Smartzstock 2013

Stacey and I travelled up to Ullswater yesterday along with Gill from work (in her Smart ForTwo) and her friend Ruth (in her Smart Roadster) where we met up with some people from the Smartz forum for the annual Smart Car owner meet. First thing we did when we got there was put the tent up...

...and we put Stumpy IN IT! Haha! That was a really good laugh :)

Then once we had sorted all our stuff out we all went out for a lovely drive round the Lake District. 5 Smart ForTwos and a Roadster and we took the ferry across to Windermere.

Of course the weather was hideous but we had a good drive and saw about 40 Figaro's out in their annual rally. They were SO pretty! Pastel pinks, blues, greens and lemon. They all peeped their horns and have us a wave. It was lovely!

We did a quiz on the evening (after copious amounts of alcohol) and we had a really good laugh. It was nice to meet some other people with a Passion for their Smart!

I think I am going to look into starting a Darlington & District Smarties Club were we can meet up once a month and go out for a nice drive!

I have had a FANTASTIC weekend!

Moving On...

So I have probably applied for about 50 jobs now and have had 1 interview for an Office Manager job - didn't get it but only because I don't have line manager experience. I think *fingers crossed* I might have a job at Student Loans - direct access from NAAFI instead of going through a temp agency. It's back shift hours 6pm-2am but for me that actually works out well :) I am really rather excited about it and hope I can turn around in a month and blog about my new job!

Smunkee production is coming on slowly, I doubt I will have the number I had planned as I only have 15 days left and only 44 Smunkees lol!

This weekend Stacey and I are going to a Smart Car rally! It sounds like it's going to be FUN! Camping at Ullswater with drunken quizzes and a Smarty Tube (drive out with only Smart cars). I will try and get some good photos!

This evening will be mostly Smunkee making with a brief stint at the pub with the Boys Brigade lot ^_^

Spud x

A lot to have lost...

Well it is nearly September and I have lost my Nanny, my relationship with Ste, the house, my friendship with Ste and now my job.

I now have no contact with the Lauder's - it all went sour towards the end. Oh well, another year wasted of potentially being happy with someone I love :(

My work is going through massive restructure and I got made redundant at the end of July so I have until 31st October to find a new job. So far I have applied for about 30 positions and heard nothing back about any of them! It is very disheartening and frustrating knowing I can do these jobs but haven't been given the chance to show I can.

I moved out of my parents and into a beautiful apartment share with a Kiwi called Jon. It's a lovely apartment and Jon and I get on great :)

I have some exciting news about Smunkees - I will be holding a stall at the first ever Festival of Thrift on 21/22 September at Lingfield Point. I have Public Liability Insurance now so I should be able to do other stalls as well. I have been Smunkee making nearly every day for a couple of weeks now but still need to make about 50+ Smunkees in 31 days! Eeeeek!

Now I just continue job hunting, Smunkee making and try not to get too down in the dumps!

Spud x

Summer? What Summer?

Well, I have moved back in with my parents - into the Dining Room/Conservatory section of the house. Quite roomy, bit stuffy and VERY bright, especially at 5am in the morning! It took a little while to reschedule my sleeping pattern as I was used to getting up at 5:30am every morning.

Unfortunately I have been poorly and the doctors are investigating Asthma :( So I now have two different coloured Inhalers and a Peak Flow Monitor!

Ste & I have been going to a couple of bike meets in the area which is nice - I get to see LOTS of pretty motorbikes and even got to sit on one! I just have to get my licence sorted now so I can get my own bike. Ste is off to Germany at the end of July for a week - I can't go :( he doesn't want to have to ride with me on the back, which makes sense. I don't think I will win the lottery and pass 3 bike tests by 26th July (not to mention get a passport) otherwise I could have gone too!

Work is as manic as ever - it often feels like we will never reach the end of the tunnel but I am told the end is near!

I had to pull out of auditions for the next Darlington Operatic Society show as I lost my voice :( I hope to continue on as a crew member though.

So for now it's all go making Smunkees for Darlington Community Carnival at the end of the month.

If the weather brightens up a bit I might even take myself off camping to Loughrigg Tarn again.

I took Ste last weekend, however he doesn't really do proper camping and I think I would prefer it on my own :)

Spud x

War Wound from moving house!

So we started moving out of the house yesterday and we are nearly done today, however I came out with a killer war wound...

I didn't realise how deep it was until the blood started seeping through my leggings and running down my leg :/

Luckily Ste found me a Finding Nemo plaster lol!

So now I am at Ste's babysitting his sister (M) as he is out at Sunderland Dogs and his mum (J) is out in Yarm. I wonder which one of them will get in first!

I am knackered but gotta stay up at least as long as M :/ We are currently watching Modern Family which is always a good laugh. We attempted to play Monopoly however M is VERY easily distracted and it took 20 minutes to go round the board 3 times! So we gave up trying to do two things at once lol!

So we need to finish off moving stuff then start cleaning the house. Maybe we can have a day of doing absolutely nothing on Monday before going back to work on Tuesday.

It will be completely weird being at home on my own every evening and waking up on my own, but Ste and I will still see each other however many times a week and we are going out for a meal on my birthday and camping in June :)

10 days till House Move

Wow, where has this month gone? There are only 10 days left before Ste and I start moving out. We haven't even started thinking about packing yet :/ I have had a clothing de-clutter and donated a large bag of clothing to charity. I have LOADS of make up, toiletries and jewellery that I shall give away to Ste's sister and Jane's little girl. The less stuff I have to take to my mums the more living space I will have (as it is very limited). Ste is at work this weekend so I will probably spend the weekend having a good clear out and start packing.

I can't believe it is only 18 days until my birthday! I haven't a clue what I would like. Maybe just clothing vouchers or something. I have all the techy things that I wanted :) my iPad rocks! I also have a whole week off work the second week in May and have no idea what to do with myself! Maybe just make Smunkees or something :/ as I haven't made any in about a month.

DarlingtonOS rehearsals probably start again on 9th May so I hope to get back into that for the October show. Should keep me occupied one evening a week :)

Ste and I are going to The Yorkshire Show in July and might go camping in early June. That will be nice. It feels like I haven't been away on a relaxing weekend in forever! I think Loughrigg Tarn is a perfect little hideaway for us to get away (as friends) for a long weekend.

I am going to buy some hair dye this evening and some new clothes for work so this evening I have something to do other than sat in front of the tv all night!

Spud x

Sad times...

Unfortunately my Nanny passed away last month and then Ste announced he didn't want to live together anymore. So it has been a tough few weeks. Work is also manic which doesn't help matters. I am feeling a little lost at the moment. Ste and I are going to remain as "Companions" a bit like Sherlock Holmes & Joan Watson in Elementary!

So we have a couple of weeks to get the house packed up and put into storage whilst Ste and I move back to our parents houses. We still have snuggles and go out for dinner and bike rides which is fab :)

So Jane decided to drown her sorrows because of recently turning 30, so we should went to Leeds for a girly weekend! That was this weekend...11 of us in total :) I must say it was a pretty epic weekend and Ste let me loose with his credit card so I treated myself to a haircut. That always makes me feel better when I am down in the dumps.

It is Sunday afternoon. Back to work tomorrow and the house is a tip :(

There is washing to do and things to tidy.

Bugger it, Ste is watching the football and I am going to paint my nails and RELAX on the sofa ;)

Spud x

Valentine's Day

So today is the first Valentine's Ste and I have spent with each other! I really fancied receiving a single red rose but Ste refused to buy any flowers and got me this instead!

EPIC PRESSIE! :) That's a full working weeks worth of comedy right there! Might just have to watch a couple of episodes on an evening. It is a fab present but I am a little bit sad that I didn't get my rose :(

We haven't planned to go out for a meal or anything so will spend a quiet evening in tonight, as we have a busy weekend ahead of us! Hair appointments, fixing bikes, babysitting, coffee meetings, lunch dates, shopping, theatre ticket reservations and a landlord visit! Phew we will be knackered and Monday will be here before we know it!

We are off to see Moscow State Circus next Friday night at the Civic Theatre :) I am really looking forward to it! Then two weeks tomorrow we are off to London! I am even more excited for that :)

This is my Single Red Rose :) it'll do just fine!

danidumpling signing off.

It's February?!

Where on earth has the beginning of this year gone? I got Stumpy back and he is all fixed :) Ste and I have been to The New Forest last weekend, which was expensive and exhausting! 800 miles in a Smart Car in 4 days isn't advisable.

It was lovely to spend some time with my auntie and uncle and my cousins (who are now 5 and nearly 3) who I haven't seen in 2 years! It is such a beautiful place but very expensive to live there. I think Ste and I will aim to move to North Yorkshire, which is just as beautiful but less expensive :)

On the way down souf we stopped off in Winchester and spent lots of monies...

Ste's wellies are really cool, as is my new coat and handbag! By this point we had practically run out of money before we had even got to The New Forest! We indulged ALOT, on takeout and ice cream. My diet has definitely gone out the window and I haven't yet climbed back on the wagon :/

We went to West Quay on the Saturday and Ste bought me a new dress. It is really pretty ^_^ and super comfortable! I need to get some new tights to go with it though as I laddered my green ones :(

I am into the country look at the moment :) Ste now has braces to go with his tweed and cords. He even gets dressed up just fir the ASDA delivery man ;o)

Quite the farmer!

Today is the 9 Month Anniversary of Ste and I first meeting :) and I love him so much! We have lots of things planned for this year, and next! Off to London at the beginning of March, super exciting! Not sure if we are going to see a show at the theatre or not, we shall see :) it is just nice to get away from work and Darlington and spend some quality time with Farmer Ste! <3

It was all going so well...

I got Stumpy back from the repairers yesterday and all seemed to be ok :) I organised for the hire car to be collected today...

This morning I unlocked Stumpy just fine and went to start the engine...uh oh. Electrics gone! I rang Mum who advised to ring the repairers etc (no good at 6:35am) luckily I got the car started and made it to BP Garage on North Road :) I locked Stumpy up and bought some De-Icer (I was only gone 2 mins) and by the time I unlocked the car again Stumpy's electrics had died :( This time I couldn't get him re-started.

So at this point it was already 7am - so I had to walk to work...

1 hour and 10 minutes later I staggered into work, my knee was so painful and I was so exhausted! I was in a BAD mood :'(

So I managed to get hold of the repairers who agreed to return to pick up Stumpy, however it took several hours and lots of different phone calls to several different companies to arrange for the hire car to be extended.

What a bloody faff on?!

Luckily Stumpy was collected and hire car extended however I got a stinking migraine which I struggled with all day :(

Had to go to sleep for a while when I got home which eased the migraine. Ste made me a meat feast for dinner, NOM NOM NOM!

So fingers crossed Stumpy gets fixed tomorrow, and all will go back to normal.

A relaxing but productive weekend..

So we want to Teeside Park at 6pm on Friday for Pizza Express, we were in, served and out by 6:30! Super fast service :) We then drove to Cineworld at Middlesbrough to see Les Miserables and it was absolutely fantastic! It was so heartbreaking and there were lots of tears (from the whole cinema) - I expect it will win some awards!

Saturday was spent in Pjs on the sofa in front of The Lord of the Rings Extended Trilogy. 11 hours spent doing not a lot was lovely :) Ste has joined the iPad Hobbit game (and already catching me up - humph!)

Sunday was a very productive day, we had a delightful breakfast at West Park Cafe, then spent the rest of the day sorting out the house. We got loads of stuff on eBay, changed the living room round, and re-organised the majority of the spare room!

Back to work today and it is SNOWING! Wohooooo!

LOTR Marathon

Today for the first time in a very long time Stevie Babes and I are doing NOTHING except sitting and watching the extended versions of The Lord of the Rings and playing Hobbit games ^_^

Such fun!

Busy busy busy!

We are going to see Les Miserables at the Cinema tonight after going to Pizza Express for dinner. I am really looking forward to it!

I have decided not to do The Sound of Music, as the dates of the show coincide with important dates for Ste and I. We have a lot of work left on the house and we need to get our home life sorted and comfortable in order to take on extra things. I vowed this year I would not take on too many things and stress myself out. This is why I am giving this show a miss. I hope we have the house sorted by May so I can do the next show!

I am currently into Sudoku, as the Metro morning newspaper that appears on my iPad provides me with a new puzzle everyday. I am not particularly fast at it but I am getting better. It is certainly working my brain anyway!

I set up Ste's Mii on the Wii Fit...

Haha it didn't have the option for sideburns only, so he has a full beard! At least I know what he will look like if he grows his beard. I'd rather he didn't :/

This weekend is HOUSE SORTING! Mum is coming to pick up the bed for Jak, I am going to have a massive throw out of crap that is not used! The Christmas decorations need to put away - yes they are still up in our living room! Also we need to design how we want the spare room (Study) to look and what furniture we may need to purchase. A trip to St. Theresa's Furniture charity shop may be a good idea as you can get some amazing solid wood from there!

Uh oh

I have managed to find a highly addictive Hobbit game for the iPad! I lost most of last night and an hour and half before work playing! Haha! I love it though :)

I have my audition workshop tonight which will be interesting. Part of me wants to get a part and part of me doesn't! Maybe because I have so much still to do at home?

Anyways, best play my game and wait for Stevie Babes to ring!

Getting fit!

So I cooked again last night; Pork Stir Fry, and made my own sauce using spices and soy and things ^_^ It actually tasted good!

After having our Wii stolen we got a second hand one from eBay so
last night I got Ste to set it all up for me and away I went! 40 minutes later and 250 calories burnt off, I was pretty knackered but felt much better for it. So I hope to go on for about 40 minutes every day after work, and find some time on a weekend and see if I can get fit and lose some weight!

We are on a mission to get the house together as well so last night we dismantled the spare bed (which is going to my brother). We have a whole load of junk to sort through, and some bits and pieces to get on eBay!

I have my audition workshop for The Sound of a Music tomorrow evening, then meal & movie on Friday, then house sorting at the weekend. Busy busy busy!

Spud signing off...

8 Months!

Yesterday marked 8 months of Ste and I being together :) and what an eventful 8 months it has been!

We have been to London twice (third time in March), even though he works every other weekend we have spend lots of lovely weekends together, we moved into out first home, which is getting there slowly (still needs more painting).

We still speak to each other every single lunchtime, and tell each other that we love the other several times a day! I have never been happier!

So last night I went shopping and made dinner for us; Chicken in Stilton Sauce with homemade chips!

I didn't take any time off over Christmas so I am feeling a little exhausted at the moment and I am looking forward to a long weekend in Hampshire in just 24 days and then a long weekend in London in March :) We will have to book tickets for a couple of West End shows! It will be lovely to see Ste's Nanster, and just get away from work and Darlington for a bit!

I have auditions for The Sound of Music a week today and I haven't even started looking at the dialogue piece yet :/ never mind the song (which I know but am struggling with a couple of notes). Part of me is excited to do another show, although part of me wants to cuddle up at home and hibernate! I will be nervous but I hope to do my best and if I get a part Fantastic! If not then I will probably help out making costumes or backstage.

Work work work!

I have had a Fab weekend with Ste, and we get to do it all over again next weekend (then he has to work two weekends on the trot!) I am absolutely delighted with my iPad mini, got some lovely new clothes and today I am happy!

I have managed to hook up my "Personal Hotspot" on my iPhone in order to steal the 3G to use on my iPad :) how clever?!

Now I got to put my iPad down long enough to do some work :P

Happy Monday!

I have an iPad Mini!!!

I ordered my iPad Mini from Apple on New Years Day but couldn't wait until the 23rd January for it to arrive so cancelled my order and went and bought one from the Metro Centre today! And it is FANTASTIC! I love it!

Anyway GLEE SEASON 4 has just started so I better go...

Men: Who'd have them?!

So Ste has the weekend off work and it's our 8 Month Anniversary on Monday. Yesterday Ste informed me that we were going out for a Meal with some of his friends tonight. Fab! :)

Later on he came back and said that the invite was for Ste only. Rude. I wasn't a happy bunny :(

On top of this Ste's manager decided he was going to have today off work meaning I would have to get up extra early, take Ste to work for 6:30am, then get myself to work by 7am then pick him up on the way home. There's all my petrol gone!

Bloody men!! Why can't they be organised and considerate of others!
Is it even possible? Is it just me or do they all suck at this?

So Stephen will be making it up to me this weekend...

Only 19 sleeps!

20 Sleeps!

I am so excited about my iPad Mini I don't want to wait another 20 sleeps!

I ordered a clutch organiser that will fit my iPad mini, phone, cables, tickets, monies etc for when we go to London :)

Train Tickets are booked and paid for so we will be travelling a little more in comfort than the last time. God that was awful and I was miserable!

Now we just need to decide what shows we would like to see at the Theatre - Les Mis will no doubt be one of them :)

So to get saving for trip to Hampshire in Feb, London in March and Jane's 30th Birthday in Leeds in April!

I am going to be very broke by my birthday - on the plus side Rehearsals for The Sound of Music are going on over these months so hopefully won't be too many outgoings!

Not a great start to the New Year

After discussing gyms and the whole aspect of getting fitter for New Year it made sense to get out my Wii Fit and give that a go first before paying out for the gym! So I got home after work on Monday and went to dig out my Wii. How strange, the Wii isn't in the bag of Wii Stuff, neither are the leads or controllers, but the games are still there :/

We turned the house upside down (having very little storage space in the house for the Wii to be in) only to realise that there was just one explanation. The Plasterers had stolen it in the half an hour Ste had popped out to pick up paint.

:(

I didn't have a very good New Year!

Yesterday I lay in the sofa in my onesie watching TV, eating and playing World of Warcraft. That's it. That didn't even make me happy.

So I looked at my finances, made sure I had enough saved up then ordered my iPad Mini :) it will have "Spud" engraved on the back and estimated delivery is 23rd January. Just 21 sleeps!

This has cheered me up some what :)

I just hope things will get better from now on...