Rapture!

Oh joy!

We have just finished having lunch at my mother's, which means two things.

1. No cooking for me;

2. No washing up for me.

But there was a third thing, the pudding.

Homemade biscuits and what has now become my absolute favourite ice cream of the moment!

Gooseberry & Elderberry ice cream from Budgens.

Yes, I know....Budgens.

But really it is most delicious.

It comes in a small, almost too small container, that possibly could be eaten in one sitting.

My tongue and tummy enjoyed it immensly!

Disrupted cycle

Oh how I hate curve balls.
As mentioned in a post late December, called 'a glance....', I had been healthy for a year (note past tense).
Not so anymore.
I had felt rough on Friday, tried to feel better over the weekend and ended up at the doctors this morning.
Crap, I have crackles in my lungs, meaning a chest infection.
Not fun.
Not happy.
Have been given antibiotics.
Bother!!!!!


But I will NOT let this get the better of me.
Life will go on.

Morning

Curtains are opened, the morning revealed.
Forgotten memories of how beautiful the view looked.
So used to seeing gloom, damp, old snow and bleakness.
The sun gave every tree, branch and twig a renewed glow.
With the blue of the sky, feeling like an early inkling into the coming Spring.
A teasing glimpse of what will eventually be.
Bird song on high volume, happy in sound.

Big sap!

Yes, that's me.
I am such a sappy wench when it comes to romantic comedies.
I have just changed channels, looking for something stimulating to watch (obviously) and got stuck on ITV watching.....
Yep!
Bridget Jones's Diary.
Why?
Because of "bloody Mark Darcy", well Colin Firth, but a rose by any other name etc....

Hmmm...I wonder if he's ever made the fabulous Insomniac Mummy's regular Friday "Hot or Not?" list....and that would be a definite HOT!

conflicting thoughts

I'm not really sure what I want to say in this post, more that I want to ruminate on bits that have been floating around my mind. I think I'll start with talking about DC, my not-so-new man.
I am definitely liking him a lot, which is no secret. In fact, he tells me the same, but getting a bit frustrated at the same time. It's been my bone of contention for a while now, the gaps of communication between dates. He referred to himself as being like an onion (I thought more like an artichoke with a heart at the centre), full of layers which I was slowly peeling away. Apparently this doesn't happen with many people, he's a very private man. He talks more frequently about his family, work and his thoughts, but it's the spaces in between that I'm not handling very well. This relationship (his words) has been going on for almost nine months and I want a bit more. But I'm finding it hard to ask for more right now, as his mum has gone back to being critical with her health. I want to say to him that he needs to show me that sometimes I'm a priority, not his work and occasionally not his family, just me. But that is confrontational and as a friend suggested, am I worried by a negative outcome? No, I don't think I am, but at the same time I don't want to add to his pressure. He calls me his 'luxury' and the way I feel when with him surpasses the frustrations. He rang this afternoon, asking if I still needed help with my laptop. It was 4.30pm and my child was running around like a mad thing. He was up for it. He watched her, talked with her, played with her, taught her a few dance moves, she taught him a few dance moves and at bed-time, she requested he read her a story. I found it so heart-warming to see. He seemed relaxed and at ease with it all. They both seemed to enjoy the evening. Unfortunately he had to leave suddenly. It's hard watching him wait. I remember the waiting when my dad was ill. The end is always inevitable, coming when it comes. It has it's own schedule and doesn't always happen at a convenient time. I wish there was something that I could say or do, something more that might ease the coming moment.

Part deux

Oh no, succumbed to the remainder of the box.
Would it be wrong of me to now have a glass of wine, while lying in a lovely hot bath?
Hmm...perhaps a tad self-indulgent, eh?

Chocolate.....pah!!!

Oh why am I so weak???
I have absolutely NO self-control.
None!
Zero!
Nada!
I was given a box of chocolates today, Terry's Gold Milk Chocolate (2 shelves).
Admittedly, not the best caliber of chocolate, but chocolate none-the-less.
I managed to open the box and share a few around my child's school, saving most of them for this evening.
Sitting on the couch is when disaster hit.
My sweet tooth kicked in within minutes.
And the rest as they say is history!

There's snow business, like snow business (as per my Pops)

After chatting with my lovely friend in Chicago, we both agreed that England is clueless about snow.

Chicago has a very brutal, snowy winter every year, not every other year or every few years, but absolutely without fail, EVERY year!
And believe it or not, life and business does NOT stop, but continues daily. People get up, in the snow and go to work. Schools are open and for the most part, the city's transport system runs according to schedule.
I suppose we could put it all in perspective and think about the winters in Siberia, Iceland, Greenland, Finland etc....
Anyway, that's it for now, time to go out into our mild winter and pick up Child from school.

Our snowy commute

Ok mummy, which way is school????

The path less taken...

Yeah for blue sky and sunshine!

Now where did I put my crampons?

Just need to sit for a while...

On another note...

Driving home last night with DC, we were pulled over by the police.
It was snowing and quite late; we were driving slowly and everything about the car was functioning.
We both looked at each other, wondering what we'd done.
He was asked to get out of the car and go around to the pavement at the back.
It was a youngish white policewoman that had stopped us.
Apparently, we had gone through a red light, where there had been two sets and the second one had been green. Both of us disagreed with this.
He was asked to produce his license, which he didn't have and also, whether this was his car.
Now he works hard and does ok for himself and he has a very nice car.
While the policewoman ran the various checks, he opened my door to update me.
She saw me sitting there and within another minute had told him to be more careful next time and had let us go.
Were we stopped because DC is of Jamaican decent and driving a fancy car?
I wonder....

White Stuff

Went to bed last night, knowing that it was going to snow a lot more, as it had already started by midnight.
And oh what a lovely sight greeted us upon opening the curtains this morning.
Child is ecstatic!

All forlorn or not...

My poor tree looks so barren.
This afternoon myself and my army of little helpers, 2 borrowed from the downstairs neighbours, set about taking all the many decorations down from my beautiful Christmas tree. The baubles, the trinkets, the lights and finally my beloved Father Christmas, made for me many years ago by my mother.
It seems to have shrunk somewhat.
But this nakedness is how this tree began life with me, so really it has just come a full circle.
As my first post for 2010, I feel like this is quite an appropriate idea for this is the beginning of a new year. It could be seen as the birth of a new year, fresh, young and full of possibilities.
As my friend and fellow blogger, Dumdad, said of my last post:

"Tomorrow is another day"

And with that in mind, I embrace this, the latest of our new years, much as I did last year and look forward to all that lies ahead. This is how I hope to approach each day, open to whatever crosses my path, hopeful in happiness, in success, in health.