'You've got your hands full'

Okay so the kids are away...now what?

I HAD big plans.

Perhaps a meal out, a trip to the cinema, or a night enjoying the theatre. Neil joked we should go clubbing. Perhaps we could even do any of these things more than once.

The prospect of more enthusiastic romance reared its head.

Our girls are away with school until the end of the week. They've gone to an outward bound centre with the rest of the year.

Memes are made of this: We sang Shang-A-Lang and we ran with the gang...

CAN you imagine Howard Orange or Keith Duffy grappling with your stopcock?

Me neither. So when I read that Alan Longmuir, one-time Bay City Roller 'got used to the life of a plumber' a long time ago, it's pretty baffling. 

When I was six, I dreamed of the day I'be 16. I imagined I would be living in a flat by then, with a boyfriend called Dave or Steve and he would be a builder.

Sights and sounds that make me smile, tagged by Rosie Scribble

TWO soups? I love this sketch. I've chosen it as an image that makes me smile after being tagged by Rosie Scribble. She also wants to know a song that makes me feel happy too - that'll be Wake me up before you go go, by Wham. (But not Everything she wants even if I was in the crowd at the NEC when the video was filmed, don't you know.)

I'm tagging the following bloggers: Laura, Erica, Trisha, Alice, Insomniac Mum

Good Day to you.

Bostin ay it? How my daughters speak

MY daughters have a Black Country accent.

Asked what colour Dad's shoes are, they say "brow-un."

Some people, I know will turn their nose up at this potentially disturbing news. The accent I mean, not the brown shoes.

But I'm really very happy with it. I mean, is there any more bostin’ phrase in a hit parade of regional dialects than: "Ow am ya cock?"

Tagged by Rosie Scribble, my favourite photo.

THERE you go Rosie.

This is a couple of years back, on a rare occasion we were tidying up.
 

I'm tagging the gorgeous Englishmum now.

Bye.

Have you ever seen a psychic? Do you believe?

 
Photo by benleto on Flickr

THIS week I encountered a lady who 'reads' people. She said some kind words about me and how my partner felt about me, before (correctly) telling him he may have hearing difficulties.

All of this came as a surprise as we were discussing something unconnected. It's not the first time I've met someone describing themselves as "psychic" or been moved by what they told me.

What made you laugh in 2009?

TODD Carty's skating was a definite high point!

Christmas brought our family lots of laughs.

Especially when my mum chose to sit on the neck massager we'd bought her and announced as she swivelled around: "I'll come this way again."

Things seemed to go into slow motion and then she brought the Christmas tree down flailing her arms in the air.

Thanks Mum. That's £20 you owe me for the smashed baubles.

In the words of Ronan Keating: Life is a rollercoaster, you've just gotta ride it...*

I'VE shed a lot of tears in 2009.

Some came through joy and wonder as I lapped up sights I thought I'd never see, surrounded by people who love me or by the most fantastic of newly-found friends.

Anyone who has followed this blog over the last 12 months will know that blogging has taken me to the Bahamas and to Florida, to London and hey, Bognor Regis, among other places.

A big thanks and Merry Christmas

THANK YOU to everyone who has donated to NACCPO to help me raise money to support families of children with cancer.

I originally set a target of £300 so to see the sum raised so far top £500 is absolutely brilliant. I am still hoping to reach £1,000 though so please do consider donating if you can. It's not just Tesco that every little helps. :) My JustGiving page is here.

I'm just unzipping my flak jacket to head for the supermarket. I can't wait for Christmas.

Thank you for reading my blog, commenting and linking in 2009, I look forward to lots more fun and friendship in 2010.

Cheers. The picture goes some way to explaining how I think of family Christmases in case you were wondering.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Photo by Andy Woo on Flickr

I do.

Because it happened to me.

In fact I think it was love the first time I heard Neil's voice.

He called the newspaper where I was working to ask me to show him round.

Why? Because on paper I could be described as his new boss.

I'll never forget what he looked like that day he turned up for the tour.

As he stood there in reception in his green suit (yes a green suit, sounds bloody awful now!) I immediately thought phwoarr.

But it was more than that. It really was like a thunderbolt.

Thirteen years on and with two daughters aged 11, I'm still feeling its effects.

How lucky am I?