Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Before I start on my piece for tonight, take a look at Emma’s article Just a bit of Lettuce. I know where she’s coming from on that one. I’ve had similar conversations with my friends.
Also have a look at the latest on the articles section titled Common Sense. This is brilliant, it was apparently sent in an email to Katie and she felt she had to submit it for the blog.
So, on to me. There I was sitting quietly at the computer Friday night when my husband looked up and told me that some friends of ours had asked if they could call in and see us on their way through to a hotel they were staying in locally to us.
Brilliant, we haven’t seen them since last October.
And then I looked at the clock which read 10.30 pm and realised that the whole house looked as though we’d had a mini tornado ripping through.
Not that our friends would have minded, they are really down to earth and with children of their own they understand that tidy houses and children don’t always go.
But I just couldn’t let people in to see what I can only describe as a pig sty. It’s more surface clutter than anything but you know what it’s like. You start one job and then another pops it’s head up that really isn’t important, but you still have to do it.
Like, cleaning the kitchen windows. I kid you not at midnight Friday I was cleaning the kitchen windows. I ended up staying up until turned 1.00 in the morning, with my husband, to make the house look fairly presentable and then I did more in the morning.
There must be a little panic gene in my head that switches on when I know we are having visitors. It’s like a siren shouting alert, alert.
Anyway for all that we had a great day with them visiting the Thinktank in Birmingham and I’ve really enjoyed looking around my now tidy house. Ah bliss! (Well for 5 minutes anyway!)
Posted in General | 2 Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
I can’t take the credit for this, it was via an email, but it really strikes home. Well done to whoever wrote this initially.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn’t always fair, and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year- old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Panadol, sun lotion or a Band Aid to a student - but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.
He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I’m A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
Posted in Articles | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
I’ve had many a conversation with friends of mine about how much we love our husbands and we wouldn’t be without them.
But sometimes, just sometimes, we don’t like them.
I decided the other night that it would be really good if my husband would sort tea out for the children and myself and I duly asked him nicely if he wouldn’t mind. He was up for it, especially when I helped him choose what we could all have. Great, a night off for me.
That night was what we in our house call a muck up night, when we all might have something different, something snacky but are all happy with the choices we make.
The reason I asked him to do tea was because I’d had a really busy week trying to sort the mess out that is our home including a massive pile of ironing. Plus, like many women I don’t sleep very well at night and it catches up with me. Thirdly I had started another period just over one week after finishing the last one. And the doctors tell me I’m not starting the menopause!
My husband and I decided to have chicken in a lime and sweet chilli sauce with rice. Now, I don’t like dinners that are too dry and I asked my husband if he would chop up a bit of salad for me. All I wanted was a bit of lettuce, tomato and cucumber. Nothing fancy. It’s just sometimes I crave salad.
You’d have thought I was asking him to fly to the moon and back. The sulking I got and the response of "you know I don’t like doing salad, won’t you do it?" didn’t bode well with me.
Well, yes I could have, but I really wanted a night off from feeding everybody else. So I asked him again and this time I got a shirty response of "in my top 10 of things I really don’t like doing, chopping salad is one of them" and a really pathetic "please don’t ask me to do it".
I’m not a material person and I certainly don’t ask for expensive items for the house, and for pity’s sake I was only asking for a bit of salad.
Yet he refused.
Perhaps it’s my hormonal state and I didn’t cry, but it really upset me that he wouldn’t cut up a bit of salad.
Maybe it upset me that he knew his own mind enough to be able to refuse and I’m not like that. But maybe, just maybe it’s more to do with the fact that I wear myself out (like most women) looking after the children, house and working and it made me feel very unimportant for that few minutes.
I have since had an apology and have made my feelings known, but for that day he was not in my list of favourite top ten people either.
Posted in Emma's Dilemmas | No Comments »
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
Coming soon on April 9th! 
Posted in The Pink Project | No Comments »