Tinkerbell's Pages

On catching a major lurgy and catching up with Buffy...

I have not been well for a week now. I do not usually get 'properly' ill and NEVER have time off sick from work, but last week I did both of these things. I was not planning for my Easter holidays to begin in this way, so I am not a happy bunny. Usually, if I feel a bit rough, I just struggle on as normal, but I've had a proper lurgy which meant I had to lie down on the sofa for days and I couldn't do anything. I am not good at lying around and not doing anything. I have not even made my usual holiday 'list of things to do'. I have had a very long list of symptoms and have cried most days due to feeling so frustated and so ILL. I even had to miss my half-brother's funeral because I just didn't feel well enough to go. It all started last Wednesday night, when for some reason I developed excruciating pains in my back and shoulders. Since then I've had (in no particular order): really bad pains in my knees and thighs; bad headache whilst continuously having to blow my nose; bad earache whilst continuously having to cough my lungs out; nausea; vomiting; complete loss of appetite; dizziness and insomnia.

The only good thing about not being able to sleep is the fact that the boyfriend is a bit of an insomniac anyway, so we've enjoyed each other's company whilst spending untold hours over the last week watching my Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Seasons 1-7) DVD boxset in the middle of the night. I had originally acquired this boxset before Christmas and thought I'd never get the chance to watch it. So that's good : )

On a little update on my life...

Just a quick posting today because I actually got up an hour later than I meant to this morning and have got loads to do! Maybe it's because I've been living in my own little bubble over the last week or so because of all the dramas which have been going on, but I had no idea the clocks were going forward this weekend! I guess I haven't read any newspapers or seen the news for days either. Usually my mum reminds me when the clocks are due to change, but she didn't do that this time, so I'm feeling a bit disorientated. Good job it wasn't yesterday because I was working at Saturday school and would have been an hour late! Talking of which, the two Saturdays in a row I had sacrificed have turned into nice little earners (once the money finally comes through), so I can now pay off the final instalment for the summer holiday I booked on a whim at New Year!

On the homebuying front - after a frustrating start, I finally managed to talk to a financial advisor at the beginning of last week, so at least I know how much money the boyfriend and I have got to spend on our little home. Have been trawling the internet for somewhere halfway decent within our price range, but alas, nothing worth looking at has come up yet. I'll go and see estate agents and start the hunt properly during my easter holiday (only four and a half more days of school left!), but I'm well aware that there's only two weeks left on my loan offer and then who knows what will happen. Don't know if we can just get an extention or if they'll make us go through the whole process again. Must find out. I'll keep you posted...

On coming to the end of a very crappy week...

Thank goodness this week is coming to an end. It's been depressing on a major scale, but it's Friday tomorrow at least. Except I'm working again on Saturday (my second six-day week running), so the weekend's not going to be that great anyway. I spent the first few days of the week receiving increasingly depressing and frantic calls from big sis about one of our half-brothers. The family have known for the last couple of months that he had cancer, but no one really realised how bad it was and how quickly he would go into decline. My sore throat of last week turned into a long drawn-out and stinking cold, so I really didn't feel up to visiting him in hospital on Monday or Tuesday night. Unfortunately, he died yesterday morning and although he had several close family members around him, my mum (his stepmum) arrived at the hospital only about half an hour too late to say her goodbyes.

But although I am far from being an optimist, I suppose something good has come out of such a sad situation. My sisters found themselves in the same room at the same time for the first time since they were forced to suffer each other's company on Christmas Day. My half-brother got to meet his half-niece before he died and apparently, despite the pain and the knowledge that he only had hours to live, his face lit up when he saw her for the first time. And big sis held her niece for the first time since she was born at the beginning of December. Maybe even my infuriatingly stubborn sisters finally realised just how precious and important family really are in the greater scheme of things...

On feeling a bit angry and grumpy...

I am feeling a little bit angry and grumpy today and here are a few of the reasons why: (1) I am knackered and therefore, like a small child, am getting what my mum used to describe as 'overtired and a bit grizzly'; (2) I have received the approval to go ahead with my homebuyers alone 'in principal', but apparently I need to find a home I want to buy within the next THREE WEEKS (!), or this offer 'will automatically lapse' (and that just isn't going to happen!); (3) I have to see a financial adviser before I can go any further with my application anyway and I've been trying to set up an appointment all week; (4) My student is coming in after school tomorrow to prepare me for the piles of extra work I'm going to have to do to help her over the next five weeks; (5) I've got to work at school all day this Saturday and next Saturday; and worse of all, (6) MY THROAT HURTS. It has been killing me for the last 24 hours, so no doubt I've picked up some life-threateningly hideous disease from the horrible brats at school!!!! Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!! END OF RANT.

On recapturing my youth (again!)...

Well, it's been a busy week and I'm totally knackered, but am still up at what my mum would call a 'reasonable hour' as I've got work to do today. After the joy of seeing 35 parents over two nights (Tues and Wed), I dragged my tired bones out of the flat and took Miss S to see Ash on Thursday night. We were not disappointed! Ash are a band who I've always wanted to see play live, but for some reason over the years I had never quite got round to it. We went to Kings College Student Union, which is quite a surreal venue that looks like an old office block from the outside. It is tiny inside and only seemed to hold about 1000 people, which meant we were able to go upstairs and get a fabulous view at the front, without getting bashed and battered around by everyone trying to crowd-surf and getting a little too over-excited downstairs! We're just too old for all that business now. Been there, bought the T-shirt...

Actually, did by the T-shirt. I finally procured myself a fetching orange 1977 t-shirt (see pic above). This t-shirt was originally available and widely worn by students and the like circa. 1995/96 and as a teenager I always wanted one. For those of you who don't know, 1977 was the name of Ash's first major album release and is the year Star Wars (a popular film with the band) was released and the year the band members were born (me and Miss M too!) Anyway, decided it was about time I finally got the T-shirt I wanted all those years ago, so I did. And despite the fact that it is bright orange - I love it. Also realised that I still quite like Tim Wheeler the lead singer - although he is now a hot 30-year-old rather than cool 18-year-old!

The band were fab and some of the songs brought back so many memories. I remember listening to their songs all the time during the summer of 1995. This was a period of great significance in my life which I think back on now with such fond memories. This was the time when I fell in love for the first time (or thought I did anyway); I first met the boyfriend (although back then he was just a good friend); I went away on my first drunken holiday with friends for the first time (boys and girls - how exciting!); left school and only had a Saturday job to worry about and turned 18. Happy exciting days. As the lyrics to their song Oh Yeah go: 'I don't know why these things ever end; I sometimes wish it was that summer again...' (*sigh*).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3WLaOdHi94

On another busy week and mortification on the dancefloor...

The boyfriend is out paintballing with his friends from work today, so I've got the flat to myself. I'm supposed to be doing all the housework and the usual work for school, in addition to making notes for parents' evenings on Tues and Wed night, but although I was up early, I'm not really doing to well so far! I've got another busy week ahead - am taking my lovely friend Miss M to see Ash at Kings College Student Union on Thurs night for her 30th birthday pressie (yay - we're so excited!) and then a group of us are going to Jongleurs in Clapham on Saturday night for her main birthday treat (incidently, this is also the place where Miss S and I go to salsa). Having the parents' evening on Tues also means that I'm going to have to miss my salsa lesson this week : (

This brings me neatly round to the tale of last Tues night's salsa lesson which I've yet to tell! My group had a different teacher this week, who was very impatient and quite scary compared to the guy we've had the last couple of weeks. He kept telling people off when they went wrong and seemed to think we were all useless. Not having Miss S there again meant it was quite a uncomfortable experience at times, but I was speaking to some others in the group and at least they felt the same as me! I hope we don't end up with him again next time. Then, in the break (without Miss S there for me to hide behind), a guy from another group just grabbbed my hand and swung me onto the dancefloor in front of everybody. There were literally about four other people dancing and about forty people standing around watching. I tried to explain that I was not very good, but it was too late and I had to dance with him for the entire song (which seemed to last for ages). I was totally motified! If only Miss S had been there to experience my gut-wrenching embarrassment! When I got home and told the boyfriend about it and he thought it was absolutely hilarious!

On Happy 1st Birthday Blog!

Can't quite believe it, but I've just realised that my darling little blog is one year old this week! It's just scary to think it was 12 whole months ago that I first sat down in front of this very computer to document the life-changing, random and frankly quite mundane events of my life! I still can't quite believe that anyone ever bothers to read it either, so thanks for the support! It's much appreciated. Don't really want to dwell too much on everything that has or hasn't happened over the last year, but it's been interesting to say the least. Don't really want to dwell on the fact that it's only six months til my thirtieth (!!!!!!) birthday either, but just thought I'd mention it : (

Have more to say, but that will have to wait until another day I'm afraid. Must rush off to find a costume to wear to school for World Book Day tomorrow (don't ask!)

On attempting to buy our own home...

The boyfriend and I have recently decided to do a very grown-up thing and buy a place together (well, to be honest, it was my idea and he hasn't disagreed with it!) We're in the very early stages of sorting out whether or not we can actually afford to do this or not, but the idea of owning our own place is very appealing and quite exciting. I just feel that at our ages (30 and 29) and after over five years of paying off other people's mortgages off with our rent, the time is right. As a teacher, I've got the opportunity of getting help from a 'key worker' housing scheme, but even at this early stage, it hasn't all been plain sailing so far.

One of the options open to me as a teacher is to have a shared ownership of a property (my friend Miss S went successfully bought her own place through this scheme last year). The problem with this is that the places on offer to us are in places we'd really hate to live, so we're going for the new 'open market' option. This means that you can apply to the housing associaton for a substantial loan in conjunction with a mortgage and choose the area and home you'd like to live in. I filled the initial application in over half term, just to get an idea of how much money we'd be entitled to, but was disappointed to receive an email a couple of days later saying my application had been declined. I was a bit annoyed and confused about this as I know I fulfill all the criteria for the scheme, but when I questioned this decision, I was told that my application had actually been passed onto a different housing association because I want to live in one area (Greater London) and work in a different one (Surrey), which is covered by a different scheme (not exactly the same as rejecting it!)

Anyway, somewhat unsurprisingly, this week I got my forms returned from the new association and had to start the whole process all over again! The good news is that they have now confirmed that I do fulfill the criteria for the scheme and are just waiting on confirmation from my school that I do actually work there and am who I say I am (however, if any paperwork happens to land on the Head's desk, it might be Christmas before he gets round to filling in the forms!) Well, we're not holding our breath because we're not in any particular hurry to move, but we'll see how it goes. Big sis is looking at a similar scheme, but as her landlord is selling her flat in July (which she desperately wants to buy from him), she's in a bit more of a hurry to get things sorted! Will keep you updated... : )

On relaxing at home and the joy of Hot Fuzz...

Have had a good couple of days relaxing with the boyfriend (he was due to take Friday off work but surprised me by taking Thursday off as well), but now unfortunately it's all coming to an end. We're both back to work tomorrow. We didn't really do much due to lack of funds (yet again), but it was nice to get a few things sorted around the flat and just spend some quality time together. However, we did manage to scrape together enough pennies to go and see the brilliant  film Hot Fuzz on Friday night, which was well worth the money! If you're a fan of the TV series Spaced and the movie Shaun of the Dead (which the boyfriend and I are) you're in for a massive treat. It's laugh-out-loud funny and I highly recommend it, epecially if you're feeling a bit down and could do with some cheering up! It's bound to become another cult classic.

Anyway, must see if I can afford to put some petrol in the car, otherwise I don't think I'll even be able to make it into work at all next week! Then I need to see if I can afford to go to Salsa on Tuesday night - thank goodness I'm due to be paid on Thursday... : )

On a dozen red roses and Salsa dreams...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Am very happy because I've just taken delivery of a dozen red roses from the boyfriend. I know that doesn't sound very exciting or original, but after ten years together I can count the number of times he's bought me flowers on one hand (actually on three fingers), so this is a big deal for me. He has never given me roses before either, so am really pleased! Bless him.

In other news, Miss S and I had a fab time at Salsa last night. Initially we thought our move up to the intermediate group had been a bit ambitious, but by the end of the session I think we were doing really well. It was great fun and I really enjoyed the challenge. Salsa must have still been on my mind as I drifted off to sleep last night because I had this really weird dream. We were at a Salsa lesson, but round the edge of the dancefloor there were all these camp beds. In the dream, the lessons went on until the early hours of the morning, so you were supposed to sleep over after the lessons had finished. Anyway, being a good girl, I dutifully went straight to bed after the lesson had finished, but woke up to find that the lesson had turned into a cool Salsa club which I had been missing every week due to being asleep (as if I would have been able to fall asleep on the edge of a dancefloor with loud Salsa music and people dancing!) Miss S had been joining in with this club every week without my knowledge and I was really annoyed that she hadn't told me about it and I told her so, as she was putting on her neon yellow and black patterned gloves (?????!!!!!) WHAT?! I don't understand what that was all about...!!! : )