The Countdown has begun

Oh Blimey, It's December Tomorrow!

That means a number of things

1: My shop will start playing the 'odd' Christmas track. I was told when i started my job that we never play Christmas music! well that's all about to change

2: It's non stop at 100 miles an hour until the early days of January

3: I only have 24 days to find a Christmas card that says 'Nan'. i went into a card shop the other day and found all the relative cards apart from one that said 'Nan'. When i asked the girl if she said any, she pointed me to all the ones that said 'Granny' and 'Grandma' and 'Nanna'. I told her that I needed one that said 'Nan' and she gave me a blank look accompanied with the line 'Does it really matter?'

YES IT BLOODY DOES. I'm not sure if it bothers anyone else, it probably doesn't. But i have NEVER called me Nan anything other than 'Nan' so why should i buy a card saying 'To my Wonderful Grandmama?'

4: I need to tell various family members what i want for Christmas and Birthday. That would be fine if I knew what I wanted. But i don't know.

5: I have to write copious amounts if Christmas cards, Wrap bundles of presents and buy food that begins with the letter C

Anyway, onto other news.

The bus I took to work on Tuesday was carved up by a lovely taxi driver. This caused the bus to break incredibly quickly and resulted in both a car going into the back of us and me flying forward. I had no chair in front of me to hold on to so I reached and grabbed the window on one side and a pole on the other. This made me reach slightly too far, and this made me tear the muscle in my chest. ooh yes, that was slightly painful. so works been slightly annoying the past few days. With an inability to lift, carry, push, pull and reach, I have been deemed pretty useless! lucky me. But i did get to wear a lovely dress to the Beautiful Siany-Sian's party last night. Which made me feel much better.

Hang on a tick, No one's brought me an Advent calendar! What's Up With That?

Soapy Credit Crunch

Is it safe to put a debit card through the washing machine?

I 'borrowed' McBride's hoodie a couple of days ago and my bank card somehow ended up in the pocket (probably when i was buying a very healthy breakfast consisting of a pasty and a cherry coke)

I thought I'd lost it (the card not the hoddie) but then i saw something blue wizzing around the washing machine this morning. All I'm worried about now is if the bloody thing will still work?

Not that I've got much money to spend anyway. With (and I hate saying this) Christmas round the corner, things have become a little tight. But to be honest I'd rather be broke after my October pay packet than my November one. I hate having no money at Christmas time, Especially since I'm working 8 til five then rushing straight up to havant for Wind In The Willows. Christmas this year is going to be very busy and I'll need the money to buy grab and go food and the odd bottle of echo falls.

It's my 21st as well this year. Got my party all set up and paid for (very organised for me i must say!) It's Siany Sians 18th next week, My store turns 2 (that's means i've been a slave to Gunwharf for two years) It's Kitten Birthday on the 16th December, Mine On The 19th. I've got a weekend of dressing like a thunderbird, a weekend of dressing like Super Mario, two weeks of Dressing like a mouse and a squirrel, Father Chrismas will hopefully stop by, (as will my now slightly crazy nan) and then It's new year. Bloody hell, and In between all that I somehow need to take time to do mundane things like sleeping and eating.

Why am i wasting time typing this, i need to go and cash a cheque, buy some guitar strings, teach 14 very hyper-active children, rehearse, then come home and eat some toast.

Now where did i put Bernards watch?

Fundraising

Blimey, it's nearly November.

So, what's new?

Well, not a lot actually.

Rehearsals for our Christmas production are going well. Wind In The Willows is being performed at Christmas and through out the play i transform from a squirrel to a Car driver to a ferret (a ferret that turns into a stoat half way through the script)

I actually cannot wait. it's been a year since i last acted on stage. It's quite had to believe that this time last year i was playing Hedvig in Wild duck. She was a great role.

But, as much as i loved her, I'm starting to become very fond of the field mouse with a lisp. That's right. a lisp.

Merry Chrithmath, Merry Chrithmath One and all

Joy to eash and every creature great and Thmall.

It even starts snowing on stage! rey.

I've started a fundraising campaign for the Rowans hospital. Gary has managed to raise money through selling cakes at work, we've organised a Charity golf tournament and six of us will be braving Mount Snowdon in the new year. all in the hope that we can raise money for a charity that I'm told needs to raise £7000 grand a day to survive. I think that's more than enough motivation to trek.

Anyone out there with anymore ideas on how to raise money for a fantastic cause, drop me a line.

Snowdons a scary mountain, i remember it being high last time i trakked it, and lets face facts, I've not grown since that day 9 years ago.

More Details to follow

Ta

xxx

Thank you

This Note Is A Thank You

Thank you to the nurse who brought round fish and chips.

Thank you to the lady who took my grandads hand out from under the blanket so my nan could hold it.

Thanks to Sian At Work for letting me leave at peak time.

Thanks To the nurse who pretended to pole dance around a wooden beam to keep spirits high.

Thanks to the ladies in the cafe who supplied a pile of chocolate.

Thanks to the girl who brought round fresh tea cups every so often.

Thanks to the cleaner who walked her trolley in the wall and made every one laugh.

Thanks to Steffi who took me for a walk around the grounds to 'get some air'

Thanks to all those at the rowans hospice, as they made my Grandads last few days comfortable and safe.

Night Night Grandad

I Love you.xxx

All Organized And Rushing Around

It's August! Not that you'd know from looking out the window. Bloody sun is actually scared of England i think, It's up in the sky thinking 'Oh god, Chavs, Sunburnt people, Pimms, BBQ's, i'll just hover over southern Europe for safety reasons.' Bloody hell, if I didn't just spend two weeks in Portugal, I'd be curled up under my duvet by now rocking slightly and humming Mungo Jerry songs under my breath.

So what's new? well, not a lot really. I'm trying my best to be more organised and I must say, it's going well. I went to a local hall today (a typically community centre, cheesy place but still) and arranged my 21st Birthday party. I discovered that I don't need to hire a cheesy DJ but can instead play my own music. Which is good. Let's face it, any DJ in the world would rather play the YMCA than the guillemots. All i need to do now is create a playlist and make invitations. People must dress up as something beginning with C and all the food will also begin with C. ( I know, It's childish but...i don't care)

So that's sorted, as is McBride's Birthday presents. (4th September if anyone wonders, He'll be 24! old man!) I've also got my store up together and it looks Beautiful. I spent the evening with Harris last night blizting the place and it looks lovely...I give it three days max before it's trashed again. Oh well, it is the summer holidays.

I've Sent off my Race for life money...finally, in the end i was able to send off £115 pound which i think was very good considering i kept forgetting to take my sponsership form out with me. I'm now trying to persuade Gary (father man) to compete in a round of golf for Charity. It's all in aid of the Rowans, which is now where my Grandad is living. Bless him, the poor guy is desperate to by my nan things before he shuffles off the the big comfy airchair in the sky. His last offering was a new potato peeler.

Overall, things are getting better (apart from the obvious) so I've got plenty more to smile about now. I'm not stressing. YEY!!!

And So, happy reader, I leave you with this, it's sunny outside, just not immediately outside.

Oh, and if you see my Uncles ex wife, punch the living daylights out of her.

byebye

Two Months On

It's been a while hasn't it?

lately, i haven't been around the pc long enough to check my facebook page, let alone write in my blog!

I've just returned from a two week break in the Algarve with Steffi and Gary. twas wonderful and extremely relaxing. But the two week spell was not enough to break up the hectic and some times wanting-to-scream-into-a-pillow time I've been having.

Work has been slightly disastrous recently. my team are working themselves blue and not getting the rewards. the fact our manager left us in a deep dark hole didn't help much. I've been doing two peoples jobs for a good few weeks now. sometimes working from half 8 in the morning til half 7 at night. The shop still manages to stay clean and tidy, and we're still taking an awful lot of money for this time of year. I just feel like I'm working my backside off (along with the rest of the team) and we're just banging our heads against a brick wall. I feel extremely let down by certain people and i hope this all gets sorted out soon.

On the other hand, McBride's play went incredibly well, as did it's sister play 'Crave'. The review for 'Ghost...' was a bit luke warm but the review for crave was excellent. The audience out numbered both casts on every night, which is always a bonus! and the after show party went on til after 2 am. which was slightly tiring but all the same fantastic.

The cast of Ghost gave me a present to say thank you. Even though i felt i did a minimal amount of work for the production, they informed my I was constantly smiling and giving hugs of encouragement. To hear this made me feel great. I do believe I'm an optimistic person, I try to smile all the time and on the whole, my life is pretty fabulous. But to hear this at a time when I'm stressing out some what and spending my evening slumped on the sofa with any kind of sugar filled snack made me think again about everything. Basically i just need to take it one day at a time and when something doesn't get done one day, I just say 'f**k it, I'll do that tomorrow'

Not having this attitude before made me crash and burn. I spent two days unable to walk from exhaustion. Not a good sign for someone who hasn't even turned 21. So from now on, I'll try to be the laid back person i was six months ago. Well, that's the plan.

Onto better things, I spent sunday lounging in the Wonderful Jaspers (trademark) garden drinking pims. It was a slightly sad event as two much loved members of the bench are leaving us for hotter places (Spain!) but the fact we had a huge circle of friend throwing up to 5 frisbees (of novelty flying disks, as they shall now be named) at each other, made is a giggling, happy, slightly hyperactive day.

I'm going to say this now, I absolutley adore my friends. They are the people who make me smile. That make me realise 'Hey, there are people out there as crazy as me, isn't it amazing!' I only hug people I feel close to, I hope this means a lot to people.

And then there's that boy McBride. I've never missed anyone as much as I missed him the two weeks I was away. and since I've been back, we've been closer than every. Last night, as we sat on the sofa watching the B.F.G, we just had a fit of giggles. I don't even know what it was about, but even now, R snigger slightly under my breath.

I'm going to grow old with that boy, and we're going to have matching walking sticks and bald patches! Rock on!

A fantastic cause!

Yesterday i joined 8000 other women in the Portsmouth Race For Life. Yey me!

Today I'm feeling it. my sides and legs hurt like dillio!

Anyway, that's not the point. the point is that 8000 women ran 5km around the common yesterday morning, another 8000 ran the same length in the afternoon, and even though the reason behind it is a heartbreaking one, the atmosphere was absolutely breathtaking.

My reasons behind running is the fact that my Grandad has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has been given weeks to live. He's come to terms with that and so have we. but I don't want people to have to come to terms with it in the future! That's why I'm running, so my children's children can have a life where they won't have to deal with that disease which we shall not name!

Reading the signs that some of the women pinned to their backs was tear jerking. Girls as young as 10 wearing signs saying 'In memory of my mummy!' seeing these signs made me realise how lucky I am to have had this long without losing someone to the disease we shall not name. It was an eye opener to say the very very least.

Two girls from my theatre company braved to race with me, for which i thank them immensely! as did my Auntie, my Nan and my very very lovely Steffi. She's been through so much already and to hold her hand as we ran over the finish line felt incredible. Bless her, she was the same shade of pink as the sign on her back. The two of us stayed side by side throughout and managed to pass the line in 35 minutes. It was that moment that sealed the deal. It wasn't the £100 pound i raised that made it worth while, it wasn't the fact i got to wear pink leg warmers and a pink tie, it was the fact that I did it with my best friend at my side. seeing the smile on her face when she hugged me, saying 'Bloody hell, we did it!'

I'm so proud of everyone who did the run yesterday. lets hope that in the years to come, we won't have to do things like this to battle the disease that shall not be named!