Wow...

...it's been forever since I last posted on here...

It's been a year in our new house now & we have 2 lodgers, D's bro & D's mum so I think it's safe to say that I've not had much time to myself. It's been a laugh though.

Mum is ok, although she will never regain her sight in her eye (after numerous diagnosises from different doctors that she keeps being shoved to, she hasn't seen the same doctor twice, stupid hospitals) her leukemia as been classed as Stage 0, which means she needs no treatment for the forseeable future because there is nothing to treat...yet! As you can imagine we are over the moon for now, but the day will come when she will have to have treatment and until then, I'm thinking good thoughts.

Doh...

In the wake of finding out Mother is ill, She was told that she would have to go and have a biopsy of her temperal artery to a. Confirm the diagonisis and b. To see how bad it is and whether she might just regain some of the sight she has lost.

On the day, Dad dropped her off and because hospitals like you to register that you are there like 52 hours before your appointment* Dad then buggered off home for a few hours to potter about and try not to blow himself up without Mothers supervision when making a cup of tea.

It was then that he managed to bump into Ivor. Ivor is a really, really old man who lives opposite my parents (and must be about 150 years old by now cos back when I was little he was really old then) and is the street BIGGEST gossip. For an old man who cannot walk without the aid of his shopping trolley for support anything you tell him gets around that street faster than Speedy Gonzalas. On speed.

Anyway, Ivor had noticed that Mother wasn't about and asked our Dad where she was.

Dad told him... 'Oh, our Pat's gone in for a lobotomy today.'

As you can imagine, Mother got some odd stares from her neighbours and half of England that day when she walked from the car to the house without the aid of a wheelchair and dribbling everywhere 3 hours after her 'lobotomy'.

Fucking lobotomy.

*ok maybe just 4 hours but for a half blind old woman who can't go 5 minutes without a fag it does feel like 52 hours!

It Never Rains...

Things haven't been easy the last few weeks in the LMPP parental household.

Mother is unwell.

Usually when Mother falls ill we all know about it from the mouth of Dad. Mother shouts at Dad because she feels shitty and Dad is usually pulling her chain by trying to do EVERYTHING for her (Bless you Dad) so she doesn't have to get up and do anything. Dad then whines to the offspring (Me and Bro) about how poorly Mother is and how he has to cook his own tea or something...

This time however, Mother is reaaaallllly unwell.

My wonderful, lovely Mum has lost her sight in one eye due to a condition called Temporal Arteritis (Yes, A.R.T.E.R.I.T.I.S, not Arthritis) and as a result had to spend the best part of last week in the eye hospital where she discovered she is also suffering from Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and has been for probably the last 3-4 years. I did my mummy proud, I didn't cry. Well, not in front of her anyway.

How do you deal with the news that someone you love soooooooo much has cancer?

It's only mild so no need to worry too much yet, she has stage 1. So that's what I have been doing. I've been reading up so much to see what the odds are and if she is going to be ok. So far, Stage 1 is not life threatening and can be treated successfully for years to come although not curable. At the moment...

...but it is still cancer and it's that I can't deal with.

Happy days...

So last Saturday I watched my big brother get married to his girlfriend of 14 years & 2 kids. About bloody time I say. It was (apart from my own) one of the best weddings I have been to. Why? Because they not only had the wedding ceremony, they had the whole family confirmation thing so their kids could be involved as part of the service. It was tear jerking stuff people.

I would of cried, honestly, but when your beloved brother, all dolled up in his suit with tails, closely resembles the Fat Controller from Thomas the Tank Engine all you wanna do is laugh!

Choo choo!!

Life goes on...

And on & on...



D has a new job, he will be writing wills. To do this job we have had to buy him a 50cc scooter to get around town, buses are soooo unrealiable!! Next, we have to tax, insure & get petrol for it. Not good when you HAVE NO MONEY!!



D starts properly on Tuesday next week. He has 4 appointments already & his mydiary keeps pinging with more appointments. It is really good money though. The downside is he will have to be self employed which means he will have to pay his own PAYE & NI, thats 25% of his income stashed away somewhere safe until 01/04/2010. Nice, there will be all this money & I can't spend it!!



On a great note, we are going on a freeeeee holiday to Spain!! Well, nearly free, we only have to fork out £94. We go in October, D's bro will stay at home and love The Cat. Talking of the Cat, we had to take him to the vet again yesterday as he began the whole 'I want to pee but ain't happening so MEEEEOWWWWWW, MEOWWW, PURREOWWW, MEOWWW' in my face. Constantly. I went for a wee & he jumped onto my lap & continued the pained stare. He coupied down 11 times in 10 minutes and nothing come out. Given his past we took him to the vet just to be told that he had cysititis & charged me £52.00 for the pleasure.



Then, he did the unforgivable...



... he gave Darth an injection. Everyone knows that giving Darth an injection will turn him into Mental Cat for a few days and OMFG I did not sleep for the racket coming out of his mouth all bloody night.

I'm going to London...

Yay! And I'm so excited. Well, excited and a bit sad as this day trip signals the end of all fun and frolics for me & D.

D has been made redundant.

Crap isn't it? Just bought a house and stuff and D loses his job. He'll get a smallish payout, being as he worked there for 7 years, but nothing that we can live on for a few months. He has been applying for jobs left, right & centre but nothing as yet. Bloody recession.

Soooo, the London trip is a day trip for one last blow out before we have to buckle our belts & stop having lives, pay all the bills and live in poverty. I'm not complaining, I've done it before & can do it again. Asda Smart Price, here I come!!

Apart from that, life is good.

Lots of exercise... Possibly

So, new year, new body? Maybe...

I have been joining my friend in pounding the pounds on her new cross trainer. It kills me, I've never felt so bad in my life whilst working that bastard! Maybe that's why I've only done it twice so far this year...?

Nothing much on the interesting front. D has to find a new job as his boss can't afford to keep him on for much longer. He also can't afford to pay him redundancy which is amusing. I've told D not to leave until A. He has a new job that pays more or B. He gets redundancy. Either is satisfactory for me now we have a massive mortgage to pay.

I've been trying out some new receipes as well, to add to my list of stuff I've cooked there is...

Chicken & Bacon Risotto
French Onion Soup with Cheesy Croutons
Chocolate Mud Cake
Beef & Bacon Lasagne

I test the finished products on D's brother & so far he has cleared his plate on all of them!! result!

One day I will post photos of the finished food!