Week 4

Phew - the end of another week, although a busy weekend lies ahead! The plasterer was here on Monday and the entire extension has been plastered so gives a better idea of size and space. We got a little surprise on Wednesday when they said the joiner was going to start fitting the kitchen - and we had to point out we hadn't ordered the appliances yet because the kitchen was supposed to be further down the line. Queue mad panic, lots of googling and now the range cooker, dishwasher and fridge will arrive on Sunday. The joiner has fitted the units, which are looking really good and I am very pleased with our choice. We had a minor issue when we noticed last night that the wall units were lower than we wanted - especially for Andrew who thinks everything is small from his lofty height. It was only the carcasses up so we decided to say now and get them moved because it would probably only annoy us later - also I think there should be a slightly higher gap from the range cooker anyway. I was bit scared about seeing the poor joiner again this morning as he seemed to be having such fun yesterday, singing along loudly to his music and making good progress and we now wanted the units moved!! I did explain that as a midget I had not noticed they were low while he was working yesterday because I think everything is tall, whereas Andrew is the opposite. He was totally fine about it and was here at 7am this morning moving the units around. When I got back at lunch time I am not sure what came over me because I wandered in, saw he had repositioned units and added the doors, and casually said 'oh sorry to tell you but can those units go another 50mm higher'. His face was rather priceless and very relieved when he realised I was joking. I thought it was hilarious. Not sure he did. The work tops arrived today also and look nice - they will be bit darker once oiled, as they are solid wood so need to be treated first. This weekend they want us to clear the current utility room, which will become a small shower room - so of course dad has been recruited to come and help Andrew with that task this weekend :-) Me and mum will supervise.

 Kitchen area - integrated dishwasher to go in that gap and sink under window

Big gap is for range cooker and hood

Other side of room - will be dining table and hopefully little sofa on far wall looking out into garden

(those are french doors on left)

Tomorrow I am speaking at the organ donor network as I previously mentioned. This will involve talking as an organ donor recipient to around 200 people, mostly made up of donor families. I hope I can get across the message that this is such a priceless gift and one of the most selfless generous acts on the part of the donor and their family.

I am pleased with my new PBL group as they all seem very nice and enthusiastic. It is the first block of 2nd year and is quite overwhelming because there is a sudden jump in how much information they are expected to learn in one PBL (they do two a week). I am trying to keep them chilled about this - I remember 2nd year so well. It is renowned as the hardest year at medical school because most of the physiology, biochemistry etc have to be covered here. I loved 3rd year because that's when we really got into diseases and treatments, but you can't do this without the foundation. It's a shame I appear to have forgotten anything that doesn't involve the head though ;-)

Myself, Victoria and Kirsty have now got a blog for our fundraising - Team Glasgow. The link is at the side of my blog. We would like to work together to do some events for the charities close to our heart - Live Life Then Give Life will benefit from the ball, but we also would like to raise awareness about CF charities - in particular the Butterfly Trust. The Willow Foundation is another fab charity who provide special days for adults with serious illness - this is very unique as most charities only provide for children. I know many people with CF who have enjoyed special treats through the Willow Foundation. Anyway, thanks to Victoria for setting up and designing the blog :-)

Seb continues to push his boundaries. I am going to remove all the cushions in the living room when I go out because today he had clearly had a shot on ALL of them. I have two sets of cushions on each sofa and he had them all flattened down and covered in hairs. Yesterday he was on the window sill when I got home which must have involved jumping from a side table. He has also been sleeping in the hall because there is now only polythene between the kitchen and extension. He was very good the first night but I woke up last night to the pitter patter of tiny feet as he wandered into our bedroom! I took him straight back downstairs and he did appear to stay there all night but who knows. Here as some pictures of the kind of thing that happens whenever he gets into the extension.

Decides to go exploring down the back of plaster boards

Emerges at other end and looks surprised to see me there!

Polythene sheet where back door used to be - hence Seb not sleeping in kitchen.  An internal door will go on this side of door way and there will be a partition wall on left of this picture - making part of existing kitchen a utility area and the other part the hallway leading into extension.  So no external walls come down - yay!

 Will update next week with progress..... :-)

Escape

Yesterday my dad and Andrew were taking down the false sloped ceiling in the hall and I didn't think it would be wise to expose my lungs to all that dust, so I escaped to see Mum instead.  My cousin Sarah came to visit yesterday so it was good I caught her for a catch up too :-)

As I briefly mentioned, the CT scan was fine.  I do still have a cough but I now have a bit of a cold so hard to tell if it's just viral again.  The doctor felt it had started with a virus and then my reflux might have aggravated the cough, because I have had some problems with the reflux recently.  I have increased my medication for that and will see how things go.  My lung function seems stable and no major issues have been detected.  I am just so relieved there was no evidence of chronic rejection.  

Building work is progressing well and we now have plasterboard on three walls. The electrician came at 8am on Sunday morning to finish some work!!! Apparently he can't come this week due to a major rewiring job but had to finish some work before we can get plasterers in.   That is dedication.   Things will move a bit more slowly now that the frame is up and all the more detailed work will need to be completed.    We have to move our BT line, which is very annoying because it is going to take BT about 3-4 weeks to come and do this - although the builders have said it wont hold them up.  It is getting closer to them needing to come into the house to work which I am dreading but it will be worth it in the end.  Andrew has been taking all the lining paper off the walls in the hallway, as the window there will be plastered up so paper needed to come off - so we are making so much mess anyway that the builders might as well come in and add to it ;-)

Tomorrow I am starting a new PBL group for the next 5 weeks.  I figured it would be better to just get out the house as much as possible and I might as well get paid for getting up early :-)   I haven't facilitated this particular block before so will need to do quite a bit of reading - I was reading the first set of notes while at the hairdressers this morning.  That is multi tasking for you.

Seb has been enjoying his time in the living room when I go to work.  I know he is lying up on the sofa where I normally sit, as he arranges the cushions into a small bed for himself.  He always jumps down before I come in though and gets into his own bed, pretending to have been there all along.  He still can't go into the back garden because one of the fence panels between our garden and the neighbours is down.  There is just a small gap but last week I let him out and thought I could just supervise - but he made a beeline for the gap and I had to dive after him just managing to grab his fluffy behind before he disappeared.  Cannot be trusted!

I was also in the Sunday Mail yesterday.   Under the caption 'Furious Jacqueline' hahaha!  I had emailed The Judge about my travel insurance company refusing to pay for the anti rejections I had to buy when our flight was delayed in Florida.  They were refusing to pay out because "prescriptions are not an emergency".  I had written to explain that running out of anti rejection medications was indeed an emergency!  Their reply was simply a copy of the original refusal letter, with same date and same typo!!  Anyway, within 2 days of The Judge from the Sunday Mail contacting the insurance I received a cheque for the £286 they owed me.  Result.  They are now getting onto to Air France who are still refusing to pay towards accommodation and food costs during the 6 day delay.  Would be fab if they did manage to get anything back from Air France - watch this space.   If you have seen the paper, please note that we were asked not to smile for the picture, although my natural non smiling face must look rather angry.  I must watch that..

Good News

CT scan was fine - no rejection or nasties.  Will update later but just in case the non reporting was making people think it was bad news.  ;-)

Sorry for delay in transmission...

Had a busy week so not had the chance to update yet!  The building work is progressing well - we have had a few days of torrential rain and high winds but the joiner was still there trying to build a roof!  Someone was supposed to come on Monday to seal the wood (or something) but wouldn't go up because of the wind haha - the joiner was scoffing at him and carried on anyway.  Yesterday insulation was going on the walls and the plumbers were doing the first fix.  That was a bit stressful because they were in and out the house, with back door wide open and cables trailing everywhere so I had to shut Seb in the living room with me, and leave him there when I went out.  I think he thought I had gone mad and clearly enjoyed himself by trying out both sofas and all the cushions :-)   Today the electrician came and there appears to be cables hanging down where spot lights will be, and there are windows sitting in garden, so guessing we will soon we wind and water tight.

 Insulation on walls...

How do builders work in small gardens?  My lawn is like a builders yard..

Wires hanging down today for spotlights..

I had a fairly quiet weekend which I was in desperate need of.  I was teaching medical students on Friday, although need to remember and take back some time for that, so was looking forward to a long lie on Saturday.  Needless to say I woke up quite early regardless.   We went to mum and dads on Saturday because Corey was still visiting and on Sunday bought some tiles :-)  I seem to have had a busy week at work for no particular reason and the middle of it all have been room hopping because Infection Control consultant has said I have to move out of the corridor I work in due to risk of moulds growing in damp area.   It's good they have acted quickly and are looking after me but it's also stressful getting shifted about.  I did have one of the consultant's rooms today which was nice and had plants and nice pictures - I think my patients thought I'd been promoted ;-)  The staff are being nice about the fact I am the cause of all this hassle and tolerating me phoning downstairs an asking them to come and see me because I'm not allowed down any more!

I am planning a trip to Cambridge in a couple of weeks to attend a Transplant Psychiatry Interest Group which is just being set up.  One of my consultants sent me the information as thought I might be interested in getting involved which I think is a good idea.  It's not great timing because I seem to have so much on just now (start PBL next week, LLTGL advocate weekend in October and ball at end of October, plus builders here all the time!) but I have convinced Andrew to come down with me so we can stay a couple of nights and make it a little break at same time.  He will have to go exploring on the Friday himself but I am sure there are lots of things to see around Cambridge.   Bizarrely I took a phone call from the transplant psychiatrist in Edinburgh today for an unrelated reason and randomly asked him if he was going to this meeting.  He was a bit confused until I explained further :-)  Apparently there is another doctor talking at the meeting (not psychiatrist though) who had lung transplant for CF so will be interesting to chat to her.

Ball plans are going well and tickets are selling fast.  If you still owe me money for tickets can you try and get it to me asap please as we will have to pay Oran Mor early next month.   I am just going to start working on a programme for the evening so we can have a few on each table - just to explain the format and timings for the evening.  I will get Andrew to help me though as I feel rather busy!  I am thankfully finished the booklet though!!  I have the pdf sitting ready to go, but the pharmacy guy is on holiday at moment so not sure what time scale for printing will be.  It's exciting to have it finished though and I am really happy with the end result.

I had my CT scan yesterday - was waiting an hour in one of those wee gowns and was freezing.  You would think they could have let me stay in my own clothes longer if they knew they were running that late.  The scan itself was fine but obviously I don't get results at the time.  I am seeing the doctor tomorrow so hoping he will have a result by then.  I must be honest though - I am freaking myself out a bit.  I still have this dry cough and have managed to convince myself I have chronic rejection or something horrible.  Totally overreacting but I just don't want anything to be wrong.  I don't want my wee bubble to burst.  I am feeling otherwise ok though so they will probably just tell me there is nothing wrong and to quit the moaning ;-)  I seem to have had a bit of reflux lately which also could make me cough.  I will attempt to stop self diagnosis though and see what the proper doctors think :-)

September is generally a difficult month so I think I am just feeling the pressure a bit.  Lots happening and even more running through my mind.  Sometimes I would like to be able to switch my brain off!  I was supposed to be going to a course on Monday which is cancelled so I am taking the day as annual leave instead - I didn't have any clinics booked so might as well take advantage of that.  This will give me a nice wee long weekend to recharge and get back to full speed next week :-)

How cute is Seb here?  Note the little teeth sticking out :-)

 

My Beautiful sister's anniversary

I can't believe it is six years since we lost Frances Ann.   Time flies although I guess I have been rather busy over those years.  I thought I would maybe show you some pictures - especially for those who never had the pleasure of meeting my rather charismatic sister (subsitute for slightly strange/funny at times).

With mum - looking very innocent!   She was one of the cutest babies I have seen - massive blue eyes.  Not like me with my chubby wee legs ;-)

Looking like a tiny doll...

True colours beginning to show.  She was never ever a tidy person.  She largely didn't care if her hair was all over the place - mum had to put her in pigtails for school or her hair would be wild.  The primary 1 photos mum has of us are funny - Claire is immaculate, I am quite tidy but tie sticking out, Frances Ann has half her hair falling out with a massive grin.

These were my costumes (banana in pyjamas) for a dance show - Frances Ann was so huffy about the fact she didn't have a costume (she didn't go to the class) so we had to dress up at home to please her and pose for a picture looking like a right eejit!  She did later attend drama classes - you would never have guessed ;-)

On holiday where the game was 'Jacqueline pulls Frances Ann around the pool while she sits like a little princess in the rubber boat'.  I thought older sisters were supposed to boss about the younger one??  She started this early though.  One day when mum went to pick her up from nursery the teacher said 'oh she is doing well, we take her the milk at break time and she always drinks it'  Mum was confused and asked why she didn't come and sit and the table with the other chidren  "Oh, she prefers to sit on the chaise long and we bring her milk and biscuit while she rests!" Mum quickly nipped that one in the bud - chancer.  I also remember a time at school when she was trying to get out of class.  She started with "my legs are tired" - the teacher said "well just sit down for a while".  "My arms are tired" - "well just sit and read for a while".  Frances Ann thinks carefully.  "You know what - my eyes are tired".  Teacher had to give in and tell her to go and lie down!!!  She hated getting up early and loved her bed very much.  Even when at nursery she used to ask "why can't I go to the afternoon session so I can stay in bed!"  

Frances Ann climbs into the mattress for z-bed and pretends to be sleeping there.  She would often pretend to be either sleeping or collapsed.  She once went into Biology higher class and lay down in the middle of the floor just to see if the teacher would panic and think she had collapsed.  Knowing her too well, he just prodded her with his foot, stepped over her and started writing on the board.

This is what happened to her hair when it had been in pigtails.  More interesting though it the t-shirt "I'm a little monster"  Very true.  Also reminds me of the fact she insisted the word for monster was actually "munster" and refused to say otherwise

Just liked this one (ignore my bright pink pj's!)

Dad and his girls on holiday.  I am wearing Frances Ann's skirt and she is wearing my top.  She liked to borrow clothes but was equally willing to share.  She gave me a loan of loads of tops and dresses for my honey moon - many of them still with tags on that she had just bought.  She was also known to borrow things and then put them in her drawer though and then pretend that mum had put it there and she hadn't noticed!

At Madame Tussauds she thought it was hilarious to pretend to get a fright from Alfred Hitchcock.  Then insists I take a photo because it is 'oh so hilarious'.  Total exhibitionist.

I still miss her so much but I know she is always here with me.   I read this quote some where recently  "We all die.  The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will."  I think Frances Ann succeeded in this - so many people loved her and these people will never forget.

 Day 7

We are now on day 7 and things seem to be on track - bricks are being laid and the joiner is due to start on Friday on the timber frame.  I was really impressed that a guy turned up yesterday in the pouring rain and was working away in the relentless downpour.  He did have to give up after about 5 hours because he was totally soaked through but I was surprised he had turned up at all.  Good effort!  I escaped to my friend Lucie's yesterday afternoon to get away from building works, which was lovely.  She is likely to be seeing rather a lot of me in the coming months :-)

Ticket sales are going well for the ball and I think we have around 200 tickets sold. We would like an approximate final total by end of this month so we can let the venue know and finalise plans - so if you haven't contacted me yet but would like a ticket - do it soon!  Also keep us in mind for small donations to use at tombola - bottles wine,  toiletry gifts etc - the usual :-)   Sherlock the cashmere bear is still doing the rounds and mum currently has the diary so expect to be harrassed in the near future.  Lastly, can any people waiting on transplant or who have received one (pre and post picture) send us some pictures for our slide show (to be shown at ball) to lltgl.glasgow AT gmail.com.  Any kind of transplant - funnily enough we have more lungs than anything else ;-)

Here is the picture of my latest painting as promised.  I decided I liked it after all and now it's on my living room wall.  I do love little birdies.

Day 5

I guess the weekend doesn't count in the building days so now onto day 5.  On Friday they had poured concrete into the founds and today they seem to have laid bricks in the foundations - progressing well I think.  It's forecast heavy rain tomorrow so not sure if that will hold things up.

The weekend was nice and sunny so we had Seb at the country park on Saturday which he loves!  The first picture is Seb watching me because I have treats and the second one is staring intensely at Andrew. 

Seb always runs ahead then looks at us as if 'hurry up!'

Sunday was Uncle Hughs garden fete and there was a massive turnout this year.  He usually does get good weather though and clearly has some deal with God regarding this.  It was a nice afternoon and little Seb came along too. I am sure the grand total raised will be very impressive.

I have also been working on a new canvas - this time for myself!  Pictures to follow once I decide if I like it or not...

Day 3

Yesterday the hedge was taken out and another skip arrived, and today there has been more digging of the patio area.  It is being dug by hand and has been really hot the last couple of days, so I am impressed with how hard they have been working! They even took my package that arrived today which was rather handy :-)

Hedge has gone!

Seb is finding it all very interesting and I let him out this evening under supervision (otherwise he will just go into the neighbours garden).   He spent about 5 minutes working out how to get over to the grass and has found if he jumps in the trench there is a shallower part he can jump back out of at the moment.  He also is so cute because keeps going to the side of the trenches and digging delicately at the soil - maybe I should just leave him out during the day and he can help the workmen.  He would really be like the site manager I think - just keeping an eye on things.

Paws gently at edge to check quality of workmanship

Walks around the trench to assess whether all dug to correct depth

Yes, it must be deep enough because I can't see out!

Survey complete - jumps out and head inside for dinner

I have a date for my CT scan - 14th September - so not long.  I am feeling ok though and I think the cough has been better the last couple of days so hopefully is nothing at all.   I took Seb a really long walk at the country park this afternoon and I think I would have struggled had there been anything going on with my lungs.

I had a letter back from my travel insurance, still refusing to pay out for the medication I had to buy when we were delayed in Florida.   They just reiterated that prescriptions are not deemed to be a medical emergency, even though I explained at length about how much of an emergency stopping anti rejection medication actually is.  I am just so angry because of how much I paid to make sure I had travel insurance and they are quibbling over a few hundred pounds.  Needless to say Air France have also refused to pay out for any of the hotel/food costs either - we have written to the AUC but have not heard anything yet so I must try and chase that up again.  Mum thinks I should write to the Judge in the Sunday Mail about the travel insurance - I might just do that because I am sure bad publicity would be more of a problem for the company than me writing to the ombudsman.

DAY 1

So there is now a trench in the back garden and a skip in the driveway.  Seb is not very impressed.  He was actually pretty good - I wasn't in when they arrived this morning but the guy said he only barked when skip arrived and then appeared to have settled down.  He seemed quite relaxed when I got home mid morning although obviously I couldn't let him out while the men were working.  I went round with him on the lead to tell them I was going out and Seb immediately tried to climb into the trench (on extended lead).  This is why he must stay in the house at all times!!   So far the skip is nearly full with all that earth - what looks like a small channel equates to a lot of loose soil.   They at least seem very tidy and had swept the patio and tidied up their tools before leaving so my first impressions are very good.

I did go up to the hospital yesterday and am going to get a few more tests.  There was a fungus called Aspergillus growing in the sputum sample from last week but they aren't sure how to interpret this. It can appear in sputum quite commonly, especially in CF because we all inhale the spores from the environment (it grows in damp areas and rotting leaves etc).   You breath in the spores and then your immune system deals with them - it doesn't mean the actual lung tissue is infected.  Prior to transplant I had something called ABPA (allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis) - which basically means you are allergic to the aspergillus spores.  So when you breathe them in your body reacts, causes a bit of inflammation in airways which can cause cough and chest tightness.   There is a known risk of it returning post transplant because after all I have the same immune system so this could be causing the cough - however it is still entirely possible the cough is just post viral and they have only grown this because I actually managed to give a sample (I never really cough now).  I have therefore had lots of bloods taken, including ones to check levels of my antibodies to aspergillus to see if reacting and will also get a chest CT scan to make sure lungs look shiny and in working order.  The chest x-ray looks perfect as always so this is just a belt and braces approach and will hopefully provide much reassurance.  This should be done within 2 weeks so at least will be all done and dusted soon.  I think its encouraging that I was able to take Seb on a long walk today and didn't feel breathless

Finally I will leave you with the latest painting I have done for mum - for her living room.  The brief was 'something with orange and red and quite bright - maybe a scene'.  I therefore have chosen a Tuscan scene as a reminder of the big family holiday we had last year.  I added in some poppies in the foreground for a splash of red to tone in with her new living room :-)  

Let the building work commence...

I can't believe we are starting the extension on Tuesday - I am excited and scared at the same time.  I can't wait until it is all finished but not so sure I will enjoy getting there.   We have chosen the kitchen and finalised designs for this - just need to source our own appliances because we weren't keen on the ones included.  We have decided on tiles for the kitchen and have a rough idea for the shower room (which is the utility at the moment).  I can't order these things too soon as I don't really have anywhere to put them - the dining room currently has boxes of flooring alongside all the raffle prizes I am collecting!  It all coming together and it will be good just to get started.  We had a quote for changing the doors in the house (not the ones I have just painted, the other chipboard ones) but the costs for fitting seemed quite high - so dad and Uncle Francis will now be landed with the job of changing all my doors.  They must love me a lot :-)

I had fairly busy week and spent Tuesday doing lots of work on the CF booklet as hoping to get this finished soon - need to make room for all my other plans!  I made good progress though and am really pleased with how it is looking.  I also have been working away on ball stuff and joined Victoria for a meeting with Santander about how they can help us.   On Friday we went into town for Victoria's New Lungs party which was fab :-)

I have been pretty tired the rest of the weekend so not being doing too much.  My cough seems to have reappeared and I found it really hard to get up this morning so think I will give the hospital a phone tomorrow to let them know things aren't quite right yet.  My temperature has been ok though so hopefully its all just post viral nonsense.

Seb has been up to his usual antics this week.  On Wednesday he hid in my bedroom when I wasn't looking and I was forced to leave him in there when I went to work.  When Andrew got back (before me) he was shouting on Seb and couldn't find him - that's because he was in such a deep sleep curled up on our bed that he didn't even hear Andrew come in!  He is a total chancer.  He was also really embarrassing when the guy came to service the boiler.  First of all I hadn't noticed him disappearing from the living room and then found he was in the front hall cupboard with the guy, watching what he was doing!  I shouted him through, which was fine until the guy went upstairs to check the radiators and Seb insisted on following.  Seb then came down the stairs ahead of the guy and stood across the bottom step and wouldn't let him past!!  The guy had to shout me to come and move Seb because he couldn't get him out the way.   Seb was also in the huff on Friday when he realised we were going out and he did his usual thing of lying upstairs with his head sticking through the bannisters in a forlorn way.  I have taken some pictures so you can fully appreciated the ridiculousness of his behaviour. He totally pretended not to see my taking pictures even when I stuck the camera right in his face..

A small caged animal  (note my nice painted staircase!)

Finally I will leave you with a Just Giving link.   For those who have known me a long time, you will also know the Gilchrist's, through my best bud Claire.  Anne Marie Gilchrist is doing a 70ft abseil to raise money for Bosom Buds which is a charity supporting breast cancer.  It is a great cause and something personal to me and also very personal to Anne Marie.  If you can spare a penny, have a look at her page HERE

6 Year Anniversary

It was our 6 year wedding anniversary last Friday  :-)  Andrew had the day off so we just had a relaxing day - looking at tiles and showers hahaha.  Seriously.   We did manage a lunch out and on Saturday went into town for the afternoon.  6 years has flown in but so much has happened in that time - ups and downs that many people don't go through in a life time of marriage but I am sure we are stronger because of it.  Hurray for us :-)

The tile viewing was because we now have a start date for the extension - a week tomorrow.  Eeek!  I think we have more or less decided on tiles and cooker etc but haven't made any purchases yet.  I am converting all my tesco vouchers to Tops Tiles vouchers because you get four times the value which will be a good wee saving.  I like to get a bargain where ever possible!

John managed to get me a Hawick cashmere teddy bear for my ball - he is so cute (the bear that is) and is called Sherlock.  These wee guys are mostly exported and worth a pretty penny (about £100).  I am doing a 'Guess Sherlock's birthday' because I think he is too cute to just give away in the raffle.  He needs a loving home :-)  If you want to guess his birthday then send an email to weejaq@hotmail.com to check if the date is available and I can mark your name in.  It's £1 a guess so if you are likely to see me or mum then you can pass the money on or you could also donate online at the Just Giving site (although £2 is the minimum donation on just giving so you would have to have two guesses).  Not such a bad thing...

Click HERE for direct link

Express Check Up

I was getting a bit worried over the weekend because my cough was starting to sound quite crackly, which is never a good thing.   I did go into work today but phoned the hospital to arrange a check over which they tried to arrange over the lunch period.  It was rather impressive...I arrived at 12.05pm, nurse took obs at 12.10pm, lung function took me in at 12.20pm, Xray took me at 12.35pm and doctor saw me at 12.45pm.  Now that's service for you!!  Reassuringly my lung function was fine and chest xray looked good so no major issues.  Probably a bit of infection secondary to having viral infection last week - although it could just purely be down to remnants of viral infection.  I've got some oral antibiotics for a week just to be on safe side and hopefully will be feeling back to full health within a few days :-)  

I had a fairly quiet weekend, at last.  Our building warrant has been authorised online but we still need the documents, however hopefully we can get started on the extension within a month :-)  So we were getting some kitchen plans drawn up at the weekend which should be ready sometime this week for us to look at.  Very exciting!!  Yesterday was the first really warm day in a while so I just chilled in the garden most of the day and then met some friends for dinner that evening.  A nice Sunday :-)

Andrew didn't think it was so nice because is a bit traumatised after he thought I had collapsed.  We were food shopping and I said I wasn't feeling very well and wanted to get back to the car, so I went ahead.  I got into the passenger side but since I had been driving, decided I better try and alter the driver seat so that Andrew could get in.  So while he went to put the trolley back, I was leaning over but couldn't quite reach, so ended up more or less lying across the driver seat, face down and pumping the wee handle to lower the seat.  Apparently if you approach the car and see someone draped over the front seats, seemingly with jerking limbs, you would think they had collapsed and were having a seizure.  So the car door flew open "Jacqueline, JACQUELINE!" and then when I sit bold upright saying 'What?" it's followed by "what the HELL are you doing???"   After realising what it had looked like, I then couldn't stop laughing for ages.  I'm not sure Andrew thought it was quite as amusing though..

I'm not working tomorrow so will try and have a restful day. Honest.

The Sun is Shining

At last, the sun is shining outside.   We have had non stop rain for all of July and most of August so I am hoping we get a few days at least - I really need a sunshine boost!  My cold is lingering and I have a slight tickly cough, which is just weird because I have got used to not coughing!  It is rather pathetic compared to the great crackling cough I had before but is annoying all the same.  More so because I worry about the wee lungs but I am otherwise feeling ok so clearly just remnants of viral infection, which incidentally is being blamed on Andrew who dared to breath near me when he had the cold last weekend.

Last weekend was very busy but great fun.  We had the big family party for my Uncle Hugh's 70th Birthday on the Friday night, so it was a mad dash to get home in time.  It was a great party with a nice mix of dancing and chatting - I was mostly dancing I must admit.  Mum had also written a fantastic ode which she read out after the cake cutting, and this went down well.  I decided just to stay at home for the weekend because my aunt and uncle were up from Grantham so it was nice to all catch up.  Saturday was pretty chilled although another quite late night and then on the Sunday we headed through to Rosewell for the party his parish had organised.   It was really good and they had clearly gone to a great deal of effort.    We had to leave a little early to get back home for a reasonable hour as we both had work the next day.  I was totally shattered!

Uncle Hugh with the cake

 It's me!

Work has also been rather busy this week for various reasons so in between I have not being doing a lot and just trying to rest up.   On Tuesday (my day off) I accidentally fell asleep for 2 hours in the afternoon just sitting on the sofa and only woke when my ipod, which was playing on shuffle, started playing 'working 9-5'. This is also my phone ring tone so my subconscious thought my phone was ringing.   I woke to find that Seb was no where to be seen, until I found him curled up on my bed fast asleep.   There is something not right about me sleeping awkwardly on the sofa and Seb snoozing in my bed!

He has been quite naughty lately (well, more so than normal).   When we left him at mums to go out on Friday he had managed to jump from a chair onto the kitchen work top, where he then wandered round, clambering over the cooker, until he found a bowl of blue berries and raspberries to stick his snout into.   He also knocked over 2 glasses (which smashed) and I suspect drank the dregs of Gin and Tonic because he really wasn't feeling too well the following day and didn't eat a thing!   No matter how Seb proofed we think the house is, he still finds something to get up to.   This morning I went out of the living room for 5 minutes and came back to find him tucked in behind the ornament on the window sill.   He tries to stay very very still in the hope I don't notice him.  It is hilarious.  I can't imagine it was even comfortable...

Stares straight ahead and avoids eye contact with me...

 Lies down and still tries to avoid eye contact...

Daddy's Boy - this is how Andrew carries Seb around the house - he sits there like it is a special ledge for him and then looks down on me from his perch!!

Ball preparations are coming along nicely and we do have a fair few confirmed ticket sales.  We are still waiting on the bank account to be sorted which is taking a ridiculous amount of time, so that we can start taking payments.   We have a band confirmed to play now, and also a few other interesting parts to the entertainment which I will keep as a surprise.  I am still pushing ticket sales so if you are interested please let me know so I have an idea of numbers.  Equally the just giving page will be running along side (link at top) so please feel free to pop a few pennies on there if you can't make it and therefore feel so guilty you are compelled to donate to my cause regardless.....!!

Victoria rises to fame...

My friend Victoria (main instigator of this ball) will be on The Hour at 5pm today on STV - watch it!  It should be available online if you miss it.  They said she can advertise the ball  :-)   For those who get the Daily Record, then yes, that was her last week with the bright green dress.   She is trying to outdo me in newspaper coverage and the TV thing is really taking the biscuit..

I will be back later to update on my adventures, although I have ground to a halt with a sniffly cold at the moment - think my body is telling me to sloooooooooow down.   Which is why I am blogging at 7.30am ;-)

A Week of Escapades

Wow, I have been busy and I am shattered!   After the wedding last weekend myself and Andrew headed down to London on the Monday.   We had a couple of nights in the city, met up with Corey and Monika and did a spot of shopping (obviously).   This spot of shopping involved me getting a dress for the Masquerade Ball.   Sadly it doesn't match either of the two masks I already have so I will now be forced to purchase a third mask.  It is tragic.

On the final night we went over to stay with Emily and her husband, which was fab.  We had a lovely afternoon and evening - and would have had a lovely morning I am sure had Emily not been admitted to hospital in the middle of the night!   She has been feeling really sick and although was discharged yesterday is now back in because they are not sure what is causing it.  Her chest is fine though so that's a big relief but hopefully they will get to the bottom of this asap and she can hurry home and enjoy her summer holidays.

 Peeking through railings at Westminster Abbey (because I wouldn't pay the £15 to go in!)

On our return I had a mad scramble day of meeting Victoria to check out the Oran Mor venue for the ball - which was amazing, and tanking through to Bathgate to pick up my little pooch.   He was SO huffy.   He would not make eye contact and when I lifted him up he deliberately turned his head away to face the other direction!  He was pretty keen to get in the car to come home though.

Here are some (blurry) pics of the venue:

 This is set for a wedding - see the vaulted glass ceiling and arches down sides - nice :-)

Tables will look something like this - but with our decorations (secret!)

Then on the Saturday we had lots of friends (Andrews school friends, but considered my friends too now - especially since it's always me who organises the get togethers!)   There were 11 of us and 7 people staying over (not including me and Andrew).  I had blow up mattresses in every room but it was great fun.   We were supposed to be having a BBQ but it rained on and off all day and we ended up having to fry the burgers and sausages instead.   Not quite the same but it was all demolished never the less.  Seb was quite well behaved and did not steal any food - however when he decided it was bedtime he did go round everyone huffing, sighing and staring intently in an effort to get everyone to bed haha.  He is so rude sometimes.

Sunday was another wedding!  After making breakfast for everyone I had to then kick them out by late morning so we could get ready.  It was our old flatmate Al's wedding - it was a lovely day and we really enjoyed it.  The service was really different as they had written their own vows and had a lot of personal touches which were nice.  It was good to catch up with friends and I think everyone had a great day.

Al and Clare

 

 

 With some of our old flatmates

I had Monday off but it wasn't really enough to regain my energy and I am still quite tired, funnily enough.  Probably because in every spare minute I have been doing 'ball stuff' - trying to get prizes (some good stuff but secret just now!), trying to get people to buy tickets, setting up just giving pages etc etc.  Victoria and Kirsty are the same so it can't be said that we are not enthusiastic at least :-)   I do somewhere in the middle of this have to try and finish the booklet as well, but annoyingly I had to go and do that thing called 'work' as well.   Not got time to be going to work haha! 

So of course I am having a quiet weekend to recover.  NOT.   It is my uncle's 70th birthday so there is a couple of things happening over the weekend, so I am off to mum and dad's until Sunday.  I might go for a nap just now and start building some reserves....

Just Giving

We have made a Just Giving Page so that people who cannot attend the ball but would still like to support this event can make donations - these go directly to Live Life Then Give Life.   There will be no escaping me and my fundraising hahahaha....!

Promoting!

This company has very kindly offered to give us a hamper for our masquerade ball auction/raffle and I in return have offered to display their link for all you people who might like to browse some scottish gifts.  I will also leave the link at the side for future reference

http://www.scottishhampers.co.uk

Full blog updating on my escapades to coming soon.....