A Nothing Day

Been feeling rather irritable and bored all day and I know why, it's lack of sleep. As I've had the last week off work I've been staying up later than normal and I just don't do well with messed up sleep patterns.

When my kids were young it was different, I just sort of got on with it but these days it makes me feel bitchy. I wanted to go out but didn't have the energy or motivation. I wanted to do something good indoors but didn't for just about the same reason. I've got lots of house stuff to do and my little patio garden has weeds which are threatening to swallow me up if I don't tackle them soon, but nothing got done apart from me fiddling around online, mostly with my blog.

My partner has been occupied nicely all day with his new toy, a Playstation 3... so it would have been an ideal day to buzz off and do something worthwhile.

I just tried to watch something on BBC iPlayer (an online catch-up of BBC TV programmes) but it didn't seem to be working for me, typical!

Never mind I guess we all have these kind of nothing days sometimes..

Yes! That's It For A Week!

Wow! At last the end of a very busy week, busy at work and home.

My son arrived Thursday afternoon and left for Brazil at 2:30 am Friday so we had less than 12 hours but that's OK as he will be here for a whole week of catching up when he gets back.

I feel I need to catch up a bit now with the blogs and something I fully intended to take part in but just haven't had the time, Doodle Week! Yep I was going to make a total fool of myself!

I still don't have time to get out and set up the scanner but maybe I'll give it a go by just photographing my meagre efforts! Better late then never I hope!

I am now off work for the entire next week and the weather forecast is wonderful.

Tomorrow is expected to be 28c (82f) here in London so I intend to get out as much as possible, it's been a long time coming, both the weather and some time off!

I'm not going away anywhere during the week but hope to have some good days out!

Something To Look Forward To..

I'm quite excited this evening as tomorrow my son comes home from Dubai. He will be in UK for only just over 12 hours before flying off to Brazil for a week or so. When he returns from there he will spend a week with us before returning back to Dubai again!

He's become quite a jetsetter in recent years and I'm so pleased for him having the opportunity before he gets tied down maybe with wife and kids. He really does work and play hard!

It will be lovely to see him again and I'm hoping my girls can find some time to be here for that week, it's been well over a year since the three of them have been together at the same time.

The only annoying bit is that I have holiday from work next week, that's the week of his Brazil trip, and not the week he will be here, but if he's the same as he was then he will be in bed till at least noon everyday!

Loving The Long Weekend

I love these Bank Holiday weekends, get to Sunday and have another day off to look forward to!

Today was spent doing lots of cleaning, there often just isn't the time or energy in the week so it tends to get very messy.

I then spent some time dropping Entrecards, I know, what a waste of time but there is something pleasantly addictive about it.

I went out on my bicycle, only for about 10 minutes, around the block. Just to prove to myself I can still ride it, it's been a long time since I got on it. Even that short ride made my thighs start to feel tired so I know I have a lot of work to do to get back up to speed and to face the dreadful London roads!

I then planted some herb seeds.. I have no idea if they will grow well at all but I like the idea of being able to pop out to my balcony and pick some fresh herbs. I'm particularly fond of coriander in just about anything, not just curries.

Then, later of course I was back online - doing what I enjoy, reading the blogs..

Should I Shave The Cat?

I've just spent a lot of time and energy hoovering and dusting and most of the mess is cat fur from my visitor.

I guess it's the time of year for shedding a lot more fur, getting rid of the thick winter coat but it's no joke, it's everywhere! I can't imagine what it would be like for those who have several cats.

Well I was thinking, would it not be a good idea just to shave her completely then only the summer coat would grow back? Save all this messy moulting?

OK, now before I get hammered for this I am only joking, but it is an idea? no? lol

Sunny Sunday Re-Potting

I woke in a very odd mood today. Feeling I wanted to jump out of bed and have a massive clear out - make space and get rid of. Which is not really possible as I have a lot of "stuff" here which belongs to my son who currently lives and works in Dubai, and also of course my 2 daughters belongings as they are away at uni in term time.

I did a bit of clearing, in an effort to resolve this feeling. Then I felt overwhelming sad and miserable, the feeling of missing my kids being the focus of the now streaming tears.

I had a good cry, which in fact I believe did me good. Last week at work I felt like crying several times due to so many impending changes and stresses but I didn't so it was good to let go and have the tears in the privacy of my own home.

After having some lovely cheese and tomatoes on toast (made by my partner to cheer me up) I felt a bit better and we went out to a local garden/home store.

I bought some compost and plant pots as several of my plants were in desperate need of a little more growing space. So by the time we got home the sun was shining and it was pleasantly warm to spend time out on the balcony re-potting.

They all look lovely now, the 5 cacti and a dwarf conifer tree, all standing proudly in the fresh new soil.

Silly me, I should have taken photo's - maybe tomorrow if I have time!

What Am I Doing Here..

About to get ready for work I suddenly remembered something I needed to do online.

Put the computer on and realised the wireless connection was not working so had to restart the modem/router.

By the time I had things up and running I couldn't for the life of me remember what I had put it all on for!



This happens quite frequently and then I end up wasting time getting engrossed in other things only to suddenly realise I'm running very late, so quickly switch off.



THEN when it's too late I remember what it was I put it on for.

I'm sure the same will happen today!

Knock Knock, An Unwanted Visitor..

Just as I was cooking dinner this evening there was a knock at the door. I made the mistake of answering, it was a lady canvassing for the Labour party, she wanted to talk about the Mayoral elections coming up in a few weeks, I didn't! I do not like the way these people come around almost intruding on our privacy to discuss such matters at the door.

Well today she got short shrift from me, mainly because she wore the labour party badge. I am currently not amused by the Labour party for abolishing the 10p tax rate, which will leave many workers including myself poorer at the end of each month. Unless you earn more then £18,500 per year, (and I don't) then you are going to loose out.

I thought the Labour party had the interests of the lower paid working class person at heart but obviously not now - once again, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

I told this lady I wasn't interested in what she had to say and that I'd never vote for her party again - she then began to talk about devils and angels and I was wondering if perhaps she was from some religious sect as well!

At that point I told her I had to go sort out my cooking and I closed the door, just about on her nose as she was so very reluctant to give up.

Luckily my dinner wasn't burnt, in fact it was rather yummy!

Nothing Tonight..

The working week has left me completely exhausted, I have a rotten headache and the tinnitus is ringing louder than ever.

I hope to go shopping for some bits tomorrow, so it's off to bed and hopefully a good nights sleep!






(Remember the days when you'd finish work on a Friday, rush home, get all dolled up, go out and dance the night away!?) Seems soooo long ago!

Sunshine And Skype

It's just after 7pm now and still brilliant daylight! I love it, been in the dark for too long, putting the clocks forward was something I had been looking forward to for a while.

I went out for a short walk today as it was beautifully sunny, still chilly though. I thought I had better see how I felt outside as I should go back to work tomorrow. At least Monday is my shortest day so it will give me a chance to see if I'm well enough.

A few weeks ago I got a new mobile phone, the Nokia N95 on the 3 network. This amongst other goodies gives free access to Skype on the phone. I've never been a great user of Skype on the PC even, but I thought I'd have a little play with it this weekend, one problem, I have very few contacts on it so it hasn't been easy to test.

I have added a Skype button here on the right sidebar, the first one I added was one that supposedly gave my current online status, but this did not seem to work when I was online on the mobile phone, only when online actually on the PC. So now I just added a Call Me button.. feel free, give me a call, but sadly the chances of calling when I'm actually around are probably quite slim! But I just thought, how cool (maybe lol) to get a call from one of my readers as I was walking to work or suchlike..

Mouth Ulcers And BST

Feeling a lot better today, arms and legs just about normal - thankfully.

My biggest gripe at the moment is now mouth ulcers! I hate having these as it hurts to talk and eat. I guess that's not so bad, my partner should be happy for a bit of peace and as for eating, well I could do with losing a few pounds! But they do make my whole face and ear ache, I have 3 of the blasted things and not on just one side. I have Bonjela and TCP but they don't help very much.

I was hoping to get out of the house tomorrow for a while but the weather forecast is not looking good, I don't really want to be out in so much cold, wind and rain.

One good thing, tonight we change to BST (British Summer Time) putting the clocks 1 hour forward so at least it will be lighter in the evenings from now on. Just need someone to tell Mother Nature it's SUMMER Time!!

Still At Home - Reading The Blogs

Today, Friday I stayed off work again. I really don't know what's going on with me as I still have a sore throat but as I'm resting lots the aches are easing a little, but I still get times of severe aching legs and arms.

I thought I was developing a big snotty ol' cold, but nope, nothing seems to happening in that department. I almost wish it was because then you know what the routine is more or less, with this weird feeling I've no idea what's going on.

At least it's almost the weekend, so that's another 2 days to get better. As much as I'm not enjoying my job recently, I'm not pleased to be taking time off sick.

Anyway, I feel a bit more able to spend some time online today so I'm now catching up a bit on the blogs in my reader..

Aches And Pains

Not gone to work today.

Feeling rather unwell since yesterday with a sore throat and very achey arms and legs. I don't have a cold or flu, just those odd symptoms along with feeling really knackered...

It's my first sick day for almost 6 months.

I'm just resting here with tea and paracetamol...

Lazy Music Monday

I've kind of enjoyed this 4 day Easter break.

Not done anything of any interest at all, only went out twice and that was shopping, so nothing exciting. It was too cold to want to go out anymore than that!

But I have enjoyed being a real couch potato, sitting here with my laptop, being utterly lazy and having my daughters around (even if they are rather noisy and messy to say the least..lol). Not done much housework and only the necessary cooking - I could get used to life like this, but alas I have to be back at work tomorrow morning 8:30am!!

I've actually listened to quite a bit of music today which is very enjoyable, I forget how much I love my 9292 tracks in iTunes, in fact I forget about them so much that a lot of them are fresh again to my mind.

As I listen to music (if on computer) it gets logged at LastFm and if you're interested in what I listen to you can see it HERE as well as the widget in the left hand sidebar..

The Not So Good, Good Friday

Here I am moaning again... today certainly has had it's ups and downs..

My oldest daughter has been suffering with severe earache, which she's pretty much stuck with until Tuesday unless it clears up by itself, as the Dr's are closed for Easter. Regular paracetamol is helping though. It's not an infection but more of a slight damage caused by sticking a cotton bud in too far! Be warned! I just hope she's not done anything serious.

My youngest daughter left late afternoon to drive back down to Brighton as she has a part time job (as well as uni) and is on the rota for tomorrow. However after she'd been gone for about 40 minutes she called saying she was broken down.. she rang RAC and they said there would be a 2 and half hour wait for someone to come and rescue her, she was very upset and crying which was difficult to listen too as I felt totally useless.

Amazingly, the RAC guy turned up after about 35 minutes, checked her car over and got her started, advising her to get some work done on it as soon as possible, so she drove back home to us instead of her original destination of Brighton as it was the nearer. Just hope her manager will understand when she calls to say she wont be in tomorrow!

Neither of these things are really "my problem" and the girls are no longer babies - 20 and 24, but it's amazing how whatever happens to them has such an upsetting affect on me..

Anyway, hoping the rest of the weekend will be a little less fraught!

Lazy Sunday

Was going to go out today but the weather has been really awful, raining and very windy again, so we didn't bother.. So predictably I've spent most of the day online on my laptop and my partner has been on his big computer playing his wargames, which I just don't get! But that's fine we are both happy doing our own thing here.

I joined FriendFeed, another one of those things I'm sure sure why I join, but hey, gotta try it all out!

I've dropped a few Entrecards, although sometimes I just get a bit bored with doing all that.

Discovered more lovely sites such as Flickr-Storm - found this one on Shellys Delicious Links

I've spent ages fretting about my daughter over in New York, she sent me a text to let me know she had landed safely on Friday night but then nothing to let me know she had met up with her boyfriend as planned. Well, just a few minutes ago she sent another text telling me all was well and she was off to Manhattan.

Watch Out New York! Here She Comes!!

As I write this my youngest daughter is on her way to New York. She arrives tonight at JFK around 10pm (NY time) So, I'm expecting a text sometime around 2am to let me know she's arrived safely, late I know but worth it..

She spent last night at home here with us as it's easier to get to Heathrow Airport from here than it is from Brighton.

Her boyfriend is currently in USA on a sports scholarship and as it's her 20th birthday on Tuesday she decided it would be fun to meet up as she's never been to USA before - neither have I come to that!

She will be staying with his father and grandmother and is to say the least a little nervous about meeting them, but I'm sure that once they all meet up she will be fine.

She won't be back until Thursday evening, so I will miss having her here for her birthday but I'm sure she will have a wonderful time over there - I've given her boyfriend strict instructions to take good care of her!!!

Work, Blog, Cat And Dog

Had a fairly busy day at work - was a long day, 8:30 till 4:30. Had to deal with a couple of very strange people, I'd love to go into detail but maybe it's best not to.

In my spare moments I was thinking about my blog and how I should really try to follow up on comments made. I rarely get round to it for the simple reason of lack of time. I know some bloggers religiously reply and that's wonderful. I do hope those who kindly comment here don't think I'm ignoring them, I truly do appreciate and value all comments (well unless they are downright nasty or spam) If only I had a lot more time to spend on here!

On my way home from work I did a bit of shopping, just necessities, nothing exciting and as I walked up the road I had a tiny but disgusting accident - I trod in dog poo! I TOTALLY DESPISE those who are so thoughtless as to leave the pavements in such a state. If you have a dog you should be prepared to clean up after it. That's one of the reasons I don't think I'd ever have a dog, I wouldn't be able to cope with clearing up the poo..

When I got home, after cleaning up my shoes, I opened the window and immediately in came my neighbours cat, I'm sure she must think she lives here. I packed away the shopping and began getting things ready to make dinner. When I went back into the sitting room the cat had left me a nasty little pile of sick, grass sick - yuck! and she's not even my cat! So another unpleasant cleaning up job..

Now, dinner all done and eaten I'm able to relax for a while before bed. I'm just so tired and can't wait for some time off. I did in fact book a week off today but it's not until May, so still about 8 weeks to go.. will I make it? I hope so...

Thinking Of My Kids

It's almost a year since this photo was taken on my youngest daughters 19th birthday. We had all been out for a dinner to celebrate this and also as a farewell to my son who was about to go off to Dubai.

For some reason they were, all three of them at the front of my mind all day today. Since this pic they have not all been together. I have seen all of them and they have all seen each other but not all together and that made me sad. They are all busy in their own separate places, all away from home and sometimes I just flippin well miss them!

I have no idea when we'll all be together again, but I suppose as long as I know they are happy and well, and that I can pick up the phone and have a chat now and then, it's OK.

Being a Mum is so difficult.. from the moment you're pregnant (morning sickness etc) through all the terrible twos, the constant changes as they grow into sometimes quite challenging teens, and then when they are just about all grown up and leave home, you never ever stop worrying!!

I'm used to being the empty nester now, and it's not all bad.. I do enjoy the quiet, the extra time for myself.. but as I said before, I do sometimes miss them - A LOT!

This Weekend

This weekend is going to be very full - not much time for blogging, reading blogs or much else..

Saturday I'm off to Leicester to visit my eldest daughter, Sunday off to Surrey to visit the inlaws.

I know it's good be to doing something real life for a change, but I will miss my online life.. lol

BUT I do have my wonderful mobile which can do all kinds of amazing internetty things and I will (maybe) use Twitter, Utterz and whatever else I can think of. However as I am travelling by coach I have to be careful as too much reading/looking down and I get travel sickness rather too quickly.. anyway, will have to see how it goes!

Hope you all have a good weekend whatever you get up to!