The sun is shining, its Friday and the PMT has lessened considerably. The fact that I haven't killed anyone is a major bonus I feel. The last few days have been blah, i was in bed all day Wednesday due to lack of energy and feeling like poo. Getting better though and on the road to recovery. I don't do illness or feeling crap well, as you may have noticed.
So, the week passed. The kid was sick again, some vomiting bug which doesn't make her vomit but makes her feel VERY sick and causes her to grip her stomach dramatically every few minutes. Yesterday she was dying from it, a miraculous recovery ensued and she was heading into school today. The boyf came third in the battle of the bands on Wedensday night. He dropped by the apartment during a soundtrack and his fingers were alledgely bleeding. He got embaressed when I called him a rock star. The kid is well chuffed with him coming third, more so then first, because first
would have mean him going to Germany and doing some touring. We've come to the conclusion he must be an alright guitarest, even if he plays it too loudly.
I arrived home from work yesterday in foul form, god only knows why, pick a reason, any reason, I am sure it'll do. On the table was a letter from the school and the first few pargraphs read something along the lines of
"As you are aware the fifth year of school is a vital year for developing and working hard towards your daughters leaving cert year, however some students take this year as an oppurtunity to doss and do no work. "
My frown was getting worse until I got to the final paragraph, which read and I shall have to frame it:"
"However, your daughter is not one of these students. She is a hard working student etc" I am paraphrasing, I shall get the entire letter and share it with you. Its times like that I appreciate how much of an effort she is making and how I should overlook the fact that her hair glows blood red and the principal wants her to change it, or that she is 'sick' a lot of the time. All part of the rollercoaster of being a parent.
Speaking of parenting, I got a postcard from the ovaries. Back packing around Europe they are at the moment and said to call them when our man is around. We skipped last month as he was a busy young fella, so I am hoping this month if those witches are up for it, we might give it another go.
We are on The Afternoon Show next Thursday on RTE1, its some day-time show which covers various issues, and next week they are looking at Alternative Families or something like that. We met with the researcher and had a good chat with her and the angle they are taking is very positive. However we said that we would not be comfortable with the kid being on it. They were grand about that. Its back to being the only lesbians in the village.
Nothing planned for this weekend, we were supposed to be travelling down home to visit the grave as we didn't get to put flowers on it for Mother's day but I don't think I have the energy for much this weekend and visiting the grave is always quite draining. I feel it drags us out of our current bubble where we can pretend that Mam is just gone away for a while. Standing at her headstone reading the words Died 15th May 2004 just gives me the shivers. I never used the D work, I use passed away. And hey, if works for me. Lets talk about squirrels and tractors.
Enough of this maudlin talk. Lets talk about squirrels and tractors.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
A great stretch in the evenings.
The clocks went forward at the weekend and now we have lovely long evenings. Shame, the weather hasn't decided to change its plans from blustery and wet to sunny. I suppose it is March in Ireland, so what's one to expect. The weekend passed without much ado. Mother's day was very uneventful.The night before was eventful enough. I woke up around 2 to find the kid in the toilet, having a panic attack. She couldn't catch her breath. Lots of calming chats and making her take sips of water, she eventually got her breath back. She had no idea what brought it on, although Mammy2 thinks it may have been because it was Mother's day and stuff. Whilst she had us up then, she wanted to give us our mammies day pressies. Yes, she bought pressies and got us cards. She was so sweet. She got Mammy2 a few books, we spent ages selecting what looked like the most boring books ever, as chances are if we thought they were boring, Mammy2 would love them. She got me a tiger that talks when you press his feet and a small piglet. She thinks I have a thing for small animals. Probably because I am always going on about squirrels or something.
There were no toy squirrels to be found. She dragged the boyfriend all around the place looking for one. She got me a mammy's day card and Mammy2 a thank you card and she wrote a lovely little message in each of them. I was actually getting emotional!The day itself was spent having a few beers and watching dvds. The mate R, called over. She was joining us for our anti mammies day. Which involved pizza, beer and dvds.
The boyf drama continues. He's got a gig this Wednesday in The Voodoo Lounge and its strictly over 18's, id required etc. She's not going to get in. She took it better then I thought, mainly because the girlf of the other guitarest can't go either. If she was going, I'd say the words blue muder would be sufficent to describe the situation.
Yesterday evening I arrived into a silent apartment. Mammy2 was on the couch reading one of her books and there was no sign of the kid. It was eerily silent. The kid had gone to hang with the boyf until we got home from work. For a whole half an hour it was just the two of us and it was fab. Its so rare to come in from work and not have her there. Don't get me wrong, I love the kid to bits, but sometimes its nice to have a break and hang out together. We cooked dinner and chatted and it was great. 7 years on and I still love hanging out with her.
The grusome twosome arrived in after 6 and annouced they were wrecked and they were going to hang in the bedroom. Door left open, I wandered past about 10 minutes later and the two of them were out for the count on the bed. This hanging malarky must be exhausting!
There were no toy squirrels to be found. She dragged the boyfriend all around the place looking for one. She got me a mammy's day card and Mammy2 a thank you card and she wrote a lovely little message in each of them. I was actually getting emotional!The day itself was spent having a few beers and watching dvds. The mate R, called over. She was joining us for our anti mammies day. Which involved pizza, beer and dvds.
The boyf drama continues. He's got a gig this Wednesday in The Voodoo Lounge and its strictly over 18's, id required etc. She's not going to get in. She took it better then I thought, mainly because the girlf of the other guitarest can't go either. If she was going, I'd say the words blue muder would be sufficent to describe the situation.
Yesterday evening I arrived into a silent apartment. Mammy2 was on the couch reading one of her books and there was no sign of the kid. It was eerily silent. The kid had gone to hang with the boyf until we got home from work. For a whole half an hour it was just the two of us and it was fab. Its so rare to come in from work and not have her there. Don't get me wrong, I love the kid to bits, but sometimes its nice to have a break and hang out together. We cooked dinner and chatted and it was great. 7 years on and I still love hanging out with her.
The grusome twosome arrived in after 6 and annouced they were wrecked and they were going to hang in the bedroom. Door left open, I wandered past about 10 minutes later and the two of them were out for the count on the bed. This hanging malarky must be exhausting!
Friday, March 24, 2006
The boyf
I have to say, whilst I spend most of time disliking anyone who has an interest of a sexual nature in the kid, this latest beau is growing in me. He's polite and seems to care about her. Not that she'd notice. He got the extra job so as he could get more money and come up and see her more often. Except now he works long hours and sometimes is too tired to hop on a bus and come all the way up to Dublin. Understandably. Yesterday, she was all chuffed because he was going to come up this evening and hang as he couldn't tomorrow because of band practice and work. We head grocery shopping. Thursday night after 7 is not a good time to go shopping in Clearwater. You've got Mammies with death written all over their faces as they navigate the aisles determined to get the special offers before everyone else. I nearly got a lobotomy from a flying pizza one day as the woman fought to get to the special on waffles. Survial of the fittest.
Whilst shopping with her list, longer then our actual shopping list, she rings to know if Mammy2 can drive to Kill this evening.
Mammy2 is a bit of a driver, it someone needs to go somewhere,chances are she'll offer to drive. However, I can visualise this becoming a regular occurence so I had said to her to say no. Of course there was silence and lots of raised voices. I was eavesdropping whilst trying to decide if we needed tomatoes or not. The kid hung up. We chatted a bit more, and Mammy2 rang her back to see what time he need to be picked up. Long story short, 8 o'clock this evening, she was to drive down and get him. Txt arrives as we are on the way home, not to worry about this evening, he didn't want to see her. I was pretty sure she was reading into his messages and I'm sure he valued his life more then to issue such a statement. I can her fashioning the voodoo doll.
We picked up takeout on the way home for her and we arrive in laden down with shopping bags. She's on the couch, black eyemakeup streaked down her face, sniffling and drawing, looking every inch the angsty teenager. She takes her chips and her coke and suffles onto the PC, all the time
muttering about how the boyf doesn't want to see , doesn't care, mentioned something about not having this argument every weekend, etc and so on. There were loads of more texts flying back and forth whilst myself and Mammy2 hid in the kitchen, pretending to unpack the shopping. We knew we
had to come out eventually, so we bided our time until she looked a bit tired from ranting. More txts later, she was heading to Kill to hang with him and wanted a bus fare. I would love to have seen the messages she was sending him. Or as I said to Mammy2, when he couldn't pick up his guitar and kept getting stabbing pains in his hand, he knew he had to do something. Whilst I didn't notice a voodoo doll anywhere, you never can tell with her. She gots lots of hugs and snuggles from Mammy2 and as per usual I made tea. Hey, its what I do, right. And it helps, or so she tells me.
Mammy2 hit the bed, I could hear her running down the hallway and I was left with the kid and her asking me every 5 minutes if I was finished with the PC. Myspace NEEDed her apparently. She's hooked on that thing, and I just don't see the attraction. I finished my work, nothing was working anyway and I was getting more annoyed with the server. At around 12.30, there's a tap on the door. No, its not my ovaries, but marks for paying attention. Did I not tell you I got a postcard from them? The Riveria is where they are currently living it up. Bitches. Anyways, the kid. She said that she wasn't going down to Kill, the boyf had 'found money'.
This statement brought a mental image to mind, of the local post office being held up by a gangly youth with floppy hair and guitar strapped to his back. Now they are hanging at the apartment and we are watching over them. She mentioned that the reason he didn't stay over much as because he didn't feel comfortable here. I told her to tell him that the shotgun wasn't loaded and the odd time it is, its just blanks so its nothing to worry about. Its Friday and she's seeing her man so she was a happy camper this morning. And wanted Jam sandwiches for lunch. This brought me back years, I lived on a stable diet of jam sandwiches from national school right through to secondary school. They are yummy.
This weekend as well as mothers day, which I am studiously ignoring, is the 7 year anniversary of our first date. Seven years ago , we went to Luigis for a bite to eat, then onto Shooters for a pint and a chat and we were supposed to go see some Mel Gibson film but ended up chatting and having a few drinks. I still get a smile on my face. We ended the night with a hug cause I had no clue what women who have dates with other women do on first dates. I was a mere baby dyke.
Whilst shopping with her list, longer then our actual shopping list, she rings to know if Mammy2 can drive to Kill this evening.
Mammy2 is a bit of a driver, it someone needs to go somewhere,chances are she'll offer to drive. However, I can visualise this becoming a regular occurence so I had said to her to say no. Of course there was silence and lots of raised voices. I was eavesdropping whilst trying to decide if we needed tomatoes or not. The kid hung up. We chatted a bit more, and Mammy2 rang her back to see what time he need to be picked up. Long story short, 8 o'clock this evening, she was to drive down and get him. Txt arrives as we are on the way home, not to worry about this evening, he didn't want to see her. I was pretty sure she was reading into his messages and I'm sure he valued his life more then to issue such a statement. I can her fashioning the voodoo doll.
We picked up takeout on the way home for her and we arrive in laden down with shopping bags. She's on the couch, black eyemakeup streaked down her face, sniffling and drawing, looking every inch the angsty teenager. She takes her chips and her coke and suffles onto the PC, all the time
muttering about how the boyf doesn't want to see , doesn't care, mentioned something about not having this argument every weekend, etc and so on. There were loads of more texts flying back and forth whilst myself and Mammy2 hid in the kitchen, pretending to unpack the shopping. We knew we
had to come out eventually, so we bided our time until she looked a bit tired from ranting. More txts later, she was heading to Kill to hang with him and wanted a bus fare. I would love to have seen the messages she was sending him. Or as I said to Mammy2, when he couldn't pick up his guitar and kept getting stabbing pains in his hand, he knew he had to do something. Whilst I didn't notice a voodoo doll anywhere, you never can tell with her. She gots lots of hugs and snuggles from Mammy2 and as per usual I made tea. Hey, its what I do, right. And it helps, or so she tells me.
Mammy2 hit the bed, I could hear her running down the hallway and I was left with the kid and her asking me every 5 minutes if I was finished with the PC. Myspace NEEDed her apparently. She's hooked on that thing, and I just don't see the attraction. I finished my work, nothing was working anyway and I was getting more annoyed with the server. At around 12.30, there's a tap on the door. No, its not my ovaries, but marks for paying attention. Did I not tell you I got a postcard from them? The Riveria is where they are currently living it up. Bitches. Anyways, the kid. She said that she wasn't going down to Kill, the boyf had 'found money'.
This statement brought a mental image to mind, of the local post office being held up by a gangly youth with floppy hair and guitar strapped to his back. Now they are hanging at the apartment and we are watching over them. She mentioned that the reason he didn't stay over much as because he didn't feel comfortable here. I told her to tell him that the shotgun wasn't loaded and the odd time it is, its just blanks so its nothing to worry about. Its Friday and she's seeing her man so she was a happy camper this morning. And wanted Jam sandwiches for lunch. This brought me back years, I lived on a stable diet of jam sandwiches from national school right through to secondary school. They are yummy.
This weekend as well as mothers day, which I am studiously ignoring, is the 7 year anniversary of our first date. Seven years ago , we went to Luigis for a bite to eat, then onto Shooters for a pint and a chat and we were supposed to go see some Mel Gibson film but ended up chatting and having a few drinks. I still get a smile on my face. We ended the night with a hug cause I had no clue what women who have dates with other women do on first dates. I was a mere baby dyke.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Bright colours and free classes
The beep on my mobile phone sound sends the fear of god into me, as 9 times out of 10, its the kid. I'm sooooooo sick, I have a migraine, I have bird flu, I've got the black death and so on and so forth. Yesterday she txted us. She had 4 free classes and wondering if she could go home. I wasn't in the mood of arguing so I told her she could. The TY's are away in Barcelona so there are a lot of teachers out. As it turns out she didn't have her journal so she couldn't write a note. She wanted Mammy2 to ring the school. I told her Mammy2 was driving at the time and couldn't ring. She would just have to wait until school ended and then come home. No word from her for over an hour. I get a phone call from Mammy2. The principal was ringing to confirm with her that the kid was allowed leave for a doctors appointment. The little weasel. Of course, lots more texts then in relation to, you're not mad at me are you, I had a really bad migraine, I couldn't stay there etc etc. I told her we'd talk about it when we got home. I think I scared her as she didn't reply back.
I had to ring her and arrange what time she was supposed to meet the reporter lady at. A mate is being interviewed for the Sindo magazine and the reporter wanted to speak to other LGBT teenagers. Of course the kid jumped at the chance, Mammy2 was a bit wary as it was for the Indo. I told the reporter that I would be sitting in on the interview and so there would be no questions that the kid felt uncomfortable with. I think she just wants to do it in case she gets her pic taken. She loves her new red hair. When I rang, the kid was all, in a croaky voice, "Okay, yeah, that's fine" etc.
When we got home we had the talk and rules were laid down in relation to getting Mammy2 to lie to the principal just cause she wanted to skive off the last few classes. I think she learned her lesson and the next time results in grounding and/or removal of her mobile phone. The wide-eyed look was the response. Taking away the phone is the equilvalent of removing life support for her. The rest of the evening was spent with me on the computer trying to get php and mysql running on XP Pro. A headache in itself. She was doing up fancy diagrams for biology. In the midst of me cursing config files, she casually throws out the phrase
"I had a chat with Mam last night!" Without spinning around in my chair and over-reacting too much, I casually stopped typing and asked how she was doing.
"Smoking would you believe"
"In heaven, still, she's allowed? Fair play"
"She said she's proud of us"
I didn't really have an answer to that, so I replied with my favourite generic phrase
"And sure why wouldn't she be"
This was the first time that she's mentioned Mam directly to me and I feel its a good sign. She's been thinking about Mam a lot recently. A girl in TY year in school lost her mother to stomach cancer over the weekend. She's the eldest of a family of four and the dad's not around. The kid was weirded out by the whole thing. Mainly because the girl in question usually gives her hassle and is mean to her. I suppose it puts things in perspective for the kid now. And it also brings back memories of all that happened with Mam.
She seems to be dealing with it okay.
Before I headed to bed she was txting the best mate, and casually she throws in the following statement.
"So, can I knock off school early tomorrow seeing as I have free classes" She was unbelieveable. I mean. I slowly turned around in the chair and looked at her
"You have to be kidding me?"
"It was worth a try"
"Not even worth a try and the answer is not on your life!"
"But why?" I glared at her. She stopped asking. She's some chancer.
About 10 minutes ago, she txted. The principal has insisted that all brightly coloured hair has to be changed. Her hair is blood red. Apparently, she's not feckin changing it. I forsee fun conversations ahead about repression of her individuality and they can't make her etc. I'll keep you posted.
I had to ring her and arrange what time she was supposed to meet the reporter lady at. A mate is being interviewed for the Sindo magazine and the reporter wanted to speak to other LGBT teenagers. Of course the kid jumped at the chance, Mammy2 was a bit wary as it was for the Indo. I told the reporter that I would be sitting in on the interview and so there would be no questions that the kid felt uncomfortable with. I think she just wants to do it in case she gets her pic taken. She loves her new red hair. When I rang, the kid was all, in a croaky voice, "Okay, yeah, that's fine" etc.
When we got home we had the talk and rules were laid down in relation to getting Mammy2 to lie to the principal just cause she wanted to skive off the last few classes. I think she learned her lesson and the next time results in grounding and/or removal of her mobile phone. The wide-eyed look was the response. Taking away the phone is the equilvalent of removing life support for her. The rest of the evening was spent with me on the computer trying to get php and mysql running on XP Pro. A headache in itself. She was doing up fancy diagrams for biology. In the midst of me cursing config files, she casually throws out the phrase
"I had a chat with Mam last night!" Without spinning around in my chair and over-reacting too much, I casually stopped typing and asked how she was doing.
"Smoking would you believe"
"In heaven, still, she's allowed? Fair play"
"She said she's proud of us"
I didn't really have an answer to that, so I replied with my favourite generic phrase
"And sure why wouldn't she be"
This was the first time that she's mentioned Mam directly to me and I feel its a good sign. She's been thinking about Mam a lot recently. A girl in TY year in school lost her mother to stomach cancer over the weekend. She's the eldest of a family of four and the dad's not around. The kid was weirded out by the whole thing. Mainly because the girl in question usually gives her hassle and is mean to her. I suppose it puts things in perspective for the kid now. And it also brings back memories of all that happened with Mam.
She seems to be dealing with it okay.
Before I headed to bed she was txting the best mate, and casually she throws in the following statement.
"So, can I knock off school early tomorrow seeing as I have free classes" She was unbelieveable. I mean. I slowly turned around in the chair and looked at her
"You have to be kidding me?"
"It was worth a try"
"Not even worth a try and the answer is not on your life!"
"But why?" I glared at her. She stopped asking. She's some chancer.
About 10 minutes ago, she txted. The principal has insisted that all brightly coloured hair has to be changed. Her hair is blood red. Apparently, she's not feckin changing it. I forsee fun conversations ahead about repression of her individuality and they can't make her etc. I'll keep you posted.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Paddies day, viruses and housework.
Its my day of and I'm up to my neck in housework and a sick partner. Still,it could be worse, I could be in work and poor Mammy2 would have to fend for herself. Instead, I make a perfect nurse according to her. A chest infection which started on Saturday and gradually got worse, she suffers from astmha so now after a visit to the doctor, she has bronchitis and some sinus thingy which is causing the crippling headaches. She left the bed this morning to go into work, tell them she was sick and then to the doc and back to bed. She's just after throwing up her lunch and is back in bed
muttering the words shoot me now. I've left her to it and started cooking dins. The kid mentioned yesterday about stew and with the day that's in it, its a great idea.
A bit of a mad weekend with paddies day and the triple crown. The match was a nail biter to the last, but we won it in the end. It was definetly a case of the luck of the irish. The kid came to watch it with us and even got into it a bit. I think it was because she was allowed to curse, there's no stopping Mammy2 when any sport is on, she'd make a sailor blush. The kid was then heading to a party in Kill, one of J's mates. J was working, she wasn't happy about that. There was a minor incident on Thursday night whereby he was supposed to hang with her, but he was wrecked from school and he had work on Paddies day so he cancelled. The words hell on toast do not begin to cover. I met with a mate P, who was home from London so I didn't see her until later, but poor Mammy2 had to deal with the fast approaching apolcaypse that was Being pissed off at the boyf. As it turns out, lots of phone calls, txt messages and a threatening to get a taxi down brought him up on the last bus and he stayed over, getting the bus down to Kill the following day. As Mammy2 put it, its either love or fear. Or a bit of both.
She had a good time at the party ,even though there were loads of EMO's and rockers there. I have only recently found out what the word EMO means. kids who are fans of Emotive Rock. Where do they come up with this? On the way back from much celebrating of the Ireland win with a mate, I get a phone call. She wants to know if she can stay on in Kill until J finishes work and she'll get a taxi back. She already knew how much it was going to cost and was going to pay for it from her pocket money. She has a good bit saved up. As it happens, J made her get then last bus and he took yesterday off work to hang with her for most of the day. Again , fear or love, I think love. She was in grand form yesterday then. She was 'hanging' with him in the bedroom watching a dvd and Mammy2 was fashioning a headstone for herself, such was the general feeling off ill-health.
I had high plans to do loads of work on the PC. The PC had other ideas. It managed to contract some sort of virus, I was under the impression running spybot on it would remove it, but alas not , so from
7 until 12 last night I sat in front of this thing, running all sorts of checks on the poor thing. It was very sick. I had to boot up in Safe Mode after downloading a trial of Norton. It took over 2 hours to run and returned with lovely list of 4324 files infected. A nice round number. It also kindly removed them. I think Limewire and some bad downloads were the cause of my problems. Its clean now anyways and running grand. I have only a trial version of Norton though, so I need to be purchasing the full version. Today I was supposed to do more work, but the apartment was fility so until about an hour ago I was up to me neck in launrdy and cleaning the oven. Its a lovely day for it. I have also decided to try cooking stew, I know, how adventerous of me. Mammy2 usually tackles all exoctic foods except potato related meals.
However, I could hardly drag her from her sick bed to cook dinner. I just got a txt from the kid, they framed the painting. She was heading into school this morning muttering about if they didn't do something with it, she was going to bring it home. Thankfully, they framed it. They must be well impressed. I was , but then again I am family and we have to be impressed regardless. Right?
More work on the pc, and then I think I am allowed out to play with a mate for a few drinks tonight. I shall see how Mammy2 is doing, she's out for the count at the moment. The doc put her on steroids and some other tablets. I keep looking into the bedroom and expecting Fatmia Whitbread to come jogging out. The whole steroids thing? Never mind, its wasted on you.
muttering the words shoot me now. I've left her to it and started cooking dins. The kid mentioned yesterday about stew and with the day that's in it, its a great idea.
A bit of a mad weekend with paddies day and the triple crown. The match was a nail biter to the last, but we won it in the end. It was definetly a case of the luck of the irish. The kid came to watch it with us and even got into it a bit. I think it was because she was allowed to curse, there's no stopping Mammy2 when any sport is on, she'd make a sailor blush. The kid was then heading to a party in Kill, one of J's mates. J was working, she wasn't happy about that. There was a minor incident on Thursday night whereby he was supposed to hang with her, but he was wrecked from school and he had work on Paddies day so he cancelled. The words hell on toast do not begin to cover. I met with a mate P, who was home from London so I didn't see her until later, but poor Mammy2 had to deal with the fast approaching apolcaypse that was Being pissed off at the boyf. As it turns out, lots of phone calls, txt messages and a threatening to get a taxi down brought him up on the last bus and he stayed over, getting the bus down to Kill the following day. As Mammy2 put it, its either love or fear. Or a bit of both.
She had a good time at the party ,even though there were loads of EMO's and rockers there. I have only recently found out what the word EMO means. kids who are fans of Emotive Rock. Where do they come up with this? On the way back from much celebrating of the Ireland win with a mate, I get a phone call. She wants to know if she can stay on in Kill until J finishes work and she'll get a taxi back. She already knew how much it was going to cost and was going to pay for it from her pocket money. She has a good bit saved up. As it happens, J made her get then last bus and he took yesterday off work to hang with her for most of the day. Again , fear or love, I think love. She was in grand form yesterday then. She was 'hanging' with him in the bedroom watching a dvd and Mammy2 was fashioning a headstone for herself, such was the general feeling off ill-health.
I had high plans to do loads of work on the PC. The PC had other ideas. It managed to contract some sort of virus, I was under the impression running spybot on it would remove it, but alas not , so from
7 until 12 last night I sat in front of this thing, running all sorts of checks on the poor thing. It was very sick. I had to boot up in Safe Mode after downloading a trial of Norton. It took over 2 hours to run and returned with lovely list of 4324 files infected. A nice round number. It also kindly removed them. I think Limewire and some bad downloads were the cause of my problems. Its clean now anyways and running grand. I have only a trial version of Norton though, so I need to be purchasing the full version. Today I was supposed to do more work, but the apartment was fility so until about an hour ago I was up to me neck in launrdy and cleaning the oven. Its a lovely day for it. I have also decided to try cooking stew, I know, how adventerous of me. Mammy2 usually tackles all exoctic foods except potato related meals.
However, I could hardly drag her from her sick bed to cook dinner. I just got a txt from the kid, they framed the painting. She was heading into school this morning muttering about if they didn't do something with it, she was going to bring it home. Thankfully, they framed it. They must be well impressed. I was , but then again I am family and we have to be impressed regardless. Right?
More work on the pc, and then I think I am allowed out to play with a mate for a few drinks tonight. I shall see how Mammy2 is doing, she's out for the count at the moment. The doc put her on steroids and some other tablets. I keep looking into the bedroom and expecting Fatmia Whitbread to come jogging out. The whole steroids thing? Never mind, its wasted on you.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
From the principal's office to framed pics.
Okay I'm bursting with pride. Hey, its one of those moments that I don't care if I'm gushing or not.
And with regards to the kid and everything that's happened so far, this is a great moment!
Yesterday I arrvied in from work and she was going on about how the art teacher has in it for her and sent a note home for us because she was being disruptive and cheeky in class. I had a chat with her, explained that teachers are in charge in school and you just have to go by their rules. Cue lots of rolling eyes and ranting. The art teacher sent her down to the principal's office where he had a chat with her. He wondered was there a reason herself and the art teacher didn't get on. How long did he have, was my opinion. But we signed the note and asked her to keep her head down for the next few months and if the teacher was really giving her hassle to leave it with us and we'd go into
the school and sort it out.
3 o'clock this morning, she wanders like something off Shaun of the Dead into the bedroom asking can she go in late as she had finished the painting and was wrecked. She had double chemistry first thing. She went in late and brought the infamous painting. This is part of the reason she got into trouble yesterday was because she didn't have it in even though the deadline was today. I'm after getting a text off her saying the art teacher was speechless at the picture and a second txt to say that she's getting it framed. I am well impressed. I mean, I knew the painting was fab, but then again she is our kid so I'm always going to say that. But it is amazing. I'm raging I didn't take a pic of it now. She is all chuffed with herself as she should be. She worked her ass off on that pic. She has real talent. Its a good start to the day.
Yesterday evening was spent fighthing with the PC and listening to her tell me about the best mate D and her boyf problems and how she's befriended a homophobic racist bigot. I wonder sometimes do they advertise. Stroppy Teenager seeks nazi for friendship, possibly more. Reply to Box No 167. I mean, how they attract these people? I was fighting with the PC because it refuses to do straight forward things that I ask it to do. I gave up at 10 and went to bed as I knew I'd need an early morning start this morning. Up at 6 and got most of the work done on my other project, its going live on Friday, I hope.
And with regards to the kid and everything that's happened so far, this is a great moment!
Yesterday I arrvied in from work and she was going on about how the art teacher has in it for her and sent a note home for us because she was being disruptive and cheeky in class. I had a chat with her, explained that teachers are in charge in school and you just have to go by their rules. Cue lots of rolling eyes and ranting. The art teacher sent her down to the principal's office where he had a chat with her. He wondered was there a reason herself and the art teacher didn't get on. How long did he have, was my opinion. But we signed the note and asked her to keep her head down for the next few months and if the teacher was really giving her hassle to leave it with us and we'd go into
the school and sort it out.
3 o'clock this morning, she wanders like something off Shaun of the Dead into the bedroom asking can she go in late as she had finished the painting and was wrecked. She had double chemistry first thing. She went in late and brought the infamous painting. This is part of the reason she got into trouble yesterday was because she didn't have it in even though the deadline was today. I'm after getting a text off her saying the art teacher was speechless at the picture and a second txt to say that she's getting it framed. I am well impressed. I mean, I knew the painting was fab, but then again she is our kid so I'm always going to say that. But it is amazing. I'm raging I didn't take a pic of it now. She is all chuffed with herself as she should be. She worked her ass off on that pic. She has real talent. Its a good start to the day.
Yesterday evening was spent fighthing with the PC and listening to her tell me about the best mate D and her boyf problems and how she's befriended a homophobic racist bigot. I wonder sometimes do they advertise. Stroppy Teenager seeks nazi for friendship, possibly more. Reply to Box No 167. I mean, how they attract these people? I was fighting with the PC because it refuses to do straight forward things that I ask it to do. I gave up at 10 and went to bed as I knew I'd need an early morning start this morning. Up at 6 and got most of the work done on my other project, its going live on Friday, I hope.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Paintings, colds and how to embaress the boyfriend
I am working on an epitaph at the moment, such is the feeling of utter shite. I have managed to avoid the cold for the last week whilst the kid covered everything in snot. The minute she starts to get better, what lands on me.
Lots of sneezing, red noses and aches. Bring it on is all I have to say. Weekend was eventful enough. Rugby on the Saturday, we beat the Scots so its heading for the Triple Crown next weekend. And against England. On paddies weekend. Its going to be a mad one. The kid proclaimed there to be no food in the house on Friday night. For no food read no twixes or crisps. I got her a guitar mag and munchies on the way home, this kept her happy for about 15 minutes. We went grocery shopping on the Saturday morning, she was much happier then. She was out sick from school all week so she's very clingy when we get in from work. Me being a huge fan of clinginess obviously I was delighted.
Saturday, we met Mammy2's parents and watched the match with them and her sisters. A family affair. The budvar was flowing and I was not a well bunny come Sunday. Loads of work to do and family time to be had seeing as I spent most of last week working. I crawled from the bed onto the pc and spent some time catching up on what was going on in the kids life. She was being peeved at the boyf over something he'd either done or forgotten to do or perhaps it was the gf of the lead guitarist pissing her off, who knows with this one.
As it happens, Sunday was not the quiet day we had planned, phone call from the mate R, she sounded a bit off. Showered and dressed and I was up town to meet her and feed her alcohol and listen to her rant about men being scumbags. I could have told her this all along, but I felt it was important not to look like a man-hating lesbian. We get a lot of bad press. She came back for dinner which Mammy2 had bravely cooked. Potatoes no less. I say bravely, because whilst I am picky about my potatoes I am not as bad as the kid who eyes them up and down, sticks the fork in them a number of times , drowns them with gravy and then proclaims that they are schmexy. Or not. The kid was back in school and back to giving out about school. She is still working on the painting. It looks great but lordy bless there'll be moss growing on it. 2 weeks in and we're still not finished.
I left work early yesterday as I was not feeling well and she falls in the door at 4.45, proclaiming she's so tired. But happy. She has a half day tomorrow and is off on Thursday. Straight into the room, clothes being flung everywhere and 10 minutes later she's back into the living room and heading down to pick up the boyf from the bus stop. He gets to hang out more now that he's earning a wage.
They had obviously worked through their issues as the previous night she was calling him every name under the sun because he had to work Paddies day and he had told her he was going to hang with her. She was not impressed. He's a brave man. They went to the shops , got chocolate and a dvd and she was a happy camper. I then proceeded to embaress them by wanting to take a picture of the two of them. I think he was a bit embaressed but because he's terrifed of me, he agreed. They are quite cute together.
I had an early night after embaressing the two of them but couldn't sleep. I was re-designing angrpypotato.net in my head and doing loads of other work.I find it really easy to swtich off.
Suddenly I hear this quiet tapping on the door. I open it to reveal 3 ovaries standing there , looking sheepish and in full nuns habits. They obviously took my giving out about them to heart. They were returning from a prayer meeting and were wondering if the donor was about. They are as sublte was a brick to the face. I informed them our donor was busy this month and so couldn't make it up to Dublin. There were a few glares thrown from one to the other. I also asked them why they were dressed in full habits, as nuns don't wear the full regalia any more. More rolling of the eyes. Supposedly, they wanted to show me that they'd seen the error of their ways and were now going to be good ovaries. No more drinking until all hours and not resting themselves. From now on, it was prayer meetings and green tea. As one of them said this, she raised her hand to bless herself and there was a clatter from her sleeves. An empty Jack Daniels bottle fell onto the ground and rolled across the floor until it reached my slipper. I doubt their 'change'.
Lots of sneezing, red noses and aches. Bring it on is all I have to say. Weekend was eventful enough. Rugby on the Saturday, we beat the Scots so its heading for the Triple Crown next weekend. And against England. On paddies weekend. Its going to be a mad one. The kid proclaimed there to be no food in the house on Friday night. For no food read no twixes or crisps. I got her a guitar mag and munchies on the way home, this kept her happy for about 15 minutes. We went grocery shopping on the Saturday morning, she was much happier then. She was out sick from school all week so she's very clingy when we get in from work. Me being a huge fan of clinginess obviously I was delighted.
Saturday, we met Mammy2's parents and watched the match with them and her sisters. A family affair. The budvar was flowing and I was not a well bunny come Sunday. Loads of work to do and family time to be had seeing as I spent most of last week working. I crawled from the bed onto the pc and spent some time catching up on what was going on in the kids life. She was being peeved at the boyf over something he'd either done or forgotten to do or perhaps it was the gf of the lead guitarist pissing her off, who knows with this one.
As it happens, Sunday was not the quiet day we had planned, phone call from the mate R, she sounded a bit off. Showered and dressed and I was up town to meet her and feed her alcohol and listen to her rant about men being scumbags. I could have told her this all along, but I felt it was important not to look like a man-hating lesbian. We get a lot of bad press. She came back for dinner which Mammy2 had bravely cooked. Potatoes no less. I say bravely, because whilst I am picky about my potatoes I am not as bad as the kid who eyes them up and down, sticks the fork in them a number of times , drowns them with gravy and then proclaims that they are schmexy. Or not. The kid was back in school and back to giving out about school. She is still working on the painting. It looks great but lordy bless there'll be moss growing on it. 2 weeks in and we're still not finished.
I left work early yesterday as I was not feeling well and she falls in the door at 4.45, proclaiming she's so tired. But happy. She has a half day tomorrow and is off on Thursday. Straight into the room, clothes being flung everywhere and 10 minutes later she's back into the living room and heading down to pick up the boyf from the bus stop. He gets to hang out more now that he's earning a wage.
They had obviously worked through their issues as the previous night she was calling him every name under the sun because he had to work Paddies day and he had told her he was going to hang with her. She was not impressed. He's a brave man. They went to the shops , got chocolate and a dvd and she was a happy camper. I then proceeded to embaress them by wanting to take a picture of the two of them. I think he was a bit embaressed but because he's terrifed of me, he agreed. They are quite cute together.
I had an early night after embaressing the two of them but couldn't sleep. I was re-designing angrpypotato.net in my head and doing loads of other work.I find it really easy to swtich off.
Suddenly I hear this quiet tapping on the door. I open it to reveal 3 ovaries standing there , looking sheepish and in full nuns habits. They obviously took my giving out about them to heart. They were returning from a prayer meeting and were wondering if the donor was about. They are as sublte was a brick to the face. I informed them our donor was busy this month and so couldn't make it up to Dublin. There were a few glares thrown from one to the other. I also asked them why they were dressed in full habits, as nuns don't wear the full regalia any more. More rolling of the eyes. Supposedly, they wanted to show me that they'd seen the error of their ways and were now going to be good ovaries. No more drinking until all hours and not resting themselves. From now on, it was prayer meetings and green tea. As one of them said this, she raised her hand to bless herself and there was a clatter from her sleeves. An empty Jack Daniels bottle fell onto the ground and rolled across the floor until it reached my slipper. I doubt their 'change'.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Mothers day
It is just around the corner, you've got less then 3 weeks to get some mushy card and a pressie. Unless of courseyour mother is a wagon, and then perhaps you can just skip this whole section. Move along, nothing to see here.
I could spend all this entry muttering about how much I miss Mam, but its not much fun for me to write and even less funfor you to read. You already know how much I miss my Mam. So, we'll leave it at that shall we. We willbe visiting the grave and leaving flowers on it for her. I'm sure she's up there getting pretty peeved at someof the flower selections we pick. She was big into flowers and gardening and was constantly amazed at my inability to tella weed from a flower. Hey, what can I say, I'm more into computers. She's also probably a bit pissed about theflowers on her grave and her not being able to smell them. We could try catapulating them into the air, chancesare they'll get stuck to the front window of a jet and this will crash killing all on board and I'll have guilt. I don'tthink I'd be able for that guilt to be honest. We are of course jumping the gun a tad, because there would be somework involved in getting a catapult that would twang something that high.We'll stick with leaving them on her grave and listening to her rant and rave.The kid is at home sick, this time the flu, there is a bad dose going around. I have managed to avoid it so far, by hiding outin doors when it goes blustering past. My immune system has delusions of grandeur god bless it. I only hope it has the strengthto steer clear of all the little germs floating around the apartment at the moment. There is a constant murmur of "there she is", imagesof small germs talking into their sleeves, "take her down, DOWN, I tells ya".
I need I might need sleep. I was up at 6.30 this morning as I took last night off from working because I was feeling a bit shitty. I workbetter in the morning anyways. The kid is off school today, she's working on her infamous painting. For some reason, whenever she mentionsit , the Sistine chapel comes to mind. Not in relation to the picture, more like the timeframe. She was in miserable form yesterday. The boyf isplaying in a Battle of the Bands gig in a few weeks and he's very good. But the kid is disgusted because he's playing in a place where she mightget stopped and asked for ID. There are many threats winging their way to the boyfriend as I type this. I hope he's able to stand up for himself.
And as I type this, there has to be someone standing on the roof of the office block actually throwing buckets of water down from the skies. It israining cats, dogs and hamsters. Great growing rain. Would you believe when I was younger I was convinced that if I stood out in the rain longenough I would grow. No-one told me I wasn't a bloody plant. These people were too busy laughing at me. Feckers the lot of them. Yes, I was fromthe country and had a lot to learn. By right I should be over 6ft instead of being this 5ft 3 titch that I am.The sister and a friend listenend to the documentary thingy and were impressed. The poor sister, the one in Holland,got very homesick. She felt like shewas in the apartment with us. At least she didn't laugh at us.
A good start I feel.
Who knew that teenage girls could hate each other so much. This girl A, I'm amazed she hasn't caught the plague yet, the way the kid talks about her and thestuff she wishes upon her. Apparently A's boyf, who is the lead guitarest in J's band, is so much better at playing the guitar. J, the kids boy plays rhythm guitar.Do not ask me what the difference is, I have no clue. The kid has been wishing all sorts of ailments on this A person. When you ask her to calm down, theair crackles and her eyes turn black, ala Willow gone bad-ass in Buffy."YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE'S LIKE" the demon said to be as a wind whipped her hair around her face. I grabbed the neartest cross shaped object, 2 penssellotaped together and held them up in front of her. Its like I had been here before. There was no way I was going down with a fight. I tried the conversational tone:"What exactly has she done?"There was a long rant about her boyf playing his guitar louder then J's guitar. I mean honestly, is this all the youth of today have to worry about. I didn't replywith this though. Skilled as I am in self preservation when it comes to teenagers, my reply was more something along the lines of "Well, she'll have no luck forit" Its a generic enough phrase and seems to quell the demon for a while. Until it asks for tea, that is.
I could spend all this entry muttering about how much I miss Mam, but its not much fun for me to write and even less funfor you to read. You already know how much I miss my Mam. So, we'll leave it at that shall we. We willbe visiting the grave and leaving flowers on it for her. I'm sure she's up there getting pretty peeved at someof the flower selections we pick. She was big into flowers and gardening and was constantly amazed at my inability to tella weed from a flower. Hey, what can I say, I'm more into computers. She's also probably a bit pissed about theflowers on her grave and her not being able to smell them. We could try catapulating them into the air, chancesare they'll get stuck to the front window of a jet and this will crash killing all on board and I'll have guilt. I don'tthink I'd be able for that guilt to be honest. We are of course jumping the gun a tad, because there would be somework involved in getting a catapult that would twang something that high.We'll stick with leaving them on her grave and listening to her rant and rave.The kid is at home sick, this time the flu, there is a bad dose going around. I have managed to avoid it so far, by hiding outin doors when it goes blustering past. My immune system has delusions of grandeur god bless it. I only hope it has the strengthto steer clear of all the little germs floating around the apartment at the moment. There is a constant murmur of "there she is", imagesof small germs talking into their sleeves, "take her down, DOWN, I tells ya".
I need I might need sleep. I was up at 6.30 this morning as I took last night off from working because I was feeling a bit shitty. I workbetter in the morning anyways. The kid is off school today, she's working on her infamous painting. For some reason, whenever she mentionsit , the Sistine chapel comes to mind. Not in relation to the picture, more like the timeframe. She was in miserable form yesterday. The boyf isplaying in a Battle of the Bands gig in a few weeks and he's very good. But the kid is disgusted because he's playing in a place where she mightget stopped and asked for ID. There are many threats winging their way to the boyfriend as I type this. I hope he's able to stand up for himself.
And as I type this, there has to be someone standing on the roof of the office block actually throwing buckets of water down from the skies. It israining cats, dogs and hamsters. Great growing rain. Would you believe when I was younger I was convinced that if I stood out in the rain longenough I would grow. No-one told me I wasn't a bloody plant. These people were too busy laughing at me. Feckers the lot of them. Yes, I was fromthe country and had a lot to learn. By right I should be over 6ft instead of being this 5ft 3 titch that I am.The sister and a friend listenend to the documentary thingy and were impressed. The poor sister, the one in Holland,got very homesick. She felt like shewas in the apartment with us. At least she didn't laugh at us.
A good start I feel.
Who knew that teenage girls could hate each other so much. This girl A, I'm amazed she hasn't caught the plague yet, the way the kid talks about her and thestuff she wishes upon her. Apparently A's boyf, who is the lead guitarest in J's band, is so much better at playing the guitar. J, the kids boy plays rhythm guitar.Do not ask me what the difference is, I have no clue. The kid has been wishing all sorts of ailments on this A person. When you ask her to calm down, theair crackles and her eyes turn black, ala Willow gone bad-ass in Buffy."YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE'S LIKE" the demon said to be as a wind whipped her hair around her face. I grabbed the neartest cross shaped object, 2 penssellotaped together and held them up in front of her. Its like I had been here before. There was no way I was going down with a fight. I tried the conversational tone:"What exactly has she done?"There was a long rant about her boyf playing his guitar louder then J's guitar. I mean honestly, is this all the youth of today have to worry about. I didn't replywith this though. Skilled as I am in self preservation when it comes to teenagers, my reply was more something along the lines of "Well, she'll have no luck forit" Its a generic enough phrase and seems to quell the demon for a while. Until it asks for tea, that is.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Oooooooooh, a documentary, look at us!
The band were amazing, apparently. And she nearly kicked some guys ass only for J the boyf held her back. Yes, indeedy. Driving past the Ambassador on Friday night, the work-mate who was giving me a lift home insisted on me ringing her to see where abouts on the queue she was located. We spotted her then, surrounded by more people in black. She had her cropped top and baggies on. The workmate started shouting at her that she'd freeze queuing up in what she was wearing. I tried explaining that teenagers don't feel the cold.
As she was out at the gig for the night, myself and Mammy2 had date night, she cooked vegetarian shepards pie. It was yum. We chilled on the couch for the night, chatting and watching Fingersmith, love that film. She arrived in around 11.30 with the boyf in tow. It was the first time he would be staying over, so I had the shotgun loaded and took up position between the living room where he would be sleeping and her bedroom. Mammy2 said I was over-reacting and sent me to bed. They stayed up watching some dvds and hit the sack around 3.30. The kid was in bits from moshing. Her nose was bruised and her neck was sore.
I was of course a great help by adding "Well, if you insist on all that headbanging, its bound to hurt" . As it turns out, the boyf slept in his clothes. Something about being worried about me. Perhap he was planning on a hasty exit, who knows. I was delighted to hear that he was scared of me. Its best to keep things that way. He had band practice early that morning, so she spent her time on the couch cutting up perfectly normal sized t-shirts and removing sleeves and most of thee material from them and ending up with a black hankkerchief which she termed a 'top'. Safety pins held this thing together. She moved onto the making her trousers flared. I took solace in the fact that she had a pair of trousers which means that at least her legs would be covered. I was working on one of my other websites. Grocery shopping followed and avoiding her lists, which usually consist of eye pencils and jam and cream rings. We were out with the in-laws Saturday, it was their wedding anniversary and so we brought them to Odessa. However, as we had an agreement with the kid that her and the boyf hung at the apartment of a Saturday evening, we had to get a teenage sitter. Luckily, a good mate, J had offered during the week. She came around and watched dvds and kept one eye on them whilst they 'hung'. A hard job.
Sunday morning, we were awake early to listen to the infamous documentary on Radio 1. Yes, if you are bothered at all, you can download it here http://pc.rte.ie/2006/pc/pod-docone-0603-39.11.mp3 in the next few days. A lovely 30 minute docu on us. How interesting are we. I didn't sound like the bogger I am, thank god. It was strange listening to ourselves talking. It was very well put together and they featured a Juilet Turner song. The rest of the day was spent on the computer again, the project that I've been working on is a lot larger then I thought. She started working on a painting that was due for today. I didn't ask. She is fantastic at art but Captain Speedy she isn't. It was one of Bottecelli's works and its fairly detailed. She has the main woman finished and she was working on the shell last night. I think she lost feeling in her arm at one stage. Or she could have been looking for sympathy. Either way, I commented lots on how fantastic the painting was. See, I am doing better at the paying attention stuff. By around 7 I was slowing becoming a pdf document, so I decided to stop work. I had barely stood up from the chair when she slid in under me, and was on myspace.com before I had time to log off. This is her taking a break from the painting.
Its coming along really well, but I can't see it being finished on time. She was threatened with detention. She said that we should write her a note. I can see it already. "Please excuse _____ from detention, the reason she hasn't the painting finished is because she is an artist and you can't rush art" or something to that effect.
The boyf got a part-time job, he's working Saturday nights and all day Sundays. He wanted to get a job to get money so he could get up to Dublin to see her more. Or that's what he told her. Its very sweet. So, he's up tonight and they're 'hanging' for a while at the apartment. I think I am taking a break from my extra work. I'm wrecked, isn't one supposed to be refreshed after the weekend?
As she was out at the gig for the night, myself and Mammy2 had date night, she cooked vegetarian shepards pie. It was yum. We chilled on the couch for the night, chatting and watching Fingersmith, love that film. She arrived in around 11.30 with the boyf in tow. It was the first time he would be staying over, so I had the shotgun loaded and took up position between the living room where he would be sleeping and her bedroom. Mammy2 said I was over-reacting and sent me to bed. They stayed up watching some dvds and hit the sack around 3.30. The kid was in bits from moshing. Her nose was bruised and her neck was sore.
I was of course a great help by adding "Well, if you insist on all that headbanging, its bound to hurt" . As it turns out, the boyf slept in his clothes. Something about being worried about me. Perhap he was planning on a hasty exit, who knows. I was delighted to hear that he was scared of me. Its best to keep things that way. He had band practice early that morning, so she spent her time on the couch cutting up perfectly normal sized t-shirts and removing sleeves and most of thee material from them and ending up with a black hankkerchief which she termed a 'top'. Safety pins held this thing together. She moved onto the making her trousers flared. I took solace in the fact that she had a pair of trousers which means that at least her legs would be covered. I was working on one of my other websites. Grocery shopping followed and avoiding her lists, which usually consist of eye pencils and jam and cream rings. We were out with the in-laws Saturday, it was their wedding anniversary and so we brought them to Odessa. However, as we had an agreement with the kid that her and the boyf hung at the apartment of a Saturday evening, we had to get a teenage sitter. Luckily, a good mate, J had offered during the week. She came around and watched dvds and kept one eye on them whilst they 'hung'. A hard job.
Sunday morning, we were awake early to listen to the infamous documentary on Radio 1. Yes, if you are bothered at all, you can download it here http://pc.rte.ie/2006/pc/pod-docone-0603-39.11.mp3 in the next few days. A lovely 30 minute docu on us. How interesting are we. I didn't sound like the bogger I am, thank god. It was strange listening to ourselves talking. It was very well put together and they featured a Juilet Turner song. The rest of the day was spent on the computer again, the project that I've been working on is a lot larger then I thought. She started working on a painting that was due for today. I didn't ask. She is fantastic at art but Captain Speedy she isn't. It was one of Bottecelli's works and its fairly detailed. She has the main woman finished and she was working on the shell last night. I think she lost feeling in her arm at one stage. Or she could have been looking for sympathy. Either way, I commented lots on how fantastic the painting was. See, I am doing better at the paying attention stuff. By around 7 I was slowing becoming a pdf document, so I decided to stop work. I had barely stood up from the chair when she slid in under me, and was on myspace.com before I had time to log off. This is her taking a break from the painting.
Its coming along really well, but I can't see it being finished on time. She was threatened with detention. She said that we should write her a note. I can see it already. "Please excuse _____ from detention, the reason she hasn't the painting finished is because she is an artist and you can't rush art" or something to that effect.
The boyf got a part-time job, he's working Saturday nights and all day Sundays. He wanted to get a job to get money so he could get up to Dublin to see her more. Or that's what he told her. Its very sweet. So, he's up tonight and they're 'hanging' for a while at the apartment. I think I am taking a break from my extra work. I'm wrecked, isn't one supposed to be refreshed after the weekend?
Friday, March 03, 2006
Not pregnant - Pants
Yet another failed attempt. I am tempted to whine a bit, but alas I could't be bothered. As the old saying goes if its meant to happen it will and lots of other cliches besides. You'd think with the amount of sperm in my body 2 weeks ago, one of the little feckers would entice the ovary from its throne. But alas no. Time to starting drinking green tea and getting needles stuck in me. Alternative therapies I believe they are called. I was out sick yesterday, coming down with some dose or other. Our apartment is like a war torn region at the moment, between periods , depression, the flu and whatever bug the teenager is carrying at the moment, its advisable to wear SWAT gear when coming anywhere near us.
I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in a while last night for drinkes. Had a quick business meeting before hand, I know, look at me with all these meetings. Its far from business meetings I was reared. Anyhew, myself and J met up with L, the mate in the market Bar. This place does the best potato bravas EVER. They have to be tried. Lots of chat and catching up. The poor woman who was seated at the end of our table left looking slightly frazzled. I think the word lesbian was throw into the conversation too much for her liking. We were in mid giving out to said mate for leaving her phone on the table, its a pet hate of mine, when my phone rings. Most people who know me know not to ring my phone, I am useless on it. I usually get a shock and drop the bloody thing, and then I can't hear the person. Texting is best. So, the slagging ensued. Well I can't very well give out to someone for being rude with their phone when I am answering the damn thing in mid conversation. It was the other mate,R, the one who's trying to educate me musically. God bless her cottens.
The night was fun and I brought home chips to the kid. She was delighted and had cheered up from the Grim Reaper look she had going on when I left the apartment. She was peeved at the boyf because he had no money and couldn't come up and see her. She's very hard on the poor man. She's off today, there's some loud band called Trivum playing in the Ambassador. I remember bringing her to her first gig. Trying to get her to wear a jacket and her making me walk at least 10 feet behind her. She tried to get me to jump up and down with her. She tried to get me to go down to the front to some pit or other. The mere word brought me out in a cold sweat. Thankfully, she has since decided being brought to a gig with your guardian is so not cool. She's going today with the boyf
and her mates. A step cooler then hanging with your big sister. Although I can be cool. At times. Not in her eyes though.
She's had a bad week with regards run-ins with teachers. She always feels the need to answer them back. Not a trait they like. She's quite good at english and knows it. She was in class yesterday and the teacher mentioned Dorian Grey and asked if anyone had heard of him. The class starred on slack-jawed whilst the kid answered the teacher. Lots of hair flicking and thinking she's wonderful ensued. Of course the teacher was impressed. I was impressed.
She's 17 this year. I feel old. Much older then usual. She's doing so well though, I know I spend most of this journal/blog etc giving out about her, but hey, I'm her guardian/Mammy1 so I'm allowed. Its so weird being in this position of watching her get older, wondering where she'll end up working, hoping she'll eventually get hired by someone,pondering who'd be mad enough to hire her, that sort of thing.
Its all ahead of her. And us. Parenting eh?! Fun times.
I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in a while last night for drinkes. Had a quick business meeting before hand, I know, look at me with all these meetings. Its far from business meetings I was reared. Anyhew, myself and J met up with L, the mate in the market Bar. This place does the best potato bravas EVER. They have to be tried. Lots of chat and catching up. The poor woman who was seated at the end of our table left looking slightly frazzled. I think the word lesbian was throw into the conversation too much for her liking. We were in mid giving out to said mate for leaving her phone on the table, its a pet hate of mine, when my phone rings. Most people who know me know not to ring my phone, I am useless on it. I usually get a shock and drop the bloody thing, and then I can't hear the person. Texting is best. So, the slagging ensued. Well I can't very well give out to someone for being rude with their phone when I am answering the damn thing in mid conversation. It was the other mate,R, the one who's trying to educate me musically. God bless her cottens.
The night was fun and I brought home chips to the kid. She was delighted and had cheered up from the Grim Reaper look she had going on when I left the apartment. She was peeved at the boyf because he had no money and couldn't come up and see her. She's very hard on the poor man. She's off today, there's some loud band called Trivum playing in the Ambassador. I remember bringing her to her first gig. Trying to get her to wear a jacket and her making me walk at least 10 feet behind her. She tried to get me to jump up and down with her. She tried to get me to go down to the front to some pit or other. The mere word brought me out in a cold sweat. Thankfully, she has since decided being brought to a gig with your guardian is so not cool. She's going today with the boyf
and her mates. A step cooler then hanging with your big sister. Although I can be cool. At times. Not in her eyes though.
She's had a bad week with regards run-ins with teachers. She always feels the need to answer them back. Not a trait they like. She's quite good at english and knows it. She was in class yesterday and the teacher mentioned Dorian Grey and asked if anyone had heard of him. The class starred on slack-jawed whilst the kid answered the teacher. Lots of hair flicking and thinking she's wonderful ensued. Of course the teacher was impressed. I was impressed.
She's 17 this year. I feel old. Much older then usual. She's doing so well though, I know I spend most of this journal/blog etc giving out about her, but hey, I'm her guardian/Mammy1 so I'm allowed. Its so weird being in this position of watching her get older, wondering where she'll end up working, hoping she'll eventually get hired by someone,pondering who'd be mad enough to hire her, that sort of thing.
Its all ahead of her. And us. Parenting eh?! Fun times.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Depression, periods, chocolate and work
I finished work yesterday at around 2.30ish and the sun was shining, blue skies etc. By the time I had made it to the bus stop it was pelting snow. Thankfully, it waited until I got on the bus to really lash down. It was like something from a movie. I love snow, its so soft and quiet as it falls and actually makes a lot of areas look picturesque. I had a meeting with a client at 3.30, another one of my websites and that went well. They are located in what could be described as an area which may contain a certain element of undesireables. I am from the country, I don't react well to certain elements of Dublin city. What can I say, I'm a wuss.
However, that said, I managed to avoid the whole 'mug me' look I sometimes have. So yay. On the way home, I get a txt from the kid giving out about Mammy2 'bullying' her. Needless to say , when you are on your way home from work to a depressed partner and a stroppy teenaged, this is just the sort of thing you need to hear. I was looking forward to a relaxing evening and cooking dinner. I arrived in fuming. The kid was walking her mate to the bus stop so this delayed my ripping into her. When she returned, it was hands on hips all around as coversations were. Without breaking delph. Some things were cleared. The main one being I am not a referee to the kid and Mammy2's
relationship. The kid has to understand that. I think when Mammy2 is sick, her way of dealing with the kid changes. That and when the kid is accompanied by a friend, she tends to act up a bit. This went on for a while. I felt a headache coming on when all of a sudden, the kid turns
to me and says
"Yeah. well, sometimes you're in a crap mood and don't listen to me when I am talking to you about school and stuff" and I hate to say it but she's right.
The last few weeks I have been working on a few extra jobs and it takes up most of my energy and time so I took on board her giving out and will try and listen when she's talking about school.
Tension cleared , I headed to the kitchen to cook dinner. She'd had a pizza already but claimed she would eat the mashed potato dinner I was planning on cooking. Mammy2 was brandishing a large knife like nobodies business in the kitchen, so I suggested she have a lie down whilst I cooked. She then revealed that she had gotten her period.
I carefully took a step back and asked her to leave the knife down. Depression, periods and a regular teenager. Anyone want to trade places. Mammy2 went for a lie down, the kid went on the computer and I hung out in the safety of the kitchen with brocolli and potatoes. They're quite good company once you get to know them. People always assume vegetables are no fun, but I tell you, once you get them to open up to you, its like party central.
After dinner, which went down well, with little or no causalities, the kid annouced we should have sisters night. At this stage it wasn't like the night could get any worse. Whilst she washed up, I plodded to the DVD store and the shop to stock up on choccy. The man behind the counter must have thought I was peckish. Four large bars of chocolate and nothing else.
As it turns out the night got much better. The film we rented out was Serenity which Mammy2 had been dying to see, so we allowed her to hang with us, and watch it. Once chocolate was dispensed, there was a quiet for about 10 minutes, until the film started and then the kid started:
"What's she out of ? I think I know her, oh no, wait, is't he yer man from...Feck , what's that film, oh yeah. She was in that other film and it was shite, wasn't she Shelly"
This could continue for some time. You get the picture.
Its all fun of a sisters night. This is well before she sticks her arm, leg , whatever else she wants me to scratch/massage into my face. Tonight, I am allowed work for the evening. I think by this, she means, I work, whilst she talks and then throws a tantrum for me ignoring her. I think I should buy chocolate on the way home. Just as a safety precaution. You use it as you would a grendade. Remove wrapper, open front door. Throw it in, close front door. Wait 5 minutes. Then enter.
However, that said, I managed to avoid the whole 'mug me' look I sometimes have. So yay. On the way home, I get a txt from the kid giving out about Mammy2 'bullying' her. Needless to say , when you are on your way home from work to a depressed partner and a stroppy teenaged, this is just the sort of thing you need to hear. I was looking forward to a relaxing evening and cooking dinner. I arrived in fuming. The kid was walking her mate to the bus stop so this delayed my ripping into her. When she returned, it was hands on hips all around as coversations were. Without breaking delph. Some things were cleared. The main one being I am not a referee to the kid and Mammy2's
relationship. The kid has to understand that. I think when Mammy2 is sick, her way of dealing with the kid changes. That and when the kid is accompanied by a friend, she tends to act up a bit. This went on for a while. I felt a headache coming on when all of a sudden, the kid turns
to me and says
"Yeah. well, sometimes you're in a crap mood and don't listen to me when I am talking to you about school and stuff" and I hate to say it but she's right.
The last few weeks I have been working on a few extra jobs and it takes up most of my energy and time so I took on board her giving out and will try and listen when she's talking about school.
Tension cleared , I headed to the kitchen to cook dinner. She'd had a pizza already but claimed she would eat the mashed potato dinner I was planning on cooking. Mammy2 was brandishing a large knife like nobodies business in the kitchen, so I suggested she have a lie down whilst I cooked. She then revealed that she had gotten her period.
I carefully took a step back and asked her to leave the knife down. Depression, periods and a regular teenager. Anyone want to trade places. Mammy2 went for a lie down, the kid went on the computer and I hung out in the safety of the kitchen with brocolli and potatoes. They're quite good company once you get to know them. People always assume vegetables are no fun, but I tell you, once you get them to open up to you, its like party central.
After dinner, which went down well, with little or no causalities, the kid annouced we should have sisters night. At this stage it wasn't like the night could get any worse. Whilst she washed up, I plodded to the DVD store and the shop to stock up on choccy. The man behind the counter must have thought I was peckish. Four large bars of chocolate and nothing else.
As it turns out the night got much better. The film we rented out was Serenity which Mammy2 had been dying to see, so we allowed her to hang with us, and watch it. Once chocolate was dispensed, there was a quiet for about 10 minutes, until the film started and then the kid started:
"What's she out of ? I think I know her, oh no, wait, is't he yer man from...Feck , what's that film, oh yeah. She was in that other film and it was shite, wasn't she Shelly"
This could continue for some time. You get the picture.
Its all fun of a sisters night. This is well before she sticks her arm, leg , whatever else she wants me to scratch/massage into my face. Tonight, I am allowed work for the evening. I think by this, she means, I work, whilst she talks and then throws a tantrum for me ignoring her. I think I should buy chocolate on the way home. Just as a safety precaution. You use it as you would a grendade. Remove wrapper, open front door. Throw it in, close front door. Wait 5 minutes. Then enter.
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