New addition.....

First I want to let you guys know I have not fallen off the face of the earth, despite my good intentions to be a better blogger again I have fallen by the way side...

Anyway moving on, work is great, no major automobile mishaps, haven't been affected by the flooding, thankfully.

We have a new member in the house hold , a kitten. We picked her up last Tuesday evening got home and that was the last we saw of her until yesterday morning..
The only thing that assure me she had not escaped was the fact that every morning I checked her food bowl and food was missing....Of course that could have been mice, but the I doubt mice would use the kitty litter box in the basement.

Thursday I searched the house high and low, I looked in the washing machine, the tumble dryer and even the dishwasher. No cat. Then on Saturday morning I went into the basement to do some laundry and saw a movement out of the corner of my eye, low and behold there under the stair she was.

So up the stairs I came cat in had, she sat with me on the sofa, purring away, she had a bit of cream from my starbucks frappuccino and then she was gone for the rest of the day.
This time her hiding place was into the demoed bathroom wall, through the wall under the bathtub in our bedroom- still purring away.
I coaxed her out and after around 30 minutes was able to grab her while WP secured the hole to thwart further attempts.

This time she stayed around and did all the usual kitten things, ate my hair attacked the chain around my neck, pounced on her twitching tail ( which at the time was on my leg).
Then she came to bed with us, but for her it was not bedtime of course so she made do with eating my hair again and trying to get as close to lying across my neck as possible.
Some time in the night she must have got up to use the bathroom or eat or something because she then woke us up meowing to get back on the bed.

The the same thing again a few hours later, anyway I think the only time she has ventured in to the basement today has been to use the litter box then she has spent the rest of her time clawing, pouncing and purring.

WP and I have been thinking up names but both seem to have settled on "Cat"- so Cat it is maybe I will spell it with a "K" so it looks more like a name.

Little brat.

Yes those claws are sharp, I have the scratches to prove it...

And thats about it, I cannot think of anything else of interest, work, dinner, sleep, dismay at the snow flakes today but they seem to have all melted away.

Happy Easter everyone and I will try to catch up with you all in the week.

:)

I would love my job.....

a lot more if I did not have to drive to get there.

I have decided I really dislike driving, I am getting better at merging and swapping lanes but now fear on and off ramps that make you dizzy and lean outwards in your seat. Unfortunetly I have to use one to get off the highway at work and then again to get off the highway to get on another highway after work...
So last week with the 12 inches of snow the company decided we could all go home at 1.30, great! BUT there was no way in hell I was going to even attempt to drive home so I decided to leave the car at work and wait for WP to pick me up when he finished work (which should have been 7pm- but he took a couple of hours and came at 5)- Yes thats right I would rather stay and WORK. It was great actually I got loads done and it was so quiet, no telephones ringing, no interruptions.

So by the next evening the snow had melted quite a bit, the highways were clear so I drove home with no mishaps.

THEN the next morning roads looked clear, everyone was driving normally...I get off the highway round the bend on the hill and then start to slow down (there is a quite tight turn which I have to take to turn of Manchester Rd). I touched my breaks and skidded, quite badly, I nearly hit the concrete wall to my right, so out of panic I turned left (yes foot still on the break), anyway to cut a long story short I ended up facing the wrong way round on the one way street. Lucky for me traffic was light and not too fast- It was all over in a matter of seconds..

I turned the car around and saw two more cars pulled over to the side of the road S$%T, I must have hit them or caused them to hit each other! So I pulled over behind then to do I don't know what- exchange insurance , wait for the police ???
The woman was on the phone to the police (by this time my knees were knocking) and the guy was inspecting the (very smashed ) front of his car...
I went up to him and he turned and asked me if he had hit me to, I said no had I caused the accident and he said no he had skidded on a patch of ice, which I assume was the same ice I had hit too.

Phew! not my fault after all, that would not have looked very good to the police, the bank, the insurance company or worst still my husband had the car just over a week and already causing accidents.

Anyhow the guy thanked me for stopping and I went on my way, I just hope, pray, wish, whatever that we have seen the last of the snow and ice now, I don't think my last nerve could take anymore....

I am seriously thinking of looking around for one of those advanced driving courses where they teach you how to skid and all that jazz, but then its all very well doing it when you know you are going to do it, its another matter when you just sort of go onto autopilot....

Told you I was a terrible driver...oh the shame.

Anyhow I am going to do my best to visit you guys this week, I know I am getting very lax and I am sorry, I just don't know where the days go, look at this 9.30 already I am late going to bed LOL.

Have a happy Wednesday =)

Quickie

Just a quick update:

I went in on Monday to sign the acceptance letter, the hourly pay was a pleasant surprise...
I have been given a start date of Feb 18th, providing my criminal background and drug tests come back ok- Which I am pretty sure they would.
They wanted to see my drivers license which of course I was still waiting for immigration to approve so I could not give them that number at the time. But I got the license the next day through the mail (permit of course), so I sent off a quick email to the lady in HR with the number.

One thing I noticed is the DL expires on the same day as my work permit- which is annoying because IF when I do pass my driving test I am going to have to re-new it before the year is out!

As for the parallel parking, I still have not attempted it because when the boys have had their days off the weather has been terrible.

I have to say though I doubt very much it will be WP showing me, he has the patience of an angry wasp...

His brother is not much better but because he and I are not married it works out just fine, he manages to hold any annoyance in.

We will see if anyone has time tomorrow....


One last thing I have a favour to ask...
I have discovered this new font which I love, to quote:

Calibri is a sans serif with soft rounded corners. It has a warm, friendly personality that isn't found in fonts like Arial and Helvetica. It is also the one typeface in the collection that is appropriate for use both in text sizes and larger headline sizes.

In Microsoft's promotional booklet, "Now Read This," Calibri's designer Lucas de Groot says, "Its proportions allow high impact in tightly set lines of big and small type alike."

He adds, "This font is suitable for documents, e-mail, Web design, and magazines."

Calibri set in regular, bold, or italic is a pleasure to read. The rounded corners create a smooth reading experience. As de Groot says, "The family has a generous width that makes reading easier by emphasizing the reading direction."

Well I am trying it out on one of my test sites and it works, but I read somewhere that it does not work for Mac users so if you have a Mac can you please look HERE and let me know if it looks the same as the picture below.

Even if you don't use Mac can you have a look what it looks like.

If it doesn't show for the majority then there is no point in using it!

Thanks a bunch, have a happy Thursday.
:)

Look Out Workforce...

Here I come.

I got a job offer today!!!

Of course it depends on me passing a drug test and background check ( I think I should be ok there...)

I have to go into the office on Monday and sign the acceptance letter, tie up the loose ends and then I will be one of you.

Don't want to say too much about where it is/what it is because I am sure most companies would frown upon things like that.

So I will just say:
Its a large company.
Office based Mon- Fir.
Health insurance, vacations and all that good stuff.

I am so excited, but now the little nagging voices are starting, "What if I mess up" "What if I don't fit in and nobody likes me" " What if everyone dresses better/ looks better" "What if I cant do the job"

Enough already, I am going to think positive.Its going to be a culture shock thats for sure, no more slopping around in Jeans and a T-shirt or worse, PJ's all day.No more tennis shoes but real shoes, maybe with a heel.

And then there is all the cosmetics and hair brushing..not to mention the driving in rush hour.

Its going to be fun, Really! I will meet new people, have something to talk about other then what was on TV this morning or what the mail man delivered.


Talking about jobs, remember the first interview I went to the She said/He said? Well she emailed me the other day and said he had still not come to a decision (it's not like it was such a huge decision right ?),but would I still be interested in working from home (maybe an office meeting or two) helping her get the website side up and running by the end of Feb.

I said I would because I had not yet found a job, now I don't know what to do. I would feel bad saying no now because I said yes, but I don't know if I would have the time to put into it.
Its not like a blog design, it's a huge website with lots of scripts I am not familiar with and loads of data to be entered in.

I will wait until I hear from her again and then decide, perhaps I could just do some of it, the banner, move it over to the new domain etc?


I just looked out of the window and snow! OMG how will I ever drive in Ice and snow....

Well thats about it.

Have a great weekend and if you are in a bad weather area, stay warm, drive safe.

and if you are not...Lucky b*&%ers!

Ow Ow Ow & Retail Theraphy.

Yesterday morning I walked to the store in these shoes....

Big Mistake!

Ouch! I was ok until I got there and then I had to literally hobble home again.Back to trainers again, you can see by the bright white of my feet that they are always covered up in trainers (tennis shoes).

I needed to cheer my self up with a bit of retail therapy. Yes despite it being over 100 degrees outside I decided to walk to the Mall (in trainers this time).
I have been fed up with my current bag for a while, yes is great for carrying things, I can get 2 x 2L bottles of soda in there among all my junk. But you need a change now and again right? I am rather picky about bags too, they have to be right.
Jcpenney first, My God the price of bags is ridiculous !!! I spotted this black fossil bag with all the right stuff, one problem it had little leopard skin accents on it, which I don't mind but my husband has an aversion to animal prints of any kind....Something to do with an Ex girlfriend who had this "thing" for leopard skin, you know sheets, shoes, bags etc.
So that was the end of that.

Next stop Macy's I spotted this...

Yummy, and so soft but $98? *Sigh Sob*

I decided to leave the air conditioned mall and brave the heat to walk that extra half mile to K-mart...

Where I got this...

For less then a fiver! (original price $16.99, marked down to $8, checkout price $4.80)

These.

$3 each for the first 2 (from $9.99 &7.99) and $7.49 for the last (from $9.99,not so much of a bargain on that)

These.

Crop pants $8.40 each(from $19.99) and the shorts $7.20 (from $16.99)

Yay! I feel good when I get some bargains.

I also got these* and a pair of jeans for WP and all for around 2/3 of the price of the Fossil bag!



I know, I am a cheapskate, even if I was rich I would begrudge paying a lot for one thing when I can get more for the same price.


*note: The undies are for me not WP, of course he can look at them on should he so wish too...

Drivel.

I stole this pic from Orhans blog. I love it so much I had to set it as my desktop picture, he has such a cute little face (in a Goth kind of way)..Boys in eyeliner are so darn cute!, Yes I know he is a little young ( don't worry Pissy). But the look on his face makes me giggle.


Anyway , what have I been up to? I can really say, WP has been off on vacation Tue/ wed and day off today & tomorrow. The week has flown by in a blur.

I am about to file my papers with immigration, I am terrified, and pissed off that the buggers put their fees up at the end of last month! I thought it wont be so bad just a few $'s more....Wrong its now going to cost me around $500+ more.

We went today to have passport size photos taken to send in with all the stuff, they are terrible, I hate my photo taken at the best of times but this looks like I have had a stroke or something, one side of my mouth is up and the other is down!
Wp's are terrible too Hee.

I only hope that I don't have to see these photos again after I have sent them off.
Of course I needed three but they only do them in pairs so I had to buy four ( I will burn the other)

Speaking of burning, I had some papers the other day that I wanted to get rid of and had a brainwave, I thought it would be easier to just burn them in the sink rather then cut them all up. Wrong. 4 hours later the apartment still reeked of smoke. Cough.

Then the rest of the week has been mostly watching WP and his pal( south city boy who I am going to call Billy Bob Hee) working on cars (yes in 100+ temperatures! ). I think on the whole more talking and general messing about goes on then actual car maintenance.


Thats about it , at least thats all I can recall....

Randomness #23651

We went to see Wild Hogs on Friday, it was pretty funny. We got there a little late so everyone had taken the good seats and we had to sit on the lower levels. I hate sitting down so near to the screen because fast action scenes tend to make me a little dizzy when I am that near. Thankfully there weren't many of them!
Overall the film is worth a watch but not one to rush out and buy on DVD.

Then last night I babysat for treadmill woman, she said 5.15 so I was there on time, they left at 6.00.
Her new BF is a biker with long grey hair who sat on the coach and didn't say a word to me, it was a little intimidating.
Anyway after they left we wrote a play (the little girl always wants a play when I go) this time the theme was Easter. We came up with the Easter bunny pissed off because Santa gets cookies & milk and he gets not so much as a carrot breaks into the egg factory and steals the chocolate.
Lame I know but it kept her happy for an hour or so.

Then we played a bit of X-men and then watched home Alone 2. They fell asleep on the floor and on the sofa.
She came in alone and pissed off so I had to put on my "relationship advice" hat (me dishing out advice what a laugh).I can always give it out but I never follow it myself!

So then by the time I got home WP was in bed asleep, so I gave him a little kiss on the cheek and turned over to go to sleep...

He woke up later though and remembered to give me the "Ass bustin" he had promised via email earlier in the day- An except from said email.Enjoy.

When your (my name) is bad, hiding in the bed,

Who ya gonna call, Assbusters.

If she's something strange and it don't look good

Who you gonna call?

Who you gonna call?
Who you gonna call?
ASSBUSTERS!



Bustin makes me feel good.

He has quite a talent that guy doesn't he ?


Just before I go I want to say I am so Glad Pissy and her family are OK after the terrible Tornado that ripped through her town at the end of last week.

I went Lable Crazy....

Yesterday I am ashamed to say I was enticed & enthralled by the prospect of labels.
I sat and labeled every post I have ever made! How sad is that!
I got carried away a little and came up with oodles or categories...

Today I looked into the coding to have them displayed in my sidebar, seems the only way ( I found) to do it on non-Beta is to list them all as links... I will save that for another day perhaps...

Outside the snow is falling, this is as far as I am getting to outside today:




The police style tape just in the corner of the second pic is not a crime scene, just a leaking water main.

The trash does need to go out though, so I may have to get dressed before the day is out...

Whilst I had the camera out I took a couple of photos of "His" side of the bed versus mine. Can you guess who's is who's ? Hee Hee.




These carts are only a temporary measure until we find what we are looking for ( We sold the old night tables last week on good old Craigslist)

But with them being clear they are great at showing just who is the tidy one and who is not. ;)

I have been a bad blogger of late, I have just had so many other things to do I have barely had anytime at the PC.

• We have been looking for new "house" things such as guest towels (the fancy ones that are for show only).

• Shower curtains ( have yet to find one we both like- there are some horrible ones around this year) We were thinking about a loose lighthouse theme in the bathroom but can we find anything "lighthousey" No!

• Then we had to buy winter coats, gloves and hats. Wp thinks I want to run away to war because of all the coats I ended up buying a men's green military style jacket. The womens coats are either too fussy or don't cover your bum, and I am not fond of a cold bum. I nearly bought a green newsboy cap to match but it was maybe a little over the top so I plumped for a purple chenieile hat with the cool gloves that are fingerless but have the little mitten bits that flip over the top of your hands.

• Wp has yet to find a coat and gloves, he is so fussy we spent an hour and a half in the shoe store just getting him two pairs of shoes! All the ones he liked the most didnt have his size in stock, or they didnt feel right on his feet. And men think women are bad in stores!

• We bought one of them materess toppers for the top of the bed, its great really warm and soft.

• We bought a lot of other stuff as well, too much to list but things like a new (small) trash can, a mop, all the boring stuff like that,

• Then of course we were without power for 24 hours, thank god we have a gas fire ! We ended up with a house full with his sister in law, her mom and sister and his niece and nephew. Its no fun trying to cook for so many people by candlelight I can tell you.The kids of course were bored after 5 minutes with no TV.
  

• Wp had to go into work on friday, there were no if's or buts about it, his department is classed as a critical area. he got there ok with the bonus of the company paying for pizza for all who worked and double time and a half. yay!


• The PC's hard drive died on Saturday so he swapped it out for another one we had lying around. of course its a major pain because everything has to be re-installed. I needed photoshop at once because I am working on a blog , this poor guy has been waiting on me to finish his and I have had power outs and PC trouble and then couldnt really work over the weekend. Hopefully I will get it done today. Not only do I have to re-install photoshop but I have that many extra brushes and fonts I have to install as well. Not to mention a zillion bookmarks for the web. I cant find anything, I backed up most of it on the external hard drive but now have to move everything back again in some sort of legible order! Grr, its gonna take days to get back on track. nothing more boring then installing software and sorting out files.

I think thats about it for my weekend, I will try my hardest this week to catch up in blog land this week. Fingers crossed !
Oh one more thing I have to own upto, I fell on my bum in the parking lot with armfuls of shopping bags. I nearly made it to the steps then Wham! Ouch. Thank god it was dark I dont think anyone saw me......
Bloody Ice!

One more thing.
I saw this bit O fun on Pissys blog.
I got











LOL. Dunno if its too advisable to be so innocent though...

What! More Rain.

Rain again, can you believe it.

To continue the scent theme I was flipping through a magazine last night in bed when I saw an ad for the author Danielle Steel's new perfume "Danielle". Seems everyone is keen to get on this perfume thing. Wp's bro came home yesterday proudly clutching his newest purchase : Antonio Banderas scent! The box has a picture of him with a woman (not his wife) swooning all over him.

I was going to go to bed early lastnight when I heard Law & order SVU on the TV, I saw the trailer for it last week and Olivia (The woman who every crime committed in NY affects her personally in some way) was back. In the trailer it showed Elliot and his new partner (forget her name, some blonde) kissing with olivia looking on.
So I watched for this moment, just turned away for a few moments to check my emails and missed it! I turned back at the end of the kiss. Blast.

Have spent this morning trying to contact current clients via my Gmail account, my web host account is down I am not receiving any mail and don't know what I have sent has got through or not. My web hosts are looking into it as I type but I am slightly irked that it makes me look unprofessional. Having to re-send emails saying" Don't know if you got this but..."
Think I will stick with Gmail from now on.

Yesterday I had some time so I made my Christmas template Yay! Not going to show it for a while yet I made the mistake of doing a Halloween one so early I was sick of the sight of it before Halloween.
But the general theme is red and gold. Stars feature quite a lot and of course Tink is there too.
I got to show my FireFox button though, Foxy looks so dam cute in his little Santa hat.I just want to pet him.


Happy rainy day y'all.

****************************

Just to further piss me off I have now been informed that we are not moving today, the inspector isn't even going to come out until tomorrow afternoon.

Randomness

Thanks guys for all the tips on your perfect scents. I will be checking them out when I can.

• Nothing much to report, it's raining again in St Louis,it's beginning remind me of England !

• This morning I spotted a beetle thing on the kitchen floor, I trapped it under a glass for WP to move, which he would'nt so it has sat there since. he did take out the trash though on his way to work- Bless him.

• Have been busy working on a few blog orders over the last few days, gotta get them done fast because we are moving tomorrow. Only across the hall to a bigger place but I have no idea when the internet will be up and running. that and because everyone will be working it's down to lil'ole me to move the majority of our belongings.Which is cool but I am not looking forward to a mass spring clean of the old place! (*still recovering from cleaning the oven!)

• WP has vowed he will no longer be joining me to watch America's next top model now Anchal has been sent packing. I think it is because she was the only one with any boobs so he see's no point in looking anymore. I don't even know who I want to win anymore, all my picks have been booted out. As long as it's not that bitch Melrose.
  

• Fed-Ex is believed to be touting a four hour sex tape of him and Britters. Four hours ! I knew there must have been some reason she married him.

• Disaster struck yesterday when doing laundry, I have lost a Tinkerbell sock ! I went back to look for it but someone else was using that dryer. Bugger!

Nothing else to report.
Over and out.

Rain rain go away....

Has it even stopped raining today ?

Most of today has been spent working (tearing my hair out) on my new web site.
I have the main page done and am trying to sort out the mess that are the internal pages, I've given up now....

Anyway here is the finished cover page, I felt "purple", I lost the arch girl logo and opted for an arch fairy (pixie) instead, Tinkerbell cannot be used for commercial gain I am sure....Anyway, I feel in need of a stiff drink now!



Uneventful weekend really, Chinese (vegetable lo-mein) for dinner Friday, Jack in the box for breakfast Saturday, followed by a trip to lovely Wal-Mart.



I did however happen upon these at the dollar store, I didn't even know that salt & vinegar were available here ! Highlight of the weekend !

Mindless Drivel....

A few updates to ease myself back into blogging...

A few weeks ago someone (allegedly) backed an 18 wheel truck into part of the parking lot fence and knocked it down.
The maintenance guy fixed it last week.
Today I went out to the store to get yet more soda and snacks, upon my return I see a fallen tree, yes you guessed it crushing the fence !

XXXXXXXX

I also have the sad news to report that I have two bitten fingernails thanks to the edge of the seat action in the game tonight. My heart was pounding in the 9th inning. But they won, what a great game despite some mess ups by Chris Duncan ( who walks into a wall ? ).

I admit though I was getting sick and tired of seeing the same few adverts over and over and over....

Note to ad agencies: if you are going to sponsor BIG things that run over a few nights at least fork out and make a SELECTION of ad's PLEASE.
I thought WP was going to throw something at the TV screen if that " Our Country" song had come on once more....

XXXXXXX

Been hard at it over the last few days with more blog designs and a webpage, just thought I would whip this one up after the game tonight. *note to self : don't do "Halloween" too early next year.

XXXXXXX

Don't know what's gotten into me lately but I have become hooked on trashy TV such as Americas next top model (kick out Melrose! )- Me who lives in jeans, rarely wears make up and yet here I am waiting for Wednesday nights to come along.
Even worse, the Ad for the newest quiz "the rich list" I find myself trying to list 20 Tom Cruise movies ( I named 11 without looking) or even harder 40 animated Disney movies ( I am up to 23 and haven't cheated yet). Last night I woke up and the word "Bambi" popped into my head, as soon as I got up this morning I had to write that one on my list!

Forgive Me Father....

For I have sinned, its been 3 weeks since I last blogged.....

I know, I know unforgivable, it's not as thought I have been doing anything of iterest instead.

I don't know why but I havent felt like either blogging or spending time at the PC in general, call it a dry spell.

Wp starts a new job on monday so I will once again be alone all day so will have lots of time to blog and read blogs.

Have still been keeping busy doing blog templates, finished two off today and have another one started.

On a brighter note The Cardinals won their second game tonight YAY! Lets hope they keep it up tomorrow and the rain holds off.

Phew! twas hot in here....

Well as (almost) everyone will probably know a HUGE storm hit St Louis last night causing havoc wherever it went. We lost all power around 8 pm ish last night. No sooner had we seen the storm warning then BOOM it was here. Some of the lightening seemed to last at least 5 or 6 seconds per strike. We had 3 candles in the house ( plus the my cranberry candle - which some of you may remember from Christmas Hee) I did not allow that to be lit/ WP went to bed about 10 I sat and read my book by dim candlelight.

When I went to bed I could not sleep at all it was far too muggy , it reminded me a lot of England ( when we do , and they are few and far between) the majority of homes in the UK don't have Air Conditioning, well we wouldn't really get the use out of it! When we get a red hot summer night they are muggy and moist just like last night.

I remember my first experience with AC it was when the first McDonald's came to town and it was freezing in there!

Anyway got up today expecting ( hoping ) that we would have power back. No. Went out for breakfast , fought all the rest of the traffic no doubt doing the same, at least most motorists were well mannered when it came to junctions with none working traffic lights.

Came home sat around bored to death. Sat around some more. Took what was salvageable from the freezer over to WP's sister in laws house.
Sat there ( with TV and AC Yay! ) Came back home disheartend by the fact that the power still wasn't back. I had just resigned my self to the fact that we would have another night in the sauna like environment when the fridge came on!! Yes the power was back. Slam shut the windows and on with the AC. Of course there is no food in said fridge /freezer but at least we are cool(ish)

P.s the photo is an actual shot from last night that was sent into STL today.

Bank Holiday time again

As I was reading Davids post about public holidays (and this Monday being a public holiday here as well as in the UK). I thought that I would share with you a typical English (summer Bank Holiday*).

*A Bank Holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom and also in the Republic of Ireland. Although there is no legal right to time off on these days, the majority of the population not employed in essential services (e.g. utilities, fire, ambulance, police, health-workers) receive them as holidays; those employed in essential services usually receive extra pay for working on these days. Bank holidays are so called because they are days upon which banks are (or were) shut and therefore (traditionally) no other businesses could operate. Legislation allows certain payments to be deferred to the next working day.

1 January New Year's Day
The Friday before Easter Sunday Good Friday
The day after Easter Sunday Easter Monday
First Monday in May May Day Bank Holiday
Last Monday in May Spring Bank Holiday (Whitsun)
Last Monday in August Summer Bank Holiday
25 December Christmas Day
26 December or 27 December Boxing Day

A Typical Summer Bank Holiday in England.


There are various ways us brits "enjoy" our public holidays If we feel like venturing out on a day trip (like 75% of the rest of the country) we can brave the traffic jams and the other pissed off angry motorists, sick of the kids arguing in the back seat and head to...


a) the coast. Upon arrival we pay a small fortune to park the car and join the masses on the over crowded beach( providing the weather is good).We can paddle in the sea and avoid standing on jelly fish. For those of us not foresighted enough to pack a picnic there are plenty of dubious hot dog and burger stalls along the sea front.If the weather is bad we can visit some of the many sea front amusement arcades and spend hours in front of the same machine because we know that any second the 10 pences that are (probably glued) teetering on the edge will fall.


B) The amusement park. Here we can pay an absolute fortune to enter the park and then take delight in standing in line for a hour or so for the more popular rides.You have to navigate your way though pushchairs and buggys galore. Each one filled with bags and balloons and if your lucky you can just spy a snot nosed kid with a sugar dummy stuck in its mouth. Of course its likely that one of the kids will get lost and then a large chunk of the day will be spent looking for little Johhny. The admission price is the same for all whether you like the rides or not, so everyone is encouraged to enjoy the rides. I speak from experience my last visit to an amusement park I was enticed onto the tea cup ride and spent the rest of the day sick. When it comes to actually eating in these parks a small mortgage may be need to pay for the exuberant fast food that one is offered. No visit would be complete without the purchase of the photographs taken at the very top of the log flume. Of course everybody looks like they are about to throw up or fall out of the boat.





Then we all head home again , the traffic even slower flowing.



For those of us not brave enough to venture out on a holiday weekend there is the good old barbecue. Yes us Brits only fetch the BBQ out of the shed on very special occasions. BBQ is mans work rain or shine. No woman is allowed within 10 feet of the coals. Here dad stands beer in hand often in a bbq theamed apron that declares "The Best cook in town"

The master at his trade serves sausages and burgers (The more adventurous man moves onto real meat) one side black , an inch thick in crispy goodness the other side a nice off pink colour.
Washed down with lots of wine, beer and alchopos (often the kids drink all these) salad and coleslaw.The neighbours music all competes with each other as the family and their friends sit out until the wee small hours in a drunken stupor. Meanwhile the kids run wild.
Then the BBQ is put away as it is, hey its weeks till the next bank holiday ,plenty of time to clean it before then.

For those of us with no friends and no money to go out for the day we make our way to the local DIY Home store. Bank holiday weekends are the perfect time to get those little jobs that need doing done. Of course we never get what we go there for instead we return with enough equipment for a complete room makeover. That we then put off till yes you guessed it : The next Bank Holiday.



*Of course some of these points have been exaggerated , just a tad.

Some like it hot

Disclaimer : I am British look it up, we all moan about the weather.



Well for the last two days I have been too hot inside the apartment. Which isn't like me at all , it's been too hot to sleep too hot to cook too hot to clean. The AC has been on. We have the fan on at night but it was blowing that hard I kept waking up thinking things were crawling over me( It was the fan blowing my hair onto my face). Last night I went to bed with my hair tied back but still hair escaped during the night. Today its discovered that the AC wasn't working properly, it is now "ahhh cool air at last" Of course now I need to go and put a sweater on when I stand at the sink its that cold.


I made chilli for dinner, cooked all the meat in one pan and heaped a load of beans , tomatoes etc in the large pot. Added the cooked meat and more spices etc....Then did what I do best forgot about it. I wandered into the bedroom , checked my emails etc, after a while I remember the chilli. I go to the kitchen to stir it, "Yikes" as I am stirring there is a burnt smell wafting through the air. I can feel burnt bits on the bottom of the pan, I look down and the heat is on high. I cover my tracks by turning it down to simmer, but not before the smell has been noticed by WP. Of course I lied and said it had been on low all along and its the pan that's cheap and thin.
Of course I know he will read this but what can I say, I have an honest streak.



Today WP made this tasty concoction in the blender, I think it had Ice, Lemon juice, orange juice and brandy all blended up into a slushy. It had a bit too much of a kick so we added sugar and crushed pineapple. Yum.
Trouble is its too cold inside now to eat them. (jk)


Oh and one last thing, WP today demonstrated that he knew how to use the vacuum cleaner, and that he could use it whilst wearing only boxer shorts.

Have a great weekend everyone ;)