Chicken Pops!

Not that sort, sadly!

Squeaky's got what she's named "Chicken Pops".  You're probably more familiar with it as being Chickenpox, Varicella virus, or that horrible scabby itchy thing.  And Squeaky being Squeaky, she can't be one of these lucky children who has half a dozen spots in out of the way places.  No, she is covered already.  It's been about 24 hours since the first spot showed up, and they're everywhere, even in the most uncomfortable of places, if you know what I mean.

So apologies if you're expecting exciting posts from me, reviews, or insightful comments on the world at large, I'm going to be busy the next few days with a bottle of calamine lotion, and endless repeats of Toy Story on dvd.  Someone send me some sanity!

And if you have any useful tips, feel free to enlighten me.

I had Plans, you know

This is not a good week to be technology in our house.  My camera has gone to meet its maker (literally. I put it in an envelope to go and be repaired under warranty yesterday), and now the PC has had what I can only describe as a Total Existence Failure.  So that's going off to the nice man at the computer shop tomorrow to have its innards ripped out and the useful stuff that was saved on it put into a nice shiny new computer instead.  Luckily we knew this day was coming, and saved a lot of what would have otherwise been on the PC onto an external hard drive a couple of months ago.  I got a "well done" for that from the computer fixing dude in the shop. *smug*

All this means though, that the 3 parts written guest blog I was writing is now hidden somewhere in either the dead pc or the inaccessible hard drive (I'm not touching it til the shop man says that it's free of virii, trojans & other ooo-nasties), my Magpie Monday photos are stuck on a memory card with neither a camera nor a computer to display them on, and I'm reduced to writing everything on a teeny tiny netbook that runs an operating system I don't understand and a version of Firefox so out of date as to be obsolete & not supported by pretty much every webpage I visit.  And I can't figure out how to upgrade it.  I am not a geek, I just pretend to be one.

There were posts I was going to write.  Seriously, there are whole blog posts in my head, and I can't write them, they need pictures and access to my email, and more thinking than I can really do with this silly little netbook which randomly leaps back 3 pages through my browsing history for no obvious reason and without warning. Once the new pc is here, free of germs, and otherwise functioning, I think I'm going to end up paying the nice man at the computer shop to sort this one out as well.  Someone gave me idiot level instructions to do stuff to the netbook once, but I'm clearly even more of an idiot than they thought because it was just *whoosh*.

So, yeah.  Accept my apologies for the extended hiatus. It's not my fault, honestly.  Or, actually, is it? I just thought.  Viruses, germs, bugs, right?  Could I have uncovered a genuine computer/human crossover?  I've been feeling sorry for my self with tonsillitis the last few days, and now my computer has caught a bug too.  Maybe that's what it is?  Can I be awarded some kind of scientific research grant into the spread of tonsillitis via digital means?   

Magpie Monday - All Quiet

I'm shattered.  It's been a long week.  My car has been back to the garage for the third time in as many weeks for something that may or may not actually be fixed yet.  This has really had a knock on impact on my bargain hunting.  It's taken me to Brecon every week, which should be a good source of bargains, because Brecon's all posh, like.  But out of the 3 or 4 charity shops I can find, most are rubbish, and the only one with real bargains is a complete jumble sale, and if I've got Squeaky with me, I really haven't got the patience to deal with it.  And I've spent a sodding fortune on car repairs (and expensive coffees to pass the time) which has eaten up my shopping budget.

My friend got married on Saturday, so I had to wrangle Squeaky into a party dress and deal with an over-excited, over-tired toddler who'd already spent a few hours at SqueakyGran's house being fed Too Much Cake.  Can you guess what happened to the pretty party dress?  Put it this way, I was very glad that I'd kept a couple of changes of clothes in the back of the car, for Squeaky at least. I just smelled less of J-Lo Glow and more of Toddler Throw for the rest of the evening.

No actual new finds this week, but Squeaky's party dress was one that featured way,way back in an early Magpie Monday post, so I thought I'd share how it looks now she's grown into it.  See also her favourite toy, a no-longer-working mobile phone - another piece of Magpie-ing I guess, finding a new life for something that would otherwise have been chucked out.  (and please note tidy hair, in pigtails. Don't ask how, it was a miracle)

A couple of new charity shops have sprung up in town, though they hadn't opened when I was shopping last Thursday, so I'll be making a tour later in the week, see if there's anything good.  And I finally located one I'd been looking for for AGES today, though I was working at the time & couldn't really stop & go shopping.

The magpies have migrated for a week or so. Pop over & visit.

Unclean! Unclean!

Image Credit

(No, it's not the Daily Mail again)

I've finally got shot of the ear infection I picked up on holiday, only to come down with a chest infection last week, so I'm dosed up on antibiotics and feeling grotty.

Then on Thursday night Squeaky was a bit, well, Squeaky. She was a bit warm, so a dose of Calpol, and then all seemed OK. Off we went to Preschool Gymnastics without incident.  She fell asleep afterwards, and then it all began.  She woke up with a temp, and spent the afternoon variously grouching and sleeping.  More calpol, but no change.  Pretty broken night, with yet more calpol and those magic cooling head patches.

Saturday morning, and she seemed back to her usual chirpy self.  Until we met up with SqueakyGran & Gramp for a meal in a brand spanking new restaurant in town.  Screams from the minute we walked in.  No interest in food at all, even though there were scampi AND garlic bread on offer to her, both of which she loves.  Eventually she fell asleep and we could eat in relative peace.

Another disturbed night, though marginally better.  And today she's still running a temp, though it does drop when the calpol kicks in, and still grouching & sleeping.  I just feel helpless, she's upset, unwell and I can't make it right for her, poor petal.

So now we're going to curl up on the sofa & catch up with some of the rubbish on the Sky+

Oh yeah, and another thing...

That ear infection I picked up in Majorca?  2 months ago?  I'd like it to go away now please.  3 different lots of antibiotic ear drops, the last of which make me dizzy and kind of nauseous, and I've still got a sore, swollen ear with stuff in it.  Which Squeaky of course makes contact with on a shockingly regular basis.  Isn't it time it went away now?

I moaned about it on Twitter last month, and some strange spambot offered me a "free!" gadget treatment.  Free in as much as I pay a fortune in shipping costs ($80?? I think not) for a glorified vibrator, and they would refund me if I submit a video-review to their website.  I offered them a review here for not having to pay the shipping in the first place, but they weren't interested.  Wonder if I'd've ever got the refund? I doubt it somehow. Maybe I should just get a cheap vibrator & hold it against my ear?  (Confession time, I don't own a vibe, I never have. Does that make me strange?)

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

No, don't panic, nothing like that.  Just that we're off on our jollies in a couple of days time, and I'm not planning on spending my precious time on foreign soil trying to find a free wifi signal for long enough to update.

I'm slightly dreading the flight.  Princess La Squeaky refuses to sit still for 2 minutes at the moment, never mind 2 hours on our laps.  Oh dear.  I have a selection of new toys, old favourites, books & assorted junk foods to keep her occupied though, so hopefully we will survive without being lynched by the rest of the plane.

She's also got a second molar coming through.  And as a result is a) grumpy, b) off her food, c) shitting up a storm, and d) full of a horrible cough, which for some reason all seems to be related.  Poor mite.  I've got a whole branch of Boots' worth of medical shit to take with us, Calpol, Dentinox, Bepanthen, Tixylix, Snufflebabe, Teetha, you name it!

So, see you in a while folks.

Weekend Round-Up

Only a quick post for you today, internet.  This week has been busy, one way or another.  Not how I'd've liked it to be, but busy all the same.

After our trip to the NCT sale last Saturday, we went into Cardiff, where Squeaky managed to catch a stomach bug (THANK YOU people with the ill child and very smelly nappy in St David's Centre - if your child is that ill, don't take them out!), which has kept us all being sick & smelly all week.  The washing machine has been on overdrive.  Squeaky's fine, but still a little bit lacking in appetite (as we all are to tell the truth), but we've had a whole week off from our normal activities, and she's bored at home now.

We've also grown a new tooth.  Not the other top front tooth that I was expecting, but the one to the other side of the existing top front one (the one dentists would call 2).  The one we're still waiting for is visible, just not breaking the surface yet.  I wish it would get on with it, though obviously the 6th isn't going to be far behind. Does teething ever actually stop?

She's also learned this week how to put a ball into a stacky cup, and tip it out again, which is hours of entertainment, and that baths can have bubbles in them!  Did you know that?  Squeaky thinks it's very exciting and you should all know all about the bubbles!  She's a little bit unsure whether they're a good thing or not, the principle is ok, but actual bubbles on her hands are a bit strange and she gets very concerned.  But they do go away when she splashes the water about, so that's what we have to do.

Oh!  And we saw a Christmas tree for the first time!  We went into town yesterday afternoon, just as it was getting dark.  The lights were switched on on Friday, and there was a big tree in the shopping centre, all lit up with little silvery lights, and covered in big silver baubles.  So we had to spend a good ten minutes looking at our funny reflection in the balls, and the twinkly lights, while wrapped up like a snowbaby in our spotty snowsuit.