I love it when you call - Part deux

So It's Christmas Eve, We are sat round the front room listening to Christmas songs (With Sara Cox blaring in the other room) when my phone rings. I looked at the screen Unknown caller. So I answered it.
On the other end is Sara Cox. Not Sara Cox speaking to me but just gabbing away on her show. So I sit listening, wondering if I am going to go live in a minute. A few minutes go by, then a few minutes more and nothing is happening. She is still talking to the nation and nobody has addressed me at all. Then she goes to a song The Darkness - Don't let the bells end. So I thought this would be when she finally speaks to me...but still nothing. So I decided that maybe it was an error and hang up. BAD IDEA!!! A few minutes later I get a Voicemail message.

It was only Andy from the JK and Joel Early breakfast show. He apologised for my prizes not arriving but said he needs to talk to me. Then he wished me a Merry Christmas and hung up. I tried to ring him back but the Radio 1 lines were busy. I texted a few times too but to no avail so now I am stuck in limbo...When am I going to get my prizes? What does he need to speak to me for? Will I ever hear from him again????

Chivalry is NOT dead!

On Freecycle Derby the other day, someone was offering a whole box of Match-day programs from the Ted McMinn Benefit match back in May. When I replied that I would be interested, I found it was Mrs McMinn herself and they were getting rid because they needed the space at Pride Park.
So today I took a walk up to Pride Park itself to pick up the box of programs.
I knew it was going to be heavy so I decided that I would have to take my trusty shopping trolley. Now I know they are really the accessories for the more elderly lady but when faced with carrying very heavy boxes,why not make it easier on yourself and take the wheels.

It took me about half an hour to walk up to the stadium then when I got there I wasn't sure exactly where I was supposed to go. After walking round the entire Stadium, I finally found the Security office and 15 minutes later I was walking out with a trolley that was way heavier than when I walked in.

I wouldn't normally take the trolley into town - mainly because I hate those old ladies who trundled them through busy areas running over everyone and everything that gets in their way and poking ankles and shins. I had no choice though really as otherwise it would mean making several more trips than I needed.

I had to pick up frozen pizza for tea and some supplies to feed us in the next few days leading up to the big day.

When I got everything on my little list I went to wait for the bus. I could have walked home but my back was getting sore again and I just wanted to get home and rest up after pulling all that weight in the trolley.

As I got on the bus it was a lot more packed than I had thought so somehow I had to get the trolley up on the rack and go sit at the back of the bus. I managed it to the surprise of 2 ladies sitting in the seats in front. I did say to them though that it would be a different story when I come to get off.

So my stop was coming up, I hit the bell and got up just as the man in front did also. He asked the guy next to him to watch his stuff and he proceeded to grab my trolley off the rack. As the bus stopped he took it right off for me. I was quite speechless as you don't see that too often these days. I blushed as I thanked him and wished him a Merry Christmas!

So you see, Chivalry isn't dead altogether :-)

The big Christmas shop

Its that time of year again when you face the crowds to go to *Insert supermarket here* and fill up your trolley with a load of rubbish.

This year I have been really good and bought a few things each week so my list isn't that massive. I did a dummy shop online beforehand and it only came to £24 so given that my budget was £50 I had a lot of scope for treats and extras.

Of course the place was absolutely Rammed but as I had my list I thought I would be fine.
I had my phone with me on calculator duties and a pen ready to tick things off as I bought them.
I managed to miss a few things first time around mainly because there was so many people I couldn't see what I wanted so I did a second circuit which was easier as once I had everything ticked off my list I knew how much I had left for extra treats.

I decided to take advantage of the 2 for £16 on Lager as I don't usually have Lager at Christmas. A great offer - 40 cans of Carlsberg lager for £16 which is about 40p per can...A great deal for saying that usually is it £3-4 for a pack of 4.

When I got to the till the woman on the checkout offered me help with packing for which I bit off her hand as I am absolutely pants at packing. I have no idea why Supermarkets these days have taken away all the packing tables that they used to have at the end of the checkout. They scan way too quickly for me to pack it away as it comes down.

However, she was going way too quick for me to keep up so I just chucked everything in the trolley. When she finished, all she did for me was put the eggs and tv mag in a carrier bag and the frozen mince in another bag.
She said to me" See you didn't need my help really" I looked at her open mouthed..."What? You were going far too quick for me, I have just tossed it all in the trolley. I guess I will have to go and pack it outside somehwere."
She just laughed and gave me my receipt.

So I had to go and find somewhere to stand and pack away all my shopping so that I could get it in the taxi. It took me about half an hour to do it and I was getting in everyone's way and there was lots of tutting and swearing under the breath as other customers swerved out of my way and bumped into each other.

On the up side, the taxi only cost me a fiver which was cheaper than it would have been to have it delivered.

Unpacking the shopping at home is a lot more fun too!!!

But you never call at all

The best thing about not going to gigs was always being sat at home and getting that surprise phone call so I could still listen to Alistair from the comfort of my sofa.

Last night was the annual Griffin Xmas gig in York.
As I sat watching The Hogfather on Sky, I kept a sneaky eye on my phone but sadly it never rang.

I love it when you call

I awoke this morning to the luscious voices of JK and Joel as usual with an urge to text in the show. I haven't done so for ages so when they played the jingle for the Radio 1 Christmas party I texted in to ask if they were going to be there seeing as they don't normally do Fridays.

As I lay listening to see if they answered my question, everything went Quiet and dark - The electric had gone!
I had suspected it might go but was hoping it would last until DS had gone to school.

So I got up and got my coat on and traipsed to the all night garage. As I walked bleary eyed my phone in my pocket started vibrating. It was only Andy the producer off of the JK and Joel show asking me if I wanted to be on the competition ANDY'S BOX. I was surprisingly calm although a little scary. I hate that horrible nervous laugh I have but I can't stop doing it.
However, mid conversation my phone died and I thought I had lost my chance to be on Radio 1 for the first time ever.

I got home from the Garage and put the electric cards in and decided to text back to the studio just in case they hadn't managed to get anyone.
10 minutes later I was on the air EEEK!!

Somehow the Adrenalin took over and I managed to actually say something. To my actual surprise I was the winner. PHEW I managed to make it through chatting to JK and Joel without getting weird and stalkerish or getting tongue-tied and starstruck.

I haven't listened back to it yet...not sure if I will at all to be honest but I can't even remember what the prizes were as it was all a blur really.

Here's the clip...remember to right click and save as
Jen on the radio

Can't wait for my prizes.
I will of course update you when they arrive.

Shopping on line

Somebody please stop me I am out of control. I am so glad I can't get a real credit card because this is just the reason people like me can't have one.
Christmas morning this year, we won't be able to get in the front room for all the bargains I keep finding. What is worst is I am spending my Christmas money on my children and I am going to end up not being able to buy the items I want for myself! I want a new camera but I am having trouble finding exactly the right one.
I am also desperate to buy myself a Pink PSP just as a frivolous treat. I have wanted one ever since I bought the one for DD. It would be great to watch movies and stuff in bed and I would love to get back into playing The Sims. I want to get myself some Lush goodies too and I really want a new DVD recorder (Yeah I got quite a bit of Christmas money)

I promise I have bought my last present now. Once they are all wrapped that is it. I have to focus on buying food for Christmas now but this will be done instore as I think I have missed all the Christmas delivery slots at the major supermarkets.

Anyway, I now am awaiting delivery from Ebay, Amazon & LXDirect.
I can't wait till Christmas to see everyone unwrapping!!!

Get fresh at the weekend- Showing out!

Phew what a weekend!
I am not used to all this activity. Weekends are usually all about staying in bed til lunchtime and lounging around in my pyjamas. I need another weekend to recover now.

Saturday night we all went out to celebrate Ange's birthday. Of course I ummed and ahhed about going. It isn't that I want to be anti-social, it is just that I am out of practise of going down town and I wasn't sure I would cope. I was also worried that it would mean me sat in the corner talking to my drink because as always I was the odd one out.

It wasn't too bad actually. For a start it seemed to be a pub crawl of places I had never been before. Can you imagine, I have lived in Derby now for 26 years of my life yet there are many pubs in town I didn't even know existed. This was interesting as they are tiny little pubs that you have to somehow squeeze yourself into a spot and then kind of bend yourself out the way each time anyone wants to go to the loo.

I started off drinking pints. £1.90 for a pint is an excellent price and you can't pass that up. However I forgot to bring out my inhaler so I had to switch to spirits because lager seems to bring on my Asthma for some reason. I mainly stuck to Vodka and Diet Cokes for the rest of the night, occasionally ordering a Reef.

It all fell a bit flat when we reached the final pub though. This is Ange and Rob's local and they know everyone in there and so does Debz. Zoe suddenly started to feel ill. She kept going out to get air but it wasn't helping and they decided to go home.
I am not sure what time it was when we left there but we just had to get food on the way home and paid the obligatory visit to Benny's for Pizza and of course Debz had Chicken and chips.

When we got back to the house Debz phoned for a taxi and was told it would be an hour so we had plenty of time to eat.
By the time me and the kids got home it was well after 3am.

No rest for the wicked! Sunday morning meant a trip back to Ange's as her Godmother was coming to visit. (I think I have explained the situation before so won't go into it again)

I got up about 10.45am and as I sat eating my breakfast the phone rang. It was Ange saying that they had arrived and were coming to fetch us. I told her to give us time while I had my breakfast and got the kids up. I tell you it's no mean feat getting DD up on a Sunday morning.

Eventually we were all ready and did indeed get picked up, also stopping on the way to pick up Debz too.

We stayed at Ange's until about 3pm and it was nice to see Wendy and Charlie again. Of course Ange and Rob had been to stay with them in the summer but it was about Easter since we saw them.

When we got home, DD had homework to do and then we sat down to watch Chicken Little. I had been looking forward to watching it all week thanks to LoveFilm.co.uk

A present for Everyone

I really had a great day on Tuesday. I went with Debz to help her with her Christmas shopping.
She only gets one day off a week and this was the only day before Christmas that she would be able to shop so she had to do it all in one trip.

We met and McDonalds first and decided to have lunch. Whenever I go with the kids I always um and ahhh about having something new but for fear of not liking it I end up with either a Big Mac or a Quarter pounder. So this time I stuck to my word and had the Chicken Tikka Deli sandwich. It was indeed very nice if not very messy and I even kept my cool and answered confidently when the girl on the till asked if I wanted it on White or Brown.

After filling our stomachs we made our way to Woolworths where the bulk of the shopping was to take place. Debz had an idea what she was buying each person which made it easy.
I love looking round toystores. Of course I regret not being able to buy everything I see but it is fun having a play with everything. If only I could buy DNiece the singing Care Bear or the little puppy that sings or the big dancing Dora. If only I could buy the remote control K-9 for DD or any of the Doctor Who toys.

We came out with lots of bags and had more places to go.
The problem gift became DNephew's gift. He is getting a VSmile from Mum and Dad and so we are all buying him the game cartridges for it. Debz only problem was that she is buying her her presents with Vouchers that she got from Ange's Hamper catalogue so she only has a limited amount of choices and none of the shops that took the vouchers had any decent games. In the end I bought it from ELC with my card and Debz gave me the vouchers. They would come in very handy so it was no problem as I have someone very special that I am not going to see this year for Christmas but still wanted to give them a gift.

It was nearly 3pm when I got home from town. My feet and legs were aching and I was knackered but I felt good that I had spent a nice afternoon with my sister and we had accomplished everything we set out to get and Debz only has a couple of bits to get now.

I have done all my present buying online this year so I have missed the excitement of doing the shops and the smugness of having all those bags to take home and wrap. In fact it is hard to keep up with what I have bought as everything is arriving in dribs and drabs and I have probably bought way too much...I see how easy it is to do that now.

Salutations and Celabrations

As I blogged last night Yesterday was the birthday of Middle sister Ange.

The day started for me when I caught the bus into town to go meet our Nan who was coming up from Coventry. She would be staying over at their house and then going back today (Tuesday)
The bus was due in at 12 and I got there in plenty of time...Actually I was there way too early as I had planned to pop round the shops and get a few bits first but town was so packed I really couldn't face the crowds.
At 12 I saw the bus approach and got up to go greet Nan but when the doors opened, No one came out. I asked the driver if he had just come from Birmingham but he said that he had come from the depot as he was due to swap buses when the Brum bus gets in. It was getting on for 12.15 and we were getting worried (Ange had turned up by then) I asked the new driver if he knew what was keeping them and he phoned up the driver of the other bus to see what the hold-up was. He was told that they were going to be 15 mins late. Well that was already way past.

Finally the bus arrived 25 minutes late and Nan told us that they had had to wait at Brum for another bus coming in.
We jumped in a cab and went off to Anges house.
Although I have had 2 children of my own and contributed from time to time with looking after DNephew, I neer cease to get excited when I see DNiece. When I walked through the door she had a big smile on her face and said "Hiya Jen" then when Ange walked in she yelled "Mum Jen!" As I tried to bring her attention to the fact that Nan was behind us.

I couldn't really stay as long as usual because I needed to get back home in time for DD & DS to get home from school. As we were all going out in the evening, we needed enough time to get ready and get our own taxis up to the restaurant.
Ange made a huge batch of toast and we all sat around eating toast and drinking coffee and catching up with Nan's news. To add to the occasion B-I-L's brother John arrived with a big bunch of flowers for Ange. He stayued for some toast and tea as well. It seems that I only see John on birthdays these days. It's a shame that he and his wife live so far away now as I really love chatting to him, he is the kind of guy you can just talk about owt with.

Another factor in the length of my stay there was that box 1 of my Christmas hamper was due to arrive. This is the frozen part - my Turkey; joints of Pork/Beef/Lamb; sausages; Bacon and other meat products. Luckily it arrived in time which is more than I can say for my taxi that only just got me home in time for DS strolling up the street.

Plans for the evening were to all meet up at the Brewers Fayre. The best thing about eating here is the kiddies supervised play area and of course the fact that you can get Nectar points on everything you buy.

The roads were horrendous and our taxi driver decided to take us on a tour of the city so as to avoid the traffic. He did a good job and we didn't get caught in any jams at all. As usalu though this meant that we were first to arrive and had to stand at the door waiting for everyone else. Debz was next to arrive and no sooner had we ordered a drink than Ange Rob Nan and the kids arrived too. We couldn't eat yet though as Ange had also invited Zoe who had to come straight from taking her little DD to Ballet class.
The children had a chance to have their hour of play (Which DS gets to join in with on account of he is watching the younger ones) whilst Nan gathered together everyones orders and got the food arranged. It was quite weird all 12 of us sat at this huge table.

I decided to have something a little different. I went for the Chilli, Lime & Coriander Glazed Chicken With chips and salad.

DD had Cheese and Bacon burger and chips which also contains Onion rings and was absolutely huge.
DS went for the Half a roast chicken and all the trimmings.

I have never known us lot to all be together and it be so quiet. I was so proud of DNephew as I hardly heard him at all and he ate all his pasta. I don't think DNiece was as good with the food but she didn't play up, just sat there happily. Of course she was in her element when the waiter brought them their colouring books and crayons which is the free gift they get with the kids meals.

I really couldn't fit in dessert but of course Debz and DS could. As always when we come to this place DS had the Chocolate induldence. Or as I have named it Death by Chocolate. Debz had the Black forest pudding and DD the Sticky toffee pudding.

It was a lovely evening out with the family and it was 9pm before we knew it. Debz was going back to Ange's for drinks but unfortunately as it was a school night I really had to get my 2 home to bed as otherwise they would never be up in the morning.

Only downer of the evening was when we got home to find all the lights out and had to traipse all the way up to the all night garage to get electric cards.

The best thing of all about Ange's bithday is that when it is over you know it is only 3 weeks to Christmas which will go in a flash!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGE!

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my darling younger sister Angela-Marie.
How old are you again Sis??!

High School musical

I have been checking my stats for this blog and my hits have gone through the roof the last week or so. OK I should be pleased and believe me I am but when I look closely at the people coming to my blog I find that they all searched the term HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL
This is peeps from all over the world too and all because I posted an entry after watching it weeks ago when it first premiered in the UK.

While I am on the subject, As you can imagine, I can't wait to buy the DVD on Monday and I might even stretch to the CD too.