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I want it all, and I want it NOW!

So for the last couple of days I have been coveting something that will never be mine. I’ve been doing this a lot recently. It’s becoming somewhat of a trait!

There are so many things I want…

  • To win the lottery (I don’t even play)
  • To live forever (but strictly not on my own, you understand)
  • To be married to Johnny Depp (sorry Mr J!)
  • To travel the world (in luxury, no less)
  • To time travel (in a non-impactive way)
…Too much to list!
But is this normal? Does everyone daydream of fanciful things that will never be theirs? And if they were theirs, would they really be grateful that they had them?
I’ve already travelled the world a fair bit and, if there’s one thing I learned from the experience, it’s that the same sh*t happens in our lives wherever we are and however scenic the backdrop.
I also like to shop – there’re lots of things other people have which I want desperately until I have them, at which point they suddenly become as boring as my next possession and a new want takes it’s place. I remember even at school the same thing happening – I wanted to be friends with the cool girl, but once we were friends she turned out to not be that cool at all really. Definitely high maintenance though! Which always makes me think of the saying that no matter how good looking or cool or funny a person may appear on the outside, someone somewhere is sick and tired of putting up with their crap! So true.
So maybe it’s better if I get nothing I want, and then I can just dream on about how amazing my life would be if I had all these things and more. Even though my life is pretty damned amazing as it is, thankyouverymuch. I always joke that for every dream I have there is a parallel university where it actually happens, and maybe it’s better that it stays that way. Because if I had everything I wanted, what kind of person would I be? And what kind of life would I have?
I don’t suppose I’ll ever stop coveting my neighbour’s oxen (or whatever the commandment is), but I can try. So I won’t tell you what it is I want right now, because it will probably have changed by tomorrow anyway and because, all things considered, I’m a very lucky woman.
Here endeth the sermon ;)

Three Little Words

I don’t usually write personal blogs, but today I’m going to. I feel like I need to remove everything from my head and put it down somewhere.

Mr J and I often joke that my family are like the Waltons. My parents live in between my father’s two brothers and they share a semi-communal garden. My grandad lives up the same road and my grandma (mum’s mum) moved in with us over 15yrs ago after my grandpa died of the Big C. My grandparents have always been a huge part of my life.

I don’t really know when it started, but maybe 10yrs ago or so I made a pact with myself to tell everyone who I love that I love them on a regular basis. It’s been met with mixed reactions. Though I know they do, neither my dad or grandad have ever said it back. My grandma never says “I love you” but instead says “lots of love”. My sister occasionally mumbles something about love and my mum (a similarly emotional type to myself) embraced it wholeheartedly and says it back constantly. I say it less often to my friends for fear of looking like a weirdo, but I say it nonetheless.

Growing up, mum also taught us never to go to bed on an argument. I’m not entirely sure she takes her own advice, but I always do. In fact, Mr J and I (while we certainly have our moments) rarely argue what I would call properly and always talk things through, even if we do end up having to agree to disagree.

I’m not really sure what’s made all this so important to me. I’m not sure how much I do it for myself and how much I do it for other people. But I’m glad I do.

On Saturday my grandma had a major stroke. My parents were out of the country on vacation and had to get an emergency flight back after my sister found her. After a barrage of tests in A&E, grandma was put in the same ward my granny was put on three years ago when she had her stroke. Actually in the same bed too, which is painful at best. When granny had her stroke, she could still talk some and was quite alert, but after 4mths of struggle and unhappiness she passed away. Grandma’s stroke seems to be a lot worse. She can’t speak at all and is mostly out of consciousness.

When my granny had her stroke, my family rallied. Every day the family was there; they bought food, flowers, cards, read to her, did puzzles with her, wheeled her outside for fresh air and so on. The staff on the stroke ward said they’d never seen anything quite like it. Though mum’s side of the family is smaller, we will do the same. No-one wants her to be alone.

I hope with all my heart that grandma doesn’t have to go through the four months of hell my granny went through. I hope it is quick and peaceful. I want her to wake up enough again so that I can tell her I love her one more time, but I know she knows.

You never know what’s around the corner. You never know when something or someone might be lost to you before you are ready. We get one short life and I’m a firm believer that if you really want to do something then you should absolutely make it happen; no excuses. Don’t waste time arguing over petty, unimportant things and don’t go to bed angry and unhappy with someone. It’s ok to disagree. Just make sure they know you love them. It’s only three little words.

Carry on Glamping

There’s already been a lot written about #SocRecCamp and I’m sure those of you who didn’t attend are probably bored to tears of it by now. What it is/represents doesn’t really matter, IMO, it was fundamentally a fun weekend with friends. Nonetheless, I felt the need to reignite my blogging with a post about it, so this is my version of events. I’m not big on concise summaries so I will tell you a story instead…

The weekend started for me on Thursday night when I drove down to my parents’ for an overnight stop. I’m not great at driving anything over 4hrs and, while The HRD had offered me a ride, I hadn’t met him previously and decided that 4+hrs in a car was perhaps a rather extreme way to meet. Not to mention (if I’m perfectly honest) he may have turned out to be an axe murderer… Or I may have, though that’s yet to be proven…

So after a night of carrying out various IT-related support tasks for my technologically challenged parents and having breakfast with my BFF, I headed off to Gary Franklin’s. Gary was to be my chauffer for the remainder of the journey, and a sterling job he did too! For the record, Gary also has a car the size of a small flat. The sheer volume of camping equipment, food and supplies that went into that car was awe inspiring! At one point, I thought I saw him putting one of those tabletop dishwashers in there, but I have no photographic evidence to back this up, and it never materialised from the car once we hit the camp site, so…

The journey down was uneventful. Gary was fantastic company (no surprise there) and, after a minor and very scenic detour, we found the Secret Spot camping site which, for those who care, was somewhere near Croyde. Hot on our heels were Andy Headworth, Sara Headworth and James Mayes, as chauffeured by Matt Jessop. James was to be my camping saviour for the weekend – his vast amounts of camping equipment and technology allowed me (a self-confessed [read as: wannabe] snob) to have as comfortable a camping weekend as one can have, and limited (but didn’t stop) my moaning. Mayes Mansions was a god send – I couldn’t even reach the ceiling with an outstretched hand in the Living Room, and I am almost 5ft 9ins sans shoes.

The HRD was next to arrive and I’m going to devote a whole paragraph to him now. His arrival was as every day as you could imagine – no helicopters, balaclavas, body guards or blacked out limos… Just him and a car. He seemed remarkably held together for someone who was under pressure (only from himself, of course) to maintain his man of mystery persona all weekend, not to mention he’d hardly met any of us before! We called him Theo, but his failure to answer to this name on multiple occasions leads me to believe it is not his real name (surprise, surprise)! All in all, he was a lovely chap and it was an honour to meet him in person. I have to say though that I struggled to talk to him a bit. Though the anonymity didn’t matter in many respects, every time I opened my mouth to start a conversation I ended up shutting it again because most everything I wanted to ask or chat about was personal and I realised he wouldn’t answer it. I didn’t really want to make him feel uncomfortable by my asking and his then having to lie or fob me off, so all in all, it seemed safer just to shut up really. Though, with hindsight, I hope that didn’t come across as stand-offish.

The rest of the Friday night crew (Stephen O’Donnell and Matt Alder) arrived shortly after and we then headed into town to kick off the drinking (what am I saying – the drinking started 5mins after we arrived!) and for our first curry of the weekend. The first night was great – chilled and personal. There were a few diva moments in the pub due to lack of mobile reception, but on the whole it was kind of nice to have a few less of us on the first day and to ramp up to the Big Event on Saturday.

My first night’s sleep in Mayes Mansions (I was in the East Wing) was sullied only by the fact I was underdressed (and, therefore, cold) and had parked James’ super-deluxe mattress the wrong way round on a slope so I spent the night falling off. Apart from the lack of sleep hours-wise, it was quite tolerable!

Saturday kicked off early with people arriving in dribs and drabs throughout the morning. Sarah Knight, Alex Hens, Lisa Scales and Peter Gold all pretty much arrived together, and Gareth Jones, Mervyn Dinnen and Charlie Duff rocked up a little later. Big credit goes to Sarah at this point as she was the only person on the weekend who had met absolutely no-one in person prior to the event! Though, of course, it felt like we’d all known her forever! :)

Drinking, for most people, started prior to the surfing, though I managed to abstain as I was already nursing a small hangover (and a bit of a sulk from lack of sleep). Getting the wet suits sorted has to be one of the funniest moments of the weekend for me though! Being the blonde that I am, I inadvertently started putting mine on back to front, only to have to strip it off again. It actually went on quite easily the first time, but by the second attempt I was tired and hot (fatal when it comes to putting a wet suit on!) and I ended up having to brace myself against a wall while being levered into it by Sarah and Charlie, who valiantly came to my rescue and manhandled parts of me that, well, should probably only be handled by men! ;)

Surfing was THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD EVER and I totally enjoyed it despite the various injuries sustained (or renewed) and my inability to stand up. I can’t wait to try it again! Well done to all those who managed to stand up and, to those who wimped out: Your loss!

Saturday night was a rowdier version of Friday with more curry and booze. I sat next to the lovely Charlie at curry and we talked the night away with Sara, putting the world to rights about various, incredibly meaningful matters. Charlie’s ability to speak more than me left me quite gobsmacked, but I love her dearly for it – she is a truly inspiring and dedicated young woman, even if she did pip me to the post as youngest attendee (b!tch… ;) )

Saturday night ended with various campfire laughs and a revolting amount of farting (lead by James). Matt (Alder) wore a head lamp and did an impersonation of a lighthouse, The HRD’s sense of humour showed it’s true colours, Lisa somehow ended up on Gary’s knee, James revealed his scary stalker side, body piercings and tattoos were discussed in more detail than is healthy to re-live, Andy and Gary fell asleep in their chairs and, well… You had to be there to appreciate it. It was a fantastic night.

The morning after the night before was subdued and we all left for home pretty quickly. I think it’s safe to say that everyone had a fantastic weekend! The only thing I was a bit sorry about was that I got to spend a little time with everyone but not a lot of time with anyone! Next time…

There is no-one who does not deserve thanks, but my personal special mentions go:

  • To Lisa for organising the whole event
  • To Gary for a) driving me, b) cooking for us both mornings and c) buying all the breakfast food we could possibly require
  • To James for looking after me on the camping front and for putting up Mayes Mansions single handedly while I drank cider and sat on my lazy butt.
  • To The HRD and Alex for lending me their blankets when I failed to take trousers (Pah! I laugh in the face of trousers!) and was both cold and being eaten alive my mossies.
  • And finally to Sarah, without whom the weekend might never have happened. After all, this was meant to be a girlie weekend, once-upon-a-time! :)

N.B. For those who are interested: 1 attendee (6%) was a Nokia user, 2 (12.5%) were predominantly BlackBerry users, 2 (12.5%) were on Android and the rest (69%) were varying versions of the iPhone. Meaningful statistics indeed…! Hahahah!

A Weekend of Underground Restaurants

This week’s blog is totally off-topic, so be warned, okay! I’ve been to an underground restaurant (AKA supperclub, AKA restaurant in your livingroom, AKA Come Dine With Me - but on a larger scale) before, but last weekend I did two back to back, and they were so good that I thought I’d blog about them!

Sheen Suppers

So my weekend started early on Friday night at Lara Newman’s restaurant: Sheen Suppers which is, unsurprisingly, in Sheen! For those of you who read my blog with any regularity, you will know that Lara is the first person I met on Twitter who I met in real life, so I’ve been to Sheen Suppers a couple of times before, and it is always good and always great value for money!

Supperclubs all work differently and, as I am learning, are all totally unique! Sheen Suppers is more like a traditional restaurant – you book a table for your party of however many and sit with your friends. There’s a suggested donation of £25 per person which gets you four courses (five if you count the tea and coffee) of divine food, a glass of excellent, paired wine (and from the massive EuroCave in the living room you know they know wine!) with each course (or port for the cheese course) and a fantastic atmosphere.

Lara’s house is the kind of place you could spend all day in and still not see everything. The attention to detail is just phenomenal – from the books in the fireplace to the decoupage in the bathroom, to the pink knitted animals in the (pink) kitchen. It’s delightful! The dining room seats up to around 18, and we were a full house. It was cosy without being cramped.

As I say, this was my third meal at Sheen Suppers and I’ve yet to be served something I didn’t like. The menu was as follows and was 100% home-made, from the gnocci to the crostini:

Starter

Pinenut Crostini with Prawns, Mozzarella and Basil

Main Course

Gnocci with Shin of Beef Ragu, Courgette and Parmesan Salad

Cheese Course

Grand Rustique Brie, Denhay Vintage Cheddar, Cropwell Bishop Stilton

Dessert

Ginger Blondie with Ginger Mascarpone Cream, White Chocolate and Ginger Truffle

The starter was a safe bet for me – I lurrrve prawns! But for those who prefer to avoid seafood there was something similar with some rather nice looking ham instead. Likewise, the main course was fantastic and the homemade gnocci were particularly light and delicious. I also loved the courgette and parmesan salad as it ticked the garlic box big time! Mmmm! Cheese is never my favourite course (I swap out anything blue with anyone who will trade with me!) but the port somehow makes it nicer… In fact, I really don’t know why I don’t drink more port?!

But the Ginger Blondie… Ohhh the Ginger Blondie! That has got to be the single nicest dessert I have ever eaten in the world ever! I’ve never heard such a noisy table fall so silent so quickly! Now it’s not for those shy of sugar, I’ll concede, but ohhh it was so good! Lara has been kind enough to post the recipe and I cannot wait to try and make it for myself!

Things start to wind down from about 10.30pm onwards (it starts at 7.30pm) but inevetably there’s a few stragglers and those who stay for a chit-chat afterwards! Such a great night!

And so, from one great night to another! After a late night of singing and one too many glasses of Prince’s Ginger Liqueur I was, err, a little delicate on the Saturday, but undeterred all the same…

Lex Eat

Supperclub number two was Lex Eat, which is run by the lovely Alexis! So forget all the pre-conceived ideas I may have given you from Sheen Suppers – apart from the divine food, Lex Eat is nothing like it! For a start, you book your number but the dining is communal – so we were a two on a shared table of eight. You’re not split up from your friends / other halves or anything hideous like that, but you can expect to make polite conversation with your neighbours! The suggested donation here is £20 for an array of courses which I’ll talk about more shortly. It’s BYO booze but in actuality there was some booze included, which was a lovely surprise.

Alexis’s house is equally divine as Lara’s but in a totally different way. Imagine a clean, modern, minimalistic apartment with an amazing mezzanine floor, a vintage record player, and reviews and thank you letters pegged around the downstairs bathroom. It’s like something out of a magazine – really beautiful!

I have to say; I was wary of the communal dining concept, even though it’s quite popular at underground restaurants. It still wouldn’t be my first choice, but it was very cleverly done. On arrival we were introduced to other people on our table and encouraged to mingle. Then, at the table itself, the tablecloth (which was actually brown paper – very clever!) had notes all over it explaining the menu… But naturally you couldn’t see the whole table so you had to talk and share what was on and around your place setting. A really excellent way to get everyone talking!

So onto the food! Again, everything was home cooked…

On Arrival

A glass of bubbly moscato

Nibbles

Hot & spicy popcorn

Starter

Mushroom risotto with thinly shaved pear & amaretti biscuit crumbs

Main Course

Slow cooked pork belly with salsa verde, roasted butternut squash, bean salad + freshly baked foccacia

Palate Cleanser

Little spoon of coconut milk & lemongrass sorbet

Dessert

Almond tart with poached figs + orange & cardamom ice cream with a sprinkling of almond praline

(Plus the usual tea and coffee shenanigans, of course!)

Yet again there was nothing I didn’t like. The spicy popcorn was the find of the night for me – Lex kindly emailed me the recipe afterwards and I’ve made it twice since. Sooo good! Contrary to my initial expectation, the amaretti buscuits and pear worked really well with the mushroom risotto (I’m a bit of a mushroom risotto purist) and it was a great start to the meal. The pork for the course was also divine, though I have to say that I don’t think we really needed the foccacia – I did try some (and it was lush) but there was really plenty of food without it and I wasn’t totally sure it went with everything else. The sorbet palate cleanser was a fantastic idea – it was served on little spoons and was a really nice addition to the meal – very impressive! Dessert was another sugar-fest. The Almond Tart (served on very cool tiles!) was absolutely delicious and the ice cream cut into it really well.

Sadly, we had to leave a bit early (10pm – again, it started at 7.30pm) from Lex Eat because I had a train to catch, but I imagine the merriment continued for a good while after our departure!

So two fantastic nights all in all! Though both underground restaurants worked on the same principles you can’t even compare the two – they are such different experiences! And it’s really spurred me on to try and find some more. It was interesting to speak to the other guests at Lex Eat who had been to other places and had good and bad experiences. I guess we have chosen well so far!

If you want to find out more about supperclubs hen there is a Ning Network you can check out. I highly recommend everyone go to one – you will not get such good food at such great prices anywhere else, and it’s such a fun night! :)

That Little Thing Called Communication

So I have asthma. Not really bad asthma, but bad enough. I have a blue inhalor for attacks and red one for preventative use (I know, I know, they’re usually brown, but the brown ones make me worse for some reason?!) I’m not very good at using the red one – I just can’t seem to integrate it into my daily routine – so more often than not I let it get too bad and end up reaching for the blue one.

I’ve had asthma since I was 15 or 16 (half my life, almost!) and I can’t remember a time when my blue inhalor wasn’t a Ventolin. As the asthma sufferers out there will know, Ventolin is the brand of choice when it comes to reactive inhalors. They’re made by GSK and somehow have taken over the market. There are actually different types of Ventolin inhalor, but Salbutamol is the active ingredient in all of them, and it’s actually also available unbranded as a “generic medicine”, not just as Ventolin.

A couple of months ago I did an anonymous survey about my Ventolin inhalor. The idea was to find out how I’d feel about receiving a generic version instead. I hadn’t really thought about it before – as I say, I can’t actually remember a time when I haven’t been given Ventolin. The survey was quite thought provoking and the long and short of it was that I decided I’d be happy with a generic Salbutamol product, so long as it was identified to me by the Pharmacist.

Well guess what turned up in my collection from the Pharmacist the other week? A generic Salbutamol inhalor! And guess how I feel? Pretty naffed off  to be honest! I’ve gotta say, the fact that neither the Pharmacist or one of their assistants saw fit to take two (count ‘em!) minutes out of their day to explain to me that, though it wasn’t a Ventolin, it’ll do the same thing, is really rubbish communication IMO! If it weren’t for the fact I’d done a survey on this very topic the other month, I would genuinely have believed that they’d issued me with the wrong prescription. I’d have taken it back down there and told them as much, and then I’d have been really mad that I’d gone all the way down there to change it when I found out it didn’t need changing.

I wonder how many people went back and questioned what they were issued? I wonder how much time they wasted with confused, angry customers when they could have taken just a minute or two to explain the situation?

If you’re a regular sufferer of something (anything) then the chances are you know and understand your medication quite well, so to have it changed on you without explanation is not good customer service. I think this is true of anything – if you have regular customers with expectations then it’s important that you meet them. And if you can’t meet them, or if you have to change a service or product that you offer for whatever reason, then you need to manage your customers’ expectations and communicate the change to them.

I go out of my way to give my custom to an independent Pharmacy because I think it’s important to support independent companies (especially with the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury and other big chains all diversifying and dominating the markets) but I’ve got to say, I’m really unimpressed by the communication in this instance and, if it happens again, I’ll be getting my prescriptions elsewhere…

</rant>

And the winner is…

…ME! :)

Thanks to Jobsite, I won an Ultra HD Flip Video Camera at TRU London last week. How exciting is that! Here’s a little thank you note to everyone who played a part in my win…

From 2009 to 2010

So here we are: New Years Eve, 2009! Well it’s has been a challenging year for me. Though not much more than 2008 was, it has to be said! It started ok with my having survived a round of redundancies, and our taking a holiday to Poland (which I can highly recommend – even in the depths of winter!) Sadly though, by March my hours had been cut to three days a week and things were pretty tough. It’s been challenging financially but I’ve been perversely grateful for it in some ways: Mr J and I had to make our lifestyle a lot leaner and, you know what? Turns out we used to burn a lot of money we really didn’t need to. We’ve learned to entertain ourselves without having to spend £50+ a time to do it, and it’s made us re-evaluate our priorities. Also, while I may not always act like it on the surface, I am eternally grateful for still having my three days a week. It’s three days more than some people have and we’ve just about been able to survive on it.

April was probably the hardest month. We were still coming to terms with our new frugal lifestyle and at the same time my Dad finally got a definite date for the brain surgery he was in need of. Neither my sister or I were living particularly close to my parents at the time and my Mum also had my Grandmother to look after. Thankfully we were all able to take time off work and get through it as a family. We have laughed and cried together and I’ve never felt closer to any of them than I do now – my Dad in particular.

The summer brought my own health issues but thankfully nothing too serious, and by Autumn things were looking up a little with weddings galore to attend! We also managed a “staycation” to Yorkshire thanks to some wonderful family friends, and waved goodbye to some of my best and oldest friends who have gone off travelling around the world. Travelling in your late 20’s / early 30’s is very en vogue with my friends right now, dontcha know!

Never a dull moment, October brought new challenges when I dropped to two days a week work for a while. This was totally crippling for us financially and for a while we weren’t sure how we were going to make the mortgage payments. We re-evaluated our outgoings (again) and managed to shave some more off our monthly expenditure, but thankfully it didn’t last long and I’ve since managed to pick up some freelance bits and pieces too, which will hopefully see us right for a while. Since November things at work have definitely been on the up. My employer has had two good months (though not on the recruitment side, sadly) and things seem to be stabilising slightly. Long may it continue!

@Animal (one of the people I follow on Twitter) asked the other week who was crazy enough to be grateful for 2009. Well I am and I’m not. I’m grateful that everyone I love has lived through the year and, depressing as that may sound, I don’t see it that way – I think it’s something to be pretty grateful for! I’ve also had to grow up a lot and re-evaluate my life and priorities. Some of them surprised me, some of them didn’t. Like it or not though, I’m a better and stronger person for the exercise. Even if I have shed a lot of tears in the process!

I’ve no idea what 2010 has in store for me and I’m not prepared to make any predictions either! What will be, will be! So here’s to the new year and whatever it may hold. Bring it on – I’m as ready as I’ll ever be! :)

To keep your brain active over the holidays…

… here’s a little riddle for you! I expect you’ve seen it before – Einstein supposedly wrote it in the late 1800′s. He said that 98% of the world population would not be able to solve it. Well maybe that was true in the 1800′s but these days I think the percentage would be substantially lower! If you use a table to work it out you’ll probably be done in about ten minutes…

I love the Christmas holidays: Nearly two weeks of unadulterated enjoyment! But it’s not good for my brain. So have a go at Einstein’s Riddle and give your brain a bit of a mid-holidays boost! :)

  • In a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.
  • In each house lives a person of different nationality.
  • Each homeowner drinks a different kind of beverage, smokes a different brand of cigar and keeps a different type of pet.

The question is: Who owns the fish?

This is what we know…

  1. The British man lives in a red house.
  2. The Swedish man keeps dogs as pets.
  3. The Danish man drinks tea.
  4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
  5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
  6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
  7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
  8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
  9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
  10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
  11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
  12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
  13. The German smokes Prince.
  14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
  15. The Blends smoker lives next to the one who drinks water.

No cheating ok – this is for your own good! :)


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About Me

Over eight years’ recruitment, HR and sales experience in the private sector. For the last four and a half years I have worked in the construction industry, specialising in the recruitment and co-ordination of quantity surveyors.

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