Heading towards disaster...!

Okay so we're new! We hardly own any topics let alone hot ones! But here's the latest anyhow :)
Do join in if you fancy it!


GENERAL CHAT
Glad to be back! Link


9-5
Where do you work? Link


HOME AND FAMILY
Do you have a housework routine? Link


FOOD AND DRINK
Lemon cake! Link


HEALTH AND BEAUTY
Trapped nerve Link


SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS
Lingerie Link


ENTERTAINMENT CENTRAL
Are you following the Katie and Peter split? Link


MOVING UP IN THE WORLD!
How did the race for life go Rachael? Link

HOBBIES
Stitching Link


TRAVEL
Swine flu Link


THE PHOTO ALBUM
Lucy was 6 yesterday Link

Do you keep all your unread books together, like books in a waiting room? Or are they scattered throughout your shelves, mingling like party-goers waiting for the host to come along?

I have too many unread books to be able to store them together. When we moved in 3 months ago I started unpacking them into the nightstand by the bed but once that was full I moved into some under bed storage boxes. After that I moved a ton of them downstairs for the bookshelves and dresser. Books are everywhere in our home though I am trying to read them then release them via bookcrossing! I would love to keep every book I've ever bought but I just don't have the space and since we've moved several times in the last few years it's always in the back of my mind that books are bulky and heavy and the less we have to move next time the better!

We don't exactly have any plans to move just yet but we're not 100% settled here either so who knows what the next year or so will bring! I just checked Rightmove again for Solihull houses for sale but there wasn't anything that caught my eye. Anyway, I'm going off topic. Buying houses wasn't the question, was it?!

I'm completely and utterly exhausted! Staying away from pints of coffee is super difficult when you crave it but I'm trying to limit myself to no more than 2 mugs a day, and I've reduced my tea intake too, swapping that for water.
Tiredness hasn't stopped my painting though. I've been finishing off the walls on one of the rooms this morning. We're really making progress now both inside and in the garden. I need bedding plants next for the front flower beds but have no idea what I can actually plant this time of the year. J remembered we could buy bulbs quite cheap but I want something that will flower now!

I signed up for my fashion course yesterday so looking forward to getting started on that! The first assignment should be with me by the end of the week and Monday I'll be able to get going.

Dragons Den starts again tonight on BBC2. Am very much looking forward to seeing all the new inventions this season. Last night I watched 'Coast' on BBC2. Did you know you could see dinosaur footprints on the coast of the Isle of Wight? Up until last night I didn't either!

I'm trying to cut down my coffee intake but I'm struggling badly.
Without a mug of coffee every few hours I feel absolutely drained but I've noticed most days by late afternoon I'm beginning to feel very under the weather, very thirsty and a little bit sick and I think all these things are down to far too much caffeine running through my body.

I'm also cutting out friends who seem to not want to talk to me! I haven't exactly fallen out with my best friend, infact we haven't ever even shared a cross word, but when she got married 2 years ago the contact went right down, and since having a baby around 8 months ago I've barely heard a peep out of her. At first I figured she was super busy and super tired looking after a newborn but It's got to the point now where I've probably heard from her 3 times in the past year when she's sent the odd text but she doesn't seem to want to talk. I've even asked her if we could agree a time for me to 'phone and had no response back!
It's very sad but maybe she doesn't need me in her life anymore. I wonder if she's happy but if she wont talk to me there's little I can do to find out.

Boy is it hot! It's gorgeous, except for night times when it's near impossible to sleep! I have bags under my eyes from this week but it's so much nicer to have a decent summer than not so you wont find me complaining just yet.
In fact there was enough complaining going on in the post office yesterday to use up the village's moaning quota this summer.
The English are never happy with their weather!

I have an evening to myself tonight, J's out at a work thing entertaining an American over from the US side of the company. I thought I'd watch the soaps and watch the final part of 'The Take' which is on at 9pm tonight. I'm still not complaining about the sun but it's too hot to do much else but sit here!

Life hasn't been very exciting this week so I don't have a lot to write. I think I'll sign off and make tea!

5 things I've enjoyed...
1)Bowling! Gaining a new hobby and seeing all my friends again!
2)Martina Cole's 'The Take' on TV. Love her!
3)Walking the dogs in the sunshine... it makes a change!
4)Going to the car festival. I don't like cars but I did love spending time with J
5)BBQ's in the garden

5 little things I've achieved off the 'to do' list...
1)Getting LOADS of the painting done around here!
2)Getting around to deep conditioning my hair. Little thing but I've been meaning to do it for months!
3)Sending off for course details, something else I've been meaning to do for an age
4)Unpacking everything apart from 5 boxes which we still need some storage containers for. Woohoo!
5)Finally buying the dogs new name tags. I've crossed so many jobs off this month that I'm in fear of having nothing to do soon!!

5 things I want to do in July...
1)Finish decorating the main bathroom completely
2)Save my rose! Desperately don't want it to die!
3)Buy gardening gloves and get started on the weeds in the flower beds that don't look as though they've been cut back for years.
4)Pay for course and get started
5)Trip to Oxford to see little sisters house!

We just had the best weekend we've had in a long time. We did nothing in particular but it was restful and fun at the same time. Saturday we went to Burton shopping and on Sunday we went to a car event in Gaydon, walked around in the sun for a couple of hours whilst J eyed up expensive cars, and then came home to cook a barbecue and enjoy the rest of the afternoon sunshine.
Also spoke to little sister and have arranged to see her next month.

This week I'm going to be on my own again for a bit. J's big boss is a bit of a car fan and therefore they go to a 2 day car event with their customers to butter them up each year! J's away Thursday and Friday night leaving me to watch the night coverage of the Big Brother house which I've not managed to do at all this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed we have electric whilst he's away because for some reason the power goes off an awful lot around here. Thinking on the bright side though, the electric bill is probably going to be cheaper here since we don't have access to the power 24/7!

Did you catch the info about the 20p pieces? If yours doesn't have a date on it you could be in the money accordning to the papers this morning! Linky

I think I joined everyone else in being shocked about the Michael Jackson news this morning. Love him or hate him there's no denying he's left us some pretty impressive music. I can remember dancing to thriller when I was very young; it was my Mum's LP and I'd put it on the record player most weekends. I also used to listen to Bucks Fizz and other cheesy songs, but even if I remembered the names to the rest of my old favourites I probably wouldn't admit to them they were that awful.
These days my Mum prefers Cliff Richards - I promise I never played his records! (Note: I might not like him all that much but he's still a star to continue to release records at however old he is!)

Waking up to news like todays is a shocking reminder that tomorrow isn't guaranteed for any of us. Most of us will get to see plenty more tomorrows but we should never take for granted that we've got ample time because who knows? The universe works in mysterious ways.

I've been advised my rose might not be on the way out just yet. I've been told to give it three months to see if it picks up before I confine it to the bin!

Remember I said the girls from the shop bought me a rose?! Well look what I've done to it!! It's had 3 feeds in the last 11 days and the care guide says to keep the pot moist which I've been doing... yet the plant still looks to me to be dying!

Any advice? I desperately don't want to kill it!