Tag Archives: Family

Good Bye 2016!

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Well, that was a year, yeah? Good, bad, and ugly, all together.

Personally, it was a good year. I met my two main goals (more on that in a minute), Adam is thriving and only 10 inches shorter than me (eep!), Simon is working hard and enjoying it and I just keep keeping on.

My two goals were buying a house and earning my Driver’s License. Check and check.

The license took longer than expected, but I did it! In my case 6th (I think it was 6th) time was the charm. And passed with flying colours at that point. I had something like 4 minor faults. So yeah. I know how to drive!

The house also took longer than expected that but that was because all solicitors are evil. Weeeel, all solicitors working for other people are evil. Our solicitor was great. The vendor’s solicitor was a dick and a half. But we got there, in the end, moving in on 24th October. And two months later I still get a fission of ‘Oh yeah! This is *our* house!’ at the most random moments.

The other really good thing that happened was the letter from my former California employer informing me that I had a pension I could cash out. A pension I barely remember having. A pension that was now worth a fuckton of money. So I cashed it out. And the cheque cleared a few days before Christmas. And we now have the money to redo our bathroom (which is livable but needs work to be perfect), buy some new appliances for the kitchen and do some other bits and bobs we thought we’d have to wait to do.

And I think most people agree about the bad. A never ending list of celebrities left us this year. Some were just old, 80+. Others were taken way before their time. And the younger ones hit hard. Really hard in some cases.

The personally hard ones were George Michael and Carrie Fisher. No, I didn’t know them. But I admired them. And both of them were with me through my childhood and/or teenage years.  And their deaths were so unexpected. And the last 2 seconds of Rogue One didn’t help me deal with Carrie Fisher’s death. At all.

And of course, the ugly. Brexit. President-Elect DT (I will never use his name. He deserves to be nameless. He gets no respect.).

So 2017 has a lot of stuff coming up. I imagine it will also be a hard year. Maybe not quite so many major celebrities dying. But a total world change with the UK pulling out of the EU, or at least starting to, and President-Elect DT living up to his campaign promises, even though he’s already gone back on several.

A line from the voice-over from Torchwood keeps going through my mind. “The 21st Century is when it all changes.” And maybe we’re already a decade and a half into it, but it is still true. I just wish that what voiceover meant (aliens) was what we were actually dealing with.

Instead, there are shades of The Nazi Party and WWII. Borders slamming shut to the those who need help. The definite ‘smell’ of WWIII in the air, if not actually in progress.

So what are my goals for 2017?

  • Write more
  • Knit more
  • Exercise more
  • Get our house to the state we want it to be
  • Crochet more
  • Sell more
  • Survive

So nothing exactly quantifiable. Or with a completion date.

But definitely achievable.

Today Our Family Welcomed A New Member

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Simon’s sister had a baby girl just after 1330 London time by Caesarean Section. Once again she had a child who just didn’t want to vacate the premises as her due date was 10 days ago!

Everyone is fine and our new niece is gorgeous. I have already bought pink things. ::nods::

Some might be wondering how this is for me, as this baby’s older brother was born 3 weeks after Adam. It’s perfectly fine.

Simon and I are thrilled with our only child and are content that he will remain an only child. I’m 42. I have many and varied health problems and, as anyone who reads this knows, Adam was a bit of a miracle, after nearly 2 years of trying.

So Happy Birthday to my new niece. You are the best birthday present your Grandad has *ever* gotten.

So, Let’s Try This Again

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On Wednesday my mom and step dad get here for a week visit.  They are basically stopping over on their way to Africa for a 3 week tour.

You may recall last June when they came for Adam’s 1st birthday and stopped over in London during it where my mom landed herself in hospital and never made it back.

Yeah.  She’s not allowed to leave the country this time until her visit is over!

Her coming is always good as it kicks me in the bottom to get things done around the house.

Today I have: –

  1. Folded and put away laundry
  2. Taken down the Christmas tree and assorted other Christmas decorations
  3. Tidy Adam’s room and reorganized some things, including hanging his clothing hooks on the wall so we can actually use them to, you know, hang clothing.  Or, in the current case, his bicycle helmet.
  4. Put together the new storage bookcase in the hall closet and reorganized that closet
  5. Oh and do about an hour of work I actually get paid for.

So I’m a bit tired.  And actually have one more thing I’d like to do today.  And 4 things on my list for Wednesday, which is Adam’s next day in daycare.  Or I could do some of the Wednesday things tomorrow while he’s napping.  Presuming he naps!

So thanks for the visit Mom!  My house is getting so organized now!