Has anyone else been having problems when they click on 'comments'?

Sometimes just the post comes up with no comments in it. Also after posting a comment - when the page rolls over there doesn't seem to be anything there.

Can't imagine they're working on anything at this time on a Friday night

It's been mildly stressful today, one way or another.

* The official-type person arrived and interviewed me. (stress)

* My neighbour's pram got delivered here (not stressful but thought I'd add it in cos it fills it out a bit )

* My toothbrush didn't get delivered yet. (mild stress)

* My doctor's appointment was fine, but there'll be a follow-up. I'll tell you about that if necessary. (stress)

(NO, I'm NOT pregnant, or anything like that)

and

* The person who might have visited - didn't. (not stress)

There were 4 x 12 yr old boys here again, they were well-behaved and they went swimming for a while *phew* nice healthy pastime

I'm reading a book called "Boundaries with Kids" now. It's fantastic. It all applies to adults too - so I'm gonna parent myself

If my leccie toothbrush doesn't come tomorrow ...

... I'll sqweam and sqweam and sqweam until I make mythelf thick

*sigh*

I have an official-type person coming to talk to me about summat tomorrow

also

someone has threatened to visit

also

I have a doctor's appointment later on

I hope none of them overlap

For Andy ....

My day went quite well too. Went to town with P as usual for a Thursday.

Had lunch in Starbucks, in Borders. P's bezzy mate A arrived with her wee yin ... 2yr old I. Mega cute. She brought her up learning baby sign language and you can tell cos she's a bright and communicative wee soul. No tantrums. A is 6 days overdue with her 2nd child. Had a lovely blether, shared our cakes with I I played at chase with her, between the rows of books.

A bloke came over, drawn by the laughter. He was bouncing from one foot to the other. P is medically trained and informed me it's a symptom of cerebral palsy. He was mega shy. But at the same time was unaware of the social boundaries that stop people walking up and talking to strangers. So innocent. I was overcome with shyness and wouldn't shake his hand. So I did. Well I tried but he said he was shy, but he did manage it eventually. Bless.

It kinda halts you for a moment when you see and become aware of folk with much more difficult issues to deal with. *sigh*

Stocked up on batteries for my radio and rechargeable ones for my camera

Wandered round in the sunshine with wee cheeky monkey saying cute things and making us laugh.

Smooth day

The wee yin had a friend staying last night ... LW's son.

Oh don't look at me like that ... I've had a few chats with him and told him I like him but not his behaviour. I figured if he knew that he'd be less likely to see adults as 'the others'

Anyway, 2 other friends dropped by so there have been 4 x 12/13 yr olds in my house all frickin day. I'm sick of hearing them bicker and jostle for position of Top Dog amongst themselves. Competitive little buggers aren't they, boys?

Did some weeding (hahahahahaha) in the garden. Jeez. Filled a full-sized green wheelie bin! And I've only done half of it! I have to wait till a week on Monday before the bin gets emptied again

There's a Jasmine creeper huge fuckin triffid eating my garden and sneaking into my shed. I ripped half of it to shreds today

The ex sprinkled loads of seeds into the soil some months back, and before that decided that adding a variety of wild grass seeds would be a great idea. It looks minging ... like no-one has ever done anything to it. So I'm howking (Scottish word) the lot out ... it will be totally bare by the time I've finished.

I'm gonna shove shrubs that are easy to prune into it and eventually get the path knocked out and re-built. Dunno how I'll do it but I will. We both use bikes as our main transport and they can only enter and exit using the back gate, which the path leads up to (obviously)

I'd also like to make some kinda barrier between my garden and the back path, cos anyone can walk down there and it bugs me when I'm sitting out back.

Where to start? Gah!

oh ... and I wonder how many on blog will relate to this

I looked on the Jodi Picoult website and found a message board. Discussions about all of her books. On the thread about this book someone had written this ...

My aunt e-mailed Jodi Picoult regarding the ending. Here is her reply:

At the end of Keeping Faith, I wanted you to feel like Mariah and Millie and Ian and everyone else who comes into contact with Faith - like you've had to rethink what you believe. Whether you think she's a prophet or a messiah or a fake, she is ultimately a little girl who hasn't had her mom's attention before. And AT THAT MOMENT she does fake speaking to God, because she isn't willing to lose that attention. That said, I don't personally believe that Faith is faking all along - I think that God moves onto someone more needy in that last scene. But I did want you to remember that above all else, she's a kid - lest you fall into the same mistake that some of the media did during the course of the book.

... which was along the lines that I was hoping she meant the ending to be.

*phew*

Finished my book earlier today ... damn that was good.

Not so sure about the ending though - I was expecting a neat little dissatisfying ending, with all the ends tied up, that seemed to be written a bit fast cos the author was bored by then.

It left too many questions, and while I know that's a good thing, it's pissed me off a bit

Back cover ...

Mariah White thought her life was pretty much perfect. A wife and mother was all she ever wanted to be.

So when she catches her husband with another woman, her world falls apart. And when her daughter, Faith, begins to confide in an imaginary friend, her own brush with insanity takes on a darker meaning.

Then Faith appears to start performing miracles, and all at once the situation is spiralling beyond Mariah's control. Is Faith truly seeing God? Or is she just a troubled little girl seeking refuge from her parents' divorce? And is Mariah fighting for what's best for her child? Or a desperate mother using her daughter to get the world's attention?

When it comes to matters of faith, it's hard to know who to believe ...

If you've read this book ... what did you make of the ending?

I couldn't work out if it was the suggested 'somatoform disorder' or something else. If it was it doesn't explain the healing of the baby from AIDS, or the people in hospital healed from AIDS, or her grandma's 'resurrection'. Does that mean the author was saying God's presence had left Faith? It seemed like the author was hinting something in the last paragraph ... and I don't know what

Pah!

*edit I found on this site quite a few others were bugged about the ending. There's a message board on there if you click around

back to bed, to read

Latest book ... Jodi Picoult 'Keeping Faith'

It's pretty good so far xxx

kevinwilson was talking about this on his blog earlier.

I went to the website and took the test ...

Home
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Festival of Science
Search the Programme

BA Personality Survey

Feedback

Highest score = Relatively high; lowest score = Relatively low.
You scored as follows on the five major personality dimensions:

# The first dimension is Extroversion. People with a relatively low score in this dimension could be considered aloof and quiet. Relatively high scorers are outgoing and enthusiastic, often termed 'Wanderers' by personality experts.
Your score was: Medium Low

# The second dimension is Neuroticism. The lower your score the more emotionally stable you will be. High scorers are prone to stress and will be categorised as 'Worriers'.
Your score was: Relatively High

# The third dimension is Conscientiousness. Relatively high scorers will be organised, but can also be quite rigid and inflexible. They will often be seen as 'Controllers'; on the other hand a relatively low score can indicate that although spontaneous you can be careless.
Your score was: Medium Low

# The fourth dimension is Agreeableness. Relatively high scorers are trusting and would be classified as 'Empathizers', very people focused and sociable. Having a relatively low score indicates that you are not at all focussed on other people.
Your score was: Medium High

# The fifth dimension is Openness. High scorers in this dimensions are usually imaginative and eccentric, open to different experiences. They are often termed the 'Poets' by personality experts. Relatively low scorers are practical and grounded and can be relied upon. However they can be closed to new experiences.
Your score was: Medium High

Dunno what I think about it really ... I shall ponder a while ...

LINKY

Man, that strikes a note ...

Sunny again

Went into town with P for lunch.

I hadn't had brekkie yet cos I really had to drag myself outta bed this morning, wash hair, have bath and try to look human for her arriving at 11am.

So it was kinda brunch *shudder* except I hate that word.

Tatties ... for a Full Monty breakfast ... mmmm mushroom water LOL

Looked in cute shops ... Breeze, Past Times, Lakeland ... ok I know Lakeland isn't particularly cute but they have gadgets, kitchen gadgets. I can justify buying those

Had chai latte in Borders/Starbucks, with a strawberry tart which dripped all down my right hand, watched the blokes next to us ears perk up when I mentioned Facebook to my pal That'll teach them for labelling us

Shit. Do I look like an old foagie? Yeah, so I do the 'ladies who lunch' bit with P but ... come on!!!

Gah ... I've lost momentum That's what happens when you get distracted

this time by zen stone play lists and A having an ebay bidding war

Was lovely today

All shiny and yellow and blue out there *points*

So I wandered into town with my book and camera

Stopped at Argos to buy a very small MP3 player ... the Zen Stone ( 1GB )

sat on the grass here ...

wandered round here ...

went for an espresso frescatti (small)

then wandered home via here ...

I've sussed out my MP3 player (dead simple one really) uploaded my photies (yes, we're all going photo mad) and troughed all the Sour Cream & Chive Rice Pringles. I'm moving onto the little bag of pepperamis soon and I just don't bluddy care

Happy daze {{{mwah}}}

Feeling mildly bleak tonight.

Dunno why.

I can still smile though see

Started by kevinwilson

1. Name the most perfect holiday of your dreams - where would you go?

Venice

2. How would you get there - luxury cruise, rolls royce, a ride on my back...?

Aeroplane ... then gondola

3. Name the person you'd like to be there with you

Andy

4. Name the drink you would order from the beach bar - a bottle of...?

Baileys

5. What would you order for dinner?

Risotto followed by something light ... Gelatti(?)

I stumbled on this and it's very very funny

No, not this one ...

Go and read this

It's dead funny

Relentless by Simon Kernick

It was given to me by P on my birthday and I finished it an hour ago. I started it a couple of days ago, sat up till 2.30am this morning reading it, slept, started reading it again.

Ace.

A thriller.

Synopsis

John Meron, a happily married father of two who's never been in trouble, receives a phone call that will change his life for ever: his friend Jack Calley, a high-flying City lawyer, is screaming down the phone for help. As Meron listens, Calley is murdered. His last words, spoken to his killer, are the first two lines of Meron's address. Confused and terrified, Meron scoops up his children and hurries out of the house. Just in time. Within minutes, a car pulls up outside, and three men get out. It's clear that they're coming for him. He's being hunted and has no idea why. And with his wife missing, an unidentified corpse in her office, and the police after him for murder, his life's about to get one hell of a lot worse.

It was one of the books from Richard & Judy's latest book club. I've not been following any of that so I dunno what any of the others are like but I saw them reviewing this.

I didn't want to put it down. It's the sort of book you can imagine being turned into a film. Is that a good thing or bad? I guess it means I could see the characters in my head.

xxx

*snigger*

Blimey, Hekkie. Everyone's finding otter stuff for ya! I just got this from popbitch ...

Otters - they've always been news.

From the Venerable Bede's Life of St Cuthbert
of Lindisfarne, 721 AD.

"One bitter night in winter as Cuthbert knelt
thus in the snow after his plunge, blue with
cold, two brown otters came up out of the sea
and stole to Cuthbert's side. And as he
prayed, not noticing them at all, they licked
his poor frozen feet, trying to warm them,
and rubbed against him with their thick, soft
fur till he was dry again. Thus the water-
creatures did their little best for him who
loved them and who had done so much for others."

OMG ... I'm so damn curious!

A new subscriber and I don't know who it is!!!

*gnaws fingernails*

*gulp*

have a toon ...

aw go on then ... have another since I'm in a good mood ...

I did this to my toothbrush the other month day ...

... when I dropped it on the bathroom floor. It's been working fine for weeks the past wee while since I put sellotape round it to stop water getting inside it but now it's kaput

Can anyone recommend an electric toothbrush? This one cost too much ages ago, but I know they're down in price a bit now.

Thank you

linky

linky

I phoned LW to go over yesterday's events (re: the kids being pesky)

No, I didn't tell her that Mini is banned from seeing her son

I hate myself for that. Yacked on the phone, feeling very 2 faced because (here's the really fucking embarrassing bit) I'm scared of her.

There ya go - I am scared of another human being.

I think it's to do with her seeming powerful in some way. She managed to contribute to a great big rupture in my marriage. Insurmountable. It still hurts. I don't want my husband back.

I listened to her saying 'boys will be boys' etc and just said "yes"

How is Mini to deal with this, when I can't?

I dread her more than I dread crazy woman. Yet I pander to her ego like everyone else. There have been brave moments when I've given my opinion but those were usually passive aggressive freak-outs ... shouted at her when I couldn't take any more.

I disappoint myself.

Ex "friend" just stomped by sing/shouting ... "You're gonna die, you're gonna die" repeatedly

I think this is going to be her new 'thing' *fuck*

Closed the window.

Cars beeping at her cos she's in the middle of road.

M'off to hide again.

*sigh*

A week of bliss followed by a week of testing.

Jontheman's deleted

I miss Wee Wummin ... from ages ago

I miss Monkey Girl ... from ages ago too (wonder how the wedding went?)

I miss Slow Life ... although I didn't get on with his associates

Where do people go?

At least The Genius of Love (TM) is back

There's summat to be happy about

My son is banned from being around LW's son.

When he comes back from his dad's ... he is grounded (feck)

He'll get no pocket-money from his dad for the foreseeable future (again, feck)

It's a bad idea that my ex encourages involvement with guns.

He's a pinch away from having a police record

Boys.

Hmmm some