Natalie; for what it's worth.

Christmas, it’s nearly done.  We’ve done the decorating of trees, buying, giving and receiving of presents.  We’ve done the turkey, the visiting of relatives and our family, friends and neighbours party.  The expense of it all should now be over!  We are now eating leftover turkey and ham, party nibbles and drinks.  I’ve got to become creative in my abilities with the leftovers, though I do think the pheasants and other birds outside are benefiting from some of the less creative ideas!

Christmas for everyone is always reasonably stressful in some form or another.  Whether it is the stress of deciding what to buy, what to wear, the cooking, the driving round to see relatives and friends, the fact the lights for the tree don’t work anymore or some of the bulbs have blown and you can’t find replacements anywhere!

Well, it is nearly over, life will soon go back to “normal”, whatever normal is!  The decorations will be re-packed and put back in the loft, the rubbish men will have taken away all the ripped up wrapping paper and boxes and other stuff.  Your fridge contents will return to normal, the numerous boxes of chocolate will have been emptied and discarded, no more mince pies or left overs, your house will return to being your home again, calmness will be restored.

So everyone, it is back to work next week and start the diet - again!

Resolutions at the ready, 2012 is nearly here!

What does music mean to you, does it mean anything at all, is it just noise or do you feel it touching you in some way?

I’m not a groupie, I don’t like a band just because the lead singer is good looking, I don’t want to go to a concert and just scream “I LOVE YOU” through the whole thing and basically just waste my time and money.  I need to feel it.

I guess for all of us, some songs and maybe even songwriters just get it right for us, they touch us, make us feel.

Some songs make you stop in your tracks, make you pause life because something in those words, that music, touched you.

Some songs make you close your eyes, you wish to be drawn in to the whole meaning, you want to understand what you are hearing.  You don’t want to just sing the words and not know what they mean and not really listen to them.  You really want to hear what is being said.  Afterall, the people who have written these words want them to be heard, not just casually cast aside in a sing-along without care or thought.  They took their time, so therefore, so should we.

Music is a huge part of me, I have to listen to music all the time, I am affected by music, certain music for certain moods.  Songs bring back memories, make me smile, make me pause, make me sad, make me happy, they make me “something”.

If you get the chance, listen to “The Great Escape” by Train or “Always Midnight” by Pat Monohan (actually Pat is the lead singer of Train…).  These are songs that have amazing lyrics and really make you stop and think.  In fact they can make me turn the stereo off in the car when I hear them and I can’t listen to anything else for a while.  Pat has an amazing way with lyrics, or maybe he has a way with lyrics that get to me.  Others may not feel the same.  To me, it works and I guess that is the whole thing of writing songs, you want them to reach out.

In contrast, “California Girl” by Cheap Trick – a bouncy, mad, no point song (really), with few lyrics (a lot is repeated), no real story in it, just makes you want to move about.  A great record for sure, but not one that will make you stop.

So, music gets to me, music is part of me.  I guess I wish I could have been musical in some way, but I’m not.

So, to that end, I shall keep listening to what I like, what I enjoy.

For you?  Think about what you listen to.  Do you really listen and take it in.  Do the lyrics work at all?  What really gets to you with music, or does it not matter?

For me it does, but hey that’s just me!

I’m not a prude (well, just about not), I am pretty happy for people to wear what they want to wear, whatever the trend be yourself and be happy in it.  But today, I saw something which to me felt totally wrong.

I was in Sainsbury’s buying my lunch (as usual), when what do I see in front of me?  I see a mother in a very nice skirt-suit with her three children.  She looked like she had just walked out of her office, her kids were very different.  The two girls she had in tow were wearing bathing costumes, and 2-piece costumes at that.  The girls were in basically pants and small tankini-tops, the boy was in shorts and t-shirt.

This woman was basically taking her two daughters around Sainsbury’s in what would nearly be seen as underwear!

It is WRONG - on ALL levels.

It’s one thing being grown up and flaunting your body, but a child should be covered up.  These girls were between 5 and 7 years old from what I could tell, both looked like they had just jumped out of the paddling pool, still with damp hair to go to the shops with their mother.

I don’t have a daughter, I have a son who is now 17, but I would never have dreamed of taking him outside of my home without being properly dressed.  If he did wear swimming trunks, he was either in the garden, at the beach or at a swimming pool, NOT in town doing the shopping!

People have become too lax in dressing themselves these days; often you hear in the news about women arriving in their local supermarket dressed in their pyjamas and being turned away from the store.  Praise-be to the stores for turning them away.

For god’s sake people, get dressed, have some self respect, show some decency to your children and to yourself.  Have some standards in your life.  How can you expect others to take you seriously if your levels are so low.  Stop inflicting these low standards on those that also look up to you, your children.

I also hate to bring up the subject of pedophiles….  Yes

On 11 July we finally were able to get the keys to our new home.  We’ve moved from an estate 3 bed detached house to a 5 bed place placed in just under 4 acres of ground, out in the countryside.  It’s a big step, it’s been painful to get here as there have been so many ups and downs to get here.  It wasn’t ever definite we would move to this place, it has been touch and go since we made our offer back in March.  Even upto the last couple of weeks before we got the keys we were still wondering.

However, we are now here.  We have moved house, soon it will feel like home.

It feels strange seeing the furniture you have had for many years now be placed in a new room, differently placed, but in a way, it makes it feel like you have bought a bit of safeness to your new home, a way to help settle in new surroundings.

It is a home, re-placed.

We have our pictures on the walls, all in new spots, little marks of ours to remind us that this house is ours.

We have painted a couple of rooms, mostly the paint work is ok around the place, just a touch-up here and there.  But the main sitting room and my study needed properly painting.  A couple of rooms need new carpets as does the stairs and upstairs hallway.

But this is going to be our home, it is going to become our home.  At the moment we are still getting used to being here, it nearly feels like we are in one of those rental places that you get when you are on holiday.  But this time, we don’t hand back any keys, we have the keys and we are keeping them.

I have also discovered a new-found love.  It may sound stupid, but I was seriously worried about this before we moved in.  But, I have been totally smitten by nothing more than my Aga.  It is a 4 oven Aga, it’s a big one and it is great!  I have managed to cook everything in it and on it since I was shown how it worked by the service engineer (I thought I ought to get one in to make sure it worked and show me how to use it).  It makes absolutely fantastic roast dinners for sure!  Tomorrow I am making biscuits, I like making biscuits so time to test it on these.

So that’s it, we are here, in a great house in the countryside, with wonderful views, wild rabbits running around the garden, pheasant footsteps over the bonnet of my car (which also squawks about 4am most days), wonderful wildlife and so far, great neighbours.  We have found a great pub, a proper pub where no mobile phones are allowed to ring (or else you buy the next round), no skysports, just a bloody good pub, with darn good food and the people who run it are just great and have totally accepted us into their fold.

I think we are going to like it here.  It is a huge change for us.  It is now 61 miles to my office door instead of 30, but it’s only taking 20mins extra for the days I go in, so I can live with that.

Winter will be different and I believe a 4x4 vehicle will be necessary and will more than likely be purchased shortly.

It’s a new life, new challenges, new adventures, a lot of changes, but it is going to be great!

Ok, I know that different countries have different ways of spelling names, so you can be forgiven once, at the most twice, of having your name wrongly spelt.  So my name is Natalie, I spell it this way because that is how it is spelt on my birth certificate, it is what my parents named me.  I’m happy with my name, I like it.  It’s not a common name, there are not loads of us out there, which makes it nicer in a way really.

However, it really irritates me when people spell it wrongly.  I don’t spell it with an “h” in the middle, ie, Nathalie, if I did, I would sign my emails this way, have my email addresses spelt this way, oh everything!  So why, when people see my name in written form do they feel the need to ignore how it is spelt and spell it incorrectly?  Seriously, when it is right in front of their noses!

As I said, I don’t mind reminding people once about it being spelt wrong, but when they continue to do it, I find it extremely rude to be honest.  Today my HR manager has AGAIN spelt it wrong, and this was on official documents.  I have been with the company 4 years, it is, hopefully all written down correctly on the forms I filled in when I joined.  Honestly, can’t see why I would have spelt it wrong at all, not like me to not be able to spell my own name!  So why can’t others take heed.

It is one of my narks, a big nark really, the height of rudeness and ignorance.  I know I shall have to continue to correct people for probably the rest of my life, but I really wish I didn’t have to.  Please, look at how my name, and others to be honest are spelt and do it right.  It’s rude, plain rude.  You wouldn’t like it, so don’t expect me to.  And yes, expect me to pull you up on it if you do it again.

Thank you for listening, rant over (for now…..)

See, I am not the most energetic person, I’m not the fittest person, I find it hard to find the enthusiasm to get fit.  So, what does a person with this background go and do?  She sets herself the challenge of doing a 40km bike ride!  Madness, yes, I know.

A friend of mine was trying to find me something to get me interested in getting fitter and set a goals for myself and came up with the Cycletta 40km bike ride/race in September.  Cycletta is based on the open roads, which obviously get closed for the ride and ends in Whipsnade Zoo probably in the monkey cage or something!

So, Naomi House, why these guys?  Well, Naomi House is a children’s hospice and they care for children (and by default their families) by caring for them during the child’s good, difficult and indeed last days. This is exactly what they did for my brother when his daughter Katie was born with a heart problem.  Katie had a lot of issues in her too short a life and Naomi House were there for him and his wife, giving support, advice and respite care.  Even at the end, they gave Katie such dignity.

Losing a child is something you can never understand fully unless you have experienced it personally.  I didn’t lose my own child, I lost a niece, my brother lost his daughter.  I can never begin to understand how he feels and how he has felt and shall never pretend to.

So, because of how wonderful Naomi House were to my family and continue to be to so to many other families going through their own difficult days, I decided to do the bike ride in aid of them.

I know it is always horrible asking your friends and family to give money and sponsor you for anything, but I hope you will find that you can do this.

Naomi House isn’t one of those great big organisations like Cancer Research or Macmillian who have hundreds and possibly thousands of events held to raise money for them.  Naomi House is just Naomi House, raising funds for itself, so needs all the support we can give them.

Anyway, thank you for reading and maybe finding a few pennies or pounds to help this amazing charity.

This evening, my son and I went to Sainsburys to get some dinner for tonight.  After picking up some food, we decided to see what DVD’s were on offer.  We picked out 5 under £5 films, three of these were rated 15 and the other two 18 certificate.

We then ventured to the check-out to pay for our food and DVD’s.  Our items were entered through the scanner and I was then asked, “how old is your son”, I replied “why?”.  The following astounded me.  I was told that he had to check that my son was over 18 in case he watched the 18 certificate rated films I was buying. I said what has that got to do with you, I am purchasing the films, NOT my son.  He said that he/Sainsburys had to check that they weren’t selling films that underage children would see.  Ok, if my son was buying the film, fair enough, he’s 17, the film is 18, its not allowed.  But no, it was me, a +40 year old mother who is buying the film, NOT my son.  So, why do I need to be questioned.

Now, if I was pushing a childs buggy, with say a 3-year old child in it, would I be questioned in the same manner or would the check-out person let it just pass?  If I was with a child of 6 or 7 in their school uniform, would I get questioned?

The answer is pretty much 99.9% NO.

What right does a check-out lad, who is probably only just 18 himself to question both my buying and parenting skills.

If I feel that my son is old enough to watch an 18 certificate, then it is MY decision as a parent if he should watch it or not, and nobody else’s.

Points to note.

1 - My son can ride a motorbike, legally, on the road, with all those grown up drivers around him.

2 - At under 18, you can get married.

3 - At under 18 you can not only ride a motorbike, you can drive a car.

4 - You could join the army under 18 and be given a gun at some point to go and kill some enemy in some far off war zone .

5 - You can have sex!

So, If I want to buy an 18 certificate DVD, then I will decide if my 17 year old son, who is very grown up actually, can or cannot watch it.

I will NOT be told by an 18 year old check-out assistant what I do in my OWN home.

Company policy or not, some reality check would be wise to use.

Ok, I could have made a HUGE scene in the shop and said that it was so not his business what I do in my own home, I could have asked to see the manager.  I could have asked my son to stand 10ft away from me and pretend he was not with me so I could buy these naughty DVD’s.  But no, I am, to a point, polite and keep calm, however, the assistant can definitely see he has pissed me off.  He doesn’t ask further.  My look is enough to shut him up.

I am thinking of posting comment to Sainsburys directly, actually, maybe I’ll do just that!

Next instalment of Nattie’s Narks…

One thing that is winding me up right now is the insistence of an awful lot of drivers over the past couple of years, in having their front fog lights on, using them as driving lights in addition to the standard car headlights.

Why is it that some drivers insist on driving with these lights on?  Really, they were designed to be used when it is FOGGY, that’s it.

In wet weather they make the roads brighter and shinier making it difficult to see (for the oncoming driver). In just normal darkness they shine in your rear-view mirror causing you to dip it.

These lights never seem to be adjusted in a manner that doesn’t cause irritation to the recipient of the glare.

Turn them off, please.  I ask politely.

I’m fed up of dipping my rear view mirror. I want to stop my car, get out, walk back to the driver behind and shout at him.  I want to put MY rear fog lights on just to irritate them back, but that would mean me having to have my front fog lights on and be the irritation to others, which I don’t want to be.

I want others to read this and realise the impact having your fog lights on, when it’s NOT foggy, has on others.

Turn them off, please.  Let the irritation to me and I’m sure, many others, be stopped.

If you have ideas on how to stop this, let me know.  I’d be interested!

A friend of mine mentioned that I should get my Nattie’s Narks up and running.  NN’s are basically things that I find immensely annoying, stupid, wrong, pathetic, just anything that can nark, not just me, but others too.

So, my first nark is Parking, yes, Parking.  This is to do with people who believe that just because they believe that they can actually drive a car, then can actually park it too.

My belief - if you can’t park it, don’t drive it.

You see people drive these huge 4x4’s on the roads, reasonably ok, but when they come to park them, they fail, big-time!  They are either just dumped (bumped up onto a kerb and left there) or they spend ages trying to get them into an actual parking space.

Please people/drivers, get some training on parking will you.  Just because you can drive along a road, doesn’t mean you can get it into a parking space.  So, as I said before:

IF YOU CAN’T PARK IT, DON’T DRIVE IT.

Thank you and goodnight for tonight - sleep well, oh and drive better ok

Ta

It’s 140 characters, that’s it on Twitter.  The TOTAL number of characters you can use to try and convey a little bit of what you think, of who you are, what makes you tick, how you think, what’s happening in your world, anything.

How can you convey you, the person to someone else within the 140 limit?

You get to “tweet” with people you’ve never met before, who, probably, in reality, you never will.  Ok, you do probably tweet with a few people you do actually know, but most are strangers.

You could be anyone, make any personal persona you wish.

There are a lot of extremely rude and arrogant people out there too, those who feel it necessary to offend with everything they have.  They seem to trawl and scour through the site looking for “victims”.  Why they feel the need to do this is beyond me.  They must find solace in offending those they cannot see, cannot really talk to.  They are just cowards, small minded, hurtful, cowards who will never experience this simple, fun pleasure in life.  Probably have no “true”, “real” friends.

I’m also not there believing that I’m going to be friends with “celebs” on twitter.  If I find a post of theirs amusing or re-tweetable, then I’ll respond.  If they decide to respond back to me, well, that’s nice.  I’m not sitting here thinking “oh my god, I’m now friends with with this celeb, I must tell everyone!!”

Personally, I’d like people to know I’m real, I’m honest, I say what I feel, I respond to other’s peoples tweets generally with humour, lightness, fun.  I’m not evil, I’m actually, I think, quite a nice person.  I like people, I like to talk to new people, I’m a good friend to my friends.

I’m happy to say that not only do I love, but I am loved.

I can’t be that bad then can I?