of it in my family.  I am a complete random.

What dissapoints me is the medical industries way of dealing with it is to cut it out and throw aload of drugs at it.  Through my experience and with the help of my reflexologist my belief is that Cancer is related emotional links of cells in the body.  I feel that it happened to me for a reason and it was about rediscovering myself.  It is a hard one to go through but I am now mentally stronger and have a completely different perspective on certain aspects of life.  For instance I would have never got into writing or become a blogger.  Everything in life is about your own perspective on things.