Hi all, didn't post yesterday as I was exhausted. After a busy weekend pottering in garden, looking after baby granddaughter and being out with friends on the Monday I was already knackered.
Tuesday morning came and I started the pill popping (see last entry), got up and met another friend of mine for a coffee and a swap of cash for catalogue and party orders. Sometimes we go out for a coffee and a bit of shopping, sometimes she comes to me and we have a morning at mine with tea and cake. After finishing the shopping, coming home, feeding dog, hanging out the washing on the line and planting the two new honeysuckle bushes I'd bought in the 99p store, I had a cuppa and waiting for my son to get up. And I waited and I waited. Ended up taking up a cuppa to him at 12.10pm to get him up as we had trampoline lesson in the afternoon. Walked there, went to Subway (took it home instead of staying in) and came home. I ached like hell by this point, was absoluted knackered as I'd have approx 4 hours sleep again and so cancelled another visit that I was supposed to do that day. Hate cancelling things, but I know that at times, its what is best for me and especially now. I have to be kind to me!! Fell asleep for about 15mins on the sofa in the early evening, curled up on sofa and watched mong telly in the later part of the evening and actually had an early night. Woo hoo!
Today, feeling a little bit more 'with it' although still tired. Sunshine was a good thing this morning and I decided that I must reintroduce a schedule for doing some home education. It's now April and we have just over 3 months before the open day, so we need to get work done. C got up and we had a bit of a discussion. Going to tackle a bit at a time and use science kits as much as we can as they mean I don't have to spend ages prepping anything as it's already done for us. Just need to double check if we need to add anything to the kits beforehand.
So, we made a start on Genetics and DNA kit and I left him to fill in a Vitamin question and answer sheet from a project that we started ages ago and never actually did anything with. Again means I don't have to think too much.
I also went through my diary and cancelled a few things that I really didn't want to do in the first place and pencilled in some 'keep free' dates so that I don't overbook myself. I know that a lot of how I feel is about management. It's about learning to say no, about prioritising and not expecting myself to do too much. I am my own worst enemy as I want to do everything and that is physically impossible.
Maybe the fact that I'm now in my 50s isn't helping. I may not consciously be thinking that I'm running out of time, but maybe subconsciously I am. Working on the fact that your parents age of dying equates roughly to your own age, although that isn't a scientific formula, and obviously health and diet will contribute to that I'm working on the fact I should have approximately 20-25 years left!!! Eeeeek, that is nowhere near long enough and as my physical health isn't exactly brilliant I could have less than that to be physically active. That is actually a rather scary thought and I do end up falling into the trap of saying yes to absolutely everything as I want to cram it all in. I know that they say you SHOULD live for today, but today still only has 24 hrs in it and you have to factor in sleep, rest, food, toilet breaks, etc haha, so I really should give myself a break and stop thinking the worst and spread it out a bit.
At the moment I've decided to give myself a small lists of tasks to do each day and I'll work on ticking them off. If I start to struggle, then I know that the list is too long and if I find it becomes easy, then I'll start adding. That way I should build up the list until it is managable and I'm happy with it. The list will include boring housework stuff, paperworky stuff (filing, bills, etc), home ed stuff, garden stuff, social stuff and crafty stuff that I like (hopefully 1 or 2 craft items). Sounds a lot doesn't it, but some jobs shouldn't take too long so it shouldn't be impossible to do although I will give myself a break if I don't get it all done straight away and obviously not everything will be on the list every day.
So, in short, today I'm feeling a bit more positive, although still tired and achy. Whether I feel the same tomorrow, I don't know. We shall see.
Showing posts with label mid life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mid life. Show all posts
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Sunday, 10 February 2013
AHEM! HELLO, TESTING, TESTING, ONE, TWO, THREE
Well hello there. Yes I am still alive. I'm also pretty damn fine too. Don't really know what has happened to this blog. I've been doing my son's one, Callum's World, but not this one. Think I've been a bit too tied up with Facebook, Summer, then Autumn, Halloween, Christmas, New Year, new news....oh you get the picture.
Anyway enough of this rubbish. 2013 is my 50th year in case you didn't know. I've decided that I'm not going to wallow like some people might in the old "I'm getting old, look at the wrinkles and grey hair!" syndrome. I'm going to embrace getting older and I'm actually finding it rather liberating. I'm no longer young and that means I no longer feel the need to impress people, so go stuff it if you don't like it. My children are getting older; actually my daughter is a full blown adult and about to be a parent herself (more about that later) and my son is reaching 14, so a teenager and therefore, theoretically, able to be left by himself and be responsible a bit more and is probably able to answer his dad back if said dad starts to piss him off. Therefore, I can start getting back a life, my life, an independant life! Woo hoo!
So plans? I've been looking at jobs. I need some extra cash and although Body Shop At Home earns me a few pennies to go out for a drink with, it isn't substantial and, to be honest, isn't really what I want to do with my life. I enjoy it, but I'm not passionate about it. So I've been looking elsewhere. However, I want something I enjoy, I want something I can do from home and I want something that is, at least for the most part, mine! Options = my own business or writing a book. My own business could be difficult as I have no idea what I want to do a business in. I enjoy baking, but that's it, I enjoy it, I don't love it. I don't want it to become a chore, I want to still enjoy it. I enjoy knitting, but I'm slow at it and I get bored with it really easily as I do with most craft things, so that's out. I do, however, love making chutneys and pickles. I don't enjoy making jam! So I could do something involving a farmers market, but it would probably end up seasonal, but that isn't a bad idea. I also love writing, don't ask me why, but then I love talking, haha. If I could get paid to meet people and talk, I'd be fine, but I can't think of anything that would let me do that, so writing will have to do. So I'm back on the novel writing; determined to finish at least one of them before the Summer.
I'm also determined to get my garden back on track. It's not doing too bad, but I've got an issue with some broken fencing and that needs to be sorted. I have a list of herbs and wild flowers that I want to plant for medicinal use and decorative, so I need to prioritise and get on with digging.
I want more tattoos! Yep, I'm an old bird who wants tattoos, get used to it! They, of course, require some cash, so we are back on to the 'how to make money' thing again.
So, priority list:
1. Decide what I really love doing and schedule that in. If I earn money from it, even better.
2. Don't just talk about it, do it!
3. Ring local Council and get someone down to inspect kitchen and tell me what I need to do to make it 'road worthy'.
4. Find out who owns the broken fence, me or them, and get that sorted.
5. Get out of the house more. (I have a tendency to hibernate in Winter which isn't good for me)
6. Meet more people (nothing like a bit of networking)
and last, but by no means least
7. Stop damn well fretting all the time. If it's meant to be, it will be.
There, 2013 plans listed.
And what has happened so far?
1. We'll I'm not dying my hair, I'm now almost completely grey and I rather like it. Lovely not to have to think about roots showing.
2. Had new tattoo done:
.JPG)
3. Daughter is currently 21 weeks pregnant with 1st grandchild:
Don't know what sex it is as she didn't want to know. Better that way, more of a surprise and you don't end up with loads of pink or loads of blue.
4. New home ed timetable done. It's actually not been followed strictly at all yet and probably won't be. But no more trying to catch up and/or follow curriculum. Completely stressful for both me and Callum, so not doing it. We'll do what he enjoys, we'll have fun and we'll do practical stuff that will be useful for him in adult life like cooking and money and being able to use a washing machine. You know, all that stuff that they DON'T teach you at school. We will do some maths and english (well, he'll read books and we might do a review on them) and we'll do science because it's fun, but as to it all leading to exams - NO! He can do them later when he feels he wants/needs to.
So that's a start. First blog of the year and no real ranting; it won't last, the lack of ranting that is. Am off to Facebook again and to do some research.
Cya
Anyway enough of this rubbish. 2013 is my 50th year in case you didn't know. I've decided that I'm not going to wallow like some people might in the old "I'm getting old, look at the wrinkles and grey hair!" syndrome. I'm going to embrace getting older and I'm actually finding it rather liberating. I'm no longer young and that means I no longer feel the need to impress people, so go stuff it if you don't like it. My children are getting older; actually my daughter is a full blown adult and about to be a parent herself (more about that later) and my son is reaching 14, so a teenager and therefore, theoretically, able to be left by himself and be responsible a bit more and is probably able to answer his dad back if said dad starts to piss him off. Therefore, I can start getting back a life, my life, an independant life! Woo hoo!
So plans? I've been looking at jobs. I need some extra cash and although Body Shop At Home earns me a few pennies to go out for a drink with, it isn't substantial and, to be honest, isn't really what I want to do with my life. I enjoy it, but I'm not passionate about it. So I've been looking elsewhere. However, I want something I enjoy, I want something I can do from home and I want something that is, at least for the most part, mine! Options = my own business or writing a book. My own business could be difficult as I have no idea what I want to do a business in. I enjoy baking, but that's it, I enjoy it, I don't love it. I don't want it to become a chore, I want to still enjoy it. I enjoy knitting, but I'm slow at it and I get bored with it really easily as I do with most craft things, so that's out. I do, however, love making chutneys and pickles. I don't enjoy making jam! So I could do something involving a farmers market, but it would probably end up seasonal, but that isn't a bad idea. I also love writing, don't ask me why, but then I love talking, haha. If I could get paid to meet people and talk, I'd be fine, but I can't think of anything that would let me do that, so writing will have to do. So I'm back on the novel writing; determined to finish at least one of them before the Summer.
I'm also determined to get my garden back on track. It's not doing too bad, but I've got an issue with some broken fencing and that needs to be sorted. I have a list of herbs and wild flowers that I want to plant for medicinal use and decorative, so I need to prioritise and get on with digging.
I want more tattoos! Yep, I'm an old bird who wants tattoos, get used to it! They, of course, require some cash, so we are back on to the 'how to make money' thing again.
So, priority list:
1. Decide what I really love doing and schedule that in. If I earn money from it, even better.
2. Don't just talk about it, do it!
3. Ring local Council and get someone down to inspect kitchen and tell me what I need to do to make it 'road worthy'.
4. Find out who owns the broken fence, me or them, and get that sorted.
5. Get out of the house more. (I have a tendency to hibernate in Winter which isn't good for me)
6. Meet more people (nothing like a bit of networking)
and last, but by no means least
7. Stop damn well fretting all the time. If it's meant to be, it will be.
There, 2013 plans listed.
And what has happened so far?
1. We'll I'm not dying my hair, I'm now almost completely grey and I rather like it. Lovely not to have to think about roots showing.
2. Had new tattoo done:
.JPG)
3. Daughter is currently 21 weeks pregnant with 1st grandchild:
Don't know what sex it is as she didn't want to know. Better that way, more of a surprise and you don't end up with loads of pink or loads of blue.
4. New home ed timetable done. It's actually not been followed strictly at all yet and probably won't be. But no more trying to catch up and/or follow curriculum. Completely stressful for both me and Callum, so not doing it. We'll do what he enjoys, we'll have fun and we'll do practical stuff that will be useful for him in adult life like cooking and money and being able to use a washing machine. You know, all that stuff that they DON'T teach you at school. We will do some maths and english (well, he'll read books and we might do a review on them) and we'll do science because it's fun, but as to it all leading to exams - NO! He can do them later when he feels he wants/needs to.
So that's a start. First blog of the year and no real ranting; it won't last, the lack of ranting that is. Am off to Facebook again and to do some research.
Cya
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
MID LIFE CRISIS (AGAIN) OR REMINISCING?
I’m officially going to say that I’m in mid life crisis – I think!
Why I hear you ask?
Well, I’ve started to get excited every time I get an email from Play.com or Amazon announcing sales!
Why I hear you ask again and what does that have to do with mid life crisis?
Give me chance folks; I’m getting there. I get excited because normally the sales include old stuff! Stuff that I remember! Stuff that brings back memories! And, as I left my complete record collection behind when leaving an ex boyfriend years ago….
Why?
….Because I had a limited time to leave and had to make a decision between my movie collection and my music collection! I chose my movies! Can I continue now??? Or are you asking why I left the boyfriend? That doesn’t really matter at the moment, so I’m going to continue on the thread I’m on…
I’m now without those wonderful tunes that whisk you back to moments in your life that you treasure; those memories, whether sad or happy, that remind you that you were once young! Those tunes that as soon as you hear them you can bring to mind in perfect clarity any event, place or person you wish! And I’m starting to do that often!! Too often!!
You see, I don’t drive, so I can’t go out and buy a flashy car (see a previous entry on this blog). I don’t have the money anyway even if I could drive. But I can splurge £2.99 on a CD or a movie (DVD having taken over from video since I made my rash but necessary decision all those years ago and I’m now trying to regain BOTH music and movies – hey ho). In fact, I recently splurged nearly £30 on CDs and DVDs, but at least it was quids not thousands.
I don’t usually listen, as some of you do, to continuous music. I’m not someone who has to have the radio on or the TV or a CD on as soon as I wake. I like a bit of peace and quiet and, having an Asperger son with me 24/7, quiet is normally a very rare thing anyway. But recently I’ve fancied a bit of a tune and I keep remembering songs I used to have and becoming incredibly upset if I don’t have it to hand.
Why am I getting so upset?
Actually, I’m not really sure, but I am.
I’m assuming that it’s because I’ve been feeling older recently. It came as a bit of a shock the other week when I realised that I was nearer to 50 than to 40. Reaching 40 was fine; actually I quite enjoyed it. It meant that I could finally not give a damn about what people thought of me (not that I really did anyway) and I didn’t have to pretend anymore (that, I did do, sorry), but 50! 50 sounds so old! 50 is definitely on the slidey slope down! I mean it doesn’t sound ancient, I know 50 year olds that don’t look or act it, but it’s definitely the fast track to 60 and then 70 and then, well then what? Both my parents died in their 70s so it’s not irrational to think that I will probably do the same, so, based on that, 50 is definitely the ‘not long left’ age!
Also having broken my leg last year and having complications ever since (nothing major, but enough to cause inconvenience and pain and the inability to run or even walk fast at the moment) I’ve started to look back to those days when I was young, able, fit and carefree and I want to listen to stuff that reminds me of ‘the good old days’!
To add to both those reasons above, I have a 22 year old daughter. That’s the age when my life was a ball (ages 20 – 25 being the best). I was out all the time; had a huge group of mates; experienced lots of things, most of which I can’t talk about on here; had highs; lows and generally enjoyed life (actually I enjoyed life between 17-28 pretty much continuously, but 20-25 was definitely the best. So hearing her talking about what she’s up to; seeing her spending her money on clothes, undies, etc brings back all those memories. I don’t begrudge her any of it, I’m the one that nagged her to do it earlier, but I have to admit it does make me reminisce a lot!
So am I just reminiscing or am I in crisis?
It’s a difficult question to answer! You see, apart from the above and being pretty happy with the way things are in my life (I haven’t got the energy for anything else at the moment, but I am one of those people who always thinks the grass is greener even when I know it isn’t), I’ve started to get thoughts about what it would be like to be on my own again. Being completely independent with no dependents if you follow me. Would I do ok as a single woman again. Would I be able to find work; have a decent social life; dare I say it – get another lover?
And this is when I start to wonder if it’s crisis. Does the reminiscing cause me to wonder or is it the wondering that causes the reminiscing? If I could remember which one came first it might help, but that’s like trying to work out which came first with the chicken or the egg, it’s impossible and to try would probably make my head explode!
So, due to the age thing, I’m going to say it’s mid life crisis! But feel free to argue!
xxx
Why I hear you ask?
Well, I’ve started to get excited every time I get an email from Play.com or Amazon announcing sales!
Why I hear you ask again and what does that have to do with mid life crisis?
Give me chance folks; I’m getting there. I get excited because normally the sales include old stuff! Stuff that I remember! Stuff that brings back memories! And, as I left my complete record collection behind when leaving an ex boyfriend years ago….
Why?
….Because I had a limited time to leave and had to make a decision between my movie collection and my music collection! I chose my movies! Can I continue now??? Or are you asking why I left the boyfriend? That doesn’t really matter at the moment, so I’m going to continue on the thread I’m on…
I’m now without those wonderful tunes that whisk you back to moments in your life that you treasure; those memories, whether sad or happy, that remind you that you were once young! Those tunes that as soon as you hear them you can bring to mind in perfect clarity any event, place or person you wish! And I’m starting to do that often!! Too often!!
You see, I don’t drive, so I can’t go out and buy a flashy car (see a previous entry on this blog). I don’t have the money anyway even if I could drive. But I can splurge £2.99 on a CD or a movie (DVD having taken over from video since I made my rash but necessary decision all those years ago and I’m now trying to regain BOTH music and movies – hey ho). In fact, I recently splurged nearly £30 on CDs and DVDs, but at least it was quids not thousands.
I don’t usually listen, as some of you do, to continuous music. I’m not someone who has to have the radio on or the TV or a CD on as soon as I wake. I like a bit of peace and quiet and, having an Asperger son with me 24/7, quiet is normally a very rare thing anyway. But recently I’ve fancied a bit of a tune and I keep remembering songs I used to have and becoming incredibly upset if I don’t have it to hand.
Why am I getting so upset?
Actually, I’m not really sure, but I am.
I’m assuming that it’s because I’ve been feeling older recently. It came as a bit of a shock the other week when I realised that I was nearer to 50 than to 40. Reaching 40 was fine; actually I quite enjoyed it. It meant that I could finally not give a damn about what people thought of me (not that I really did anyway) and I didn’t have to pretend anymore (that, I did do, sorry), but 50! 50 sounds so old! 50 is definitely on the slidey slope down! I mean it doesn’t sound ancient, I know 50 year olds that don’t look or act it, but it’s definitely the fast track to 60 and then 70 and then, well then what? Both my parents died in their 70s so it’s not irrational to think that I will probably do the same, so, based on that, 50 is definitely the ‘not long left’ age!
Also having broken my leg last year and having complications ever since (nothing major, but enough to cause inconvenience and pain and the inability to run or even walk fast at the moment) I’ve started to look back to those days when I was young, able, fit and carefree and I want to listen to stuff that reminds me of ‘the good old days’!
To add to both those reasons above, I have a 22 year old daughter. That’s the age when my life was a ball (ages 20 – 25 being the best). I was out all the time; had a huge group of mates; experienced lots of things, most of which I can’t talk about on here; had highs; lows and generally enjoyed life (actually I enjoyed life between 17-28 pretty much continuously, but 20-25 was definitely the best. So hearing her talking about what she’s up to; seeing her spending her money on clothes, undies, etc brings back all those memories. I don’t begrudge her any of it, I’m the one that nagged her to do it earlier, but I have to admit it does make me reminisce a lot!
So am I just reminiscing or am I in crisis?
It’s a difficult question to answer! You see, apart from the above and being pretty happy with the way things are in my life (I haven’t got the energy for anything else at the moment, but I am one of those people who always thinks the grass is greener even when I know it isn’t), I’ve started to get thoughts about what it would be like to be on my own again. Being completely independent with no dependents if you follow me. Would I do ok as a single woman again. Would I be able to find work; have a decent social life; dare I say it – get another lover?
And this is when I start to wonder if it’s crisis. Does the reminiscing cause me to wonder or is it the wondering that causes the reminiscing? If I could remember which one came first it might help, but that’s like trying to work out which came first with the chicken or the egg, it’s impossible and to try would probably make my head explode!
So, due to the age thing, I’m going to say it’s mid life crisis! But feel free to argue!
xxx
Sunday, 6 June 2010
MID-LIFE CRISIS, RESPECT AND JEREMY CLARKSON
Right, I'm now a year older!!! Wiser I'm not so sure about; grumpier I'm positive about and definitely older! So what has been going through my head this week?
Well, to start with cars!!!! Now let me first inform you that I do not drive and I couldn't tell the difference between a Volvo and a Golf if you paid me. My normal description of a car is that it has 4 wheels, is big/small, is 3 door/5 door (yes I can tell that difference) and it's blue/green/white/black........you get the picture!! So why this week have I been thinking about cars? It may have something to do with Jeremy Clarkson, but then again it may not! I'm a little obsessed with Jeremy at the moment. It's my mate's fault; you know who you are (hehe)! She bought Phil two of his books for his birthday and one day, while bored and wanting something light to read, I picked one of them up and started reading. We are big fans of Top Gear in this house and I have to admit that Jezza makes me laugh and his books are even funnier! He is probably the most un PC person on the planet, but I find myself nodding in agreement to a lot of what he says even though I feel guilty for doing so and the way he writes is just genius! Anyway, after devouring both books in a matter of a week, I spotting in a local charity shop one of his others; this time about cars! I started to read with a little bit of trepidation as, remember I don't know anything about cars, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it, but I did!!!! I loved it! It was still humourous and still full of his little rants and views on the world he inhabits, so I asked for another one for my birthday! I got 2!!!! Another World According To and a car one Driven to Distraction. I've already finished the World According To one and am about 1/4 way through the other. So my head is a little more car orientated than normal, but it still has not increased my understanding of cars at all. Which brings me onto the other reason I've been thinking about cars.
A friend of mine, who shall remain anonymous, has just bought herself a 2 seater sports car! What's the problem with that I hear you ask? Well, there are 3 of them in the household: herself, her partner and her son plus they have her partner's son every other weekend. Now, my uncarlike brain says why on earth would you buy a 2 seater car when you clearly need a minimum of 4 seats!? Her answer was that they rarely spent any time with all 4 of them in the car at the same time and that they could always use her partner's car if they needed to. Plus she wanted to be able to have a posh sporty car before she entered the world of senile dementia that she was so obviously heading for, now that she was nearing her 50s, and be unable to drive one! Good and fair point, but this got me thinking! Do woman now have the classic, if cliched, mid life crisis that men are supposed to have? You know the story; man hits middle age, goes out and buys the fastest, flashiest car he can find and runs off with his secretary who is half his age and has large breasts! It is terribly cliched, but not uncommon and you do see them driving around. Or do you? This was the problem; I don't! I've only ever seen them in television dramas or in glossy magazines where they end up looking, well, a bit of a prat!! So I've made a conscious effort this week to look out for flashy cars and to see who is driving them. I might have to re point out here that I know nothing about cars, so a flashy car to me could actually be a complete dumpster to a petrolhead, but on the look out I was. What were my findings? As I don't live in the most upmarket of places in the first place I only saw about 3 cars that I would possibly class as flashy and one of them was a pick up, so that one probably wouldn't even count! And who was driving these cars? All men; one woman, two men; no, all women! Yes, all 3 were driven by women! But that's not all, all 3 were driven by woman who were also blonde. All had enamelled fingernails that had sparkly trimmings. All looked pretty anorexic and only one, the one in the pick up, looked under 30 with a child in the back; the other 2 looking pretty much my age. I could be completely typecasting here but I swear that if I could have seen what they were wearing it would have been designer jeans and each would have had a designer (or at least of copy of a designer) handbag! Now, I'm not disrespecting my mate or, in fact, these other woman; at least I'm trying not to. How they live their lives is up to them and I dye my hair blonde now that it has turned salt&pepper grey and my original brown hair makes my face look washed out as my skin has gone paler as I've got older. Fair play to them if that is what they want to do and they can afford to do it. But, just as middle aged men in fast, flash cars with 'trinket' girlfriends look complete prats to me, these woman basically look like wannabe WAGs to me too! I just hope that they are not trying to relive their youth or, worse still, have a fear of getting old. Remember the phrase "mutton dressed as lamb", well now it seems it isn't just clothes, it's the car you drive as well but, I hate to say it, it still looks bad!! Sorry girls, my opinion only!! And I still love my friend dearly!
The other thing I've been thinking about is respect, or lack of it! My mum may not have wanted me or been the most loving or protective mother in the world, but she did teach me respect and I'm hoping that I've taught my kids the same (on reflection of what I've written above, I'm not being very respectful this week, but I did warn you that you might not always like what I'm thinking). However, this week I've noticed that there really isn't a great deal of it about nowadays. It all starts with dogs barking and ends in noise from neighbours!
I'm a dog owner/lover, in fact I love most animals, and even if a dog is launching itself at my fence with what can only been seen as a view to getting into my garden and ripping apart my child and dog (this has happened recently, but has now been resolved), I know it isn't the dog's fault, it's the owners. Although, saying that, I wouldn't think twice about grabbing the nearest item and beating the shite out of the animal should it have succeeded in it's mission. But back to the barking. I have several houses around me that own dogs and there is definitely 3 of them that consistently allow their dogs to continuously bark. If my dog barks, and obviously he does otherwise he wouldn't be a dog, I tell him to stop or I bring him indoors. I'd be mortified if I thought that anyone was sitting in their house/garden thinking "I wish they'd shut that bloody dog up!", but these owners obviously don't think like this at all. If fact, I don't think that they think much of their dogs either to be honest! A dog normally barks for 3 reasons: intruders, boredom or fear! Now if it is an intruder, surely you should be going to check it out; if it's boredom, then you aren't looking after your dog properly and if it's fear, you should again be checking it out. But these owners don't, so personally I'd like to go round and remove their dogs and rehome them in better homes, but I'm not allowed to do that so I have to put up with the barking.
The other is neighbour's noise and in particular DIY noise. The house next door to me has been sold and they are totally gutting and renovating it. I don't have a problem with this as it's something we need to do ourselves, but is it really necessary to start banging at 10.30pm? Yes, I said pm, not am! It has been known to be as late as 11pm before they start! Ok, I'll own up and say that it is rare and only once has it been 11pm and it normally is finished by 11pm, but even so. Are there not enough hours in the day already to get this sort of thing done? And the fact that they know that there is a child living next door really pisses me off (sorry)! It just comes back to respect; they haven't any! My worry is that, at the moment, they are not truely living at the house as it's pretty uninhabitable so what will it be like when they finally do move in permanently? Will I then have neighbours like my last lot that played European disco music (they were Polish as are these) really loud until God knows when! I truely hope not as I don't want to have to start another mini war. And that's another thing, why is it always crap music that's played really loudly. My next door neighbour but one was playing some excellent music the other week while out working in his garden, but I could only really hear it when the wind blew in the right direction; I was almost tempted to yell at him to turn it UP!!
Oh well, my rant is now over, my brain has been downloaded and possibly half the population has been ostracized, but I don't care as I'm off for one last cup of tea before going to bed! See you next week.
Well, to start with cars!!!! Now let me first inform you that I do not drive and I couldn't tell the difference between a Volvo and a Golf if you paid me. My normal description of a car is that it has 4 wheels, is big/small, is 3 door/5 door (yes I can tell that difference) and it's blue/green/white/black........you get the picture!! So why this week have I been thinking about cars? It may have something to do with Jeremy Clarkson, but then again it may not! I'm a little obsessed with Jeremy at the moment. It's my mate's fault; you know who you are (hehe)! She bought Phil two of his books for his birthday and one day, while bored and wanting something light to read, I picked one of them up and started reading. We are big fans of Top Gear in this house and I have to admit that Jezza makes me laugh and his books are even funnier! He is probably the most un PC person on the planet, but I find myself nodding in agreement to a lot of what he says even though I feel guilty for doing so and the way he writes is just genius! Anyway, after devouring both books in a matter of a week, I spotting in a local charity shop one of his others; this time about cars! I started to read with a little bit of trepidation as, remember I don't know anything about cars, I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it, but I did!!!! I loved it! It was still humourous and still full of his little rants and views on the world he inhabits, so I asked for another one for my birthday! I got 2!!!! Another World According To and a car one Driven to Distraction. I've already finished the World According To one and am about 1/4 way through the other. So my head is a little more car orientated than normal, but it still has not increased my understanding of cars at all. Which brings me onto the other reason I've been thinking about cars.
A friend of mine, who shall remain anonymous, has just bought herself a 2 seater sports car! What's the problem with that I hear you ask? Well, there are 3 of them in the household: herself, her partner and her son plus they have her partner's son every other weekend. Now, my uncarlike brain says why on earth would you buy a 2 seater car when you clearly need a minimum of 4 seats!? Her answer was that they rarely spent any time with all 4 of them in the car at the same time and that they could always use her partner's car if they needed to. Plus she wanted to be able to have a posh sporty car before she entered the world of senile dementia that she was so obviously heading for, now that she was nearing her 50s, and be unable to drive one! Good and fair point, but this got me thinking! Do woman now have the classic, if cliched, mid life crisis that men are supposed to have? You know the story; man hits middle age, goes out and buys the fastest, flashiest car he can find and runs off with his secretary who is half his age and has large breasts! It is terribly cliched, but not uncommon and you do see them driving around. Or do you? This was the problem; I don't! I've only ever seen them in television dramas or in glossy magazines where they end up looking, well, a bit of a prat!! So I've made a conscious effort this week to look out for flashy cars and to see who is driving them. I might have to re point out here that I know nothing about cars, so a flashy car to me could actually be a complete dumpster to a petrolhead, but on the look out I was. What were my findings? As I don't live in the most upmarket of places in the first place I only saw about 3 cars that I would possibly class as flashy and one of them was a pick up, so that one probably wouldn't even count! And who was driving these cars? All men; one woman, two men; no, all women! Yes, all 3 were driven by women! But that's not all, all 3 were driven by woman who were also blonde. All had enamelled fingernails that had sparkly trimmings. All looked pretty anorexic and only one, the one in the pick up, looked under 30 with a child in the back; the other 2 looking pretty much my age. I could be completely typecasting here but I swear that if I could have seen what they were wearing it would have been designer jeans and each would have had a designer (or at least of copy of a designer) handbag! Now, I'm not disrespecting my mate or, in fact, these other woman; at least I'm trying not to. How they live their lives is up to them and I dye my hair blonde now that it has turned salt&pepper grey and my original brown hair makes my face look washed out as my skin has gone paler as I've got older. Fair play to them if that is what they want to do and they can afford to do it. But, just as middle aged men in fast, flash cars with 'trinket' girlfriends look complete prats to me, these woman basically look like wannabe WAGs to me too! I just hope that they are not trying to relive their youth or, worse still, have a fear of getting old. Remember the phrase "mutton dressed as lamb", well now it seems it isn't just clothes, it's the car you drive as well but, I hate to say it, it still looks bad!! Sorry girls, my opinion only!! And I still love my friend dearly!
The other thing I've been thinking about is respect, or lack of it! My mum may not have wanted me or been the most loving or protective mother in the world, but she did teach me respect and I'm hoping that I've taught my kids the same (on reflection of what I've written above, I'm not being very respectful this week, but I did warn you that you might not always like what I'm thinking). However, this week I've noticed that there really isn't a great deal of it about nowadays. It all starts with dogs barking and ends in noise from neighbours!
I'm a dog owner/lover, in fact I love most animals, and even if a dog is launching itself at my fence with what can only been seen as a view to getting into my garden and ripping apart my child and dog (this has happened recently, but has now been resolved), I know it isn't the dog's fault, it's the owners. Although, saying that, I wouldn't think twice about grabbing the nearest item and beating the shite out of the animal should it have succeeded in it's mission. But back to the barking. I have several houses around me that own dogs and there is definitely 3 of them that consistently allow their dogs to continuously bark. If my dog barks, and obviously he does otherwise he wouldn't be a dog, I tell him to stop or I bring him indoors. I'd be mortified if I thought that anyone was sitting in their house/garden thinking "I wish they'd shut that bloody dog up!", but these owners obviously don't think like this at all. If fact, I don't think that they think much of their dogs either to be honest! A dog normally barks for 3 reasons: intruders, boredom or fear! Now if it is an intruder, surely you should be going to check it out; if it's boredom, then you aren't looking after your dog properly and if it's fear, you should again be checking it out. But these owners don't, so personally I'd like to go round and remove their dogs and rehome them in better homes, but I'm not allowed to do that so I have to put up with the barking.
The other is neighbour's noise and in particular DIY noise. The house next door to me has been sold and they are totally gutting and renovating it. I don't have a problem with this as it's something we need to do ourselves, but is it really necessary to start banging at 10.30pm? Yes, I said pm, not am! It has been known to be as late as 11pm before they start! Ok, I'll own up and say that it is rare and only once has it been 11pm and it normally is finished by 11pm, but even so. Are there not enough hours in the day already to get this sort of thing done? And the fact that they know that there is a child living next door really pisses me off (sorry)! It just comes back to respect; they haven't any! My worry is that, at the moment, they are not truely living at the house as it's pretty uninhabitable so what will it be like when they finally do move in permanently? Will I then have neighbours like my last lot that played European disco music (they were Polish as are these) really loud until God knows when! I truely hope not as I don't want to have to start another mini war. And that's another thing, why is it always crap music that's played really loudly. My next door neighbour but one was playing some excellent music the other week while out working in his garden, but I could only really hear it when the wind blew in the right direction; I was almost tempted to yell at him to turn it UP!!
Oh well, my rant is now over, my brain has been downloaded and possibly half the population has been ostracized, but I don't care as I'm off for one last cup of tea before going to bed! See you next week.
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