A penny for them...

New URL

2006-04-28T18:39:00.000+02:00

Okay I'm outta here!

I'll still visit all on my blogroll with the new URL, but here it is.. please update your records.

www.mandeesign.com

YEEHAW BYE BYE BLOGGER!

Moving today

2006-04-28T10:16:00.000+02:00

I've just got ONE thing left to do before the big move. I'm trying to figure about how to move 'Rent my blog'. When I add the code, for some reason 'Rent my blog' appears in my new blog 3 times? arghhh

Its no biggie, I'll get it sorted later today. I'll also be visiting my blog buddies later to give you my new url.

Until then, why not pop over to my tenant Battlerocker. Good writing skills are an indicator of an organized mind, and I'm sure you'll find her in-depth posts as creative as I do.

Anyway, right now I have to go and hand in my resume for a job. I'm excited yet apprehensive about starting full time work again. I didn't sleep that well last night either thinking about it lol. I'll keep you updated.

ciao

Thursday Thirteen

2006-04-27T08:10:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I was so bored I thought I'd collect some really odd Ebay listings. I know it's not about me personally, but perhaps you can see how crazy I am to collect such things? lol

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged!

Please ONLY add your name to the list if you participate in the TT and if you leave me a comment. I'm considering leaving out the linky next week, and I'll add your links manually.

Battlin'

2006-04-26T20:23:00.000+02:00

Today I haven't stepped foot outside the house, is that bad or what?

This morning was cold and wet, so decided to stay in and tend to my new blog over at WordPress. The good news is it's almost done, so hopefully by Saturday everything will be in place. The bad news is I had a few problems with the coding from my imported blogger posts. Yeah, I know I said everything went smoothly and I thought it did, until I checked over it again today. For some reason there were like 4 photos imported per post and lots of unwanted divs and tags. I had my first bash at PHP too and it's not as bad as it looks. Hubby always tells me "Don't be afraid of PHP, it's easier than you think" and I've always thought "Yeah right!" lol

I've also been battling at BOTB (battle of the blogs) just waiting now to see if I've won. Thanks to those that voted for me, I've seen quite a few people on my travels today, and come across some great blogs!

I'll be doing the Thursday Thirteen tomorrow on THIS blog, but Saturdays Scavenger Hunt will be on my new blog, so TNChick I'll be asking you to change my link soon pwetty pwease :)

Edit - I won my battle! yeehaw

Imported!

2006-04-25T21:55:00.000+02:00

As you know I'm switching to Wordpress, but yesterday I came across a problem. When I went to 'import' my posts and comments from blogger, it said I needed to enable the CURL extension. Uh oh! Luckily hubby came back from Germany today and it took him just a few mins to fix it for me, bless him.

I imported all my stuff, and it was really quite a pleasant experience. I was dubious about clicking that 'import' button lol but everything worked perfectly! Okay so it needs tweaking just a tad, like I need to add some transparent backgrounds to my photographs instead of salmon and I still need to add all my other gumf. Hopefully by the weekend (or before, fingers crossed) I'll be moving permanently.

I'm not going to be importing any further comments to WordPress so I'll just be copying the posts from here to there.. any comments that you make from here on will be lost in blogger space once I move. Don't let that stop you from commenting though, I'm still reading! lol

Now while you're here, I'd like you to look over to the left in my side-bar and meet my New Tenant BattleRocker at The Battle Rock Spot and if you can spare a few minutes please pop over and say hi. A landlord has to do what a landlord has to do, right? so anyone that decides to reside here for a while will be looked after like a tenant should be :)

Now I'm off to tinker with WordPress again..

A dandelion

2006-04-24T22:08:00.000+02:00

Today was a gorgeous sunny day, in fact the warmest one so far this year. On days like today it always puts me in that summer-time mood so I went out to the garden and took a photo of a dandelion. Okay I know what you're thinking, a freakin' DANDELION?.. well that's cause we're moving house in a few weeks time so I didn't bother planting anything else, it'd be a waste of time. Before you suggest moving the plants when we move house, don't talk silly.. I'm not that fussy! lol

Anyways, here it is..

Moving on

2006-04-23T19:48:00.000+02:00

Blogger is now almost a distant memory. Yesterday I had problems so I've taken the plunge to switch to Wordpress. I just spent most of the weekend designing my banner and it's finished. I'm really pleased with it!.. and no you can't have a sneak preview lol.

Blogger wasn't the only reason though. Whilst surfing, I've spotted 2 people with the same blog theme as myself. That wasn't unexpected of course but seeing it made me go arghhhh. I suppose there are hundreds more that have it as well. So yeah I just think it's about time I had my own.

Hubby is a PHP geek and I can do the designing part, so between us we'll do just fine. Yeah hubby has to be happy too.. we're good for each other and if we both like it, it can't be far wrong. If he thinks something doesn't look right he'll say so. In fact he's good for taking clothes shopping lol. He always tells me the truth when I ask if something suits me or not. He's one in a million :)

The blog is being hosted on our own server and I've got a new domain so anytime soon I'll be visiting you to give you my new blog addy.

Other stuff - Sunday Fact
Maybe someone who comes from West Virginia can clarify this?
In West Virginia, one can't cook sauerkraut or cabbage due to the odors and the offence is subject to imprisonment.

Oh my!

Scavenger Hunt - SILLY

2006-04-22T09:24:00.000+02:00

Grab the Photo Hunt code.
Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

This weeks theme is 'SILLY'| Next weeks 'OLD'

Lease a Sheep!
Oh yes, the latest craze to hit The Netherlands. What better way to advertise than on a grazing animal!. Go grab yourself a sheep and dress him in a sheep shirt!

Arghhhh!
Now to continue the animal theme. Here's a photo of my cat 'Kleintje' She's a tad mental as you can see.

Record comments!

2006-04-21T23:22:00.000+02:00

All I can say is WOW. Thursday Thirteen is blasting into space. I think 60 comments is a record on this blog, I'm flabberghasted (ha, remember that word?)

On Wednesday I remember thinking, oh it's TT day tomorrow, what can I come up with. At the last minute I just threw something together, and chose to go with the 'Pets I have owned'. If I knew I'd get 60 comments I would have posted the pics and descriptions too! lol. This has given me so much inspiration for next weeks.

Other news - I just bought a jacket from my local online market website (similar to Ebay).

I've been walking round shops for the last few weeks trying to find a summer jacket that I like.. it was proving difficult to say the least. They were either too heavy, too short, too cheap or too expensive. There's always something with us ladies eh.

If you know me and shopping, you'll also know I'm not the easiest person to please when it comes to clothes shopping.

Anyway. here's the jacket..listed as 'almost new' and I got it for 15 euros (about $18). All the jackets I saw in the shops were like 30 to 40 euros, so I'm happy.

Thursday Thirteen

2006-04-20T15:50:00.000+02:00

Thirteen pets I have owned

1. Black and white cat called Tiddles
2. Old English Sheepdog called Sophie (Kennel name - Spring Sophie Snowshoes)
3. A palomino horse called Sovereign
4. A colt called Benny
5. An Irish Draught/Dutch Warmblood horse called Mason
6. Cat called Kleintje
7. Cat called Sandy
8. Cat called Cindy
9. Palomino pony called Snoopy
10. Irish Cob horse called Edward
11. Welsh Mountain pony called Grecian
12. Rottweiler called Max
13. Colt called Kessy

there are still more but 13 will do.. :)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen below and please leave me a comment. It is easy, and fun!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

It's just not fair..

2006-04-18T21:22:00.000+02:00

This week is going incredibly slow. Perhaps it's because yesterday (Monday) was a free day. Now usually on a Monday I do housework, Tuesday I go shopping and Wednesday I don't do a fat lot. But because of Easter my routine has changed and I feel extremely disgruntled. I suppose that puts me into the category of people that don't like change.

The kids are off school. I can hear their shrieks of laughter out the back playing on the park kicking footballs around. I see cars parked outside that are not usually there. The cycle tracks are packed with roller skaters, cyclists, and Nordic walkers. Usually I have that track to myself, perhaps the odd rambler might share it with me but that's about it.

The shops are packed with shoppers grabbing the after Easter bargain eggs, and the boutiques are filled with skimply clad teenagers trying on the latest fashions.

I want it to go back to normal when I wake up and all I can hear are the birds singing, and the distant neigh from the farmers horses.

I'm not very into Easter these days. I can't devour a whole super sized chocolate egg like I used to without feeling guilty. I hate diets even more... grrrrr

A freakin tractor?

2006-04-17T20:15:00.000+02:00

Today we went to an Easter market in the next village. There were hundreds of stalls, a hobby center, lots of tasty snacks, the most gorgeous plants you've ever seen, motorcycle memorabilia, and an OLD TRACTOR named Mandy!

Charming eh, I just had to take a piccie.

Mandy the OLD TRACTOR arghhhh!

Runner up!

2006-04-16T13:12:00.000+02:00

Easter news: Runner up!

I came runner up in TNchicks - Easter Caption Contest!! that's really made my day. A well deserved first prize went to Serra. Congratulations Serra!

Other news: No Spring Chicken - Sunday Fact

New England chicken farmers discovered that chickens born in the spring sold for better prices, rather than the old birds that had gone through winter etc. Sometimes farmers tried to sell the old birds as a new spring born chicken but smart buyers often compained that it was 'No Spring Chicken' and so the term is now used to represent people past their plump and tender years.

and that's the truth...

Photo Scavenger Hunt - FEET

2006-04-15T13:19:00.000+02:00

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.

Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

This weeks theme is 'FEET'| Next weeks SILLY'

What nicer feet than these!

Ewwwww

2006-04-14T16:04:00.000+02:00

Okay do NOT read this in between the BOLD if you're squeamish.

BOLD---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some of you will remember we rescued some goldfish from our pond last year. Anyhow one of the goldfish has developed a growth on its head. It's getting larger by the day, it used to be a whitish colour, but now it's turned a creamy white with red thread veins running through it, and it looks like a cauliflower full of puss. I tried to take photographs, but they didn't turn out very good at all..

I know I should feel sorry for it and I really AM an animal lover, but it's turning my stomach every time I look at it, to the point where I can't look into the fish-tank anymore. I've looked on the net for answers and I've gathered it's a tumour of sorts, perhaps even cancerous.

Now what do I do with it.. or even more so, what would YOU do?

BOLD----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay you can start reading again now.

I just have to post this on my blog, I came across it yesterday while surfing on BlogExplosion and it's really hilarious.. so if you don't mind seeing naked boobies, click the link below and fill in some details lol
Shock Absorber

Thursday 13

2006-04-13T14:07:00.000+02:00

Thirteen Things about *Things that really annoy me*

1. Liars
2. Drivers that steal your parking space as you are about to reverse in
3. People that only talk about themselves and will never listen to you
4. Rowdy kids in restaurants
5. When you can't decide what to wear
6. Not being able to sleep
7. Smokers that don't give a damn about blowing smoke in your face
8. Kids that do not know their P's and Q's
9. People calling round at dinner time
10. The alarm clock in the morning
11. The weighing scales
12. Monthly cramps
13. Watching your new leather sofa getting clawed by cats

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

OMG Help!

2006-04-11T21:05:00.000+02:00

An update on my painful leg.

So, after reading through lots of medical gumf on the net, I've finally made an analysis.

There are the following nerves in the lower leg.

femoral nerve
tibial nerve
peroneal nerve
sciatic nerve

Common peroneal nerve dysfunction is a type of peripheral neuropathy.

For those that have no idea what all that gumf medical talk means, here it is - ("Neuro" = nerves, "pathy" = abnormal; "peripheral" = nerves beyond the brain and spinal cord.) Many neuropathies have well-defined causes such as diabetes, uremia, fracture or dislocated bones, AIDs, and nutritional deficiencies.

AIDS ??? WTH

Okay so according to that - I've got diabetes, renal failure, my arms and legs are dislocated, I eat crappy food, and I've contracted AIDS!

Well that's brightened up my Tuesday no end!

ARGHHH point me in the direction of the nearest cliff

The moral of the story is - Never try to analyse your own symptoms :)

Ouch

2006-04-10T22:59:00.000+02:00

Okay I can't walk anymore, or at least not today.

I went on my usual walk this morning for 6km and felt fine when I returned home, but then later in the day I had this pain in my right leg, just behind my knee. It runs down to the front of my leg to my ankle too and I have this strange sensation. If I rest it for an hour or so, then it's not too bad.. If I keep my leg straight and walk, it's fine, it's only painful when I try to walk normally.
Any guesses as to what it is? and please don't tell me I need my leg amputated lol

Other than that, not a lot today. Just another manic Monday :)

ciao

A brides bouquet - Sunday fact

2006-04-09T10:15:00.000+02:00

Now we're going back to the 1500s
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

and that's the truth..

Photo Scavenger Hunt - ROUND

2006-04-08T11:13:00.000+02:00

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.

Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

This weeks theme is 'ROUND'| Next weeks FEET'
A photograph I took yesterday of the 'Toyota and Historic Automobile Museum' in The Netherlands

Oh la la

2006-04-07T22:16:00.000+02:00

An unexpected business trip with hubby. We set off at around 6.00pm Wednesday evening heading South.

We drove through Belgium, Luxemburg and then onto France where we spent the night in the truck. We warmed up the pasta on our camp stove that I'd made earlier back home and enjoyed a can of beer each before climbing into our bunks for a good night sleep.

Okay so trucks are not really that comfortable unless you're totally whacked, and I must admit I didn't sleep that well. It didn't help matters that we'd parked right next to another truck with a cooling system.. and every half hour the damn thing would start up.. making me jump outta my skin arghh..

Anyway, the next morning we set off at around 6.45am for the last leg of our journey. We arrived at our destination at 8.00am, a furniture store called 'Leen Bakker' to unload. We had coffee there with the employees, and tried our best to speak French (bad mistake lol) before heading off home again.

All in all the trip was good, beautiful sunny weather and blue skies. We watched the sun set and the sun rise together.. we talked and talked about anything and everything. (I so love doing that)

The only 'hiccup' we had was when a seagull decided to dive head-on into the front of the truck 'THUD' poor thing.. I didn't look back, I hate things like that. Hubby said the bird flew off looking a tad dazed but I reckon he said that to make me feel better lol. He's probably gone to seagull heaven :)

So, there's my excuse for missing the 'Thursday 13' though I wasn't too disappointed cos I took some really great shots for Saturdays Scavenger Hunt. This weeks theme is 'Round'

If you'd like to join in, visit the links :)

Tiddly Winks

2006-04-05T23:14:00.000+02:00

Who remembers this game?
It was my favourite, I'd sit there for hours flicking the buttons trying to get them in the cup LOL

What was your favourite childhood game?

Mr Hunger Pangs

2006-04-04T22:55:00.000+02:00

It's Tuesday again, like where do the days go?

I picked up my mom and we headed off to our local town for our weekly shop. Of course we simply can't go shopping on an empty stomach, right?

So before we hit the groceries we fueled up at Kandinsky - our favourite place to eat. Mom had Italian meat with melted cheese laid on Ciabatta bread, and I had a 'Boeren (Farmers) Omelette' with a side salad. Oh and yummy it was too. It did totally nothing for my diet whatsoever, which meant I didn't eat a lot for the rest of the day except for pitta bread filled with salad for dinner.

Then it was off to find a collar for an oversized dog neck. Strange it might sound but it's true. We couldn't find a dog harness big enough for him.. so anyway we finally chose a red nylon collar, actually it's really sweet and it should fit him a treat. I know I'm lacking photographs here and that's one thing I HAVE to do in future, take my camera with me!

Well anyway you get the picture, right? (pardon the pun)

I learnt something last night about dieting btw. Jim was away in France and whenever he's not home I can't get off to sleep so easily, so I ended up watching Oprah Winfrey until stupid o' clock. She had some Doctor there too and they were assesing why some people find it hard to lose weight. This is how they explained it.

Exercising alone will NOT help you to lose weight. Only a combination of exercise and a healthy lifestyle will. They said that you have to resist temptation to snack after your evening meal. When those hunger pangs rise, DO NOT give in to them. Think of it like a battle going on inside your stomach. There are 2 guys, 'Hunger Pang' and 'Healthy Lifestye' One is trying to succeed in opening that cupboard door taking out a bit of what you fancy and feeding your hunger urge and the other is saying 'NO, do not give in, sit tight and it'll pass.

Now I know only too well 'Hunger Pang' will usually win, leaving 'Healthy Lifestyle' feeling deflated and angry. But do you realise that when your stomach begins to rumble, it's a sign that your body is about to give in and actually start to lose weight? The worst thing you can do is go to the cupboard and snack! you're just feeding 'Hunger Pang' and you will NOT lose weight. All that effort you went to earlier in the day to walk or jog those 5 or 10km have just gone down the plughole. Now it's back to square one.

So tonight, the cupboard door stayed firmly shut and 'Hunger Pang' was finally defeated!

Yeehaw

Saved by the bell - Sunday fact

2006-04-02T15:20:00.000+02:00

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.

Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer. And that's the truth...

What a waste..

2006-04-01T18:21:00.000+02:00

So what have I done today..

Actually, not a fat lot. After a long lie in bed, I finally managed to crawl out of my pit at about 1.30pm. You can tell we don't have kids huh.

Then I just browsed the internet, checked a few of my regular forums, and took a peek on Ebay. Then after a late late breakfast decided to get dressed lol. This was about 3.30pm.

After watching TV for an hour, playing with the cats for a while, and then making the bed, I decided to make pancakes. This takes us to about 5.30pm. I made 8 scrumptious pancakes and set the table with fresh lemons, maple syrup, sugar and icing sugar. There's one word for it YUMMY.

Well that's about it so far, it's now 6.30pm and here I am.

It's strange though, because this morning I had great expectations of doing a lot today, and basically I have done SFA (if you don't know what that means, tough. It's about time you did)

I should be ashamed of myself, but am I bothered?

teheee :-)

Acro that car!

2006-03-31T16:13:00.000+02:00

Today it's all aout which cars you have or have owned. I'm going to list the last 5 cars I've owned and I'd like you to list at least 2. If you've never owned a car then you can list the 2 choices of car that you think would suit you.

1) Renault Espace
2) Toyota MR2
3) Peugeot 605
4) Toyota MR2 Turbo
5) Ford Fiesta

Now, what we're going to do is make an acronym from ONE of your cars. I'll go first so you get what I mean.. now the acronym has to have something to do with cars/transport. Here goes..

Ford Fiesta

Featured On Radio. DAF Finds Inexpensive Electric Sunroof. Trucks Aired!

Wanna have a go?

Thursday 13

2006-03-30T21:55:00.000+02:00

Thirteen Things about *what I hope to achieve this week*

1. Walk or cycle at least 5km every day
2. Get my hair cut anytime now
3. Drink more water
4. Wash the cars
5. Blog more often
6. Pack some boxes for moving
7. Clear the back garden
8. Clear leaves from the front garden too
9. Stay away from chips and chocolate
10. Visit the inlaws
11. Call my sister in England
12. Go to bed earlier (no chance lol)
13. Remember to do this 13 list next Thursday (remind me please?)

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen below and please leave me a comment. It is easy, and fun!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Change your lifestyle

2006-03-29T23:06:00.000+02:00

It's not about dieting, it's not about living on cabbage soup for a week. It's not about totally laying off cream cakes, biscuits, or crisps. It's about changing your lifestyle.

Meaning - more exercise, less fatty foods, smaller portions, drinking water, eating slower, and at regular intervals.

Oh yes I've been there done that with the cabbage soup diet, I've done the banana diet and all the other diet fads out there. What I'm come to realise is I NEED MORE EXERCISE.

I have to admit I'm a couch potato. Isn't that an awful thing to admit? It's true though. I seriously lack motivation. I'm fine once I'm out there doing it, it's just getting there. So that's it, I HAVE to motivate myself, or at this rate I'll have a heart attack. There's only so long one can sit at home scoffing crisps and biscuits all day sitting at the computer longing for the next snack attack. Oh no, that has to stop. I also know that only I can do that, only I can change how I live my life.

So it started on Monday (why do we always start on a Monday btw?) - Monday I cycled 12 km, and Tuesday I cycled on my 'indoor' exercise bike for 8km. I bought myself some new trainers and some jogging pants and today I walked 8km. Now that's what I call MOTIVATION.

Now it's how long I can keep it up for LOL

How do you motivate yourself, and what do you do for excercise? (apart from sex) lol

Update from last post - I didn't sell my sunbed boohoo! Oh well I have another 2 months to sell it!

See ya :)

E-bay

2006-03-27T20:21:00.000+02:00

My sunbed is for sale. The thought of moving it to our new house and setting it up again is a nightmare. It's so heavy and bulky, plus it takes up too much room. The last time I used it was in 2004 for my wedding, so basically it's just been sitting there ever since. I've had 2 people interested so far, but neither have given me a definate 'Yes'. The least they could do is come and have a look, it's not as if I'm charging the earth. I swear people want something for nothing these days.

Other than that, I need to have a good sort out. I've got so much junk it's unbelievable. I think it would be daft to move everything if I don't want to keep half of it.

So it's off to E-bay we go!

It's only 65 days to go till we move house.. and counting

Mothers Day - 26th March

2006-03-25T20:33:00.000+01:00

For those that live in the UK, Mothers day is tomorrow! Happy Mothers Day

So when my mom had a special delivery yesterday I was thinking .. what the!!
I thought I'd forgotton, until I realised here in The Netherlands mothers day falls on the first sunday of May, this year it's the 14th. Phew!

My sister who lives in England sent my mom a mothers day card and gift. My mom is so lucky, she gets to celebrate it twice.

So anyway, I was thinking.. isn't it about time they had a daughters day?

The Tournament

2006-03-19T20:49:00.000+01:00

The first round didn't go too well. David lost his first match, but went on to win the next 2. Hubby won one of his, but he's not really a darts player -- he'd only gone to play for a bit of fun. Mind you, when he had to throw double 13 to get out, his dart hit exactly the right spot. Yeehaw!

Then it was time for the experts to show us how it's done. First came Daryl Fitton, and yes they played "One Step Beyond". For a minute or two it felt like we were about to watch a match at 'Lakeside'. After Daryl came Gary Robson and then Gary Anderson.. plus another few.

But, argh! 8 hours later and we were still there. The guys still had another couple of rounds to go, and it was already creeping towards midnight. My mom who was with us wanted to go home, so I took her. Then I went back to see how things were going. A lot of the players had given up and left, I suppose they didn't expect it to take this long!

My brother felt ill, okay so it was kinda self inflicted. He'd had a few beers and hardly eaten anything during the day, apart from 2 boiled eggs. It didn't help that he'd mixed his beers too. He wasn't pissed or anything, he just felt so ill. So anyway after another half hour or so, they decided enough was enough and we went home.

My brother David, on the left of the photo, was sick 3 times ughhh, thank gawd we'd got him out of the car before he barfed LOL. He says he'll never drink again..

I guess we'll see eh!

Darts - 180!

2006-03-18T14:13:00.000+01:00

We live in a sleepy village in the South of Holland and to be quite honest there's not much to do in the evenings. But, for some reason they come here to hold darts tournaments and top stars visit quite often to play the locals. Even more strange, the village that we're moving to in June is even more sleepy than where we are right now, yet there's no shortage of darts events.

So, we're off to a darts tournament later today. Top stars such as Daryl Fitton, Gary Anderson and Gary Robson will be there. My hubby and my brother David have decided to play in the tourny. Should be fun!

Maybe some of you darts fans will know Daryl Fitton's (nicknamed 'The Dazzler') intro is the ever so popular "One Step Beyond" by Madness. I wonder if they'll play that when he walks on stage lol

Anyhow, I'll let you know what happens. Guess I should go and get ready, we have to leave in an hour.

Nothing lasts forever..

2006-03-14T22:57:00.000+01:00

Even so, I didn't expect it to be this soon!

Basically, I don't have a job anymore. All good things come to and end I guess, and this is one of them. The management team were 'let go'. Restructuring was the term they used. Time will tell...

Still, it gives me time to do all the stuff I didn't have time to do before. Things like blogging lol, and gardening ughh (I thought I'd gotton out of that), packing! yeah we're moving to that 4 bedroomed house I mentioned, with garage. It'll probably be at the beginning of June, so that gives me plenty of time to sort everything out. I'm not looking forward to clearing the attic out though, there's so much stuff up there it's unreal. Dare I say it's mostly hubbys stuff? He doesn't agree, of course.. he says it's ALL mine! But then, you know what men are like huh?

I can get back to my other hobby too, photography. Not that I'm THAT good, but it keeps me busy and I simply have to make a new online album, since hubby 'accidently' deleted my other one.

So while all that's going on, I'm looking for another job. I have a few things in the pipeline, and a few things I can do, so I'm not destitute... yet :)

Yeah uhmm it's like this..

2006-02-10T22:15:00.000+01:00

Blogging lately is more demanding than pulling out the ironing board and ironing a Mount Everest pile of laundry. I just don't have time.. Okay well I do but, the time that I DO have free is taken up doing things that I should have done when I wasn't so busy. The fact is, blogging isn't one of them.

So I'll blog when I feel the need, dare I say when I've got nothing better to do? That sounds awful doesn't it?

Anyway while I'm here I'll share some of my busy life with you. I just hope I've got some blogging buddies left that haven't given up on me LOL

Okay so we're house hunting, and perhaps it'll be a 4 bedroomed semi (corner position) with garage. I'll let you know how that developes. Right now we have to wait until next Thursday to see if we have it, or not as the case may be.

Oh and we bought another car/people mover to replace the Peugeot that went to Peugeot heaven. A Renault Espace, 7 seater.. would be nice to get the house with the garage now so at least we have somewhere to put it to bed at night.

Yeah I guess you're thinking I have like a hundred kids, to want a 4 bedroomed house and a 7 seater Espace huh.. WRONG. We don't have kids, there's just the two of us.. and we just like.. big things I guess. Is that so wrong?

Anyway, a bit of extra news. I've been promoted to Supervisor at my job. I'm not used to working such long hours, but I love my work. I suppose that's half of the reason I don't blog much. If I'm not doing my job, I'm still there reading stuff, writing stuff and talking to people on my computer.. yeah I love it.

I'm on my rounds visiting your blogs, and I WILL get round you all eventually. I promise.

Bye bye

Gordon Bennett!

2006-01-25T20:39:00.000+01:00

I've almost forgotton how to blog lol. I've been so busy with work lately and family stuff, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. I know I've been tagged too somewhere so I'm going to do that next.

Gawd, I am such a dork at times too. I forgot I had my 'moderate comments' feature switched on, and that was because some jerk decided to leave a yucky remark. Why do they do that? So anyway - there I am thinking charming eh, no comments! Then it dawned on me and arghhh I had umm quite a few waiting to be published tehehe

I'll be visiting all of you soon to catch up. This will take some time to get through but I'll get there. Do you ever get that feeling when you open a blog, and hope and pray there's only one or two posts? or better still none at all! because then you don't feel so bad that you haven't blogged in a while lol

Okay I'm going to do some ironing, it's resembling Mount Everest right now and getting larger by the day. I swear my mom always told me if I closed my eyes real tight and wished enough, the magic ironing fairy would appear.. hmmmm

StudioTraffic Update

2006-01-05T22:00:00.000+01:00

Sign up here!

Yes, it's that time again. It's time to try and get you people to see the light. It's okay if you don't want to, it's not like I'm twisting your arm or anything but just think for a moment what you're missing out on. I know how corney this sounds, it's like those emails you get that you never read, and then wonder.. but what if it really DOES work!

Oh it took me a while to join, after the constant nagging from my mom trying her best to convince me lol, and oh boy I think back to last year and I wish now I'd joined back then, but well better late than never huh.

So I joined this program a few months ago and I'm already reeling in more than $900 cash every month just for watching a few websites each day. I've also landed a job in this company, and yeah it's salaried, so I not only get my $900 but I also get my salary (and no I'm not gonna tell you how much that is) lol. Our life has just changed so much, we're now getting a double salary each month and we can afford the luxuries in life. We're saving like mad right now cause we want to buy another car since Dr TJ has gone to Peugeot heaven. I reckon in say 3 months we can do it.

So wanna join me and earn some easy cash ? You even get $10 free when you sign up and there's no need to EVER spend a penny of your own money! What have you got to lose?

Some of my friends signed up and they're like, "ohh I didn't watch the sites today cause I didn't have time", and I'm like "HUH are you nuts!" It's so simple, all you have to do it log-in and surf! Some of you do that right now, when you surf BlogExposion or BlogAdvance and do you get paid for it? Nahhh of course you don't. So what's stopping you joining StudioTraffic and being paid $$$$$$ for doing virtually the same thing?

They just brought out a new Debit Card too, and that's how I'm withdrawing my money now. It's quick and easy, a trip to the ATM and whey hey there's your cash.

New Debit Card Example

I guess some of you are thinking yeah right, so where's the proof.. well I did say I'd post it when I got it, and here is just one of my payouts. This one is 29th Dec 2005. The 797 euros converted to dollars is about $964.

Click to Enlarge

So I'm asking you once again to join me so YOU can have the opportunity to earn some money in your spare time just by watching websites each day :)

Sign up here!

Here's to 2006

2005-12-29T21:39:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year, here's to 2006. Bottoms up!

Here I am, sat in front of my computer with my bag of ready salted chips, or crisps for you Brits, and my last glass of Baileys. I only bought a small bottle this year yet I should have bought a large. I so love Baileys, that warm feeling as it trickles down the back of your throat tingling your tastebuds. mmhhhmmmm.

Anyway, I'm alive and well and had a wonderful Christmas with family and Christmas dinner at the inlaws. Then the rolling around on the sofa the next day wishing you hadn't eaten so much.

I took some photographs and was, WAS being the operative word here, going to post them on my blog. Basically I won't be posting them cause they turned out crap, but that's another story.

So, what did we all have for Christmas, you can tell me up to 4 gifts that you received. Here's mine, and there's a story behind each one.

1) A watch - I bought it for my mom, but my brother had already bought her one and I didn't get to hear about it until Christmas eve, so yeah I kept it.

2) Christmas flower bouquet - My hubby came home from work on Christmas eve with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me, bless him. They were beautiful.

3) Lush collection - Ahhh the scent from these are just so overwhelming you think you're in a perfume factory. I had shower jelly, grapefuit body and hair wash and Wild Child soap. Simply aromatic.

4) A treasure chest - Now I have a thing about wooden boxes (NO not coffins!) I collect caskets, boxes, anything made of wood like that, and this is a lovely little wooden treasure chest patterned around the edge with silk. Thanks bro'!

Okay so what about you?

ASIMO

2005-12-17T22:48:00.000+01:00

"Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility"

ASIMO - The most advanced humanoid robot ever created. I REALLY need one of these for Christmas. Equipped with 26 motors and can fetch and carry, bring your tea, push a trolley and recognise faces. What more can you ask for. C'mon isn't that why we married our hubbies? lol

ASIMO - was created to be a helper to people in need. ASIMO's people-friendly size of 4 feet tall (120 centimeters) makes it the perfect size for helping around the house, especially for a person confined to a bed or a wheelchair. ASIMO's size also allows it to look directly at an adult sitting in a chair or sitting up in bed.

The new model for 2005 has advanced sensing, a hip joint, and can run! He can shake a person's hand when a handshake is offered, look at the face of the person speaking, and respond, greet visitors, informing personnel of the visitor's arrival by transmitting messages and pictures of the visitor's face.

I have some great links for you if you want to see ASIMO in action. Now you really have to add him to your Christmas wish list.

ASIMO link 1
ASIMO link 2

Renting ASIMO would set you back $162,000 per year (only available for rent in Japan) sooo if you can't afford that right now lol and you still want more, you can download and have ASIMO as your very own DESKTOP PET
Yeehaw :-)

The neighbors

2005-12-11T21:51:00.000+01:00

Strange topic but I'm going to tell you about my neighbors, just because...

Okay on the right we have a middle aged couple, unmarried with a 2 year old daughter. I can't for the life of me remember the guys or the daughters name, but the womans name is Alice. I can't believe we've lived here for over three years and have only ever gone round for coffee once. That once was only because my hubby and the guy decided to have a new back fence, so they helped each other to remove and dispose of the old one. Since then we haven't really had a lot to do with them. Alice sometimes takes my parcels in or we'll have a quick "Hi, how are you, weather's nice today" kinda chat but that's about it.

Now to the other side. I believe his name is Stefan, divorced with young 2 sons and again middle aged. I think I've spoken to him a handful of times. He works away a lot and has his own furniture making business. I only know that because we were in the same scenario with him as we were with the other neighbors. A new back fence lol only this time the other side. The weekends he IS at home he usually has his two sons over to stay. I remember one of our conversations being about the front garden and how we were going to have pebbles and I asked him if he wanted pebbles too.. he did. That was two years ago and we still haven't got around to buying the pebbles lol.

So what about YOUR neighbors? Are you great friends? Enemies perhaps? Have you met them even?

Would be interesting to know :-)

All I want for Christmas..

2005-12-06T07:09:00.000+01:00

HO HO HO

It's Christmas time once again and yet I haven't really given it much thought. I need to get myself motivated and hang up the decorations and haul the tree down from the attic. Yup, gone are the days of having a real tree, all those needles that embed themselves in the carpet, the agony of trying to dispose of it afterwards.. nahh I'll stick to the artificial variety :-)

So, what's on your Santa list this year? Okay I want you to give me three things that you'd ask for this Christmas. I'm talking about presents okay, like an expensive bottle of perfume that you couldn't bring yourself to buy or the latest ipod.

My three:

1) A NICE mobile phone - I've put up with a cheapie for toooo long :-)
2) Clothes voucher - I'd love to go and blow $500 on clothes for the hell of it.
3) Big box of choccies - Okay it'll do nothing for my diet, but it's Christmas, right?

News that touched me...

2005-12-03T22:13:00.000+01:00

Two news items really touched me this week so I'm going to dedicate this post to them both. Some of you may not agree with what I have to say so for those that don't, please walk away, rather than make uneccessary comments. It's my blog and I'm writing about what I believe in.. you don't have to agree with it, okay?

Racially Motivated: The first one is about young Anthony Walker. A young black man aged just 18 years old who was left for dead with an axe embedded in his skull in an unprovoked attack. The killers fled to Amsterdam before giving themselves up and returning to the UK to face murder charges.

I watched the Anthony Walker story last night on TV and it really upset me. That poor poor family that have to live knowing their son was killed because of the colour of his skin. It REALLY sickens me! Ughh Those animals that were responsible should be hung, drawn and slaughtered, Bastids!

I smothered my own son: A father ended his sons life because he couldn't stand to see him suffering any longer. Jacob, who was 10 years old had Hunter syndrome and although the disease would have ended his life naturally, he wasn't at deaths door.

Once again I watched the coverage on TV and was touched by what I heard. That night, Jacobs father went into his room, looked into his sons eyes and said "have you had enough, son?" then smothered him before saying "you're now at peace"

Well I can understand why the father did it and my heart goes out to him, and I know some of you would never understand that.. and I'm not asking you to. But unless you've been in that situation, unless you've taken care of your own mentally and physically disabled child, you CAN NOT understand. You can't even begin to imagine how it feels to watch your own child deteriorate and see that pain and suffering in your childs eyes day after day...

So there you have it, my blog for today.

New look!

2005-11-29T19:39:00.000+01:00

I was getting bored with the old look. Out with the old and in with the new!

So this is my first post on my new look blog and I've no idea what to talk about. As I ramble on, I'm bound to come across something that might make sense, though don't hold your breath.

I know one thing, it's freezing! I can't get warm, and the heating is up high. My hands are like blocks of ice and the tip of my nose resembles Rudolf. Funny thing is, I don't hear other people moaning about it. Perhaps it's because I had to get up this morning at 5.30am to take hubby to work. I don't do mornings. I'm like, do NOT look at me, do NOT talk to me and everything will be just fine. You know about the peugeot story, right? So we only have one car now, and it's only a two seater, and and.. well it's not very user friendly. In fact I'm not very user friendly at 5.30am either!

So here's a picture of our other car, Emma (yeah if you haven't already figured it out it's an MR2)

Emma the MR2

So tell me, do you got a pet name for YOUR car? and is there a reason behind the name? (this should be interesting) :)

Phuket girl

2005-11-28T09:37:00.000+01:00

I'm posting this because the more people that see it the better. Perhaps if you have room in your next blog entry you could post it too, and help this little girl to find her family. Here's hoping..

"This little girl is at the Phuket Hospital in Thailand. She does not remember her own name or anything! She has lost her parents. She must be of Western origin. She was a victim when she got caught in the tidal wave disaster in Phuket, Thailand and nobody knows who she is, so we are hoping if we distribute this email around the world someone will know her. If you know her, contact your local authorities."

Thanks Lisa from 'This could get ugly'

Talk about Snow!

2005-11-26T21:44:00.000+01:00

Don't you just love the snow? That familiar soft crunching custard powder sound under your feet when you take those first steps out into the garden that's been untouched after last nights snowfall?

Snow is great under the right circumstances, sledging and snowboarding or perhaps the odd snowball fight with your spouse, but NOT when your car decides to give up when you're 10 km from home!

So I guess we've found her sensitive spot. It must be female, and we reckon on that because she doesn't like to be out in the sludge and wet. She doesn't like the cold piercing wind that seeps through the crack of her bonnet chilling her precious engine. Oh yes, we've found her weak spot alright, It's freakin SNOW!

Clunk, click and then that final CLUNK! It would have cost us an arm and a leg to have her fixed so our Peugeot 605 has gone to Peugeot heaven. She finally gave up the fight for life this afternoon after 3 long years of chauffering us around in style. We decided to let her slip away peacefully. Sad really but well, there's plenty more cars in the garage, right?

Nice way to say goodbye though don't you think? (insert sarcastic look here) leaving us stranded in the middle of nowhere in the freezing cold snow, shoes wet through from trying to push the old lady into a parking spot so she wouldn't block the road. Thanks a LOT! you good for nothing heap'a junk!

R.I.P - Doctor TJ

8 goldfish and 7 frogs later...

2005-11-20T21:10:00.000+01:00

Saturday we woke early and decided to chop all the tree's down in the back garden. You see, we have a new fence arriving soon and even though the guys will take the tree's away, it was up to us to take them down.

So armed with chain saw and hand saws, out we went. There were about 8 tree's, some slightly built whilst others had trunks the size of Arnold Schwarzeneggers neck. Anyway, after a hard days slogging 6 trees came down, roots and all.

We were left in a dilemma, we have a pond at the bottom of the garden and the roots of the last two trees go right under it. After thinkng for all of 10 seconds, we decided to get rid of the pond.

But we had a slight problem. 2 years ago we bought 10 goldfish and since then, we'd only seen a gold coloured head pop out from the murky waters every few weeks. Soo armed with buckets we bailed the water out and hubby made a make-shift irrigation system. A few hours later we were able to haul out the fish. Well all I can say is OMG they were huge compared to the last time we saw them! I can't believe they even survived, but there they were. Okay so there were only 8, the storks had paid us a visit and taken a free lunch. In addition to the fishies, there were 7 frogs.

Both hubby and I are animal lovers, so we packed the frogs in oxygenated bags and took them down to the local pond and set them free.

We put the fish in a bucket and left them in the kitchen while we headed off to the local DIY store and bought an aquarium. So now we're 7 frogs down, but we have an great new living room feature! Okay this is just one of the eight. Have you ever tried asking fishes to keep still while you take a photograph of their aquarium. Geeez the things I do for you readers. 40 shots and this was the best I could get LOL

Now, how did you spend YOUR weekend ?

Welcome Santa

2005-11-18T08:01:00.000+01:00

Oh my! it's been 10 days since I updated my blog. So I suppose you're wondering what's going on in Mandy's world.

First of all, I've had a job promotion. I'm now OIC (operator in charge) so my brain is under extra pressure. I LOVE what I do though because I enjoy problem solving and logical thinking. So that's the main reason I haven't been around that much. My notes are piling up so I'm trying to get them into some kind of order.

Apart from that, last Saturday we went to the village of Oud-Heusden in The Netherlands where my mom lives, to see Santa arrive, other-wise known as "Sinta Klaus". He looks a bit different to the usual Santa, don't you think? He wears a tall hat unlike our Santa and carries a sort of shepherds stick. But, nevertheless he is STILL Santa, and that's all that matters :)

The story is, there's a key hidden at the bottom of the harbour that has to be found before Santa arrives on his boat from Spain. He disembarks and mounts a white horse that carries him through the streets waving to the people of Holland.

Now, in Holland the kids have TWO Christmas's. They have their presents on the 5th December, just as we would on the 25th December, and then on Christmas day (25th December) they celebrate it again! How I wish I was a kid in Holland lol!

Waiting for Santa to arrive in Oud-Heusden's harbour.

Santa arrives and the kids go crazy!

Riding his white horse through the narrow streets of Oud-Heusden.

Santas' helpers. Otherwise known as "Zwarte Pieten"

A close-up of a Zwarte Piet

On a last note, thank you to all of you that have left comments on my previous blog, I will be visiting each of you very soon :)

ciao

Calling the cops

2005-11-08T23:03:00.000+01:00

I'm curious how many of you have had to call the cops. If you've called them more than once, I'd like you to tell me about just one of those times. If you've never called them, then you're just a walking miracle, but perhaps you know someone close to you that did?

Okay so I wanna know when, why and are you glad you called them ?

Anyway, here's my story... It was going back a few years. An ex (we'll call him shitface) and I hadn't long split up.

I'm with my new guy and we've just returned from a night out. On the way home we decide to call in at the local fish and chip shop.

I park the car and my new guy goes for the food. I'm waiting in the car and I hear all this commotion. I see a gang of guys walking up from the town, obviously on their way home after a night out too. They're drunk to say the least. Shitface is there too and anytime now I'm wishing my new guy would hurry the hell up and we can go.

Shitface spots the car, he walks over. My new guy has just managaed to get into the car when shitface tries to grab him through the open window shouting all sorts of abuse. He smashes the car window and we manage to drive off at high speed. Shitface follows on foot.

It's not that far from my house and we park the car. I run in and dial the cops, just as shitface shows up. My new guy and shitface are circling the car. Shitface is still shouting abuse at my new guy. Cops show up and ask me to identify the guy that smashed the car window. It's pretty easy, it's the one with blood on his fist, so anyway they arrest shitface and take him to the cells.

RESULT!

That wasn't the only time I called the cops, and now I've set a trend, i'll tell you about the other time in my next blog, so stay tuned.

Okay, now it's your turn.. lol

Egads

2005-11-08T22:55:00.000+01:00

So life has been pretty hectic lately. On top of my new job, new kitchen, new bathrooms, house being upside down, trying to keep up with other projects, digging up tree's ready for the new 6ft fence... the painters are coming in yet again tomorrow to paint all the outside doors.

By the time Christmas arrives, I'll be that whacked I'll just flop on the couch and sleep for a week. Okay just thought I'd share that with you, I feel better now.

ciao

I'm having an affair

2005-11-06T21:48:00.000+01:00

I know I am sooo bad, but I can't help it. It's the slender body and the nice butt that did it. The power and the size, and believe me - SIZE DOES MATTER!

Meet my affair Engelbert. My brand new 19 inch TFT screen.

I'm in love dammit!

The BenQ T905 is a high-end 19" LCD monitor with SXGA resolution that delivers high contrast, brilliant colour and superior clarity for moving images. With its 250 nits high brightness, 450:1 contrast ratio, and a viewing angle of 140/135, the T905 has a 12ms super fast response time.

Monitor Type LCD Flat Panel
Analog vs Digital Analog/DVI
Brightness 250 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio 450:1
Maximum Resolution 1280 x 1024
Product Dimensions 42.2(W) x 40.9(H) x 16.8(D) cm
Product Weight 6.8 kg
Response Time 12 ms
Screen Size 19"

StudioTraffic update

2005-11-02T19:21:00.000+01:00

Some of you remember me saying about how I'm going to post my cheque for you to see from StudioTraffic. Well I've decided to compound this month so there will be no cheque.

However, my mom who's also an active member of StudioTraffic has opted for her money this month, so I'll be posting her cheque instead. She's requested it so as soon as it shows up in her bank, I'll show you people the evidence.

If anyone else wants to be involved in StudioTraffic here's the link. I'll be emailing those 15 people that have already signed up under me later today for a great opportunity to make even moreeeeeee money and win a few cash prizes that will be paid directly into your account to either a) upgrade your account or b) withdraw for yourself :)

Don't forget if there's anything you don't understand about the program, just email me and I'll help you, ok?

Burn the candle at both ends

2005-10-30T22:05:00.000+01:00

Ever felt so tired you could drop right where you are and sleep for a week?

I felt like that today. The clocks went back one hour last night so we stayed up until 3.00am just because it was a crazy thing to do. Now I'm not really a night howler, I like my bed way too much. If I'm in bed by 11.30pm it's all good. If I go past midnight I find it difficult to fall asleep, and when I do I toss and turn most of the night and I'm awake early. I just can not sleep in, no matter how hard I try.

I think it's something to do with body clock. My body has this little alien inside punishing me for not going to bed before midnight and if I annoy him he ain't a happy bunny.

My eyes are stinging, they're sore too and I have that light headache coming on that I always get when I'm over-tired. I wish I could stay up all hours, but I suppose I have to give in and retire to my warm bed, hot water bottle, teddy bear waiting, and get some ZZZzzzzzzzz's

G'nite all x

What better time..

2005-10-28T09:59:00.000+02:00

It's almost 10.00am and a pile of ironing is sitting before me waiting to be uncreased. It's like it's staring at me, daring me to go off and do something else instead. I stare back at it and growl through gritted teeth. "You'll have to wait till I've updated my blog grrrrrrrrr"

Okay So now that's out of the way I'll continue.

Clocks go back on Saturday, now don't be a banana and forget Like I did once, all through Sunday into Monday and was an hour early for work. That's just being a dork, there's no other explanation. So, before you go to bed Saturday night turn your clocks back one hour! That is, if you're in Europe.. don't be a dork and turn them back if you're in the USA!

So what have I been doing the last few days. Working, building websites and housework, oh and shopping. Can't forget about that now can we? It's retail therapy and all us girls need a bit of that now and again. I'd like to tell you I bought something really nice, something really glamorous, something I'd wanted for ages.. but I'd be lieing and I don't do lies. So anyway, I saw these great boots, and a half-price winter coat, but until next month, we're flat broke. Damnit!!

Right, I'm off to start that ironing, it's calmed down a bit now, and it's looking quite sad. I suppose I should oblige *sigh*

ciao

All in the mind.

2005-10-24T19:29:00.000+02:00

This is becoming quite a habit. 4 days have passed me by and I haven't updated. Does time fly for you too?

I've been taking a look at my life and I've found some stuff out. Everyone has two sides to their brain. The right and the left. The right is trying to do the right thing, the left is doing what it thinks it should do.

First of all my right-hand side of my brain tries too hard to please people, and what do they do in return? Nothing, in fact they take me for granted, cause they think I'm some sort of easy going, pushover. It's about time I did things for me for a change, things that make me happy, instead of others.

It's about time I spoke up to tell it how it really is instead of backing off and allowing others to take the center stage. But then I think to myself, what if I did that? what is that going to achieve, who will feel better because of it? Probably no-one.

So once again my right-hand side of my brain gets the better of my left and wins the battle. I will do what I think is right, and not what I think I should do.

Okay that's my rant over with. I did that for me, and only me knows what that means. If you're reading this I suggest you take a rewind and pretend you didn't even see this post.

Sometimes it makes you feel so much better to write things down. If you have PMS it's such a relief to rant.

A bottle of what!

2005-10-20T19:13:00.000+02:00

For those that already received my naked wiggly butt picture, I bet you're still drooling over it, right? I didn't send it to everyone yet, so no hints please. The others will just have to wait their turn :-P

Okay, so the last few days have been hectic and I hate leaving my blog for more than 2 days without updating, so I'm way behind cause this is like the 4th day now. A rundown of my daily routine. Chat and get paid for it.. that's it. HAH, I love it. Nah seriously though, I help those people that need help basically, and I'm so polite it's unreal. I mean c'mon, ME polite? I suppose I can be if I have to and I just sit here smiling when they sit there pulling their hair out. At the end of the conversation they're like "Oh thank you for being soo patient, how on earth do you do it?", and I reply with "It's all part of the job, have a nice day". Then when they've gone I'm like MORON! LOL

I'd like to thank those of you that signed up for the StudioTraffic program, you guys are great! and you'll be pleased to know that I'm starting a new blog with advice/help etc etc, so if you have any problems or just want to see what's what, it'll be full of information and news from the program. For the one's that are not yet activated, I'm going to do that right now, so watch your accounts cause you can start surfing in a few minutes :)

Well it's my night off tonight, hubby's is Germany so I'm gonna take a nice hot shower, and curl up with a bottle of... milk (I feel like I should insert the word 'wine' there, but since I don't have any)

Have a nice day/evening/night or whatever it is.

Ciao

Busy Bee

2005-10-16T19:04:00.000+02:00

Busy busy weekend. Study and more study, notes and more notes. I'm also trying to finish off banner and website projects. Banners for the BlogAdvance surf rotation, banners for a DJ on Yorin FM, banners for Courtney's prompts, and a website for someone else.

Today I'm going to plug my favourite sites/promotions of the week. Why? cause I wanna, and since you keep coming back to catch a glimpse of me doing my naked butt dance, I thought I'd do you a favour and give you something to read while you wait. If you're really lucky I might do the butt wiggle too... but we'll see.

1) StudioTraffic - It has to be said, I'm so looking forward to christmas this year. This is the place to go if you want to earn some easy money. You just sign up and you're even given $10 to start you off! You DO NOT have to use your own money! Autosurf (so you don't have to click next) every day and watch the money roll in. If you wanna earn more, just upgrade by a few dollars, it's THAT easy.

I know what you're all thinking, cause I thought it too.. but it's true! I'm due a check at the end of this month for around $300, and when I get it I'm gonna post the image right here to show you. I have 5 people so far that have signed after reading my blog, they've taken the plunge and I've had no complaints.

If you wanna know more or have any questions, just email me and I'll help you out. Or if you like, you can visit the site and see for yourself. I'd appreciate it if you'd use the link here, but if you'd rather not that's ok too.

2) BlogLegion is hitting the blogosphere by storm. It's the latest in blogging platforms. Features include mobile blogging, photo albums, podcasting, 25 free templates, co-authors, private message system, 100KB file upload, and lots more... I have a new account there so I'll be moving 'A penny for them' over there as soon as I have time to transfer everything. Oh and I'm on the look out for a nice template (insert hint smiley here)

3) BlogPulp is the latest bloggers trend. In short it's a bloggers magazine, made by bloggers for bloggers. This month there's a new feature, 'Blog of the Month' so if you come across any blog that you think may merit 'Blog of the Month' that's the place to let it be known. Amongst other things, there are articles, help, tips and advice about all aspects of blogging. Why not head over and check it out.

4) BlogAdvance Forum - If you're into writing, either professionally or amateurly, why not head over to the BA forum. Courtney's Prompts is the name of the game and 25 credits are up for grabs. Also on the same forum and if you're into photography, head over to Marie's photography usergroup. Once again 25 credits are up for grabs. There's a photo of the week contest and a weekly theme.

5) StudioRocks - For wannabee artists/groups. Weekly contest, answer 12 musical questions and win a prize. Create a Jingle: Create a 30 second audio ad for one of our Studio Programs and win $100. But best of all, win a minimum $60,000 recording contract as voted on by the members of StudioRocks!

Ok, so I guess you're thinking, HELLO I read that now where's that naked butt dance! Well if you sign up to any of the 2 Studio sites you will get a personalized photograph of the naked butt dance and wiggle. If you sign up for any of the other 4, you'll get a personalized photo of JUST the naked butt dance. Or, if you think you're tooooo shy for any of that, I'll just send a sluuuurp your way or a hug, it's your choice.

Don't forget to email and tell me who you are and what you signed up for, or basically you ain't getting nothing. :-P

Oh and I WILL check so don't try and pull a fast one.

Ciao

I got it!

2005-10-14T06:38:00.000+02:00

Yeehaw, I have a new job on LHD (Live Help Desk).

I obviously need to go through some training first and there's such a LOT to learn. I need to get to know the ropes, meet my colleagues, and make sure I'm prepared etc. But then, I'll be working 30 hours a week! I can choose my hours, they're very flexible so I've made myself a rota. Plus, if anything comes up, I can always swap with one of the others. It's so exciting! *does her naked butt dance*

Ok, back to reality for sec. My computer is pissing me off and our server is playing up. It seems to be offline more times than on. We have 4 computers altogether, and the whole lot needs a total revamp. At the moment, everything is upstairs in one smallish spare room, which, I might add, gets rather warm even during the winter. Anyway after reformatting and swapping a few things around, we're going to move the whole lot downstairs into the back spare room. It's more like a large shed/garage (brick built), so we're going to paint, carpet and whey hey a downstairs office. Can't be bad!

Why do things always come at once? It's like this time last month we were worried about cash. This month, I've got the new job, I've also got another home business that's just picking up nicely and hubby is working more hours too. I'm really looking forward to christmas this year, and not having to worry about scrimping and saving, like in years gone by.

You know what, thank GOD for computers and internet!

Ok, I'm off to do some more naked butt dancing, hope you don't mind :-P

Deja vu

2005-10-12T18:12:00.000+02:00

Ok here we are again. I think it was around this time last month I had a job interview, but my perspective employer didn't show up, remember?

Some of you may be aware that I live in The Netherlands, and finding work here for someone who's mother tongue is English, is proving difficult.

Anyway, I have another interview tomorrow evening. This time it's for an online 'Live Helpdesk' position. I'm not even sure of the hours, or as a matter of fact, the salary, OR how long the job will last for. Just think about it though, I get to stay at home and talk to people all day helping them with an online payment process, and basically offer support and assistance to anyone that needs it. I love it, that's right up my street and if I get that I'll be rockin' my bits.

I'm also really interested in the company as a whole, and I totally support what they're doing. I won't go into it tooooo much, I don't wanna tempt fate and be all geared up to be offered the job.. but well, I'll admit I'm secretly optimistic :)

Ok, I have some studying to do, I wanna be prepared for tomorrow.. they don't call me Johnny 5 for nowt'

Ciao

Monday Morning Rant

2005-10-10T08:58:00.000+02:00

What is it with men and throwing things in the dustbin?

I've just cleared the computer room, and there were like bits of paper everywhere over on hubby's side. I'm talking like TINY bits of scrunched up paper and bits of leftover wire.. even paper that's ripped up so small you just can't rip it anymore, and yet STILL they are strewn over the worktop.

I'm like HELLO there's a bin right behind you, not even 2 foot away! Would it really take that much energy to swing round on your swingable chair and toss it in the dustbin? I mean c'mon, you've got the chair that swivels, the dustbin is 2 foot away.. so what's the problem?

Many (probably more) males believe a womans place is in the kitchen huh, in this case it's in the damn computer room!

Ok, now onto something else. My Photo Album is up the creek without a paddle. It is NO more. It's lost, somewhere in file heaven. All my photographs are gone too, cause stoopid me deleted them after I'd added them to the album. I'm devastated, and I dunno what to do anymore. That album took me ages to make and get just the way I wanted it, and now all that hard work is gone.

Why? well I made a back-up of Mysql before switching everything over to another server and for some reason, though I don't see how, I didn't save the Album.. this actually puzzles me, cause I went through it with a fine-tooth comb making sure I saved all the important stuff, but try as I might.. it's history :(

See, this is the reason why I haven't added my Germany pics, and to be quite honest I don't know when I'll have time to make a whole new album *sigh*

Ok, rant over for today and thanks for all your comments on my previous posts, I'm catching up with my blogroll later today.

The hands of time

2005-10-06T21:58:00.000+02:00

I'm back, but chocoblock (hmm I've never had to spell that word before) with work. I didn't know being away for 2 days could make one's life so hectic. I made some card thingo's and wrote down all the things I have to do today and tomorrow. I've probably crossed off 2 from about 10.

I apologise to those that I told I'd be around today for a chat on yahoo, MSN or wherever. I really haven't had time yet, despite 'some' people thinking I'm ignoring them for some reason, (which I'm totally not). Just let me do what I have to do and I'll be back amongst the blogosphere bloggers :)

Tatty Bye (don't mind me, it's a Brit thing)

Away

2005-10-03T18:09:00.000+02:00

Just to let you know, I'll be away from Tuesday morning until Wednesday evening. I'm going to keep hubby company on another trip to Germany, our final destination being Burger Zoo (don't ask). I'd take some of you along but I only have room for my monkey nuts.

See ya when I get back, with photographs!

YAY! I WON

2005-10-02T20:15:00.000+02:00

I won, I won yeehaaaaw!

Congratulations to Mandy at A Penny For Them... for bringing in the most Referrals for September. Mandy receives a Deluxe Account valued at $45!

I don't know who signed up with my referral for BlogAdvance, but if you were one of them thank you very much, I owe you a slurp!

Oh and I must be lucky this week, yesterday I received an email from the lottery. I won 3 euro's lol, ok it's not much but two wins this week can't be bad :)

Cologne, Germany

2005-09-30T09:22:00.000+02:00

Arghh, where does the time go?

I know I said I'd update my blog yesterday, but I just haven't had time. It's now almost 9.00am friday morning and the house is quiet, so I'm updating while I have chance.

If you read my previous post you'll know we went to Cologne, Germany on Wednesday.

We started off at 7.45am and arrived around 11.30am. We had to wait to be unloaded though for an hour or so, so I sat reading magazines whilst hubby went off to talk to the other guys outside.

Cologne is home to the huge Gothic cathedral (Dom). Dating from 1248. I wish we'd have had more time to visit the main city and sample all that Cologne has to offer, but once again this was a business trip, so we were on a tight schedule.

On the way home we decided to stop off to eat, just a quick snack we said. We SAID we were not that hungry. So anyway, we pulled into this little restaurant and ordered one of the cheapest snacks on the menu, 5 euros. Special burger with fries it read. I expected a normal sized burger and a side-dish of fries. Oh ya! My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

The plate was HUMUNGOS. Burger, salad, vegetables, egg, 3 different sauces, and a whopping dish of fries. Well, to cut a long story short, I was bloated, not that I HAD to eat it all right? but such a shame to waste food, and think of those starving people in the third world countries.. yeah so anyway I ate it all :-P

I've never felt so ill in a long time. My stomach was gurgling like a baby, and to tell the truth, I didn't eat a thing until the following afternoon, and then it was just an apple and a yoghurt. Ughhhh

So there you have it, a detailed account of events. Now I'm off to start the day, take my mom shopping and later I'm visiting folk on my blogroll.

Have a nice day!

Quick Post

2005-09-28T23:23:00.000+02:00

A REAL quick one. Went to Germany today, I'm so tired I could fall asleep standing up. I swear I was a horse in my previous life muahaaa.

Anyway, I'll post more tomorrow after a good nights sleep and recharge my batteries. Oh and for those that requested a photo of my new hair, I'm feeling really brave. I must be suffering from SDS - (Sleep Deprivation Syndrome).

Still have to have it coloured!

BlogAdvance - Sign up and claim 50 FREE credits!

2005-09-26T13:15:00.000+02:00

Today's post is based on and around BA aka BlogAdvance.

First and foremost BlogAdvance is a blogging community built by bloggers for bloggers. The beauty of it is, they DO listen and they DO act.

Like to see new features?
Have idea's about upcoming projects?
Care to write an article for the new BlogPulp magazine?
Want your site reviewed?
Want free banner advertising?
Want free credits for signing up?

Yep, all these are features of BlogAdvance, and there's sooo much more..

The community forum is getting pretty busy too and there are currently no less than 12 usergroups. There's something for everyone or if you don't see one that interests you, start your own! it's as easy as that. Just contact an admin and whey hey, you can even moderate it.

The thing I like about this particular forum are the thoughtful and helpful responses to posts and I'd say 99% of forum posts are answered, so the thread continues until it's ran it's course. People that post here DO matter and we all try to make members feel welcome, whether it's advice they're after, blog reviews or just general chitchat.

I've seen other blog forums with a few thousand members, but little interaction. Now without the interaction, there is no REAL community, is there?

This month BlogAdvance are giving away an upgraded Deluxe Account worth $45 for 1 year absolutely free to the person with the most referrals during the month of September. Dare I say I'm joint top? help me out here and sign up! lol You can do that by clicking the image below or any of the other BlogAdvance images on my blog.

Hey and in return guys you just MAY get a kiss from my sparkly lips and for the gals, a warm hug :)

Remember, if you join BlogAdvance now, you'll also be in with a chance to win Octobers prizes. You just may get lucky.

There's also a GREAT new feature about to be implemented, but it's hush hush at the moment until it's released.. I've heard whispers and from what I can gather, it's going to be a HUGE hit.

With BlogAdvance you're not JUST a number, they really DO care, so why the hell are you still here? GO sign up! :-))

Take a guess

2005-09-25T22:24:00.000+02:00

Okay, let's see who can guess what this is. It's something you probably see every day, but displayed here rather oddly. You have 7 days to guess what it is.

Other stuff

It's another photograph day, and pictured below are our furry friends. They all get along really well, considering the circumstances.. We never leave them alone though, just in case the cats may have a sudden urge for a tasty rabbit. Note the box, they prefer to sleep in THAT than the fur lined baskets we bought for them. Oh and a bit of red eye there too. I'm just too tired to sort that out, actually makes it look like a devil bunny lol

A new me

2005-09-24T22:05:00.000+02:00

It's one of those days. I'm sat thinking about what to write but I'm getting no vibes. Don't you just hate those days? I had one yesterday too, and that's so not like me. So anyways, I'll tell you what I've been up to the last couple of days.

Yesterday I had my hair cut cause It really was bugging me. Now I'm not one for sitting in the hairdressers making false conversation just because I've got some woman snipping away at my locks, but yeah I made the effort. She really was quite charming, even went out of her way to book my hubby an appointment for Saturday, even though it was her day off.

The hair cut didn't take that long, about 25 mins total and now instead of long dark hair flowing down my back, I have hair that just touches my shoulders. I'd always wanted dead straight hair so my sister bought me one of those Nicky Clarke ceramic hair straighteners for my birthday this year, and wow! they really do work. This is the first time I've used them and my hair is now uhmm... as flat as a pancake. Love it! so now I want it coloured, copper and blonde tints I think'll do nicely.

Oh yeah, I promised Deb from Pocketlint I'd take some pics of my new kitchen sooo here they are.. :-)

Sad or what

2005-09-22T20:00:00.000+02:00

Jim's away in Germany tonight and I'm bored. I've got nothing to post about, other than announcing we got our remote control for the ventilator today. 4 switches, with periods of 10 minutes ranging from slow to super charged. Flick the switch and the ventilator ventilates for 10 mins, flick it twice and it ventilates for 20 mins, and so on..

Anyway, I took a picture of it just cause I'm weird like that. While I was at it, I took a few more of our little housy and what I cooked for my dinner. Enjoy :)

Yup, say hello to Roger the remote.

Part of our living room.

View from the kitchen window, and yeah there's EMMA, my red sports car.

Cooking dinner for one.

The finished omelette.

Now I'm gonna go and watch my soapy.

Ciao

Wanna make some money?

2005-09-21T16:33:00.000+02:00

Ok, this is the first time EVER that I have done anything like this in my entire life. I've read the stuff about 'Get Rich Quick' schemes and I never get past the first few sentences. I always think what BULLSHIT!

BUT, that was until now. I'm going to give you a link so you can see for yourself. Just read through it and then take a look at the forum about people that have already been paid, there's even screenshots of their checks.

All I'm asking is when and IF you should sign up, please use my referral link. After you sign up you can use your own referral link for others. Deal?

Did I mention that it won`t cost a penny? ST gives every new member Free $10! It does take longer to get a good income, but it can be done with no money of your own. You do not have to bring anyone in, just operate your own account, but if you did know someone who would like to be a part of this amazing program, you would receive 10% of any upgrades made by them.

When I first heard about this program I thought the same as what you're probably thinking right now. But then my mom joined and she already earns $300 per month and rising. Every month her earnings go up plus I've seen her payout, so I know it works!

Here's an example of how it works:

You earn - 1% of the money in the account level - say you had $1000 you would earn $10 per day, then each month if you didn`t take any money out, $300 would be added, in a 31 day month $310. All you have to do on a $1000 level is autosurf 70 sites per day to get the 1%. And - On $1000 over a period, you can max the account - it will reach $15000 then you can take out $4500 per month for 12 months. On $1000 it will take approx 8 months if the money is compounded, to reach $15000.

Honestly, I have never seen such a great program in my whole life. I'm pretty new to it, but I'm adding a bit more each month, so I earn quicker.. I so hate waiting lol

Remember, use my referral link pretty please :-)

Sleepy Head

2005-09-20T19:14:00.000+02:00

That's me, sleepy head. So I thought the workmen had finished, so I was wrong. They arrived at 7.45am (luckily I was awake and dressed) to change all the locks and fit the ventilator in the attic.

I knew they had to do that, just didn't know it would be today. Oh well, I suppose better now than later. They were here till 4.30pm, and cause the doors were all open, it was dang freezing. Jim calls me a wuss, he says I've got no blood in me, I just smile back at him and grrrr through gritted teeth. He's used to working in -2 degree temperatures and still wears just jeans and a T-shirt, now that's NOT normal, right?

Now for other news.

Midnight last night I was on a mosquito mission. The little blighters were everywhere. If any of you read my old blog you'll know I'm allergic to mozzies. If I'm bitten I swell up real bad, and the bite site itches and burns like hell. I swear though, I'm becoming immune. I've been bitten that many times in the last 4 years they leave me well alone, or if i DO get bitten it's not so bad anymore. So anyway, I got out of bed 5 times in 10 minutes, every time I spotted a mozzie. Ok, you're probably having a vision any time now, of me wearing my jammies, fly swatter in hand running round like a blue arsed fly smacking mozzies around my bedroom.. not a pretty sight huh?

You know what, it's strange how writing seems to flow, when I started this post I thought what the hell am I gonna write about. tehee :)

Oh and just before I go, tomorrow the workmen are returning, to deliver, wait for it.. drumroll.. a remote control for the ventilator, sooo when i'm taking a shower I just press the button to start the fan, and whey hey, Bob's ya uncle! muahahaa

Last days of summer

2005-09-19T20:13:00.000+02:00

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day so we decided to make the most of the last few sunny warm days of September. We drove to the little quaint village of Heusden who's foundations date from 1300, also my mom's home town, and spent the afternoon at the jazz festival and walking along the harbour.

Yep, I've gone photo crazy, and posted ~~loads~~ some pics for you to see.

Just before Heusden town center we saw this picturesque stream.

Not sure what this is, but anyway it was an odd shaped building.

Jim and my brother David walking towards the windmill.

This is EMMA, my car.. Hands off! :-P

Some friends we met at the jazz festival with baby Amy :)

Here's that odd shaped building again, different angle.

My brother David being a muppet.

The harbour at Heusden.

YAY!

2005-09-17T21:08:00.000+02:00

Friday was the last day, we finally have our house back. They have one more thing to do monday morning, and that's painting the bathroom ceiling. I cooked our first meal in our new kitchen today, of course Jims favourite, Spaghetti Bolognese. It was heaven to sit down again and eat with our own knives and forks, and our own plates, ahhhh. I did some washing too, first time in 3 weeks using our own washer.. god what a luxury lol

Jim was stuck in Belgium last night, apparently he'd arrived late due to the company before him dragging their feet, which meant that the guys in Belgium wouldn't unload his truck until 5 hours later. I waited up until about 2.00am then decided to call him. He told me to go to bed, and that he wouldn't be home till at least 3.30am. He'd been out since 7.30am the previous morning, that's like 20 hours work. He is NOT a happy bunny.

2 blonde things I did today - Duh

1) - Just installed our washing machine, fiddled about with the program settings for about half an hour cause it wouldn't work, then I realised I forgot to turn the water back on. muhahaha
2) - Placed the fridge freezer in a different spot, so switched the doors so that it opened from the right instead of the left. Spent a few minutes trying to figure out why the door wouldn't open anymore, and then it clicked that I'd made the switch. lol

Tell me about 2 blonde thing's you've done over the past week :-)

20 things about me.

2005-09-15T15:20:00.000+02:00

1) - I'm curious about EVERYTHING and should be named Johnny5.
2) - I tend to put other people's feelings first before my own.
3) - I love food. If I'm truthful I'd say it was my hobby.
4) - I like to spend some time alone, to be with my alterego.
5) - I simply love animals, in any shape or form.
6) - I can be moody and quiet at times, for no apparent reason.
7) - I'm affectionate and loving, most of the time.
8) - I hate Mr Bean. Don't ask why, I just DO.
9) - I want a dog, but then I don't.
10) - I DETEST liars and cheats.
11) - I find it hard to trust people.
12) - I can forgive, but never forget.
13) - I'm sensitive and emotional, I cry easily.
14) - I believe real friends matter, but don't ever cross me.
15) - I love my close family, you ROCK!
16) - I once had 7 horses, now I have 3 cats
17) - I drive a red sports car, called EMMA
18) - I want to live forever, is my favourite song.
19) - I wish I had more money, to buy my dream house.
20) - I am happy with my life, because I'm alive.

Tell me just 2 things about yourself :)

Other stuff:

I've decided to drop the 'Events' of the day. No-one really mentions them anymore and to be quite honest, I'm getting bored with doing it :)

Getting cooler

2005-09-14T19:54:00.000+02:00

Today was the first day since May that I've worn a sweater. I suppose it didn't help with the front door open all day to allow the workmen access, and the bathroom window open upstairs to help set the floor tiles. I really pity the people over the road, they're having renovations done too starting next week. It's getting colder and without heating it's going to be like living in an igloo (not that I know what living in an igloo is like). Has anyone ever been in an igloo? that would be such a cool thing to do (pun intended).

Jim came home today, he's been away in Germany for 2 days, so I'm kinda walking on air.

We sat and ate Bami (yup, that's it in that picture) together. It's so yummy, especially smothered with half a bottle of chilli sauce. You have to drink a gallon of water afterwards though to dampen the fire in your throat, but it's all good :)

Oh I almost forgot to tell you. Yesterday I cut and cleared up the ~~jungle~~ back garden. It took me 3 hours and I felt like an old maid by the time I'd finished, and looked like one too.

It's amazing what you can do when the hubby's away, it's like you get this sudden burst of energy, but that's probably because they get you doing everything for them when they're at home. You go into robot mode, then when they go away you've suddenly got this urge to do something for yourself ~~for once~~ but don't know where to start cause your brain is programmed to help males. Ooops, sorry to my male readers.. ~~not~~

So yep, I did the garden and it's looking good again, despite our cat enjoying the long grass. :)

Events

This day in history - September 13th 1886 -
Typewriter ribbon is patented by George Anderson of Memphis, Tennessee.

It's also 'Clayton Moore's birthday, born in Chicago in 1914. Psssst if you don't know who he was, it's the one and only Lone Ranger.

Like I've got nothing better to do!

2005-09-13T21:04:00.000+02:00

This morning I awoke to the buzzing of my mobile phone alarm at 6.30am. Another day of workmen arriving at 7.30am, and another day of staying at home twiddling my thumbs the entire day while the renovations continue. Only thing is, today was a bit different...

I look at the clock, it's 8.00am and still no workmen. 9.00am still no-one. Then at 9.00am whey hey the doorbell rings. The guy doing the tiling has to place 5 tiles just below the cooker hood. He finishes in minutes, then leaves. I can't leave the house cause they'll be back soon to do some other stuff, or so I thought.

The clock strikes 10.00am, no workmen, then 11.00am and still no-one. At 12.30 it's their lunch break, so I know for a fact they won't be coming till after 1.00pm. Around 2.00pm the doorbell rings again, and this time it's the guy who's fitting the kitchen. He measures something quickly, winks at me and leaves. I'm like HUH!

3.00pm, then 4.00pm and wow, the doorbell rings again. It's the electrician, he's come to have a quick look and tells me he'll be back tomorrow to do all the re-wiring. Then 4.30pm, the doorbell rings again, it's the guy fitting the bathroom, he tells me he'll be back tomorrow too to fit the new bathroom..

What the hell!!

What's that saying.. Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do today? geeeez

Events

This day in history - September 13th 1956 - Rock 'n Roll legend Little Richard records 'Tutti Frutti' in Los Angeles with cleaned-up lyrics!

Today is also:
'Scooby Doo's Birthday'
'Positive Thinking Day'

Poms or Limeys

2005-09-12T12:59:00.000+02:00

Does this header offend you?

The word 'POM' refers to an immigrant from Britain.

I was surfing the web this morning and came across an article about nationality nicknames. The use of the word 'Pom' is considered derogatory. Some may use it to cause offence, but it is also used in other situations as a friendly derogatory term among people who know each other well, if one of them is British and the other Australian.

I'm British and personally names like 'POM' don't offend me at all, used in the right context of course. If it's used to incite a response, motivate an action or cause a reaction of hostility then that's a different matter.

Americans are sometimes called 'Yanks' and that's also considered derogatory. Some Americans absolutely hate it. Now because I know it offends 'some' Americans I never use that term out of respect for the American people, but to me 'Yank' is just a nickname, with no meaning behind it other than an American immigrant.

Here are a few nationality nicknames I came across:

Aussie - Australia
Canuck - Canada
Jap - Japan used around World War II
Chink - China or other East Asian descent (offensive)
Kiwi - New Zealand
Kraut - Germany
Hong Kee - Hongkong (Normally used by Singaporeans)
Limey - England (U.S. usage); Pom or Pommy (Australian usage)
Mac or Jock - Scotland
Pinoy - (or Noypi) Filipino
Scouser - Liverpool
Taff - Wales
Ruskies - Russia
Tex - Texas
Wack - Liverpool
Yank or Yankee - United States

I noticed the Chinese (Chink) had 'offensive' next to it. I can't see how that name is offensive either, but then I'm not Chinese so maybe there's some derogatory meaning behind it.

I'd like to ask you the question, "Are you 'really' offended by a nationality nickname, or doesn't it bother you?" and if you know the meaning behind YOUR nationality nickname, please share :)

Events

This day in history - September 12th 1959 -
The first spacecraft 'Luna 2' from earth to land on another planet. A Russian craft crash-lands on the moon.

It's also 'Chocolate Milkshake' day and 'National Pet Memorial' day.

De 80 van de Langstraat

2005-09-11T11:52:00.000+02:00

Yesterday evening at 9.00pm European time a few thousand people set off on the 25th 80 km walk, namely the '80 van de Langstraat' (also know as the 'Kennedy March') through the villages and towns of North Brabant, Holland.

The name 'Kennedy March' comes from president Kennedy of the U.S.A. saying a healthy person should be able to walk 50 miles in 20 hours. ~~Yeah right! I can't even walk 2 km.~~

The walk takes place once a year in September and only three thousand walkers are allowed to attempt it. There are 12 rest stops along the way, and 4 cafe's. Every person that crosses the finish line before 5.00pm today receives a certificate and a bouquet of flowers.

There are no photo's available yet from this years, so the pictures show one of the previous '80 van de Langstraat' walks.

The weather was absolutely atrocious. We'd had storms the night before, and the heavens were not going to let up. Clashes of thunder and lightening strikes lit up the sky, and the rain came down in buckets. Somehow, it didn't seem to dampen people's spirits, everyone continued to enjoy themselves despite the weather.

We drove down to the starting line to catch a glimpse of the ~~idiots~~ participants around 8.30pm. There were party tents everywhere stocked up with beer and snacks. Music blared out as if trying to drown out the storm, and the town was absolutely packed with supporters.

You've heard about bad hair days, well mine looked like I'd been pulled through a hedge backwards! rain drizzled down my eyes, my mascara ran, and my clothes were drenched. Yeah I forgot the umbrella, HA!

So anyway, later we decided to drive around for a while, before going for a snack. We must have drove a 10km radius and in each village there were party tents, people singing and dancing, fires burning, and everyone just enjoying themselves while they waited for the walkers to pass through.

The support was outstanding! I have never seen anything like it before. Kudo's to everyone that took part!

Events

This day in history - September 11th 2001 - Patriot Day. World Trade Center Remembrance.

In memory of those killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

President Bush has proclaimed September 11, 2001, Patriot Day and said the United States "will not tire, will not falter, and will not fail in fighting for the safety and security of the American people and a world free from terrorism. We will continue to bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to them. This Patriot Day, we hold steady to this task."

It's also 'Make Your Bed day' and 'National Grandparents Day'

Tomorrow never comes..

2005-09-10T18:40:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow was going to be just an ordinary day, just like any other day. But on this day four years ago, for some people, today was the last day of their lives. People had plans like any other day. Maybe they'd planned to go shopping, spend time with family, go to school, go to work. For some, all of these were only make-believe. No-one could have predicted what was to come.

"Tomorrow Dad promised me he'd take me to the park after work, he said we'd go for an ice-cream afterwards, he promised me" but Dad never came home...

So many promises were made for tomorrow, so many promises broken.

Take a minute or two to remember those that were here 4 years ago today, 10th September, thinking about what they were going to do tomorrow, because for some, tomorrow never comes...

Other Events

This day in history - September 10th 1981 - The Picasso painting 'Guernica' is returned to Spain after 40 years in the United States of America. Pablo Picasso had refused to allow it to be shown in Spain until the restoration of democracy.

Feel like eating dinner sat in front of the TV tonight? Well now you can, cause It's also T.V. Dinner Day!

7 Things Meme

2005-09-09T14:59:00.000+02:00

Uh oh, I've been tagged again by #28 and being the sweet, considerate, charming ~~young~~ lady that I am, I just couldn't refuse.

At the end of the meme you'll see a list of 7 people, now I've chosen you guys cause I have complete faith in you and I know you won't let me down. I have my tickling stick ready if you do, so beware!

7 things I want to do before I die:

1) Visit Australia
2) Own a Fresian horse
3) Win the lottery
4) Get fit and stay fit
5) Find a successful diet
6) Visit China
7) Get a housekeeper!

7 things I can do:

1) Ride horses
2) Smile with my eyes
3) Listen
4) Keep quiet for long periods
5) Annoy the hell outta people
6) Be sincere
7) Connect with animals

7 things I can't do:

1) Fix the car
2) Watch Star-trek
3) Make someone do something
4) Be a complete bitch
5) Look at other peoples toenails
6) Look at other peoples blood
7) Stop eating candy

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:

1) Eyes
2) Sense of humour
3) Legs
4) The walk! (got to have THE walk)
5) Arms (nice strong forearms)
6) Hair (dark and short)
7) Height (tall)

7 things I say all the time:

1) You whaa?
2) Eh!
3) Uh huh
4) Yup
5) Damnit
6) Gawd
7) Oh f**k

7 Celebrity crushes:

1) George Clooney
2) Mark Moraghan (Holby City)
3) Enrique iglesias
4) Lorenzo Lamas
5) Ali Campbell (UB40)
6) Leonardo DiCaprio
7) Brad pitt

7 people I tag:

1) Rocco at the material boy
2) Roxi at Taste of Roxi
3) Mrs Lifecruiser at lifecruiser.com
4) Jenny at On Top Of The World
5) Mama Mouse at Mama Mouse's Chatter
6) Martin at Combe Martin Life
7) Sparkling at Champagne Going Down

Events

This day in history - September 9th 1850 - California becomes the 31st State of USA - admitted to the Union as a 'Free State'.

It's also Teddy Bear day, so go ahead and hug your bear! This isn't an official holiday, Teddy doesn't get a day off, he still has to cuddle you and be the lovable bear that he's always been.

It's all in the mind..

2005-09-08T13:22:00.000+02:00

If you read my previous post then you're probably aware that yesterday we celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. I suppose it's considered normal to go out for a nice romantic meal, or at least share a bottle of wine cuddled up together, right?

Well, we spent it sat in our one room that we've been sort of living in for the past 2 weeks surrounded by cement, dust and all our belongings while the workmen continued our house renovations. We ate fries for dinner and drank a glass of strawberry flavoured cordial. I bet you're thinking, how on earth can THAT be romantic?

Well it can and it was, and you know why? because we had each other. We both knew what day it was, we don't need all the glamour of eating out etc to prove that we're still very much in love.

That's not an excuse either, like we wish we could have gone out or something. We contemplated going out to our favorite restaurant, and we contemplated booking a room in the same fairytale hotel where we'd spent our wedding night, but instead we chose to stay at home.

Picture the scene. I laid the little table and lit a candle. We both knelt down to eat dinner looking at each other every now and again and smiling. We didn't need to talk that much, the look in our eyes said it all.

You see, we have that 'connection' and only those people that have that will know what I'm talking about. I've never felt it before, not until I met Jim and it's simply amazing. It's like finding a limb that's been lost, or someone handing you that final piece of jigsaw puzzle that you thought never existed. Basically, you find your soulmate and you just 'click'.

Anyway, after eating we watched TV for a while cuddled up in each others arms whilst the thoughts of our wedding day flowed through our minds. How did I know he was thinking the same as me? cause I just did, and I can't explain that either. He'd look at me, smile and hold me closer, and I'd respond by squeezing his hand and whispering that I loved him. Now that was enough for us.. and we loved every minute of it :-)

Events

This day in history - September 8th 1960 - Publishers Penguin Books are charged with public obscenity for publishing D H Lawrence's controversial book - 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'.

It's also International Literacy Day

Our 1st Wedding Anniversary

2005-09-07T06:36:00.000+02:00

On a beautiful sunny day last year Jim and I sealed our love for each other and became man and wife. Today we celebrate that special day as our 1st wedding anniversary :-))

To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

Other events

This day in history - September 7th 1920 - The first 'Miss America' beauty contest is held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is won by Miss Margaret Gorman.

It's also 'Neither Rain Nor Snow Day'

No Internet!

2005-09-06T12:30:00.000+02:00

Arghhh! We've had no internet for 2 days. I'm so behind with everything, it's going to be hard catching up. Being without an internet connection isn't the end of the world, but geeez I've really missed it lol. The things I used to take for granted like emailing, chatting to family, searching for resources, and just generally having a window open to the world wide web were non existent for 72 hours. That's a LONG time (insert pout here).

Luckily Jim's brother, Fred, came to the rescue. Apparently because the electric was off for a few hours due to renovations, the router re-set itself. It's great having our own computer whizz tech guy in the family! Thanks Fred!

Anyway, more news. My brother and his friend decided to fly over for a visit from the UK. They stopped off at Amsterdam for 2 nights before coming down south to us. Amsterdam is an eyeopener even for folk that have 'seen and done' that. They were amazed at the laid-back way of life, the buildings, the general hustle and bustle of the city, and what they witnessed as 'window shoppers' LOL.

We picked them up from Centraal Station in Amsterdam on sunday morning and before leaving, we went for a stroll into the city. We saw a typical Amsterdam bike taxi and I just can't believe that people actually ride in those things. It's weird to see the guys cycling along with passengers, but I guess it saves on gas and there's zero pollution!

Basically, my brother and his friend LOVED Amsterdam! But then, being in their late 20's and male MAY have something to do with it! If you've never been to Amsterdam you really do need to go and take a peek.

I've missed another day of 'this day in history' so here are the 5th and 6th

This day in history - September 5th 1980 -In Switzerland, the official opening of the longest road tunnel in the world, the 10 mile long St_Gotthard - linking Goschenen to Airolo. Its construction has taken 11 years and cost 690 million Swiss francs.

It's also National Cheese Pizza Day.

This day in history - September 6th 1997 -Millions of people around the world watch live television pictures from London of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales who had died in a car crash in Paris a week earlier.

It's also Read a Book Day.

Oh and a Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary to Mellissa and Josh. Hope you have a wonderful day :)

Zzzzzzzz

2005-09-04T19:34:00.000+02:00

This day in history - September 3rd 1935 - British speed enthusiast Malcolm Campbell sets a new world land speed record of 301.13mph in his Bluebird car at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, in the United States - the first vehicle to travel more than 300 miles an hour on land.

It's also 'Barkley' the dog's birthday - Sesame Street character.

This day in history - September 4th 1972 -In Munich, American swimmer Mark Spitz becomes the first man to win 7 gold medals at the same Olympic Games.

It's also Father's Day in Australia and New Zealand (first Sunday in September)

Hubby's mom and stepfather's wedding anniversary.

Ha! Mark Spitz.. I remember having a crush on him LOL

Thanks for your replies to my previous post, I'll be visiting you all tomorrow. Only a short post tonight, cause I'm really tired after a long weekend.

Goodnight ZZzzzzzzzz

Teddy Roosevelt

2005-09-02T20:00:00.000+02:00

This day in history - September 2nd 1901 - The day that New Yorks very own Teddy Roosevelt uttered that famous piece of advice, "Speak softly and carry a big stick"

It's also National Blueberry Popsicle day, so get cooking!

Renovations
These past few days have been hell. The workmen came in on thursday and it's only day 2 of a long 3 weeks. The whole house is just full of dust. Ok, so they put a floor covering down and hung plastic sheets on doorways to keep the dust sealed, but you know what dust is like! It's everywhere.

The bathroom floor is just a layer of concrete, shower has gone, wash basin gone, toilet gone, and the tiles removed. Downstairs in the kitchen most of the tiles have been removed too, and it doesn't even look like a kitchen anymore. We have no water, except for a cold running tap in the downstairs toilet, and luckily the one toilet can still be used. We have no cooker, so we're eating microwaved food.. yuck! We have no shower, so we're having to go over to family for showers and washing clothes etc.

But, you know what! this is nothing, at least we can survive. I compare ourselves to those poor people in and surrounding New Orleans and thank my lucky stars that at least we have a roof over our heads...

On a brighter note, here's a wild flower that I took a piccie of in our back garden :)

Mary had a little lamb..

2005-09-01T12:35:00.000+02:00

This month we celebrate our first wedding anniversary and I'd like to do something a little different. For each day this month I've decided to announce just one celebration or event that takes place on this day. On the day of our anniversary I'll announce that too :)

Celebrated today - September 1st 1830 - The day that the popular 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' was published.

Now for something a little spooky.

Follow the instructions carefully and tell me what you see!
Stare at the center of this picture for roughly 20 seconds (try not to blink) Then look away and focus your gaze on a white wall (ceiling works good), then blink a few times and focus. You should see an image appear.. Who is it??

Yours Truly

2005-08-29T19:29:00.000+02:00

First of all, as requested by #28 and others, here's a picture or two.. or three of yours truly. Don't look too closely without sunglasses, you ~~may~~ WILL go blind.

TAGGED

I've been tagged by #28, don't you think that's sweet of him? (insert sarcastic look here)

Here are my questions and answers:

1. What is the ratio of sexy panties to granny panties currently in your possession?

HA! this one is easy. I sell lingerie to the bride to be and those alike, oh and I sell boyshorts too. I have an everlasting supply of thongs at home. As for granny panties.. hmmmm aren't they meant for grannys ??

2. Pretend you won one of those “make your dream come true” deals that Oprah is always giving away. What would you ask for?

Ohh hmm, let me think. Ok, I'd like one of those hot-tubs installed in my back garden (covered) so we can relax in the bubbles sipping wine after a hard days work. Ahhhhh heaven.

3. Describe your high school days in one word.

Crazy

4. If you could shag any celebrity in the world, who would be your top three picks?

Only 3, dagnabbit!

1. George Clooney
2. Mark Moraghan
3. Enrique Iglesias

5. If you had all the money in the world, more than you could ever spend in four lifetimes, would you eat some??

Eat what! Hell no, whatever it is! LOL

6. Tag Three People:

Connie at Skittles
Mattyd at The Red Bull Diaries
Deb at Clublint

Now come on you three.. don't let me down! (insert evil grin here)

Empty your pockets!

2005-08-28T13:26:00.000+02:00

I have just emptied the contents of my handbag/purse and oh wow, now I know why I can never find anything. Maybe this is the reason why girls ~~used to~~ dance around their handbags. The contents of our handbags can tell a LOT about who we are and probably contain items that are very dear to us. Hang onto them girls for dear life!

The contents of mine:

My purse
Driving licence
Cash
Credit cards
ID card
Passport (we HAVE to carry them with us in Holland)
Hospital card and appointment card
Health insurance cover note
Waterproof plasters/band-aid
An old train ticket
Car details
Photographs
Zoo leaflet
Post office receipt
Small plastic tape-measure
Medicated dental sticks
Rennies
Note-pad
Pain-killers
My school report from 1977! LOL
Another note-pad
Small bottle of perfume.
Hair bands
2 x 1977 Jubilee souvenier coins
An embroidered cross and poem that I carry with me always

Ok, so tell me just 5 items that are in your handbag/purse right now, and for the guys, your pockets :)

Worst job ever!

2005-08-27T13:30:00.000+02:00

This post carries a warning - DO NOT READ WHILST EATING!

I've just been reading up on the worst jobs ever, and some of them turned my stomach. So now it's your turn to share with us THE worst job you've ever done.

Now c'mon don't be shy, I mean surely they can't be as bad as some of these!

Crime Scene Cleaner - The dead bodies are already gone, so all you’re left with are blood-soaked walls and carpets, brain matter, and the occasional stray eyeball. Ok, the these happy workers actually protect themselves with gloves and appropriate clothing.

Anal Gland Expresser - Pretty good work if you can get it; after all, you get to spend the day with happy dogs, although with your hand up their assholes. Blood and crap have been know to fly across the room during such exams, but for the most part, the worst you’ll get is a severe case of stinky pinky.

Shit Seller - If you’re in need of a large sample of dog shit, look no further. Ranging from $5 to $25 (price depends on size and “softness” of the stool), these bags of shit, dressed up with a bit of grass to make it beautiful, are sold to clients who wish to take revenge on an ex-, send a message to a creep, or just have fun!

Porno Joint Cleaner - Well, someone's got to do it right? This dude’s in Paris, but I imagine it’s a universal struggle to find someone willing and able to scrub jizz, spit, and yes, shit(!) from the walls of peep shows and porno booths. Holding his mop with all the pride of a young soldier in arms, the man in this segment tirelessly cleans what is the secular equivalent of a house of worship.

Ok, now you don't feel so bad telling us yours huh!

How nice..

2005-08-26T22:58:00.000+02:00

Ho Ho Ho, we are a bundle of laughs today.. uhmm I don't think so.

Yesterday, the gynaeocologist appointment was worse than I thought it would be. It hurt damnit! I suffered throughout and felt faint afterwards, but that's another story. I don't have to go again for 6 weeks, so I'm trying not to think about it until then..

Oh and my new job, that went VERY (note sarcasm) well too. I have my nephew staying with me from the UK, so had to drag him out of bed early to drive him over to my moms who lives about 10km away. He wasn't a happy bunny but obliged nonetheless.

I left moms in plenty of time to get to my new job (well had to make sure I was on time right?) soooo, there I was stood outside the studio checking my watch every five minutes. Those five minutes turned into 10, then 15, then 20, then 25.. no sign of my new employer. The wind was cold but still I waited, and waited.. and waited some more. Finally I decided to sit in the car, parked just a few feet away, still keeping a check on the studio doors. No-one arrived.

Basically, that was it. I drove back to my moms after waiting 40 minutes, picked up my nephew and drove home. All for nothing. I've received no phone-call.. Nothing!

Please excuse me, because right now I really feel like lashing out.

Goodnight

It's official

2005-08-24T20:44:00.000+02:00

Yup it's official, I'm stressed and here's why..

Friday I start work, and well I'm kinda nervous. I wasn't really expecting the job when it was offered.

There I was, talking about how I'd do this and that, and the next thing I knew she'd offered me a job. So now all I have to do is practice what I preach I guess.

Uhmm ok I know I can do it, but I prefer to do these things when I'm alone so I can concentrate. I guess all will be revealed on friday. I tend to worry about things before they happen. Maybe it's a cancerian thing.

Next week we've got the workmen coming in. Basically they're turning our house upside down. We're having the kitchen retiled, and a new floor laid.

Then we're having the downstairs bathroom retiled and new toilet installed. We are also having the upstairs bathroom totally re-vamped.. tiles, flooring, wash basin, toilet and shower, plus radiator and whatever else.

We're having a new front door and a new back door, and we MAY be having new dormer windows upstairs.

While all of this is going on we've got no water, so we have the use of the house down the road.. hmm I just don't fancy going there to shower, cook, and all the other stuff that you normally do in your daily life. It's just not the same, but I guess we have no choice. Plus, the workmen have told us it'll take at least 3 weeks. That's 3 weeks of me staying at home listening to the banging and sawing and whatever else.. *sigh*

On top of all that, tomorrow I have to go and see a *cough* short-sighted gynaecologist. I'm SO looking forward to that (NOT).

I have visions of me in that room, legs in stirrups, knuckles white, while he takes his tickling stick and tells me "It's ok, relax".. YA RIGHT!

Ughhhhh, I'm really not looking forward to tomorrow.. (insert terrified look here)

Commenting for credits!

2005-08-22T12:36:00.000+02:00

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Attacked, by a rabbit!

2005-08-21T20:47:00.000+02:00

Weekend is almost over yet again, and I'm trying to figure out what I've done in the last 48 hours. The answer is, not a fat lot!

Saturday, stayed in bed till stupid O clock. I think it must have been about 11.30am when we eventually decided to get up. Yep it's ok to call me lazy, I know you will anyway :)

Went over to the inlaws, they were out (charming eh) so came back, and surfed for the evening, and did some cleaning up on my desktop, oh and email accounts.

Sunday, well another lazy morning. Got up around 10.30am, hey it's not as bad as yesterday right?

Didn't do a fat lot today either. Cleaned the wabbit and piggy's hutch out, and have yet to do the cat litter.. uhmm what else. Oh yes, took the wabbit upstairs to explore the bedrooms and computer room, then on the way back down, he decided to hang onto me for dear life, hence the scratch marks on my neck. Thought I'd show them to you, cause I'm weird like that :)

Oh and, I SWEAR that's how I got them, I'm not into pervy stuff thnx very much (for those that were thinking that).

Thanks to everyone for the comments on my Efteling Post, going to visit you all tomorrow :)

The Efteling Theme Park

2005-08-19T12:42:00.000+02:00

If ever you get chance to take a vacation to Holland in Europe, you just have to visit The Efteling (The Land of Elves).

This is the land of Fairy tale forests and enchantment, not forgetting roller coasters and water rides. It's the land of the little 'Laaf Folk' too which no doubt you'll spot as you walk around.

I've been 5 times and every time I visit, it just gets better and better! It's situated near Tilburg in a place called 'Kaatsheuvel' and we're lucky enough to live just 3km from the park.

Here you'll find a great review, well worth a read if you're thinking of visiting.

Inside the Efteling you'll find all sorts of attractions boasting magnificent special effects, some of which are the best I've ever seen. Attractions include Europe's largest swinging ship, Fata Morgana boat ride, Dream Flight, Carnival Festival, Pegasus (coaster), Python (coaster), The Tilting Room, Bird Rok (an indoor coaster ride in the dark), Pagoda, (birds eye view), Panda Vision, *my favourite*. (a save the animal 3D movie with some great special effects!) Hansel and Gretel cottage, Little Red Riding Hood cottage and lots lots more. An absolute fantastic day out for young and old.

Ok so there's me plugging the Efteling, but it's well worth it. We walked around from 11.00am until 8.30pm and still didn't get to see everything. We missed out the Efteling Theatre, The Sprookshow, The Dancing Lillies and Rain Dance. Probably a whole lot more too. We just couldn't walk anymore, our feet felt like lumps of lead. I suppose a 2 day pass would have been better. Oh well, I guess there's always next year :)

Oh and if you don't mind spending a bit more on a hotel, a stay in one of the Efteling Hotel 'Themed Suites' is an absolute must. There are over 16 to choose from. Last year we stayed in the Fata Morgana suite on our wedding night and it was absolute heaven. Rotating bed and whirlpool.. it really was luxurious! There's a Coca Cola Suite, a Hansel and Gretel Suite, the Kings Suite, Circus Suite, Golfers Suite, oh and too many to mention.. check them out for yourself here :)

I took loads of photographs so if you'd like to take a peek, you can see them here

My poor feet!

2005-08-18T21:51:00.000+02:00

Just got back from a day out at a theme park. We've walked around for almost 11 hours and my poor feet are killing me. Tomorrow I'll tell you all about it and post some photo's, but until then I'm going to have a nice cool shower, make myself a mug of coffee and put my tired feet up for an hour.. But what a day, it was fantastic!

Unreal Tournament 2004

2005-08-14T16:05:00.000+02:00

Anyone have this game?

Review

My hubby and my 9 year old nephew have been sat playing it for 5 hours (and counting) and not a murmur from either of them except for "YES" "OMG" YEEHAW" and "OHH"

I think I'm becoming a gaming wifey. I'm going to start a club called 'Help for gaming wives' to fight against husbands and kids that have a love hate relationship with their computer. I'll be rich and then buy myself the fastest computer with a 21 inch monitor and blast the living daylights out of them with my super bazooka. Yeah, that should sort it!

Anyway, until then I'll continue to be the gaming wifey that does the fetching and carrying of drinks and snacks whilst my family continue to shout obscenities at the screen, blasting opponents, and generally turning into gaming freaks..

H.e.l.p

Heusden - River Maas

2005-08-13T15:33:00.000+02:00

So what have I been up to the last few days.. well not a lot to be honest.

On thursday my mom and I took my nephew Joe on a boat trip along the River Maas in Holland. We boarded the boat about 1.00pm and the trip took an hour and a quarter. Just our luck, it rained! so we ventured downstairs into the cabin to stay dry. It was beautiful. Polished wood lined the boat and down the far end, a buffet and bar. We'd taken a normal cruise, just 6.00 euros each but soon realised that this boat had a lot more to offer. So next time we're going for the 'Brunch Cruise' :)

Friday was a pretty quiet day. My hubby Jim took Joe with him to work in his truck. Oh I wasn't happy at first cause Jim decided to ask Joe at 11.00pm wednesday evening if he'd like to go with him at 5.00am the following morning! (BAD timing, but he IS male afterall)

Joe was of course, estatic.. he wanted to go. I wasn't so sure. He's only 9 and I was convinced he'd be worn out the next day. Plus it meant me having to go back downstairs (cause I was on my way to bed) to make even more sandwiches.. *sigh*

So anyway, I was wrong, he absolutely loved it and stayed awake the entire 12 hours of the trip, sitting up there with Jim in the cab, peering over the tops of buildings and cars. They get on really well and Joe worships him. He'd go every day if he could.

When they arrived home I noticed Joe's T-shirt was covered in chocolate milk, apparently Jim had hit a bump and didn't realise until it was too late, hence the spillage.. but geeez they were like a couple of kids in fits of giggles. I love the relationship those two have, it makes me smile :)

Revenge of the killer potato

2005-08-10T19:43:00.000+02:00

Ok, so what does this odd looking potato look like to you?

I found it this morning and my first thought was, yeah a good blog topic! So today we're talking about potato's in any shape or form. Baked, boiled, mashed, fried, sautéed.. what's your favourite?

I still prefer the oh so fattening fries, cooked in full fat oil, crispy and slightly salted. Topping, well either tomato ketchup or mayonnaise (a Dutch speciality), or even a chip buttie (fries in a roll or sandwich) Yeah the diet can wait until monday :)

Need more Blog Traffic ?

2005-08-09T13:04:00.000+02:00

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A job!

2005-08-07T21:29:00.000+02:00

Wow, it's been 4 days since my last post. This just won't do!
I promised myself I'd post every day or at least every other day.

Yesterday we went out for the day to a place called 'Neeltje Jans' in Zeeland Holland with my 9 year old nephew Joe. Walked along the beach before visiting the Waterpark and the famous storm surge barriers that were put into place following the 1953 flooding.

Now onto something else.
This morning at 8.00am (yes sunday!) we went to visit a prospective client at an Art Gallery not far from us. After talking it through for the best part of 3 hours my hubby was given the job of maintaining their website, adding new content and generally keeping it updated.

What I didn't expect was a job offer too! My role would be to translate any Dutch text on her website into English and generally be the Artists marketing assistant. Yeehaw! a job for me. Now instead of lounging around the house everyday just taking care of my shop 'The bridalsuite' I have to go to the Art Studio once a week for the afternoon to help the Artist promote her work plus any work that I can take care of from home.

She's the 5th top Artist in Holland and already has various galleries throughout the country. She has her own line of sunglasses, handbags and other bits and pieces too. She's also a writer and has recently wrote a childrens book. On the 30th August she's presenting her work on television (RTL4) on a TV show called LIJN4 so I'm looking forward to that.

Now I'm off to make sandwiches for my hubby who's off to Germany tomorrow.

Toodlepip!

As promised

2005-08-03T22:26:00.000+02:00

Ok I have a question. When you visit the dentist, do they automatically give you an aneasthetic to replace a filling in your country? I'm sure they used to when I was living in the UK. Since I've lived in Holland, they always ask if I'd like one and nine times out of ten if they can get away with it, they won't. I've had about 5 fillings now and not once had an aneasthetic, and I haven't felt a thing. It's so much nicer to walk out of the dentists without your mouth feeling like you've done ten rounds with Tyson.

Now as promised, here are the newbie furry friends photo's. Meet 'Toffee' the wabbit and 'Coffee' the piggy, both 8 weeks old. No jokes please about rabbit stew or I'll hunt you down and kick your arse!

Right, I'm off to bed to count rabb... I mean sheep :)

A penny for them...

New URL

Moving today

Thursday Thirteen

Battlin'

Imported!

A dandelion

Moving on

Scavenger Hunt - SILLY

Record comments!

Thursday Thirteen

It's just not fair..

A freakin tractor?

Runner up!

Photo Scavenger Hunt - FEET

Ewwwww

Thursday 13

OMG Help!

Ouch

A brides bouquet - Sunday fact

Photo Scavenger Hunt - ROUND

Oh la la

Tiddly Winks

Mr Hunger Pangs

Saved by the bell - Sunday fact

What a waste..

Acro that car!

Thursday 13

Change your lifestyle

E-bay

Mothers Day - 26th March

The Tournament

Darts - 180!

Nothing lasts forever..

Yeah uhmm it's like this..

Gordon Bennett!

StudioTraffic Update

Here's to 2006

ASIMO

The neighbors

All I want for Christmas..

News that touched me...

New look!

Phuket girl

Talk about Snow!

8 goldfish and 7 frogs later...

Welcome Santa

Calling the cops

Egads

I'm having an affair

StudioTraffic update

Burn the candle at both ends

What better time..

All in the mind.

A bottle of what!

Busy Bee

I got it!

Deja vu

Monday Morning Rant

The hands of time

Away

YAY! I WON

Cologne, Germany

Quick Post

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Take a guess

A new me

Sad or what

Wanna make some money?

Sleepy Head

Last days of summer

YAY!

Blogroll

20 things about me.

Getting cooler

Like I've got nothing better to do!

Poms or Limeys

De 80 van de Langstraat

Tomorrow never comes..

7 Things Meme