'That' dress, and a weather forecast

Courtesy of Di - she's the only one who ever has a camera around when you need one!

'That' dress as mentioned in my previous blog entry; and as a result, I've had some rather uplifting comments about parts of my figure too!

Yesterday I had the day off work; I think I'm coming down with a cold or something so needed some TLC (well, I guess that's what happens when you wear skimpy dresses in October). Mrs Kate was having to work which left poor old me having to get my shopping therapy alone - 'one' has to doesn't 'one'?

Ok so not being exactly imaginative I went to the Trafford Centre; and only got sussed a couple of times. Had something to eat in Cafe Rouge.... question: when you order the herb omelete and they ask you 'salad or fries?', why does it still come with both! (I always ask for salad but secretly wish for both).

Then a mooch around the shops looking for a couple of things - new grey pixie boots; and tops - any sort really, but those that will go with the majority of my mini-skirts. Had a guy giving his girlfriend the nudge-nudge, whisper-whisper in my direction... yeah so? (I thought).... but not as nearly as so obvious as some guy in the car-park who turned to his girlfriend to say 'thats a guy that...' just as I was driving past them.... well, I did have the top down on my car and the wind was playing havoc with my hair.... (sigh) you can't win 'em all can you?

Oh and to the weather forecast. Today I had a last opportunity to do a long distance stint on my bicycle before the cold weather sets in. I tried to get as far as the Cat & Fiddle pub (about 25 - 30 miles away - a favorite with bikers) but I got beaten back by the cold and the strong winds; despite loads of support from other cyclists coming down the hill I had to give up with about 2 - 3 miles to go; the pub was in sight but it was just too far and indeed I was starting to get cramp in my legs.... mind you, coming back down the hill to Macclesfield was rather fun; I'm certain I exceeded 40mph in places but the cold had got too the speedometer too, so I don't know what speed I topped out at (my legs couldn't pedal any quicker and overtaking cars stopped passing me).

So what's all that got to do with the long range weather forecast? You might recall my previous post what might happen if ever I exceeded my target of 11 Stone (154 lbs for our colonial cousins); well, as a result of todays trip to Macclesfield and beyond, I weighed in at 152.25 lbs and as a result Mr Devil will very shortly be skating to work; you have been warned, it seems likely hell will be freezing over this Winter.

...And the Universal balance is restored.

Had a brilliant day on friday; went shopping with Mrs Kate to that catherdral of consumerism, the Trafford Centre.

Now all the kids have gone back to school, it's a little more relaxing; I mean, I'll still do the T-Centre during the school holidays when the kids have got nothing better to do but hang around in groups, but you can be more yourself without the hordes of them getting in the way in some of the more girlie shops... actually the worst offenders are the young mums who seem to acquire some sort of affinity with shoes and block any possible entry for the rest of us with a strategically positioned pram or two.

The journey there was even brilliant; it was sunny, not too busy, and some guy even blew us a kiss for letting him out of a side-road into the traffic! We had lunch at a Tapas bar, and then a combination of window shopping and trying on the occassional outfit - one of which we each tried .... but I'm not permitted to speak of what happened as a result of that.... well... not in public anyway; except to say that I now have a new slinky size 12 dress that I can't wait to wear at the next opportunity.

And then finally when it was time to come home, even that journey was relaxed and 'brilliant' ....

....but getting home to find a recorded phone message from your boss telling you that BTW, you're on a course in Birmingham on Monday morning, is not exactly the best way to round the day off nicely.

For every action there's an opposite reaction... and the Universal balance is restored.

Blame it on the Biorhythms

Over the last 12 months or so, I've been plotting my developing 'fitness' - alternatively known as my 'gaining a girly figure' progress.

I've noticed that for a few days each month, there's been some very noticeable progress followed by a fairly level period for the remainder, with regard to losing weight and so on.

In examining this phenomenon closer, I noted that the cycle appears to be as regular as clockwork; every 28 days there's this burst of relative progress. Ok, try as I may but it's not going to be 'that' cycle, but it reminded me of that very 80's thing that the first home computers seemed to all come with, a program to plot your personal Biorhythms.

In examining my 28 day Emotional biorhythm, I found it exactly coincided with these sudden surges in weight and figure measurements.

Now I never really gave biorhythms much factual consideration at the time (they're up there with horoscopes), but apparently there are 2 other cycles to consider too - the 23 day Physical cycle, and the 33 day Intellectual cycle. Combining those together can give rise to other cycle plots for Mastery (Physical + Intellectual), Passion (Physical + Emotional), and Wisdom (Emotional + Intellectual).

If there's any truth in this lot, it looks like I'm in for a few 'blonde' days as Physical and Emotional are relatively high whilst Intellectual is at rock-bottom!

The Devil and Mrs Kate

No, I'm not slighting Mrs Kate in the least, but between her and the that horny Devil, they've been tempting me with all sorts of things to redirect my attentions from attaining a nice girly figure... chocolate, cakes, lunches out; but I think I'm winning..... all but very, very slowly.... I will hit my 11 stone (154 lbs) target before Winter.

I'm not obsessed, I'm just determined... Mr Devil will be skating to work soon (but don't hold your breath!).

Well, it's been a while (again!) since my last post - I note with surprise of how time just flies by; one minute we're enjoying what we could loosly relate to as being Summer, to nights drawing in and a distinct Autumnal feel. It feels as if Autumn is coming earlier; this time last year I started my fitness regime by cycling to work in T-shirts, but this year I'm already wearing a fleece and have been drenched on a number of occassions by heavy rain showers en-route.

Last week I did the usual stress-relief visit to the Village on my own; before I got to my first 'port of call' in Taurus, I was accosted by a gay guy (and his partner) who as it turned out he liked to occassionaly be 'Louise' but he hadn't got the courage to come out in the Village. He was looking for the opportunity of being out with a bunch of us girls to gain some confidence. Now I can't really get my head around this one - unless gay guy being girlie = DQ; do gay guys really 'dress'? - he seemed genuine enough and 'Vicky' his partner subsequently provided supporting testament to this effect that 'he' really, badly needed to get out..... without any prompting.

I'm always cautious about such approaches, since those sort of 'approaches' are usually from admirers or the p-heads... the latter usually being very negative (and I note with dismay that those sort are on the increase in the Village!); but this guy seemed really genuine, and besides... after talking to me they went into Churchills.... not that means much.... but that's where the DQ's can be found on a Wednesday.

After a couple of Drinkies and a portion of chips in Taurus, I thought for a change I would 'do' Churchills.... and I was in time for the DQ trio to do a very good rendition of a few James Bond movie numbers.... they do soooo love to ham it up don't they! Classic DQ stuff. After Churchills it was a little late for Concorde (oh dear..... what shame..... never mind!) so I arrived a little earlier than planned at Naps where I plucked up enough courage to compliment the only girl that was in at the time, a regular who has only just invested in a rather fetching long dark wig to go with her black pvc mini-skirt and top. And I also discovered that myself and this girl have something in common back in what some might refer to as the real world (minor 'eeeek' situation... but confirmed the suspicions I've held for several months).

A little later I was joined by Jane Maybe and friends but rather strangely none of the usual regulars.... only Estelle and eventually Elaine and Mary turned up from Concorde. Unlike the previous week, Naps and the Village as a whole was fairly quiet.

All in all a rather strange but enjoyable evening.... BTW I've got the gay guys mobile number if anyones interested!

The secret (of my success)

It's quite uplifting to hear the gasps from those girls who haven't seen me for a while, whether the gasps are from surprise or jealousy it's all the same to me - but before I get too conceited or big-headed about having obtained such a slim line figure, I must say a big thank you to all you girls out there for such lovely compliments - before and after pictures included here (me in 2008, me in Eden bar last week - picture courtesy of Di).

Spurred on by Claires kind words following our Sparkle Friday outing for Northern Angels I thought I might share my secret with you; Claire was wondering if all I had to eat between the monthly meals was rabbit food?.... well.... the answer is 'no'... but 'yes'... but 'no'.

The secret.... as to put it, is that I've reduced how much I eat and increased the amount of exercise I do.... the latter not being too difficult compared with about 3 years ago when 'exercise' only really consisted of getting off the couch to make a cup of tea. Three years ago I was well and truly in the closet; but it was later in 2007 that changed all that, by coming out to Mrs Kate and eventually 'getting a life' again - being tranny (I really hate that label!) has been the ultimate incentive to losing weight.

So for you girlies out there who want to try my get-your-waistline-back regime out ... firstly, don't expect immediate results, where I am now took me the best part of 12 months.

Food

* A little cereal in the morning - don't bother with the sugar-coated stuff.

* Sugar in Tea and Coffee - as long as you're not doing 2+ teaspoons, shouldn't be a problem!

* Lunch, a bowl of soup and a bread roll - perhaps a cuppa... but this is where it gets tough, you got to stick with this even when it's curry day in the works canteen.

* Evening meal - just have what you normally have but reduce your portion by about half, and try to avoid having any chips!

* Snacks - avoid them or take them at the time of your main meal.

* Never eat after 10pm .... just half joking here, but they say you should never eat late as it never gets properly digested and what does will be absorbed into storage (fat).

Exercise

Just like those government ads, you got to do an hour a day exercise ... and I mean vigorous exercise. In my case I took up cycling to work .... well 'Bob' did, which helps me out no end. Cycling to and from work is just under 30 minutes each way, and for best weight loss results is best done by riding the heaviest bike you can least afford, at the highest speed you can muster. I find cycling with dance music playing on the personal stereo is a big motivator and with all that, I can cover the 7 mile journey in the best time of 22 minutes (had a following wind that day).

Recently I also took up doing a bit of running; it's a 'left over' from all that bit about training for the Manchester 10km run that Diana and I did in May. Each Friday afternoon for the last few weeks, once I've cycled home from work (that's the warmup session) I put on my running shoes and do 10km... on a good day, I can do that in under an hour.

And that's it.... combination of the two and a watchful eye on the calories has got me to where I am today, .... size 12/14 figure (depending which shop we go to) and weight just passing below the last target of 11.5 stone (160.5 lbs) .... which reminds me, I believe I said that a certain gentleman with horns and a pointy fork would be skating to work should I ever reach my desirable weight of 11 stone?; apparently he's having skating lessons at the local ice-rink!

BTDT - Manchester Great Run

Been there, done that! ..... and in a rather surprisingly good time - all things considered.

Both Di and I managed the course which had something of an atmosphere that was quite exhilerating; with people cheering us on and 'running with the herd' along roads normally reserved for rush-hour traffic. There were various bands and music being played around the course, on a day we probably couldn't have asked for better weather.

The day though dry and sunny with patchy cloud, was cold with a very chilly wind. I was glad for the footless tights I chose to wear with my cheerleaders outfit.

At about the 5km mark, my legs decided they wanted a rest so I had to leave Di to carry the t-girl flag onwards. She got to the finish about 3 minutes before me - under the hour; I was on the hour.... which surprised me 'cos I had to stop and a walk a few times and when I'd done that in training, I was getting times in the order of 5-10 minutes after the hour for running 10km.

I have all sorts of excuses as you might expect - one of which was rather personally embarrasing and only revealed itself a few days after the event! So to do the 10km course in the time that I did was actually not far short of amazing!

That was about 2 weeks ago; certain ailments reasonably recovered from and as such, on getting home from work yesterday I decided I just had to go for a run... 10km of course; no ankle pain afterwards and in a time in the order of the hour again ... although I must admit to still having to take a few rests throughout but I felt I had loads more energy than I had on the day of the Manchester Great Run.

A big thank you to everyone who sponsored us! - I personally raised around £300 for the MS Society.

The final countdown

It's just a week to go now to the Manchester 10k run that Di and I have signed up for. We're both supporting the MS Society and so far I've raised over £200 in sponsorship.

But I've been resting up for the last couple of weeks following a rather bizaare heel and ankle strain that I put down to just getting used to a new pair of running shoes - shoes I bought because I thought they would cushion the impact and save my knee ... which has been just fine BTW!

I've spent most of the last two weeks limping around the office following a rather vigourous 10k session that got me a time just under the hour.... limping which attracted an interesting comment from one of the girls who asked if I had fallen off my stilletos... 'course one just had to reply with 'stilletos would probably feel a lot more comfier than these shoes'!

..... which actually isn't far from the truth; strangely I found that I could walk with no discomfort what so ever whilst I was wearing 4 inch heels; put on a pair of flats and the result was agony.

So I'm hoping my heel and ankle will have recovered sufficiently for the big day; I tried the new running shoes again a couple of days ago and ended up with some mild discomfort - and that was running a distance of just over 6km. So it looks like a couple of pain killers and a glass of the good stuff will be order of the day.....!

Spring Fever

Have you noticed how everyone has turned into some crazed lunatic 'cos the sun has come out? - trying to race you at traffic lights, trying to get past you and the next 6 cars ahead of you all stuck behind the same tractor.... and that's just the women drivers (not a sexist comment - trust me; based purely on numerous events witnessed by both Mrs Kate and I).

If they're not on a mission every where, they're simply walking out in front of you whilst inanely chatting on their mobilephones; completely oblivious to the approaching traffic.

Yes girls! it's that time of year for 'Spring Fever'; when all sanity goes out of the window and those affected by unbridled amounts of testosterone and estrogen tend to do things that any sane person would normally think twice about.

Of course I'm immune to all this - or so I thought..... I put mine down to a temporary rush of blood to my head... you see, I've signed up for the Manchester 1ok run in May (well, it was actually to support two of my bestest friends). I think I was feeling quite pleased with myself in having lost all this weight and acquiring a silth-like figure, and of course doing a daily round trip of just short of 15 miles on my bike to work should make it quite a cinch eh?....

.... I couldn't be more wrong.... doing a 10k run? ... and this is someone who last managed to do (more like dodged) any form of structured running sports way back in high school days.

So having signed up with one of the charities, I thought I better dust off my best pair of trainers and see what I really could do by way of a time to complete 10km. So throwing all caution to the wind (staged training - who needs it?) I did do 10km... it took me a little under 70 minutes (no laughing please - and appreciate that my High School days were over 35 years ago!).

I thought it was a cinch... 10k dead easy... BTDT; a bit more training and I should easily get under the hour.... but the next day and for the best part of the last week has been a different story.... I found muscles aching I never knew I had and my knee... well! .... lets just say that a little over a week on and it's only just recovering.


Spring Fever ... pah!

.... but on the managed weight loss, I've just passed below my target of 168lbs - about 3 months later than expected but at least a positive side to 'Spring Fever'.

Should have used Duracell batteries

It's taken the best part of a week to recover from our outing to Leeds and Manchester... well actually a combination of Leeds, Manchester and that weird bug I came down with just into the New Year.

Friday - it must be Leeds
Much has been said by Mrs Kate on her blog, so I won't repeat that except to say we (Diana, Karen, Emma, Mrs Kate and myself) ventured over the hill to Leeds for 'First Friday' - a self-proclaimed 'award winning' event held the first Friday of every month for the girls on the easterly side of the Penines. I guess we might be a bit spoiled with having the Village nearby, but if you don't have a lot else available near you, most events will appear to be 'award winning'. But it was a good atmosphere, packed and very hot - despite the outside chill. A number of girls we recognised, some on first name terms and others we recognise from their occasional visit to Naps.

So after showing our faces there we went to try a few other bars in the area; The Viaduct, where we sampled the delights of a DJ that kept talking over the music and just one drink before crossing over the road to the Queens Court which had a club I think was called 'The Loft'. The Loft was a bit like Naps in that us (T) girls got in for free whilst Mrs Kate had to pay - each of us getting a letter stamp on the back of our hand that would later prove that only the best of makeup removers could shift!

It seems that like most establishments in the 'Pink Triangle', it catered for the Gay community but not so much for T-girls. Most folk were nice and polite but there was a subtle territorial inference, particularly from the lesbian side which it seemed The Loft was as likely their turf. Music was pretty good, drink prices weren't bad and I even got molested in a nice sort of way by a group of young lesbians on the dance floor; their MO was to check whether my falsies were indeed false or not - actually 50-50 or so I confirmed (verbally of course!). The ladies powder room was not upto the same par as the main establishment - mostly down to the number of available cubicles (only 3) of which one of them was being used for the 'how many girls can you get in and have a bust-up' competition. Mrs Kate and I ended up having to share one between us; and on leaving, to check neither of us was doing the Andrex puppy bit with loo paper stuck to the bottom of our shoes.

Saturday - it must be Manchester
Woke up to a grey and rainy Leeds which following breakfast, the unanimous decision was to get back to Manchester to do a bit of shopping - 'cos as likely it would be sunny; and so it was..... something we can often experience with differing weather systems each side of 'The Hill'. So back to Manchester we went, and a bit of shopping around the city centre.

For a change we thought we would check out Aflecks Palace, and without thinking, it was full of Goths and Punks - one of which could have easily been No.1 son since he was also in Manchester for a major Goth event of the year (I guess 'dressing up' must be hereditary!). Alsorts of outfits can be found in there - nothing that wouldn't look out of place in Naps though!

The evening started off with a meal in Velvet, followed by a tour of Spirit before moving onto Naps. But I don't recall an awful lot of the evening after Velvet as I became tired about halfway through the meal, to point of being grumpy. I think it was a combination of the past evenings events in Leeds, and coming down with a cold or something - indeed when we got back to our accommodation for the night and removed all the concealing makeup, underneath my face was a bit flushed to say the least. I don't know what time it was when we gave our excuses and left Naps, but it was certainly earlier than usual.

Sunday - recharge the (solar) batteries
Woke up Sunday morning to a bright cloudless day; it looked warm and inviting and outside our hotel room window we could see one or two people out and about, some waiting for buses and going places. Feeling a bit delicate from the major power drain the night before, we checked out our hotel and put our bags in the car before going on to find breakfast. It was as we were going through the lobby that we experienced our negative situation, similar events that the others had experienced in various ways over the last couple of days. The hotel lobby was busy, mostly young male guests just hanging around; one in a group of which decided to have a go by directing 'Oy John' at me to gain my attention. As a one does, I just ignored him - until we were outside when I gave him a hard stare through my sun glasses and a few lipped choice words.

That behind us, we went to get breakfast - Witherspoons was Ok for the simple bacon butty and a coffee; followed by a mooch around the Arndale and the shops before sitting in the sun in St. Annes square. And it was warm in the sun, but in the shade - that wind just went right through you. So we ambled back to Taurus, met up with Diana and Karen, had afternoon tea and cake ; and then headed off home for a hot bath and a snooze.

Epilogue
Leeds was Ok, cobbled streets were hard work for the heels (thank you flatties!), Travelodge was warm and comfortable. Di was foxy in her leopard print figure hugging dress, Karen was elegant in her newly acquired red dress. First-Friday was Ok but too crowded and too hot, the lesbians in The Loft were a scream and I had fun dancing with my flatties which have made friends with me since I promised not to subject them to the shoe stretcher again. Saturday; I think was going downhill from mid-evening onwards and struggled to keep up with the conversation all-round (and felt I missed out on something as a result). Ibis hotel was cold and some of the clientele disrespectful - won't be staying there again if I/we can avoid it. Thanks go to Emma for being chauffeur and ferrying us to Leeds and back; sorry I was tired and grumpy on Saturday night!

Confessions of a party animal

You know when you're a party animal when the real die-hard party girls want to exchange mobile phone numbers with you just in case there's an opportunity for when you're next out (any excuse for a party eh?).

I think I've pretty much been out to the Village every Wednesday and Saturday since the snow melted (roughly speaking, since just about the end of January). Although I must confess to only one occasion I had no excuse except that I just needed to be out; the others had varied in range from needing to book the Angels meals to supporting best friends (Ok - rather tenuous excuses for some!). Only on two occasions I have to confess to being alone for the evening - well.... I mean not planning to meet up with any of my friends and literally just enjoying my own company. On one such occasion I bumped into Jane who seemed a little surprised to see me out alone - or rather dancing about at Naps on my own.

Naps eh? - where would we be without it?.... and on that particular night that Jane was out was a quiet night in Naps; I even had to encourage the only four other girls to have a dance by being the first to break the ice and get on the dance floor. It was one of those nights where there were more admirers than girls; in the past and probably still on occasions, I might feel uncomfortable with them, but this was the particular night I just had to be out and was determined in having a dance. I was dressed reasonably casual - black skinny jeans and my recently acquired 'Rock Star' t-shirt; a regular rock-chick look!

Unlike last Saturday when I just had to do 'tart' - animal and snake print leggings, black top with silver sparkly bits and fur coat. I tempered this look by only wearing my shoe-boots rather than 6 inch heels (I'll save that look for when we go to 'do' Leeds!). And rather unsurprisingly (so some might say) it attracted some unwelcome attention from at least one guy in Naps; I wasn't sure if he was Polish or just p****d, probably was very likely both. As he was giving his unwelcome 'attentions' to a number of girls, big-glass-collector-dude had to persuade him to leave.

Towards the end of last week Mrs Kate found her mojo again, she probably lost it in the first place as a result of watching too much day-time telly whilst being in the depths of Winter (day-time telly will rot your brain!). As a result of this she tempted me with yet another excuse to be out - one of our late decisions that we sometimes have, made shortly after supper on a Saturday evening and we're in the Village by 11pm (well... it takes time for a girl to get ready doesn't it!).

We used think this was a bit strange, going out at a time when most sensible folk were coming back home. Not peculiar-strange, but being a bit from the 'being naughty' aspect. But it slowly creeps up on you to accept this as being normal.... well.... normal except from an aspect that by the time you arrive in the Village, most of the other party animals are already well into the party spirit or being taken home in one of those taxis with blue flashing lights. Mrs Kate put the latter circumstance to it being a full moon last night and this was supported by big-glass-collector-dude having to literally pickup and carry some of the more argumentative sort to eject them from Naps.

So yes... we got out again, last night... and bumped into one of the die-hard party girls we know and love (well... you just have to love them don't you?!) and as she was asking for our mobile number might mean I indeed need to reset the threshold of what's normal (again!)

Then again.... anyone want to dance?

From one Avatar to another

What a brilliant film! - well actually, Mrs Kate and I went to the T-Centre for a spot of lunch and a little shopping.

It was whilst we were taking a break from window shopping this Springs collections when Mrs Kate mused that we should perhaps go and see the current box office sensation.

.... and in doing that, achieve another 'first'.

We managed to catch the late afternoon showing which had no more than a dozen others in the cinema. Late afternoon is 'tween' time at the T-Centre, people have either gone home, or haven't yet arrived for the evening. So there we were with shopping bags around us, watching this ab-fab movie with the best seats in the house .... and whats this yarn all about?... I'm not going to spoil it for you! - go and see it for yourself!

New Avatar

I thought it was time I ought to update my Yahoo avatar since I no longer resemble the 'plus-size' figure I had in place upto now. Come to think of it, that little postage stamp picture of me on my blog profile could do with a bit of updating too... I can't believe I was that overweight; and I daren't look at any pics I have of myself from 2 or 3 years ago. At the time of posting my profile picture I considered myself as being 'thin' in comparison to those.

With being a little off colour (and the amount of snow!) over the last few weeks, I haven't been able to get the bike out as much. As a result, the weight loss plan has gone a bit off the boil. I haven't reached the 12 stone mark, but I'm at least thankful that it remains a little around 4lbs above this target; but I did have scary moment earlier in the week when a whole extra inch appeared on my waistline!!!! .... biking to work and back through this week has sorted that out!

I've not been out since New Year and I'm starting to get really fed-up; my finger, symptomatic of something much bigger is just starting to improve. It no longer feels numb and today, it started hurting ... just for the novelty of it all! (the Doc said it was a trapped nerve... yeah right!, in my wrist, my elbow, my arm, and my shoulder too.... but what does he know?!).

Trying to put a brave face on things, but with my employers actually progressing to remove 30% of the staff from the directorate by April is not exactly moral-boosting even if you are 'all right Jill' ... all-right that is for at least the time being..... but I suppose it could be worse, I could be 'normal'.

PATT and Sunlight

Managed to find on Amazon the dance mix that Mrs Kate has recently taken a liking to; the full 10+ minute version as provided in Naps! I've 'pressed' it onto a CD and presented it to her along with the strictest of instructions to only play in extreme emergencies. With Groundhog day persisting and more snow forecast for tonight, she's gonna need it!.

I've taken bit of shine to this dance track which is available in as you might imagine, a variety of different mixes; this version with the video is actually the 'album version' from DJ Sammys 'Heaven' album - if you follow the link on Youtube to buy it from iTunes, you'll end up with the slightly longer and much more dance-worthy 'Euphoric' version from the 'Breakdown 2009' compilation.... hmmm..... I bought all 3 versions from Amazon; each has it's merits but all remind me of Summer and warmer times to come.

Narnia

Narnia has come to our little part of the world; this picture I actually took just before Christmas, the difference between then and now is that fresh snow fell yesterday taking it to around 7 - 8 inches deep. For some of you out there you might think this is relatively little compared to where you might be, but we measure weather as a comparison like this: if it's bad here, it is really really bad else where around us. This is because our little part of the world has a micro-climate, being in the Mersey basin we rarely get snow to this extent, it usually falls as rain.

It also means not many folk have gone to work for the last couple of days and yesterday, they shut the Trafford Centre at 4pm - not that we could get there anyway....

On the other hand, I can watch it all from the warmth and comfort of my boudoir, but mostly because I have a really stinking cold which bizarrely has made my right index finger go numb and tingly (or was that due to the ice in my drink during New Years celebrations?!). I hate being ill, it makes me really grumpy... especially if it stops me going out to play!

Merry catch-up!

Negative bit off my chest first: Recently, I've kind of been putting off any posting to the internet owing to one or two who have really p****d me off over the Angels xmas meal - not from anyone who came and joined what turned out to be a really lovely occasion with special friends, but those that seek to satisfy their own agenda by criticising the organisation of it; it was held on a Wednesday rather than a Saturday for a number of reasons - mostly to satisfy a number of 'Others' and to be a break from the common, same old, re-occurring theme. People were given adequate notice of the arrangements, if they wanted to come - or not as was the case, that's their choice. Please note that no further comment will be made on this subject! - end of whinge!.

Now to the best bit: This Christmas, I think Santa was much more comfortable with me in that for the first time, he brought me some girlie things - my favourite being some nice PJ's and a camera/camcorder that will fit in my handbag.

Betwixt Christmas and New Year (and before the snow arrived - again!) Mrs Kate and I did a bit of browsing the sales around the local 'mall'. Of all the frequented establishments, it seems that Peacocks are offering the best of deals with 50% off most items. And since Peacocks is not seen as being as trendy as some of the other establishments, they have quite a number of really nice items left on the shelves; in particular a nice pair of red ankle boots which should keep the Imelda syndrome down for a bit .... tho' come to think of it, I could do with a decent pair of flat ankle boots! (you just can't find a decent pair can you!). And another pair of PJ's - pink satin. Watchout for the silver mini-skirt which I'll be modelling at one of our more frequented mad-dancing-establishments in the not too distant future.

We're now looking forward to an opportunity to get to that local Palace dedicated to to all things in girlie shopping - the Trafford Centre, unfortunately the weather conditions have put pay that for the time being... see my next post!

As for getting out and about - see Mrs Kates posts .... I can't possibly improve on that 'cept to say thanks go to her for letting me out on New Years to be our 'Ambassador'!

A belated all-the-best, wealth, health and happiness to all my friends and readers alike!
xxx