Friday, October 25, 2013

Bits & Bobs.......


*Christmas decorations are already being hung out on the streets of St. Helens.
They could have waited ONE more weekend, but I suppose I should be glad they waited THIS long. Chrsitmas stuff has already been out at home for a month or more, I think.

*Talked with my daughter this evening for a while. She says true to form, the temps are in the lower 30s now. I told yall, back home we have three weeks of Spring- three weeks of Autumn....the rest is either blazing scorching summertime, or freezing bitterly cold wintertime.

*We got about half our Christmas shopping done today. The Stateside family's are ready to go to the post office the week before Thanksgiving....Or the day after Thanksgiving.

*I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving again.  We was supposed to be visiting home in the states for Thanksgiving this year, but due to a couple of events, we've had to postpone it til after the first of the year. I'm not sure if its going to be around my birthday-or a bit later-towards Mother's Day. We will have to see. But now, a new work mate from America who's been living in the UK for 10 years has had an idea that since neither of us can go home for Thanksgiving, she and I should take off Thanksgiving and cook Thanksgiving Dinner together!! She's coming over at 9AM- we're going to do a bit of the cooking a couple days before-hand, but then do the last minute dishes(Like the turkey and dressing and potatoes and mac and cheese pie) the day of. We're planning on watching the Macys Parade, and  having the yule log on the TV later in the day. We're also going to SKYPE our families at some point and have a chat with them as they're having their Thanksgiving Dinners! Lisa's family is Italian-American and mine are Southern-American.....Lawd it's gonna be fun.

*Paul and I have been sick this week. I have been out of work with some sort of nasty bug since Tuesday. Paul came home from work yesterday and is in the first day or so of it.We absolutely HAD to go buy groceries today as we were almost completely out of even the basics so we got everything done in about two hours and then came back home and practically collapsed from exhaustion. I'm hoping we're well past it come mid-week as we're supposed to be house/doggie sitting for the in-laws next weekend while they go visit their eldest son and his little family in Scotland. Andrew, Marina and Maddie have just moved into a nice big 3 bedroom house with a nice garden(yard) and I know everyone is excited for them!!

*Flat Stanley Christopher made it to New Zealand and is having a BLAST with Countess Kerry and Wayne. He's sending posts regularly and should be headed home in a couple more days!! Such a Jetsetter, Our Flat Stanley Christopher!!!

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That's about it for this week. More later on!!!








St Helens- Last Weekend in October




And so it begins........



Saturday, October 12, 2013

Naughty Boys!!!

What are they...10-11 maybe? Naughty Boys!!!!!



And how the HECK did they get up there and be lying on top like that??????????
Kids!!!!!! Tsk!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, October 06, 2013

Amazing Weekend.......


Have had an AMAZING weekend!!!! First the pub Friday night with some wildmen.........I'll have to post those photos later after I get hubby to show me how to download them off my dang phone. AGAIN.

(Why, oh, WHY cant my phone have an SD card that I can remove and download photos from like my cameras do??? Can someone in the mobile phone industry get to work on that , please?)

Then into St Helens for the Autumnal Kickoff of Festivals beginning with the World Market!!!

Got some amazing shots you can see here....

Flat Stanley's visit with me is coming to an end tomorrow. I'm sending him back to South Carolina tomorrow around lunchtime and I'm gonna MISS the litte fellow! However, he's taking along a secret way of using the Tardis  after he gets home so he can travel to different places and it seem like he hasn't even left the classroom!! Remember- the Tardis is a TIME Machine!!!  I'm looking forward to seeing him post on his blog where he goes and what he's going to be doing in the future!!!



Sunday, September 29, 2013

I Can See Clearly Now, The Grime Is Gone.......It's Gonna Be a Bright, Bright, Bright Sunshiney Day!

The window cleaner came today. Great Job- and reasonably priced. 
AND they have a repeat customer list- so every two months it gets done automatically!! 

Before:


And After:

It doesn't take much to make me happy, does it? 
Clean windows that I didn't have to climb a ladder to do myself!!
Yay!!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

OMG....I'm totally exhausted!

Flat Stanley Christopher is wearing me out! That child LOVES having his photo taken....and he can out-talk me. I don't mind tho. He's a real blessing. I may not be able to have my loved ones over here, but I can show them a lot of stuff thru Flat Christopher...and who knows, maybe someday they will be able to come over for a visit as well!!!

I'm enjoying every second of this precious time with our little Flat Stanley-Christopher!!! And we have some surprises planned in the coming months for Round Christopher, too!


(Hint-Flat Stanley Christopher found Paul's Tardis!!!!!) :-D




Sunday, September 22, 2013

What A Day....(Rant)...(and REALLY LONG Post)-Just so you know....

Okay, Now that I've calmed down a bit after a nice long sleep, I can talk about it.

This week was a rollercoaster ride for me and yesterday just was the worst day in a LONG time.

At first, it got started in a lovely way. We'll call this UP. I got up early-as usual, made me a cup of coffee and sat down at the computer to do my usual Saturday Morning Routine. FB, blog and generally just sit and chill out relaxing for a couple of hours before beginning the craziness. Like I'm doing now.

I was planning on making a grocery list, looking for some deals on wedding wear and work wear, and looking for a place here that sells kitchen wear before we headed out on our weekly shopping spree.
I say shopping spree- its grocery shopping, and IF we need something else we try and find it. Ha.

Well after 15 minutes, my darling hubby decides to not have his usual lie-in, but to get up and get the day started early. Do we have to? Saturadys and Sundays are our we dont HAVE to et an early start days...why change it unless we have to?

So I was-at that minute- editing some photos, so I asked for about 15 mins so I could finish that task and finish my morning cup of coffee. I finished editing and got about half my coffee down and thought that would be enough to get me woken up, so I went and got dressed. It was a nightmare trying to find a top I was comfortable in. Always a really bad sign.We'll call this Down.

After finally finding an outfit I was comfortable in(UP), I found Paul was at the computer doing something, and wasn't dressed yet(DOWN) so I started to make the grocery list.(UP) This month is national Cancer Awareness Month here and Thursday they are having a National Bake Sale to raise money for Cancer Research and I plan on doing a bit of baking Wed night in honor of my Daddy and my Aunt Della Ruth, so I needed to get all the stuff and if I didnt write out a list I would forget SOMETHING vital. I always do. Halfway thru making the list- hubby has gotten dressed and is ready to go-......I didn't get to finish the list,(DOWN) but I got the main things on it(I think) so I put it in my handbag....and off we go. (UP).....

Well, we head to Haydock, get laughing and I think-Things are going to be okay.(HUGE UP).

So I wanted to go to Matalan because I needed to buy some clothes this week but Paul didn't want to drive that way- he wanted to go into St.Helens Town Square, so I said fine. (I wish I hadn't now). Last week I managed to lose three pair of pants from my work wardrobe. One due to weight loss(UP & DOWN), and two due to a worn out zipper.(DOWN)....one of those while I was at WORK no less so I also had to find a safety pin whilst trying to get my projects done on time for a boss who was in a budget meeting and needed the data I was doing ASAP- or sooner- and having my computer program crash on me every 42 minutes. (HUGE STRESSFUL DOWN I thought would NEVER end). I also lost two tops- both due to finding tiny holes in them that was completely unrepairable in the area of the shirt they were located. (DOWN) Both shirts were my favorites.
I also had a wedding do I was supposed to be going to last night but missed due to a still slightly swollen foot that wouldn't let me get into a  single pair of dress shoes I own. AND I have lost weight so none of my dresses fit me anymore. I had a good bit of shopping to do.

So- we get into town, we eat brekkie(UP) then head down towards the shops. There's a Street festival and Classic Auto Show in Town Centre!!!! Yay!!..(UP)..Only I have a boat-load of shopping I HAVE to get done and Paul didn't bring his camera. I take mine EVERYWHERE with me. I  thought- I'll let him use my camera and I can go do my shopping while he's getting some good Street Photography done.Win-Win...he's doing something fun- I'm shopping without stressing that he's bored and getting ill. (UP)

So That's what I did.

They didnt have anything at Mark & Spencers,  so I headed down to BHS(British Home Store).After trying on a dozen outfits and crying because those dang mirrors in the dressing rooms make me look 10 times worse than I actually do(HUGE DOWN) I found a pair of pants and two tops that was perfect for just under £30(UP). And the two tops are in my fav colors- a beautiful short sleeved accordion pleat shirt in Christmas red and a long sleeved button up blouse in Electric Blue......PLUS, they had their Vintage Christmas cards out already and discounted on sale so I got a couple boxes of them. Clothes sorted-Christmas Cards sorted. Yay!! (UP)

I wasn't able to find shoes for the wedding because my foot is still swollen, so there was no point in even looking for a dress at that point. I was soooooo looking forward to going to that After-do and dancing. I haven't been dancing but ONCE since getting here and I LOVE to dance. Prob not a really good idea with a not quite totally healed and still slightly swollen foot anyway, but I realy hated missing the celebration because Andy is one of my very favorite workmates.(DOWN)

Anyway, I got to the registar put my card in to pay for the stuff and my phone started ringing. It was hubby wanting to know if I was about finished and letting me know where he was at. I told him I would be there in about 5 mins, that I was at the registar paying now, and hung up. I took my bag of goodies and went to find him feeling all kinds of happy that it was a pretty good day after all(UP)-even after crying.

We walked thru the cars at the car show but I didn't have time to take any photos myself.(DOWN) I had made a hair appointment at the salon for 1PM so I could pretty much go straight home from the salon  to get dressed and go to Andy and Sandra's wedding after-do...which wasn't happening but I was still getting my hair done.(UP) It was way too long and annoying.

So we left and Paul dropped me at the salon on the way to his parents house. I had a right nice chat with the girls at the salon while Allison was cutting and styling my hair. It's lovely to be pampered once in a while!!!(HUGE UP)

Then it was time to pay.............and I couldn't find my debit card.
 O.M.G. DOWN.
I took everything out of my bag, went thru my wallet, it just wasnt there. Then I rememebered I had taken Paul's game out of my purse  before getting out of the car to come into the salon.It must have dropped out of my bag onto the floor of the car. Allison said not to worry- I could drop back by and pay before heading back to Manchester. (UP)So I walked to the in-laws and looked in the car. Still nowhere to be found.I thought maybe Paul had seen it and picked it up. Went in- he hadnt. He's upset now- I'm upset AND crying-AGAIN-(HUGE DOWN)this is the 4th time it's happened to me in 10 years.
He calls the bank and cancels the card and re-orders a new one for me. Takes 14 days to get a new one delivered.(OMG HUGE DOOOOOOOOWN).

We leave. He stops by the salon to pay Allison for my visit, and we head to TESCO to get groceries. By this time I'm so upset I couldn't care less if we even get groceries- I just want to go home. But it has to be done, so in we go. Paul looks thru the gadgets while I quickly gather the stuff we need. In the search for the card, I have also lost the damn grocery list I wrote out and needed for the bake sale stuff, but I don't care. I just buy the stuff and we go. I think I got almost everything I needed to make the cakes. If not, then, oh well.

But- while I'm in there, I remembered I needed a salt shaker. One is not to be found. I have been looking EVERYWHERE for a simple salt and pepper shaker since I GOT to England. It's one of the things I had a t home but thought, no point in bringing when I can just get a set when we get our place. HA. These people don't have them. Everywhere you turn you find Salt and pepper GRINDERS/Mills. I don't WANT those. I HAVE those for sea salt and peppercorns. Really nice if you want delicately seasoned stuff. I like REAL, finely ground, TABLE salt. The kind you can't put in a grinder because it would all fall out. I like having a shaker to use in my kitchen. I don't care about a Pepper shaker- I LOVE freshly ground pepper from a pepper mill....but I want, I NEED, a plain salt shaker.
None to be found. (DOWN)

Anyway, so neither of us are saying much on the way home. I'm thinking what an idiot I am and feeling dumber than a box of rocks......and then I pick up the phone and call BHS and ask if they have my card since I didn't actually REMEMBER putting it into my wallet. I remembered putting my PHONE back into my handbag and then getting my clothes in the shopping bag, but I don't actually remember putting my card back in my wallet after paying.
Yep- they have it there. Damn.(DOWN)
I ask them to shred it as we have cancelled it already.
At least we know we don't have to worry about anyone emptying out the bank account with it.(UP)

So we get home, get the groceries put up and I go out to check if we have mail. We did.

Flat Stanley-Christopher had arrived!!!!!(HUGE UP!!!)
He even brought me a hug from Christopher!!!(EVEN HUGER UP)!!!! I introduced him to Paul and then I showed Flat Stanley-Christopher around our apartment. We took some photos of us together- and I took a couple of him by himself -and then I set up a blog for him, like Michael did for Flat Matthew when he visited him and Tom a while back. Flat Stanley-Christopher thought it was all terribly interesting. He was a little tired after all the traveling he did, so we all called it a night and went to bed.(UP)

So- today is another day.
It's Sunday- It's gotta get better than the last week has been. Flat Stanley-Christopher and I have a LOT of things to do today-starting with brekkie and coffee. He's just woken up and is hungry-as am I- so we're off to make a Full English for him on his first morning here!!!!(UP)