Another Year Older

It was my birthday on the first of the month. I'm now just two years away from my half century! Of course I don't feel like I'm forty eight, I only feel eighteen! Not that I care about my age, I've never been worried about getting older. There are far better things to worry about than that!
I must say that I'm enjoying my life right now. I think that maturity wins over youth any day. The wisdom that comes with age can't be bought and I wouldn't trade it in for another bash at being young again. I wouldn't want to go back to those angst filled teenage years, hair pulling young mother years, screaming, yelling mother of teens years. I've done my time, earned my reward and now I'm allowed to take a back seat and watch my own kids go through it!

Trip to the Dentist

I've just been to have my tooth out at the emergency dentist. Actually I went last Sunday but the dentist wouldn't take it out as I had an infected tooth. He sent me off with a prescription for antibiotics and told me to come back in a week. So, there I was all psyched up and ready and had to go home and wait another week for the dreaded deed!
Can I just say here, I am terrified of dentists. I hate them so much I only go when I'm in so much pain I need to die!
Back I went today. With everybody telling me, it doesn't hurt, you won't feel a thing, I sauntered into the room feeling calm and relaxed - actually, I was bricking it but I'm a grown woman who has had babies and should be able to stand any pain thrown at me so was only acting all calm and relaxed. I managed the injection without crying but when he went in to pull the tooth, pain, pain, pain! So he gave me another injection and waited a few minutes then went in again. At first, no pain, just pressure, okay so far. Then as he started to tug, pain, yes I felt pain! I jumped and squealed and he just kept pulling that tooth right out. It came out in about 30 seconds but boy were they long seconds. Afterwards, he apologised and explained that I still had a slight infection left in the tooth, that's why it hurt, but he felt it was better to pull the tooth than give another round of medication. Well, that's all right then!!!
So people, for the record, it did hurt, I did feel something and I'm never going to the dentist again!

Bright New Shiny Car!

I've bought a new car. Well, not new exactly, it's two years old. It's a red Seat Ibiza and it's beautiful. As soon as I saw it, it shouted, 'buy me'. Hubby said, 'You can't buy a car just because you like the colour!' but he doesn't understand the pyschology of it. Red is not only my favourite colour, it's my lucky colour. And that car is just so lovely. It cost more than I really wanted to pay but hey, it's red and it's only two years old, only has 17000 on the clock and it's red.
I pick it up on Wednesday afternoon and I can't wait. Not that I haven't enjoyed driving my Renault Clio, it's been a great car but it's seven years old now and I felt I had to get rid of it while I could still get a reasonable trade in. I managed to get £1100 which wasn't bad considering it's age.
So, roll on Wednesday and the chance to drive my shiny, red (did I mention it's red), Seat Ibiza. Oh, and the thing that really sold me on it was the cup holder that comes out from the dash!

Back to School

Jamie went back to school this week. Or rather, he went to college. My baby is college boy! I really don't know where the time has gone. It seems like only yesterday I was a mother of four young boys struggling with all the trials family life brings and now I'm a grandmother with all my boys grown and flown away. Jamie is growing up and although he will always be with us, he is no longer as needy as he was.
I feel like my role as a mother has depleted, somehow. I do enjoy having the house to ourselves but I do also miss the chaos, a little. I understand the empty nest syndrome now. It's the feeling that you're not needed any more, that you're obselete, surplus to requirements.
But then my grandchildren come running in, shouting for grandma, and my heart fills up again. I realise that you never stop being needed because the next generation always fills the gap. My grandchildren give me wings again. I may not be able to fly as high or as fast but there is still some mileage left in me.

Grow Your Own

Gosh, it's ages since I've written anything. So here's a quick catch up on what's happening at chez Beech.
Hubby and I had a midweek break to Rome at the end of June. Jamie went to France with his school so we jetted off too. Rome is a wonderful place and there is so much to see but I wouldn't recommend doing it in summer. Honestly, walking around in 38 degree heat with no shade and no breeze is no joke. The heat really got to me and most days I was absolutely beaten by 3 o' clock, needing to sit and chill out for a couple of hours. The siesta is such a good idea and I see now why they do it! The sights are amazing, especially St Peter's Church, so I'm pleased we went but I wouldn't go back.
Jamie had a great time in France and has now officially left school. He went to his prom, looking all grown up and enjoyed himself immensely. He is loving his time at home, so it will be a shock to his system going to college in September.
Anyway, as to the title of this little missive, I've gone all gardener. After we've had the back garden paved over I suddenly decided to grow my own veg! So I've got all sorts of buckets and pots, full of veg, on my patio. I've already had a crop of beetroot and spring onions and believe me, they are so much better when you've grown them yourself. I have red onions, green peppers, sweetcorn, carrots, peas, french beans, rhubarb, strawberries and lettuce all growing merrily. I also have tomatoes and cucumber in my green house which have been cropping nicely for three weeks now.
It isn't really about the money saving aspect, it's about the pure pleasure of seeing the green shoots coming through, then the fruits appearing. Picking and eating veg you have grown is so satifying. It gives me such a buzz making a salad from my own veg. I've been a bit haphazard this year and haven't really planned my garden properly but I'm still pleased with the results. Next year, I'll be more organised but I know it will give just as much pleasure.
I'm not about to dig up the patio though. Container gardening is a lot easier and less backbreaking than having a veg plot. And I've proved you can grow your own even without a garden!

My Baby Has Left School!

I can't believe this day has come! Jamie left school today. He had his leaver's prom last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. He has matured so much over the last few years. I can't believe how grown up he is. I still remember the tiny, vulnerable boy he was when he first started school. At the time we had no idea what he would achieve. We had no idea whether he would ever be able to talk, walk, run and play like other children.

As he grew each new milestone was a wonderful achievement for us all. The day he walked without his walker, the day he put two words together, the day he used his first Makaton sign were all special, red letter days. He worked so hard to achieve what comes naturally to others.

Since he's been at St Hugh's Special Needs Senior School he has blossomed from a little boy into a young man. His speech has got better and better and he can now say a sentence of four words that is understandable. I know he'll never have the life boys of his age should but he has still achieved more in his 16 years than some do in a lifetime.

We attended his leaver's ceremony today. Watching my boy walk up to the stage to accept his Record of Achievement brought tears to my eyes. To see him laughing with his headmaster and saying thank you to his teacher made me want to jump up and cheer.

Now he starts on a new phase in his life. He's going to college in September, for two years, on a Life and Vocational Studies course. He'll be taught independence skills. He will never achieve total independance but hopefully one day he will be able to do simple things for himself.

I know he will never live independantly from us but my special boy will continue to spread his wings and one of these days he will soar higher than any of us ever thought possible. You just wait!

Xis for X-RAY, Y is for YAWN, Z is for ZZZZZZZZ

I'm so stuck with these three letters, I'm using them up in one go!
I've had several X-rays over the years but the two that are most recent are my ankle and foot x-rays. Both times I knew I'd broken bones because the card I had to take back to A&E was red. I was told that by a nurse during one of the many x-rays I have had to sit in on with my kids. See, I haven't just had my own x-rays, I've attended kid's ones too. The one Jamie had for a broken elbow left me with scars on my arm. Not from radiation but from Jamie digging his nails in and drawing blood! It was a case of, "Hurt me, I'll hurt you back, baby."
Yawning is great isn't it! It stretches the mouth and opens up the airways. I yawn when I'm tired and when I'm bored. I think a bored yawn is the most embarrassing. You can tell when somebody has one coming because they try to stop it. The mouth gets all twisted and your eyes glaze with the effort so you might as well just let it come and let those suckers know they are boring the h*ll out of you!
ZZZZZZZ's are the best. I love sleeping. Since the older boys have left home I have got into the habit of laying in, when John's home. He can't sleep well so he always gets up early. I stay in bed, sometimes till 11am. I just love the fact that I can! When Jamie is at respite and John's at work, I have been known to get up at dinnertime! I don't care if that makes me one, lazy hussy. It's my perogative and baby I'm milking it for all it's worth!
So, that's the end of my alphabet posts. Some are quite good, some are cr**py but hey, it's my blog and I get to decide what I write.
Now it will be filled with random ramblings and family related stuff. So buckle up all you many, many readers (HA, HA) it'll be a bumpy ride from now on.