Dia de Andalucía

today is andalucía day, a day to celebrate andalucia of course! a huge area covering 17.2% of spain, thats 87,268 km sq.

not sure whats going on around town today, franco is up on the terraza building a wall to keep the plants in and pippa out! last week he built the surrounding walls up with some decorative bricks, looks good, but needs some climbing plants to give a bit of color there.

although its been getting warmer now the last couple of weeks outside, its now warmer indoors to at last! its only early and the sun isnt on our house at all yet, but all the windows are open and i'm just nice in a tshirt and jeans thank you very much!

yesterday nearly everyone noticed how it just felt that little bit different, like summer is here, subtle, some strange change in the humidity or something, not sure, but we were all talking about it, it was 25 in the shade on the roof, and i visited with dawn and her friend who are out here for holidays staying at marias down on the coast, there was me in my black trousers and tops, and them in nik beanies! (thats bikini to most people!) i had come straight from work and looked like it!

got an email this morning a part of which i think most of you will enjoy reading hope this works! oh cant find a bit to do what i want to do, looks like i will have to type out the whole thing!

nope cant copy and paste, will try and work it out later...

meanwhile, i must up load some photos i took at work the other week, and i have booked a trip to england for may, cant wait to see sarah and darrens little baby callum... which i could just hyper beam myself up and over there to see them! i suppose i would be doing that to see everyone, just once a month would be good, and then of course all my far far away family over in the states! my brother, my step mom, all my cousins... oh my goodness!

We love many things,
simply out of fear of losing them....

TTFN
Marian

where is the time going? cant believe its friday again already! weather has been unsettled this week, some sun, and when its out its baking, then it clouds over and a few drops of rain, then back to sunshine! this has been the norm all week.

cudeca on monday was a quiet day too, we all missed denise and kept expecting her to be there somewhere in the shop... hope she arrived back in ireland by now! and is settling in, must seem very strange, i cant imagine going back to england now, i really cant.

at work i was round the back of the shop and another of us was sort of down on the floor looking through something and we were talking, there was a tall steamer thing nearby, its mainly on the floor with a tall metal bit with a hook for the clothes and when not in use the steamer head rests in the hook... still with me on this? anyway, we were talking and when she got up she continued to talk to me, but was looking at the steamer, just for the second it took for her to realise the thing standing behind her was just that, the steamer, and that i was a bit further away!

i guess you had to of been there, but it was so funny we were in stitches! and who says inanimate objects dont talk back!

my three days in the other shop were all quite busy, i know i know, its only two hours! but lots more local people are coming in which is really good, helps learning spanish and of course good for sales, we have lots of spanish magazines now and so when they come in for fax or phone credit etc etc and see them hopefully they will come back for more.

today i popped in to get the friday free paper to hunt down a job, nothing in it all this week, well not for me, all telesales (holidays or realestate!) or realestate work, a few others i could have done if i had perfect written and spoken español!

walked along the street saw another friend and joined her for coffee and my mate arrived about half hour later, we were there over an hour and then after a turn about town i came home!

have a whole load of things that i really need to do, paperwork and such, writing and contacting people but i put stuff off like that for ages, last night i put it all on the dining table to begin today, but after just one set back have decided to leave till monday!

not really in the mood have a bit of a headache, my own fault, for some unknown reason i decided not to take my anti inflamitorory tablets??? wednesday and thursday? doh! so yesterday i found that i really should have and was in terrible pain with just about every bone in my body! so took far too many pain killers yesterday and went back to my tablets today, so not sure what that was all about!

The fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself.
And no heart ever suffered
when it went in search of its dreams...

TTFN
Marian

Is it feast or famine?

well is it? am not expecting to hear from freezer store now, but after posting yesterday read my emails and had an offer of a promotion down on the coast again, may and june, a full eight weeks, i responded without thinking that yes i was interested.... then forwarded on a beautiful email i got from friends, only silly bit at the bottom about passing it on and that long awaited call thing at 11am, you know that silly thing!

well off i trotted into town and only just off our street and at just before 11 my mobile phone rang and there is a friend from a couple of years ago i used to work for on the golf courses! i had enquired about an ad and she was calling me back to say vacancy filled now, but would keep me in mind if and when it got busier on the courses!

and then i had time to think about the promo job, could i really and truly deal with that again, 2 hours driving a day, out at 830am back home gone 9pm, and over 8 hours just standing, not really moving about much? i dont think i can, sitting maybe and standing and moving about, yes, but just standing, for eight whole weeks, i really dont think i can, and when i got back had email waiting saying great! do you know anyone who will do the other area, pick which one i want and give to a friend the other! well sounds to me they dont have anyone else who wants to do such a long day either if she is suggesting this eh! only its a contract...... but phisically i cant do it, and now i have to email back and tell her.

.... and to town, got to friends shop and she was on her way out and invited me to go with her, so i had a trip out to a couple of warehouses in malaga! buying stationary and bags etc, was good fun! always have been a bit of a stationary freak! and so much of it, good thing i wasnt buying, all those little unwanted bits and pieces!

got back to the shop about 230, and then my other buddy was out with her husband and caught me out of the house this late in the afternoon and we had coffee, was about 430 by the time i got home!

now this is all.... have franco's cold and my head is aching along with all the symptoms, although the week i have had regarding the job and the job and the job, but not a job! no wonder my brain hurts!

The first indication that we are killing our dreams is lack of time.

TTFN
Marian

you know i realised after i left yesterday morning that when i came on here to write my post i had every intention of disrepecting the company who was so rude not to let me know about the job, but just getting it out of my system did the trick... well mostly!

and i dont tell everyone about going for jobs, it gets a bit boring, most people i know who are job hunting just dont mention it anymore seeing as the 'proper' jobs are so few and far between with 100's of people going for each one.

its something you dont think about moving here, the jobs in the papers week after week are at least 99% realestate or telesales (for realestate or timeshare, ooops sorry holiday share now i mean!!!)

yesterday after work us girls from monday (cudeca), well most of us, met up to say good bye and good luck to denise who is off back to ireland with her husband and son... we are going to miss her so much... and her husband came and wisked her off far too soon and we were left bereft...

and i told my friend as i said i would on here yesterday, about leaving and not wanting to muck her about as i have been and she said no that i am to stay, and apply for jobs and go for interviews and only leave when i have another job to go to... a good friend indeed i think!

We are all capable of achieving whatever we want and need.

TTFN
Marian

bit early to blog my eyes havent come into focus yet, so sorry for even more typos today! but if i dont get this off my chest before i go out i may explode and make a rather awful mess!

the job ..... yes its about a job! but the job i mentioned briefly the other day, i had originally applied for it last november, and like many others, didnt even get an aknowledgement, so forgot all about it, then the other week got a call telling me only now were they going ahead with the interviews, had interview, was ok, new large supermarket taking on about 30 new staff, out of goodness knows how many applicants i suppose. was told i would hear within 24 hours... 48 hours later i got a call saying i would hear next wednesday, a week later, (that was yesterday by the way!) and obsurdly enough the day before the shop opens! yes great planning, no training and all those new staff not knowing a thing!
on saturday i was at my friends shop and a lady came in talking about her 16 year old daughter and her boyfriend who had got jobs down at the new english food supermarket down at miramar... well that was a shocker, for one, i had to wait till thursday to be told.. i now presumed that i hadnt got the job, and two, she was telling my friend who i help out three mornings a week! the very same friend who i had told about the job and that i might be leaving, because after all, it was a full contract, proper job that would give us health cover, the sort i need.

she, my friend, had told me she had had to ask around for someone to cover me, if i left, she needs someone to help so outside things can get done, as she cant leave the shop to do them now she in running it by her self, which is of course fair enough.

so all week wait wait wait, and yesterday i called her about 5pm to say i hadnt heard, i mean after all how could they call and then me start today! the following day? giving her no notice at all really, just a maybe not sure type of thing!

she told me one of the girls who was more than willing to help her out is going to do mondays now anyway, i am at cudeca then...

so today, this morning i am going to do the only fair thing i can and that is, go in, do this morning, but tell her to give my helping hand hours to the other girl. these people can muck me and other people about, but i cant leave my friends hanging like this, not knowing if i am staying or going, and of course, if another job comes along i will have to take it, so its only right.

well thank you friends for letting me share with you, your broad shoulders have helped as always... have a good day yourselves and i will catch up later, still have lots to tell about last fridays trip to malaga and the office that is traffico!

Be like the fountain that overflows, not the cistern that merely contains!

TTFN
Marain

Tony's photos from today in england

is this mom dad and the two kiddies? do they allow underage drinking in this establishment?


these first two pics are from the pub tony went to at lunch time today! the landlords customers look frozen waiting outside for him to open up eh! and the one with the traffic cone... well not sure what he has been up to!



these two are taken in the grounds of where tony works! beautifull...


beautiful in the snow... very mystical and haunting, bet its lovely in the sunshine too! the snowmen here... these were made during a moment of truancy i guess!

more rain...

today started out nice enough and now its pouring down cats and dogs! what a great shot i 'borrowed' from here in cyber space!

glad i got back from town before that lot came a tumbling down, my brolly just isnt that strong! no wonder the satelite signal is coming and going on the tv! our street is turning into a stream, or en español un arroyo! like the town down near the coast arroyo de miel... stream of honey... isnt that lovely!

but... nothing as bad as all that snow in the UK eh, and the states... how cold! my friends who live around the corner are off to kentucky today... not sure if theyre via england with all those closed airports, or madrid, but they are via chicago which is having it bad before their final destination... bien viaje folks!

now before i forget here is a little link to make sure your BMI is good (body mass index!)

getting back to the snow it looks so nice... from here..... no really, would be nice to just be there and run around in it and build a snowman and throw some snow balls with my boys... not sure how they would appreciate that, then come back home, to this rain! well for today, going to be on its way up temperature wise over the next few days, about 19 'they' say, will let you know, its not cold today, but so damp.

did i tell you i had applied for another job? this week? if i ever get a job, i mean one that isnt volunteer or helping a mate! or another one off promotion thats there and then gone, well i'll take us all out for a celebration drink! LOL

better get off this now in case the electric goes and i lose all of this eh!

Attacking or fleeing are part of the struggle,
being paralyzed by fear is not.

TTFN
Marian

February!

where have i been!? i havent blogged since last monday!

last week seems so far away now! nothing much i guess could have happened, last week helped my friend out in her shop for three days, the time flys when i'm there, rushing from place to place for her, and its only two hours and then.... i'm outta there!

saturday franco went to wales and came home again on sunday! so that was good, hate it when he's not here, i do understand he has to go to work, but other than that we just like to be home together..... you can tell its valentines soon eh... hope you all have your cards ready? some poor bloke in the shop today we wouldnt let out till he had bought his wife her card!

back to weekend though, trip on saturday to malaga airport was awful, pippa came too, the weather was terrible really hard rain, which let off as we approached churriana, 2 mintues from the airport, we dropped off franco at departures and went straight off home, the rain was even worse on the way back, and pitch dark, no white lines or cats eyes here like back in england! couldnt wait to get home, pippa was leaning up to me as far as she could with her seat belt on in the back.

sunday no rain, although it was dark again, but much better and as i was going into the terminal i didnt take pippa although lots of people do, not sure how she would have liked it in there!

monday cudeca, was a good day considering how quiet it is, one of our gals is leaving, next monday is her last day! she is off back to ireland, they have a little boy and another babe on the way and after recently visiting 'home' she feels thats where her heart is now, so theyre off! just like that, in just over a week i think! cant believe it! so then there will be five!

i know i have other things to say, i should make notes or something, my memory is getting so bad! not only is my spelling getting worse (impossible i hear you shout!) but i am even saying things wrong! how weird is that!

so...

A blessing rejected becomes a curse...

TTFN
Marian