‘I love those people who can make me laugh during those moments when I feel like I can’t even smile.’
This post is inspired by LindaGHill
Tag: happy
So here we are, sadly at the end of this amazing Blogging From A-Z Challenge. I have really enjoyed it, made some new blogging friends and played with some fantastic words! To our final letter then which is the lovely zig-zaggy litter ‘Z’. Now I was gong to have a little cheat here and use ‘zaftig’ kindly donated to me by the lovely Wendy. However, it was not a word I was familiar with although it perfectly describes me (woman with a rounded figure) I might do something on it at a later date. So the word I did choose is another one that I love the sound of…………
Zingy. This is a great sounding word, it is vital and vivacious, alert and ready to take on the day ahead. It is enthusiastic, and energetic, zealous and zesty. This is the feeling you have after a great night’s sleep followed by a refreshing shower; it is bouncy and buoyant, animated and activated. Feeling on top form, dynamic and ebullient, nothing can get you down.
I wanted to end on a high note so have pulled out all the stops to make this word sound as happy and bright as it should be. I am exhausted now!
I am excited to be taking part in the lovely Caitlin’s Daydreamer Challenge and we are now on day two. Please check out Caitlin’s excellent blog The Teen Daydreamer if you haven’t already done so as it is filled with all sorts of delights from insightful posts to making cakes!
For today, Caitlin wants us to know all about us. we have the choice of writing all about a photograph that says something about us or is a good representation of who we are or we can use a word that describes us, plus make a new one up for good measure! As I think I have adequately described myself here I am going with the photo that is about who I am.
Actually, it is not easy trying to find a photo that represents me! I could choose one of me with family, as that is very important to me, or perhaps a beach (particularly Weymouth) as I do so love the seaside, maybe even my lovely (if not annoying) yellow car! No, the photo I have chosen is one of my graduation from University last year.
The reason I chose this as it represents a few things about me. Firstly, my constant quest for knowledge. I love to learn new things, and like to try to keep my mind as active as I can. This also represents my job which I do love. I studied for two years at university so am not a Registered nurse. At 45-year-old (at the time of applying), I didn’t know if I would cope academically with the three-year course, as it had been so long since I had been at school! Confidence has never been my strong point, However, I the passed the course with merit, so needn’t have worried, and met some wonderful people as well. It was a proud day for me but also a sad one as my dad had died at the beginning of my second year so never actually saw me complete the course.
So there you have it, me in a nutshell; I love laughing, learning , nursing, and nurturing. I am clumsy, mumsy, caring and sharing! Oh and an ‘eccentric’ in training!
Some people are very romantic, professing their love every day, popping the question after a whirlwind courtship. They then have a beautiful wedding topped off with a honeymoon to a gorgeous location. They settle into a lovely routine together, and then decide to start a family….Ah wedded bliss.
One lady in the south-west of England, had such a wonderful marriage, She and her scuba diving instructor husband lived a comfortable and happy life together, despite the fact that when they first met he was married. Fast forward six years, and he is newly divorced and ready to marry again.
Thing go well for the first few years, but times being hard the husband worked away quite a bit to keep the money coming in, as by now the wife had given up work to look after the daughter they had together. Sometimes he only came home once or twice a month, but they were still happy and in love.
You can imagine the wife’s surprise when out of the blue she got a call from her mother-in-law expressing her sorrow that she and her son had now got divorced. Not only that but there were pictures on Facebook (don’t you just love it) of him marrying his new love!
To add insult to injury, not only was he a bigamist, but he got married in the same place where he had taken his wife on their honeymoon AND he used the same Best Man (who was unaware that the groom was not divorced). Apparently he had been leading a double life for three years without either of the ‘wives’ realising!
He ended up getting 18 weeks, yes only 18 weeks in jail for bigamy, and his excuse was that he ‘put the cart before the horse’ Priceless!
His new wife is standing by him and he has finally started divorce proceedings against his previous one.
I bet he’s had enough of wedding cake for now!
Here we are at my 100th Episode! I have decided that this one is going to be an upbeat and positive one! No mention of anxiety or weight gain allowed! Focus on the happy, that’s the order of the day! As you may already know, music is something that makes me happy, and I have taken my inspiration for today’s episode from my local radio station! One of the presenters chats to a guest about music throughout their life, and I am going to write my take on it!
On the day that I was born, ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ by Nancy Sinatra was number 1 in the UK charts. A good strong song, by a feisty woman, with a no-nonsense message! That’ll do for me; even if I still quite haven’t got the degree of feistiness that she has yet! I am getting there though. I am not as shy, by any means, as I was, and have become much more assertive.
One of the first records that I bought with my pocket-money was ‘Morning side of The Mountain’ By Donny and Marie Osmond.That was probably influenced by my older sister who worshipped the Osmonds, Donny in particular. I did however, love them as well, and luckily, as she was older than me and could afford to buy their albums, I spent many a happy time with her listening to them.
As a little footnote to that story, about 10 years ago, Donny was performing at Leeds Castle, which was not too far away from where we live, My sister and her friend had got tickets, and invited me to go with them. It was wonderful. Beautiful surroundings on a balmy summer evening (no, it didn’t rain). He had a few large screens up which showed pictures of his family as they were then (which made me cry when I saw how old they all looked). The mostly middle-aged female crowd of around 6500, still swooned, and crooned along with him, singing his most popular numbers.
As a teenager, I was into all sorts of music, but I particularly remember ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ by Rainbow, as well as Meatloaf’s ‘ Bat out Of Hell’ album. My Mum and step-dad used to go away at weekends sometimes in their caravan by themselves. My older sister and brother would look after us, which was great as we would inevitably have a house party! I remember extremely loud music, loads of teenagers, and a lot of smoking and drinking going on! However, it was pretty innocent really, as we never got busted.
I left home at 18 to join the army, which is where I originally met Mr Grump. For me ‘Love Is A Battlefield’ and ‘We Belong’ by Pat Benetar pretty much summed up our relationship back then! I also used to listen to a lot of Bruce Springsteen with my best mate Karen as well. She was responsible for Mr Grump and I getting back together 25 years later!
The song at my wedding to Miss Hap’s father was ‘Eternal Flame’ by the Bangles. a beautiful song, and it was a good day; unfortunately though,the flame went out!
When I was in labour with Miss Hap, my two sisters were with me in the delivery room. It was a boiling hot evening around 11pm and I knew my daughter was about to be born. We had brought some CDs in with us to while away the hours, and for a bit of distraction. Anyway, as Miss Hap came into this world Tom Jones was belting out ‘It’s Not Unusual’. Probably not the first choice for many, but I love that number!
My step-dad was very good with Miss Hap when she was a baby, I had moved back home with him and Mum just before she was born, and they both doted on her. He would proudly push her pram around the town when we went out, and was very good at soothing her when she cried (or bellowed, as she was VERY loud)! Sadly, he became ill with lung cancer and died when my daughter was only 4 years old . My Mum chose ‘ The Power of Love’ by Jennifer Rush for the funeral. A very emotional song that is still quite hard to listen to.
Mr Grump and I decided that we would have a small, family wedding, and luckily for us, my brother-in-law is a very good musician and singer. We chose ‘Chasing Cars’ by Snow Patrol as one of the songs we would like him to sing for us, which was wonderful. He also sang ‘Hotel California’ by the Eagles which we all love, and everyone sang along. A very touching moment. He and my sister recorded it for our 1st anniversary which was brilliant.
My Dad always loved the musical ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. I think he and my step-mum had been to see it several times. When he sadly died a couple of years ago, she chose a couple of the songs from it for his funeral. However, for me, it was the hymn ‘Going Home’ that was more poignant, as well as very apt.
I know I said I was going to be upbeat, and yet I have included some songs that have been at terribly sad occasions. However, they still evoke happy memories of two men that were very influential and positive figures in my life. It’s funny how we associate songs with people as well as events in our lives.
I hope you have enjoyed my little musical trip down memory lane.
I do love to listen to music
It really brightens my day
When I am feeling all down and depressive
I dig out some good records to play!
Although my taste is now dated
It doesn’t really matter to me
I can still strut my stuff in my front room
To Spandau Ballet or perhaps ABC!
What about good old Madonna?
She is still going strong
Or perhaps a tune by The Communards
Will have me singing along!
My husband likes to show me his ‘twerking’
To hits that are from yesteryear
It will always set me off laughing
As he is seriously lacking a rear!
Some songs can make me so happy
That I just want to get up and dance
Others will make me all weepy
Remembering a failed young romance!
I am very thankful for music
For lifting me when I am low
It is something that I can rely on
To persuade some of the sadness to go!
Well 2014 has been quite a year for me in more ways than one! The beginning of the year started pretty quietly, nothing untoward. March was a bittersweet month, On the one hand Mr Grump got made redundant from his job,which was a major worry, and on the other, it was my graduation from University, which I was very excited about. It was a wonderful day seeing all of the friends I made, plus sharing the occasion with Mr Grump and my younger sister.
Luckily Mr Grump managed to find a job quite quickly which he loves, so it turned out to be a blessing in disguise that he lost the other one. We also had the results back from the eleven plus test that Miss Hap took. She passed with flying colours, which meant that she was eligible to go to the Grammar School. Everyone was so proud of her, and she herself was thrilled that she actually did it!
May was Miss Hap’s 11th birthday, and after a massive panic getting her a passport on time, she had a wonderful time in Disneyland Paris with her natural father, as well as the celebrations we had for her at home. Not long after this her place was confirmed at the Grammar, and we had all gone to have a look around it.
Then everything came crashing down for me, and I suffered a severe bout of depression which I could not shake off, I was unable to go to work (or even go out) for two months and it was an awful time for us all. Slowly,with a lot of help I got back on an even keel, and things returned to normal.
In October I decided to stop smoking, after 35 years (my entire adult life, plus some of my childhood as well). Although I am still smoke free, I have been tempted on more than one occasion to take it up again, especially as I kept getting throat infections, and other illnesses I thought I wouldn’t get as often being a ‘non smoker’!
A couple of weeks before I gave up smoking I took up blogging on the suggestion of my younger sister. This has proved to be a massive boost for me. I have really enjoyed writing the posts, although some have been silly, some serious, and one upset the school orchestra (oops), I hope that on the whole they have been funny or amusing which is what I intended them to be when I started.
I am privileged to have ‘met’ some wonderful people in the three months that I have been blogging. I cannot believe how supportive and friendly everyone has been to me. I didn’t know what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised at the response I have had to my blog, I have also come across so many blogs that have touched me in some way, and I would just like to give some of them a mention, (Thanks to A Momma’s View for the inspiration):
The very end of the year has also been a bit of a challenge for me in some ways; I will be glad that tomorrow is the start of a new year.
I would like to wish you all a Very Happy New Year, and I look forward to continuing to enjoy your blogs inn 2015!
I have decided to take part in ‘NaBloPoMo’ (National blog post month) which entails posting every day throughout the month of November. Although I have only been blogging for just over a month, I have found that I am really enjoying it! I also love reading other people’s blogs; there are so many interesting, talented and funny people out there, and I am thrilled to be part of this huge blogging community….
I don’t have any special talents; I am useless at DIY (the clock in my front room is hiding a lovely gouge in the wall where I was let loose with a drill once), I am not at all arty or crafty (I do attempt sewing on a regular basis, despite the fact that most of my projects involve a lot of swearing, unpicking, wonky seams, and items that don’t quite fit properly).However, I DO love words, and making people laugh if I can…..
As we all know, life can be a struggle at times, we all get days where everything goes wrong, or we feel hopeless, or useless (I get those all the time),and there are other days where everything goes perfectly, or something has struck you as funny, and has left you with a smile on your face all day!
We all need a bit of laughter in our lives; yes, things do go wrong of course, we have all had moments where we have felt stupid or made fools of ourselves, but rather than dwell on them, cringing with embarrassment, I prefer to just write about it, and laugh at myself (or others)! If I can make someone else smile or laugh whilst reading my silliness, then so much the better!
You can expect from my blog, just the musings, ranting and silliness that makes up everyday life, which I hope most people will be able to relate to in some way, I do not lead a glamorous life, or go travelling to lots of wonderful and exotic places, nor will there be delicious recipes to tempt you, or beautiful things that I have made to inspire you, No, afraid not, (well I might post the odd pic to show off if something that I have made if it actually turns out as it is supposed to, for once)!
I will however, be writing about myself and my family, mainly Mr Grump (long-suffering husband),and Miss Hap (beautiful, feisty, but clumsy daughter, hence the nickname). I do have a load of other family members who might make the odd appearance now and again, plus we have a beautiful little dog, who also gets a mention.
I work part-time in a very busy hospital ward, and along with my fellow nursing staff, look after 27 elderly patients, which in itself can be pretty challenging as well as rewarding at times. Occasionally funny things happen at work which I also like to write about. In fact, I like to write about anything and everything.
So in a nutshell, that’s me and my blog. Please feel free to leave any comments, it’s always lovely to hear from people, I hope you find something here that resonates with you, and raises a smile!
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