Snow and pantomimes and cocktails...oh my!!

What a busy weekend it's been! So busy that I'm really glad I booked today off to recover, especially as I've not been feeling 100% today. But along with the busyness, there's also been lots of fun with some of my favourite people so I'm really happy to be reliving the past three days through this post! Let's start off with Friday...

Friday
On Friday, I'd booked a half day at work so finished just after 2. I hurried home grateful that I wouldn't be commuting through the heavy snow that had been forecast for rush hour that evening. I then spent some time visiting some of my favourite websites before having a shower, grabbing some tea and then getting ready to make my way to the first performance of my drama group's pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk. My mum and dad had got tickets for opening night so we all piled into their car and drove carefully through the heavy snow that had been falling for an hour or so. As always, the nerves were jangling and there was an adrenaline rush that could probably be felt by all the cast and crew, but I think it's safe to say that we all had a fantastic time on stage and the audience seemed to love it too! Then the show was over, and we left the warm and bright church hall and stepped into a veritable winter wonderland! The snow clearly hadn't stopped falling for the entire performance, and it lay thickly on each and every surface around us. The drive home was tough, even though we were only driving a very short distance. We were still in the grip of the snowstorm and even the major roads hadn't been treated, meaning the only way to position our car on the road was to look out for the tracks made by other drivers! I honestly can't ever remember driving in conditions like that before and  it was a bit worrying at times, especially when we could see cars skidding in front of us! Luckily we made it home safe and well, and I spent the rest of the evening warm near the fire :-)

Saturday
I had a lazy morning, before acting in my second performance of the weekend. After the show, I went round to the home of my friends The Performer and The Guitarist (both of whom were also involved in the panto), where we met up with a couple of others and then all headed off for a post birthday meal at one of my favourite restaurants: Pacifica Cantonese. Seriously, if you're ever in the Manchester area, I'd highly recommend it, even if you're not normally into Chinese food! The king do ribs and spicy Mongolian beef are to die for! After eating, I'd planned to go to the restaurant's upstairs cocktail bar for a few drinks, but it was booked for a private party so when my friends who'd just planned to have drinks with me had arrived too, we took the short walk to a pub known for its low prices. 2 pitchers of cosmopolitan for £10? Yes please! The night ended with a cold and rainy walk home in high heels...never the best idea! And judging from the blisters I had when I got home, I think my feet would agree with me!

Sunday
The first part of my day was basically the same as Saturday's (a lazy morning followed by the pantomime), then I grabbed a quick Subway sandwich with the Performer and the Guitarist, before the three of us were picked up by the Guitarist's brother and taken to the cinema where we watched Les Miserables. We opted to book in for Gold Class, which whilst being more expensive than your standard cinema experience, meant that we got leather reclining seats, free popcorn and access to our own private bar! Don't mind if I do! And as for the film itself? Well, as a fan of the musical, I was sure I'd love it and it's safe to say it didn't disappoint! I laughed, I cried (at least three times!) and was taken aback by the sheer spectacle on many an occasion. I'll definitely be seeing it again, and if Anne Hathaway doesn't win an Oscar for her role as Fantine, then there simply isn't any justice in the world ;-)!!

Monday
Basically the laziest of lazy days! :-) I watched Murder, She Wrote with a cup of tea, got dressed and took a brief walk before lunch, then spent the rest of the time either on the Internet, watching TV and/or eating! It's been a lovely way to round off my long weekend, although it's really making me not want to have to get up at  5:45 for work tomorrow :-( . Roll on 4 pm on Friday when my week's holiday from work begins!

And that's pretty much it! Hope you've enjoyed my weekend round up. What did you get up to? Was your weekend as busy as mine or much more chilled out? Let me know, it'd be great to hear from you!

'Til next time...

Last week's Highs and Lows

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

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

Highs

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lows

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

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

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

'Til next time...

Thursday Thoughts Round 2

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

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

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

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

Source: benjerry.co.uk via Julie on Pinterest

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

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

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

Till next time...xx

Smile...it's Friday!!

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

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

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

Saturday

Today has been a day of:

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

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

Till next time...

Half way...

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

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

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

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

Highs and Lows

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

Highs

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

Lows

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

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

Till next time...

Highs and Lows of Last Week

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

Highs

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

Lows

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

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

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

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

Easter Sunday:

My Easter Sunday was mostly spent:

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

Easter Monday

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

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

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

Easter Weekend Round Up 1: Good Friday and Easter Saturday

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

Good Friday

My Friday was mainly spent:

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

Easter Saturday

On Saturday I was:

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

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

How fine it is...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Birthday Madness!!

For me, January means one thing...birthdays! Between 15th and 22nd January, there are 4 birthdays in my immediate family and a friend's too...5 birthdays in a week lol! Celebrating them can be a tad expensive, but I love having so many things to celebrate...it makes an otherwise gloomy month so much nicer!! :-)

Last Friday (15th Jan), it was my Dad's birthday. I didn't get to see him until the evening, as I'd left for work before he got up, but when I got home, we had a special birthday dinner with some of his favourite foods (prawn cocktail to start, then cheese and onion quiche...yummy!!) :-) Dad is one of the most knowledgeable people I know...especially when it comes to history and he'd be one of my first choices for a "phone a friend" or a quiz mate. I like to think I get some of my brains from him :-) One thing I definitely have inherited is the football team we both support...Man City all the way! He's an old school guy in lots of ways...I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen him cry, but if ever I have, it's practically broken my heart. He's more than capable of looking after himself, and is fiercely protective of us all...I'd hate to think what he'd do to anyone who hurt us, but deep down he's got a soft centre, and with his family, he's really just a big softie! :-) So happy belated birthday Dad...you do more for me than I give you credit for, and I love you with all my heart :-)

On Saturday (16th Jan), as well as heading to my Grandad's to celebrate my Dad's birthday a bit more, I also shared in the celebrations for my friends' N and M's baby boy H's 1st birthday!! As I've mentioned before, H is absolutely adorable and he's become a really big part of all my friends' lives over the past year...I honestly can't imagine life without him now! So to celebrate his birthday, N and M held a tea party for us all which H loved, and where he got thoroughly spoiled! :-) One of my favourite parts of the evening was writing in his "Birthday Memory Book"...basically his mummy and daddy had decided that everyone should write a message for his birthday and they'd save the book until his 18th, when he could read all the messages and memories. So in 17 years, he'll probably read mine and wonder why I was being quite so soppy, but I honestly couldn't help it...I love the little dude so much!

Then a break for 3 days, but come today the birthdays were back in full swing with my "littlest" sister K's 15th (again I'm feeling really old!)! K is basically the girl I wanted to be in high school...pretty, slim, popular, intelligent, sporty... but I try and keep my jealousy in check lol! Seriously though, K's a great girl. She's loyal and protective of her friends, but is never afraid to stand up for what's right...if she thinks someone's out of line, she'll tell them! She has a caring streak a mile wide and is especially good with children and animals. She's a fighter, even if she doesn't need to be and her fighting spirit has served her well. She was born 8 weeks early, weighing just over 4lbs-well but tiny. My mum and dad were told that she would probably have to stay in hospital until around her due date, but she amazed everyone by being able to be discharged after only 19 days! And from then on she went from strength to strength...you would never know she'd been premature, especially as she's practically as tall as me and still growing at a rate of knots! Now she's older, she's developed a love for fashion and it's hard to tell which of us is the bigger shopaholic! So Happy Birthday K...love you lots, but just one request...stop growing!

Stay tuned tomorrow, when I'll be able to post on my brother P's birthday and then on Friday, it's the turn of possibly the best birthday of all...mine!! Despite the fact I'm starting to get depressed about my age, I still can't wait to have my special day and be able to share it with all my family and friends! I have plans for a quietish night in the pub on Friday and then a big night out in town on Saturday and am really looking forward to both!! :-)

PS: Sorry about being so bad at replying to comments lately...I do read and value every one, and am going to reply to them all very soon!

My Christmas Weekend

So this is what I got up to over the Christmas weekend:

• Thursday (Christmas Eve)

I was invited round to my friends' house for the evening, and like any good guest didn't want to turn up empty handed. So I decided to bake some gingerbread. I found a recipe, collected all my ingredients and equipment and off I went...fully expecting it to be a quick job. Nearly 2 hours later, I realised that it wasn't! Whilst the end result tasted fab (if I do say so myself!), there's definitely things I'd do differently next time! Firstly, I'd try to be tidier in the kitchen...I got flour absolutely everywhere and left a trail of treacle across the table...oops! Secondly, I'd about halve the quantities in the recipe, as it made way more biscuits than I was expecting! I swear that the dough was magic, as I was cutting out for ages! However, the upside was that I was able to fill a tin with biscuits for home, as well as one for my friends. I definitely think that I'll make a tradition of baking gingerbread at Christmas...by next year, I might even feel confident enough to decorate it!

Once I packed the gingerbread up, I headed over to my friends' house. Most of my other friends dropped by at some point during the evening too and we had fun eating and drinking, playing Pictionary or "pictuary" as my friend M wrote on the board we used (!) and adding our own storyline to "Swan Lake" (don't ask!)! All the guests left by about 11:00 pm to allow N and M to set up their living room for Christmas...it was their son H's first, and he had mountains of presents waiting to be put out!

• Friday (Christmas Day)

After waking up every hour or 2 in the night, I finally got up around 7:00, along with the rest of my family and had great fun emptying my stocking and opening all my presents. As usual I was throroughly spoilt! I got House Season 5, PJs, a scarf, lipglosses and money off my mum and dad, a CKIn2U fragrance set off my brother and bracelets and Thorntons chocolates off my sisters. Off my friends I got the Lady Gaga and Radio 1 Live Lounge CDs, some FCUK smellies, Ice Age 3 on DVD, a bracelet, a wine and chocolate gift set and some sweets! Plus I had a giant stocking and presents and vouchers off family friends! Told you I was spoilt!! My grandad and uncle came round about 11, and we exchanged gifts, then had Christmas dinner. After dinner, we played a couple of board games that my sisters had got and chilled for a couple of hours. The rest of my day was spent eating, watching tv (I saw Doctor Who and cried...I'm such a softie!) and generally soaking up the Christmas atmosphere. It was a lovely day, with not a single argument and the only bad thing was that it went by so quickly!

• Saturday (Boxing Day)

I spent the morning and early afternoon relaxing...trying out some of my new smellies, listening to some of my new CDs and playing games with my family. Then I got a call from one of my friends inviting me to go out for tea with them and some of my other friends. We went to a local pub for food, then back to my friends' N, M and S's house where we sang karaoke and played more Pictionary...it was a lovely chilled out evening, made all the nicer as I hadn't been expecting to go anywhere.

• Sunday

I didn't really do much, as Aunt Flo had just arrived and I wasn't at my best. I listened to more CDs, played more games, watched a couple of episodes of House and browsed the net, whilst contending with belly ache for most of the time :-(

• Monday

My sister Amy and I went to see Sherlock Holmes which was absolutely fantastic!! Maybe I've just not got a very good memory, but I'd say it's definitely one of my films of the year! It had it all...action, comedy, adventure and eye candy!! Plus some of it was filmed in Manchester, so it was fun trying to spot the locations they used! After the cinema, I spent the rest of the day relaxing at home.

As for the next few days, luckily I've still got at least until next Monday off, and whilst I've not got any definite plans, I hope to be doing some shopping, catching up with my best friend J and going to a New Year's Eve party at the very least!

All that remains to say is that that was my weekend...hope you had as good a time as I did and that whether you're working or relaxing this week, have a great one!

Tagged: 10 Things

A few days ago, Brittany over at Sweet, Sassy and oh so Classy shared a list of 10 things that made her happy, and tagged all her followers to do the same. So without further ado, here's my list:

1. Spending time with my fantastic family and friends
2. Shopping!!
3. Not having to get up early at the weekend
4. Having a nice class to cover when I'm working
5. The "buzz" I get when an idea or piece of knowledge really clicks with a student
6. My friends N and M's baby H...he's 10 months old and getting cuter every day! :-)
7. Starbucks' flavoured lattes and skinny muffins/cakes
8. Drinking and dancing with my girls on a night out
9. My friends' L and G's wedding a week today... can't wait!
10. 3 weeks of work left till Christmas...that means only 15 working days! (well 14, because I've got the day after the wedding off :-) )

So, how about you? What makes you happy?? Looking forward to reading your lists!

Clouds and Silver Linings

I've been doing my "Highs and Lows of the Week" posts for quite a while now, but last week I really noticed how closely some of the highs linked with some of the lows...just like clouds and their silver linings (hence the title of this post!). So, for this week at least, my highs will be mixed in with my lows just to remind me that clouds do have their silver linings, and that we can find positives in most situations if we look hard enough!

Cloud

• I didn't get the job - As some of you will know I went for a interview last week, for a job that I think would have suited me down to the ground. After the interview, I had mixed feelings about my performance...I thought some of my answers were spot on, but that others were absolutely awful! After around 3 very stressful hours of waiting, I got a call from the headteacher telling me that unfortunately I had been unsuccessful on that occasion. Yes, I was badly disappointed but there was just a glimpse of a silver lining...

Silver Lining

• But my interview feedback was excellent - As standard, the headteacher gave me feedback and said that my interview had gone very well indeed, and that I'd only just been pipped to the post by the person they'd eventually appointed (who had a great deal of experience) and that it had been a difficult decision. This reassured me that the interview had been better than I'd percieved it and also gave me more confidence to take to other interviews in future. I know I'm nearly there...it's just a case of finding the right job for me!

Cloud

• 3 hours of stress whilst waiting to hear if I'd been successsful in my interview...as I mentioned in the previous cloud, I had 3 hours of jangling nerves and butterflies in my tummy whilst I was waiting for THAT call. I'm naturally quite impatient, so every minute was like agony. I tried to keep occupied, so I logged onto Blogger, and whilst I was browsing through my dashboard and I found my silver lining...

Silver Lining

• I'd won my first giveaway: A few weeks ago Holly from Her Southern Heart was running a week of giveaways. I left comments on her blog to enter, then forgot all about them. But there it was in black and white! I'd won a pair of beautiful earrings courtesy of Holly and Barefoot Maiden! I was so excited, especially as I couldn't remember the last time I'd won anything! So I left a very excited thank you comment on Holly's blog, sent her a very excited email and am now (im)patiently waiting for the earrings to wing their way across the pond! I'm so eager to get them, and will be sure to blog about them when they arrive!

Cloud

• I'm no dancer: It was my friend L's hen night on Saturday, so all the girls (and one guy!) headed out to a club called Copacabana in Manchester. As the name suggests, it's a Latin club and included in the package we'd booked for the evening was a 45 minute Latin dance lesson...perfect for L who's been dancing since the age of 3, but a lot more intimidating for me who has 2 left feet and a lack of natural rhythm! Our class was merengue, which was meant to be really simple to pick up and at first things weren't so bad. I picked up the basic footwork with little difficulty, but just when I was feeling pleasantly surprised...reality kicked in! I'm obviously not meant to dance with a partner, as when my friend E and I teamed up, it was murder on the dancefloor (on my part, not E's!) The instructors could see we were having difficulties, so stepped in, which made me feel even worse! I know I needed to relax and loosen up, but I get tense when I'm struggling with something, and dancing with someone unfamilar didn't help matters! Eventually, I got to a point where I could dance with an instructor, but leave me to my own devices and bam...right back to reality! But despite massacring the merengue...

Silver Lining

• I had a fantastic night, and I'm determined to master the merengue! : Although the dance lesson was a debacle...it didn't stop me from enjoying the rest of the night! We had a gorgeous tapas meal, frozen cocktails and great fun wearing our pink fluffy kitten ears and waving our fluffy wands! We even did some dancing although none of us were brave enough (or had good enough memories!) to put our new found "skills" to the test! I've also gained a new found determination to become a better dancer...there's no way I'm going to let a few steps defeat me lol!

So that was last week...hope you all had a good one, and that this week is shaping up to be fantastic too!

And another week goes by...

almost without a peep out of me! I honestly don't know where the time's gone...I did have a bit of a manic week but I was still aiming to post a couple of times! But never mind, at least I can summarise my week into one post: my highs and lows! And here they are for last week:

Highs

• Birthday fun with family and friends: Not my birthday, but over the last week I've spent quite a bit of time celebrating birthdays and had a great time doing it! Well there was just one exception...but I'll come to that later! Anyway, my friends E and D both had their birthdays last week so I spent 2 very chilled evenings in 2 different pubs sharing in their celebrations and catching up with my friends. Then on Saturday, me and my family went for a meal with my Grandad and Uncle, to celebrate my Grandad's 90th which was on Friday. The company and food were fantastic and it was really good to see my Grandad enjoying himself and looking so well...nobody can believe how old he actually is! Plus the pub/restaurant we went to organised for us to have a free bottle of sparkling wine to help mark the occasion which was very much appreciated (by me anyway!)

• Reductions at the till: Yet more shopping this week...although there was an actual purpose behind some of it (you'll find out the reason later!). I picked up a gorgeous sequinned top/dress which I love, not least because it had a 25% reduction on it. Then I went to Next at the weekend as I wanted to buy a suit(there's a big hint there!) and I had a giftcard that I needed to spend. I decided on purchases that I thought added up to the value of the card, but when I got to the till I discovered that the trousers were less than half price! So instead of spending up, I still had 12 pounds of free money left! Bargain!!

And last but definitely not least...

• Interview: Yes, you read right...I've got a job interview! It's my first interview since my last long term post finished last December and I still can't quite believe it! I was in absolute shock when I opened the envelope and read the letter, as I when I'd seen the school's address stamp on the back, I was convinced it was another rejection! But no...they are pleased to invite me for interview on Thursday, and I'm really excited (although trying not to get my hopes up too high!). The vacancy is in a Year 4 class, which is one of my favourite age groups (ages 8-9), the school has a very good reputation and it's situated in a nice area, only about 5 minutes drive or 20 minutes walk away from my house. Can you tell I want this job lol?!

Lows

• Birthday not-so fun with friends: Remember how I said that there was one exception to the great birthday celebrations my friends had...well here it is. The night didn't get off to a particularly good start... E and D had invited loads of people to town but only 5 of us ended up going out (including E and D themselves!)! Then when we got out, things seemed to be looking up...but that didn't last long! We went to a bar first, then to a club shortly after that and that was when the problems really started! Whilst E and I were having a great time...the boys (D, S and NE) didn't seem to be. D was practically falling asleep, NE was hungry and telling everyone this at every available point and S just looked miserable as sin! Needless to say, we gave up relatively early for town (about 12:30) and that was when it really kicked off. E was upset with the boys, especially S and wanted to be away from him. I was also annoyed as I hadn't wanted the night to come to an end, and so E and I decided to have a short walk to cool down. But S kept following us which made E furious! She wouldn't talk to him, so I tried telling S to leave us alone and we ended up having a big row in the street which I'm sure highly amused everyone else around us! Eventually we got into a taxi and endured a very uncomfortable ride home. Me and the boys are fine now, but E is still angry with S, and knowing their rows and how stubborn E is, this will run and run! Things really just got out of proportion and I'm trying to see the funny side, but I sense that there might not be many nights out for a while!

• Noisy classes: They get really frustrating and I nearly lost my voice one day last week! Enough said!

So there's my highs and lows! Hope you all had fantastic weeks last week and have great ones to come!

What's-in-my-wardrobe Wednesday - Fancy Dress for Less

Once again, I'm late with this post, and I'm feeling really lazy at not blogging for 6 whole days...but at least I'm here now, better late than never and am making up for my guilt by giving you 2 posts for the price of 1! So sit back, relax and enjoy...a little bit of my weekend mixed up with a whole lot of outfits!

Now, I love going to parties, and every now and then, the time comes around for fancy dress. I love that too...but what I don't like is the cost involved. Whilst some of my friends have bought expensive dressing up outfits in the past, I really don't see the point. It's not as if it's something you can really wear again, unless you want to run the risk of everyone knowing what your outfit will be before every single party (because it's ALWAYS the same one!)! Now that's not to say I won't buy outfits if they're the right price...but I like to be a bit more creative if I can! So here's a few outfits I've created in my time, and a few tips for getting a cool looking outfit for less. I'm not saying I'm a style expert or anything because I'm most certainly not, but I have been pleased with what I've managed to achieve!

1. 
   Work with what you've already got

Last Saturday, I went to a Halloween party dressed as a witch and had a fantastic time! Initially, I had planned to buy a costume but could find nothing in the shops. At first I started to panic but then I remembered a dress I already had and everything else started to come together. This is what I wore:

I wore this black dress...you can't see very well but it had wide bottomed sleeves and a zig zag hem...perfect for a witch. I teamed it with black fishnets over purple tights and my black ribbon tie shoes from Next...all three were things I already owned. The only new addition to my outfit which cost 1.50 from a discount shop.

2. Start shopping early

Now I know this isn't always possible, but if you know about something in advance, I'd strongly recommend looking around earlier rather than later. A good example of this was for my friend's 25th. In honour of our decade of birth, he decided to go for an 80s theme and I was determined to buy a vintage 80s dress for the occasion. So I looked on Ebay...and every now and then I saw a dress I liked so I put a bid (or ten!) in. But they went for too high a price so I missed out...that's another thing I'd say...always set a price limit! But because I still had time left, I didn't get stressed and just kept looking. And then it happened...I saw a dress, bid and won! In fact, I was the only bidder and bagged myself a genuine 80s gem for less than a fiver. What do you think?:

I teamed the dress with leg warmers which I also bought off Ebay for a couple of quid and a pair of 80s style black stilettos from Dorothy Perkins that I already owned.

3. Customise the basics (or get others to do it for you!)

A couple of years ago, 2 of my friends had a joint fancy dress party. The theme was cartoon characters and for a while I was stumped. How could I find quite a simple outfit? Then I thought of Wilma Flintstone...all I'd need was a white dress and a string of pearls and I'd be sorted! So the white dress hunt was on, and I eventually found a strappy white sundress for a few pounds. Then my mum got to work on it. She removed one of the shoulder straps and cut the bottom so it was jagged. Add a string of chunky pearls that I borrowed off a friend and a wash in/'wash out hair dye (that didn't really work!) and voila!

4. Buy items that can multitask

I probably spent the most I ever have on the fancy dress outfit I wore for my friend's western themed birthday party. But I didn't mind because I knew I'd wear everything again and I have. My cowboy boots...check! A checked shirt..check! A cowboy hat...check! (It's great for those sunny days!)

And finally one more tip that doesn't have a photo with it!
5. Accessorise, accessorise, accessorise

A really good example of this was when I was looking for a simple and cheap costume and decided to go as a police officer. I had the black trousers, white shirt and sensible shoes already so all I bought was the accessories: handcuffs, hat, neckerchief, badge and epaulettes for my shoulders. Hey presto: instant outfit!

Another example of this was when I went to another 80s party. I bought another cheap dress off Ebay, but then made it a little bit special by adding a vintage belt (again from Ebay) and an 80s clutch that belonged to my mum!

So hope you enjoyed! Like I say, I'm not claiming to be an expert...but if at least one person gets any ideas from this, I'll be very happy! :-)

Highs and Lows of the Week

I know it's a bit late...but better late than never, here are my highs and lows of last week:



Highs

• Saturday - I know it might seem a bit random to have a whole day on my "highs" list, but there it is. Saturday was an absolutely fantastic day! It was a close friend's birthday on Friday, and on Saturday we went up to Blackpool to get some lunch and see an ice show. The show was amazing...as it took place in a small arena, we were only a few rows from the front and could actually hear the sound of the blades on the ice. There were loads of great performances including those from professional pairs and solo skaters and celebrities who'd featured on the "Dancing on Ice" tv show as well as a local 10 year old who was incredible, and a team of freestyle skaters. Imagine street dance on skates, and you'll get a better idea of what they did. My favourites, though, were a pair of brothers from Italy. They were circus trained and were basically clowns on ice! I was amazed when they started juggling whilst skating and even more so when one leapfrogged the other and carried on juggling from where the first one left off! After the show, we headed back home and spent the evening watching X Factor (I was soooo happy it was big band week!) and eating takeaway.

• My friends - While I already know I've got great friends, something that happened last week really helped to confirm that for me (more about that in the "lows" section!).

• Half term - I suppose this should technically go in my next "highs and lows" post, but as the start of it was last week, it can go in this one too! Basically, the schools in my area broke up for a week's holiday last Friday, so it means that this week I'm pretty much a lady of leisure! I've been really looking forward to the break...the first half term is always the longest...and will keep everyone posted with what I get up to. I've already been shopping, and will post more details of my purchases tomorrow in my "What's-in-my-wardrobe Wednesday" post.

• Unintentionally funny TV - SuperNanny, John and Edward's vintage performance on X Factor (even although I do think they should have been out weeks ago!) and my favourite from last week... Wife Swap USA. It was the episode featuring the Heene family, who've been more recently in the news for faking the disappearance of their 7-year-old son Falcon, in a home made balloon (for a recap of that story click here) and the safety cautious Martels. I know it wasn't intended to be a comedy programme...but it made me laugh harder than I'd done for a few days! If you haven't watched it, my advice would be to check it out and pay special attention to the video the Martel children make to list the things they're frightened of. I'll never look at lava lamps the same way again!

Lows

• Spending the day in hospital: Last Wednesday, I woke very early with severe abdominal cramps that were making me nauseous and dizzy. Aunt Flo wasn't visiting, and I was especially concerned as I knew I had a cyst on my left ovary, so I decided to go to hospital to get checked out. The pain subsided after about half an hour, but it was decided that after undergoing blood tests and an examination in the accident and emergency department, I should be admitted as an in-patient so I could be observed and have a pelvic ultrasound scan either later that day or the next morning. Luckily, I was able to have the scan that day but unluckily, I was unable to eat until I had it. Which meant that I didn't have any food until after 4:00 pm and I'd been up since 6 that morning! The scan results showed that the cyst was no longer present, and as the tests I had also came back clear the doctors were happy to discharge me, and I came home to a flurry of texts, answerphone and Facebook messages off my friends (see my "Highs" list). Luckily I've had no recurrences of the pain since then, but I was definitely shook up for the next couple of days with every little twinge leaving me in a state of panic!

• My eating habits - My eating habits last week were inconsistent to say the least. From not eating anything for over 18 hours on Tuesday night through to Wednesday to snacking madly on Thursday/Friday to stuffing myself with fatty/junk food on Saturday...I just couldn't get a balance! I know being unable to eat while I was in hospital wasn't my fault, but the rest of the week definitely was!

So there we have it! That was the week that was, and these were my highs and lows.

Highs and Lows of the week!

It's been a couple of weeks since I've done one of these posts so I think it's high time that I did another one. Although this week hasn't been that eventful, there's still been things that have made my high list and others that are definitely on my lows! So, without further ado, here goes:

Highs

• Spending time with friends: although this week hasn't been one of wild nights out (more about that later!), I've still managed to see quite a lot of my friends this week. A group of us went to see Disney on Ice on Thursday (cheesy, but great fun!), I had a dvd night with a couple of my closest friends on Friday and went round to a friend's last night to watch tv. Despite the fact that some of the nights weren't particularly eventful, I've still had a good time as I've been with people that I really enjoy spending time with!

• Work: On the whole, I'm still enjoying work (although everyone has their off days now and then) and obviously, I'm also enjoying the money that comes with it. As I get paid on a weekly basis, I know I'm never that far away from a payday and it also makes it easier to manage my money! Another thing I've enjoyed about work this week is the fact that all of it was prebooked, so it made my life a whole lot easier in terms of transport (I haven't had to fight through the rush hour!) and also meant that I didn't need to spend my free time planning lesson activities, as prebooked cover generally means that the usual class teacher will have left work for the children.

• It's October: This might seem like a strange one, it's not as if October's my favourite month or anything but there's a lot about this October that I'm really looking forward to. There's three of my friends' birthdays coming up which means that there'll be three birthday celebrations (yay!) and I'm also going to a Halloween murder mystery party which I'm very excited about! October also means that I'll get my first holiday of the school year... a whole week with nothing to do which will be bliss and it's also when my drama group will start rehearsing for our next show. I haven't seen most of the group members for over a month and I'm really looking forward to spending time with everyone again!

• Cake Wrecks: I discovered this blog the other day and I absolutely LOVE IT! Nothing else to say about this one really except check it out!

Lows

• Noisy classes: Whilst I haven't had any really difficult classes this week, most of them have been really noisy. Now it's not that I expect children to work in silence all the time or anything like that, but when it gets to the point where a class can't hear the instructions I'm giving or are being so noisy that no-one can possibly be able to concentrate, then we have a problem! I've tried using agreed signals (e.g. hands up, clapping a rhythm etc) to signal that I need a class to stop and listen, rewarding the behaviours I want and simply just waiting for silence but none of these strategies seem to be fully effective! I don't want to resort to shouting over the children, so am searching for other things to try as well. Like I said, it's nothing really major but you'd be surpr. ised how much it can wear you down.

• Not going out again this weekend: Although it's true that I have enjoyed this weekend and love spending time with my friends regardless of what we do, I'm longing for a proper night out again! It's been about 4 weeks since the fantastic weekend I blogged about here, and since then the furthest I've got on a weekend is a local pub for a couple of drinks! I've also got a great new top and I'm dying for an excuse to wear it! Fingers crossed for next week!!

• Waiting for buses after work: The sooner I learn to drive the better!! One of the bus routes in my area has recently been changed, and it means that getting to one school in particular has been made a lot more awkward for me. Whilst it's not a million miles away, I don't particularly want to walk back after a long day, but my choice is either that or waiting ages to catch the elusive bus!

So there's my highs and lows for another week. Hope you've all had fabulous weeks, with lots of highs and no real lows to speak of. Till next time...!!

Ain't it just the way...

that after being all geared up for a night out in town all week, when it comes to it, I find I've got no energy whatsoever and even the thought of a late night makes me miserable! It's a real pain, as I'd really love to go out with my friend E tonight, but I just can't! What makes it worse is that it was just going to be me and her, so because I'm not going, she 's having to make alternative arrangements. I feel like such a bad friend, as I've said all week that I'd go out even though no one else was, and now it's almost like I'm going back on my word. But I suppose staying in is better than going out and maybe feeling miserable or wanting to come home early...well that's what I'm telling myself anyway! But then again, maybe I could have given it a go. Maybe the music would have livened me up, and I would have felt my old self, and if not, at least I would have been able to say I'd tried... Although, as even getting changed feels like it would have been too much effort, then maybe not!

So what am I going to do instead then? Well...maybe watch a DVD, have a bath, maybe even a glass or two of wine. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but nights like this certainly seem to be becoming a lot more appealing lately. I'm all for big nights out for birthdays and even just because, but just not as often any more. Ah, well, c'est la vie I suppose! Hope you're all having a lovely weekend whatever you're doing...be it a quiet night in or a wild night out!