phlegm

Sorry to be gross but that pretty much sums up my existence right now. I'm all about coughing, and it KILLS! I feel like my windpipe is the circumference of a pin head. I will NEVER take my good health for granted again.

AND I was supposed to go see Dave Matthews in Manchester tomorrow AND there's Sarah and Stoff's wedding on Saturday. I do not have time to be ill for crying out loud.

Daytime tv could be used as a form of torture....

I'm in a bad mood.

Ready for a rant....??

Ok, so I'm glad that this little boy Connor McCreaddie gets to stay with his family and not be taken into care, because I really do think it's for the best. However, I find it confusing that all the media attention has focused on how Social Services are having to intervene. What about the mother's culpability in this whole debacle?! I watched 'Tonight with Trevor Macdonald' on Monday evening and OMIGOODNESS the mother is appalling! ABSOLUTELY APPALLING! That may sound like judgement - and yes, I hold my hands up, I do judge her! I think there is a wider issue here that is perfectly illustrated by this story, which is the attitude and mentality of certain types of people in this country that see it as their God-given human right to sit back and expect the local authority to intervene. And these are, unfortunately, usually the sort of people who don't contribute anything to society, don't pay any taxes, live on benefits and EXPECT that the local authority provide for them. GAH this gets my goat! It becomes a vicious circle.This mother said on national television that she felt it was the responsibility of the local authority to sort out the issue of Connor's weight and overreating. WHAT ABOUT HER RESPONSIBILITY!? She said something like 'if I didn't love Connor and was abusing him, he'd be skinny and under fed' - so what? she's over feeding him because she loves him?? THAT is abusive in my opinion! I do think that eventually we will see obesity become categorised as abuse, perhaps not wilful or intentional abuse, but abuse by neglecting to provide healthy meals for the child. This is about education. This mother needs to pull her socks up and learn to cook, get out of bed in the morning, stop playing the 'i'm so depressed' card and set a bloody example for her 8 year old son who weighs 15 stone!!

A miracle...

I am off work at the mo because I have a stupid chest infection. I am NOT happy and feeling very sorry for myself, which is unusual because normally when I am ill I just get on with it (It's a girl thing). But this time I am really poorly - blame Lucy Kennaugh!

Anyhoo, the reason I'm writing is because I spent Monday on the sofa watching TV classics such as 'Jeremy Kyle' (good grief!), and I'd put a vase of daffodils on the coffee table on Sunday to brighten the room up and remind myself that Spring is on the way. The vase was a little bit in the way of my dreadful television viewing so I kinda had my eye on the daffs all day...Throughout the course of the day I found myself drawn to look at them and each time I looked I realised that one flower had blossomed over the day, right before my eyes! How amazing is that, that's like a miracle to me, how does it happen? how does the flower know? I've been buzzing off it ever since!

This weekend I am mostly...

*Happy that my lovely friends Keri and Paul are enjoying their brand spanking new house. Happy new home you guys!

*Loving the new Sophie Kinsella 'Shopaholic' book.

*Tidying, dusting, hoovering, polishing and cleaning...apparently I DO have Monica tendencies.

*Liking the fact that I have had my nails done and therefore can type at speed and not make heinous errors in my work emails.

*Feeling smug at having swum 60 lengths in 45 minutes today.

*Enjoying the solitude of Portland Gate, Ricardo is on a Stag do.

*Loving Cheshire Oaks. I played Personal Shopper to my gorgeous hubby and GAP'd him up to the eyeballs outlet stylee - he was proper strutting up and down the changing room!

* Feeling glad for Abigail and Christopher as they have successfully moved house.

*Browsing for new houses on t'internet. Mortgage calculators are confusing!

*Watching Friends reruns and STILL laughing my head off, in spite of being word perfect on the script.

*Buzzing that 50ml of Martini plus slimline tonic = a proper drink BUT only half a WW point!WOO!

*Worrying about Britney's apparent downward spiral into mental ill health.

* Sad because my good friend Anna lost her daddy to the evil that is cancer, as did my good friend Tiff. This is devastating to the nth degree. I hate feeling helpless and I hate that people I love are suffering.

*Considering making some cookies, but my hands are soooooooooooo burned at random intervals I look like a self harmer - is it worth it for cranberry/almond cookies?

That's all folks...the pic is Abbi, Hannah and I at New Year's! Cute, huh?!

Lenten

Happy first day of Lent! I've set myself a challenge this year, to rediscover this season and what it really means for me. Check out this blog http://mustardseedjourney.wordpress.com/ and http://mustardseedjourney.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/a-journey-into-wholeness-lenten-series.pdf Can't remember how I came across it - maybes the 24-7 website? But anyways, I think this stuff is cool. So far I've learnt that Lent is not about sacrifice or deprivation, and in the early church it was seen as a time of preparation for those about to be baptised - very cool. I've always associated it with the classic giving up of chocolate or crisps, or spent it worrying about people who were giving up eating for 40 days and nights....who could forget Caleb living on milk during the Langdale road era!? But actually it's a time of preparation, working towards something - and that something is pretty darn spectacular - you might say the ultimate goal, namely Jesus' death and resurrection. I believe this happened, I live my life a certain way, I belong to God, but Lent - for me, even when I decided to become a Christian - has always been the tokenistic vibe of self-deprivation of something that's not actually that difficult to go without and basically a pseudo-virtuous 'Oh I'm not eating chocolate for God blah blah blah bobbins' but really it's about (a) being on a diet and (b) the cleansing of the system before the onslaught of choco-mania that is Easter Day. I am shocked at my admission of this but nonotheless it's true - I feel appalled that I am utterly subscribed to the crappy view of Easter and the run up to it.....so I'm changing it. I know what I should do too, I should get a group of people together once a week for the next 6 weeks to go through this journey juntos, to prepare us for the most important time of year (or is that Christmas?? Chicken or egg really innit!!) - but I'm SCARED! Plus I'm lazy and don't want to have to lead it BUT somehow I know that this won't be half as much fun, struggle, laugh, challenge, ass-whup etc etc without the people I love.

Note to self: strap on a pair!!!

Ps. 51 vs. 10 - 16

WHAT the %&*£! ???????

I am SERIOUSLY worried about Brit. WTF is she doin?!

Friday Feeling

Hi people,
I'm off today, so am showing off by blogging in the day time (I know, I know, the clock's all weirdy on my blog but I dunno how to change it!!) It's 11am, I'm in my jammies, drinking tea, watching Oprah and blogging. GAH! I LOVE being off when everyone else is at work. It's bizarre really, but a day off when you should be at work seems somehow more precious than a weekend day off. Or is that just me?! Hmm....

Well, the weekend draws on apace and with it more than the usual plethora of F-U-N! My beloved husband is off to that London for the weekend with Tranmere Alliance kids for their half term trip sooooooo I get to play in my house all by myself for the weekend.....makes me think of the episode of Friends, where Rachel's in her and Monica's flat all alone....."I'm in my apartment, and I'm naked..." haha. (Don't worry, I'll keep the blinds closed HAHA!)

Tonight will involve pink wine (a nice white Zinfandel methinks), a lovely piece of salmon (which I can eat coz Rich isn't here), Green & Blacks 85% cocoa organic chocolate (from my Valentine)and HOLLYWOOD WEEK OF AMERICAN IDOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GAH! What a crackin night! I am well excited!

Then, Saturday I shall spend a leisurely few hours dans la Gym and then a classy night of sophistication that is Sarah Hayes' Hen Do! We will commence with a few drinks at Alma de Cuba (http://www.alma-de-cuba.com) and then onto Il Forno (http://www.ilforno.co.uk) for dinner. Should be a cracking night, pictures to follow.

This week has been a busy one, sorry for the lack of blogness:we had a fun Valentine's which involved a trip to the Alam Balti for dinner complete with pink champagne and vintage champagne saucers....haha we are sooooooooooooooo classy! Good fun, though I ate FAR too much chocolate indeed. Hey ho, you only live once.

On Tuesday I got to see some of the fruits of my labours, or rather tha labours of the team I work with. We held the Annual Looked After Children's Achievement Awards at the Town Hall. The way it works is the young people are nominated by professionals such as Social Workers, Teachers, Foster Carers, Residential Care Staff, me for example, and every child who is nominated receives an award. The nominations can be for anything that the particular young person has achieved and they receive a certificate and a gift voucher and get to be part of an official awards ceremony - which we tailored very much to the young people, complete with helium balloons and Hersheys kisses on every table, a ridiculous amount of crisps and juice and a lot of pomp and circumstance!! It was fabulous! A lot of the young people who were there I've worked with and it was so, so nice to see them buzzing of being guests of honour for something positive rather than the usual circumstances I see them in, ie- when they're complaining that stuff's not right! (and often quite rightly so, I might add!!) Cheesy to say, but kind of reminded me why I love my job so much and why I do it. Although - If one more set of parents or foster carers had said to me 'Oooh you're a lot younger than we thought you were/sounded on the phone etc', I would have had a full on hissy fit! GAH! Anyways, a crackin' night.....especially in light of recent stats published by Unicef (See Anna's blog).

Anyways, I'm off now to enjoy some more coffee (Bean Around the World, no less) and 'This Morning'...oh bloody hell! Fern and Phil aren't on it this week...DAMMIT!

Happy weekend my lovelies xxXXxxXXxx

Ring the Changes

Hey y'all! Like the noveau image? Pretty darn good hey? AND I FIGURED OUT HOW TO DO LINKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOT WOOT!!! I thought it was time to get with the programme and do that switchy thang you've all been doing.....So - Abbers, Hann, feedback please. Can you still see it even without a log in? Espero que si!

It's Sunday afternoon and I have been in my Primark Pyjamas since 6pm on Friday. Time to go get showered and dressed I think! Haha I am sooooooooo lazy. Gonna put in some gym time avec La Beev methinks.

Loving you all...

Moi xxxx

W(hat) A G(iggle) !!!

Hi everyone!! Sorry for the delay! Over a week now since I've blogged - standards sure are slipping! My main excuse for such blog-tardiness is that I have been super-busy catching up with people!! And that is my reason for writing now...On Tuesday I got to hang out with Paul Trevor and Cate Thornton!!! AARRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!! It was soooooooo amazing to see them! Trev was 'oop north' on official WAG business, so not only did I get to see him AND Cate, Trev also had a surprise...HE BROUGHT THE WAG-MOBILE!!

WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!!!!! Check out the pics!!

Paul, Cate my lovely friends, thanks so much for coming over to the Wizza, and for being so fabulous. You are true legends.

Mr PT hobnobs with WAGs!

Yes my friends, it's nearly here...the brainchild of our very own you-know-who...WAGs Boutique! Ok, so I don't know if it's ACTUALLY his brainchild per se, but I DO know that he's having big fun indeed being a top BBC bod and rubbing shoulders and Chloe handbags with the WAGs themselves. Jealous? Me? NEVER......humph! Here's the blurb people...

WAGs Boutique - Tuesday @ 21.00. Repeated on Thurday @ 20.00.It's handbags at dawn, as two teams of footballers' wives and girlfriends compete to run the best fashion boutique in London. The challenge - to turn an empty shop front into a hub of high fashion. It all starts badly as three wannabes walk out unable to stand the pressure. But with the new substitutes in place, June Sarpong takes the girls to the London College of Fashion to gain a little insider knowledge.


Now, I know this clashes with our scheduled viewing of The OC BUT that is the true beauty of E4+1 - woot wooooooooooooooooooot!

So, if anyone wants me, I shall be in front of the goggle box watching WAGs boutique 21:00 - 22:00 and then The OC 22:00 - 23:00.

Beaucoup d'amour xxxx

A plea.....!

PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PUHLEASE!!!! STOP changing your blogs over to that new thingy! I can't see then anymore because I ain't changing mine because then people who aren't bloggers won't be able to see them or comment.....does anyone know what I can do to see them?? I miss Charis and Lucy!!!!!

Hurrah!

It's officially a year since I began blogging!!! Yes indeed, for one whole year you have been subjected to this madness and drivel - I thank you for visiting, I do hope you'll return!

Been a hectic and mad but rather lovely few days....allow me to expand. 'Let's 'unpack that' shall we?'

- Dinner with Helen on Wednesday saw us sampling the new menu at Frankie and Benny's - may I recommend the mussels in tomato and chilli sauce with Parma Ham and ciabatta - MMMMMMMMMM! It was gorgeous to catch up with 'little Helen' who is now almost 21 but for whom I used to babysit when I first began dating Rich circa 1996! She's all growed-up and a fashion student at Leeds now so I very much enjoyed the sneak preview to Autumn/Winter 2007 themes and trends. Similarly enjoyed a hilarious and yet scarily accurate conversation with her about how the 'Christians' - particularly the girls - at Uni had made her feel as if she were sinning and not a 'proper Christian' because she is studying fashion and is interested in the aesthetics of what makes people look and feel good. I should point out that Hel is one of the most wonderul people on God's green earth, humility in action - someone who will rock the fashion world and change it.....not someone who deserves to be made to feel crap because she's trendy and doesn't wear the standard issue baggy jeans and a hoody! She was worried there was a uniform and she hadn't got the memo! Shocking to note that such bigotry and small mindedness still exists amongst supposed followers of Jesus.....but hey, we've all been there!

- Dinner with my mama and Aunt Cheryl on Thursday - I cooked bacon and beef meatballs in tomato and chilli sauce - good old Weight Watchers cook book! A lovely evening of frank conversation and I especially enjoyed palming off clothes onto them! (in exchange for mummy doing my mending!!)

- And finally, the piece de resistance, two of the most treasured friends I have ventured over to the Leisure Peninsula on Friday evening, Sally D and Rike-a-deek hershey Bar herself. Boy oh boy it was awesome to see them and to lavish them with food and love....it felt kinda like old times but betterer because we've moved forward not back, and we've allowed one another to grow up, not expected one another to be who we were in 1997 forever. It's a wonderful thing growth, sure there have been mistakes along the way - phone calls not returned, love not communicated, visits not planned and actioned, but deep down all in all these two are people who have REALLY BEEN THERE for me, and gone out of their way to still be in my life and have me in theirs, these gals I've laughed with, cried with, wrestled through stuff with, partied with, feasted with and ultimately I respect them and who they are as they stand (as do I) before God and try to muddle their way as best they can through life. Such warriors and amazing sisters. yeehaw rikes and sal you rock my world!

Anyone else fancy a visit?? I promise I can cook now!!

What else has been happening......oh YES! OHMYGAH! Jack is BACK! It was awesome, truly awesome - and mostly because we got to watch with the Murphys who are whizzo chaps, the highlight of the weekend (apart from, possibly, finding a Bench dress in the new Westworld outlet at Hollyoaks for £20 reduced from £65!!)

We also had a spiffing night out in Liverpool saturday evening in honour of Jules' 26th (HAHA you're catching up!) birthday, fab night spent engaging in sophisticated drinks and conversation at Alma de Cuba and then progressing onto raucous dancing 'Grab your coat, get your keys, whatever you're drinking, it's on me, it's on meeeeeeeeeee...I've found a place...etc etc' at Revolution.

Now, my week will be complete if only I can manage a decent length of a conversation with the lovely Paul Trevor rather than playing phone tag.

Et finalement...happy bday Tim for tomorrow!!!

besos y abrazos amigos!!!

The Pyjama Game

Trolling back and forth through 'The Ferry', as I do frequently for my job, I have noticed a strange phenomenon which I would like to share with you.

What is the deal with mums dropping their kids off at school whilst still wearing their pj's?? (The mums I mean, not their kids!!)

BIZARRE! No matter how little I had to do in a day, I would NEVER EVER take my kids to school wearing jammies, not that I have kids, but you get what I mean! Absolutely bloody mental.

In other news, I cannot wait for 24!! Day 6 starts on Sunday with a 2 hour special BABY! Tiffers has already seen it coz she's in Yankland, so I am avoiding her!! ARGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH! JAAAAAAAAAAACKKKKKKKKK BBBAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

God at work

You know how sometimes you just get to spend time with someone who completely floats your boat and challenges you and keeps you sharp and says things which make you think billions? Well today was one of those times for me, and it was completely unplanned, completely unexpected and truly beautiful.

It's so freeing to be able to be real on that level with someone being as real back - no room for bollocks, superficial conversations. I'm not feeling very eloquent tonight so I'm finding it hard to say what I mean, but you know who you are mate, so THANK YOU - You have challenged me to my very core and made me buzz even more off this God that we know loves us and who we try to follow. Today feels definitely like a breakthrough day. Ever have those?

In other news, What causes community to break down and fail individuals? Discuss.

couch potato

This week's little issue is that there is far too much good TV on! I am rapidly turning into a lazy layabout whose schedule revolves around the TV Listings in Heat magazine!!

Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but nevertheless... The OC on Tuesdays, Desperate Housewives on Wednesdays, ER on Thursdays, Ugly Betty on Fridays (no jokes please!)AND in this week's Heat I turned a page only to discover that AMERICAN IDOL is BACK Jan 19th! WOOT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! Thank the Lord I have glasses, because after all this TV I'm gonna have square eyes!

Love, spud xxx

Theatrical Update!

Well people, the first rehearsal has been and gone. I am now in fully-fledged Annie mode. Somebody get me a ginger wig and a pair of tap shoes!

Seriously now, let's talk tickets! The show is OFFICIALLY on Ticketmaster - hahahaha how funny is that! See link below.

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/artist/804288/?search_redirect=seussical&tm_link=tm_header_search

So, now you know the dates, there's really no excuse - get booking! Or, alternatively, if you'd like to avoid the Ticketmaster booking fee, you can book through me as we have now had our ticket allocation from The Empire. You know my email, and if you don't, leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

Argh! This is really happening! ;)

Strange...but true.

On Friday I went to work, no big surprise there then, I was having one of those mornings where I wasn't late, I wasn't rushing, and all was right with the world. So I jumped off the bus a stop early and grabbed a coffee at Costa on my way to the office. It was one of those rare days where I was feeling H-O-T! I became aware that people were looking at my legs a lot. 'Yippee' I thought (whilst officially being offended, of course!),'I must be lookin' good! That cross trainer sure is doin' the biz!!'.

I got to the office and went about my morning meetings, and, feeling generous, made coffee for people, chatted to a lady in the loos about where my skirt was from...I could almost hear the triumphal music swelling in the back-ground...I could do no wrong today, the Friday feeling had taken hold. Life was good.

Back at my desk, something caused me to look down at my feet. I had gone to work in what I thought were my lovely Mary Jane wedges (as pictured above left) when, to my horror I realised that what I had done was actually put on ONE of my aforementioned Mary Jane wedges along with one of my patent leather Mary Jane STILETTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (as pictured above right). TOTALLY different shoes! One of each! HEAVENS ABOVE!

Yes indeedy people, on Friday I managed to go to work wearing ODD SHOES! Not odd-bizarre, you understand, but odd-COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!!

I am a muppet.

How did I get to one pm without noticing? My mind frantically went into 'rewind' mode, recalling to mind my triumphal strut through town, clutching my cup of takeout coffee, walking in the manner of the montage in the beginning of 'Devil Wears Prada', all 'gal about town'...and there I was, the odd bod in mis-matched shoes...not in New York at all, but scuzzy old' Birkenhead with its Sayers and the last Wimpy known to man, the woman in the toilets taking a close look at my skirt, parading round the office making coffee for people...the list went on!

Luckily, I saw the funny side and laughed my head off. Particularly as a comedy of errors ensued which I will save for another day. Suffice to say my dear mama and papa came to my rescue, after much laughter at my expense!!.........have a great week people! xxx

PS - Welcome back Barnsies, Heywoods and Ballinger!

HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'nuff said really!

(Apart from that Julie & Colin really know how to throw a great party! Thanks you guys!!)

(Oh, and also....I am never drinking again. Not ever.)

Christmas in Review

Well what a whirl this week has been! I can't believe just this time last week was Christmas Eve (which this year I spent in the the gym and pool in an attempt to stave off some of the Christmas gluttony!!) It was odd watching Muppets Christmas Carol on the treadmill and stairmaster, particularly when I kept laughing out loud! Anyhoop, Christmas Eve was lovely - Rich and I had dinner together (he made his Jamie Oliver baked potatoes) and watched 'A Christmas Story'. We then ventured to the Murphy's - stopping to collect the Blackler-Williams' on the way - for Christmas merriment. From there onto the 11:30pm service at church (disappointing 25 minute sermon - it's CHRISTMAS for crying out loud!!) and home to bed before Santa arrived!!

I awoke at 8:30am this year - a first for me! I must be growing up...nah.

We made tea in our Christmas mugs and went to see if Father Christmas had been - he had!!!!
In my stocking I had a lovely sleep mask like Carrie Bradshaw, some Nike goggles (posh) and 3 Terry's Chocolate Oranges - not Terry's..MINE! And a plethora of lovely gifts were also under the tree. We spent a good hour rip-rip-roaring and then had bacon and eggs (on the Christmas plates!) and watched a bit of the morning carol service. It was a bit of a novelty not going to the morning service as it meant we had bags of time to enjoy Christmas and ease into the day rather than rushing round like loonies!

At one o' clock we went up to Rich's parents and did rip-rip-roaring round #2! Jess was a bit overwhelmed but LOVED her recorder and My Little Pony Watch!

Here are a few Christmas morning pics!!

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

Here it is, the 2006 Wall tree! The gifts are wrapped and ready for the rip, rip, roar...I can't wait to see people's faces! Love Christmas, love it.