Irritations

I think I'm officially turning into a Grumpy Old Woman. At the very least I'm well on my way to Tog-dom

I don't normally post about work. Not because anybody there knows I have a blog but because generally, I try to forget about it when I'm not there. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do (web design and development) but there is one particular person in the team that I work with that annoys me so much that I could spend all my time ranting about her which would pretty soon lead to you all going away and reading a less boring and ranting blog.

However as this post is about things that irritate me and she (B) is totally top of my list I can't not mention her. For a start she's thick. Really thick. When I was seven months pregnant and explaining to someone that I hadn't put any weight on which obviously meant that I was losing weight as the baby gained it B said (I kid you not) 'how do you know that, do they weigh you and the baby separately?'

You think that's bad? What about the time when I was talking about twin girls one of whom was white and one of whom was black B asked if they were identical...

And it's not just her stupidity that annoys me she has the attention span of a flea, she's nosey, she's lazy and she has a mental age of about 12. Oh and if anyone picks on her she cries. I absolutely have no time for her but because she behaves like a child (she's 28) people baby her and if I complain to our Manager I'm the one that gets told to modify my behaviour because B is delicate.

Delicate my arse. She's a manipulative cow that irritates all of us but only I bother complaining (the rest are blokes so they just suffer in silence). Thankfully things could be coming to a head as someone else has finally made a complaint so watch this space, I may be cheering soon. Or at the very least ranting again because nothing is done..

Now I've got that off my chest, how about some other things that irritate me. Rudeness for a start. General bad manners, especially in children. Leaving the TV on when you have guests. Not sitting down at a table to eat a meal. Littering. Reality TV. Political Correctness. The amount of stupidity that I see posted on Bulletin Boards and the Web in general. People who moan on and on and on about something yet do nothing positive to change things. My MIL and SIL. People who have children but treat them as a total nuisance. Anthea Turner.

And that's just what immediately springs to mind.

But I was thinking about all this irritation the other day and wondering if it's healthy for me to get so stressed about these things. Don't get me wrong, I don't spend all day, every day in an irritated state but when confronted with certain situations I do get irrationally worked up about them.

Take for example my SIL's impending nuptuals. DH told me that a Civil Wedding Service will definitely be happening between Christmas and New Year (with a full BFGW in June) and that Lia will be dressed up in something flouncy for the occasion. My instant reaction was irritation - I don't want my daughter dressed up in a hideous creation just as a photo opportunity for a start and are they actually going to ask my permission or just go ahead? DH and I then had what is best described as a minor spat and even my mother (who is usually on my side) told me to chill out and let them get on with it as it won't be costing me anything.

So I'm left wondering if I really should just grin and bear it but I know that I'll be glowering for most of the day (which will look great in the pictures I'm sure) because it's wrong as far as I'm concerned.

And while I'm at this justifying lark why does Anthea Turner annoy me so much when I've never met her, am never likely to and certainly don't watch any programme she might have running on TV (BTW how can you be a Perfect Housewife when you've stolen someone else's husband?)

See, irrational.

I'm probably ruining all your illusions about me being such an easy going lovely person now (HA HA) but in my opinion we should stop being namby-pamby about things and start telling the truth. I mean if B was told to buck her ideas up and start behaving like a grown up seven other people would have a better working day, stress levels would go down and I'd have one less irritation to deal with.

See I'd definitely be no good working for the Samaritans, my advice would consist of 'get over it and buck your ideas up'. LOL

But I should also add that I do realise that others are not always as capable of getting on with things as I am, that others have problems that are not easy to solve, that others can have medical conditions that don't help situations they are in and that others are free to make choices that I may see as wrong but they are prepared to live with. I'm not insensitive, in fact I have been told on numeous occasions that I'm a pretty good listener and I will go to the ends of the earth and back for a friend in need.

It's the ones who have so much to be thankful for yet moan and complain and whine that irritate the hell out of me...

Christmas is Coming...

...and I'm ready for it!

Not only have I completed my Christmas shopping I also spent the weekend making Christmas puddings which are distributed to various members of the family. All I have to do now is write my Christmas cards (most of which were bought in the January sales this year) and I'm done!

I know that's probably made several of you out there decide you hate me but in my defense we're off to Greece a few days before Christmas so will be having an early Christmas with my family before we go. Add to that the whole packing issue and you'll understand why I want to try and be organised.

Gift wise it has been relatively simple this year because as of last year I agreed with a lot of my family that we wouldn't exchange presents any more - now they just give something to Lia. It makes way more sense than scrabbling around trying to come up with ideas of things we'd like or things to buy others and Christmas really is Lia's time now, not ours.

My real problem this time of year is DH as his birthday is Boxing Day so I'm constantly being asked what people can get him and he's not the easiest of subjects (what man is?) Still, even he is all sorted now so I can relax a while before the panic of packing. Obviously we're not taking all the gifts with us - thank goodness Lia is still small enough to not understand Christmas and won't be disappointed at leaving all her presents behind (especially the tricycle from Grandma and Grandad).

We finally discovered the source of Lia's 'illness'. Now she'll let us look in her mouth she has four new teeth! Four all at once, no wonder she was under the weather. She's got a cough at the moment but apart from vaguely being disturbed at night she's not showing any real discomfort. I seem to have the same thing but I've pretty much totally lost my voice with it - I feel absolutely fine but I'm croaking like an old crone much to everyone's amusement!

A Newsy Kind of Post

Apologies for the gap in service but Lia's been a bit under the weather. I'm not sure what it is - a tummy bug or teeth but she's had a very upset stomach for the last few days and has been off her food.

Thankfully she's on the mend now and back at nursery (I'm jumping every time the phone rings in case it's them to say she's worse) and I am back to normal at work. I don't mind being at home with her (of course) but if one or both of us is ill the pair of us get very bored and snippy very quickly. She's been a tad pathetic for the last few days, lying around or asking for hugs which is very strange for my independent little thing and never a good sign. Not eating is also a HUGE deal as normally getting her to stop is the difficult part but she did eat a bit last night (hence the return to nursery) and will probably feel better being distracted by all the activity there.

It's nice not to be doing the nappies either...

In other news my quest against laziness is having mixed results. I've not been much better with cleaning but I have done some more stash-reorganisation (filed all my magazine designs, freebies and working copies) and have also made a small 'brag book' of Lia pictures for my Mum's christmas. I just have to make three more of the things for the Greeks - Aunt, Grandmother and Great Grandmother.

I'm also proudly able to claim that I have pretty much finished my Christmas shopping!!! I only have one person left to buy for and I've put a call in to a friend for assistance with that so I don't have to do much except pay her for her efforts and wait for the postman (as long as she agrees to it of course). I'm getting one of my stitchings framed for my Step-Dad so took four more to be done as well so this coming Saturday I should be the proud owner of five framed pieces (the first I've had done professionally) which is another tick in the 'getting round to it' box.

In other news DH heard today that he has finally been released from any and all military obligations in Greece. The back story to it all is that he never did his military service - he'd put it off to study and was due to go back to Greece after he completed his Master's Degree here in 1998. The plan was scuppered because we met on the course and he elected to stay for a bit longer (nine years and counting) so eventually he was court martialled in his absence and it's all been dragging on for years.

The rules about military service in Greece change all the time and the latest is that if you live permanently in another country and have done with seven or more years full employment there you are exempt from the service. It was a bit of a pain proving it (they required every payslip for seven years plus p60s and letters from employers) but it's done now and we don't have to worry about him not being allowed to leave Greece when we go back (previously they could arrest him at the airport and throw him into military prison!)

So that's great, it's a huge worry gone for us and his family. Because it involved the courts his sister has been representing him (she's a lawyer) and of course now she's having a baby that's a bit difficult. Talking of the imminent arrival she's had her mid-way scan, all is fine and it's a boy! That's good for Lia I think as there'll be less comparing along the way and she'll still be the princess of the family.

There's no news on name choices yet but I'm still holding out for Achilles to be included somewhere as that's my FIL's name and DH has been insisting that if we have a boy he'll be named after his Grandfather! I insist that it will be the middle name only, over my dead body will my child be called Achilles (I'd have to give up work and home school for a start. LOL) so if SIL uses the name I'll be totally off the hook. Fingers and toes are all crossed.

So that's us for now I think. I made the brave move to the beta version of the new blogger so if anything goes wrong with my blog it's not my fault...

After a good start...

I haven't been that great at getting over my laziness I'm afraid. Still, I have good hopes for the next couple of weeks as I want to really clean through the house, get rid of some more junk and get all the Christmas gifts sorted and organised.

I have also created a new blog to keep track of my Stitching Stash and my 50 Project Challenge (where I don't buy and stash until completing 50 of my current projects). At the moment it's just a list of my stash and WIPs but I will put in my project list and WIP pictures soon.

So here's the link Challenge Joyus and I'm going to include it in my side bar too.

In other news Lia's been heard saying Mama on more than one occasion so I'm claiming status as second official word...