Azzie Bumley

Welcome to the world!

2008-09-12T05:48:00.003Z

Introducing our new daughter Seren Lyn. Born 25th August 08. Weight 5lb 9oz.

Counting down the days

2008-07-26T18:05:00.005Z

I finally have internet so I can keep up a bit more now. Well, I'll try anyhow. Can't imagine I'll be spending a huge amount of time on here once the baby is born. We're counting down the days now 'til 18th August when baby's due. We finally have everything ready. She has so much stuff it's unreal! She's been spoilt rotten by us and everyone really. Both sets of grandparents have bought big items for us and lots more besides. I haven't been as bad as what I thought I would be. After a while the novelty of being able to buy cute baby stuff wore off lol! I'm a bit more selective and practical now when I have the urge to buy stuff. I've just started my maternity leave and I'm enjoying it so far. I've been able to rest up a bit and I've had jobs to do each day to keep me going. I have a list of things I want to get done before baby arrives so I'm working towards them bit by bit. Anyway thought I'd share some pics of the nursery so far and me!

It's been a while...

2008-05-11T17:27:00.002Z

Well I was hoping to keep my blog updated a little more frequently than this but I still have no internet at home :( The cost of basic utilities and groceries has just rocketed and we just can't afford it. Anyway, I'm now 26 weeks gone and finally have a bump to show! We've found out it's a little girl (not 100% of course) and are naming her Seren Lyn. All the sickness and nausea and exhaustion finally wore off after about 3 1/2 months. Now my main problem is pain in my lower back and hip joints. We've been buying a little something every week for a while now and finally think we have just about everything and a little bit more. My mum-in-law is buying us a pram with all the bits and my mum is buying us nappies as we've decided to use cotton reusable ones. (The modern version not the old terry nappies.) People keep saying make the most of the peace and just the two of us but neither of us can wait 'til she's born. We're both counting down the weeks already lol! Apart from that life has been pretty boring really.

Welcome to 2008

2008-01-12T19:13:00.000Z

I can't believe how long it's been since I last updated! Well, the last few months in short. We finally settled into our new house but we're still having problems with the heating and some other little bits. My dad recovered from his operations but still has complications and has to go back in in another 2 weeks for another op. He's back on the transplant list again now though so maybe another kidney will turn up soon. Apart from that life has been pretty much same old, same old.

I guess the most important news is I found out last week that I'm pregnant! Of course we're thrilled after having tried for so long. I had my first antenatal appointment yesterday. I'll be 11 weeks along on Monday and I'm due on August 6th. I've been feeling quite nauseous and tired and have problems with certain smells but am otherwise ok. I can't wait 'til I start showing lol!

Well that's it for now but I'm gonna try and update a bit more this year.

Rollercoaster ride.

2007-07-30T15:05:00.000Z

Well after all the good news there was bound to be some bad to follow.

We spent the first weekend at our new house with no electricity because the meter needed resetting and then we had to cook with a camping stove because we had an electric cooker and the house only took gas. We had to buy a new cooker on credit and it arrived Friday. It's so nice to have proper meals again! We also have problems with the heating and lots of other little things that the landlord needs to sort out. Other than that I'm slowly getting on with the unpacking. I've taken 3 days holidays to try and get on top of things a bit more. I'll get there eventually.

Also most importantly, the day after my dad had his new kidney he had it taken back out because it wasn't working. Needless to say he wasn't best pleased. He's recovering now and is doing ok but he's still very tired and having to make regular trips to and from the hospital.

Though I do have some good news of a kind. One of my best mates from school recently made his debut in the West End playing a part in Les Miserables. He's a fantastic singer and I wouldn't be at all suprised to see him in a lead role in the near future. His name is Gareth Nash so watch this space!

Dad's new kidney

2007-07-10T18:05:00.000Z

My dad has been on the transplant list for 2 years and 3 months and finally yesterday he got the all important call. They operated on him last night/early hours this morning and he now has a new kidney. The doctors have said there's a 50/50 chance it'll be successful at the moment as there were a few complications but my dad's ok. I've just been to see him and he's very drowsy but his usual self. He asked me if I wanted to swap places with him. Sure I said - anything to get off work LOL! Just wanted to share my good news. :)

I have a home! YAY!!

2007-07-08T18:57:00.000Z

We finally managed to sort out all the references we needed and have an appointment to sign the lease and hand over the keys on Thursday. I can't tell you how glad I am to have my own house again. Housework, unpacking and everything included. Unfortunately it's a little bad timing as I'm at a convention in Cardiff Fri-Sun, which means DH will have the pleasure of moving everything himself with my dad and Barry up the road who has a van. Hopefully all will go well though. Maybe now we can finally get ourselves settled.

Damon Scott with Monkey (Bubbles)

2007-07-05T21:36:00.001Z

This is a clip from the auditions of Britain's got Talent. I thought it was so funny that I'd share it with you all. :)

Things are looking a little up.

2007-07-05T21:23:00.000Z

On Craig's second day in his new job he managed to get himself a lift to work every day off his boss. As for the house well, things haven't gone quite as smoothly. The estate agents sent off for references about 2 weeks ago but we're still waiting for them to receive one more back. Not helped by the fact they sent some of them off wrong and Royal Mail went on strike last week. Despite that we have an appointment booked for next Thursday to sign all the paperwork off and then we'll officially have our own new home. Yay!! Can't wait!

All we have to do then is move our stuff from not only my gran's garage but what we have at my parent's house, my parents-in-law's house and my dad's friend's house. We managed to buy a cheap 3 piece suite from a place that recycles unwanted furniture. It cost us £56. I haven't seen it yet as Craig picked it but apparently it's a blue floral pattern. Not so sure about that. Anyway when they delivered it they couldn't get it in my parent's house so it's at my dad's friend's house. We also acquired a wardrobe through another friend of my dad's. It's one of those canvas covered slat ones like we had before which'll do for now.

I did get some real bad news this week that I was really gutted about but I don't want to talk about that. Otherwise things are looking up a little. Back to hoping and praying for one more reference to arrive at the estate agents.

Happy days!

2007-06-15T22:42:00.000Z

Good news today - DH got a job! He's gonna be working in a food and drink manufacturing company. He'll be doing weekly rotating shifts (6am-2pm or 2pm-10pm) and gets 2 litres of free fruit juice every week which is definately good because I love apple juice! Though we haven't quite worked out how he's getting there yet as it's about 15 mins away in car and neither of us drive.

As for me, I'm just glad the weekend is upon us. It's been a hard slog at work this week, it's really dragged and I've done something to my shoulder joint so it's been quite painful. I learnt something interesting today actually. On enquiring at the Post Office whether I could send certain goods to the USA, I found out it's prohibited to send cotton seeds oh, and radioactive viruses LOL! I'm sure the clerk said anything derived from cotton also but I must be hearing things because that would mean I couldn't send any cross stitch stuff to the USA.

My biggest discovery today though was a pottery shop in the indoor market in Cardiff city centre. Sounds boring but there's a story behind it. An old friend of mine has this cup and saucer in her house and it's really pretty and I love it. A few years back I found a plate of this exact pattern in a charity shop and noted the maker so I could look it up. I eventually found out it was a pattern called Rosebud once manufactured by Royal Duchess. (Quite a small company compared to the likes of Royal Worcester and Royal Doulton.) I looked high and low for somewhere that sold this china and didn't find anywhere. I wanted to get it as a wedding present. Anyway it don't take no genius to work out what I found in this pottery shop...the exact china! Only problem I have now is that my mum and dad bought us an entire fancy dinner set just last December for special occasions. So I have to convince DH that we really do need 2 dinner sets because the one I love is just too pretty not to have!!! :) Look SO pretty......

Still homeless

2007-06-12T23:00:00.000Z

Well as you can tell I'm still homeless. The house we applied for fell through. The landlord pulled it off the market and rented it to someone he knew instead. We were totally gutted. So back on the house hunt again. We applied for another house yesterday. Craig is going to view it tomorrow while I'm at work but we've peeked in through the windows and it looks really nice from what we can see. It's not where I would choose to live but it's getting to the point where I really don't care anymore as long as I get a house! One where I can do whatever I please in, at whatever ridiculous time I want to do it.

Still no sign of a job for DH, though he has an interview on Friday. I've been doing lots of over time at work so I leave at half 7am and get home 7pm. :( And the social decided that we are only entitled to £1.12 a week in the way of support. Great stuff! Obviously the government thinks we can live on my rubbish wage quite comfortably. Guess I can't grumble really - at least I have a roof over my head and I'm being fed every day.

That's my grumble for today over with, now I'm getting off the PC cos my mum really needs it.

The things customers do...

2007-06-08T22:55:00.000Z

I work at Primark as you all know. For the non-UK readers Primark is a high street chain store retailing in clothes, mainly for people in their 20's/30's. They sell the current fashion trends but at a fraction of the cost of most other stores. I would say it's probably the cheapest clothes store in the UK but don't quote me on that. They also sell menswear, childrenswear and homeware in some stores, dependant on the size of the store.

I usually work on the tills but I've done most other jobs in the store as well and it always amazes me what customers will do. These are my top 3 unforgivable crimes to commit in Primark:

No 3: Customers who insist on unpacking everything
This may be a petty point but I have good reason. The space to work with in between each till isn't large and we are expected to neatly pack all the customers goods into bags working in this space. Thus, when a customer comes to you with a basket full of goods and then insists on taking every item out and putting it on the counter in front of you it's neither helpful or conducive to me being able to serve you any quicker. All the customer has done is fill up my entire working space so I have nowhere to fold and pack. It's not the worst offence by far but it's a point I want to make. My job is to unpack your basket of goods, fold them neatly (with or without hangers) and pack them into bags. Please let me do my job?!

No 2: Customers trying clothes on, on the shop floor
Now I have no problem generally with customers who do this, as the queue for the fitting rooms is quite atrocious at times. However, I do find it very rude when certain customers, sometimes blatantly in front of me, proceed afterwards to leave the clothes they've tried on, off the hangers, inside out, on the floor, strewn all over the place or in any other manner of disarray apart from where they got it from. Would it take these customers 5 mins to put them back where they got them from? I don't think so. Simple respect and courtesy is all that's needed here.

No 1: Customers talking on mobile phones whilst being served
I don't know about anyone else but I find it extremely rude and ignorant when I am trying to serve someone and all they are interested in is the conversation they are having on the phone. I'm usually made to resort to sign language and pointing to communicate such things as, 'Would you like your hangers?' or, 'Please put your card in the machine.' Again it's a simple matter of showing some manners. The same way that simple manners refrain me from loudly telling the customer in question that I find it very rude and ignorant.

To all offenders - you know who you are - don't do it again! It's not nice and it's not good manners!

Moved again!

2007-05-24T17:28:00.000Z

This year just seems to be getting more and more stressful. Now the plan was to be happily married and settled in Oldham with money to enjoy for a change after paying off all the wedding. Ye right.... instead 2 weeks after our wedding Craig was made redundant. He also decided he wanted to move to Wales so we did last weekend.

At the moment we're homeless, living with my parents while storing our stuff in my gran's garage, and very broke because it took all the money we had to move. Only because his cousin had booked a Luton van to move us and then the day before it turned out he wasn't allowed it cos he had 6 points on his licence. Instead we had to use his van which is quite small to move everything. They did 3 runs back and fore (3 1/2 hours each way) and there's still stuff in our old house. It cost us £200 in petrol.

At least I have a job. I got a transfer to Primark in Cardiff but I couldn't get full time hours and it's taking me 3 hours to get to work and back every day when I only work 4 hours. It's also costing me a day's wage to get there every week so I'm not very impressed. The only positive thing about it is that I've got plenty of stitching time on the train!

We've applied for a house today so hopefully soon we'll be able to set up home again. Saying that I then won't have no telephone or internet access because we can't afford to have them put back on at the moment. We also have no bed, settee or wardrobes because we got rid of ours when we moved into the last house. The 3pc suite wouldn't fit there and needed throwing out anyway. It had fitted wardrobes so we sold ours and his bro (whose house it was) said we could have the bed that was there so we gave ours to a neighbour. (He then changed his mind last week saying the bed was never ours to keep.) My mum is lending us a bed and settee to start us off though.

Anyways, now I think I'm up to date with everything that's happened lately. Except my rabbit Arthur. I'll have to upload my pics of him. He's well cute! I can't at the moment cos my PC is in my gran's garage somewhere with all my pics on it. Never mind.

Now I just need to hope and pray that we get the house we've applied for and that things start looking up.

Officially MRS BOTTOMLEY!!

2007-04-07T18:58:00.000Z

Well we did it we're married! It was a great day and I hope everyone who came thought so too. Click on the link for our wedding photos.

Wedding Photos

Enjoy!

Scooch - Eurovision Song Contest Entry 2007

2007-03-22T22:08:00.001Z

I'm still here!

2007-03-21T12:52:00.000Z

I really am still here. I've moved house and am still trying to get everything straight. The wedding is a week on Saturday so I'm trying to finalise everything for that. Oh and I had a misunderstanding with my internet provider (their fault not mine) so my internet access has been non existent/patchy. Once I get a wireless modem and all my PC set up I'll hopefully be back to working order. Small matter of having the money to buy the modem at the moment. Anyway, I'm getting married in 10 days!! Can't wait! Will update more soon....

Eurovision BLOOPER

2007-03-21T12:43:00.001Z

This is so funny! Terry Wogan can't seem to get enough of the bad press lately LOL.

Wedding dress PANIC!

2007-02-21T21:00:00.000Z

So I went home to Wales on the weekend. Took my wedding dress to my parents house, sorted out the details at the hotel, did a trial run of my hair. All great, no problems. Saturday night I decide let's try my dress on again with all the bits and pieces and it was TOO LONG! Now it fitted perfectly after I'd had it altered so the only thing I can think is that it expanded when it was steamed. Talk about a panic situation! Anyway, thankfully I had planned on wearing flat shoes so all I have to do is go out and buy a new pair but with a heel on them. It all made me very glad that I found out then and not on the day of my wedding!!

Not enough time and boxes.

2007-02-05T00:39:00.000Z

Well not only is it 8 weeks to our wedding we are also moving on the 24th February! It's a long story but basically Craig's bro has got back with his partner and so is renting out his house. Being family he asked us first and we don't have to pay a deposit or any rent in advance. Yay!
The house is MUCH nicer! It's about the same size overall with some rooms smaller and others bigger. It has a proper hallway, a fire in the living room, a fitted kitchen, lots of storage space, a SHOWER (I'm SO happy about this!). The garden is still just a back yard but the walls are much higher so it's more secure and enclosed and it has a shed and a decent size rockery. I'm already planning what I'm going to grow there!

So I was doing pretty well packing until I ran out of boxes. The house is a total mess but I've given up caring. Our new house will be tidy and junk free I swear! I'm also still trying to battle with my ironing. I want it all done by the time we move.

I also this weekend acquired a new baby rabbit and 'accessories' - hutch etc. From a friend at our local pub. So excited! I haven't had rabbits since I was in school! We don't have it yet she's looking after it until we move but I'm excited! Wish I could feel the same about the wedding but at the moment it's more worry over will we have enough money for everything?!

Anyway, that's my quick update for now. Better get back to what I was actually supposed to be doing!

My wedding dress!!!

2007-01-20T00:27:00.000Z

I had my final fitting for my wedding dress and although this isn't the finished effect I got a photo on the day. I wanted to share....

Oh it's getting closer and closer now...only 69 days to go! I'm so glad I got so much organised in advance or I'd be really stressing out now!

Ok Go on treadmills (Here it goes again)

2007-01-09T00:44:00.001Z

Just thought I'd add this. I love this video!!

Nearly back to normality...

2007-01-06T23:38:00.000Z

Well, the holidays are over once again. I'm so glad! I haven't had the chance to post in a while so there's a lot to update.

We've finally got most of the house maintenance out of the way. After the terrible job the guys did we got the contracting manager out to see the state they made. They ruined the carpets and have got plaster or something all down the front of our washing machine (which is only 4 month old) which won't come off. Since then they've replaced the kitchen carpet (by gluing down new carpet over the old one I might add). Still haven't done nothing about our washing machine (which we want replaced). And decorated the kitchen, under stairs and stairwell/landing. If you call it decorating. I'm not even exaggerating here's some pics of what they did. Needless to say we spent another week afterwards re-painting the kitchen properly. We haven't done the stairs/landing yet cos we need more paint.

Anyway, now all the Christmas stuff is gone I've finally got the downstairs of the house clean, tidy, organised and back to normal. Now I'm working on the upstairs of the house. And still the ironing. Ugh! It was my end of year goal to get it all done but now it's end of January!

I still hate my job but haven't had the time to look for anything new. Though I am looking at signing up for a book keeping course to 'upskill' as they put it. Not that I need to upskill, I've enough qualifications to sink a battleship. How I can't manage to find a decent job I'll never know!

Anyway I think that's most of the main things updated for now...

Monday Madness

2006-12-04T20:35:00.000Z

Well, I haven't got round to doing this in a while so I'm shoving a few weeks worth in one post LOL!

From julie:
What is your favorite genre of film and what is your favorite movie from that genre?

Um...I probably watch romantic comedy most. My favourite movie? There's too many!!

From tiffany:
Which country would you like to visit and why?

Just one country? :( Well, I guess Honduras. I went there for a month when I was 18 and loved it there but can't afford to go back.

From wil:
What are you driving these days? What's it's (their) good and bad points? Would you buy another one, and why or why not?

I don't drive.

From cindy swanson:"Lost," "24," or both?

Neither.

From amaranth:
Name three people you would pick (and why) if you could choose who to be stranded on a deserted island with.

1. My partner Craig obviously cos he's my best mate and I love him.
2. Christopher. My other best mate. We've been friends since school and he's great. Very funny!
3. Lyn. Because she's a special kind of friend. :)

From lady starlight:
You've been very good this year. What should Santa bring you for Christmas? (the sky is the limit)

I don't do Christmas but I would love a blank cheque to spend on clothes in Principles. I was in there this weekend and I adore everything in the shop but it's way above my affordable price range. I can't afford Primark let alone Principles! :(

Name 10 things you would do if you had more time.

1. Take dress making classes.
2. Check and update my e-mail/blogs etc. regularly.
3. Learn to cook/bake more things from scratch.
4. Cross stitch more.
5. Learn a new language like Urdu or Sign Language.
6. Visit places I've never been to in my area.
7. Finish all my ironing.
8. Read the entire Bible.
9.
10.

From: cassie:
Dramas or comedies?

Ooh close...comedies.

From: nutmegnine:
Your neighbor has frequent noisy parties on nights before you need to get up early. Do you confront him directly, call the police, call your landlord, join in the debauchery, or seethe quietly and do nothing?

Confront him directly.

From sherle:
Are you more comfortable in big crowds or small groups?

Um...small groups...I think.

From zeno:
Do you prefer Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox?

Definately Mozilla Firefox!

From briar:
They say you learn something new every day. What new thing did you learn today?

I learnt that it's easier to edit and write my blogs in html. I also learnt that my boss thinks I'm a perfectionist. (Why that's a bad thing in my job though - I don't know.)

From bev:
Small town or big city?

Big city. I'm from a small town though.

From turtlemoonwave:
Do you have a favorite childhood memory, and if so, would you share it?

Nothing that stands out at the moment but I'll keep thinking on that one.

From cat:
How do you calm down when something has really upset and/or angered you? Do you swallow it? Call a friend and rant? Go in the bathroom and cry? Punch a wall? Walk around muttering to yourself, complete with scary hand gestures?

Rant at Craig unless he's upset/angered me then it's call a friend and rant. Or just rant at myself.

From dna princess:
What attracts you to memes?

I guess it's cos it gives me something to post about that's interesting among other reasons.

From mads:
How reliant are you on computers to get through your day?

I'm not. I only really use mine for leisure now I've finished college. Oh and the occasional printing of letters, wedding stationary and household bill stuff.

From tizzie:
In a crisis, are you calm or do you panic?

I'd like to think I'm pretty calm. I'm probably not.

From ch'i:
If you could only read one blog every day- which one blog would be on your daily list?

It would have to be my friend Meari's: Meari's Musings

From kat:
What do you do to de-stress from a hectic day?

Relax in my chair with a cup of tea and cross stitch.

From paxil princess:
What is your favorite piece of clothing to wear in the winter?

A thick jumper.

From sherle:
Do you prefer discussing problems with a sibling, a parent, a significant other, a psychologist, or a total stranger?

I usually discuss any problems with Craig and/or Jehovah God.

From trista:
How long have you been blogging?

Since about July/Aug this year.

From lisa e:
Which side of the bed?

Right hand side.

From elton:
How often do you pig out when you eat?

Never.

From karen:
Do you watch the space shuttle launches?

No.

From dawn:
What's your favorite leisure-time activity?

Cross stitching. (Which I have another blog for Life's A Stitch.)

From sherle:
When is the last time you said, 'I love you' and to whom?
What about hugs? Who is the last person you hugged?

The last person I said 'I love you' to was Craig this morning and he was also the last person I hugged today.

Dust and stuff

2006-11-26T14:06:00.000Z

I'm having a break from cleaning. We've had maintenance in this week to sort out the rising damp in the kitchen and under the stairs. What a nightmare! They had to strip the walls back to brick and cover it in this foul smelling bitumen paint. Then they stuck plaster board back on the walls with expandable foam and skimmed it with plaster. Skimmed being just what they did. You can still see the scrim tape through the plaster. Now I know nothing about plastering but I sure enough know a bad job when I see one! Apart from that I have plaster all through my carpets and dust everywhere in every room. So far I've cleaned the living room and bathroom. Craig's gone out food shopping so I'm supposed to be getting on with the kitchen but I'm a bit lacking in motivation at the moment.

Apart from that I hate my new job! Though I'm back to normal hours now. I'm bored and I hate the way the entire company works. Oh it just makes me cringe thinking about it!! I think I need something a bit more intellectually challenging. Something where I can use my brain for once. I feel like I'm stuck in another part time student job rather than my first proper job.

I've also come to the conclusion that I think I should've been born like about 40/50 years ago. Then I'd fit in. Craig has commented on this in a round about way. I'm very old fashioned in my beliefs and values and my taste in decoration, music, dress etc. Oh well, never mind. I'd rather be old fashioned in my ways than into a lot of the sleaze that people my age (23) get up to nowadays.

Anyway, I was in the middle of sorting out passport applications. Better go finish them or we won't be going anywhere on honeymoon!

A very tired me!

2006-11-02T00:05:00.000Z

Well, I can't believe it's been nearly an entire month since I last posted! I have worked my little socks off the past 4 weeks. My first week I did 68 hours and I haven't done less than 40 a week since. I 'm fed up and tired now though. I'm sick of the sight of Primark and never have the time to do anything at home, not even shopping or housework. Of course I've done some cross stitch but then that's relaxing at the end of a long day! I'll be very glad that from Monday I will only be working my contracted hours which are 2pm - 6pm. No more early mornings. Great!!

I guess the most important news I've got from the last 4 weeks is I finally got to see the specialist consultant at the hospital and finally got a diagnosis. I've been waiting since last December for this. It's just as my GP originally predicted...I have poly cystic ovary syndrome. The long wait has given me a lot of time to get my head round this otherwise I'd be a lot more upset than what I am. Even though I'm just a size 12 I've also been told I must watch my weight so no more chocolates or biscuits for me! I'm taking line dancing classes for exercise too! My next appointment is in April after our wedding when we will be looking to start a family. I just hope and pray that I don't have to go down the whole IVF route of things.

Anyway, that's it for now... I better go update my stitchy blog and sort out my backlog of e-mail.