All over for another year...

Well it's come and gone in a blink of an eye, and very soon another year will be over. Every one seems to go quicker than the last.

Christmas this year was distinctly average as Simon Cowell would say! Usually we all go round Mum's for the day but as Tina and Dave were having lunch guests round their's this time, the day was rearranged. We still gathered at Mum's but earlier than usual (about mid morning) so that everyone could give Dave Tina and the kids their presents before they left. I also had pre-arranged a treasure hunt of the two girls. John and I then went home and we were gonna cook the Christmas dinner this year. Mum and Dad would join us later, together with John's brother Chris, his wife Sandy and their two young children. More presents were exchanged. Unfortunately, the children were quite unsettled and Chris and Sandy were busy most the time attending to them in turn. In fact, I've never seen Chris quite so tired and stressed, so much so that he hardly touched his dinner, which is very unusual! Jennifer is just 3 months old and screams through the night; Joey is 15 months and is into everything! He had the peanuts all over the floor at one point and also the hula hoops and has to touch everything. It's not his fault, he's just at that age where he's exploring and learning.

John bought a Nintendo Wii for Christmas for everyone to have fun with and it is really good. If you've never seen it advertised, it's a new computer game that involves you holding the handset (called the Wii) and having to do the exact actions as if you were doing that particular sport. It includes ten pin bowling, golf, baseball, boxing and tennis. Usually I hate computer games but this is so different; at least it gets you out of your seat and moving around, the boxing is particularly strenuous. A good buy I'd say! "Johnny Moneybags" also bought Buzz on Playstation 2 and we had the Who Wants to be a Millionaire game.

Boxing Day is usually at ours but this year it was at my Mum and Dad's. Unfortunately my brother had to work so he was missing. Ebony is always at her Dad's on Boxing Day so it was just the seven of us. Of course, after a lovely lunch the Wii came out again, and we also tried out the interactive dvds such as Family Fortunes, British Hit Singles and the Eamonn Holmes Spell game.

John was back at work on Wednesday. I had nothing planned except to visit Nan in the afternoon with Mum and Dad. We'd already visited her Christmas Eve to deliver her presents because she was going round my Auntie's for Christmas Day, so this was just a normal social call! She's doing really well lately except for her vertigo which she has to take daily tablets for. Nan's had a new carpet laid already so she well and truly settled in.

On Thursday afternoon, Mum and I took Kasey and Ebony to see The Wizard of Oz at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff (see pic above). At 10 years old, Ebony is a tad old for pantomimes and we tried to convince her that this was definitely not a pantomime. You can imagine how much Mum and me cringed when they started the old "It's behind you" and "Oh yes it is". However, it wasn't like that all the way through; they'd simply added the panto banter to interact with the smaller kids. I've got to say, that for a local theatre performance, it was really quite good. The scenery and costumes were extremely colourful, the acting was pretty good, some of the singing was average but it didn't seem to matter that much. I enjoyed myself anyway, joining in with the songs and clapping along. The only cons were that it was like a sauna in there and we were seated in the rear circle which was literally right at the back and as high as the ceiling.

Later that evening, John's brother Paul and his two girls Ellis and Yasmin came to visit us and stay overnight. Paul is no longer married to Hazel (it was the divorce from hell) and he now lives with girlfriend Nicola and her two children in Derbyshire (not far from Sheffield). Paul's two live with Hazel in Hook, Hampshire, so there's a lot of mileage between them. Another opportunity to get the Nintendo Wii out!! Once again, it was a hit! Mid-morning today, they left to pay visits to the rest of the family.

Today, we had John and Maria (our friends who live opposite us) over to ours from 4pm onwards for Christmas dinner and games. Yes, you can guess it- everyone wants to Wii! Bowling was very popular tonight and we're becoming pretty darn good at it. It wasn't a late night as John has to be at work at 4am to meet a delivery. Good news though - he should be home by 6am and then has a week off.

New Year's Eve, we've invited the family to ours. Poor Dave has to go to work the next day so he won't be able to see in 2007. But hey, it's not important - it's not like we usually make a celebration out of it. We'll just have a buffet tea and probably more Wii-ing!!!

So, a premature Happy New Year to everyone - hope 2007 is a good'n!

Christmas is definitely for kids!

Leading up to Christmas this year, I've felt absolutely no excitement at all. The magic seems to have vanished - still it's taken until age 38 to reach this conclusion, which is not bad...maybe it would be different if I had kids of my own.




I always said I'd never go away for Christmas but I don't think it'd be such a bad thing after all. Not that I have any awful relatives to escape from, it's
just that it's always the same thing every year and I'm bored with it. Gawd, I sound like a real bar humbug don't I? Please don't let me turn into my Dad!

I remember one Christmas Eve night when I was a child (I have no idea what age), but I needed to go to the loo and I was so scared of getting up in case I bumped into Santa! That memory is so vivid, yet I can't ever recall whether I did actually pluck up the courage or whether I managed to get back to sleep!




I've posted a few old photos of Christmas when I was young. Oh such good times they were! Every year Mum and Dad made it so great for us kids. A sack full of presents was always waiting for us at the ends of our beds - of course I thought Santa had left them at the time. We'd always drag the sack into the living room of the flat coz the bedroom we were in was freezing cold (we had no heating back then). After opening a sack full, we'd have breakfast and then later in the morning, we'd all open the presents under the tree. Christmas lunch was at my Nan and Grandad's who lived in the same road (my Mum's parents). In the afternoon, we went over to my other Nan and Grandad's in Rochford, where my Auntie, Uncle and three cousins would also gather. My Grandad was always the creative type, which was handed down to my Dad and also to me and he would always make something for us. In the pic, you will see a wishing well, but other years he also made a dalek, a train engine and a massive cracker, in which there were hidden presents.

When I was a liitle older, when my creative streak had been securely embedded in me, I took charge as the one who thought up ideas of how to entertain the adults. Afternoons then had switched to my Auntie Annette's so there were us five kids and a giant dressing up box. Of course, a lot of the time I had to actually make the stuff beforehand, such as hats, wigs and beards. The things we used to come up with:

* Dressing up as contestants on a Question of Sport including Willie Carson, John McEnroe, Giant Haystacks, Emlyn Hughes and Alex Higgins (see pic)
* Dancing and singing along to the Toy Dolls "Nellie the Elephant" (see pic)
* The Madness Mob - singing and dancing along to Madness
* Dressing up as Boy George and Marilyn - remember Marilyn?! (see pic)
* Performing our version of Cinderella. Me and Debbie as the Ugly sisters, Lee as the Queer fairy, David as the gay prince and Nicola as Cinders. How I knew so much as homosexuality
at such an early age, God only knows! (see pic)
* Creating my own Blankety Blank game

These years were just the best; they were so much fun and ones we'll never have again. Quite sad really.

Strictly fab entertainment!

I've been an avid viewer of Strictly Come Dancing since the last series, and it just gets better and better. The standard of the celeb's dancing is amazing considering they only started training four months ago. The show has surely made ballroom and latin dancing cool and it does actually make you wanna do it yourself. I, however, would be a

huge challenge, seeing as I have five left feet!

Louise Lytton who played Ruby in Eastenders, together with her partner Vincent Simone were my favourites as I found their routines the most entertaining. However, she was knocked out in the quarter final, which left Emma Bunton and Darren Bennett, Mark Ramprakash and Karen Hardy and Matt Dawson and Lilia Kopylova. Mark then became my fave. Despite Emma being probably the most consistent dancer throughout the competetion, she went out in the semi final and so the two sportsman fought out the final. Matt was worthy but Mark was a clear winner for me after a repeat of their fantastic salsa and their free dance containing some phenominal lifts which professionals would take years to perfect. My prediction was correct and someone should've been standing by to sedate Karen Hardy who was (as usual) totally over-excitable!

I've gotta say the BBC have found a winner in this show and I'm sure it'll be on our screens for years to come.

Hmmmmmph!

In case you're wondering, that funny word above is a long aggitated sigh, I just didn't quite know how to spell it!

I was due to drop off my cat Poppy into the vets tomorrow to have a thyroidectomy the day after - she has to go on a drip 24 hours beforehand because of a slight kidney problem. Anyway, I got home this evening only to find out that the vet had called earlier and spoke to John. As Andrea, the particular vet who specialises in these type of operations, is on holiday, they wanted to postpone it until 3rd January.

It's so annoying when that happens coz you build yourself up to something only to be dashed at the last minute. Naturally I was getting a bit nervous and it's always horrible putting your pet through all that. So now I have to wait until after the New Year. I am now on leave from work so that's why I booked the op for this week - fortunately on 3rd January I have a half day and John is off all week, so at least there'll be no problem in that respect.

So lucky Poppy-Lou - you have a reprieve (for now).

Leona has the X Factor!

Congratulations to Leona, winner of the X Factor tonight. Thoroughly deserved in my eyes - she's been consistently good and her vocals are flawless. I was in tears last week when she sang 'Over the Rainbow' and in total awe when she appeared to make light work of two Whitney Houston classics, Nielson's 'Without You' and Eric Carmen's 'All By Myself'.

I very much hope that Leona gets the album she deserves - not just another crappy one full of cover versions. She's far better than that, but it is a worry considering the past two winners. No doubt the single will be Christmas No.1 but it's what happens after that that counts.

I'd also like to say how gracious and gentlemanly Ray was in defeat, a true pro - I hope he gets his reward for being such a charming and entertaining contestant.

Shame it's all over for another year - as always it's been pure entertainment from the auditions right up to the end. After Strictly Come Dancing finishes next week, there'll be nothing much to watch on a Saturday night. :-(


One of my fave performances - I will always love you

Huge grrrrrrrrrrrrrs to Madge

Just look how cute this little guy is.


As a supporter of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), I cannot find a word strong enough to describe how I feel about Madonna right now. Here are some excerpts from various news articles:

Madonna has been criticised by an animal rights group for wearing a real chinchilla fur coat as she left Cecconi's restaurant in London with her husband, Guy Ritchie. She wore the coat, said to be worth 35,000 pounds, and made from the fur of 40 chinchillas.

PETA accused the singer of ignoring cruelty of animals and
urged her to watch videos of animals being farmed for their pelts.

A spokesman for Madonna - who is set to design a range of clothing for high street chain H&M - said he was unable to comment.

Poorva Joshipura, director of Peta Europe, said: "We encourage anyone who wears fur to watch videos of these animals being electrocuted, caught in traps and skinned alive.

"Thousands of people, including Paris Hilton, have said that the videos changed their minds about wearing fur.

"Chinchillas are shy, intelligent animals who can live for up to 15 years in the wild. Yet on fur farms, these animals are violently killed while fully conscious."

Madonna is one of the most famous women on the planet and money is no object. I think these people just don't know what to spend their money on, but why oh why must they parade around in the fur of dead animals for the sake of their vanity? After all, aren't there enough man-made fibres and other materials available?!!

This is not the first time she's been spotted wearing fur. Previously she has worn a £1,000 fox fur hat by Philip Treacy and an astrakhan coat.

The disturbing fact is that fashion experts are claiming that fur is back after years of unpopularity. Sales of fur clothing have risen by 30% in two years and are now worth £500m a year in the UK. Fake imports have dropped by a third.

Naturally Madonna is not the only person to wear fur; it's just that she is the most high profile. Model Kate Moss has also upset protesters by wearing animal hides and appearing in advertising campaigns for Burberry, which uses real fur in its collections.

So, I shall be boycotting all things "Madonna" until she changes her ways. I've already switched stations when one of her songs came on the radio.

Woohoo! Spurs hit 5

Well thank God it was sunny and dry this time. John and I met up with Debs, Mick and Craig outside the ground, had a chat and a few laughs. Before going into the stadium I dragged John into the Spurs shop (the last chance before Christmas - wink wink) and picked a couple things for my stocking!

The game got off to its usual start with Spurs looking hung over, lazy and not particularly bothered! Our opponents Charlton are 2nd bottom of the league and it was really frustrating watching them make a meal of it all. However, the fans today were in full song and the place was electric!

It took until the half hour before the ball was stroked into the path of Berbatov inside the box for the first goal. It was just a couple of minutes later when a headed clearance from a Lennon cross fell in front of Tainio who drilled it home after a deflection off a Charlton defender. Spurs had well and truly woken up by this time and it was looking good, however after a bit of a 'mess' in the penalty area, Charlton got a one back from an own goal, courtesy of Michael Dawson on 41 minutes.

The second half started exactly like the first although they bucked their ideas up a bit quicker. A Tainio cross into the danger zone was headed down by Berbatov and Steed Malbranque controlled with his chest before steering left-footed past Carson and into the net. Steed headed off into the crowd to celebrate his first goal for the club and was promptly booked. Stupid rule if you ask me - get rid of it.

Defoe got in on the act on 62 minutes after Lennon won the ball in the middle of the pitch and set the striker on his way goalwards. Charging towards the right corner of the penalty area, he let fly and Carson was well beaten high inside his left-hand upright. On 65 minutes it really was party time! Berbatov went on the charge to the left of the area, beating two defenders on his way to slotting past Carson from a tight angle.

Berbatov was substituted on 75 minutes to a huge ovation - after a rocky start to the season, he is at last beginning to look worth his £11m transfer fee. Aaron Lennon also had a great game, his best for a while - he never stopped chasing and hassling the whole game, and had a direct hand in 3 of our goals.

Following the huge disappointment of last week's 3-0 defeat at Arsenal (don't get me started on referees!) this week has been great for the club: 3 points against Boro on Tuesday and 3 points today. Can't get any better than that and the Spurs soar up to 8th in the table.

Ooh I love lists! Sorry Al, nicked another one!

Male/Female?	Female
How old are you?	38
How tall?	5'0"
Which languages do you speak?	only English (another lazy Brit) or does Gibberish count?!
How often do you travel abroad?	At least once a year
Have you ever dated a different nationality?	Not exactly "dated" no
Which foreign accent turns your head in your own country?	American/Aussie although I think French is the most sexy
What makes you angry?	so many things! but particularly cruelty to children & animals
What makes you laugh?	larking around & being silly!
When did you last laugh so much you cried?	there probably is an occasion more recent but the most vivid recollection is when I had work friends round for the evening a few years ago & one friend told this true story of something that happened at her job & the way in which she described it, just made me pee my pants - oh & yeah I was crying too!
What sort of movies do you loathe/love watching?	Loathe martial arts, love RomComs, thrillers and true stories
What sort of music do you love/hate listening to?	Loathe rap & hiphop, love most other genres from all decades but Daniel Bedingfield is my fave
Do you have any animals?	yes 4 cats
Would you like to own an animal?	I'd love loads more animals if I owned a large rural property with loads of land
What are your obvious skills/talents?	Remembering facts & organisation
What skill do you wish you possessed?	I wish I was more confident & not get worked up about the silliest things
Have you ever made your own music?	Sort of! I once improvised the wedding march on my keyboard at my Uncle's pretend wedding rerun when he came over from Oz. It was a jazzed up groovy version!
Has anyone ever confirmed you have a talent? What?	Not really
If you had one day left to live, what would you do?	panic!
If you had a five minute warning that the world would end what would you do?	Not a lot you CAN do!
Have you ever had a one night stand?	No
On your wedding day were you 100% sure you were doing the right thing?	Not married
What is your favourite food?	Indian
And the food you most dislike?	eggs
Who do you consider to be the most attractive male celebrity you have ever seen (past or present)	Daniel Bedingfield / Johnny Depp
And female celebrity?	Charlize Theron / Natalie Imbruglia
If you could change something about your body, what would it be?	get perfect eyesight, be taller & get a new head (preferrably one that doesn't get headaches!)
Have you ever had a serious road accident?	No
If you could be a recording artist for a week what song would you record and why?	I have no idea! I'd need to be able to sing in key first, right?!!

King of the jungle

Well done to Matt Willis, formerly a member of the band Busted for winning "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here". Gotta say he was the most unlikely out of the final four.

It was a shock seeing David Gest leave yesterday and also Jason being in third place - I had them as the sure-shot final two. Goes to prove how you can't judge someone from a first impression - I didn't think I'd like Matt much and had him down as one of the first to be voted out. However, he turned out to have a great personality and a sweet nature. I had no preconceptions of David because I don't read newspapers or gossip mags; I only knew him as Liza Minelli's ex. He was the star of the show for me - the stories he came out with: the albino hotel, the charity to help Chinese girls with herpes, his one-legged parents, and his maid Vaginica Seaman, amongst many others. The highlights for me were David washing the dishes with shampoo and moisturiser and Myleene trying to explain to him that he can't drink the washing-up liquid, also Dean Gaffney's first trial at the jungle spa. I think the votes in the final swung Matt's way after he ate the grossest things I've ever seen (from behind a cushion)! Every year they seem to get worse but surely there can't be anything more vile than a kangaroo anus and a crocodile penis! Ugh!

I wouldn't have lasted a day in there. I almost faint if I miss a meal! I can't 'do' cockroaches or spiders, I couldn't have jumped out of a plane or bungeed, slept in a hammock and most definitely could never swallow any of that so called bush tucker. I not one for roughing it - if I'm hungry, tired and unclean, I'm basically miserable. So from my point of view, the celebs were amazing.

Anyway, well done to ITV, those cheeky chappies Ant & Dec, and the celebs for some fab entertainment over the past 19 days.

My nice new hallway

Ok, so it's been a long time coming but the carpet finally went down last week to complete the new look hall, stairs and landing. Unfortunately I don't have a 'before' shot; I thought I had but then it was too late when I realised. Quick description though: heavily patterned Victorian style carpet with floral wallpaper above a white dado rail and white painted paper below the dado, with white painted skirting board and an unpainted front door. Gosh, it looks so much cleaner and modern now - I hope it stays that way but with four cats to keep in check, it'll be a struggle!

Spurs 3 Wigan 1

Despite neither John or I not feeling the best (I'd had a sore throat, cough and cold all week, andJohn had an achy head & body), we couldn't waste our £40 tickets by not going to the match today.

It took longer getting through Southend than the rest of the way to the ground, which seems to be the norm on Sundays these days - Lord knows where everyone is going. We met up with Debs, Mick and their mate Craig for a short while before the game but with the showery weather, all of us decided to get into the stadium a little earlier than usual.

I thought the atmosphere seemed weird today - I dunno whether my ears were blocked but everywhere including the roads outside the ground seemed quiet. ???

It was more like a Sunday afternoon kick about at the park in the first half, with little enthusiasm shown and as I had predicted before the game, Spurs went one down. Served them right really - everyone was just standing around ball watching and doing nothing to block the shot being made. Out of the blue though, and just two minutes before the break, Defoe ran onto Berbatov's pass down the left, he cut in skillfully and scored. 1-1. Less than a minute later, Assou-Ekotto released Berbatov down the left flank, who managed to nutmeg Jackson and curled the ball into the top corner with his right foot. Amazingly it was 2-1! Football is definitely a funny game. What a turnaround!



In the second half, Spurs had a fair few good chances. Wigan had theirs too but never really looked as if they were going to trouble us. John placed a bet before the game for a 2-1 Spurs win and whilst it was stuck on that scoreline, everytime they had the ball, John was muttering under his breath: 'don't score, don't score'. It was looking like he'd be claiming his £40 winnings until (would you believe?) 30 seconds from the final whistle when Aaron Lennon scored our third from 10 yards. He was a bit gutted to say the least. Me - I don't care, I'm just pleased that my team earned the three points. This puts us back at tenth in the table. Next week - away to the Arse.

An interesting list!

Poached from my mate Al who poached this from someone in Toronto apparently! Highlighted are the things I've done so far in my life...

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain (if you can count Ayres Rock?)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid - nope but stood next to it though!
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise (this was on the River Nile)
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse (1991 Grand National)
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse (sort of - didn't have appropriate specs so kinda looked at it out of corner of
eye)
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud (I was about 2 yrs old)
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice - the only thing I didn't do in Venice!
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in newspaper/magazine
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach (yuck! I brushed it off me whilst I was sleeping)
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

My poor little Jonny-Cat

My cat J.C. was booked into the vets yesterday to have some dental treatment. He's always had a history of poor teeth and has had to have five teeth extracted previously. This time he had four removed including one of his incisors. I'll have to rename him Gummy-Cat!!

Anyway, I had expected to collect him the same day but because he had so many out, they wanted to ensure he was getting sufficient pain relief by keeping him overnight. I called them this morning and they were keen to keep him another night as he hadn't yet eaten anything and they wanted to administer more pain killers. I wasn't too pleased at this because Jonny is not the kind of cat who missed his din-dins; see pic - he is a lovely round-shaped ginger tom and his place is usually in front of his bowl. I spoke to the vet again in the afternoon and pursuaded her that if he came home, he would be more likely to eat. She said they would need to give him another injection at 5pm, so I could fetch him after I finished work.

It was so great to see my boy again - I hadn't relaised how much I'd missed him. As soon as he got back to familiar territory, he was looking around for food. I gave him some tinned tuna which was nice and soft, and he managed to eat some. He was more eager when I presented slices of ham and he scoffed that straight from my hand. So it goes to show how stressed he must have been at the vets.

He needs to go back for a check up and more pain killers tomorrow. The bill so far is £229. Phew! But at least my baby is ok and he's been spoilt rotten with attention and cuddles from his Mummy!

Nan on the move

The day finally arrived for my Nan's move to Mill View. She was swapping accommodation with a couple so it was quite difficult to organise with people coming and going but it all went well in the end. There was 5 of us helping: me, my Mum & Dad and my Auntie Annette & Uncle Brian. Nan's bungalow was pretty small but the new flat was much tinier, however, I think it has a nice cosy feel and it instantly felt homely once Nan's stuff was in it. Of course, she had to get rid of a fair bit of furniture coz there just wasn't anywhere to put it, and it's amazing the crap you accumulate over the years. It's a lovely complex actually with a large walled garden just outside her back door & opposite the corridor by her front entrance is a small courtyard. Nan hadn't slept at all the night before with the worry and she was pretty tired out by the evening. However, once she settles in, I think she'll be much better off there as she won't have to walk so far and only has to use the intercom or emergency cord if she needs anyone.

There'll be a party in Southend tonight!

A massive woohoo to our local boys for beating Manchester United 1-0 in the Carling Cup! No-one likes to see that do they? :-) Despite Southend being bottom of the Championship and the opponents top of the Premiership, you wouldn't have known watching the game. A stonking 30 yard free kick from goalscoring hero Freddy Eastwood in the first half sealed the victory and Man Uited were denied an equaliser time after time by the superb goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan. They move into the quarter final for the first time in their history. Not bad eh?

I'm going gig mad!

It's not like I've come into some extra cash or anything but I'm being very frivulous with my money at the moment. In fact, I'm gonna have to sell some shares to see me through Christmas, to pay for the redecorating we're doing in the hall, footie tickets, get my cat's teeth seen to, as well as the concert tickets I've already bought and the one I really want to buy...

And so for the details:

Kylie - 2nd January 2007 at Wembley Arena. This is the opening night of her comeback tour and tickets from the box office are all sold out. I made the seller on eBay an offer of £140 for 2 tickets which was accepted. Slightly outrageous I know, but it's bound to be well worth it. John said he'll go with me if I get the tickets - I thought he'd be more enthused as he likes Kylie, but he said he's just not really a concert type of person. So if anyone out there wants a night out with me and they can come up with £70, you could be in luck!

Lionel Richie - 23rd March 2007 at Wembley Arena. I managed a bargain on eBay getting two tickets for £95, less than the face value of £55 each. And the seats are not bad either. John isn't keen on going so I intended to ask my Mum but Hayley at work expressed a real enthusiasm to go, so I asked her whether she wanted to buy the other ticket. She's gonna think about it.

It's just been announced that 'my man' Daniel Bedingfield is doing a one-off gig at Shepherd's Bush on 25th November with just 200 tickets available. That's just under three weeks away. Many of the girls on the forum are already going and staying in the same hotel. I so wanna be a part of it...the great thing is that John and I are already in London that day for Spurs v Wigan so I could go straight there after the game - the problem is what to do with John! I emailed my friend Debs who I meet at the footie as she is a fan of Daniel too and I asked if she fancies going to the gig with me. That way, the two guys can do something else and then we can meet up afterwards and all go back to our house together. It's a cunning plan; I just hope she'll say YES!

Free at last

Following on from my post of 3rd July, I was overwhelmed when I heard the great news that the three lions caged in a French circus for seven years, were now free.

Djunka, Nalla and Shala are at the Born Free Foundation Jean Byrd Animal Rescue and education Centre at Shamwari, South Africa. They have gone to a sanctuary where they will share a large natural bush enclosure of several acres and be able to enjoy life under the African sun, something which is a far cry from their tiny beast wagon. Although they will never be able to go back to the wild as they would not be able to fend for themselves, they will receive the highest levels of care from the dedicated team at the Born Free Foundation for the rest of their lives.

I was glad to see GMTV announced the good news this morning - I was in floods of happy tears over my cereal watching them being released; they are such wonderfully proud creatures and they are, at last, where they belong.

My dear little RJ

I'm posting this a little late (4 days in fact) but I'm just catching up with myself! I can't possibly not mention my nephew's 1st birthday which was on 2nd November. Ronnie James is my brother's youngest and is such a cute good natured little boy. Here's a current pic of him. He didn't know what the heck was going on of course, but he received loads of nice prezzies, most of which I ended up playing with!

He's had a bit of a rough time, bless him - he was born with two of his

fingers joined together and it wasn't until a few months ago that he was operated on. They had to obviously cut the skin between the fingers and take a graft from the bottom of his foot to replace the skin that was then missing. Check out the size of the bandage on his hand in the other pic! Apparently it was even bigger than that at one stage! Doctors were also worried about his eye - there is a very slight turn in the left one and they were talking about the possibility of an op on that too but that has now gone by the by. It may well correct itself in time and I don't believe you should put a toddler through such a procedure, especially when it's not majorly concerning.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Runs round the room like a maniac! It's been 16 years but my boys finally managed to beat Chelsea today 2-1. I'm ecstatic, I only wish I'd been there.

I wouldn't normally blog about a match I didn't go and see, but this one is special and I'd booked my seat in front of the telly.

Although the visitors took the lead after a pretty decent Makelele goal, Spurs came back into it and equalised after a glancing backward
header from Michael Dawson, quite unbelievably his first for the club. Chelsea had a goal disallowed but I'm not sure why; I'm not complaining though!

There were plenty of chances for both sides and it was even for the most part. However, in the second half, Spurs upped their game and looked the better side. On 52 minutes, Aaron Lennon took the ball down, wrong footed Ashley Cole in the box and slotted it home. Quite contraversially, John Terry got sent off with a second yellow card but despite many replays, I still don't know what it was for. Again, I'm not complaining - it's about time we had some luck.
Chelsea came close to making it 2-2 with Robben hitting the post but we managed to hold on for one of the most memorable victories in recent years.



You could say it's been a good week, with a 3-1 win against Bruges on Thursday. At last, we're on the up! And....another reason to remember the 5th of November.

Remember remember the 5th of November

Well it's after 10pm and the fireworks are still
banging outside. I suppose they'll go on and on
for weeks as usual - it's a pain especially when you have pets and I really think some sort of law should be put in place to restrict the amount of fireworks used by the public. Round our way, they go off all year and it's particularly irritating when people set them off after 11 at night.

Whilst on the subject I thought I'd re-educate myself on how the tradition came about..............

In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Among them was
Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.
After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer. A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.

To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords. But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators. Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed. It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.

Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.

On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire. Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or honoring his attempt to do away with the government.

Hope you enjoyed that history lesson!! At least it's an ENGLISH tradition, not an American one like Hallowe'en which strangely appears to get more popular each year. I remember one year when I was a young, making a brilliant guy with the other kids in the street I used to hang around with, and doing 'penny for the guy' on the corner of our road. We collected over £100 which was ridiculous really, considering the limited amount of people who passed by. Although I don't agree with children begging for money these days, we did at least spend the money on fireworks and had a display at our neighbour's house (Anne & Geoff's), where we congregated every year. They were fun nights - freezing cold but fun!

What is up with the public?!

Have they no taste? I'm talking about the X Factor...ok it's a bit trivial - no-one has died, but how are the McDonald brothers still in the competition? They didn't do any justice to my fave Abba song Fernando -it may well have been titled McFernando! Amazingly, Ashley was in the bottom two tonight, together with Robert who has also been there before. I think Robert is slightly too cocky at times but you can't deny he is a fab performer. Ashley on the other hand has one of the most unique voices I have ever heard, he has a beautiful face and a fantastic head of hair! I was gutted Louis decided to send him home, but hopefully it won't be the last time we see him - he has too much talent. And, YES I DID VOTE! They should switch it around so you can vote for the act you want to get rid of, else, someone will have to cut the phone lines in Scotland next Saturday!!!! From the remaining seven, I think Ben has the most talent with Leona a close second.

Spurs 1 West Ham 0

A very grim and wet visit to the Lane it was today - something that has never happened to us before (believe it or not!). Sadly, due to the weather, our friends Debs and Mick were already inside the stadium two hours before kick off so there was
no chance of a meet-up this time. After John stopped at the chip
shop, we also headed into the stadium to get out of the rain.

Expectations were high as the Spurs came away with a good 2-0 away result in Istanbul on Thursday, and Aaron Lennon was back from injury. The atmosphere was fantastic today and I love it when we're sitting around other lively fans.

Although we dominated most of the first half, our players were looking a bit lazy and were not closing down the opponents quickly enough. Just before the break, there was a bit of 'handbags 'between Defoe and Javier Mascherano where both were booked. This in truth, probably added a spark that the game needed. Then in the first half stoppage time, Edgar Davids made a rare run down the left and squeezed the ball through to Mido inside the area. The big Egyptian, positioned over to the left and at a fairly acute angle, spun and smashed the ball across their goalie and off the inside of the far post. Thankfully the ball did not return into play and nestled happily over the line to mark Mido's first goal of the season.

In the second half, you could tell Martin Jol had given strict instructions to hassle the opponents more and this they did and the game had more pace about it. Several more goal attempts came our way but sadly no more goals. Referee Steve Bennett seemed to be wearing a claret and blue shirt at times but Spurs hung on for the three points. Things seem to be looking up at last.

My week off

Other than my trip to the capital last Monday, the week has been pretty uneventful with John getting on with the decorating and me chipping in where I could. It's in the final stages although the carpet hasn't been ordered yet so that'll come later. However, it's looking much cleaner and brighter.

On Tuesday I received a surprise email from my cousin Matt in Australia. Since he came to visit 3 years ago, he' not kept in touch (that's men for you!) but I got a message out of the blue. He reckons his hotmail address got shut down through lack of use and so he lost our address. However, he must've remembered the blueyonder bit coz he guessed the rest and found us! It was great to hear from him - he's such a lovely guy and we get on so well.

Thursday was my Nan's 83rd birthday. Bless her. She looked quite well, better than when I saw her last and she was getting around not too badly. She's still on the oxygen though. Very slow progress is happening with her move into Millview sheltered accommodation and hopefully it won't be long now.

Oh I've just got to say the highlight of this week's TV was tonight on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway - Ant vs Dec: the boy bands. Hehe! It was so entertaining and made me chuckle; their band members were great sports and included Cheggars, Brian Conley, Michael le Vell, Sid Owen, Chris Parker, Suggs, and Lee from Steps. The guest judges were Jonathan Ross, Ricky Gervais and Simon Cowell. I have to say I thought both routines and performances were great but I personally gave Dec's band the edge.

"Wicked" was wicked!

What a beautiful autumn day - clear blue skies and warm sunshine. Having decided to make a day of it, we left for London mid morning and arrived at the Natural History Museum around noon. Not exactly making the most of the nice weather but neither of us had been to this museum since we were kids. We both remarked how the diplodocus in the main hall looked a lot smaller than we'd remembered, and I'm really not that much taller than I was back then! We spent just over 3 hours there and then had to quickly think how to use the rest of our time before the show that evening. So we hopped on the tube a couple of stops to St James Park, to have a pleasant walk. The squirrels were everywhere munching on acorns - awww so cute. They've become so tame and come right up to people. Just give me some little animals and I'm away! We walked right around the park in front of Buckingham Palace and then through Horseguard's Parade and ended up at Trafalgar Square. Just to kill a bit more time, we went into the National Gallery to look at a few of the most famous paintings including Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Renoir's Umbrellas (two of my faves). Then it was time to get back on the tube to Victoria, where we grabbed a pub meal and then made our way to the theatre which was just round the corner.

Our seats were good - row R of the stalls, and fortunately no-one was sitting directly in front of us so we had a direct view of the stage. I knew Adam Garcia was one of the stars: the Australian actor who starred in Coyote Ugly and has been in the West End version of Saturday Night Fever amongst others; a bit of alright if you know what I mean! I was also pleased to see that there were three other actors I also knew: Miriam Margolyes, Nigel Planer and Martin Ball. Although not a huge stage, the set was great.

"Wicked" is the untold story of the legendary witches from L Frank Baum's classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Set within a fantasy world of wizardry and witchcraft, this magical adventure brings to life the captivating, surprising tale of how a misunderstood, green girl named Elphaba became the Wicked Witch of the West. Starting from when she was born, through her school years when she becomes friends with Glinda (the good witch) and beyond. I won't give away the plot in case you wanna see it.

They all had great voices but the actress playing Elphaba (wicked witch) was exceptional. As with most musicals, you have scenes and songs which are more pleasing to the eyes and ears than others but all in all it was very entertaining and somewhat different from any other I'd seen.

Bits n pieces of the last fortnight

Yes I've been lazy again, just haven't felt the urge to do any blogging these past two weeks. Not a great deal has happened so it'll probably be brief!

3rd October was my birthday (urgh!) another year older and now only two years away from the big 4 0. I don't bother celebrating birthdays much, the last party I had was for my 21st but I am planning to have one for my 40th - and it'll definitely be fancy dress! My work colleagues spoilt me with gifts including 4 dvds, 2 autobiographies, chocs, Body Shop moisturiser, diary/pen, a giftbox to sponsor a giant panda, and a monkey keyring. I also received footie tickets (for the game 1/10) and clothes from Johnny, a casual shirt from my parents, money from my Nan, mud pack/moisturiser from my friend Suk and some Body Shop stuff from my brother.

12th October during my lunch break, I visited my friend Ellie who has just had a baby boy. She only lives about 8 minute's walk away from work so it's very handy. She had the baby on 1st October and to be induced three times before he would come out (yuck). He weighed a very healthy 8lb 10oz and is as yet nameless. Ellie and her partner Simon have narrowed it down to either Coby or Drew, the latter being favourite but I can't say I like either. Still it's their choice. He is very cute I must say and I managed to get a cuddle after Mummy fed him. Her 2 & 1/2 year old Dylan was running around like a looney-he was making me feel exhausted just watching him. However, Ellie said he is very protective of the baby and there's no jealously at all which is good.

On Friday 13th, I invited the girlies (Mad Al, Groomie and Samuelo) around for a "trip down memory lane" themed evening. Everyone brought old family photos and we reminisced about awful fashions, toys, hairdos and large spectacles, amongst other things. I think I was voted unanamously as having the worst outfit (purple suit) & the worst enormous glasses, although I think Groomie deserved the latter award!! We also talked about how work has changed over the years, three of us having been with the firm for over 20 years. It was a fun evening.

This is the start of my week's leave from work (hoorah!) and John is off too. We are decorating the hall, stairs and landing (at last) and hope that the new fresh neutral colours will brighten it up a bit. Barring tomorrow when we have a day in London with a show in the evening, all week will be dedicated solely to DIY. I'll post some pics once it's finished.

Well that's it for now - told you it'd be brief! Oh what an interesting life I lead! :-)

Spurs 2 Pompey 1

This was my first visit to the Lane this season and it was good to be back. Spurs ended last season in 5th place and was their most successful in years. All the fans believed they would carry on as they left off but it's been a disastrous start with 1 win, 1 draw and 4 losses so far, with only 2 goals scored and in 17th place. Better news is that we've got through the first round of the UEFA Cup ok beating Slavia Prague 1-0 home and away.

So today, kick off was at 4pm. We left home at 1pm, in plenty of time you would think but unfortunately we hit traffic on the M25 due to an accident. We arrived at 3pm, parked up and then walked about a mile to meet up with Debs and Mick at the Bell & Hare.

The atmosphere was fantastic at the start of the game, the fans getting right behind the team. After just 42 seconds, Defoe crossed for Berbatov whose downward header was saved by James on his line. However, the ball squirmed out and Berbatov touched it for Murphy to flick home from two yards. YAY! What a great start! Spurs were on top for most of the first half and on 34 mins, were awarded a penalty. Zokora burst forward, played a one-two with Defoe and into the box, looked to turn inside Mendes, and was tripped. Defoe stepped up, David James dived the right way but the strike had enough power to nestle into corner. 2-0! The tide suddenly changed after that and we let Portmouth pass the ball around more comfortably. Not too surprisingly, following a cross, Kanu was left free and headed in a goal on 39 minutes.



Into the second half, Spurs seemed to have a lack of enthusiasm and looked lazy. Berbatov in particular, was dire. Not one of his headers or passes went to a team mate. Pompey were allowed more and more chances but fortunately, their shooting was off. They didn't look like a team who were unbeaten so far this season. Robinson was the hero in injury time with a great reaction save, following a deep cross from Mwaruwari which was met by Lua Lua's head at the far post. Phew! We managed to hold on for a win and 3 very valuable points. Hopefully this will be the kickstart we need so badly. Although the football was not too pretty, the points are what matter at the end of the day.

10:30pm. Having just watched Match of the Day 2, I am quite appalled that in fact Zokora dived in the penalty area; Mendes didn't actually touch him, yet was awarded a penalty. The penalty may have been in my team's favour (and Lord knows we needed it) but I hate to see players do this to gain advantage. It is cheating and I think any player found guilty after the game should be punished. This has never been Spurs way in the past; they have always been a fair play team so I sincerely hope I don't witness it again.

Roque

I've received my documents through from the Born Free Foundation, confirming I am now the adoptive parent of Roque ('Rocky') the tiger.

He was born on 17th May 1998 and was only a few days old when he was taken from his mother and put on sale in a Spanish petshop. He was placed in a small glass tank and was terrified and alone, constantly crying for his mother. Fortunately, Roque was rescued by Born Free and brought to a UK based big cat sanctuary. They moved him to a large forest enclosure in Bannerghatta, India in April 2002 where he is more used to his surroundings and has learned to become more of a wild tiger.

The exploitation of animals makes me sick to the core, whether it be Roque's situation, circuses, the majority of zoos, the fur trade etc etc. It's all about money. How can you possibly sell a tiger as a pet? Look how big they get! You can't exactly stroke it like a domestic cat; it'd have your hand off! It's a sad state of affairs that's it's got to the stage where there are only 5000-7500 wild tigers left in the world. There were approx 100,000 at the turn of the 20th century. Three sub-species of tiger are already extinct and poaching and habitat loss pose the greatest threat to the remaining species.

The pic above is actually of Roque who is now a happy tiger thanks to Born Free, who are doing such wonderful work for the animals. I intend to give my full support whenever I can, as I do with the RSPCA, PETA, Cats Protection, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

Two guys I admire greatly...

....Jamie Oliver and Ian Wright.

Jamie decided enough was enough with school dinners and the fact that kids were eating complete crap and not getting the nutrition they need. So he did something about it. It wasn't about him, he truly cared. Faced with resentment by school dinner ladies including the outspoken Nora Sands, it was an uphill struggle but two years on, there have been vast improvements with junk food being removed from the menu. Nora is now firmly by Jamie's side and is just as committed to the cuase. There is still a lot to do, with discussions with the government over funding and this week Jamie is on our tv screens again with an update of the situation.

Although Jamie has a full schedule and has admittedly neglected his family, he still continues to fight for what he believes in. Well it's not rocket science - everyone knows that junk food = obesity, lack of concentration, health problems, no fitness etc, but what has anyone else done about it? It should be the government sorting out these problems, not celebrities. In fact, the problem shouldn't have got this out of hand in the first place; it should have been addressed years ago. All I can say is keep going Jamie - you're an inspiration and a pukka bloke!

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/J/jamies_school_dinners/index.html

Ian Wright was never a favourite person of mine when he was playing football. Being a Spurs suporter, an Arsenal player is never very popular. However, since he has retired, I've quite enjoyed his tv shows and particularly his appearances as a football pundit for the BBC during England games, where he doesn't hold back his passion for the game.

Now he's undertaking a similar campaign to Jamie's, targeting unfit kids. Physical education seems to be twindling in schools these days and what with junk food, video games and tv, kids just aren't as active as they used to be. For instance, when I was a kid we didn't have any luxuries and I remember being outside playing every day in the summer. Also, at school I played sport almost every day, both in my lunch hour and after school hours.

The plan is to set up after school clubs across the UK to specifically target unfit kids. But first he's got to prove it can work on just 8 13 year olds which were hand-picked. He has just 6 months to get them fit.

Ian is not only struggling with getting the kids motivated but it's a battle with the parents too. When you look at them, obese themselves, it makes me so angry because it's entirely their fault how their kids have turned out. It's all too easy these days to feed your children fast food and it's purely because they're too lazy to cook something nutritional. Ian is also having to find funding from various sources and trying to convince people to give it to you is no easy feat.

Apparently, Britain has the fattest, unhealthiest and laziest children in Europe, with an estimated one million to be classified obese by the year 2010. If nothing is done, experts predict this generation of couch potato kids will die before their parents. Shocking!

Good luck Ian. It's a shame there aren't more people who care as much as you.

http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/I/ian_wright/index.html

It's not good news...

After further tests, doctors have told my Nan that she has serious heart failure and they have given her maybe a couple months to live. She has taken the news very well, she's accepted it and said she's ready to go. Nan always said she didn't want to live past 75 anyway. Obviously this news has hit me hard as I just didn't expect it. I know she's old and that she'd leave us eventually but I just didn't think it would happen yet. She's my only remaining grandparent and it'll be odd not having her around. I lost my Grandad a few years ago to a sudden heart attack and that was a big shock; I suppose at least this time, we know what to expect, but it's still gonna be hard when the time comes. I'm hoping she'll slip away peacefully in her sleep.

Update on my Nan

I went to see my Nan straight from work today. The news from yesterday is that following the pneumonia, they have now discovered she has a heart condition after drawing clear fluid out of her chest. At this stage I have no idea what the condition is called and what the prospect is for the future. She looks very weak and frail; although she is tall, there is nothing of her. She's still on nebulizers 4 times a day, anti biotics and pills for her breathing. She hadn't been on her feet for 8 days but tonight she did manage to get to the loo with the aid of a zimmer frame and a nurse. At least that's a slight improvement. It was mentioned before that she may be sent home Friday but I can't see how she's gonna be strong enough. She's better off in hospital, although it's such a depressing place. At this stage, we're waiting to hear about whether she's been accepted for the flat at the sheltered accommodation, not far from where she currently lives in Rochford.
The hospital staff now have to call her "Sheffield Steel" as that's where she's from originally and for the fact that she asked them to perform a nasty procedure on her without local anaesthetic. "NO" she said "Just do it"! Now I know where I get it from!

The photo above was taken at my Dad's recent 60th birthday party.

Breaking news...

I'm an auntie again (on John's side). Sandy, wife of Chris (John's brother) had a little girl last night...well I say little - she weighed in at a whopping 9lb 2oz! Her first, Joey Alexander, was 9lb 4oz. They already had a name lined up: Jennifer Jaqueline Ann, the middle two names being Chris and John's sisters' names. Apparently, Sandy had the baby just 40 minutes after being taken into hospital but haemorrhaged badly and needed 6 pints of blood. However, she is ok. Here's a cute pic!

Fun at work

"Shiver me timbers" I LOVE being a pirate! I wanna do it again! I modelled myself on Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean...well who else? I think Johnny Depp deserves yet another mention in my blog!! Hehe :-) I already had a long wig so I just added a few plaits and beads; I used a bandana, one of John's white shirts with elastic bands around the cuffs to puff them out, a tablecloth around the waist, a belt slung diagonally across my chest, trousers rolled up with brown boots and some black eyeliner. Oh and I bought a toy pistol. Total cost £5.47. Not bad eh? See pic above taken later at home as no-one remembered their camera at work. Doh!

Quite a few people dressed up in the office, all given pirate names by our supervisors. I was seaman Lisa the legless. We had games laid on by our supervisors too, the first of which was Taste Smell and Feel. Victoria, Groomie and myself volunteered for our team - Vic did the feeling, Ali G did the tasting and I did the smelling. I do have a radar nose for smells but still only got 2 out of 4, however one of them was pickled olives which I guessed as gherkins - anything pickled smells similar doesn't it? And the other one was potato which hardly smells of anything - I guessed plasticine! The ones I got right were marmite which is unmistakable and catfood which is a smell I'm used to! We only got 5 out of 12 which was pretty useless but it was fun anyhow.

Mid morning, everyone who was dressed up was told to go to another part of the building to be judged and have their photo taken. They picked two guys and two girls as winners; sadly I was not one of them. Poor decision I felt but everyone looked great!

Later on we had to design pirate flags. Groomie came first - another triumph for the team, me having won the totem pole competition in the last Fun at Work day. The last game of the day was similar to pass the parcel except it was a bomb. Whoever had the bomb when the music stopped had to remove a raffle ticket which was stuck to it, and so won a prize.

The day was a lot of fun, and I think it is needed every now and then to keep the morale high.
Can't wait for the next one - any excuse to dress up and I'm there with bells on! :-)

R.I.P. Steve Irwin

I know it's a tad late but just wanted to say a little something about the charismatic Steve Irwin, who was killed tragically on 4th September, and whose funeral took place a week ago.

I don't think there was ever a more enthusiastic character on our tv screens - Steve clearly loved what he did and he will be a big loss to wildlife conservation. My heartfelt wishes go out to his wife Terri and his two young children.

Known as The Crocodile Hunter, Steve was filming on the Great Barrier Reef when a deadly stingray barb pierced his heart. He managed to pull it free before losing consciousness and dying. Apparently, there has only been one other report of a person being killed by a stingray in the 1940s - you could say it's ironic really, considering how Steve frequently flirted with danger around crocodiles.Steve was just 44 and has been buried at Australia Zoo which is owned by his family.

It's disturbing to read how people have been cashing in on Steve's death. One woman was arrested after selling fake stickers, the profits of which she said were going to wildlife conservation. Unbelievable! It makes me sick.

I love the photo of him above with the tiger cub - one of my favourite animals and I personally think they are the most beautiful creatures on earth. I recently sponsored a tiger in India through the Born Free Foundation and I'm just waiting for the paperwork to come through with a photo.

Who's a lazy blogger then?

That would be me...! I'm still without my laptop so I'm less inclined to come up to my loft room to post an entry. So, Al, this is just for you! At least someone's missed me.

Right, what's been happening these last 8 days? Not a lot really.

We had a big storm last week - good it was. However, we have discovered a leak in our roof which drips through the wall in our loft room and the wallpaper has gone all manky and black. John's gonna have to get out on the roof at some point to see if it's the tiles; we certainly can't leave it as every time it rains, it seeps through. This room is therefore looking a bit of a tip at the moment.

My Nan's been taken poorly, bless her. She's almost 83 and was taken into A&E last Tuesday because her legs gave way and she couldn't catch her breath. They did various tests but said she could go home that evening despite the fact that she still couldn't breathe very well! Typical NHS! Anyway, she felt a bit better the following few days but then took a turn for the worse on Saturday when she was rushed into A&E again. She was much much worse this time and was put on oxygen. Within an hour John and I were at the hospital. My Dad was already there with my cousin Nicola and her friend Jo. A petite Indian doctor asked loads of questions and got some 'abuse' from my Nan - you have to know her to understand her personality but let's just say, she doesn't hold back. Quite feisty for an oldie. They took more blood from my Nan - her poor hands were already black with bruises coz her skin is so thin. She was then put on a nebulizer which helped her to breath better, followed by intravenous anti-biotics. They were due to take a chest x-ray too but we had to leave before that happened - we were due to DJ at John's Aunt and Uncle's 60th wedding anniversary that evening.

So we dashed home, got some fish n chips, changed and set off for Belhus Golf Club in South Ockendon for the party. We came out of retirement especially for this special do - John's Aunt Lil and Uncle Dave are such a sweet little couple (see pic above); Lil must only be about 4 feet tall, bless her, but she's just as a Nan should look like. They have such a massive family - 8 children, 20 odd grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. Now that's amazing! Vertually everyone there was related to each other in some way or another - the Morgan family is enormous: John is one of 7, John's Dad is one of 5 or 6, and his Mum is one of 10. Dave & Lil even had their two bridesmaids there. We played a lot of old songs, including one from war time. One of my faves is Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - you just can't help jiggling to it! Lil is a bit doddery on her feet but she managed to get up and dance a couple of tunes including the Anniversary Waltz and We'll Meet Again. The evening went very well, but I'm glad we don't do the DJing every week now - it's so much hard work unloading and packing up. I think we only have one more 'one off' to do next May when John's oldest friend Dave (alias Nobby) is getting married.

Back to my Nan....the next day (Sunday) the news was that she was suffering from pneumonia.
Tonight, my Mum rang and said that she was still taking nebulizers 4 times a day together with the anti-biotics & she's had a full body scan. However, my Nan says she doesn't feel any better. They'll assess her again tomorrow with a view to sending her home but everyone's hoping they decide not to, as she really isn't strong enough yet. They really don't seem to care that she an elderly lady living on her own and despite the fact that she can't move around yet, they still wanna get her out. She can't stay with any of us as we all have upstairs toilets and Nan only has a one bedroom bungalow so nowhere for anyone else to sleep if someone were to stay with her. The worry is that if she has a fall and can't get to the phone, no-one will know. She was planning to move into sheltered accommodation where they are supervised etc. This really needs to happen asap as I fear she's not gonna be able to look after herself properly now.

All week I've been planning what I'm gonna be wearing at the next 'Fun at work' day which is tomorow. The theme this time is pirates. Ok, so, who can I model myself on....hmmm not really difficult being a huge Johnny Depp fan - it's gotta be Cap'n Jack Sparrow! I already had a long haired wig so I've decorated that with coloured beads. I have a bandana so that we will go around the wig. I've borrowed one of John's white shirts so that's nice and baggy, I'll wear my own trousers rolled up with brown boots, a tablecloth will go around my waist hanging down at the side, and I bought a toy pistol today at Sancto's. The only thing I don't have is a long waistcoat. I should look a complete whalley - hoorah! Full report and hopefully some pics to follow...