sel's spot

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

What To Call a Blog With No Name?

Hello everyone and welcome back to another blog!

Well i have two weeks to catch up one so lets begin....

......So Monday 29th September and it was back to work for me, everyone was really nice and good to me and i had a peaceful day.

In the evening me and Kieron downloaded the first two episodes of the new series of Heroes. They downloaded pretty quickly and we sat and watched the first one, which was brilliant!

Tuesday work was quite dull and i couldnt wait till i went home. In the evening me and Kieron sat and watched the other episode of Heroes, which was still brillaint!

Wednesday work was crap! In the evening Stuart came round for a bit to see Kieron, they sat and watched Alien Vs Predator: Requiem and i sat on the computer catching up with some programmes i had missed.

Thursday work was crappier! In the evening Kieron was on the PC whilst i watched my usual programmes.

Friday was a sad day, it was my friends funeral. I went to work in the morning and couldn't really concentrate on anything. Before i knew it it was 12.30pm and it was time for me head for the train station.

On my way through town i swept by Gamestation to buy Fifa '09 for Kieron, i was in plenty of time for my train so i didn't mind. I rang him to tell him i had got his game and he wasn't far from Moor Street Station so he met me in station car park so i could give him his game. We had a little chat and he tried to cheer me up before i had to leave to get my train.

The train was a bit delayed but not by much. It was only two stops and off i got at Tyseley where i met mum as she was coming with me and she only works down the road from Tyseley train station. I got in the car and we set off up the road to Yardley Cemetery.

There was already a bunch of people waiting outside and in the group was Norma, Len, Min, Laura and Jed from the kennels. I said hello to everyone and we silently waited.

The Hurse pulled up and it got too much for me and Laura. We went in and took our seats and started the service. The reverend wasn't very nice and he made the service very cold. He was more concerned telling me about Psalm 21 and who wrote Born Free rather than talking about Mandy! I was glad when the service was over, it was a very sad day.

We went outside and looked at the flowers that had been donated, mum had made a small flower decoration for Norma to put up in the reception at the kennels and we made a donation to Cancer Research UK.

We then went to the Westerly Arms Hotel in Acocks Green for the afterthing (what do you call this bit: is it called a wake?). There was some lovely food and something to drink. I met up with Norma's grandson Jamie who i haven't seen for years and i couldn't believe he realised who i was!

Me and mum only stayed about an hour as i had had enough and wanted to go home. We said our goodbye's including Mandy's mum, Cath who again strangely knew who i was.

On our way home we called in to Nanny Evans' i don't know why but i just felt like calling in and having a cup of tea with her. We also met Gaz at nan's house as he was coming back from work, his car had been in to have some work done and had to get the bus to and from work.

We stayed quite a while before heading off home.

I was in the flat for about 10 minutes when Kieron came in as well. He was soon on Fifa 09 and i caught up with some programmes.

Saturday was a nice day in the morning me and Kieron got up and headed off for Walsall (or Wassull as me and Kieron say) as we were looking for some carpet for the living room. Kieron fixes forklift trucks for Walsall Carpets and they had said that if we ever needed carpet we should pop up as they would give Kieron a discount.

We had a look round and Kieron found one that he really liked, so with the carpet, fitting and a discount £200 - not a bad price.

After we had sorted some paperwork and that we headed on home. We got back to flat, i had something to eat and then went down to see mum, nan and grandad. Grandad has (finally) got a hearing aid - well two to be precise! So he can hear what we are saying - Wooohoo!

I stayed there for a bit before going home, picking Kieron up and going round Steve and Natalie's. We had a nice chat, me and Natalie watched the X Factor whilst the boys were on the PC.

We had a fairly early night as Natalie wasn't feeling very well so me and Kieron went home about 10pm ish. We watched tv for a bit before going to bed.

Sunday was another good day, we got up and went and did the shopping which we hurried a little as Villa were away at Chelsea and we wanted to listen to it on the radio. Steve had rang Kieron and asked if he could come round as he was bored so we picked him up on the way back from shopping.

We got back, had some lunch and listened to the match. Unfortunately we lost 2-0 which was a bit disappointing as Villa have been a winning streak, but good things come to an end. Kieron and Steve played on Fifa 09 afterwards and i went and played on my organ as i hadnt had a go in awhile (i was a bit rusty!).

So back to work it was on Monday (6th October) not a lot happened at work same old thing. In the evening me and Kieron watched tv as usual.

Tuesday was the same!!! Wednesday was the same!!! Thursday work was the same but in the evening i met up with Min and Laura from the Kennels. I picked Min up (so she could have a drink) and set of back to the Westerley Arms in Acocks Green as it was very pleasant in there. We met Laura there for about 8.30pm and we had a couple of drinks and a good natter.

It was soon 10.30pm and we decided to call it a night, i dropped Min home and went back to the flat.

Friday was the same as the other days, work, home, food, tv, sleep!

Saturday was a nice day, in the morning me and Kieron did some tidying up and then we got ready and went down to Kieron's mum and dad's as we were taking them out for a meal. Tony adn Maria's birthday's are 4th and 8th October so instead of getting rpesents (as they are really hard to buy for) Kieron decided to treat them to a meal. We decided to take them to the Reservoir as it does some really nice pub food.

Me and Maria had Chicken and Bacon salad and Kieron and Tony had curry. We had a really nice time with some drinks, food and a natter and was nice to spend some quality time with Tony adn Maria as we dont see them very often.

It was about 4pm and we had spent long enough in the pub. We dropped back Tony and Maria and went back to the flat. The England Vs Kazakstahn match had just kicked-off so me and Kieron wathced the first half at home and then went round to Steve and Nat's to watch the second. It was a poor start but a great finish as we won 5-1.

Me and Natalie watched our round of X Factor whilst the boys were on the PC. We stayed untill about 11pm and then made our way home.

Sunday was the usual we went and did the shopping and just chilled out at home.

So that's about it for now so cheerio!

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Nothing.... Then Everything!!!

Hello Everyone!

Yes i am back! Firstly let me apologise for not blogging for a long time, this is mainly due to the fact that nothing really happened at the beginning of September for me to blog about and then in the last couple of weeks, its all picked back up again!

So what i will do, is i'll just blog the days that something happened on....right lets begin....

Monday 1st September it was back to work after my week holiday and i had got plenty to do to get me through the day.

All that week nothing really happened, work was the same old thing, until Saturday (6th), ah yes the weekend.

I went down to see mum as usual but i was only there for a bit as me and Kieron were going to Wythall Animall Sanctuary to have a look round there Cats/Kittens. The Cats Protection League still didn't have any suitable cats in for us so we decided to go to Sanctuary instead.

We went in and i bumped in to (not literally) a friend of mine, Alex, who i used to work with at Wildrose Kennels. We had a good look round and there was a little black kitten called Danny, who was on his own, but very nervous. He was like Faye, he had syblings but they had already been re-homed and Danny was on his own. He was such a tiny little thing, especially for a 6 month year old male, that we decided to have him. We put him on reserve as the Sanctuary would have to come round and do an inspection.

So we filled in some forms and went back home. In the evening me and Kieron went round Steve and Natalie's as usual.

On the Tuesday (9th) i got a phone call from the sanctuary to say that all they wanted to do is check that the area we live wasn't a main or busy road and that we were free to collect Danny whenever we wanted. So i decided to have the afternoon of the coming Friday (12th) off to go and collect him.

Thursday (11th) me and my friend Becky met up for a drink and a catch up at the Packhorse. We hadn't seen each other for a while and i had a present for her as it was her birthday a week before.

We had a really nice chat and was telling each other all the things we had been up to. It was getting quite late, Becky's mum had dropped her off at the pub so i said that i could give her a lift back.

Friday (12th) work was boring in the morning but i didn't care as at 12.30pm i left work and made my way home so i could go get Danny from the Sanctuary. I got there for just gone 2pm and saw Alex. I filled in some more forms and then we went to get him.

I got him in the car and back to the flat within 45 minutes. He was very, very nervous, i shut him in the lounge so that Faye (who luckily was out at the time) couldn't come in and frighten him even more.

He was so nervous and he soon found a little place he could hide (in the tv cabinet at the back of the dvd player). I didn't really know what to do so i left him there, as he seemed quite content, until Kieron got home.

Kieron was home for 4.30pm (thankfully) and he got washed and changed adn came and joined me in the living room.

He decided that we should try and get Danny to get used to us, so Kieron dug him out of his little hole and put Danny on his lap. We st fussing him and stroking him and he did seem to calm down a little.

It wasn't long though before Faye returned home. Kieron held Danny on his lap whilst i got Faye. Now Faye is a lovely cat and she gets on with all the other cats in the area, fusses around them and plays with them, adn this is the real reason why we decided to get another cat.

I picked up Faye, and in one look at Danny she was not happy. Hissing, growling and starring at him all the time. She only stayed 5 minutes before she was off out again (probably to get away from Danny).

This really upset me and Kieron because we thought she would except him. So its was going to be harder than we thought. We had a scared/frightened kitten who just wanted to run away from everything and a cat who doesn't like the kitten.

I started to read up about it on the internet for some advice. We decided on two things, 1 - we wanted to change the kittens name 'cos we didn't like Danny and 2- we should try getting 'insert new kitten's name here' to come out of his shell a bit more (but at the same time try and not push Faye out).

We decided to call Danny....Frodo 'cos he's a little hobbit! So all evening we were trying to fuss over Frodo and get him to relax around us, and every time Faye came in trying to give her some fuss and trying to get them introduced.

Saturday was a good day, Frodo was a little bit better, instead of hiding away at the back of the dvd player he hide away down by the sofa. In the afternoon we went round mum's for a bit before heading over to see Alex and his girlfriend Jay. We sat in the garden as it was a glorious, sunny day. We had a nice chat and Alex's brother Greg called round aswell. We only stayed for a couple of hours before making our way back home.

We didn't go round Steve and Natalie's as we wanted to spend time with the cats. Frodo was getting even better he was now very confident playing in the living room, as we had found the one thing that all cats can't resist - a piece of string!Faye was still being a bit awkward but there had been slight improvement.

I did some more research on the internet and we decided to just let both cats sort it out themselves, but obviously making sure they weren't going to kill each other.

Because Frodo had become more confident he was more interested and intrigued with Faye and he started to go up to her. Faye hissed and spat at him but he wasn't frightened by her, and in the end they ended up touching noses (which is a very good sign). They sniffed one another and that was it. Faye excepted Frodo and Frodo excepted Faye - Brilliant!

For the rest of the evening me and Kieron watched Spaceballs.

On the Sunday Kieron's mum and dad popped round, they had come bck from Holland and wanted to show us their holiday pics. They had also brought us two magnets - a Windmill and a pair of Clogs, and they bought me a 'Tea for One' set. It's a cup and a mini tea pot that kind of fit together and it makes tea for one - well i like it anyway!

Nothing really happened the following week, apart from we decided that Frodo was a silly name, and we settled on calling the kitten Harry (and that is deffinately staying!).

On the Friday (19th) Kieron took me out for a meal at Frankie and Benny's and then we went to the Cinema to see Tropic Thunder. It starres Ben Stiller, Robeert Dowey Jnr, Jack Black and Steve Coogan. It is absolutely hilarious, its bsically a movie within a movie. They all play actors who are making a Vietnam movie but they actually ended up in a real war and use their 'movie' scenes to get themselves out of it. Its brilliant, deffinately worth watching.

And then nothing's really happened until last week, Tuesday (23rd) at lunchtime, with work we went next door for a drink and Peter informed us of a few changes. There is a company in Brindley Place called Level Seven Architects, who Armstrong Burton recently acquired. Their lease on thier offices runs out soon and with the credit crunch and property market in a pickle at the moment, Derek is finding way of saving money. So in a couple months time Trevor and his mate will be moving in to our offices. There is only two of them so it won't be too hard to fit them in.

Then on Thursday (25th) in the evening i went to the Reservoir to met up with Emily, Jim, Rosey and Dan. I haven't seen them all for a month as we've all been on holiday or doing something, so it was nice to have a catch up.

Unfortunately though i was to find out some rather terrible news. Whilst enjoying myself my phone rang and i didn't recognise the number, but i answered and it was a good job i did. It was Norma, the lady i worked for at Wildrose Kennels, she was very upset and told me of my freind Mandy who was the manager at the kennels. We were very good friends, we would go out places together and we would dog training and she was just brillaint, but unfortunately she had suddenly passed away.

She had been feeling unwell for a number of weeks, and she was rushed in to hospital on Monday evening because she couldn't breathe, but on Thursday morning she stopped breathing and that was it.

Doing an autopsy actually revealed that she had Cervical Cancer and it had spread to all of her vital organs. So there would have been nothing that anyone could have done for her anyway but still she didn't deserve to go like that as she was only about 40 years old. I was so upset that i couldn't find the strength to go in to work on Friday.

I got up Friday morning and went and brought some flowers and went round to see Norma. Norma's daughter Min was there aswell and they both welcomed me and gave me hugs. I went in and had a cup of tea with them and we sat chatting away.

We all got upset and Norma told me stay until i felt i was able to drive home. I asked if i could walk one of her afghans for her as i wanted to just relax and calm myself for a bit. So me and Poppy went for a little walk down the lane.

When i got back to the kennels Norma's husband Len had been down to Becketts and had brought some chocolate eclairs to cheer us all up. After we had induldged ourselves i said my goodbye's and made my way back home.

Kieron was really good, he comforted me and managed to stop me crying. He went and got his shoes on and he told me he was taking me out to cheer me up. We went into Kings Heath and i upgraded my phone. I now have a Sony Ericsson C902 and it is very swish.

After that we went to the Navigation on Kings Norton Green and Kieron treated me to a pub lunch and a couple of drinks (which was desperately needed). We had a lovely afternoon and i did manage to perk up a little bit so thank you Kieron!

Saturday me and Kieron were off to Villa Park to watch Villa Vs Sunderland. It was a good and exciting match, although the Ref was an idiot and made real stupid decisions, but we won 2-1 so we were happy. We didn't go round Steve and Natalie's, we stayed in and watched Transformers on Blu-ray.

Sunday was an ok, we went and did the shopping and then in the evening we went round Steve and Natalie's.

Well that is it readers, i will hopefully be back to usual next week, so i will say cheerio but will leave you with one of the chants from Villa Park so Cheerio!



(Sing to Kum-Ba Yah)



We're on the piss my lord
On the piss
On the piss my lord
On the piss
On the piss my lord
On the piss

Ohhh Lord on the Piss

It's your round my lord
It's your round
It's your round my lord
It's your round
It's your round my lord
It's your round

Ohhh Lord it's your round



(Point finger at other team's supporters)
Crap support my Lord
Crap support
Crap support my Lord
Crap support
Crap support my Lord
Crap support

Ohh Lord crap support

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Thursday, September 04, 2008

"Just Because You Can Use Magic at Home Doesn't Mean You have to Whip You're Wand Out For Everything!"

Hello everyone, yep another blog from this week as i had to catch-up.

So last Monday, was Bank Holiday Monday and me and Kieron started unpacking our bags from our trip to Blackpool (see blog below). I put some washing on adn set off for the cattery to pick up Faye.

I saw Mandy and had a quick cup of tea, and then follwed Mandy to Faye's pen. She was meowing like mad but she was pleased to see me. When i got her pack to the flat, we made a big fuss of her giving her treats and playing with her non-stop.

We then popped down to see Kieron's mum and dad for abit as Kieron's cousin Michael was there with his girlfriend, who was interested in buying Kieron's old Citreon Saxo.

Kieron showed Michael the car whilst i was telling Tony and Maria all about Blackpool. We stayed for a couple of hours and then went back to the flat.

A bit later on i decided to see my mum for a bit. She was at home not doing very much so we was pleased to see me. We had a chat a little glass of wine and i told her all about Blackpool. After about an hour Kieron rang me to say that Michael's girlfriend wanted to but the Saxo and was going to drop off the money at Tony and Maria's.

So i said goodbye to mum, went and got Kieron and went back to Tony and Maria's. Michael and his girlfriend were already there and so was her parents.

Within a couple of minutes Kieron handed over the keys and the log book and we got the dosh!!!!


In the evening i sat and caught up with Eastenders, X Factor and Big Brother and Kieron played on the PC.

Tuesday was a good day, we got up and went into Town to have a look round and a mooch. Kieron brought himself the new Villa shirt and a game and i was going to buy a new pair of trainers but couldn't find any i liked!

We were in Town for ages looking round the shops, but soon we were ready to go. On hte way back we called in to the Cats Protection Centre down Packhorse Lane, as over the last couple of weeks we had talked about and decided upon getting Faye a little friend to play with.

Faye was 1 of 4 kittens in the litter, who were all born at the centre. According to the staff at the centre they were all lively and playful and they were a very close litter. They day before we went and chose Faye, another couple had chosen the 3 males leaving Faye on her own.

We think that she misses them very much as Faye is still playful and is looking for other cats in our road to paly with, so thats why decided to get her a friend.

We explained our story to one of the staff and they said it would be best if we went with a male cat. We had a good look round but couldn't find any male cats that we thought would suit Faye. So the search is on!

In the evening we went round to Stuart and Becky's house. We had a nice chat and enjoyed a bottle of wine. They have done a lot of decorating since we last went round and it looks really lovely.

We stayed until about 12am and then called it a night.

Wednesday me and Kieron didn't do anything really, i caught up with some programmes i had missed the night before and Kieron spent his time reading a new book and playing on the Pc & Xbox.

Tony and Maria popped round for a quick cup of tea about 4pm ish but they only stayed an hour as they were going out somewhere.

Thursday was another busy day, we got up as we had to go out and do something for a couple of hours and then we called in to Steve and Natalie's.

Natalie had taken the kids down to her mums and wouldn't be back for a couple of hours so i decided to leave the boys playing the xbox and i went in to town to buy some new clothes for work. I didn't want to go to mad so i decided to go to Primark.

I got ended up with two tops and a new pair of trousers which came up to £20 - Bargain!

On my way back home i decided to call in to see nan and grandad as i hadn't seen them for over a week. They were delighted to see me and i showed them what i had bought from Town. I had a cup of tea and a natter and was there for just over an hour.

It was almost 4pm by the time i left nan and grandads, and went straight back to Steve and Natalie's. When i got there, Natalie had just got back herself (brilliant timing).

We stayed round there all evening playing games, watching tv and having a good old chin-wag, but it was soon 12am and it was time to call it a night.

Friday me and Kieron had a massive clean down and tidy up morning as the flat was a complete mess. It took us pretty much all morning and we were exhausted when we had finished.

We had some lunch and we were a bit bored so we went down to Blockbusters as Kieron fancied getting a new game for the Xbox. We had a mooch round and they had a bit of a sale on, Kieron decided to buy Too Human as there was nothing else that caught his eye, and i treated myself to some Harry Potter dvd's.

I have read all of the Harry Potter books (thanks to Rosey) and i have seen all five films but the only one i had on dvd was the thrid film Prizoner of Azkaban, but it was a really bad copy. Blockbusters only had the first three films (Philosophers Stone, Chamber of Secrets & Prizoner of Azkaban) and film five (Order of the Phoenix) all for £5 - so i brought them all!

When we got back Kieron was on his xbox and i had a Harry Potter marathon. I only managed to watch the first one, before i had to get ready and go over to Andy Lake's for his 50th birthday party.

I got there, and dad hadn't arrived so i went in and said hello to the people i knew. It wasn't long before Andy turned up and he didn't let us down. The "them" for Andy's 50th was to do with water - there was a reason for it but i cant be bothered to explain, but it was basically something Andy said to dad once about water features.

Dad, Pete Twist, Brian Hands and my brother actually built a water feature in Andy's back garden (whilst he was on holiday). It was with an old bath (see Gareth's blog for more details) and an old pool pump.

So Andy carried on the theme and he came to his house party dressed up in full snorkel gear! Brilliant!

We had a lovely evening full of fun and laughter - we got to watch the film they had made building the water feature! I stayed until about 12am and then called it a night.

Saturday a good day i went round to mums in the afternoon, watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and then me and Kieron went round Steve and Natalie's in the evening.

Sunday was the usual thing, we went and did the shopping in the morning and to my delight they had Harry Potter 4 (Goblet of Fire) and then i went to see nan in the evening and had tea!

So that's it for now readers - cheerio!

Monday, September 01, 2008

Brummies Go To Blackpool!

Hello everyone as promised my blog all about our trip to Blackpool....

.... So the story continues Friday 22nd August me and Kieron were up quite early. We both had showers and packed up our toiletries and other little things into our suitcase. We also sorted out cameras and PSP stuff to take with us in the car.

Whilst Kieron was still sorting out last minute stuff i took Faye down to the cattery. I had booked her in with Wildrose Kennels where i used to work because i know i can trust them. I got down to the cattery at 9.15am dropped off Faye said hello to Mandy and Norma and called in at the petrol station to fill up the car.

I then headed back to the flat where Kieron had just finished locking the flat up, we dumped the stuff in the car and headed round to Steve and Natalie's. When we got there Steve and Natalie were ready, they said goodbye to their children, Lucy and Phoebe who were staying with Natalie's sister Heather, got everyone in the car and set off.

Kieron was driving with Steve in the front and me and Natalie were sharing the back. We put on a Queen CD and cruised through Town and onto the M6. It was about 10.50 when we hit the motorway and it would take a couple of hours to get to Blackpool.

We all had a packed lunch with us in the car so that we didn't have to stop unless we absolutely had to.
The journey wasn't too bad, it was a bit busy on the motorway but Kieron drives up and down the M6 on most days because of work so he was very relaxed and calm. Two hours had passed and we were now leaving the M6 and joining the M55. We only had to go pass 3 junctions before it was time to leave the motorway and enter Blackpool.
I had a map and some directions for our B&B once we left the motorway, which i handed to Steve as he was in the front.

It didn't take us long to find the B&B as it was on a fairly main, but quiet road. The B&B was called the Carlee, we pulled up and i went to the door (as i had booked the place). The owner Heather (a different one, not Natalie's sister) was a lovely lady, although she could talk for England. Once booked in and sorted out we were shown our rooms.
Our rooms were together on a separate corridor from other people's so we were had our own little private section where noone could come and hassle us, which we thought was great.

The rooms were very spacious and decorated quite well, bright, breezy and clean. We got bags to the rooms and had a 5 mkinute rest as we had been travelling for about 2 and a haf hours. It was nearly 2pm and we decided to head out.
We had our own keys to get us in and out of B&B so we could come in or go out at anytime we wanted without disturbing anybody. We set out towards the front which was only a 5-10 minute walk.
We walked towards the shopping area as Kieron needed to find a cash point to get some money, after that we headed towards the nearest Pier.
Blackpool has three Piers, North, South and Centre. We were nearest the North Pier which is a lot quieter than the other two. This is mainly because it has a theatre on it which isn't open unitl the evening so it gets busy later on.
As we walking up the Pier we had a photo moment:




Awww don't they look lovely together!




Smiley Selly!

There was a merry go-round and Me and Natalie couldn't resist having a go!



After the merry go-round we headed to the end of the pier and it was a bit windy so we went into the little bar and had our first drink in Blackpool.

After our drink we headed back down the pier and we decided to walk down the beach towards the middle one. The middle pier is one big fairground, with little rides and games and sweetie stands, we didnt stay long as there was nothing there that interested us.

We then hopped on to the tram to take u down to the south pier, this is probably the busiest pier throught out the day as most of the local attractions are around the south pier. I saw the Crazy Mouse ride that Gareth warned me about and it did look crazy - i never got chance to have a go, but i think if i had i would have died!

We walked across the road and went over to the Pleasure Beach. You can walk around the Pleasure Beach for free, to go on the rides though you can either buy a £30 wristband, like you would at Alton Towers or you can buy tokens so that you can go on a couple of rides if you're not interested in staying there all day. We thought this would be good for us, as Natalie is pregnant she can't go one most of the rides bu there were still some fun ones like the hall of mirrors and thinks like that she could do so we went to buy the tokens. We soon found out however that the tokens is a complete con becuase you HAVE to buy a minimum of £20 worth of tokens! No thank you!

We left the Pleasure Beach and made our way to the nearest pub to get a drink and some food. We found a nice family pub (a bit like a Harvester) called The Manchester.

We stayed in there quite a while having a couple of drinks and some food and trying to decide what to do that evening. The night life at Blackpool is heavily aimed at Hen/Stag Parties who are on the Club scene an want to get completely smashed off their faces from booze! If you go away from the front there are some quieter pubs that you can go to, which we founf ideal for us.

So after a few bevvies we decided that we would go to the cinema to watch the new Hellboy movie, and funnily enough we just around the corner from the Cinema. The film started at 6.10pm so we made our way.

The film is a good average film, and i think it is better than the first. When we came out of the cinema we headed back towards the B&B as we were all getting tired. We decided that we would have a few bevvies (Happy Hour) in our room back at the B&B. We stopped and got some supplies and mae our way back.

Me and Natalie settle for a nice cup of tea and the lads had a couple of cans of Scrumpy! We sat and watched the Big Brother Live Final and something about the Olympics before going to bed.

Saturday morning we all woke up fairy early, we had our showers and got ready and headed down to breakfast. We were all looking forward to our Full English and the smell was mouth-watering.

We stuffed our faces full of toast, egg, bacon, sausages and beans, coffee, tea and orange juice, it was delicious. Today me and Kieron took out the video camera in the backpack as we had a full and busy day ahead of us.

The sun was shining and we started off the day by popping in to Primark for Natalie as she needed a different t-shirt as her top was making her too hot. We then headed to the Sea Life Centre. Its quite like the one in Town about the same size, and laid out in a similar way too.

Again we had some photo moments:




Nasty Pirhanas!
We spent a good couple of hours walking round looking at all the funny creatures. After the Sea Life Centre we made our way to Louis Tussauds. Louis Tussaud was the great grandson of Madam Tussaud and Madam Tussauds in London is alot better than Louis' mainly because they have alot more waxworks and they are better look-alikes but it was still good fun!




Delboy and Rodney greeted us at the entrance!


They had a Hollywood Section:





Kieron & Angelina Jolie



Coronation Street:




Natalie called in to See Jack and Vera!




A Music section:




Boy George



Robbie Williams



The Royal Section:


Princess Selly!


Star Wars and James Bond Sections:

Kieron & Daniel Craig


Yoda & Selly it is!


And then finally they had The Chamber of Horrors. This was (as i'm sure you can guess) was all the waxworks from horrible films like, Hannibal, Scream etc etc. It was very dark in the chanber and they playes spooky music. Me and Natalie had to hold each others hand as we were both a little bit scared and we were worried that someone was going to jump out on us!


Don't touch the box Steve!

After we had come out of Louis Tussauds we crossed the road and went to sit on the beach for a bit as Natalie needed a quick rest. It was almost 2pm and we felt a bit peckish so we headed towards The Manchester pub again for some drinks and food. We all had plenty to drink and eat and we had a lovely chat and a good old laugh and giggle (mainly at the lady behind the bar who was a tad bit hairy!).

After our refreshments we had to decide what to do next, Me, Natalie and Kieron wanted to go up the Tower but Steve is affraid of heights, like proper phobia of them! So we decided to think on route and made our way to the Tower anyway. We stopped off and brought ice creams and bits and bobs and before we knew it we were at the base of the Tower. Steve wasn't going to change his mind so Kieron suggested that me and Natalie went up the Tower and him and Steve could go in the Arcade next door as Kieron wasn't too fussed what he did.

So me and Natalie bravely left the lads and set off on our adventure. Inside the tower there was a mini aquarium, the (very famous) traditional ballroom, a circus and a small 3D cinema. We opted out of the circus and cinema as we had to come back at a later time for the performances and we had other stuff we wanted to see and do.

On our entrance to the Tower we decided that we would go round the aquarium and have a look in the Ballroom before going to the top. The aquarium was ok, obviously not as impressive as the Sea Life Centre but it still had lots of weird and wonderful fish!

Then we went up a bit furter and into the Ballroom, of course all the older generation were already in there. There was a band playing and yep there were couples doing the old waltz. The ballroom is huge and is very magnificent. Me and Natalie watched for a good 20 minutes or so before going on.

The tower is approximately 518 Ft (in comparison the Eiffel Tower is about 990 Ft!), but the furthest you can go is 412 Ft. They take you up in a lift, which comes every couple of minutes, but it only takes you so far and then you have walk the rest of the way.

We got off the lift and took a few piccies and then made our way to the top. It was very windy up there and you can feel the tower swaying ever so slightly. We stayed up there quite a while, taking in the view and trying to decide if the land on the distant horizon was Wales (which they say you can see!).


Once piccies were done and we had had enough of swaying on the rusty tower we made our way all the way back down again. When we got back outside on the lovely ground, we made tracks to try and find Kieron and Steve. Unfortunately their signal had dropped off in the Arcade so we couldn't phone them.

Once inside the dark Arcade we set about walking, round and round and round and round until we found the lads playing on a game by the doors we had originally come in!

We then decided we would walk down the front to find a small museum place called Ripley's Believe It or Not. Its basically a museum full of all weird but interesting facts about people and culture all over the world. Things like the worlds fattest man or the calf born with two heads things like that!

It was only a small place but it still took us about an hour to go round. When we came out it had slowly started to rain, only spitting, so we dived onto the nearest tram to get us further back up the front.

We walked back to the B&B to relax for a bit as we had done a fair amount of walking. In the evening we decided to go out somewhere nice for a meal as it was our last night in Blackpool. In the rooms there were little packs of information about the nearest facilities and sure enough there was a section on restaurants. We decided to go to the mexican restaurant that was mentioned, so we all got ready, got in the car with the map and off we went.

Now if you think the one-way system in Birmingham is bad, then you haven't experienced the one-way system in Blackpool - it's bloody awful!

We drove round and round, up and down trying to find the restuarant and couldn't find it. I tried ringing the number but there was no answer so we went back to the B&B try and decide what to do next.

Then Natalie remembered when we went to the cinema the night before, there was a Frankie & Benny's and it was easy to get to. So that's where we went.

We had a lovely meal, i had a Chicken Carbonnara, Natalie had a lovely tuna steak salad, Kieron had a pizza and Steve had New York Chicken. We had a couple of drinks and had a really lovely evening.

When we got back to the B&B, Steve and Natalie joined us in our room for a bit before we all went to bed.

We woke up Sunday morning with sun shining again and it was our last day. We packed up our things and went down for breakfast.

We said our goodbye's to the B&B staf, bags in the car and off we went. We decided to go to Blackpool Zoo as it was away from the main part of Blackpool and it was on our way home.


Chilled out Lemurs!



Funky Giraffes!


It's quite a big zoo and we took our time going round. There was lots going on and we all got to see our favouites. After the zoo we got in the car, went to the petrol station to fill up and then popped into Macdonald's for some lunch, as by now it was almost 2pm. After lunch we set off for home.

The motorways were even quieter than coming up, although we did have a mini hold-up as Police were finishing off clearing remains of an accident that had happened that morning. It was just coming up to 4pm when we got back to Steve and Natalie's, we said our goodbye's and went, finally, back home.

Well that's it from me, so cheerio!

Short But Sweet!

Hello everyone and my apologies for the lateness of this blog, but blogger had a bit of a tizz and wouldn't let me sign in last week but never fear, i am here now!

Right, so, let me just quickly explain, this blog is what i did two weeks ago, but it will be a short one as i will blog my holiday to Blackpool separately (as i want to upload some piccies!) and then i will blog what i did last week as i was still on holiday! I hope you've got all that!

So Monday 18th August work it was and it was final week at work before going on holiday. So i made a check list of all the things i needed to do and finish before i went away. The day went by quite quickly and i had already completed approximately 80% of my list - Brilliant!

In the evening i watched my usual round of soaps and tv programmes before going to bed.

Tuesday and my list that i had almost completed had suddenly tripled. Everyone decided to give me stuff and label it as 'Urgent', so i started sifting through it all and it made me feel miserable.

I was soon home though, i got changed and headed down to nans to see my dad as it was his birthday. Aunty Jan, Rachel and Gareth were already there and we sat down to eat Spag Bol which my dad had cooked.

I had bought my dad Series 1 of Family Guy as he has recently become a fan and Gareth had bought him some new cufflinks he wanted.

We had a nice evening but i left about 10pm so that i could get home and go to bed.

Wednesday was again another hectic day but i managed to survive and get most of the things done off my list. I was soon home though and watched my usual tv programmes.

Thursday was my last day at work before i went on my little holiday and i was very excited. I got everything done on my list and i just went around making sure that everything was in tis right place and everything was set before i left.

Before i knew it iwas running out of the door at 5.30pm before anyone could stop me and i was soon home. I had a quick shower and made a list of everything i needed/wanted to take with me to Blackpool and slowly putting those things into the suitcase. I also had to help Kieron pack as, well lets face it men are rubbish at packing!

I had something to eat and then off i went to meet up with Emily, Rosey, Dan and our good friend Jen, who we haven't seen for ages, at The Barn in Solihull (actually i think its in Hockley Heath!?!?). I quickly had to drop some stuff off at mums to be tumble-dried and then made for the pub.

I found where they were sitting and to my surprise Jim was there too! He was training but had finished early and met us at the pub!

We had a lovely evening having a laugh an a joke and a few drinks, but sadly time was soon running out and i had to say my goodbyes and set off back to mums to pick up my stuff. When i got to mums Gareth was there and he showed me his new toy - a TomTom Sat Nav. I was vey impressed (and slightly jealous) but he showed me how it worked and all the little features on it. I stayed about 20mins but had to get back to the flat.

When i got in i still had some sorting out to do before but it didn't take me too long and then me adn Kieron went to bed.

Well i shall leave you there for now readers as i will blog Blackpool separately as i want to add some photos etc.

Cheerio!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

C'est La Vie!

Hello Hello and back once again for another update, the weeks keep flying by now but nevertheless.......on with the blog!

So last Monday, the week started off quite busy and hectic as on Monday we had our annual Audit. We have a QA System (Quality Assurance) in place at PD Architects and basically all it is is to let Clients and companies know that basically we aren't cowboys and we know what we are doing!

We normally have the same guy come in to audit us but he has retired and we have a new boy on the block! And he wasn't very nice! He was a bit arrogant and extremely pedantic! Throughout the day though Paul (QA Manager), Peter (QA Executive) and me (QA Assistant), tried to make the day flow smoothly as possible.

In the evening i sat and watched tv and Kieron was on World of Warcraft, but he joined me when Big Brother came on.

Tuesday was an ok day at work, the day seemed to drag and we also found out our result from the Audit. We passed however there is a long list of things that this new auditor thinks that we should change so we have a lot of work to do before April/May '09 when he comes back!

In the evening i watched bits of tv whilst playing on my laptop and Kieron was on (you've guessed it) World of Warcraft.

Wednesday work was ok, until my printer broke down and it wouldn't do anything! So Harley from AB came over to fix it. The day went by fairly quickly and i was home before i knew it!

Thursday work was busy but in a good way. I managed to get alot done which made me feel better as i had alot of old projects waiting to be archived which normally takes me a whole day to sort out and organise, so i had it all waiting for me for Friday.

In the evening me and Kieron watched FH Hafnarfjordur (their Icelandic) vs Aston Villa in our 2nd round of qualifying for UEFA. Amazingly and to mine and Kieron's delight the match was shown on Channel 5, and what a delgith it was. We won 4-1 and we played some very good nifty football.

Friday was a a quiet day which was good as it meant i could get on with my archiving. It took me all day but i didn't mind because the day flew past.

In the evening Stuart came round to see Kieron, so whilst they were on the Xbox i took my laptop into the bedroom to watch some tv. Stuart only stayed till 9pm so i went and watched Big Brother Live Eviction.

Saturday was a busy day in the morning me and Kieron did some tidying up before i went round to my nan and grandad's for some lunch. It was grandad's birthday the day before and we went round for a little celebration. Nan had done a small buffett and we all tucked in.

I had brought grandad a Waterstones gift voucher, mum brought him a M&S voucher and Gaz had brought him a bottle of Whiskey.

We had a nice chat and plenty to drink (thanks to Gaz driving) and had a nice afternoon helping nan and grandad finish their newspaper crossword.

It was soon 5.30pm and we had to dash off as me and Gaz were going out. When i used to work at Jofson i worked with a lady in the Sales Office callled Lisa and we became really good friends. Well it was her 40th birthday party at the Great Barr Hotel.

I quickly dashed home to pick up my things, said hello and goodbye to Kieron, although he had Jim round to keep him company and went back to mums to get ready.

After sorting Gaz out with a few mishaps we were ready and dad picked us up at 7.15pm. We arrived at the Hotel for just gone 8pm and soon found Lisa and Neil. There were a small number of people who were already there, so we got a drink and found a seat at a table before the room was packed. Lisa had invited about 100 people and was expecting about 70-80 of them. We sat at a table with a couple who have known Lisa for a long time Carl and i think her name was Emma but i cant quite remember!

They were a lovely couple and we were soon chatting to them. Neil came over and joined us and we were soon having a lovely time.

The buffett was opened at about 9pm but unfortunately there still wasn't many people. There was approximately about 30 of us with all this food stacking up. Me and Gaz felt really really bad and sorry for Lisa who had obviously gone through a lot of trouble to make the evening memerable and she was very upset that her guests had bothered to show up!

But still the night carried on and we had a good old dance and a great time. But sadly the night came to an end around midnight by which time, there was only Lisa, Neil, me, Gaz and dad left. We stood around talking for quite a long time and then we sudenly realised that Lisa hadn't cut the cake!

So we got the knife and Lisa cut three huge chunks of cake for us to take home! We said our goodbyes and made our way home. I got back to the flat for about 2am and went straight to bed when i got in.

Sunday morning me and Kieron got up, i had a shower and we set off to Morrisons to do our shopping. We got back home and Kieron did some lunch whilst i put the shopping away.

At 1pm we set off for Kings Norton train station as we were going to Villa Park to watch the first match of the new football season and we were at home against Manchester City.

We got the 1.21pm train and the train goes right through to Aston. We got their for about 2pm and made our way to the stadium. The place was packed and ready for action. We went through and found our seats, we were sitting in Holte End (Lower) Row F, which was out on the right from the back of the goal.

It was a 3pm kick-off and it was a brillaint and exciting match and we ended up winning 4-2. When we scored it was brillaint to watch as Villa were shooting our end and we got to see all the action.

The match was finally over but getting out of teh stadium was manic but thanks to Kieron we made our way towards and train station and back home.

In the evening i called down to see my nan for some tea as usual.


Right, well i think that just baout does me for now so cheerio!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

I Screamed Like A Girl, But That's Because I Am One!

Hello everyone and welcome to my weekly update.

Now firstly i must apologise because some of you might be wondering where last weeks blog was, well since logging i nto write this blog i noticed that i had forgotten to publish the last one, instead of pressing the 'Publish Post' button i pressed 'Save Now' so sorry about that, but if you scroll down to the end of this blog, it will be there!

Anyway, moving on, last Monday work was dreadful and i mean dreadful! I wont go into detail because i dont want to go on and on about it, but basically i am really fed up with work. I just want to be able to do something i can really enjoy and be creative with and i feel that i am sometimes wasted at being a Secretary. But the day went by quite quickly and before i knew i was at home.

My lovely, claret, blue and bits of gold Villa tickets had arrived, which cheered me up. I sat and watched tv and my usual dose of Eastenders and other weekly tv programmes, whilst Kieron played on Warcraft.

Tuesday the day at work didnt get much better, i just did what i needed to do and clock watch all day!

In the evening i was very kindly invited round to my brother's as Carl, Adam and John were going round to play on Rock Band for the Xbox. Now since i was little i've always wanted to have a go at playing the Drums and my brother thought i could have a go on the Drums for Rock Band.

I got round to Gaz's for about 8.30pm and John was already setting it all up. It wasn't long before Carl and Adam arrived and they were soon showing me how it was done.

Carl was on Bass Guitar, Gareth was on Lead Guitar, Adam was on Drums and John was the Singer. I must admit the Mothers of Destruction (their band name) were very good. After a couple of turn watching i bravely picked up the drum sticks, you get 4 drum pads and the bass pedal. It was a bit weird at first but once you get in to it and you overcome the "how stupid do i look?" feeling its really great fun. In fact ever since i had a go ive wanted my brother to go and buy Rock Band so i can have more go's! I had a few turns of the Drums adn then had a small go at the singing (which i wasn't very good at!).

After having my fill i left my brothers at 10.30pm and got back home to watch the last bit of Big Brother before going to bed.

Wednesday the day was ok, it seemed to go by quickly. Ive been keeping my head and jsut getting on with things so that my weekend would hurry up!

In the evening i started reading Richard Hammond's autobiography which i borrowed of Gaz, its mainly focused on his crash he had back in 2006 (i couldn't believe it was that long ago either!) and how he suffered and recovering from brain damage.

Thursday was alright, it was Tony's birthday so at lunch time he took us all for a drink in the pub next door.

In the evening i went for more pubbing, as i met up with Rosey and Dan since i haven't seen them in a while and also they were there to try and cheer me up due to work etc.

We met at the Reservoir and sat having a quiet chat and a drink. They did cheer me up (thank you Rosey and Dan) and we decided to call in a night at 10pm. When i got home me and Kieron watched Big Brother before going to bed.

Friday was an ok day, the day (thankfully) whizzed by and i was home before i knew it. I sat and watched the Big Brother Eviction and then carried on reading my book before going to bed.

Saturday was a nice day i got up in the morning and recieved a parcel from the Postman. Kieron had ordered a game off Play.com for the PS3. Its a card game that then interacts with the Playstation and its called The Eye of Judgement.

After opening all the boxes, me and Kieron set it up. In the afternoon mum, Gareth, nan and grandad came round the flat for a change, mainly so that Gareth could have a go at Kieron's new game. We were all having a nice drink and chat and Steve decided to pop round because he was bored.

In the evening Steve stayed with Kieron and i poped round to see Natalie. We were having a nice chat when we heard a rather loud noise. Basically next to Natalie's house there is a drive way, which leads to the back of the houses to some garages. Some lads had driven up there with their chaved-up Metro and were prating about in the car adn making a lot of noise!

During the course of the evening they were hanging about right next to Natalie's front door and we had to go and tell them to shut up because they kept waking Natalie's children up.

I decided to call the Police to get them to move the group on but they wouldn't come out unless they lads had caused damage! Thanks very much stupid Coppers!

I decided i wouldn't leave Natalie on her own until Steve got back. By which point it was 11.30pm and they were still outside so i called Kieron and told him to get Steve to come home. It was not 11.45pm and all of a sudden there was a loud bang, to which me and Natalie s**t oursleves! I shouted out "Hello" but there was nothing, no answer, no sound. Me and Natalie (bravely) moved towards the living room door, and i shouted "Hello" again, still no answer. So we decided that we would both run and switch some lights, i would run to the Kitchen and Natalie would turn the Bathroom light on. We ran full pelt towards the light switches when all we heard was another bang.

We screamed and ran back in to the living room and we sat huddled on the sofa, when Steve walked in to the living room. Me and Nat felt a bit silly but we didnt care. I think we had hyped oursleves up with "what if" situations. So i said my goodbyes and, practically ran to the car to get home.

Sunday was a relaxing day, me and Kieron went and did the shopping and sat chilling. In the evening i went down to nans for usual for tea.

Well i think that's about it this week so cheerio!

Friday, August 08, 2008

Welcome to Sextilis!

Hello everyone

Sorry its been a bit later in the week than usual for my blog but ive had so much to do at work i forgot about it. But nevertheless im back now and so i start with last Monday.

Work was busy as we all have slowly started preparing for our Audit which is on the 11th, filling had to be done and things needed sorting. Paul who's our QA manger was on holiday so we had to try and do things without him, which we failed at miserably!

In the evening i watched my usual stuff on tv whilst Kieron played on Warcraft.

Tuesday work was even busier i couldn't move away from my desk due to the high amount of phone calls we had coming in, so i wa glad of home time (when it eventually arrived).

Again in the eveing i watched tv and Kieron palyed on Warcraft.

Wednesday work wasnt so hectic so i had change to do the things i was meant to do from the previous two days.

In the evening i decided to watch a film, i watched I Am Legend on Blu-ray but i watched the normal cinema version. Kieron tried to play Warcraft but was paying more attention on the film.

Thursday thankfully work calmed down to a more reasonable pace. Harley came over in the afternoon to check up on the computers and to sort some problems we were having. The day flew by and i was home before i knew it.

Kieron had gone out a bought a Router so that he could go on the internet and xbox at the same time. You be asking yourself why would he want to be on the PC AND Xbox at the same time, well at the moment Kieron and his friend Mirajor (who is also on Warcraft) could only speak to each other by typing in to each other in the Warcraft World and Kieron found that when they were doing quests etc together he found it hard to type, fight and direct Mirajor, so by getting a router to hook up his Xbox at the same time, they could talk to each other over Xbox live whilst playing on Warcraft!!

So now that we have a router my Laptop could also go wireless as i already have a speacial card in it to pick up a wireless network. With the help from Kieron, we got my laptop working again as it had a virues on it and it was running incredibly slow.

After we had messed and fiddled it was almost 9pm and we hadnt really eaten so we had some cheese on toast.

Friday was the 1st of August! Work was ok, a bit slow but not too bad. Although it was exciting for me in a way because the Villa Vs Man City match tickets (first match of the season) were on general sale - yippee! For Villa fans who are interested, me and Kieron are sitting in the Holte End about half way up and slightly to the left hand side.

The day was soon over and i was at home, watching tv and generally chilling out, whilst Kieron was on World of Warcraft.

Saturday was a good day, i got up and did some general tidying up. Mum wasn't here this week as she was seeing some friends she knows from the chat room so i decided to pop round and see nan and grandad for a bit.

When i got there they had arranged to go over and see Gill and Alf, so i said i would go with them. We had a nice, a piece of cake and little drink of bucksfizz to see us through the afternoon, and i even got to see my Uncle Alf's pigeons returning back from a race. He has kept racing pigeons for years and after all this time i have never really seen them so im glad i did.

In the evening Kieron wanted a night in but i was really bored and decided to pop round to see Natalie. We had a nice girlie chat and i even got to feel the baby kicking.

I came back home for about 11pm and went straight to bed.

Sunday was a chilled out day. We did the shopping, had some lunch and then in the evening went down to nans as usual for tea.

Well i think that just about sums it up so cheerio!

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