Happy Xmas

Happy Xmas to everyone !!!!!!

Hope Santa brings you all what you wished for - Santa still has to get up in our house :)

(Simplytot still hanging on in there)

An anniversary of sorts

Hey bet you thought I had given up on this place - no I haven't just been awful busy of late

The reason im back tonight is to celebrate a bit of an anniversary

I started this blog 2 years ago this weekend and had all the intentions of keeping it regularly updated but 76 posts in 2 years (and about 150 unpublished ones) show I failed miserably.

My new job and the imintent arrival of Simplytot has taken it's toll on PC time at home so I haven't even really been able to check out everyone blogs as often as I should

I've also got a load of photo's online of our trip to Canada and Mum's 70th birthday but haven't got the pages set-up yet - Im not gonna make any promises though as im hopeless at keeping them

Anyway at the moment G is doing ok infact no scratch that she's struggling a bit and the 31st of December cant come quickly enough for her - We got the nursery finished and are trying to just get ourselves together and have as normal a Xmas as is possible - I still reckon Simplytot will make an appearance on the 21st but maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part

Tomorrow is Scottish Cup 2nd round day http://simplyton.blogspot.com/2004/12/and-so-it-begins.html- man a lot has changed in 2 years and a lot hasn't - hopefully i'll not leave it so long next time

Take care

Im back........

Ok I knows its been a while but I’ve been busy please forgive me

Technically its only really been a month I was neglecting the blog for as he 1st 3 weeks were while I was away in Canada and while I did consider updating with photo’s etc. while I was away it prove to be beyond me as Internet access was not easily available.

Upon my return I slumped into post holiday blues for about a week then plunged headlong into the chaos that is my life at the moment Its appears im spending all day everyday running about daft doing a whole lot of nothing.

I had held off updating here until I had all my photo’s online from the various event of the past couple of months –I got the photo’s online but I still have to do a lot of the of the page set-up etc.

Anyway since my last post we’ve had Mum’s birthday party, a fantastic 2 and ½ week trip to Canada.

Hopefully will get the pics all sorted out and get something online about our trip.

Simplytot is coming along nicely – Only 12 weeks to go. Unfortunately G has still been plagued by morning sickness and as a result of a recent virus has been off work – All this has made us revise the date that G is hoping to work up until – We had both hoped she could work up until the beginning of December (i.e. 1 month before due date) but its looking more like early November.

In more positive news after returning from Canada we bought a Pram, Cot and Nursery furniture for Simplytot. Hopefully in the next week or so I will get the nursery-to-be stripped and painted.

Will hopefully keep you posted on the progress.

Monday Bloody Monday

Start of the week and what a week its likely to be I've the ongoing landscaping project to complete, Mum 70th birthday and party & our trip to Toronto next Sunday.

This weekend was spent preparing for all three - unfortunately with so much time being devoted to the garden I was unable to make the Morton game - Half time update from Dad calmed my fears as he report a dour 1st half this was promptly followed by 2 fairly quick fire texts reporting goals - Game finished 3-0 to Morton and keeps the league form up despite a poor showing in the cup in midweek.

Tomorrow night we have Dumbarton away in the Challenge Cup - This one has really failed to catch the imagination and I reckon we could see the poorest turn-out for a local derby for some time.

Found this during a quiet time this morning and thought i'd give it a try.

Jobs
1. What was your first ever job? 1st Adult job was working in the IRH hopsital laundry cleaning all the laundry from the local hospital
2. Did you enjoy it? Imagine 35+ degree temperature and the lovely incoming converyor belt of horrors and I think you get the picture - How that place is not a health hazard i'll never know. Money was good though for poor student's summer.
3. What made you decide leave/not ever leave? It was only for 3 months of the summer before Uni but it certainly made up my mind as to whether Uni was a good idea or not
4. What has been your favourite job so far and why? X-ray Programmer in Solectron - Heading the right direction of the sort of job I could see myself doing - Also I was good at it its seemed my brain was tuned into all the complex algorithms
5. What is your ideal dream job? Working for Disney Pixar doing 3D Amination

Simplytot pt2

G was at IRH today for her 18-20 week scan

The Consultant confirmed all is well and the midwife team took G on a tour of the facilities at IRH Maternity

She has had a good past couple of days (Dont wanna get our hopes up that she has finally got it under control) and think the scan helped matters - Just put her mind at ease. She is also starting to feel movement coming from the womb just little "butterflies" like feelings : )

Normal service resumed

After a good start to the league campaign on Saturday (2-0 home win v Raith Rovers) its was back to old habits against Brechin at Glebe Park.

The Ton went down 2-1 in the 1st round of the CIS cup after taking the lead early in the 1st half. Another year another 1st round exit - We dont seem interested in a money spinning cup run.

Wasn't at the game but via txt updates from DR it appeared much of the sparkle of Saturday was missing from Morton's play.

A month of long away journey's continues with Stranraer on Saturday - Hopefully the Brechin defeat was a wake up call that wont prove too costly.

Kirk & Harris

Went up to see Debbie, Stephen, Kirk & Harris on Sunday evening.

1st time we had seen them in about 3 months and it was good to catch up both kids are growing up so fast

Squad 2006/2007

very quiet on the transfer front for the Ton with 4 players in total coming in -
Stevenson before our campaign finished in May, Mcgovern on loan from Celtic and a couple of youngster who impressed Jim over the pre-season.

Goalkeepers -

Gonet, McGurn,

Defence -

Greacen, Harding, Keenan, MacGregor, Weatherson, Black

Midfield -

Finlayson, McAlister, Millar, A. Walker, Mclaughlin, Stevenson

Forwards -

Lilley, McLean, Templeman, Mcgowan

Plus youngsters


Gonet - Tough start replacing McGurn at Somerset Park but performed well in the games
following - Looks a good shot stopper another years experience will do him good.


McGurn - Undoubted number 1 and appears to have cut out the errors - Could do with
commanding his area more as a bit suspect on crosses - great shot stopper.


Greacen - On his day is commanding and uncompromising but at times last season made
some silly mistakes - looked for a while that Stuart & Ryan couldn't play in the same defence but improved last season.


Harding - Has improved after looking a bit shakey - looked very comfortable on the ball during pre-season but must cut out long hopeful balls forward


Keenan - Somewhat of a utility man without really excelling in any position. Always
commited to the tackle but needs to be more controlled at times. 1 good performance
followed by 1 awful performance suggests he'll struggle to gain a regular place.


Macgregor - Good to see Davie back after a couple of seasons lost due to injury -
Dependable and read the game well - may be a better option in central defence than full back


Weatherson - Our 1st choice right back. Positioning at times could be better and often decision making lets him down but solid in the tackle and good distribution.


Finlayson - Good engine but needs to work on his crossing - Handy player to have as can play a number of roles but probably doesn't produce enough to merit a starting spot


McAlister - Most exciting player at Cappielow on his game - Tore defences apart last
season and hopefully more of the same this - needs to be more consistent though

Mclaughlin - Does the dirty work in the centre of the park and has certainly improved
but needs more help for the lighter midfielders.

Stevenson - Signed from Alloa before our fate was sealed last season - impressed in
pre-season - Looks like could be the missing link between midfield and front


Millar - Seems to have stagnated in the past year - Needs up his performances or the
boo-boys will get louder

A. Walker - Looks a good player but fails to deliver all too often Another who needs
to step up his performance although has managed to avoid the wrath of the boo boys thus far

Lilley - Disapointing 1st season back - infact take out the purple patch in the middle and it was an awful 1st season back. Lost the pace and strength that made him a hit 1st time round - Hopefully better supply will help him this season.


Mclean - Hardly given a look in for the 1st team last year then thrown into most important game of the season - Not seen enough to comment fully but has scored a lot in reserves.

Templeman - Didn't expect to see him back after going on loan but glad he is and looked to prove some folks wrong in pre-season games. Showed in flashes what he could do last season but needs better service

We at present appear to have a decent group of around 14 players who could do the job at this level - however beyond that we dont seem to have much back-up and may struggle if hit by injuries.

In defence - We have a solid enough 4 out of 5 positions but seems to be lacking a decent left back and while Davie can deputise there a natural left footer is required

In midfield I think we all hoped he would sign a good quality central midfielder in the Veira, Keane, Gerrard mould but this doesn't seem to have happened. Last season our problem seemed to be that our midfield was often too light weight with too many ball players and none willing to get their hands dirty tracking back. Alex Walker needs to do more to justify a place and provide the ball wining for the likes of Stevenson & Mcallister.

Up front Derek Lilley place could be under threat if Mcgowan shows the form he did in
the 50mins against Skunks at Cappielow - Temps needs to carry his pre-season form and
add more goals to win over the fans


Starting 16 for the season (3-5-2)

---------------- Mcgurn -------------------

Weatherson----- Greacen --- Harding



------- Mclaughlin -----A Walker -----------

Millar -------------------------McAllister
----------------Stevenson-------------------


--------- Lilley --- Templeman -------------

Subs -

Gonet, McGregor, Keenan, Finlayson, Mcgowan

1 major change was that of the home kit - After 3 years of the Blue & White hooped Vandanel Kit we again signed up with Vandanel this time with vertical blue and white stripes - Its a nice enough kit just not quite Morton - More Killie in disguise :)




Hopefully this is finally our year to get out of this division.

Views of the Clyde

Took my camera with me up to my parents house last night and caught some nice sunset shots.

Even just on the automatic setting I notice a dramatic difference in the image quality











Lost a bit of the quality with shrinking it down but still really pleased with the results.

My new Toy !!!!!!

Got myself a new camera for the upcoming trip to Toronto and everything else thats going on.

After much deliberation I went for the Canon Powershot S2 - Ordered it online last week and have been making buttons ever since waiting on it. Finally after some delivery issues I was able to pick it up yesterday and its a beauty !!!!!

My old camera the Nikon Coolpix 3200 certainly served its purpose well but felt that I wanted something with some more options. One of the major irks with the Nikon was that without a flash all images would be blurry when taken without tripod. Its will still come in handy the Nikon as its so small you can carry it around anywhere but the Canon S2 is my new weapon of choice

Had a play around with it last night and its a beast of camera. There are so many options and settings that I was tying myself in knots trying to figure it all out. Its weighs in at around twice the size of the Nikon and at first I felt it was just too big but then I got to grips with it and love it - It has solid feeling and fits comfortably in my hand - the detail in the images are fantastic.

Im hoping put a bit more thought into what im doing with this camera - With the Nikon it was great for point and shoot moment but found especially when taking part in the 26things Photo Scavenger Hunt I was being hindered by the limited options of the Coolpix 3200 - Hopefully with some free time in Toronto I can make a good attempt at August's 26things

My life in a spin

I know I have been slacking recently but things have been hectic without anything really major happening.

Last weekend we had the Gaffney's at ours - 1st time all 5 of us have been together for about 6 weeks or so. Just had a quiet night but it was good catching up. Alyssa is growing up so fast she is wandering around exploring everywhere and has also developed a Diva-style tantrum to ensure she gets her own way. :)

(some pics of Alyssa to follow)

On Sunday as the great weather continued we had everyone round for a BBQ - nothing fancy just mass produced charred food.

In between times the football pre-season got underway ( I was begining to get
withdrawal symptoms during the 2 weeks since the World Cup final) Morton played a Morton 1995 select team as well as St. Mirren & Sheffield Utd. in the space of 9 days all at Cappielow.

They then hit the road with games against Partick, Morecambe & Barrow over 5 days across the weekend.

All in it appears to have been a succesful pre-season schedule with players looking sharp and new signing Jamie Stevenson settling in well. 1st game of the season is at Cappielow on Saturday versus Raith and will have a more thorough run-down on the Ton by then (I know how you all like to keep up with Greenock's finest)

Football aside the past week has been taken up with gardening or sorry landscaping the garden and the worrying thing is that we're not even halfway there. Decided a couple of weeks back to re-locate the entrance to front of the garden - This then progressed from a simple case of a bit of welding work on our fence and a few new slabs to a full scale landscaping job.

Let me just clarify something we're not talking a huge expanse of ground here (Think more postage stamp) but the problem is more the lie and shape of land. After many days and nights with a spade and spirit level we are now ready for phase 2 - Foundations are in place and the materials have been ordered

The plan is before we head off to Toronto our front garden will be monoblocked and walled with a convinient slopping path replacing the pram unfriendly stairs (the motive behind it all). Hopefully by that time my arms and hands will stop squealing out in pain with every movement - we can but hope :)

G is doing ok - seems to have as many good days and bad days and at times it getting her down. She's also worried that the sickness is never gonna go away.

Got my Niece over with us at the moment from Ireland - She is hoping to go to Uni in Edinburgh next year and is trying to get placements sorted for this year to ensure she qualifies for entry to the speech therapy course at Napier.

Mum is 70 later this month and after months of talking about it she has finally decided to allow us to throw her a party (tough decision I know) - So cue loads of runing aroudn trying to get a party organised in 2 & 1/2 weeks

With that and our holiday a couple of days later its gonna be a very hectic month :)

Canada

As some of of you may or may not know myself & G submitted our application for immigration to Canada late last year. Thus far we haven't really heard anything back from them other than a "here as number, wait in line and dont call us we will call you".

If truth be told we dont really expect to hear anything until at least this time next year - Really were just trying to get on with things but be ever mindful that our future lies elsewhere.

We have however arranged to head out to Toronto on the 20th August for 2 1/2 weeks staying in a lovely farmhousearound 40mins from both Toronto and Niagara Falls. The place sounds ideal handy for allareas we want to investigate but also a good place to relax and chill out away from it all.


We are trying to use this trip as a scouting mission to investigate this area ofCanada. Its still a bit early in our application but hopefully it will give us a better grasp of the areas we should be looking at for jobs, ammenities etc.

We've been trying to gather some info from online as well as previous imigrants who have been through thewhole process.Of course were gonna do the whole tourist thing with the likes of the falls and the CNtower high on our list of places to visit. Unfortunately due to G's condition the attraction at the top of my list has had to be scratched - I was all set for somerollercoaster action at Paramount Canada's Wonderland but G has put the brakes on that one.

If anyone has been to the Toronto area before and has any tips of places to visit or avoid - drop me a line

World Cup

Well the feast of football that is the World Cup finals is over for another 4 years with Italy deserving their victory over the Zidane-less French after a penalty shoot-out. The 1st 90mins of the final summed up the competition as a whole I thought. Decent football but never quite achieving the high quality we were expecting. I cant really think of too many games that we'll still be talking about after the next WC.

For me there were too many disapointments - Brazil, Argentina, Czech Republic & Holland all underperformed while the likes Ronaldinho failed to live up the their pre-tournament billing. There was also very few newcomers grabbing their chance to shine on the biggest stage of all - Usually in a WC superstars are created by this year it was the established stars that were grabbing the headlines.

Best game - Either Argentina v Mexico or Italy v Germany
Best Goal - Maxi Rodriguez v Mexico

Here's to Euro 2008 and hopefully Scotland's chance to shine :)

Simplytot

45 days since my last post and what a crazy 45 days its been.

So much news to tell you but in reality only 1 piece of news that matters

G (My Wife) is 3+ months pregnant!!!!

We've known for a long while it became semi-official on the 15th of May (2 days before our 10th Anniversary of meeting) when after a week or so of convincing ourselves that it was/ or it wasn't morning sickness G took a test and it came back positive.

The 2 of us were over the moon but then the real fun started. As well as being pregnant G also had a particularly nasty stomach virus which involved her being sick 10+ times daily. This coupled with general concern meant that somehow the two of us managed to keep our news to ourselves for a further 4 and 1/2 weeks until G got the all clear for the doctor and the scan came back.

So after lying to everyone (and I mean every one - The only ones who knew were G's Doctor and medical staff) We finally got both set of parents together and told them the good news

For my Mum and Dad it was news they had heard 10 times before with my Brothers and Sister's but for G's Mum & Dad its was news of a first grandchild,

The next few days were a blur as we went round everyone telling them the good news. With holding on till G was 12 weeks in the pregnancy it meant we also had some scan photo's to show everyone.

At time of posting 0.30 on Friday night/saturday morning its now 176 days until Simplytot is scheduled to make an appearance or 31st December 06 - Tahts gonna be some Hogmanay :)

So thats my excuse for not posting - since finding out the news my world has has been hectic - I changed job shortly afterwards (to maximise income) and that involves a 100 mile round trip to work each day and that coupled with the feast of football that is the World Cup has mean I have rarely been online.

I have still managed to catch up with all the blogs I usually check out but haven't been posting as I didn't feel it was right too

Anyway I hope all is well with everyone and I will try to get round you all.

Fun Music Shuffle Thing Quiz

Instructions: Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING.

How does the world see you?
Sgt Peppers - The Beatles

Will I have a happy life?
High Hopes - Pink Floyd

What do my friends really think of me?
Best of You - Foo Fighters

What do people secretly think of me?
100 Mile High City - Ocean Colour Scene

How can I be happy?
On the Run - Pink Floyd

What should I do with my life?
Please dont Die - Robbie Williams

What is some good advice for me?
Carnival De Paris - Dario G

How will I be remembered?
18 till I die - Bryan Adams

What is my signature dancing song?
Which Way is Out - Razorlight

What do I think my current theme song is?
Inbetweener - Sleeper

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
For Me, Its You - Train

What song will play at my funeral?
A Glorious Day - Embrace

What type of men/women do you like?
Words just get in the way - Richard Ashcroft

What is my day going to be like?
Yellow Submarine - The Beatles.

Crunch Time - 2nd leg

Its 6.00am and i've been lying staring at the roof since about 3.30 going over all the possible scenario's in my head.

Will we go defensive and try to nick a goal? Is Jason fit enough to start? Should Andy be benched and play the role of super sub? Can Jm getting us back to playing football on the deck? Will i need a jumper with me - all the burning issues of the day.

Despite all the artex analysis I am still no closer to coming up with a starting 11.

I think we should try and match them in midfield go 4-4-2 with this line-up


mcgurn
weatherson - greacen - harding - mcgregor

millar - walker - mclaughlin mcalister

lilley ------ ?

The defence takes care of itself - While im not 100% convinced that Harding & Greacen are great together I dont see Jim changing it now.

Midfield - I dont think any of the midfielders covered themselves in glory on Wednesday night and maybe its time for a shuffle of position.

Pull Jim back into more orthodox Left Mid role and have Chris Millar doing the same on the right. I'd like to see Chris & Peter and Jim & Davie put their Peterhead counterparts on the back foot more often. Get the full backs overlapping doubling up against Peterhead's full back's.

In central midfield looking for more harrasing and harrying from Scott and a lot more composure from Alex - all too often this season Alex has flattered to decieve he looks a good player and appears to have all the right attributes to be a success in the centre of midfield but rarely does he produce. I cant remember a game where Alex stood out in the midfield.

Up front I thought Lilley did well on Wednesday winning a lot of headers but with very little support. He obviously a stick on for a place up front but it's his partner thats giving me problems - In my formation I think it needs to be as worker and that why I would leave Mclaren on the bench.

I thought after after a poor last few months of the season that Andy would be up for the game on Wednesday but he seemed out of touch once again - He could still have role to play but dont reckon its as a 2nd striker in this match.

I think we should go for either Finlayson or Walker. Infact I reckon Kevin should get the nod 1st half - tell him he gonna get 45 mins and to run his heart out during that time. Hopefully his speed and general nuisance factor will cause the Peterhead defence problem. At Half time I'd swop Kevin for Jason (if fit obviously) and ask Jason to play the same role.

If things are still not going our way with 20 to go we start looking to get Peter up front and get Andy on to create and Kenny Mclean on to sniff out a chance.

My stomach is churning already and its still 9hours till kick-off.

Hopefully we get behind the team from the off like we did at Cappielow and this time the team respond and we keep the noise level up. Would love to see all the Ton fans with the Hoops on - I know the team will likely be in white but reckon we should all don the blue & white.

As to the most important question - I think i'll take jumper with me just incase.

Mon e Ton

Morton V Peterhead

Tonight see's Morton take on Peterhead at Cappielow in the 1st leg of the semi-finals of SFL play-offs with a place in division 1 at stake.

Morton completed their league campaign on Saturday with a 2-0 at Forfar. Mcinally rested a number of 1st teamers for tonights match but the youngsters that came in done a great job by all accounts.

The top of 2nd Division table looks like this

1 Gretna 36 88
2 Morton 36 70
3 Peterhead 36 57
4 Partick 36 57
5 Stirling 36 51

With Gretna promoted as champions and Morton, Peterhead & Partick taking the 3 play-off spots along with Stranraer who finished 2nd bottom of the 1st division.

So the line ups for the play-offs are

Wednesday, 03 May 2006
Morton v Peterhead, 19:30
Stranraer v Partick, 19:45

Saturday, 06 May 2006
Partick v Stranraer, 15:00
Peterhead v Morton, 15:00

The winners of these two ties will meet home & away on the 10th & 14th May to decide who takes the remaining spot in the 1st division.


So tonight's game after weeks of meaningless fixtures Morton must get on their big game faces. They have shown over the season they they deserve that 2nd spot but unfortuantely are a bit hit & miss on the day.

With a full squad to choose from the expected line-up is

mcgurn
weatherson - greacen - harding - mcgregor

millar - walker - mclaughlin

mcalister - mclaren

lilley

The back 5 is Jim's 1st choice back 5 but I feel that often Harding & Greacen together in central defence leads to mistakes - I think if we had a recognised left back at the club Davie Mcgregor would be a better choice at centre half.

In midfield the 3 have all shown they are capable throughout the season but whether they are capable of playing all together is another matter. All too often our midfield has been outnumbered and outmuscled by the opposition.

Jim & Andy are the key players for Morton they have to work hard to create for Lilley but also drop back and cover when Peterhead attack - This formation can take the form of a 4-3-2-1, 4-5-1 or even a 4-4-2 depending on the type of game we are playing.

If we can get the ball on the ground I think we can take Peterhead we have shown we are a good passing team. We must not allow Peterhead to draw us into a long ball game that oftens takes over when we are pressurised. With only Lilley up front its vital that we pick the right passes rather than hit & hope.

Hopefully we get a good performance from the boys tonight and make the daunting trip to Balmoor on Saturday a little but easier.

Mon e Ton.

Im back !!!

Ok technically I wasn't away anywhere but I finally got my finger out and updated this blog for the 1st time in 2 months.

A load of stuff going on butI've started with the big occasions birthday's etc.

Hopefully will get a chance to update with the latest on

• Canada
• Photo Scavenger Hunt February
• Morton latest
• 101 things before im 29 latest (I aint doing too well)
• PES5 Online
• Yahoo Answer's

I also got a load of idea's that I stole from other people's sites like Google pics, A-Z of me and Musical Life Shuffle.

Promise I will keep this thing a bit more updated

Paul leaving us

With Paul heading off to Afghansitan on Monday morning we all gathered at the Reillys to say cheerio to him.
We had gotten an Afghan survival kit together for him consisting of some essentials to intergrate him into Afghan society should anything go wrong including camoflage kit, Tea towels & Afghan Id.

He's heading off to work as an electirician on military bases over there - It will involve him moving about the country wherever he is required. He's away for 3 months back for 3 weeks then away for another 3 months.

Alyssa's Birthday

Alyssa (our Goddaughter) turned 1 year old today.

Doesn't seem a year ago since we were all through in Fife welcoming the latest addition to the gang. Gaffney's had a party for Alyssa and managed to squeeze around 40 folk in their house in Cairneyhill.

Once half the hordes had ate and left it was the adults turn with us all partying until the small hours.

Due to the numbers we ened up staying the City Hotel in Dunfermline along with Paul & Paula and Paul & Caireen.

Sunday we all headed back to the Gaffney's for a chilled day while the birthday girl opened all her presents.

Highlights of the weekend were Claire letting her hair down big style on Saturday night and John trying to pass through the glass patio doors.

We also found out this weekend that Paul was going to Afghanistan in 2 weeks time to work

Snow way

I thought long and hard about this one and this was the best little I could come up with?

Today saw the 1st major snowfall of the year in our area.

Its started late on Saturday night and by Sunday morning there was around a foot and a half of snow landed in this area. As usual with Scotland the place came to standstill - A snowfall of this depth doesn't happen that often so it does catch us a bit on the hop.Me I ventured out in it for about 20 seconds but I was hardly well prepared for the elements.

Rare sighting of a Lazy Geti

The local terrors spent around 6 hours building a igloo which looked fantastic - unfortuantely they preceeded to destroy it at the end of the day.

Happy Birthday Fiona

Another day Another Birthday. This time it was Fiona's turn.

Fiona turned 24

Im sure ive got some old embarassing photo's of Fee lying about somewhere - will need to dig them out and get them online.

Happy Birthday Baz

While it may be Groundhog Day it doesn't stop us all getting any older.

Its Barry's birthday today - He turns 28 like the rest of us

This photo was taken in Salou in 95 when we all young, sweet and innocent.

Well young anyway.

Happy Birthday Scullbert

Paula is 28 Today - Happy Birthday Mrs Di-Marco

New Car

Picked up our new Car today

A 1.6l Vauxhall Astra Life in Silver Lightning



8 months old and in cracking condition.

Suddenly now Gillian wants to drive everywhere - Wonder how long that will last for.

PSP Heaven

Got one of these bad boys as part of a deal with the Carphone Warehouse for my new ex. phone!!


Its absolutely minted - love it

Got Pro Evolution Soccer 5 today for it and Fiona bought me Crash Tag Team Racing. The games are sweet although I can see me getting claw hands as a result of excessive playing. As part of the deal I also got a 1gb memory stick which I've loaded with mp3s, pics and Movies - Put Star Wars Episode 3 and the latest episode of Lost on there.

AND ALL THIS FOR FREE!!!!!!!

My mobile was due for upgrading in November but hadn't seen any handsets that I fancied (I was actually hanging on for the Sony Ericsson P990 in May) but then I saw this deal in CPW.

12 month contract with O2 - 250 Cross network minutes & 100 Texts with FREE Motorola SLVR L7



&............FREE PSP GIGA PACK (worth £240).

My mobile bill for a month is usually around £25 with T-mobile. So for the extra £5 a month I was able to get a free PSP. The phone is ok but not a patch on my current Sony Ericsson so just gonna put the SLVR on Ebay and wait for the P990 in the Summer.

See you in a couple of months when my claw hand is back to normal !!!

What a difference 10 years makes.

1996


2006

101 things to do in 365 days

The Mission:Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 365 days.

The Criteria:Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 365 Days?
Its a variation on the "101 things in 1001 days". "
With so much transition expected in my life in the next few years I thought it better to stick to these task year on year.

The idea is to try and push myself to achieve these goals

1 Go to a concert
2 Get a tattoo
3 Update Blog/Pals once a week
4 Go to Alton Towers
5 Update Web page every month
6 Take More Photo's
7 Get rid of unused junk
8 Finally complete watching the X-files
9 Go to a play/show
10 Learn to use camera
11 Lose 30lbs
12 Progress Canada application
13 Remove/Replace Shed
14 Contact Canadian's
15 Play the Lottery once a week
16 Speak/email Houtens more often
17 Organise Xmas Day dinner 2006
18 Arrange New Year party 2007
19 Read 5 Books
20 Complete backgarden
21 Organise PC
22 Pay off Credit card debt
23 Tell Gillian I love Her more often
24 Visit/Move to Canada
25 Watch an complete Ice hockey Game
26 Go to horse races/Dogs and place bet.
27 Donate blood.
28 Take My Camera out more
29 Improve my working life
30 Learn to juggle 4 balls
31 Build a snowman
32 Keep Ipod organised
33 Get up 10 mins early and stretch
34 Complete list of all grounds in Scotland visited
35 Make a list of a original DVD's we own
36 Play a bucket of balls at Driving Range
37 Eat 5 pieces of Fruit each day for a week
38 Improve diet
39 Try new foods
40 See Scotland play at Hampden
41 Buy a new mobile phone
42 Get Guttering fixed on house.
43 Tidy front Garden.
44 Visit a 2 new locations in Scotland
45 Go to Ireland
46 Manage my time better
47 Attend gym 5 times in a week
48 Go to the cinema once a month
49 Win a full season league on PES5 on the PSP
50 See Kirk & Alyssa more often
51 Add 5 movie reviews to IMDB
52 Update Website design
53 Paint & paste Kitchen
54 Shelf in Blue room
55 Have Dinner in a fancy restaurant
56 Go to the beach
57 Make a trifle
58 Buy some new clothes
59 Go Bowling
60 Watch all 6 Star Wars movies
61 Buy & wear a watch
62 Make a mix CD for the car
63 Watch 5 "Classic" films that I've never seen before
64 Keep Photo album of the year.
65 Fly a Kite
66 Add 1 "unknown" or recommended albums to my ipod each month
67 Wear contacts more often
68 Send Xmas cards
69 Remember & Acknowledge Birthday, Anniversaries etc.
70 Take a Road Trip
71 Have Parents/In-laws down for Dinner
72 Have Martin & Claire-Anne stay over
73 No chocolate/sweets for a week
74 Learn to use Flash Multimedia
75 Take Gillian on a picnic
76 Finalise Tattoo Design (Saltire/Maple Leaf?)
77 Tidy Loft area
78 Learn more about Scotland
79 Learn more about Canada
80 Buy a new pair of sannies
81 Learn to play Poker
82 Write brief reports on all games attended for blog/barry
83 Upgrade/Renew Pc or just buy a laptop
84 Make a list of all Moving possessions
85 Visit Edinburgh Castle
86 Recycle More
87 Exercise more
88 Unlock & win all available cups on PES5 on PS2
89 Drink more water a day
90 Organise Finances
91 Paint Linen cupboard doors
92 Wallpaper Hall
93 Learn new website design techniques
94 Pay off my student loan
95 Complete 26 Photo's task
96 Update CV
97 Watch 1 new film per week
98 Achieve a win ratio of >30% at PES5 online
99 Keep diary
100 Organise all Photo's on PC
101 Wash Car once a month

Older, Wiser, Poorer.

We'll its my Birthday ...... I'm 28 today

Took the day off and kinda wasted the day not really doing anything.

Birthday dont bother me too much - I love to celebrate them but I dont get all downhearted about getting older (This statement is subject to change)

I gotta say not a lot has changed since I turned 27 but this always was gonna be a quiet year compared to those that went before. This year will hopefully be a big one though - We've got our application in for Canada and with everything crossed hopefully it really starts to make headway - Its beyond my wildest dreams that its fully processed before next January but we can but hope. Hopefully a visit to Ontario in the summer will whet our appetite further.

Today was a quiet one but as usual all the family and friends dropped by or called (Its always great to hear from you guys) hopefully with a weekend of football and alcohol planned ( I promise i'll try to keep them apart) I'll have another birthday to remember.

Here's to be being 28 and whatever life may bring me.

Happy New Year

To everyone or anyone who pops by here - All the best for 2006

Im sorry this is like 8 days late but things have been pretty hectic here.

Had an excellent holiday period with loads going on but now need a holiday to get over it all.

This year we were remarkably well prepared for Xmas having done much of our shopping in Novermber when the 2 of us had a few days off. As usual there is always a few last minute things that had to be done but on the whole we were able to settle down on the 24th and have a chilled out day.

Santa as always was good to me with a Scotland top, New footie boots, Ipod tuner and the final 2 series of the X-files on DVD (to complete my set) finding their way under the tree for me. The top present though was undoubtedly the rotating optics kit i recieved.

I took a fair hammering on Xmas day and the week that followed.

For dinner we had mine & Gill's parents as well as Fiona & Calum down. - 3 down on last year but still a big dinner nonetheless. As usual Gill served up a fantastic spread which probably has went a long way to undoing all the good work in the gym in October & November.

In between Xmas & New Year we managed to get out to see........

Kirk, Harris &

Alyssa

As well a night in with The Gaffneys & The Reilly's.

Hogmanay

By the time the bells came round Morton had won 2 difficult games over the festive period ( agreat reason to celebrate), The boy had gotten let loose on Glasgow with very drunk results & the Houtens had arrived from Ireland to bring in the New Year with us.

Party at our for the bells with most of the family in attendance (Jade was stuck in Ireland due to work, Charlie & Jillian were skiing in France and Steven & Gary were too hip to be seen partying with us) Christine made it along though as well as Fiona, The Smiths, The Websters, The Ogilby's, The Houtens and Brian.

Since then i've been back at work almost week and it all seems such a distant memory, The Ton won at Dumbarton, The Houtens left, Jade visited, We bought a new car & Barry came back after 4 months at sea

Almost forgot -probably most importantly we got our reference number in for Canada - This was earlier than expected as we thought it would take around 3months before we got a reply - Hoepfully the rest of our application goes like this.

2006 is a big year for us with hopefully major progress with our application - We're also hoping to get over to Canada in early summer. Our application is being processed all we have to do is wait - it could take up to 3 years but were hoping that its a lot less than that.

From a Ton point of view only promotion would be satisfactory for 2006 - couldn't face another year in the 2nd. At present we sit in 2nd place 5 points off of Gretna who have a game in hand but face them this Saturday (14th) nothing less than a win will suffice or we will be pinning our hopes on the lottery of the play off's.

Happy New Year and all the best for 2006 - Andy x