I'm Home!

Plymouth is just how I remember it, wet and windy. To be fair we have had some lovely weather and we've been to the beach a couple of times, even had a weekend away in Cornwall.

Still Thinking

I'm Going Home!!!

After living in Bristol for 30 years at last I will be going home. I have taken voluntary severance from work but can't leave until October so I am trying to fill my time as much as I can so the day comes quicker!

My daughter and her husband have already moved to Plymouth and I am off to visit them next weekend. We have planned a day out on Saturday and I expect we will end the day in the pub. Sunday we will be going out for lunch before having to head back to Bristol ready for another week in work but it will be another week closer to my leaving date.

At the beginning of August I am off to Amsterdam for a week. It's been about 35 years since I was there last and that was with my sister's in-laws on a coach trip. I'm sure this time it will be very different as I am gong with a friend from work who is as mad as a hatter.

August also brings Fake Festival to Keynsham Bristol so I'll be there with the same friend enjoying the music and having a couple of drinks, hope it doesn't rain!

September brings a trip to Benidorm. I've never been there before but my friend assures me that we will have a good time but may be in need of a holiday by the time we get home. My friend has chooses the dates especially to coincide with a group of her male friends who are over there on a stag do. Sounds like it will be quite a messy time!

October is the start of the 70's weekend in Brean which I go to every year. This time I am dragging my friend with me. I'm really looking forward to meeting up with friends I have made there on previous years and seeing what everyone is dressed in. Everyone really gets into the spirit of the 70's and wear costumes that reflect the bands of the time.

By the time the 70's weekend is over I will have left my job but the hard work will just be beginning. I have to sell my house here in Bristol and try and find a house in Plymouth. I then have to decide what job I want to do when I get there. I have a few ideas which have no relation to what I do now and will be a new challenge for me. Although I am sure it will be a little stressful I am so looking forward to starting the next adventure in my life.

The Longpigs - On And On (US Version)

Monty and Quinn's upside down adventure

It was the 1st February and both Monty and Quinn were getting very excited. They were about to go on a very long journey, across to the other side of the world to visit aunty Amy. Dad didn't know they were going but they were planning a special surprise for him for his birthday. They were going to take pictures of where they had been and put them on a blog.
Mum and dad gave us a lift to the airport but dad didn't know we were in granny Viv's bag. We got on a big plane which took ages to stop and then we had to get on another one which only took 8 1/2 hours. Aunty Amy was waiting for us the other end but she was waiting in the wrong place and we couldn't find her so granny Viv had to phone her.
We went for breakfast where aunty Amy  works first and then went to check in at our posh hotel. The next day we visited the Blue Mountains. Here we are looking at some pf the things there.  It was great fun although it rained the whole day.

We have taken some photos of some other places we visited for you to see. Hope you like them dad!

On our way to the blue mountains

Waiting to go in the sky lift. It is a long  way above the ground but we are very excited!

Not a lot to see as it was raining but we did find another Monty!

We stopped at lots of lookouts on the way up the mountais, and even managed to find a naughty named beach!!

We wrote out Dad's birthday card in the huuuuge campervan

We had a wet day and visited lakes and water falls. It was so wet on the last one that we had to go inside granny Viv's bag!

Now it's time for us to let aunty Amy and granny Viv get on  with their holiday so we are staying in the van and reading the books that they collect on their way.

 See you soon dad and hope you had a great birthday x

p.s We are very flapped off at what being upside down does to gadgets! Neither with the help of Granny Viv or Aunty Amy can we get the text to fit in the right places!! We'll just have to share our adventures when we get home x

Save Splitz DV Support Service - Bristol City Council

Save Splitz DV Support Service - Bristol City Council .

please take time to look and sign my petition to save this valuable service in Bristol.

Save Splitz DV Support Service - Bristol City Council

Save Splitz DV Support Service - Bristol City Council .

please take time to look and sign my petition to save this valuable service in Bristol.

Addiction

Addiction comes in many forms. One definition is:

Addiction is the continued use of a mood altering substance or behaviour despite adverse consequences.

I have found myself addicted to one certain behaviour for the last 8 or so years. For nearly 2 years I have been trying to quit but every time I say 'This is the last time' I end up doing it again a few months down the line. I know that it is not doing me any good, although I do enjoy it, and there will never be a happy ending but for some reason I just can not let go.

Tonight, once again I have said 'This is the last time' and I am hoping that I do not relapse again but I think I know that I can not let go, ever, and will be writing this all again in a couple of months time.

Phone Call From Afar

My daughter phoned me today all the way from Australia. The house phone rang, I answered and she said "Oh I phoned the wrong phone" She phoned back on my mobile. She was phoning for a purpose and not just a chat.
The reason why she had to ring my mobile was so I could go hunting in her room to find the list of things she wanted me to sent to her. One by one I found the items she asked for but there were some things she wanted that I would have to buy.

Chocolate

Tan tights

Black tights

Dove deodorant 

(The kind that don't leave white marks) 

Off to Asda I went. I figured I could buy everything there and then wrap the parcel and see how much it weighed. I have a limit of 2 kilos. Of course if there is spare weight she would like more chocolate!

The clothes are the first thing you come to when entering the shop so I go straight to get the tights, easy I thought.

The black tights were easy to find and i put a pack of 3 size small into my basket.
Now I don't know who decides where things get put on show in Asda but whoever it is they have no sense at all. I'm looking for a pack of small tan tights, small cause my daughter, and me, are only short. I start at the bottom of the rack, as that is where you would expect to find the small ones, right? No. At the bottom were the ex-large ones and yes the small ones were right at the top. They were so far up I couldn't even read the colour on the packs. I looked around for an assistant but there was no one in sight so decided I would get the stool from the shoe aisle and stand on it to get the tights down.

The stool was quite firm so I had no problem getting on it to look at all of the packs at the top. I searched each rack but they didn't have any so I proceeded to get off the stool. The first foot touch down on the floor and I let go of the rack I had been gripping in case I fell. My second foot decided it wasn't going to come with me so easily. It stuck itself to the cushion of the stool and would not budge. Next thing I know I'm on the floor, falling with a bang as my thigh makes contact with the hard tiled flooring, the stool falling on top of me. I looked around quickly, hoping that no one had seen me but unfortunately there were 2 men at the end of the aisle. They had been looking at kids clothes until they heard the clatter of me falling.

I looked away hoping they would just ignore me but no chance of that. One of the men walked up to me with concern on his face, which was kind of sweet, and asked if I was ok. Of course I said I was fine and mumbled something about the tights and turned and walked away trying not to limb.

I still have to find tan tights in small so Tesco it is tomorrow. I'm hoping a short woman had the job of designing the layout of the tights section cause you can be sure that will be the only way I will find the small ones on the bottom rack.

Australia Get Ready!

Sometime towards the end of last year my daughter came home from work, swung open the door and announced she had 2 bits of good news to tell me. I can't remember what the first one was as I was so shocked by the second one I can't remember a thing of what she said before it.
She said she had decided to go travelling to Australia. This was the first I knew that she was even thinking about it. She's obviously not leant the knack of breaking news gently.
This was my baby girl, the girl that came home nearly every weekend when she was at uni, telling me she was off to the other side of the world. After a million and one questions from me she managed to calm my nerves and help me see the benefits of a year away from all of her family, working and travelling in a strange country where she knew no one.

She has been gone since 25th May and judging by the photo's on Facebook, she's having a fab time.

She's sunbathed on the beach in the middle of winter

Sat outside the stadium where the Loins beat the Aussie's, cheering at the top of her voice

Been to watch an Aussie Rules football match

And is planning on a bungee jump and sky dive!

I asked myself how could I let her enjoy herself and not be a part of it? So I've decided to get the whole of February off work and go and join her. All I have to do is book the flight and leave the rest of the arrangements up to her.

Roll on next February....I can't wait!

James Blunt - Goodbye My Lover Always makes me Think

Queen - Love of my life (Rock Montreal 1981) - HD 720

Why I'm Divorced

Why I'm Divorced

Last week was my birthday and I didn't feel very well waking up on that morning.

I went downstairs for breakfast hoping my husband would be pleasant and say, 'Happy Birthday!', and possibly have a small present for me.

As it turned out, he barely said good morning, let alone ' Happy Birthday..'

I thought....well, that's marriage for you, but the kids..... they will remember.

My kids came bouncing down stairs to breakfast and didn't say a word. So when I left for the office I felt pretty low and somewhat despondent.

As I walked into my office, my handsome boss Rick, said, 'Good morning, lady, and by the way Happy Birthday!' It felt a little better that at least someone had remembered.

I worked until one o'clock, when Rick knocked on my door and said, 'You know, It's such a beautiful day outside, and it is your birthday, what do you say we go out to lunch, just you and me.'

I said, 'Thanks, Rick, that's the greatest thing I've heard all day. Let's go!'

We went to lunch. But we didn't go where we normally would go. He chose instead a quiet bistro with a private table. We had two martinis each and I enjoyed the meal tremendously.

On the way back to the office, Rick said, 'You know, It's such a beautiful day...we don't need to go straight back to the office, do we?'

I responded, 'I guess not. What do you have in mind?'

He said, 'Let's drop by my place, it's just around the corner.'

After arriving at his house, Rick turned to me and said, 'If you don't mind, I'm going to step into the bedroom for just a moment. I'll be right back.'

'Ok.' I nervously replied.

He went into the bedroom and, after a couple of minutes, he came out carrying a huge birthday cake, followed by my husband, my kids, and dozens of my friends and co-workers, all singing 'Happy Birthday'.

And I just sat there....

on the couch....

naked. 

Don't Tell My Mother i'm in Iran

The one country I want to visit before I die!

Thoughts From A While Ago.......Talking

My Brother's Wedding (Party Time)

A great weekend was had at the wedding of my brother last week. We travelled down from Bristol to Plymouth on Friday, went shopping in Plymouth city centre and then went to check all was well with my brother. After a coffee and a catch up with the gossip, we headed off for the bridge which would lead us to Cornwall and The China Fleet Club.

After putting our things into our apartments we went for a swim in the pool complete with water slide. My nephew, his wife and children had also arrived and were soon in the pool, children splashing about and the adult on the water slide.

The day merged into night and we found ourselves in the bar. Family together who had not seen each over for a while had a lot of news to catch up on and at 11pm the bar stall locked up the drink and left us to it. Of course we made sure we had stocked up on our drinks before they left.

When our drinks ran out we decided to go back to my daughters apartment and carry on our family party there with more drinks and games on the xbox connect. The Olympics played it's part in the games we played and the hurdles seem quite hard when you've had a bit too much to drink! 

Heading back to our own apartments at 3am we tried to get to sleep in order to be up by 8am to get ready for the day of the wedding.

8.30 and the bride was having her make-up and hair done. Next it was the bridesmaids turn, who both looked lovely, and then time for us all to get dressed up and make our way to the ceremony.

Both the bride and groom got very emotional which set most of us watching off, with tears rolling down the faces of nearly every woman there and many of the men.

Meal, speeches and party time again. Everyone one had a great night and it seemed to all go too fast.

It was a great weekend and there's only one thing left to say:

Congratulation to my brother Mike and his new wife Leah, the newest addition to the Whitlock family.

The Whitlock side of the family in a rare family photo.

Travis - Why Does It Always Rain On Me... I forgot I Liked This :))

Be Warned

Russell Howard - Live At The Apollo - Now This Should Make Me Smile

Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) - official video