Tis the season...

Well lots of people would say its not yet the season for anything, but I am feeling decidedly as if Christmas will be here any day! This is, of course, no thanks to eBay who have a countdown to Christmas Day on their homepage.
Argos also have all of our Christmas decorations up and literal hordes of people buying literal hordes of presents for kids every single day.

Plus there's been the added pressure of the annual Christmas meet-up with Tom and Sarah which means that I have to really think about what to buy them! The current situation is one down and one to go - but I'm not saying which one, cos that would be telling!!

I've also heard tell that the Coca Cola advert is on TV - I haven't seen it yet - when I see it, it'll definately be Christmas, that's for sure. I sure do love seeing that ad, it never fails to get me in the Christmas spirit!

As for the 'rents, that shopping is also well under way, which is indeed very good - cos in previous years I haven't had the faintest idea what to buy them, but this year I do, so that's great too.

I'm also looking forward to 2011 - it should be a very good year and I'm anticipating lots of great and nice and memorable things happening. I hope 2011 will be the year that I move onwards and upwards with my life and career - with any hope I won't be the only one either!! I've had the whole of 2010 to - not vegetate - but to be at home, work at Argos, go back and forth to see friends and to be free to see and do and experience things and just be chilled out.
Now I need to go and be proactive and get a nice (hopefully well-paid) job, to be able to fund all of th crazy adventures that I want to get up to in my crazy life! I really like the idea of being financially independant one day and having a good and stable job is the key to that.
Now, being a History graduate, doesn't exactly lead to a career (in most people's minds) except teaching, so I've kind of been a bit at sea and not really - if I'm perfectly honest - applied for any jobs this year. This week, I'm appying for two. I'm also considering a mission trip for next summer.

However, that's all for next year. Right now we are 38 days away from Christmas, celebrating Jesus' birth in the most un-Christlike manner possible. So I need to nail my shopping - selected gifts and also a great many cards to get - and make a move on gettin ghte house tidy so we can have some semblence of decorations up...

Also it'll be my birthday and I'll be 23. I think its quite grown-up to be 23, what do you reckon?
Enough of my ranting and postulating on the subject of Christmas, the nights are drawing in and the days are getting much colder. Today we had to have the back door open all day because we have workmen here to do the guttering and they needed to plug their tools in - it will be great when their done, cos the guttering won't leak outside my bedroom window all night when it rains - but right now it must be colder inside than out!!

See's you soon peeps!

Remembrance

As October goes on and November approaches, all talk and a lot of time in our house goes on the Poppy Appeal.

It's very important to us not to forget the sacrifices made by members of our Armed Forces in times of war and dangerous duties overseas and also to preserve the memories of conflicts past now that those who fought in them are few (and dwindling) in number.

Mum and I were out selling poppies right from the 20something of October and our duties didn't end til Sunday just gone. For me - designing and editing the programme for the Festival of Remembrance at the White Rock Theatre - work had begun much further back in the summer and I saw the programmes (600 of them plus inserts) right through to completion. I was onhand at the Festival (14t Nov) to sell the programmes and poppies and to help Mum and others going up on stage with their bits and pieces.

We always make sure we watch the Festival of Remembrance from the Albert Hall, the morning's events at the Cenotaph and Songs of Praise for Remembrance Sunday on the TV too. All in all, its a busy weekend, having been at work both days but its well worth it. I also get to see some of the serving members of the Armed Forces who are local to this area as they take part in the Festival. I always find it a powerful - and important - thing to remember that they are my age, some of them younger and yet they do a tremendous and courageous job, one that I could never do.

It also reminds me of the links Hastings and East Sussex have to the Armed Forces. Not only are young men & women of our town represented in all 3 Armed Services, but we have links to 47 Reg Royal Artillary (who have freedom of the town) and the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment (one of the most senior in the Army) has East Sussex as one of its recruitment counties. It's important for me to remember these guys and girls because of the great work they do and their close connection with my home town/county.

So, as of before the Festival, Hastings and St Leonards had raised over £30,000 for the Poppy Appeal with lots more collecting tins still to be counted etc. So I say "good show" to the people of our town!! I can't wait to hear what the actual grand total is...!

So the Poppy Appeal is over for another year now, but the work of the Legion goes on: 24/7, 365 as does that of HM Forces wherever they are in the world. I look forward to getting my Poppy Press throughout the year and seeing other ways that I can support our troops.

Lest We Forget

Also in November, the wondorous occurance of me getting to go to Southampton occured!! I stayed with the wonder that is Miss Ruth Gill, in her palacial student abode. I got to see the Uni again and the city - we also went to Portsmouth and Winchester (where hilarity ensued over parking) to o some shopping and just spend some quality time together, while Ruth had a week off. Now she's having to get stuck in to the joys of 4th year and the dreaded dissertation :-(
It was a visit that was long overdue and very thoroughly enjoyed indeedy!

Work at Argos (of course) continues to proceed in Christmasy type fashion; we're getting busier, customers are getting stressier - all in the name of celebrating (supposedly) the birth of our Lord. So that brings me up to date with the life and times of yours truly.
I want to dedicate this blog entry to Ben and to Ian, and also to Brian - stay safe guys.

Blogadoon of the 9th month

Hello everyone.

Now, I know it has been a significant amount of time since my last blog, but I didn't want to blog just for bloggings sake. So I'm going to put a summary of all that happened in September here and that'll make it even more awesome than ever!!

HOLIDAY obviously!! Sarah, Tom and I spent a completely wonderful week in Croatia, taking in the delights of the ancient city of Dubrovnik and visiting some other places too - the most notable of these was Mostar in Bosnia. I find it so amazing that I can now say I've been to Croatia and Bosnia (though I've never been to Germany or Spain!!)

Every day of our Croatian adventure was packed full of new experiences and all sorts of fun. We walked the Walls of the Old City (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), visited the Cathedral, went to see the War Photography Exhibition (very poiniant considering the recent nature of the conflict in that part of the world), took a trip to the island of Lokrum: with its botanical gardens, crumbling citadel and gorgeous views. One day Sarah and I took a minibus tour to the city of Mostar in Bosnia. Not only was Mostar great to see and spend time in, but the experience of driving through Croatia and up in to Bosnia was wonderful.
The city of Dubrovnik is beautiful; steeped in history, with beautiful sea shore and coast, majestic buildings and fountains dating back to the 17th C and a wonderful blend of old and new as the bustling city spreads out from the walls and presents constant reminders of the all-too-recent war. We took a cable car (the cable car had only been reopened a month beforehand, having been destroyed in the war) up to the mountain that was a fortress in the war and has a museum up there.

When we got back, there was only a couple of days before Mum and I travelled to London for the Under London Blitz Experience organised by the London Transport Museum. Alydwich Tube Station (closed since 1995) was reopened for one weekend only and we went down to platform level for an hour or so.
There, they'd bought a 30s tube train for us to go on, decorated with all of the War posters they could muster, and many actors (dressed as a Spiv, a WVS woman, an ARP warden and a sheltering housewife) to give us a real taste of the war years. We took lots of pictures and they simulated an air raid overhead. Also there was a chance to buy lots of war related stuff and they made the whole thing even more authentic by parking an old style London bus (complete with old posters etc) outside the tube to add to the experience.

The following day was my great aunt and uncle's diamond wedding anniversary party. I feel that being married for 60 years is a blog worthy feat for sure! We had a pleasent afternoon where we nearly burnt a hole in my cousin's dining room table and got to hear all about the family travels to NYC and DC and had a great family photo taken (which I must see if I can get a copy of!).

All in all September was a great month for me. I hadn't been on holiday sinc we went to Morocco in 2007 and the memory of that holiday will forever be marred by the fact that my Mum didn't really enjoy it, even though I did!! So I can't really reminisce over that one in public, but with Croatia I can. I'll also always be able to look back through my passport and see the Croatian and Bosnian stamps there!

Now on to October and (brrrrr) November, for more awesomeness related to my life.

Hooray, hooray, its a holi holi day!

HEY! Well I'm up early to finish all my stuff for the big off. Holiday kind of begins today, as I travel to Sarah's, but kind of begins tomorrow when we fly out of Gatwick. Awesome.

So the last few days have been fun and hectic too. Here's a mini run-down:

FRIDAY:
Sarah's Bday. Train to New Malden. Hang out with Sarah and dogs, go to lunch at Prezzo with Sarah, Tom and Georgie. Back to Sarah's for cake and round one of presents. See Tom off to see Muse at Wembley, back to Sarah's for parental presents (including shoe boxes and bic biro), bit of holiday chat, home at 8pm!

SATURDAY:
Day of packing and holiday-related chaos. Day was split between doing all of the random stuff Mum wanted me to do before I clear off for a week and packing. The latter involving me turning my room upside down and emptying half of it into a small suitcase. Making lists, sorting handbags, putting toiletaries into tiny bottles etc

SUNDAY:
Work! Not much to say here. I sell people stuff and occasionally they have a go at me cos I won't give them a refund. Lots of people bought suitcases(!) and I have to bring back a magnet for the fridge in the Staff Room.

MONDAY (today):
Everything supposedly comes together. Ummmm.... Right. The plan is that everything is used, then packed, then I do all the other stuff I need to, then I get the train to Sarah's. Step 1: Get a shower and put some clothes on! Step 2: Get my Mum up! Step 3: Try and cram the rest of it in as quick as poss so I don't miss the train. :-)

TUESDAY (beginning Monday night):
Sarah's house. I arrive mid-afternoon Monday, Tom at tea time. We go to bed really early, to get up at 2am or thereabouts. Leave Sarah's, driven - exceedingly kindly - by her Dad both ways, for Gatwick at around 3.15am. Arrive around 4am. Our flight leaves at 5.55am and we get to Dubrovnik at 9.40am (GMT+1). Whoop!

We've yet to actually decide what we're going to do each day, but we reckon due to the early start, Tuesday would be a good beach day/chill out day/maybe suss out the local area. We're staying in Hotel Petka which is in the Port of Gruz (where all the cruise ships come in) so we may see some pretty cool ships (and lots of tourists?)

Basically its gonna be epic, so as its 9.30am now (we'll be coming in to land this time tomorrow!!!), I'd better get on! See you when I get back! That's Tues 21st btw and I'm over-nighting at Sarah's that night, so I come back to Hastings on the 22nd.
Then we go back up to London on the 24th for the Blitz Experience at Aldwych Tube Station (disused).

That's it for now. Bon voyage!

Holiday plans, outings and activities!

Well good morning everyone! I hope that where you are is reasonably dry, cos here on the not-so-sunny South coast, its well raining! Today I did have plans to continue with my DIY activities but had a lie in, read my Bible and am going curtain shopping later instead!

DIY? I hear you ask! Yep. Currently, my room is stripped of all wallpaper (including the fiddly lil bits round the edges) and half the skirting has been sanded down. Last night I put this special glue stuff on the big holes in the wall that appeared when the wallpaper came off. Now all we need to do is sand the other half of the skirting - as well as the door frame and the inside of the door - fill in the holes properly, and we'll be ready to paint!
The paint is called Jasmine White (variation on cream). The redecoration project has cost me lots of money and benefitted Home Retail Group considerably with all of the visits to Argos and Homebase! It'll definately be worth it though! When the painting is all done, it'll just be the flat packs to put together: bed, wardrobe, bedside cabinet, desk, radiator cabinet and 3 bookcases. Plus there's floating shelves to put up and then everything to organise. But its going well and everything is in place.
The latest visit to Homebase means I have a new curtain pole, some special crack-filling paint for the ceiling, undercoat and gloss for the skirting/door/frame, masking tape so we don't paint on't carpet and some random bits of wood that cost me £2 that I may make in to extra shelves! Next time we need to buy the radiator cabinet - I'm really excited about that. :-)

In other news, Tom, Sarah and I are attempting to arrange a meet up for before we actually get on a plane together for a weeks holiday. Its not going well. Let's hope we make some progress there over the next few days. On the holiday front, I ordered and then collected, my 2000 kuna from the Post Office last week. It cost me £246.91. I do still need to actually buy my travel insurance, but I'll be doing it as ever with Insure and Go, so all I need to do is click a few buttons and it'll be done. Cool. Then before I know it, it'll be time to print our boarding passes off, find and put in a safe place the PMTs (passport, money, tickets) and then pack and travel to Sarah's.

Between then and now I have the "Tunes of Glory" Military Tatoo at the Ardingly Showground on September 4th. It features Hayley Westenra and Blake, as well as a fly over by a Battle of Britain spitfire, five major bands: HM Royal Marines, Gurkha Pipes, RBL Youth Band etc. So it starts at 1pm and takes about 2hrs each way, so we should get home around midnight! Gonna be an awesome day!!

So I will also get around to doing my Keswick blog sometime soon... Oh dear!
Anyway, enjoy the last days of August lovely people, and roll on September!

K*E*S*W*I*C*K* 2010

Blog to follow soon, when I have a spare few moments to get my thoughts and memories in order!

Kez Wick Prep

I know its spelt Keswick but you know...

So tomorrow I get on a train and head back up North, in the direction of Stoke on Trent to overnight with Ruth before we head off to the wonder that is Keswick Wk1, and have lots of great fun and Jesus time etc!

Today was Keswick prep day and so I finally managed to fit all the stuff I need, and some stuff I maybe won't need, into the bags I'm taking. I'm going to look worse than ever with 2 suitcases and a backpack and my handbag all struggling up the Victoria Line from Victoria to Euston.

Ummmm that's really it, I've made the crosses I needed, got the colouring books, packed waterproof & wellies, sunglasses & shorts - all avenues covered! Rain is forecast for at least Sat-Wed (major grrrrr). Rain I can deal with though, its the wind and cold we've been having with it that I'm not too fond of funnily enough!

Right, must top up my Oyster and check for planned engineering works! See you sometime after the 21st!