Connections

Just a quick note to say that I'm not going to be posting much over the next two weeks or so.  This is due to us finally starting the decorating process on the room that will be known officially as "The Study" (and un-officially as "my Scrapping Space"). Himself is most determined that this is NOT my scrapping room even tho' I will be doing my scrapping in it... it's a STUDY.  LOL.

So far the room has had it's cupboards ripped out and our PC is currently in a pile in the corner of our bedroom awaiting the day it can finally be put back together on it's new desk (which is currently sitting in the garage waiting to be assembled).  I'm planning a trip to IKEA for some other bits and bobs (including the 'scrapping' desk) to finish the room off.  All Hail the Glorious Empire of IKEA!  We shall make another pilgramage to the hallowed halls of flat-pack shopping sometime next week, so I'm hoping the room will have had it's wallpaper stripped and walls painted, floor carpeted and new light fixtures installed in readiness for flat-pack assembly to commence as soon as possible after the shopping trip.  Anyone want to volunteer to come and help??  Thought not!

Until, then I shall have to make use of his company laptop and some very kind friends computers to get my daily fix of UKScrappers, ebay and blogs!!

Watch this space for before, during and after pics... they should be good. Can't wait to get rid of this 80's wallpaper!

Onwards and Upwards

A mere 5 days after the accident himself has gone back to work.  I wasn't entirely sure that it was a good idea, however he doesn't do sitting around at home very well.  So he trundled off to work this morning in the hire car - a Mitsubishi Colt semi-automatic - which he has nicknamed 'the Dolt'.  He doesn't much like semi-automatic driving, but at least its a set of wheels!

So, in the spirit of trying to get back to normal, I can give you a belated update on events prior to the accident on Wednesday...

On Friday (23rd) I finally took the plunge after much umming and ahhing and had my hair cut.  It had been about half-way down my back but was really getting me frustrated and wasn't in such good condition, so decided to go to the hairdresser and do something about it.  Had it cut to an 'inverted bob' style with some lovely streaks of red in it too.  I think it looks great!  Although the picture that the hairdresser took at the salon doesn't really do it any justice. 

Also, the hairdresser bloke was determined to blow dry it straight.  Why can't hairdressers just accept that I have curly hair? Along with the fairly busy life, a toddler who's into everything and pure laziness I really can't be doing with a style that needs hours of straightening and styling.  The result is that my hair on the day it was cut looked like a strange half-arsed attempt at straight and slightly wavy when anyone who knows me will tell you that it's very very curly!  It looks much better now as I just wash it and leave it to curl in its own way.  Still I like the style and how light it feels.  Much easier to look after too!

On Saturday (24th) I went with my friends Sarah and Tammy (who are both cardmakers) to the Great Northern Papercraft Extravenganza at the Yorkshire Events Centre in Harrogate.  Wow.  It wasn't quite as big as I had imagined, but still took me all day to walk around and make my purchases.  There was so much fabby stuff that I was really struggling to decide what to spend my £50 on.  Wisely, I only took cash with me and left my cards very much in the care of himself as I couldn't really afford to spend too much.  I'm still supposed to be paying back about £200's worth of overspend from January!  I did manage to get a punch and pair of scissors (both of which I've been trying to get for months), a lovely selection of papers, a glue nozzle applicator for fine work and the really yummy pack of Basic Grey 'Scarlett's Letter' paper.

Some other random bits and bobs also managed to fall into my shopping bags too and eventually walked out with only a penny change.  Not bad for a day out and I'm definitely going again.  The next one is in September sometime, so I'm going to have to start saving up now I reckon!!

Wednesday (28th) was also my little brother's birthday.  I can't believe he's 22 now. Makes me feel old...although my Mum would probably laugh to hear me say that.  I have to say "Happy Birthday" to little-bro as I didn't get a chance to do so on Wednesday (what with the accident and all).  Sorry that we mucked up your big day mate... it wasn't intentional! LOL.  Have a great year and enjoy being 22!

Crunch Time

Well himself, myself and herself are home again safe and sound. In more or less one piece although himself is still limping and wincing everytime he moves.  He's feeling loads better today espesially after the shock of seeing the car yesterday.  We had to go to Sandbach to fetch some stuff out of the car wreck and took the opportunity to take some photo's at the same time.  Rather scary I felt, it made me realise how much we owe to airbags and other wonderfully complicated safety measures that we take for granted nowdays.  If Roberts' car had been older he wouldn't have walked away from the wreckage.  We counted a total of six airbags in the car 3 of which were for the driver (thank goodness!) I didn't even realise there were that many in the car!

The other guy's car didn't come off much better either although he apparently didnt feel the need to go to hospital.

Apparently himself was merrily tootling along the country road doing 60mph when he saw a black Toyota Celica coming around the bend.  The driver lost control of the car and veered across the road. He fought to regain control of the car but couldn't and ended up ploughing into our Fiat pushing Robert sideways through a brick wall and into a garden.  We're unsure what speed the other car was doing at the time of the accident, but it must have been at least 60mph.  Robert was trapped in the car for a while until somebody managed to wrench one of the back doors open.  The ambulance service then took Robert to Leighton Hospital A&E in Crewe.

We would like to thank the ambulance and A&E staff for their care. My in-laws (who went to sit at the bedside) were very impressed with their care and efficiency.  Also to the South Merseyside Police who have been very helpful in providing information and support after the incident. 

Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive in this stressful time. We really appreciate it!!

Ouch!

So, I was planning to do a post this week about the brilliant Great Northern Paper Extraveganza Show that I attended with some friends in Harrogate on Saturday and also about my dilemma of to cut or not to cut my hair.  Unfortunately these exciting topics have been pushed out of my little head completely by the phonecall every wife/partner dreads.  The one that says "Mrs Goodman, please don't panic, but your husband has been involved in a serious collision".

Due to this phonecall I'm now in Leicester with my in-laws and my very bruised and battered hubby.  He is ok, but the car is a complete write-off.  He's very stiff, has loads of little scratches and cuts and some very big bruises. Also some friction burn on his face from the airbags, but that is bearable considering the alternative injuries he could have had.  The hospital have given him a clean bill of health, which is great as I wasn't sure what state he was going to be in when I arrived here.

Anyway, I shall post again as soon as everything has settled. I might even have an idea of what happened in the accident which I shall post at a later stage.  Thanks to everyone who has phoned, texted or emailed us since yesterday morning. I shall get back to you all in due course.

Hard at work

Well, as much as normal anyway.  Finished a few LO's this past two weeks or so, but haven't really had the time to take photo's and upload them.  I did manage to take one photo so I'll post it here for you... It's my first LO about himself, which took him by suprise I think.  I felt the title was particularly apt!

I have also added a slideshow to the blog, after much muttering.  Struggled to do it as TypePad kept giving me error messages. Then once I figured what was wrong there I found out that it was too big for the sidebar and was being chopped in half. So, after several attempts at making it smaller I finally got it down to the right size!  E voila! One slideshow with LO's on! Now that I know what I'm doing with it I might add another with family pics on.  What do you think??

That means my dear SIL and her DH (and other technically minded members of the family) and my parents can see the latest and greatest shots of the darling cherub. Even if she is being a monster at the moment cause of teething.

Anyhooo, the little monster is trashing the room behind me as we speak, so I'd better go rescue the cat again who is currently cowering under the furniture!

Have you ever?...

Just saw this on someone else's blog and thought it would be interesting to share. Those things inPurple are what I've done.

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with wild dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said “I love you’ and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (and survived the crush afterwards)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars 
20. Changed a baby’s diaper 
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger 
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch 
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage 
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (or…raising children) 
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking 
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (cumulatively, if you count pregnancy! lol!)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes ... yum!
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Thanks to Kirsty262 for sharing!
I hereby tag Natalie to share hers!

Creative Overdrive

Think I ought to share some of my recent Layouts with you. It seems that the last few months haven't been particularly creative, but now the creativity has kicked in again.  Only did 2 layouts in February (one of which was a lift of a beautiful LO in the Scrapbook Inspirations Magazine) but have already done one in March and have another planned.  Hoping to do loads this month for a scraplift challenge on UKScrappers. The challenge for me is to do 20-odd LO's in a month. It's not quite as difficult as it sounds tho' as these LO's are to be based on or 'copied' from a set list of layouts that other people have done.  Consequently the first scraplift LO only took me 3 hours to do (rather than the week and a bit it normally takes). Want to have a peek??

The first LO was the lift of the magazine layout and all credit goes to SuzyB who made her original so wonderfully inspiring!  She is also a member of UKScrappers but I didn't know that until after I'd started work on my version.  Thanks to SuzyB for giving me permission to copy her beautiful work.  The second LO is all mine and the third LO is from the UKS scraplift challenge.  The original LO was done by UKScrapper Debly.

The other thing that has been particularly inspiring this past week was a little crafting evening that I hosted at home on Wednesday. Nothing big or fancy, just myself and 3 other ladies who are all into crafting in one way or another.  We all sat around the dining table and did our thing while having a good chatter and some nibbles.. although I might have over catered on the nibbles as himself and myself have been eating them for days afterwards to finish them off!  Still, it was great fun and a good time was had by all.  I think this might become a regular thing rotating at the four houses.  So I'm seriously looking forward to the next one!


Anyway, I shall have to go wake up herself yet again... otherwise we won't get any sleep tonight.  I'd better warn the cat before I do so as Erin has taken to chasing it around the house shouting "Tat" at the top of her lungs. The Tat in question is actually settling down fairly well, but still legs it everytime she sees the toddling monster coming towards her.