Happy Birthday my Johnny!

You have every right to pull a scary face Johnny - 44 today - What an old man! Hehe!

By the way this is my other half if you didn't already know!

Honestly, this man is the most impossible person in the whole wide world to buy for. When I went to lunch today I bumped into him carrying a JJB Sports carrier bag. I asked what he had bought for himself this time? ANOTHER PAIR OF BLOODY TRAINERS!!! That's three pairs in as many weeks, if not less. He does it every time - whenever you ask him what he wants for his birthday or Christmas, he can't come up with one single thing....but then leading up to those two events, he buys himself stuff which someone else could have got. ARGH! So, guess what he got from from? Sweet FA. An invisible one at that.
John's not one of those people who gets excited about receiving stuff anyway - he really only gets pleasure from giving.

So that's that. Another year has gone by - it's quite scary to think he'll be 50 in 6 years time.

Come on England!

As a woman, I'm in the extreme minority who are looking forward to the footie World Cup which starts in a week and a half from now. It's what most woman dread - weeks and weeks of constant football disrupting usual programming (Al will know what that's like-bless her), but me
I LOVE IT!!!

Tonight England played Hungary in a friendly warm up match at Old Trafford. The usual dull first half was displayed with the exception of a penalty which we were luckily awarded after Gerrard was supposedly fouled. I think justice was done when Lampard's penalty shot was saved. Suddenly at the start of the second half, it was like they had bombs up their arses or something!? Two goals in four minutes, both from Beckham crosses I might add. I don't dare what people/the media say about him, I've always liked him enormously and really admire his talent. He may not be quite the same footballer as he was a few years ago but I feel he's still such an important influence to the team and a real roll model.

Unfortunately Hungary scored a goal a short time after our second-quite a spectacular one actually. Robinson had no chance. The game kinda petered out after that...until the 84th minute when Crouch turned and put the ball in the net. 3-1. The next friendly will be on Saturday afternoon against Jamaica.

It's ironic that there's been nothing on the telly all weekend and come tonight, there's tons I want to watch: Eastenders, Location Location Location, Match of the Day, Celebrity X Factor, Big Brother and Lost. I've already got two videos on the go recording stuff while I watch the footie - there's not gonna be enough hours in the evening.

What's happened to summer?

Yet another weekend has gone by and we still haven't had summer sunshine and temperatures. I recall a few good days at the beginning of May but since then it's been crappy - the last two weeks have been so wet and miserable. What I don't understand is that we're repeatedly being told by scientists that the globe is warming up - I think our summers are actually getting worse.
:-( It's not surprising more and more Brits are moving abroad. Let's hope June is a lot better.

I just love surprises!

...Not for myself I might add. This one was for my Dad. Invited Mum and Dad, my brother and the kids around for dinner tonight and between a lovely roast dinner and an equally yummy trifle, I presented my Dad with an envelope. It's his 60th birthday this year (August) and my Mum has already arranged a 4 day trip to Rome in September (well I arranged it actually-Mum hasn't a clue with computers) and John, myself and my Mum have also collaberated in arranging a surprise birthday party/come barbeque at our house. Just by chance John was on the laptop and came across an Eagles concert taking place at Wembley Arena on 18th June (coincidentally this is Father's Day). This must have been an extra date coz we knew they were performing at Twickenham and did look to book the tickets for that gig but there weren't any good seats left. So this was good news - it was The Eagles farewell world tour so there would never be another opportunity to see them live. I've never been more decisive in all my life - I thought 'this is my Dad, sod the expense, just book em!' And so when Dad opened the envelope, he was totally gob-smacked. He just sat starring at the tickets and kept saying 'I can't believe it'. Awww. My Mum was chuffed too coz she's really grown to love The Eagles, after my Dad kept playing their cds.
Goes to prove it's far better to give than to receive.

Photo above shows my Dad on his 59th birthday when we presented him with a left handed electric guitar. The years of watching his 'air guitar' had taken its toll - now he can actually hold a real one!

Taylor made (it)

Recorded American Idol last night as I was round Al's and
watched it back this morning. Apparently, the media announced on UK TV who had won BEFORE the show was broadcast over here, which was out of order - luckily I hadn't heard the result.
It was amazing how many stars they managed to get onto the show - Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach, Prince, Toni Braxton (although she was pretty rough I thought), Mary J Blige and Meatloaf. It was hugely entertaining and a gob-smacking 63 million votes were cast. I wasn't really bothered who won this year because Chris was my favourite and he unexpectedly exited
two weeks ago - he was so clearly the most talented, such a brilliant voice and a great rocker. I would certainly listen to his cd when it comes out - I say 'when' not 'if' coz I just can't see how he could avoid picking up a contract. I predicted Katharine to win, I suppose because she looks more of an idol than Taylor, but I was proved wrong when Taylor picked up the prize. He definitely has a huge amount of charisma and I wish him a lot of luck in the future. Clearly, grey is back in!

It's all about doughnuts!!

Had a girls night in round Al's last night; Groomie and Samuelo also in attendance. It was the first eviction on Big Brother and so an obvious excuse to get together for a laugh. It turned out that Bonnie (pronounced Bonna in Loughborough) was turfed out - not a surprise at all as she hadn't contributed anything at all during the past week. However, all that was overshadowed by the delicious box of fancy doughnuts that Al had laid on for our pleasure - in fact there was enough for 3 each! I didn't make it past 2 - I would've been sick but they were very yummy indeedy!

Dublin: Part 4

Sunday morning. The weather outside was horrendous; the wind was howling, it was pouring down and as we found out when we set off for town, it was really cold - it could've been February. As you can see from the photo, John was all geared up and glowing nicely in the gloom. What an embarrassment - I was always 20 paces in front or behind!

Nothing seems be be open in Dublin on Sunday. We headed for the National Museum and found that it didn't open until 2pm so we ended up at the shopping mall to get out of the rain and only found one store open! As it neared midday, however, more shops began to open - clearly the Irish like a lie-in. We wandered around aimlessly for a couple of hours, stopped at a cafe to have a bite to eat, and as there was nothing more we could do in the rain, we decided to go to the cinema to see The Da Vinci Code. Both John and myself have read the book, and despite the bad reviews, wanted to see it for ourselves. It was very long but I enjoyed it - it was the book to a tee. It was as if everything you imagined when you're reading the book ie. the characters and locations, came to life in front of your eyes.

The length of the film put us a little behind schedule as we needed to get back to the B&B to collect our bags and then head to the airport. We'd purchased a 3-day bus pass when we arrived as this seemed the easiest and cheapest way to get around. However, as was the case when we arrived in Dublin, we seemed to wait an eternity for the right bus to take us back to the airport. We eventually got there just after 6pm, about an hour before our flight. However, being RyanAir, the flight was of course delayed! Thankfully it was only half an hour. We finally got back home at about 10:30.

Dublin: Part 3 (Bon Jovi gig)

It was like a miracle. The sky was blue with little fluffy white clouds and it was fairly warm. It was like someone was looking down on Dublin that evening. We arrived at Croke Park stadium during Nickelback's performance, the support act for Bon Jovi. Actually there were two support acts but I've never heard of Jaded Sun, so didn't bother going early to see them. The stadium was amazing and huge but at this stage, was only half full. We had tickets for the golden circle which was a designated area near the front, but behind the area reserved for the fan club members. Nickelback were very good live; Chad Kroeger has an amzing voice. They finished with their biggest and first hit 'How u remind me' which I was pleased about coz I love that song. Then there was a gap of about half an hour before the main act.

I wondered why there was suddenly a stampede forward and loads of screaming but then I realised....Jon stood about 15 feet away on a gangway that ran all the way from the side of the stage, right round and in front of the golden circle and round to the other side of the stage. It was quite surreal actually - it was like 'God! That's Jon Bon Jovi standing right there'!! I was being squashed like a sardine and as I'm little, I was being bashed by people's arms trying to take pictures of him. Still looking as sexy as ever I must say!

Well all I need say is ** BLOODY FANTASTIC! ** Two and a half hours of magic. The stage set was awesome, the atmosphere was superb and I can't wait to go see them again! I haven't been to a stadium concert since 1988 when I saw Michael Jackson at Wembley and I'd forgotten what a fab atmosphere you get with so many people. I'd say there must have been 80,000.

Having done so much walking around the city earlier that day and after walking most of the way to the stadium, standing for hours and then walking most of the way back again, my feet hurt sooooo much I could barely move. Every step I took was like this: 'ow' 'ow' 'ow' 'ow' 'ow' 'ow'. I can't believe John didn't offer to carry me!!!!!!! Getting back to the B&B and taking my boots off was like heaven. Sleep then came easy - I was knackered but it was completely worth it.

Dublin: Part 2

Woke up on day two to a grim looking sky and more pouring rain. Well it's Ireland, what do you expect?! By the time we'd finished breakfast and got ready to go out though, the rain had died right down and so things were looking up.

Guide book in hand, we took the bus into the city centre to take in the sights. Boy oh boy there's quite a few statues in Dublin, dedicated to all sorts of people, some I'd heard of, some I hadn't. Without going into detail upon detail, we basically walked the whole length and breadth of the city, both sides of the River Liffey snapping our cameras like we do. The whole time, the weather was improving which was great news because we were due to go to the Bon Jovi concert at Croke Park that evening.

Photos above are of John and I at the River Liffey and a memorial to Oscar Wilde.

Dublin: Part 1

Well our weekend didn't get off to a great start to say the least. We arrived at Stanstead Airport about 2 hrs and 15 minutes before the flight time and went straight to the information screens to see what check-in desk to go to. However, we couldn't find a 10am flight to Dublin but there was one at 09:35. We then checked our documents and discovered that we were supposed to be at Gatwick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a couple of planks! We both just looked at each other in shock and the realisation set in that we would never make it to Gatwick in time for our flight, bearing in mind that we were in North Essex and needed to get to Sussex! John went to the ticket desk to see if there was any way we could transfer the flight to Stanstead to save us driving all that way but it would've cost us £300! How the hell do they justify that? They rang through to Gatwick and informed them we wouldn't make our flight and also advised there was 6 seats left on the next flight at 13:30 which would cost us an extra £40 each.

So off we went. There were constant announcements on the radio of two accidents affecting the M25; fortunately we took the opposite direction around the motorway to avoid it. We could see tailbacks of about 7 miles going in the opposite direction - thank goodness we didn't go that way, we would've been stuck in that for hours and hours.

When we arrived at Gatwick, we headed for the ticket sales desk where the lady took our £80 for the next flight. We whiled away the next couple of hours eating breakfast and wandering around, then 2 hours before the flight, went to the check-in desk. Confusion set in with the rep there as it appeared the ticket sales lady had checked me in but John was on stand-by!!! What use was that?!! After several phone calls, she fortunately got it sorted - what a relief. When it came to the time to make our way to the gate, we discovered the flight had been delayed so we sat and waited for another hour or so. Would we ever get to Dublin? Well, yes, we finally did and arrived at our B&B some time after 5pm.

After a cuppa and unpacking, we headed out in the pouring rain to Temple Bar, the best place for pubs and restaurants. The bus driver recommended a pub called The Ha'penny Inn for good traditional Irish music so we went with that suggestion. However, after ordering drinks, which by the way, cost an arm and a leg, discovered that the live music didn't start until 9:30. It was only about 6:30 at this point so we drank up and decided to move on and have a look around. We stumbled upon a very lively pub called Oliver St. John Gogarty, named after a poet and friend of James Joyce (see photo above). It was still early, yet the bar was absolutely packed with people. As we entered, Andy Williams was belting out 'Can't take my eyes off you' and everyone was singing along - what an atmosphere! Yes I thought, I like it here, sod eating - let's stay for the party!

After a couple of hours, we decided we'd better eat something. Seemed like we wandered around for ages coz either the prices were ridiculous or there wasn't anything on the menus that either me or John fancied. We did eventually eat at 10pm! After that, we went back to Gogarty's to sample some live Irish music in the upstairs bar. Again, it was packed - probably all tourists, but it was a terrific atmosphere with everyone clapping their hands and singing along. Fab!

It had been a very long day, getting up at 6am was a struggle for me, and although I'd got my second wind by the evening, we called it a night at about 11pm.

Big Brother 7 is here!!

Just watched the launch show and my oh my, what a bunch! Where do they find these people?
This year we have 14 housemates (so far):

Bonnie - but when she talks it sounds like 'Bonna'. So far everyone she's introduced herself to, thinks it's Bonna!! Dreadful voice; looks like she has a bit of an attitude. She's a care worker and to be honest I wouldn't want any member of my family be looked after by her!

Pete - has Tourettes syndrome and is also a complete lunatic. Definitely not all there. (see pic)

George - posh, friend of Princess Beatrice

Shahbaz - A Pakistani poof, very camp, loves Kylie and knitting! The house wouldn't be same without one.

Lea - ugly, massive boobs, complete plastic surgery mess!

Imogen - Welsh ex beauty queen, seems reasonably normal

Mikey - Liverpool lad, hates feminism, loves girls and clubbing

Dawn - OMG! Why does this woman get up in the morning, she may as well shoot herself. She has no friends, miserable cow, so negative & doesn't like people (seems like a good idea to apply for BB then)!

Glyn - 18 year old skinny Welsh lifeguard who thinks he's good looking. Maybe he should invest in a good mirror?! Hates all animals apparently so he's definitely not for me!

Richard - Tall Canadian poof who seems to love himself. Ideal day out would be to a men's prison. A friend for Shebaz maybe?

Grace - quite posh but seems the most normal of them all

Lisa - in yer face Chinese Mancunian who doesn't stop talking

Sezer - Thinks he's God's gift, apparently shaves every part of his body

Nikki - model???!! wants to be a footballer's wife, typical blonde, likes to strip off and clearly loves herself

To sum it up, there is no eye candy for the ladies (in my opinion) which is quite disappointing. The house is weird coz everything that's meant to be inside is in the garden & vice versa. Sounds as if there will be more people going into the house - it's gonna be a tinsy-winsy bit cramped I feel!

Well, here's to the next 13 weeks. It's gonna have to go some to beat last year's show but I'm sure it'll still be compelling viewing as always.

What a shame

Just heard on the news that Paul & Heather McCartney are to separate and it actually choked me up a bit - not sure why but I always thought they looked so happy together, despite the age difference. I guess I admire them both for what they each do for charity and also their joint campaigning for animal rights. Anyone who knows me well will know how much I adore animals and how upset I get over all aspects of cruelty towards them. I have not eaten meat for the last 6, 7, 8 years...? (I can't actually remember how long it's been) but I believe that anyone who claims they love animals should prove it by not eating them, and buying products made of them or tested on them.

This is what it said in one of the papers:

Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills McCartney have confirmed they are to separate - ten days after we revealed their marriage was in crisis In a joint statement the couple issued on Wednesday the couple said: "Having tried exceptionally hard to make our relationship work given the daily pressures surrounding us, it is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways. "Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much." They added: "Separation for any couple is difficult enough, but to have to go through this so publicly, especially with a small daughter, is immensely stressful. "We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period." The former Beatle's four-year marriage to the animal rights campaigner was rumoured to be in jeopardy following a series of rows. The couple wed in 2002, four years after Sir Paul's first wife Linda died from cancer. Our story revealed the couple have been living at separate addresses in recent weeks. Sir Paul is said to be living on the family farm in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, about 50 miles away from his wife, 38, who is reported to be at the couple's home in Hove.

What a shame especially when there's a child involved. Anyhow, I wish them both happiness as they go their separate ways.

Light at the end of the tunnel?

These past 3 weeks, my back problem has improved such a lot, I can now see the light. Prior to this, I just couldn't see the situation changing but I've been working so hard at my sit-ups and dancer's stretches lately that it's clear they are helping massively. I can't lapse on the exercises even for a day because it really notices, so I guess this is gonna be my daily routine for next hundred years or so! However, a small price to pay for little or no pain. I return to full time hours again next week so that'll be a real test - even if my back makes it through, I bet I'll be exhausted - after all, I haven't done a full day's work since last October. On top of that, I won't be home until quite late on Sunday night coz of our long weekend in Dublin.....talking of which -eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I can't wait, only a day and night to go! And, I just found out that one of the bands supporting Bon Jovi on Saturday night is Nickelback. YAY! How cool is that?
Full report to follow next week.....:-)

Holiday's booked - hooray!

Sod the airfare, it's done. We're flying to Memphis, Tennessee on 15th July, and picking up a hire car. Taking in a day there including a visit to Graceland of course, and then off to Nashville, home of country music - John will enjoy that. Looking at pics on the internet, it looks like a really clean modern city. Other places to visit in that area are Chattanooga, home of the choo-choo and the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. We have a week to do all that and then we have to make our way right down south to Panama City in Florida for the 3-day dolphin experience which starts on 23rd July, and is the main reason for our visit to the States in the first place. After fulfilling my life-long ambition, we'll be on the move again along the coast to New Orleans. Obviously there was a lot of devastation a couple of years ago with hurricane Katrina and although I expect there'll still be signs of the disaster, I'm sure it'll be pretty much business as usual on the tourist front. Our tight schedule means no more than 2 days there, as we have a stonkingly long drive back to Memphis for our flight home on the 30th. We'll obviously break the journey up and there are a few places along the way which I'd like to visit but it's really time-permitting. As it is we've had to extend the 2 weeks by another day to fit it all in, but the last bit is still gonna be rushed.

I've done plenty of research on the internet already, copy and pasted loads of info to take with us, as well as purchasing a travel guide of the Southern States. Don't ever accuse me of not being organised!!!!!!

Anyway, I can't wait. I feel like I need a good holiday after the last 8 months I've had with my back pain. And, before that on 19th May, we're going to Dublin for a long weekend and seeing Bon Jovi in concert - should be good eh? Full report to follow! :-)

High hopes but it wasn't to be

It was the last day of the football season today, a crucial day for Spurs. We were fighting it out with our biggest rivals Arsenal for the 4th spot where'd we'd been since 3rd December and this would mean qualification for the Champions League next season. If Spurs secured 4th then we'd have to rely on Barcelona beating Arsenal in this season's Champions League final, otherwise Arsenal would qualify instead. Complicated I know!

My boys started the day one point ahead of Arsenal. We were playing West Ham away and Arsenal were at home to Wigan. Therefore whatever Arsenal did, we had to match it, ie. if they won, we'd have to win, if they drew, we'd have to at least draw. Several hours before kick off, Sky Sports announced that 7 Spurs players had suffered from food poisoning at their hotel. After initial shock, I came to the conclusion that one of the kitchen staff must be a Gooner! A member of the FA visited the hotel to assess the situation and make a decision as to whether the game should still go ahead. I couldn't see how it could go ahead with so many players missing - we already had several injuries. However, because West Ham are playing in the FA Cup final next Saturday, I couldn't see how they could reschedule the game. The eventual decision was that the game would go ahead as planned.

I was stunned that Sky weren't screening the Spurs v West Ham game. They showed the Arsenal game mainly because it was their last ever game at Highbury and also surprisingly, the Man Utd game against Charlton. Why? They had nothing to play for except for remaining in second place! However, I think that maybe not seeing the match live may have prevented massive stress on my part coz I do tend to get carried away. I have been known to storm out of rooms slamming the door, pacing the room up and down and on the odd occasion, cry. Don't ever accuse me of taking football seriously!!!!!!!

Anyway, the end result was not in our favour. West Ham beat us 2-1 and Arsenal beat Wigan
4-2, so that's that. No Champions League for us this time but at least we have qualified for the UEFA Cup. I suppose I should be really happy....and I am.....we haven't been in Europe for years and years, but it's just being pipped at the post by Arsenal that really hurts.

Having said that, I am immensly proud of the team for the way they have played this season. It's been a vast improvement, and seeing home grown players emerge like little Aaron Lennon, and Robbie Keane for his work rate and goal tally after being on the bench for the first part of the season, I think we have a good future. Long may our manager Martin Jol reign!

I hate it when the footie season ends. I really miss it but at least this year, I have the World Cup to look forward to. Hoorah!

Air fare nightmare!

Decided on the spur of the moment to book a holiday in July as I have 2 weeks off work, so I grabbed the laptop and went onto the internet to gain inspiration for our next destination. Anyone that knows us will be aware that we've been all over the world and people keep saying there can't be many places left to visit - this is of course ridiculous coz the world is a massive place but I guess the countries and cities on our wish list have reduced somewhat.

Swimming with dolphins in their natural habitat has always been at the top of my ambitions list, a very common one I know, but as a huge animal lover who has already been on a couple of safaris, this has got to be the ultimate experience. This is how much it affects me: when I watch people swimming with dolphins on the tv or I see photos or listen to people talking about it, I literally well up with emotion. It sounds crazy but I just can't help it. Interacting with dolphins in a captive environment is a big NO NO for me, despite the fact that you'd be able to touch and ride on them in that situation (in the wild you are not allowed to touch, it's very much on the dolphins' terms whether they want to interact with YOU).

Anyway, I found a great website that does a three-day dolphin experience with other extras thrown in which is located in Panama City in Florida. I'd never heard of this place - the only Panama City I know is the capital of Panama!! I found it on the map and it's about half way between Jacksonville and New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico. Aah I thought! That'd be good if we could combine the dolphin experience with New Orleans, hire a car and travel around a bit. That's the kind of holiday I prefer - I detest package holidays and hate being stuck in one place for too long. So I then checked flights to the nearest airport: Tallahassee which produced zilch!
After trying New Orleans, and as far away as Orlando, all flights are well over £600 in July. Ouch! Doing quick calculations in my head, this was gonna turn into a very expensive trip (again)! Flights, airport tax, travel insurance, accommodation, dolphins, car hire, food, drink, petrol and entertainment means finding at least £3000 I think.

Feeling a bit down after looking at those flight prices, I tried to think of something else we could do which would be cheaper. So what did I google? Holidays to Namibia & the Galapagos Islands!!!!!!!!!! Somehow a cheap holiday to Bognor never appeals!

Anyway, we both agreed we'd rather do the USA/dolphin trip so maybe we'll have to grit our teeth with the cost and just do it! Watch this space.