2016-01-15T09:00:09+00:00

Just Jot in January 15th – Leadership

January 15, 2016/Judy E Martin/31 Comments

For today’s prompt for Just Jot it January by Linda, we have been given ‘leadership.’ Now, I have never really thought of myself as being a leader or having the necessary qualities to become one. Having always been quiet and shy, telling others what to do, or being responsible for their actions is something that would not appeal to me at all when I was younger. I would much rather blend in, and do my job, asking for help when needed or perhaps show someone else how to do something, but almost be apologetic about if for knowing more than they did.

However, there are times in life when it is essential to take charge of a situation, be it work, social or domestic if things are to run smoothly. Surprisingly, I kind of fell into a leadership role without thinking too much about it. My ex-husband bought a cafe which he later converted into a kebab shop. I had to help run them both which meant that I was in charge of several staff, some of whom were his or my family members, or both! As you can imagine, it did get a bit fraught at times, but I managed to maintain relationships as well as help keep the business running smoothly.

Of course, as soon as we have children then, like it or not, we become role models and definitely need to hone our leadership skills, as children pick up on the slightest hesitancy or inconsistency as I have found to my cost! If we want them to grow up into decent, caring, honest and hard-working adults, then we have to lead by example. When they don’t behave as we want them to, then we also have to find a way to change this, which is where things can get tricky!

I remember when I worked in an office of a holiday brochure distribution company, having quite a strict boss. He was a director of the company in his 40s and could get quite shirty at times, as well as being pretty rude. (His people skills were not the best). However, the thing that I respected about him, was that apparently he had started off at this company as a young lad of 16 emptying the rubbish, then worked his way up to the top. This meant he knew all aspects of the business inside out, and when they were short staffed in the warehouse, he rolled his sleeves up and went down there to help them out.

I have realised over the years, that being a good leader is not about strutting around, shouting orders to others expecting them to bow down to your every command (well it is pretty handy in the military), it is much more complex than that. There are many qualities to being a good leader, like treating others with respect, and mucking in together when needed, as well as listening to and learning from others. I know that when needed, I can step up and be a leader!

Just Jot it January 13th – Sacrifice

January 13, 2016/Judy E Martin/32 Comments

For Linda’s Just Jot it January today, we have been given ‘sacrifice’ for our prompt word. This to me, is quite a weighty word, especially when you consider the original meaning of offering up the life of an animal or person to a God. However, we now tend to use it to mean giving something up that we value for the sake of helping someone else, or doing something else.

In the society that we live in, we are often told that it is possible to ‘have it all.’ Successful careers, well-adjusted children, a good education, happy marriages, and domestic bliss. Really? I am not sure that we can truly achieve all of those things without some kind of sacrifice.

Looking back at the 1950’s for example, in the era when many women stayed home to look after the children, and men were the main breadwinners working long hours to support their families, it is clear that neither sex had it all. Yes, the children may grow up being lovingly nurtured by their mother, but many hardly saw their fathers who went out to work before they were awake and came home when they were in bed.

The good education that a woman may have received would not be fully utilised, as many gave up work as soon as they married, and did not pursue any of their own interests, some were actually discouraged from doing so! A happy marriage may well be enjoyed by both, but I would not be surprised if there may have been a bit of resentment from the wife, striving to achieve domestic bliss with homecooked meals and a spotless house, plus always looking her best for when her husband came home.

Fast forward to the present day, and a whole range of changes. Men and women are no longer expected to conform to stereotypes. We have moved on considerably, and now women are no longer expected to stay at home keeping house, they can go out to work, get whatever education they like, and still manage to raise a family. This is the same as men have always been able to do (well except for keeping house of course, but now many men choose to do this for various reasons). We also have same-sex couples, some of whom are bringing up children, but the problems remain the same, we all want to be able to ‘have it all.’

Something surely has got to give. Some people employ nannies and housekeepers so that they can work and not have to worry about the house and kids. Some have one partner staying at home whilst the other goes out to work. Some put off having children to establish their career first, others do it the other way around, having children young, then try to forge a career. It sounds to me like quite a few sacrifices are being made in order to ‘have it all.’

Do you agree, have you managed to find a way to have it all?

The Great Book of Lists Chapter 1: Treasures From Childhood

January 5, 2016/Judy E Martin/25 Comments

La Duchesse d’Erat has come up with a brilliant new challenge where you make lists on a range of topics which changes every week. The idea is at the end, you have a whole host of lists that are filled with memories, humour, and all kinds of other emotions experienced. If you want to get involved, check it out here

The first list is regarding childhood treasures. I always think it is lovely to look back to those carefree days and remember some of those special moments. So here is my list.

Spending summer days at the beach with the family. We always went prepared! Ice box, windbreakers, dinghy, buckets and spades, more food, flasks of coffee, spare clothes, towels, and of course, yet more food!
My Nans. Both of my nans were characters in their own way. As I may have mentioned before, they lived next door to each other when we were very young. Both were strict, formidable women, who were bloody hard workers. They were also damn good cooks, and many a good meal was had at both of their houses!
Our golden labrador Jasper. We used to live on quite a busy road which was just opposite an alleyway that took you to the local recreation ground right next to a primary school. Jasper was a regular Houdini and my mum had many a phone call from the irate school caretaker telling her that the dog had got into the swimming pool again! (Yes, school used to have their own pools when I was young)!
My exchange partner Gudrun. When I was 13 the school organised a German exchange trip, for two weeks we would be hosts to a German child and then we would go and stay with them for another two weeks. There were other schools taking part and we all had a fantastic laugh. I went again the next year with the school, and the year after, we did it on our own in the school holidays. Gudrun and her family were absolutely lovely and we stayed in touch for years afterwards.
My record player. I had one of those little box type record players with the long spindle bit in the middle where you could stack a few records in a row (mind you, when you had about 4 on there and some of them were warped, they did not always play properly)! I have always loved music and my records were a huge part of my childhood.

So there are a few snippets from my childhood. Why not join in the challenge.

A Christmas ‘Thank you’

December 26, 2015/Judy E Martin/44 Comments

Christmas for me was waking up at 4.30! I had told Miss Hap not to wake me before at least 5.30 am but I couldn’t sleep, so went downstairs as quietly as I could. Not 2 minutes later I heard the galloping of excited footsteps, and she burst into the front room all wide-eyed and excited. Needless to say, we got stuck int to the business of present unwrapping!

My sister (Mrs Masterchef) and her husband (Mr Musician) were our hosts for Christmas dinner, and along with us, my mum and my niece were going to be there.

As always a huge amount of thought and organisation had gone into the day. From the personalised table settings to the egg tree decoration in the centre of the table (my sister had blown some eggs and decorated them in glitter, putting our names on each one, plus one for my niece’s bump) to the fantastic menu (turkey, beef and gammon).

Just before we were to eat, we sat around the table to partake in the ‘silly present’ giving that they love to do. We all get to pick a random present which is usually something funny. As you can see from the pics, Miss Hap had some lovely new ears, and my niece had some rather fetching ‘fly glasses’

I had been a little bit down when I first arrived, due to one thing and another, but Mrs Masterchef went out of her way to make me feel better, as did Mr Musician.

We had a brilliant day. The meal was superb.Not only did we have all that meat but there were sausages wrapped in bacon, home-made stuffing balls, the most massive Yorkshire puddings you ever saw, dauphinoise potatoes as well as roasties, and cauliflower with cashew nuts. To say we were stuffed was an understatement! In fact, there was no room even later on, for the chocolate and maraschino cherry trifle with Kirch.

My niece’s husband arrived around 5 pm as he works on the railways and had finished one night shift, and was about to start another. Mrs Masterchef had plated him up a meal which he tucked into whilst we all chatted together round the table.

Some of us braved the drizzle and wind to go for a walk with Milo their labrador as we needed to burn off a bit of room to be able to sit down comfortably! It was a pleasant walk, looking at all the Christmas lights around the neighbourhood as we went.

Once we got back it was into the front room to play some games. Miss Hap got ‘Articulate’ for Christmas this year from my mum, so we started with that. Well, once we had argued over the rules that is! We had a few laughs with that especially as mum didn’t quite get the gist of the game at first and gave some rather bizarre clues that no-one had a hope fo guessing!

Around 10 pm we were all tired and came home. My sister and her husband must have been exhausted but they never gave any indication of it.

I know my sister reads my blog, and although I have thanked her, I just wanted to share with everyone just how much of a star she really is. Her own daughter and step-children were doing their own things this year, so her and Mr Musician could have just spent Christmas on their own, or gone away, but being the type of people they are, they wanted to share it with family, and make everyone else’s day special which they certainly did.

Being Neighbourly.

December 19, 2015/Judy E Martin/45 Comments

I might have mentioned before that I live on quite a large square. There are 7 houses along each little row with parking spaces in the middle. It is not a huge area, and I have been here for 12 years since Miss Hap was three months old.

Most of my neighbours have been here for the same amount of time, with a few exceptions of some ‘newcomers’ that have been here for a couple of years. It is surprising though how little I know about any of them. I tend to nod or say ‘hello’ to some of them in passing, and sometimes even have a little chat, but that is about it.

I have written all my Christmas cards out, except for the few that I give to the neighbours. Problem was, I didn’t know half of their names or those of their kids, which resulted in a quick text to Miss Hap (who was having a sleepover at her friend’s) to ask her to fill me in which she did.

Me and Mr Grump had to pop out this morning, but I was not feeling too good at all. My head was all over the place and I didn’t want to go out, but I did and quickly dished out a couple of the cards I had written giving the rest to Mr Grump to give out.

I moaned at him when he got to the car thinking he had pushed one through the wrong letterbox, but he hadn’t. That was me, I realised. I had given a card to next door that was meant for someone else! Embarrassingly, I had not written them one at that point either as they were the ones that I didn’t know all of their names as they had only been there for 2 years! The ones whose card it was have lived in the same house for twelve years and their daughter grew up with mine, being good friends!

As it was, one of the cards I put the house number, as nobody knew the name of the family, despite us always saying hello and them coming round to pick up parcels that we take in if they are out when the postman comes.

Just before dinner tonight, there was a knock at the door and I could hear Mr Grump laughing and talking. When he came in he had a card with him and a box of chocolates. I opened the card but was none the wiser when I saw who it was from, as I didn’t recognise any of the names. It turns out it was the family we had taken parcels in for, thanking us for it with the gift.What a nice thing to do.

I still feel bad that I didn’t have a clue what their names are though!

If I Were To Make A Christmas Card….

December 16, 2015/Judy E Martin/26 Comments

Geoff over at Tangental has offered out a challenge to choose a Christmas card that we would send out using a favourite picture.

I too have gone with the collage idea, incorporating some of the things that mean Christmas to me. You won’t be surprised to see my Christmas tree or even some homemade mince pies, but I had to put my Christmas gravy boat in there as well! Of course, Christmas is also about children, and in keeping with being a cool mum (ahem, well I think I am), there is a selfie of me and Miss Hap with our Christmas hats on (Grump is a bit of a Grinch at Christmas so I left him off)!!!! However, I had to include the dog! Look at beautiful little Roxy with her pretty silver bow.

Thanks for the idea Geoff!

I Would Tell You Over A Coffee

December 12, 2015/Judy E Martin/18 Comments

Time for a coffee break and a catch-up. Pull up a chair, sit down with your beverage of choice, and let me fill you in on what’s been happening over here at Edwina’s Episodes.

I would tell you over a coffee...that I am almost ready for Christmas. I have even wrapped some of my presents which makes me feel all festive now. We are going over to my younger sister’s this year for Christmas day so I am lucky enough to have a meal waiting for me when I finish work, and having BoxingDay off means I don’t have to worry about going to bed early Christmas night!

I would tell you over a coffee…that I am getting excited about the arrival of my great niece/nephew who is due in February (a couple of days before my 50th birthday actually). The last baby we had in the family was actually my own daughter, which was 12 years ago now! I have already been looking at all the cute little baby outfits that are around at the moment, and can’t wait to go baby shopping when it arrives.

I would tell you over a coffee…that I am settling into my job quite nicely now. I really have met some lovely patients and was actually quite touched when I bumped into one of them at one of the GP surgeries. He came bowling up to me putting his arm round me and asked me when his ‘trolley’ was coming (he wanted me to refer him for a walking aid). He and his wife are such happy, cheery people, always laughing when I go round there, despite their combined health problems.

I would tell you over a coffee…that I am still working on the novel that I wrote for NaNoWriMo. Thank goodness for my fellow bloggers too, who are helping me out with it.

I would tell you over a coffee…that myself and Mr Grump are trying to resist growing older, but it is now catching us out. Neither of us wear our glasses much ( I have to for work, but never do at home), but when we went to my sister’s a couple of weeks ago and ended up playing a game, neither of us could see properly to read the questions out, so ended up sharing my sister’s reading glasses! We were due eyes tests last week and both of us need stronger prescriptions now too, so have had to order new glasses! Contact lenses are out of the question, as I cannot poke about with my eyes, no way! Damn you middle age!

3 Day Quote Challenge: Day 3

November 30, 2015/Judy E Martin/16 Comments

My dear friend Erika has nominated me to take part in this challenge again. Please visit her blog for a daily dose of music, wisdom and enlightenment. I am so pleased she nominated me for this challenge as it is one of my favourites.

Challenge rules:

Post 3 quotes on 3 consecutive days
Thank the person who nominated you
Nominate 3 new bloggers each single day of the challenge

In light of the season, and recent events, I am going with a theme of thankfulness, and the ‘quotes’ are my own.

For the last day, after posting on family and work, this post will be about leisure. and of course, you all know what my favourite leisure activity is 🙂

For me, being a part of the blogging community is having a wealth of taleneted,empathetic, funny, and articualte people as my neighbours who are always there for a chat and a bit of advice.

Judy Martin 2015.

I would like to nominate the following to take part if they fancy it 🙂

Nick

Anand

Tess

3 Day Quote Challenge: Day 1

November 28, 2015/Judy E Martin/14 Comments

Challenge rules:

Post 3 quotes on 3 consecutive days
Thank the person who nominated you
Nominate 3 new bloggers each single day of the challenge

In light of the season, and recent events, I am going with a theme of thankfulness, and the ‘quotes’ are my own.

I am kicking off with family. As you can see, I have included a montage of some of my motley crew!

Family: They see at your tantrum throwing, projectile puking,snotty snivelling worst – but still love you anway!

Judy Martin 2015.

I would like to nominate the following to take part, if they fancy it 🙂

Tonya.

David

Some of my (rather large) family!

TJ’s Household Haiku Challenge – Meal and Friendship

November 15, 2015/Judy E Martin/21 Comments

TJ has given us ‘meal’ and ‘friendship’ for the weekly household challenge prompt words this week which seem to me to fit together perfectly.

Here is my attempt at it:

Mum’s Birthday Tea

Family gathers

The meal, long since been eaten

Friendship lingers on,

Rhyme and No Reason!

Blogger, author and rhymester who likes to find the humour in life.

Tag: family

Just Jot in January 15th – Leadership

Just Jot it January 13th – Sacrifice

The Great Book of Lists Chapter 1: Treasures From Childhood

A Christmas ‘Thank you’

Being Neighbourly.

If I Were To Make A Christmas Card….

I Would Tell You Over A Coffee

3 Day Quote Challenge: Day 3

3 Day Quote Challenge: Day 1

TJ’s Household Haiku Challenge – Meal and Friendship

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Blogger, author and rhymester who likes to find the humour in life.

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