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.