My Life's Ingredients

Well... my first attempt to carve pumpkins.... never done it before!! DH wanted a Batman Signal (and hand drew it on one of our pumpkins) and I used one of the templates for mine. Didn't use the scoop provided in the pumpkin carving kit but followed the advice of one of my friends (thanks, Chris!!!) and used an Icecream scoop! VERY good for getting the flesh out of the pumpkin!! :) Now just going to post two cards and the invitation for our neighbours for tomorrow evening.

Blogger seems to have problems with uploading photos just now ... will attach them at a later time...

Have finally been able to do my ATCs for the "Favourite Movie" Swap on UKS ... with me being in hospital and all that has been delaying sending them out but will go to the PO tomorrow. I will be getting all the "Batman Begins" ATCs back... looking forward to that really. :)

Ah... spoke too soon!! Had a thumping headache when I woke up and asked DH if I could have breakfast in bed. Had one piece of my brioche, took my tablets and then tried the 2nd piece and suddenly had a wave of nausea! Really felt like having to "hug the toilet bowl" soon, but nothing happened. Tried to sleep off the headache and asked DH for toast for lunch - smelled the lunch on DH's clothes and felt sick again! At 3pm we left for home, and I went straight to bed. Still headachey and nauseous, I was drifting in and out of sleep. Dinner was soup and toast (special Soup from DH - he didn't find any cream so used squishy cream in the Campbell's tomato soup - which we won't do again ... the cream part of it I mean). After dinner my old friend Chris phoned, whom I haven't seen in ages and haven't met for even longer!!! We had a good blether and then agreed she'll be coming around with lunch on Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to this!! :)

Hurray! Managed to get to the crop for most of the time! Just for chatting and looking and new stash etc., not really doing anything (well... I cut the cardstock for my sis' paper bag book!). But then... I didn't expect to do anything really!!! Met BIL's new girlfriend (?) who is really nice. Would be great if they'd stay together (or get together, not sure what the state of that relationship is?). Dominique is fairly chatty and funny - think she would fit right into the family!!! :) She is another chocoholic and had some chocs from Hotel Chocolat - including Praline Hot Chocolate (which comes in little marbles - so you can eat them as well?!) which she immediately made for me. She also got me a "get well card" and a little gift (small cosmetic bag from Estee Lauder) although she never met me before!! Really a nice person! Mmmmh... didn't get any studying done again. My brain just won't do it ....think it's the antibiotics.... which came with the

Was told in the morning that I can go home in the afternoon. So had a shower and finally got to wash my hair as well. Felt a bit off with the greasy hair for such a long time!! While drying myself I saw a little blood trickling from the canula so I thought I'd moved it a little - and suddenly I started bleeding like a pig!!! When checking my hand I saw that the other end (which is meant to be in my vein!!!) was out...and nothing but blood. So... every normal person would press the call button immediately, right? NOT ME!!! I first put my (DH's Superman) dressing gown on, tried to clean up my hand under the water and THEN pressed the call button to tell the nurse that I made a bit of a mess. Geesh, what am I like!!! Dr Thong came along to tell me that they discharge me in the hope that the cyst burst itself but that I would have an OP if it doesn't. And although I KNEW that's on the cards (and either solution means a delay in my next IVF cycle), I had a little cry out in

As I said - didn't sleep well... and didn't have a chance to catch up on sleep with the regular check ups and medicine rounds etc. Was able to read though and found out that one of my former colleagues (know her from e-mail but not in person) was in the bed opposite. :) We have been chatting a bit. One of the day nurses tried to get blood out of me ... and had to try 5 (!!!) different veins to get 2 syringes... and one was still missing!!! Really wonder what happened with my veins. They were ok when I was donating blood every 6 months.... :o One of the blood results is a tumour pointer test. Apparently a routine test for anything that grows in your body which shouldn't, but still doesn't make me feel 100% about it. Had Dr Raja turning up in the morning and Dr Thong in the afternoon. Apparently Dr Tay was there as well but I was in the shower. DH turned up at 5pm with my laptop again so I could check my e-mails and write some replies. Once we figured out that I'm st

WHAT A NIGHT!!!! Woke up at 2am again and then couldn't get back to sleep as one of the other patients was SNORING like DH!!!! I actually asked the nurse who brought me my pain killer if they'd have any earplugs ... answer was NO (note to self - bring eyeshade and earplug when next going to hospital!!!) but I got some cotton wool which helped ... a little. Still wok e up about every hour, and getting woken up at 7am for the meds round and BP & pulse doesn't really help!!! My internal scan wasn't booked until 3pm ... so a lot of hanging about really. However, the scan showed that I have a huuuge (well... in my eyes!!) cyst on my right ovary ... 10 cm in total I believe. Liquid and solids .... which is a bit worrying for me, because I don't know what the "solid" part is?! "Ran into" (well... was pushed on my wheelchair towards) DH and our friend Andy in the foyer and returned back to the ward. Again, it took them until around 7:30pm to get th

Woke up at 2am with horrendous stomach pain - all over. Suspected constipation first but never had it that bad!!! I suddenly got the twitchy body (like an epileptic fit - I have that while I am unconscious - know that, happens while/shortly after I pass out with pain! Must have passed out, because when I checked the time (thank goodness for my projector clock!!) it was a little later. Now the pain just left ASIS to right ASIS and then up to right upper quadrant up to under my right breast. Totally confused about that but still suspected severe constipation pain. I tried to find a way to lie down and get a little sleep at least but couldn't find any position comfy enough for that. Next was a try to go to the toilet ... but broke out in cold sweat as soon as I was sitting on the edge of the bed so fell back onto my pillow and lie there for a while. The next time I actually made it to the toilet but nothing happened - and a quick rush back to the bed as I felt the cold sweat breakin

Wahey! Got the TV on my notepad working yesterday evening ... so I can still watch telly in bed, even though we haven't replaced the TV in the master bedroom yet. First I thought I'd only get the standard 5 programs, but no!! I get lots of digital TV as well!! That notepad is really worth the money!! :) Very lazy day today - lounging on the couch all day and only putting on a wash and doing the washing up plus finishing the cooking - nice lamb roast with potatoes, carrots and broccoli. Yumm!! Yesterday I have been doing some tidying and a couple of washes ... had nasty cramps from the witch though, so a lot of hot wheat pack on duty and cooking homemade pizza. From tomorrow onwards I want to go either swimming or to the gym before I start studying for 4 - 5 hours. After the studying it's about 2 hours housework and then me-time. Hopefully I'll stick to that ... really hope so!

Have been buying just the Christmassy issues of "Cross Stitcher" and "World of Cross Stitching" for 2 years now. And somehow I just have to admit that I am not a knitter but a stitcher. All I have knitted so far were 3 scarves. Haven't even started "purling" yet, and am amazed how much wool can cost. It's cheaper to buy a jumper than knit one!!! Shame, actually. I'd rather knit a jumper and know that I've done it myself.... So... I will cancel my subscription to "Simply Knitting" after the Christmas issue. Think the December issue is the last one in the quarterly payments anyway. Am I going to subscribe to one of the Cross Stitching mags again? Not sure, but think not for a bit. Yet have to start stitching again, and am "behind" with the stitching for my friend's charity "Blinkie Patrol" in the USA. Just too much on this year really. Wondering if there was much positive stuff this year of if we should just

Our house is haunted since Tuesday evening!!! First our TV in the living room broke down and DH spent 3 hours yesterday evening getting a replacement from ASDA (first they've replaced it with another broken one) and this evening when I got ready for "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" in the bedroom (still have that funny cold and had a nasty headache all day) nothing happened when I switched it on (on the TV itself - we started to switch it off - not standby - a couple of months ago). No red light no nothing. Of course DH is throwing a bit of a fit again - all that happening when he has an important league meeting on Saturday and our second Affiliation Game is on Sunday (away game in Hull). That's just so blinking typical!!!!! It doesn't rain, it pours here!! :( Told DH that I don't need a TV in the bedroom for the weekend and that we can replace it after all the pressure is over, he has far more important things to do... and that seems to be the case now. What&#

You know that feeling ... knowing that there is a cold lurking inside you but it just won't come out? I have that feeling since Monday afternoon and just can't shake it! :( Wish the cold would just come out and get over with, so I can concentrate on life and studying etc again. Haven't touched the books since Thursday on the train (no time in London and then the stupid "cotton wool feeling" in my head - very counter-productive to studying!!!) but will try a bit today. Module 12 is in 65 days - that's scary FEW for me... don't need to have a "domestic" if I'm not able/feeling too crappy to study.... and failing the exam in January is just not an option!!! :o Aaaaaargh. All I have from the cold is woozy head and a stuffed nose and a little bit of sore throat (think I got swollen glands as well, but just a little) but no cough or drippy nose like DH had when he started his cold over a week ago. That's a scary record for him - usually he has

Well.. now that I'm back from London and have handed my latest "creation" to its new owner I can finally post what I have been scrapping last Wednesday... ;)

Woke up earlier this morning to have brekkie with Sharon to say goodbye and Graeme said bye to me later on, so I decided I may as well get up instead of sleeping until 9:30am. Train leaves Kings Cross at 1pm so I give myself enough time to get there with leaving at 10:30am. Weekend was great, but I am looking forward to getting back home again. :) Thanks again to Sharon & Graeme for a wonderful weekend. I'm sure we will repeat this again soon. (((HUGS)))

Did set my alarm for 9am and managed to sleep another 15 mins just to get up for a shower. Outside was torrential rain - again! So we only decided at 12pm to leave the flat to go to Hotel Chocolat as well as the best Dim Sum place I've been to (Chuen Cheng) - well, it's the only Dim Sum place I've been to but Sharon and Graeme agree it's the best! :) Had loads of Dim Sum ... think we had Prawn Dumplings, Prawn & Pork Dumplings, Turnip Paste thingies, beef dumplings, veggie dumplings, duck noodle soup, some unidentifiable dough dumplings with sweet vanilla (?) sauce and then sesame dumplings with some unidentifiable filling. Yummie!!! Hotel Chocolat is a very posh .. mmmh... chocolate boutique? :D Lots of nice things there, and I got some chocs for me (a mini slab with nuts & tiramisu pralines) as well as Doug's birthday present. It's a very nice place for shopping for a treat, but definitely not an every day thing! :) Shame they have an online shop as w