I'm having one of those Oh Jeez how old are you, girl? moments. Because I spent a large portion of this morning contemplating why butter is the same price in all the supermarkets - be they the big ones like Tesco, or the cheaper ones like Farmfoods. I thought it strange that I can shop around for pretty much every other item on my shopping bill and find lots of different prices (and varieties) but with butter it's all the same. Why is that, do you think?

The visit last night was really fun. I do really like having visitors. I'm sure I suck as a hostess (the fact that Ray's mother had to ask for a cup of tea, and then me giving her sugar when she didn't want one, pretty much proved that ;D) but it's just so much fun to get new people to talk to - fresh conversation and new reactions, and an excuse to babble ;) I've noticed something, as well. When we visit Ray's family they treat him like a kid but when they visit our house they treat him like an adult. It makes me giggle. Because I expect them to be one way and then they act completely different. Except his mother - she's the same whatever house we're in, precisely because she is his mother :) It's probably simply because he's always been baby-Ray at home, and then here they realise he has a house of his own and a life of his own that he's able to run by himself like a grown-up. What they don't realise is that I'm the one in charge - and he'd better not forget it, hehehe ;)

Sweepie was anti-social and barked for the first ten minutes they were here. Simon offended her somehow. By being a man, I think. She calmed down eventually and sulked in her bed, being a princess and not letting him touch her head. I picked her up in the end and after the cuddle she felt much better and ran off into the front room to sit with Jemma. She's such a slob. She never wants to leave the sofa for long ;)

Reverting back to the money topic: I got some Safex Condoms to try. Never tried that brand before. There's Sensitive, Natural and Ribbed. Any one tried those ones before? Any good? I'll be sure to review them once I've given them a go. I'll tell my opinion of the Crown condoms at the same time then. Good bargain, though, weren't they? I can always find a bargain ;)

Labels: condoms, food, in-laws, life, money, shopping, sweepie, visitors

by Ys | COMMENTS? 1 | permalink |

You'll never believe it but... it rained again last night! I wouldn't say it rained all night but it did on and off. Today it looks like it did before the hot weather hit - cloudy and grey - but it still feels incredibly warm and sticky. I had to go into town today to get some food and I thought I might melt onto the pavement even though it was picking with rain! We're having some very crazy weather this year.

Simon didn't end up coming to visit yesterday. He's coming over tonight instead, with Ray's mother. But we went down to see him last night anyway. It was loud and excitable and extremely overwhelming! It was fun trying to play Guess The Actress, Guess The Film with Simon, though; his memory is even worse than mine! Tonight I get to play hostess here. Trying to stop the dogs from wrecking the place is the hardest part. They like to play and in doing so usually pull the cushions off the sofa and slide the mats up the walls ;) One more day and then they can run wild again hehe.

Ray and I then spent the last part of the night curled up in bed trying to debug each other's brains. It came to me as clear as day why my mind went into meltdown. My brain related something that happened to someone else to a bad time I went through a few years ago, and it just brought back all the memories and made me go a bit insane. Isn't the mind a weird and wonderful thing? I'm glad I know what was wrong now anyway. I was trying to work out Ray's psycology. He's had a very interesting life. The things he's been through should have seen him wound up in jail or something equally as bad, but he went completely the other way. He doesn't dwell on what happened then and is happy where he is now. It's very refreshing but also a bit annoying cos then I only get the facts of what happened and not how he felt about it all. I'll break him one day ;)

I've spent this morning hiding from Steve. Remember Steve the estate agent who wouldn't give us our deposit back, then later got fired for not doing his job right? Well, he's been walking up and down our street (that's not too unusual he does live up the road a bit but we've never seen him before) a lot. Then I had to go into town on my own and I was worrying I'd bump into him and... yes, I did! But he just looked away and pretended not to see me - even though we walked right on next to each other! Hehehe. Probably thinks I'm going to kick his ass again like last time I saw him - verbally, of course; I don't believe in violence. I haven't seen him again since so maybe he'll go back home now and stop stalking me.

Ooh more exciting than any of that crap, of course, is...The Harry Potter Trailer! I cannot wait 'til November :D

Labels: estate agent, harry potter, house stuff, in-laws, life, ray, trailers, weather

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |

It rained last night! We were meant to have a storm but that turned out to be just some heavy rain (that lasted all of ten minutes!), a couple of rumbles of thunder and one bolt of lightning. Of course, we went recycling when it started up so had a wonderful view of all the clouds as we drove right into the so-called storm. I haven't felt so giddy over rain in years. It feels like ages since it last rained.



What can I say? Ray was also giddy from the rain. He loved running across the recycling car-park to get rid of the old toaster cos it meant he got absolutely drenched. Was it wrong of me to want to park up somewhere, get out and have sex in the rain? I swear, it hasn't rained properly here in ages! Don't be surprised if there was a million new babies conceived last night. That brief storm was quite electrical, or it could be like I said: everyone giddy cos there hasn't actually been any rain in ages.

On our travels we picked up some more spotty stuff for the kitchen. I got the tins I mentioned in my previous post. So everything is looking much cleaner now. I just want one more pack (there's two big tins in each pack) to put the dog stuff in now and I'll be happy. The kitchen is looking very pretty, I have to say. I'll take some pictures soon to show it off ;) I've had to make everything look sparkly and lovely for our visitor tonight. Uncle Simon is coming over, who is Ray's favourite uncle. We went to stay with him in August 2006 and had a great time. But I don't think I've actually seen him since, perhaps a flying visit here and there but nothing else. I love having visitors these days. We're having sleeping-over visitors next month and we're all - sadly - extremely excited about it ;)

Ray started playing his other new game last night - Dark Sector - which is so pretty. (So no worries of losing him to Oblivion yet, Fink, but thanks for the warning ;D) Jem and I read our books and Ray played his xbox, the dogs lazed about on the floor, and it was just a lovely, quiet time. As I said at the time: it's going to be one of those memories that I cherish when this time of my life is over. I love it when we sit there quietly together like that. No arguments, no bickering, no pouting, just all of us together as friends.

Labels: dogs, house stuff, in-laws, jem, life, ray, recycling, video, visitors, weather, xbox 360

by Ys | COMMENTS? 4 | permalink |

I'm going to draw a line under my emotions from last week. I can't change anything and obsessing over it doesn't help anyone so I'll do what I can when I can. And hope it's enough.

I had a lovely weekend, which helped to cheer me up a lot. I went out with Mammy and Jemma to see The Dark Knight on Saturday. Heath Ledger is as good as everyone is saying he is; it isn't just being said cos he died. I thought the film was a bit long-winded but it was still very good. I don't understand how it got a 12A certificate, though, cos it was seriously dark and quite a lot disturbing. I wouldn't want my children seeing it. At the end a group of them rejoined their parents and started saying how they'd cried in fright through most of it! Besides that factor, I really don't think young people would really get what was going on. On the top level, sure, but not all the psycological parts. I reccomend the film, anyway :)

Sunday was spent visiting everyone, and doing a little shopping ;) I didn't buy anything too grand. Just a mug-tree. It's not the one I wanted (I wanted a white wooden one) but it was the best I could find:



The kitchen is very fastly coming together. I love the white-with-spots look; it's cute. I'm going to get some round tins next to store some of the junk is so that the worktops aren't bogged down with bowls full of knick-knacks. I prefer clear worktops.

While Ray bought himself a couple of new xbox360 games. He's waited patiently week after week and then this week he gave in and bought two. I could link you to them but I don't actually know what they're both called. I know one is Oblivion because we had fun making up the character's face to look like Ray ;)

That afternoon we went visiting everyone. It was a really lovely visit back to Ray's house. Dale's shaved all his hair off, though! He has such lovely blonde hair, which he grows long and then shaves off. Nicky gave me a mini-gumball from her mini-gumball machine and we all had fun laughing at Mams trying to blow bubbles. Everyone is such fun when it's sunny, aren't they?

Then it was onto my parents' house with the two dogs, where we had a huge BBQ and stuffed ourselves silly. There was lots of silliness, lots of laughing, lots of noise and games with the dogs; and we ended it all by walking all six dogs up the road together, which caused Sweepie such excitement that she had to be carried for most the walk in fear she'd pass out (she doesn't handle heat and excitement well together at all).

SUMMER BBQ

So all in all it was a really nice, fun weekend.

And it ended with the best words I could have heard: "If we weren't skint we could have a baby now." :)

Labels: daddy, films, house stuff, in-laws, life, mammy, martha, motherhood, ray, sweepie

by Ys | COMMENTS? 4 | permalink |

I think I've engaged the self-destruct mechanism. So I'm going to spend the weekend trying to disarm it. I think something that happened elsewhere has affected me more than I expected it to. It's those damn stupid Mammy Hormones of mine. I see a couple of kids who are in trouble, I want to help them and can't, so I spiral through a cycle of self-hatred because I'm not strong enough to tell the person who's fucking them up to just get the hell over it and start being a mother to your babies! It's not my place to say it, though; and I'm a good, nice girl who doesn't like upsetting people. So I sit quietly and try not to let my emotions turn to hate, cos that's just not going to help anyone; but how exactly do you stop yourself hating someone who's so selfish that they're messing up their children's lives for no other reason than a want for attention? Urgh. I know you can't help everyone - hell, you're lucky if you're able to help anyone - but when innocent children are involved my emotions won't just let me sit silently on the side-line. It's making me crazy! So I'm going into hibernation until Monday. Enjoy the weekend.

Labels: children, life, motherhood, rant

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |

Through my nostaligia, my recent obsession with thinking back and pondering over those things I just couldn't quite understand at the time, I've made some realisations. About others in my life, and about myself.

The other day I wrote this and I got a reaction from Jem that I wasn't expecting. She asked if I'd written it to get at her cos she'd said she didn't like where the characters were heading (long-story-short: I gave her an unfinished novel based in "Olimpia Valley" to read, which took the characters somewhere very dark; I'd already told her she wouldn't like it so wasn't surprised when she said she didn't). It threw me. Because when I'd written the entry I'd actually been thinking about something Stephen King had written and I'd read by chance when I was a bit bored. It was at the beginning of one of the "Dark Tower" books (the recent editions) where he said that he always loved returning to the "Dark Tower" world and that it was a place he always found easy to fall back into. He mentioned how the only other world that took him so strongly was "The Stand" (which, incidently, I haven't read and therefore did not know was based in a post-apocalyptic world). So my thoughts went simply this like: How weird he has an olde worlde world and a post-apocalyptic world just like me with "Soul Mates" and "Olimpia Valley". I wrote that afternoon and the words just tumbled out and I was so high on the writing, so high on the characters; and I realised I was living vicariously through those characters; how in another life I might have made the same choices they do/did. So I wrote that entry but simplified it and just summed it up in a few words.

My thinking afterwards was how easily we misinterpret things that people say and do and automatically twist them around to fit into what we're thinking. We all do it. I know I do. I like to think I can project myself into other people's thoughts (being a writer I have to have that ability to some point other wise how would I write about people I didn't particularly agree with) but I often put my own thoughts on top and come to the wrong conclusion.

This led me onto a sudden understanding. That when a certain family member turned against me and tried to turn my mother against me in the process, it wasn't anything to do with the fact that I was in whatever form playing Mother to Amber. This woman had an issue with the fact that I was getting on so well with my father. This woman tried to turn my mother against me because of her own issues over her jealousy that her daughter and husband had always been close, that her daughter had chosen her father over her mother (her). All these years I believed it was because of Amber, because I rallied us three girls (sisters) together and wouldn't let a single one of us crumble under the pressure. I thought this woman thought I was in someway disprespecting Mammy and her parenting skills by coping while Mammy was away.

It was a nice realisation in a way. It was nice to be able to step back eight years later and be able to see things with fresh eyes, with emotions that aren't tainted by grief and anger. I've always found it amazing how wrong people can get things, how we all assume this that and the other and how nine times out of ten we're way off the mark. I've always said, "You never know what's going on behind closed doors," because it's true. The face people show you is not always the true one. Not in a dishonest way, just that we don't all run around showing the things that have scarred us (I know I don't anyway) and so how can you tell whether what one person thinks happened is actually fact?

I've always been fascinated with the psychology of the human mind. I think maybe I missed my calling ... ;)

Labels: amber, daddy, jem, life, mammy, rant, writing

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |

I'm feeling much more sane now. We watched my Tudors DVD and all that bodice-ripping and heaving bosoms drove all other thoughts clean out of my brain. So no more tales of woe from me... until next month ;)

I am perfectly happy with how things are in my life. And I think that was one of the factors that drove me round the twist. Not meaning to sound melodramatically woe-is-me, but things didn't exactly go too well for me past the age of fourteen. It wasn't until I was twenty-one that I reclaimed my life and started actually doing what I wanted to without getting an incredible amount of grief for it. And now here I am, four years later, and I have everything (or at least the seeds of everything...) I've ever wanted. I'm totally in love with Ray who is totally in love with me in return; I have finally moved out of home and have my independence; I have one book published and am roaring through the writing of more and more every day. I am happy and content. I'm not claiming everything is perfect cos that would be a totally ridiculous thing to say. I don't have enough money (who does?), I don't have any children (yeah, still on that kick ;D); and on a more personal note I haven't yet managed to shrug away all the baggage I carry around with me. But I am working on it. There's nothing worse than people living in the past, digging up old wounds and displaying them as an excuse for this, that and the other. I'm an adult now and I believe that when you get to a certain point in your life you just accept things as they are. Of course you keep striving for more, for better, for perfection, but I think if I ever reached it my head would explode.

But anyway, I digress. My point was that I had wonderful sex in a sticky hot bedroom and it was so good that it popped whatever was loose back into place and I am myself again! (Plus I'm on Day Two of my Pill, which means calm is restoring itself to my hormones once more ;D) I went onto dream about those fleshy bits on the back of hips. Actually I think the heat is just making me horny and when I'm horny I can't be bothered to think about life and how it all works and why we do what we do ;) Hooray for the summer!

Labels: life, love, rant, ray, sex, weather

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |

I went back home to see my parents last night. And I felt extremely homesick when I was there and when I had to leave. I haven't felt homesickness like that since moving here.

I just felt myself starting to miss my old life. Talking to Daddy about rugby, laughing with Mammy over pretty much everything, being more than just a big sister to Amber. I missed the safe, quiet, homely feel I used to have in that house. It doesn't feel like home anymore. I adapt too quickly to change. I move on and accept that whereever I am, for however long I am there, is my new safe place, my new home. I'm the same when we go visiting other people. I adapt to their houses and find I never want to leave (unless it's truly awful and then I'm bolting for the door ;D). Well, last night all that adapting broke down and I just wanted to stay at home and be young and free and silly again. Not that I was that way very much when I lived there. I couldn't wait to get out, in fact. I suppose it's always the same. Growing up isn't always fun.

I've been jealous a lot this last week, too. Over stupid things, things that either can't be changed or don't even matter anyway. Like last night I was jealous that I no longer lived at home; I was jealous that Amber wasn't mine anymore; I was jealous that Daddy talks so much more to Ray than me these days (man chats about nails and roofs and stuff I don't understand); jealous that Mammy was going to the cinema with her friend without me. But I've also been jealous of how pretty Jemma is; how independent Hannah is; how strong Sarah has always been. I'm even jealous of all of Ray's aunts and uncles because they have such adorable children! I blame all of this insane girlie stupidity on my raging hormones. I'm expecting everything to calm the hell down again from today onwards because today at 9:40am I broke open a new satchet. I am officially back on the Pill again :)

Through my moping and insanity, I decided to buy Ray just one more teeny-tiny present for his birthday. This (if you're reading this Ray: do not click that link!). It's not his birthday for another month. At this rate I'll be bankrupt! I swear that's the last present... I think ;) I'm out of funds now so it has to be the last... I think ;)

Labels: amber, birthday, daddy, hormones, jem, life, mammy, presents, ray, the pill

by Ys | COMMENTS? 6 | permalink |

I fell into Outfit last night. I should probably sue them. Where there's a claim there's a blame and all that...

I then accidently fell into the sale rack. I looked down and found a white shirt on my arm. Dazed and confused, I continued down the shop. I fell into some gorgeous dresses but, lucky for me, they were all way above the knee and I don't wear anything that short. On I stumbled, tumbling from one rack of clothes to the next. Before I knew it a green cami top had joined the white shirt on my arm.

I begged Ray not to let me fall into Warehouse. They're too expensive, I mumbled incoherently, as I made my way through the racks of clothes. Far too expensive. Don't let me look! He took my arm and led me away from a row of lovely floral skirts. He's a good boyfriend.

I soon found myself in the changing rooms, dancing along to an All Saint's song, exclaiming far too loudly how much I adored the green top. I completely forgot I was in a changing room and had no one in there with me (usually I shop with Jem or/and Mammy and we give running commentry on what we're trying on - "I'm putting my right arm in that pink shirt I picked up," "My bum won't fit in these jeans!" "I'm not coming out dressed in this!" etc., etc.). The white shirt was next. It was a lovely fit, nicely fitted around the waist to show off the spread of my hips.

Outside again, I asked Ray to check the prices and to then tell me if I could have either. After a quick calculation he said I could have both! Both! I say again: he's a very good boyfriend :) At the till they must have thought I was going to sue them for the way I'd fallen into the shop and then fallen to the till with garments to buy, cos they knocked £4 off the shirt. I didn't need to ask. She just scanned the tag and it came up as £3.

We hot-tailed it out of the shop after that. Me smug with my new clothes, Ray smug cos it had come in under twenty quid. And that was my evening out. I now own these two lovely tops and want an excuse to wear them out and about ;)



I have one message for you all: Go Shopping! Go on, treat yourselves. I haven't had anything new in ages (since the car ate all the money we had) and it felt so good to finally just give in and splurge. I want everyone to share in that splurging goodness with me. Go splurge! Go!

PS: Don't forget to sponsor Hilary as well, that way when you're selfishly buying stuff for yourself you will know in your heart you've done some good elsewhere too :)

Labels: photos, ray, shopping

by Ys | COMMENTS? 5 | permalink |

I'm still cranky but I think this is more to do with tiredness than anything else. Tired of being on, hehehe ;)

It was Visiting The Family Day yesterday. Ray's house was filled with people. It often is on a Sunday but I haven't seen it fill up that quick in a long while. We didn't stay long. I don't know what to say about it. It's a weird time. We then went on to see my Old Folk, with the dogs, as well. We like to gatecrash spectacularly ;) Mammy welcomed us with a present: some spotty mugs for the kitchen:



Very cute. She's spoiling us again. I christened them with some wine last night. The wine was disgusting (I just don't like wine no matter how hard I try!) so after a couple of sips I concluded the christening was finished and didn't need to drink anymore.

It's been a weekend of watching films. First: Be Kind Rewind. It was such a lovely, sweet film. Funny, of course, as you'd expect from Jack Black (that man can make me laugh with just a look!), but very sweet, as well, which I wasn't expecting. I liked it :) Then we watched A Cock & Bull Story, which I have loved since I first saw it three years ago. I finally found it to buy! Everyone must see this film: it's so kooky and funny :) And, finally, last night we watched The Crow: Wicked Prayer. I only wanted it cos David Boreanaz is in it (I've been in love with him for an age!). I quite liked Edward Furlong back in my days of youth, as well. Both actors can act, just a shame that what they were acting with was so bad. Awful film, of course, but it had some strangely pretty moments with the flashback/after-death scenes spliced in.

It's back to the real world now, though. Paying bills and writing, and thinking what I'm going to be eating for lunch today... ;)

Labels: daddy, david boreanaz, films, house stuff, in-laws, life, mammy, photos, presents

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |

It's a Saturday morning and I'm blogging. I never blog on a Saturday. But Ray has abandoned me for work and Jem has been sleeping off Kylie so isn't ready to go out and about walking the dogs yet.

I'm feeling a bit pissed off about everything today. Firstly, Ray ended up having to leave for work earlier than he originally said. He said 9, the boss said 8; I said, "How early?" in a girlishly high voice, then proceeded to pout to make him feel bad. It's sappy, I know, but on the weekends I like to wake up with Ray beside me. We only get two days out of the week to be in bed together in the mornings; now this week there's only one day. Grr.

More annoyingly, you know how I said I'd bought (no clicking or hovering over the links if your name is Ray!) this extremely cool gift for Ray's birthday? Well, it arrived yesterday and it turns out it's just this without the extra exclusive bits. So I had to then go and buy these so that it was a better present than what it was on its own. I don't mind spending the extra few pounds; I'm just pissed that I was told it was going to be better than what it was.

The postman then cheesed me off this morning by banging on the door at 8:15! 8:15 on a Saturday when on a weekday he can't be arsed to get here before 10! I didn't get out of bed and was royally pissed off when I found out he'd tried to deliver another of Ray's presents. So now I have to go down to the sorting office to pick it up. I'm more pissed at the time he woke me up than the actual having to collect the package cos I can get that easily enough when I walk the dogs. Do postmen do this just to piss me off or does everyone else have an annoyingly stupid postman who can't keep to decent times?

There. I think that's all my ranting done. I feel better already. Can you tell I'm on? ;)

Labels: birthday, life, post, presents, ray

by Ys | COMMENTS? 5 | permalink |

I had the house to myself yesterday. All day.

Jem and Mammy went to see Kylie Minogue up in Manchester yesterday. So not only did I get some Me Time (oh precious Me Time, I'd forgotten what that time was like), which entailled me cleaning, writing, and reading two-thirds of The Gunslinger. But I also got some Alone Time with Ray. Which meant eating lasagne and Tagliatelle (it seems to be our food of love ;D), watching Grand Designs (have I mentioned how I've commissioned Ray to build me my dream home?) & The Fifth Element (Ray fancies Milla Jovovich, while I've always had a thing for Bruce Willis); and much, much fun in the bedroom.

The house is all mine for another four hours or so, depending on traffic, and then I'll have to give it back to part-ownership again. I'd forgotten just how much I like being by myself. I was even a little put out when Ray came back from work last night, whereas usually I'm buzzing around by the door waiting for him to get back. I used to spend 90% of my time alone so having spent the last two years pretty much glued to Ray's side (don't get me wrong: it's a lovely place to be stuck) I'd forgotten how much of a loner I really am at heart. Don't worry I have no plans of ditching Ray to return to my loner-lifestyle (damn that pesky love thing!); I was just pleasantly reminded these past twenty-four hours that I can and do love my own company. It was still much more fun playing games with Ray in the evening, though ;)

I'm off unwrap some presents I'd ordered for Ray's birthday; some extremely cool (do not click the links Ray!!) presents. There's also this and this. My boy's a nerd. I always wanted a nerd. I prayed for many years and finally I got one ;)

Enjoy your weekends!

Labels: films, jem, life, love, mammy, ray, reading

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |

Now you know when you're getting old when you have to put glasses on to watch porn. My eye sight is just failing day by day.

Last night I tried watching 1 Night In Paris. I'm not really into porn at all. In fact I find the whole (hole being the operative word here) thing rather boring and, well, icky. Penis in-penis out, penis in-penis out. Jeez, penises are not pretty, guys, and seeing them thrusting in and out of bald vaginas is not a turn on. Well, not to me anyway ;) But I thought I'd give Paris's vid a try cos Ray's co-worker is porn-obsessed and keeps hounding him to take some vid's home. I requested 1 Night In Paris to see what all the fuss was about.

So there I was in bed, snuggled up with Ray, glasses on, ready to experience this film that had given Paris Hilton her name (sort of). I already knew the creepy boyfriend introduced the film, so I was prepared for that, but not for how funny the things he was saying about the clips would be. I tried not to giggle. The first clip played. It soon became apparent that the boyfriend (wikipedia tells me his name is Rick Salomon) really liked his own penis. I mean, seriously liked it. He liked to caress it, show it some love, but better than that, while having sex with Paris, he was continuously arched down so that he could watch his man-muscle. Then Paris wants to get in shot. She wants her face in shot while Rick just wants the classic porno shot: penis in-penis out; so they start arguing over camera space! There's some weird shots of her just lying there pouting at the camera, while old Rick is pumping away behind, watching himself, of course, completely oblivious to Paris's bored, vacant expression.

By this point I'm bored. Fifteen minutes in and my mind is already starting to wander. Do you think Rick is one of these guys who can't climax inside a woman? Why is he so hot for his own penis? Is this cos he watched so much porn, has it somehow tainted his ability to climax without seeing the penis in-penis out? Why is she even bothering to have sex if she finds it so boring? Why is she messing with her clit? Surely that should be old Rick's job. When you're trying to figure out the pyscology of the people in the porn vid then you know you've got a bad one.

So sixteen minutes into 1 Night in Paris the stop button was pressed and Ray and I made our own fun. Minus a video camera, minus the love for Rick's penis, minus Paris's bored expression.

Needless to say, I do not recommend the video. For a laugh with girlfriends, maybe, but if any one can seriously tell me they got off on that video then... well... I need to know how. Very strange. And such a letdown after all that hype.

Labels: porn, sex

by Ys | COMMENTS? 6 | permalink |

I am sober 90% of the year. The one time I do get accidently drunk why does it have to be at a thirteen year old's birthday party? ;)

Last night Ray and I headed down to one of the local nightclubs cos his cousin (I think they're cousins; there's so many cousins I just say he's their uncle to make it easier for me to remember; we are Uncle Ray and Auntie Ysabel should anyone ask) was having a party there. It's her birthday next month but she wanted the party before school shut up shop for the summer. We were invited down so off we went.

First of all I was very excited that I got to sit in the VIP area, closed off with a rope and everything. Okay, it wasn't really a VIP section more like an OAP section. Us oldies sat out the way and let the kids go mad. Secondly, I was surprised by today's youth fashion. Do you know that kids these days are wearing? Teeny-tiny white shorts or skirts, coupled with brightly coloured tights and/or leg-warmers, and brightly coloured vest-tops. I had no idea that was today's fashion. It was like old-style rave fashion.

There were some shocking moments - like when all the girls made a tunnel and the boys went through and snogged whichever one they liked! That went on for about twenty minutes! I was cringing and hiding behind my hands. I do not want to see little people snogging. That was when the vodka-lemonades came in handy.

An hour or two later I was teaching Ray how to dance to the Grease melodymedley, and very enthusiastically dancing to the Superman song. You know that one? "Comb your hair, go for a walk, sneeze, now... superman!" I used to dance to that one a lot as a child at family parties so I was very excited to hear it being played, considering all night we'd had some extremely shocking music. You know the one that goes, "Face down, arse up, that's the way we like to fuck"? Yeah, that one. At a thirteen year old's party!

I laughed and laughed and laughed. And I didn't once put my foot in it, which I always do when I'm trying hard to keep away from certain subject matters, or, in my usual case, a seemingly innocent outcry of annoyance, which although hilarious to me in its melodrama can upset people who are fragile. It was such a fun night. I'd forgotten how much fun it is hanging out with the family (be they mine or the in-laws). And cos Ray and I are neither "The Kids" or "The Adults" we mingle with both groups and then get left alone a lot to be naughty. Hence all the drinking.

Sounds like fun, yeah? But then I had to get up this morning and go and play badminton. Oh dear did I regret every single drop of vodka I'd put in my body. I worried there'd be vomit but I held it together. In fact, it was Jemma who injured herself by pulling a muscle in the back of her thigh. The game was cut short due to that and the fact that I was nauseous and we'd bust our last two shuttlecocks (we have more but Ray left them in the work's van last night!). Do you know the annoying thing? I never used to suffer from hangovers before. But I haven't had a proper getting-drunk drink in about six months and so now my body has forgotten how to cope!

Roll on the next kid's birthday party I say!

Labels: badminton, drinking, in-laws, life, ray

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |

I'm better! It's a miracle! I somehow beat tonsillitis into submission. I am completely indebted to Echinacea pills. Seriously, I can't reccomend these pills any more strongly. They are miracle workers. I used to be ill all the time but now I haven't had a proper illness since I started taking them! And if they can beat off tonsillitis then I'm going to take them until the end of my days. Thanks for all the well-wishes :)

Now I can pimp my new goodies.

First of all: my precious kitchen. It's my new room to dress (I love saying I'm dressing a room; I don't know what else to call it cos I'm not furnishing it!). White With Spots is the theme. So Jem got some pots...



Which are now filled with tea, cofee and sugar. Look at how pretty they are next to my fantabulous teapot:



She also bought us a utensils-drainer. I don't know what that's called actually. It's basically a pot to put the knives and forks in when they're drying off after being washed up. It matches our one for the plates, etc. perfectly:



That's inside the house done. I now have some extremely exciting news (well it is to me anyway... ;D): I have grown my first tomatoe!!



I can't take all the credit cos Ray has been helping me out a lot with it, but, it's still a tomatoe and I've never grown one before with or without help. The outside plants tend to be left to me to look after so I'm happy to take most of the credit ;) But it was Ray's idea to move them outside; I thought they'd die. Turns out I was wrong (he's gonna love that ... ;D). I'll let you know if it ever turns red and if I get anymore growing! The peppers are doing great - both normal and sweet kinds. We've been happily eating the normal peppers for the past couple of months; the sweet ones need a bit longer. The peas are nearly ready for eating as well! How good are we? Growing our own food!

And you should have seen the amount of rubbish we recycled this week - clothes, shoes, paper, cardboard and an old TV. I do love to recycle. It's a nice place to visit cos everyone's really nice. I met a short woman this week who couldn't reach the tall cardboard-bin so I had to help. And a man taught us that we had to poke the clothes into the clothes-bin cos it was so full.

Ray loved his phone, by the way. He was playing with it all night so I think that means it was a success :)

Finally, please can everyone say a big Happy Birthday to Martha over at her blog? She's ten today!

Labels: house stuff, illness, life, photos, ray, recycling, veg

by Ys | COMMENTS? 4 | permalink |

I'm ill. It might be tonsillitis, again, but it might not. I've been pumping my body full of painkillers, sucking on Strepsils and drinking squash every other minute, and it seems to have slowed down the process. I'm hoping it might have stopped the bug all together but I've never known tonsillitis to be stopped in its tracks before. So I'm just waiting around, seeing how it develops. It made me sleep for ten hours last night! So it's not all bad ;)

I've got lots of photos of the house I want to share - new goodies, new developments with the plants - but I'm too sickly to post them today so I'll save them for another time.

About the only productive thing I did this weekend was buy Ray an early birthday present...



It's a Sony Ericsson T280i. He wanted a different one, one that had a few more gadgets on but considering his phones only last on average six months I told him I wasn't going to spend all that money. The T280i is a great looking phone, anyway, and I'm sure he'll be happy with it. His latest phone died last week and considering he needs one for work I figured an early birthday present was in order. It should be arriving any minute. Then I just need to find the energy to wrap it up ;)

Ahh I hope this illness passes over soon. For today I'm just going to have to curl up with a good book and keep the fluids up.

Labels: birthday, illness, mobile phone, photos, ray, shopping, tonsillitis

by Ys | COMMENTS? 6 | permalink |

Just a quick update today. So I'll do it in list-form, a la Sizzle, cos there's a woman who likes her lists as much as I do ;)

1. Please can you sponsor Hilary in her next half-marathon? She runs them all the time and is so good at them - and this one is in aid of lukemia.
   
   
   Click Here to Donate
   
   Thanks :)



2. The car has scuppered my plans for the weekend. I was meant to be going to see a friend of mine but because the car is up to it's old tricks again, it has to go into the garage to get an early-MOT.



3. My first badminton session went so well. It was really fun - and I even won the most games! I never win! I got all competetive, which is so unlike me. I'm aching all over now, which was what I was hoping for. I can't wait 'til next week's session now :)



4. Jem bought two new things for the kitchen last night when she went to Ikea so I'll probably post them after the weekend cos they're very cool.



5. I'm getting back to my writing today! Yay!



6. Finally: have a great weekend!

Labels: badminton, car, hilary, house stuff, life

by Ys | COMMENTS? 5 | permalink |

I've been making some adjustments. Actually, what I really mean is that I've been distracting myself from writing by playing with new gadgets online that I'm sure to get bored of when my writing bug returns.

So I've finally added a few silly videos of the Pugs to my Youtube page...



There is a permanent link on the right-hand side of the page as well :)

Plus, I've taken Gen's advice, and have got myself a Flickr. Because I didn't update my Photography site anymore, I thought I'd save some space, close it down and move my favourite pictures onto Flickr. Plus I think it'll give me a new burst of enthusiasm to start taking photos again. I'd actually forgotten the pretty shots of Fightstar I've got over the last year or so. I'll have to take my camera to the gigs again, I think :)

And my final new development is non-Blog related. I am going to start playing badminton. I used to play it a lot as a child/teen but when I got older I just stopped. There is now a leisure centre right down the road from me so Jem and I have decided to take up the hobby again. My first session is tomorrow morning and, for a girl who hates exercise of any kind, I am actually very excited. You just know there's going to be a thousand and one cock jokes being said tomorrow morning, of course...

Labels: badminton, blogging, flickr, life, photos, video, websites, youtube

by Ys | COMMENTS? 1 | permalink |

Remember I said I'd fallen in love with the Circus Kitchen stuff? Well, Ray give into me and he got me two of the things (actually the two not listed on the website)...



I fell in love with the teapot as soon as I saw it. I have no idea why cos I haven't made tea in a teapot since I was a kid. But it's just so gorgeous and looks so good in the kitchen:



I tried it out for the first time last night and let me tell you the tea tasted lovely :)



I now want matching coffee, sugar and biscuit barrels. Plus I want the funky cutlery set to match as well.

The house is really starting to come together now. Mammy and Daddy got a new sofa so have given us their spare (which is also a sofa-bed so now when we have guests they have somewhere to sleep!). Which meant we could move the furniture around in the main room, finally able to split the front and back of the room into two separate areas. So the front part of the room, the social part, looks like this:



And the back part of the room, the quiet place, where the computer is and now there's a place to read as well, looks like this:



I love how quickly the house is finally coming together. It took us six months but finally it's looking like a real, grown-up's house. So everyone is invited round for cups of tea now :) The reason for the little treats was because we got our deposit back from the estate agent! Yes, finally, we got our money back. The manager had to handle the case in the end cos the guy we'd been dealing with has been given the sack cos he was doing his job wrong! Typical! Never mind, at least we have our money back (four months later...). And the house is at last starting to feel like a real home :)

Labels: estate agent, house stuff, money, photos, shopping

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |

I am very annoyed by the ending of Dr Who this weekend. The part I did like was that the Doctor didn't die (David Tennent is hilarious as Dr Who) and that he was morbidly depressed at the end of the show (I do like dark emotions). But I have a big gripe with the fact that they got rid of Donna.



Not only was she a great character - managing to be strong, funny, gentle and loving all in one - but she was, as far as I'm concerned, one of the only quote-unquote normal women on TV. What I mean by that is that she's a woman - not a girl; she's over the age of thirty and actually looks her age; she dresses in clothes made for a woman not a teen, plus she doesn't have everything hanging out (so rare these days). I was annoyed enough when the creators of the show said no way to any hanky panky between her and the Doctor - I mean, why wouldn't a millenium-old man fancy a strong woman who can keep him in line? Just because she's not skinny, blonde, buxom and submissive, doesn't mean she's not attractive. Now that her character has been shown the exit door, I honestly can't think of any single female on TV or film who would make as good a role model as she was. I don't get attached to female's in the media very often because none of them speak to me on any level other than the odd "she's hot". I know it's probably a boring thing to hear - yet another pissed female griping on about how the only women depicted in the media are skinny, young blonde girls without any sense, but it's true! Sure, I have a chip on my shoulder because I'm not skinny, blonde and stupid, but that's cos I'm average-weight, dark-haired and have a brain - and am of the opinion that when I have children I don't want them to be raised to believe that's the be all and end all of life. There should be more characters like Donna on the TV! Much, much more. The media is so centred around youth and skinniness, and stupidity, and selfishness, and beauty, and every one needing to look and act the same (be that blonde bimbos or angry goths - I am completely aware there are two stereotypes of women portrayed). I've never followed the crowd so now that the media is focused on only one stereotype character for all their female roles I find it extrmely difficult to relate to them, and to then enjoy the programme. Rant, rant, rant ;)

I was cheered up Sunday evening when Nadal won Wimbledon!



It went to a five-set game, even though Nadal was winning by two sets by the time they went into the third set. He did it just to keep us all on the edge of our seats ;) It was nerve-wrecking to watch (poor Ray got his hand squeezed too hard several times) and when he finally did win we all hollered. And he was so gracious in his victory as well. Truly adorable. Finally some fair play: the best player of the tournament won. I'm going to miss the tennis ...

Labels: dr who, nadal, photos, rant, tennis, wimbledon

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |

Usually Saturday is mother/daughter day but this week we brought it forward to a Wednesday. So off we trundled to the cinema (I can't tell you how fun it is to have a cinema within walking distance) to see Hancock.

I'd seen the trailer for it a few times and it looked absolutely hilarious. It didn't disappoint. It was very funny. I always love to hear the entire cinema laughing out loud together. But it soon twisted away from comedy and went to some other place. There was superhero-action scenes, love scenes, sad scenes, more funny scenes. It was a hard one to pin down, which made me love it, of course. You know how I love to mix genres.



Now: tennis. Lleyton Hewitt is out. Federrer kicked his ass. I then hoped the Croation guy might kick Federrer's ass but he didn't. But I was glad to see that Nadal booted Murray out so convincingly. I know I should support Murray cos he's British, and in a way I do, but he's such an arogant git I find it hard to back him completely. I like Nadal. He's the best player at the tournament. And, yes, he does have lovely arms, and, yes, a lovely bum too, but, contrary to popular belief Raymond that is not why I like him; I happen to think he's good at tennis. And I want him to win. But then I wanted that last year and the year before so what I want doesn't really come into it, does it?

Labels: films, tennis

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |

Ray and I went out last night for drinks. While we were in the pub we decided to treat ourselves to a desert. We were tempted to have two separate choices but it worked out cheaper (and you know how I love to save every penny I can) if we shared something called an Ultimate Sharing Sundae. It sounded lovely:

Chocolate fudge cake, profiteroles, vanilla flavour ice cream, Cadbury’s Crunchie Nuggets and chocolate flakes with chocolate flavour fudge sauce and a whip of cream

And it was. But it was also huge. It was apparently meant for two people to share but I think even four would have struggled. I ate as much as I could but I had to leave the rest for Ray. I think I must have gained about fifty pounds just by looking at it!

We ended the evening in Tesco - yes, we are that hardcore ;) We bought two storage boxes (blue and black, not silver and black, though) for the bedroom. While I fell in love with all the circus kitchen accessories, which all appeared to be on the sale, which probably means they won't be available for much longer :( I can't wait 'til we can properly dress the kitchen.

Now then, do you want to test how smart you are? It's an english test. I am a writer, an avid reader, and English is my first language... yet I only got 15/20! Test Your Brain. Let me know how you got on :)

Labels: food, house stuff, pub, quiz, ray, shopping

by Ys | COMMENTS? 5 | permalink |

Last night I went to visit my in-laws. Ray's mother was in work and his gran is poorly so after a bit of chatting we amused ourselves with some old photos Ray had found.

I come from a family that documented most of our lives from childhood onwards. Actually, I think it slowed down once we all got into our teens but then we were able to take over the job ourselves and so there has always been albums full of photos in the cupboards. The other week my parents dug them out and we all stood in the kitchen reminiscing, laughing and teasing each other about the funny faces we were pulling in the shots.

I forget that other people don't take as many photographs. I forget that other people don't put their photos into albums.

Last night I sat down expecting to see heaps of embarrassing photos of Ray when in fact there was only a handful that he featured in. One when he was about twelve - such a skinny blonde thing, and always in a baseball cap. The others from his uncles wedding when he was wearing make-up to cover up a black eye from a fight the night before. He assures me the fight had not been his or his uncle's fault but do you think I beleive him? Do I heck! ;) And finally some photos of him with his cousin proudly holding up some fish they'd caught.

He doesn't say it but I know he feels sad that there aren't more photos of him. That my endless albums worth of childhood photos remind him that his life was different to mine. It made me think about my own childhood.

Ray has always said he loves visiting my family because our house is a home, that everyone can say and do what they like - we're all a bunch of idiots who don't care, basically. I didn't realise just how fun and relaxed and filled with love my family home was and is. I went through some tough times with my family in my late-teen years but looking at us now and how we were before the bad times I wonder how it ever happened, how they could be the same parents who hurt me so much. Because they're not like that anymore. They weren't before and they're not now.

I guess moving out of home has made me look at my family and my family life in a new light, from a different angle. I had a wonderfully happy childhood, no matter how bad it got after puberty hit, the childhood was fun. And in between the bad times the good times were always so good. It's nice to be able to appreciate the good parts of life. I spent so long concentrating on the negative that I forgot to see that there was some damn good times mixed in there too.

Basically: my family rule! ;)

Labels: childhood, daddy, family, in-laws, love, mammy, photos

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |