Happy Times

This morning I donned my oversize sunnies, a light summer jacket, my ipod and a sunny mood, and headed over the water to Liverpool to shop. Not for me, no siree, but for some people I love to the moon and back: Ulrike aka Miss Barbie Hirsch, who gets married VERY soon, for Anna Jack, who is a very very dear friend and who turns 29 this coming week, and also for my beautiful Abigail - my bestest bud, who reaches the ripe old age of 30 on Easter Sunday (VERY cool day to have your birthday - even your 30th!) I had such fun thinking about each girl and what they're like and what they would love and buzz off....suffice to say without giving too much away that I was rather pleased with each individual purchase! It gives me such pleasure to give other people presents...I think I'm rather good at it, even if I do say so myself!

I was in such a good mood wandering around town, what a gorgeous and beautiful city Liverpool is. I am very much full of the joys of Spring.....although I did wish i were in Mancland today....soon Miss Anna, soon...

Summer, summer, summer time!

Hoorah! The clocks have sprung forward which, although it meant I got in at 4am instead of 3am, is still a welcome and utterly refreshing change. And what a stunningly beautiful day it's been here on the Leisure Peninsula! On the way to rehearsal today it occurred to me just how dreary I'd been getting, I'd quite forgotten the sky could look like it did today - perfect cornflower blue, even the permanent chill in the air seems to have dissispated with the onset of official British Summer time. Oh hurrah the world is indeed a glorious place today - bring on sitting in gardens, pink wine, eating outside, corona and lime, trips to the beach, barbeques, not needing a coat, St. Tropez tans, flip flops, ice lollies, light nights and mornings, birds singing.....I could go on! I LOVE the winter don't get me wrong, but it feels like we're due a mood lift round about now! The best bit of hopefully being able to buy the new apartment is that it has a patio and a little bit of outside space, big enough to entertain so be prepared for an invite!!

If you're a person who prays please keep this home move in your prayers for Rich and I...that'd be smashing!

Happy summer time people xxxxxx

PS 12 weeks till 'Seussical: The Musical' - get booking those tickets! WOO!

Visual DNA

Does what it says on the tin - see right...

(PS - Cate, what can I say, I always knew we were soul sisters! love ya baby!!!!!)

Hola

Haven't really got very much to report this week - been quite boring really! Though there are plans a-plenty a-foot !! V. excited about the Hen Do of Ms. Ulrike Barbara Hirsch and also about dining with Col and Jules tomorrow, a trip to Manc, many b'days coming up, the possibility of a new swanky flat (please God), developments on the job front, Abbi's 30th, - and it's nearly Easter too - yeeha, fabbo time of year, not least because of the annual Easter egg hunt chez Millar!

I think my prob is everyone knows my news coz you're all on facebook!

It's friday, which means yummy pitta and hummus, a cheeky glass of Beringer and American Idol. Whizzo. Rich is out at a youth event - really pleased he's getting a bit involved again. So I'm all alone.....saddo that I am I'm soooo excited about 24 re-runs, so if anyone wants me, that's where I'll be for the next few hours....'I'm kinda busy right now...'

erm....

I am worried that I am neglecting my blog because of chuffin' facebook!

Red Nose Day

Rollercoaster of gut-wrenching films from Africa and the UK of real people with real life-and-death needs juxtaposed with belly-aching laughs......did you catch the Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant/Jamie Oliver/Bob Geldof/Andi Peters/Bono sketch? MADNESS!

Let's all get donating!


http://www.comicrelief.com

facebook

www.facebook.com

Dead good fun. Come on people, get down with the kids!

Ramblings

So, I'm back at work, which is good but also poop as I am having the unfortunate experience of actually MISSING daytime tv - Fern and Phil feel like old friends. It was fun being off for two weeks but I feel I didn't get to enjoy it all that much as I was practically at death's door. Still coughing like an old man and the office girls are trying to avoid my remnants of germs. I feel like a big fat pie coz I can't go swimming for another week, so despite the little oasis of a fortnight off being poorly, am quite looking forward to getting back to my routines (Autistic spectrum anyone?!).

Other things to look forward to include Comic Relief on Friday (I'm watching it ALL), viewing properties over the weekend with my hubble and the piece de la resistance - combined Paddy's Day and Lockharts' (aka The Irishes) official house-warming! Woo hoo, bring on the Guiness and stew! (??)

In other news, I think I am becoming addicted to Facebook, how sad is that, keep telling myself that because I work with young people it's important that I keep abreast of the times, so to speak.

Birthday shout-outs this week Paul 'Pumpkin' Trevor, the original WAG himself turns 28 or 29 on Thursday, I forget which - age is but a number my dears! HaPpY BiRtHdAy Trev! I love you xxx

Gutted

Some of you may know I have currently got a bee in my bonnett about moving house. It feels time to move on, though we really love our flat indeed. We are quite happy here, but you know me and me incessant need for a project! It would be nice to move and start a new chapter of our life together. So, I have been trawling the local papers and internet looking for suitable abodes. Because we don't have nippers, we're not too bothered about moving out of Beb, but it'd be nice to be near to the fams and general posse. We looked at a GORG garden flat in Oxton, but rejected it on the basis of potential damp issues (Liz+damp=instant chest infection, and we all know what I'm like with one of them!) and then....by chance...I FOUND IT! The one, the lovliest house in the land, affordable, nice area, newly refurbed throughout so no pesky DIY to do, a proper grown up house...woo hoo! I filled out the online form to contact the agent and waited.....a week later I had heard nothing. I re-filled in the form and waited...for another week. Then yesterday I woke up and thought 'I am going to do something about this today'. So I carefully constructed a letter to the owners of the property and posted it through the door! Hahaha, madness! This morning I raced to check my emails and there was one new message - ARGH! it was from the house people.........GUTTED! They bought it in October and the previous owners had not removed the property listing online. WHY? WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?? I am sooooooooooooooo gutted, in my mind I had moved in! *note to self* Must keep a cooler head when property buying!

Are my dreams coming true??

ARGH! FOUND THIS ONLINE CE MATIN!!! AAAAAAAARGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Dear Lord Jesus, please let it be true, fanx amen.


"JT Vows To Help Britney's CareerHe does have a heart after all – Justin Timberlake has agreed to record a duet with Britney to help get her career back on track. Uber-producer Timbaland has offered to help write the track. Timbaland, who produced SexyBack, said: "I asked Justin, 'How would you feel about me working with Britney?' I said, 'Would you do it with me?'" Justin agreed, saying: "She's just gotta be serious." This follows reports that JT wanted to visit Britney in rehab but her mum forbade it, saying it would upset the singer too much. Get back together guys, please!"

WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaay....

Didn't mean to cause a riot in my earlier post, calm down dears! No more babytalk, I am is FAR too irresponsible and selfish anyhoop.

In other news I have been signed off for another week, I HATE being ill. Being ill is for weak people. Being signed off is for skivers and I am neither of these things. Je suis officially NOT HAPPY. AND to add insult to injury I cannot have any more antibiotics so I've got a ruddy inhaler! GOOD HEAVENS! First glasses, now an inhaler, whatever's next? Braces? Grrr.

Sarah and Stoff got married on sat, they are now officially The Stoffers! Woo hoo! I cleverly managed to not take one single pic of the happy couple, but I can be forgiven because I am poorly sick.

Here's a pic of me and Keri instead xxx

Change of plan...

Having read the Hugsies blog I have been put off nippers for LIFE, given all the poo/sick trauma they've been through recently. This is in spite of Juicy's advancement in clothing technology.

Dilemma...

OH BUGGER! Just got an email from Juicy Couture....they now do maternity wear AND baby clothes! Hmmm....perhaps this changes my perspective on the whole baby thing...??!!

Remember....

...the days before mobiles?? They were funny. However did we manage? The kids I work with think it's hysterical that I did not have a mobile phone when I was at school. I tell then that I think it's hysterical that they don't even GO to school. I would not have dared to be so disobedient. They think this is also funny. Whatever is the world coming to?

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?!