The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...

Snippity snip!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Okay, okay, I may be overstating somewhat, but there's no doubt, that as weekends go, I've had more exciting. I mean, missing Christy Moore and the hotel breakfast WAS a bit of a bummer, but on the upside, I got loads done at home, and even managed to bully everyone else in to helping out as well. The four boys' hairs were cut, some more successfully than others, and despite what it may look like, drink was not taken at the time. All the beds were stripped, washed and changed, pictures that were sitting in a forlorn little pile for months were finally hung, and an overworked, seriously manky washing machine received its first proper clean ever. Who's the mammy, wha? (I want a t-shirt with that on it)

On top of all that, it was the weekend that my sister found THE DRESS for her September wedding. After an extended morning of all things bridal, a final summit was held at ours over tray bakes yesterday, and a blessedly unanimous motion passed. And it IS completely fabulous. (Oh God, at this moment, I'm having a selfish panic, as I envisage being the oldest, fattest bridesmaid slash matron of honor in the bridal party...or possibly ever. Unfortunately 'doing a Pippa' just isn't an option but I SO would if I could-Sorry Clare-it's dog eat dog!)

I also spent a considerable amount of time on the couch, working hard at getting my skybox memory percentages up. There's something so very satisfying about hitting that delete button and seeing those numbers rise. On Saturday night, despite lobbying hard for 'Pretty in Pink', I was completely vetoed by Loverboy, so we compromised and watched 'The Little Fockers' instead. Well, all I can say is, that just because a movie has De Niro in it, doesn't make it worth watching- what a load of old crap!





Oui, Oui!

Then last night, I took a gamble on the new Sarah Millican show- I admit that I had expected great things from a woman who could chat on Graham Norton, in front of millions and P Diddy, about her boyfriend going 'down there'...but how wrong I was. She was wooden and cliched and boring- IMHO, give her a wide berth. 



Speaking of  Graham Norton though, did you see his show on Friday ? He had Gerard Depardieu on and- I'm going out on a limb here- by the end of the show, I would definitely have jumped his well upholstered bones. Despite the fact that he won't see sixty again, relieves himself in bottles, is missing a tooth and has the crookedest nose I've ever seen, he definitely has... je ne sais quoi! Am I alone on this one? ...Anyone?



Damian Lewis was also on- never mind 'Homeland' , he'll always be 'Soames' from the 'Forsyte Saga' for me. He IS handsome on paper but, as a very good scientist friend of mine once informed me, apparently it's genetically impossible for gingers to fancy gingers, and from my own emperical research, I suspect she's right. Enough said. Also on Graham's couch, was that cheeky chappie Olly Murs, but I'm possibly getting old, because he just seems SO very young, and as for that awful Essex accent....it was so bad I had to put him on mute. Finally, there was Dominic West....well, you just would, wouldn't you? I mean, definitely as 'Mc Nulty'  but possibly not as 'Fred West', which  clearly shows how versatile an actor he is, I suppose.

To offset all that TV, we went for a family walk/ cycle  yesterday afternoon. Now, that sounds so simple and relaxing, but it was actually anything but. After the inevitable half hour spent blowing up tyres, tightening gears and fixing brakes, there followed a 15 minute search for helmets randomly discarded at the end of last summer. Finally, we set off to the soundtrack of  'Keep In!  I SAID Keep In!' You're in the middle of the road! KEEP IN!' (and under the breath FFSing). En route and disgusted by the rubbish lying over the road, I then initiated a litter pick and we filled an entire bin liner with Strongbow cans and fast food wrappings. Littering has to be my absolute pet hate- never mind a £100 fine, it would be a public flogging if I were in charge.....So it's maybe just as well that I'm not!, Emx

 Oh, I nearly forgot-I also got a Facebook page sorted for my blog this weekend, along with a 'Like' button at the top of this page, (just one of the many benefits of being married to a nerd!) So, make it look a bit less pathetic, and 'like' me, please please please....





A Small Slice of Life

I have quite the weekend ahead. For the next forty eight hours I have places to go, people to see and things to do. Some of that time will be filled with joy and excitement, some of it with sorrow and reflection. The mother of one of my oldest friend's died yesterday- I can still picture her in my head laughing, as she did the 'slush' with her sisters, at her daughter's wedding. It was their signature dance and now she's gone. Tonight I'll go to her wake, and tomorrow to her funeral.
My mum had a birthday two weeks ago, but because my brother is home from America, we're going to her favourite restaurant tonight to celebrate. Another great friend is tying the knot in a few weeks, and this happens to be her hen weekend, so tomorrow evening I'm off to Carlingford to help give her the send off she so richly deserves. Then, on Sunday afternoon, the whole clan is coming to ours for lunch- a sort of 'last supper' for my brother who is heading Stateside again on Monday. Phew!
The thing is, that last night when I was thinking of all the plans, and running through the organizing required to make it all work, I found that I was feeling a bit, well, stressed. And kind of wishing the weekend away, just so that I could get to Sunday night, and finally be sitting down with a cuppa and everything ticked off my list. But then thankfully, I realized that I was looking at it entirely the wrong way, and completely missing the whole point in the process. This weekend actually represents a little slice of life - there's celebrations of life, and death, and quality time with friends and family, and surely that's what its all about? So, instead of viewing it as a whole entity, I looked again at the individual parts, and began to feel a lot less of the stressed and much more of the blessed.
 I'll celebrate my mum's birthday with family tonight, while my good friend stands at her mother's grave tomorrow- it will be my privilege to be there and stand alongside her. I'm able to spend time with my brother, who lives 6000 miles away, when recently an acquaintance told me, that her brother hadn't been home for ten years.  I've also waited months to celebrate our lovely Nuala's impending nuptials in a wholesome and sensible way (Ha!), and this Saturday night we'll do that in style! And as for the full house on Sunday? Well, everyone's bringing something, and they'll all muck in, and sure the craic will be ninety. So here's to this weekend, which I think I can say with some certainty, won't be a boring one ....let's be having ya!!