Penny is going to have a makeover

My lovely Penny Puma is going for a makeover. She has very rusty wheel arches and a scuffed front bumper. I have been asking around for months to find out where she can get help.
Finally I went into our local garage thinking that it is closest to home and we have done a lot of business with them in the past. It would probably be expensive but shopping around could be costly too. The result- they no longer do bodywork but gave me a business card.
So this evening I met Phil at Autospray after work and we got a quote for the work. A make do job which would not last would be £200. A good job which will last (as long as Penny I hope) will be £500.
So she is off for her pamper on Friday and hopefully home on Tuesday. Ken who is doing it showed us a Harley Davidson that he is building from scratch. Beautiful and quite nostalgic seeing that we used to be bikers.
So I really hope that Penny gets what she needs. She has NEVER let me down in the time I have been her Mum!!!
I need her to last at least another 9 years and she has cost me little so far.
Wish her luck...............................

Talking about dog bites

What are the chances that I would be bitten by a dog and less than two weeks later my great grand daughter would be bitten by a different dog.
I had a wound on my hand and the bruise is till visible; Chloe was bitten on her upper arm and I think her bruise will last a very long time.
Both of us were luckily up to date with our tetanus jabs but both on antibiotics.

The fate of both the dogs differed; the one that bit me is as far as I know still in its home but being watched; the dog that bit Chloe was put to sleep. There is a new baby in that house and chances could not be taken. Very sad.

I love dogs but will now be careful about stroking a dog I do not know. I don't think Chloe will be that cautious. She loves dogs and will continue as before.

You never know when something like this is going to happen..................

Still facing challenges

For every piece of good news I get there always seems to be a negative. I was always the eternal optimist. Everything will be ok. It will all work out.

So here I am back in blogland and I was expecting to share many good things with you. Then somebody went and spoiled it. Why do people think they can say whatever they want and you will just accept it. Not this time my friends. It really takes a lot to make me delete someone from my friendship list. And I do mean permanently delete.

That said it hasn't made much of a gap in my list. I have some wonderful friends who will keep my faith in humankind.

So where have I been and what have I been doing? I have been working incredibly hard. I always do but I am struggling more than usual with the increase in tasks. This is the busiest time of my year in work. I cope with it but there are a couple of extra issues which are hanging over us not least funding. Will I still have a job by September?
I hope I am still with Cruse but if I am not I have the ability to do anything so am not too worried; but I do love my job so it would be a shame.

Phil has been coming off his tranquillisers and that has been interesting and rather erratic. I have tried to get treatment for my puppy dog syndrome but I have mentioned before I think it is in my blood. Good days bad days; better days worse days. Can't be much fun for him either I know.

My degree is still stalling due to the ethical considerations. More about that later. If I ever see my dissertation in print I will eat my hat ( I don't wear one so I am safe).

My crafting is my biggest pleasure just now; providing the relaxation I need. I am also enjoying the creative aspect more than before and have even given a thought to going to art classes. If I had any spare time I would pursue that idea.

So just a brief journey through my last couple of weeks. I will get back to my daily post and thanks to everyone who has encouraged me to continue..............

Watch out- I am coming back

Well after a lengthy break I am coming back to blogland. I have missed the blog-hopping more than posting my own thoughts but I have to be honest I have missed that too.

A lot has happened since my last post; I will share some of that soon.

So I will be back in the next few days...........................

Holiday is nearly

Back to work tomorrow and many challenges to face there. Have stated my case and now I just need someone to listen.

More wedding invitations needed today - they won't be quite the same as I ordered goods for the numbers I was given at the beginning. Still be nice though I think.

Off to do some Headway talking today with Carol. That is another challenge to get going with a new group.

And I am taking a break from BLOGLAND for a while and Facebook.
It has become a habit that I need to break. I am one of those sad people who looks for comments on my posts and when there aren't any it just adds to my feelings of aloneness - that goes way back so noone to blame but me for the feelings.

Several AHA moments again this weekend and I realise that the future is just up to me; no point in relying on kids to help out; certainly can't expect anything of Phil any more. Even car mechanics is on my list now and knowing what needs doing when. There is a first for everything I suppose.........................

Easter Sunday and its quiet here

It's 10.30am.

I called around to Julie's with the kids eggs but she is out.

Phil is still in bed ( for at least another hour).

It's quiet here..................

Negative forces

I had lots planned for my week off. I achieved all the things out of the house so far but when it comes to technology well you know how it hates me!!
Yesterday I changed the dining room around so that I feel more comfortable out there doing my dissertation.
I also needed to print off Headway stuff ready for a meeting with Carol our Secretary on Monday. So why did my printer decide to throw out a blank sheet in between every printed sheet. Then why when I tried to find the settings did it tell me my computer is not connected to laptop when it so clearly is.
It also refused to scan saying that the scan facility was not available. It was ok last week!! Negative forces are at play again. Training issues identified so that will be my next "course".

As a result all the work I intended to do on my dissertation did not even get started whilst all the stress was happening. I got so stressed that I just couldn't continue. Phil sat on a stool for part of the afternoon just watching me - I must move that stool!!

So today I am out for lunch with Angie and I must try and stay calm. Two people in my life wind me up - Phil and Angie. My fault for allowing it so today I will be patient.

Technology can wait until tomorrow and my craft room must wait for another weekend off.....................................

Tetchy

It must be me!!
Have been impatient four times the last two days. Each occasion seemed worthy of impatience but maybe it IS me who is at fault?

So tomorrow I will try really hard to be calm all day. I will not be wound up by anything or anyone...........................

April fool - that's me!!!

Why oh why do I lurch from up to down. Why oh why am I such a puppy dog?
I have a couple of good days with Phil and then dream that this is a normal life.......and then wham bam back we go.

Am I a carer or a wife? I would like to be both in equal measures which I could cope with; but the scales are tilting and the wife is disappearing fast. In fact I think the wife may have gone altogether to be replaced by a mother figure.
Am I supposed to be looking after the needs of this man? Am I supposed to help him to have his best life? Then why when I advise him NOT to do something do I feel bad.
And why does he make me feel even worse.

Maybe having a few days off is not such a good idea any more. Maybe I am better seeing him at the end of my day when I have got the best out of work and feel useful.

Maybe I am tired again. Maybe the effort is just too much. Is this a holiday from work or is work a holiday from home?

Enough already ------ I have to live this life so have to work out how to!!!
I think I find a good plan and then it fails to work; so I guess I am on about plan Q by now!!

Today I am starting my healthy eating and I had a nice surprise when I got on the scales for my first weigh in. I thought I was 12stone 8 but I am 12 stone 3. That is a better start.
So from 12 stone 3 to around 10 stone would be wonderful and 9 stone 12 would be amazing.

I think I will focus on that for the next few days along with my dissertation. I don't plan to go out anywhere.
Tunnel vision may be a good plan what does anyone think??

So this April Fool is going to try and figure out a workable way of living with the constraints that exist. I read so many blogs by people who are so much more restricted than me but it is the old cliche - this is my life and not as I planned.

Had my hair cut and saw me as a teen in the mirror ( a few more wrinkles but not that many luckily). Oh happy days and oblivious to the life that was to come. That was a good thing or I may have gone to America instead of staying to get married ; but that is another story..........................