Christmas

Martin The Snowman © Claire Rice 2010

So that was Christmas. Just the two of us again since Mum and Dad got stuck in Devon because of the snow - which presumably is why my brother's Christmas pressie hasn't arrived yet despite being sent the same time as my birthday pressie (which arrived mid-week).
The snow also meant that I had to cancel my birthday drinks as I wasn't risking going into Manchester and wasn't gonna be responsible for anyone else risking it just for my birthday! So that's yet another birthday without any kind of party! I think I can count the amount of birthday parties I've had in my lifetime on one hand - possibly even two fingers! Next year I'm arranging my party for August! (Seriously!)
Then I got myself a cold and missed work on Tuesday - which didn't impress my boss! Not that he said anything but you could just tell by the tone of his voice he wasn't impressed!
So, feeling a bit guilty, I went in work for the rest of the week which turned out to be a waste of my time as there was sod all to do! And I ended up reading magazines and playing silly elf games on the computer! Still, I shouldn't really complain for being paid £16k for reading magazines and playing computer games should I!
So then Christmas arrived and it was a quiet affair. John seemed overwhelmed by his pressies a bit - and those were just mine! And I got some nice new boots, a jewelry box, slipper socks and a lovely card from John.

John - messy as ever! © Claire Rice 2010

Since Mum and Dad got stuck in Devon, we didn't have the Christmas dinner we'd planned but had pie instead. Not just any pies though - these were very expensive Higgidy pies! I had turkey and stuffing pie and John had beef and stilton pie! And today we're having beef in beer casserole. It smells delish!
But we haven't started on the Christmas cake or Christmas puds as we're trying to save them for when Mum and Dad are here. Whether we succeed or not is another matter! They go off in 2012 so they really need eating up!
So that's it really - I feel spoilt by all the generosity of my friends and family. They're a great bunch of people so I shall end this post by raising a toast to them...
Thanks for everything you've done for me this year. I hope you've had a very Merry Christmas and will have a very Happy New Year!

Claire xxx

Pussycat Flu!

I suppose the "big news" this week is that I had half the week off work with the flu... and I'll kill that Tony King next time I see him! What kind of twat comes into work with the flu fully admitting they 'should be in bed'?!! I still haven't completely got rid of the bloody thing now a week later!
I could've passed it onto John (thankfully, it looks like I haven't... yet!) and he really doesn't want the bleedin' flu on top of his other problems!
I also had to cancel my "face burning" session because my laserist was afraid of passing on my germs to her sickly dad. Right blinkin' pain this has turned out to be!!
So, having a few days with more time on my hands than I knew what to do with, I decided to start work on my autobiography. So far I've covered birth to starting senior school.
The main problem I've had, other than trying to remember my life, is worrying about stepping on other people's toes. Obviously I've not lived my life in solitary confinement so my life story does feature other people and who knows whether they'll like me 'telling all'??
The other thing I've done is cobble together my latest Best Of selection. This week it's The Best Of... Robbie Williams. Yes, I've finally done it and come out as a Robbie fan! Who knows what damage this could do to my street cred!! Lol! Click here to listen: http://www.we7.com/user/view-playlist?playlistId=1439977&m=0
I didn't get all excited about his reunion with Take That though. I've never liked them and really can't see what the fuss is about - certainly not to the extent of crashing the website in search of a concert ticket!

Thankfully, I felt well enough to go out last night and join the girls at the local carvery for supper. Sadly, John didn't feel 'with it' enough to join me this time. :-( But on a more positive, and fun, note it being Halloween I decided to dress up (see pic) and I think I looked fab even if I do say so myself! :-)
We also entered the quiz again... and won again... and this time we didn't even cheat! :-)
Then Gillian got roped into playing pool with some fella. With him being three sheets to the wind, I decided to go and keep tabs on them just in case. You never know what people will get up to when their inhibitions are lowered!
Then today John and I did the grocery shopping and so John tried out his mobility scooter again. He's decided that he's gonna try and build ramps for getting it in and out of the boot cos it's too heavy to manage by himself in his current condition. And he's also applying for a Blue Badge. I've never seen him so excited! You'd think he'd had a lottery win! Lol!
And that's it. Back to work tomorrow... yay!

R n R (But No Sex Or Drugs)

So this week has been a nice rest for me, having the week off work. This morning, for example, I didn't get up until gone 9am! A rarity for me! So, anyway, having caught up on some much needed rest and recreation, I'm back to work again tomorrow! I'm gonna have to look at taking longer holidays next year!
The reason why I'd kept them to only a week's length in the first place was because going back to work was so difficult because it used to mean I had to go back as "Tim" but, now I live full-time as Claire, that problem doesn't exist any more!
So what've I done on my week-off? ...Next to nothing! All that lovely sunshine we've had and I've seen scarcely half an hour of it! Lol!
I have however worked on my 'zines and got them finished (see photo).

And I've also delved back into Logic again (after many months abstinence) and have already bashed out two songs - my versions of Gilbert O'Sullivan's Claire and Burt Bacharach's Arthur's Theme. The working title for the album they may appear on is Uneasy Listening.
I also worked on this week's playlist - The Best Of Bob - which can be listened to via this link: http://www.we7.com/#/user/view-playlist!playlistId=1421810&m=fb
I also looked into how I'm going to make myself employable and found a few job fairs of interest ...which all clash with work commitments! So  I've not really made as much progress as I would've liked with that.
I was hoping for a career change - as newspapers is a fast dying trade - but I think I may have to moderate my ambitions somewhat and look for something involving proof reading outside of newspapers. Which still means I'm likely to be in the printing trade which isn't much more reliable than newspapers! That is if I can find an employer open minded enough to take on a trans female!
In that regard, this week I also wrote off to my GP asking for speech therapy and deportment lessons. Yup, I know what I said in August! But it really has begun to bug me and I would really like it sorted!

Last night John and I joined some of my friends and their partners for a meal at our local pub. (see photo) I didn't choose the pub by the way - it was coincidence that whoever chose it chose the one just around the corner from here. Anyway, the meal was very nice and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Especially the quiz which we joined in with after the meal! Which we also won! But we did cheat as Gillian and Jennifer were looking up the answers on their internet phones! The prize was a free round of drinks so we were well pleased with that! :-)
Sadly though, John was beginning to wilt and was due his meds so we had to call it a night shortly after.
On the subject of John - he's still not in good shape and he's beginning to relapse as well now that they're weening him off his steroids. He did tell the doctors that but he might as well have told them he was dead for all they cared! I find their attitude very upsetting to be honest. He's been buggered about left, right and centre and no one seems to give a damn!
He was meant to be an out patient but that's not materialised! He was meant to have oxygen to take home but that didn't materialise either! They don't seem to know what they're doing with the sample they took from him months ago! They don't seem to know when or if they're gonna do a biopsy! They just seem totally incompetent to me!!
For goodness sake, his blood pressure was 73 when he got home from the pub last night! How can that be good for any one! The NHS is a total farce!!
So I'm not happy!
And thus concludes today's sermon. Amen.