Johnny Two-Times

Whilst I'm waiting for pics of Narnia to come back, I thought I would introduce you to one of my most favourite people ever in the whole wide world amen.

This is Johnny. He likes flowers, as you can see, and Dog Eggs, and snooker, and intelligent conversations, and beers, and cd's and winning, and chemical engineering, which is good because he is one.

He's available for Bar Mitzvahs, Weddings, Horse racing events, and general dates.

Call Toll Free on 1-800-oneofthem to book him. Oh, and he does very good wedding speeches (but be warned, he is not above taking the p*ss out of the Bride..!!)

Narnia

Well the party, quite simply, rocked! Very well done indeed to Mr & Mrs Beaver for hosting such a delightful event! In the end, I went as the White Witch and actually sewed, yes SEWED, my own costume! Was a tad rushed as I didn't start it until about 2pm on the Saturday - the party was @ 7:30pm. But the result was fab (even if I do say so myself!) Thank God for tacking stitch! And Rich looked fabulous as Mr Tumnus - pics to follow, PROMISE!

Highlights included: Aunt Susan's polar bear chariot, Jen being there as Lucy, mum winning 'Pin the Tail on the Centaur', Hanny's 'KISS' makeup and fairy costume, Jack making the perfect Edmund, haz's amAZING Aslan mane, Abs as the lamp post, Murph as Aslan, my dad as the Wardrobe maker, having a 'Monica' episode during the Narnia Quiz, the costume parade in the kitchen and the requisite family sing-song after midnight - cue the 7 part harmonies of 'You are my Sunshine'!! Much fun had by all!

Happy 30th Birthday Kath...your prezzie is on the way!

"Little children just don't know when to stop pretending"

So says Edmund of Lucy in the awesome movie that is Narnia! In preparation for tomorrow's Narnia Party Extravaganza, chez Heywood, Rich and I journeyed to Hollyoaks' cinema to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe today. The purpose was not to only to see the movie but to get ourselves suitably whipped up to appear at the party in full costume! Oh yes, Mr Richard Wall shall go to the ball....as the one, the only...Mr Tumnus! And he is very happy about it, as you might imagine!

I myself am finding it difficult to decide between the white witch and Lucy Pevensie. Tough call hey!

Anyhoop - I'm certain you will have all seen the film by now so I shan't go into details but suffice to say I adored it. My only criticisms were (i) the slightly American dialogue "We'll bring mother home a dress" Er...no, you'll 'take a dress home for mother', "Pretty please" and "hey, hey, hey" which I'm fairly certain didn't enter the average British vocabulary until the onset of Chandler Bing circa 1995 and also (ii) the fact that Maugrim spoke with a cheesy American accent. Apart from that TOP DRAWER FILM!

Can't wait for the next one!

"For Narnia....and for Aslan!"

Ooh PS - Manchester posse - HOW MUCH does Susan Pevensie look like our own Ulrike Hirsch!

Thought of something!

Can't believe I didn't think of this straightaway to blog about. Hmmm, is 'to blog' an actual verb now? Hmm, note to self, ponder further on that later!

Anyhoop...last night I went on an adventure with the Heywoods: Kathy, Andy & Alf (also known as Dougie) plus a Ballinger, (Aunt Hilary) and 3/4 of Barnes': Sue plus Jack and Haz, (also known as Brett & Dexter ??!!)

We ventured to Salford Quays, to The Lowry more specifically, to feast our eyes and ears upon the true delight that is Matthew Bourne's production of Edward Scissorhands. Nothing I could write could really do it justice, it was tres magnifique, super-cool and formidable all at once. The set, the costumes, the choreography, the score, the guy who danced Edward (YUM!), the lighting, the cheerleaders that came to life from posters, the Christmas party scene, the BBQ scene, the girl's santy outfit, the theatre itself, the fact that there's a costa al dentro, hanging out with the fam, Harry's comment of 'Bob Marley, is he out of Scrooge?', the cousins changing their names, Jack's ghost stories, Alf's one liners, Aunt Susan's theatre coat, the fact that Vincent was there, chocolate limes as a tribute to Nanny Ballinger and a whole host of other remarkable things made for a truly fabulous night out.

IF YOU GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE EDWARD SCISSORHANDS: DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Blogging Rage

People need to update their blogs more often.
Me included, but currently cannot think of anything I want to write about.
Over and out.

Secrets and Lies

This is a freakin' awesome website.

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

When the cat's away.....

...the mice will play! And play I certainly did! Last night. Till 1:30am. On t'internet. On message boards. On 'messenger'. On pacman. Gah, I need help. I'm addicted! I've always known myself to have an addictive personality (I don't just want one handbag, I want the same bag in each colour, I don't just want one packet of Doritos, I want an entire 6 pack, I don't just want one glass of White Grenache, I want the entire bottle, I don't just want one pair of boots, I want them in black and brown.....I could go on, but I'm sure you get the picture!) but it would appear that having unlimited access to the world wide web has taken my addictivity (no it's not a word, but it should be) to a whole new and unprecedented level. And with no Ricardo to distract me (he's in Wales, with teenagers, gorge walking or similar...total nightmare) I was unstoppable.

Spare time is a funny thing, isn't it? When I'm at work, I fantasize about how if I had spare time, I would spend all day cleaning and washing and ironing and tidying and go to the gym and spend house browsing the soft furnishings department in John Lewis. I'd eat healthily and read mind-broadening books.

And yet, when I have spare time, such as today, I manage to accomplish bugger all. (That said, I have managed to purchase a lovely curtain pole for the living room (yes, from John Lewis) and have coffee with my mama, so it's not a total waste of the day. However, it's 15:02 now, I could certainly fit in a visit to the gym before the evening's festivities kick in. Think how much better I'll feel once I've been, think how virtuous and righteous I shall feel.

But you can bet your bottom dollar that I'll still be sat here in an hour, ensconsed (sp?) in cyber-space. I'm concerned I'm becoming a fully-fledged nerd, and perhaps more alarmingly, damaging my eyesight! Specsavers here I come for those cute little Red or Dead numbers, in brown, and - given my aforementioned addictive personality/ addictivity - most probably black as well!

Help!

Tom Baker

I suppose it's a bit ''old hat'' now, ('old hat'! How's that for a Malory Towers expression!!??) but I have found the changeover from BT Lady to Tom Baker (ex Doctor Who, and voiceover man from Little Britain') on the BT Voice Text service absolutely, utterly, splendiferously highly amusing. Am now annoying family on a daily basis with lines from Little Britain. The 2 most hilarious reactions were from Jen - dear sister that she is - got VERY annoyed with me, wanting to know how I was making it Tom Baker's voice and 'can you make it other people because that would be truly splunkers' - and my dear mama who was rather confused (now we know where I get it from) and asked whether you had to type everything in the 3rd person because every message began with 'hello, this is Tom Baker here...' I tried (in vain) to explain that it just reads out what you type, and I was actually typing 'hello this is Tom Baker here..' but did she get it? Did she fudge.

Anyhoo, it's lots of fun, so I highly recommend it. Especially when you type Little Britain lines...'Anyway, I must go now, as I have a poo coming out - Good Tie' hahahahahahahaha makes me laugh my head off.

The only bummer is when people don't have BT phone lines, so they don't get the message.

I don't know, with all this technological advancement in my life, I'll end up never speaking to people again - issue needs addressing methinks.

Good tie!

The Others are coming....

Sucked in doesn't even begin to cover it! In an attempt to fend off the temptation to watch Season 5 of 24 before I've watched Season 4, I've come across the first 10 episodes of Season 2 of Lost! Yes, (smiles smugly) I know what happens after they blow open the hatch! OH-MY-GAH! Quite simply, it rocks. You will be sooooooooo shocked! (Don't worry, I won't reveal the plot)

I can't explain my passion/obsession with all things American, but this defo comes into that category. Can't wait for 5pm so I can go home and watch more!

PS. How cool is it that it doesn't have, nay, even need a theme tune!

Wishin' and hopin' and prayin' and dreamin'...

This is North Vancouver, taken from downtown Vancouver 'yesterday at lunch' by my good friend Mr Huot, who is lucky enough to live and lunch in that fair city.(Ian the IT man reliably informs me that Vancouver is, indeed, a city - I wasn't sure, got a bit confused!)

Anyhoop, here it is.....how pretty...I hope to spend August here!

In other news, every single one of the anonymous Valentine's I sent got guessed. Poop. Most amusing response was my brother's sarky text of 'Good one Liz' not even pretending to be surprised. BOOO to him I say. Ah well, next year I shall perfect my plan! mwaa hah hah hah. I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!

Love is in the air....

Not that we're massively doing anything for Valentine's, because frankly, every day is filled with love, but I thought I'd post a pic of my beloved. Now, before you puke all over my blog, think about it. When you marry someone, isn't that what you promise? To love each and every day no matter what? So, we're not celebrating on principle, but I might bake heart shaped biscuits, just because I can! Happy first married Valentine's day Rich - I love you! And to everyone else, I love you too - and I mean it!

Gripe du jour

...Pervy old men who insist on wearing goggles in the pool to look at girls' legs etc. PERVS! Don't think we don't know either! You're so obvious - at least TRY to hide the fact!

Grrrrrrrrrrr...

Endings

What ho old chaps!

In the middle of handing in my notice from this current job, to move onto the next thing...I'm finding myself speaking in nostalgic terms of 'Oh that's the last time I'll....' - I even paused, somewhat misty-eyed, in the doorway to my office at 8am this morning, thinking 'oh I shall miss this office' when on an ordinary day I hate it with a passion. What's that about hey? Why are humans so resistant to change anyway? Or maybes it's just me?! I dunno. I think it's about the familiar, knowing what I'm doing, knowing where I stand with employers and colleagues, being 'at the top of my game' so to speak, whereas in five short weeks I shall be 'the new girl' OH HOW I HATE BEING THE NEW GIRL! YES it's a pride thing! YES it's a security thing! YES it's a worrying-about-what-other-people-will-think-of-me thing!

I know it's right to move on, I know it'a a good position to be in, I know it's good progression-wise and financially speaking it kicks butt BUT there's still alittle part of me that whines' Oh but why can't I just stay here where it's nice and safe and I know what I'm doing and when I don't know I can blag it!?'

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...?!

I have issues (clearly), and I'm proud of it!

perplexing........

Q: Why is it when you bake cakes, the cake cases don't burn?

In other news, This is Emma - also known as Beevers, also known as Ho Lo.

We look a bit manic on account of attending the Annual Scooby Gang Pre-Christmas Secret Santy Balti at the illustrious Alam Balti, Bebington.

Scooby gang, more pics to follow...!!

Word.

"Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes - God takes pleasure in your pleasure!Dress festively every morning.Don't skimp on colors and scarves.Relish life with the spouse you love each and every day of your precarious life.Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive.Make the most of each one!Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!This is your last and only chance at it..."Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 (MSG)

How cool is that?! I found it whilst blog surfing and loved it, so I nicked it (oops!) - aha the marvel of cutting and pasting! That's defo how I wanna live my life, as if each day is a gift...kinda hard to get your head around, well for me anyways, but I find that the more I watch the news, the more I work with people with the most difficult issues and challenges to face each day, the more I get to know people and my friends and family, the more I am challenged to the very tips of my fingers and ends of my toes to live in the freedom of loving life and grabbing each day as if it's my last....hmmmm, I'm making some headway but I ain't there yet!

Right, I'm off to drink some wine with a robust heart! That might well be my very favourite Bible verse! =)

Ooooh!!!

Many things to be happy about:

The weather feels like spring today!
I discovered I can swim a length in 37 seconds (which I thought was good?)
I finished a box of peppermint tea!
The sky is very blue and clouds are white and fluffy!
Shredded Wheat comes in mini verisons.
We're having steak for dinner!
Ron & Elizabeth are joining our cell!
I still have a bottle of red wine left and i thought i didn't (save it for ya Na!)
I baked cakes last night
My exam is over
People have blogs and I love looking at them
I have shiny hair (that is a joke)

I love life.

From the sublime.......

....to Mrs Abigail Murphy with her lovely husband, Neville! Only joking, that's just a poster. But I promised I'd post it for Abs! Taken on her 'Hen Do' surprise, we took her to the Liverpool Philharmonic to see/hear a swing orchestra. Top banana. And Claire Sweeney was there.

Here you go Abbers, good memories hey?! Love ya XxXxXx

Musings

Isn't t'internet a funny thang? You can be whoever (whomever?) you want to be and spin any old yarn. Who's gonna know?? Also this blogging thing, how open can I be? How real? How freaky to think that anyone can access it or happen upon it randomly and know my thoughts and stuff. Those of you who read this know me and so the conversation's we'd have face to face would be frank and honest, so why not here?! It's an interesting experiment with self really. I'm all about the self these days....training as a counsellor is a journey and a half let me tell you. So how honest am I willing to be? Can I talk about my life with God here? Can I reveal where I'm at with life? Who has the answer?

Maybe I'm suffering from blog insecurity? Everyone else's seems so much more deep and meaningful (Sal!), or insightful and poignant (Anna!), or downright forthright (Rike)!

Must do better...

We had our exam today - it was hard, not at all what I would have expected but hey de ho it's O-V-E-R and I'm still alive. In other news, I got the HR pack for my new job - it's really happening - woot woot! So now I'm skiving off pilates and updating my client records...yes they let me loose on real clients these days! (not in pilates, you understand, in counselling!)

Over and out

OOOH!! PS - downloaded Season 5 prequel of 24 coz we don't have Sky - you can really do that! genius status at computers restored - woo hoo!

Confused...and not in a good way!

Hey,
So, I logged onto my blog today after having 'fixed' the problem with y'all not being able to comment, expecting to see all the comments from everyone fully restored to their rightful place...but noooooooo...they're gone!

Yesterday the issue appeared to have been that I had inadvertently clicked the 'comment moderation' button, so all your comments were being emailed to me for careful consideration before allowing them on my blog. Which is funny, because why on earth would I bother doing that!? So I 'published' them all from my email and they appeared fine, but now they're all gone when I checked today. I AM SO CONFUSED and my 'I am a computer genius' parade has been utterly and categorically rained on. I am now going to sulk.

Can anyone help??!! Anna? Tim? Joshua? Charis? (Look at me asking for computer help from ninos...?!!)

Yours rather disgruntledly (sp?!)

me x

For Jen & Adam

Further to a telephone conversation with my little sister this evening, I promised to post this delightful masterpiece of a picture (Cate Thornton ain't got nuffin' on me!!??!! )

And here it is! WHAT a beauty! Adam is my sister's partner in crime, a wonderful and talented chap pictured wearing my luverly gold boots that Santy brought me. He didn't even need that much coaxing to put them on, so he fits into the family super-well! Lookin' good Gorman, you can bet your ass this'll come back to haunt you once you're rich and famous!!!!!

http://www.thebrotherswithdifferentmothers.com/

Grammatical Issues

My favourite news correspondent on Channel 4 news is 'Damien Grammaticus' - what a cool name, that should have been my name. (Not the 'Damien' part, you understand, but the Grammaticus part)

Anyhoo, to get back to the point of this post, I have always been troubled by people who say 'I must of' instead of 'I must HAVE'

It's HAVE, you planks, I want to shout!

So much so, that I have just corrected someone's post on a message board to read 'must have' instead of 'must of'....I'm a bit worried about myself, but then again, Lynne Truss would be proud of me!

delusions of grandeur...

....but just to redress the balance, here I am with Flavio Briatore!! heh heh heh!

He who must be obeyed

Rich was rather concerned that there was only one photograph of him on my blog. So, to that end, here is another of the chap himself. Once again at the Barcelona 2005 Grand Prix, he maintains he is being asked for his autograph by the legendary Jacques Villeneuve & DC. (deluded?!)

Aw, bless.

Back to the faves...

Got some pictures developed at lunchtime (yes I still haven't quite got onto the whole digital revolution - plus the child in me LOVES not knowing what the film is of when you hand it in for developing - it's like a surprise when you get them back!!) and they are of some favourite people of mine, so I thought I'd share them with you.

This is Colin and Julie, they are fabulous and also jammy beggars as they are currently hobnobbing around the globe. In addition to this, they recently got engaged!! CONGRATULATIONS Mr & Mrs Povall to be! I can't wait till they move back to blighty, it'll be super-fun, as they say in the OC.

Anyhoo, so that's Col & Jules!

More later xxx

Sweeeeeeeet!

We have Broadband. Life is good.....I'm so excited I might puke!

Question.

What's the difference between a raisin and a sultana? This has been puzzling me for some time now, please help.

This is Cate!

Voila the lovely Cate Thornton!

Here we are at Liverpool's illustrious Albert Dock, and YES, I am wearing clothes!

Cate is magnificent. She, too, resides in a far flung place, saving the world with her joy, laugh, peacefullness, grace, awesome sense of humour, camera and penchant for suntans.

Cate loves sunsets, Dawson's Creek and PEOPLE! I miss her...

'These are a few of my favourite things....'

Not so much raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but PEOPLE! Here are a few of my favourite people...now, I am limited currently as I am at work and don't have all my pics uploaded here, so don't be sad if there's not a picture of you ...it's just a matter of time and my technological wizardry! Besides, you know who you are!


This dude is Daniel Brearley - better known as Brezlington. A fan of eating, Dan was the forefather of the phenomenon which came to be known as 'Second Breakfast' . He also enjoys trips to Pizza Hut. He is currently in some far flung land, wearing, as you can see from this picture, his grandma's 'leisure suit' hoody by Dash at House of Fraser. He is simply 'a good'un'