another week

This week has flown by yet again with no peace . The parents are still here with no sign off them going home as yet. Don't get me wrong you love your parents to bits but their does not seem one room to escape to. Andy and i have found the only safe haven is the bedroom. ( pretty good some would say, but no not really).
So far we have had 3 weeks of visiting and words are sometimes a little strained but as in most cases i would think this would be pretty normal.The kids are now finding it a little hard , we are the parents and they are the grandparents but at times this seems to be a little confusing........
I was looking forward to next week , i am going in for a minor op on tuesday and was looking forward to the nice quiet break at home by myself. " No " i shall now have them at home with me so wish me luck, i think the bedroom will be my second home. I have now decided i need a bigger house....4 adults,2 kids and 2 dogs were not meant to be in a 3 bedroom house. Stepanie was lucky she managed to escape Friday night and Saturday she went for a sleepover at a friends , so if anyone wants me i could do with one to.
I shall now escape with the dogs for a walk,. There is no peace exept with them and wish me and Andy luck.

customers

Today you could definately tell we are getting near Christmas. I work on what we call front of house, which is where we sort out any customer problems, goods returns and registrations.
Let me help you out a bit i work for a large wholesalers called Makro in England and Metro in other countries, Well every 2 weeks we have what we call a makro mail , This is a magazine with all special offers in it, at even more discounted prices.
It seemed today that the devil has just been unleashed in very irate customers, unfortunately suppliers let us down or people just get there too late and either the goods have sold out or not been delivered.You would think from grown- ups that being totally rude and abusive would not happen ,but boy did we get it today. it seems a sad day when people feel that they have to swear at you when you don't have what they want, and the more you stay calm and try and help them the worse they seem to get.
I have decided that people should start their Christmas shopping earlier and then think of the poor people like me that have to put up with them ,When what they want isn't in stock.
So to end up please spare a thought for the staff at Christmas who are just trying to do their job.

I hate rain

Today was one of those days when the weather can't make up it's mind, it has drizzled all day , cold i can stand but i wish it would either pour or just not bother.
Stephanie decided today we had to go to town to spend her birthday money. I dutifully collared Andy to come as i wanted to finish the christmas shopping and for the last 15years it has been down to me to do. I told him at some point on our jaunt it was 10 years , but he soon pointed out .
Andy.... how long have we been married?.
Me..... 15 years , why?
Andy.......so it's not 10 then is it.
Me no you are right .That just makes it worse, plus i only have to buy 2 presents.
We got the last 2 presents and so as per usual i am totally finished by the 1st of December.....
Stephanie was happy she bought what she wanted, so we trundled home and then i took the dogs out and got even wetter.

This is Andy while we were in Brussels , he is doing his map reading as we decided to do our own exploring.After promising no rugby this weekend , notice the scarf...Swing low sweet charriot england rugby.....ptui.

Andy and i on our horse and carriage ride. A definate must if you get the chance.

our trip

Andy and i had a great weekend away, The weather was really cold but at least it didn't rain.
We stayed in Brussels and had a great time , we have decided we liked it so much we have booked to go back in April for our 15th wedding anniversary.Poor len is still crook so we didn't manage to meet up this time, i could have done with his help at our evening meal , Andy was no help at all and i ended up eating horse (Yuck) this was such a big sin for me as i am a qualifed riding instructor and have grown up with horses all my life.Luckily i did not like the taste and had only eaten a small amount.
A double pudding was ordered to get the taste away.
I was counting up all my trips this year and feel quite the little jetsetter, I have been to Brussels, Bruge, Sluise, weekends away in Leamington Spa,Alton Towers and last a week in New York. I think i have used all my trips up now, i will just have to start planning next year now.

mum is arriving

Tommorow i have now found out my mum arrives......So doing what we do the house has to be ship shape , the kids are groanong as they know i like the house just right for visitors, especially when it is your mum.......it seems funny, but however old we get we still get unerved when the parents visit. you seem to want to show them you can cope with life , keep house and have tidy and polite children......
Andy despairs every time my mum comes, he has said " you become jeckle and hyde in one, everything in it's place and make sure you put everything away" I can't help it it's my mum staying. MY dad happily arrived last week on an open ticket so i think my mum will as well.
Luckily for Andy and i we are escaping for the w/end over to Brussels and Bruge we are so looking forward to it, we are hopeing to meet up with some old friends on sunday night , but at the moment are a little bit crook so we wish you a speedy recovery and hope you will make it.
Meanwhile i must get back to house cleaning and tidy..

Puppy class

Bruno is now in his 5th week of puppy training classes, we are doing very well now, exept for the slight slip up of last week. This was mainly due to the fact of me being away for a week and of course we did not practise.
Terry who is our instructor and said in fun with a smile on his face.... we didn't practise last week did we tracey........of course i didn't... i was not at home to do anything.
I felt as if we should be better than the rest of the folks that go there, this is because Tyson is in the top class and me i have trained one dog to show level i should of course be so much better with Bruno. It's amazing how much you forget , but i am back up in control again and we have done our exercises each night . When we go Thursday, i shall hopefully shine in terry's eyes again and pup and i will get everything right.

the boys won again

Today the lads had a rugby match in Baisingstoke. The day started off ok , boys got up early , i had the dogs out and we were ready to go at 8.30.We got all the way to baisingstoke club unloaded the car and then disaster struck. A very few 4 letter words were said by Andy .......... WE ... NO .... HE had forgotten the team strip.........Disaster in every sense of the word. Well me being the super human person and mum that i am, get bravely into the car and sped at full pelt back down the motorway to fetch the shirts.
My poor car was not built to be driven at such high speeds and of course i'm not going to tell you how fast i actually went. But i arrived with shirts and team photo was taken in all their glory as yet our wonderfull lads had another great victory... It wasn't by a massive amount but we did it , so well done the under 14's of EASTLEIGH RUGBY CLUB.Me i shall enjoy this evening as Andy has a lot of sucking up to do, Although i may just forgive him as he bought me a lovely bunch of flowers yesterday .. Thanks sweetheart.......

sleepover or not

Stephanie had her birthday sleepover last night. First things first we did the bargin bucket of KFC followed by choc sundae. We then had the girlie dvd.(confessions of a teenage drama queen)the girls all had sparklers and then tried to get them into sleep mode at 10.30pm. No such luck, i eventually got them to sleep at 3.3oam. Boy was i knackered this morning, me i was up at 7am take dogs for a walk and then the girls surfaced at about 8.30.
I was going to be really mean and wake them all up to go for a walk with me but being the softie i am , they got away with it. We then finished off with a rtip to the flicks to see Princess Diaries 2. What a great girlie film and was just as good as the first.
The girls decided it was a good party. Me i shall try and recover tonight,Jamie has his mate staying tonight as they have a rugby match in Baisingstoke tommorow, so as usual i am back at home with a full house of kids and no lie inn.
Poor Andy my first week back , the house full of kids , my Dad arrived , and now my Mum arrives on the 12th.No peace in this household for a while.........

David and Amelie getting the pumpkins.

See ...... I got to shop at "Tiffany's :) (but they didn't serve breakfast)

Samantha and i on our last night

me on the ferry.

Amelie and i on our way to The Statue Of Liberty

NEW YORK

ok folks here is a quick run down of my trip and places i managed to visit.

1. The Statue Of Liberty and Ellis Island.......out of this world but could not believe the security we had to go through to get to see it.
2. The Empire State Building......What fantastic views across the city, a sight definately not to be missed.
3. Central park...What can i say all those lovely coloured trees.
4.Ground Zero... A very eerie place but glad i went, it still has a melted girder made into a cross on the site where the towers were.
5.Little Italy, China Town,5th Ave,Broadway,Times Square,etc.
6. I even went up on a rooftop on 5th ave and looked on the street below, what a sight that was.
7.We went to Trump tower and even had our photo taken with Kevin who is in the second series of The Apprentice, YES I MET SOMEONE WHO IS A LITTLE FAMOUS, what a really nice
guy.
8We did the subway and didn't get lost,it was just so good for Samantha and David to take me to all the places i wanted to see. The shopping was fantastic and bought lots of goodies home for the kids and Andy,even more so for me,i must admit the wardrobe is now a bit fuller and with some new handbags to match.
What is a girl to do when she visits a shopping haven like that ,but shop, i also just happened to swan into tiffany and co, and of course just had to buy a wee something, which unfortunately set off the security alarms at the airport, and had to have my bag all searched .BUT hey it was worth it.Oh yes and jammy me got upgraded into club class.Little old me next to all the buisiness men, gosh did i feel important.
So all to say now is a very big thankyou to Samantha ,David and Amelie for giving me such a fantastic week and i shall be popping back in 2006. Also thanks to a great hubby for looking after everything at home for me and for buying my ticket to go. A big hug and kiss to all of you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to stephanie she has turned 10 today.I can't believe that i gave birth to her 10 years ago, how time has flown by in those years. I have decided that i seem to be getting older, i now have two kids in double figures.
We now have to wait untill Friday when 4 of her friends will be decending on our house for a sleepover and then to the flicks on saturday. She has decided that we will be going to see princess diary's 2 a real girlie film for me to sit through" OH WHAT FUN BEING A MUM".
so my blog of New York will have to wait. Stephanie just had to come first she has been a wonder growing up and gave me such a hard time when i was carrying her, she is so lucky to be here having originally carrying twins and losing one she has allways been so special and is the shining light in our house. So sweetheart happy 10th birthday.

I have returned

I am back safe and sound from my trip to New York .i am still trying to catch up with everything so hopefully i shall get on and do my blog tommorow night and you can see what a fantastic time i had.