wagwaan?

Busy!

I had the privilege yesterday of taking more newborn photos, and I should be taking more next week - there seems to be quite a baby boom locally! This means I have updated my website, www.jenrigg.com, and I have had lots more compliments. This baby was an absolute treasure and I fell a little bit in love. I probably say that every time, but I don't care. I just LOVE this job :)

Somehow, it's December tomorrow. I am not sure where the year has gone, really I'm not. It's quite scary isn't it how time flies the older you get? I have bought a few presents so far, and I was mighty peeved to get home tonight to find a card saying I'd missed the postman.  What with a few recent ups and downs in our lives, I haven't been concentrating on Christmas at all but now that time is really upon us I have had to get in the mood. Tomorrow we shall be putting the tree up, hopefully, because Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent and Claire is getting impatient (I say hopefully because I'm a surrogate patient for the med student final exams so I'll be out all day and might not be in the mood when I get home).  And to think I used to only put the tree up on Christmas Eve!

Earlier in the week my dear friend Stephie helped me go and collect a second-hand sofa from a colleague. It is a very good make but covered in a rather dreary loose cover, so we've lost that to reveal the cream coloured base, and we've chucked a red throw over it. It makes the house look more of a home...

Oh, and while we were out we stopped at Dunelm Mill, which is a haven for all things homely, and at good prices too. I treated myself to a new duvet cover, inspired by Pip Studio but for a fraction of the price. A real bargain.

 I thought I'd leave you with a profound thought - just in case you thought I was getting a bit too carried away with Christmas (haha!). I found this on Facebook and it really spoke to me. It's so true, from that famous philosopher Bob Marley...  You know how people always say "ooh you're so brave" when something momentous and difficult happens in your life?  I've always thought "I'm not brave, it's just the only thing to do". Seems I'm not alone :)

 

Autumn... and nearly Winter

I have so many photos in my iPhone I thought I'd upload some of them here...

First of all, this is one of my favourite Autumn snaps from this year.  Just round the corner from our place - it made my heart soar every time I walked into town.

Then there's this one: I bought Lyle some catnip and even the packaging drove him crazy!

and more recently I snapped this one on my way home from work. Yes it's that time of year again...

And the same night, from the top of the town looking down the High Street.  

Today I went out to the Christmas Craft Fair at the Colosseum and met up with my friends and their toddler. After we'd had coffee and little Alex had had his lunch, I had a late lunch with my other friends from the Community Centre who were manning a stall there. It was a real shame I don't have any spending money till next week, but I suppose that way at least there were no rash purchases!  It was gorgeously sunny early on, after a stormy and windy night, but tonight it turned quite grey and cold and I was glad to get home and have a cuppa all snug in my little house.

It's Agatha Christie's Marple now on ITV3, so I'm going to settle in for a nice evening. Busy week (off work) ahead... maybe I'll get an early night.

 

Decisions, decisions...

Well it's been such a long time since I came to this here ol' blog, I bet there's no one left out there wondering if I'll ever revive it!   2012 has been a funny old year, and on top of that the computer is so. painfully. slow. I end up never turning it on.  Luckily, there is a brand new iMac on the way, so I expect you'll see a lot more of me. Or not. I might just decide to jack it all in.... (hence the title)

I feel like it's finally time to get ready for Christmas. My brain is actually getting into gear and I'm at last thinking of presents and in such a hurry to go to France to holiday with my family for the first time in 4 years. When Claire was working in retail she only had Christmas Day off and we just couldn't get away. This year we have already booked our ferry tickets to Caen and we will be spending the week. I'm so excited!  

Meanwhile, I have been working part-time since March and although at first it was very VERY hard (I've since discovered my co-workers were a bit worried about my health not being up to it), I'm loving it. There is a great team, a great atmosphere, and although the job itself is nothing terribly complicated it is varied enough to keep me interested.  I have come on in leaps and bounds since I started, I really have. It's been such good therapy, my brain is much more active and I finally feel "back to normal".  So many people have commented on it, it MUST be true!  February 2013 it will be 3 years since the aneurysm burst and my life changed completely.

So, that's it my friends. I've got a lot planned and I'm trying to squeeze so much more out of life.  Next Thursday I'm hoping to get to see my friend Noel at this...

It's in bloomin' Brixton, but I hope to find a way....

Right then, off I go to bed to listen to the rain drumming on the roof and to dream sweet dreams :)