Trying to quit

I am trying my best to quit smoking at the moment. It's the one true bad habit i have. I don't drink anymore and even when i did it was usually just the odd one or two vodkas to wind down in an evening on a Friday or Saturday night. *I think this may have something to do with having a few too many in my younger days and then throwing up all over my friends brother who was chatting me up at the time. *cringe moment*

However i was never addicted to drinking, and smoking is a much harder habit to break than i imagined. Most of my family are non smokers so why i felt the need to sneak off with a friend and have a couple of puffs when i was just eleven i will never really know. We did it on two occasions that i remember and i never touched them again till i reached the age of fourteen. My foster sister was older and more outgoing than me and she smoked. When she first offered me one i took it. I wanted to fit in, i hadn't long arrived and i didn't want to be the odd one out.I coughed and spluttered and her and her friend laughed. I remember feeling embarrassed so i made it my mission over the next few weeks to learn to smoke. I always looked older so buying them was never a problem. After the first week it began to get easier. The coughing my lungs up stopped and i began smoking like a pro. Me and my foster sister started making it a regular thing where we would go out for a walk and a ciggy and at the time it felt good to be accepted.

However now i am 18 years older and have realised i want need to quit. Not just for myself but for my family. Though i really wish it wasn't so damn hard. The patches are good, they stop my foul "i need a ciggy" mood but the 24 hour patch seems to only do me any good for the first 8 hours. Oh and just for a bit of info:- Don't ever leave the patches on for longer than recommended. I did and ended up with it burning my skin and blistering. I fully admit this was my fault. I left it on for 8 hours longer than it should of been. A very stupid mistake which i won't be making again.

Anyway, i will quit smoking. It will be a struggle and i know that for me it won't be an overnight process but i am hopeful that in the not too distant future i will be able to put smoking behind me.

Have you ever given up something? Do you have a bad habit you want to break?

The song for tonight is Kelly Osbourne ft. Ozzy Osbourne - Changes 

I survived the end of the world! 21/05/2011

Yes i'm here, i survived as did you i guess if you're reading this.  Ah well let's all get ready for the next end of the world happening on 21/12/2012. *rolls eyes*

I'm typing this later than usual because well i couldn't think of anything to blog about tonight. The weather was rubbish so no going out today, it's hard to believe a couple of weeks ago we had glorious sunshine and it was so warm and generally uplifting.

Today was a day where i thought about everything i'm grateful for. My family of course came out top. They are really wonderful and i'm very lucky that they are mine. I'm grateful to some of my foster parents, like Pam & Fred and Yvonne, John and Rene. The female officer who helped me realise that sometimes bad things happen but if you give up the only person you end up letting down is yourself. Pam the nurse. My childhood friend Karen, who i haven't seen in person for years but she managed to help me to remember some really good times recently and she has always been a great friend. My friends i made at Greenhill who were a great bunch of people. A fair few internet friends who i have made over the years and have shared many a laugh with. *Bigs hugs to them all* I'm also grateful for living in one of the most beautiful counties in the UK, beaches, 99 ice creams ect ect.
I'm grateful for so many things, that i think even if the world had ended tonight. I wouldn't of had any regrets.

What are you grateful for? 

The song for tonight 

If I Should Fall Behind - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 

(> " " <) (> " " <) (> " " <)
( ='o'= ) ( ='o'= ) ( ='o'= )
-(,,)-(,,)- -(,,)-(,,)--(,,)-(,,)-....

Remember Ben Needham?

We have a wonderful son. He is almost 14 years old. We have really enjoyed watching him grow up. Yet sadly some people don't get the pleasure of watching their child grow up. Some people have their child snatched from them. In the majority of cases the parent/s aren't to blame. Ben Needham's mum is one of these people.
Someone out there had a use for her darling little boy, Someone out there probably watched him and then pounced in the short amount of time Ben was left unattended. They hadn't left him alone for anything more than a minute or two. They deserve answers. They deserve Government help. One thing is for sure they want to hold Ben in their arms and again, this they deserve.

Our Government is helping Madeleine Mccann's family to find her so i plead with the government to show the same courtesy to Ben's family. You cannot treat just one child as a special case. These children are equally important. All missing children are important. You have never done enough to help locate Ben. You owe it to him. You owe it to his family.


I believe in my heart that Ben is alive. There is nothing to say he isn't.

Some points to consider:-
Ben may not speak English.
Ben could be living in ANY country.
Ben may think whoever is bringing him up are his real parents.
Ben could have long/shaven hair

I seriously believe in the power of the internet and that it can make a difference. Maybe it could be you who recognises the picture of Ben? Maybe you have a friend or relative who you think looks very similar.

Maybe a young man is reading this who doesn't have any baby photographs of himself and maybe has always felt that he "didn't belong" Could you be Ben?

Ben has a loving family that want answers and want to be reunited with him. Just think to yourself for a minute. What would you do if you were in Ben's mums situation? Would you give up? Would you want the world to forget about your son? Would you want people to spend so much time into looking for another missing child yet act as like yours never existed?

Be truthful. You wouldn't. As parents we love our child/ren. If one day somebody took our child we would never stop looking for them. We would never give up hope. We would always want answers and we would want people to help in anyway they can.

Here is the website for Ben  HELPFINDBEN  Here is the twitter account Find Ben Needham Twitter Account Here is the facebook account HELPFINDBEN FACEBOOK ACCOUNT

You can also sign the petition here >  Help Find Ben

Please, if you are reading this consider printing a poster,Signing the petition, RTing a tweet or sharing on facebook. You might be the one to make a difference.

Every time i think of Ben or another missing child, this song sticks in my mind so i am posting it again.
Clannad - I Will Find You

Giveaway- 3 months supply of filter coffee

My new giveaway is for 6 packets of Café Direct filter coffee which i have estimated to be 3 months worth. Two other winners will each get one fairy phone charm.

You will win
2 packets of Cafedirect Mayan Palenque Organic Ground Filter Coffee. A premium, delicate and well rounded coffee.

2 packets of Cafedirect Fairtrade Kilimanjaro Filter Coffee
A lively Fairtrade Coffee from Cafedirect. Kilimanjaro fresh ground filter coffee is well balanced and a great single origin 100% arabica coffee

2 packets of Cafedirect Machu Picchu Filter Coffee
Organic and Fairtrade, this deliciously dark, nutty and chocolatey filter coffee from Cafedirect is an award winning favourite

 2 more winners will each win a Fairy Phone charm.

To enter all you need to do is comment and say which prize you are entering for. You can enter for both the coffee and the phone charm if you wish.


Terms and conditions-
Winners will be announced on the blog and will have 4 weeks to reply and claim their prize.
The coffee prize will only be shipped to a UK address. The phone charms can be sent worldwide.
The closing date is June 14th 2011
Shipping costs will be covered by myself.

Winner Announcement

Thank you to those of you who entered my first giveaway. Tonight i drew the winner (giving an extra entry for those of you following funkimunki's blog as i originally stated i would) I put all names on pieces of thick white paper and then put the entries into my daughters cowgirl hat.

            She wasn't wearing it at the time!

The winner is....Womble So a huge congratulations. Tomorrow i will have credited FunkiMunki with your £10 credit. I hope you have fun spending it! :)

For those of you that didn't win, i will be running another giveaway with FunkiMunki in the near future and i may stretch to more winners too!
Plus if you come back and visit my blog tomorrow i have another great giveaway for you lined up!

The song for tonight is Kiss - Heaven's on fire

Pet Hates, Hot Heel and Twix Slices

Today someone asked me what my pet hates are and i couldn't actually think of any right of the tip of my tongue.
I have given it some thought though and my top ten pet hates would have to be:-

1) Liars
2) Brown Nosers
3) People who use a mobile phone while driving.
4) People who think a trolley is supposed to be used as a dodgem car
5) Materialistic personalities
6) People who refuse to take no as an answer
7) People who don't say thank you when you hold the door open for them
8) People who chew gum with their mouth open
9) People who take no responsibilty for their actions
10) Parents who swear at their children

Next up would be that last night i could feel my heel throbbing. I couldn't remember doing anything to it and yet one heel was ice cold and the throbbing one was very hot to the touch and swollen.  All i needed was another foot problem to have me walking around like a cripple. If there is a god, boy he must have it in for me lately.

These evening i did a quick dash to the local co-op more out of convienence than anything else. Had to pick up boring stuff like bread,milk you get the idea. Just as i was paying i spotted some new Twix Slices on offer for 99p and me being me i had to try them. Even though they are in one big pack, they are wrapped up individually inside so ideal for lunchboxes and picnics and they are very very nice! A cross between millionaires shortbread and Twix.

Anyway this is a quick post tonight as i'm now going to shower and then go put my foot up someones bum on something to relax.

The song for this evening is John Mayer - Waiting On The World To Change

Bad Feeling & Competition reminder

We can't help but be aware that the Queen is off to visit the Republic of Ireland , especially with a bomb threat being aimed at London today. I actually have a really bad feeling about it. Not so much about the bomb threat but the whole thing. In fact i wish the Queen would change her mind and not go. There has got to be a point when the risk is too great.

Don't get me wrong i will be hoping praying that it goes off without incident but i can't help but have a bad feeling in my gut about it.

Anyway enough of my "gut" and on to the subject of my giveaway. It closes tomorrow evening. A winner will be drawn, regardless of the amount of people who have/ haven't entered. At this moment in time there is a very good chance of winning. The prize is £10 credit to spend on http://www.funkimunkibadges.co.uk/

It takes no more than a few minutes to enter > Enter competition here

You could use the credit to get badges for birthdays, hen/ stag nights, anniversaries, school teachers, ect ect.

This is a short one tonight because i have loads to do but i haven't forgotten about the song of the day which is Lady Gaga - Born This Way