Italia

Well hello there! Or should I say Ciao! That's right, I am back from Italia!

We had a fantastic time, we stayed in Sorrento which is close to Naples. Its a beautiful place and we would go back again. Even the people are beautiful, I hate them haha! There are lemon and orange trees everywhere, they make a nice alcoholic drink called Lemoncello with the lemons and that's coming from someone not a fan of lemons!

My CF has being very kind to me lately, before our holiday I was going to the gym 2-3 times a week and walking Alfie almost daily and whilst on holiday I have felt good too. My chest always feels better on holiday anyway as I think the heat dries it up so I cough less but it means once I get home there is alot of think mucus to come up! I had an outpatients appointment today and my fev1 is 42% and my weight is 54.5kg, I'm surprised I'm not about 60kg with the food I ate on holiday! I must admit I did get sick of pasta and pizza though and will be eating other types of food for awhile! So I got a thumbs up from the doctor, yeay! I also had a ultrasound this morning to look at my liver, its standard I have a scan every 2 years. I had to fast from last night and the scan took about 20 minutes.

I wasn't very impressed with Thomson with regards to my oxygen, they got really funny about my letter saying I had changed the date on it (which I had to save time and effort, I didn't realise it would be a big deal!), so I had to get another letter signed by my doctor which isn't exactly easy, Pete had to do it by fax at work to get it in time. They then didn't send me anything to confirm the oxygen was arranged so I had to call them, they claim to have emailed me.... When we checked in we couldn't be sat next to each other, we had the aisle between us, turns out needing oxygen gets you no extras or special treatment! When I got on the plane I checked they were aware I needed oxygen and they told me they had been told I 'might' need oxygen! So I got dumped with this stupid tank that required a white mask with a bag on the bottom of it, not the nasal cannula I had been promised when I spoke to the extra needs department! I had to sit straight else the bag kinked and got cut off, I felt like I couldn't breathe with the stupid bag and of course I looked an idiot! Luckily the seats behind me were free so Pete and I were moved to them so my tank could have its own seat, which begs the question why we were not seated there in the first place?!

Anyway I complained to the rep when we arrived and she made sure they knew I needed oxygen for the whole flight on the way home and would like a nasal cannula which thankfully they arranged! Again we had an aisle between us, the seat next to me was free for my tank which was lucky as it's not nice having the tank by your feet. This tank only gave you oxygen when you breathed in through your nose which was slightly annoying but alot better than the mask!

I was really tired in the airport on the way home, how much walking do you have to do in airports?! I'm seriously considering asking for a wheelchair next time so Pete can wheel me around!

We went to look around Herculaneum and Pompeii (both destroyed by Vesuvius in 79AD) the Sunday before we came home which was amazing, you can't believe the house you are stood in or the mosaics you are looking at are nearly 2,000 years old. Pompeii is massive, it was home to 20,000 Romans so we only got to see a small section of it really. I struggled walking around with the heat, dust and uneven floors but it was worth it!

We also hired a car for the day and drove on the Amalfi Coast, we got upgraded to a convertible Fiat for free which was good! Those roads are so scary, Italians are crazy drivers and the roads are narrow and bendy! It's a great drive though and very beautiful.

We spent the rest of the time relaxing by the pool, I of course sit in the shade. The heat makes me feel unwell and I'm very pale which people like to point out to me and make fun of all the time. Yes I don't tan, yes I am pale but I have accepted it, it's how I was born and I am not ashamed of it. I don't know why people have a problem with paleness, everyone is obsessed with getting a tan. I am pale and proud!

I've made a video of photos from the holiday as there are so many, the song is 'Torna a Surriento' (Come back to Sorrento), what other song could I have had?!

Bank Holiday Galore!

Whoops, sorry it's been a while! In my defence I have been busy and then too tired the rest of the time!

There have been what feels like a million bank holidays which really don't affect my life that much as I don't work on Fridays or Mondays! However Pete has been off work as he took the days off in-between, so we have had a busy two weeks. Back to normality now and a chance to rest!

We started off Good Friday by commencing decorate the living room. We started by Pete stripping the back wall and I did the borders for the paint. We finally finished on Tuesday after having to apply four coats of paint along with doing all the glossing and killing the mould on the wall, so that my mum could put up the wallpaper on Wednesday whilst we were away. I do not like decorating one bit, it's messy, there's crap everywhere, your house stinks and to top it all off we had to wear masks when it was really warm, I don't enjoy feeling like I can't breathe when I’m already out of breath from moving around so much! There are some pictures of us in our sexy masks on Pete's phone but I’ll leave that for another day.... Just a note to those with CF, when stripping wallpaper you should wear a mask as mould likes to grow under wallpaper (advised by my physio), I could physically see the mould growing under ours but even if you can't see it, there could be small particles. A normal dusk mask is not good enough as mould particles are so small they can still get through, you need to get a mask that is FFP2 or FFP3 (it's printed on the mask), and FFP1 isn't good enough. I found this out after researching on the internet, click here for the link.

Here is our living room before,


After!




On Wednesday we drove down to Kent as it was finally our trip to Hever Castle! We stayed in Tunbridge Wells on the Wednesday night and went out for a meal which involved me walking up a very steep hill on the way back! Then on the Thursday after a rough start as Travelodge just decided to turn the water off before Pete had, had a shower, we went to Hever Castle. Here are some photos from the day

Then on Friday it was the Royal Wedding of course! Yes I think I am a royalist, I loved it! How can you not love the fact the Queen is riding in a 100 year old carriage or all the beautiful clothes or all the tradition, I think it’s great! My friend came around to watch it with me as Pete went to the rugby; she brought some lovely cupcakes with her with Will and Kate on so I forgave her for being half an hour late and missing most of the ceremony!

She was planning to stay all day but I had to ask her to go home in the afternoon as I really needed to have a nap and just be by myself so I could relax a little, I was so tired I wasn’t being a very good hostess. She then came back in the afternoon and somehow I ended up dying her hair and we got a takeaway. I also got a text from Pete saying he was on Sky sports as they’d videoed him and his mates wearing masks of the royal family at the rugby. So if you were watching the Leeds Rhinos game and you saw some idiots wearing masks, my husband was the Queen!

We went to church on Easter Sunday and then to my Nana’s for a Sunday roast which was nice. Then we have also been to a barbeques at my mum’s and I also went out for tea with my friends on Sunday.

So like I say I have been very busy and as a result feeling very tired! I’m just going to try take this week easy as we are going on holiday soon and I don’t want to end up ill and spending my whole holiday sleeping and feeling exhausted. I think Alfie is due a few walks this week though as he has been neglected slightly and been very well behaved so deserves them! By the way here is a picture of our new fridge freezer, it finally arrived after lots of complaining by me and ended up being delivered in a car by one oldish man, I was very worried but it worked out in the end..!

The Young Victoria

We went to see the Young Victoria on Tuesday night and it was brilliant! We were the youngest people in there by about 30 years as Pete pointed out to me. We heard some old guy talking about us because Pete got his phone out to turn it off so this guy said quite loudly 'these youngsters always got to get their mobiles out', how rude!!! He is lucky I didn't say out loud 'oh is it pensioners day out today?', but I am not rude (just in my head). I don't know what it is about some old people they think they have a right to be rude, you wouldn't believe all the filthy looks I get from elderly people when I park in a disabled spot even though I have a valid sticker. I have news for you, just been elderly in itself isn't a disability! It's a privilege to people like me!

Anyway rant over, back to the film. I loved it, I knew I would. I was about Victoria's struggle to become Queen when her Uncle the King dies because she is so young, and then she marries Prince Albert and he tries to take over abit too but in the end they work out a happy medium. In the film they make Albert get shot which didn't actually happen (someone did try to shoot them though), but you have to dramatise it sometimes! I love all the outfits and the way they talk and act all prim and proper! I love the dancing (although I prefer the older dancing and outfits from earlier times). You all know by now I'm abit of a geek when it comes to history especially regarding monarchs etc. I spent about 2 hours yesterday (seriously) researching about Victoria and her children etc so I'm slightly clued up now. God I'm such a geek! Pete is going to take me to London to see Henry VIII's armour at the Tower and also a love letter he wrote to Ann Boleyn at the British Library, can't wait! Pete knows me so well!!

Mirrors

Well I decided to go see the film, I'm hardcore you see...! Pete drove us to the cinema as I didn't think I was in a fit state to drive. The film was quite scary but not as scary as I thought it would be. The dead kid was scary and there was a freaky dog with a twisted around head. I am now scared of looking in mirrors again, this has always been a fear of mine for as long as I remember. The fear was promoted when I saw a film with Halle Berry in and she is driving and looks in her windmirror and there is a ghost sat on her back seat. Also in the grudge 2 the dead girl is in a mirror, window reflection etc in like every scene, I remember Pete and I screaming every time we saw her, it was so funny at the time. She is even in someones desk in one scene. In The Unborn they say mirrors are a path into our world and that's why the demon goes after twins as they are like mirrors (although in nonidentical twins I cannot understand this idea so much). So now I am scared of mirrors again, I'm glad I have never seen the scary film that is called 'Mirrors'! I remember when I saw The Grudge I was scared of getting into bed for ages, as the ghost woman crawls up the bed and kills someone! It didn't help when Pete did it to me in the middle of the night making the funny noise she makes and crawled up the bed! One of the scariest films I've ever seen though has to be The Ring. Oh my god it is sooo scary I don't think I could watch it again, argh! when she crawls out the TV! I once dreamt that happened, it was not good! Also in the Ring 2 I think it is, when she is crawling up the side of the well and is moving all weird, I think I nearly had a heart attack from fear!! I'm all scared now just thinking about it and I'm at home by myself!... Argh!

Yesterday I still felt pretty rubbish but I got up about half 10 and got ready, then watched some film about the last Russian royal family who were killed. I didn't get to see it all as we took Alfie for a walk which is a shame because I was quite enjoying it! It was so busy around the lake because it was a Sunday and a nice day. We then went to my mums for tea and my Auntie was there too. My brother has got a new sporty Clio and took us for a spin in it, I feared for my life at times.... Then Pete and I went home and watched Terminator. Wahoo! Can you believe Pete has never seen Terminator! The shame! Terminator 4 is coming out in June so he needs to get up to speed with the story, its got Christian Bale in it, can't wait! Pete and I have some weird obsession with Christian Bale, I am obsessed because he is fit and Pete must think he is cool, he is Batman and John Conner after all! I think he is cool too and he always plays moody, weird characters...so sexy :o)

Guess what else is coming back in April (In America, not sure about the UK), THE TUDORS!!!! I need to calm down, the excitement is too much....!!!!!

Best 4 years of my life!!

Well on Friday Pete and I had been together 4 years and what a great 4 years it has been (I love you lots Pete and can't wait to marry you xx). Pete had the day off work so we went to York, I love York because it's all historic and I just love it! There are little sweet shops and cobbled streets and castles!!

It took us ages to find somewhere to park as I wanted to be close to the town centre for obvious reasons, yet I didn't want to pay loads for parking as i'm tight with my money. We ended up going into the shopping centres car park where I spoke to a very rude carpark man. He was in a little office and I got out of the car, the conversation went like this:

Me: 'hello, could I park in one of these spaces?' (pointing to some coned off spaces which I thought were disabled spaces)

'no'

'oh right...erm why?'

'because they are not disabled spaces, they are shopmobility spaces' (he said this in a very sarcastic tone, almost laughing at me)

'oh, where are the disabled spaces then?'

'there' (points to about 8 spaces that are all taken)

'oh well they are all taken'

'-' (no response)

'well thanks for all your help' (me in a sarcastic tone)

So we parked in a normal space and put my sticker out (as parking was free for 5 hours with a sticker). The only reason I wanted to park in a disabled space was because i've heard of people been given a ticket for parking in the 'wrong' space with their disabled sticker! Whats shopmobility anyway?

Anyway, after receiving a lovely 'warm' welcome by the guy, I still managed to have a really great day, we went for lunch in a restaurant over looking the river, then went to the York dungeons where I got picked on by the actors. The supposed plague doctor asked me if i had a cough, I told him I had the plague so to keep away. He said 'ok no need to be smart funny hair girl' (!!!). He then make me sit behind a curtain and pretended to knock the plague out of me with a hammer. I then had to stand in the docks and be accused of witchcraft. At one point we were sat in the dark and someone was going around poking us, it was well scary!

We then walked to see York Minster and then had a coffee in Starbucks (I love their white chocolate Mocha) then headed home. It was a great day, heres some pictures

Saturday was X factor night, and all I have to say on that matter is it's some kind of fix to keep Danni's group in! I can't believe Daniel and Rachel are still in and Laura isn't, something is not quite right there...

Today is remembrance Sunday and I just managed to watch the last parts of the service (didn't wake up till 10.30am and then stayed in bed for ages). I don't know much about the wars etc. But I am very grateful for all those who have fought in them and i'm glad this day is dedicated to them. I don't think people like myself would be around if it wasn't for their bravery and for that I am will be grateful forever. I love the service, seeing the Queen, the clergy, choir etc and the music and marching, its all traditional and it's stuff like that, that makes England great!

I'm feeling really happy at the moment and positive, i'm so ungrateful sometimes for the life I have. My life is great, my family are great, my friends are great, and i'm just feeling great! yeay!

Looking sexy in my gloves

Well now that I have caught up with The Tudors series, I am abit lost as to what to do! Therefore I decided I could not put off cleaning the flat any longer, the scum in the bathroom had to go. So I got my new gloves out and set to work. I vacuumed every room, mopped, put the bedding in the wash then hung it outside and cleaned both bathrooms. Heres a picture to prove it, (BEWARE, this is not a picture of the Gemma you are used to, I have no make up on, messy hair, glasses on and I am still in my pjs, argh the picture might turn you into stone!!)

It took its toll though, haven't really done much else, just sat on my arse watching tv and looking on the internet at all the English monarchs that have ever existed, i'm totally serious..... im such a geek. I was going to have a kip, but couldn't be bothered, if that makes sense! haha! I might have one in a minute, Alfie is having one and its appealing to me.

Pete and I think we have found the venue for our wedding reception. Yeay! Its an old house and all the rooms are different, the bridal room is really old and has secret doors in it! The room for the reception is nice and big with chandeliers, oh fancy. Plus they only hold one wedding a day which is great, no chance of running into another bride, which would kind of ruin the day! We have a few more to look at but we really like this one.

I called the gym a minute ago which I am planning on joining, I wanted to arrange a look around before I start handing over my money. The guy asked me what days I could come and I told him then he went quiet so I assumed he was looking on a computer or looking for someone. So I sat there patiently, one minute passed, then two minutes, then three minutes and I was beginning to wonder if he had forgotten about me. Then I heard him cough on the other end of the phone, so I waited another minute and then said 'are you still there?', he said yes he was and then carried on with booking the appointment. Now im confused, did he think i was doing something and waiting for me? Or did he go to sleep for 5 minutes? Anyway, it has not put great faith in me as to what to expect tomorrow when I go look around! I think going to the gym may help my lung function as well as get rid of my fat arse :o) , it has a swimming pool which is what im mainly interested in. I can get a discounted rate as I cannot use all the equipment such as saunas as they have lots of bacteria in them (or so I have been informed and told to avoid), I could use a running machine but for about 1 minute! I definitely won't be able to use anything when i'm on my iv's, plus its recommended by the physios that I do exercise to improve my health.