Also, I was half tempted to post pics, as I tried to keep a record of before/during/after, however I’m not sure if I want to put them on here, as there’s a few people who read this site that I am not comfortable with showing. Hmm, maybe in the future. Or maybe I’ll start another blog alongside this one, but this time I’ll stay anonymous Seriously though, I vow to post pics in the early months of 2008, when I’ll be nearing my main goals.

I’ll have to check with the neighbours tomorrow to see if they had any surprise visitors.

I realise that this blog post may make me seem rather mean and scrooge-like to some of my readers from across the pond, but here in the UK, Halloween is not widely celebrated. When it is celebrated it tends to be by very annoying kids who have nothing better to do and the spirit is nothing like you have in the USA. Also the children that do get to go trick or treating with their parents, seem to have been brought up with the mentality that when they knock on a door, they should instantly be rewarded with sweets. I wasn’t aware that knocking on a door should have free rewards associated with it?? Hmm

Someone really needs to invent something wonderful to get rid of that niggly crappy feeling that we all have on a Monday. There’s nothing like a Monday to ruin those happy feelings you have at the weekend. Still, at least it reminds me that I need to get on with some work.

It’s also my Mum’s birthday - 49 today! Well done mum Time to go out for some dinner infact… I’d better make it a salad, who knows how many calories they chuck into greasy fried pub food these days!

It’s a horribly upsetting time for all of us . She has always been the really active one out of all my grandparents and she’s lived nearby for the last 10+ years. So we’ve got used to seeing her active and happy 2-3 times a week for as long as I can really remember.

I think the worst part for me would be getting used to seeing her in the mornings and having the chance to spend time with her more, but then one day waking up without her. I’ve not yet had to experience the loss of a family member. The closest I’ve really been to death in my lifetime was when the girl who sat next to me in junior school, Sophie, was killed in a road accident. We were 8 years old.

I can only hope that she enjoys her time here with us and that when the inevitable does happen it is peaceful and painless.

Anyway, I finally got an appointment at the local doctor’s surgery yesterday - a difficult enough task in itself as their computer system is broken at the moment, meaning it’s more like a free for all between elderly women with machine gun coughs, young children who scream and screech for no apparent reason and businessmen trying to look suave in their suits. I can assure you, it’s great fun!

The duty doctor decided to prescribe four items for me, tablets and an inhaler. Which brings me onto the whole point in this post. What the hell is up with prescription charges? £6.85 per item? Hahahaha - what?! It cost me £27.40 yesterday. I pay my National Insurance, I pay my taxes, I’m rarely ill, why am I being charged for struggling to breathe?

Luckily there would be a benefit if I was constantly ill and needed medication monthly. You are able to get a pre-paid certificate which is the equivalent cost of 4-5 items (£32), and will get you all your prescription medication for a four month period. Useful for the constantly ill, but of no great benefit to people like myself.

I can’t wait to be conned out of more money by the Government soon…

If anyone reading this is interested in keeping in touch, please feel free to post a comment. I’m always happy to have new blogging friends - especially now I’m getting back into the swing of things!

On a more positive note, I purchased a MacBook Pro today from the Apple store in Southampton. I must say, I’m very impressed so far, although the OSX operating system will take a bit of getting used to. All in good time though I suppose!!

Sort it out!

A few things have happened since I last updated. Firstly and rather sadly, my favourite Grandmother was diagnosed with Motor Neurone’s Disease at the start of the year. This was deeply shocking to us and it’s quite heartbreaking for me personally as she’s been there for me all through my short life. She’s only 69, yet they’ve given her just 12 months to live. Life can be so cruel and unfair sometimes. I guess in a way it has just made me more determined to make sure I enjoy my life as much as I can.

Secondly, I’m still running my business and things are still going very well. We’ve just invested a fair bit of money in some new print technology and will very soon be able to offer more products to our customers.

Aside from that the Cricket season has started again so am looking forward to a nice hot summer and plenty of beer. I’ve also given up smoking…something that had drawn me in over the winter months in particular. Stress from work turned me to smoking…urgh.

Roll on summer!

So yeah, I’m still not really sure what to write but I’ll think of something soon! As Luke pointed out, I’ve been playing around with the look of my blog again, as the other day I was trying to decide if I still want to keep it or not. I’ve decided that for the moment I’m going to keep it going as it’s nice to have a bit of light relief away from the stress of work.

Anyway, more of an update later on