but it disappeared!

So I'm not going to do it all again - so there

I need a job and I NEED IT now! Anything to save me from the interminable washing up/hoovering/cleaning of the shit pit I call my home ... grr!!

It's surprising how much housework builds up when you're off your feet for a few days.

Why oh why do I let the dog/cat/child/husband into the house? They should be banned forever more - banished to the garden along with all the mud and umska that they bring with them.

Well actually can't really blame the daughter as she hasn't been here for almost a week (and I'm missing her) but I have ventured into what can loosely be termed her bedroom.
Believe me the Light Infantry would have left it tidier after a bombing raid! Sheesh!

Daugher has spent the weekend with our friends Bird and Bloke in the Big Blue House and from what I can tell she had a thoroughly lovely time. Except for the fact that she is now wearing borrowed clothes - as she didn't exactly take very much with her. It would seem that my Mum forgot to check her bag before she left.

The cost of living Darn Sarf has got ridiculous, I left some money with my Mum so she could get my daughter a decent haircut at a salon. Not bloody likely! We would have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. £40 just to cut and shape an 11 year old's hair - I think not.

Aunty Sue is now visiting and will only charge £12 for the same service, yet in my parents home.

For £40 up here in the Midlands I could get a colour, wash, cut and blow dry!

Ho hum - I've drunk my cuppa Tay now, so I guess it's back to the grindstone.... grr.. I hate housework!

Today our friend Landers is doing a sponsored blogathon to raise awareness and funds into Cockayne Syndrome.

Please spend a few minutes reading his blog, leaving comments and perhaps donating a few pennies/pounds to this wonderful cause.
Check it out at this link here.

Go on you know it makes sense!

Well spin my nipple nuts and send me to Alaska!

Is it Thursday? Apparently so ...

Since Tuesday evening I have travelled over 400 miles.

I am knackered and can only imagine how tired Hedgewolf is.

My foot is incredibly painful as is my left elbow - which incidentally I keep knocking on anything that an elbow can be knocked against.

I cannot use the crutches provided by the hospital as it causes me too much pain in the left arm to do so, so have resorted to my trusty walking stick for support.

(which reminds me - must stick some wd40 on the joints)

We braved the local Asda today to replenish supplies, that in itself is normally an experience I do not relish. I hate shopping!

How is it that all trollies are destined to hit my right foot?

Ho hum - well we bought some bargain steak coated in peppercorns for tea - it was nice but a little too coated in peppercorns for my liking but Hedgewolf served it with homegrown beetroot and new potatoes and some pan fried mushrooms and it was lovely! Mmmmm........

Things to do while 'resting' from work and struggling with crutches.....

She can come and tidy my wardrobe for me!

Well it was my daughter's birthday today - despite the knackered foot I managed to get lunch for 6 people, bake a cake and make fudge icing!

Didn't do the washing up though ...

Daughter seems happy with the presents we bought for her, she asked Hedgewolf for a toolkit and make up and that's exactly what she got!

From me - the usual raft of clothing, brushes for her make up and bits and pieces that girls apparently like these days, like a sucker gun in camoflague colours!

Strange child - but she's mine and I'm very proud of her.

Well after a lovely day at the Black Country Museum with my daughter and friend - I was looking forward to spending the evening with Hedgewolf and wrapping my daughter's birthday presents.

Things did not go according to plan

On the way home from the bus stop we were walking down the hill on the last 200 yard stretch the ground disappeared from under me and I ended up face down in the road.

Much concern from friend and daughter.

One small stone had completely disrupted my equilibrium.

Friend sent daughter home to fetch the Hedgewolf and asked how he could help - I could not move.

There I was laying in the road and I could not move.

I lay there and assessed the damage, I could breathe, I could see, I could groan in pain - ah! Pain - located the pain - it was situated in my left elbow, my left hand and my right leg.

BLINDING FUCKING SEARING FUCKING SHITTING AGONY!

At this point a young lady joins our party and asks my friend to roll me over - I grunt and say NO! rather emphatically. I am still assessing the damage. She went off on one about how they should get me out of the road and onto the pavement.

I struggled to the side of the road and await the arrival of daughter and Hedgewolf. Friend is flapping and not knowing what to do to help. Hedgewolf arrives, does a quick top to toe check of me, and decides that he and friend are going to chair lift me to the house and make further assessments.

10 minutes later into the car I am lifted - we arrive at casualty where I am booked in, having braved the car parks and road ways of Russells Hall Hospital and the waiting begins, booked in at 16.47 finally left at 20.37.

Diagnosis = 4 small broken bones in my right foot and massive tissue damage to my right ankle, scrapes and bruises to my left arm and hand. Doctors decided not to plaster as were more worried about the tissues than the bones, so stuck on a support and handed me crutches and kicked me onto the street.

Which means after all that waffle I am not going to the interview with Intercontinental Hotels today, I phoned the lady at the agency and she says that they are doing another set of interviews in two weeks time and she'll put me forward for that. Huzzah!

I now have to figure out how to walk with these bloody crutches!!
3-5 days of no weight on my right foot.

Today is my daughter's birthday - grrr!!!!!!!!

Hmmm.. not bad at all really .. apart from the weather, which has left me with an almighty headache.

My head doesn't 'do' cold very well - it increases the chances of a migraine for me. Not good.

However on the UP side of the day, my daughter left primary school, she received a certificate for getting a 5 in her SATs Science paper, I had a job interview and have been shortlisted for a second interview on Monday.

Also today one of our former foster kids has come to stay - he's now a strapping, 6 foot, 21 year old, who is learning to drive and teaching himself leatherworking.

Tomorrow (21st July) we celebrate 1 year of living in our own home - it's been a struggle but we'll get there.

Monday is my daughter's 11 birthday - so things could be looking up.

Wednesday - We travel to Kent to see my folks and leave the daughter for her annual holiday - a month of spoiling by the Grandparents. (I'm told that that's what Grandparents are for)

Have just watched a DVD called Ladies in Lavender, written and directed by Charles Dance and starring Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Miriam Margoles.

A very gentle film and just right to wind down a week as tumultuous as mine has been.

Anyway - I'm for me bed now.

Good night dear friends x

1. There are crumbs in your bed cos lets face it you don't live in a showhome. What kind of cookies do those crumbs come from?

More likely to be Bourbon biscuits than cookies

2. You are sitting on the toilet brushing your teeth cos you are hungover as normal. What got you that drunk?

If I'm in a drinking mood - which is rarer than hen's teeth it will probably be Polish Vodka and Apple Juice.

3. You have been dumped cos well, lets face it .. you are a loser. What comfort food do you grab? (after sticking pins in a voodoo doll obviously)

A delicious selection of; Nobby's Nuts - sweet chilli flavour, tinned ambrosia creamed rice, chilled to perfection in the fridge and eaten from the can, followed by Green & Blacks White Chocolate.

4. Your wife/husband has pissed you off (that means angry in the US by the way ... not watersports) so you decide to go have an expensive gourmet meal on his/her credit card. What do you order?

Sag Aloo, Mushroom Bhaji, Chicken Tikka, Keema Naan.

5. Sitting in church (waiting for the lightning to strike you) and you have a book/magazine tucked inside the hymn sheet. What is it?

I have sat in church and read the Witches Bible by Stuart and Janette Farrar! but most likely to be my current read which is Belle de Jour.

I tag Old Nick, Sixpence, Mrs F, Shipscook and Dafter

As some of my friends already know yesterday I lost my job.

I am still feeling a little narked about it and quite prickly.

I feel like I have been shat on from a great height.

My closest work colleague lost her job 2 weeks ago, another friend is likely to lose his by the end of the month.

Why - well it's because it's cheaper to take on people who are single, have no commitments and no disabilities.

To work in the job I've just lost, you have to be ruthless, less than honest and interested in hitting sales targets on a daily basis.

I'm honest, I work hard, I have proved my commitment to the 'company' but because I didn't have the confidence to hard sell to customers who are elderly, on a pension or single parents with limited budgets my employment was terminated at 16.45 yesterday.

They managed to get a weeks worth of work out of me before sacking me! I got 5 sales yesterday too.

But because they had given me a month to improve my sales, I have no leg to stand on.

Now I have to go out there into the world again after 8 months of employment to get another job.

Anyone need a secretary, with call centre experience, worked as a foster parent, life skills tutor, retail... you name it - I've probably done it!

Gutted is probably the word I'd use right now.

Ho hum - off to craft a CV - for the third time in 12 months.

I feel very old.

Why? Because as my Mother has so kindly pointed out, tommorrow my daughter leaves primary school.

She is 11 on Monday.

I am trying to remember where I put the last 11 years.

The small creature known as Sketchweasel is off to bed - to continue reading a book by Stephen Fry called Moab is my washpot.

An incredibly funny book about his childhood and adolescence, what a funny and special man Stephen Fry is.

Night all
Sweet Dreams x

The answer to the unusual paragraph is ........

Not one single word has an E in it!

Congratulations to everyone who spotted that and managed to break the record of half an hour!

In other news - What the bloody hell has happend to BCUK??

I logged in this morning and everything was as per normal, I log in this evening and it's all bloody changed eh?

Weird

NOT SO EASY

How quickly can you find out what is so unusual about this paragraph? It looks so ordinary you would think that nothing is wrong with it at all and in fact nothing is. But is unusual. Why? If you study and think about it you may find out, but I am not going to assist you in anyway-you must do without coaching. No doubt, if you work at it for long it would dawn on you ... who knows? Go to work now and try your skill. 'Par is about half an hour'.

Good luck all!

Now what was all the fuss about?

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix is what I'm on about.

I read the book a couple of times and enjoyed it - but yet again the film does not live up to my imagination.

Films never do if I've read the book.

My arse is numb from sitting still for 3 hours.

I really do not enjoy the rip off that they call the cinema experience.

I've eaten far too many sweeties, popcorn and burgers for one day that and shared a litre of pepsi with Mr Sketchweasel.... bleugh

Why is it that the person either beside me or behind me is a 'jiggler'? You know the person who's knee is constantly jiggling, who's whole body is constantly fidgeting and the little annoying squeaks and pops their sinuses make.

But never mind - we had fun as the family and that is the main point of the exercise.

And so can I - here is a littly piccy of my very little right foot.

As (most) of you on my friends list know I am a very ickle person - these days just scraping 5' 2" and I have very little feet only a size 4 on a 'big' foot day.

I'm sure they used to be prettier than this but years of abusing them by stuffing them into horrible high heels have squished me toes.

That's why I love my trainers!

Thanks to AJ for this - what a clever chap you are!

You have to copy the rules and then say who you would like to play you in a sit com about your life BUT then say who you think would actually be cast in the role.

You can give reasons if it is not self explanatory. Then tag 5 other people please

I think I would like to be played by Gwen Turner - because she's beautiful, sassy and just plain lovely.

I think I would more likely be played by Kathy Burke as Linda from Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

The family and I went for a little wander after the daughter arrived home from school. She had nipped up to Poundland with her "I got good results in my SATs £10".

She was chuffed and decided to spend it on her end of term leaving disco outfit but the lady in Poundland wouldn't let her buy the false nails set she wanted as it contains superglue - sensible lady but one very upset 11 year old.

So I went to Poundland with her today and purchased said item, along with some extra long socks that she says she needs for her goth chick outfit.

I spent more than I was planning! These Pound shops are just awful for making you want crap you didn't know you needed until you saw it there for just a Pound.

The bizarre thing is in our local town of Brierley Hill we have several 'bargain' stores and two markets plus your usual high street shops, such as QS, Boots, Peacocks & Superdrug - and they are always busy!

It's only a straight road town - there isn't much hiding up the side streets or down alleyways but it is always rammed to the gills with people and Sunday closing still exists!!

The people of nearby Stourbridge are complaining that they are losing business to the Merry Hill Centre - they should look at Brierley Hill for a role model, sure there are empty and derelict buildings here and there but there are two libraries within a mile of each other and they are always busy too, the only thing Stourbridge has to offer that Brierley Hill hasn't got is a leisure centre. Merry Hill is geographically closer to Brierley Hill and most travellers to it have to go through our town to get there but Brierley Hill doesn't seem to be suffering the way of Stourbridge.

Because of my utter laziness tonight - well actually the fact that I am shattered, having been for a swim, walked home, up the hill to the town and round it, I decided that we were going to have convenience foods for dinner tonight - so we popped into Iceland on the way home. Now normally I do not advocate the use of convenience foods but there are just some days it's worth it.

The food was OK (ish) but I found it such a bloody faff to prepare - I would have been better off and it would have been much quicker if I'd made spaghetti bolognaise from scratch. So convenience food tonight was actually a pain in the arse and a waste of resources and time.... grr....

Ho hum - we live and learn.

This is our dog PVC aka Polly, I took this pic with my mobile phone at about 12.30am today.

Polly is a rescue dog - we got her three years ago from a home near Wolverhampton.
When she first arrived she was a shivering wee 6 month old, terrified of her own shadow. She wouldn't go near men - which was a bit of a problem considering she lived in a house with four of the buggers! You couldn't throw a ball for her either, it would seem that our dear Polly had been badly brutalised.

The rescue centre told us that she had been thrown from the window of a moving car.

Eventually Polly came to love us as much as we love her and she is a wonderful sensitive dog, who is all bounce and barks when necessary.

She's part collie most part nutter crossed with a bit of everything.

She'll do.

Today is the second anniversary of the London bombings.

It is also my husband's 36th birthday.

For his birthday - he got a floor.

For his workshop - from our friend Clare.

He also received - from me a box set of Cheech & Chong DVD's and autiobiography of Graham Chapman from Monty Python.

From our daughter - she made him a Ghostbusters kit, with a sucker gun and holster, with a jar for catching spooks and ghoulies, which contains a selection of 'blow the roof of your mouth' sweeties, pork scratchings and other comestibles.

Hubby and Clare are building said floor now - I have just sorted through a sack of assorted and rather rusty screws to find the right amount of said screws to put the floor together. I don't need a tan on my hands at least - very rusty.

Not a bad day so far - I'm off for a swim shortly and we are having chinese for tea - Huzzah!!

Hangovers shall ensue tomorrow - and I have to go to work because they wouldn't let me have tomorrow as annual leave.

Beware of pissed call centre agents tomorrow!