OMG. Been building up for over a week and now I feel it has reached it’s peak, or at least, I hope it has… because then tomorrow I will hopefully even just feel a tad better…

Started with the sniffles, progressed to a headache. Next day the sniffles, headache and sore throat. Day after, nasal congestion, a headache, a sore throat and inability to speak clearly. Day after, feeling better, but now just a persistent cough - no pain involved - was tolerable. Day after this, sore throat, persistent cough which made my chest hurt everytime I coughed, also the sniffles and a headache. This morning a persistent cough, everytime I cough my muscles hurt just below my ribs, a sore throat that feels swollen, can hardly talk, the sniffles, aches & pains - stiff neck, painful ears and I just feel dead.

I want to go to bed, but I’ve just been in bed! I am REALLY hoping to feel better by tomorrow. I’ve been taking Lemsip with little effect and some cough mixture which hasn’t helped at all.

All I need now is the sickness & diarrhea and I’d be complete!

Happy New Year! *sniffs*

Typical, whenever I’m eating, someone, somewhere, just has to be sick in my view. It has totally put me off my hot dogs. I don’t think I’m meant to eat sausages anymore. I remember the last time I had hot dogs, I ran upstairs to be violently sick. Today I was a little wary of eating them (I hate being sick), but I did and I was enjoying them until some inconsiderate person decided to be sick on TV. Nice. Needless to say it bought back a few memories and I left the hot dogs on the table.

Speaking of sick, I haven’t been that well today. I have been coughing so much it did make me physically ill this morning. Gosh. I want this cough to go so badly. Last night I thought I was never going to sleep because I was coughing so much, ended up sitting by the side of the bed for about an hour, then tried to sleep again. Had a lay-in this morning, though. Spent the afternoon trying to jazz up my blog. I have a few ideas for pages, and ideas for widgets. I’ve already changed the layout and I’m liking this one a lot.

Erm, well I’ll head off now and… well, I don’t know. Sit here browsing the net, I guess! I had planned to do a lot of housework this weekend, but I have felt so rubbish I just haven’t felt like it. I haven’t even changed out of my PJs today, have no intentions to either!

I bought Leona Lewis’ album about a week ago, “Spirit” and I haven’t been disappointed. Wow, did I just say that? I actually enjoy listening to it! Hang on now, I think I need to sit down. Wait, I am sitting down. This has made me disorientated! Normally I see an album of this genre in the shops and walk right past it and go to find the nu-metal/rock sections as I really am not into R’n'B or any of this type of music, but her voice is stunning. It’s so perfect and I am glad her talent was found as she has so much potential. If you haven’t done so already, check her out. Here’s links to her most popular songs.

A Moment Like This - Her first single that was released when she won The X Factor
Bleeding Love - Her most recent single
(both of which are on her ‘Spirit’ album)

As a sidenote, I can’t believe Leon Jackson is at Number 1 spot with his first single, “When You Believe“. Well, I guess it was inevitable he’d get the number 1 spot as he won the X Factor, obviously he is liked, but certainly NOT by me. I just don’t understand why people love his voice so much. I would much rather have prefered Rhydian to win, and no that’s not a Welsh biased opinion.

One of the blogs I read somewhat religiously on the Net has to be the Paramedic’s Diary. It gives a great insight to the work paramedics do, the highs, the lows and the downright stupid call-outs they need to attend. I read the blog and go through a mixture of emotions, sometimes it makes me smile, other times confused and some post entries also has a tendency to make me feel angry, especially the time-wasters who help throw away the UKs money and put other lives at risk because of their hoax calls, or ambulances being called out for no suitable reason, such as a simple case of the flu etc. Paramedics have my utmost respect because although it’s a rewarding job, it must be very hard at times because the public are not always willing to work with you.

No escaping from the tragedies, even at Christmas:

A LITTLE girl was killed when she rode her quad bike Christmas present into a head-on collision with a Range Rover.

Elizabeth Cooke, seven, was following her father Gary’s car when the Boxing Day tragedy unfolded on a quiet country road.

Elizabeth was taken home after the accident before an ambulance rushed her to Broomfield Hospital in nearby Chelmsford, but was later pronounced dead. No one else was injured.

Last night officers were still investigating the crash which happened less than a mile from the family’s home, Bluebell Farm, on an unlit 60mph lane after dark. A spokesman for the Essex force said it was illegal for a person under the age of 16 to ride a quad bike on a public road.

Read more here: Daily Express

The bike the 7 year old was using is capable of reaching 40mph. Also, most updated news is that the driver of the Range Rover tested negative for drink/drugs and the childs parents are facing criminal charges - good. Ridiculous that they’d allow their kid to ride one of them things, she was only seven years old for crying out loud. I understand they, like any other parent, would want to get their kids expensive, fun gifts but there’s a line to it, and this was over the line. Nevertheless, this story made me feel really sad, for all people involved. RIP Elizabeth, such a shame her life was cut so short at the most magical time of the year.

Ended up going to work yesterday and almost ended my shift early as I felt so crap. The senior said I looked pale and if I wanted to go home I was welcome to but decided to stick to the end of the shift, although, I don’t know why, considering the shift was a huge bore. Yes, another buffet for Boxing Day. Gee, am I glad this whole Christmas thing is over and done with. Back to normality! I think there’s some sort of buffet for New Years but thankfully I am working mornings and will miss it.

Work today was pretty stressful. It was my first morning shift where I was on my own, a “fully trained” assistant. I’ve done a few afternoon shifts but mornings carry more weight because you have more to do. The worst thing about morning shifts has to be serving lunch. OMG. I’m sure each time I do a morning shift, each lunchtime I am serving, I grow a new grey hair. It’s absolute chaos. We did a few extra baths too considering there weren’t any on Christmas Eve/Day and there’s no baths on New Years, either. I just remembered at New Years there’s a 3 course meal. Oh dear. Hell on wheels!!

I was going to update last night but when I got home from work I felt so ill I didn’t feel like it. Work was a little boring last night; seeing as it was Christmas day there was a buffet from 5:30pm onwards and the bar was open until 10pm, so we spent 5 hours in the same room and it was pretty quiet as many people went out with relatives etc

I developed a headache at work and when I finished my shift I drove home and felt myself feeling gradually worse. Went to bed at 11pm and woke up numerous times during the night. My mum got me a bath robe which is so warm, I put it on at 3am and slept in it hehe was nice and cosy. This morning, though, my throat is killing me, I keep coughing and I have a blocked nose so I’m dreading work as I can hardly talk hehe

Anyway, I’ll end here. Bye all!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Here’s hoping you have a fantastic day!

Well, Christmas day doesn’t feel like Christmas day for me. Woke up this morning and just didn’t feel like getting out of bed at all, but I dragged myself out, came downstairs and opened presents with my dad. I got some nice gifts, a sat nav, sweets, chocolates, some money, clothes and a few watches (not all from dad - clothes and money from my mum and her family). We have had Christmas dinner (with chicken - not turkey, dad doesn’t like turkey and I’m not fussed). Not in a Christmas mood today, haven’t been in a Christmas mood at all really this year! Got work this afternoon - starting at 4:15pm instead of 3:15pm. I think there’s a buffet tonight, too. Well I’ll end this here. I’ll type up an entry tonight.

Sorry, yet another entry about Christmas, just can’t seem to escape from it, can we? Anyway, yesterday I finished off my Christmas shopping. Finished it - hopefully. Walking through town I had ‘Thank God It’s Christmas’ by Queen stuck in my head. The only reason why I am thankful for Christmas is because it’s almost over for another year! I walked past an advert thingy in a shop window and there was a song title by Andy Williams; The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. It used to be, but not anymore.

I think I may have mentioned it in a previous entry, so I’m sorry if I’m repeating, but Christmas is too commercialised and people, especially the younger generation (teens etc), seem to judge Christmas and how good it is by how much money ended up in their pockets and/or the presents they receive, instead of the original concept of Christmas and it being the family time it should be.

Saying that, however, at work the other day some children from one of the local infants schools were holding a little carol service and they were talking about writing to Santa and getting presents and seeing the excitement in their eyes, the smiles and the words coming out of their mouth, reminded me of how much I loved Christmas as a kid. I guess once you realise Santa isn’t real, it kinda crushes Christmas as a kid.

So, is Christmas the most wonderful time of the year? Well, it depends which way you’re approaching it from and what Christmas means to you. It can be wonderful if:

You’re the Gifts & Gadgets type of person

• Money! Receiving money for Christmas. In your stocking, disguised in boxes wrapped in Christmas paper, falling out of Christmas cards. With money you can buy anything you like! Whether it be clothes, game consoles (or the games), gadgets etc or dare I say it, booze. Especially with all the Christmas & New Years parties happening, money can come in real handy.
• The most expensive/most popular (more often than not - both) games console out there. Perhaps a Nintendo DS as a stocking filler and a PS3 with a few games.
• Don’t forget the laptop with EVERY feature out there. We need to have the best, don’t we? More than decent size hard drive, memory, integrated webcam and TV Tuner, has to be wireless too, of course, and have a graphics card, too. Hey, if the laptop has legs and you just whistle and it comes to you, then that would just top it off. Maybe a Mac or a handheld PC, or an internet tablet. Desktop PCs seem to be “out of fashion” now, from my perspective anyway, but keep in mind I am not the most fashion-eyed person out there, far from it!
• An iPod or another type of Music player, maybe a Creative Zen (personally - I rather these over iPods, see this entry)
• DVDs, box sets, vouchers, books, sat navs.. list is endless!

You’re the party animal

• You’re invited to a party (or multiple parties, even better) that goes on for a whole weekend, or even longer! Unlimited supply of booze, hired DJ (or, if you like DJing, you could DJ)
• You kick out the ‘rents for a night (if you live with them) and host your own party inviting EVERYONE you know. From nieghbours to those living hundreds or thousands of miles away, you’re determined it would be the party of the noughties.
• Drink, drink, drink and wake up without a hangover, takes some doing, but can be achievable. (Not that I’m encouraging drinking!! Personal message to all - know your limits!)
• If you’re the energetic hyper type who dances the night away on the dancefloor without the use of alcohol or drugs, even better! Live the night off coca cola and you remember everything the next day - perfect!

You’re the family person

• Invite all your family around for Christmas day, maybe invite a few of them to stay around your house for a few days if they are travelling from another city/town/country.
• Organise your day and make sure there’s activities such as games to pass the time if you think there will be awkward moments.
• Cook a huge Christmas dinner, turkey and all the trimmings. Everyone sits around the table as you eat and share stories and of course, pulling some crackers. Don’t forget to wear them little Christmas hats!
• Open presents in each others company, kissing and hugging as thank yous.
• Maybe even put on some music, have a dance and/or sing some Christmas carols

You want a quiet Christmas

• Maybe put on a few movies or read some books
• Have a few drinks at home and maybe go out for a walk in the afternoon, late evening.
• Put on some music, maybe Christmas themed or if not in the mood, music of your choice.
• Perhaps phone up a few friends or family so you won’t feel lonely (if you do feel lonely), just to say merry Christmas.
• Go out for a drive to your favourite place (if you haven’t been drinking. Don’t drink at drive)

So, I ask again, will this Christmas be wonderful? Depends what “category” you fall into (although, of course, there may be other issues effecting your Christmas too). As for me, I am between the quiet Christmas and being a family person, both, really, but considering my family is very small and it’s only going to be dad and me this year, it’ll most likely fall under the ‘quiet christmas’ category with a splash of some points in the ‘family person’ category.

Whatever way you’re spending Christmas; on your own, with your family or your friends or even at work, I hope you enjoy it, and stay safe!

I have a sad announcement to make, on Thursday morning one of my hamsters died. I went out to their tank and only Snuggles came out of his bed, no sign of Cuddles. Snuggles then went under a wooden toy and seemed to be pulling on something, I had a closer look and he was pulling on Cuddles’ leg, either trying to wake him up or alert me. I don’t know how Cuddles died, both hamsters had a supply to clean water, food and the tank was kept clean too. The toy wasn’t responsible for the death either. Maybe he somehow caught an infection (don’t know how), or he caught a chill which I believe can be fatal, or maybe it’s just one of them things. Either way, it was upsetting. I burried little Cuddles in the garden.

I was contemplating whether to buy a new hamster as a companion for Snuggles, didn’t want him being lonely and I asked for some opinions. I could get a new companion for Snuggles but there’s a good chance they’ll fight, as this type of hamster doesn’t take well to newcomers. The other option is to not get a new companion, but then there’s a chance he’ll die of loniness or something. I opted for this option - no new hamster. I bought Snuggles a new toy yesterday, and dad and I have been checking in on him regularly, he’s doing alright. Poor little thing.

RIP Cuddles