Tuesday, August 25, 2015

+ 365 days 231 - 236

Day 231 - Wednesday

So after posting about winning my Thomas Cook vouchers I had some really snotty remarks on Social Media. Some people are way too jealous - I shared the link for the game daily on FB when I entered - anyone who wanted to enter could have entered for free and could have won - comments like you already have an amazing holiday booked you should give the vouchers away and you always win its not fair are quite annoying.

I am by no means a proficient comper - I enter comps adhoc usually in the evening whilst chilling and watching the telly. I enter between 150-250 a day over various mediums except on the weekend when I dont enter hardly any as I have other stuff to do and I win around 2-3 prizes a week normally. However I know people who enter all day every day and who win 10+ prizes in a day - I dont stalk their twitter or FB slagging them off so I am rather annoyed that so called friends feel the need to do that to me!

Okay rant over!

Today's positive? All the people who were actually happy for me to have won something nice as there was a lot of them too!

Day 232 - Thursday

Today after work I popped down to my big sisters she has been continuing to sort out her house and had a shed load of toys she wanted me to collect to take and do a car booty with. Her house is looking pretty good and clean which is great.

I came home with literally a car full of stuff and then spent like 3 hours cleaning it as its from the attic and the shed and pretty grubby

Today's positive - My big sis actually getting rid of stuff - she's a hoarder and when shes depressed or sad (which she has been quite low for a few months now due to mental health services not engaging and the loss of our aunty who was like a mother to her and then the loss of her dad) she finds it physically upsetting to get rid of stuff so its a big deal for her to do this.

Day 233 - Friday

PAYDAY! On my lunch break today I decided to go check out the dollar exchange rate at a few shops along the road where I work - I normally avoid cash generators like a plague - not cos I am a snob but cos it smells funky and I feel bad for the people you see in there trying to flog their tellies and stuff! However when passing today I noticed they had a really good exchange rate - much better than the bank or PO and loads of big name stores so I got dollars for me, my mum, my niece and uncle for the hols - I actually completely cleared them out of dollars so will have to go back next week when they get more in to get the rest.

I'm now pretty much broke but hey I have spending money :D

Today's positive - getting a good exchange rate and getting most of the money sorted yay one less thing on my list

Day 234 - Saturday

Today it peed down all day - what's that about? where exactly is the summer gone?

Because of the rain I couldn't do the car booty so my living room resembles a toy shop right now

Our driveway has been completely redone by the council and they left a skip outside the house so we decided to help them fill it by putting on water proofs and going into the garden and picking up all the random bricks that are in there (there's a lot) had just about finished that when a massive thunderstorm hit so we all came inside soggy but feeling smug that we had achieved summat despite the rain.

Even tho the drive is finished I have had to park on the street for last 3 days as waiting on cement to dry out they said I could use the drive from this evening but due to the fact it hasn't stopped raining I have decided to leave it a bit longer - would hate for it to crack!

Today's positive - getting rid of the bricks from the garden - saved me and the car's suspension as I would have had to load them into the car (I only have a little chevvy matiz! 1.oL) and drive them to dump!

Day 235 - Sunday

Again - more rain :(

Today I cleaned my room properly which I havent done for ages - I am tlaking pulled out the wardrobe and cleaned through and chucked stuff, pulled out all the drawers and cleaned behind and under them and tidied everything in them (I even lined them with the fancy lining paper I got for xmas - 8 months later but hey - ho) moved out the bed and cleaned under there...dusted! steam cleaned and then hoovered the floor, steamed the mattress and the curtains and changed the bedding!

I also made use of the skip to get rid of some more crap from my room including an ab-toner that I just couldnt get on with that the cat had chewed and an old big back TV from the wall cupboard

I also packed my suitcase properly ready for the hols - I was gonna wait a few more days in case I needed my shorts n stuff but with the weather how it is I have just left one pair out and packed the rest.

Today's positive - feeling really happy that I got my room sorted - means I just have to give it a quick hover and wipe through before the hols and it will be all ready for when I come home :)

Day 236 - Monday

So as part of my sister's big clean she has been clearing her attic and she found my Minnie Mouse :)


So basically My nanna died when I was 4 years old and after she died I was given minnie who used to belong to her. I loved this mouse and took it everywhere with me - I couldn't sleep without it! When I was around 8/9 an over zealous air port security guard spotted me walking through the metal detectors with Minnie and tried to snatch her off me - I didn't let go and we had a tug of war - sadly as with all wars there was a casualty - poor Minnie got badly ripped! I gave her to my aunty (the one who died earlier this year) to sew back together for me and she lost her! I was really really upset. So I am guessing she must have got mixed with my aunties luggage from the trip and put in the attic in her house and forgotten about. When my aunty got married to the guy next door and moved out of her house - my sister moved in. They dumped a bunch of stuff in the attic and then their steps broke and they never got round to getting anymore and Minnie got forgotten. Fast fwd 24 years and my sister found her!

Today's positive? Getting Minnie back :D




Day 237 - Tuesday

Today I got some more dollars for the hols - so basically I have all the money sorted for my Uncle and my mum. I have it sorted for the transfers and for the hotel (we have to pay fees on arrival) and for the food budget. I have most of my nieces money changed just need to sort out her food budget money and I have another £300 to change for me to go with the rest and I am done!

Today I printed and doubled checked all our travel docs and itinerary. I confirmed the special assistance for my uncle for his flights back (doesnt need it going as we will help), confirmed his disability scooter booking for vegas, checked on amazon order for his frio pouch (special pouch for keeping insulin cool for diabetics). I also sorted everyone's spending money into envelopes for each day with their name and the date on it and into envelopes for fees and other costs ready.

I am starting to feel more on top of everything now :D

All I have left to do is:
- change rest of my spending money to dollars (cant do til next week as my dad is giving me it on the weekend)
- change my nieces food budget money into dollars (cant do til she gives to me on friday)
- book taxi from my place to the station to get the coach to gatwick (gotta do the night before we go)
- bath dog, pack his bag and drop to my aunty k's (night before we go)
- online check in (24 hours before flight)
- print out one lot of e-tickets (I printed out the payment summary by accident so need to print out the others which I will do tomorrow)
- dye my hair (at some point this week)

Phew - booking everything DIY for the holiday saved us a huge amount of money - around 10k but the stress of making sure everything is organised is getting to me a bit so am going to be glad when I have done everything and can relax!

Today's positive - just getting things done - the more I do now the less stressful it will be on the day we go!

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

+ 365 Days 225 - 230

Day 225 - Thursday

Work today was okay - its really getting quiet again staff wise with lots of people off for the holidays which means I can get more done with less interruptions.

After work I was going to visit my friend and watch her kids whilst she went out and did some training for the marathons she is running but it was due to be pouring with rain and she didnt fancy running so I went to bingo instead :)

Thursday is free at my local bingo club or you can buy the electronic machines for like £5 and up. Me, my mum and uncle went and just had a laugh - we didn't win sadly but had a good evening - my uncle is a bit up and down depression wise so we try to go out with him and keep him occupied.

Today's positive - a nice family evening :)

Day 226 - Friday

I'm totally skint right now with the holidays coming up which kinda sucks means that I am spending more time doing things that are free rather than anything I pay for.

So today after work I just took the dog for a walk - it was raining - he got wet and smelly but fun was had by us both - sometimes you need to say what the hell lets go jump in muddy puddles!

Today's positive - splashing the mad hound with plenty of mud hehe

Day 227 - Saturday

The weather today was glorious so I actually got up early and did a car booty with my mum. We had a bunch of crap thats been gathering dust in our hallway - made £50 so pretty pleased with that - even more pleased with being able to get into the hall now :D Also bought some new primani canvas boots for me and mum down the car booty - someone was selling like about 50 pairs of them for £1.50 a pair - pretty much a bargain :D perfect for the hols and if I wreck them or dont have room in my suitcase to bring them back then I dont mind leaving them behind.



Despite using SPF40 sunscreen and having a hat on I guess I missed a patch and got a lovely bright red sunburn stripe across my back! when it eventually turns brown I am going to look like I have a dirty back lol

After the early start for the booty we just chilled out in the evening :)

Today's positive making money from junk :D the money form here will go towards some extra $$ in our food budget :D

Day 228 - Sunday

Today was going to be another attempt at a day of rest - but my sister and H rocked up! My sis is really hating living in her place now and is taking every opportunity to spend time out and away so looks like she is gonna be a regular visitor here until she gets rehomed nearer us.

We sorted through some more of her crap and put the last couple of boxes in the attic and packed up the rest for her to take home.

H had her new podiatry created shoes - she got some super cute little white and pink hi-tops all weighted and built up to help with her walking. She is still getting used to them so is quite clunky wandering around.

My uncle showed up mid afternoon too so we ended up with a house full

After cooking dinner I took my sis and H back home with all their junk. I am really pleased with her - she has been working very very hard on her house to clean it. My sis is a hoarder and with her mental health probs she struggles with keeping everything clean and tidy and with decluttering. Her house looked much tidier - she has cleared a lot of the rubbish and stuff from her bathroom making it look tidier, she has also cleaned the surfaces and floors in the kitchen and living room - it smells much sweeter and looks cleaner and better :) Go Sis :D

Today's positive is deffo my sis doing really well - we call her everyday to check in with her and to 'nag' her into doing house tasks. Her working hard and doing the work is a really big achievement :)

Day 229 - Monday

Today went super fast in work - I got this weird noodle salad thing from Tesco for lunch which was pretty nasty - note to self - dont buy reduced noodles in Tesco - get fresh made to measure noodles from WiWo instead hehe I also bought bounty cookies - these were soo sweet and pretty much put me into a diabetic stupor for the rest of the day - deffo a bad idea but totally delicious.

After work I came home to find cash from my niece and mum left in my room eep - it's their money for me to buy their dollars out of - I'm getting all our money sorted on Friday/the weekend. I've locked it away in my super cute pink safe - better safe than sorry and also if its out of my sight I wont be tempted to spend it hehe

Today I was really pleased as I finally got confirmation from a company about a prize I won like nearly 2 months ago - tickets to see a sunny afternoon in the west end in London - I have had to chase them 2 times about it and they finally confirmed which is a relief as I already booked the time off work :D I also got confirmation that another item I won has been sent (won it like nearly 3 months ago!) I am planning on donating it to my friends charity raffles so pleased it is coming.

I also got some fab stuff in the post today including a selfie stick! I am wayyyy too exited for the self stick lol I really wanted one for the holidays and planned on buying one in home bargains but they sold out!!! I have no idea how to work it but I am going to have to have a look and read through the instructions but I am psyched hehe

Today's positive - getting my self stick :D

Day 230 - Tuesday

Today I came home to 4 x £250 (so thats £1000!) worth of Thomas Cook vouchers. I won the grand prize on Zoflora's daily grapefruit machine. They have no end date and can be used on pretty much any of their products (except currency) I dont know where I will be going yet or what I will be using them on as I want to enjoy my upcoming holidays first but I am leaning towards a trip to new york with my mum as she would love to go there and cant afford it.

Today's positive has to be my vouchers arriving I am psyched for them :D

Sunday, August 16, 2015

REVIEW: Phantom Thief Jeanne Volume 1 - a graphic novel / Anime

I won this book in a giveaway on twitter from user @bookitforwardUK. The concept of their giveaways is simple - to enter you RT their giveaway tweet and if your chosen as a winner they send you the book in the post. All they ask in return is that you post a review of the book you have been sent.

The book I won is Phantom Thief Jeanne - Volume 1



Book Details:
Author & Artist: Arina Tanemura
Type: Graphic Novel / Anime
Number of Pages: 258

Storyline:
Maron is a high school student who lives alone in a block of flats - her neighbour is her friend and sometimes enemy Miyako.

Maron is not an ordinary student she is the reincarnation of Jeanne D'Arc and together with her little angel (? I think its an angel) Finn she hunts out demons who are hiding in beautiful works of art to capture human hearts. Every time she captures a demon the picture they were inhabiting transforms into something even more beautiful so most of the owners dont complain which means the police have little to go on.

Miyako is the daughter of the chief of police and is determined to catch Jeanne the Phantom thief who she doesnt know is her friend.

Chiaki a new boy moves in next door to Maron and she has a huge crush on him but so does Miyako. Chiaki seems to be interested in Maron choosing to seek her out and make contact at every opportunity.

Another Phantom Thief - Phantom Thief Sinbad also appears on the scene and Maron has to beat him to the paintings to capture the demons before he does.

Review:

I honestly didn't like this book. I found the storyline a tad confusing and it didn't draw me in. I couldn't really relate to the characters either and found the whole thing a tad boring.

I don't normally read this style of book - the only graphic novels I read tend to relate to tv shows I watch where I already know the characters well so this may well be the reason why it didn't grip me.

I struggled without any background information on the characters and hoped this information would be forthcoming as the book went on but it wasnt - Jeanne lives alone because her parents vanished but no explanations about that, then another teen moves in the building and lives alone again with no explanation. Maron discovers she is the reincarnation of Jeanne D'Arc and meets Finn but there is no back story around how this happened! The whole story kind of meanders along with random characters appearing without explanation. It's ending answers no questions and leaves you hanging - I understand it's part of a series but it hasn't made me want to go and buy the next book to find out what happens next! Although maybe I will look into watching the anime tv series based on it in the future.

Apart from the cover work which was lovely I found the art work within the book to be mediocre. It was often difficult to differentiate between the characters and there was limited use of shading/ light dark to help with this. The art work made the storyline difficult to follow rather than enhancing it.

I also found reading the pages backwards difficult - I think I am preconditioned to work left to right so did get lost reading right to left!

Overall I would give this book 2 out of 5.

I like the concept of the BookItForward page and in that spirit I have taken the book into the hospital where I worked and put it into the staff library there (every 6-8 months the books are reviewed and older ones donated to a local charity)

NB.

I loaned this book to my anime mad 17 year old niece (well she stole it when she saw it on the side) - she enjoyed the book and asked me if I had the rest of the series for her to borrow - I would therefore conclude that it's target audience is probably teen girls aged 12-18 and that within this group it has plenty of appeal





Wednesday, August 12, 2015

+ 365 Days 222 - 224

Day 222 - Monday

Anyone else find Monday's drag? Like seriously the day just doesn't want to end in work.

Work today pretty much sucked but rather than rant anymore about it (those poor people on my FB list and phone have already had an ear bashing) I am going to take a deep breath, draw a line under it and move on and focus on the positive - I got through the day, I didn't kill anyone, I didn't lose my temper and happily it's finished!

Jac dog went to the groomers today to get his fur cut ready for when he stays with my dad and aunty whilst I am on holidays - he requires daily brushing and doing his tail area can be problematic and he can get snappy but if you dont do it he gets dreadlocks and matts which are much worst. To try and make it easier on them and him he had quite a short cut which means he will be easy to brush - they also trimmed his tail back a lot so instead of a fountain he has a powder puff - it will grow back and he looks fine its just odd seeing him with such short fur there.

He was a really good boy and he now smells lovely as they did his nails, ears and teeth as well as giving him a full groom and a bath. If only he could kep his just washed doggy smell rather than his I rolled in fox pee and stink smell hehe

Positive today - Jac behaving at the groomers - noone likes hearing their dog took someone's finger off!


Day 223 - Tuesday

Today was my long awaiting appointment with ENT - I have tried to play it down but cant deny when the GP told me they could see what they thought was a tumor in my ear I felt physically sick - a tumor anywhere is worrying for me due to the history of cancer in my family.

Anyways the good news is there is now tumor - bad news is my ear drum is badly scarred with very weak patches which will perforate again when I get another infection and my Eustachian tube is also damaged and not working properly - they think this is the reason for the pain I get and also all the infections. My hearing in the damaged left ear is pretty bad to at around 55-60% and long term its gonna get worse. Right now they wont do anything about it because they could risk losing the hearing I have but if things get worse then they will re-look at surgery in the future.

I am completely relieved - I knew I was going deaf in the left ear - it's been going on for well over 2 years now where I struggle if people are stood on that side talking to me or if there is background noise so it doesnt really bother me - I can hear okay with the other ear at around 85-90% and although there is some damage there too its not as extensive. I'm glad I know what's going on and also what to expect from the future - the uncertainty was the most worrying thing for me.

After my hospital appointment I sorted out my uncles travel insurance - trying to get insurance at a reasonable price for someone who has recently gone into remission with cancer who is also elderly and has heart probs and diabetes is a pain but I got it sorted and at a price we are happy with so he is happy it's done and if the worse happens we are all now covered - although none of us have the same insurance lol

Anyways today's positive is gonna be the not having a tumor - it feels like a weight has been lifted :)

Day 224 - Wednesday

3 weeks today and it's holidays - eep it is really getting close now and I dont have a lot left to do - I have printed most of the docs we need, I have sorted everyones insurance, I've booked and paid for all the hotels, flights, transfers and trips, changed up some canadian $.

My to do list is now:
- book ecv for my uncle - I already know where we are getting it from so it's just a case of sitting down and booking it
- book assistance for my uncle on his return flight as he is flying solo as we are going on to disney after vegas but he is going home - he just needs some help when he lands in LA to get his cases and to get checked in then for his flight home - I meant to do this on Sunday but my niece was down and as she only thinks we are going to disneyworld and doesnt know about vegas or niagara falls I couldn't as she was listening
- get US$ - cant do this until after I get paid on 21st - everyone knows I need all their cash by then as I will get us a better rate if I am converting more at once

I got the cats food when it as on offer at tesco, got the dogs food, got them all treats too - all thats left to do for the animals is to buy some frozen mice for the snakes - they were out the other day of jumbo mice and small rats so need to wait for them to get some in stock they aid they would call me, get 4 bags of kitty litter and that's it for the animals.

Considering my list started off over around 4 A4 pages to be down to 5 things is fab :)

So today's positive as it has been pretty much every wednesday is - it's nearly holidays! and I have nearly got everything done too!

Sunday, August 9, 2015

+ 365 Days 218 - 221

Day 218 - Thursday

Do you ever have one of those days when you wake up and there is a like a thick black cloud over you? That was me today I woke up in a stinking foul mood mad at the world and it's cat (it didnt help that my cat had thrown up on my bed during the night some time and I hadnt noticed it until the morning - walking up next to a pile of cat sick is never a good sign!)

I grumped around the house yelling at the cats as I tripped over them as they ran to the kitchen for breakfast, I muttered nasty things at the shower because it wasnt hot enough, I released my inner road rage and pretty much cursed everyone as I drove to work...yep pretty much a red flag day!

Everyone avoided me in work and because I was grumpy other people were - it's a vicious circle when your in the pits nothing and noone can get you out and cos your grumpy it makes everyone else grumpy and spread the misery pooping fairy around.

My bad mood lasted pretty much all day - when I got home I was still grouchy. I didnt do anything , I didnt go anywhere I just spent the evening playing computer games and taking out my bad temper on pixelated characters on the megadrive II (my mega drive I isnt working and I havent had time to take it apart to find out why so mega drive II it was!)

Around 9pm the grump finally wore off and I had a civil conversation with my mum before going to bed!

Today's positive? Sometimes I can be a grouch and not realise it - today I recognised it and tried to avoid inflicting it on others - it didnt work but at least I could see the problem was actually me and not the rest of the world.

Day 219 - Friday

Today was spent moving boxes from my sisters dad's to hers - the place has finally been emptied.

Positive today is no more visiting a dead man's house and going through his belongings - it feels weird and wrong  - I didnt particularly like the man in life and his dying hasnt changed that but sometimes you have to buckle down and help out

Day 220 - Saturday

Today I took H to a birthday party at Jump - we were beyond stupidly late because my sister decided not to listen to me and to get the later train to Cardiff - there was a wales rugby match on followed by a footy match and pretty much every single train was full so I had to go and get them by car - the party started at 12.30 and we didnt get there until 1.30 just when they were having food. H didnt want to sit and eat she wanted to play but luckily so did the birthday boy! The party was nice - H enjoyed herself and I introduced my sister to the birthday boys mum - another older single parent who I hope will become friends with my sis when she eventually moves to Cardiff as it is hard moving away from your friends even if you are moving towards your family.

After the party we had more of my brothers boxes to put up in the attic ( I swear he has more crap than a hoarder on the telly) it took a while to get it all up and to clear the living room but at least we can get to the snakes viv and tv again a they were both surrounded by a wall of boxes.

Positive today was taking H to the party - its good for her to mingle with other kids even if she didnt really mingle much :/ at least she enjoyed herself and my sis got to hopefully make a new friend.

Day 221 - Sunday

Today was gonna be my 'day of rest' I've been working flat out the last few weeks helping my sis and bro sort stuff out after their dad died - I've spent a lot of time driving between Cardiff and Newport and Newport and Bridgend and back - mostly with a car full of boxes that I have had to load and then unload at the other end!

Anyways it didn't turn out that way - a friend of my dads agreed to pick up a sofa bed that was left at my sisters dads place for us - it's actually my brothers from his room there. Our old sofa is pretty grim - it's had all sorts of nasty stuff on it and is stained and marked and just well...gross! so getting a nice new sofa that converts to a sofa bed was something we were happy about. I offered my dad's mate £30 to collect it for us and have to say best £30 spent ever! Danny pretty much carried our old heavy sofa and arm chair downstairs by himself, he drove me to Newport in his van and loaded it with the sofa bed and then drove back and carried it upstairs for me :) great guy!

I had foolishly taken the base off the sofa when I tried to get it in my car - not sure what I was thinking it was never gonna fit I only have a little Matiz! I had to put the bse back on which was harder than it looked and considering it was only 2 screw in legs and 6 long screws it took me about an hour to do and I couldnt get the screws in tight - gonna have to borrow my uncles electric screwdriver to finish it off.

BUT the sofa looks pretty good it matches the 2 fold up into a cube recliner chairs we have and it means when my dad stays over which he does frequently he has an actual bed to sleep on.

All in all I was pretty happy with everything even if I did spend most of the day sorting out the living room - still got some cleaning to do but that will have to wait for another day

Today's positive? easily Danny the man sorting out the sofa for me :)

Thursday, August 6, 2015

August - Freebies & Wins

As always - these are prizes and items that have arrived this month but they may have been won in previous months :)

1. WIN - 3x bikini's from social discount network on FB - now these were supposed to be La Senza one's but they are clearly not however they are actually really nice and good quality so I happy with them - 2 are going to my niece and the 3rd to a work friend :) (actually won these in June but only just arrived!)



2. WIN - £10 co-op vouchers (2 x£5) from the CoOp Treat team on twitter :)



3. WIN - from what shall we read on FB - Courting Trouble by Kathy Lette - this is coming on holiday with me to read by the pool :)



4. WIN - from Proporta on Twitter - a stereo splitter so you can plug 2 sets of headphones into a device at the same time so you and your friend can listen to music or both watch a film on the pad etc



5. WIN - from Kidzania on FB - a KidZania goody bag full of loads of Merch plus a family ticket (2A2C or 1A3C) to go there :) it's pretty awesome looking and I kinda wish I was young enough to go and take part in it!




6. FREEBIE - coupon for a free carton of Innocent Coconut water



7. WIN - £500 voucher towards a Forest Holiday booking - I won this in June but it's taken a while for them to get back to me and for my booking to be arranged - I have a luxury cabin with hot tub for me, my mum and my niece and the dog! booked for my mum's birthday week next year M-F down in the Forest of Dean. I ended up paying £205 extra which includes the entertainment package and wi-fi for our stay, the charge for the dog and because we wanted a hot tub lol - because we are going in July the voucher would have covered a basic cabin but we upgraded. I am pretty happy with this as these look amazing and I have heard really good things about them and £205 between the 3 of us is super cheap for a 5 night holiday :) Obv no picture because we haven't been yet :P This was won from one of those click to win sites - grazia daily

8. Win 3 x bottles of Mexican (chouloua hot sauce) from twitter - these are going towards my dad's xmas pressies as he loves this sort of thing



9. WIN: from Flickering Myth Web - a talking Ted from Ted 2 in a scuba suit - he's huge and furry and I love him although I am not sure what I will do with him yet




10. WIN - from horrorcult films on Twitter - Fallen Soldiers DVD




11. Win from CocoFina on twitter - a case of 24 coconut and date bars - these are delicious :)






















12. Freebie: Angel perfume Sample



13. REVIEW/WIN: got a new moisturiser product to trail with H - gotta do a survey at the end



14. WIN - Animals Book from Women Talking webbie



15. WIN - Cloudbabies plushie and sticker book from the cloud babies FB page


16. WIN - Dr Lipps Nipple Balm for lips - from their twitter page



17. WIN - Eric Clapton - Forever Man on Vinyl - from Absolute Radio -  this is the first ever thing I have won where they called me :)



18. WIN: Awesome Entourage Movie Goody bag including a quilted duffle bag, a fruit infusion bottle, a coaster and a selfie stick :D From Cineworld on twitter :D




19. WIN: Webbox kitty treats in their Freebie Friday giveaway on FB (but it runs on fb and twitter) - the cats adore these

Lady loving her webbox
Leo devoured his so fast I couldnt get a pic!





20. WIN: Awesome swimsuit and goggles from YC Sports FB giveaway BUT the swimsuit doesn't fit me - supposed to be a 16 but more like a 14 and way too tight so it's gone to my big sister instead. The goggles are going to my mum as they are a decent pair and I cant wear them due to glasses.



21. FREEBIE - Sky Store had an offer on for a couple of days where you could get RIO to download for free plus they also sent out the DVD for free too :)



22. WIN - From Zoflora's grapefruit machine £1000 of Thomas Cook Vouchers - a bottle of disinfectant and a zoflora notebook :D



23. WIN - Shopkins Party at Hamley's - no pic as I donated my prize to a friend who has 2 kids and not much money - she said they had an amazing time :)

24. WIN - 2 tickets to see a Sunny Afternoon in the West End (no pics but will take loads on the day - it's booked for October)


25. WIN - tickets to see Tree Fu Tom - I have given these to a friend so no pic :) posting here as the tickets are for 26/8

26. WIN - Minions 3D jigsaw from Ravensburger Twitter party



27. WIN - Woman in Black - Angel of Death DVD from HorrorCultFilms



28. WIN - My first numbers game from blog (TBC)



29. Freebie - Mikado from twitter SoPost



30. Freebie - Angel Perfum sample from SoPost


31. Freebie - sample of elephant super food (not sure where from)



32. Calm Colour Create magazine (adult colouring book yay) from blog (TBC)



33. Jewellery set from Social Discount Network on FB - I won this in June and have had to chase them constantly to send it out - it's supposed to be £150 worth of jewellery but is actually really tacky - I was pretty disappointed with it but at least they did eventually send it!



34. WIN - a surprise win that arrived in the post of Q Silica Skincare stuff worth £50 - will give it a try after the hols :)




35. WIN - Free Nature's Finest Voucher from their FB page - it's £2 so I got 2 tubs of mandarins in ASDA which came to like £1.80 and they took £2 off my entire shop so not only did I get free fruit I got 20p off my shopping too - thats a WIN for me




36. WIN - Swimsuit for my niece - I won this on allaboutbabyadvice's blog - it was supposed to be a 2-piece - I am not really keen on little kids wearing bikinis so was quite pleased when the company said I could choose a swimsuit from their website instead - I got this super cute birdie one which has a sweet little ruffle and I know my niece is gonna look gorgeous in it :)








+ 365 AUGUST - Days 213 - 217

Day 213 - Saturday

Today I had every intention of getting up and doing a car booty but when I got up at 7am it was grey and damp out and I checked the weather which said it was gonna bucket down so I went back to bed. Of course when I eventually got back up at 10 am it was pure glorious sunshine! Typical! Maybe next week.

I actually had a kinda dodgy tummy anyways so prob best that I didnt go too far from the toilets :P

Instead I took my mum shopping - only to tesco as we were out of stuff and she is skint - got some cat food for the cats whilst we are on hols - tesco was doing whiskas 40 pouches down to £8 and as the cats have now decided they like it again it's a good deal so I got them 2 packs plus a pack of the tesco's own 12 pouches - should be enough now to last them when I am away - I already put by a 5kg bag of biscuits the other week. Just gotta get 4 bags of kitty litter and they are set!

After Tesco I did us a lush Mediterranean tempura battered basa and rice dish with potato salad, slaw and fresh tomatoes and it was amazing. I dont really eat fish much - being poor growing up and having a dad who is really good at fishing meant we had a lot of fish because it was free and it kinda put me off but I like basa mainly because it is the fish equivalent of chicken - it goes with everything :)

After that we watched some NCIS and chilled out - I didnt go to work friday night or tonight because they sent me my payslip in a post with a note saying my final docs would be sent out in August so I took that to mean they didnt want me in and as noone called me I guess I was right - shame I missed my last shift through illness but oh well :)

Today's positive was the delicious tea I made - I dont really have cooking skills but the basa came battered and the slaw was premade so I only did the rice and pot salad but it all went well :)

Day 214 - Sunday

What's happened to the summer? it's been really grim in Cardiff at the mo :( lots of rain and cold weather and clouds. Today looked pretty grey but it was really warm. Cleaned the kitty litter trays and tidied the house in the morning and then popped out to the Bay to look in Sports Direct and B&M - spent some time in both but didnt really see anything I wanted to buy. Finished off the day as it had suddenly got warm and the sun was out - yay - with a MaccyD's and an icecream. Not quite the normal sunday roast but it worked for us.

After that I came home and did a jigsaw - I am pretty crap at them and slow but I enjoy them.

I decided to take a break from comping for the weekend which means I prob wont win anything but ah well someone else will and there is always gonna be comps

Today's positive - taking time to do a puzzle as I have been spending way too much time comping and neglecting my other hobbies!

Day 215 - Monday

Back to the daily slog that is work :( nah work was okay today - busy but back on track with my summer plan to get everything done before the holidays eep.

Apart from work which was relatively pleasant (because I locked everyone else out of the office so I was by myself and could get my head down) nothing of note happened. It was just a regular day :)

I did have to post all the parcels of crap I have sold on e-bay to the local shop which does myhermes stuff. The guy looked like he was gonna cry when I rocked up with 7 parcels haha.

Today's positive ? getting the parcels all sent and hopefully keeping my ebay score at 100% for my speedy service hehe

Day 216 - Tuesday

Today my brother left to go back to China - have to admit I am happy he is going he is quite over-bearing and bossy - it was nice seeing him but now he's gone it will be nice to not see so much of him for a while lol.

My sister was really upset tho - her dad's dog was rehomed today and then with my brother leaving too she feels really upset and she still has a lot of stuff to sort through with her dads and my brothers things. I took my mum down to see her and we loaded the car with even more crap to come home with and left he feeling cheerful enough about it.

Didnt get home til liked 1030pm and then was too tired to do anything other than unload all the crap from the car.

Today's positive - helping my sister and leaving her happier than when we arrived :D

Day 217 - Wednesday

Finally up to date in work again which is always a relief. Work as work really fairly busy - as the weather has gone grim again didnt even go out for lunch!

Halfway through the afternoon I got a call from my mum to say my sister wasnt coming down to put the crap in the attic as her lift had let her down and she was upset again because she didnt know how to get everything sorted so I had to take a break and call her  - I arranged for her to come down on the train and said I would take her back and sort out moving stuff etc - managed to calm her down.

Well got home and I had forgotten we were having a roast chicken dinner and that I had invited my uncle around too. My sis and niece turned up and then he did and noone wanted to leave!!! At 8.30 I was like yah we need to go now because I knew I'd have to load the car up when I got to my sisters dad and ti would take time.

Eventually got her home by 9.30am - got the car completely loaded by 1030pm and home by 11pm. Thought I would do some gaming and comping but sky was down - I hate calling sky because they put you on hold for ages and then you go through the same process everytime - I know the fault isn't my end because the sky was working fine one minute and then not the next - the fault is there end but they still insist on you jumping through hoops. After 15 minutes of being on hold I gave up and went to bed!

Today's positive - well I got my sister to help me shift all her and my bro's crap from my living room to the attic so it was nice and tidy for 5 mins...of course it's now full againw ith the crap I picked up tonight :\

+ 365 days 210 - 212

Day 210 - Wednesday

I had my big meeting in work today - things are going to change and there is little I can do about it. It was a long meeting and I left with a few things to do before the next one. Am I happy about it all? not really but it's the way life works things change and you get on with it.

After the meting I had a really bad headache so I came home and went to bed and slept for a long time!

5 weeks until the holidays :) That's my positive - I know it's an ongoing one for Wednesday's and I dont know what I will do when my count down is over with but YAY holidays

Day 211 - Thursday

Today I woke up stupidly happy - I think it was the long long nap yesterday that did it - I think I have been worrying so much and not sleeping so needed that.

Nothing much happened really - it's nice for some peace and quiet :)

Anyways today's positive is just being happy for happy's sake :D

Day 212 - Friday

Work was good today nipped to COSTCO at lunch and got a chilli cheese dog OMG have you tried them? they are amazing it's like £1.50 for a hotdog and a drink with free refills and then an extra 50p per topping so £2.50 and its HUGE and it was exceptionally good :)

After work my niece brought her suitcase down for me to check - I do it whenever we go on holidays to make sure she has appropriate clothes, enough underwear and outfits etc. As we are going for such along time this time and will only have one laundry day she needed to have at least 14 clean outfits plus everything else. This year she has done a pretty good job and had picked appropriate clothes so just needed a few more outfits and some leggings for when it's cold.

And that was pretty much my day - can't believe it's the end of the month already and we are heading into August this year is flying by

Today's positive? After 6 years of taking her on holiday my niece has finally learned to pack her suitcase lol