Don't you just hate it when....

• People leave snarky comments when an email will do
• People just HAVE to be drama queens
• People are rude to you
• Other people blame YOU because THEY can't follow instructions!
• You say good morning to somebody and they don't answer back
• People just won't wait for you to pull out of a parking space before they try pulling INTO it
• Things just don't work as they should...a la Skype! grrrr

What's annoyed you today?If you want to join in, feel free to take the image and post your own "don't you just hate it when....". Sometimes it's good to voice your frustrations!

I can hardly contain myself...

A couple of months ago I instructed a blog buddy who owns a freelance business (AD Freelance) to do some "research" for me. I've had her looking into a few things related to some {top secret} site improvements at Adori Graphics and I simply can NOT wait for her to tell me her findings. I'll be honest, she has quite a task on her hands, but I know that she can do this. I can't wait to tell all of my readers about the new plans, how on earth am I going to keep my trap shut until I have the report and recommendations in my hand? LOL. I'll tell you some more about the plans on Adori Graphics later and also some more about what Amanda might be able to do for your blog too. I've simply been blown away by her ideas and feel so excited about getting Adori Graphics onto the next step.

I have a question for you today, if you could have somebody do some research for you (blogging/blog related) what would you have them do? I'm just looking for ideas for her next project LOL.

A visit from Royalty

the Queen meets the staff

I've known about this for a while but for security reasons I couldn't mention this earlier...which is a laugh since it seems to have been general knowledge! The Queen visited hubby's workplace today to meet some of the workers. He said he was in "spitting distance" of the Queen (his words, not mine...though I'm not sure she'd have appreciated it) although he struggled to get some decent pics.

I had to laugh at some of the preparations that have gone on for this visit:

• Nobody has been allowed to use the stairs for over 2 weeks in case they get them dirty. Apparently the Queen doesn't use lifts....I really had to laugh at this one because I have been to this building and it is huge. The first floor (where she was heading) is actually equivalent to the 6th floor the building is that tall. Even I struggled to make it up there without dying (I went there for a conference last year) so how would a nearly 90 year old manage? Needless to say she DID end up getting the lift....I wonder if it was as clean as the stairs LOL
• The building was painted too - Andy remarked " I wonder if the Queen thinks the whole world smells of paint". I guess there's nothing like a visit from the Queen to motivate you into a little decorating.

on her way...

no sign of the corgies...

I have a confession...

It seems that it was 8 years ago today that I was getting married.

9 years ago today I was PLANNING a wedding LOL.

Am I too concerned about the mistake? Nope - after all, Andy probably isn't going to notice ;)

9 years ago today....

I was getting married...

We got married in a village called Snaith (where we were living at the time). The church was 1,000 years old (yes, you read that correctly) and the vicar was an absolute scream. He really made our day. The weather however was not so kind to us - even the photographer commented that it was the second-worst weather he's ever had at a wedding. Oh well, the day was lovely and couldn't have gone any better. Even if it had all gone pear-shaped, I'd still have been happy as all I wanted to do was marry my babe :)

Happy anniversary Andy.

More diet *groan*

Diet number 5.000 started last Wednesday. 5 days in I have had a mini-binge on one occasion and yet still managed to stay within my points allowance....things are looking up! I'll let you know the progress when I go to WW on Wednesday.

I haven't eaten bread for a while - until my little "binge" yesterday. My guts were terrible all night. Lots of gurgling going on, lots of bellyache and (TMI maybe?) lots of wind...eek! Poor Hubby.

Was Hubby impressed? Nope.

Did I regret it? Yes.

Will I do it again? Probably.

Do we EVER learn?

Cruise update

I really MUST try and update this blog at least once a week, it's looking very neglected. It's not that I don't remember to, I just never seem to get time to do it. That, and my life basically revolves around work and graphics...the average person isn't going to find my work interesting...and everyone already knows about my graphics through my Adori Graphics blog.

I do have a few small tid bits which I haven't posted about on my other blog. Things like my recent vacation which I haven't blogged about yet because my feet haven't touched the ground since I came home! We had a wonderful time though, with a few small negatives, but these were outweighed by the positive experience generally.

I thought this particular ship was well run and had excellent customer service. Us Brits are not known for good customer service (no tipping = no incentive for good service me thinks). But apart from a rocky start this ship seemed to run like clockwork, unlike the previous ship we'd been on.

My main complaints were:

• Some elderly passengers who felt entitlement to the very air that you breathed and whined about everything...you know, the beach was too sandy, the water was too wet...that kind of thing. 
• Food - too arty farty and no choice for those of us with more conservative palates...goodness knows how the grumpy older folk got on with it.*
• Stock replenishment - pretty dire at first, but seemed to improve after the first day or two.
• Queues - we seemed to spend an awful amount of time queuing in this ship. I know us Brits love a good queue but this was ridiculous at times.

Things I loved:

• The European ports much more than the Caribbean. 
• The unexpectedly mild weather
• The fact it was less humid than the Caribbean (all our other cruises were there)
• The fact that because it was less humid, my lungs didn't feel like they were wilting
• The people we shared our table with
• The customer service

The things I loved far outweighed the things I didn't like/enjoy. Look out over the next few weeks as I slowly add some pics and a little about each port that we went to.

*I honestly have nothing against elderly people, in fact I hope to be elderly myself one day. The thing I do object to is rudeness, lack of consideration and people who throw manners back in my face by being rude. Oh, and people who whine. It just happened that all of this came from elderly passengers. The kids, teens (mostly) and younger adults were all respectful and well behaved.