Decisions About WWW

I got itchy feet with my writing/author/book website so I did a brand new layout:



What do you think?

I used books because obviously the website is about writing books, and I added pictures of my cute glasses, which are the ones I leave upstairs for when I'm writing. The orange colour just came from the glasses. I also decided to switch the updates over into Blogger because Jem wanted to subscribe to them :) Makes it all look a lot neater now, as well, I think; plus it'll be easier to update now.

That just leaves one more site to work on before I get back to my real job (writing)... my photo site. I'm thinking of closing it down. I never add anything new to it anymore because my photography bug seems to have passed itself onto Ray. I really only liked taking photos of the puppies and live bands anyway. I don't have any more puppies because they grew up (yes I do still love taking pictures of Sweepie but I don't feel they're good enough for a website; they're just for me), and the live bands I do see (if I see any) tend to be getting-squashed-down-the-front bands, where you do not want to take your precious camera (well I don't anyway). So I think the website might soon close down. I haven't decided yet, though.

I'll be a bit behind on the blog-reading today because I'm baby-sitting Falls for my mother (Sweepie's brother) and he needs constant attention. So I'll read the blogs tomorrow. Don't all post a hundred times just because I'm a day behind now, okay? ;)

Labels: Fall Out Boy, gigs, layout, photos, puppies, sweepie, websites, writing

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |  

Mother's Day Weekend

Did everyone spoil their mother this Mother's Day? I tell you, when people invent these holidays they don't think about what it's like when you're in a relationship and so have two sets of mother's to visit. Thank God neither of us have step-mother's as well (well, Ray does but she's never really liked him so she doesn't count). I don't know how you'd fit them all into one day!

I spent the morning with Ray's mother. That was nice. Everyone was in a happy mood and were telling tales and making me laugh. When Ray's gran is on she's really on and just makes me laugh the entire time I'm there. Even her tale about planting her daffodil bulbs upside down had me cracking up! Sunday's at Ray's family is often hectic. It's nice when you're feeling brave cos everyone is there and you get to hang out with the kids and the grown-ups and find out all the gossip. But when you're feeling a little fragile it can often be a little daunting. Being a kind boyfriend, Ray tends to keep me away on Sundays. But Mothering Sunday pretty much means it's going to fall on a Sunday. The key was to get there early enough to miss the mad rush. And we did. There was only three adults and two children.

After a quick lunch it was onto my parents' house. We went from a house filled with people to one filled with animals. There's no way to avoid the mad rush of animal welcomes in my house - you just have to put up with it, and wear clothes you don't mind getting hair and mud all over. We got my mother John Barrowman's Autobiography cos she's a dirty perv' who fancies him, plus the usual flowers and chocolates. The plan was to spend a couple of hours but I think we ended up staying for about four. Daddy needed Ray's help to put up a new door, and Mammy wanted to talk to us. So I held Poopy Wednesday in my arms and listened to all of Mammy's gossip.

It was a nice weekend, even if it was a bit busy. Saturday kind of disappeared on me as well. Ray worked in the morning and then when he got back we went back to bed ;) I'm learning there's more and more perks to living alone, you know? We got up to eat pizza and that was about it. So my long list of things to do never got done, well, all expect me, of course ;) So I've got to get everything done in the evenings this week now. I don't regret a thing.

Labels: daddy, family, in-laws, mammy, mother's day, puppies, ray, sex

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |  

Crazy Pug Lady

It's Sweepie's birthday today! She's two years old. Yep, two years ago I was a sane person who thought Pugs were just weird looking half-dogs. I couldn't understand why my mother had wanted to get one and didn't have a clue how much that dog's puppies were going to change my life.

Sweepie was the biggest, the loudest, the brashest of the pack. She made me laugh all the time. She quickly grew into a little princess. It took until she was about six months old for us to become inseperable, and moving here this year has made that closeness even worse (better). I never thought I'd have a tiny little, needy dog like Sweepie. But it's true what my mother said two years ago when I kept asking her why she'd ever want such a pathetic creature: she's like the baby I can't have.

This year I bought her a collar. If you don't know, Pug's necks are quite big and they're not really meant to wear collars. Well, they can wear them but you can't then pop a lead onto them and walk them, cos you can damage their necks. For walks Sweepie always wears her harness. But since moving here I've been worried about what would happen if she got out one day and someone found her but didn't think to get her scanned (she has a microchip, you see). I might never see her again. So I wanted a disk for her. Which meant she had to have a collar to hang it off. I spent about an hour in Pets At Home deciding on which was the right one (I'm so sorry, Ray; you know you love me for my indecisivness).

The little madam wasn't that keen on it to start with but now I think she's growing to like it.





Isn't she smug in her new clothes? She thinks she's a big dog now, like Auntie Martha.

So, there you go. I am now a crazy Pug lady. I love you, baby: Happy Birthday!

Labels: birthday, mammy, martha, photos, presents, puppies, ray, shopping, sweepie

by Ys | COMMENTS? 4 | permalink |  

New Blue Chair

I had a visit from Poopy-Wednesday yesterday. She was exhausting. She's hit a very naughty stage. When she was quiet it was great but when she started running round again I suddenly remembered why I like to see the puppies go to new homes when they hit this age ;) Here's some photos from the day, if you want to see some dog-only pictures :)

Last night I found a bargain chair! You know how I said I wanted my room to have a blue colour-scheme? Well, I don't have a chair for my desk, cos the one I used to use at home was part of a set that belonged to Mammy and Daddy. So since we've moved in I've not been able to sit at my desk. So when I found a blue chair for only eight-pounds I just knew I had to get it! It's this one - but blue. Look at how happy my desk looks now:



It's really comfortable, too. I thought it would be quite nasty, what with the cheap price, but it's very nice, and it encourages me to sit correctly cos it has a proper straight back to it. Usually I just slump in chairs and get a really bad back. So it's cheap, comfortable, kind to my back, and blue! Perfect!

I used it today for the first time. Because today I started back writing, after an absence of... four months. I always knew I'd be taking about two months off to look after the pups, but then we moved as well and it's taken this long to settle and actually find the time and adjust my routine. I can't tell you how good it was to get back to it. I feel complete again. I'm working on the fourth volume of Soul Mates, which is my baby. "Soul Mates" is what got me writing good, got me writing regularly and just made me realise that writing is what I want to do. So I'm also calling the new blue chair a good luck charm been as it all went so well :)

Labels: daddy, dogs, house stuff, life, mammy, photos, puppies, soul mates, writing

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |  

Just Popping In

I'm not officially back online yet, but I'm dog-sitting and he has internet access so I'm taking advantage to make an entry here and finally check out everyone's blogs. I've got heaps of catching up to do so expect a lot of comments throughout the day ;)

The move went really well. We were all exhausted on the Saturday night that we moved. I never ever want to go through that day again; except maybe the part where I was so excited I spent twenty minutes jumping up and down in various places in the house. We didn't have a fridge-freezer or a sofa for the first week, which was hard, but once they were both bought everything fell into place. In fact everything's been perfect ever since the first day. I love the house, I love being so close to the beach; I love my room, I love living with Ray; Sweepie's having a great time, Martha has settled in really quickly. Even the bills, although a little scary, are fun to manage. The scariest part was receiving a £200 council tax bill one week into our stay!

Last weekend I had to say goodbye to Dolores. There were many tears. But she's having a great time with her owners so that's made it a lot easier. We're not having anymore pups for a few years. We've had some bad experiences with the people the pups have been sold to, plus everyone's Pug mad at the moment so they're all trying to make a quick buck by buying a female pup and breeding from them. It's not nice. So we're not breeding again. Maybe never. I think it's the right decision. We only ever did it because we love having babies. It's a shame it went sour.

Right, I'm off to read all the blogs I can now! I hope everyone is well. I should have internet connection in the house within the next week so the entries will soon be back to normal. And, of course, I'll get a heap of pictures together of the new house ;)

EDIT two hours later and I've finally read every single post I've missed! Don't blog too much between now and when I get my connection sorted, okay? ;)

Labels: bills, blogging, martha, moving out, puppies, ray, sweepie

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | 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 |  

Blowing Up A Storm

New week, new start. I caved in, as I always do, and no apology was offered; everything is continuing as if nothing was ever said. At least it makes life here bearable. I seriously hate arguments.

Saturday was a wash out. I went out with Ray to Boots to pick something up for Jem (who was too ill to go herself). I had a voucher that offers me half-price on all Boots own health products. What I was buying was Boots own vitamins. At the till, after having my voucher swiped, the price stayed the same. I asked the woman about it and she said, full of fake smiles, that she'd ask someone if I wanted her to. I knew what that meant: I'd stand there for twenty minutes, feeling more and more ill, and then in the end they'd find a way to say it was my fault. So I just sighed at her not to bother, that I didn't even care anymore. I was perhaps a little more arsey to her than I needed to be but I was ill and in no mood for it. Boots always do that with vouchers. There's always a clause so it ends up with you usually paying more than you expected to. Grr. Once that was done I only managed one more shop before my energy levels crashed. We went back to Ray's house for a cup of tea and I nearly fell asleep so he brought me home. I hate, hate, hate not having energy.

All this being ill has meant I've watched a couple of the reality TV shows I usually always miss. I was totally impressed when Christopher Biggins won "I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here" this weekend. I was sure Janice was going to get it, which just would have been such a shame, cos, funny as she was, she just wasn't winning material. And then I'm also hooked on Strictly Come Dancing, and am of course supporting the Welsh guy Gethin Jones. Not forgetting the non-reality stuff I'm hooked on too: The Blair Years (I miss you Tony :( ) and Tudors (phwoooar). Do you know what I've learnt? That TV isn't as bad as I believed it to be.

The weekend picked up for me yesterday. There was a big wind-storm and a big slab of glass from next door's conservatory blew down our drive. Luckily no one was in the garden at the time so there were no casualties. Then in the evening Ray and I went down the harbour and ate chips. The car was rocking dangerously back and for but Ray assured me it wasn't going to tip. It didn't. And when I got home the pups were running wild in the living-room. When they got sleepy I got to cuddle them on the sofa with Ray, which was really nice and cosy.

And today is the start of a new week. The pups are being put into their new routine now, which means I have exactly ten minutes before I have to be downstairs with them. New routines usually kick the mopiness out of me so I'm hoping this week should see my mood improving. I just need some good news; that'd cheer me up immediately. Constant bad news is just not good for a person.

Oh, and expect the new layout on here very soon. I'm very close to completeing it :)

Labels: arguing, family, jem, layout, neighbours, puppies, ray, shopping, tv, weather, websites

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Optimism Returning

The week's looking a bit better now. Not amazingly so, but at least I've got my energy levels nearly back to normal. Having a shower in the morning does pretty much wipe me out for about thirty minutes afterwards but that's much better than the two-hours it's been all week. I'm actually doing some washing now so I must be feeling a lot better - either that or I'm just running out of clean clothes ;)

I'm afraid to say my parents still aren't talking to me. To be honest, I want an apology for the lies told about me so I don't think I'm making the situation any easier. Soon enough I'll cave in, though, the way I always do. I absolutely hate arguing so I pretty much do anything to avoid it.

To cheer myself up, Ray and I have been making plans for New Years Eve. I did mention a while ago about a little something we were planning. Well, we have got something booked up now but cos it costs so much money we're at the moment trying to see if another place is available instead, which will be much cheaper. It would mean we weren't away for the actual New Years Eve but for the three nights before instead. I guess we can just wrap up warm New Years Eve and go and sit at the top of my hill and be alone up there, watching the fireworks, welcoming in the New Year. Nothing's confirmed yet so I'll just have to patiently wait another couple of weeks.

How can I not be happy, though, when I've got the babies here? Be Warned: this link contains serious squee. They make me melt every single time I see them. I wish I could keep Dolores... Sweepie would hate me for it, though; she doesn't share her mother with anyone ;)

By the way, I've dropped the price of my book "Shadows" - took me a while to figure out how to do it! It's now 9.99 in book form. It'd make a great Christmas present ;) Hehehehe.

I have absolutely no plans for the weekend so fingers crossed it might turn out to be quite a good one ;) So I hope you all have good ones too!

Labels: arguing, family, illness, new years, puppies, self-publishing, shadows, sweepie

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Hibernation

Thanks so much for all the comments I got about my book - on here and in person. You all make me feel very loved, and I am feeling more positive about it all. To be honest, I wasn't feeling overly confident about it all when I first put the book up for purchase. So thank you :)

The weekend was great. Just what it needed to be. Just me and Ray and no one else. I think we only left the house once, and that was to pick up a huge pizza we'd ordered. Mmm, pizza. I ate too much this weekend and have irritated my stomach-lining a bit but, hey, it was all worth it so I'm not complaining. We had one interruption. Saturday night Ray's uncle suddenly rang the house and said he was coming over - even though he'd been told not to by Ray's gran cos she'd wanted me and him to have some time on our own for once. If that wasn't bad enough, he was also bringing his girlfriend (the woman who rudely asked me if I saw Ray every day when I'd only just met her - what business was it of hers?), her sister and niece. Ray got quite pissed off, the uncle knew it, but he still came over. They didn't really bother with us much, just sat in the other room laughing at us. These people (niece excluded of course) are all in their forties, so you'd have thought they'd have better things to talk about than me and Ray. When it looked as though they were going to be a permanent arrangement in the house, Ray and I decided we'd go upstairs and start having noisy sex. But someone (we don't know who) walked in on us kissing and five minutes later they all left. Ha! Apart from that the weekend was perfect. We stayed up late Friday night talking about all kinds of crap, just making sure we were both thinking the same thing relationship-wise - no, neither of us want to get married yet, we don't even want to get engaged, although the feeling that we might does come and go for us over the months; we both just want to enjoy the next couple of years on our own, without thinking about the future or where we might be heading or any of that stuff. So that was a relief to hear everything I felt coming out of Ray's mouth. We then spent Sunday watching all the archaeology programmes about the Ancients, which we both love. So we got to be alone, to talk, to have lots of sex, watch films (the Fantastic Four actually had me laughing out loud at times), and be geeky.

So I basically spent the weekend in hibernation. It was great :D

I did miss Sweepie and the pups a lot, though. I was glad to come home to them but, to be honest, the weekend just wasn't long enough for my liking. I guess they never are, are they?

Labels: life, puppies, ray, self-publishing, sex, sweepie

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Are You Famous?

Well, thank God the mopey moods gone now. I had a really nice day yesterday, what with the that and all the Remembrance Day events, it really did give me the good kick up the arse I needed. So no more wandering round feeling sorry for myself. I'm over it. I'm back to my usual optimistic self.

The weekend was a weird one. Saturday night down the pub was just plain odd. I think Ray might be famous and I just don't know it. Everyone's still obsessed with our relationship - yes, eighteen months down the line! And then one of the little girls got her group of friends to start shrieking Ray's name as soon as I left the room. I got back to find him pretty wound up. I don't know why he didn't just tell them to shut up - I mean, they are only kids. But he's shy and he was just mortified that he'd been singled out in the middle of the pub. The lead girl is desperate to get in his pants at the moment. She's been loudly exclaiming how much she likes to have "taken" guys. Plus she did offer Ray a blow-job for a lift to the local night-club before he and I got together; he turned her down and I don't think she's very happy about that cos guys don't usually turn her down. It was also a sad night cos one of the older guys I like to talk to was hinting at me that his son, who I've known quite well on and off since school, is hooked pretty bad on coke. He was sad about that, and then we all got sad about it cos he is a family friend. Then one of the other older guys who likes to chat came in and started having a go at us cos we're not down the rugby as much - he feels we're not supporting them enough! Well, if the place/club wasn't riddled with coke, under-age sex and rude people then maybe we might chose to socialise there more often. As it is we prefer other pubs where scandal isn't shoved in your face every two seconds. We all came home rather disillusioned by the place and have pretty much decided to keep away for a while under the bitter aftertaste has worn off.

Sunday was a much better day. My pups had opened their eyes! I scooped them up and introduced myself. Wednesday was a little bit scared 'til she caught my scent and realised I was the person who'd been cuddling her for the last week. They're very excitable now and are learning how to walk. So, so cute.

Ray and I got to spend the entire afternoon together, which hasn't happened in ages. He sneakily distracted me while we were in Boots and bought me Davidoff's Cool Water Wave perfume, and some hairdye. Little scamp. He always wants to buy me stuff. I do keep telling him that when I'm a rich author he'll be my kept bitch and he'll have to be bombarded with presents all the time and see how uncomfortable it makes him! ;)

So all in all it was a bit of a strange weekend. There was some ups, some downs, some weird bits and some fun bits. At least my mood is better. I hate being a whiney cow; it's so unnecessary.

Labels: drugs, life, puppies, ray, rugby, sex, shopping

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Stuck In Limbo

I haven't been in the best of moods this week, hence why I haven't blogged anything of worth. Everything seems to be in that limbo-state, which isn't a good place to dwell for too long.

There's some stuff I can talk about, other stuff I can't, other stuff I won't. In brief, I am spending a lot of time sitting around waiting for the pups or Madge to need me. Because it's only their first proper week they don't need me much. Madge needs some extra food, entrance to and from the cage when she pleases; the puppies just need cuddles twice a day for hour/two hour periods to get them used to us all. When they open their eyes I'll have too much work to do running round after them. But their eyes aren't open yet. So I'm in limbo. Sitting around doing nothing makes me extremely bored and mopey.

I know, I know, you could say Why don't you write to fill the time then? The problem with that is I just finished Olimpia Valley and so need some time off from a new novel. I'm reading through Soul Mates books (currently on volume 2) because I'm going to start work on Volume IV next. So why not just write some short stories instead? The problem is the house is very full at the moment. My younger sister has been here all week and only told me yesterday that that's going to be a permanent arrangement now because she's dropped out of college again. So the house is going to be full and noisy, which doesn't make a good environment for writing. If I wasn't on puppy duty I'd just lock myself away in my room, like I normally do, and write that way but I am on puppy duty so that means no writing.

So that hasn't helped my mood. Plus the fact that the house is so full all day and night does mean I'm not getting any time whatsoever to myself, and I'm the kind of person who needs proper alone time at least once a week. I haven't been left on my own in about a month now. That's probably a big reason for my grumpy mood actually. Plus, cos I'm puppy-sitting I'm meant to be down here with the pups most evenings, which means Ray and I get zero time to ourselves. And you know how couples need time on their own - not just for sex, get your minds out of the gutter!

There's some news that I can't talk about cos it's just so up in the air I couldn't even explain even if I wanted to. Another limbo situation. Urgh.

Mammy surprised me with a gorgeous teal-coloured short-sleeved jumper. I fell in love with it about six months ago so I was totally surprised when she handed it to me Wednesday night. She'd had a shopping spree with her friend, and has a store card that gives her about 50% off everything so it only cost her about a fiver :) I love a bargain!

I got to go out Wednesday night. Actually dressed up like a girl, rather than slobbing round the house in my puppy wear (which means dirty jeans and unflattering tops). Me, Jem and Ray went out down the pub for a drink before I dragged Ray home and upstairs for some quality time alone.

So it hasn't all been bad. My mood has pretty much been bad all week but things are looking cautiously positive. Like I say: everything is in limbo so it could go either way. I hope I get the answers next week.

At least Sweepie's eye is doing much better :) She didn't have to go to the vets after all because she's responding so well to the eye cream. Still needs constant cuddles from me though ;)

Labels: amber, clothes, dog-sitting, jem, life, madge, puppies, ray, sweepie, writing

by Ys | COMMENTS? 0 | permalink |  

Window Shopping

I've spent most of the weekend sitting outside Madge's cage, leaving the door open so that she can come and go when she pleases - plus it means I can fuss the pups and take lots of photos hehe. I'm getting very clucky.

I went out to the new Outfit store that opened near me. I really like Outfit cos it has some of my favourite shops all under one roof. I tried a lot of lovely clothes on - mostly green and teal coloured cardigans. They were all pretty much gorgeous but they also had rather shocking price tags. I knew I wasn't spending any money, though, cos I am actually bankrupt at the moment. They gave me a glass of champange at the door and it made me tipsy. Yes, a tiny glass of champagne and I was tipsy. When did I become such a light weight?

Of course I soon ended up in Next, my favourite shop of the moment. I found a gorgeous outfit that I wanted. It's just something you should never do, is it? Take a whole outfit into a changing room to try on - always try on tops only or trousers only, other wise you'll end up lusting after an outfit you know you can't afford, which is just depressing, hehe.

I did very well: I didn't buy a single thing. Oh it was difficult ;)

Labels: puppies, shopping

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Introducing The Twins

Sorry I disappeared off the face of the earth. Madge's birth didn't go quite by the rule book so I've spent a good couple of days with her. But today the wait was finally over: she had two gorgeous, huge, girls.



This is Dolores:



And this is Wednesday:



You can read all about the birth and see more pictures of the little tykes HERE.

I am shattered now. It's been non-stop stress for about four days. Now my work can really begin; my favourite part: the baby-sitting/raising of the litter.

Labels: labour, madge, photos, puppies

by Ys | COMMENTS? 4 | permalink |  

Left Holding The Baby

I've been left in charge of Madge - and she's going into labour! Okay, yes, I know, her labour often takes days of pre-labour pains but she's really uncomfortable and I'm worrying. Mammy's assured me it'll be hours yet and that all I have to do is keep her quiet and calm - but I'm still worrying. Oh Lord, I just saw her stomach muscle twitch! Okay, I might need to get on the phone to my mother and tell her to come home...

Okay, I called her. She says she'll be back in an hour and that it sounds as though she's getting ready for the real labour now. Oh this is so stressful and exciting. I'll be much calmer when my mother gets home.

In non-labour news, I have finally got the new layout up at my Joe site. Check it out here. I adore it.

EDIT 29.10.07: No pups yet. Madge is in for the long haul, I think.

Labels: madge, puppies

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |  

Pre-Weekend Ramblings

Take a look at the wooden-flooring that it took Ray and Daddy three days to complete!



You'd better be impressed cos a part of me will always hate that floor for the hours I spent sitting, playing on the laptop, freezing my ass off cos the back door had to be left open so they could go back and forth cutting bits of wood; watching Ray grow sicker and getting more frustrated by his tiredness. I'm just glad it's all done. And I must admit it does look rather pretty ;)

I think my never-ending period might be ending now. Finally! I was starting to think I'd be stuck with it forever. And I took full of advantage of the flow-stop last night, I assure you ;)

Once it was time to rejoin the real world, I came down to help assemble Madge's cadge for the puppies. I'm starting to let myself get excited now. I feel like it'd be a jinx to get too excited before the birth cos so many things can still go wrong. There's only a few days left now. Whee!

I am starting to wonder if Ray's possibly slipping some of my tablets, though... Isn't it meant to me who's filled up with oestragen and getting clucky?



Bless. He's a bit ill at the moment. I'm hoping it won't spread to his tonsils and give him tonsillitis cos I don't know how I'll take care of and worry about him and a litter of puppies all at the same time. He's keeping himself drugged up and we're hoping he'll get better in the next couple of days.

Jem's Christmas dress arrived yesterday, which cheered her up after a couple of emotional days. We all always feel it when Jem's not feeling right ;) I still think my dress is prettier, though ;) So if you should see two girls wandering round in those dresses they may well be us two. So don't be a scary stalker and murder us, just say a code word or something so I know you read the blog. Say, like, "A light's on" really loudly or something hehe.

Urgh, I'm tired and hungry. At least the sickness has passed. I pop a pill and I get nauseous for a couple of hours, which isn't fun. At least I'm not over-eating and getting fat, which is what everyone else reckons they do when they start on the Pill. Oh and my hormones are doing a lot, lot better today. I've gone a full twenty-four hours without hysterics.

Well, there was a wobbly time last night when Falls (the dog) jumped on me when I was holding a cup of very hot tea and the tea ended up in my crotch. But those were tears of pain. I now have a little burn on my inner left thigh. Lovely. I've not really had a good week, have I?

One of the blogs I read has closed - that's the first time that's happened... no, second time. Bye Bye Silver Neurotic - I hope you find happiness in your new writing ventures.

I need lunch. Now.

Labels: illness, jem, madge, photos, puppies, ray, shopping

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |  

A Weekend of Quitting

I quit with the PHP. But not before I got it work for me, of course. I'm not that much of a quitter. I tried FlexPHPnews but I think I was just on a Stupid Day cos although I worked out the hard stuff - such as setting up the MySQL database and uploading the actual programme, I then couldn't for the life of me figure out where I was meant to upload the content. I had no programme to open. I logged in but then it just took me to the page I was trying to update. So I quit on that and searched around until Cute News seduced me. I took a few hours to familiarise myself with it, learn the codes and stuff. But once I figured it all out I realised it didn't really do what I wanted it to, which was organise the press on the site. It's more for updating news not archiving. So I've decided, although it may take some work, I'm going to do it by hand. If I use frames it'll be simple but I don't know if I want to... We'll see.

So, in the list of Things I Quit This Weekend you can add PHP.

Next, I quit on the rugby (local). In fairness I was told we couldn't get a lift down or back (to feed the dogs at dinner time) but even if I'd not been told that I wouldn't have wanted to go. Me and the rugby just aren't gelling anymore. The boys I was friends with don't talk to me anymore - bar one who probably only still talks to me cos he's in love with Jem. All the older guys say hello but there's a definite sense of you broke the rules from them cos we said they had drug problems in the club (which they do); but that's apparently not a thing to be said aloud.

I did go down to the pub in the evening, though, to watch the rugby (national). The young boys sat by us and entertained me with their usual sex-obsessed ways. I swear they think of nothing else. They also wrongly guessed me and Jem's ages. They said I was twenty-two and she was nineteen.

After that we felt we should show our support by attending the do upstairs. Most of the team went off into town so there was some upset from the committe members. I think there was about twenty of us up there watching a band called Voodosnakes. I'm sure they were great for everyone over the age of forty but for me they just weren't really my thing.

So halfway through the set, when they went on their break (they'd only been playing for fifteen minutes so why they needed a break I don't know), me, Jem and Ray disappeared downstairs, and then outside, and then home.

Today Ray and I were meant to be going to see Stardust in the cinema. I quit on that cos I just wasn't feeling too good. We went for a wander round our usual favourite place on a Sunday afternoon and even then didn't up buying anything; just spent a long time spraying each other with perfume testers to see if we liked any (we didn't). I got ill (dizzy and nauseous) and flaked out on the bed for a while. We then had a yummy chinese take-away mmm. And Amber's adorable friend Dan came round to try and fix our computer. His allergies were really bad so despite my best efforts (well, I did find a box of allergy tablets in the back of the cupboard after hearing him sniffling and sneezing continuously), he had to go home to finally be able to breathe.

Unfortunately I'm still on my period. I hope this is just a side-effect of starting the Pill and not going to be a continuous thing. Cos by day five I'm usually almost at the end of my cycle; the way I am now it looks as though it's going to hang on for a few more days yet. So I had to quit on sex as well, which I wasn't best pleased by.

Tomorrow Daddy and Ray are fixing the new wood floor in the living-room, which means I have to clear out the cupboard so they can move it out of the room. But the good news is this is all being done for Madge and the babies, who should all be with us by this time next week.

I'm glad to say goodbye to this weekend. And I didn't even mention the wisdom tooth pain (one of them is on the move)!

Labels: amber, daddy, gigs, jem, life, madge, puppies, ray, rugby, websites

by Ys | COMMENTS? 2 | permalink |  

Making Plans

Ray cooked me dinner last night, which was great cos that means, what with being away and eating out, I haven't cooked a meal in a whole week now! I am getting lazy. But I will be cooking tonight. I just haven't decided what yet. Having to wait 'til he'd finished work meant I was very hungry by the time I was eating. I did contemplate ending the relationship due to my hunger ... hehehe.

We had the house to ourselves at his place again. I'm starting to get a complex - do his family not like me anymore? They always disappear when I show up, which isn't often due to Ray's funny work times. Hmm. I harassed Ray by taking silly pictures of him and then we cuddled up and watched Doc Martin. I had to discreetly drool over Joe Absolom while Ray wasn't looking hehe. I'm so glad Joe's back in the show. I haven't seen him on TV in ages.

Today I got a freebie through the post - yes, I actually got post! Has the postal strike ended for good now? I can't be bothered to check. Anyway, my freebie was some Pantene Highlights Expressions. I adore Pantene and they always send out freebies, too :) The only problem is this time they've sent me stuff for blonde hair whereas I'm a brunette. Never mind, it's all the same thing really; they just package it in different colours.

I'm trying to sort out something for me and Ray for New Years Eve. Jem is going to her friends in Cambridge so I suggested Ray and I might like to stay at an uber posh hotel and enjoy pretending to be a rich and successful young couple. I have a hotel in mind but I'm not posting what it is in case I can't get it. I should know by the end of the week (ish). It's going to be our last splurge before the Big Move next year.

Madge is all but bursting at the moment. I swear she's swollen up overnight. Only another twelve days and I'll be an auntie again. Can you tell how excited I am? Whee, I love babies! And, just in time really, I completed the first draft of my recent novel yesterday. This week is looking so very, very good to me right now :)

Labels: joe absolom, madge, new years, puppies, ray, tv, writing

by Ys | COMMENTS? 1 | permalink |  

New Blog, Tired Days, Maybe Gigs, Winning

I opened the new blog yesterday. Don't worry, it's not a move or a close-down of this one in any way. It's just that Madge is due to have her puppies in a couple of weeks and I'd like to document the event online this time, so that when people buy the pups they can click online and see them when they were born and in the weeks that followed. Plus it'd be really nice for me to have, as well, considering I'm doing most of the work - work? It doesn't feel like work at all :) In the next few posts I'll be adding pictures of Madge in her late stages of pregnancy, plus Sweepie and Falls to show how pretty her babies can be. If you want to keep up to date with my motherhood job then the link is in the sidebar <<<

I had a quiet night in last night. Actually yesterday was a complete washout. I just couldn't seem to get anything done - at all. It took me most of the day to get the new layout up for the new blog - I was just crap at everything. By the time five o'clock rolled by my brain decided to wake up. I'm feeling much more awake today.

Tomorrow I'm meant to be seeing Fightstar. I say meant to because Charlie has a bad throat and has already cancelled one of the gigs of the tour. But they played last night so I think he might be on the mend now. There's another gig tonight and then it's my turn. I have a feeling we're going to get down to the venue only to find its been postponed, which will really be a waste of a day and night. Plus they can't cancel because I only have a couple of weeks left until I'm on full-time Puppy Mode and gigging will be off the menu for the first few weeks after the birth. I've only had one gig postponed before - having found out on the night of the gig, I mean; obviously I've had gigs postponed a good few weeks in advance. That was The Deftones earlier this year. If Charlie just learnt how to scream properly he wouldn't hurt his throat so often. I think Bert needs to give him some lessons ;)

My argument with PC World paid off, by the way. I found a lovely new email from them yesterday morning explaining how there might be less space showing up on my hard-drive. All sounds dodgy to me. I just reckon they gave me a laptop that didn't have the right space on it. I won the argument, anyway, so I'm very smug. You see how to get things done now - threaten people with reporting them to their seniors! It works every single time. The funny thing is I wouldn't have reported them at all; I just hate to lose.

Labels: blogging, fightstar, laptop, life, pioden, puppies, the used

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |  

Make Up's & Break Up's

Ray and I did make up again. He'd been weird all week and then on Tuesday night it sounded to me like he was trying to dump me but getting me to say the words. The fact that I've always been very comfortable and confident of his love for me really did throw me for a loop when he said what he did Tuesday. He didn't mean it, of course, I later found out. He just has a way of saying the wrong thing - a lot. He was very apologetic Wednesday evening when he got back after work. He sounded very mature, not once trying to find himself an excuse for his behaviour, just admitted he'd been a dick and that he took me for granted and wasn't going to do it anymore. I was very surprised considering I was imagining all day that he'd show up and say it was over. Phew.

Things aren't 100% between us but they're definitely nearly perfect again. Which I much prefer cos all this upset and drama just isn't what I'm comfortable with. It makes my stomach hurt too much.

I now have another problem: my laptop. At the moment I still have my dinasour of a laptop, my baby, which was my first, which I had in 2004: IBM 560x. It's been poorly for about a year but I can cope with slow start-ups considering all I use it for is writing. But these past couple of days the screens been blanking out on me. The first time I lost about half a page of writing (could have been a lot worse, thankfully I'm a serial saver), the second I'd opened my diary but hadn't written anything. I fear when it goes for the third time it might not start again. Well, it's not so much the machine but the screen that's blinking out - the laptop itself is still running but without any image. I can't do much with that, and what with the other problems it has I decided it was time for a new laptop.

Here lies the problem: I have no cash on me at the moment. When Madge has her babies (going by the shape of her I'd say she is pregnant - we have to wait for Mammy to get back from holiday for a vet-check) I will have a cut of the money because I am Nanny Ysabel and do all the work. I always said I'd get a laptop with the money. But that money won't come to me 'til early next year. I need the laptop now. Ray has offered to buy me it (he's been offering since about this time last year) and says he'll have the money in the bank next week once his cheques have cleared. Other wise I ask Mammy if she'll get it and then knock that money off what I'd be getting for my puppy raising. With Mammy I fear there might be interest added on, so I'll probably take Ray up on his offer.

I've found a laptop I want: C Series, but it's too expensive. So my second choice is this baby: Advent 7208. As you can see, the second one is only on sale for five more days so I'd have to get in there quick for that. I do have a plan of action. I'm not sure if it'll work. But I'm hoping to have a new laptop by the end of the weekend so I can finish my book without losing any of the information.

Ahh life is an expensive thing, isn't it? Being a poor, unappreciated writer I can't really afford all this spending. But at least I should have babies to take care from Novemeber onwards. I am so excited about that :)

EDIT: I bought the laptop. Ray will pay for it until the puppies come in December. It'll be here by the end of next week! Woo!

Labels: laptop, madge, puppies, ray

by Ys | COMMENTS? 1 | permalink |  

Stolen Pugs

Pug puppies have been stolen from the town next door to me - from their own home!

Please click on the picture to view the full size flyer:



This is really upsetting. I remember when my babies were still babies. I don't know what I would've done if someone had taken them away.

It's really spooky, as well, cos me and Mammy were only discussing Sweepie and Madge's next litters the day before yesterday!

I hope the babies are found. And I hope whoever took them is sent to jail - although I'm sure he/she won't be.

Do not EVER buy a dog without papers - and especially don't buy a puppy without seeing it with its mother and all it's brothers and sisters. An honest breeder will encourage you to view the baby with its mother.

Labels: pugs, puppies

by Ys | COMMENTS? 3 | permalink |  








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