The Tale of The Snooty Hairdresser.

I've been an unnatural red-head since last Autumn and have been toying with the idea of going blond again for a while. So today i went into a hairdressers that i have been to before, though not for a while, to have a consultation.
She (the hairdresser, lets call her 'Mona') got off on the wrong foot right from the very start by talking to me as though i was A: Hard of hearing, B: Slightly deranged and C: Just plain stupid. However, i had been told that she was their best colourist so just went with it. She then starts flipping my hair up and down and running her hands through it saying...''It's rather thick, isn't it!?'' but saying it in an accusing way, like its going to mean a whole lot extra work for her and how dare i have such thick hair! (Well, I'm so sorry, but will i not be paying over the odds for your services anyway?! Humph.) Then Mona just plops the proverbial cherry on top by holding up the ends of my hair looking at the split ends and SNEERING! Actually scrunching up her face and letting out a huffy sigh! In my head I'm thinking..''You stuck up *****'' but thankfully, by some miracle, this is not one of those times i voice my thoughts out loud (i do tend to do this a lot, and it does get me into trouble on occasions) Instead i go for the tamer and less satisfying...''Well there really isn't any need to pull that kind of face!'' To Mona's credit she did look embarrassed for a nano second before lecturing on the uses of hair straighteners. I love my straighteners, i would have the biggest flickiest hair without them, so there is no way on Gods good earth that i am going to stop using them just because some random snotty woman is telling me too. So, anyway, i sat there for the next 5 minutes being spoken down to but managing to smile sweetly, nod at the right things and be polite by booking a time to have the high lights put in, knowing full well that tomorrow i will be cancelling said appointment as i really don't want that woman anywhere near my hair.

When did it get so hard to find a decent hairdresser? One that listens to what you want and talks to you like a human being and above all, one that you can trust not to botch the job. A friend of mine has recently moved back to our home town after 7 years living 200 odd miles away but couldn't find anyone to cut her hair as well as the guy she'd been going to before, so she travels those 200 odd miles back to have it cut by him.

Hairdresser and hairdressee (<- is that even a word?) is an important relationship and i don't think I'm making too big a deal out of this......well, OK maybe a little but you're trusting someone with what is a big part of your personal style and a part of your personality. You're trusting them to not slip up and give you a bowl cut, a mullet or turn your hair green, etc.

Ive come to the conclusion, that red is the new blond anyway......or maybe i just don't want to fork out a small fortune to sit in a chair for 3+hours and be made to feel like every split end in the world is somehow my fault whilst being offered luke warm tea and plain biscuits..... Home hair dye kit (plus a hot Cuppa tea and a chocolate biscuit) here i come!

Live Long and Prosper

The weekend is over again (boooo) and another working week commences (Yay??). It's been quite a good weekend though. I went to see Star Trek at the local cinema with my dad on Thursday (yes i know it's not technically the weekend, but the movie was so good i had to mention it on here somewhere!) It was FABULOUS, go and see it if you haven't already. Neither my dad or i are fully fledged Trekkie's, we don't don pointy ears and weird hair dos to look like Spock, nor do we know how to talk Klingon......however, i think it is safe to say we are fans as there just maybe a box set containing every season of Enterprise in the family home and my dad and i, for as long as i can remember, have always given each other the Vulcan sign in the form of a Hi-5 when we randomly pass each other in the house! I'm not embarrassed, It's our thing and long may it continue!

Friday was slightly horrendous, in that i had to get into work for 7am so, naturally, Thursday night i couldn't get to sleep. I managed 5 hours and was slightly hyper from lack of Zzzzzz's by the time i was at work. I had managed to do all the Friday chores by 8.20am and even had the washing on the line (Go Me! Woop Woop!!). The kids were dropped off at school, and i went out for breakfast with friends, still buzzing from lack of sleep and the 3 cups of coffee consumed that morning. By the time id got back to work at 11am i was on a speedy come down from the mornings manic productivity and caffeine intake and.......Oh. My. Goodness......I haven't felt that horrible for a long time. Looking back, i think it was a lot to do with the 2 previous days worth of inoculations floating about in me as well as lack of Zzzzzz's. Either way, I spent the next 2 hours curled up on the sofa feeling disgusting. To cut a very looooooong day short, i got off work at 7pm still feeling horrid and went straight to bed still feeling rough. I am not cut out for 12 hour days!

Saturday was good fun, up to a point.... Jo, you are my bestest friend in the whole wide world.....but i am soooooo very pleased/relieved that after 6 HOURS of shopping you finally found such a lovely outfit to wear for the wedding. We knew it was going to be a struggle, what with you being the only shape that designers and clothing outlets do not cater for, but with only a mild case of stroppiness towards the end of the day before Monsoon (god bless its over priced cotton socks) saved us from what could have been a full on tantrum on the shop floor. I think we both deserved a medal (and a sit down with a large glass of wine.)

As for Sunday, well, 'chillaxing' was the name of the game and i was it's over all winner! A few bits of jewellery were made for next Sundays craft fair but other than that it was all about DVDs, Ice creams, and lounging about surrounded by squishy cushions, maaaaaaaaaavelous.

So, that was my weekend. Not overly exciting i grant you. But this is, after all, my blog so i figure I'm aloud to bore you once in a while. Hopefully I'll make it up to you when life gets more exciting out in Thailand. 15 weeks and counting!!!

Cute Babies, Smirking Nurses and Silly Sayings.

I woke up late this morning but still managed to get to work early....I don't know how that happened, but wish it would happen more often just so i could get those 15 minutes more under the duvet and not feel guilty about it.

It was the usual shenanigans of getting the girls ready for school (but minus the eldest as she'd already left early to go on a school trip.) We did everything we usually do for the morning routine, hair brushed, teeth cleaned, bags ready, hair brushed again, but much like my own pre-work morning we somehow managed to have 15 minutes to spare before we had to leave for school. So, like the good nanny that i am, i switched on the tv and we got to watch The Gilmore Girls for a bit before time caught up with us.

With the kids safely at school learning 'stuff', i was off to the doctors again to get my 2nd lot of Hep B jabs. It must have been post natal check up morning there, as ive never seen so many tiny babies in one room. All very small and sweet, but very noisy. How can something so small be able bellow like that?! I found myself making all sorts of faces at the noisier ones trying to make them react or smile, that by the time i was called through to the nurses room i found that my face was aching quite alot.

The nurse was very nice, and super quick;

Nurse: ''Hello, here for your second lot of HepB?''
Me: ''Yes, please.''
Nurse: ''Which arm today?'' (i roll up my sleeve) ''left?....ok.''
AIM AND JAB
Nurse: ''There we go, all done. Make an appointment for 1 months time and I'll see you then.''
Me: ''Thank you. Byesy bye!'' (This is said in slightly over enthusiastic manor and causes the nurse to smirk slightly.)

The time it takes to to read the above is probably the amount of time i was in her office, so when i said she was 'Super Quick', i wasn't kidding.....and just so you know, I have absolutely no idea why i said ''Byesy Bye'' to her! I mean, Who says that now days!? I never say that!!.....well apparently now i do... but believe me when i tell you that it will be the first and last time ''byesy bye'' will ever come out of my mouth as I don't think i could cope with the inner cringe that comes immediately after the realisation that you've just made an idiot of yourself in public.....again.

Chocolate makes everything better.

It's a cloudy, wet day here today, but somehow i seem to be in a chirpy mood! I arrived at work early (not unheard of, but still quite rare) and even had time to finish my cup of tea before I drove the kids (who were also less grumpy today too, thank goodness) to school. Back to work again to check the emails and tidy up a bit and then back in the car to go to the Travel clinic. This morning was the last lot of Rabies and Jap B vaccines! YAAAY!

The nurse at the Travel Clinic called me Catherine again, even though I've filled out 20 forms with my actual name on them, but I'll let her off this time as she did look slightly harassed, and it's got to be a tad boring just jabbing people in the arm with needles all day long. Speaking of which, my poor arm now feels all heavy and achey, so to cheer it up I'm going to buy it some Chocolate, I have a feeling that might work!

Tomorrows fun filled day includes washing, baking and Hep B jabs...though not all at the same time, but that could make it more exciting!

My First Blog / Preperations and stuff

Only 4 months to go until i jet off to Thailand! Or 16 weeks, which sounds a whole heap scarier, so I'll stick to counting down in months for now if that's OK. Well, i suppose i should get you up to speed on what been happening so far. OK, the to do list reads as follows...

• Sort out new photo for passport


• Apply for new passport


• Get vaccinations


• Apply for working Visa

The new passport photo was taken. God bless SnappySnaps for making me look half decent! The passport was applied for and everything was dandy and they sent it back to me within 3 weeks, which was very speedy, so thanks to Mr Passport Office ( as im sure that's his offical title) for being super efficient.

A quick word of advice to those of you thinking or planning to travel...get your vaccination jabs done as soon as possible! i kinda left mine a little too late and am now paying the price by going on accelerated courses of inoculations, which basically means I'm being stuck with a needle pretty much every week and to top it all off I'm paying for the privilege too. My lovely local doctors have given me my boosters already for Typhoid, Diphtheria, Hep A, and a few others i cant remember (they were free! yay) and a 3 month course of Hep B (which was £60, boo) But I'm having to travel a few miles down the road to get the more 'hardcore' vaccines from the Travel clinic, these include Rabies and Japanese B Encephalitis all of which will come to the grand total of £280! I KNOW!!! OUCH...in more ways than one! But this is why I've been saving like crazy, but it just seems so unfair to have to pay for something that, yes OK will save my life but, it really does hurt when Nursey takes aim at my upper arm and stabs me like she's going for the bulls eye on a dart board. Still, it's the last lot of 'hardcore' vaccines tomorrow and then on Thursday it's the 2ND lot of Hep B, then only one more of those next month and then its a blood test to make sure I'm immune and then if I'm not....well, then I'm planning on crawling into a corner to have a bit of a cry. But that's a little way off yet, so fingers crossed it'll all be worth it.

I still have to apply for the working visa, but the very helpful man at the language school in Phuket told me to wait until a month before i leave to send that off, as they are activated the moment they are issued. That is the only thing that I'm nervy about really, i mean...what if they say ''No''?! Again, its a little way off yet so i need to stop worrying.

Apart from saving those beautiful monthly pay cheques to help me with my trip, I'm planning on also subsidising my Thai adventure by selling handmade jewellery at craft fairs with my good friend Clare who also makes gorgeous jewellery. It's my first craft fair this year and I'm soooo excited. I've been slightly obsessed with making stuff and getting the display sorted that I have made my old bedroom at my mum and dads into a total beaded bomb site! (Sorry mum and Dad xxx) But it will all be worth it when we sell our fabulous stuff (and it really is fabulous, no crappy crafting for us, oh no!!) and make a million......well OK, probably not a million but at least breaking even with a little bit of a profit, that would be amazing!! The fair isn't until the 21st of June so Clare and i still have a little bit of time left to get ourselves ready. So if you fancy coming down to see our wonderful stall and many others besides, then come to Shenfield Common (Essex) on Sunday 21st June! Hopefully it will be a bright and sunny day to bring out the crowds. I'm off to make myself a cheese and ham sandwich now...mmmm...foooood, but ill let you know how tomorrows jabs go. C x