Day 98

Wednesday, first day back at work.  BOOOOOO!!

I know I struggle to get out of bed most mornings, but today was a particularly hard day.  A crap night's sleep thanks to the fecking mouse that's still in my bedroom, kamikaze mouse that takes the bait but doesn't get caught, little shit.  Opened the door to find a hard frost on the car, couldn't be arsed with the scraper, so opted for some lukewarm water instead.  A quick stop off at Morrison's fora loaf & bought some crap from the Christmas sale!

The morning was a real drag, more so than anticipated, so couldn't wait for my turkey sarnies that were waiting for me in the car.  The afternoon dragged as much as the morning, especially as I came back from lunch early as it was so bloody cold.  On the plus side, I managed to get on to of most of the desktop, down to single figures finally and I break up again tomorrow for a 5 day weekend again.  Home to the hounds, turkey & chips for dinner & the rest of the turkey shared between the hounds & the cats, more farting to put up with, lol.  Off to Tesco to collect my order, already frosty, so glad I covered the car as soon as I got home.  Looking forward to my bed & hopefully a decent night's sleep.

Day 96 & 97

Woohoo, another lie in!!  Boxing Day has arrived & plans for a lazy day with the hounds.  So, the hounds got pate on toast for their breakfast, a little Christmas treat for them.

Following breakfast I decided that as my DVD player had broken on Christmas day that I would try to get a new one, so headed out to Asda.  I was surprised to find that they weren't that busy, had a quick look down the sale aisle to find a sugar skulls double duvet set half price, so that'll do for starters, the Christmas stock was pretty much sold out, but there were a few Christmas cards that people were snapping up.  Bagged myself a DVD player for £25.

Home to walk the hounds & then test out my new purchase watching Peter Kay, so I nearly PMSL especially when he sang Danny Boy after sucking helium from a balloon.  Another Christmas dinner for me & the hounds before jumping in the shower before my mate's gig in Tipton.  It's been ages since the duo, Rock of Ages had a gig.  What a fantastic night, brilliant crowd & fab music, home for 2.30 am.

Tuesday, last day of my holidays, again, no plans for the day, but another much needed lie in.  Decided to order an action camera for the hound walks as they don't tend to provide much other action, lol.  Had a quick tootle round B&M and Wilko too & got my secret santa gift for next year in the sale.  Back home to walk the hounds & spend the rest of the day bumming around the house & consuming alcohol.

Oh well, that's the end of the Christmas holidays!

Day 94 & 95

Saturday morning, Christmas Eve, my only plan of the day to do nothing.  Took the hounds for their walk before getting the Christmas meat in the oven, the smell of it cooking tantalised the hounds, but I saved the juice to pour on their kibble, so they were happy about that.  A day bumming around the house with the hounds til I got tagged on Facebook to say Badger had won a prize for getting second in the Jollyes Christmas outfit competition, so off we trotted for him to collect his prize, a 2kg bag of food & a candy cane treat.  A dash to Poundland for a few odds & ends before heading home.

Shower time to get ready for an evening out with my mate singing as herself in Rowley Regis, a great evening it was too, the crowd seemed to really enjoy it, so all good.  An early finish so time to have a chat & a drink at the end.  Home to the hounds & in bed before 1 am.

Sunday, the big day, got woken up by the rugrats next door shouting at the top of their voices at 6.30 am ffs, managed to get back to sleep for a while & rose when Lady barked at 9.50 am.  A cuppa & time to open my presents, to say I was overwhelmed by what I received is an understatement, I'm truly blessed to have some amazing friends.  The hounds had loads of presents too & were keen to try out their treats.

An extended walk as they'd shared my bacon sarnie, it was really quiet too, so no barky barks from Willow, all good.  A visit to the crem to light some candles on Ray's grave then home to prepare dinner for me & the hounds.  Enjoyed dinner (so did they), their's was washed down with some dog beer, while I had a bottle of Rudolph's Reward, very nice too.  My DVD player decided to break halfway through Polar Express, so had to demolish it to remove the disc.

Shower & onesie on (reindeer of course), a turkey sarnie to be followed by some Winter Jack to wash it down.  A strange night for me as I'm staying in, normally I'm out on Christmas night.

Day 92 & 93

Thursday, last day at work before the Christmas break, at least the phones were quiet, so got loads done.  The cake & chocolate supplies are finally starting to diminish, thank goodness.

More gifts again today, flowers & a bottle of wine.  My good deed of the day was to deliver a food hamper to the penthouse for the Mayor's charities, it had been sent in by a MH doctor who does our assessments.  Popped to the crem in my lunch break to drop off flowers for my hubby, it was mighty cold up there.  Also, a quick five minutes to stop off at home to let the hounds out for a wee before heading back to the office.

More of the same during the afternoon, prepared & sent out my weekly reports before heading home an hour earlier than normal.  A relaxing evening with a bottle of Ruddles Best to start off the holidays.

Friday, so I was supposed to have a lie in, but woke at 6.35 am!!  A trip to the RGT kennels to collect food for the hounds, a stop at Lidl which was manic to get treats for the kennel hounds & dropped off a donation from a colleague.  A diversion via Morrisons at Bilston to get some Fever Tree tonic water, chaos in there too, a 15 minute wait for the self service check outs.  On to RGT Dudley to drop off some pillows & some treats for the hounds.

Home to walk the hounds, started a job application on-line & feed my face.  Soon be time for a shower & head out to the Spread Eagle to see my mate perform as herself.

Day 91

Wednesday, another day closer to the long weekend.  Today started with a trip to the penthouse to collect copier paper as we had run out, thanks to the bloody finance system causing my orders to get held up.  Then back to the office to discover someone had used the trolley & not returned it.  A cuppa & some crumpets first job of the day.

Did loads of the desktop today, but still nowhere near caught up, hopefully I can catch up over Christmas.  My new laptop didn't turn up either :-(

Nipped into Morrison's at lunchtime for the hounds Christmas breakfast, it was shockingly quiet.  Actually left on time, so stopped to get my pork joint on the way home & some frozen stuff too.  Dropped off my niece's birthday card/present & a trip to Bentley Bridge for some Christmas booze, home to relax, eventually.

Day 89 & 90

Monday has arrived already, hoping for a better week than last week.

Soon after arriving at the office my week seemed to be carrying on where last week left off.  Loads of work to catch up with & getting nowhere fast, everyone seems to want a piece of me, can't get anything achieved.  So pleased when the day was finally over!!  Not much more to say about that.

Tuesday, bring & share day so a stop off at Lidl to collect the crusty bread.  Managed to crack on with some finance and some of the Safeguarding desktop, so not too bad a start.  Helped set out the food for the buffet lunch, can't believe how much food there was, especially cheese!!  The only day of the year where we get a two hour lunch break.  So food, secret santa and a quiz, our team came second - Team Rudolph!  Not long to clear up as quite a lot had been eaten, but still enough for lunch tomorrow.  More catching up during the afternoon, although the desktop is starting to fill up again. Home again to the hounds & to do a bit of knitting, another order, this time for a Jack Russell.

Day 87 & 88

Saturday morning started with an early alarm so me & Badger could meet Cathy & Izzy at Attingham Park,  Not much traffic on the M54 so we arrived after about half an hour, my boy was so happy to see them both, he loves meeting his houndie friends.  We had a lovely walk around the WW2 walk and the deer were also quite close, so I managed to get a couple of good clear images.

A chilled out afternoon followed, then a night out in Birmingham to see my mate performing as Pink at the Sportsman's Rest.  A great evening, crowd were a bit rowdy though.

Sunday, another early start for the RGT Greyhound walk at Cannock Chase, 76 sighthounds and their humans joined the walk which was a bit muddy under foot.  Mulled wine followed for the humans and sausages for the hounds.  Lady joined me on the walk wearing her santa saddle.  A quick dash home for a shower before heading over to Darlaston Conservative Club where my mate was performing as Annie Lennox.  Had a great catch up & a few drinks.

Weekend over :-(

Day 85 & 86

Thursday, Board day.  Half an hour extra in bed due to a request for a fasting blood test, so an early trip to the doctors before work.  Why is it you always wake starving when you can't eat.  Luckily not too much of a wait before I could get my breakfast biscuits and a cuppa down my neck on the journey to the city centre.  Arrive at the car park to find neither ticket machine working, so a hastily written note for the dashboard before towing my laptop across the city.

Not too bad a meeting to be fair, more attendees than usual for the December Board.  Early finish to take back some hours I'm owed.  A couple of cards and presents delivered on the way home.  Hounds walked and fed so a bit of a chill out for me.  My mate was singing in Derby, so texted me to see if I wanted to tag along, of course I did, needed a break from the crap week I'm having.  This time she was performing as herself, this doesn't happen very often, she was great but sadly the casino was very quiet, home early for a change at 1.00 am.

Friday, at last.  Just when I thought this week couldn't get worse I was told we have had an Information Governance breach, just what I needed.  My planned meetings for the day had to go out of the window so I could sort this out as nothing had been done to rectify it.  Looks like I'm in for a bollocking on Monday, like their actions are my fault.  Really feel like thumping someone!!  Surprisingly got some Xmas gifts from my staff, I was most surprised when they told me I was the best manager they've had, that might change on Monday!!

A night in with a can of JD & coke with the hounds and an early night.  Rock & Roll.

Day 83 & 84

Tuesday, a day in the office today.  So, left the house early as I needed to call into Morrisons, got within a mile of the office and realised I'd left my laptop at home so had to go back for it.  All in all the morning journey took 35 minutes as I got caught in traffic.

My day didn't get any better, still waiting for Board reports for Thursday, so the first job was to chase those as they needed to go onto the internal meeting system.  Only half a day to get everything done as I'd got more training during the afternoon.  Being chased for a set of minutes that I haven't even started & being dragged into everyone else's shit.  Everyone seems to want a piece of me at the moment, but they're nowhere to be seen when I need support with anything.

So my day finished eventually with me feeling absolutely knackered with a banging headache.  In need of alcohol, but head hurting too much.  Couldn't wait to crawl into bed.

Wednesday, another full day of training in the city centre, so another early start to make sure I arrived on time.  So, today's training is Dealing with agression, might come in handy.  My first visit to the Yoo Recruit Boardroom, very pokey especially as there was 15 of us plus the trainer.  It was very hot so we had to keep the windows open to be driven mad by a bloke constantly playing jingle bells on a kids flute for 6 hours.  I think by the end we all wanted to shove his flute up his arse sideways.  Found the course a bit boring compared to the one on Monday, but at least we managed to finish a little earlier than planned, although it took 45 minutes to get home.

Time to chill with the hounds...........

Day 82

A rare chance for a lie in on a Monday & what happens?  Yep, I wake up at my normal time, over half an hour before my alarm goes off.  So, today I've got Restorative Practice training, what on earth does that me I wonder.  Off I tootle to the local swimming & fitness centre for my training session.

A couple of colleagues were on the same course, one sat by me (thank goodness).  The first session of the training was good, we even got sweeties, so all good.  The trainer was good & made the session fun, only downside was that the tea was rubbish, so I had to have two cups of coffee, dread taking my BP today, lol.

The rest of the day was very good, the trainer kept our interest all day which is rare on a training course, we opted for half hour lunch to enable a 3.30 pm finish (shh, don't tell anyone).  A stop off at Aldi for cat food then home to the hounds.

The only downside to the day was some aggro on social media (again), hopefully we can nip this in the bud quickly, planning on staying away from social media as much as possible for a bit.  Boy I need a drink or three.

Day 79, 80 & 81

Finally Friday, it's been such a long week.  A day of training on the updates to our finance system, oh joy.  At least the two training sessions weren't too long, not much will be changing, worst luck.  It has to be the most unfriendly system I've ever used.

Home to the hounds, so I was supposed to be going out, but was so knackered I fell asleep after I'd eaten.  Doh!!  Woke up & went more or less straight to bed.  Rock N Roll.

Saturday saw a trip to the shops to try to finish off my Xmas shopping, nearly there thank goodness, even managed to pick up the turkey crown.  Just got a few bits to get now.  Really not feeling it this year, it's worse than ever this time.  Got a text from my mate to see it I wanted to tag along to her show in a hotel in Stoke.  Quite a nice venue, but a bit (a lot) old fashioned, don't think it's changed since the 1970's looking at the decor.  The show was fabulous (Cher), the crowd seemed to enjoy it, even though they didn't seem to have much Christmas spirit for a Christmas party.

Sunday, tweet up day.  I'd decided after last month's walk to hold a raffle to make some money for charity.  Wow, I was truly overwhelmed at the response, we had masses of prizes and made £110 which we are sharing between two Spanish rescues who have recently been flooded, hopefully it will help them a little.  Back home to sort the bins out and walk the girls.  Finally got something to eat as I'd only had some biscuits at the tweet up.

Day 77 & 78

Woken up a couple of times by the bloody mouse in my bedroom, poxy thing takes the bait but doesn't get caught.  Reluctantly dragged myself out of bed to sort out the hounds dinners, breakfast & loo visits, love to see my babies in a morning.  My hour and a half with them before work soon flies by.  The thought of seeing them again at the end of the day helps me get through it.

Today started with my appointment with the podiatrist who thinks most of the pain I'm getting is from my back (sciatic nerve), the last couple of weeks have been agony, so I'm now discharged from the podiatrist and have to wait for physio.  On to work & straight into a team meeting, my first for a year, nice to be included again.  Don't know where the rest of the day disappeared to, a quick catch up regarding Board papers and before I knew it, it was home time.  A quick diversion to Aldi before getting home for some time with the hounds, bliss.

Thursday, started the same as Wednesday with the bloody mouse waking me up during the night.  Not a good night's sleep as I was in a lot of pain with my back too.  Most of the morning was taken up by a supervision and appraisal, all this crap takes so long.  The afternoon began with a meeting which took a bit longer than anticipated followed by another meeting and sending out Board papers.  I don't know why but everyone seems so needy at the moment & feel the need to talk to me about any old crap, which I don't really have time for.  Getting frustrated as I can't get anything done.  Today feels like I've worked three days straight, so glad when it was home time.  Really needed to relax tonight, collected an order from Tesco then vegetated & stitched up the first pair of socks I've made.  Off to bed very shortly.

Day 76

Tuesday started pretty much the same as Monday with me not wanting to get out of bed, or should I say not wanting to go to work!!

Quick ear scratches with the hounds whilst they ate their treats before I had to leave.  Time to grab a cuppa before the first meeting of the day.  Pretty uneventful apart from the opportunity for us to moan about the pilot we are trialing.  Time to stick my bread in the toaster for breakfast on the go.

Excited to get my hands on my end of year finance report early, yeah, ok I admit I'm anal when it comes to that stuff.

A bit of a hiccup on our social media stream, so reported it to the Comms Team, how exciting. I don't know when the day went to as I no sooner had lunch and it was home time already, I did have another catch up meeting with our new boss though.

Home to feed & fuss the hounds then a mad dash to Bentley Bridge to get a couple of birthday presents.  Back home to order tickets to see Kiss in May with my bestie, can't wait, excited I am.

That's all folks, not very talkative today.

Day 75

So, it's Monday morning & I found it soooo difficult to get up today, not because I was tired, I just can't seem to find my mojo of late.  Managed to drag my butt into work on time though (just).  My morning started with a catch up, it's amazing how many emails there are after just one day off.

A fairly uneventful day, not many of us around at the moment for some reason or another, certain people not answering phones, so hard to get anything done.

So glad when 5pm finally came around.  BORING DAY!!

Can't be bothered to do anything this evening, I really need to go to Dunelm, but really can't be bothered.  Also, need to write Christmas cards, but can't be bothered with that either.  My Christmas tree is definately staying in the loft this year.

BAH HUMBUG

Day 73 & 74

Saturday, not much of a lie in after my late night last night, but that's how I roll, lol.  Have been know to do a day's work on 2 hours sleep.  Today's fairly early get up was to go on a history walk organised by someone I used to work with, I'd not seen him for 18 years.  So, I bundled Lady into the car to join me for our trek over Wren's Nest, I was a Wrenna virgin!  Arrived early to find the car park locked, however, someone turned up eventually to unlock the gate.  A fab walk, great to take in the cold winter air & learn about the history too.  A stop off halfway for ten minutes to do a bit of fossil hunting, I found a few and brought four of them home to keep.  Lady was shattered & enjoyed some tuna cake whilst I had a well earned brew.  Back home to walk Badger & Willow.

A bit of a rest before getting showered as my mate was collecting me on her way to her gig in Blackpool, had a great evening at her Cher show, sadly the crowd at these casino's don't show their appreciation of talent very much, tonight was a bit of an exception as they did applaud the show. Helped I think by a couple of Christmas parties that were on.  I ended up with a rather drunken man hanging round my neck, makes a change from a woman I guess, lol.  Returned home at 3 am.

Another fairly early start to collect food for the hounds from the kennels, forgot to take the dog treats though, doh!  A very quick shopping trip & home for a shower before a couple of hours with my mates for a Sunday afternoon drink, something we don't often get to do.  Enjoyed having a proper catch up & a laugh, I really do have some of the best mates I could wish for.

Home to clean up after the hounds, sort out the bins (oh joy) and a much needed rest in front of the first log fire of the winter, bliss.  Not much else to report on Sunday, can't believe how short the weekends are.

Day 71 & 72

Really don't know where the time went to on Thursday morning, I'd no sooner got up (on time) & it was time to leave for work.  Another frosty morning, so more window scraping to do.  The hounds kept their bed coats on cause it's bloody freezing.

So, today was the first day of an unmanned reception trial, what a bloody day too.  We have less than half staff on duty as they're on training courses, an extra member of staff (the receptionist) who needs an induction & a new senior manager who's line manager is no where to be seen.  Most of my day was spent inducting the senior manager in between running between the office & reception like a blue arsed fly.  Can't say I wasn't pleased to see the day end.  That's enough about that.

After a visit home to feed the hounds & myself I went to see to my mates dog in Dudley as they had left her for the day, a quick walk around the block followed by belly rubs & dinner (the dog not me)!!

Friday, a much needed day off and a bit of a lie in.  Today was Christmas shopping day, gotta start some time I suppose, decided to jump on a train to Birmingham as parking will probably be a nightmare.  Headed out to Tipton park & ride to get the 10.28 to New Street.  So two & a half hours around the shops & a cheesy hotdog from the German market saw most of my presents bought, need to do a stock check & see what else I need to get now.  Sore feet & an aching back & I was glad to be back on the train home.  A stop of at Poundstretcher for a few bits then home for a sit down & brew before walking the hounds in semi-daylight.

Dinner & another sit down before I'm off to see my mate's Cher show in Sedgley.

Day 70

Wednesday, my day began as does every other day, managed to leave the house on time & luckily I'd covered the windscreen in preparation for a frost,so just the side windows to defrost.

I'd cooked some extra bacon and mushrooms last night & made a sandwich for work which I warmed up & had with a brew as soon as I got in.  Soon it was time for the managers meeting, that went quite well, at least no one got a bollocking today, so that's positive.

Had to deal with a team issue following that which left me a team member down for the rest of the day, but at least the workload is currently up to date.

Lunchtime consisted of me sitting in the car knitting (socks this time) & freezing my ass of, then a quick walk to the post office to post the dog coats to USA and our houndie santa parcel.  Back to the car for a bit more knitting before the afternoon shift. The afternoon consisted of the Board meeting, not a bad meeting, but it over ran by half an hour, so another night finishing late, at least it wasn't frosty tonight.

Home for hound time & more knitting, hopefully it will help with the RSI.

And so to bed!!  Hopefully the mouse will keep quiet.

Day 68 & 69

Monday I was up and ready early, a quick stop off at Morrisons on my way, then ready for the day to begin.  Seemed to get quite a few interruptions during the morning which prevented me doing as much as I'd planned.  An early lunch today as we had been directed to attend a briefing session.  Took my first Greyhound jumper order to the post office for it's relatively short journey to Kidderminster.  The briefing was extremely boring & I spent most of it yawning my head off, fortunately I wasn't one of the ones who fell asleep during it, lol.  Time to head home straight afterwards, great we all thought, til we discovered the traffic lights were out on the ring road & it took me 50 minutes to travel about 4 miles!!  FFS!!

Still annoyed from the waste of time sorted out dinner for me & the hounds before some relaxation as this bloody mouse keeps waking me up during the night skulking around the bedroom.

Tuesday, a full day in the office which is a bit rare at the moment, did all my prep work for my Board meeting followed by some finance work which had built up over the last couple of days.  Did some knitting in the car in my lunch break, bloody freezing it was too.  Spent the rest of the day working on the desktop.  Got a late phone call from the MASH Business Manager who wanted to pick my brains regarding how the adults world works, had a good chat which ended with her telling me how much she wants me in her team.  Well, if all had gone well a few weeks ago I'd have already been part of the team.

Another late finish, then I leave the office to find my car windscreen frozen on the inside and outside, I knew it was cold at lunchtime.  Grrr!!!

Day 66 & 67

Saturday began with a bit of a lie in, followed by a quick shopping trip to Bentley Bridge & Poundland at Willenhall.  Discovered I had a mouse in my bedroom which had been feeding on Christmas chocolates, cheeky sod.  Then dropped off my sisters birthday card/present.  Back home to the hounds for a walk, although bright it was quite chilly.  A bit of time next to relax with some knitting as I'm working on an order for a Greyhound jumper & snood, the jumper is a bespoke striped pattern, something I've not attempted before, so a bit of a challenge.  Got a text from my mate to ask if I fancied heading out with them to her gig that evening, pick up time arranged, so time to eat & get ready as well as feeding & watering the hounds too.

My mate and her hubby arrived later than planned as their journey coincided with the football traffic & we headed off to Doncaster for a double header tribute show.  The venue was pretty nice, an old night club, the crowd were good & very receptive for both the Cher show and Pink show.  Had a great evening & we even got fed too with an amazing chicken curry & the promise of another two or three bookings for next year, fabulous.  Their dog was amazing too, a Dogue de Bordeux called Hunter, 8 months old & weighing about 8 stone.

Sunday saw a nice lie in as I didn't get home til 3 am, lol & a visit to the kennels to get Badger's nails trimmed & collect a couple of Greyhound coats to send to America.  A chat with the Sunday volunteers and a dash of mulled wine to celebrate volunteer Julie's birthday.

Straight on to Bescot market for a mooch with my boy before heading home.  We bumped into a couple of volunteers for another charity and their two Greyhounds, we had quite a long chat while the hounds did much bum sniffing.  Picked up a few bits & bobs before a stall holder stopped me for a chat about Greyhounds, at the end of our conversation he told me to go and see the guy with the meat stall who promptly offer me a bag of bones for the hounds, they loved them!!

The rest of the day was to relax and do some more knitting before an early night.

Day 65

Ahh, Friday, final day of the week.  I'm sure even the hounds know when it's Friday (not that I remind them or anything)!  An early finish as it's POETS day (Piss Off Early Tomorrows Saturday). Think I'd confused the hounds this week somewhat not being in the office yesterday though, they seemed like they didn't want me to leave.

Loads of things to catch up with from yesterday, it still beats me why people save things till you get back in the office rather than send an email.  Ended up doing some work for another manager as their admin would 'fuck it up' apparently as she doesn't know what she's doing!!  Why the hell do we employ these people, and why are they still in a job??  Beggars belief.  This meant I now had to work at break neck speed to get my reports etc done before finishing.  Today also signified the start of the orange wolves campaign where we are backing a UN campaign to support an end to violence against women & girls, so lots to do regarding our social media pages as photos of partner agencies supporting us came flooding in.  Posts prepped to publish over the weekend too as it is a 16 day campaign.

Home for hound snuggles & a shower before going out to the RGT Wolverhampton Annual Awards Evening, this years' venue the Cleveland Arms.  About 65 people turned up, a good turn out.  The awards took place at the start of the evening with several fellow volunteers receiving awards for various things.  The final award was Volunteer of the year, a fairly long speech regarding the recipient from Terry, couldn't hear much of what was being said as there was a rather loud disco going on in the other half of the pub.  I heard mention of the dog show (which I had organised this year), at this point virtually all eyes were looking at me.  OMG, no, it can't be me!!!  Yep, indeed it was me, what a shock, I can't explain how shocked I was to hear my name, lost for words as the mic was handed to me on the evening, I was even shaking.  I sat down & immediately thought I could have said this or said that, too late though, so had to settle for a Facebook post to do all my thank yous.  So now I have a large trophy to keep for a year and a small trophy to keep forever.  The final presentation was a bouquet of flowers presented to the manager, Alison as she is now retiring from the kennels & becoming a volunteer, so we will all still be able to work with her.  An amazing buffet followed & lots of chatter amongst all the volunteers as well as our now famous bottle raffle with over 50 prizes.

Day 63 & 64

Wednesday, hump day, halfway through the week.  No manager meeting this week, so a whole day to do proper work.  Even managed to get up on time, so the hounds didn't think I was crazy racing around the house, lol.  A boring day at the ranch, discovered I have to do four training courses relating to the finance system before Christmas, great!!  As well as a course on dealing with aggression, plus another which is already in my calendar, December looks like a month of training!!  Planned in my head that I was going to make Willow's gotcha cake, but found out my mate had a double header tribute show in Walsall at Yates's.  Only down the road, so rude not to support her.  Sorted out the hounds & fed myself before trotting off to Walsall.  What a hell hole Walsall is, all bloody one way roads & nowhere to park, ended up parking where the Co-op used to be & looking over my shoulder as I made my way to the venue.  A few strange people in the venue (well it is Walsall), but ended up that there was a fairly large crowd for a Wednesday night who really enjoyed both the Cher & Pink shows, home at a reasonable hour for a school night too.

Managed to wake on time again on Thursday, becoming a habit now, lol.  Good job though as I am working from home as the central heating engineer will be visiting to fit a new radiator.  An early start at 9.30 am & two hours later I had heat coming from the new radiator.  Yippee!! Got tons of work done too whilst the hounds spent the day snoozing.

Tonight my mate was performing at the Swan at Tettenhall as herself (very rare these days), so again I popped along to support.  This pub always seems to have a birthday party going on & tonight was no exception.  Never seen the place so busy, some kind of pool tournament seemed to be going on too.

Day 61 & 62

Monday morning (already) & I'd forgotten to set my alarm, so woke up at 7.25 am, an hour & 5 minutes late, holy crap!  Rushed my ass off to get the dogs toileted & their snacks, dinners prepared for the evening, showered, hair washed & at work with five minutes to spare.  I don't know how the hell I did it, but I was proud of myself.  Not much happening today for a Monday, normally all hell breaks loose, got wind of some training sessions for the updated finance system we're getting in the new year, so that's five training sessions to attend in the run up to Christmas, OMG!!

So, after  a pretty uneventful day I couldn't wait for the hound snuggles waiting at home for me, their little faces always cheer me up, so we all had dinner etc, then I had a quick drive to Cannock to Poundland to get some santa sacks for the secret santa at work, they ended up costing £17 as I ended up buying loads of other stuff.  Popped into Dunelm too to get some knitting needles & bought some candles too, I couldn't resist.  Back home the long way round as the A460 was completely flooded at Shareshill & the traffic was chaos.  A bit of knitting before bed.

Tuesday, got up at my regular time fortunately, so not so much of a rush, another pretty uneventful day, but one where I didn't seem to get much done, I hate those kind of days.  Bloody chilly outside, but I sat in the car at lunch time & did a spot of knitting.  Got home to some very sad news that our last remaining  sponsor hound had been PTS because of an inoperable liver tumour, to say I was devastated was an understatement, the second hound in a few days we have lost.  So glad I lay on his bed on Sunday for cuddles, really gonna miss these boys, we love them as much as our own hounds.  Did the hoovering after dinner, so that warmed me up, much needed hound hugs too.  More knitting through the tears & then I'm off to bed shortly.

Day 59 & 60

The weekend is here!!  An early start on Saturday as I took Badger to do an awareness event for RGT Wolverhampton at Waitrose.  It wasn't exactly busy, but we did have some lovely people stop for a chat with us.  The weather was bloody freezing, but it was cold in Coventry last night.  Good job me & my boy layered up,he had his hand knitted jumper under his coat whilst I had four layers & a pair of leggings under my jeans, my feet were freezing though.  Our shift passed quickly with a good bit of banter amongst the volunteers, we all get on really well.

Back home for a bit of hound time before jumping in the shower & heading off to Stockton on Tees with my mate & her hubby for her gig at the Grosvenor Casino as Cher & Annie Lennox.  What a great venue, definately the best casino I have visited, an amazing show & a fabulous crowd who joined in, not normally the case at the casinos.  She impressed one visitor so much he bought her a £50 bottle of champers!!  Back home at 4.20 am, tired but happy, woke the hounds up when I got in, they were fast asleep.

Sunday saw another early alarm, this time for an early shift at the RGT kennels, so after only 1 1/2 hours sleep I was surprisingly awake & arrived at the kennels early.  Got to work straight away, all duties complete in just over an hour as the kennels isn't currently at capacity due to the move.  Had cuddles with sponsor hound Simba whilst trying to coax him to eat his breakfast, poor lad only managed a bit of it, tucked him up warm in a fleecy coat & blanket.  We all love our Simba.

Straight to Bentley Bridge after the kennels to get some wool for a Greyhound jumper that has been ordered & a few bits & bobs from Home Bargains, then on to Poundland at Willenhall & a stop at Burger King for a burger for breakfast (11.45 am) as I was starving.  Home to walk the hounds & a bit of sleep, managed another 1 1/2 hours before Lady woke me barking for her dinner.  Made a start on knitting a pink snood, another order.  An early night tonight methinks!

Happy, but exhausted after a very busy weekend.

Day 57 & 58

At last a day when I can get back to doing proper work instead of being in meetings all day!  The weather has started dropping cold again, guess who forgot to cover the windscreen.  No time to pick up the shopping on the way to work due to having to scrape the windscreen.  So, a trip to Aldi at lunchtime it is, better than freezing in the car I suppose.  Even the hounds aren't spending much time outside at the moment, lol.

The afternoon dragged, I'm sure there are a lot more hours in an afternoon!!  Either that or it was something to do with the finance I was working on.  Finally 5 pm arrived, an evening of nothing planned except schmoozing with the hounds for a few hours.  Surprised also to receive a couple of orders for Greyhound jumpers after commenting on a post in a forum.  Guess I'm gonna be busy knitting for the next couple of weeks or so.

Thank crunchy it's Friday!!  The end of a long week, not sure if it's this lurgy that I can shake of that's making me so tired or I'm getting lazy in my old age.  Quite a lot to deal with on the desktop today before generating the end of week reports & yet more finance to tackle.  The hounds were reluctant to have their bed coats removed this morning, don't blame them, yep, more frost.  Rather than sit freezing in the car at lunchtime decided to collect a birthday card for a colleague who's 30 soon, another visit to Aldi too to collect Lady's food that I forgot to get yesterday.  The afternoon passed fairly quickly fortunately, then finally home time.  The hounds seemed to be starving tonight, so didn't stay outside for long, a quick dinner for me as I'm off to Coventry as my mate has a gig at the Black Bank tonight, no doubt we'll be asked if we're a couple, AGAIN!!  Think we're both getting a bit bored with it now.

Day 56

Found it more difficult than ever getting up for work this morning I don't know why.  However, I did manage to get there on time (just).  Barely had time to shovel my breakfast biscuits down my neck before the first meeting of the day, the managers meeting, hoped it would be a short one as only half of us present, but no such luck.  A quick toilet break & brew up before my second meeting, an appraisal & 1 to 1 with one of my staff.  A light hearted meeting which was a pleasant change, nice to have one person who's easy to manage.  At the end of this we were interrupted by our old manager bringing the interim new manager round for a visit.

Lunch time, food & then a trip to the health centre opposite to see the phlebotamist for a blood test to check if my statins are damaging my muscles (hopefully not).  We'll see when I get the results in a weeks' time.

The afternoon shift was a bit messy, literally as I started by chucking a load of boxes that had been left in the stationary cupboard by lazy sods who can't be arsed to walk to the recycling bin.  Been one of those days where I've not stopped but got naff all done, hate those days.

Day 55

Woke up with a bruised big toe after dropping a chest of drawers on it yesterday morning when I was half asleep.  I actually woke up before the hounds today, so crept down stairs to surprise them, lol.  Obviously a sign they're warm in their sleep coats, bless.

Ready for work early (for a change) so I actually left the house on time & walked in the office at 8.20 am, shock, horror!!  A pretty uneventful morning which lead up to lunch break, today I was starving, think I was making up for not eating much for the last few days, dunno why, but I frequently lose my appetite & haven't even much in the way of sweets & chocolate.  A short visit to Morrison's during my break then spent the last 20 minutes or so sitting in my car which when I returned had a very strong smell of coffee inside it, bizarre, I hardly ever drink coffee, so I reckon my spirits are around me, kinda need them right now.

An uneventful afternoon followed, then an early finish for yet another appointment with the GP for my BP.  So, I've been recording my BP twice a day for the last 10 days or so as she was convinced it hadn't reduced enough with the meds.  She was pleased with the readings, pretty much all of  them were within the normal range, she checked it twice, the first one was slightly raised, the second well within the limits, maybe a bit of white coat syndrome going on.  Mentioned again about the muscle cramps from the statins, now I have to have a blood test as I may be experiencing muscle breakdown, so no statins until the results are back.  Whatever next?  Feeling fed up, but I'm not going to resort to alcohol (well that's the plan at the moment).

Day 54

So, today's the day the heating engineer is due.  Got up at my normal time, got the hounds ready & showered waiting for the call to give me at ETA.  The phone call finally arrived at 9.30 am!!!  The ETA 2 pm - 4 pm this afternoon.  Rather than waste a day of annual leave I decided to pop into the office to pick up my laptop so I could work from home.  Back home to deal with emails & clear the desktop before a break as I'd got an appointment with a solicitor to discuss Mum & Dad's will, luckily only a short appointment so soon back home to carry on where I left off workwise.

The engineer finally turned up at 4,30 pm to tell me I need a new radiator & valves, yes I bloody knew that on Thursday night!!  So now I have to wait for N Power to ring me back and make another appointment to fit them.  What a pain in the arse!!  At least I got to spend the day with the hounds, I think they were pleased about that.  I did get a compliment from the engineer, he said I didn't look my age, lol.

Tonight there's a super moon, so I nipped in the garden to take a couple of shots with my compact camera & posted them on the ITV Facebook page, a couple of likes so far.

Day 53

Sunday morning lie in til 9.15 am, not a bad sleep either, only woke twice.  I was exhausted though as I didn't get in til 1.30 am!!  The Cher show was totally amazing & the crowd were loving it.  The hounds had their morning wee followed by breakfast & a quick cuppa for me.  Needed to pop into town for some new boxers from Primark, don't know why but this week I've had holes in the front of three pairs, not sure if it's my jeans rubbing against them or what, bizarre!!

Back home to give Lady a quick wipe over with doggy wipes & a squirt of cologne before we set of for the monthly tweet up at Cannock Chase.  Today's walk was an hour later than normal due to the remembrance service (some of the Greys don't like gun shots).  We had a lovely catch up with some lovely friends &sausages handed out for the hounds & fantastic cakes for the humans made by the very lovely Jayne.

Home again to do a bit of sorting out before the heating engineer comes out, a dash off to Lidl to get some boxes to put things in temporarily.  Managed to get the floors mopped too & walked Badger & Willow, quite a productive day, still the bins to sort out as it's the recycling collection too.

Photos from the walk uploaded to Facebook whilst sipping a bottle of Queen lager (it has to be done), a quick chill out for a bit before getting myself to bed.

Surely it can't be nearly Monday :-(

Day 51 & 52

Armistice day, why is it when you take part in the two minutes silence some bugger always phone the office?  Are people really so inconsiderate?  Do they not have any respect any more?  It's also Friday, so the weekend is upon us, so also are all the reports I have to do on a Friday.  Really short staffed too do to some training taking place, it seems half of our staff were on the training today.  A pretty uneventful day in all, but bloody freezing cold, had to cut my lunch break short due to it being freezing cold sitting in the car.

Home for a bit of hound time before heading off out, dinner's eaten and a quick run around the garden before I headed to the dog track for the RGT Committee Meeting.  Most of the usual volunteers turned up for the meeting, a good meeting in all with some long discussions, quite productive too.  Back home for snuggles with the hounds, the house is really cold at the moment thanks to the broken radiator I'm waiting to have fixed on Monday.  A very early bedtime to get warmed up.

Saturday, time to start moving some stuff out of cupboards etc to prepare for having the heating fixed on Monday, you just don't realise how much junk you keep.  A dash out to hobbycraft to pick up some bits & bobs for a cake I'm making today.  Home to bake the cake & some housework while it cools down.  A little walk round the block & we will remember Walnut the Whippet, then back home for dinner & a shower before a night out at the Hilly House where my mate is performing as Cher tonight.

Day 48, 49 & 50

So, Tuesday, another cold start to the day, glad I covered the windscreen over, especially as I overslept.  My alarm went off at 6.20 am & I pressed snooze (or so I thought), dozed back off & when I woke it was unusually light, because it was 7.25 am.  Now I have to go into crazy mode to get ready for work, sort the hounds out and prepare their dinners, I made it for 8.35 am, not bad, eh?  It was never gonna be a great day after the start I'd had & I wasn't wrong, computer issues all day, everything being a nightmare, couldn't wait for the day to finish.  A quick bite to eat for me & the hounds then off to Dudley to see Kota, my mate's Akita as they were out for the day, dinner & a quick walk in the pouring rain before heading back home to my three.

Wednesday, ugh, rain, what a miserable day, even the hounds didn't want to go outside for long, even in their bed jackets, it's obviously getting cold.  Pretty much caught up work wise following my time off, that's a blessing, again issues with technology, but we're sort of getting used to it now.  At least the hounds are happy to see me when I get home.  Off out tonight, yes, a school night, down to the River Rooms to see the Graham Bonnet Band.  A good evening of entertainment, for an aged alcoholic, he's got more stamina than I thought he'd have, couldn't hold the higher notes, but not bad.  Although I was on my own it was nice to reminisce the sounds of my youth from Rainbow & the Michael Schenker Group as well as some of the songs from their new album, The Book.  Treated myself to a signed copy of the album on my way out.  Home at 11.45 pm & I'm knackered as I didn't sleep well.

Thursday, didn't sleep great, but got up at 6.40 am (eventually), finding it such a struggle to get myself out of bed these days.  I don't think the hounds wanted me to go to work today either, lol, they kept wanting fusses!!  Caught up with everything, so now I can start to tackle the things I have been having to put off.  Went home at lunchtime as we were due to go out after work for a goodbye meal with one of our managers, the hounds were surprised to see me & grateful to empty their bladders.  The hardest part about going home for lunch is having to go back to work afterwards.  The afternoon wasn't great as I started to feel increasingly light headed so ended up crying off from the meal to get an early night.  Bloody good job I did go home as I walked in the kitchen to find it full of steam & under an inch of water as the radiator was pissing water everywhere, tried turning the radiator off with no effect (my grip is hopeless since breaking several fingers), tried mopping for an hour & a half which made no impact on the water levels.  Rang N Power as I'm covered under a service plan who tell me after holding on for 15 minutes that they can't come out til Monday.  Now what???  They advise me to call out an emergency plumber & they will 'make a contribution' to the cost.  Rang someone from Yell.com who turned out to be an agent who was asking for £150 call out plus £150 per hour on top, what??  Tried another local plumber who didn't really want to come out, but eventually agreed, £50 later the water had stopped, he turned the valves off completely, discovered a hole in the radiator & covered it with some putty.  Glad the water has more or less stopped, what a bloody mess.  My life is a nightmare, everything goes wrong.  Now I'm off to bed knackered, £50 lighter , pissed off & I'm sure my BP will be high when I check it.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Day 47

Ugh, Monday already, what a ballache, yep, I know I've just had a four day weekend, but it still doesn't make me wanna go back to work.  It seems my subconscious knew I was back at work as I had a terrible night's sleep, woke at 4 am & couldn't go back to sleep so spent two & a half hours tossing & turning til I managed to lift my back off the mattress.  It was bloody cold too, so cold I decided I had to put my dressing gown on, I probably only wear it half a dozen times in a year!!

Didn't want to leave the hounds behind, especially as I looked out of the door to see a thick coating of frost on the car for me to scrape off.  Got to work early, but couldn't bring myself to go inside too soon so sat in the car listening to my FM CD til 8.25.

My throat felt like I'd swallowed a house brick sideways all morning, speaking was very painful, so guess what?  Ended up answering the bloody phone most of the morning, great.  A visit to the pharmacy at lunchtime for a pack of Tyrozets to help soothe it.  It started to feel a little bit better during the afternoon.  Pretty much caught up with the days I'd missed so that meant the day went by fairly quickly, always a blessing.  Not much traffic about, so got home in 10 minutes, wow!!  The hounds as usual were pleased to see me and also pleased to see their dinner (more so than me, I think).  By the time we had all eaten the bloody fireworks were going off again so unfortunately no evening walk as Lady won't go outside after last year's incident.

Spent my evening ploughing through the rest of my photo's from Thursday wearing my fingerless gloves as my hands are freezing, the windscreen is covered so hopefully not much defrosting to do in the morning.  Off to bed as soon as Dark Angel has finished, can't beat a good serial killer.

Day 45 & 46

Saturday started quite early thanks to Lady barking at 8 am, so the hounds had breakfast & a run around the garden whilst I sat down to a cuppa, can't function til I've had a brew.  Decided to have a trot around Penkridge market as there was a couple of things I needed.  Surprisingly the market car park was fairly quiet for a Saturday, a fair section of it was coned off for the boy sprouts annual bonfire on the evening.  Badger had decided he wanted to come along as he often does, he loves it when people stop for a chat & give him a fuss, today was no exception.  I also got congratulated by an elderly man for making sure my boy was coated up & cosy as the weather was bitterly cold.  Neither of the stalls I wanted were on the market, so a bit of a wasted journey, although I did managed to pick up a couple of things.  Back home to walk the hounds before getting showered & ready to go out.  Today I was off to Gloucestershire with my mates for a gig at the RBL with a soul & motown group & a comedian, a sell out show which went down really well, they seemed to love it.  The comedian was pretty good tbf & a little bit naughty which is always good, my mate was awesome as always, she's such a talented lady.  Back home at 3 am & pretty much straight to bed.

The muppet next door woke me at 7.30 am on Sunday morning shouting at the top of her voice, selfish tart.  A visit to the RGT kennels today to collect food for Badger & Willow then a run round the garden for the hounds while I did a poop scoop.  Back inside for a shower & to get ready for the local 'shop window' show at Cradley Liberal club with my mates, these shows showcase local singers for clubs & pubs etc, I think most of the bookers only turn up for the free buffet, lol,  The show finished after about 3 hours & a few alcoholic beverages it was back home to complete my Sunday chores which includes sorting the rubbish for bin day tomorrow.  Can't believe how cold it has suddenly dropped over the weekend, it was frosty in Gloucester last night.  I'm bloody freezing, so I'm off to bed shortly to try to warm up.

Day 43 & 44

Thursday began with an early wake up, not a problem as it wasn't for work, lol.  Up at 6 am for a road trip to Blackpool with my mates.  Saw to the hounds, showered, dressed & on the road for 9 am with a bag of butties & other stuff to munch on the journey.  So, two hours later we arrived in Blackpool, parked up & headed to the Viva Cabaret bar for a showcase.  Opening the show was my mates band, Cherished, she is amazing as Cher & the new line up for the band were cracking, shame they only get 10 minutes to showcase their talents.  A trail of other tribute artists adorned the stage for the next three hours, we had fun with Faye Horne (X Factor) on our table too.  Before the evening session a quick sound check for my mate who was performing as Annie Lennox.  Off out to a local all you can eat buffet restaurant, the food was amazing.  Back to the cabaret bar for the evening session to see the like of Gary Barlow, Luther Vandross, Diana Ross and many more, my mates Annie Lennox went down a storm & she go amazing feedback from some of the punters.  I got recognised by Taylor Swift, lol.

Friday started with a bit of a lie in which was most needed.  Received a text from HMV to say my order had arrived, so headed into town to collect it, back to walk the hounds and bake a tuna cake for Willow's eighth birthday.  Done myself a dinner which was scrummy and then delivered a birthday gift to a friend.  Home again to take a look at the photos I took yesterday.  And now I'm ready for bed!!

Day 41 & 42

So, I didn't want to get up on Tuesday morning, hate feeling like this about work.  However, when someone has dropped a big steaming turd on you & rubbed it in it's quite hard to try to remain positive.  Managed to drag myself through the day, found it harder than normal following my four day weekend.  Spent most of the day thinking about my evening out with my mate.

Finally the day ended, so off to the doctors for a catch up regarding my BP meds, not good news, after a week of being on the new meds they have had absolutely no effect.  Now I have to buy a BP monitor & check it twice a day for a week and have another follow up visit to the docs.  Got back home to feed the hounds before heading out to collect my mate & then on to a local Psychic Evening with Robin Clayton.  Well, it was a good night with lots of spirits coming forward for nearly everyone in the room, including me & my mate.  She had messages from her Grandad and a mate who passed away last year.  Mine was a little confusing & at first I thought it was my Grandad, but as it went on it felt more like Ray & included mention of a pocket watch (he wore one on our wedding day).  We both wanna go again!!

Wednesday morning, again I didn't want to get out of bed!!  Our usually management meeting took place today, these are always full of doom & gloom.  Finally managed to get my finance stuff sorted out, it's only taken a week for the payments team to sort this out for me, what a ballache.  Gotmost of what I needed to do done before I finished as I'm off for the rest of the week!!  Yippee!!  Lunchtime saw me taking a drive to find a BP monitor, visited 4 chemists & eventually picked one up at Asda (they'd sold out yesterday), a bargain at £7.50.  Off to Wickes to collect blackboard paint for the office.  During my lunch break I managed to get stopped by two people begging for cash, there's so much of it around.

Home again & no plans for the evening except maybe to crack open a bottle of beer & have an early night.  Feeling so tired & I have no idea why.

Day 40

Monday, another day off work & a lie in until 8 am when the bin men woke me making a racked outside the house. Still buzzing after an awesome night out with my mates for my birthday.  We went to the River Rooms to see FM and Bernie Marsden.  Didn't recognise many of the tunes that Bernie played, but he definately has it from his days with Whitesnake.  FM were absolutely amazing, just as they were the previous twice I saw them, can't wait for their new album to be released on Friday.  The River Rooms was packed, haven't seen it like that for a while.  After the gig we met Steve Overland, Pete Jupp & Jem Davis from the band and also Bernie Marsden & had photos with them,I even got a kiss from Steve Overland & he wished me happy birthday, so I'm not gonna wash for a week, lol.

Made two cakes to take into the office for my birthday using my Halloween baking tins, so we have a coffin shaped lemon dribble & a skull shaped lime dribble, I'll probably pick up a few doughnuts too.  Took the pooches out while it was still light & before WW3 breaks out again as Lady wouldn't go out for a wee last night due to the fireworks.

Next task was to change my bedding, not a task I relish, I'll never understand why changing the duvet cover is so difficult, unless you're an octopus that is.

Really not going back into the office tomorrow, I've had such a great weekend with my m8's, the kind you don't want to end.  Hopefully I'm only working 2 days this week as I've requested Thursday & Friday off.

Day 38 & 39

A lie in on Saturday morning following yesterday's long journey from Scunthorpe.  What a night we had, the show was amazing & the crowd went wild.  Managed to pull another woman!!!  She decided to sit on my lap & tell me how disappointed she was that I wouldn't dance with her, she also told me she would never forget me!! FREAK!!!  So Saturday began with walking the hounds and a tootle around Wolverhampton, treated myself to a couple of CD's because I can.  Not much else happened except a trip with my mate and her hubby to Solihull for her Cher gig at the Red House.  She sounded absolutely amazing, shame the crowd weren't as appreciative as they could have been, but they seemed to enjoy it anyway.

Driving home from my mates house when a bunch of dickheads let a firework off across the Dudley Road, so I decided to stop & call the Police.  Whilst waiting for them to answer the call my car was circled by a prostitute looking for business, I didn't realise they were so desperate, she was like a fly round a turd.

Another lie in on Sunday morning, it's my birthday so it's allowed.  Gave the pooches their wormers today before settling down with a cuppa to open my presents and cards, I've got some booze to keep me going & also some more skull themed stuff.  Everyone knows me too well, lol.

Another quick tootle around Wolves and Walsall before heading home to walk the hounds & feeding them.  Off out in a bit to celebrate my birthday with my mates, no idea where we're going, they said it's a secret, wherever we go I'm sure it'll be great.

Day 36 & 37

So, Thursday sees me getting up & going into work a bit later as last night was a late one (got home at 3.15 am), thank goodness for flexi time.  Arrived at work at 10.30 am to find the computers working slower than slow, if they get any slower we'll be back in the last Millenium, IT don't wanna know & keep blaming Microsoft while we're all pulling our hair out as everything is taking twice as long to do.  My chest was feeling pretty crap as the infection seems to be finding it's way there, hope to be shot of it soon.  More slowness during the afternoon, it took forever to generate this weeks' report.

Straight from work to the Goodyear Pavillion for a meal with some colleagues as our manager is leaving us for a secondment & two others have recently left us too.  Good to have a catch up & a natter with everyone & the food was pretty awesome too.  I had the Cajun Chicken with chips, peas & salad followed by lemon shortbread cheescake, delish.  Back home at 8 pm to feed the hounds.

Friday, no work, yippee!!!  Woke reasonably early (8.30 am) to find myself coughing my lungs up to remove some of the crap off my chest, not nice, but at least I'm getting rid of it.  Walked the hounds & a visit to Lidl all before 11 am, a trip to Scunthorpe later with my mate & her hubby for her gig, so that'll be nice, not sure who she is today, lol, so that'll be a surprise.  A great start to my birthday weekend.  Only bad point is this bloody bug, I always seem to get sick just in time for my birthday, it gets me down.  I reckon people should be banished from the office when they've got it.  Six days in & I'm coughing up already, so hopefully it won't linger this time.

Day 35

A little less snotty this morning, hopefully over the worst of the lurgy, but feeling like it might be going to my chest :-(

A normal morning of trying to keep up with everything followed by a trip into town for a gift for our manager who is leaving for pastures new at the end of the month.  Opted for a Pandora charm & a bottle of Vodka, she'll probably need that the most, lol.  The town centre was chaos as the rugrats are off school this week, so my short visit ended up being half an hour longer than intended.  Shocked to be stopped by a chugger who wanted to tell me my hair looked nice & it suited me, all my mates tell me, but it gives you a bit of a buzz to be told by a total stranger.  Back to the office to show everyone the gifts and wrap them up.  All this secrecy is such hard work, I could never have an affair lol, it's too tiring.

More of the same for the afternoon and managed to finish on time too, bonus!!  Home to hound snuggles and dinner, a quick chill out before I head up to Manchester on an airport run to pick up my mate.  Never driven up there before, so hope I don't get lost!!  Flight due at 23.50.

Day 34

Still feeling crap with this darn cold, except my throat's not quite as sore, thankfully.  Would even go so far to say I was quite lively when I woke & even got ready in plenty of time, shock horror.

The hounds were toasty when I got up (before them) as I'd put their house coats on them for the first time, they spent a little longer in the garden, they're obviously feeling the cold now.  Better sort out their fleecy PJ's at the weekend for when it gets colder.

So, the usual stuff at work, finally caught up with some finance stuff.  Had to dash out at lunch time to find something for a new colleagues 40th birthday tomorrow that had been dumped on me.  So what do you buy someone that you barely know for their birthday (she's only worked with us about 5 weeks)?  The answer a 40th birthday champagne flute & a bottle of Prosecco, the boss thought it was a good purchase so that was ok.  The afternoon consisted with a bit of faffing & this & that & managed a peek at a colleagues holiday snaps from Nevada, oh I wish I could afford a break.  I can't even afford a wet weekend in Brighton.

So home for dinner & hound time, tonight's culinary delight, egg & chips, my appetites still not great, but never mind I could do with losing some weight.  A trip to Asda followed to get fuel ready for tomorrow's trip, so twat had twisted the pump nozzles, so the diesel pump whacked my car when I took the unleaded one out!!  Can't see any damage, inflated my tyres too, can't believe how much air they lose.  Went into the store to check if my coasters had arrived to realise I must have dropped my receipt whilst faffing about with the fuel pump, but never mind, they allowed me to pick them up by confirming my contact number, all good & they look brill, I'm really impressed.  Treated myself to a bottle of Bombay Sapphire with last year's Christmas money, I'll save it til I'm feeling better so that I can savour the flavour, also picked up a ticket for the big Friday draw on the Euromillions & cashed in my scratchcard that I'd won a tenner on a couple of weeks ago.  Keeeerching!!

That's all for today.

Day 33

Ugh, Monday, not keen on them at the best of times, but today was exceptionally hard to lift my head from the pillow as I'm full of stinking cold.  At least I didn't have to race around too much as I didn't need to go straight to the office due to a blood test, so spent a bit of time working from home to start the day.

So off to the office, a speedy stop of for fuel first, tootled through my morning & about 50 million tissues later lunch time arrived.  Finding it hard to eat anything at the moment as my throat feels like I've gargled with 25 razor blades.  Managed to munch my way through a chicken sarnie.  A trip to Aldi for Lady's food before the afternoon installment began.  Pretty much the same as the morning, answering the phone is a killer, but no one offers to do it for you, hey ho.  Pumped myself up with more paracetamol & hot drinks, but no difference.  Sorry hounds, no walk again tonight as I can barely put one foot in front of the other never mind holding onto hounds weighing 35 kg, 28 kg & 27 kg.

So my evening will consist of tatting about on Facebook & watching crap on TV in my onesie still shivering my way through the rest of the day.  Not looking forward to several more days of this!!

Day 32

So after a disturbed nights sleep with the side effects of my medication I woke later than I needed to & with the lurgy too.  Really felt like staying in bed, but we had our special tweet up today as our friend Maureen is in the UK for a few days.  It was a real struggle to drag myself out of bed, but I managed it & also managed to prepared the hounds dinners for tonight.  Managed to arrive at Cannock Chase before the walk had set off armed with toona cayke for the hounds and Halloween sweets for the humans.  An enjoyable walk followed by a natter, some cake & some of Mark's home made 15% cider.

Got back home & couldn't stop shivering so went to bed for a couple of hours before getting up again & trying to eat something, still feel lousy.  Got the bins ready early today to save going outside in the cold, think I'll have an early night & some paracetemol.

Day 29, 30 & 31

Been a bit busy to post for a couple of days, so here's a whistle stop tour.

Thursday, a pretty normal day at work, hoped to finish a little earlier, but had to settle for finishing on time as one of my meetings took an extra half hour.  Dashed home to sort out the hounds with dinner etc & then quickly get ready as my mate was receiving a special award for her musical talents, well deserved too.  I don't understand why people don't recognise amazing talent sooner.  A well attended, my mate was head and shoulders above everyone else, I know I'm biased, but she's bloody amazing.

Friday, no work today, yippee!!!  A bit of a lie in (8am) as I'd had a late night, fed & walked the hounds and then made two toona caykes ready for Sunday.  Shower & get ready for a road trip to South Wales with my mate & her hubby for a Cher gig.  The venue didn't look much, but the crowd seemed to enjoy Cher and the Motown group that also performed, some great comments from the punters.  We had a laugh on the way home as the sat nav told us to head for a-burger-vanny, as it happened we were trying to look out for a Maccies, lol.  Arrived home at 3 am for quick hound cuddle before bed.

Saturday started with an 8.30 am alarm & breakfast for the hounds.  Decided to take Lady to try our luck at the Birmingham Dogs Home dog show at Sunnyside kennels.  We decided to enter two classes, best pedigree and prettiest bitch, pleased to say we managed a second place in the best pedigree class, unfortunately we didn't place in the other class.  Feeling proud of my baby girl. Hounds have been fed and walked and are snoozing.  I'm fed, so just need a shower before I head out to my mates house to go out to tonight's gig in Coventry.  Having a great weekend so far!

Day 28

Dunno what's come over me, but I was up & ready for work early again today, managed a trip to Morrisons to pick up cat food & still got to the office before 8.30am.

Slow start to the day with the shit IT system, can't believe how long it takes to log on every day.  No managers meeting, so that gave me an hour and a half to do something constructive.  Kept myself up to date during the morning ready to do some work on procedures following lunch.

Lunch was my normal sit in the car to eat my butties, bugger all to do in Pendeford except visit Morrisons & I can't do that every day.  Kept my promise to myself to do some work on procedures, another one ticked off the list.  Already got plans for tomorrow, lets see if that materialises.

Home to the hounds for cuddles & dinner, yes they shared my fishcakes!!!  Bloody freezing again tonight.  Edited my photo for my outlook account at work as it was pretty shit, my face was so red it looked like a slapped arse, now it looks a bit better, ready to be uploaded tomorrow.

Ready for bed already, I'm knackered!!

Day 27

Woke up feeling dog rough, getting a bit fed up of it now!  Nevertheless a trip to the local Aldi before work.

Managed to stay ahead of the game in the office, even though I was missing for an hour & a half while I had supervision.  Even managed to tick off the list of actions I was given last time.  No breakfast as I felt revolting, so spent my supervision with my stomach gurgling away in the need for food.  Escaped at 12.00 pm so breakfast was the chicken salad sandwich that I picked up for lunch & cheese & onion pom bar & a spot of knitting for half an hour.  The next hour was spent traipsing back & forth to reception as there was no one manning the reception, meaning I got jack shit done for an hour, but quite a productive afternoon and even managed to finish on time, very rare for me.

Home to feed the hounds & myself, feeling really rough again, I don't know why, feeling rather cold too so I'm hoping I'm not coming down with something.  Think it's gonna be another walk free evening for the hounds as they're stretched out on the chairs, that's good as I'm not sure I could cope with a walk.  Meds & an early night I think for me, hope I feel better tomorrow.

Day 26

So the new week has begun follow a crap night's sleep.  Actually arrived at work early, lol & full of plans in my head of what I was going to do today.  The morning didn't start off as expected & I soon ended up doing something different to what I had planned.  Lunch was spent doing a bit of hand sewing I'd not had chance to do as well as having a chat with a mate via messenger.  The next hour found me answering the phone constantly as there was no cover due to sickness, why does everyone have to phone at lunchtime?

The afternoon began pretty much the same as the morning with more stuff I'd not planned interrupting my flow.  However, I did manage to achieve some of the chores I'd got on my list. Needed to at least start some of them as I've got supervision tomorrow, so that's that box ticked.

Feeling pretty dire by the time I reached home & not feeling much better as I write this, hoping it's my sugar level that is too low rather than a problem with my BP.  Unfortunately, that means no walk for the hounds tonight, but they seem happy enough sleeping on the chairs.

Uploaded a couple more pics to my Viewbug page & entered a couple of challenges, got a few more likes and peer awards in the process.

Day 23, 24 & 25

So, finally it's Friday & even better, only half a day at work!!  Yippee!! Squeezed all the jobs in that I needed to & then headed for home & a bit of time with the hounds.  First job at home was to make a tuna cake for my boy, Badger as it was his 5th gotcha day, so he got plenty of treats & extra cuddles. A walk for the 3 hounds before a quick shower & a trip to Nuneaton as my mate was performing as Pink at La Tavola Calda, the venue was a bit quieter than usual, bur the show was as fantastic as usual.

Saturday began with a VERY early start (6.30 am) due to a training session at Birmingham Dogs Home on Health & Safety and Dog Behaviour.  The morning session was a bit boring, who likes Health & Safety?  Some good discussions went on though.  Lunch, a fab buffet and then the second session started.  Some great tips picked up from the specialist trainer followed by a bit of fun with some practical clicker training with Sprout & Tilly, two of the Greyhounds that joined us for the day. We also managed to have a look around the kennels at the dogs looking for new homes.  BDH have a fantastic new building as their base, very clean, friendly staff and great facilities.

A quick stop off back home to get ready for my mate to pick me up for a trip up to Manchester where she was performing as Cher, a quiet night in the casino, but the show was ace.  Very tired following a very long day.  Finally hit the sack at about 2.30 am after sorting out the hounds on my return.

A lovely lie in on Sunday morning, til 10.30 am, amazed I managed to sleep in that long.  Breakfast for the hounds then a brief trip to the shops & then dropped off some raffle donations before heading home to walk the hounds in the sunshine.  A lazy afternoon broken up by sorting out the bins for collection tomorrow morning.  Dinner eaten and now a lazy evening in front of the TV.

Day 22

Didn't want to get up this morning (nothing new there).  Forced myself to get ready & get to work on time, shock horror!  I really wish I could 'retire' & spend my days with my fur babies, would love more time with them.  Guess I'll just have to settle for the couple of days annual leave I've booked.

Another boring lunch break broken up by a trip to Marsh Lane parade for a birthday card & mooch around the meat wholesalers, came out with 3 joint of gammon for a fiver & a big string of sausages.

Couldn't wait for the afternoon shift to be over, although it was quite a productive day & only one task to carry over to tomorrow morning.  Hounds are fed, just me to feed and then I'm off for a night out in Rowley Regis at a charity event for an animal rescue abroad.  My mate is signing tonight along with the best Meatloaf tribute I've heard & some others.  Probably a late night tonight, so I really, really won't want to get up tomorrow, lol.

Day 21

Today started with a bit back trouble, I couldn't get it off the mattress!!  This meant getting ready at break neck speed to get to work almost on time with a quick divert to Morrisons on the way to get cat food for the moggies & only 7 minutes late :-)

So, today was the day I finally caught up with my workload, yippee, dunno how long that will last!!  Actually managed to finish on time too (well almost).

Lunchtime today saw a quick drive to the kennels to collect food for the hounds as we've almost run out, a 13 mile round trip in my break & a hastily eaten lunch & I'm ready for a meeting as soon as I walk through the door.

The hounds enjoyed a tootle in the garden when I got home & some fusses from some passers by who asked if Greyhounds are the same as Whippets.  Really??  They must be feeling the drop in temperature now as they soon went back in for their dinner, lol.  It'll soon be time to dig out their house coats & my autumn pj's too.

Tonight is a can't be arsed night as the muscles in my right arm really hurt, emptied the drain on the washer in the hope I can fix it without the need for an engineer & flooded the bloody kitchen in the process, who knew the drain held so much water??

Think I'll do a spot of knitting before an early night.  Nite nite

Day 20

Change of scenery today as my day started with a training course at Mander House, walking through the Wulfrun Centre Guns n Roses was playing through the PA, Sweet Child.  How tempted was I to run along the walkway & slide on my knees doing air guitar, lol.  I didn't though as I was wearing new trousers :-D.  So, learned quite a lot on my course, unusual as they're not usually very good quality courses or trainers, so that was a breath of fresh air.  Back in time for a quick catch up with emails etc before heading out for lunch.  The downside is you can't get anything done by the time you've replied to messages & been to meetings, hate those days, so now I'm even more behind.

The hounds are being lazy tonight (for a change, lol) and I'm feeling cold, hope I'm not coming down with something, had earache for most of the day.  Finally got time to change the troublesome indicator bulb, hope that fixes the problem & gets rid of the need for an auto electrician.  Today it didn't work at all, but it doesn't look like it's blown??  Bizarre, but I guess we'll see what happens.

Feeling exceptionally tired tonight, I don't know why, think it might be the effects of the nights drawing in.  I did want to mow the lawn tonight, but really couldn't be arsed.

Must go shopping tomorrow as I need some ingredients for my boys gotcha day cake.  Love that boy so much, he made me fall in love with Greyhounds & turned my life around.

That's it for today.

Day 19

Surely, it can't be Monday already?

Back to the office, nearly caught up with myself, don't know how long that will last.  Been really warm all day in the office, but now I'm feeling cold.  Lunchtime was spent in the car knitting a snood for one of our hound pals, nearly half done already.  A nice relaxing break spend listening to my new album, Employment by Kaiser Chiefs; I don't know how I've not discovered this album before!

My feet hurt like hell today, so I won't be moving far.  The bitch next door has pulled my fence panel down yet again, getting really sick of it now, no wonder my blood pressure is high.

So the dogs have eaten dinner & are fast asleep, I think they're starting to feel a little cold too, nearly time to dig out their house coats & PJ'S, bless em, I can't believe how much I love these little dudes, they're my life.

Entering a few more photo challenges on the photo sharing site I'm using & probably a bit more knitting to chill me out a bit and an early night's in order too I think, my body feels drained........

Day 18

Another lie in (til 8.00 am) before breakfast for the hounds & a cuppa with 3 digestives for me.  I'm sure my hounds can read the calendar as they always seem to know when it's Tweet Up day.  This time it was Badger's turn to go as Lady went to the last one.  Willow hasn't been to one for ages as she barks at everything that moves and everything that keeps still, lol.

Of we trundle to Cannock Chase, we were quite early so only Mark & Abby were there with Katie, Graham & Poppet.  It wasn't long before other people started arriving.  It was a smaller walk that normal, possibly as some other events were going on today.  We had 24 Greyhounds, 3 Whippets & 1 companion breed.  Our tootle round the chase starts and finishes at the cafe with sausages and other treats for the hounds.  Jayne was absent today, so no cakes for the humans this time :-(  Back home to give the two girls a walk, then a bit of a chill out before feeding the hounds & cooking a roast dinner for me.

Having a quick cuppa now before I hit the shower before I head out to Tipton to see my mate singing as herself, no alcohol for me though thanks to the anti-biotic cream I'm currently using.

These weekends go way too fast!!

Day 17

So, it's Saturday & time for a lie in (well, til 7.30 am). First job to sort out the hounds breakfasts while they have a run in the garden & prepare their kibble, same as every other day.  Today I should have been doing an awareness event for the RGT, but still suffering side effects from the drugs so decided to give it a miss.  Not a good look puking over our punters.

Next job of the day to have a trim, the last few days of styling have been a bit difficult as my hair is the longest it's been for a while, this meant having to use stiff gel rather than my usual one.  Loving my style, 15 minutes to trim & about 5 minutes to wash & style it, lol.

Next, a quick journey to Willenhall to buy a hasp & staple to stop bitch face & the rugrats from next door accessing my garden while I'm at work.  Blimey the screws you get with these things are shit, so had to dig out some decent screws, finally all complete after about half an hour.  Just need someone to help me get the fence panel lifted into place now & we're all secure again.

Trimmed the rest of my hair back to grade 1 ready for my friend Laura to run her hands over my bristles, lol.  Straight into the shower as my trim had me looking like a gorilla with all the hairs on my back & chest, lol.

Time to make a toona cayke for tomorrow's Greyhound walk, hopefully we can make it if I'm not feeling too bad.  If not, I'm sure I can think of three hounds that will manage to eat it.  Chicken crown to cook & a roast dinner for me before relaxing in front of the TV for the evening, only thing missing is some alcohol, if only!

Day 16

Yet another disturbed nights sleep, hence I didn't want to get up this morning (nothing new there). Still feeling light headed from the medication, but thankfully not as nauseous, managed to last a full day at the office today with colleagues offering to get drinks for me to save me moving about too much.  Seemed to do the trick & I managed to get loads done.

A quiet night in with the hounds & a bit of messing about on the laptop making word clouds, I now have them for my Facebook pages & even made two for work (IN MY OWN TIME).  If only others were the same eh?

My head is in a bit of a muddle as I've been given information on two jobs this week which I'm thinking of applying for, both the same grade as I'm currently on.  So, my dilemma?  Do I move away from what I'm doing (and love, hence me doing work things at home) and take on a PA role, do I diversify completely with an interim role with a view to a career in a completely new direction, which would also mean the need to study.  Or do I sit tight for a little longer & wait for something closer to home?  My head hurts from mulling all this over, really wish I had someone to discuss it with.  Although the hounds are really attentive when I talk to them, the conversation is a little one sided & I think all they really want to do is eat dinner & sleep for the rest of the evening.

So, have taken my third of my BP meds, lets see what happens tomorrow & how much I can move without throwing up.  Joy of joys.  No walk for the hounds tonight again as I'm feeling crap, hopefully I can make it up to them over the weekend, especially as we're meant to be meeting our hound pals.

Day 15

A disturbed nights sleep, having to get out for a pee (extremely unusual for me) and then a bout of indigestion, needless to say I didn't want to get up when the alarm went off.  Thankfully the pain in my feet wasn't quite as bad as normal which was lucky as I was finding it difficult to remain upright with the side effects of my new BP medication.  Everything went to plan with the morning routine and I managed to stay upright & get myself off to work.

After three hours of fighting the urge to puke if I moved anything other than my hands I decided enough was enough & it was time to call it a day.  With a shit load of work I can't afford the time to go off sick, so thank goodness for agile working.  Threw everything in my laptop bag & managed the short journey home without puking or passing out, my achievement for the day.  Surprisingly got loads done as I was only moving my eyes & hands & even managed to keep a sandwich down all day.

Don't think I'm well enough to take the hounds for a walk as I'm still really light headed, but I think they enjoyed having me home, I'm sure I noticed a smile while they were fast asleep, lol.

Nearly time for my second dose, hopefully I won't be feeling as bad after that one, apparently the side effects reduce after 2 weeks, I really hope it doesn't take that long!

Day 14

Woke up knackered, haven't recovered from the sleepless night caused by the bloody BP monitor I had to wear.  Struggled to keep awake in this mornings meeting as it was longer than normal.  Still trying to catch up with myself after losing time when our files were shifted onto a cloud, they reckon technology speeds things up!!

Another early finish for yet another doctor's appointment, I should be on the payroll, I've been there every day this week.  So today's verdict, yes my BP was sky high for most of the 24 hours I wore the monitor so medication it is.  Getting old is a bummer, also got cream for the rash/spots I've been suffering with on my fizzog.  Never known a topical medication where you can't drink alcohol, what a pain in the arse, I'm not alcoholic, but it's nice to have a drink when I fancy one:-(

Back home for dinner & another naked walk with the hounds before it dropped too cold, the coats will no doubt be out soon.  Also a bonus to still walk them while it's still light as Lady's not keen on the dark.

Feet up, brew drunk, time to wait & see if the side effects kick in.  Hopefully I'll sleep tonight.

Day 13

Not a good day today, hardly had a wink of sleep thanks to the BP monitor attached to my left arm. The darn think kept me awake as it checked my BP every hour during the night, as I struggle to sleep anyway, this was a nightmare, so I got about an hour of broken sleep all night.  Dead on my legs and a day at work ahead of me, not a good combination!!

A pretty uneventful day at the office, bizarrely got invited to a meeting to discuss figures in an monthly report which I've never seen, hmm.  An early finish again to dash to the doctors to have the monitor removed (hopefully I'll sleep tonight).  Not great news, all the readings downloaded, only 5 or 6 readings within the normal ranges, all of the other were too high, so that's me with an urgent appointment to see the GP, looks like spending the rest of my natural on meds :-(

Hounds fed, dinner eaten, time to walk the hounds, a quick whizz to Asda and then to chill with a beer.

Kind of wondering why none of my medical conditions don't enable me to get free prescriptions, not of them will ever get any better, just a question of which one will finish me off!

Day 12

So the weekend is over, boo hoo!!!  Nose back to the grind stone, someone has to earn treat money for these gorgeous hounds :-)

The day starts in agony from my PF, just putting my feet to the floor is a challenge in the morning. Early finish for a medical appointment, so no lunch break for me.  Not planning to sleep tonight thanks to the 24 BP monitor that is strapped to my left arm & makes if feel like a sausage being grilled when the skin is about to burst.  Double whammy when I was given a flu jab in my other arm whilst I was there, I'm sure they must love me really.  So I struggle to sleep on my back, can't sleep on my left arm because of the monitor & my right arm is sore, so looks like a fun night for me.

On a plus note, uploaded 8 images on a photo sharing site & got 17 peer awards in less than five minutes, bringing my total to 65, some of which are from professional photographers.  To say I'm pleased is an understatement.

That's it for now, off to feel sorry for myself.

Day 11

A bit of a lie in (8 am), bacon butty then a walk in the sunshine with the hounds, don't suppose we'll get many more naked walks now (them, not me).  A flying visit to see Bazza & his family & deliver his toona cayke & cheezzy muffins, his eyes were like saucers, lol,  Oh and a gingerbread man for his brofur with no fur aka Da Hoopup as they're his favourite!!

Then on to Dudley for a showcase of local entertainers with my m8's, had a great afternoon with lots of laughter, the entertainment was pretty good too & got sung to by a soul/motown artist, lol.  Always great to get a few bevvys in with my m8's.

Back home to sort out the recycling & wolf my dinner down before heading over to Stoke for my m8's gig, the hounds have mostly slept and are now sleeping off an early dinner.

Weekend's always fly by!!

Day 10

First job of the day to take my boy to give his first donation of blood to the pet blood bank.  What a good boy he was, not phased at all as he was enjoying all the cuddles and ear scratches from the staff. The only bit he wasn't so keen on was being lifted onto the table on to his side, he was almost falling asleep during the donation, lol.  He was rewarded with a bandana, a tag for his collar, a toy and some treats.  A great experience for owner and hound.

A quick trip to the supermarket & home to bake a toona cayke for a friend of my hounds.  Quick chill out before having a shower & heading out.