2008

And another year has rolled over and put it's self to sleep without too much in the way of stress and turmoil.
Or at least, when I try and bring specifics to mind to write something like this , thats always how it feels.
A large space full of errrrrrring and ummmmmming rather than lots of how-on-earth-did-i-fit-it-all-in-ing.

Actually thats what happens when someone asks me any kind of question.
It's as if the act of trying to recall anything presses the empty button and dumps all my memories down an inaccessible well.

A couple of things stand out though.
Like ....
Spending an evening dancing around a trophy and trying to lose my last chips at the charity roulette wheel [ isn't it odd that you invariably win when there's nothing to lose ] at the Awards .
Getting the start of new work on my arm by Bugs, forgetting to take water with me and feeling totally shaky after the 3 hours on putting the monochrome base in.
Finding storage space in my house for a load of stuff that an idiot friend [ you know who you are ;D ] was going to dump as a new and happy time was started in the US.
Visiting my Mum and realising how much i miss her now she's 4+ hours away and not 40 mins away.
Getting totally choked just saying goodbye when what's left of my family got together to scatter my Dad's ashes in a freezing sea.
Nearly messing up my relationship with my oldest daughter.
Getting stuck in the Victoria and Albert when they locked everyone in for a reason that they kept to themselves.
Drooling over the Vogue exhibition at said V&A.
Finally finding a pair of shoes that are more comfortable than my MBT's for work so i can look like i have normal sized [ and rather cute looking ] feet.

The whole year had a feeling of bringing things to completion.
My partner is now settled in a job he loves.
My own working life has become more manageable with the addition of a trainee and a new part time staff member letting me get to grips with things I've been putting off for over a year.
I've re-aquainted myself with some of the things that I love doing and which I haven't had [ or made the ] time for since my girls came on the scene.

And now I'm putting my mind to what I want to do with this coming year.
For I do want to actively DO something with it.
To take it by the pants and modify it until it fits ME perfectly.

*Raises my glass to a Glorious New Year*

Help restored

I am SO looking forwards to seeing this tonight

Thank you BBC4

I still cant love a pug

Yesterday was the first day of my week off and I'd planned to go to this and drool over yarn and things.

But as is normal in my life thats not what happened.

On my way home from work on Friday i heard an advert for an event being held at Earls Court that I knew my littlest daughter would kill to go to.
[ Actually I ought to stop calling her that. Its technically true, but since she's nearly as tall as me and her feet are already 2 sizes bigger than mine, it gives totally the wrong impression ]

So, since I hadn't actaully bought my ticket for the Stitch'n'Bitch, and since i don't get to do all that much mum and daughter stuff with that particular daughter, I hoiked out my trusty card and booked us a couple of tickets for Discover Dogs

Now I do quite like dogs, and my family have almost always had one so i grew up with them, but its never been my passion to own one myself.
Jo however is completely the opposite.
And yesterday she was in completel doggy heaven.
Holding, stroking, photographing,stroking, talking about, drooling over and more stroking every different breed there.
And there were a LOT of different breeds.

They gave some good advice during some of the demonstrations that they had going on too, about handling and especially about safety issues, and she's going to tell all her friends at school about the ' tree and stone ' positions for dealing with unknown and aggressive dogs.

She's also joined Junior Cruffts which will give her free entry into next years discover dogs show as well as for Cruffts itself.

And I can see that we've got one step closer to owning a dog ourselves.

On one final point , i was saddened to see notices about rehoming rescued pure breed dogs on almost every stand.
I knew there were a lot of dogs being abandonned, but somehow it suprized me to see notices on stands like the Shar Pei.

And yeah...I did fall in love with one particular breed.
Segugio Italiano a Pelo Raso.



But even though the ones at the show were lovely in temperament, I just couldn't love a Pug.

choices

You know, as each year passes and each new problem occurs, I look back at the past ones and think 'If only I knew what was coming'.
Right now I'm trying to find a way to advise my daughters so that they make the right choices for them and accept that those choices may not be the right choice for me.
A way to balance their view of the world with mine.
A way to explain why I see things differently without making them feel guilty for not seeing it the same way.

And a way not to worry that I'm making it too easy to opt out just because I don't want them to just do what _I_ want.

Pieke Bergman

I fell in love with these vases when i was flicking from site to site a couple of days ago, then went back today to look more closely at her site http://www.piekebergmans.com/ and found so much more lovely stuff.
Each section I looked at had me more excited.
I love ALL of her designs.
So take this as a poke with a sharp stick to make you go and look too.
And if by any chance you can afford to buy any of the lovely lovely things...*flutters eyelashes*...
;D