My plans for today have changed. Originally I was going to spend the day (well, most of it!) with a friend going Christmas shopping. But another friend rang me up last night, in dire straits. She has just started full time work and has three school age children, the eldest 13 years old, the next 11 years old. She told me that the youngest two have the day off school, because the school has its Target Setting Day today (used to be called a parents' evening and was held in the evenings, but now all schools seem to have adjusted it to daytimes and changed its name). Sooooo.....she didn't want to leave them at home all day by themselves....sooooo....I'm going over to 'look after' them today, for 4-5 hours. Once I drop my children off at school I'll go straight over to her house and stay there until about 2 pm or so - leaving in time to be able to come back here to pick my children up from school. I can't say truthfully that I'm looking forward to it, because I did have some stuff I wanted to get done, but....isn't that what friends are for? I'm trying to be a good friend, and I know what it's like being a working mother (I only work part time though) and trying to fit in looking after children - and when the school is closed for days like Target Setting then it becomes a little bit of a juggling act sometimes. She told me that several mothers/fathers she knows are leaving their children at home by themselves all day....which is not quite, er, how can I put this - okay, legal. Needs must, I guess? I only work school term times, so Hubs and I rarely need to panic about time off from school holidays or anything like that at all. The way I look at it is she and her husband have a lot of juggling to do in future and I think she's going to start to realise how bloody hard it is, if she intends to continue working full time as well as her husband working full time too. When the children are older and more independent/responsible then things will naturally/obviously (hopefully!) become easier for them, but until then.....it's going to be a bit iffy to say the least. I guess I'm only a phone call away - Hazel to the rescue lol!!!!

Dean Gaffney: Live Bushtucker Trial - Part 2

This made me roll up.

I'm quite shocked, and pleasantly surprised, by the fact that I'm so level headed at this time of the month. It's only 5 days until I'm due to come on, and I'm usually a bloody cow, but this time I'm feeling fine. Well, so far. (Okay, I've tempted fate now :S). Perhaps sporadically taking the cod liver oil capsules has literally helped my moods to be less severe - essential fatty acids are needed to maintain good brain function, so ......?

Still pissed off at the two blokes down the road who are nice geezers but make me feel uncomfortable walking past them. They're doing some kind of building work on a house down the road and I hate to walk the same side as them. Why am I struggling with the self-consciousness of it? God, I'm weak. Or just a silly moo. No, wait, I'm both.

Stopped by mum and dad's on the way home from work - mum had bought lots of stuff for us from their recent trip to Bruge. She is such a sweet, sweetheart. Really, such a love. I've just been eating some Toblerone they bought for us, as it's not one of Hub's favourite sweeties (good for me!).

Hubs has started on the frontroom - decorating. Some of the plaster came away from the walls when we stripped the wallpaper off so he's having a go at doing a bit of plastering. For some reason known only to my brain and nobody/nothing else the Steptoe and Son theme tune pops into my head when I see him doing stuff he isn't used to doing, or maybe is nervous about doing.

Work was goodish. I was doing lots of different stuff - well different as in not so bloomin' repetitive. A bit of this and a bit of that. I seem to be doomed to do invoice processing/payments in most of the jobs I've been in, and this one also has that key element to it. Perhaps I was destined to be an accountant but missed my calling? If nothing but through sheer laziness on my part.

It feels good to have 'escaped'. :)

Bloody 'ell. My old blog name has already been taken. Less than about a week later...and some gel's got my ol' space. Good luck to you matey :). Be funny if some old readers actually thought it was ME lol.

On Saturday evening, on our way back from my father in law's house a car drove into the back of our car. I was driving and had stopped at a junction to let a car go (which had the right of way) but the car behind didn't stop. The boot of my car has been dented, and the bloke even tried to deny he did it! He wanted to NOT go through the insurance - he was a youngish bloke, with a rather posh/expensive looking car, so I guess his premiums will go up if we claim through his insurance of course. He offered us 50 quid (peanuts basically) for our car to be fixed by "my cousin's garage in Tooting" (which is miles from where we live, and we certainly wouldn't be getting a courtesy car to use in the meantime if we did this either!). Of course we are going through the insurance, as we should. Bloody inconvenience, but I guess at least no one was injured which is the main thing.

Today was so busy, that my feet are actually aching. I'm physically tired, but mentally I'm quite relaxed. And even emotioned, which is pretty surprising to me considering I'm coming up the pre-menstrual problems time.

Spent this afternoon stripping....wallpaper off of the frontroom walls, with a little help from my children. God, decorating is so bleedin' messy isn't it? Once it's done, it's done (of course!).

My friend, A, who I visited yesterday, was in good spirits. I don't think she quite knows what's going to hit her once she starts full time work. She hasn't worked full time in over 13 years, so it will come as a big shock to her system I think. The worst thing is the working nights. But the plus side is that she is going to be doing something she's wanted to do for a long time, and the money of course....that is really the red flag, so to speak. Her husband cashed in some investments for her to be able to buy a new car, as her old one was a right ol' banger really (her words) but I believe, from what she's told me, that he intends for her to pay him back the money he's 'lent' her from his cashed in investments once she starts work. I guess everyone has their own ideas about stuff, but in my marriage we have the 'what's mine is yours' attitude. My money is his money and his is mine, etc. I guess it's whatever works for you, that's the main thing.

I made it to the dentist yesterday, just in time for my appointment. The problem was mainly that I couldn't find anywhere to park nearby. The dentist is close to a train station and the area was mostly permit holders only parking. I couldn't even bloody find any parking meters! The dentist told me, later, that there were only three parking meters in the vacinity! WTF??? Three? Yeah, and what would have been my chances of finding one of those free?? lol I had a clean and I didn't actually bleed, or at least not very much (I didn't notice any bleeding). I'd used the Sensodyne toothpaste that the dentist had recommended because last time I had a clean I bled quite a lot, and it was pretty sore, but this time it was much, much better so the toothpaste certainly appeared to have made quite a difference.

It's dismal outside at the moment, and I have to take my eldest son to football soon. He'll be making full use of his waterproof clothing of course!

Watched a bit more of Celebrity Get My Out of Here last night. I really am quite into this edition and most of the people are really likeable and seem to get along much better than on some of the past shows - not that I've seem every one of the shows at all. David Guest has been the biggest surprise as he seems quite a decent (?) and nice-ish chap. Most surprising I've found is his sense of humour and how entertaining he is. The fact that I think he looks a bit like an alien (from what planet??) is neither here nor there, and in fact after a while you even forget how he looks.

Today is going to be pretty hectic, at least in the morning. I'm off to visit a friend. Well one of my bestest friends. She is starting work full time next week in a very stressful job which will require one week of nights every month. Add to that the fact she has three children and a rather macho husband who believes that housework is women's work...well, you get the idea? I wish her all the best but I certainly don't envy her. The worst thing I think is that the pay is pretty bad, considering how much responsibility she will have (she's a newly qualified midwife) but I'm wishing her all the best and hope things turn out well. I was talking to another friend and she was telling me about a friend of hers who is a full time nurse in a hospital, but has been suffering a great deal from stress. The pay is poor and they are expected to do so much and under a lot of pressure/duress. It makes me sick how some people are treated, to be frank.

Then straight from my friend's house this morning I've got to go to my dentist's to have a 'clean'. I dread that sort of thing as the dentist usually makes my gums bleed and it's not very uncomfortable. I appease myself by telling myself that it's all for the good, of course :S.

The weekend is going to be rather hectic too. I like to be busy. Hey, I'm trying to be positive. :)

Ye gods. Just looked at my profile page (not to edit it, not that bit)...and my profile has been viewed 1,938 times. Bloody hell. Have I REALLY looked at it that much? lol

I'm excited, very excited. Lost returns to our screens!!!! Yeah, I'm pathetic. So what? lol Seriously, it's supposed to be rather a drab series by which I mean not too good from now on. A bit of a let down. But, I'll watch and make up my own mind. I just have a love of shit t.v. at the moment. All the crappiest programmes seem to attract me like bees around a honey pot (or flies around a pile of steaming you know what? :S). Why? God knows. Is it escapism? Am I bored with my life? Who cares? I don't. I just want to watch what I want to watch. Life's too short to analyse stuff like this. At least I can't be arsed to at the moment.

P, that nitpicking woman at work, didn't take long before she was nitpicking again. Believe me she really gets on my flippin' nerves. She does it to everyone, but I don't think she realises how much it irritates and annoys people. I had brought in some biscuits and they wouldn't all fit into one of the biscuit tins so I put half in another tin. She was, of course, watching me like a hawk (god, doesn't she have ANYTHING better to do?) and just HAD to make some annoying remark ...how does she even have time to think of such annoying little comments? Well, she said "next time you bring in some biscuits only fill one tin and tie a rubber band around the rest and put them in the bottom of the cupboard". Like shut the fuck up woman! Of course I say "okay". Anything to keep the peace at work. I mean....get a friggin' life. Like me lol (I am being ironic, or trying to be :S).

It's really not long until Xmas now and I have quite a lot of stuff needing to be sorted out, but very little inclination. Call it lazyness if you will. I do.

Today was okay. It went fast with a mighty lot of fluffing around on the internet trying to top up a pissing Oyster friggin' card. Seriously, is Transport for London the only site where you have to have the same billing address AND delivery address? Jesus. In this day and age I expect a bit more intelligence. In three years (just over) of using a corporate credit card I've never had that problem. Hence I had to tell a porky pie to be able to credit the Oyster card, i.e. say that I worked at the credit card's billing address which I don't. The Oyster card was finally topped up. Basically people from the office go on courses in central London, and so the Oyster card is a means by which they can go, without having to fill in a petty cash form, etc., and without therefore having to be reimbursed. It should, in theory, make things a lot simpler....but of course, things rarely work out simply especially if you want them to.

P, a lady in our office, really gets on my tits sometimes. She listens in to all telephone conversations, unless she is of course chatting loudly about her personal life. If we dare to chat, even quite quietly whilst she's on the 'phone she's the first one to say 'shush'. She is a bloody nit picker. I have to admit she does have a heart of gold, but that doesn't stop her from being extremely irritating to say the least.

I'm starting to get a little PMTish already. Bugger. How to control it? How to hold the reins of a demon who will finally do me right in? If I let it. I'm in charge. Say that loudly ...."I'm in charge!" As if it makes a nugget of a difference. I'm aware of my raging moods so I must keep them under my belt...my chastity belt of course ;). I'll do my best. Scout's honour.

Last night's I'm a Celebrity was hilarious, mostly due to David Guest's BWL's....big white lies, or were they? I mean he said stuff like he had a maid called Vaginica Semen. Now come ON. Surely....lol. Also he knew a woman, apparently owned a chain of gunshops and ended up shooting herself dead. Then there was the one about the woman who didn't have any sugar or sweets (okay, candy) for a week and she died. I'm sorry if any of this is true, because I laughed my little cotton socks off. This man is very entertaining and not really as puffed up as I thought he was going to be. Still a little up his own backside but not as far gone as I'd imagined - at least from what I've seen/heard from him so far. Quite the entertainer.

This weekend Hubs has been busy, and worked very hard, with a very sick friend, building the very large, sliding door wardrobes. They look brilliant, if I may say so. Silver, frosted glass at the fronts. Posh and modern - just my opinion, so it's probably a bit wrong. The floor in the bedroom is also now laminated wood and is so much nicer. The walls have gone from a dull lilac to a sunshiny, but not TOO sunshiny yellow (I do like lilac but it was pretty sickly on the walls and also made the room appear surprisingly darker). Overall 90% of the bedroom is completed. All that now needs doing is a bit more painting and the trims around the edges of the room for the flooring need finishing. Oh, and the blinds need putting up at the windows! Don't worry no bedroom activity takes place....sorry change that to 'not very much'!! The sick friend is now in bed - he really should not have come over and I did tell him so. He helped us out - taking paracetemols every four hours. His wife, my best friend, came over with her children and the house was total chaos, but good fun. She was telling me about these dolls, which are basically sex toys - not the inflatable dolls. She said she saw a programme on t.v. about them and the bits that wear out quickest (no prizes for guessing)??? The mouths and the down-below-bits (I'm a prude?? Yeah, alright lol. I'm frigid too.)

On Friday I got a pair of secondhand, but excellent condition, brown cargo trousers (pants? Nah, that's what you wear to cover your arse UNDER your trousers lol) from ebay for about £3.15 and wore them the next day.

Start

Welcome anyone and everyone....almost. I wanted to start again here because....oh gawd, how the flip do I know? You are asking ME afterall.

For anyone who hasn't read my previous blog/s then I'll just start by saying I'm your average (?) woman in the street but not quite. Just a woman-next-door type. Mostly I come here to vent, but mainly because I'm quite addicted to this internet lark.