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I just saw this on TV this evening -ah so funny!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

It's what I'm listening to!

In an attempt to feel Christmassy and to try and be on a par with the household when I head to Coventry I am now making a concerted effort to Christmas myself up.

It's proving slightly tricky as I've been in school every night this week and all over this weekend and Monday and Tuesday night - haven't really had much time to 'get the Christmas on'. This is not a complaint - I'm merely stating a fact (A phrase I have had to repeat several times this week when people have asked why I look so k***...sorry...tired!)

There's been some really cool stuff on this week - the infant Nativity was especially cute! At the minute the Y13's are frantically trying to piece together 'The Curse of the Werewolf'. It's sort of a cross between a bad horror movie and a pantomime! Still despite the lack of rehearsal it does seem to be coming together and I've got a few of my team on board to help out backstage so a good (if slightly rushed) experience all round.

I tell you, I'm thinking of starting a wine cellar with all the thank you's I've been getting!

The renault Clio is going well and sems to be coping. However I managed to run the battery down twice in 2 days and had to rescued by various members staff - that would be me not used to a car with normal electrics then!

Poor Moffy has broken all records in the Garage across the road (and indeed her own record!) by SPECTACULARLY failing her M.O.T - 2 pages and and a page of Advisory...ooich. However 3 of those were a new tyre a piece and lots of little bits of welding - and a big King pin thing. Still it means I get to spend the Christmas hols working at the fabulous Coach and Horses and spending my free time in the company of Morris Minor Men and my Dad - I'm actually looking forward to it!

Have been feeling a little lonely lately - just shows that next term is the right time to join groups and hopefully start my scuba diving (that is if I'm not to skint!) Although having no social life has definitely been beneficial this term!!!

That post eBay feeling...

Well, after my ponderings in the last post I finally bit the bullet, had a good scout round various sites and decided that the quickest & easiesit way to get a car was via eBay - and tudah, I am now the proud owner (well, when I pick it up) of a '93 Renaalt Clio. It's a purpley blue color witha 1.2 litre engine and hints ever so slightly at the boy racer - however, it's reliable, MOT'd 'til summer next year and taxed for a couple of months so is just what I need. I set my limit and came in £100 under it.

Feeling a bit shaky now but I guess you always get that when you spend a fair bit of money on something. Still even though the garage let me borrow the Vauxhall for free I've still had to fork out £50 to insure it for just over a week so I figure that in the long run this will definitely be cheaper! Also the lovely Martin Fox did some ringing round and found a Moggy man with a rear diff for for Moffy - and only £60 - seen as a new one was going to be about £350 I feel that I have hopefully made some good choices today....

Still we'll see when I pick up the new (to me!) car, which will be hopefully either tomorrow or Thursday :)

Now to spend some quality time on the Mofster.

A fabulous Year In The Park

Well the show is over and I'm enjoying my first day not being in school for 20 days!

It went so well and the girls worked really hard - I was very proud of my team :) The audience were impressed - some said they had never been to that type of theatre (promenade) before but would definitely go again. It came together well and Saturday nigths performance was pretty tight.....now for the clear up!

Moffy is in the doctors again. At first it was thought that there was something jamming the gears - however when they got to look at it appears that the diff in the back axle (the thing that converts the motion of the prop shaft to turn the wheels) has bits missing off it and these have damaged other parts of the diff :( I am now having to decide if it's going to be more economically friendly to buy another car and keep Moffy off the road until she is all repaired.... hmmmm.

It's Ben's Birthday Bash tomorrow, looking forward to my first proper night out sibce arriving here:)

Avast and climb the rigging...

That was in honour of the fact of watching 'Pirates of the Caribbean' (is anyone ever sure they've spelt that correctly!) last night and the fact that I've nearly finished rigging for the school show. Abley assisted yesterday and today by Vix who is down visiting for the weekend - very exciting :)

We are now sat having a computer moment before enjoying a healthy (hmmm)breakfast of pancakes and then heading into Bath to finish the rigging and see the sights.

I have just had a vague geek out at being able to order Wil Wheaton's new book (it's been out for a while but he's finally sorted out the problems with PayPal) so I'm almost as excited as in my quest to find 'Just A Geek'. I'm hoping it'll arrive near the show so it will be a pre/post show treat. He's a great writer, with a really easy style to follow, and even though I'm a bit younger so the whole Star Wars / D&D thing passed me by I can still relate to the geeky childhood/teenage thing.

Moffy is back. I had to replace a headlight and all the tyres need doing...still she now has a new head-gasket, a new heater valve and new timing cogs and they were very nice about billing me for the time so all in all I feel a little more confident :)

Right...on with breakfast.

Acrobatic Pas de deux with pointes

This is so amazing - I nearly cried :)

Half Term....I remember it well...

Yup, enjoying my first official few days of half term by staying in Cov with the sisters. May actually be staying for longer because Moffy's fuel pump was doing intersting things on the way up here and just after I'd got lost trying to find Tesco's somethng started going clank and, according to the AA guy, one of the vlave seats has blow....fun. I was supposed to be rotating wheels and fixing my gear box and speedo cable while I was up here. Now I have to ring the AA when I'm ready to go home and get Moffy into a garage ASAP....bless!

Still I did have the fun of driving to my Granny's house (which fabulously in the middle of nowhere) in a band new rental Peugot 207...very shiny!

So the rest if the week (especially getting to Wythall this weekend) is going to be highly entertaining! i can't get it into the garage here and there are 2 rigth next to my house at home - and Ireally need my car next week + I have a meeting tomorrow otherwise the sensible thing would be to stay here until Monday...ah well, sensible is rarely the start of a 'grand adventure'!

On being home alone...

Sometimes there's nothing like bopping round your flat like you just don't care to Rodrigo y Gabriela to make even risk assessments seem funky and fun!!!!

Zero88 course tomorrow, very excited bunny....:))))) ah techie-dom...

Calzone mkI

A little singed but Very tasty!!

Calzone in the oven....

No, no.....no euphemism. I have branched out into a new section of cooking. Right now my flat is filling with the smell of baking dough filled with cream cheese, cheddar and pesto and it smells gooooood. I'll take a photo when I get it out and post it!

I also made my first coffee cake of living here and, even though I was lacking Baking Powder, it turned out pretty good - yey! Now all I need to do is get the door of my oven to shut properly and I should be away :)

Hmm, what been happening? Well, last week I went back to Wythall for Isaac's Dedication which was lovely *fuzzy* I got spend some time The Sirrel's,and the Brown's which was fab and it was nice to feel properly as home somewhere for a bit.

My flat is feeling more homely. I think I need to put some more stuff up on the walls, my bedroom isn't very cosy - although it is spacious. And, as yet I haven't had to turn on the heat...yey. Also Moffy started every morning this week which was lovely, even meant I was at school early every day because I had to go out early in case I needed to catch the bus!

So tomorrow is my first time playing in church, I did about 40min practise today, kinda scary to be playing the 'cello for the first time in public in oooo 10 years...... blimey, had to think about than then! Gosh.

Stuff at school is going really well. This is the last week of this half term so I'm planning on doing some practical demos for the various departments in my PST team, Teaching the SM team how to prepare a props table, the Design team are starting their boards, the props team are doing some stuff, the Publicity team are starting work on the programme and putting up a noticeboard of photos. The Techs have got some gel sorting to do....fun! Still it'll help them learn the colours and sizes! Plus I have my LX desk training day on Tuesday so I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in this week :)

Plus I'm finding out more about the expedition stuff, Peru sounds cool - but who knows!!!!

A Wedding, A House Warming and a new TV Show

Last weekend was my step-brothers wedding. It was held in the lovely church in Great Alne and despite the threatning weather at the beginning of the day was very beautiful. They even arrived and left the church in a helicopter - how cool is that!

I stayed in Coventry on the Friday night, but didn't get there 'til gone midnight as it took just a little while to get Moffy sorted. This involved the lovely Andy from Charles Ware racing to my aid with a water pump gasket so that I could pull it out and easily get the (by this point) extremely irksome by-pass hose on. But huzzah it worked and I even got to meet the last of my neighbours - who very sweetly bought me some snickers bars whilst she was in Asda :)

Last night was Vicky's Birthday Party/The Coventry House Warming Party so I drove over again. It was a very cool evening - everyone was dressed up and we all were very grown up and 1970's chatting with glasses of wine and nibbles. Met some very cool peeps and everybody looked tres elegant :)

The new TV Show I have discovered is called 'Back to You'. I found out about it because I was looking at ELR stuff and it showed up becuse Patrician Heaton is in it. Then I discovered that Kelsey Grammer (of Frasier fame) is also in it and it was then that I had a desperate need to find out more. My friend from school (who now lives in the states) saw my coment on 'facebook' and led me to a link so I could watch the pilot and I have spent a very pleasant hour this evening watching that and then finding other stuff on You-Tube. I'm guessing I'm gonna have to keep up with it this way as it won't get over here for oooo 3 years judging by past experience. It was a bit weird seeing Patricia and Kelsey together in something but the writing is pretty solid and they are brilliant along with the support cast so it was very easy to get into and 'get' the characters. Oh yes, I feel another random US DVD colection coming on! (to add to my Dick Van Dyke Show one)

School is going well, definitely in full swing now! Just have to make sure I write everything down and NOT get anybody's names mixed up....hmmmmmm.....

Sometimes when you're driving - look up....

...What!!??!!!

Was kind of my reaction last night when I held up the by-pass hose to the gap it was supposed to get into.

Everyone has always told me what a pain in the a**e it is to fit but until I saw that gap I don't think I fully appreciated it. I attempted to fit it (using the old Fairy Liquid trick) and it split a little - then alot - then in half. So I decided to put the new radiator and hoses on and sort it out another time.

So this morning i woke at 6ish, cycled to Brislington (about 40min) collected 3 new by-pass hoses(you know....just to be safe!) a new radiator cap and a bolt for the radiator. Cycled back (more downhill...speeeeed). Then quickly got changed and headed out to the bus stop.
Half an hour later the bus arrived, got to Bath then got another bus up the hill. Arrived at school about 10am - not bad.

Joy came and picked me up after school and I got a tour of Bath (now have lots of places to go visit :)) and then we went for a meal in Saltford..mmmmm...Hunters Chicken...mmmm. So have decided to get a lift in tomorrow, maybe come home early and get the car done and then drive home. hmmmmmm.

Had fun at school though, Hard Hats and lots of consumables arrived (including L.E.D lights -ooo toys :))

Week 3 - Big Head rides again

Ah the puns...
It's going well, the job is fab and is about to hit full pelt as there's a Young Leaders conference this weekend and so I have to get all the equipment I just took off the rig back up and all sorted before Wednesday evening - piece of cake.....

Having fun doing the music-y stuff. Mostly adding sound to Powerpoint stuff, sorting file formatting problems and helping out in the yr8 classes. Not properly made it down to the Junior school yet (only once for a flying visit - their caretaker had built a full-size darlek and it was sat on stage - very odd!) so will try and fit that in this week as the Memorial Hall will be off limits for anything!

I now have 20 girls on the Performance Support team which is brilliant - they're all so keen as well!

I discovered the much ballyhooed cycle path between Bristol and Bath yesterday. it runs straight pas Bitton along an old railway line - where a steam trains now run. I went to Nicola's which is one stop down and far easier to get to by bike than by car! I did make a trip to Halfords first (with a HUUUGE Bikehut) and bought some lights, some gloves (for winter my hands go numb very quickly), a puncture repair kit and....a helmet. I had been waiting for my one from home. But I figured that I'd had that about 10 years and it probably wasn't going to do me huge amount of favours if I required its protection so bought a new one. A very shiny purple effort, very nice.

However it turns out that part of the plastic webbing was broken so I took it back this evening. I thought I'd measure my head before I picked out a replacement...and the result......yes, folks, I had to pick a bloke's helmet because of my weirdly large noggin. The only reason that purple one had fitted was because it was broken :( *sniff* I also bought a vaguely improved saddle - 'cos I gotta tell ya, sitting down today has not been fun!!!

I have decided to kit myself out with this because when I work on my car (more on that in a mo) I may not finish by the morning and I can cycle to work. Hopefully the more I do it the less scary it will be and I can try and cycle twice a week for some much needed exercise ....... 'the hill' however remains a sticking point - still I can always get off and walk......or park my bike and take the bus....... :S

Yes, so, on Saturday I went to the, again much ballyhooed, Bath Morris Minor Centre....except it's not in Bath now it's in Bristol....and is actually called Charles Wares...but apart form that a brilliant description..huh hmmm. What thoroughly nice folks they are. One of the guys came out and looked at Moffy's mysterious leak. We came to the conclusion it was the by-pass hose, however he also said that my radiator looked as if it was about turn its toes up (something I've known for...ooo...2 years!)so I decided I may as well go the whole hog and replace the radiator and all the hoses while I was at it. Then I got to look round the workshops and see some Moggy's in various states of repair which was cool and he told me about everything they did. Nice place. And Moffy made some friends too.

So I was there bright and early at 8am to get the stuff. I even managed to get a brand new radiator not a refurbished one (no surcharge for me!) which was pretty sweet. Hopefully I'll be able to sort it out Wednesday/Thursday night. Definitely by the weekend though as I'm heading to Bidford for the weekend and don't want to have to keep stopping!

It’s Monday and it’s back to school for my first whole week with pupils!

Last week went well, I’m still feeling a bit up in the air – due to the fact that there’s nothing really solid to get my teeth into, but lots of prep jobs (like taking down all the lamps, cleaning and logging them!) and this week the auditions for the school productions take place and I have organised a meeting for those interested in “Performance Support” (oh, yes, there will be T-Shirts!!) for tomorrow break. I have quite a few names on the list from a range of years so it looks good 

I am now incredibly skint after starting my payment for household utilities, Insurance for Moffy etc so shall be curling up with Sims2 and good DVDs (like 24 series 4 last week..) and waiting for the storm to pass. I do have a few things to do, I had a good evening at Nicola’s boat last week and we’ve decided to go running on a Wednesday night – not sure where but it won’t be far to start off with anyway!. I’m quite looking forward to this although I’m not sure how much it will help my very knotty and tense back/shoulders!

I did a complete scrub of the flat on Saturday. Unhinged all the sash windows and scrubbed them all. De-housed about 5 spiders, knocked my Venus razor out of the bathroom window and had to retrieve it from the bush below, turned on the exciting airing cupboard type thing in my wardrobe – then turned it off again at night when it wasn’t doing a whole lot, and generally had a good work out, followed by a relaxing bath…ahhhh….

My office is like a fridge – can’t wait until the heating gets turned on – although the word ‘oven’ then springs to mind looking at the size of the radiator……

New House, New Job

Hmmm, now where to start…..

I was going to go back and post all the stuff that happened on the appropriate day of the epic that has been the move but they’re all sort of blending into one now so I shall do my best in this one post (with pictures to break up the boredom!).

I am presently sat in my office which looks a little like this at the moment of writing..

whilst most if the rest of the staff are in a meetings about teacher-y type things that I don’t need to know (especially as, at the minute, I don’t have a shiny little notebook/laptop type thing!) I though I’d catch up on this!

Generally speaking the whole thing went pretty smoothly. Well, the plan-that-kept-changing-throughout-the-day did anyway!

This was the original plan:

Pick up van and go to flat – pick up stuff
Go to Storage – pick up stuff
Go to random Bidford house – pick up stuff
Drive to Kings Heath – pick up stuff
Go to Estate Agents in Bristol – pick up keys
At flat empty stuff (with Nicola) and thence to IKEA
Back to flat for tea drive back to Bidford – drop off van, pick up car
Drive home to flat.

Yes, well, here is in fact what transpired…
Picked the van up at 8:30 – the Luton had had its tail lift broken so I got a long-based transit instead – that was real fun to reverse!

I got to the flat at Bidford and started to load my stuff – it soon became apparent to me that I wasn’t going to get all the stuff from the flat in (never mind the storage or the other house!) in time to meet Dad so I put all the stuff from the bedroom in and set off to Kings Heath. We went to the storage place which was my first visit to such an establishment and they have a very weird air about them! However it was fun rooting through my Dad’s 2(!!) spaces and I came away with about 10 things that I hadn’t expected to get and about 45 minutes to get to Bristol for the keys…..hmmm.

I rang to say I’d be late (and naturally grovelled somewhat) and even though I made full use of the vans modern engine and overtaking skills I was still 1 ½ hrs late. They were very gracious and lovely so I got the keys and signed the paperwork fine.

I then had to make a decision about driving back to Bidford and getting the rest of my stuff then or going to the flat. My need for the toilet for and the fact that I’d arranged to meet Nicola sort of made the decision for me ;)

Arrived at the flat and the cleaner (who’d been sent back to do a better job!) was there and it looked like this.

Unloaded most of van and then Nicola arrived to help with the rest. I had got the kettle but no food or anything so couldn’t even stretch to a cup of tea so we decided to head to IKEA where I could buy a sofa and she could get some dinner after a long day at work (bless – apparently Swedish meatballs are the thing to go for – I had a strawberry tart – most helpful to my poor beleaguered body I’m sure!?!) Back from IKEA ,unloaded that and then headed straight back to Bidford – It was getting dark now.
So got the rest of the stuff from the flat, drove across a large expanse of grass (that was fun!) to get to the door of the random house for some more boxes and then to the storage for my bike etc – It was now very dark!

Mum had cooked me lasagne so I downed that and then off I headed on the road again – I had to stop to take my lenses out and to wake up at one point – An apple worked extremely well (for waking me up – not taking my lenses out…..)

Stopped of at the wonderful 24hr Asda Superstore on the way back and then arrived at the flat at approx. 2:00am unloaded the van AGAIN

without managing to wake anyone up – no mean feat when carrying a bicycle up the stairs – and with my legs beginning to show me the pain I would be in tomorrow - plonked my mattress on the floor and fell asleep in my sleeping bag!

I was then up again at 6am to get the van back for 8:30am. I had breakfast at my Mum’s then took a detour to Redditch to pick up my contact lenses and say goodbye to a few folks then headed for the M5. Moffy has been losing water and in my infinite wisdom I decided that I didn’t need to stop at the first service station….huh hummmm….

Still it meant she got to the flat in one piece and I can do 25minute journeys no probs!! I arrived back to start the tidying up process…

My induction day at the school on Friday was great – lots of information to take in but I got to meet the new Drama guy who has some amazing ideas (which involve me building websites!?!) and the rest of the new staff which was lovely this morning when I came in and recognised some faces.

Anyhoo, I have just been given a large selection of keys and free reign of the Drama room so I am going to explore, tidy and organise…. “hold me bags, I’ll be back in a week!”

My minds a spinnin'!

Camp was a truly amazing experience - one which I hope to repeat next year. The weather was fairly changeable but the spirit of the Team and the campers (and God of course!) was fab and made the two weeks a very special experience. I ended up doing something on almost every team - and even 4 1/2 hours of boiler duty was fairly enjoyable:)

So tomorrow is the big move. I don't feel entirely prepared but will pray a lot and I have sorted out directions and written out lists of what I need to take where. I'm mainly worried about getting all the stuff in the van and (that would be from 3 locations in Bidford and then to Brum to my Dad's storage for some other stuff!)getting to Bristol on time but hopefully it'll all work out :)

I am also fairly conscious of the fact that my first day in school is Friday and I've not had much chance to sit down and let it all soak in (never mind finish reading Harry Potter!?!) so hopefully tomorrow will go smoothly and I'll have 2 days in the flat to potter (no pun intended....) about and read all the info they've sent me. They really do go out of their way with the new staff to make sure you feel welcome and that you know who to go to with what query - I'm very excited if a bit trepidatious!

Also Moffy is leaking water from somewhere - if she can just hang on 'til we get down to Bath then I'll have lots of time to sort her out...bless...she got up Porlock Hill so definitely deserves some TLC.

Moving Date MkII

I rang the letting Agency today to check about the date - as it's a bank Holiday Monday, so now my date has changed to the Tuesday - which will actually make things (esp. at IKEA!) a lot easier :)

Had a good day's shopping today, got some real bargains and last night I ordered a very funky pair of DeWalt Steel Toe Trainers. I wanted something light and that I could easily wear for most of the day around school. So I spent a good deal of time comparing stuff online and finally managed to get a pair off eBay for a pretty reasonable £51 inc. tax & P+P. I keep thinking of things I may need, but I think I'll wait until I've officially started before I get too carried away with stationery ;)

Should think about packing for Camp pretty soon - especially as most of my stuff is scattered around Cov and Bidford!

Moving Date!

This not to say a rendevous on roller blades but I have the date that I can pick up the keys for my flat! It is.....drum roll please...... the 27th of August. Which is either the day that camp finishes or the day after. That gives me 4 days to sort the place out before starting at the school. Also I feel a trip to IKEA (in Bristol..oo so close) coming on as I will need a sofa/futon bed thing for my living room and a sturdy coffee table (plus some sort of shelving for the TV - but that's a whole other story). I am really quite excited about this, although I won't be completely chilled and psyched until I have the keys in my hand!!!!!

1st night back at the pub tonight, felt good - especially now with the smoking ban I no longer come home stinking of smoke, yey!

moving along...sort of...

Oooo, exciting happenings. I went to view the flat in Bitton on Saturday and arrived promptly at 12 - shame the viewing was at 2 really! So I had chance to wander around the village. Everyone I met was very friendly and I took a potter to the church - which I discovered is called St Mary's (same as mine in Wythall) and a also took in the Spar, the Post Office and the Pub. It felt a bit like the Vicar of Dibley (the new curate is even a woman!) but a lovely place to live. So all was looking up - plus it was sunny AND I'd seen a yellow Morris Minor with a black roof on the way down (not that the colour is important but I thought it was quite cool!)so I had a quick trip to Asda (no H.P books there either...grrrr) and got some lunch then headed back and sat Soduko-ing for 1/2 hour.

The flat is very shiny!! Small, but shiny. It comes with all white goods, built in wardrobes, big windows, modern decoration and a lovely entrance way! Also, it's in the cheapest Council tax band - yey! Plus the lady who showed me round has a daughter starting school in Bath in September and she said it was an easy 15min drive into town even on the main road so that has pretty much put my mind at ease about commuting a little way. So yeah basically, I thought about it on the way home and decided that it felt good, was really affordable and there's room for visitors and I feel it is somewhere I could really chill out - which is the most important thing.

So I had to wait until this morning to ring and say I'd have it. Which was a little nerve-wracking 'cos someone had been to see it the day before me and I wanted to make sure I got in first!! So James was almost abandoned mid-feed whilst I was getting the phone and all the paperwork ready to call the Agents. So basically I now have put a Holding Fee down and they have to check my references etc. Hopefully I'll get a definite move in date and then I have to pay the rest of the stuff - scary money :( ooooo, exciting!

This evening I went to WTC and sat in rehearsal - so good to see everyone again! The next show is "A Murder Is Announced" by Agatha Christie and Tony is directing, can't wait. We went to the pub after and I am now working Thursday and Saturday!!! It was so cool to see the guys and I can't wait to get back behind the bar :)

Flat Viewing Day One..

Off I went down to Bath this morning with my map, my notebook (with prepared details and questions)and my camera all set for the viewing of 2 properties. I had the notes for the 2 today and 2 tomorrow just in case I needed to stay overnight for some reason - man I was organisation personified.

About 45minutes into the journey I got a phone call to say that the 1st flat I was to view tomorrow had been let. Well, probably not a bad thing as it was about £50pcm above my price range. I felt good - that meant no pressure about wanting the one I couldn't afford.

10 minutes later the phone rang again and - pulling safely over to the side of the road before answering - it was the agent for the 2nd property I was to see today telling me it had been let. Pants. That was the best value one actually in Bath centre.... still... obviously it was not to be and still I ventured on. (With a quick stop when Moffy overheated - nothing serious though, I assured myself - and we carried on)I arrived at the school in lots of time and walked into town to find the flat, got there early and spotted Waterstones about 5 shops down - huzzah finally I can pick up a copy of HP - nope, pre-orders only *tut*.

Gotta say, the flat didn't exactly hit me between the eyes and scream 'your new house' more sort of 'well....if I actually get desperate....I'll let you know'. But it did help that I have a level to work from and I have an idea about dimensions and the fact that my Council tax (if i live in the centre)is somewhere between 'oiych' and 'sproing'. Still I then had a lovely wander/route march around Bath going to all the Letting agents AGAIN and finding some more areas of town - I found the Smoothie/Milkshake place and the Chocolate cafe, I feel I have achieved something - also a place that deals in old guitars and another that sells mostly funky knobs.....of the door and drawer variety...obviously*rolls eyes* and many Stationary shops!!!! (It's an SM thing!)

So it's back to rightmove.co.uk and a couple of other websites and then down to Bath again tomorrow whence upon I sahll probably be informed that it has been let (I'm sure I saw someone looking like they were viewing hanging around outside!)...still God loves a tryer and boy am I doing him proud ;)

On the spelling of my name.

I've just joined a fabulous group on facebook for anyone who constantly has to spell/explain their name to people. My name, lets face it, probably has one of the highest amounts of variations, shortenings and mis-spelling ever. Here is what I just posted on the wall which is a basic rundown of what used to happen every time I had o give my details over the phone. (I say used to because I have moved and my address now isn't half as amusing!)

"Rebbecca...yes that's with 2 B's AND 2 C's.no ..there's no K or H.....Middle Names?....Sally Ann...No, no they're not hyphenated...two seperate names....no, Ann does not have an E...Surname?...Key - as in door... Address? (it's OK - I don't live there anymore!)Ann Road..yup, that's Ann without an E again.....Wythall...*deafening silence*- W-Y-T-H-A-L-L...nope, no I in that.....Birmingham (please be able to spell that!) County? No we don't have a county....really, there is no county in our address.....Postcode (Well - we all know what that's like!)" Now substitue Beccy (yup...2 C's..no, no I) or Bex for Rebbecca and there is the fun I have everytime someone wants my details!!

A good group for a good rant I feel - I know I have a number of friends (and obviously my unfortuantely named sister Joanna - shorten it and put it together with our surname) who I feel would benefit from a quick sally over to this site to add to the large number of people who have this plight!

You know its bad when water pours out of the glovebox!

Well, I finally made it to Mum and Alan's, although I have no bed here I've just swapped one sofa for another as they've rented out the room! Also it meant they had to put most of my stuff in somebody else's house so I went and picked up a couple of boxes today.

The stuff in storage satyed dry and the wheels on my car are not as flat as I'd thought they'd be so hopefully I can go and get it out tomorrow, bring it to the flat and ring some Estate Agents. I'm a little happier about being in Bidford now as I've managed to get wireless broadband (form the lovely photographer guy downstairs!) but I think I may actually take a couple of people up on there offers of a bed in Wythall/Kings Heath for a while until I get to go to Bath and find somewhere down there!

However the flooding has made for an interesting few days and here are some photos of the aftermath on Bidford-on-Avon:

So I don't think the Volvo's going anywhere for a while, the water came up to the bottom of the windscreen!

I guess I'd say I'm home!

It's Saturday night, I'm sat at Brett & Clare's house watching Jekyll and trying to sort out what to do next!

I got back to Birmingham airport yesterday to the rain that has been descending on the country. Brett bought Abi to pick me up from the airport and I said goodbye to me Dad. Going back to Wythall it became obvious how badly flooded it was becoming as it took us the best part of 45 minutes to do a 20 minute journey!

Rang Mum at about 9pm and all seemed good for the plan to get the train to Stratford this morning. However at 7am this morning I got the following text 'Don't even consider getting on the train - we're marooned here! Belongings from groundfloor spts all over stairs & landings & 7 refugees in our lounge'.

So I have spent a lovely day here with Clare, Abi and the Twins chilling out. Although it it is an odd feeling being homeless twice over! (especially as I'm just around the corner from my old home).

I had a great final 2 weeks on the ship. Jo decided not to come with Dad but we had a good week (even though Dad got his wallet nicked in Rome - Italian police stations are really quite nice!) and I got to spend some quality time with most of the team.

I've found myself really missing them today (esp. Vicky and Corey) - and working out what they would be doing at whatever time it is. Sad I know, but it's hard every time you come home from a ship as it's like going cold turkey on something, hehe!

So now I am looking for a place to live in earnest and hopefully I'll be able to make it down this week to look at some places - hopefully they're not underwater!

All going well really - oh and the sunshine!! hehehe!

Man, it's been a while!

It's been crazy here but all good. Since last posting I've been on some little trippets to introduce peeps to the Monkeys in Gibraltar and my favourite cafe in Villefranche.
Have also had some good beach time and there's been a couple of birthdays along with the various goings on onboard so all in all it's going well - can't believe I only have 2 weeks left!
Hopefully (if we can get it together in time!) I should be playing (and doing BV's - eek) in Vicky's Cab. It's been cool as I've learnt a few new tunes on the guitar and now some other stuff doesn't look so scary.

I'm kind of in flux at the moment. Why did the team on here have to contain some of the most down to earth people I've met on a ship. I keep asking them why they have to be so nice - it's gonna make it tricky to leave :) Still it's good that my last contract (probably!) has been so good :)

So now starts the trawl through the property pages so that when I get home I can head straight to Bath ans start finding soemwhere to live!!

I am really loooking forward to going home and seeing how much the small peeps have grown, meeting Evans Jr for the first time and going to Lee Abbey Camp - YEYEYEY!!

Back to Sorrento......

Had the most amazing time (and weather) yesterday - there are a selection of photos here. Me and Gavin (Shore Ex) were having a bit of a snap happy day - came back with 200 photos - deleted half of them!!!

Just got into Ajaccio an hour early so may go and sit on the beach for half an our...or go back to sleep...hmmmm decisions, decisions!! ;)

Going wel...

A a smoothe day at sea, what a relief - finally had usual Med like weather for our day at sea yesterday - not only that but glorious sunshine as well! I'm hoping it stays that way because I'm supposed to be on the Sorrento and Amalfi tour tomorrow (cue much taking of photographs!).

It's going fab onboard, the team are lovely even if I am feeling a little old (with experience more than age!) but it doesn't help that this is now my 3rd time on this ship! Have been able to to get a lot of maintenance and general organsing done which will make the habd oveer so much easier.

on the home front, the keys have been officially handed over and in about 2 weeks I shall be trawling the internet looking for places to live in Bath - scary!

Emma has had her baby - yeyey! Very cute with dark hair and they have named him Isaac - very cool, don't get many of those around at the mo!

Well, rehearsal is calling and I'm running out of credit so, toodle-pipsky (really must get roung to watching some RD at some point - Am on series 4 of Born and Bred at the moment - spent about 2 1/2 hours last night crying my eyes out - Barbara handed me tissues- I had warned her!!!!)

We are sailing....for what seems lik an eternity!

So here I am, onboard, not to stressed and in the lovely sunny Marseilles.

We had a few technical difficulties leaving dry dock last week - so we finally got to Palma 10 hours late - as you can imagine the PAX were a little perturbed bt that that we managed to do a deck party at 1:30am may have won then over a bit!

The we left Naples ans the weather was to rough for the proposed stop in Ajaccio (Corsica) as we were to be Tendering so instead Capt. George decoded we would spend the whole day at sea on said rough wetaher and head straight for Marseilles - that WAS fun!!! Trying to sleep that night was interesting as I think I woke up about 6 times at one point having been thrown off my bed - oh the joys of a cabin at the front of the ship! This is unseasonable weather for the Med - just thought I'd point that out to anyone that might be coming aboard..he hum.....Dad & Jo!

Still we got here in one piece and tomorrow (Barcelona) I may actually have chance to get off the ship :)

Haven't heard anything from home about baby's being born so if you're reading this - I want to know!!! :)

Bye Bye Wythall :,,,(

Well, that's it. I have taken my final stroll around Wythall as an official resident and in 20 minutes I leave for Manchester airport to start my 2 month stint onboard.

God blessed me with a beautiful morning, blue sky, a few clouds and that crisp fresh feeling that I guess you only get at 6:30am! Walked up past Becketts Island and could smell the baking underway which bought back some memories :) I have taken some photos which I will hopefully post at some point later this week (internet permitting) but mainly it was nice to have a walk by myself and remenisce.

Right, well, should go and take a few final photos of the house and have a last cup of tea.....it's not getting to me......honest *sniff*

Boxes, Boxes everywhere...

Well, am now well into the throws of packing. I have been living out of my suitcases for the last 3 days and today Alan, Mum, Vicky and I have come within sight of getting everything ready for moving day on Friday.



Here are some photos of the progress:

So progress is good. I leave for the ship on Wednesday morning. For some reason I have to fly from Manchester to Barcelona - I'm guessing the ship is still in dry dock! To be honest I've really not had time to think about the ship at all. I've got a horrible feeling that I'm going to get onboard and develop this cold that's been hanging around in my system for the last few days - although hasn't had a chance to come out between work, packing boxes, visiting Bath and trying to sort lots of other things out. Still my Dad is coming onboard for the last week that I'm on there and Jo and Vicky are considering coming on too - YEYEYEYEY!

It's weird being on the house at the mo. Especially with the invasion of the lodger and his dogs - who nearly got chopped/electrocuted today when he was trying to mow the lawn and they decided that the lawnmower needed attacking!. I sat and watched Heartbeat tonight on one of the dining room chairs with my feet resting on the piano stool as we no longer have any furniture (unless you count the piano) in the front room. I know that it's not going to sink in until I actually get off the ship and can't come home. Then all I'll be thinking about is finding somewhere to live in Bath and getting ready for Lee Abbey.

The new owner's came round yesterday with the other set of parents. Turns out the the girl was in Jo's Psyhcology class at school - small world. Mum and Dad actually bought this house off the old Art teacher at Woodrush (their school) - so it really is a small world!

Not much else to report. The play went brilliantly at the Palace and it was a great experience to do it in that sort of location. Tony managed to give my Dad a nose bleed on the Friday night by nutting him when he was 'dead' under his cloak, and he nearly managed to give me a split lip in the argument scene on Saturday! It was fun, I loved doing that scene because we never really did it the same way twice and it gave me and Tony the chance to let rip a bit :)

Adrian and Emma's little by is due at the end of the week so any prayers/mojo heading their way and for my travels much appreciated. Hopefully updates on the house during the week - maybe a photo of me crying in a corner......

Have you ever....ever felt like this...

Well, there has been some odd moments over the last week.

For instance I am not a somnambulist (and as some of you go rushing for a dictionary I shall carry on...) however the other night I did manage to take a rather large clip frame off the wall from above my head and place it carefully beside all the things I have been packing into boxes. Freaky. I do remember dreaming about taking the last thing out of a box and it having one smooth surface and the other side being rough......

This evening after the Tech at the 'Room Upstairs' at the Palace Theatre we piled, as usual, into Wetherspoons (the rising sun) at the back.

I got ID'd.

Actually it was not just ID'd but he said that I'd have to leave because I didn't look old enough to even be in there!!!!

I thought he was joking when Pete and Liz called me over to the bar (they were trying to buy me a coke) but no, he was in earnest. He asked me how old I was so I told him, 26, then he asked for ID. Fair enough. Then I discover that I don't have my ID because I've had to send it off to have the address changed on it and...oh yes.....did I mention.....I'm 26!!!!! Not, I'm thinking, an age that I would invent to try and get in somewhere if I was underage. (and I actually NEVER tried to do that!) I asked of Keir was working because he's a manger type person, knows me well and also I'm older than he is - but he wasn't. Adam went over and said he could confirm it because he used to be my GP, but that didn't really help either!

Now, I know he was doing his job, I've worked in enough pubs/clubs/bars to have done this many times. But I walked in with a group of sober varyingly aged adults (of which I was the youngest, admittedly) and clearly didn't look like I was out of place with them or tying to sneak in.

The ironic thing is that I've been going into that pub for ooooo, at least 8 years (they didn't have the-only-over-18's-after-9pm rule when it first opened) due to working at that theatre since I was 14 and am, I would guess, 3 years older than the barman.

Still he did let me sit in the corner with them and drink my coke so let's not be too harsh. I know I should be flattered, but really, I just find it highly irritating to be this age and still get ID'd! I have now put my Thomson Celebration Crew ID in my wallet in preparation for tomorrow!!

The lodger and dogs are back. And this morning for the first time I was NOT awkened by a chorus of barking - fabulous.

Packing is going well (both for ship and house) but the more I pack the more seems to appear. Plus Mum and Alan had a good go at the loft on Monday and I have about 25 bags of baby/children's clothes to get rid of - look out charity shops!!!

Am getting very excited about starting work at the school, there is a lot for to get my head round still but they are already being so supportive it's great! Also I've been told that there is a new Drama teacher starting at the same time as me so that will be nice to have someone else new in the Deaprtment :)

The show went sooo well last week. It's a shame we didn't have bigger audiences but it's looking good for the Palace this week. We had the tech tonight and it's going to a challenge but exciting acting in that space. Also the light system in there is pretty ingenious...hmmmm....useful idea to hang on to...

Am feeling calm at the moment even with all the stuff that's going on and the pretty big changes happening in my life right now, I can totally feel God's influence and it really is amazing :)

The Dress Rehearsal's over!

Well, the dress went pretty well! Not sure of this is good or bad given the old adage 'Bad Dress, Good Show' but am really looking forward to the first night tomorrow!

Here are a few photos from this evening :)

The Set

How to change your life in 48 hours......

This is just a quicky as I'm leaving in a bit to attend Mr D's funeral. It's going to be a weird combination of emotions as I'll probably be seeing people I haven't seen for the best part of 8 years but for such a horrible reason.

I got the job at the Royal High School! The day was great and I was the 4th person (of 5) to have my final interview. I left the school around 3pm and they rang me at 4:15 to offer me the job and on the top pay scale (which probably means I'll have to live in a shed in Bath but there you go!) so that was wonderful news - I was very excited! The contract came yesterday so now am still excited but mixed with trepidation and that odd feeling that comes with reading the contract for something and the actual reality of doing the job!

Also the day after that I got a phone call form the cruise ship people asking me when I was available to work. I explained about the new job, the fact I shall be Nannying for my friends with Abi & the Twins in August and that I'm in a play for the next 2 weeks and the moving house the following week. Wasn't really expecting anything, but he rang me back 10 mins later and offered me 2 months work as Lighting Tech on the Celebration over the summer - how cool is that!

So all in all an unnerving week but with some very exciting things to look forward to.

There are some photos of rehearsals of 'The Dresser' here (new ones, for anyone who checked before) including some of me in most of my costume (complete with most of my legs on show - albeit in 100 denier black tight - I kid you not). It's feeling great so here we go into another production week.......

My head is getting heavy

I don't quite know where to start this post. It was going to be a witty run down of all the pollava that is happening with me right now - so much happens in so short a time - but this afternoon I received some incredibly sad news which has put a dampener on that.

One of my favourite Teachers (and people) of all time died on Friday. Mr (Rev) Richard Dobell was a energetic, passionate and supremely talented man who inspired even the most uninterested of music pupils at AGS. I remember him dealing so well with me and the other choir pros (the 3 of us who got roped into to both Junior and Senior choir at the same time) Becky and Lucy when we used to degenerate into 'Mother's Meetings' at the back of choir and his humour that always managed to get the required result. He was the one who asked me to take up the Double bass because he loved the instrument, we had 2 at the school, and no-one could play them. He also got me drumming gigs even though I didn't take drumming lessons and then transported me and the kit backwards and forwards to them because he believed I was the best person for the job (I had a volume control!). He gave me such confidence and he could always make you smile. His faith was wonderful and I wish I could have heard one of his sermons (especially if his once yearly and much anticipated assemblies were anything to go by!) and seen him more recently. However I have some wonderful memories that will be painful for a while but will help him to be a big influence on my life now and in years to come.

So here is an update of the prevalent factors in my life right now:

* The house was sold last weekend to a young couple (we think she is the sister of the people who bought P&S's house up the road)

*We have a moving date of May 21st (well 'be out of the house' date really)

*This means that I have a week after the play has finished and then I will be lodging at various church members houses.

*I have a job interview on Wednesday at The Royal High School Bath. It's a girl's boarding school and the position in Performing Arts Technician. I would love this job and it would be a challenge and I really feel I could do it very well - all prayers and mojo much appreciated.

*This is the last week of rehearsals for 'The Dresser' It's going very well and I think it should be a very powerful production.

* I am working at the Coach and Horses. A fab pub that sells real ale and good food. Am really enjoying working there.

*Martin has moved in with Jack and Skip the 2 Jack Russell terriers. I'm not coping very well with the smell of the food they eat, the hair they leave everywhere, the whining at night, the whining at 6am almost every morning that wakes me up and is generally leaving me tired. They are pretty cute though!?! They are away the 1st week of the play which is good for my sanity.

*My financial situation is pretty dire. I fail to understand why it costs the bank £30 every time money is taken out of my account over my overdraft limit. I've been in to try and sort it out and they couldn't do anything about an extension - so am a bit, ummmm, screwed at the minute. The only consolation is that I get paid in cash from the pub - so am not quite starving yet.

However I'm actually feeling OK, have been praying a lot and trying not to let things stress me out, and apart from a vague sick feeling every time I eat for the last few days (apparently there's a bug going round) I'm not too bad.

I'm just focusing on Wednesday now and the interview and once that's done I have a reprieve for a couple of days and then full swing with the show......the next few weeks should be interesting ;)

Off to the Harvest de Spring.

It is currently 9:45 pm. In a few minutes me and the Moffy will be setting off in a southerly direction to the amazing thing that is Spring Harvest. I saw everybody else off his morning and now I have had my rehearsal (which was just me, Tony and Anne so was focused and v. good) and dropped Easter presents off at Dad's I can leave to - although exactly what time I'm going to get there remains a mystery to one and all!

Have had a fantastic and fruitful coulpe of days, sortign various thing on my car out and today spending much time in the garden - finally finishing the waterworks on the pond, breaking up soem fence panels, mowing the lawn etc. All very satisfying! Anyhoo, the road awaits - at least as soon as I've found my way on the AA rout planner....oh the joys of a shared Sat Nav!

Facebook is wayyy to addictive

Lackage of posting due to too much time on Facebook.

Also due to the fact that the weather has been glorious and I have far better things to do than sit on here all the time (well, unless it involves Sims2 Pets and a glass of wine!) when it is actually sunny and vaguely warm outside.

I spent today mostly doing laundry and de-brambling the rockery by the pond. There is something extremely satisfying about following the root of a bramble and finally pulling the whole bloody, prickly thing out of the soil - feels as though you should punch it up to the sky and yell. On the downside my arms look as if a demented kitten has been having a go at them!

Dave Walters and I did a drama in church this morning. The theme was Palm Sunday and the cruxifiction. This was the first serious drama I've done in church for ages (if ever) and it was great. It was an unusual service but worked so well. The kids went out for the drama and the short talk afterwards - unusual because it was a family service - and Adrian did a talk for them. The sketch we did was called 'Death Row' and when I watched it on the DVD it really brought home to me the amazing sacrifice the Jesus made for us. I hope that the performance we gave this morning did the same for those there.

I have started work at another local pub as of Friday (it also happens to be our watering hole after rehearsals so I have to make a good impression!) the Coach and Horses. It is a free house and serves real ale, as well as beer from the local Weatheroak brewery. So nice to work in a real pub not belonging to a huge chain where dogs can lie by the fire on flagstones and the regulars chat and play cards in one room whilst others sit on the leather sofas, comfy seats and cube shaped stools in the upper part of the other bar.

Rehearsal went really well on Wednesday, think I've finally got Irene's character sorted out and had a really good go at the argument bit with Tony which is starting to feel pretty strong! Now all I have to do is lose about a stone and we're all done :)

Spring Cleaning

Have been giving the house a spruce up today. Vacumed and cleaned everywhere and did a load of washing - only then to discover that our washing machine is up to its old tricks of spurting dirt onto everything - so consequently it is now going through again, after I just spent a delightful 15 minutes cleaning the c**p out of the seal ...mmm pleasant!

It's so nice to be able to hang the laundry outside - and it's still light at nearly 7:30pm, fabulous :)

Other than that have been absorbed in the wonders that are facebook and Sims2 Pets - bought for the logical reason that I had a voucher for 200 extra Tesco points if I bought a DVD/computer game before today...see, perfectly good reason...heh hum....

Twins ahoy..

Yey, they're here. Last thursday Clare gave birth (via c-section) to James (6lb) and Lilla (5lb 10oz) and they look soo cute. Hopefully seeing them on Friday - if I can shake this half cold that seems to have plagued me all week!

Generally stuff is tripping along nicely, not much to report. Have paid for Spring Harvest so will be heading to Minehead for my first ever Christian type Holiday thing - quite excited really!

buh..buhm..

Have just been for my appointment at the cardio unit at the Alex (hospital not theatre!). It went OK, I think it's going to come to the conclusion yet again that there's nothing wrong with me I'm just weird and have 2 different sorts of random palpitation episodes every now and again :) ah joy.

Well, rehearsals went well last week. Monday night we ran mine and Tony's yelling and crying bit into the 'storm scene' and it was pretty good - I almost managed it without looking at my script!
The 2 scenes with everyone in them (the onstage/offstage bits) are starting to come together well and the humour is really coming through!

Didn't hear back from the bar job, but then it was only filling in the application form, and they said they'd had a lot of interest. Plus I'm not exactly local! However something else will hopefully come to fruition soon.

No one else has come to look round the house, I'm still managing to keep it tidy and am getting the urge to do something garden-y soon. I did some work on my car over the weekend - check out Moffy's blog -and got some paperwork sorted. Have also been doing a lot with JAM club through the church which has been great fun and broken up the boredom!

Still no sign of the twins.........:)

Keeping busy

Have been home since Thursday, and am now beginning to feel like the whole time on the ship was a dream! I had a good time. Settled in to the work really easily, although 3 weeks is definitely my sanity limit for DJing. I got to go scuba diving twice - the first with the one PAX was great and saw all sorts of amazing fish, including a Napolean Wras (don't worry, I'm still referring to most of them by their "Finding Nemo" names! am not about to become a fish-officionado) which was about 1m long and half as high - apparently that's a baby- and a bat fish that was about 1/2 m big - incredible :) I didn't take these photo's but just to show you what they look like......

The second time I went diving was in Sokhna and there was a large group of PAX. We were split up into abilities. I was with 2 teenage lads and one of their fathers. One lad had to drop out due to having a cold and our guide was holding on to the smaller lad and his Dad so I was left following and taking photo's with my much sought, and finally found, underwater camera - huzzah! Here are some snaps - as ever click to get a bigger version. (You'll need to-it can be a game of spot the fish!)

So since I've been back I've been to church, one rehearsal, JAM Club and will be going to house group later. Fell like I'm getting abck into theswing of things a bi more. I went to apply for bar job today so we'll see how that pans out and Anne is doing all of my bits in rehearsals this week so am concentrating very hard on those lines!!