Christmas food dash and present wrapping

~ Vickyw

christmas food dash

Yesterday I was up, washed, dressed, and out by 6.40am as I travelled to Exeter in time to join my sister in the Christmas food dash and present wrapping.

I arrived in Exeter around 8.30am and looked after the kids while my sister and brother-in-law went to Aldi for their weekly shop.

We walked to Lidl at Lunchtime to get a few bit and bobs including lovely fresh Cinnamon buns for my sister, brother-in-law, and myself and the kids choose cookies and some Danish buns.

Before dinner, we took a trip out to Sainsbury’s in the evening for some Walnut Whips, cream, crisps, trifle, cranberry sauce, cookies, gravy mix, and mulled wine.

I never realised how stressful the Christmas food dash is until it’s left for my sister and I.

Both of us didn’t feel very festive so we decided to wrap up some of the kid’s presents, eat our Malteser reindeer chocolates, and drink some mulled wine, whilst watching and listening to Christmas music on YouTube.

We also decided to hang the tree chocolates on the tree and test them before putting them on the tree.

We have been looking in several shops for tree chocolates this year and we finally found some in Lidl.

The only chocolates that some shops are selling are the gold chocolate coins, which you can’t hang up.

It’s surprising how long it takes to wrap a few presents because we seemed to take hours after hesitating over which wrapping paper and tags to use.

We finally went to bed around midnight because we had to get up in the morning because my sister is meeting up with her friend at 10am and we are all going into town as I need to buy my Dad some Christmas presents.

Does anyone else have to go out and brave the queues on a Christmas food dash?

Tweet @AdminChick and let us know.

A morning of Christmas songs and videos

~ Vickyw

Christmas songs

 

This morning everyone was still recovering from yesterday’s train trip and I’m still panicking because my Blogmas posts are late up because of this dam virus on my other laptop and my new Macbook Pro won’t accept my Apple ID. (Sorry for the late uploads).

We had a chilled morning (well, everyone except me), ate breakfast.

After breakfast, my sister had a crazy idea and turned on the television to watch YouTube Christmas videos and sing Christmas songs.

Mum sat down to watch these, while the kids danced and sang along and I made the tea.

My Sister created a new Apple ID for me and downloaded the latest mac upgrade, imovies for my vlogs which are starting in the New Year. (Date to be decided) and she uploaded Office 365 for me.

I might be a bit slower getting used to this newer format. I’ve been using Microsoft Office 2007 since it came out.

We watched some of the favourites like Chris Rea’s Driving home for Christmas, Wham’s Last Christmas, and Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas as we waited for Dad to arrive.

Once Dad arrived mum and my sister took the kids to the shops,I have been busy setting up this new machine as well as trying to save encrypted files and catch up with my Blogmas posts.

We left my sister’s in Exeter just before 6pm to travel back to Cornwall.

I’m now back in Cornwall after a two-hour drive and its almost 11pm.

I’ve been home a few hours and I’m still writing Blogmas posts and catching up and also trying to remove this virus on my other laptop and save my files.

Tomorrow I’m having my hair dyed and cut. It’s only been about 5 weeks since I last had my hair done, but it looks like it could do with recolouring already and it’s earlier than usual due to the Christmas break.

Have you been watching and listening to Christmas songs and videos on YouTube?

Do you have a favourite or do you hate Christmas songs?

Let us know in the comments below or tweet @AdminChick.

Santa Train trip Buckfastleigh to Totnes

~ Vickyw

 

 

Santa Train trip

Today we were all awake pretty early because we were all looking forward to our annual Santa Train trip for the second time.

Every Year my mum, sister, and I take the kids to see Santa on the train. The trip takes about an hour and a half.

The train leaves Buckfastleigh and goes to Totnes and back again.

We arrived at Buckfastleigh station around 11.30.

We went into the shop to look at the South Devon Railway, Hornby trains, and Thomas the Tank Engine merchandise.

The kids picked out some balls for the Christmas tree with James and Percy on from Thomas the Tank Engine.

We sat down and had a nice cup of hot chocolate before boarding the train.

When we boarded the train a member of staff took us to our seats.

Not long after we sat down and left the station, the staff came round with biscuits and fruit shoots for the children and mince pies and a choice of non-alcoholic or alcoholic mulled wine.

My sister and I decided to have a glass of alcoholic mulled wine and my mum had the non-alcoholic punch.

After consuming my mince pie and mulled wine, it was time to take the kids to Santa’s Grotto.

My sister and I took the kids through several train carriages to get to Santa in a dark room at the end of the train.

The windows were covered up with curtains.

The kids were asked by Santa their age and then asked if they would like their photo taken with Santa.

I quickly took a few pictures because there was a queue of people waiting behind us.

When we got back to our seats, the kids unwrapped their presents.

My niece received a soft lamb and my nephew received a fire engine, which makes noise. (So much for peace this Christmas!)

I was disappointed because the kids had been building up to this trip for a few months and for the money that we paid, it was very much like a production line, and the kid’s time and interaction with Santa was limited.

Once we sat down, Dr. Foster came round for a few minutes and mum won a sweet for remembering his rhyme.

Unlike, last year he didn’t stay for long and there was no Christmas music playing in the background.

When we arrived in Totnes there were a few bookstalls and we watched the train come in to take up back to South Devon railway at Buckfastleigh.

Some children were allowed to climb into the front of the steam train, however, there were lots of children who were also waiting to have a look.

On the back way back there wasn’t much entertainment.

Last year there was Christmas music playing in the background and more carol singing.

This year, there was one song (We Wish You a Merry Christmas), followed by a brief visit from the magician.

We went back to the café for some food, but when we went to put our order in we were told that they had stopped serving food at 2.30pm and the time was 2.40pm.

We were about to leave the table we were sat at when the cooks came over and apologized and said that they were happy to take our order.

We ordered toasties and cheesy chips for the children and some drinks for all of us.

The young lads who served us also apologized for telling us that they had stopped ordering food and that they didn’t realize that they were serving until 3pm.

Before we left the kids went on the Thomas ride on the train and the James ride on the train outside the café and shop.

When we arrived home the kids had a pig-out, had a bath, danced around the room to Christmas tunes, I read them a story (Christmas in Puddle Lane), which our mum used to read to me and my sister when we were younger and they finally went to bed.

We aren’t sure whether we will go on the same Santa Train trip next year because my niece will be 7 years old and she says that she wants to go on the Polar Express trip next year.

However, my nephew will only be 4, so we will have to wait and see what we think next year.

For the last couple of years, we had also been going to Buckfastleigh for the Thomas the Tank Engine train ride, my nephew is obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine and wants to go and my niece says she also wants to go again but my sister doesn’t want to go, so again, we will have to see in a few months time when the tickets go on sale.

Have you been on a Santa Train Trip this year?

Have you taken the kids to visit Santa?

Send a tweet to@AdminChick.

The kids break up for Christmas holidays

~ Vickyw

Today the kids break up for the Christmas holidays.

I travelled to Devon with my, mum, dad, and Winston just in time for the school Christmas holidays and the Santa train in time to surprise my niece when she finishes school.

I woke up and was washed and dressed for 7am because I had to finish some work before I left and the deadline for that was midnight and I had to wash my hair and pack.

We left Cornwall, around 10.30am after the bins had been emptied and left for Devon.

The journey was fairly busy considering it was mid-morning and we arrived just before 12 midday because the road works in Temple are a nightmare at the moment.

Roll on the day when they complete them!

When I arrived in Devon, I completed the rest of my work.

We hadn’t told my niece that we were coming, so I picked her up from school and surprised her.

She was also really pleased to spot another surprise when she came home from school.

She hadn’t seen mum since her birthday at the end of October.

We spent the evening playing Christmas songs, watching my niece and nephew sing and dance to them.

The kids choose some of their favourite songs, which we played on the computer which include; Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas and Wham’s Last Christmas.

We finished off the evening by planning an Elf invasion for kids and watching a film on Amazon Prime.

My sister bought the Elf on the Shelf kit, so the Elves have to play tricks on the kids for the first 25 days of December.

The kids are given a chart to record their good and bad behavior

My brother-in-law wrote a letter from the Elves to the kids so that they would find the letter from Santa in the morning when they woke up.

I had hoped to get this blog post written and up on the blog, however due to unexpected problems, with both laptops, I was unable to complete blogmas on both blogs in time.

It was well past 11pm when I decided to call it a day and go to bed because I had an early start the next day.

How are your Christmas preparations going?

Do you still have presents to buy?

Tweet @AdminChick.

Being prescribed antidepressants

~ Vickyw

antidepressants

 

I spent years trying to avoid taking antidepressants, in September 2013 things became so bad that I had no choice.

I went to the doctors after being suspended from my job and falling out with my friends. I was a total mess and wanted to end it all.

I can’t remember how I ended up at the doctor’s, but somehow I managed to walk for a whole hour to get to the surgery.

I was lucky enough to have a friendly female locum who prescribed me Sertraline and asked me to come back and see her in a few day’s time.

Sertraline is an antidepressant in a group of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

The pill is used to treat, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

I didn’t want to go on tablets, and for years I have been struggling with highs and lows thinking they would just disappear and I can find my happy ending story.

I previously took St Johns worts when things got really bad, just after my 21st birthday.

St Johns Worts are a natural herbal remedy, used for mild to moderate depression.

I found them ok at the time, to the extent where I could stop crying, but they are certainly no cure.

When I first started taking antidepressants called sertraline, I had horrendous side effects including sickness and a bad stomach, but this settled down within a few days.

I was also offered CBT first at a lower level, and after a few sessions of talking, I was moved up a step to receiving higher intensity CBT, which is more in-depth sessions.

After completing my CBT sessions, I found that the sertraline and CBT sessions hadn’t even touched what was going on in my head, I even had a couple of counseling sessions with a private counsellor who deals with Bupa patients.

In March 2014 I hit rock bottom again when my Dad had a heart attack in January, I had fallen out with someone who I thought was my friend after receiving the news that my mum had a mass on her kidney and that she would have to have her kidney taken out.

This time the doctor prescribed more antidepressants this time Prozac another SSRI was used to treat depression.

He gave me a prescription in case I needed it but told me I need to stop taking pills and just get on with life.

By the beginning of February 2015, I was at the doctor’s again, and this time I was put on the mental health team as I was worse than ever.

The mental health team took months to access me and when they did they got my notes mixed up.

They put me on a relatively new medication called Venlafaxine yet another SSRI) Antidepressant and anxiety tablet.

I was on the mental health team for over a year, and I have just been released from the team after 11 CAT sessions and no proper diagnosis.

They said I have Adjustment disorder, which according to Wikipedia and other sources is a stress-related illness to life events and lasts no longer than six months – Anxiety and Personality disorder.

A personality disorder is also often mixed up with Bipolar 2, which they said they couldn’t rule out!

I’ve now been told that I have to try more Outlook South West lower level therapies because of NHS funding.

I’m tempted to get another opinion from a private therapist because I’m angry about the way I have been treated.

I have had this illness for years, even throughout my school days there was always something different, the boredom, the angst, the tearaway. It wasn’t for attention or fear of abandonment(which is what Borderline Personality patients are known for) because I often felt like a bubble being protected because I was trapped, with so many expectations almost celebrity-like.

It wasn’t even life-related, at times life appeared to be ok, but I still felt like there was something missing.

At times there were lots of people around me I wanted to scream let me out! I hated the spotlight yet I hated being hated!

Has anyone else had similar problems with antidepressants or getting a diagnosis?

Perhaps you have been misdiagnosed?

I’ve kept this inside for ages and now feel the time is right to let my voice be heard!

I refuse to become another statistic shutting up and hiding away from society.

Should I take part in the 2016 Blogmas challenge?

~ Vickyw

I was checking my Twitter feed this morning and noticed there are lots of posts about “Blogmas” because I’m a new blogger I had never heard of Blogmas until now.

What is Blogmas?

Blogmas is when Bloggers post every day in December until the 25th although some people just blog for the 12 days of Christmas.

Now I’m faced with the task of whether to take part or not?

Can I commit to 25 interesting daily posts during the busy festive period?

Many of you may be thinking yes, it’s easy.

However, sometimes I’m on a high and I can write posts quickly and other days I can’t write to save a life. I need to be inspired, or a kick up the backside to keep me in check.

Sometimes the light goes out and I become almost like a walking zombie, left to rot in a dark room.

I could sit at my laptop for hours and not get any work done.

I watched a webinar, yesterday by Natasha Courtenay-Smith, who has helped lots of business owners and individuals build successful blogs.

She said the more you write, the more traffic you will receive.

Taking part in Blogmas should tell me if this is true.

Some of the problems, I find when blogging is that I spend ages thinking about post titles, instead of just writing them and putting them up and I’m, always looking for unique content, that has never been done before.

It’s not just the posts that take time, its also taking the right pictures to go with the posts and scheduling social media.

I’m planning to concentrate on two platforms, Twitter and LinkedIn.

My reasons for taking part in Blogmas are because I want to add value to my blog and write some fun and engaging posts to get myself into the festive mood and hopefully, my posts will be engaging enough to make people want to read and return to my blog .

I also plan to start Vlogging in the New Year, I might even video some of my Blogmas posts, so I really need to get my skates on and plan my content and social media content if I’m going to make a success of this!

Welcome to The Looneychick blog

~ Vickyw

Looneychick blog logo

Hi all,

Welcome to The Looneychick blog.

Today is World Mental Health Day and considering an estimated 350 million people in the world suffer from depression its important to raise awareness with the launch of the Looneychick blog.

The Looneychick blog will feature information to help and educate mental health sufferers and their loved ones.

60 million suffer from Bipolar affective disorder, 21 million people are affected by schizophrenia and other psychosis, and 47.5 million people are diagnosed with dementia, is about time we as a nation stopped judging and started understanding and showing support.

I know individuals who have been fired, criminalised, and treated like second class citizens, particularly by the police, courts, and solicitors and this is not right!

How can you give someone a criminal record if they are unaware of their actions!

Capacity!

This is a word which many Psychiatric doctors have trouble with.

I have spoken to solicitors who tell me that it’s surprising how many people have been passed fit to go through with the legal process and who aren’t at all fit to deal with what lies ahead.

Which is why many people are in prisons and should be in hospitals.

As for so-called friends, how many mental health sufferers have lost friends, relationships, and family members because of their actions due to their mental health?

Please let us know your thoughts and feel free to contribute ideas to the Looneychick blog if you wish.

If you are one of those people who is suffering from a mental health issue, you can tell your story, right here, on this blog by emailing admin@looneychickblog.co.uk