My Weekend

Did you all have a nice weekend? Get up to anything exciting?

Friday night I went out for an Indian with Louise and Derek. Mmmmm, so good! I met Louise after work then we had a glass of wine (which is so weird 'cos I don't tend to like wine!) in the house before heading out to the Mount Shimla, a local restaurant, for their buffet. Three courses, a coffee, and almost 3 hours later later we headed home!

Saturday I went to the gym, came home and didn't really do much the rest of the day. Actually I spent most of the afternoon playing the Sims lol. Oh, I chatted to Charms on MSN for a while and she sent through some really cute photos of Daijah! Don't kids grow up fast!! Then at night we were up to my In-Laws for an Italian night of lasagna and horse-racing (well, the DVD version anyway lol.) I established I'm not a gambler lol. Even with plastic poker chips!

Sunday I was busy! I got up early to give Jazz his breakfast (left Derek sleeping), washed a load of dishes, washed clothes and packaged a LOT of eBay stuff. Then Derek woke up lol. We were planning on going to Ikea but the thing we want is out of stock 'cos of a manufacturing fault, so we went out to Morrisons to do a food shop instead. And also to see Derek's cousin Karen, 'cos it's her son's 16th. But Sean wasn't in so we had tea and donuts there then came home. I then did ALL the ironing, ate pizza for tea, watched Ugly Betty and ER, then played the Sims and went to bed.

Phew!

Toronto Fund Update

eBay sales have broken... no... shattered the £100 barrier so I'm now over 15% of my way to Toronto!! I'm expecting a load of auctions to end this weekend so hopefully I'll have an update for you again on Sunday. :o)

It's Gonna Be A Good 'Un!

It's Friday!!!!! :oD And it's going to be a GOOD Friday!!! Lol, that may seem a little presumptuous of me but, although it's only 10:45am, I feel fab! Some contributing factors:

~ I slept really well last night.
~ Jazz didn't get my feet this morning! (I can't recall when last I didn't have to kick him off the bed!)
~ I managed to run for my train this morning and sit down before it started moving!
~ I got the free paper at the station to read at lunch.
~ It's not raining.
~ In fact, it's quite sunny!
~ The morning's going quite fast.
~ I solved a big invoice problem at work... Yay!
~ And the best thing of all (so far)... I got a letter from my old work saying their pay deal had been granted so they were backdating my pay 2 months! :o) So I get an extra £100!!

But what to do with the money? It's basically free *lol* 'cos I wasn't expecting it. I'm going out to dinner tonight (Indian... mmmm) with Derek and Louise so should I buy them dinner? Or should I put the money towards Toronto, or *boring* savings... or should I buy myself something (not sure what) or what? Any suggestions? I'll let you know what I decide.

Shopaholic

I've just started reading the first book in the Shopaholic series, Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic, and so far I'm loving it! It's proven to make me giggle on the train (much to the entertainment of other commuters lol.) I don't know how many of you have read it (Az and Sarah, I know you have) but I can totally relate! Like the part just now is about Becky, the shopaholic girl, is trying a new frugal spending regime. So she starts by not buying coffee every day at the likes of Starbucks and brings her own from home instead. Lol, but she ends up having to buy a real hip, expensive flask to carry it in which costs like 10 x the price of coffee to start with! And a fab little designer notebook to chart all her savings in lol. Remind you of anyone?? *Innocent Look.*

*Charts*

I added a couple of charts to the sidebar of my blog last night. They're not at all fancy or interactive but... they help me (and you guys) follow my progress towards affording to go to Canada and losing weight! Lol, this blog is just getting cheesier by the day! :oP

Btw I had a request in for my photo blog ~ 7 days showing my favourite 7 things about my street. So I'll go out at the weekend and get those photos. I'll have to give it some thought... But thanks for that idea! :)

Catch-Up

My posts have been a bit thin on the ground the past week and so I apologise for that. I'm back-dating a pile of photos (to the start of February!) so plenty of viewing over in my 2007 Photo Blog!

But ok, a few wee updates for ya...

As you've read, my friend (and quite possibly my most loyal reader) Jen had a baby boy on Thursday! :oD So congratulations to Adam and Jen!! And welcome to the world little William. I have no idea how long mail takes to reach Canada from Scotland but expect a package in the next week or so. :o)

Work's been keeping me busy! I spent 2 days last week doing a course on system development training. Pretty intense technical stuff like learning the scripting for our case management system so I can build a new HR records database (which is both interactive and useable!), setting up data extract reports and other such stuff. I also helped with interviews for our new Admin. Assistant which was pretty cool. Very enlightening - I'm not used to being on the other side of the table lol.

The gym's going ok. I'm still a member lol. Been twice so far but I'm aiming for 3 sessions this week. And I've lost another lb since my Special K diet! Slow and steady..... 11 lbs to go 'til I reach my target!!

Apart from that, what have I been doing? Em, eBay stuff. Been working on that quite a bit actually. I had around 90 listings up and I'm down to 71, so things are selling. I figured that I can make enough with this batch of stuff to raise between 15 and 20% of my total Toronto fund. Which isn't too bad considering that leaves me with another 6 months to get the rest lol. I also have a new business venture idea but I gotta keep it under wraps for now. ;o) All will be revealed in due course... *Mysterious Look*.

What else?? I've been playing The Sims 2 quite a lot. I'm not sure if anyone else (apart from Az) actually plays it, but I'm getting pretty addicted! Please, please, please let me know if you're at all into sim-type games... I think I'm boring Alison with updates ~ it's about time I shared with someone else lol.

Remember, requests are welcome for photos. Charms, I'll get the curtains posted for ya soon!!

Toronto Fund Update

Well it's been a good week for eBay sales. Nothing enormous but I'm up to £51.69 which I'm pretty chuffed about. :oD And on top of that I've made Mum and Dad over £30 as well! Now I see that eBay are having a half-price listing day on Tuesday so I'm gonna stop typing now and start designing more ads! It's kinda sad in a way but it's good fun! :o)

New Baby Boy

* * * Congratulations * * *
*.*.*
to my Canadian friends
Jen and Adam
on the birth of their new
Baby Son
*.*.*
William Adam
2:42am, 8lb 13oz
*.*.*
a wonderful addition to their family

Introducing The Gym's Newest Member

I did it! I joined the gym yesterday AND worked out for 45 minutes!

And this morning I'm sore... *lol*.

*Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching*

Picture coins falling into a bucket, or a bank, or really any container-type object suitable for holding money. Anyway, that's what I mean by cha-ching! :o)
eBay's going well. I listed a total of 122 items at the weekend ~ mostly CD's ~ but also craft stuff *I cleared out*, clothes, DVD's and Vichy products. Already 11 CD's have sold: 7 of mine, and 4 of Dad's. I've not made my million quite yet but that's at £14.50 towards my Toronto trip. It'll be a bit more 'cos I should make a weensie wee bit from the P&P costs. So not much but it's a start! And you need to have a start in order to have a finish, so meh! *Sticking tongue out.* Technically I'm 2% of the way there already!

Getting Fit & Making Money

Since I did so well with my Special K Diet resolution, I decided to try out another! Another New Year's resolution that it, not another diet. :o) I went to the gym on Tuesday night for a show-around ~ I'm going to go back Monday and join. I was SO impressed!!! Let me tell you, there are 4 levels of fitness, so I'll have no excuse! Check it out! There are two pretty intense weights rooms in the basement, a resistance room on the ground floor with ultra-modern pneumatic resistance machines, a boxing training room with Pilates area on the first floor, and finally a massive cardio room on the top floor ~ which is probably where I'll be living. So I'm excited about it! Hopefully I'll start to see the lbs fall off. I'll update this often so keep checking back!

The other resolution was to save money and make money. Well that's going ok... It's not going great but it's going ok. I devised a spreadsheet (I have one for like everything!!) and it details ALL my expenditure separated into categories and sorted by date. Then I have a summary page so I can see at a glance what's what. Incredibly organised, eh?? And as for making money, I've been working on a load of eBay listings so the next cheap listing day they have I can upload them all. However, last night when I was online, I noticed that eBay are doing a special CD and DVD weekend so it'll only cost 5p to list an item instead of 20p which is fab! But I only had like 5 CD's to sell. So I decided to be ruthless and completely slaughter my CD collection 'cos I never listen to CD's now ~ it's all MP3 to me! :o) So I ripped almost my entire CD collection onto the laptop and now I'm selling the originals. I have of course kept a few for sentimental purposes lol. Besides, no guarantee they'll all sell. But it does clear a massive section of my bookcase lol.

Derek ~ 2 Years from the Big 3-0!

Happy Birthday Derek!!!!! Awwww, today is my Babes' birthday and he has to work. I have to work too ~ which is weird 'cos we're normally enjoying a romantic city break for his birthday... Amsterdam, Rome, Oslo... But no, this year we're working. :o(
So my Hubby's 28! That's almost 30 lol. He was a young, dishy 21 when I met him. But having said that, I was only 20 and my wee sis was only 12! Hahaha, he's seen her go from 12 to almost 19 lol. What a transformation!
So last night we went through to my Grandparents for the birthday tea. After doing the food and cake and presents and stuff, we played cards (which they love to do!) for pennies lol. Hey, don't laugh, I made 32p lol.
Flick over to my photo blog for a picture of the birthday boy!

My Special K Diet - Last Day!

Well I did it!! I completed my two-week Special K ~ Drop a Dress-Size diet..... But I only lost 1lb and certainly didn't drop a dress-size. :o( But I realise it's because I am already eating healthy and cereal isn't and lower in fat/cals/carbs than my usual lunch. But on a positive note, I feel better. I've been feeling a bit more energised and that's just as important to me. In fact, I've been feeling SO energised, I've decided that I want to join the gym! I've got the healthy eating sorted now and so I just gotta take it that step further. I'll keep you posted!

Success!

I just wanted to let y'all know that the carrot cake I made last night is amazing! I posted a photo of the finished product over on my other blog. If you think it looks good, you should taste it! Mmmmm..... Also, I would like to thank Mum and Az for their input into the new design of my blog. I chose the blue and cream scheme as they're wintery colours but not icy if that makes sense. I think the cream helps to warm the blue... But don't worry Az, pink will be back in the spring! ;o)

Oh and one more thing, any baby news Jen??

Low-Fat Carrot Cake

Who here loves Carrot Cake?? Now, who here hates that it's so unhealthy?? Well I have a solution! Actually, Delia Smith has a solution ~ I'm just borrowing it lol. Low-fat carrot cake!!
I made this today to take through to my Grandparents tomorrow. We're having a family birthday meal for Dad and Derek (although Dad's birthday was January 18th and Derek's is on February 5th...) but it's a good excuse to make cake!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
~ 87g dark brown soft sugar
~ 1 large egg
~ 60ml sunflower oil
~ 100g wholemeal self-raising flour
~ 1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
~ 1.5 rounded tsps mixed spice
~ grated orange zest
~ 100g carrots, coarsely grated
~ 87g sultanas

For the Topping
~ 125g skimmed-milk soft cheese
~ 10g caster sugar
~ 1 tsp vanilla essence
~ 1 level tsp cinnamon

For the Glaze
~ juice of very small orange
~ 1 tbsp lemon juice
~ 20g dark brown soft sugar

How to make all that into Carrot Cake!
1.) Whisk the brown sugar, eggs and oil together in a bowl (electric whisk for 2 minutes.)
2.) Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda and the mixed spice into a bowl.
3.) Stir 1.) and 2.) together, then fold in the orange zest, carrots and sultanas.
4.) Pour the mixture into a prepared tin and bake on the centre shelf for 35 minutes.
5.) Make the topping by mixing all the ingredients until light and fluffy (cover and chill.)
6.) Make the glaze by whisking together the fruit juices and sugar.
7.) When cake is ready, stab it and spoon the syrup over it. Allow to cool.
8.) Remove from the tin and spread topping over it.
9.) Cut into pieces and serve dusted with a little cinnamon.

Now it should be noted that when I made this, I halved her recipe so in case I made any typos when changing the amounts and you end up with 23 cups of something instead of 2, here's Delia's version lol.

Help design my Blog

I'm not too crazy about the pink and purple and yellowy colour scheme anymore. It's a bit sickly sweet but I don't know what to change it to. So guys, help me! What colours would you like to read off of???

My Special K Diet - Day 11

I'm afraid I don't have a huge update for you today... I've just been happily munching away on cereal, cereal and more cereal. I decided to expand on my cereal choice and have not started on Oatibix! They're just like Weetabix but made with oats. Anyway they're tasty!! I'm sure Mr Kelloggs won't mind that I strayed from Special K.
I'm going to do another weigh-in on Sunday but although I don't seem to be losing a lot of weight, I feel better. My work trousers and jeans feel just a teensie bit looser. :o)

Btw, thanks to everyone for your support with this! It's the comments and e-mails that keep this blog (and diet!) worth while. :o)
Speaking of which, it's February and I'm still updating it!! That's gotta be a record for me!