Pay it forward

Last week I was given an award I'd never seen before. Cool innit?

I was given this award by two bloggers, Odie over at The Simple Life and Somnia at You are Loved.

Odie was one of my first followers and always left comments that were positive and encouraging. I guarantee if you follow him, no two posts will be the same. There are recipes, pics of bbqs by the lake, videos of animals doing the funniest things and lots more. He is one of the most positive people I know and it's catching.

Somnia is a young girl who is still deciding what she wants to do with her life. She is crazy mad into her music, a very clever girl and someone who nearly gave up blogging because of family pressure. When she disappeared I was gutted because it was clear that being able to blog really helped her get stuff off her chest. But she's back, so check her out.

The rules are that you have to post the award at the top of the post (check), refer to the blogger who awarded it to you (check) and pass it on to 5 other bloggers.

Smell My Dairy Air 

Kellie is an Alaskan girl who has moved to Wisconsin and has a small hobby farm. She has 3 lovely kids, one who has just graduated and soon to leave home. Her farm is truly beautiful and it's never a dull moment there.

Looking for blue sky

Cathiey comes from Ireland and is mum to 3 children. Her kids are her world and in her words she has "one fab teen, one gorgeous girl with cerebral palsy and one amazing boy with aspergers. Cathiey is just lovely and she has even tried to teach me the ways of Twitter which I am so rubbish at!

My crazy life
Julie is a fellow Scot and a mad as a box of frogs! I have known Julie for quite a few years now after meeting her at a Unique conference, We hit it off immediately and we both have the same wicked and warped sense of humour. She has 3 lovely kids, one who has special needs but his condition is undiagnosed.

I wasn't blogged yesteday
B is a lovely lady from Australia who blogs about anything and everything. She has an enquiring mind like me and her posts often make me laugh. If you haven't been to her blog yet, then you don't know what you are missing.

Absolutely Narcissism
Sandra is one of the funniest girls ever. You always get a good laugh at her place.She talks about everything and anything and she can be so rude! Her husband and kids are her favourite subject and she has loads of followers. If you don't follow her already then you should. The best therapy ever!

Well that's it for today my little gigglers. Have a good one.

Giggling is good for you

Holly and I often have conversations that head off in the strangest directions!  Last night we went out for dinner to one of her favourite places, La Caverna in Lossiemouth.  My Holly is a creature of habit so once she finds a place she likes, that's the choice every time!  Jack was with Marion (carer) for a few hours.

inside La Caverna

It was very quiet in the restaurant, it was just us two and we were having quite a good laugh, catching up on what she had been doing at school.  There were times we were giggling so hard that the waiter must have thought we had lost it!

Holly being the typical child, when we had first sat down, handed me her coat and scarf and I had them sitting on the chair next to me.  So when we were getting ready to leave, I started to put my jacket on and Holly's like "well, pass my scarf then" as I am in the middle of trying to get my arm into my jacket!  "Hold on a sec, will you" says I wrestling with my jacket.  So she starts muttering about "if we were on a plane and the oxygen masks had dropped down, I would have died of oxygen starvation by now cos you would be too busy faffing about!".  Calmly I said, just as the waiter appeared " well you could just have a sook of it while you were waiting for me to finish what I am doing".  You should have seen the waiter's face, it was hysterical and I had to try really hard to keep my face straight when he asked "was everything all right with our meal and did we want the bill?"

When he left, Holly, who hadn't seen the waiter's face, carrying on the conversation, said "so I'd just have to frantically suck at the mask until you were ready? But parents are supposed to get their mask on first, then the kids get theirs (has she forgotten that she is now 16???? soon to be 17!) so, would you then prise mine off my face and put it on yours and give me the other one?".  At this point, I am laughing hysterically cos there would be no prising anything off of her face, believe me cos she has a thing about other peoples germs and do you really think if the aeroplane was crashing that she would part with said mask, no way, no how, no when!!!!

By this time, she has her jacket on and we are up at the desk.  The waiter is trying really hard not to laugh and he asks "are you paying the bill together or separate?" to which I laugh and say "together, cos she has no money" and Holly is saying indignantly "that's because I am a child". I am laughing and saying "and your point is?" and I make the sign "whatever, minger, loser" on my forehead! and she spluttered "you're such a child, you've never grown up!" I was laughing really hard now saying "growing up is overrated Holz".  The waiter is unable to contain his laughter now, I think we've made his evening!

Outside in the car, Holly commented that she could still see him smiling, in the restaurant.  I informed her that he was probably still laughing about me telling you to "just sook it till I am ready and he was probably thinking it was some weird sexual thing!" .  Holly being the typical teenager looked at me with a mixture of horror and disgust, saying "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwww".  I was laughing so hard, I couldn't drive the car!

I just love spending time with Holly cos she so gets me and me her and without realising, she is highly entertaining!

When we were visiting Granda Mac last night, another couple came in.  They were friends of Granny and Granda, have been for a long time but I don't know the lady (M) all that well but I know her husband (J) as he is a plumber and he has helped me out a few times.

I was yawning cos the heat in the hospital was getting a bit much and I commented on how tired I was.  Immediately M, jumps on this and asks "why was I so tired" not in a friendly way either and I replied "looking after Jack is quite tiring".  She gave me a look and then the conversation moved on.  Later, as we got up to go, she asked "who was looking after Jack tonight?" and I replied that "Jack was with the carer".  "So do you get help in the morning then?" she asks quite abruptly and I said "no" and she quickly retorts "why not?".  "Because they(the council) don't have the money to put in that kind of help" says I and she grumpily retorts that "I could get my own carer and pay her myself!".  I am completely flabbergasted by this cos does she think I am made of money???  Obviously she has heard that I am!
                                                        
I could feel Holly bristling beside me and my own heckles were up but I politely replied "do you know how much a carer costs? Also I would have to train them and that costs money because Jack requires specialist care as he takes seizures, goes blue and stops breathing and also is sometimes sick and can aspirate it.".  That's not to mention the other training she would need.

Epilepsy Training

Feeding via pump

Cpr Training

Gravity Feeding

VNS Magnet to stop seizures

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" she said "I suppose that does need special care then". But she didn't sound that convinced and  I was completely flabbergasted cos this is one of Granny and Granda Mac's long term friends, knows the history and knows how often Jack is hospitalised and how ill he has been at times. It didn't help that Granny Mac then stated "that she hasn't had specialist training but she manages!"  That may be so but she would never get a job doing it cos she wouldn't have all the training.

We left soon after and Holly straight away said "she wasn't very nice was she?" and I couldn't argue with her really.  I felt as if this lady was out to have a go at me and having Holly agree that it felt like that to her too, made me feel for sure that she was. We had a good laugh about it with Marion when we got back to the house cos she has a list of qualifications as long as her arm just to be able to look after a child like Jack and actually has a specialist set of training, which no one else in my area has, and that is training in using the VNS.

People surprise me all the time but mostly in a good way. And the ones that don't, well I have to learn to shrug them off and laugh about it.

A nice surprise I got on Monday was another lovely award, this time from Odie@The Simple Life.  I love his blog and hearing about his life across the pond, you should definitely check him out and I love the picture of  Blue Ridge Parkway in the top left hand corner of his blog.  I am drawn to it every time I visit his page, it looks so bonnie.

Thank you Odie

Now I have to list 5 things about myself that you don't already know.

1) I love Faeries! I have a collection of faery ornaments that people have given me over the years, also books on them too.

I have one of these

2)  I was given a £20 voucher for Christmas, from my friend Emma towards a tattoo! Me, who is terrified of needles!  EEEEKKKK!  but I have secretly wanted one, somewhere private where no one can see maybe? lol

3) I love love love SHOES! My rest of my outfit can be fairly plain (which is rare) but the shoes are always a talking point.  Wedges are my favourite.  I would be frightened to tell you how many pairs of shoes I have!

4) One of my most favourite things is looking at a new catalogue!  Even though I might not buy anything out of them, I love opening a brand new one for the first time.  I'm like a magpie, my eyes light up when I see one and I have to have it!  Blame my mum, cos when I was little, she used to give me her old catalogues to play with and I took them everywhere! lol

4) My home is my safety.  As soon as I come in the house and shut the door, I can finally be me and I don't have to pretend that l am having a good day, when I am not.  It is the best feeling in the world!

5) I have a wall and a door at my back door full of stickers and magnets with really funny sayings that people have given me or I have bought myself. I also have a car sticker that makes everyone laugh when they read it and is a real conversation starter!

This is it!

So there you have it!

I pass this on to Linda@Linda's Life who hasn't been blogging long but I just love her writing and I want to know more!!!  Jax@You are Loved who is also a new blogger and is baring her heart by doing the 30days of Truth!  Better her than me!

There is so many other people I want to give it to but I see that they've already received it so I will leave it at that but as far as I am concerned you are all worthy of awards anyway.

Have a lovely day folks.

It's for me? Really!

My Saturday was going pretty well.  I met my friend Emma for lunch, then home for Jack.  Then my friend Marina, popped round for coffee in the afternoon and Holly came home from London, just after 6.  It was a good day but about to get even better cos when I logged into my Blog, I was mega chuffed to find that Jumble Mash had given me an award. Mega thanks JM. So people my day was complete and .............

it really is.

There are rules to this award.

1. First, thank and link back to the person that gave the award.(Check)

2. Answer the 10 survey questions

3. Pass the award along to other bloggers whom you think are fantastic.
4. Contact the bloggers you have chosen to let them know about the award

1.  If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this?  If you aren't anonymous, do you wish you started out anonymously, so that you could be anonymous now?  I don't blog anonymously and never thought to.  My blog started as a way for me to talk about life with a disabled child but I wanted it to be more than just about that.  I hope it is.

2.  Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.  Me, stubborn?? Eh, never! lol I don't think I am stubborn but I am told I am, but only where it matters.  Ok, here goes.  The house I am living in now, the ex had  to persuade me to buy it as I had a bad feeling about it, but it had a ground floor bedroom and bathroom for Jack so I gave in.   Six months later I discovered he was having an affair, we split up and while divorcing he wanted the house sold so that he wouldn't have to pay for us to live there.  The downstairs bathroom had been adapted for Jack by this time so I dug my heels in and eventually got to keep the house, with mortgage.  It's an old house so sometimes, like when the roof was leaking, I wish I hadn't been so stubborn! Oh and the bad feeling went away after we split up!

3.  What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?  Lots of laughter lines around eyes that still sparkle with mischief!  Like most women I have good days and bad days and that reflects in the mirror.  I am curvier than I would like but hey I can still work it baby!

4.  What is your favourite summer cold drink?  Non alcoholic - ice cold sparkling mineral water.  Alcoholic - Southern Comfort and Lemonade in a tall glass with lots of ice.

5.  When you take time for yourself, what do you do?  Read, blog, sing at the top of my voice to music and boogie along to it in the kitchen!

6.  Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life? I would like to write a book about my life, cos it has been a bit of a crazy one, even if it never got published.  I also want to come up with a way to support myself and Jack when Father of the Year stops paying for his son.

7.  When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching?  I was very shy at school but with friends, also very funny.  I was clever but school bored me and I only ditched it once cos I got the thrashing of my life for doing it! I left as soon as I could.

8.  If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?  The absolute grief, pain and confusion I felt at the tragic death of my nephew, Derek, a month before his 11th birthday and watching my sister, his mum, close off and shut down and not be able to reach her just made it all the more painful.

9.  Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog, or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people and events?  I try to share as much of myself that is possible but there are some very painful moments in my life which I only just skim the surface of as I am not ready to share them yet but I will eventually, honest!

10.  If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?  This is a hard one because I absolutely love to read but spending so much time at home means I am screaming for adult conversation at times.  So I think that I would screen my calls while reading the book and if it is a friend then I would definitely pick up and chat to them, anyone else can forget it lol

Ok, phew, glad that bit is over cos it was severely taxing my brain!!!!

Now to pass it on.  I award it to: Moannie at The View From This End

                                                      Anna at Hello World!

                                                       Julie at My Crazy Life 

So I am off for a lie down now cos I am "coming over all unnecessary" as someone I know used to say!  Haven't a clue what it means but it always makes me laugh!

I Feel Loved

Despite all the drama in my life lately I was surprised and chuffed to bits to be given a blog award, twice.

OMG!  What can I say, it looks good enough to eat!  But me, sweet??? Eh, umm, aww shucks, if you say so!

So a BIG thank you to Morgan @ The Adorkable Ditz Missteps and Chief aka dad @ Unsound Reasoning for thinking of me and their kind words.  I am not worthy! but I will grab it with both hands accept it gracefully (what? who me?) and pass it on.

Now there is a price to pay  for this oh so yummy award, the price being that I have to tell you 5 guilty pleasures that I enjoy and pass it on to 3 bloggers.  So since I got it twice that means I have to tell you 10 guilty pleasures..............mmmmmmmmmm...............I am not sure I can come up with 10 clean ones though but will give it a shot and award it to 6 bloggers.

Right here goes nothing!

Guilty Pleasures
1)   I love being the first person into the bed when I have changed the sheets and duvet cover.  It is the height of bliss!
2)   I much prefer shower gel to soap, especially the fruity kind and my favourite at the moment is by Naked Body Care called Starflower Body Wash.  It's gorgeous and I can't wait to get naked in the shower! ;)
3)   My favourite hobby is winding Holly up when she is in "paranoid Annie" mode.  It's a case of light taper and stand well back. Tee hee hee.
4)   After a long walk with the dogs, it's just ace to have two dogs curled up sleeping at your feet and they look so cosy that I gently rest my feet on them while they are sleeping and I drink my cup of tea.  The best pair of slippers ever.
5)   A glass of red wine. Just that first sip is enough to soothe my aching bones and calm my frayed nerves but  a sip is most definitely not enough.
6)   Hugs are the best, one size fits all but a cuddle from your man surpasses them all, it is the best.
7)   Screening my calls.  There are times that no matter how much I love you, I just don't want to talk........it's not you.............it's me! ha ha ha
8)   Stealing kisses from Jack while he is still asleep first thing in the morning.  My god that boy is so scrumptious!
9)   The thoughts of pure evil that some of my friends have.  They are totally hysterical and have me laughing and chortling throughout the day especially when it comes out of the mouth of some of the sweetest people I know.  I think I am rubbing off on them......eek!
10)  When Nancy (the lovely lady who cleans my house once a week) comes on a Wednesday and sorts out my house and gets me motivated to change around rooms and pack things away into the garage.  It's just like having my mum around.  Pure magic.

and lastly

11)  I know, I know it was only supposed to be ten but hey sue me!  A book is my most guilty of all pleasures,lying in bed immersing myself in someone else's world and being gripped by the story line, it doesn't get better than that...........mmmmm...........unless there's a fireman thrown in for good measure!!

Now to share the love with the people I am passing this award onto.

1) Talkative Taurus because she makes me laugh with her funny stories about her mum and for the Now and Then "blast from the past" post.
2) Jo @ Raising Seth who is just starting out on the road of raising a disabled child and who I silently champion and cheer on daily.
3) IWASNTBLOGGEDYESTERDAY whose daughter is a transgender and this blog is all about her point of view as a mum and coping with all the discrimination.  This is close to my heart as I have someone in my life going through this.  But it is not just about that, she has a wicked sense of humour too.
4) Mynx @ Dribble because I just love the way she thinks and she is such a lovely supportive lady.  Her other blog is pretty hot too!
5) Amy's Short Stories which are written by a 10 year old girl who has Autism.  Her stories are really good,  written so well and are lovely to read.
6) Odie @ The Simple Life for his ace post A Story Worth Telling and for all his positive comments on my blog.

Please look them up and enjoy.

P.S.  I apologise to Morgan for calling her Megan in my last few comments and posts. Brain not engaged at all this weekend!!! Will tell it to be on top form in the future, bad brain!