Ideas above my Station

I had a thought.

Now, being a bear of very little brain, this usually does me no good whatsover. On this occasion, I do at least have something to show for it.

A scrapbooking shop advertised for a new member for their Design Team. Having been a scrapper of nearly five minutes' standing, I thought I would apply!

Having plucked up the courage to submit my entries, they put my LO and card in their gallery, and frankly my LO looks completely 'carp', as we say around here! Not sure if it just doesn't work as a thumbnail, or if it really is rubbish........

.......But the thing is, I am pleased with it. Actually I love it. I am filled with a sense of achievement, and feel proud to put it in my album, and say 'I made that'.

And that my friends is what scrapping is all about.

Happy Christmas....to Me!!!!!

Exciting news, oh reader mine! My Christmas present from everyone who knows and loves me will be arriving tomorrow!!!

Argos have rather thoughtfully put the Fuji S5600 in their sale, and yours truly has reserved one for collection tomorrow. Exciting huh?

Now, how on earth am I to resist the temptation to play with it between now and 25th December? I thought I could use the 'oh, but I need to practise so that I know how to take fab festive pics' line: not sure if it'll wash with himself though!

Off to dream of taking piccies. Quite how I have managed this long without a camera, goodness only knows.

Later!

Super Blooper

We have a lovely lady, Deborah, working as a temp in our office at the moment, helping to rid us of our astronomically humungously huge backlog of work. She lives locally, and as it turns out, her little girl went to pre-school with the Moll. Small world and all that.

I had seen her in the swimming pool the night before she started work with us, and she mentioned that her husband (a previous non-swimmer) has swimming lessons on a Tuesday night. Every Wednesday she asks how my swim went the night before, and if I saw her husband warming up for his lesson: apparently he arrives some time before for a practice swim.

This has been going on for some weeks, and today she again asked me if I was swimming: to which I replied 'but of course'. 'Oh, you must look out for him, he'll be wearing his red shorts tonight'. Being the dutiful sort of girl that I am, I promised that I would.

I got to the pool in good time, swam a bit, and had a little look round. Bear in mind at this point that I had to be subtle about it: didn't want people to get the wrong impression, and I'm not wearing my wedding ring to swim any more: it's too big! Imagine being chatted up by a fat woman with a ridickerous ponytail in a public swimming pool!!

So, I established that there was in fact only one man in the pool wearing red shorts. Still I hesitated: it really isn't the done thing to chat to complete strangers in swimming pools, is it? I mean, it's just not British. Stiff upper lip, reserve and all that. I wrestled with my conscience: I mean, she did ask me to say 'hello': how very rude they would think me for ignoring him after the conversation that she and I had had earlier.

I wrestled with these thoughts for half an hour, then decided to be positive. He was, after all the only man wearing red shorts, swimming in the right pool, and at the allotted time. Had to be him right?

So, casual as I could muster, I asked 'so, are you Derek?'
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.'No', came the reply.

There really isn't anywhere to hide in a swimming pool, is there?

Beetlebum

What a busy few weeks: I don't seem to have had a moment to myself! Mind you, have remedied that one by booking some Time Out in April! I am very, very excited to say that I have booked a place at a Scrappers Unlimited retreat! Three whole days of scrapping, chatting, and by the sounds of it, eating. We are staying in a fab hotel just outside Crickhowell, with beautiful views, and a pool. I am so excited I could burst! In order to bring myself back down to earth, there is of course the small matter of exactly how much overtime I need to work in order to pay for it, but it will make it all the sweeter when I get there.

Talking of work, we have had a major technical problem with our database of late (it died), which resulted in an enforced couple of days off. I had to go shopping on the first day: a tough assignment, but someone had to do it. By the second day I was all shopped out, and thought I would do something a little more, ahem, productive.

So, 10.30 on Tuesday found me at the Sports Centre (again: I think I am becoming such a familiar face that I am in danger of being invited to the staff Christmas party!), participating in something called 'BodyPump'.

Anticipating a sort of 'Aerobics class with cute little hand weights', I was somewhat taken aback at the sheer amount of equipment involved. A step, a mat, barbells (!), and several different sizes of weights. There were another couple of beginners there though, so it was okay, even enjoyable in parts.

Pleased with how my fitness levels have improved over the last couple of months, I so very nearly made it to the end of the class, too. Only one, small, slight problem....

Some of the exercises took place whilst we were lying down, on our backs, on the step. We held the barbells aloft, and waved them around in various directions. Given my habit of lugging boats around the boat park, I managed to keep up, and was really pleased to have made it to the end of the class. I rested the barbells across my hips, and congratulated myself on an hour well spent. The instructor then said 'you can sit up now'.

So there I was, lying on my back on a step, weighed down by a fair few kilos of barbell pinning me down by my hips.........could I get up??? Could I heck! Completely stranded, like a beatle waving it's legs in the air. I probably would have been mortally embarrassed, had I not been howling with laughter!

Guess where I am going in about half an hour.......:)