Happy New Year!

It's been an eventful 2009 one way and another..

January saw me starting swimming lessons, we managed to escape to Robin Hoods Bay, had a sprinkling of snow, Debbie got a new camera and I got a huge lens for my new bird photography escapades.

In February we had an earthquake which sent our two cockatiels bonkers and had us jumping out of bed in the early hours.

For March we had gales and another dusting of snow which saw us heading to the hills of Langsett to make the most of it.

In April Debbie started suffering with ear ache which we think was down to the local pool so we stopped going swimming.

May saw us going on holiday to Primrose Valley near Filey, never again, there's no place like home and that's where we're staying!

June was quite hot and we went for numerous walks, many too far for the conditions. Lesson learned and next year if it's hot, it will be a walk to the off-licence and back for some cold beers.

We seemed to spend most of our free time at Langsett in July, taking advantage of the nice weather, strolling across the moors.

In August our new mountain bikes arrived but Debbie's chain broke and threw her off so we had to send it back an get a new one.

We had two weeks off work in September/October, I got pickled on Old Speckled Hen and we got the sofa stuck on the stairs.

The credit crunch hit home in November as Debbie was made redundant, bumped the car and Lucy emptied the bin in the kitchen.

And so back to December, Debbie was offered a job and started a couple of weeks ago, we had our fourth wedding anniversary and we had a Christmas day like something out of the Royale Family!

We're really looking forward to 2009 and will be more than glad to see the back of 2008!

Have a great new year everyone, we'll see you on the other side.


Paul.

Merry Christmas!

Just about all the pre-Christmas jobs have been done, under the stairs has been tidied so we can get in there, the baby gate has been found and fitted in preparation for a mad mutt that's coming to stay, I've blown up an inflatable double mattress and hovered everything in sight.

That's me done for today, all I'll be doing now is watching last nights gadget show and drooling over some new mobiles.

I doubt we'll get chance to post before the big day so may we both wish you all a very Merry Christmas :-)

Paul.

Wedding Aniversay Number Four

We've been married four years yesterday!

It's been a trying year with one thing and another but everything has come together in time for Christmas and we're really looking forward to 2009 :-)

Paul.

December Blues part III

Great news on the interview below:

Interview no 1: Went really well, the chappie that interview me was from my neck of the wood, Lancashire! yippee, got really good vibes from this and it ain't through an agency. Will get to know by Friday if I am the lucky candidate.

I got the job...yippee....and I start on Monday. I am so chuffed its untrue.

Down side is I am full of cold and feel like shite, Wednesday started with the usual sore throat, Thursday was raw and Friday just full blown SNOT.....YUKKY... I felt that bad I even rang Paul and suggested he have the car for the afternoon, my temperature was off the scale, this morning I am sat in my PJ's and have no intentions of going anywhere plus me head feels like it has a pea for a brain and it keeps rattling.

Hopefully, I will have got rid of the lurgy and will feel fresh as a button on Monday...fingers crossed....

In the meantime, my fuzzy bunny is snow locating and if he is not careful his mobile will blow up soon!

Debbie

December Blues part II

Right here we go....

Interview no 1: Went really well, the chappie that interview me was from my neck of the wood, Lancashire! yippee, got really good vibes from this and it ain't through an agency. Will get to know by Friday if I am the lucky candidate.

Interview no 2: Again went really well, the lady was really nice and we seemed to get on, but they will be doing second interviews next week, got feedback from the agency and they were really impressed with me. Just received another call from the agency and they want me back for a second interview on Monday.

Interview no 3: Not so sure about this one, the accounts are in a mess and they don't class Credit Control as accounts but sales! I am a bit confuddled by this one.

By the time I had done everything yesterday and the phone had finally stopped ringing it was 7pm, hey ho, beans on toast for tea, mind you Paulie loved it.

This morning we have woken up to a blanket of SNOW, yes SNOW, the side roads were a nightmare and the mains roads were just as bad, I had to nip to the newsagents this morning, boy that was scary!

Then Paul insisted the car stay at home, so Hench yet another journey taking Paul to work, even more scary as more people on the roads, we had to wait a good twenty mins for Paul's boss to arrive to open up, I managed to park in a lay by and we watched all the other cars slip sliding all over the road.

I managed to get home OK, just took it steady even thought I had a pillock behind me trying all the way to get me to go faster, not a chance in hell, now it raining very hard at this rate the snow will have disappeared by lunch time.

Debbie

December Blues

Well, I worked my notice and finished my job Friday 28Th November....yikes.... Tears were flowing freely especially when I had to make a speech!

The Chief Executive has taken my number and says he will be ringing me to let me know if the business gets over the dark side of Christmas as they want me back!!

Saturday and Sunday seem to just fly by as usual, lovely walks with Lucy and Paul, I even managed to take me camera with me and got some cracking shot, Paul please put them on the computer.......

Monday morning came, I took Paul to work then returned home to scour the web for jobs, applied for another job but hey ho its through yet another agency so I have got another interview with them today.

I am going STIR CRAZY with all this time on my hands.

I cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom then started on the living room and dining room, put some washing in then made corn beef hash, all the time willing the phone to ring with interview dates, nothing at all, then 3pm it all went hectic, now I have got three interviews tomorrow, one is looking very promising, fingers crossed.

I picked Paul up from work and set off home for some well earned chill time, Paul was over the moon with his evening meal and is looking forward to see what delights I muster up today.

Debbie

BAD LUCK! IT COMES IN THREES!!

Well, just when I thought life could not get any worse, I had a bump in my car on Tuesday evening!

Coming home from work (yes i have agreed to work my notice as my employer asked so nicely) the FOG and rain were a nightmare, I always come home on the country roads as the M1 is too busy, I was so careful and kept my speed down as did most of the other drivers I followed.

I was almost there another 3 mins and I would be picking Paulie up, going on to a duel carriage way me and the car in front were waiting to join, I looked his way and saw him set off then looked in the direction of the on coming traffic and set off only to find he had hesitated and STOPPED and my ickle car ran into the back of his!

Shaking like a leaf I managed to control my nerves while we swapped insurance details, he was very nice about it all and agreed to ring me later with policy numbers etc.

I rang my insurance company and they said someone would call me back the morning after, about 10.30 not hearing anything I rang and they sorted me out over the phone, the lady said she had rung me at home leaving a message on the answer machine, I gave her my mobile number for all future calls.

I am really chuffed with my insurance company and my ickle car is leaving home tomorrow to be mended and will return after a nice stay in the car hospital. I just wish the job hunting was this easy!

Arriving home on Tuesday evening was the final straw, still shaking like a leaf, we found the entire contents of the kitchen bin scattered across the floor and a white scruffy thing on four legs scampering past us to hide!

Just hoping that was number three and there are no more nasty surprises lurking round the corner!

Debbie

Redundancy

Yikes, I can not believe it, but I have just been made REDUNDANT, me really I am GOB SMACKED!! I feel like my heart has been ripped out!

Friday morning went into work as normal, big smile on me face as weekend is here and some chill time with me Paulie....yippee....then 11.30am comes the phone call from HELL!

Hello Debbie please can you attend the Board Meeting Room......YIKES....HEART POUNDING....I went and there is the Financial Director, Commercial Director and HR Manager all waiting for me.....We are sorry to tell you this but unfortunately we have to make you REDUNDANT, the company is running at a loss and we can not afford to employ you anymore!

Even though My Credit Manager and myself are doing an outstanding job collecting monies in, the construction industry is drying up and the bills have to be paid even if sales are down.

I sat and looked at all three of them and before I knew it the water works had started, each man shifted very uncomfortably in their chairs, they say that they might not be able to manage without me and if so will find a way to keep me on, so if this is the case they would have tried harder in the first place.

I have since Friday applied for 24 jobs online and sent out loads of emails to various companies to see if any have any vacancies for a REDUNDANT CREDIT CONTROLLER!!

So if anyone knows of a Credit Control position in the South Yorkshire area please let me know.

Thanks
Debbie

Stuck!

What we need here is a cunning plan.

Lovely Cold Morning

No snow about in these parts but we had a lovely walk this morning with Lucy. Nice to see the sun rise again now the clocks have gone back.

Paul.