Long overdue update - part 1

I'm sorry I've not updated in a while. Rosie told me off for neglecting my blog, I really will try to update more regularly in future, but I know I keep saying that and not actually doing it! :P I dread to think how long this update is going to be, so please feel free to read part of it, go away and do something and then come back to read a bit more. This is quite daunting for me to write - I've got a list of notes and don't know where to start to make them into a coherent blog! I never know whether to write my blog in a day by day account or whether to try to group similar things together and write it that way. Any suggestions as to which you prefer reading? I think I'm going to try a bit of both this time. I need to try to update regularly because the longer I leave it the more daunting it gets so I just put it off and so it gets even worse :P

I've just finished writing my update and it's much too long to publish as one post - I think it'd scare people away! :P So I'm going to split it up into sections (going out, medical and other) and post them up one at a time til my full update has been published. It makes sense to post 'going out' up first, but it's very long, so I'm going to post up half of it here and the other half tonight.

This is a bit random, but this time 12 months ago I was in Japan! :D Just wanted to share that with you :)

I've been out quite a few times since I last updated my blog. On Fri 5th I attended the first meeting of a new discussion group for teenagers in the village. I was very nervous about it beforehand as it would mean being sociable, probably with some people I'd never met before as well as people I knew, and I'd been feeling exhausted that day - probably still from attending my Pathways to Internet and going to the cinema on the Wed (3rd). I felt better by the evening though so managed to attend. And it wasn't too bad at all, phew! It was much more informal than I expected. There weren't many of us there (probably because it was invitation only) – A (the odd lady from the village) who provided the food (including some weird soup that was wheat free, gluten free and dairy free!), B (who had studied philosophy so guided the discussion), me, V (who I know and get on well with) and a boy called M (who knew V a bit, but I didn't know him. He was a bit odd). We watched a 10min video made by a strongly religious man in Canada and then discussed it using prompts from a booklet. The discussion was very religious, so it was quite interesting with me being the only atheist there! :P I did feel at some points like A might be trying to convert me, but I stood my ground! A and B are strongly Christian, V believes in a God but probably not the God that Christians believe in and M said he wasn't sure, but he attends church regularly. The first discussion was all about suffering and why God makes us suffer etc. I thought they might have been better to start with something slightly less religious - I think they were surprised that I was an atheist! I was asked at one point about why I didn't believe in God, which I'd never really given much thought before, but I think I explained it well. When I was younger my logical brain told me that there couldn't be a God, but I was never sure. I used to attend church every week with Lizzy and her family as they are all Christian. Then I think the thing that made me decide that I definitely didn't believe in God, was seeing so many young children suffering and some dying when I was in hospital for my transplant. If there was a God I don't think that would happen. But that was challenged because B pointed out that as a Christian she believes that there is much more after death, but I don't believe that. Apparently I came over as quite passionate whereas M came over as very laid back about everything. He attends a private school and had obviously had a very easy and sheltered upbringing. I felt like hitting him at one point when he said that if children suffer and die young then it's just their bad luck! What an idiot. It was interesting though and some of it was a laugh. I'm going to give it another try next month.

On Sat 6th I was exhausted so didn't go out of the house. I rarely sleep in the day as it almost always makes me feel worse afterwards, but I gave in and had a nod on Sat. Unsurprisingly I felt rotten when I woke up.

On Sun 7th I had been hoping to go to London to attend an invitation only drinks and nibbles event at Holly C's photography exhibition. I didn't feel too bad when I woke on Sun but couldn't predict how I would feel later. And so because I had a very busy week coming up I decided I would be sensible and not go because I didn't know how I'd feel while out and I had no idea how long it would take me to recover afterwards. I'm really disappointed that I wasn't able to see Holly's exhibition but am going to purchase a copy of the accompanying book. You can find out more about Holly's exhibition on her photography blog here.

On Sun I really felt like I needed to get out of the house though, so me and mum decided to have a look at a new Hobbycraft that had opened locally just the day before. So we found the postcode on the website and put it into our sat nav. Out sat nav couldn't find a match for that postcode so we went with the closest postcode and set off. We ended up in an industrial estate with no sign of a Hobbycraft. And in this industrial estate there were lots of other cars turning round or stopping to look at maps! We rang dad at home who checked we'd got the right postcode. Then he phoned Hobbycraft to ask where their shop actually was. It turned out they'd got the postcode wrong and since they'd opened the day before they'd had more than 500 phone calls about it! So dad directed us over the phone and we found the location of the Hobbycraft in a little area with lots of other new shops. The car park was awfully designed and couldn't cope with the volume of traffic wanting to visit the new shops - the cars coming out couldn't get out because of the cars going in, but the cars going in couldn't get in because of the cars coming out! We eventually parked and headed for the shops.

As well as a Hobbycraft shop there was also a cookware shop, a pet shop, a garden centre, a discount book shop... We went in the discount bookshop first where mum bought a book for Alf for his birthday (coming up on March 3rd) and then went to Hobbycraft. Mum bought some yarn (surprise surprise) and I bought 3 rubber stampers for card making, a little mosaic kit to try and some 3D stickers to send to Kate. Before we left we had something to drink in the cafe in the garden centre there. By the time we left at 4.30pm the car park was almost empty. There were big queues when we got near home though due to a major road being shut for work, so loads of traffic was diverted onto out route. We listened to the chart on the radio though and it didn't take us too long to get home.

On Mon 8th I went to the post office in the morning to post off a parcel to my cousin Tam for her birthday. I made her a birthday card the night before. I hadn't made any cards in ages, but made a simple, but nice one for Tam. The outside looked fine, but then I messed it up when I muddled up my letters writing inside! Some sticky labels covered it ok though. In the parcel I also included a bracelet I'd bought her for her birthday. Tam lives on the Isles of Scilly which are a group of islands just off the tip off Cornwall. What a palaver it was at the post office trying to post it! I've posted her stuff before, I always send her a little something for her birthdays and Christmases, and I've never had any trouble in the past. The more experienced post office lady was busy serving someone else, so I was served by the other one. They're both nice though. She thought that the Isles of Scilly would just be normal postage (which it has been before) but decided to check on her computer. And she even had to ask me where the Isles of Scilly were! She then told me that it would cost 81p (more than normal) and also gave me an airmail sticker to put on it. I thought that was odd as post is usually taken across on the boat. But I went with it. Then I had to fill out a customs sticker (which I've never had to do before) to stick on the parcel. On it I had to write what was in the parcel and the value of it which was frustrating as it is a birthday present and now Tam knows how much it cost and will also know what's in it before she opens it! Grrr. When I looked at the receipt I was given later that afternoon I noticed that it said 'Destination: Sicily'! The next day I went back to the post office to mention that and saw the more experienced lady. She offered to refund me the extra 20p I'd been charged, but I said that was fine. She said that it would probably get there ok as it was addressed correctly and had extra postage on. The customs sticker wasn't necessary though. I heard from Tam since and it has got to her ok. I hope she likes it when she opens it tomorrow on her birthday. Hopefully next time I send her a parcel it'll go more smoothly! :P

When I got back from the post office on Mon morn, my mum's friend G was round. They work together and also both knit, so I just stayed out of their way while they chatted. After lunch me and mum went into town (not the town we usually go to, but another just as local town). My dental check-up went fine and I got to see my dentist before she's goes off on maternity leave :) She recommended fluoride mouthwash to me while I have my braces, but I think I can't have it for medical reasons. I'll have to check that out though. And I took an ESA medical letter with me to prove that I was entitled to free check-ups, but that went fine and they just believed that I get ESA, they didn't even want to see my letter :)

Then me and mum browsed round the charity shops and some other shops. I bought a cross stitch kit to try and picked up free iPod cases in a sale in a shop for Catherine (as they'll fit her Nano). I tried to trade in my Wii Fit game (I don't need it now I've got Wii Fit Plus, but they wouldn't touch it because it's German (I imported a copy because when I wanted a copy there were none in the UK). It plays in English, but they said they wouldn't be able to sell it in German packagine. Never mind. I found all charity shops that were on my list from Pathways To Work to phone, minus one that had closed down. And I decided that when I phone them I'm not going to bother ringing Cats Protection, as that was a tiny claustrophobic shop situated in a position where I doubt anyone will ever find it! And if I'm volunteering my time for charity, I'd prefer it to be for a charity that helps people. We then stoppped off for drinks before doing a Waitrose shop. I was quite tired by the time we finished. On the way home I called in at the surgery. The weather that day was horrible, lots of sleet and snow, yuk! We could shelter inside though, that day Alf was involved in the lambing at college, so was outside all day! He didn't actually get to be involved with the birth of any lambs, but got to bottle feed some. Awwww.

On Tue 9th I only went out the house to the post office to tell them about the muddle with the parcel the day before and to post a letter and the stickers off to Kate. I also picked up a copy of the Radio Times at the shop.

After lunch on Wed 10th me and mum went to see Chris and Sophie (and their degus) in their new cottage. The cottage was lovely, but very cold. It has central heating, but it's not very good. And it's got a big coal fire which I'm sure will heat the cottage when Chris and Sophie work out how to use it! :P Because the cottage is quite old, the doorways are low. When we were having a tour round, me, mum and Sophie had no problems as we're all quite short. But Chris, who is about 6 foot, had to duck to get through every doorway :P They seemed very happy there though, which is the most important thing. They told us the story of how they decided where to place the degus. They originally put the cage next to the stairs, but the degus hated it when the stairs were used and wouldn't stop squeaking. So they moved the cage to next to the window which the degus liked as it meant they could sit in the sun. But the degus pulled the curtain through the bars of the cage and shredded it, lol.

When we got back home on Wed I nipped out to the surgery to pick up my apple high calorie puddings. I've now had a few and although they're not quite as nice as the strawberry ones they're not bad at all, so now I can alternate between the 2 flavours. Then Claire came round :) We chatted for a bit, Claire stayed for tea and we played on New Super Mario Bros Wii together. Then along with mum we went out to the cinema to see Up In The Air. I had a lovely evening, but I thought the film was disappointing. It was predictable and really dragged on in some places. It was also not as funny as I'd expected it to be from the trailer. And at the ending it felt like the main character hadn't changed from the start of the film, which wasn't very satisfying.