Toe Tales

Okay, firstly here's a random picture of me, taken last weekend at a 50th Wedding Anniversary party for my ex-inlaws. It never ceases to amaze me just how gorgeous I am with every passing day. *snigger* And yes, I have fiddled with the photo - I used a filter, and I really like how it makes my glasses go pop.

So it's been a while since I blogged. There has been plenty I could have said, but I've been having a 'who gives a toss anyway' phase.

I turned 41 on Monday. It's taken a while, but I'm now finally comfortable being in my 40s. Age is, after all, just a state of mind, and as everyone knows, my state of mind is always a curious thing.

What's been happening since I last blogged? Well ... lots. I'm still waiting for something to happen about getting my job regraded and getting paid more, but I am learning that these things move incredibly slowly. Work has been very busy and it's just a case of getting in and getting on with it on a daily basis, though I feel like I'm getting nowhere fast recently - there are just so many phone calls and bitty things to sort out that actually getting any clinic letters typed is becoming impossible - but still I must persevere.

The plans for our trip to Germany are complete - after a lot of hassle (which I won't go into here, cos it would be like writing a book - let's just say that the British Passport Office seem to be very inefficient and ineffective) we've all finally got our passports sorted. The travel insurance is done, and I just need to sort out our EHIC cards and organise for a letter from my GP so that I can carry my Insulin and needles on the plane with me. Booking car hire is also causing us some stress - it seems all the hire companies are demanding a deposit of £500 - which isn't a problem, but usually we pay the excess waiver fee so that we don't have to pay a deposit - but it doesn't look like we can do that while we're in Germany. It seems we'll just have to bite the bullet and pay it, and hope that nothing happens to prevent us getting it back.

I'm really starting to look forward to our trip now. It will be brilliant to see Colin's Dad and Andrea, and I'm really looking forward to their wedding. I'm hoping that we'll have a chance to do some sightseeing while we're there - we both want to go and have a look at the Zeppelin museum, which fortunately is in the city where Robert and Andrea live, plus we're planning a trip on Lake Constance. The kids are looking forward to our trip too, though Ethan claims to be scared about flying - I'm guessing that once he gets on the plane he'll love it.

Um ... what else has happened? Oh yeah, we had a big weekend do for Dad for his 75th birthday on 21st June - we all descended on Liam's house for a big bbq, and Mum lured Dad there under false pretences - he was really surprised, but loved every minute of his special day. We finished the weekend off with a big lunch at the pub owned by Jamie Oliver's parents in Essex, before we drove back home to Birmingham. It was a good weekend, and despite my reservations I really enjoyed it (I always feel that I have nothing in common with any of my siblings, and I usually find spending time with them to be very stressful).

So, on to today ... I stumbled down the landing this morning towards the bathroom, still half asleep, and caught my little toe on the corner of the wall (our landing is L-shaped). Ouuuuucccccchhhhhhhhiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!! My God, did it hurt! Fast forward to lunchtime, and my toe was starting to go black. Look at it now and it's very swollen, and very black. And it hurts! Wah! I don't think it's broken, as I can still move it, but it is very very bruised. I have been hopping around all day, so I hope it's a bit better tomorrow otherwise my life will be difficult trying to get around at work. Not to mention that I have belly dancing on Tuesday which we do barefoot. Ah well, I guess this proves that I am indeed an accident waiting to happen!

On that note, I'm going before I bore you all to tears. But I promise to return with more scintillating tales of life chez moi!