If you don't have anything good to say........

The last month has been somewhat of a stress inducing blur. I was beginning to think that the 'big man' has it in for me for some reason as everything that could go wrong has (oops tempting fate there i think!) and the world seems to be falling down around my ears. I seem to spend most of the day in tears or in a foul mood, hence no update as even I was beginning to get pissed off with hearing me moaning.

Don't want to bore everyone with the details but suffice to say that when Pete comes home he will have to seriously take some weight off my rather broad shoulders. Theres been damage, illness, breakdown (both mechanically and emotionally) and those feelings of despair that nothing will ever go right. But i'm determined to draw a line under it all and battle on.....at least til Pete is home. Even the good old RN has managed to completely balls everything up as per usual. Pete was originally away at sea until mid June, now he's coming home early......so that he can go back to sea a few weeks later for another five months. I'm beginning to think my marriage is a figment of my imagination. That's over nine months seperation this year alone ontop of the nine months last year and that doesn't even include the two sometimes three duties he does when they're alongside!

It's also ballsed up holiday plans and for the second year on the trot we've lost a holiday because of date changes.

At least there has been so much going on that i've not had too much time to sit down and let it get to me THAT much. There has been a few fabulous trips organised for the families of the boat this time, even one just for the ladies which will be next Saturday and i can't wait to let off some steam at that one.

The girls have been the usual mix of gorgeous, tiring, loud, loving and downright pain in the arses and i adore them for it. Even at the stage where i'm losing patience with them, they manage to make me feel like there's a reason for all the hassle.

On Valentines Day, to keep our minds off being alone, the ladies of Torbay with a mountain of kids descended on Jump to knacker out said kids and it was great to meet so many new faces and just have a chill and moan about the good old 'silent service'. The kids were bushed when they got back and a good time was had by all. I also received a lovely delivery from interflora which made me smile as i pushed the credit card statement out of my mind!

I'm saving the champers til he gets back though!

The following week we went to the Plymstock Naval Families Centre. It's the first time i've ever been anywhere like that. Ive always shyed away from getting involved in the naval family community as it's always struck me as a bit clicky and although it can be, i made some more new friends and the girls enjoyed a critter demonstration from one of the workers at Sparkwell Zoo, a disco and buffet. Giant snails, hissing cockroaches, millipeeds and giant stick insects....Emily was in her element! Dancing and Music...well that was Natasha sorted and the buffet......well, i think Freya was trying to work through the tables rather than her plate...how that girl is not 100 stone is beyond me! Unfortunately i didn't get any great photos as it was difficult trying to herd the little ones and take loads of photos.

Freya has joined a new drama group as i just could no longer afford Stagecoach, so she's joined a local group who put on performances each xmas and new year. It was her first time this week and she really enjoyed it. She's also in the district schools production of Alice in Wonderland and will aptly play the Mad Hatter although that isn't until sometime in the early summer and she hasn't even got her lines for that yet. She's also had confirmation about her secondary school and is nervously looking forward to it....she probably thinks it's going to be like High School Musical. Dreading how much the uniform is going to cost especially as it's all got the school logo on.

Emilys school had a 'come to school dressed as a book character' on Thursday as part of World Book Day and we managed to get this bargain of a costume in ASDA for £8. I knew that virtually every girl would go as a Disney Princess of some sort so decided she should do something different and go as Little Miss Sunshine. She was so chuffed that she was the only person with that costume on!

I have been busy doing some scrapping this week believe it or not. I'm working on a few projects at the moment for something but thought i could share one of them seeing as i haven't put any work on here for ages. Its a digi for a change, I don't often do digi work but i'm trying to get to grips with some new techniques on there and having fun playing around in PSE. I've found some lovely freebie kits. This one was made using Foxy Lady by Peppermint Creative, I would link it but unfortunately their website is down at the moment.

Been doing a lot of browsing through blogs lately as i lost all my favourites when the hard drive died on this thing before christmas and i've found some great ones that i've not had the pleasure to come across before.

Although i'm not a big card person, I adore these on this blog called LilyBeans Paperie. No idea what the lady is called but some of them are stunning. Another site is a kit site with some gorgeous step by step projects on which is Scrap Magie. Again some lovely stuff on there.

I'm trying to get back into the swing of things again on the scrapping front although I very rarely go on UKS anymore, not since they changed the software......i find the new forum too confusing...doesn't take much does it! I had a little catch up on the Smack Blog though over the past few weeks. I can completely understand why people would be upset if they were smacked on there, especially as some of the comments can get quite personal but I do fully understand the need for the blog. UKS has become more and more like Big Brother where you are always worried about what you can and can't say. It can be a great source of inspiration and a great place to make 'friends' however it can also be very false.

The smackblog on the other hand is NOT a place to make friends LOL! I do find some of the discussions interesting on there and some good info on non UKS sponsors, sponsors to avoid, retreats to avoid etc. It's hard though when you know someone getting smacked especially when you don't feel what's being said is right. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion though and i've seen some very well deserved 'smacks'.

Anyway, i'm off to the land of nod as I have a ridiculously early morning ahead of me as me and the whole tribe are off to Butlins for the day some of the other families from the boat....packed lunches done, camera batteries charged and dvd recorder charged....let's see how long it is before i lose at least one of the four kids!