My Weblog

2009..

so another year has begun...
I am finally back here, everything got a bit much in October.. Too much going at the time and I was just too emotionally involved to be keeping my thoughts going on here...its a funny thing, but I can't write or do any sort of art whenever I have any form of emotional stuff going on in my life....Never have been able to.. Everything just gets blocked off . So here goes with trying to get a little normality back into the new year...

We lost my dear sweet cousin Yani to breast cancer in mid  November, after the toughest fight I have seen anyone put up. She had gone through one round of treatment for breast cancer the previous summer ( 2007) and we all thought she had got it licked... Returning from my birthday trip to Dublin this summer, I got a text from her while I was in the line waiting to board the plane home...
It wasn't odd that she texted me, there was nothing odd about the message - I don't know how I knew but I stepped out of the line immediately and told Neil I had to call her... And my heart almost stopped when she told me, in her usual, casual, matter of fact style...that the cancer was back, and the outlook wasnt that great...but we had to hook up soon...
After that, it took me a while I am ashamed to say to get my head around it...
I couldn't believe that, so soon after Sarah, this was happening again, things were just starting to get back to normal...
But it wasn't too long thank goodness before I got a grip .. And thank god, because we didnt have long...

Yani was 34.. She had the ability to light up a room like no one I know... she was a true individual and I'm proud to say she was my cousin...
She should have had years and years left to live .. We should have had years and years left to get to know one another more and more...She should have had her own children ....Lived the rest of her life ..

Life has its mysteries alright...
Miss you Yani xxx xxx x

Sunday ...

So its been a while again ..

So since I last posted here Joe has turned 13... we now have a teenager in the house who really does resemble Harry Enfield's Kevin...however that was hardly an overnight transformation ....

On Joe's birthday wishlist this year was a cd player / ipod dock, cds, clothes...
- he also had requested lunch at a chinese restaurant on his birthday...
So I guess he really is growing up.....

I still can't believe that I have a teenager....
But I guess when my YOUNGEST child turns thirteen..that may really finish me off....!

So what else have we been upto ?
Lots of spending time with my delightful nieces,  running around with J and E ..  organising the Scrapaholix club 's new venue  -  which I am really pleased with ..
Physiotherapy for this ridiculously compromising knee condition I have found myself with ...
Oh and the shop (a bit neglected - sorry ) finishing up my Karen Russell course, trying to stay a little smily during the really crappy global financial meltdown ... all that stuff...!

Plus some other stuff.. some more personal family stuff.. Too personal for a blog ..but some of you know what I m talking about and those of you who do, and who have been there for me - thank you ..x
(Heck of a year ..Hell, heck of a two years .... xxx xxx x)
Suffice to say , that, much as I do try my hardest to live in the moment and be grateful for every minute that I have.. its hard to do that from time to time... especially when there are so many really horrible things going in the world to such good people... Sometimes things just don't make sense....No matter how much you try to to put an optimistic spin on things and make the best of everything...

Sometimes life just sucks..

Life just sucks here right now.

xxx xxx x

Perverse humour for the day ( and pictures..)

 

1. A day without sunshine is like night.

2. On the other hand, you have different  fingers.

3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up  on the spot.

4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

5. Remember, half the people you know are below  average.

  6. He who laughs last thinks slowest.

7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.

9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.    

10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.

12. If you think  nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.

13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis?  Raise my hand.

14. OK, so what's the speed of dark?

15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong  lane.   

16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?

18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

  19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

  20. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

  21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, "What  the heck happened?"

  22. Just remember -- if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.   

  23. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

24. Life isn't like a box of chocolates.It's more like a jar of jalapenos.     What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow.

Wednesday ...

So how can I ever begin to come up with slightly more inspired post titles ?? I only ever seem to be able to think of "Tuesday" or "Friday night " or "Wet Thursday " ...

Not very exciting huh..
I'd say I'd try but i really don't think I can do any better ..... Sorry !!

Well the news is full of all the financial woes of the world...and obviously that's Neil's industry so all is more than a little stressful in our household right now....

Things are a bit tense, although to be honest when it gets this bad you almost get blase and kind of go past worrying, (well that's a lie...) But there is an element of well it's just so very bad that there's just no point in even worrying about it...what will be will be....

A dear friend of ours has already lost his job through the Lehman's debacle... More are following, who knows who is next ...
It certainly seems that the economy is in a bit of a meltdown as the media seems to like saying at the moment !
I certainly wouldnt like to be in either McCain or Obama's shoe's right now..... Or Gordon Brown's right now....

and to lighten things a bit you have to see this .... I sooo wish that the UK guys had an equivalent team who did parodies as good as these guys !!

Click Here

(With huge thanks to my dear friend Karen for sending me the link.......)     :)

Keep smiling xxx xxx x

Friday night ....long week....

another week has escaped me somehow.... its been the SEVENTH anniversary of 9/11 this week...seven years...Amazing how fast time goes...
It seems like yesterday in so many ways and yet it also seems like such a long time ago....

Joe did us all proud last Sunday .. He rode in the bikeathon.. despite typically horrible British summer weather- ie -  windy, grey and cold.....

Sarah, Joe and Stuart set off at 9.15 having been photographed and briefly interviewed by the local press... (We had to be there to meet them at 8.40 on a Sunday morning !!!)
Joe and Stuart were insane enought to do the route twice....making a total of 26 miles each .....The same as the London marathon if I'm not mistaken ?

Anyway, Joe amazed us all...He didnt even ache the next morning, got up and went to school almost as if nothing had happened...oh my gosh....what it is to be twelve huh?

He has raised an absolute fortune....He had hoped to raise somewhere near 150 pounds, but tonight he is heading to two thousand....
This cause is obviously very close to our hearts, but it is really amazing to  see all our friends and colleagues come out to support us and Joe in  his effort like this.. Even his teachers have sponsored him...It has been a real boost for Joe at the end of a tough year and its also a been quite touching I think for Sarah to see how much of an effort Joe was willing to put in personally for her...
( Joe - he's a quiet one - but he's a softie bless him.. and he does love his auntie Sarah x We all do . x )

So ..I am so proud of my son, I am so amazed that Sarah, Joe and Stuart between them have raised the best part of 4000 pounds for the Leukaemia Research Foundation...
I have a bit of a history sadly of having friends, even before my dear sister in law, with this awful disease, and I know how totally devastating it is....

So to see so much money being raised for such a great cause means a great deal to me.
Thank you, to all of you who have sponsored Joe, Stuart or Sarah, it means so very much to us all....

and thank you especially to Josh honey - who was sweet enough to donate his pocket money ...

huge hugs xxx xxx x

Wet Friday ....

The children went back to school this week... after a long summer holiday ... I really can't quite believe I am saying this but I miss them.... They drive me nuts with their bickering and their messiness..and the way they cannot put anything away and constantly have to be told to put their shoes away and to do the recycling and be careful of the new wallpaper and not argue with each other and out their coats away and take a shower and heaven only knows what else....
(I swear I should just cut myself a break and tape myself and play it on a loop...)

But the house is so quiet without them....and it feels so big...

I know by next week that I will be wondering how on earth I managed to fit everything in again, but right now, I am feeling a little lost without them...

They are at quite a nice stage right now, at 9 and 12, still needing us, but also quite independant ... Joe is beginning to really break out into himself ..which is quite scary but also fascinating to see glimpses of who he is going to be..this young person unfolding in front of us...
And Ella is becoming a little woman ...we have watched her face change this summer, her bone structure has changed over this summer and she appears more grown up and less childlike ...
And sharing our home with these young people is so interesting as they start to form their own opinions about and and question the world around them ..
As they start to understand the news and what is happening outside their front door....

I guess thats a big part of why I am missing them...I am missing their conversation and their company ..they are quite interesting these days !!!

Anyway !

This weekend its the 13 mile bike ride here in Southend for Leukaemia  Research... Last year  Sarah and Lin ( both way too weak to take part )   attended it with their husbands , Karen was still in hospital.. Neil and I were driving a van full of furniture from Seaford to  Essex as we were in the middle  of moving down here ....

This year,  sadly  both Lin and Karen have lost  their fight against Leukaemia ,  Sarah  is a year in remission,  Sarah, Stuart and I  resolved to ride  to raise funds....
Joe wanted to ride too but its an adult race...but we have managed to  get him in ...I have been forced to pull out due to some problem with my knee but my son is going ahead bless him, and I am so proud of him... He is doing amazingly well, and has hit the ground running with sponsorship...He and Sarah have the local newspaper coming to do an article on them at the race because they are so impressed that a 12 year old is wanting to do this for his aunt ..

so please...if you have any extra pennies...

Joe's Charity Page

and some of you already have - thank you so much to those of you who have xxxxxxx

Have a fabulous weekend - everyone - here's fingers crossed for dry sunny  on weather on sunday  !!

H xxxxxxx

Where we are at....

Its been quite a year for us, personally - and to be totally honest my focus is all over the place ! So we have decided that the best way is to go back to what I really love and thats my altered stuff and my photography....and keep my scrapbooking as a hobby -
I'm sure you have all found that the pressures of time and family are just impossible to manage sometimes .... Well I guess that since my sister in law got sick last year, I have been evaluating my life and my priorities even more frequently than normal....
I think I always have evaluated my life regularly...it's just been something I have felt I wanted to do...not to miss any opportuniites..to make the most of my life..to make my choices for the best reasons....
But when Sarah got sick, that kind of forced me to look at my life with even more of a magnifying glass than before....
I think a lot of us did.....

Anyway, I decided that, my children were growing up way too quickly.. and that  I wanted to spend more time with them.. I decided that although I absolutely loved the excitement and challenges of  running Altered Treasures, there was more to life than that..  And I was in the fortunate position of being able to choose to not work....
I have learned an awful lot through the setting up and running of AT..  Its been my baby ... I've built it from scratch from a few pieces of paper right through to the heaven knows how many lines we currently stock....
I ve learned a lot about myself .. My strengths, my weaknesses,
But most importantly I have learned that the most important thing in my life is my family....

Sarah is well now... Thank god... But last year really taught me that you can never know what the future holds for you...
And so Altered Treasures is going to return to its Altered roots........
We will be holding less scrapboook specific stock and I will be spending more time learning about my real passion - photography..with a view to getting Bloom back on track..something which I had to let go last year........

So - heres to the new, re evaluated version of my life - !!

Just one more tonight...well ok two...xxxxxx

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and this is Pocket Pop ..This kit is £20.00