livingblog2007

The Trivial Little things

2007-07-09T22:34:00.000Z

Today I saw a pair of red shoes. Cute little peep toe sling backs in bright red with cream trim and a small buckle. I even tried them on. They fit beautifully...but still I put them back on the shelf and walked away.

I got home and had told three friends about the shoes in the space of two hours and began to wish I'd bought them. By 10pm I was in the car and heading out to buy shoes.

I was meant to have these shoes. Not only were they still there and in my size, but they were half the price they had been this afternoon.

I just love it when the little things somehow seem to fall into place....

And I have red shoes!

Time for change

2007-07-08T16:27:00.000Z

There have been so many changes lately that I have neglected this and other blogs...fortunately it is only me who will suffer as a result. Normal service should be resumed by the end of the month at the very latest.

Currently I am tying up a few work-related loose ends, finishing up on a couple of writing projects and resurrecting last years NaNoWriMo attempt, with the intention of a complete rewrite to include a major pov shift. I'm not too sure if it'll work but we shall see.

My home office is undergoing a revamp this week and I am currently perched on a wooden stool amid paint pots and other decorating 'stuff' - I don't want to know what any of it is called or what it is used for lest I am called upon to use it...I much prefer being the artistic director on this project ie choose the colours and accessories and make the decisions on what goes where.

The smell of paint is overpowering and I can only work in here for short bursts. Can't go to the family room because I am not disciplined enough to not be drawn in by the goggle box....especially with the Wimbledon men's final at two sets each.

Health Blog

2007-05-20T20:56:00.000Z

I have been asked to write a blog for HealthTalk.com and have been working behind the scenes with the editor to prepare for the launch...which of course is nowhere near as grand as it might like to think it sounds.

I was rather surprised at the amount of hoo-hah involved though. I was pleased that my short bio was accepted immediately - I find me the hardest thing to write about - but I had to send in five different photos before the graphics people were happy they had something they could work with...On reflection I hope that was all about picture quality and nothing to do with my ugly mug!

Generally I have been rather neglectful of my blogs but this health talk gig means I have to write to deadlines with two set publishing days per week. Hopefully this will help me to get into a blog routine and a bonus of starting the new blog will mean more regular postings on my other blogs...that's the threory at least.

Once I have the url for the new blog I will post it in links...just in case anyone is out there.

Is there anyone out there?

Magical Trip

2007-04-02T19:58:00.000Z

Back fresh from Mickey World where, although I refused to stand in line to meet the famous mouse, I did sidle up to Pluto in the street for a quick photo opportunity.

The sun shone for us while we were there and we somehow managed to find ourselves a little excitement on the side, resulting in an impromptu tv appearance and a brief mention on the six o'clock news. Nothing of a criminal nature I hasten to add.

On the plane on the way back we were puzzling how we managed to turn a simple break into the kind of trip where people were pointing at us in the supermarket and one or two even approached us saying "I saw you on TV last night".

Not quite the kind of holiday (or fame) we had in mind!

I now find myself a champion of the underdog and rather (accidently I might add) associated with a consumer issues campaign; one that will not go away just because I am now back in the UK.

Overall, excitement aside, the trip fully lived up to the plan. Relaxation, chillin' and a little retail therapy thrown in made for one set of happy tourists...who once again had to buy another suitcase in which to carry all the bounty home again.

And now reality beckons; the excitement and relaxation of our holiday faded faster than our (very light) tan.

Update on my fortune

2007-02-24T22:16:00.000Z

As I suspected, the article writing hasn't made me a fortune and my account is still about twenty quid short of the minimum earnings level for payment. It's a great way for the site owners to tie people in to providing content, as they strive to meet the magical minimum amount in order to receive a cheque for their labours.
I don't plan to waste any more energy writing articles for less than peanuts, although the site claims you can earn money just with the articles that have been uploaded. We shall see. I will check my account balance at the end of March and see if it has grown any...watch this space.

Meanwhile I am off to Florida for a short break in a swanky new resort where I plan to chill out and shop till I drop in equal measure.

Trying things on for size

2007-01-08T23:32:00.000Z

I have been struggling with a few articles I promised to write - struggling to find a way in, a new angle, a point from which to make my point. Its never quite as easy as you'd think.

Of course research is what is needed, and lots of it, and where better than the good old internet - that veritable mine of both useful and useless information, and much of it inaccurate to boot! It was during my research, and I love that I can justify (get away with) procrastination and outright time wasting by calling it research, that I discovered there are communities out there where people write and 'publish' "articles" and reviews ...which are in turn rated by other people who write articles and reviews... and all in the hope of earning some extra money. But the most amazing thing about the whole process is the rates of 'pay' for this work.

Admittedly the standard of work produced is variable to say the least, but there are some half decent writers out there but they are having to churn out hundreds of artciles in order to earn a few quid...and when I say a few, the pay is between 0.5 and 3 pence...per article!

Nobody can blame the companies who run these sites, the terms and conditions (including rates of pay) are clearly posted for all to see, and every participant ticks a box to say they accept them...so nobody can say they didn't know... Apart from the idea of using these sites as a place to hone article ideas, I can't for the life of me understand why people who can write (and it is true that they are in the minority on these sites ) would post their work for the possibility of earning a mere pittance?

Of course one has to try these things out in order to be able to speak from a point of any real authority...and I am delighted to report than in total, over a period of five days, I 'earned' the princely sum of five pence from my two published articles. Just to confirm, that's a whole five pence in total as payment for two 'published articles.'

I guess I won't be giving up the day job just yet.

New Year - of the brown bear

2007-01-04T02:18:00.000Z

I read through my old blogposts this evening and am delighted to report that finally the tatty old green dressing gown of 2005/06 is no more. Santa brought me a new one this year...and slippers too...although the fact they match is pure coincidence.
Now I can lounge around a nice new fluffy brown gown and brown furry slippers...like a huge brown bear. Of course there is no actual fur in any of my furry things, they are good old fashioned acrylic based synthetics...sounds wonderful eh?

Synthetics are just about everywhere...even in tins of treacle pud. The proof really was in the pudding because my mother gave me a tin of microwaveable pud - she has no microwave because, as she will tell anyone who cares to listen, she has nowhere to put one . Anyway we compared the ingredients of this mystery brand pud with that of a well known (household name associated with Beanz) brand...and we were horrified to find that the no brand one contained all manner of synthetic and chemical delights - most of which were totally unpronounceable (by anyone without a degree is biohazardry). We took some comfort that the weel known brand does actually contain recogniseable ingredients of the kind one might expect to find in a treacle pud...even if they were diluted by the presence of chemical stabilisers.

Whilst mother and I discussed our findings with a combination of interest and horror, hubby simply asked if we'd got any custard?

OOps!

2006-12-31T20:39:00.000Z

Oh dear...it seems the year slipped by without notice or comment and I find myself on the cusp of 2007 with a livingblog2006 largely unwritten.

There is a good reason for this of course...I had an accident in the summer of 2006 which has left me with a nasty case of anterograde amnesia. In layman's terms I now have the memory and attention span of a dead goldfish...and as a result compeltely forgot I had this, or any other, blog or website.

It is a good job that this blog wasn't really a living thing - especially one dependent on moi...for it would have, rather like my poor houseplants, died of neglect.

And so...the end is near....(sorry slipped into another zone there - clearly influenced by recent X factor happenings)...2006 is drawing to a rapid close - just a few short hours to go...I think I may well just edit this blog title and carry on regardless...after all, its hardly used and with just one rather careless owner.

2006-03-25T17:36:00.000Z

The procedure was a total bastard and hurt like hell and boy am I glad its all over....for now atleast. Ah... back to work...what pleasure! And then just five minutes into my day and I was grinding the enamel off my teeth.
It is so good to be back...

Hard to believe it is almost summer. The clocks go forward in the middle of tonight.
'An hour's less sleep' my parents and grandparents used to say. I never quite figured that out. It never felt any different back then, and still doesn't now. Mind you, I'm always tired these days so an hour here or there won't make a huge difference.

Tomorrow is also Mothers day here in the UK and tonight we take my Mother out to dinner. She thought it would be nice to go out on a Saturday night...so that's what we are doing. Rather foolishly (perhaps?) she also left the choice of restaurant to us. She had dropped some pretty big hints about the kind of meal she would like, but the range of options was wide and encompassed Thai, Chinese, Indian and Italian food. Not much to choose from in London then?
Well there are plenty of restaurants to choose form but most of them laughed hysterically when I caled to try and make a dinner reservation.
'Oh my dear you need to call a few weeks in advance for a Saturday night' one smirked 'you might prefer to come along in the week...seeing as you are obviously new to dining out' Cheeky bugger! Mind you we don't go and to eat that often.

Holiday? What holiday?

2006-03-17T21:27:00.000Z

Five minutes after our holiday and it is but a distant dream...Reality has a funny way of kicking all the doors in and huffing and puffing through even the thickest of walls.

I'm in the midst of a health scare - made worse by the fact that the doctors are calling me to check how I'm doing...always a scary sign when they start calling you!

I am on a seven day pre-op prep, with surgery scheduled for next week. The prep is far more scary than the op itself - I'll be in lala land for that bit...sadly the prep has to be faced though and I am planning on being a big brave soldier. Reality says I'll be a quivering snivelling wreck just two hours into the final two day run up - but I know you can keep a secret, so nobody needs know eh?

Wil be back to the blog when I emerge the other side of this little drama...meantime I will be furiously editing the novel MS. I want to release it by June....in time for my Mother's birthday.

As they say - whoever they are - watch this space...

Post holiday need-a-holiday blues

2006-02-11T20:42:00.000Z

We have just returned from a short break in sunny Florida and I am shattered. Been back here in chilly England - it was only just above freezing when we landed at Gatwick and the day before I had been lazing by the pool - just two days now and already I feel that I am in need of a post holiday holiday...especially with the dreaded return to work looming on the horizon.

I suspect they - my employers - will not be impressed if I slack off in the afternoons in desperate need of a nap to combat the jetlag...I know my colleagues, they who have borne the brunt of my absence and have taken on my workload with cheerful acceptance, would not be impressed at anything less than full throttle ahead from yours truly.

There was a temp at our place recently who had perfected the art of power napping. This girl could shut her eyes and go into a deep ten minute sleep and awake refreshed and ready to face the rest of the workday...in fact she was so good at it I almost called an ambulance the first time I found her powernapping! Maybe I should have taken lessons from her?

Our holiday was wonderful though and much needed and greatly enjoyed...despite the fact that all the locals kept apologising for the weather. They have so obviously never been to the UK in February!

We shopped till we dropped...in fact we were so good at shopping that we had to buy a jumbo suitcase to carry home our bounty. Easily pleased, we found everything much cheaper on that side of the pond and we had a field day. Add to that the fact that in US sizes I wear an 8-10...something I can't even dream about over here...so the pleasure of clothes buying was exaggerated threefold. I was in shopping heaven.

We stayed at a charming resort not far from Disney but we managed to escape the Disney fever that afflicted so many of our fellow visitors. That's not to say we didn't do the touristy stuff...I have the photos to prove it. There's nothing quite like having your picture taken as you stand in the gapinmg mouth of an oversized plastic alligator on a slip road off the OBT...

Oh and as a postscript...while I was away five kind souls bought copies of my book. Bless you each and every one. xx

Curiosity finally got the better of me

2006-01-23T07:50:00.000Z

A couple of friends say they published books using Lulu.com - at absolutely no cost to themselves I might add - and were delighted with the results. Never having seen the end product, I finally decided to have a go and see what happens...after all what can I lose - apart from the fiver it cost me to buy a copy of the finished product?

So okay this doesn't make me published in the true sense of the word, and it certainly isn't going to change my life or bring me fame or fortune, but there is a mild feeling of satisfaction is seeing something I made. And the main part of the satisfaction is based puerly around the fact that - after days of struggling with formatting etc - I finally got to grips with the process and completed my project successfully.

Maybe a couple of people who know me might take pity on my book and risk a fiver...They can always donate the unwanted paperback to the local charity shop, or maybe they will allow it to gather dust somewhere, or maybe even find a practical use for it ...I have heard that short collections work wonders on wonky table legs!

Weekends...

2006-01-15T18:58:00.000Z

Why is there so little time between when the week ends and the working week begins? It seems so unfair. By the time I have wound down from Friday and spent Saturday catching up on chores, Sunday is here and Monday morning looms.

Lately I have been so tired. I go to sleep tired; wake up tired and I'm tired all the hours in between. It seems to have little bearing on the amount of hours slept. I am just plain exhausted. Is it just that I need a break from my killer routine? I do hope so...for if that is the case, our upcoming holiday should make a huge difference.

We have opted for the whole tourist thing - a Florida holiday spent too close to Disney for my liking. I am praying that Florida is more than retirement homes and theme parks...Watch this space. Just two weeks till we fly out.

I am ridiculously excited.

Meantime on the home front there are teeny family wars going on unnoticed by the rest of the world (thank goodness). I am hoping that by keeping our heads down we can miss the not so friendly fire and stay out of it long enough for it all to blow over. If not we'll be looking for line of least long-term damage.

Too many of our friends are losing their parents of late. Normally I would joke about carelessness but this isn't funny. It is a sobering thought. As much as we might like them to, they will not live forever.

Friday 13th

2006-01-13T22:51:00.000Z

It's Friday today...and the 13th day of the month. What's all the fuss about?

Never mind that my day has seen me lurching from one crisis to another - that is usual with my job - it is just another day...isn't it?

Life has been a bit like a runaway train this week... and before you know it, it'll be Monday morning and I'll have driven through the tunnel of the weekend and out the other side into yet another working week.

I really think someone should make it illegal to work on Wednesdays. Think about how great it would be to have a day to recharge midweek...Is it worth writing to the PM about it? Nah! But a gal can dream, can't she?

Oh Dear...

2006-01-09T23:43:00.000Z

Not a very good start. The very end of the ninth day of the month and barely a word posted. Oops! Must do better!

Hello 2006

2006-01-01T12:39:00.000Z

Well 2006 arrived in London in a ten minute bang flash wallop of fireworks over the Thames in and around the London Eye...and I watched the whole sorry thing sprawled out on my bed in my tatty old green dressing gown - didn't realise just how tatty it was until post-Xmas and so missed out on the chance of a new one, because dressing gowns just aren't the kind of thing I would buy for myself - and I'm sniffing vapour rub from a ratty tissue and wondering what happened to the vibrant young thing who once danced the night away with strangers in a crowded nightclub ...

Where we were frisked by butch wo-men in the doorway only to find that once inside the music threatened to deafen us and they turned the heat up to force us to by drinks at over-inflated prices and there wasn't room enough to really dance so we were forced to sway with the crowd. Heaven help the poor fool with no sense of rhythm who could so easily be trampled under foot... those were the days...Of short skirts and high heels and lost youth.

And then at a few minutes past twelve when I am starting to feel sorry for myself, my husband emerges from the shower wrapped in a towel and asks "is it nearly time?"
His skin is slightly pinkish brown and he smells of soap and baby lotion and the man I love is smiling and suddenly all is right with my world and 2006 looks like a wealth of possibilities stretched before us.

'Bye to 2005

2005-12-31T20:53:00.001Z

'It is almost time to say goodbye to 2005 - a most unspectacular year for me really.

I am sick at the moment and very unlikely to be awake to welcome in the new year...but I don't suppose it'll notice one less drunk eh?

Where did it go?

2005-12-31T00:34:00.000Z

Its that time of year again.

A time for reflecting...only I almost always end up wondering where the hell the days, weeks and months went and why they sped past so damn fast?

Another year gone, another year's worth of experiences added to the log of life. Deep? Nah...just another sign of impending old age and eventual death.

Cheery thought eh?

Living Blog 2005

2005-12-27T21:11:00.000Z

There was no Living Blog for 05 but when pushed to make a New Year Resolution - and oh how I hate both the word and the idea, but I am unable to resist a challenge - I opted for blogging 2006. So I'm early...shoot me!