let it all blog

Long time no blog!

2011-07-19T13:22:00.003+01:00

And this little fella is the reason why. My baby-man Daniel will be 2 at the end of October and he's my ray of sunshine. We're stomping through life together having as much fun as we can along the way. I was lucky enough to have 2 of my best friends also decide that they would bring little ones into the world at the same time so even though I'm a geriatric Mum (by the standards of the NHS) we have good company. The photo of us is at the seaside near Eastbourne in June of this year where he was introduced to his first caravan... not the last I can assure you. We played on the beach, went to the zoo, went to the Sealife centre, went swimming and generally messed around. Life is a good place to be with a little boy around that smiles all day long and makes it all seem a bit more worthwhile -x-x-x-

A little video of our project...

2008-12-16T15:59:00.002Z

http://www.portstgeorge.com/show_video.php?video=media/videos/bahamas1.flv&inpDims=320x179&autoStart=true

Birthdays in NYC

2008-12-10T23:09:00.005Z

So a bit more about life over in the big apple....

After my birthday night out we had a day where we found a little NY diner for breakfast followed by shopping around Bryant Park and Bloomingdales before heading out to Smith & Wollenskys which has a rep for being great steak and seafood, though we had a late sitting, a bit of a pain of a waiter and I couldn't eat all my steak (as they were trying to rush us out of there so they could shut up) so I asked him if I could take what was left of my steak home... it was very nicely wrapped in a plastic container, cut up and then put with napkins and plastic cutlery into a very posh carry out bag. I thanked him with a big fake NYC grin and then on leaving the restaurant I kindly left the bag on the street outside so that any passing homeless person could get some good food!!!

That night we got a town car to the W hotel bar on Lexington called "Whiskey Blue" which is one of my favourite bars. After finding out that there had been a party there for cardio surgeons (who invited us to an after party) I decided that I needed to talk to a very nice man who turned out to be an ex-pro American footballer called Charles. He was a real sweetie and suggested that maybe I'd like to go and see him the next night at another bar that he would be at? The next night me & Sara did that very thing and he asked if there was any chance he could take me on a date on my final night in the city (which was fab as Sara was leaving the next day)... It was lovely :)))

I bought myself a new case on the final day to bring all my presents home in.... and yes I had my date and no I'm not telling... but I had a message from him on my mobile phone by the time I got off the plane and I've had emails from him since... awwww!

I can highly reccommend NYC to anyone that fancies a trip accross the pond xxx

Birthdays in NYC

2008-12-10T23:09:00.004Z

Hi Everyone!

I had such a great time for my birthday. I had dropped Mum & Booboo off with my Bro and Sis-in-law in Shrewsbury. They both seemed very happy with the arrangement. I packed my case and was ready for the off...My only mission was to buy the Christmas pressies and find a bit of fun out there.

NYC was cold and we even saw snow!!! Not that it made any difference to how much fun we had. On Friday night (my birthday for anyone that might not have known) was spent with Sara, Mimi & Alan at the restaurant at Gramercy Tavern and the food was the finest I've ever tasted. Everyone was really happy and also tired as we'd all been travelling for ages and much as it was fun I was shattered!!!

We decided at the end of the meal that we had all had enough for the night and decided that it was time to give it neck for the night. It was fab food, amazing service and we were all just tired and worn out after a long day...

More to come...

Luv
Lyndyloo
-x-x-

NYC

2008-12-10T22:40:00.004Z

oooh what a great time I had in the big apple!!! I thought that after last year I might have struggled with the 1st anniversary.

Let me tell you about the trip. I woke on my birthday to find a load of cards and presents and after the fab meal that Small Person made for us to share before I came away to spend some time back in my favourite city. I met up with Sara and Mimi & Alan at the airport and after checking in we had a breakfast and went in to go over the pond.

We arrived in NYC at the Millenium Hilton after a bit of a misunderstanding with the stretch limo thnat Mimi had organised for me (it was fab by the way) and even though the man with the card wasn't sweeping me off my feet as I came in from arrivals he did fianlly took us from where we turned up down the hall.... down some elevator... along a corridor... out over the road.... across the car-park... to the car. The limo was fab... there will be some photos of us inside on FB.

Off to the hotel to check in! I have a fab jr. suite with views over the statue of liberty and the WTC site. I knew it might be a little loud but it was worth it. I had a bottle of champagne sent up from the check in staff for my birthday. I suppose I should be grateful really... and who cares I have a booking for Gramercy Tavern and it was the best food I ever ate the last time I was here with Mimi.

And it was the best food ever! Again! What a fab place!!! I loved my birthday evening and I had the best company I could have asked for!!!I can highly reccommend the Gramercy Tavern to anyone who might want somewhere to enjoy the best food of their life and especially with such wonderful friends.

This is blog one of a few... I need to add photos... bear with me I still have jet lag xxx

A year on Wednesday

2008-12-01T21:58:00.003Z

You've probably noticed that I've had a quiet year on my blog. And on Wednesday it will be a whole year ago since I lost my Dad. For those who didn't know he went peacefully in his sleep after celebrating my 40th birthday at an early party and after a battle with lung cancer and all the related problems that went with it. He was a wonderful man with many talents including being a brilliant drummer, a ballroom dance teacher, one of the funniest most outspoken men to ever walk the earth and a Dad/Husband/Grandad just the same as any other but he was my Dad and I still miss him every day. My 40th birthday party was a year ago today. It was a fabulous do with an Abba tribute band and everyone dressed up having a good time. A year on and all I can think of is that's the last time he got dressed up in his shirt & tie (he wore one pretty much every day of his adult life) and was determined to be there for me.

I'm going to get my Mum through it on Wednesday and then take her to stay with my Brother on Thursday. I'll be getting on a plane for NYC on Friday to celebrate this years birthday in a different country so it couldn't be more different. Until then I just want to raise a glass to my Dad Cyril. I love you.
Luv
Me
-x-x-

Slow Dance

2008-11-26T12:24:00.000Z

This is a poem written by a teenager with cancer.

It is quite the poem. Please pass it on.

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,'Hi '
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift..
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Wise words from a young person...

Funny

2008-10-28T13:28:00.002Z

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x684wa_the-last-laugh-george-parr-subprime_fun

Nearly a Year!

2008-10-20T17:12:00.002+01:00

It's almost been a year since I came to my site. Almost a year since I lost my baby-girl Roobear. I can't beleive it can possibly be that long ago. I still miss her every day that goes by and I'm sure little Booboo does too. That's her above jumping through the bluebells earlier on this year. She jumps on my lap and gives me a cuddle when I feel rotten which is gorgeous!

For those who didn't know I also lost my Dad 2 days before my 40th birthday in December which was devestating for us. He went very peacefully and it was all expected (though perhaps not quite that soon) but it's not been an easy year.

The race for life was inspirational as Mum managed to get round pushing her wheelchair (in the rain) with me & my friends all cheering her on. I think that was when I decided that I needed to get on with my life again. I've joined my local gym, I still have a session with 2 other friends and a personal trainer once a week. I'm feeling better, looking more like my old self and I feel that I've turned the corner.

Thanks for all your support. I can't express how much it means to me.

Luv
Lyndyloo
-x-x-

Make a difference

2008-03-16T17:44:00.000Z

Farewell my Baby-Girl

2007-10-27T18:54:00.000+01:00

It was with a very heavy heart that I had to say goodbye to Roobear this morning. She had hurt her front shoulder and could no longer get to her feet without assistance from me. She was a very proud bear and would not have been happy without her dignity. I had her favourite Vet “Uncle Roger” to come and visit her and now she is in the vast bone-shop in the sky. I will miss her more than words can say but there is no way I could let her suffer in pain with no chance of her recovery, the arthritis and her age (105 nearly in doggie years) finally got the better of the most beautiful girl in my world .

I will always love you xxxxx

Police II

2007-09-11T15:36:00.001+01:00

Spectacular!! The stadium show was even more impressive than the NIA with a fantastic light show and even bigger images of Sting to ogle at! I would love to tell you that I've now had my fill of the show for this year but I'd be telling lies as I can't wait to go again next month and sample Cardiff... I've not been to the Millenium Stadium yet so it's something else to look forward to.The images in the redition of invisible sun are brilliantly taken photos of children from around the world who have been caught up in war or famine or hardship taken by one of Stings friends... and below is a photo of the support group and lead singer Joe Sumner (hmmm familiar name....)

Well all I am left to say is... wonderful...thanks boys!

The Police

2007-09-06T11:06:00.001+01:00

You honestly didn't think you were going to get away without me waxing lyrical about how wonderful The Police were now did you?

Let me tell you all about the first installment at the NIA... the next being at Twickenham on Saturday and then the final at Cardiff in October.

The support act was Fiction Plane who are headed by Sting's Son Joe Sumner. The boy has got a very familiar voice and knows how to own the stage just like his Dad. For anyone that's a fan of Sting I think their musc is worth a listen.

The stage set was 3 man rock and roll band simplicity in it's finest form. The light show was effective and the band are equally as good as they ever were.

Setlist:

Message in a Bottle

Synchronicity II

Walking On The Moon

Voices Inside My Head

When The World Is Running Down

Don't Stand So Close To Me

Driven To Tears

Truth Hits Everybody

Hole In My Life

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

Wrapped Around Your Finger

De Do Do Do De Da Da Da

Invisible Sun

Walking In Your Footsteps

Can't Stand Losing You

Roxanne

King Of Pain

So Lonely

Every Breath You Take

Next To You

There was a wonderful selection of photographs

that accompanied the Invisible Sun

rendition which you can have

a look on by clicking the link above.

As always Sting (even at 55) looks as fit and gorgeous as he always did. There again I am totally biased in my opinion and can only live in hope that there will be a man out there like that for me...

General gibberish

2007-09-04T12:42:00.000+01:00

So what is it about sorting out your files, debugging, defraging and synchronising your laptop and pc that makes you feel safe and calm? Well if this isn't something that you can relate to then you obviously have someone else that must be resposible for the day to day security of the computers you use. For the likes of little me, if I don't do it, it don't get done. Saying that, once it has all been put in order I get this warm and happy feeling (a bit sad really). I think it comes from having my office stolen once a few years ago. Theives broke into my house and stole not only my pc but also my filofax, back up drive and all manner of other things that I used on a daily basis. I'd only gone up the road for an hour. It takes years to get all that information back and I'm not sure I ever got it all back really. Even now I go to look for someones details and I can't find them. Anyway I'm not sure what brough on that little rant.

What's going on out there in the real world? I got up this morning and there was what looked remarkably like frost on top of my car. Can it be that we're heading into Winterish already? You wouldn't think so now looking out of the window to blue skies and sunshine but I swear it was looking white. I think I must have blinked and missed Summer but there again to quote Helen from a past Big Brother "I love blinking I do"... still don't quite understand what made her say that.

I'm going on a bit today for no reason. I'm off to see The Police tonight at the NIA in Birmingham and I guess I'm a bit excited about that. They were teenage heros as Sting is to this day. I'm hoping they're as good as they were back then... I'll let you know!

Update

2007-08-13T15:37:00.000+01:00

It's been a long time since I posted and for those of you who know me you'll know that life has been full of stuff for me. Some of it good and some of it not so good. I'll post more on the not so good when I know the outcome (though so far all is going well).

Last week the Port St George team where at the British Par 3 Championship at Nailcote Hall in Warwickshire where we had teams competing in the Pro-Am and Celeb-Am days. We even managed to win the Pro-Am competition with our player Tim Stimpson who partnered the winning Professional Steve Cowel to lift the trophy.

Our celebrity golfer on Thursday was Lee Sharpe of ex Man Utd fame (that's if you're a footy fan as apposed to celebrity love island) and I have to say he was a really nice bloke. He turned up, played a decent game, had a laugh with our other players and had a few drinks with the team afterwards at the inevitable "do". This was one that I didn't attend though I did have the Tuesday night and Friday night "do's" that I was present at.

It seems that we all had a good time, though it was hard work standing up all day for the first time in ages! The photo on the left is one of the Celeb-Am teams and the one on the right is my friends daughter Rebecca with her PSG hat on in front of our stand. She had the best time blowing up magic balloons with the huge tank of helium we had on site. We had balloon races to see how high, how far and just how big you could get a balloon on Friday just for a laugh!.

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-06-21T00:26:00.001+01:00

It's happened! We got a message from the lawyers in the Bahamas tonight to tell us that our application to purchase and develop the land on Long Island has been accepted!

Oh my God! I still can't quite beleive it. I got an email this evening to tell me that our project is going to go ahead (subject to some reports and stuff) but never the less... all the work that has been put in over the last 18 months is starting to come together. This means that there will be a whole lot of new work that comes our way but in the meantime....

Another bottle of Bolli!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's to us! Her's to all my family, friends, virtual friends and most of all my bears! Oh and the rest of team, yes most of all to the rest of the team! YIPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Happy Birthday Roobear!

2007-06-21T00:25:00.002+01:00

My wonderful dog was 100 on June the 14th so to celebrate I had a party in my garden/garage/small marquee type arrangement. We invited lots of friends and well wishers and set everything out for a cocktail bar in the garage (along with some beer on tap), the tent was erected early over the lawn so that the grass could be mowed. I'm not sure what happened while I was away on holiday but I think there may have been a grass growing convention held in my garden. The weather forecast was not looking good but we persevered and by late afternoon all was set. Bob-the-burger turned up at around 6.30 and set up as he usually does on my drive opposite the garage and started to get the food underway.

People arrived, presents and cards were showered on Roobear (yes my mates are as crazy as I am) and the cocktails started to flow. It was all going so well... Then came the rain! The heavens opened and then to add insult to injury it started to hail... big hailstones... too big for the tent to cope with even with my big Bro holding it up with a stick (how that was going to work I don't know).

The party moved into the garage... the cocktails continued, the catering van ran out of jacket spuds... Everyone had a great time! Who says the rain stops play? Not me...

The Hen Vacation!

2007-06-21T00:25:00.001+01:00

The girls are out for a great time!

A wonderful time was had by all on our Hen Vacation in Spain. We were kindly lent a villa by one of Warwickshire's finest cricketers and started our journey from Birmingham airport where we were allowed by a lovely manager in Frankie & Benny's to drink our own champagne while we ate our breakfasts. This is all 5 of us (from the left) Jax, Martine (aka small person) me, Laura and Marie. The flight was a little bit late but we made up for it by having some more bubbly to make the journey go faster. Jax seemed a little concerned that I shouldn't be drinking so much as I was supposed to be the one driving the other end (little did she know we had a suprise waiting for her at the airport)....

We'd arranged a stratch limo to pick us up and take us from Malaga to our villa which was about 50 minutes away. As you can see she was quite shocked! It was a great way to start our trip. We had a fantastic place to stay between Puerto Banus and Estepona with a pool and 3 sun terraces. It was easier to taxi than to drive so we didn't bother with a car. This is tyhe view from the top sun terrace at the villa looking over the pool and out towards the sea.

Our first night out was in Peurto and we met up wit some friends who were out golfing and had a top night out......

This was not the only night out but it gives you an idea of the party nights. There were no silly viels, no sparkly cowboy hats and not "L" plates. Our hen was just treated to a brilliant break in the sun. We loved Tikitano's restaurant (below) and would like to thank all the staff there for being the best ever.

Now all that remains is for the wedding. It's August bank holiday weekend up in Scotland on the Isle of Isley.

2 out of 3 aint bad!

2007-05-22T11:33:00.000+01:00

Our trip to Twickenham was spoiled only by the result! What a shame for the boys to not make it the full 3 out of 3 and were somewhat deflated by it all. We, however had a great day out. We boarded our coach at 9.30am and opened the pink champagne to start our morning. It was a beautiful day and I had my new present (signed shirt as shown below) on and my big bro with me so life was looking pretty good. The journey was fine and after learning some extra verses of songs I thought I once knew we devoured our picnic of smoked salmon, roast chicken, danish pastries and more alcohol than was strictly necessary for a morning session. Once we had arrived we met up with more friends who also had an abundance of wine and jollity to add to our party and so the fun continued.... until the game. Enough said. Sorry boys it would have been the very best way to end a magnificent season for Pat Howard but it wasn't to be.

The journey home was still a good laugh after we'd helped some wayward referees who'd parked next to us devour their picnic and help them with their spare bottles of Peroni (other italian beers are of course available). And strange as it seems when I went to pick my car up the next morning I found several flags, a programme and two bottles of champagne that I don't remember aquiring in the back seats... What a fab day!

The meeting with my hero!

2007-05-10T16:30:00.000+01:00

Last night I got to meet my Leicester City Hero "Stevie Walsh". He was my idol when he played for my football team and I suspect one of the resons I kept going back week after week was to watch his beautiful legs in action. Well last night we invited him to join our table at a "Tribute to Dickie Bird" night. He is, as I expected, quite lovely and was happy to tell me all about his new business venture back here in Leicestershire and how he still has contacts over in Spain that he was happy to introduce me to. Our table was also graced with the company of ex Leicester Tigers & ENgland rugby player Tim Stimpson who is truly a gentleman of the first order. He sat next to me and was wonderful company with a repetiore of tales to tell that I'm sure we only scratched the surface of. I decided that in such company it was probably best if I took my car so that I would have the perfect excuse not to drink... (for anyone that may not have read my blog before, I have been known to make a bit of a fool of myself with the aid of alcohol). It meant that I got to see one of these corporate do's without the wine goggles on... most unusual I can tell you. Anyhow, I'm a happy bunny today as I've now got a picture with my hero and can say that we're on first name terms....
I love my job!!!!

The end of the season

2007-05-06T17:26:00.000+01:00

Another football season came to an end today, at least for Leicester City. And I, for one am not unhappy to see the back of it. As a football supporter you have to learn to take the rough with the smooth, the good times along with the bad, but this has been a very bad season. We've not played well, we've only won 6 games at home all season but we've managed to avoid relegation and we've been bought by Milan Mandaric in March this year. It's been a very strange time as a Leicester fan. I truly believe that we had a squad of players who, on their day could play against the divisions top clubs and give them a run for their money and yet week after week we underperformed and underacheived. Now we have the summer to enjoy the break from all things footy related and concentrate on the Tigers getting to 3 finals. And then it'll be time to get behind the cricketers. Maybe next season Milan will manage to find us something to be proud of again, a team who can win more games at homeand away, a manager that can inspire players to score goals and play with passion and pride. Anything will be better than what I just witnessed this afternoon...

Now come on you Baggies, make sure you make the play off finals!

A very Happy 50th

2007-05-04T17:15:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday was Curly's 50th birthday and we had to celebrate... in a big way!! It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was organising his 40th party (they say time flies) but this was the big half century so he had a big room in a hotel in Leicester with a fab Beatles tribute band who had us all up dancing for hours! His Mum and her friend did a rendition of "Hey Big Spender" dressed in feather boa's which was hysterical and then Rosey in his infinite wisdom decided that it would be a good idea to try to do a back flip off the stage (he still has the bruises and can't walk properly). I got to see loads of people that I hadn't seen for ages which was great! We drank our fair share of the bubbly pink stuff and I'm sure I wouldn't have passed a department of transport breathalizer test until way into Sunday so we went out for a big slap up Sunday lunch and topped up the alcohol instead of being sensible.
I'd love to post some photo's but I didn't take my camera, I lost my mobile (and then found it in my bed) and I'm still waiting on any being sent to me!

Up up and away...

2007-04-24T11:13:00.000+01:00

What a wonderful week in Val D'Isere. The sunwas out, the sky was blue, there was still plenty of snow and we were all on top form! This is the sort of holiday that we dream about (well we do if we like to ski at any rate). It was a week of late long lunches and dancing in ski boots. The parapents were out in force as the warm breezes seemed to be able to keep them in the air for hours.

> The chalet was being run by two boys who were very helpful, brought me tea in bed most mornings and cooked us some great food. They were also (I think) taken aback with the exploits of a group of middle aged (middle aged to a chaleroony is anything over 30) ski bums who seemed to have a thirst for alcohol and partying that eaqualed any of their mates.

This is me and the Curlybob sitting outside after lunch one afternoon before we embarked on 2 hours of dancing in the sunshine... it's a great way to start someone's 50th Birthday celebrations... only 4 days to go now baldy!!!

Friday the13th

2007-04-13T07:27:00.000+01:00

Some years ago I decided to leave these shores and go to live in the Nederlands. I had a friend that was stationed there at a military base in the south in a place called Brunssum and he knew of a lady whose daughter had just got married and moved out and she was looking to take in a lodger so it all seemed ideal.

I remember telling my bosses at the time that I'd decided to head off to pastuers new and them both being remarkably supportive telling me that they'd be glad to have me back if they were still around when and if I got back. I was only 17 at the time, I'd just passed my driving test and I'd spent the previous summer at a Pontins holiday camp in Hemsby-on-Sea living with the lifeguard (the love of my life). We'd drifted apart since we had to come home and I wasn't all that happy about it so I suppose I was running away.

I booked to take a ferry out of Felixtowe and then the ferry man went on strike, so I tried to book a ferry out of Hull but again the strike was spreading so eventually I booked myself a flight out of Gatwick to Maastricht. This was you have to remember in the days before cheapo flights so I couldn't fly from anywhere close at anything like a reasonable price.

Did I bother to say that I made the decision to move on the Tuesday and I'd done all this booking/not booking/booking to fly by the Friday!

I asked my best friend Sarey to take me to the airport (which was a big deal for her at the time as she'd never driven to Gatwick) but she was happy to do so and assured my Mum that she could come along too. My Mum was convinced I'd never come back and it was all because of a broken heart (all together now ahhhhhhhhhh!).

I packed my life into a massive suitcase, put on the 3 layers of clothes that wouldn't fit in the case and strapped by skateboard to my back and practiced walking round the living room to make sure I'd be able to carry everything. I'd arranged that someone was going to pick me up from the airport so it wouldn't be too bad but I did need to ba able to move around the airport etc. We packed up the little VW polo and all three of us piled in for the journey, equipped with a map and driving directions.

To say this was a fogy morning would not be doing it justice, it was pea soup! We had allowed 5 hours for the journey even though it was estimated at 3. We found our way down the M1 and onto the M25 and though our progress was slow it was steady...... that was until the little car had a blow out! We got out, and unpacked the boot to get to the spare tyre.... which was flat! We called the RAC who to be fair got there in some reasonable time and loaded us onto a low loader. We still had 2 hours to be there and the taffic reports said that flights were being delayed due to the bad fog. We got off the motorway heading for the garage and the low loader had a puncture! We waited for another one! It picked us all up and took us to the garage. The men at the garage were very quick at changing the tyre... probably due to me jumping up and down and pleading with them that I needed to be at the airport.

We were back on our way with 3/4rs of an hour before my plane was due to take off. We got to the airport with 25 minutes to spare. Sarey dropped me & mum off and went to park. We ran through the airport looking for the check in desk... that took us 10 minutes and when I got there it was closed! My plane was one of the only planes that was on time and about to leave... I pleaded with the KLM desk but to no avail, the plane was taking off and I wasn't on it. They could get me on a flight to Schiphol that was leaving in 30 minutes, I paid the extra and tried to calm Mum down who was now totally convinced I shouldn't go, all the odds were against me and I could always re-arrange to go the following week. I was having none of it! Sarey had found us and tried to ease Mum's fraustration saying that I'd be fine, I always was. I had to run through the airport with all my luggage as the luggage had already been loaded so it would be put on at the gate.

I kissed and hugged the closest women in my life, asking them to phone ahead and tell my freinds that I'd got on another airplane to a different airport and I'd find a way to get to them once I'd landed and legged it!

A flurry of over-dressed mad girl pushing a trolley full of luggage with a skateboard strapped to her back, crazy curly long hair flying behind her doing warp factor 7 through the corridors of Gatwick with endless streams of sour faced business man and families going on threir holibobs looking behind her for the man with a gun!

I boarded the plane and they were waiting for me with a man to take my luggage to the hold. Everyone was already seated and I was after the captain and the walking wounded... I was also wearing 3 layers of my heaviest clothes as I'd been told it wasn't the warmest time of year in Brunssum... that could not be said for the plane. There was a huge round of applause from a group of men wearing blazers and looking like they'd been partaking of monumental amounts of alcohol... they had, it was a rugby team on tour. I took my isle seat in front of them and sighed as we almost immediately pushed back for take off. The rugby team recited the plane safety announcement along with the stewardesses and then ordered me a beer when they came round with the trolley. I decided that it was best to just relax and wonder what the hell I was going to do once we landed. This was the 3rd time that I'd flown in my life and the 1st on my own. I was flying to a country where they spoke another language (yes I know now that all Dutch people speak at least 5 languages but I didn't know that then) and I was going to be at the other end of the country than where I was supposed to be... with no mobile phone and only the number of my friend at work and my new house mate's flat... no address just AFCENT military base.

I noticed that the man who sat across the isle from me was strangely familiar but I just smiled and said hello and tried to work out who the heck he was.... As we were leaving the plane, he leaned over to me and said "Did you watch Howrds Way?" (a Sunday night ritual for me and my Mum) "Yes" I replied and then felt the colour rushing to my face as I realised it was none other than Tony Anholt who played Charles Frere. Internally I was dying, not only was he gorgeous, I hadn't recognised him and he was being really sweet. He stood talking to me as we waited for our bags and I recalled the events of the day, he laughed and asked what I was going to do... "I suppose I can get a train" was my answer. He assured me that the train station was only over the road from the arrivals department and that the trains were very good in Holland.

When my case arrived I asked him if he would mind watching it for a couple of minutes while I popped to the ladies and as he was still waiting for his bag (mine was obviously first off) he was kind enough to do so. I went to the ladies, took off 2 layers of clothes, pushed my fingers through my hair, splashed some cold water on my face and re-applied my lippy. I emerged from the ladies a different person and started laying my heavy clothes on my bag. "What happened to the rest of you?" said Tony just as an announcement came over the speaker system telling me to contact the main reception desk. "I've got my bag, I'll show you where it is if you like." I was very excited, I was being shown around an airport by a TV star... I got my mesage that I was to phone this number and Tony lent me some change to use the payphone. I called and got through to Lynne my new flat mate who explained that I needed to get the train to Sittard and she would meet me at the station. The trains ran every half an hour and I should be bale to get the next one in 25 minutes.

Tony showed me where the station was and gave me a peck on the cheek and wished me luck. I thought my knees were going to buckle and ran off to buy my ticket. I boarded the tarin with a big grin on my face and when the conductor came and checked my ticket I asked him where I should get off for Fittard (yes wobbly legs, mashed brain) to be told the train didn't go to a place called Fittard and maybe I should try Sittard instead, we would be there in 90 minutes.

I finally arrived at the station and got off to find a waiting Lynne who recognised me immediately (probably due to the skateboard and piles of luggage) and welcomed me with open arms, a big smile and a bottle of beer, which my friend had told her I'd be needing.

The rest as they say is history!

Travel on Friday the 13th..... after that... Why not?

Happy Birthday Blog!!

2007-04-07T18:56:00.000+01:00

I'd like to say happy birthday to the blog... not mine obviously but to the blog as a whole. It's been here on the net for 10 years and it's giving a whole load of us a means of keeping a diary/making a statement/keeping in touch/posting our photos and generally giving us an outlet for our ramblings.

I know not everyone thinks that there is any merit in a blog but for me it's a way I can get my feelings in some sort of order. It's a place for me to ramble on about all sorts of meaningless (to most people) stuff. I can congratulate my friends on their acheivements in my small public way. I can catalogue my days, show off my photos and wax lyrical about my bears.

T'is Easter weekend and after taking my friend to the airport this morning... maybe with a small headache after a rather heavy night out... I have been busy cleaning my car, tidying up the garden and getting fiercely attacked by my pampas grass!

I trust that all the rest of the blogging community is having a fun time and I hope that you all get lots of choclate eggs to eat tomorrow!!!

Nearly time for Hot X Buns!

2007-04-04T23:09:00.000+01:00

Firstly I have to say well done and hard luck to me old mate Nico who after a valliant effort saw England lose to Sri Lanka by only 2runs. Considering he's a wicket keeper he put up a good fight batting last night.

As it's nearly Easter....

http://www.eggsedu.org.uk/omelette_game/default.htm

Did you know?

In the computing world, Easter eggs are kind of undocumented features, messages, graphics, sound effects etc, which are invoked in response to some undocumented set of user actions. There have been instances of complete flight simulator program embedded in a spreadsheet program. Similarly there are certain undocumented features exists, right there on your Novell Linux Desktop.
Open source application means you have access to source code. This makes it little difficult to include easter eggs in the applications. Despite of that developers of open source application have managed to include some easter eggs in open source. This article includes easter eggs within Gnome and some of the most popular open source applications.

http://www.meddybemps.com/easter/egghunt.html

In my world eggs are something that go best with mushrooms and are often eaten late at night in sandwhiches with branston pickle.

So now what?

April Fool!

2007-04-01T20:36:00.000+01:00

Back from Andorra and feeling somewhat shattered. It was a big week, didn't get too much skiing in but did get to trail a couple of new skis and settled on a new pair of Volkl supersports which are wonderful.

The big news which I thought was an April Fool for a start is that Moose is withdrawing his blog. It's a bit of a shocker to say the least. I'd got used to having a virtual world to escape to when the rest of the world was a bit too much for me. I'll miss the Moose blog and canonly hope that we can all find somewhere else we can communicate as a community. I have made friends... Susan S, Hazel Love, Gaby, MfR, DWNB, MWK, Anna, Chrissie S, Ammanda, Sammie, Jollygit, Caroline, Joe McC, EG, eg (Scotland), Annalog, T, Keith (the Big Un), Jo, Mariella W, and most of all Moose... If I've missed anyone then I'm sure you'll let me know. I've really had a great time and look forward to keeping in touch.

Please don't let's all fall apart now.

I've not even started my book yet!

Is spring starting to be sprung?

2007-03-13T09:33:00.000Z

What a beautiful morning and what a lovely time to be up and about early with the bears. Booboo (above) is just a constant bundle of energy and loves nothing more than galloping around the fields in the morning seeing what nasties she can find to roll in. Whereas Roobear (below) is more your "let's take our time and enjoy the sunshine" kind of a bear.

Happy Birthday to Roo!

2007-02-28T16:42:00.000Z

It's Roobear's 14th Birthday today which makes her (in human years) 98 years old!

She deserves lots of spoiling today so we're going to have rice and chicken for dinner and then doggie cholcolate for pud.

It doesn't seem that long ago when I went to see her just hours after she was born in an outhouse of a local pub, the 11th daughter of Remie the beautiful pub dog.

Long Live my Bears!!!!

Morning after the night before....

2007-02-25T20:51:00.000Z

I had to go and meet H the next day to return his credit cards and room key (though I think that was a bit late). He did manage to get into his room and looked surprisingly good the next day (unlike me I might add). He said his dinner suit was white with bear hair and he’d given up trying to shake it off, put it in a plastic bag and thought it best to just drop it off at the dry cleaners. He bought me a coffee at a place I know en route home and we had a giggle about the night before. He apologised for anything he might have said or done but was relieved that I didn’t think he had much to be bothered about. He loves my bears and it turns out he has a black Labrador called Poppy himself so he’s gone way up in my estimation. I think he might have given me a few “in roads” in our conversation that morning saying things like …
“I loved your house by the way, the rooms up in the roof space were lovely” which could have been a way for me to invite him back? And then when talking about our dogs (as we did for ages) he said
“It’s the total unconditional love you get from a dog isn’t it? I mean I’d like to think I’ll find a wife that is the same one day” to which I answered…
“Never gonna happen is it?”
“Well I can live in hope” … and I still didn’t pick up on any comeback from me… Oooh I hate hangovers!
Well we have a presentation coming up in March and he suggested that he’d get some of his other investors to come up to Leicester and we should all go out for a few drinks and a curry afterwards and write off the next day staying in the hotel where the presentation is. So I’ve booked a room! Also I’m organising a ski trip for my best mate and business partner Curly in April which he said he would like to take a look at the details for as it might be something he’s up for. All in all I think we get on ok, though I must admit I think he might be looking for a younger, slimmer model than myself. We’ll have to wait and see. Any helpful insights are more than welcome!

Epilogue

2007-02-25T15:52:00.000Z

So much for Bridgit Jones and her singledom lifestyle...

I'm not exactly good at thinking of everyone else around me once I reach my alcohol saturation and tiredness point (AST). Thursday was no exception. I had got 3 house guests on Thursday night, a colleague (J) that I work alongside who stays at my house while he's in the country and a couple (M&M) who have been involved in the Bahamas project for some time.The idea that we'd invite some of our clients to this benefit bash seemed a great idea.

I'd been very organised and ordered a taxi back from LCFC (venue for the "do") at 12.45am, a journey of about 25 miles so a good idea to get that sorted out before starting on the champagne. I had also invited one of our investors as my guest and arranged to meet him at the venue at 6.30pm after giving him directions to his hotel and the venue. So far so good.... you might think.... well it all started very well. Champagne reception, my guest was there on time as arranged and mingling with the best of them. Then onto the main event where we had one of the best tables in the room next to the main man (Nico) right at the front of the room with the other 450 people filling up the rest of the room. We sat in our allocated positions around the table and my guest (H) asked where my partner was tonight?.... now let me tell you a little secret.... I invited H as I had an idea he was single, knew he was not married and to be honest he's not entirely unattractive... that and the fact that he's introduced quite a few investors so it was a politically good move...
I answered "I'm single, I don't have a partner. That's one of the reasons I invited you along as my guest." .... I know it was a bit of a risk but I thought it was worth a go.... "So shall we call this a date then?" came the reply.... Hooray for me I thought!

Now anyone who's read my rantings before will know I'm not averse to a few glasses of vino collapso and have been known to have a few too many on occassions, well let me tell you something... I'm an amateur! This H guy drank faster and faster as the night went on and even though I was trying to match every glass of wine I drank with a glass of water he was topping my glass up as soon as I took a sip. Don't get me wrong here I'm not saying that I was taking it easy, I most certainly was doing my bit for the table's consumption figures. We talked, we laughed, we drank and we danced. My "date" was being attentive and entertaining me with his tales of ski holidays gone by whilst making sure that no-ones glass was ever half empty. My house guests all seemingly having fun as well.

Now you remember how well organised I'd been with the taxi? Well the one thing I might not have explained that well is that once i reach that AST I go onto autopilot and make my way home so when I received a call from my taxi driver to say he was outside I did what I always do. Got my jacket on, said my taxi had arrived and made my way down to the car... along with H hot on my heels. I did apparrently wait for all of 5 minutes for the rest of my houseguests before telling my driver we could leave and asking him to send another car for the rest of my party. I even sent J a text to say I'd left and was sending him another car. It wasn't until half way down the M69 motorway that H asked me where abouts I was going "home" said I... "Is that anywhere near my hotel?" said H.... "no" was my reply. And the taxi went on.

20 minutes later I'm at my house with H making coffee and discussing what beautiful bears I have. 10 minutes later the rest of my houseguests arrive with J giving me daggers about leaving them behind but adding that he had explained to M&M that he was aware I'd just leave them behind in my current state as I'd done it on more than one occassion before (ooops! What sort of a hostess am I?) Luckily I think everyone seemed to see the funny side and the next thing I knew H was rolling around on the floor in his dinner suit and dickie bow with my two dogs falling all over him and covering the suit in their lovely pale labrador hair. The once black suit would never be the same again!

Coffee, brandy and more small talk later I went for the next stage of my hostess with the leastess routine and took myself off to bed without saying goodnight... only to find I was followed by a fur ball who alledgedly came up the stairs on all fours doing a bear impression. I thought it was best that I order him another taxi to take him back to Leicester (yes another 25 miles in a taxi) as this was not my idea of how a first date should end up. So another taxi turned up and H made his way back to his hotel room and I finally got myself to bed...4am!

When I woke at 6.30am I noticed a message on my mobile... "I'm missing some credit cards. Are they at your place? Sorry I just got back (mad taxi driver!)" After a little investigation I found 2 credit cards bearing H's name and a key card for a hotel room which I assumed he might have needed to get in. I sent a reply to give him the good news, drank a litre bottle of water and tried to go back to sleep, unsuccesfully. It seems that not only did I leave my guests at the party, I sent my "date" back to his hotel with no room key! He told me later that he had to blag his way back in after a harrowing journey with a nightmare driver by bribing the night porter, thank goodness he had some cash! Somehow I think I need to work on my people skills!!!

A better day

2007-02-25T11:30:00.000Z

Sunday... a far nicer day. After my hangover from hell on Friday, which I might add was still with me at 7.20pm when I was forced to go out, have a couple (note the couple) of glasses of Stella and a curry, home by 11pm, Saturday was a steady day. It was LCFC against WBA (a team who I have an alliegence to due to freinds who I have in West Brom) though when we're in the same league the gloves are off. It was a good result for us 1-1 and I headed back to meet up with Mimi and Jon to watch the rugby.... not so good.... was happy to go home and forget about it.

So after an early night I feel refreshed again and am almost ready to relate some of the funny stories from Thursday night...

The Do

2007-02-23T15:28:00.000Z

Well the "do" was great fun. We went to the champagne reception from 6.30-7.30 then to the main event at the Walkers Staduim. With a star studded guest list Nico had a full turnout and was really well supported.

Unfortunately the fizzy stuff did it's normal triick of making the rest of the wine seem quite calm in comparison and we were soon all quite squiffy. I didn't get many photos but the couple that are here are of me (pre-do) and Nico with Keri (teeny totty) and Sandra at our table.

We all had a lovely time and the band were fab (though I can't remember what they were called). I managed not to bid for anything in the auction... which is good for me as I've been known to part with some silly money for stuff at these things in the past. I think our table did have to pay some huge amount for a magnum of Champagne that we are now saving for when we get our planning permission agreed for Long Island.

For some reason I woke this morning to find that my purse was empty and there was a small man with a large hammer inside my head. It's now nearly 4pm and I'm still feeling very fragile.

I may blog again later but for now I must rest....zzzzzzzzzz

Thoughtful

2007-02-19T12:39:00.000Z

Do you sometimes have weekends when you get the chance to think about your life and wonder how you could change/improve/adapt it somehow? Well I just had a bit of a weekend like that. I went to see my boys win 3-0 on Saturday which was great and then had to go pick up Curly who had been watching from a corporate box. When I got there there was a guy in the box who I recognised as someone I knew from years ago who was a friend of a friend. Anyway I phoned said friend the next day to say that I'd seen his mate at the footy and made comment about the fact that he'd lost an awful lot of weight and how well he was looking. Turns out the guy had lymphoma cancer 4 years ago, had to have massive chemotherapy, went off the rails, spent huge amounts of dosh etc thinking he was on his way out and then got the all clear.He now has diabetis as a result of the drugs he has to take. As you can imagine that kinda stopped me in my tracks a bit. There was me thinking "hasn't he done well to lose all that weight" and it wasn't like that at all. It sort of puts things into perspective a little. I mean we'd all like to lose a few pounds but that wouldn't be our preferred method for weight loss.

So that got me thinking about changes I'd like to make for myself without them being forced on me. I'd like to lose a few pounds so I've decided to cut out all the wheat products that I know are not suited to me and take a little more exercise. I'd like to have a bit more order in my house so I've decided to buy a wall unit or shelves to put my books and dvds on so they're not just piled up making me mad. I'd like to meet more single men so I've decided that me and Mimi should go out somewhere new every 2 weeks so that we have to mix with new people. They're little things but at least they're things I can do for myself.

Happy St Valentines Day!

2007-02-14T19:57:00.000Z

Hopefully some of you will have had more exciting presents and cards than I did... not that I'm bitter... Oh no! My valentines prezzie was Nico getting his call up for the England World Cup side. He was on TV earlier and even managed to mention our Bahamas property projec, there's just no stopping the man. Roll on next Thursday and his first benefit night.

And me, I'm off to the valentines virtual dance with the rest of my blogger mates, I've been polishing my red patent stillies and have a bottle of Ponche to slip in the punch! Later I'll be watching the Brits with Mimi and scoffing my mexican fajitas to soak up the alcofrol!

Keep happy readers!

Wins all round

2007-02-11T13:38:00.000Z

What a great weekend! LCFC won 2-0 away from home at Ipswich (first time since 1988)England won the rugby against Italy and then to put the cherry on the icing on the cake England beat the Ozzies down under to win the tri nations ODI tornament!

I'm going to raise a glass to Nico and the lads later this afternoon and probably have to have an early night, getting up at 3am to watch a cricket match takes its toll on a girl you know!

White Stuff!!!!!!

2007-02-08T11:32:00.000Z

Yippee!!! The snow fell and it's all pretty and white outside.

My bears were bouncing around like puppies as we walked through the winter wonderland which we woke to this morning. Even Roobear was happy to go that little way further than on a normal morning. Booboo was in here element rushing around and burying her nose in the snow.

It's so much fun to see kids acting like kids for once, wrapped up in their warm clothes with hats and scarves on pulling sledges and carrying anything that they think they can sit on to slide down the nearest hill.

The pictures were taken on my morning bear walk along by the canal and through the woods... awwwww isn't it purdy?

Missed stuff

2007-02-07T22:17:00.000Z

Last night after I'd been out for dinner with one of my new ski buddies in London to a place called Soho Spice (really nice food!) I decided that I might be pushing it to get back to my friend (P's) place to pick up my bags and then back to Euston by means of the tube so opted for a taxi. I gave my buddie a kiss goodnight and hopped in the cab and asked Mr Cabbie to take me to Upper Woburn Walk and then my phone rang. It was one of Curlys mates who wanted to talk to me about his 50th birthday party ski trip in April. After about 5 minutes the cabbie asked me if he should turn right or left... which is when I realised I had no idea where we were, in fact we were somewhere near Chelsea.... Nowhere near Euston or my friends house where all my bags were AGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! "Woburn Place!! Near Tavistock Square, Hilton Euston!!!" I declared.
The cabbie, (red faced and apologetic) turned on his wheel and drove like the wind with me on the phone to P to ask her to bring my bags out to the road for as we passed. As we approached Tavistock Square I phoned P to tell her we were approaching, we rounded the corner of the square just as P dashed down Woburn Walk and threw my bags into the cab as we were passing at some miles per hour, we screamed into Euston and as I opened the door of the cab the cabbie was out of the drivers seat unloading the bags, I threw the driver a tenner (more than was deserved) ran up the escalator and just made my train... Good job really as it was the last train home!!!!

I threw myself down into my seat and asked for a large glass on vin rouge then had to keep myself awake so as not to miss my stop. There was quite a nice looking guy a couple of seats in front of me but for some reason I couldn't quite pick up the courage to move and say hi... sometimes my shyness is a bit debilitating (if that's the right word.. or indeed a word at all) so I had to make do with making jokes with the stewards.

My bears were very happy to see me home when I finally arrived at nearly midnight. One final glass of vino to round off the night then on with the heating (how cold is it?!!) and to bed!

How many things have you all nearly missed lately?

Talk soon peeps!

24 again...

2007-02-04T21:32:00.000Z

So it was a draw for the foxes and a victory for the England boys at Twickers...

Another weekend goes by and I find myself sitting on my sofa with my bears at my feet thinking about next week and the things I have to acheive. Tomorrow I'm off to London, I will be staying with my friend in Bloomsbury tomorrow night and the bears will be abley looked after by a willing friend. I'm hoping I can catch up with a few of the people I met on holiday while I'm down there and have made tentative plans to do so.

Some of my closest friendships have been formed whilst on ski holidays. Whether it's the fact that there's a common interest or the fact that you spend time outside in the fresh air and then eat at the same table I don't know but it makes for a special bond. Again there is a food theme, its hard to fall out with anyone while breaking bread with them.

......
Must be Sunday night again it's Jack is back 24... how on earth does he stay alive and wouldn't it be great to have to talk to someone with that husky voice on the phone every day....Night night peeps :)

Injuries

2007-01-31T09:30:00.000Z

I can't believe that I'm having to take antibiotics to treat the carpet burn on my foot from the holibob! "WHAT?" I hear you cry... what on earth can you have been up to on a ski holibob to get carpet burn?

It's a bit of a crazy story and it involves no hanky panky of the squelchy variety so anyone looking for smut can tune out now.

Two of the guys who were with us are brothers and a bit on the mad side (to say the least) and had gone out and bought some bangers (of the firework kind) which they thought it would be fun to throw off the balcony from their rooms onto the balconies of other guests (also in our party) shouting "ACHTUNG!!!!" for a bit of a laugh!

And one evening while lazing in their room drinking Desperado's and eating cheese and biscuits one of the said brothers decided to go onto the balcony for a ciggy (as smoking was not allowed in the rooms). The other bro decided it would be a bit of a jape if he put a lit banger out through the window onto the balcony to surprise his sibling.... unfortunately the sibling knew him ooh too well and no sooner than it was put through the window than it was back in the room!
With this I dived from the bed I was lying on doing a Bodie & Doyle stylee emergency roll onto the floor away from the banger which let off an almighty kaboom and blew up emitting smoke and bits of flying debris. A lot of squealing and laughing then followed with Gimp (made up name) leaping onto the bed with a pillow to put over the fire alarm so as not to set off the sprinklers and have us all evicted on our 2nd night!

I obviously suffered the injury in my ski and walking boots so as not to upset my skiing/partying/general holibob making, but since I returned my foot has started to swell and the injury has got angry.... hence the antibiotics!

Honest Injun!!!!!

Holibob Snaps

2007-01-30T22:19:00.000Z

This is Lyndyloo, Sue and AJ at the top of the Grande Motte at nearly 3500 meters. It was a bright blue sky day with wonderful snow conditions and a day to enjoy time with new friends. Shame that the wind decided to make itself a nuicance and stop the cable car from running or we'd have had to make the run more than just the once!

We skied from our base at La Daille to the far corners of the ski area and had the best time anyone could want from a ski holibob!!

The run into Tignes Les Breviers... This was one of the best days skiing ever! It might have been cold but the scenery was stunning and the snow was perfect! The restaurant at the bottom was colder inside than out but the food made up for the waitress who was all bustle and not much action.

The view from the top of the Grande Motte

The eye above Tignes Les Breviers

L'Espace Killy Area http://www.valdisere.com/gb/domaine/plan/planpiste.php

Back in the UK!

2007-01-29T15:17:00.000Z

Well my holibob is over and it was great! Have met some fab people, skied in some glorious weather and had a thoroughly good time. The photie on the left is of Martin, Me and Dangermouse Dave (who is 65 on his 2nd ski holiday and by the end of the week was skiing blacks off the top of the Grande Motte with us!). What a great outlook on life, it's true you're never too old to start something new or have fun! Of course there's loads to tell and lots of photos that were taken but suffice to say that a good time was had by all and it was a long way home on a coach that left at 5.45am for an 11am flight from Geneva especially when you and your new friends have decided not to go back to the chalet for dinner but instead to spend horrific amounts of euros on pink champagne shellfish and wonderful stuff in general till 2am in the morning!

I'd like to say thanks to my new found friends for helping make this one of the best ski holidays I've had for some time and a huge thanks to the ex lodger for looking after the bears so well. They were so happy to see me... that's why dogs are so great... they never sulk when you come home, no matter how long it's been.

The Aftermath

2007-01-19T13:19:00.000Z

No OAMC, far too much weather around for people to risk it. Saying that, I managed to raise a glass or to in respect of a virtual OAMC as I'm sure did many others. The countryside looks like it had a massive party last night and yet it's hangover was a meek and mild affair comparison to the ones I get after such a ravaging!

I'm now counting down to early Sunday morning (4am!!!) when I'll be off to France with my skis packed and my ever increasing in size bag bulging at the seams as I try to fit in my boots and gloves as well as all the stuff us girlies have to take on holibobs with us. The forecast is for snow on Monday/Tuesday which will be brilliant and I'll be taking the trustee camera so I can share when I get back.

I hope all the people that bother to read this from time to time have not suffered too much in the storms and I'll be back soon...

Poor Foxes

2007-01-18T08:30:00.000Z

.... And even though the linesman's flag was up the ref waived play on and Fulham scored in the 90th minute to win the 2nd leg of the 3rd round FA cup 4-3. Leicester's valliant efforts all in vain :(

Well done you Foxes, you gave them a run for their money and we're all proud of you!

I just realised I won't be able to listen to Chris this evening as I will be on my way to the OAMC. *Note to self* Must bring up this problem for scholggers travelling long distance up at the OAMC later on.

5 Days To Go!

2007-01-16T13:48:00.000Z

Till I go to Val D'Isere! Yippee!!!!!

Faith In Human Kind

2007-01-12T13:49:00.000Z

I'm a bit fed up today. I went to put my jacket on to leave the house this morning and realised it wasn't in the front porch where I usually keep it (along with several others). I searched around and looked in the car and finally phoned the ex lodger to see if he'd accidentally picked it up with his stuff when he moved out. It transpires that some little scrot' must have been into my porch and taken my red leather jacket, my quicksilver puffa jacket a duffle coat and my lodgers ski jacket. I'm just so pissed off! How dare anyone think they can just walk into someone elses house and take things that aren't theirs! I leave the porch door unlocked when I'm in as the inside door has a lock on as well and I can only imagine that whoever the slimeball was must have come in while I was out walking the dogs and helped themselves.

I'm really not sure I wish to continue living in a country where I have to lock myself in all the time so that other people keep their theiving hands off my stuff. If I see anyone wearing any of the items I'll likely hammer them into next week.

Rant over! Faith in Human Kind, seriously at risk!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bears And The Like

2007-01-05T15:15:00.000Z

My bears decided that they should play a bigger part in my blog world by sitting on my feet as I was typing last night so I thought I'd let you all see what a pair of posers they are... (of course they're nothing like me!). I was discussing the idea of going to the OAMC in Covent Garden later this month with them and.... what do you mean you've never talked to the animals? Anyways they seemed happy enough with concept, especially when I told them they could have a night at Grandma & Grandad's (which involves lots of buscuits and treats).... As any of you that read the CE blog will know by now I'm still contemplating the idea but I'm leaning towards the idea of going for a laugh.

Welcome to 2007

2007-01-04T17:11:00.000Z

Hello to everyone who ever bothers to read my drivel!!!

I'm happy to say that after a rest over Christmas & New Year I'm ready and raring to go into 2007 with an optomistic outlook and feeling good about myself. Me and the bears had a relatively quiet time with me having loads of rest after a very busy 2006. The original idea about going out for Christmas lunch was vitoed (is that how you spell it?) by Dad who decided if we were going out on the 25th Mum could cook us a big posh dinner on the 26th instead.... So much for my idea of neither of us having to anything. Anyway it was still great fun. The bears opened all their own prezzies and some of other peoples... mainly the ones that smelt of chocolate! Then on Christmas night we had a visit from my best friend from school, her husband and her 3 labradors who are Booboo's Mum, Aunty and Brother. Complete bedlam for 24hrs! Fantastic fun and no casualties I was very impressed! The picture is of Booboo and her brothers and sisters just after they were born awwwwwww!

New Year was a party affair at my friends house with a marquee type thing in the garden for the young animals and the rest of us in the kitchen (where all the best parties end up). Party frocks and DJ's were in force and after letting in the NYin at the party I made my way home with an old mate who walked into my house with requisite coal, bread and silver for me so as to partake of one more glass of vino. I've been taking it easy since falling off my barstool in Andorra on the 18th so I was very pleased that I woke in the morning with a reasonably clear head!

A year on....

2006-12-21T08:22:00.000Z

It's been 12 months since we signed the Bahamas deal and things in my life were turned upside down. On the 20th of December 2005 we started to plan how we were going to sell 300 plots of land on Long Island and how we were going to apply for permission to build a Marina and 18 hole golf course... seems a long time ago now, we have 50 plots left and the application is with the government.

Then on the anniversay spookily the lodger completes on his new house purchase and I get a call from Nico to say he's been selected to go play for England in the 1 day Internationals cricket... What a day! I cooked chilli for 8 of us and we toasted everyones good fortunes with buckets of red wine.

I've got a stinking cold today and I'm travelling back from Andorra to sunny Athertsone. Can't wait to see my bears though. They won't mind if I'm snuffling when I get home.

For anyone reading my blog I'd just like to wish you a very Merry Cristmas and a prosperous New Year. Thanks for bothering to take an interest in my life :)

How lucky?

2006-12-14T23:20:00.000Z

I watch once more in awe March of the Penguins this evening. I must admit to a very soft spot for the penguins. Watching makes me realise what a blessed life we live. We don't have to endure any of the hardships that these wonderful creatures do. The fathers have to look after the eggs for 4 months without food and suffer the worst blizzards, waiting for the mothers to make the 70 mile journey back to them with food. Nature never ceases to amaze me.

One day I want to visit the land of the penguins....

The Post Birthday Aftermath

2006-12-07T18:37:00.000Z

So I'm now 39 years and into the final countdown to the big 40. What does all this mean? Well one thing is for certain I'm not as good with alcohol as I was at 29, it takes longer to recover after a big night out and I look forward to nights in almost as much as nights out.

Did I tell you all how amazing George was? OMG he was awesome! He gets better and better as he gets older. It was nice to hear him talk with such passion about his life and loves and the blow up 40ft high George W with a British bulldog sucking at his crotch was a total hoot!

The big day was celebrated by going out to lunch with Mum & Dad and Me-me (friend who's between jobs at the minute) at a local restaurant which overlooks a fishing lake. Food was great and Mum & Dad were happy to be a part of my day. I just love the fact that I can enjoy time with them both. The rest of the day was getting the Chrissie decorations in ready for putting up the tree then out with my mates in the evening. The original plan was to all go skating in Birmingham at the outdoor rink put up for Christmas in Centenary Square but it poured with rain so that idea was abandoned in favour of a few glasses of vino in the local in front of the open fire.

So that leads us here to another year in the life of a lyndyloo...
The Christmas tree is up, I've done some Chrissie prezzie shopping so I'm going to wrap some up and write some cards... I feel quite festive!

One Sleep To Go

2006-12-04T07:52:00.000Z

The company Christmas "do" was on Friday. I took the lodger to be safe and boy was that a good move! We set out from my house, me, him, my work mate and my friend Lou at 6.00 after a quick home made Cosmopolitan (which was very lovely) and went into Leicester to the hotel that Curly & San were staying at so that we could dump the car. We had a drink in the bar and Curly (who I've worked with for 19 years & who is one of my bestest mates) presented me with a beautiful Mont Blanc pen for my birthday! I was gob smacked! What a gorgeous prezzie... then he explained that after all it was going to be a big birthday and I realised that Sandra had got her years mixed up and for some reason thought I would be 40 tomorrow!!! "Not to worry" says Curly, "by this time next year we can think of something even better."

At this point the evening was going swimmingly... The taxi was late picking us up to go to the "do" we got there just in time to sit down at the table (luckily no-one had started eating yet) and the rest of the gang were already seated. The food was good (amazing as it was mass catered for 500 people) and the banter was great.

Goodness knows what happened between 8 and 10.30 but by 11pm I had crashed and burned, made friends with the ladies toilets and had to be rescued by the lodger! Fell asleep on the stairs in the foyer before falling asleep in the taxi and then falling asleep as soon as I got home.

Thank goodness I was with friends. I sufferred on Saturday, my hangover was nasty, my team lost 4-1 and I was there to witness it so I stayed in to watch Mr Ramprakash on Saturday night and drank lots of Pepsi Max.

Sunday I went to the golf range with the lodger and John (who works with us and had stayed for the weekend) and hit a few golf balls before going out for lunch and then having a chilled out afternoon/evening. I haven't been near to alcohol since Friday but with the birthday looming large it may be expected of me tomorrow... we'll see.

It's George Michael tonight and I can't wait.... I'll tell you all about it.....

5 Sleeps to go...

2006-11-29T17:18:00.000Z

I'm now counting down to my Birthday celebrations starting with our Christmas come Birthday Do. We have a table of 10 at Darren Maddys finale to his Benefit year before he goes off to play for Warwickshire next season. There's a big dinner Shawaddywaddy are playing and no doubt we'll have the loudest table. The lodger's coming with me and my mate Loulou is coming along as well but to be honest the lot of us are all great buddies anywayso it will be a great laugh. On Monday night I'm going to see George Michael and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! I haven't seen him since he played at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert and he was awesome then so .... Ooooh it's making me shiver just thinking about it.

The other thing that's happened since my last post is that I bought a new car! It's a beautiful Audi A4 Quattro convertible and I love it! I can now listen to Chris Evans in luxury while being told where to go (in the nicest possible way) by Miss Sat Nav and as of tomorrow I'll even be able to talk hands free on my new bluetooth watsit. How very posh.

Roobear

2006-11-22T22:31:00.000Z

This is my Roobear. She's 13 and 3/4 and she is (to be honest) my life. When I got home today I was greeted by my yougest Bear Boo-boo bounding up at me to say "Hi! Where you been? I still love you. Do you have any food?" in her normal young bear way but my old girl Roo was in her bed looking at me but unable to get up. She's getting on a bit and her hip isn't as great as it used to be. Her eyes were bright but she couldn't lift her back end out of her bed to greet me. This is a first and not a pleasant one. She's always been there with me every step of the way so for her not to be able to get up was heart breaking. I lifted her up and carried her into my lounge and stroked her for a while and massaged her hip until she stratched it out. Boo-boo was there by our side, licking her and offering moral support. Eventually Roo got to her feet and had some food and a little calpol and now seems fine.

I think I might be sleeping downstairs tonight to keep her company. She's a top bear!!

Mange Tout

2006-11-21T10:29:00.000Z

It's a sunny Tuesday in November and apart from a bit of a sore throat life is good. I had a go on the golf range with the lodger on Sunday morning (again lovely & sunny) and I can hit the ball 80 yards or so and mainly in a straight line which apparently is pretty good for a beginner. Today I have to go fetch one of my colleagues from the airport and then go off to some presentation in London this evening. I'm contemplating a quick swim before all that so as to put me in the right frame of mind.

The lodger has put an offer in on a house and had it accepted so I might not have him around for too long. I dare say he'll be here till after Christmas but could have a new year with my little ole house to myself and the bears once more. Maybe even have room for that elusive partner I keep telling myslef will appear any day now.

Long time no blog!

2006-11-16T13:40:00.000Z

I have been a very busy girlie. Had a trip out to the Ft Lauderdale Boat Show to meet lots of people who are interested in our Port St George development deal in the Bahamas. A very, very nice man called Mike Myers (yes honestly) took me out, showed me round the show, showed me round the EDSA offices and introduced me to loads of interested companies but far more importantly introduced me to his dog Ziggy. I miss the bears when I'm away so I was having withdrawal symptoms. All was sorted once I'd shared a few G&T's on his porch with his dog listening to Jack Johnson looking at the evening sky in the warm breeze.... Ahhhhhhh seems such a long time ago now. And if you're asking then yes, he is my sort of man, would be a wonderful man to get to know better, just a shame he's quite so far away. He does ask about the bears whenever he's in touch though :) Who knows what might happen....

Since my return life has been a whilwhind of activity with one of my partners (business you understand) now in South AFrica, another one on Long Island, Bahamas and another colleague in Andorra so it's pretty much me left to run the show over here. What joy! At least I got to go meet up with some of the Saracens rugby players earlier on this week. The jobs not soooo bad really.

Sunday mornings

2006-10-22T16:48:00.000+01:00

Since the last posting my friends and I have spent more than an average amount of time in local hostelries indulging in alcohol intake. It even included karaoke singing and nightclub dancing last night before returning to my humble abode with half the club to consume another bottle of wine.

I don't know if anyone else watches soccer am but at the moment they have a spot where anyone can send in a video of themselves/friends doing body building poses to the theme of Jean Michelle Jarre's Equinox... well I've decided to send one in of the lodger doing such poses in his boxer shorts but to add a little extra it was decided on (n the midst of the drunken haze) that we should paint an eight pack on him. Most blokes who do this body building stuff get six packs but the lodgers belly is big enough for eight!

Memory loss

2006-10-20T08:50:00.000+01:00

I have a confession to make.... I can't actually remember coming home last night. I have woken up fully clothed (without shoes so does that count?) in my bed. After just stumbling down the stairs to find the back door open and my dogs looking at me in disgust I discovered a half eaten kebab. Now I remember the lodger mentioning (while we were out) that he was determined to have a kebab on the way home but I don't remember the journey. Saying that I am in my own home and safe and well so it must have been ok.

Let me explain.... one of my best mates came back from holiday on Wednesday night only to go into work yesterday and be told that she doesn't have a job any more. She's a top girl, had a good job with a handsome salary and all the trimmings (car, healthcare etc) and works very hard so as far as I'm concerned didn't deserve the sort of treatment she got. So when I got the call to say she was on her way home I told her to detour, meet me at Borders bookshop for a coffee and then proceeded to explain that we were going to go home, get changed (out of corporate clothing into jeans) eat and then go out and have far to many glasses of wine... I guess we must have done that very thing. We started off with some food in the shape of sausages in a big Yorkshire pud with onion gravy which was not only very tasty but very sensible and probably accounts for me not having a splitting headache this morning. After that things went downhill fast, I remember a great deal of red wine and then vodka & tonic in a bar, oooh yeah now it's coming back to me... I was talking to a really fit young man about his muscles (God I am such a flirt when I'm drunk) still don't remember deciding to come home via the kebab shop!

Another confession... I've come back to bed with a cup of tea, still in my clothes from last night, and have written this blog under the duvet with a slight headache.... and it's not even the weekend yet! This doesn't make me a bad person does it? All I can say is that it will be the weekend by the end of todays working day (and at least I still have a working day) and this afternoon I have my friends boyfriend coming to see me to sort out his land purchase and he's really dishy so that will cheer my little day up.

Spaces

2006-10-18T09:36:00.000+01:00

Today I find myself trying to work out what clutter I can clear out of my home, office and life so as to make space for man of my dreams.... I know, it's a bit weird but someone pointed out to me that even if the knight in shining armour came riding through town ready to swoop me up in his arms I wouldn't have the space to allow him into my life as it's already so full. Hence, I'm making space. Starting with clothes, I threw out 4 bin bags to the charity collectors last week. Toiletries I don't use, you know the sort of thing people buy you for Christmas to be sweet, not realising that there are some products that make my skin erupt like a teenager on a diet of coke and burgers. Well they went as well and I now have a cupboard and a draw in the bathroom that are empty in readiness for whatever stuff the hero needs to keep himself irresistible (to be honest I'd like it if he didn't wear aftershave, I love the smell of a clean man). So now it's time for other "stuff" so it could feel like there's something missing. I have contemplated clearing out the garage, is that sexist? I know most men love to have some garage space (obviously not for keeping a car in).

3-2 is a fine score

2006-10-17T00:10:00.000+01:00

What a weekend! After a great Friday night out with the re-instated lodger and the Friday night gang in my local town I thought I was in for a hangover from hell on Saturday morning but was pleasantly surprised. Then I remembered I'd spent a couple of hours in the club talking with an old mate about life, love (or lack of it) and career decisions and not consuming the copious amounts of alcohol normally associated with this type of Friday night behavior.

I met up with my footy-buddy before the match on Saturday for a spot of lunch and a small half. We sat and discussed the 3rd football buddy who had decided not to come along and make use of his season ticket because he was "shopping". This was as you'd have expected, not a course of action that is entirely acceptable in the ranks of the football fan. While annual holidays and family bereavements, even work commitments are taken as being excusable simply shopping for carpets (which can be done on Sundays as well as Saturday mornings or weekday evenings) is simply not good. My attendant footy-buddy also had the dilemma of a night out planned for that very night with our missing carpet shopper and their respective wife and girlfriend. It was going to be a very difficult situation. The other topic of conversation was about the fact that he thought it was time I found myself a husband and made myself a respectable woman (how marriage has anything to do with that don't know). See he had independently made the decision that 40 is not the new 30 as far as being a single/never been married woman is concerned.

After a most pleasing result at the Walkers stadium with two scorching goals from Hume and a more typical goal mouth scramble to earn us all three points I traveled home feeling in the mood for a night out. I didn't rush myself to get to this night out though I did make arrangements to meet up at some point with a good friend in town. At 10.15pm I finally made my way into town and struggled through the smog (which is still allowed in our ale houses) to find said drinking partner out with a couple of blokes who obviously were on form and had been propping up the bar for some time already. The banter was already in full swing and it became obvious my face and ribs would probably be aching in a very short space of time through the constant jibes and jokes that were passing back and forth. It was an easy, jovial evening and the pub was vacated to go for the requisite Saturday night Indian restaurant, the 4 of us became 9, the 1 bottle of wine became 4 and eventually, as we left the nice men to clear up the poppadoms and various curry sauces from the new white table cloths that had initially greeted us, it was decided that the 4 of us should go for another drink. Eventually we ended up back at Chez Lyndyloo for just one final bottle of vino rosso. The 4 became 3 as one fell asleep on the sofa and then 3 became 2 as one went to the spare room to get her head down.

The 2 became engrossed in conversations about everything that could possibly discussed at that time in the morning. We found out lots of things about each other, we listened to loads of music that we shared a common interest in, we discussed the meaning of life, the universe and everything. We drank coffee and talked some more... It was a magical, getting to know you, once in a blue moon, life is good, I don't ever want this to end kind of a night/morning. Sadly these nights to have to end eventually and at 7.30am ours was over but will never be forgotten. A new friend has been made and a ski holiday has been booked. I think thatbecause nights of this nature are so few and far between it's a shame you can't bottle the feeling you get and just have a sniff of it any time you feel a bit down.

Even after the 55 minutes sleep that I managed to get before a visitor knocked on my door for an early Sunday morning coffee before having to take kids footy training, (it was something that would normally be acceptable as I'm always up to take the dogs out quite early) my mood was happy and bright. In fact my mood has been up ever since. Have to admit to being in bed by 8.30pm that night though, (a girl has to get her beauty sleep at some point you know).

Maybe this week will just keep getting better.............

A new start

2006-10-13T14:34:00.000+01:00

Today, inspired by Chris Evans's blog on the beeb site I've decided to create my very own. It's probably also because I'm waiting in for my replacement mobile phone to arrive. I managed to drop mine down the toilet and even though I dried it out it has decided it doesn't love me any more:(

I suppose I ought to say a bit about me but that's a bit naff so I'll leave it to a few basic facts... I'm Lyndyloo (Lynda is my grown up name) I'm 38, single and have a couple of beautiful labradors called Roobear and Booboo. Enough me thinks.

This week I've acquired a new lodger, or should I say I've re-acquired an old lodger? He's my old pal and he's no trouble as a lodger, in fact, in a lot of ways he's an asset. It will be a bit strange sharing my home with him again after all this time, last time was about 10 years ago.

I've been in a quandary this week and to be honest this year about the fact that in December I'll be 39, that's nearly 40 and I'm still single, never married, no kids and no b/f. I always regarded the single status as being totally acceptable for anyone in their 30's but I'm not sure it's quite as easy to "get away with" once you turn the big 40. It might be something I voice on the CE blog and see what other people think.

Perhaps I'm worrying unnecessarily and it is a perfectly acceptable thing to have managed to get through this much of my life without conforming, after all I'm a healthy, normal (ish) woman with a load of great friends and family, a job I love and a lovely home. I suppose if I look at it like that then it seems like there's not a great deal wrong. In fact it's only fair to say I think it is ok not to have been married but the older I get the more I see the "good grief what's wrong with her" looks from people. It's the women more than the men that seem to have a problem with it, normally the women that have children. Anyway, like I said it might all just be in my imagination.

Does anyone out there know anyone looking for any land in the Bahamas? I know it's a strange question but it's one I have to ask, over and over, it's just a networking thing I have to do otherwise Rich(sales) has a dig at me for not talking to enough people about it all. Anyway if you do then please email sales@rexhaven.co.uk and a lovely bod (sales support) will help you out.