2014 Gillio Tour - Part 3

Hello!!!

Sorry, I have had a bit of a hiatus again, I was so close to being a regular blogger!

Here we are again, now we are at Part 3 of my Tour around Crocidilla my lovely Gillio, I haven't used her much in the past week or so though, which hasn't been good, I do not know what is wrong, but I can't concentrate or remember anything. I can't even remember to write things down, my brain seems to be loosing it, and I do not know what I can do to help!

Next section in my Gillio is my Finance section! YAY

At the front (usually) is a Budget for the current month, I never really stick to it, but I like to try and budget a bit so I have all my lunch/Diesel money separate from all my spending money and Direct Debits so I do not overspend, which is so hard to do!  But I am getting a lot better! YAY

But on the front this time is a sheet of paper with my Car Insurance workings out, as I had an accident it all went up, and I was trying to beat the quote from Volkswagen of £1,500, which is 10% of the price of my car.... I am really not going to pay that much when I can get just over 1/3 of the price!

There is one of my lovely Hema stickers at the top, this was the last time I saw them, I do not know where I put them or where I last used them! I am pretty sure it was on this page! They were such cute circles with pretty things on!

Next there is a break down of each weeks spending, which shows how much I have spent under 4 categories.

Here is an example of my Finance Sheet, it is all probably wrongly worked out, but it is more of just a guide so I can see where my money is going, as if I am honest, I can never remember what I have paid for on my card, so then at least I have some sort of guide, but I have been really bad with this in the past few weeks and I haven't tracked my Finances really all of November!

Next is my Planning Section:

At the moment in my planning section is a few pages on planning for going to the Forest of Dean.

Then I have my Christmas planning section, which if I am honest is pretty bare!! I haven't really written anything in it! I will need to start soon! As it is nearly Christmas!

Next section is lists:

On the left is my stationery ordering list which is usually just a rough scribble and I swap the paper over to the opposite side after a while.

On the right are films and tv programmes I want to watch

I also have a list of films I watched, when I was recovering from my surgery I watched a lot of films!

I have a list of people who have requested to join a group I admin, as I am very picky about who gets accepted

Then I have my bucket list! It isn't a complete bucket list as it is all more things that I can do, some things are a bit more extravagant

Information section, not very exciting!

I have some cute Address sheets made by Cute Organizing! They are lovely, but I cannot show you them as they have address on, it also comes with a birthday planner!

I did have a password section at the back, which has now been removed due to my 2015 inserts needing to go in!

At the back I have some cards, break down recovery, NI card, CSMA Club card and my Medical Exemption Certificate Card.

In the big pocket at the back I keep important documents I need, like appointment letters and such!

That was a complete tour of my Gillio, a lot has changed since I took these photos!

I hope you have enjoyed it!

An AIS Fairy-tale - Written for Inter/Act

(Photo taken just before I told him)

Once upon a time there was a prince and princess, who met in a dull pub called The Weavers. The prince’s chat-up line to the princess was about the boost in his car and how little her car had. The very next day the prince picked the princess up in his trusty steed—an Audi S3.

They drove around the coast, to a beach, he wanted her to have a go in his trusty steed, as he was sure she wouldn’t be able to drive it.

A few of the princess’s friends warned her about the prince, but they didn’t know the prince the way the princess had become to know him. They didn’t know how much of an amazing person the prince could be.

After a few dates the princess felt she had to tell the prince of her curse, after all what is a princess without a curse. This wasn’t a curse of being asleep for years, this was a curse of being born differently than other princesses, but the princess didn’t think of the curse as a bad thing. She thought of it as a super-power that made her stronger than all the other princesses!

She had waited until a week after they met to tell him, she couldn’t wait any longer, the fear was building inside and she was becoming very nervous. She just wanted to let him know so she could know if he was just another frog or if he was her true prince charming!

On Saturday she picked her prince up to go on an adventure, she drove all over the land searching for the perfect place to share with him her story. As she drove around the beautiful Cornish Countryside there was a place she found that she thought was perfect.

She pulled in and found a place to park. Then she looked at her prince and started to talk. She explained that she had Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS) and all the basic things: like that she has XY Chromosomes and was born with testes inside of her abdomen which were removed when she was 17. She told him that she cannot have children and that she has no reproductive organs other than her vagina. She felt a bit silly saying this as her and the prince had not even kissed as yet. But the princess was scared that if she started to like her prince too much before telling him, there could be issues later on in their fairy-tale.

After she told the prince she felt relieved, but a bit confused. As she looked at her prince he looked fine, not shocked or confused and he just had a normal expression on his face. He then told her something she wasn’t expecting to hear. He said, “I already knew”. The princess was shocked by this and she didn’t know what to say.

She asked him, “How did you know?” He explained that he had read about her CAIS on her blog and he knew someone from school who also had the same condition. The princess was really surprised by this! This prince didn’t mind that his princess had this condition. In fact, he was happy about it all and it didn’t faze him.

After that date, the prince and princess had their first kiss. Since their kiss, the princess and her prince have been inseparable.

He has become the most perfect prince charming!

And like in all fairy tales, they lived happily ever after…

(This is a true story, just with added magic ;)

Originally from Inter/Act

Random Facts - Part 1

I found this in my drafts, It was written about a year ago today, I quite enjoyed this post I will share some more random thoughts from my head soon!

I am an Apple person, nothing else comes close, I have tried other brands and always hated them.

I think one of my eyes is lower than the other, or one of my eye brows is higher? (that really is random)

Pomegranate juice may look tasty, but it is not (I just found this out after spending £2 on a small bottle)

I haven't bought any stationery in a long time, like pens pencils etc...

My memory is getting worse, I think it has to be to do with the hormones, I am thinking of trying something called DHEA which everyone has been talking about recently, bit nervous about it though!

I quite often watch a film or something and forget what is happening, my memory is that bad

I can feel that my injection has worn off completely now and I have another 3 weeks until I get a top up!

Since getting my new car 5 weeks ago, I have been nearly 2,500 miles! (maybe more I haven't looked in a while)

The snowman in my office is only flashing red....is that a sign?

I have size 9 feet.... MAN FEET

I am Tee-Total but I am pretty sure I did a post about that once, wow I have been tee total a bloody long time!! - I have so many more reasons now to be tee total as well - I feel proud! (I have had like one or two drinks of alcohol a year but still that is pretty good)

Harrison Ford is still magical, even though he is an old man

Now I have the Indiana Jones theme in my mind.....

Lomography Doubles of Ponies

All taken on Lomo LC-A+ using 35mm 400 ISO (not sure on the brand) I know it was expired.

I created all these by taking random photos of pictures on my computer, all the pictures had black back grounds with colours and then re wound the roll (the end went in by mistake so I had to take the film to have the end taken out) then put it back through my camera, and took the ponies over the top!

I love creating random things with my camera

When I went to pick these up the man said to me " I think something has gone wrong, are they supposed to be so strange" I said yes, he went on to say "but there are two pictures on one on all of them", nothing like a bit of confusion :)

2014 Gillio Tour - Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of the our around my Gillio!! 

The next part of my Gillio is the Weekly section! I really love these inserts by Cute Organizing!! They just make me feel happy when I open up my diary! 

The firs thing I have is another picture of my boyfriend and I, because it makes me smile, it was another I had for my op, but I wanted to have it in my diary just as it is cute!

As you can see I am using a week on a page, and between each week I have a clear fly leaf, and my today ruler, but the fly leaf sticks out a bit so works as a today ruler too! I do not know why I cut my ruler in half but I seem to like it that way, so much better!

On my fly leaf I put sticky notes about things I need to remember, like stationery companies who keep hassling me! Which happens regularly at work!

I keep all of the past weeks together with a Smile Clip, I love these clips so much they sell them at Cult Pens! They are just so cute and happy and hold so much paper and do not damage it, they also do not take up too much room and are not as bad for writing over!

Here is a close up of my Ruler, as you can see I have a rainbow bunny, a my little pony and a panda! And half a Gillio Sticker! That is from when I cut it in half, I had the Gillio Sticker in the middle!

Here is an example of my pages! I have a bit of Star Ferry tape from Midori at the bottom on this page! The countdown is to my Holiday in the Forest of Dean!

I only included this picture as I wanted you to see my new favorite tape!!! It is just so pretty!

Christmas Pages have tape from Paperchase!

At the back I record all my holiday, so I know how many days I have taken and then I can have a record in case my boss forgets when I have been off! It works well! I do have one on the computer too but I prefer this one!

On the other side of the paper is my Overtime sheet, which hasn't got much on as I am starting overtime next week, yay..... not so yay!  Now on to my Notes Section!

This was some notes I wrote about having to go to the doctors for some blood tests! I am a bit like a pin cushion always needed to be poked and prodded

The next few pages were me trying to decide what diary inserts/diary format to use for 2015! I think I have decided when it arrives I will share it with you!

I have a Cashback Claim sheet so I can write when cashback has been claimed etc! It is very useful and it means I can keep track of it!

Next my To-Do list section!

My To - Do section is quite simple, it is just a list which I scribble and tick as ticking isn't enough, I cannot have a to do list without a sticker on as it makes it seem more cheerful!

That is all of this section, next week I will share the rest of my diary with you!

Tee Total - Part 2

Afternoon

The reason I have called this Part 2 is due to writing a post about being tee total back in 2011!

I would say I have been tee total now since I was 18? Maybe a bit younger as I have never really drank from what I can remember (and no my memory isn't bad due to alcohol abuse, it is due to HRT before you say anything), so many people always seem so shocked by my choice to not drink, and really do not understand.

I am pretty used to it now, I may have one drink every so often, I think I may of had 2 drinks of Cider maybe 3 this year, I had Half a Pint in February, in Central in Newquay with my friend, maybe 1/3 of a pink as I didn't drink the whole glass! And most of a bottle of berry cider sometime in May? Maybe June.

There is one huge benefit to this being tee total, I always get to drive, I do not have to wait for a taxi, I can just leave when I want and go home! That isn't the only benefit but it is one of them.

As I have been total for so long it seems like normal to me, I am not envious of waking up with a hangover, or being sick etc, I love having a kind of clean life, I do not smoke either, and I have started exercising, but there will be more on that in Part 3 of my Breast Reduction Story, but I do eat chocolate and other nice things like that.

My favorite drink is still water! I love the stuff! It can get a bit boring, and I am a bit of a water snob, I used to LOVE Volvic, but I am starting to like Evian when it has been in a fridge until it is the perfect temperature, also drinking water out of a Glass bottle always tastes better than a plastic bottle.

Nowadays when I go out with people drinking I have a pint of coke! Then continue with the water.

I don't think anyone will ever truly understand not having a need or a want for alcohol other than other people who do not drink.

There are many reasons why I don't drink,

One being it gives me acid, another being I spent a long time around an alcoholic and saw what alcohol can do to people, I just do not see any fun in drinking alcohol and I am happy that way!

Breast Reduction - The Story - Part 2

...... Read Part 1 here - CLICK HERE 

I was so lucky that my surgery had been rescheduled only just over a week after the date they cancelled. I started to prepare and was getting nervous. 

I forgot to mention I had my pre op a few weeks before, I had an ECG, Blood Tests, BMI, a long list of questions with a nurse. 

With a few days to go to the operation I had a thought in the back of my mind that it could be cancelled at any time, someone in my office had a bit of a cold, they moved downstairs in the hope I wouldn't catch it, but it was too late, by 4 days before my op I started to get a cold!

I went to ASDA and got every single cold thing I could think of, Nose spray, Airwaves Chewing Gum, Vitamins, Orange Juice, Veg soup etc.... I spent over £20 just on things to try and clear the cold! 

It was getting closer and closer and I kept googling, "What if I have a cold before surgery" not knowing what the answer would be, my boss luckily let me have the day off before my operation to try and sleep and get better! 

I phoned the hospital and the person on the phone just said to me, they wont know until the day as it depends if you have a temperature of if it has gone on to your chest, being Asthmatic it going on to my chest was a big worry!!! I was starting to feel a bit of a rattle and was feeling really ill. 

My boyfriend kept checking my temperature for me every few minutes, and he kept telling me it would be ok, and just see what they say in the morning! 

The night before we had to go to my parents house, I was starting to feel so nervous and scared that I burst in to tears, luckily my boyfriend was there to cuddle me and tell me it would all be ok! 

I had to get to the hospital for 7am the next day, so I had an early night! I woke up around 5:30am as it was nearly an hour drive, we got down there so early! We went in to the hospital, it was getting scarier and scarier, but if I am honest I was so excited about the potential of having small boobies I wasn't showing it too much, when I got in I needed the toilet, I was desperate!

We sat in a waiting room until the ward opened up at 7am, then I can't remember if a nurse came to get me or if we all just sort of walked in the direction of the wards, but when we got in to the ward all the nurses were so friendly and made me feel at ease, they took away my nerves completely! 

When I was shown to my bed I was told to sit there and await an assessment, not long after a lovely trainee nurse came over to talk me through everything, I told her of my worry about my cold, she was so nice and took my temperature and blood pressure and all. 

She had to go through the list of things like in pre op, but then not long after my surgeon turned up, I was expecting to not see him until 10am or a bit later then maybe go to surgery around 11am, he came in to see me at about 8:30am maybe a little earlier, and said I was the only surgery he had that day as he wanted to put all his focus on my operation! 

When he came in I felt instantly relaxed and slightly nervous, I didn't know what to say. 

Not long after he came around and bought a pen with him to draw on me! 

I sat there on the bed as he drew on me and explained what he was going to do, I asked if I would be able to have the surgery due to my cold and he said yes, I felt instantly relieved. 

The surgeon left me there with my mum and boyfriend, then a nurse came in a few minutes after I saw the anaesthetist, and said I will be going down in a minute, I noticed in the hall way a man with an Elvis style hair cut, I pointed him out to my mum and boyfriend, and found it funny! 

My dad had gone outside to put more money in the ticket machine for the car, the nurse said they were ready for me to go down, all of a sudden a rush of fear went over me, I was thinking what if I can't give my dad a hug before I go down, I hugged my mum and boyfriend, then my dad came around the corner (I am a bit of a daddy's girl), I gave him a hug then I went down, and guess who took me down!!

THE MAN WITH THE ELVIS HAIR!!!

He was nice, trying to talk to me to distract me from the fact I was about to have an operation, but with me being shy as usual, I wasn't the most talkative, he took me in to the room where they put you to sleep, said goodbye and left me with a nurse. 

I was told to get up on a bed, and she started to stick different things all over me, in the end I was covered in so many monitoring devises I didn't know what to do! 

The anaesthetist came in and said she was going to give me something to relax me, this wasn't the stuff to make me sleepy, she injected it in and said I would start to go all dizzy, and felt a bit sick then before I knew it I had fallen asleep, before I had any anaesthetic.  I think I was really tired as I didn't sleep well!! 

The next thing I remember was kind of coming around and choking and urging and trying to be sick, someone putting a bowl in front of me then being injected with something, I have no idea if I was going to be sick or if they were taking something out my throat was such a weird feeling. 

I do not really remember much of that evening, other then having to use a bed pan every so often. 

I started to wake up about 2am or 3am the next morning, feeling a bit more awake, the nurse said I would probably go home that day. 

The next morning I noticed I had drains in, and I was just feeling uncomfortable, not real pain or anything just because the bed wasn't the most comfortable! I was starting to get really bored and my phone battery kept dying!!! Who would of thought that would be my worry, but there was no tv nothing at all to look at other than a lady asleep opposite me and the ceiling, my highlights were going to the toilet once I got used to walking again! It felt like 4 days! but it was only one day!!!

I was told I could go home!! Best news I had heard!!!

My boyfriend came down to visit me and finished work early and just sat there keeping me company, he had bought me some present the day before but I didn't really look at them as I wasn't really with it! I felt bad! 

He is so sweet! 

My grandparents came to visit and I still wasn't very awake so all I could hear was my grandparents quizzing my boyfriend on if he ate liver, kidneys and all other disgusting things, and he does eat all those weird things! 

Later that day came the time they were to remove the drains! I was told it would happen at 4pm!!!

Watching the clock was absolutely HORRIBLE!!! 

The nurse came in, she wasn't my favorite, she seemed a bit stressed and grumpy! 

She started to pull and told me to breath out as she did, on the left side the pain was so bad! I think it was quite far in, where as on the right side I felt nothing really!!!

Once the drains were out, I had to walk to the car, my first proper walk, it was horrible, I felt so tired, I had no energy! I had hardly eaten as I am so fussy!  

The car journey home was horrible, I get car sick, and this was a time I felt so bad the whole way home, there was a long traffic jam, the journey took a whole 1 hour and 30 minutes when it should of taken 40 minutes, and when you feel sick the whole time, it is not great! 

I got inside and laid down, I had a little nap and my boyfriend came in and sat next to me. 

I was so happy to be home! It was time to build my pillow nest and have a nap!..........

You can read the rest in my next post about my recovery! 

2014 Gillio Tour - Part 1

Today I am going to start a tour around my beautiful Gillio Medium Compagna Fuchsia Croco Matt, otherwise known as Crocidilla, she is a beautiful pink and looks so different in all sorts of lights, I love how soft and floppy her leather is, she really is a joy to use!

I do not know why I am really considering even using something different as she works for me the way she is and I find her irresistibly beautiful!

I want to start my tour of my Gillio just by showing you the first two tabs, (I have 9 tabs in total [I think]) as you can tell I am planning on doing this post over a few days due to the fact there is more to look at, and I want to show lots of little random aspects of my Crocidilla!

Here she is in all her beauty!!

You can see from the outside that she is quite stuffed, you can see I have some receipts poking out, which isn't the way she usually is, I have not been a good girl and haven't recorded my finances all weekend so the receipts are just there sticking out! Next to Crocidilla you can see my favorite pen, my lovely Coleto, it is mainly there to see the colour.

Now she has been opened up you can see the huge mess that is inside my Gillio at the front! Ignore those receipts, and the Match and More Card, my theory is to just try and buy fuel at Morrisons then use the vouchers to buy more fuel! I will show you all the random cards in that little pocket there now.

A ticket stub from when I went to see the Inbetweeners with my boyfriend and his friends, a ticket from an arcard where my boyfriend and I played and he won me a toy, so I kept a ticket. The best brownie company in the worlds business card, hidden blow, my hairdressers "loyalty" card, I am not sure I want to go there again, not that they did anything wrong, just so expensive!! And finally, my Byron card about takeaway, the first time I visited a Byron, oh my, and they didn't have any near me, now there is one 60 miles away!! YAY!!!

In the zip pocket there is two leather samples for some other Gillio Colours I love, the Dark Green and Dark Brown, I am starting to love the gold as well!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the gold but I would be too worried about it and it isn't pink! A worry doll, I kid you not, but I tell this little doll my worries and I have since I was about 8, when I had a bag full of them, and I forget them! This doll is AMAZING! The little bit at the back is my wrist band from when I was in hospital!

You can see the pretty pink colour here!! As you can see I have one of the Kate Spade Bow Paperclips, and I know everyone has one, but it cost a lot of money!! You would be surprised how much people charge for a paperclip! But I had to buy it as I think they look so cute and it goes so well with my pink cute leather! I know I am a sheep but it is just so cute!

In the FIRST (yes there is more than one) secretarial pocket, I have a random voucher, some sticky notes and a list of places I want to visit, which I really need to write into my Gillio but I have been LAZY as I already have my bucket list in there so I just put a few on there!

Here is my fly leaf (finally you say) I have a perfume sample card, which smells beautiful! It made the leather smell a bit like play dough but that has worn off but the pages smelt so beautiful! Eventually I will buy some Daisy but I am not sure which one!

The love you was created by my boyfriend on my label maker when I was off ill, and there are a few random stickers!

When you turn my dashboard over there is some eBay postage receipts, it is the safest place to keep them! Then they are there when you need them!

The picture is one of my boyfriend and I, which was printed before I went in to hospital as I wanted to have a picture to keep me company at night, but luckily as I was only in one night it was ok, and I was so asleep I didn't notice anything!

On the left I have three business cards, one is my next appointments at my dentist, next is the business card for my nurse and the final one is a shop called hobby mounts that sells amazing go pro accessories, I really need to use my Go Pro more!!

I have had this notes in folder for YEARS and YEARS!!! It has been most of my, whats in my filofax posts etc, therefore I have moved it over here, there is loads of crap and a random dinosaur I drew years ago, but that is about it!

Here is my first divider! I HEAR YOU ALL SAY FINALLY, yet again! Sorry it has been so long but there is a lot to share!

All my dividers are made by Sachiko from Cute Organizing, which is someone I always go on about, my monthly diary is made by her too which you will see in a minute!

Here we go, monthly tab!

Here is the front cover, which I love it is so cute, I think I slightly prefer it to the 2015 cover, but that is mainly as the colours are so much more me!

I have shown you my birthday month on here, but there are many other months! I have blogged about the monthly inserts already so CLICK HERE and you can read it!

On the left I write down all the dates I need to write in the next year, but I have covered it up as it is mainly important doctors appointments, which I have so many of! YAY

So that is all there is for Part 1 of my 2014 Gillio Tour!! Next time expect to see, the full length back pocket, weekly diary, notes and my to do section!

I hope  you enjoyed it and if you have any questions just let me know and I will try and help or answer them!