The reason for my absence this past few months...

You may - or may not - have noticed that I've been absent from Twitter as well as my other usual online haunts for the past few months and that if you've emailed/PM'ed during that time you haven't yet had a reply back. I'm sorry for the latter but I've got a good reason for it which I'm going to explain below.

I wish I could say I've been off doing something exciting or that I've just been super busy but, unfortunately, I can't and the reason is that I've been pretty ill since around mid-March when my left knee swelled up as did the fingers of both of my hands. In regard to my knee, I brushed it off at first thinking that maybe I'd pulled something or strained a muscle whilst playing with my nephew and that it would end up sorting itself out if I just rested it.

The whole time my family kept telling me to go and see our doctor but being the medical-phobe that I am I refused until the pain became so unbearable that I could barely walk and doing simple tasks such as showering became a real effort. A quick five minute shower left me so exhausted to the point where I'd have to sit down on the corner of the bath and rest for a bit before I could do anything else.

On the 1st May, I finally went to see my GP who examined my knee and then ordered a blood test. She prescribed me some antibiotics and painkillers and made an appointment for me to see her the following week. I'd been taking regular painkillers to try and numb the pain but they didn't do anything so I was desperately hoping what she was giving me would do the trick but no such luck. They didn't even touch the pain and I was still in agony while I waited for the results to come through.

On the 9th May, I went back to receive my diagnosis. The blood test showed that I have a condition called Rheumatoid Arthritis. I'll admit, arthritis had crossed my mind since it's on my both sides of my family but I wasn't expecting it to be Rheumatoid, though maybe I should have since my dad suffered with it pretty badly when I was a kid and, from what I've read/been told, there is an hereditary link. While the diagnosis shocked me, to be honest, it was more of a relief knowing it wasn't what I'd scared myself into thinking it would be. I've had some seriously dark thoughts going through my head.

My doctor prescribed me some anti-inflammatory medication, which thankfully has made such a massive difference, and she also referred me to see a Rheumatologist at the local hospital and I had my first appointment with him last Friday.

I was really nervous beforehand, not knowing what to expect, but he was really nice and put me at ease straightaway. I had X-rays taken of my hands, feet and chest (which apparently is standard) and I also had more blood taken. I've got an appointment to see him again this coming Friday where he said he wants to start me on "proper" arthritis medication as the anti-inflammatory meds are only a temporary measure. I'm really hoping I'll start feeling the benefits immediately so I can start getting back to some semblance of normality because even though the anti-inflammatory meds are helping, my joints are still pretty swollen and sore. My family - especially my mum - have been amazing and I don't know what I would've done without them looking after me.

So, there you have it... the reason for my absence online. It's been a hard few months and I've felt so low, not to mention isolated. Being online, as you can probably appreciate, was the last thing I felt like doing and most of the time that I've been laid up I just watched TV or slept (one of the symptoms of RA, I've discovered, is tiredness).

I owe a ton of replies to those of you who have been in contact either via email, PM or Twitter and, I promise, I will get around to replying as soon as I can. Typing isn't the easiest thing to do at the moment since my fingers and wrists are so sore and tender so please just bear with me.

Writing-wise, I'm not sure what's going to happen. I'm not going to give up since I love it so much but it may take longer for me to work on stories and updates.

Please feel free to post any questions or comments you may have and I'll do my best to reply as soon as I can.

Thanks for reading!


Diane x

MUA (MakeUp Academy) Haul

I took advantage of the recent 50% special offer on MakeUp Academy's website and all of my goodies arrived yesterday. From reading MUA's Facebook page I know a lot of people experienced problems ordering and while I did initially have trouble getting onto the site, I'm really happy with the service I received from the company. I'll admit, though, I am gutted that so many products were out of stock. I'd desperately wanted their Pro-Base Conceal and Brighten kit and having already tried some of their brushes, I was hoping to buy more of them but, unfortunately, that wasn't to be. If I'm not mistaken, I think those products are going to be back in stock later this month.


From left to right...

Bronzed Perfection | Nail Varnish Shade Bright Pink | Nail Polish Shade 2 | Nail Polish Shade Pistachio Ice Cream | Trio Eyeshadows in Passion | Blush Perfection Cream Blusher in Dolly | Lipstick Shade 14 Bare | Intense Kisses Lip Gloss in Kiss And Make Up | Intense Kisses Lip Gloss in Sealed With A Kiss | New! Hide And Conceal Cover Up Stick in Natural | Matte Perfect Primer | Trio Eyeshadows in Eden | Glitter Eyeliner in Shade 2 City of God | Glitter Eyeliner in Shade 8 | Intense Colour Eyeliner Pencil in Rich Brown | False Eyelashes in Flair

I already have several of MUA's nail varnishes and I've been so impressed by how long they last, especially in comparison to more expensive brands I've tried. They've been known to last on me for a good five/six days with only minimal tip wear which is way more than I would've expected given that they only cost £1. I already owned one of the Intense Lip Glosses (in Lips Are Sealed) and since I loved it so much I couldn't resist buying a couple more shades and I can't wait to give those a try. The pencil eyeliner in this haul is my second in the same shade and it's one I'll definitely keep on repurchasing. It has a lovely creamy consistency, glides on easily and lasts really well.

Once I've tried out some of the products new to me I'll post a review on here for anyone who might be interested.

It's snowing!

As with most parts of the UK, we're experiencing some heavy snowfall today in London and so I thought I'd test out the new camera I received yesterday which was an early birthday present from my step-dad. My old one has been playing up for a while now and most of the photos I've taken have either turned out really blurry or look as if they've been taken from a mile away. I've been making do with the camera on my iPod Touch but that tends to be a little hit and miss so I thought asking for one as a birthday gift was the way to go.

I had a look around Amazon the other evening and read a ton of reviews for various inexpensive cameras and, in the end, I finally settled on the Nikon COOLPIX 3300 which cost £59.99. I originally wanted to get the purple one and while it was only a tenner more, I thought I could use the money saved to buy a SD card which is what I ended up doing.

The camera arrived yesterday and it's so dinky. I think because my old Sony camera was so bulky I was expecting this one to be the same but it's absolutely tiny in comparison.

Anyhoo, here are the pics I took of our front garden this morning...

Just signed up!

You can now Follow my blog with Bloglovin!

Look and listen...

Watching: Castle. I've been watching this show since it first aired in the US and it's now in its fifth season and I couldn't love it more if I tried. I've got each season on DVD and I'm definitely snapping up Season 5 when it's released later this year. If you're a fan of American detective dramas with a little comedy and sass mixed in you should give Castle a try.

Listening to: Memory Lane... The Best of McFly (Deluxe Edition). I got this album towards the end of the year and I haven't stopped playing it yet. I've been a McFly fan for a while now and their songs are always so catchy. The deluxe edition is a 2-CD collection of all their biggest hits as well as featuring several cover versions and rare songs.

Reading: Wallbanger by Alice Clayton. I started reading this book back in December but, due to one thing and another, didn't get to finish it until a few days ago. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it definitely had me laughing out loud. Oh, and the sex scenes are smoking hot!

Here's the description taken from Amazon:

Caroline Reynolds has a fantastic new apartment in San Francisco, a KitchenAid mixer, and no O (and we’re not talking Oprah here, folks). She has a flourishing design career, an office overlooking the bay, a killer zucchini bread recipe, and no O. She has Clive (the best cat ever), great friends, a great rack, and no O.

Adding insult to O-less, since her move, she has an oversexed neighbor with the loudest late-night wallbanging she’s ever heard. Each moan, spank, and--was that a meow?--punctuates the fact that not only is she losing sleep, she still has, yep, you guessed it, no O.

Enter Simon Parker. (No, really, Simon, please enter.) When the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. Their late-night hallway encounter has, well, mixed results. Ahem. With walls this thin, the tension’s gonna be thick...

Planning: 2013 is the year I really want to finish my in progress stories. One of them only has about three more chapters left so it's certainly doable if I get my butt in gear. I've received a few messages over the past couple of months asking me if they'll ever be completed and, as a fic reader myself, I know how frustrating it is when your favourite stories aren't updated so I really need to get on top of things.

Anticipating: This year's Porn Battle XIV which gets under way later this month. Hopefully, writing a few little ficlets will help get the creative juices flowing again.

Thanks for reading!

A few favourites...

Early last year, I had a major clear out of my make-up drawer, getting rid of the vast majority of things that I'd held on to for far too long, and so I needed to buy a few things to begin replenishing the hit I'd taken.

The items featured below are a few of my favourites from 2012.

2012 Favourites!
with Barry M, Rimmel London, Real Techniques

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain - Currently £5.00 at Boots
Rimmel Match Perfection in 010 Light Porcelain - Currently £4.99 at Superdrug
Real Techniques Stippling Brush - £11.99 at Boots
Maybelline Color Tattoo 24HR in On & On Bronze - £4.99 at Superdrug
Barry M Lip Gloss Wand in Shade 11 Coral - £4.49 at Barry M
MUA MakeUp Academy Nail Varnish in Shade 5 - £1.00 at MUA MakeUp Academy

By the end of the year, I probably had more make-up than I'd had before my clear out *lol* and the items mentioned in this post are pretty much the tip of the iceberg.

Welcome!

Happy New Year and welcome to my new blog!

I used to blog pretty regularly via Livejournal but, for whatever reason, fell out of using it which is a shame since I loved it and the friends I'd made over there.

Anyhoo, while I still have my journal and hope to get back to using it - maybe I can do so by cross-posting some of my entries from here - I thought I'd create a new blog for the new year.

So, here's to 2013 being the year I get back into the wonderful world of blogging.