Busy couple of days coming up!

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with a friend.
Monday we'll be going to see the in-laws
Tuesday we'll be getting the shopping delivered
Wednesday I can start writing again!

The pup's weirdness with food this morning

The pup was obviously hungry this morning because she went into the kitchen as soon as she heard the first nugget hit her bowl and blocked my way out.

When I asked her to "beep beep" she walked backwards to let me through until I said "OK" and she shot over to her bowl.

When I came out of the bathroom, she'd bought a big mouthful of nuggets into the main part of the kitchen, in front of the washer/drier, looked up at me with pleading eyes while I dried my hands, then carried on eating.

Bless her tiny little paws!

Just the one chapter today

Only written a single chapter today but one is better than none!

Steve and Mitzi

Just taken the pup for her walk and she pooed so I went out and cleared it up.

Then I went out the back and cleared up her poo from there, binned the bag and came in.

I'm now shaking like a leaf in a storm.

Then I asked him to take Mitzi's harness off and all he did was undo the buckles.  Yours truly had to take her harness and put it back in the kitchen.

I asked Steve to get the door today and he just fell asleep on me. 

Again.

That's all he effing does and I get the blame for the state of the house!  It's me that's disabled, not him!  He's my effing carer fer flip's sake - he takes the credit for that at every opportunity but doesn't actually do anything for me!

It's me that does everything for him and I don't get any credit at all!

Didn't go to bed until gone 10pm last night and...

..I woke up at just gone 7.15am so I can take my pills whenever I like and stay up as late as I like, knowing that I'll be up and about at my normal time the next day!  Yay!

2 chapters written and...

...I've discovered that my AP doesn't send me to sleep for 12 hours or even makes me tired.  I took my pills at 5pm as an experiment and it's now 8.15pm and I'm still not tired!

So, assuming I wake up at a sensible time in the morning, I'll know that I don't need to take my pills just before I head to bed any more!  Yay!

Another 2 chapters written today

Finished writing another 2 chapters then had me tea nice and early.

I can have another early night tonight... yay!

Scarey stuff just now!

I was quite happily reading facebook when my laptop started making a loud, scratching noise.

I immediately paniced and pulled out the power lead.

Still noisy so I pressed the power button.

The noise stopped.

I pressed the power button to turn it on again.

The noise started again.

Steve took the battery out of the back of it and I plugged it in.

It booted up fine so I shut it down and gave it back to Steve.

He put the battery back in and I plugged it back in to the mains.

Booted up.

It's been fine ever since!

Stoopid technology!

Impressive stuff by Monster!

Apparently Steve uploaded an updated CV to Monster yesterday afternoon.

He's just had a call on his mobile about a job.

At just gone 8am so less than 12 hours after uploading it.

Impressive stuff!

Wrote 3 chapters yesterday and...

...I'm hoping for at least another 2 today!

Wish me inspiration!  lol

Hillsborough tragedy in 1989

The new result is that the verdict is now gross negligence and unlawful killing of all those 96 football fans.

It's taken almost 30 years, but the truth is finally out.

My heart goes out to the families of all those affected.

It's the end of April, but...

...it's snowing fer flip's sake!

Fortunately it isn't settling but we're into Spring now, so why is it still snowing??!!!

That's another 2 chapters written

Just finished my daily 2 chapters so I'm going to spend the rest of the time catching up on forums and Facebook and emails and newsgroups until bedtime now!

That's it for 2 weeks now...

Just moved £75 into each of my savings accounts so I don't need to worry about moving anything else over for a fortnight now then it'll be £100 every fortnight into each account!  Yay!

I've written 3 chapters today!

Written 3 chapters today so going to take me pills and head to bed for a really early night for a change now!

Nite nite orl!

An unexpected invoice has just come through

I forgot about the last website invoice so an unexpected £45 has come out of my bank account and another tenner that I spent on a useless Afrikaans dictionary this morning, so I'll just put £200 into my savings accounts this week and two weeks tomorrow and put the extra £50 in a month later than I was expecting.

Not good, but still do-able... I'll just be a month behind myself is all.

*sigh*

Yumsk!

Just had the pizza and it was totally yummy!

Apparently we've got some frozen frankfurturs so Steve's going to take those off the shopping order and put pizza's on instead.

We've only had 7 take aways so far in April compared to 20 in March too!  Neither of us have missed having take-aways and I prefer home cooked food and Steve's enjoying cooking so hopefully it'll be even less than that in May!

We're having pizza for lunch today!

Steve found a couple of pizza's in the small freezer so we're having those for lunch instead of veggie ravioli.  Yumsk!

Started an online writing course last night

I signed up for an online writing course yesterday afternoon and started studying it yesterday evening.

I've just taken the test at the end of the first module with a score of 90% - I chose the first response and it should have been the second.

Not bad considering I've got brain damage!

I'm going to play in Poser now for the rest of the afternoon and early evening.

That's 2 chapters written, so...

...I can play with Poser all afternoon now!

Yay!

Two weeks on Monday, I'll have...

...£800 in my bank account, so I can put £225 into each of my savings accounts and still have enough left to comfortably pay my bills!

Then at the end of May and June I'll be able to do that again!  That'll keep my OCD happy because I'll have 00 at the end of the amounts instead of an amount and I'll be able to just put £100 into each of the accounts every fortnight after that.

I can so do this!

Only written one chapter today so no playing in Poser for me!

Wrote chapter 50 this afternoon but haven't been able to write any more today  :-(

Just got back from walking the pup, and...

... she was ready to come home after 2 times up and down the street but we did our usual 3.  She's now on the sofa scratching her front leg with her back leg and looks totally wiped out now!  Bless her furry little paws!

That's another 2 chapters written

Over half way to finishing the final novel in my Toni trilogy now.  Chapter 49 of 90 done and dusted!

I'm hoping the first draft will be done by early May... wish me luck!

Just marked my postal vote forms, so don't...

...bother trying to get me to change my mind because it's too late now!

The pup was a spectacular little girl this morning!

The pup met 2 people on her walk this morning.

The first was someone walking out of the alleyway and up the street.

The second was a dad and his toddler daughter.  The toddler wanted to stroke the pup but the dad said no so I held Mitzi back until they'd walked past us.

Mitzi's little tail was wagging into a blur both times bless her!

Just taken me multivitamin and B12

Just taken my multvitamin and vitamin B12... they are already getting to work!  Talk about fast work!

The Dogs Trust supporters have done it!

Boris is a dog in Loughborough who needed surgery that will cost £5,000.

That's a lot of money, but thanks to the Dogs Trust supporters they've done it!  Boris can have his operation and find a loving new home when he's recovered!

They raised £5,043.47 in less than 2 days!

Just got back from taking the pup for her walk

Just walked and fed the pup and we went the same as yesterday so my legs are killing me now and I'm totally cream crackered but the pup is on top of the world and has got loads of energy now!  lol

Just written another chapter, so...

...I'm going to dig into the grapes then head to bed for an early night!  Yay!

We haven't got any hash browns, so...

...I'm going to have a tub of seedless black grapes instead!

That's another two chapters written, so...

...I'm going to try and write another chapter then have hash browns for tea as a treat!

Blimey it's hot in here!

It's a lovely, if slightly chilly, day out there, so why am I hot fer flip's sake!

Just turned the living room heater off and the door is wide open, so hopefully it'll cool down soon!

Walked the pup an extra third this morning

It wasn't a lot further, but because we did it 3 times it soon adds up!

Usually we walk between numbers 5 and 9 three times every morning, but today we walked between numbers 3 and 9 three times so it's not a lot different but hopefully it'll encourage us both to walk more every morning.

Wowsers!

I had 10 people reading my teeth whitening blog post overnight!  That's so totally awesome... thank you all and I hope it works as well for you as it does for me!

Teeth whitening without paying through the nose at the dentist

I used to have almost yellow teeth after drinking 2 litres of Diet Coke a day for 30 years.  It had got to the point that I was ashamed to smile because of their colour.

Not any more!

There is an initial outlay of about £15 for an electric toothbrush then replacement heads for it as needed.  I personally use Braun Oral B Advance Power Toothbrush and it's on sale for less than £7 atm.

You also need a whitening toothpaste and whitening mouthwash.  Totally up to you about which brand you want to use, but again, IME, it's worth paying for a well known brand than a shops own one... I personally use Arm & Hammer Advance White Baking Soda Toothpaste, 75ml and Listerine Advanced White Multi-Action Mouthwash Clean Mint, 500ml but I've used others in the recent past and I've found this is the best combination for me.

You need to experiment and find what works best for you.

Brush slowly and carefully every day - if it doesn't take at least 5 minutes to brush your teeth then you aren't going slowly enough - don't forget those back teeth too!

After a week or so, maybe more, you will start noticing the colour changing very, very slowly.

When you've eventually got white teeth, keep using your combination otherwise the whiteness will fade again.

I know it seems like it'll take forever to achieve white teeth with this method, but it's worth it in the end and so much cheaper than forking out hundreds with a private dentist because it isn't available on the NHS!

It's also better for people who are phobic of dentists (like me) because it doesn't involve any visits at all.

Give it a try and be patient... you'll get there in the end!

Mitzi

Mitzi is our little rescue Westie that we got from Evesham Dogs Trust almost 6 years ago.

At the time she had a skin problem but my heart melted as soon as I saw her.

Steve was worried about how much it would cost to fix it, but he's just said that he knew she was ours when she came charging over to us on her lead, dragging a Dogs Trust bod behind her so that we could take her for a walk.

She'd been with the Dogs Trust for months with no interest because of her Westie skin problem but I'm so glad she's ours now!

Thank you Dogs Trust for matching her up with us, thank you to Mitzi for choosing us and thank you to Steve for agreeing to us having her!

She's 7 years old at the end of June and we'll have had her for 6 years at the beginning of July!

If you want to get a dog, please consider re-homing a Dogs Trust dog?  They have pure breds like Mitzi as well as cross-breeds and they look after 16,000 dogs every year!  If you're not able to re-home a dog, what about sponsoring one of their dogs instead?  It's only £1 per week per dog!  That's less than a glass of wine at the pub a week or a bottle of Dr Pepper a week from the supermarket!

Happy birthday, Jennifer!

It's my MIL's birthday today so I just want to say a big happy birthday to her!

Does anyone know, please...

... what the B in blog stands for?

I know that a vlog is videolog, but neither me or Steve can work out what the B in blog is there for!

It's going to annoy me until I find out now!  lol

Happy birthday, Harrison!

Our little nephew is one year old today!  Yay!

He had his first birthday party yesterday and was spoilt rotten with gifts from the family!

The last year has sped by!

Ah-ha!

I really have only got £50 to come out, instead of £110 because the other £60 came out at the start of the month!

I'm better off than I thought, thankfully!  lol

Confusion reigns

I donated £10 to a mamoth trek back in February that'll be coming out at the start of May but when I did the maths in online banking, I've only got £50 still to come out judging by March's direct debits but £110 to come out based on my Word document...

Where has the extra £60 come from?

Gonna be very tight with the money next week

Just checked me bank balance and I'll have twenty quid to play with after all the bills have come out then I'm paid again the week after so I'll be able to start putting £400 aside every month ready for paying off my credit cards this year and next year. 

Just got to remember that now!  lol

It's the middle of April and...

...it's snowing!

Teeny tiny flakes that aren't settling, but it's definitely snow!

It doesn't feel cold enough out there for snow, which is prolly why it's not settling, but it's the middle of April fer flip's sake!

We're going over to see our little nephew for his first birthday at lunchtime today so I'm really hoping the snow doesn't settle before we're home or I'll be going base over apex every few steps!

Wide awake now that I've had a shower!

Just had a shower and got dressed.

I'm wide awake now!  lol

So tired!

I want to go back to sleep but I've got to have a shower and wash my hair in preparation for tomorrow first  :-(

A rough timeline for the next 18ish months

The rest of April:  finish the Toni trilogy
May and June: work out how to use Poser Debut
July to October:  edit all my manuscripts
November is NaNo
December and January:  take a deep breath and pay off BC
February: back to editing again
March: cancel BC direct debit and put the £75 I save each month onto SB and CO
April 2017: plan out NaNo novel
May 2017: improve my Poser knowledge
June 2017: pay off SB, cancel the direct debit and put the full £150 a month onto CO
July to September 2017: pay off CO
October: celebrate being debt free for the first time since I was 18!

If I can keep away from spending for the rest of the year then I'll only have 2 cards left to pay off in 2017 and by the end of 2017 I'll be totally debt free!  I'll be able to afford to help pay for the food and stuff for the first time since I moved to Gloucester!

Good job I had...

...saved up £350 for my domain renewals 'cos they've been taken already even though they weren't due for renewal until the end of April!

It means that I can concentrate on putting £400 a month aside to pay off my three credit cards in full by the end of next year!

Most of the renewals were for 2 years, so I only need about £100ish next April which is a huge relief!

Just got to stop spending on things I want but don't need now, then I'll have £550 to play with each month that I haven't got atm... the end really is in sight!

You and me head on for the next 18 months, spending addiction, and I'm going to beat you into the ground!  lol

Much more productive already this morning!

Woke up at just gone 7am, walked, fed and watered the pup, booted up my laptop, caught up with 2 of the 3 forums, downloaded my email and I'm already about to start writing and it's only 8.37am!

Anyone fancy sharing...

... half a box of seedless black grapes with me?

They are yummy but they need to be eaten today or they'll be wasted and Steve's got some seedless green grapes in the kitchen that need to be eaten by tomorrow!  lol

1pm and still haven't written a word!

I came downstairs at 7.15am, watched Masterchef Australia and The Bill, walked and fed Mitzi and I haven't done anything since then!

Oops!

I'm going to write at least a chapter now though... otherwise it'll be another wasted day *sigh*

Poser Debut is...

...a huge, detailed, wonderful, 3D programme that I'm going to use as a treat for writing at least 2 chapters a day.  If I don't write at least 2 chapters then I'm not allowed to open it up!

You watch, I'll forget before tomorrow!  lol

Can someone remind me, please...

... to look for my Poser and Manga Studio software when I go to bed please?

The pup flooded the street again this morning!

When I took Mitzi out for her walk this morning, she flooded the street with her wee again!  It was huge and lasted forever even by her standards!  lol

Two and a half chapters written today

I've written the same amount today as I did before I went to bed last night, been a pig for tea from Domino's Pizza and I'm all caught up with forum posts too so I've had a productive weekend!

Apparently...

...I'm "getting quite domestic" according to Steve just now because I've just put the washing on as well as sorting out the clothes last night and binning the rotten bananas and a take away bag this morning.

I don't mind doing the small things when they need doing, I just don't see why I should be the only person in the house doing it!

Just got back from Mitzi's walk and...

...I usually walk her up and down the road 3 times every morning but she wanted to go up and down 5 times this morning!

I'm wiped out and Mitzi wants to play now!  lol

So proud of myself for...

...sorting out the clothes in the box, putting my clothes into 2 carrier bags ready to take upstairs with me tonight and putting the first half of Steve's clothes and the towels back into the box.

I'm wiped out now so I'm having a break for a little while then I'll put the rest of the clothes back into the box, have me tea then head to bed

I'm sweating now and I never usually sweat!  lol

Written 2 chapters and had a bath today!

My thanks go to SCBWI for inspiring me to write through the block after more than a week of not writing.

Steve's watching the Grand National so I'll write another chapter while that's going on, then have me tea and head to bed for an early night for a change!

So cute!

Our little nephew, H, is now walking with a push along toy!  Steve's just shown me a short video on his phone that his brother (H's father) sent him and it made both of us so proud of him!

So very close!

Just tried on my size 12 jeans and, like I said about yesterday or Wednesday, it's my thighs that are stopping me from getting into them!  I just need leggings or skirts until my thighs shrink enough but I am pretty much a size 12 now... less than half the size I was when I came out of hospital 13 years ago!

Blimey Charlie, Mitzi!

Mitzi's wee's are usually massive, we've got used to that over the years but this morning was a huge wee even by her standards... she usually wee's 3 foot long and a few inches wide and it takes her 10 seconds.

This morning her wee easily measured 7 foot by 2 foot and it took her a good 30 seconds to produce it!

She's now playing with Steve and having conversations with him... so cute!

You can now see the 3 of us IRL

Just over a minute long video this one with little old me, Steve and the pup eventually looking at me... make the most of it 'cos I don't know when it'll happen with the 3 of us awake again!

Me an' 'im have just had a big tea of curry and cristened our first plastic box with the left-overs that I'll have for me lunch tomorrow.

We both prefer home-cooked food instead of take aways every day again, it just takes time and energy is all which Steve doesn't always have so if you're looking for a computer programmer to work from home, just leave me a comment on this post and I'll pass his details along to you!  Remember to give me some sort of way to reach you!

Thank you to...

...my 2 regular readers of my blog and 3 or 4 when I do a vlog entry!  I don't know who you are and I totally respect your right to anonymous reading, but just a quick comment to say "hi, read this blog post/watched this vlog" is all I'm asking for!  I know one person who watched my first vlog but what about the rest of you?  Just your first name is all I'm asking for!  :-)

My next vlog, introducing you to Mitzi!

Mitzi was a good girl on her walk this morning, until...

... she spotted a cat hiding under a car.  She wanted to play with the cat and I wasn't even a passing thought for her any more!

The cat ran out behind me and Mitzi tried to take off after it.  I almost got pulled over.

Just as I'd finished turning around, the cat shot back with the pup closely behind and I almost fell over again.

Then she started barking at it and refused to come home!

I've already had as much as I can take today and I only woke up 90 minutes ago!

Just ordered meself...

...a pair of size 12 jeans for £19 that will be here on Friday just to see if I can get them over my thighs and stomach 'cos my size 14 trousers keep exposing my bum by slipping down.

My stomach is slowly shrinking, but not my thighs  :-(  Has anyone got any natural ways to shrink my thighs please?  Not by a lot, I just want to be able to fit them into skinny trousers for the first time in my life is all!

Just got back from my prescription review...

... and that's it for a while now.

The taxi service were great and they take card payments too but I'm shaking like a leaf now considering I didn't have anything to lean on and give me confidence in my walking on my left hand side and Steve's got a huge box of prescriptions coming tomorrow!

I just hope that his carer doesn't mind bringing the box in if it comes before her 'cos there's no way I'll be able to take it through to the kitchen!  I'm just not tall enough!

Can someone remind me please...

...to take my multivitamin and B12 pills every morning?

I feel noticeably better within an hour of taking them, but keep forgetting  :-(

Need some ideas, please!

Now that I know how to vlog, I need to know what you all want to hear me talk about in the videos so that they last longer than a few seconds!  lol

Just leave me a comment in reply to this with your ideas and how you want to be credited for the idea!  It doesn't have to be your real name if you don't want it to be, just please make it easy to pronounce!  lol

This is how to add a video to your blog

Click on the start button
all apps
scroll down to camera and click it
Click on the camcorder icon to start recording
Click on it again to stop recording
It's saved in Documents/Camera roll
Then you go to blogger, start a new blog post and upload it
et voila!

Another vlog from me

Celcius or centigrade?

I've never known whether the C in temperatures was Celcius after the bloke who created it or centigrade because of the boiling point of water.

I've always used them interchangably, but which is the right one to say please?

Meeting up with Chris tomorrow! Yay!

I'm meeting up with Chris tomorrow... I've really missed him!

I've got 1 delivery coming today that was supposed to be here in the middle of the week despite it being Prime, 2 tomorrow and 2 on Monday but that really does have to be it now to make sure I've got enough cash in the bank for my Namehog stuff and all the bills too!

Not bad for at least a month!

We've just wasted a little bit of food for the first time in at least a month, more like 2 or 3 months!  It wasn't that much, either... just a couple of jacket spud skins and a few baked beans!  We is ace to go that long without wasting anything!

Is my maths right please?

My maths has always been cruddy so could someone have a peek at this maths for me to see if I've got it right please?

Starting in May, I'll have £400 left after all the bills have been paid.
I've got just over £4,500 left to pay on BC.
About £1,500 left on SB
About £1,000 left on CO

So, save up that £400 every month and in 10 months I'll have saved up £4,000, right so far?  So, 10 months after May is January yeah?  I'm paying off BC at £75 a month during those 10 months too which adds up to £4,750 yeah?  That means I can pay off BC first that I'm still paying interest on.

I then split the £75 a month between SB and CO so that I'm paying off £75 a month on both of those.

I've got an expensive web hosting bill every April, so have a break just for that one month.

Save up £400 a month for another 4 months and pay off SB.  Move the £75 a month onto CO so that I'm still spending £150 on credit card bills, but it's only going to CO now.

That means that by the end of next year at the very latest I'll have paid off all my credit cards and I'll have £550 free each month which I'll put into my secondary account so that I'm not tempted to spend it!

Is my maths pretty much right?  I know that I'll still be taking off the monthly payments as well as the £400 a month so I'll be able to pay them all off sooner than the maths, I'm just after a rough idea is all