Happy Sunday :)

Do you have this gorgeous sun where you are? I tell ya, i'm luvin it so much I feel like I could conquor the world! I know, I know thats very optimistic but my lil world is the only real domain I have and I know i'm making a difference...well, maybe a few decibels louder cos with the music being on I want to sing! For anyone that knows me will be shaking their heads about now cos they know I cannot sing for toffee, jaffa cakes or tea in China! But...I live in hope!! Lol
Church was lovely again today, everyone is so happy and hyped up on the sunshine. I got a lot of inspiration which i'm to ponder and pray about...a great way to find the truth about things...well non-manmade things anyway!
Jay is just putting the pool up for Charley now, the boy is so excited I've had to tell him three times to put his shorts on, he thinks its a bath!! Lol Bless him! His Bob toys are strewn over the front garden, Kirsten is laying on a blanket hoping for a tan and I'm working on getting dinner served sooner rather than later...good ole laptops eh?!! The poor dog is on a very long leash so he can roam the lower level of the manor and the front garden, but as he's still young I dont want him running off again...its far too hot to run the streets! He gives me the saddest eyes ever and I feel awful then for tying him up! Doh
The first blog prompt is up on my scrap blog tomorrow, I have chosen to do mine as a layout. It's all ready and waiting to be uploaded with the theme prompt. It's going to be a fun time for anyone that chooses to take part, cos i've used some of the ideas not only from my classes but from the Emotional Intelligence course I done last year...sound intense? It isn't, I have literally just adapted some of the phrases to suit everyday living. There's also inspiration from the Design Course I done too...the unfinished one cos my tutor suddenly died. I'm still waiting to find out when I can submit the other 7 assignments I've done, I really want this qualification and this course to be over without me having to go to regular college. I dont fancy the idea of childcare unless Charley is in regular nursery so i'm trying to get this course belted and sealed! Waffle? Oh yeah :) I can cos its my blog!! Hehe
Jay and I spent most of the day in the garden yesterday, clearing up all the debris from trees, sorting toys and jet washing down the paved area, he has finally got the lawn mower working so made a start on the neglected top part of the garden. I was stood up there, saw a frog hopping right by my feet and pegged it in the house! It was the shock more than the frog, but Jay stood and p'd himself laughing...I dread to think what the neighbours would have thought if they'd seen me!! Lol So I armoured up in wellies, 3/4 trousers and long, pink marigolds!! I hid the camera though...me's not that stupid!! Lol
Today we are eating dinner outside. I bought a new parasol which is so neat. It tilts and swivels and well just looks good! The sunshine makes living a whole lot happier dontcha think?
We are doing Family Home Evening tonight, cos tomorrow i'm out for a bit. Jay is joining us and has even prepared the lesson on Challenges. Very appropriate given a challenge I have right now!! Lol But it's all good learning stuff and I know it will empower us to make the right choices and understand why bad things happen to good people. There's a book by that title, have you read it? I recommend it, it's a great read for anyone that is interested in understanding life and the world we live in. I read it a while back and found a lot of simple theories that make sense of things that I hadn't given thought to previously.
Ok, time to serve dinner up and enjoy the glorious sunshine :)
Have a great day :)

Debsx

The Domestic Goddess...

along with Garden Fairy, Decorator Pro and Chez Debbie! Yep, i'm into all sorts at the moment. The living is on the verge of being finished, I just have the cutting in to do then its all ready to go back together again...more boxes have been unpacked, sorted, dumped, given away and for sale. The upper level of the manor is sparkling so much I feel like Cindarella, I just need a ball to go to, the birds to come in and make me a pretty dress and the prince charming...Oh I have the prince charming already!! Hehe

Seriously, I'm knackered! My bones are not as young as they used to be, I ache in places I thought didn't having anything but wobble there, my muscles are tight and i'm desperately hoping I have burnt off a fair few pounds with it all!!

Its all looking good though, tomorrow I shall be attacking the remaining boxes in the shed, before I start more painting. It's seriously mad stuff here, but I like it, I survive on it, its who I am! :)

I dropped my router two days ago, dropped all 3' to the floor, landed smack on the arial. No internet. Shock Horror, Gasp, a few choice words and a deep sigh. Jay spent hours trying to reconfigure it, I spent almost an hour on the phone to Tiscali's support guy (who was really good and patient) then another half hour on the phone to Netgear. No-one could figure out what the problem was so I prepared myself to go buy another one. As I was turning off my laptop it suddenly, magically came on!! Was that another endurance test? I am continuously hearing the word patient in my life, I HATE that word! Some things I want NOW!!! :D But i'm back, and once i've put the router on the wall its not moving again, ever! :)

I have been offered to teach scrapbooking in three more communities, the plans I did have (which I haven't and wont be blogging about for a while yet) will go on hold for now, too much good stuf

Little Chef, Little Books, Big Results

For the most part, the word of the week in our house is 'little', however even little can be big sometimes...according to what it is! This is how this week started out:
Charley asked Jay to do him some toast, so after a chunt and a chant cos I threw the minging toaster out he got up and done it the old fashioned way, under the grill. But Charley being Charley had a million other things for Jay to do and being the dutiful older brother, Jay wasn't too quick to say no. This is how a little meal happens with big style.....

A round of applause to Jaymie!! He will never live this one down!! :) On seeing the literal burnt offerings Charley and Kirsten decided to do some baking, only they wanted to do cupcakes but I didn't have the right cups. After much debate and my voice still going unheard I decided to let them prove me right instead of me proving them wrong...that the shape will not be like the one in the picture I printed off! But, give em their credit, they had fun, done a good job and even sort of tidied up after themselves! :)

This time it was I that almost done a Jaymie! A bemused Kirsten and a chuckling Charley, this is what the oven done! :) Kirsten made the pitiful joke something to the tune of 'pity you cant edit your cooking mum like you can a picture!' Does she REALLY want that PSP for her birthday?!!! Lol :)


Blow me down, if the dog didn't go get a look in too! The plate of cooling (failed) cupcakes was in his reach thanks to the lil guy...and one disappeared with a flash...so much so by the time I leapt the 10 steps to him this is what was left...


Too much going on, too much sun and too much laughing...my lil dude just couldn't keep up and cuddled up on the sofa...with the dogs smelly blanket!! :)

This evening, after a lovely day at Sonia's (**waves**) crop in Gloucester, I was so inspired by all the lovely projects and stuff the ladies had made that I sat at my desk, ignored the phone, email pings and the calls for mum and came up with this....it is to be a book for my mum to tell her all the things I want her to know that I wouldn't usually say to her. Just because she's the bestestest!! :)


This tiny book actually folds out to a 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock, counting both sides it has 22 folded squares that I am going to use to tell 22 facts of what I love about one of my kids...its for someone in particular and I aint saying who!! Hehe I wanted something that when it was read it was totally, 100% from me to that person, things only a mother would say or know.

It's really easy to make and ideal for something so personal. The ribbon is woven with 'A Mothers Love' repeated throughout in muted colours, so suits the theme perfectly. When i've added the journaling I will show ya and i'll include the instructions too incase you wanna have a go.

I'd like to say that's all the excitement in our house but it isnt! I have the Bosnia theme going on in our house. While Jay has been gutting, cleaning, chopping, strimming, digging and hosing the gardens I have been wading through box after box after box to sort stuff out that needs new homes. I took a lot of stuff to Sonia's crop today, a lot of which went rather speedily which pleased me to bits. Thanks Sonia for allowing me to do that and to have a great day with you all! :) The girls that go there are just the sweetest! :)

For the first time ever I ran out of double sided sticky tape, can you believe it? I mean, how can you run short, much less run out! Doh So off I went shopping, which I wasn't going to do till Monday but needs must! Tesco didn't have any (double sided tape, keep up!!) so Charley and I jetted over to Asda, they too hadn't got any. This was getting serious so on the verge of being prepared to pay in gold for one used roll of double sided sticky tape I text Sonia...I think she's so fed up of me today!! :) The gal saved the day! So I jetted over the other side of Gloucester, again (only the 4th time today!), had a bit of a chat n giggle then came home, oh that was after an insult here n there!! :D Gotta luv her! :) Thanks hun, your so cool :)

What I want to know is why do I have a rather large corner desk, much less stuff on it yet have the tiniest bit of workspace? I admit to being the messiest worker EVER no matter how hard I try, but bit by bit I can feel my space getting less, even to the point of my 12 x 12 sheet getting stuck or overlapping something or other. I admit however that once in a while I will get so frustrated that i'll lean forward and do the breast stroke, pushing everything out the way onto the floor! Kirsten looks at me, rolls her eyes and says 'and you say my room is disgusting?'. Oh the shame! NOT!!

I had 12 gorgeous red roses yesterday! :D How lucky am I? The card was simple, but deep, just my style! :D I want to photo them properly to remember them, I might even share too! :D I love flowers, all flowers are just the surest way to get me smiling and pondering. Ok, I've had too much fresh air, bite me!! :)

Today, I'm glad to say is the Sabbath, and I fully intend to steer clear of boxes and their contents, well apart from those that I trip over, and I intend to steer clear of anything that remotely reminds me of Sizzix, bread trays and wheels!! Ok I have to use the car to go to church but THATS IT!! I have declared to all kids that today is going to be a family day, even if it means we sit around all day (which i'm really, really hoping to do!!) cos this last week quality time went right out the window far, far away! :)

Ok, enough from me. I hope to be joining in HS:MS again next week, cos goodness knows, I dont have a clue what happened to this week!! :)

Have a great Sunday!

Debsx

Eh?

What happens to time? I get on to do something, get side tracked with something else, someone talks to me, the phone rings, I get a text message and before you know it i'm trying to remember if I had a shower and looking at the clock and planning my bedtime! All I can say is zooomm!! My personal life is very busy right now, the kids have various things going on and I am left staring at a spinning clock. I even sat down to write one of my famous lists, only this time it wasn't a list of what I had to do it was a list of what I didn't do...(go figure!) and I was slightly stunned as to how I had managed to miss so much stuff.
So, here I am, almost midnight and i'm just reading through some old church history recognising that I am so lucky to have such a strong testimony of God and Jesus Christ that somehow I know I will manage to achieve what I NEED to achieve at the right time. With that relief I am now going to relax, unwind and waffle about some of the side tracks this last couple of days! :)
Charley has found a way to climb the tree that has no limbs (no digs for Jay who cut them off by mistake!!!), I love this picture because he wouldn't let anyone help him up, it was a warm day so out come the shorts...and wellies!! :)

Just before he got where he wanted to go the phone rang...darn it...and I missed the next shot!! :) But I know he achieved what he'd been working on for the previous HALF HOUR!! Thats ma boy! :)

That night we decided we would have a chinese meal, and because I had all my papers, boxes, buttons, photos etc over my desk AND the dining table we had to eat from our laps...which the kids thought was great...Charley, however, decided that to be a dog was a pretty good way to enjoy his dinner! Just for the purpose of the camera I allowed him two shots...then he had to sit back on his tushy to eat it properly! Yep, meanie mummy! :)


Ordinarily I would not post a picture of me that wasn't somewhere near presentable...however as this one was taken whilst Prince Charley was on his own photography adventure I am making an exception...as comfortable as I was I was only sleeping, total of about 4o minutes and Jay was actually on another chair...so there's no need to go reaching for the phone to call child services!! LOL Why does your hair get in such a mess when you stay still, yet it lasts quite well all day when you're moving around? Go figure!! :)



This next shot is my favourite! My daughter is growing up so fast that I admit to forgetting to treat her as the young woman she is becoming. Tonight she attended the Young Women's introduction evening called New Beginnings which was themed on Hollywood glitz and glamour. She is totally against skirts and dresses so I reluctantly ok'd this outfit. After highlighting her hair and straightening it for almost an hour, another hour for make-up and a lot of fussing over shoes or boots, this is what she looked like. Naturally she looked better in person than on the photo! :)

So now I'm sat here, still wondering what I did today, yesterday and the day before because for the life of me I cannot put enough together that covers the whole 72 hours!

One of the things I do remember doing though was going to Gloucester Police Station to produce my documents for my car. It appears that someone has attempted to insure my car that is not me or anyone I know! I spent almost an hour in there with a PC that was very nice, very helpful and very competant at his job. My papers checked out, he believed me as did his Super Intendant so after he spent an enormous amount of time on the phone to my insurance company it was finally revealed that it was actually the insurance company who made a mistake! The apparent new owner of my car is a real live person from Shrewsbury but the policy number is one that was cancelled back in 2004...even though that policy was taken out on 24 March 2008! Confused? Yeah me too! I have been released without charge or caution!! Lmao No I wasn't arrested or even given a producer, lmao, I just was suspect when I tried to call my insurance company about something and they couldn't identify me to the car nor my policy number, which if you remember back a month or two ago, the car was being repaired in the garage and my insurance company enlightened me that my excess was a staggering £200! So I KNEW they had me on their system for this car!!

Bl**dy insurance companies!!

So, that drama over, I am now planning a busy weekend. I'm not totally sure what with specifically but as I have achieved my planned weekend quota by way of fairy chores, it's going to be a time of work, scrapbooking, invoices and then Sunday with my kids! Bring it on!! :)

Oh yeah, thank you for the emails regarding the wedding cake and the cupcakes! Though I haven't come up with a conclusion yet I do appreciate the suggestions and the ideas that I have received...most of which are in my thinking thoughts to try out! :)

I am having a ride to a relatively local craft shop tomorrow, I want to get a specific selection of cardstock and brads for a project that has been requested...now normally I will play around with projects that i've been asked for but I admit to not having much confidence in my own stuff...however, this one project has been in my head for a little while but only when I read the lady's ideas that I made sense of it, and she put it so much better than I could have!! :) Initially the project is for a group I teach who suffer from depression and the professionals are using funding to find a selection of ways to help these ladies (and 2 gentlemen) to start finding a focus and not let the fact that their lifetime need of meds over ride their self worth. So far I hear some fantastic stories, their memories are so warming and funny, sad and tragic but each one that shares something is starting to come alive again, to remember where they come from and realise that they are a part of this plan. It is truly a magic job I have, just one memory shared is such a blessing to me and that person. If you get the opportunity to share your scrapbooking for a deeper meaning than your family, I say go do it, its so important to reach out to other in any way we can, and our photos hold so much more than any newspaper, magazine or night out.

When Jay's around I will have to get him to retell me the conversation between him and Charley the other day while they were washing up...he became Doctor Charley and Captain Charley all in ten minutes! I became Doctor Mummy later on (probably after I told him how wonderful he is!!) and the dog became Doctor Jake! Those are the moments that I wish I could record with more than words...so now my camcorder is on charge and a spare battery pack is sat in the ready waiting for the next time I hear him and his brilliant imagination!!

My HS:MS is two days behind, pretty slack eh? But i'll catch up tomorrow...hopefully! :)

Ok enough waffle...its time for me to go get Jd's headache back!! :D Oh how mean I is!! :D

Debsx

Dontcha just know it?!!

The wind slows down and the rain moves in, I am utterly convinced there is not going to be a summer anytime soon! I am eager to get into the garden and just make it look nice and tidy, but its probably just not meant to be just yet! :(

I have made a really cool blog for Prince Charley, i've added a bazillion photos, listed his favourite stuff and had a good ole play with it...i'm pretty impressed with it. The template is one that I got from a friend of mine who designed it for me, its a Top Secret document folder with target signs for bullet points, wowser!! :) Now I just have to keep TWO blogs up to date! I take that back, the other day I got another blog for my layouts, just cos I wanted somewhere different to put some of the stuff that I have done, not all my stuff is on there but doing only 5 at a time is a bit naff with all the techno thats available nowadays!! But thats the way it is!

Jay has landed at the trainstation, feeling very tired and stiff from being on the train for so long. He's adamant he's having dinner then going to bed, but lets see what Charley boy thinks of that idea!! :) :) It's so good to have him around again, all I need now is for Scott to show up then i'll have all four home! Seems such a long time that they've all been together, but roll on Scott's birthday cos that's one time I know they'll all be here :)

I think Charley's getting fed up of the camera now...for lunch we had a sandwich, a bowl of mixed fruit and some crisps, while he was yapping away I told him to tell me in a minute and eat up, the phone rang, I wasn't on it for long but when I got back this is what I looked at:

the sad thing is while he was parading round with spam on his face he was doing some great sound effects from that Jason movie (cant remember what it's called!). I think i've either been procrastinating for too long today or my child is wired wrong!! :)

While searching the t'internet for some printables for the boy today I came across some good links for kids, so check them out on the side >>> somewhere over that way >>> . I was looking for some Cars the movie colouring pictures, got a few and ended up nicking some of their graphics for when I do Charleys layout i'm working on! Hehehe

I have sore fingers, did I mention my hands? Nope I didn't think so. Well last week I had a day of totally blitzing each room in the house, nothing was left untouched, during the process I was using lots of soapy water (dont do spray cans and all that detergent stuff unless its bleach for the floor!!) anyway, the next day I got up and I could barely open my hands, they were so painful I actually felt I could have cried with them. All my fingers were so dry and cracked that many of them were bleeding. It took about two days and a full bottle of Dove moisturiser to calm them down. They are just a bit sore now but I make a concerted effort to moisturise them at least every hour to keep them safe. Even the heat off the laptop can dry them out and start them off again. I've never had this kinda thing before, maybe its a sign o'the times?!! **sigh** The upside is I have a brilliant excuse for wasting a whole bottle of lotion!! :D Wowser!!! :)

Work is on again on Monday, I opened my email for the website and found some orders in there, three of them are projects i've been asked to design and make for someone else's crops, one was an actual enquiry about doing someone's baby album and the other is an invitation to introduce scrapbooking at a church hall. Not one to say no i've took them all on and shall report back to this desk (the one I dont think I ever really leave!) first thing on Monday morning!! :)

Until then I shall enjoy my kids, do what I do on here and go with the flow, all good stuff :)

I was gonna mention sumat else but its totally escaped me, couldnta been that important eh? Guess i'll be back later if I think of it! :)

Debsx

HS:MS

Sad:

Feeling or showing sorrow. Show us sad in your space today.

I couldn't decide what was the saddest today so I decided to get the kids to do some acting!! This is what they come up with....and you can tell who the drama queen is eh? :)

For the life of him, Charley just can't do the sad face, he's so busy in his own little world that he is only sad when I say the word 'nap' but he laughed when I said that...cos he knew he had to eat first!! Doh

Princess Kirsten makes me laugh! This is not a real sad face but by 'eck its a guddun!! :)

This is truly sad... the offending well over grown tree that Jay cut down for me in March...laying lifeless and abused in the back garden! Still gotta find its way to the tip yet...but I guess dead stuff dont move eh? :)

My darlin' #1 son is going to help me (and some guys from church) do the garden next week, and my boy works like a trojan when he gets his hands on a power tool!! We plan to secure all the garden so the dog cant jump into adjoining ones and that rottweiller cant come back into ours! I have loads of plants to do and Charley is eager to do more of his little garden patch but only Jay can do it he said!! :) While Jay is here we are planning on some time out with the kids, he wants to take Charley swimming and to the Dick Whittington Zoo so that'll be a good starting point. Plus he has said he will finish the painting in my living room for me! :) Bless him :)

Kirsten is back at school on Tuesday but she is already stressing out over it. She woke up this morning with a mean attitude that just didnt quite fit, yet I hadn't a clue what could have caused it. Eventually, after many tears and strops she blurted out her fears of going back to Barnwood. She has just 3 months left of Yr 7 so I asked if she could see it through till then, but she was back on her inhaler with sheer stress, I have never seen anyone her age get so worked up to the point of hyperventilating/asthma (which she has been diagnosed as having). So, new school it is, nothing is worth the emotional and mental trauma of my kids (or anyones really) so if moving works for her then who am I to argue too much? She is now on the front with two of her friends and the dog...laughing as though she doen't have a care in the world, just as it should be at 11 years old.

The wind is picking up again here, I wish it would hurry up and pass through, it does nothing for my hair I tell ya! :) I dont think the dog has ever walked so fast as he does when he's outdoors, Charley refuses to go out in it in case he 'turns into a kite' (his words!) yet Kirsten just doesnt care! Is it just me with strange kids?

Back to the fairy chores now...I really have to focus on some offending boxes that are stacked in my hallway...I am convinced they multiply in the twilight hours cos I was sure i'd finished unpacking!! :) Ho hum! The upside though is when i'm caught up with myself I am going to spend some time doing some scrapping! I have finally finished the lo's without pictures too...instead of trekking into town yesterday my lil Selphy friend decided to work and obliged very nicely at printing off many photos for me so now i'm a happy chick and ready to get some crafty time in, thats what I call cool! :) I've added below some of the ones i've finished...just two of them need their titles finishing then i'll share them too :)

Have a good day :)

Debsx

Is it better?

The font I mean. I personally think using a colour on a black background can be pushing the eye power a bit too much, but i find some fonts blur into the one blob at a certain size too...so i'm trying to find a happy medium for you and me, cos i'm nice like that you see! :D



What a windy day it is here! I opened the back door to let the dog out, he was blown backwards a few inches as was the loaded washing basket! Thats how strong it is...and no, I wasn't talking at the time!! :) We were gonna go into town again and get some photos developed....(oh Sonia...yes please...she knows what i'm on about!) I have decided to work backwards with my kids albums, so from the layouts i've already done I shall now be working back the pages so they are in age order for them. I have been a good girl, I have them all sorted out into the correct piles, who, age, where etc and i've even got some of the cardstock I want to use!! The downside is I just dont know where to start, I need to get my butt to one of Sonia's (**waves**) crops so I can focus...though in reality thats a myth, i've never known anyone focus at a crop!!! :D Maybe I should find a scrap buddy to come join me in my lil dining room and do it that way? There's an idea! All applicants on a postcard please!! :D



The layouts i've done last week I shall put the sketches on my site soon as, so if anyone wants to use them they are most welcome to. They are hand sketched, none of this clean line clever stuff that you get in word or publisher or whatever you use! But thats what I like, things done naturally and freely. I especially like my white pen on coloured cardstock, I will do almost anything with it...:D



The concert that Kirsten went to last night was excellent, according to the rave i've been having about it ever since! Where am I going now? is produced by lds kids and directed by the lovely David Day (who, incidentally answers his emails rather speedily!!!) You don't have to be Lds to enjoy it or get anything out of it and you dont have to be a teenager either, it is a show made up of lots of typical challenges faced in this world and some very good ways to find your way through them. They are playing at Bristol for the next two evenings, info is on their site if you wanna go check it out.

I thought i'd share some more pictures too :) Here ya go....This is the best shot i've had of Jakeyroo so far....looks a bit mean in his eyes dontcha think?

Talking of dogs...this is a picture Kirsten found when she was browsing the internet looking for Jake (though not him specifically but a dog to have as her own anyway) How cool is that heart marking??

This made me laugh, as Princess Kirsten was getting ready to go to the show last night she was trying on my tops to go with a particular pair of jeans...I caught her just right...she didn't quite see the funny site to the word: improvement! Doh, dunno why!! Hehehe

When we moved into this house the garden was without border, neatly trimmed and just...bland. So when I decided to spruce it up I found that the ground is very hard, there are clumps of grass, its not as level as it looked and it needed a guy! This is my first attempt at the front garden..i'm not even go mention the back one!!!

However, with a team of guys from church the basic needs of the garden will soon be put into place when they get here! All I have to do then is look after it and make it pretty!! :D

Back to scrapbooking, I have just signed up to use the scriptures as a way of scrapbooking my family and me....its also a good way to learn them too so i'm excited to get going on it!! :) When I come up with something i'll post...until then it looks like i'm scrapbooking without photos if I rely on my lil selphy mate here...he's having a right ole strop with my usb port!!! **sigh**

Oh I have to share some of the things that Prince Charley says now, he has us in stitches sometimes:

* Jamp ~ Jump ~ he sounds dead posh when he says that!

* I'm sorry for biting your finger mum ~ the lil **** bit my finger (hard!) as he took a bite off my sandwich!!

* When he says a prayer he always asks first 'is Heavenly Father tired of me yet Mum?'

* When we are going out he will run to the bathroom, stand on his little step and say 'totally gorgus'

* He likes ballerina's (dont say a word!!) so when in town yesterday we saw 2 girls dressed up while giving out leaflets for a nightclub, he promptly stopped, peered over his glasses and stared...put his hand to his mouth and whispered 'real barellinas mum'. The girls giggled and waved at him!

* He tells me not to eat my sandwich till we are in the car!

* He doesn't need juice anymore, he needs milk!

* He's too big to wear a nappy for bed but hates to be woken up to go to the toilet so he chose the nappy...and hates it!!

These are just a few of the things I think are cute with him, he is such a character everyone just falls in love with him!! Ok yes, I admit I am bias too!! Lol

Ok, off to figure out the issues in my life....my naughty usb ports.....with the help of good ole Chris! **waves**

CYAxx

Back from the past :)

Conspiracy theory:
1. Firefox infects my computer
2. Microsoft Outlook refuses to send emails but will accept them
3. Some eejit hacks into my other yahoo email account and causes havoc
4. The dog runs away (ok nothing to do with this but i'm looking for the violin treatment!!)
5. I've gained 3lbs cos I stopped eating Jaffa Cakes (go figure!!)
6. My internet went down cos the company needed to do work but stuffed it up (went without for about 4 days!)
7. I bought me two pairs of gorgeous suede (or is it suade?) boots, 1 cream and 1 grey and neither of them fit...but they wont exchange cos I lost the receipt!
8. I hurt my back when I moved my dresser from the dining room to the hallway
9. Both of my printers refused to acknowledge my laptop even though i've used them on here before.

I know if I think about it there's more but that little lot is enough for anyone right? So, mix it all up and that's why I haven't been around for a wee while. Pretty frustrating I tell ya. On the up side though, I decided to buy a spare camera, its only a lil Fuji FinePix A510 but till my other one is sorted it'll do fine. I'm having fun again now, to the point where Charley asks me to sit with him 'on my own'!! Hehe

I have managed to do 6.5 layouts too! :) Big whoopee for me! However, cos I prefer to scrap with 6 x 4 I done the layouts without the pictures, which isnt that difficult to do unless ur going to get all fancy with them...which I dont. Now I just have to put the photos on when they are printed courtesy of Boots tomorrow and I shall load them on here! :) Feeling pretty chuffed with meself! I also decided, quite randomly one morning at 6.50 that i'm going to paint my living room...Seychelle Blue. Gorgeous colour. I am one of those suckers that bought the magic roller for the paint to go inside, only it took almost an hour for it to seep through....cos dipstick me didnt soak it in water first!! Doh So by this time I was bored, but I endured to the end of one wall...which I think looks really nice. Just add some chocolate candles, gold coloured, glass trim photo frames and bingo! The only thing is I run out of time, energy and inclination for the other three walls....BUT I have my #1 boy coming on Saturday and guess how he'll be singing for his supper? :) :) Yep, i'm a meanie mummy!! Lol In between the rain its been nice, so we, correction, I have been out the front strimming, digging and well thats it....Charley and I planed some sunflowers in his pots, we done cress that I managed to drown and some pots of other seeds for some pretty multi coloured flowers! Sounds a whole lot better than it is....the grass out front is only 1/4 done and the digging is only 2/16 done!!! :) (not that I know fractions but it sounds better than 4'!!!)

We went off to the Country Cattle Working Farm yesterday, not as good as I thought it would be, especially for what it cost to get in, but with camera in hand I took solace in the fact that I could once again take a few pictures and have something to do while Charley rides the tractor and Kirsten pets the donkeys...WRONG! Cos dipstick me, forgot to pick up the memory card, the camcorder wasn't charged (my ultimate back up!!) and it was 2o miles or so from home. So I got 9 pictures which the camera holds itself and that was it! We missed the chicken that chased charley, the goat that tried to headbutt Kirsten and the cow that run away from me! I tell ya, nothing like being popular is there?!!! :)

Kirsten has started making friends with some of the kids in our street, which isn't a bad thing at all, she comes in with a sparkle in her eyes, laughing and just eager to get up and do stuff. I took her computer apart ready for it to go on the desk which is now in the dining room so I could keep eye on things when she's on MSN, that was a week ago, she's not once asked for it or mentioned it. Instead she's out there, with Jake on his lead, laughing and playing. I haven't heard her laugh like that for a long, long time and I tell you, its worth more than anything else I could have in the world. She's having a sleep over tomorrow night, so i'm preparing for a long, loud and late night....all plans for Friday are cancelled so I can recover!! :D Tonight she's off to Bristol Chapel to a concert for the Young Women, that'll be a really good opportunity for her to meet others in her age group at different wards and branches plus the concert 'Where am I going now?' is reported to be brilliant! Last night she made some chicken nuggets, cut the chicken in nice, even sizes, basted them, covered them in batter....then went out leaving me to finish them off! Charley and I didn't mind though...they were gorgeous with jacket potatoes and prawn mayo!! :D

Lots of things have happened this last week, though they escape me right now...I guess i'm still consumed with self pity of all the little things that have gone wrong!!! I hope that violin is going!!! :) On the upside though, my laptop is my bestest buddy again (so long as I dont open firefox!) and the kids aren't threatening to have me adopted!! :D

I must remember to change the font/colour on here too....cant be sat here moaning when someone cant read it can I? That's the whole purpose of moaning!!! :D

Right.....now off to do dinner....then I have to continue to work through £100+ emails and catch up with my team mates...who will most likely think i've done a runner again!! Doh Oh, i'll be adding some photos later....or tomorrow...whenever I get to raise my head from the keyboard!! :)

Hope you is all ok...and got the sunshine :)
Debsx

The ultimate load of waffle! :)

Well, I want to waffle....not sure what about yet...all I know is I want to waffle! :)

So here goes:

Err...err......ah I know...blogs. My favourite subject :D (I really, really want to be able to do proper smilies on here!!!) Blogs, yeah, I have just added my team mates blogs way to the right there....because I think they are worth looking at, they are a very talented bunch and i'm grateful they let me into their team (on uk scrappers) cos you see, I am the crappest person in the world for keeping things up to date...and the only reason this blog is up to date (of sorts) is because if I don't keep an account of certain things I forget what i've told my family and what I haven't, plus it stops me having to repeat myself...unless is Elaine (**waves**) of course, who will read this blog then call me to talk about it! Gotta luv her though, she's so cool!! :D I browse so many blogs that I literally have a list of them in a notebook, to date there are over 300 of them so forgive me for being totally scatty and not keeping up with them, I wish I could though, I LOVE BLOGS!!

What else can I waffle about? I love this waffle, just goes to show that since I decided to take some day off from working my brain goes to mush :) No comments please! :P Did you know that people who waffle are considered more intelligent? NO I DID NOT JUST MAKE THAT UP!!! Lmao Apparently waffle (though the article I read referred to it as 'Idle chit chat' but i'm not that well etiquetted {see!!}) is a gateway to a persons inner thoughts and emotional stability. Slam and blast is what I say, listen to the waffle and you get the total IQ rating in 10 seconds flat...THAT's why I am Billy No Mates eh?!! :D :D :D Well it was a good article, but I do think it was written by some guy who was new at reporting and hadn't a clue what women were all about, much less his job in the first place which then poses the question of what is he doing working there in the first place?!! :D Doh

We had a great (but short) Family Home Evening, I found a good talk about the creation of the world from the Primary section of the Lds site, some great ways to explain to kids about how the world started then my two nephews throw me sideways and ask: 'Aunty Deb, why did all the dinosaurs die?' I was kinda just gutted! I do not know the answer!! I have never known the answer, and I probably never will cos I never remember to ask it or research it!! So I thought I was pretty clever when I said: 'well, maybe they just ran out of dinosaurs to fight with and got bored to death?'. Ok it wasn't the smartest thing to say, especially when a 6 year old pipes up 'you can't really die of being bored cos I would already be dead now'. Yep I cracked at that statement, said with such honesty and conviction! Incidentally, I am also hacking my brain to see if he meant he was bored here too!! Go figure!! Charley decided today that he didn't want to have a wash after eating my Cola Cubes which Chris (**waves**) had sent me (or i'm assuming they were for me, they were in the box of goodies he sent for Kirsten and as there was 3 bags of sweets....well go figure!!) his hands were sticky and I wanted to do a run to Tesco, he immediately put on the face tears, scrunched up his face and declare that he doesn't like a wash. I looked at him, and tried ever so gently to explain that he will have everything stick to him if we dont clean him up. At which point the dog came walking into the room, strutting his stuff as he does, and began licking Charley's hand clean. I sat there watching him thinking 'right definitely no compromises here, he really has to get washed up. Before I could lead him to the bathroom he piped up ' Done it mum! Jakes cleaned me!' I chuckled, as you do but still fought on with a face cloth and a bottle of Kandoo face wash.......!!!

The kids done some more baking today whilst I played domestic goddess...they trashed the kitchen while I cleaned beds, floors and windows...such a good balance going on there!! :) The chocolate cake was the deciding factor of the length of their repentance...one bite and they were redeemed of all wrong doing! :) Cheap? Heck yeah! :) When we were out shopping I bought more stuff, cos tomorrow they will do it again, and I will forgive them all for a slice of chocoalte cake!! Luvin kids that cook! :)

Charley had a 'grown up' garden collection today. In Tesco they have a gorgeous range of fun gardening pots, trowels etc so I got a bit of all sorts for the lil dude. Sitting at the table later on I chucked as he wore his gardening hat, apron and gloves to eat his pizza! He said he was ready to 'get going'! I don't think so son, not at 9pm!! :) Yeah we ate late, we had too much going on and the boys (Ty and Kian) wanted to go 'late night shopping' but as I wasn't prepared to go at 2am I convinced them that 8pm (their normal bedtime) is just as good!! :) If it works use it right? :D They go home tomorrow, Mum and Angie are coming up at some point and will swing by and visit me (which i'm wondering if they'd do if I didn't have her kids?! Go figure!!) so i'm looking forward to seeing them both. :)

I am being scripture challenged...have been working through the book of Alma in The Book of Mormon with JD, sharing scriptures is one of the best ways I learn them and find ways to incorporate them in my life, well, so long as one of us dont get off track and end up in fits of giggles! Did I SAY it was me!!!!! :D So tomorrow I am challenged to read the whole of the 5th chapter, which is extremely inspiring and to the point. If anyone wants to read it click here, its a very good read and whether you are a Mormon, Christian, other faith or none at all it will inspire you and definitely give you some good understanding of how to improve things in our daily lives.

I had a lady who recently decide to challenge me, as an athiest she felt she had all the answers for everyone (I feel everyone has the free choice to look for answers if they want to or no look if they dont) anyway, after about 30 minutes of hearing all the scientific reasons why the Mormon church is not true (and many internal feelings I can tell you!) I was suddenly inspired to simply reply back 'I'm sorry you feel that God is punishing you, I hope one day you will look at how he loves you instead'. She went quiet and I stood there, not quite sure what to say next cos I really didn't want to offend her (or get my head swiped off!) after a few seconds she stood up straight and said 'Do you think i'm negative?'. I was very reluctant to answer this because its pretty much a judgement on her personality which I didn't want to do, so I asked 'what do you think?' she looked at me, at Charley then said 'I dont know, maybe I am'. I still didn't know what to say, I was feeling frustrated that I didnt feel the spirit to guide me so I done what I knew best, I hugged her and just said, 'the best person to ask about who and what you are is your Father in Heaven'. I don't know how she felt at that moment, or afterwards even but I know I felt like I could have said more, but somehow I also felt it wasn't the right time. I have since heard that this lady has been investigating all the faiths out there in search of one answer 'Am I negative'. To the most of us that is a pretty straight forward question, but this lady is looking for a deeper meaning, a deeper understanding inside herself. I can relate to that because I am a deep person, I have to analyse my thoughts and feelings, opinions and actions which can all too often leave me feeling like i'm negative because I dont recognise my strengths or talents. When I do though, I then run the risk of it being slammed because the world apparently doesn't like hearing someone talk of their good points. In my humble opinion, if we talked MORE of our own good points and less of someone elses so called bad, each and every one of us could make a difference.

Wow! It's been a long time since I got that deep on a blog!! I felt inspired to write it though, so whoever reads this, I hope you take something from it, cos when all is said and done, we all share the basics...a body, a heart, a mind and a soul...as well as free agency. Put the lot together we are what we want to be...not a template for the next person to follow us from. Go figure.

Right time for my bed, its silly o'clock again and Kirsten has another GP appointment in the morning. Update on the bullying will follow soon as the school have concluded their investigation. I've had a few msn/yahoo IM's regarding that so I know there are some out there who are interested.

Happy Friday :D
Debsx