The phone has been cut off again so I can't access my email - if you've sent me anything, I'm not not spurning you, I just haven't seen it.

Happy Birthday xanantha  - I hope both you and the Giraffe have a brilliant day!

For rosie_rah  and xanantha

A Girlguiding giraffe

Why is it that when a tooth in the top of your mouth aches, the corresponding tooth in the lower set hurts too? Is it all psychological?

( Fun with vegetables )

Yesterday was quite good fun. Al's mum has lent us her car as Al will need transport if he gets the Carlisle job. This meant we could finally take the huge box of Blyton books Al's mum gave me a year ago up to Barter Books at Alnwick. A lovely afternoon of stroking CS hbs and sitting next to the fire ensued, before the lovely staff agreed to give me £30 in exchange for the books. Sadly this was in the form of credit and was spent pretty much instantly. ;-)

We decided to head back to Newcastle along the coastal route rather than the considerably less scenic A1 and this was where it started to go wrong. Al set off towards Wooler in the mistaken belief that it was near the sea (can't be bothered to find a suitable link to prove the point, but take it from me, Wooler is in completely the opposite direction). We ended up following a bridle path over the moors surrounded by sheep, although the high point was definitely getting stuck behind the farmer driving cattle down the lane in front of us. *rolls eyes* We got home around 7pm. And they say that women have no sense of direction!

Dammit, how did it get so late? Al's DJing tonight and I'm meant to be his entourage...

Bloody shoes. Which have now resulted in quite literally bloody feet.

Hmm... think I should hobble across to Learning Support and stealth some plasters. Although if I bleed all over the library carpet it might discourage some of the little brats from coming in.

A child at school showed me this - absolute genius: Exorcist Bunnies

Sent to me by my sister, and it's oh so very true. xtotalinsanity , you should probably consider this a warning...

You know you're from Coventry when...

*The only colour you recognise apart from grey is Burberry and police-light blue
* You can negotiate a ring road that would have seasoned London cabbies in tears
* You get accused of having a Birmingham accent by non-Midlanders - even though you sound nothing like a Brummie
* You think baby blue is an acceptable colour for a football team's strip
* The name of the area you live in usually ends in 'Green'
* It's obvious to you that the sports centre is shaped like an elephant
* You stopped using consonants in the early 1990s
* You know that the upstairs back seat of a bus is the only acceptable place to smoke a blunt
* You know that the University of Warwick has nothing to do with Warwick the place at all
* A night out at 'Jak's' is really living it up
* The only time you attend the Skydome is to hang around outside, puke, pull women and fight
* You've always wondered what the elephant thing was about
* You've spent new year's eve at the city centre party...and the one the year after at a local working men's club
* Having a giant big top as a permanent feature of the city's architecture seems perfectly reasonable to you
* You can visit the scariest ghettos of the UK and still be accused of coming from a rough area
* You don't bat an eyelid at a naked woman on horseback - but you'll be all over teenage girls in white tracksuits
* You've always secretly wanted to put a bottle of washing up liquid in the Smithford Way fountain
* You can give directions to The Litten Tree, Ikon, The Flying Standard,and the Social Security Office - but you've no idea where the Herbert Art Gallery is

I'm going to Milan!

Not until February unfortunately, but still... :-D

Thank you to everyone who posted reassuring comments and hugs after my last post - they were greatly appreciated and much needed.

Al did the Great North Run today in aid of Traidcraft and managed it in the rather respectable time of 2 hours 13 minutes - pretty good for someone who hadn't trained, methinks. I am now horrendously sunburnt and will be a figure of fun at school tomorrow, no doubt. 'Clifford the Big Red Librarian'. Oh, my aching sides.

On the plus side, we did get to do some rather fine celeb-spotting. Dermot O'Leary very nearly stood on me and we later ambushed him so Al's sister could have her photo taken with him. He's tiny-small! More importantly, we also ambushed Christopher Eccleston, although sadly I wasn't brave enough to pose for a photo with him for fear of turning into a complete Doctor Who geek and embarrassing myself. Alas. And Al had wandered off with the digital camera, so I have to wait until Al's sister gets her film developed before I can prove it. We also spotted various other people from TV programmes which I don't watch, so the significance was somewhat lost on me.

I have seen Christmas cards for sale in town. And a Studio cards Christmas catalogue arrived this morning...

Anyhoo, gacked from various people:

1. When you look at yourself in the mirror, what's the first thing you look at? Just how awful my skin is at the moment :(

2. How much cash do you have on you right now? £7.36

3. What's a word that rhymes with "TEST"?  Pest

4. Favourite plant? Bertha

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? My mum

6. What is your main ring tone on your phone?  The Futurama theme 

7. What shirt are you wearing?  Purple t-shirt

8. Do you "label" yourself? No

9. Name brand of your shoes currently wearing?  Sketchers

10. Do you prefer a bright or dark room?  Very dark for sleeping, otherwise I don't mind 

11. What did you have for breakfast?  Sausage sandwich

12. Since question 12 is weirdly missing, make something up: Why are there random spaces between lines in this post? 

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping. I was in bed before 10

14. What did your last text message you received on your mobile phone say?  'I really hate my parents sometimes! they come back from Hartlepool and get angry with me because I don't have a job! If I could move out now I would.' (Go on, guess who that's from!)

15. Do you ever click on "Pop Ups" or Banners? No. The private message ones on the CBB don't appear on my 'puter! 

16. What's an expression that you say a lot? That's the main thing

17. Who told you they loved you last? Al

18. Last furry thing you touched? Stitch (of course!)

19. How many hours a week do you work? At the moment, none! (ah, the joy of holidays!) During termtime, 37.

20. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed? None at the moment

21. Favourite age you have been so far?  Don't know. 10 possibly.

22. Your worst enemy? Oh, I have so many...

24. What was the last thing you said to someone? I'll be down in a minute (to Al)

25. If you had to choose between a million pounds or to be able to go back in time and fix all your mistakes which would you choose? The money - the need is more pressing at the moment...

Yay and indeed huzzah! This evening I have had a meeting with my Commissioner mentor and she has signed off ALL of my induction programme!

Perhaps I'm not as useless as I thought I was!

Time for an update, methinks (Shameless Procrastination Activity #748)

The Seven Stories opening was rather good fun. I didn't actually get to meet Jacqueline Wilson as such but I did stand *that* far away from her. She seemed like a genuinely likeable person and obviously wanted to spend time with her legions of young fans despite being dragged away from them by her burly minder-woman all the time. I also saw Lizo from Newsround and got to wear a badge saying MEDIA and generally feel important. The centre itself is quite impressive although, alas, I saw nothing EBD-related. Hopefully future exhibitions might feature the CS (potential excuse for another North-East Gather?)

Al has been away all weekend drinking 'Standrews' dry and my sister has been in Newcastle in his place. We had great fun wandering around the Metrocentre, visiting the Vampire Rabbit, taking photos of Flopsy and riding on the big wheel on Gateshead quayside. Unfortunately she has gone home now so I have no excuse for work evasion. Ho hum.

I might get to meet Jacqueline Wilson on Friday! *makes sad librarian noises*

Seven Stories is opening at the end of the week and 24 Hour Museum had asked Al to write about it for their children's site. As he's going away on Friday for lad's weekend in St. Andrews, he very kindly volunteered me to go along in his place and write the article. So much for me being on holiday! (*rolls eyes*).  But as Jacqueline Wilson will be the Official Opener and as I'll be a member of the press(!) there is apparently a good chance I'll be able to speak to her, albeit briefly!

Oh, and one of the local museums might be interested in the ARP issue bandage I found in our Guide unit's first aid box - a good PR opportunity for Heaton District, methinks...

Burnley 4 - Coventry City 0

Burnley actually did us a favour by missing a penalty and Stephen Hughes very cleverly got himself sent off.

Three matches into the season and we're already in the relegation zone.