06/10/2013 - Big Scary Giant Cat

Paul woke me up at about 6:30am. I was still on the sofa. Oops.

I went to bed and managed to fall asleep for another hour or two. We then spent a little time pondering what to make for our late lunch for Lucy, Chris and A. We decided on party food. Because that's the kind of people we are!

Paul went to the shops to go and get all the ingredients. I cleaned the shower room. I'm so rock and roll like that! It looks a million times better, even just after a little wipe over, so why don't I do this more often? Oh, because I'm lazy. That's right!

While preparing for our guests, Barney decided to show us exactly how big the pouf is as a chair for visitors.

A whole Barney, all those bellydots and my handbag! Clearly ample space for at least a football team on that pouf!

Maia then decided to help!

 This. Never. Happens.

They're far too close to each other for any good to come of this...

Not a flattering angle for Beep, but he looks rather shocked to be caught in this 'arrangement' don't you think?

Lucy, Chris and A turned up at around 4pm, where we feasted on flatbread pizza, cheese, pineapple and pickled onions on sticks, peanuts, smoked cheese, sausages in chilli jam...haloumi wrapped in prosciutto ham, asparagus tips...Mediterranean bread. Twas a delicious feast.

We also watched a condensed version of our wedding pictures. We wanted to hide some of them, plus we can't expect everyone to sit through as many as we are willing to! A was not impressed that we had turned off Pepper Pig to watch pictures and instead wanted to play with the letters on my fridge. Eventually I relented and went to play with her!

Lucy and Chris watched the wedding video, and I kept playing. A was being adorable, and I was getting lots of hugs and kisses, which are always welcome!

They stayed for a while, which was lovely, and it was nice to be able to just relax and enjoy company, but it got to a stage where A was getting a bit tired, so home they had to go.

Once they left, we picked at food a little more, then watched Strictly, X Factor, then went to bed. Busy day! Being social is tiring work! Just as the kitties, who had to run away from A all afternoon!

02/08/2013 - More ouchies!

Still no gym this morning. I figured that was probably a good idea with my back still being sore. I don't like it. I'm not used to having to think of other ways to start my daily posts!

I came to work nice and early to get a good start on the day. HA!

 57 tasks. Manageable. Most of those tasks were simple and I could easily get those done in the morning!

I went to make myself a nice honey and lemon to start the day at my desk when I accidentally decided that I didn't need my little finger any more and made a valid effort in cutting it off.

 Sorry if you're squeamish or are offended by chipped nail polish.

It would not stop bleeding. It flaming hurt as well. Probably because it was a good slice into the finger and also the knife had been cutting a lemon at the same time! At least I knew that it would clean the wound, I guess. BUT OUCH!

I manned up, put a nice big plaster over it (which would be replaced twice in the work day alone) and got on with my tasks. Until the computer system stopped working. We were asked to log out for about 20 minutes but we would get a phone call to confirm when we could log back in.

After 3 hours we didn't hear a thing. Seriously. 3 hours. So we rebelled and logged back in any way. Crazy, huh?!

No-one told us off so we carried on. Bear in mind that by this point it was 3:50pm!

I then got asked to take a picture of colleague A for the firm's website. He really hates having his picture taken so I sent a few 'glamour' shots before the serious one.

I have protected his identity in this pic. You might guess.

It's a good look, huh?!

After work I went home and headed straight for my yard office to get on with more place cards for the wedding. It's pretty much my life now. I'm quite enjoying it though, so can't grumble!

I was joined by a very beautiful creature.

My gorgeous girl! She loves that chair! It's like a hammock for her!

I took a dinner break and Paul joined me so we turned the office into the dining room!

A mountain of food for us tonight! Chilli con Carne with crushed chilli nachos, a sprinkling of cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Naughty but nice!

All home made and all delicious.

After I had finished my place cards for the evening we came inside to see what was on tv. The answer: Nothing. We watched Continuum that we had recorded and then were at a loss.

There was only one thing for it:

Oh yes. Debbie Gibson as a scientist. Who wouldn't want to watch it?!

I, however, started nodding off, so we paused it and headed to bed. I still haven't seen the end. Oops. The shark is my favourite, though.

20/04/2013 - Busy Busy...again.

Early start today. It's Breakfast Club day! YAY! My bezzie and her little girl came over for breakfast! Whoop!

A was very excited as she was getting to see the cats, whom she hasn't seen for a very long time! She doesn't remember the first time she met them as she was only a baby!

Well she took quite a shine to our Barney (Maia pretty much hid the whole time) but Barney wasn't too sure about A! It was very cute and funny, except we kept losing A as she'd wander off round the house looking for a cat!

By the time they left, she had mastered saying 'Maia' and 'Barney' and I even got a Cay-ine for Caroline which is a pretty good attempt if you ask me!

She also took her usual shine to Paul! She is into her wrestling moves and kept lying upside down on Paul So what did he do?

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A the bungee jumper! This was the most fun ever for her! She loved it! No sooner had he put her back down again than she was running up to him with her arms in the air saying 'again! again!'

After A and Lucy left, and the cats were happy, we headed out to Hobbycraft for more invitation equipment! They didn't have the majority of things that we wanted. One was not amused. We got a few bits and it seems the internet is going to be our friend. I wanted to actually purchase things in a shop and keep the country afloat (as I'm going to be spending a small fortune) but alas it's not to be! We did buy a glue gun though and that's going to be the most fun ever!

We then headed back to Ikea for more tealight holders (it's an obsession but luckily we can get 12 for £2 so we're not breaking the bank) and then to Toys R Us for...well...I can't say. We didn't get what we wanted but Paul got to play with a lightsaber so it wasn't a wasted visit.

The force is strong with him.

It was such a lovely day but again, as much as we wanted to we didn't have a drink! Aren't you proud of us?!

We got a few other bits and bobs and then settled back in at home to catch up on some TV. I also made the first draft of our wedding invitations (without some of the embelishments I had planned due to Hobbycraft being out of stock...booo) which I'm quite impressed with! We ned to make a few other alterations to them but it's a solid idea and it looks good!

Still no spoilers, soz!

23/03/2013 - New and exciting things!

No rest for the wicked. Today we were up and out the door! A trip to see my lovely friend and Maid of Honour, Lucy, was in order! I wanted to see my bridesmaid dresses, damnit!

Sorry, guys and gals, I won't be posting any spoiler pics on here of those either. Especially as one of the bridesmaids hasn't actually seen her dress in the flesh yet!

The colour wasn't exactly what we had hoped for, but it's not a horrible colour, so can live with it! The joys of internet shopping! We will need to tweak things here and there I think, but nothing really major.

Whilst Lucy was trying on her dress, her gorgeous little girl (who is also in the wedding party) wanted to be a princess too and put a pretty frock on! Well, who am I to say no?! This isn't her bridesmaid dress, by the way...but she looks too cute not to show you!

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 Isn't she just adorable! :)

Bella also wanted to say hello to you all. I love this doggie so much!

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So does A! Big huggles all around!

We got a surprise breakfast made for us by Lucy (with Paul's able assistance) so I babysat...

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Yep. Not sure I'm the best influence on A. :)

After breakfast was enjoyed, we made the decision that it's going to be a regular occurrence. YAY! We gots ourselves our very own breakfast club! I'm far more excited about having this than a regular night out! God, I'm getting old!

From Lucy's we popped back home and then headed out to the train station for our next big adventure. We got the train to Chester!

I have never been to Chester before, so I was very excited.
 

See how excited I am!

Paul was also really up for the road rail trip!

Our reason for going to Chester was to go and look at wedding rings! We had been speaking to a jeweller at a wedding fair a few weeks ago, and they had kindly given us a leaflet for 10% discount. WELL...considering how much this wedding is costing us, 10% discount anywhere is very welcome indeed!

The chap we spoke to (who had amazingly fluffy eyebrows) was very helpful and helped me choose the right band to match my wedding ring. Sadly, as my engagement ring is an awkward shape, they have to send it off with the wedding band so they can shape it to fit. WAAAAA! I hate being without my engagement ring! I feel naked without it! :( :( :(

Then onto Paul. He was very specific about what he wants, and luckily for us, it's simple and effective!

This isn't it, by the way. It's just the only picture I could sneakily take while the chap was doing some maths!

We left the shop, burning a hole in my credit card on the way out, but at least that's another thing done! It's probably going to be 3-4 weeks until I get my engagement ring back though. I AM SO SAD.

Paul, upon hearing me whinge, moan and complain, took me into M&S and bought me a temporary replacement! :)

My £12.50 engagement ring. It's platinum plated and....well...it's a ring. They only had 2 small sized rings to choose from and this was the best of a bad bunch. It's pretty I guess. Just not as my engagement ring!

I realised that it's just over a year since I was first without my engagement ring and we went to get it re-sized! I got a replacement then as well! I have no idea what happened to that ring. I think I prefer this one though! Obviously neither are a patch on the real one! Just checked back and I didn't take any pics of the other replacement. That's how much I liked it. It was a bad time though, so we'll just move on!

After milling around Chester, which is a beautiful place, and I wish I had taken more pictures but it was Saturday afternoon and I had very little in the way of battery left, we headed to Abakhan, a fabric shop, to try to find some ribbon to match the bridemaid dress sash on Annabel's dress. We couldn't. We found some material which matched the main fabric, so we bought some of that as reference for anyone who wants reference! We then headed back to the train station, but on the way, stopped for a sneaky beverage at a bar call Kash near the train station. Paul loves it.

 

Here we both are, enjoying a beer called Spänk. *teehee* which was very nice. It was here we designed our wedding invitations. If it comes off as planned, they are going to be AWESOME!

We're probably a little behind with that, but as we're making them ourselves, we should be ok. I hope!

We headed home after a few siplets of Spänk, and settled in for the night, watching 'Taken' on Blu-ray! Paul headed off to bed not long after. I discovered that 'The Time Travellers Wife' was on Channel 4, so decided to stay up and watch it. I love the book, so thought I'd give the movie a go.

I liked it. I was sad that they missed some bits out but still bawled like a baby at the end! I don't think I've cried that much at a movie in a while!

I wasn't alone watching the film. I had company...   

Barney & Maia both decided that Mummy was the perfect place to come and curl up! Barney NEVER comes to cuddle me, so this was amazing! I love having a duvet on the sofa, and I think the cats do to.

I could not get them to move though. Seriously. Dead weight! It got to about 12:50am when I couldn't take being awake any more and had to kick them off me so I could go to bed! It was a conflict of feelings - Barney cuddles (which I may never get again) or sleep in my comfy bed?!