smile,

Smile, its simple, when you walk past someone in the street, smile.

When you pay for something in the supermarket, smile. 

When you walk into your office, smile. 

When you pick the kids up from school, smile. 

When you turn and greet your partner in the morning, smile. 

When I walked home from work tonight, I smiled at everyone I passed. 

Most people smiled back at me. (some looked at me oddly).

 Tomorrow, I will smile, lots! Lets see if it's infectious......

Party!!!!

Well last night I went to a Party!!!!

It was just what I needed to blow away some cobweb's. I had an amazing time.

The downside was that LSP could not go with me. lots of trips to the dentist and surgery on the mouth meant LSP was not fit for partying. So I hooked up with my BfL for the evening.

I did have one or two alcoholic drinks (or 6 or7)... But was dancing for most of the night!!!!

My first problem was my dress, It was lovely, black with big chrysanthemum's on. I normal dress quite modestly. However this dress would not allow me to! It had a cross over top which left nothing to the imagination. Apart from when I first tried it on and it fitted well and looked great! when I sat down it was a different story. and through the night my friends had to keep me adjusted.

The Party was for a friend from work who has turned 40. She is lovely and you could tell by the huge amount of people there how well liked she is.

As I said, I danced for most of the night, and as the night progressed the Dancing got wilder!!!

There were 70's tunes, 80's, 90's and today.

I twisted, I headbanged, I raved, I did the mashed potato, etc etc. There were lot's of people there from work (including my boss) who sat sedately in the corner drinking orange juice and chatting.

It might have been a good idea for me to have done the same....

The pinnacle of my dancing had to be the dramatic knee slide whilst holding an inflatable guitar!

It was impressive..............................or I thought it was.............up until I could not get up afterwards.

I was given assistance by my BfL. Once she had stopped laughing.

Here are some random disco pics....

The Good news is that BfL is turning 30 and is having a party in 2 weeks! (this one is fancy dress) time to make some costumes!!!

I can't stand the rain.

Against my Window.....

I wish I could embrace the rain, but at the moment  I cant.

Good for the garden, bad for gardening.

Its playing havoc with my routine.

Its playing havoc with my plans.

on an ideal Saturday, I would have a washing line full of clothes and bedsheet's, I would be mowing and weeding, trotting round the shops, going out on the bike and getting ready for a car boot tomorrow.

well, no car boot sale as I am a fair weather car booter.
No washing and finger's crossed for tomorrow.
I can't mow in the rain.
I don't want to weed in the rain.

However, I am going to a party tonight!!!

It is a friend's 40th birthday and I have a nice summery dress to wear. (I will be frozen) I am sat writing my blog with a rug over my knee's.

I will have to get crafting though! I need to assemble everything for the midsummer swap!!!!

hope you have a happy weekend!

Day off tomorrow hurray

phew..... I feel like I have not had a day off in ages. What exciting things will I be doing?

Climbing Snowdon?

Sewing a quilt?

Visiting a historic house?

Day out with friends?


No! doing housework and looking after my LSP and Sister.

My sister is out of hospital and is home, she just needs a bit of tlc for a few day's.

My LSP, had a horrific time at the Dentist including having a bad reaction to one of the Drug's...v scary.

It will be nice to have a day not in the office as it has been hectic over the past 2 week's.

I will get in some walking and maybe some cycling tomorrow as well I am now averaging 20000 steps per day. I need to be adding some cycling in as well. lets see how that goes.....

Other things I need to do include sorting out some of the car boot booty and sorting out my outfit for a party on Saturday night....

I love my Nan.

Well, owing to my Bs being in hospital, our whole weekend has been turned around and the routine has gone out of the window. We had originally planned to go to the lovely coast on Saturday to spend the day with friend's. This could not happen but we have managed to rearrange it for 2 week's time. 


BS has a stone in her kidney, This is very painful (apparently) and she is quite unwell. She is going to be operated on tomorrow and will be home on Tuesday (hopefully). So we have been going back and forth to the hospital and I need to jiggle my week a bit next week to support her. 


Anyway, Today LSP and I Went to visit my Nan to tell her about my sister being in hospital and why. I did not want to tell her over the phone as at 84 she worries,  and it is better to tell her face to face. 

  

My Nan as a child! 

After updating her about my BS we got to talk in general. what had been going on in the village, who had died, etc. Normal grandmother to grand daughter conversation's. 


We got round to talking about YD wanting to get a motorbike. My Grandmother had 4 son's no daughter's. My father was her eldest son, He had a motorbike when he was young......right up till the time he wrapped it around a lamp post. 


Her next Son, bought a moped, he and a friend used to bike to a nearby town on a friday night this town had a bit of a reputation for being a bit rough. Now where my nan lived was half way up a hill and you could hear for miles. On a Friday night, her and my granddad would sit on the step and listen for my uncle and his friend's moped's. As soon as they could hear them (about  2 miles away) she and my granddad would rush up to bed and would be all tucked in by the time he got home they new that he was home safe and well and they did not have to worry. This  continued until he came off his bike then traded up to get a car. 


Her third Son (who always has been careful) had a motorbike, with no incident's however it did not stop her worrying and fretting each time he went out. 


When her youngest son was old enough he was asked if he was going to get a bike or a car. 


He chose the car! my nan was happy. 


We talked about the new's, we talked about the weather and we talked about her health. Now I have started to get heartburn, and my nan has had heartburn for years and she was describing way's of alleviating it. Now my nan had her heartburn checked out just in case it was a symptom of something more sinister. 


My Nan described that after she had been checked out that the doctor told her there was nothing to worry about and the indigestion she was experiencing was a result of all of the adjectives in the food nowadays. My Nan went on to tell me more about adjectives in food. 


I was listening and nodding whilst biting the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing whilst LSP was practically eating the i-phone for the same reason. Now you may be thinking, why did I not correct my Nan, well she is 84 years old and confusing 2 similar word's is no big deal, but correcting her may have made her feel silly.


 On the way home I thought about an article I had seen on the new's this morning about the menu for a dinner that Prince William had attended. 


Tom Parker Bowles criticised the over pretentious menu. one example was a main course of:

Pacific Ocean black Cod Fillet, Hand Glazed with a Japanese tamari and mankuna honey reduction. 

Delicately balanced on a sumptuous organic pearl barley risotto,  hand in hand with a delightful English courgette flower beignet, teriyaki jus

hmm I think all of those adjectives would give me indigestion! 

Today we went shopping and we bought......

An orthopaedic mattress, 1 Wellington boot, 1 policeman's helmet, gerbil treat's, new walking sandals, reflective and waterproof back pack covers, cycling gloves, curry, fruit, salad, cereal, milk, bread, a motorbike keyring  and a sock flower... and a tattoo......  and a coach...and a get well soon card...

Yes just an average Saturday shop....

The Sandal's are mine.

The orthopaedic mattress, is for the dog as is the one Wellington boot and the policeman's helmet!

Yes we have 2 dogs but the Labrador does not like to share...

The walking Sandal's are for me as I am walking so much that my feet need a bit of support! 

the reflective backpack covers are for cycling to work. 

The food is to eat! 

We had a lovely Salad lunch last week, when we had friend's round. mmmm

Just perfect for chatting and sharing....So we will do the same again tomorrow! 

curry for tonight, 

sock flower for a lovely baby, 

tattoo for LSP,

Coach to help us with our cycling

and a get well card  for my older sister who is in hospital! 

As usual, life has been very hectic, plans have been changing by the minute and I have shopped to help me feel better!. 

My Sister is poorly with a nasty infection so is needing some time in hospital. Hopefully she will be out soon. It was all a bit of a shock yesterday and we needed to change all of our plan's. Most people take flower's or chocolates to the hospital for their sick relatives... No we took her a very large Costa Coffee! (she is a coffee addict) and she loved it. 

Our Labrador has bad hip's hence the new supa dupa bed! hopefully it will make her more comfy. (however at the time of writing she is resting her front legs and head on it with the rest of her on the rug!!

A nice ready made curry will mean I can just reheat when we get home from the hospital...

The coach! well as most of you know I am doing this 400km bike ride in November, however training has not all been going to plan and I am still to heavy. Today we managed to find a coach, who I am hoping can get us on track. 

Ok so the tattoo .... Its not me its LSP. we both Like tattoo's. LSP more than me and we are often looking in tattoo shops and on the internet for the next tattoo. LSP is now booked in for something special in 3 weeks time.

That cover's all of it. oh apart from the motorbike keyring. 

Do you remember me saying that YD was looking to go to Gambia? well that all fell apart so instead she has decided to get a motorbike!!!!!

Yes a motorbike. 

not a moped

a motorbike. 

We were able to recommend a good instructor and she has done her CBT, she now wants to get a small bike to get some road practice before passing her bike test and getting a bigger motorbike!!!. 

It is very scary, she already has a huge scrape on her inner left leg from dropping the bike.

I am having kitten's 

At the same time I am immensely proud of her. It is great seeing her being so confident and determined. She is persevering with it and is determined to work towards getting the bike she wants. 

She is only 19 but a sensible 19. 

We have always encouraged the children to reach their full potential and do not want to stand in their way! (no matter how scared we are)

Happy Weekend everyone..

Shattered!

I am feeling shattered and there is still one more day of work ahead!!!!

Office move happened and I am exhausted, I have, bruises on my thigh's shins and knee's. I have broken every nail on my finger's, split my jean's and even broken a toenail! I am stiff from walking and am absolutely shattered.

I would love to book myself in for.... a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure.....blisss

However, I won't get any of the above!!

My new office is 6700 step's from my house and today I have managed over 20000 steps! yesterday I managed over 35,000. I will need some new shoes with all this pounding the pavement..

All my life consists of at the moment is working, walking and sleeping! weekend's are friends for lunch and car boot sales. (selling not buying) oh and housework.......

I am not buying anything interesting, today I needed to get a new pair of navy blue jean's as I split mine in the move! I also bought some comfort shorts!!!!

For those who don't know, comfort shorts are what big women wear to stop their thigh's chafing!

Lanacane is good too but not in the warm (it get's sweated off).

they are like tight's that stop in the mid thigh....kind off the bit that is left when they make stockings lol.

it mean's I can wear a skirt tomorrow. :)



oh well, that's your lot! Its odd blog today. I will try and have a nice pretty one for the weekend!

A change is as good as a rest!!!

Is a lie!!!!

We have huge changes coming up and I am tired and stressed!

There is going to be a big change to the way I work and where I work.

The only immediate plus to this is it is further away from home so I will be doing more walking!!!!

I have checked out my route and this is my dry weather route.

The wet weather route is much more boring! road's, road's and more roads. 

however it does take me past the gym....... so hopefully I may be popping in more often! 

As if the change is not bad enough....LSP and I have been discussing other big changes! I cant share them but they potentially life changing...My brain is swimming...... what with work and home...

So no a change is not as good as a rest

Last Parade.

On Friday I went to Swindon to watch the Last freedom of the town parade by the airmen and women from RAF Lynham.

Servicemen and women have paraded through the town since they were granted freedom of the town in 1964.

They are allowed to march with their standard's raised and their bayonets fixed.

RAF Lynham is due to close, so this will be the last parade in Swindon.

5114

5114 is the number of steps from my work to my house.

If you can remember I am taking part in the global corporate challenge, which encourages you to walk more.

 In my organisation there are 3 teams. Our team is currently 3rd.

However we are not that far behind the next team...

I am team captain. It is the captain's job to encourage/motivate (and occasionally nag) the team. It is also the team captain's job to set a good example!

That I have managed. Out of 21 participants I am 2nd! I am averaging 15.000 steps a day. The person who is in first is averaging 20.000 steps. As you can see by walking to and from work I can manage 10.000. However its not practical to do this everyday. I have to do walking lunches and trips with the dog and doing more miles on my bike will help!

The only drawback is...........I am ravenous..............

I am supposed to be on a diet as well and losing weight but I am craving food, food and more food!!!

The 3 meals and 3 snacks a day just is not cutting it. I have just eaten my dinner and am craving more. I will wait for 20 minutes and have a big drink. But I know, I will still want more.

In fact I did, whilst writing this blog, I have eaten my dinner + a snack + a toffee crisp!

I have a massive bowl of muesli and fresh banana for breakfast, washed down with hot coffee and occasionally some toast as well.

Mid morning snack is a cereal bar and a mug of tea.

Lunch is a big Salad, today was chicken, lettuce, celery and cucumber. washed down with water.

Afternoon snack is some wotsists (99 calories)

Then a normal dinner.

all good apart from all the other snacks that sneak their way into my day....we have a treat table at work however it is becoming more like a filling station! biscuits, brownies, chips, sweets, chocolate.......its my downfall.

I just need to be more strong willed and resist.

oh and keep walking!!!

Its an uphill struggle!!!!