Reflexology

I have just returned from my first session of reflexology. All I can say is WOW - it is amazing. What she was able to tell about me from my feet seriously freaked. me. out.

So what did she say?

• I have crystals in my fallopian tubes - this is a build up of toxins in a specific area
• I have a lot of toxins in my system that get trapped, particularly in my shoulders which are "crunchy" - what really amazed me is that is totally right. If I roll my shoulders you can hear them crunching! But coming out of there my shoulders felt much better than normal (not perfect but definitely improved)
• My head senses are overstimulated ie sight, speech and hearing. I need to chill out by sitting in a dark room. I need to read less (which is killing me because I love to read to relax, but apparently that doesn't do it for me).
• My stress levels are high (they probably are, but I don't consider myself to be stressed)
• I operate at 110 miles per hour and run on adrenalin. There is a lot of adrenalin in my system and to help combat it, I need to eat small snacks throughout the day - at least every 3 hours.
• I have a male boss - I mean HOW DO THEY KNOW THAT???

It was fascinating. So I am going to have regular treatment for the next few weeks to work on these toxin build ups to see if it makes a difference.

30 Things to do before I am 30

It was my birthday last week and I am now in my last year of my twenties! Eek! How did that happen?

To celebrate/commiserate the passing of my twenties, I thought it was time I started putting into action some of those life long ambitions. You never know what life has in store for you and without some goals, there are many dreams or ambitions that must go unfulfilled. So. I have decided to put together a list of 30 things to do before I am 30.

The list goes something like this (in no particular order)

1. Do a parachute jump
2. Go zorbing
3. Go rock climbing outdoors
4. Get a promotion at work
5. learn to sail
6. watch an asteroid shower (need to check if one is due!)
7. go to a festival
8. volunteer
9. climb the three peaks (not necessarily all on the same day!)
10. enter a 10k race
11. lose 1.5 stone
12. join a netball team
13. learn yoga
14. audition for the x-factor/talent based TV show (not because I think I would have ANY hope of winning but because it would be funny)
15. improve my French
16. go to a concert in the park
17. Visit the natural history museum (I don't think I have ever been!)
18. Have tea at the Ritz
19. Milk a cow
20. See Stonehenge
21. Take a photo that is good enough to be enlarged on canvas and hung in the front room
22. Read (and finish) "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" (I started it once but only got to habit 4 - I hate to think what that says about me!)
23. Do more walking (the hill type - not just down to the shops)
24. Read the entire works of [author] TBC
25. Watch the Tigers for a full season
26. Spend a full day at the spa
27. see a Shakespeare play by the RSC

and some more personal ones not for public consumption!

Wish me luck - I'll be sure to post photos of me doing all of this crazy stuff - item 1 is already sorted for 9th August! Aargh!

Hmm, it's a while since I have posted anything! whoops.

So what's new in the Taylor household? Firstly, Chris and I just came home from a week's trip to the Red Sea in Egypt. We booked to go on the trip over a year ago originally but had to pull out when Chris's work said he was needed in the UK for a key project date and then subsequently pulled him off the project after we had sold our spaces. Then two weeks before the trip managed to get back on it. It was a dive holiday on a live-aboard boat, Whirlwind. Chris loved being able to dive the wrecks and reefs of the Northern Red Sea, but meanwhile I was bored to tears!

I didn't dive (having suffered a huge nosebleed when I first jumped in the water to then have my mask starting to fill with blood). I took the hint from the big man upstairs to quit diving. I know that sounds slightly melodramatic, but every time I go diving something happens, so I was quitting whilst I was ahead.

The thing I missed most about this holiday was spending quality time with Chris. We are so busy week to week that holidays for us provide a real chance for us to reconnect and catch up. That's tricky to do when you have another 20 people with you in a confined space and all of Chris's time was taken up diving or dive planning.

As for what else is new, Chris and I are under a fertility consultant at the hospital at the moment. I had a laparoscopy at the end of April to see what was going on but the findings were normal. The consultant has asked me to re-do some blood tests which had some unusual results (why they didnt think that should be done before they start cutting me open is beyond me). I have also had to pay £76 to get a blood test done privately to see what my egg reserve is like (which will show if premature menopause is likely to be an issue for me - it runs in my family). Chris doesn't escape however and is also going to have to repeat his tests. The consultant has a few suggestions on where we go next, but I think we will wait to see what the next lot of tests reveal before we make any decisions.

I recently went to see Wicked in the West End with some friends. It was a good day out and a fabulous show. I had goose bumps during "Defying Gravity". Rachel Tucker as Elphaba was brilliant. Lee Mead as Fiyero was also really good. It goes to show that reality TV can showcase British talent.

Chris and I are now season ticket holders for the Leicester Tigers. I think it will be good for us to do something different and get out of the house and spend some time together.

Catch up

Chris and I had a busy christmas - up and down the motorway for most of the time, so my week off soon passed and felt like little more than a weekend.

The week before Christmas I had realised I had achieved nothing!!! See post below regarding home made gifts!!! So, I took the Wednesday before christmas off work and baked and baked and baked some more. I made hampers for the Taylor side of the family - jars of home baked cookies, cakes, hot chocolate jars, belgian chocolates, a charity cookbook and a bottle of Schloer.

We arrived at my parents on christmas eve, straight from work and opened our presents in the morning. My brother Keith bought my mum and iPod pre-loaded with all her CDs and a docking station. My mum proudly told people at work she had been given a "doctors station"! She has figured out how to use it but heaven help her when she wants a new CD putting on it - or even better a download!

We had a fun New Years Eve with Catherine and Ben - a quiet affair, but fun, food and SingStar. We went for a walk on New Years day and Ben did a great job at teaching Chris and I how to frisbee - (Ben played for England Ultimate Frisbee at university and is an enthusiastic teacher).

So what does 2010 hold for the Taylor household? A lot of work, hopefully some nice holidays, a small short trip to the hospital for me (sssh, I'm in denial) and hopefully getting a bit fitter and healthier.

I wait with baited breath for the general election this year. Not only to see who will win (though I am confident that the Conservatives will be elected) but also to see the economic policies that follow the new government. The newspapers slant on the economic climate is positive at the moment, but what they fail to explain in their articles is that many businesses have stayed afloat during the recession as a result of HM Revenue and Customs being more lenient on corporate taxes (PAYE and VAT especially) by allowing businesses "time to pay". However, many businesses are already starting to default on these arrangements and they cannot continue indefinitely. The general feeling in the world of insolvency is that a new government will have to take some action on this, which will result in more business failures and unemployment in quarter 3 and 4 of 2010. So - unless the next government is prepared to wipe these debts out the tax man is going to have to be a bit sterner with tax defaulters. Keep saving and watch your spending to ensure you don't get caught out this year by the media hype.

This year I also want to:

• get out more with my camera
• go skiing
• be more active - rock climbing/skiing/walking/gym
• progress my career
• have regular date nights with my husband - it's going to be a busy year for both of us, so it is important that we spend quality time together

Passing Ships

Chris and I have been like passing ships this week.

Our week has gone something like this:

Chris Laura

Saturday helping my mum and dad out at their new place in Crewe
Sunday NEC Dive show Work for 5 hours
Monday College - home 10.30 Catching up with a friend - home 10.00
Tuesday Dive club - home 12.00 Work - home 10.00
Wednesday Committee mtg - home 11.20 Work - home 11.00
Thursday Scotland away overnight Work - home 9.00

So tomorrow night is supposed to be date night so we can catch up as Chris is working on Saturday and diving on Sunday. Hopefully Chris will get back early enough.

I have been working in two transactions both of which seemed to fall apart atleast once today!

Deal 1 - The deal collapsed after a week and a half of working hard on it (including my 5 hour stint on Sunday).

Deal 2 - The deal collapsed because some crazy Israeli's refuse to take english legal advice and so don't understand the contract. I have discovered that you cannot negotiate with the ignorant because they are unable to see where you come from. I was then pretty much bad-mouthed by a corporate financier who lied by saying (a) I hadn't returned his messages (which he must have imagined leaving me because no messages were received) and (b) that I was being "uncommercial" by refusing to allow my client to be left open to an unacceptable degree of risk. Grr. I hate that when people are doing a poor job they see fit to blame some other innocent party. Luckily the client on this job knows me well and will not have believed the contents of this email!

Anyway, who wants to read about my boring work!

The other interesting thing from my day/week is toilet related which is a bit bizarre! Let me start by explaining that my offices are on the 2nd floor of a building. The ladies toilets are often left in, shall we say, an unacceptable state by some so called "ladies". To the extent that there are signs on the back of the doors which state "These toilets are communal facilities and as such, please consider other users by checking you have left the toilet in an acceptable state before leaving. A moment's check can save embarassment." People obviously totally ignore this wise advice! So. For the last year or so, I keep spotting a very well groomed leggy blonde dashing from the toilets to the door to the stairwell. She does not work for my firm and through a network of spies we worked out that she was from the ground floor. Why would someone come up 4 flights of stairs to use a toilet? Exactly. We figured out she was coming because she did not want to be embarassed by her bowel movements in front of her colleagues (but was apparently happy for us on the 2nd floor to be more than familiar with her movements!). So today I saw her whilst brushing my brace at the sinks, so decided to challenge her. I started by playing dumb "Sorry, I don't think I know you. Do you work on this floor?" "No." she sates, looking a bit embarassed and desperate to wash her hands as quickly as possible. "How come you are using these toilets then?" I ask. "I would use the 4th floor but its a bit far" she responds (as if that now makes perfect sense!). "Are your toilets broken?" I ask. "No, but they are always dirty so I prefer to use these ones and I use it to get some exercise." She quickly rushes out the door. Is it just me or is this lady a bit weird? She was clearly embarassed to be challenged but why should we have to put up with her toilet habits???

How many weeks to Christmas?

So, Christmas it seems is just around the corner...the nights are getting darker and the weather is turning colder (not like it has been warm this summer, but September has been milder than usual). I have been thinking today about what to do for Christmas presents this year. There are two key factors to consider (1) cost (we are at an all time low on cash flow this year) and (2) the fact that each year, we buy presents that no one really needs or wants in a desperate attempt to ensure that everyone has a gift. So, I have decided that this year is going to be a DIY christmas gift year. I am going to try to make as many gifts as possible.



With the help of google and a willing husband to assist, I have some great ideas for cute christmas gifts:



*hot chocolate mix in a jar

*bath salts

*cupcake in a jar (this is what I am most excited about!!!)

*personalised photo-frames

*biscuits

*cakes

*personalised notebooks

*christmas decorations using vinyl



With a cupboard full of craft supplies, its about time I put them to some use!



I have found an amazing craft blog with loads and loads of ideas and inspiration for home-made crafts and gifts:

http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/

Wish me luck!

Change in the Taylor household

Chris and I were on holiday last week and there was a big change in our house.

As some of you may know, Bailey, our chocolate labrador has been almost like a child for us. We love him dearly and whilst being a bit on the stupid side, we loved his daftness. When we first got Bailey, Chris was working steady 9 to 5 hours and I was soon to be working part-time. We could also take Bailey to work with us. But since we first got him 5 years ago, jobs have changed and hours have changed. Chris has mainly worked from home but is now office based in Warwick, whilst I am generally working 9-7.30ish or longer. So....we took the brave decision to re-home Bailey. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my 28 years of life so far. But, it was not fair to have the dog in the house on his own for 12-13 hours a day. We were troubled by the decision we were making, but having spent Monday and Tuesday at home with Bailey, we saw what a difference having company full time makes to him. He was so happy to be part of the pack all day. So on Wednesday morning we packed up all of Bailey's worldly possession (and there were a LOT of them), I wrote an 8 page guide book to tell his new family everything they could ever wish to know about Bailey and off we set in the car, to Huddersfield.

Rehoming Bailey is something we have discussed on and off for the last year or so, but have never found a family we were happy with or really made too much of an effort to find a new family for him. Having mentioned it to a few people, Victoria, Chris' cousin had a few suggestions and the second family she put forward to have him sounded perfect.

As soon as he got out the car, his new mum, Jennifer showered him with kisses and cuddles and I immediately knew we had found the right home for him. Jennifer and Matthew live in a large house facing onto fields outside Huddersfield. With an acre of garden to run around in, two children and 11 chickens to chase, we are confident Bailey will have a great time with them.

As happy as he will be there, we will miss him and he will always be our dog. Needless to say, as soon as we pulled out of their drive, Chris and I were both in tears.

Part of my guidebook to Bailey talked about how he interacts with children - he loves them! He especially loves sniffing dirty nappies. On Thursday morning we received a message from Matthew and Jennifer to let us know that Bailey was settling in well. He was thoroughly exhausting having played with the children ALL day. They were also amused to have found Bailey rolling the youngest child (who is 18 months old) over to sniff his dirty nappy (we did warn them!).

Having dried our tears, on Friday, we set off for a weekend in Scotland. The traffic was terrible and the journey to Edinburgh took us about 6 1/2 hours. For once I did not sleep (I am renowned for sleeping on any journey of over 30 minutes - but hey, what a great opportunity for a nap?). We stayed Friday night with my mum's older sister, Helen. She cooked us dinner and I showed her my family history. Helen has an interest in family history but hasn't done much herself. I shared what I had found with her so far and she was able to add a few names she had found to my pedigree charts, which was an unexpected bonus. We also looked through old family photos trying to match them to the names we had and it was great to look for the family features in the photos we had and for me to hear some of the stories Helen remembers from our family history. My mum and Helen are only 9 months apart in age so it was surprising that they remember different stories.

On Saturday morning, having been fed with a fry up, we drove around the corner to my Nanna's to visit her and my grandad. Grandad has alzheimers and I last saw him two years ago. In the last two years, his condition has worsened and he didn't know who I was but seemed happy enough to sit and listen. He was smiling away and when my Nanna asked him if he knew who I was he simply said "I don't think so" but carried on smiling and was happy enough for me to give him a kiss goodbye.

We drove to Eyemouth where Chris was diving. I spent the afternoon with my gran and the weather was absolutley G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. Eyemouth I am convinced is the coldest place in the UK. There is a constant northerly wind blowing off the North Sea and stand still long enough and you will freeze to the bone. But Saturday was an exception. So I walked down to the High Street with my Gran, watched out for traffic for her whilst she sat on her mobility scooter, watched her narrowly avoid going head first into a bush, run over small children and cause a traffice accident. Did you know you don't need a licence to drive one of those things and they could be lethal!! She's quite a whizz on it though, so watch out Eyemouth residents!

We watched the seals in the harbour and enjoyed a handmade icecream cone in the sun. It was great. I coaxed some family history from her too, but its tricky for her to remember even half the names - not because she is old but because her dad was the youngest of 16 and her mother one of 13 - goodness me, that is a large family! I also discovered that my great grandad was 7 foot 2 inches tall and his wife was only 4 foot 8. What a funny couple they must have made.