Life is a Roller Coaster ...

What a weekend - a real roller coaster. Life is full of ups and downs, we expect that, but how can they happen in such short succession ? Friday was ok, though I happened to wake up the day in a " what is the point? " sort of mood - not a good start to the weekend. Something was out of kilter but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Saturday, woke up too early for a weekend. Muddled through the morning trying to deal with the usual domestic crises that occur in this household. Calm follows and then venture into town to go shopping. Shopping trips can be mixed but this was particularly fun, a rush of adrenalin, but was far too short lived. Saturday night a misunderstanding, the downfall of the written word, open to too much interpretation. A real down. followed by long period of uncertainty, stretching through most of the following day and not even sure it is over now. How can things change so quickly? When will the next high be? Hopefully just around the corner .......

The value of money

Feeling in a very dark place today. Not a good way to start the day but that is the power of words and the memories they awaken. I was reading a blog by a friend who was talking about a trip to buy a Christmas tree, what can be so provoking in that ? It was the part about the daughter being worried about the cost of the tree that hit home hard. How sad that she should she have to think like that. I am not saying there is anything wrong in teaching children the value of money, but it saddened me. So much so I was reduced to tears as it brought back memories of my childhood when money was scarce and life was a daily struggle. Having been through those experiences I am determined for my children not to have to do the same, but I am not frightened to say no to constant requests for things, yes they can ask, but "I want" doesn't mean they get. However a little reminder every now and again that money does not grow in trees does not hurt them !

Is it Christmas yet ?

That awful time of year, pressure mounts to spend, spend, spend. My youngest has been adding to her never ending Christmas list since August. Boy is she in for a big disappointment on the 25th December . There was a time when I loved Christmas. I loved the decorations, the lights, the cheesy Christmas songs and even a bit of culture with the carol service from King's College, Cambridge, but in the last eight years, this feeling has dwindled each year. The pressure to buy presents for family who already have enough and certainly the money to buy whatever they need. What do you buy for men who buy everything that they want ?

We started to go away for a skiing holiday at Christmas which was fantastic, no wasting ages cooking a lunch that took hours to prepare and cook and was then over in minutes, no sitting around watching terrible tv and special editions of comedy programmes ( or even worse, the misery of Albert Square). We would wake up , breakfast of Bucks fizz and smoked salmon and scrambled eggs made for us, while listening to Bing Crosby singing White Christmas watching the snow fall ... Oh those were the days! Sadly those days have gone due to the girls' ski race calendar, unless I win the Lottery !

Control freaks

Something that has struck me in the past few months is the strange behaviour of control freaks. Why do they think that it is such a big deal not to share information, which not only makes other peoples' lives easier , but their own too ? The unwillingness to let things go out of their control even though they have no time to do to fulfil their commitments ? All it does is alienate themselves from friends and colleagues in the process and when others decide enough is enough and take over in order to save the day, they get really arsey and defensive. Is it a game they like to play ? Is there seriously something missing in their lives that they have to behave like that ? Is it a need to be wanted, needed or be the centre of attention be it good or bad ? Who knows.

Where does all the time go ?

Oops , not a good start ! I am still trying to get the hang of this blogging lark . So much to do with not enough time in day . Yesterday flew by and what did I achieve ? I dropped daughter No2 off at the cinema and thought I would spend a girlie day shopping with No 1 . Fine , you think , spending quality time with teenage daughter, but where did all the time go ? Sitting in Pret was very informative, listening to the latest in and outs and mashinations of my daughters' friends love lives. But who does she fancy? Well got there in the end , but of course the father had already clearly stated his disapproval of this young boy - jealousy me thinks ? Well, he seems ok to me, though not sure how I am going to get to know this young man more, as he lives miles away. Though everyone is miles away from us in darkest, deepest Norfolk ! Thank god for msn, e mail and Facebook or my children would have a very limited social network !

I digress, no sooner had we got into our stride of shopping , daughter no 1 rings to say need more time, another half an hour, Pizza Hut have only just served the main meal ( post film food) , my god where did the time go ? Time to visit the milkshake shop for a Cadbury Creme egg shake and me a curly wurly one.. Do people really choose to eat mince pie milk shakes ? Yep apparently they do - ew !

Time to visit one more shop, before picking up daughter No 2. We collect child - gushing over Jacob and his hot bod ( omg can't believe I 'm hearing this from my baby !). Rush home as quickly as traffic will allow only having enough time for a quick coffee and a chat to a friend and then rush out again to take daughter No 1 to same movie ! Get home 11.45 pm having left the house at 11.00 am and think where did all the time go ? ( Have to agree with daughters though, Jacob has a hot bod but does that make me a cougar ?).

Wow, finally got here . Took some time , but that is me , somehow the simplest of things take ages to do. Why is it I cannot remember the simplest things for longer than a second, was I a goldfish in a former life? I have fought my way through the menus to get here, but will I rememeber where I put it when I want to write down my thoughts next time ? Time will tell. This could be the start of a new beginning for me or could be my one and only posting if I fail to find my way through the myriad of trivia that has to be stored in my brain on a daily basis and hence forget where it is !

Enough of my initial ramblings, au revoir, a bientot or just maybe goodbye .....