Fingers Crossed...

That Dave can sell his bike today!

There's a guy coming over in around half an hour to take a look at it. Of course I'm the one that had to go outside & clean it, lol. If you don't know Dave - he's not your average man. He hates football, or any kind of sport apart from wrestling & he doesn't do 'outdoor' jobs, like the gardening, washing cars/bikes etc. Me, I'm not the average 'girlie girl'. I grew up with two older brothers & I've always been a bit of a tomboy. My mum says when I was a baby I was always climbing stuff constantly. So, I do all the outdoor jobs & Dave, well he does like to organise stuff, clean the inside of the house & fix computers [techie stuff]. So, to cut a long story short, we're practically perfect together =]

So anyway, I've never cleaned a motorbike before, but I think I did a pretty good job:

If you look at the very top picture, at the back of the bike - where the numberplate is - see the ground? Much lighter in colour than the rest of our driveway. That's what the pressure washer did [what my brother was doing to the slabs last week - here's a before & after picture of that]. I know, I should be ashamed to leave my slabs go that colour right?

So I think tomorrow I'll definitely try to do the driveway. The pressure washer is quite loud, not as loud as say, a lawn mower, but still a little loud.. I have no neighbour on one side [the old lady has gone away] but whenever my neighbours on the other side are in, I feel guilty, even though they don't mind - I just hate making noise! Oh & lastly, here's my car all clean, no fingerprints anywhere near the trunk, lol.

I'm liking this weather too & hope it stays until tomorrow. Even though it's only like, 8°C it does feel a lot 'warmer' - I know that sounds crazy but it does! My back garden is such a heat trap too, so it feels a lot, lot warmer out there when your directly in the sun. Anyway, I guess I'd better wrap this up because that guy will be calling any minute now.

Cleaning & Walking

Today I was up early & while the sun was out I decided to clean [the outside] of my car. The fingerprint marks on the trunk were a dead giveaway of exactly how long I'd left it since the last clean, lol. I decided to use the pressure washer for the alloy wheels - & it made the job so, so much easier. I'll probably finish the inside tomorrow & I also need to clean Dave's motorbike, because there's a potential buyer coming tomorrow!

After finishing the car, we just went for a walk up to my mum's house to see everyone. My dad was feeling a lot better & was glad to see Tatty =]

It was a really nice walk, I kept stopping, listening to the birds & telling Dave how 'Pride & Prejudice-like' the walk was, lol. Watch the first 10 seconds of This Clip & you'll see exactly what I mean. We came home with some potatoes [my mum grew some last year & has tonnes of them, literally] & also this cute little sewing box. My mum was getting sick of me asking her to sew everything for me & Dave... I guess I'll have to learn now.

Oh & you'll also spot a few changes to my page too - a lot of you have been changing your pages recently so I thought I'd join in. I'd made this banner a while back but wasn't sure about it. I'll probably end up changing it again soon, but I'm happy with it for now!

It Gets Worse...

Warning: Contains Serious Ranting & Icky Dentist details.
Urgh. I thought I was having a bad week with this rash of mine & my dad not being too well, but today really was the icing on my nightmare cake.

7.20am - My alarm goes off, reminding me that I have to get out of my warm, cosy bed & get ready to go outside in the rain to my car & sit in a Traffic Jam [The one that is always there on a Monday].

8.45am - I'm in the Traffic Jam. I've forgotten my iPod so I'm listening to my favourite radio station. Then they decide to play the newly released cover version of 'Everybody Hurts' for Haiti - not the best song to listen to when you already feel like crap.

8.50am - I need to be at the 9am lecture but I am still in the traffic jam, I have switched stations only to find that apparantly everyone freakin' loves this depressing cover version, I switch off the radio.

9.05am - I arrive, just in time for my 2 hour lecture. Luckily the lecturer doesn't pick/draw attention to me like the other one used to when I was late.

10.00am - Okay seriously, why did I bother coming in today? If I wanted to watch this boring documentary, I could have YouTubed it & stayed at home. Yawn.

11.30am - Time for a short meeting. Oh wait, delayed.

11.50am - Meeting.

12.10pm - I need to book/hire a camera out. The guy who is meant to be there between 12 & half past doesn't show up.

12.40pm - On the way home. That song comes on again... & off it goes.

1.30pm - Great. My mum just called me to tell me that my dad has been for his X-Ray and will get his results soon... & that I have a dentist appointment that I had completely forgotten about.

1.40pm - Something to be happy about, my mum just ordered me a new dryer & she tells me to find a washing machine by tomorrow.

2.00pm - DENTIST.

If you don't already know, I have a huge, huge phobia of dentists. The minute I walked in the door, I smelt that 'dentist' smell & felt sick in my stomach. It didn't help that in the waiting room I could hear some kind of drill buzzing away. Dave came with me & he promised me it would be nothing more than a quick check up. He was so, so wrong.

I walked in [keep in mind that I haven't been for 10 years]. The very abrupt Portugese evil dentist woman told me to lie on the chair... it was funny because I was like, do I have to lie down? I honestly thought it would be a small upright chair, that chair to me belonged in a horror movie. So I lay down and she got that horrible, horrible little metal stick & started counting my teeth. Dave came into the actual room with me & was right next to me with that 'See, it's not so bad' face. I actually felt quite smug, this was nothing, this was quite easy.

Then, after counting my teeth. I actually sat up & was ready to go - but she was like 'no, no, no, you lie down'. She muttered something as I lay back... Dave pulled a little confused face... and then, YUCK. The scraping began. With no warning, she just shoved another metal device into my mouth and started scraping away behind my four bottom teeth. All's I could feel was scrape, scrape, scrape & what I thought was chunks of my teeth coming off. I felt some bits go down my throat which was disgusting, then I tasted blood. My eyes just began to water & I was about to cry but she let me sit up & rinse my mouth out. I thought it was over - until she told me 'you lie down again, me no finish'. I spat out some bloody water & the scraping started again.

Dave was great. He kept trying to hold my hand , but me feeling a little embarrassed, shrugged him off, lol. He kept telling me 'I honestly didn't know there'd be blood, you're doing so well'. All's I wanted to do was run out & cry, lol. After the evil lady was done, she told me that I actually had great teeth [she was suprised by how little was wrong with them after 10 years] & this had just been a plaque build up - which had turned into hard tartar [the 'chunks of teeth' I had seen]. When I came outside, I just burst into shock tears, lol I was shaking & my teeth just felt [& still feel weird]. I hate mouthwash, but tomorrow I am going out & buying plenty of bottles. I am never, ever getting that done again, ever.

A bit Thank You to Dave, who was great today for coming with me & putting up with my tantrum afterwards. I don't know what I'd do without you ♥

Itchy Itchy Itchy

This morning when I woke up to find that my whole back was covered in a red rash. It was so itchy to the point where if I touched it, it hurt. I've actually been a little itchy these last few days [especially at night when I'm in bed]. I actually Googled the symptoms like 'rash, bed' etc & most of the search results were 'Dust Mites'. But, I couldn't see us having any because I'm always cleaning/changing my bedsheets & our mattress is a memory foam one with a protective sheet over it [so I don't think any dust mites could live in there]. Plus, Dave hasn't been itchy in the least & he obviously sleeps in the same bed.

I often let the dog up onto the bed [he always cries to come up in the middle of the night]. He'll always sleep on the top of the bed until he gets cold then sometimes he'll crawl underneath and sleep by our feet/bottom corner... So, the second thing I did today was grab Tatty & I combed through his fur for a while looking for any fleas. He's never had any in the past & I didn't find any today, so he was ruled out.

The last thing I did was check the washing detergent we've been using. I normally use the 'Surf: Small & Mighty' Brand [I think I always have since I've ever had my own washing machine]. Recently we changed to the Ariel Excel Gel [which is actually pretty good]. I bought two kinds [one normal & one with Febreze - which I loved the scent of]. Unfortunately, Dave noticed tonight that the Febreze version is a Bio version - & on the back of the bottle it even reads it can cause skin irritation for people with sensitive skin, great.

It explains everything though - I had the rash mainly on my back [I normally sleep with my PJ bottoms on, without the top or just a bra]. Also, my face broke out in the rash today & I always sleep with my face in the nice Febreezy smelling pillow, lol. So, we don't have dust mites, just very clean sheets. I'm glad I found the cause, but the annoying thing is I am going to have to re-wash everything & with no dryer at the minute, it's going to be annoying. My dad fixed the noise part of the washing machine, but not the heat issue with the dryer, so my mum has offered to buy a separate drying machine, hopefully this week!

In other news... My dad wasn't well today. My mum phoned to tell me he was having sharp pains in his chest and was finding it hard to breathe comfortably. He has a Doctor on call so my mum called him & had him come around right away. It turns out he has [dry] Pluracy in his lung [or lungs? not too sure]. Tomorrow he's going for an X Ray just to check it out & make sure everythings fine, but I'm glad in a way that the Dr could tell him exactly what it is, rather than having my dad stay quiet & worry himself even more.

I've had enough of today so I'm going to bed & hoping that tomorrow will be a better day. A 9am start with a boring class for 2 hours doesn't sound promising though does it? Sigh.

Happy Birthday...

To My Mum ♥

Over this winter, my mum has been saying 'It's going to snow... you watch, it's going to snow' x 100 times - & it never did, lol - but this morning, on her birthday, she woke up to lots of it =]

However, I woke up a little freaked out. Last night, Dave was staying at his parents' house & I was on my own. I woke up in the early hours of the morning thinking I'd heard something [I alwayyyys hear things when I'm on my own]! When I finally got up, I looked out my window:

 

& then I looked a little closer...

 
You might think that, my house is right next to the road, so anyone could walk up - but no. Where I live, people do not just walk up other people's driveways. Unfortunately the snow had melted a little when I noticed the footprints & where the wheel of my car is in the picture, is where the tracks disappear - but as you can see the tracks do go back too... I called my mum to ask if she or anyone else [my brothers etc] had called around, but no one had.

There was no mail [obviously, being a sunday] & nothing else posted through the letterbox, so these footprints will remain a mystery for now I guess. I just hope it isn't the Four o'clock Freak - I saw him a few weeks back, one night at around midnight, peering into my bedroom window when I was shutting my curtains, I hate that guy!

As for the rest of my day, I finished pressure washing my patio & gutters, did a lot of gardening & then came in to tidy the house [Kitchen Mainly]. I decided to clean my Tropical Fish tank which ended up taking nearly 2 hours... but my fish [the three I have left!] are happy now & I'm happy I have a tidy, clean kitchen =]

[The water looks a little 'misty' there because it wasn't long after I'd cleaned it & the filter takes time to get the water back to it's usual clarity - the fish are fine - & yes, there are fish in there, somewhere]!

Since today is the 31st of January - it means I have succesfully completed January's NaBloPoMo. Congratulations to the few of you that were also taking part! Don't be suprised If I don't blog tomorrow, It'll be nice to have one day off =P

Passed Out Chihuahua...

Today, Dave & his dad went for a very long walk up to the mountains. I stayed at home, Dave decided to take Tats with him & they were gone most of the day. Apparantly Tatty was running the whole time & put both Dave & his dad to shame, lol. Tonight Dave has gone to stay at his parents' house & I'm at home with Tats, who looks like this right now:

He is completely passed out on the couch, lol. He can't keep his eyes open at all.

As for me, today my brother came around with a pressure washer & he washed all my patio for me. I'll post a picture tomorrow - the difference was unbelievable. I can't believe how dirty the slabs had gotten, just because of the weather! When my brother washed one of the slabs which was a red colour - I was shocked, I didn't even remember there were red [& yellow] slabs there! I also managed to do a lot of de-weeding in the back & front garden. I still have a lot to do, but my green bin [basically a green waste disposal/sulo bin for garden waste] is almost full just from one corner of the garden...

I hope the weather is nice again tomorrow so I can carry on with the garden. I love doing it & this time of year is always the best because it it soo much easier to get rid of weeds like ferns/stinging nettles/brambles because most of them are dead, therefore easier to remove.

My mum's birthday tomorrow =]

Wales' Weird Weather

Today I decided to tidy up the front garden/driveway & then the back garden/patio. Over this winter I've found that a lot of leaves & a few sweet wrappers have blown up the front of the house & I did manage to tidy a lot today, but I still have a lot of work to do tomorrow - if the weather is nice.

The weather today was crazy. It was sunny this morning, but still cold, so I got changed into my warmest clothes to go outside, then once I had everything ready to get on with removing the leaves/sweet wrappers it started to snow. I decided to leave it and come back inside, because it started to fall pretty heavy. The minute I'd taken my boots off & made a cup of tea - the sun came out again. Sooo, I went outside again, get all my stuff together &... yep, it starts to snow again.

That's an old picture btw, the snow didn't stick at all today. So, I managed to finish the patio out the back of the house though - but it's definitely going to need jet blasting. I had to throw out our garden table too, it was broken by the strong winds we had a few weeks back plus it had basically become quite rotten. We still have another table back up at my mum's house so we'll probably have to get that one ready for spring/summer & in future, I think we'll definitely keep it in the garage along with the chairs away from the rain & snow.

Dave & I also went for a walk this afternoon, on the beach with Tats. But half way across we had to turn back because I was freeeezing & Dave's hand was actually turning purple, because he was holding a cold can of Relentless, lol. So, we came back home & I made us some sausage rolls to warm up! Dave also booked our Valentines Day table at Cove [a restaurant 2 minutes down the road that we love]. I can't wait =]

One more thing, has anyone tried these?

 
They are highly addictive, lol - I hate the fact that they're only available around now until Easter though!

Fit To Burst

The only reason I'm writing here tonight is because of Nablopomo, lol - I'm determined to make it 31 posts in 31 days!

Tonight Dave & I went to our favourite Indian restaurant because it was their 2 year anniversary & everything on the menu was half price. It was really nice & like the title of this posts says, we're both fit to burst right now! I didn't even eat that much at all but I feel so full. I also received some one cute & one funny late Christmas gifts off Elin.

With the bunny, you can pull the inside out [that sounds so wrong] & put in the microwave to warm up & has lavender inside it too. The rude lollipop is a private joke between us. How I'm going to eat that with a straight face, I don't know. The funnier thing was that earlier Tatty was trying to get into the wrapper & started scratching at it - he just wouldn't leave it alone!

Thank You =)

Because Dave is playing around with my laptop & I'm too lazy to go switch the main computer on - I'm writing this from Dave's laptop & it will only be a short post because I am so tired & just realised I'm in University tomorrow for 9am again... yawn.

I'd like to say Thanks to Hannah & Courtney for commenting on my post yesterday. Your both right, talking about my dad's condition rather than keeping quiet about it has made me feel a lot better. Like I said, I joined the Macmillan website [not & I have already heard from a few people in the same boat as me & know exactly how I feel. If any of you are reading this, Thanks again for taking the time to read that long entry.

It all comes down to the fact that I am a very quiet/shy person [until you get to know me]. I hate any kind of confrontation & when people tend to ask me if I'm okay when I'm not - I'll just smile & say yes. I remember last semester when I was giving some work in late, the reason being I had been extremely upset after seeing my dad so weak one day]. Okay I had left some of the work until last minute - but I would have finished it in time if I hadn't of been feeling so bad. I remember the nosey secretary interogating me for a reason why it was late & I just couldn't tell him at all, I felt that if I did it would almost be an excuse, if that makes sense? I just stood there while he was shaking his head at me, lol - like being in school again, having a row.

I've decided in the next meeting with my personal tutor I am definitely going to tell her everything to get it off my chest even more - and hopefully that nosey secretary will stop being so nosey.

High & Low

Today I was back in University. I forgot just how much I hate getting up early & having to get out of the nice warm bed... just to be stuck in the stupid traffic jam that is ALWAYS there. Luckily because I woke up at 7.30am - I actually got to my class quarter of an hour early. Thank god this only happens twice a week.

The class itself was pretty interesting, but most of the things he discussed was very familiar. Another lecturer has already taught us the exact same stuff last semester. In one way it's great, because we know all about it - but in another way, it's not fun listening to the same old boring stuff again at 9am inside a cold, weird smelling hall.

You may have noticed the title of this post & the reason I have given it this title is because this is how I have been feeling these last few weeks. I have never wanted to mention this in my blog but, my dad has Terminal Lung Cancer. He never smoked in his life & hasn't touched a drop of alcohol since I can remember. He was diagnosed around 5 years ago, when we first heard about it - he was given 6 months to live [he had been walking around with the fluid in his lung for nearly a year, keeping quiet about it]. Luckily, he is still fighting strong & doing well. However, over this Christmas, he wasn't well at all. I think this weather effected him too, because it was 'The Big Freeze' & it was truly freeezing.

The other day when he came over to the house to fix my washing machine was the first time he had been out the house properly in weeks. Recently I have been feeling really, really down about the whole thing. I have been crying nearly every day [poor Dave has to put up with me]! I even nearly cried in front of Dave's parents yesterday in the car on the way to St Aspah. I do put on a brave face in front of everyone, even online etc [I'm one of these people who loves to help others, but I keep myself to myself]. Dave again, is always there though to make me laugh half way through my crying fits... Eventually I'll break down again & he's there again pulling funny faces to make me smile.

Lastnight, I decided to give Dave a break & I joined the Macmillan website & just let all of what I wanted to say out, I found that, as well as writing this now, makes me feel a whole lot better. I really HATE writing this kind of stuff, but I just wanted to let it all out. I just need someone to talk to I guess, apart from Dave. I was also thinking the other day about how my being sick might have been down to over-worrying about my dad. Anyways, to finish off, sorry Dave for being such a cry-baby this last week & thank you for making me smile & always thinking positive.