A name is just a name

How many places have details of your name? lots is the answer. You'd think of the obvious ones for example bank, passport, driving licence but I'd forgot about pension, national insurance, medical insurance. So changing your name takes forever. The list is endless and when you think that you have come to the end of the list you think of other things that are in your name and then you have to change them too, I'm sure there are loads that I have forgotten about and some that don't really matter.

Some places require your original marriage certificate, which fills me with dread, I don't trust the post service and I'm always scared that they will lose it, but so far so good, they are gaining back my confidence slowly.

I'm slowly starting to get used to being called a MRS and having a new surname, I'd got quite attached to my last one, well you do having been called one name for 29 years, so to suddenly have a new one it's gonna take time to get used to it. I saw it written down the other day by a work colleague and it took me about 5 minutes for it to register in my brain that it was me, and that it was me she was talking about. When I went to the bank to pay in a cheque she addressed me by my new name and asked me if there was anything else I needed, I just looked at her blank until I realised she was talking to me, then I just mumbled 'no thanks' and walked off.

I think every young girl has practised their signature when they fantasied about marrying a famous pop star or celebrity, me included I was convinced I was going to married Gary Barlow. But what I didn't practice was my new signature so when I had to sign it in the bank I was a little unprepared, thankfully it looked ok and I could remember how to do it for all the rest of my documents and cards.

It's Official Pt 2

I'm sorry that this part of the wedding post has been so long in coming, I could say I was creating suspense but I'd be lying, I just forgot.

So where were we.... oh yes the sun had come out, which was really nice so we could have some photos taking in the Peace Gardens in Sheffield, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Sheffield near the town hall are some fountains in the floor and surrounding them is waterfalls and seating areas, if there happens to be a wedding at the town hall it is customary to have photos taken in the surrounding area which in this case is the Peace Gardens. A nice backdrop for photos were the fountains and also the blossom trees.

We then set off to Tankersley Manor for the Wedding Breakfast and Evening Reception. On arrival we had drinks in the Conservatory and more photos taken in the grounds. The only problem I had was on the grass my heals decided they were going to embed themselves, which in a way was good it meant that everyone had to come to me if they wanted to join in on the photos.

The meal was lovely and the tables set out really nice, I was a little nervous about the speeches and had written my fathers speech for him, I knew he would have done a good job by himself but my dad can go on a bit and thought it best to write it for him. The groom's and best mans speech was nice and really captured our lives.

It was then time for the staff to turn the room round ready for the evening reception, so we all went into the lounge area. I then go the opportunity to change into my flat shoes as the heals I was wearing were starting to hurt.

The evening reception went really well, the DJ played all the music I asked for and more and there were lots of comedy moves going on, on the dance floor. We decided that we weren't having a first dance but just having our music played whilst we were cutting the cake, it ended up with the music being played whilst we were cutting the cake then a mad flashing of everyones cameras it was like being a celebrity being attacked by the paparazzi and me finishing off our first dance with my cousin which was nice also.

The night whizzed by and the only one left dancing at the end of the night with all the balloons he had accumulated was our 6 yr old nephew, I don't know where he got the energy from. So it was time to leave and check out our junior bedroom suite. It was amazing almost as big as our apartment, I'll not go into detail about our first night as a married couple some things are better left alone.

We had a wonderful day and was glad that all our friends and family could spend it with us, It's a day that I will remember forever. I haven't even stopped looking at the photos yet even though it's been a month.

I'm at a bit of a loose end now but I'm sure work and other things will keep me occupied might have to start organising my 30th Birthday which is in September.

It's Official

I'm Married OMG!!!!!

Well it has been on the cards for 5 years so I'm not really that surprised and I did organise it, but it is now real on Thursday 15th April 2010 I got married.

So let me tell you all about it... firstly on the Wednesday my cousin and I had 120 cupcakes to make which was a task, but turned out really well, I did all the measuring and she did all the mixing and we jointly spooned them into the cases, it was a well implemented operation, but don't fear we aren't going into business. I left her late afternoon to frost them as I needed to be at my mums for my nails and eyebrows doing by my chief bridesmaid. After inflicting pain my eyebrows were perfectly shaped and my nails were french manicured. Apart from having a little accident before two of the nails were dry everything was going to plan. I spent the night at my mums whilst Hubby to be was having a Poker and Games night with the lads.

After a restless night, I'm not used to sleeping in a single bed, it was Wedding Day. I had a small breakfast and only 2 cups of coffee, didn't want to drink too much as I wasn't sure how I was going to manage toilet breaks in my dress. My mum went off to the hairdressers and I had a relaxing morning watching Friends on TV. Kelly my Chief Bridesmaid came over to do my hair and makeup then helped me into my dress, flowers had arrived and everyone was ready, we had time to have a few photos taken, then the car arrived to take us into Sheffield.

We arrived outside the registry office in Sheffield with about 30 minutes to spare so we had quite a few photos done outside, including one of me with Spiderman and Batman who were collecting for charity. I had to make sure that I didn't have any photos taken with my hubby to be as it is bad luck.

So at 2pm we were ushered into the Town Hall and me and the hubby were called into see the Registrar were she told us what were going to happen. The ceremony was really nice as I was saying my vows I was trying not to look at K not because I was tearful but I knew if I looked at him too much we would both break into fits of giggles, so we only looked at each other for a little while.

After the ceremony we went out into the Peace Gardens to have more photos taken by the fountains and was blessed that the sun had appeared.

More to follow.......

Hen do

It's been a few weeks now since my hen do, I've been really busy I've not had the time to update my blog. The night started off with getting ready then a tram journey to the local shopping centre where I was meeting family and friends in Frankie and Bennys for a meal. My chief bridesmaid had already been to the restaurant earlier that day to make sure they had all the stuff, there were goodie bags for my guests and I had an extra special bag complete with veil tiara, pink fluffy L plate, pink feather boa, shot glasses and a Disney princesses balloon, which by the way is still inflated now.

After the meal I said bye to some of my family whilst the rest of us went into Sheffield city centre to meet up with other friends to start the drinking. We went to lots of bars and pubs and ended up in the Ledmill. I had a great night out and my chief bridesmaid did me proud, and no sweaty stripper in sight thank god!!

So the wedding is only just over a week away, I can't believe it's come round so quick, but thankfully we are just about sorted. The table plan is done, favour boxes are made just have to put the chocolates in them and tie them up, we have been today to get K's nephew his suit, he looks so cute and a proper little bobby dazler. I went to pick up my dress from Trisha the alterations lady, she has done a brill job with my dress and it fits really well, it is now stored at my mums.

My cousin is making my cupcakes as marks and spencer don't make the vanilla and strawberry ones anymore, which I find odd as you would think that they would be one of the most popular flavours. I'm going to be helping her the day before making sure I've got time to have my nails and eyebrows done.

The flowers, balloons and car have been sorted, so everything is nearly ready, what am I going to organise once the day has been and gone??

I'll keep you posted over what happens in the next few days.

A post a month

It's looking like a post a month on my blog lately, but again I have my excuses - it is only 6 weeks till the big wedding day. I am quite looking forward to it now and I'm not too stressed.

I got the call this week from the bridal shop that my dress has arrived, which is exciting so my mum and I went over for a fitting. It fits really nice apart from on the bust where it is too big so I will have to have alterations and my shoes that I bought the other week match really well, and I got my Tiara which is really pretty.

The woman in the shop asked me if I had booked in with "Tricia" I answered no, I don't even know anything about Tricia, the women looked shocked and said that someone should have explained to you that you would have to have alterations done and to book in with Tricia, oh and that there will be a charge. Well nobody told me this back in November. You would have thought that when you are paying a lot for a dress the alterations would be done in house and for no extra cost. Apparently most dress shops do this, it's all a money making affair, I think I'm in the wrong job!!!

Thankfully I gave Tricia a call the next day and I'm booked in on Monday. I had previously booked the day off work because it is the Oscars the night before and last year I forgot to book the day off and I was dead to the world. But having to get to Tricia's for 10 o'clock having already picked my dress up from my mums it is going to make me more tired, as I'm guessing I will only be having a few hours sleep, unless the Oscars gets boring.

I started making the favour boxes at the weekend which are coming along nicely, apart from it took me just over an hour just to make 20 and I've got a further 40 left to make, plus i need to get a few more boxes of chocolates and the ribbon. I'm going tomorrow to confirm the flowers and go to the party shop to see if they have the balloons I want and that they have helium. So everything is coming together.

I'm having my Hen night in Sheffield a week on Saturday and I'm totally at the mercy of my chief bridesmaid, it's a good job I trust her, but I hate not knowing anything. In our office I'm used to knowing everything that is going on, me being quite a nosey person, so when your chief bridesmaid is e-mailing all your friends, I get very paranoid and scared of what they have planned for me. We are going for a meal first at Frankie & Benny's then into town for cocktails and lots of drinking. I did the sensible thing and have my hen night the same weekend as K is having his stag do, but his is in Newcastle. At least when I come home very drunk I will be able to make as much noise as I want and have the double bed all to myself.

Nom Nom

Last night K and I want to Tankersley Manor where we are holding our wedding for a tasting session. I assumed that we would get to taste small bits of our pre-selected menu; we could taste 3 starters, 3 mains and 3 desserts. We had made the decision to have the duo of Melon as starter already, but the wedding planner had said, "Well you might as well taste it". We were undecided on the main course so we chose to taste Chicken wrapped in bacon, Turkey and Lincolnshire Sausage and Mash. Then for dessert we chose Strawberry Cheesecake and Crème Brulee.

I was so sure we would only get small taster bites I keep on saying that I would have a Happy Meal from Maccy D's on the way home, how I was wrong.

Once announcing our arrival at the reception desk we were told to go through to the restaurant area, we were seated and offered drinks, water and a bread roll, which has just come out of the oven and was very yummy, I even had half of K's bread. I love hot bread with loads of butter.

The waiter then brought our choice of starter, the melon. First off it was a full potion, thankfully we were sharing, it was very nice, watermelon and honeydew melon with raspberry coulis and melon sorbet.

I said then to K, it's all right they won't be full potions of the main course, oh yes they were, and they were equally as nice, but after much deliberation, we made the decision to go with the Chicken in bacon with roast potatoes and seasonable veg. I had already made the decision that I wasn't having Sausage and Mash at my wedding but thought what the hell I’m going to taste it anyway, I was quite surprised on how nice the Sausages were, I’m not one for fancy food and sausages with bits in are not my preferred choice but I really enjoyed them. But mash shouldn't be served with cabbage in it unless it is in a fry up, left from Sunday dinner.

So I was pretty full by this point and I had to tell the waiter to give us a few extra minutes before he brought us our desserts. K and I had sort of pre selected our dessert, as for the evening buffet I wanted Chocolate Éclairs but he wanted Lemon Torte, and for the sit down meal I wanted Crème Brulee and he wanted Strawberry Cheesecake, so we came to an agreement that if I could have Chocolate Éclairs then he could have the Strawberry Cheesecake, but we would taste both the cheesecake and brulee.

They didn't have the Vanilla Crème Brulee as advertised on the menu but a Baileys Crème Brulee, well I wasn’t sure where the Baileys were in the dessert but it tasted lovely all the same, but the Strawberry Cheesecake blew it out of the water, put it this way I only had 2 small mouthfuls as K had claimed it.

So after coffee's we were pretty full, fit to burst and content, having both really enjoyed our free evening out. No need for a Happy Meal. I am now satisfied with our choices and I am looking forward to the food at our wedding. I will just have to have a bib so I don’t get gravy down my lovely dress.

January snow

I know it's the last day of January and that I've not really stuck to my new year resolution of keeping my blog updated, but in my defence January has been a very busy month and it's flown by in a bit of a blur. It seems like Christmas was ages ago.

The whole of the UK was covered in the white stuff, yes SNOW!! and we had loads. I know the UK is notorious for lack of preparation and prediction, but the weathermen said snow is coming and it did, was we prepared? NO - there was a salt shortage and as a country we were running short on grit. But that's ok we can all get stuck or go sledging.

I quite like snow, but I only like it when it has been undisturbed and it makes the trees look like a fairy tale. What I don't like is when it is mucky and makes everything look dirty, that's not a nice fairy tale scene. On the day that the world stopped, (well it seemed like it at the time) I managed to get into work but as more and more snow fell the buses stopped running and people started to try and make it home, where was I? I was still at work. You see I work for a University and the only time they shut is never. I wouldn't mind but the students hadn't started back yet. I have to give them some credit they did say we could go home at 2:30pm which was nice of them. Thankfully the Supertram was still running (it runs in all weather, apart from flooding and even then it tries) so I could get home.

So wedding preparations are going well, I bought a 5 tier cupcake stand which is acrylic, and it turns out we don't have to make too many evening reception invites now, as I can put one up in the office and send out an e-mail and get them to reply on the website. It's amazing how many things we now can do with the capabilities of e-mail and the Internet, but it does take away a little of the traditionalism. Cupcakes need to be ordered in March and flowers are in hand, I'm having Cream/Ivory Gerberas and Roses with diamonties in the bouquet to match my dress. I had one florist quote but need another few in the town where my mum lives rather than where I live. I've still got to sort out my bridesmaids which hopefully I'll get chance to do soon. Well I'm going to have to make myself get it sorted as it's only about 11 weeks to the wedding and it's getting a bit scary now.

We are going for a tasting in a couple of weeks to decide on what we are having for the wedding breakfast, I think we have decided on the starter and main but the dessert is the hard part they have so many nice choices.

I'll let you know what we choose.

Oh Dear

Like the title says Oh Dear! I've not done very well at keeping this blog updated, only 8 posts in 2009. Well again I will promise to update this more regularly and hope that 2010 will see more than 8 posts.

A lot has happened since my last post, we have just had Christmas and this year I've been a good girl so Santa brought me presents and some lovely ones too. I got a new Nikon Coolpix camera in Pink, Take That Circus tour live on BluRay, A cake piping set, Cupcake book, Clothes, PedEgg, smellies, DKNY Delicious perfume, Lets Dance for my Wii, Chocolates, Michael Buble Cd, True Blood books box set, Bag and lots of other nice goodies that I can't remember. We went to Mum-in Law's for Christmas dinner which was nice and got to watch our 5 yr old nephew open his presents, then boxing day went to my Mum's for another Christmas dinner and some more opening of presents.

*Wedding Update* I have picked and ordered my wedding dress back in Oct so hopefully I will be getting a phone call in the new year to say it's arrived, also quite recently we have bought our wedding rings which are really nice. So all the wedding stuff is coming together I'm currently in the middle of making the invites, we ordered all the card and paper from a company in Nottingham and so now all we have to do is print, cut and stick. The only problem is that we are going through UHU glue rollers like there is no tomorrow, but with half done it's not too bad.

Back in October I decided to have a break from my studies, with the wedding and work commitments it was hard to balance them all so I decided to temporary withdraw from my masters, and I'm glad I did there is no way I would have coped with it all. Hopefully I will pick it back up in September 2010.

I think I've brought you up to date. Happy New Year and my first New Years Resolution is to update my blog more regularly.

Blockbuster

We have decided that we are having Marks and Spencer Strawberry and Vanilla cupcakes as our wedding cake, but I'll need 25 packs of them but M&S have said they can do this but obviously not until nearer the date, which makes sense as they will go off. My decision for this is that with the cost of buying the ingredients and the time etc and the fact that I'll be mega stressed, plus I'm not convinced that I'll do a good enough job, it will be cheaper in the long run. The ones in M&S are amazing with a dollop of strawberry jam in the middle...Yum.. yes we had to sample first.

We have also decided on Tankersley Manor for our Wedding Breakfast and Reception, just got to save for the deposit now.

I've also joined Blockbuster video store this week, they have an offer on at the moment rent 4 movies for 4 nights for £10 so I got the following Blu-Ray movies over 8 nights. I have also rated them.

17 Again ****

Marley and Me ***

Role Models ***

I Love you Man **

Frost/Nixon ***

Bride Wars **

New in Town *

He's just not that into you *

I think the only one that I will watch again is 17 Again all the others we ok but not fantastic.

To try and get into shape for my wedding I have started the Davina dvd, so for the first 30 mins I did Pump. I have never been so exhausted in my life and my face was the same colour as a beetroot, it took the same amount of time to cool down as it did to do the exercise, and omg did my thighs hurt for the next two days after. It was agony just getting up and down from my desk at work, I felt like an old woman. So three days later I embarked on my next 30 mins session, for this one I did Cardio Box. Again my face was very red but I think I like this one better, it involves lots of punching which I like and skipping with an imaginary rope. So back to Pump on Monday or Tuesday.

Here comes the Bride Pt2

Well back in July 2008 I mentioned that I was getting Married, this is still the case but it's now more final. The ceremony has been booked at Sheffield Registry Office for the 15th April 2010 at 2pm, and we are looking at nearby venues for the Wedding Breakfast and Reception. So far we have looked at Tankersley Manor and The Garrison in Hillsborough. They are both really nice but very expensive. So at the moment I'm looking around a bit more. My invitations have been designed by myself, as I'm making them and I've decided on my cake which I'm hoping that my cousin is going to help me make, I'm wanting individual cupcakes tiered and a medium sized cake at the top. My theme colour is Cream and Apricot and my Grandad has offered to buy my dress I've just got to get to my weight goal to fit into it, so I've bought Davina's 30min workout to help me. My partners brother is going to do the photography so that saves a bit of money and that he is really good at taking photos so I know he will do a good job.

Nothing much else to report just really busy at work and getting myself prepared for starting my PostGrad Diploma in September, I passed my PG Certificate, but I was in two minds over whether to carry on, but work pay for it and next year will be easier as I know what to expect and hopefully will be able to manage my time a bit more and organise my wedding, so I thought it was silly not to carry on.

ET Phone home

Again yes it's been three months since the last post, I will give myself a slap later. We now have a carpet in the bedroom which is a blue/grey/brown colour, it is very nice and doesn't get mucky as much as the cream one did.

We had our annual trip to London back in June, which was for the @media conference that K goes to, and a shopping/sightseeing trip for me. As I have been going to London for the past 4 years I have done most of the Museums that I'm interested in but have never been to the British Museum so on one of the days that K was at the conference I took myself off to the BM, it was handy that it was about 5 minutes from the hotel so I stopped in for a Starbucks coffee first, they are everywhere in London, we have about 10 in Sheffield but London must have about a trillion. So off I went camera in hand to the BM, I was really impressed with the museum but was a little disappointed at the lack of British stuff, yeah there were Roman stuff and a few British monuments but after seeing the 20th Mummy or the 50th Greek Vase I was quiet bored, plus I think I must have got lost about 15 times. The main highlight was having a argument with a German man, he was stood in front of the Rosetta Stone and was taking like a million photos, all I wanted was one then I could get on with looking at all the other crap, but would he move.....nope so I made myself very clear and barged my way in, I think he was quite surprised by my actions, what is annoying is that when I look at my photos of the stone, I can see his ugly face in the glass reflection.

The other day that I was free to please myself in London was spent mainly on the stupid London's Docklands Light Railway, in my attempt to get to Greenwich. all was going well on the journey from the Strand to Blackwall on the bus, then after finding that there isn't a bus from Blackwall to Greenwich all i was left with was the DLR, this started off well making my way to Poplar then the man over the tannoy said cross over to the other platform for trains to Lewisham and Canary Wharf, which was the way I needed, what he failed to tell me was that there were also other trains that went to Stratford, so I got on the first train that appeared only to realise I was going up instead of down, so after about 5 stops I decided to get off and get on the next train going back down, but this was easier said than done, there wasn't any trains going to Lewisham, but ones going to All Saints so I got on one of them, so in the end I made it to Canary Wharf and at this point I had been travelling over an hour from when I left the hotel. I was about to give up ever getting to Greenwich Maritime Museum when a train with Lewisham came, so off I went, got to the Cutty Sark and started to feel a little ill and couldn't find any signs for the museum so I gave up that, got on the river boat as I wasn't going on the DLR ever again in my life and made my way back to the London Eye. I'd never been on a riverboat on the Thames so was pleasantly surprised, to my annoyance though the boat was full of french foreign exchange children, which was quite amusing to listen to their conversations.

The rest of the holiday was really nice, the weather was fine and much food and drink was consumed. My only celebrity spotting, and it wasn't anyone that famous either, was sitting next to one of this years Big Brother contestants Sophie I think her name was, (the one with Lupus) in Eat on the South Bank.

Prior to London I upgraded my phone to a iphone 3GS which I love and it did prove very useful in London, being able to check my Oyster Card credit and get access to the Internet was a god send.

Oh I was on the Leicester Square Web cam, I came across the web cam a few weeks ago and when I told my colleague at work she said "oh my god you so have to go on that" so I was stood there phoning back to my friend in the office saying can you see me? when I got back in the office I had waiting for me was a print out of myself stood in Leicester Square, which was rather cool.

Things that are broken

This past month it seems as though everything we own has broken, it started with the smoke alarm at stupid o'clock beeping and beeping, I took out the battery but still it beeped, forgot it was on the mains too, so as to not cause annoyance to the neighbours I disconnected it, making a mental note to get a 9v battery the next day, so the next day came and we went food shopping only to forget to buy a battery the one thing we needed. So it was another shopping trip to get the battery and all is well with that.

The second thing to go wrong was our water cooler, that decided it was going to get hot instead of cold, then totally give up the ghost so that got binned, I ordered another one from Amazon, and received the usual series of emails, you order had be placed, our order has been verified, your order has been dispatched etc etc. So there I was eager awaiting my purchase the estimated delivery date came and went no red ticket in the mail, nothing. It was only when I checked amazon it said it had been delivered, and gave me the tracking number, well I went to the delivery companies site and there it confirmed that it had been delivered, but I had been in all day on the day it said but there wasn't any buzz at the door or any knock. So where was my purchase, I thought one of our neighbours had taken it in, but still no-one came, it was only till later that night I checked outside our door that I found my purchase, just left there no note, no knock or anything. Thankfully we live in a block of apartments and there is only 2 apartments on the ground level, but we don't use the front door very often as we come in the patio doors as the main front door is up stairs off the main road, but it all ended ok.

The next thing to brake was our hot water heater, I was on my way to bed around midnight to find my bedroom carpet soaking wet, at first I was unsure where the water was coming from until I realised that it was coming from the heater. What do you do at Midnight? well I rung my insurance company thankfully they have a 24hrs hot line and our management company who also have a number for emergencies, well the guy on the other end of the phone was almost helpful, I think he was a little pissed off I was calling him, and disturbed his peaceful night, well he helped me turn off the water then all we could do was get some sleep and call the insurance people the next day, they were really good and sent someone straight away to sort out the carpet, we then got someone in to sort the heater, thankfully we could get cold water but no hot, but the only annoyance was the amount of money it was gonna cost, apparently we were meant to have the heater serviced every year but we weren't told this so the build up of gunk has cause it to brake, and it wasn't claimable on the insurance, at least we were covered for the carpet, the wardrobe and chest of drawers, which were also water damaged, but at least the new one doesn't have this anode thing on it so it is guaranteed for 25 years which is good. The only issue now is that the people who installed it haven't tightened the thermostats enough and it is slightly leaking, not major thankfully, towels are stopping it, and they are coming out on Wednesday to fix it. At least I now have hot water yippee. All I need to do now is go and choose a carpet.

Cinderella went to the Ball

To be more precise Sarah went to the Masquerade Bad Taste Bear Ball. Didn't manage to get the dress but went in Gold sparkly tights, black skirt and a new top. My mask was finished in time but the bloody glitter went everywhere, and why after 2 weeks I'm still finding bits even in the most unlikely places where the glitter didn't touch.

The event was held at Bramall Lane where Sheffield United play, now I'm a Sheffield Wednesday fan so this wasn't going to be the perfect venue, but the room was ok and the food was slightly edible, a selection of wraps, sandwiches, potato wedges, tortilla chips and a selection of nice desserts. We still felt the need to visit the chippy afterwards though.

The event bear was called Fanny and she was a Burlesque dancer. I did well at this event as I only got a further 5 bears for the collection, we haven't been purchasing as many this year, due to the credit crunch and the fact there hasn't been many bears that we both like.

The entertainment for the night was two Burlesque dances going by the name of Missy Malone and Lola. They both did 2 dances each then a dance together at the end. Miss Malone was ok, a former belly dancer she looked the part with nipple tassels intact but the other girl Lola wasn't that good, she was too skinny and for a burlesque dancer you would have thought that she would have had a decent pair of boobs, but no they were flatter than a pancake. Maybe Miss Malone was making up for the pair of them.

I entered by Mask into the mask making competition but didn't even come close to winning, but I'm not really surprised as they were quite a lot of really good masks, and you could tell that more than 2 days worth of engineering had gone into them. At least mine has pride of place on the bookshelf in the office.

The next Bad Taste Bear event is in the summer at Warwick Castle, which also co-insides with the 10th anniversary of BTB so there will be a special bear to mark the occasion. We haven't decided if we are going yet, but we probably will be.

Egg tastic

Again I've fallen into that trap of not updating, but fear not I will try to do this more often.

So what I have been doing? mainly writing essays for my masters which is slowly doing my head in, trying to study, work and all the house/family stuff is taking it's tole. I wouldn't recommend distance learning, it is pants. Thankfully I've only got 2 more essays to write and that's the first year done, I will have a postgraduate certificate, and to be honest I'll be glad to finish with just that, forget the diploma and the masters just give me the cert, but I'm guessing that my family won't let me. It will be like the rest of my life, doing stuff for other people and not for myself, don't get me wrong I enjoyed doing my degree but the added pressure to do well from my family wasn't enjoyable.

Happy (belated) Easter to all, thankfully I only got 2 Easter eggs this year, which I'm glad about as I've been experiencing a slight blip in the weight watching front. Don't worry I've not put it all back on, but I now weigh the same as I did Christmas week, so in 4 months I've been up and down more times than a yo yo, so stating this week I'm back onto pointing big style, so hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll have hit the 3 stone barrier, and I'll be back on the right track.

As mentioned in my last post I was seeking a dress for the ball, well this Cinderella story isn't happening, yes I am going to the ball, but it won't be in a dress, probably the trusty black skirt and a new top, if I can find one that I like. I have started on my mask though I will post a picture when it is finished.

Frosty the snowman

Well it has been snowing all last week and tonight we have more of the fluffy white stuff. It was fun for a while but now it's just damn annoying, all the world stops for a bit of snow. Schools were shut, trains and buses cancelled but thankfully the Supertram was still in action. The only thing that has been the most annoying is that I've been able to still make it into work, it's taken that little bit longer but still I've been there, whilst other people work from home (well they try to log on then give up and go back to bed or to the TV) I'm not bitter honest.

This weekend was the two local football teams clash in a Sheffield Derby. These teams are well known for hating each other and already this year Wednesday have been the better team and won one clash, but this weekend they did the double. Sheffield Wednesday beat United 2-1 at Bramall Lane. This, on the back of a 1-0 victory for the Owls at Hillsborough earlier in the season, gave Wednesday their first double over United since the 1913/14 season. Well deserved as well.

Another good thing that has happened is that the next Bad Taste Bear mini event is to be held in my home city of Sheffield, it's about time really I was getting a little sick of travelling all over the country for these little fellas. The only issue, well 2 issues really. One it's at Sheffield United football club and being a Wednesday supporter it's not ideal but having done the double as mentioned above it will be bearable (no pun intended). Two the theme of the event is Burlesque / Masquerade Ball. Although fancy dress is optional, this event is smart dress too. So I've got to find a cheap ball gown in fat size, good luck I here you cry. What would be perfect is that if I looked like Jennifer Connolly in Labyrinth and had her dress, but that's not going to happen between now and the 18th April. I'll keep you posted on the costume hunt.

let it snow..let it snow

This weekend has been the mammoth of all weekends, we cleaned the flat from top to bottom and I did all my ironing. The thing is I hate ironing so I tend to leave it all in a pile in the bedroom, but I was sick of seeing it, and to be honest the bedroom was getting very messy with pile of clothes that need washing and lots of ironing. So all the lot had to go, not throw away no, the ironing had to be ironed and put away and the washing washed. Well I did in total about 4 hours ironing split into 2 sessions, one Saturday night and one Sunday night. The rest of Saturday comprised of sorting out the Office, getting rid of boxes and cleaning what must have been the entire dust mountain in the world. What I can't understand is how can such a small apartment like ours get so dusty, oh well it is now free of dust for the time being. Sunday was pretty the same cleaning and dusting the bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen. I even had time to bake some butterfly buns and have a shower.

What I did find quite interesting is the fact that whilst I was cleaning and hoovering usually I get very hot and sweaty, but now I've lost weight I was fine, no red and sweaty face or wet hair. I was truly amazed, plus I didn't get out of breath once. This is a big thing for me, I'm almost normal. The only downside is that my back is paying for it today, but not as much as would have been, had I not have been 2 stone lighter.

Talking about weight I've lost another 2lbs this week. I had a little blip over Christmas, but I'll let that one slide as it was the festival of food and niceness, but we are now back on track on the lard busting front.

On another note, it is snowing in Sheffield, now where I live we don't usually get that much snow, as we live in a dip but I was shocked this morning when I woke up to see about 2 inches of white fluffy snow, so out came the boots and off I went to work. Now we haven't got it half as much as down south where even all the London buses have stopped running, we just have delays and suspended services. But wait, it is forecast for more white precipitation overnight, so tomorrow might be a stay at home in the warm day hopefully, but I'm not holding my breathe because as I type this entry the snow has stopped and the existing snow on the cars etc is melting, so we will have to see.

A long time coming

Yes again I've not posted on this blog for months, but don't dismiss me just yet I do have valid reasons. My boyfriend has been very ill since about August and had major surgery in November to replace a tube, so his kidney now works. This procedure went really well and even surprised the doctors. What surprised them even more was how quick he is recovering, this is also going really well, and his scars are getting better by the day.

So my take on Christmas, this year I was cooking Christmas day dinner as my boyfriend wasn't able to go to anyone house, so each year we take turns his parents Xmas day mine Boxing day then the opposite the next year and so on. But this year as it would have been our turn to go to my parents we invited them over to ours for me to do the cooking. I've never cooked for 5 people before especially a full roast(well to be fair my Dad did the meat) but I did veg and roast potatoes and I think it went rather well, no disasters. Note.. this is a one year only normal service resumes next year.

So Boxing day his family came over to ours for a Boxing day buffet with cold sandwiches and variety of meats and cheeses etc which also went down pretty well.

For Christmas I received, a Oral B electronic toothbrush which is amazing so good my boyfriend went out and bought one himself in the sales, crafting stuff, clothes, books, vouchers, Super Mario Galaxy for Wii, Scene it 2 for Xbox and lots of other things. So I did pretty well this year.

Again comes the time to make new years resolutions and last year I didn't stick to mine so this year I'm really going to try but haven't decided just yet what they are. On the weight front over Christmas I've managed to lose 3lbs which is good considering the chocolate and nice food, so in total since May I've lost 2 stone 6lbs which I don't think is too bad.

Summer of Discontent

Again I know i've not been keeping this updated, but I've been a tad busy of the past few months. My Fiance has been in and out of hospital with Kidney problems and things are getting better so he has to have an operation in Nov, which neither of us are looking forward to, but i'm sure everything will be fine, and hopefully he will get better soon.

So what I have I been upto, well the new expansion pack for Sims 2 has come out it's called Apartment Life, and again EA Games have been working hard and i'm loving this new expansion. I'm also lookng forward to February when Sims 3 is coming out, not sure if my current PC will take it though.

I've also been involved in producing marketing marterial and photography for a collegues play "Hedda Gabler" by Ibsen, which opens at the Sheffield Drama Studio on Wednesday night, for more info go to here, or check out their facebook group, if you happen to be in Sheffield and want to see some amazing acting then this is the place, book your tickets now!!!

I'm now back to being a student again, i've enrolled to do a MA in E-communication, which i'm looking forward to, i'm doing it distant learning (studing at home with online teaching), so i'll still be working and work are paying for it which is even better, oh the perks of working for a University. I recieved my work books and module information the other week and looking over it briefly it seems a bit daunting but i'm sure once I get into it everything will be ok. Plus I know get Student Discount again which is ace.

Just an update on the weight front, i've now lost 2 stone 1 pound in total, which i'm really happy about, the only trouble is i've now got to start buying new clothes, as my own are very baggy, especially my jeans and trousers, I feel like a clown in them. Which also ties in very nicely with my birthday in 10 days time, so people can give me money and I can buy new clothes, woo hoo!!!

Daddy's taking me to the Zoo

Well it's more of the other way round, I took my Dad to Whipsnade Zoo for the annual Bad Taste Bear event. The reason for taking Dad is that my partner was in Hospital this happened a couple of years ago, and he missed out on going to the West Midlands Safari Park, now not to criticize or anything but he isn't much of a zoo person and animals don't really excite him, apart from he likes the Penguins. But I know it's a coincidence and he didn't mean to land himself in the Northern General but he was really poorly, but thankfully after a week in hospital he is getting better, he isn't 100% just yet but he will get there.

So back to the Zoo, I really had a great time, it took us about 2 and a half hours to get there and we spent about 1 hour in the BTB bit then went to spend the rest of the day watching the animals, there are more photos on my Flickr site.

My favourite was the baby Giraffe it was so cute and only 2 days old. There was also a baby Rhino and baby Elephant that were equally as sweet. Thankfully the weather held up and we only had a little shower around lunchtime but nothing to warrant getting the brolly out, and the packed lunch we took was nice too.

Here comes the bride... da da da da and all that

Just to keep you all updated, I'm getting married, hopefully next year, if I can get into the dress I've seen. It makes sense really as I've been engaged for nearly 4 years and we are slowly making progress in saving. So I've now found the book I bought when we first got engaged and have started looking around at venues etc, I've got a rough idea of colour theme and I know who is going to be my bridesmaids, for a start my cousin Gemma and my to be sister-in-law and her son as my Paige boy. I've got my chief hen night coordinator Kelly who will definitely give me a night to remember she is really a top bird and a great friend. I've got my partner's brother in charge of photos and I'm making my own invitations plus my hairdresser makes cakes so that bits sorted. All i need to think about is who to invite.

I will keep you all posted on the developments of the planning.