Mutant Veg

Eeek...I don't fancy taking a bite out of this!

Zombie

Sorry about the picture, but I thought Zombie Cat was quite cute. We've been back for two weeks now and I am just so tired and drained that I feel like a zombie. I don't even think it's the fact that I'm 11 weeks pregnant, I actually think it's the malaria tablets. They've just made us feel grim. I just can't be bothered to do anything at all.

So, what have we been up to? It was our anniversary on the 14th, we were so tired we almost forgot, but managed to drag our arses out of the house and went out to celebrate. It was also my late Nan's Birthday on the 16th August. I still miss her like crazy, I can't believe she won't be here to see the new baby. I secretly got Pete and I tickets to see Lee Evans last Sunday, he was so pleased and we had a really good time. My sides hurt from laughing so much.

I've taken the younger children out twice in the last week, trying to squeeze it all in before they go back to school. We went to a butterfly farm last week;




Then we went on the rides at Southend yesterday;

Funniest clip EVER

This Olympics video has had us all crying and screaming with laughter. It doesn't matter how many times I watch it, it still tickles me.

Olympic Accidents

Back to reality

Well, going back to work sucked. We've been having problems with the bosses higher up in the Council, and the Councillors, since April. I was hoping it would be back to normal by now, but it's not. We are more successful than the other two local centres, and they've just spent loads of money rebuilding one of them and we are still more successful, and they are not happy about it. The boss of the new centre hates doing trips, doesn't want the extra voluntary work, and us continuing to do them makes this boss look lazy. People shouldn't be doing a job in the Community if they aren't prepared to go the extra mile. Our centre has been one of the most successful in the whole country for 25 years, but because of politics they are trying to break us. But instead of just being honest and telling us they want us gone, they are being sneaky, and throwing problems at us, like "You need insurance to do the trips"(Fine, we got some), or "Staff can't do the trips on Council time"(Fine, we volunteer anyway, we'll just do them on our days off). Each time we come up with a solution, there is another problem. They want our very elderly Committee members to take over all cash handling, which they refuse to do, as it's a full time job and we handle about £2000 a week. I can see us being shut down and the staff all moved elsewhere, and I will be gutted. I'm trying to push my boss into looking into us going independent, surviving on funds and grants. I hope it's possible. I don't understand why a venture that is so successful and gets the Council so much good publicity, is being stamped on. We have 1200 elderly members that come to us for food, company, advice, support, and mental stimulation, and we just want to be left alone. It's not good. :(

Back on rainy English soil

We got home yesterday at about 10am, but the last 24 hours have been a haze of feeling like a zombie and getting washing done. The house is a pigsty, we are back to work tomorrow, and I feel firmly like I am living someone else's life. I am completely institutionalised to living in a Caribbean hotel, surrounded by sunshine and heat. Having to cook and clean is foreign to me. Oh how I wish it could carry on forever!
I realise that other peoples holiday photos are boring, so I'll save you from the 500 I took and only post a few.

The take off and landing on the way out were awful. Landing in Punta Cana scarred me for life and I now have a fear of flying. We banked round and flew parallel with a mountain at one point, the wings tipping from side to side. I was hoping for a calm one on the way home, but sadly it was worse. We had turbulence all across the Atlantic, and had to land in a thunderstorm. Quite a few people threw up. The kids all thought it was hilarious, of course. I never want to fly again, but I'm sure I'll change my mind. :)

Isobel with her girls:

Our house:

Paragliding:

Isobel and Taylor with some feral puppies:

Sleeping by the pool:

The holiday was great, there was 19 of us so there was always someone around to have fun with. The three teenage girls we had with us all adored Isobel, and she thought she was one of them. We thought we'd booked four star, but when we got there we'd been upgraded to five, bonus! It was the longest holiday of my life, by the end I was bored, and loving every minute of it. Boring isn't something that happens at home. The scenery was beautiful, and I'm really missing the beach and the pool being back home.