Irma's Christening. I was very lucky because I got to cuddle her for ages and then I went around and "introduced" her to everyone. Pretty much everyone knew her, bu not me, but she gave me the courage to go up and talk to strangers.
Friday, 27 June 2008
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Monday, 2 June 2008
More Blackpool
11:25 am Wed, Blackpool
Well, I had a slow start after getting up several times through the night, then waking up sharply with the rain around 5:30 am. I got a bowl of cereal then tried to relax with Pride & Prejudice (my sleeping pill ;'} ) Eventually I fell back to a restless sleep. Mom did breakfast again and Dad tidied it up while I got myself mobile. Ruth, after some fuss, sat on my thighs for a bit and eventually we tried a touch of exercise, at her insistance, but sadly I wasn't strong enough. However, I'm now moving, my bed is tidied away, and we should head off to Pleasure Beach within a half hour. I havn't needed a wheelchair yet and I hope to keep it that way. This laptop is bounced on my thighs as my they're twitching so badly, so hopefully getting out and moving will help them out.
23:51 pm Wed,
Wow... It has been an amazing day. Thanks to G. we had wrist bands ordered and paid for at a discount and waiting for us at Pleasure Beach. We got there without too much effort, though it was rather confusing figuring out where exactly to park and how to get in. Pleasure Beach is rather like any amusement park in the USA. The map was cool, with the standard cartoon/picture top view of the park on one side with a metro style map on the back with family rides/white knuckle rides/food routes that were amazing easy to follow.
Following the down pour of the morning the rest of the day was very overcast with the barest of drizzles occasionally touching us. This meant lovely short lines for all of the rides. David was nasty to Grandma at the very start and so lost his first ride, instead getting to watch Ruthie travel a Cheshire Cat through Wonderland. This impromptu choice of mine turned out to work very well and David improved for some time, though he is still testing Grandma and Grumpy to see what he can get away with and acts out even more when they discipline him. They are doing very well with both kids, I would just like them to stop giving the kids soda pop and salt.
David seemed a bit dubious about many of the rides, but definitely wanted to go on them, and certainly enjoyed the day. Ruth had fabulous fun, but I think that Dad and I may just have topped her. Together we hit 5 white knuckle rides and we had a blast doing it. We started with the Pepsi Max, while Grandma took the kids to Burger King for lunch. Later, bless her, she took the kids on a series of rides while Dad and I hit Space Invaders II, Avalanche and The Zipper. The $22 (10 lbs) That Dad paid for the picture was soooo worth it. What do you think? I pray that I never forget the fun and excitement, sharing those rides with Dad. Unfortunately the Wild Mouse nearly broke both of us. It was a very rough ride and we were both moaning and limping away from it, like a couple of cranky old farts after a fender bender. The Impossible, a family ride was a fascinating maze of optical illusions and physical tricks that ended with us piling into a large suspended "tram"ish style car. Then we got inverted... actually the room rotated around us. I had been warned by a lady, whose 2 year old was left in tears, about it after it was too late to go back, so I preped him and talked about closing his eyes if he didn't like it. Well... David loved it and I got so ill that I had to close my eyes and could barely walk afterwards. All in all however, a great day. Ruth says, "Brilliant, fab..." David says, "Mommy, it was great fun" (with just a bit of prompting as Grandma has just given them bubble wands)
Now it's 11:49 am Thurs, the place is tidy - ish and we are heading out for the nature reserve.
Well, I had a slow start after getting up several times through the night, then waking up sharply with the rain around 5:30 am. I got a bowl of cereal then tried to relax with Pride & Prejudice (my sleeping pill ;'} ) Eventually I fell back to a restless sleep. Mom did breakfast again and Dad tidied it up while I got myself mobile. Ruth, after some fuss, sat on my thighs for a bit and eventually we tried a touch of exercise, at her insistance, but sadly I wasn't strong enough. However, I'm now moving, my bed is tidied away, and we should head off to Pleasure Beach within a half hour. I havn't needed a wheelchair yet and I hope to keep it that way. This laptop is bounced on my thighs as my they're twitching so badly, so hopefully getting out and moving will help them out.
23:51 pm Wed,
Wow... It has been an amazing day. Thanks to G. we had wrist bands ordered and paid for at a discount and waiting for us at Pleasure Beach. We got there without too much effort, though it was rather confusing figuring out where exactly to park and how to get in. Pleasure Beach is rather like any amusement park in the USA. The map was cool, with the standard cartoon/picture top view of the park on one side with a metro style map on the back with family rides/white knuckle rides/food routes that were amazing easy to follow.
Following the down pour of the morning the rest of the day was very overcast with the barest of drizzles occasionally touching us. This meant lovely short lines for all of the rides. David was nasty to Grandma at the very start and so lost his first ride, instead getting to watch Ruthie travel a Cheshire Cat through Wonderland. This impromptu choice of mine turned out to work very well and David improved for some time, though he is still testing Grandma and Grumpy to see what he can get away with and acts out even more when they discipline him. They are doing very well with both kids, I would just like them to stop giving the kids soda pop and salt.
David seemed a bit dubious about many of the rides, but definitely wanted to go on them, and certainly enjoyed the day. Ruth had fabulous fun, but I think that Dad and I may just have topped her. Together we hit 5 white knuckle rides and we had a blast doing it. We started with the Pepsi Max, while Grandma took the kids to Burger King for lunch. Later, bless her, she took the kids on a series of rides while Dad and I hit Space Invaders II, Avalanche and The Zipper. The $22 (10 lbs) That Dad paid for the picture was soooo worth it. What do you think? I pray that I never forget the fun and excitement, sharing those rides with Dad. Unfortunately the Wild Mouse nearly broke both of us. It was a very rough ride and we were both moaning and limping away from it, like a couple of cranky old farts after a fender bender. The Impossible, a family ride was a fascinating maze of optical illusions and physical tricks that ended with us piling into a large suspended "tram"ish style car. Then we got inverted... actually the room rotated around us. I had been warned by a lady, whose 2 year old was left in tears, about it after it was too late to go back, so I preped him and talked about closing his eyes if he didn't like it. Well... David loved it and I got so ill that I had to close my eyes and could barely walk afterwards. All in all however, a great day. Ruth says, "Brilliant, fab..." David says, "Mommy, it was great fun" (with just a bit of prompting as Grandma has just given them bubble wands)
Now it's 11:49 am Thurs, the place is tidy - ish and we are heading out for the nature reserve.
Blackpool
I'm back and it was great. I took my laptop but as usual, I didn't' get to spend much time on it typing blogs. The good side of that is that I spent that time having fun with my family. So Below is what you get and if you would like more you need to type your questions in a comment and I'll do what I can.
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1:00 am Wed 28, May, Blackpool
Today has been a fun and interesting day. I really have to thank my mom for paying for this trip as I really needed a mental holiday from everything at home.
We are staying at Marton Mere, a caravan park just north of Blackpool, a UK equivalent to a cross between Ocean City and Kings Dominion. We've got a very nice caravan with a double and twin (2 small beds) bedroom a spacious, open plan, Kitchen, dinning, living room; including TV gas fire and microwave. I'm sleeping in a fold out bed in the living room. There's a decent pool complex, packed and the usual activities found in family holiday parks hidden in a large fun arcade complex.
Today, mom and I were up and chatting by 8:30. I tidied up my bed while mom sorted out breakfast. Then before I managed to sneak off for a shower (over an hour later, we were having a good time chatting) the kids were up so we had some fun playing together and sharing cuddles. David had been in bed with me following a restless night and then a bad nightmare sometime after daylight; so he was understandable cranky when he woke and needed a lot of attention. He wasn't very happy that I also cuddled Ruth and talked with Mom. Eventually I managed to get in a lovely shower, and after I got Dad up for breakfast. We all had a relaxed morning,tidied up and finally got moving by noon. We had a great time a the Sea Life Center, with the kids getting a short play in a climbing/play area at the end while we three pooped adults rested.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1:00 am Wed 28, May, Blackpool
Today has been a fun and interesting day. I really have to thank my mom for paying for this trip as I really needed a mental holiday from everything at home.
We are staying at Marton Mere, a caravan park just north of Blackpool, a UK equivalent to a cross between Ocean City and Kings Dominion. We've got a very nice caravan with a double and twin (2 small beds) bedroom a spacious, open plan, Kitchen, dinning, living room; including TV gas fire and microwave. I'm sleeping in a fold out bed in the living room. There's a decent pool complex, packed and the usual activities found in family holiday parks hidden in a large fun arcade complex.
Today, mom and I were up and chatting by 8:30. I tidied up my bed while mom sorted out breakfast. Then before I managed to sneak off for a shower (over an hour later, we were having a good time chatting) the kids were up so we had some fun playing together and sharing cuddles. David had been in bed with me following a restless night and then a bad nightmare sometime after daylight; so he was understandable cranky when he woke and needed a lot of attention. He wasn't very happy that I also cuddled Ruth and talked with Mom. Eventually I managed to get in a lovely shower, and after I got Dad up for breakfast. We all had a relaxed morning,tidied up and finally got moving by noon. We had a great time a the Sea Life Center, with the kids getting a short play in a climbing/play area at the end while we three pooped adults rested.
Sunday, 18 May 2008
My marriage
For some time I have been digesting the comments, mails and chats that I have had with numerous people about my marriage and relationship with G. I want to clarify several points and then respond to my brother's (Matt) comment, published on precious post.
For years, you have heard my complaints about G's inadaquecies or misconceptions of cleaning, his lack of interest in gardening and housework, etc...
Our disfunctional marriage is not a result of these, rather these issues merely aggravate me. The root of our problems is our relationship, husband and wife.
G works all day and that is important. His salary pays the bills, just as mine used to. I have actively supported him with his job to the best of my ability and knowledge. I also work all day, to the extent I am able. I have established our home and work to maintain that and our family. G contributes to this, some days better than others.
Matt's right and has helped me to see that I have poorly communicated my frustrations. G does do work around the house and in the garden. I often feel that he is not doing enough or he does the wrong things but he does NOT come home from work and laze around like some men do. There have frequently been times when G has only done the work I specifically tell him to or times when he has come to me to question me about nearly every aspect of running our family; when to eat, what to eat, what to give the kids, what to do with the kids, etc... We have, together, began to work on this and again G. is improving. Another problem that has annoyed me is his attitude to necessary jobs with the house, garden or children especially his only helping when I insist or his taking a very sulky attitude or worse a "we can't do it" attitude. Again we are now making headway on these issues.
Another important note is that both now and before we married, neither of us believed that the strict traditional roles of husband bringing home the bacon, and wife doing all the home and child rearing work were appropriate for our lives. When I worked as a teacher, Geoff cooked most of the meals b/c I always had another 10 hours of work do to each night, an impossible task while I generally gathered up all the trash and took it out. He did all the laundering while I was responsible for cleaning hobs, ovens, toilets, sinks, etc... Other jobs we did together. How well either or both of us finished these jobs, especially in a timely manor, have varied from very badly to great.
We both agreed, years before having children that once our first was born I would stop employed work and focus on our children instead. I always believed that with this I would pick up the majority of many household chores given my increased time at home. I looked forward to cooking most of the meals, a passion of mine, and envisioned myself making fresh bread several times a week, expanding into baking and increasing my reportoire of meals of all styles and cultures. I fully expected to take over most of the laundry as well as most of the tidiing and kitchen work.
While all of this will have an impact on a marriage I believe that the core of a marriage is the relationship between husband and wife; sexuality, intimacy, friendship, companionship, love, trust, openess are all contribute to this core connection between husband and wife. It's deeper and wider than the connection between friends. Sadly this is what is missing between us and the sorce of the majority of both our problems and my heartache and deep sadness. A sadness that I have instinctually hidden from all of you most of the time. Only G. has known about it. For reasons I wont go into here, G. shutdown his side of that connection the day after we married. I found out when and why he did this about 3 years ago. I've learned a bit more since.
I have always believed that a marriage takes two and that it needs daily maintaince and attention. We have both, from the begining to present made mistakes, hurt each other, miscommunicated ourselves etc... I have never believed that I was blameless nor faultness in this marriage but through the last 9 years I have tried to be open, be aware of my thoughts and actions, be aware of my impact on others, be honest with myself especially about my faults, to improve myself as a christian, wife and person. It took me a year to recognize that we had some major problems to resolve and I have tried everything I could think of to fix our problems. But it takes two...
I very much apologize to to all of you for my miscommunications and the confusion they have caused. I continue to find it difficult to clearly articulate the problems I have had in my life and marriage and I thank all of you, especially Matt, for your time and efforts to help me clarify my thoughts and expressions.
For years, you have heard my complaints about G's inadaquecies or misconceptions of cleaning, his lack of interest in gardening and housework, etc...
Our disfunctional marriage is not a result of these, rather these issues merely aggravate me. The root of our problems is our relationship, husband and wife.
G works all day and that is important. His salary pays the bills, just as mine used to. I have actively supported him with his job to the best of my ability and knowledge. I also work all day, to the extent I am able. I have established our home and work to maintain that and our family. G contributes to this, some days better than others.
Matt's right and has helped me to see that I have poorly communicated my frustrations. G does do work around the house and in the garden. I often feel that he is not doing enough or he does the wrong things but he does NOT come home from work and laze around like some men do. There have frequently been times when G has only done the work I specifically tell him to or times when he has come to me to question me about nearly every aspect of running our family; when to eat, what to eat, what to give the kids, what to do with the kids, etc... We have, together, began to work on this and again G. is improving. Another problem that has annoyed me is his attitude to necessary jobs with the house, garden or children especially his only helping when I insist or his taking a very sulky attitude or worse a "we can't do it" attitude. Again we are now making headway on these issues.
Another important note is that both now and before we married, neither of us believed that the strict traditional roles of husband bringing home the bacon, and wife doing all the home and child rearing work were appropriate for our lives. When I worked as a teacher, Geoff cooked most of the meals b/c I always had another 10 hours of work do to each night, an impossible task while I generally gathered up all the trash and took it out. He did all the laundering while I was responsible for cleaning hobs, ovens, toilets, sinks, etc... Other jobs we did together. How well either or both of us finished these jobs, especially in a timely manor, have varied from very badly to great.
We both agreed, years before having children that once our first was born I would stop employed work and focus on our children instead. I always believed that with this I would pick up the majority of many household chores given my increased time at home. I looked forward to cooking most of the meals, a passion of mine, and envisioned myself making fresh bread several times a week, expanding into baking and increasing my reportoire of meals of all styles and cultures. I fully expected to take over most of the laundry as well as most of the tidiing and kitchen work.
While all of this will have an impact on a marriage I believe that the core of a marriage is the relationship between husband and wife; sexuality, intimacy, friendship, companionship, love, trust, openess are all contribute to this core connection between husband and wife. It's deeper and wider than the connection between friends. Sadly this is what is missing between us and the sorce of the majority of both our problems and my heartache and deep sadness. A sadness that I have instinctually hidden from all of you most of the time. Only G. has known about it. For reasons I wont go into here, G. shutdown his side of that connection the day after we married. I found out when and why he did this about 3 years ago. I've learned a bit more since.
I have always believed that a marriage takes two and that it needs daily maintaince and attention. We have both, from the begining to present made mistakes, hurt each other, miscommunicated ourselves etc... I have never believed that I was blameless nor faultness in this marriage but through the last 9 years I have tried to be open, be aware of my thoughts and actions, be aware of my impact on others, be honest with myself especially about my faults, to improve myself as a christian, wife and person. It took me a year to recognize that we had some major problems to resolve and I have tried everything I could think of to fix our problems. But it takes two...
I very much apologize to to all of you for my miscommunications and the confusion they have caused. I continue to find it difficult to clearly articulate the problems I have had in my life and marriage and I thank all of you, especially Matt, for your time and efforts to help me clarify my thoughts and expressions.
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
I'm back
My laptop power cable plug was broken when a certain small child ran through and accidental pulled my laptop off my sewing desk. A replacement as obviously arrived and put me back in touch. Before that I'm afraid that illness and a few personal issues kept me from posting, although I have been throughout that time trying to contruct a few posts on different topics
God Bless!
Chris
God Bless!
Chris
Thoughts and Pictures That I want to never forgot
Playing with Sarah and the kids at Drigg Beach today, especially David standing at the edge of the waves in the knees bent, shoulders hunched over, big boy position saying, "Mommy, I'm peeing like a big boy" and Ruth very carefully running behind her brother and saying quieting to me, "it's ok Mommy, I'm making sure David wins" (David stops and has a screaming fit everytime someone else is winning)
Walking in ankle deep warm clear water and enjoying the sea and scenary there.
The God given peace that filled me during two conversations a week of so back, that would otherwise have been very stressful and emotional.
During our recent caravan holiday (Which I've been meaning to blog but simply havn't gotton around to, so I apologize) A fabulous shopping trip to a Tesco's extra with Kay. Excellent talking, joking and companionship. Kay, Geoff and I all making handrolled sushi for the first time from 1-3 am. Ruth, wearing arm bands, swimming the length of a pool for the first time. She was the very image of the turtle; plodding on one stroke at a time with a relaxed face that knew it would get there.
The wonderful times of just cuddling Ruth and/or David.
The whole day, night and following day of the birth of Ruth and of David, stories which I hope to record soon, before I forget anymore details.
My wedding day, from waking through the whole day.
Walking in ankle deep warm clear water and enjoying the sea and scenary there.
The God given peace that filled me during two conversations a week of so back, that would otherwise have been very stressful and emotional.
During our recent caravan holiday (Which I've been meaning to blog but simply havn't gotton around to, so I apologize) A fabulous shopping trip to a Tesco's extra with Kay. Excellent talking, joking and companionship. Kay, Geoff and I all making handrolled sushi for the first time from 1-3 am. Ruth, wearing arm bands, swimming the length of a pool for the first time. She was the very image of the turtle; plodding on one stroke at a time with a relaxed face that knew it would get there.
The wonderful times of just cuddling Ruth and/or David.
The whole day, night and following day of the birth of Ruth and of David, stories which I hope to record soon, before I forget anymore details.
My wedding day, from waking through the whole day.
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