This Week

Well I got the final confirmation that I definitely failed my exam by 7 marks so at least now with the feedback I also received what areas I need to work on and the areas that I did good and surprisingly really good in : )

Although I have been living and breathing this exam for the last 12 weeks, I have still carried around my ideas book for the book I want to write and for my craft business so I have taken a few minutes when I could grab a break to go through them and write down or sketch out some ideas if they pop in to my head. I know now for the book I’m writing I definitely want there to be a retired military working dog who goes on to work as a service dog.

In the last week I’ve also stepped it up a gear in relation to my craft business. I’ve been making samples and doing research to make sure the market isn’t already flooded with the ideas I’ve had,  after all just because I’ve had an idea doesn’t mean someone else hasn’t had the same idea as well J.

I’ve also been shopping for materials, wool, threads, buttons, packaging and business cards. Online shopping is great and I have found some great shops and you can get great bargain, but….. there is nothing like going to my local Haberdashery shop called Gina’s and having a cup of tea with her and going through her shelves of buttons and threads and ribbons and materials. Just being in the shop gives me ideas when I look at the materials I can see ideas coming to life. That’s one thing you cannot get with an online shop.

Hello Again

It’s been awhile since my last blog as I’ve been trying to focus on my exam for work. It’s been hard as it’s not a subject I deal with every day to the extent this exam goes into it includes theory and calculations I would never use. In fact why am I sitting it because as Brucey would say “Points win Prizes”.

Myself like many others need so many credits to achieve a qualification, be it a diploma, certificate, degree. This 1 exam stands between me and my diploma.

Suffice to say I failed the exam this morning I was gutted for all of about 10minutes, but I will resit it. It’s rare that I fail an exam but I wasn’t surprised. It had a high failure rate over the last two years and was quite complex so when I and a few attendees walked out the room and just looked at each other it turns out I wasn’t the only one who failed. One guy had failed his second attempt I felt sorry for him as he has to have this diploma by the end of the year. Me I already have one just not the one I want.

So the plan is...... I will take the rest of the week off and start again Monday… but I will make sure I do stuff other than study. So I don’t fry my brain.

MARRIAGE AND THAT LITTLE BIT OF PAPER

Last month was my Wedding Anniversary and I have now been married for two years.

As a kid / teenager I never, like a lot of my friends did, had the idea of their perfect wedding their husband and the number of children and names picked out in their head. As I got older, the whole idea of being centre of attention in a dress also freaked me out along with the whole spend the rest of your life with someone. Who could put up with me for that long I couldn’t put up with me for that long!

 So when me and my husband met AGAIN and started dating, he was to be honest a surprise (read my earlier blog on how we met). When he told me he had been married before and didn’t think he would want to get married again, at the time I thought fine with me! Pressure off as I’d never really thought about it seriously before. We moved in together as you do, just without that “bit of paper”.

Don’t get me wrong if we had never got married I’d still be with him because I love him to bits and even though I always thought getting married was about a bit of paper, for me it’s not! It is so much more. A shrink would probably have a great time rummaging around in my head LOL.

I think I’m happier now than I’ve ever been and I can’t explain why, I don’t know if it’s because I’m more traditional than I thought. The only pain in the ass in being traditional is I wanted to take my husband’s name, which was important to me (even though I kept my maiden name at work). Having to tell everyone you’ve changed your name is a nightmare because the list seems endless just when you think you’ve told everyone, you find one more company that needs to be informed.

I did feel a little guilty about giving up my maiden name even though my husband said it was up to me what name I used, I just thought I’ve had the name 40 years! The teenage me, in my head was saying “Mrs Pankhurst and women like her went through hell so I could vote, and women have been fighting for equal rights should I shouldn’t I change my name - but at the end of the day they were fighting for my right to choose. So I did!

I have also found that people’s perceptions change, especially men. Although I come from long line of kick ass women I have learnt when to play the game. For example I have found pulling the “husband” card has more impact than when I used to pull the “partner / boyfriend” card not sure why. Like when I told my old boss “no my husband said you can have me at the over office for one week not two” he backed down.

Like everyone my husband has his faults as do I, but he is still perfect for me and that’s probably because he knows me so well and knows how to handle me. Because even though I try to hide it, hubs knows when I’m stressed, tired, feeling down or need to talk. He calls me if he gets time at work to check if I’m OK during the day because he knows I’ve been under a lot of stress. He supports me in everything I do, be it wanting to write or start a craft business. He knows when he has to sit me down and say ok are you are doing too much or my favourite you are letting this thing at work get to you why!

Whatever your views are on marriage I’m glad we waited and I’m glad we finally got married, I would say I have changed, not much but enough and I’m happier and more content than I was which sounds weird as I’m not even sure why? As I said earlier a shrink would have a field day with me J

New Year, New Ideas

I’m not one for new year resolutions because I’m crap. I’ve already messed up my study timetable because I’ve got side tracked with a craft project and wanting to write,  decorate our home…… the list is endless……

This month it is my second wedding anniversary and I have to say getting married was the best idea hubs ever had. But I’ll blog about that nearer the time. This year 3 of my sisters will be 40 and I will be 43 and I’ve been thinking we’re not getting any younger.

When I was younger I wanted to retire at 50, which will not happen in this life, (maybe the next one), so I got to thinking if the Government ever let me retire, would I want to?

I’ve had a craft project in my head for a while it’s my friend’s fault. I’m one of those people that mentally cannot switch off.  

This is where my friend’s idea came into play I like to cross stitch and make stuff so in between working, studying, writing notes for a story and being a lovely wife who burns her husband’s dinner (unless she calls for a take away), I’ve been working on designs and ideas to make and sell.

Who knows if the ideas will sell or make money let alone one day a living but I’m having fun torturing Hubs at HobbyCraft J and coming up with designs and ideas.

REVIEW OF POPPY DAY BY THE AMAZING AMANDA PROWSE

This story rocked my world I had a lump in my throat as I read it and sometimes a tear in my eye. To say I loved it does not do this story justice it rocked my world because the story relates to a current events and coming from the East End of London as you were reading it like any good story you, you go into it as it unfolds as though you are there watching it take place like a fly on the wall.

Amanda Prowse is an amazing woman I have got to know her a little through twitter I didn’t read the product description before I read the book which is why for this review I have put it at the end. 

I read the book mainly because Amanda wrote it and secondly because proceeds were going to a Charity close to my heart. Amanda is a fantastic writer her husband, family and the military should be proud of her and women like her who are the backbone of our military without them and their families our boys cannot go off and do their jobs.

This story made me wonder what my fiery little Grandmother did to the person unlucky enough to tell her my uncle had been taken a POW in Korea during his National Service.

Oh yeah if I was Major Prowse’s superiors I would be scared because if they ever lost her husband nothing would stop her from finding him but she would have a lot more support.

Now you can read the product description if you wish or just go buy the book from Amazon it is available in paperback and kindle format and you can buy it in Sainsbury’s.

 

Product Description

How far would you go to bring home the one you love?

This is the question posed in this contemporary love story that takes you from the streets of East London to the plains of Afghanistan.

Poppy Day is a twenty one year old hairdresser, devoted to her husband Martin and blessed with a sunny disposition. Martin is the one constant in her life, her protector and best friend since they were six, making an often difficult childhood easier to bear.

Martin and Poppy are an ‘ordinary’ couple who find themselves in an extraordinary situation. Having joined the British Army in search of a better life for them both, their world is ripped apart when Martin is taken hostage while on his first tour tour in Afghanistan.

Battling against army culture and procedure, Poppy decides to bring her ‘Mart’ home herself. Fuelled by naivety, she feels that nothing is impossible when doing it for the man she loves. Her journey sees her paying a very high price and incurs some heartbreaking consequences…

‘Poppy Day’ gives an insight into life beneath the uniform, a peek at what it’s like to be the one left at home, ticking off the days until your loved one returns and what happens when there is the knock on the door that every forces wife, husband, mother, father or lover dreads…

All proceeds from the sale of Poppy Day go directly to The Royal British Legion to help fund the charity’s Battle Back Centre for injured Service personnel.

Harry Moseley a true inspiration and a hero!

Harry is a wonderful little boy who was taken from us far too early in his short life on Saturday 8^th October 2011 at 11.10pm. He went out fighting we his twitter family like may others whose lives he touched just by being there will never forget him.

I’m not one for award shows like the Oscars TV Award shows, but I will watch real award shows honouring the work of real people, like The Pride of Britain, The Millies etc.

I first saw Harry on TV receiving his Children’s Champion Award from the “The Dragons” I thought what a fantastic little boy even though he is seriously ill, and knows it, he is kicking Cancer’s ass and raising money for Charity.

I joined twitter last year and a few months ago I was having a bad day and someone retweeted Harry’s @harry_moseley  #WowzerWedensday and it turned my day around and his tweets continued to turn my days around.

When I get stressed (or as I have been suffering a bout of depression) sometimes it just takes something for my brain to click back into “the normal me” mode. For me this was it “have a #WowzerWedensday”. This little boy has been an inspiration and when he was too sick to tweet his mum / family tweeted for him.

I cannot even begin to understand how it feels to lose a child. My sister will not even discuss a Will and who will look after my niece if anything were to happen to her and her husband so I know there are conversations in my niece’s life that Aunty C may have to have with her from how to put boy in wrist lock to the subject of dying. So I ordered several bracelets from Harry for me and my niece. For me as a daily reminder that work is just that, and also so that when I have to have that conversation with my niece on dying I can tell her about Harry.

Harry will always have a special place in his twitter family’s hearts, to me he was an inspirational little  boy, a hero, a fighter and a role model to the young and old.

Rest In Peace little man xxx

Exercise & Work

Letting go at work is working, and I didn’t think it would! I still slip back into what the hell when I get an email that makes no sense, but then I think breathe is it asking for opinions if it isn’t be a good girl stay out of trouble do not make waves and keep your mouth shut.

Taking lunch breaks is great as I never did this unless I was meeting up with friends, I just used to sit at my desk and eat my lunch while I worked. Now I’m sort of taking a break by using the time to study so I don’t have to do any at home of an evening.

As you know from earlier blogs I do pretty long days like most commuters. However I have decided to try and work in a bit of an exercise plan during my work day as I’m knackered when I get home and just want to relax. Gym membership in London is expensive and we do not have one close by. So I thought I would try the London cycle scheme rather than do the 45 minute walk to the office in the morning…..

Well what can I say it was an experience I will not be repeating. It was a bad idea, it turns out I do not have any sense of balance and I get that from mum. I can understand why no one steals the damn things it took me two attempts to lift the bike out of the bike holder thingy you lock it into. I managed to get on the bike and fell off and caught my ankle on the pavement, then the bike nearly fell on me it was so funny I was sitting on the pavement laughing and lady stopped and asked if I was OK. I think she thought I was a nutter until I explained whist still laughing.

Hubs was the best - when I called him and said I’m on my way to the underground. “Are you OK?” “Oh yeah but I’m running late, explained what happened and then told him I think I bruised my knee and twisted my ankle on the pavement.”

So now I’ve decided to walk and have to say it was boring as hell but if I keep pace with music on my IPOD it’s not so bad.

All of this is helping with the weight loss and pain management as I’m not feeling so stressed and I’m not getting as many headaches as I was which is brilliant.