Don't come a knockin' cause I'm being Moroccan

So, two weeks after getting rid of my appendix Craig and I jetted off to Morocco. Now I feel I should confess something now- my geography is bad, really bad. When we booked a holiday to Marrakesh in Morocco, I thought it was part of Spain.... It's not .
Morocco is in North Africa. I discovered this quite quickly and was very excited, we were off on an African adventure.

A friendly stork- there are hundreds of them in Marrakesh.

Didn't see any carrying babies though- very disappointed.

Marrakesh is beautiful, it's a mad City. It's loud, busy, dusty and just generally an assault on the senses. But most of all it was hot.
Over 50 degrees hot. I was melting.

This is the main square where you can see the night market 

just getting set up- this was it quiet!

My smarty pants lives in a kitchen chef boyfriend was fine. He was used to the heat and assured me I would get used to the heat too. I didn't. It took 6 litres of water to get me to walk down a road.

But despite this, I loved Marrakesh. The people were lovely and the Souks (Markets) were incredible. You could literally get lost in them for hours (Craig on the other hand hated this, he likes to know where he is, I on the other hand am constantly lost so very much enjoyed it!)



I wont bore you with all the details of the holiday but here are a few of the highlights;

-The man who threw a snake over Craig's neck shouting picture. sadly, I couldn't see Craig's face cause I was running away!
-The night the power went out and (despite the near death experience of getting home in the dark past mopeds) we had a candle lit swim in the pool
- The Riad we stayed in, it was phenomenal!

This was our hotel- it was perfect.

- The food, tagine, cous cous and kebabs- those Moroccans can eat!
-The cascades of Ozoud, beautiful waterfalls, although the climb up from them almost killed me.

The cascades of Ozoud- totally worth the climb.

Marrakesh is an incredible place, I would love to go back maybe later in the year and not when I still felt a bit rubbish after surgery (I spent a-lot of my holiday napping I am afraid!).

I would suggest a visit to Marrakesh for anyone, it really is an incredible place. But just one work of advice- watch out for smelly camel leather.

Are you talking about me?

While I was there I bought a beautiful camel leather handbag (Yes, poor camel) it is beautiful, hand stitched with a gorgeous design. But when I got it home, I was wearing it and Craig was like: "What's that smell?" I could smell it too- but I didn't know what it was. Soon, I realised the smell was following me around. Then it clicked- it was my handbag. My camel handbag stinks. I mean proper stinks. I can't wear it. I Googled "smelly camel handbag" and guess what? This is quite a common thing. So I followed some advice from Google and have tried to make it less smelly. But so far I have been unsuccessful.


So my advice s if you are going to buy a beautiful Moroccan handbag- give it a sniff first.

Kisses
Fi
xxxxxxx

You won't like me when I'm angry

I am generally quite a calm person. Yes, I have my opinions and will tell you them if you ask, but generally I just get on with things. However, this week two men have said things which have made me very angry. And now I am going to have a rant at them because frankly, they have disgusted me.

First let me tell you what they did- t there was American Senate candidate Todd Akin who, with all the sensitivity and intelligence of a toilet brush, said that women could not get pregnant through "legitimate rape."
THEN MP George Galloway said that having sex with a woman while she is asleep, without a condom is not rape, it is merely bad sexual etiquette because she had agreed to sex the night before.

Wow, I mean wow. Now not only are these men extremely insensitive but also extremely uninformed. Dear Mr Akin, you can get pregnant through rape and yes I mean "legitimate rape" as opposed to "illegitimate rape" whatever the hell you think that is. In fact, in the US last year over 200,000 women fell pregnant as the result of rape. To be honest (and I do not condone violence) I hope if any of these women ever walk past you on the street they kick you between the legs.
Don't worry  Mr Akin said he "misspoke" now, I have no idea what that means and it doesn't sound like an apology to me, more a panic of "oh dear I will never get elected now everyone knows what a pig I am..."

So my suggestion to Mr Akin is that he withdraws his candidacy for the senate, donates any of his campaign money left (that is if anyone is still sponsoring him) to a rape support charity and then crawls back into whatever hole he came from so we never have to hear from this insensitive, ill-informed man again.

And then we have Mr Galloway, dear dear man. One thing your statement has made me wonder is about your sexual experiences. Do you often wake to find your partner having sex with you in your sleep? If so, I think you need to talk to someone. Does he think that any woman he has slept with before he can do it again because permission was given once?

After realising that what he said was upsetting a few people (I imagine at least half of planet earth if not many, many more) he clarified what he said: "No never means yes and non-consensual sex is rape. There's no doubt about it and that has always been my position."

So there you go, he is still saying non-consensual sex is not rape, he just seems unsure about how long consensus lasts for. And there is the whole no condom issue- surely if consensus was with protection then that is still in place if consensus does continue- which it does not.

Now, as you can see these two men have upset me. Not because I am a woman, I don't want to hear about how this is a feminist thing, rape is not a feminism thing. This upsets me because I am a human being and rape is a horrific thing which happens to people and the mere fact that these two are so ill-informed and absolutely incapable of considering the feelings of victims genuinely terrifies me.

They are both politicians, one elected and the other trying to get elected. They are suppose to run our countries. Yet they genuinely believe things like this. It's disgusting and has this week, made me very very mad.


Anyway, I feel better now that is off my chest.
Kisses
Fi 
xxxxxxx

Little Miracles

I promise that later this week I will tell you all about my adventures in Morocco but something amazing has happened which I want to tell you all about!

My friends are some of the most important people in the world to me, many of them i have known since school and even those who I haven't known since School know pretty much EVERYTHING about me (I love to over-share). In fact, you know how they say if you can count your good friends on one hand you are blessed? I must be beyond blessed because genuinely I have a number of incredibly wonderful people who I know that whatever happens I can call them and they will make things better.

I have been through a-lot with my friends and we have grown-up(ish) together. This week we have gone through something new together. One of my best friends had a baby- yes, a BABY. A real life- ten fingers, ten toes cutest little person I have ever seen- baby.

Now you are probably thinking that I seem surprised I mean, surely if it is a close friend I have known for some time that she was making another little human- and yes I did. But there is something different to watching a bump grow to actually meeting the little guy (sorry I should have said that earlier he is a little bouncing baby boy, 7lbs 7oz).

I knew I would love the kid the moment I met it (we didn't know gender prior to Saturday) what I didn't expect to feel is the overwhelming sense of pride I feel for my friends that they made this wonderful little person.

Now these two friends I have known them both for a long time and watched them fall in love and get married, so to now see what there love turned into has me speechless- I am beyond delighted for them and overly emotional about the whole ting. In fact, as you can probably see from this post- I am gushing!

Babies truly are a little miracle, they grow inside you ad then through pain and a-lot of effort, they come into the world and suddenly your life has changed forever. They are so small yet they are such an incredible force of life and love.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the good news with you and welcome little James Thomas into the world. Now I am going to stop staring at pictures of him and try to do something useful.

Kisses
Fi
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Angry Appendix part 2

So, I was lying there with lots of drugs in my system and the surgeon came over.
He explained that my appendix had been very angry and they had to chop it out. So I asked what anyone would ask in such a situation I asked- "Where is my appendix?"  I mean, I didn't want to lose track of any of my body parts, so I felt it was important to know where it was.
"Oh," said the surgeon, "Here it is..." and he held up a specimen jar which had in it my rather disgusting appendix.
I am not going to describe it in detail I think it is suffice to say that once you see something you can't un-see it, and that sometimes I lay awake at night unable to sleep knowing that thing had been inside me....
So my appendix was out. I was rolled back up to the ward and left to sleep of the anaesthetic.
I ended up spending a further three days in hospital after the op as I needed IV antibiotics and also due to the fact that I kept vomiting- lovely.
During my time on the ward I learned a two things.
1. There is no privacy in hospital. Everyone knows your business. Yes, they pull a curtain round you but it is just a curtain and everyone can still hear everything! This means that I can now tell you the medical histories of the three women who were in the ward with me. But don't worry I wont because that would be boring, unethical and possible illegal.
2. Nurses are worth their weight in gold. Don't get me wrong the drs are great too. But they kind of swoop in and stand around you, then they talk about you and then they disappear. But saying that, they did fix me so I cant complain. But the nurses, they are incredible. Despite being overstaffed they would do anything for you. One night I was feeling particularly sad and rather embarrassingly I was sitting in my bed sobbing. I was tired, sore and lonely. (Tiny violin anyone?) So I was trying to be sly about it. Don't get me wrong, my room-mates were lovely but I felt a bit daft blubbing in front of strangers. So I was trying to be sly. But then, one of the nurses noticed and she came over. Said: "Come here sweetheart," gave me a hug and got me a cup of tea. She then sat with me for 20 minutes (during which I am sure she had lots of other things to do) and made sure I felt better and then left me in the care of my room-mates who had gathered round my bed with gossip magazines so we could play find the worst fake tan. (I did mention they were lovely).
Anyway, the nurses were brilliant. They took wonderful care of me and I cannot say enough about them.
Finally on the Tuesday afternoon I was discharged and with scores of drugs and painkillers I was allowed home to recover- hopefully in time for my holiday to Morocco in t-minus 16 days.....

Kisses
Fi
xxxxx

ANGRY appendix

Ok, I admit it, I am the worst blogger in the world and I am so sorry. It has been two months since my last post and please dear readers (if any of you are still reading) let me explain why.
For the first month I am afraid that nothing exciting was going on- how sad is that?! - there was literally nothing for me to write about. Things were going well. I had my birthday which was great fun, I had a few good nights out and all was going very well. Which was great- but kind of boring!
So I did not Blog out of fear of boring you to death. And then I got ill.
It turns out I have a very ANGRY appendix. So I ended up in hospital with a very very sore tummy (very very very sore in fact but I was very brave, especially after the morphine.)
Then they had to cut my appendix out, then I had to stay in hospital until I had antibiotics to clear the left over infection, then I had to stay in hospital until I could eat without being sick, then I got home but I couldn't climb stairs so was stuck in the flat and I still felt poorly so spent two weeks on the sofa watching Wimbledon and Jeremy Kyle. Finally I felt better, but I went on holiday to Morocco, so as you see  I am not just making excuses, I just couldn't Blog.
But here I am now fighting fit (well almost, my internal stitches are still healing which is a little sore, but I am much better than I was!) and ready to share with you my dramatic tale (it's not actually that dramatic but let me have my moment).
I am not going to bore you with all the details but I will give you a few highlights of my hospital stay. After poking me and prodding me (if one more person poked my stomach and said oh does that hurt? I think I might have lost the plot- it says on my chart that is where it hurts!) x-raying me and ultrasounding me, it was decided that with the pain and my 40 degree fever and the vomiting I very likely had appendicitis and they had to chop it oot. So I was top of the emergency surgery list and had to wait for the surgeons to be free and hey would take me in. This happened late on during my first night in hospital.
On my way to surgery I was a little nervous, this was partly due to the impending surgery and partly due to the fact that I got wheeled down to theatre at midnight and the corridors were all dark.
One too many horror films caused my over-active imagination to picture the bodies all getting out the morgue and chasing me making some sort of "Errrrrgh" noise. Considering I was in a hospital gown, hooked to two drips and unable to walk properly due to the pain running was not going to be an option. And with the hospital gown being backless the idea of being chased while my white ass hangs out was just too much. Anyway, for various reasons, I was a little nervous.
Sensing this, the nurse tried to take my mind off things. So he said: "There is nothing to worry about, you will fall asleep and when you wake up I will be next to you and I want you to say to me-You are the best nurse in the world." Now, I see what he was trying to do, get me to think about something else- genius!
So, when I woke up from surgery after having a wee panic- oxygen masks + claustrophobia don't go well- I turned to the nurse sitting next to me and sort of mumbled in a zombie apocalyptic can't quite speak way and said: "ooo eeee est wurse in world."
"Pardon" they asked?
Gathering my post surgery, morphine haze strength I said: "You are the best nurse in the world." I then opened my eyes in triumph and.... it wasn't him.
It was a different nurse who smiled at me in the same way you smile at a four year old who is "playing" the piano and she said: "That's nice dear." Then promptly gave me more drugs and I fell asleep again.
When I woke up again, the surgeon was standing over me.
But to hear that tale you will have to tune in next time- and I promise it will not take me two months.
Anyway, if anyone is reading- Thanks!
Kisses
Fi
xxxxxxxxxxx

hey roomie

Two months ago Craig and I moved into our first home together. It is a wee one bedroom flat in the centre of town. It's quite small but for us it is perfect.

I can't believe how quickly time has passed since we moved. The first day was a bit mad, from me sobbing as I left my old room to the chaos of trying to get everything unpacked in the flat.

Also, the bedroom had to be painted that weekend so that we could get our new bed. It was mad. But (thianks to family members who we will be eternally grateful to) everything got done and on our first night there we sat in our living room and looked at each other with a smile. We said something like I can't believe this is ours and then curled up to sleep in the living room (we didn't have a bed yet) knowing that for us, this was the beginning of our lives together.

That last paragraph could be the opening of a Hollywood weepy film and I know you are probably reaching for a bucket right now, but don't worry it's not all mushy.

Moving in together is a change. Making decisions together can be, shall I say, challenging. Now Craig kept saying that deciding on the flat was the hard bit. I think he is wrong as it is the little decisions which can be most frustrating.

Like what cleaning products we needed- we couldn't agree. Actually it almost turned into world war 3 in the cleaning aisle in ASDA as I said:  "FINE, lets do it your way. Not that I would expect anything else." All the while brandishing a bottle of bleach like a sword. Actually, I have discovered that ASDA presents lots of situations where you can have stupid arguments. Just this week Craig said I couldn't buy pop tarts cause they are bad for me. This led to the wonderful "I AM NOT A CHILD" conversation (I did this as i stamped my feet cause I wanted pop tarts- turns out I am a child). I did get pop tarts in the end- all that wonderful breakfasty goodness!

Anyway I digress, we couldn't agree on where to put the toaster an we had one argument because Craig didn't believe I could paint the living room roof. ( I did paint it by the way and with two fabulous helpers my living room decorating kicks ass!)

Now these arguments seem silly but when you have just moved in together and everything is so stressful they can seem like the end of the world. However, I am pleased to report that now that the toaster has a home (in the place I wanted it, where Craig wanted to put it you couldn't even get bread in!!) and we have settled in living together is amazing. I love it. I love knowing we have a place that is ours where we can do what we want, I love knowing that when I finish work on a Monday and Tuesday (craig's days off) that I will go home and we will cook together and most of all I love knowing that I wont have to miss Crag at night, that whatever we are doing I get to wake up next to him in the morning.

So it is going well, although there is one issue we are having and that is relating to those four words.... you know what they are...

CLOSE THE CUPBOARD DOOR.

But more on that next time.

kisses

Fi

xxxxxx

Love letters/how do you know

The first Birthday that Craig and I spent together as a couple I had an exam and then was flying to Uist for a wedding.

It was my 19th Birthday and after a fabulous pirate and princess themed party- where the wonderful Alison was the only princess- where I am fairly sure I broke my little toe doing a kamikaze style role I spent the week leading up to my Birthday studying.

The night before my Birthday Craig came round to the house laden down with presents for me. These presents included chocolate, alcohol, perfume and a big teddy bear (Who some of you will know as Craggly bear).

The next day after my exam I got on a train to Glasgow with Becca. We were going to a friends wedding in Uist and had to fly from Glasgow airport the next day at like 5 in the morning- YAWN.

Needless to say we did not get much sleep. We stayed with Alison in halls and so we set off to the airport the next day after about 3 hours kip.

We got to the airport and were faced with a very small plane. More of a match-box than an plane. Now Becca doesn't like flying so she was a little nervous. Hell, I like flying and I was a little nervous.

We got on the plane and were told we had to swap sides so the weight was even on the plane- yes this really helped Becca's panic.

But I am glad to say we survived and landed safely (once the runway was clear of sheep that is!)

Now Uist, for those of you who don't know, is a small island off the West Coast of Scotland. It is quite remote and so I was worried i wouldn't have any phone signal. Now at this point Craig and I were firing off many texts a day to each other and talking on the phone every night, so i had spoken to him about this and we both accepted that for the weekend I was probably going to be unreachable.

So I got to the hotel where my brother Ian and our friend James was waiting. When we checked in the reception woman was like oh Miss Stokes I have something for you and handed me an envelope.

Now I had no idea what this was. I don't know anyone on Uist. Confused, I opened it and inside was just about the cutest thing in the world.

It was a letter from Craig. he was worried about not being able to contact me so he had tracked down what hotel I was staying in (which was impressive as even I didn't know the name till Becca told me) and sent it so i would get it on arrival there.

That is the moment I knew.

Anyway I think that is all for the history of Craig and I. So in the next few posts I will bring you back up to date with the big move.

Oh and the wedding in Uist was great. it is a beautiful place which is definitely worth a visit- just watch out for the sheep on the runway.

Kisses Fi

xxxx