After my recent spout of applications I have about 4 live leads, which at the moment is showing a 50% success rate.  They are all brilliant opportunities and I'm so excited at the prospects that lay ahead.  Tomorrow should hold more news for me and so I'm going to keep fingers crossed that this recent spate of positive response is because of me... although the new financial year is probably playing a part!

I even had a good day with the office hormone, surprisingly enough.  It's amazing to find how well you can get on with someone when they're not acting like an arse!  

To celebrate my happy Tuesday I decided to embrace my inner pop princess (you know it's in there somewhere Fletch!) and put on my iPod playlist '90's Pop'.  With the window rolled down, pedal to the metal and the open A217 ahead of me I pumped tunes from my speakers and let the wind caress my hair.  This felt amazing, so amazing that when I pulled up to the lights I completely forgot to check myself and protect the car cred... see I was blasting 'Spice Girls - Holler' at the time and a lot of people started doing up their windows!  Whoops, lol.

Still who cares, the SG are alright.  Fair enough Holler wasn't their best song but when you're in that 90's mood and have a need for cheese, they go down quite well.  Feeling I should redeem myself a little I promptly switched to 'Gin Blossoms - Follow You Down' followed by 'Pearl Jam - Even Flow' (on a different playlist of course) so that at least the next lot of traffic would think I was hip and cool.  Unless of course they are like Gin what?  Pearl who? and then all is lost on them anyway! 

Monday brought good things for me, for once.  Rather than look upon Mondays as the start of another dreary week I changed tactic and thought to myself "today is the first day of new opportunities".  I wasn't wrong.

Three new leads for jobs already, all of which I applied for last night.  I'm very excited about what may lie ahead and have a good feeling that perhaps I'll get short-listed this time.  Before my CV was too long, in honesty I waffled a bit.  In contrast though I thought I'd make my CV short, snappy and to the point.  The agents now ask me to expand on my skills a little bit, after having spoken to them both they said that my CV didn't showcase the full extent of my experience.  The happy medium I thought I had, I did not.  Still, it was nice to have a good long conversation with the recruitment agencies, they have now had a chance to screen me properly before putting me forward and both sounded very positive.  Fingers crossed!

After the doctors this morning I popped into Waitrose and picked up two of the 'Venezuelan Black' blocks that Willie Harcourt-Cooze so desperately tried to sell on his fly on the wall documentary "Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory".  Tonight for dinner we are trying his recipe of goose fat and Cacao basted partridge.  Except we're using duck fat and a chicken!  So far so good, it's in the oven and smells fantastic.  The house is filled with the scent of roasted meat, vegetables and stuffing.  My tummy rumbles just thinking about it and I have to wait another hour before it's ready, pure torture!

Here's comes the sun, little darling... it's alright ba de de de da da da dum.  Yes folks, it's officially British Summer time and the longer evenings have arrived.  Thank goodness that the first day of summer was a glorious one.  Well technically it's still Spring, I know, but the Winter is officially over.

Fraser and I spent Saturday night having a 3 course dinner (cooked by moi) pink bubbly, lots of wine and a few rounds of Family Fortunes - the interactive DVD.  It took us about 5 attempts to finally get the game right and each time I beat Fraser down!  I suspect his slurring speech and inability to see straight was a contributing factor to his demise, but when all is said and done, I won!  I am the champion!   

We were off together yesterday and wanted to plan a fun day out, a good idea in theory, but our hangovers meant we didn't move far from the couch until a full cooked breakfast was inside us.  Even then it was only to the garden!

Like two grey, dusty, hunched over swamp monsters we grumbled and shuffled our way around, that is until the sun shone on our faces and it was like we were reborn!  Rather than go out we chucked on some old clothes, grabbed a spade and got digging in the garden.  Due to all the recent rain the grass was absolutely sodden, but at least it made digging it up easier.  I spent about 30 minutes trying to manoeuvre around the mushy grass and mud, digging holes in the ground for the new wooden decking slats to go.  "This is crazy" I thought to myself, "I'm digging in the garden trying to not get muddy" I then let it go and chose to rest on the grass, wipe the mud all over my clothes and getting really stuck in.  It felt great to be free to get muddy and just enjoying the hard work of being green fingered.

We popped to Homebase and bought some Canary Palms, wildflower seeds and herbs.  Our little garden is so pretty now, we've got a corner patch which is holding Rosemary, Wild Garlic, Lavender, Oregano and Thyme.  The patch opposite the herbs has wildflower seeds sown into them, which when grown will look lovely.  With a bit of luck too we'll be successful in growing Sunflowers.  We chose the flowers we did not only because they look pretty but they're all fragrant, so with the herbs, in the evening it will smell gorgeous out on the patio with a glass of wine. 

It reminded me of being a kid yesterday, when you spend all day on the weekend playing in the garden getting mud in your hair, on your clothes, under your finger nails,  up your nose, all crusted to your skin and then you strip off and plonk yourself into a warm bubble bath whilst the smells of dinner creep up the stairs and you realise that you're so hungry, actually no, you're ravenous!

Beautiful day, really really gorgeous.  I'm looking forward to the coming weeks when we extend the garden fence out to the full boundaries of the property.  It's going to make being out there a real joy in the Summer, and thanks to yesterday, even though it's Monday morning I feel happy, relaxed and optimistic.  One thing is for certain, I love my house!

This song has always been a floor filler and an uplifter, but never did I think I would ever rely so heavily on it's lyrics for strength and motivation.  Brilliant song, brilliant voice and a classic piece of the early 90's.... when everything for me was so simple!

D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better 

I really just don't understand people sometimes.  Today has been one of those days (of course it has, it's me isn't it) I've been a little grumpy and perhaps I'm feeling like a bear with a sore head because, well... I have a sore head. 

Why is it that people don't understand the concept of sharing a road?  On my way home from work tonight I came off the Gatwick bypass towards the M23 and as I'm driving off the slip road some chump in an SUV just sat at a constant speed blocking me from merging onto the road, despite it being a dual carriageway and there being nothing in the second lane.  As I rapidly ran out of slip road I beeped my horn and just had to carry on merging or plough into the crash barrier.  The idiot then proceeded to rant and rave at me through the windscreen.  It's his fault he doesn't know how to be a considerate driver, so why does he get irate at me?  Especially if I can't hear him, the bloody burk!

So I continue on my journey and I'm now on the M23 driving home.  As I signal to move out of the middle lane into the fast lane I wait for a car to pass me and then I merge into the flow of traffic.  As I commit to the manoeuvre I can see in my rear view the guy, who is now behind me, get very hot and bothered by this.  Instead of just letting me in he speeds up and tries to close the gap before I have completely switched lanes.  WHAT IS THE POINT?  He again is ranting and raving at me and I just look at him through the mirror, point to my eye and mouth the words "fucking look next time, dick".  Of course he had a huge case of what I call the "oh no you don't" syndrome.  This is when, rather than be a considerate driver, you're the kind of driver that is just out for him/herself and think "oh no you don't" when someone attempts to be 1 car in front... I mean how dare they right?  How dare they set me back on my journey by one whole car length!  The audacity....  I had to put up with him driving right up my arse for about a mile after that, loser.

Feeling that more wine is required for this evening I popped into Iceland located at the cultural Mecca that is Broadfield Barton.  Whilst in the queue I'm fixated on the two blokes in front of me talking to each other like they can barely scrap half a brain cell between them.  Swearing and talking about going home and getting stoned I couldn't help but think it was sad and ignorant of them to have this discussion in the queue.  It was sad because they clearly have nothing else going on in their lives and it was so painfully obvious that they are happy to just exist as they are.  They aren't aspiring to be more, do more or see more.  Their life revolves around being with like minded people, smoking "gear", getting drunk on cheap booze and eating frozen pizzas & micro chips.  How did I come to this conclusion about two strangers after only listening to them in the queue at Iceland?  Truth is I didn't, I'm just being judgmental (and yes I know, pot, kettle black).  But there is a stereotype of a sort of person and I got to thinking about whether that person is truly happy as they are, or do they just not realise that there can be so much more to life?  It's not because they get stoned, or because they shop in Iceland, or because they're a bit thick.  It's because they may think that this is as good as it gets.

It was ignorant because they held no regard for the little boy and his father stood behind them as the f-words flew out of their mouth like water. 

I've come across a few people over the last few months who I want to ask "what are you doing?!".  People who are living their lives in the most ridiculous of situations.  Married couples, who don't talk, don't sleep in the same room, live separate lives, but won't divorce.  People who are working jobs they hate, with people they despise, but won't leave.  Why?  For what reason are you living your life being unhappy for?  Especially if you've spent the last 10, 15, 20 years living in a cycle of unfulfilled unhappiness, it's insane!  I'd rather be alone and broke, but happy and feel like I'm truly living my life, than settle.  It's just not healthy at all, I don't get people sometimes, I really don't...