I got to see the little baby today and she is amazingly cute. Her mum looked tired but then she kept them up last night wanting feeding every hour. This afternoon she slept most of the time although she did rouse a little when she was being passed around for a cuddle but she fells asleep again when I was holding her. Every now and then she makes little squeaking noises like a little guinea pig and it's sooo cute. I am smitten :D

We didn't get to see baby Evie today, or the new parents for that matter, cos mum's still out of it from her travel sickness pills LOL I even had to drive home from the supermarket this afternoon cos she couldn't manage it, thankfully we went in my car so we didn't have to swap them around on the drive before going shopping. We should now be going visiting sometime tomorrow. This kid's gonna be walking before we get to see her :D

On Friday, Chris and me decided to go for a walk round Castle Eden Dene, a nature reserve not far from here. We set off in the car but couldn't find the place anywhere so ended up at Blackhall Rocks where we walked along the coastal path for a bit, looking for a way down to the beach. Turns out that you can't get down to the beach from the rocks so we went back to the car park and had out picnic lunch on one of the tables there before making a second attempt at finding Castle Eden Dene. We ended up in Hartlepool this time *rolls eyes* I was sure though that I'd seen a sign for this place the last time I was in Peterlee so we went back through Blackhall and on to Peterlee but were still unsuccessful. It was getting on a bit by this time so I said we should give it up as a bad job and just go for half an hour on the beach at Crimdon Dene. We did manage to get there and had a nice bit sit on the pebbles and Chris chucked a load of rocks into the sea, but on the way there we actually saw a sign for Castle Eden Dene so we decided to go there on Saturday.

However, soon after we go home that day my aunt phone to say that my cousin had given birth to a little girl at quarter past six that evening. I said we'd come and visit her after I'd finished work on Saturday afternoon but we ended up not going because the hospital said they were going to discharge her. By the time this had happened the sky had clouded over so we ended up not going to see the new baby or going to Castle Eden Dene. Never mind :)

Last night was a bit mad... actually it was a lot mad. Jamie tried to smuggle his girlfriend, who is persona non grata, into the house but me and Chris could hear them talking and turfed them out into the living room to give them a damn good talking to. That lasted an hour before Jamie finally agreed to take her home and then when he got her there he rang to ask if she could stay anyway cos she couldn't get in to her house. I was livid that he was willing to wake us up to ask something he knew wouldn't happen (not that we'd got to sleep by then anyway) but not willing to wake Polly's family up to let her in the house (apparently the doorkey was in the lock on the inside so she couldn't open the door). So we ended up not getting to sleep until well after five this morning.

That meant that I ended up not getting out of bed until way later than I wanted to. I had most of the house to clean before going to get my parents from the airport this evening so it's just as well that their flight was delayed leaving Larnaca or I wouldn't have managed to get it done. As it was, I had to get Chris to do most of the dusting and then forced Jamie to do some hoovering for me. I also asked him to some tidying for me and bring all the crockery down out of his room but that obviously proved too difficult for him. I also didn't manage to get any ironing done so I had to come clean to mum about wearing one of her tops to go out last Saturday :D I did manage to clean both bathrooms and all of the kitchen from top to bottom, which is one less job for my mum this week. Mum also commented on how clean and tidy the house was looking when she got in and apologised for promptly messing up the dining room table with all her post and camera bits and pieces.

Tomorrow, we should be going to visit my cousin and her new little baby so until then, tata!

Another Thursday evening, another Main Library shift. This time I've actually had some work to do; it took me and hour and a half to get all the returned books checked and shelved onto the right trolleys. Here's a question; does the plural of 'trolley' take '-ies' or just '-s'? Despite my linguistic background, I can't remember for the life of me. I also appear to have lost the ability to type *doh*

I got a call from my Aunty Barbara yesterday to tell me that my cousin should be giving birth to her first child sometime today. She said she'd ring and let me know whether Vickie's been deemed ready to be induced and if little Evie's made an appearance yet. Vickie's currently two weeks past her due date so she's getting a bit edgy and wants to get everything over with. Good luck to her, rather her than me LOL I'm not saying that I don't want to have children but I am so not ready to have them yet.

Today I have been mostly eating Pralines and Cream ice cream... well this evening I have at least.

Mum and dad have been away in Cyprus for a week now and apparently it has been unbearably hot. Completely different to here then cos it's pissed it down almost every day so far. Hopefully it'll brighten a bit for the rest of the week so that me and Chris can get out and about. We did manage to get out to Crook Hall and gardens on Saturday but it rained there too so we had to have a cream tea inside :D

Other than that I've been interviewing some people for my dissertation but unfortunately one of the people I need has been very elusive so I may have problems finishing the third level for analysis unless she checks her email as soon as she gets back from holiday. Thankfully, the people I've interviewed so far have given me some other useful names so I should at least me able to ask them some questions via email. That'll bulk up the methodology as well I imagine. I still have to write the damn thing so I'm gonna have to lock myself away for a week or so to get it all down and then send as much as I can off to my supervisor for her to look over.

Until next time, nanu nanu!

So I'm back at work again *yawns* I've only got one more hour until my shift is over though. It's been fairly uneventful thus far, other than learning where the 005 books have been moved to on level 3 and finding that one of the self-issue machines has decided to stop printing out reciepts. I have, however, managed to read about three chapters of my book. Oh the heady world of the librarian LOL!

So then, I'm finally back. After a lovely week at Chris' mum's I was only in the house 15 minutes before receiving a call from the hospital to ask me to come in. I was admitted before 5pm that day and only just came out. Thankfully the treatment worked so the methotrexate should see me right for a while and I may even be clear for a bit.

Contrary to my original reason for starting this blog, I am not going to give a day-by-day account of my stay in hospital as most of the days were fairly uneventful. I will say though that I met some lovely people in there and took great comfort from them. Having people around you that have the same illness as you and understand everything you're going through from their own perspective is definitely a bonus. I just hope that when it comes to the crunch our voices will be heard and we'll get to keep our dermatology ward. We're not bothered about being left in the old part of the hospital because although it sets us apart (I believe the powers that be see us as the lepers of modern society) it also gives us a level of independence that the other departments / wards don't have. Unfortunately, it also means that the pharmacy don't seem to give us much importance, which is why I had to wait hours and hours for my prescriptions before being allowed to go home. I waited that long I could have had another day's treatment.

Anyway, I'm home now and crossing my fingers that my skin will not go back to how it was. I'm also hoping that the other patients are keeping well and that their treatments are working. I know that it's the consultant's rounds tomorrow afternoon so I'll ring and find out how they're all doing and who's been let out etc. It's very saddening to see people who think they're skin is improving to be told that they've got another three weeks stay ahead of them, especially for one particular person who has been in there for nine weeks already.

Went shopping with mum yesterday. She got loads of nice clothes for her holidays and I got some nice things too. I got a black top and a lovely floaty green skirt from M&S and then from LTS I got a great pair of cotton trousers and a posh grey top. All my birthday money's gone now though LOL

Chris and me went to the Job Centre today to sort out our joint claim and it appears that the two phone conversations we had with the benefits people didn't tally with what they were meant to have done regarding our claim. We ended up being at the Job Centre for an hour while they sorted out the mess but now everything should be OK and the claim's going through.

Tomorrow, Chris and me are going down to his mum's for a little holiday so I probably won't be updating for a while. Later on tonight I've got to get the last of the ironing done so we can pack in time for an early start tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we'll be able to get away in time to miss most of the morning rush.

The weather has been rather lovely today so I decided to make the most of it and get the car nice and clean ready for our journey down south of Tuesday. I gave it a much needed hoover out and then washed it thoroughly.

Apart from that I've done very little. Nana, my aunt and uncle all went to get their hair done for their holidays today so on the way back they dropped in for a cuppa, which turned into lunch. We sat out in the garden in the sun and it was all very civilised LOL

Gah this week's been weird. First off I thought I was going to be admitted into hospital on Monday afternoon but after running around like a scalded lop trying to get myself ready I got a call to say that they couldn't take me after all and to ring them on Wednesday morning. This caused a problem because it meant I'd probably be in hospital for Chris' birthday. After a long "discussion" with Chris and my dad we decided that I would ring the hospital to ask if it would be possible to push me down the waiting list a bit and admit me after I get back from Chris' mum's. If they said no we were prepared for Chris to go down on the train on his own and as a sort of trade off we would spend Christmas together with his mum and New Year with my family instead of doing it the other way round. I rang fully expecting for them to say no but the ward sister said they'd actually had an emergency admission so I wouldn't get in at all this week and they would ring me when I get back from Chris' mum's to bring me in.

Then there was the interview from hell on Tuesday. There were four of us shortlisted, three with a library background and one with a graphic design background. None of us expected the interview to last all day but I didn't get home until gone three and I was there at half nine. First we had a chat with the school's buisness manager and then with the head, followed by a quick tour of the school's display boards with the library manager. After that I had a design task to do using sugar paper etc and I had half an hour to do it. I didn't finish it how I wanted and I thought it looked shite but then so did the other applicants so we didn't feel to bad about that. Then we had a chat with some of the kids who were amazingly mature and obviously loved having special access to the library, then lunch where we all ate like birds but had a good chat and got on really well. Then we had our proper interviews with the head, buisness manager and link manager from the English department. That was the worst bit cos they obviously weren't that bothered about my library skills and seemed to really want a classroom assistant with a bit of library experience but a lot of graphic design experience.

Yesterday was better cos I slept most of it and did a bit of gardening in the afternoon. Unfortunately my black peppermint has got some weird little green bugs living on it so I had to give it a spray and couldn't get a crop from it. I did get a crop from the garden mint, lemon balm, and oregano though and the chamomile is properly coming into flower now.

Today I got my letter from the school telling me I hadn't got the job but I'm really not bothered cos I didn't fancy the job after the way the interview went and this means I don't have to ring them up and tell them I don't want it :D I've got two other applications in the pot at the moment anyway so let's hope they're more successful. Now I'm off to take nana back home cos she's got an appointment with the pain clinic tomorrow morning and then my aunt and uncle are coming to take her to the hairdresser's on Saturday. I know she's feeling a bit iffy but hopefully she'll be alright.

Mum, nana and me went shopping this afternoon and I got the dress I saw the other day when I went with Chris to Matalan. I didn't bother trying on the size 18, I went straight for the size16 and it fit like a glove. I also got a lovely new black bra with lacy bits on. When we got home I tried them on with a pair of black wide-leg trousers from LTS and everyone said they looked fab so that's what I'll be wearing for my interview on Tuesday. Mum said she'd give me the job just for my outfit but then she's biased LOL

I got a letter this morning saying I've been shortlisted for a library job at a big school in Durham and interview's on Tuesday morning. I was totally not expecting to be asked to come for an interview because they want someone that knows stuff about putting displays up and I openly admitted I haven't got a clue about that. I'm willing to learn though and hopefully the task they want me to do will be fairly easy. I have to ring them up on Monday to let them know that I'm coming so I'll ask how many people will be there besides me and what I might have to do.

Now the big question is, what do I wear? Mum says I should go for my smart black trousers and a suitable top but I saw that nice dress in Matalan so if they've got it in my size tomorrow I may get that to wear. Oh decisions decisions.

One more thing about this interview is that I'm going to have to ask the hospital people on Monday if it'd be possible for me to be admitted a day later. Hopefully they'll say yes but that'll mean travelling down to Chris' mum's another day later that expected when I get out. I'll just have to risk it cos I really need a full time job.

Three major things happened today:

1. Chris got his hair cut again.
2. I found out when I'll be going into hospital.
3. I had an interesting conversation with my boss.

Chris hadn't had his hair done since just before last Christmas and he wanted it doing before we go down to visit his mum at the end of the month. So I rang today and made an appointment for next Tuesday, then I rang the hospital to find out how long I might have to wait to be admitted and the nurse I spoke to on the dermatology ward said I was next on the ladies' list so should call back on Monday afternoon to see if the bed was reay for me. That probably means I'll be going in either Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning so I had to ring the hairdressers back up and ask if they could take Chris this afternoon. They said yes and it only took half an hour to have him all shorn, restyled and looking cheekier than ever.

When we got back from the hairdressers I managed to get in touch with my boss to tell her about when I'll be going in to hospital. She mentioned that she'd been meaning to speak to me because she'd had a request for a reference for me from one of the jobs I recently applied for. She asked me a couple of questions because she said she wanted to make sure they could tell from what she wrote that I fit the person specification and seemed to be quite positive about what she was going to write about me. This is ace because I hadn't heard anything back from this job yet and they said if you hadn't heard by 10th July then you weren't shortlisted. It seems likely that as they've requested my reference, I must have been shortlisted and just haven't received the letter about it yet. It's just as well that the consultant said she'd let me off the ward if I had any interviews :D

It's been very warm again today, still no sign of these storms that are meant to be coming. At the moment it's a very refreshing 19 degrees Celcius outside although it feels a lot warmer in here at the moment so we've got the fan on again.

Chris and me went shopping in Dragonville this afternoon and it was absolutely stifling hot. Thankfully the shops were all air-conditioned. First we got mum and dad some new black ink cartridges for the printer and then headed over towards Matalan. We were just going to have a quick look in but they've opened up a TKMax nearby so we went in there first. Chris managed to find two nice pairs of swim-shorts and two t-shirts to go with them all for about fifty quid (they're all well-known names like Moschino, reduced from about £30 each) so we got them and were well pleased cos there wasn't much he liked in Matalan. I tried a dress on in there but it was too big on the bust! First time for everything LOL

This evening was lovely too cos we sat out in the garden with my mum and did puzzles in the sun. Mum reckons my tan is coming on nicely as I'm turning from pink to brown. I was never intending to get a tan but I suppose it's an additional extra along with hopefully helping my psoriasis. After tea we all watched tele together and then played Scene It, so it was rather nice altogether.

Tomorrow after work, mum's going to pick nana up and she's going to come and stay with us. She hasn't been very well for a while, especially with her nereves and mum would really like for there to be someone around to keep an eye on her. She's worried that nana spends all day in bed, existing on tea and toast, and not feeling motivated to do anything. Hopefully we'll be able to get her feeling like her old self again.

Our goldfish died today. When we came in this morning she was floating on her side and I had a good look but she wasn't moving at all. She's had a good innings though, we must have had her about ten years so she's incredibly long-lived for a goldfish. She was huge too. When mum took her out of the tank she was about the same length as her hand. In the past Mum would flush any dead fish down the loo but Baby was special and far too big to go down anyway so we buried her in a kitchen paper shroud in the back garden. Dad dug a little hole for her between the parsley, rhubarb, and mallow and mum popped her in. It's weird not having anything in the fishtank cos we've had goldfish and shubunkins for about fifteen years. It's very quiet downstairs too without the pump and bubbler whirring away.

Anyway, despite that little cloud over the day it has otherwise been very enjoyable. Chris and me have spent most of the day sat in the back garden doing crossword puzzles, with the occaisional word or two from my dad, who was sun-worshipping as usual. Then when mum came home from work she joined us too and we had Mr Men milk lollies. Dad did a barbecue but put far too much tandoori spice and black peppercorns in his marinade so it nearly blew our socks off and Chris couldn't eat it at all so I popped a pizza in the oven and me and mum helped him eat it.

We also discovered that my dad is partially colour blind. We always thought he was being pedantic when he'd say pair of trousers were green when they were actually beige, or that a flower was blue when it was purple. Turns out we were wrong and he has serious problems telling orange from red, red from pink, pink from purple, and purple from blue. And that's what we gleaned from going round the garden and asking him what colour he thought the different flowers were! Mum was astounded that after almost thirty years of marriage they'd only just worked it out LOL

I'm off to play a little bit of MapleStory now, ta ta *waves*

There were tears today :( The Job Centre is trying to screw Chris out of money and have decided we now have to make a joint claim in order for him to get anything, meaning we'll probably get bugger all. The County Council are screwing both my parents by making my mum have to basically reapply and reinterview for the job she's had for over ten years with no guarantee she'll retain that job and my dad's wage has more or less been cut in half for no good reason.

Fuck restructuring and fuck the Job Centre. Honest hardworking people aren't looked after in this country anymore. Fuck Tony Blair and his New Labour, I ain't shaking his hand again. I always thought that I'd grow up to vote for Labour but they're not the Labour I grew up with. The only party that has any clue what socialism means anymore is the Liberal Democrats and no bugger will vote for them in case the sodding Tories get back in.

What else is pissing me off today? Bigots! I'm fucking fed up of know-it-all bigots that think they're bloody marvellous. I've stood up to these particular people before and if they're gonna have a bloody go at anyone they can come and argue with me. But then they won't because they misguidedly think they have my best interests at heart.

*sighs* Fuck chocolate biscuits too cos I can't stop eating them and I'm supposed to be trying to lose weight :p

Today has not been as leisurely as yesterday as I have spent most of it doing the ironing. However, I did get to sit in the garden for a short while and somehow managed to catch the sun again even though I was in the shade all the time and couldn't have been sat out for more than an hour. Mum says I'm "turning a lovely colour and going about it the right way, little by little". This wasn't exactly my intention. All I wanted to do was cool off with a crossword in the back garden and enjoy the weather. If I was brown, I wouldn't worry but I seem to be going an odd shade of pink. Chris says it shows up my psoriasis nicely LOL

On a brighter note, I think I must have cold rather than hayfever because it seems to be slackening off and I actually managed to sleep last night. The sore throat has gone too so I'm hoping I'll be able to breathe without sniffing before I go into hospital (whenever the hell that's gonna be).

Last night I also discovered that mum has bought a box of Fox's biscuit selection, my favourite. They were hidden under some Cadbury's chocolate biscuits (which are stuck together with the heat) but I dug down and spied both a bourbon cream AND a chocolate cream sandwich, the best biccies in the box! So now I am away to raid the biscuit barrel once more and probably have a cuppa too :)

Tonight's post is dedicated to Robert because he makes me laugh and he asked LOL

It's been about 29 degrees celcius here today so I spent most of the afternoon sitting out in the back garden in the shade reading my book, which I have nearly finished, and doing crossword puzzles. Somehow, probably due to the after affects of Neoral, I have caught the sun on my shoulders and chest. Chris keeps saying I should put some after sun on but it's not hurting or hot so I don't see the point. It's a shame that the days of me going brown straight away are gone, hopefully I won't go back to being as pale as I was before and will retain a bit of a tan. Strangely, my legs are still as deathly white as they were this morning even though they're the only bit of me that spent time in full sun. Proof that as I get older I am turning into a taller version of my mum :D

I'm now going to play on Neopets whilst listening to Chris Cornell *waves to Robert*

Pinch, punch, first of the month *yawn* Another month closer to dissertation deadline, really need to get my interviews sorted out but the impending hospital visit is complicating matters so I prefer to just avoid thinking about both things. Also my head is too full of hurty hayfever snot for there to be coherent thoughts in it too.

At least the weather's nice :) Sunshine does make me happy (Chris swears I'm part kitten) so I took the opportunity to read some of my book out in the back garden this afternoon. Gave my pasty white legs a sunning too LOL

Slept through most of the sport this afternoon, which makes little difference anyway cos Chris was watching the footie so I couldn't watch Andy Murray beat Andy Roddick in straight sets!!! There'd better be some highlights tomorrow and not when the bleedin grand prix is on cos Chris is already making me watch the sodding qualifying from midnight tonight.

The moral of this story is: thank god for laptops LOL

Last night I finally finished 'Taltos', the last of my books from Xmas. Now I can start on the five I got for my birthday. I've decided to begin with the Agatha Raisin books cos I need something that's not too taxing on the grey cells and is enjoyable to read after the marathon of the Mayfair Witches books. Then I'll read the new David Eddings book (although having read his other stuff I can pretty much guess what'll happen), leaving the latest Juilet Marillier offering til last so I can savour every page *rubs hands in glee* By the time that lot's finished with I'll get the next Discworld book with my Waterstones vouchers and then it'll be almost Christmas. Aah the literary Wheel of the Year LOL

Anywho, Chris and me went into Durham today. I took my shoes back to Next and we had the usual trip round the usual shops not buying anything much. All I got was 'Down On The Upside' by Soundgarden cos I fancied spending some of my birthday money on a CD and they didn't have the Jerry Cantrell or Alice In Chains ones I'm looking for. Naturally, they had no Skyclad or Madder Mortem either, no suprise there.

We then went off and looked at baby clothes because my cousin's due to give birth to a little girl in about five weeks. She's just gone on maternity leave from work because she's so anaemic at the moment that it's tiring her out. Apparently she's quite large as well, I haven't seen her for months so I don't know how big she is. So anyway, my mum bought her a set of baby stuff from ASDA (scratch mitts, babygro, bib, etc) so I thought it might be nice to get her a bit of something that she hasn't got much of. Probably something for when the baby's a bit older cos they grow so damn fast she'll hardly have time to wear all the newborn stuff. Then I saw these gorgeous little sun hats and now I'm torn. Looks like I'll have to ask her mum what she thinks.

Might be going garden centreing tomorrow after work, that is if mum and dad remember that I want to go with them *rolleyes* Last week they buggered off without me :( Bedtime approaches now though *waves*