MAKING YOUR MIND UP

I seem to have been spending most of the last few days trailing around the colleges in South East Wales looking for a an Art course for Fiona to start in September. How can so many colleges have such different course? I would have thought they would have all been the same. Coleg Glan Hafren in Cardiff doesn't even really have a basic Art course, they have a joint Art and Media course but nothing just Art. We seem to have shortlisted to Cross Keys and Barry so it is make your mind up time for Fiona.
A few years ago I did a GCSE in Art and got an A, it may sound like I am bragging but I was really pleased with the result. In school I got a fail in Art even though everyone thought my work was really good, the art teacher didn't like me and then that could effect the way your work was marked. All the exam work was marked by the teacher and a sample of the work was sent off to the examining board to see if the work was marked fairly, my work was not part of the sample.
I may not be brilliant at art but I am creative and I do lots of work which is why I received an A. So this year I am going to attempt to fulfill my ambition of getting an A level in Art. I have enrolled at Cross Keys College to do an AS in Art, the first year of an Art A Level.


On Tuesday night I watched a little bit of a comedy called Outnumbered, it is about a family and the father is a teacher.

Outnumbered is a new comedy from Guy Jenkin and Andy Hamilton, the creators of Drop The Dead Donkey, about the daily rollercoaster of life with small children.

Outnumbered is comedy about two parents and three young children, locked in an unequal contest. It is an honest portrayal of the well-meaning parental incompetence that happens in most homes, as a beleaguered Mum and Dad attempt to raise their kids with the minimum of emotional damage for all concerned.
Three children are: Karen, a regal five-year-old girl with a talent for interrogation, seven-year-old Ben, who could out-fib Jeffrey Archer and eleven-year-old Jake who is gearing up for his scary first day at secondary school.
The parents are played by Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis. The Dad works in an inner city school, where a typical school holidays sees five arrested, two pregnant and one pupil shot.

Meanwhile, Mum is a part-time PA with a very demanding boss.
Other topics explored in the part improvised show include: racism, child abuse, new age weirdness, weak bladders, death and heaven, bird 'flu, contagious diseases, bullying, obesity, parental competition, attempting romantic nights in, divorce, journalism, running away, atoms, underage drinking, gin, corn-fed organic chickens, Nazis and ratbags.

Some of it was really quite funny. I did feel guilty laughing at one joke because some people might think it was bordering on racism but I actually thought in a way it was quite a natural thing to say.The father who is a teacher, made a comment to a pupil who was Muslim and was large and constantly eating in class about wishing it was Ramadan all the time. The father of the child complained that the teacher was being racist and had traumatised the child by referring to his weight as the weight problem was glandular.To which the teacher asked did the glandular problem make the child stuff pies into his mouth. I have an under active thyroid which I regularly take medication for and find it difficult to lose weight but I found the comment funny and so true. I may have a thyroid problem but it is certainly my love of bread and all things carbs that stops me losing weight.
It is important to be PC today because of not wanting people to take offense at things. When I was growing up I was bullied because I had red/ginger hair but I went to a wrestling show last year and one of the baddies said that Wales was like the ginger step-child of the UK and I found it funny because I knew it was a joke. Making comments and jokes about culture and race is such a mine field today that it is best to leave well alone.
I also watched Outrageous Wasters and the Dad was black and when her had to shovel up the pig poo he commented Why is it always the black man? which was a very natural comment BUT only funny because he said it.
It is sad that we live in a world that has to be so PC but if we didn't have certain social rules on what it is OK to say then some people might take advantage and be unkind.

ANYTHING FOR A QUIET LIFE

Last night I watched Outrageous Wasters and I have decided that I am totally sad as I would LOVE to stay in the yurt in the countryside and enjoy an eco-lifestyle. One of the young girls had an issue with the spiders, I can see how that would be a problem for some people but with the mosquito nets they were supplied with I think they could manage to sleep bug free.
After watching the show I though about the things that we leave on stand-by and one switch in the living room, one switch in the kitchen and the computers and that's it last thing at night. Fiona is afraid of the dark so we do have a bit of an issue with lights so that is something to work on. Some mornings I wake up to find the house lit up like a Christmas tree!So reducing electricity used is my current goal. I am doing well on laundry because Ariel and Fiona are in Florida my washing is down to one load a day, I am making sure that everything that I wear goes into a coloured wash so there is no need for a separate white wash.
Life is so quite with just Beauty, Bunny Boy and the Wheekies!

It's official......the locals must think I am mad!
Since yesterday Beauty has become obsessed with the Wheekies Timothy Hay and has taken to spreading it liberally around the garden. My front garden has a black safety surface and it is really difficult to sweep hay off it, so I have been hoovering the front garden!Well at least I don't take my children to school in my pj's, be my size and wear white leggings or constantly screech and swear at my children in the street(just at home!).

Did you see this Ariel? I wondered if you have met him.

SLEEP PERCHANCE TO DREAM

'Junk sleep damaging' teen health

Experts say gadgets are distracting at bed time

Too many teenagers are damaging their health by not getting enough sleep and by falling asleep with electrical gadgets on, researchers say.

The Sleep Council, which conducted the poll of 1,000 teenagers, says gadgets in bedrooms such as computers and TVs are fuelling poor quality "junk sleep".

Youngsters need to be taught that sleep is important for their health, it said.

I couldn't agree more.......are you reading this Fiona, Ariel and SnoWhite?

A little peace descends on the house for 3 weeks, now begins 3 weeks of spring cleaning or should I call it summer cleaning?
I am going to sort my bedroom and my clothes, sort out my art studio and Fiona wants to move bedrooms so I will sort out the back bedroom for her.
Yesterday I spring cleaned the lounge(that's right, on a bank holiday!) BUT I wasn't able to sort out the Rose Cupboard as the key has disappeared ANY IDEAS GIRLS?

The Bunny Boys hutch is now complete and up in the front garden along with the piggy boys hutch, they seem very happy with the location.Bunny boy is very chilled and enjoying his spacious new home and the piggy boys are so nosy they are loving their spot so they can see everything that is happening through the lounge door. Those piggies may think they are a pair of bad ass boys but they are really a net curtain twitching pair of gossipy men, like the men in Last of the Summer Wine. It's funny how women have the reputation as being gossips but the men I know are THE WORST!
Talking of gossip, to cut a long story short, I used to go to church and twice reported nasty gossip that was being bandied about to the appropriate authorities and I was subsequently accused of spreading gossip by doing that-you can't win! SO my new policy is SAY NOTHING because of what happened. However, my girls come home and tell me news they hear from church and I tell them UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE REPEAT WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD or they will probably get the blame for spreading gossip. Yesterday one of them came home with a really shocking story about someone I have known for over 30 years, a story that as far as I can see is so far mere speculation and I have told them NEVER NEVER EVER repeat it. I really would rather have not known, if it is true I will find out with the rest of the world through the newspapers etc , life can be a really horrible place sometimes. Gossip magazines sometimes come into the house through the girls BUT I would rather only hear the nice things.The fact that celebs have cellulite AND are still famous and happy is good too as that makes me feel good about myself but I am sick of hearing about the likes of Paris Hilton,Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Ritchie etc. If they do something worthwhile, all well and good but no more tales of their arrests or pictures of celebs flashing their bits PLEEEEEEAAAAAASE!

Beauty, Fiona and Ariel at Bristol airport.



The front garden where the Piggy Boys live.







The front garden


Beauty



Where Bunny Boy lives

BURLEIGH ACADEMY WRESTLING 24-08-07

MEMORIES

Yesterday was quite a busy day, as I have been so tired lately I try not to go out in the car too much as it wears me out but yesterday I drove more in an afternoon than I have done in a week AND used up half of my usual weekly petrol. I am definitely going to have to start offsetting more than just my holidays.
*Beauty went to visit friends for an hour(they couldn't cope with more!) in St Mellons which was a drive there and back twice.
*Ariel returned from army cadet camp and so I had to pick her up from Maindy Barracks.
*I had to pick Running Man up from the club
*Drop SnoWhite's art work down to her flat
AND
*Last but not least, I took Ariel out to her friends 18th birthday in USK AND go back at 11:30pm complete with Beauty to pick her up. It is not so much a hardship for Beauty as she loves going out in the dark.

I have a serious question-What the heck is going on with the local wildlife?
They have become positively suicidal in the last few days. As I have said before, I live right on the edge of the city and so we are surrounded by fields and woods which means wildlife!
On Thursday I went to Aldi and came past the local doctors and as I did a squirrel ran out, I made an emergency stop and the squirrel just sat there staring at the me before running off. Then on Friday I made the same journey and a bloody squirrel ran out in almost exactly the same place, this time my tyre squealing emergency stop attracted the attention of many locals which made me feel a bit of a wally. AND last night I drove to Ariel's friends house through the lanes to USK and we passed a rabbit and a hedgehog who had not safely maneuvered the lanes.
We also saw a hedgehog deciding whether or not to thrust itself headlong in front of my car as well as having to make an emergency stop for a squirrel and a bird in the USK lane version of Sleepy Hollow.I have been through those lanes many times in the last 10 years since Ariel has known her friend who lives in USK and those lanes never cease to scare the poop out of me. They really are like Sleepy Hollow and they are scariest in the snow and fog, the lanes are so narrow that Ariel's friend has been snowed in a few times. I don't know if they have had to use them but Ariel's friend's dad makes roads and has a few of his vehicles stored in a barn in the field next to the house so I suppose they could always use a digger to get out if they had too.




Ariel's friend's family are so sweet and the mum and dad are lovely, one day Ariel's friend's dad came home from work with a tiny Shetland pony that he bought for her..............in the back of his van. Her dad is a sweetheart. Beauty loves that little pony, she got so excited when she first met him.

Back to crazy animals, anyone who knows where I live knows that the estate is full of crazy animals and children waiting for you to run them over. I literally emergency stopped with no room to spare(he was touching the bonnet of my car) when a child ran out.........his screaming mother ran past him a few seconds later.Dimitri has also had a child bounce off his car in the same place and I had a cat run into my car! The cat literally ran into the side of the car, bounced off the side of the car and started bouncing up the street as if he were on a pogo stick. Perhaps there is something in the water locally that affects the animals and the children(and the adults!)!
The funniest thing was the day of my husbands funeral, on the corner(where myself and Dimitri nearly hit a child) a couple were having a stand-up fight in the road and when the funeral cars came around the corner and it took a few seconds for them to realise we were waiting for them to stop their fight.The colour drained from the face of the woman as she could see us coming but the man who had his back to us took a few seconds to realise what was happening.It lightened the day immensely.

ANOTHER PICTURE POSTCARD FROM HOME

A BIG HELLO FROM BUNNY BOY(FRED, THUMPER,WHATEVER!)



FRIDAY MORNING SHOPPING TRIP TO TOWN
IN FRONT OF THE MUSEUM



GORSEDD GARDENS LOOKING TOWARDS THE CITY HALL



THE ATRIUM IN THE CAPITOL CENTRE(OUTSIDE H&M)



CHURCHILL WAY
CARDIFF IS LIKE A BUILDING SITE WITH SCAFFOLDING EVERYWHERE, ESPECIALLY AROUND THE PARK HOTEL.



BUNNY BOY CHILLIN




FLOWERS IN GORSEDD GARDENS

OUCH!

Thankfully I can't see this happening in the Welsh Assembly!



On Wednesday I had to take Beauty to genetics department in the Children's hospital. We last went when she was less than 2 years old so there have obviously been lots of changes.
I ended up having my lumps examined and also my cleft palate, I expected Beauty to get the once over but I was a bit surprised when I was examined. Originally we went to see if we could find out if Beauty's problems were genetic, as well as looking for that it nows seems that we are looking at the possibility of Stickler Syndrome because of all the girls having partial cleft palates and the joint issues. Talking of Beauty's hyper-mobility, today I was pushing her in her buggy and I looked down to see she had taken her sandal off and was sucking her big toe-she could end up in a circus her joints are so loose.

AM I THE PARTY POOPER?

I get up to find the piggy boys appear to have been partying hard all night! Their food dish is turned over and their hutch is trashed and their bottle kicked off the cage, they sure seem to be having fun whilst I sleep. I think I should have called them Tuck and Roll after those crazy blue bugs in Bugs Life as they certainly seem to slap each other around and bounce and jump all over the place like Tuck and Roll.
On to the kitchen and I find that Fiona has spent the night baking cup cakes, I blame Heroes as the cheerleader and her mother were making cupcakes last night. I have spent all morning wiping up pink icing sugar.









So they have been having fun all night whilst I sleep when the 6 year old sleeps but you know something........I don't think I am missing out on anything. I'm definitely too old for that kind of nonsense.
And Bunny Boy? Well he is as good as gold. No wild partying and his hutch was spick and span and all his mess is in one corner. He can't cope with the wooden floor so I put him on a washable Indian rug on the living room floor and a poop tray next to him and plenty of food and water and he has been happy all day and so well behaved..........so much better than a cat!

Last night I slept for the first time on the new mattress and it was really good. Beauty has a bedroom downstairs with an adjoining room that I sleep in to keep an eye on her but last night I thought I would try out the new mattress so Beauty and I slept in my bed upstairs (the one with the brilliant mattress) and she was so thrilled because it was something new and I was thrilled because it was so comfortable.
I definitely slept well because I had enough energy to clean the kitchen and the computer room, clean and feed the animals, do the washing and drying(the sun is shining at last-hurrah!) and tidy the garden. I wonder if I bought Fiona an expensive orthopedic mattress she might clean up after herself a bit more-well maybe not.I try not to mention cleaning anymore as she goes into ogre mode if I do and I think I prefer her in Cameron Diaz mode.

ALL SHOPPED OUT

I am so sad that such little things please me. I went on-line to order my shopping for Friday, I used last weeks saved shopping list and added a few items and HEY PRESTO...........my shopping ordered and paid for in less than 10 minutes. And the best thing.........not having to traipse around a supermarket with a 16 year old(the 6 year old is no problem-give her a comic and she is a happy little bunny) complaining that I never buy her anything!
I LOVE YOU ASDA

BUNNY BOY

Some pictures of Bunny Boy as requested.

His name is Thumper but SnoWhite wants to call him Fred(it's a Weasley thing!)



Fiona believes that calling the bunny Thumper lacks imagination, like being a Manchester United Supporter.



Beauty's child minder has a bunny called Fluffy, now that name would suit him.
He reminds me of a big grey cat we had when I was little, he was called puffy.



Do you think the pictures are sharper,?
My new camera has 8 mega pixels, I have a new camera because SnoWhite broke my last 2 cameras.
She also broke her own camera.
DUH!

THUMPER

Yesterday we had a new addition to the family.........his name is Thumper and he is a 2 year old lop-eared rabbit and he is the sweetest little thing.It is really strange but to look at he is the chubbiest thing you have ever seen but when you pick him up he is so bony, perhaps it is just that the guinea pigs have grown into such butterballs that I can feel the difference. Beauty was scheduled to go out with her child minder but was less that impressed when she had to go out as she had to leave Thumper behind.

Thankfully the Dora and Elmo toys that Beauty has are not on any of the lists that Mattel have put out. Soft toys so far do not seem to be affected.

Toys recalled over safety fears

The recall affects 83 different types of toy currently on sale in the US

Toymaker Fisher Price is to recall almost one and a half million Chinese-made toys over fears that their paint contains too much lead.

An internal probe found the Chinese manufacturer had used a non-approved paint pigment, violating its safety standards, the company said.

The recall affects toys that have been on sale in the US and UK since May.

It is the latest in a series of safety scares involving goods - food, drugs and other products - made in China.

China has pledged to introduce tougher quality controls on products, but sought to stem international alarm over the latest incident by insisting that 99% of its exports are safe.

FISHER PRICE TOY RECALL 83 affected products, including Sesame Street's Elmo and Big Bird, and Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer Recalled items have date codes between 109-7LF and 187-7LF Affected products sold in US and UK stores from May 2007 Full list of affected products

I am just shocked that in this day and age that people would do things like this, it must be a huge blow for Mattel. In future I shall have to consider what I buy Beauty very carefully.

I am sitting here listening to the videos that Beauty is watching on YouTube and I think because I hear the videos so often I don't really take notice of them. At present she is singing along to a Mickey Mouse song in Italian, I have also heard her sing in Welsh and French, it is definitely true that small children are like sponges. Unfortunately YouTube also seems to cater for teenage boy toilet humour which thankfully Beauty doesn't understand but she also doesn't understand when I won't let her watch certain videos. At the moment she is fascinated with Super Mario homemade videos where 'naughty boys' insert rude words into the songs.

ONLY IN WALES!

Taxis used between rail platforms

Another redevelopment will take place before the Ryder Cup

Bosses at Newport station are paying cabbies £3 a time to ferry passengers from one rail platform to another.It is because a new £5.5m platform, opened last month, does not have a lift for disabled, elderly or passengers with pushchairs to use.Network Rail said building a lift now would cause disruption, although there will be one in another redevelopment in time for the Ryder Cup in 2010.In the meantime it is to provide free taxis as a "goodwill gesture".T
The only access to the 270-metre long platform four is either a long walk through a car park or through the station over a footbridge.But both routes are too difficult for passengers with mobility problems.

They are now being helped into a taxi and driven half-a-mile around the station to reach the new platform.

What can I say? What a bunch of numpties.

I had another of my entertaining dreams last night, I dreamt that I met the pope. I was very pleased to meet him and he said prayers for everybody at the hospital he was visiting.
Then there was a lightening storm and aliens showed up in flying silver balls and Chief Inspector Japp from Poirot showed up and even with aliens etc all I wanted to do was get the autograph of Philip Jackson who plays Japp!
The rest of the dream was then spent avoiding a giant wave that was about to show up but never arrived.
Sometimes I think that a nice ordinary dream would do just fine.
Up until the aliens showed up my dream was ok!

CONGRATULATIONS ARIEL

Ariel has passed her A levels and has been accepted on the Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies degree at Exeter University. For days Ariel has been moping around saying she wasn't going to get the grades BUT she did, I could not have coped with another year of A level studies.Ariel needed the grades BBB but it was possible she would be accepted with BBC, thankfully she got ABB. She got A in English literature, B in French and B in History.She could have got 3 A's but I shall say no more! She is away at the moment on Army Cadet camp for 2 weeks and then she will be going to see her sister in Florida for 3 weeks and then University.



Sorry Ariel but this was the perfect song.

I DID IT!

I placed an online order for groceries with ASDA (Walmart) and it should arrive tomorrow afternoon. I am a bit nervous to see if it works as I have heard about people getting substitutions for what they order but if it saves traipsing around a supermarket it must be good. Any bits and pieces I need I will get from the local shop.
I also ordered a new mattress, I have been meaning to order it for a while but I never got around to it, however after ordering the groceries I decided it was time to order the mattress too. I am still reeling at the shock of how much I spent, it will only take me 4 weeks to pay for it but it is more than I have ever spent on a bed AND a mattress! It is an orthopedic mattress and so if it helps me sleep it will be money well spent.
I think the guinea pigs are hatching an escape plan. Their hutch door has a wire front and it secured on the inside by a wooden frame, a sandwich effect.Well for the last 2 days they have been chewing their way through the inside of the frame and no matter how many times I tell them off(yeh I know, like they understand) they will not stop. It is so sweet(sad moo) to watch the piggy boys sleep, when they were new they were so nervous they never seemed to sleep or if they did I never saw them. Now I see them taking naps all the time which is good to see that they feel safe. Though yesterday when I was cleaning out the hutch Beauty tried to get in with them and I'm sure that can't be good for them as I have heard that guinea pigs have weak hearts and Beauty must appear like a giant to them, heck she scares me when I awake to see her stood over me by my bed at night!
I have to admit that this YouTube video is weird

but often I turn around to find one of the guinea pigs just staring at me and I think that I am so glad that guinea pigs are herbivores after watching it!

BACK PACKING IN THE HIMALAYAS

Here we are again, like a pair of computer geeks sat side-by-side at our computers, Beauty and I. After Beauty decided that she was going to be awake until 2am I thought we were both due a lie-in, but not so and it is no fault of Beauty. The persistent phone ringing woke us up and who wanted to talk to us? An automated ring service, somebody trying to sell me something!
They drive me mad but thankfully I have figured out how to deal with the situation...........
I tell them
SHE'S OUT
I LIVE IN A RENTED HOUSE(I DON'T BUT.....) to double glazing sales etc
SHE'S ON HOLIDAY
NO
When we first moved into the house in 96 we were terrorised by a bank who phoned day and night looking for the previous user of our phone number, no matter what I said they wouldn't stop phoning so in the end I said the person was BACK PACKING IN THE HIMALAYAS and wouldn't be back for 6 month(I saw that done on a TV advert) and it worked! They either believed me or thought that I was so insane they never called again.
When we are in DIY stores and IKEA and the double glazing sales staff at the door are so pleased that you speak to them they don't even care when you tell them you live in a rented house, they are just happy you are polite and recognise that they are not invisible(a bit like the Big Issue sales people when you smile and say NO THANK YOU).

What is it with idents ?
Here is an a Weetabix advert from the 90's , in the form of an ident.



They now have NEW weetabix adverts in the form of idents and YES Beauty has noticed them.
She has also noticed the adverts where pieces of watches and clocks are falling from the sky to the Bambi song April Showers and she loves it.



It may be a good advert but the average 6 year old isn't really in the market for a internet mobile phone!

Beauty has started sitting at the computer on her haunches on her chair in the last few weeks. It is as if time has stood still as Belle used to sit the same way on her haunches over 20 years ago and of course with the red hair it is very much like looking at Belle when she was little. Beauty also loves to sing but so far she hasn't shown the same talent as Belle just the same enthusiasm.
Belle used to sing constantly when she was little, she even sang or hummed when she was eating! Please Belle sing a song for us on Youtube, you can set it to private,Beauty would love anything Disney.

Beauty is watching the Disney Channel on the computer and she is watching a Winnie The Pooh video. She is watching Eeyore and he is miserable because it is raining BUT she thinks it is hysterically funny and will not stop giggling, well I personally feel for Eeyore as it is raining here AGAIN.

FOR CINDERELLA

FOR SNOWHITE

FOR ARIEL

FOR ANASTASIA AND DIMITRI

FOR BEAUTY

FOR FIONA

FOR BELLE AND BEAU

ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

Beauty is again awake at a very unreasonable hour, pre-6am is unreasonable! We are sat side -by-side on the computers and Beauty is playing a game on Nick Jnr, if I could have played this game at 6 I would have been a child genius. It is a Diego(DORA the Explorer Diego) game and it is a cross between Tetris and good old fashioned pairs and she is stunning.
We visited my niece's at the weekend as it was one of the girls birthday, she is 18 a day after Ariel so we bought her an iron and a kettle to take to university.She will be doing English and creative writing and if I my time again I think I would do that degree as not only is it interesting but useful.
We also went to see my other niece's baby who is now 9 months and she is so bonny and sweet, you just want to keep cuddling her she is so lovely.
Before Beauty started Nursery she was seen by a psychologist and her said that she was 9-12 months socially and emotionally and after seeing my niece's baby who is 9 months I can see that in lots of ways the baby is already more mature that Beauty. Beauty may be able to use the computer with understanding, count at least to 30 and sing hundreds of songs but she is still not aware in so many ways. She can tell me she is hungry, ask for a drink, say she doesn't want to go to bed(!) but all of her conversation is in set phrases and whilst they are said with total meaning her conversation is totally one dimensional. Educationally I think she is as bright as any 6 year old but socially she is well on the way to being like Forrest Gump. Don't get me wrong, we have come a long way from the baby who sat in her cot and rocked and totally lived in her own world and I am grateful for that. I read many blogs on the net and so many of the children I read about have some level of autism BUT they are all so different. I am so grateful that Beauty is progressing everyday because I know 2 other children locally who are on the spectrum and are in their own worlds and not progressing and do not have the quality of life that Beauty has.
How can the Tweenies be seen as a terrorist action?
Well Fiona, like teenagers everywhere , spent much of the night watching music videos on TV on TMF and is passed out asleep om the sofa but Beauty does not have the same liking for music videos so now the TV is showing The Tweenies singing Old MacDonald had a farm! Fiona is less than impressed and ie muttering though still more or less asleep.
Beauty does however like the Lily Allen music video where Lily Allen is portrayed as a cartoon.

What do you think of this advert, I think it is brilliant.
I haven't ever really drunk alcohol in my life and it has to be at least 7>8 years since I last had even the smallest amount but I am of the opinion that even though the law in the UK says you can drink a certain amount of alcohol and still drive, I do not believe you should be able to drink any alcohol and drive. I know that if I drank some alcohol and drove within minutes of drinking then my driving would be affected.




Last night we watched Help I'm a Teen Mum and one of the girls didn't want to put her baby to bed early because the baby would get up early and the teen mum felt she wanted to have a lie-in in the morning as she(the teen mum) was grumpy if she got up early and found it difficult to cope with early starts.
I have a cure for that-for the last nearly 7 years Beauty has either spent the night awake or up at some unholy hour. To the teen mum I want to say- YOU WILL GET USED TO IT, the baby will make sure of that!
Yesterday when taking Ariel to the barracks at just past 7am there were older people everywhere, after a lifetime of early starts they seem to find it difficult to break the habit of getting up early.
However after almost 7 years of Beauty I dream of a lie-in-it would be nice.

OUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

Did James Blunt say STOP THE MARCH INTO PRISTINA, I'VE FORGOTTEN MY BOOTS!
I doubt it very much!
This morning I had to drop Ariel off at the army barracks to go to an army camp in Kent for 2 weeks, at 7am she was straightening her hair(!) and running around looking for her boots when she realised she had left her boots at her father's house! Thankfully he lives 2 minutes from the barracks so at 7:11am I am rushing through Cardiff to get Ariel's boots so she can be at the barracks by 7:30am.
We made it.
The worst bit........I had Ariel sat beside me in the car, doing her makeup........in full uniform!
I am so glad it was early and not many could see us because even though she had her cadet badges on most people would think she was army because she is old enough and looks old enough and putting on your makeup in your mother's people carrier whilst wearing full army uniform doesn't instill the right amount of confidence! I wonder if she will have her eyelashes dyed when she joins the army?
Wow! that was a typical female thought.
I had a really uneasy drive home thinking about all those children I had left at the barracks, in a few years they could be cannon fodder, dead in a foreign ditch. I am definitely a person who does not believe in war BUT I also believe that we should fully support the military whilst they are in the services and afterwards.

20TH CENTURY FOX, A RED DOUBLE DECKER BUS AND THE FBI!

For many Wales may appear like a quiet corner of the western world but this morning I was shocked into wakefulness at 6 am completely believing that the FBI were in the street outside my door!Not such a strange occurrence it seems as they have been here before but their visit was for a couple of hackers. I awoke to the near deafening sounds of a 2oth century fox intro courtesy of YouTube, in that nano-second between dreaming and waking I had incorporated the loud noise into my dream. Anyone who knows Beauty knows that she plays everything WAY too loud, we first suspected autism when Beauty failed her hearing tests. The hearing specialist wasn't sure if she failed due to a hearing problem or lack of co-operation. Anyway........I awoke to a 20th century fox intro(forget BBC2 idents, intros are Beauty's current love) and in those last few seconds of my dream I had opened the curtain to see a red double decker bus(!) and the FBI everywhere! Sadly the FBI were nothing like David Boreanez in Bones but more like the decontamination team in Monsters Inc. Beauty has awoken without me realising, got past my adjoining bedroom and was indulging her current passion of watching film company intros on the computer in the room outside my bedroom........except the volume was so loud even Mr T would have been scared!
I need to wake slowly........take my arthritis drugs and come alive slowly. Beauty who is a fit and healthy six year old has super hero qualities and wakes and is up and running faster than the speed of light. I do not need the fear of God put into me by 20th century fox, do you know how scary that music is when it is over a certain decibel level? Thankfully we are now back to the more sedate and more acceptable watching Bambi on rewind.
The connection between 20th century fox music, a red double decker bus and the FBI ? I couldn't tell you, way too deep for me at anytime of day!

SUMMER IN THE CITY

Yesterday Beauty spent equal time between destroying the lounge, playing the piano, playing in the garden, playing with the bead curtain by the back door, reading the telephone directory, performing acrobatics on the computer chair, watching videos and playing on the computer! We may not have gone far from the house yesterday but we certainly had a busy day.
The parks in Cardiff are a nightmare during the holidays so that is definitely not an activity to embark on lightly, I tend to go in the evenings when the pace is more sedate. Roath park seems to be filled with older people taking their constitutional walks in the morning, hordes of children in the afternoon and a meeting place for Asian families in the evening, the evening is definitely the more pleasant choice for Beauty who is not too keen on lots of noise. The week that we helped SnoWhite to move we passed Victoria Park a lot which was totally overflowing with children playing in the paddling pool and teenage girls trying to get a tan. Way too many people for me let alone Beauty.
Last night I watched the film The Pumpkin Eater, it is a 1964 B&W Brit Flick, I haven't watched an old film for quite a while and I was surprised that I hadn't watched it before, it was a really good film. My parents loved the cinema and films and at home we watched all the films on TV, I especially liked the Hammer Horror films. Anastasia is also a film fan but she is not as keen as I am on certain action films as she has to look away at the violence. SnoWhite also likes films but is not too keen on anything involving spiders and bugs of any kind, she is especially not too keen on The Mummy films due to the bugs running around. She will watch the film however as she loves the prison warden played by Omid Djalli,I agree with SnoWhite that he is one of the funniest men on screen.


I also think that Oded Fehr who plays Ardeth Bay in The Mummy films is worth watching the films for.

Oded Fehr

ALL GROWN UP

For the last year or so we have had a combination video/DVD player which worked well but broke 3 times due to Beauty's less than gentle treatment. She somehow managed to break the DVD drawer and in the end I bought a new player but left the old one in place as the video still worked. Well last night at Ariel's party they decided to watch a DVD and decided to install the new player, however Beauty was not aware of this and only realised at the end of the DVD when the screen came up and it was pretty obvious there was a recorded film in the player.
Well so much for children with autism not liking change and crowds, Beauty pushed her way through the large crowd of 18 year olds(girls and guys) and was up at the TV happily punching buttons in a flash, she can use that DVD/video player better than I can! She has spent the morning watching Bambi on video.........on rewind! Does anyone know why it is always rewind?

As you all know I am a vegetarian, I have never really thought of it as a big deal, just something that gradually happened over the years.When I was younger I didn't eat a lot of anything and was a size 8(US 4) and that was thought of as skinny then, when the girls were young meat was mostly chicken and then I stopped eating meat and finally I stopped eating fish as well. I have never forced it on the girls and they are old enough to cook what they want if they don't like my vegetarian meals, though they do miss my corned beef hash pie. Well last night I cooked chicken pieces, chicken nuggets, scotch eggs and sausages and this morning I was awakened by Ariel shoving a tub of dead pig(sausages) under my nose asking me if I wanted one. She was very apologetic when I reminded her I was vegetarian..........I wonder how long it will take them to remember?
In a few days Ariel will be off to army cadet camp for 2 weeks and she will be back for a couple of days and then off to Florida for 3 weeks to visit Belle, Fiona will also be going to Florida. And then she will be going to University-WOW doesn't time fly? I turned around for a second and here she is all grown up.

FUN,FUN,FUN!

What a busy day today.Today we had Ariel's birthday party, she is not 18 for a week but she will be away at camp for her birthday so she and her friends celebrated this evening. The girls watched a DVD whilst the lads sat around the food table and chatted! And I got to sit with Beauty whilst she watched Chip 'n Dale video's on the computer all evening.

MOVING ON

I thought at one point........will this week never end? It has taken ALL WEEK for me to help SnoWhite week. I have told her she had better have learned to drive by the next time she wants to move! Still no photos but coming soon girls. I left SnoWhite with strict instructions to sort out her STUFF on Thursday and you will not believe this BUT she did sort out her stuff and I left with the boot of my people carrier filled with rubbish and recycling when I visited on Friday.I will be going again next week for more rubbish and recycling.

TV WATCHING
I just have to tell you about the Royle Family episode that I watched last night. Somehow I missed this one off special last year and when I watched it I wept. I cried more that when I watch Steel Magnolias. The episode was about the last few months of Nana's life and how they all coped with her death.
There was one scene when Barbara was doing her mothers hair and toe nails and they played the song Que Sera which was my favourite song as a child(so that's where it came from!) and Barbara and her mum hugged and Barbara cried and so did I. That scene set me off.Nana told Barbara that last Christmas when she had the wish-bone she wished that she wouldn't have to go into a nursing home and she was so happy because her wish had come true.
Nana got to die with all her family around her and her end was everything any of us could ever want.
Yep it is official. I am a sap!
When I saw this episode I thought of my mother who had died at 69, way to early and I wished that she could have had such a long life, Nana was approximately 85 when she died and portrayed as having had a good life.
AND it looked liked Cheryl from next door( the nurse in Doctor Who-the Family of Blood) might end up with Twiggy(Onslow from Keeping Up Appearances)- their love of food, especially pork pies, appeared to bring them together at Nana's wake.
So all was well that ended well.

WILL THIS DAY NEVER END!

Yesterday was day number 2 of MOVING SNOWHITE .
We didn't get the keys until mid-day and even then we couldn't move in until 4pm when the builders had finished. But they hadn't finished-they just went home! The kitchen is still unplumbed and no water but they moved in anyway. And the front of the cooker is attractively decorated with Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles.
There was still a load to come out of SnoWhite's father's house but during the evening Fiona and Ariel decided they wanted to go to a church youth activity, so the final trip was abandoned.
It is a lovely area and I shall take some photos when the rains stop. The houses are late Victorian 3/4 storey properties and SnoWhite has the garden flat. They remind me of American brownstones with the steps at the front. The next door property is beautifully maintained and is owned by one family and the guy who lives there said Hi to us when he came home from work.
I am in fact glad it is raining and the forecast says the rain will not stop until mid-day, I need a little recovery time before I go and finish SnoWhites moving.
It wasn't such a fun day for Beauty as she had to come with me everywhere in the car but she had plenty to eat and drink which made her happy. Her day was made complete when she asked for an ICE U SQUEAMER and we stopped at MacDonald's and bought her a plain McFlurry.
We did bump into Beauty's speech therapist in the evening and Beauty completely ignored her, what a nice child. I had just bought her a comic and so she was way too busy to be indulging in idle chit-chat!
Beauty's speech has increased tremendously, she will repeat anything, sings constantly and her ability to request things is improving brilliantly. I can see her asking for pocket money soon and her own car! Her favourite response is OH NO when I tell her it is time for bed.
Instead of saying YOGHURT she pronounces it YOU-GUT and it sounds so sweet when she says it. With her sweet older sisters, especially Fiona who has the ability to flip faster than a coin, I am very impressed that Beauty has of yet not said any swear words. I may not be a clairvoyant but I can so see the future with Beauty swearing at one of her teachers.........as I have said before, I will blame SnoWhite!