Office music reel

So, what do you play in the office? Today I've had a full-time medley of Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Hilary Duff, Shakira, Westlife, etc.

Basically I've driven people in the office mad with love songs and almost opera. It is SO funny.

It's been brilliant irritating them.......

To adapt or die....

Ok, so you have to remember that this is purely an opinion of mine, and I use this blog to fire off my 'rants'. That said,even if strong, one shouldn't take it too personally, or think I'm directing it at anyone specific OK? Moving on.....

So, I often get the question : How do you travel on a train for 1h15 every day ? I couldn't do it!!

Well, here's how I do it. I get in the air conditioned train, get a seat, sit down and listen to music, or read, or do both, or read the FREE newspaper, or relax, I can even phone friends and chat to them! I can write letters too. Then I get off at my stop. I do it like that.

I don't get in a car, sit in traffic, jam packed, bumper to bumper for 90 mins, stoping and starting, frustrated. I don't have the worry of car-jackers, or beggars, or window washers, or jeers, or road rage idiots. I don't pay for parking at every stop. i don't worry my parked car will get hit/stolen /broken into.

So.... how can one not love the train? I've read more books since coming back here than the last 5 years in CT. I have caught up on politics, science, friends, writing,etc. essentially I've got 2 hours of my daily life back. With very little stress. It's all about adapt or die really. I adapted my travel choices to best suit me.

Because in this country I have a choice.

In others you don't have that choice. You have to have your own transport, or chance dying in the dangerous / unreliable / shoddy alternative. Fortune favours the brave, it take brave people to change their circumstances, or to change the world in bad circumstances. I chose the former cos I'm not brave enough to do the latter.

Cheers I'm off to get my train ........

Dog humour

Hope the cartoonist doesn't mind....

Rock climbing on Saturday rocked !

Well rock climbing on Saturday was fun. I didn't climb, cos I Have no-one to do it for me, but I am hoping that my man trains up soon, and can then belay me, and I did try teach Nadine how to do it, so if she manages as well, we’ll be well set.

So, it was fun, the kids climb like rock rabbits as usual, and they never tire. I should make it harder for them, but they still seem to be able to do it quite easily. I am shatters at the end of it though….

Is it PIMMS o'clock yet?????????

Well, it's Friday, it's in the afternoon and it's almost the weekend which means I am edging ever so close to Pimms O'clock!!!!!

YAY!

I love it when I can sit down with my friends and have a jug of Pimms (jugs are CHEAPER people! - there's a credit crunch you know??) and chat and wind down.

Bring it on - roll on 5 (PIMMS) o'clock!!

How to chat....

I love chat - MSN, iChat, Google Chat and all the others cos it keeps me i n real time contact with friends and people I love.

Brilliant!

School holidays ...

So, I'm trying to make up a list of things to do in London for kids. It's a 7 ( yes SEVEN) week holiday for the kids, and things are having to be thought of for them to do.

If I left it to them, they would watch TV all day, and eat, and watch more TV.

However, Erik and I have a far more cunning plan.

We are gonna make them do LOTS of sports, at least 2 hours every day, and no TV from 9am to 6pm!! I think it might kill the kids too.....

Well, so far so good, day 1 was Science Museum.
Day 2 was tennis and a picnic.
Day 3 was swimming, and ice creams, and bowling.
Day 4 was a music concert ( I think as that was today).
Day 5 is tennis with friends for 3 hours.
Day 6 is cleaning the house with me, and we are going rock climbing.

On the seventh day we rest......

French Holidays (part 6)

Part 6 ......

So, Saturday was catching the tour bus to the pier at Pont de Neuf so we could jump on a tour boat and see Paris from the river. Lovely views of the Eiffel Tower, and other buildings, but not worth the money I thought. Then we slit up, and the Kids, T and I went to a ornate American Diner for lunch and did some shopping as we walked back to the hotel. The kids whined all the way which means the next time I go to Paris I’ll do it without kids, so I can browse and do stuff I like.

We were on a little time constraint as I was wanting to get home in time to see Jenny and Ludo, Jenny having been a friend from London that I hadn’t seen for 5 years, and I had never seen her kids Elliot and Maia! So I was keen to catch up.
We managed to get there in time, and sat in the bar with the kids, and had a drink.

Timmy was being babysat by us for the night as T & R were off to the Moulin Rouge. He joined us in the bar and the two boys and little Elliot played together and it was so sweet.

Then we took the kids upstairs, and put on a DVD for them, and my amazingly wonderful man went out and got them Chicken Nuggets and Chips, and Ice tea, (from MacDonalds of course, My kids think they are in heaven by now… 2 Mac’s in ONE WEEK!!!).. and they enjoyed the movie. My man had also gone to the Japanese restaurant and come home with Tofu soup, Sashimi, and Sushi and even pudding! What a star he is!! ( No wonder I love him). We sat in the other room an watched Australia until T & R came home – and I STILL don’t know if they enjoyed the show…….

Part 7 to follow ..... another day!

French Holidays (part 5)

Part 5 ...... hope you are not bored yet!!


Really quick trip to Paris was enjoyed by all, and we jumped into a taxi to take us to Opera District where we all booked into the Holiday Inn. We managed to get rooms next to each other, and the kids had an inter leading door to our room. At first they opened the interleading door, but did not give us a doorknob! That meant if the kids were in our room and the door closed we could not get back into their room – numb nuts!!

Anyway after having too go explain to them the silliness of this situation we were handed a door knob, which we kept on our side! ;-) That night we went for a walk and 100m away from the hotel was MacDonald’s! The kids clamoured to eat there so we all had Mac for supper (urgh!). Back to the hotel, and a sleep. Friday a.m. was to find the open top bus, and do the tour. It was quite easy.

Out hotel, right, left and left again and the bus stand was there. We all bought a 2 day pass which means we could jump on and off at will. We jumped along and saw all the sights till we hit the Champs Elysee, which meant shopping for Tanya ( of course) and so we jumped off and all went shopping. Met up later at the Starbucks (Tanya and Roy (T & R) having found this Nirvana in London and now suitably addicted). Then back on the bus to the Eiffel Tower. At this stage T and I ducked off and left my kids with T & R and jumped a taxi to go to the Musee D’Orsay to the Van Gogh’s I so love.

I dragged him through the museum, and we did see those stunning paintings, as well as a lot of Pissaro, Cezanne, Sisley (don’t like his stuff) and Degas. At the end of that both he and I were exhausted. So we jumped another cab to the hotel ‘just for a nap’ and woke up at 9:45pm! At that stage I went to collect the kids from T & R. We were meant to just nap, get changed and go out to dinner, but clearly we were so exhausted. Ho hum, next time then.

Part 6 to follow......

French Holidays (part 4)

Part 4 .......

Wednesday was a day to go see Gourdes, the city on the top of the hill, and Rouissilon, the town that is all direct colours of red, yellow, ochre and other shades like that due to the surrounding hills. Situated in the heart of one of the biggest ochre deposits in the world, Roussillon is famous for its magnificent red cliffs and ochre quarries. The red, yellow and brown shades of the earth form a striking contrast with the lush green pinetrees and the vivid blue of the Provençal sky. The ochre façades of the houses are magnificent... shades vary subtly from light yellow to dark red, set off by the brightly painted shutters and doors. From the base of the village to the summit of the Castrum and its splendid view, Roussillon is a great place to visit. We had lunch overlooking te valley at one of the restaurants in the square. (Photos a few pots below...)

We then went home to drink in the square at Oppede Le Vieux, where I ordered Tanya and I a Pastis just for a joke ( I told her it was a spritzer) and everyone came back to Dad’s house to polish off 2 bottles of wine, and to swim. Then they went home and we ate and went to bed. Still had to pack and sort stuff out, which I did.

Thursday was breakfast, goodbye and off in the car back to Avignon. We left really early, to get there really early. SO early we could stop, get petrol, and go shopping (Tanya’s favourite) and catch the TGV to Paris!!!


Part 5 to follow.........

French Holidays (part 3 )

Part 3 of holidays ......

Tuesday was a day to be active after all that waiting! We drove to Fontaine de Vacluse, to Kayak Vert, and we went canoeing down the river in 3 kayaks. Jem and Terry, Connor and I, and the Wrights together.
This entailed me paddling like mad in order to win the (eventual) race, despite Connors somewhat hindrance. When we dropped back in order to actually enjoy the scenery, there was much screaming, crying and moaning from the little man in the front.

I was exhausted at the end and I must say it was fun, but could have been a lot better. I did manage to see some large trout in the crystal clear water, and I even managed to dock alongside Terry an hold his hand some of the way ( ahhhh sweet …..). This caused much upset to Connor of course.



After the canoeing we drove to the town and took a walk up to the actual source of the water in the cliffs, and walked a bit around the town for some shopping, and to see the old Cathedral.

Then we drove to Isle Sur la Sorgue and walked through the town there. Unfortunately it was the same time as that when they close for siesta, so only a few shops were open, but it was pretty anyway.
Then we drove home to let the kids swim in the pool as it was hot. Some of the adults swam too (but not me!). Then we went out to dinner with everyone. I paid, and it was ok but not great. The kids managed to behave themselves a bit. They played cards.


Part 4 to follow......

French Holidays (part 2)

Part 2 of holidays .....

A whole lot of waiting ensued. Luckily the Tour de France has a million trucks before the race, and a few of those were throwing out things. The kids and I went on the road to catch hats, and free shopping bags, and armbands, and sweets, and even a t-shirt of two. Yay! Like being a kid again, asking people in passing trucks to throw things at us, and scrabbling so the other French people and kids didn’t get it at all. Connor was the best catcher, an he caught 9 items, and gave 3 away. Out of the nine , he gave one to a French child (sweets) and two to his best friend who had caught far less. It’s one of the traits that makes Connor such a nice child, and also the reason he’s likely to get less in life by not looking out for himself first. He takes ‘sharing is caring’ to the extreme.



After the Tour de France has flashed by in about 10 seconds, the first 4 riders took about 3 seconds, and we waited 10 minutes for the ‘peleton’ to come through, which took about 7 seconds to flash by. A bit like EuroDisney, hours of waiting for 30 seconds of fun.

Then we walked into Les Baux, had a look around, and got some drinks. The kids, Tanya and I went shopping, and the men went to fetch the car 2 kms away. We met them when they got back and drove home.

Part 3 to follow.....

French Holidays (part 1)

Well this is a diatribe of the holidays ... July 2009


EuroDisney for 3 days. We stayed in the Park at the Santa Fe. It’s cheap, reasonably cheerful, and easy to get around. Catch a bus to and from the park. Next time it may be worth paying a little extra and staying at the actual Disney Park hotel in the park itself.

Anyway, the kids got the opportunity to meet Mickey Mouse and Jordan met Goofy too. Photographic evidence to prove it all. They rode the rides (even Thunder mountain, which I refused to do).

It was 3 days of fun, expensive food, and late nights. My French was tested and did not win any friends I must admit, but we did the Park, the Village, the Studios and the other one I forget.

Then on the Sunday we took the TGV to Avignon to get a hire car to drive to Oppede Le Vieux where Tanya, Roy and Tim were staying and we were staying at Dad.

We did day trips all around Provence. Monday was Les Baux where we encountered closed streets due to Tour de France coming through it that day. Lucky we ‘fell’ upon that, we walked some way up the road, and settled on the bank in the trees with a good view of the road.

More in Part 2.....

Parental agreements

The newspapers are all about Parental agreements today. Ed Balls, the Education secretary is thinking about making parents sign an agreement that states they will make sure their kids go to bed at the right time, that the kids agree to behave in school, that the kids will do homework etc.

Excuse me , but isn't that NORMAL parenting? Since when did parents need to sign agreements to do what should be an everyday normal thing in life?

I think parents should go to a 'home' if they have unruly kids - like an re-education place where they learn etiquette and manners, and correct table manners, and deportment. Like a very strict finishing school. And once they have passed the 'gestapo -like' exam, they have to go home and teach their kids the same, or face going back!

That should go a LONG way to helping people sort out their bloody lazy parental life!

Better yet, you can only have one kid, and if it turns out great, you can have more, but if it turns out bad, you get sterilised. DONE!

QUOTE:

"Till death do us part.."

More of a threat than a promise ?????

stain glass windows

Dilemmas of motherhood...

I had lunch with a wonderful friend. Now she’s wonderful for a various number of reasons. She is kind, she is hardworking, she is not judgmental, and she gets me. She is also 10 years younger than me, which, funnily enough, is like many of my friends. I don’t know why many of my friends are so much younger, maybe I’m young at heart, or maybe I’m a great mentor and people like to learn from me….

But I digress.

What I wanted to say, was she is in her career, where I was in my career, at her age. She is at the top of the ladder and loving it. I had just got married at her age, and was about to fall pregnant, but I was a high flier, and doing well. I am now not such a high flier 10 years later, and I have two kids and an ex husband dragging behind me. Life has changed somewhat.

Anyway, we discussed where we were in life and where we wanted to be. I discussed going back into the ‘tough corporate fighting’ arena, or slowing down, and having a family life. I have decided you can’t have it both, and I have to say that I think the former kills the latter.

So, I told her, I was looking to the easier (and less financially rich) life, for the purposes of having a rich and valuable relationship with my kids and lover. My father worked like a dog all his life, and I have very little relationship with him. Not that he made much of an effort to actually improve the relationship when he was at home, mind you, but so be it. I don’t want that.

I don’t want a life that does not have strong family ties to my kids, for the short-lived pleasure of having much more money and no doubt swish holidays.

I think that 5 years of hard work and lots of money will equate to 40 years of bad family relationships and lonely geriatric days.

I’ve seen it before,I know how it works, and I’m not gonna let it happen to me!

Pics of France

This is what the ochre hills of Roussilon looks like ....beautiful against the blue skies.

Fontaine de Vaucluse

Holidays

Well, the holiday to France has been and gone. So much organisation flashed by.

Weather was great here and in France, and SA friends came over to holiday with us, we travelled through France together.

Seeing the family was fine, Provence was as lovely as ever, and we managed to 'fall over' the Tour de France one day ( a Monday) in Les Baux, which meant I can tick that off my 100 things to do before I die list. Actually it wasn't on the list, but if I add it I can take another one off the list!

EuroDisney was loved by kids and actually not a bad as I thought it would be. The kids met Mickey, and Jem met Goofy, and the adults paid lots of money for food and drinks.
I managed every ride except for Thunder Mountain, which I thought was brilliant of me.

My new lover - is still the man of my dreams, and the love of my life, He's an amazing person inside and out. I have to be the luckiest person alive at the moment and can only be eternally grateful for him, the move and everything else!

So, life is really good, and now it's reality and the plans (oh NO!)for the next year, and hopefully a sneaky weekend for just us adults.

Should I intervene??

The other day I was standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus when a woman came out the station with 2 kids. One was picking up something off the floor and the woman shouted "get up you STUPID girl"

Over the next 7 minutes she hit the kid (little girl) so that the child was cowering in the corner and she carried on yelling at her. This woman was a total bully and the little girl who was 9 or 10 was cowering and crying.

Now I have no idea if the kid was hers or not (I doubt it) and the little boy was playing on the side.

Eventually another woman went to talk to the little girl to see if she was ok. Which she clearly wasn't.

What really cut me up was that I did nothing about it. I watched but didn't get involved. Now if it had been my kids and my au pair, I would have wanted people to stop her hitting the child, or threatening to. Hell, I wold have wanted them to call me and tell me. And I did none of that. I stood, like a stupid, worthless person, watching some child be scarred for the rest of her life. And I'm ashamed of myself - still.

What I did appreciate was some old man went and gave this woman a 'right bollocking' and made her cry. Good. But the likely hood is she would go home and take that out on the little girl too. Child abuse at it's best.

I am still haunted by the image of the child cowering - and ashamed at myself. It hurts both ways. The worst thing is I think I'd do the same again next time - and I don't know why!!