http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/Family issues and quirky observations on my life.en-EUMokoFeed10http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/http://data5.blog.de/design/preview/15/8e4a556aa60b79dd304b8ebf39dc64_160x200.jpghttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/02/05/snowman-5514634/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2009-02-05:/2009/02/05/snowman-5514634/Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:45:28 +0100 <p>We made our first snowman on Monday when it snowed pretty heavily where we live. The kids had lots of fun, although I think I had the most fun, as I never got to play in the snow growing up in South America. I even did a snow angel on our drive.</p> <p>But the next morning the snowman had started to melt and its head fell off. At seeing this my 2 year old said "JJ did it!" Blaming her big brother. <img src="/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif" alt=":DD" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p>I had to explain about the sun melting the snow but they insist it's magic that made the snowman disappear. All that's left of him now is his carrot nose and grape eyes laying sadly on the grass. </p> <p>Still, I'll always have the memory of making my very first snowman.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/02/05/snowman-5514634/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>kidsfamilysnowmansnowfunnyhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/02/05/snowman-5514634/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/02/05/another-dirty-van-5514606/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2009-02-05:/2009/02/05/another-dirty-van-5514606/Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:39:46 +0100 <p>I found another dirty van with something quirky written on it. This one said, "I wish my wife was this dirty". The reply: "If you think this is dirty, you should see what my girlfriend can do with my golf balls." </p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif" alt=":DD" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>I had to explain to my husband what a girl could do with golf balls! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/02/05/another-dirty-van-5514606/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>quirkyfunnydirty-vanhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/02/05/another-dirty-van-5514606/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/02/05/books-5513396/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2009-02-05:/2009/02/05/books-5513396/Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:44:28 +0100 <p>Last month I read Town of Widows by James Canon. It's set in a small town in Colombia All the men of the village are taking by guerillas and the women have to fend for themselves; in doing so they end up creating a whole new culture and social/political structure. It's a great read and very interesting especially if you are into women's studies literature.</p> <p>Last week I finished reading the sequel to Wicked: The Life and Times of the wicked With of the West. This book is called Son of a Witch. The first book provided the original idea for the West End Musical which I can also recommend...it's fantastic! But the books are darker and the plots are full of political, social and religious themes. Son of a Witch follows the young life of the alleged son of the Wicked Witch, Elphaba. It has a great ending and it's superbly written.</p> <p>This week I started reading Gaudi's Key by Esteban Martin and Andreu Carranza. It's very similar to the DaVinci Code. It's got the familiar plot of the granddaughter trying to decipher clues that the grandfather has left around the city of Barcelona in Gaudi's architecture, etc. And her mission is to safeguard 'the secret' of the Knights of Moriah, another religious organisation. And some baddies from a 'satanic sect' are after her and the secret. So again, it's like the DaVinci Code but instead of being set in Paris is set in Barcelona. If you've ever been to Barcelona and love Gaudi's work, and if you're into this sort of read you might like this book. I certainly find it very hard to put down.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/02/05/books-5513396/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>gaudireadingwickedbarcelonabookshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/02/05/books-5513396/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/01/19/aqua-class-5405739/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2009-01-19:/2009/01/19/aqua-class-5405739/Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:08:16 +0100 <p>I attended my first aqua aerobics class today. In an attempt to lose the post pregnancy baby weight as well as the donught/cake/chocolate weight I went to the local swimming pool expecting to be the only overweight person there! It is safe to say I was the youngest person there because as I seem to forget living in a coastal town I am frequently surrounded by OAP's.</p> <p>Anyway, as the class got momentum I was very self aware of my wobbly bits making lost of waves around me. And with all those wobbly women bouncing up and down you would have thought the wave machine had been turned on. At one stage it was all I could do from keeping my boobs from giving me two black eyes!</p> <p>I had a fantastic time and will be going there again. So the swimming public better have their life vests and arm bands....it's gonna get rough! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/01/19/aqua-class-5405739/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>aqua-aerobicsswimmingexercisefunnyhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/01/19/aqua-class-5405739/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/01/16/spa-break-5390573/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2009-01-16:/2009/01/16/spa-break-5390573/Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:01:31 +0100 <p>My husband wins all sorts of competition prizes. Most recently he won a two night stay at a wonderful spa in Surrey. We got to stay in their biggest and poshest suite. We also had two complimentary treatments each.</p> <p>We'd never had massages done before, which might seem shocking to a lot of you but we just never had to pay for a massage as in our earlier married days we used to massage each other frequently and now after 2 kids we are just too broke or too tight to justify that kind of expense.</p> <p>Anyway, long story short, we kept joking about him fantasizing about having a young lady as his masseuse and me wishing him to have a big burly man with calloused hands...lol This went backwards and forwards with me hoping to be massaged by a tall dark and handsome man or even an attractive nubile young woman. And of course Dylan wishing me to have the opposite.</p> <p>The time came for Dylan's appointment and I sat with him in the waiting area. I had to contain myself when his therapist arrived. He must have been in his 80's. Poor Dylan. And I had just made an internal wish for him to have his wishes and be massaged by a prety young thing. </p> <p>It must have been divine intervention chastising us for our lustful natures because I too ended up with the old man giving me an full body massage.</p> <p>All said and done, the man knew his stuff and my body felt wonderfully relaxed after the massage. I take my hat off to that wise old masseur.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/01/16/spa-break-5390573/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>massagesspahusbandsfunnyhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/01/16/spa-break-5390573/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/01/16/i-m-back-on-5390555/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2009-01-16:/2009/01/16/i-m-back-on-5390555/Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:57:33 +0100 <p>I haven't written any new entries since before Christmas. I had little chance to sit on the computer during the holidays and I had a bit of a mental block but as I made our dinner tonight I thought of a funny thing to share with you.</p> <p>Tonight we're having sausage and mash. But this is not any ordinary bangers and mash. Firstly, the sausages are pork chipolatas with herbs, cranberry and apple, yum yum. But the most exciting part of the dinner is the mash as it is a sweet potato mash that I've made with a new kind of sweet potato that I bought in my local Tesco. This new sweet potato is called.....drum roll please....SPUDZILLA! haha </p> <p>It's massive. It's double the size of a large swede. So rush out and go to your local Tesco and snatch up these Spudzillas while stocks last <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/01/16/i-m-back-on-5390555/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>foodfunnydinnerhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2009/01/16/i-m-back-on-5390555/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/14/confession-5222110/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-12-14:/2008/12/14/confession-5222110/Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:37:29 +0100 <p>I must confess something so I can sleep well tonight. My 4 year old son had to sign 20-odd Christmas cards for his school mates. After sitting for about 30 minutes watching him sign just 3 cards I told him to go play and signed the rest with a shaky left hand and put in some chocolate gold coins in each envelope to placate my guilt. There it's out there. I've forged my son's signature <img src="/img/smilies/icon_crazy.gif" alt=":crazy:" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/14/confession-5222110/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>kidschristmas-cardsmothersfamily-lifefunnyhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/14/confession-5222110/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/14/competition-prize-5222073/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-12-14:/2008/12/14/competition-prize-5222073/Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:31:32 +0100 <p>Over the years my husband has won many good prizes in competitions he's entered online. I've been really pleased when he's come home with news of winning a new bed, a meal for two at a fab restaurant in London, a two night stay in an award winning spa, various books and even some yummy food treats. And tonight he announced that he'd won something for me but didn't know whether I would like it. The big prize is.....drum roll.......Bondage Rope.<br> LOL Totally unexpected! to say the least. My first thought was well, we could always use some rope, in the garden or something... haha </p> <p>At least he told me and didn't wrap it and put it under the tree. That would have been an awkward Christmas morning moment with my very Catholic parents around. I guess I could always make up some story about needing rope for hanging the kids' pinata! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/14/competition-prize-5222073/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>family-lifefunnycompetition-prizeshusbandshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/14/competition-prize-5222073/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/12/sleepy-sex-5211307/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-12-12:/2008/12/12/sleepy-sex-5211307/Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:14:19 +0100 <p>I think most of you must know what I mean by sleepy sex. I think it tends to happen more often in long term relationships. And I for one advocate it and love it. When it comes to my husband and I, it starts out sleepy and ends up kinky. </p> <p>It usually happens when we've been flirting with one another all day and one of us goes to sleep before the other. Then he or I will get into bed and start fondling and playing. Usually I resist for a while because I like my sleep and as a full time mother I am truly knackered at the end of the day, but it doesn't take long for him to do something to make me feel horny. While he usually doesn't resist much at all, even if I wake him up in the early hours of the night. He doesn't even care if I've come up to bed horny because I've been watching sexcetera <img src="/img/smilies/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" class="middle" border="0"> He doesn't mind being used as a piece of meat when it comes to sleepy sex...lol</p> <p>For some reason though, we never seem to go from sleepy sex to slow love making. It always gets a bit wild and we end up waking one of the kids or feeling sleep deprived for a few days. But I wouldn't change it for the world. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/12/sleepy-sex-5211307/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>sleepy-sexsexlifehusbandsmarriagefamily-lifehttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/12/sleepy-sex-5211307/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/12/christmas-play-5209012/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-12-12:/2008/12/12/christmas-play-5209012/Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:22:00 +0100 <p>JJ, my four-year-old, was in his first Nativity play yesterday. He was one of the musicians and had the huge responsibility of ringing the bells at the right time.</p> <p>From previous experience I decided I was going to queue up about an hour before the doors were due to open. So I dragged out my husband, who was working from home that day, and our two-year-old, Isa, to wait with me at the school gates. </p> <p>We were the first to arrive. Then a mother who I recognised from last year when JJ and her daughter were at Nursery together arrived a few minutes later. I let her take the first spot on the queue as she is disabled and would have been more confortable leaning against the wall. But she seems to know everyone, so as people saw her at the front of the queue they decided to join her. I started getting a bit fed up and starting inching forwards and squaring my back to show my 'territorial claim'. It seemed to work and we ended up in the fifth place on the queue which I was ok about since we would still be able to sit in the front row.</p> <p>I can't believe how neurotic I can be since becoming a mother....lol All this for ten minutes of kids singing Little Donkey, Away in a Manger and We Wish you a Merry Christmas.</p> <p>Actually they sang a few songs I had never heard before and they harmonised quite well. They looked really cute in their costumes. Although my kid had his last buttons undone, his shirt hanging out of his back and the wrong trousers on, he still looked adorable to me. Apparently they had a few minutes to change in their classrooms before coming out on stage, someone took his trousers and he was so focused on putting his tie on around his collar that he forgot to do up his buttons <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>Isa loved every minute of it. She loved seeing her big brother up there and seeing all the girls in their pretty angel dresses. I can just see her up there in 2 years time...awww</p> <p>On a different note, as all the parents tooks their seats and started getting their cameras ready. Some people metioned that we wouldn't be allowed to take video or photos of out kids because we might also get another child on the video or photograph. I mean it's absurd! We all had to sign these forms allowing or kids to be photographed at the beginning of the school year. Of course we'd want to record their first play. I understand not taking photos with flash on during the performance and all that but....anwyay, the rumours were untrue and since I was in the first row I was able to record a few video clips on my camera which my parents (who live abroad) are going to love watching online. </p> <p>Sometimes political correcteness and "safety" can stop you from enjoying the simple things in life. I'm glad the school 'guardians' arent' so anally retentive as some others out there. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/12/christmas-play-5209012/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>kidsfamilychristmas-playfamily-lifehttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/12/christmas-play-5209012/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/09/a-bit-warmer-5191762/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-12-09:/2008/12/09/a-bit-warmer-5191762/Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:49:20 +0100 <p>The stand-off with the hubby is over. He's gone back to work and is not under my feet with his man-cold. And he redemmed himself yesterday when he helped me move some things into the garage and complimented my cooking <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>Today I'm loking forward to playing this new board game with him when he gets home from work. It's called Bizzerwizzer. It's a new game, I believe, and I could only get it from Amazon. You can play a sample of it online, which we did and got hooked. Basically Bizzerwizzer means "know-it-all" in Dutch, I think. And the game is like trivial pursuit but with about 20 categories and you can swap categories with other players. It's more interesting and more fun than I've described it. Check it out. </p> <p>The other game we'll be playing during the Christmas season is Pictureka! Which is great to play with the kids. Even our 2 year old is into it. It's basically a spot it first game with different challenges; big gameboard tiles with small pictures and you have to 'picture hunt'. </p> <p>I'm getting very excited about Christmas. I'm looking forward to cooking some new different things, playing new games and some good oldies, listening to music, watching movies, playing carols on the piano and enjoying having my family around. Oh and watching the Dr Who and Eastenders X-mas specials...haha</p> <p>Happy X-mas peeps....lol</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/09/a-bit-warmer-5191762/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>board-gamesfamily-lifechristmashttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/09/a-bit-warmer-5191762/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/07/a-bit-frosty-5176749/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-12-07:/2008/12/07/a-bit-frosty-5176749/Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:03:11 +0100 <p>I spent the whole day yesterday decorating the house for Christmas and organising the food I'd bought for Christmas week as well all the presents. I was really looking forward to the weekend but I knew it was going to be shit as soon as my hubby walked in the door on Friday night. He has a head cold and feels a bit nauseous which means he might as well have influenza and ebola for all the fuss he's making. I asked him every day last week to use First Defence and gargle with Listerine as he was complaining of an achy throat. What did he do? he just took paracetamol. So in other words he masked the symptoms but did nothing to stop the cold form getting worse. He's really awful when he gets a cold. Everything has to stop and he's terribly grumpy and bad-tempered.</p> <p>We all know the symptoms of "man-cold" are more severe than those of the rest of the population. I was ill for two consecutive weeks with the flu and bronchitis and I was still taking care of the house, the kids, and everything else. </p> <p>So needless to say I had to decorate for Christmas all by myself this weekend. The kids who are really young, were looking forward to it so much, so I din't want to postpone it until next weekend. Long story short, we had a massive row when I asked him to give me 30 mins of his time to help me put the tree in the stand and put the lights on it. I might as well have asked him to go into the woods, chop a tree, carry it on his shoulders....well you get the idea. </p> <p>And then when I asked him if he could wake up in the morning with the kids as I went to bed at 2am wrapping up the presents and clearing up, he thanked me (sarcastically) for being so sensitive to his need for a lie in. </p> <p>Stupidly, I started crying. I hate it when I do that! But I was exhausted and when the kids woke up I had only had 3 hours of sleep. So I got up today and have had another full day of laundry, housework, etc, etc.</p> <p>I am really regretting treating him to breakfast in bed yesterday and today and wrapping up all his presents. I keep fantasising about looking frantically under the tree for his presents, putting them in a bin and setting fire to them!...lol</p> <p>I really feel so disappointed in him. I feel like a little bit of the love I had for him died after the arguments. It's a deeper issue really. Me feeling unappreciated and knowing that as parents we have to put our needs last always and him not getting that and thinking that if he has a cold he should rest regardless of what's going on and how important this weekend was to us. </p> <p>Last year was the first Christmas we spent without his dad and so he was understandbly distant. Isa was only 1 and JJ was only 3 , so it was quite easy to distract them and keep them happy when he was feeling sad and wanted to be alone. But this year I thought he would be more 'present' as the kids are older and know more about Christmas and are super excited.</p> <p>Anyway, I feel angry and sad. Not a very good start to Christmas and totally unexpected.</p> <p>Hope you've all had better weekends <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/07/a-bit-frosty-5176749/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>husbandskidschristmasfamily-lifehttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/07/a-bit-frosty-5176749/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/05/santa-s-grotto-5168283/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-12-05:/2008/12/05/santa-s-grotto-5168283/Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:40:56 +0100 <p>I just queued up for 30 mins to visit Santa at my son's school Christmas Fair. When it was finally our turn our 2 year old, Isa, didn't want to go in and stayed behind me holding onto my leg. And when Santa asked JJ, our 4 year old, "what do you want for Christmas?" He said, "I want you to tell me if I've been a good boy".....awwww....or oops, haven't I been telling him that myself lately? Motherhood, eh? A constant guilt trip. The visit lasted about 2 mins. I got one blurry photo because I forgot to turn the flash on, and 2 other semi good photos: one photo shows half of JJ's head standing somewhere near Santa and the other one shows Isa's hand as she grabbed her toy from the bag as quickly as she could.</p> <p>So to summarise, a 30 min wait for a 2 min visit, and I'm £6 down! Oh, and Santa's wise words of wisdom were, "leave a carrot out for the reindeer!....lol </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/05/santa-s-grotto-5168283/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>kidschristmasfamily-lifesantafunnyhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/05/santa-s-grotto-5168283/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/02/i-saw-the-funniest-thing-page-5150936/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-12-02:/2008/12/02/i-saw-the-funniest-thing-page-5150936/Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:21:12 +0100 <p>Today I saw a dirty van parked on the road near my house. Someone had written with their finger on the dirt, "Clean Moi". I guess I shouldn't be surprised since we live near a University... haha </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/02/i-saw-the-funniest-thing-page-5150936/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>observationfunnyhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/12/02/i-saw-the-funniest-thing-page-5150936/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/30/at-the-weekend-5139592/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-30:/2008/11/30/at-the-weekend-5139592/Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:33:01 +0100 <p>It's been a typical weekend although we've done a lot and even though I'm exhausted now I've really enjoyed it.</p> <p>On Saturday, Dylan and JJ had a cooking class at school and made pizzas while Isa and I went shopping, had a cream tea in a nice cafe and did some errands. It's really nice now that Isa is 2 and 1/2 years old, I can take her to cafes and we can share a nice cake and talk to each other. We were talking about Christmas lights and what Isa would like to hang on the tree. Penguins and snowmen seem to be her favourites at the moment.</p> <p>Then we picked up the 'boys' and we had the freshly made pizzas at home. We played in the front room and rested a while. Then we went to a little friend's birthday party and had a nice time there. The kids were wired when they came back having had lots of sugary treats which they usually don't have at home.</p> <p>We finally put them to sleep and Dylan and I watched some stand-up comedy on T.V. and decided to go to bed early as we were both quite horny and in the mood for something different.</p> <p>We had a great time and fell asleep so soundly.</p> <p>On Sunday morning, the kids woke up at 7am as usual and Dylan and I went into "One Extra Hour" Operation. Which involves putting JJ on the computer playing kid friendly games with a bowl of cheerios and a cup of milk on the side. And putting on a Mickey Mouse movie for Isa who sits on the sofa covered in blankets drinking her milk. It's the only way Dylan gets an extra hour in bed on the weekends. Luckily for me, Dylan recognises that I am with the kids all week and I deserve a bit longer in bed <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>Dylan made us breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs with cheese and ham accompanied by croissants. I cook breakfast every weekend so this was a really nice surprise. Then I did a lot of boring housework and laundry while Dylan put up some shelves. The kids played dinosaurs and pirates in the front room and read books together.</p> <p>I made a wonderful belated Thanksgiving dinner. I cooked a small turkey joint, chipolatas wrapped in bacon, roast root vegetables, roast sweet potatoes, yorkshire puddings and I also made a pumpkin pie from scratch, which is still setting in the fridge and will enjoy later while we watch a film. During dinner we played word games and sitting down charades with the kids. </p> <p>Then kids ran around after dinner while we tidied up and washed up and finally we did the bedtime routine and put them in bed. But as I write this the kids are coming down the stairs to ask for milk for the second time and trying to trick us into letting them stay up a bit longer.</p> <p>Well, that's my weekend. Although it's not over yet and I'm looking forward to a good film, some fresh pumkin pie and maybe some slow lovemaking later tonight.</p> <p>Hope you are all having a good weekend wherever you are.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/30/at-the-weekend-5139592/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>good-foodkidsfamily-lifefunnycookinghttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/30/at-the-weekend-5139592/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/29/my-funny-kids-page-5132474/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-29:/2008/11/29/my-funny-kids-page-5132474/Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:57:50 +0100 <p>My daughter Isa who is 2 came into the lounge with her face covered in chocolate. I asked her if she had been eating chocolate without asking for permission and she denied it.</p> <p>I asked her "are you lyin'?"</p> <p>And she said "yes, I am lyin' ROARRRR"</p> <p>She likes pretending to be a LION.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/29/my-funny-kids-page-5132474/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>funnykidsfamily-lifehttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/29/my-funny-kids-page-5132474/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/29/blowing-the-wistle-5132459/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-29:/2008/11/29/blowing-the-wistle-5132459/Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:53:17 +0100 <p>I am going to report that rude laundrette owner charging me £30 to alter two pair of jeans. I dropped my jeans off at a nearby dry cleaners and they are charging me £13 to do both jeans. That's less than half of what the other guy was charging! I will definitely make a formal complaint at the Trader's Commision. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/29/blowing-the-wistle-5132459/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>daylight-robberyrogue-traderhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/29/blowing-the-wistle-5132459/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/28/how-rude-5126347/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-28:/2008/11/28/how-rude-5126347/Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:42:14 +0100 <p>I needed to get two pairs of jeans altered and went to a laundrette where I've had stuff altered before. I suspected the guy had overcharged me before but it's in a convenient location in the high street and not knowing any other laundrette in town I chose to take the jeans there again.</p> <p>At first he said that his seamstress was a bit unrealiable at the moment and he wasn't taking any more items needing alterations for a while. When I asked if he could suggest anywhere else, he said v in a very snobbish way "I can't recommend anyone in THIS town." So I asked if he could recommend anywhere in the nearby towns, to which he replied "why don't you wait until the new year and come back?" (haha...he's having a laugh) I can tell he's pretty desperate for customers as the place is always empty and it's pretty shitty really. I should have gone elsewhere a long time ago, but I felt pity for him. He's probably in his late 40's/early 50's, he's always wearing the same clothes every time I see him, his hair is slightly too long for his age and all curly and greasy. He's a bit camp and he strikes me as the sort of man still living with his mum and maybe a few cats.</p> <p>I'm always nice to him and even pay upfront as the first time I brought some clothes in he demanded a deposit. "After what just happened yesterday, I'm taking deposits from now on" he said. Alarm bells rang in my head but I still gave him my clothes and my money.</p> <p>So far the service has been ok. The clothes have come back all ok and it wasn't too much effort to smile and be polite to him so I went in there today with my jeans.</p> <p>After refusing to suggest anywhere I could go for the alterations, he decided to "do me a favour" and call another seamstress. She said she could do my jeans. While he was on the phone with him, I mouthed "can you ask her how much please?" He didn't ask, but when he hung up he said "she'll do it and it'll be £15 the pair". I said "£15 the pair? that's not bad". Thinking he meant both jeans but he meant the pair of jeans, which meant £30 for both. Now, I just needed the hem to come up on both jeans. That's all! For £30 I can buy another pair of jeans.</p> <p>I had laid out my jeans and £20 note on the counter and I slowly removed my note and put my jeans back on the bag. I politely said that I would have to ask around for prices as I thought it was too much to pay. He proceeded to lecture me about going out of his way to help me and that if I came back he would not be calling the lady again to ask her if she could do them. I said "I understand. I'm sorry I thought you meant £15 for both jeans not the PAIR. My mistake." And I ran out of the shop.</p> <p>I was fuming. I was going to bring him my duvets and blankets to do before Christmas. And I was going to continue to use him for my alterations. He's lost my custom completely and I will be telling all my friends about his shitty laundrette and he's terrible service.</p> <p>Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but I'm nice to people and I expect to be treated the same way. I hate it when people are rude to me. I'm just not used to it and I don't think there's any call for it.</p> <p>Earlier in the day, I was in Woolies when I saw a mum shout at her son who must have been around 3 or 4 years old. She shouted at him many times and so loudly. The poor kid looked so down. She looked like she was on something or maybe had a hangover. She was so rude to him and made people's head turn more than once. I passed the kid on one of the aisles as he walked away from her while she chatted to her "mate". And I said, "are you alright darling?" When he looked at me, I had this sinking feeling that no one had ever called him "darling" before. He just kept looking at me. I wanted to take him home <img src="/img/smilies/icon_sad.gif" alt=":(" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>And then I was behind this older man in a long queue for the Post Office. We had to wait until the Office opened an hour later than usual as there is some contruction work going on inside the shop where the Post Office is located. The young builder who was in charge of helping the queue form and opening the door at 10 o'clock had a drink can and he set it down on the floor next to the door to let us in. As the old man walked past he kicked the can. No one noticed except for me. I almost said aloud "well, that's very passive aggressive of you sir!". But I didn't. I just thanked my lucky stars he wasn't behind me as I had quite a few cards to post abroad and I didn't want him to be tutting and huffing behind me at the till.</p> <p>I'm just going to hide at home with the kids for the rest of the day and try to avoid any rudeness. Poor kids are so going to be hearing "what do you say?" and "what's the magic word" from Mummy today. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/28/how-rude-5126347/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>rude-shop-peoplelifehttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/28/how-rude-5126347/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/28/my-funny-kids-page-5126069/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-28:/2008/11/28/my-funny-kids-page-5126069/Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:57:04 +0100 <p>I asked my son JJ who is 4 years old, "What did you do at school today?"</p> <p>He said, "I was being a shician"</p> <p>"What's that then?"</p> <p>"a shician, a shician" He kept repeating.</p> <p>"What are you saying?" I asked, "What's a shician?"</p> <p>He said, "you know Mummy, with the trumpet!"</p> <p>Finally I said, "Oh, a MUSICIAN!"</p> <p>haha </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/28/my-funny-kids-page-5126069/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>family-lifefunnykidshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/28/my-funny-kids-page-5126069/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/27/my-funny-kids-page-5117322/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-27:/2008/11/27/my-funny-kids-page-5117322/Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:52:01 +0100 <p>I asked my son JJ the other day, "are you going to play Joseph in the Nativity Play" and he said, "I asked the teacher, can I be Joseph? and she said ,'No! you're going to be a shepherd'". Then he asked me "Mummy, what is a shepherd? what does a shepherd do?." It made me smile.</p> <p>It turns out he's going to be one of the musicians in the play. He has to wear party/fancy clothes, but all he has is Pirate costumes and somehow I don't think the teachers would appreciate a little Pirate up on stage saying "Ahoy therrrre! Jesus is herrrre matey!" So I'll probably put something together for him, although the only thing I can think that a 'musician' would wear is a shiny, glittery waistcoat, and maybe some glasses and a funny hat....like an younger version of Elton John. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/27/my-funny-kids-page-5117322/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>kidsfunnynativity-playhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/27/my-funny-kids-page-5117322/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/26/husbands-5111167/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-26:/2008/11/26/husbands-5111167/Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:35:44 +0100 <p>Can't live with them, can't live without them.</p> <p>Mine has yet again messed up my towel sets by taking a different towel out from the airing cupboard than the one he used yesterday. I put his towel on the radiator so he would find it nice and warm as a treat. But since he didn't find it in its usual place he just got another one out.a Now all my sets are messed up!...haha But all is forgiven as he really delivered in the bedroom department last night. Afterwards he fell asleep and I finished my book whilst eating some orange peels covered in dark chocolate that I made earlier in the day.</p> <p>It was a lovely night <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/26/husbands-5111167/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>family-lifesexchocolatehousewifehttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/26/husbands-5111167/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/25/yippee-5107083/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-25:/2008/11/25/yippee-5107083/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:02:40 +0100 <p>Husband is home now. He's upstairs settling the kids back in bed and reading them stories. I've been up twice to read them books and give them milk, etc.</p> <p>But he's home now which means dinner and sex...yippee!</p> <p>For dinner I've made glazed gammon steaks. Glazed with redcurrant jelly and dijon mustard. We'll eat that with long grain rice, fried plantains and salad.</p> <p>And for sex...</p> <p>Hope you're having a good night wherever you are.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/25/yippee-5107083/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>sexfamily-lifehusbandfoodhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/25/yippee-5107083/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/25/just-one-of-those-days-5103975/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-25:/2008/11/25/just-one-of-those-days-5103975/Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:22:20 +0100 <p>It's a bit a weird day today. The temperature has really dropped and I'm feeling very cold for November. It's scary to think that winter doesn't even start until 22nd/23rd of December. I tried to go to the Post Office this morning after dropping JJ off at school and there were absolutely no spaces around the town centre. I want to send off my Christmas cards to America and to South America. I try to get all my Christmas chores out of the way before December, you know the boring stuff, the Christmas cards to relatives you never see or hear from and the obligatory X-mas present shopping. Then I can truly enjoy the Christmas season. I change all my CDs in the car for Christmas ones and we start decorating the house, which we'll do the first weekend of December when we get the tree. I love Christmas but I'm finding the lead up to it so boring.</p> <p>Today I'm taking my daughter to a Toddler and Parent group. I'll be making small talk with the other mums and singing Incy Wincy Spider for the gazillionth time. Then I'll go to my son's gymnastics session after school and watch him not obey the intructor and fall over many times while I cringe and bite my lip so I won't shout out "JJ PAY ATTENTION", "NOT LIKE THAT!"....haha Anyway, then it's dinner time at home, laundry, washing up, all the boring stuff. </p> <p>All I feel like doing is staying in bed all day having sex with my hubby, eating chocolate, and reading a good book, in that order <img src="/img/smilies/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/25/just-one-of-those-days-5103975/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>christmaskidslifefamily-lifehttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/25/just-one-of-those-days-5103975/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/24/good-food-page-5097106/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-24:/2008/11/24/good-food-page-5097106/Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:18:45 +0100 <p>I found a great website where you can find recipes and creat your own recipe box. It's called allrecipes.com. I like it because you can find recipes from around the world and people write in reviews with variations the've tried and suggestions for different ingredients, tips, etc. </p> <p>My favourite find so far is a recipe for a Passion Fruit Mousse. You see, I grew up in Venezuela, on the north coast of South America. So as a child I ate lots of tropical fruits all the time. Tropical fruit juices and fruit desserts were common place on our dining table. Now I'm trying to make an effort to recreate that same experience for my kids.</p> <p>I went to Tesco the other day and even though we don't live in a very multicultural area I felt I had gone shopping in Miami. I came back with tins of hearts of palm (in brine, like artichoke hearts), fresh plantains (like a big banana that can only be eaten once cooked), bags of ripe platain crisps, guava jam, Supermalt (a non alcoholic sweet guinness like drink with multivitamins), passion fruit juice, juice boxes of coconut water and dried mango slices. </p> <p>I've been making the kids croissants with cream cheese and guava. They love them. And they love their coconut water juice boxes. My husband loves the platain crisps and I must say I enjoy snacking on them on a rainy afternoon, sitting in my cosy front room, under a blanket whilst sipping a nice glass of chilled Supermalt. For a few minutes I'm 12 again. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/24/good-food-page-5097106/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>foodlatin-americalifehttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/24/good-food-page-5097106/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/23/my-funny-kids-page-5094861/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-23:/2008/11/23/my-funny-kids-page-5094861/Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:20:30 +0100 <p>My daughter Isa who is 2 and 1/2 years old was chasing her daddy with a toy magic wand saying over and over again "rrrrabbit!, rrrrabbit!". She had this furious look on her face and kept banging Daddy's head with the wand. She really wanted to turn him into a rabbit. The funniest thing is Daddy has two big gappy front teeth, I guess she thought he was half way there and all he needed were the ears and the fuzzy tail. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/23/my-funny-kids-page-5094861/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>family-lifekidshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/23/my-funny-kids-page-5094861/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/23/good-food-5092595/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-23:/2008/11/23/good-food-5092595/Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:19:45 +0100 <p>I am making crab cakes tonight. I've read a couple of recipes online but I've decided to adapt them slightly as most of them call for mayonnaise which I can't stand and I will be using sour cream instead.</p> <p>So I get the crabmeat and mix it with one egg, sour cream, mustard, and season with parsley, salt, pepper, and maybe some chilli. Mix it all with breadcrumbs or crushed crackers and then put them in the fridge for about 30 mins. Then fry them slightly about 5 mins on each side in sunflower oil. </p> <p>I'll probably serve that with chips and salad with avocado and sweetfire beetroot.</p> <p>I love good food and I love cooking. Hope you're all having enjoying good food wherever you are. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/23/good-food-5092595/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>foodrecipeshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/23/good-food-5092595/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/22/i-saw-the-funniest-thing-5081445/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-22:/2008/11/22/i-saw-the-funniest-thing-5081445/Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:42:33 +0100 <p>The other day I was driving down a winding B road when I spotted a pedestrian walking her pet. As I got closer I saw that the pedestrian was a huge sized woman, like a giantess. The pet she was walking appeared to be a dog and on closer inspection I could tell it was some sort of hairless chihuahua. It was really tiny so it only came up to her ankles. The poor thing was running so fast trying to keep up to her strides. I was about to point out the 'doggie' for my two year old sitting in the bank, but as we drove past them I noticed the dog only had three legs. I did a double take and drove on.</p> <p>To summarise, I saw a giantess walking her three-legged chihuahua in the middle of a country road. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/22/i-saw-the-funniest-thing-5081445/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>funnylifeobservationshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/22/i-saw-the-funniest-thing-5081445/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/17/i-hate-my-mum-in-law-continued-5051539/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-17:/2008/11/17/i-hate-my-mum-in-law-continued-5051539/Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:27:07 +0100 <p> I feel I need to present the rest of the family. Dylan is the youngest in his family. His older brother Ralph lives up north with his 'bit-on-the-side', Yvonne, whom he's engaged to now; more on that later. Dylan also has a sister, Marylin, who is the middle child. Marilyn just turned 40 years old, lives at home with Gale and almost all of our friends who meet her believe she's a lesbian. Everyone in the family denies this, seeing as in the past 10 years she's had many a boyfriend. Also to remind herself and others she likes men, she keeps pics of half-naked 'hunks' in her bedroom, on her desk, on her mobile, even on her Facebook profile.</p> <p>"It's a shame really", that seems to be the concensus about M's love life. By her own admission she is not the 'mummy' type, but she would have like to have found a man to commit to and who would commit to her. Unfortunately she meets the oddest men in the oddest places. She plays every sport under the sun, hockey, rugby, cricket, football, I know what you're thinking, but she's not a lesbian!, although she says about eighty percent of her friends are.</p> <p>I would have no problems with her being a lesbian. Personally I think if she did come out she'd be happier and suffer less bouts of depression. But her mum does frown upon "the gays"; one of Gale's many objectionable views. </p> <p>Now, don't start feeling too sympathetic towards Marilyn. She's can be really selfish, which is ironic. You would think that she would have put that selfish attitude into saying, "you know what!? I give up on men, I've always been into women so you can lump it!" But no, instead she is selfish in other ways. Mainly towards her family. She's utterly devoted to her friends. She's always been like this, Dylan explains to me. It hurts me a lot to see photos on Facebook of her gallavanting with her kids' friends in all sorts of places while she doesn't make an effort to see our kids, her own niece and nephew. She's doesn't show them any interest and in five years has only babysat once! She doesn't even call to see how they are. Not even on their birthdays,and I believe she wouldn't be able to tell you when their birthdays are. Truly the most painful thing is to know and have evidence to the fact that she has the ability and the motivation to do this for her mates' kids and not for ours. I mean, they are blood! And unfortunately Marilyn's their only auntie as I've got no sisters.</p> <p>I have a younger brother, Mario. At home I was the first born and the girl. In a Latin family that means a lot. It means you are groomed from the very beginning to be a matriarch. I was expected to excel at school and do chores at home. By the time I was a teenager I could run a household quite easily. I used to do the family's groceries shopping, helped with the cleaning, laundry, running errands, etc. And I was one of those annoying straight A's students with all the good report cards and teachers' notes on the fridge for every visitor to admire. </p> <p>My parents were a bit more lenient with my brother because he had a different temperament. He was more social (was allowed to be), he was more playful (had time to be), and was more affectionate (had less expectations on his shoulders). Mario was a cocky teenager, full of himself and uber-obnoxious. But he grew up, matured and learned from his mistakes. Now he's a well-adjusted member of society, earning a nice salary doing Finance for one of the world's largest banking corporations, is married and has a newborn son. He attends church regularly in the weekends, runs marathons, and best of all loves his niece and nephew.</p> <p>At first Mario was jealous of D, actually not really true, he once confessed to me after a big fight we had before D and I got married, that he was jealous of the relationship I had with D. He questioned why I was never like I was with D with him, fun and friendly. For a few years I had no affectionate feelings towards my brother, I found him abusive and manipulative. And I used to resent how my parents expected him to do less and be less 'perfect' which in a weird way made him excel in almost everything with half the effort I put into things.</p> <p>Fortunately, my brother understood that my relationship with D was totally different from mine and his and that as young adults we had the liberty to start to build a new brother-sister relationship with the benefit of hindsight, which we've done. We get along really well now, and D and him get on too. When we are over in the States my brother makes an effort in trying to get to know D more and spend time with the kids as he ony sees them about once a year.</p> <p>Now I can go back to the story about Dylan's brother, Ralph, which has an tremendous impact on the whole family and adds a considerable amount of mess to my relationship with G.</p> <p>Ralph is Gale's first boy. Her spitting image (with a penis). Likes the "good stuff" in life, posh houses, posh cars, posh clothes, Posh with a capital P. Except his story is more white trash than Palin's.</p> <p>As a youth Ralph was a bit, well I'll just say, he still supports Millwall, I hope that paints some sort of image for you. But if it doesn't, this guy is the kind of tosser who is nothing extraordianry but thinks he's God's gift to the world. He's a glorified car sales man, and has worked several jobs at very high levels. He's got the gift of the gab or is it gob?, I'm still learning my Brit expressions. So he's done fairly well for himself, but calls his mum with a sob story every few months about not being able to pay the mortgage even though he wears £500+ suits and is off on holidays constatly. </p> <p>I don't mean to sound envious or bitter. In fact, I find him a bit of a joke. To me he's the male form of 'mutton dressed as lamb'. But he's the twinkle in his mother's eye. That is, he is number 1 in her heart now, since Dylana's gone down the tottem pole or fallen off the pedestal altogether.</p> <p>To continue with the story of Ralph, gosh! I knew he was a prominet figure in all this, but I never thought I would be dedicating so much of this blog to the f****r. Right, he got Jill pregnant when he was 19 years old. Jill was 8 years older than him. His mum threw a fit but then forgave all and had the wedding at her house. Shotgun wedding over, baby Vanessa is born. The family loved her, Dylan was very close to her as he was a very young uncle indeed and used to spend a lot of time playing with her. Then Jill and Ralph have baby number too, Matt, who looks like Jill's mum which Gale doesn't like. The family loved baby Matt.</p> <p>Then Ralph moved Jill and his kids up north where Jill's family lived and settled there for 20 years. Off on business trips he met Yvonne and started relationship with her while still married to Jill. Kept going backwards and forwards between Jill and Yvonne. Messed the kids up. The "kids" were 19 years old and 16 years old by then, which is a very critical stage in anyone's life. Add to the stresses of that age what's going on with your dad's mid-life crisis and BOOM!</p> <p>Vanessa started defending her mum and having a go at her dad which Gale could not tolerate. At first Gale wasn't pleased about having to accept Yvonne, but then took to it like duck on water and started bad mouthing Jill who had been so loving towards her for years. Jill was the perfect daughter-in-law, didn't share her opinions and just went with the flow; but then again she only had to see her in-laws a few times a year and had her own family right next door. I think I could have been a loving daughter-in-law in those conditions, unfortunately mine was a different fortune. </p> <p>Things between Vanessa and Raph detereorated pretty quickly to the point of no return. He wasn't at her wedding and hasn't met her baby. Gale and Marilyn have also received the same treatment for taking Ralph's side and forgiving all his trespasses without considering Jill, Vanessa, and Matt's needs. </p> <p>Dylan and I are on a different wavelength and don't approve of Ralph's behaviour. We feel what he did was truly awful, espcially not ending the relationship with Jill straight away once he was with Yvonne. And what we can't forget is that the mid-life crisis turned out to be the same kettle of fish, now he's engaged, he's got another mortgage, baby C, and another baby on the way. So it's like he deleted his old life and uploaded a new one. </p> <p>What we can't understand and will never know, I suppose, is how it all came about. Jill and Ralph were made for eachother, they were affectionate with each other even in public, which is not a very British thing to do so it's unsual to see. They used to 'read' each other's minds when we played pictionary and win every round. Jill was slim, beautiful, kind, funny and seemed to still find Ralph attractive. The kids were typically difficult teenagers but nice and interesting people. </p> <p>I am still in touch with Vanessa. Dylan and I are the only ones in this side of the family who have met her baby. Dylan keeps a safe distance and sends her messages through me. It's a bone of contention to the rest of the family that I dare to speak to 'she' who spoke her mind and told her father some home truths.</p> <p>So now you're getting a better idea of the kind of person Gale is. The sort of person who disowns her favourite and first-born granddaughter for having opinions different to her own and daring to express them. I envy Vanessa in so many ways. I don't have the luxury to block her out of my life entirely as Gale's still my kids' grandmother, even though she doesn't act like it; more on that later. And Gale's still my husband's mother who cared for him when he was younger and for the last ten years has made him cry several times, punch a hole through a wooden door, and scream his misery at the top of his lungs too many times at home behind closed doors... but never at her. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/17/i-hate-my-mum-in-law-continued-5051539/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>lifehttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/17/i-hate-my-mum-in-law-continued-5051539/#commentshttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/17/i-hate-my-mum-in-law-5050779/tag:myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk,2008-11-17:/2008/11/17/i-hate-my-mum-in-law-5050779/Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:36:11 +0100 <p>I hate my mum-in-law and she hates me, but it didn't always used to be like this. It all started when we met each other. You see, my husband and I met about 10 years ago in an online chat room when the World Wide Web and chatting rooms were all the rage. My dad, had bought a new iMac, the coolest computer at the time, and had signed up for a dial-up Internet connection. We were keeping up to our neighbours in our gated community in the middle of Florida. At the same time my husband Dylan, who lived in London, had also been given a iMac by his mum's boss. So in retrospect, I guess we would have never met if his mum hadn't brought home that computer for Dylan....scary.</p> <p>Anyway, as I said we met in a chat room. It was totally random. He was chatting to another girl in the States about going to Florida for a family holiday in the coming Spring and he was asking her whether she knew what the weather was like over there at that time of the year. So I butted in and I replied "I'm in Florida!". And now 10 years later we're married, we live in England, have two kids, a mortgage and a goldfish.</p> <p>I hardly had any contact with his family until we were engaged. Dylan and I met in person about 3 months after first meeting in that chat room. We really liked eachother at this stage. We had been on the phone to eachother every day and chatted online as much as we could, which was a bit tricky seeing as most of the time we had a five hour difference. Dylan often had to stay up really late at night. And I would wake up in the middle of the night to call him before he went off to work. </p> <p>The first time we met was when he came to visit me at my parents' house as I still lived at home. I was only 19 years old and studying psychology at University. Dylan was 27 years old and had been working for the same Oil Company for about 11 years. I opened the door and I saw him for the first time; I really liked him! I found him attractive, phew! I knew he found me attractive because I had sent him a photo of myself before we met; "for men, love comes in through the eyes " and I din't want to waste my time or his if he didn't find me attractive. Lucky for me D had always been fascinated by Latin looking women with dark hair and dark eyes. I'm sure the fact that I had long hair, big boobs and a nice round bottom also helped.</p> <p>My parents was a bit sceptic about the whole thing. For starters they thought he was too old for me (8 year age gap) and he was from a different culture (Me: Venezuelan/American, Him: Plain White British). At home Spanish is our first language, we ate mainly Latin American dishes, listened to Hispanic radio and to Latin music, my parents only watched Hispanic TV channnels, our friends and their friends were Hispanic, well you get the picture. And on top of all that my parents are devout Catholics and are really involved in many church activities and were aprehensive about me even thinking about dating anyone with a Jewish surname. </p> <p>So from my parents' points of view, there were lots of obstacles from the beginning. But as soon as my parents met Dylan they really liked him and all their apprehensions melted away. He just wins people over immediately. He's shy but can converse really well. He's attentive, kind, and very funny. They could see his intentions towards me were honourable. Not at all like the Punk Jewish Liverpudlian Hooligan they expected to meet.</p> <p>Long story shortened, we dated long-distance for a year and then got engaged. That's when I first came to England and my mum-in-law laid eyes on me. The look in her face will stay with me forever. That's the start of this 'wicked web'.</p> <p>I believe that, unlike my parents reaction towards Dylan, whatever apprehensions Gale (Mum-in-Law) had of me never really melted away, and not for lack of trying. Gale is the sort of person that once she's labelled something or has made a decision upon something she will not change it, no matter what, even if it means losing something dear to her. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/17/i-hate-my-mum-in-law-5050779/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>familyhttp://myordinaryfascinatinglife.blog.co.uk/2008/11/17/i-hate-my-mum-in-law-5050779/#comments