Calling the winner!

Just a gentle reminder to my giveaway winner to please step forward and claim your prize.

The winner is QG and you can contact me via my email pickingoranges(@)gmail.com i will get your prize sent asap direct from Amazon. Please remove the ( ) bracket signs before emailing.

Happy new year to you all!

Hope 2012 is a happy & healthy one for you all x

Entering 2012 with an air of uncertainty

I'm hoping everyone here had a great Christmas and enjoyed every moment even if there was a distinct lack of snow.  *sad face* I had so counted on waking up to some glorious snow on Christmas morning.

For us the lead up to Christmas and the day itself was a bit uncertain due to one of our children having a fit a few days before. Now this isn't the first time she has had a fit (she has had one previous one) but it was the first ever fit i had witnessed, made even worse because it was my own child. Now any decent parent will certainly agree that you do anything possible to protect your child and the feeling i had of being helpless and useless all at once is hard to deal with. There is a fairly big chance that this will be a long term thing but i have been told i need to await the next fit till she can be medicated. I feel like we spent christmas waiting for the next fit, making sure she isn't stood too long, making sure she isn't stood on hard ground for a long period of time, glancing at her way too often to make sure she looks ok. Just generally being overprotective and probably if i use her words "annoying"  I have relaxed a little bit, read the sheet i was given at the hospital and will try and not panic when/if it should happen again but really..does a parent with a child who experiences regular seizures ever feel relaxed?

So here we are entering 2012 with an air of uncertainty.

Christmas Giveaway Winner

A big sorry for the delay in announcing the winner. It's been one of *those* days.

The winner whose name was selected with the help of my oldest daughter out of a cowboy type silver hat. (It's always good to know the details!) is...... QG

If you could please contact me via my email pickingoranges(@)gmail.com i will get your prize sent asap direct from Amazon. Please remove the ( ) bracket signs before emailing.

Keeps your eyes peeled for a new giveaway in the new year.

If you could give me some idea of what would be appealing to win that would be great! 

Slow down December & is there a doctor in the house?

I officially hate December. No really i do..it does seem to zoom past. I haven't purchased Christmas presents let alone any Christmas food. I don't have Joy in my heart and i just don't feel the Christmas spirit, though the thought of a neat Vodka or two did try and tempt me last night but i was strong and didn't give in.

I suppose it doesn't help that my mind has been preoccupied a bit this month. I have raynaud's phenomenon, nothing special about that as loads do but the past few months i have had something which i presumed at first was related yet seems to even baffle my doctor and rheumatologist.

I have red/purple marks that come up on my palms, and sometimes fluid like lumps under those marks. When the lumps come up my skin itches for several minutes till the lump has fully come up then the itching eases off to a stop.  The past couple of weeks i have also had what seems like a fluid lump come up on the inside of my arm, half way between my wrist and my elbow. I know i shouldn't google (though my doctor does!) the only thing i could find that looked visually similar to my marks on my hands were Janeway lesions, though i also considered it may be an allergy but the doctor didn't seem convinced on the allergy suggestion. Anyway i suppose i'm posting in the hope someone comes across this blog before my next hospital appointment and can give me some idea what it is. It's really frustrating not knowing and whatever it is leaves me with very painful hands afterwards, a bit like how it feels when you have a bruise. It has had a good effect on my raynaud's though as rather than freezing cold hands they are quite hot lately.

I also want to let everyone know that i haven't forgotten about the giveaway and it will be drawn early tomorrow afternoon. Good luck to all those who have entered x
Oh and sorry for the rather rubbish photograph but look..i'm trying to get in the festive mood!

Debenhams sorted it.

Argh i really must learn to update quicker. Debenhams did credit my card back the amount it was owed and i was issued with a 15% discount code as a gesture of goodwill. Though i hate it when they put that, as quite frankly it's their screw up and they make it sound like they did me a massive favour. *rolls eyes*

Anyway my items i reordered have arrived in good time and i'm happy with everything so i thought it best to update and let you all know. I still won't be in a rush to online shop with them but will still no doubt enjoy shopping instore. Hurry up Christmas sales!

Debenhams online shopping? No thank you.

I love online shopping, really i do. Who really wants to trek around the shops with more than one child?  It's a nightmare and you always end up spending more than you should because well little people have puppy dog eyes and me being a complete sucker always falls for it, then you have the fact that online shopping is much easier when it comes to Christmas present buying as you don't need to juggle your bags to make sure nothing can be seen through them and try and get little people to look elsewhere while explaining in a hushed yet stressed voice to the shop cashier that you need to keep the item hidden. 

Anyway i suppose i better start getting to the point soon.

To avoid "proper" shopping, on the 10th i purchased three items using a gift card. One was a present for my youngest. A sylvanian celebration family. It was in stock when i ordered. Within a short amount (less than a day) of time i had an email that said "unable to fulfil"

Fair enough i suppose. It happens. I looked on the website. and it was still showing as in stock. I emailed,  and phoned to see what was going on. I was told on the phone by them that they had sold out and there would be no more. I explained that they should probably stop advertising something on their website when they didn't have it. The person i spoke to didn't seem all that bothered.

Next step would be me ordering something else for youngest or trying to. I picked something, tried putting it through but oh dear i only have £1.17 on my giftcard. There was no refund for the item that they charged me for but didn't have.

Again i contact Debenhams via phone call and email. This time i was told that it takes longer to credit a giftcard than it does a bank card?! but it should be back on the giftcard by Tuesday (22nd) at the latest.

Guess what? Yes still no money on my giftcard..I phoned, was transferred to head office. On hold 9 minutes to be cut off. Getting more and more frustrated by this time and so i complained on Debenhams facebook wall. (i did this before but they weren't very helpful and just passed the buck by giving me an email address that they don't seem very quick to reply to)

I phoned again and was transferred to head office, on hold for approx 10 minutes before a gentleman answered and after explaining everything said that it should be back on my card in 48 hours.To make matters worse he said they actually now have five of the sylvanian families in!  This was after someone told me they wouldn't be getting anymore in.
Now i admit this man was the most helpful out of everyone i spoke to but i still had no apology and what if the next thing i order they are unable to fulfil? Will i have to go through this mess again. Argh.

I love Debenhams products, really i do but after this experience i will never ever shop online with them again. I found them rude, unhelpful the majority of the time and they still have my money and i originally placed the order on the 10th. If the money is still missing in 48 hours i plan to take this up with trading standards as i find this shocking behaviour for such a big named company.

Windows, Pet Hate and Well Done me!

Ok finding time to blog has been rather difficult this last week, as we have had new windows fitted meaning we have had to kind of gut the house and clear out some junk. (everyone in this house hoards stuff!) Plus i haven't been feeling 100%.  The windows do look nice though, bar the holes in the wall that seem to have happened getting the windows in place. Anyway hopefully the new windows will cut out some of the outside noise and the house in general will be warmer. *fingers crossed*

Now onto my pet hate- I need to get this out and it's been annoying me since..well forever. Why do some people with dogs let their dogs loose when they see a sign which says "all dogs must be kept on a lead" or "no dogs allowed*

For example. near my youngest daughters school there is a play park in a big grassy area. A sign as i mentioned above says something about no dogs allowed, or something very similar. I will take a photo of it and hopefully get the chance to upload it this week. Since my daughter started there i have noticed people taking their dogs to the park and they are just letting them off the lead to pee, poo and play ball. This is a play park. Dogs are not children and while we are on the subject...no i also don't agree with dressing dogs up as little dolls either, but each to their own i suppose. I do doubt that any of the people i have seen lately have bags to pick up after their little rovers/Maisie's.

Anyway i suppose what i am saying is a child should be able to play in a playground without fear of coming home with worms or something even nastier, including a dog bite. These pet owners annoy me. They obviously think the sign is for everyone else and not them. If you want a dog, be responsible. Geez i have a dog (and gorgeous he is too!) I wouldn't let him off the lead, especially in a play park even if children were not present at the time and i wouldn't think twice about picking up his *number twos* when he is walked. Of course it isn't a nice job but neither is working in McDonald's and people do that!

On a final note, At 9pm on the 14th November i gave up smoking £6-7 a packet cigarettes. Yes it hasn't been long but this is a miracle for me. I am lucky if i can give up for an hour usually. How am i doing it? With the help of a Halo of course..yes it honestly does work! Now i can forget about all those harmful chemicals, yucky tar and horrible smell and hopefully it will also help improve my circulation over time.