Journal Entries
NaJoPoMo 2014 Day 8 - The C Word Part 2
Posted Nov 8, 2014
I opened my email this morning and found one from Dunelm offering me Christmas trees. This triggered an idea for today's journal - I'm not at work so not listening to the radio for ideas and quite frankly I'm still feeling so lousy inspiration is in short supply.
In January I boxed up my old Christmas tree and put it in the outhouse ready to Freecycle as soon as I'd bought a replacement. It's a five foot pre-lit tree but the lights haven't worked for coming on four years now. I throw a couple of hundred fairy lights at it and some interesting decorations, and it's perfectly fine. But I want a new six footer with working lights built in, and the January sales is the ideal time to pick up a bargain.
The trouble is, I've actually done this for the last three years. Which means this December is going to be the same as the last three, where I have to get the tree back out of the outhouse, leave it in the dining room for a week to "decompress" (ie, allow the spiders to jump ship) then put it up. And check the lights, just in case the fairy light fairies have paid a visit over the last year (or I have talented spiders 
).
I'm really hoping to find my bargain tree next January. I suppose the way to maximise the possibility is to actually look, which I think may be where I've been going wrong for the last three years.
And looking on the bright side, this journal's given me an idea for tomorrow's.
Deb 
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Latest reply: Nov 8, 2014
NaJoPoMo 2014 Day 7 - The C Word
Posted Nov 7, 2014
This time in 7 weeks it'll all be over. How did that come around so quickly?
I'm looking forward to Christmas, as usual. Apart from the fact that I love all the glitz and the family time, it's a wonderful break from work when everyone else is off. This means that when I come back my desk isn't piled high.
Well, usually. This year it probably will be. Thanks to the judicial application of two flexi-time days and 2 days from my floating holiday allowance, I'm off for a whole two weeks this year. I break up at 3.30pm on Friday 19th December and I won't be back at my desk until 7.30am on Monday 5th January. 
I'm doing something new and exciting before Christmas - I'm having my niece & nephews to stay for two nights! Up to now I've only had them overnight and that's challenging enough for someone who likes her own space and company. But they've been saying for a while that they'd like to stay longer, and with five days off before Christmas it seemed like a good time to bite the bullet and give it a go. Plus it'll be a nice opportunity for their mum & dad to catch their breath and get in some peaceful, unaccompanied shopping, wrapping, sleeping, partying til the wee small hours, whatever. They don't get the opportunity that often because, let's face it, three aged from 7 down is quite a handful and I'm the only one who ever offers.
My stepbrother and his fiancee are doing Christmas this year so me, my mum & my stepdad will head over there in the afternoon. I think it'll be a bit weird for my mum as my stepdad's ex-wife will also be there. It's all very civilised and we all get on, but still. My stepsister-in-law's mum & dad, sister & boyfriend will also be there, which is a bit excessively social for my tastes. My stepbrother & fiancee genuinely think we're all one big happy family and don't see that it's just a tad ... extended. Oh well, it's only a day. My brother and his family will join us after dinner so the kids'll take the social pressure off a bit.
I'm assuming boxing day will be at my brother & sister-in-law's, they usually have a bit of a buffet get-together.
And then it'll be 27th December - my favourite day of the whole year, when the social obligations have been fulfilled, family fun has been enjoyed, and I can settle down with cold turkey, mash & pickle and whatever box set the dog's bought me this year (Grey's Anatomy Season 10, already got it).
Deb
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Latest reply: Nov 7, 2014
NaJoPoMo 2014 Day 6 - Memories
Posted Nov 6, 2014
November is always a month of reminiscences for me. Monday would have been my dad's 68th birthday, and next week is the 8th anniversary of his death. So I always think about him this month.
November was also the month I met Jeff, my husband, so I think about him this month, too. I just did a quick calculation and it turns out that on 28th October he'd been gone for longer than we were together.
Actually I just realised something I've never noticed before. Jeff & I always considered our anniversary to be 21st November as that's when we got together as a couple. But we met the previous weekend, actually on the 16th - which is also the anniversary of my dad's death. Weird.
I say Jeff & I met on 16th November, but that's only when we physically met. We'd been chatting on-line and then on the phone for several weeks so felt like we knew each other already. Although we felt like that, he still brought his friend with him for moral support, and I brought mine. What I didn't realise until later was that my brother, who lived with me at the time, deliberately didn't go out that night so he would be close at hand "just in case". Bless.
Another reason I think of him at this time of year is the song Forever Autumn. It's strange, because it was never a significant song for us, but the first time I heard it after he died I burst into tears. It took me completely by surprise. Eventually I remembered one Sunday afternoon we'd spent in his room at his parents' house, so within 6 months of us meeting, when we lay on the bed and listened to his CD of War of the Worlds. It's not something I had particularly remembered up to then, but to this day I think of Jeff every time I hear the song.
Memory is a strange and wonderful thing, isn't it? Although November is a sad month in a way, the memories really aren't, and they're so precious.
Deb
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Latest reply: Nov 6, 2014
NaJoPoMo 2014 Day 5 - Writer's block
Posted Nov 5, 2014
As I sit down to type this journal entry, I have no idea what it's going to be about. There was nothing on the radio this morning that inspired me and I haven't been able to come up with anything.
*thinks*
How about health? I have a stinking cough & cold at the moment. Usually a cold goes through me from scratchy throat to runny nose to full on head full of cold porridge to feeling well again in about 24 hours. I never get them bad, but this time It's been going on for 6 days solid. My voice has all but gone, I spend all night coughing, my nose is somehow runny AND blocked at the same time. It's starting to get annoying now.
And to add to that, I have a verruca. I've never had one before, and can only assume it came from standing on the scales at my slimming club as that's the only time I was* ever barefoot. This one appeared in June and I immediately made an appointment with the nurse - I'm diabetic so I can't just bazooka it or whatever, apparently. She referred me to the podiatrist and I finally have my appointment this afternoon. In the meantime she told me to cover it with duct tape. Really. Google it. Trouble is she also gave me some hard skin removing cream (I can't pumice either, it seems) and that stops the duct tape from sticking. Hopefully I'll get a little more out of my appointment this afternoon.
Well, that turned out icky, didn't it. Let's hope there'll be a nice interesting topic being discussed on the radio tomorrow morning 
Deb
* I make sure I wear pop socks these days! 
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Latest reply: Nov 5, 2014
NaJoPoMo 2014 Day 4 - On the radio today
Posted Nov 4, 2014
One of the things I planned for this year's NaJoPoMo was to write about things being discussed on my local radio station, Radio WM, on the way to work in the mornings. They talk about local & national issues, people phone or text in, you know the type of thing. Sometimes I have plenty to say on what's being discussed, all of which is addressed to the steering wheel
This morning one of the topics was where you'd go if you could up sticks and move. Would you go travelling? Move somewhere exotic? One man said he just wanted to grow old and die in Birmingham, surrounded by family, which is a pretty nice ambition really.
For me, it would have to be Dorset. I discovered Lyme Regis during my holiday last week and found it utterly gorgeous. I'd like a place with a view along the seafront to the Cobb, that's a view which makes my heart happy. Does anyone know what I mean by that? It makes me feel both peaceful and energised. Of course, because this is just a pipe dream I can ignore the awful, awful internet connection there!
It's a good job I have that lovely mental view in my head to keep me just this side of sane as I battle the mountain of post, emails and people needing attention on this, my first day back at work!
Deb
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Latest reply: Nov 4, 2014
Deb
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