My writing!

I won't say what I say at the beginning of pretty much every post because I think everyone knows it now so I'll just get on with it!

I had a fantastic idea for a novel after watching what was, in my opinion, a pretty rubbish film. Win! Secondly, I was having a thought; why not enter a short story competition or two? Test the water, just see how well my writing's received? With that in mind, I happened upon a rather interesting news story about this mirror that's supposedly haunted. Now, and this will be met with some skepticism I have no doubt, being a Christian I have witnessed plenty of spiritual stuff and unfortunately it ain't no picnic! However, I suppose its pretty fortunate seeing as I'm writing a story on the subject, hah.

So, having said the above, please take a look at my writing site! Its very basic at the moment, but in the Blog section there's the first draft of chapter one of the novel, and an excerpt from the short story. Read, (hopefully) enjoy, critique =D

http://www.racheldaviswriting.webs.com

Rayness out!

Its been a while...

Okay, I'm a bad blogger, I know! Lots of stuff's been happening over the last few months so I've been a tad preoccupied.

Here's a brief update in bullet points;

• Ben and I still don't have jobs. This is extremely frustrating.
• We went to Modified Nationals car show in Peterborough at the beginning of June. It was fun!
• I've decided I'm going to try and start my own genealogy business (more on that later!)
• I've been getting back into modelling a little bit.
• I've decided that I've neglected my writing for far too long so I was freewriting while Ben was at kung fu last night (again, more on that later)
• I bought my dress for Ben's cousin's wedding (its purple =D) but still have no shoes, handbag or cardigan and its next Saturday!

So yeah, that's all I can think of at the moment.

Now, about this genealogy malarky; Anyone that's read my blog before will probably know that I looooooove family history research. So with that in mind and since I really need the money, I've decided to attempt to start my own business - I now have my first customer! Sounds like its gonna be tricky though as its pre-1800 research and I don't think the records I need have been digitised yet. Time to get in touch with the relevent councils to see if they can point me in the right direction to find the records! I'm charging £5 per hour (for pre-1800 research or research outside the packages I've outlined on my website) which is less than a quarter (yes really) of what some genealogists charge, which I think is extortionate, however this guy is willing to pay me £10 per hour - can't complain! More on that as it comes.

Writing; So, while I was freewriting last night, I came up with a new character. The story so far is that her recently deceased grandmother has left her a substantial amount of money and a 6 bedroom townhouse in Westminster, which considering she had no idea that her grandmother was rich at all, came as something of a shock! I've also thrown in her grandmother's faithful butler, Albert (it was either that or Alfred, but I felt that alluded inadvertantly to Batman and, though I love Michael Caine, I didn't want anyone reading it and picturing him the whole time!) who she decides to keep on after seeing how attached he is to the place and also realising that the sheer size of it may require an extra pair of hands! Once I've written the first chapter I'll post it. I'm really hoping that I get some good ideas for this story 'cause lord knows I'd love to get published one day. Doesn't have to be a best seller, but just to be able to say I did it would feel amazing!

So there's a fair bit going on in my life right now. I'm also thinking of doing some make-up tutorials and posting them here, as I love my make-up and experimenting with it and I've come up with some pretty cool stuff lately - everything from basic day make-up to smokey eyes and dramatic bright colours!

Hopefully in my next post you'll find either the first chapter of what I hope will turn into a full fledged novel or a make-up tutorial - or maybe even both! But let's not get too carried away, lol. Oh, and please take a look at my modelling and genealogy websites and if you know anyone who'd like their family history looked into, let them know about me and I'll love you for ever =D

Rachel's Genealogy Services
Modelling Site

Rayness out!

Return of the Rayness!

Well, I'm back!

I've managed to do it again, neglecting my blog an' all that, but I've been so busy, as usual.

First thing I want to mention is that I'm selling a couple of old clothes on eBay (some never even worn that I've been hanging on to "just in case", I'm sure you know the feeling!) So here's the link incase you're interested (it'll open in a new window); http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/miss_rayness

So what's been occurring? Well I've spent almost three consecutive months at Ben's and I'll hopefully be going back tomorrow night for Incarnation on Sunday, a car show/meet on Brighton beach, although that's a laugh considering the friggin' weather! So we may end up not going if its raining and doing something else, which would suck if I went down specially. Since I'm a little poor at the moment (especially saving for Ben's anniversary present) I'll be getting the cheapest option, the 22.01 for £8.90, which'll arrive at Dorking at 00.37! Pfft. Ah well, at least Reading's a big station so its nice and safe for a change over. Coming back's gonna be more expensive though, about £15, which is a pain. Ho hum!

Also, I've been offered - and have accepted - a place at Brooklands College in Weybridge (Ben's old college) on the "Level 3 Extended Diploma in Fashion and Clothing" course! (What the heck's an "Extended Diploma" when its at home, its a National Diploma dammit!) I'm really chuffed about that 'cause I worked hard on my portfolio, practicing people portraits and stuff - I drew myself, Elizabeth Taylor and my gran in the 1940s - I like to think gran'd be pleased as she was a seamstress herself =)

So in September I'll be moving off down to Ben's. We've redone his room completely too, including building all the furniture except the sofa and the bed ourselves. The built in wardrobe took forever! But its nice and airy and spacious now which is really nice, and since I was planning to move down there before we did it, Ben kindly took into account some space for me to store things, including my own little cubby hole above the wardrobe for my holdall and other things =)

We also had some photos done in December which was my Christmas present from him, and they're lovely - here's my favourite ^__^

In other (but Ben related) news, I've been delving extensively into his family history and I've discovered that not only were his dad's side of the family loaded on one side, but another side of his dad's family lived in Yate before my family did AND they owned the farm that used to be a 30 second drive from my house - spooky!

But the rich ones there are actually old pictures lurking about of which I've snitched and I couldn't believe it when I saw them - the photograph, which I reckon is from the 1880s/1890s, of Ben's great x3 grandfather (Colonel Henry Octavius Currie!) shows me where Ben got the dimple in his chin and his high forehead, and the portrait, which I reckon is 1850s/1860s, of Ben's great x3 grandmother (Meliora Currie nee Gumbleton) looks so much like Ben's sister Laura I nearly fainted! Here's some comparisons;

 Henry Octavius Currie

 Meliora Currie nee Gumbleton

Laura Aimee Chamberlain

I think the likenesses are freaky!

I should start up a separate blog for my family history stuff, lol.

So that's where I am right now, hopefully I'll actually post a little bit more now =D

Rayness out!

Where have I been?!

Welcome to September, folks! Its blustery as anything and raining persistently as I write this draft, although it is 2.30am so it'll probably have cleared up by the time I post this (Still really windy but no rain so far!)

I'm aware that I have been a terrible blogger, having not posted anything for months on end, but lots of stuff's happened since my last post actually, which makes a change. Firstly, I am now the proud auntie of Zachary Peter Ashley, who arrived 11 weeks early (by caesarean) on the 3rd July 2011 weighing just 3lbs! The good news is he left hospital 2 weeks ago, and now weighs 5lbs 14oz.

The next thing was me and Ben's 3 year anniversary - I can't believe its been that long! All we did for that was went to Pizza Express in Epsom on the way back to his from central London, and it was lovely, although I really wanted to go to "our" chippy; I'm a cheap date, lol.

Ben also finally got his new car - a Honda Integra Type R, and very lovely it is too =) We had to go all the way up to Birmingham to fetch it, so his parents took us up in his dad's Impreza and we followed them home, even though my directional skills are second to none so I would have found the way home anyway. After all, it was me who decided we should get off the motorway at Chertsey when I saw how clogged the M25 was, and the M40 was bad enough! I felt all clever for suggesting that since Ben hadn't thought of that yet =D

On a completely unrelated note, I found out some more about my great x2 grandfather that died in the lunatic asylum, but I'll post the letter I received about that later. The good news is I've found one living relative so far while researching my great uncle who died in WWI - he's a 3rd cousin something times removed or something like that. Still having issues finding my great x2 uncles' descendants though, which is amusing since he had a wife and daughter whereas my gran's brother didn't! However, there are people on Genes Reunited who have him in their family tree, maybe they can tell me some more - and for £20 a year to contact people, I may aswell subscribe!

In other news, it was Bristol Open Doors Day on Saturday so mum, Auntie Lin and me went to the Bristol Record Office and then to Glenside Museum, a museum in the chapel of the former Fishponds Lunatic Asylum in Bristol, which houses mostly items from the old asylum, from photos and a straight jacket through to keys, a padded cell and a dental chair. Very interesting for me, if not a little creepy, since there are 5 old asylums in Epsom and I've been fascinated - although very freaked out - by them ever since I found out what they were and read up on them all. Add to this my great x2 grandfather and the fact that lots of epileptics like me were put away and that completes my interest!

I've also started playing hockey - as of last Monday, I am a member of Badminton Ladies Hockey Club! We're down in Division 4 but hey, bring it on! I have the fixtures list pinned to my cork board on my bedroom wall. My football team's not doing fabulously at the moment, bless 'em, so let's hope the hockey season turns out better, for the sake of my sanity! Been drooling over Rafael Nadal at the US Open the past 2 weeks too - I do think he's most delicious! Just hope that he can beat Djokovic in the final tonight, that'd be good. I shall be watching a bit of that and a bit of football when I get back from hockey training tonight - Newcastle United vs. QPR, don't wanna miss that =D

Rayness out!

Disappointment, but sunshine up ahead!

Okay, I've neglected my blog for a couple of weeks, mostly because I couldn't think of anything to write when I had the time, or I was busy. For example, the assessment I didn't get to go to? Well, I went to the rescheduled one on Friday 18th March, and miraculously passed it with flying colours and went on to the interview (there were only 7 people that got to the interview stage apparently). Long and the short of it though is that I had an email today from South West Trains basically saying "sorry you haven't got the job but good try". Funny how I seemed to know - the second I left the room at the interview I went "Shit!" 'cause I was pretty sure I'd messed it up. Ah well, no point dwelling on it, at least I made it to the bloody interview stage! Maybe the ticket office WOULD be the best place for me if I worked for a rail company... Although I don't know how I'd manage to deal with difficult customers in a calm and polite manner, lol.

Anyhow, its not all bad news, Ben's got a job and I am very VERY proud of him =) "Lead Design Engineer", hehe. Even if I did spend the whole of the last working week running around sorting out his expenses claims and generally getting everything set up alongside his mum - he's lucky to have us! I felt like quite the housewife - getting up, tidying his room, emptying his bin (its not gonna empty itself!), making the bed, being there at the end of every day to give him a back rub (and a shoulder rub this week since he's managed to hurt that, I think he's been sitting funny at work) and generally run around after him. I quite enjoyed it =)

What else has been happening? Hmm... Oh yeah, me and Ben's sister Laura (Loz) have spent a lot of time looking at villas in various nice places. The sun got us in holiday mode; we were sat out on the patio - with her boyfriend who was miles away tinkering with his iPhone - looking about on her laptop. There are some lush villas around! We figured none of us went abroad last year 'cause none of us had any money, so Loz and I thought we'd plan ahead for this year. If I'm honest, I'd much rather do Spain/Portugal in September/October time anyway 'cause of the temperature, not to mention its far cheaper! I'm signing back on with the Job Centre this week so I'm gonna do my best to save up for holidays. Ben wants to go away just me and him when his work contract's up, maybe go out to Malta or somewhere like that for a nice quiet couple of days, just to chill out and be together on our own. He's not as up for a group holiday as I am, which I find quite amusing. If we got a group of 10 of us together we could get a really nice villa near the beach on the Costa del Sol or the Algarve for £131-£165 per person plus flights and spending money. And they're close to the shops, bars and restaraunts too, probably similar to the villa we had out in Lanzarote in '09. Truth be told, all this is getting me quite excited! I might make a list of people who might want to come later. I really hope Ad can come, he's Ben's best friend and I haven't been away with him yet, even though I've been away with Ben twice - I'll have to make him if he says he can't! =)

Rayness out!

Interview at last... and bad news!

04/03/11
As you probably guessed by the rather enthusiastic sounding title of this post - I've FINALLY got an interview! At 8.45am on Monday I need to be at Southwest Trains' "Recruitment and Selection Centre" in Basingstoke ready for 9am. The bad news; I will therefore have to be up at about 5.30 for the 7.04 train from Epsom. From there I go up to Clapham Junction and change for Basingstoke. So its really really good because I REALLY want this job... but its really really bad because... yeah, getting up at 5.30... the very thought of it frightens me!
Ben's worried about me. I can understand that. It'll be the morning rush, and up towards London, especially at Clapham, it'll be absolutely heaving on the trains and at the station. Could be interesting. On the plus side, the place I have to be is pretty close to Basingstoke station; I'll get the bus from there which takes about two minutes, because I can't be arsed with getting up even earlier to manage the (according to Google Maps) 13 minute walk (Y)

13/03/11
Well, when I wrote the above and saved it as a draft I was super happy; now I'm just pissed off. Basically, my mum sent me the letter, practice tests, etc. for the interview via guaranteed next day delivery on Friday 4th March, which should have arrived on Saturday 5th March. It did, but with one slight hitch - the f***ing postman couldn't be bothered to ring the doorbell to even ATTEMPT to deliver it! Ben's parents were up at about 7am (and were in all morning), and the card said "attempted delivery at 9.03", which was clearly an outright lie because not only did nobody hear the bell, which is pretty loud, but the dogs didn't bark, and they ALWAYS bark at the doorbell going. That and the "attempted delivery" card wasn't delivered until about 1pm. Clearly he was in such a rush not to be spotted that he forgot to do the card originally! So, long story short, I missed my interview. All because that postman is a lazy son of a bitch. Had I not been so livid and been thinking clearly, I would have demanded to know who the postman for Ben's road had been that morning when we went to the post office! I'm still fuming now. So I had to email the Recruitment and Selection Centre and basically say "yeah, the postman screwed me over so I can't come on Monday now", and ask if they could reschedule (it said on the letter that if you couldn't make it they'd try and re-arrange it for you). They said that unless the post had been filled that day they would invite me for another interview. I haven't heard anything yet so I'm gonna email them first thing in the morning and ask about it, because I really want that job, and I don't think its fair that I shouldn't have a shot at getting it because I couldn't make it due to somebody else's laziness! There's a ticket office job going at Waterloo 3 days a week that I'm thinking of going for, but its not quite the same is it? Plus I don't have customer facing experience and I'd have to wear a uniform. Ugh.

In other news, Ben's had a better week than me - he had an interview on Thursday morning for Lead Design Engineer (I think) at a company in Kingston, and they rang him on Friday to tell him that he'd got that job and he starts on Tuesday! Truth be told - although I'm not telling him this because he'll probably get pissed off with me - I do feel a little bitter about it, since I was meant to have an interview for a job that okay, I probably wouldn't have got anyway - but at least I could have tried - and it all went tits up thanks to a lazy postman, and not only did Ben get an interview but he got the frickin' job! I suppose that's just the way it goes. I'm gonna try my best to get an interview for that job and I'm going with the theory that if its meant to happen it will and if its not then it won't - I can but hope.

On the plus side, I have a few character ideas and such brewing in my notebook - I've even written a few paragraphs, although because Ben was rushing me to get out the door for the drive back to Bristol on Friday I forgot to transfer said paragraphs from Ben's PC onto my memory stick *Sigh* Just aswell the character ideas were written in my notebook!

Rayness out.

Trying to ascertain if the day has been successful...

Today has not been what I personally would describe as successful - I'm a tad irritated, truth be told!

So, I need some new jeans. No biggy. Except for the small fact that I can't get a pair of bootcut jeans in the colour I want - I don't want skinnies, I've already got a pair and I don't find skinnies very practical or comfy! Wouldn't be too much of an issue if it weren't for the fact that both my pairs of bootcuts now have holes in the inner thigh =/ Another annoyance - Its official that, despite it still being listed on the Garnier website, nowhere seems to sell Garnier 100% Colour anymore. This is a serious issue for me, since I've been using that brand for six years! Back when I was 14 and dyed my hair red, I used the "Intense Deep Red" shade, then I used the black shade that I can't remember the name of, and since I started dying the front of my hair red in the middle of last year aswell as using it since I dyed it all red again just before Christmas, I was happy as Larry. But noooooooo! I don't get it, its not like it wasn't selling well, whenever I got there I had to delve to the back to find any 9 times out of 10! So I'm in a bit of a bah humbug mood right now. On the plus side however, after some digging on the internet (I love you Google!) I found the blog of a girl that uses the Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL dye in "Hypnotic Red", and despite looking a little ginger on the box (which is why I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole before) it is actually a nice red! So after all the lack of Garnier trauma, it may not be so bad after all *Mops brow*

The up-side of today is that although I didn't manage to buy either of the things I went out for, I did manange to get some rather nice Lara Croft-esque shorts. When I lose some more weight before long I'll be donning a tight turquoise tank top (alliteration, go me), buying some pistols and going off on exciting adventures around the world =D

In other news, I'm thinking of some ways to scrape some cash in since I'm not working, maybe learning how to make some little gifty/crafty things to sell or charging a little to research some family history if people are interested. The latter is my real forte of course, I find it stupidly interesting and it'd give me something to get my teeth into. And I wouldn't just be nicking people's money for nothing, I'm a hard worker once I get damn persistent (as proven by my hours and hours of work trying to find the "Cowderoy" side of Ben's family and trying every wrong spelling under the sun, lol!)

Rayness out!