A BIG party!
We had a great weekend! Friday night we went to the Mundays' house and played games, ate snacks, etc. Then on Saturday we got our fridge/freezer and drove to Chelford with Cathy. There was a huge party for some friends of the family, Dave and Christina. It was their 25th wedding anniversary.
The party was in Chelmford, near Manchester, and it was brilliant. Dave and Christina are two of the nicest, most friendly people I've ever met. There were a lot of people there--about 160. We all went to the village hall and danced, ate great food, and (everybody but us) drank! TONS!!! Martin and I had a good time watching everybody get absolutely trashed, but we left fairly early as we were both exhausted. We got to sleep about 12:30, and some of the people didn't get home until 7 am (including Cathy, the naughty minx)!
This morning we got up and had a great cooked breakfast. Then we drove home. The best part of the morning was laughing at all of the silly people with horrible hangovers. Wow, everybody there was moaning and saying that they could really see the benefit of not drinking. The best part was, we both remember everything we did last night.
Also this weekend, we went and watched "Cars." I know it probably came out ages ago in the states, but it was just released this weekend in the UK. We both really enjoyed it--fabulous movie--Pixar are brilliant. I've never seen one of their movies that I didn't absolutely love.
I was SOOOOO cranky this weekend. Saint Martin was wonderful and patient, or we would be getting a divorce. I don't know--I was watching Cathy dancing with her dad, and I got all sad and was missing my dad. I miss my family so much this weekend.
Ugh--work tomorrow. I already miss being a house wife. Wish I could just have a baby and stay at home, but hopefully that will happen soon.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Martin the big BULLY!
Can you believe that my husband made me get a job? He is so mean to me sometimes, but I love him anyway. What I don't love is no longer being a house wife.
My job is so boring at the moment--there's not much for me to do, and I can hardly believe I am getting paid good money to do nothing. The important thing is that it's a friendly working environment. It makes a nice change.
I'm working with three women at the moment, with three men who also work there but who we hardly ever see. The women are Alison, the boss, and Michelle and Heather. Alison is a tough, ballsy lady who swears like a sailor but has a heart of gold. Michelle is a Grimsby lass who is cheap and common as muck, but is kind and funny, though she ALSO curses like a truck driver. Heather is motherly, even though she says she hates children, and very polite. Everyone is as different as can be, but they all get along. Alison loses her temper a lot, but the girls just roll their eyes and laugh about it. I was so terrified to go back to work because of the Volvo experience, but I am feeling much better now. Plus I am keeping an eye out for something full time--head receptionist at a local hotel.
Martin has gotten a LOT done on the front room while he's been off work this week. Mostly it has been cleaning--he took three car boots full of rubble to the tip. We have a clean front room for the first time in weeks, and it's wonderful. On monday he's going to finish tearing down the ceiling, then he's going to put the stud wall in for the entrance hall. Then the electrics can be done, and we can plaster. After that, it's all painting and decorating and laying floorboards. We are about 3-4 weeks away from livable living room!
I need to find the digital camera, because on my last day of freedom before starting work we went on a little day trip to Sleningford Water Mill, near Ripon (up in Yorkshire). We got tubes and floated down the river on them, had a picnic, played in the water, and got sunburnt. It was a seriously fun day, and I have pictures of Martin's pale chest to post. Can't wait for family to come and visit, because I think they would really enjoy that place. It's a campground, so we could bring tents and spend a few days!
Anyway, must dash. We've got the Gilbert grandparents coming up to bring us a full size fridge/freezer and need to get the house cleaned before they get here. Much love to all, and I'll post again soon!
Can you believe that my husband made me get a job? He is so mean to me sometimes, but I love him anyway. What I don't love is no longer being a house wife.
My job is so boring at the moment--there's not much for me to do, and I can hardly believe I am getting paid good money to do nothing. The important thing is that it's a friendly working environment. It makes a nice change.
I'm working with three women at the moment, with three men who also work there but who we hardly ever see. The women are Alison, the boss, and Michelle and Heather. Alison is a tough, ballsy lady who swears like a sailor but has a heart of gold. Michelle is a Grimsby lass who is cheap and common as muck, but is kind and funny, though she ALSO curses like a truck driver. Heather is motherly, even though she says she hates children, and very polite. Everyone is as different as can be, but they all get along. Alison loses her temper a lot, but the girls just roll their eyes and laugh about it. I was so terrified to go back to work because of the Volvo experience, but I am feeling much better now. Plus I am keeping an eye out for something full time--head receptionist at a local hotel.
Martin has gotten a LOT done on the front room while he's been off work this week. Mostly it has been cleaning--he took three car boots full of rubble to the tip. We have a clean front room for the first time in weeks, and it's wonderful. On monday he's going to finish tearing down the ceiling, then he's going to put the stud wall in for the entrance hall. Then the electrics can be done, and we can plaster. After that, it's all painting and decorating and laying floorboards. We are about 3-4 weeks away from livable living room!
I need to find the digital camera, because on my last day of freedom before starting work we went on a little day trip to Sleningford Water Mill, near Ripon (up in Yorkshire). We got tubes and floated down the river on them, had a picnic, played in the water, and got sunburnt. It was a seriously fun day, and I have pictures of Martin's pale chest to post. Can't wait for family to come and visit, because I think they would really enjoy that place. It's a campground, so we could bring tents and spend a few days!
Anyway, must dash. We've got the Gilbert grandparents coming up to bring us a full size fridge/freezer and need to get the house cleaned before they get here. Much love to all, and I'll post again soon!
Monday, July 24, 2006
I got a job!
Nothing to get too excited about--just another temp job. But it's six weeks, 42 hours a week. Most importantly, it's a paycheck. I start Wednesday, and Martin is taking some vacation time for the next two weeks. Bad timing, but weather permitting we're doing something fun tomorrow! I'll keep you all posted.
Sorry--no BBQ pictures, I forgot the camera. But it was a good time!
Nothing to get too excited about--just another temp job. But it's six weeks, 42 hours a week. Most importantly, it's a paycheck. I start Wednesday, and Martin is taking some vacation time for the next two weeks. Bad timing, but weather permitting we're doing something fun tomorrow! I'll keep you all posted.
Sorry--no BBQ pictures, I forgot the camera. But it was a good time!
Friday, July 21, 2006
Only a Dream...
I had this horible dream last night. Martin and I were flying home to visit family in Utah, and our plane had electrical problems. The plane started going down in a burning mass of stwisted steel and melted plastics. But we managed to get out together, and for some reason we had parachutes. They opened, but I knew that if we didn't stay together we would lose each other. So we grabbed on to eath others' parachute straps, and we managed to land in a fountain inside the airport.
So here we were, in the airport, and absolutely terrified about getting on another plane. But we were only halfway there, and so we knew we'd have to do it again.
I spent most of the dream trying to come home, and it was scary and almost impossible. I woke up and just wanted to cry. I don't want to be scared about coming home.
Martin called me from work yesterday and told me that Arch, a guy that worked for Enterprise in Utah, is moving to England with his wife and two kids. We're pretty excited about that. They'll be living in Nottingham, but it will be nice to have other Mormons in the company. Someone to hang out with at work parties, you know? They're really nice people!
I spent most of the day yesterday baking. I made Martin some raisin filled cookies (his favorite), and we had home made steak pie for dinner. I was quite pleased with how they turned out. My oven is weird though. It bakes really hot! Either that or Martin hasn't calculated the conversion from farenheit to celsius correctly for me. It's a fan assisted oven, which I hate. I burn nearly everything, but yesterday I only burned a few cookies! The steak pie was delicious, and we took some cookies to choir practice, and they were gobbled up immediately!
Tomorrow should be fun. We are tearing the ceiling out in the front room. We also found out that one of the guys at church is an electrician, and we are hoping he'll help us with the wiring downstairs. fingers crossed! We hope to have the room finished by about Thanksgiving. Maybe a bit optimistic, but there's naught wrong with a bit of optimism.
I've been taking some pictures of the parks surrounding Barton, and I will try to get some of them posted this evening or this weekend at the very latest. Plus, I'll have some pictures from the BBQ we are going to tonight. Our friends Lewis and Emma are having it, and I want to get some pictures of our friends posted. Just a little proof that we HAVE friends. You've seen Lewis before--part of the demolition crew. Plus, pictures of people can be more interesting than pictures of the house and the scenery. Beautiful scenery gets old after a while, right?
Speaking of beautiful scenery, English summer is really nice. Lincolnshire is, anyway. It's primarily an agricultural area, and there are a lot of wheat fields. Everything is lovely and golden right now. A lot of the farmers are making hay right now, too, and it smells fantastic! It's a little bit too warm some days, and incredibly humid, but we had a nice mist the last few days which cooled it off quite a bit. I always forget how close we are to the water until I go for a run. It's only about 1/4 to 1/2 mile to the waters' edge.
Anyway, must get on with my day. I promise, pictures next time!
I had this horible dream last night. Martin and I were flying home to visit family in Utah, and our plane had electrical problems. The plane started going down in a burning mass of stwisted steel and melted plastics. But we managed to get out together, and for some reason we had parachutes. They opened, but I knew that if we didn't stay together we would lose each other. So we grabbed on to eath others' parachute straps, and we managed to land in a fountain inside the airport.
So here we were, in the airport, and absolutely terrified about getting on another plane. But we were only halfway there, and so we knew we'd have to do it again.
I spent most of the dream trying to come home, and it was scary and almost impossible. I woke up and just wanted to cry. I don't want to be scared about coming home.
Martin called me from work yesterday and told me that Arch, a guy that worked for Enterprise in Utah, is moving to England with his wife and two kids. We're pretty excited about that. They'll be living in Nottingham, but it will be nice to have other Mormons in the company. Someone to hang out with at work parties, you know? They're really nice people!
I spent most of the day yesterday baking. I made Martin some raisin filled cookies (his favorite), and we had home made steak pie for dinner. I was quite pleased with how they turned out. My oven is weird though. It bakes really hot! Either that or Martin hasn't calculated the conversion from farenheit to celsius correctly for me. It's a fan assisted oven, which I hate. I burn nearly everything, but yesterday I only burned a few cookies! The steak pie was delicious, and we took some cookies to choir practice, and they were gobbled up immediately!
Tomorrow should be fun. We are tearing the ceiling out in the front room. We also found out that one of the guys at church is an electrician, and we are hoping he'll help us with the wiring downstairs. fingers crossed! We hope to have the room finished by about Thanksgiving. Maybe a bit optimistic, but there's naught wrong with a bit of optimism.
I've been taking some pictures of the parks surrounding Barton, and I will try to get some of them posted this evening or this weekend at the very latest. Plus, I'll have some pictures from the BBQ we are going to tonight. Our friends Lewis and Emma are having it, and I want to get some pictures of our friends posted. Just a little proof that we HAVE friends. You've seen Lewis before--part of the demolition crew. Plus, pictures of people can be more interesting than pictures of the house and the scenery. Beautiful scenery gets old after a while, right?
Speaking of beautiful scenery, English summer is really nice. Lincolnshire is, anyway. It's primarily an agricultural area, and there are a lot of wheat fields. Everything is lovely and golden right now. A lot of the farmers are making hay right now, too, and it smells fantastic! It's a little bit too warm some days, and incredibly humid, but we had a nice mist the last few days which cooled it off quite a bit. I always forget how close we are to the water until I go for a run. It's only about 1/4 to 1/2 mile to the waters' edge.
Anyway, must get on with my day. I promise, pictures next time!
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Martin is back at work for a while. He still has 9 holiday days to use, so he is at work all next week and then off for two weeks again. We haven't gotten anything done on the house, really, but we are planning to get a lot done over the weekend. We want to render all the bare brick in the front room and have it ready to plaster. We are going to patch all the holes in the plaster ourselves, and then pay to have someone skim it so we can save money AND have a professional job. Apparently, plastering is a real art form.
I have started looking a little harder for a job--currently have three applications in at various places. I have to make calls this afternoon to check up on my chances, but I really don't want to do that. There is a very delicate balance to be struck. I want to appear eager to get the job, but not pushy. Especially since Americans have a bad reputation for that anyway!
Choir tonight, and I am in charge. Nicole is going to a parent/teacher night, and has asked me to stand in. I really hope the pianist is there tonight, because if she's not then I have to do that as well. Not really a good time for me, and I usually look forward to choir so much.
Martin is enjoying his birthday gifts--he's gone golfing three times in the last two weeks. Come to think about it, that's probably why we haven't got anything else done on the house. Maybe the gift certificate for the local golf course was a mistake?
I got to speak to my oldest sister Velecia on her birthday a few days ago, though it was a quick call. Martin got called out for work soon after I called her, and I went with Martin into Grimsby. She sounded good, but tired. She's expecting her third baby soon, her first girl! I am really excited for her.
It's funny, how everyone hesitates to tell me when they are pregnant. It's like they think I will be all upset about it. It's not like they got pregnant to spite me. Besides, I think I am way past that. I will have children, eventually. The only time I get angry that others seem to be able to conceive so easily is when it's 14 year old alcoholic sleeping with their druggie boyfriends. That does tend to make me wonder why THEY can have kids and I can't. Does God trust them more than me? Anyway, that's another post.
I have started looking a little harder for a job--currently have three applications in at various places. I have to make calls this afternoon to check up on my chances, but I really don't want to do that. There is a very delicate balance to be struck. I want to appear eager to get the job, but not pushy. Especially since Americans have a bad reputation for that anyway!
Choir tonight, and I am in charge. Nicole is going to a parent/teacher night, and has asked me to stand in. I really hope the pianist is there tonight, because if she's not then I have to do that as well. Not really a good time for me, and I usually look forward to choir so much.
Martin is enjoying his birthday gifts--he's gone golfing three times in the last two weeks. Come to think about it, that's probably why we haven't got anything else done on the house. Maybe the gift certificate for the local golf course was a mistake?
I got to speak to my oldest sister Velecia on her birthday a few days ago, though it was a quick call. Martin got called out for work soon after I called her, and I went with Martin into Grimsby. She sounded good, but tired. She's expecting her third baby soon, her first girl! I am really excited for her.
It's funny, how everyone hesitates to tell me when they are pregnant. It's like they think I will be all upset about it. It's not like they got pregnant to spite me. Besides, I think I am way past that. I will have children, eventually. The only time I get angry that others seem to be able to conceive so easily is when it's 14 year old alcoholic sleeping with their druggie boyfriends. That does tend to make me wonder why THEY can have kids and I can't. Does God trust them more than me? Anyway, that's another post.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
It occurs to me that I haven't posted anything but pictures for a while. Of course, not much has happened except us working on the house, but still, I don't want anyone to feel that we are slacking!
Martin had a good birthday, I think. He enjoyed his gifts from me and his family, and looks forward to receiving the ones from the other side of the pond. He got his card from Grandma Lofley yesterday, and wanted me to post a quick thank you to her. We had a barbeque for his birthday dinner. We were going to have it at our house, but decided it was in too much of a state to have anyone over. Instead we did it at his parents' house, and I think we taught them a valuable lesson in how to host a stress free and low maintenance BBQ. We just did burgers (Martin's request--his favourite are Carls Jr.'s western bacon cheeseburgers, so we got all the trimmings for those), mom's italian pasta salad, green salad, drinks, and home made apple pie for dessert. Everything was done in advance except the cooking of the meat, and everything was served on paper plates. It only took about 30 minutes to clean up. Much easier than their party last month!
Martin's gifts seemed to follow a golf theme. I got him a gift certificate for a golf course near his office. He got a golfing shirt from his nanna and grandad, and his mum and dad got him a golf bag trolley. I hope he puts all of them to good use, as his game is really suffering! (so just kidding--it's only suffering a little bit)
So I am a mean wife and made him work on the house on his birthday, but we took a day off yesterday and went to Alton Towers. It's a theme park in Staffordshire, down in the midlands, and it was so much fun! There is a castle at Alton Towers, just like at Disneyland, only this one is REAL! After the last of the Earls of Shrewsbury died without an heir, the estate was used to house troops during WWII. Then it was sold to a local group of businessmen who opened the gardens to the public and built a theme park. Part of the revinue generated by the theme park is going into restoring the towers. It's a fantastic old castle, and it will be even more fantastic when fully restored. So we got to ride really great roller coasters, stroll through fabulous gardens, and walk around a castle!!! All in all, a wonderful day!
Today we are working on the house some more, and then tomorrow, we are going to do it again. But we are leaving at around lunch time to drive to Preston. It's time for another temple trip. We're going to take A roads instead of motorway to get there, which takes about twice as long and is at least 4 times more fun! I'll have the camera ready for any marvellous shots that come up, and I'll post again this weekend.
Bye for now!
Martin had a good birthday, I think. He enjoyed his gifts from me and his family, and looks forward to receiving the ones from the other side of the pond. He got his card from Grandma Lofley yesterday, and wanted me to post a quick thank you to her. We had a barbeque for his birthday dinner. We were going to have it at our house, but decided it was in too much of a state to have anyone over. Instead we did it at his parents' house, and I think we taught them a valuable lesson in how to host a stress free and low maintenance BBQ. We just did burgers (Martin's request--his favourite are Carls Jr.'s western bacon cheeseburgers, so we got all the trimmings for those), mom's italian pasta salad, green salad, drinks, and home made apple pie for dessert. Everything was done in advance except the cooking of the meat, and everything was served on paper plates. It only took about 30 minutes to clean up. Much easier than their party last month!
Martin's gifts seemed to follow a golf theme. I got him a gift certificate for a golf course near his office. He got a golfing shirt from his nanna and grandad, and his mum and dad got him a golf bag trolley. I hope he puts all of them to good use, as his game is really suffering! (so just kidding--it's only suffering a little bit)
So I am a mean wife and made him work on the house on his birthday, but we took a day off yesterday and went to Alton Towers. It's a theme park in Staffordshire, down in the midlands, and it was so much fun! There is a castle at Alton Towers, just like at Disneyland, only this one is REAL! After the last of the Earls of Shrewsbury died without an heir, the estate was used to house troops during WWII. Then it was sold to a local group of businessmen who opened the gardens to the public and built a theme park. Part of the revinue generated by the theme park is going into restoring the towers. It's a fantastic old castle, and it will be even more fantastic when fully restored. So we got to ride really great roller coasters, stroll through fabulous gardens, and walk around a castle!!! All in all, a wonderful day!
Today we are working on the house some more, and then tomorrow, we are going to do it again. But we are leaving at around lunch time to drive to Preston. It's time for another temple trip. We're going to take A roads instead of motorway to get there, which takes about twice as long and is at least 4 times more fun! I'll have the camera ready for any marvellous shots that come up, and I'll post again this weekend.
Bye for now!
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