December already

As I'm writing this, December is about to arrive... it was 11.54 when I started to type and it will no doubt be after midnight when I finish!
I have my box of advent goodies to open each day, chosen for me by Tracy, on of my team mates over on UKScrappers. I am very excited about what is in it, as I know Tracy has great taste... I hope! I hope Annwen, who I sent to, enjoys the goodies I chose for her.. the present on December 4th is a personal favourite...mmm.
Today (or yesterday if you go by pre midnight) was the Christmas launch at our church. The decorations are out of this world, the girls were wide eyed with wonder as we entered the Youth and Community building, which has been transformed into Whoville from the Grinch story. It is only a couple of weeks until Sophie and I will be appearing in Scrooge, so if you are local to Bradford and fancy coming along to see it, let me know!
I had a tooth out on Friday, and it seems to have healed very well so far. I have managed to land myself a nasty cold though, so healing vibes please.
Other than that, nothing to report so I will sign off for tonight.

Christmas is coming

Well it's not long til Christmas now, less than a month. Am I organised? Am I heck! Not doing too badly so far though.
I've decided to do Shimelle's Journal Your CHristmas class this year. I am aiming to do as much as I can on the right day, wish me luck! Christmas is an emotional time of year for everyone, especially if someone you love is missing, so I figured doing this class would be therapeutic almost!
We are counting down to Scrooge now, performances are on 13th and 14th December. Sophie is very excited! Me, I'm looking forward to it all, just need to get through everything without passing out from exhaustion!
Enough for now, time to sleep.

Wonderful weekender!

Got back at lunchtime from our weekend at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest. We've been to Center Parcs several times now, this has to be our best holiday yet! We packed in loads of swimming, bowling, climbing, puppet making, dinner at Rajinda Pradesh, an encounter with owls and a morning at the Spa for Jo and I. We also cycled lots too, and were blessed with wonderful weather. Never have I seen such beautiful blue skies in November.
Back to reality now, as I have loads to sort out, and a hospital appointment with opthalmology for Alex. Tomorrow we collect her first pair of glasses!

Pamper party time!

This evening has been Sophie, my eldest daughter's seventh birthday party. She is actually seven tomorrow, but as we are off to Center Parcs for the weekend, the party was today. My friend Becky, who is a mobile beautician, came to do a pamper party, and each girl had their finger nails and toe nails painted, and some glittery makeup and lip gloss on. Not too much makeup as I am not a fan of it but it looked just right.
The cupcake is one of a batch that I made for the party guests to take home. I decided not to bother with party bags, as ultimately the contents of the bags get binned. I'm certainly not willing to fork out a small fortune on gifts for the guests, so I decided a cup cake and painted nails was plenty.
Tomorrow we are off to the Nottingham site of Center Parcs. My lovely friend Jo, who I have known since we were 11 (eek, that's a long time lol), is coming to join us. For Sophie's birthday dinner, she has chosen to go to Rajinder Pradesh, the Indian restaurant at Center Parcs. My girls will eat korma now, and enjoy going out to restaurants, so we are off there! On Saturday, the girls are going to the kids' club while Jo and I spend a couple of hours in the Spa, Aqua Sana. No treatments, just relaxation in the various rooms which will be much needed given the amount of stress I am feeling lately. Then Saturday afternoon we will swim in the Swimming Paradise, go bowling, and then have a bit of a cycle no doubt. Sunday is owl watching and puppet making. And more swimming! Then Monday we come home. Busy but also relaxing which will be great. We will also be washing it down with plenty of vino, always better to drink with friends than on your own I find.
I will post again after the weekend, so have a good one, whatever you're doing.

Good news from bad news

Unfortunately Alex's glue ear is definitely back. Her hearing is considerably diminished because of this, so the consultant we saw today (a different once from last week thank goodness) approved Alex's grommet surgery. She may also be having her adenoids removed, they are planning on having a look at them once she is under the anaesthetic. I was ready for another horrendous appointment like last week, so it was a massive relief for the appointment to go so smoothly!
However, my car decided to pack in on the way back, it is now in the garage and I have a hire car until it is fixed. If I'm lucky, it will come back valeted which would be a real bonus, and save me a job too.
Feeling better mood wise for having got Alex's op sorted. Now I hope she gets to the top of the list sooner rather than later. Unless there is a fairy godmother out there to magically produce the money for her to have it done at Bupa! Anyone offering? LOL.

Always look on the bright side of life...

Am finding it a bit difficult to look on the bright side atm. Life is busy, being on my own is feeling very lonely again. It will pass, I know it will, and feeling like this is par for the course.
So apologies for the short post. Here's to a better day tomorrow...

Happy Birthday Evan!

My friend's son is 6 today, happy birthday Evan!

Alternative ways to solve glue ear

Tried them all unfortunately. Alex has had cranial osteopathy, altered diet, used the nasal balloon thing that I can't remember the name of. Even with perseverance,I have not seen any change in her symptoms. Hence my keenness for her to have another set of grommets fitted. Putting my daughter through surgery she doesn't need isn't something I would never do.
So if anyone can sort Alex's glue ear for me, please speak up now!

A day at the hospital

Well, several hours to be precise.
Alex was screaming in agony last night. Looks like the glue ear is back with a vengeance. I barely slept all night, and kept Alex off school today. I rang ENT in desperation, and managed to arrange an appointment this afternoon.
The policy on fitting grommets in Leeds appears to have changed, so despite the fact that grommets helped when Alex had them fitted in 2006, she will have to jump through hoops to get another set done. And in the meantime I get no sleep and get closer and closer to the edge. I am tempted to video Alex when she is screaming in agony,and play it to the silly SHO who suggested that I just grin and bear it, offering calpol and nurofen to help with the pain. Grrr.. I have 2 children and know how to manage pain in children, alas the pain meds available did nothing to help Alex last night. SHO strangling session anyone?

Ink and Rubber challenge

Here's my take on the Ink and Rubber challenge 2. The instruction was to use a punch from Stampin' Up, so I have used my scalloped edge punch. The stamp is from the Christ is Born set, stamped in old olive. Patterned paper from the Holiday Treasures set, ribbon is always artichoke, and the brads and ribbon slidge come from the hodge podge hardware set. I was inspired to make this card after seeing how Julie used this stamp on her card.

ATC Swap

Just sorted these out for posting, it is an ATC swap I have been running over on ILWS. All the ATCs have been made using Stampin Up stamps. I mounted them on a canvas and will put them on the wall in my craft room, not sure where yet!
Some members of the swap went AWOL which was a shame, the ones I received are beautiful! Thanks to everyone who participated!

Solitary bottle

Cleared out my bathroom cabinet last night as my ensuite is being repainted. The last thing I took out was Nigel's bottle of aftershave. I have, of course, cleaned the cabinet since he died, I just always put his aftershave back in. I don't think there will ever be a time when I don't keep his aftershave in there. Every so often I take off the lid and smell it. He loved that aftershave for as long as I can remember. I think we chose it together when we went to Amsterdam for a short break in 2000. He always like to buy a new bottle when we went on holiday, and he had been planning on buying some on the way back from Portugal in 2006. Fortunately he had some left, otherwise I think I probably would have bought some,just so I could remember how he smelled. If ever I drove his car, I always ended up with the smell of it on my hands, as he was generous when he splashed it on in the mornings. It would then rub off on the steering wheel!
Amazing how a smell reminds you so much of a person...

The Wedding

Finally I get round to sharing a couple of photographs from Trudie and Mark's wedding. Note to self, must get them printed and give them to Trudie! That has to be the worst part of having a digital camera, actually remembering to get them printed. I got lots of compliments for the invitations and associated stationery which was lovely. I enjoyed being child free that day!
The wedding was held at the Otley Chevin Lodge country house hotel, which was a beautiful setting. All the rooms are in log cabins, and the main hotel overlooks a lake. The food was good, I could be tempted to go back for a nice meal in the main restaurant.
Nothing else to report, other than my heating was broken and is now fixed, and I have lovely new Roman blinds in 3 bedroom windows. I could lie and say I made them myself but alas, I did not!

When were you born?

Just been browsing UKScrappers to find a thread asking which decade I was born in.
Well, I am a seventies child, having been born in 1975.

This was me when I was at nursery school in 1979, aged 4. Check out those glasses! I did this LO a while back now, but the thread on UKS reminded me lol. It was made using a Scrapagogo kit I bought on the marketplace at UKS, before I started subscribing to the monthly kit. How life has progressed since then!
Bit of a drama this morning when I attempted to call out British Gas to fix our central heating. Sorry, we can't come til Monday. My mind was filled with horrific images of us freezing over the weekend. We all went to bed last night in many layers, and extra blankets on the girls' beds. I was cold, so today I have bought me a new duvet, I am looking forward to snuggling under that very soon. Fortunately, my brother in law was able to fix my heating, so the house is much more bearable tonight! My boiler is on it's way out though, so now I need to sort out the money to pay for that.
Tomorrow we have a swimming party, fortunately I can sit on the side and watch! SO what are you all up to this weekend?