English Opinion

 Amy at http://beingbipolar.today.com has once again left me a lovely surprise on my blog! In fact, she left me the Blog Love Award a while ago now but I have to say I’d completely forgotten. I’ve had some personal problems recently and it completely slipped out of my head! Well, now is the time to rectify that and say a huge HUGE thanks to Amy, a wonderful person and an inspiration.

Thanks again Amy, and I’m now passing on the Blog Love to other fantastic bloggers!

Here are the rules:

* When you receive the Blog Love award, you should place the logo on your blog proudly!
* Link to the blogger that awarded you the love
* Nominate your friends and bloggers you read regularly, as many as you like
* Finally, let them know you’ve nominated them to receive the award

I am officially passing on a little Blog Love to the following exceptional bloggers:

http://www.sheilaontheweb.com

http://justpressplay.today.com/

http://ukfootball.today.com

http://myjourneyasa40something.today.com

http://fromhuskiestohusbands.today.com/

http://lolasdiner.blogspot.com/

http://derailed.today.com

http://youngwomenwriters.today.com

http://singlemommy78.today.com/

http://writergirl.today.com/

And finally… I’d also like to nominate http://beingbipolar.today.com. She’s given me two awards now so it’s about time I gave one back!

All the blogs above are really wonderful blogs from excellent writers so keep up the good work guys! Go forth and spread the blog love!

I absolutely love winter! I love the crisp coldness that hits you as you walk out of the door. I love Christmas. I love walking the dogs over frosty fields. I also love snow but it is incredibly rare that we get a decent snowfall here… we did today! London experienced 20cm, which is the worst it’s snowed in England for 18 years. We only got 7cm in the Midlands but the sky looks as if it’s promising more as I’m writing this.

I work from home so I guess I don’t experience the problems that other people do when they head to work. I have the luxury of not having to get into a car if I don’t want to, although I had to take my husband to work this morning and that was a slightly hair raising experience! I’ve always dreamed of owning an old English cottage and taking the dogs out for a walk over snowy fields before returning home to a roaring fire. Maybe one day… but for now I’ll just be happy with watching the snow from inside a rented house that may not be mine but is home for now.

One last thought though - it never fails to amaze me that any snow at all brings the UK to an absolute standstill! Even with 3 days notice the councils couldn’t manage to sort out the roads. God only knows how the rest of the world copes! It does make you wonder but I’m just happy it snowed!

It’s only a month into 2009 and already the year is really making some people suffer. The credit crunch is in full swing, people are losing their jobs, families are being kicked out of their homes, crime rates are up and there is seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel. However, it really is difficut to judge just how bad this year is likely to be on the strength of a month.

In terms of my business, my writing work has not dried up at all, thank goodness! Having said that, I have been taking on extra work to try and get the bills paid and save a little just in case we should ever need it. With food prices remaining high, winter in full swing and the gas price cuts not coming in until February, the cost of living is still unreasonably high. I am making a concerted effort to be more frugal and will shortly be having a huge spring clean to find things to sell on the Internet to bring in a few extra pennies for our house fund.

Personally, this month has been a non-entity in terms of the fact that we are just keeping our heads above water, which I am sure goes for a lot of the population at the moment. Although I cannot see any improvement in the future and think that more jobs will go, more wildcat strikes will break out (which I plan to write about tomorrow) and believe that more homes will be repossesed, I think that 2009 is literally going to be about taking one day at a time, one week at a time. The world has changed for the worse so we have no choice but to do the best we can.

I hope January has not been too poor a month for everyone and also hope that February offers new beginnings. Good luck people! I think we’re going to need it!

I was told this morning that the mother of one of my oldest friends had died overnight. She was only 45 and it came as a bit of a shock. I’ve written before about how precious life is and how we cannot take it for granted in society in general, whether it is a baby being abused or an elderly person unable to afford heating. However, today I sent my condolances to my friend and the rest of her family because I truly felt for them. I knew Mandy, the lady that passed on, from the age of 2-ish because we always live in the same village and I was the same age as her oldest daughter. I can’t imagine how they must be feeling but I came close to being able to identify with them at the age of 9.

That was the age at which my mum found out she had breast cancer… for the first time.

My mum has had breast cancer twice, once when I was 9 and again when I was 11… twice within 18 months to be exact. She was 32 and 34. She told my brother and I everything she could about what was going on without mentioning the dreaded C word so we’d think everything was OK. She had radiotherapy, chemotherapy and also had to have her ovaries removed. She was strong and wasn’t about to leave two young children behind. I know some women don’t have a choice about that but I’m convinced her will to live helped her recovery. She is well and truly my hero. I’ve always looked up to her and admired her. I always cry when I think about what she went through, just like I am now, but I also get a little scared because I couldn’t have imagined my life without her.

I remember that she actually brushed out her hair as soon as it started to fall out because she was going to lose it sooner or later so wanted it on her terms. I remember that she was sick every day for a week after the chemo because the cocktail of drugs was that strong. I remember that she was still always there for us, no matter what and would come to my netball matches in her wig. I remember that her nose always bled and she bruised easily but she stll played with us and read us our bedtime story. I remember how she never cried and always carried on with life as normal. i also remember how she never allowed it to affect our childhood.

I also remember how I found out at 16 that she had cancer and how much I cried because I couldn’t bear to think of my mum going through all that pain and suffering.

She never put herself first. We were always first, and we still are. My life would have been very different without her. I wouldn’t have gotten through the bullying at school. I wouldn’t have been able to cope with all the health problems I have had over the last couple years. Of course, my dad is amazing as well but there are some things that mothers are more equipped to handle and crying teenagers isn’t one of them! Some of my extended family have been less than supportive recently. In fact, they haven’t even tried to understand what I’m going through, choosing to be nasty and talking about me behind my back instead. My mum and dad haven’t though. Not once, and I love them for it.

My mum is an absolutely amazing woman and I am incredibly thankful every day for her being here with me. I tell her I love her every time I see her and after every phone conversation. I speak to her at least once a day, whether face to face or in person and I never, ever take her for granted. I know people that do take their families for granted but after you come so close to losing one of the few people you love most in the world you see things a little differently.

I love you mum. I love you dad. I’m so proud to be your daughter xxx

I have very little to say today because I’ve done nothing but listen to music and try desperately to finish everything I have on my to do list before settling down with my husband and a bottle of wine later on tonight. As a result, I thought I’d take a quick break to wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I’m counting down to the end of 2008 and am ready to welcome 2009 with open arms.

We haven’t got much planned because I find the whole night way too expensive and completely overrated. There’s always a fight somewhere and I can’t be doing with that to start my year off. Instead, we’re heading to my mum’s for something to eat and to wish the family a happy new year before seeing in 2009 on the couch in front of the TV. Sounds perfect to me!

2008 has been a really bad year for me but I head in 2009 knowing exactly who I can rely on to support me and those I cannot. My close family have been brilliant this year and supported me through thick and thin. I cannot express how much they mean to me because it’s just not possible to put it into words.I’ve had little support from elsewhere but at least I know who my good friends are now. One especially has surprised me. The individual in question has neither tried to understand nor support me at all since I’ve been diagnosed with depression. What made it worse is that this person is supposed to be family. Instead this person has just shown me how fickle human nature can be and also how cruel and selfish the individual can be when he or she does not get his or her own way. I spent 2 hours around the person this week for the first time in months but that is apparently sufficient time to judge someone. I suspect that someone else has been loading the bullets for that person to fire. I guess I’ll never know but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger… and I guarantee that person will need me before I need something from that person. I also guarantee that I will not be there when they do.

The moral of the story is that there is absolutely no point listening to people with small minds but being comfortable in your own skin. I am comfortable in mine and know that I am my own person. I will not change for anybody and if someone does not like that then tough. I hope everyone else is strong enough to live their own lives because life is most definitely too short. Welcome 2009 with open arms… Take what comes as and when it comes, rolling with the blows when necessary. When the going gets a little tough for someone else, offer support. Being a shoulder to cry on makes a huge difference to someone, even if you may never know that. Don’t judge people before you know all the facts and what’s happening in their lives. Above all though, think before you speak and before you act because you never know what edge you may push someone over.

May 2009 be a better year all round and may we all pull together to make it so.

Finally, thank you to everyone that has visited my blog over the last few weeks. Everyone’s made me feel very welcome here and I love how much support is offered between all bloggers.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I took a quick look at my Facebook page today and saw that a number of people have already altered their status to show just how glad they are to see the back of 2008. Whilst I won’t be sad to see the year out and will welcome 2009, it took me by surprise that so many people have had one of the worst years of their lives this year as a result of personal circumstances. This begs the question, just how bad was 2008?

 In terms of the news, 2008 was certainly an awful year. Not only did we have the Baby P case brought to the fore and the sheer lack of regard for his murder by the social services team that was supposed to protect him but we also had a mother prosecuted for the kidnapping of her own child in Karen Matthews. In terms of the way children are treated, 2008 was certainly a bad year. In the UK, more measure were brought in to imply that we can’t look after ourselves anymore so the advent of the nanny state was all but cemented. And then there was the economy… The years of boom that we have enjoyed are well and truly over thanks to the recklessness of the banks and lack of regulation by a government that seem hell bent on blaming America for our problems rather than taking responsibility. Now we face one of the harshest recessions since the end of World War II. On top of that, and average of 6 people were killed via knife crime every week.

All in all, not taking my own personal circumstances into account, 2008 was a terrible year. Hopefully 2009 will be better. Hopefully the government will learn that its emphasis on statistics and figures just does not work and they need to focus on something else… like sorting out their own messes for example. They need to start believing that we can look after ourelves but need to be able to trust them with our money, child protection system and crime prevention. We need to be able to trust them to do what is best for us and not for them. We need to be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. The latter is why I hope that Gordon Brown’s days as Prime Minister are numbered. 2009 is certainly time for a change in more ways than one!

Something a little different today methinks… and a little bearing of my soul. 2008 was a terrible year for me. It was literally one thing after another. Towards the end of 2007 I was diagnosed with a rare eye disease that only 1 in 200,000 people have. It is caused by a genetic blip so there is no cure but it can easily be managed when you know how. This on its own would have been fine but everything just spiralled from there.

I was working between 16 and 20 hours a day to keep the roof over our heads as a result of circumstance. This combined with women’s difficulties and a recent depression and anxiety diagnosis really made my year worth living through (that was most definitely irony!). In addition to that, there have been little things that have affected me, some that aren’t even worth thinking about but acted as straws that broke the camel’s back. There is one particular incident I can think of but I’ll vent about that at a later date! 

Never have I believed more that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger! The thing about 2008 was that it was literally the year from hell and I am now counting down the days until 2009. As a result, I make only one resolution this year - to have a better year in 2009. I have to forget everything that has occurred this year, learn from it and move on. In my present state of mind, I think that it is entirely possible for me to do this. Although we never know what is around the corner for us, maybe that can be a good thing. I’ve been living every day as it comes for some time now and will approach 2009 in much the same way. If I take every step as it comes then why should this year not be the best year yet?

Think positive - it will be!

I just want to offer up one message to everyone tonight…

Merry Christmas!

 I’m just posting a very quick blog tonight because I’ve had an incredibly busy day today with last minute preparations and visits. Every year is the same. No matter how much I believe I’ve done, I always seem to have more still to do every Christmas Eve. After all, it’s 2am here as I write this and I’ve only just sat down to chill out a little!

It’s always the same in my house because I love Christmas and always want everything to go as planned. I love having a happy family Christmas with my parents and grandparents, but this year I am more grateful than most. I have effectively ad a year from hell, in which it has literally been one things after another. I have managed to get through it with the loving support of my family and, after a good night’s sleep, I want to thank them tomorrow. Christmas is family to me and I hope you have as good a family as I do and a very Merry Christmas all round.

Before I go any further, I’d just like to thank atorturedsoul over at http://beingbipolar.today.com for nominating me for this award. Thanks honey, much appreciated! I’m glad someone has enjoyed reading my rants and ravings, and even debating with me too!And now it’s time to pay it forward, so to speak, and encourage the spirit of the award to go forth! Please take a look at my ten nominees below:

http://newsitemstoday.today.com/

http://charsdogsanddoginfo.today.com/

http://singlemommy78.today.com/

http://writergirl.today.com/

http://unorthodoxchef.today.com/

http://california.today.com/

http://waxingpoetically.today.com/

http://notnews.today.com

http://frugalliving.today.com/

http://politicsplace.today.com/

Congrats guys - you write some of my favourite blogs on here! I hope you now take the opportunity to do the same as above and nominate some of your favourite blogs as well. The rules are as follows:

1) Display the logo somewhere on your blog, even if it is only in the post acknowledging the award.

2) Nominate your favourite blogs, at least 10 of them. You can nominate them for any reason you want but they must display attitude or gratitude! 

3) Link to your favourite blogs and give them a little link love.

4) Tell them all about the award you have given them and a little about what it means to you.

5) Link to the person that nominated you as well to show a little love to the person that loves your blog so!

I’m displaying my lemonade award proudly in the sidebar and have linked to atorturedsoul there too as I really appreciate the fact that I’ve touched someone enough for them to think of me when nominating. With Christmas coming up quickly now, it is the little things that count and one thought can mean so much to someone.

Congrats to all - you make me smile! Merry Christmas x

Today seems to be a great day for justice and the phrase “what goes around, comes around” could not be more applicable. First 9/11 terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed pleads guilty and then Haringey’s Head of Children’s Services finally gets what she so richly deserves as well - the sack! Although the two events, 9/11 and the Baby P murder, are in no way comparable at all I never thought I’d see the day when two vile people got what they had coming to them.

Sharon Shoesmith is a smug, arrogant, heartless woman. She appeared on TV shortly after news broke of the torture and abuse that killed Baby P but instead of apologising for her lack of management skills and hands on work that undoubtedly contributed to the poor provision of Haringey’s Children’s Services and the abuse of innocent children, she wavd charts and figures in our faces. She produced information to show that the department was doing a good job. Instead of appearing apologetic and contrite, she appeared conceited and out for one thing - to save her own neck.

The behaviour of Sharon Shoesmith was disgusting. She was not doing her job because Baby P would still be alive if she had been. She was not managing her team, as documents that have been produced ever since have proved. She was, however, enjoying her luxury apartment and £100,000 salary. Well now she won’t have any of that at all because she has officially been sacked with no compensation package at all to take comfort in.

Sharon Shoesmith said there was no evidence to sack and of the social workers in Haringey over the Baby P case but she was wrong. Her head has now rolled and no doubt there will be more to come. If there were any justice in the world the pen pusher that was obsessed with her own figures would have never have been in that job role. She would never have been trusted with the lives of children that seemed to matter so little to her. She would never have had the final say that sent Baby P back to his evil mother for the final time. Unfortunately, there is very rarely justice in our society anymore but today proved there could be. Sharon Shoesmith may never have met Baby P but she should be accountable for his death. She never raised a hand to him but it was her job to help save him and many other poor children like him that never have the chance to live.

Sharon Shoesmith is gone. May she never get another job again and know what it is like to struggle. May she feel sorry for Baby P and not for herself. Above all, may she learn a little something about the English - that we don’t take kindly to those that shirk their abilities, those that blame everyone else when they should take responsibility fo their actions and those that directly or indirectly harm children.