A girls best friend?!

I work with chocolate! Yes it's true. There are jobs that involve making and creating chocolate delights. I'm not talking Cadbury's or Rowntree's massed produced stuff. These are genuine top quality truffles, chocolate bars and other delicious treats. It's a tough gig but someone has to do it!



Today I offered to work in the shop where we sell the chocolates as my boss (and friend) wanted to spend some quality time with her family. It's not what I really enjoy doing as I find it a bit boring, but today wasn't too bad. School breaks up this week and I had a lot of children buying end of year "Thank you" gifts for their hard working teachers. Lucky teachers! I used to teach and all I got at the end of term were cheap bottles of plonk ( and I mean cheap!), awful smellies that my Granny would have liked or cheap chocolates that were almost at their best before date!



Chocolate is, as I've come to realise, a girls best and worst friend. What can cheer you up as much as a bar of your favourite choc (accompanied by a glass of particularly nice wine) or a couple of champagne truffles? But then again we all know the effect that too much of that glorious treasure has on our figures!



There are days when I come back from work absolutely sick of the taste of chocolate. I long for something fresh and tangy, but it is a short lived dislike. Back at work the next day I'm ready for more!



Those Aztecs of long ago discovered a substance that brings pleasure to us all. Forget diamonds! Chocolate rules!

Upside down!

My daughter is one of the most adorable people that I know. She is vivacious, loving, funny, full of life and hardworking. She can also be stubborn, awkward, vunerable and obssessively compulsive. It's amazing what a difference an extra chromosone can make! You see she has a condition known as Trisomy 21, commonly labelled "Down's Syndrome". When I was young it had rather ugly title, but thankfully times have moved on and in this politically correct society she is often referred to as having a learning disability!

What a conundrum! Down's- named after the guy who first collated the characteristics of these fabulous people and linked it to an extra chromosone on the 21st pair.

Oh how I wish his name had been "Up"! For in my mind there is nothing down about my daughter or her life.

Sure life isn't all peachy, but that can be the case with all one's offspring, as I have experienced lately (but that's another story). And other people don't always make it easy for her to have the freedom she so desperately wants.

We have, as a family, had eighteen and a half years of living with the most wonderful person, who has contributed so much to our lives. What we have experienced hasn't always been easy, but we have all benefitted from the richness she brings to our lives and have become better human beings as a result.

Don't get me wrong. I think all my children are fantastic, and they know it. It's just that she has taught us all so much just by "being".

I long for her to have the life she wants and to experience the joys of adult life to it's full. She deserves it and the world is a better place because of people like her!

For better or worse....!

I have come to realise that these "Blog" thingies come in waves. After a couple of weeks of distraction and lack of inspiration I suddenly find myself wanting to put finger to keyboard and blog again! Sorry everyone but here I go.

My inspiration comes from a recent blog written by my future daughter-in-law after the sudden realisation of what it means to be in love with an accident prone Brown! Welcome to the roller coaster ride of loving commitment!

Singleness, whilst having its drawbacks, can be quite indulgent and sometimes selfish. No one to answer to and a certain freedom that cannot be exercised when one has to take into account others needs.

Relationships that are bound together by the overpowering bond of love, on the other hand, have a freedom of their own whilst giving a responsibility to address each others needs.

Experience has taught me that life is not fair and has never promised to be. So much of what we experience is out of our control. Sickness, unemployment, inability to conceive a baby, handicap, bereavement... the list goes on. For many the pressure is just too much and they have to walk away. But for others it brings a strength and depth that is just amazing.

Commitment is not a slavish bond that takes away one's freedom. It is a liberating relationship that means I don't have to "do it on my own"!

I'm glad I promised: "in sickness and health" and "for better or worse". Relationships that promise such devotion are not for the faint hearted, but boy are they worth it!

So there you go Lizzie! Welcome to the family. I just hope that you are as happy together as we are.

Like father, like son.....

None of us like being told that we are "becoming our parents"! It strikes horror in our hearts. I wince when I catch myself coining phrases that my mother used to use. But I guess that when you live with someone during those formative years somethings got to rub off!

I was amused the other day when I showed my Hubby my sons latest Blog detailing his proposal of marriage to his darling Lizzie. It was very romantic and having set the scene he waited for his beloved to arrive, and I quote:" With Bible in tow I set about reading Proverbs 31 and Prayed".

"What!", exclaimed said Hubby, "Bible in tow!"
"Don't you remember when you proposed to me darling? We were fasting and praying for a dear friend at the time" I reminded him.

Need I say more!

And the little one said...!

I share a bed with a snorer! Have done for twenty five years! You never get used to it. There are good nights when I manage to get to sleep before him but once it starts...boy is it annoying.

I love my man , of that there is no doubt, but I hate the snoring! Waking up in the morning feeling like a zombie and just wanting to curl up into the duvet and go back to sleep.

Once it starts there's no stopping, then suddenly...And I panic. Why has it gone quiet? Is he still breathing?! Yes he's just turned over and is quiet for a while. Then come the silly little noises, the little whispers and sighs that continue till the next snore.

And do you know what the most annoying thing is? When I have a cold and wake up the next morning to be told that I woke him up with my snoring! Where is the justice in that?!

Wow!

I've just had a comment posted on my last blog. I'm really excited. Do people really read this stuff?! I'm on a roll at the moment and just can't wait to blog again. I guess this is the honeymoon period. If I'm not careful people will think that I don't have a life, but I do.

I am an almost redundant mother! Well I guess I will never be really redundant but three of my four children have flown the nest and my youngest is ready to stretch those wings and fly!
In many ways I can't believe where the time has gone but gone it has, and I will have spent twenty five years caring for, and guiding my four little fledglings.

Some days I am sad that I don't see that much of them as I would like, but I am content in the fact that they have turned out okay. They all have good jobs, one is married to the sweetest girl and another is marrying later this year (to another lovely girl). I have done my job. I will always be there for them no matter what. I have, along with my husband, produced three lovely young men and a daughter that brings great joy to many (more about her in future posts!) Job done! Now it's up to them to make their impression on the world and to the next generation.

Grumpy old woman!

I think that I'm turning into a grumpy old woman! I guess that my offspring would argue that I have been for a very long time, but it has only just come to my attention.
Take this morning for instance. I had to go into Morrisons for a couple of things because we have some friends round for dinner tonight. Saturday! I always try to avoid Morrisons on a Saturday - and here's why.
On a Saturday, Morrisons allow various groups from the community to raise money by packing peoples' bags for them in return for a donation. This, in principal, I have nothing against but we live in a very affluent Market town and the fund raisers are usually trying to raise money for activities that are not essential to the fabric of daily life. It's usually for new rugby shirts or a nicer scout hut. Now if it were to help youngsters less fortunate than our often over indulged locals I would be more sympathetic. If it were for a charity that helped a local hospice or teenage cancer trust I would be right there with them. But no. Busy Saturday mornings with long queues and your shopping being packed haphazardly into your bags, all the time feeling obliged to contribute to a fund to help youngsters enjoy a trip of a lifetime in South America or the like!
See I am a grumpy old woman. I've finished the journey and arrived!!