Pre-Weekend Hits

I'm still coughing. I have no idea why.

Badminton sucked today. I won four out of the six games but there were too many other badminton players there. Only they weren't playing more just making noise and pissing me off. Why has everyone in Wales decided to play badminton now? And why are they playing it where I go to play?

I averted a crisis over shopping bills. Do you know it's true what grown up people say: talking about things before they esculate into hysteria is a good move. And there was me thinking the head-in-sand option was the best one to go with.

The cleaning was strangely fun today. I zapped every single room downstairs with my polish, lemony Mr Muscle and vaccum cleaner. My back now hurts and the vaccum cleaner is making strange high-pitched noises.

The housing market is crashing, it'll be years and years before we can afford to get onto the ladder. So we're all three stuck here. Growing older and more irritated by one another. This is God's little joke. He's up there on His cloud, chuckling and pointing, saying, I let you move out; don't go asking for more than rented accomodation. He tries me. And I love Him for it.

Sex was amazing last night. (God isn't spiteful all the time.)

I have absolutely nothing planned for the weekend. And I like that fact. Who needs plans? The last-minute ones are always much more fun :)

I tell a lie there is one plan: to buy the new copy of Look magazine. I'll be lost in celeb goss and fashion for the weekend. See you Monday!

Labels: badminton, house stuff, life, money, religion, sex

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

I Am A Girl

I'm dog-sitting again so naturally I get a text from Ray saying he's finishing up work early today :/ It's amazing how in equal measures that boy can make me feel so strong and capable and yet at the same time weak and useless. The dog-sitting has really upped my confidence these last few weeks. I always hate the thought of doing the jobs and yet after a few goes it just makes me feel so much better about myself. It's not the whole work ethic thing; I've never been one to need a job to define myself or to make myself worthy. I think it's just the fact that I'm doing something by myself and even though things always go wrong I somehow manage to deal with it. It makes me stronger, which I like, because I get far too shy and introverted sometimes.

I am now hooked on... The Hills. I know, I know, what am I thinking, right? Well, I thought the same thing when I first watched an episode. I sat laughing, asking what the hell the show was all about. But somehow I've got hooked. I think it's cos Lauren (the main girl) seems like a me kind of girl, as in she's normal and not overly Hollywood. Hey, if nothing else we all need a guilty pleasure, don't we? ;)



In related-girlie news: I went shopping Saturday. I know we're poor and getting poorer (so far new bills include the car, the electric and gas, and the water) but as a treat for all the work I've been doing I bought myself: a navy top and flared jeans. Funnily enough I only tried the top on cos it looked pretty and with no intentions on buying it, and only picked up the jeans cos I was wearing a skirt and so needed trousers to try the top on with. My number one rule when trying not to shop is to not to take a whole outfit into the changing room cos you just know that you're going to fall in love and end up spending ten times more than you ever intended to. Oh well, it's a pretty outfit and I did need some new jeans... ;)

I'm allowing myself one more treat and that's to go and see my friend for a lunch date. I haven't seen her in ages (we're both always too poor) so it's going to be really nice to spend a good few hours doing the girlie chat thing.

And that's all my girlie news for the day ;)

Labels: dog-sitting, friends, life, money, ray, shopping, the hills, tv

by Ys | COMMENTS? 1 | permalink |  

on being annoyed

I'm annoyed so I thought I'd whineblog about it to make myself feel better.

Monday I asked Ray to take the day off work. He said he had to go in. Tuesday I tried again. "I'm not going to be here for the rest of the week." But he had to go into work. Now today, Friday, the day I'm away he leaves me a message saying that he's got the day off work. To say I was annoyed is an understatement. Yes, I know, sensible me says that we need the money and he can't just go taking days off whenever he feels like it; and it's not his fault that the boss gave him today off. But screw being sensible! I want to bitch and whine about the fact that I asked for two days this week and he said no and then when I'm away he has a day off! So my Quality Time With Ray has now turned into Ray Hanging Out With Jemma Until It's Time To Pick Me Up. Which just isn't fair.

On top of that: money. My least favourite subject. Ray got on the phone to me last night and the first thing he said after hello was that the gas and electric is going up another 20-odd percent next month (oh joy), and, that the exhaust has fallen off the car. The car that we just spent £220 fixing (I never did tell the Tale of the Car of Woe, did I? I'll try to remember that) now has to have at least another £50 spent on it. I told him he could have left that wonderful news until I'd come home.

This week has been a bad one. But I think I'm coping remarkably well considering this is my third day off the pill. I've only burst into tears a few times ;)

Labels: car, dog-sitting, life, money, ray, the pill

by Ys | COMMENTS? 4 | permalink |  

How The Day Ended

Ray came home early from work to join me in my lazy day. Well, that wasn't really why he came home early. The why is because his co-woker decided to give himself the day off and didn't inform Ray until an hour after Ray had been sitting in his house waiting to get going! The excuse was the van was broken. Ray had his car, obviously, and therefore they could have gone to work in that but that didn't happen so said he was going to do as much work as he could on his own in the house they're working on. By 2pm he couldn't do anymore cos he needed tools that were in the van, which he hadn't had chance to get that morning. So he wasn't in the best of moods when he got home. I'm of the belief that work life should be a happy place. Usually it is for him but his co-worker is the boss's son so although the boss and son might communicate between each other neither one of them thinks to let Ray know. It happens a lot and is usually the only reason Ray gets pissed at them. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't being paid minimum wage. He works hard and deserves more. When they piss about like this he gets annoyed and gets very itchy feet. On top of that we can't afford to have random day's off because that means we're down a fair chunk of money, which just isn't workable for us. I know things will be fine again today (no early arrivals yet anyway) but I do wonder just how much longer this will continue. Going self-employed is an option we've been discussing cos then his boss would pay him on a day rate (of his own choosing) and be able to do other work for people so really he could work/earn as much or as little as he chose to. But there's risks involved. More financial than anything else. Such as the dreaded tax man. Ray's been self-employed before so he knows what he's doing but there's actual bills that need paying that could see us out on the street if they're not paid this time round. Ahh there's always decisions to make, isn't there? And they're never easy. Any one gone self-employed? Any advice? Scream yay or nay!

Anyway, my lazy day did continue. I held Ray while I read. He slept on and off, waking up to tickle me every now and then. We made love, we made food. Ray then went out to the cinema with his cousin. I answered some emails, wrote in my diary. Then I decided it would be best to wrap Ray's birthday presents up because I think they're so so pretty that I keep getting them out to look at them! It's quite pathetic. So last night I wrapped them up and they're now hiding in Jem's room waiting for the two weeks to be up. The rest of the evening was spent laughing at Halo 2 and reading. My reading bug is fierce at the moment. I cannot put the damn book down (I'm re-reading the Dark Tower series so it's one of those seven books). I love it when I can't stop reading; it always, always helps to improve my writing. Ray returned home with chocolate and Starbursts (remember when they were called Opal Fruits? I still call them that; Starbursts is such a stupid name and makes no sense), which I picked at until it was time for bed.

I woke this morning pining longingly for my lazy day to be able to start over again. I doubt I'll have another day like that again this summer. I think you're allowed one a season, right? Roll on Autumn then! ;)

Labels: birthday, life, money, presents, ray, reading, self-employed, writing

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

How Much Do You Say?

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 |  

Making Tea & Home

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 |  

People & Politics & Pulling Myself Together

I read the following article and thought Ahh, thank God, at last someone who says it how it is:

• 'Miserable' voters slammed

Then I noticed there was nearly three hundred comments after it so I clicked on them and read a few. Everyone was disagreeing with the article, going on about how hard life was and how the Labour government had ruined our entire lives. I was beyond shocked. I mean, I was a child in the 80's so if I can remember how bad life used to be in this country why can't the older generation who were actually paying the bills during that time? How can people honestly say that we live hard, poor lives these days? Think of all the gadgets in your home and how much they cost. When I was a child we had hand-me-down clothes and toys, we could only just afford to run one car - and that car was not brand new, it was always second- or even third-hand. Our family "holidays" were just camping trips by the beach because we couldn't afford anything else. The high-paid, yuppies in the cities were well-off in the 80's but the ordinary people were not. These days those ordinary people are driving thousand-pound's worth of cars - at least two per home! They're jet-setting off to hot countries two or three times a year. Their children have mobile phones, and TV's and DVD's in their bedrooms. They have XBOX's and Playstations - and they have PC's as well.

I am so infuriated with the whining, whinging, self-obsessed people who live in this country alongside me! We all spent like lunatics for years and years and no one saved. This is the downside of living such a life. You always have to pay in the end. You'd have thought a credit-obsessed nation would understand that. But, no, they'd rather moo on about how hard their lives are because they can only afford to have one holiday a year. Well, in this house we can't even afford that one holiday. We can make the bills - just. The cost of the car kills us but we do what we know has to be done: we sacrifice frivulous spending, we sacrifice our social lives, so we can afford to live. That's how life has to be sometimes. If I'm only twenty-five and I've already got that message, why haven't the older generation?

And then I went along to Jenn's blog and she totally put into (beautiful) words exactly how I've been feeling lately.

Lately my... positivity(?) has been taking big hits. So last week I began working on gaining it back ("it" includes me enjoying work, having good self-esteem, being excited over the little things... ) All those things have been slipping away from me for the past month. I don't like be unhappy (who does?) b/c unhappiness is so addictive. it's so easy to stay unhappy and it's such a self-validating drug. It's destructive and I know it's not worth putting mental energy into.

Ray and I had a date last night (our first one in months cos we haven't been able to afford it) and I tried explaining to him how something feels missing from my life, as if I want to do something but I'm not sure what and it's driving me up the wall. That coupled with my everything's-getting-me-down mood has made me feel really weird lately. Money is a factor, I know that. Worrying about it and having to keep a tight hold on the reins, not being able to do whatever I want whenever I want. I have my independence but I've not really been able to use it since the first month we moved in because then life got in the way. I miss being happy and positive and giggly and silly. The house feels very oppressive. When Hilary stayed she lifted us all up and I worried about not a single thing. As soon as she left I felt the house dip again. I hated that.

So I'm making a firm decision now: no more moping, no more I-wish-this, no more listening to crap that doesn't even matter. I am in love, I am loved in return, I have my own place, Sweepie is a naughty little thing but she's my baby and I love her and I have her here with me. I have the sea and the beach and beautiful walks. I don't want to listen to woe-is-me anymore. I'm taking my life back. My life.

Enjoy your weekends! :)

Labels: life, love, money, politics, rant

by Ys | COMMENTS? 4 | permalink |  

Estate Agent Hell

This morning I had to go and see the estate agent to try and get my bond back. He'd been adamant that on the 5 June he'd sign the paper and we could have our money. Of course today he tells us that we have to wait 'til 4 July because that's the earliest it can be retrieved. Understandably I got extremely annoyed. The contract he reckons we have with his agency isn't valid because the contract he had with our landlord was broken - by him breaking the agreements of said contract by not paying the landlord any of the rent we'd paid through the estate agent - therefore any hold he had over this house and of the people living in it (i.e. us) was over. He won't accept that, though. He still thinks the landlord has a contract with them!

The landlord ditched them back in March and we had a new contract directly with him from the beginning of that month. Therefore the estate agents should have got in touch with the government scheme holding our deposit money, explained their company was a waste of space who stole money off people, and then our deposit would have been released and we'd have had our money. But, no, he won't do that. He thinks he's right and we're wrong. So I shouted. I know you're not meant to do that. I know you're meant to stay calm, explain your situation, get your point across calmly, etc., etc. but I've already done that too many times to remember. So I told his contract meant nothing, that I knew my rights, that I was going to get that deposit back whether he liked it or not. I said I'd ring the people myself and get it back. I had to leave the shop (storm out more like... ;D) then because I honestly thought I was going to hit him. And I'm not a violent person in any way. He just really wound me up.

Half an hour later Jemma got a phone call from him. He'd rang the place who had our deposit (the government scheme thingy that keeps all deposits safe from scrupulous estate agents and landlords who'd otherwise pocket it) and he claimed they said they couldn't release our money 'til 4 July. But that he'd sign the cheque himself in front of us on that day. If he doesn't have our money himself, if that deposit money is in this government scheme then why would he be the one signing the cheque? I'm very suspicious. I've contacted the government scheme place myself and am waiting to hear if our money is with them or not. If it's not there'll be hell to pay. No one steals from me! Not when I'm so skint I need every penny I can get.

The moral of the story is: shout and demand and you get things moving. As to whether or not I'll ever get this damn deposit money back... well I'll just have to wait another month to see.

Labels: estate agent, house stuff, jem, money

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Money is Evil

I'm not in the best of moods.

Money always leads to arguments. I always said that was so when I was growing up and now I have a (small) family of my own I find it's more than true. I stand by my first ever statement about money: it's evil. It makes people nasty. Of course I have to go to work all weekend to make that evil money to fill up my bank account for my in case of emergencies fund (which really means birthdays and Christmas). In a way I miss having no money at all. Things were easier then. Of course I was relying on my parents evil money to pay for the house I was living in, but personal money wasn't even a thought for me. I couldn't afford to buy new clothes or go out anywhere expensive. Things were easier then. Now I have to worry about bills being paid, getting enough money to put food on the table, managing the weekly savings so that we have enough when the big bills come through at the end of the month. Which makes me the person to hate when the money isn't as high as it should be. In fact this time the money was as high as it was meant to but because I didn't know that figure off the top off my head (yes, I'm slipping this week: too much sun and not enough slaving over figures) a tantrum was had. The quiet kind that leaves me feeling very lonely and helpless. Of course I love having control over the finances, I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it, but that does mean when things are spent when they shouldn't be and I say, "It's time to tighten the belt," I'm the bad guy. I'm the one who has to say no. Not that I said no last night or that we needed to spend less. In fact we spent a good £20 less on food this week than we usually do (I still don't know how that happened...). But the bank account said a figure that wasn't wanted to be read. So naturally it's my fault. I still can't work out why that was the case either, though...

Basically: money is evil. It makes nice people turn into bastards. We should just go back to trading.

Of course I'll need some of that evil money to fund me a trip to see the new X-Files Movie. When was that made and why did I only find out about it today?

Labels: films, house stuff, life, love, money, x-files

by Ys | COMMENTS? 5 | permalink |  

Money All Gone

The money didn't show up but the period did. So Ray has long hair but isn't going to become a father so that all worked out well.

We had some car news this weekend. Little Red went in for a pre-MOT cos he was making some disgustingly alarming groaning noises down by my feet, which sounded an awful lot like the brakes wearing away. Turns out it was the brakes. But not just the brakes. We came home with five pages of faults - twenty-six problems in all. The only good thing we were told was that we had four good tyres. The rest had to be repaired or else scrapped within ten days. The cost to repair was going to be £800. We have no choice. The car has to be scrapped. I'll do An Ode To Little Red in the next post but needless to say, we found a new car (more about that in the next post). £700. Which means we now have very little savings and are in debt to our respective families, who very kindly offered to help out. That means Ray needs weekend work and I need dog-sitting jobs.

Turns out I'm doing better than Ray. I have three jobs lined up in the next month. I've been out of work for the last two months, and before that I'd been out for about five due to the fact that I was raising the pups at home. So this will be my first proper back-to-work string of jobs in a long time. I'll admit I'm a little anxious about it but only because I think someone's going to break into the house and rape me. So far that hasn't happened so I'll continue to stress myself out about it in the belief that if I'm worrying about it it won't happen. So I have about £50 to put towards the repayments (the rest has to go into the bank cos I am low on funds) so far. I'm hoping the run of work continues (for both of us) because to repay our debt we're having to live on no spare money at all during the coming weeks. Which means we buy food, put diesel in the car, put money aside for the bills and that's it. No drinks down the pub, no long trips out in the car, no treats in the clothes shops, no much-needed armchair in the living-room. We think we'll have to live like this for the next six to eight weeks.

So who's going to crack first? Me? Or everyone else who has to be put with my whining about boredom and my hatred of money and how much it makes everything suck and how badly I just want to look at some sale items and please can I have it please?

Saying all that, it's a super cute car and well worth the money. We had a great deal on it. And we think it's a girl. She/he is coming home with us tonight. Ray's so excited he could barely sleep last night. He won't be so excited a few weeks in and he says "Can I just get this...?" And I say, "No. You got that bloody car. Live with it." Hehehe.

Labels: car, house stuff, life, money, ray

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Things Go Missing

The day didn't start well. Ten pound missing from the Shopping Money Pot on the kitchen unit. I searched the pot, tipped all the contents out, quizzed Jem to make sure she definitely put it in there and not somewhere safe - you know that Safe Place we all have where things always end up getting lost forever. But she was adamant the tenner had been put in the pot.

There's another pot by the Shopping Pot, this one is called the Dog Biscuit Pot cos it holds, yes, the dog biscuits. Ray brought a ten pound tip home last night for Outstanding Tiling and Grouting (I'm so proud of my man) and I put that ten pound in the Dog Biscuit Pot, sticking up so I'd know where it was, so I knew not to out it somewhere safe. It was to be Ray's Getting His Hair Cut Money.

So I took a guess that maybe Ray had got the tenner's mixed up, put the Shopping Money tenner in his wallet and skipped off to work this morning. So I just took the Ray's Getting His Hair Cut tenner into town to finish off the shopping. I texted him to make sure, all the while cursing him lovingly for his lack of knowledge about different pots meaning different money which belong to different people. Yes, the ten pounds look the same but they're not - they're not! Nearly at the shop and he texted to say he had not taken the ten pound, that he'd given it to me to keep safe 'til tomorrow (when he gets his hair cut). Don't worry, he said, we'll look for the missing tenner tonight.

Hmm.

Sounds like a plan, I know, but I've searched the kitchen, Jemma's searched the kitchen, and there is no second ten pound note. We fear the dog might have climbed up onto the unit and eaten the Shopping Money note because she's weird and loves the taste of money in her mouth. Which means I've spent the Ray's Getting His Hair Cut money already. Which means there will be no hair cut. Which means his hair will keep on growing thicker and thicker until he ends up with a mullet. Because, yes, we're that skint that we don't have a spare ten pounds - the only reason he could get his hair cut this weekend was cos that money was a tip.

So now I'm thinking I might have to perform surgery on the dog. And while I'm in there I may as well look for my missing period. It's over two hours late. Yes, I know, only hours. But every second counts when you desperately don't want there to be a bun in the oven. Not that there could be anyway, aside from an act of God. Can sperms really get through Pill Defensives and Condom Defensives?

Oh well, there's some good things about today: it's a Friday, which means it's the weekend in about four hours; I'm wearing Ray's belt again which might mean it'll end up tied round other parts of me than my waist again later tonight; my hair has dried in perfect pretty ringlets; it's raining so I don't have to walk the dogs (plus they went for a huge walk last night); it's lunchtime at last so I can eat.

If any one finds ten pounds - it's mine!

Labels: condoms, dogs, hair cut, house stuff, money, ray, sex, shopping, the pill

by Ys | COMMENTS? 4 | permalink |  

The Morning After

Needless to say: the money ran out. The week-long celebrations finally caught up with us and the bank account hehe. So we're pretty much housebound for this weekend. That's okay. It was a fun week celebrating Jem's birthday; we have another month to recover in time for my birthday ;)

This week hasn't been too good actually. Everything just got on top of me Wednesday night. Moving out is quite stressful. I'm good with emotional stress but it seems financial stuff gets to me in the end. It was just realising that we'd spent over a hundred pound in one week that set me into a panic. Plus we still haven't had a gas or electric bill so we're not even sure that we're saving enough for them. How much is an average monthly bill (combined)? On top of that there's still the stress with the estate agent, which we haven't felt brave enough to sort out yet. We have promised each other that tonight is the night.

Money aside, there's problems with Sweepie. She had a seizure yesterday. She's had a few fainting episodes throughout her life but these last few months they've become more regular and then yesterday she had a full-on seizure. So today she's gone to the vets with Mammy to see what tablet she needs to be put on. That's been very upsetting :/

So I'm just hoping that nothing else goes wrong now. At least the roof didn't blow off when the storms hit... I think most people seem to be having one of these weeks, though. There's not a lot happening on the blogs I read. Must be something about the second week of March that sets everyone off. I can't wait for it to be over.

Labels: birthday, house stuff, jem, money, ray, seizure, sweepie

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |  

Tired And Shopping

My eyes are sore and useless. I have no idea what's wrong with them. I think they're just playing up cos I have an optician's appointment next weekend. I wish they'd stop being so tired. I can't get a thing done cos I can't read the words properly, which is giving me a headache. They'll be fine once the appointments done, of course. They'll magically start behaving themselves again. It's like when you go to the dentist, only in reverse. When I go to the dentist my teeth feel fine, then a couple of days later I'll get a toothache. It's always gone within a few days. Must be some kind of pyschological thing.

My eyes are probably tired cos I didn't go to sleep 'til late (I was having fun) and then have spent the morning running round doing stuff. The dogs needed walking, of course; then I had to go and start the shopping. Shop Day has become a bit of a nightmare now. Jem and I start the shopping in the morning, doing the supermarkets in town, picking up any bargains and any of the usual stuff we get from those shops. I always return home at lunchtime starving and with aching arms and shoulders from the heavy bags. By the time 7 o'clock hits this evening we'll be heading off to finish the rest of the shopping, at the two supermarkets that we need a car to get to. It'll be fine in the first shop, all of us giggling and laughing about weird products and how been as Sean Bean no longer endorses the store we're not even sure we want to be seen anywhere near it never mind purchasing goods from it! But by the time we reach the second and final store we all get tired and grumpy. Ray mopes behind with the trolley, feeling excluded; Jem wanders off and starts asking if we can add this to the trolley and that to the trolley; while I turn into a super bitch cos I'm having a panic attack trying to add up everything that's going into the trolley and making sure we can actually afford to pay for the stuff when we reach the check out. By the time we get home we're all usually very annoyed, grumpling at each other and mumbling profanities under our breath. Come Friday morning we'll have forgotten all about it. But it'll happen again the following week.

Shopping is just simply too exhausting. It should be an Olympic sport cos it just about kills me. Why was it so fun when I used to shop with Daddy? There was no stress, no arguments; we'd just shop and it was always fun.

I need to get my energy levels up by tomorrow cos we're celebrating Jem's birthday in the night. I will not have tired eyes. I will not have purple shadows under my eyes. For once I will go out looking pretty and nice and girlie. I have to try and remind Ray why he fell for me in the first place ;) I'm going to blame my tiredness on the fact that I'm back on the Pill after my week off. Seems like a good excuse to me ;)

Labels: birthday, daddy, house stuff, jem, money, ray, sex, shopping, the pill

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Sunny Days In My Garden

Sorry for not posting earlier. I was feeling really ill last week and by the time Thursday rolled by I just kind of gave up and moped on the sofa playing Halo. I'm on the mend now, though, and am hoping I will fully recover very soon. I should really have worked on the new layout but I have so many ideas that I just don't know where to start yet. I'll hopefully get one up within the week but don't hold me to that deadline cos I find I'm on the computer a lot less since I've moved. It's the sudden warm weather's fault. I've spent the entire weekend sitting out the back, enjoying the sun, pretending it's summer. It's been amazingly lovely and warm this weekend here in Wales. I love the sun.

This is the poster for the new Narnia film:



It looks very pretty. I have no idea who the boy is, though. Anyone know what's meant to happen in this one? It says it's not out 'til May so that leaves plenty of time to save up. Hehehe. I'm not kidding, though. We have to save for everything now. Because we went out to the gig and the pub last week we weren't able to go out this week. Then it's Valentines Day this week so we won't be able to afford to go out again. Hehehe. It's all totally worth it, though. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I'd gladly never go out pubbing again if it meant I got to keep this house and this wonderful new lifestyle I have here. I really can't wait 'til summer: it's going to be beautiful here.

This has been a bit of a pointless entry, hasn't it? Nothing has happened cos I've just been ill and moping. This week will be better. I hope ;)

Labels: blogging, films, halo, house stuff, illness, layout, life, money, narnia, photos

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Panic Stations

I was planning a nice relaxing day today. You know those days where you just wake up feeling sleepy, the weather's rotten, so you just imagine a day spent curled up on the sofa with your puppies? It didn't happen.

Just as I was brushing my hair after my shower the phone rang. I hurdled the mess to get to the phone in my parent's room. Lucky I answered it because it was my mother. Yesterday she'd ferried some dogs from a dog's home to the vets (where she works as a vet-nurse); she does this quite often. Yesterday she had Falls with her, which, again, happens quite often. Only what they found out today is that one of the dogs she was carrying in the back of her car has Parvovirus. For non-dog owners maybe you don't know what this is. The link will help, but in short it's a really nasty disease that means the infected dog has to be quaranteened from others. The disease can be spread from one dog to the other via human clothing, or other dog's coats or feet. Of course, Falls was with Mammy yesterday. He came into contact with the dog. It might have been brief but it could have been enough to do damage. And we have the puppies who are at a greater risk of fatality to the disease because they are so young, and obviously they aren't vaccinated.

So, after finishing talking to Mammy, I abandoned my relaxing day for some vigorous cleaning. I started by taking note of what everyone had been wearing last night and got Jem and Amber to give me those clothes to put in the wash. I got any shoes, as well, and made sure they were cleaned with disenfectant. Then I stripped the throws off the sofas, the beds out of the dog's baskets and the puppies' soft toys. I then got the mop out, filled it with disenfectant and mopped the kitchen, dining-room and living-room. Then I got the pups out of the cage and mopped their floor down, changed and mopped their bed, before putting fresh newspaper and a clean bed in for them.

Unfortunately, now all we can do is wait and see. Falls wasn't with the infected dog for very long, and although he did play with the pups last night he was tired after his day in work and so did spend most of the night asleep on the sofa. We've done all we can do now. We just have to wait and see and pray that everyone will be okay.

Diseases and worry aside, I did go out for a lovely meal with Jem last night. I ate a lot and we talked about the houses we're going to see at the weekend. We're trying to guess the plan of one of them because it seems like there's too many rooms for such a small space. It took them forty-five minutes to take our bill, as well. And even then they didn't take it, we just went up to the bar and asked if we could pay. You'd think they'd be chomping our hands off for the money.

Okay, I'm going back to worrying now...

Labels: dogs, falls, food, illness, jem, mammy, money, puppies, vets

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Rugby, Presents and Films

Wales lost to Australia on Saturday. The second-half was good - not quite so much shouting at the TV. But Stephen Jones needs to go!

Ray bought himself an xbox 360, after much debate - him saying maybe, us saying do it! He doesn't spend heaps on himself often - pre-me he didn't spend any money on himself - so he needs persuassion. He's got a couple of boy-games to play, but also got me Lego Star Wars II cos he knows how much I love it, aww. I'm sticking with the xbox for now to finish off my Halo 2 campaign. You lose all your old games when you move to xbox 360, you see. I'm in the middle of completeing Halo 2 on Legendary so I'm not moving anywhere 'til it's done!

Sweepie also has some presents - a new Nyla bone cos I lost her other one. And her father also got her a dino-baby toy. She keeps trying to blind the dino-baby but seems to be falling in love with it. Martha destroyed her new toy within twenty-four hours and left the remains all over the bedroom floor.

New films I watched this weekend were: Lady in the Water - nice film, I don't understand why everyone hated it so much cos it was, you know, just nice. None of us could work out how it had been made into a big blockbuster film when it would have worked much better as an indie-flick, and even better than that just as a book. Superman Returns - we tried with that one but the beginning was all over the place. We gave up soon after Clarke met Lois's X-Men husband. I'm sure I'll try it again later in the week. The Queen, which was very, very good; it made me laugh a lot. And a film that didn't villainise Tony Blair! We ended the weekend with The Two Towers. Sure, I've seen it heaps of times before but Ray hasn't seen the un-edited versions so it's an excuse to watch them all again :)

Ray bought me a pretty new top, which is like the orange one I got before but a purple and pink colour instead. I told him not to buy me anything, we had a mini-argument in the middle of the shop, where I told him off for buying me things and making me feel uncomfortable, and he told me off for being so weird about money and accepting gifts from him. The top was pretty and he has a pretty face, so I relented. It's weird: if I have money I don't mind him buying me stuff. But if I don't have much money (like now) I get weird when he gets me stuff. I'm just a weirdo when it comes to money.

Time to get back to dog-walking again then...

Labels: clothes, films, martha, money, ray, rugby, sweepie, tony blair, wales, xbox, xbox 360

by Ys | COMMENTS? 1 | permalink |  

Washing Money

I did sunbathe yesterday. I spent the morning with my ipod plugged into my ears (or on to to be more accurate cos the in-ear-plugs hurt my ears so I have click-over your ear plugs instead; sometimes I do act like a flakey girl ;D), reading Stephen King's Firestarter. I'm not always keen on his earlier work but this one's grabbed me. Sure, it had a bit of hard work to do considering I was still mourning Harry Potter.

In the afternoon I went with Amber to her college so she could re-enrol after her year off last year. She was a little nervous so big sisters one and two went along, too. So I got to sample her driving. She's really good. I was impressed. I am a shockingly nervous passenger but only had to close my eyes twice when I got a little scared. On the way home, we looked for the horses in the field and couldn't find them. Mammy assures us they were probably just hiding in the trees.

On a whim I suggested Ray and I go down my local for a meal out. I haven't been in the mood for going out lately (I blame the shocking weather) so I jumped on my enthusiasm. When Ray got back from work we had to go down to his house so he could pick up his new wallet. Only when we got there he discovered his gran, while being helpful, had gone through his room looking for dirty clothes. Only she also found a bag of sex-stuff. She didn't mention anything but Ray knew the bag had been... handled, shall we say. Dear Lord! But that was forgotten about when it was discovered that Ray's wallet was missing. There was some searching but Ray was hungry and so cos he had his bank card said he'd come home later and search for it. While getting money out of the machine down the road he got a phone call from his mother: the wallet had been found: in the tumble-dryer. Oh dear. As of yet, I don't know how much money was salvaged. It was a new wallet as well with heaps of fun stuff in (such as Star Trek money and a Futurama bank card, which Jem had got him for his birthday) so I hope that everything survived.

When we did finally eat it was a lovely meal. I had the most inventive vegetarian pub meal I've ever had: vegetable ravioli, surrounded by lots of veg in a pasta sauce. It was gorgeous. Mmm. It was hot, though, and I have burned the roof of my mouth pretty bad. It was all worth it.

Mammy's off work today so I'm expecting lots of giggles. SHe's hilarious when she's not in work. Plus Madge is going for her first rendevouz with her Pug boyfriend this afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed for fast swimmers and inviting eggs, okay?

Labels: amber, books, driving, food, jem, mammy, money, ray

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |  

Shopping, Pug Show & A Birthday

I had a great weekend at Ray's. I think his twenty-first was celebrated in style and when we parted company last night he was still smiling so I would consider it a successful birthday. It was strange having to say goodnight to him actually, back to the usual place: my back door; I get used to sharing a bed with him far too quickly. Twenty-four years of sleeping alone, two nights sharing a bed with a boy and I miss him when he's not there. The female brain is a strange thing.

My weekend turned into one of those long weekends you hear people talk about. Which basically meant I'd finished all the chapters I had prepared on the Wednesday, and then went out doing other stuff on Thursday and Friday, as well as being away for the weekend.

Thursday I went shopping with Mammy and Jemma. Shopping with Mammy is amazing. She just makes it so much fun. And we were all having so much fun we had to stop halfway for lunch in the shop's cafe cos we'd exhausted ourselves. I ended up with an orange top, a stripey one with button-details around the neck and a pair of blue jeans. I've been looking for pictures of the clothes online but apparently they don't exist online so I'll take some pictures and either add them to the post later or else I'll post them next time. Call me biased but I think they're gorgeous.

Friday we had the Pug Show. That was a six o'clock start - yawn. It was fun, though, all of us in the car, laughing along with the Foo Fighters and Chris Moyles, following this rickety old bus which looked as though it had fallen through a time rift from the 1970's - even the people on the bus were dressed in 70's style clothes! The day was long at the Pug show. Falls went on early and won third and we were all very proud. Sweepie got sleepie but couldn't sleep until she crashed out on my lap just before her class. So in a class of twenty-three dogs (!) she didn't really shine enough and ended up with no placement. But we were all very proud of her and she got lots of hugs and kisses. She didn't care, though, she just wanted to go home. Bless.

Then on Saturday I got Ray to actually spend some money on himself. He's awful with money. He never gets himself anything; he just frits the money away. He wanted to buy me stuff but I refused, telling him I'd been shopping already and so his extra money from his boss (cos I'm not the only one who loves him apparently) got spent on himself. I took his hand and led him into the shops and got him to spend. He ended up buying a gorgeously cute white-tee-and-wool-vest-zip-up-thingy, a green shirt, heaps of spanners for work, and a new pair of trainers. He spent about £130 in one weekend - all on himself! I was very proud of him. I just believe that his bonus pay should go on himself. We had a nice dinner out, as well, although it took about an hour between ordering and getting our food.

Last night I fell asleep at about 11pm with the Bible still in my hands. I never fall asleep when reading the Bible, cos, well, it's just not something you do, is it? So when I woke up, I said a quick prayer, popped the book back on the shelf, climbed under the blankets and promptly fell asleep. I didn't wake up again until about 9:30am. So bang went the brainstorming for the new chapters of Olimpia Valley. So I'll be doing that this afternoon instead.

Time to get my washing done then. I've got a meal out with the in-laws this evening. It's the family meal we always go out for when there's a birthday in Ray's family. Means I get to wear my new orange top so I'm very excited :D

Labels: bible, birthday, jem, mammy, money, ray, shopping, sweepie, writing

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  








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