DREAMS.....

OMG, I had one of those dreams the other night where you're behind the bar and the orders are coming in thick and fast, 3 Margarita's (now did he mean pizza's or cocktails)???   Milkshakes every flavor possible, fresh juices, and club sandwiches, English Breakfast, Continental......and you've run out of glasses, you just managed to stretch the bacon on the last order and you're thinking, shit what was the first order again???  Trying not to panic cos the waiter already repeated it twice!!!.....

AHHHHHHH!!!  But then you realise of course it's just a dream.....we are in 2010....everyone eats breakfast in the hotels, oh and lunch, tea and all the other snacks and drinks in between too....!!!  They might park their backsides on your chairs and take out their packed up rolls, and even  order a small bottle of water between the four of them if you are lucky, but long are the days when you really are stressed behind the counter, unless of course you do work at an all inclusive.....and then you don't stop....ever!!!

The crisis in Greece continues....not only is it unremitting but we are being crushed and trampled into the ground.  Why...???  Well, even  if you did manage to make any money, you're taxed every way possible on it, dead or alive, and even if your business closed years ago....they still find ways of making you pay!!!

So the strikes go on, as the politicians sit in there luxury villa's wondering  where it all  went wrong, while the general public are facing  battles and  frontiers with adversity and little hope of a new and brighter future...
BUT, on a happier note it's Christmas soon. (HO!HO!HO!).....!!!.....I just hope Santa is exempt, Mary & Joseph weren't!!!

DO DREAMS REALLY COME TRUE???

I bloody hope not, cos i would be dead having literally pulled a  piece of glass the size of a window  out of my own chest last night!!!  Then i spent the whole day worrying that maybe it meant someone near and dear to me might have a heart attack......and every time the phone rang, I jumped up expecting bad news, even when it was the Headmaster (again), I was quite relieved!!!
I think you can read into dreams what you feel or want to at the time.... (I'm still amazed that i actually have been having them, and remembering them too....!!!) 

If you're currently looking at the glass half full, the glass in my dream could symbol an illness that will go into remission.....half empty, well you're already looking on youtube for the all time top funeral songs...!!!

Yes, dreams can be interpreted any way you choose....or from a book (I have one upstairs, a little bit dusty since usually after several glasses of wine i don't seem to dream anymore.....it's only the last few days when  i've had a virus and pain medication , i've had to dig it out again!!!)

BUT, by the time you've looked everything up  (in Greek) that appeared in your dream, (half and hour later)you end up with something like....someone is jealous of you, maybe because the other bit in the dream says you're gonna win money, or maybe that you are about to turn direction....now does that mean have a new hairstyle or geographically ???  Mmmmmmmmm, all very confusing really.....

Or it might be as that i've had to fast (due to fear of throwing up again)....that the dreams are guiding me....or hold some divine inspiration???.....Drink wine, drink wine....drink wine......!!!

A dream is a succession of images, sounds or emotions that the mind experiences during sleep. 
Isn't it a shame though that the most recurrent ones are usually those which you are being torn to shreds by wolves.....(I blame it on Little Red Riding Hood), instead of  gently caressed by some tall, dark or fair, handsome stranger....(Mills & Boon).....ones.   The dream which you have never got passed first base, however long you lay there and will yourself back onto  the hot sand....bath.....alley....whatever!!!

Anyway, enough of dreams for today and on to:-

FASHION

(FOR US GIRLS ON SMALL ISLANDS - LARGE BAGS/HOLDALL/WHEELIES)

Christmas is coming, time to get glitzy, let your hair down & have fun!!!.....Whilst most people are looking forward to their office parties & mistletoe, those of us in Greece who are unemployed out of season (and some of us in season)....will be lucky enough to go out anywhere!!!....AND if we do....we will be carrying with us, a large bag/holdall or a wheelie- (think SEXY Air Hostess)....and WHY.... do you ask.....???  We will be bar crawling with a difference.....Drinking the contents (whatever is on offer at the time) of these beautiful items, in between the bars, as we can no longer afford the prices inside them.   Hmmmm, come to think of it suitcases could be fashionable too!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in America.

Happy list writing to all of us women everywhere.....it's only just begun!!!!....Hope your lead up to Xmas will be stress free!!!  (Haha)

Lots of Love

Tracey XXX

P.S. Prince William is oh soooooo hot!!!  Lucky Kate.

Miley Cyrus_Liam Hemsworth Abbraccio

Miley Cyrus_Liam Hemsworth Abbraccio
Originally uploaded by The Last Song Italia

Yes, Liam, voted one of the Future Faces, born in 1990, OMG i still think we are in the 90's.....that's when you know you've lost it, and realise, sadly he's half my age.......!!!

Anyway, another pretty face, and a great six pack. Check him out in The film 'The Last Son'g with Miley Cyrus - looking at him you even forget her annoying voice.....

Beautiful film, box of tissues required, and i was pretty impressed by Miley's performance, without a wig. Great song too!!!

IN THE SADDLE AGAIN???

OK, I'm sorry, my got up and go, got up and went......(to Scotland, I think....),writers block possibly, and the fact my memory has deteriorated, not only do i forget where the car is parked as before, but i literally have  to count the bath towels, to see if i had a shower or not !!!  So although i now carry with me (when i don't forget, a pen & notepad), by the time i actually manage to find it, i've usually managed to lose my train of thought, idea/information or comment that i had thought of moments  before!!!
BRAIN FOG, i'm told due to auto-immune disease.....thank god for that, i was beginning to think it could be caused by wine overdoses & Doritos's!!!.

So, for the BIG comeback, i thought about the layout, the pics i could add, the whole 'new look' blog, the hotties.....and do you know what??? Yep,  i haven't changed a thing!!!  Call me lazy, 'whatever', but you're still reading it aren't you???  (Thank you XXX).

FRIENDS ARE what makes the world go round, or upside down, you stick side by side, BUT when they disappear your life can turn itself inside out......God, this sounds like some dodgy lyrics to a song!!!Which reminds me, there are far to many lovely songs out there about friends.  Will now have to spend the next few hours looking on YouTube......& it's my husbands first night home in months......!!!  Ahhha, you're thinking, is this why the NOT so Greek Goddess is back????

YES, of course.......IT IS.....!!!   It's Football season (again)....and i no longer have any control over the remote or the volume!!!

But really, husbands come & husbands go, but friends are forever!!! (Even when they are far away....). What I really  want to say is, it's totally crap when  friends decide to move away....and you lose your bubble/real partner. I mean you can hardy moan about your husband to your husband can you???  That's just called nagging!!!  It certainly isn't as  much fun 'walking the dog', without coffee & cakes or several bottles of wine!!! (Smirnoff Ices/North....or whatever dregs of alcohol you can find....!!!).
My dog got walked frequently last winter, and often needed a rest outside friends houses!!!

YEP, there are many people  leaving 'The Island'.....not for sunnier shores, but possibly brighter ones.  The future is not looking so great in Greece at the moment......and rougher seas are yet to follow.....it's getting harder and harder to keep your head above the water.

BORED is....
The most frequently used word in our house at the moment, (due to teenage daughters), and possibly the longest one, in English that is, because it is pronounced 'boooooooooored'!!!  It's all 'yes', and 'no' answers and 'don't know....don't care'!!!

There is a book that has had some great reviews called 'Help, my teenager is an Alien'  it is  already in the basket on my Amazon list, which is getting longer & longer by the day.....!!! (Now, i just need a credit card).
 Perhaps i should also buy 'them' a Thesaurus for Christmas, and there must be a book for children to 'Help, my mum is turning into a dragon & an alcoholic', that i could add also!!!

Don't  you just  love being a mum sometimes, all that gushing that "ohhhhhhh yes, it's soooo rewarding".  Well i'm still waiting, and quite honestly most of the time, i think i deserve as most mums do, a bloody medal!!!
Due to stress, not only do i have to buy Clearasil for them, i now have to use it too!!!  The spot on my nose is soo big, it keeps interfering with my wine glass, ouch!!! My face (apart from the laughter lines of course, resembles a teenager, if only my body would follow suit!!!)

All my 'things' mysteriously disappear......turning up a few weeks later.....empty!!!  My husband has got it all sussed, he actually puts his razors in the safe....not sure if this is because teenage girls have a tendency to leave them hairy....or because he thinks his wife has 'lost it' completely, and it's all part of his suicide watch !!!
OMG would have to be ....it's Local Election time in Kos, and throughout Greece.......and funny, there hasn't been any real news for weeks ......  just lots of smiling faces in the newspapers, ...quite honestly the best thing is to put them up on the wall, throw a dart.... and that's who you vote for!!!  (If you fixed your papers that is!!!)  Politics, all very confussing, especially on a small island, where people are not just voting for the best party/Mayor, it's wether they are related to them & friendships too!!!

By the way:- thanks to http://www.kos-explorer.com/ we now have a better understanding in true English, what it's all about!
 FASHION

Finally, ripped tights/leggings are in.....(i've been wearing them for years!!!).....Just a shame that 'slightly' overweight  almost 40 year old's shouldn't really still be wearing them.   Yes, you REALLY know you are getting old, when you actually consider your 'age' before buying something!!!
 Scary!!! I didn't really want those lace leggings anyway :-( ....!!!

It's soooo NOT fair when your daughters friends come in wearing a similar outfit,......they look fantastic, whilst you are trying to  control all the appropriate parts, including your chins......& walk in heels that you are  not used to wearing anymore, (cos you spend more time at the swing park/supermarkets than anywhere else these days!!!)

God, help you if anyone wants to take a photograph, not only have you forgotten which side is supposed to be your good one......you actually realise it doesn't even exist anymore!!!   Even worse if it turns up on facebook, someone has tagged you, and OBVIOUSLY added even more wrinkles.....and for sure they have enlarged you.....yeah....they must have one of those aging/fat cameras......!!!

Nice to be back, Lots of Love

Tracey XXX

BACK TO THE HERE AND NOW.....!!!

I know, i know, it's been a while.....and it's soooo hot, no air-con in the kitchen ....by the time i actually contemplate a 'Not so Greek Goddess post', I have usually  been so busy (on face book)......that i am exhausted!!!.....Or been in the fridge too many times....for cold beer or wine!!!  That's the problem with the computer being here, why don't they make adult locks for the fridge???

I've been on a little trip, back to England and to the place where i spent my years...'growing up'.....it had been 5 years since my last visit, so it was lovely showing my children the 'City' and reliving some of those memories.....!!!  And visiting the places of my youth....(not just the pubs!!!)

They simply adored the double decker bus, and a train, one that actually runs on a track....!!!  I couldn't believe how many people use public transport....and don't wash!!!).  We annoyed the hell out of everybody, oohing and arrrhhhing....at everything, so we switched to 'Greek', not a good move, not only was i now a 'single mother, with 4 children....(major death stares),  benefits coming out of my ears (obviously)......but was an immigrant too'........!!!(resulting in tut-tutting as well as the stares.)

People were as helpful as ever, and friendly, I would say "Good Morning" to most, and they looked at me as if i was some kind of weirdo, that, or desperately trying to remember where they might possibly know me from!!!  I hit a guy in the face trying to get my stroller off the bus, accident of course, but honestly he could see me struggling.  I didn't realise you had to press the 'button'....i thought that was for an emergency stop or something....so we almost ended up walking home from another village too!!!

I also managed to fall down the steps of Debenhams, and graze all my shins, and not because i had been in the Murderers (The Gardeners Arms), at lunch-time, but again trying to manoeuvre the pram  god, where are the ramps.....they are always moaning here about access....!!! Of course everyone rushed to help....(.no.!!!)...

Isn't it a shame though that now with all the Safe & Healthy issues, some of the 'fun' has been taken out of life, for example you are no longer supposed to 'bump, on the Bumper Cars, you can't feed the animals at the farms (due to e-coli), and you can't even take pics of the kids just in case you get someone elses kid in the background......and are a paedophile. 

Everything you say, has to be 'PC'....which i thought was something to do with a computer until friends enlightened me.....Life is changing.  as  are we,.....gone are those days on the Broads in  a dingy.... not a care in the world ......without mobile phones......away all day....

Reunions....High School

OMG, would have to be....having read all the 'Do's and Do NO T's lists of what to wear, talk about, etc, etc....behaviour, forgot the most important one......do not get intoxicated.......!!!  Oh well, at least I wasn't the only one.  How weird, to find yourself back as a16/17 year old......in a body of a almost 40 year old, thinking OMG....OMG....OMG, but still so lovely to see people of 'yesterday', and although everyone has got older, more responsibilities....etc...etc....none of us have really changed.........???
I am not going to mention any beer bellies, lack of hair, cellulite, or anything else.....just thank god for Primark's big nickers and gel fillers, we girls are sooo lucky......!!!
I could have done with some Polly filler as well though!!!

  I spent most of the evening  accidentally brushing  against everyone , cos my chest had grown two sizes over night, and worrying that i might  not have recognised someone.....perhaps name badges would be good next time....and glasses even!!!

Which brings me to the next 'do not do'....and that is flash everything....yep, hadn't even actually 'got in' to the 'Reunion' and went to the loo....window was open, didn't realise, i was desperately trying to haul these super size hold everything in.....very tight long/ big nicks  up....and realised (mortified), i was in fact in full view of everyone in the bar opposite....ended up crawling down on the floor....still trying to get the bloody things up, when someone says....Ohhhhh....Tracey Harding......how are you???  AHHHHH!!!  By the way, it was the hottest day of the 'so called summer', so imagine....trying to pull anything up.  Why didn't i just wear the white dress???...(Or Burka)!!!

In General

Something else I realised is how many people still smoke.  Whilst travelling during early hours of the morning, i could not believe how many people were smoking in their cars on their way to work (probably the only place you can smoke these days in England)...........apart from 'out-side' the pubs, which seem to give men even more of a reason to stand around admiring the views???.........

Life is not always black or white, or greener on the other side....and memories are what we all carry with us.  (although the men, seem to lose a few on the way ,their brains are scientifically different.!!!...)  some fade away or are conveniently forgotten, but they make us what we are....god, I now I have found all my  old diaries too....., which are slightly disturbing!!!  Who went out with who when, what was happening in Neighbours....and who didn't I go out with???.....thank god, I met my husband when i did!!!


So if i ever go away again, lessons i have learnt are:-

Go alone.....(haha!!!)

Not a good idea to give the kids  milkshakes with crushed smarties in, when you are about to be confined in a small space for more than 3 hrs........!!!

Make sure your teenagers pack all their makeup in their luggage, not in the hand luggage, it took us about half an hour to then pack it all in those little plastic bags at Gatwick!!!

and having had my bra searched,( must have been the Terry's chocolate oranges down there)......not to wear any padding AND when then asked to remove your belt, shoes earrings.....don't suggest to the good looking Security Guard about  removing your dress as well!!! (Not good when they are in serious National Threat mode.....and no humour!!!.....meanwhile my children had disowned me....!!!)

Plus, never listen to anyone who tells you to "just to bring summer clothes'......i lived in the same jeans and cardigans for two weeks!!!  XXX

The excess kilo's on  the way home were generally to do with treacle pudding and custard, eccles cakes, pick n mix...etc...etc.....so next time i will make sure i take expanding clothes with me....!!!

Hope you are enjoying your summer,  will be off 'on tour' around the island  next week, (my car is finally fixed
and people can't hear me....before seeing me....!!!)

and blogging 'A little Greek Island'....

Lots of Love

Tracey XXX

Thank you to all my lovely family and friends for making our holiday so special....and for all your encouraging remarks and comments, i'm glad i make you laugh.  XXX  We managed to go to the Zoo, Gt Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, Shopping Mall(s!!!), Bowling, Cinemas......Parks.......Zaks....and so many other places too.

FOOTBALL

YES, everyone is talking about it.....(yawn, yawn....), Facebook, twitter, every news channel.....and most people with dangly bits between their legs.  It is upon us all, The World Cup.  Forgive me if i'm not excited this year, in fact i haven't even looked at the player's, usually that's how i decide who to support!!!

Oh there was a time when i classed myself as a bit of a 'Laddette', with my Newcastle Brown Ale (actually quite a few of them), and my footy scarfs, generally depending on what team the guy i liked, or which country he was from.  Usually, Man U......and England....

I remember also having a mad crush on Kevin Keegan (who didn't), and my bedroom door being covered with him, that is the only football player i remember really going crazy for.  I was never one for poncy haircuts, headbands, and men that spend longer in the bathroom than me!  Although, .....
I read a quote recently from a professional football player who said...."yeah, he treats us like real men, and lets us wear earrings".........about his Manager.....!!!

Our house was always divided in football teams anyway, Norwich, Southampton and Man U, my Nana being the biggest fan out of the lot of us!

Whenever there  was an important game, we even had a TV strategically placed so you could watch whilst going to the toilet....just in case anyone scored!!! 

Once , i met a man who was supposedly in the Icelantic World Cup Team, it's amazing what you believe when you've had a few Vodka and Blue Bols in a foreign country.  How could i have fallen for that one?  I remember watching every Icelandic match for months!!! Duh!!!

So sales for Pringles and beer are up, and the take-away businesses should be doing well.  Whereas any places without a TV during this period will not!  Although there are still a few of us out there, who would much prefer a good ole girls night out, and plenty of wine.....than sitting in a room (or outside), with a bunch of people who once they've got their football shirts on think they are now experts in commentary, rules, (especially off-side) and penalties..........!!! 

I used to even play football, and even took part in a charity tournament, are team were called the 'Victorious Virgins', we lost miserably, possibly because most of us had been victoriously slamming back tequila before hand, and couldn't work out which goal we were supposed to be shooting at! And, although most of us were actually in the hockey team, we had no idea what off side was!

I have friends on facebook, saying farewell for a few weeks due to 'football comitments', OFCS,  it's not as if it's 24 hours a day is it?  Other's that have booked time off work, just to sit in their armchairs to watch it............helloooooo???  O.k, o.k, i get it, it's a hobby......but really when you think about it, watching guys kick a ball around a huge pitch.....in long shorts (they aren't even sexy tight ones anymore, (athletics's is soo much more appealing!!!)......what's the big deal???

"Come on England"......everyone suddenly becomes patriotic, although they've been slagging the whole dam country off for months! 

FASHION......sorry, but football shirts only look good on 6ft, very FIT football players.....think about all those pairs of shoes you could buy in Primark for the same price!!!

Gladiator shoes are in fashion, but i now know first hand why they call them that, after about an hour of dancing in them, you wish you've been swallowed whole by a lion, or clubbed to death by an opponent....those fold up shoes you can squeeze into your tiny clutch bag are a good idea, although bare foot is sexier!!!

AND lastly, OMG would really have to be i have NO TIME FOR BLOGGING.....my teenage daughters are hogging the computer (whilst revising???), and it's too hot to be sat in the kitchen....if only my lap-top was a lap-top and i could sit out on the roof balcony at night......it would be perfect.

HAPPY WORLD CUP TO YOU ALL.....enjoy!!!  XXX

Lots of Love

Tracey XXX

P.S. I will confess if Ariadne had been a boy, I was considering to name her after the football player who scored the last goal in the World Cup Final.......when Greece actually won......ANGELOS......and perhaps, i would feel differently if i had a houseful of boys.....but it's all about Gossip Girl and 90210/Barbie in our household!!!

A CRUSH, BLUSH & NAUGHTY NURSE?

OMG  would have to be that isn't it, without a doubt however young or 'old' you are, and no matter whom you seem to have a crush on, whether it is the rough looking homeless guy, the man from next door, or the local newsreader.....you ALWAYS bump into them when you are:-

Smelling of tsatsiki (Greek dip made with lots of garlic and yogurt, and more garlic!!!)

Buying tampons.

Just popping to the shop and you haven't looked in a mirror since dawn, and it's 9.45 pm and you are desperate for wine, before the shop closes........

Tucking into a spinach pie, and you daren't open your mouth, let alone smile, in fear of the green dangly bits that are now lining your teeth enamel.

OR all of the above......


Well, there is no harm in 'looking', I was always brought up to believe in that!!!  The problem is the blushing and then the stupid things that just tumble out of your mouth......

Like mmmmm, yes, it's been a bad day (you have the huge bottle of Ampelia wine infront of you), but it's been really good...........uhhhh???  Helloooo........and that's even before you've had a drink!!!

Or you stand there answering "you're fine", when your nose is streaming, eyes are red raw, and you are struggling to breathe ....

YOU then proceed to knock everything over (the kids or the dog aren't even around to blame), with your over sized handbag.

By then your kids are ringing you, wondering why mummy is taking so long.....your phone is blurting out some kind of tune you don't even recognise, (they've changed it again), and of course you don't even realise it is yours and have no chance of even knowing who sings it....!!!
"Aren't you gonna answer that then"?.....

"Ummmm, oh, ummmmm, hold on.....wait a minute, where is it"?.....By this time, ALL the contents of your bag have been emptied and spread out onto the counter, for everyone to see.....and it's stopped ringing!!!

Contents of by bag usually:-
sweet wrappers, chewing gum wrapped up in paper (not mine), lipsticks without the tops on that are usually coated in something.....pens that don't work, loose change, cards from every supermarket on the planet, camera, magazine, receipts, a banana that has seen better days, and, and, and..........
Not only are you blushing, flushing, crushing.....gushing....whatever, you are for sure WISHING that the ground will just swallow you up, or at least that there could be a power cut !!!

So, it's a really good job you have that bottle of wine to look forward to when you finally make it home. 

That's if you remember to actually pick it up in the plastic bag, which already has split because it's soo bloody heavy!!!

 AND then if you didn't walk out the shop forgetting to pay, and  having to be called back, knowing your purse is somewhere in that Mary Poppins bag of yours........after all you had it out before, when you were trying to find your phone, and then the keys a few moments a go.........!!!

They are quite happy to say "pay me tomorrow" by this time, as you go to tip out your handbag again!!!

Meanwhile all you're thinking is thank god it's a screw top.....who cares  if it's not chilled!!!

......................................................................................................................................................................

I HEART The Anna Summers status updates on Facebook, and the outrageous questions they ask (the answers of course are even funnier!!!).....

Where do you hide your sex toys???   -
One lady wrote....
I don't, they make lovely bedside table decorations......(.haha....yes i can just see Jessica Rabbit now.....and the cleaning lady giving them a good dust!!!)


So next week I'm going to be busy with this Fist Aid Course, the only reason my husband is allowing me to do it, is because I said I would practise on him 'after', so better go and buy some band-aids......although, I'm thinking he was thinking  more along the lines of a Naughty Nurse outfit......and bandages.  BUT, then I might really have to resuscitate him!!!  (Not by any means i would look good in it, it's just a man thing isn't it???)
If only a could find a McDreamy mask.....you can buy wigs though!!!


So that's it from me, have a great weekend......

Lots of Love

Tracey XXX

P.S.  We can get a discount if we order the wigs in bulk.......???!!!

Alvin & The Chipmunks - You Had A Bad Day - Daniel Powter (FULL VERSION)

So you've had a bad day....bad week,  wine helps!!! XXX There's a storm brewing and no doubt i'm just about to lose my connection.........