Today I waited eagerly for the first prompt, but all to no avail. Some hiccup with the email meant that I didn't get it first thing this morning, like I expected. But that wasn't a real problem - I emailed Shimelle and she sent it to me, but the prompts are also available on her forum.
So the first prompt is to write a sort of Manifesto - why you are doing the JYC, what is special about this time of year, what you want to get out of this experience ...
So - here goes!
Starting today, December 1st, I will keep a Christmas journal. In it, I will write something everyday (hopefully!) to reflect on the holidays of my past, enjoy the holidays of the present and dream about the holidays of the future. I plan to give at least 15 minutes of each day to this task, no matter how crazy the season becomes. This Christmas I will create something of my own which will be filled with my own memories and my wishes. It will be something for my family to look back on in the future and hopefully it will remind them of the good times we had.
Monday, 1 December 2008
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Advent
Tomorrow is the first day of Advent and consequently the first day of JYC by Shimelle. I am really looking forward to getting involved in this and hopefully keeping up with at least some of the prompts.
Today I put all the Christmas stash I have in a box so that it is easily accessible and that way I don't have to hunt around for what I have got. I treated myself to some wonderful K & Co paper, chipboard and tags on Thursday and can't wait to start using it. I have lots of Chrismas scrapbooking paper left from a pad I bought a few years ago too so I have no doubt that I have enough. Enough for several years I think.
I also managed to scrap some more of our summer holiday 2007! It has been hanging around so long now that I am bored with it. But - I have only got 3 spreads left to do and it will be finished. It was the trip to Sipan in Croatia. Here are 4 of the pages I did today.
On the top left is our new bedroom! The one we got moved to after the electricity went in our first room.
The one on the top right is the view from our room - this is the terrace where we ate all our meals and you can see how close it was to the sea.
Bottom left is looking from our room window again, but out to sea rather than down at the hotel. You can see how beautiful the Adriatic is!
And bottom right is a view of the front of our hotel. Frank is outside the restaurant that they use for visitors.
As tomorrow is the first day of Advent, Katie and Lizzie will be opening their first present on their calendar. I hope they like the little gifts I have chosen for them.
Today I put all the Christmas stash I have in a box so that it is easily accessible and that way I don't have to hunt around for what I have got. I treated myself to some wonderful K & Co paper, chipboard and tags on Thursday and can't wait to start using it. I have lots of Chrismas scrapbooking paper left from a pad I bought a few years ago too so I have no doubt that I have enough. Enough for several years I think.
I also managed to scrap some more of our summer holiday 2007! It has been hanging around so long now that I am bored with it. But - I have only got 3 spreads left to do and it will be finished. It was the trip to Sipan in Croatia. Here are 4 of the pages I did today.
On the top left is our new bedroom! The one we got moved to after the electricity went in our first room.The one on the top right is the view from our room - this is the terrace where we ate all our meals and you can see how close it was to the sea.
Bottom left is looking from our room window again, but out to sea rather than down at the hotel. You can see how beautiful the Adriatic is!
And bottom right is a view of the front of our hotel. Frank is outside the restaurant that they use for visitors.
As tomorrow is the first day of Advent, Katie and Lizzie will be opening their first present on their calendar. I hope they like the little gifts I have chosen for them.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Journal your Christmas
I can't wait till December 1st arrives and I can get started on this project. I just hope that I can keep motivated for the whole time. Some friends on an online group are taking part too so we are hoping to motivate each other!
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Weekend
For the first time in ages we spent a whole weekend at home!
Frank spent much of the weekend working on his model boat - he will need a new one soon! And I spent some time scrapping some of our US holiday photos. My big problem is deciding which ones to leave out of the layouts, consequently I end up putting most of them in and I think my 2 albums with extra pages won't be enough for the whole 3 week vacation.
The photo on the left is of the Lincoln Memorial from various angles, the one on the right is of the reflecting pool. The bottom photo on this page is of Frank trying to photograph his finger on the top of the Washington Memorial! It didn't quite work out as he planned.
So far I have got to the end of day 2 - 30th March. This was the first of our two days in Washington DC! We visited the White House, Lincoln Memorial and National World War II Memorial.
These two photographs are of the National WWII Memorial. The photo on the left is one of the gateways into the memorial. It took us ages to get the photograph of the fountain without anyone in front of it. The photo on the right is of quotes and carvings. The carvings depict different aspects of the war!
Saturday evening we had invited a work collegue around for dinner, and as he is vegetarian we had a no meat Indian meal. Frank cooked a selection of dishes - Bindi Fry, Stuffed aubergines, dahl, mushroom curry, coconut rice and we had some naan bread too. It was all absolutely delicious.
Frank spent much of the weekend working on his model boat - he will need a new one soon! And I spent some time scrapping some of our US holiday photos. My big problem is deciding which ones to leave out of the layouts, consequently I end up putting most of them in and I think my 2 albums with extra pages won't be enough for the whole 3 week vacation.The photo on the left is of the Lincoln Memorial from various angles, the one on the right is of the reflecting pool. The bottom photo on this page is of Frank trying to photograph his finger on the top of the Washington Memorial! It didn't quite work out as he planned.
So far I have got to the end of day 2 - 30th March. This was the first of our two days in Washington DC! We visited the White House, Lincoln Memorial and National World War II Memorial.These two photographs are of the National WWII Memorial. The photo on the left is one of the gateways into the memorial. It took us ages to get the photograph of the fountain without anyone in front of it. The photo on the right is of quotes and carvings. The carvings depict different aspects of the war!
Saturday evening we had invited a work collegue around for dinner, and as he is vegetarian we had a no meat Indian meal. Frank cooked a selection of dishes - Bindi Fry, Stuffed aubergines, dahl, mushroom curry, coconut rice and we had some naan bread too. It was all absolutely delicious.
Friday, 31 October 2008
Jongleurs
This evening I went to see 'Jongleurs' at the Castle Theatre in Wellingborough with my neighbour, Jackie and a couple of her friends. I had no idea what it was, other than a comedy show. It was listed as 'alternative comedy' but there wasn't really much alternative about it! It was just pure comedy.
The evening comprised of a compere, Dominic Frisby and two comedians in the first half and the compere and another comedian in the second half. I didn't expect it to be very good but all the acts were very funny and I haven't laughed so much in ages. Sadly I don't remember the names of the comedians but it was an excellent evening of entertainment.
The evening comprised of a compere, Dominic Frisby and two comedians in the first half and the compere and another comedian in the second half. I didn't expect it to be very good but all the acts were very funny and I haven't laughed so much in ages. Sadly I don't remember the names of the comedians but it was an excellent evening of entertainment.
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Peter's funeral
This has to be the saddest day that I can remember.
Lizzie travelled down to Southampton on Monday evening with Spencer and Frank and I also decided to stay overnight with Mum. We picked up the flowers from the florist near where we live, had some dinner and then drove down to Southampton.
Tuesday morning we delivered the flowers to the funeral directors and bumped into Frank's cousin Dennis, who was taking a look at the location of the church. Dennis is famous in our family for something called 'Eggs like Dennis'. When he later met Katie and Lizzie and Katie mentioned this, he had to have it explained to him as he never knew Frank's family had eggs like he did!
We went back to Mum's, collected Lizzie and then went to meet Katie at the station. Back to Mum's for a quick lunch, a change into our black outfits and then over to Caroyln's.
It was all ok until the hearse arrived and I then started to think that Peter
was in that coffin. That was the start of many tears that were shed throughout the rest of the day. Frank, Simon, Ron and Maher carried him into church and just looking around the full church showed how popular he was. The minister took the service, Frank read from John 14, Anne-Marie read a tribute to her Dad and Simon read a poem. How they all held it together I don't know. Many paper tissues later and it was time to take him to the crematorium. After another short service they played 'The Carnival is Over' by The Seekers which was a very special song to Caroyln and Peter. This was the saddest part as you knew Peter was going to be taken away to be cremated. I think all the women and a lot of the men were crying by now. Everyone had special memories of Peter and there will never be anyone else like him.
The club that we went to after the crematorium was only partly full, and I think this was because a lot of people went home when we went to the crematorium. There were albums of photographs for us to look at and they caused even more tears. I got meet Peter's second cousins - Dianne and Gloria! His young life was so like mine in some ways as these were the only children in his family that he could mix with. My second cousins were the only ones in my life too! One of the sad parts of being an only child and it was that which made Peter and I understand each other so well.
There was still time for a little fun though, and as the immediate family had been driven to the church in a limosine there was no car for Simon to go home in. Jessica came with us and Simon hitched a lift in the boot. Just the sort of thing his father would have done!
I'll miss you Peter.
Lizzie travelled down to Southampton on Monday evening with Spencer and Frank and I also decided to stay overnight with Mum. We picked up the flowers from the florist near where we live, had some dinner and then drove down to Southampton.
Tuesday morning we delivered the flowers to the funeral directors and bumped into Frank's cousin Dennis, who was taking a look at the location of the church. Dennis is famous in our family for something called 'Eggs like Dennis'. When he later met Katie and Lizzie and Katie mentioned this, he had to have it explained to him as he never knew Frank's family had eggs like he did!
We went back to Mum's, collected Lizzie and then went to meet Katie at the station. Back to Mum's for a quick lunch, a change into our black outfits and then over to Caroyln's.
It was all ok until the hearse arrived and I then started to think that Peter
was in that coffin. That was the start of many tears that were shed throughout the rest of the day. Frank, Simon, Ron and Maher carried him into church and just looking around the full church showed how popular he was. The minister took the service, Frank read from John 14, Anne-Marie read a tribute to her Dad and Simon read a poem. How they all held it together I don't know. Many paper tissues later and it was time to take him to the crematorium. After another short service they played 'The Carnival is Over' by The Seekers which was a very special song to Caroyln and Peter. This was the saddest part as you knew Peter was going to be taken away to be cremated. I think all the women and a lot of the men were crying by now. Everyone had special memories of Peter and there will never be anyone else like him.The club that we went to after the crematorium was only partly full, and I think this was because a lot of people went home when we went to the crematorium. There were albums of photographs for us to look at and they caused even more tears. I got meet Peter's second cousins - Dianne and Gloria! His young life was so like mine in some ways as these were the only children in his family that he could mix with. My second cousins were the only ones in my life too! One of the sad parts of being an only child and it was that which made Peter and I understand each other so well.
There was still time for a little fun though, and as the immediate family had been driven to the church in a limosine there was no car for Simon to go home in. Jessica came with us and Simon hitched a lift in the boot. Just the sort of thing his father would have done!
I'll miss you Peter.
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Tuesday
I am not looking forward to Tuesday at all, which I suppose is only to be expected. It is the funeral of my brother-in-law. To be perfectly correct he is Frank's brother-in-law but I think that makes him mine too!
The last time I saw Peter up and about was at Anne-Marie's house when we went down for the day to celebrate Simon's 40th Birthday. He was still getting over the treatment he had had for prostate cancer but was chatty and good company as one might expect. Even then though, Carolyn knew he was not well and things got much worse over the next few weeks. Carolyn and Peter, Anne-Marie and Maher went to Greece at the end of August and it was after that holiday, when Peter could hardly walk, that things started to go downhill rapidly.
A short stay in hospital revealed Peter had cancer in every organ in his body (apart from the liver) and that he had a very short time left to live. He went home and Carolyn nursed him, with the help of her family and nurses until he died on October 16th at 11.50pm. He was 68. I will miss him so much as he was such lovely company.
He was brought up as an only child and like me, was used to being with older people for most of his young life. We could take the piss of each other and wind each other up, knowing we were not being serious. We played many games of cribbage together when Frank and I were in Southampton and I remember the games of sardines that the family used to play when Frank and I were first married. So many happy memories.
The holidays we spent together as a family were always great fun. Peter would go fishing but rarely caught anything that I can remember. When we were in France before Katie was born Peter and I would sometimes walk down to the bakery together early in the morning to buy bread for breakfast. He was always an early riser! During that same holiday we took a day trip over to Jersey and we hired a minibus which Peter drove around the island. He showed us all the places that had been important to him as a child and I was sat in such a position that I could see him in the rear view mirror. The look on his face showed just how delighted he was to be showing us all his island. I can also remember the beach at Val-André! That was one of Peter's favourite beaches and we spent quite a few days of our holiday there. There was to be another family holiday next April - the first that we had had since Tunisia in 2000 and I was so looking forward to spending some fun times with Peter again. But sadly it was not to be.
Thankfully we got to spend a little time with him in the few weeks before he died and the cancer did not take away the old Peter. He knew who we were and was still able to joke with us from time to time. Tuesday will be a very sad day for us all. Frank has been asked to do a reading and that will so hard for him! But I am glad he is going to do it. And at the crematorium he is going to be one of the men carrying the coffin. I can't imagine how horrible that will be for them all - knowing Peter's body is in there.
He will always have a very special place in my heart as he was the best brother-in-law anyone could have wished for. If there is an afterlife then I am sure that he will carry on being the life and soul of the party and if he is reunited with his father-in-law then I am sure they are having great fun together again.
Rest in Peace Peter!
The last time I saw Peter up and about was at Anne-Marie's house when we went down for the day to celebrate Simon's 40th Birthday. He was still getting over the treatment he had had for prostate cancer but was chatty and good company as one might expect. Even then though, Carolyn knew he was not well and things got much worse over the next few weeks. Carolyn and Peter, Anne-Marie and Maher went to Greece at the end of August and it was after that holiday, when Peter could hardly walk, that things started to go downhill rapidly.A short stay in hospital revealed Peter had cancer in every organ in his body (apart from the liver) and that he had a very short time left to live. He went home and Carolyn nursed him, with the help of her family and nurses until he died on October 16th at 11.50pm. He was 68. I will miss him so much as he was such lovely company.
He was brought up as an only child and like me, was used to being with older people for most of his young life. We could take the piss of each other and wind each other up, knowing we were not being serious. We played many games of cribbage together when Frank and I were in Southampton and I remember the games of sardines that the family used to play when Frank and I were first married. So many happy memories.
The holidays we spent together as a family were always great fun. Peter would go fishing but rarely caught anything that I can remember. When we were in France before Katie was born Peter and I would sometimes walk down to the bakery together early in the morning to buy bread for breakfast. He was always an early riser! During that same holiday we took a day trip over to Jersey and we hired a minibus which Peter drove around the island. He showed us all the places that had been important to him as a child and I was sat in such a position that I could see him in the rear view mirror. The look on his face showed just how delighted he was to be showing us all his island. I can also remember the beach at Val-André! That was one of Peter's favourite beaches and we spent quite a few days of our holiday there. There was to be another family holiday next April - the first that we had had since Tunisia in 2000 and I was so looking forward to spending some fun times with Peter again. But sadly it was not to be.
Thankfully we got to spend a little time with him in the few weeks before he died and the cancer did not take away the old Peter. He knew who we were and was still able to joke with us from time to time. Tuesday will be a very sad day for us all. Frank has been asked to do a reading and that will so hard for him! But I am glad he is going to do it. And at the crematorium he is going to be one of the men carrying the coffin. I can't imagine how horrible that will be for them all - knowing Peter's body is in there.
He will always have a very special place in my heart as he was the best brother-in-law anyone could have wished for. If there is an afterlife then I am sure that he will carry on being the life and soul of the party and if he is reunited with his father-in-law then I am sure they are having great fun together again.
Rest in Peace Peter!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
