The X Factor 2009 - Joe McElderry: Sorry Seems To Be - Live Show 8 (itv.com/xfactor)

The X Factor 2009 - Joe McElderry: Could it Be Magic - Live Show 8 (itv.com/xfactor)

Joe stole the show for me last night.
Love this song and his voice.
I did want olly to win but ive changed my mind over the last 2 weeks, this little guys getting better and better.
Joe to win.......

Sunshine and Clouds

Its been a blurred few weeks, I haven't blogged as i simply haven't had anything good to write, Its all been work for me and being ill , so I'm now on a mission to sort myself out. I missed riding and salsa so badly, but by the time evenings get here i wasn't in any fit shape to do either, so its been a time Ive also reflected on whats important to me and how i can change things for the better to find a happy balance of what i love and have some kind of life back.

Its started when my fella sat me down to speak to me, i was getting pretty down even when i wouldn't admit it to myself, so many changes and balls to juggle it seemed like a never ending pit of 'need to do' stuff.. He was constantly working away so i was trying to help the kids with homework as well as run a business, i was ashamed to call mine...

I decided i wanted to change my website so have now started to do just that, im really enjoying this side of it and its bringing back the reasons why i love it so much, its part of me and always has been, over the last few years Ive had much of my fellas influence involved with my business, as he used to work on the roofs and got to the point he couldn't do it anymore, part of it was his good friend falling off and dying in front of his son, it hits home, they had 4 kids just like us, so it could have been me getting a call just like Simon's wife did. The other part was it was such a physical job and a fit mans world, he would come home soaked through to the skin and be so physically exhausted theres only so much of that a person can take and although the money was good he paid for it in many ways....

We decided then whatever he wanted to do, we would take the steps needed and indeed the risk, and he would learn a new career. Partly as i was treated so crap by several so called website builders and SEO people, he started on his journey of learning all what he could in that field.

The last 30 months has gradually been a build up of the workload hitting heights non of us imagined, we work all day and feed the kids then out come those laptops and off we go again, the lights always on here, regardless if its 4am..its no way to live though.....

I used to moan and feel if I'm honest a bit left out, i didn't understand his new world, but knew the things he was learning would be invaluable both to him and me, so we persevered and found ourselves living on my income for the last 2 years which meant things were a real struggle here, the kids never moan and always tell me i work too hard, but for them i would do anything so you try to smile and be strong for them, sometimes it wasn't easy though.

i tried to look on it as a new future and new adventure but when you are trying to hold up a home with 4 growing kids in it, its not cheap..

My aunt has been i have to say, my guardian angel... shes helped me through thick and thin and is always here for me on those days i wake up feeling exhausted before i even start, she knows just by the tone of my voice when i need help and always manages to make me see some positive in everything, that part of me i felt was lost somewhere buried in the mountain of where was my life heading and how can i get back on track?

I listened when my fella needed to talk, tried to tell him it wasn't him when everyone around him called him stupid and told him to go get a paid job... but we are now coming out of the other side of the cloud, its been one hell of a journey and although Ive had some challenges in my time, I think apart from when the triplets were born too early and the stress and worry we both felt, this chapter in my life comes a close second..

It all came to a head over November as i spent week after week being riddled with migraines as my head simply couldn't shut down, i was asking it questions no one had answers to, including myself... I know now why they call us dizzy blondes........ I slotted into that category perfectly......

Now hes gone off into the big wide world on his new venture things are starting to make sense again, he wont be second best at anything, so has learnt his new job inside out just as i hoped he would... We were living off what takings i took through my site and stock levels were hitting the floor, theres nothing worse than watching something good, disappear slowly like that, i have worked my arse off and worked on this site for nearly 10 years, its my baby yet i felt like it was being strangled......

Over the last couple of weeks, Ive managed to start again in regards of my work, i have found a part of me i thought id lost and wake up again excited about whats to come, the stock room is looking amazing again and has huge promise as everything she takes goes back into her again now so everyday when i wake up i think myself lucky that my fella learns quickly and somehow through all this there was light at the end of the tunnel..

I finally started back riding last night, but for the first time i felt my nerves a little uneasy, would the horse pick up on what i was feeling and was this going to be my rude awakening , but thanks to some bloody good people up there and my teacher Phil they have managed to restore my confidence and i came home totally happy.. My fella had cooked me a surprise meal which was an amazing steak in pepper sauce and I sat there fat and happy, like the cat who got the cream,with the biggest smile on my face and felt something i havent felt in a while 'contentment'..

Tonight we are bribing the kids with a video and getting some salsa tracks on, we both really miss our friends there especially Sharon and Richard as the whole salsa world had become part of us, we have both forgotten our moves so are going to make a start tonight and practise here, hopefully we can rejoin our class again on Thursday and start to find some kind of normality and balance back..

The best part is my fellas partner has now been handed the keys to his new place, so they now have an office that's a stones throw away, and for the first time last night, in i would say over a year my fella came home without his laptop ! Its his new rule of the house and was promised when he said about this new office.. It means no more weeks of working away, just an occasional trip when needed, and my fella and me back on that road of learning to be Steve and Jo again ..

We have had to make big sacrifices and part of it meant we lost ourselves there for a while, but just like my website when i look at her everyday now, its all looking so much better and exciting ..

The futures bright and starting to bring the feeling, that this has all been worth it........

Now we just have to listen to ourselves and dig out that part of us the work load burried..

It takes a cloudy season to make you appreciate, just how good that sun feels when it shines on you doesn't it?

Hopefully now i will have some good stuff to share on here again with my friends too...

WWW.J-LOU.COM

The X Factor Olly Murs Show 4 (Rock Week) - Come Together

He was the best of the boys for me.. This totally rocks !

The X Factor 2009 - Stacey Solomon - Live Show 4 (itv.com/xfactor)

I thought she did so well.. Love the Keane song and loved her performance..