Attack of the family!!! December 31, 2008

OMG this is wrecking my head. According to my mother and grandmother I am suppose to put up my grandad and his wife as well as my mum-in-law, dad-in-law and my 2 new sisters the week of my wedding. WTF!! My apartment is not big in the first place and I will be damned if I am entertaining that many people days before my wedding and when I’m 7 months pregnant. Been talking to my man and he agrees with me thank god cause I was starting to think that I was the unreasonable one. But I have out my foot down and that’s that!

Anyway finally booted out the brother and have an hour or two of some peace and watching Sister Act 2. Love that movie!! Thankfully I have no news……I am firm believer in no news is good news. Well the mother in law is coming home today from the funeral in England. A return trip we paid for I may add. Then my oldest sister in law is coming on Saturday and we are paying for her hair to be done as well. I’m not a scrooge with money but we have a lot to be paying for what with the wedding and a baby on the way and what not. Not to mention getting one huge bill 4 month electricity bill. After all who isn’t skint after xmas so no that ticket is not a present and I am definitely expecting it back. After all they haven’t given anything to us, nothing.Which is fine we don’t need anything but my parents have been so generous. They are paying for the reception, my dress and a surprise honeymoon. Yes I’ll admit my family are better off then his so I don’t expect the same things but god….lets just say I’m not impressed at all and neither is my family.

But onto world news anyway. I mentioned yesterday about the Kilkenny fire that killed a mother and her 2 daughters. Although an investigation is still underway into the circumstances surrounding the fire, a private prayer service is taking place in honour of the family. The family will be buried together tomorrow. This is one of those stories that you can’t help but feel for the family when you read. A family member was describing how she was wrapping presents on Xmas Eve and how it’s difficult to think that the children never lived to open them. My condolences are with the Whelan family and friends of the family at this time.

I also mentioned a woman being held in custody over the stabbing of a man in Kilkenny yesterday. Well the only update on that story is that the 18 year old has been taken to court.

Anyway that’s all for me. Happy New Year!!

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Time Out!! December 30, 2008

Finally I’m alone. Don’t get me wrong I love my  man and I love my bro but after a week of being out numbered it’s nice to finally be alone. Nigel went back to work yesterday. Richard was still here though and then I got a call from a friend who asked if I was about. Now this particular friend works in a shop locally but she lives in the middle of nowhere and depends on a bus. Because she lives in the middle of nowhere therearen’t many buses and she often has hours to kill.So she tends to go to a friends and stay there. Now this doesn’t sound so bad but the fact is she gets her hours a week in advance so she has a week to plan who she will visit and give them notice, you know courtesy. But no 5 mins before she got here she was ringing me from the taxi she was in saying she was heading in my direction. I hate that. She did it over xmas was looking to stay overnight after a late shift and I felt bad because I wasn’t there to put her up as I was at my parents. Although she had a week to ask me I was the one feeling bad. So no more of that crap for me.

Apart from that I had a goo xmas. Got a George Foreman, a blender, some nice perfume, a nail set, a voucher and a few little things. Best day was St Stevens Day. My Gran throws a party every year and everybody comes and it’s just a lot of fun and no matter how big everyone gets it’s something that I hope will never change.

So in Ireland Kilkenny is all over the news today. An 18 year old woman is being held in relation to the stabbing of a 22 year old man who’s body was found at 4 am this morning.Forensic teams and the state patholgist Marie Cassidy has been called.

Another story that broke my heart on Stevens Day was about Kilkenny fire. A mother and her 2 daughters perished in the fire Xmas eve. Although they have yet to determine the cause of the fire Forensic teams are telling the police to keep an open mind as to the cause. My heart goes out to the family and friends who are suffering.

Thats all for now have to go visit my gran.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

oh and did anyone get anything weird and wacky for xmas??

Twas Christmas Eve December 24, 2008

So I’ve visited all the family, handed out all the gifts, stuffed the chicken (hate Turkey) and my ham is soaking. We have watched a marathon of scary movies and now my bro who is staying with us is playing Deep Space. Apparently it’s one of the scariest games out there at the mo and from watching him I believe him. I’ll be going to bed soon hoping that Santa will break into my apartment especially if he looks like my pic But am I really feeling all that merry? I’m not sick anymore and I got everything I wanted ie a George Foreman and a blender. Plus some really nice gifts from my friends but all in all I’m not all that bothered. What I am looking forward to is St Stevens Day or Boxing Day to some people. All my family go to my grans house and just be merry. There’s poker and drink and food and just a lot of family fun stuff.

So I wish all my readers a very merry xmas and I hope everyone has remembered the most important thing about tomorrow……..The Dr.Who xmas special at 6pm on BBC1.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings and I hope you keep enjoying them into the new year.

Another damn day. December 21, 2008

So guess who was in a&e last night? Yup you are all psychic it was me. Evening was better then the day started feeling little better well not as bad as the day anyway. Was going to bed at 1 ish in the morning, went to the bathroom which is covered in mirrors and noticed a large odd rash on my arm. At first I thought it was just a pressure mark from where I was lying but it wasn’t fading and it was really odd. It was streaky and blotchey never saw anything like it.  So rang MIDOC talked to a very nice nurse who informed that it was probably a good idea to visit a doctor as soon as possible. Called a taxi went and saw the doctor who said and I quote “I don’t know what that is” so I was of course sent to A&E. Had bp,temp and bloods done (shudder) I hate needles but it wasn’ to bad the nurse was very good. Hung around on a bed for a bit. Talked to a very nice surprisingly perky doctor for 4 in the morning. Said he was doing some spot test thingy but won’t get the results of that till Monday. So basically I have paracetamol to fight a virus so that kinda sucks but oh while I’m a woman I’ll survive.

So Internet still sucks so not going to say much more as this will never get posted otherwise.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Ba humbug! December 20, 2008

Hello world miss me? Sorry I had to disappear off the face of the planet for a few days. So here it is. Wednesday Nigel was sick so I played nurse and managed to nurse the fella back to health. Thursday at about mid-day I got a call saying Nigels Gran died and his mum was distraught and very upset so of course we rushed to Maynooth to be by her side. Did I mention I hate her house full of smoke and dog hair ah I couldn’t sleep at all. Thought things were looking up and was looking forward to my friends panto tonight but of course I woke up and I have never felt so sick in my life.So been on the couch all day feeling sorry for myself and feeling like crap. So had to cancel on my friends and have been nursed upon by Nigel. So yeah not been the best 3 or 4 days. Plus some damn boats broke the internet again.

Some of the submarine wires were cut again and now it is taking forever to download stuff off the internet worse again they say it won’t be fixed till the 30th of December. So merry xmas everyone!!!

Oh and I must apologise for any spelling errors as everytime I try to check my spelling I get an error message. Typical.

Yawn…. December 15, 2008

Wow maybe it’s just me but I am really starting to feel tired. But after all the cleaning I did last night and today I’m not surprised. I am knackered but anyway I remembered why I hate Christmas. I am broke. Between presents and train fares and new clothes for parties we are really scrimping these last 2 weeks. But we just have to get past this week and then Nigel should be getting paid, I am secretly hoping he gets a bonus, I know he isn’t working there that long but he did get a raise so why not a little bonus. But remember the amazing dress I got that I then had to return and then found another amazing dress, well it shall finally be taken out of it’s bag and put on show tomorrow night. Looking forward it especially the free meal part.

Nigel is late home tonight as he hung around with his friend and got a later train. So yeah he is cooking his own dinner tonight. His best friend will be his best man and his girlfriend might be our photographer so everything is looking good on the wedding front. But yeah I am stuffing down Jammy Dodgers instead of making dinner so yeah feeling like a bad mammy right now as I am sure I should eat something substantial but it’s to late now.

So to some more interesting news. The Minister European Affairs Dick Roche was held captive during a hotel raid earlier today in Co.Wicklow. A total of 9 people were held captive while 3 masked gun men robbed the hotel. Thankfully no one was hurt and no shots were fired.

In other news guess what bottled water has been withdrawn. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has confirmed that batches of bottled water have been withdrawn from some supermarkets. Apparently there were low levels of coliform found in bottled water produced by Shannon Minerals stocked by Superquinn, Aldi and Lidl. Although only low levels were found and posed no harm to consumers they have withdrawn it as a precautionary measure.

So my question to you is- what the hell is going on with food producers?

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

All work and no play………. December 14, 2008

God I am knackered. Been a busy girl this weekend but I have to make up for Fridays blog so I’ll start from there. I remember saying that I had to do some investigating into why my friends couldn’t talk to me. Turns out that they are “busy”. Sleeping during the day and then doing they’re stupid panto at night. But anyway was talking to my friend Gem and I told her about my cake dilemma. Then she decided to tell me about a friend she had who was a professional cake maker and chocolatier and gave me her number and told me to say she sent me. Needless to say she was a lot cheaper then the other crowd and she is chucking some extras in as well so I have an appointment to see her in the new year. So delighted about that.

Moving onto Saturday. Went to Longford to see my family. Got picked up at the train station and got treated to a Mc Donalds. Tried the new Chicken Fiesta. Had it plain of course, can’t stand mayo of any kind. IT’S EVIL!!! Have to say though apart from burning my tongue as I bite into it, it was quite nice. Then went up to the house and watched Jeff Dunham. He is so funny so you should really look him up on youtube. But like most people I wasn’t looking forward to going all the way down there but I’m glad I did as it was good fun in the end. Next thing on my mind is of course X-Factor. How the hell did Alexandra win? Don’t get me wrong she is no doubt a good singer but surely we are all fed up of the amazing girl singers.Come on we just had Leona Lewis. I was really hoping JLS would win it. Eoigne bless his heart was a good singer but he didn’t have a huge range and he couldn’t compete with the other two. But I was really hoping the 4 lads would win. Their version of the song was a lot better then hers if you ask me. But hopefully they will still do really well out of it.But to go back to the topic of friends. I have a friend who works in Tesco’s. She lives 20-30 miles out of town so it is difficult for her to get in and out. If she works late on a Saturday night she generally crashes here as no buses run that late. At first she would give us plenty of notice. But the last few times she has just been texting a few hours before out of the blue saying could she have a favour. She did it again and to be honest I just had to say no. It is getting to the point where she is using me and I won’t have it.

Today was a busy day. Woke up after 12, which in all honesty is not like us. We got up, checked our e-mails of course and then decided to go out for lunch as neither of us wanted to cook. Went to our local the Greville and Nigel had his usual turkey ham and the works while I had chips and beef sausages in gravy yum. Never had beef sausages before. Not bad, prefer pork but wouldn’t say no if it was all that was there. Went and did a little bit of shopping. Got lights for our tree and xmas cards. Also finally replaced the clothes airier that my drunk grandad broke. So finally getting some hard washing done. After that I went mad cleaning. I did the kitchen, living room and bedroom. Really needed doing as I have been neglecting it lately but I am on top of it now.

So that’s it, you are completely up to date on my world. Not a lot really interesting me in reality. Brian Cowan must me the most unpopular man in Ireland ever. He announced today that €10 billion euro would be taken from the National Pensions Reserve Plan in a recapitalisation programme for credit institutions ie banks. Not sure how this is going to go down but we will see over the coming days.

Well that’s all from me, I’m nackered and sore and I’m going to bed.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Ahhhh no time. December 12, 2008

So sorry today people but I seriously don’t enough hours today. Just so you know I have got my cake sorted without my grandmother and I will try to fill you in over the weekend. Oh and we may be honey mooning in England but more on that on Sunday and Monday. Saturday looks doubtful as I am visiting family.

Here is the comment of the day and I hope you all can forgive me for such a quickie today.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

This is from Nigel Hanlon on the second Lisbon Treaty referendum….may I also mention this is the fella I am marrying but he was the only one to send me a comment today so fair is fair guys.

I really doubt they will get far with having a new vote. Ireland says no. End of discussion. The Anti-Lisbon side are now warning that they will take court action over the new vote as it is apparently unconstitutional. One things for sure and that’s money is definitely playing a large part in all this. You have America saying vote yes simply because they have companies here in Ireland who stand to gain if we say yes. We shall have to wait and see the outcome.Vote NO to Lisbon!

Who needs them! December 11, 2008

So as usually my family have left me down but as usually I’m surprised. I thought my mum would be the one to cause trouble but it’s actually my grandad parents. As I have said before my Grandad spoke his mind his other day and upset us both. Yesterday I told you how my Grandmother was suppose to pay for the cake but insisted on asking my aunt to make it. So waited to hear news last night and I heard nothing so I knew it didn’t go well. Got a text this morning saying that I should my future mother-in-law to make the cake as she will know how to make it the way Nigel like it. But I don’t want a family member to make it as I said before so we are going to pay for the cake ourselves. We can afford it now my mum and dad are paying the reception so I’ll get the cake of my dreams well maybe not my dreams, dreams are expensive but it will still be lovely.

I have remembered one of the reasons why I disliked xmas. All the tv programs that you usually watch stop, no warning no nothing just stop. I hate that. Now before anyone says “What you hate xmas?”. No I don’t hate xmas, I just hate certain things that comes with the season. For example xmas in September that bugs, the way prices go up before xmas and just all the crap that comes with it. It’s only a good holiday if you have money which if you ask me is unfair. So don’t hate me hate the corporate bosses trying to squeeze money out of everything.

Here’s a question for you- did you ever feel like your friends are jealous of you? I’m not trying to blow my own horn but I have been getting that impression lately. I have the most amazing fiance whom I am marrying soon, I’ve got a baby on the way, we are well off financially, we have our own apartment and life is good for us. Most of my friends still live at home, are single, have very little money to speak of and are always complaining about how their life sucks. I’m one of those people who always lands on their feet thankfully. Whenever I ring they always say I’ll call you back and they never do. It  just seems like they are pushing me away. I will do some digging anyway and will fill you in.

Now for something much bigger then me (just) the world. So good news for pig farmers today. The Government has put a €180 million fund together for them including the pig farmers whose pigs were slaughtered.Another surprise is the the European Commission is expected to announce €15m in aid for the Irish Pork Industry. Now from what I understand and please correct me if I’m wrong cause I’m trying to get my head around it.The aid is coming in the form of something called APS – Aid for Private Storage. It allows producers to take products off the shelves if there is still consumer resistance. The farmers will be paid for the 6 months and at the end of the 6 months the products will go back on the market at an agreed price. I hope I explained it clearly enough. So a win for the pig farmers woohoo!!!

Once again we are expected to have another Lisbon Referendum by next October. Now I am anti-Lisbon and what confuses me is It thought this was suppose to be a democracy. We have already voted no twice so why do we have to have another referendum? Do they think that if they keep pushing it in our face that we will eventually give in? We may be one of the smaller countries in the EU but we do play a very important part in the EU which is why they need us to say yes. So I am not going to go through all of the pro’s and con’s as I have a ton of dishes to do but I beg of any voters out there to do the research. Look up what the pro’s and cons are for you and others and don’t be influenced by the media or government.

Had no comment of the day yesterday unfortunately so I am hoping to post 2 today so please please please send me your comments on anything I have written on or even something you feel strongly about that I haven’t mentioned.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Sweet tooth December 10, 2008

So today was the day I was suppose to book my cake and yet again I am let down. Took my Gran to the bakery and enquired about a one tier heart shaped wedding cake. With all the icing and trimmings and everything included. It came to €170. Now in my head I  thought hmm ok not great but ok. My gran said we would think about it. As we left she said that it was to expensive and she wasn’t paying it out of principal. So I thought fine I’ll go halfies with ya. But no wasn’t good enough. So now she is saying she will go to my aunt and get her to do it and give her money for her trouble. Now I have nothing against my aunt she is a brilliant cook but is it really a good idea to put that kind of responsibility in the hands of a family member? After all what if I don’t like it? It’s not as if I can go back and say it sucked give me my money back. So I’m in two minds about it. Tell me what you think.

So apart from that I’ve no real other news in my world. I noticed a jump in my views yesterday so hello to all the new readers. Leave me a comment and let me know who you are. Oh I will have a late Saturday entry as I will be in Longford visiting family so I’ll say sorry in advance. So now my usual what’s pissing me off in the news segment. So guess what it turns out that the pork that could cause cancer is in fact safe, unless you eat a heart attack amount of worth of the contaminated pork in a day. So I’ll be having my ham for xmas dinner. But to be honest 10% of the entire countries pork was contaminated so the likely hood of someone eating enough of it to actually be sick is highly unlikely. But of course now the farmers are all looking for compensation from the EU and they should be compensated for their loses. But correct me if I’m wrong I believe that the EU has said they will not reimburse them. If it was me I would be looking for the money from the idiots who contaminated the feed in the first place. So lets name and shame and make them pay. In a related story I mentioned that beef was also being tested for the dioxins. Turns out that beef was also contaminated. Now don’t panic they have decided not to recall the beef. Only 0.2% of the beef was found to have it and it was at no where near the levels the pork was at. But what really annoys me is that 1,400 people lost their jobs while this whole ordeal was going on.

So here’s a question – who should be held responsible for the contamination. Leave me a good comment and I’ll post it on the site.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings.