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Thursday Thirteen - Open University

Thursday Thirteen is a meme with one purpose:  to get to know bloggers better. Thirteen secrets they've never shared before, Thirteen random things about themselves or their lives that give the reader a better idea of who they are.

Thirteen Open University courses I've completed or intent to do:

1. A102 An Arts Foundation Course
2. A210 Approaching Literature
3. U210 The English Language: Past, Present and Future
4. M206 Computing: An Object-Oriented Approach
5. M301 Software Systems and their Development
6. M360 Developing Internet Applications
7. T171 You, Your Computer and the Net
8. M150 Data, Computing and Information
9. MT262 Putting Computer Systems to Work
10. T305 Digital communications
11. T209 Information and communication technologies: people and interactions
12. TM423 The T305 project
13. AA306 Shakespeare: text and performance

I've actually completed the first 8 and start MT262 in January.  I really enjoy studying with the OU and I can honestly see myself never stopping.  It's not even the certificates, diplomas and degrees I'm picking up.  I think I just enjoy keeping my brain active.

Do any of these courses interest you?

Current mood: Big-Smiley


Gahhhhh!

People!  Arrrgh!

I ask a simple question (The company web site is being updated.  Do you need your team details changed?) and three hours later I am somehow embroiled in a debate on whose responsibility it is to take the new staff photos.

I DON'T CARE!  DECIDE AND THEN LET ME KNOW!

...

This rant was brought to your by the letters F and O and the number 1.

--

In other news I'm leaving in 20 minutes as The Hildy wants to take the kids to a Christingle Service.  Why she wants to drag my athiest behind along escapes me.  Maybe she just likes making me squirm.  I might just dwell on that while surrounded on all sides by bible bashers.

--

In even more news I am looking to purchase for The Hildy a ring of finest platinum.  She has taken a liking to that actor from Robin Hood who plays Guy of Gisborn.  Obviously he is no threat to me as he is both a gay man and quite scruffy and I would never dream of questioning the fidelity of my love.  However on Saturday's Robin Hood he gave Marian a ring and I'm trying to find a still or a photo of it so I can get one made for her.

Any help will be rewarded with stars.

You may now mock my romantic streak.  Go ahead.  I'm prepared for a good mocking.

Current mood: Utterly intolerant

Statistical analysis

Is there anything more boring in the world than sorting through the stats for Cotober to try to see why we made less profit than the profit plan predicted even though we reached our targets?

Come on, someone must be doing something more boring than that.  Anyone?

To spice things up a bit here is a picture of a zombie surfing in lava.

Current mood: Bored


No time..

...No time for blogging.  Work is getting to me.

Must dash.

Current mood: Big-Smiley


If I ruled the world....

...things would be different.

1. Gentlemen would get up and offer their seats to ladies, the elderly and the young.
2. People would have respect for each other.
3. Truth would be the most important thing in politics.  Anyone caught lying would be dismissed and banished from this land.
4. Decisions would be based on fact and not guesswork or vague feelings.
5. Smaller government.  Do we need MPs, MEPs, Local Counsellors and all the different tiers of government to manage us?
6. Simplify the tax and benefits system to streamline the huge amount of staff and resources that are required to administer this system badly.  One tax and one benefit.  I envision a system where each person is given an "allowance" by the government that will cover basic needs only for that individual.  Each individual would get this, man, woman, or child.  Earners are then taxed on every pound they earn.  That's it.  No other taxation.
   This way those that work are better off than those who don't
   I realize I'm not tax expert so if anyone wants to improve this please let me know.
7. Free education for all for life.  Funded by the taxes that we pay.
8. Free healthcare for all for life.  Funded by the taxes that we pay.
9. Personal responsibility would be instilled into all members of society.

There are many others but I'd be interested in hearing what my fellow bloggers would do if they ruled the world.

Currently playing: The Theme to Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Current mood: Sceptical


Thursday Thirteen

In my wanderings around the blogosphere today I've seen a few comments about his Thanksgiving thing that seems to be so popular in the former colonies of the British Empire.  In the spirit of the moment I give you thirteen things that I am thankful for.  I'm not exactly sure who I'm thankful to but I'm going to ignore that particular conundrum for today.

1. The Hildy.
   I know it's a cliche but I'm incredibly happy for the love of this great woman.  I really don't know what she sees in me. 
2. The tadpoles.
   Snarly Beth, Cake Worm, Tiny Tasha and, Little Al.  The greatest young people I ever could meet and they make me laugh out loud every day.  I'm truly blessed for having fathered such delightful children.
3. My home.
   It may be cluttered and too small but the roof keep the rain off and the walls stop the chill wind from getting in.  Plus it's mine (apart from the bit that the bank own).
4. My job.
   I may whinge about the work that I do and the morons that I work with but I have a job that keeps my brain very active and pays me well for something that I enjoy doing.
5. My brother.
   I never mention the annoying little sod but my baby brother Adam is a good bloke.  I count him as my friend as well as my family.
6. My health.
   Another cliche I'm afraid.  However apart from some slight damage to my eyes and a small problem with being a bit of a chunky monkey I'm in perfect health.  I have all my own teeth at least.
7. My intellect.
   I'm very thankful that I have the ability to comprehend things rather than just to react to events.  I see so many people react to things that happen to them without any understanding of the events that caused them.  They often make things worse.
   Of course I am incredibly sad that I am intelligent enough to know that I'll never know everything because I'd really like to be omnipotent.
8. Emotional stability.
   I have my ups and downs like everyone else but all told I feel that I am incredibly stable as a person.  Well, unless you sit in my seat on the train or try to steal food that I'm eating.
9. My imagination.
   I like to think of myself as imaginative.  Undoubtedly there are people whose imagination surpasses my own but there are many others who do not.
10. The written word.
    Really, who thought of this?  Take an idea.  Make some marks.  Share the idea.  Amazing
11. Electricity.
    Possibly he greatest discovery of modern times.  What sort of world would we live in without it?
12. Cheese.
    Whoever invented cheese has my eternal thanks.  If ever a better foodstuff were created it would be perfection in the mouth.
13. Sex.
    Last but not least.  My thanks for the biological imperative that is procreation knows no bounds.

So, that is what I am thankful for.  What are you thankful for?

My thoughts are with Alicia and Simon at this difficult time for them.  While nothing I can say or do will ease their pain I hope that they derive some small comfort from this brief message.

Current mood: Big-Smiley


War Pigs

Thanks to cha0tic

Which is better?

The Black Sabbath version

Ozzy's version

Faith No More's version

The Dresden Dolls version

Place your votes now please.

Current mood: Big-Smiley

Generous

This is a picture of my eldest daughter, Snarly. 

If you're allowed to see Photobucket pcitures then you'll see that she is wearing a LEPRA t-shirt.  She got this t-shirt at school for raising £60 for the charity.  Well, she hassled me to bring the envelope to work and I hassled the workers for money but she gets the credit.  Also because she raised over £21 she gets the snazzy t-shirt pictured above.

Ignore the mess in the background.  Most of it is The Hildy's.

I was a bit dissappointed to hear though that Snarly was the only child in her school to raise this much money.  Not just the class or the year but the whole school.  She had a presentation and everything.

Is it just me or were we more charitable when I was a school child?

Current mood: Big-Smiley


Too much

The Hildy and I were having a discussion last night.  (It's what we do when we're not having sex).  It was one of those wide ranging discussions that encompassed all the world's wrongs.

To summarise:

1. We will never agree on euthanasia.
2. There are people in this world who really should be sterilized.
3. The unemployed should earn their benefits through community work.
4. People have too many rights.
5. Government and the courts seem to be devoid of common sense.
6. The shallow end of the gene pool needs some bleech.
7. While religion is undoubtedly a force to bring communities together it also works to seperate these same communities from others who hold differing belief systems.

Tonight I'm planning on going out before we fix the rest of the world.

Current mood: Sceptical


Feed me, feed me now.

I spent Friday working from home and making sure my eldest daughter, Snarly, and her two best mates didn't break anything in the house.  The Hildy was running a course for some of her scum clients on parenting skills.  She had seven of the twenty court ordered parents actually attend.  Which is a record high.

Anyway, they're scum and need to be neutered to stop their kids from being as foul as they are but that's not what I'm here about today.  Oh no.  Today I am here to tell you about cookery.  Yes I am.

As with most blokes I was catered on by my mother until I left home.  The first year of university was in halls so I was provided with basic meals so I didn't have to cook for myself.  After this I was in a shared house and had to cater for myself.

I shall be eternally grateful to my housemate Helen for teaching me the basics of cookery.  I am especially grateful for the time she spent showing me how to make white sauce.  For with white sauce most other sauces can be made.  Particularly cheese sauce.  I do love a bit of sauce.

So Saturday is a bit of a blur with many household tasks and finances and crap like that being sorted out and the eldest two going out for sleepovers.  We had a video night with the twins and there was much rejoicing.  Tiny Tasha likes the idea of having a room of her own when we finally move.  Bless her.

I think I spent most of Sunday in the kitchen with Tiny Tasha and Cake Worm.  We were preparing the Sunday dinner so I had the girls peel potatoes, scrape carrots, brush honey on parsnips, cut broccoli, dice swede and fill the vegetable steamer with water.  I also got them to dice an onion and make the gravy.  I don't think it will be many years before they can cook a Sunday roast with out any help.

I have a half day today and am going home in a minute.  I might get the kids to bake some cookies when they get home from school.

How did you learn to cook?

Current mood: Big-Smiley


Slightly more cheerful

Following on from yesterday's sad blog I thought I'd go for something a bit more cheerful.

Unfortunately I can't think of anything.

It might have something to do with me actually doing some work while I'm working from home.  Or it might be a general lack of imagination on my part.

Please suggest a cheerful topic and I'll blog about it.

Maybe.

Failing that I'll have to tell you about my Dungeons and Dragons blog.  Then you'd all look at me like I was some sad, middle aged geek.

Current mood: Sceptical


Sad news (very long)

In lieu of my usual but somewhat sporadic Thursday Thirteen I'm going to tell you a sad story.

About seven years ago I moved into a house with The Hildy and my four kids.  Our next door neighbour on one side was Jan and her soon to be wayward teenage daughter Briony.  On the other side was an elderly couple, Jack and Betty.  jack and Betty were in their late 60s.  He had retired a few years before and she had been a housewife and homemaker.  They were settling in to retirement as I imagine most people do.  He would do jobs around the house and she would potter about in the garden.  Both of them spent a lot of time out and about doing whatever it is that retired people do to fill their time.

They were quite tolerant of me and mine and the noise four primary school kids can make and always had a kind word to say when we bumped into them.  Betty even offered to baby sit so The Hildy and I could go out once in a while.  An offer that we never took up mainly because I am paranoid and we hadn't known them for at least thirty years, hadn't run a police check on them and hadn't subjected them to eight hours of questioning under torture.  They were a kind and active couple with a score or more years ahead of them.

About five years ago Jack and Betty were returning from a shopping trip when Jack slipped up and fell over.  He bumped his head and was knocked out.  Betty phoned an ambulance. 

Now I should explain that we live near a school, not far from a town centre but there is only one road to our street and it is extremely difficult to find your way around because of the strange numbering system the houses have.  Odd numbers are at one end of the square and even numbers are at the other end.  Also the road looks like it comes off a roundabout on a map but it really doesn't.  This is all OK because only people who live there ever need to get there and we don't mind the quiet and lack of traffic.  Not one bit.

So Betty phoned the ambulance.

Now I should also explain that recent cuts by the local council at the time meant that local ambulance services were moved to Cosham, 10 miles away.  This meant that the ambulance had to zoom along the motorway, find it's way into town, find our square, and then find Betty's house.  Her house happened to be out of the way of a road to make matters worse.

45 minutes later the ambulance collected Jack and took him to Emergency.  Sadly lying on cold tarmac with a head injury isn't conducive to good health and he had suffered some problems with his lungs and some brain damage. 

Jack returned home some months later as a shadow of his former self.  He suffered from memory problems and reduced mobility. Betty had to care for him all by herself as her two children lived hundreds of miles away.  Social services interfered and tried to get him put in a home but what Betty really wanted was some help around the house.  Unfortunately this was not the cheapest option and besides which neighbours (that would be The Hildy and I) were helping out with shopping and such.  If any of you have young children you'll appreciate exactly how much help we actually were (or weren't) especially when you consider that I typically leave for work at 7:15 and don't get home for 12 hours.

Betty managed reasonably well all things considered but her health deteriorated as she was run ragged making sure Jack didn't wander off in the middle of the night (as he did on a couple of occasions) or decide he was going to cook for himself and set the house on fire (which only happened once).  After a few years Betty had a mild heart attack and Jack got suffered a big one and had to go to hospital.

He caught one of those bugs that seem so popular in hospitals these days, caught pneumonia, got a blood clot, had a stroke and went into a coma.  He died a few weeks later.

Betty never really recovered.  She went from an energetic sixty something to a vague and unhealthy seventy something who would forget your name in mid sentence.  I think it was the stress of her husband's illness and death that caused her ill health but I'm not a doctor.  Again social services were no help for this frail, old lady who wanted to keep some measure of her independence.

Apparently independence is too expensive.

Instead Betty moved out of her little house in the middle of the community that she had lived in for thirty years to stay with her daughter, Di, in London.  She owns a restaurant with her husband and they are very busy but didn't want to leave her on her own.

Di told us yesterday that Betty has died.  Her funeral is on Wednesday.

Is anyone else on the verge of tears?

Current mood: Sad and more than a little bit angry


Me, myself and I

I'm sitting opposite a crazy person who is talking to herself.  Not the usual mutterings associated with high levels of concentration but actual clear conversation.  I've been staring but I've resisted the urge to say anything for fear of encouraging her.

It's not really the talking that is starting to grate on my nerves, it's the occassional question that I feel I should answer.  It's like a bee that just won't go away.  You know, harmless but annoying, only really a problem if you panic or try to get in it's way.

Do you think I should say anything or just shush?

Do you talk to yourself?

I must admit that I do on occassion.  Usually when I am trying to work out something very complicated in my head.  I find people leave me alone when I yammer away to myself like a loony.

Current mood: Sceptical

Bloody Weather

Lazy blogging.....

You Are Snow

Magical yet potentially destructive You are well known as fun to play with People anticipate your arrival but then are quickly sick of you You are best known for: your serenity Your dominant state: reflecting

Current mood: Cool


This is just wrong

http://www.cillitbangremix.com/

I sat through all 96 seconds of this hell and I see no option but to torture the rest of hunanity with it.

Turn up your volume.

Current mood: Meanie

Fortunately Unfortunately

I'm totally lacking inspiration today.  I blame it on the ridiculous amount of sleep I got last night.  First I fell asleep half way through Torchwood and woke up in time to see the closing credits then my stoopid brain thought that as I had been asleep it was now time to be awake and refused to change it's mind. 

Fortunately The Hildy isn't feeling well so I gave her a cuddle until I finally dozed off at about 3:30am.

Unfortunately the alarm woke me at 6 with Annoying Radio.  I only have the annoying radio on so I have to get out of bed to switch it off.  Of course since laying the new floor the bedroom has once again become a dumping ground for laundry that needs putting away, ironing, boxes of books, and all sorts of odds and sods that seem designed to catch and injure toes.  Sadly my usual ninja like grace doesn't kick in until after my third coffee so I made a certain amount of noise in getting up this morning.  This was something that the cat decided to berate me about very loudly as I bimbled down the stairs to put the kettle on.

Fortunately I am forbidden from kicking the cat or swearing at her for Cake Worm loved RizCat. 

Unfortunately I cannot bear Cake Worm sad so I put up with the loud and indignant meowing and raising of the fur.  The damn thing's lucky I didn't fall on her this morning.  Pesky cat.

Fortunately a quick bath and several cups of tar like coffee I began to feel more like my normal self. 

Unfortunately the train company decided to take my caffeinated good mood and crush it like a fragile leaf left on the line.  My train was cancelled and I was forced to trek all the way to Pompey in an overcrowded train to wait for half an hour for a service to run.

Fortunately I had plenty of time to read all of the Guardian.  This is not something I usually get to do until I get home.

Unfortunately the satsumas I put in my pocket for lunch were crushed by some evil commuters.  Now I have a coat that smells all satsumery.

Fortunately I eventually got to work at 10:30 having missed the awesome responsibility of being the duty post supervisor for the morning post.

Unfortunately I'm still brain dead.

Current mood: Big-Smiley


Man I love de cake!!!

In typical supportive style The Hildy has purchased for me a delicious Ginger cake for my lunch.

She said that as I wasn't eating bread any more then I should eat cake.

Man I love de cake!!!

Don't you wish your partner was so supportive?

She has also hidden the scales so I am unable to report on how much weight I've lost. I'm guessing it was about

I may need to eat dust for the rest of the month.

Current mood: Big-Smiley


I hate Derek Acorah

Also Big Brother 2 winner Brian.

I have very good reasons for hating them.

You see, they are both stereotypes.  Brian is a great, big, screaming, nancy boy of the worst kind.  He plays up his stereotypical "gay" mannerisms to an obsene level that makes me want to smack him in the mouth with a hammer.  I'm sure he set back the general attitude people have towards homosexuals by a decade.

Now fake psychic Derek Acorah (here seen with cowardly Yvette Fielding from such shows as Blue Peter and Most Haunted) is the worst kind of stereotype.  Not only does he exaggerate his psychic "gifts" to an embarrassingly hammy level normally reserved for amateur dramatic performances of Gilbert and Sullivan but he wears leather trousers.  This is unforgivable.  The only man permitted to wear leather trousers is Paul Darrow.

Derek Acorah has single handedly destroyed any belief that I may have had in spirits, ghosts or voices from beyond the grave.  I like to think that I'm open minded but not when it comes to lying buggers like Derek exploiting and sensationalizing people's grief and gullability.

Anyway, onto Paul Darrow who I do not hate.

Anyone unfamiliar with Paul's sterling work as an actor should now hang their head shame.  He is probably best known for playing the moody and a bit camp anti-hero Kerr Avon in TV's Blake's 7.  You may have seen Blake himself (actor Gareth Thomas) on Torchwood a few weeks ago.  Anyway youcan hear Paul as Henry VIII in 'Ghostbuster Diaries: My Three Ladies' on BBC7's Listen Again service until Friday 10 November (15 minutes) - HERE.

It's well worth the time.

Current mood: Big-Smiley


Tomatopuree tagged me

Q1 How many people have you been romantically in love with?

I'm confused by this because whenever I split up with someone I convince myself that I never really liked them that much in the first place.  So, that would be four.

Q2 How many people have you had sex with?

Concurrently?  Two.  Consecutively, more than two but less than eighty two.  Almost exactly.

Q3 Capital Punishment is proven not to work, however, which 3 people in the world do you think we should make absolutely sure with?

Capital punishment is just wrong.  However as this is hypothetical and a bit of fun I'd bump off Kenneth Clark, Maggie Thatcher and George W Bush.

Q4 How would you kill them?

Kenneth Clark would die by being trampled by sheep.  Thatcher would die in exactly the way she is going now but with more raving madness.  Bush would be forced to drink the blood of all those who have died as a result of his orders.

Q5 Who do you think of most when masturbating?

Myself.  Masturbation is inherently selfish.

Q6 What has been your most harrowing experience?

I'd prefer not to say but I've had the odd moment where I've gone "ARRRGGGHHH!"

Q7 How often have you been unfaithful?

To The Hildy?  Never.  All previous girlfriends don't count.  Do they?

Q8 What is the most valuable item you have stolen?

Ummm, probably a pen.  I'm not exactly a master thief.

Q9 What would be the lowest wage you could accept to do your dream job?

My dream job would have to pay at least 7 figures to be my dream job.  Assuming this was the case I'd do it for nothing.

Q10 Have you been 100% truthful in answering the above questions?

As much as I'm 100% truthful about this answer as well.

I am sending this "I Me Mine" to 5 people on P27 and 5 from elsewhere and would ask all recipients to do the same; 5 on their normal platform and 5 elsewhere.  Please cut and paste it onto your blog before leaving a comment here to let me know when your answers are up.

27ers

1. Tomatopuree
2. Sioned
3. Racheroo
4. Oink
5. Diva

Non 27ers

1. Amylou
2. Button
3. Katja
4. Mas
5. Heather

Current mood: Big-Smiley

Evil Dictator

So, Saddam is to be hanged for the crime of mass murder.  What do you think of that then?

I must say that I'm not a big fan of the death penalty.  I think that a country should not murder it's citizens.  I realise he's been quite a bad lad but how is Iraq's young government better than the previous ruler if they stoop to the same methods?

I heard one theory that the sentence would be carried out as soon as possible so that George W's political enemies wouldn't be able to call Saddam as a witness in future impeachment proceedings.

Sounds a bit far fetched really.  What do you think?

Current mood: Sceptical


Santa

Hurry up Santa I can't wait much longer.

I bought my Christmas cards yesterday.  They cost me the princely sum of £1 for all 50.  As you can imagine these cards are of the highest quality.  Some even have glitter on them.  The sort of glitter that sticks to everything.  Pure class.

Why am I such a cheapskate when it comes to Christmas cards I hear you cry?

Well, it's because they are naff, that's why.  They are a great big pile of rubbish that annoys me.  The people who I work with (lets call them workmates) exchange cards every year and the vast majority of them are left (in the envelope) in a drawer until mid January.  Then they are thrown out.  Occassionally someone will display their cards for a few days but then they get annjoyed with knocking them over and pack them away or take them home.

There are those people who I will be purchasing posh cards for.  They are relatives and old friends in different parts of the world and I usually add a small comment about writing to them properly at a latter day.  Not this year though.  This year I'm writing to all of them.  Oh yes.  I mean it.

All told, I'd rather keep the money (or give some to charity) than line the pockets of card makers.  Does that make me a bad person?

In other news I read in the Sunday Times that children these days are growing up awfully quickly and stop believing in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Santa, goblins, fairies and such by the age of six years.  This is a marked decrease of the ten years that (apparently) my generation stopped believing in these things.   This article disturbed me because it was clearly written with the assumption that these things don't exist.  Whereas clearly they do.  I mean who else would deliver Christmas pressies to all those children if not Santa?  Eh?  I ask you that.

Current mood: Big-Smiley


Hungry

This "not eating between meals" things that I'm doing......

....is it supposed to leave me feeling quite so hungry?

I hear that there is chocolate in Platform 27 stars....

Current mood: Hungry

Bollocks

I've just been involved in giving a bollocking to someone for "inappropriate email and Internet usage".  I fear my double life as a blogger may be coming to an end.  Except at weekends.  And possibly evenings.

In other news I've been given the option of upgrading The Hildy's phone for free to a Siemens C75 through the work contract.  Are they any good?  At the moment she's got a Orange SPV C500 which does the job well enough but isn't anything to do a dance about.

I've be getting a spiffing new Blackberry donchaknow.  That way I'll never be away from work......

....Bugger!

Also, I've got to call a woman called Jeff in a minute.  I'm concerned that whoever took the call has got the name wrong but they tell me that it's definitely right.

Finally, is it racist to keep saying "Potato, potato, potato" to the Irish woman in the office.  It's just that she won't shut up and it's the only thing that works.

Current mood: Big-Smiley


Places I've lived

Having been busy last week laying laminate flooring I missed out on the Thursday Thirteen.  I did mean to post this last week following on from a few comments I've had about moving around a lot and living in different places.

Anyway. Thirteen Places that I've lived, in order with duplicates omitted.

1. Limavady, Londonderry
   The place where I was born.
2. Akrotiri Bay, Cyprus
   The place where my brother was born.
3. Peterborough, Norfolk
   A brief stay after the Old Man left the Army
4. Liss, Hampshire
   Training for the Old Man int he pub trade
5. Southampton, Hampshire
   Their first pub
6. Aldershot, Hampshire
   An OK place to live especially if you don;t mind squaddies.
7. Littlemore, Oxford
   A very pleasant town
8. Farnham, Hampshire
   I was trapped on a council estate so my opinion of Farnham is not that high.
9. Reading, Berkshire
   A shit hole.  A violent, unpleasant, soul destroying place.  Sorry Diva.
10. Bordon, Hampshire
    Possible the armpit of the country.
11. Havant, Hampshire
    I've had five different addresses in Havant and possibly a sixth next year.
12. Cardiff, South Glamorgan
    I loved Cardiff.  I went to uni there and had the best time ever.  I was in halls in Penarth and then rented in Roath.
13. Portsmouth, Hampshire
    A strange place.  Very busy with wildly differing social groups depending on where you live in the city.  It's damn crowded.  I lived in Copnor and Southsea and it's like living in two different countries rather than the same city.

There you go.  I don't think I've missed any.  Have you lived anywhere near me?

Current mood: Big-Smiley


Halloween

Proof that borrowing from our American cousins is sometimes a good idea.

A pumpkin

Little Al as a Reaper

Tiny Tasha as a Witch

Snarly Beth as Pumpkin Head 

Cake Worm as Vlad

All Four Monsters

A good time was had by all

Current mood: Big-Smiley

Cuddly

Have I mentioned to anyone my desire to shed a few pounds?

No?  Well I want to.  Actually I don't care about the weight really.  It's more the unattractive mass that used to be a six pack when I was a young rugby player.

In order to assist me in the losing of the spare tire I am employing a variety of tactics.

1. I am not snacking between meals.
2. I am actually going to spend an average of 10 more minutes per day doing some kind of exercise.  This doesn't include walking to the biscuit tin.
3. My booze consumption will be curtailed to a more reasonable level.  I think to a quarter of what I am drinking now.
4. I am not eating bread in November.  This should give me some room for Christmas food.
5. I'm going to stop eating when I'm full

There you go.  Less in and more out (in terms of energy).  I should be as thin as a rake in no time.

----

In other news I've just eaten a huge fruit cake for breakfast and I'm having pumpkin soup for dinner tonight.  What should I dunk in it though?

Also I posted this picture of Snarly on a previous entry (I added it in a few days later) but no one has commented on it.  Please note her adorableness and the fact that she is cuddling Pink Ted.  She still has Pink Ted but he's more grey than pink now.

Current mood: Big-Smiley