Happy New Year...

And a Happy 13th Birthday to Ryan too. We're off out tonight to our usual social club party, which is fun. The boys love it, but most of my friends aren't going tonight, so I shall be bored. I'll be stuck chatting to the other football team members girlfriends, who although I like them, I have nothing in common with them at all. When we get home, my neighbors are having a party so we're going there to crack on for a few more hours.

Here is Isobel wearing a cowboy hat, but looking like D'Artagnan.

Shop til you drop!

Every year I put some money by, add it to any gift vouchers I'm given, and go shopping in the Next sale. It's become a bit of a tradition, I've been doing it since I was pregnant with Taylor 8 years ago. Ryan likes to come with me, we have a right laugh. I find that I can get enough clothes to last the kids all year, and the quality is much better than we can normally afford. We pretty much go without all year, and wear a lot of second hand(except for Ryan, who has expensive tastes), so this is a well deserved treat.
We left at 6.15am this morning, and thankfully it wasn't too busy in the shop(normally it's rammed). I managed to get everything I wanted, I'm really pleased, and Isobel got spoilt as usual. I got her a fab winter coat reduced from £20 to £10. Ryan had lots of money too, so we then had some breakfast whilst waiting for the other shops to open at 8am that he needed to go into.
Pete met us down there at 11am as he needed to visit a few shops, but by this time we were losing the will to live and each footstep was agony.
I was falling asleep by the time we got home, but another tradition is I add up what the clothes would have originally cost before the sale, just to make me feel like I've got a bargain. My stuff should have cost £360, and I got it for £170. Here is our hoard of goodies! :)

Poor Ryan

Ryan's Mum has been giving him a hard time on the phone, and she was horrible to him all week at Centreparcs, which has made him generally nervy again and not able to sleep. His nervous tic has also come back a year after it disappeared(he clears his throat constantly, even he knows it's connected to his Mum), and he suffers from bouts of Irritable Bowel Syndrome when he gets stressed.
We turned the phone off a few days ago as she likes to call him to tell him how empty Christmas is, just to rattle him. She did it last year leading up to Christmas so we turned the phone off then too. We turned it back on for about an hour on Christmas Eve so that Taylor's Dad could call to arrange a pick up time, and surprise surprise Sian called while the phone was on. I shouted to Ryan to leave the phone but he bloody answered it! As soon as he realised it was her he said 'Oh!', and laid the phone down on the table. I spoke to her, here is the gist of the conversation:

Me: Ryan doesn't want to speak to you until after Christmas.
Sian: Whys that then?
Me: Because you upset him and try to ruin his Christmas.
Sian: I've never mentioned Christmas to him.
Me: Yes, you have. You did last year.
Sian: I know what I have and haven't said(her famous irrational temper was now rising to her trademark scream).
Me: So do we Sian, we've heard you. Also, he's felt like crap since coming back from his holiday with you, and he doesn't want to speak to you. It was his choice to lay the phone down when he heard your voice, I wasn't even in the room.
Sian: Slams phone down

Ryan then spent a good hour on the toilet with an IBS attack. Thankfully he felt better by the time our party started, and the festivities over the last few days took his mind off it.
Unfortunately, now that's all over he's been worrying again. He told Pete today that he might not speak to her again, he is just sick of all the stress. I think he wishes she could be a normal Mum, but it's never going to happen.

I'm looking forward to her next phone call! ;)

Christmas Day

That sticker on her face says says Merry Christmas.






































This is Isobels "Oh shit, you mean I actually have to eat?" face. She didn't even touch her dinner. I don't know how that girl survives on so little food.




























We had a lovely day. The dinner was ready by twelve noon, but Pete was up the pub until half one so we all had to wait. It was lovely and well worth the wait. The boys were itching to open their presents, so as soon as we'd eaten we let them start unwrapping. They got;

RYAN
Xbox 360 and two games
A Yankees tracksuit
T Shirt
Game Vouchers
A few books


TAYLOR
Nintendo DS and two games
Scalextric from his Dad
Ghostbusters 1 & 2 DVDs
Reebok Tracksuit
Football training set
Singstar


ISOBEL
Teletubbies Aquadraw
Fifi Cottage
Megabloks Farm
Clothes/Hat & Gloves set

They all got lots of little bits too, but these were their main presents.

I'm just lazing around today as I'm up at 5am for the Next sale tomorrow. I can't wait!

Christmas Eve Photos

As promised here are some pictures of us, very drunk and making fools of ourselves on the karaoke, with our friends Wendy and Allan. We have video clips too, but I will not be posting those!

Merry Christmas!!

Santa has been!
I'm just enjoying the peace and quiet before the kids get up. I've been up since 5am cooking the Turkey. The house smells divine. I need to get up again and baste the bird and take the foil off it, but my bed is just too nice.
We drank far too much last night, but it was probably the most fun we've ever had on Christmas eve. I'll post drunken pictures and videos later.

Have a good one everybody!

New photos

Just a few pictures from today.

Tagged

I got these over on Dan's blog 0ddness, so thought I'd kill half an hour while I'm banished upstairs. Pete is wrapping my presents you see. :)



Fines Meme

Add up your fines for all the naughty things you've done ;-)
MY FINE = $723 Blimey, I'm not that bad, am I?

Smoked pot -- $10
Did acid -- $5
Ever had sex at church -- $25
Woke up in the morning and did not know the person who was next to you -- $40
Had sex with someone on MySpace -- $25
Had sex for money -- $100
Ever had sex with a Puerto Rican -- $20
Vandalized something -- $20
Had sex on your parents' bed -- $10
Beat up someone -- $20
Been jumped -- $10
Crossed dressed -- $10
Given money to stripper -- $25
Been in love with a stripper -- $20
Kissed some one who's name you didn't know -- $10
Hit on some one of the same sex while at work -- $15
Ever drive drunk -- $20
Ever got drunk at work, or went to work while still drunk -- $50
Used toys while having sex -- $30
Got drunk, passed and don't remember the night before -- $20
Went skinny dipping -- $5
Had sex in a pool -- $20
Kissed someone of the same sex -- $10
Had sex with someone of the same sex -- $20
Cheated on your significant other -- $10
Masturbated -- $10
Cheated on your significant other with their relative or close friend -- $20
Done oral -- $5
Got oral -- $5
Done / got oral in a car while it was moving -- $25
Stole something -- $10
Had sex with someone in jail -- $25
Made a nasty home video -- $15
Had a threesome -- $50
Had sex in the wild -- $20
Been in the same room while someone was having sex -- $25
Stole something worth over more than a hundred dollars -- $20
Had sex with someone 10 years older -- $20
Had sex with someone under 21 and you are over 27 -- $25
Been in love with two people or more at the same time -- $50
Said you love someone but didn't mean it -- $25
Went streaking -- $5
Went streaking in broad daylight -- $15
Been arrested -- $5
Spent time in jail -- $15
Peed in the pool -- $5
Played spin the bottle -- $5
Done something you regret -- $20
Had sex with your best friend -- $20
Had sex with someone you work with at work -- $25
Had anal sex -- $80
Lied to your mate -- $5
Lied to your mate about the sex being good -- $25



"Been There, Done That"
(green means I've been there)

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (and survived the crush afterwards)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne (I'm drinking it riiiiiight now!)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents (Stepfather)
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Yay!!!

Oh my goodness, I'm getting so excited now! My Dad & Pauline will be here in a few hours and I still have loads to organise. I really shouldn't be on here typing this. I had a quick poke of the turkey and it's defrosting nicely. That would be a nightmare, if it was still frozen on Christmas Day.
The mechanic is outside fixing our car, at last. I'm actually terrified that he's going to knock and say it can't be fixed. We've already paid him £300 for the parts. I want to go to the cemetery tomorrow to put some flowers on Nans grave, but obviously can't if we have no car. Please please please let it be fixed!
Pete has just gone down the town to get a few last presents for me. Brave man. I bet it's insane down there today.
Both the boys are playing out and Isobel is in bed, so I guess I'd better go get on with my housework.

Give me back my boyfriend...

I think Pete has been abducted by aliens and replaced. He called me at work today to tell me he was clearing loads of crap out of the house, and getting the boys to help him clean.
Once a year, at varying times, Pete suddenly gets a bug up his arse and he cleans. He also shouts at anyone who dares to make a mess or question him, and basically acts like I do all year round when I shout at the family for making a mess. The difference is, no one listens to me or cares, but he expects us all to jump up and start cleaning. Double standards.
So I praise them all for the good job when I got home, it looks very nice, and I only have the bathroom and kitchen to clean tomorrow ready for my Dad & Pauline coming over. Happy days! But one 'Good Boy' isn't enough. Pete wants to be patted on the head like a Labrador and fed chocolate drops all night for his hard work. Why don't I get complimented on my hard work around the house EVERY DAY?
Then he irrationally starts moaning about the animals, saying they make his life too hard and he wants them all gone. Why should I listen or care, when for the last 7 years I've been saying the same things and no one has given a shit? Strange man. I'm dreading his next cleaning fit. I'd rather he didn't bother.

We were naughty tonight and drank a bottle of champers and played our new Buzz Music Quiz game. It was great fun. I also finished the last of the food shopping today, it was insane in Asda. The crazies were out in force, fighting over carrots and brandy butter. I'm just enjoying lazing around now and waiting for the big day. The turkey is defrosting, the house is tidy(at a price), the booze is chilling and the cupboards are full of chocolates. Merry Christmas!

Yule

Today is Yule, so happy yule celebrations to all you pagans out there. I love yule, as it means the days are getting longer again and spring is on it's way.












Today is also 11 years since my horse Rose was put to sleep. Eleven years, that's such a long time. I still remember it as if it were yesterday. I was with her when she died, and for years afterwards I'd dream about it. It wasn't a very nice thing for a 15 year old to witness. I've always regretted not keeping a few strands of her tail or mane. I would've loved to have kept some.




I can't wait for work to be over at about 3pm tomorrow. I'm getting so excited now that all my shopping is finished. I wrapped the last 5 presents last night. I just need to buy the fresh food like vegetables, cream, ham and dips. I'll probably get that lot on Saturday.

Three days until Christmas!!!!!

Gappy

Taylor has lost yet another tooth. He now has 5 missing, and 4 of those have been gone for at least 4 months or so. I wish they'd hurry up and grow back. I don't know how he manages to take a bite of his food! When I sneaked in to his room to whisk his tooth away last night and exchange it for money, I dropped it on the floor. I was crawling around on my hands and knees using the backlight on the mobile, searching for this minute tooth. I ended up leaving it until the morning. Thankfully I got it before he saw it. The things us parents do!

I feel like crap today. I've had a migraine for two days now, I just can't shift it. I've just opened one of my little pressies from work and it's Thornton's chocolates. That should help the headache!

We turn our home phone off tomorrow so that Sian can't hassle us. She drove us mad last year, trying to put Ryan off of Christmas, so we switched it off four days before. She called him tonight, which jogged my memory of last year, so I'm turning it off tomorrow.

I can't believe there is only 5 days until Christmas Eve night, which to me is Christmas. I can't wait. I only have 4 or 5 more presents to buy and I'm done. I'm going to sort out the kids father christmas sacks in a minute.

Taylors Christmas Play

We went to see Taylor's play today, it was excellent. He had a few lines, but I only caught one on camera. The singing was beautiful! Here is a picture of him looking happy(not!) so you know who to look for in the videos. He's on the right of the screen in most of them I think.

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Heavy weekend

Well, we've had a busy one! It was Pete's birthday on Friday, but as it was also my work Christmas Meal we went along to that. One of our cooks husband had just had a bonus so he bought about 12 bottles of expensive wine, which Pete and I enjoyed a little too much of. On Saturday I had to drag the kids across to Laindon on the bus to drop them off at my Mums as we were going clubbing.
We went to our favourite club, The End. We went with James and Ali, some friends of our that we've not known for long, and have never been out with them before. James' partner Sam had to stay home with their son Harvey, which was a shame. They were excellent company, I had a wicked time and feel very fragile today. Timo Maas was DJing a six hour set and the techno he played was awesome. I'd love to find out his tracklisting as I'd love to buy a few new records for my collection. I shook his hand at the end, he was brilliant. I danced all night, didn't sit down once, but I actually feel the worst I've ever felt after a night out now. I think I'm getting too old for this!
We got home at 9am Sunday, and I slept until 1.30pm. Then I had to make the hardest bus journey of my life to get the kids home. I was in bed by 8pm, then woke up at 1am, and couldn't get back to sleep! I feel like death warmed up today.
Taylor has his school play this afternoon, so I need to sort myself out before we go and watch that.

Bored

The kids are all in bed and Pete is at football, and although I still have loads of housework to do before bed I just can't be arsed. I'm just bored. I'm on Ebay bidding for a few games for the boys, but keep losing the auctions. People are just willing to pay too much I'm afraid. What's the point of paying £21 for a game on Ebay that I can buy down the town for £24?

Taylor had his school disco tonight and Ryan had his football team Christmas do. They went bowling and had some food, all paid for by the club. I tell you, that football team is excellent. They get to see free Southend and West Ham games, have been ball boys for both of those teams, and get meals and trips out for free too.

Our loan money should be going in the bank in the next two days, so we can buy a new car and get the rest of the presents. Of course, all the money we spend needs to be put back into the bank in January to pay for the wedding, but for now we need a car. We do have the money for the Xmas presents in our December wage packets, but not until my pay day on Monday, and I'm worried about the XBox and the DS being out of stock. The sooner we get them the happier I'll be. Can you imagine if we left it until 5 days before Christmas and they sold out, I'd panic big time!

Yay!! I just won a £29.99 game for £20.

Child Maintenance

This news report on the BBC has reminded me of something that I've always wanted to do. It's pretty revengeful and not like me at all, but I'd love to do it for a laugh. I've always wanted to build a website called sianjenkins.com, and put pictures up of Ryan's Mum telling the whole world about her not paying any child support despite living the high life. Does that make me really sad? Can you believe her and her husband paid £200 to spend the day in a spa while they were on holiday(and dumped the kids with friends), but won't help out with any day to day costs with Ryan?

I actually can't wait for the CSA to be scrapped as they're crap, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't be paying us any money.

Feeling sad today

I've been thinking about Lisa quite a bit today, fighting back the tears lots. I cried watching the X Factor earlier, when Leona sung Somewhere Over The Rainbow. I texted Clare to ask how she was holding up earlier and her message made me cry. She said it was the worst day of her life, and seeing her brother carrying Lisa in the coffin made it finally hit home. There was so many flowers they didn't know what to do with them. I keep hearing Lisa's laugh and seeing her smile in my head. I wish I could have been there to say goodbye.

Taylor went out with his Dad for the day today. Michael took him to football training and then round to visit family. I took these pictures when they got back here so that Taylor could have them on his wall in his room. How alike are they? They even sound the same. Freaky!

Pissed

Yes, that's me. It's 3am, and I'm surfing the net. The party was excellent, but full of Council knobheads. Here are the pissed up photos of me and my gorgeous colleagues!

We cracked up when we realised that Dean's pint glass was covering Wendy's face in this one:


Carol(my friend in the red patterned dress) cut my fringe for me today and I love it!

Ryan's home

I was desperate to get home before he did to welcome him home. I was expecting him home by four, and four rolled around and I was still stuck at work. I got in at 5.15 expecting him to be there and he wasn't. They turned up 5 minutes later and he couldn't wait to get away from them. He cried, not because he was sad to leave them, but because he was glad to be home.
They'd shouted at him all the way home, telling him how evil we are, and how much she hates me and that she hoped I wouldn't be there when they dropped him off(unlucky!). She thinks I control him, which is a massive psychological projection of her personality traits on to me, because honestly, if I were controlling at all Pete would have kicked my arse to the kerb years ago like he did to her. She can't accept that this is RYAN'S CHOICE. Yes, he has chosen to live with a devil worshipping heathen over you. Suck it up. She has gone on and on about how he could come back and he's told her time and time again he likes it here and would never come back. Open your ears Sian. The boy is almost 13, not 3. He has a voice, and an opinion, and he's entitled to one. We raise our kids to have confidence and a sense of self, and to question the things in front of them, and she HATES that. They've argued with him about Christmas being empty and worthless, about the JWs knowing more than doctors when it comes to blood transfusions, about him being here with us 'wordly' people. Honestly, he's just a kid! He said he's never ever going away with them again. I don't blame him.
She also asked Ryan in secret if he would come back if she dumped Dean, her husband. What kind of wife does that? Unfreakingbelievable!

I'm off out for my Christmas work do in about an hour, I must remember to take my camera! We've just had a celebratory Chinese takeaway to welcome him home.

This post over on Dan's Blog reminded me to come and update mine. That first crack of thunder today was the loudest I've ever heard, and being a fan of storms I've heard a few. Our office is indoors with no external windows, and it still made the whole room rattle like a bomb going off. It must have been right overhead.

Pete spoke to Ryan today without them being with him and he's really fed up. Pete asked him if it was bad enough for us to borrow a car and come get him, and he said it's not quite that bad, but even so it shouldn't be bad at all! She's been going on and on about him coming back to the meetings, and her JW friends have been on at him too calling him 'worldly' and giving him a hard time. Thankfully he's stuck up for himself and told them that he's happy here with us, and would never go back to her or the meetings. She asked why he likes it here with us and he said the atmosphere is great and we're chilled out. She let him down at football again today and went off with her friends. He's been eating alone and swimming alone every day. At least he gets to come home tomorrow. I bet he can't wait. I wonder if he'll ever go with them again as he really hasn't enjoyed it at all?

I just spoke to Ryan on the mobile as he'd snuck off to speak to us so they weren't ear wigging. I asked him if he was having fun and he just went 'Hmmmmm'. His Mum has moaned at him all week and he's told her to stop being so miserable, which has made her worse. They forbade him from talking about Christmas in front of Holly, but all they've done all week is moan about Christmas. What hypocrites! They can whinge about it, but he can't say how great it is. Every time a Christmas song comes on she says 'Lets all think about Jehovah for a minute'. Excuse me while I piss myself laughing!
He asked her last week on the phone not to buy a coat for him without him choosing it as he's at that age where he's fussy. She wouldn't have it and wouldn't listen to Ryan telling her not to waste her money. Even Pete tried to reason with her about it. So, she bought the damn coat, and he hated it. So she bought him another, which he hated, and a hat(which, yes, he hated). She's made him like this with clothes, not us. My kids wear second hand and like it. There's no fashion consciousness in this house. She on the other hand, buys all their clothes from Monsoon, BHS, Marks & Next.
She's also been bleating on about him leaving her being the worst thing she's ever been through. He told me just now he just wishes she could be a proper Mum. Poor little guy. She also dumped him at football today and walked off, she couldn't even spare the hour and a half to watch him. Sad. Jehovah is much more important, obviously. I'm looking forward to him coming home. I'm not surprised he's had a crap time, we all knew that would be the case. At least he's had a holiday out of it.

I've just ordered the flowers for Lisa's funeral on Friday. I don't know what to put on the little card. What can you say?

Polite girl

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Counting

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More bad luck & a fat cat

Our car is officially wrecked. We struggled to pay for the yearly MOT on the car last week. We paid out £300 on fixing things to pass it, then the next day one of the back wheels fell off while Pete was driving it! Our mechanic just called me to tell me we need a whole new back axle, which will cost hundreds, and we may as well scrap it. Looks like that loan money will be going on a new car rather than the wedding!

I'm getting a funny feeling that Isla may be pregnant. She is eating stacks of food, she begs for more at least 5/6 times a day. I thought it might be worms, but if that were the case she wouldn't be getting fat and her coat looks glorious at the moment. She'd still look all rangy and dirty like she did when she moved in. She won't let me feel her tummy. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if she gets fatter. If she does have kittens, she'll be straight down the vets getting spayed after. She seems to have got much bigger just this week.
If she is she'll have them sometime between now and January, because of course we have no idea when she got pregnant!
Here are two comparison pics. I'm not sure you can tell from the photographs, but you definitely can in person.

November 13th


December 5th

Another Monday

This picture is of Taylor when he was about 3 years old. I'd forgotten how blond he was!


Well, the weather was beautiful earlier, and now a huge dirty great raincloud has come over. I knew I should've hung my washing out early this morning. We've been to baby group this morning, and I'm just enjoying a quiet five minutes while Jake and Isobel are in bed. It won't last long though.

I called the Wright Stuff this morning. It's the first time I've ever done anything like it so that was fun. I'm really not a daytime TV person but our Telewest box isn't working properly at the moment so we can't get all the good channels. Hence why I'm stuck watching the terrestrial channels. Taylor watched me talking on the TV, fascinated. I called in to talk about vanity over health, and how sunbeds cause skin cancer. Obviously a subject close to my heart right now because of Lisa. I have always been a sun worshipper, but never again. You won't find me baking myself in the garden next summer, that's for sure.

Harvey's Party

We've just been to Harvey's 2nd birthday party. I love his parents Sam & James so it was nice to see them both, plus they had plenty of bottles of wine on the go, so I was happy. The kids were extremely well behaved, I was shocked that Isobel didn't have a single tantrum. They all seemed to have a good time.

Another busy week gone by...

... Not long 'til Christmas. Yay!

Taylor spoke to his Dad last night and he is finally going to see him. It took Taylor calling him for him to remember he actually has a son though. He's taking him out next Saturday. He's not seen him since July, and they only live a few miles away in Grays.

Ryan is off to his Mums today, which I hate. He'll probably enjoy the holiday, but he always comes back with an attitude problem. I've packed all his bags, and he's all ready to go at about 12 noon. At least I won't have to pay for his school dinners all week or iron his uniform!

Isla caught a mouse last night and presented it to me on the front doorstep, so I rescued it. I put it in a pot with some food and will release it today once the rain has stopped.

We went to The Grasshopper Inn with my work on Friday. It was really good and the food was yummy! I even got up and had a dance with the old ladies. The villages we drove through on the way there were stunning. I want to move!

Gales

Blimey, it's got windy all of a sudden. I'm not sure if we've been predicted gales force winds tonight, but they came on really suddenly about an hour ago. At least all my animals are in the warm. My Guinea Pigs love being indoors. As soon as you open the fridge they squeal for more veggies!

We have a new volunteer in work. She doing her NVQ in care and needed a work placement. She sounds as if she is Eastern European, and her name is Corniche, which is strange! She's a nice girl, and good fun to have around. We like cheerful people in the office. I'm taking 100 people out for a three course meal tomorrow at work, which should be nice. Pete is coming with me, which makes a change as my Mum normally comes.

It's been pretty boring here to be honest. I've started packing Ryans bag for his Mums. He's crapping his pants about going, and she hasn't been nice to him on the phone for weeks. I'm sure he's going to have fun...not!

Taylor

Taylor just asked me to take some pictures of him, so here you go;

Cheerful Taylor

Grumpy Taylor


I forgot to say, Ryan was told by some of the lads on the estate that the lad Billy, that's been causing us problems, has been arrested! Hahahahaha!

Sad :*0(

I had a call from Martin earlier to let me know that Lisa had passed away. He was really upset, which upset me more. Here is my original post on the subject if you have no idea what I'm talking about. I got a text from her sister Clare about ten minutes later, so called her right away. She was ok, fine in fact. She's in shock, but she is expecting it to hit her at some point. Clare got to spend time with her before she died, but it was her partner and little girl that were with her when it actually happened. It wasn't a nice death at all, but I won't say any more than that as I know Martin is reading this and it'll make him sad. Hi Martin! *waves*

I just can't beleive she has gone. What a massive hole she has left. I can't go to the funeral as it's on Monday and I have Jake, so I'm sending some flowers from us all. I called my Mum and the whole street where we all grew up is sending some too.

I don't believe some people! This is a perfect example of why you should never rely on anyone but yourself.

I've been down the town this morning, and didn't get in until 1pm. The two little ones went down late for their nap, so I asked a neighbor whose kid is in Taylor's class to pick him up for me. We drop her kids off for her most mornings, in fact, we dropped them this morning. When I asked her she said 'Yeah fine, no problem, you did me a favour this morning'.
So, at 3.40pm I'm pottering around the house tidying up expecting Taylor through the door any minute(he finishes at 3.10pm), when the phone rings. It's the school. No one has picked him up. I had to call Pete and he had to cancel a meeting at work to collect him. I couldn't go as the school is a 15 minute walk away so by the time I walked there it would've been gone 4pm. I'm soooo mad with this woman! Pete told me to tell her to piss off if she thinks we're taking her kids again. The woman's a bit of a nutter so that confrontation should be fun. Hahahahah!
She hasn't even knocked to see if we've got him or if he's ok, and I've just seen her walk past. She either hasn't remembered yet, or is too chickenshit to tell me. What if the school hadn't called, he'd still be sitting there.

Shop 'til you drop!

After weeks of deciding what people are getting, what day I'm buying what and which shops I'm visiting when, I finally got to go shopping yesterday for Christmas presents. Most people I know loathe shopping, but I love it, because this is the only time of year we can afford to do it. The only other kind of shopping I get to do is the weekly food shop. Thrilling.
So, I bought lots of sack presents, Isobel's Aquadraw & Fifi Cottage, Ryan's tracksuit he wanted(£60!! For a tracksuit!!), and we got the Buzz music quiz and Singstar for the PS2. Ryan came with me, and by the end of it we could barely put one foot in front of the other. And we still have another two thirds to buy yet.

In a festive mood, we then decided to put the tree up. Now, I usually do it between the 1st-7th of December, but as Ryan is visiting his Mum that week we did it last night. Ryan adores decorating the tree, and he didn't want to miss it. I can live with having mine up early in those circumstances, although it normally infuriates me. Then, we decided to go all out and wrap the presents we'd bought too. Yes, we were bored.





My friend Angela had her second son last night at 8.30pm, so I'm looking forward to lots of newborn cuddles. :-)

More fighting!

Jane came over on an impromptu visit last night, bearing gifts of wine, so I was pleased(even though it was a work night). We drank the first bottle, then went up the shop for another, which went down rather quickly too. Pete went up the shop and got us another, which we settled down to drink, when Ryan runs in crying as he's had a fight. I mentioned this boy Billy in this post back on the 3rd of November. The police went round to see him after this incident, gave us a crime number and told us to call if anything else happened and they'd arrest him. He causes a lot of problems here and the police are well aware of him and his family.
Anyway, Billy was threatening to stab these three girls, then he saw Ryan smile at something and laid into him for laughing! Ryan did defend himself but had marks on his neck and a lump on his head. Pete went out after him and asked him what was going on. The kid said 'Ryan laughed', and Pete said 'And that gives you the right to beat up my son does it?' Billy said 'If you want a war on this estate you've got one', so it looks like we're in for some fun! Yay!! I hope they do harass us, we'll get moved away. Bring it on!!



I called the police number I was given before and reported it. We haven't seen anyone yet, but are going to the station tomorrow to give statements and have photos taken. Then they'll pull him in for questioning. We are going to take him to court for assault as someone has to stick up for the kids round here and stop this little fucker from running the show.

God I love this town!

I've been up to loads this week. I've had Jake here Mon/Tues/Weds and he's been a star. We went to baby group on Monday, then had Angela and Alastair over for lunch. I made them a den today in the lounge, they had great fun.







Taylor stuck up for his friend Georgie in school today as he was being bullied and got a kicking in return. A boy called Bradley kneed him in the face. So, yet again I'm going to be having a word with someones parents. Can you believe the teacher had a word with this boy, but didn't make him apologise to Taylor? If one of my kids did that to someone else I'd drag them round there to make a public apology.

I need to have a word with his teacher next week anyway as I'm really unhappy with something she said. They were talking about people being psychic in school and she told the whole class that psychics are evil and nasty. Well, seeing as my seven year old son in her class can occasionally read minds, I'm not happy about the comment. I'm sure she'll think I'm a weirdo, but I'm not having her make Taylor feel like he's evil. No he can't do it all the time, but it's a very real feeling for him, which I've witnessed numerous times, and I won't have anyone make him feel bad for it. He's told me he reads her mind all the time, I'm sure she'll love that! ;)