Twilight - end of a Saga **Spoiler alert**

So I've finished the Twilight Saga & I am part uplifted by it and part... is that it?  Really?  That is what the 4 books (one of which like a telephone directory) was leading up to? 

Don't get me wrong I have enjoyed each of Stephanie Meyers books but kind of feel like they are the literature equivalent to KFC - I think the idea is probably more appealing than the reality, it never really lives up to what you'd like it to be.

Whilst about 2 thirds of the way through Breaking Dawn I turned to the friend who loaned it to me and said 'Why do I get the feeling that this is just going to be resolved in a paragraph?'

In each of Ms Meyers novels there had been a terrible threat for Bella / Edward / The Cullens / Jacob / the good folks of Forks but they all seem to be resolved in under a chapter & always a bit too simply. 

What, the werewolves want to kill Bella & Edwards daughter, but oh, Jacob has imprinted on her and so it is forbidden for them to attack her so it's all OK now.   Oh OK.

What the transformation to vampire is terrible and a 'newborn' vampire is feral and completely out of control for decades, oh but Bella is the exception to the rule you say?

So the Volturi are set to kill The Cullens and everyone who stands with them, but what is this?  Whilst a half hearted kind of battle splutters to a start Bella works out she has a force field that can protect everyone....Righto.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Maybe I am just expecting too much, it isn't really pitched at my age group, but I kind of want a bit more clever in my stories.  If a terrible danger can be resolved with a one line fix it just seems a bit cheap.

I guess it gives me hope though that if she can make that big maybe anyone can, including me.  Now all I need to do is figure what the heck the next big thing will be.  Zombie teens?

So that's it, it's all over, my flirting with teen angst...Oh but I can still look forward to watching the very wooden but rather beautiful RPattz in the last two films...

RPattz is sneaking onto my list

Goodbye Susie

I found out today that someone I know died on Thursday.

A childminder I saw every day, twice a day sometimes.  I don't think we could class each other as friends but we were friendly, we always said hello and had a chat.  She was a very colourful character, full of life and very eccentric (despite Mr DOMADQ claiming that you have to be rich to be eccentric otherwise you are, according to him, just crazy).

I often would see her rushing to drop off or pick up invariably late for the school run, in her slippers, PJs, sparkly tights or one of the last times I saw her she appeared to be wearing the back half of a pantomime cow.  She was like an eternal hippy, I could imagine her dancing barefoot with flowers in her hair (in actual fact she did come to school one day with flowers in her hair).  Always friendly the children in her care seemed to truly love her and she them.

The last few times I saw her she looked unwell, very jaundice and painfully thin.  I didn't know her well enough to ask if anything was up, I wish I had spoken to her.

I heard this week she had collapsed and was in intensive care and I was so shocked.   I walked past her house earlier today and saw the details for her funeral in the window.

I feel so sad and at the same time I feel like it isn't my place to be grieving as I didn't really know her.  But this lady was vivacious and so full of fun.  She had several children, the youngest one still at Junior school.  She was 52, that is the same age my dad was when he died.

It seems so unfair.  I had my dad for nearly 25 years and that was hard enough, the thought of a younger family going through the same thing is making me weep.

Somewhere over the rainbow...

Today was horrible, I got caught in the rain this morning when taking my girls to school (why does it always rain during the school run?).  I can feel the beginning of a cold, I am vaguely headachey and cold.  I was planning a relaxing post school afternoon cooking a proper dinner for tonight (my kids are getting fed up of pasta & my husband could do with the vegetables) and perusing the internet....

But oh bugger it's Thursday and Thursdays = Rainbows

Grrrrr.  To be completely honest I am a fair weather Rainbow's person.  I don't know why I feel this way about this after school activity (I suggested she join in the first place) but I wholeheartedly detest it in the winter.  Well maybe I do know why, it's winter.  It's cold.  It's wet.  I have to occupy my youngest child, usually at the library* whilst Girl 1 is off fashioning necklaces out of pasta or having skipping races or whatever, and that is a tough job in itself.  To describe Girl 2 as 'a monkey' (as I often do) is an understatement, she is 'spirited' (something that I applaud generally) but I just don't have the strength today.

I ask my big girl if she really wants to go to Rainbows tonight.  'Yes' she replies.  'Oh' I respond 'I could really do without it, Mummy doesn't feel very well'.  And then my gorgeous girl replies 'It's OK Mama, I'll skip it this week and you can hibernate'.  My girl is so kind & thoughtful and now I feel like a right old meanie.  'Are you sure?  I'll take you if you want to go...'.  'No it's OK Mama, I'll go next week'.  LOVE. THIS. CHILD. 

Shepherds pie & blogging it is then ;)

*for library think racing around the book shelves, hiding, removing shoes and/or other items of clothing, using the toilets several times, 'doing her work' on the computers and generally making lots of noise

unmasked?

I am still not overly confident about telling people about this blog and so have so far resisted posting about it on Facebook, but am gradually telling a few friends in order to get some feedback. 

The other night I messaged one who now lives in New Zealand, that's safe I thought, she's thousands of miles away.  

The next morning I looked at Facebook and saw this! 




bugger

 I know she meant well but AAAGGHHHHHHH! 

And now the guesses have begun re: who I am

I actually think it's fairly easy to guess if you know me.  But now I potentially have people I went to school with reading this, will it cramp my style???


Nah



talking about my generation

As Travis once sang (whilst Fran still had hair & before he got too serious), I'm tied to the 90's.  This was my decade, it was the decade that shaped me as an adult.  I entered 1990 as a 16 year old and left a 26 year old woman. 

The 90s was the decade I did my A-levels, fucked up my A-levels, re-took one and eventually went to university.  I found and lost several loves (not too many as I was a good girl), snogged LOTS of boys ( I wasn't that good), made many life long friends and met my husband to be.  I started my career and lost my Dad. 

So as you see it has major significance.

I loved the 90s, I was young and free (although probably didn't appreciate those years of no responsibility as much as I should have).  The music is ingrained in me.  I will always be an Indie / Brit Pop girl.  It features heavily on my ipod play list and I often put it on.  I wonder what my girls will make of Jarvis Cocker when they are older ('you used to fancy HIM Mum??!!').  He sits in my heart even now, I still fancy him beard & all.

The noughies were also extremely significant for me as marriage and babies arrived in that decade but I will always be tied to the 90s....

Take it away Fran....

(see, he's almost smiling)

Connection

I have Elastica running round my head

This came out in 1994 and this is the year I got to know a male friend of mine. 

A platonic friendship (although lashings of flirting), I truly love him. He epitomises life and fun.  We lost each other for a while but with the miracle of the internet we have reconnected again.

There is a spark between us that I think once upon a time might have ignited into something else but now it means that the fire of friendship is burning brightly.  

We are both amused to think of the missed opportunity (that ship has well and truly sailed) but whatever might have been would have undoubtedly burned out if we had chosen that path. 

This way we get to be friends forever, and flirt for England x

myth busting

Heard a rumour yesterday that my ex boyfriend is so well endowed that woman are afraid of his manhood.

HA! 

Admittedly it has been a long while since I've seen it but I don't recall him being above average.

No I think people have misheard, he doesn't HAVE a big cock, he IS a big cock.

Have I shared too much?  sorry!

Christmas/Birthday thank you

I am currently attempting to get my biggest girl to write her thank you letters for her birthday (just before Christmas) and Christmas presents.  It feels like I'm banging my head against the wall.  We have 17 more to write and even when I can get her to sit down at the table with the strawberry pen I bought her to bribe her into writing them, can I get her to focus?  Can I bugger! 

It would be so much quicker to do it myself, but I want to instill good manners in my children (and she can write now so there is no excuse for her not to do it herself).  But oh my god, she is driving me mad!!!
On top of which I am being hassled by my mother for letters not written yet to her friends.  Can she not remember what it was like when we were children?  I know I was terrible at writing my thank yous....Oh

PS If you are reading this and you are a friend or family member thank you for the presents, this will reach you much quicker than the scrawled note from my girl x

twitterati

I have joined twitter and despite being a  Facebook fan I don't really know what to write on there apart from please read my blog...

You never know, maybe in a few weeks I'll be one of those people who tweets everything....just having a cup of tea x

Twiharder

My lovely friend has lent me the last instalment of the Twilight saga to read.  This is exciting, not because it is fantastic literature but it makes my nearing middle aged heart (if you don't mind Mr D) beat a little faster and you know, I'm a completest, I need to know what happens in the Bella/Edward/Jacob love triangle. 

This is made all the more thrilling as I am going away for 2 whole nights next week ON MY OWN! (this means I have already ticked off some of my 'to do' list  as this definitely counts as 'time for me', although lets just skirt over the fact I will undoubtedly be scoring out the 'not drinking for a month' with big black marker whilst I'm away) 

I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am at the prospect of it.  The day in between will be occupied with a university Alumni /networking/drinking thing which in itself will be good fun and means I can catch up with some old friends, but on top of that I will have 2 train journeys unpunctuated by small girls needing attention / the toilet / snacks / entertainment in which I can try & work my way through the mammoth tome and without Mr D bemusement at exactly why I would want to read a 'teenager's book'.  The thing is, he didn't seem to mind me reading Harry Potter, in actual fact actively encouraged it, he brought me many of the series.  And so I can only put his dislike of Stephanie Meyers books down to Robert Pattinson (from the films obviously).  I suspect he feels the same way about RPattz as Jack Whitehall does. 

So excited am I about even the train journey, I have mapped it out in my head.  Alongside reading I plan some writing, listening to music and I fear I may even turn into one of those people that cracks open a can of G&T on the train (have always wondered who those people were).


(As an aside, my mother saw the book in my kitchen yesterday and declared 'It doesn't appeal to me!' which made me roar with laughter.  It's bad enough that I could be RPattz *cough* older sister, but his aunt taking a shine to him?  Well that's just icky!)

Diary of a what?

According to Mr DOMADQ this blog is inaccurately titled.  This being my husband who has a) never read it and b) never intends to as it's my 'thing' and he wants me to feel free to write what I want.

However, he proclaimed this morning that

1. It is NOT a diary as I don't write everyday

2. I am NOT middle aged, apparently at 38 I am 'no longer middle-aged'

3.  I am NOT a drama queen but  an 'overthinker'

So according to him this should now be called 'Blog of A Not Middle Aged Woman Who Over Thinks Things'.

In my defence

1.  Since when was there a law dictating now often a diary has to be written

2. WTF?!  At 38 I though I might be stretching the 'middle-aged' label but the other way!

3.  I think Mr D might soon be experiencing a middle aged tantrum about his second point

Happy New Year

So, here we all are in 2012 - as Mr DOMADQ pointed out only 3 years away from 'Back to the Future' (am still waiting for the hover boards & flying cars).  This New Years Eve we spent with some very good friends of ours.  A quiet night in which involved a bit of shouting at small people to go to bed, chicken fajitas, a board game (a bit of cheating from Mr D) and ALOT of alcohol.

Tamer than years gone by but still left me jaded yesterday morning - not from hangover (Champagne's amazing, not even the suggestion of a headache despite the quantity that I drank) but from going to bed post 1am.  I really am getting too old for this.  Gone are the days of being up all night, drinking and dancing - at one point we had to occupy ourselves with another game of 'Articulate' to prevent any of us from nodding off before 'the bells'.  Yesterday afternoon post sugary tea & bacon sarnies I was only fit to watch Cinderella for the millionth time with my girlies and sew a sock monkey - Yes, sock monkey madness has begun again.

So, hello 2012, what are you going to bring for us?  Bracing ourselves for the forecasted 'double dip' - although you would never have guessed we were teetering on the edge of economic abyss with those New Year fireworks along the Thames; which were amazingly beautiful but I could just see fivers being set fire to seeing as we're not supposed to have a pot to piss in. 

So is this the year I actually crack on & start writing my book?  Not sure if I want to make resolutions this year as they seemed destined to be broken but maybe I should make a 'TO DO' list instead:

1.  A month of detox - think my liver would appreciate some time off after December's excesses.

2. So I guess if I'm not drinking I should probably make sure I am eating better too (not a diet as diets make me want to eat)

3.  Exercise (naturally goes with 1 & 2...)

4. Less shouting more laughing with my children (I think this should probably come higher up the list but it's not in order of priority)

5. More time for me (this should assist with no 4)

6.  Carry on writing / do my homework / blog more

7.  Sell the stock of sock monkeys I have made / have started to make again.  I don't know if it's just because January is a horrible month; anti climatic after Christmas, weather is rotten, too long to wait till payday so many many nights in in front of the TV (at least Sherlock's back) but I have been searching for a new 'crafting' project (might also be the gorgeous sewing box I got for Christmas from Mr D) and stumbled on several half made sock monkeys which I am now finishing.

(experimenting with sewn on eyes after consulting the gorgeous book I got from my Xmas blog swap)

 'And who is that one for?' my mother enquired, 'Oh, you know, it's just another one I've made' (this is getting ridiculous!)


You think THAT's ridiculous I also started branching out & made a prototype bunny too!

Roll on February.