The 'Battle for Weight Loss' commences as I prepare for India!

I know, I know, you've heard it time and time again. In the past my attempts at a diet have been pitiful... lasting 2 weeks if I'm lucky! But this time at least I have the incentive of wanting to look nice in India (and maybe less body fat will keep me cooler?). I have to admit, losing weight is really easy for me when I travel, partly because I'm not thinking about food out of boredom because I'm never bored when I'm in other countries and partly because it's a lot easier to drink a lot of water and eat fresh fruits and salads when in a hot climate. In dreary (and this winter, blizardy!) Britain I simply do not thirst for a nice long drink of cold water and cold foods. Give me endless coffee and cooked meals and I'm fine, but my waistline is not.

So the answer seems straightforward enough... If I permanently live in a hot climate, I'll permanently be skinny! Sorted. Only, that's not going to happen, not any time soon (if ever!).

As the spring and summer approaches I have the dreaded 'bikini months' to look forward to and I am determined not to go on holiday this year having packed my trusty 'cover-all sarong'. I want to be confident and bare all (well maybe not ALL) on the beach and be a happy, carefree twenty-something again.

You know how some people say they could never be skinny because they're just not built that way, they're 'big-boned'? Well I can't even use that excuse for myself because even though I have always struggled with keeping my weight down, when I lost a lot of weight for my cousin's wedding when I was 18 I was extremely happy with my slim, yet curvaceous, frame. Looking back at those photos, with my tiny waist and toned tum... urgh makes me depressed ha!

Anyway, it can be done! I'm determined.

I've decided not to follow a specific diet, I always end up craving things I cut out completely... and then bingeing on them and undoing all the hard work! So I intend significantly lowering my carbs (but not cut them out completely) because I eat way too much pasta, rice, potatoes, bread etc. and also to be careful not to eat between meals and obviously reduce the obvious offenders such as biscuits/crisps/cake and all the other yummy things :-( *Sigh* It'll be worth it in the end (I tell myself).

I'm also cutting down on the coffee intake and replacing my fluids with more herbal teas, maybe I'm naiive but I believe the nice people in the health shops when they tell me than ginseing and chamomile and other oddly named plants will work miracles for my skin/hair/eyes/weight/nails/immune system/general well being. Although I'm not so naiive to still wonder why, if the above is true, everyone in the entire world doesn't drink these yucky drinks just for the desired effects. Maybe it doesn't work on everyone... but it will on me, the nice lady told me so.

Ok, so I've had a head start... I'm not only just starting this diet. It's been a week and a half already and I've lost 5lbs. Not as much as I had hoped because the first week is usually the best for the biggest 'drop' in weight. Maybe it had something to do with the Chinese meal I had on Saturday night? Oops! Did I just tell you that? Ok I cheated, but I deserved that takeaway for being so good all week. I'll keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime... I'm off to have a glass of water :-) Ciao!

And it all comes down to the visa for India...

My India trip is hanging by a thread... My fate is currently in the hands of the consulate and I cannot breathe easily until I am holding my stamped passport in my hands. It's very tense! I filled in the application online as it was "convenient" but three hours later I had still not completed it and was struggling to remember my own name at this point let alone my parents' names/addresses/place of birth, my British referees names/addresses/place of birth, my Indian referees(!) names/addresses/place of birth... as well as the dog. Are you getting my drift?
I am fortunate that Manjiri (lovely girl who planned the trip) allowed me to put her and her husband's details as the "Indian referees". I would love to know how on earth the average holiday maker would be able to provide Indian referees? Flippin' eck I'm applying for a tourist visa not to live AND study AND work there!

Now, I'm a patient person but these forms nearly drove me to the edge of my sanity. Half of the questions did not seem relevant to my situation and when I attempted to bypass them by putting the age-old "NA" answer, a nice little box containing red font popped up to inform me that I had to provide a "valid" answer to the question! So what do I do? The question doesn't have an answer so should I lie just to put something "valid"? Noooooo of course not, because I digitally signed the space on the very first page declaring that I would be truthful with my answers or it could delay my flippin' application! Grrrr, stressed? Not half! It gets worse...

For example, it asked me to provide my spouse's application information if I was married and my parent's application information if I was unmarried. PROBLEM. Firstly, I am unmarried and secondly, my parents are not coming to India with me so why would I need to complete their application information? What's happened to the age of the single, independant traveller?! However, the lovely online form would not let me leave both spaces blank nor input "NA" so I ended up giving my parents' application information and hoping I don't get charged for all three! Dear me, if this trip didn't mean so much to me I would have certainly thrown the towel in at this point. Talk about frustrating! Why is it so difficult? Ok so I know security is high because of terrorism and whatnot, but seriously... it's easier to get blood out of a stone!

PLEASE Mr. Embassy High Chief Person, PLEASE let me go to India, I'm begging you, my life depends on it! (Slight exaggeration I know, but still, this IS urgent!)

So, it's supposed to take 5-7 days to go through (this is without any delays or the request of 'further information'). If it arrives, I'm going to India! I don't dare to think of any other scenario at the moment... it's too painful.

Yes, you've guessed it... I have ANOTHER child.

Guess what?... Can you guess? Yay! You're right. I'd like to welcome Kajol into my (quickly expanding!) family. She is from India and I have begun sponsoring here through Compassion UK. If you want to know more about Compassion there is a link just there on the left hand side of the page. PLEASE take the time to consider releasing a child from the clutches of poverty, or at least take a look at the good work that Compassion is doing for these children.

Ok so if you follow my blog you will note that this is the fourth child I have sponsored. Now I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I am not sponsoring Denisse (1st child) any more. I had a phonecall from Compassion to say that her mum had found a job in another city and she would no longer be attending a Compassion project (therefore would not need a sponsor). As much as it breaks my heart to read that last letter from her (following the phonecall) saying that she was greatful for everything I'd done and that she was sad that I would no longer be her sponsor - I am also rejoicing that her mum's new job means that her family's financial status would no longer require Denisse to be registered in the programme and thus freeing a space for yet another street child to be fed, nurtured, educated, and looked-after by another sponsor.

Now I would never be able to replace Denisse as such, but it allowed me financially to accept another child into my family. Remember, they don't actually live with me as they have parents/grandparents/guardians of their own in their own countries. But by attending the Compassion project everyday, supported by my sponsorship, means that every aspect of their lives are taken care of:

Healthcare
Checkups, medicines, nutritional advice, meals or food supplements, education on hygiene and HIV/Aids.
Education
Formal teaching in a school or project, school equipment and uniforms, tutoring for parents on importance of education.
Vocational training
Training in a skill which will help them find employment, guidance with making decisions about the future.
Social and emotional care
A safe place to play and learn, home visits from social workers, good role models.
Spiritual care
A chance to hear and respond to the Gospel, Christian role models, their own personal Bible. Last year alone over 154,000 children came to know Christ through the work of Compassion.

So I welcome you again Kajol, you're beautiful in my eyes and in God's eyes. May you be blessed continually and may God grant you long and prosperous lives for all your family. I love you!

I am an R.E. teacher... if you didn't already know ;-)

Upon re-reading my last few blogs, I realised just how out of date the information was concerning my current situation. Blimey, you'll all be thinking I still work at the Bridal Boutique and am waiting to do my teacher training ha ha. Ok, so a quick update for you guys...

I PASSED MY TEACHER TRAINING!!! (Last June lol). And am now a fully fledged R.E. teacher in a Secondary School. It saddened me to leave the Bridal shop but now I feel like I'm doing the job I was born to do! I love it. Every day brings a brand new experience and the children are so unpredictable and random, it's hilarious! Example - Year 11 Boy upon reading his end of year report: "Crap attendance?!?! How the hell have I got crap attendance? I'm never in school!!" On a daily basis I have to bite my lip and stifle the laughter that is bubbling within me and threatening to explode at any moment.

In other news... In under six weeks I'll be in INDIA!!! To be fair, I can't complain about my life so far. I've done many, many things that not many 24 year olds have had the opportunity to do. I'm the type of person to grab opportunities with both hands and will try anything new, just for the experience. My latest opportunity arose whilst in university doing my teacher training. I met a lovely group of people from all over the world including Manjiri from India who very kindly invited a few of us to go over to India for a three week tour. This girl is an organisational genius! She has emailed a detailed itinery for the full 3 weeks and has planned every last thing, even down to times of train times to travel from city to city. As well as this, we received a full break down of the costs and an extensive kit list. Activities include a Jungle Trail, Overnight House-Boat which sails through the coconut plantations, Camel rides, Taj Mahal visit and watching a sunset and sunrise on the banks of the Holy Ganga river. How on earth am I containing my excitement whilst typing this. Sometimes even words do not do justice to the way we feel inside. More on this as the 14th March approaches.

What on earth are those fireballs in the sky?!?!

If you didn't already think I was a bit crazy, you certainly will after reading this...

It all started (and promptly ended) on New Year's Eve 2009. After the traditional family rendition of Auld Lang Syne and not so traditional, 'spur of the moment' rendition of Hokey Cokey (complete with actions I might add), we all went outside to wave off the younger members of our family who were going home to bed.

As we stood on the driveway, someone exclaimed "Look at that ball of fire in the sky!" Immediately we all looked skyward and gasped at what was sailing over our heads. My initial reaction was "it's a UFO" which is a bit silly since I don't even believe in UFOs. My dad ran to get the binoculars as I stood there squinting at the orange bauble of light. My contact lenses had been in all day and this, coupled with my flagging after-party tiredness, made my eyes very dry and itchy and a little bit blurred to say the least. I blinked and rolled my eyes until the vision before me sharpened slightly and I could actually see the flickering of a flame. For some unknown reason a wave of fear swept over me, possibly nothing more than the fear of the unknown, but it unnerved me and I didn't like it.

Just as it moved further and further into the distance and slowly disappeared out of sight... another appeared! Mysteriously floating just above the trees to the side of our house. This once looked bigger, although it could have been that this one was a lot closer. The conspiracy theories started racing through my mind. This was fueled by my brother recalling something on TV about Russian scientists testing things in our air-space. Did he really HAVE to bring that up just then? As we saw the third and fourth one ascend into the sky I ran back into the house. My nephew was convinced we were all going to be abducted, and hell, I was beginning to believe him! I promptly decided a view from the window would be much safer... until curiosity got the better of me and I slowly peeked around the door for another look.

Five fireballs in all were seen before they were gone. Up, up, and away, over the hills and into the atmosphere. We were still talking about the sightings after everyone had left, and the New Year was barely an hour old. Following the internet obsessed nature of my generation, I decided the almighty Google would reveal all, so I looked for other sightings but to no avail. Facebook was my second chance and within an hour of declaring my state of panic on my Facebook status I had received quite a few replies. After another slight 'mini-panic' at someone saying they had seen them all of the way from Newport (obviously not the same ones I later came to realise), all of my worries were dispersed when a friend posted that what I had indeed seen were... CHINESE SKY LANTERNS!!!

Ok, so I had to admit I didn't know what they were and had never seen one before in my entire life. But after researching a little further (back to almighty Google) I suddenly felt quite foolish at my outburst of sheer terror. How stupid can one be? Anyway, it was fun while it lasted and it certainly did provide a bit of entertainment right at the end of the night. I'm sure it's not only me who thinks that New Year can seem like a bit of an anti-climax. We wait for hours and hours, play games until we're sick of them, eat food until we're sick (literally) and then sing one song and everyone goes home. At least this year the festivities lasted for half an hour longer whilst we were debating the strange lights in the sky.

I'm definitely getting some for next year by the way! They are really cool and impressive and will have the neighbours talking about UFO sightings for months afterwards haha. There's many sites that sell them and they're really not that expensive for an added bit of adventure/mystery/glamour to your party.

Who Will Take the Son?

There was a very wealthy man who, with his devoted young son, shared a passion for art collecting. Together they travelled the world, adding to their collection. Priceless works adorned the walls of the family estate. But the day came when war engulfed the nation, and the young man left to serve his country. After only a few weeks, his father received a telegram that his beloved son had been killed while carrying a wounded fellow soldier.

On Christmas morning a knock came at the door of the man's home and as he opened the door he was greeted by a soldier with a large package in his hand. He introduced himself by saying, "I was a friend of your son. I was the one he was rescuing when he died. May I come in? I have something to show you." "I am an artist," said the soldier, "and I want to give you this." As the old man unwrapped the package, the paper gave way to reveal a portrait of his son. Though the art critics would never consider the work a piece of art, the painting did feature the young man's face in striking detail, and seemed to capture his personality.

The following spring, the man became ill and passed away. According to the will of the man, all of the art works would be auctioned. The day soon arrived, and art collectors from around the world gathered to bid on some of the most spectacular paintings. The auction began with a painting that was not on any museum's list. It was the painting of the man's son. The auctioneer asked for an opening bid. The room was silent. "Who will open the bidding with $100?" he asked. Minutes passed with not a sound from those who came to buy. From the back of the room someone called out, "Who cares about that painting? It's just a picture of his son. Let's forget it and go on to the important paintings." There were other voices, which echoed in agreement. But the auctioneer replied, "No, we have to sell this one first. Now, who will take the son?"

Finally, a friend of the old man spoke. "I knew the boy, so I'd like to have it. I will bid the $100." "I have a bid for $100," called the auctioneer. "Will anyone go higher?" After a long silence, the auctioneer said, "Going once. Going twice. Gone." The gavel fell. Cheers filled the room and someone was heard to say, "Now we can get on with it!" But the auctioneer looked at the audience and announced the auction was over. Stunned disbelief quieted the room. Someone spoke up and asked, "What do you mean it's over? We didn't come here for a picture of some old man's son. What about all of these paintings? There are millions of dollars' worth of art here! We demand that you explain what is going on!" The auctioneer replied, "It's very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son... gets it all."

'He that has the Son has life.' How many overlook Jesus as irrelevant to life not realising he is God's only son, sent as a gift to humanity. Receive him and you get it all. Purpose, love, security, meaning, eternal life. What more do you want?

Two more children released from the clutches of poverty!

I would like to introduce you to the two newest additions to my family. The young girl is Edna and she's from Brazil and the cute little boy is Nehemias from Guatemala. They are both sponsored by myself through the organisation Compassion. Visit http://www.compassionuk.org/ for more information (UK) or http://www.compassion.com/ if you are in the states.

The children receive medical care, food, education, supplies for school, clothes and much more at the project. Never before have I encountered a charity that has such integrity. The children write regular letters and draw pictures for their sponsors. We are even encouraged to go to visit our children to see the work of Compassion first hand! (An offer I will definitely take them up on in the not too distant future).

Check it out for yourself. It is so satisfying to see these little children growing up, knowing that I made a difference in their lives.

Marriages are made in Heaven... Weddings are from Hell!

A couple of days ago I started reading "Diary of a Mad Bride" by Laura Wolf. Never before have I read a fiction book that is SO similar to real life. It was these few particular lines that caught my attention as something very similar had happened to me in the Bridal shop I work in, about a month ago.

"It's true and you know it. People who are about to be married magically transform into raging narcissists. Able to hear reports of burning day-care centers and worry only that the scent of charred diapers might waft into their wedding reception."

You might laugh and think "surely that's not true, people wouldn't be that selfish would they?" YES! They would... and they are. Just a couple of weeks ago I had a woman on the phone who was asking where her bridesmaids dresses were as they were a little late coming to us from the suppliers (by about a week that's all!). I had already spoken to the suppliers on the phone and they had assured us 100% that the dresses would be with us the very same week. The woman was having none of it and played hell with me on the phone. So I told her the reason for them being delayed and her reaction was, to put it nicely, not what I expected. Actually, it was disgusting and I wonder whether people like that even have a heart to love someone enough to get married. This is how it went:

ME: I'm really sorry about your dresses being a week late but there's still a couple of months until the wedding and they'll be with us by Saturday. Plenty of time for alterations.

WOMAN: *Sigh* I could do without all this stress right now. Blah blah blah... (She carried on speaking for about 10 minutes but since I was already livid, I tuned out from the conversation so that I didn't totally flip at her.

ME: I know this must be a stressful time for you, but if you can just listen to me for a second, your dresses are late because the factory is in China and due to the recent earthquake, our suppliers have been hit with delays on the dresses.

WOMAN: I can appreciate that and I'm sorry for all the families of the victims who lost their lives, but this is my WEDDING DAY we are talking about here.

OH MY WORD! It took all of my strength not to scream obscenities and slam the phone down on her at this point. How selfish can someone get? Who the hell do you think you are woman? That SIXTY NINE THOUSAND people losing their lives, and fifteen million losing their homes is less important than a few hours in a day where you stand in a dress, saying vows you will probably break anyway, and getting drunk and embarassing yourself infront of the inlaws. I half wished her dresses wouldn't turn up that Saturday but they did.

Now before I tar all brides-to-be with the same brush, let me get one thing straight. SOME are nice, but even they can turn at any second when you are least expecting it, over a crease in a cravat or whatever. I've even come across couples where I've even questioned if they should be getting married at all! (To myself of course, wouldn't ask them outright or we'd lose the sale of a dress ha ha). This happened just last week: This guy comes in with his mate to be measured for suits. After being measured they were required to pick the colour of the suits, the waistocats and the cravats. He pulls a little bit of paper out of his pocket with a list of the colours that his fiancee had written and picks the colours accordingly. Just as all the suits had been put through the automatic retail system (which means the orders had already reached the suppliers) the girl comes in and demands to know what her other half has ordered. The guy explains he has followed her instructions on the bit of paper, and flips through the swatch chart to show her the colours he has picked. When she sees them she throws a huge tantrum right in the middle of the shop and starts screaming at the guy for being so stupid because those waistcoats and cravats do not match the bridesmaids dresses. He tries (unsuccessfully!) to point out that he has never seen the bridesmaids dresses as she wouldn't show him, so how should he know they didn't match? She proceeds to flip through the swatch chart again, and find the "right" colours this time, muttering under her breath about how she should have done it herself and that her boyfriend was so useless. The poor man was so embarassed, and was trying to calm the girl down but before she left, she had another hissy fit and made a scene by storming out of the shop dragging a little two year old girl behind her. Girl, you didn't look good, you didn't look diva-ish, you just looked stupid, made a massive fool of yourself and now we all don't like you. Seriously, should this couple be getting married at all? If I was the guy I would get out of there before it's too late! Why on earth would he want to be stuck with that for the rest of his life? They didn't even look as if they could stand the sight of each other, let alone be madly in love!

So aren't people missing the point here? If she's too concerned that the waistcoats are the wrong colour to notice that there's something not entirely right with the relationship then it's destined for the divorce courts already. It's the rest of your lives that is important, it's not all about that one day. Will a creased cravat make a difference to your marriage for the next 40 or so years? I don't think so, you wouldn't even be able to see it in photos. Yes ok, everyone wants their "dream wedding" that they've thought about since they were a little girl. But when that one day starts to become more important than your future as a married couple, or the stress of the organisation nearly ends the marriage before it has begun, surely you need to take a step back and review the situation. Remember the reasons you wanted to do this in the first place.

I'm going to stop now because I'll probably get into trouble for posting this anyway, so best quit while I'm ahead, even though I have PLENTY more stories ;-)

Broken Chains Festival 2008!

Between Friday 23rd May and Sunday 25th, the first ever Broken Chains Festival took place in my little home village of Tonyrefail. It was great to see it actually happening after all those months of hard work that everyone put into organising it... Andrew especially! It was a big vision for such a small mining town, many did not believe we could pull it off, but there were those who kept the faith and saw it develop from just an idea into a massive success.


The weekend (which was completely FREE I might add) kicked off with a Christian rock concert on the Friday night, where the likes of YFriday, Electralyte and OneHundredHours were performing. There is no words to describe the feeling I had when I walked out from backstage to see approximately 2,000 teens and twenties jumping with their hands in the air and having a genuinely good time. You might be thinking "well it was a rock concert, that's what happens, it's not strange to see people jumping up and down". Let me explain... It was a Christian rock festival and the majority of people there were not Christians. Now I don't know if this is the same in other places but it is certainly true of my town, that whenever a Christian organisation puts on an event, it is either a) extremely poorly attended, or b) if people decide to turn up they certainly make sure they don't "look" as if they are having a good time. Because we're all bible-bashers and it would look very uncool infront of their friends if they were singing along to Christian songs. Catching my drift? Anyway enough of me waffling on, here's some amazing pics taken by my brother and the rest can be found at the Broken Chains Festival website.

























All day Saturday was a carnival/fete/family day with lots of different shows, workshops and rides for the children. Unfortunately I was working all day so could not attend, but from the pics it seems that a good time was had by all.















And of course not forgetting Terl Bryant and the Psalm Drummers who put on a drum workshop during the day and a concert for all us lucky people in the night. Seriously these people need to be heard to be believed. I have NEVER heard drumming like it in my entire life!















And finally, the festival concluded with a Sunday morning Communion service which was well attended by the local churches. Worship was led by the Tim Bannister Trio from Cardiff. And thus the adventure had come to an end. All those months of planning and it was over before we knew it! Roll on Broken Chains Festival 2009 I say anyway!







Finally, this blog wouldn't be complete without a pic of the man himself... Pastor Andrew Butcher. What an amazing guy. He birthed the vision of this festival and carried it right through until the very end. Even during the times when it looked like the festival would not go ahead, he kept the faith and trusted God in everything. Fantastic job Andrew!

Welcome to my family Denisse!

In September 2007 I became a new mum! Ok well maybe I didn't actually give birth, but I began sponsoring a little girl in Nicaragua via the Compassion child sponsorship programme. I can honestly say it is the most rewarding thing I have done so far in my entire life. Her name is Denisse Milagro Valberbe Mendoza and she is such a little sweetie! I love her as if she was really my own. Here she is:

She is four years old today! Happy Birthday Denisse! I receive lots of letters from her written with the help of her tutor from the Compassion project and really cute little colourings of animals. I adore her! When I started sponsoring Denisse it was because I wanted to give this little girl a chance in life. I don't think it's right that people on this earth live in abundance while others are denied even the basics such as food, water, education and healthcare... I want to see her grow up to be a person with ambitions and influence and through my Compassion money she now has that chance. Compassion gives her the food she needs to live, clean drinking water, proper medical attention, and an education which could have not been previously afforded by her family. It is sad when I think of the harsh reality that without Compassion and my money, she might not have even made it to this day, her fourth birthday! I love her so much. In a few years I will go to Nicaragua to see her and her family where I will be able to see the work of Compassion first hand. Compassion encourages sponsors to go to see their children as it is not a faceless charity that just takes your money and you don't know for sure where your money is going or what it is being used for.

I hope to sponsor another child very soon. A little boy this time instead perhaps. It really does feel as if you're making a difference in the world, and you certainly are making a difference in that particular child's life! What really cuts to my heart is the fact that despite all that I have here in the U.K., the education, more than enough food, stupidly expensive material posessions etc. Denisse's tutor always writes at the end of every letter that Denisse prays for me and my family every day, that we are healthy and that God gives us what we need! What?? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Here are people living in the darkest depths of deprivation and poverty and they are praying for the wellbeing of me and my family? It really hit home to me one day, when I really realised the importance of what she was saying to me. Well I am praying for her and her family also, everyday, but I know already my prayers have been answered. Compassion was the answer to this little girl's prayers as it not only affects her directly but it also helps her family too. Have a great birthday little one, and I hope you liked the presents!!

If you want to know more about sponsoring a child yourself, please go to www.compassionuk.org if you are in the United Kingdom, or www.compassion.com if you are in the States. It really is worth every penny of the £18 a month! That's only 60p a day to save a child's life and better their quality of living more than they could have even imagined!!! My little girl Denisse was fortunate to have found a sponsor but there are thousands and thousands of children registered on the programme who have not yet found sponsors and are waiting in anticipation. You can make a difference by being one of those sponsors and giving yet another child a chance in life.

Anyone Out There???

Hi all.

Whoah I haven't posted on here in SO long. Apologies!! Anyway, I'm going to ease myself back into it gently I think... and see if I can keep it going for longer this time!

To say that a lot has happened since I last wrote is the understatement of the century! I've got a new job in a Bridal gown shop. I've got a place on the teacher training course for secondary school R.E. And yes, you must have already guessed it... I'm STILL doing the Masters degree lol. Currently I am back in lovely Lampeter to try to get as much work done as possible as working from home proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated at first. Not only have I been slack with the regular posting, I've also not kept myself up to date with the blogs that I read regularly. So I'm leaving this post as it is for now, and going to catch up with the rest of you.

Ciao! I'll be back soon...

Fruit frenzy!

Want to see what I had for my lunch???



This is banana, pineapple, mandarin slices and strawberry yoghurt. I'm in one of my artistic, creative moods. It was delicious!

This made me cry...

London blog is a bit late due to unforseen circumstances... I'll leave you with this in the meantime.

Not sexy enough for the aliens :-(

Well I'm still here... which means the aliens didn't find me sexy enough to abduct and take home to their planet. I've needed all this time (since my last blog) to come to terms with the rejection before posting again.

I have LOADS to blog about so there is simply no excuse to miss any days from now on, especially since I am home from University as well! Yes, I've decided to finish the rest of my MA from home as there was too many distractions (in the form of episodes of Charmed) in Lampeter and I wasn't getting enough work done. All is not lost though... Lampeter, I will see your beauty again when I move back in a year or so. It would break my heart to leave you forever. You have tugged at the strings of my heart for four years and I expect you will continue to do so for the rest of my life, regardless of where I choose to settle. (By the way, Lampeter is a place not a person, ok?)

Hasn't the flooding has been horrific lately? We were caught in some during my last week in Lampeter, but fortunately it's not as bad there as it is in some parts of England. May God be with the families of the couple of people who have lost their lives due to the rainfall. Hard to believe it's Britain isn't it? It's like the monsoon season.

Last Tuesday I went to London with the parental unit. Fun was had all round and hundreds of pictures taken. It stuck me as funny when I realised that I was taking pictures of buildings and monuments which were very similar to what we have here in Cardiff. I would never think to take pictures of the Cardiff ones because I pass them loads, but in London they seemed picture-worthy ha ha. Anyway, I would love to blog for longer but I need to get up early tomorrow so I'm logging off now. I'll post pictures and blog about the London trip tomorrow. (By the way, I saw Darth Vader and got a good pic ha ha).

Thank you so much to my faithful readers who keep checking my blog even though I haven't posted for a little while. I promise to be good and bring you lots of blogging niceness from now on.

It has been nice knowing you all...

ATTENTION ALIENS ARE COMING TO ABDUCT ALL THE GOOD LOOKING AND SEXY PEOPLE. YOU WILL BE SAFE, I'M JUST BLOGGING THIS TO SAY GOODBYE.

Sensational Sushi!

A while ago I posted that I had tried sushi for the very first time. Well since then, Nic and I have become quite the sushi experts *cough* and decided that it was time to unleash our sushi skills and actually make it from scratch ourselves. Contrary to popular belief, it turned out really well and although there were a few little things we realised we could have done better... it was absolutely delicious, and a great first attempt. Plus, we had heaps of fun in the process!

The seaweed!

Sushi rice and filling placed on the seaweed.

Nic rolling up the sushi mat.

The finished sushi roll...

...which is then cut into pieces.

A few different fillings/toppings.

The finishing touches... Et voila!!!

Easter Turkey Fiasco!!! Warning... Do not read if you have a weak stomach!

This happened a little while back (Easter time to be precise) but it caused so much laughter that I wanted to record it forever so as to never forget it (not that I think I would forget this easily!). Well here goes... I went home for a few days over the Easter weekend as although I've been living away for four years, I have never failed to go home for Christmas or Easter. My brother and his wife and children were also coming to dinner on Easter Sunday so my mam bought a large chicken in Tesco. I think we've had turkey every other year so I don't know why she opted for chicken this time. Then again, if she had stuck with turkey, this wouldn't have happened and we would not have had such a laugh ha ha.

Anyway, mam cooked the chicken late the night before (chicken had stated on the packaging - "no giblets") and to be fair, it was smelling delicious. However, when she retrieved the chicken from the oven and looked inside she was nearly sick. Called for me to come look and I was nearly sick. Called for my dad to look but I don't think he wanted to ha ha. Yes, there were giblets inside and no, they weren't the nicely washed giblets in a bag that some people eat. This was the entire inside of the chicken left in... and now cooked. Seriously, it was as if they had just cut the head off and sealed up in a bag, as is. Eww it was revolting, you could see everything.

Well you can probably imagine the conversation from there on:

Mam: There is NO way I'm eating that or serving it to anyone else.

Me: Eww that's so gross! *Peers right into the chicken*
Dad: Well you'll have to eat it! It's half past eleven! What else are we going to do?
Me: Eww I'm going to be sick. *But still inspects the insides very closely*
Mam: I don't know what to do, but I am definitely NOT eating that.
Me: Urgh, look at that bit, it looks curly like lungs.
Mam: No thanks I don't want to look.

Me: Phone Tesco then.
Mam: At this time of night?
Me: Umm yeah.

So that's what we did. And after a rather frantic phonecall later with cries of "We won't have anything to eat or give our guests on Easter Sunday!", the woman on the phone told us to go to Tesco and she'll see what they can do. Tesco was shut but we were advised to go around to the security gate at the back and the guy would let us in.

When we got there, the lady was ever so kind and told us that unfortunately they didn't have any more chickens in the shop but they did have a turkey and asked would we like it. With no other option other than to go without dinner the next day, we agreed. Then, she came out with an absolutely HUGE turkey, about four times the size of the chicken we had previously bought! It was priced at £21.64 and we could have it for free! Haha. As we walked out, somewhat struggling under the weight of the turkey, all we could do was giggle to ourselves. My mam whispered to me "We'll be eating this for a month", and that cracked us up and sent us into fits of laughter. I replied "Don't laugh so much until we're out of sight of the security cameras, they could be watching us!" Which caused another bout of hysteria.

So, it was well worth having a really minging chicken in the end, because we all enjoyed a nice big juicy turkey on Easter Sunday... Thankyou Tesco!!!

I want to show you a couple of my favourite things...

I just wanted to share a few photographs with you of two of my favourite objects at the moment. The first is a plant that I bought in Tesco a few weeks back. For those of you who know me, you'll know that plants do not last longer than a few weeks in my care. I seriously don't know why they all die! I don't forget to water them, I keep them in a light place but out of direct sunlight... and I try not to water them too much. Nevertheless, in a few weeks the leaves are always a brown or yellow colour :-( However, I am pleased to announce that my current plant hasn't died yet and I love it so much I'm taking even more care than normal. Even dusting the leaves every day to keep them shiny. I must admit, though, that it was the plant pot in which the plant came that made me actually buy the plant ha ha. I LOVE RED!!!

The second thing is sort of my own creation. At Easter, one of my chocolate eggs had a very pretty chiffon bit of material around it, with a drawstring. It was so nice that I was reluctant to throw it away after the egg had been eaten, so, in one of my more artistic moods, I tied it around my blue glass paperweight! And this is the result:

I LOVE this picture above. The light reflecting off the blue/purple/pink really makes it looks like dancing red flames!!!

Goodness me! Is it waking up time already???

I've not been on top form lately. Seriously, there's something wrong when a 22 year old girl, after a good 7 or 8 hours sleep, wants to curl up in a ball and go straight back to sleep. I should be raring to go, eager to face the day ahead but I can't muster up the energy to do anything. After being awake for only a few hours it feels like I haven't slept in a week, and walking around like a zombie (especially at work) isn't a good look for me. Although I drag myself to work because I have to, I'm usually too tired when I get home to do my University work. If that starts to suffer, then I'll have no other choice but to give up my part time job because there's no point in working for minimum wage (when I already have a degree!) and failing my MA in the process, which cost me thousands of pounds.

Have I been hit by a serious case of 'Lampathy' (Lampeter apathy), which comes from living in a 'too chilled out' rural area? I mean, I know they say the country is supposed to be relatively stress free and all, and that's why people go to the country for recovery or respite, and even after retirement from a hectic city job... but seriously, this place does not exist on the same time scale as the rest of the world. I now know that there is such a thing as too quiet, too peaceful and too relaxed - it just makes you want to sleep all the time!

Ok so if the diagnosis isn't Lampathy then it's got to be something else. That's why, starting from Monday, I am doing a strict detox programme. Maybe this tiredness is down to generally not being fit enough. So it'll be nothing but fresh fruit and vegetables, white meat, fish and LOTS of water from Monday onwards. No junk food, no coffee! I'm also going to aim to go for a little run early each morning to both kick start my day and kick start my marathon training. If I don't figure out what my problem is I won't last a mile in the marathon without stopping to lean on a fence and fall asleep!

I'm hoping that my new diet and exercise regime will solve the way I'm feeling, otherwise it could only mean that there's something deeper wrong with me and I'll have to go to the doctor for blood tests. This I REALLY do NOT want to do! Not that I mind having blood taken or anything, I give blood all the time (although I don't know what good it's doing the person who receives it if I'm feeling this crappy myself), but I am scared that they'll find something wrong :-(

London Marathon 2008... What Have I Done???

Err... Nic and I have decided to run the London Marathon 2008!!! I must have been half-alseep/semi conscious when I agreed to this, but never a girl to go back on her word, I'm going to do it! Which means (at time of writing) I have 11 months, 8 days, 19 hours, 17 minutes and 34 seconds to get fit - or so says the little clock on the official website. AARRRGGHH!

I've contacted both the Heart UK and the British Heart Foundation chartities as I have a family history of heart disease and so want to do my best in raising sponsorship to go towards these causes. Both have replied saying they would like me to run with their team, however, I still have to apply through the general ballot in August. I'm quite excited about it actually, even though I did have a minor panic attack as soon as the words "Ok, I'll do it", escaped from my mouth. Then while pondering over the details later on that evening, the phrases "I'm going to die", "How on earth did I think I'd be able to run a marathon?", and "Oh no, I won't be able to have any junk food for a whole year", were running through my mind. I'm sure you don't even need reminding how it went the last time I gave up junk food!

Well enough of the whinging, I've even put it in print just to secure it further. Now I'll have to go through with it or you all can laugh at me for my failure ha ha. So on that note, I'm off to get me a stick of celery to munch on... maybe even go for a run! I'll keep you posted :-D xXx

P.S. I couldn't find a 2008 logo so had to make do with the 2007 one, just incase you were wondering...

Rebecca Needs...

There is this really cool game that I discovered while blog-surfing! I wanted to give a link to their site but I visited hundreds of blogs and now cannot find which one it was. All you need to do is type your name into Google and then the word "needs" after it. E.g. I typed "Rebecca needs", if your name is Julie then you type "Julie needs". Get it? Then you type a list of 10 (or more, up to you) things that the google search came up with. This is all that the original game consisted of. But just to spice it up a bit more and make it a bit more personal, I have commented on, or added the very first thing that came into my mind after reading the sentence:

"Rebecca needs to be enlightened!" - Hmm I thought I already was!

"Rebecca needs your help!" - ...to find her sanity; last seen when she was about 16.

"Rebecca needs support around her educational goals." ...because she will use every trick in the book to get out of doing her essays!

"Rebecca needs to vent." ...because she's so cool she's obviously got an inbuilt, fully functioning air cooling system :-P

"Rebecca needs to go back to the drawing board." ...to discover why Plan A of world domination didn't work!

"Rebecca needs to choose a database." - Err... Do I?

"Rebecca needs just one, good, meaty, dramatic role." ...and then the world's greatest film director will think to himself/herself, "My word! This girl is the greatest, most talented actress we have ever seen in the history of acting! Fly her to hollywood, immediately!"

"Rebecca needs to stop taking too-close pictures of herself." - Like, that is so not just me! Have you seen the Myspace revolution? It thrives on kids taking three million too-close pictures of themselves, just to upload to their profile. What's really disturbing is when they are doing sexy/sultry/pouting poses when they are only 13!!!

"Rebecca needs to become involved with someone who feels the same way about her." ...because wasting time on losers is doing her no favours.

"Rebecca needs to get used to being ritisized." - I need to get used to WHAT???

"Rebecca needs to know that love is not corrupt." - I don't think that love is corrupt actually, I just think that relationships are corrupt when the people involved have mistaken their friendship for love.

Cute Shoes and Not-So-Cute Comments... (Thanks to Sognatrice for naming this post for me!)

Why oh why do my REALLY pretty summer shoes hurt SO badly? I mean, they look as if they'd fit like a slipper and they're so gorgeous it's hard to believe that they can be so evil! I have about 63 million blisters just from wearing them for about 5 or 6 hours yesterday. What makes them even more evil is that they seem smug about the fact that they know I won't stop wearing them all summer. It's all an act I'm sure of it. They lull me into a false sense of comfort and prettiness, then they unleash their evil powers of pain and destruction on my feet when I am least expecting it. I seriously have a love-hate relationship with these shoes. I love them and they hate me! Anyway, I suppose it's a good time for those who have shares in plaster (band-aid) companies because the amount I have purchased in the past couple of days MUST have caused the share prices to rocket! Incidentally, I was going to post a pic of my blistered feet but I didn't want to put you all off your dinner, and I didn't want someone finding this blog while googling for foot fetishes or the like, ha ha!

I don't know if you read the comments section of my 'blog silence' post but it seemed to have caused somewhat of a stir with a certain person. My immediate reaction was to delete the comment straight away, as I didn't want the younger members of my family to read language like that on my blog. However, when Jenny commented me that she had had a similar comment from the same person on her 'blog silence' post, it prompted me to rethink whether I was right to simply delete his comment without further thought. Surely everyone is allowed an opinion, so who was I to delete his point of view just because it didn't tie in with my own beliefs? I decided that it was unfair to begin the habit of deleting bad comments and leaving nice comments for others to see. After all, this is a blog of 'daily life' and it would be a gross misrepresentation of the world if I was trying to make it seem as if everything was always peachy. Therefore, after some careful reconsideration, I commented on the post myself, and included his original comment within it (as I still had the email containing the comment which was sent to my personal inbox). So there you go mate, I've let you have your say - and if I'm honest, I've learnt alot from these moments of reflection on this situation. I have learnt to respect other people's points of view and not shun them just because I do not share the same opinion. I have also learned that there are a lot of troubled people in this world unfortunately, and deleting anything they say and ignoring them is not only not improving the situation, but is probably having the reverse effect! Maybe if I took the time to listen to them instead of acting like nothing was said, I'd be one step closer to understanding the reason for their hurt and possibly helping them.

Sshhh... Silence for the innocent students who lost their lives at the Virginia Tech shooting.

Click image above for more information.

Every day, do one thing that you've never done before!

I made this little pact with myself a few months ago, to do one thing each day that I've never done before. Originally the plan was to do one thing each day that scared me, but I couldn't find enough scary things to do in a little place such as Lampeter. So I settled for doing something that was new to me. Even if it's something extremely simple such as walking along a path I know I have never taken before or talking to someone new from the Uni or the town. For me (and my floaty, philosophical mind), it gives life just that little bit extra excitement and anticipation as you go through (what could be) yet another mundane day.

A couple of weeks ago, I did two things that I've never done before, in one day! Nic and I had gone to Tesco late night shopping one night and we purchased two things that were completely new to me, although Nic had tried one of the things before. The first was sushi! I have always said I don't like seafood (apart from a few types of fish), but the truth is, I hadn't really tried anything so never really knew if I liked it or not! (Apart from prawns, I KNOW I hate prawns). Well the verdict on my first taste of sushi is a BIG thumbs up. Took a bit of getting used to, and I think I forced the first couple of mouthfuls down, trying my hardest not to taste it as I chewed ha ha, but once I had gotten used to the taste I was eating it like a pro! ;-) If I'm totally honest though, I wasn't a huge fan of the seaweed that surrounds it. It tasted salty and fishy and reminded me of the stale smell of fishing nets in harbours which I REALLY cannot stand. Apart from that I enjoyed it, and now do not have to worry one bit about eating it when I am in Japan. Nic thought it was best to introduce me and get me used to it here rather than try it for the first time in Japan. Probably so that I wouldn't make faces as if it tasted like sick, as that would seem rude to the lovely Japanese people.

The second new thing I tried was new to Nic also; it was called dragon fruit: proper name - Pitaya. We saw it on the shelf in the fruit and veg section of Tesco and just HAD to buy it! Between the neon pink skin and the illuminous green leaves it looked like a mutant pineapple! Definitely the prettiest fruit I have ever come across so far! It was extremely juicy inside and could be compared to the taste of a kiwi fruit, but not as or tasty as a kiwi fruit. This, in my opinion, was definitely a case of "don't judge a fruit by it's pretty colour", as the inside (although also very pretty) was rather bland, and the small crunchy seeds got on my nerves after a short while. I think I would buy one again, but only for decoration purposes. Quite disappointing really considering it looked so nice and... tropical. I expected it to have the sweetness of a mango or pineapple, or the tanginess of a citrus or kiwi... but it didn't. On the other hand, admittedly, we only bought one! So could it be the case that we had just picked a 'not so tasty' one? Are they really supposed to be sweet or tangy normally, instead of tasting not that different to water? Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to criticise until I've tried it again to form a second opinion ha ha.

Cute Kitty :-D

Sorry everyone... I'm not dead, I just disappeared off the face of the blogosphere for a while. Even though I didn't actually post, my 'blog mode' never switched off and I was constantly coming across things that I thought would be awesome to share with you. So now I have a LOOOOONG list of stuff to post about. However, in an attempt to ease back into it gently, here's some really cute pics for all you cat lovers out there... especially Kass!

To view these cuties and more at their original source, click here!

Bye for now! xXx

And the winner is...!!!

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway, I know that I said results would be on the 9th but I'm fashionably late as usual heh! So anyway... I wrote everyone's names on pieces of paper, folded them up really small, jiggled them about in my hands for a while, laid them out in a line on my desk and then asked Nic's boyfriend to pick a number between 1 and 8. He picked number 7 and I opened the little bit of green paper to reveal the winner. And the winner is... Dollymama :-) Congratulations! I'll be in contact soon so that I can get your address to send you the book.

Thirteen Steps Down (Part 2)

Ok, unlike the previous post there is actually a reason for this post being called Thirteen Steps Down. I've just finished the book and I must say I really enjoyed it. I don't know about you but I really like Rendell's style of writing. So, as the ultimate blog party continues, in true Christmas Blog Party spirit, I've decided to give the book away to one lucky individual :-) All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is leave a comment on this post (even if you just say "Hi" and nothing else)... and that's it! You'll be in the hat! I will be announcing the winner on 9th March (gonna try and grab Nic or someone to pull a name out of the hat so it's fair) so if you want to win, please comment before then. If you are the lucky winner I will contact you via your blog to let you know and ask you to get in touch regarding where I should send your prize. I will be happy to post the book worldwide so there are no specifications of who can enter. Party on!!!

P.S. You don't have to be a member of the Blog Party to enter either... this is open to everyone!


If you are still reading this then that means you're not already on my comments page... What are you waiting for??? Go comment!!!

Thirteen Steps Down

Thanks to Sognatrice I came across (and subsequently joined) the Blog Party which is continuing until 9th March and you should all do the same! A big thank you to everyone who has commented on my blog as a result of landing here from the blog party home page. If you would like to join there is a banner at the top of my side bar which, (if I have installed it correctly) when clicked, should take you to the correct page.

Just as a bit of fun I thought I would post this pic of a poor bread roll or sausage roll, I can't quite decide what it is. I found the "thing" in the bottom of the oven one day and although it wasn't MY culinary disaster, nor do I particularly like the stereotype that students can't cook*, I found it hilariously funny. Luckily the kitchen didn't go up in smoke (surprisingly) and all that was left of the ordeal was a lingering smell of burnt bread roll/sausage roll and this piece of charcoal.

* In actual fact, the reason why we fill up on cup-a-soup or beans on toast more often than not is because of our financial situations rather than our lack of culinary skills. So there! :-P

Ever since Nic did an online swap with someone from America last summer, I have wanted to do something the same. This is why I have come up with the idea to begin a "Swap-It Saturday"** section of my blog. It will probably be once a month to start with, but if enough people are interested and it doesn't go horribly wrong the first time, I may increase it to weekly so that everyone has a chance of doing at least one swap. I have read a few blogs of expats and their cravings for Cadbury's chocolate, Marmite, Peanut butter, British magazines, books written in English and lots more items they cannot get in their new surrogate country and thought it would be really cool to send them the items they want in the post in return for just a few little items that are readily available where they are now but not in Britain.

I haven't, as yet, worked out the ins and outs of how this will work but the main thing will be to keep it low cost so that it stays as a bit of fun and people are not put off by the assumption that they will have to fork out a small fortune to take part. However, before that, I am just interested to know how many people would like to have a go at this because if no-one is, then it's not worth me spending hours working out the detailed plan of action ha ha! Just leave a quick comment to let me know you would like to join the swap-it community but remember at this point you are simply showing interest and not binding yourself to any particular swap. If just one or two people are interested then they might as well just do swaps with me, but if more people join than I am able send out to personally, then I'll devise a plan where people from different countries are paired up with each other. This should be a lot of fun and I hope it works well!

** By the way this is the only time that the "Swap-it Saturday" will be mentioned on any other day of the week apart from Saturday! I was going to wait until the weekend to post this idea but I couldn't wait ha ha.

Incidentally, if anyone is wondering why the strange title for this post when it's got nothing to do with the content, it's because Thirteen Steps Down is the title of the book I am currently reading by Ruth Rendell. It's very good! Since this post consists of a few different topics, I couldn't decide what to call it, so I settled for something completely unrelated... and now you all know what book I'm reading as well. (Nearly finished it though!)

Lunar Eclipse and a confession... Oh the shame :-(

To start this blog on a bright note, here are the pics of last night's Lunar Eclipse. The clear, starry sky couldn't have been more perfect for such an amazing event. As I gazed out of the window I watched the moon magically perform in all its glory. Just a pity my camera wasn't so perfect :-(

By this point and during the total eclipse, the rest of the moon was a deep red colour, but my stupid camera couldn't even pick that up. Grrrrr!!!

Ok and now for the confession... You know that bit in the Bible where it says we should confess our sins before God and before man? Well, God already knows, because He saw me last night so now I'm confessing before you all. I've broken my lent promises already! :-( In fact, more than a few times as well! Nic and I decided to give up chocolate and other junk foods for lent, and even though I gave the convincing "gasp of shock and horror" when she rather sheepishly revealed to me a few days ago that she had eaten a piece of chocolate cake, I've done worse than that. In fact, I've eaten more crisps, sweets and chocolate in the last few days than I ever did before making this decision to give it all up for lent. I'm a bad, bad girl! *Hangs head in shame*.

Sometimes I do the craziest things!

Your eyes are not deceiving you! Those ARE the 43 books I bought the day before yesterday... FORTY THREE!!!

I had come to the decision that, unlike my undergrad days, I would rather be in my room with a book than go out to The Extention. Yes I still enjoy a night out now and again (as you'll be able to see from previous posts) but if I had started this blog in my first year, going out is ALL the material I would have had to blog about. I literally went out every single night without fail. There was something seriously wrong if my flat-mates and I were not to be seen on the dancefloor or in the Union on any given night. Times have changed. The fact that I now have "proper" studying to do coupled with the possibility that maybe I genuinely have calmed down a bit in my old age (!) means that I don't feel the need to be out living it up until all hours of the morning anymore. I am quite happy settling down in my pyjamas and picking up a good book, in which I get really engrossed and enter a whole new world, ignoring everything in reality for those few precious hours before I fall asleep.

I reasoned (the completely rational person as I am *cough*) that since I wasn't spending money on my nights out as I used to, I would now be able to indulge in buying a few more books to keep me happy (and as a way of procrastinating from my essays). As I wandered into the University Bookshop I saw an abundance of second hand novels which one would never guess were second hand, apart from by the price. Upon seeing a few I liked I noted them down on a piece of paper as I didn't get paid until the following day. Early in the morning, as I excitedly set out to buy the books, I happened to recall seeing, a while ago, an animal charity bookshop in town that I had only ever entered once previously. Out of curiosity I ventured across the road and pushed open the door. The shop had a lovely musty smell of old books, it reminded me of the smell in the University library. The man behind the counter looked up and gave me a warm smile. This I noted because the students aren't really liked by the towns-people for some reason. At once I noticed some of the titles that I had put on my list to buy in the Uni shop... and these were half the price again! Yet still in the same "never been read/read only once" condition. I was ecstatic!

Ok, suffice to say, as you can tell from the photo, I got a bit carried away. But there were SO many titles that I liked the sound of, and for 50p ($1ish?) would you leave them there gathering dust on the shelves? No, I didn't think so ha ha. After handing over my £20 (yes I know what you're thinking, at 50p each I should have had 40 books but he gave me three free ha ha) and an even bigger smile from the guy behind the counter, I hauled my sack (yes he also gave me a sack!) of books right across campus and collapsed through my door and onto my bed with exhaustion... But I felt GOOD! I don't have a clue where I'll put my 43 books or how I'll get them home from Uni at the end of term considering I have enough in my room to fill a truck as it is! Or where I'll put them when I get home as my room is quite small at my parents house, but for now that's not my worry. I've got all the books I need for the next year or so and it had only come to £20, which had gone to help poor suffering little animals as well. Needless to say I shall be visiting that shop again... But not for a long while!

Lampeter Sunsets

Believe it or not, all these photos were taken within the space of about half an hour. It was amazing to see how the colour of the sky changed so many times in such a short period of time! I had to lean dangerously far out of my window to get the best pics I could, but it was more than worth it to have captured these beautiful images!

In other news, I had a good little giggle to myself in work today when a customer informed me she had a "photogenic memory". I'm assuming she meant photographic memory but I didn't say anything. I smiled at her but it took all of my energy not to burst out into fits of laughter. Yes I am random and yes work was quiet and therefore it only took something as little as that to set me off. Ha ha! Ah well, it brightened my day for all of ten minutes :-D