Days 31-35. MISERABLE COW!

Day Thirty One;
So today has been a day of two halves.  By that I mean that half the day I have been moderately grumpy and the other half I have been such a MISERABLE COW!! This is what happens when you have a bloody good day out away from kids, housework and all the 'reality' of life only to have to return to it the next day (and start again with making sandwiches, doing washes, writing blogs - ha!!)
So yesterday was amazing (I had a lovely day so thanks Kate, awesome wedding) but having stumbled home to relieve babysitters and get some well needed sleep (thanks Marge and Kerry for wearing them out - they slept through woohoo!!) I then woke up to have to deal with all the stuff I didn't do yesterday (cos I was out enjoying myself).  Now I'm not ungrateful I am ever so glad we had lovely babysitters and a wedding to go to but it's the clean up/back to reality bit after that gets me.  Waking up to a weekend's worth of washing, housework and cleaning is no fun!!  Boo!!!  Hiss!!!

These images portray the feelings and emotions I have been through today.....

 







Ok so to quote Anchorman.....I'm in a glass case of emotion......



It's not getting better as the day goes on and I remember that I need to post all my bloody ebay stuff online today, I have to wash the kids hair as they have rubbed baked bean juice in like it's a sodding Clarin's face mask and we have yet to discuss the car probably (definitely in my opinion) failing its MOT tomorrow!  So my rant really is about the 'reality' of life.  God send me back to my university years where I thought it was hard work making a 9 o'clock lecture (ok and a 3 o'clock one too!!)  I would love to just have no responsibilities for a week, no littlies depending on me to feed and clean them, no hubby to pack off to work every day, no house to worry about, nothing, just to be selfish for a week.  Oh how amazing it would be!!  What, I'm selfish and ungrateful...well, yes!!  Aren't we all a bit sometimes.  Of course I love my kids I wouldn't of had them otherwise, of course I love my husband (I wouldn't let him eat egg sandwiches otherwise!) and of course I am happy with my house and other bits of my life otherwise I would change them.  But there are some days (like today) when I just wish I could go back to my lazy student lifestyle and invest in a bit of 'me time'.



If only this was my dilemma for the day!!!  Well it's not and I'm pissed off and fed up but not as fed up as I will be in the morning if I don't get this bloody housework done today.  On that note I bid you farewell, goodnight and god bless.  To quote Dr. Suess....

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”

― Dr. Seuss

I don't agree with points one and two Dr. Suess but number three is almost certain.......FR.

Day Thirty Two;
Today I have recovered my usual sense of moderate moaning and bad temperedness.  We have taken the kids swimming and I'm pleased to report that someone there is obviously reading my blog as now they have the attendant on the bottom of the steps for the slide and not the top so much, much safer :)  winner!!!
I have had a pretty good day and although I am waiting, with bated breath none the less, for the imminent arrival of the Royal baby I do wish they (the paps darling) would stop this frigging live feed, from outside the hospital, of oh yeah, bog all!!  It's so boring!!!



I mean I want to know name, weight, sex of baby etc and I'm quite interested in some of the stuff they are talking about but the constant re-iteration of the fact that she is in labour is to put it mildly quite tedious!!  Get a grip, we have got it, she is in labour!!  Poor cow.  I thought it was bad enough having people stare at me wandering the corridors and using walls to support myself when I was having contractions in the hospital let alone having the whole bloody world and his dog outside waiting for you to push a watermelon out of you!!!



So really, let's give the poor woman a bit of peace and quiet so she can groan, grunt, scream and apparently hypno-birth (not sure about this one myself!) till her heart's content.  I'm sure we will hear about it when the baby is born, till then do we really need live bloody coverage of the door to the hospital.....no thought not!!  FR.

Day Thirty Three;
So I'm not ranting about much today as it's Jake's second birthday (actor Daniel Radcliffe's birthday is today too!! and this means it's two years to the day since Amy Winehouse died)  :(
I'm loving seeing my little boy grow up!  So cute!  Today has been a trying yet funny day so far with a trip to Asda for nappies and a cooked breakfast treat for Tabitha and Jake (cue fights over scrambled egg and a full on breakdown in the gardening aisle till I relented and bought him the watering can!)  A trip into town to meet his Aunty and cousin was next on the agenda and started promisingly.  We managed to get a free parking space first time round, had a look at the ducks on the duck pond, walked into town (touching all the flowers, most of the cracks in the pavement and the Hereford Bull on the way - Jake did not try and mount it like his mum!!)  Jake then had his first (and second as he wouldn't get off) ride on the merry-go-round type thingy.

So far so good.  Even Tabitha seemed to enjoy watching her brother.

Aunty Rachel then bought Jake a strawberry milkshake and it was at this point that things started to deteriorate (for me at any rate.....Jake had the best time ever).  One trip to Primark for a new t-shirt that was not dripping in milkshake later and we were off!!

The sugar seemed to have got to Jake alas though as the trip around mothercare for pj's for Tabitha and the walk back to the car were fraught to say the least!  Stern words were had by the duck pond, a dummy was thrown into the road and a buggy board was thrown with unnecessary force into the boot of the car.
Really then my rant is about....well nothing much.  Sorry to be happy for once (It won't last don't worry!!) but even with the epic tantrums of my son and sugar-induced hyperactivity I am in a good mood!!  A King is born (come on tell us the name!!), my son is two (OMG can't believe I am mum to a 2 year old!!), I get to eat cake for his birthday and there is (almost) a breeze!!  What could I possible moan about today :)  FR.

Days Thirty Four and Five;
Ok so not written for the last two days as have been ill.  Apologies for my absence.  I hope you have all been managing to have your own little rants to carry on my good work (by good I mean soul cleansing!)  So being ill is pants isn't it??!  I have had a little rant about doctors before but now I would like to extend that......doctor's, surgery car parks and doctor's receptionists have all come under fire in the last two days.(Image below off google but looks suspiciously like the doctor I saw yesterday!!)



Ok so waking up feeling rubbish is one of the worst things EVER but to top that off you could add in a stressed out husband (who is late for work - coincidentally his own fault for cooking the most elaborate breakfast I have ever seen!), two screaming children (who have seen the most elaborate breakfast known to mankind and also want some), two dogs who want feeding and a mountain of washing up (from said breakfast) and you are pretty much in my morning on Wesnesday.  So sensibly I opt to have no breakfast and instead sigh and take on 'martyr mode' and loudly complain whilst washing up.



Ok so this is not me but the face is similar in expression and as I'm sure you will understand I could not break off from 'having a strop' to find a camera and 'do a selfie'!!  Cue a rubbish and long, hard day.
When by Thursday I was still not feeling better I rang the doctors and was given an afternoon appointment.  Now my doctor's here are miles better than they used to be when we lived in Brynmawr (biggest rant ever - save it for another day Gemma) but I still had to run the guantlet of questions thrown down by the receptionists to gain access to the doctors; "what's the problem" (mind your own), "Is it an emergency" (obviously not or I would call an ambulance) and "which surgery is better for you" (uuummm the one that's down the road from my house duh).
Having finally got a doctor's appointment I then had to wait nearly an hour past my allotted time to see him.  I just think if you are going to be given a time then people need to stick to that time surely??  Otherwise there will be chaos I tell you...chaos!!
 Now I know doctor's will be younger than me but I do like them to look like they have at least finished university (and preferably that they could take me in an arm wrestle) to put my mind at rest. This one was very....lets say keen....or eager!  After multiple examinations and a urine sample I was given my perscription and the problem......bloody inner ear!!  Damn it!!  All that for a ear???
Gah!!

So I don't think I'm the only person (indeed I know I'm not) that is fed up with all the bloody extra hassle you get when you are feeling less than well......

Complaints against family doctors’ surgeries have risen by almost ten per cent in a year – not least because of a surge in grievances over ‘surly’ receptionists.

Many patients also complained about difficulties in obtaining an appointment and getting through on the phone.

More than 53,590 written complaints were lodged by patients against local surgeries last year, well over 1,000 a week. 

This is up from 49,765 last year and a rise of a quarter since 2007/8 when the NHS data was first collected.

The biggest increase involved those complaints relating to the attitude of receptionists, the phone-lines being engaged or the lack of appointments.

Joyce Robins of Patient Concern said: ‘Some receptionists are very surly and won’t even give you the time of day.

'I encountered one of them a few days ago. I went into a surgery with an elderly friend. She had already been trying all morning on the phone to make an appointment.

 

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‘The receptionist told her she shouldn’t have done that, it wasn’t the policy, and she should have rung between 8 and 9am. 

'There seems to be no rule for practices, they can just operate as they like.

‘GP services have got worse over the last two to three years, or at the very least that is patients’ perception.’

Waiting game: Difficulties getting an appointment was another common reason for patients' complaints about local GPs

Katherine Murphy of the Patients Association said the figures were the ‘tip of the iceberg.’ 

She added: ‘Our helpline is inundated with calls from patients who have either been put off from complaining because they have no faith in what can be a hugely difficult system to navigate, or they have gone through a process only to receive no response.’

Doctor's surgeries got over 1,000 complaints in 2011

There were 9,924 grievances about what is collectively termed ‘general practice administration,’ a rise of nearly a quarter in just 12 months.

There is also evidence that many patients are finding it difficult to get an appointment.

a recent survey by the Department of Health showed that half of patients could not see their family doctor within two days.

This was far worse than the previous year when only a fifth of patients were unable to get an appointment within 48 hours – the Government’s waiting time target.

The figures from the NHS Information Centre show that poor medical care was the most common cause of complaint.

Some 19,336 were lodged last year relating to late diagnosis and not being given the right treatment.

Another 11,650 involved the attitude or communication of the doctor or nurse, while 5,210 were made about the running of the surgery.

The data also shows that a total of 162,129 complaints were made against hospitals last year – more than 3,100 a week.

Paul Burstow, the minister for care services said: ‘For the first time, all NHS organisations have submitted information about their complaints. This has led to a small rise in the number recorded.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2195488/Grumpy-receptionists-problems-making-appointment-fuel-surge-patients-complaints-GPs.html#ixzz2aBJla9Dp
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So to tell the truth....we are getting fed up doctors.  We pay our taxes, we are polite when we phone in and we don't even shout when you tell us our children will have to wait a week to see a doctor BUT we do expect the same in return.  Tell us a time and stick to it, give us an appointment when we need one and most of all would it kill you to smile???  FR.