Happy Anniversary to me ...

So anyway, here is a list of things I am not doing to celebrate Valentine's Day ...
- having a romantic dinner with the MOTH
- celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary
- drinking bottles of wine and eating silly little red heart-shaped chocolates
- arranging a dozen red roses in a crystal vase
- listening to love songs

Instead, if anyone asks me "What did you spend Valentine's Day evening doing ?", this is how I shall reply ...
- eating instant noodles in front of the TV with my daughter
- listening to her tell me all about what she would do if she won a million dollars (travel features quite highly on the list, ponies ... not so much)
- talking to the MOTH on the phone while 90 ten-year olds scream in the back-ground
- covering school books in pink contact paper and stressing when I "bubble" it
- pricking the bubbles with a knife and smoothing them out (cos I'm a bit compulsive like that)
- paying bills online
- filing my nails
- cooking dinner for tomorrow night
- laundry

Who says romance is dead ?

It's a bit like Chinese Whispers ...

With the impeccable timing small children are known for, as we race out the door this morning S stops and gasps "My teacher said I have to have my school books today !!!"

Me (feeling guilty because we bought them on the weekend and I haven't had a chance to cover them all yet) : "I'm sorry, you'll have to take them tomorrow."

S (looking like she's about to burst into tears) : "But she'll growl at me !!"

Me : "Well you can just tell your teacher that we haven't had time to do them because Daddy and K are away on camp and Mummy is working two jobs at the moment and we are running late and haven't sorted them out yet and if she has a problem with that you tell her to call me and she can growl at me, OK ?!?!?"

So after school I ask S whether her teacher growled at her for not having her books and am more than a little taken aback when she says "No, she laughed."

Me (worriedly) : "What exactly did you tell her ?"

S : "I told her I didn't have my books because Daddy and Kieran are on camp and you were too tired because you had to get out of bed early."

?!?!?!?!?

It's been a while ...

Some majorly awful things have happened to more than one of my friends recently, and it's had me doing some intense soul searching.

I certainly can't express myself anywhere near as well as many of the people I read online. It all just left me feeling incredibly sad, and helpless, so I figured the best thing to do was stay away for a while, as anything I attempted to write down just seemed so trite.

I'm still sad, and I feel so very deeply for my friends, but I've been smiling a bit more lately too. So it appears I am back.

I've found I'm waking up each morning more grateful than I have been in a long time for what I have.

You might be living through a rough patch, but it sure as hell beats the alternative :)