Clocks 'springing' forward!

I really don't like this idea about putting the clocks forward. On both Sunday morning, and today, it didn't matter what the clocks said, my body knew it was having to get up an hour earlier.. and it has complained all day! I'm tired! hehe

And, it's not even as is we now have lovely spring weather to show for it.. it's been windy and wet! If I have to get up early, I want to be rewarded with a little sunshine, pretty spring flowers, and cute little bunnies! LOL

Ok, that's todays moan over.. hopefully I'll be more refreshed tomorrow.

Tea or Coffee?

Is it true that Brits like their tea, and the Americans always drink coffee? Or am I being terrribly stereotypical?! I'm a tea drinker.. I occasionally like coffee, especially if I've been out for a meal, but on the whole, it's the tea bags that I reach for.

How about the type of tea or coffee.. are you fussy over what you drink, or do you slurp whatever is put in front of you? I'm not particularly fussed.. I have Sainsbury's own coffee in the cupboard, and that does me fine when I do crave some caffeine. My hubby likes PG Tips, so I go along with that awell.

When I was having some trouble sleeping, I bought some shop brand decaffinated tea bags, and Glen was horrified. They taste fine to me, but he insists on his PG Tips. Have I married a tea snob?! :)

&*%!$ Spammers!

The one thing guarenteed to get my blood pressure rising - spammers!

Email spammers I've learnt to cope with - most of my spam goes into particular accounts.. I check them occasionally, and delete the messages without really looking. I know they're either offering to extend the length of a body part I don't have, or they're going to tell me that I need to click the nice link, and provide my log in details for my bank/paypal/ebay etc. Yea.. I'm not that dumb!

The scum of the earth to me are the individuals who spam forums. For those who haven't experienced this, most forums have a 'memberlist' of some sort, and that list often shows the members websites, if they add it. This provides a link back to their site, and it's always a good thing to get decent sites linking back to you.

So, my forums get a constant influx of new members. Are they interested in the topic matter? No, they want a link back to their search site or porn site. NOT the sort of thing I want showing up on my memberlist!

In my case, they don't even gain from it. My older forums I check at least once a day, and with my most recent one, I'm on there throughout the day, and I know pretty quickly if I get a new member.. and they get checked out. Some links get removed, but usually the offending spammer gets their account deleted too.

So, their link is gone, and they've achieved nothing. Oh, actually, they have.. they've wasted a part of my day, and they've increased my blood pressure!

Yet another fun part of owning a forum!

Are you a morning person?

I, most definitely, am not one of the cheerful 'morning people'. My hubby does pretty well, and my eldest is full of energy the moment she jumps out of bed. I, on the other hand, hate mornings.

I have my alarm set to the radio, as I think the grating 'buzz buzz' is an inhuman way to be woken up! However, as I gradually come round, I tell myself that I'll just listen to the news.. then the weather.. then the traffic... The next thing I know, they've all been and gone, we're on at least the second song.. and I'm late!

I then drag myself to the bathroom, trying desperately to get my eyes to open up. I dread hearing my daughter saying 'mum...', because I know she'll be rewarded with a growling 'what?'! I then go through my bathroom routines, just knowing that I'm not going to feel any more awake all day, and how on earth am I supposed to get through it?

Of course I gradually wake up more and more, and half an hour later I'm usually found yelling at the girls to GET DRESSED for the 20th time. Then it's out to the car, to get Beth to school, and to face another day.

Oh, btw.. over recent weeks my morning has developed a rather nice touch. For some reason, hubby has decided I need tea.. and there's always a cup waiting for me when I arrive downstairs! Bless him! :)

Omelettes - Take 2!

Arming myself with the information given to me by a couple of friends, I decided it was time to try another omelette. I used 2 eggs, and no milk, kept the heat lower and put my filling (just cheese this time) in the middle, rather than mixing it in (well, I was guessing last time!). And.. a HUGE improvement! :)

So thanks to those who advised me! hehe And next time I want to try something new.. I'll ask!

Bookworm Bethany

Soon after she turned 7, Bethany was placed on the 'free reader' level at school.. and so far, she's one of only three in her year. This means that as well as having more difficult books, she can go and get a new one whenever she wants, instead of set days.

This seems to have been an inspiration to her, as she's now working through them at quite a rate! Today we went to the library, and I helped her choose some more 'grown up' books, including a Secret Seven story, a Jacqueline Wilson book, and Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Snow Queen' ( I actually fancied that one myself, since it was an important part of Graham Masterton's 'Spirit').

When we came home I discussed the idea of reviews with her, and she liked the idea. So, she started 'Bethany's Book of Reviews'. I'm just about to set her up her own blog, so she can also practice her typing, and keep an online record. :) Watch out for the link when she's done her first one!

Omelettes - milk or no milk?

This may shock many of you, but I've never cooked an omelette before. Today I was looking at the contents of my fridge for lunch ideas, and decided to give it a try.

The closest I could think of was scrambled eggs, so I mixed up eggs, milk and a little butter, added a little cheese and ham, and popped it in the frying pan. My first effort was far too thick and runny, so I popped that in the bin, and tried again!

The result may not have been the perfect omelette, and was a little.. how shall I put this.. ok, it was a little burnt! But, it was certainly edible, and I left a clean plate! (My daughter left all hers, but then my excuse for that is that she doesn't like scrambled egg either!)

Anyway, I then decided to turn to the internet to find out how I should have made it.. and it turns out there's a big debate as to whether omelettes should contain a little milk or not! (What a fascinating world we live in!)

So, do you add milk or not? Any tips on making the perfect omelette, any favourite fillings? And will anyone else admit to being an 'omelette virgin' as I once was?!

Amy...

Amy has reached that point that all toddlers seem to hit.. knowing the animal noises! She really impressed us with her farmyard knowledge the other day.. cats went meow, ducks went quack, sheep went baa, and so on. However, there's one little blip in Amy's world.. apparently frogs jump up and down, and say.. 'oink'. She knows that pigs say oink, and we've told her countless times that frogs say 'ribbit'. But in Amy's world, they're still going 'oink'!

She's also good at recognising pictures now.. we were going through a book yesterday, and she was telling me the names of some things, and pointing at others. When I asked her where the 'light' was (there was a lamp in the book), she slowly looked upwards, pointed to the ceiling light, and with a smile on her face said, "there it is".

Would you be surprised to hear that when we were looking up our Chinese horoscopes (Beth had been asked to find out hers for school), Amy turns out to be a monkey?!

(In case you're wondering, Beth is a tiger, hubby is a rooster, and I'm an ox!)

Randomness....

A few random bits from me today...

Firstly, when are the Oscars going to be over?! I can't turn off the radio without hearing these DJs and reporters who have 'popped over' just to fill us in on what's going on. And.. I haven't even heard the films mentioned, it's all about the celebs and money.

And what's with the 'goodie bags'?? The celebs attending already have plenty plenty of money, and yet they're being given bags full of holidays, gadgets etc, worth thousands. Here's an idea.. each celeb can suggest their favourite charity, and they can be given a few thousand dollars instead!

My second rant.. I took Beth to Dartford today, so my friend could take her to a party. A journey that should take 10-15 minutes took me an hour! Stupid roadworks.. I've just about had enough of them!

Ok, enough ranting!

We saw a good friend today.. he's been under alot of stress, and keeping to himself, but things are working out nicely now, and he's back to his old self. :) He also came laden with gifts for the girls, as he missed Christmas, and their last birthdays. That put a smile on their faces!

Tomorrow my littlest baby is 2.. where did those 2 years go?! We have grandparents and godparents coming for a little party.. it should be nice. :)

Birthday...

That's that then.. another birthday almost over. Thank you to anyone who sent birthday wishes.. be it by a traditional card, ecard, text, or message on a forum.. I appreciate them all. Also thank you to a lovely friend who kept me company on AIM all afternoon.. it was fun! :)

Tomorrow it's back to reality.. I have to write my cv and fill in an application form, and I've been putting it off. It's for a little bit of agency work in the weekends - thankfully we don't need the cash, but it will make life more comfortable. I've put it off not because I don't want to work, but rather that going back to work scares me. For the past few years I was working in a day surgery unit, and then as practice nurse. Going back to working on a traditional hospital ward will be difficult, and doing it as an agency nurse, when you're expected to just get on with it, is scarey.

Still, it needs to be done, and filling out that form will be the first step. If anyone catches me making excuses, and putting it off, give me a push!