A NEW WORLD................A NEW DAY.

MY SONG FOR 2006 DONOVAN-CATCH THE WIND
I apologise to anyone who has travelled with me in my car in the last year as they will have heard this song at least twice on the journey, thankfully I had new CDs for Christmas.
Due to the government laws on child seats in cars, Beauty now sits in the rear of the car(and no she doesn't call her seat Henry-daft suggestion by some over-paid , too much time on their hands government bod who was trying to be 'cool' by giving ways to get 11 year olds to sit on booster seats.........save us! (Pianoman was a civil servant(now retired)so he is a fount of all wisdom on the daft things civil servants can do ...........or not do!) and thankfully whilst she has control over the CD , DVD ,TV and VIDEO in the house, the music in the car is ALL MINE. However, when Beauty's sisters are in the car I am forced to eventually turn to local radio and through forced smiles I always agree that yes I do like the music(well I honestly do like some). Although Pianoman has no such restraint, we went to a restaurant and he went and complained about the afore said local radio being played and got them to turn it off! Now if it had been jazz he would have been like a PIG IN POOP and sat there all day listening without eating!
Now I do like some of the work of Jamie Cullum , James Blunt and Joss Stone which has been described as jazz but Pianoman prefers jazz to be a little bit older and more traditional, and yes I know that I have been to New Orleans and should know better but I am a product of the pop scene of the 1970's and would prefer to listen to anything from then. SORRY! (Apart from Gary Glitter of course !)
I love
PAUL SIMON
DONNY OSMOND
MEATLOAF
DAVID CASSIDY
JOHN DENVER
The list is endless and yes I freely admit that I have a sad taste in music but hey..........it makes me happy. Born too late to be a hippy and somehow missed being punk.........one of the last baby boomers born into a world that was changing so rapidly that we had to invent our own roots.
Hey compare.........George W is a baby boomer as well! Whoa stop me now.

NEW YEARS GREETINGS..................................

TO SPLOTT
Wishing you improved health and happiness and achieved goals! Be happy.With love.
TO VIENNA
As the nights get longer and the days get warmer may the working hours get shorter.
Have a fun filled year.
TO FLORIDA
Enjoy the warmth of the sun and your love for each other(and of course the pup!)
May 2007 bring you all that you wish for whether it be green or pink.
TO VICTORIA PARK
May this be a year of early nights and mornings and sketchings and paintings. May this year be a year of glorious creations.
TO THE MOOSE MANSE
A year of more work, less play! and A LEVELS. Break a leg and do brilliantly. May all your dreams come true. Remember BE THE BALL.
TO HELLO KITTY LAND
Here's to a time of learning and creating. May your artwork be ever wonderful and your creations stunning.
TO THE LAND OF AUTISM
May you seek to leave your land more often and learn to share in the joys of all those that love you. We love you baby.
TO BARRY-Dotty World
May the days be ever joyful and the night times sleepy. Have a fun year as the little bundle blossoms and becomes a bouncing Tigger.
TO UCKFIELD
Much love for a year filled with new beginnings, good health and new achievements. Wishing you and the boys a year of fun and love.
TO BARRY
Wishing you a year filled with camouflage and plenty of pink! Love and joy to you and a year spent in the joy of each other.
TO MISSOURI
Here's hoping that 2007 brings you all that you are hoping for and joy in the making of new memories.
TO GENEVA
Love and joy from our family to yours. Carry on enjoying the degree-I love Eastbourne . Enjoy the computer games-Beauty will be able to online challenge you in a few years she is so good(better than me and her Dad!).
TO BRIDLINGTON
Wishes of love and joy and rock and roll in your family, your music and church. Have a glorious year and keep smiling.
TO SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
Have a brilliant New Year. May your boys keep you entertained and your girls keep you sane and may the Marmite be ever flowing .
TO CHICAGO
May the love of God be with you and your family this coming year and wishing you fulfilment in your writing.

LIFE GOES ON

Saddam Hussein executed in Iraq
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been executed by hanging at a secure facility in northern Baghdad for crimes against humanity.

Well to tell you the truth, I'm shocked. Saddam was a bad man and was found guilty by a court of law and I accept the law but for all the suffering he caused I feel that a life sentence would have allowed him to suffer some. He would have had the opportunity to come to a realisation of his crimes had he lived(maybe). I just can't believe that this kind of legal punishment exists in the 21st century.
How can anyone do the things he did is even more beyond me.

All we can hope for is that the man who went to his Maker clutching the Koran receives the justice that is due him.

GRUMBLE CORNER
All my joints are sore and aching and I am thinking of donating them to the local rubbish dump and asking for new ones. I dream about injections directly into my joints and this from the nurse who hates having or giving injections. I really think my wheel chair needs to stop gathering dust in the hall and start being useful again. Hopefully I'll see an improvement in my joints when I am on holiday in January in a warmer climate.

WHY I ONLY DID ONE YEAR OF A COMPUTER DEGREE..........

BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE AND I NEVER CEASE TO BE IRRITATED BY THEM.

Today my new computer became corrupted, even with a firewall! In the shop the TechGuy said 'that no firewall is 100%' and I felt like saying,'well nobody told me that'. So I left the computer at the shop and was told it could be about a week before it will be fixed. So I drive home and try to get the old computer working again. Remember the purchase of the new computer in October was purely elective and so I thought the old computer would be ok to use. WHAT A PILE OF POO. I became so frustrated that I would have liked to have used the old computer as a football. I had been planning on getting a new, small computer for Beauty after Christmas to help her with school, especially reading. I was so angry with the old computer that I went out straightaway and bought a new computer. So I spent the afternoon getting the computer up and running and online, which I did only to be phoned a few minutes after completing installation by PC WORLD to be told that the computer was fixed and ready for completion. I hit my head repeatedly against the computer desk!

I have recently become friends again with my first boyfriend David thanks to MYSPACE. He is now married with two daughters and has his own recording studio.He is such a good guy and I am sorry that we have missed so many years of friendship by drifting apart. He is a kind and loving husband and father and it is a blessing to know him again.
Having one set of memories definitely gives a biased view, talking together has brought memories flooding back of when I was 18 and I was such a COW. It is a wonder that I didn't turn him completely grey with stress. My girls are angels in comparison. Don't get me wrong, I was no Hell Raiser(I WISH) but I was young and stupid and only 17 when we met and every email or conversation I have with him contains apologies. If my girls were like I had been I would slap them around the head and lock them in their rooms until they were 30! I think that I am a much nicer person now than I was at 17 but even now I definitely have room for improvement.

YES................I HAVE LEGS!

This morning I took Beauty a drink of juice in her bed. I was wearing a top that came to just over my butt AND ankle socks(still dressing you see) and Beauty was more interested in lifting my top to check out my legs and knickers than taking her drink! And the answer is ................BRIDGET JONES knickers, after years of wearing tiny bikini knickers I picked up a pack of BRIDGET JONES knickers in Walmart in New Orleans and they are pure joy. They give my figure shape and definition(probably because I have lost weight as well!) so now I have some weight on me but I look more like the big girls on the DOVE advert rather than a mother who has given birth to 7 and has a 'mother's apron'. I make no excuse for the above comments, my figure is high on my worry list so I'm allowed to talk about it occasionally.

I worry sometimes about the Tweenies, Judy is visiting a Dairy Farm and standing in the milking shed.........are they not afraid that a six foot person with green skin and purple hair isn't going to frighten the cows? I promise I am not being racist or whatever-ist about the colour of the hair and skin BUT please lets have a little bit of reality.



Today we took Beauty and the wagon to Roath Park lake and she loved the wagon ride. All the 'perfect-parents' were staring and probably thinking that Beauty was too big to be pulled around! WHATEVA!

THE DAY AFTER BOXING DAY

JUST..............it is 2:36am and I cannot sleep.
I may not be religious but I believe in evil, it is called chocolate. It is everywhere around my house waiting to tempt me and I have a whole tub in the fridge which I received as Christmas presents(plus a box of chocolates). Gaviscon is now my drink of choice(and for once I am drinking it and NOT pregnant). I am so glad that I am exercising again. AND WORST OF ALL SNOWHITE IS AWAKE GIVING ME AN EAR BASHING ON CONSPIRACY THEORIES. We have done Diana, JFK, 911 and Titanic...............save us God.
I blame me, I encouraged her to have an opinion on everything. Sorry family!
We also briefly discussed Alexander Litvinenko and the possible involvement of the Russian government. I am glad that my children are aware of what is going on in the world because when I was their age I KNEW NOTHING. I am ashamed that I knew nothing, I was so blond that I didn't even have a desire to know. I was going out with David(the clever one) in the late 70's(Winter of Discontent and all that)and I remember him being shocked at my lack of interest and knowledge in the news, sorry! I never cease to be surprised that I managed to get a degree, getting to be a qualified nurse and teacher was a bigger surprise.
However, my knowledge is still so limited. How could I have lived through the recent European Wars and really not know what happened? I blame having lots of children and the internet not being available to me. So what's my excuse now?
Now we are doing the Moon Landing................!
Go to sleep girl.
She is now in the living room taking photos of herself and watching a program about spys. And this is the 21 year old!
Any suggestions on how to make her sleep?
Yes you have guessed correctly, definitely on the spectrum.
The two with aspergers can definitely be more tiring than Beauty. Fiona thinks I am the Encyclopedia Britannica whilst SnoWhite believes I am the fount of all knowledge when it comes to politics, and Fiona just thinks that I should know everything about everything(the phrase Google It upsets her).
For all you Dr Who fans out there, in the Christmas day episode of Dr Who ,Catherine Tates's house was my house. Not my present house but the house we lived in in Birchfield Crescent. We saw it and started going.'ooh, ooh, ooh' and pointing. In the words of Muriel's Wedding,'What a coincidence'.
And the wedding was at the New House hotel where I had also worked.
Also, Catherine Tate's boyfriend in the Dr Who episode was gorgeous Nicky from 55 Degrees North and he accused Catherine Tate of being shallow and getting excited over' a new flavour in Pringles'. On BBC that was brilliant free advertising for the makers of Pringles!
There are a lot of babies in church so I am busy knitting blankets, it is the sort of knitting you don't have to think about thank goodness but they are nice to give as presents.
I am knitting on size 6 needles, never again, the next blanket will be on size 10s.I once knitted a baby blanket on size 4s and said never again, it also took so long that I have kept the blanket for one of the girls. I couldn't bear to part with that much work.

9:30am UPDATE
Beauty and I are going to have a serious falling out, she has been awake since5:30am and she is bouncing around like Tigger, hopefully she will nap today as a result of this early wake up.
She has returned to playing with the medieval archers and her wagon. And making up stories involving the soldiers,'once upon a time.............'.I love that kid!
Tonight I will try and take Beauty to the Winter Wonderland. There is a carousel, a big wheel and a helter skelter plus of course the ice skating and lots of food.

Today is so back to normal, the post returns and I receive a letter from the Liberal Democrats(they of the Cheeky Girls variety) and a letter and a DVD inviting me to the Vauxhall sale, and my car with them is not up for renewal for another 3 years...............do they not read their own records? So my boring normality continues.GOOD......we like boring and quiet. I am looking forward to cleaning and decorating my front bedroom, de-cluttering after Christmas and of course the offspring returning to school(oh happy day).

21:30 UPDATE
After a nap I felt lots better after the early morning wake-up call. I took SnoWhite back to her flat , complete with her many Christmas presents but she also needed to go to IKEA to get some shelves. we took Beauty but she fell asleep under the table in the restaurant.

BOXING DAY WISHES

It has been a nice quiet day, thank goodness. SnoWhite and Ariel went to work today though it was a slow day for IKEA. I think I must be showing my age because after weeks of shopping for Christmas the last thing I want to do is see the inside of another shop.I need bread and milk but the local garage sells that.
I had stopped exercising because I have been unwell but I started again today and it was good to get a bit of an endorphin rush. I still feel tired all the time but at least exercising should give me a bit of a psychological high. And whilst exercising I can watch Beauty on the computer, multi-tasking or what? She has been easier to get off the computer today which is a good thing, usually end of computer time results in a paddy.
We managed to open some more presents today, a wooden truck from SnoWhite, and a pink pony and a giraffe from me.BUT she has spent most of the day playing with her wagon and soldiers. I see a pattern forming!
I am not a New Years Resolution type as I seem to be making goals all the time but I have had some thoughts about resolutions this year.
I would like to read the Bible all the way through.
Start digital scrap booking.
Clean my house..............more!
Lose weight(now that's a new one...............NOT)
Teach Beauty to read.
Get the fairies to swap my children for ones that help around the house.
Move to a bigger house(I know I can't afford that one but I can always hope).
Learn to love somebody other than George Clooney
Oh well, we shall see!

The following information comes from questioning my children...............

Questions- Do I look my age?
- Do I look young for my age?
- Do I look my age but good?
- Do I look old for my age?

The consensus of opinion was that I looked young for my age. I love my girls.

They also felt that it was down to not drinking alcohol, not smoking, not wearing loads of make-up and not eating lots of meat. Not that I ever had the money for any of those things anyway.

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

I never cease to be amazed at the vagaries of a child with autism.
Beauty did not get up until 9:30am, SnoWhite, Ariel and Fiona were itching to wake her up. Finally up and dressed and wearing a Belle ball gown we managed to get Beauty to sit on the settee, half awake.
First the girls opened their stockings...........mistake number one! The child who would previously not eat chocolate spent the entire morning trying to eat the chocolate OFF the Quality Street that she found in her stocking.

Then we lost her to the computer to the Cbeebies site. After Christmas lunch I made the second mistake of the day. The first present that I gave her happened to be a bag of toy soldiers. For a family who is organic, vegetarian, eco-friendly, tree-hugging and anti-war the toy soldiers do not fit in but I shall explain. She had a pack of soldiers given to her when she was going through her Toy Story phase, the video was on night and day. Well, in Toy Story the soldiers get stood on by the mother and that it so true, in our house they are always getting stood on and broken so I thought I would get a new pack for Christmas. The first soldiers were WWII American GI's but the new bag are medieval archers.
Beauty opened the bag of soldiers and began playing with them in the seat of the truck that Pianoman gave her for Christmas, and she also strapped SnotBear that Ariel gave her for Christmas in the seat of the truck and that was it for the rest of the day. Oh and the bear that Ariel gave to Beauty is called SnotBear because the first thing that Beauty did with the bear was to use it as a tissue! I love children so much.
By this time she has spent 2 hours playing with her new soldiers, she can be heard saying, 'I'm going to tell you a story''Once upon a time there was a wicked witch'.

SnoWhite(21), Ariel(17) and Fiona(15) were like a bunch of 5 year olds.We open our presents one at a time going around the room and they actually said that they like it when the adult presents run out because they can open their presents more quickly! Nice children. My present from Pianoman was the hit of the day. My hands and elbows are not working well at the moment(arthritis) so I open the present with scissors, well when they saw what my presents was it was a case of 'ooh,ooh,ooh' and they dragged the present out of my hands and opened it for me. It was on my wish list............ a DCR-DVD 105E HANDYCAM, all I have to do now is figure out how it works!

SnoWhite had a sewing machine, a popcorn maker and a jewelry box plus loads more!


Ariel had a stepper machine, an uzi(toy I promise) and a CHUV (yes chuv)passport holder plus loads more!



For Fiona it was a Hello Kitty and Pucca 'fest'. DVDs and a bike and loads more.



For Beauty(as far as we know so far!) she has had a tea set, toy soldiers, Hello Kitty sweat shirt, Rudolph video , wagon and the pj's she is wearing in the photo from her sister Belle.


Wagon


I had crocs off Fiona, a camcorder off Pianoman, a DVD off Runningman, a David Cassidy CD off Beauty(oh yes), a cuckoo clock off Anastasia, Cinderella oven gloves and tea towel off Belle, a cake stand off SnoWhite and off Ariel some LUSH stuff




AND A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE


CHRISTMAS LUNCH



Lunch was as interesting as ever with Fiona and Ariel having chicken, Runningman had chicken , lamb and turkey, Pianoman had duck(which rhymes with yuk) whilst SnoWhite and I had the vegetarian option. Oh yes, and Beauty had fish! And lots and lots of vegetables, my favourite.......yum,yum,yum!

Food, glorious food!


Princess for the day



'I would rather be on the computer!'


'Do my ears look big in these?'

SO WHY DO I CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?
I do not believe in God BUT I want to.
I celebrate Christmas because Fiona and Ariel still go to church so I do it for them.
I celebrate Christmas because Beauty must make her own choice on religion when she is older.
I also celebrate the Winter Solstice as a re-affirmation of life.
I celebrate the winter holiday as a celebration of family.


And because of 'my lost saints' 'my childhood's faith'
For what Christmas did mean to me and I wish still did.

XLIII. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..."
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

CHRISTMAS EVE...........just a little late blogging!

Sorry I am so late. I have spent the day going to church(Yes I did, to please Pianoman), taking presents to relatives and constructing and wrapping Christmas presents. So now I am cream crackered.


Visiting my sister Meg's house in Barry


Ariel with adorable Dotty


Fiona and Tommy


Beauty's truck


The fireplace that Fiona and I made for Santa to come down.


WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND LOTS OF LOVE FOR THE NEW YEAR.

HURRAH!
I SEE NO FOG.
Let us hope that this means that the airports can get everybody to their holiays on time.
I flew back on a plane from Portugal on Christmas Eve when Beauty was six weeks old and it was an eventful experience. We were placed in seats at the front because of the baby but we were also close to the toilets! I am so grateful that I have little sense of smell, every child on the plane decided to 'lose their lunch' on seats, walls and floors in front of my seat! I spent most of the flight being a nurse to kids who just wanted to be in their beds waiting for Santa. Oh and that was also when Pianoman went around a roundabout the wrong way, his excuse 'there were no signs'! It would have sounded better if he had reminded us that he had learned to drive in Germany(other side of the road)..............BUT he was in the army in the tank regiment(I kid you not!). I could write a book about my eventful life!

Beauty is awake, I can hear her singing 'Oh Christmas Tree', that would have pleased my Dad, it is to the tune of The Red Flag, my Dad was an 'old' labour man. He once went on a coach trip with the local conservative club(WHY? Don't know but it happened) and gave them a rendition of The Red Flag, he came home unharmed thankfully. The conservatives got their own back though, one election day they papered the front of our house with conservative election posters! Sadly I cannot remember his reaction!

Say Hi to Buzz, Beauty's toy dog, a friend for Woody! They could be twins!


Beauty playing with her toys

NO REGRETS

Non, je ne regrette rien

Opening the gates of lives past
Memories flood through
And threaten to swamp and engulf
The happiness of what is now.

Memories that are so real
They allow you to touch and taste and smell
Joys that you thought were lost
And consigned to The Lost Days Of My Life.

I wake from a dream,
Shocked to find it was only a dream
And loved ones are still dead
And today I must visit them in a grave on a windswept cliff.

I can taste the kiss of a precious love that was meant to be forever
But It Was A Love That Was never Meant to be
And the snow has covered all your footsteps
And I must visit another grave

I hold a child in my arms
And see him grow
To the man he was meant to be
And my heart breaks into a million pieces.

But do not think because you are left
That you are not as precious
For I can hold you all in my arms and show that I love you
In the joy of now.

Non, je ne regrette rien
The past is not gone but is a joyous space in my heart
That yes has the power to make me cry
But also make me smile.

It was only a winters tale
Just another winters tale
And why should the world take notice
Of one more love that's failed.

What a day!
The fog is amazing! We drove past Roath Park Lake and we couldn't even see across the lake and visibility on the roads is REALLY poor.
We visited my parent's and sister's grave at Porthkerry and on the way back we went passed the airport and I am surprised that anything is flying out of Rhoose.

The roads out there are chaos , fog and Christmas shoppers do not help. I very rarely let rip at other drivers as I do not want them to attack me no matter how bad their driving is, I am afraid they might attack me or the car. Today was different......... I did a wrist shake at a taxi driver who sped up to beat me to a traffic calming device when it was my right of way, I was either very brave or very stupid as it was in the docks. I would never do it where I live, I would just sit, wait and smile. Heck I don't want my house torched( oops already happened! thankfully previous tenants).