Julie's Jottings

Ch...ch...changes

2012-01-28T18:40:00.000Z

Just a very quick post to explain that a few changes are happening around here. Firstly, in terms of my blog layout and design, I've added a couple of new buttons and also created some new pages which I'll be updating in the near future. Secondly, I'll also be making a real effort to post a lot more frequently. I don't exactly know where my blogging mojo has been for all these months but it seems to have well and truly returned, and I've got lots of ideas for posts safely tucked away. Some will mark the return of old features (Highs and Lows, weekend round ups, recipes and fashion posts), whereas others will be something new (I've got plans to write a series of reviews and I also want to experiment with beauty blogging). In addition, I'll also be revisiting many of the tags and memes I've participated in since I started blogging, and seeing just how much I've changed in the meantime! I know I've made similar claims before, but this really does feel like a new start for me and my blog and I'm really excited about starting to post regularly again!

And this, dear readers, is where you come in! Whilst my blog is first and foremost an outlet for personal expression and a place for me to explore my passions and interests and share what's important to me, it would be nothing without people to read it. So I'm asking you to have a read through my previous posts and tell me what works for you (and what doesn't), or just think about the kind of posts that you enjoy reading on your favourite blogs and let me know. The more ideas, the better as far as I'm concerned!

Anyway, that's all for now. Til next time...

Today I'm grateful for...

2011-12-06T20:15:00.001Z

A much needed lie in and getting up at nearly 10:00 am
Cosy cardigans and stylish yet comfortable boots
A random conversation with a stranger which brightened up a boring wait in a slow moving queue
A free mince pie to go with my Christmas coffee
Good news from my friends and family
Twinkling lights and beautifully decorated houses
The fact that my pesky cold seems to be on the way out (fingers crossed!)
A three day working week (I've been on holiday yesterday and today), then a full weekend off! :-) To say I'm excited may be a little understatement!!

What are you grateful for today? Drop me a line and let me know...can't wait to hear from you!

'Til next time...

Christmas is coming...

2011-12-05T16:34:00.000Z

and I've definitely been in a festive mood over the last couple of days. Maybe it's down to the fact that we've started putting our Christmas decorations up or that I watched a local theatre company's pantomime yesterday afternoon. And it definitely could also be a result of the present wrapping, Christmas card writing and festive music listening I've been doing today. It might even be because of the chilly direction the weather has finally taken; there may have been the teensiest bit of snow last night which would mark the first of the winter here in Manchester. But whatever the cause of this Christmassy feeling, the result is still the same: a sense of contentment and good cheer that not even a pesky cold can dampen :-)

So in honour of my new found Christmas spirit, I thought I'd share a few of my favourite Christmas themed craft and decoration ideas from Pinterest...hope you enjoy!! Oh,and if you're a pinner too, let me know. Or follow me. Or better still, both!!

Source: cache.elizabethannedesigns.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: darlingdoodles.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: creativetryals.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: redheadscraftmorefun.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: carlyrobertson.typepad.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: pughs-news.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

And that's all for now. 'Til next time...

My Christmas To-Do List

2011-11-30T12:16:00.000Z

Today is November 30th. And that, my friends, means 2 things. Firstly, it's December tomorrow! Can you believe it? I certainly can't; this year has gone by faster than any I've ever known. And secondly, Christmas is only 25 days away!! I'm so excited...even if I am working up to Christmas Eve :-( However, that doesn't mean I'm going to miss out on any of the Christmas spirit. I've already bought most of my Christmas presents, sampled the festive offerings at Starbucks and visited Manchester's Christmas Markets and I've got much more planned besides. And inspired by Amy over at Just a Titch who posted her Holiday To-Do List a couple of weeks back and Elizabeth at E Tells Tales who wrote about her Christmas traditions in her most recent post, I've decided to create my own Christmas To-Do List. And here it is:

Help decorate my house this weekend...we always do this on the first full weekend in December, it's tradition!
Enjoy more festive food and drink at Starbucks...I'm especially excited by their "12 days of gifting" promotion :-)
Make more solo and group trips to the Manchester Christmas Markets and indulge in hot chocolate with whipped cream, delicious freshly made Belgian waffles and maybe even a cheeky mulled wine ;-)
Bake Christmas goodies...I'll be breaking out my old favourites like gingerbread and chocolate Christmas pudding truffles,as well as trying some new recipes too...so watch this space!
Wrapping all of my Christmas presents and writing some Christmas cards, preferably with a soundtrack of Christmas favourites or with a Christmas film playing in the background.
And on the topic of Christmas films, I'll definitely be watching the following this festive season: Elf, Love Actually and The Holiday. I'll also make sure I slip in a little Kiss Kiss Bang Bang...my favourite non-traditional Christmas film bar none :-)
Attending the candlelight carol service at my family church
Hopefully spending Christmas Eve with my closest friends, chatting, maybe listening to Christmas tunes and sharing in the Christmas spirit

And there we have it! So all that remains is for me to ask you, what are your Christmas traditions? Have you made a to-do list? Let me know...it'd be great to hear from you!

'Til next time,

Julie

A weekly round up

2011-11-13T19:45:00.000Z

And what a week it's been! With full time work, a lovely but busy day off midweek and a particularly hectic weekend all on the agenda, it's certainly been jampacked with both the good and bad (although I'm pleased to report that the good most definitely won out!). I could write a whole series of posts about what I've been up to, although for the sake of time, convenience and your boredom thresholds, I think I'll limit it to just one :-). And so, without any more waffling, here are the highlights (and low points) of the week that was:

Highs

A bumper birthday weekend: This weekend has been full of birthday celebrations for some of my nearest and dearest, and I've had a simply fantastic time! On Friday night, I went to Pacifica Cantonese to celebrate my friend, The Performer's, 28th. I ate some of the best Chinese food I've ever tasted (the ribs were to die for), caught up with good friends and enjoyed cocktails and karaoke in the restaurant's upstairs bar. I was having such a good time that I certainly didn't want to go home and have an early night in preparation for work the next day ;-) (more on that later)! Then last night, I headed over to Felicini's, for another friend's surprise 30th. It was another night filled with fun, laughter, singing, dancing, food and alcohol, and it was made all the sweeter by the knowledge that I could have a lie in this morning! :-) Finally, this morning, my family and I visited my Grandad to celebrate his 92nd birthday with him. He's such a caring and generous person and a true gentleman, and I'm so glad that I still have a grandparent around to share their special day with. We ate cake, took photos and had a lovely time all round...pretty much a perfect Sunday morning.

A new Christmas favourite: Yes, I know it's not Christmas yet but today my 2 sisters and I watched Arthur Christmas at the cinema. After hearing good things about the film prior to watching it, it would have been very easy to be disappointed with the reality of it, but it more than lived up to my expectations. It was both funny and moving in turn (I'm not ashamed to say that I welled up on more than one occasion, all I can say is thank goodness for my 3D glasses), and it's definitely an addition to my list of must watch festive films.

Primark goodies: Regular readers of my blog will know of my love for Primark, and there's nothing I like better than going on a shopping spree there. And it felt even better as I was able to pay for all my purchases using money given to me by my Grandad (I told you he was generous!) I picked up some fantastic pieces, and I can't wait to share them all with you in a "What's in my Wardrobe Wednesday" post :-)

Catching up with friends: Due to my work schedule of the last few weeks,I've had very little time to socialise so it's been great to really reconnect with good friends over the past few days. I know a few weeks doesn't sound like very long, but when I've previously been used to seeing some of these people two or three times a week, it really feels like it!

Exciting events ahead: Last night I received an invitation to the wedding reception of two of my friends (the Comedian and the Enigma). They're planning an Easter wedding in Florida, but are throwing a big party for all their friends and family at the start of June. Even though it's months away,I'm already excited as I think about the good times that lie ahead.

Lows

Work worries: By nature, I'm a bit of a worrier and I seem to worry about work more than most.I worry that I'm not good enough at my job, and in areas where I know there is room for improvement,I worry that I'm never going to get better. It doesn't matter that there are areas of my work that I've been praised for, or the fact that I've only been out of training for 4 weeks and am still learning the ropes, I just seem to dwell on the negative. Here's hoping that I can have a more positive attitude next week!

Rude customers: I appreciate that not every customer I deal with during a shift is going to be happy and upbeat, and I can understand people being upset or angry if they are not happy with a situation they've found themselves in. That's only natural. But what I can't abide is customers who are rude or shout at me from the word go. It is not my fault they're experiencing the issues they are, so to talk down to me and blame me for their problems is not on. At the end of the day, I'm doing my utmost to help them, so to have that kind of attitude makes me seethe.

Hangovers and bumpy rides: So Friday night, I went out and maybe drank a little more and got home a little later than I should have done. And on Saturday morning, I might have just gone back to sleep after my alarm had gone off and had to rush to catch my bus. And there is just the teensiest possibility that I felt a little queasy and the bus jolting up and down didn't really help. But all of that's just speculation of course...! ;-)

Darker mornings and nights: I really wish it wasn't still dark when I got up in the mornings and dark when I leave at night, even if I'm only working 'til 5. That is all.

And there you have it...another week summarised! 'Til next time...

Baking with Julie: Spiced fruit cookies

2011-10-23T11:55:00.000+01:00

As long time readers of my blog may know, one of my favourite ways to spend my leisure time is to bake and on my day off on Thursday, I was delighted to get the time to do just that. Inspired by the falling leaves and cooler temperatures of the last couple of weeks, I was feeling decidedly autumnal, so when it came to choosing a recipe,it seemed only natural to plump for one of my autumn favourites; these spiced fruit cookies that feature in The Australian Women's Weekly Complete Book of Cupcakes and Baking. I've tried and failed to find a link to this book online, but if you're based in the UK, it's available from WH Smith and it comes highly recommended!

Spiced Fruit Cookies (or Crunchy Muesli Cookies if you prefer the book's name for them!)

Source: Slightly adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Complete Book of Cupcakes and Baking.

Ingredients

90g rolled oats
150g plain flour (I used self raising instead)
220g caster sugar ( I used granulated sugar)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ( I always use mixed spice; it's just a personal preference)
35g dried cranberries (I replaced these with 40g of glacé cherries, finely chopped )
55g finely chopped dried apricots (I replaced these with 50g raisins)
70g slivered almonds (Didn't use or substitute anything in their place)
125g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (Omitted as I used self raising flour)
1 tablespoon boiling water

Method

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (I preheated mine to 160/ Gas Mark 3 as I find that extra 10 degrees really does make a difference!) and grease and line baking trays.
Combine the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, dried fruit and nuts (if using) in a large bowl.
Melt the butter with the golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat; add the bicarbonate of soda (if using) and boiling water. Stir the warm butter mixture into the dry ingredients.
Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls, place on trays 5cm/2 inches apart and flatten with hand. Bake for about 20 minutes (I baked mine for nearer to 30), then cool cookies on trays before transferring to wire racks.
Eat and enjoy!!

Makes: 36 (I usually make 22-24 as I generally make mine them than the suggested size).

So there you have it: a really tasty and easy recipe that makes you think of autumn with every bite (it does with me, anyway!) If you're interested in more recipes, stay tuned as I'm planning to bake on at least one of my days off every week and I'm definitely going to share the results with you all.

'Til next time...

Julie

PS: I can only apologise for the lack of photos in this post. I was fully intending to take them as I went along, but forgot. I then decided to take a picture of the finished product but by the time I got round to it, they'd all been eaten!! At least I know the recipe works, I suppose!

10 Things...my new job has taught me.

2011-10-21T12:10:00.002+01:00

I'm back! Even if it has taken me 6 weeks longer than I promised (but I'm going to choose to ignore that!). Seriously, this new job has taken over my life in a way that I really hadn't considered before I started it; I've even had dreams about it for goodness' sake!! But in the midst of all this craziness, I've been learning. Not just about the policies, systems and procedures that come as part and parcel of my role, but also about what working full time is really like (I've not done it for ages, don't judge!) and even more about myself as an individual. And as a little gentle intro into blogging again, I'd thought I'd share a few of these discoveries with you. Some are serious, others a little more tongue in cheek, but valid all the same.

It seems that whatever job I take on, I will always be a worrier. I'm always going to get stressed and think that I'm terrible at what I'm doing. I have my fingers crossed that this will subside with time, and take at least a little comfort from the fact that the customers I'm dealing with can't see me panicking!
It is possible to be completely exhausted by doing seemingly no more than sitting staring at a screen all day. And in the same vein, it is not beyond the realms of possibility to be falling asleep before 9:00 PM.
A full time job can render a person seemingly incapable of blogging and checking emails for a very long time. Well, in my case anyway!
Payday is the best day of the month, bar none. And if it should happen to fall on your last day of work before some time off, then all the better!!
Never have your lunch outside on a beautifully warm and sunny day; you won't want to go back inside to work. Ever.
The days you get off work are so much more precious when you don't have that many off them.
The people who work in call centres are so much more diverse than I ever would have thought. From teenagers fresh out of college to middle aged men and women seeking a career change plus young graduates in the fields of architecture, American studies and law, to name just 3. A random mix of people, with one thing in common.
My wardrobe is even larger than I would have given it credit for. Over the last (almost) 7 weeks, I have been able to wear something different practically every day. Despite this, however, shopping is definitely still the first thing on my mind come payday.
And whilst we're on the subject of clothes; picking an outfit for a "normal" work day: generally pretty straightforward. Selecting something to wear for "dress down" day: so much harder!!
The job of the communications manager seems to be nothing more than sitting around and sending emails. This may or may not be one of the reasons why I want her post for myself!! ;-)

And there it is. Keep your eyes peeled for another blog post soon (ish!) It may be 2 days, it could be 2 months (but hopefully not the latter!!)

'Til next time...

My September Issue...

2011-09-02T11:48:00.000+01:00

Well, here I am with my first post of the new month and I can't honestly believe that we're in September already. I know I'm probably guilty of saying the same thing every year but this one is absolutely flying by; why, it only seems like last week that I was on my way home from my New Year's getaway! However,I'm not altogether sad that August is over,simply because I'm really looking forward to September. As a child and young adult, the month was one for making fresh starts. One of excitement for seeing friends and learning new things and anticipation of what the year ahead would bring. It was a time that I looked forward to and (generally) welcomed with open arms. But sometime over the last few years, my perception shifted. Whilst working as a supply teacher, September brought with it a fear of the unknown as I faced the reality that I could be pitched into an unfamiliar environment with a potentially challenging class, at very short notice. The month made me feel edgy, yet ultimately frustrated as I spent morning after morning working myself into a state of anxiety and tension, only to find that I had been worrying for no need as the call from my agency simply didn't come. Even when working as a full time teacher, I didn't have an easy time of it over those first few weeks. I was stressed, tired and doubted my ability to be good at my job. From being a time I welcomed, September became a month I largely endured and even my attempts to be motivated, upbeat and in control generally failed. To be frank, I longed for September to come and go and October to arrive, bringing with it the promise of more supply work and also the promise of a welcome week away from the stresses of my situation, in the form of the autumn half term.

This year, however, things were different and I was once again filled with a sense of delicious anticipation at September's arrival. Whilst for the most part this was due to my new job, which I start in a few days, there are also several other reasons why I'm savouring the thought of September. And here they are:

Putting on a show with my drama group: After a few months of rehearsals, my drama group's new show "Movie and Musical Magic" will take place later on this month. It's been a somewhat bumpy road to get to this point, with directorial tensions, choreography disasters and some lyrics learning issues, but we've come through them stronger as a group and I can't wait to get on stage and perform!

Murder and Mystery: It's my friend "The Actor's"annual murder mystery night in just over a week and I'm really looking forward to it. Not only do we all get a chance to adopt a different persona and engage in some acting, which I obviously love, but there's also mystery and secrets galore, and as a real fan of detective fiction and crime dramas on TV, the atmosphere at this type of event is right up my street. And then of course there's the fact that I get to socialise with my friends...well, what more can I say?! I'm in love! <3

Cake, Candles and Celebration: With an extended group of friends, it's no surprise that we seem to be celebrating birthdays almost every month and September is no exception. A quick flick through my mental calendar tells me that this month I've been invited to the 70th birthday party of a friend from my drama group and that it's also my uncle's birthday, which we'll probably celebrate with a special family lunch. Added to that there's my friend The Enigma's 30th, another friend's 20th and the birthday of one the sweetest friends I've ever known fast approaching, so I think it's a fair bet to say there'll be some celebrating going on!

Money, Money, Money: With a new job obviously comes some new income and as someone who's been either off work or working part time for the majority of the year, I'm majorly excited to be earning a "proper" wage once again. And as my start date at work has been moved forward from 19th September to 5th (it's Monday people!!), it means that I'll get paid much sooner than I was anticipating. What can I say other than I'm drafting my wishlist already! :-)

And just before I sign off, I thought I'd share this lovely from Pinterest which just about sums up the meaning of September to me:

Source: zazzle.com via Julie on Pinterest

Till next time...

A work in progress...

2011-08-31T00:01:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post tonight which will hopefully explain two things. Firstly, the current state of my blog and secondly, as well as most excitingly,my plans for its future. With regards to the former, despite the fact that I have had a great deal of free time on my hands over the last few weeks as a result of being forced to leave my former job earlier than expected and then being offered a new one in quick succession, I have found that I have had very little to blog about. Whilst having a few weeks of unexpected holiday sounds lovely, the reality is that I have often been bored and done very little worth writing about. And as much as I enjoy blogging (which I truly do), it's hard to find the motivation to write a post when you're not in the right frame of mind yourself. Not to mention the fact that any post I did write in such a mood wouldn't probably be worth sharing with anyone!

But that's enough of the past and present; now let's look to the future. Over the past few days I've done some thinking and have realised that I really want to keep my blog going over the next few months and beyond. However, given my recent track record, I've realised that the only way to do this is to get organised and I know that this will be especially important when I'm working full time. My plan is to draft each week's posts (3 or 4 minimum) a little in advance and then I won't be faced with staring blankly at the computer screen when it's time to blog. I'm not, however, intending to schedule my posts as, for me, one of the main attractions of blogging is the fact that I can share my thoughts and feelings on current issues to a potentially worldwide audience. If something moves me on a particular day, I want the freedom to write about it there and then, not when my posting schedule dictates. And as for content...well that's been something else that I've been giving some thought to. I'm intending to keep some old favourites going... my "Highs and Lows" will still be a regular feature and "What's in my Wardrobe Wednesday" and baking posts will also be making a re-appearance. I also have plans for new features...I'm thinking about reviews, beauty posts and even more fashion as well as general randomness, memes and discussion of much deeper issues too!

So please bear with me just a little bit longer...the new and improved Julie's Jottings will be with you very soon :-)

Till next time...

August so far...my highs and lows

2011-08-16T22:09:00.000+01:00

Once again, it's been a couple of weeks since my last post...I really don't know where the time goes! I haven't just been sat there doing nothing though, there's been plenty, both bad and good, to keep me busy and those things are exactly what I'm going to share with you today.

Highs

Exciting baby news: One of my closest friends (I'll call her the "Animal Lover")announced last week that she was expecting her first baby, who's due in late February/early March. It was a lovely surprise and I'm overjoyed for both her and her boyfriend ("The Biker"). I just can't wait until there's another baby in the group to spoil!

Housewarming fun: In keeping with the major life changes theme, two of my friends (The Comedian and The Enigma) have recently bought their first home together and a couple of Saturdays ago, I spent the evening at their housewarming barbecue. It was just a wonderful night filled with fabulous food (including more crisps on one table than I'd ever seen before!), random conversations and Kinect fun and I hope that we'll be able to do it all over again very soon.

Adding another recipe to my tried and tested favourites: Unsure of what to give the friends mentioned above as a housewarming present (they'd already been living together previously and I had no idea of what they wanted/needed), I decided to bake something and buy a pretty tin to put it in. My flavour of choice was chocolate...I didn't actually know what the couple liked, but reasoned that everyone loves chocolate! My first thought was brownies, but having never made them before, I decided not to risk an untested recipe. Then I remembered the chocolate cake recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly Complete Book of Cupcakes and Baking (I've tried and failed to find a link to this book on the net...if you want this recipe, let me know and I'll post it on here/email you) and I was pretty sure I was on to a winner. First off, my sister had made it before for a friend who had said it was gorgeous and secondly, all the recipes in the book are triple tested, so are pretty much guaranteed to work :-). And work it did...I divided the mixture into bun cases so I would have some cakes for my friends and some for home, and they were enjoyed by all! My mum said they were one of the best things I'd ever made, a friend of a friend said they were fantastic and I received a lovely text off the Enigma the next day saying how much she and her fiancé the Comedian had enjoyed them. I just love baking and it makes me even happier when people close to me can enjoy it too :-)

Fantastic friends on Facebook: Last week I received some very good news of my own and when I shared it on Facebook, I was overwhelmed with the support and good wishes I received from my friends. From people of my own age, but also of my parents' generation. From friends who I had seen just the day before, to those who I hadn't seen for years. From old school friends to people I've met much more recently. The congratulations flooded in from all directions, and to say I was touched was an understatement. Sometimes when I'm feeling low I tell myself that no-one cares about me or takes notice of what I have to say, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that that's not true. I am loved and cared about more than I've ever realised and that makes me feel incredibly thankful.

And now on to my big news of the last couple of weeks:

I have a new job!! Remember my last post where I alluded to some big changes that might be happening in my work life? Well, it turns out that it was more relevant than I ever thought possible. The day after publishing that post, I received a text from a major banking group that I had previously done an online application for asking me to call their recruitment centre for a telephone interview. I did so and answered 3 mental arithmetic questions and a couple of competency based questions, as well as discussing my recent work history with a very nice man, and was pleased when he announced that I had made it through to the next stage aka the face to face interview, which I booked for last Wednesday. I spent quite a bit of time preparing for the interview and felt I did OK. I wasn't, however, overly confident, partly because I've stumbled at this stage so many times before and partly because I kept analysing my responses to the questions over and over and came up with more and more things I felt I could have done better. I'd been told that it could take up to 10 working days to be informed of the outcome and so I settled down to a long wait for the seemingly inevitable. Imagine my surprise then when I received a phone call from the company explaining that they had managed to get things fast tracked through HR and they were pleased to tell me that I'd been successful!! I won't go into too many details here, as I really feel that the job deserves a post of its own, but I can tell you I'm going to be starting on 19th September, and am really looking forward to this new challenge!! :-)

Lows

Riots in Greater Manchester (as well as nationwide): Last week there was some of the worst rioting and looting that has ever been seen in England and whilst it was mainly centred around London, on Tuesday last week it also hit Salford and Manchester city centre, only a matter of miles from where I live. The pictures on the TV and news feeds on the internet didn't seem quite real and I was shocked at some of the stories I was reading. An Oxfam shop being looted. A Miss Selfridge shop and a housing office being set on fire. People smashing windows and forcing shutters. None of it really hit home until the next day when I was walking in the centre of town and saw the damage with my own eyes. I just couldn't believe that people could do that to their own city. But as in all of the other places affected by last week's unrest, the community has pulled together and become stronger as a result. On Wednesday morning, for example, as I walked through town after my interview I saw groups of young people wearing protective gloves and armed with rubbish bags all ready to part in the clear up. And today, whilst my sister Amy and I were shopping in Manchester we saw this:

Image taken from here

It's the Manchester Peace Wall, and in the few days since this photo was taken, it's become absolutely filled with post-it notes expressing people's love for the city as well as disgust at the looters and their actions. Amy and I both wrote our own notes and stuck them on the wall, and I just feel really privileged to contribute to such a powerful representation of Manchester's spirit.

Unexpected work developments and lack of money: News of my new job couldn't have come at a better time as, due to lack of funding, I had to finish my previous job a few weeks earlier than anticipated. I'm going to really have to tighten my belt over the next couple of months or so, and when I consider the number of friends' birthdays that are coming up, it's going to be easier said than done! I'm trying to look on the bright side though...at least I'm still living at home so there are no major bills to pay and I can also have fun finding low-cost ways to enjoy myself! :-)

And that's all for now. Till next time...

From dreams to reality...

2011-08-02T22:56:00.000+01:00

In my most vivid dream last night I was pregnant. And I was absolutely overjoyed. There was a constant stream of happiness bubbling up inside me which threatened to spill out if someone so much as congratulated me on my fantastic news. Hell, I didn't even care when I felt nauseous, so ecstatic was I about the new life growing inside of me. And then I woke up...no baby, no happiness or excitement. Instead I felt bereft, empty. Despite the fact that I'm not actually in any position to have children at this point in my life and I enjoy the sense of freedom and lack of responsibility that being single with no dependants gives me, there it was. A feeling of loneliness and emptiness that, truth be told, is to a certain degree still lingering over 12 hours on.

But this post isn't really about my dream, it's more about my reality...my life today. You see, as someone who is quite into dream meanings and interpretations, one of my first instincts was to try to decipher what my pregnancy dream meant; how it translated into my real life. Now, the night before I had read the happy news that one of my Facebook friends was expecting and I had spent some time looking at some photos of my friend's gorgeous boys, so there's no doubt that these events may have had an influence on the content of my dream. However, I've done these things before and have never dreamed so vividly about pregnancy. I also see news of friends getting engaged and/or married on a regular basis these days and I could probably count on one hand the number of wedding dreams I've had. To put it simply, I was convinced there was some deeper meaning so off I set to look it up. And this is what I found:

To dream that you are pregnant, symbolizes an aspect of yourself or some aspect of your personal life that is growing and developing. You may not be ready to talk about it or act on it. Being pregnant in your dream may also represent the birth of a new idea, direction, project or goal.

Thanks Dream Moods Dictionary!!

It's safe to say that this interpretation definitely resonates with me. My life seems like it's at a crossroads right now and I may well head in a direction that I never would have expected. I've been actively searching for a new job and have come to the conclusion that it may not be in education. And most of the time, I'm ok with that. In fact, there are times when I'm more than ok, as I relish the prospect of new challenges and the opportunity to explore skills and interests that have been put aside in my current job. There are also a number of projects that I'm making a start on. Yesterday and today, I made the first steps in decluttering, organising and tidying my room and I intend for this to be a major and long lasting change. I've updated the photos on my online dating profile and as soon I get time in between working, tidying and job hunting, I'll hopefully start dating again. And after a pair of jeans failed to fit me the other night, it's also my goal to eat more healthily and do more exercise!!

So even though my dream left me feeling sad, I'm aiming to take only positive things from it. I may not be pregnant yet, but I don't want to be right now. There's time enough for that ahead. Instead, I'll think about the new opportunities that are presenting themselves to me and the positive changes I'm making. For now, the growing and developing is about me and my babies are the projects, goals and ideas I'm making happen!! :-)

'Til next time...xx

Last week's Highs and Lows

2011-07-13T22:18:00.000+01:00

Yes, I know it's Wednesday and we're nearly half way through this week already, but I'm really aiming to make my "Highs and Lows" posts a regular series again, so I'm starting as I mean to go on! Better late than never, that's my motto!

And so on to last week...there were a few seemingly small, yet meaningful highs mixed with a couple of definite lows but, most importantly, it was a positive one overall and I ended it looking forward to the week ahead :-) . So without further ado, here's what had me beaming from ear to ear or down in the dumps last week:

Highs

Finding £60 I'd forgotten I had: I was looking for something,opened one of drawers and bam...there it was! A quick check with my mum later, and I established that it was definitely mine to ~~keep~~ spend. :-) Exactly what I needed in these tight financial times!

A couple of shorter (and quieter) afternoons at work: Last week, the 5 year old boy I act as support worker for had a couple of taster sessions at the school he'll be starting in September. And as his support worker, I accompanied him. The upshot of this was a happy little boy...he loved joining in with all the activities the school had to offer and was really keen to get on well with both his new classmates and the staff working there, as well as a very happy Julie! My afternoons were pretty much stress free due to his excellent behaviour (a radical departure from some days at the nursery) and the fact that I only worked half my usual hours for the two days, but was still paid for the full afternoon each time, made them even sweeter. A definite high in my book.

Midweek curry night and making winter plans with friends: Last Wednesday night, a few friends and I headed to our local pub for their curry night...curry with all the sides plus a free drink for a bargain price and I'm definitely in! We ate, we drank and also made tentative plans for the winter weekend away I discussed in this post. All in all, it was a lovely relaxing night, perfect for recharging our batteries midweek, and something that I hope we'll repeat sooner rather than later.

Baking for the first time in AGES: Over the last couple of months, my weekends have been so filled with job applications and other things to get done that any plans to bake have fallen right by the wayside. But last Saturday, with no job applications imminent, I decided to get my baking head on and made 2 batches of flapjacks; one with sultanas and cherries and the other with chocolate chips. Both were delicious (if I do say so myself!) although I don't think I added quite enough liquid to the choc chip batch as they ended up harder and more crunchy than the fruit ones; they kind of reminded of Nature Valley bars. Very tasty, but not so good for your teeth!

Spending time with the cutest class ever: Last Friday, I had a job interview and whilst I was at the school I had the opportunity to meet one of the classes. And oh my gosh, they were amongst the sweetest children I had ever met. Bright, friendly and full of fun, they had a knack of making me feel instantly at ease and I absolutely adored the time I spent with them. Plus I walked away with a number of pictures they'd made for me, which is always a reliable measure of a good day at school in my book!

A couple of long lie ins: Whilst I don't have to get up too early for work in the week, I do have to set my alarm so I really appreciated just being able to sleep until the time nature intended last weekend. After 9:30? Don't mind if I do!

Lows

Not getting the job: Before last Friday, I'd had 2 other job interviews this year. I was unsuccessful on both occasions, and whilst the rejection stung, I wasn't overly upset, probably because I wasn't 100% sure that the jobs or schools were right for me. Friday was different. I really wanted the job. Then I went to the school, met the children and wanted it even more. Everything just seemed to fit: the role I'd be taking on, the ethos of the school, the welcoming attitudes of everyone I met plus the fact that I thought my interview had gone reasonably well. And then I got the call (well, actually the answerphone message as I was working at the time the headteacher rang): I hadn't got it. And let me tell you, it hurt. It hurt like hell. I'd wanted it so badly and there was nothing I could do. Except cry and feel like a massive failure (which I did). And then I dusted myself down and waited for feedback (I'm still waiting now). And so the job hunting starts again...

My grandad going into hospital: My grandad has been in and out of the hospital over the past week and a half or so. Nothing major but after 3 hospital trips in 4 days, mainly due to minor falls, they decided to keep in him for a few days whilst they worked on his mobility. He finally came out of hospital today, and fingers crossed that, with his new mobility aids and a few adjustments that have been made at his home, he won't be making a return journey any time soon :-)

And that's pretty much it! Hope you're having a good week so far...I'm already thinking of things that can go on my next highs and lows list!!

'Til next time...

Thursday Thoughts Round 2

2011-07-07T18:31:00.000+01:00

So, I was sat here facing a familiar predicament...I wanted to blog but I had NO idea what to write about. Then it hit me...It's Thursday! Now at this point you'll probably be thinking "Well, that's all well and good but what's that go to do with anything?" Well, I'll tell you. As it's Thursday, I can just have a complete ramble, call the resulting post "Thursday Thoughts" and feel absolutely legitimised in doing so :-). So, without further ado, here's what I'm thinking about this Thursday:

A Christmas or New Year getaway: Yes, you read that correctly! It may only be July but I'm already skipping forward to December! Why? Because my friends and I have decided that, instead of buying each other Christmas presents and going out for a meal as we usually do, we'll save that money and put it towards a short break together instead. We may not have even booked anything yet, but I'm still getting excited and am already dreaming of roaring log fires, meals gathered around an enormous dining table and maybe even crisp white snow.

A job interview: I have my third job interview of the school year tomorrow, and I'm really excited about the opportunity that this post would present me with, as well as really looking forward to meeting the children I'd be working with. If I was successful, I'd be working as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant rather than a teacher, but having enjoyed the 1 to1 and small group work I've done as a TA in the past, I think the HLTA role is one that would suit me really well :-). Wish me luck guys!!

All-you-can-eat ice cream and amazing live music: (Fingers crossed) this is where I'll be on July 24th:

Source: benjerry.co.uk via Julie on Pinterest

It's Ben and Jerry's Sundae in the Park, a fabulous sounding music festival run by Ben and Jerry's! Basically for under £20, you can go and watch some amazing bands and eat as much Ben and Jerry's ice cream as you can stomach! And if that wasn't enough, there'll also be fairground attractions and loads of other fun activities...I can't wait to ice my own cookies! :-) I won't even mind if it rains...I'll just rock my wellies and waterproofs like the best of them! :-)

The fact that it's Friday tomorrow: It's not as if I've had a hard working week or anything, but the thought of the weekend always makes everything feel a little better :-) I don't think I'm doing anything in particular, but that's beside the point...two days of freedom will hopefully be sheer bliss :-)

And they're my Thursday thoughts! :-) What are you thinking about today?

Till next time...xx

Oh hi, July!!

2011-07-03T23:25:00.000+01:00

If you'd asked me after my last post how long it'd be before I blogged again, I probably would have said a few days. Maybe even a week or two. But over two months...no way!! But there it is in black and white...my last post was in April and somehow I've resurfaced in July! Now at this point I'd normally apologise for being away for so long and say that it'll never happen again. But this time's going to be a little different. For one, I guess that endless apologies are probably pretty boring to read and two...well, my blogging history suggests that I will disappear again at some point! So this time I'm not apologising, but I am going to fill you in on what I've been up to...

I've booked and been on a wonderful holiday to Lanzarote with my friend E (aka "The Performer"). It was my first holiday for 2 years and I was really glad of the break. The weather was perfect and the island amazing. I spent my days lazing by the pool and mooching round the shops and my nights sipping cocktails at local bars or drinking wine on our apartment terrace. I returned home with lots of happy memories, probably the best tan I've ever got and possibly a few pounds heavier and I hope to be able to do it all over again, preferably sooner rather than later!!

Whilst on holiday, I also had some amazing experiences that were a little out of the ordinary. I visited the amazing Timanfaya National Park, rode a camel, tasted local wine and, best of all, went snorkelling! Now as for someone who professes not to like deep water, I suppose I was a little out of my comfort zone (about 5 metres to be exact!) but once I remembered to breathe, it was the most fantastic experience. The fish were beautiful and watching them was so calming...I felt really serene, almost like a mermaid and I definitely want to repeat the experience :-).

I've kept my job hunting up, albeit with limited success. I have had 2 interviews, both of which I found out about on the same day (seriously, they're like buses!) but unfortunately I failed to secure either post. To be honest, jobs are starting to really dry up now, so if I don't get one in the next couple of weeks, I doubt that I'll know where I'll be come September, but at least I have my nursery job to tide me over. I've still been working part time at the nursery where I started in February and, unlike schools, it's open pretty much year round meaning that at least I'll still be earning in the summer holidays which makes a very welcome change! Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be moving on at the start of the new school year as the child I'm employed to support is starting primary school, but a girl can't have everything I suppose! In other job related news, I finally got to say a proper goodbye to the staff at my last school...it was lovely catching up with everyone and I was surprised and very moved to discover that they'd bought me cards and all clubbed together to buy me a £30 giftcard for Next, which is one of my favourite clothing retailers (after Primark of course!)

I've had 2 driving tests, which I've failed, and I'm awaiting my third! I'm intermittently taking driving lessons in between times (they're just too expensive to have every week :-( ) and I'm hoping that it'll be third time lucky for me...my bank balance can't really take much more!!

I've performed in one musical revue with my drama group and I'm now well into rehearsals for our next. We start choreography for the first act tomorrow...it'll be nothing too complicated but, as I'm not a dancer, wish me luck anyway!

I've spent many more wonderful times with my family and friends. There's been a wedding, a christening, a royal wedding barbecue and drinks in the sunshine as well as multiple meals, nights in and out and general gatherings. Words really can't express how much these people mean to me, they make even the worst times seem not quite as awful and I really am blessed to have each and every one of them!! :-)

And that's pretty much it! I was going to finish up by posting a list of things I'm looking forward to this summer and/or my summer goals, but I'm already at the risk of turning this into a real essay, so they're just going to have to wait a little longer!!

Till next time...

Now you know my ABCs, won't you play along with me??

2011-04-23T19:15:00.000+01:00

Sorry, I know I've been a terrible blogger over the past couple of weeks! Blame my exuberance at being allowed out into the outside world again (no more mumps, hooray!!) coupled with a new found addiction to the CSI Crime City game on Facebook and the time I've spent on the dreaded job applications. Anyway, now I've got my ~~excuses~~ explanation out of the way, I'll get on to the main reason I'm blogging today...the ABCs of me. I've wanted to take part in this meme ever since I first laid eyes on it, and being at a loss with what to blog about today, it seemed like the ideal opportunity to get it done! Here we go...:

Age: 27

Bed Size: Single

Chore You Dislike: Putting away clothes. Not when they're freshly washed and ironed, but if I've been wearing them for a short time, and they're still clean. I just let them pile up until the pile looks like it's about to fall at any time! I also disliked cleaning the oven when I lived away from home.

Dogs: I used to have a border terrier called Tess, but I'm currently dog free. While I loved Tess dearly, I've grown up with cats and think I'm more of a cat person than a dog one.

Essential Start to the Day: A cup of tea and something to eat...I can't go out on an empty stomach!

Favourite Color: Coral in the summer; red in the winter.

Gold or Silver: It completely depends on the outfit. If you'd asked me 10 or even 5 years ago, I would have definitely said silver, but now I'm much more open to gold. Plus, I mix and match them on pretty much a daily basis anyway, as the ring I always wear (my parents bought it me for my 21st) has a gold band and the dial on my watch has a silver toned casing!

Height: 5'5.5/5'6 - I'm average height and I love it! I can wear heels without feeling too tall and find it easy to buy clothes that fit me (lengthwise anyway!)

Instruments: I played recorder whilst I was at primary school and I could also play a few simple tunes on the keyboard. My dream instruments to play would be the drums, saxophone and maybe the piano.

Job Title: Supply Teacher/Nursery Support Worker

Kids: None of my own, but I do work with roughly 15 3-5 year olds five days a week! Those coupled with my friend "The Maternal One's" 2 little boys aged 2 and 6 months are the nearest I've got to having children so far, and to be honest, that suits me fine, for the moment at least. I'm far too selfish right now, that's definite, but I'd love them in the future.

Live: Manchester, England

Mum's Name: Barbara

Nicknames: My friends often call me Jules or Ju, with the odd surname thrown in. My sister Amy also occasionally calls me Julio, which I hate!!

Overnight Hospital Stays: Just the one...1987, when I had my tonsils and adenoids removed, and grommets put in my ears.

Pet Peeves: Incorrect grammar and punctuation, particularly misplaced apostrophes. I once nearly chased a bus down the street so I could cross out some offending apostrophes which were featured on a poster on the bus's side! Fortunately for me, my friend was with me so I saw sense and resisted. :-)

Quote from a Movie: I'm terrible at this! I love so many different films, and I'm struggling to come up with a quote from any of them. This one will have to do:
"It's a matter of professional integrity. No girl wants to marry a doctor who can't tell if a man's dead or not!" (Bonus points if you can tell me the film!)

Righty or Lefty: Righty.

Siblings: I'm the oldest of 4 children and have a 25 year old brother, and 2 sisters who are 17 and 16. We're all still living at home...my poor mum and dad lol!

Time you wake up: If I'm working, any time between 6:45 and 7:30. At weekends, it's normally after 8:30, usually between 9 and 10.

University: Manchester University, for both my undergraduate degree and postgrad. I enjoyed my uni experience, but sometimes wish I'd made more of the student lifestyle!

Vegetables you don't like: Are gherkins a vegetable? If so, then those! And broad beans...I'm not a fan.

What makes you run late: Underestimating how long it takes me to get ready, messing around, public transport, having to wait around for other people...it can be any combination of things!!

X-Rays You've Had: Dental x-rays, one on my knee when I cut it badly at the age of 11 (clearly they don't pick up wood as I had a woodchip embedded in it for months after my original x ray!)...I think that's all.

Yummy Food You Make: Mainly sweet treats...flapjacks, rocky road, parkin, lemon loaf cake...the list could go on! I'd really like to branch out though, and add more savouries to this list.

Zoo Animal Favorite: Elephants, orang utans, giraffes, lions and fish/sea mammals in general. They're all wonderful in different ways.

And they're my ABCs. Now it's over to you! I'd love to see your ABC lists and find out a little bit more about you! So don't be shy, come on over and feel free to share!!

Till next time...

Thursday Thoughts...

2011-04-07T21:11:00.000+01:00

otherwise known as the post where I don't know what to write, so I just have a bit of a ramble! We all write those kinds of posts from time to time, right?? Well, I hope so! :-) And before I ramble any more than is truly necessary, here's a list of my thoughts from today:

I'm so looking forward to coming out of 'quarantine' tomorrow. It'll have been 10 days since my symptoms became fully apparent and I was diagnosed with suspected mumps, and according to the information I've read, that means I'm no longer contagious!! I've been pain free for a few days, my face is pretty much back to normal and I'm raring to go :-). My plans so far include a driving lesson and a drama group rehearsal, and I may even pop into town for a Starbucks (I've not had one for ages!) and some ~~window~~ shopping.
Another thing I'm looking forward to doing again is baking. I've not rustled anything up for a while now, firstly because I was busy with work, and then because I was scared of infecting the food with my mumps germs but now I'm raring to go again and already thinking about what I can make. So far I'm thinking along the lines of a buttery Madeira cake, but I'm open to suggestion. Do you have any ideas?
And another baking related thought...I'm not quite sure how long I'm going to be able to resist buying this:

Yes, it's the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book which has recently been released. Now I know that I'm short of cash at the moment, and I've already got more than enough cookery books, but there's no getting through to me. To put it simply, I'm in love. In love with the beautiful photography featured on its pages. In love with some of the amazing sounding recipes that I've heard and read about. And when you add to this the fact that I've had some fabulous results from using the first book, and I know it's only going to be a matter of time. It's just a shame that it's nowhere near my birthday or Christmas!! :-(

I've realised that I'm in need of a haircut. It might not seem like an essential especially as I only had a trim a few weeks ago, but believe me it is!! If I have to wait another 6-8 weeks, it'll be practically unmanageable :-( And there's no way I'm going to my friends' N and M's wedding in just over 3 weeks with a bird's nest on my head, it's just not happening! And breathe...! :-)
I'm thinking of holidays and wondering if some friends and I will be able to get away for some sun, sea and sand for a few days at the end of May/beginning of June. I know I might not be in the best position financially, but I could really do with a holiday...it's been far too long.
Yet at the same time, I've also been thinking about work. After a kind text from the headteacher at the school where I worked until just over a week ago, I've been once again reminded of what a fantastic group of people the staff were and what a happy time I had working there. I'm going to miss them all, and hope I'll be lucky enough to find another school that's as welcoming.
I just love the nautical look (and have been rocking my own interpretation today). I think it's classic yet chic, sophisticated yet easy to put together and the colour palette is one of my favourites...I'm so glad it comes back every year :-)

And these are my Thursday thoughts. What have you been thinking about today?? Don't be shy...I'd love to hear from you!

Till next time...

Highs and Lows of the Week

2011-04-03T19:52:00.001+01:00

(Picture taken from weheartit.com)

As the picture says, Happy Sunday everyone! Hope everyone is having one as restful and enjoyable as mine has been so far! And as it's Sunday, there's really no better time to post a round up of the highs and lows of my week. Now long-time readers might remember that this was a feature of the blog back in the days when I did actually post with some regularity, and I'm really keen to make it a major part of it this time around too. Not only does this lazy blogger not have to think of anything original to blog about on Sunday nights (a bonus for me, especially if my brain's been mashed with school work!!), but I also feel it's a really good exercise in giving thanks for both the big and not-so-big things that contribute to making my life as good as it is (I am lucky, even if I forget that ~~sometimes~~ a lot). So without further ado, here's what's been making me smile and cry this week:

Lows

Being diagnosed with suspected mumps: This has been my big all encompassing low of the week. Now, firstly this has meant that I've had a swollen face (mainly on the LHS) and chin, which was quite painful leading up to, and also in the first couple of days after, my diagnosis. Also, as mumps is a highly contagious disease, I've been sat at home since Tuesday afternoon for fear of infecting others which means I've missed out on watching "Ghost the Musical", rehearsal and the pub with my drama buddies on Friday night and my friend's hen do (bachelorette party) last night. And it's not just socialising that I've been barred from this week...mumps has also cheated me of the chance to say a proper goodbye to all the children I've taught and the staff I've worked with at the school I've been doing long term supply at since the start of November. The last point was by far the hardest to deal with...I'd been coming to terms with the end of my contract on Friday for a few weeks. I'd already started to plan a party for the children I'd worked with and was determined to go out on a high. And then on Tuesday afternoon I went to the doctors and never came back...now the school have made it quite clear that I'm more than welcome to drop in when I'm feeling better and believe me I'm going to (I have a mountain of resources to sort out besides anything else!!), but it still won't be quite the same :-(

Highs

Realising there really is no place like home: Now when you're ill, or even if you're just feeling sorry for yourself, there's nowhere you'd rather be than home, And no-one you'd rather have taking care of you than your mum! Seriously, I don't know what I'd have done if I hadn't been living at home this week. Mum made sure I had food that I was able to eat (even going so far as to cut the crusts off my bread when my jaw was at its most painful) so I didn't go hungry and I was just able to laze around all day, safe in the knowledge that I had no household jobs to be getting on with. And big thanks also go to my sisters for having the great idea for them, my mum and I to have a DVD night last night and to my dad for hugging me and just being there while I had a bit of a cry the other day. And whilst I'm thanking the others, I suppose I can't go without thanking my brother for not being quite as annoying as usual lol!! Seriously, I would have been lost without them this week, so I'm saying a BIG thank you to them all as well as Happy Mother's Day to my fabulous Mum!!
Having a rest (which really was needed): This time last week I was STRESSED. I had lots of work still to do for school, I had lots of busy evenings coming up in terms of social events and driving lessons and I really wanted a break. Then came my swollen face and the doctor's appointment and bam!! 3 weeks off. A few days of doing pretty much nothing and a few latish get ups and daytime naps later and I'm feeling pretty much back to normal. Just in time for the 2 week spring holidays...woohoo!! :-)
Fabulous friends: The kind who take time out of their day to text or fb you to see how you are. The kind who listen to you moan without a word except if it's to check if there's anyway they can make your situation better. I've been reminded of how many of those I have over the past few days, and it's lovely, let me tell you.
Losing weight: Over the past three or four weeks, I've been following a personal training programme on the "Biggest Loser" Wii game. Now, I won't pretend I've been being a saint by any means...I've not been exercising every day and I'm not being overly restrictive with what I've been eating, but I have been upping my activity levels (both in terms of doing the suggested workouts and some extra walking thanks to my afternoon job) so I was quite disappointed when my first couple of weigh ins showed that I hadn't lost any weight and my weight had, in fact, marginally increased. So it was with trepidation that I stepped onto the balance board today, having done no exercise for over a week and I was convinced that I'd be looking at no change at best. Imagine my disbelief when I saw that I had, in fact, lost 1.4 kg!! Considering my appetite hasn't been noticeably decreased by my illness, it came as quite a welcome surprise, but now the flip side is that I'm feeling the pressure not to put the weight back on as soon as I can eat crisps and the like!

And that was the week that was...and here's to the next one!! :-)

Till next time...

Hello/Goodbye...

2011-03-31T15:52:00.000+01:00

I think this picture says it all...don't you?? It's been over 4 months since I've last posted, and that time has been simply filled with "hellos" and "goodbyes". I've met new people and experienced some things for the very first time, whilst saying farewell to others. But throughout all this I've been busy, and that's one of the reasons that my blog break has gone on for quite so long...I knew that before I started blogging again, I wanted to be in a position where I would have time to post regularly and catch up on all my favourite reads. And that time is now. But before I say "Hello" to this new chapter in my blogging adventures, I'd like to bid farewell to the past few months and all it's brought me. So without further ado, here goes:

Since the start of November, I've said "Hello" to 3 jobs and also "Goodbye" to two of them. One I was quite relieved to see the back of (although I do miss the fabulous staff discount!) but the thought of coming to the end of my contract at the other has filled me with sadness (especially as ill health made it seem even more unfinished...more on that later).
As a result of the increased demands on my time that my jobs brought me, I said goodbye to quite as much free time and hello to evening and weekend schoolwork.
Since my blog break began, I've said goodbye 2010 with a fantastic family Christmas and hello 2011 with a house party in Wales along with some of my closest friends. I've also said goodbye to 26 and my mid-twenties and hello to 27 and my lates (eeeeeeeeeek!) and despite being older and technically wiser, I managed to accompany my first day as a 27 year old with a stinking hangover and churning stomach (which was especially irresponsible considering I was acting in my drama group's panto that day!) As well as my birthday, I've also helped several of my friends and family members welcome their new ages and I've had an absolute ball helping them celebrate :-)
I said "hello" and "goodbye" to my drama group's pantomime which took place in late January, and apart from the pre-show nerves, and terrible hangover on my first day, I loved every minute of it. And, a few weeks later, I said "hello" to a new show which we'll be putting on in May.
I said "goodbye" to one driving instructor and "hello" to another. I'll also hopefully be saying goodbye to my "L" plates for good in a few weeks...fingers crossed!!
My wardrobe has also said hello to a fair few items of clothing, as well as some gorgeous new shoes and accessories. As for goodbyes, there haven't been quite as many...well, what can I say?? I'm a hoarder!

And finally, I said goodbye to my 100% attendance record for this school year. At the back end of last week, the left hand side of my face started feeling painful. Fast forward to Tuesday morning at work, and my colleagues noticed it was swollen. One emergency doctor's appointment later, I've been diagnosed with suspected mumps (the doc was almost 100% sure) and I've been signed off work for up to 3 weeks! The most frustrating thing is that I was due to be finishing one of my jobs this Friday anyway...the spring holiday is coming up and the school I've been working at for 5 months can't afford to keep me on after that because of their limited budget :-( So bang've gone my visions of saying a proper goodbye to the staff, who I've loved working with, and throwing a party for all the children in my groups...and I've said hello to an aching face and hamster cheeks! Plus not to mention the fact that I'm most likely highly contagious , which means no "Ghost the Musical" tonight and probably no friend's hen do on Saturday :-(

But, I'll stop moaning now, as I want to end the post on a high. Because I'm back, at the right time for me, and I can't wait to get back into blogging again :-)

Till next time...

Julie xx

Has it really been a month...

2010-11-21T21:12:00.005Z

since my last post?? Well, apparently so...although I can't quite believe it. But then again, when I think about what a whirlwind it's been, maybe I can!

So what's been making me so busy? Well, if you'd noticed my last post you might have a bit of an inkling...remember those two job opportunities that I mentioned? Well, I got them both! During the space of 24 hours, I went from having no job to having two. And I've been working my ass off ever since (well most of the time anyway!!) I'm now employed as a teacher every weekday morning, when I work with groups of 7-11 year olds who are struggling with maths and literacy. And then I also work as a sales assistant 2 evenings a week. So it's been a big change for me, but one which I'm loving so far, even if I am finding it hard to adjust to the fact that my evenings and weekends aren't always my own anymore! I could go on and on about my new teaching opportunity, and suffice to say, I'll probably dedicate a whole post to that pretty soon...but as for now, I think it's time to move on.

Even though work has been a major part of my life over the past month, I have found some time for myself and I can safely say that I've valued every minute of it! Here's some of the things I've got up to:

Christmas Shopping: I can't believe how quickly Christmas is coming up...it'll be here in less than 5 weeks!! And as of just a week ago I was almost completely unprepared, having bought very few presents...but now, thanks to a lot of online shopping and a couple of afternoon shopping trips, I feel much happier about things. I'm not totally sorted by any means but I'm getting there!
Sharing in Birthday celebrations with family and friends: October and November are busy months for me in terms of birthdays, and I've really enjoyed catching up with family and friends and celebrating together. I've indulged in a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet for my friend N's birthday and a delicious pub lunch for my Grandad's 91st! I enjoyed an evening of comedy and cocktails (only one...it was a school night!) for my friend E's 27th and made a mad dash across town after work to celebrate my friend D's special day. All were special in very different ways, and I can't wait for the next big event :-)
Buying tickets: Whilst spending almost 5 hours trying to book concert tickets isn't much fun, I'm so glad that I (and my sisters) did. Because, as a result of our perseverance, stubbornness and downright craziness (on my part at least!), two of my best girl friends and I will be going to see Take That in June next year!! Although I wasn't particularly a fan of them the first time around, since they've got back together I've developed a new found love for them and that coupled with the fact they've got a reputation for putting on incredible live show made me determined to get tickets no matter what!
Just chilling: Whether it's with a mini bottle of wine and Saturday night TV, or checking Facebook and my favourite blogs in a break from work, I've been loving those precious moments of doing nothing much.

And with that, I'm signing off. Bedtime isn't far away as I've got a 6:45 am alarm call in the morning, and I'm determined that tonight isn't going to be a late one.

Till next time...

Highs and Lows of October so far

2010-10-20T18:42:00.004+01:00

After yet another absence from the blogging world, here I am again!! In some ways, it seems like I've done nothing this October; supply work seems to have dried up (for the moment at least) and I've spent the majority of my days staying at home. But when I actually stop and look back on the month so far, it doesn't seem like quite so much of a non-event after all. There have certainly been plenty of highs (and a few lows) that have made this month a memorable one anyway. And, without further ado, here we are:

Highs

Almost 2 weeks ago now, my friends N and M welcomed their second child into the world :-) He's a boy, his first name begins with J and he's an absolutely adorable addition to their little family!! I've so enjoyed being a part of his older brother H's life and watching him grow up and I can't wait to do it all again with little J!!

After over a month and a half of (sometimes) serious job hunting and a very definite lack of supply work which saw me becoming very disillusioned and hating the situation I found myself in, there is now the definite possibility of a light at the end of the tunnel. You see, yesterday I found myself in the extremely privileged position of being contacted about not just one job opportunity but two!! I'm not going to go into too much detail at the moment but I'm just so relieved that things seem to be going my way at last. My finances are starting to become a bit of a worry, especially with Christmas and quite a few birthdays coming up, so if I get even one of these jobs (they're both part time), it would be a major load off my mind :-)

Right at the start of the month I was thrilled to get a part in my drama group's pantomime!! In January, we'll be staging Aladdin and I'll be playing the Spirit of the Ring (insert your own jokes here...the rest of the cast has!!). It's not the part I auditioned for, but I actually prefer this one anyway (there's no solo singing, which I'm very happy about :-) ) And, as long time readers of my blog will know, I was really disappointed not to be successful at last year's panto auditions, so to get any part is just a dream come true!! Initial readthroughs of the script have been a blast, and I'm really looking forward to more rehearsals and getting to spend more time with our amazing cast.

And continuing on the dramatic theme...I went to the theatre a couple of weeks ago and saw the most amazing performance of "A Streetcar Named Desire". Having never seen or read the play before, or watched the film, I didn't really know what to expect but I was absolutely blown away. All the performances were top notch, and the three hours plus running time simply flew by; definitely an experience not to miss!!

Spending more time with friends...what with the birth of Baby J, 2 birthdays over the past few days and another one coming up fast and numerous TV/DVD nights, I'm getting to spend some much needed quality time with my friends. And after all the "likes" I got on my new Facebook status regarding my job prospects, I'm once again reminded of just how great they are :-)

Lovely October weather...be it unseasonably warm, or cold and crisp, there have been some beautiful sunny days which have been just perfect for walking in

Autumn baking...I've tried out a couple of new recipes, both featuring apples and a subtle taste of spice (just perfect for this autumn weather!!) and I've got more up my sleeve for over the next couple of weeks...I'm thinking Halloween cookies, something involving pumpkin and sticky parkin. Oh, and I'm seriously thinking about starting a baking blog. What do you reckon??

Up...I was introduced to this film last weekend by one of my girl friends and I'm in love. It's seriously one of the most beautiful, funny and moving films I've ever seen and I'm hooked. Even if it did make me cry more than most other films ever have. Seriously, I was crying like a baby!! But I still love it, and I need a copy in my life, like now!!

Lows

Receiving some negative (and I feel pretty unwarranted) feedback from a school I worked at...again I don't want to go into detail, but there were two main issues which were raised. One which, in hindsight, I maybe could have handled slightly differently, although I feel like I was very much manipulated by the headteacher and placed in a situation in which it was very difficult for me to act appropriately. And then two, which I completely dispute and feel like it almost amounted to a personal attack, as opposed to a constructive criticism of my teaching.

Lack of work and money and what feels like endless hours of job hunting: As I mentioned before, this has really got me down over the past few weeks although, fingers crossed, I'll hopefully have some good news on this front soon!! Tomorrow's looking to be a red letter day...I'm making a phone call to one of the possible employers tomorrow morning to find out more details about that job and I have an interview for the other post tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed the outcomes are positive!!

And that's all for now. Hope everyone else is having a good month...I've got so many of your blogs to catch up on!! Till next time...

I hate job hunting!!

2010-10-07T16:43:00.002+01:00

It's taking over my life, hence my disappearance from the blogging world over the last couple of weeks or so, yet I still don't seem to be getting anywhere. It really does suck!! Part of my problem is that I really don't know what kind of job I'm looking for. All I know is that I need money and fast, as I've been out of work for two and a half months now. There hasn't really been any supply work at all since the schools went back in September, and even if I really enjoyed being a supply teacher (which I don't), I can't really afford to sit back and just wait for supply bookings to come in any more. So I've been applying for whatever I can find: temporary Christmas sales assistant posts and administration and customer service roles with quick start dates to name just two categories. But so far, no joy.

And as for the long term, well I really don't know. I'm not sure if teaching really is for me...my confidence and faith in my abilities have been shot by a combination of my inability to secure a long term post and some less than pleasurable supply experiences. As a result, I'm reluctant to apply for any teaching posts and am stuck not knowing where my heart really lies. My doubts about teaching are compounded by the fact that I disliked supply teaching a lot of the time; but then again, there were other days when I loved it and felt truly in control of things.

And then as for other posts...well, I have a degree, a postgraduate certificate and quite a substantial work history, and have been told that my CV is strong, but I'm not actually qualified to do much. I suppose I have as much chance of any graduate of getting a generic graduate job which doesn't need a specific degree, but most of those appear to either be recruitment consulting or sales. Both heavily money motivated and requiring lots of sales calls (including cold calling), these really aren't for me. I'd prefer to work in a slightly less pressured environment, where my success isn't measured in material terms, but rather in terms of the positive effect I've been able to have on others. Then I've also looked at graduate training schemes, and the majority of these seem to suffer from 1 or more of these 3 main problems: one, they have a September 2011 start date (so would only be OK if I could secure another job which could support me up until then), two, they're in sectors that don't appeal to me such as accountancy or consultancy and as graduate schemes last for an average of 2 years, it'd be a big commitment to something if I wasn't sure and finally, most of them aren't based in areas local to me, and whilst I appreciate the need to be flexible, the vast majority of my family and friends are based in the Manchester area, so I'd feel uneasy leaving the North West unless it was for my dream job. And that's assuming I'd even be accepted onto them; they're notoriously competitive and only account for a small proportion of the total number of graduate jobs available every year.

Ideally, I'd like to be in a post where I could put my background in education to good use: I'd love to have the opportunity to be a librarian or museum education officer, for example, and then I could combine my qualifications with my interest in books or history, but jobs in those sectors are even scarcer than teaching vacancies, and they often require additional qualifications.

So to sum up, at the moment, I'm well and truly confused and it's hard to shake the feeling that my career is going nowhere. But I'm trying to stay hopeful that something will crop up eventually...adopting that resilient attitude which I claim to possess on my CV!! And I'm going to try and be more organised; dedicating different times to different aspects of my job search and keeping detailed records of what I've applied for and the outcome, as well as researching alternative career options that I haven't really considered yet. It all sounds so good written down here, hopefully I'll feel the benefits in real life too!!

Now I don't know when I'll be posting again, hopefully it will be sooner rather than later but I won't be making any rash promises...I know myself better than that by now!! Suppose it all depends how organised I really can be!! And tell me, do you have any job hunting tips?? Did you know what you wanted to do with your life as a young graduate? And how did you find your dream (or current) job?

Till next time...

Autumn Days (in words)

2010-09-25T17:55:00.006+01:00

Today has been a beautiful autumn day...cool and crisp with lovely sunny skies. Whilst it isn't my favourite season (I don't really know if I have one to be honest), there are certainly many things that I appreciate about it, and I thought I'd share a few of them today:

The beautiful colours of the autumn leaves...I adore the reds and oranges, yellows and browns and hearing their crunch when they're underfoot is music to my ears!!
Halloween!! Whilst I'm no longer a child myself, and don't often celebrate the occasion in a big way, I still love lots of things about the date. Seeing little trick or treaters in cute costumes, and sometimes getting the chance to dress up myself, pumpkin lanterns which add an eerie glow to many a house, eating themed food...all fabulous in my book!!
Chilly autumn mornings when you can see your breath and the crisp, bright days that follow. I do know that we get rainy autumn days too...but I'm choosing to ignore that fact (hell, it's my blog and I can do what I like!!)
Buying new autumn clothes and rediscovering old favourites...I love wrapping up in cardigans and am looking forward to being able to wear my cosy boots again!!
Conkers...As a child, the start of the conker season was one of the main heralds of autumn for me, alongside the start of a new school year of course, and I still love collecting a few of them when I'm out walking. However, even though these days I'm particularly discerning and only pick the shiniest and most beautiful looking ones, I've still got quite a few and I'm not quite sure where I should put them or what I should do with them!!
The smoky scent of bonfires and fireworks...Even though I hate fireworks and so am not overly fond of Bonfire Night, I love the smells associated with it, and the smoky, slightly foggy atmosphere that lingers for a day or two afterwards. And being the food lover that I am, I also look forward to such treats as parkin (a dark and sticky ginger cake made with treacle and oats) and treacle and cinder toffees :-)
Dark autumn evenings spent watching TV or reading and curling up near the warm fire (I would describe it as roaring but that would be an exaggeration considering our fire is gas powered lol!!)
Autumn baking and cooking...This is the first autumn that I've really got into baking/cooking and I'm looking forward to making lots of seasonal treats including parkin, halloween biscuits, gingerbread, soup and lots of apple and pumpkin based cakes. I can't wait!!

And those are a few of my favourite autumn things!! What are yours?? I'd love to hear from you :-)

Till next time...

PS: I was intending to include some pretty pictures with this post, but we heart it is being slow and I'm getting impatient, so you're just going to have to wait till another day! I'll post an autumn days picture post soon, I promise!

Just a quickie...

2010-09-12T22:33:00.003+01:00

because I think I'm going to go mad if I go any longer without blogging! I can't believe that after managing to blog every day in August, I've now gone nearly two weeks without posting. To put it simply, my absence can be put down to two main reasons: one, my laptop is away being repaired at the moment, and so my sisters and I have been sharing the family PC between us...not ideal at all, especially now K has gone back to school, and Amy has started college and they both need to use a computer for homework. And two, despite being off work myself, I've been really rather busy this week as I've spent the majority of my days jobhunting. I'll explain in more detail in another post, but basically I've come to a point where I really want a steady income. And that means getting a full time job, as opposed to relying on short term supply teaching work. As regular readers of my blog will know, I've been searching for a long term teaching post for over a year and a half now, and have so far been unsuccessful. So I've decided to broaden my horizons, and have recently been applying for jobs in a range of sectors, not just education. As I've said, more details will follow...I just wanted to give a little insight as to where I'm at right now. Fingers crossed that I'll be back to more regular posting quite soon...the girls have bought themselves a new laptop today, so I should have more use of the PC and I'm also determined to get my jobhunting routine a bit more organised, and maybe even draw up a schedule so I can allocate specific blocks of time to it, as I feel that it's all a bit messy at the mo. And I spend far too much time procrastinating, as always!!

Anyway, till next time...

Yay...I did it!!

2010-08-31T20:00:00.003+01:00

Remember right at the beginning of August, when I posted my Operation August goals list? Well, now we're at the end, and I'm pleased to say that this post marks the fact that I've made one of my targets...I've blogged every single day during the month!! That's 31 consecutive posts!! Granted, some of them were very rushed, and not really worth reading, but I'm still pleased that I've managed to keep going and make blogging part of my everyday life. As for how I've done with the other goals...well I'm afraid time is short, so you're just going to have to wait and see!! Suffice it to say that some I've done really well with, and others...well you get the idea!!

Anyway, I'm off out now... so happy Wednesday everyone!! Till next time...

Love this!!

2010-08-30T18:21:00.002+01:00

Presenting possibly my favourite song at the mo:

I heard it for the first time yesterday, and whilst it took a little time for it to grow on me, now I think it's fab. So much so, that I've gone on YouTube to find it and have decided to blog about it!! There's just one problem though...for a song called Misery, it's just a little too upbeat lol!! :-) What do you think?? Hope you enjoyed as much as I did!! Till next time...

Apologies...

2010-08-29T21:07:00.002+01:00

because this is going to be uber short!! With 6 people in the house, and only one computer free (my laptop is currently poorly and we can only use my brother's computer when he's not watching TV, as he uses that in place of a monitor), screen time is limited and best used for essentials!! I'm also off out now, so no more blogging today!!
Till next time...

Laziness...A quiz copied and pasted from Facebook

2010-08-28T20:25:00.004+01:00

So basically, I had no idea what to blog about tonight and I also knew that I couldn't spend too long on the net, so I've trawled Facebook and come up with this quiz which I posted last year. Obviously the answers aren't from last year, unless they're still relevant of course!! Feel free to play along and post your answers too...it'd be great to hear from you :-)

1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth? Cup of tea and a banana bun

2. Where was your profile picture taken? Holy Rood Church Hall, Swinton

3. Can you play Guitar Hero? Badly!

4. Name someone who made you laugh today? My Grandad

5. How late did you stay up last night and why? I went to bed about 12:30. It would have been earlier but I was doing my usual messing around before bed thing!

6. If you could move somewhere else,where would it be?I'd stay close by if possible.

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks? No...nobody would get me out under fireworks for any reason whatsoever!!

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you? N and M

9. Do you believe ex's can be friends? Sometimes

10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper? I can think of lots of nicer drinks!

11. When was the last time you cried really hard? I can't remember - maybe a few weeks ago??

12. Who took your Facebook profile picture? Someone from my drama group

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of? Myself?! I can't really remember to be honest!!

14. Was today better than yesterday? No

15. Can you live a day without TV? Yes

16. Are you upset about anything? My work prospects...I'm not really sure where my future lies at this moment in time.

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? The right ones are

18. Are you a bad influence? I suppose I could be...I'm very lazy and love food too much, and will incite others to slack off and eat crap!

19. Night out or night in? It depends on my mood and the company.

20. What items could you not go without during the day? Phone, purse, pen, tissues, food and drink (obviously!!)

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? My grandad

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say? Thanks for the invite jules but me and linds have already made plans. Enjoy the film and we'll see you soon x

23. How do you feel about your life right now? It's ok...

24. Do you hate anyone? Not that I can think of

25. If we were to look in your facebook inbox, what would we find? Messages

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? Yeah

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? Don't think so...

28. What song is stuck in your head? I haven't really got one right now...you should have asked whilst X Factor was on!!

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m, who would you like it to be? A hot guy! Only joking, I think it would have to be a friend

30. Wanna have grandkids by the time you're 50? No...I want to enjoy other things in my life first

31. Name something you are doing tomorrow? Having a driving lesson

32. Do you think too much or too little? Too much!

33. Do you smile a lot? Apparently so! (I asked my sister!)

34. Is there anything you'd change about yourself? Yeah...my weight, my pessimism and my lack of self esteem.

35. Do you have a secret crush? There's someone who I'm not really sure of my feelings of...but the situation would be complicated anyway, so it's best left well alone!!

So they're my answers, and like I said, it would be great to read yours too!! Till next time...

Smile...it's Friday!!

2010-08-27T17:39:00.004+01:00

Hope everyone's feeling happy today...after all, the weekend starts here!! I had a bit of an up and down start to this week, but things really settled down and I've had lots of things to smile about. Here are some of them:

My sister Amy's fantastic exam results: she got an A, 7 Bs, 3 Cs and 2Ds, and I was so proud!! I was also smiling about my other sister K's test results: she achieved an A and 3 Bs and I'm sure she'll do really well in her exams next year.
My Grandad feeling much better: On Monday, my grandad was admitted to hospital suffering from a bad chest infection. After visiting him on the Tuesday, my family and I were really worried as he looked so ill and didn't seem himself at all, but luckily, by Wednesday his condition had started to improve and now he's practically his old self again :-) He has got to stay in hospital a bit longer, just so the medical staff can keep an eye on him, but he'll hopefully be home early next week.
Going to the Comedy Store with friends: I had a really good laugh and it was also a break from the norm. I think I'll definitely be going back more often in the future.
A long conversation with a friend after they'd given me a lift home
Finding amazing images on we heart it (yeah, that's where the one at the top is from too!!)...it's turning into my new obsession, along with Frontierville!!

And fingers crossed the smiles won't stop there, as I'm looking forward to a (3 day!!) weekend full of friends, family and fun. And I hope that everyone has a fantastic weekend ahead too, whatever you're doing. Till next time...

I heart these...

2010-08-26T18:09:00.006+01:00

As you'd know if you read my blog yesterday, I've just started exploring we heart it and have uncovered some beautiful images. Above are 10 of my favourites so far, including some I only came across today...so maybe being unable to post pictures yesterday was a good thing, as I would have missed out on some of the best. And my online album is sure to be getting fuller and fuller, so I reckon that image posts might be making a more regular appearance on the blog, as I can't resist sharing them with you all. Would you like to see more photos on my blog? And how would you like them to be arranged? I'm thinking of doing a mix of both random and themed posts, but there's nothing set in stone yet!!

Till next time...

I heart it...

2010-08-25T17:40:00.004+01:00

As a blogger for over a year, I've spent many a moment not just reading the words that fellow bloggers write, but also losing myself in the beauty of some of the pictures that they've shared. Some are their own photographs; snapshots that will forever capture a special moment in their lives but others are images they've found elsewhere. So then I wonder: "Where do they uncover such amazing images?" And luckily some of those blogs gave this curious girl an answer...they came from we heart it. For the uninitiated, this is a site full of "inspiring images and videos" which allows you to create an online album (or heart) and lets you add pictures/videos to it just by clicking on them. Now, as I've previously said, I have been aware of the site for a while, but have never properly got into it...until today. Whilst I was a bit slow to get started, after that I found many amazing images, and was really keen to share some with you today. But unfortunately,Blogger is refusing to play ball and upload my pictures so I guess we'll all just have to wait a little longer!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

So I suppose I'll end with a question (or two!!) instead. Are you a fan of weheartit? Where have you discovered your favourite images? It'd be great to hear from you :-)

Till next time...

Some beauty favourites...Part 1

2010-08-24T20:48:00.003+01:00

Like most girls, I'm interested in the way I look, and as a result, I always enjoy both buying, and also being bought, new beauty products. So much so that, again like many of us, I have far too many of them. Some of which I've tried and don't like, so they've been banished to the back of the cupboard. Others I do like but, as I have so many of that particular kind of product or don't have much need for them in my daily routine, they don't get used that often. Then there are the ones that have never even been used due to my desire to use up open products first. And finally, and by far the smallest category, are the products I use regularly...all of which I like using; some of which I love! Those are my favourites, and they're what I'm going to share with you right now:

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation
I've been using this for a while now; over 2 years I think, and when I first purchased it I was basically just jumping on the bandwagon. I'd seen the adverts proclaiming it to be Britain's bestselling foundation and decided to see what the fuss was about. And I've never looked back (maybe sideways...but more about that later!) And why do I love this? Well, for quite a few reasons. Firstly, I love the coverage. As someone who suffers from redness and frequent blemishes, especially around my T zone, I need a foundation that neutralises and covers these and Dream Matte Mousse does just that. Also, it's longlasting...if I've been working or for a night out, I may need to do a mini touch up once, but other than that, no action is required. And loads always comes off on my remover wipe when taking it off. It's also reasonably priced, easy to apply and blend and one jar lasts a long time.

Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation
Right now I suppose you might be thinking "If you love the first foundation so much, why bother with another?" Well, I'll tell you. Despite the fact I love the mousse, I think it's a bit too heavy and matte looking for summer wear...I want something lighter and fresher looking. And this is where this comes in. Not only does it leave my skin glowing; almost radiant in fact, it also has a gorgeous smell and is longlasting. Now, as it provides lighter coverage than the first, it does mean that I often have to add a couple of minutes onto my make up routine...using concealer and/or Dream Matte Mousse on any spots/blemishes before the Bourjois, and then dusting pressed powder over my T zone afterwards, but for the look it gives, I think it's well worth it.

Rimmel Extra Super Lash Lash Building Mascara
Now when it comes to mascara, I've experimented with a fair few in my time. From budget (Primark and Natural Collection) to high end (Benefit) and volumising to lengthening. I've tried those with white base coats and waterproof varieties. There've been big brushes, standard brushes and bendy plastic wands. But the one I've always come back to is this this one. Why? Because it does exactly what it says on the tin. It truly "builds a natural to dramatic look". One coat and I'm ready for work or a night in with friends. Two or three...and it's party time!! Whilst it may not be waterproof, it is longlasting and at the cheaper end for a brand name mascara. So really, what's not to love?

Urban Decay Lube in a Tube Miami
I came across this product by chance in a local discount fashion and beauty shop (Ethel Austin) for, I think, £1.50 and was instantly attracted by four things: the colour, the description on the packaging, the fact that it was Urban Decay and, of course, the price! Basically this is my favourite lip product because it combines all the things I like in one...it has the moisturising properties of a balm (thanks to the shea butter which is one of its ingredients) with the pigmentation you'd expect from a lipstick or gloss. So for someone with limited room in their make up bag (a la me) it's ideal! As well as moisturising and giving my lips a lovely reddy-pinky colourcolour, it also gives them the tingliest feeling on application. I'm not quite sure why (maybe it's the mint which is another active ingredient), but it's definitely a pleasant sensation :-) In terms of reapplication, I'd normally put another coat on every couple of hours or so, which is pretty standard for me when it comes to lip products, so it isn't disappointing in that sense either.

And that's all for now...stay tuned for some more favourites coming up!! What are your favourite make up products/brands?? Let me know...it'll be great to hear from you :-)

Till next time...

Who do you think you are?

2010-08-23T23:31:00.003+01:00

Something I've never mentioned on the blog before is my interest in genealogy and tracing my family's history back through the generations. But after I watched the lastest episode of "Who Do You Think You Are", on TV earlier tonight, I had a desire not just to research some more of my own family history, but also to blog about what I've been doing. Well, in a nutshell...since starting to dig into my past well over a year ago (my sister Amy and I have been working intermittently since then), I've confirmed that not only do I have English, Scottish and Welsh blood in me, but that there's also at least a little Irish..you could say I'm truly British. And despite being a proud Northerner, I've found to my utter dismay that my great grandmother's family came from Essex and also Suffolk, which are most definitely situated in the south of England. And some distant cousins of mine even live in New Zealand...such a shock to this girl who always presumed that all of her family lived in the UK. Yet on the other hand, 5 or 6 generations of my maternal grandfather's family have lived within a mile or so of where I do now...maybe that explains why I'm such a homebird!!

I've been able to trace happy events like marriages and births...but have also discovered some sad ones that, although maybe commonplace at the time, seem positively tragic to me in the present day, especially as they've happened to my ancestors; my own flesh and blood. Maybe disappointingly, I haven't uncovered any great scandals although I do know that there was a divorce in my family early last century which would have been quite shocking at the time. And I do have some suspicions that one of my ancestors may have been illegitimate, and this really interests me...maybe her father was the rich and important person that I'd be so excited to find. Because on the surface my family tree is filled with ordinary people...not rich, nor important; just normal individuals, mostly working class who seemed to lead ordinary lives. Probably not interesting or important enough to make it onto an episode of Who Do You Think You Are!! But, although it'd be fun to find an important ancestor, as far as I'm concerned, the normal people would be the stars of my show because without them I wouldn't be here today. These ordinary people make me want to visit churches hundreds of miles away; make me determined to overcome the barriers that adoption,divorce and illegitamacy pose when I'm researching; make me thrilled every time I can add a new name to my family tree. Because that's who I am...part of an ordinary group of people who, to me, are the most crucially important of all.

Till next time...

Third time lucky!!

2010-08-22T19:28:00.003+01:00

So after 2 days of trying, I've finally got the time to write a proper blog post as opposed to a rushed apology and I'm so relieved :-) Today's post is going to be an update on how I'm doing with my Operation August goals as I've been planning to do for a few days now, and I'm going to fit in the posts that I intended to write on Friday and Saturday at another time. So, now on to the topic at hand: Operation August. We're now over two thirds of the way through the month and I can't believe how fast it's going...only just over a week and it'll be September!! And how am I doing with my goals? Well, I have made some progress but I think I've still got a way to go yet; I can see the next 10 days being really busy ones for me! Here's the breakdown of my progress by category:

Senses

I still haven't bought any new DVDs for myself this month, but have made no further progress in getting through my collection either...I'm going to really try to make some headway with this during the week.
No new MP3 player yet, but this is a priority before I go back to work; listening to music makes long bus journeys so much more bearable!!
I've read one book so far this month (The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes from this wonderful set) and am on the lookout for another book to get stuck into.
Last Thursday, I baked a new recipe from my Hummingbird Bakery book and took a couple of photos to go with it...the blog post will be coming soon!!
Since my last goals update, I've watched Toy Story 3 and have got some vague plans to see Inception at some point during the week. No A Team as yet, and I think it might be a challenge to organise a trip, as most of my friends have already seen it.

Social

No outing organised yet...I'm thinking of arranging something for the Bank Holiday Monday which is coming up in just over a week.
Goal achieved!! The weather was kind and allowed my friends and I to watch these films without getting soaked :-) Fingers crossed that we might even be able to watch more films at Spinningfields before the season ends.
This is something that I'm shamefully behind on; another priority for the upcoming week methinks.
No real progress since the last goals catch up...I think I'm definitely going to have to be more proactive and send a few texts/fb messages to those friends who I don't see much of.

Professional

No progress...thinking about my career gets me stressed at the moment so I've been (rather foolishly) avoiding it. I know this ian't the best course of action, however, so am resolved to do something about this soon.
I've not done anything about this either. I think my first step is going to be investigating how much demand there would be for Avon products amongst my friends and family, as they'd form the bulk of my customer base.

Mind and Body

Not done...I'm going to have to pre plan and dedicate an evening to this.
This has tailed off since my last goals update... I've tended to spend more time reading outside than walking lol!! Although the scales tell me I've put on a few pounds, so I reckon I need to get back to good habits pretty sharpish.
I've looked into places to visit but haven't really found any new ones that I could get to within a reasonable time so I reckon it'll probably be Manchester again. I've got no idea yet what I'll do though!!
I have looked at evening classes at my local college and nothing really appeals so I'm definitely going to investigate online courses instead.
Not achieved yet, although I have made an appointment for the end of August. Hopefully I'll be fit and well and able to donate, unlike at the last donation session I attended where I was suffering from cold symptoms.
Not done...I am a shameful procrastinator, but in my defence, I know that it'll be an all day job, so I'm waiting for a completely free (hopefully rainy!!) day.
As was true last time my wardrobes have been sorted, but my drawers still haven't.
I'm on track to meet this goal so far...if only just!!
Still not done, mainly because I have lingering doubts about my ability but also because I simply keep forgetting to do it!!

And that's it...August may be slipping away, but I'm still determined to make Operation August a success!! Till next time...

And it's serious deja vu...!!

2010-08-21T20:50:00.002+01:00

Thank you Beyonce!! Seriously though, I'm starting to lose count of the number of times I've intended to write meaningful posts this month, but have ended up rushing because I'm meant to be somewhere else. And tonight's no exception...I went out late afternoon, thinking that I'd be able to come home at some point during the evening, but it looks like things are going to continue into the night, so I've excused myself just so I could come home for a little and do the things I was intending to do i.e. blogging and checking emails at my leisure. So again my utmost apologies...I really really hope that normal service is resumed tomorrow!!

Till next time...

Why can things never go to plan??

2010-08-20T18:56:00.002+01:00

Or, more specifically, why can my blogging never go to plan?! After posting only yesterday about my planned blogging schedule for the next few days, the Internet demons have decided to throw a spanner in the works. Namely, that when I was ready to log in to Blogger and write my post, I couldn't access the Internet for neither love nor money but now when I really have no time to be blogging, as I'm due to leave the house in 10 minutes max, it decides it wants to play nice again!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

So, I suppose this is one part apology, another part explanation, and finally a thank you to my followers and commenters new and old...I appreciate your comments and support, and I hopefully be back to posting what I intended as of tomorrow :-)

Till next time...

And now it's over to you...

2010-08-19T22:37:00.004+01:00

Whilst I've been blogging, I've come across a range of different opinions as to who we, as bloggers, are writing for. Some bloggers say "I blog for myself, and no one else, my blog is my own private space where I can write whatever I feel like". And whilst I agree with this principle (I wouldn't blog about anything unless I felt the inclination to do so), I'm also aware of the fact that I'm writing for an audience. That I have followers who may take time (albeit only a minute or two) out of their day to read my posts. That there's always the chance of other visitors passing by. And whilst my blog is my domain, that doesn't mean that I don't want to make visitors welcome. That I don't care about how other people feel about my blog. That I don't want to take account of their opinions. And this is where you (my followers and any other visitors) come in:

What would you like to see in my blog??

Just as an idea, here's whatI'm thinking of blogging about over the next few days:

Friday: My favourite beauty products (inspired by O. is me)

Saturday: Baking post (Banana cake)

Sunday: Operation August goals update

Monday: Weekend Round Up/Highs and Lows of the Week

And that's as far as I've got. What do you think?? Is there anything in my blog that you'd like to see more or less of?? Or anything new that you'd like me to try?? Let me know...this may be my blog, but as they say 2 (or more) heads are better than 1!!

Till next time...

Phew...

2010-08-18T23:55:00.002+01:00

I didn't think I was going to get the chance to post before 12:00, which would have meant that my goal of posting every day this month would have gone straight out of the window! :-( Talk about cutting it fine though...my computer is telling me it's 3 minutes to midnight, and here's me still typing! I just hope that my clock isn't slow, and it's not Thursday already! Anyway, I suppose if I want to be sure, I'd better stop typing now lol! ;-)

Till next time...

Food, fun and friends...

2010-08-17T17:49:00.003+01:00

are three of my favourite things, and I'm happy to say I'll be enjoying all three over the next couple of days, as I'm going out for a meal at my local Italian restaurant this evening to celebrate one friend's birthday and a pub lunch for another friend's birthday tomorrow. I'm just so excited...good food is a particular weakness of mine and eating it surrounded by some of my closest friends will make it all the better. Add to that the fact that I'm off work at the mo and so will be able to indulge with a couple of glasses of wine, and it sounds practically perfect (well, to me anyway!!) The only slight downside is the cost involved...why do birthday presents and delicious food and good wine have to be so expensive?! And how about you? Do you have any evening plans? What's your favourite indulgence? Tell me all!

Till next time...

What a day for a daydream...

2010-08-16T18:49:00.002+01:00

I haven't really been daydreaming today, but if I had wanted to it would have been pretty much the perfect day. Warm sunshine, with just a light breeze...the ideal day to sit or lie on the grass and let your mind take flight. And if I had have been dreaming, I might have been spirited away to exotic shores, or imagined myself as an actress starring in the latest hit TV show or film, or simply created my dream guy in my head. I could have gone anywhere I wanted and been whoever I wanted to be. But today I was just me, spending time in my local area...today I was web surfing, and reading and shopping. But tomorrow could be a different story...!! As for you, are you a daydreamer? If so, what's your favourite dream? Feel free to share...I'd love to hear your stories :-)

Till next time...

Highs and Lows of the Week

2010-08-15T21:56:00.003+01:00

I've not done one of these for a while, so with that in mind, and also because it's the end of the week, I thought I'd share my highs and lows of the past 7 days. So, without further ado, here they are:

Highs

Time spent with friends: Most of my evenings this week have been spent in the company of some of my favourite people aka my friends! Whether we've been at the cinema, at a party or just relaxing by watching DVDs and having a chat, I've had a fantastic time and I know their company is something that I really value; basically I'd be lost without them!
Good films: Over the past week, I've watched some amazing films. There's been Toy Story 3 at the cinema (I cried...proof that I have a soul!!), Stand by Me on the big screen at Spinningfields and Spaceballs and The Goonies on DVD at my friend's house. All very different...but all great. I have a feeling that I'll be adding some more DVDs to my collection once my buying ban is up at the end of the month!!
The fantastic weather this weekend: If you're a frequent visitor to my blog, you'll know that I've recently been bemoaning the terrible weather we've been having over the last few weeks. Well, the weather fairies must have been listening to me because the last two days have been glorious. Sunny, but not too hot...the perfect weather for sitting outside and reading my book or for going for a leisurely walk. Hopefully it'll last into next week too!!
A fantastic driving lesson: My last driving lesson was one of those blessed ones where everything just came together. I even managed to get my bay parking right twice in a row!! Now I just need to book my test...hopefully before I have a terrible lesson and lose my confidence!!
Stress-free shopping: On Friday, one of my closest friends and I had to go shopping to buy a present for our friend's 21st birthday. As her party was that evening, our schedule was pretty tight, and I was half expecting the trip to be fraught with tension, as we rushed from shop to shop to find the perfect gift. But no...it was one of the easiest gift shopping trips I've been on in a while. It turns out that we had similar ideas on what to get, so selecting the gifts was a breeze. And we even had time for a well deserved Starbucks before heading home!!
The summer holidays: I'm currently half way through my summer holidays, and even though I've been moaning about the weather, I've definitely been enjoying the freedom to stay up late, without having to worry about being up early for work the next day :-)

Now I'm meant to write about my lows, but to be honest, I can't really think of any!! So I'll leave it here for today. Till next time...

Finding a balance...

2010-08-14T19:23:00.003+01:00

between reading and writing, speaking and listening. This is something I'm really struggling with at the mo. As any of my readers will know, I've set myself a goal to blog every day during the month of August, partially because I'm keen to grow my blog and wanted to see if blogging daily would have any impact on my number of followers, but mainly because I was sick of how infrequent my posts were becoming, particularly because there were lots of things that I intended to blog about that were just getting left by the wayside. But now I'm having the opposite problem...I don't have enough things to blog about. And not only that, I'm rushing posts and feeling like I'm short changing both myself, and my readers, in the process. I know I wouldn't want to read a series of posts saying "Sorry, I've got no time to do a proper post today, I'm off out now"!! And not only that, I've found it's been ages since I've actually sat down and read and commented on any of the blogs I follow...in my desire to be a better blogger, I've lost touch with one of the major parts of it. The reading and listening. The time spent finding out what my blog friends (because I do consider many bloggers I follow to be friends) are thinking and feeling. The time spent sharing their highs and their lows. The few minutes it takes to leave a supportive comment. If I lose that, I'll be far worse for it.

So from now on, I'm striving to get my balance back. I'm not going to give up blogging every day...I've set myself a goal and as far as I'm concerned, there's no going back! But I'll be trying to manage my time a little better...to find moments to read, as well as write. To contribute to the blogs of others, instead of being so focused on my own. I'm part of a big blogging community, now's the time to act like it!!

Till next time...

Friday night...

2010-08-13T19:03:00.002+01:00

and I'm just about to start getting ready for my friend's 21st (that doesn't half make me feel old lol!) It'll be great to go out, especially as I'll get to catch up with everyone from my drama group who I've not seen for nearly a month. It's been too long!! Anyway, as they say, time waits for no man (or woman!), so I'd better get off. Sorry for the length...half hearted blog posts aren't my favourite things either, but they seem to be a necessary evil at the mo...especially as I'm wasting far too much time on Facebook!!

Till next time...

Sweet Treats: Rocky Road

2010-08-12T18:21:00.004+01:00

Something a little different today, as I've decided to do a baking post. You might know from reading my "Operation August" goals that one of them was to try a new recipe and blog about it. Well, rocky road isn't new to me, but when I was deciding what to make to take along to a get together with some friends this evening, it was my first choice as it's pretty much a guaranteed crowd pleaser!!

I use this recipe with a few adaptations: I use half and half plain and milk chocolate for a slightly sweeter taste, drinking chocolate instead of cocoa powder and substitute digestive or mixed broken biscuits for the ginger nuts. Here's a picture of my ingredients:

You may notice a few extra ingredients as well. Basically, I just stir whatever I feel like into my chocolate sauce...this time I omitted the maltesers, instead adding a chopped up Mars Bar, 100g cornflakes and some dried fruit (dried apricots and glace cherries). And it looks amazing...if I do say so myself!! And the aroma of the warm chocolate sauce, well words can't do it justice...just make it for yourself, and you'll see what I mean!!

Ok so I've made the sauce, prepared my dry ingredients and stirred everything in. I've spooned the mixture into a prepared tray and left it to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. And voila, this is the end result:

I think I could have done with a little bit more chocolate to cover those rogue cornflakes, but other than that, I think it's turned out pretty well. And I'm pleased to report that it tastes ok too (naturally there were lots of rogue crumbs when I was cutting it that my family and I just couldn't resist sampling!!) And now I'm sat here, with most of it packed up in a box ready to take to Spinningfields where my friends and I are going to watch "Stand By Me". Food, a film, fresh air and fun...sounds like a pretty good evening to me!! Till next time...

What's-in-my-Wardrobe Wednesday: Summer Dresses

2010-08-11T18:28:00.006+01:00

Well, Wednesday's come around again and for my blog that means just one thing: it's time for another instalment of "What's in my Wardrobe Wednesday"! This week I'm going to be focusing on summer dresses in a vain hope that it might make summer make a most welcome return to my part of the world. Whilst the early summer (the end of May, most of June and the beginning of July) was warm and gloriously sunny, the past month or so has been a complete washout. It's rained practically every day and temperatures have been near or below the average for the time of year. But let's just ignore that for now, shall we, and focus on a summer where I'd be able to wear all of the following on a regular basis!!

Cream garden print cap sleeve dress

This is one of my favourite summer dresses, not least because it was a real bargain...I picked it up for just a fiver off one of the stalls at my village's summer festival. I adore its vintage look, and think the print is simply gorgeous...it pretty much sums summer up for me. Plus it's really flattering to wear, this is something that doesn't come across well on the hanger...I kind of wish I'd made the effort to take some pictures of me wearing it now! There's only one thing I'd change about it if I could, and that's the fact that the skirt has 3 layers: a silky underskirt, a net one over that and then the main skirt itself. Whilst they give it a lovely shape, they make it just a little too hot for high summer wear, as I discovered to my peril as I wore this to the theatre on one of the hottest days of the year so far!

Close up of the back...I love the heart button detail!!

Coral broderie anglaise sun dress

Coral is my summer colour, so much so that this is the first of 3 coral dresses to be featured in this post! It's bright and cheery and looks great with a tan...even if I don't have much of one most of the time! As well as the colour, I also love the fact that it's so easy to wear. I've had this dress for 3 or 4 years now, and it's not dated or gone out of style, and I can dress it both up (with wedges) or down (with flat sandals and my light denim jacket). Simply perfect!!

Full skirted floral print shirt dress

To be honest, this is technically much more than a summer dress...I often wear it in the cooler months with either black opaques for night, or black leggings for day, and its versatility is one of its major plus points for me. As with many of the other pieces I own, I can dress it up or down, and I've been able to wear this for so many different occasions ranging from a trip to the park to a meal with friends to a night out in town to name just three. I also adore the femininity of this dress...with its full skirt and bow which accentuates my waist, it makes me feel really womanly. Just as a side note, I think it looks pretty similar to this dress by Luella from a couple of seasons ago. What do you think? Not bad considering mine's just a cheapo version from Primark lol!!

Coral and grey flower and leaf print dress

Now, I love this dress. It's light and flowy, so it's perfect for summer wear and I love the fact that it's just a little bit different...probably because it was a limited edition piece. But what I love most about this dress was that it most certainly didn't have a limited edition price tag. This little beauty cost me the grand sum of £1.00!! That's right, it was just £1.00!! Like the first dress, this was a bargain from my home town's summer festival, but this is a more recent acquisition, having only been purchased a few weeks ago. But unlike the other dress, this still had its original tags on, which told me that it was from the Marks and Spencer Limited Collection and had started life at £45. Yet there it was, on the £1 bargain rail. I couldn't believe my luck...and am still convinced the stall holder had made a mistake. But I didn't question it...I just marched up to him, said "This is from the pound rail", and waited for him to bag the dress up lol!! Now being M and S, the only downside is that it ran a little big, but lucky for me my Mum is a whizz with a needle, and was able to put a couple of darts with no trouble :-)

Coral tulip skirt shift dress

Yet another coral dress; this was a favourite for summer evenings out last year and has even managed to get one or two outings this time around, despite the less than summery weather. I love the fact that this dress is very figure flattering; it nips me in at the waist, adds to the curve of my hips and hits just the right spot above my knees. And it has pockets...I love dresses with pockets. Sometimes I wear it as is, other times I wear it with a thick black waist belt to give me an even more defined waist (and to show more of my legs!!), but I wouldn't recommend doing that if you were eating out whilst wearing it...suffice it to say, I've tried it and it's not the most comfortable thing ever!! The coral colour also matches well with a range of accessories...I've worn it with cream, stone and grey shoes and gold, neutral and silver/pewter toned jewellery and it's looked great each time...another reason why I love versatile pieces!!

Hope you enjoyed this glimpse inside my wardrobe :-) Till next time...

Off out again...

2010-08-10T19:12:00.002+01:00

I know I said I'd stop doing this but you're going to have to put up with me doing a really rushed post just one more time as I'm off out again shortly. This evening some friends and I are going to see Toy Story 3 (one of my goals!!), and having heard great things about the film, I'm really looking forward to it. It may sound weird, but I'm hopeful that I'll cry at the end...I've heard of so many adults that have that I'll kind of feel that I've got no soul if I don't lol!! I'm also planning on getting some delicious Ben and Jerry's to take in with me...Cookie Dough and Chocolate Fudge Brownie Froyo are my current flavours of choice. I just hope I get there in time, as I really want to indulge!! Anyway, I suppose I'd better wrap this post up now...I don't want to be the person holding everyone else up, and my lift is due to arrive any minute. Hope everyone has a great rest of the day, whatever you're doing, and I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with another "What's in my Wardrobe Wednesday", but knowing me, you'll just have to wait and see!! Till next time...

The last thing I...

2010-08-09T20:02:00.003+01:00

I'm trying something a bit different today, as I'm seriously running out of things to blog about on a daily basis! So I thought I'd make a list of some of the last things I've done in different categories. So, in no particular order, here are the last things I:

ate: a hobnob and a sport biscuit
drank: a cup of tea (what else?!)
heard: my sisters talking, and the TV in the background
watched: TV programme: The Simpsons
Film: The Blues Brothers
bought: a 21st birthday card for my friend
read: a list of the last things that people had done (on an Internet messageboard)
blogged about: well other than this, it was an update on my Operation August goals list
thought: "I wonder if this blog post is going to be a load of rubbish...??"

How about you?? What were the last things you did? Or what are you doing right now? Let me know...it'd be great to hear from you :-) Till next time...

Operation August: Goals List Update (Week 1)

2010-08-08T20:11:00.002+01:00

Well, the first week of August is almost over, and I thought I'd round it off with an update on how I'm doing with my Operation August goals so far. To be honest, I haven't made as much progress as I'd have liked, but as the saying goes, "Every journey begins with a small step"... and hopefully I'll be making a few more next week. But enough beating around the bush...here's what I've achieved so far:

Senses

Well I haven't bought any new DVDs this month (well except for "Shutter Island", which was part of my friend's birthday present), but I haven't made any progress in getting through my collection either. Hopefully, I'll watch more next week!!
There's been no real progress towards my other goals in this category...a few half hearted efforts perhaps, but that's about as far as it's gone!

Social

As I blogged about on Friday, I got to see Blues Brothers at Spinningfields on Thursday night, which means I'm half way towards my goal to watching two films there. Yay!!
I met up with a good few friends last night for one of their birthdays. It was good to catch up with people I hadn't seen for at least a couple of weeks, but I still feel like I should be making more of an active effort to stay in touch with my friends, rather than waiting for events to take place.

Mind and Body

I think I've managed to get in my required exercise this week, even though I haven't been overly active. I've taken a walk most afternoons or evenings...it's one of my favourite forms of exercise as I love the fact that I'm out in the open air.
I sorted out one of my wardrobes on Monday in preparation for Tuesday's shopping trip, and managed to clear out quite a few things to go to charity (either to clothing collections or to a local charity shop). However, that's only the beginning of my task...I've got another cupboard and some drawers to go yet!!
I have managed to blog everyday this week...if only just!! My aim for next week is make more time for it so that half my posts aren't just 5 minute rush jobs when I'm panicking!!

And that's pretty much it...I haven't bothered to blog about the goals in the "professional" category because I haven't made any progress towards them...fingers crossed I'll have more to report next week!! And now, all that's left for me to say is hope that you've had a good week and relaxing weekend. whatever you've been doing!! Till next time...

And three!!

2010-08-07T17:02:00.003+01:00

I can't believe how forgetful I'm becoming when it comes to blogging!! Another uber quick one...it's my friend's birthday today so we're heading out for a meal and drinks in town. I'm leaving in about 20 mins and I've not even done my make up yet...eek!!

To make up for three rushed posts now, I promise that (most of) my forthcoming ones will be more lovingly written and will have a lot more time and attention spent on them as I do really want to make a proper go of this blogging everyday lark :-)

Till next time...

Oops, I nearly forgot...

2010-08-06T20:10:00.004+01:00

to blog!! Much like yesterday, I'm due to go out very soon and have realised that despite being at home for the majority of the day, I haven't actually blogged. Highlights since yesterday evening have included:

Watching "Blues Brothers" at Spinningfields...that means that I'm half way towards my goal of watching 2 films at the big screen there!! And it was also a fantastic night...watching a hilarious film with great company and eating loads of junk is always fun, and then add to that the amazing atmosphere that last night brought with it, and it was pretty much perfect. I loved the way that people were getting up and dancing during the songs, and how much effort some individuals had put into preparing for the night...some people had got dressed up as the Blues Brothers, and a couple even dressed their dogs up and brought them along too!! Fabulous!!
My hair getting a well needed cut and restyle...I think my last appointment had been in April, so needless to say it needed quite a bit taking off!!
Eating delicious home made chocolate chip cookies that my sister had baked whilst I was out.
The rain holding off while I went for an evening walk!! :-)

And that's it for today!! Till next time...

My day: short but (pretty) sweet

2010-08-05T17:53:00.003+01:00

Now, this is going to be rather rushed...I'm due to go out in an hour, and I haven't yet had the shower which I've been intending to have all day!! And it's been quite a lazy day too...I slept in a bit, had a driving lesson, helped my sister with her paper round and then spent the afternoon chilling...mainly messing around on the net and watching a DVD. Never mind, I suppose...I'll be signing off in a mo, and my going out this evening is for a great cause. Not only will I get to spend time with some of my best friends, my activities this evening should help contribute towards one of my Operation August goals. Yay!!

And that's your lot for today...promise I'll be back with something longer and hopefully more coherent tomorrow!! :-) Till next time...

What's-in-my-Wardrobe Wednesday: Yesterday's Buys

2010-08-04T21:52:00.005+01:00

It's back!! After months and months, "What's in my Wardrobe Wednesday" has finally returned!! :-) Can you tell I'm just a little excited?! Anyway, without further ado, onto the most important thing: the clothes...and the shoes...and the accessories...I'm sure you're getting the idea lol! Now as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've done a bit of shopping, so what better way to share my purchases than by blogging about them in a Wardrobe Wednesday??

All of yesterday's buys came from Primark...if you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know that it's one of my most favourite shops ever! If not, well you do now! Having said that, I was just a little bit disappointed with it yesterday. Whilst I did buy some fabulous things, there wasn't really that much that jumped out at me and begged me to take it home, and that's a bit of a rarity. But never mind...I suppose it saved me money, at least ;-) And finally, for your delectation, here are the pieces that did return home with me:

Denim effect leggings in black and blue

Just a couple of basic buys to begin my post with, these leggings will help refresh my quite tired looking leggings collection...I can think of at least one pair that have seen better days! They'll be a wardrobe staple worn underneath longer length tops for a more casual look (I'm wearing the blue pair today with a blue and white striped cotton cami) and I know from experience that they're especially comfy to wear on fat days lol!

Black, white and grey floral print skater dress

This is a piece that definitely has autumn written all over it (or maybe even summer if our recent weather's anything to go by!). I think it'll look great worn over black leggings or super opaque tights, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to dress it up or down depending on my footwear and accessory choices.

Dark grey stud detail pumps

Grey canvas pumps or high tops have been a wardrobe staple of mine for well over a year now, and I was desperately in need of some new ones, due to the fact that my old ones are letting water in. These are a bit darker than the ones I've previously gone for, but I was attracted by the stud design, which you can see more clearly here:

Whilst I love the originality of these (and also think the checked lining is pretty funky), the one downside is that they're cut quite low at the front, meaning that if I wear them with leggings you can see quite a lot of my socks...not such a good look!! So I get a feeling I'll be saving these for wearing with jeans/trousers and keeping my old pumps for wearing with leggings based outfits like today's.

Coral and teal rose print scarf

I absolutely love the colours in this scarf...I think they're gorgeous!! This is actually a piece that's caught my eye a couple of times before, but I've resisted up until now, as I wasn't quite sure what I was going to pair it with. To be honest, I'm still not, but I thought that it was too pretty an item not to be mine!!

And last but not least...

Beige shiny effect mac

A classic mac was also on my shopping list for yesterday's trip, and I think this one's absolutely perfect and can see myself hopefully wearing this for years to come. I love how the subtle sheen makes it a little different, whilst still being timeless and elegant in design, and I love the fact that the belt is long enough to tie in a proper bow (although this is something I've obviously not quite mastered yet judging by the photo!!)

Here's a back view:

Ignore the creases on the back and focus on the puffed shoulders and back vent detail instead!! I'm really looking forward to wearing this, both for work and also to help smarten up more casual outfits. My first beige mac...I almost feel like a proper adult!!

And there we have it...hope you enjoyed :-) Till next time...

Nothing exciting to say...

2010-08-03T20:30:00.004+01:00

but it is one of my goals to blog every day this month, so I'd better write something anyway!! Today's been relatively uneventful...I went shopping with my Mum and sisters this morning (will be blogging about my purchases in the near future), and have spent the rest of the day relaxing...messing around on the Internet, watching TV and going for a walk. Nothing exciting, but I don't suppose that every day can be after all!!

Hope everyone else is having a good day, whatever you're doing :-)!! Till next time...

Mingling on a Monday!!

2010-08-02T20:32:00.003+01:00

Today, I did something I've never done before...I headed over to Life of Meg to join in with her "Mingle Monday". Now, I can't remember exactly how I found out about it in the first place... I want to say that I read about it over at Diary of a Chocoholic a few weeks ago, but that might just be my imagination lol!! Anyway, today I finally took the plunge and mingled on a Monday for the first time. And it was great! :-) Basically, all you do is add your blog's name and a little picture to a linky list at the bottom of the Mingle Monday post. Then you just click on two (or as many as you like) of the other pictures on the list, and voila...you've discovered some great new blogs!! Finally you just leave a comment on any of the blogs you've visited and then head back to Meg's to leave a short review of them. Seriously, it's as simple as that, and in my opinion, it's well worth doing. First off, Meg's blog itself is fab...I love the layout, her posts, the whole Mingle Monday idea...I really can't get enough. And secondly, it's such a quick and easy way of finding new blogs to follow. No trawling through your friend's blogrolls to see if you can uncover any hidden gems; instead they're all there at your fingertips, just waiting to be clicked on.

So, will I be participating again? Absolutely! Am I going to recommend Mingle Monday to all my followers and readers? Definitely! Till next time...

Operation August: The Goals List

2010-08-01T18:06:00.002+01:00

So I blogged yesterday about how fed up I was of wasting my holidays (and, indeed, much of my life,) by doing nothing, and about how I'd set myself a list of goals to help ensure that my August was more rewarding for me, be it personally, socially or professionally. And here they are...some are things I've been meaning to get round to for a while, others are things that have occurred to me over the last few days but all are things I'm hopeful of achieving over the next 30 days. I've tried to organise them into categories as best as I can, some maybe a little vague so just bear with me!

Goals
Senses

Buy no new DVDs this month...watch only those already in my collection (including Season 5 of House)
Buy a new MP3 player and load it with music.
Read at least 2 novels/collections of short stories (can be those I already own or new additions!)
Try at least one new recipe this month and blog about it (complete with photos!)
Watch the following films: Toy Story 3, Inception and The A Team

Social

Organise an outing for me and my friends...possibly a picnic in the park (weather permitting!)
Watch "The Blues Brothers" and "Stand by Me" at Spinningfields with friends.
Reconnect with at least five old friends via Facebook
Be in contact with every member of my circle of friends at some point this month (This may sound like an odd one, but as I have quite a large group of friends it's rare that we're all in the same place at the same time, and I don't always make the effort to be in touch with them outside those occasions.)

Professional

Investigate job opportunities outside of teaching.
Find out more about becoming an Avon representative.

Mind and Body

Give myself a girly pamper day (do my hair and nails, use a face mask, have a long Lush bath etc)
Do at least 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week
Take a day out to be a tourist in a city of my choice
Investigate evening classes or online courses (with the aim of taking at least one in September)
Donate blood
Sort out my room once and for all
Clear out my wardrobes and drawers
Blog every day throughout the month
Book my driving practical test (I wasn't really sure where to put the last 4 items so I thought this section was as good as any!!)

And there we have it! Some of the goals may seem a little frivolous, but as I mentioned at the start, I'm aiming to do things that will fulfil me on a variety of levels, not just at the deepest one. And as one of my goals is to blog every day, I'll be documenting my progress throughout this project, with lots of details on what I've done, and I'll also be crossing off the goals on the list as I go, of course!! But rest assured, I'm not only going to be blogging about "Operation August", there'll be other things in the mix too. I'm planning on bringing back "What's in my Wardrobe Wednesday" with a bang, there'll be weekend updates and "Highs and Lows" posts and as I'm trying to grow my blog at the mo, I'm going to get involved with other bloggers' themed days too!

And that's all from day 1 of Operation August. Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 2, when I'm hopefully going to be blogging about something new (to me), that I think is an absolutely fabulous idea!! Till then...

Enough is enough!!

2010-07-31T15:38:00.002+01:00

Ok, I've had just about enough. Just about enough of doing nothing, that is!! I've been off work since last Friday, and I've spent the majority of my time since then just sitting or pottering around, with most days just melting seamlessly into each other because they're all the same!! Now to be fair, I've spent the last few of them trying to shake off a cold which hasn't exactly left me feeling 100%, but still my laziness and lack of motivation does leave a lot to be desired!! Should I watch a DVD? No, I can't be bothered. Should I do some blogging? No, I can't be bothered. Should I do anything other than sitting on my bottom for the entire day?? No, because I really can't be bothered. And it's stupid. Stupid for 2 main reasons. One, when I eventually do these things, I really enjoy them...blogging, for example, or at least feel pleased that I've met a goal...e.g. updating my CV and registering my interest in working at the BBC( finally completed today...woohoo!!). And secondly, if I never do anything, I'm never going to get anywhere with my life. My mind and body and soul will just stagnate. I'll never find the job that suits me down to the ground. I'll never find new favourite films and books and TV series that I can lose myself in over and over and over again. I'll never discover places and things and people that could inspire me more than anything. There'll never be a way to find that person that I actually want spend to my life with, the one with whom my baggage will not be an issue, because my love for him will outweigh my nostalgia for the past and the wishes of that one treacherous corner of my heart for the man I loved at 18 to be the one. It seems like a pretty hefty price to pay simply because I couldn't be bothered!! So from now on, I'm going to seize each day, and with August beginning tomorrow it's perfect timing. Because I've got a whole month to use. A whole month to get out and do things, go places, meet new people and discover new opportunities. And alongside this I'm going to have some mini goals for the month, which I'm going to share in tomorrow's post. And tomorrow's post is going to be the first of many because one of my goals is going to be to blog every day in August because if I'm going to be keeping busy, I'll have much more to blog about,right?! But that's all you're getting for now...just a taster as I begin my journey to creating the me, and the life, I want.

I love drama...but only the theatrical kind!!

2010-07-20T19:13:00.004+01:00

As a bit of a frustrated performer, two of my major interests are acting and singing, and over the past 2 years, I've been lucky enough to find an outlet for these by being a member of a local stage society. During that time, I've performed in musical revues and pantomimes and I've loved almost every minute of it!! Despite the fact that I sometimes bitch and moan about the shows we do and even though some rehearsals are deathly dull due to the fact that we repeat the same section of the show over and over and over, I wouldn't miss any of them for the world!! Coming off the back of my latest show (a musical revue that we performed over the past 2 weekends to sell out audiences each night!!), I've realised how fantastic the group is and why I'm so lucky to be a part of it! Here's just some of my reasons:

Friendship and support

One of the most fantastic things about the stage society is how it brings people together, so we're not just acquaintances with a common interest, we're friends. Friends who've added each other on Facebook and follow each other on Twitter. Friends who get invited to each other's birthday parties and anniversary celebrations. Friends who are willing to open their houses to the entire society so that we can enjoy amazing after show parties!! People who enjoy spending time with each other so much that they organise social events outside rehearsal periods so that everyone has a chance to catch up on all the latest gossip! But it's not just about the social side; the going out and having fun. It's also about the support we give to one another. During the last show, pretty much all you heard in the wings and ante rooms at the side of the stage was people congratulating others after their solos and dance spots or reassuring them and calming their nerves before they're due to go on stage. And at the end of a solo/duet/small group performance, as well as the applause from the audience, you'd also hear cast members clapping and cheering behind the curtains to show their appreciation. It may not be professional (or so I've been told) but I wouldn't have it any other way. And society members who aren't taking part often come and watch...I got a lovely Facebook message from one of them early last week, saying how much they enjoyed my solo performance and it was just overwhelming. But it's not just on show nights, whenever anyone has a problem or worry, you can pretty much rely on someone from the society to be there for them; asking them how things are because they genuinely care. And that's what I love so much.

2. Opening new horizons

Being a member of the stage society has truly broadened my horizons. Since joining I've sung all kinds of songs that I wouldn't even have listened to before and although they're not all to my taste, it's been a learning experience, to say the least!! And I've also met and got to know people of all ages, from all walks of life. People ranging from age 12 to their early 70s. People who are students, teachers, shop workers, retired. People who I wouldn't normally have the opprtunity, or maybe even the inclination to spend time with, but thanks to the society, I've got to know and like them!!

3. Confidence and self esteem

Maybe it's because I've met lots of new people. Maybe it's due to the fact that I've performed on stage and got pretty much nothing but positive feedback and applause in return. Whatever it is, I now find it much easier to talk to people, and even though my confidence has taken a knock due to the saga of my job hunting and my (very) mixed experiences on supply, I know that there are things that I'm good at and that some people think I'm fantastic just by being me!! And if all else fails, I can use my acting skills to (hopefully) ace a job interview sooner or later!!

4. A chance to be someone else/somewhere else

One of the things I love most about being on stage is the opportunity it gives me to be another pesron. Whilst this is more apparent in acting than in a song and dance show, it's still there regardless. When singing "Will you Still Love me Tomorrow", for example, I wasn't me, I was a confused, lovestruck girl wondering if, and hoping beyond hope that, the man she loved felt the same about her. And when I walk on stage, and the lights hit me, I'm somewhere else too. When acting in the past, I've been to 17th century New England, modern day London and a fairytale kingdom. My mind is free to explore another person's life in another place, and it can be a great escape, especially when real life isn't so good!

So there's my list. Drama has been one of the things I've enjoyed most over the last couple of yours and now I'm interested about you. What are your interests and hobbies? Are you a performer like me or are you a more backstage type of person? Are you into sport or a couch potato? Whatever it is, let me know!! 'Til next time...

An end...but also a beginning

2010-07-18T19:29:00.003+01:00

Yet another couple of weeks has gone by without me blogging, and again I can't believe how long it's actually been since my last post!! I can attribute my absence to two main factors: one, I've been actually rather busy with work the last couple of weeks (it's been quite a surprise given how late on in the school year it is) and two, I've had all kinds of mixed up thoughts, feelings and emotions running through my head lately, and I've not really known how to put them down on 'paper', especially as my mood has been very changeable of late. But now I've come to a decision, albeit a very vague one, I feel it's time to break my silence.

And so to the title of this post...in many ways, I'm currently facing the end of a chapter in my life story. As I've mentioned, it's very nearly the end of the school year. And as things stand, the end of the school year will also bring my time as a supply teacher to a close. Due to circumstances beyond my control (a ridiculous government ruling), newly qualified teachers i.e. me, can only do short term supply for 16 months before completing their induction period (a year/3 terms where NQTs have to demonstrate they meet certain standards and are supported by a teacher mentor at their school). After your 16 months is up (it starts counting down from the very first day you work on short term supply, and doesn't stop...even if you don't work as a supply teacher after that initial day, your 16 months would be up at the same time as someone who had done supply for the duration!!), that's it! No more short term supply (anything less than a term) until your induction's in the bag!! And this puts me in a really tricky position...basically to give you a potted work history, I qualified in June '07, and started doing short term supply from the September of that year. I covered a maternity leave from May to December of 2008, thereby completing a term of my induction, and have been doing short term supply ever since. I found out about the 16 month ruling in September of last year (it's been around for a while but is very rarely flagged up to anyone; I only found out by complete chance), and was able to secure a 3 term extension taking me up to now. Now where I have been unable to secure a long term/permanent teaching post that would let me finish my induction. Now where my teaching career appears to be at an end, momentarily at least. I know that supply teaching wasn't the job I would have chosen in an ideal world...I've been longing for my own classroom and I know that I've definitely had more bad than good experiences of the supply teaching world, but I'm still angry that my teaching career's being taken out of my hands through no fault of my own and there's nothing that I can do about it!!

But with an end also comes a beginning. This hiatus in my teaching means that I'm free to try new things although, for a while, I was at a loss to exactly what they were. Should I try and get a permanent teaching assistant job as the next best thing to teaching? Find some temping work unrelated to teaching? Embark on an altogether new career path by applying for full time jobs outside the education sector (or at least outside school settings)? Go back to uni and work part time to help support myself in the meantime? I considered all of these and more, and have recently come to a decision. My new beginning is hopefully going to be working as a teaching assistant on a supply basis. This has the advantage of still enabling me to work with children, without having all the responsibilty and stress that comes with being a teacher, and it will hopefully allow me to gain more experience of working in the EYFS with the youngest children in the primary age range (3-5 year olds); this is one area I'm currently lacking in and I'm keen to do something about it! Plus I'll still have the flexibility I've come to really value on supply so if I need a day off or get offered a long term post elsewhere I'll be able to take it wothout feeling I'm letting anyone down. Of course, there will also be disadvantages. Pay won't be as good; I'll probably have to work a full week to earn the same wage I'd get for 2 or 3 days of supply teaching, and there's no guarantee that work will be available all the time. Also I'm preparing myself for some awkward questions: Why am I doing TA work when I'm a qualified teacher? How come I've not been able to finish my induction yet when I've been qualified for 3 years? But these are things I'm just going to have to live with. I'm still planning to carry on applying for teaching jobs as I have been doing over the past 18 months so nothing's really changed in that respect, I'll just be filling out slightly different details in the "current employment" box on my applications!! At the moment, I've got a vague idea of giving things another year, but I suppose I'll just wait and see what happens between now and then.

But maybe thinking about September before the school year's even out might be a little premature. After all, there's the summer to think of first. A summer that I plan to spend sleeping in, reading, seeing friends and spending alone time, soaking up the sun (hopefully!), getting out and about but also having some time at home. Time that I'll dedicate to me. Not in a selfish way, but in a useful way. Time that I'll use to plan for the future, time where I can hopefully begin to discover what really makes me tick. At the minute, new ideas are popping up on a regular basis! I'm considering becoming an Avon representative, and am also interested in finding other ways of earning some extra money. Who knows, I might even find something I love so much, I'll know exactly where my future lies! But whether I do or not, I know that I'll have a good summer nonetheless. So here's to a well deserved break (if I do say so myself!!) To happy(ish) endings and new beginnings...I'm going to do my best to make the most of each and every one of them!!

Searching for Inspiration

2010-07-04T18:03:00.004+01:00

Over the past 2 weeks, I've been pretty much silent on the blogging front...I've kept up with the blogs I follow (to a degree anyway!) and commented on a few, but in terms of posting there's been nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch...I think you get the idea!! Now part of me had put this down to being busy and having other more "important" things to do, but a larger part had thought that I may have lost my inspiration...because even when I do sit down to blog, half the time I just can't think of what to write so I abandon the idea. I've toyed with the idea of introducing more themed days to make things easier on me, and also to hopefully help make the blog more interesting as it would be updated more regularly, but something has held me back. I think what that boils down to is that ideally I want the freedom to write about whatever I want whenever I want to, without worrying that I'm going to upset the pattern and routine of my posts if I do so. But as I started to ponder where my inspiration might have gone, I realised that it actually wasn't lacking at all. It was still there; what had disappeared, however, was my motivation. Take this example, for instance: I have an ever growing list of blog posts that I'm intending to write, some of them weeks or even months old. Amy and I went on our town hall tour in April, but the post I wanted to write is still pending. We've had our new kitten for around 2 months, and there are still no pictures of him on here! You see what I'm getting at?! And I think my problem with these is their lack of relevancy...the ideas have been around for so long they just don't seem meaningful any more!!

And relevancy and meaning brings me onto my second proof that I can still be inspired...my morning scribbles. If I'm not prebooked on a given day, once I've had my breakfast and got myself ready, I sit and wait for a call that might not even come. Sitting and waiting isn't quite all I do, however, as that would drive me crazy very quickly. I used to read while I waited, now I write. And I write whatever comes into my head. Often it's lists; to-do lists for the day/week/weekend ahead, lists of blog posts like the ones I mentioned before. Lists that I don't often stick to, but that are somehow comforting as they give order and structure to my semi chaos. But lately, my writing is increasingly likely to be a full blown piece. Something that I'm intending to post on my blog but, inevitably, by the time I get round to doing so, it's lost its urgency and immediacy, its meaningfulness and relevance, so I shelve it and stare at the computer screen instead, racking my brains for a viable alternative. The bulk of this post actually comes from one such example...I wrote it on Monday morning, and looking at my original draft, I got to this point at 8:35 lol!! But although it's taken me almost a week to post, and it isn't quite in its original, first draft, state, I was determined not to let this piece go the way of the others.

So I'm posting this, mainly because mornings are when I find my true inspiration. For me, it seems the desire to fill those dangerous moments between the possibility of a stressful, last-minute dash to work and the (almost) certain knowledge that I'll no longer get an early morning call at such a late stage, has led to something unexpected. My tension seems to breed creativity. I get an urge to write...and I don't want to stop writing until the clock strikes 9 and I'm safe from stress and uncertainty. So out of my cloud, that situation I absolutely hate has come my silver lining...I've found that I can produce writing that's true and honest and straight from my heart. Writing that has meaning and urgency...words that I have to say now as I simply can't keep quiet any longer, even if I haven't realised it before I put pen to paper. So it's those tricky mornings that are, surprisingly, proving to be my inspiration, and I'd like to know...where and when do you find yours??

Saturday

2010-06-19T22:46:00.003+01:00

Today has been a day of:

getting up a good 2 and a half hours later than I'd have to on a work day...ahhh, bliss!!
feeling a real sense of satisfaction when I read through my latest job application and realised that it wasn't half as bad as I thought. Also of feeling an enormous sense of release as I knew that I could give myself a day off before starting any new ones :-)
visiting my Grandad and, along with the rest of my immediate family, giving him his Father's Day a little bit early!!
catching up on all the blogs in my blogroll; having not been on Blogger for a couple of days, and following around 50 blogs meant there was a LOT of reading to do. Although it was definitely of the most pleasurable kind!! :-)
eating a delicious (but fat filled) takeaway...Saturdays are definitely junk food days in my house!!
tuning into some Doctor Who, then going for a walk in the evening sunshine, it was a perfect after dinner relax :-)
watching Tropic Thunder with Amy and filling up on sweets, chocolate and popcorn. I know it's not your typical girly film, but it makes me laugh, and I get to watch RDJ act!! :-)Seriously, that guy is incredible...I totally understand how he was Oscar nominated for his performance.

So that's my Saturday...full of family, food and relaxation, it was pretty much perfect!! What have you been up to today?? Whatever it may have been, hope you've had as good a day as mine :-)

Till next time...

Touristy Tuesdays: People's History Museum

2010-06-15T17:50:00.008+01:00

If I've got a day free in the school holidays or at the weekend, one of my favourite things to do is to take a trip out somewhere interesting, and that's the inspiration behind my new series of posts, "Touristy Tuesdays". Now, as I'm lucky enough to live close to Manchester, there are loads of great places to see and things to do that are almost on my doorstep: museums, galleries, historic buildings, green spaces, guided tours and lots of fantastic shops and restaurants, so I reckon that's where most of my Touristy Tuesdays will be based, although if I venture further afield, I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures there too!!

I've decided to kick off the series by focusing on the People's History Museum, which Amy and I visited during the school holidays. This is one of the lesser known museums in Manchester, and focuses specifically on the ordinary people's struggle for democracy over the past 2 centuries (starting from the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 and going up to the present day). Now, this may sound a bit boring, but don't let my description put you off...it's a really interesting and family friendly museum, with lots of interactive exhibits for both children and adults alike to enjoy. The main galleries themselves are split up into seven main themes. One of mine and Amy's favourites was the "Free Time" exhibit where we worked at a Co-Op, watched part of a football match and looked at football memorabilia and picked songs to listen to on a jukebox:

Amy and I pretending to be shopkeepers in the Co-Op. Do you like my hat?!

Check out the football memorabilia!! We also sat on a "football pitch" to watch some clips of famous football matches...the oldest one was from 1898 and the picture was so flickery we couldn't even see the ball!!

Another favourite of mine were the "rooms" that were decorated to show what life was like for normal people at various points during the past 200 years, as I love finding out what everyday life was like in the past, not just about big historical events or the lives of the rich and famous. Here are some pictures of a typical 1945 living room:

Amy and I love hats, so we thought it was great when we got to try these on in the "Workers" exhibition:

Amy in a top hat. These were generally worn by men from the upper classes.

And in a bowler hat...these were worn by middle class men.

Straw boater time!! This was really appropriate given the weather...it was a really warm, sunny day, but SO uncomfortable to wear!!

And here's the clock that the workers would use to clock in at the start of their shift:

Dotted all around the museum were beautiful banners from various workers' associations and trade unions. They were all so beautifully decorated, it's just a pity that the picture I've got is quite blurry:

This is from "The Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers Chatham District"

Finally, I feel that this sums up the museum fantastically. It's a giant wall painting which takes the viewer through all the events and organisations that have shaped the lives of ordinary people over the past 200 years:

And that's my People's History Museum. Stay tuned for more blog updates soon...I'm trying really hard to keep up with my posting and to comment on all your blogs too!! Till next time...

Highs and Lows of Last Week

2010-06-14T17:51:00.003+01:00

So, it's another new week, and I thought I'd kick it off with my Highs and Lows for last week. When I was thinking about them, I realised that some items have been appearing on my lists on quite a regular basis...I hope it's not a sign that I'm becoming too boring and predictable lol!! Maybe I should let people decide for themselves, so here's my list so you can do just that:

Highs

(Almost) free fun with friends: On Thursday night, a couple of friends and I went to the open air cinema at Spinningfields and watched The Italian Job. It was the second time I'd been, and I loved it once again! Although you do have to contend with the unreliable Manchester weather (both times I've been it's been quite chilly to say the least!), the atmosphere is fab, you get the chance to see films you might not choose to watch normally and best of all admission is free! Yes, you need to pay if you want to hire a picnic blanket or deckchair to sit on and if you want to buy any food or drink that'll obviously cost extra too, but all in all, it's a really good value, chilled out evening, especially if you come prepared with a couple of blankets like we did! I really can't think of a much better way to spend my Thursday evenings, and am hoping to catch a lot more of the fims over the summer; maybe I'll even manage to go on a warm evening next time!
Cocktails: Now on a night out with friends, there's nothing I like more than a good cocktail, and on Saturday night, I had possibly the best Cosmopolitan I've ever tasted. Now I'm not normally a Cosmo fan, finding them a bit tart for my tastes, but these were amazing!! And really good value when you bought a pitcher to share too (which was great for my bank balance!!). When I get a proper job, I think I'll definitely be going back to the bar in question (Tribeca) to sample more delights from their menu!!
Finding out I'm definitely eligible for a tax refund: This really cheered me up this week, particularly as I had had 3 weeks without any real work to speak of, due to the school holidays, and also having a particularly quiet work week immediately before them, and as a result, my money's been slowly dwindling away. Basically, as I worked for 2 agencies last tax year, and part of the one before as well, only one of them had my proper tax code and the other just charged me the basic tax rate (I think it's 20%) on all I earned when working for them. Add it up over the past year and a bit, and that's quite a lot of tax!! So I phoned the tax office on Friday, and after waiting in a queue for what seemed like forever (well, about 15 minutes anyway!!), I got through to someone who did some checks and confirmed that I would be eligible to receive a refund. I'm not sure how much I'll get yet, but I know that I should receive a cheque in about 4 weeks. Yay!! Fingers crossed it'll be enough to help tide me over the summer, when I'll have a long time without any work.

Lows

Not getting the job...again!!: I had another teaching observation and interview last Wednesday, and once again I was unsuccessful. I have a feeling it may have had something to do with my teaching observation. I had to teach a 20 minute maths session to 8 Year 4 pupils (ages 8 and 9), and decided to do perimeter and area, 2 topics that, according to the maths framework, should have already been covered. Well guess what?! I don't think it had, as when I asked the children what perimeter was and how you'd work it out, I was left with blank looks and some inspired (if slightly misguided) guesses!! Not the end of the world, I don't suppose, as one mark of a good teacher is how you can adapt and refine activities to better meet the needs of the children, and I think I did this quite well given the circumstances. The downside was that I feel that the activity lost momentum as a result, and the children had to be on the carpet longer than I intended, which meant a couple started to lose focus. I tried to manage their behaviour positively with lots of proximity praise and the teacher "look", but didn't know what to do past this, as I was unsure of the school's behaviour policy. All in all, although it wasn't a complete disaster, it didn't go half as well as I wanted and it left me dying to get to the interview part! I think that went better, barring a couple of things that I later realised I'd forgot to mention in my answers. But c'est la vie, I suppose. The headteacher offered me written feedback if I was unsuccessful, which I said I wanted, so I'm just waiting to see what that says, and hoping that it can give me some useful advice for the future (though I'm terrified it's all going to be really negative :-( )
The ever increasingly depressing state of my bank balance: I've not been working for 3 weeks, I've been paying the basic rate of tax for over a year and I like shopping, nights out, magazines and Starbucks too much!! Enough said!!

Till next time...

Disclaimer: I've not received any incentive from Spinningfields or Tribeca in return for writing this!! I've been to the film screenings and bought the cocktails of my own free will, and thought they were fab, which is why I'm trying to big them up to you guys!!

Thankful

2010-06-11T18:24:00.003+01:00

Now this week hasn't exactly been my average one. Despite the fact I'm still technically off work for the spring holidays, being without work, and therefore pay, for the last couple of weeks has taken its toll, so I volunteered to spend some time this week doing some exam invigilation at a local(ish) high school, where I ended up acting as a reader for a pupil with additional needs. Now being a reader is just that...you can read the questions on an exam paper, or any additional material that the student will need to refer to when answering the questions (unless the exam is specifically testing reading skill, then it's a different story), but that's as far as my role went...I couldn't paraphrase the questions or explain their meaning in any way, and although I was supporting my student by reading when she needed me to, for the rest of the time she was on her own. And it was so hard to sit back. So hard to sit and watch her struggle; to see her thinking for a good 5 minutes about what to write, write a little bit, then cross it out in sheer frustration, so hard to keep quiet when I was dying to define a vital word to her; a word that was so crucial to her understanding of an essay question that I felt like screaming its meaning at the top of my lungs, so hard for me as I felt so useless; but I know that however hard it was for me, she was finding it equally so. And I don't ever remember feeling like that about an exam before...maybe odd questions here and there, but never for a whole paper.

And that's why I'm feeling thankful. Because I've been lucky enough to be blessed with more than enough intelligence for my needs...I find it easy to pick most things up and have a good memory which has proved invaluable to me in exam situations. I've never really struggled academically...if you asked me, I'd say I found maths tough at high school, but I still got an A in my GCSEs. And yes I worked damn hard for that A, probably harder than I'd ever worked before or since, but it was still an A... a grade that lots of my friends could never even have dreamed of. And because I've never struggled with school work, I've sometimes found it hard to comprehend that others can, and even found myself getting impatient when people are failing to grasp things that, to me, seem simple. But as of this week, I'd like to think that that's changed. That I'm hopefully changed. Because I've taken things for granted that I really shouldn't, and looking at things from the other side of the coin has really helped to bring that home to me. I'll be thankful for my intelligence every day from now on, because my life, and world, would be totally different without it.

Ring phone, ring!!

2010-06-09T15:58:00.003+01:00

Waiting...I hate it. I had a job interview this afternoon, and now I'm sat here hoping that the phone will ring. They've told me if I've got the job I'll hear by 5:00 PM, so with less than an hour to go before the deadline, I'm not feeling optimistic. I don't think my lesson went particularly well, and even though I left the school feeling quite happy with how the interview part went, I don't honestly think I've done enough to get the job overall. I'm already dreading the feedback I've asked them to send me (assuming I will be unsuccessful), and I'm wondering just what I must being doing wrong in these situations. The joys of job hunting, eh?!

Half way...

2010-06-02T21:49:00.002+01:00

through my week's holiday, and I seriously don't know where the time's going!! I may get another week off after this, as some of the local authorities don't go back until 14th June, but I don't want to put things off, just in case I don't. Anyway here's a round up of what I've been up to so far:

Going to rehearsal and then going for a birthday curry for one of my friends in the drama group on Friday night.
Having a rather chilled Saturday: I visited my Grandad, made a monster batch of Rocky Road with Amy (I doubled up so there was a tray for home and a tray to take to my friends' Eurovision party!), went for a walk, had a gorgeous (if sinful) takeaway, then finally made my way over to my friends' house for Eurovision fun!! We really got into the spirit of things with our scorecards and sweepstake (I picked Moldova and got nowhere!!) and had a great laugh at some of the ridiculous entries!! The only downside was the fact that the UK came last...AGAIN :-( I've got to admit that our song wasn't great, but there were far worse songs in the competition. Darn political voting!!
Trying to find as many distractions as possible so I could avoid doing job applications on Sunday...I know they need to be done, but I just wasn't in the mood at all!! And spending the evening watching SATC2 with one of my closest girl friends...I'm not going to give anything away just in case there are those of you who still haven't seen it, but suffice it to say I much preferred the first one. If you have seen it, what did you think??
Making up for my laziness on Sunday by spending a good few hours on a job application on Monday, and then meeting up with friends for a chat, a drink and a curry for tea :-)
Going on another Primark shopping spree yesterday...pictures to follow shortly!!

And now we're up to today...and nothing much has happened really!! I've been struggling with a headache for much of it and time's just seemed to fly by without me not doing very much!! Fingers crossed that the rest of the week will go by a little more slowly...I've got so much still to do!! Hope you're all having a good week whatever you're up to, and till next time...

PS: I've been thinking of doing some baking posts, but I don't know if you guys would be interested in them. I don't want to be a copycat or unoriginal and I know there are loads of baking blogs out there but as I'm baking on a more regular basis it seems weird not to be posting about it! Let me know what you think!!

99 things (or how memorable has my life been so far??)

2010-05-28T17:00:00.003+01:00

Over the last couple of days, I've really wanted to blog but had no idea what to blog about! I was half toying with the idea of posting about my plans for the weekend, but as I'm planning to do a weekend round up post in a few days anyway, I thought 2 posts about the weekend might just be overkill!! So I decided to catch up on reading some posts instead, and that's when I came across this over at The World is My Oyster . Basically, it's just a list of 99 memorable experiences, and you highlight the things you've done. So let's go! I wonder how memorable my life has really been so far...I'm guessing not so much lol!

99 Memorable Experiences

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars (Does camping count?? If so, then I have, but if you can't be under canvas, then no I've not!!)

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disney

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sung a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a thunder and lightning storm

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (This all depends on if you class cookery as an art...I am doing btw!!)

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (No, although some of my ancestors were born very close to where I live now, so I guess by default maybe...)

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater (No, although I did go to an open air film screening for the first time yesterday and absolutely loved it!! Apart from when it rained...)

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Been sky diving

66. Visited a Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London (Hmmmm...I've been to London twice but I can't honestly remember if I've done this or not!!)

77. Broken a bone

78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve (Well, I'd known him about 5 minutes...I think that makes him a stranger. And I've never seen him since lol!!)

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Gotten a tattoo

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

And that's my list!! Totting up, I've done 20 out of 99...which isn't really that many, just over a fifth! I'm not going to take the list too seriously though, as I can think of so many memorable moments in my life like graduating (twice!!), auditioning for, and getting, the lead role in my college play, many drunken parties with friends, being proposed to, travelling abroad etc that are on my own list, even though they're not featured here!

However, of the ones that I haven't done on this particular list I'd love to do 3, 12, 26, 36, 37, 40, 44, 45, 51 (snorkelling only!), 55, 57, 82, 86, 89 and 94 and it would be absolutely amazing if I could find a way to do 13, given my deep set fear of thunder and lightning. If I could do that, I'd definitely be cured!!

So why don't you have a go?? It'd be great to compare lists, and to hear your most memorable moments!! Hope everyone has a fab 3 day weekend (it seems that both the UK and US have got a long weekend ahead) and I'll be back very soon :-) Till next time...

Highs and Lows

2010-05-25T23:07:00.005+01:00

I've been meaning to post this all day but, despite not working today, have only just got round to it now! So very quickly, as I'm wanting to go to bed shortly, here are my "Highs" and "Lows" of last week:

Highs

Fantastic weather: The UK got its first taste of summer last week, with glorious sunshine and temperatures in the mid to high 20s (Celsius obviously!!) and it was heavenly!! If only we could have that for 3 months every summer, it would be perfect!!
Summer clothes: The gorgeous weather meant that I was also able to break out my summer clothing for the first time since last year...summer skirts, brightly coloured dresses, denim shorts and sandals, I didn't realise how much I'd missed you!!
Free shopping: As you'll probably all know, I love shopping, and I love it even more when my purchases don't actually cost me anything!! A couple of months ago, I got a new mobile phone, and as a free gift I received some HMV vouchers, which I finally spent last week. I bought 4 DVDs, and they didn't cost me a penny! Then, on the same shopping trip, I decided to treat myself to an iced coffee from Starbucks which, you guessed it, was also free courtesy of some coupons they'd sent me earlier in the week! I still have a couple of their vouchers left over, so am hoping to be getting some more free coffee sometime soon!
Another interview (and some useful feedback): I know I've already blogged about part of this point, but last week I received a letter inviting me to a job interview in a couple of weeks. Yay!! I also had an interview itself last week, and whilst I didn't get the job (boo!!), I did receive some genuinely useful feedback and advice from the school's headteacher, which I can hopefully put to good use next time around!
Good news from the dentist: I had my first dentist's appointment in over a year last Friday, and was a bit worried about the state of my gums, as on my last visit there had been some concern that I was showing the early signs of gum disease, and I'd hardly been diligent in following the treatment programme my dentist had recommended. Luckily, this time around my gums were fine, even if another problem was discovered (more about that later!)

Lows

An annoying sore throat: It first reared its ugly head last Wednesday, and then stuck around for Thursday too. It seemed to have disappeared by Friday, but made its presence felt again as soon as I started to sing at rehearsal on Friday night :-( Then the weekend passed with no incident, but guess what happened at Monday's rehearsal...?! Just go away and stay away please!
The downsides of the heat: Namely, stubbing and cutting my little toe whilst wearing my gladiator sandals on Saturday, having to shave my legs practically every day to get away with the bare legged look and getting an annoying bite/heat lump on my right ankle!
Not getting the job: It sucked. I had a mini 5 minute meltdown. Nothing else to say about that one really.
Bad news from the dentist: I need a filling. And my teeth cleaning professionally. And neither of those things come cheap (in my opinion, anyway!)

And that's about all of them! I suppose I could have added in the "low" of someone wearing the same dress as me when I was out on Saturday, but I suppose it was qute funny looking back, and my friends all told me I looked better than she did anyway :-) Thanks guys!!

Till next time...

Well, hello again...

2010-05-20T21:13:00.003+01:00

it looks like I'm back!! :-) I'm no longer drowning under endless application forms and personal statements (although I don't know how long this state of affairs will last!) and with just over a week to go until I break up for the school holidays, I can (almost) safely say (because you can never be 100% sure!) that you'll be hearing a lot more from me from here on out!

As it's been quite a while since I last posted, I thought the best way of getting back up to speed was to post a quick list of things that have happened to me since I've been off the radar. So here goes nothing!!

Since I last posted I...

have got 2 more job interviews!! After having a few interviews over the winter, I hadn't had any since February, so was very excited to get an interview letter last Wednesday. I had my lesson observation on Tuesday, which seemed to go ok and then I've got my interview tomorrow! Eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkk! Then, yesterday, I received a letter from another school inviting me to an interview in June. Fingers crossed I'll get the job I'm interviewing for tomorrow, but if not, at least I've got the other interview to fall back on :-)
celebrated my mum's birthday. Happy (belated) Birthday Mum!! Love you lots!! :-)
discovered that our new kitten Lucy is actually a boy! So it was goodbye Lucy and hello Luca lol!
have learned never to listen to my friend Sean ever again. We're both members of the same drama group, which is renowned (well, amongst its members anyway!) for its ridiculously literal and cheesy choreography!! So last week, when the director was trying to choreograph a routine, Sean was coming up with some particularly cheesy moves and getting me to join in! Unfortunately, we were right at the front, so the director saw us and thought that we knew what the routine was!! So that meant we were sent off stage to "teach" everyone else! We couldn't get it through to the director that we were only taking the piss, so there we were at the front, jigging around like idiots!! Completely mortifying!!
watched Iron Man 2 (for the second time!), which has left me ever-so-slightly in love with Tony Stark and wishing I was Pepper Potts...
added to my baking repertoire by experimenting with Rocky Road...it was pretty divine, even if I do say so myself, and I'm thinking I'll definitely be making it again in the future!!
have been lusting over these shoes (except the ones I wanted were in a different colourway...cream with red polka dots and bow), but at the same time have also resigned myself to the fact that I'll probably never possess them, as they're limited edition and seem to have completely sold out in my size :-( And what makes this tale of woe even worse is that I had tried a pair on when they very first came out, but decided that they were too frivolous and that they wouldn't go with much in my wardrobe (idiot girl!!) Oh, how I'm kicking myself now!!
been alternately annoyed by and adoring the British weather: this time last week temperatures were below the average for the time of year, today it got up to a maximum of about 22/23oC with a predicted maximum of 26oC (78oF) for tomorrow...that's 10 degrees above the average for May! Crazy, I tell ya!! Not that I'm complaining about the heat lol :-)

And I think that's about it!! I'm looking forward to a relaxingish weekend after a busy day tomorrow (dentist, job interview, driving lesson, drama) and am hoping to take advantage of the warm weather that's been forecast. Till next time...

Just dropping by...

2010-05-10T22:19:00.003+01:00

to let everyone know that I am still actually here, even if I have been absent from the blogging world for the last week and a half! I was truly intending to post on a more regular basis, but my life seems to have turned into an endless cycle of work and job applications over the past couple of weeks, and although I have had some downtime, I've always seemed to spend it doing something else. Bad blogger!! Unfortunately, I don't think there's going to be any let up in the work (at school or home) just yet, which is a pity because there's so much I want to blog about, I almost don't know where to begin...what I've been up to, our new(ish) kitten, lots more "Wardrobe Wednesdays", the "Highs" and "Lows" of the past couple of weeks; the list could go on and on!! And there's so many blogs I want to catch up on...I've missed you guys SO much!!

But it seems I'm just going to have to wait a little longer. I will try very hard to blog again soon, but I know better than to make any rash promises ;-)!! 'Til the next time (which I hope won't be as long!!)...

There must be an angel...

2010-04-29T22:46:00.004+01:00

or something looking out for me today. Remember last night where I posted this...I was feeling pretty low, to say the least. And after spending a restless night where I didn't get to sleep till after midnight, and kept waking up from 5:30 onwards, I wasn't feeling much better this morning. Then when I got lost on my way to the school and arrived with 15 minutes to spare, I was panicking even more. But, for some reason today, I had no reason to be stressed...because someone up there was looking out for me. Maybe they knew that I needed someone to be gentle with me today, or maybe I'm being silly and it was just pure luck or something that I'd done differently...but the class were great. Absolutely fantastic and I wasn't expecting them to be. It made my job so much easier and more enjoyable that I could have kissed practically every one of them!

But it wasn't just that that makes me think I had an extra little help today...half way through the morning, the school secretary passed me a message to let me know that someone had found my purse and had handed it into the nearby high school, mistakenly thinking that I worked there. The school knew I didn't, but managed to contact my old employer (the school that I also happened to attend when I was a child), who then contacted my mum, who rang the school I was at so they could pass the message on! Oh, yeah and the General Teaching Council for England somehow got involved too (their card was in my purse) though I'm not quite sure how. I'm just overwhelmed that so many perfect strangers went to so much trouble for me...it helped to restore my soul a little more.

So to whoever or whatever was looking out for me today, I'd like to say a massive thank you! I don't often pray and I certainly wasn't doing last night (well, not consciously anyway) but I really feel that someone, somewhere knew that I needed help and was able to arrange it for me. I didn't really think that I believed in divine intervention up till now...but I may be changing my mind just a little :-)

To teach or not to teach...

2010-04-28T21:41:00.004+01:00

that is the question! And one that I don't really have the answer to at the minute. All the way through college and university, teaching was the only career I ever had in mind. I did work experience in schools and loved it and I couldn't wait to be qualified and have a class of my own. Although I had some tough days once I started my postgrad course, I was still committed to a career in teaching and couldn't wait to make my dreams a reality once I graduated. And then things started to change...

I couldn't find a job. So I started supply work...there were some good days, but it wasn't really what I wanted to be doing and I was over the moon when I got a long term job after doing supply for nearly a year! Surely this was my moment, I'd have a class of my own and experience all that I'd gone into teaching for. But sadly, it didn't happen quite like that. I'm not sure why...I know that I struggled with behaviour management, I often found it hard to be positive and there were times when I felt that this was SO not for me. But on good days, it was the best job in the world...I came away feeling positive, uplifted and overawed by the children. Although it has to be said that those days weren't the most common occurrence! Then my contract ended and it was back on supply.

At first I didn't mind, I was grateful for the early finishes, the prospect of random days off and the fact that I could walk away from a horrendous class knowing that I'd never have to go back there again. But now, 4 terms down the line, I'm tired. Tired of doing supply knowing that the majority of classes will try it on to some extent. Tired of making the same mistakes over and over again...I actually feel that I'm becoming deskilled and that I'm less capable now than I was when I graduated nearly 3 years ago. Tired of getting up to wait for a morning call that might not come (and that I don't really want!). Tired of not enjoying my job most of the time. Tired of not getting that elusive long term teaching post, even if I'm not entirely sure that's what I want!

So now I've reached crisis point. Due to the stupid law in the UK, which I blogged about back in September last year, I have until the start of the new school year to get a job where I can finish my NQT induction; for me that will be a job that lasts for at least 2 terms. If I can't get that job by September, I can't do any more supply teaching. And I have absolutely no idea what I'd do then. Get a permanent teaching assistant's post? Do supply TA work? Get a job in a completely different sector? I haven't got a clue! Because despite all my indecision about teaching at the minute, it's the only thing I ever wanted to do. If I didn't teach, I don't know what I'd do. And if I get one of the long term posts I'm applying for? Well, the indecision would still be there. My dream scenario would be that I'd love my job and I'd be filled with renewed enthusiasm for teaching, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. I can't decide if I dislike my job because I feel terrible at it at the moment or because it's just not for me. If it's the former, then hopefully I'd develop my skills whilst working, and so feel better about both my ability to teach and the job itself. If it's the latter, then to put it bluntly, I'm screwed! But at least then I'd know, I suppose, and I'd be able to get a new job/retrain whilst I was still relatively young.

I just need a sign from somewhere! I was looking at my postgrad observation reports last night and they were good...they must prove I can teach, mustn't they? So why do I feel so useless now? Surely nearly 3 years experience should make me a better teacher! But anyway... I'm going to stop typing now before I feel any worse. Tomorrow's a new day (and I'm teaching) so I suppose now's the time to breathe, regroup and get into an upbeat frame of mind for a busy day in the classroom! Positive and in-control vibes (as I'm aiming to be firmer than firm from now on!) would be most appreciated!!

And now in a change to our scheduled programming...

2010-04-21T17:35:00.004+01:00

I'm posting something that isn't the "What's-in-my-Wardrobe Wednesday" installment that I promised! I was honestly going to post it this evening, but due to a change in my plans I won't really have time to, so I'm going to have to go for something shorter instead.

And that something shorter is this:

Yeah, it's another award!! While I wasn't tagged per se, Nicole over at You Had Me At Hello has very kindly shared this with all her followers, and I think that's such a lovely idea that I'm going to do the same...so feel free to take the award if you like it!! :-) There's only one condition...if you do, you've got to post a list of 10 things that make you happy! Whilst I have a sneaky suspicion that I've posted at least one happy list in the past, it's not going to stop me from posting another one now lol! I'm feeling in a really cheery mood at the mo, especially as spring is now well and truly in the air ...so don't be surprised if my list has a few spring themed items on!!

And so, without further ado...here's my list:

Sunny spring weather...I defy anyone not to feel even a tiny bit cheerier when the sky's blue, the sun's shining and there's a definite hint of warmth in the air!
Spring flowers...daffodils, apple and cherry blossom, magnolias...they're all so beautiful!
Pretty spring clothes...ruffles, florals, pastels and brights...I've recently took lots of my spring/summer clothes out of storage and I can't wait to start wearing them again!
Spending time with my friends and family...love them!!
The fact there'll be a new addition to our family by this time tomorrow...we're getting a new kitten!! :-) Expect pictures very soon!!
Starbucks grande skinny vanilla lattes...my caffeine fix of choice :-)
Good food and good conversation...if I have those 2 ingredients in any situation I'm pretty much all set!!
Walking...it's my favourite form of exercise, especially in the good weather we're having at the minute.
Fashion and gossip magazines...although I suspect my purse isn't quite as happy with the amount I spend on them!!
Baking...it's one of the few crafty/creative things I appear to be halfway decent at, and now we have a new recipe book I reckon I'll soon be expanding my repertoire to include other things beside gingerbread!!

And that's me done!! I really hope some of you take part in this tag too...it'd be wonderful to read your lists!! :-)

Highs and Lows of Last Week

2010-04-20T16:09:00.003+01:00

So it's that time of the week again...you know, the one where I share the highs and lows of the past 7 days. It seems that this is pretty much all I've been doing lately...hope you're not getting too bored!! I'm hoping to inject a bit more variety into my posts over the next few days, but for now, you're just going to have to be content with this! ;-) :

Highs

Another week off: Last week was the second week of my Easter holidays, and it was great to be able to get up late and wear what I wanted for the second week in a row, even if I didn't do anything very exciting with my time (find out what I was spending the majority of my time doing in my Lows!)
Spending time with one of my favourite guys: Now, that doesn't mean any exciting dating/relationship news...I'm talking about H, my friends' 15 month old son!! Basically, H's mum and dad (my friends Nix and M) were meant to be watching another of our friends in a play on Friday night and H's nana (Nix's mum) was meant to be babysitting. But due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, she, along with Nix's stepdad, brothers and sisters,was stuck in the Canary Islands!! So Nix sent out a distress call...and along came Auntie Julie to the rescue! I was feeling very apprehensive at first, as I'd never spent any time alone with H before, and this wasn't helped by the fact that he started crying when he saw his mum and dad driving away! But I needn't have worried, as he soon settled down and was an absolute gem for the rest of the evening. He smiled, chattered away, shared lots of his toys and drank an 8oz bottle without any fuss!! I just hope I'm as lucky when it comes to my future children!!
An evening at the theatre:...especially when the play I'm watching features one of my friends! On Saturday night it was my turn to go and see the play that I mentioned in my previous paragraph...and it was amazing!! Gripping, emotional, darkly funny, with more than one twist thrown in for good measure...if ever "Knife Edge" appears in a theatre near you, my advice would definitely be to check it out, even if your production doesn't have my wonderful actor of a friend Nick in it!
Kick Ass (The film and the shot)..."There's a Kick Ass shot?", I hear you ask... Well yes there is, but more about that later!! First of all, I'll talk about the film. I heard great things about it, and when Amy and I saw it on Thursday, neither of us were disappointed! I loved the humour, the music, pretty much everything about it to be honest...even if lots of the content was pretty disturbing if you stopped to think about it for too long! And I've got a new heroine in Hit Girl...oh, to have even half the attitude that she does!! ;-) And now onto the shot...after the play on Saturday, Nick, I, and a couple of other friends headed into town and our first stop was Baa Bar. As it's famous for its shots it would have been rude not to have any (!), so as soon as we arrived we headed straight to the bar and consulted the menu. And that's when I saw it...there was a Kick Ass shot (which consisted of tequila, blue curacao and something red...I think it was strawberry?!) and like the film, it was pretty damn good! My only complaint is that it wasn't the proper Kick Ass colours (green and yellow lol!) but a girl can't have everything I suppose!!

Lows

Job applications...After last week, I'm sick of the sight of them! As I had a lot that needed to be submitted by either this Friday (23rd) or next Monday (26th), I decided that I'd try and plough through as many as possible so that I didn't have too much to do once I got back to work. And whilst I'm relieved that I managed to complete 4 of them, I can't say that it was an enjoyable task! Gone are the days where applying for a job just meant filling in an application form that took up a couple of sides of A4. Now my forms can be anywhere between 5 and 15(!) pages, and that's before I even have to contend with the personal statement! 2-3 sides of A4 where I explain what a fabulous teacher I am, and why the school should be rushing to snap me up! And even though it might save me time in the short term, I've discovered to my peril that there's no point just writing a generic statement and using it for every school...it doesn't get you anywhere!! :-( So I'm writing pretty much a new statement for every job, and hating most of it...although I must admit there's a delicious irony in saying how enthusiastic and motivated you are, when in reality you can't think of anything worse than writing yet another new statement!! Although the tedium is all worth it when I finally finish...or when I get that elusive interview :-) Fingers crossed for more coming my way soon!!
A terrible driving lesson...Now when your driving instructor gets a new car, you might expect your first lesson in it to be a little less than perfect, right? Wrong...mine was absolutely fine. So, when it came to my second, I wasn't unduly bothered, so (according to Sod's Law) it makes perfect sense for it to have been truly awful!! I stalled so many times I lost count...including once on a roundabout, and several times when I hadn't even realised I'd stalled at all...until I came to move, that was!! I had terrible difficulty finding the gears, and kept putting the car into the wrong one, resulting in a horrible burning smell coming from the clutch!! I forgot when my handbrake was on and when it was off...need I continue?! According to my instructor, everybody has those days every once in a while, but it still didn't do much for my confidence, especially as I'm meant to be booking my practical test very soon (eeeeek!)

And there's another edition of my highs and lows. Stay tuned for a new "What's in my Wardrobe Wednesday" post tomorrow...I've got lots of ideas, so expect it to become a regular feature once again!!

Highs and Lows of Last Week

2010-04-13T21:38:00.004+01:00

I know this isn't the serious post I promised a few days ago...but this is definitely more of the moment than my other planned posts, so they're just going to have to hold their horses for a little while! So here, very quickly (as I've got a date with Flashforward at 10!) are my highs and lows of last week:

Highs

Being off work: I loved everything about being off work last week. The fact I could get up around the time that I'd usually be starting work for the day, being able to stay up late on school nights without depriving myself of sleep, being able to fit appointments in at my convenience, having days where I didn't have to do anything or be anywhere...the list could go on and on! And possibly the best bit was being secure in the knowledge that I still had another week off after that one!!
Passing my theory test: Yes, I did it!! After a couple of days of answering mock multiple choice questions, revising my Highway Code and practising on hazard perception clips, it was time to do my test. I honestly wasn't sure how I'd do, as some of my practice tests had gone better than others but thankfully I passed, and with quite a bit of room to spare too :-) After the test, I had a coffee and cupcake to celebrate (so rock and roll!) and now I'm faced with my next big step: booking my practical test! Eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkk!!
Spending time with old friends and making new ones: Even by my standards, I saw a lot of my friends last week and I had a ball! I always love spending time with them and things were made even better last week, as there was a new introduction into the group; my friend E's new lodger MI. She's staying with E for 3 months, while she's got an internship at E's company and she's absolutely lovely!! She feels like a friend already and I can tell that we're all going to really miss her when she goes back home to Germany at the end of her stay!
The lovely spring weather: Last week, and particularly last weekend was a lot more springlike with quite a lot of sunshine and warmer temperatures than over the Easter weekend. Fingers crossed spring is here to stay now!!
Good things come to those who wait: Amy and I finally got to go on our Town Hall tour last Sunday and it was fab!! I was able to take loads of photos of parts of the town hall that the public don't often get to see and hopefully I'll be posting some of them soon.
Lots of compliments: I had my hair done last Friday and decided to get my hair blow dried straight instead of going for my usual curly look. I thought I might receive 1 or 2 compliments but was completely overwhelmed by the number I did get, with practically everyone who I saw (and knew) that day commenting positively on it! That doesn't mean I'll be keeping it straight on a permanent basis; it's far too high maintenance a look for me, but I think I'll definitely be revisiting it on occasion! :-)

And now normally it would be onto the lows, but I've been racking my brains and I can't actually think of any, so I guess I'm just going to have to leave it there!! Hope you all had fab weekends and till next time...

PS: Oh, and if you've not done already, why don't you check out my guest post over at The Road Less Travelled? Let me know what you think!!

Easter Weekend Round Up Part 2: Easter Sunday and Easter Monday

2010-04-08T16:26:00.004+01:00

So, just a couple of days late, here's the second part of my Easter Weekend round up (you'll find Part 1 here):

Easter Sunday:

My Easter Sunday was mostly spent:

being lazy: I'd say this was definitely the most chilled out day of my Easter weekend overall!
seeing my Grandad: we received a phone call earlyish in the morning to say that my Grandad had been in hospital overnight. He had gone in with dizziness and a very sore throat/difficulty swallowing, but he had had a comfortable night overall and he was discharged around lunch time. My mum, Amy and I went to pick him up and my mum and I also visited him at home later to drop a prescription off for him and to check everything was ok!
eating easter egg (although not too much!)
taking advantage of the better than predicted weather to have a leisurely walk
watching TV/DVDs with Amy: we watched (most of) "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", then stopped to tune into the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who. It was ok, but I struggled to get used to the new Doctor, though admittedly I wasn't giving the episode my full attention!
surfing the web: Facebook, Blogger, Youtube, checking my emails...you get the idea!

Easter Monday

In the UK, the day after Easter Sunday is also a bank holiday, meaning that lots of people (including me!) get a 4 day Easter weekend. My Monday was mostly spent:

trying to get rid of some trojans which had infected my netbook: I was cursing myself for running a fake security scan, especially as one of its pop up windows included a spelling mistake! So ironic that this was the one time where I decided not to be prejudiced by my feelings towards grammatical and spelling errors! I tried running an AVG scan which detected the trojans, but it couldn't resolve the problem. I then tried doing a system restore which also failed, so the only way out I could see was to do a factory reset, making sure I backed up all my important documents first. Luckily, this worked, and normal service has since been resumed (so far, so good!)
sharing Easter lunch with some of my closest friends: good food and company were the main features of my whole weekend, and Monday was no exception. I went over to my friends' N, M and S's house where M had cooked us, plus our other friends E and Ste a 3 course lunch. There was leek and potato soup plus crusty bread to start, roast beef with all the trimmings for mains and massive portions of either cheesecake or chocolate gateau (I chose the gateau) for dessert. All of the food was amazing (thanks M!), and after I 'd finished I was so full it felt like I wouldn't eat for a week! When we weren't eating, we were chatting, laughing and watching each other playing on the Wii (word to the wise...don't buy the Dancing on Ice game, it's awful!)...in short it was a wonderful afternoon.
meeting up with friends in the pub for a chilled evening of chatting and drinking: this was mainly so we could be introduced to my friend E's new lodger, who'll be staying with her for roughly 3 months (she's German and taking part in an exchange programme with E's employers), but it was also a good opportunity to catch up with lots of other friends, a couple of whom I'd not seen for quite a while (well, a week or two!)
playing truant from rehearsal (well, kind of!): I normally LOVE going to rehearsal, but must admit I didn't see the point in going to one on a bank holiday, especially as I knew some of my other friends would be in the pub! But at the same time, I have made a commitment to my drama group and would have felt really guilty if I'd just not turned up. So I decided to compromise. I got there for 7:30 sharp, but told the director I could only stay for an hour instead of the usual 2! And it was one of the longest hours of my life; partly because I just kept thinking about the drink and the company I had left behind and also partly because it was the first dance/movement rehearsal. These are always hard work and quite boring, in the early stages at least, so I was heartily relieved when 8:30 came around and I could make my exit!

And that's the rest of my weekend in a nutshell! Hope you had a great one, however you spent it! And what's up next for me? Well, I'm very excited to say that I'm going to be doing my very first guest post over at Kirsty's blog, The Road Less Travelled sometime in the next couple of days! And as for my blog, I already have my next post planned...it'll be a bit more serious in tone than the majority of my other posts, but it centres around a topic that I'm really passionate about, so I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you all! Till next time...

Easter Weekend Round Up 1: Good Friday and Easter Saturday

2010-04-04T13:30:00.004+01:00

Just because I think my weekend round up would be too long if I tried to squeeze all 4 days into one post, and also because I can't think of anything else to blog about today, here's part 1 of my Easter weekend (in a handy bulleted list!)

Good Friday

My Friday was mainly spent:

Having a lazy start to the day: lounging around in pjs, eating yummy hot cross buns for breakfast and having a leisurely shower before getting dressed and ready to face the world!
Being veggie for the day: although I'm not particularly religious, my family and I keep the tradition of not eating meat on Good Friday, which meant my Mum's home made fish mornay with chips for lunch and a jacket potato with cheese and beans for tea.
Helping my friend N with his lines for a play he's appearing in in a couple of weeks. It really makes me want to act again!
Dodging the rain and laughing at dodgy covers of songs with my friend E as we did a bit of much needed shopping (well, she did whilst I browsed and tried on hats lol!)
Helping E sort out her wardrobe with the help of a couple of other friends; if Aerosmith had been playing, it would have been practically the perfect reenactment of this scene from Sex and the City (minus the ridiculous poses and champagne!)
Spending a chilled evening at my friends J and B's new flat with a group of other friends; drinking wine, eating pretzels, mini Cadbury creme eggs and home made choc chip cookies, chatting and high kicking (well, attempting to anyway!)

Easter Saturday

On Saturday I was:

Stressing far too much about what to wear: despite the fact I've got a HUGE wardrobe, I just couldn't find anything I wanted to wear yesterday morning. And my stress was made worse by the fact that I knew I had to get a second outfit sorted for the evening (but more about that later!)
Eating a delicious meal with my closest family and feeling far too full afterwards: I had a chicken melt (chicken breast topped with bacon and cheese), the best chips I've ever tasted, BBQ sauce and salad and it was amazing (and huge!) Somehow, I still found room for dessert though : vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce and wafer curls. It goes without saying that the company was great too, and I also had fun testing out my new camera phone by taking lots of pictures!
Buying a second confirmation card for my friend M: I had originally bought one on Thursday but then got home to discover that it was no longer in my possession! I still had the receipt but no card! So I had to make a dash to the nearest card shop to get one yesterday instead; not that I minded too much as it meant I could attempt to walk off my lunch!
Sorting out part of my wardrobe: having been inspired by E, I decided to finish the job of clearing out my wardrobe and managed to fill another carrier bag with things I'll never wear again!
Sitting (and standing!) through a very long Easter Vigil: Whilst I'm not Catholic, it was my friend M's confirmation last night, so I, along with a few other friends, went along to show my support. I'm glad I was there for his big night, but I don't think I'll be converting to Catholicism any time soon! (No offence intended to any Catholics out there!)
Eating late night takeaway, drinking a mug of tea and being taken back to my college days (2001 to be precise) by watching a programme which was showing all the number ones of the 21st century so far. It took me right back to being 17 again...it seems like only yesterday so it's rather scary to realise it was 9 years ago!

And there's Part 1! Stay tuned for Part 2 appearing in a couple of days! And one last thing...have a very happy Easter, and make sure you eat lots of chocolate (I know I will be!)

Highs and Lows of Last Week (and a look ahead!)

2010-03-31T18:38:00.005+01:00

What a surprise! Yet another post that's later than promised (although only by a couple of days this time!) So, making a long overdue appearance, here are my highs and lows of the past week (well the ones I can remember anyway!)

Highs

The power of Facebook: Early on last week, I posted a status on Facebook asking for recipe inspiration, as I don't want my repertoire to consist solely of gingerbread lol! Within a couple of hours of updating, I got the first suggestions and since then have had quite a few ranging from banana bread to peanut butter cookies, and even a couple of full length recipes for chocolate chip cookies! I wasn't even sure if anyone would respond, so was very pleasantly surprised! Look out for some baking posts coming up soon!

Nights in with friends: Quite a big part of last weekend for me was spent with friends watching DVDs and Youtube clips, chatting and eating...so much so that that was what I was doing on Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night! For someone who used to be out most Saturday nights at the very least, it's coming as a bit of a shock to realise that I actually love staying in! Not that I'd want to do that every weekend, but sometimes you just can't beat it!

Your expectations being exceeded: On Monday last week, I did not want to go to rehearsals for my drama group's latest show. Why? Because I was embarassed. The Friday before had been our auditions, and I planned to sing Moon River as a solo audition piece, as well as singing a group number with my friends. I'd been practicing Moon River all week and, while not exactly confident, wasn't totally dreading my solo either. Then came my turn to be called up. The backing track started, the accompanist counted me in, I opened my mouth to sing and...completely the wrong note came out. So I started again, but again the note was wrong. Then I tried to sing acapella, but still couldn't find the right key! Not wanting to prolong the agony any longer, I ended my audition then and there, feeling absolutely mortified! Although the group audition went ok and restored my shattered pride a little, I was convinced that I wouldn't get offered any solos. But, lo and behold...I did! I've got the first verse of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" all to myself, and my friends and I are also going to be doing "Cell Block Tango" from Chicago, which I'm ridiculously excited about, if apprehensive at the same time (I'm not a dancer by any means!)

Flashforward's back: After 3 months, Flashforward was back with a bang (and a double episode!) After thinking that I wouldn't even be able to remember where the story was up to, I was amazed at how quickly I got back into it. I just hope that there's going to be a second series, as I've heard rumours that there won't be due to poor ratings in the US. Fingers crossed it's not true!

And now for the lows...

Lows

Tiredness: After just a couple of full days of work last week, I was ready to drop! I'm not sure if it was more the fact that I find it difficult to get to bed any time before 11 or that I can never get into a proper routine, due to the variability of my work situation! Plus the fact that the clocks went forward really didn't help, as Iwas deprived of a whole hour's sleep! On the plus side, the Easter holidays are coming up very, very soon!!

No town hall tour for me (or Amy): On Sunday afternoon, Amy and I headed to Manchester to have a Town Hall tour. We met up with our tour group at the visitors' centre and were very excited when the guide said that there were no events taking place there that day and that he'd have carte blanche to take us wherever he wanted. But as we walked over to the town hall, things started to go a little awry. We looked up and saw a man standing on the town hall roof. "Was he meant to be there?", we wondered. Then we saw a few police officers standing around and realised that, no, he definitely wasn't! Our guide stopped us in front of the main entrance, only for us to be moved on by the police. So he attempted to begin our tour again, only for us to be moved even further down a couple of minutes later. So finally, we went right round to the third, and final, street entrance and were just getting ready to go inside when...a town hall employee came over and told our guide that we couldn't go inside, as the police were sending teams inside the building to try to get the man down and there was to be no access to anyone else. So that was the end of that! We went back to the visitor centre, got a refund and made our way home. On a happier note, I found out the next day that the man had made his way down safely, and I suppose that's more important than anything else!

And finally, as it's the end of the month, here's a list of things I'm looking forward to in April:

The Easter Holidays: The schools in my area break up tomorrow, most of them for 2 weeks, so I'm looking forward to 2 weeks with no early get ups, lots of chocolate and as much relaxation as possible!
An Easter Saturday meal with my family at our favourite pub/restaurant.
My theory test: While this isn't exactly something I can't wait for, I am keen to get it out of the way! It's in just over a week (8th April), and I'll have to do a fair bit of revision before then, as whilst lots of the answers are just common sense, there's some facts that you just need to learn too!
The Primary Education Show: This'll be my third Primary Education fair, and it's something I really look forward to. As a supply teacher, it's often difficult to get hold of resources and undertake professional development, so I love taking the opportunity to go round the stalls and take part in seminars/workshops.
Dancing on Ice Live Tour: This is another event that's becoming a tradition for me. It'll be the fourth time for me, and the third for Amy, who I'm going with. It's always a great show and I'm especially looking forward to it this time, as Amy and I have got floor seats, and we're on the second row from the front!!
Iron Man 2: Whilst being really annoyed that the UK DVD release date for Sherlock Holmes has been put back to 17th May, I'm much more happy that Iron Man 2 is being released over here on 30th April, a full week before its US release. Although I'm not going to see it in April, I'll definitely be watching it in its first weekend...I just can't wait any longer for my RDJ fix!!

And that's it from me...expect many more posts now the schools are breaking up!

My second award!!

2010-03-27T18:14:00.003Z

Can't believe it's nearly the end of March already, and 10 days since my last post...how time flies!! I really should have written this a long time ago, but somehow have only just got round to doing it now! So without further ado...I've got another award (yay me!!)

This is an award I've never seen in Blogland before so I'm really quite honoured to have it, and even moreso because it was given to me by one of my favourite bloggers, Kirsty over at The road less travelled. Her blog is a great read, and she's a fab blog friend who always leaves lovely comments. Nothing else to say but check her out!

In other news, I really am intending to post tomorrow (although knowing me it won't happen!) with my highs and lows of the week and a look forward to next week, but if I don't, rest assured that you'll probably be hearing a lot more from me soon as the schools break up for their Easter holidays in less than a week!! Hopefully I'll be able to take 2 glorious weeks off, although that does rather depend on my bank balance!! Till next time...!

What's-in-my-Wardrobe Wednesday: Another Primark trip!

2010-03-17T18:31:00.006Z

Now this is a post that I've been meaning to write for ages, but never really got round to. During my half term break which was about a month ago now, my mum, sisters and I took a trip to Primark, and here are some pretty pictures of what I picked up:

Charcoal/grey burnout floral tunic

I think this top is gorgeous and a great way to introduce florals into my winter wardrobe, although I got a bit of a shock when I tried it on at home because it's absolutely massive! As it's so big, I wear it cinched in with a thick black patent waist belt to give me a little bit more shape!
Whilst the weather's been cold, I've been layering it with a black long sleeved top underneath, but am hoping that I'll also be able to wear it without when it warms up a little!

Black ankle length leggings/Blue denim effect leggings

Just a couple of pairs of leggings for wearing under my longer length tops. I'd been looking for a full length black pair so the black ones were ideal. I wasn't so sure about buying the denim leggings (I can't bring myself to say the word "jeggings"!), as I couldn't decide if I liked the trend or not but I'm SO glad I took the plunge! They're really comfy and easy to wear and, unlike my other leggings, they don't fall down!

Multicolour floral print button front dress

This was another piece that I was immediately taken by, and I was even more attracted when I saw the price. This little number was only £7.50, and, best of all, it looks much more expensive on! I haven't worn it yet as I'm waiting for the weather to warm up, but will probably team it with either cropped leggings and pumps in the day or black opaques and heels for night. I already have a dress that's quite similar, and am hoping that this dress will be as versatile as that one.

Indigo skinny jeans

Another basic buy. I already have a pair of skinny jeans from Primark, and I like them so much that I've been wearing them to death over the last year or so. So I thought it was high time for another lol!

Pale blue/white longline striped shirt with pintuck detail

This is possibly my favourite item of clothing from this shopping trip. It's really comfy and easy to wear...it almost feels like wearing a man's shirt because it's a bit oversized, and it reminds me of the times I used to borrow a boyfriend's shirts to sleep in! I nornally team this with either my skinny jeans or denim leggings and my tan studded ankle boots.

Here's a close up of the pintuck detail:

Longline sleeveless striped T

Apologies for the crappy picture quality...the stripes on the main body of the top are red, and those round the neck are blue on one side and black on the other. This is another top that's a bit on the generous side, so I''ll be belting it with my skinny cream belt (pics to come later) and wearing it with skinny jeans or leggings. I wore it for the first time on Saturday night for a friend's birthday, and got some really great compliments so I reckon it's definitely a keeper!

Black chenille scarf/gloves set

I bought this as I needed a new pair of black gloves. I already have tons of scarves but as the set was in the sale, I thought I might as well get two things for the price of one!

Skinny tan leather belt/Skinny cream plaited waist belt

I'm really glad I bought these as lots of the tops I've bought recently are a bit on the generous side, and they look a lot better when they're cinched in. My personal fashion concept at the mo is all about my waist!

Blue/gold scalloped edge bag

I have my mum to thank for this one, as she noticed it before I did! I absolutely adore the vintage look it has and I think it adds a really different edge to an outfit.

Silver filigree butterfly necklace

There's not really much to say about this other than I really like it! Here's a close up of the butterfly:

Musings from my dark side

2010-03-08T12:25:00.003Z

Despite the fact that I sometimes wish that my blog had more readers, it's times like today when I'm glad that my friends don't read my blog or, in most cases, aren't even aware of its existence. Why? Because I'm about to make a confession that may hurt, upset, anger or disappoint them if I knew the truth. And the truth is this: I'm jealous. Not of all my friends or in every aspect of life; my own particular green eyed monster is a sneaky creature and is very picky about the times it chooses to emerge. So let me illustrate with an example...

The time: Saturday night. The place: A bustling bar in the centre of town. The players: 5 twentysomethings; 2 of whom are a couple and 3 who are single (including me and my friend E). Everything is going swimmingly. Drinks and conversation are flowing, the music is great and the atmosphere's just right until...a guy spots E and makes it quite clear he's interested. So everyone else starts laying the groundwork; people strategically swap places so that the two couldn't help but "accidentally" bump into each other, one of us goes over to the guy to tell him E's name and even I try to convince E to go over and talk to him (she doesn't believe in making the first move!) Then after 45 minutes of trying, just as the likelihood of the plans coming to fruition is looking increasingly remote, BAM...conversation ensues and kisses and mobile numbers are exchanged. Mission accomplished! So tell me this...why did I not feel happy for her? Why did I wish it hadn't happened? Why was I feeling increasingly down?

Now, I meant what I said to her...I genuinely wanted her to start talking to him. They were obviously interested in each other and it would have been a shame if the opportunity had been missed. And I see my friends in relationships, and other than the odd wistful "I wish I had my someone special", they don't have a negative effect. I watched my best friend J get married and it was one of the happiest occasions in my life, and I feel the same happiness whenever I see her and her husband together, as they're such a good match. So again I ask: why did this hurt me so?

I do have some theories, some which I feel are more relevant than others, but all containing at least a grain of truth.

Was I annoyed that my friends weren't putting in a similar effort to set me up with someone? This is probably the weakest of my theories. Yes, I do get my paranoid moments where I think that my friends don't really like me that much, but to be fair, I hadn't seen anyone who I was interested in, and even if they had tried to set me up with someone, I probably wouldn't have been interested anyway as I'm notoriously picky!
Was my lack of self esteem the cause of my jealousy? I think this definitely played a part. I don't think I'm particularly physically attractive, and so I think I may well have seen the fact that someone was interested in E as a reflection on my attractiveness. Men are often interested in her when we're on a night out, therefore she must be better looking than I am (at least in my head, if not in real life.)
Am I scared of being alone? In a word, yes! E and I have both been single for a while, so I suppose I might be scared of being on my own if she started a relationship with someone new. She might not be my best friend, but we are very close and she's the friend I see most of, as J lives a couple of hours away. Now, I know full well she's not the type of person who'd drop her friends if a guy came along, but it didn't make any difference to my thoughts on Saturday night! I hate the thought of being the only single girl in my circle of friends. I suppose with this one I'm feeling a bit like House in S4, where he's coming to terms with Wilson having a new girlfriend, or even like Holmes in the new Sherlock Holmes film, when he seems to be less than happy at the thought of Watson getting married. But this is where the similarities end...unlike those two characters, I wouldn't stoop to sabotage to try and ensure that she remains single! I always give her honest advice and I want her to be happy...that's why I encouraged her to go and talk to the guy at the bar and also why we spent hours together beforehand picking out an outfit that she felt happy in, as she was having a fat day and feeling pretty down in the dumps. And I know she'd do the same for me. Which is why I'd be horrified if she knew I felt this way.

So, there we are. I appreciate that I may raise some strong opinions with this post...I fully expect to. If you think that I'm horrible then, as much as it would hurt me to hear, then so be it...I don't exactly like this side of me either but it's something that I've got to deal with somehow. And I thought that maybe writing it down might be the best place to start...

Things I'm loving today...

2010-03-02T12:35:00.007Z

Well, I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself today, so because I know it's not healthy to wallow in self pity for too long (believe me, I've tried), I've decided to give myself a kick up the backside by making a list of the things I'm loving today. So, drumroll please because, in no particular order, we have:

The beautiful weather...it's a lovely sunny day today and apparently it even feels quite mild outside! Maybe my prayers from Sunday have been answered!

The fact I don't start work until 2 pm today and will be done by 6...I know it means that I won't get paid as much, but there is just something so decadent about swanning into work after lunch and and working less than half a day!

This song:

I went to the first rehearsal for my drama group's new show last night and we started going through a few of the songs. Moon River was one of them. Whilst I've been aware of the song before now, I never realised how beautiful it was until last night. Now I absolutely love it...I've been singing it all day and I get a feeling that my family might be sick of hearing it long before the show kicks off in July!

The fact that it's been really easy to meet one of my goals:

RESULT!

And whadd'ya know? I'm actually feeling a little cheerier already! Maybe I should get back to doing these lists more often...!

Is it really going to be March tomorrow?

2010-02-28T16:15:00.006Z

I honestly can't believe it...2 full months into 2010 already! February, in particular, has absolutely raced by for me...working full time did for the first half of the month, and then I had a week off which of course was a guarantee that that time would just fly! Then back to work, and here we are! Anyway, enough of my ramblings about the fleeting nature of time(!), and back to the real focus of this post...a look back at February, a look forward to March and an update on where I'm at with my 2010 goals.

Looking back

So, in a nutshell, my February has been all about:

Teaching...I taught full time for the first two weeks of the month, plus a little bit this week and I also had a interview/lesson observation at one school plus an additional lesson observation at a second. My interview at the second school isn't until Wednesday, so I technically can't include it here!

Treating myself...Whether it's been shopping for clothes, watching a certain film for the 4th time, grabbing a coffee or just enjoying a cheeky glass of wine on an otherwise quiet night in, February's been a month for indulging myself a little! Bad for my bank balance maybe...but good for my soul, as long as I don't make too much of a habit of it! Maybe I should start looking for treats that don't cost a penny, like the fab time Amy and I had exploring Manchester.

Friends and family...As always, the most important people in my life have been a common thread linking the best parts of this month together. From fantastic nights full of WKD, homemade gingerbread and cheesy dancing or cocktails and karaoke at the start of the month, to theatre going, beer drinking, "intelligent" conversation and multiple toasting in the middle and DVD nights and play watching at the end...my friends have been there for it all, and I know that these times wouldn't be the same without them. And as for my family...my week off enabled me to get in a whole lot of sister (and Mum) time, be it shopping with all the girls, or going to town with Amy. Then there's the weekends...spending Saturday lunch with my grandad and uncle, as well as the rest of my family has been a tradition for as long as I can remember, and I wouldn't be without it. And recently, we've started adding a couple of new parts to the tradition...after lunch, we'll sit down and play cards or (our current favourite) dominoes. What started as a little fun has now turned into some serious rivalry with all of us vying to be the winner! Yesterday, I did pretty well...I won 2 of the 4 games, and am hoping to keep hold of my crown for next week!

Looking forward

Next month, I'm looking forward to:

Starting rehearsals for my new show...After having a month off, my drama group starts rehearsals for our new show tomorrow and I can't wait! It'll be great to see everyone again and I'm really looking forward to making a start on learning our new songs.

The days getting longer and the nights getting shorter...As someone who has had seemingly months of leaving for work before sunrise and arriving home after sunset, I am so looking forward to that little extra bit of daylight which March will bring!

The end of winter and the beginning of spring...In a similar vein, I'm now heartily sick of the particularly cold weather that much of this winter has brought with it and I'm really hoping that March will herald the start of spring and bring warmer temperatures and sunny days, instead of the ever present threat of snow that I associate with this winter.

More good times with family and friends...Although there are no definite plans as yet, I'm sure that March will mean more opportunities for fun with my favourite people. There are a couple of friends' birthdays coming up, so I'm sure I'll end up going out for those, if nothing else! Plus it's Mother's Day here in the UK in a couple of weeks so I'm looking forward to celebrating with my mum then too.

Goals Update

So, back at the beginning of January, I posted my Goals List for 2010. Having had a look through it, I'm shocked at how many of the goals have just fallen by the wayside or, even worse, have never really got started. I really need to make a bigger effort next month methinks. Nevertheless, for your consideration, here is my Goals Update for January and February:

Pass my driving theory and practical tests...this is a work in progress. My driving instructor has given me some really positive feedback of late, and I've now booked my theory test...the date is the 8th of April, so wish me luck! If all goes well, then it'll be all systems go for booking my practical...eek!
Get a long term/permanent job...again, a work in progress. I'm still applying for jobs on a regular(ish) basis and have had one unsuccessful interview since the start of the new year, with another interview scheduled for next week.
Be a better friend...now this started off quite well, and I made specially sure that I was in touch with my best friend J every week during January. But now things have tailed off, and as awful as it sounds, I often forget to stay in touch! To be fair, I don't ignore people and always reply if they get in touch with me, but I need that extra kick up the backside to motivate me to make the first move!
Be a better sister/daughter...again this is something I've not seen much progress with...I have my appreciative moments and times when I really take time out to listen to my family like I should, but also my selfish moments and little strops where I act more like 2 than 26!
Run the Race for Life and better last year's time...I've not signed up for this yet, but I fully intend to and this year, I definitely won't be walking it!
Adopt a healthier lifestyle...Unfortunately, this hasn't really took off so far this year. Whilst I haven't put any weight on, I haven't lost any either and this is down to the fact that I'm still not always making the healthiest snack choices and that I'm struggling with finding an exercise I like enough to fit around work. Hopefully when I sign up for Race for Life, it'll be a good motivator as I'll want to get in shape!
Read at least 2 books a month from beginning to end...I met this in January (I read "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and "The Return of Sherlock Holmes") but have failed this month...I'm only just over half way through my first book! I am enjoying it, but just can't seem to find the time lately!
Grow my nails...Epic fail! Nothing much else I can say!
Overcome my fear of thunder and lightning...A bit of a weird one this, I haven't sought any professional help and I guess I'm just waiting to see how I deal with the next stormy day we get.
Put at least £50 in my ISA each month...Another fail! Probably because I'm not used to putting money in it so I just forget about it! I should maybe set up a standing order, then I've got no excuse!
Keep a careful track of my finances and set myself a budget...And another one! I'm finding it quite hard to manage my money at the minute, although in my defence, it's very hard to set myself a budget when I never know exactly how much money I've got coming in each month! Definitely something I need to work on!
Develop my cookery skills...Does making gingerbread count? That's the only thing I've made this year, and as it's a recipe I'd already tried last year, I can't say I've met my goal! Like some of the other goals, I need to set aside time to work on this!
Cleanse, tone and moisturise every morning...On the whole, this has been a success and I'd say I'm managing at least 6 mornings out of 7!
Let go of my baggage from the past...This is another slightly strange one, as I think the only way of measuring how successful I'd been would be to be in a situation that I'd found difficult in the past because of my baggage, and obviously this isn't something that I can really manufacture. Also I'm not really sure how to go about it, as I don't want to spend loads of time needlessly raking over the past, as it's never really helped me before!

And that's it from me! Hope everyone has a great March, and I'll hopefully be back soon with normal(ish) service resumed!

Manchester through different eyes...

2010-02-21T16:44:00.007Z

On Thursday, Amy and I took a trip into Manchester...not to shop (although we did end up in Primark!), not to eat (although we did have lunch at Subway whilst we were there!) but to see the sights instead...to look at Manchester through the eyes of tourists rather than locals. As I've mentioned before, I've lived in the Manchester area all my life, and as such, I kind of take the city for granted, and never really find time to take a step back and look more closely at it. But on Thursday, all that changed. I saw old things in a new light, noticed details I'd never seen before and experienced some places for the first time.

So to begin our tour...we started at St Peter's Square, home to Manchester's Central Library. I didn't get any pictures of the front of it as I'd intended (there were Friends of the Earth collectors there, so I was doing my best to avoid them!), but I did take this picture of the dedication stone(?) on the side wall:

Then we made our way round to our next stops, Albert Square and the Town Hall, just pausing opposite the Midland Hotel on the way:

I absolutely love this building...for me it just conjures up images of the luxury and glamour of a bygone era. I'd love to stay here one day!

When we arrived at Albert Square, I immediately rushed to take pictures of all the statues that are such a feature of the place, but which I've never really paid much attention to before. Amy, meanwhile, kept her distance...I don't know if she was embarrassed of me or if she just didn't want to get in shot! Anyway, first up was this guy:

This is William Gladstone who was Prime Minister of Britain four times during the Victorian era. Presumably Gladstone, the bulldog in Sherlock Holmes, was named after him!

Then there was this one:

This is Oliver Heywood, who was a 19th Century Manchester banker and philanthropist. He sponsored many good causes in Manchester including the Grammar School and Owen's College (which would later become Manchester University where I studied!) Quick confession time...I'm not a local history expert at all, and am quite ashamed that I had to Google Oliver so I could write about him!

Here's a close up of the inscription on the statue's base:

Next we have John Bright:

John Bright was a Liberal politician who was MP for Manchester between 1847 and 1857. He held many views that were considered radical for the time and was recognised as being one of the greatest public speakers of his generation. Thank you Wikipedia for the info!

The most impressive monument for me was most definitely the Albert Memorial:

Apologies for the crappy quality of the pictures...these were done on my phone. I really need a decent camera lol! Anyway, the Albert Memorial was designed in memory of Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert, who died in 1861, and it was unveiled in 1869. It really is incredibly detailed, and it's just a shame that you can't see more of it on my photos.

Here's a slight close up:

As well as containing a memorial to Prince Albert, Albert Square also houses a fountain which commemorates the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897:

I have to admit I was pretty disturbed by this fountain...you can't see very well but the creatures with the water coming out of their mouths were seriously scary! They looked like some form of gargoyle, and not what I'd expect on a monument designed to celebrate somebody's life. On the plus side, I think this is my best picture of the day. The framing seems to be spot on (for a change!) and I love the juxtaposition of old and new within it.

Then it was off to the Town Hall itself, which Amy and I were both keen to see, not least because it was a filming location for Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, although we could go inside, most areas of the Hall were not open to the public, so we didn't get to see that much. I think we're definitely going to try to go on a guided tour some time soon, so we can experience that bit more. These are a couple of pictures I took of the exterior:

The clock tower and main entrance of the Town Hall, taken from a slight angle. The building is in the Gothic Revival style, popular during the Victorian era, and took nearly 10 years to be completed (from 1868-1877).

A front view of the clock tower...I really struggled to get this photo, I never seemed to step back far enough lol!

After Albert Square, we headed back towards the library, where we cut down the side streets and ended up on Deansgate where we dropped in at our next stop, the John Rylands Library. To say this building was beautiful is a massive understatement. Built at the end of the 19th Century by Enriqueta Rylands as a memorial to her husband, John, it's a gorgeous example of Victorian architecture and is breathtaking inside and out. Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures, but I'll leave a link to a site where you can find a few instead, and a wholehearted recommendation to check it out if ever you're in the Manchester area!

After stopping for lunch, our final port of call was the Northern Quarter, again mainly because some scenes from Sherlock Holmes were filmed there, and we wanted to see if we could find any of the locations. To be honest, we didn't really have that much success (we should have took a map!) but it was nice to see a part of town that I haven't really spent much time in before, and walking round in circles meant that I got plenty of exercise!

And that's my tour of Manchester done! Hope you enjoyed and maybe even learned something new...I know I did!

Promises, Promises...!

2010-02-20T22:35:00.003Z

Ok, it's official...I'm a bad blogger! I promised more regular posts whilst I was going to be off, and yet nearly a week has passed by since my last one! In my defence, technology hasn't always been entirely on my side over the past few days. I was (and still am) intending to write a couple of picture heavy ones, but the bluetooth connection between my mobile and my netbook was having none of it! However, I finally managed to work out what the problem was this evening, and I've now uploaded all my pictures so expect those posts coming soon! As well as all the other usual randomness of course!!

And so now, it's time for me to sign off...but this isn't a goodbye, rather an au revoir :-) Until next time...(fingers crossed it'll be tomorrow!)

How fine it is...

2010-02-14T18:08:00.004Z

to not have to set your alarm for work the next day and to be able to wake up just when it suits you! I think that's one of my favourite things about the weekend, and luckily for me, I'll be able to indulge in this little pleasure all next week too, as I'll be on my half term break! :-)

It's been a lovely weekend so far...my days have been quite lazy and chilled out and last night I went to see "Les Miserables" in town with some friends. The show was fab...I'd been to see it in London years before, but I couldn't remember most of it so was seeing it with fresh eyes, just like my friends who were first timers. The acting and singing was amazing...the strength of the whole company performing together was phenomenonal, and some of the songs so catchy that they're still in my head today! For me, however, the best thing was the set design...I can't sum up how fantastic it was, my advice would just be to see it for yourself! After the show, we grabbed a few drinks and spent a couple of hours laughing, talking and generally putting the world to rights before heading home rather later than expected!

As for next week, I've already got some things pencilled in, and I'm sure I'll be making room for some more too! So far, this is what I'm planning:

A driving lesson tomorrow...it'll be really nice driving when the roads are quiet as opposed to at rush hour as I often end up doing when I've been working

A trip to Primark with my mum and sisters on Tuesday...the four of us haven't had a shopping expedition for quite a while and I'm looking forward to seeing what goodies Primark's got in this time around!

Having my hair done on Wednesday...I'm having a trim and my highlights redone. Sometimes I think I'd like a complete restyle but I'm a bit scared of having something else done in case I really hate it!

Taking a tourist trip into Manchester with Amy on Thursday...it was Amy's idea to go into Manchester and have a walk round looking at all the fantastic architecture. Despite the fact I've lived within a few miles of Manchester all my life and visit on a regular basis, I've never really taken the time to properly appreciate some of the beautiful sights it has. Expect a picture heavy post later in the week!

As for Friday and next weekend, I've no plans as yet but I'm sure I'll end up doing something with myself! Other things I want to fit in the week include general chilling (reading, watching dvds etc) and baking and there is also the small matter of my lesson observation to prepare for, as it's scheduled for the first day back after the break! And another job application to do...which I'm 50/50 about at the mo. I know it might sound really lazy, but the thought of doing any less than necessary work on my holiday makes me shudder lol!

Anyway, that's all from me for now. Hope you're all having fantastic weekends, and I'll be posting again soon...now I'm off work, I have no excuse not to lol!

Well hello!!

2010-02-10T18:49:00.004Z

Long time no speak!! I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've last blogged...I don't know where the time's gone, all I do know is that I've been majorly busy!

So very briefly, here's what I've been doing for the past 2 weeks:

Working...I've been working in the same school for the last 2 weeks, covering a teacher's paternity leave. They're not the easiest class to deal with, and there have been some moments where I've felt completely overwhelmed, but they've been coupled with some students who are a delight to teach, and times where I'm so proud of what they've achieved.

Spending weekends with friends...the last two weekends have been time for fun with friends. The last weekend in January was spent relaxing at the pub and seeing Sherlock Holmes (again!) with my sister Amy on the Sunday and last weekend I went to a drama group party and out to a cocktail and karaoke bar for my friend's 23rd. Good times!

Acting: Between January 27th and January 30th, I spent every evening dressed as a villager for my drama group's production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". It was really tiring, especially when coupled with 6:30 am get ups for work, but really fun at the same time! I can't wait for our next show. We're doing a musical revue which premieres in July...rehearsals begin in March!

Driving: I've been keeping up with my driving lessons and the feedback off my instructor has been really positive...apparently it won't be too long before I can be entered for my test! Woo hoo! :-)

Baking: I've started to develop a bit of a reputation for my gingerbread and I've baked two batches over the last two weeks...neither of them for my family, much to their disappointment! I'm starting to really love baking and am finding it much more relaxing now I know what I'm doing, but I think I should maybe expand my repertoire a little bit so am on the lookout for new recipes. Anyone got any suggestions??

Preparing for job interviews: I had another job interview yesterday and spent some of the weekend preparing for it and planning a mini lesson for my classroom observation. Unfortunately, I didn't get the job but the feedback I received was very positive...the headteacher even said he wished he could have given me the job, but unfortunately I'd come up against a slightly stronger candidate. I'm not too downhearted, especially because I received a call yesterday from another school saying I'd been shortlisted for a job vacancy there too...my interview and lesson observation are in a couple of weeks!

And finally...

Realising that my friends were right all along and that Robert Downey Jr is pretty damn fine...This one is pretty much self explanatory, but I'm going to explain myself anyway! I has been a long held belief amongst many of my friends that RDJ is hot, but I stubbornly disagreed. Yeah, he was ok, I thought, but nothing special. Even when I heard about Sherlock Holmes coming out, I was more excited about watching Jude Law for 2 hours than anything else. Then I saw it and it was like seeing him for the first time. It was quite literally a thunderbolt moment, and I was like "So that's what they see in you!". And now I'm hooked...I can't get enough! And if you're reading this and you still don't get it, here's a little something that might just change your mind: