For the last week or so I’ve been battling a cold which at 4:30am Tuesday morning it finally broke. I know it was 4:30 as that was the time the clock told me it was when I woke up unable to breathe through my nose, a pounding headache due to the blocked sinuses and shivering.

A duvet day was in order. A day off work recovering. A day on the sofa with nothing but a cup of tea in one hand and medicine within easy reach…

No such luck!

Tuesday was the day I had booked off work to take TBK to his zoo keeper experience over at Dudley Zoo (post with pictures to follow).

So diligently, like every good (yet reluctant) parent would, I lay awake unil 7:30am, when I dragged my sorry ass out of bed to wrap myself up, grab my camera and haul myself into Dudley and around the zoo.

We had a lovely day, but we got caught in multiple showers and by the time we got home I was exhausted, I knew there was no way I was going anywhere for the next 24 hours at least, the cold coupled with a day in the rain had taken me with a left hook and knocked me off my feet.

I spent the next morning in bed recovering and come dinner time felt well enough to venture down stairs, I spent a hour or so at my computer before heading with with my blanket to the sofa, where I fell asleep.

I awoke a few hours later and immediately knew something was wrong, My mouth felt fuzzy and my lips were stuck together and hurt, my nose was still blocked and I was having difficulty breathing. I went to the mirror I was confronted with something that looked like this….

This photo was taken 24 hours after my “outbreak” so the rawness had gone out of it and some of the localised swelling has gone down.

My bottom lip had swollen to nearly twice it’s normal size and all over the centre of the lip were lots of pin head size ulcers that had merged into one giant mass, and was so painful I can not describe!

A quick query with NHS direct and I discovered that this particular complaint was “Herpetiform Ulcers” my immune system had taken a knock and this was the result. Swelling, Pain and the sexiest smile in the world. Nice isn’t it? And the only thing I can do is treat it with Bongela, wear a paper bag over my head when leaving the house and rest up to give my immune system chance to recover.

One the plus side though, Who needs collogen? Leslie Ash paid good money to get a look like this and I got it completely free!

To the girl on the top deck of the 559 bus travelling from Wolverhampton towards Wednesfield at approximately 5:30pm last night.

I was the girl sitting in front of you wearing the black coat. You were the girl sitting behind me in the atrocious yellow jumper, purple skirt and black tight combination, complaining like an ungrateful bitch to the long suffering friend on the other end of your phone call,  that “like my mom and Dad have only got me a laptop for Christmas yeah, and I like sooo wanted a laptop last year but not now!!” and coughing every two minutes without a thought of placing at the very least your hand in front of you hole you were hacking out of.

Thank you,

Thank you for coughing down the back of my neck and sharing your germs. I really loved waking this morning with the start of a cough of my very own and a heavy head, It was so much fun to know that this festive season people were so into the whole sharing thing they’ve extended it to strangers on buses even if it wasn’t required or even really wanted.

I’m going to really enjoy spending the first Christmas in 5 years I’ll actually be at home with my son instead of stuck in work, feeling like shit, wrapped up with an hot water bottle and having to watch the festivities go on around me as the flu you shared has sapped me of all energy. Thanks a whole lot!

To anyone who knows this caring sharing person, The one with an annoying habit of holding conversations at the phone at the top of her voice over the phone while on the bus, please pass on my gratitude, and if you know her parents may I suggest that you go and offer them an alternative to the laptop they were going to buy for her that she blatantly isn’t bothered about getting …

…ask them to buy her some fucking tissues!!

If someone offered you £4022 ($6000) worth of computer equipment what would you do with it? That’s what HP are offering, in conjunction with 50 bloggers from across the world in their Magic giveaway.

Each blogger has been given $6000 (£4022) worth of HP equipment and they get to give it away to whomever they choose, and they get to set their own rules!

I first read about it over on Moosh in Indy who’s only stipulation to enter is “you have to share” and have since then been thinking what would I do with it? What would I do with all that “stuff”? Could I be selfless enough to give it all away, keeping nothing for myself?

As much as I’d like to think I could in this particular instance I know I couldn’t, I mean, Hey, how could I give the HP Photosmart C6380 All-in-One printer away after I’ve been coveting a new photo printer for months and then of course the HP 564 Photo Value Pack would have to stay with it.

Naturally I’d have to have something to process all those lovely photos on as my my desktop just about crashes every time I turn it on hanging 9 times out of 10 on the start up screen until I hit restart and begin all over again. Once it’s switched on it screams blue murder if I open anything intensive i.e photoshop and if I try to do something clever like, oh I dont know check my email and open a word document at the same time the computer says no and the whole thing freezes, so that’s why I’d keep this for myself too. The HP TouchSmart IQ816 PC.

But then what would I do with the rest of the booty? The HP HDX 18 series Premium Notebook PC, The • HP MediaSmart Connect, and the HP Pavilion dv4 series Entertainment Notebook PC (with Windows Live) oh and not forgetting the HP Mini 1000 (with XP) all loaded with either Windows Vista or XP depending on their spec.

Who would be deserving of it? Who would make the most of it? Was there anyone person that would benefit more than anyone else? Could I get away with keeping it all myself (only kidding as tempting as it may be).

I work for a non for profit organisation, could they make use of it?

I used to work for a Youth Club could they use?

My family and friends would they want it?

Of course they all would but none of these people NEEDED it. Work has, as hard as it is to come by sometimes, funding from different arts councils and organisations for IT equipment relevant to the different projects we run. The youth club has a computer suite for the young people to use, they may WANT upgrades but they don’t NEED them. Then my family and friends who I’m sure would all love me if I started handing out computers like Santa does presents at Christmas don’t really need them either, they’ve all in some capacity have computers which are fit for purpose.

So I thought further, what would do if I received all that beautiful booty? I couldn’t decide and as the spirit of the giveaway was to share i thought about not entering.

Then I remembered, It IS nearly Christmas and the season of goodwill to all men and lets face it is all about the children. What if I could help children who really deserved the help and put a smile on someone face, someone who is facing hard times that I can only imagine as an adult, let alone face them as a child. And then I realised the answer was with me all along….

Promise Dreams, This local charity launched in 2001. They “raise money for children who are seriously or terminally ill and provide treatment, help and support for both them and their families. Whether the child would like a holiday, a toy, medical treatment or equipment, or even the chance to meet their favourite celebrity, Promise Dreams is dedicated and committed to help.”

The charity is run by 4 people in an office in Wolverhampton town centre and rely soley on fund raising and donations to help make these children’s worlds a nicer place. They hold events in the building I work in, so I have seen how much work they do and one of my friends sisters received a new motorized wheelchair through them so I’ve seen first hand what a difference it makes to the people they help.

Thats who the rest of the booty could go to, Someone I think truly deserving.

So now I’m cutting it fine, I have no idea when the deadline is in relation to where I am in the world, I just know its in the next day or two so I’m rushing to finish this post and get it in one time. Maybe It’ll be me that’s picked, maybe it wont but at least I tried!!