And Now- The End Is Near....

My vacation faces the final curtain..........This is a bit of a long post....you may want to read it in parts. hahahhahahha....

It's been a truly wonderful 5 days off!!!!

Wednesday:....... Hubby went in to work as usual and I did what I took that day off to do. I BLITZED the house. The ENTIRE house. And it needed it. I hadn't been feeling well the past couple of months and things had piled up and gotten way out of hand. So-First I cleared out the back room of all the cardboard boxes that had accumulated over the past 6 months when I last blitzed the house. Some people do a spring cleaning- I do a Spring Clean AND and Autumn Clean. I do Autumn as well in order to get ready for the holidays, of course.
Anyway, that's another story- and probably one you've heard before, knowing me.
So I took out the boxes and put them in the bathroom in the tub-out of the way for the time being. Then, I moved the round chair I love so much and has now been delegated to the back room comfy-chair and put it on the other side of the room. On the wall where it was I put mine and Paul's small dressers spaced apart so my unused office chair would fit in between them and have plenty of space to swivel. I then took a shelf off a unit we had in the living room(for lack of anywhere else to use it before now) and placed it on top of the two chests in the empty space. I did put a two inch wide strip of the non-slip bathmat stuff under the edges so it wasn't going to accidentally get knocked off during use. I then took my wood framed mirror off the living room wall and put it on the middle section and placed my makeup case in front of it. I used a spare CD tower we had to put all my hair products and deodorants  and body lotions in. Very salon-ish. I have a crystal divided serving tray I have most of my jewelry in at the moment and it and all my framed wedding things went on top of one of the chests, and my small aluminum cases have all my styling tools and hair accessories in them and are stacked on the other chest. I hung clothes up- sorted others out to go to charity shops and then hoovered. This is my dressing table and pics of the room before and after.(In my defense- hubby used the room almost solely, and I rarely went back there.That will now change. I use it daily now.)

Now over to the right of the chest of drawers I put the other half of the unused shelf and I have my shoes under it and my collection of handbags on top of it.
 Its beautiful in there now. And very organized. Just the way I like it. With my new hairstyle  and make-up routine it took me almost two hours to do my hair and makeup every morning with everything spread out all over the house the way it was....but since putting everything together in one place it takes me about 45 mins. MUCH better!!!

Okay well the rest of the day was spent doing much the same thing to the rest of the house so I'll just give you a couple of after pics and go on to the next thing on my list of wonderful things to happen!!!

LOL- one more thing about that day tho....Just as it was time for hubby to walk thru the door from work, I had JUST finished up and sat down thinking that was absolutely PERFECT timing and I was finished......and then I remembered the cardboard boxes were still in the bathroom in the tub and needed to be broken down....so when hubby walked thu the door I was sitting in the middle of the bathroom floor with my scissors out breaking down and folding up and bagging the cardboard to be taken down to the bin.
Paul told me that I really needed to learn the definition of tidying and remodeling. He thinks I'm a bit confused about it all.
He also came in with not one but TWO bouquets of flowers...one red and white and one of Pink roses- Pink Roses are my favorites. And a card. I love my man!!!!!!!

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Thursday:.......Next on my list to tell you about was my actual birthday. Again, Paul went to work as usual and a couple of minutes after he left I got up. I showered made a cup of coffee, and then did my hair and make-up. My friend Lisa came about 11AM and we had a great catch up. We compared make-up and talked about our men and our jobs and then she took me to lunch at Frankie & Benny's where we continued our catch-up. At two o'clock we reluctantly said goodbye, both of us on the verge of tears, and she headed back to St. Helens to see what her boyfriend had planned for her.
My hubby came in at his regular time and cooked for us. As he had done the day before as well, I would like to add. We sat and watched movies together. I also got a lovely card from My In laws with a bit of Birthday dosh in it.......and it was just a fabulous, fabulous day!!!!!!
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Friday:...... Hubby had taken the day off work and we got up early and he took me into St. Helens for a bit of shopping. He picked up a couple of items he needed, and then we went on a bit of a walk about in town centre. I didn't really NEED anything, but as we were walking I suggested we go into B&M because I wanted to see if they had a tri-fold mirror for my vanity-dressing table. I really wanted the mirror back in the living room. I hadn't realized how much I liked having one there until it was gone. So They DID have a tri-fold- but it was just a bit too small for my liking, so instead I found a really lovely brushed silver frame mirror for the living room wall! It's beautiful and looks perfect in it's spot!
Then afterwards, Paul took me out to eat at my favorite place, Frankie & Benny's.  Now, this is why I love it so much. It is very much like Applebee's or Chili's restaurants back home in style and atmosphere. The music is very American- nostalgic for me. The food is also in the Applebee's style and the prices are reasonable.
Afterwards, we went to Tesco and did our weekly shop and then stopped by his parents to pick up a couple of packages and have a little visit with them. Well, with his mum as his dad was at work.
Then we headed back and again, we watched a couple of movies and he made us a light meal for supper.  Fabulous Day!!!!
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Saturday:......... Not much done on Saturday. Hoovered the house....Did a load of laundry. Mostly just watching a bit of tele and relaxing til the evening. Then I played MINE CRAFT and had a bit of a chat with the gaming group until bedtime. We've decided that we're going to start ordering our groceries online and having them delivered on Wednesday or Thursday every week. That way we really do have our weekends free to do- or not do- whatever we please without having to run errands.
So I did get them ordered for delivery.
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That brings us to today..... Nothing planned for today at all except baking my birthday cake. Tomorrow we have our sammich swap at work, and I will be having a last day of ating my bread and having my cake and sweets before my March Blitz. From March 1st  ending April 1st  I've agreed to do a Blitz...no added sugar, no bread, activity of some sort EVERY DAY rain or shine.....Drink my allotted water rations....
You do it as if your life depended on you completing it....or you think of a HUGE payout -realistic or not- that you're working towards. Totally up to you what you choose. I'm thinking of a Phone Call to Heaven to talk to my Clay and my Daddy again. As I said- it doesn't have to be realistic- If only it were tho. If only it were. I also have a lesser reward too that is more realistic. I want a die cast model of my 65 Mustang Hardtop I used to own.  That's my mini reward.
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One last thing....... I've talked to my loved ones all week during my holiday. My Grandson, Devon, age 15, is an avid skateboarder. He has a 4.7 grade average in school - is in the top 10% of his class. Gets good grades, hasn't given his parents sleepless nights...is wanting to go to college and become a veterinarian. He posted a photo of his skateboard yesterday. It's well and truly broken. He's always had secondhand boards since he started boarding. Well, I was moved when I saw that photo. I decided that since I didnt give him a gift this last year for his birthday, I was going to buy him a new skateboard. I asked him on messenger what kind of board he wanted to replace his old one with, and he said he would just get another second hand one probably. But when I pressed him on it he said he really liked the deck of one certain one and I asked him to send me the link so I could see what he was talking about. He did- and with the currency exchange it was only about £35 for just the deck. I went one better and bought it kitted out and sent to him. He deserves it. Hard work and dedication should be rewarded. Don't you think?
Also-
HUGE NEWS!!!!!!!
I am now a Great-Grandmother.

Chloee Leighh Smith
5 lb 9 oz
February 18th, 2016

That's two that just missed my birthday!!! Isn't she just Precious tho?????

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That's it for my big Holiday week!!!! 

FINALLY!!!!!

I reminded hubby beginning tomorrow it's MY Birthday week....then informed him that he would be providing our evening meals and doing the cleanup after.
He said NO way- I said yes Indeed...
He said I was going to be very surprised- I said HE'S the one going to be surprised.
He takes the entire week off for HIS Birthday week- AND I cook and clean for him that week, too. He does nothing except chill and relax that week. I even order the grocery shopping to be delivered so he doesn't have to drive(which he HATES doing)- and I take a taxi/bus to and from work so he doesn't have to go out to take me and pick me up from work during that week. How hard can it be for him to pick up a £10 ready-meal at Tesco (since he already goes there for lunch every day)and then pop it in the oven for four days????.....And that's a Main, a Side dish, a dessert AND a bottle of wine.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes.


Am I doing anything special? Not really, per se. I'm taking the day before(24th) ...the day of(25th)....and the day after(26th) off. Then with the weekend it will be a 5 day holiday for me.

I am doing one thing constructive(?) thing. While Hubby is at work Wednesday I'm clearing out the back room and setting up my Vanity/dressing table. I'm sick to death of all my cosmetics and skin creams and hair accessories being scattered all over the house like they are now. So it's time to fix it. I can't really do it when he's home because my method of organizing drives him mad. I basically take everything out and put it in the proper places, rather than one thing at a time-ing it.  It looks like a tornado has went thru until the very end when I gather all the excess faff and dispose of it. And when someone come in and starts freaking out over the way I do it- I just get frustrated and upset and walk away so it doesn't get finished til I'm in the mood again.

The house is pretty much messed up now- There's a very good reason for it tho.
As you all know I did my makeover a month ago. Well, it was fab for the first week, then my hair rollers arrived and I set it myself. OMG- old lady frizzy perm hair is the only way to describe it. I've had to keep it pulled back into an Alice Band for the past two weeks because of it. SOOO not good. I thought, well, it's early days. I just need to keep on trying. Practice makes perfect and all that rubbish, you know. So I have used different methods....wet hair, dry hair, towel dry hair- mousse, gel.....you name it- I've tried it. It always ends up frizzy in the end.
And I have gotten more and more and more frustrated as time has gone on.
Finally, I said NO MORE ROLLERS. I knew I had a curling iron somewhere in the house, but as I hadn't used it since moving here almost 4 years ago, I hadn't a clue WHERE it was- just that it WAS here ...somewhere. (Lord, I detest that word- My mama's standard answer when you asked if she knew where something was, was always "Of course I do. It's here.....somewhere." And that was as far as it went. You found it yourself or it stayed lost.
Anyway, In the past week, I have turned the house pretty much upside down searching for that curling iron. And finally- yesterday afternoon- I found it.
Thank the Lord. Now I can put my hair back to some semblance of the style I wanted. So now all I have to do is rearrange a few items of furniture- then gather up all the faff and dispose of it. The biggest chunk of time will be setting up the particulars of the Vanity table. I haven't quite found exactly what I want for the top yet- but I have something that will work(I hope) til I get my final piece of the puzzle.This is what I'm modeling my table after-
 

My chests are light birch wood tho- and I want a maple- or cherry  or black top for it. Makeup stains wont show nearly as bad on a darker top than that white shown in the model.
I also have a sweet black padded office chair to use instead of the tufted bench seat.
 so yeah...That's what I'll be doing the day before my Birthday.

On my birthday, Im having my Bezzie down and we're having a Goddess Day Out to peruse the charity/vintage shops to see if we can score some sweet fashions- (Her clothing and accessories/Me handbags and accessories)and  then lunch before heading home. We havent had a good face to face in over a year and I miss her!!!

Then Hubby is taking the day after my Birthday off and  we're spending a long weekend together.
 Perfection!!!

So- That's it so far.
I'll let y'all know how it all works out as we go along!

Valentines Day Eve.....

Happy Valentines Eve....