Christmas at Kerry`s

Roman in cartoon form, I really like it.

Hello,  

I hope you`ve all had a very nice Christmas, I know I have. It`s just a pity it`s all over so quickly but such is life. The new year will be with us in a couple of days and we as a family will be doing it all over again. We spent Christmas Day and Boxing Day at Kerry and Slava`s and tomorrow evening they`ll be coming here. I`ll be going to a New Year`s Eve party with them and will bring Roman back after an hour or too. I`m not keen on seeing in the New Year and Roman will be ready for bed long before then so it`s the ideal solution.

Roman really loved Christmas this year as he is old enough to realise it`s a special day. He has been talking about Father Christmas for the last couple of weeks and was really excited to find a stocking full of gifts and the end of his bed on Christmas morning. He came into our bedroom and told me to open them for him, he did tell me, not ask but I forgave him...lol! Later we all sat around the tree and opened our presents and then Slava and Danny started assembling Roman`s toys, then playing with most of them! Jim and I bought Roman a keyboard and Slava decided that he was going to play with it before Roman had a chance...men! Roman was so funny with his keyboard, he spent a lot if time singing into the microphone that came with it. He sang `Twinkle Twinkle Little Star` over and over again, very loudly and with much feedback from the mike. Bless him, it was very sweet but so very noisy...lol!

I was back at work on Thursday though we weren`t particularly busy. The customers that we did have bought reduced price Christmas decs. Some even bought plants for the garden,  something I haven`t seen for some time now. I suppose gardeners will be planting out now that Christmas is out of the way though I think business will be slow until the end of January at least.

Today I decided to clear out my wardrobes and put the discarded items in charity bags. I did say in my Instructions To Self that it had to be done and it has, I`m quite pleased with myself and my wardrobe can breathe easier. I`ve also thrown out seven pairs os shoes, why I`ve kept them so long I have no idea but at last they`re going. Two pairs have only been worn the one time, the pair I bought for Kerry`s wedding ( expensive and uncomfortable) and a pair I bought for someone else`s wedding ( just uncomfortable!)  Now they can be worn by someone that has slimmer feet and similar taste. Now I can start on another room, the computer room...it`s full of rubbish and if I open the cupboard doors half of the stuff in there will fall on top of me so it must be done next week.

This afternoon Jim and I went shopping for a headboard for our bed. At the moment I still have the old one from out smaller bed but as the sales are on I thought now is the best time to look. I hate the January sales because it`s the time when normally sane people pour into shops and throw money after things they often don`t need...I know because I used to be one of them, no more. I usually wait until the fuss has died down and I can browse in peace. But I digress, a headboard I wanted and a headboard I was going to get and after much shop hopping I found the perfect one, not in the sale but much nicer than the ones we`d been looking at...AND...ot was £20/$40 less than the ones in the sale. I came away very happy after a good afternoons work. The only thing is it won`t be available for a couple of weeks but I can wait.

From reading several of your journals I was saddened to read that two J-Landers, Lahoma and Kim,  had lost their battles with cancer at Christmas. I didn`t know either of them but I had heard about them and had looked at their journals. They will be much missed by their respective famillies and friends alike.

I`ll say goodbye for now. I hope you had time to look at my photos of Christmas. Take care and have a lovely weekend.

 

 

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Happy Christmas to All

                              

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas from myself and Jim and all my family, Kerry, Slava, Roman, Daniel and of course it wouldn`t be complete without Jake.

Tomorrow after work we`re going to Kerry`s for Christmas Day and Boxing Day and tomorrow evening we`ll all go out for a meal.  As I`ve said I`m working in the morning but I`m all ready to go, the presents are ready as is the food I`m taking for Boxing Day. I`ve packed a few things in a bag and that`s me ready for the off. I must admit I`ve been feeling a bit low the last few days. It might just be the aftermath of the cold I`m in the process of shaking off but whatever the reason I hope I feel a bit more cheerful by tomorrrow, I hate feeling so low.

Dan has just gone home after having dinner with us as he often does on a Sunday and I must admit to being a bit worried. It`s very foggy outside and there sre some crazy drivers on the road, I just hope he`s extra careful this evening. I went to the crematorium this morning to take some flowers for my Dad and my Mum. The visibility was very poor though many drivers didn`t even have their side lights on. I had my fog lights and sidelights on as I wasn`t taking any chances, I just can`t believe some people.

There were lots of flowers at the crematorium as you would expect at this time of year. When I arrived there were no vases left to put my flowers in so I decided to prop them up by the wall. As I turned to leave another couple came in and proceded to remove someone else`s flowers so that they could use their vase, I was shocked that they could do a thing like that. The flowers would have been left with love by a relative and they would have been terribly upset by the couples actions. Then the woman said that I should do the same but I got up and left without a word. I was afraid of what I might have said to her and it IS Christmas.

That`s it for now, again I want to wish a very Happy Christmas to you and your famillies. Take care.  Bye Bye for now.:o)

 

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Instructions to Self

 

 

                                  

 

 

Dear Self,

 

I`ve issued this set of instructions that should be implemented in the New Year. They are not resolutions because I`m not giving you a choice in the matter.

 

1)  You will cease to be a hoarder. All things that you`ve saved `just in case you need them` can be sorted again and the majority can be thrown away. This will be a long, tiring task and you can if you wish enlist the help of others ie: Jim, Kerry, Slava...erm Roman (perhaps not Roman) and just about anyone who is able bodied enough to carry all the old junk...I mean collectables out of the house. You may then need the sevices of a removal van.

 

2) You will not buy any more jumpers, tops, cardigans, sweatshirts in beige or fawn. I know the colour suits you but for pity`s sake, how many do you need? You don`t wear half of them so they can be bagged up and taken to a charity shop. While carrying out this instruction you might as well go through the rest of your clothes......and your shoes too, some of them haven`t seen the light of day since the 80`s.

 

3) You will stop spending your money on plants. Do you really need another orchid? Erm....ok then orchids are fine but you don`t need anymore pots, shrubs, garden ornaments, hanging baskets etc. Your garden centre is rich enough without you contributing your hard earned, but very low wages to them.

 

4) You must stop eating so much. I know you don`t put weight on easily but you should be careful at your age. It can`t be good for you. Chocolate can be eaten once a week but in very small quantities. Cakes once a week also and no more mince pies after Christmas, even if Tesco is selling them at half price.

 

5) This is a request rather than an instruction. It would be good for you to get off the computer and get a life. I can only hope you see the error of your ways before you become part of the chair you are sitting on at this moment.

 

6) You will stop looking in the mirror in the hope that the image that confronts you is someone else. It isn`t. It`s you and you will only get worse. Get used to it and move on.

 

7) You will try to stop telling anyone who will listen how wonderful, handsome, clever, loving, gorgeous, cuddly your grandson Roman is.  Only joking, I know when something is impossible.

 

8) You will stop giving Jake bits of cheese or ham. Have you noticed his waistline lately? The vet will not be happy.

 

9) You will tidy the computer room ( it`s starting to resemble a junk shop) and throw away anything that isn`t used by either Jim or yourself....including the old monitor, you`ll never use it again.

 

10) Get rid of Jim`s collection of fishing magazines, they take up too much room. Just don`t tell him.

 

11) For goodness sake, clean your car...it`s filthy, you can hardly tell what colour it is. Then do it again every month without fail.

 

12) You will fill in the new pages of your address book. Jim bought them for you two years ago and they are still in the packet. Open it and write on them p-l-e-a-s-e! When you done it throw away the scraps of paper with the new addesses on them.

 

13) You will be more tolerant of Jim`s fanaticism.....I mean obsession with recycling. Yes I know he does go on a wee bit but it IS for the sake of the environment...and to save being fined by the local authorities.

 

I think these are enough to be going on with but rest assured if these are not carried out, action will be taken.

 

Yours Faithfully

 

Sandra Scribbles

 

 

 

 

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Is it Christmas Yet?

Hello everyone,

Today I was thinking about what to talk about in my journal and I came up with a novel and seemingly clever idea. Then I thought again and realised it wouldn`t work at all. This always happens to me, I have these `clever` ideas early on in the day and by the afternoon they seem very silly. Maybe it`s because my brain is more alert in the morning or maybe I`m just a bit strange...who knows...lol!

 

                          

I`m afraid you`re going to have to read the usual boring stuff that my days are made up of if you can bear it...lol! We had a lovely day out yesterday even though myself and Jim, Kerry and Roman were all sneezing and coughing all day. We must have looked a proper sight, the four of us with red noses and streaming eyes. I suppose though the red noses are quite seasonal...lol! We got to Reading at 9am expecting there to be queues at the car park. Not a bit of it, we found a place straightaway and then headed for BB`s, our favourite coffee shop to give us a lift for the day ahead. It was nice flitting around half empty shops knowing that later on the crowds would pour in and it would be every man and woman for themselves out there. Jim bought me a lovely pair of boots for Christmas, he won`t surprise me as he doesn`t trust himself to buy the right thing, though I would love it if he did. I do love the boots and I really need them as my old ones are looking worse for wear with constant Winter use over the last three years. If I have a comfortable pair that I like I wear them out....I can`t see the sense in throwing comfy boots away, they become like old friends!

                                       

 

We met Kerry for lunch in Tootsies burger restaurant and then set out to but her present. Thankfully my daughter is easy to buy for as her tastes are similar to mine. I wish I could say the same for my Daniel who is a nightmare at Christmas. We`ve bought a couple of things but are now at a loss as to what to get him. We`ve decided to give him the money and let him choose for himself...it was so much easier when he was into Star Wars toys...lol!

 

 

                               

 

When we got back to the car park in the late afternoon we found that it was going to cost £12/$24  for our time there, we couldn`t believe it. For that money they could have washed and valeted my car at the very least! . It has really put us off going there again unless we can find somewhere cheaper but  Kerry told me one of the other car parks charge more...MORE???  I don`t know how they can justify that amount of money, it makes me mad, we`d already spent quite enough in the shops there without being penalised for the pleasure of it. 

 

                                              

I went back to work today and was quite relieved that I didn`t feel too bad. The only thing was that I was constantly coughing and sneezing and I just hope I didn`t put any customers off their shopping!  My boss gave me a bottle of wine as ` a thank you for your hard work this year`. It was a very sweet gesture and very unexpected. Now Jim and I can enjoy it with a meal at the weekend. The customers have been buying Christmas food from us today, quite a few lines have been reduced and one of them completely sold out in an hour. The `reduced` sticker on them obviously had the desired effect.

                                            

 

                          

 

I must go now and wash my hair, having a cold has certainly made it look as it`s not been shampooed for a month let alone two days.  I look like I`ve been dragged through and hedge backwards and and then through it again...lol! Take care  and have a lovely evening. Bye Bye. :o)

 

At the moment I`m having some quiet time. Kerry and Roman were here but have now gone home. Jim is visiting his other sister B, who lives not too far away and won`t be home for a couple of hours. I had planned to get his present this afternoon but I`m rather tired so I`ll go straight from work tomorrow afternoon and while I`m out I`ll drop some Christmas parcels in to some friends. At least that way I can get everything done at once and have the rest of the week to myself...apart from late Friday evening when Jim and I will take on the hordes and go late night shopping at Tesco. NOT something I`m looking forward to but must be done regardless...sigh.

 

 

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A Chilly Couple of Days

Oh dear, I have a cold....not just any cold but Roman`s cold. He`s at home feeling quite poorly and I`m not really that bad, just a very sore nose, a cough and some congestion. Poor little Roman doesn`t understand and he just knows he doesn`t feel very well, hopefully he`ll be over the worst in a day ot two. Kerry says she isn`t too concerned as he doesn`t have a temperature but is just a little warm, these viruses just have to be given time to clear up. I wish I could pop over and give him a cuddle but since he`s moved away it`s not so easy anymore, hopefully I`ll see him Monday when we`ll all meet up on Reading where we`ll be finishing our Christmas shopping.

                     

The last few days at work have been absolutely freezing. With no heating in the shop I might as well have been working outside it`s been that cold. Even though I wear three layers of clothing under my fleece and body warmer, thermal socks, scarf and fingerless gloves, I still felt cold. Today the weather has been several degrees warmer but because it`s very damp the cold just goes right through you. It`s what I call bone-numbing cold and I was glad to come home to my lovely warm, central heated house....bliss! There have been lots of customers buying their Christmas trees, lights and decorations. The lights are reduced in price by a third and are selling really well. I bought a holly wreath for the front door on Tuesday and it looks really lovely, I must take some photos to show you tomorrow.

                        

Yesterday morning on the way to work there was a terrible accident. A man had slid on some ice and had been thrown off of his motorbike. Two ambulances were there and he was being attended to by both crews, it looked really bad and I`m looking out for some news. The hospital is just a couple of minutes away from the crash site and I hope and pray he`ll be alright. Because of the crash the traffic was badly held up and we had to crawl through the narrow gap between the abulances. When it came for me to go through a car came the other way and the driver was swearling loudly at me to back up and let him pass. I could clearing lip read what he was saying and I couldn`t repeat one word here. Aggressive driving like that is the kind of thing that causes accidents, especially on already dangerous icy roads...it made me very angry to think that man could behave like that when another man was lying on the grass verge badly injured or worse!

                          

Last night Jim and I attended my works annual Christmas dinner. It was held in the pub across the road and the meal was wonderful. I had the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings and for dessert I had a chocolate pavlova, possibly the best tasting chocolate dessert I`ve ever had. If you like chocolate, it wasn`t to be missed. I would go back there just for the pavlova at least once a week...lol! We had to leave at 10pm because Jim had to be up at 4am for work but it was still a nice evening and everyone enjoyed themselves.

                          

I must go now and put the evening meal on the hob and empty the washing machine. Then I can come back and read some journals. I hope you all have a nice evening and a lovely weekend. Bye Bye. :o)

 

 

 

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Back To Work

At last I am able to add an entry. The last couple of days have been frantic and I don`t know where the time has gone. I`ve at last finished writing the Christmas cards ready to take to the Post Office along with some parcels, thankfully Jim helped me to write them or I`d still be up to my eyes in them!

Our weekend away was really nice though the weather was dreadful. Wet, windy and very cold every day we were there. Roman was as good as he could be the whole time and didn`t ask for his Mum or Dad at all. He was spoiled rotten by Jim`s sister and her hubby and also by her granddaughter who Roman absolutely adores. We took him into Margate on the Saturday and he spent most of it under the raincover in his buggy/stroller. While we were there we had lunch and then we headed for home as it was too cold to shop and definitely too cold to walk along the seafront. On the Sunday I took him to the park so he could play for a while and when we eventually returned home we were both covered in mud, much to Roman`s delight...though not mine...lol! I couldn`t take any photos because I forgot to take the camera but with the weather being so bad there was nothing to take pics of anyway. We returned home on Monday evening feeling tired but very well fed and much rested after our few days away. Hopefully the next time we go we`ll see some sunshine.

Like I said earlier, I`ve finished the cards and all the present wrapping. I decorated the tree and the rest of the house on Monday evening and am very happy with the result. We have more lights than usual though only indoors, we don`t put them outside. I might take some photos later and post them on here.. I`ve also been sorting through wardrobes and cupboards to clear out what we don`t need. Jim has blitzed his wardrobe and has taken a large sack of clothing to a charity shop. Now I must do mine as I know there is so much stuff I don`t wear anymore. At least it`ll leave more for new clothes, though the way my bank balance is at the moment I won`t be buying for me for some time yet, Christmas is very expensive and that is with major cut-backs this year...sigh.

Our neighbours have finally found a buyer for the their house...hooray!  Now we`ll have to see who the new ones will be...that will be interesting. They can`t be as bad as the present owners or at least we sincerely hope so. I`ll have to be nosy and ask them if I see them.

The last few days have been absolutely freezing, it was -4 deg. when I left for work at 8.15 this morning and the road was very icy. I don`t really mind cold, frosty days because they are preferable to mild, wet and miserable ones. I was so wrapped up today that I didn`t get the chance to be cold and I made doubly sure by sweeping the shop floor at a very brisk pace. We`re getting a lot more customers now, especially for Christmas trees and decorations, though Poinsettas and Cyclamen are selling well too, people really seem to be getting into the Christmas spirit. We also have Christmas songs playing and it makes it all very festive...watch this space to see if I feel the same about the music in a weeks time...lol!

 Just before I go, I want to say thanks to all of you who`ve sent me Christmas cards, it was lovely to get them and I thank you all again. I`ll say goodbye for now and hope that you all have a lovely evening. Take care. :o)

 

 

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Weekend Away....again!

Just a quick line to say that we`re off to Kent for the weekend very soon. I`ve had terrible problems with AOL and I don`t know how long I can stay online before I`m thrown off for the umpteenth time. Hopefully we`ll have a lovely time and Roman is looking forward to it, I asked him if he was looking forward to coming and he told me was. He then said "Case packed Nana",  Kerry says everything has been ready since Wednesday! Anyway, I`ll be back again late Monday and AOL permitting I may be online in the evening. Have a great weekend my friends. :o)

 

 

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Goodbye to Prague

Well there we were, lost in the back streets of Prague and it was dark and very quiet. We walked round and round in circles and it was getting pretty cold. It was no use asking the way because there weren`t any tourists about, just locals that most probably didn`t speak English, and why would they? Then I spotted a road name that stood out a mile...Portabella Road!  Not the kind of street name you`d think of outside of London but I`d seen it earlier in the day and remarked on it then, we were just around the corner from the hotel and had been all the time...panic over...lol!

We decided on a drink in the bar but there was a noisy crowd of guests, not British I`m happy to say so we didn`t bother. Another early night it was so we`d be bright eyed for our last day. In the morning the weather had changed and it was snowing and raining and much, much colder. I tied my scarf around my face and we headed off back to the castle, this time we stopped off in Wenceslas Square for a bit of Christmas shopping and to warm up a bit while we were there. I bought Roman a warm hat, gloves and thermal socks for his trip to Russia in January with Slava. I also bought myself some thermal socks for work. Jim bought lots of local chocolate for some of our friends (and us of course!) and these little coconut cookies that we don`t have here...shame! I didn`t really by any serious Christmas shopping as it would have been too hard to bring home again but somehow I managed to spend quite a bit of money here and there. Afterwards we hurried off to the castle and this time we went onside, the weather had improved somewhat so it was nice to take our time walking around. The best bit was seeing St.Vitus Cathedral in the heart of the castle grounds. It`s a very holy place for the Czechs and there were a great many visitors inside. What I especially liked about Prague is that you didn`t have to pay entrance fees wherever you went. The exception was the loos where it cost 10 crowns ( about 30p or 60 cents) each time...lol!

We had covered a lot of ground over the weekend but it was certainly worth it, there was so much we saw and even more that we didn`t find time too. We both thoroughly enjoyed our long weekend and would recommend it to anyone who`s thinking about going there. We had a good flight there and an even better one coming home, it`s a pity that it was over all too soon. I forgot to mention our wonderful taxi driver who drove us to and from the airport. He was a really nice man who was about our age. He spoke almost perfect English and he told us so much about his country. The Czech Republic has found that things aren`t that great now that they are in the EU and that prices have gone up dramatically but wages are still very low. He also told us about famous people who were born in the city,  Antonin Dvorak and Franz Kafka to name just two. He told us about the battle of White Mountain between the protestants and catholics, he talked about the economy, he talked about the dreaded Tesco who has got it`s claws into Eastern Europe with three large stores in Prague alone...before long they`ll take over the world. Anyway, I`d like to thank our driver even though I don`t know his name, he was such a good ambassador for his country.

I`ve been back a week now and it shows too. My re-charged batteries have run down again and its business as usual. I`ve done some my Christmas shopping and wrapped it but I still have quite a bit more to do. At the weekend Jim brought the decorations down from the loft though I won`t be putting them up just yet. Last week I bought my Christmas tree, a real one that is rooted in a gold pot. At the moment it`s in the garden until I`m ready to dress it up. Jim wondered why I`m bothering with decorations as we`re going to Kerry`s on Christmas Eve until Boxing day but I wouldn`t hear of it. It wouldn`t be Christmas without the decorations. Tomorrow I`ll write out the cards, a job I hate as my handwriting is poor because of arthritis. I feel quite embarrassed about the scrawl I make when I once had nice writing...sigh.

At the weekend Jim and I are taking Roman to Kent for the weekend to stay with his sister. Kerry and Slava will have some time to themselves for shopping and decorating and Roman will be thoroughly spoiled. We`re all going to have a lovely time!

Anyway my friends, I`ll say goodbye for now. Take care and enjoy your day.

 

 

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