Happy New Year everyone :)

I'll have some arty farty stuff to share soon, but in the meantime I'm seeing the new year in with a tag stolen from Iva:

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
- Had a good, non dysfunctional relationship. And long may it continue
- Twittered
- Cuddled a hedgehog

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
- I can't remember making any last year, but if I did I doubt I kept them
- Have made 2 this year but am keeping them to myself

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my good friend Anam brought the beautiful Lily into the world, and my pal Jo only just made it into 2008 with the late December birth of baby Emily.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My Aunty Muriel, just a couple of days before Christmas.

5. What countries did you visit?
Canada, and France

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Energy, and time, and to see my best mate out of hospital and getting her life back

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
- January 1st, when that good, non dysfunctional relationship started
- the second half of March, when I was in Canada, had SUCH a great holiday
- Christmas Day, the best one of those I have had in years

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my photos printed in the Wildcats programme :D

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not being able to stick to a diet for more than about a week

10. Did you suffer any illness or injury?
Nothing major. Colds and the occasional dicky tummy.

11. What was the best thing someone bought you?
My "wishful thinking" t-shirt

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Alison's for the bravery she has shown in the face of all the awful stuff she has been through

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
No comment

14. Where did most of your money go?
- mortgage, bills, food, petrol
- art materials
- Friday Picnics
- hockey
- new lens for my camera

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Canada, Eurodisney, new hockey season, Tau

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Hmmmm, good question. Not sure. Maybe Rolex by Wiley. Not very highbrow, but it's a banging tune :)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? waaaaaaaay happier
b) fatter or skinnier? fatter by miles
c) richer or poorer? poorer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Making stuff

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Faffing about on the internet

20. How do you plan to spend Christmas?
bit late with this one. I spent it with my sons and my dad and it was fab.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Yup.

22. How many one night stands?
None

23. What was your favourite TV program?
Heroes or the IT Crowd

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't hate anyone

25. What was the best book you read?
I was really enjoying the latest Terry Pratchett, but I lost it as I was about to reach the final chapter - so annoying!

26. What was your greatest musical discovery of the year?
High School Musical :D

27. What did you want and get?
Support and encouragement. and tenderness.

28. What did you want and not get?
- A mud free Bestival
- To be able to use rather than sell my ACE tickets to the Sens/Pens game in Stockholm

29. What was your favourite film of this year?
I only really get to see kids' movies. The best of those was Wall-E.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 41. I sulked for most of it as none of my kiddies had bought me anything and I thought I was going to go the whole day with zero recognition that it was even my birthday. But then Ian turned up with cake and pressies and cuddles and totally saved the day :)

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A Stanley Cup for Vancouver

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Canucks hoodies and Converse :)
Oh, and I bought some crimpers ------> And some legwarmers. And a FRANKIE SAYS RELAX t-shirt. 80s retro is go go go!

33. What kept you sane?
Hockey. Art. Music. Ian. Darby.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Still Ryan Kesler. Kid gets hotter by the minute :)

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
The US elections, I got really into them this year.

36. Who do you miss?
George.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Ian.

38. What was the best thing you ate?
Marks and Sparks refrigerator cakes

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008?
Don't go to a festival if it has rained non stop for weeks and the site is already a mud bath

Tagged

This one is clearly doing the rounds, as a couple of people have sent it to me this week, idea is to flag the ones you have done, and presumably make plans to do the rest :) (well, maybe not all of them - I don't particularly want to go in an ambulance!)

So here goes:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill* hasten to add this was a long time ago and I don't do it any more, boss!
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury* not yet, but I just got my papers so it will happen this year
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Your turn :)

"The Real" me? iTunes tells all.....

I've been tagged on Facebook, by Iva, but thought I would reply in here, as it was kind of fun and maybe some of my bloggy pals would like to do it too

1. Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the meme as well as the person you got the meme from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
"Jesus of Suburbia" - Green Day ..... ok so that one doesn't make much sense :)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"The Battle of Evermore" - Led Zeppelin ...... internal struggle maybe?

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"No One's Leaving" - Jane's Addiction ..... now it's getting interesting, maybe I have a fear of being abandoned? :) ah, nobody likes to get dumped though, eh?

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"As Can Be" - John Frusciante ...... what as can be????

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"Getting In Tune" - The Who ...... sounds like a good purpose to me :)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Rearviewmirror" - Pearl Jam ...... ummmm, so my motto is that things in the mirror may be larger than they appear?? or that I like looking backwards? (I really don't!)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Boiler" - Limp Bizkit ...... oh, THANKS! :D

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Bed For The Scraping" - Fugazi ..... the bed bit maybe, I'd rather not have a bed that needed scraping, though, ewwwww

WHAT IS 2+2?
"A Doubt" - John Frusciante ..... ah, very wise, question even stuff you think you know the answer to .... yes Master Splinter!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Repeater" by Fugazi ..... repeating what, I wonder?

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Usually Just a T-Shirt" - John Frusciante ..... this one is actually spot on! lol

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Rats" - Pearl Jam .... well, I have had pet rats off and on for most of my life ....

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Assassin" - Muse ..... ROFL, well I can think of a few people I wouldn't mind taking out.... :D

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Place To Be" - Nick Drake ...... this is nice, and very true

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"How To Skin A Cat" - Husker Du ..... OK I have no idea how to even attempt to interpret that one :D

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Pipebomb on Lansdowne" - Dropkick Murphys ..... looks like I am going to go out in newsworthy fashion lol, remind me not to go to any rugby matches in Dublin, could prove fatal....

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Killing In The Name" - Rage Against The Machine ..... ah so, when I become an assassin later in life, I'm just turning my hobby into a business?

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"I Don't Know What You're Talking About" - Husker Du ..... oooooh, such a guilty secret I'm pretending I don't understand the question ;)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Blood" - Pearl Jam .... like family?

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"Police Story" - Black Flag ..... yeah I guess getting arrested would suck

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"Something For Nothing" - Rush ..... I will die of embarrassment when people find out I listen to Rush? :D

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
"The Ballad of Chasey Lain" - Bloodhound Gang .... not having had his dick?? :D

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"Now Or Never" - High School Musical 3 cast .... lol it does, every time Stripes plays it :D

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
"This Velvet Glove" - Red Hot Chili Peppers .... John says to live above hell

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
"Last Kiss" - Pearl Jam ..... if I'm going to marry the last person I kissed, that would be my 6 year old son lol

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
"Carvel" - John Frusciante .... have you gone away already?

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"In and Out of Paris and London" - the Divine Comedy .... huh? is that a yes or a no?

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"Mellowship Slinky" - Red Hot Chili Peppers .... these are making less and less sense

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"Nancy Boy" - Placebo .... I was going to say that Nicky Watt hurts right now, but even with an injured thumb I reckon he'd punch me pretty hard for calling him a Nancy Boy lol

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"The Real" - John Frusciante .... well at least that gives me a catchy blog title

I'm not going to tag anyone, but thanks Iva, this was kind of fun :) It did make me realise though that other than Frusciante, Pearl Jam and Peppers, I hardly have anything in my iTunes on this laptop...

Tagged - long post, sorry :)

I've been tagged by my clever Craftster pal Tasket Basket out in sunny California with the Mighty Ducks and the LA Kings ... do check out her blog, in particular the amazing handbag she made from old vinyl LPs:

I'm not usually big on tagging, mainly because I don't like the 'pass it on to 5 people' bit, it's almost got a chain letter vibe to it. So I'm not going to tag anyone, but I will answer the questions, because they look kind of fun :)

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Hmmmm - June 1998. Not a good point on my own personal number line.
On the plus side I had just started a new job that I really loved. On the downside, that job kept me in the country / at home - unlike the previous job which had taken me abroad for 4 days a week.
So that meant I got to see a lot more of my very unpleasant husband. The last two years of the marriage (98/99) were by far the worst, so I can safely say that I probably spent much of June 98 crying and nursing bruises.
Life is so much better now, you wouldn't believe :)

What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

1) answer all these questions :)
2) as well as the above, do lots of work at work cos I am a good hard working worker
3) give out the invitations for Connor's birthday party that I made and addressed last night
4) finish a necklace that I am making for a magazine that I have had total mojo-freeze with --> publication is to Sarah as headlights are to rabbit
5) if I get time, make Connor's autograph book for Disneyland Paris (we're going on Sunday, whoop!!!)

Snacks I enjoy

Ummmm - all the bad stuff - chocolate, cakes, chocolate cakes :) and cheese, pretty much any type of cheese. Fruit too - that's good, right? I do love fruit :) Especially bananas.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire

Give up work for a start :) I know that seems obvious - but if you had asked me the same question a few years ago I would have been adamant that I would want to continue working regardless. I thought I would die of boredom otherwise.

But then I had 14 months off through redundancy, and to be honest, I haven't really enjoyed work since. Well, I have in spurts. But overall I'd love a chance to retire tomorrow and just chill with my little boy, play with my paints, go out geocaching, and maybe get a dog....and a few more tattoos :)

So, that's what I'd do if I was a billionaire. Lead a nice simple laid back creative life which wouldn't cost too much.

Which means I would have tons of spare cash to be generous with, and would therefore sudddenly have lots of friends and a contented conscience :D

Places I have lived

Nowhere particularly exciting

Born on the Essex / East London border
Went to Uni in Coventry and stayed there for 14 years (no - it didn't take me that long to graduate :P )
Relocated to Swindon in lovely Wiltshire around 8 years ago - just yards from the famous magic roundabout :)

Jobs I have had

My first ever job was a Saturday position at the Filofax factory in East London. It was my job to heat seal all the calendars, maps and other little optional inserts that people can buy for their filofaxes, into little plastic baggies. It was the 80s, and Filofaxes were THE yuppie accessory, so we were worked off our feet!! It paid well though - £2.75 an hour - which was much better than the average Saturday job wage at the time.

In my year out before Uni I was lucky enough to secure a place on IBM's fought over pre-grad training programme, which taught me tremendous amounts about computing from PCs through UNIX up to mainframes, and also lots about business in general - they taught us presentation skills, how to write a clear report, etc etc. It was an invaluable experience, and I made many great friends there amongst the other trainees. It was also during my time at IBM that I was seconded out to work with the Sport Aid organisation - I wrote and maintained the database that kept track of all the thousands of fun runs and mini marathons organised around the world for Bob Geldof's sporty sequel to Live Aid. And I got a personal letter of thanks from Sir Bob for my troubles :)

I did Maths and Statistics at University, and ever since graduation have worked in a similar field, just getting more senior along the way. My field is database marketing, and basically this involves using statistical techniques to spot trends in huge collections of transactional data. This helps companies target their marketing efforts and new product development more accurately - in theory reducing the amount of junk mail arriving on your doorstep, and ensuring that if you are approached it is with an offer that's actually relevant to you. That's the plan anyway :)

I have mainly worked as a consultant, both freelance and via agencies - and my work has taken me all over the world - from South Africa to Ireland to Singapore and to the USA. I also had an 8 year stint heading up the customer database team at WH Smith, which was fun at the start but became less so as the company started to lose money and lay off all of my team, including me eventually.

People I want to know more about

My boyfriend, I'd love to know every little detail of the first 45 years of his life before he hooked up with me :) Nosey, aren't I? :)

My ancestors....I know very little about the family who came before me, even my grandparents, only one of whom I ever met and that was when I was 4, so I can't remember her.

Mike Gillis - the new canucks GM - I really don't trust the man, but I can't quite put my finger on why....

and the classic deep hippy answer - me. I'm 41 and I still don't really understand the way my brain works or what I actually want out of life.


Phew - that was a tag and a half!

I kind of like "interviewing myself" like this though, which is why I do the Friday Fives every week - not because I think it's of the slightest interest to anyone else - but I guess it's my equivalent to scrapbooking - something to keep a record of who I am and how I think right now. I back up this blog regularly, and, assuming it survives somehow to the next generation or the one after that, it will give my children and grandchildren a much better understanding of me than I have ever had in relation to my own forbears.

Plus, when I'm old and have forgotten everything, it might help to jog a few of my own neurons into recollection :)

My mate Julie has finally succumbed to blogdom....

What took you so long?? :)

And she's tagged me

I don't usually do the tag thang, but just this once....

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MY MIDDLE NAME?
Here are the rules:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.

2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).

3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.

4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)

I don't have a middle name so maiden name it is:

M - moving jobs again after all of two months, oops, not looking forward to telling my boss tomorrow, hope he doesn't read my blog!

A - according to Darby, I am anorectal :)

S - statistician by trade (I can do it, I can spell it, but don't ask me to say it out loud after a few ciders. Or 'econometric modelling')

O - lovin' Orlando....have been there 10 times and counting, and will be back there next year with any luck

N - new year, new boyfriend :) I'm seeing a fab, funny and utterly lovely chap called Ian and couldn't be happier

I want an H in my maiden name so I can talk about hockey!!!! no fair....

Not going to tag anyone else, but if anyone is reading this who wants to play, consider it done :)