Feeling Low....

It's that time of year again - yes the dreaded appraisals 8-( I had my appraisal on Wednesday, it lasted for 2 hours and to be honest, it was rather soul destroying. I was in tears for a large portion of it (which I hate, but I just get so emotional) and evoked a killer migraine that evening. I ended up with eyes like giant red golf balls and all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep. I hate confrontation, detest arguing/raised voices and being a people pleaser, feel distraught when I'm told that "when stressed, I alienate a particular group of people" 8-(

That's a strong word and seeing as they've made no mention to it previously, it's rather knocked me for 6. I know that I have to talk about it with them, but to be honest, I'm not really in the right frame of mind yet. There were a lot of positives from my appraisal, they are very pleased with the data that I've generated, I'm hardworking, take great pride in my work, have an attention to detail which they love and help out my colleagues whenever I can. There were other issues that came up and unfortunately you always seem to focus on the "you need to do this, you need to do that and you need to focus on doing this better" parts, which there were plenty of too.

I'm picking myself up, dusting myself down, giving a huge scream of "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH", which actually always makes me feel soooooooooooooo much better, putting a smile on my face and feeling that I can contribute again and not pull people down with me.

Just want to finish by saying that I am thinking of one of my jellie team friends, whose father in laws funeral is today. Please keep their family in your thoughts and prayers today.

Tagged Again!!

So, I've been tagged by sugar and spice and all things nice Debs, to answer the following:

Detail 10 things that have scared me.

Mmmmm, this is going to be hard,

1. Watching my friend Grace, collapse and die in front of the class on the school field during a lesson of PE when I was 14.

2. Seeing a strange car pull up outside the friends house I was playing at, that had my brothers' and my toys/clothes in the back.

3. Coming home from work to find Dave on the bedroom floor, clutching his head and the only word that was intelligible was 'help' (luckily, it was just an incredibly bad migraine).

4. Having to phone Daves parents to tell them that Dave was being taken to hospital in an ambulance (see above).

5. Watching Dave having to have a lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis (see #3 - it took many attempts as he wasn't behaving, and as for the language coming out of his mouth!).

6. Knowing that family, friends and loved ones will not live forever.

7. When my Mum had to go and have a lump investigated - luckily it wasn't malignant.

8. The thought that I may never be a Mum.

9. Hearing that there had been an armed robbery at the Post Office where my Mum was working, whilst picking up a pack of mints from the local newsagents on my lunch break.

10. It may seem stupid, but I am an arachnophobe. So am scared whenever I see an 8-legged creature. The worst probably was seeing the one that had fallen into my bedroom bin at home, after I had been woken up by rustling during the night & Dave told me it was probably just a cat on the bathroom roof!

Think that I'll go and tag The Mayoress of Jellytown - Rach!!!!!!

Another Breakthrough.....

....in discovering more ancestors. Following on from a post by our own Mayoress of Jelly Town (aka Rach), thought that I'd say that I too have been researching my ancestors for the last 14 months. I belong to 2 sites, Genes Reunited and Ancestry and although I made great strides in the first 6 months, it has been the last 3 months that I have been reaping the benefits! 8-)

I now have contacts with various people, both in this country as well as in Australia and now have over 550 people in my family tree!!!! I have to say that the people I have contacted, are all for my Dad's side of the family! It seems as though my Mum's side are shy, or just hiding from me!!!!!!! LOL It never fails to amaze me how they changed their names from census to census! My great-grandmother was born Rosina, and naturally was called Rosie as a child and then Rose as an adult. Seems so obvious now, but was a real pain when I was trying to locate her! Then there is Henry, who was a Hulme, but for some reason on his marriage certificate he was a Hume! Took me ages to find that one! LOL But I guess one of the best was my Mum's Grandmother - Lena, except that she was actually called Madeline! Families eh, who'd have them!!!!! 8-)

Circle Journal Packed and Ready to Go!

I am participating in my first ever Circle Journal (CJ) on UKScrappers, in a team called Pic 'N' Mix! My theme is "Silly Things I Said" and believe me I had quite a few stories to choose from!!!! LOL In the end I chose the tentacle story and the tyre story. I hope that they'll make my fellow team members laugh when they read them!!! I thought that I'd include some photos of my CJ:


This is the cover & I must acknowledge and say thank you again to Tracie (a fellow jellie) who has allowed me to scraplift elements of her Book of Me Cover - thanks hun! 8-)
Used We R Memory Keepers papers & alphabet - aren't they yummy?!!!!!!


This is the sign in page, where each team member has to complete a tag, you can see mine in the bottom corner. Had a HUGE problem with the printer last night - took 90 minutes to print the photo on my tag! Was about to take a sledgehammer to the printer in disgust, but thought, better not!!!! LOL

This last page is actually the "Rules" page, where you can tell the other members if they have to use something, or how you'd like them to do their pages. My only stipulations were; A) NO holographic paper & B) Ribbon and/or fibre is a must!!! Must add that this is NOT my handwriting, but a font called Pea Gretchie. Which is almost identical to how my penfriend Gretchen writes - spooky huh?!!! Hubby says he finds it difficult to read, I think he just needs better glasses!!!!!!! 8-)

Scrapbooking

Todays blog prompt on UKScrappers: Are you a scrapbook evangelist? Do you want to convert your non-scrapper friends/families into scrapbookers? Do you try to find friends that scrapbook? If so, how? Do you show your pages to anyone who doesn't scrapbook?

I have been scrapbooking for a couple of years now and in that time I have converted both my Mum and mother in law! People at work know what I do and I have taken in projects, layouts and the like to show them. The guys in the security office at work know me VERY well!!!! Oops!! Online shopping is sooooooooo easy and I LOVE to receive parcels!!!!! The papers on these layouts is Rouge de Garance and I think they are fabulous! You don't need to do very much with the paper if you don't want to and you can still end up with beautiful results. Must say that I've recently had a delivery of more of this paper!!!! 8-) The photos were taken at Discovery Cove in June 2006. If you've not guessed already by reading my blog, we had a 'big' holiday over to North Carolina, with a quick sojourn to Florida in June. We went over to see a dear friend - Heather, get married to Donny. Whilst over there I was taken to The Enchanted Cottage, a scrapbooking store in Lewisville, NC, where I was made to feel so very welcome and boy was I ever like a kid in a candy store!!!!!!!! Heather is an art teacher and is also into scrapbooking - I wonder if she's visited much since I left?!!!!!!

The 90/10 Principle by Stephen Covey

I was sent an e-mail by my Mum this morning that contained this principle. Having read it, I can completely identify with it & thought that I'd share it with you.

Discover the 90/10 Principle.
It will change your life (at least the way you react to situations). What is this principle?


10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by
how you react. What does this mean?

We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us. We cannot stop
the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which throws
our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic. We have no
control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the other
90%.

How? By your reaction.

You cannot control a red light., but you can control your reaction. Don't
let people fool you; YOU can control how you react. Let's use an example.

You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup
of coffee onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just
happened. What happens next will be determined by how you react. You curse.

You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down
in tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for
placing the cup too close to the edge of the table. A short verbal battle
follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you
find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get
ready for school. She misses the bus. Your spouse must leave immediately
for work.

You rush to the car and drive your daughter to school. Because you are
late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph speed limit. After a 15-minute
delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your
daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye. After arriving at
the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase.Your day has
started terrible. As it continues, it seems to get worse and worse. You
look forward to coming home, When you arrive home, you find small wedge in
your relationship with your spouse and daughter.

Why? Because of how you reacted in the morning. Why did you have a bad day?

A) Did the coffee cause it?

B) Did your daughter cause it?

C) Did the policeman cause it?

D) Did you cause it?

The answer is " D".

You had no control over what happened with the coffee.How you reacted in
those 5 seconds is what caused your bad day. Here is what could have and
should have happened.

Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say,
"It's ok honey, you just need, to be more careful next time".Grabbing a
towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you
come back down in time to look through the window and see your child
getting on the bus. She turns and waves. You arrive 5 minutes early and
cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss comments on how good the day you are
having.

Notice the difference?

Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different.Why?

Because of how you REACTED.

You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other

90% was determined by your reaction.

Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle.

If someone says something negative about you, don't be a sponge. Let the
attack roll off like water on glass. You don't have to let the negative
comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. A wrong
reaction could result in losing a friend, being fired, getting stressed out
etc.

How do you react if someone cuts you off in traffic? Do you lose your
temper? Pound on the steering wheel? A friend of mine had the steering
wheel fall off) Do you curse? Does your blood pressure skyrocket? Do you
try and bump them?

WHO CARES if you arrive ten seconds later at work? Why let the cars ruin
your drive? Remember the 90/10 principle, and do not worry about it.

You are told you lost your job. Why lose sleep and get irritated? It will
work out. Use your worrying energy and time into finding another job. The
plane is late; it is going to mangle your schedule for the day.Why take out
your frustration on the flight attendant? She has no control over what is
going on. Use your time to study, get to know the other passenger. Why get
stressed out? It will just make things worse.

Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the
results. You will lose nothing if you try it. The 90-10 principle is
incredible. Very few know and apply this principle. The result? Millions of
people are suffering from undeserved stress, trials, problems and
heartache.We all must understand and apply the 90/10 principle. It CAN
change your life!!!

Anybody else care to join me?

That warm fuzzy feeling......

....you get when you do something for someone else? Whether it is just being there and supporting, helping through a dark period or something else, you just can't beat that warm fuzzy feeling.

Talking of warm and fuzzy, no nothing rude! I am a member of the Yadkin County Humane Society, and apparently the t-shirts and sweatshirts we've had made for us are ready & I've got one! So I will be able to support them here more visably in the UK! My penfriend lives in Yadkin county and is the foster carer of Sawyer (see the previous post - I'd like a dog, for a very cute piccie!) and introduced me to the YCHS. She donates so much of her time to fostering animals, helping with fundraisers and promoting the YCHS, so Gretchen, you deserve that warm fuzzy feeling EVERY day.

This is a photo of us from 1999, when Gretchen came over (with her sister & cousin) to visit us in the UK. Whilst here, we took them down to Brighton to meet my boyfriends folks and decided we'd go to the pier. We had a great time & this photo always makes me smile.

My Guy

This is the layout that I completed at the Bumper Bedford Scrapaholic weekend which won 3rd prize! I'm so thrilled to have won a prize for a LO of mine. I have serious confidence issues and can "feel the fear" when I have to use patterned papers!!!!! Most of the times that I use patterned papers have been in a kit, but I had to do this myself, and although it won't be everyones cup of tea, it's in my album & I like it!!!

The quote on the tag reads In all things of nature, there is something of the marvellous ~ Aristotle

The photo was taken at a cabin we stayed at in Blowing Rock, North Carolina in June 2006.

Still shattered.......

.....from the scrapbooking weekend! Had a fabulous time away, got far more done than anticipated and even won 3rd prize for a layout that I did using Chatterbox products! So surprised! My prize was a 6x6 canvas - I've done one canvas of my friend Heather as a Christmas gift for her parents, so will look forward to using the new one soon!

Was too dark to take photos of the layouts that I completed this morning - must mean that winter is on its way again 8-(
However, will endeavour to take some after work - I'm getting hassle from my jellie babe team mates that they've not seen what Mum & I have been up to!!!!
Shall just finish up with a Happy Birthday Emily wish. She is 2 today! 8-)