SL Therapy

I still have a cold, and a really bad chest, but I've been back to work and seen some family. Alexia is sleeping better, which is very nice, and she's been really cute lately. She's been singing random songs at pretty random times and potty training her teddies! She's as crazy as her mother, that kid!

For the rest of life's tribulations I've invested in some Second Life Therapy. Not literally, although you can apparently buy therapy sessions in SL, which is an odd concept to me. No, I've just been playing it a bit which means I get an hour or two where I'm thinking in a completely different character in a completely different world. It works too, I feel really relaxed while I'm playing and a bit saner when I stop.

Here's the latest picture of SL me.

Lets Play Catch-Up...

Well, where to begin. There's been some family shit going down, I won't go into it, but it was shockingly unpleasant. Then on Friday whilst full of cold, and against all odds including weather and babysitter issues, me and Mr Wonderful went to Leeds to celebrate our four year engagement anniversary. We did some Mother's Day shopping, went to see Cloverfield at the Vue Cinema (which was amazing!), and went for a meal at Wagamamas (Which is Japanese, delicious and not very expensive). There was horrible wind and rain all afternoon and basically until we'd gone home, which wasn't good considering how ill I felt. Yesterday I rang in sick for the first time in ages and today I was sent home from work even though it was really busy.

I think my cold is now an inner ear infection and is sending me seriously off balance, so maybe that needs attention.

Alexia slept at my Mum's on Friday. She had a good time and it seemed like she hadn't missed us, until she got home and then she seemed really glad to be back. She gave me a big cuddle and we had a long, deep and meaningful conversation about eyes, giraffes and doggies, among other things.

Last night at midnight I got a bottle of Baileys and a Mother's Day card that nearly made me cry!

And that's about it really.

Tiredness and Bad Time Management

I haven't updated this for ages because I haven't had the time between work, parenting and my Second Life addiction!

Also I had a migraine on Saturday and was asleep all day as a result. In fact looking through some of my recent blogs it's fair to say I'm quite often ill with something, which is disturbing because I'm not usually a poorly person. I'll blame work, why not? I blame it for everything else!

Want to see where I've been instead of here? Take a look at these!

I've been moping in a jazz club.....

Visiting in Hell.....

Sightseeing in Nexus Prime and.....

Meandering through the forests and villages of Faerieland

So there we go, that's what I've been doing all week. I won't let no poxy migraine stop me in my tracks!

I ought to update you more often!

I have dry skin on the backs of my hands that cracks and bleeds if I don't moisturise twice daily and Alexia is going through one of her sleepless phases again. It's been really busy at the cafe and we've been short staffed, so I don't feel like I've touched the ground lately and the weather has been weird again, sunny and almost warm last week and constant freezing fog this week. My weekend off is coming up and I'm really looking forward to it!

On the upside I've started playing Second Life again, not often because I don't get time, but enough to appreciate the escape. It's like living art, you can customise your little person to look more or less exactly the way you want them to, and build things without the limits you would get in real life like say, gravity or cost because it's a virtual world and you can just create the materials you need from nothing and turn the physics off and just go mental. I don't tend to build things but it's good fun to look at the amazing things that other people have made, from replicas of real things or things from books, films and legends to completely new creations conjured from some of the most bizarre imaginations you're ever likely to come across!

I might post some pictures later.

It's been a whole week!

I had hoped to keep up with this blog, which would be a first since I've never even managed to keep a diary for more than a few days, so maybe that was ambitious of me. I am already showing signs of trailing off and no one reads it, but I will not let it die!

Today is Valentines Day. We went for a meal at a local Mediterranean restaurant with Alexia in tow, which wasn't bright to begin with. Also I have a cold, I slept in today and looked after my eight year old nephew, TJ, for a while which was exhausting. So by the time we got home we had thirty five minutes to get ready for the meal, me and Paul weren't feeling well, I was tired, Alexia was tired, full of cold and attention seeky and everything seemed to be going wrong. We were barely five minutes later than the time we'd expected to be there, but we were tired and stressed. The staff at the restaurant were really good though, they gave us things to keep Alexia occupied and stop her from getting upset and they were fine when she was wandering around or crying and generally causing havoc. The food was good and the atmosphere was excellent (especially when we left I imagine!) and we couldn't fault the staff, but I felt really guilty because we were quite loud and if I'd been out for a quiet meal without Alexia and another couple had brought a loud and annoying child with them I think it would have ruined my meal. I don't think we'll be doing that again in a hurry then!

Nothing much has happened this week apart from that, we went shopping in Leeds on Saturday and we let Alexia walk around for most of the way, that went quite well and tired her out nicely. On Sunday we went for a nice walk near where my Dad lives. We see him every other Saturday and he loves walking so naturally he was dying for Alexia to get walking so he could take her with him! That made her nice and tired too, but she's had a cold ever since and so have I.

I still hate my job, but I don't think I've come any closer to thinking of one I'd like more this week. I'm still thinking of engineering, something to do with the environment (which is a bit at odds with the engineering idea, or is it?), or something that involves a bit of exploring.

I want to be an adventurer!

Yay for Fields, Boo to Racism, What About a Cafe?

Today I made scotch pancakes for breakfast. Alexia loved them, they turned out really well! While I was searching for a good scotch pancake recipe I came across this which made me think a bit. It's a lovely idea, but like all good, olden day recipes the ingredients for this one are becoming more and more hard to find. Sad really, but fields are only around now if they are being used for something, brooks are being filled in and built over (causing all manner of natural mayhem), and children just aren't children any more.

My Top Gear newsletter this month contained this, which got to me. I really like Lewis Hamilton. No you don't understand, I really like Lewis Hamilton. And I really hate racism in any form, so this made me want to scratch out the eyes of the people responsible! I'm going to think of some words and make use of the e-mail link, I think.

Maybe if I ran my own cafe I could stomach working in a kitchen, but I don't know where to find a money tree at such short notice!

Tired and Hurty

Tomorrow is the end of another six day week at work and I feel so tired. To make me feel better I managed to stab my hand at high speed with a butter knife in a really creative way, leaving a wide cut about an inch and a half below my little pinkie on the palm of my right hand. I can't begin to tell you how painful and annoying that is! It has now gone really red, with a dark bruise forming around it, making it almost impossible to hold things with my right hand.

Lovely.

I didn't get to make a snowman with my daughter because the only snow that fell was whilst I was sleeping or working and had gone by the time I arrived home. This annoyed me, but not as much as that cut is annoying me now!

I wish I was a doctor, I'd know what to do about the pain! I'm still thinking about the idea of being a geologist or engineer. I'd rather not be a firefighter, the injuries that are likely in that job make my aching hand pale into insignificance!

No Snow!

That's about all I wanted to say really. After all that strange weather yesterday, we only had a quick flurry of snow this morning and then nothing!

I want it to snow for a couple of days solid! I want to build a snowman with my daughter, it will be her first! We just don't get snow like we used to nowadays! Ah well, I'll have to move somewhere that does.


I don't have the experience to be a Ski Instructor yet then, and I'd hate being a weather girl.

Bizzarre Weather!

Today it's been snowing, raining, hailing, windy and sunny! Obviously not at the exact same time, but in the same day is enough. I awoke from a dream about someone scrunching carrier bags in my ears to find that the sound was actually hail stones on the windows. This was followed by high winds and driving rain. As I called my Grandma to cancel my usual Thursday family reunion due to the fact that Alexia has a bit of a cold and the weather is everything you shouldn't go out in if you have a bit of a cold, it bloody brightened up! That didn't last long though, and after a couple of hours of rain there was a short thunderstorm followed by a torrent of very large hail stones and about two and a half hours of fairly light but constant snow, which subsided quite a while ago now, and at the moment it's just windy.

Tomorrow it's supposed to snow a lot, same on Saturday.

I've been taking quizzes again, this time from iVillage. It says I would be good at these jobs.....

• Novelist
  
• Photographer
  
• Vet
  
• Medical Technician
  
• Paralegal
  
• Geologist
  
• Marine Biologist
  
• Graphic Designer
  
• Online Content Developer
  
• Webmaster
  
• Computer Security
  
• Producer
  
• Computer Programmer
  
• Technical Writer
  
• Systems Analyst
  
• Meteorologist
  
• Artist

Not too sure about some of those, Geologist though.....

Photos, Finally!

Yes, I'm here when I should be sleeping, yet again! I've been working for the past couple of days and I'm really tired, but not sleepy!

Here are some more recent photos, and an old memory!

Me, Paul and Alexia at Windy Bottom Folk Festival in September, 2006. We camped there for three nights, Alexia was just six weeks old! It was a really hot summer in the North of England that year, that's why Alexia isn't wearing much!

Me, Paul and Alexia in the Lake District about three weeks ago. Alexia has only just started walking, but we walked for a long time that day and she loved it! She wasn't picked up much either, she was a little trooper for most of the way.

Alexia, peeling a satsuma on the stairs at our house. This is the first time she ever peeled a satsuma for herself, she concentrated on it for ages! I love the dress she's wearing.

Alexia in the bath. She loves baths!

Also today, I went on the Army Careers website, not because I want to join the Army, but because they have a thing on there so that you can find out what kind of job would be best for you if you joined the Army. You can take the test yourself here. I was interested to see what it came up with and I was actually quite surprised! It came up with lots of engineering or health care jobs! I didn't think any of my answers suggested an interest in any of those things. I'm quite interested in the way things work though, and I quite like taking things apart and putting them back together again, so maybe engineering isn't that far fetched.....

Just for the record.....

..... I'm not looking forward to going to work tomorrow! I've had a nice weekend though, and I'm all organised for work. It's late though and I need to be up early and I don't know quite how that will work because I've been sleeping in over the weekend!

Mum's computer seems to be working well now though, and Joanne's computer is working better, but she's having mp3 issues now. It was nice seeing Dad today too, it seems like ages since I last saw him, it's about a month I think! My younger sister Debra was there too, in some funky PJ's which she stayed in all day! Oh, for the chance! She doesn't have children, so she should mooch around in her PJ's and sleep in late as much as she can, while she can. That's what I think anyway.

On a more exciting note, Alexia now has a potty. And so, the battle begins......

This Blog Needs Photos!

Don't worry though, Mister Wonderful is on the case! And in the absence of recent pictures, here are a couple of older ones that I find cute....

Alexia, in the early stages of weaning! Look at those rosy cheeks!

Alexia, asleep! Yes, she's a thumb sucker, so cute!

Me, Alexia and my nephew TJ, on a bus. My older sister, Joanne, took this photo.

Perking Up For the Weekend

Yesterday I worked, but now it's my weekend off! I'm tired though, and I still don't feel well, but I'm glad I'm not at work!

My beloved other half is an IT Technician and my older sister has been having some trouble with her computer, as has my Mum who lives with my older sister and my nephew (Joanne and TJ), so the three of us (Me, Paul and Alexia) spent the day at their house, sorting out the computers and playing with Alexia's toys in the living room. It was quite nice to be somewhere other than work or home for a bit and I should have been able to focus on Alexia for a bit, just playing together without having to worry about anything else, but I came over all tired and I was struggling to keep awake never mind play with my daughter! I did get some play time in though, and I chatted to Joanne which is a bonus, my mum was working and TJ was staying at my dad's for the weekend, but that's where I'm going tomorrow so I'll see him then.

All in all, quite a relaxing day then. Boring, but relaxing! I need a night out or something, or a night course, or a holiday!

Welcome End to a Six Day Stretch

Today has been my first day off since last Thursday! I work alternate weekends but always get Thursdays off, so some weeks I work six days and some only four. I'm really tired and it's been a busy day today, catching up with family like I do every Thursday. I like it though because it isn't work, and my family are my friends too so I enjoy catching up with them.

Today I went to Sainsbury's and got the urge to buy a girly novel to read. Stood in the book aisle with Alexia in her pram I stared at the books for ages and sighed with annoyance at myself because the only books I felt any shred of interest in were by Jeremy Clarkson or something, and not girly novels at all! I decided to save the situation by opting for a girly magazine instead, but in the end it was a toss up between Top Gear Magazine, NME or National Geographic. I chose the latter because it always has some stunning photography and up to the minute news on ecological issues.

*Sigh*

I don't think I want to be a makeup artist, fashion designer or hairdresser. I might be good at polishing cars or making robots or serving tea in a recording studio.

Poorly again?

I think I have some kind of a cold coming on again. I have only recently got rid of one! I don't really know what's wrong with me though, because I keep losing my balance, going shaky, getting headaches and earache and now it hurts to swallow and feels like there's a lump in my throat. In fact my whole neck feels stiff.

I must stop moaning though, it seems like that's all I do on here! It's my day off tomorrow and the floods seem to be drying up nicely where we are, which means I'll be able to travel on my day off, which is nice.

I had another bad day at work today, thus proving once again that I don't want to work in a kitchen ever again in my life! With all the ailments I've had recently I might make a good GP or Practice Nurse.....

Not the Most Depressing Day of the Year....

....  But the most infuriating!

For some reason I've been in a really bad mood today.  I was up late and had about ten minutes to get ready for work and even then I had to get a lift instead of walking to work.  I like my walk to work and If I don't do it I really feel it all day, it wakes me up, de-stresses me a bit, makes me feel fitter and the views on the way are really pretty whatever the weather.  I also listen to my mp3 player on the way and get my good music fix, which I need because I prepare salads first thing on a morning whilst stood next to a radio that plays rubbish all day, spaced intermittently with a good song or the news and weather. 

I've been stressed and rushed all day as a result, and then on the way home I was picked up by my Mum, who had been looking after Alexia today (which she does every Tuesday), and I'd barely walked  a step!  I'd been especially looking forward to my walk home today because I needed de-stressing after the day I'd had and I'd missed out on my walk this morning.  As a consequence of this I was snappy with my Mum and older Sister despite the fact that they had no idea why I was annoyed and were only trying to help.

Poor Alexia has a fat lip after a fall this morning with Paul.  She's only just started walking and she's still very unsteady on her feet, she'll have a million more falls like this but it's still sad seeing her poor sore lip and grazed cheek and forehead.  She still wouldn't sleep tonight and I left Paul with her while I had a shower.  She's finally asleep now, but for how long is anyone's guess, she's already woken up once!

Today I decided I don't want to be a fitness trainer or housewife, and I'd like a job that doesn't deal with people too much!

Blogged with Flock

Most Depressing Day of the Year...

According to the guy on our local radio station this morning, today is officially the most depressing day of the year. I don't know where he got his information from, but I think they based it on the fact that it's long enough after Christmas for you to have spent your Christmas money and for you to really feel the debt you've fallen into over Christmas, also the fact that we're still in January and it seems like ages until we wake up to sunshine on a morning and see flowers everywhere.

I don't think they're entirely wrong about this either, although I'm mostly depressed because we're getting buckets of rain instead of snow! There are floods and flood warnings all over Britain at the moment, and it doesn't look like it's letting up any time soon, which doesn't make for the most cheerful day of the year really, does it?

I'm also feeling the spirit of the day today because a friend at work is trying to organise for a few of us to go and see the Kaiser Chiefs live in Leeds in May and I think I've annoyed her by being my usual indecisive self, complete with my utter lack of communication skills and the aura of apathy and negativity that seems to follow me around like a bad smell recently.

Fun though it sounds, I don't think a career as an event organiser is high on my list of compatible jobs at the moment!

Also I'm having a little bit of trouble with Alexia's sleeping habits. I can't seem to tolerate her being awake any time between 7pm and 8am, and so I get really snappy with her or cry and make her feel guilty, which really won't help her sleep. As a result I've been avoiding the bed time routine and sending Paul in to do my dirty work, which makes me feel guilty. I'm beginning to wonder if it's perhaps me that's making it difficult for Alexia to sleep at night and that bothers me, which is perhaps part of the reason I'm trying to get my life in order a bit.

It'll all be ok tomorrow though, because that's not the most depressing day of the year, today is.

First Post!

I should write a bit about myself and why I decided to write a blog, although this isn't the first blog I've ever begun to write.

My name is Laura, and I'm a kitchen assistant and mother. I have a daughter who is 18 months old, her name is Alexia, and a loving boyfriend who is 25 years old, his name is Paul.

I have worked in the same job for nearly four years now, although it was meant to be a temporary measure after being made redundant from an office job a couple of months before. I don't want to work in a kitchen and I really don't give this job my all, in fact it bores me to tears, but it's close to home and the hours are perfect for looking after a baby. I can't afford to train at the moment, and I don't think I can find a job this close to home with these hours, which means paying more for childcare and I can't afford that either. I would go to college or university or something, but only if I was sure that I was doing something I like and that I would stick to for a long time, otherwise it's not worth getting into debt only to give in and go back to kitchen work or something equally as dead-end and dull.

My problem is that I don't know what kind of work I want to do long term, so I'm creating a blog. I don't know where that's going to get me, but at least I can record what I enjoy or hate doing on here. For the record, I don't want to work in a kitchen!

Sorry if I seem whingy, I won't always be posting about work.