Wedding decisions and awkward times

I've hit my first controversial point when planning my wedding. Do we or don't we invite children?

On paper it seems quite straightforward. Neither myself or Mr Chatter have children or young family members and only know a handful of couples that currently have kids so should it matter if we don't invite them? Well it kinda does it seems as there has already been some indication of pouty pet lips and they are belonging to the parents!

A couple of years ago I was at a wedding where the children cried all through the vows and had to be constantly entertained. Apart from the fact the parents looked run ragged, the children mere mindlessly bored and suddenly the couple getting married become caught up in trying to book balloon artists etc etc. It also irritated the other guests having screaming children legging it about all day. However, I have also been to weddings where the children have been very well behaved but all in all parents and young children alike seem relieved by a no kids rule. One couple we know actually looked forward to it as one day off to be just a twosome again before going back to their lovely family life before they missed their kiddies too much.

In all the excitement when I was telling people we'd set a date, I didn't think about telling people about our decision so I'm nervous for the response to the email I've sent the lucky couples only five minutes ago. Uh oh. I can feel a nervous nights sleep coming on...

Appreciation of a very important job

For a majority of last year I worked as a Medical Receptionist. It was something I'd never done prior to then and despite taking the role as a 'bill payer' I actually came to absolutely love it. Before March last year, I was someone who was nervous on the phone and had no medical knowledge. By the time I left in October (to start a new career in Pharmacy would you believe) , I knew bag loads more than I ever thought I would. It's the same with everything though I guess...if you get chucked in at the deep end you sink or swim and thankfully I swam.

Medical testing, medication knowledge and major multi-tasking skills were the results of my 7 month stint and it was only due to an employee working from long-term sick that I ended up having to leave.The thing that surprised me most was how much was involved with the job. On a daily basis you needed to not only have a basic medical knowledge just to get you by but you also needed to be able to make decisions about urgency of patients wanting emergency appointments and how to deal with very unreasonable people. Of course I don't excuse the blatantly miserable people who I myself have had to deal with as a customer but no matter what the previous patient had been like, I never took it out on the next person at my window. These people are mostly vulnerable, sick people who probably want a smile and a bit of kindness when they're not feeling their best.
My most favourite part  of the job was the people. In some ways I maybe became harder just to cope with the sadness that the job involved. Of course there are time wasters as is true with anything but I was lucky enough to get to know some very lovely people. Some of these people still come and speak to me in the pharmacy and in the street now and I'm always gutted to hear of bad news or deaths of those people I've come to know.
I was really pleased to see an article by Dr Jenna Ward in the Daily Mail (Tues 3rd Jan 2012) painting a more accurate picture of life behind  the desk of a Medical Receptionist. It's definitely worth a read and might change your perspective a bit. I know the experience certainly changed mine.

Does age matter?

There's been a lot of publicity about the Harry Styles and Caroline Flack pairing and it made me realise how we're still hung up about age difference. We've all done it where we've seen an older man or woman with a younger partner and scoffed at the thought but then when you think about it why should it matter at all? The only time such an age gap will surely matter is when one person is a lot more infirm than the other one that changes their lifestyle and even then, love should get ou through if it's the real McCoy!

There was a similar age gap between my grandparents and they were happily married for over 40 years. On the flip side, I'm not even 30 yet and one of my friends was married and divorced in the space of 4 years to a person just a couple of years younger. Age clearly doesn't equate to remaining happily married until death do us part.

In my opinion, you love who you love and that spans across lots of years. There's too little love in this world these days to start discriminating about who qualifies to end up with who. Just let them be happy together!

GIVEAWAY 2

Right guys. In the spirit of Christmas here's another giveaway. Lovely Christine from Planet Events Direct has provided some lovely prizes from her even lovelier shop.

It's not too late to get crafty for Christmas. Making gifts is a great way to spend less but give more. And practically everyone loves things that are made with lots of love and thought put into them rather than the first thing you can dash into a shop for. Check it out for yourself as she has lots of beautiful findings, trimming and accessories.

If you don't have the time to spare just now, you can also buy things ready made up (like these stunning earrings .) As these earrings are my total favourites, Christine has agreed to give me 3 pairs to give to you lot! I thought that would get your attention!

I think they're beautiful - aren't they just divine?  And they can be yours in time for the party season. If you can bear to give them away, you could even use them as a great Christmas prezzy!

Here's what you have to do....

*Follow this blog via Google Friend Connect and comment (maybe something chatty - I do love a good chat with followers!) under this blog post to say you are a follower! Remember to leave a twitter ID or email address so I can contact you if you're one of our lucky winners!

*BONUS ENTRIES
- Let us know your favourite thing about Christine's Folksy shop whether it be your favourite item or something less obvious but just as good. Remember to identify yourself though!
- Retweet our competition tweet.

RULES
-UK entrants only this time I'm afraid.
-We'll try and get the prizes to you before Christmas but please allow 28 days from the closing date of the competition to receive your prizes.
-This giveaway closes on Friday 9th December 2011.
-Three winners will be selected and winners must reply to our tweet/email within 7 days or other lucky winners will be selected.

Get more for your money!

I've found that finding time to shop for Christmas prezzies is really hard if you're planning to go out and about and so a majority of gifts are to be bought online this year. After a fairly unsuccessful trip to a shopping centre nearby I've realised that while I've already got a few things sorted, now is the time to knuckle down. If you're in the same situation as me here are a few of my best tips.

1. If you are wanting to shop from the big chains, try searching for discount codes on www.vouchercodes.co.uk to save yourself money.

2. Use a cashback sites like Quidco or TopCashBack. All you need to do is go onto one of these sites, search for the retailer you are interested in and click through to shop at that site the way you normall would. It tracks your spend and you end up with cash! I've used TopCashBack for the last 9 months when making purchases I would have done anyway and made back the best part of £100.

3. I prefer to shop with smaller, independant retailers and there are plenty to shoose from online. A great place to start for unusual, personal gift ideas is somewhere like Folksy or Etsy. They are bursting with talented individuals selling some of the most fabulous handcrafted things you have ever seen.

4.The final thing I like to remember when shopping online is although you might feel ripped off by P&P charges, you probably would have paid more in petrol and parking (and blood sweat and tears).

Grab a cuppa and put your computer on. This year, Christmas shopping just got fabulous.

Just say one nice thing a day :)

I complimented a customer today and after a pleased reaction, I thought more and more about how one comment like that can leave you walking on air all day knowing that someone has appreciated you.

When you think about it, it's not even a big ask. You don't need to put time aside to do it, it doesn't cost you anything and it probably makes you feel a bit happier for making a difference to someone.

New homework guys, (I hope you've been enjoying the 10 minutes to yourself one, a la that Twinings campaign). I want you (even for just one week) to compliment someone or say something positive to someone every day for the rest of this week. It can be either someone you know or a stranger but the important thing is that you've made an unexpected difference to their day.

eeeeeek, I've got some good news!

I'm getting married!!! On the 2nd August next year I will be the official other half of my lovely, long suffering fiance. I'm so excited but so overwhelmed by how much I have to organise. Let the excitement commence!