Relieved, knackered, ecstatic, stunned, delirious, emotional, drained. All of these words can be used to describe my feelings at about 5.35pm on Saturday.
It was Scottish Cup Final day. The end of a long and strange season for us Jambo's. We were out in force as the best part of 40,000 of us headed for Hampden. From the outset this was always going to be a friendly final. There is no history between the two clubs, no religious nonsense, no same city rivalry, no sense of hatred for things said and done.
This was 2 clubs, both with multi-millionaire owners who are flamboyant figures in their own ways, coming together to play for a cup which meant something to both teams and both sets of supporters. Hearts were playing in their 13th cup final and looking to win it for only the 7th time in over 100 years. They are a club with a history of being the one's to crash at the last hurdle, the one's who lose it all at the last minute. Gretna were playing in their first ever major final in any competition. A club who a few years ago were playing non-league football under the English FA. A club who were bought by a colourful millionaire with a dream to build them up. Since they were accepted into the Scottish Leagues they have rattled through them and this season secured their place in the First Division. They were the team looking for the fairytale ending.
On paper this looked like Hearts should walk away with the cup without breaking sweat. You would have struggled to find a Hearts fan who believed this would happen though...too many years of hearing the same. So we went to this match, with the same feelings as the Gretna support...hoping we'd win it rather than feeling we had it in the bag.
The first half was no great surprise. Hearts had more of the game and more of the chances but Gretna were holding their own. Not far from half time Rudi Skacel put Hearts ahead and 3/4 of Hampden erupted. The second half though showed a different side to both teams. Hearts looked tired and were just too slow all over the park. Gretna meanwhile seemed to have stepped up a gear and were first to every loose ball. I still felt we could sneak another on the break but I had a feeling Gretna would score long before kick off and it proved right. Gretna were awarded a penalty after the ref decided Chesney had fouled their player in the box. Craig Gordon, the Hearts goalie and Scotland's number 1 keeper got to the ball and saved it but Townsley scored for Gretna with the rebound and suddenly 3/4 of Hampden was very quiet.
The tension creeped in for the last stages of the second half and it was edge of seat stuff to see if anyone could grab that winner for either side. Gretna got a break and one of their players took the ball round our keeper and looked certain to score only for Robbie Neilson the Hearts Right Back to come from nowhere and make the best tackle I've seen for a long time to save our skins. The one goal winner didn't happen though and we were into Extra Time. 30 Minutes left for someone to snatch glory.
Hearts struggled in the first half of ET. Players were down with cramps, we were losing the ball in silly ways. Gretna didn't do much better in that period either but they still looked sharper than us. The second half of ET though was a different story. Hearts came back fighting. They hit the woodwork and twice had great shots to take the lead again but blew them both. Gretna dug deep and came back with their own efforts including a messy goalmouth scramble as they tried to get the ball into the Hearts net. It was watch through your fingers stuff! One perfectly timed pass though and Hearts were away. Rudi Skacel through one-on-one with the Gretna keeper Alan Main. Main ran out off his line straight into Skacel who stumbled badly but stayed on his feet on for the ball to head out of play. The Maroon and White sections of Hampden screamed for the penalty kicked but the ref wasn't having it. The boo's round the stadium were defening and the ref took absolute pelters. Paul Hartley, Hearts' star midfielder, was book for dissent when he voiced his opinion on the matter. I've seen the incident on tv heaps of times and was about 50 feet away from the actual incident...it was a stonewall penalty. Clear obstruction in the box. However we didn't get it and play continued. The atmosphere was electric as both sets of fans, feeling the tension, sung and cheered their team on. With only minutes to go before we headed to penalties Hartley made a great run. Gretna were on him and he headed to the corner flag looking to get the kick...Gretna's Townsley gave him the kick. As the ball went out of play he swung at Hartley. Hartley retaliated and kicked back at him. The ref ran over and booked Hartley for the second time and he was sent off. Our best penalty taker was heading for the dressing room and yet again the ref had shown himself up. Yes Hartley had to go but Townsley should have recieved a booking at least for his part. The final whistle blew and the score was still 1-1.
I seriously thought about leaving at that point. I can't stand to watch penalties on tv never mind in real life. I honestly can't tell you all the emotions going on in me at that point. I turned to Better Half and said "Christ feel my knees, they are absolutley shaking" I had to laugh when he said "I don't need to feel them, I can see your trousers moving". I was literally shaking with nerves. A fair few fans at both ends were seen heading out towards the concourse as they couldn't bear to watch either, they gathered round the tv sets inside preferring to see it unfold there.
The ref called things to order and we were under way. Gretna's Goalie Alan Main took to the goal first and our captian Steven "Elvis" Pressley stepped up and drilled his penalty home. 1-0 Hearts. Grady levelled it for Gretna before Robbie Neilson again gave us the advantage. Birch was next up for Gretna and he slotted his home. All square again. Then came Rudi who made sure it was 3 out of 3 for Hearts. It looked like we'd end up at sudden death but then Craig Gordon made a save from Gretna's Townsley and it was 3-2 Hearts. Micky Pospisil made it 4 for us and the noise was incredible as Gretna's Skelton went to take his kick. The Gretna fans knew he had to score, the Hearts fans praying for a save or miss. In the run up there was an audible intake of breath around me...he hit it straight and hard and almost in slow motion I watched as it hit the crossbar and crashed back out. We had done it! Game over. 4-2 on penalites! The roar from those in Maroon and White could have been heard back in Gorgie. I think I hugged and kissed every Jambo within pulling distance of me! 5 year old was being thrown around and 9 year old was caught up in a huge group hug! Scenes of joy everywhere!
A few minutes later and it was medal collection time. Gretna began their way up to collect their runners up medals...if it had been Smellick, Rankgers or the Hibby's I'd have said losers medals...but Gretna were definitely runners up. The whole of Hampden was on their feet to applaud them and the Hearts support joined in as the Gretna fans sang for their team. This was reciprocated as the Gretna fans applauded Hearts as they went up to get their winners medals and more importantly their hands on that cup. The good feeling continued as the Gretna players, led by their manager Rowan Alexander (who looked gorgeous in his kilt!) came to the Hearts support and thanked them and applauded and picked up Hearts scarves and hats that were being thrown to them from the stands. The Hearts players doing the same at the Gretna support before heading to their own fans to celebrate.
It was a great ending to what had been a long and dramatic day. Little did we know the English FA cup was going through the same as us. The Liverpool and West Ham supporters being put throgh the wringer as well! Sadly the result there wasn't the one I hoped for and West Ham lost out. We headed back to the bus for the journey home feeling happy but knackered and smiling and chatting to Gretna fans along the way. It was a strangely quiet bus that headed back home to Gorgie along the M8 very different from the one's that left Celtic Park in '98 after we beat Rangers.
We may have won it the hard way but we had it and that was all that mattered.
Jenny xx
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Monday, May 15, 2006
I'm Still Here...
I said I wouldn't be here this week if the Gretna fairytale occured. Well it didn't occur so I'm back but I'm not staying because I really need an early night (em I realise it's 11.40pm but that's still early compared to the last 2 nights!). I will be back tomorrow when I feel a bit more human.
p.s if Ross says he seen me this weekend and I was as excited as a child full of E numbers and slightly merry with the drink...he's telling fibs!
Jenny xx
p.s if Ross says he seen me this weekend and I was as excited as a child full of E numbers and slightly merry with the drink...he's telling fibs!
Jenny xx
Friday, May 12, 2006
The Night Before...
Right then we are now at 1900 hrs here in cloudy Kirknewton. It is exactly 20 hours until kick off in the Cup Final.
The face paints, wigs, flags and scarves are ready to go. The strips are washed, ironed and ready to wear and the tickets are safely out of reach of small children and silly boxer dogs.
We're heading off at 8am tomorrow morning to join 33,000 other Jambo's on the trail to Hampden.
It is the biggest game either of my 2 have been to see and they can't wait.
I'm not going to say we'll will it because I'm superstitious but fingers crossed we'll be having a party come 4.45pm tomorrow.
If Gretna manage to pull of the fairytale...well good for them...just don't expect me on here for about a week.
COME ON HEARTS!!!
Jenny xx
The face paints, wigs, flags and scarves are ready to go. The strips are washed, ironed and ready to wear and the tickets are safely out of reach of small children and silly boxer dogs.
We're heading off at 8am tomorrow morning to join 33,000 other Jambo's on the trail to Hampden.
It is the biggest game either of my 2 have been to see and they can't wait.
I'm not going to say we'll will it because I'm superstitious but fingers crossed we'll be having a party come 4.45pm tomorrow.
If Gretna manage to pull of the fairytale...well good for them...just don't expect me on here for about a week.
COME ON HEARTS!!!
Jenny xx
Wedding Anniversary...
Wednesday was my wedding anniversary. 10 years of marriage to the same man. A whole decade. Apparently a decade of marriage should be symbolised by tin or aluminium when it comes to the gift. So I could have expected a tin of beans or a can of Coke. I got nothing. No card. No flowers. Not even a phone call.
Still I left him nearly 7 years ago so I shouldn't really grumble.
I should seriously get myself to a divorce solicitor one day or before I know it I'll be "celebrating" my silver wedding!
Jenny xx
Still I left him nearly 7 years ago so I shouldn't really grumble.
I should seriously get myself to a divorce solicitor one day or before I know it I'll be "celebrating" my silver wedding!
Jenny xx
Good Deed Done For Today...
That's me secured my brownie points for this week on 2 counts.
Better Half has applied for a new job with Falkirk Council and has more or less secured it but they were needing to get a look at his exam results from school and college which he had misplaced prior to the interview. So being the wonderful wife (albeit not his wife) that I am I volunteered to take them across to Falkirk for him this week since he's at work all day. It wasn't easy as because he's so old his certificates are carved in stone...well I can say that given he left school the year I started as a 5 year old...but I knew it would earn me Brownie points with him.
It also helped in my second good deed of the day which bizarrely enough involved a trip to Grangemouth which is just next door to Falkirk.
Anyways there's this woman called Helen who is 66 years old and is a massive Hearts fan. She was at the match last week and ended up falling and in the process broke her hip. As a season ticket holder she did have match tickets for the final but wasn't able to use them as she is now confined to a wheelchair until the break heals. She tried to get a wheelchair space and carers space but was told they were all sold out.
She was gutted as she has been to every final the team has played in since she was just a child. I heard the story through her cousin (who is also a distant relative of mine) and decided to see if I could help out. A wave of my magic wand later (and an e mail to Heart Of midlothian Football Club) and 2 tickets, wheelchair and carer, are found for me. So I have just returned from Grangemouth where I met Helen for the first time and gave her her tickets for the final. She is beyond chuffed! I'm really pleased for her as she has held a Season Ticket since day one of their inception and follows Hearts home and away including travelling to Europe! Not bad for a woman of 66!
So brownie points (and a nice bouquet of flowers from Helen) for me today on 2 counts.
Jenny xx
Better Half has applied for a new job with Falkirk Council and has more or less secured it but they were needing to get a look at his exam results from school and college which he had misplaced prior to the interview. So being the wonderful wife (albeit not his wife) that I am I volunteered to take them across to Falkirk for him this week since he's at work all day. It wasn't easy as because he's so old his certificates are carved in stone...well I can say that given he left school the year I started as a 5 year old...but I knew it would earn me Brownie points with him.
It also helped in my second good deed of the day which bizarrely enough involved a trip to Grangemouth which is just next door to Falkirk.
Anyways there's this woman called Helen who is 66 years old and is a massive Hearts fan. She was at the match last week and ended up falling and in the process broke her hip. As a season ticket holder she did have match tickets for the final but wasn't able to use them as she is now confined to a wheelchair until the break heals. She tried to get a wheelchair space and carers space but was told they were all sold out.
She was gutted as she has been to every final the team has played in since she was just a child. I heard the story through her cousin (who is also a distant relative of mine) and decided to see if I could help out. A wave of my magic wand later (and an e mail to Heart Of midlothian Football Club) and 2 tickets, wheelchair and carer, are found for me. So I have just returned from Grangemouth where I met Helen for the first time and gave her her tickets for the final. She is beyond chuffed! I'm really pleased for her as she has held a Season Ticket since day one of their inception and follows Hearts home and away including travelling to Europe! Not bad for a woman of 66!
So brownie points (and a nice bouquet of flowers from Helen) for me today on 2 counts.
Jenny xx
My Night With Paddy...
3 rows from the front. Close enough to Paddy to smell his aftershave. I was not the only one breathing deeply I can assure you. He looks even better in the flesh and is taller than I expected...always a bonus to find a tall man when you're 6ft in stilettos yourself!
We had a great night at the Dark Side last night. We settled ourselves in with a pint each of Tennents and watched to warm up act who did his job well and had the crowd laughing away with the usual inclusion of some very dry humour and piss taking jokes about his kinsman (he was Welsh...so there was plenty talk of sheep!).
After a short interval, we headed back to our seats with another pint of Tennents each. Paddy appeared a few minutes later to plenty noise...cheers from the lads and wolf whistles from the lassies!
This is the first time Paddy has toured solo so I think a few were curious to see if he could cut it alone...he managed it fine. There was shades of Peter Kay about the routine but not unexpected when you realise he helped to write it but while Peter makes comedy out of the wedding day, Paddy's humour tends to focus more on the honeymoon if you get my meaning. We went on a trip through STD clinics, why British women are the best, The Gary Glitter reality tv show, vibrators and porn mags all via Robbie Williams house and Keith Chegwins penis.
There was then a Q & A session. At the bar there had been paper and pen's and a big plastic bucket. The idea was you were to ask Paddy a question and later in the show he got the bucket and randomly picked the questions out and answered them. You had to put your name on it so Paddy could find you if he wanted to. I thought maybe it would be staged questions to ensure a funny answer but after each one was read out the house lights went up and seeing the look of embarrassment on people's faces whose questions had been pulled out made me realise they were genuine enough. Bizarrely enough the first three were all more or less the same and all focused on women asking how big Paddy's manhood was! Cue red faced women being shown up under the house lights. No I was not one of them!
It was a good night and my ribs got a bit painful at one point from laughing so much which is always a good sign.
Jenny xx
We had a great night at the Dark Side last night. We settled ourselves in with a pint each of Tennents and watched to warm up act who did his job well and had the crowd laughing away with the usual inclusion of some very dry humour and piss taking jokes about his kinsman (he was Welsh...so there was plenty talk of sheep!).
After a short interval, we headed back to our seats with another pint of Tennents each. Paddy appeared a few minutes later to plenty noise...cheers from the lads and wolf whistles from the lassies!
This is the first time Paddy has toured solo so I think a few were curious to see if he could cut it alone...he managed it fine. There was shades of Peter Kay about the routine but not unexpected when you realise he helped to write it but while Peter makes comedy out of the wedding day, Paddy's humour tends to focus more on the honeymoon if you get my meaning. We went on a trip through STD clinics, why British women are the best, The Gary Glitter reality tv show, vibrators and porn mags all via Robbie Williams house and Keith Chegwins penis.
There was then a Q & A session. At the bar there had been paper and pen's and a big plastic bucket. The idea was you were to ask Paddy a question and later in the show he got the bucket and randomly picked the questions out and answered them. You had to put your name on it so Paddy could find you if he wanted to. I thought maybe it would be staged questions to ensure a funny answer but after each one was read out the house lights went up and seeing the look of embarrassment on people's faces whose questions had been pulled out made me realise they were genuine enough. Bizarrely enough the first three were all more or less the same and all focused on women asking how big Paddy's manhood was! Cue red faced women being shown up under the house lights. No I was not one of them!
It was a good night and my ribs got a bit painful at one point from laughing so much which is always a good sign.
Jenny xx
Thursday, May 11, 2006
I'm Off Out Tonight...
Wee Sis and I are off into Edinburgh tonight to see Patrick McGuinness' stand up show "The Dark Side" tonight.
Which gives me a bloody great excuse to post this picture...
Which gives me a bloody great excuse to post this picture...
And this one...
And even this one again...
Gratuitous? Yes but who cares?? I reckon we'll laugh a fair bit, stare a fair bit and drool a good bit cause he's well gorgeous like! Funny, dark haired and lovely eyes...gets me everytime!
Right I'll away and get myself sorted for tonight then...best start with clean knickers, these ones are damp! (I've took that too far!)
Jenny xx
Monday, May 08, 2006
A Busy Week Ahead...
Ah Monday morning again...
It's now 8.57am and the house is silent except for the clack of my fingers on here and the occasional hum from the heating system as it heats up my hot water. All the bustle of the last 45 minutes as I sorted out dinner money, uniforms,breakfasts, school bags, snacks and chaperoned the face washing and teeth brushing has stopped. Better Half is away to work and the kids have been dropped at school where they will remain for the next 6 hours.
Time for a quiet cup of coffee I think. However while the stillness of my house is nice I'm not going to be enjoying it for long. This is shaping up to be a busy week for me.
The nice weather we've had has brought with it the fact that lots of washing has been hung out to dry. Now inevitably it needs to be ironed. I've got phone calls to make, the kids beds to change. I need to play catch up with my Sis as I haven't seen her since we got back from USA. I have to head into town to do some shopping. I need to go to the bank to pay in some cheques and I need to make appointments to have my hair and nails done and my eyebrows waxed.
Obviously we are heading to the Cup Final on Saturday and I need to make sure that strips, scarves and other bits and pieces are ready. I've been tasked with locating Maroon and White face paints and I have managed to source them but it's another trip to get them, this time to Edinburgh.
So I'm going to enjoy my coffee in the quiet of this Monday morning before it all gets noisy again.
Have a great week.
Jenny xx
It's now 8.57am and the house is silent except for the clack of my fingers on here and the occasional hum from the heating system as it heats up my hot water. All the bustle of the last 45 minutes as I sorted out dinner money, uniforms,breakfasts, school bags, snacks and chaperoned the face washing and teeth brushing has stopped. Better Half is away to work and the kids have been dropped at school where they will remain for the next 6 hours.
Time for a quiet cup of coffee I think. However while the stillness of my house is nice I'm not going to be enjoying it for long. This is shaping up to be a busy week for me.
The nice weather we've had has brought with it the fact that lots of washing has been hung out to dry. Now inevitably it needs to be ironed. I've got phone calls to make, the kids beds to change. I need to play catch up with my Sis as I haven't seen her since we got back from USA. I have to head into town to do some shopping. I need to go to the bank to pay in some cheques and I need to make appointments to have my hair and nails done and my eyebrows waxed.
Obviously we are heading to the Cup Final on Saturday and I need to make sure that strips, scarves and other bits and pieces are ready. I've been tasked with locating Maroon and White face paints and I have managed to source them but it's another trip to get them, this time to Edinburgh.
So I'm going to enjoy my coffee in the quiet of this Monday morning before it all gets noisy again.
Have a great week.
Jenny xx
Sunday, May 07, 2006
I Give In...This Is Really Me!
Right then this is me...I'm sure Ross will confirm this...and my Wee Sis. She's not looking her best here it must be said and will have a shit fit when she see's this on here but it is the only photo I have of me on my pc, unless you count the one of me at 2 which I have!As bairns we were very alike but as we've gotten older we've changed...we are more alike when neither of us has dyed our hair! Gill is more like Mum while I'm a bit more like Dad.
There's already a photo of Mum on the Blog so to allow you to make the comparison as to who I look like for yourselves (and just because I can!) here's my gorgeous Daddy...
Jenny xx
Ps Apologies to any young children who have been terrified by the sight of seeing my photo. The rest of you (and by that I mean Steven) get no sympathy cause you asked for it!
Friday, May 05, 2006
Ok So The Link Was Buggered...
In the post entitled Yes...Yes...Yes...
I can get it ok but some of you other's can't and as such many of you will have no bloody clue why I was so happy.
I'll tell you...
Hearts have made it into the Champions League qualifiers. Yes it's only the qualifiers but given that we haven't played in the European cup in any form since 1960 this is bloody good news! Even more so when you consider that just 18 months ago the team were on the brink of being no more.
To top it all...to get to the competition we had to make sure Rankgers...I mean Rangers...didn't.
We've split the Old Firm, finished second in the Spl and have a cup final still to look forward to.
Happiness indeed.
"Tell all the Huns that you know...we're in the CL and you're no!!!"
Jenny xx
I can get it ok but some of you other's can't and as such many of you will have no bloody clue why I was so happy.
I'll tell you...
Hearts have made it into the Champions League qualifiers. Yes it's only the qualifiers but given that we haven't played in the European cup in any form since 1960 this is bloody good news! Even more so when you consider that just 18 months ago the team were on the brink of being no more.
To top it all...to get to the competition we had to make sure Rankgers...I mean Rangers...didn't.
We've split the Old Firm, finished second in the Spl and have a cup final still to look forward to.
Happiness indeed.
"Tell all the Huns that you know...we're in the CL and you're no!!!"
Jenny xx
Oh Alright...Here's A Photo Of Me...
Steven reckons it's time I put a picture on here of myself...so to keep him happy...
It's not a great one...I'm dressed to take the kids to school but I couldn't find one of me really dressed up! It was kind of chilly and raining when this was taken which is why I'm wearing the thigh highs boots instead of ususal knee high.
Jenny xx
It's not a great one...I'm dressed to take the kids to school but I couldn't find one of me really dressed up! It was kind of chilly and raining when this was taken which is why I'm wearing the thigh highs boots instead of ususal knee high.
Jenny xx
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
My True Loves...
These are my 2 babies with their Daddy. All 3 are my reason to get up in the morning!
My Sis and her two gorgeous Babies, little Miss Sensible and Little Mr Crazy.
My favourite kids in the world!! From l-r...Dean, Chloe, Jake and Kennedy. We call Chloe and Dean "Dumb and Dumber" when they are together because they are just daft. Kennedy and Jake are "Sense and Sensibility" as they are all together more sensible!
Jenny xx
Saturday, April 29, 2006
BBQ Season Already...
I'm off to my first Barbeque of the summer today. It seems a bit early for this to be starting already but what the hell! The sun is shining and it's fairly warm for April so it seems reasonable I suppose!
I've got the burgers, the beer and the wine. This will be a common shoping list from now until September no doubt as we often have a few BBQ's to go to throughout the summer.
This one will be a bit different though. It will be the first time in about 18 months that this particluar group of friends have all been in the same place at the same time since our infamous "christmas brawl" in 2004. We seem to have a bit of difficulty playing nice sometimes so it will be intresting to see how it goes. I'll admit I have my doubts it will go without incident...there still seem to be some issues unresolved...but I'm willing to give it a go as it's being hosted by my good friends and it would be nice to be able to resume our friendships and get on with things.
I was brought up never to cause a scene in anyone else's home (instilled by my Dad who was big on manners in someone else's home!) and I've always stood by that so if there does appear to be any niggles or comments I will simply remove myself and head home!
Fingers crossed it all goes well. The trouble is we are all different in nature and when drink is involved we can all get a bit much. There's been a lot said and done between us all and a lot of lies and not quite true rumours have been spun around the group in recent times. It is supposed to have all had a line drawn under it...I'm not so sure...but if we can't forget what's been said and done here's hoping we can try and forgive. We've had some great times together in the past and it would be a shame if we couldn't do so again!
Jenny xx
I've got the burgers, the beer and the wine. This will be a common shoping list from now until September no doubt as we often have a few BBQ's to go to throughout the summer.
This one will be a bit different though. It will be the first time in about 18 months that this particluar group of friends have all been in the same place at the same time since our infamous "christmas brawl" in 2004. We seem to have a bit of difficulty playing nice sometimes so it will be intresting to see how it goes. I'll admit I have my doubts it will go without incident...there still seem to be some issues unresolved...but I'm willing to give it a go as it's being hosted by my good friends and it would be nice to be able to resume our friendships and get on with things.
I was brought up never to cause a scene in anyone else's home (instilled by my Dad who was big on manners in someone else's home!) and I've always stood by that so if there does appear to be any niggles or comments I will simply remove myself and head home!
Fingers crossed it all goes well. The trouble is we are all different in nature and when drink is involved we can all get a bit much. There's been a lot said and done between us all and a lot of lies and not quite true rumours have been spun around the group in recent times. It is supposed to have all had a line drawn under it...I'm not so sure...but if we can't forget what's been said and done here's hoping we can try and forgive. We've had some great times together in the past and it would be a shame if we couldn't do so again!
Jenny xx
A Few Kodak Moments...
As promised here's a few snaps from the holiday album!
My home for the last fortnight...16931 Sunset Vista Drive, Sunrise Lakes, Clermont, Lake County. Bigger and better than I could ever have here! The garage was home to a games room and there was a private pool to the rear. Bliss.
Jake (in the black and red cap) and my nephew Dean meet Spidey! He chatted for ages with them much to their amazement!
My Mum and My Sis. They bought the T-Shirts after getting soaked at Universal. We were heading to the Hard Rock for dinner and they didn't fancy being in an air conditioned restaurany in soaking clothes!
Mum posing in her convertable with Chloe and Jake. Her and My Sis thought they'd be like Thelma and Louise driving around in it. More like Dumb and Dumber!
Sheikra at Busch Gardens. Busch is owned by the company that make Budweiser and they very kindly let you drink it for free in the testing stations at the park! They were trying out new beer shots as well...so you can pep us your beer with an alcholic shot of melon, lime, mango or even chocolate...they are hoping it will appeal to women and encourage them to drink more beer!
My handsome boy! This was taken at Busch Gardens shortly before we headed back up the road. Boy wonder fell asleep during the journey and left green face paint all over the car
Jenny xx
Friday, April 28, 2006
I've Got A Goal-Den Ticket...
As you may be aware my Footie team are playing in the Scottish Cup Final on May 13th. Tragically I was on holibobs when the ticket details were announced. Imagine my shock on my return when I discovered that Hearts had received around 33,000 tickets for the match and they were all gone!
The majority went to season ticket holders and the rest to shareholders with none available for Joe Public! The fact that my team are in a final and there are no tickets left could have been enough to send me over the edge. However like Yogi I am smarter than your average bear and have gotten my hands on 5 tickets!
Don't ask how I managed it. It's top secret. Oh alright I'l tell you. We're going hospitality like we did for the semi and I was clever enough to phone my contact at the company and ask her to hold tickets for me in the event they went on sale prior to my return. I'm a clever girl! Tickets are like gold dust but I've got my grubby mitts on 5 thanks to my new best friend Janet at PB Events.
So it's the road to Hampden for us (kids included!) on May 13th. Hurrah!!
Jenny xx
The majority went to season ticket holders and the rest to shareholders with none available for Joe Public! The fact that my team are in a final and there are no tickets left could have been enough to send me over the edge. However like Yogi I am smarter than your average bear and have gotten my hands on 5 tickets!
Don't ask how I managed it. It's top secret. Oh alright I'l tell you. We're going hospitality like we did for the semi and I was clever enough to phone my contact at the company and ask her to hold tickets for me in the event they went on sale prior to my return. I'm a clever girl! Tickets are like gold dust but I've got my grubby mitts on 5 thanks to my new best friend Janet at PB Events.
So it's the road to Hampden for us (kids included!) on May 13th. Hurrah!!
Jenny xx
Sunny Florida...
Right then. I appear to be almost back to my normal self. I went to bed on Thursday morning for a few hours when we got back. The plan was to sleep until about 11am, just enough to stave off the tiredness, the flight times meant we didn't get a sleep on the plane. Normally it's a full overnighter home but we left the States at 2.30pm and instead of the usual hours spent in darkness on the plane with a pillow and blanket we were only in night skies for 2 hours out of 7 as we crossed the atlantic. The plan went tits up though and our few hours sleep turned into 5 hours which effectively meant the kids were up until 2am and Better Half and I didn't get to sleep until 6am on Friday morning! Never again. I will resume my usual trans-atlantic thing of staying up when I get home!
It's been a good 2 weeks though and worth buggering up my body clock for!The flight over was uneventful. It was a bit odd as we boarded in Glasgow only to stop again in Belfast to pick more people up...much to the annoyance of one couple who were from Belfast and were told there were no seats on the flight from there and so had to travel with their quads (!!) from Belfast to Glasgow to get on a flight which was boarding not 30 minutes from their home! We had booked a car for our arrival in Sanford but the company had mistakenly run out of cars big enough to accomodate the 8 of us...however it meant Granny got the chance to run about in a convertable for a few days as it was all they had left. Better Half and I got a much more sensible Grand Voyager for the first few days. Then we took them back and swapped them for the obligatory Ford E350 battle bus which seats 12...5 year old likes it as he thinks it like his very own Mystery Machine!
The sun was shining...we managed a weather record of 94f while we were there which is the hottest it's been in April for 23 years! Of course we chose that day to head to Typhoon Lagoon water park...cue lots of sunburn! Home for the last fortnight has been a very nice 4 bedroom villa. Better Half and I bagged the Master Suite which had an en suite and a dressing room both of which were bigger than my bedroom back here. Americans just do this house building shit much better than we do! I'll stick some photo's of the trip up on another post for ya'll to see.
We had a fantastic thunder storm while we were away. They are not uncommon when you're over there and we've seen a few on previous trips but this one lasted hours and the thunder was really loud. It sounds mad but you could almost feel the rumble! A few counties away from where we were 2 trailers were trashed when a mini tornado lifted them up and dropped them again! There's nothing like sitting in crazy heat watching the rain hammer down and the lightning run across the sky...we rarely get Thunder storms here and when we do they're usually crap! In all we got 2 days of rain much to the delight of the Floridians who hadn't had any for 2 weeks and the joy of Jimmy, the chief weatherman on Central Florida News 13 who was overjoyed and couldn't stop smiling as he told us of the impending downfall! Turns out his flowerbeds really needed a drink and his sprinkler was goosed! You gotta love Floridian newscasters and weather reporters...truly entertaining unlike our serious BBC news! They do weather on the 1's...every time a 1 appears on the clock...truly repetative but they love it over there!
We gave the Disney parks a miss this year and instead spent most of time doing the Universal parks and Busch Gardens in Tampa. The kids love Islands of Adventure and Jake and Dean were chuffed to meet Spiderman (again!) and spent a good 10 minutes with him looking awestruck as he chatted away to them.
My favourite part of IoA is Suess Landing which you may well have sussed out is all about Dr Suess and his characters. My first ever reading book at school was a Dr Suess book which probably goes a long way to explaining my mentality! I'm a sucker for anything involving the Grinch! The place is decorated out in bright colours just like one of the books and there are random signs which have quotes on from the books. They appear to make little or no sense but are genius all at the same time.
As we'd never been to Busch Gardens on our other 4 visits we decided it was time to head for Tampa. I was looking forward to having a wee shot on Sheikra the newest ride in the park. It's one of those vertical drop coasters. 200 feet up they hang you over the edge for about 20 seconds and drop you straight down before turning you upside down and repeating the process from around 120 feet.
Much to the strange looks from some adult observers who were too afraid to try it my 9 year old couldn't wait to get on either. She really enjoyed this years trip as she was too little on our last visits to get on the big rides but this year she made it by the skin of her teeth and with a little help from some thick soled flip flops! She's not tthe tallest 9 year old on the planet...she's not a midget either but with her Dad only reaching the dizzy heights of 5ft 6" she was never going to be a giant! Compare her to my niece who was able to get on all the big rides 2 years ago aged only 8 and you get the idea! We joined the queue and waited for our turn. Without doubt this is the best bit of any ride for me. The wait to get on, the adrenaline starting to go and the nerves kicking in. The ride was great and the views from the top were spectacular. I was amused to see my 9 year old and her cousin (who's 10) with their hands in the air during the ride!
I consider myself lucky to have kids who will try the rides and are unafraid of them. I've yet to see any of them scared by a ride or unwiling to give one a go. They are all mini adrenaline junkies. 5 year old is gutted because he is still to small for the really big coasters...his time will come! All of them love nothing better than going "no hands" on the coasters. They come from a hardened stock of ride lovers...my Dad loved theme parks and my Mum is still going strong at 55 she's not one of those Grannies who sits and watches, she's right in the queue with you!
As well as the parks there was a bit of time spent shopping. Always a must for us Brits travelling to the States. Better Half again managed to find himself an official NBA shop and had a nice time running up the credit card bill in there. He was more chuffed to find himself in Florida as the NBA Playoffs began as he was able to watch his Miami Heat live at a decent hour instead of staying up here until 2am to see them. I, naturally, was in shoe heaven and we have returned to Scotland with 13 new pairs between the 4 of us! I am all K Swissed out! Still I can justify it by reasoning that the purchase of 4 new pairs of trainers for us here would set me back about £150 at least. I paid just $320 (£200 or so) for 10 pairs. That I think you will agree is a bargain!
Anyway who cares what you spend. The credit card is maxed but I'm happy and we may now need to live on beans and toast for months but we will be well dressed as we do so! I also indulged in a bit of "silly" shopping...buying teeth whitening products and toiletries you don't get here! Toiletries are my second favourite purchase so I was in heaven spending a few hours in Wal-Mart (which is basically Asda down to the same brand and slogan!) trawling round the various body lotions, fake tans, toothpastes and cosmetics!
There was, as is normal with my family, more than a few funny moments while we were away. We seem to all have a knack of saying or doing things which cause others to crack up laughing and we always return from a trip with at least one stand out moment which will not be forgotten for a long time. Last time we went ensemble to Florida my Dad won the prize hands down after getting up from his seat by the pool to fetch another beer and promptly walking straight into the patio doors much to the hysterical amusement of all of us watching him.
Dean was up there in the running for moment of the holiday this time round with his Toaster/Torpedo comment. My Mum made a few good attempts at the title with various stupid remarks...like when we seen a mother duck and her 12 ducklings. I pointed them out and my Mum decided to tell me "they won't all be her ducklings, there's too many of them, she's obviously fostered some of them!" Excuse me? Fostered them? Who knew Ducks did that? My Sis had a stab when her daughter pointed out some birds circling over head and my sister decided they were Phoenix's! The other kids all had their silly moments as well but I am proud to say that I win the prize for stand out holiday moment of the year. I did something which will I will forever be reminded of by my family and which was the cause of much hilarity among them.
We were in Universal Studios and had just come off the Revenge Of The Mummy ride. While we had been inside the heavens had opened and it was hammering down (as it does in Florida!) and being hardy Scots we decided not to take cover from the rain but to keep on strolling. I had on a pair of flip flops which were proving difficult to walk in given my feet were soaking so as we walked I decided to remove them to make life a bit easier. I reckon I'm part gypsy anyhow because despite my love of shoes I love being barefoot. Anyhow we are sauntering along nicely and are heading towards the bit they call Amityville via San Francisco when I step on a fake tramline on the ground and...fall on my ass!
*Note for future reference - pissing rain, bare feet and wet tramlines are not good. Tramlines become slippy when wet and stepping on them could cause you to fall on our ass.
So down I go and the hysterics begin. Better Half missed the fall but caught the aftermath of me in hysterics and my Sis (who had seen it all) absolutely doubled up. Of course it was fucking typical for me that because it was pissing rain there were literally scores of people all standing around hiding under things to keep them dry everyone of them was watching to see my ass hit the ground. Still it was a funny moment and due to having a fair amount of padding on my butt I was unhurt...a lesser, skinnier woman could have recieved a serious injury! I did have one scar to show though...I chiped the nail polish on my newly manicured toes!
It's kind of odd that it would be me who fell given I'm normally the most stable on my feet...Mum and Gill are both prone to falling head over tit! Still I'm always happy to play to the crowd and raise a smile!
There was also plenty of eating to be done...another great thing to do in the States and always a pleasure and never a chore! Almost every restaurant has an "all you can eat" buffet for silly money and we took good advantage! We decided one night to go a bit posher and headed to a local Italian place for dinner. Better Half and I decided we'd pick up the tab for this one and I expected it to be a bit more than our usual fill your wellies bills were. Even so I knew it would be a damn sight cheaper than we'd pay back home. We each had 2 courses and drinks...I was getting tucked into the cocktail list... and the bill came to a ridiculously low £57!! Talk about fucking rip off Britain! I've paid more for Himself and I to eat out for two!
All in all we had a great time and all too soon it was time to come home again. I never look forward to flying much. I'm not a big fan of being so high in the air in a big metal contraption which weighs so much but apart from that fact my body ain't keen on the whole thing either and due to my metabolism being fucked I tend to swell like a beach ball. However it wasn't too bad as the doc had given me some new drugs to try out. Mum decided to upgrade her seat on the return home to first class. There were four seats left so she took all four of them. It was helpful as she got extra baggage allowance and kindly agreed to check in all my luggage along with her one case...which was just as well as all of mine were overweight by shitloads! One guy was charged £230 in excess baggage and he had less weight than I did...but hey shoes can be heavy!
First class obviously had it's advantages and me and mine stayed in cattle class while Sis, Kids and Mum did the posh thing. It was all leather seats, free booze, nice meals etc. Our 2 kids swapped with Sis's 2 for a while and 5 year old promptly fell asleep in the posh seats with his in flight eye mask on! Mum was kind enough to bring me through a Pot Noodle which was yet another perk of being in the posh seats! However it's not all glamour up the front! Mum was pleased to hear that those in first class get their baggage off first. She hates having to wait at bagage reclaim. When we finally got off at Glasgow, tired and cold, we waited for bloody ages on the bags coming through. A trickle began and Mum was amazed to see all my Sis' bags appear first...the ones I had checked in through cattle class! After the intial trickle of bags there was nothing for nearly 25 minutes! Sis had gone as she had all her bags but there were loads of us left waiting. Being Scots we were starting to get a bit vocal at the length of the wait and there were more than a few shouts of "This is fucking ridiculous" and "what the fuck is going on?" from round the hall! Eventually the bags began to appear again and the hall emptied. Except us. I had all my bags but Mum's never appeared! To say she was going fucking mad is an understatement. One loudly made complaint later to the servisair staff and we were on our way...minus Mum's case which they said they'd look for!
I'm pleased to say it turned up a day later intact. Turns out it had been in Belfast! Mum has come down of the walls now!
And so another holiday comes to a close....only 8 weeks till my next one!
Jenny xx
It's been a good 2 weeks though and worth buggering up my body clock for!The flight over was uneventful. It was a bit odd as we boarded in Glasgow only to stop again in Belfast to pick more people up...much to the annoyance of one couple who were from Belfast and were told there were no seats on the flight from there and so had to travel with their quads (!!) from Belfast to Glasgow to get on a flight which was boarding not 30 minutes from their home! We had booked a car for our arrival in Sanford but the company had mistakenly run out of cars big enough to accomodate the 8 of us...however it meant Granny got the chance to run about in a convertable for a few days as it was all they had left. Better Half and I got a much more sensible Grand Voyager for the first few days. Then we took them back and swapped them for the obligatory Ford E350 battle bus which seats 12...5 year old likes it as he thinks it like his very own Mystery Machine!
The sun was shining...we managed a weather record of 94f while we were there which is the hottest it's been in April for 23 years! Of course we chose that day to head to Typhoon Lagoon water park...cue lots of sunburn! Home for the last fortnight has been a very nice 4 bedroom villa. Better Half and I bagged the Master Suite which had an en suite and a dressing room both of which were bigger than my bedroom back here. Americans just do this house building shit much better than we do! I'll stick some photo's of the trip up on another post for ya'll to see.
We had a fantastic thunder storm while we were away. They are not uncommon when you're over there and we've seen a few on previous trips but this one lasted hours and the thunder was really loud. It sounds mad but you could almost feel the rumble! A few counties away from where we were 2 trailers were trashed when a mini tornado lifted them up and dropped them again! There's nothing like sitting in crazy heat watching the rain hammer down and the lightning run across the sky...we rarely get Thunder storms here and when we do they're usually crap! In all we got 2 days of rain much to the delight of the Floridians who hadn't had any for 2 weeks and the joy of Jimmy, the chief weatherman on Central Florida News 13 who was overjoyed and couldn't stop smiling as he told us of the impending downfall! Turns out his flowerbeds really needed a drink and his sprinkler was goosed! You gotta love Floridian newscasters and weather reporters...truly entertaining unlike our serious BBC news! They do weather on the 1's...every time a 1 appears on the clock...truly repetative but they love it over there!
We gave the Disney parks a miss this year and instead spent most of time doing the Universal parks and Busch Gardens in Tampa. The kids love Islands of Adventure and Jake and Dean were chuffed to meet Spiderman (again!) and spent a good 10 minutes with him looking awestruck as he chatted away to them.
My favourite part of IoA is Suess Landing which you may well have sussed out is all about Dr Suess and his characters. My first ever reading book at school was a Dr Suess book which probably goes a long way to explaining my mentality! I'm a sucker for anything involving the Grinch! The place is decorated out in bright colours just like one of the books and there are random signs which have quotes on from the books. They appear to make little or no sense but are genius all at the same time.
As we'd never been to Busch Gardens on our other 4 visits we decided it was time to head for Tampa. I was looking forward to having a wee shot on Sheikra the newest ride in the park. It's one of those vertical drop coasters. 200 feet up they hang you over the edge for about 20 seconds and drop you straight down before turning you upside down and repeating the process from around 120 feet.
Much to the strange looks from some adult observers who were too afraid to try it my 9 year old couldn't wait to get on either. She really enjoyed this years trip as she was too little on our last visits to get on the big rides but this year she made it by the skin of her teeth and with a little help from some thick soled flip flops! She's not tthe tallest 9 year old on the planet...she's not a midget either but with her Dad only reaching the dizzy heights of 5ft 6" she was never going to be a giant! Compare her to my niece who was able to get on all the big rides 2 years ago aged only 8 and you get the idea! We joined the queue and waited for our turn. Without doubt this is the best bit of any ride for me. The wait to get on, the adrenaline starting to go and the nerves kicking in. The ride was great and the views from the top were spectacular. I was amused to see my 9 year old and her cousin (who's 10) with their hands in the air during the ride!
I consider myself lucky to have kids who will try the rides and are unafraid of them. I've yet to see any of them scared by a ride or unwiling to give one a go. They are all mini adrenaline junkies. 5 year old is gutted because he is still to small for the really big coasters...his time will come! All of them love nothing better than going "no hands" on the coasters. They come from a hardened stock of ride lovers...my Dad loved theme parks and my Mum is still going strong at 55 she's not one of those Grannies who sits and watches, she's right in the queue with you!
As well as the parks there was a bit of time spent shopping. Always a must for us Brits travelling to the States. Better Half again managed to find himself an official NBA shop and had a nice time running up the credit card bill in there. He was more chuffed to find himself in Florida as the NBA Playoffs began as he was able to watch his Miami Heat live at a decent hour instead of staying up here until 2am to see them. I, naturally, was in shoe heaven and we have returned to Scotland with 13 new pairs between the 4 of us! I am all K Swissed out! Still I can justify it by reasoning that the purchase of 4 new pairs of trainers for us here would set me back about £150 at least. I paid just $320 (£200 or so) for 10 pairs. That I think you will agree is a bargain!
Anyway who cares what you spend. The credit card is maxed but I'm happy and we may now need to live on beans and toast for months but we will be well dressed as we do so! I also indulged in a bit of "silly" shopping...buying teeth whitening products and toiletries you don't get here! Toiletries are my second favourite purchase so I was in heaven spending a few hours in Wal-Mart (which is basically Asda down to the same brand and slogan!) trawling round the various body lotions, fake tans, toothpastes and cosmetics!
There was, as is normal with my family, more than a few funny moments while we were away. We seem to all have a knack of saying or doing things which cause others to crack up laughing and we always return from a trip with at least one stand out moment which will not be forgotten for a long time. Last time we went ensemble to Florida my Dad won the prize hands down after getting up from his seat by the pool to fetch another beer and promptly walking straight into the patio doors much to the hysterical amusement of all of us watching him.
Dean was up there in the running for moment of the holiday this time round with his Toaster/Torpedo comment. My Mum made a few good attempts at the title with various stupid remarks...like when we seen a mother duck and her 12 ducklings. I pointed them out and my Mum decided to tell me "they won't all be her ducklings, there's too many of them, she's obviously fostered some of them!" Excuse me? Fostered them? Who knew Ducks did that? My Sis had a stab when her daughter pointed out some birds circling over head and my sister decided they were Phoenix's! The other kids all had their silly moments as well but I am proud to say that I win the prize for stand out holiday moment of the year. I did something which will I will forever be reminded of by my family and which was the cause of much hilarity among them.
We were in Universal Studios and had just come off the Revenge Of The Mummy ride. While we had been inside the heavens had opened and it was hammering down (as it does in Florida!) and being hardy Scots we decided not to take cover from the rain but to keep on strolling. I had on a pair of flip flops which were proving difficult to walk in given my feet were soaking so as we walked I decided to remove them to make life a bit easier. I reckon I'm part gypsy anyhow because despite my love of shoes I love being barefoot. Anyhow we are sauntering along nicely and are heading towards the bit they call Amityville via San Francisco when I step on a fake tramline on the ground and...fall on my ass!
*Note for future reference - pissing rain, bare feet and wet tramlines are not good. Tramlines become slippy when wet and stepping on them could cause you to fall on our ass.
So down I go and the hysterics begin. Better Half missed the fall but caught the aftermath of me in hysterics and my Sis (who had seen it all) absolutely doubled up. Of course it was fucking typical for me that because it was pissing rain there were literally scores of people all standing around hiding under things to keep them dry everyone of them was watching to see my ass hit the ground. Still it was a funny moment and due to having a fair amount of padding on my butt I was unhurt...a lesser, skinnier woman could have recieved a serious injury! I did have one scar to show though...I chiped the nail polish on my newly manicured toes!
It's kind of odd that it would be me who fell given I'm normally the most stable on my feet...Mum and Gill are both prone to falling head over tit! Still I'm always happy to play to the crowd and raise a smile!
There was also plenty of eating to be done...another great thing to do in the States and always a pleasure and never a chore! Almost every restaurant has an "all you can eat" buffet for silly money and we took good advantage! We decided one night to go a bit posher and headed to a local Italian place for dinner. Better Half and I decided we'd pick up the tab for this one and I expected it to be a bit more than our usual fill your wellies bills were. Even so I knew it would be a damn sight cheaper than we'd pay back home. We each had 2 courses and drinks...I was getting tucked into the cocktail list... and the bill came to a ridiculously low £57!! Talk about fucking rip off Britain! I've paid more for Himself and I to eat out for two!
All in all we had a great time and all too soon it was time to come home again. I never look forward to flying much. I'm not a big fan of being so high in the air in a big metal contraption which weighs so much but apart from that fact my body ain't keen on the whole thing either and due to my metabolism being fucked I tend to swell like a beach ball. However it wasn't too bad as the doc had given me some new drugs to try out. Mum decided to upgrade her seat on the return home to first class. There were four seats left so she took all four of them. It was helpful as she got extra baggage allowance and kindly agreed to check in all my luggage along with her one case...which was just as well as all of mine were overweight by shitloads! One guy was charged £230 in excess baggage and he had less weight than I did...but hey shoes can be heavy!
First class obviously had it's advantages and me and mine stayed in cattle class while Sis, Kids and Mum did the posh thing. It was all leather seats, free booze, nice meals etc. Our 2 kids swapped with Sis's 2 for a while and 5 year old promptly fell asleep in the posh seats with his in flight eye mask on! Mum was kind enough to bring me through a Pot Noodle which was yet another perk of being in the posh seats! However it's not all glamour up the front! Mum was pleased to hear that those in first class get their baggage off first. She hates having to wait at bagage reclaim. When we finally got off at Glasgow, tired and cold, we waited for bloody ages on the bags coming through. A trickle began and Mum was amazed to see all my Sis' bags appear first...the ones I had checked in through cattle class! After the intial trickle of bags there was nothing for nearly 25 minutes! Sis had gone as she had all her bags but there were loads of us left waiting. Being Scots we were starting to get a bit vocal at the length of the wait and there were more than a few shouts of "This is fucking ridiculous" and "what the fuck is going on?" from round the hall! Eventually the bags began to appear again and the hall emptied. Except us. I had all my bags but Mum's never appeared! To say she was going fucking mad is an understatement. One loudly made complaint later to the servisair staff and we were on our way...minus Mum's case which they said they'd look for!
I'm pleased to say it turned up a day later intact. Turns out it had been in Belfast! Mum has come down of the walls now!
And so another holiday comes to a close....only 8 weeks till my next one!
Jenny xx
Beware Of Toasters...
You've gotta love my Nephew. He comes away with some crackers. While we were on holiday in Benidorm last October my Wee Sis asked him to pass her handbag. "Why do you call it a hambag if you don't carry ham in it?" He innocently asked. After my Sis stopped laughing she explained to him it was a handbag not a hambag to which he replied "Well that's better cause that makes more sense".
Florida threw up another insight into the bizarre world of Dean. We had been to Universal Studios which has a ride/simulator called "Twister". We didn't go in as we've done it before. Later my Nephew says to my Sis "Eh Toasters can be dangerous Mum". My Sis wonders what the hell he's talking about but agrees that yes Toasters can be dangerous. "It's good we didn't go on that ride Mum" Dean says "Because of the winds and rain". My Sis has realised what he's talking about now and says to him "It wasn't called Toaster it was called Twister". "Yeah that's what I meant Mum, It's about winds and stuff" replies Dean. "It is" says my Sis "It's about a tornado". "Cool" says Dean "They're dangerous too, they shoot them out of submarines".
Wee Sis was laughing too much to begin a new conversation about torpedos.
Florida threw up another insight into the bizarre world of Dean. We had been to Universal Studios which has a ride/simulator called "Twister". We didn't go in as we've done it before. Later my Nephew says to my Sis "Eh Toasters can be dangerous Mum". My Sis wonders what the hell he's talking about but agrees that yes Toasters can be dangerous. "It's good we didn't go on that ride Mum" Dean says "Because of the winds and rain". My Sis has realised what he's talking about now and says to him "It wasn't called Toaster it was called Twister". "Yeah that's what I meant Mum, It's about winds and stuff" replies Dean. "It is" says my Sis "It's about a tornado". "Cool" says Dean "They're dangerous too, they shoot them out of submarines".
Wee Sis was laughing too much to begin a new conversation about torpedos.
Bless...He's only 7! One thing though...don't ever ask him about Egyptians you'll be there all day. He did it as a school project. He may not know his handbags from hambags or his twisters and toasters from his tornados and torpedos but there's nothing he can't tell you about Egyptians!
Jenny xx
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Hi Honey I'm Home...
But I'm not stopping to chat! I literally got in the door about 10 minutes ago. I feel dirty and tired and so I'm off for a shower and to bed for a few hours kip so I can awaken later feeling a bit more human.
Later.
Jenny xx
Later.
Jenny xx
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Right Then I'll Be Off...
We're all set and ready to go. This is a first for me because I'm not leaving for the airport until 3am tomorrow. Normally I'd have left the packing until today and would still be throwing things in the cases as Better Half was putting them in the car!
I've got 2 things left to do before I am officially finished. The first is simple...the dog needs to be dropped at the kennels. The second is a bit more like a military operation...packing the kids rucksacks for the flight. Experience has taught me well on this though. I am well rehersed in the "9 hours on a plane + 4 hyper kids excited at going to Florida = Chaos" thing. So at this moment in time I have Gameboys, Ipods, Portable Dvd's and Nintendo Ds's attached to chargers all round the house. Next on the agenda is to pack the various games and dvd's that they will want to take with them for their gadgets. This is where my diplomacy skills come into play as 5 year old seems to think he can take his entire dvd collection and every game he owns!
So I will go now and get the last of my jobs done before I head to the sun.
Be good while I'm gone and I expect to read all about what you've all been up to when I get back!
Jenny xx
I've got 2 things left to do before I am officially finished. The first is simple...the dog needs to be dropped at the kennels. The second is a bit more like a military operation...packing the kids rucksacks for the flight. Experience has taught me well on this though. I am well rehersed in the "9 hours on a plane + 4 hyper kids excited at going to Florida = Chaos" thing. So at this moment in time I have Gameboys, Ipods, Portable Dvd's and Nintendo Ds's attached to chargers all round the house. Next on the agenda is to pack the various games and dvd's that they will want to take with them for their gadgets. This is where my diplomacy skills come into play as 5 year old seems to think he can take his entire dvd collection and every game he owns!
So I will go now and get the last of my jobs done before I head to the sun.
Be good while I'm gone and I expect to read all about what you've all been up to when I get back!
Jenny xx
Sunday, April 09, 2006
My Funny Old Dad...
I wrote a post on here a few days back about how it was one year since I'd started this thing. I mentioned the things that had happened in my year. There have been a few comments on this post and remarkably they've all been linked to the comment I made about my Dad which read...
"I have gotten through another 365 days without my lovely Daddy and I am no longer angry with him"
I've got to admit that it both amazes and humbles me that people commented on this line. The reason for that is because you think that when you lose a loved one and the time begins to pass that they are forgotten to everyone else but you. It is truly lovely to hear that others still think of him with kind thoughts nearly 2 years later.
It's strange but true that even though time has moved us all on there is not a day that passes when I don't think about Dad at some point. This will be even more significant in the next fortnight as we all head to Florida a place Dad loved and the last place he ever went on holiday to. It will be the first time Mum and Wee Sis have been back since we all went with Dad 8 weeks before he died. I headed back there last summer and instantly was reminded of Dad but rather than feel sad I felt happy remembering all the things we'd done there together. I hope Mum and Wee Sis feel the same when they get there. I know they are both a bit worried about going back.
All his grandkids associate Florida with Grandad and I'm sure his name will be mentioned by them a fair bit in the next few weeks. It is remarkable that even though my baby was only 3 when my Dad died and some of his memories of Dad are fading he can still recall word for word things Dad said on a certain ride in Florida or silly things he did with him.
Gone but not forgotten right enough.
Jenny xx
"I have gotten through another 365 days without my lovely Daddy and I am no longer angry with him"
I've got to admit that it both amazes and humbles me that people commented on this line. The reason for that is because you think that when you lose a loved one and the time begins to pass that they are forgotten to everyone else but you. It is truly lovely to hear that others still think of him with kind thoughts nearly 2 years later.
It's strange but true that even though time has moved us all on there is not a day that passes when I don't think about Dad at some point. This will be even more significant in the next fortnight as we all head to Florida a place Dad loved and the last place he ever went on holiday to. It will be the first time Mum and Wee Sis have been back since we all went with Dad 8 weeks before he died. I headed back there last summer and instantly was reminded of Dad but rather than feel sad I felt happy remembering all the things we'd done there together. I hope Mum and Wee Sis feel the same when they get there. I know they are both a bit worried about going back.
All his grandkids associate Florida with Grandad and I'm sure his name will be mentioned by them a fair bit in the next few weeks. It is remarkable that even though my baby was only 3 when my Dad died and some of his memories of Dad are fading he can still recall word for word things Dad said on a certain ride in Florida or silly things he did with him.
Gone but not forgotten right enough.
Jenny xx
Friday, April 07, 2006
Spreading The Love...
I woke up on Monday with a killer sore throat. Now before you go thinking I brought it on myself with all the singing and shouting I did on Sunday as my beloved Jam Tarts beat the Hobo's, I didn't. According to my Doc I have Bronchiolitis or however you spell it. Just another fancy name for a chest infection. This is my second in less than 5 weeks and I've spent the most part of this week feeling bloody lousy with the same old ladies cough as before and the necessary runny nose. The Doc prescribed some antibiotics and sent me on my way.
They seem to be doing the trick as my chest feels a bit less tight today (not that my chest is any way loose I might add!) and my nose is now blocked rather than runny!
Looks like with the help of my little friend Mr Amoxicillyn I will be fit and well before my holibobs on Wednesday. Pity the same can't be said for my Mum, Better Half and Wee Sis...they all appear to have come down with a bug in the last 24 hours. Mum is losing her voice, Wee Sis feels like she's dying and Better Half has serious Man flu (if he has man flu does that mean I have bird flu??). Anyway apparently I am to blame for the fact that they are all feeling shitty.
I have been spreading my germs around according to my Mum. Can I help it if I was brought up to share??
I hope they all feel better in time for Florida. If they don't I've got the kids and my niece and nephew to keep me company and get into mischief with...much more fun than being with grown ups anyway!
Jenny xx
They seem to be doing the trick as my chest feels a bit less tight today (not that my chest is any way loose I might add!) and my nose is now blocked rather than runny!
Looks like with the help of my little friend Mr Amoxicillyn I will be fit and well before my holibobs on Wednesday. Pity the same can't be said for my Mum, Better Half and Wee Sis...they all appear to have come down with a bug in the last 24 hours. Mum is losing her voice, Wee Sis feels like she's dying and Better Half has serious Man flu (if he has man flu does that mean I have bird flu??). Anyway apparently I am to blame for the fact that they are all feeling shitty.
I have been spreading my germs around according to my Mum. Can I help it if I was brought up to share??
I hope they all feel better in time for Florida. If they don't I've got the kids and my niece and nephew to keep me company and get into mischief with...much more fun than being with grown ups anyway!
Jenny xx
Who Cares...
Today as I sit here the rain is lashing against the patio doors, the wind is blowing and the sky is grey. It is 41 degrees and it feels like it is 31 degrees apparently.
Who cares though because in Florida it is currently 89 degrees and feels like it's 89 degrees. It is sunny with a few clouds and the humidity is sitting at a manageable 37%.
And in less then 5 days I will be there to enjoy it!
Jenny xx
Who cares though because in Florida it is currently 89 degrees and feels like it's 89 degrees. It is sunny with a few clouds and the humidity is sitting at a manageable 37%.
And in less then 5 days I will be there to enjoy it!
Jenny xx
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Hibbee's, Hibbee's Where's Your Fans?...
You can't see it clearly (blogger won't let me make it any bigger!) but the scoreboard in the top left reads -
7 mins
Hibs 0
Hearts 0
Hibee's Hibee's Where's Your Fans...What a fucking piss poor support for a club that size!
Jenny xx
Happiness Is Being Jambo....
I really should have been on here yesterday writing this but I was still way too hyper and way too tired all at the same time to sit here and do this. Hearts 4 - Hobos 0. Fan-bloody-tastic!
I've been wondering what the hell to write...how do you put such a great day into words? Why should I even try! I'll leave it to those who write for a living. Here's a few quotes from Mondays press in Scotland...
"As the first half began the gaps in the East Stand didn't fill up and the Hearts fans sang "You couldnae sell aw yer tickets!" to a very quiet Hibs support"
"The horseshoe of Jambo's meanwhile, had been shoulder to shoulder from 11.30am with barely a spare seat in sight"
"They rocked the place...over 20,000 sang "oh the hibees are gay-ay" over the guitar riff from the White Stripes Seven Nation Army as it blasted through the PA system. There's just no comeback from that!"
"The opener, the essence of Hearts in one murderous break"
"A maroon tide was sweeping forward"
"The second was magnificent, the Hibs keeper thought he could out think Hartley. What a stupid assumption to make"
"And in only 58 minutes and at 2-0 down the Hibees headed for the exits in droves"
"The third goal proved that Hibs need to be looking for a keeper in the close season"
"Jankauskas was left with nothing to do but slot the ball into the empty net as the Hibs keeper looked on"
"The gaping holes in the Hibs end grew and grew as they streamed from the ground"
"Ivan Sproule was sent packing. Mikolinus was too good for him and he hit out in a fit of childish petulance"
"Hartley never stopped, he was magnificent"
"Hibs lost the plot and so did Gary Smith, the Ref had no choice but to show him the red card and point to the spot"
"Down to 10 men, down to 9, down to handful of masochists suffering in silence"
"Hartley was on for a hat-trick, the first of his career and no one in the maroon end had any doubt he'd get it"
"Hartley slotted home the icy cool penalty...and the scoreboard showed 4-0"
"Scotland's own Zico humbled his old club Hibs with a treble to treasure"
"Hartley wrote his name all over the biggest ever Edinburgh derby. He covered himself in glory, Hibs covered themselves in shame"
"Hibs were a shambles, all over the place"
"Tony Mowbrays men were...massively outnumbered, massively outgunned"
"Hibs looked emptier than their end of Hampden"
"For 90 minutes and more the Hearts fans danced and sang, the response from the Hibs end was pitiful"
"And so went the final whistle to end the misery of these Hibs players and more so the few hundred fans who stayed to the end"
"Hearts boss Valdas Ivanauskas rates Hartley's destruction of Hibs as one of the best solo displays he's seen in football"
"What a numbing, horrible, crushing day to be part of the green half of Edinburgh"
"What a day, What a season to be a jambo"
Enough said really.
Ticket to the match - £25
Cost of travel - £17.50
Refreshments - £5.00
Beating the Hibee's 4-0 in the semi - Priceless!
Jenny xx
I've been wondering what the hell to write...how do you put such a great day into words? Why should I even try! I'll leave it to those who write for a living. Here's a few quotes from Mondays press in Scotland...
"As the first half began the gaps in the East Stand didn't fill up and the Hearts fans sang "You couldnae sell aw yer tickets!" to a very quiet Hibs support"
"The horseshoe of Jambo's meanwhile, had been shoulder to shoulder from 11.30am with barely a spare seat in sight"
"They rocked the place...over 20,000 sang "oh the hibees are gay-ay" over the guitar riff from the White Stripes Seven Nation Army as it blasted through the PA system. There's just no comeback from that!"
"The opener, the essence of Hearts in one murderous break"
"A maroon tide was sweeping forward"
"The second was magnificent, the Hibs keeper thought he could out think Hartley. What a stupid assumption to make"
"And in only 58 minutes and at 2-0 down the Hibees headed for the exits in droves"
"The third goal proved that Hibs need to be looking for a keeper in the close season"
"Jankauskas was left with nothing to do but slot the ball into the empty net as the Hibs keeper looked on"
"The gaping holes in the Hibs end grew and grew as they streamed from the ground"
"Ivan Sproule was sent packing. Mikolinus was too good for him and he hit out in a fit of childish petulance"
"Hartley never stopped, he was magnificent"
"Hibs lost the plot and so did Gary Smith, the Ref had no choice but to show him the red card and point to the spot"
"Down to 10 men, down to 9, down to handful of masochists suffering in silence"
"Hartley was on for a hat-trick, the first of his career and no one in the maroon end had any doubt he'd get it"
"Hartley slotted home the icy cool penalty...and the scoreboard showed 4-0"
"Scotland's own Zico humbled his old club Hibs with a treble to treasure"
"Hartley wrote his name all over the biggest ever Edinburgh derby. He covered himself in glory, Hibs covered themselves in shame"
"Hibs were a shambles, all over the place"
"Tony Mowbrays men were...massively outnumbered, massively outgunned"
"Hibs looked emptier than their end of Hampden"
"For 90 minutes and more the Hearts fans danced and sang, the response from the Hibs end was pitiful"
"And so went the final whistle to end the misery of these Hibs players and more so the few hundred fans who stayed to the end"
"Hearts boss Valdas Ivanauskas rates Hartley's destruction of Hibs as one of the best solo displays he's seen in football"
"What a numbing, horrible, crushing day to be part of the green half of Edinburgh"
"What a day, What a season to be a jambo"
Enough said really.
Ticket to the match - £25
Cost of travel - £17.50
Refreshments - £5.00
Beating the Hibee's 4-0 in the semi - Priceless!
Jenny xx
What A Bloody Birthday...
As I may have mentioned Sunday past was my birthday. It was the best birthday in my (short) history of birthdays.
2nd of April 2006 is a day that will live long in the memory. I had the biggest and best birthday party. There were 40,000 thousand people at it. There was singing. There was dancing. There was loads of hangovers on the Monday morning.
Jenny xx
2nd of April 2006 is a day that will live long in the memory. I had the biggest and best birthday party. There were 40,000 thousand people at it. There was singing. There was dancing. There was loads of hangovers on the Monday morning.
Jenny xx
Friday, March 31, 2006
Happy Blog Birthday To Me...
Doesn't time fly? It's one year ago today since I started this blog.
In that year...
I have become older, gained a few pounds and been brunette, red headed and blonde. I have been on 12 aeroplane's, been in accident & emergency on 3 occasions, owned 5 different cars, visted Iceland on 4 occasions, been in a helicopter and had 6 holidays.
I've been happy, hysterical, angry, sad, emotional and a little strange.
I've argued with people, laughed with people, cried with people, shouted at people and been in love with people.
I've made new friends and found old one's I'd lost touch with and better still I haven't lost any I did have...always a bonus!
I've been drunk more than a few times, I've been sick, I've seen the room spin but I haven't had a hangover.
I've bought more clothes than I've thrown out and I have less shoes than I had this time last year but I own more handbags and watches!
I've watched my Sis become single again and my Mum become part of a couple again. I've seen my baby start school and heard my daughter ask for her first bra (not bloody likely at 9!).
There have been no new births in my family and (sigh of relief) there has been no deaths either.
I've lost a wisdom tooth, 9 year old's lost a big tooth and 5 year old thinks he's found his first wobbly tooth.
I've been able to sit in a pub and smoke and now I've been made to stand outside a pub to smoke. I've taken drugs...but only on prescription. I've swapped Lemonade for Ginger Ale in my Vodka and I've realised that my Better Half snores like a pig.
I have been living with someone else's husband for longer than I lived with my own! Bizarrely though I am still a wife and have been married to my Husband for another year and will soon be "celebrating" my 10th wedding anniversary...you work it out!
I have gotten through another 365 days without my lovely Daddy and I am no longer angry with him.
I have toyed with idea of having another baby on at least 6 occasions but have still not thought of one good reason to go through it all again..I have managed to think of at least 5 why I shouldn't hence the reason I have not gotten pregnant in this last year.
All in all it's been a good 365 days.
Jenny xx
In that year...
I have become older, gained a few pounds and been brunette, red headed and blonde. I have been on 12 aeroplane's, been in accident & emergency on 3 occasions, owned 5 different cars, visted Iceland on 4 occasions, been in a helicopter and had 6 holidays.
I've been happy, hysterical, angry, sad, emotional and a little strange.
I've argued with people, laughed with people, cried with people, shouted at people and been in love with people.
I've made new friends and found old one's I'd lost touch with and better still I haven't lost any I did have...always a bonus!
I've been drunk more than a few times, I've been sick, I've seen the room spin but I haven't had a hangover.
I've bought more clothes than I've thrown out and I have less shoes than I had this time last year but I own more handbags and watches!
I've watched my Sis become single again and my Mum become part of a couple again. I've seen my baby start school and heard my daughter ask for her first bra (not bloody likely at 9!).
There have been no new births in my family and (sigh of relief) there has been no deaths either.
I've lost a wisdom tooth, 9 year old's lost a big tooth and 5 year old thinks he's found his first wobbly tooth.
I've been able to sit in a pub and smoke and now I've been made to stand outside a pub to smoke. I've taken drugs...but only on prescription. I've swapped Lemonade for Ginger Ale in my Vodka and I've realised that my Better Half snores like a pig.
I have been living with someone else's husband for longer than I lived with my own! Bizarrely though I am still a wife and have been married to my Husband for another year and will soon be "celebrating" my 10th wedding anniversary...you work it out!
I have gotten through another 365 days without my lovely Daddy and I am no longer angry with him.
I have toyed with idea of having another baby on at least 6 occasions but have still not thought of one good reason to go through it all again..I have managed to think of at least 5 why I shouldn't hence the reason I have not gotten pregnant in this last year.
All in all it's been a good 365 days.
Jenny xx
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Semi Final Jitters...
It's now only 2 days until Hearts take on Hibs in the cup semi at Hampden and I'm getting a wee bit anxious over it all.
I can only assume it's because we're playing Hibs and as they are our biggest rivals the thought of defeat to them is just making me feel uneasy. It may also be because whoever wins this tie should by rights go on to win the cup and the fact that it might be them is just...well it's just...not acceptable! We may well have given them their biggest chance of winning in over a century anyway given we are currently managerless and under the spell of Vlad the Impaler who seems hell bent on making us sweat with his timing for sacking managers!
Still we have history on our side. It's over 103 years since Hibs last won the cup...1902 to be precise and they've only ever done so twice in their history.
We have a slightly better record having won it 6 times. Which is highly significant in number terms as it goes. Why is the number 6 so significant? Well we've won it 6 times including 1895/96, 1905/06, 1955/56 and we've been defeated finalists 6 times including 1975/76, 1985/86 & 1995/96. We've had 6 managers since we last won it (ok so I'm counting the current caretaker manager but so what??) and there were 6000 tickets available for public sale for the match and... I'm clutching at straws now!! I am though taking this as a good omen!
So for the first time in my life I am not confident about us humping the green scum. There will be no great predictions from me about how we are going to breeze past them and run away with the cup. I am mentally preparing myself for a nerve wracking 90 minutes in Glasgow on Sunday whihc will only be eased if we are 3 up at half time or with minutes to go until the whistle. I am not gloating pending victory my Hibee friends or relations (yes I do have some!) and have remained unusually quiet.
Cup fever is beginning to grip Edinburgh though as over 57000 of us in either Green or Maroon prepare to head west this weekend. Come 2pm on Sunday one lot of us will be gutted on the road home and one lot will be singing all the way home (unless of course the result is a draw which will just make me want to puke!).
Let me assure you now that if I am in the lot which are gutted I will be instantly supporting whichever team is left to face Hibs in the final, so I will be either a Gretna or Dundee supporter come cup final day...and before you think I'm being petty...I always support the underdog which would be Gretna if they make it and I was born in Dundee so technically I can support them as my home team if I like! If of course I am among the lot which are singing heading home then you can expect me to be on here on Monday morning full of the joys of spring just don't expect to hear me say I knew we could do it!
Oh but did I mention there are also 6 letters in the word Hearts? Oh shit I've just realised that the last 3 times we've been defeated have all ended in a 6...no cancel that because that meant we got to the final and this is just a semi so it must be a good omen...and we won it 100 years ago so surely that's a good sign...
( Note to self - Fucking hell it's only a game! Deep breaths Jenny! )
Jenny xx
I can only assume it's because we're playing Hibs and as they are our biggest rivals the thought of defeat to them is just making me feel uneasy. It may also be because whoever wins this tie should by rights go on to win the cup and the fact that it might be them is just...well it's just...not acceptable! We may well have given them their biggest chance of winning in over a century anyway given we are currently managerless and under the spell of Vlad the Impaler who seems hell bent on making us sweat with his timing for sacking managers!
Still we have history on our side. It's over 103 years since Hibs last won the cup...1902 to be precise and they've only ever done so twice in their history.
We have a slightly better record having won it 6 times. Which is highly significant in number terms as it goes. Why is the number 6 so significant? Well we've won it 6 times including 1895/96, 1905/06, 1955/56 and we've been defeated finalists 6 times including 1975/76, 1985/86 & 1995/96. We've had 6 managers since we last won it (ok so I'm counting the current caretaker manager but so what??) and there were 6000 tickets available for public sale for the match and... I'm clutching at straws now!! I am though taking this as a good omen!
So for the first time in my life I am not confident about us humping the green scum. There will be no great predictions from me about how we are going to breeze past them and run away with the cup. I am mentally preparing myself for a nerve wracking 90 minutes in Glasgow on Sunday whihc will only be eased if we are 3 up at half time or with minutes to go until the whistle. I am not gloating pending victory my Hibee friends or relations (yes I do have some!) and have remained unusually quiet.
Cup fever is beginning to grip Edinburgh though as over 57000 of us in either Green or Maroon prepare to head west this weekend. Come 2pm on Sunday one lot of us will be gutted on the road home and one lot will be singing all the way home (unless of course the result is a draw which will just make me want to puke!).
Let me assure you now that if I am in the lot which are gutted I will be instantly supporting whichever team is left to face Hibs in the final, so I will be either a Gretna or Dundee supporter come cup final day...and before you think I'm being petty...I always support the underdog which would be Gretna if they make it and I was born in Dundee so technically I can support them as my home team if I like! If of course I am among the lot which are singing heading home then you can expect me to be on here on Monday morning full of the joys of spring just don't expect to hear me say I knew we could do it!
Oh but did I mention there are also 6 letters in the word Hearts? Oh shit I've just realised that the last 3 times we've been defeated have all ended in a 6...no cancel that because that meant we got to the final and this is just a semi so it must be a good omen...and we won it 100 years ago so surely that's a good sign...
( Note to self - Fucking hell it's only a game! Deep breaths Jenny! )
Jenny xx
Like Mother, Like Son...
Tonight was Parent's Night at my kids school. The twice yearly occasion when my kids teachers get to tell me how the bairns are doing in school.
First up tonight was 5 year old's teacher. I couldn't help but notice that we were last on her list for the day...I had a feeling this might be an omen! We know from previous conversations with her that 5 year old can be a bit hyper at times and has a general likeness for singing at any given moment! Things began ok though as she informed us that he's settled into school really well and seems to really enjoy it (give him time...it'll pass!). She also seemed really pleased with his progress in reading, writing and maths which was great.
She then went on to talk a bit about his attitude and approach to school and we get the same routine about his love of singing at silly times, how he likes to talk to himself, how he can be a bit hyper now and then. About halfway through she tells us a story about 5 year old which had occured earlier in the week.
5 year old had been a bit too chatty so she decided to move him seats to settle him back down. A few minutes after the move she heard 5 year old say "I've got a pain", concerned for him she asked him if he had said he was in pain. "Yes I have a pain in my head" 5 year old replied She asks 5 year old to tell her about the pain. "I am the pain" he states "I gave myself the pain because I talked too much and got moved". The teacher is a bit puzzled but 5 year old goes on "That's how I've got a pain now because I get sick of myself. I just sicken myself sometimes cause I talk too much" as he is saying this he is shaking his head. The teacher tells us she had to walk away from him to stop herself laughing because he sounded like such an old man as he said it. Geoff is just smiling at her as she finishes her story...I on the other hand am poorless. I have gotten the giggles at the image of 5 year old being sick of himself and I can't stop. I try hard to put an end to them but they just keep going and the sight of my son's teacher staring at me in disbelief doesn't help. "He's quite a character" she says trying to keep going "he really can be quite funny at times" but I have the sort of giggles that just cannot be controlled. The only cure is to walk away...I make my apologies and leave the room leaving Geoff and Miss Teacher sitting there. I vaguely hear Geoff telling her "Now you know where he gets it from".
I stand outside the classroom trying really hard to compose myself. I have tears running down my face. After a couple of minutes I manage to control myself enough to go back in. A few minutes (and complete silence from me) later we're all done. As we leave the classroom and say goodnight I can see clearly in my son's teacher's face that she is in no doubt where he gets his silly streak from.
I still had one more meeting to go but I was fine by the time I got to see 9 year old's teacher. Luckily there was no silliness story for her. She by all accounts is a fairly model pupil, tries hard, is imaginitive, polite and popular.
I wonder where she gets that from? Must be Geoff's influence! My boy on the other hand? Well he's just like his Mother!
Jenny xx
First up tonight was 5 year old's teacher. I couldn't help but notice that we were last on her list for the day...I had a feeling this might be an omen! We know from previous conversations with her that 5 year old can be a bit hyper at times and has a general likeness for singing at any given moment! Things began ok though as she informed us that he's settled into school really well and seems to really enjoy it (give him time...it'll pass!). She also seemed really pleased with his progress in reading, writing and maths which was great.
She then went on to talk a bit about his attitude and approach to school and we get the same routine about his love of singing at silly times, how he likes to talk to himself, how he can be a bit hyper now and then. About halfway through she tells us a story about 5 year old which had occured earlier in the week.
5 year old had been a bit too chatty so she decided to move him seats to settle him back down. A few minutes after the move she heard 5 year old say "I've got a pain", concerned for him she asked him if he had said he was in pain. "Yes I have a pain in my head" 5 year old replied She asks 5 year old to tell her about the pain. "I am the pain" he states "I gave myself the pain because I talked too much and got moved". The teacher is a bit puzzled but 5 year old goes on "That's how I've got a pain now because I get sick of myself. I just sicken myself sometimes cause I talk too much" as he is saying this he is shaking his head. The teacher tells us she had to walk away from him to stop herself laughing because he sounded like such an old man as he said it. Geoff is just smiling at her as she finishes her story...I on the other hand am poorless. I have gotten the giggles at the image of 5 year old being sick of himself and I can't stop. I try hard to put an end to them but they just keep going and the sight of my son's teacher staring at me in disbelief doesn't help. "He's quite a character" she says trying to keep going "he really can be quite funny at times" but I have the sort of giggles that just cannot be controlled. The only cure is to walk away...I make my apologies and leave the room leaving Geoff and Miss Teacher sitting there. I vaguely hear Geoff telling her "Now you know where he gets it from".
I stand outside the classroom trying really hard to compose myself. I have tears running down my face. After a couple of minutes I manage to control myself enough to go back in. A few minutes (and complete silence from me) later we're all done. As we leave the classroom and say goodnight I can see clearly in my son's teacher's face that she is in no doubt where he gets his silly streak from.
I still had one more meeting to go but I was fine by the time I got to see 9 year old's teacher. Luckily there was no silliness story for her. She by all accounts is a fairly model pupil, tries hard, is imaginitive, polite and popular.
I wonder where she gets that from? Must be Geoff's influence! My boy on the other hand? Well he's just like his Mother!
Jenny xx
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
She's Alive...
I can stop worrying now...turns out Lena's not vanished of the face of the earth after all.
Jenny x
Jenny x
Monday, March 27, 2006
Happy Mother's Day...
Yesterday was Mother's Day and being the good girl I am I was at my Mum's in the morning carrying the necessary flowers, card and present.
Later on all of us (My and my lot and Wee Sis and her lot) went out with Mum for lunch, had a few drinks and headed back to Mum's where we ended up singing to all manner of things on the stereo!
Earlier in the day I had gotten my own Mother's Day pressies...a book, new pj's I'd been after and chocs but best of all was a small box with a tag on which my son had made at school for me. The tag on the tiny box read...
This is a very special gift that you can never see
The reason it's so special is it's just for you from me
Whenever you are lonely or ever feeling blue
You only have to hold this gift and know I think of you
You never can unwrap it please leave the ribbon tied
Just hold the box close to your heart
It's filled with my love inside
It was a stuggle to keep the tears in as my 5 year old advised me "Mum I made you a box of love at school". These are the sort of gifts I love! 5 year old's box of love is now in my handbag ready to go wherever I do! Aren't kids cute??
Happy Mother's Day to all the Mum's.
Jenny xx
Later on all of us (My and my lot and Wee Sis and her lot) went out with Mum for lunch, had a few drinks and headed back to Mum's where we ended up singing to all manner of things on the stereo!
Earlier in the day I had gotten my own Mother's Day pressies...a book, new pj's I'd been after and chocs but best of all was a small box with a tag on which my son had made at school for me. The tag on the tiny box read...
This is a very special gift that you can never see
The reason it's so special is it's just for you from me
Whenever you are lonely or ever feeling blue
You only have to hold this gift and know I think of you
You never can unwrap it please leave the ribbon tied
Just hold the box close to your heart
It's filled with my love inside
It was a stuggle to keep the tears in as my 5 year old advised me "Mum I made you a box of love at school". These are the sort of gifts I love! 5 year old's box of love is now in my handbag ready to go wherever I do! Aren't kids cute??
Happy Mother's Day to all the Mum's.
Jenny xx
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Passport Palaver...
Yesterday wee sis and I took a trip through to get 3 of our kids' passports renewed. We arrived in the morning and were told to come back at 1.30 as that was the first available slot for the day. So we then faced the prosepct of amusing ourselves in Glasgow for a good few hours before returning back there again later in the day. I should point out that to any Edinburger spending time trying to amuse yourself in Glasgow is fairly easy...just sit in the car and watch the (great unwashed) Weigies go by...hours of fun for all the family. However with shops open nearby we decided to head in their direction.
We had asked for the same day passport service at a cost of £84 each passport...daylight fucking robbery but there you go...and were assured this was fine and they'd get it sorted when we returned. After our few hours retail therapy, which invloved nothing more than the purchase of some chicken pakora, 2 mother's day cards and a cup of tea, we headed back to the Passport Office for our appointment.
We get shouted to the relevant desk and are met by a woman who must be in line for her retirement pension in the near future. She asks all the relevant questions, looks over the forms and says it all looks ok. So far, so good. However, next thing she's got hold of 5 year old's new passport photo. "Oh dear" she says in a condescending Irish/Weigie lilt. "These photos are unacceptable...do you have this wee boy with you?". Given that all decent kids of schoolage should be in school at this time I point out to her that no I don't have my son with me...a fact she could have noticed if she'd opened her eyes which for some reason she felt the need to close at the end of every sentence. "Is there a problem with the photo?" I ask her.
It seems there is indeed a problem with his photo. She goes on to explain to me in her annoying lilt and with her severely slow blinking eyes that my son's face is very pale against the white background and not only that but you can't see his features. Can't see his features? I look again at the photo as she hands it back to me...2 eyes, 2 ears, hair, a chin, a mouth, a nose, some freckles, an earring and for good measure the scratches left from the previous days battles in the playground all perfectly clear. As for him being pale...he's scottish and a red head...being pale is normal! However despite my protests she is having none of it and not only that she is having none of my Sister's kids photo's either citing the fact that her son had shadows behind his ears and you couldn't see his features clearly and her daughter's photo appears a little on the dark side. What a crock of shit! To top it all when she asks why we need them renewed and I explain that we are travelling to the US who require that all visitors have a clear 6 months remaining on their passports she turns to me, nods and says "yes you do need that for America but saying that you need 6 months clear on your passport even if you're flying to London". Em Why??? Am I being an idiot? I always thought London was part of the UK...do you need a passport to fly to another city in your own country?? Anyway how come you don't need 6 months clear when you go to Spain???
I am more than a little narked by her attitude and listen in wonder as she tells me that you shouldn't get your passport photo from a booth in supermarkets, post offices or chemists. "Where the hell else are you supposed to find one then?" I ask. Apparently you should go to a photographers to have them done as this will ensure they are of the highest standards. In any event she tells us, it is now too late in the day to get the same day service and with a slow closure of her eyes and an assurance that she's "only trying to help" she sends us away asking us to return the next day with new photos.
So a total waste of 6 hours then!
Last night was spent returning to photo booths to try and get the prized perfect photo she demanded. I got 2 more sets of 5 year old done, wee sis got 2 more sets each of her 2 and so this morning we were back on the road to Glasgow. We got seen straight away this morning and handed over the photo's. This time we got a male worker and as he studied the new pictures of 5 year old and my niece and nephew I feared the worst. He seemed to accept my new addmission alright but wasn't keen on the ones my Sis submitted. He decided to let my niece's photo pass but wasn't going to accept my nephew's. The fact he was a man though worked in our favour...they are so much easier to manipulate! A few feminine charms, lots of chatter and joking and he crumbled! 5 minutes after saying he wouldn't take my nephew's picture, the forms had all got their clearance and were filed!
£250 was parted with and wee sis and I found ourselves with 4 hours to kill before we could go back and pick the passports up.
So once more we headed for the retail venues of Glasgow. The day wasn't completely wasted as we headed to Next and discovered they were having a massive shoe sale! I bought myself a gorgeous pair of 3.5 inch bronze glittery stillettos. Which I am sitting here wearing because I love them so much! Wee sis also grabbed a bargain, she spotted a pair she liked and after being unable to decide which colour she prefered she bought them in every colour they came in!
A few more purchases later and we realised our passport adventure had cost us around £450 over the 2 days!
Thankfully our kids are all now in possession of shiny new passports. We got our mitts on them and checked them to make sure they were alright...imagine the surprise when we looked at my nephews new passport only to discover that the photo they had put on it was the same one irish/weigie/shut eye woman had categorically refused to take the day before!! Fucking typical.
Jenny xx
Jenny xx
We had asked for the same day passport service at a cost of £84 each passport...daylight fucking robbery but there you go...and were assured this was fine and they'd get it sorted when we returned. After our few hours retail therapy, which invloved nothing more than the purchase of some chicken pakora, 2 mother's day cards and a cup of tea, we headed back to the Passport Office for our appointment.
We get shouted to the relevant desk and are met by a woman who must be in line for her retirement pension in the near future. She asks all the relevant questions, looks over the forms and says it all looks ok. So far, so good. However, next thing she's got hold of 5 year old's new passport photo. "Oh dear" she says in a condescending Irish/Weigie lilt. "These photos are unacceptable...do you have this wee boy with you?". Given that all decent kids of schoolage should be in school at this time I point out to her that no I don't have my son with me...a fact she could have noticed if she'd opened her eyes which for some reason she felt the need to close at the end of every sentence. "Is there a problem with the photo?" I ask her.
It seems there is indeed a problem with his photo. She goes on to explain to me in her annoying lilt and with her severely slow blinking eyes that my son's face is very pale against the white background and not only that but you can't see his features. Can't see his features? I look again at the photo as she hands it back to me...2 eyes, 2 ears, hair, a chin, a mouth, a nose, some freckles, an earring and for good measure the scratches left from the previous days battles in the playground all perfectly clear. As for him being pale...he's scottish and a red head...being pale is normal! However despite my protests she is having none of it and not only that she is having none of my Sister's kids photo's either citing the fact that her son had shadows behind his ears and you couldn't see his features clearly and her daughter's photo appears a little on the dark side. What a crock of shit! To top it all when she asks why we need them renewed and I explain that we are travelling to the US who require that all visitors have a clear 6 months remaining on their passports she turns to me, nods and says "yes you do need that for America but saying that you need 6 months clear on your passport even if you're flying to London". Em Why??? Am I being an idiot? I always thought London was part of the UK...do you need a passport to fly to another city in your own country?? Anyway how come you don't need 6 months clear when you go to Spain???
I am more than a little narked by her attitude and listen in wonder as she tells me that you shouldn't get your passport photo from a booth in supermarkets, post offices or chemists. "Where the hell else are you supposed to find one then?" I ask. Apparently you should go to a photographers to have them done as this will ensure they are of the highest standards. In any event she tells us, it is now too late in the day to get the same day service and with a slow closure of her eyes and an assurance that she's "only trying to help" she sends us away asking us to return the next day with new photos.
So a total waste of 6 hours then!
Last night was spent returning to photo booths to try and get the prized perfect photo she demanded. I got 2 more sets of 5 year old done, wee sis got 2 more sets each of her 2 and so this morning we were back on the road to Glasgow. We got seen straight away this morning and handed over the photo's. This time we got a male worker and as he studied the new pictures of 5 year old and my niece and nephew I feared the worst. He seemed to accept my new addmission alright but wasn't keen on the ones my Sis submitted. He decided to let my niece's photo pass but wasn't going to accept my nephew's. The fact he was a man though worked in our favour...they are so much easier to manipulate! A few feminine charms, lots of chatter and joking and he crumbled! 5 minutes after saying he wouldn't take my nephew's picture, the forms had all got their clearance and were filed!
£250 was parted with and wee sis and I found ourselves with 4 hours to kill before we could go back and pick the passports up.
So once more we headed for the retail venues of Glasgow. The day wasn't completely wasted as we headed to Next and discovered they were having a massive shoe sale! I bought myself a gorgeous pair of 3.5 inch bronze glittery stillettos. Which I am sitting here wearing because I love them so much! Wee sis also grabbed a bargain, she spotted a pair she liked and after being unable to decide which colour she prefered she bought them in every colour they came in!
A few more purchases later and we realised our passport adventure had cost us around £450 over the 2 days!
Thankfully our kids are all now in possession of shiny new passports. We got our mitts on them and checked them to make sure they were alright...imagine the surprise when we looked at my nephews new passport only to discover that the photo they had put on it was the same one irish/weigie/shut eye woman had categorically refused to take the day before!! Fucking typical.
Jenny xx
Jenny xx
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
How On Earth...
Went to get 5 years old's new passport photo's yesterday. His is due to expire in August and as we're heading to the States soon he needs a clear 6 months on it which he wouldn't have. Since the UK powers that be decided a while back that all kids should have their own passports I now need to fork out another £70 for him to get a new one.
It's bloody bizarre the way the system works. The kids passports last for 5 years or until they are 16...last October 5 year old was carrying a passport with a photo of him in it at 14 months old! It could have been any child at all since he has changed a bit between 14 months and 5!! 9 year old got a new one last year which will take her till she's 14 so I then need to pay for a 5 year passport for her at £70 (although it will be higher by then no doubt) which she can only use for 2 years!
Someone I know had to get a passport for their daughter...she was 3 months old. How the hell are you supposed to get a 3 month old to sit for a passport photo? It was bad enough trying to get my wriggly 14 month son to sit still and even then he couldn't get high enough for his face to appear in the screen!
We delayed getting his photo's done for a few weeks because he had gone to bed and stuck chewing gum in his hair which then had to be cut out and had left a nice bald spot we held out until his hair had grown in again! We decided we needed to get it done yesterday so I can get through to the passport office with it and get ot done or we'll be cutting it fine...typically though 5 year old appeared home after school yesterday with a big scratch down his face and a red mark on his neck...Nice one.
Jenny xx
It's bloody bizarre the way the system works. The kids passports last for 5 years or until they are 16...last October 5 year old was carrying a passport with a photo of him in it at 14 months old! It could have been any child at all since he has changed a bit between 14 months and 5!! 9 year old got a new one last year which will take her till she's 14 so I then need to pay for a 5 year passport for her at £70 (although it will be higher by then no doubt) which she can only use for 2 years!
Someone I know had to get a passport for their daughter...she was 3 months old. How the hell are you supposed to get a 3 month old to sit for a passport photo? It was bad enough trying to get my wriggly 14 month son to sit still and even then he couldn't get high enough for his face to appear in the screen!
We delayed getting his photo's done for a few weeks because he had gone to bed and stuck chewing gum in his hair which then had to be cut out and had left a nice bald spot we held out until his hair had grown in again! We decided we needed to get it done yesterday so I can get through to the passport office with it and get ot done or we'll be cutting it fine...typically though 5 year old appeared home after school yesterday with a big scratch down his face and a red mark on his neck...Nice one.
Jenny xx
Parklife...
Why is it that nearly 5 weeks after Phil Daniels joined Eastenders I still feel the need to say things like "get some excerise" and "I sometimes feed the pigeons it gives me an enormous sense of wellbeing" every time he appears on screen?
For those of you with no idea what I'm on about...
Phil Daniels appeared in and spoke on Blur's Parklife single.
Jenny xx
For those of you with no idea what I'm on about...
Phil Daniels appeared in and spoke on Blur's Parklife single.
Jenny xx
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Previous Life...
Have you ever had that feeling where you meet someone for the first time and straight away feel really comfortable with them like you've known then forever? I have. It was like that when I first met Better Half. Within a few days of first meeting him I felt like I'd known him a lifetime. We were just comfortable with each other from day one. Maybe a bit too comfortable given 2 marriages ended up in ruins!!
A friend told me she thinks that when this happens it's because you knew each other in a previous life. Maybe she's right. Who knows? Mind you I reckon I was probably a buxom wench in a previous life, all heaving bosom, full skirts and lace up corsets, sitting in the pub with the sailors! I wonder what the hell that made Better Half if I knew him back then!
Jenny xx
A friend told me she thinks that when this happens it's because you knew each other in a previous life. Maybe she's right. Who knows? Mind you I reckon I was probably a buxom wench in a previous life, all heaving bosom, full skirts and lace up corsets, sitting in the pub with the sailors! I wonder what the hell that made Better Half if I knew him back then!
Jenny xx
Super Hero Powers...
Spiderman has the ability to climb anything. The Hulk can get all green and angry. Johnny Storm can burn everything up. The Incredibles are just incredible, a whole family filled with super hero powers! Wolverine can slice up stuff with his big long knife hands. The Fantastic Four have loads of powers.
Even a few non super hoeroes have super powers...Shrek can defeat scary dragons, The Wicked Witch of The West (my heroine) can fly on her broomstick and Mary Poppins can not only jump into chalk paintings but she can fly with an umbrella and clean a whole room with a click of her fingers now that's what I call a supernanny.
My personal favourite though is Superman. How good is he? Not only can he fly, he can also freeze things, lift really heavy stuff, take stuff away into space and is strong enough to spin the whole world round. That's well impressive. My favourite power of his though is his laser eyes.
I want a set of those. I want mine to be red lasers that instantly destroy whatever they are pointed at. How much fun would that be? Imagine just being able to look, shoot laser and destroy. People who annoy me...gone. Micra car's driving along slowly...gone. Mariah Carey and Paris Hilton...gone. Spiders of the world...gone.
I've been pointing my eyes and trying to fire lasers for many years and now and it's just not happening. I am confident one day though that red lasers will shoot out one of these days!
Before you go thinking I'm nuts. I'm not. Well not much anyway. I told Ross about my longing for laser eyes at work on Saturday and he looked at me as though I had escaped from the nearest funny farm but I know I am not alone. You might as well all admit it. You know you've all wished at one time that you had a super power!
To prove the point I have just asked Better Half (I try and shoot lasers at him a lot!) what super powers he'd have and he would like to be like Mr Freeze and be able to freeze everything. What a crap power to want but that's fine by me because my lasers would melt his ice so I win!!
Not that I'm competitive or anything!
Jenny xx
Even a few non super hoeroes have super powers...Shrek can defeat scary dragons, The Wicked Witch of The West (my heroine) can fly on her broomstick and Mary Poppins can not only jump into chalk paintings but she can fly with an umbrella and clean a whole room with a click of her fingers now that's what I call a supernanny.
My personal favourite though is Superman. How good is he? Not only can he fly, he can also freeze things, lift really heavy stuff, take stuff away into space and is strong enough to spin the whole world round. That's well impressive. My favourite power of his though is his laser eyes.
I want a set of those. I want mine to be red lasers that instantly destroy whatever they are pointed at. How much fun would that be? Imagine just being able to look, shoot laser and destroy. People who annoy me...gone. Micra car's driving along slowly...gone. Mariah Carey and Paris Hilton...gone. Spiders of the world...gone.
I've been pointing my eyes and trying to fire lasers for many years and now and it's just not happening. I am confident one day though that red lasers will shoot out one of these days!
Before you go thinking I'm nuts. I'm not. Well not much anyway. I told Ross about my longing for laser eyes at work on Saturday and he looked at me as though I had escaped from the nearest funny farm but I know I am not alone. You might as well all admit it. You know you've all wished at one time that you had a super power!
To prove the point I have just asked Better Half (I try and shoot lasers at him a lot!) what super powers he'd have and he would like to be like Mr Freeze and be able to freeze everything. What a crap power to want but that's fine by me because my lasers would melt his ice so I win!!
Not that I'm competitive or anything!
Jenny xx
Monday, March 20, 2006
Good Weekends Ahead...
The next 2 weekends are going to be fun in this house. Well at least for me anyway!
Next Sunday is Mother's Day and as I am one of the millions of Mother's in this country I can look forward to breakfast in bed and the inevitable homemade cards that the kids will do in school...I like those one the best!
The Sunday after is my favourite day of the year...2nd of April...my birthday! Yippee! I love birthdays even though my 21st is fading into the background! I'm not worried about getting older, I still feel about 21 and I am still able to get away with looking a few years younger than I am so it's all immaterial what age I will be!
Not only is Sunday 2nd April my birthday but it is the day of the Scottish Cup Semi Final between Hearts and Hibs. I will be spending part of my birthday in Hampden Park in Glasgow along with thousands of others. Obviously if Hearts win then my birthday will be the bestest day ever...but if we lose...well it may turn out a bit shitty but either way I get to drink myself into an alcohol induced coma so it's not all bad!
Jenny xx
Next Sunday is Mother's Day and as I am one of the millions of Mother's in this country I can look forward to breakfast in bed and the inevitable homemade cards that the kids will do in school...I like those one the best!
The Sunday after is my favourite day of the year...2nd of April...my birthday! Yippee! I love birthdays even though my 21st is fading into the background! I'm not worried about getting older, I still feel about 21 and I am still able to get away with looking a few years younger than I am so it's all immaterial what age I will be!
Not only is Sunday 2nd April my birthday but it is the day of the Scottish Cup Semi Final between Hearts and Hibs. I will be spending part of my birthday in Hampden Park in Glasgow along with thousands of others. Obviously if Hearts win then my birthday will be the bestest day ever...but if we lose...well it may turn out a bit shitty but either way I get to drink myself into an alcohol induced coma so it's not all bad!
Jenny xx
A Very High Opinion...
Better Half got that brown envelope through the post a few eeks ago. The one that says the name of a court on it and is very official. The one that says you pay your taxes and have registered to vote and so you have won the lucky "jury duty" lottery.
He's away to today for the first selection thingy that you need to do.
We were out for dinner last night and were heading home when 5 year old asked his Dad what he was doing the next day.
"Well tomorrow I'm going to court" said Geoff and before he got any further 9 year old piped up "Why what have you done now? whatever it was your probably guilty" before being followed by 5 year old's "Well that's it then...you're going to prison".
How nice that they have such a high opinion of their Father!!
I should point out that apart from one appearance for speeding (doing 61 in a 40 zone) Geoff has never been in court apart from Jury duty!!
Jenny xx
He's away to today for the first selection thingy that you need to do.
We were out for dinner last night and were heading home when 5 year old asked his Dad what he was doing the next day.
"Well tomorrow I'm going to court" said Geoff and before he got any further 9 year old piped up "Why what have you done now? whatever it was your probably guilty" before being followed by 5 year old's "Well that's it then...you're going to prison".
How nice that they have such a high opinion of their Father!!
I should point out that apart from one appearance for speeding (doing 61 in a 40 zone) Geoff has never been in court apart from Jury duty!!
Jenny xx
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Stamp Of Approval...
My car now has the official Ross Douglas stamp of approval.
Who says women don't know what to look for when buying a car?? We're not all looking for lights on the vanity mirror or room in the boots for shoe purchases (although both are a bonus obviously!).
There are a fair few of us girlies who are avid Top Gear watchers (not only due to Richard Hammond...although to be fair having him on there does help!) and who know our Ford Gt's from our Ferrari F430's and know that new Jaguar XK is unquestionably better than a 6 series and was designed by the same man who brought us the Aston Martin DB9.
Many women have now realised that a car can be just as much a great accessory as this season's must have Vuitton handbag...if a tad more expensive! Having a good car and a bit of knowledge about them is also a great pulling technique...not only does a nice car turn heads but being able to talk "technology" about cars is almost as impressive to a man as knowing the offside rule (I'm dead clever because I know the offside rule!).
Of course for every girl who knows a bit about cars there are still loads more who haven't a clue. They are either happy to let the men in their lives choose their cars for them or go for the smallest car they can find so they can park it easier...and don't even get me started on the women who think so little of their cars that they feel the need to cover the parcel shelf in furry animals and the steering wheel in a pink fluffy thing!
There are still too many women content in the safety zone of their Micra's and their 206's, too afraid of anything over a 1.4 engine.
I'm not one of them. There are no guarantee's in life but I can give you one for sure...you will never find me in a garage buying a Micra. Ever. If you do please take me directly to the nearest asylum because it will be obvious that I have lost my mind.
Jenny xx
Who says women don't know what to look for when buying a car?? We're not all looking for lights on the vanity mirror or room in the boots for shoe purchases (although both are a bonus obviously!).
There are a fair few of us girlies who are avid Top Gear watchers (not only due to Richard Hammond...although to be fair having him on there does help!) and who know our Ford Gt's from our Ferrari F430's and know that new Jaguar XK is unquestionably better than a 6 series and was designed by the same man who brought us the Aston Martin DB9.
Many women have now realised that a car can be just as much a great accessory as this season's must have Vuitton handbag...if a tad more expensive! Having a good car and a bit of knowledge about them is also a great pulling technique...not only does a nice car turn heads but being able to talk "technology" about cars is almost as impressive to a man as knowing the offside rule (I'm dead clever because I know the offside rule!).
Of course for every girl who knows a bit about cars there are still loads more who haven't a clue. They are either happy to let the men in their lives choose their cars for them or go for the smallest car they can find so they can park it easier...and don't even get me started on the women who think so little of their cars that they feel the need to cover the parcel shelf in furry animals and the steering wheel in a pink fluffy thing!
There are still too many women content in the safety zone of their Micra's and their 206's, too afraid of anything over a 1.4 engine.
I'm not one of them. There are no guarantee's in life but I can give you one for sure...you will never find me in a garage buying a Micra. Ever. If you do please take me directly to the nearest asylum because it will be obvious that I have lost my mind.
Jenny xx
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
They're Not Daft...
I called my bank last week to check up on a few things related to my account. I got the answers I was after and was ready to hang up wen the lady at the branch asked me when I had last had a review done on my accounts.
Well that answer was simple. Never. I could see this question was leading somewhere and it did. For the next few minutes I was hit with a serious of questions and statements from her...
Did I know that I had quite a bit of money in my various accounts?
Did I know I could be getting better intrest rates?
Why did I not have a mortgage with them?
Had I thought of investing my money?
Why did I not have a credit card with them?
Had I condsidered buying shares perhaps I'd like to buy shares in the bank?
Had I thought about having the accounts reviewed because the bank have lots of special offers for someone like me?
Someone like me? Would that be the same me that once seperated from my husband and wanted to buy his share of the house we lived in but wasn't considered good enough despite having a good job and a good income? Would that be the same me that as soon as I did seperate from my husband got her measly £100 overdraft limit removed? Would that be the same me as the one they took the cheque book from as soon as she became a single woman with a child? I assume it is the same me that got her cheque book and overdraft back as soon as she put a man's name back on her account?
I politely informed her that I was well aware of the balances in my account. That I knew I might get a better intrest rate with a different account, that I didn't have a mortgage with them because I had gone elsewhere and had since sold the house for a nice profit thank you very much, that I have little or no intention of investing my money in anything at this moment, that I had credit cards with other suppliers, that I'd be a damn sight more likely to give my money to charity than take shares in the bank and that she needn't worry too much about reviewing the accounts because I planned to spend every penny in them on shoes, cars and holidays and that if she had really looked at my accounts properly she would have seen that this course of action was already well under way.
Before any of you get any mad ideas that I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams...I'm not. Far from it. I do have a bit tucked aside but it came from 2 sources that I'd much rather have alive and well and standing beside me now if you get my meaning. The simple fact is that as soon as anyone has any credit in their accounts the bank's go wild to throw things at them...all of which are designed to make more money for the bank! Anyway I'm quite sure that the sources I got my money from would much rather see me use it to put a smile on all our faces rather than line the pockets of the bank...so I'm going to stick to the shoes, cars and holiday plan!!
Jenny xx
Well that answer was simple. Never. I could see this question was leading somewhere and it did. For the next few minutes I was hit with a serious of questions and statements from her...
Did I know that I had quite a bit of money in my various accounts?
Did I know I could be getting better intrest rates?
Why did I not have a mortgage with them?
Had I thought of investing my money?
Why did I not have a credit card with them?
Had I condsidered buying shares perhaps I'd like to buy shares in the bank?
Had I thought about having the accounts reviewed because the bank have lots of special offers for someone like me?
Someone like me? Would that be the same me that once seperated from my husband and wanted to buy his share of the house we lived in but wasn't considered good enough despite having a good job and a good income? Would that be the same me that as soon as I did seperate from my husband got her measly £100 overdraft limit removed? Would that be the same me as the one they took the cheque book from as soon as she became a single woman with a child? I assume it is the same me that got her cheque book and overdraft back as soon as she put a man's name back on her account?
I politely informed her that I was well aware of the balances in my account. That I knew I might get a better intrest rate with a different account, that I didn't have a mortgage with them because I had gone elsewhere and had since sold the house for a nice profit thank you very much, that I have little or no intention of investing my money in anything at this moment, that I had credit cards with other suppliers, that I'd be a damn sight more likely to give my money to charity than take shares in the bank and that she needn't worry too much about reviewing the accounts because I planned to spend every penny in them on shoes, cars and holidays and that if she had really looked at my accounts properly she would have seen that this course of action was already well under way.
Before any of you get any mad ideas that I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams...I'm not. Far from it. I do have a bit tucked aside but it came from 2 sources that I'd much rather have alive and well and standing beside me now if you get my meaning. The simple fact is that as soon as anyone has any credit in their accounts the bank's go wild to throw things at them...all of which are designed to make more money for the bank! Anyway I'm quite sure that the sources I got my money from would much rather see me use it to put a smile on all our faces rather than line the pockets of the bank...so I'm going to stick to the shoes, cars and holiday plan!!
Jenny xx
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
How To Make Grown Up’s Cry…
Last night there was a documentary on BBC 1 looking back at Dunblane Tragedy. It was 10 years ago to the day that Thomas Hamilton walked into Dunblane Primary school and shot randomly at a class in the school’s gym hall.
It’s strange how sometimes you can’t recall where you were last Tuesday but you can always recall where you were when you heard about something like this. How many times have you heard someone say “I can still remember where I was when Kennedy was shot?” or “I was at work when I heard Elvis had died?”. I wasn’t born when Kennedy was shot but I can recall exactly where I was when I first heard about 9/11 and I know exactly where I was when I heard that something had happened in Dunblane Primary.
I was off work that day with shocking morning sickness as I was 2 months pregnant with my daughter. I was sat in front of the tv feeling sorry for myself watching Richard & Judy when reports first came through. An hour after the first news flash (which had claimed 2 people had been shot in the school) the news came through that in fact as many as 6 children had been shot dead. That was bad enough but a few hours later it was revealed that the number was 16 and the teacher had also been killed, 12 were injured and only 1 child out of the whole class had escaped without injury. It was also confirmed that these wee one’s were Primary One’s…aged just 5.
The next few days were filled with news about the events in Dunblane and tv screens and newspapers were filled with the images of the little ones who lost their lives. I wasn’t yet a parent back then as I was awaiting my first stork visit but you didn’t have to be a parent to feel utter sadness and grief for those wee babies and their poor families.
Time passes though and the news changes and before you know it 10 years have passed. We all know the cliché that time is a great healer and it is but last night proved that while time can ease the pain it doesn’t erode it altogether. Dunblane will always be associated with the terrible events that took place there.
As I watched last night I felt unbelievable sadness again for what happened in that small town. I had tears running down my face as I watched the people who had been involved on the day recount what happened. The tears continued as I watched the parents describe the wait they had before finding out that they were one of the unlucky one’s who had lost a child. The tears stayed as I watched the parents wonder what their child would have been like now as a 15 year old. The tears kept coming as I watched the original footage of the police officer telling a packed press conference of those who had died repeating “aged 5 “ at the end of each of their names. You would have needed a heart of stone not to have at least felt a lump in your throat.
When the programme drew to end I got up and walked away to have a cigarette feeling a bit like I had lost something myself. Maybe because of my change in circumstances in the last ten years I felt the sorrow a bit more last night. I now live in a small community where everyone knows each other like Dunblane. I am now also a mother of 2 and one of my 2 just happens to be a 5 year old in Primary One with all his life ahead of him…just like those wee one’s were.
Whatever the reason I went to bed last night with a sadness about me, but not before I had looked in on my kids. 9 year old was fast asleep but 5 year old was awake…I looked at him, told him I loved him and gave him a hug all the while counting my blessings.
There was a bright spot covered in the programme last night though and that was the fact that following Dublane changes were made to our laws. The new Labour government which came to power a year or so after Dunblane immediately banned the use of handguns in the U.K following failure by the previous administration to bow to public pressure and do so. They also took action to ensure better security in our schools. Try walking into a school today off the streets…it’s not easy…and that’s how it should be.
It is just a pity that 17 innocents lost their lives before these measures were considered necessary.
Jenny xx
It’s strange how sometimes you can’t recall where you were last Tuesday but you can always recall where you were when you heard about something like this. How many times have you heard someone say “I can still remember where I was when Kennedy was shot?” or “I was at work when I heard Elvis had died?”. I wasn’t born when Kennedy was shot but I can recall exactly where I was when I first heard about 9/11 and I know exactly where I was when I heard that something had happened in Dunblane Primary.
I was off work that day with shocking morning sickness as I was 2 months pregnant with my daughter. I was sat in front of the tv feeling sorry for myself watching Richard & Judy when reports first came through. An hour after the first news flash (which had claimed 2 people had been shot in the school) the news came through that in fact as many as 6 children had been shot dead. That was bad enough but a few hours later it was revealed that the number was 16 and the teacher had also been killed, 12 were injured and only 1 child out of the whole class had escaped without injury. It was also confirmed that these wee one’s were Primary One’s…aged just 5.
The next few days were filled with news about the events in Dunblane and tv screens and newspapers were filled with the images of the little ones who lost their lives. I wasn’t yet a parent back then as I was awaiting my first stork visit but you didn’t have to be a parent to feel utter sadness and grief for those wee babies and their poor families.
Time passes though and the news changes and before you know it 10 years have passed. We all know the cliché that time is a great healer and it is but last night proved that while time can ease the pain it doesn’t erode it altogether. Dunblane will always be associated with the terrible events that took place there.
As I watched last night I felt unbelievable sadness again for what happened in that small town. I had tears running down my face as I watched the people who had been involved on the day recount what happened. The tears continued as I watched the parents describe the wait they had before finding out that they were one of the unlucky one’s who had lost a child. The tears stayed as I watched the parents wonder what their child would have been like now as a 15 year old. The tears kept coming as I watched the original footage of the police officer telling a packed press conference of those who had died repeating “aged 5 “ at the end of each of their names. You would have needed a heart of stone not to have at least felt a lump in your throat.
When the programme drew to end I got up and walked away to have a cigarette feeling a bit like I had lost something myself. Maybe because of my change in circumstances in the last ten years I felt the sorrow a bit more last night. I now live in a small community where everyone knows each other like Dunblane. I am now also a mother of 2 and one of my 2 just happens to be a 5 year old in Primary One with all his life ahead of him…just like those wee one’s were.
Whatever the reason I went to bed last night with a sadness about me, but not before I had looked in on my kids. 9 year old was fast asleep but 5 year old was awake…I looked at him, told him I loved him and gave him a hug all the while counting my blessings.
There was a bright spot covered in the programme last night though and that was the fact that following Dublane changes were made to our laws. The new Labour government which came to power a year or so after Dunblane immediately banned the use of handguns in the U.K following failure by the previous administration to bow to public pressure and do so. They also took action to ensure better security in our schools. Try walking into a school today off the streets…it’s not easy…and that’s how it should be.
It is just a pity that 17 innocents lost their lives before these measures were considered necessary.
Jenny xx
Sunday, March 12, 2006
What A Fucking Liberty...
as the Grandma in the Catherine Tate show would say.
Today we woke up to snow. Proper, deep, drifty snow. Well proper, deep, drify snow Scottish style. Which means we've got about 5 inches on the pavements and drifts of about 5 feet in places! Still it has been enough to ground the country to a major halt...again!
Better Half had was due to get his eyes tested this morning and so we figured we'd venture out to meet the appointment assuming the main roads would be alright. We got the car to the end of the cul-de-sac and then went into wheel spin, so we decided to head out of the village by another route. We made it to the main road which connects Edinburgh and Livingston but when we got down there it was chaos, cars were stationary, lorries were stuck and other cars were wheel spinning for fun. The snow was too deep to drive on and there had been no clearing done on it so basically no-one was going anywhere. . However as luck would have it a snow plough appreared as if by magic and started clearing the road. So the cars started following in it's path...eventually we made it to Livingston and a journey which normally takes about 5 minutes had taken 40.
We negotiated the car park which was a bit dodgy and headed into the centre and to the opticians...only to find a handwritten note stuck on the window of the shop reading "Due to bad weather this store will not be opening today, as staff have been unable to make it in. sorry for any inconvenience".
Un-fucking-believable. So I whipped a pen out of my handbag and promptly wrote underneath "staff might not have made it but your bloody cutomers did!!" much to the amusement of the onlookers before heading back to the car to begin the journey home.
We got back along the main road in record time...yeah right...and turned into the road leading to the village only to find car's stuck in deep snow and a helpful driver came to tell us "the car's are aw stuck, they're just gettin' oot and leavin' them there cause ye cannae get past". Why the drivers thought it was a good idea to try and drive into 4 & 5 feet snow drifts is beyond me anyway. So we had to about turn, rejoin the main road and find another route into the village. Finally we made it back to the street and back home just as the snow started falling heavily again.
Honestly there are 3 routes into the village and whenever we get snow they never bloody clear any of them. In 2001 when we last had really deep snow we were stuck in the village for 3 days, seriously, no clear routes in or out and the whole street missed work and played on sledges instead...it was great!... but that year the snow was several feet deep on the pavements and the drifts were huge, eventually the council sent tractors and jcb's into the street to pile the snow up so we could re-join the rest of the world! Still we have one semi clear route (for now!) so we know we can get to civilisation if we need to this time...but it seems civilisation can't get to us though because the one shop in the village has had no deliveries today. One wee bit of snow and there's no bloody milk for anyone. You'd think they could afford more snowploughs with all the council tax we pay!
What a fucking liberty!
Jenny xx
p.s 9 year old is deeply concerned in case school is closed tomorrow. She is due to go on a field trip to the Scottish Parliament and is worried in case the weather means she'll miss out on getting to go. Quite frankly she should be more worried in case she does have to go and visit it...she might get hit by one of the bits if the £460 million pound building which are falling off...what a fucking waste of money that building was...imagine the number of snowploughs they could have bought for £460 million!
Today we woke up to snow. Proper, deep, drifty snow. Well proper, deep, drify snow Scottish style. Which means we've got about 5 inches on the pavements and drifts of about 5 feet in places! Still it has been enough to ground the country to a major halt...again!
Better Half had was due to get his eyes tested this morning and so we figured we'd venture out to meet the appointment assuming the main roads would be alright. We got the car to the end of the cul-de-sac and then went into wheel spin, so we decided to head out of the village by another route. We made it to the main road which connects Edinburgh and Livingston but when we got down there it was chaos, cars were stationary, lorries were stuck and other cars were wheel spinning for fun. The snow was too deep to drive on and there had been no clearing done on it so basically no-one was going anywhere. . However as luck would have it a snow plough appreared as if by magic and started clearing the road. So the cars started following in it's path...eventually we made it to Livingston and a journey which normally takes about 5 minutes had taken 40.
We negotiated the car park which was a bit dodgy and headed into the centre and to the opticians...only to find a handwritten note stuck on the window of the shop reading "Due to bad weather this store will not be opening today, as staff have been unable to make it in. sorry for any inconvenience".
Un-fucking-believable. So I whipped a pen out of my handbag and promptly wrote underneath "staff might not have made it but your bloody cutomers did!!" much to the amusement of the onlookers before heading back to the car to begin the journey home.
We got back along the main road in record time...yeah right...and turned into the road leading to the village only to find car's stuck in deep snow and a helpful driver came to tell us "the car's are aw stuck, they're just gettin' oot and leavin' them there cause ye cannae get past". Why the drivers thought it was a good idea to try and drive into 4 & 5 feet snow drifts is beyond me anyway. So we had to about turn, rejoin the main road and find another route into the village. Finally we made it back to the street and back home just as the snow started falling heavily again.
Honestly there are 3 routes into the village and whenever we get snow they never bloody clear any of them. In 2001 when we last had really deep snow we were stuck in the village for 3 days, seriously, no clear routes in or out and the whole street missed work and played on sledges instead...it was great!... but that year the snow was several feet deep on the pavements and the drifts were huge, eventually the council sent tractors and jcb's into the street to pile the snow up so we could re-join the rest of the world! Still we have one semi clear route (for now!) so we know we can get to civilisation if we need to this time...but it seems civilisation can't get to us though because the one shop in the village has had no deliveries today. One wee bit of snow and there's no bloody milk for anyone. You'd think they could afford more snowploughs with all the council tax we pay!
What a fucking liberty!
Jenny xx
p.s 9 year old is deeply concerned in case school is closed tomorrow. She is due to go on a field trip to the Scottish Parliament and is worried in case the weather means she'll miss out on getting to go. Quite frankly she should be more worried in case she does have to go and visit it...she might get hit by one of the bits if the £460 million pound building which are falling off...what a fucking waste of money that building was...imagine the number of snowploughs they could have bought for £460 million!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
What's A Girl To Do...
This was the view outside my door on Friday at Noon. The sky was leaden, the snow which we thought we were going to avoid had decided to visit after all, it was bitter outside and worst of all my shiny paintwork was covered in a blanket of white!
I've got to be honest though and say that I quite like it when we get snow. It doesn't happen as often as it used to or maybe I'm getting old and nostalgic for my childhood...kind of like the way your parents always say "when I was young the summers were always long and hot". As soon as the snow comes I am wrapping the kids up and dragging out the sledges and we're all off up the hill for a few hours of silliness. This week though with being under the weather I didn't get out with the kids. Instead I found the cold weather a bit depressing...maybe it was because I was only watching from the window...like the kid who's grounded!...or maybe it was just because I felt a bit shitty anyway...who knows?
I knew though that I had to take drastic action to make me feel better. I needed something to perk me up, something to take my mind of being ill and the cold weather. So what does a girl do in these circumstances? Well normally it would be retail therapy but I tried that on Wednesday and it did help a little but not enough...even though I bought new shoes! Maybe giving my car a good hurl would have helped but the weather put paid to that form of therapy. There was only one thing for it...
So I clicked on my mouse and booked a trip to Florida!
What better way to get over being ill and the cold weather than 2 weeks in the Florida sunshine!
So in just over 5 weeks I'm off to see Mickey Mouse...despite swearing blind I wasn't heading back over the Atlantic until December (my annual Minneapolis trip is now booked...did that on Thursday!). Instead of rolling Easter Eggs in Edinburgh I'll be rolling along on rollercoasters!
Jenny xx
My New Toy...
I picked up my new toy on Wednesday. First time I have ever had a brand new car on new registration day. I didn't get to enjoy the feeling of driving about with my sparkly new 06 plate though and having people look at me because I have a personal number plate. However the car did cause a few heads to turn as we drove it home from the garage probably because of the lovely noise the engine gives off!
Sadly due to feeling like shit for the last week I haven't felt like taking it for a decent spin yet and for the most part it's been sat outside doing nothing. I fully intend to rectify this as soon as I feel a bit better!
Sadly due to feeling like shit for the last week I haven't felt like taking it for a decent spin yet and for the most part it's been sat outside doing nothing. I fully intend to rectify this as soon as I feel a bit better!
I have though in one of the few times I been in it discovered that it will get up to 90mph in less than 8 seconds which is all good!
Jenny xx
Hurrah...
I am now ill enough to be able to cough up the phlegm which has been threatening to appear all week. Unfortunatley I'm not one of those who can cough it up and spit it out like you should to be rid of it. It just makes me gag. I am a swallower not a spitter...at least when it comes to phlegm! I am now sporting a cough that I didn't expect to have until well into my 50's when the ciggies finally make their mark on my body.
I have battled with this viral thingy for a week now and decided not to give in and stayed out of bed and on the move...I now have to admit defeat because the bug is winning the battle and instead of getting better I feel worse...so it looks like it's antibiotics and rest for a few days then!
Jenny xx
I have battled with this viral thingy for a week now and decided not to give in and stayed out of bed and on the move...I now have to admit defeat because the bug is winning the battle and instead of getting better I feel worse...so it looks like it's antibiotics and rest for a few days then!
Jenny xx
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Start Digging Out...
those Wizard Of Oz and Disney character outfits I asked you all to wear at my funeral.
I am sure my end is near.
Ok maybe I'm being slightly dramatic but right now my body feels like it's ready to give up the ghost. My head feels like it has the entire cast of starlight express rolling about in it, my nose is running like the proverbial burn...I am seriously considering stuffing tissue up each nostril to stop the downpour, my bones are aching like those of an arthritic 90 year old, my chest feels like it has an elephant on top of it and I have a pathetic tight cough which won't yet let me bring up the gunk that I know is stored around my lungs and airways and every time I cough I feel an overwhelming urge to boak and my eyes fill with water.
Wierdly though my temperature is high, my hands and feet are bloody freezing...that of course is the joy of having a thyroid that is fucked...extremities remain freezing to the point of numb even when the rest of you is sweating!
To top it all off I have not yet managed to rid myself of the sickness bug which came on a few weeks ago and I still have a case of Johnny Cash' s ring of fire...it's really not pleasant. On the plus side though everything I eat tastes like cardboard and makes a fast exit out the other side so I have lost a few pounds...it's an extreme form of dieting though.
I am heading back to bed with a book and a cup of tea and I'm not coming out of it until tomorrow morning when come rain, hail, shine or illness I will be at the garage to pick up my new car.
Jenny xx
ps...I've just re-read this before I hit publish...all I can say is thank god I'm in a relationship...if I was single I could be in trouble...I sound really attractive eh?? Och well none of us are at our best when we're ill!
I am sure my end is near.
Ok maybe I'm being slightly dramatic but right now my body feels like it's ready to give up the ghost. My head feels like it has the entire cast of starlight express rolling about in it, my nose is running like the proverbial burn...I am seriously considering stuffing tissue up each nostril to stop the downpour, my bones are aching like those of an arthritic 90 year old, my chest feels like it has an elephant on top of it and I have a pathetic tight cough which won't yet let me bring up the gunk that I know is stored around my lungs and airways and every time I cough I feel an overwhelming urge to boak and my eyes fill with water.
Wierdly though my temperature is high, my hands and feet are bloody freezing...that of course is the joy of having a thyroid that is fucked...extremities remain freezing to the point of numb even when the rest of you is sweating!
To top it all off I have not yet managed to rid myself of the sickness bug which came on a few weeks ago and I still have a case of Johnny Cash' s ring of fire...it's really not pleasant. On the plus side though everything I eat tastes like cardboard and makes a fast exit out the other side so I have lost a few pounds...it's an extreme form of dieting though.
I am heading back to bed with a book and a cup of tea and I'm not coming out of it until tomorrow morning when come rain, hail, shine or illness I will be at the garage to pick up my new car.
Jenny xx
ps...I've just re-read this before I hit publish...all I can say is thank god I'm in a relationship...if I was single I could be in trouble...I sound really attractive eh?? Och well none of us are at our best when we're ill!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Greased Lightning...
I was out at the theatre last night darlings! It always sounds a bit posh when you say that.
We went to see the stage version of Grease at the Edinburgh Playhouse. It's Mum's birthday on Saturday so it was a wee treat for her. There was just Mum, me, my Sis and our 2 daughters.
We headed into the city centre singing along to the Grease cd in the car which was the cause of much hilarity between my sister and I as we took on the parts of Danny and Sandy and sung (I use the term loosely) at the top of our voices.
After a quick stop off at a chinese all you can eat buffet type restaurant we headed over the road for the show. There's always a stall inside selling t-shirts, cd's, pens...all the usual junk and when you take a 9 year old and a 10 year old you normally never get past it without them asking for something. Last night was a bit different though...it was us older girls who made our way over to the stall. Too much money later we left to find our seats with my Sis sporting a new bright pink t-shirt emblazoned with "You're the one that I want" across her breasts and all of us sporting pink, love heart shaped, fluffy deely boppers (you know, a head band with sticking up springy things) with flashing lights including my Mum. Did we feel stupid? No, we felt well pleased especially as 7 year old girls eyed us jealously cause their Mum wouldn't buy them any! In any event given the number of "pink ladies" and "Sandra Dee's" we passed we felt and looked relatively normal!
Anyway the show itself was good, it doesn't follow the story of the film all the way through but it came to the same conclusion with Sandy flinging off her goody-goody image and becoming a sex goddess!
And so over 2 hours later we headed back out of the theatre towards the car, still wearing our springly head gear and singing and at one point dancing along the road...well at least me, mum and my sis were much to the disgust and bewilderment of our 2 young daughters! We headed home singing along to the cd again and a good night was had by all.
Oh before I go though...
special mention must go to danicng man. During the interval last night we, along with a couple of hundred others (fucking lepers that we are), had gone outside for a ciggy. My Sis turns round and glanced up Greenside Place towards St James Centre and spots a guy coming down the road towards the theatre. He is dressed in a knee length embroidered coat, white linen trousers and had shoulder length curly hair, a beard and had a set of Ipod earphones in...and he was dancing down the street...and I mean dancing. He looked like the happiest man on the planet as he danced his way down to where we were. Everyone was in fits watching him and everyone uttered the same.."god he looks happy" phrase. Suddenly he stopped and paused for a minute and then began again but doing a different dance...obviously the song had changed on his Ipod. Absolute class!
It reaffirms what I have been telling my children since birth...dancing makes you happy so do it wherever and whenever you like!
Jenny xx
We went to see the stage version of Grease at the Edinburgh Playhouse. It's Mum's birthday on Saturday so it was a wee treat for her. There was just Mum, me, my Sis and our 2 daughters.
We headed into the city centre singing along to the Grease cd in the car which was the cause of much hilarity between my sister and I as we took on the parts of Danny and Sandy and sung (I use the term loosely) at the top of our voices.
After a quick stop off at a chinese all you can eat buffet type restaurant we headed over the road for the show. There's always a stall inside selling t-shirts, cd's, pens...all the usual junk and when you take a 9 year old and a 10 year old you normally never get past it without them asking for something. Last night was a bit different though...it was us older girls who made our way over to the stall. Too much money later we left to find our seats with my Sis sporting a new bright pink t-shirt emblazoned with "You're the one that I want" across her breasts and all of us sporting pink, love heart shaped, fluffy deely boppers (you know, a head band with sticking up springy things) with flashing lights including my Mum. Did we feel stupid? No, we felt well pleased especially as 7 year old girls eyed us jealously cause their Mum wouldn't buy them any! In any event given the number of "pink ladies" and "Sandra Dee's" we passed we felt and looked relatively normal!
Anyway the show itself was good, it doesn't follow the story of the film all the way through but it came to the same conclusion with Sandy flinging off her goody-goody image and becoming a sex goddess!
And so over 2 hours later we headed back out of the theatre towards the car, still wearing our springly head gear and singing and at one point dancing along the road...well at least me, mum and my sis were much to the disgust and bewilderment of our 2 young daughters! We headed home singing along to the cd again and a good night was had by all.
Oh before I go though...
special mention must go to danicng man. During the interval last night we, along with a couple of hundred others (fucking lepers that we are), had gone outside for a ciggy. My Sis turns round and glanced up Greenside Place towards St James Centre and spots a guy coming down the road towards the theatre. He is dressed in a knee length embroidered coat, white linen trousers and had shoulder length curly hair, a beard and had a set of Ipod earphones in...and he was dancing down the street...and I mean dancing. He looked like the happiest man on the planet as he danced his way down to where we were. Everyone was in fits watching him and everyone uttered the same.."god he looks happy" phrase. Suddenly he stopped and paused for a minute and then began again but doing a different dance...obviously the song had changed on his Ipod. Absolute class!
It reaffirms what I have been telling my children since birth...dancing makes you happy so do it wherever and whenever you like!
Jenny xx
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
My Little Man...
started football training on Saturday. We enrolled him in a course at the Hearts Fc academy where he will learn the basics of the beautiful game along with a bunch of other 5 and 6 year olds.
Until now the most 5 year old has done regarding playing football is a kick about with his friends in the street. I wasn't sure he'd be that intrested as he seems to prefer his playstation 2 to anything else at the moment.
Anyway he was dying to go so off we went with him at 9am. He was all kitted up in his Scotland strip and new boots with his jaffa cakes and bottle of water (jaffa cakes being a compulsory requirement!) and he headed off to join all the other boys.
I was gob smacked as I stood watching him from the spectators area. He was listening and following instructions from the coaches - more than he ever does to me - and was getting stuck in. He scored a few times in the 5 a side practice and it was all going really well...until about 5 minutes from the end!
The coach has got them dribbling round plastic markers, they then have to shoot for goal and sprint back to their starting point. Jake's turn comes round and he dribbles the ball, lines up his shot, shoots, scores and sprints back...straight into the wall!! He was running that fast he couldn't stop in time! The coach takes a look at his head and decides to bring him up to where Dad and I are waiting for him to be on the safe side...by now he is sporting a nice big red mark on his forehead!
Still there was no real damage...his head has had worse knocks than this...and so we head off back to the car. I'm pleased to say it hasn't put him off so we'll be back next saturday all kitted up again...I think maybe though I'll pack his crash helmet in with his jaffa cakes this week as a precaution.
Jenny xx
Until now the most 5 year old has done regarding playing football is a kick about with his friends in the street. I wasn't sure he'd be that intrested as he seems to prefer his playstation 2 to anything else at the moment.
Anyway he was dying to go so off we went with him at 9am. He was all kitted up in his Scotland strip and new boots with his jaffa cakes and bottle of water (jaffa cakes being a compulsory requirement!) and he headed off to join all the other boys.
I was gob smacked as I stood watching him from the spectators area. He was listening and following instructions from the coaches - more than he ever does to me - and was getting stuck in. He scored a few times in the 5 a side practice and it was all going really well...until about 5 minutes from the end!
The coach has got them dribbling round plastic markers, they then have to shoot for goal and sprint back to their starting point. Jake's turn comes round and he dribbles the ball, lines up his shot, shoots, scores and sprints back...straight into the wall!! He was running that fast he couldn't stop in time! The coach takes a look at his head and decides to bring him up to where Dad and I are waiting for him to be on the safe side...by now he is sporting a nice big red mark on his forehead!
Still there was no real damage...his head has had worse knocks than this...and so we head off back to the car. I'm pleased to say it hasn't put him off so we'll be back next saturday all kitted up again...I think maybe though I'll pack his crash helmet in with his jaffa cakes this week as a precaution.
Jenny xx
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Reading...
I've been having a sad lack of reading material since finishing the various books Santa was kind enough to leave for me. With this in mind I grabbed a wee bundle of the shelves whilst out shopping last week.
First in the basket was Jordan's second autobiography entitled Whole new world...nice Disney song from Aladdin, bad book!
Much as I find Jordan a complete waste of a life I will confess to having a grudging admiration for her ability to make money from having no talent, her ability to raise a disabled child unaided and her ability to laugh at herself. I read her first autobiography a few years ago and it wasn't a bad read all things considered, she doesn't mince her (ghost written) words and in places it was humourous, sad, witty and shocking. However, the second book is based mainly on her relationship with Peter Andre and basically consists of nothing more than what you've read in OK magazine and graphic details of what position she has sex with Peter in and how big his Knob is...too much information!
After finishing the first book I had been left with a feeling that Jordan was, underneath the make up, quite a shrewd business woman and a damn sight more intelligent than she gets credit for...after finishing the second book I was left feeling that Jordan had allowed any sense of credibility to crumble away beneath her...she would have been as well writing 3 copies and posting them to Victoria Beckham, Dane Bowers and Dwight Yorke...it was obvious this book was simply written to show these 3 people how great her life is.
Second in the basket was a book called Behind Closed Doors by Jenny Tomlin. I am a huge fan of biographies (or auto's) and any writing based on actual events. It's the nosy bitch in me and the fact that I find people fascinating.
I picked this book up last night at around 9pm and I didn't put it down until I had finished it about 3 hours later. It is the story of the authors childhood and I use the word childhood very loosely. Childhood conveys images of carefree days, playing with your friends, getting up to mischief and having no stress and worries other than if you were wearing the right clothes! Jenny's childhood though consisted of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her father, disgusting living conditions, a poor excuse for a mother, neglect and the inability to get help from the very agencies set up to protect children like her.
In my 3 hours spent with her I went through the range of emotions...sadness, disgust, anger, sympathy...if her father was not already dead I'd have wanted to kill him myself and her worthless excuse for a mother. The book may be aimed towards the female market as it is generally women who buy books of this kind but it is a story that everyone should read and learn from. As a parent myself it makes my skin crawl that adults can treat their greatest gift with anything other than love and affection...it shouldn't do given the society we live in but it does.
After my harrowing few hours with Jenny I am in need of reading something all together different...fluffy, unbelievable and glossy and with that I will dig out one of my Jackie Collins collection and lose myself for a few hours in the fantasy world of LA...no thinking or emotion required!
Jenny xx
First in the basket was Jordan's second autobiography entitled Whole new world...nice Disney song from Aladdin, bad book!
Much as I find Jordan a complete waste of a life I will confess to having a grudging admiration for her ability to make money from having no talent, her ability to raise a disabled child unaided and her ability to laugh at herself. I read her first autobiography a few years ago and it wasn't a bad read all things considered, she doesn't mince her (ghost written) words and in places it was humourous, sad, witty and shocking. However, the second book is based mainly on her relationship with Peter Andre and basically consists of nothing more than what you've read in OK magazine and graphic details of what position she has sex with Peter in and how big his Knob is...too much information!
After finishing the first book I had been left with a feeling that Jordan was, underneath the make up, quite a shrewd business woman and a damn sight more intelligent than she gets credit for...after finishing the second book I was left feeling that Jordan had allowed any sense of credibility to crumble away beneath her...she would have been as well writing 3 copies and posting them to Victoria Beckham, Dane Bowers and Dwight Yorke...it was obvious this book was simply written to show these 3 people how great her life is.
Second in the basket was a book called Behind Closed Doors by Jenny Tomlin. I am a huge fan of biographies (or auto's) and any writing based on actual events. It's the nosy bitch in me and the fact that I find people fascinating.
I picked this book up last night at around 9pm and I didn't put it down until I had finished it about 3 hours later. It is the story of the authors childhood and I use the word childhood very loosely. Childhood conveys images of carefree days, playing with your friends, getting up to mischief and having no stress and worries other than if you were wearing the right clothes! Jenny's childhood though consisted of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her father, disgusting living conditions, a poor excuse for a mother, neglect and the inability to get help from the very agencies set up to protect children like her.
In my 3 hours spent with her I went through the range of emotions...sadness, disgust, anger, sympathy...if her father was not already dead I'd have wanted to kill him myself and her worthless excuse for a mother. The book may be aimed towards the female market as it is generally women who buy books of this kind but it is a story that everyone should read and learn from. As a parent myself it makes my skin crawl that adults can treat their greatest gift with anything other than love and affection...it shouldn't do given the society we live in but it does.
After my harrowing few hours with Jenny I am in need of reading something all together different...fluffy, unbelievable and glossy and with that I will dig out one of my Jackie Collins collection and lose myself for a few hours in the fantasy world of LA...no thinking or emotion required!
Jenny xx
Lena...
Where are you?
It's all gone too quiet.
Your blog is gathering dust!
Come back Lena...we miss you!
Jenny xx
It's all gone too quiet.
Your blog is gathering dust!
Come back Lena...we miss you!
Jenny xx
Monday, February 20, 2006
Something To Write About...
Yesterday I went to my local Ford car dealership to have a look at the new Ford Focus ST. The car is currently being advertised on tv and it caught my eye. I like cars...who'd have guessed given we're on car number 10 in 5 years...and fancied a wee look at this one.
Of course it was just a look...no intentions of doing anything else given it came with a hefty £21,000 price tag!! In any event I've only had my current car since September.
The car in question was in the showroom in all it's glory. It was the top of the range model, as it always is in these places, and it was attracting a great deal of intrest. I must admit I was smitten straight away. It seemed everyone who was having a look at it felt the same way!
You may recall me saying that I have problems with my hands which randomly pick items up which I then purchase. Luckily I am unable to lift a car and take it to a check out...unluckily I also have problems with my eyes...they want something and my brain agrees!
So within 15 minutes of looking at said car I am in discussions about what trade in I can get on my car...It's a good deal and seconds later I'm out test driving this £21k car!
When we get back I find a spot and have a look through the brochure for the car to see what you get for your £21k...
18" 5 spoke alloys
Recaro Sports seats - 10 way fully electronically adjustable
3 spoke leather steering wheel
Aluminum gear knob with red gate graphic
Aluminum sports pedal with rubber paddings
St logo sports scuffs
Ambient lcd interior spot lighting
Chrome tipped dual sports exhaust
Full leather interior with heated seats
Sony 6 disc autochanger all front loaded
Mp3 socket for the Ipod
Xenon sports head lights and low ride fog lamps
Jet black roof interior
Jet black headliner on front window
Footwell lcd lightning
Wing mirror indicators
Sports steering
ST chrome badge trim
Low sports suspension
6 speed gearbox
ESP traction control
2.5 litre, Turbo charged, Duratec 5 cylinder engine
220 BHP
300lb of torque
0-60 in 6 seconds
Then I get chatting to guy who took one for a spin yesterday...he's looking to buy one but can't find a dealer that has any left in stock so he's in Edinburgh trying to source one...he tells me that during his test drive he finds himself with a guy in a Honda Civic Type R going past him and as he does so he gives the guy that look, you know the smug my one's better than yours look. The Focus looks , externally at least, like every other Focus on the road except for the discreet ST badge on it. A typical family car. So the guy says the Honda goes past and the driver puts the foot down as if to prove his point...the guy said he put the foot down in the Focus and opens it up and leaves the Honda trailing and despite the best efforts of the Honda driver he can't catch him! They come to a roundabout further along the road and the the guy has slowed down to let the Civic catch up and he says he just caught his eye and smiled! It was then he decided he was definitely buying one...
and it was then that I thought the same!
So all going well I will be whizzing round town in my new car in about 8 days!!
So much for just having a look eh??
Jenny xx
Of course it was just a look...no intentions of doing anything else given it came with a hefty £21,000 price tag!! In any event I've only had my current car since September.
The car in question was in the showroom in all it's glory. It was the top of the range model, as it always is in these places, and it was attracting a great deal of intrest. I must admit I was smitten straight away. It seemed everyone who was having a look at it felt the same way!
You may recall me saying that I have problems with my hands which randomly pick items up which I then purchase. Luckily I am unable to lift a car and take it to a check out...unluckily I also have problems with my eyes...they want something and my brain agrees!
So within 15 minutes of looking at said car I am in discussions about what trade in I can get on my car...It's a good deal and seconds later I'm out test driving this £21k car!
When we get back I find a spot and have a look through the brochure for the car to see what you get for your £21k...
18" 5 spoke alloys
Recaro Sports seats - 10 way fully electronically adjustable
3 spoke leather steering wheel
Aluminum gear knob with red gate graphic
Aluminum sports pedal with rubber paddings
St logo sports scuffs
Ambient lcd interior spot lighting
Chrome tipped dual sports exhaust
Full leather interior with heated seats
Sony 6 disc autochanger all front loaded
Mp3 socket for the Ipod
Xenon sports head lights and low ride fog lamps
Jet black roof interior
Jet black headliner on front window
Footwell lcd lightning
Wing mirror indicators
Sports steering
ST chrome badge trim
Low sports suspension
6 speed gearbox
ESP traction control
2.5 litre, Turbo charged, Duratec 5 cylinder engine
220 BHP
300lb of torque
0-60 in 6 seconds
Then I get chatting to guy who took one for a spin yesterday...he's looking to buy one but can't find a dealer that has any left in stock so he's in Edinburgh trying to source one...he tells me that during his test drive he finds himself with a guy in a Honda Civic Type R going past him and as he does so he gives the guy that look, you know the smug my one's better than yours look. The Focus looks , externally at least, like every other Focus on the road except for the discreet ST badge on it. A typical family car. So the guy says the Honda goes past and the driver puts the foot down as if to prove his point...the guy said he put the foot down in the Focus and opens it up and leaves the Honda trailing and despite the best efforts of the Honda driver he can't catch him! They come to a roundabout further along the road and the the guy has slowed down to let the Civic catch up and he says he just caught his eye and smiled! It was then he decided he was definitely buying one...
and it was then that I thought the same!
So all going well I will be whizzing round town in my new car in about 8 days!!
So much for just having a look eh??
Jenny xx
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Blocked...
I've had a bit of a case of Blog Block for the last wee while.
I've been on here a few times with the intention of writing something but every time I open it up I can't think of a thing to write about.
I intent to rectify this today, but not right now because for the life of me I cannot think of anything more to write!
I'm off for a cup of tea and will hopefully return full of shit to share with the group!!
Jenny xx
I've been on here a few times with the intention of writing something but every time I open it up I can't think of a thing to write about.
I intent to rectify this today, but not right now because for the life of me I cannot think of anything more to write!
I'm off for a cup of tea and will hopefully return full of shit to share with the group!!
Jenny xx
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