Diary Entry

12.36 am Happy New Year!

I got a New Year snog from Simon at the stroke of midnight. I managed to nag him off his computer to come in the living room with the rest of us. Poor Jack, he slept through it, but he refused to take a nap all day today.

Malorie, Braden and Ricky all had some Buck's Fizz. Braden drank mine and then Simon's as well. I only wanted a sip to toast the New Year. Ricky only drank a few sips. I knew he wouldn't drink much of it. I took some pictures of the kids with their drinks. Malorie is worried her dad will see them, but it's mostly orange juice so I don't see a problem there. She only had one small glass. It was Braden who drank three!

12.58 pm I wish I could say I had a great night's sleep, but I didn't. I didn't get out of bed until almost noon. The dog had me awake at 4.00 and 7.00, and I had more really weird dreams that made me restless. This time I dreamed Simon and I were offered a chance to move to Florida so I could take up a job my friend Shelley was offering. I didn't think the job sounded very good -- it was as a cleaner -- so I refused. Because I refused, Simon left me. I moved in with some friends into a house next to a shop, and it turned out Simon lived in the shop because I could see the dog through the window, so I took the dog and left him a note saying that the dog was safe. It got weirder than that, but I don't remember the details, just a feeling I was on my university campus, it was very dark, and I was having to do something I didn't like. Oh, I do remember part of it now. Shell's ex-brother-in-law John was there, and he was chasing me.

I've been playing with me new camera again. It's just a shame that the new house phone I bought doesn't seem to be working. It means a trip back to Worksop, but that's okay, I guess. I need to get the boys some new trousers for school and for home. They grow too fast.

3.42 pm I've created my New Year's goal list and put it on my other blog. Simon had his own addition for it, but I said it was a bit embarrassing if my family read about his fantasies and my goal of granting them!

I've ordered my Euros for my trip to Brussels. At least if I have them now, I won't have to worry about saving up for them closer to the trip. It's only next month anyway. The exchange rate isn't bad at the moment, though I'll bet now that I've ordered them, the pound will go up. It always works that way.

7.08 pm I got bored and told Simon I wish we could go out tonight. He suggested we go up to see Shell, so I checked to make sure she was in. She was, but she said she and Allan aren't speaking. Simon decided he wasn't going to go, though I went anyway. Evidently Al stayed up until after 5 this morning drinking, then thought he would be okay to drive the family to her sister's for lunch. We've decided that, at this rate, Al's liver and Simon's lungs are going to give up, so we better take out life insurance policies big enough to let us have some fun once they're gone! Simon spends so much time on the computer that he chain smokes. He's up to over 40 a day, I'm sure.

Morgan was being a little monster. I told him I know Santa is already watching him for next Christmas, and I'll bet he's already on the naughty list. He argued with me but I could tell he was worried.

8.22 pm I'm bored. I've fed all the kids, the hubby and myself. Now I'm sitting down at the computer with a drink (Bailey's, as usual) and some chocolates. Obviously the goal to lose weight isn't starting today. My parents sent a box of Hershey bars, and my sister sent a box of assorted Hershey's Kisses. I know, I don't have to eat them, but my will-power is not strong when it comes to things I come across so rarely. I haven't had a Hershey's Kiss since my parents brought a bunch of them over to put on the tables at our wedding reception two years ago.

I wish I had even a small portion of the energy the kids have. Ricky and Jack haven't shut up or sat down since they woke up this morning. They're shouting into the walkie-talkies Jack got for his birthday.

Time for more internet shopping! I need to find the boys a new chest of drawers for their bedroom now that they have a new telly that doesn't sit on top of one and warp it. I'm hoping it will give me an excuse to go to my absolute favourite store in the world: IKEA! I haven't been in months, so it's about time I had a drive down to Nottingham for a fix. Last year I bought all new bedroom furniture for my bedroom from there. It's gorgeous, and it was so easy to put together! I got two wardrobes, a cupboard, a chest of drawers and two bedside tables. The only things in our bedroom not from IKEA are the bed and my bookshelves. Yep, I definitely need to go to do some shopping there, but for now I'll settle for a browse of the website.

Hmmmm, I can't tell for sure but I think the lady giving out the weather report has said we might have snow tonight. I can't tell from her graphics whether or not it's coming this far south. She did say not to travel if you don't have to, which will rule out a drive to IKEA if it does snow here! For once I hope it doesn't snow!

10.02 pm I'm still bored. I'd work on my essay, but the kids are stressing me too badly. I can't concentrate. So I'm bored and stressed. Great combination. I couldn't even watch "The Vicar of Dibley", and it was a brand new episode. Jack kept coming in and standing between me and the television. Simon isn't on his computer tonight. Instead he's on the couch snoring his head off. I'm trying to think of something interesting to write about.

I found a chest of drawers I like on the IKEA site. I found a lot of stuff I like on the IKEA site. I shall have to resist. The boys do need that chest though. I love looking at the names of their products! A candle snuffer is "Slutlig". That's hilarious! Reminds me of a few women I know!

I've got to remember that at 12.30 tomorrow afternoon, ITV is showing highlights of the 2004 F1 season. I recorded all the races this year onto DVD. Last year I got all but one race. One day I'll have quite an extensive library of races. I'm hoping to make covers for each DVD to show the order of finishers on the back and a picture of the track on the front. It'll give me something to do next summer while I'm sitting in the shop with no studying to do.

Well, I'm bored, telly's boring, no one is around to chat to, so I'll go play on the PS2. I know, I'm not only bored, I'm boring.

12.21 am I think I need to get back to studying in the morning. I need mental stimulation. Even playing on "The Sims" on the PS2 is boring.

I had a message from Pete saying that he can't get on the FA forum anymore. I was only on there earlier today, but sure enough, after reading his message, I tried and it doesn't seem to exist anymore. Since that's where I first made contact with Pete and Gary, it seems a shame to not have it anymore, but at least I have their friendships now. It's more nostalgia than the fact I'll actually miss posting on it.

Diary Entry

2.36 am It's almost the new year, and I'm up too damn early for the last day of it. I'm just trying to drink a strong cup of coffee (milk and two sugars) before getting dressed. The good thing about going to Gatwick this morning is that there should be very little traffic. Not a lot of people are working New Year's Eve. At least that's what I'm hoping. I've given Braden instructions on what they should do if I'm not at the arrivals gate when they get there.

1.22 pm Oh geez, I've been to Gatwick and back. It is wonderful having Malorie and Braden home, but that trip is hell. Jack never slept and never shut up. I'll write more later. Now we've got to dash to Argos and get my new digital camera and the boys' television/DVD player they're having for a late Christmas pressie.

I did a bit of shopping at the airport. I absolutely love the pajamas in La Senza, and I try to get a pair or some lingerie every time I go pick the kids up. In August they're usually having a summer sale, and this time of year it's the after-Christmas sale. I got a pink pair with satin trousers and a top that says "Purrfect". I commented to Simon that it's not an appropriate saying. He said, "Yeah, it doesn't say 'Bitch'". I agreed with him. I would have preferred a top that says "Bitch".

I also went into the British souvenir shop so Jack could spend his birthday money from Shell. I found an ashtray with a London Underground symbol that says "No Smoking". I bought it for Simon. I found a necklace styled after Elizabeth I's jewelry and got that too. I told Simon it was £39.99. His eyes bugged out. It wasn't. It was £4.99. But it's pretty. Silver with a blue stone set into it.

11.30 pm I'm gearing up for the change of year! I had a nap and spent most of the evening playing with my new camera. It's absolutely brilliant! I've just found a huge memory card on ebay pretty cheap (brand new) because the 16 mb card that came with it only holds about 33 pics on the lowest quality setting. I can tell I will be able to so some awesom pics with this camera!

Had a chat with Thom and Shell this evening. Neither is out tonight because of their kids. Well, same with me really. Jack passed out ages ago, or we would have gone up to Shell's so she didn't have to bring in the New Year on her own. She didn't complain, but I can tell she was feeling low. Allan is out on the piss, as usual. I could kick that man sometimes. He asked Simon to go out with him tonight, but Simon said he preferred to bring in the New Year with his wife. I wonder if I'll get a New Year snog.

Donation for Disaster Aid Efforts

I collected a bit of information on donating towards disaster relief and thought I would post this info in case anyone else is interested. I will add to it as I find more links and phone numbers, and if anyone knows of something I've left off, please let me know!

Donations in the UK can be made through Oxfam or through the umbrella organisation, the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Phone numbers for donations in the UK are:
Disasters Emergency Committee: 0870 606 0900
British Red Cross: 0870 512 5125
Cafod: 0500 858 8885
Oxfam: 0870 333 2500
Save the Children: 0207 012 6400
World Vision: 0800 088 088

Thanks to Sky News for posting these numbers on their website.

Phone numbers and websites for donations in Australia are:
Red Cross: 1800 811 700
CARE Australia: 1800 020 046
UNICEF Australia: 1300 884 233
OXFAM: 1800 034 034

Thanks to NEWS.com.au for posting these charities on their website.

In the US:
CARE: 800-521-CARE
Oxfam America: 800-77-OXFAM
U.S. Fund for UNICEF: 800-4-UNICEF

In addition, CBSNews.com has an extensive list for anyone in the US wanting to donate, which can be found by clicking here.

There is a far far more extensive list of numbers for aid agencies and emergency information on another blog I've found, The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami. It has far more international information than I could ever hope to gather.

The Right to Pollute

There is such a body as the Chicago Climate Exchange. I've just been listening to a story about it on the BBC News radio station. This body exists to sell the right to pollute. What the ... ?

The way it works, if I understand it correctly, is Alpha Inc. is allowed to emit X amount of pollution per year. If they think they are going to have higher pollution emissions than X, they can "buy" extra pollution emission rights. If they don't use all their extra pollution allocation purchased, they can sell those emission rights on to Beta Inc.

Now I've heard it all. I prefer the idea that companies are penalised for extra pollution emissions rather than they are allowed to purchase the right to pollute. This might be splitting hairs and purely semantics, but it's the principle of the thing. Capitalism definitely has it's good points, but this is ridiculous. It makes it sound as if pollution on a major scale is no big deal.

Diary Entry

10.25 am I actually brought my criminal law books to the shop with me, and I've even opened one of the books! Then I realised I hadn't finished my coffee, so I'm sitting at the computer for ten minutes or so. The kids are back in school next Wednesday, so that day I'm going to drop them off and head over for a day in the university library. Not that I don't want to get some work done on these essays before hand.

Gary said in his blog he was glad he didn't see the news about the devastation in Asia while he was on his holiday this week because he would have been glued to the television. I know what he means. I almost wish I hadn't seen it myself. I've been glued to the coverage, and now that I'm at work, I even have the radio on the BBC News station. It sounds selfish of me to say I would have done a lot more in the past few days if I hadn't seen it, but it isn't just that. I wouldn't have seen such heartbreaking things if I were oblivous to it.

This morning I saw an interview with an Australian mum who struggled to keep a grip on her two sons when the waves hit, and she had to decide which one to let go of in order to save the other. If she hadn't, both sons would have died. She let go of the older son, who is a mere toddler. However, he managed to grab onto something and was saved. Such a heartbreaking story and I've struggled not to cry. Being a mum, I don't know how I could cope with having to make such a decision, but I am so thankful it had a happy ending! Perhaps it is like the story of Isaac, who was asked to sacrifice his son but in the end, his son was allowed to live. (I hope I have my Bible reference correct. I am a bit rusty in this area and would hate to really show just how ignorant I am. I know the principles and the stories, even if I forget the names. Please forgive me if I'm wrong.)

12.15 pm So much for getting some studying done in the shop. Last night I had a bad stomach ache, and today it's, well, to NOT put it graphically, it's turned into something a bit ickier. We don't have a toilet in the shop. Instead we have to go upstairs to the offices there and use that toilet. Only suddenly, without any notice, those offices are being turned into a private flat! (Hey, that would be really convenient for us ... Too small though, unfortunately.) I popped my head around the corner, and the Pakistani man who owns the restaurant two doors down from our shop said it was okay to use the toilet. I wish he'd told me the water was switched off. I'm so embarrassed! Needless to say I didn't want to spend the day running up and down the stairs and having to tell them I needed the toilet again, not after being unable to flush it the first time, so I've come home. I didn't have any customers all morning anyway, and Simon didn't have any yesterday. Small villages are not easy places to get business in the first place, but during the holidays, they're practically ghost towns.

It turns out I'm not the only American who feels the coverage of the devastation in Asia is a bit lacking in the US media. While listening to the radio this morning, the BBC had had several emails from American listeners who were appalled at the lack of information in the domestic media. That's why they said they were listening to the BBC via the internet. I watched the evening news from CBS, NBC and ABC last night -- we get them on satellite courtesy of the BBC, MSNBC Europe and Sky News respectively. I thought their coverage was pretty balanced. Being only a half hour news programme, of course there were other stories to cover, but they still dedicated at least the first ten minutes of their broadcasts to this humanitarian story. Despite my pledge not to, I switched over to Fox to see if I had been wrong about them. Nope. Not a mention of Asia in what I saw of the broadcast nor on their newsticker at the bottom of the screen.

1.20 pm I was just thinking how sad I am because Simon says we can't go to the British Grand Prix next year. Being a Formula One fanatic, I burst into tears. But I've just switched the telly back on and seen that the death toll in Asia has risen to over 120,000 with more expected. It puts it all in perspective, doesn't it? I'm upset about not getting to go see a bunch of overpaid men go around a track from a vantage point where you can't see more than them flashing past anyway. I'm lucky to be alive, no point crying over missing a race I can watch on the television anyway. Besides, Simon said we can still go to David Coulthard's bash if he has it, or Mark Webber's if he has some kind of fan gathering.

3.38 pm I've tried to convince Simon to go with me to Gatwick tonight, but no luck. I think he wants to stay planted on the computer, just like last year. The shop isn't open tomorrow because of it being New Years Eve. Jack is going with me. He can't help me with the driving, but at least he can keep me company when he isn't snoring his head off. We're leaving at about 2.30 in the morning.

Since Jack's going with me tomorrow, I took Ricky with me to do the shopping this afternoon. My god, that boy never shuts up! If he doesn't have anything to talk about, he asks questions. Thank goodness I remember learning about where clouds come from and where rain comes from! It's worse when I have no answer for him because he jumps from topic to topic.

I called in the shop around the corner to get Simon some cigarettes on the way home from Tesco, and Jo said she'd been thinking about me because she saw someone on the telly last week who reminded her of me. Some actress. Marie's cousin Nick was in there as well, and I've known him for about six years, ever since I worked at the doctor's surgery where he was a patient. He said that when he first met me, he thought I looked like Yasmin Bleeth! Jo asked who Yasmin Bleeth is, and Nick told her she's on "Baywatch". I laughed and replied, "That's stretching things quite a bit there". He's such a flirt, but he's that way with every female, young and old.

9.07 pm I've had a few hours of sleep, but I think that's probably my lot before we leave for Gatwick. I never manage much sleep because I'm much too nervous about going down there on my own. I've tried to convince Simon to go with me again, but no joy. It's just me and Jack. I'll keep trying to get some more sleep, but it's usually futile by this point, so I'm going to have a shower and chill in bed until time to go. I'll most likely fall asleep about 1.00. I have to get up at 2.30.

Diary Entry

11.22 am It's almost time to go get the boys from their dad's house! I'm really looking forward to having a big cuddle. I also had an email from my dad saying Malorie and Braden have been dropped off there. I always worry until I get that email from him.

I've done nothing but sleep all morning. I just can't seem to wake myself up lately. I'm going to have to though. I'm working tomorrow, then driving to Gatwick in the wee hours of Friday morning to get Malorie and Braden! Not to mention I have those essays I haven't even started yet!

2.28 pm I've got my littlest babies home, and they've opened all their presents. I thought maybe they'd be disappointed to have so few here after it sounds like they were up to their eyeballs in presents at their dad's house, but they seemed happy with what they got. I told them that Santa didn't have room in his sleigh to bring their big present since he knew they weren't going to be here, and he said we'll have to go to town to pick it up. They can't wait. Simon told them they have to keep their room tidy if they want it because it's going in there, so of course they've tidied up at light speed.

Arrrrgh! Simon's breaking my no-smoking ban in the living room! He says it's Christmas so he can smoke in here. I've pointed out that it's the 29th of December, but it's no use. He won't get off his butt and go smoke in his office like he's supposed to. Well, if he does it after I redecorate in here, I will flush all his cigarettes down the loo!

4.30 pm I just read one of the comments on my Scrambled Mind blog. Why is it if I make a non-political criticism about something, as I did with the Fox News channel, suddenly politics have to be brought into it? I was complaining about their tabloid journalism, not their politics. But just to set the record straight, I admit it. I'm a leftist. Not only am I a leftist, I'm also a feminist. I'm a medievalist, too. Does that count against me as well? It must because since I'm also a leftist and a feminist, I'm probably a revisionist medieval historian.

But the way I look at it, the world is made up of people with lots of different beliefs. It's why we are interesting. Never will I criticise anyone for having a different opinion to my own. I might argue or disagree, but I will never call you stupid or misguided, say you're "living in a dream world" or stop speaking to you because we don't see eye to eye. I have a lot of good friends who are at the opposite end of the political spectrum to myself, and we still manage to continue our friendships quite happily. I have family members who are also as conservative as I am liberal, and I'm still close to them. I love them all the more for having their political views and not being blown around by whatever the currently popular political wind is.

I've just realised I should have posted all of the above on my other blog, but it's still my opinion and part of who I am, so it's equally fitting here.

7.01 pm I can definitely tell the boys are home. There's no peace and quiet anymore. Still, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I would rather they be here and stress me out than be away. They are nagging me for sweets like you wouldn't believe! I think that's all they had until they got here because Jack started crying and said he'd had no breakfast or lunch today. So I quickly fixed them each a bowl of cereal and then cooked them some sausage rolls. He's not as tearful now, and Ricky isn't as hyper.

I'm in the shop tomorrow, so I'm determined to get a start on my criminal law essay!

News Coverage Leaves Me Baffled

There are sometimes when I just can't work out the media. I had a short stint as a newspaper editor/reporter/photographer, and I still can't understand why certain media outlets choose their stories. With the devastation in Asia, I've been glued to the television, but after a while, Sky News' reporting has become a bit repetitious. It happens. They're a 24 hour news channel, and only so much fresh news comes in at once.

So I started channel flipping. The BBC has coverage of the tsunami. So does ITV. So does CNN. So does MSNBC. So does every European news channel I've looked at.

Then I flipped to the US's FOX news. I only ever watch it when something live is happening in stories such as the Scott Peterson trial. And what is FOX showing today?

Osama Bin Laden and the war in Iraq.

I read the "news ticker" at the bottom of the screen for several minutes. Not a single mention of the tsunami. Eventually a screen popped up that said "Survivors of the killer wave". It's all too tabloid for me.

My Heart Goes Out

While I can definitely say I've had a relaxing holiday weekend, I wish I could say it was full of joy. First of all, none of my kids were here. That's hard enough at the holidays.

But I've spent most of my time watching television coverage of the devastation in Asia. I just can't believe it. I honestly don't know what I can say about my feelings that would adequately describe them. I wish I could get on a plane and go help those people start rebuilding their lives.

I do feel very badly for the tourists who lost their holidays. The lucky ones who survived can come home. The natives in those areas have lost everything -- the resorts are devastated, their farms and fishing boats are destroyed, their homes are in ruins.

I've seen a lot of natural disasters on the news before, but this time I really wish I could go myself to help, as useless as I am.

Diary Entry

3.48 am It's no surprise that, after spending all day in bed with a migraine, I'm wide awake at almost four in the morning! It's a good thing Simon's going to go open the shop today. I'm supposed to go in later and work the afternoon, but I guess it depends on whether or not my head is any better by then. I need to start doing some work on the next two essays since they're due in a fortnight!

I've still been playing my silly game on the Playstation. I think my Melinda character must be a real tart. Everyone falls in love with her but no one wants to marry her. The opposite of my life.

12.13 pm My headache is finally about gone. I think I worked out why I had such a bad one that lasted so long. Normally my periods only last three or four days, but this time mine lasted a week. It started last Tuesday and ended yesterday. I was probably anaemic. I used to get anaemic during my periods when I was younger, but I haven't since having kids. I should probably start on iron tablets.

Simon went in to the shop this morning, and I sent him a message a little while ago telling him I would be in around one o'clock. He phoned to tell me not to bother because we're the only ones open. He's closing up at 12.30. We forgot today is also a bank holiday! The funny thing is, after he left this morning and I went back to sleep, I dreamed I was the one who went in to work. When I got there, all the other shops were closed! Sometimes I think I'm psychotic ... I mean ... psychic.

I should probably get some work done on my criminal law essay. It's due the 10th of January, with the criminological research methods essay due two days later!

5.28 pm I haven't done a single thing on my essay. No surprise there. I'm still feeling a bit yucky after the two day headache.

I've decided never to watch FOX news again. I have never heard such ignorant reporters on live television. If someone sends an email to them to say they disagree with something said in their editorials, the news anchor blasts them. I call them editorials because there is no objective reporting. At least I've never seen any. I thought their coverage of the Scott Peterson trial was pretty good, but outside legal issues, I have no respect for their journalistic integrity. Today, on a day when the death toll in the Asian tsunami had more than doubled, FOX is covering Osama Bin Laden and the war in Iraq. I have never seen more ethnocentric news coverage. The only concern they showed during the time I tried to see what kind of coverage they had was for American survivors of the "killer wave". It makes me sick.

9.10 pm Looks like Pete's back from his trip to Byron. At least I have someone to chat to now! At least until he disappears on me again.

The boys are home tomorrow! I spoke to them earlier. They had been into town so Jack could spend his birthday money. He sounded more excited over the things he bought today than he was over his presents from Santa! I can't wait to get hold of both of them for a cuddle. And it's only Friday before Malorie and Braden will be home too.

I'm trying to find out if our local Oxfam is taking clothing donations. I don't have any money to donate at the moment because of Christmas, but in the meantime I want to do something, and with all these kids, we have tons of unworn clothes around the house that can either go to people who need them or be sold so the money can go to those who need it. I did stop watching news coverage long enough to watch "Casualty @ Holby" part 2, and there's a documentary on in an hour about Charles Whitman and the University of Texas tower.

Diary Entry

10.27 pm Well this will be a very boring diary entry! I've spent all day in bed with a migraine that started yesterday morning! It's eased off a bit, but I don't want to sit here at the computer very long because it's not completely gone. All I've done today is listen to the television. I've had it on Sky News so I could listen to the reports of the Asian earthquake and following tsunamis and tidal waves. Unbelievable. I honestly wish I could jump on a plane and go help those people rebuild their lives. My hearts go out to the tourists who have had such rotten luck, not to mention those who lost their lives, but it's the native people I wish I could help. Their lives are ruined because of the loss of the resorts, farms, fishing boats, homes, etc.

Shell wanted me to go out tonight. Boy, I wish I could have gone! I really would have liked that. Unfortunately I took some tablets for the migraine and couldn't have had anything to drink, if my head weren't hurting so badly in the first place. We're going out two weekends from now, and I'm so looking forward to that!

Daniel has a new word for things he likes: "Quality!" When he was opening his presents yesterday, when it was something he really liked, that's what he would say. He liked the scraperfoil, the gift voucher for HMV and the promise we'll get him two computer games or Playstation games of his choice as soon as he tells us what he wants. We figured that way he'd be sure to get what he wanted and didn't have rather than something he would have to exchange.

Simon did go out last night. He came in just after midnight pissed out of his skull and smiling like a fool. I honestly wish I hadn't had the migraine because he looked so happy, as he does when he's had a few drinks. He usually grins like a total idiot after a couple of pints. Then he wants to dance. After that, you never know. I could have got lucky!

11.34 pm I decided that boredom outweighed the migraine so I've been playing some more on the Sims on the Playstation. My Melinda character proposed to my Simon character, but he won't consider it on an empty stomach. Geez, isn't that just like a man? The real Simon thought it was funny. He said he'd marry me (again) whether I fed him or not. There are only a few characters that the Melinda character can marry, the others are off limits. She can marry female as well as male characters, unlike in most countries in the "real world". But so far the two that seem to like HER are Simon and Peter. Talk about coincidence! I did NOT create the Peter character. He was already part of the game.

Diary Entry

12.53 pm I slept later today than I did yesterday! It was noon before I got up. Saying that, I didn't sleep particularly well, and when I did, I had really weird dreams. Nothing new there really, but these dreams were stranger than most. In one of them, I was with three friends, and we were fish who could transform into people when we needed to get out of the water. I don't know where we were trying to go, but we ended up trying to hide from "normal" humans in an ice cream factory. Then the dream changed, and I was getting married in a really posh hotel suite, but first I had to get out of my university, which wasn't really my university but some big skyscraper, because it was on fire. I don't know who I was marrying. I think it was Simon, but I'm not sure because the dream never got that far, and I had to pick something out of my wardrobe to wear. The funniest bit was that one of the boys Malorie fancies, Jamie, who everyone says is gay, was going to be one of my bridesmaids! I do have some strange dreams, and they're always in colour. I know they say you don't dream in colour, but I do. It's just like watching television.

There's been a massive earthquake and tidal waves in Asia, and thousands of people have been killed. My god. I checked to see if Australia had been affected. I'm heartbroken for the people in Asia, but I actually know people in Australia and wanted to be sure they're safe. So far no news that the tidal waves have gone in that direction. I'm sorry to say my geographical knowledge of that area is crap. American schools don't really focus on countries other than the US.

We never had our "royal visit" yesterday, and Lynn never rang for us to go around. Still, it was a very relaxing day!

6.19 pm Simon was making plans to go out with Allan tonight, but after he told Allan I can't be the taxi because I've had a couple of drinks, suddenly it doesn't seem like Al's so keen on going out after all. It was one of the best and one of the worst things passing my driving test!

We had our turkey dinner tonight. I wasn't really very hungry though. I've been snacking on crackers and cream cheese all afternoon because my stomach's a bit raw and my head is pounding. Not drink related. I only had a glass of wine with dinner yesterday.

Daniel made it this afternoon, and I think he liked his presents. We told him we'd get him either two new Playstation or two new computer games. It was easier than picking out some he already has or isn't interested in.

Merry Christmas, Ya'll!

I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas! Don't drink too much, definitely don't drive if you have, and watch out for those choccies. They make you fat. I'll eat them for you.

Diary Entry

10.23 pm Whoa, I definitely drank too much last night! I wasn't feeling too well all night! I'm better now, but woke up with a banging head! That is, when I finally did wake up at 10.30 this morning. I had a nap this evening for an hour and a half as well!

It's been very quiet all day. We haven't laid eyes on anyone else. Roy and Doz were supposed to come by but didn't, and Lynn was supposed to ring when they got home so we could go round, but she didn't. I think Simon's bored. He said he wasn't going to go on his computer today, and now he's on chatting to his mates. He woke up early this morning swearing at the dog because, even though we both let him out in the middle of the night, he didn't want to go out in the cold. Instead he had a shit in Simon's office. He's such a wimp! It wasn't even snowing then! I didn't get to see the snow because it had melted by the time I got up. There has been a lot of snow around the country though. We've just had rain and some ice forming on the cars. It's a shame we didn't have proper snow. After that glow stick fight we had at Marie and Graham's last night, I'd have loved to have been able to throw snowballs at Simon and the dog today!

The boys rang this morning to tell me about the masses of presents they had to open this morning. Needless to say neither one of them really wanted to talk to me. They had more important things to do. Presents to unwrap, people to torture.

My mum phoned too. They were just loading the car up to go to Erin's.

We had a nice meal of Swiss steak, new potatoes in cream sauce and Brussel sprouts. I have a turket in the oven now. That's our Boxing Day dinner. I've had a bit to drink, but not much. A glass of wine with dinner and now a bit of pina colada.

Ah well, I wanted a relaxing day, and that's what I've had. Apart from a bit of cooking and doing the dishes, I've done nothing but watch television and play on the PS2. I'm getting there with the Sims, but still have a long way to go! I want to finish it soon so I'm not tempted to play when I should be studing and writing essays next week!

Posh and Becks: Not Worth Two Cents

And here's my two cents on the latest news concerning the couple.

I think they are headed for multi-millionaire weird in the same vein as Michael Jackson. In no way do I mean to imply anything related to the current and past allegations against Jackson in regards to the Beckhams. I'm referring to the Neverland Theme Park/ wanting to buy the Elephant Man's remains kind of weird.

Their wedding was horrible enough, but now they've had their two sons christened. Since Posh is pregnant again, I can only imagine how she's going to try to top this christening:

The christening - what's been reported:

-- The event cost £500,000
-- 100 close friends and family attended
-- Each took away a diamond as a gift
-- The chapel was specially built at a cost of £100,000
-- The christenings were conducted by the Rt Rev Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, who married the couple five years ago
-- £75,000 was spent on flowers
-- Catering, including a six-course meal, cost £150,000
-- Becks took delivery of a £73,000 Humvee Hummer on the day
-- The £1,000 christening cake was made by Savoir Designs, who did Madonna's wedding cake
-- Guests had a personal butler per couple.

Source: Sky News

This was no christening. This was no religious event. This was a publicity stunt. Maximum expenditure for maximum coverage. Maximum weird, if you ask me. I would rather be poor.

My "Baby's" Birthday

Yesterday was my youngest son Jack's 7th birthday. All my kids are my babies, but with Jack being the youngest of the bunch I usually call him the "puppy".

Ricky wasn't impressed because Jack, of course, got all the attention and the presents. He even got to pick what to have for his birthday dinner, a menu that didn't live up to Ricky's expectations. He wanted KFC, and Jack wanted pizza. Jack won. Ricky can pick when it's his birthday.

Ricky is also not impressed because he, too, is 7 years old. Most people think the boys are twins as it is, and for the next month, they are both 7, adding to the confusion. Yes, Ricky was born the 21st of January 1997, and Jack was born the 23rd of December 1997. I call them my "Irish twins". Needless to say, Jack was a bit of a surprise, but a very pleasant one. In a way, he might have saved my life.

Just after Ricky was born, we were notified that his dad had had his visa application to live in the US refused. Ricky came to stay with him here in England while I sorted out custody so I could bring Malorie and Braden with me to live in the UK. In the meantime, I pined for my baby, but I knew I had to take care of myself because of Jack. Everything was sorted out at the beginning of December, and I flew off to England to reunite my family. I started having contractions on a layover in Brussels.

Sure enough, just after 5 am on the 23rd of December, after 9 days of labour, he was born in Sheffield. The doctor in Texas had told me he was due in mid-January. I'm glad he didn't wait that long. He was 7 pounds 15 ounces and 23 inches long. Natural childbirth. Ouch.

Diary Entry

11.06 am I could not make myself wake up this morning, and I ended up opening the shop late. Oh well. Simon just laughed at me when I woke him and told him the time. I didn't sleep very well. Usually I get a few hours of very sound sleep, but I don't think I did last night. The dog woke me up a couple of times wanting to go out, and when my alarm went off this morning (the one I ignored), he was at the foot of the bed trying to crowd me out, so my back aches from sleeping at a funny angle. He has his own bed, but he thinks he's human. I am talking about Mitch, not Simon.

When I got here, I chatted to Pete for a few minutes. I can usually judge what to expect in my day by listening to him because Australia is pretty much on the other side of the world. It's just after 11 am here; it's just after 9 pm there. He said he's had a day of cooking, cleaning and wrapping, and he's absolutely knackered. That sounds like what I have planned, but I probably have more to clean than he does. He's a neat freak -- Dr. Domestos, I call him.

Simon should come up here shortly to relieve me. I still have to wrap my godson Morgan's presents so I can take them to him this afternoon. I have selection boxes for his sisters, Lynn's kids and our four English nephews I need to wrap too. Besides, it's been ages since I've had a chance to visit with Michelle, thanks to uni and the shop, and I can't wait to go sit and have a coffee with her! That's usually more fun than going out drinking because we don't have to shout to hear each other.

4.37 pm That's it, I'm home for the holidays now, apart from running to Marie and Graham's for a drink later and popping round Steve and Lynn's to take them their presents tomorrow night! They've invited us for left over turkey sandwiches, an offer I can't refuse! I've been up to take Morgan his present. He's definitely a cheeky little monkey. He spent ten minutes banging dents into his mum's kitchen table.

I'm on a break from house cleaning. We're expecting a "royal visit" at some point over the weekend, most likely when we are sitting down to eat. I've just scrubbed all of the kitchen apart from the floor (that's the last thing to do), and now it's just a quick dust and vacuum around the living room. After that I'll crack open the choccies! I made sure we have plenty. I'll probably put on a stone over the weekend, but I really don't care. I've earned a mini-vacation, and I'm going to take it in my own home with my chocolate and Baileys and the television. Oh yeah, and Simon, too.

6.32 pm The cleaning is done. Time to relax. Merry Christmas!

9.48 pm We went to Marie and Graham's for "a drink". They bought us a bottle of Bailey's for Christmas and opened a second. I had three large ones. Graham brought out all his little glow stick thingies that he ordered from ebay, lit them all up, then started throwing them at Marie and me, which started off a glow stick war. I have bruises on my legs and face, I'm sure, but we had such a hilarious time! We had to call a truce every time Jak came in the room, but that just made it more fun because whoever he was standing near could still throw them and no one could throw them back. Simon got a bulls eye on the end of my nose, and Graham got a good one on the side of my cheek. I got even though. Graham threw one that landed in Jak's poster paints, so I rubbed all the green paint on the top of his head! But then it was Jak's bedtime, and he wanted his mummy upstairs with him, so the war ended. Graham stuck all the lit up glow sticks in his front garden. I said it must be a landing pad for Santa, but it looked more like a graveyard for aliens!

A Christmas Laugh

Thanks to Maddy for sending me this!

WHY IS A CHRISTMAS TREE BETTER THAN A MAN

A Christmas tree is always erect.

Even small ones give satisfaction.

A Christmas tree stays up for 12 days and nights.

A Christmas tree always looks good - even with the lights on.

A Christmas tree is always happy with its size.

A Christmas tree has cute balls.

A Christmas tree doesn't get mad if you break one of its balls.

You can throw a Christmas tree out when it's past its 'sell by' date.

You don't have to put up with a Christmas tree all year.

Diary Entry

11.02 am I am so paranoid sitting here in the shop on my own. Every time a man walks past and looks in the window, I jump a bit. I don't know why I should be so nervous because the man who phoned Tuesday was very polite and didn't say anything out of order. And I'm the one who usually calls Malorie the Drama Queen!

Jo came in for a bit of a chat and to buy her dad a Christmas present. She's so funny. I asked her if she's going to be drunk up at the corner shop where she works tomorrow like she was last year on Christmas Eve. Raj and Sue always pour drinks for the customers. Last year I went in with one of the boys to get some milk, and Sue grabbed a bottle of Bailey's off the shelf and poured me a glass, then started handing out sweets to the kids.

Simon says I have a package there from Kim. Cool! I thought he was going to say I'd had a delivery from Australia because I did a few weeks ago, and he wasn't impressed. Then it turned out it was something from the Mark Webber Supporter's Club, not from my mate Pete! He was a bit sheepish over that, I think.

12.34 pm One of my regular customers isn't having a very merry Christmas. Her dog has just been diagnosed with liver tumours. The poor thing. I know I'm mad at Mitch for eating Jack's birthday cake, but at the end of the day that's what pets do: piss off their owners. I would be devastated if something happened to him, and we've only had him a few months. She's had her dog for 15 years!

I've packaged up my last pre-Christmas candle order. Thank goodness for that! I can't wait to sell tons more candles, but I want a break. I hope I sell more anyway. I've been doing pretty well lately but want to conquer the handmade candle market in Britain!

2.33 pm I'm trying not to get stressed. I thought Simon was coming up to the shop around noon-ish so I could get Jack a replacement birthday cake, wrap some presents, have a shower and get ready for when we go to Marie and Graham's tonight. It was almost 2.00 before he made it. I did find Jack a cake though. It's not wonderful, but it's better than nothing.

I can imagine that I'm going to have a major hangover in the morning. I've opened the shop three out of four days this week, so I'm thinking it's Simon's turn to have the early start tomorrow!

6.18 pm Jack seems to have had a nice birthday, but boy! are the boys hyper! Almost time to take them back to their dad's. They're just finishing their pizza.

At least the dog didn't eat the second birthday cake!

9.15 pm We made it round to Marie and Graham's. It's just a shame Marie wasn't there. They forgot she was at work tonight! We stayed and visited with Graham for a bit, and I had one bottle of Stella, but that was enough. We were watching a programme on Discovery Channel where John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) was investigating cockroaches. Graham made a comment about cross-breeding cockroaches with headlice, and without thinking, I said "You'd get cocklice." Of course I had to run upstairs to the toilet because I nearly peed on myself laughing!

So Much for the Christmas Spirit!

Today I remembered why I hate shopping in the run up to Christmas. Despite it being the season for peace on earth, good will to all men, there are some people who turn into real bastards once they set off onto their Christmas shopping trips. Maybe they're like it all the time but resent the intrusion of Merry Christmas into their lives.

The fight for spaces in the car park is only the first hurdle. Most of us tend to drive around patiently until one comes available, even if the only space we can find is a short hike to our ultimate destination. Today I saw a man in a Land Rover bully his way past a queue of waiting cars, myself included. I'm surprised he didn't have an accident. Land Rovers are hardly small vehicle, the aisle in the car park was narrow, and I was in a rather large Peugeot. I figured I'd sit still and let him hit me. There was no where for me to go anyway. Then the bully tried to fight the little Vauxhall Corsa who was the first in the queue for the place being vacated by an elderly couple. I actually cheered when the Corsa one. A victory for the good guys!

The equally narrow aisles inside the grocery store were just as jammed. Even more so if you include the exhausted staff struggling to keep the shelves stocked. What irked me were the shoppers who block the entire aisle with their trolley while trying to decide whether to buy the limited edition Christmas print toilet paper or the bargain buy buy-on-get-one-free toilet paper. With the kids out of school, parents had brought them shopping, too. Unfortunately kids do not make good trolley drivers. I think I must have had one hell of a knock in the shin because it really hurts now!

The only thing I didn't get on my shopping expedition, my last of the season all being well, was another bottle of Baileys. As luck would have it, a friend has asked the hubby for a lift to Tesco, where Baileys is currently on special offer! My Christmas shopping will be complete!

Oh damn! I forgot the cranberry sauce!

Diary Entry

2.51 am Insomnia! I'm starting to get tired now, but I just haven't been relaxed enough to even attempt sleep yet. I've been playing "The Sims" on the PS2, which has been fun. The funniest thing happened when I started the game up, though I'm glad Simon wasn't in here to see it. I don't think he would have found it as funny. I created one character, and one character only, named Melinda. No mystery where the name came from. At the start of the game, the Melinda character is in a nightclub dancing, when she's greated by the Peter character, who asks for a kiss on the cheek, and they end up snogging on the dance floor! I couldn't believe it, and I burst out laughing, especially when it turns out that the Melinda character was only having a dream! No, Simon definitely wouldn't have found it funny, even though I did NOT create a character and name it Peter! It was already part of the game!

The dog is in on it too though. I still haven't posted two Christmas cards: Pete's and Gary's. I waited too long, and then I was worried that they'd get lost in the mass of last-minute mail going around the world, so I figured I'd wait until just after the New Year. I made sure they're more "Seasons Greetings" cards than Christmas cards. Now I need to make sure they're "Happy New Year" cards because the dog ate them. Simon left the remnants on the floor so he could see it was both cards, not just Pete's, though when I got home I showed him that I had signed all of our names to it, not just mine, and that the card was to all his family as well. He said, "Oh, I didn't look at that", but I wanted to prove to him that I wasn't lying. No hidden messages or declarations of love in there. The dog must have ate that part. Noooooo, I'm most definitely joking! Must be the tiredness. It's making me goofier than normal, and that's saying something!

Good thing I'm having the day off, with my getting little or no sleep! I'm off work in a fashion anyway. I just got another candle order. Well, four candles won't take long to make, and I've said I will despatch them on Thursday.

11.54 am I had a phone call this morning from my ex asking if I would like to have the boys for a couple of hours tomorrow evening since it's Jack's birthday. That really did surprise me. Of course I said yes! It's not even so my ex can go out either. He admitted that he got to thinking that next year he won't get to see Jack on his birthday, so if he lets me have a bit of time with the boys tomorrow, I can do the same next year. Fair enough. I can do that.

Jack would like ham and pineapple pizza for his birthday dinner. Ricky wasn't happy with the menu. I could hear him in the background whispering, "Tell her we want KFC!" but Jack's mind was made up. Their dad said Ricky's bottom lip was quivering because he doesn't like ham and pineapple pizza. I'll get him his own pepperoni pizza.

4.12 pm Oh, I am so glad I have finished all the food shopping for Christmas! Morrisons was packed beyond belief for a Wednesday afternoon. This is usually the best time to do the shopping because people are still at work. I guess everyone had the same idea though. Still, it's finished. The only thing I didn't think to get is the cranberry sauce for Sunday. I decided that having steak on Christmas day is all well and good, but it doesn't leave much in the way of leftovers. I bought the smallest turkey they had and all the ingredients for homemade stuffing. I have an awesome stuffing recipe. That's what we're having on Boxing Day. Simon says Daniel is coming then.

All I really have left to do is find my godson Morgan something. I'm sure we have something in the shop that will do for him. I sent finger paints to my niece and nephew in Texas. I'm sure my sisters will love me for that! I won't give those to Morgan though. His mum is my best friend, and friends just don't do that to each other. Family, yes. Friends, no.

11.45 pm I spent a couple of hours at Marie and Graham's. That's always a laugh. My sides are usually splitting by the time I get home! Graham and Simon went to Tesco at about 10.00, once the crowds should have died down. They came back with Simon complaining that Graham is "worse than a woman" because he goes up and down every aisle -- twice! I replied that all men are worse than women, so that was no news. We're going back over tomorrow night for a few drinks, only it turns out that we're going to play drinking games! I don't know how we're going to make it to the shop Friday morning if we do.

When we got home we discovered Mitch didn't appreciate being left alone. He pulled Jack's birthday cake off the counter, ate the box, pulled the icing off, and left the cake sitting in the middle of the floor! I was devastated because I wanted to be sure Jack had a proper birthday cake today and not anything Christmassy, but I don't know how I'm going to replace it with all the crowds in the stores tomorrow!

Seven Months to Harry Potter Six!

Good news from J.K. Rowling! Her sixth Harry Potter book has been delivered to the publishers, and we only have to wait until the 16th of July 2005 to read it. When the fifth came out last year I was up bright and early waiting for the postman to deliver not one, but two copies (which I accidentally ordered through amazon, I thought the first order didn't go through). I read the whole thing in one day. Then I went back and re-read it at a pace I could enjoy. I was determined that no one was going to spoil the story for me!

Bad news from J.K. Rowling! She's killed off another character. It's pretty certain it won't be Harry, otherwise there's no point in writing the seventh in the series. I hope it's not Ron or Hermione because I think they're important to the character development. Besides, we've got romance blooming there.

Of course my kids all love the books as well as I do, especially Malorie and Daniel. Braden hates reading, though he enjoys Harry Potter. I was surprised at how many times Malorie has read each book because her father has "forbidden" her to read them. He says they're satanic. Malorie doesn't usually go against her father's wishes, being a real Daddy's Girl, but thankfully she does have a mind of her own sometimes. I might want my kids to be well-behaved, but I want them to be able to make judgments on their own. They'll have to when they're adults.

PMT Rampage

Ordinarily, I'm one of the most mild-mannered, albeit goofy, people you could hope to meet. I'm a real pussycat. But today, I have PMT, and I feel like biting someone's head off, so instead of doing that, I'll rage against the world by blog. Men, if you are thinking "Oh no, not another one, I have to listen to enough of this shit at home/work/school", then please read no further. I'll never know.

One thing that's set me off today, in particular, is that I haven't had a day off in weeks. I've either been 1) at university, 2) writing essays for university, 3) taking kids to the airport and attending school functions, 4) working in the shop, 5) making candles for customers, friends, family and teachers, 6) doing other general necessary stuff like cooking, cleaning (in a fashion) and shopping for food. I NEED A DAY OFF!

I was looking forward to having today off, but Simon still has a cold. While he sat at the kitchen table and looked miserable, I dashed around like a headless chicken getting the boys ready for school, de-icing the car, and getting me ready for work. No make-up again today. By the time I left the house, he was snoring on the couch. I'm not sure he even went to bed last night. When I went upstairs at 1.00 am, he was still playing on the computer. I would have gone to bed sooner, but I had forgotten to make four baby powder scented candles that need to be posted today.

I'm also getting annoyed with the number of emails I've been getting offering to help me enlarge my penis. If I had a penis, I wouldn't have PMT.

Diary Entry

9.52 am I've already started the day off with a moan on my other blog, so I'll try to behave and avoid repetition. I've taken my medication, and when it kicks in, I should be back to normal-ish.

It was almost heart breaking dropping Ricky and Jack off at school this morning. I say "almost" because I know they'll be home next Wednesday at lunch time. We can have a mini-Christmas and birthday party then. I can always call Jack on his birthday Thursday, but it's not the same. I'm sure his dad says the same thing when it's my year to have them the first half of the Christmas holidays.

They took their presents in to the teachers and were so excited to do so they pretty much forgot about me. Jack always makes me pick him up for a "big hug". No wonder my back is so sore. He's a tall six-almost-seven-year-old. Most of the time he won't let me leave without a struggle, but in the excitement over Christmas, he even forgot to wave good-bye to me at the window. Oh well, that's nothing to cry over. Not much anyway.

My friend Gary is still waiting to hear whether his divorce is final or not. I know how he feels. The courts are terrible that way in the US. I guess they intentionally make it difficult in the US to keep people from getting divorces, but I honestly don't think that does any good. I don't think it's right for the system to try to make it hard for people to get away from an abusive spouse, for example. People who really want a divorce are going to get a divorce. I think they should make it harder to get married. People are living together anyway; if they really want to get married, they should have to pass some kind of a test, like you do for your driving license. Okay, maybe not. I'm just rambling now.

Divorce is less complicated here, mostly because child custody is treated as a completely separate issue. My divorce took as long as it did because of the ex, not the system. He filed for the divorce and then sat on it until the last possible moment. When my solicitor said she was going to petition to have his application dismissed so I could start my own, he signed. Over and done with in a matter of a few days.

11.30 am I am so mentally drained it's unreal. I've told Simon how tired I am, hoping he'd offer to come in and take over for the afternoon, but no joy. He's going to his friend Coke's house. Just my luck. I'm so exhausted I'm near tears. I wanted to get a start on my criminal law essay by the end of the week, but I wanted to have a bit of a break before hand. Now I'm afraid that I'm going to be rushing to get two essays done at the last minute again because I also have to research and write my criminological research methods essay. Once those are done, I have to read for my criminological theory exam. Instead I think for now I'm going to make a cup of coffee and start reading Martin Brundle's book. I need to read for pleasure, maybe that will help me unwind.

3.02 pm It hasn't helped me unwind, I'm afraid, but it is a very interesting book. Already I've been enthralled by Martin's experience during the first Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia. I am just desperate to go home. Simon asked what I want to do tonight since we have no kids. I said "absolutely nothing". Not a single thing. I want to curl up under the quilt and just warm up and vegetate. I'm so exhausted now my muscles are twitching.

4.56 pm What a strange experience! Just after I finished writing the above paragraph, I had a phone call. At first I thought it was my neighbour Steve because the caller asked if I was still facing my computer screen. Steve knows I'm always on the computer, and it sounded like his voice. But then the stranger said, "Every time I walk past your shop, you're facing the computer. I only ever see the back of your head." I thought it must be David from the computer shop next door, who is also one of my neighbours, except then the caller said, "It would be nice to see you turn around some time." He mentioned that he lived very close. That spooked me. There are some flats above the shops across the road, and I was a bit creeped out that he could live there and be watching me. The shop phone number is on the sign over the door, too. He asked what I looked at on the internet and whether I go in any chat rooms. That was the weirdest bit, otherwise he was very polite. After that he asked me out to lunch or if I'd like to go for coffee. I replied that I didn't think my husband would appreciate it very much if I did. All I know is the guy's name is Ian. I was so shaken up I had Simon come up there with me. I didn't want to walk to my car alone in the dark. Simon also had a word with David and told him to keep his ears open, and David gave him a slip of paper with his shop number on in case I needed help.

My mate Doyle said of course he'd want to ask me out. After all, I'm a Texas gal so I can't be all that bad. Doyle's only seen pics of me because, even though we went to the same school, we never met until we both joined our high school message board. On the other hand, my mate Graham said the poor guy must be mental for asking me out for coffee! Typical Graham.

9.57 pm I had two glasses of Baileys when I got home, watched "The Crocodile Hunter Movie" and passed out for two hours. I definitely feel less stressed. I'm still weirded out about that phone call though. But I'm going to do something completely useless. I think I'll sit and play on the Playstation.

Identity Cards

There's a plan to introduce ID cards to Britain. It's something that's already a part of life in some other European Union countries, along with having a passport. The outcry against it is due to "Big Brother" philosophy -- if your information is stored on a card, then the Big Brother government will know all your details.

This morning on the radio, I heard one of my social policy lecturers from last year speaking about it. He said that people don't seem to object to store cards having most of the same information, so why not have it on an identity card? True, a lot of people don't have store cards, but I would be willing to bet that a lot of the same people who are against identity cards have more than one credit card, a driving license and a passport. In my humble opinion, it's the media who is shit stirring. If you listen carefully, it's not necessarily the people they are interviewing who sound like they're against it, it's also the way the reporters phrase things. For example, this morning I heard "The government is set to debate the controversial policy on identity cards, which will increase the information the government holds on us". That's paraphrasing, I admit, but not by much!

Doesn't the government hold most of this information on us in one form or another anyway? Think about it: the Inland Revenue, Social Security, the Passport Office, DVLA, not to mention various registry offices who have our birth, marriage and, eventually, death information. People such as myself have a boat load of information stored with the Immigration and Nationality Directorate as well.

To me, it's like having to go through the metal detector in the airport. Okay,it's a pain. It's extra work. But if it's for the good of us all, and it's not hurting me in any way, why not? I'd rather they took the time to check each and every one of us before we get on the plane than not have the plane make it to its destination. If these identity cards do help prevent terrorism (and I'm not completely convinced that they do, but I'm willing to wait and see), then I'm for it. It's one more card to stick in my purse, stretching it to the limits. Maybe I'll have to chuck out one of the cards I use to save points at local stores. Nah!

Diary Entry

I hate it when it's icy cold. When I woke up this morning, there was so much frost on the shed roof I thought it had snowed. There's a chance of snow today and later this week, including on Christmas Day. Well, I won't mind a white Christmas, seeing as how we aren't leaving the house. Simon said he won't like it so much if he has to go pick Daniel up, but he's never had to pick him up so far on Christmas because either his mum won't let us have him or she prefers to drop him off so she can show up two or three hours late.

The boys were a bit late to school because it took me ages to get the car started, thanks to the failing heater plugs, and trying to get all the ice off the windows. Fortunately they weren't the only ones, and on days like this, the school pretty much expects most of the kids will be a few minutes late.

Now I'm sitting in the freezing shop with my ski jacket on, waiting for the space heater to do its job. It'll probably reach a comfortable temperature sometime around noon, unless someone comes in and leaves the door open. It always happens just as things are warming up! I was supposed to be doing the accounts for my candle business this morning, then heading home for the afternoon, but Simon is still sick with his cold so I'm stuck here all day. At least I remembered my Martin Brundle book today.

And now the snow has started! I love snow, but only when I'm tucked up nice and warm at home! I phoned the Sheffield radio station because they've been giving out snow spotting reports, and the DJ, Matt, asked my name. He didn't understand me the first time (must be the accent, gets them every time). I repeated, "Melinda, like Melinda Messenger, only without the blonde hair and the, well, you know ..." He laughed and said, "But I'll bet just as beautiful." Awwww, what a sweet talker. Good thing he can't see me. I need a hair cut badly and didn't have time to put make up on this morning because of needing to de-ice the car!

The candle business is picking up. I only hope it's not just a Christmas thing! I don't think it necessarily is because a lot of the feedback I've had on ebay has said that the candles "smell wonderful", and if they were giving them as gifts, they wouldn't have opened them. I wrap each one individually and tie it with ribbon. Most of my Christmasy fragrance oils (or flavours, as men seem to call them) didn't even show up until the end of last week. Sometimes I think I give away more than I sell, but my accounts this morning showed otherwise. Today I'm working on one small order and candles for the boys' teachers. It's just not the holidays without sending pressies for the teachers! If they don't like smelly candles, they can give them to someone as a Christmas present!

Simon posted all my candle orders for me this afternoon. That was really sweet, I only asked him to take a few to the post office. I'll bet he's in shock now from having to pay that much! They all had to go First Class to get to their destinations by Christmas. I still haven't posted my international deliveries though. Simon said he was going to do it for me, until he saw one of them was going to Australia. Oops. He wasn't happy, but he'd never tell me I wasn't "allowed" to do something. Besides, I'm sending it to Pete's family from our family. Nothing more innocent than that.

I closed the shop early today. Eckington was absolutely dead, hardly any signs of life apart from the usuals walking back and forth between the pub and the bookie's. Lynn said that Chesterfield town centre was packed, and she was nearly frozen trying to get a bus home. So that's where all my customers were! It was the same on Saturday. People would rather do their Christmas shopping in malls and shopping centres than in their local village.

Simon seems much better this evening, but looks like I'm still going to spend tomorrow working while he rests. I think I'm coming down with his cold, too. Bet I don't get a day off though. Men die with colds; women just get on with it. Okay, that's a broad, sweeping generalisation, I know, but I also have PMT and feel bitchy.

Can my day get any more exciting? Thankfully not, seeing as how it's after 11.00 pm. I don't think I could stand more excitement. It might send me into a coma. The day ends with a late night shop at Tesco (I said I'd missed the deadline for home delivery before Christmas) and forgot enough things that I'm still going to have to make a separate run to Morrisons tomorrow or Wednesday. A white van nearly took me out on a roundabout, but that was the thrill of the night. I've made candles for the boys to take to their teachers, the headteacher and the school secretary tomorrow but forgot to wrap them. I have a candle order that MUST go out tomorrow, and I've only just started the candles. My life is full of wax. Even the fancy cheddar I bought this evening is covered in the stuff. Fitting, I guess.

Denunciation Backfires

There are times I wonder why people or organisations bother to "denounce" books. As far as I can tell, it only brings publicity to that book. I've just read a news article concerning two books: "Mary, The Mother Of Jesus" by Catholic journalist Jacques Duquesne and "Mary, A Dogmatic Journey" by Dominican theologian Dominique Cerbelaud.

If it weren't for this news article, I never would have heard of these books, but after reading it, I've become intrigued, especially by Duquesne's book. I even looked for it on amazon.co.uk, but it's not listed. Hopefully it will be before long because I really do want to read it. This afternoon I watched a documentary on one of the Discovery Channels about James, Brother of Jesus. It just shows how theologically challenged I am that all the information in the programme was new to me.

I don't think that it compromises my Christian beliefs to read books such as this. I believe that it only adds to my existing knowledge. I studied Juddaism, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism in college, and I don't believe that compromised my beliefs, though I know that some of my more conservative friends and family don't see it the same way. In fact, I always thought I was weird because of some of my personal beliefs. Before I started university, I told someone that I believed God presented himself to different cultures in ways He thought were culturally relevant to those people. Then one of my history professors stated the exact same thing in a lecture, and I stopped questioning myself. But that doesn't mean I stopped wanting to learn and explore these topics more fully.

Unfortunately I haven't had much of an opportunity to read up on world religions, but hopefully I can fix that one day. Perhaps Duquesne's book will be the first in a long list.

New Blog

I've decided to start a second blog where I can post the tedious details I've been throwing on here lately, such as my progress reports on writing essays. I'll save this one for my weird and wacky ideas, political rhetoric and attempts at fiction.

I spent years in my first incarnation as a university student studying history and sociology, so those two subjects are very important to me. I was so entralled with history in particular that I entered the Honours Programme at ETSU (although it would have been spelled "Honors Program", obviously) as that was the only way to graduate with Honours. I did a thesis titled "Two Men of Conscience: Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More". I ended up graduating with the second highest level, so I have a BA with High Honours. I would have loved Highest Honours, but you can't have everything. I then went on to graduate school, specialising in medieval England, though I taught freshmen American history as a teaching assistant. Just prior to finishing my thesis for my MA, family upheaval! I was forced to move to England to keep my family together and, alas, the MA eluded me.

This blog seems to be more of the sociological side of my personality. The second blog is intended more as the historical side of me. I've seen the importance that diaries have played in telling the story of the rich and powerful as well as more humble individuals. I don't have any grand illusions that my diary blog will be of historical significance, but the idea that someday someone might take a look at it and be amused by what life was like for a woman living in Britain in this day and age is very appealing!

Diary Entry -- Introduction

I've decided to start a second blog where I can post the tedious details I've been throwing on my Insane Ramblings blog lately, such as my progress reports on writing essays for my university course. From now on I'll save that one for my weird and wacky ideas, political rhetoric and attempts at fiction.

I spent years in my first incarnation as a university student studying history and sociology, so those two subjects are very important to me. I was so entralled with history in particular that I entered the Honours Programme at ETSU (although it would have been spelled "Honors Program", obviously) as that was the only way to graduate with Honours. I did a thesis titled "Two Men of Conscience: Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More". I ended up graduating with the second highest level, so I have a BA with High Honours. I would have loved Highest Honours, but you can't have everything. I then went on to graduate school, specialising in medieval England, though I taught freshmen American history as a teaching assistant. Just prior to finishing my thesis for my MA, family upheaval! I was forced to move to England to keep my family together and, alas, the MA eluded me.

My Insane Ramblings blog seems to be more of the sociological side of my personality. This second blog is intended more as the historical side of me. I've seen the importance that diaries have played in telling the story of the rich and powerful as well as more humble individuals. I don't have any grand illusions that my diary blog will be of historical significance, but the idea that someday someone might take a look at this and be amused by what life was like for a woman living in Britain in this day and age is very appealing!

Diary Entry

Geez, I can't seem to wind down! I keep bouncing from task to task because I'm so used to trying to juggle working in the shop, taking care of the house, sorting out the kids, making candles for ebay orders, and, most of all, studying for university! I told myself I was going to take this weekend and just chill, but I can't. I tried to nap on the couch this afternoon and couldn't even manage that. I think partly it was because the dog decided to cuddle, and there's just not enough room on that couch for a size 16 woman and a Staffordshire bull terrier!

Ricky and Jack have been pretty good today. I let them take the dog out on his lead so all three could get some exercise. Big mistake! I thought that by now Mitch would have calmed down enough for the boys to handle him. Jack has managed him on his lead before. But this turned out to be another of my bad ideas. The dog dragged Ricky across the side road, then back again, and when I shouted Mitch to come home, he knocked Ricky flat on his face and dashed into the middle of our road. Good thing that car stopped for him.

I've been working on my New Year's resolution to be more organised. It was actually Graham and Marie who gave me the idea. They don't drive, and they're fed up of paying for taxis to go do their shopping, so now that Graham has a computer, they've started doing their grocery shopping online with Tesco. In the past couple of months, we've really struggled because we just don't have time to go do a proper shop. And when we do go shopping, we end up spending more on junk and impulse buys than we do on the regular groceries! So once a week, I'm going to sit down and work out the meals for the week, what we have and what we need (which will be more convenient because I can just pop into the kitchen to check if I'm not sure what I've got) and then place my order. The corner shop is still there for things we run out of, and there's always Morrison's down the road if I've forgotten a lot. This might turn out to be one of my brighter ideas. It's just a shame I didn't think of it sooner. It's too late to put my order in to be delivered before Christmas! So I think Wednesday night I'm going to do a midnight shop and miss out on all the crowds!

Another one of my bright ideas went wrong today. I bought the boys a gel candle making kit. I figured that since I make candles from paraffin wax professionally, I could handle a bit of gel wax. I don't like gel wax. It just doesn't behave. And the kit included the most annoying glitter I've ever seen! It's now all over the house. Even the dog sparkles now.

I'm missing Malorie and Braden. It just doesn't feel right in the house without them, even though when they're here I could bang their heads together. It's going to be even stranger starting Tuesday morning when Ricky and Jack leave for their dad's for eight days. Simon and I will be on our own Christmas Day, unless Daniel shows up. I doubt that will happen because his mum does everything she can to make sure he's not with us for the holidays.

I spoke to my father on the phone yesterday, and today my mother called, too. It's Jack's birthday on Thursday, and since he'll be gone they wanted to be sure to wish him a happy birthday. It turned out to be a funny conversation. My dad hadn't told my mum about my conversation with my grandmother yesterday, in which I stuck my foot in my mouth by saying I don't like George Bush. What was funny was my mum telling me she better not tell my grandmother who she voted for then! That doesn't necessarily mean she voted for Kerry because there are usually plenty of independents listed on the ballot, or she could have written someone in. Or she could have voted for Bush and just didn't want to tell me. It doesn't matter to me anyway.

I know I said earlier that the boys were being good today. I think I spoke too soon. Jack turned hyper on me, and he was so busy and loud I now have a headache. So much for my relaxing weekend. At least I have a bottle of Baileys Irish Cream in the house. AFter the boys went to bed, I got it out and had a glass. Or two. Well, let's call it one and a half.

And so ends my first running commentary of a relatively normal day around here. Simon's sick with a cold, the boys are monsters and the dog farts too much. Most of what I've watched on telly has been crime documentaries. I had a short conversation with Pete, and he's still nuts. It's nice to know there's some consistency in life.

Never Discuss Politics With Your Family!

My grandmother phoned me today from Texas. I can't remember the last time I spoke to her, so it was absolutely wonderful to hear the sound of her voice! She wanted to be sure to wish me a Merry Christmas, and I suppose she was worried she wouldn't be able to catch me next weekend.

The conversation took a strange twist, however. We had been discussing the exchange rate between the dollar and the pound when she told me she had been worried about me and the kids because from what she has seen on the telly, the British HATE Americans and Europeans HATE Americans. I responded that there was no reason to worry. I've never come across any anti-American feeling directed towards me. The kids have never had problems either. I added that it's not Americans that the British and Europeans (in general, of course, I know there are exceptions) don't like. It's George Bush. Her reply was, "Oh." I told her I'm asked frequently about George Bush, particularly because I'm from Texas, but it's never caused me any trouble because I don't like the man.

I should have kept my mouth shut. Her response was, "Well, I do!" I know the tone of my grandmother's voice. She wasn't happy with me. I hurriedly pointed out that I know she likes him and tried to change the subject. I thought that if she paid any attention to Tony Blair, she'd know about New Labour and be against a lot of what they stand for, so I said "I don't particularly like Tony Blair either", and I laughed.

Wrong again. Her response was, "Well, I do!" Oh dear. My recovery was pretty good though. I hurriedly explained that the reasons I'm not fond of Blair have more to do with domestic politics than anything else. Personally I actually like Blair, as opposed to Bush who raises my hackles just with the sound of his voice. He always has though, even when he was one of the directors of the Texas Rangers and not in politics.

The conversation almost abruptly ended. She did stop before saying good bye to tell me that she's recovering nicely from a fall she had recently, which I had meant to ask her about but forgot in the excitement of speaking to her.

I'm glad I didn't tell her that I'm hoping to work on this death penalty appeal project. Oh boy. I'd probably never get another Christmas or birthday card!

My Christmas Tree -- Ho Ho Ho! 

My Christmas Card List

The wonderful thing about the internet is making friends in so many places. I never would have known any of them without the joys of cyberspace! I have friends in countries I've never set foot in, and I don't even have to wait weeks or months for letters to get to them by snail mail to correspond.

A shame it doesn't work as easily sending proper Christmas cards. With all the hassle of work, school and family, I forgot to post my Christmas cards! For those of you in the UK, like Sandra and Si, Jo & Alex, you'll probably get them before Christmas arrives. But for others of you (Nati, Gary and Pete & family), it'll probably be into the New Year before they show up! I'm sending you guys a bit of champagne as well. Except Nati. You get something different.

Next year I promise to be more organised. Okay, I said that last year. Let's call it my New Year's resolution, not just to get Christmas cards sent out on time, but to do everything before it's overdue. Taking my library books back for instance. I'll probably save a small fortune on fines if I manage that one. Oh, and paying the rent. Because I have to make a special trip to do it, I always forget. Well, not always because obviously we haven't been kicked out of the house yet. (Fingers crossed!)

It's a good thing I sent Christmas cards to most of my family (sorry Kim!) with Malorie and Braden. It saved postage and ensured delivery. Kim, yours is on the way too, along with your present, as soon as I can find a box to put it in. Maybe it'll show up before your birthday. ;-)

Frivilous Reading

This weekend I've decided to do absolutely no studying or serious reading whatsoever. I could tackle one of the many books I keep saying I should read, but I only have two days. Monday it's back to work on the essays. So I figured that I would read Martin Brundle's Working the Wheel. I won't say it's frivilous in the purest sense because it's a history of some of the greatest tracks in Formula One with some anecdotes from the drivers who have raced on them. It's frivilous in that it's light reading non-fiction. I don't HAVE to read it, and I don't feel I SHOULD read it. I WANT to read it.

I bought my copy a couple of months ago when Martin was in Sheffield for a book signing. This was the second time I've met him, and he's a lovely man, willing to chat with his fans and F1 enthusiasts. He's not so keen on those who didn't want the autograph personalised because those are most likely destined for ebay, but was happy to have his picture taken with babies and fans. A woman offered to take a pic of me with him since I took my digital camera, but she wasn't a good photographer. She chopped most of my head off. Not a problem for me, really. I hate having my picture taken. I also managed to take a few good pictures of the 2004 Jordan they had on display to raise money for Children in Need. I get chills being so close to real race cars.

I'm in my shop all day today, and most of my customers are on the internet anyway. Today would have been the perfect day to read the book. Notice I said "would have been". I only went off and left it at home, didn't I?

Coulthard Confirmed at Red Bull

Just the news I've been waiting for! David Coulthard has been confirmed as the number one driver with the Red Bull Racing team! The fact that this is the former Jaguar team makes it sweeter for me because I was always a Jaguar fan, even though they're only a mid-field team. Others might say that it's a sign that DC is "past it" and on his way out of F1, but that's inevitable in almost any sport once you hit your thirties. Unless you're Michael Schumacher, but he's in a class of his own. Schumi is now the oldest man in F1 since Olivier Panis has retired. I don't think anyone says he's "past it" because of his age. There are those of us who would definitely like to see him retire, but that's because it would be nice to give someone else a chance, for goodness sake!

DC is a talented driver who has always been in someone else's shadow. He stepped in to replace Ayrton Senna after his death on track. Those were some hard shoes to fill, but he did admirably. In his career at McLaren, he had to contend with Ron Dennis' "Finn Fetish" as first his teammate was Mika Hakkinen, then Kimi Raikkonen, both of whom were greatly admired by RD. So much so that it always seemed to me that DC got second best.

Perhaps being with a relatively new team will allow DC to flourish. He won't win the championship behind the wheel of a Jaguar/Red Bull, but winning isn't everything. And no it's not the only thing either.

It's Finished!

I knew I'd go over. Nine more words and I would have been over the limit. And I still feel as though I could have gone on for several more pages. How they expect us to explain every aspect of making a claim in tort law using the scenario they gave us in 2000 words is beyond me. I'm sure I left important things out.

I'm still not entirely off the hook. The second week in January I have to hand in essays in criminal law and criminological research methods, but I'm going to have the weekend off. I'm sure those of you who bother to read my ramblings are glad to know there will be a few days with no progress reports and complaints about homework generated headaches.

Getting There ...

The EU law essay has been handed in, and I discovered that our assignments and exams are no longer graded anonymously! Last year everything was identified by student ID number rather than name, but the university guidelines have changed. I don't know if this is a good thing or not. I suppose I'll find out in February when I get my results.

I'm on a break from the headache that is my tort law essay. It's approximately half finished -- I've written 936 words out of the total 2000. There is a plus or minus 10% on the word count, and I have a feeling that I'm going to need that extra 200 words!

It's not easy writing while at work, but I'm doing my best.

Blunkett Resigns

Usually when a political scandal breaks out, I pay attention to what's happening. Most of the time they're over things that don't really affect me, like Kilroy-Silk being forced to resign his party's Whip, one of the Tories having an affair with a journalist, and so on. It was the same when I first heard that David Blunkett, MP from Sheffield and Home Secretary, was in the news for having a three year affair. I could have cared less who he was sleeping with as long as he was doing his job.

But when the news hit that he had pushed through his mistress's nanny's visa application as a favour (allegedly anyway, the inquiry has not yet begun), I was infuriated. After moving to the UK, my two oldest children and I were given temporary visas as the step-children and wife of a British citizen. Then I had to wait for a whole year before I could stop sweating and worrying that my family would be split up if our final permanent residency visas weren't approved. Obviously they were, but it was still a very tense time.

The nanny in this case didn't have to wait. Reports are that Blunkett was irritated/infuriated at the idea his mistress's nanny would have to wait that long, so the visa was pushed through in a big hurry! What do I mean by a big hurry? Nineteen days. The BBC has a timeline on their website, which you can look at yourself here.

Next year I am hoping to apply for British citizenship. My reasons why will take up a lot of space, so I'll leave it until another day. I'm sure it will take a lot longer than 19 days for me to either have my application approved or denied. Like the cliche says, it's not what you know but who you know!

Progress Report

The introduction was most definitely the hardest part! In just an hour I've managed 536 words in this 2000 word essay! I've discovered that I definitely have more material and critical analysis than will fit into that word limit though. Still, I suppose it's easier to cut than to expand, but I sure do hate losing all this interesting legal argument!

Getting Started

For me, the worst part of writing an essay is getting the introduction just right. I'm very good at researching for the main points of the body of the essay. Just call me a research freak. Conclusions are pretty easy too because, by the time I get that far, I'm usually on a roll.

I still have time. It's approximately 36 hours until it's due. I'm not ready to panic ... at least not yet.

Hooker Mum

Every morning and afternoon, I stand outside the school and wait for my two youngest sons to go into or come out of the school. The cliques amongst the mums are worse than anything I've seen since I graduated from high school in 1985!

And the "Chief Mum In Charge of Deciding Who Belongs to the Cool Mum Clique" has to be seen to be believed. I've nicknamed her Hooker Mum. I shouldn't do that, I know. Prostitutes don't deserve to be tarred by her brush.

I don't know what Hooker Mum's real name is. I do know that I have never seen her wear a pair of jeans, go without makeup or let her hair grow out to its natural colour. She even has a jewel implanted into one of her front teeth. She wears mini skirts, animal prints and high heeled boots. This is just to do the school run, mind you.

The worst thing is what she's doing to her own daughters. Last year for sports day, she dressed her youngest, who is five, in a pair of shorts so short her butt cheeks hung out. She's already the class tease according to one of the other mums. The girls also have names that are more appropriate for poodles.

I am definitely not saying this because I've been left out of the cool mum clique. Believe me, if the criteria for belonging is spending a fortune on clothes that I wouldn't even wear to a nightclub, driving a car that will depreciate faster than it will drive down the motorway, and living in a housing development where the houses aren't big enough to turn around in, I'll stay uncool. Besides, in the uncool mum clique we have a lot of fun. We drink pints rather than martinis, our kids aren't afraid to be seen with us, and our credit cards aren't maxed out.

Formula One Update

My spirits are lifted. The British Grand Prix is officially on the 2005 calendar -- the 10th of July. It's a 19 race season, too! I know it's tiring for the teams and drivers, but great as a spectator!

And reports are that David Coulthard is all but guaranteed a drive with Red Bull Racing. We should have confirmation, whether yea or nay, in the next week.

I'm just glad that Mark Webber was confirmed for Williams months ago. Otherwise I would have been totally disheartened throughout these ups and downs.

Back to Work

I'm fairly well rested from my 12 hour run to Gatwick and back, and it's almost time to start trying to tackle tort law again. Before I do, I'm savouring the quiet in the house. My littlest two, Ricky and Jack, are at their dad's house tonight because I didn't know what time I would be back from London. We swapped nights rather than me be late to pick them up from school. And, obviously, Malorie and Braden aren't here because they will have made it to DFW Airport by now. My dad will be spoiling them by taking them to Taco Bell, and the kids will ring me later to rub in the fact that they've had Taco Bell and I haven't.

The sadness at having a house with no kids in it hasn't hit yet. It could be due to the fact that in the last 24 hours that they were all here, they drove me bonkers. Jack had suddenly decided that the dog was a horse and spent yesterday evening trying to ride Mitch. He took over an hour to do his homework because he was more interested in anything but his homework. Ricky was probably the most well behaved of the lot, but he still had a good time trying to wind everyone else up so that they got on my nerves.

Malorie kept disappearing outside to say good-bye to one of the multitude of boys she fancies. This is the first time I've ever heard her say she didn't really want to go to her dad's house. There are no boys there. Braden doesn't count. He's her brother. She also complains that her father is going to kill her for dying her hair, and she says no matter what he says, she is NOT going without her make up.

Braden, though, gets the prize for getting on my last nerve. I was packing their clothes, wrapping Christmas presents for my family in Texas, trying to cook dinner, rushing around shopping, etc. I asked Braden to run his house key around to my friend Lynn's house so she could let the dog out today while I was gone. (Nothing like coming home to piles of dog poo.) I went to the petrol station and filled up the car, did the shopping, came home ... no Braden. When we finally managed to drag him home, he alternated between snapping at his little brothers ("I am NOT taking you with me to walk the dog!" sending them into hysterics) and hugging me.

But he won the prize at 2.50 this morning.

"Braden, come on, it's time to go."

"I haven't made my sandwiches yet."

"What have you been doing for the past 20 minutes."

"Gelling my hair."

Worse than a girl.

The temporary empty-nest will get to me next week when Ricky and Jack are with their dad for the first half of the Christmas holidays. For the next two nights, I'm going to relish the peace and quiet that (hopefully) will allow me to critically analyse this problem question. Thank goodness there's no right or wrong answer, but I still have to get the case law right. I hate problem questions.

I'm AWAKE!

It's 2.39 in the bloody morning. Coffee. I need coffee. It's almost time to hit the road and amaze my kids with my vocal renditions of Def Leppard classics.

Well I would be listening to Pete Considine classics but I haven't got his CD yet.

Early Morning Tomorrow

I slept late this morning, and I should be heading off to bed shortly, seeing as how I have to get up at 2.00 am. It's the bi-annual Drop Off the Kids at Gatwick Airport Run tomorrow. Now, that's not to be confused with the bi-annual Pick the Kids Up from Gatwick Airport Run which usually closely follows the Drop Off Run.

I wouldn't mind the 200 mile drive down and the 200 mile drive back, if the M1 weren't so bloody boring! Especially at night when all you can see on the motorway is, well, the motorway. Oh, and don't get me started on the M25, otherwise known as England's largest car park!

So no, my tort law essay is not finished, and I'm not going to get to wind down by chatting to my mates online tonight. I'm going to go dream about you guys though!

Taking a Break!

I needed a breather from pouring through the law texts and doing an infinite number of database searches for relevant cases. I wish I hadn't put my tort law essay off until the last minute, but that's just me. Mentally I've been writing the thing for weeks, but it's getting all the relevant info I need in one place that takes me so long.

What makes it worse isn't the fact that I want to do my Christmas decorating, shopping and celebrating, but the appearance of a project that I want to sink my teeth into. I have a chance to take part in a program aimed at death row appeals in the US. Growing up in Texas, you would think that I would balk at the idea. After all, Texas executes more prisoners than anyone else in the country, and they're proud of the fact. I'm proud to be a Texan, but that doesn't mean I agree with everything they stand for. I was once a death penalty supporter, back in my younger years when I was brainwashed by the Republican ideals of those around me. Fortunately my parents, while not liberal in the purest since, are more liberal than a lot of Texans, so when I came into contact with liberal Democrats (notice the small "l" liberal and big "D" Democrats, as opposed to both big letters as in the Liberal Democrats, which is a political party here in the UK) during my first incarnation as a university student, I was open-minded enough to listen. It didn't take me long to realise that I actually agreed with them.

I can remember, after becoming the secretary of the College Democrats of ETSU (now Texas A&M University -- Commerce), my father saying, "I hope your grandfather doesn't find out." He never did. Unfortunately he died a few months later, never knowing I had turned my back on his beloved Republican party in the same way he had rejected the Democratic party his own father adored.

People who meet me here in England automatically assume that 1) I love George Bush Jnr (or Shrub, as I like to call him), 2) that I am an ardent gun lover, and 3) that I am pro-death penalty. Wrong on all three counts. I actually campaigned against George W. when he ran for governor of Texas. I have never shot a gun in my life and believe in strict gun control. And I can't wait to get started on this death penalty project.

I know, so what am I doing writing this when I should just get on with the tort law essay. Come on, a girl has to have a bit of a break from "duty of care", "proximity", and "volenti non fit injuria".