Next Instalment Delboy does de World Part 11

Hello again my fans.  It’s me again.  The story continues.

I woke at around 10.30 a bit worse for wear.  This travelling can knock you for six.  I got out of the Queen Size bed and did the usual SSS.  Now that’s out of the way, we can continue our saga.  In the exorbitant price of $225 per night for this hotel that resembles a flea bitten prison block, I paid $20 for breakfast.  I walked along the corridor and found the room that breakfast was being served in.  Breakfast consisted of bagels, jam and muffins.  There were two coffee machines that served up some sort of hot stuff they apparently called coffee.  ‘$20 for this’ I thought.  They’re definitely having a laugh!!!   I would have been better off going next door to have the $4.99 special. I took the elevator (lift) down to the lobby (reception) and walked through a sea of bodies.  I’m beginning to think that this hotel doubles up for one of the platforms at Penn Station.  Out side was just as busy.  I’m going back to my room for a bit I thought to myself.  Getting back to the elevators (lifts) proved to be quite a challenge.  I had to show my key card twice the hotel security before I reached the elevators (lifts) where I was confronted by the biggest black man I have ever seen.  He must have weighed 200 kilos.  His jacket looked ridicules on him.  The sleeves ended half way up his arms and the front of the jacket was open because it couldn’t do up, revelling an enormous belly that any English dart player would be proud of.  His trousers could have easily been used as a parachute if he ever fell out of an aeroplane provided of course that the plane could take off first.  ‘Key card’ he demanded in a squeaky high pitched voice.  How is it that great big men have such high pitched feminine voices?    I showed him the card and he nodded.  I smiled and nodded back to him. ‘It looks like the diet is going extremely well?’ I said.  I got the feeling that the sum total of his vocabulary amounted to ‘key Card’ as he just looked straight through me.    Back in my room I decided to check out of this palace.  I phoned down to the lobby (reception) and asked for them to send up a Christian to collect my luggage.  The young lady on the other end of the phone told me that Christian was not on duty but Earnest would be there in about 20 minutes.  I am now convinced that you have to be very lucky if you find someone in the United States who actually listens to you when you speak to them.  As I had nothing to do but wait for Earnest to turn up, I settled myself in an old but comfortable arm chair and turned the TV on.  After 15 minutes of being glued to the box I had a revelation.  American television doesn’t show programmes anymore.  They show adverts interspersed with programmes.  These programmes last for three minutes followed by seven minutes of adverts.  Earnest turned up after 30 minutes worth of adverts and we both went down in the elevator (lift) past fatso, who’s voice now sounded like it could break glass.  At the lobby (reception) the line (queue) to check in and out looked like an invading army.  ‘I don’t do lines (queues).’ I told Earnest handing him a five dollar bill.  Next thing I knew I was at the check out desk.  Amazing what a few dollars can do!!  I paid the $225 plus tax, mustn’t forget the tax must we?  ‘I’m meeting a ship here at the port at around 3 this afternoon’ I told Ricardo the Hispanic desk clerk.  ‘I need to store my bags for about three hours.’  ‘No problem sir. That will be $4 per bag’ he said quite nonchalantly.  ‘You’re kidding?’  ‘You’re going to charge me $12 to store my baggage for a couple of hours’ I asked in jaw dropping amazement.   ‘Yes sir, we do’ was his casual reply.  ‘Sir’ I said politely. ‘I’ve been all over the world, and this is the first time ever that a hotel has asked me for money to store bags.’  ‘That’s our policy sir.’  I handed him the $12 and received three tickets. Before leaving I asked the him if it would be appropriate to make a recommendation. ‘Of course you may sir.’ He said with a smile. ‘We always welcome all our guest’s comments.’  ‘Well’ I said ‘Not only have you missed a trick by not charging for bed the bugs, I strongly suggest that you change the name of your hotel from the Hotel Pennsylvania to the Hotel Transylvania because you’re all a load of blood suckers!!’ I turned and walked out before I got arrested.  I hope that they don’t take exception to my constructive suggestion by setting fire to my luggage.                                

Outside I was still seething.  I needed to calm down. I walked a couple of blocks and noticed a sign above Bennies Deli announcing ‘chicken soup that your mother made.’  That’s just what I need.  A plate of good old fashioned Jewish penicillin.  I still had a couple of hours to kill before I could board the ship that would take me down to Rio.  Macys was only two blocks away so I checked out the store.  All it did was reinforced my hatred for shopping.   I took a slow walk back to pick up my $12 baggage.  After a 15 minute wait they turned up and thankfully Ricardo & Co didn’t destroy it.  Outside I found a tiddlywink cab driver who said he was from Ding Dong Ping Pong somewhere in South East China took me to the port where my baggage was immediately taken by the Silver Sea staff.  Well I thought. This all looks promising.  I handed my boarding papers to the desk and had my photo taken and told to follow the signs to board.  A few steps along and I got a glimpse of ‘The Silver Whisper’ my new home for the next 26 days. 

Well that’s enough for you to get on with.  I’ll fill you in on the next part what life is like on a luxury cruise liner.  Keep an eye out for the next thrilling instalment of ‘Delboy does de World.’  

 

Delboy does de World Part 11

Chapter 1.  The Schlep Begins 

Just when you thought it was safe to open up your computer the virus called Delboy of W1 appears to bite your bum!!!  Yes my avid and loyal fans, it’s me again, off off and away oi vay, and this time I’ve got six months of travel to bore you with.  At this point you have a choice; either delete my name from your files or read on and get to know a few places on the planet that you don’t know.  This time you’re fearless and intrepid traveller is going by boat, planes, trains, buses and cabs.  Yes folks, it’s the big one again but as the Chinese say ‘A journey of a thousand miles will start with one step’.  Well it only took 38 steps down the stairs of my flats to fall arse over tit carrying my luggage.  Good start, I thought to myself.  I managed to get out onto the street without killing myself which gave me hope that I might even make it to Heathrow.

Being the mean git that I am I took the underground to the airport using the old bastards pass the Mayor gave me.  An hour later I struggled into terminal five; I threw my bags onto a trolley and presented myself to the BA desk.  So far so good, something must go wrong soon I pondered.  I didn’t have to wait long either.  ‘You’re only allowed to check in one bag sir’.  Said the BA clerk with a smile.  ‘I’m sorry’ I replied. ‘I thought I booked with British Airways and not Ryan Air’.  ‘The excess baggage charge will be £40’ he said.  ‘Don’t have much of a choice really do I?’  I said.  ‘No sir, not if you want to fly with your entire luggage’.  ‘Window or isle seat sir?’ he enquired.  ‘I’d like a seat near the black box’ I said.  ‘They always find the black box’!  That sort of went right over his head because he simply told me to go to another desk to pay and they will issue the boarding pass.

No point in getting pissed about the excess baggage.  I’ve had to pack for time on the ships and time off for good behaviour.  As I was quite early I thought I’ll go to the Priority Lounge away from the plebs.  I went to the BA Executive lounge and asked where I might find the lounge that accepted my card. ‘Nowhere in terminal five’ said the pretty lady behind the desk. ‘It’s only for British Airways card holders’.  At this point I proudly presented my British Airways Executive card and gave it to her.  ‘This is a blue card sir’ she said.  ‘Yes’ I replied.  ‘The clue is in the colour’.  ‘To get into this lounge you have to have silver or gold card, or if you have booked business class you can enter’.  Was her feeble explanation.  ‘I’m travelling cattle class’ I told her. ‘To bad’ she said, and turned to greet the next customer.  This is getting better by the minute I thought and made my way to the gate.  Sitting with the poor people can’t be that bad I thought?  I’ve had to do it practically all my life and why change the habits of a lifetime?

BA115 took off on time heading west for JFK New York.  Two films, two meals and a nap latter the trolley dolly announced we were about to land.  I looked out of the window and the whole of New York was ablaze with lights twinkling all over the city.  It’s quite a sight to behold.  We landed safely and after 20 minutes of driving the plane into our parking bay we all exited  with the usual ‘Thank you for flying BA, good night and god bless, keep well, have a nice day.’  The walk to the customs hall felt like a 25 mile hike.  I waited in line until called to go forward.  I suddenly had a bad feeling.  What if they think I’m Osama bin Stratton?  My holiday could be a very short one.  I wonder if it’s worth claiming asylum from Cameron & Co.  The immigration officer was a woman; her badge said her name was Maria Sanchez.  I presented my passport to her, she studied it for a few moments and asked me to look into the camera and asked to take my finger prints.  ‘How long will you be in the United States ?’ She asked.  ‘About 18 hours’ I replied.  ‘In transit’ she enquired.  ‘Sort of’ I said ’I’m meeting a cruise ship’  ‘Wow’ says she. ‘You much be a rich man.’  I looked at her squarely in the face and said.  ‘I have been extremely lucky in my life Maria.  I was very fortunate enough to have married a fabulously wealthy woman.  Well she must have been wealthy the way she used to spend my money along with everyone else’s’.  Maria gave a shriek of laughter and said ‘Mr Stratton, that’s the best one I’ve heard this year.  You’re a very funny man’.  I looked at her over the top of my specs and said.  ‘Maria, if you think that’s funny, you really need to get out more’.  ‘I must tell you something immigration officer Sanchez.’ I said.  ‘I’ve been to several countries around the world over the years and this one is defiantly a first for me’  ‘What is?’ she enquired.  ‘It’s the first time in my life that I’ve come across an immigration officer with a sense of humour’.  This time she gave the biggest of smiles and said ‘You have a great time in the United States and a great cruise sir’.  Next was customs.  A miserable bastard looked at me, then my bags and back to me and waved me through without saying a word.  I made it I thought to myself.  I’m here!!  I collected my suit case and the forty quid bag, and loaded them onto a $5 trolley.

The next hurdle is how to get to the Hotel Pennsylvania in down town Manhattan .  I walked out of the terminal building thinking cab, train or bus.  All that dissolved when facing me was a large bill board in English, Spanish and Arabic announcing the all singing and dancing shuttle to Manhattan for $15.  This is getting better I thought.  ‘I’m going to the hotel Pennsylvania ‘I told the young man dishing out the tickets.  ‘No problem Sir.  We go all the way to Penn Station and the driver will drop you outside your hotel’.  I boarded the bus and after waiting to fill up the people carrier off we went.  The drive into Manhattan took about 40 minutes and we all had to get out at Grand Central Station.  The driver told us to walk up to the next block and another van would take us the rest of the way.  20 minutes later we all loaded into van number two and the driver dropped me outside my hotel.  From the outside it looks immense.  The street is filled with thousands of people milling around.  It’s Penn Train Station I thought to myself.  No wonder it’s busy.  Well if it was busy outside that was nothing compared to the inside of the hotel?  The queue to check in seemed to disappear round the corner by the restaurant.  You needed a pair of binoculars to see the end of it.  Eventually I check in and was given a room on the 17^th floor.  Breakfast I am told is on my floor in room 1710.  On closer inspection I can see that this hotel is the same as it was when the Germans started shooting in then First World War.  It looked like I was in a black and white movie.  The walls were grey and the carpet was as old as me.  Anyway the key opened my door and an enormous bed greeted me.  Hello Delboy it said.  I dropped the bags and fell into the bed undressing while lying down.  With the time difference it was now five in the morning and I was completely knackered.  I could have used the word xxxxxx to describe how I felt but it could be construed as vulgar and inappropriate.So enddeth the first day!!

Stay tuned or not so tuned for the next thrilling instalment of Delboy does de World.          

(Copyright D. Stratton – If you would like to Email Derek on his travels please send becky@bizziebaby.co.uk your request and email details and message and it will be passed onto Derek on his world tour)

 

 

My Birth Plan & opting for csection By Nicki

My original homebirth dream was shattered recently when I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes (humph). From that day, it’s all changed! I am no longer allowed a homebirth due to being “High Risk” now. I was a bit gutted but lets face it, baby 2’s safety is much more important than my birth plan!
So… after scans and consultant appointments I was told I was being induced at 38wks, that myself and bubs would be closely monitored, I would need a drip for the glucose, another for this, this and that. Jeez! Not the active birth I expected and I was very upset to be told that as baby is bigger than he should be for his dates (due to the GD) there is a much higher risk of forceps (etc) and I’m at least three times more likely to have to have an emergency c-section. Add to this the fact that bubs may need to have a short spell in Special Care to regulate his levels as he will be making too much insulin to combat my too-high sugar. Ok then, didn’t expect that.

Since then I haven’t been able to control my sugars with tablets and am now on insulin, the dose of which is increased every 2-3 days as the levels are still not anywhere near where they should be, and I am on first name terms with everyone at the diabetic centre at the hospital and the maternity unit, as I am at both at least once a week. Bubs seems fine so far as am I (although absolutely shattered, both bodily and mentally!) but I have to have yet another scan next week to recheck the amount of fluid around baby as he is on the low side of the expected amount, and GD babies usually are the opposite with extra fluid.  Never rains but it pours!

It’ll all be fine but we’ve had to really think a lot about the birth and how it’ll all work and after much research, discussion and soul searching we spoke to the consultant about an elective csection. I must admit I half expected to have to really fight for one but in light of everything going on, and the risk of having to go through a lengthy and quite possibly unsuccessful induction and an emergency c-section, (further distressing bubs!) and the fact that I was well aware already of the pros and cons, they agreed without too much wrangling at all.

So – do not have a homebirth, do not stop at hospital natural birth, go straight to csection.
And this is why I’ve been a bit quiet for a while, it has all been very full on!

I will get my date for csection next week after the next scan to check the fluid (I don’t know what will happen if the fluid has dropped further, I imagine I might meet bubs sooner than expected!), and the date when I will be admitted the week before for two days for IV steroids, so at least will be able to plan around that. Boy will I be glad when this fella is here and safe and we can all get home and start life as a family of four!
(I know I promised the short version… this was the short version!).

Not my usual type of blog as you’ll see but also a blatant attempt to gained extra info/experiences of csection from those that have been there so do comment if you have anything to share.

Nicki xx

Our family and Life By Kerry

An introduction to me and my Family by Kerry

Right then, where do I start? Well I should start off telling you a bit about me before I delve into my life story, lol. I have been married for 8 years to my darling hubby, and we have been together for 14 years, WOW that’s loads, lol. My longest ever relationship before was just 18 months. He had my life planned all out for me without even asking me what I wanted, I am surprised it lasted that long.

When I met my hubby, it was love at first sight, he was drop dead gorgeous. I was at college so my Dad had got me some part-time work at his place. I was on the day shift and hubby was on the night shift. I would walk in when he was walking out and each time I saw him I would hide. I was such a shy person back then. Then one day I told one of my friends about him who I worked with not knowing at the time that she was actually his sister-in-law. She went straight to him that day and told him that I had a crush on him. When she told me I was so embarrassed but on the way out I had to walk straight past him. He called me over and he asked me for my number. You can imagine my face and you imagine this, me in a long white coat with my long curls tucked away in a hair net and hat after working a long shift. He called me a couple of days later and the rest is history. We are happily married with 2 gorgeous children aged 6 and 4.

Our youngest has just started full-time at ‘big school’. He is doing really well but it was a hard couple of weeks to start off with, with him being so clingy. He would hold onto me crying “No Mommy I want to stay with you” each time breaking my heart. I would walk away feeling like the worst Mommy ever but within minutes he would be ok the teachers would tell me. The one day was awful. I took him to school, left him kicking and screaming and was told to wait in Reception. His teacher came to me within minutes to tell me he was fine and was now playing with his best friend in class. Even though I was told that, all morning I watched the clock till 12 when I would go and pick him up and that day, the worst I had ever seen him cry, he didn’t want to come home, he wanted to stay and play the little monkey. They really do pull on your heart-strings at times don’t they?

Our eldest daughter loves it at school. She also loves the fact that her little brother, although he is just as tall as her now, is at her school now. She plays Mommy apparently and her friends think it’s cool. I would so love to see this at playtime as they just do not get on at home. Saying that though, this is exactly how me, and my brother was when we lived at home with our mom and dad. There is a 5 year age gap between us and we would fight like cat and dog. We get along a lot more now but we still have our disagreements. It’s just one of those things that life throws at us.

Apparently my little girl is the double of me but I think she is just like her daddy. It’s funny how people see different.  She just has my spirally curly hair which I know she is going to hate when she is older and will probably be straightening it all the time. We get the curls from my dad but his curls have long gone, lol, and he is now bald.

I was looking at photos the other day of my mom and dad in their teens. My dad had long curly hair dressed in flairs and my mom had long straight hair down to her bottom, it was gorgeous. I have never seen my mom with hair past her shoulders so it was lovely to see. I love looking through photos anyway. Some are funny, some are sad and then you get ones that really take you down memory lane. Like when you went on a family holiday or on day trips together. We were always going out places. It’s lovely to see how we have changed too and it’s amazing how styles change and come back in fashion. I am always taking photographs of my 2, as they are memories for us to keep. I have realised this past 6 years they grow up so fast and I don’t want to miss a second of it. I will look back in years to come and have thousands of pictures. They too will have them just as I was looking through my mom and dads the other day and hope that their memories are as happy as mine.

I will be back next month with more updates and trip down memory lane.

Kerry

Life With Bizziebaby.co.uk By Sharon

Life with Bizziebaby………………..

Hello there again back with my latest update.  It has been a fantastic week lots going on at home and at BB HQ.  The weather has been gorgeous, out come the summer clothes and off with the heating again.  Did you know it is only just over 10 weeks till Christmas, where has this year gone?

So what has my family been up to this week?   This week my daughter Lauren went on a Hospitality Trip to several Food Chains to research this industry, which she really enjoyed.  This will all go towards her GCSE’s.  My son Scott had a French day at school and a lady came in and taught them about French culture.  They even got to taste different French foods, but he said they didn’t get to taste frog’s legs and snails.  I told him I didn’t think he missed out!  It is my husband’s birthday today and Scott’s at the weekend, so a very expensive month.

So what have we been doing this week at BB HQ.  Well we have been very busy with new members still coming through thick and fast, getting questionnaires out and reviews online and allocating new products, to name but a few.  Also with the launch of Bizziebaby TV a couple of weeks ago it has been a very busy week. 

We also attended The Baby Show Trade last weekend, where we met and caught up with companies from the baby industry.  We introduced ourselves and signed up with several new companies, who have some very exciting and innovative products that they will be launching soon. It was a very successful day and an enjoyable one.  I was talking to one Company and was reminded of a very important fact about washing out stained clothes i.e.: baby sick, urine, blood etc, which I thought I would share with you.  Did you know in order to kill the bacteria of the baby sick, urine etc when machine washing you need to wash at a minimum of 65 degrees?   

Remember we have a Post Office Window set up, a place you can sell your baby and toddler items and no FEES or Commission charged, yes no fees!  We also run a BB Shop which stocks fashion beaded Jeweler, etc, so if you are looking for ideas for Christmas come and visit our shop www.bizziebabyshop.co.uk .  Yes Christmas will be here before you know it!

We also have a weekly Bizzie TV competition and this week the prize is a remote control tarantula toy.  Ideal for Halloween.  This competition ends on the 29th October so send in your video of your ‘Must Have’ product.  Tell us why it is so good, how it works, why you like it so much and name of product and where you purchased it.  So get filming and enter this weeks fab comp.  Just send your video to becky@bizziebaby.co.uk and this will go live on Bizzie TV for everyone to vote.  Great prize and good luck everyone.

You can always contact us if you need any questions answered and our office telephone number is 0845 2930998 or just email us info@bizziebaby.co.uk.   Website: www.bizziebaby.co.uk or Blog us – www.Bizziebaby.wordpress.com. 

Thanks for visiting our Blog and I look forward to catching up with you all next week.  Have a great week everyone.  Sharon

Our Holiday in Wales By Kim Tonkinson

My holiday in Wales Blog

Monday 19^th April

Well its 6:45am; we are up, dressed, car is packed and we are ready to go on our holidays. We are all just giving our dog Harvey a big fuss before we go as we can’t take him with us; my sister is looking after him. Harvey is one thing we will miss while we are away.

First stop, to pick our friends up and re-load the car…..twice! J We didn’t realise how much stuff we had all packed…. we are only going for 6days!  Next stop is fuel! How much does it cost? I am not even going to get started on that!

Well we are now well and truly on our way – Baylie has the Chipmunks 2 on…..and guess what? We are stuff in traffic already. This is going to be a long journey; I think we will all know the Chipmunks songs off by heart by the time we get there! J

We have now arrived after 4 hours journey with ½ hour stop for breakfast and toilet stop. And all I can say is perfect! The caravan is perfect, weather is perfect, caravan site is perfect and the company is perfect!

We unload the car and unpack straight away, best to get that job done then we can start to enjoy ourselves. We decided to talk a walk around the caravan site to have a look around, ended up on the park. Baylie went on everything from the swings to the slide and roundabout. We even went on the swings too. We all have fab time but getting little tired now what with getting up so early and the driving. We went back to the caravan.

Everyone went to sleep for hour or so…..except Baylie….so we played snakes and ladders and read some books.  Once everyone woke we ate tea and got ready to go out to the club house. Ohhhh Baylie did enjoy herself…and guess who was up dancing to the club song…Me! And I loved every minute. Around 10pm Baylie started to get quite tired, she asked when it was time for bed. So we took her back, got her ready for bed and she was asleep before we knew it. She had had such a long exciting day.

I had a bloody mary as a night cap….Perfect….Night night

Tuesday 20^th April

Well after a very good night sleep Baylie woke at 8:30am, everyone else was up at 8:30. Now it’s time for the full English breakfast!!! Mmmm was yummy! We decided to make the most of the day as it was still quiet early, we decided to go swimming and it was great. Baylie had her armbands on and was splashing everywhere. The lifeguard gave her a float and she loved it even more.

After swimming we went back to Caravan for lunch the decided to go for a walk….and when I say walk I mean a very, very, very long walk to Killwalli Castle. Baylie slept most of the way. It was down long narrow, bendy, up and down roads. It was so peaceful. It was about 3mile walk to the castle and once we got there is was just beautiful. We all went up the towers and once we was up there the view was amazing! We could see for miles and miles. Just beautiful it was. We spent about 2 hours around the castle and then decided to go back to the site, and oh yes the very, very, very long walk back to the site J

We had to cross a rail way crossing to get to the caravan site. I was about 6 meters ahead of the others pushing Baylie and as I was half way across the crossing the bell started to ring to say a train was coming, bearing in mind this train track was for high spend trains! I screamed and never ran so quick in all my life! As I got to the other side I turn around to find the others in stitches laughing at me, what are they like? J And sure enough the train went so fast past us! Ok it was about 2minuyes later! Lol

We got back to the site and thought we would be nosey at the for sale caravan, oh they were posh! It is now my mission to convince Dave to buy oneJ. We went to the pub on site then to get some tea save us cooking when we get to the caravan. We all had pudding and somehow we ended up with a free plate of perfiter rolls, we quick ate them between us before the waiter noticed.

We had a quite night in that night, had few drinks and chatted, was a lovely relaxed night, all ready refreshed for our adventures tomorrow…Night night.

 

Wednesday 21^st April

Well the weather is getting better and better as the week goes on, we could not have picked a better week to come away, and its only April.

Today’s plans are that we are going to Penbury Country Park. It is like a huge forest with lots of activities and things to do. As soon as we get there we hear straight for the beach. Miles and miles of golden sandy beach! Just heaven. We find a secluded sand dune and we set up camp. Baylie makes sandcastles and collects shells. Dave decides to talk her to the sea which leaves  me, Linds and Chris to soak up the sun! So peaceful! After we have spent about 2hours on the beach we head off to find so food for dinner.

We found a great little place we all got refuelled. Our next stop at the country park was the adventure playground for Baylie but to be honest we all was on it too J. The next stop was the pony and horse stables. The horses were huge. It was a shame Baylie couldn’t ride a pony as she wasn’t old enough. Have you ever tried to tell a 3year old she can’t ride on a pony! Not easy.

By this time we were all tired. At this country park it is that big we had to drive from place to place and it wasn’t long before Baylie fell asleep. So guess what? There was a golf chip and put course there so the lad went and played that while Baylie slept in the car. Linds and me also has an hour’s kip too ready for gong out tonight.

On the way back to the caravan, we stopped at an Indian takeaway restaurant and ordered food to take away with us and had that for tea! Mmmmm was just what we needed, was lovely. We was soon ready and went out to the club house.

That night Baylie meet a friend, she was also 3. They danced and played with each other all night, it was lovely seeing them together. I got a little bit tipsy tonight, drinking rose wine, have a feeling I am going to feel rough in the morning…..Night night

Thursday 22^nd April

I didn’t think the weather could get any better but it sure does. It is gorgeous! Not a cloud in the sky and it is actually getting quiet warm. Not feeling as bad as I thought I would be, which is a relief. Our plan today is to go to Burry Port. We haven’t a clue what is there but been told it’s worth a visit.

After about ½ hour’s drive we arrive at this beautiful harbour with a few shops and a lighthouse. We went for a walk around. It is so warm I am glad I brought Baylie some sun cream. After a relaxing walk it was dinner time and what do you have for dinner in a harbour but fish and chips. We all had fish and chips and sat on the benches and grass to eat them out of the white wrapping. It was just great! After we had finished we walked to find an ice cream van so ice cream for pudding.

We then make a group decision to go back to the caravan via a butcher so we can have a bbq for our tea. The lads said they would cook….well that is if they could start the bbq. It took them over an hour to light it! Boys ay? Lol

We then quickly got ready and went out again to the club house so Baylie could play with her new found friend.  Baylie and I had a caricature drawn tonight, it was brilliant. As the man was drawing us we had a crowd watching J. We didn’t have a late one tonight as we had a lot planned for tomorrow….Night night.

Friday 23^rd April

Well yet again the weather is beautiful, perfect beach weather! J We all get up nice and early so we can set out to Saundersfoot. Dave has been there before with work and he says how beautiful it is there. Because of how nice the weather is we planned to take a picnic with drinks with us, we filled the freezer box with goodies.  So off we go on an hour journey to get there, yet again Baylie is watching the Chipmunks!  And yes we all do know the words now to the film! J We had to stop off at the supermarket on the way as I had had a crisis, I didn’t have enough summer tops with me. The sunny hot weather had definitely caught me off guard.

When we arrived we all was amazing on how beautiful the town was, just perfect for the weather.  We started by walking round, looking in shops and just getting our bearing really. Nearer lunch time we found ourselves a perfect spot in the sun for our picnic. And boy it was just perfect. Linds and I had a lovely glass of rose and Baylie had blackcurrant squash in same glasses as us, so she thought she had the same as us and we all tucked into the food. After we ate Dave and Chris took Baylie to get an ice-cream which meant some valuable sun bathing for me and Linds….Just prefect it was J After couple hours chilling we decided the beach was calling us, so we all took our shoes off and off we went paddling. Baylie just loved it and to be honest we all was like big kids and was loving it just as much.

 Time was getting on and we had to think about heading back as we were planning to have a good night out tonight. We all fell asleep on the journey back, poor Dave driving. I tried to stay awake but it must have been the sea air J On the way back in the village near the site we picked up a Chinese and had that for tea, it was scrummy!

Went to the club house and watched Baylie while she took part in the children’s entertainment. Baylie loved dancing all night with her friend and the entertainment was great. The drinks were flowing lovely tonight, Tomorrow was our last day and we didn’t really want to drink tomorrow night as we had a long journey home. Linds and I was feeling pretty tipsy by the end of the night, I do hope I don’t have a sore head in the morning…..Night night

Saturday 24^th April

We all had a bit off a lie in today after our late night last night. I wasn’t feeling too bad but everyone else was feeling pretty rough. As it was our last day I cooked a full English breakfast which went down a treat. I decided to take Baylie to the club house so she could play in the indoor play area, just trying to make the most of the day. We left everyone else recovering from last night. After about an hour Baylie playing Dave turned up so we went off to pub for some lunch plus the football scores was on. After the footie we went to the arcade. All week Baylie has had her eye on the chipmunks on the grabbing machine. Well Chris the star, played and played the machine until he won all three – Alvin, Simon and Theodore. Getting Simon was more difficult; we had to talk nicely to the man who worked there to put Simon in the top so we could grab him easily. He was tucked right under you see and Chris couldn’t get the claw around him. Once the nice man moved Simon Chris got Simon and Baylie was so pleased she was nearly crying J We thought we might go back now as time was getting on and I hadn’t even started packing. Poor Lindsay was still feeling very ill from last night, at least it was a good night. We staying in tonight, had some takeaway food from the pub on site and just chilled. We were a bit disappointed that our holiday was coming to an end but was looking forward to seeing Harvey. We had a pretty early night tonight and no I hadn’t started packing yet either :-s …..Night night

Sunday 25^th April

Well its here, home time. I was a bit gutted as we had had the best time ever. Everything was perfect – the weather, the caravan, the site and more so the company we had….that had made our holiday.  After finishing off tidying the caravan, packing and loading the car up we decided to go to the club house and spend an hour in the arcade….over the week we had collected tokens and want to spend them. We started our long drive back, we was all sad as we had all had great time…..

Here’s to amazing family and friends that made a fantastic holiday for me J

xx

Life With Bizziebaby – By Sharon

Life with Bizziebaby………………..

Hello there again back with my latest update.  Well what about the terrible weather we have had this week, time for rain coats and wellies for sure.  Just keeping fingers crossed it improves for us all this week.  One good thing is the stupendous autumn colours which truly are amazing to see.

So what have I been up to this week?   If you read my last blog you will know I have 2 children Lauren and Scott. This week Lauren made Macaroni Cheese at school she was so pleased with herself when she came home.  We tasted it and it was lovely.  Scott started his Cineworld Club where he gets to make a film with other students from his school and it is shown in other schools and in Cineworld Cinemas, he is so excited. 

Lauren has finally got her Statement for her ADHD and this means she will get extra help at school, which is great news.  She will get 1 to 1 support in some of her classes which she desperately needs to get her through her GCSE’s.   It has been such a battle trying to get this, we have been trying since she was 9 years old, but we have finally got there in the end.  Let’s hope that it is not too late for her to catch up!

So what have we been doing this week at BB HQ, well more reviews going live  online and some fantastic products come through for testing again.  These include Bumpbands, Buggy Snuggle, Kurvy Pushchair,  Designer  Umbrellas, Breast Pumps to name but a few. You can always keep updated with all our review updates and new products coming through by following our group facebook page as our team of ladies update daily. 

I would also like to welcome all our New Members, we hope you enjoy the Bizziebaby website, catch up and make friends on the forum and join in the fun.  Thank you for your support and welcome to you all.  

Remember we have a Post Office Window set up, a place you can sell your baby and toddler items and no FEES or Commission charged, yes no fees!  We also run a BB Shop which stocks fashion beaded Jewellery, etc, so if you are looking for ideas for Christmas come and visit our shop www.bizziebabyshop.co.uk .  Yes Christmas will be here before you know it!

Our Bizziebaby forum is growing so welcome to all our new forum members as great to catch up with everyone and make new friends.  We would also like to welcome our new Moderators great to have you on board and thank you for donating your time.  We all look forward to staying in touch.  Our moderators are volunteers and they do a grand job, so click onto the forum and catch up with them all.

Oh and our new BizzieTV – Yes we now have our BizzieTV You Tube channel.  This is set up so our Bizziebaby testers can send in their own video reviews.  this is a new service and only a few video reviews uploaded presently, but more to follow.  I know we all love reading reviews but always so good to see a video on how the item works.  Our Bizziebaby team will also be filming reviews for new products coming through and these will be posted as guideline to how product works, looks, where to purchase and a quick overview on how to use.  A guideline to new products coming through for online review.  So if you have tested products in the past and wish to submit your own video review just send to Becky and team will upload online and post news on our Facebook and twitter pages.  Don’t forget send your own video reviews (can be on items you have had in the past, or items you are reviewing now) to:- becky@bizziebaby.co.uk.

You can always contact us if you need any questions answered and our office telephone number is 0845 2930998 or just email us info@bizziebaby.co.uk.   Website: www.bizziebaby.co.uk or Blog us – www.Bizziebaby.wordpress.com. 

Thanks for visiting our Blog and I look forward to catching up with you all next week.  Have a great week everyone.  Sharon

Life with Bizziebaby.co.uk

Life with Bizziebaby………………..

Hello there I am Sharon you will have had email contact with me at some point during your membership with Bizziebaby and before I let you know what we have been doing this week a BB HQ I thought I would give you some information about me.

I am a Mum and I have 2 children Lauren 14 and Scott 10. I have been with my husband for 18 years now and last year we got married in Mauritius and took our family and friends out with us.  It was fantastic more than I could have ever imagined the place was so beautiful and the people there were amazing.  It was worth the wait. 

Being a parent can be very challenging at times but at the same time very rewarding.  I love being a Mum even though sometimes I wish I could change my name from Mum!  My daughter has ADHD which is fairly rare in girls and is mainly found in boys.  Meaning the signs and behaviour are so different from boys, it is such hard work, but there is the support from Schools and CAMHS which is great.  My son did have epilepsy “Petit Mals” which he inherited from me, but luckily enough he has been in remission for about 2 years now and has not had another episode. 

I was made redundant after working in the Mortgage Industry for 19 years the first time in my life I was out of work.  Life was so stressful and depressing then I was offered a role for Bizziebaby and since then I have never looked back.  I am passionate about Bizziebaby it is such a great place to work every day is different and it is very rewarding

So what have we been doing this week, well a lot of reviews have gone online and we have had some fantastic products tested.  We have attended some group events, school fetes, we drive around with BB logos on our cars and are always looking for new ways to promote Bizziebaby.  We are always catching up, running ideas past each other and sometimes an idea will come from a family member or friend and we think ‘Why did we not think of that!’  Just shows you never know what will happen next or where it will lead.  Makes life exciting and interesting. 

We try to keep everyone updated with all the news, latest special offers or new product launches and the girls will be posting on our Facebook group page daily, twittering daily and organising competitions and special discount offers for all our followers. 

I really enjoy reading the reviews as sometimes they point out a very important fact and suggest some great ideas for the future.  Some of our clients get in touch to say they have read the reviews and to let our members know changes are being made for the future.  Just shows you they listen to us.  Our membership is growing daily and we have Mums, Dads, Grandparents, Childminders, and even some teenagers who enjoy trying out new products.  

I have read some fantastic reviews and it still amazes me when I come across a product I have never seen or heard of.  Yes I click on and have a look and have found some great gifts for the family, and some helpful hints on health products and organic items.  You learn something new every day. 

So what do we have coming up, we have some great products testing for example:  Elle Tens Machine,  Hopnsqueak Shoes and Boots, SensaTONE (for pelvic floor), Bonnie Baby bi colour stripe rainbow sweater, BuggyPod, Kid-Sit for buggy, Dr Browns natural flow microwave steriliser to name a few.

We now have a Post Office Window set up on our Bizziebaby forum.  A place you can sell your baby and toddler items and no FEES or Commission charged, yes no fees!!.  We also run a BB Shop which stocks fashion Jewellery, etc so if you are looking for ideas for Christmas come and visit our shop.  Yes Christmas will be here before you know it!

Our forum is managed by volunteer members who do a great job.  You should take a look as lots of posts on a wide range of subjects, a section on Dreams now we could all do with analysing our dreams sometimes, a Spiritual section, quizzes, and lots more.  So have a cuppa and enjoy browsing the Bizziebaby forum.  Also a great place to meet new friends which is always a winner.  

If you have any ideas, subjects you would like to see covered on the forum just email us. 

If you need to get in touch and would like to speak to someone we can be contacted on our main telephone number 0845 2930998 or you can contact us via email info@bizziebaby.co.uk.  Website: www.bizziebaby.co.uk or Blog us – www.Bizziebaby.wordpress.com. 

Thanks for visiting our Blog and I hope to see you here again next week for my weekly installment.

Back soon Sharon x

He will be fine….. but will I? By Nicki

He will be fine….. but will I?

Half way through the summer hols and my sanity is still intact.

This is Kieran’s first “summer holiday off” as he has been at preschool for the past year and starts “big school” in September. I was initially very worried at how I would cope with keeping him entertained when clearly I do not have the saint-like enthusiasm the preschool teachers have, and mindful that I have more work now that I did before end of term AND that I am getting increasingly huge (pregnancy, not comfort eating!), I expected to be tearing my hair out by now. However…. I am loving it! There is little locally to entertain Kieran and the weather has been either so hot even he wants to stay indoors near the fan or so wet and windy we daren’t venture out for fear of being caught in a monsoon! Despite this, we have absolutely revelled in each other’s company – be it baking, doing crafts, jigsaw or games galore, visiting family, walking to the train station to train spot, bus trips out, play dates and lots of local walks collecting leaves, looking at bugs etc or just doing our own thing and enjoying our own time, it has worked wonderfully.

So what am I going to in September when he is gone all day?? He can’t wait (little traitor!) but I am increasingly aware that I am going to miss him terribly. The long-suffering hubby has promised to paint the nursery for baby2 the last weekend in August so that when I am faced with a very empty house all day long I can throw myself  into getting everything ready for baby and working (with the radio on loud…… very loud!) to occupy myself. Is this empty nest syndrome? Ok it’s not empty for long – just between 8.50am and 3.45pm Monday – Friday but still I am not used to, and I know I should be grateful of the break to myself as baby2 is due in early December but I am really struggling with the idea of my firstborn baby (and he is still my baby says a very precious Mummy!) being away all day and I suspect more so not needing me. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to keep him at home either, I know he needs more and am sure he will thrive at school, but it’s very harrowing.

So come on Mums and Dads – is this pregnancy hormones, am I being precious or is this a common thing, mourning the end of an era. If anyone has any wise words or coping strategies I’m all ears!

Di’s Muffin of the Week Recipe

    Golden Granulated Sugar   150 grams   3   400 grams   2 tsp       Salt pinch 2 Eggs Beaten 100 ml Milk 100 ml  

250 grams	Golden Granulated Sugar
150 grams	Butter Diced softened
3	Apples, eating finely chopped
400 grams	Self Raising Flour
2 tsp	Baking Powder
	Salt pinch
2	Eggs Beaten
100 ml	Milk
100 ml	Sunflower Oil
	Extra sugar for sprinkling!    Pre heat the oven to 180’/170’Fan/Gas mark 4. Line the muffin tray with muffin papers. Take a tablespoon each of sugar and butter and melt over medium heat in a small pan. Add the apples and stir over heat for 2 minutes until slightly soft. Remove from heat.  Mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Rub in the remaining butter. make a well in the middle and add the eggs, milk and oil. Stir it all together until blended. Stir in the apple. Spoon the mix into the muffin tin and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes our clean when inserted into the middle. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days. GORGEOUS!!!!!!! Love Diane xxx