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Another sister found!

Posted by on April 21, 2008 Leave a Comment

Over the last 18 months, my and I have been trying to track down three of our sisters who were taken away from the family. One went with her father when he split with our mother, the other two were put up for adoption.

We regained contact with the first in February 2007, due to Tony (my brother) discovering that he worked with someone who knew her and it snowballed from there culminating in us finally exchanging IM details, addresses and mobile phone numbers and have kept in touch since. She didn’t remember any of us (except Tony) and was taken away at a very early age so it’s been around 25 years since we saw her last. I managed to visit her in March this year and spent a couple of hours at her home.

This left two to find. These were much harder as they had been adopted and there was every possibilty that their names had been changed. To be honest, it was hard to find somewhere to start so I tracked down their original which confirmed they’d been adopted and then contacted the local . Due to being pregnany, I let searching fall by the wayside and didn’t chase up the services to see if they’d discovered anything and was thinking about taking back up the search over the next few weeks.

So, imagine my surprise when Tony calls me early Friday evening, all excited and told me that the second sister (his full sister, my ) had been in touch! She’s only been wanting to find us for the last 10 years. It turns out that Tony dated her best friend when she was 16 and happened to have a photograph of him which she spotted a few nights ago. They then trawled up and down a street looking for his best friend’s house and she left her mobile number with his parents. We’ve spent the weekend catching up and filling her in on the (skeletons and all!) So it’s been quite a . The craziest part is that Laura got in touch with us all on her 29th birthday (Friday 18th April) 27 years later!

So now we just have one more to find. Once again, I’ve spoken to the adoption services and they’re going to call me back (hopefully today!) and see if we can chase her down. Obviously they won’t give me her contact details but I’m hoping they will contact her for me and that she or her parents still live at the contact address they have. Otherwise it could become a costly endeavour.

Wish me luck!

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Back in the land of the living

Posted by on March 21, 2008 Leave a Comment

I’ve been ill! *sulks* And none of you even noticed! Well, except for . So I’m going to sit here and be all sulky for a minute or two!

Okay, done!

So, yeah, I had a crappy cold which had me dosed up to the 9s with which don’t work but gave me something to do and the desire to do nothing but feel sorry for myself. Wednesday was the worst day, especially as we had to go to a parents thing at school for the boys – which was fun… Actually it was, as we were in the English room and discovered the had made a typo on one of their sheets – which gave Gary and I a lot of ! So much so, Gary even left the teacher a note tellling them about their mistake for them to find the next morning. Oh to have been a !!!!!

So, it’s Easter this weekend. And in rememberance of Jesus’s rise from the grave we’re giving out , because we all know they are given out because rabbits lay eggs, and the were pushed into to keep them upright….. right? What complete and ! Easter is Eostre – a . Yet another one the stole – gods bless em :p

I can’t be bothered ranting about it at the moment tho – it’s that cold still bothering me! I’m not up to my usual bitchy self!

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What a day!

Posted by on March 9, 2008 Leave a Comment

The day started at 5am – purposely so for a change instead of being woken up by the kids. By 6.12am we had bundled the kids into the car and set off to drive to Birkenhead for the day. We arrived at 8.15am, instead of the predicted 9/9.30ish due to a distinct lack of and finding a route that didn’t take forever! After spending a few hours at my sister’s, we visited a friend, then made our way to the afterward-party of the we had actually travelled down for!

We didn’t go to the actual christening itself being a church thing and churches aren’t places I spend a lot of time in nor have a lot of time for. So after we arrived at the thing afterwards, we spent a couple of hours catching up with family. To be honest, judging by some of the being displayed, I would have been happier not seeing certain . But then I didn’t go there to see them anyway, I went to see my and my sisters.

We left the party thing at 3 and then travelled up to my other sisters for an hour before setting off home. Got home at 6.10pm and I’m bloody , so don’t irritate me any!

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Earthquake!

Posted by on February 27, 2008 Leave a Comment

We had an earthquake last night… an earthquake! In England!!! Obviously it wasn’t up to the standards that other countries suffer them, but it happens so rarely here that it’s big news when it does. The last time I remember feeling an earthquake was in 1984. But that was mild in comparison with last night, well more like this morning. It was close to 1am.

There I was, lying in bed minding my own business, drifting off to sleep. Gary was snoring away next to me. The next thing there was this loud rumbling sound followed by, what felt like, the bed shaking. Gary almost leapt out of bed and went to the window, where he said he could feel the window vibrating. This felt like it went on for about five minutes but apparently it was only 30 seconds or so. At first he thought someone had broken in, followed by the comment that it couldn’t be an earthquake because it would have set off all the car alarms, so it must have been something overhead. Needless to say, after feeling and hearing that, I found it even more difficult to go to sleep and lay awake for most of the night.

The earthquake was all over the news this morning. According to tv and news website reports, the of the quake was 8km east of Market Rasen,Lincolnshire and 22km south of Grimsby and was a 5.2 on the Richter Scale.

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What’s your take on touchy-feely stuff?

Posted by on February 24, 2008 Leave a Comment

For example, when you first meet people are you a hand-shaker, hugger, double-kisser or way more standoffish? What about later on in ….are you touchy-feely, need your space or have a total quirk about not liking to be touched somewhere that we’re supposed to know if you don’t tell us? Ahem. Moving on. Lastly, what about PDAs ()….are they cool, obnoxious, somewhat okay, never okay, or something entirely different?

Ohhh, where to start!

  • When I first meet someone the last thing I want is them invading my space… see this circle around me *waves arms in a wide circle* that’s MY space, stay out… step away from the zone! I can’t abide people who I’ve never met smothering me in any kind of hug or kiss session… get thee behind me, touchy-! It’s the quickest way to get me to dislike a person on sight and, believe me, it’s happened……….. more than once! I mean, come on!!!!!! Why, pray tell, do people feel this need to get all touchy with someone they’ve met for the first time three seconds earlier? It just makes me suspicious. A I can cope with – but even then, unless it’s an interview or some other kind of , I would question just why someone would be stuffy enough to feel they’d have to shake my hand. A simple “hi, how are you?” is more than adequate with me. Or even a “It’s so cool to meet you, finally!” I can cope with that too. But no touching, goddamn it! NO TOUCHING!!!!! :grr:
  • On to stage two – this is where we’ve met once or twice now and are moving towards a of some kind. Just in case you hadn’t figured it out yet, I’m not a touchy person, I prefer not to be touched, thank you! But at this stage, 9 times out of 10, I can cope with a quick hug – I prefer it over stupid air kisses (What the hell are they all about anyway?) – but I would still prefer to keep that space I alluded to earlier… *waves arms around in a big circle again* Just imagine we’re talking over a fence (with some kind of barbed wire over the top of it so you can’t lean over :p )
  • In a relationship, now that’s an entirely different matter. With my other half I can be as touchy-feely as I like (which he’ll be quick to tell everyone isn’t very often. Damn it, I’m not a touchy-feely person!!!!) but public expressions of affection by my other half don’t bother me at all. Although I do draw the line at tonsil tickling in the middle of tescos! That’s not to say there hasn’t been certain times when serious gropage has gone on in the freezer section *sniggers*

All that aside, what it boils down to for me is the person attemping the touching. When I first met my mother’s current husband, he came at me across the carpark (I had no clue who this guy barrelling towards me was) and threw his arms around me in some kind of dramatic hug. He was met with a stiffened spine and a glare that demanded “what the hell are you doing?”. From that point on, I disliked him. I still do. I’m told he’s quite a nice guy. Tough luck, I dislike him immensely – there’s more to it than the deluded hug, but that’s another post. What he did was set the wheels in motion and got my hackles up by invading my space without invitation. A big no-no. Don’t do it… not if you want to live!

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Family Visit

Posted by on February 22, 2008 Leave a Comment

Gary’s sister came over today with her . She lives a few hours drive away so this was the first time she’s been able to come down since was born. She is staying at the MILs so we only got to see her for a couple of hours. But it was a nice visit and the kids were pleased to see their cousins. Needless to say, the whole time they were here all the kids were tearing around the house making . But two more kids didn’t really make much of a difference to the noise levels here!

got a bit upset when they left – she gets a bit overwhelmed I think. She adores having people come over and gets really excited so when it’s time for things to finish she gets a little teary-eyed. Still, it meant the girls had a pretty late night and didn’t get in bed until 9pm. I’d like to think that we’d get a lie-in in the morning because of it, but it’s unlikely. I’ put on them still waking up at 6am, but we can hope!

Gary’s watching the third as I type. It isn’t really grabbing my attention at all, in fact it seems to be very boring and bland from the bits I keep glancing up and watching. I’m giving serious consideration to going to bed. Dunno what it is about having visitors but I’m always shattered after they leave. Probably the unsociable part of me needing to work hard to make conversation and it tires me out!

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The Cooking Adventure

Posted by on February 19, 2008 Leave a Comment

I know.. I know… it’s laughable! The thought of me…. me actually cookin something. And I don’t mean just throwing something in the oven and leaving it to burn. I actually mean getting the ingredients together and actually preparing a meal! I just don’t have the patience or the interest really to be the kind of person who stands every preparing “proper” meals and, although the kids should eat more vegetables and home-cooked meals, with the size of the family it just isn’t practical. The cost would be astronomical if I were to start preparing full meals every day. So usually, I’ll compromise. I’ll make a , Sweet & Sour or Spag Bol but I won’t make the sauce from scratch. I’ll do a (so long Gary prepares it :p ) and I’m happy to make a casserole on occasion.

I’m really building this up, huh! Thing is, the meal I’m making today isn’t something extravagant or even difficult. I think my dad must be haunting me, to be honest, because it was one of his favourite meals and something I’ve never cooked in the whole time Gary and I have been together. But for the last few weeks it’s the only thing I can think about eating – and no, I’m not pregnant before anyone asks!It’s a dish called . *waits patiently for the laughter to stop* I did say it wasn’t something difficult! But you haven’t understand, I hate cooking!

I know how to make Scouse, but out of curiosity I did a search online to see if there were any – there are, but that’s not the point. What I did find was the history of Scouse – which I’m going to share with you all!

Scouse was brought to Liverpool by Northern European sailors, it was originally called Labskause. This was finally shortened to Skause and over time the spelling changed to the more Anglicised version we have today, Scouse. The people who ate Scouse were all generally sailors and their families and eventually all sailors within Liverpool were referred to as Scousers. Time has now taken its turn and everyone from the region of Liverpool is known as a Scouser.

I dunno if it’s just me, but I found it really funny to discover that Scousers were named after a meal.

[Read more...]

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Silly Boy!

Posted by on February 18, 2008 Leave a Comment

The following entry will not make any sense unless you read Teenagers and Lying Kids first!

Number 1 has been away from home for just over two weeks now. We’ve not heard from him at all in that time. The only reason we know he’s not dead is because his have spoken and seen him. Relayed via his brothers, we have been informed that he does not want us to have his new address unless we have “an extremely good reason for needing it” and also that we are not to telephone him unless his sisters “are so ill, they’ve been rushed to hospital”. Thanks, mate. Nice to know you care and appreciate all that we’ve done for you over the years!

Not that it matters, as anyone who knows me or Gary will be aware that if we really want to know something, we will find out regardless of how much people try to hide it. Last week a letter dropped through the door addressed to Mr R**** (obviously I’m not putting the surname there :p ) Because it didn’t state a first name, I assumed it was for Gary and opened it (I generally open all the mail). Upon opening though, I realised it was for No.1 stepson from his place of work, asking why he hasn’t turned up for the last 2 1/2 weeks and not contacted them at all. I telephoned his grandmother to relay the message and she rang back to inform me that she’d finally got through to him and he’d admitted to not having gone to work since moving out. I’m curious to know how he’s managed to get any to pay his rent and everything else. He promised her that he’d call them and say he’d go back to work. Well, I got a phone call the next day from his place of work, asking to speak to him. What could I say? I wasn’t going to lie, so I told them the . They said if he didn’t get in touch by the 20th Feb, they’d fire him for with no chance of a reference for any future employment. Now, bear in mind here, that this is the first job he’s ever had and – judging by his – probably the last job he’ll ever have too!

But back to not having any contact for him. Dream on, boyo, if you really think we can’t contact you if we really want to. We’re a lot more creative than you give us credit for!

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Wallowing in Self-Pity

Posted by on February 18, 2008 Leave a Comment

It’s school half-term. Need I say more? A whole week with all the kids at home. I don’t think I can cope with the ! :p It wouldn’t be so bad if the would actually grasp the concept of the fact that they don’t need to get up at 6.30am! (Not that they need to get up that early on a school morning either, but I can cope with it then.) I think I’d kill for a lie-in beyond 8am. Before you tell me to get a grip, remember that half-term for me means six kids at home – not your average 2.4 (I wonder how you get the .4 of a child, I have visions of just the legs or maybe the head and arms….. :oh: ).

The oldest boy – if you’ve been keeping up with the saga – has left home, so that leaves the two (DJ and JD) and the girls, who are all under 6. The two boys swing between getting along fine and hating each others guts on a minute to minute basis so it’s hard to tell what is going to happen at any given moment and some days I just can’t be bothered with the aggro. Luckily, today they managed to get through the whole day without resorting to violence and it was left to the girls to drive me insane instead.

From 8am to 5pm, Erin and have done nothing but fight. Screaming at each other constantly at full banshee volume. My ears are still ringing from the noise. , while better behaved, was just as loud. , the babe, was peaceful as ever – which is a nice change from the rest of em! There was a unanimous decision made by , Erin and to watch at 8.15am. My ears are still ringing from the of pretend terror whenever a dinosaur appeared on the screen. I say pretend as none of them are phased in the slightest by of any kind. And that seemed to set the mood of the day. By the time Gary came home from work, I was ready to murder them. What a terrible parent I am! :D

But now here I sit, upstairs on my pc for a change instead of lounging on the sofa with my laptop. My ears are still ringing from all the noise, but I’m starting to chill down as I listen to Blue October and surf the net, looking for goodies to add to my little blog and my forums. Tell you what would be nice. Some of you lurkers actually saying hello instead of just popping in, reading my waffle, and departing without so much as a wave as you pass by! :lol:

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A small dose of insomnia!

Posted by on February 18, 2008 Leave a Comment

I went to bed tonight at around 11.30pm yawning my head off and barely able to keep my eyes open, yet once I was lying in bed I spent the next hour . Goddess, I hate it when that happens! Things start going through your mind – they’re not even important or exciting things – it’s just a case of my mind not having shut down properly. Usually I’ll read for an hour once I’ve gone up to bed but I just didn’t feel like it, so there was no cooling off period. After lying there tossing and turning, listening to the baby snoring on one side of me and Gary snoring on the other, I decided it really wasn’t worth the effort and came back downstairs. I figure I might as well come on here and just mooch for a little while to give my brain time to chill out. So here I am, waffling about nothing and wasting time until my eyes start drooping again when, hopefully, sleep will not evade me! The problem with on a Sunday night is the fact that Gary has to get up and go to work tomorrow, so it’s not like he could get up and deal with the while I catch up on a little sleep. And the are so bloody noisy, there’s no way I will manage to get to sleep beyond 8am anyway! Not to mention the fact that will want her bottle around that time too.

We watched the latest episode of Lost tonight. Does anyone else watch it? All the flashforwards going on are confusing the hell out of me and annoying the shit out of Gary :lol: The writers have stated that we’re going to get answers this season, but I get the impression we’re going to end up with even more questions too. But it’s still holding my attention, so I’m hoping they manage not to ruin it.

I also attempted to watch today. It’s a Russian vampire movie – of course i didn’t realise it was actually in Russian when I bought the box set of that and ! But they’ve both got rave reviews so I figured I’d give them a look anyway. Unfortunately, because they’re subtitled you really need to be able to sit and stare at the screen so you don’t miss anything – and that’s a mission impossible in this house with the kids running around screaming! Might have to wait til the school holidays are over and try and get an afternoon of peace to watch them in! Will let you know what I think about them then.

Well I think that’s pretty much it. It’s almost 1am now so I suppose I should try and get some sleep before they wake up at 6.30am. I imagine I’ll be back later to bitch about the fact I’m tired!

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