Short and Sometimes Sweet

“There's a story behind everything..but behind all your stories is always your mother's story..because hers is where yours begins.”  ―  Mitch Albom ,  For One More Day I am writing this blog with sadness in my heart. Sadly my mum-in-law passed away recently. She had been sick with cancer for a while, but it was sudden in the end. Herself and my other half had an unconventional relationship to say the least, but out of respect for them both I'm not going to get in to that. This is my blog after all and as I always tell people, It's all about me. I got on very well with Pat. (The mum-in-law, same name as my OH, but henceforth it refers to her) She was a lovely, gentle caring woman. We stayed with her a few times when we went to London. She adored her grandchildren. And they adored her. We shared many a few jars, stories told and craic was had. It was a big big shock to us all. I was home last week and the phone rang. I got to the phone too late and realised the...

“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.”  ―  Laurell K. Hamilton ,  Mistral's Kiss I've been quiet of late, and to be honest there are a few different reasons for it. I lead a very busy life. Sometimes that's not a good thing. I've spoken before about my battles with depression. Lately I have been in a bad way again. I got to the point where I had to hold my hands up and admit that I can't get over it by myself and I need help. No matter how badly depressed a person gets, it is one of the most difficult things to do. My main problem is sleep, or lack thereof. Nobody can survive on 2 hours sleep per night, let alone run a business, raise a family, etc etc. But that is what I was attempting to do. Why only 2 hours sleep per night? Who knows. All I know is that my head buzzes. Thoughts and replays of silly things, not that important but important enough to make my head hurt. So it continues  ...

So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good. Helen Keller To say that this week has been a tough one is an understatement. Along with all the usual stresses of family life, and work life, I managed to get a sinus infection. All of that paled into insignificance though, at the news of a family friend passing away. He was very young, and it was very sudden. I've known him around 23 years. He was one of my younger brother's closest friends, and as such was a visitor to our family home. As time went on he was a regular at family gatherings and parties. Many is the time we had drunken conversations about nothing in particular. Well, it was mostly slagging off my brother, but in a fun way.  That was the thing you see. We could have a laugh and a giggle. He was such a nice person though. He lost his mum a few years back and I remember going to the funeral and trying to show support, little knowing that he would soon be doing ...

Family is the most important thing in the world. People often ask me what I do for a living. So I've decided to base this blog on an explanation of same. I love children. I couldn't eat a whole one though..... Corny jokes aside, I've always been interested in the care and development of children. I think I inherited this trait from my mum. So I raised my family while going to college and earning my qualifications. And working at the same time. Busy stuff.  I worked my way up from being a volunteer at my local playgroup to paid employment for that playgroup, to owning the business. So I have my own little pre-school. My family are shareholders, and we all try to help each other. I deal with the day to day running of the school, the admin, the government bodies, the grantors etc.  We are different to most playgroups/pre-schools though. We run a whole family service. This means we value the importance of the whole family in the child's life, recognising that home li...

"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else." Albert Einstein There has been a lot in the media lately about bullying. As someone who has been bullied, I decided to do my blog on this subject. I have been bullied most of my life. Even in my own home as a young child. A place where one is meant to feel safe and secure, was never such a place for me. I'm small. I've always been small. I guess that means I'm easy prey. Primary school wasn't too bad, until around 5th class. Then it started off again. I was bullied because "I was small, and because I was brainy, and because my family were poor." Secondary school was my worst nightmare. Day after day of incessant and relentless crap. I feigned every kind of sickness in order to not have to go in to school. I was brainy and did very well in my exams. Until 5th year. I cannot tell you the hell that was my life in school at that point. I became so withdra...

"Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts." Hi all. Been a manic few weeks so I've not had time to blog. I've got people staying with me and my wee house is jammers. My son came back home from Spain, just about in one piece. Though I can't say the same for his luggage. His bag was stolen off the bus he boarded to the air port in Salamanca. It contained all of his favourite clothes, sentimental items etc. Not pleasant. He has, as I predicted, changed a lot. He has grown up, learnt some life lessons and knows how to appreciate the small comforts in life. As the house is so busy, and there's extra stuff to do the days are just melting into one. I never know what day it is. I have always been someone who enjoys their space. I really don't take kindly to clingy people. Don't get me wrong, I love company, and hugs etc but just not people who hang out of me all the time. So I...

Sometimes I write about general things, sometimes I write about more personal stuff. This time I'm going to share something very personal. You can believe it, or not it's ultimately your choice. It's also ultimately my truth and will always remain as such. I've been brought up a Roman Catholic. I've done the whole christening, communion, confirmation etc thing. I think my parents believed it was the right thing to do, even though as it turned out the practitioners of the catholic church had questionable motives. Anyway we did the whole prayer, afterlife, mortal sin thing. As I grew older I questioned their beliefs and started to form my own opinions. Having kids of my own, I always gave them the choice of what they wanted to believe and they made their own choices regarding the big events. Though I think the tradition of getting loads of money was a major factor. Do I believe in an after life? I'm not sure.And as there is only one way of knowing for sure And I...