Exams & Amy Winehouse

Busy, busy week !!!
Monday it felt like I went from meeting to meeting (which I pretty much did, lol) then it was straight into a 3 day training course (BA bootcamp). We'd organised an external training company to deliver a course to our whole team and it was great to spend 3 days together, it happens so rarely. Also, the course was flippin brilliant (but I won't bore you with that).
On Wednesday, I went to see Amy Winehouse with my friend Netty (I'd bought tickets for her birthday). Remy Nicole was the support act and she was awesome, really good, the crowd loved her. We waited about an hour for Amy to come on which was a bit worrying as we thought she might be a no show (and lets face it it takes some bloomin effort for me to drag my ass out on a school night!!!) but she came on eventually and I was in seventh heaven. I know a lot's been written this week about the 1st night, but I was there and this is how I feel about it; Yes, she cried when she dedicated songs to Blake but this is one unhappy girl, she obviously adores him and he's incarcerated. Yes, she was a bit blurry wordy but she doesn't sound like the album live, she's got an instrumental voice and she contorts and plays with it beautifully. Yes, she did stumble but then she was doing twirls with her microphone stand, I'd stumble!!! and YES she did swear at the audience and walk off at the end but if I'd been boo'd then so would I to be honest. My opinion, for what its worth is that she seems deeply troubled but obviously loves singing, she appears to be surrounded by people who care (her band were constantly on the look out for her, making sure she was ok) and I think, god willing, she'll pull through this, I really hope so anyway.
I got to bed at about 1am (now considering I get up at 6 and I usually go to bed at 9.30 this was a HUGE deal) and was knackered on Thursday, especially when we came to taking our exam (which was totally freakin me out anyway, I mean it's 20 odd years since I've done an exam for christ sake!) but I plodded on regardless. When I came out of the course I found a challenge on our Children in Need site "challenge Ali to dress up as a goth with purple haire (not necessarily permanent) for £37" so I said if they got it up to £50 I'd do it (thinking they wouldn't) and they did!!! I'd had my fancy dress all sorted so I spent an hour and a half traipsing round the shops looking for blinking hair dye and goth make up !!!
It took me bloomin ages to get ready in the morning, I had more eye make up on than i'd ever worn and I looked like shite !!! I sprayed and gell'd my hair outside (god Andy would've killed me if I'd got purple over our "neutral" colour scheme!) then headed into work. Annoyingly, about 3 people said my hair suited me, I mean what could be better than my gorgy ginger locks (I mean I don't have much to boast about but my hair, well I love it!) which made me sulk big time (getting in character, lol). Anyway, we had a top day, I waxed several men's legs (oh yeah baby, inflicting pain, it rocks!), we had bush tucker trials, pie's in the face (sweeeeeeeeeeeeet retribution) and all sorts of things (the tug of war was particularly hilarious!). Amazingly we've raised about £3,000 which is just unbelievable, I can't believe how involved people got, it was such great fun.
We had "who wants to be a Millionaire" on in the lab so we had a team of 6, went in and played our game. Unbelievably, we got to the million pound question which was "what was Abba's 2nd UK no.1 hit single". Now after about 15 minutes discusion, we had ALL agreed as a team that it was Mama Mia. Just as Jag was about to click the button, Jame's yelled "no, no, no, It's Dancing Queen, definately without a doubt, Dancing Queen". Now, I'm a big abba fan, since the day's of dancing to the Arrival album in our lounge as a child, making up dances to "I am a tiger" so I wasn't convinced but he was so damn sure. SO, Jag clicks dancing queen and that awful "dedededum" noise indicated we were wrong!!!!! What was the answer? Mama f*cking Mia!!!!! Believe me he will not live that one down in a hurry !!!!!
Anyhow, once I'd helped Sarah with the counting of cash I set off home to scrub my face and hair of the cack I was covered in. Amazingly the purple hair dye came out really easily !!! The make up was a nightmare though, I had really itchy stingy eyes ALL night!!!
I dropped Andy off in town and settled down to watch Children in Need, as always, i loved it, it's just such great entertainment !!!
Saturday, I did precisely nothing apart from cook dinner so today I've cleaned, changed beds and been out shopping for christmas decorations (yeah, I know I'm early but I don't like crowded shopping so I'm getting it all done now!). I'm quite excited about Xmas really, can't wait to put my tree and decs up, it'll be the first weekend in december then I'm going to do it !!!!!
So, another busy week ahead, have fun ya'll, much love xxxxxxxxx

Tulips from Amsterdam

Well, he didn't bring me tulips but he did bring me presents (4 to be precise, non of which I can write about, all of which have been gratefully received thank you!).
It was wonderful to have him back, I hadn't realised how much I'd missed him though naturally within a very short space of time he was winding me up (so back to normal then, lol).
Needing something to look forward to we booked our Dubai holiday on Monday. We've got world cup tickets, booked our flights (from Birmingham sooooo convenient) and booked into the Crowne Plaza on the Sheikh Zayeed road (EXACTLY where we wanted to be). Fabulously, we got 5 nights for the price of 4 using some of my loyalty points which means we get an extra night free and we can go to breakfast with the stars, an event we've not ben able to go to previously.
Work was usual i suppose. We're getting ready for Children in Need next week and already we've raised £1,500, can you believe it? I bid successfully for a car parking space so no rushing in for 8am this week, I may pop into the gym a few times, have a few lie ins, ah the luxury!!! Ooh and we've got our BA boot camp this week too, which is very exciting.
So, nowt else to report really, al quiet on the western front at the moment, I have a very drunk hubby at the pub after the Blues lost to Villa so lord alone knows what tonight's going to be like, lol !!!
Right, I'm going to watch an old repeat of top gear and leer at Richard Hammond for a while.
Until next week, xxx

A rollercoaster week

If I'm honest, it's been a week of massive lows followed by some highs. I can't go into details about the lows other than too say that they are work related. However, ever the consumate professional, I'll just get on with it. I'm done talking about it, I've talked it through with the people who matter to me but it does change your opinion and your focus, anyway, end of! Andy and I had a lovely start to the week making the most of his three nights here before he went off to Amsterdam with the boys on Thursday morning. He was hilarious on Wednesday though, every time the door bell went, all I got was "them pesky kids!", miserable sod. We also spent some time chatting about our theme for the NYE party, finally settling on "Wicked wild, wild west" which should be great fun.Friday night the girls came round with the kids and we had singstar battles and fireworks. I bravely offered to light the fireworks which was very liberating (though apparently I looked like I was about to pap myself when I ran away after lighting it!). We were so chuffed with ourselves for managing fireworks without the boys, get in !!!Andy's had me in bits with his texts and calls from Amsterdam, he was gutted because one of the bars they love "Teasers" has closed, all the peep shows have gone and only one "show" remains. He said all the "Culture" has gone !!!Oh god love him, I think his liver will need some serious rest when he gets back. He always scores how he feels the day after drinking percentage wise (so 100% is feeling fine) and yesterday morning he was only at 3%, worrying !!!Anyhow, I blitzed the house on Saturday, got it all spotles then set off to Leeds for a night out with Vicky. I was really looking forward to it because after such a tough week, I knew it was just the tonic I needed and I wasn't wrong !!! We popped into Leeds, grabbed a quick coffee and got in a quick shopping fix. I bought two pairs of killer heels and a top, just what the doctor ordered. Having brought Vicky up to speed on everything and receiving some very sound advice, we got ready for our night out. She'd booked us into the Restaurant bar and grill which was beautiful It's in the old Post Office in Leeds, they've done a terrific job of restoring the building sympathetically and balanced it with a great contemporary style for the restaurant. So, we had some beautiful food, a bottle of wine and some more coffee before heading off to Room for cocktails. I adored my fig roll and Vicky was buzzed up by her Room stimulant !!! We had always intended to end up in Mojo so we set off on the hike across Leeds (in bloody stormin heels !!!) and while we were walking across, some tw*t grabbed Vicky's boob, which was sooooooooooooo disrespectful and she got quite upset by it. I wouldn't let her give into her tears though because then it's like admitting defeat to the idiots that feel that's ok, even his mates said "you can't do that" but hey, some guys are just c**ts aren't they?We got into Mojo and went up to the Rhum room which was cool, a little more chilled than the downstairs bar and we got a couple of bar stools to perch on (at which point I stated I was there for the night, great music, great company and a stool so I wasn't on my heels !!!). After about half an hour a group of guys came in and we got chatting to them, they were out wetting the baby's head for one of the guys and were on fine form. It made it a cracking night, we laughed, sang, had such a good time, they were a great bunch really good fun. We'd planned to leave at about 1.30 but ended up staying to the end !!! God love her Vicky makes me laugh, when the guy was showing her the picture of his little girl, she was so unimpressed so I had to do a whole, "oh isn't she gorgeous" (which she was) bit to placate him, he was devasated, lol !!!!!It really was the tonic I'd been looking for, we laughed so much, over dinner I'd been regaling her with stories from Mum's trip to London and how everyone at work was and then we find a great bunch of guys to have a giggle with, great, great night. Though it has to be said, i think I may have had one too many long island ice tea's as I felt somewhat nauseous at about 7am this morning. I turned over in bed and prayed to go back to sleep !!!!Thankfully when we got up i was feeling tons better, so the drive home wasn't too painful. Back home, washing done, chilling watching strictly from last night I'm now waiting for my boy to return. I can't wait to see him, I've missed him so much I really have but no doubt he'll be driving me bonkers after about an hour !!!Anyhow, back to work tomorrow, lets see what the week brings eh??

Archive blogs - May to October 2006

11 May 2007
I gave myself whiplash Current mood: chipper
So, another weekend, another lairy night out (what else do you expect from me nowadays?) So, it was Saturday night, girls night out and we went to, wait for it; TAMWORTH!!!!!! now I know you're all going "where?" which is a pretty fair response, and it's not really worth me describing it. But anyhow, enough about where, lets talk about the what; Sir dropped me and Fiony off and we met with the girls who were already halfway through their first round. Catching up was in order so we set about it with a vengence (those who don't advocate binge drinking should probably stop reading at this point). Nat and I were filling everyone in on our exploits of the previous week which kept everyone amused for a while. Then Sarah decided to tell us of her plans for us to enter X factor!!! Yup, she's deadly serious; we're a group "pussy galore" and we're going to sing "Dontcha". Apparently, she's on lead vocals, i'm at the back (her words were "you think you can sing, but you're not all that" with the shoulder action and everything!!!), She even showed us the routine, which had us gripping onto the bar surrounding the dancefloor in Trinity, tears streaming down our faces !!! Needless to say, I don't think it will be happening. So, from Swaggers we went to Vodka Bar, 3 lots of voddie cocktails on, we were ready for anything, yes, even the Tavern (now, oh god i'm gonna get mauled for saying this!). Now the Tavern is not my kind of pub, not my kind of pub at all (oh god, I can't say what I want to say in case I get lynched), anyway the girls take me in there to see my face. I think I basically stand there with a look of disgust while I drink my drink very quickly and order them to get me the hell out of there !!!!! Now, not wanting to let them down, I did precisely that, even though there was a little bit of eye candy in there to improve the view !!! Anyhow, on we went to Trinity (the over 25's bit), and it filled up with people all about 18-23!!!! I've never felt so bloody old in my life !!! But, we girlies, like the troopers we are, decided if you can't beat them, join them and danced our asses off all night. I do feel though that I did a bit too much jumping around and flinging my hair around because I felt like I had whiplash on Sunday, and on Monday, and on Tuesday!!! Can you believe that, I gave myself whiplash !!! Well, I'll never learn will I, and this weekend it's off to Vicky's for a night out in Leeds, more booze, more disgraceful behaviour, more fun, fun, fun !!! Then next week, mummy's down which is EXCELLENT !!!! I can't wait to see her, and she's bringing Rufus, which is always amusing (her Irish Red Setter !!!). So, have a great week you beautiful people, lovin you lots, xxxxxx

13 May 2007
Life's strange sometimes Current mood: contemplative
So it's been a funny old week. It started with my friend Vicky joining us on Monday evening for dinner and staying over. It was lovely to see her, and we had a good old catch up, she was on fine form so it really was a great night.
As it was only a 4 day week, I knew it would pretty much fly, and it did, meetings, meetings, meetings !!! Half year creates so much "paperwork" so I spent a lot of time getting on top of things, but a very productive week even if I say so myself.
Friday was my usual night in home alone (I really enjoy that time!) and having dropped sir and the boys at the pub, I went to be waxed and then had a good old catch up with Netty. I love spending time with her, our friendship is really growing and she's so much fun to be with. We're off out on the 25th to some Jazz night which should be a giggle!!! Especially if it gets all "scoobydoby doo" ish.
So, I was meant to be going to Vicky's for the night (Saturday) so we would go out in Leeds, get drunk, have a giggle. But at about 11ish, I started getting texts from her, she'd been at a do in London and was quite down and I kind of thought the weekend might be off. And, I was right, I woke up on Saturday to a text which was cool, I mean a week off from partying won't do me any harm !!!!! Though, whilst I might not be partying, my alcohol intake doesn't seem to be dropping !!! If I was in america, I reckon they'd whip me off to Rehab but as Amy would say "no, no, no!"
Anyway, it meant on Saturday I could lie in, do my domestic goddess chores and make the house sparkly (god i'm getting a bit obsessed with it !!!) before making sir's bacon sandwich. It was nice to have a day at home, knowing I didn't have to go anywhere, no rush, just nice and chilled!! I couldn't do it every week, i've got used to partying. I suppose there's gonna come a time when I decide to grow up though, but I'm a bit scared of that, I don't want to be all grown up and responsible !
So, a leisurely one, I had a siesta (the return of the saturday siesta), cooked a lovely dinner (baked camembert, risotto, blueberry and raspberry thingy) and we watched the scoring for the Eurovision. Now, in my last blog I talked about Pussy Galore, well, I texted Sarah about what a fix the whole thing was and then we both texted each other; that's what Pussy Galore should do !!!! It's our destiny !!! Sir and I were giggling about it, that and the fact that the whole thing is such a fix. But my geography is so bad I had no idea who would vote for whom (is that gramatically correct?). Anyway, we started watching soccer am and sir fell asleep when he was fast forwarding it, it was hilarious, he presses the fast forward button and promptly nodded off !!!
So, I sent him off to bed, and watched ugly betty and Canada's next top model! Then I found a programme on Bravo about the vivid studio's search for the next cast of the remake of Debbie Does Dallas, which i've put on series link!!!
I trundled off to bed at 2am then was ping, wide awake at 10am !!! How annoying, when I know I can have a lie in, i'm like, kerching! Anyway, another chilled day today, made sir's brekkie, read the papers, oh what a glamorous life I lead eh?
Anyhow, before I go I feel compelled to write about Madeleine McCann. This story quite rightly has got to so many people, probably thinking "there but for the grace of god go I". I have to say at first, when the story broke I felt anger, anger which was, I now see as being inappropriate but not having kids of my own, I could only draw on my family's experience. You see whenever we've been away (with plenty of kids!) especially abroad, they've always been with us, draped over an adult or two or spark out in a buggy. So I couldn't comprehend why they had left them in the apartment. Then, having talked about the story, as I'm sure everyone has, with colleagues at work, I realise that it's not uncommon and I was being judgemental. Anyway, I cannot possibly begin to imagine the hell her parents and family are going through. What posesses a human being to take a child I don't know, I really don't. Never mind the parents, what must she be going through, it's so wrong, it's so heartbreaking and I pray (which I don't often do) that she'll be returned safely. As one of life's optimists, I really, really do hope this story has a happy ending. I'm sure everyone feels the same but I just wanted to voice my opinion (you know me!).
Well, that's me done for now, have a good week all (I'm on a course for two days, train the trainer - i've done it that many times !!! mind you, i'm sure i'll still enjoy it) and then Mummy's down, yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Have a good week all, stay safe and loved, xxxxxxx

23 May 2007
Is it something I do???
Well, another friend's off to the other side of the world (Is it something I do???) and saying goodbye is so fucking difficult!
Sara is off in 2 weeks and she came for lunch to say goodbye. Mummy was down for a couple of days (which was wicked, she has make the garden gorgy and we had some lovely quality time together) so lunch was me, mummy, Sarah and sir. It was great to have a giggle and I'd made her a CD of pics of the two of us to take with her (she totally ripped me for the "ali pose" bit!) but when it came to saying goodbye, bugger me, it's hard. I will go and see her though, the worlds a small place nowadays after all, and Singapore is sooooooooooo worth a return visit (but no Thai massage this time, too painful).
We had a quiet weekend apart from that, not a lot on really, I spent a considerable amount of time sorting paperwork getting myself up to date and then began plannin Vegas (omg, it's almost here!!!).
This week's a busy one, I'm in Huntingdon, Reading, out with friends, I like busy though so I'm a happy bunny. AND the weather looks like it's getting nicer again.
So life is good right now, my cold is even going (hopefully, fingers crossed !!!).
Next week's blog should be more exciting, after all I'm out Thursday with the girlies (planning Puerto Banus), it's Bank Holiday (always debauched) and it'll be less then a week to my holiday so i'll be hyper as hell !!!!!
Oh, on another note, we may have found a motor home for Glastonbury !!! OMG how exciting.
Right, back to it, laters gorgy people, xxxxxx


28 May 2007
So who ARE pussygalore? Current mood: content
Ok, so those of you who've read my two bulletins will be wondering what the f*ck is going on (maybe, or maybe you're used to my randomness. Well, if you back track a couple of weeks, when I was rambling on about Eurovision, you'll remember how my friend Sarah (the Diva) was going on about "pussygalore" and how she really believes this phenomenon can take off. WELL, we had a planning meeting for Nat's hen do on Thursday and our theme for Puerto Banus is going to be "PussyGalore on tour". So, my job is to create the whole myspace thing, get us as many friends as possible, spread the word and see if we can have a giggle with it all.
It'd would be great if you could re-post the bulletin so we can see just how many friends we can get, it's all very tongue in cheek, we're going to do a mockumentary while we're out there, and i'm hoping to post some of our previous videos onto the myspace site (believe me, they're midly amusing, especially the ones of Sarah, but they're going to have to be heavily edited !!!).
So, if you're up for a giggle, add them as a friend and spread the word, this could be very funny !!
Anyway, this week; busy workwise. We went to Microsoft in Reading which was a fabulous day !!! Totally amazing and worthwhile. The set up there is just unbelievable, it's a campus with a lovely lake, swans, oh god it's just great !! Anyhow, workwise, busy, busy, busy.
Had a quiet Friday night after a long and enjoyable couple of days, went to bed early and have mostly chilled this weekend but yesterday we went out with Neil and Nat into Brum. We were going to go to Pride but it was peeing it down so we went in for drinkies at about 5ish. We stuck out like sore thumbs as straight girls but we still had a good giggle, we spent a fair few hours in the mexican bar, drinking wine and nibbling on nachos which was cool before moving onto Loaf bar while the boys went to get more cash. It was at this point that some guy at the bar said "there's no way you two are on your own !" to which I replied, "No, the boys have gone to the cash machine". Then I felt someone's hand on my ass and Nat said my eyes popped out of my head. She says I'm so naive I didn't get that they were chatting us up, I thought they were just being friendly !!! Anyhow, the boys soon returned, we drank more drinks then went next door to this other bar. Big mistake, full of pretentious young things only out to get noticed, it was SHITE! After Nat had slipped on the wet floor we finished our drinks and headed of to Oceana, which is actually really nice (I got past the first bar this time!).
We went in 3 of the bars but didn't go in the club bit, it was totally zhoom zhoom and not our scene at all !!!!! Anyhow we did stay in boudoir for quite a while until we'd had enough and Neil rang the taxi to come and collect us. Actually what he said was "We taxed a booxi" which made me, sir and Nat cry laughing while he was on the phone, he was oblivious to it all, hadn't got a clue why we were laughing so much (guess you had to be there eh!).
So, today, I woke up all sprightly, having stopped drinking at 11 I'm fresh as a daisy !!! I cooked sir's brekkie, and i've been doing some more research (shopping) on Vegas, this time next week people, I'll be there !!!!!!! How flippin exciting is that ????
I've ordered our dining table this weekend, it's gorge, stone and glass !!! And our garden furniture, we've searched high and low and the stuff we like is about £1,500 which is just mental so we've gone for something incredibly similar in Argos which is half price in the sale (from £700 to £350!) so saving a fortune!
So this week, 3 days in the office, meetings, meetings and more meetings followed by a WFH day Friday (tidying up before hols and development work). Don't know what acces I'll have to t'internet in Vegas, we're staying at the Bellaggio but I don't think we'll have free access anywhere, it'd keep people off the tables wouldn't it, so i'll probably just blitz a travelblog out when I get home. I promise to fill you in on all the fun we have though !!!
Right gorgeous people, I'm off to sort out my clothes for work this week and Vegas (just can't help dropping that in !). Have a great week and don't forget to add PussyGalore and repost the bulletin.
Love you all xxxxx

10 Jun 2007
Viva Las Vegas - Travelblog !!! Current mood: sleepy
Well, they say it's sin city, and they're not wrong are they?
So, we left Manchester on Sunday morning, two hyperactive bunnies, desperate for 4 days away. After a reasonable 9 hour flight we were delayed on the runway for an hour while they hooked us up to a walkway, not good when you've been trapped in economy for what feels like a lifetime !!! Anyhow, we whizzed through baggage claim, got in a cab and wondered at the sights ahead of us. God It's an amazin place, I really did think it would be huge and bugger me it's massive !!!
Upon arrival at our hotel, the Bellagio, we were greeted, our bags whisked off and we queued to check in. We'd obviously timed it wrong but hey, we didn't care if we had to queue ! We had the loveliest receptionist who upgraded us to a fountain view room, and we bounced all the way to our room excitedly (yeah, all the half mile treck !!! lol). It didn't disappoint, my god the room was awesome, really gorgeous. Our view looked across to Paris and Planet Hollywood, over the fountain lake. Our bathroom was big enough for about 6 people !!! So, we took some pics, as Jo said "before we wreck it". We set off on a mooch as soon as our bags and show tickets had been delivered and we'd unpacked, not really sure where we were heading but with a vague plan to "do" the Bellagio and if it goes well, pop next door to Ceasers Palace.
Now, everyone tells you how big these hotels are but wow, I was in total awe. We went for a drink by our pool in the 100 degree heat before seeking refuge in the air conditioned luxury of the hotel whilst we explored. Once we'd done the Bellagio, we braved the outside again to trip across the road to Ceasers Palace, again, a gorgy hotel. We giggled at the Celine Dione pics before heading off into the forum shops. It's really cool, all done out like Rome with the clear blue sky which turns from day to night in hourly cycles.
Once we'd mooched round the shops we headed back to our hotel and our room and had a doze for a while. It was all we could do to get up for the evening but we were determined to make the most our our stay and hauled our asses out of bed. Having a fountain view was excellent, we switched on the tv to the fountain channel which played cheesy 80s tunes, then every 15 mins we'd get the music that accompanied the fountain display !!!!
So, we dressed ourselves up and headed for Mandalay Bay. It's a gorge hotel (mind you most of them are!) and we found a lovely Italian restaurant where we enjoyed pizza and a bottle of white. After dinner (by this time about 10.30) we were flagging, having been up since 6am uk time we worked out we'd been up 24 hours so we agreed to have one more drink before heading back. We decided to slurp on a martini at Red Square (which has a cool ice bar) which pretty much finished us off (we found that they like their cocktails strong, my god the americans in Vegas can drink!).
After a good sleep, we got up at 8am (in fact we did that every day) and headed down to the pool. JoJo baked in the sun and I pottered off for brekkie to ring Sir and get some juice! At lunchtime we decided to head off to Paris (lol) but JoJo had a funny turn halfway round (see, I know about too much sun but would she listen, NO!). Having made her eat some lunch and consume large quantities of fluids (and getting some painkillers from the maitre d) I took her back to the room and hit the Casino in the Bellagio. Now, I really didn't think I'd like gambling, I had a go at blackjack and that was ok, but only ok. Then I hit up on Roulette - I FOUND MY GAME !!! I could easily get addicted to that, wow it's so much fun !!!
Anyhow, I'd arranged to get my fringe (or bangs!) cut so that dragged me away from the tables. Once I'd got back to the room, JoJo was feeling somewhat more human (thankfully) and was really upset thinking she'd spoilt the day (bless her). Having reassured her that it didn't matter, and I was in love with roulette, we got ready to go out. We had tickets for Cirque do Soleil at the Mirage so the plan was to head down there, grab a bite to eat and watch the show. The place was blooming heaving !!!! We had a wander round but as we didn't want a big meal decided to go to the Carnegie Deli and get take out (the queue to sit in was about an hour long!). We had grilled cheese sandwiches (oh so bloody yum) and eat them by the tigers enclosure !
We had loads of time before the show so went to the Revolution bar. It's a beatles themed bar and totally cool, it's got this whole interractive thing going on, images projected on walls, tables that light up and you can write on them, god it's cool !!! There was the first play of Paul McCartney's new album on too which was good, I actually quite like his new single!
Anyhow, 9.30 came and we headed for the theatre. I didn't know what to expect from Cirque, I mean, I've seen clippits but I knew that we'd at least love the music. Well, I was blown away, totally, utterly, completely blown away. I was moved to tears by the music, the dancing, the whole experience. God, if you go to vegas and see just one show, make it Love. Their interpretation of the music and lyrics, well, like I said, it moved me to tears, especially "something", god it was awesome.
After the show, we decided against waiting for a taxi and walked back up the strip singing beatles tunes and taking piccies !!!
The next day we headed down to the pool again for a few hours before setting off on our wandering again at lunchtime. This time we did Miracle mile shops at planet hollywood, the Venetian and Mirage ! Miracle mile was cool, we mooched round some nice shops, grabbed some mexican food and it was really chilled. The Venetian was everything we expected, canals, gondolas, sky, all very good !!! At Mirage, we'd gone back to see Seigfreid (is that how you spell it) and Roy's hidden garden where they keep the white lions, tigers and dolphins. We kept saying though, that we weren't sure what had really happened with their show only that we knew one of them had been attacked by one of their own animals. This sparked a very lengthy discussion about whether we reckoned the animal had been put down, or which one it was (but we couldn't ask anyone, we felt it would be in poor taste so I've got to google it today !). I was, as always, fascinated by the dolphins. They don't do any kind of show there, the purpose of their being is for research and study and they've been awarded recognition from the marine wildelife trust and stuff so it was all very laid back and just lovely to see them playing together. I really could have sat and watched them all day but JoJo dragged me away !! After all the walking we'd done we felt it was time for some nourishment so we went back to Carnegie Deli and shared a slice of strawberry cheesecake !!!!!
That night we went to MGM and NewYork NewYork. We saw the lions at MGM before braving the elements (they were having a windstorm) and crossing to NewYork NewYork. Now, the boys had stayed there a couple of years ago but they totally undersold this place!!! It's amazing, really well themed and great bars and restaurants (shows the state they must have been in !). We went for a couple of pints of magners at Nine Fine Irishmen before walking round the Casino and settling on an Italian restaurant for a bite to eat. Afterwards we headed to Coyote Ugly, being huge fans of the film we were intrigued to see if it lived up to the hype. It's a great bar but my god what a pick up joint !!! We were there on the Tuesday night but it was full of American girls porno dancing (now I know me and Pussy Galore give it some on a night out but these girls !!!) and guys on conferences looking for a quick shag !!! JoJo got hit on by this guy wanting to take us both to Celine Dion and even her telling him that she'd rather stick pins in her eyes and watch Barry Manilow didn't deter him. At the point he tried to snog her she wrapped herself around me like a little koala !!!! It was hilarious ! We got back to our hotel at about 1am and decided to try out one of the ultra bars, so we went to Caramel and had a couple of cocktails before bed.
Our final full day saw us back at the pool again and heading back to the Forum at Ceasers for lunch at Spago. We were going to the Palms that evening so we had a nice chilled day so we'd be able to stay up late. We booked into Tod English's Olives at the Bellagio for dinner (which was beautiful!) and at about 11pm headed to the Palms hotel. First stop was the Playboy Casino. Now, we had to queue to get up there and it has to be said that this was the only point in the holiday at which JoJo had a strop (silently but still a strop, as sisters you can recognise these things). She doesn't do queueing and 15 minutes did not impress her !!! Anyhow, once we'd made it up there, she was all smiles again, it was stunning!!! I had a go on roulette, having cashed in my winnings from the Bellagio (which I promptly lost) and we enjoyed a couple of drinks and a chat with some guys before heading back down the lift to cross to Ghost Bar. Now, Ghost bar is known for being the haunt of Britney, Leonardo et al but whilst we didn't see anyone famous, we had a total blast !!! I braved the elements to walk across the plexiglass ( a sheet of see through stuff 55 storys up) and video'd it for evidence!!! Then after our first drink we got talking to a group of cockney's who were on a stag do, it was their first night and they'd booked a table, they had bottles of voddie, it was wicked, free drinks all night !!!! They'd also got talking to two United Airlines stewards, Monica and Teresa who were lovely, really nice girls so the 12 or so of us partied until the break of dawn (as Mon kept saying). Once we'd been booted out of Ghost (it closed about 4am) we headed to their rooms at Ceasers palace where we drank their minibar dry and nattered until about 6am. Having staggered back to ours, JoJo and I crashed out at about 6.30am, not the wisest move considering we were leaving at about 12pm !!!
JoJo dragged her ass down to the pool at some time (not sure when, I was asleep!) and she woke me at about 10.30 to get ready. Now, why I do this the night before I fly home I have no idea, I guess I'll never learn eh?
The rest of the day pretty much passed in a hungover, sleepy blur, our flight home was ok, I slept most of the way and only began to feel human once we'd got back to Manchester. We were both getting the train back, JoJo to Stalybridge, me to Tamworth (a very brave move for me, I don't do public transport) and it was nice that the train was quiet.
So, I got back at about lunchtime and it has to be said, my jet lag has been hideous, though sir says it might be due to a lack of a single nights sleep too !!! It's been lovely to come home but I've truly had a ball. It was amazing to spend 5 days with JoJo, not a cross word was exchanged, we had such a lovely, lovely time and I find myself missing her now I'm home. It was truly fab to spend sister time together and as she quite rightly said, we shouldn't leave it another 4 years until our next trip.
So, my lovelies, if you've stuck with this long ramble till the end, I'm now sending myself to sleep (but I'm still blaming the jetlag!). Have a lovely week all, big kisses xxxxxxxxxxxx

19 Jun 2007
And there was a frog in the bloody garden!
So, it was a bloomin long week at work, I struggled to do 5 days, it's been so long (lol!) but hey, I got there.
Had an eventful Friday, one of my girls ended up in A&E following a massive ashtma attack so Jag & I spent the afternoon putting the world to rights while we waited for her to be seen.
After planning to get home early on Friday (to do some glastonbury shopping), I ended up getting home at 8pm, having driven through a number of flooded roads and having a pretty hairy drive home (though I'm sure I wasn't the only person !). Anyway, Friday was a nice quiet night in, few glasses of white, Big Brother, and then crashing out knackered.
Saturday I had to brave the shopping park to get my glastonbury stuff, I had a list as long as my arm. Because the river Thame had burst it's banks in spectacular style, loads of the local roads were closed off so it took me an hour to do 4 miles. It wasn't as if I could put of doing the shopping either, I'd left it so late !!! Anyhow, I got everything I needed, new waterproof walking boots, pacamac, all sorts of stuff. I called to see Sam and Abigail on the way back, god that baby girl is adorable, sooooooooooooooooo adorable, almost makes me broody !!!
We had a lovely night in on Saturday catching up on TV, having a giggle and ended up crashing out at about 1am !!! Which meant that Sunday was not an early one.
Sunday, sir dug out the rest of the area for the patio extension whilst I did some gardening. Now, I hated gardening in the old house but I get a real buzz out of seeing the garden flourish here, it's so rewarding (I am FINALLY turning into my mother !). So I spent a couple of hours, trailing, tying up, dead heading, weeding and then it happened;
A FROG JUMPED OUT AT ME AND TRIED TO BITE ME
I'm not kidding, it jumped right up at me and totally tried to get me so I dealt with it the only way I knew how; I SCREAMED LIKE A GIRL !!!!! Best part of it was that sir came over and every time it jumped and I screamed, he jumped too !!! So of course I shouted at him because he's not meant to be scared of frogs but he said I was making him jump by screaming !!!
Anyhow, I had to tie up some lillies that were right next to where the frog had jumped under a clematis so, we hatched a plan where he'd put the shovel over the entrance, i'd tie them up and make a quick getaway.
But you know what this means now don't you? I'm now scared to go into that corner of the garden without a chaperone which is going to be very wearing for Andy, he's going to get fed up pretty damn quickly !!!
Anyhow, this week he's laying the patio so by the time I get back from Glastonbury it should all be done, lets just hope for some sunny weather now eh?
Right I'm off, I promise a full account of my glastonbury trip (tantrums, tears and all), love y'all, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Glastonbury Blog - Day 1 - The sun is shining !!! Current mood: tired
So, we picked up the camper van on Wednesday afternoon and I almost peed myself when i saw the size of what I was going to be driving !!! It was bloomin huge !!! Si started laughing when he saw it but when he saw how grey I'd gone he quickly began re-assuring me that i'd be ok !!!
Anyhow, the lovely people we hired it from (western motor home!) gave us the guided tour, instructions etc and reassured me that it was just like driving a big car, and do you know, it was !!!
As we set off though I kept apologising to Si for only doing 20 mph then realised I was looking at the rev counter, and we were actually doing 50 !!! Oh and how can I ever defend women drivers !!!!
Well, we got home in ok time, did the Tesco shop and we were all ready to go. I was up at 6am showered (oh, showers, remember those?) and I set off to pick up the others. Packed up, ready to go, it was all aboard the fun bus and we headed off to Glastonbury, wooohoooooooooooo.
We'd expected shedloads of traffic but it was really easy to get into the site, no problems at all but unfortunately they located us right at the perimiter fence of the camper van site, a 2.5 mile walk from the main gate, but never mind eh, it'd be easier to get away at the end (remember that comment folks !!!).
We unpacked, set up the awnings then headed off to the site, very, very excited and do you know what? The sun was shining !!! No rain !!! Yeah, remember that too !!!
I was totally blown away by it all, the only thing I could liken it to was Camden and I kept saying it was like Camden had exploded into a field !!! We walked for miles, taking in the pyramid stage, the others stage, the john peel stage, the dance stage, jazz stage, blimy it was flippin huge, like a big city !!! And the sights, beautiful stalls, food, people, hats, oh it was awesome. I was soooooooooooo glad I'd bought my walking boots, boy would they come in useful over the weekend.
I texted my friend Rosie (one of my top friends) who was working there and we met her for half an hour outside the John Peel stage. It was soooooooooo lovely to finally meet her, she is SUCH a poppet, a real little doll like creature, so pretty and adorable. Anyway, we hoped to meet up again over the weekend and we set off on our wanders again.
We hiked back to the van to chill out for a bit (via the 1 in 40 hill just after the main gate, downhill on the way in, uphill on the way home, ouch!) and when we got back we realised Paul was in a totally bad way with his foot. He got so bad that Simon went to the Stewards and a medic team had to come out, so Si and Paul got driven off to the medic tent while me and Gill chilled out in the van !!!
We got a call at some unearthly hour to say they were walking back with paul's foot strapped up and him on crutches (some 3 or 4 miles !!!). So our first night was something of a quiet one for the girls and very eventful for the boys.
Anyhow, optimistic for the following day, we bunked down in our luxurious motorhome and got a good nights sleep.
The adventure was yet to begin............................................................

Glastonbury Blog - Day 2 - And the rain came !
So, as I lay in my comfy bed in our lovely dry, warm camper van (well, winnibago, it was huge!) at 7am on Friday morning all I could hear was the rain. "here we go" I thought, and I was right, it was relentless !!!!! Anyhow, the glastonbury spirit kicked in when we all got up around 9ish, we bbq'd some saussage and bacon butties packed up our bags and headed off to watch reverend and the makers. They were awesome but we missed their first track which is our absolute fave, heavyweight champion of the world !!! We were walking up towards the stage and could hear it playing, gutted !!! Anyhow, lesson learned about how long it took to get to the others stage from basecamp!!!
They were followed by the Cribbs and then the Automatic who were all amazing but the weather had this evil trick thing going on, between sets, it would literally pour down with rain, i've never seen anything like it in my life, the 4 of us huddled under a brolly in our waterproofs getting soaked !!! And of course, by this stage the mud was well, muddy !!! As we walked away from our camper, we got muddied up nicely and after about 5 minutes I'd totally past caring so I just waded on through getting spattered, soaked and giggling like an 8 year old!!!
When the automatic were on, I wandered off so I could see Amy Winehouse at the pyramid stage, man she was good. I mean, I'm a fan but oh my god that girl has sooooooooooooo much talent. I stood amongst the crowds singing my head off and as she sang back to black, the rain stopped, the clouds parted and the sun shone, and it didnt stop for the rest of the day !!!! I hung around, as my feet were begining to ache (god, I don't think I've ever walked so much in my life !!!) and heard the magic numbers, I mooched over to the other side of the stage and sat on the metal base of the speaker stand in the sun, legs in the mud, watching the magic numbers, total bliss. I'd texted Fay, who I work with to see where she was and once i'd described where I was sat she trudged over. I went to join her crowd for a while watching bloc party (average, i'm not a fan), then Si, Gill and Paul arrived for the Fratellis. I'd been really excited about seeing them and they didn't disappoint, we bounced, sang and had a ball in the mud !!!!!
After they'd finished we headed for the dance tent via many many pools of mud (which was becoming encrusted onto my legs in the gap between my walking boots and my combats, but hey it's all good for the skin so they tell me) where we saw the Klaxons. They were good but it was getting scarily busy in there. Fatboy slim was playing after them (the real reason we'd gone over) but it was becoming a total crush, very scary and I seemed to be being carried along by my backpack, my feet weren't actually connecting with the floor (though at least my feet got a rest !!!.
So, as it was becoming somewhat freakily scary, we headed back (yup more trudging through mud!) to the pyramid stage to catch the arctic monkeys who were, as you'd expect, awesome !!!
We got back to basecamp and sat outside drinking and chatting and the others finally arrived back. Si's brother Andy, Chris (young 22 year old student ) and two of Andy's scouts, Rhys and Jo arrived, they were staying in the other van (proper VW job) so we all nattered away until we gave in around half 3 and crashed to bed.
Highlights of the first day? Amy Winehouse and the Fratellis, totally, totally awesome, I hadn't got wound up by the mud!!!!!

Glastonbury Blog - Day 3 - Saturday's a Killer !!!
We began the morning with our usual BBQ, Gill and I did the washing up (so stereotypical!) and we began the long walk to the main site. I split up from the others and had a good wander around, though it has to be said, whilst I'd worn my walking boots on the Friday, I'd opted for wellies on the Saturday, big mistake, huge !!! (well for me anyway) I was like bambi in the mud, slipping and sliding everywhere (though by some miracle I didn't fall over !!!).
My viewing started with Lilly Allen who was, as expected, brilliant, truly brilliant. And, girl power again, the sun came out for her and stayed for the rest of the day !!! I went for another mooch afterwards, grabbing some dinner (my god it was veggie heaven, no need to eat crap at glastonbury, though, my fluid intake was reduced by about two thirds, my god those loo's were hidious, eugh, just the thought of it now is making me retch). I purchased a foldaway chair for £8, a lovely pink stripy number, parked myself at the pyramid stage, sat in the sun and proceded to drink my concoction of vodka / amareto that i'd made up earlier. Now, this is where it all gets somewhat hazy so you might have to bear with me.
The kooks were next and they were good if a little boring. The others had found me by this stage (though i was somewhat tipsy shall we say) and I said to them that the kooks were ok but I was disappointed they hadn't done "valerie", at this point Si pissed himself laughing and pointed out that the kooks didn't do Valerie, that was the Zutons !! No wonder i'd found them a bit boring eh??? Oh bless!!!
We moved forwards for the Killers who put on the most spectacular show, fireworks and all but they don't really talk to the crowd much which is a bit sad really. By the time they'd finished I was well oiled and this didn't help my bambi like state. Si had Gill on one side and me clutching on for dear life on the other as we walked (slowly and slippily) back to basecamp, god that hill took forever !!!
Back at camp we sat singing as Chris played the guitar and shared a bottle of champers Andy had been given on his flight home. Well, I say we shared, I was the only one who really liked it so I think I might have had everyone's glasses they didn't want. Anyhow, don't really remember putting myself to bed but apparently I did, very quietly and without much fuss (which is in itself a miracle I think !!!).
Highlights of the day? I think, it might be Si's video footage of me trying to explain what I'd been drinking, badly !!!!!

26 Jun 2007
Day 4, thank god for the Kaiser Chiefs !!! Current mood: contemplative
Another morning, another rainstorm, man does it ever stop?
Yet more BBQing in the rain and I'd decided to leave it until later on to walk down to the site. If it'd been dry I'd have gone on a treck to Lost Vagueness and Greenfield but in the mud you'd be looking at about 3 hours to get there, lol !!!
Anyway, I'd packed most of my stuff up as we'd decided to leave after the Chemical Brothers (the last act) because, lets face it, if we didn't, well we'd probably still be there now (and I'm writing this on Tuesday!)
I listened to the radio 1 wedding, and the rain (which continued to pour) then headed on down to watch shirley bassy. I didn't catch all of her set though, it took forever to get there as loads and loads of people were heading towards their cars with camping stuff (up that bloody big hill) and lets face it, it must have been tough camping in tents !!!
Anyway, I got there for the end, then got in place next to the mixing desk and got chatting to 3 ladies who'd been working in Greenfields site in the healing area. They were lovely, that's the one thing I really liked about Glastonbury, everyone (well almost) is so damn friendly. I'd gotten talking to a girl on Saturday too, when I was watching the kooks, we were talking about all sorts and I found out she's got a myspace page so I've added her which is cool!
The others arrived midway through the Manics (who were sooooooooooooooooooo good) and we were all gagging for the Kaisers to come on. Paul arrived (pissed as a fart) and the Kaisers started. Oh My God, they were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo amazing it's not true. Ricky is such a showman, now I said that the Killers didn't interact with the crowd, well he totally worked us, totally! He had the whole of the pyramid stage eating out of the palm of his hand it was brilliant. When I predict a riot came on, I swear the ground was bouncing !!! (oh and on the highlights, I just missed out of being in shot !!! the 3 ladies I'd been talking to where, I was just behind them, gutted!). After the Kaisers, we headed towards the others stage for Chemical Brothers, however we hadn't anticipated Gill being so affected by the old vodka / amareto concoction. Now she's a little dot of a thing and bless her, her legs went, she fell in the mud and was just spannered. Si ended up trying to take her back to the camper, missing the Chemical Brothers and having to get help from a steward to take her into one of the other tents to recouperate for a while before attempting the journey back. Anyhow, Paul went into the thick of the crowd and I, well, I just hung at the back.
This was the point at which I wanted to come home. The rain hadn't stopped all day, I was soaked, cold and by now, homesick. I'd spent an awful lot of time on my own which gave me probably too much time to think. I missed my baby so much, I kept texting him and eventually he told me to stop moaning and enjoy it, he was right of course but that didn't stop me calling him a twat and saying tough love wasn't what I needed right now !!!! Anyhow, he texted back being sweet again bless him. It was weird, I mean, I missed him in Vegas, obviously but when you're away with family or really close friends, well, it's not so hard is it. But when you're away with colleagues, sharing a camper van (and ok, it's luxurious compared to a tent, but still, one portaloo betwen 8, oh god, retching again) with people who are just colleagues, not my closest friends, well, it's not the same so by that time, well, i was struggling a bit. I don't think it's that bad really, I mean, I hadn't moaned once, not about the mud, not about the rain, not about the overflowing portaloo, not at all, and to be honest I didn't moan then, I simply wandered round on my own being a bit homesick.
Anyway, Chemical brothers, the last act of our festival trip were just amazing, their lightshow is phenomenal, truly mezmerising. Had a text from Rosie which read something along the lines of "fucked, chemical brothers, yeah !!!", which kinda sums it up really !!!!
Back at the van, Si had cleaned Gill up and put her to bed, he'd packed up everything outside and we were all set to go. As we'd headed back we'd seen camper vans strewn all over the place and not many tractors !!! Our plan was for one of the guys to pick our a route where there was little mud or chance of getting stuck and for us to take the vans through there. I have to point out that at this time, the rain really came down, I mean REALLY!
I was again driving the van and had to be coached on the best way to get it moving (2nd gear, low revs) and we were off, one big push by 6 men / boys and we were away !!! Or so we thought, my guide to show me which path i was taking went awol so I had to stop, and needed another push (has to be said the VW was just happily chugging out here, bloody thing !!) We kept going but we really hit some mud, blocking in others who had followed us. At one point we had about 8 people, some skid tracks, and far to many bloody people trying to tell me what to do. This was the point at which I almost screamed and threw a tantrum, but, I didn't, I simply said (quite loudly) could just one person tell me what to do please, not 15! After a short while, Andy got into the van (after i'd put loads of bags down, I wasn't losing our deposit because of muddy seats ! Anyway. we got moving again but were guided into a huge mudbath and that was it, 2ft mud, we were stuck. 2 hours of every kind of attempt from bits of wood to rocking to just plain praying, we were well and truly stuck. I was begining to stress by now (which manifested itself in me being very very quiet which was how everyone could tell !!!). All I could think about was "it's 3.30, the tractors finish at 4, by 9am when they come back on there will be thousands waiting to get off and we'll be stuck til Tuesday. We've got to get the van back to cardiff for 12 and oh my god !!!!!"
Anyhow, I kept quiet but Si could see the desperation in my eyes I think and he bravely headed out into the driving rain to find some help. Eventually at around 4ish, he arrived with 9 stewards in tow. He said he'd found them by gate c (some 2 miles away, at the bottom of that fecking hill) getting a transit out of a worse situation than us !!!
So, one of the stewards explained what we were going to do, I had to go into 1st, low revs, as soon as my wheels spun they'd rock me out of the hole. I literally held my breath, started the engine, the wheels spun then one, two, three, we were out of the bloody hole, I almost screamed with delight, but didn't dare in case we got stuck again. I had the narrowest of pathways to negotiate but somehow managed it, I could see the road, only 50 yards to go but then, bugger me we got stuck again, as my wheels started to spin I felt an almighty shove and we were off, only the ridge of the road to negotate and we were home free !!! As we got onto the road I grabbed pauls hand and we cheered like idiots !!!!! We gave the stewards the remains of our booze (almost 2 cases of beer) which they were delighted to receive !!!! Si got back in the van, dug out some dry clothes and took his seat in the cab with me, promising to chat all the way to Cardiff to keep ut both awake !!!!
We drove past some people hitch hiking (and god love them if the van had been mine i'd have stopped but I just couldn't risk wrecking the place, so I'm sorry to them, really I am) and headed off through shepton mallet towards Bristol. We saw the daylight arrive as we passed under the Clifton suspension bridge and the miles to Cardiff count down.
As we approached Cardiff we decided to stop at the services, grab an hour's kip, clean up the van and get it back for about 9am. We pulled in, pulled down the blinds and I tried to sleep in the drivers cab while Simon went back to Gill (who had by some miracle slept through the whole drama !!!!!), Paul went up to his bunk and we tried to sleep.
I woke everyone at around 7.30, we made use of the facilities (oh my god, a flushing, porcalein toilet, hot running water, oh my god) and we cleaned up the van. Who knew you could do so much with baby wipes eh? We vac'd the inside and it was looking right as new !!!
We dropped the van off, the guys wanted to know all about our adventure so we stopped and nattered to them for a while, discovering that one of them was the father of the Atomic's keyboard player, weird huh? before heading back on our final leg.
I drove but kept asking everyone to keep me awake !!! When we stopped at the services at Worcester, Si said he'd do the last bit, which I was grateful for and we again made use of the facilities (the novelty of a proper loo still hasn't worn off) along with many other festival goers on their way home. It was really funny to see peoples faces light up when they went into the loo's, doesn't happen much does it? Nah, well, you spend 4 days in a muddy field with portaloo's and long drops and you try it, trust me a toilet is a wonderful thing! lol
Anyway, once I'd dropped Si, Gill and Paul, I headed home. I chucked my 2 bags of muddy clothes in the utility, my boots over the back fence and unpacked my clean stuff ran a bath with shedloads of bubbles and then, dadadadadadaaaaaaaaaaaaaa had the best shower of my life !!!
It was heaven to shampoo my hair twice, luxuriate in the bubbles of the shower gel after 4 days of wet wipe washing (though surprisingly at the time it aint' that bad !!!) and feel a warm towel wrapped around me. I then put my hair in a towel, took my second pint of squash (oh to drink fluids unashamedly) into the other bathroom and soaked in the bubble bath for an hour !!!
Andy came home and we caught up it was simply wonderful to be with him again, my heart ached for him and it felt like someone had replaced my batteries. He'd been busy all week finishing the patio so we had a siesta and I simply couldn't wake up again !!! I'm ashamed to say I missed a leaving do, I simply forgot about with all the excitement of the night of no sleep (again, wow, twice in my life, both times in June 07). I awoke to a voicemail asking where I was so I texted Phil (who's do it was) and rang to apologise. He was more interested in me telling him about the chemical brothers !!!
So, to this morning, I'd booked the day off so I dragged my arse out of bed at about 10am and enjoyed yet another shower, before checking out my emails (I know, I'm supposed to be on holiday). I then set about the task of jetwashing my wellies, walking boots and muddy clothes in the garden which was great fun !!!
And then, I thought I'd better write all about it, after all, I'd been worrying if I'd make it, if I could cope with it and I did, I really, really did.
So what did I learn? Well, I learned that no matter how much of I princess I can be, within 15 minutes I can become a pig in muck !! I learned that I can walk for hours each day and be stood up for about 7 hours without my feet dropping off or me crying. I learned that I can do a 1 in 40 hill climb even after half a litre of vodka amareto. I learned that I can go on an adventure with people I don't know all that well and keep my patience when the going gets tough. I learned that scouts are hero's and should never get the piss taken out of them because THEY are the people you want to be at an extreemly muddy glastonbury with.I learned that I'm a lot stronger than I thought even in extreme conditionsBut most importantly I remembered just how much I love the man I married, strange how a little thing like 4 days in the mud wandering round on your own can make you remember the important things in life eh?

01 Jul 2007
Summer Sports Day Current mood: cheerful
So, back to work after the long muddy weekend but only for a day and a half (oh how next week will kill me!). Wednesday passed in such a blur I could barely keep up but managed to get through a significant amount of catching up and doing which is quite impressive.
Thursday was our summer party. Now, I know that probably prompts a sharp intake of breath from anyone who has seen the weather over the last 4 or so weeks but anyway it was booked. To top it all off, we needed fine weather, it was a summer sports day event with team races, human 5 a side table football, surf simulator and a bungee run. Not gonna happen if it pisses it down, fair to say?
Anyway, the forecast said fine and warm til 6pm, a little bit of rain between 6 - 9 and then rain after 9 so we had everything crossed !!!
Sarah had organised everything so well, Narrinder and I just had to help her on the day so we set off at luncthime, cars packed full of stuff and spent the afternoon setting up. 4o'clock arrived so flippin quickly, we were soon dishing out drinks vouchers and waiting for everyone to get ready for the team games. It was at this point that Sarah asked me to do all the shouting (now I know I have a big gob but there were 100 people!) so there I am, shouting to the crowd the rules of the games and who's in which team (ouch). Anyhow, we got the games underway, it was hilarious, we did an egg and spoon race where the winner was the first to have consumed the cadbury cream egg !!! A 4 legged race and a relay with mr bump hoppers !!! There were a few tumbles and scrapes but much hilarity !!
Next up was the human table football, wow I never knew people could get so competitive !!! I sent off on of my friends (James) after much persistant fouling against two of my team (which was met by cheers of "off, off, off") which all added to the fun and eventually we had a winner. They celebrated by tearing off around the field, one of them pulling a moonie which was incredibly funny. I laughed so much during the games I almost needed my inhaler (I settled for gulping down magners instead).
Amazingly, the rain only came as the last match was being played, can you believe that? All the hideous weather we've had and it stayed fine, well actually it was really nice, i got a bit burnt !!! I missed watching everyone on the bungee run though and on the surf simulator which was a shame (as I was reffing) but everyone had an amazing time.
We'd booked a BBQ which went down a storm, the catering was fab actually, even for veggie freaks like me! Then we had a band (keeper, one of the guys from work) who were fabulous. We'd also been lucky enough to have a load of pressie's donated by some of our suppliers so we awareded the winning teams their pressies then we raffled the rest off.
After the raffle a lot of people disappeared except the hardcore party crew. We stopped for the DJ and consumed vast quantities of alcohol (it's a party afterall). I remember bouncing around to some tunes, can't remember what and doing a considerable amount of gay dancing with on of my team (john one of my team leaders) which was the best fun! Bloody Dave though who was taking all the pics kept papping me so I dread to see them tomorrow!!
I had Sarah and Nin staying with me so we finally left at about 12ish I think, via birmingham dropping Jag off on the way. Andy had rang me to check I'd got my keys and I totally had (or so I thought) because I'd clipped them onto Nin's keys. However, when we got to the door I realised I'd only clipped my nectar card on, not my keys (good job he wasn't in work the next day eh?) so I had to phone him and he chucked them down for us.
After a nice lie in (until 8am!) we all got up and I made a round of bacon butties (I make a mean one even if I am a veggie) and sent the guys off on there way. Andy went off to Newcastle with the boys and the girls off to work.
Saturday night I played Auntie Ali babysitting for my goddaughter and her brother which was lovely, but I ended up having a late night cos Fi stayed out til 1.30 (which was cool but I was tired !!!) and then we chatted until 2.
So today I'm pooped! I've done the cleaning, my ironing, painted my toenails and done my blog and now I'm off to devour the sunday papers.
Have a great week all, much love Ali xxxx

13 Jul 2007
A taste of ..............
So, it's been over a week which isn't like me but anyhow, a chance to catch up tonight eh? (not only on Myspace, but also on tv, god how much bb can i catch up on in a few hours?)
Last weekend was lovely, we had a nice quiet one on Saturday (but god how much longer can this weather carry on? Then Sunday, we went to a "taste of birmingham" in Cannon Hill Park. We went last year and it was somewhat frustrating as it was packed, not the best organised etc. However, this time they'd got it well organised!!! Hey, believe it or not, the weather was gorge too!!! I got burned (which was quite comical at night when I played "guess what I've been wearing today" with Andy!!!) and we spent several hours wandering round in the sun, sampling gorge food and drinkies.
This week has been long, hard work and sometimes frustrating. We're delivering some workshops at work right now which is great fun, but as they're behavioural workshops, it's sometimes a real challenge to get people to buy into the concept. Anyhow, after an incredibly frustrating episode today (the likes of which I've never experienced in my entire working life) I kind of cracked on with delivering the rest of the session but on the way home I really had time to think about it. It's not something I can write about here but needless to say, it's played on my mind a lot. Oh well, I'll get over it I'm sure, I'm big enough and ugly enough to get through it unscathed.
Anyway, last night I made a purchase !!! A new shiny, pretty laptop. It's all vista'd up and it's great apart from the fact that I can't transfer my itunes library even though i'm following the instructions. ah well, tomorrow is another day I suppose !!!!! I'll get to grips with it I'm sure (any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!).
So, another quiet weekend, after this week we've got something on practically every weekend until mid september, how manic is that? I reckon I'll spend most of tomorrow sorting out the itunes thing and trying to load my picies onto this damn'd thing too (seem to have mucked that up - who'd have thought I worked in IT eh?)
Right, I'm off to play on the internet for a while !!! It's such a novelty having internet access at speed (it's like warp speed compared to the desktop we've got). Hopefully I'll be able to reflect on Sunday at my phenomenal achievements technology wise !!!!!
mwah, mwah xxxx


An impromptu soiree
So, last weekend (not the one just gone) I'm sat in the office here (at home) doing a load of work I hadn't got done in the week (busy, busy).
Andy's outside mowing the lawn and it's a glorious Saturday, I've done all my cleaning and life is good. So he pops his head in the door and says "shall we have a party?". I'll be honest, I almost fell off my chair !!! Anyway, as he'd suggested it I thought I'd go with the flow, texts were promptly sent and once we'd established some interest, we were into party planning mode. Now it's around 3.30 at this time, we had no food, the patio table and chairs were still in the garage (having not seen the light of day yet) and we had no plates, booze (you get the gist yeah?).
So, I'm dispatchd to Sainsbury's with a big long list; party food / parasol base / outdoor crockery / booze / wood burner / wood............................
2 and half hours later, warm, muggy and knackered, I arrived back home. Then I started on getting the food ready. Bear in mind people were coming for about 6.30, I had to wash all the plates and stuff, get everything done and then have a shower and get myself ready!
It was all worth it though, it was lovely to have everyone round, sat in the warmth of the evening nattering grazing and boozing. Andy almost set one of our friends on fire as we kinda packed the wood burner a bit too much (note to self, don't need a lot of wood in burner to make flames).
After dark, and much booze we got playful and the singstar competition began. Sarah (pussygalore) and I had several sing offs (I confess she did beat me on more than one occasion but I whoped her ass overall, comfortably). The kiddies had a ball, though bless, James played Robbie Williams about 50 times. In fact he came out into the garden to announce to us that he was a real "Robin Williams" fan and that he was really enjoying singing "let me enter you". Now at this point I realised that role model behaviour was needed so I promptly put my head down and laughed hysterically to myself, all you could see was my shoulders heaving with laughter, but I was silent! However, what I didn't realise was that everyone else was doing the same thing, apart from Sarah who very calmly and gently informed James that it was "let me entertain you", well he seemed happy enough and trundled back inside for another rendition.
It was at this point that everyone burst out laughing, knowing they didn't need to contain themselves any longer. Oh it hurts to hold your laughing in !!!
Next on the cards was skipping, see, for kiddies it's easy, for adults; not so easy. I was convinced I'd forgotten how to do it so imagine my surprise to find I can still skip, quite easily actually!!! The only problems I had were with the jiggly bits, you see 38FF's don't stay put when you skip, that can be a bit uncomfortable (to say the least). Anyhow, I can skip, that's the important thing.
So, a lovely night was had by all, and then, guess what, on Sunday it rained. Can you believe it, rain??? Blimy eh???
I'm so over this weather, when, oh when are we gonna get a break? Answers on a postcard please.........................................

23 Jul 2007
Dinner party and a Christening
Having swam back from the NDC (I jest, I've been lucky compared to so many people!) or at least aquaplaned, on Friday, I promptly set about doing my cleaning a day early. The reason? well, Dad and Pauline were coming down to stay on Saturday and it would be the first "dinner party" we'd had in the new house. I say dinner party, wel it was only Dad and Pauline but it would be the first time we used the dining room / new table etc so we wanted to make it a nice night.
I've gotten a bit freaked out over the floods really, I mean, one of our managers got stuck overnight in Herefordshire! And when you think about what people must be going through, gosh, it must be so damn difficult. What makes me angry is if it was any other country, a state of emergency would be declared and all the stops would be pulled out to support them. Not us, so what happens afterwards eh, how do we return to normal? I suppose we just get on with it but why do we make such a deal over everyone else and not look after our own in the same way?
Anyway, to Saturday; I was up at the crack of sparrow fart, out and about at Sainsbury's (food) and Asda (other crap - oh and my copy of the Deathly Hallows) to get all the stuff I needed and then spent the rest of the morning being a domestic goddess in the kitchen. I tell you, Nigella has nowt on me, really, she's rubbish. I was peeling, chopping, whipping (cream, behave) and generally getting everything ready so that I would literally only have to cook later on.
They arrived at around 2pmish and we spent the afternoon nattering while the golf was on in the background (Dad was like an excited puppy at the size of our TV, he's still not getting one!). It was really lovely to spend quality time with them. I'm so glad that I'm now friends with my dad, like real friends, not just because he's my dad. It's amazing that it took so long, I mean it's only in the last 2 years but I like it, I really do.
Anyway, Dad had brought some prosecco and champers so we tucked into the prosecco at around 5pm and I did dinner for about 7.30. It's weird how much you realise you get from your parents without even realising it. We were having a discussion about beans, he was saying how he'd had beans done the proper way the day before and just as I was about to say how I like my beans done, Dad pipes up "you have to do beans really slowly, for ages until they go all mushy and thick at the bottom". Andy just burst out laughing because that's exactly what I do and we always bicker over it but I had no idea I'd got it from Dad !!! It's strange because I hardly remember anything from my childhood really and yet when we chatted on Saturday so much came back, it was comforting really.
Anyhow, Dad & Pauline set off for David Austin on Sunday to buy roses and Andy and I got ready for Abigails christening. About an hour before we were going to go out, Sam (Abigails mum) rang me to ask me to do the video for her. Not a problem, I love all that sort of stuff. At the church I was sat near the front, happily videoing away, Abigail was being adorable, i got loads of her being unbelievably cute and the first couple of blessings (gosh baptism's are long ceremonys) and then lo and behold the disc ran out!!! Now the point of mentioning this is that Andy had the other discs at the back of the church !!! I felt so awful but Paul and Sam weren't really that mythered as Paul's uncle was videoing the service so at least I got some really cute stuff for them, you know "real" videoing !!!
We had the party at the Waterfront in Dosthill (close to where we live actually) and as close as it is, we'd never been before. What a lovely venue!!! It's on the side of the watersports lake and it's really lovely. Unfortunately the river Thame had burst it's banks overnight so the lower level (which houses the promenade / hot tubs / conveniance store) had flooded. However, the bit we were on was fine and we had a lovely buffet and sat outside all afternoon (yes the weather held off!!!). It was great to be with everyone and I took some piccies for the pussygalore myspace site (just got to get them of Fi's camera). Now that in itself was entertaining, god they go on at me and Sarah posing and that we're photogenic but blimy they were hard work !!! Anyway, I got some corkers so you'll have to check them out when they're posted.
At about 8.30ish Nat, Neil, Sarah & Dave said they were going downtown but I was tired and Andy was pissed so we gave it a miss and came home. Hilariously though, Sarah won the kareoke competition at Yates so she's now in the final on August 5th so i'm totally going to watch her !!!!!
Andy crashed out when we got back which was mildly amusing and we went to bed early so I could crack on with Harry Potter.
Well, that's me up to date, this week I've got lots of stuff on at work and then we're off to Cork on Friday for our anniversary. 12 years, can you believe it? There's no way it feels like 12 years, no way at all !!! The girls were laughing at me yesterday because I kept staring at Andy saying "god he's fit". I'm a lucky girl, I have a totally hot hubby and we're off to Cork to celebrate 12 amazing years together. Oh and bless him, he's booked for us to go to Valencia on my birthday as well.
Right, I'm off now, I'll keep you posted with our exploits in Cork. Take care all and lets hope this weather changes soon eh.

25 Jul 2007
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - Don't read if you don't want to know!!! Current mood: touched
I can't believe it's all over. I feel so deflated (like after my wedding!), it only took me 2 evenings and an hour on Saturday and I've done it, I've finished the last book.
I was crying within the first few pages as Hedwig met his maker as they tried to smuggle Harry to saftety and the tears just kept coming. It was heartbreaking to lose so many characters we've grown fond of over the years.
But my tears of sadness turned to tears of joy at the end and whilst the epilogue was somewhat twee, it finished it all off nicely.
I think Andy is relieved it's all over. He's heard nothing from me (now some would say that's a good thing but I think he got bored!) but "oh no" and "noooooooooooo" and "I can't believe it" whilst I've been reading.
So now it's all over, what do we do, there will be no more Harry Potter adventures it's like the end of a beautiful journey. And I, for one, am glad I took it.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

03 Aug 2007
12 years of wedded bliss!!!
And so we went to Cork to celebrate our 12th anniversary. It was with a somewhat heavy heart that we packed according to the weather forecase (which had predicted showers all weekend!!!) after all we're accustomed to it being scorchio wherever we are on our anniversary. Anyhow, off we went to the Emerald Isle. It was really pleasant and sunny when we arrived and once we'd unpacked we went down to the hotel bar to plan what we'd do that evening. We decided to grab a taxi into the city and go for some drinkies then find something to eat.
Our hotel was nice enough, though it would have been better still if we'd had a view ! Oh well!
So, off we went into town, we asked the cab driver to drop us where all the pubs were and the drinking began!!! after much gabbing and giggling we wandered round the streets to find somewhere "nice" for dinner. We stumbled across an Italian restaurant "Il Padrino" and as it was busy we felt it was a sign it would be a "nice" place!!
We had a lovely meal, really chilled and enjoyable, nice bottle of wine etc but we were both very tired, it'd been a loooooooooong week so after dinner we trundled back to the hotel to bed.
After a good nights sleep we went down for breakie having ordered a cab to take us to Kinsale for the day. All of our friends who'd been to Cork this year (seems to be a popular place!) had recommended it and it totally lived up to it's reputation. The weather was warm if a little overcast so we'd jumpered up (see the piccies) just in case. We got dropped off at St Charles Fort and the cab driver said if we wanted to we could walk into the town from there, it was a 3 mile coastal walk so we felt that would be quite nice.
Kinsale's a really pretty harbour town, at the mouth of the harbour is where the Lucitania sank (for those who remember anything of their history lessons!) and it's a really pretty walk around the coastal path into the harbour.
We sat on the wall of the harbour watching the cormorants (is that how you spell it) fishing which was very amusing for a short while before heading for a well earned drinkie. We'd been told the place was bursting at the seams with great restaurants and it's true. However, they don't open until 5pm so we struggled a bit to find somewhere "nice" for lunch!!! We settled on a brasserie (called Max's) and had a delicious lunch and bottle of wine.
By the time we came out of the restaurant it was pissing it down, eugh! So, we got on the bus back to Cork and set about finding out where we were going that evening. We'd booked tickets to see Ed Byrne and we wanted to find out where the venue was. After much confusion at the information point, we were guided to a place called the Old Oak, a lovely pub where we were informed that the venue was above the pub, aha, we knew where we were going then!
We got to the pub at about 8ish and had some drinkies downstairs. I noticed a guy at the bar and said to Andy "I'm sure that's him you know, Ed Byrne" to which he replied "don't be stupid", conversation over !!! lol.
The venue for the comedy gig was really small, only 150 people and bloody hot! any how, the warm up guy was really funny and the MC even funnier and Mr Byrne did not disappoint (and it WAS him we saw in the bar, apology accepted Mr Fincham). However, about halfway through his set, Andy said to me "need to get some water" and went over to the bar. When he came back he informed me that he'd fainted !!! I was mortified I hadn't gone with him, I felt so guilty, especially as afterwards he said two people just walked straight past him!!!!! Oh I was so angry, though I suppose they probably just thought he was drunk, which he wasn't bless him. It was hot, he was dehydrated and he just keeled, poor little honey !
Sunday, we walked along the river into the City. It was a day for mooching and even though the forecast had been shite, it was our anniversary and true to fashion, just as it has for the last 11 years, the sun shone brilliantly in the sky !!!!! We didn't do much really, browsed the shops, the sights, nice lunch etc then went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
It was a proper late one though, really weird actually, at 1am on a Sunday / Monday morning the whole of Cork seemed to still be out!!! We walked back to our hotel (I was very drunk!) and Andy had to pop into the Jury's hotel for a pee. I got talking to the security guard who informed me the Sunderland team were staying there and were all tucked up in their beds asleep (bless em).
When we got back to the hotel I had the most serious bout of hiccups, really loud and no amount of punching, pinching, surprising was stopping them! I was insistant we had another drink and poor Andy had a blazing hangover in the morning. He took forever to get ready and I threatened to start throwing things at him if he didn't shift his arse! As I was poised to throw a water bottle top at him (lightweight) he dived back onto what he thought was the bed, fell arse over tit over the end of the bed and landed on his head on the floor!!! Well, I swear to got I almost wet myself laughing, at least he was up now though!!!
It was a lovely, lovely weekend, really chilled, nice drinks, food, mooching, really lovely. And it's 12 years now, blimy eh, who'd have thought it would pass so quickly??? And that after all this time I'd still love him just as much (if not more)!!!

04 Aug 2007
Why, oh why do i mix my drinks?
So, Thursday night, well Thursday night explains just why the hell the blog I posted on Friday about Cork was soooooooooooooo pap!
Our boss had asked me if i'd organise a night out for our team (about 38 of us) so I booked a table at Jimmy Spices in Brum with drinkies either side. About 25 people signed up for the night out and we met in Walkabout having all got a touch of the dizzies in the afternoon at the excitement of a night out together. I started on Magners (always a good one!) then noticed the infamous Brothers Pear Cider, which I'd never managed to get to at Glastonbury, so, of course, I had one of those !!! We then went to the restaurant where I went onto white wine (with a champagne cocktail). Now the problem with Jimmy Spices (which I've written about before) is that i'm not a big fan of buffets, so as always, I ate very little!!!
Now,the problem with eating not much and drinking lots, well, I don't need to tell you that do I? I think I eat 5 cloves of roasted garlic, some pitta, a bit of nan bread and a nice little puddingy thing (oh and a bottle of wine!). After the meal we all had a shot of god knows what, and with that we were on our way to Reflex.
At the bar, i insisted I had to have a blow up guitar (remember the last Reflex outing, well this time I was having one of my own!) and the barman got proper pissed off when I took it back because it had a hole in it!!! Anyway, about 4 of us had them and we were totally rocking it up. I think i was quite amusing judging by the looks of bemusement or shock on the faces of our team, but hey, it's a night out and hey, hey, I was totally pissed by now!!!
I had only 1 drink of my own in there but tended to sip from everyone elses as the night wore on. Me and Karen danced our arses off and the evening was over all too soon. I got home at about 2.30am and realised I'd not got my company credit card anymore (I think it fell out of my pocket when i was in the loos, I had everything else apart from that and the receipt from the meal!) so I loudly informed Andy that I couldn't find it, needless to say, he was not even remotely amused. At about 9am I woke up (I'd already booked the day off!) and cancelled my card, I felt such a twat but it's all cancelled nd sorted now!
So, as I said I woke up at 9am, now what I didn't say is that I woke up almost in tears with the pain in my head!!!!! Oh man, how much did that hangover hurt????? I texted one of my mates at work who rang me abut I just couldn't hold it together to have a conversation !!!!
Andy kept popping in to see me (he also had the day off) and i just kept saying "seep, need to seep" so he just kept bringing me glasses of water and laughing at me!
I finally got up at about 1pm slunk downstairs in disgrace and remained quiet and humble for the rest of the day !!!!! Oh yeah, and i wrote my blog, apologies if it's a load of crap but hey, I made the effort.
Anyhow, today I'm much better. I've been to the twenty20 cricket final with the guys from work which was great fun (apart from the fact that Lancs lost!) and I'm enjoying a quiet night in (I came away early so Andy could pick me up!). Tomorrow we have a barbeque at friends who got married in Vegas tis week so I'm dying to catch up with them and hear all about it !!!!!
Right, i'm off, love y'all!!!

13 Aug 2007
And then the Diva sang !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, I'm playing catch up here, before we get to this weekend (just gone) let's catch up on the weekend before (after the bashing on the Thursday night).
Sunday we had a BBQ at our friends house. They'd snuck away to get married in Vegas (how dare they go without us). I'd informed Andy that I was ready to drink again (following Friday's monumental hangover) and so he agreed to drive (he had been caning it the night before on a stag do so it's only fair).
It was a gloriously hot day (dare I say too hot, no, no I won't say that!!!) so the girlies all sat around the huge table in the shade while the boys parked themselves on the lawn.
We had a lovely leisurely few hours basking in the sun, Sarah (aka PussyGalore Diva) was in the Kareoke final's in Yates, Tamworth in the evening and we thought she'd chickened out because we'd all planned to go then when we'd heard nothing we all decided not to bother. BIG MISTAKE, HUGE !!!! She had such a strop !!! It was hilarious, she's making her way down a 1.5ltr bottle of red, giving it out about what bad friends we are !!!
In between giggling at her strop and catching some rays, we agreed that myself, Fi, Nat and Nicky would go and watch her. Now, bear in mind that Nikki and Sarah had been hitting the booze and Fi & Nat were driving, I was somewhere in the middle, drinking but by no means drunk. I'm dreassed in a summer dress suitable for lounging around in someones garden (with my hair in plaits) but not at all what you'd wear to a pub !!! How much of a minger did I feel????????? Have a guess and multiply it by 10!!!!
Anyway, we trundled down town and set ourselves up at a table in Yates. Sarah, Nat and Nikki arrived, and Sarah immediately starts singing at the top of her (tuneless) voice. Now, I know that some of you will be thinking "how did she get into a kareoke final if she's tone deaf?" and you'd be right. What you have to remember about Sarah is that she's a total showman, she captivates everyone, she's just hilarious, really knows how to work a crowd.
Anyway, she's second up and she's singing "If I could turn back time". Up she gets, the crowd chatting away (as the do, nobody's listening) and she starts singing, well she silenced everyone immediately !!! Firstly because she's somewhat out of tune, secondly because she's dancing around like Arlene Phillips and thirdly because she's doing little asides between the lines such as "oh you know it baby". It has to be said she was the ONLY contestant able to catch the attention of the crowd and for that we were incredibly proud of her !!!
She got a rapturous applause at the end, deservedly, and achieved instant fame !!!
Her second song (against our advice) was "My Way" or with Sarah's brummie lilt "Moiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay". Now this is probably Sarah's worst song, but she loves it. She'd been keeping her alcohol levels well and truly topped up so she was swinging it big time by the time she took to the stage. If we thought she'd improvised in her first song, we had no clue of what was to come with this one !!! Her asides would have made any performer proud, culminating with the line "I spat it out........ oh yes I never swallow". At which point we all slunk into our chairs with our sunglasses on (for all of about 5 seconds). By the end of the song, we were all swaying with our hands in the air singing along with her. By gum (to use a northern phrase) she did us proud. She got a standing ovation and her place in history (well the history of Tamworth maybe) was set.
Fi and I left shortly afterwards (as did Nat) leaving just Sarah and Nikki (lets face it without booze it's not quite as fun when people are shouting loudly and tunelessly at you! So we didn't see the result.
She was pipped to the post by some young stage school "jazzy hands" girlie who had the voice of an angel but wasn't a patch on our performer !!!
I believe (well, Sarah's told me) that when she and Nikki went on to Chicago Rock, she was recognised by several people. I'm looking forward to our next night out in town, I'm sure her popularity will have gained by then, should be fun to see how famous she is !!!!!
Much love my diva babes !!! xxxxx

20 Aug 2007
Never, EVER look under a kilt!!!!!!
We've been to Glasgow this weekend for our friends wedding. When I say we went to the wedding, we were invited to the evening do (see pics in my pictures) but about 12 of us went up for a jolly.
Some flew, some drove up but we all congregated in the bar at varying points throughout the afternoon. It's always lovely when we're all together but when we're away, it's even better. Probably because those who have children have left them at home, they've nothing to worry about other than themselves and having a great time. It's little wonder then that we practically drank the bar dry in the afternoon !!!
Having been somewhat shocked at the hotel bar prices (I mean, it was meant to be a 4 star hotel but in the words of the infamous Jim Royal "4 star my arse") we managed to do quite well really, my meal was late so we got a free round, they forgot to charge us for another, I got a shard of glass in my wine so another........ made the drinks half price in the end !!!
We all agreed that a little break was in order before the evening do and so retired to our rooms for a "rest" lol. We reconvened in what was becoming "our bar" and eventually made our way down to the function room. Luckily, we managed to get a table together, near the bar (obviously) and spent the night giggling, nattering, ripping it out of each other and taking about a million pics (ok, maybe a slight exageration) but the PussyGalore girls were on form, practicing our poses and generally giving it large for the camera.
I have to admit I'm getting somewhat old though, I can feel the amount of dancing I did in my hips (oh me age, me age) and it takes me two days to recover now but god we had a giggle. Andy, as usual was winding everyone up, generally being a wind up merchant / pain in the arse but we all love him for it!!!
The first one to fall (when I say fall, I don't mean literally, I mean go to bed!!! lol) was Steve, aka no.1, or he WAS no.1, I think the boys will contend that after such a poor showing on Friday when they're out !!!
I think we lasted until around 2.30am, we were all sat in the residents bar at about 2am, enjoying a glass of Baileys (Andy was way in touch with his feminine side, sat with Me, Fi & Nat guessing films from classic lines, he got Pretty Woman all by himself!!!).
It was at this point that Dave, one of our very bst friends, came over. He was best man, all suited and booted (well, it was Scotland, he was in a kilt), now before we go on, please remember, I'd consumed throughout the course of the day and night, by my reckoning, about 3 bottles of wine (oh god, oh god, that's just wrong). As Dave was stood there, I said "whatcha got under your kilt", he giggled, I lifted it and OH MY GOD, he had NOTHING ON !!!!!!! I was mortified, I saw a part of him only Sarah (his wife) should ever see. now, I know I'm broad (open) minded but I was horrified. The others were literally in hysterics, more at me than the situation, my response must've been pure gold !!!
Dave just kept giggling at me saying "what did you expect Al", I must've been puce, I was totally and utterly mortified. Anyway, my embarrasment was the entertainment for the others, so you know me, I'll always take one for the team !!!
We crashed out totally but I slept like crap. I was worried (for no particular reason) about missing my alarm (so flamin stupid) so I was knackered the next morning. We hauled our asses up to breakfast at about quarter to 10, sat with Steve & Fi and genrally mused over the night before. Sarah and Dave came into the restaurant shortly after us and I got ribbed mercilessley. As the one who is usually least embarrased, I was totaly rinsed, totally !!!
Anyhow, we dawdled until it wa time to go to the airport and then it was just the usual pain of travelling home but once we were back we were cabbaged !!!! I slepts like a log last night, TOTALLY !!!
Anyhow, a fantastic weekend for all of us, though my one key learning from the whole thing would be that no matter how well you think you know someone, NEVER EVER LOOK UNDER THEIR KILT !!!!
Anyway, busy couple of weeks coming up, Leeds and night out in Brum this weekend, followed by 3 days in Angelesy for mum's 60th, followed by a weekend in Valencia (yup, Judith Charmers is on her jollies again !!!). So, lots to keep you informed of, so, for now my dear friends, tatty bye, xxxxx

26 Aug 2007
Wild in Leeds and the return of "slogger" Fincham
I love bank holidays and I love sun. Put the two together and you have one shiny happy Ali !!!
I went to Leeds yesterday to see my very best friend, Vicky. We've not had a night out together for months so it was loooooooooong overdue !!!!! The journey up was pretty shite, traffic on the M1 delayed me an hour but I got to Vicky's at about 2.30 and after a quick change we headed into Leeds for a spot of shopping, coffee, cake, more shopping and some vino!
We started with shoe shopping (lets face it a girl can never have enough shoes, I mean; 60 pairs isn't that many is it really?? So, we went to Aldo, a shop I adore, we don't have one in Brum (criminal !!!) where I was intent on buying some silver, yeah silver shoes. I spotted a pair immediately and asked to try them on. Now, I'll try to describe them but tomorrow I'll take a pic and post it (yes, they are THAT sexy). They're platform wedges, all silver, the platform at the front is at least 1 inch increasing to about 4 inches at the back. So, sexy shoes purchased and a matching handbag purse thing (of course) we did a smidgen more shopping before heading for a glass of wine. It was so lovely to sit and just chat with Vicky, she's one of my best best best friends and it was sooooooooooooo relaxing just passing the time of day! We agreed it would be wise to eat dinner before going on the lash so went for some pasta at Zizis. By the time we got back to Vicky's it was about quarter to 8 so I took advantage of her new power shower (! awesome !) did my hair and we were off out. I must admit for the first 15 minutes or so I was a bit tottery on my new shoes but the longer I was on my feet the more stable I became !!!!!
We went to a bar called "The Hub" in Chapel Allerton first of all, enjoyed some cocktails and wine before heading into Leeds to go to a cocktail bar called Mojo. Now apparently this place has become famous for the fact that the saviour of radio 1, Chris Moyles used to frequent the place. I have to say, it was pretty amazing, great cocktails, fantastic music and an all round top atmosphere. We were meant to meet up with another friend (which would, I'm sure, have been great fun) but they couldn't make it in the end (big shame!). Anyway, as it was we got chatting to a few girls, had a total giggle, danced our asses off and drank waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many long island ice teas.
At about 2.30 Vicky looked at me and said "I can't drink anymore, I need chips and bed" which I took as our queue to leave, lol !!! We got her some chips, headed home in a taxi and stood for some bizare reason outside her house finishing off her chips (we had to keep waving at the security light so it came on so we could see what we were doing !). Vicky informed me she'd have a hangover the next day and apologised in advance (bless her).
I was woken up at 5.30am by the site of a pussy (cat) peering into my eyes at close range. Muscat, vicky's puddy had found her way into my room and wanted some fuss (at 5.30am, for gods sake !!). Anyway, I mooched at her for all of 30 seconds before nodding back off with a cat curled up around my feet.
The drive home was painless, in fact I made it home in record time !!! 1 hour 40, how cool is that!!!
Today, well usually on a bank holiday we go drinking in brum, it's a big sesh. But today we went on a family's picnic at Kingsbury water park. There was the Short family, the Smiths, the Davies and ourselves, so about 14 in all. Gloriously sunny, we unpacked blankets, chairs, picnics and sat luxuriating in the sun. It's the first time we've joined everyone (they usually do this on bank holidays) and it has to be said, it's so much more fun than boozing !!! I mean the boys had a few beers but most of the time they were running round with a ball of some sorts with the kiddies!
It's customary for a rounders challenge to take place, so I duly stepped up to begin my practising. It's the first time i've played rounders since I lost most of the sight in my left eye (I played for school for years, was pretty good too) so I asked to practice to see if I could focus on the ball to be able to hit it. Dave steped up and bowled to me, I hit it flying but was convinced it was luck. He bowled again and I belted it again, only this time it managed to hit Max (aged 4) slap in the legs, first set of adult induced kiddie tears!!!
So, we lined up, girls versus boys, up i stepped, slogged it and got my first rounder (boys pissed off / girls 1). Then, Stef steps up with William (aged 4) stood next to her, she missed and bonked William on the head (second lot of adult induced kiddie tears). She sent William off to his dad who was bowling then stepped up again, she managed to slog the ball directly at William, 3rd lot of adult induced kiddie tears (and we're not finished!).
We managed to get 13 rounders before we were all out, I scored 5 which I was amazed at (I had to run barefoot ala zola bud as my fit flops were not adequate rounders footware - I'll know to pack the trainers next time).
So it was the boys turn, I bowled (I was always a mean bowler) and they started moaning straight away that it was "too hard, too fast" but lets face it they were just pissed off we were not getting pummelled by them!!!
Inevitably, they beat us so we had a break before regrouping in family teams. It was the Finchams and Davis versus the Shorts and the Smiths. We were batting first and managed to clock up 23 (can't remember how many I scored but I was doing well until I was stumped at 4th base - I can't run as fast as I think I can!).
Unfortunately though, we were no match for the Shorts and Smiths, our fielding was crap with Andy dropping catches (booo) and Stef taking George (aged 2) out at the knees running to stump 4th base (see, more adult induced kiddie tears).
After rounders, me, Fi and Sarah sat in our deckchairs, wrapped in rugs with a lovely cup of coffee watching the boys and the kids play cricket. However, as it was getting late (about 6pm) and they'd all been up past midnight (the kids!!) the night before at Ste & Fi's BBQ, there was a lot of poor sportsmanship with kiddies crying if they were out!!!! Have to say though, we three just sat laughing at them, not exactly role model eh?
We packed up at about 7.15 as the park closes at 7.30 and so now we're home, tired, sunblushed and happy.
Awesome bank holiday, a wild night out and a lovely day with my close, wonderful friends, how much better can it be eh??
So, Tuesday i'm off to Anglesey for 3 days as it's Mum's 60th on Wednesday. It'll be so nice to see everyone, lots to do, lots to drink, lots of fun to be had, so I'll keep you posted !!!!
Have a great week, big kisses xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


07 Sep 2007
Viva Valencia !
Amazingly, no frills really means no frills with Ryan Air !!!!!
My gorgy husband had booked a surprise trip to Valencia for my birthday, and what he'd saved on flights he'd splurged on the hotel !!!
We arrived at East Midlands and got somewhat screwed over on luggage (we totally should know better!) but once we were on the plane (via a half mile walk to the aircraft, god no such luxuries as buses with Ryan Air) we were off. I don't know what it is about flying but the minute I take off I'm snoozy, I dread going to Puerto Banus cos the girls are sooooooooooo gonna get a pic of me looking sleepy, gob open etc!
Anyhow, we arrived at Valencia and hopped on the metro as our hotel was right by a station (luck or what). We were staying at the Westin and it didn't disappoint at all, it was gorge !!!!! We had a little vino blanco whilst we waited for our room to be ready in the courtyard and then we were shown to our room, talk about gorge ! It was huge, a massive terrace, sun loungers, dressing area, wet room, bathroom oh my it was lovely.
We quickly changed and hopped into a taxi heading for the centro historico, we planned to mooch around until we found a nice place for a late lunch. However, we hadn't planned on everything being pretty much shut on a Snday afternoon. Anyway, we found a nice little bar, had a sandwich, a littel too much vino blanco and then headed back to the hotel. We had no idea we'd be so tired so we thought we'd try the hotel restaurant. As we were getting ready though, well to be precise, as Andy was in the shower, I realised the bathroom was getting flooded quite badly in fact it was spreading into the dressing room !!! Argh, in a total panic, I rang the concierge and within seconds we had people rushing round sorting it out. Can you believe it, we had them moving room for us within about 5 mins, nothing was too much trouble, they moved our room reservation and we were whisked off to another room!!! When we arrived in the new room, a birthday cake was waiting for me, baked alaska (yuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmy). So, all dressed and ready to go, we headed back down to the courtyard (more vino!) before having the most delish dinner but we were pooped, up at 6am is not good!!! When we got back to the room, Andy was determined to enjoy the cake (and I don't mean eating it!). He didn't believe me when I said the meringue would set !!!! But it did, though it makes an excellent exfoliator, trust me.
Monday was my birthday, we'd ordered breakkie in bed which was a fab way to start the day, and then headed off to the Oceonagraphic centre, which is part of the new City of Artes and Sciences. Basically, it's a marine wildlife education centre, with Dolphins, Beluga Whales, Aquarium tunnels etc. Oh it was totally wonderful, totally. I was in my element, what a great way to spend my birthday.
Early afternoon, we headed down to the beachside, and had a couple of drinks at the Neptune hotel, a swanky 5 star with a lovely bar.
In the evening we headed to the Barrio Del Carmen which is the nightlife area and began enjoying the vino blanco again!!! It's so damn cheap out there, a glass of wine is only £1.50, how amazing is that ????? Shortly after midnight we headed back to the hotel, our intention was to have an early start so we didn't want to ruin our last day (hehehe, not that we were somehwat tipsy or anything!).
On our last day we walked through the Garden del Turo, which is the old riverbed, the river has been redirected. It's all been converted into a public park and it's glorious. We walked for about 4 km before hopping out and going to the Museum of Modern Art. I loved it but andy was a bit disappointed, the exhibits are changed regularly and none of the current ones did it for him.
We had a lovely lunch sharing yet another bottle of vino blanco then walked through the city to see the sights we'd not yet seen. Both of us had weary feet by this stage (or as we kept saying; our feet were falling off!!) and we had to purchase another case to avoid getting charged again on the way home.
After hours and miles (or so it semed) with a case in our hands, we headed back, had a couple of vino blancos in the courtyard and then a little siesta before our last night out.
We hit the Barrio again and found some new lovely bars as well as revisiting the good ones from the previous night. We were sloshed !!! Sloshed, happy and putting the world to rights, giggling and wandering round the streets of valencia loved up.
It was time to come home all too quickly and we had the pleasure of Ryan Air again before sorting all the washing out on the way home !!!
I had the most amazing birthday, and opened up my cards and pressie's when i got home, Vicky had bought me a gorgy vest top which says "What would Jenna do?", the best pressie ever!!!
Now, i'm looking forward to Joseph which is this weekend, my case is packed, i'm sat watching one of my fave girlie films of the 80's "Girls just want to have fun" and i'm really looking forward to spending a couple of days with Mummy & JoJo.
So, I'll try and update on Sunday but if not I'll fillyou in early on in the week.
Thanks for my birthday messages gorgy people, sending you much love, xxxxx
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My darling mummy comes of age !!!
So, after a great weekend, I hauled ass to Anglesey to spend the 29th with Mummy and the family.
I arrived at about 11am which was cool, the drive wasn't too bad (for a change!) and was greeted by Mum & Alex. It was soooooooooooooooo cool to see them both, I miss Alex (who looks like mini me - Andy swears she's mine really as I'm always calling her my baby !!!) so much I really do.
Anyhow, Jane (my cousin) brought her two girls down (Lauren 7, & Leah 18 months) which was enormous fun !!! I'm such a good aunt (to the kids anyway, Jane says i'm a nightmare ! So we had climbing, singing, lots of noise etc!!
We had a really chilled day, watched two films in the evening and crashed early !!! It's all the sea air you know.
So, on to the big day; Mum was surrounded by pressies and cards, bloomin hundreds of them ! It was hilarious, she had a card from a Joanne (not my sister) who she just didn't recognise, then one from a barbara and ann, again, not a clue. We were hysterical with laughter, she was totally unaware of these 3 people, it took about 9 hours for her to remember who they were !!!
She had some lovely gifts, Auntie Gail (her sister) bought her Diorissimo (mummy perfume!), she had lovely things from work and was over the moon with the print Andy and I had brought back from Dubai.
Then came the big surprise; I gave her the envelope and she started reading the presentation from Jo and I, when she realised she was going to London, first class, staying at the Sheraton Park Lane, Lunch t Maze, then; turning the page (with CD in the player) she realised SHE'S GOING TO SEE JOSEPH !!! she burst into tears, she was completely overwhelmed !!! Bless her, then she read that she's got breakfast at the Wolseley and a Champagne Flight on the Eye, well she was in bits, which set us all off.
We had the most wonderful day, really chilled, drank champagne on the terrace. Mid afternoon, mum's auntie Jean & Uncle John arrived with her cousin who's over visiting from Canada. She was so pleasantly surprised, it was lovely.
We went to a curry house for dinner, which was amusing as Leah decided she was having all the popadoms, hysterically she kept trying to wear them as hats !!! It didn't take long for me and Mum to crash once we were back; we'd had champagne, food, good company and were shattered !!!
So, all too soon it was time to return home, so I loved and left them all to it. After all, I had my birthday trip to Valencia to look forward to!!!

10 Sep 2007
Eeeeeeeeeeh London !
After all our planning and scheming the time had arrived to whisk mummy away to London for her birthday treat.
I joined Jojo and Mum on the train, Mum had already consumed about a gallon of tea (for a change, NOT) and we were three very excited bunnies as we began our trip together. We had such a giggle on the way down, for some reason we got onto discussing the house we grew up in and how much we played in the entrance hall (which I remembered to be huge, it really wasn't !!!) and how we have a song to relate to pretty much anything we did as kiddies (Jojo and I were very theatrical children!). Jo was recounting how vivid our imaginations were and how much we played (we didn't really do TV) and how we used to pretend our wardrobe was a photo booth (like I say, vivid). I got the giggles so much tears were streaming down my cheeks and mum got the hiccups from laughing so badly !!!
We arrived at Euston and got the worlds best cab driver who entertained us all the way to the hotel. Having dropped the bags off we dived back in a cab to take Mum round Covent Garden. We mooched around the market, the shops and then we watched some of the street entertainers, Mum hadn't seen these before so she was totally enamoured and it was like watching a child. I have to point out at this stage that whilst Mum's just turned 60, she doesn't act or look her age, she barely looks 50 and she acts like Jojo and me, she's so much fun to be around, adorable.
We'd booked lunch for 2.30 at Gordon Ramseys Maze restaurant so we got there a bit early and had a drinkie in the bar. Mum sat in awe, just so excited to be there !!! The staff were amazing, not at all intimidating (which some nicer restaurants can be and that pisses me off big time!) and really helpful with what could be converted to "veggie" for Jojo and I. Maze works on a kind of tapas style where you choose between 4-6 plates, but my god it was unlike any tapas i've had before (and I love tapas). Having chosen the wine, the food etc, it began to arrive. It was exquisite, totally wonderful and beautifully presented (of course). Hilariously, when mum's risotto arrived (pea and broadbean), she looked at me and said "I don't remember ordering this" with this look of disbelief that she'd been given something she hadn't ordered. Jo stated "it's your risotto" and she whispered to me "mine doesn't look like this", once the waiter had gone, jo pointed out that Mum isn't a michelin starred chef, so no, her risotto wouldn't look like that. We had to supress our giggles again and crack on with the business of enjoying the food !!! Mum insisted in taking pics of all the meals (with the exception of my pudding which she said looked just like a blob of ice cream in a dish!!!).
Our bellies full (but not bloated!) we headed back to the hotel to check in and have a little chill before the evening. It was bloomin hot in London and we were boiling by the time we left the room, arriving at the theatre we realised we were in for a hot night, gosh it was warm !!!!! Anyway, we ordered interval drinkies, got mum a programme and settled down to watch Lee Mead in Joseph. My god he didn't disappoint, at the interval Mum came running up the stairs to us going "he's brilliant, he's brilliant" and she was right, he was outstanding, the whole production is just awesome. At the end of the show, we hurried out of the side door and I managed to hail a cab (weirdly I beat everyone to it!) and we set off back to the hotel. Mum kept asking the driver to turn his music up and we nattered all the way back about how brilliant the night had been. As we drank wine and champagne in our room, fireworks kicked off outside and we almost fooled mum into believing we'd organised them too !!!! It was in fact the last night of the proms in Hyde park but it was the perfect end to the perfect day.
The next morning we packed up and walked down to the Wolseley for breakfast. We had a scrumptious breakkie which was spoiled only by the waiter spilling milk over jojo (and I don't mean in a rude way!). We'd planned to take mum on the open top bus tour (as she'd never seent he sights of London !) so Jojo and Mum dashed back to the hotel while I settled the bill and got our tickets for the bus. We stayed on the bus until the Aquarium where we got off for the London Eye. We'd booked a champagne flight and boy when I saw the queues I was glad !!!!! I reckon you'd be there for 3 hours normally, it's madness. Having been ushered into a pod with about 8 other people, we enjoyed the views and our champagne and our host answered all our questions and took piccies. It was lovely to see mum's face as we pointed out the sights, she was like an excited child, loving every second or it, when I pointed out the Gherkin, she asked "why would anyone call a building a gherkin" which is fair play I suppose!
We got back on the bus and I gave mum her ear plugs to put on (we'd had a guide on the previous one). She plugged herself in and asked me loudly (very loudly) "have you got the radio on?" which made everyone burst out laughing !!!! As we approached Tower Bridge, she shouted loudly to Jojo and I "look, there's the courgette again", at which point I lost the plot, I was hysterical with laughter (as was she when she realised!). We got off the bus at Buckingham palace and wandered over towards Green Park, it was lovely to see everyone enjoying the sights, why people in this country would want to abolish our monarchy I will never know!!!
Having meandered through Green Park, we went to Citrus restaurant at our hotel for a light lunch and a glass of wine. We sat chatting about the weekend and Mum said she couldn't believe that we'd done it for her, it had been so very, very special, how would anything ever top it? All too soon it was time to head back to the station and board our train, we sat, sleepy, chilled and happy in our first class seats, reflecting on our time together. It seems such a shame that we so rarely get quality time (the three of us) together and I think we all wish we did it more often. I've not giggled so much in ages and that has to be good for the soul.
Andy picked me up at Tamworth where I hugged and kissed Jojo and Mum goodbye, leaving them on the train to Manchester Picadilly. I was exhausted and it wasn't long before I crashed out at home!!
I have had possibly one of the best weekends of my life, with two of the most precious people. I have opened the eyes of someone so important to me to let them see our beautiful capital city and it really was like seeing it through the eyes of a child, it was an amazing, heartwarming, oh so wonderful experience.
So, a busy week this week and Dad's 60th party on Saturday. Have a good one people, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

17 Sep 2007
Why are some people just TW*TS (and Dad’s party !!!) Current mood: annoyed
As we headed up the M1 on saturday for Dad's 60th, Andy and I had the inevitable discussion "how are we going to be with Jon". Ok, lets give this a bit of context; Jon is Jojo's (my sister) boyfriend/ significant other. Regular readers will know that I have real issues with him, the way he's treated her etc but, and this is a BIG BUT (not mine, that's a given) she has made her choice to be with him and so she knows all that comes with that choice. It really is a "you've made your bed" kinda situation.
Anyway, I said and wholeheartedly meant that I wasn't going to be any different to him than anyone else, as far as I'm concerned, I had no beef with the guy (let's play clean slate!). Anyway, we arrived at Pontefract at around 2.30, checked into the hotel and wandered over to the Xcape centre to have a mooch and grab some lunch. Jojo and Jon arrived and popped in to say hello, saying they'd meet us in Lloyds bar once we'd finished lunch.
We walked round and were delighted to see Auntie Madge, Uncle Arthur, my cousin Sue et al. A whole brigade of gingers !!! (that's the side of the family it comes from!). It was soooooooooooo lovely to see them all, really really it was and we sat nattering over a drink. We agreed to meet in reception at 6 and I ordered taxis to take us to Dads.
It started out as such a lovely, lovely night. Dad was truly delighted with the pressie we'd organised (2 nights at the old course hotel in St Andrews with golf, dinner etc). Andy and I chatted with Dad's friends who we hadn't seen for years, it was all so lovely.
As the night drew on, I noticed Jon was drunk. Now I don't mean, a bit tipsy, i mean sat on the side of the chair and when he got to stand up, almost bringing down Pauline's bookcase drunk. I tried to ignore it, I'd promised Andy I wouldn't say, do, get involved in anything. Anyhow, I noticed Jojo kept topping up his huge glass of wine, he'd probably drunk about 2 bottles and she kept on filling it up. When i mentioned to her that he was a bit drunk and shouldnt she go easy, she said "oh it keeps him quiet" yeah? maybe she's reflecting on that today, but I think not.
Anyhow, a group of us were sat in the lounge discussing shoes (I had my new silver ones on the ones Andy calls porny shoes, now when he says it, it's funny. When jon leers it, it's not). Jess (12), Zoe (14), Sue, me, Auntie Madge, Jo and Jess's grandma. Anyway, Jon sticks his foot out and drunkenly informs Jess's grandma that "this is a shoe, a really comfy shoe". At this point, Sue, Zoe, Jess and I start talking about something else.
And then it happened, I could hear "don't you f*cking look at me, don't YOU f*cking look at me", followed by my sister in a pathetic pleading voice "please jon, don't". Sue just looked at me and said "go out, don't get involved, go and see who's outside, it'll blow over". So I did, I walked out and went to sit in the garage (classy family !) with Andy and several others.
5 minutes later my Dad came out and I'll forever be upset at the fact when he said "Ali, I need your help" I could tell that he was incredibly angry over something and very, very upset. I knew what this would be about but as I got outside he said "I need you to sort Jo out I need you to make sure she's ok". I got into the hallway and Jo was in tears. As I went to hug her (she had tears streaming down her face) she just stiffened and said, "just get off me, I want a taxi". At that moment something inside me slapped me about the face and it was a real wake up call.
My sister is not a victim, she chooses to live with a guy who is a total Tw*t and not only does she choose to live with him but she knows the consequences of her own actions. Whether that's plying him with enough alcohol to knock out an elephant or picking him up at two o'clock in the morning from a random roundabout in the middle of nowhere, she chooses it.
I looked at my Dad and my heart almost broke, he's there, looking at Jo not quite knowing what to say to his little girl, just wanting her to be ok and I'm looking at her and I'm sooooooooooooooooo bloody angry that she's made this happen. I rang a taxi and in my best GCSE drama style, with a smile on my face carried on as if nothing had happened. Dad cajoled Jon outside away from anyone so he couldn't do anymore damage and Jojo stood outside laughing with them. I had to stay away so I went to check Pauline was ok. She was visibly upset but doing a bloody good job of not giving into it. She said that Jo is a grown up and she knows exactly what she's doing and she wished my dad would stop mollycoddling her, she has a point.
I went back into the garage with Sue and we sat with our prosecco and olives, and made a determined effort to crack on with the party!!! About 10 minutes later, we see Jo pushing Jon to the taxi (not even saying goodbye to anyone) and I breathed a sigh of relief that they'd gone.
After dad had asked me for the fourth time if I thought she'd be ok, I said "look dad, she's 34, she knows EXACTLY what's she's involved with and according to her, she's happy. She knew what would happen if she plied him with wine and yet she still did. Sorry dad but she has to start to take responsibility for her own actions. Forget about it and enjoy the rest of the night", so we did. We had a proper giggle, it was lovely to be with our family and at midnight we got into taxis and back to the hotel.
The next day Andy asked if I was going to speak to Jo about it. I decided it was probably better not to because I was angry and didn't want to fight with her. Whatever happens she's my sister and I love her to pieces but I knew if we discussed it I'd get angry.
Anyhow, she texted me (she needed to handover my birthday pressie, an olive tree, ironic???) and then came up to our room while Andy was in the shower. She said she'd not slept because he'd snored all night. All I could think of to say was "well you wouldn't then would you?". She asked for a hug and I gave her one but I couldn't talk, I didn't want a fight.
Anyway, as it happened we didn't have to see him, they'd gone by the time we checked out, she'd left the olive tree in reception.
At Dads (he'd insisted we all went for brekkie bless him, surprisingly, Jo and Jon had decided to head off home) we sat in the sun enjoying our breakfast (yummy egg buttie!) and yet again he said "do you think she'll be alright" to which both Pauline and I reminded him she's a grown up and she knows exactly what she's doing, for gods sake, she's been with him 10 years!
Anyhow, the discussion moved on, he'd had an amazing birthday, and he'd loved having all the family together.
As Andy and I drove home, we discussed what'd happened. Andy had missed most of it, I'd kept him out of the way, he'd have brooded and possibly said something so it was wise he was out of the way. I said to him, there'd been no mention of an apology from Jo, it was all about was she alright or not and I was incredibly angry that she hadn't even seen fit to apologise for what'd happened.
I'm devastated that my little sister could be so damn selfish and I'm angry at myself for being angry with her. I don't want to feel this way but I feel like a bit of me has closed off towards her. She knew exactly what would happen if she kept giving him wine, but she didn't stop. When it all kicked off she wanted everyone else to sort it out but she pushed me away (ok, i know i'm being oversensitive about that one). But the next day, no apology, no consideration for Dad or Pauline??? Pauline had worked her ass off to make such an amazing party go well and it's just so damn disrespectful and bottom line is, both Mum and Dad brought us up better than that. So, as you can see, I'm still angry and there's a huge part of me today that thinks she deserves to be with him. I'm not going to waste anymore time or effort on worrying about her when she quite clearly has made choices she's happy with.
I texted Jo later on, firstly to celebrate City's win over Villa (yeeeeeeees) and secondly to say that at some point we sould talk about what happened but not yet. Unsurprisingly, I haven't heard anything back.
Oh god I sound like such a bitch don't I, my blog is usually so much more upbeat than this but I'm just still so angry today. Andy was proper proud I didn't get involved, but I feel like I've just supressed all this anger inside me. I'm sure, given time it'll disappear.
Anyway, moving on, it's a nice normal week this week and I'm ramping up ready for the girly trip to Puerto Banus on the 27th. So, a lot to look forward to and I'm sure that I'm being over sensitive about the weekend's events but after mum's birthday had gone so well, I just wanted the same for dad. Shame eh?
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

23 Sep 2007
A weekend with nothing to do??? Can this be true??
Well, almost !!!! When I say nothing to do, I mean compared to the last million weekends (at least that's what it feels like).
So, a busy week at work this week. I've been a bit of a swot though (in a good way); all my year end reviews are completed, I've prepped for mine and I'm all up to date. It's a nice feeling, it's like when I'm going into meetings I feel prepared and not rushed. Has to be said though, much of that is due to the two phenomenal team leaders in the BA team !!!!!!
Ok, so, progress update; Monday, I emailed Mum my blog. I wanted her to know what had happened, after a couple of ping pongs (obviously she was defending Jo, after all Jo's a victim here !!!!! argh) we had a good chat in the evening. However, I'd had to come home from work at about 2pm with a blinding migrane coming down. I knew it was down to the stress of the weekend, it's as if by staying out of it all and not getting involved or venting, i'd supressed all the anger and emotion and my god my head hurt. I went to bed, slept it off and felt bloody numb and hungover afterwards (I hate that post migrane feeling!).
Anyhow, as the week progressed I calmed down (a little bit!). Thursday was our last planning night for Nat's hen do (just think, this time next week we'll be at the airport ready to come home !!!). I took the stuff I'd done to show the girls and they were really pleased. It's looking like it's going to be an amazing 4 days, really amazing and I'm very excited (to put it mildly).
We did the quiz but only came 2nd (now, we blame Nat for this, she was the only thing new; god it was hard work, every time we wanted to discuss the hen do we had to send her out for a fag!).
We also chatted seriously about the potential rift between Debbie and Sam. It all stems from Sam's hen do in Liverpool. Debbie wanted to go but Emma (who now ISN'T going to Puerto Banus !) doesn't get on with Debbie and Nat didn't want to be the bearer of that news so Sam said it would be ok to say that as she didn't know her, she didn't want any strangers going. Now, this has festered for some time and Debbie has (I believe, though this information is only 2nd hand) said she'll make Sam feel uncomfortable. Now, this is out of order if it's gonna happen but I have a feeling it's all gonna be ok. That's because after we talked on Thursday, Nat said she'd speak to Debbie and come clean about it all, after all Sam's become public enemy for no reason !!! So, I reckon we'll be a happy bunch of campers when we go to the airport on Thursday !
Friday night I did my last bits of prep for the hen do, updating PussyGalore's myspace, putting all the stuff in my case (I swear to god, my case is going to be about 6 kilos lighter on the way home!). Oh yeah, I also cleaned, ironed, cooked, taxi'd and literally never stopped until about 8.30!!!
Saturday I went to the Fort shopping park. I still needed a few bits for the holiday. Firstly, some nice red shoes for the first night. I had seen some in a magazine last week (New Look, £20, total porn shoes!) so I got them first of all. There's something very satisfying about buying sexy new shoes, god I love shoes !
I also needed a denim skirt. This has been painful for me because I don't do straight skirts (because of my shape, I just look a bugger) but I was getting mighty stressed about this. In the end I found one in the sale but I was a bit canny, I bought one a couple of sizes too big so it sits a bit lower down and looks better than any others i've tried on (can you hear the stress in my voice?). Anyhow, once I'd got that all that was needed was a top for the army night and I couldn't find one anywhere so I went and got myself a nice vanilla soy latte and drove back to Tamworth. Actually, it's worth pointing out that the guide dogs for the blind were out collecting at the Fort, they had puppies on every corner, it cost me £8 walking round munching labrador puppies !!!
Anyway, back in Tamworth I went to the Army supply shop and I now have a camouflage vest top so my outfits are complete!
We stayed in Saturday night, I made a divine asparagus risotto and we watched the last two episodes of Sleeper Cell. Now, we watched the first series, gripped; on the edge of our seats, it was awesome. It's taken us a while to watch the second series but it had been good and we'd been looking forward to the last couple of episodes. What a bloomin disappointment, it was a total let down !!! We were gutted, they had a great opportunity to tie up the show and they totally didn't, bloody cop out, waiting for a 3rd series I think !!! (gonna google it later).
So, to today. It's been lovely and chilled, I've had nothing to do apart from read the papers, we've finally diagnosed my heel problem (thanks to the news of the world magazine! - I'll now be googling policemans heel) and I've done my ironing for the two days i'm in work and put my gym kit out for tomorrow.
Which takes me to now, we're sat watching the United-Chelsea game and it's lovely, really lovely to have a nice chilled weekend just for us.
No doubt this week is going to be incredibly eventful. I've got some big meetings the two days i'm in. Tomorrow is our first proper team meeting with our new manager and Tuesday is my year end review so fingers crossed for a good couple of days. Oh and i'm being waxed on Tuesday ready for the hols.
Then of course, it's into holiday mood !!! Wednesday is strictly prepping me day, feet, nails, exfoliate, tan, put clothes in case, that kind of thing. And then we're off.
So, once I'm back, I'll post updates from our adventures in Puerto Banus. Until then, addios amigos !!! xxx

Too old for 4 day hen dos; part 1
So, here it is folks, all those months of agonising and waiting are over !!!
We set off to the airport last Thursday, a bus full of sniffling, coughing invalids (for some reason, half of us were full of bloody colds) but it wasn't going to dampen our spirits !!!
After a relatively uneventful flight we hopped into a couple of taxis and we were on our way. The sun was shining, the mood was buzzing and we were finally on our jolly holidays celebrating the forthcoming nuptuals of the gorgeous Natalie.
It didn't take long for things to go a little Pete Tong. We were behind their taxi when the bloody tyre blew so we all spent a good half hour on the side of one of the most perilous motorways on earth praying we'd make it to Puerto Banus. And, thankfully we did; boy was it worth it. We checked in and were upgraded to a suite (Me & Fi) with a double deluxe room connecting, which gave us a kind of lush gorgy apartment on the 2nd floor with a HUGE sheltered balcony and a much fought over chaise longe!!! Nat, Nikki & Debbie had another suite on the ground floor so we were all living the life of luxury.
After a little mooch around the marina we headed back to change for the evening. Day 1 theme was black & red, aka Horny Devils !!! So we trundled down to the first floor with all the paraphenalia and decked Nat out in her devils horns, bow tie etc (much grumbling, does she NOT remember New York!) and we headed off to reception to book taxis.
Once we'd been dropped into Banus, we headed for the infamous "Sinatras" for a cocktail to start the night off. It was a little bit weird though, walking into what is, in essence, millionaires paradise dressed up in devils horns. But, never mind, we were on a mission, so we went into Sinatras and ordered a round of cocktails (not nearly as expensive as we'd imagined either !!!). Sarah wanted some ciggies so she asked Nikki what the waiter was called "Stavros" was Nikki's reply and lo and behold the silly blonde called out, at the top of (her booming)voice "oi, Stavros". Well, lets face it what else can you expect from someone who claps when the plane lands (oh god I'm going to get smacked for that!).
Anyway, drinkie no.1 under our belt, we headed off along the marina strip. We arrived at a bar called stereo lounge and went in for more nice drinkies.
Nat got a free cocktail (very generous) which was a kind of frozen daquiri. I took a huge gulp and was engulfed with pain in my head "I've got headburrrrrrrrrrrrn" i yelled. Much to the amusement of the others, I hand't realised it was brainfreeze!
Anyhow, while we're flouncing around outside of this bar, a load of guys are next door going "come in here, we'll make sure you get some drinks bought". Now, what girl can resist such a charmer?? So, we trundled next door to Mumbai and god love em, someone bought Nat a drink. However, our code was "buy one, you buy them all" and so very quickly we had rounds stacking up for us. We settled ourselved up by the bar, Sarah had pride of place to dance and sing and make the bar staff cry (laughing) and I had a stool to sit on (porno shoes hurt your feet!).
We must've had about 6 rounds bought for us, and lets face it, spanish portions of Vodka are pretty hefty at the best of times so we were well oiled!!! Debbie totterd down the stairs from the loo to inform us that you could hear Sarah from the up there, disbelievingly, Nat and I listened out next time we went up and she wasn't wrong, it was like having her int he cubicle with you !!!
We'd made many friends and a rep for ourselves by the time midnight came and went, we'd consumed our own bodyweight in vodka and we were ready to party on.
At some point in the night someone suggested we moved on (no idea who) so we staggered out of the back of Mumbai and into a whole street full of MORE BARS !!!!!
Attracting much attention, we were offered many many drinks but we'd got our sights set on Linekars and that's where we ended up. The girls were straight up onto the poles dancing and all I could think was "I want to be up there" but my feet were past falling off by now and had lost all feeling. It wouldn't have been very graceful !!!
Sam & I decided that once Linekars closed, we'd had enough of our poorly feet and told the others we'd head home. For some bizare reason, the girls were congregated around a group of dustbings gabbing away (how disgusting, I mean how much booze does that take?). Sam shouted at them that we'd got the kitty (literally, we have a hello kitty purse) and we trundled (well, staggered incredibly slowly) to get a taxi. When we got out at our hotel, another cab pulled up behind us. I was in soooooooooo much pain, I just asked the guys to help me out of my shoes. Man, I could barely stand up!!! God love em they did though !!!
Sam and I waited for Fi & Sarah to come back, we chilled on the chaise on the balcony. Thankfully they were only half an hour but boy had we missed some fun !!!
Apparently, when we left them, they realised they'd not got the purse (how many times do you have to yell "we've got the kitty, come and get it"?) so they couldn't go to a club (well, they couldn't go and pay for themselves! So, they'd trundled down to the Marina and, oh god I can't believe I'm going to share this; right, so desperate for a pee, Nat & Debbie made use of the non existant facilities (I'm trying to protect the not so innocent here) whilst Sarah made use of a gap between some cars. Fiona, god love her just stood laughing !!! Anyhow, whilst Nat is coming acros to Fi, she trips, bangs her head on a car and falls into sarah's puddle !!!!
And that, dear readers is how we ended the first evening; crying lauging at our poor hen's misfortune. Some might say that's the baby jesus paying her back for peeing into the harbour !!!

05 Oct 2007
PussyGalore on tour; Night 2 - Combat!
Oh the morning after, the morning after !!! Thankfully, I'd packed vitamin C and lots of painkillers, so it was easy for us to chill out on our gorgeous balcony together, feeling sorry for ourselves !!!
We'd taken a trip to El Corte Anglaise the previous day and stocked up on essentials for the rooms such as booze, juice, fruit, cakes, croissants and crisps (all vital supplies!) so we had no need to go out for brekkie.
As Sam & Fi prepared some lush Mango, Sarah and I tasted the cakes we'd bought. Man they were dry, you needed about a gallon of water to get one down your throat !!! Sarah reliably informs us at this point that they "remind me of 1989" which became something of a focal point for our humour every time the cakes came out. One of those "you needed to be there" kind of things!
After brekkie, we headed down to the pool. God it was nice to sit in the sun, until of course we kept getting bursts of rain !!! Anyhow, we eventually called it a day and went for a siesta. We'd decided to eat early and found a nice enough place, which to Sarah's absolute delight did all day brekfasts !!!
We packed the dolly birds (Nikki / Debs) off to the hotel to give them about 3 hours to get changed (man I've never known anyone take so bloomin long to look the same !!) and we headed back shortly after.
Obviously we were ready HOURS before them so we had lots of time to cusomise our outfits (so we did, Sarah was lovin the scrag). We were sooooooooooooooo chuffed we'd chosen Combat for our theme, Fi loked foxy as hell, Sam bless, looked about 12 but cute as anything and Sarah, well, Sarah was lovin the scrag, she was a total doll !!! Me, well I hated it but once I'd attached my pegs, I felt a bit better !!!
This time, we'd decided to plod straight on past Sinatras to Mumbai and get tucked into Cocktails early !!! We did and got pegging people straignt away (I pegged the man who took our group pic as appreciation for his good work !). Unfortunately it was drizzly so many apologies to anyone we pegged who now has brightly coloured paint on their clothes !!!
We were all on great form as we tipped out into the Linekars road again, the touters were totally after us in their bars, so we were persuaded by a top bouncer (who we all pegged) to go in Taco Loco. Good choice too, we had a little stage, a table and stools, we were well away !!! Nikki took a shine to the most god awful guy I've ever seen (must've been booze goggles, no other explanation) and she kept telling him he looked like Peter Andre. I can only apologise to Mr Andre for such an insult !!!
Fi was on sparkling form, posing for about a million pics, giving it the pout as Nat grooved her ass off on the dance floor. We had the usual rendition of Sarah's Summer of 69 which she delivers with aplomb every time!!!
Once we'd done at Taco Loco, we were dragged into a new bar "The Edge", only cos we used to have a club in Tamworth named the same did we grace them with our presence !!!
On the way, Debbie & I spotted a guy we'd pegged earlier. His pegs were missing so I trundled up asking him where they were, so bless him, he pulled them out of his pocket, ahhhhhhhhhhhh how sweet!!!
In the Edge, we pegged another hottie whilst Nikki obsessed over a Gareth Gates looky likey (gorge!). Sarah, Nat & Fi chatted to some really nice guys from Taylor Woodrow who were on our flight (and back) and it was a cool bar, we played shoot em with the bar man (as in pretend guns) for a while !!
Inevitably we ended up in Linekars and this time, I was going up on that pole !!! Now, after all that fuss, I got up there and thought "shit, this is high up, but isn't the view good" I wasn't a bit interested in dancing !!!! I did do a bit though, before returning to tera firma!
Fiona was sooooooooooooooooooooooo fun Bobby by this stage, she marches up to the Bar and instructs Wayne Linekar to pass her the sign, the one from last night!!! So, we yet again got to ask the question of Sarah "Are They Real?" man of course they are !!!
At this point, everyone apart from Fi and Sarah missed what turned out to be possibly the funniest moment of the holiday. On form, Fiona (or fun Bobby) strides up to the DJ and says "can you give a big shout out to Maggie Thatcher, my friends a huge fan". Unbelievably he did and she turned around to Sarah to see if she'd heard it!!! She wasn't happy with that so she yelled at the DJ to "do it again, do it again" so he obliged and Sarah returned the compliment with some whooping and cheering!!! We only found out about this at breakfast the next day, when Fi burst out laughing and couldn't explain why, only to be followed by Sarah whilst Sam & I looked on bemused!!!
Anyway, it was turning out to be a top night when we realised 3 of our group were missing. Nikki, Debbie and Nat were nowhere to be seen and Sam had cut her foot quite badly. Sam was getting quite concerned about Nat so I tracked her down, still looking for the other two. After what seemed an age, they came bouncing down the stairs claiming Nikki had nodded off (!). Anyhow, we rounded everyone up and set off home.
We stopped for (very expensive!) chips on the way and eventually got back to the hotel and crashed out.
I'd used up all my pegs, Fi had forgotten and still had hers and we sat playing Florene Nightingale with Sam's foot on the balcony.
Another night down, more vodka blood to follow !!!

07 Oct 2007
PussyGalore on tour - End of tour party !!!
And now, the end is near (Sarah, take it away!).
We spent the day preceding our last night on the beach (once we'd worked off our hangovers lounging on the balcony and giggling over the previous night). We were a bit worried it might be overcast like the previous day but no such worries. The sun was glaring down, we got some loungers (and some shade for me!) and we sat and soaked up the sun. Not too long afterwards, Nat, Nikki & Debbie joined us and we spent a leisurely few hours nattering, enjoying the sun and our own company. Fiona, who is meticulous about making sure everyone has sunscreen on was looking somewhat red and when we got into the shade I asked her where she'd applied her lotion. She reliably demonstrated the sweeping motion she'd used to apply all of 3 bits which were evident in the 3 white patches she now had!!!
The four of us decided to grab a bite to eat by the pool and the other 3 headed back to their room for room service (and to give them plenty of time to get ready, hours in fact!!!).
Getting ready was a proper giggle. We'd planned for so long the whole "PussyGalore" look and tonight was the big unveiling !!! I felt so uncomfortable in my denim skirt I was determined to be boozed up before we left our room !
It has to be said, we looked good (well, when I say good, it all worked, proper rock chicks !). I rang down to the dolly birds and the conversation I had with nat is as follows;
"Hi Nat, how are you three getting on?"
"Er, not good, erm, we got talking"
"Ok (big breath) how long do you think you're going to be?"
"Erm (conversation with the other two) about another hour"
"Oh, an hour, oh ok"
What can you say, they weren't great at getting ready, in fact I've never in my entire life known anybody take so bloomin long !!!
So, to pass the time, we played "shoot/shag/marry" on the balcony and drank booze. It was gooooooooooooood.
When the girlies finally arrived, we got them into their scarves, vests and gave Nat her guitar and we were off, FINALLY!!!
Heading into the Marina, we were on fine form. Third night in a row, did we give a fuck about what people thought, Noooooooooooo way!!! We started with cocktails at Sinatras and stood out on the marina strip in awe of some of the hideous plastic surgery on display (men, not just women, men!).
We moved onto Stereo lounge for more cocktails, and got into a bit of piccie taking, we were in high spirits, possibly because we were getting free rounds in each bar (reward for our efforts the previous two nights!)
Moving on from Stereo lounge, we had one in Mumbai (as we did EVERY night!) and then got dragged into Taco Loco on the promise of free champagne. It was weird being in there a bit earlier on as it'd been packed out the previous night, but that didn't stop us getting up on the stage making twats of ourselves!
We were determined not to end up in Linekars so we headed off up around the marina towards Havanas (which had been recommended) but it was a really damp vibe with lots of mummy's boys and girls horsing around. It wasn't where we wanted to be (too up their own arses and quiet) so we set off to try and find the road where all the bars were. On our way we passed Seven, but the delightful bouncer said he wasn't going to let us in (god love him, what was he missing?) so we dropped back in and went to Linekars !!!!
As we stood outside gassing with some guys we'd met earlier, who should appear but the one, the only Mr Calum Best!!!!! He was swarmed a bit by the ladies and someone (not a clue who) said, "go and have your picture taken" so being the submissive person I am, I did as I was told and Sam and I line up to have our pic taken. Now, what you'll notice from this pic is that in EVERY other pic we're so posed it's not true, this one, our very own pap shot, we look like rabbits in headlights !!!
After the pic we got chatting to him for a few mintues and bless him, he seems like a proper nice guy. He asked if anyone had a ciggie, so I said to Sarah "Sarah, give mr Best a ciggie please hon" to which he replied "Nice, I like that!" ah blush !!!
Of course, Sarah opened her arms to him and said "Come and give hoochy mama some lovin honey" and he did, god love him he was hoocy mama'd!!!
For the next half an hour or so, Nikki mooched round him nattering down a little alleyway, she said he was really nice !!
Sarah and I got chatting to a lovely lady who turned out to be the owner of Linekars and several other bars, she and her hubby (Bo) organised for some more free drinkies for later on when we went into Disco Inferno (sooooooooooooo much booze). Our friends from COAL IT (who we'd seen every night) were also out and about so Sam and I were chatting to one of the guys there for a while !
We eventually made our way to Disco Inferno and bopped our asses off big style to the most cheesy, wonderful music !!!! When the club finally closed, we spotted a guy the dolly birds had accosted the previous night in the reception of our hotel for a pic (I thought he was an arrogant twat, turned out he was almost vomiting he was that drunk !). He was there with his shorter but cuter (in my opinion) friend so Sarah started calling them Batman and Robin !!!
All of a sudden though, can't remember who, but someone realised Nat was missing. My god, we had about 100 people looking for her, we were in chaos !!! We just couldn't find her anywhere and Debs kept ringing her on her phone but it took what felt like a bloody lifetime to get thorugh !!! We eventually found her about 3 bars down, nattering to a group of people, oblivious to the fact we'd lost her. Fi marched up, grabbed her and bollocked her for going off, it was hilarious (but what a relief !!!).
Having rounded everyone up, we walked down to the taxi ranks, I managed to prop myself up on someone as my feet were falling off again (see, porn shoes look good, but hurt!). Apparently (so Sarah tells me) I was inviting a load of people to come and party in November, she thought I'd got the date of Nat's second hen do wrong but apparently, I was inviting them up when the boys were away !!!! Man I was mullered !!!
Anyhow, the taxi queue was HUGE so Sam, Fi and myself trotted on to the next one (I managed to find two young guys to hang onto until we got there, god that helped my feet!). The others had stopped at the previous queue but we had some money to get us back.
Back at the hotel, it all went a bit weird !!! Apparently, Nat and Sarah got talking to some gay blokes and were on their balcony until god knows what time, Debs was a bit upset cos she was in their room on her own (she should've come up to us) and Nikki was chatting to Gareth Gates looky likey until the sun came up. Me, Fi and Sam slept through all this !!!
I enjoyed the hangover to end all hangovers the next day, man it was bad. So bad that I just scooped up my stuff and dumped it in the bag (you should have seen the sweat forming on Fi's face, she was so traumatised). We checked out and sat by the pool for a few hours (I eventually found a bed under a brolly and slept for a while) before heading back to the airport.
Wouldn't you just bloody know it though, we had an hour and a half delay !!! When you're sooooooooooo tired and want to be home, the baby jesus pays you back for all the alcohol abuse with a delay !!!
Anyway, we shopped, we chilled and eventually we got on the plane. I ended up next to strangers (god, I just don't do strangers!) and they were a pretty annoying bunch (Debs & Nikki said all through the flight they kept looking over thinking how bloody annoying they were !!!).
When we finally landed, I managed to clonk the guy next to me on the head with my bag, so there was the baby jesus again, paying them back for being annoying !!! lol !!!
So, now we're all back home, safe and sound and probably all still recovering a week on !!!
It was THE most amazing weekend, everyone got on (for the most part), it was lovely and relaxed and we partied our bloody arses off !!! I hope Nat enjoyed it as much as we did. We really should do that again (though maybe we'll leave it a while first eh), It can't be too long until we take PussyGalore out on tour again !!!


Horse of the Year Show !!!
Had a top nostalgic weekend last weekend, Mum & JoJo came down for the weekend as I'd bought them both tickets for horse of the year show for Xmas pressies.
They arrived on Friday night and after catching up on what we'd done with the house, we sat down to eat a delish asparagus risotto (cooked by myself, natch!) and a lovely bottle of wine.
JoJo was on fine form, just getting over a cold and whilst I'd had every intention of discussing the whole "Jon" thing, I just couldn't darken the mood, it felt like it would be wrong to deliberately put a downer on things, and, having spoken to Mum earlier in the day, she reckoned that they won't come down for Xmas anyway so it'd be best to leave it.
We settled down to watch Ugly Betty and consumed more wine (JoJo's such a lightweight, after about 3 glasses she's hilarious!). After, Jo made me put the singstar game on the PS2 so we could make mum sing (bless her) so we had a good couple of hours of trying to outdo each other, score of the night, 8560 (ME!) Girls Aloud!!! It was so funny though, watching JoJo and Mum having such a giggle together.
Anyhow, when Andy came home, we were still singing away so he sat and laughed at us for an hour before we all retired to bed.
We had a really chilled day on Saturday it was so lovely just to spend time together and after a late lunch we headed off to the NEC for the Horese of the year show (HOYS).
After a mooch round the retail village and some moaning from JoJo and I (why didn't they have pink accessories when we were young, it's not fair) we took our seats in the arena. I'd got really good seats, only about 8 rows back and near the middle so we were very well placed to see all the action. The highlights of the evening were the scurry, the mounted games and of course, the Puissance. It was soooooooooo nice and we all had such a good time, it was lovely, really, really lovely.
They both set off before lunch the next day which gave Andy & I plenty of time to clean the house and chill out in the afternoon. It was a proper nice, family weekend, proper nice !!

13 Oct 2007
F*cking Flu!
I have had a crap week, official!
On Monday morning, I woke having had a very restless night feeling achy, sniffly and generally just not right, it took me ages to get showered and ready for work and as I drove in I knew I was making a mistake.
I only lasted about 20 minutes before I realised i really wasn't well. I had a quick chat with James and said I was going home, to which he replied "yeah, you look like a heap" which kind of summed me up actually !
I struggled to drive home but being the good girl I am I took off all my make up before I got into bed then literally collapsed into bed in a sweaty, achy, miserable heap.
By the time Andy came home I was not good, I was feeling really poorly and worried I'd got flu. I've only had it a couple of times before and it felt all too familiar
Anyhow, I slept through and on Tuesday morning realised it wasn't happening, I was, officially Flu'd up. I called Rob, one of the exec I was in a meeting with and emailed two of my other colleagues (luckily Andy had left me the laptop in the room) and went back to sleep.
God love him, for the whole week Andy has fetched, carried, cooked and kept me stocked up with supplies. He's made sure I've eaten 5 portions of fruit and veg every day, that I've had lots of vitamin c and liquid and he's had the patience of a saint as I just gave into it all. I'm normally a sh*te patient but I had no choice this week, and it made me realise what an angel I have.
So, it's now Saturday and I'm finally feeling like a human being again (albeit not 100% yet though which is hacking me off) and I'm looking forward to getting back to work on Monday. I get stressy if I miss work, Mum & Dad always brought us up to go into school no matter how bad you were so it worries me when I'm off!!!
I'm also kind of now thinking about what's the next big thing to look forward to, and, as bizarre as it might seem, I'm wanting to get planned for Xmas ! I think i'll get cracking with my pressie buying in the next few weeks. I want to get organised because we're doing Xmas day as well as NYE party so I don't want to be running around at the last minute.
Anyway, the other thing about being poorly this week is I didn't go and see the Happy Mondays last night which I was gutted and a bit teary about (it's the flu!). I'd looked forward to it for months but there wasn't a hope in hell that I'd make it, I just wasn't well enough. Oh well, Andy said the didn't play tons of the old stuff, quite a lot of new stuff (don't know if he was just being nice about it!). Ah well, Ian Brown's this Friday so I've got that to look forward to.
So, I have a weekend of sitting on the sofa, covered in my blanket with Andy keeping me topped up with lemon & hot water. At least I'm getting better eh??? lol xxx

24 Oct 2007
I wanna, I wanna, I wanna be adored !!!
So, first week back after the flu and as expected it was bloody hard work (only tiring wise, I was knack'd all week!). Anyhow, it was flippin ace to see people, you don't realise how stir crazy you go when you can't leave the house !!!! And god love him, as much as he'd been looking after me, I was glad of some other company !!!
Wednesday we had a career fair at Aston Uni, we're starting our search for a superstar (well a graduate placement) so we had a couple of hours over lunch with a bunch of other organisations where we could tout for students !!! After lugging all our stuff into the room we had a very productive session and generated a lot of interest (though some were just interested in the free drinks !!!! some people have the cheek of the bloomin devil!). At one point this TOTALLY gorgy guy walked up to me and said "Hi, how are you" and I dealt with him very professionally (once I'd maintained my composure) but when he'd gone I turned round and Nikki was giggling so I just burst out laughing!!!! hehehe, can I help it !!!
On to weekend anyway; Friday night we went into Birmingham to see Ian Brown. Now, I was a real Stone Roses fan, big time so I was looking forward to it even though I knew he'd play loads of new stuff. We had a few drinkies first though and as I'd not drank for a couple of weeks (except for a couple of medicinal brandys in my hot toddys) I was somewhat merry by the time we got into the gig. We started off at the back of the Academy then when I went to the loo's (all that booze!) I found a spot near the side of the stage with awesome views so we moved there. Man it was good, he was excellent. He opened with "I wanna be adored", did loads of new stuff, closed with "Resurection" at which point I lost the plot!!! then closed his encore with "Fear". I was buzzin after when we went for more drinkies !!!!
Needless to say, Saturday I was soooooooooooooooooooooo tired. Fortunately I had no hangover (I only had about 5 drinks!) but I was exhausted. However, I was determined to do my domestic goddess thing so I cleaned (took me twice as long as usual) then after a nice soak, had a siesta (there is nothing like a Saturday siesta!).
In the evening we watched the Rugby (our boys, oh so proud) and strictly / X factor (god bless sky plus) before crashing just after midnight.
We had a proper busy day on Sunday though !!! We went into Brum to House of Fraser to buy a dinner service (Denby, China White for those interested !!!), coffee machine, loads of kitchen stuff, it was a proper splurge !!! Then we walked up to Ste & Fiona's for Holly's (our god daughter) birthday tea. I'd bought her loads of jewellry making stuff, she's really into design so she was really chuffed with it. One of her friends said "oh wow, I wish you were my mum, you're dead generous!" followed by "how do you afford all this really cool stuff?" to which I replied "long hours and hard work gorge!". Bless, kids are adorable eh?
We watched the end of the grand prix with them then wandered back down the road home (I love living so close!). I was totally shattered to I crashed out at around half eight.
It was the most lovely weekend, a nice balance between family and nothing, perfect really.
Anyway, this week; Bob's leaving do, a busy Saturday (I so have to sort my wardrobe's and cupboards out, I'm on a warning, he spotted them the other day and said "is anything in there folded up?") and if I'm honest I'll probably have a play on singstar as we've got a shedload of new dvds (8!!!) so as twattish as that sounds, I'll still probably do it !!! Well, lets face it, if I've got the girls and the kids coming round next week when the boys are in Amsterdam, I need to be sure I can beat everyone don't I? And, after all they always acuse me of practising so I might as well eh??
Have a great week, xxxxxxxx

28 Oct 2007
Freakily organised !!!!!
It's been a week of ups and downs really, kinda weird. On the one hand, the mood at work has been fun and chirpy which has been cool. I asked a couple of people if they fancied doing anything for Children in Need a week or so ago (I still get a pack sent every year after my role in Contact Centre) and lo and behold we now have a group organising all sorts of stuff (I've volunteered to take a pie in the face, though I'm somewhat paranoid about getting my nose broken weirdly!). Anyhow, the genius of Simon has created a website, we've got loads going on so it should be fun.
Also, Bob (who appointed me in my current role) retired after 29 years this year. He's an amazing guy and fortunately he's going to remain contracting for a while at least. However when all the speeches were going on it was a little bit emotional, he's a people kinda person and you could really tell how much he loves everyone and how that's reciprocated. We went for a boozy buffet and bless him, Stacy drove so I enjoyed a few large portions of wine (and then sang Bananarama at the top of my lungs all the way home). I think if he'd been going, going we'd have had a bigger do but it was nice, low key, nice !
I was determined this weekend to do some Christmas shopping, now I know that sounds bizarre, especially in October but after all the trauma of last year (the house move and Oz holiday took over) I want to be done early and enjoy our first Christmas in this house. SO, I did my list of pressies, dropped sir at the railway station at some ungodly hour and then cracked on with it !!! I'm almost done so that felt very rewarding, slightly freakish but very rewarding. I've also got my cards so I'll write them this week.
As Andy was at Aintree racing yesterday, I took the time to clear out all my summer clothes and put them away, doing all my cupboards and wardrobes was very cathartic, I'm all organised now, it's weird, really weird !!!! lol !!! When he got home, we watched the breeders cup (horse racing) then went to bed. However, this morning, one of Andy's friends phoned to say that George Washington (my FAVE racehorse) had injured himself so badly he had to be destroyed. God, I was inconsoleable, I literally couldn't stop crying. Now I know a lot of people will think that's daft but when it comes to animals I really can't help it, its who I am, sorry.
Anyway, I spent a few more hours tidying up, ironing Andy's stuff (he's off to Amsterdam on a stag do this week) and now I'm sat enjoying the Sunday papers. I still feel a bit weepy which is daft but I'm probably just hormonal !!!! lol !!!
This week should be a good one, various things going on which I'll update you on next week!!! Andy said I shouldn't give too much away in my blog, he's convinced it's just not normal, lol !!
Oh, and another strange thing, for all my organisation, I completely forgot the clocks went back today, so I got an extra bonus hour !!!!!
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