Jobsearch

Today was my first official jobsearch day and I have to say it was good fun. Is that the right response? to say searching for a job was good fun?
Well I just used Google to help me find vacancies in Derby then I applied for them. They were all online applications anyway so I could fill in the online form and upload my CV and jobs a good 'un. I had to print out each application and job desc. to put in my folder but it was quite exhilarating. I also went down to the Jobcentre with Sarah and picked up a few details from there - they were all email applications too so I could just send a covering email and my CV.

Believe it or not I even got an offer already. Unfortunately I had to turn it down as it was based at East Midlands airport and although I had planned to look into transport etc..they wanted to see me tomorrow and that really didn't give me time to organise matters. Anyhow it is just the first step on the road for me.

Tomorrow me and a couple of others are going over to the Showcase cinema open day to chance our luck there. This would be a dream job to me even if it doesn't fit in with my new criteria.

My first workshop

Thank goodness it was an all day workshop today and I got to join in.
The subject was Letter writing. Simple as it sounds writing a cover letter to go with a CV or application form is really hard when you are trying to make a great first impression.

The letter part of it was pretty straight forward. As groups we were given certain pasrt of the letter to write. We also had to make sure we knew what goes where and how to make it a letter that would bring an interview.

The second half of the workshop was the team building exercise. In 2 groups we were given instructions that we had been involved in a plane crash. In freezing snow with woodlands nearby. We had a list of 12 items that we had and had to put them in order of how important they are to our survival.


It was very hard and after a slow start our team got working together. I offered to do the writing on the whiteboard as it is better to offer than be chosen I think and I have done that now.
As each team wrote their 1-10 list then Clive (The tutor) went through giving us points. We were given points for where in the actual list they came from and the idea was the team with the least points was the winner.

It was very interesting to find out how items such as steel wool, a lighter, newspaper or a can of Crisco can help you survive in -25.
When all the points were totted up Our team had the fewer points and yes we were the winners.

I hadn't realised until then that the whole day was gone and it was time to pack up and go home!

Weekend away to party

This weekend I was away to Notts with Brian. It was to celebrate the birthday of our old chum Tim.
Tim lives in Hucknall with his partner Al. I have never been to Hucknall before and Bri had never had to travel there alone so Tim met us at Bri's place so we could travel back with him. We went to Maccy Dees for lunch as it was cheap. I had a BOGOF voucher for a Big Mac but was surprised that I got to keep the voucher to use again.

After lunch we went to the Market place to meet up with another friend of Tim's called Sue. (Sue is a Spiritual healer and was great fun!) Then we went to get on the tram.
Its ages since I went on a tram - The last (and only) time was when I joined the Northern Division to see Jesus Christ Superstar. I wish we could have them in Derby as they are a lot better to travel on than buses - more comfy and more room and also easier to get on and off (Hmm we'll come to that later)

We got to Tim's at about 2pm and were soon sipping white wine. Al was busy in the kitchen preparing the food when we first arrived but he soon joined us and put it on me to decide when the food should be opened. As the event was an open house it was hard to judge when was best. I knew that if the food was available straight away I might just start digging in like a pig.

The afternoon went by very quickly with people coming and going. I got to meet many different people. Al is a spiritual healer and there were a lot of guests that were also very spiritual. It was really interesting for me to listen to them talking about their views and beliefs. I chatted to a nice lady called Helen about past life regression. This is something I have always been interested in and the way she had her regression sounded very simple and powerful at the same time.

Tim and Al also got out their packs of Soul cards to have a look through. Now I am not averse to this kind of thing - In my youth I used to read the tarot. I would often do readings for friends and I became a bit obsessed for a while and wouldn't go out the house in the morning without reading my own cards first. I stopped it at about the age 21 because I decided it was about time I took responsibility for my own life.
I don't quite understand the Soul cards though. With Tarot each card has it's own meaning but the soul cards don't. They are all about interpretation. The idea is you look through the cards and choose the one that jumps out at you. This doesn't mean physically of course - unless you are a lady called June who was shuffling the cards and 1 card did actually jump out the pack.

I went through but there were so many cards that caught my eye. Brian said to do a shortlist so I picked out 6 cards that stood out for me and then after much consideration got them down to 3 and finally found the 1 card that attracted me the most.

This be my soul card (I must ask Brian to annalyse it for me)

Later on a couple arrived with their 2 children. A very confident 6 yr old girl and her younger brother.
The couple run a Sweat lodge out in Notts somewhere. Brian went last year sometime and talks about it here.

Al put the PS2 on for the children but they didn't really get the hang of it and tired quickly of having to wait for games to load. I found myself playing Crash Bandicoot which was always 1 of my fave PS games. In fact I was rather upset when Al turned it off after they left.

As it got later more people arrived. There were Tim's old mates from off of the trams They weren't very sociable as they all stood together at one end of the room. Some more friends of Al's also arrived including a lovely young girl called Ellie who clicked with all of us as soon as she sat down. We discussed such things as Vegetarianism, Vegan ism, Gorgeous men of the 80s, Dancing on Ice (Very jealous that Ellie went to the tour last year but she said it wasn't worth the money) Alistair Griffin (Oh yeah I got a bit of Griffin action into the conversation), The length of Tim's hair and his youthfulness.
There was also a lesbian couple who were both a lot younger than us and very cheeky.

Soon it came the time when Brian and I had to leave to get the tram back to Nottingham. Tim walked us up to the main road and we found our way to the stop. Annoyingly we were just about to open the doors to get on when the tram pulled off and left us behind...
So we had to wait another 20 mins until the next one.

We got back to Bri's place about 10.30pm and sat drinking coffee and chatting about spiritual matters. I swear the evening had really given me food for thought.


Sunday
We got up early of Sunday morning and went along to Cineworld to see Sweeney Todd. I have been looking forward to this movie for about the last year and it certainly didn't disappoint. A true concept of the Tim Burton mould. Johnny Depp was superb as Mr T himself but for me actually I thought Helena Bonham Carter stole the show as Mrs Lovett and look out for future appearances by the young Ed Sanders who was a brilliant supporting actor.

When we got back after the film Bri made one of his gorgeous pots of Soup. It was delicious and had I not had to rush off to get my bus, I surely would have asked for seconds.

Cherryade

I had the best bath of my life. It was like bathing in Cherryade. I used my LUSH comforter bubble bar slice and it really was Lush.
The water was pink like Cherryade and it was really bubbly and the smell was gorgeous. I do smell like a bottle of cherryade now though...

End of my first week

2.30 came this afternoon and I almost found myself skipping out of the classroom.
For the first time this week we actually got to meet our tutor Bridget. It also meant I could get started on the coursework which isn't what I thought it would be and includes a lot of reading to complete the tasks. It is very interesting but I had to read over several times.

I realised something though today, I am not as adept in Microsoft programs as I thought I was. In a couple of the tasks we had to draw charts. I knew that I should just use Excel for that but I just couldn't remember what to do at all. In the end I decided I may as well print out the questions and draw...YES DRAW the charts myself by hand.

I more or less finished the first unit on my first day but I didn't declare it as I want to be able to check all through it first before I hand it in for marking.

I was a bit annoyed in the afternoon as I missed the workshop because I finish at 2.30. I hope that isn't going to happen all the way through as otherwise I am not going to get the full effect of the course. I might just have to switch to full-time if it is going to be a problem.

RIP Heath

I am still shocked and stunned at today's news.
I heard Moyles talking about it this morning but didn't catch who they were talking about until he got a few texts saying the same thing and then when I heard it was Heath I just froze and my jaw dropped.

News article



I am sure I have mentioned several times in this blog about my love of Heath Ledger.
I first saw him in 10 things I hate about you and then in A Knight's tale I then started to try and get hold of his other movies. I have Two hands which was one of his earlier movies made in Australia. I also own The Patriot and Ned Kelly. Ned Kelly was a double whammy as it also stars Orlando Bloom but it isn't the fastest moving movie and just like The Patriot - Heath dies before the end. (Ooops! sorry if that is a spoiler)




I have seen a few of his other movies too but I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain which appears to be his most Well-known movie by those outside of the Heath Ledger fan club. Another of his films I didn't much care for was Monster's Ball. It was a bit on the violent side.



At the age of 28 Heath had already done so much but he still had so much more to give to the movie industry



RIP HEATH! Will be mourning your sad loss.

Day One

So my first day on my new "Gateway to work" course.
Everyone kept asking if I was nervous but it was more apprehension than nerves.

I got there early enough and then was left to sit in the canteen for half an hour as people drifted in.
We were finally taken for our induction at about 10am. This included a long tour around the floor that the training agency is on first then we were all shown into a classroom where we had lots of forms to fill in and dotted lines to sign on. There were about 15 of us but we were all there for different courses. Once the group had been split, there were only 4 of us doing the Business Admin course. The others went off with their tutors but then we found out that our tutor is off sick so we went with someone else for the time being.

There ended up being just 2 of us left - Me and another woman called Sarah. It was soon lunchtime and Sarah asked if I wanted to go out to the Baked potato van so I said yes. I bought myself a potato with cheese and we brought them back to the canteen to eat.

After lunch we were put to work on our CVs. This is something that needs a lot of work for me so I relished the task. I have done no paid work in the last 10 years but there is so much detail for the jobs I did do previously to remember.

The afternoon went so quick and it was soon 2.30 and time for me to pack up and go home. I am only on part time hours for now and everyone else stays until 4pm. I may change in the coming weeks but we will have to see.

I know it is only a short day and I am not doing any actual physical work but it is still so exhausting. I got home and just slumped on the sofa. I think it is going to take me a while to get into a routine. I really don't know how working mothers manage it. If I had the cash I would send the kids out for tea as I just don't have the energy to go cook now (OMG its only day 1)

I made that! - 1

Spent this afternoon sorting out my bedroom and building the brand new wardrobe I bought from Argos.
It is a wooden framed wardrobe with a lovely pink canvas cover as you will see from the photo.
It was quite painless to put together once you identified the right pieces. They are all numbered so it is building by numbers.

This is the catalogue picture



These are my pictures

Gone visiting

Today I took a trip to ASDA to spend my second gift-card. I managed to spend the £10 and more.
Then I decided to stop by my friend Donna's house as it is a while since I last visited.

As I arrived she was just on her way out to pick up her twins from Nursery so I went along with her. The last time ever went there was when my younger sister Debz was a pupil there. That was about 20 years ago when the school was first built and back then it was just a school in the middle of a wasteland. Now it is in the middle of a huge estate of houses with a maze of alleyways and roads and houses. I would have got totally lost if I had had to go there alone.

The 2 little one were having a little boy over for a play-date so there was a crowd of us going back and when we got in Donna made cuppas all round. It was a lovely afternoon of chat and gossip and playing with the kids too.

The twins are about the same age as my niece and they are so cute. Their little friend was a bit weird but children at that age can be sometimes when they are in the presence of strangers.
As always when I am visiting the time went by so quick and it wasn't long before I had to get back home as I knew DS had forgotten his keys (AGAIN)

Its the Sales baby

Its that time of year when Boots have their 75% off sale. Of course I was a little behind and only learnt of it here and here

I guess I missed most of the best action as the Sale started Tuesday and I was busy buying Cat litter and food for our freezer. Wednesday however after all my deliveries I was able to get to town and check out what was left. There wasn't much as predicted but I did pick up a couple of bargains. I got a couple of Cyberman head money boxes to give the kids (DS really needed to have a money box. I also picked up a portable scan radio with speaker and earphones for DS. He has been wanting one and I was going to get him one from Poundland but this one is a better quality product and reduced from £5 to £1.25 should last a little longer than Pound shop rubbish.
I also picked up a couple of Lavender gifty things that will do for my Nan's birthday in February.

Altogether I got £23 of stuff for £5.75!

After Boots I went to Ideas to pick up a new mirror for the Bathroom. I also wanted to get some of their reduced candles but they were all gone.

Well that is my Sales shopping for this year.

Lunch with the girls

I was excited today as I was meeting up with my mate Lisa for a few drinks and lunch at May Sum. This is the All you can eat buffet place in town.

We have both been in the wars over Christmas in regards of this horrible cold that is going around. Lisa was a little bit the worse for wear than me even though she has had her flu jab this year and I didn't.
We had a couple of pints as we set the world to rights and discussed everything from family to nightmare Christmas presents. After a couplr of hours we moved on to the restaurant (Just nextdoor)

I was gutted as we were seated as it seemed they had taken away the Chocolate fountain. That is the best bit - Getting loads of ice cream and covering it with chocolate and marshmallows.
I did my usual routine, finger foods for a starter then more messy currys and stews for main.

Oh and yes I was very messy, It was a good job we weren't moving on for more drinks after as I had got it all down my front and dribbling off my chin. I swear you can't take me anywhwere - the older I get the more messy I am when eating.

For dessert I had to settle for Cake, Fruit and Ice cream. Actually the Swiss roll was gorgeous soaked in the fruit juice.

Once we were full to bursting we paid and went for a walk round town as Lisa needed to get some School trousers for her sons and I thought it would be nice to go round town together.

The afternoon went so quick and it hardly seemed minutes before we were hugginbg each other farewell and going off in different directions.
Now al I can do is look forward to our next meeting.

Naked Video

Can you please watch and comment on the youtube page if you like it

Just when I was getting used to it

I put the TV on Tuesday and turned to the Sky channel only to find no signal.
Just when I was lovin all the marvelous features of Sky+ it goes and does this to me. I had to ring Sky on my mobile (long story) and even though I went through all the tests and buttons and codes, nothing would work so it had to be a tech visit. That meant I had 2 wait 2 whole days without Sky and those wonderful features.

I set up the freeview box so at least I had more channels and I could watch Big Brother (Yes I know...)
The thing that I had to address was the fact that if the box is broke - I have lost all the programs that I have saved on there.

On Thursday morning the engineer came nice and early and started out by checking the dish. He changed the element on there and then he checked the cabling but there was no way around it, the box was dead so he had to fit a new one.

I am Glad it all got sorted quickly but I am gutted because I never got around to watching the Take That New Year show or Extras or the Newcastle game from just before Christmas. Luckily the movies I had saved will be on again at some point but I guess I will have to try Torrents for the TT show

Cats need toilets too

Tuesday I picked up a little late Christmas present for Pica.
It was this monstrsoity called a cat toilet.



I am sick of all the mess and smells that come with the litter box that I needed to find a better solution. I am not sure that he quite knows what to think so far but we will see...he can't hold it in forever...

While I was in the Pet store I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw that they actually do a kit to teach your cat to use the human toilet - HERE - I don't think I could ever get Pica to do that.

That's it for another year

Well Sunday night I took down the christmas tree and put it away in the cupboard until next year. Or should that be this year lol (by the way I am laid in my bed writing this on my PSP it has taken me 20 mins to just write those few lines)

It is always sad when I take down the tree and decs as the room looks so bare. Even though we didn't put up many decs this year. I think I need to put up more pictures on the walls now to brighten the place up. Need new furniture too especially a new DVD unit.

I think the first thing to do is get rid of this tired old table - Freecycle here I come.

More Shopping

The kids and I took a trip out to Burton-on-Trent today on the train for a spot of shopping. Although Burton is a smaller town and Derby has the new Westfield centre, It is really up there as a shopping experience. A lot of people prefer Burton for the shops and they have a few shops that we don't have in Derby.

DS' most important goal for today was to get himself a new mobile since he broke his other one. My goal was actually just to buy myself something - a treat that I don't need but just want - something spontaneous!
DD had a few ideas of what she was looking for but I don't think she was too bothered.

I managed to buy myself the Chris Moyles "Difficult second book" and treated myself to 3 chocolate scented candles. We traipsed around all the games shops and I wanted to get myself a couple of new games for my PSP or Xbox but I struck out there. We also had a lok in HMV and I ummed and ahhed about getting a couple of new DVDs but left it and decided I would look in our store or even online.

We nipped into McDonalds for lunch and sat in some funky chairs like the BB Diary room chair. I tried the BBQ Pork melt and it was very spicey.

BY 5pm we were all knackered so trudged back to the train station and were home by 6pm.
I have already started reading my book and been in fits of laughter already.

New life changes

I had my interview for the new course I am embarking on.
It was 2 hours long and I had to take a literacy test. Can you believe I only got 71 out of 72. The word was warmist and I couldn't work out the correct spelling. Stupid really cos then when I sat on the bus coming home I thought how ridiculous as it is clearly warmest.

The interviewer was very positive about my prospects. It is interesting to think that even though it is so long since I have worked, all the skills I have picked up and had to use in everyday life. She was also very positive about the skills and also the references I have got from being a governor and all the years I spent on the PTA at school.

She says that she welcomes me onto the course and she would expect me to have got a job before the course ends. The main things for me are the business elements of the course along with the application form and CV elements too. I think this is my main downfall when applying for jobs hence why I have applied for so many and not been successful.

So I start the course on Jan 21st. Monday - Thursday 9.30 - 2.30. Considering it goes well I will change to full time.

After my interview I went to Asda to spend my £10 giftcard. I didn't buy anything special just a few items from the WHOOPS areas.

January Sales?!

Today I was chomping at the bit to get out and spend money in the sales. My sister warned me that they are rubbish but I wanted to see for myself.

The main things I really wanted to get were an external hard drive with as much space as possible and I desperately need a new wardrobe. I would also like to treat myself to a Nintendo DS lite but only at the right price. I really need the Brain training before I lose my mind.

I had a wander round town but I made the mistake of going to Wilkinson's early on and buying the new floor tiles for my bathroom. They became very cumbersome and heavy to carry so I got very fed up later on.
I also want to have a go at soft-modding my Xbox so I needed to get a copy of Splinter Cell. I got a copy of Pandora Tomorrow from CEX but then I went to cash generator and got a copy of the original game too.

As a special treat to myself I went to LUSH and took advantage of their sale...If you spend over £15 you get a free item worth up to £10. I was over the moon that I got nearly £30 worth of goods for just £18 I will really enjoy my next bath I can tell you.

I caught the bus home but I was still frustrated that I hadn't got the hard drive I wanted so I dropped of my stuff and went back into town. I had planned to get the bus to the Meteor centre in Derby but the next bus wasn't for 20 minutes and I couldn't wait that long in the cold so I eventually got a hard drive from Currys for £90 for a 500GB drive.

Now all I need to do is get myself a new Wardrobe and perhaps a Nintendo DS...(A Pink on naturally)

Oh by the way, Ange was right, the Sales are pants!

Happy New Year!!

So here we are again A new year to ring in.

I invited DD's friend round with her mum and little sister as I thought it would be a nice change for us after last year.

They arrived just after 9pm and as usual I had prepared way too much food. I only meant to do a few nibbles but I was tempted by Iceland's Indian platter as well as the dessert platters. add a few packets of crisps and some sausage rolls not to mention pork pie, Salad and Crackers and I think we were good to go.

The evening went really fast. The children played on the Wii and did a spot of Karaoke on Singstar while us mums drank Bacardi and chatted.
Before I knew it, it was 11.55pm so I put Take That on to see them ring in the new year.
Shortly after 12 Debz rang so I could speak to Nan.
Our guests left about 12.45am then the children and I watched the Big Fat quiz of the year.
I am not really a fan of Jimmy Carr but I really do enjoy this show every year.

New Years Day was great. We spent it at Ange's with the rest of the family. My Nephew got a Wii for Christmas and that was the main focus of the day.

It was really nice to spend the day with all the family, even though Nan was quietly falling asleep in the corner of the room. We stayed until about 6pm and then I wanted to get back before it got too cold.