HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Holiday spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare.. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.


4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Holiday party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.
7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Our 2 day trip to Cardiff

(OK we went on this trip in October and I have only just got around to posting the blog...trying to get up to date you see - Enjoy!)

When I booked a week off work for half term I was determined that we would do something as a family.

Bill and Bret have always wanted to visit Cardiff to see where Doctor Who / Torchwood is made so I did a bit of research and booked an Hotel and then booked train tickets complete with seat reservations to get us there and back.

Tuesday morning I was up at 7am to get showered. I packed my things and made sandwiches for the train. Our taxi turned up late and seemed to take the longest slowest way to the station that he could. We got to the station with seconds to spare and ran in and jumped onto the train.
I had reserved a table for us but the train wasn't very busy for a change.
On the next table was a couple who had booked first class but the walk down to first was too far for them so they stayed in standard, What a big waste of money.

The journey flew by and soon we were pulling into Cardiff central.

We didn't have to looked hard for our hotel as it was right next to the station but we had a couple of hours to kill until we could check-in so we went in search of lunch. We walked around the city centre until we came across a little back street cafe called Servinis. It was obviously very popular as it was very busy.

Bret chose to have a Chinese chicken baguette and Bill had a plate of chips whilst I had a Jacket Potato with Cheese and Onion. It was huge and it was gorgeous.
After lunch it was time to go check in at our hotel.
This was a first for the children as they have never stayed at a hotel before and a first for us as a family as we usually get cramped into a caravan.

The Hotel is Sleeperz and although it is quite small and compact it is really nice - in fact the rooms were just right.
The kids were in a twin room with bunk beds a walk in shower and plasma TV. They had a massive floor to ceiling window with a great view of Cardiff.

I had a nice little double room with an en suite shower room a little desk and the most comfy double bed EVER!

Once we were all settled we went out to catch the bus to Cardiff bay.
We got on the bendy bus that goes all the way to the Bay. Only we didn't go anywhere for 20 minutes as the lights were broken and stuck on red. There was a long queue of traffic behind us but the driver refused to go because of safety of the public crossing the road.
Finally we were on our way and we weren't completely sure where we were going until I saw the Red Dragon centre and we got off there.

The Red Dragon centre is huge. It is basically an Entertainment centre including several restaurants, Multi-plex cinema, Bowling alley and of course the Doctor Who museum. Red Dragon FM is also located there and there is a big shopping complex, night clubs and dtive thru restaurants.

The main reason for the visit was the Doctor Who Museum so that is where we headed for straight away. We got special wristbands and if we had so desired we could use them to get in all day if we wanted to go out and come back later.

We spent a good hour in there looking at all the exhibits and taking lots of photos.

When we had been round the whole thing several times, we went for a Hot Chocolate and a piece of cake. Then we headed off to the bay to see where Torchwood is made. It was really weird walking down the paths that we have seen the TW team walk down so many times before and we even found the Door to the TW hub that had been turned into a shrine to Ianto Jones.


It was getting late and we were getting peckish. We fancied Pizza but all the pizza places seemed to be really busy with lots of people waiting so in the end we found a 50s diner and went in for a burger. It is a really cute place with proper booths and a juke box playing 50s music and 50 memoribilia all over the walls.



There was even a table made out of the front of a cadillac and the outdoor tables were all made to look like they were made from Cadillacs.



The burgers were very pricey so we ordered a burger each and fries betweem us with no drinks.
When our orders arrived it became apparent why the burgers were so expensive - because they were the size of houses!


We had another walk around the bay and then decided to go buy some goodies from the shop and go back to the hotel.

The next morning it was up bright and early for our all inclusive breakfast. This was in the style of an all you can eat buffet with all you could possibly want for a hearty breakfast.

I started off with Full English, Orange juice and toast and moved on to Pastries and fruit before finishing with a nice Hot Chocolate to warm me up and get me ready for the rest of the day's site seeing.


The Hotel dining room was very stylish with windows all around so we could look out on the city as we ate.

We had to check out by 11am so we gathered all our gear and headed out. Our big trip today was to the Castle which wasn't far away and as we had been to the DW museum the day before we were able to get discount on entry.

We took so many pictures that I just couldn't choose which ones to share so I made a little slideshow.

We spent about 3 hours in all walking round the grounds, Watching the wild birds and also doing the tour round the living quarters of the castle itself. Bret even went up into the keep but Bill and I didn't facny the very steep steps.

For lunch we headed to Piza Hut for the Happy Hour all-in for £4 meal. We had to queue for about half an hour but the food was lovely. There was some funky art work on the walls too.


After filling our bellies we took a walk back thru town and looked down the little shopping arcades that there seemed to be many of dotted along the way.

To end our trip we went into The Hard Rock cafe. We had been walking non-stop all day and our feet were sore and we were exhausted! It was another experience for us too as none of us had ever been in a Hard Rock before.


We even had a last little treat of a massive chocolate hot fudge sundae YUM!

...And then our trip was over...It was time to get to the station and catch our train home. Well we nearly didn't get it as we were sat on the platform an announcement came over the tannoy that out train was sat on another platform right over the other side of the station...But we made it into our reserved seats and homeward bound

Quickie from my iPod

I am in a hotel in Cardiff testing the blogger ap on my iPod. Full post coming soon ;)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy Birthday Brian

This weekend I was off to Notts again to celebrate Brian's birthday. It doesn't seem that long since the last one.

This year we were off to the Red Hot world buffet.

I booked the day off work so that I could get a lie-in although I had to get up to get Bret up and I never made it back to bed but I did spend most of the day in my pjs on the sofa.
I got a couple of jobs done including the vacuuming and cleaning of the bathroom but I had to finish off dying my hair so it wasn't long before the bathroom was splattered in red again like a violent murder had been committed in there.

By 6pm I was on the bus on my way to Notts.

I got a bit of a surprise when I got to Brian's place as he also had another friend staying. I had thought it was going to be me Brian and Larry for pre-meal drinks but there was a practical house full when Tim and Gerry arrived. I had so much to chat about but didn't get the chance for any of it. Brian's friend Paul was very nice and it was lovely to meet another of Brian's friends that I hear so much about but I just wish I had known I wasn't going to be the only guest.

After a couple of glasses of wine we left for the restaurant. It seemed like we walked miles so I would never be able to find the place again.
When we got there, Helen and Nigel and Tony were already there as well as a couple of Brian's work colleagues and soon after Brian's 2 bosses arrived.

When everyone was there we were taken to our table. There were 17 of us but the table we were taken to should have only seated about 10 so they squashed us all up together. There wasn't much elbow room so it is a good job I sat in between Helen and Tony who I knew well. It was hard to choose any food that may be messy as I couldn't get close enough to the table to eat.

There was a huge selection of food. What a starter plate of fritters, spring rolls, samosas, bhaji and garlic bread. See for yourself the range of foods HERE.
For Mains there were lots of currys and veggies along with noodles rice and chips. There was also a selection of salads, chillies and Pizza.

For Dessert there was ice cream although no Little bowls, instead they had cones. There was chocolate sauce although not a fountain, instead it was in a big bowl...I steered away from that as I am so clumsy with food I knew I would just spill it and then end up slipping over on it and landing on my bum.
There was lots of choice of fruits and cakes and there was even apple crumble and custard.
Unfortunately I hardly got to try anything as I felt a bit sick. I am not sure why.

Brian's bosses Tracey and Quinn turned out to be the life and soul of the party. I had heard so much about them in the past but they were nothing like I expected. I don't think they thought much of me to be honest. I felt very conscious the whole way through the evening. I don't know why I cared so much about what they thought of me. I was also conscious of the fact that I couldn't hear a lot of what was going on so when a lot of people burst out laughing and you don't know why it does tend to make you feel uneasy.

The restaurant made a whole big cock-up of taking out money. As we all tried to leave they made us sit down again to pay them. It took ages for them to get the money off us and it was such a relief to get out of there as it was so hot.

From the restaurant we moved on to a bar called Broadway - this is apparently a cinema but i didn't see any films LOL Downstairs was a busy and very noisy student bar. Upstairs was a slightly less noisy bar which was all glass-fronted and you can see all that is going on in the streets in Nottingham.

We sat upstairs and there was much chat and laughter.
I think it was about 11pm when Helen and Nigel and Brian's bosses all left. Brian, Paul and myself walked them to their car park and then went back to Bri's place so he could drop off his pressies and change his shirt before we went back out and met Tim, Gerry and Sam at the Forresters pub.
It was a really nice end to the evening as we drank and chatted on the big old sofas that were so low down that is was very hard to actually drag yourself out of again.
It had to be approaching 2am as we were all dozing off and went to walk Sam to her car park and head off home (To Brian's anyway)

I was ready for bed and had a really great night's sleep.

The next morning when we were all up and breakfasted, we headed off into town. As we strolled round looking for a great lunch venue we ended up in another buffet - The Flaming Dragon. A place that Brian was always raving about but Paul and I had never been.

I wasn't too impressed to be honest. There wasn't much choice compared to what I have been used to at other buffet restaurants. It may just have been that it was the busiest part of the lunch hour or that I was fed up of buffet as we had had it the night before too.

I did eat a lot though. 2 starters, 2 mains and ice cream for dessert.

After lunch it was time to gather my things from the nineteenth floor and head home.

It was a nice weekend where I met new people and old ones who I haven't seen for a while. Some of them I just don't see enough of and some of them who couldn't get away quick enough ;)

Surprising Nanna

On Sunday I decided to go to Coventry and surprise my Nan who I haven't seen since earlier in the year.
I got up at the crack of dawn to get the train as I had to make sure I got there before 12 when she would be calling me up on the phone.

The journey was pretty smooth compared to trips to Coventry I have had before. The train to Birmingham was very full but I managed to get a seat. It is much easier to get a seat when you are travelling alone. I had my Ipod to listen to and daydreamed on the train.

I was in Coventry by 11am. I hopped in a cab to take me to my Nan's house.
It amazes me the scales of taxi fares in Coventry - £10 just from the station to my Nan's and then later it will be another £10 back to the station when my return fare by train to Coventry was only £13.

My Nan was really surprised to see me when I rang the bell and presented her with flowers.

We sat and watched TV for a while. It was actually the first time I had visited my Nan's house since she had the front room refurbished and her leather sofas were soooo comfy I could just have fell asleep in front of the open fire and dozed all day.
Nan's friend Kath came over for a chat and it was nice to finally put a face to a name as my Nan talks about her all the time as they do a lot of stuff together.

After Kath left Nan suggested we go to the local pub for lunch. As we were leaving tho we could see the bus at the bus stop. I could have ran to catch it but it would have taken Nan about 5-10 minutes to get down there so she suggested we just call a taxi.

20 minutes later we were still waiting so Nan called the cab company up again and it appeared that when she rang the first time they didn't send the taxi they booked it for later that night!!!

Within 5 minutes the cab finally arrived and it was only a 5 minute journey but the roads were so clogged that it was another 20 minutes before we arrived at the pub.

When we got inside It was very quiet, i was a bit shocked at the fact that the pub was all decorated for Halloween with a Christmas tree also stood in the corner - very bizarre (No photos as my battery was running low)

We ordered the Roast Beef Sunday lunch. Nan had the child's plate with a small Yorkshire pudding, potatoes, roast Beef and vegetables. I had the King size version which had a huge Yorkshire pudding the size of the plate with everything inside. It was delicious although the veggies weren't cooked very much and were very crunchy.
I had a pint with lunch but was so full up that I didn't need dessert although Nan would have bought me some.

When we were well full we left so that we would make it for the bus home.

In the afternoon we just sat and chatted and watched TV.
At about 5pm Nan thought it was time to eat again and made us (tinned) Ham sandwiches with Tomatoes and of course brought out the cake tin.

At about 6.15 I was in a cab back to the station and my journey home was as smooth as the journey there. I go home just in time for X factor :D

Toy Story - In 3d

I can barely remember when the first Toy Story movie came out 14 years ago. My 2 children were just little and we didn't go to the pictures to see it but we did buy the video, the read along books, the duvet cover and curtains not to mention the buzz and woody toys. They were addicted to watching it (and it's following 2 movies) that they would be able to recite the whole film off the tops of their heads.

So 14 yrs on and the movies are being re released but in 3D.
It was brilliant. Worth paying the extra £2 for the 3d specs (Which you have to give back at the end of the movie) It was so long since I had seen it that I forgot what happened and it was like seeing it for the first time. I really can't wait to see Toy Story 2 in 3d.

New Doctor Who logo for 2010

So here it is...Not much to say just wanted to share...

Catch up!

I realise it is a really long time since the last time I posted here. I want to try and catch up and start posting more regularly again.

My Biggest news is that on July 20th I started working full-time for the first time since 1999.
I am working for the DWP at Jobcentre Plus.
My official job title is FJR (Fortnightly Jobsearch Review) I work on the frontline seeing customers when they come in to sign on each fortnight. I check that they are doing their jobsearch correctly, I also do a jobsearch with them on the JCP system and help out with referring to courses and getting them help with CVs. We get about 10 minutes to do all that and as you can imagine some people do need more help than others

Since I have been working it is so good to know there is always money in the bank. I am not used to having such an abundance of cash so it has been easy to save - At the same time I have been able to keep my freezer and cupboards full and I am now able to treat the kids whenever I want. More importantly I am able to treat myself without feeling guilty. I have bought new clothes and shoes for myself. I know that each month all my bills are going to be paid so no more having the phone cut off every month or the Sky service.


1 thing I have noticed since I have been working is that after a particularly hard day I have found it very easy to buy myself a bottle of wine on the way home and down it during the evening. I have never been much of a drinker unless I was out or spending time with friends and I used to wonder how people could come home and drink but now I know. I am not becoming an alcofrolic or anything but it is one change I have noticed in myself.

We have also started having Take Aways every Friday. Most weeks though It is just me and Bill as Bret is never here. We have had Pizza delivery from Pizza Hut which is great as you can order online and this week when Bret was here He and I had Chinese and Bill had Burger and Chips.

So I hope that has caught you up a bit.
I am still Twittering. I am still on Facebook and I am still collecting autographs.

Dreaming again

Had another bizarre dream last night which extended into 2 dreams.

My sister has a friend called Vicky with 2 small children aged 8 and 5. In my dream though it turns out she never gave birth to these children and she kidnapped each one and passed them off as her own. The 2 children in the dream looked nothing like they do in real life but she had just had a 3rd child who was as I know her real life daughter.

This sounds quite confusing but dreams are always a lot harder to explain when they are so disjointed.

The second dream - We were all out in a park. I turned to my sister and asked if they had replaced Vicky's son because he looks a lot different to the last time I saw him, he was taller and had different colour hair. She said he was just older.
There was also an old friend of my mate Tracy. I was really excited to see her but in the dream she was there to surprise my sister Debz. She disappeared off with a man before Debz turned up and I went to watch a game of bowls and guess who was there with his youngest son? Simon Baker with very short curly hair like he is in The Guardian.

I think I started to wake then and tried to doze back off and carry on but once it had faded I lost the dream magic.

Just dreamin'

Had this weird dream last night. I was living in this flat and Alistair Griffin was staying with me.

It seemed he was living with me while I fixed his car.
I lived in like a wooden cabin but it had a lovely big kitchen with a hatch through to the lounge/porch. The front porch was very big and elaborate though.

There seemed to be a lot of people coming and going. People who I didn't know at all. An old aquaintance from school appeared. Her name was Tina Cockfroft back then but is Tina Ogden now. I have seen her around and in my dream she appeared as she is now. I was very upset because although I was playing host to Mr Griffin, She seemed to be getting more of his attention, like they were old friends or something.

Someone else from my past turned up in my kitchen, her name is Maxine and I knew her from the American Adventure. I was asking her in the dream why she didn't turn up at the reunion.

At that point, Al turned up with James Fox and someone else. I was so excited to tell him that I had finished his car but Tina got in there first and took all the credit.

I am not sure what all this means especially with the random people (Maxine, James Fox, Tina Ogden) turning up. Dreaming about Alistair is nothing new but what does it mean???