February 29 proposals

Posted by Julie Voyce on February 29, 2008 2:22 PM

The Mr looked a bit pale this morning when we woke up. I had a few things to ask him, he started to shake. It was then that I realised it was February 29 and the poor lad thought I was about to propose!
Over the last few weeks several friends have suggested I pop the question, but it just seems a bit wrong to me.
Firstly, if I wanted to ask him to marry me I wouldn't wait to be told what day I could do it.
Secondly, if you do the asking what happens about the ring!!! You can hardly ask them and then say, "Right then, let's go get me a diamond". And I'm certainly not intending on buying my own!
Another thing is that I am curious as to how he will go about it when the right time comes. Will he go down on bended knee in the middle of Paris or will he simply pop the question after a curry on Saturday night?
We'll wait and see, probably a long time too.

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Lost dog

Posted by Julie Voyce on February 26, 2008 8:03 PM

A very distressed lady came into the Advertiser office today. She is heartbroken as she has lost her beloved dog. She was out walking him in Chalfont St Peter and he ran off and hasn't been seen since. Being a local community paper based in Chalfont St Peter I agreed to place an item on our website, just in case someone has spotted the little fella. I couldn't believe it when half an hour later someone commented inferring that we shouldn't place such menial news on the site! Someone else has previously said we put too much crime and bad news on the site. Just goes to show you can't please all the people all of the time. I am glad that someone else has placed another comment saying it is local news for local people, they get it at least!

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Julie Voyce loses her voice, and sense of humour

Posted by Julie Voyce on February 22, 2008 12:17 PM

It seems to me that everytime I spend more than a few minutes with a small person I get ill. After dropping my niece back home last Thursday I started to feel a tickle in the back of my throat. By Friday I had the start of a cold. I know it's mean, but I'm blaming the child!
The cold had really taken hold by Monday and by Tuesday had developed into Man Flu, but I battled on at work. Much to everyone's amusement I have now started to lose my voice, no joke when you have my surname. Already twice today I have had wise cracks, both times after spelling my surname over the telephone. Ho, ho, Julie Voyce without a voice. Save it, I am not in the mood!

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Babysitting duties!

Posted by Julie Voyce on February 15, 2008 3:24 PM

I've just returned to work after taking four days off to look after my niece. Crikey, what an eye opener. I don't have any children of my own and after this week it may be put off for a few more years!
Now this is nothing against my niece, she is lovely and really good company, but I am just so knackered! These little people just don't stop. From 7.30am when we got up, and that included Sunday much to my horror, until 8pm we were on the go.
On Sunday we went to Lowndes Park in Chesham to play on the swings and see the ducks. I had never realised how many people are up and about on a Sunday. It was a beautiful day and the park was packed. The only sad thing to see was all the empty cider and wine bottles that were strewn across the park from the night before. but people didn't really seem to take much notice and obviously weren't put off using the park. I really re-lived my youth and had great fun on the 'death slide' and the swings. We saw for ourselves the scary geese and I was glad we didn't take any bread to feed them as one young mum looked scared to death as the geese surrounded her!
On Monday we went to Odds Farm Park which was brilliant. We got to stroke the rabbits and feed the pigs and the goats and we even saw their new addition, a baby lamb. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Isabel or me!
Tuesday was spent visiting a friend who has small children and we decided to go for lunch to a pub with a soft play area. This was a whole new experience for me. I didn't know such places existed. Total madness. It wasn't the sort of pub lunch I am used to. Every two minutes a small person would run past crying as they had been pushed over or fallen off of something. My friend took delight in laughing at me and my shocked expression.
On Wednesday we spent the morning making Valentine's Day cards. I say the morning, but really it was about 30 minutes. All that mess for 30 minutes! Half way through she even asked to go and watch Cbeebies. Why do I bother I asked myself, and realised I was starting to sound like so many of my other friends with children! It's a thankless task this parenting lark! But the small thing made it worth it. The excitement on her face as we took the train back to her home, the big kiss good night and the sleepy smile in the morning when she strolled into my room asking for breakfast and the way she reached for my hand when we watched Jungle Book together. It was fun, but probably the most tiring break I have had. It's great being an auntie and being able to hand the little ones back to their parents. I can't wait for a sleep in on Saturday and I certainly have a new respect for parents, give me a day in the office any time!

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Dear Mr Burglar

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Posted by Julie Voyce on February 11, 2008 8:07 AM

To the person who burgled my sister's house on Saturday,

You scum. What sort of a person are you who has the cheek to kick a front door down in the middle of the day? Probably a druggie who has nothing to think about but your next fix. You won't care that you ruined a a weekend when my family were all due to be together for the first time in months. You won't care that your actions left a little girl in tears as her mum and dad had to turn around after a three hour journey and drive back home to identify what was missing from their house. You won't care that they spent that night fearful that you might return and steal more. You won't care that everytime they now leave the house they are thinking they might return to a ransacked house. You won't care because you are scum. And what did you get away with? Some passports and a wallet with 10 Euro in it. But you stole more than that. You have stolen someone's right to feel safe in their own home and added another person to the list of people who think this country is going down the pan. But hey, as long as you have your drugs what does it matter.

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New recruits

Posted by Julie Voyce on February 2, 2008 6:56 PM

Sorry it has been a while since I posted, nice to know someone is reading though! According to the latest figures we have about 30,000 hits to the sites, which I think is pretty good going. They keep going up every month too, so that is reassuring.
I've been really busy in the office during January planning the next My First Day at School supplement, out February 14, and interviewing for a new reporter. The new person will replace Sean O'Hare who left just before Christmas. We have the final interviews on Monday so I am hoping to have a better idea by the end of the day as to where we stand. With any luck we should have our new reporter installed in either the Chalfont or Chesham office within the next few weeks, and I for one can't wait!
It was a nightmare missing the dead horses story, but I think my team did a fantastic job on the follow-up which we were luckily able to get on the websites. James Gray faces court on Monday for assaulting a police office, but as yet no charges have been made in relation to the RSPCA case. It seems unbelievable to us how long these things take, the RSPCA say it could be up to a year! We also have another case at the moment where three Chesham men are accused of shooting 29 mute swans. They were in court on Thursday but didn't enter any pleas, should be an interesting one to follow as well.

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