So Much Change On The Way...

So I've gone months without a post and a lot has happened, mostly one big thing - we're expecting another little baby the first week of September.

It was a complete surprise that came around because I forgot to factor in how antibiotics affect the pill... But also it happened because I know in my heart that this little one was meant to come along and join our family. Its brothers will be four and six when it arrives and so, in a way, I think that maybe this will be almost like having a first baby again.

Time to organize our lives in preparation.  We're going to need a home with another bedroom, definitely.  One with a garden where the kids can play safely, one with a bigger sitting room and a wc on the ground floor.  Also, I would like a dining room or at least a kitchen that is as large as the one we have now and a shower in the bathroom.

I also think we need an mpv but hubby is adamant we're okay with our focus for now... I'm just thinking - space in the boot for five people's things, a pushchair, more groceries to buy, etc... So I'm thinking a 7 seater with good mileage, fantastic reliability, a family friendly car.

There is so much to do and only four months left... I'm looking to have everything done by the middle of August just in case this baby decided to be like its brothers and come two weeks early.  But then again who knows just because this pregnancy has been so different to the ones I had with my two boys.

And next Wednesday we should, hopefully, know if baby is a boy or a girl :) All I really want is for it to be healthy...

Where Do We Go From Here ???

I've been following with sort of one eye the movement calling themselves Occupy Wall Street - hoping for the best and expecting the worst... I was disappointed when so few people turned out that first day.  Yet as more and more people join the protest, I find myself beginning to feel with hope.  Perhaps this is the time that change will come.

Perhaps people have become tired - not of capitalism but of greed, where you only look out for number one and turn a blind eye to all your struggling fellow countrymen.  Does it matter, after all, if they don't have a job, don't have money to pay the rent or their utility bills never mind buying food ??? Does it matter if they can't afford health insurance or have a 'pre exisiting  condition' that disqualifies them from being covered by health insurance ??? If they do have health insurance, does it matter if they end up in the hospital and then go bankrupt from paying their medical bills; f they lose their car, house, livelihood ??? Because, after all, we are working, we are bringing money in to provide for ourselves and our family, we can afford healthcare, we make the laws...

It grieves me to see the people we have voted into office forget the ordinary people who put them there: the moms and dads, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors, friends, coworkers... Suddenly it's all about the almighty dollar, self comfort, self promotion, self aggrandizement.... 'I' is on the throne and we have left the 'us' and 'they' and 'we' behind... Suddenly, if our fellow countrymen look different than us, if they speak differently, if they believe differently, if they live differently, if they earn less money,  if they don't conform to our ideas of how they should be then we leave them behind to wallow in their misery, we cast them out of sight and out of mind, we trod them beneath the heel of our indifference, we hold them in contempt and disgust....

How much better to be 'All For One' and 'One For All' - to let love and compassion and bravery lead, to reach out and pull someone up rather than abandoning them.... To care, to be concerned, to burn with a desire to improve someone's life.... America was founded on the ideals that ALL are created equal, that ALL deserve the right to life, to liberty, to the pursuit of happiness; that ALL deserve justice, that if the government becomes apathetic, tyrannical, despotic, cruel, unjust then the people have a right to rebel and institute a NEW government.

 To see the banks donate to the police so the police might try to crush the protest against the banks - that DISGUSTS me !! That has no place in a democracy or a republic - it is part and parcel of a dictatorship - a corporate dictatorship  but a dictatorship nonetheless... To see the financiers roll in wealth and power while the people who give them their money starve, die from ill health or exposure to the elements, lose their money and any sort of quality of life - that is as bad as the cruelest of the Roman emperors - or any other monarch or tsar or despot - oppressing their subjects. To slowly come to see that wealth and comfort and power seem to matter more to those in office than the people they have been elected to serve boggles my minds and breaks my heart....

My heart is with those protesting for justice, for equality, for fairness, for their voice to be heard.  Let us rise up with them and give strength to their arms, courage to their hearts, swiftness to their feet.  Let us add our numbers to theirs and link our minds and hearts and arms in solidarity. To freedom !!!!

Back To School

Well, my 5 year old has his first day of year one/ first grade today...  Hope it's gone well for him.  There should be other children that he knows in class with him although the teacher is new.  She is teaching the younger year ones...

Love my boy so much, and am so proud of him:)  His little brother doesn't go back to preschool until monday and he was pretty upset about it. He didn't cry or protest but his whole attitude was dejected... Poor little guy...

This year has started off well: woke up early enough to get my boys sorted out and fed without having to shout at them or rush them and we had a leisurely walk to school, too.  All in all, very relaxing:)

But, to be honest, I'm looking forward to going to pick Eamon up today.  I've really missed him...

Can I Sleep On It ???

So here it is, 1.30 am and I'm struggling to write...

The scene is there, the wording isn't.  I suppose it doesn't help that I have not really been focusing on this project lately.  It feels like maybe I should back off for a few days, let it simmer and then see what comes to the surface.  Or just lug my laptop with me wherever I go and write whenever inspiration strikes... or maybe I should go back to longhand and then copy it out onto here... Decisions, decisions.

I do have housework to do and I need to set time aside for working with Eamon on his phonics chart, his numbers and writing... Just an hour would be good.  And cozy up with Hayden and read to him, as well:)

I have a routine but I think I need to set it to a specific time frame...  At least until it comes second nature to me...

And now to sleep because I won't be any good to anyone without at least six hours:)

Rain, Rain Go Away

To be honest, I'm in a bit of a mood today... Upset at the rain, which is silly.  I try to think that the plants and trees and grass need a drink, too but when it's been raining off and on since the night before, it just gets frustrating.

Also, I'm discouraged because Andrew is tired and sore, which means he won't be going anywhere today.  I hate to see him stuck inside and I feel bad for the boys because he isn't active.  Scarring of the spine is no joke - he's in pretty much constant pain and we still haven't heard from the specialists yet, which is beyond frustrating...

So, yes, I'm grouchy :( Also, want to take the boys out and I feel like it's no good because I don't drive and I don't want them catching a cold... Sigh...

Maybe I'll do some writing later, or maybe I'll help the boys start their scrap books.  At least attaching the covers.  We might go to the library later to copy some pages... We'll see...

Onwards and upwards !!

What Can I Do ???

People have so many ideas about what has caused the looting and crimes that have been committed in London and the other cities affected... Poverty, hopelessness, boredom, etc... I'm not interested in excuses.  There can be no excuse for causing such damage, for hurting other people, for destroying your own and other people's community.

And now to be 'the devil's advocate'...  What exactly is the situation these young people find themselves in today ??? They are allowed to finish school at sixteen, but not allowed to vote.  They are not allowed to buy cigarettes or alcohol.  They can work but are not even paid minimum wage.  In fact, they won't be eligible for minimum wage until they are twenty-one !! They cannot drive, their hours - if they work - are severely restricted. Perhaps they have finished school but don't want to attend university... Are there any apprenticeships in the field they'd like to work in: plumbing, joinery, decorating, electrician, mechanics ???

My husband and I will do our best to raise our boys to have a good work ethic, to have respect for others, to be responsible members of their society... But is there any place like that for these young people who might not be being taught that at home: a place to learn that they matter, that they can have a positive impact on their community, that they can be respected and looked up to by the next generation ???

How much are we willing to do to ensure our young people have a future that WE wouldn't mind having ??? What can I do to not only instill in my two boys that they are loved, cared for, important, that how they feel and what they think and say and do matter but also for other young people in my area ???

In a way, I am almost thankful for the chaos that has happened in the past few days because it's woken me up to the fact that maybe THERE is something I can do... Now, to check out the YMCA :)



 

Chaos and Confusion

 My mind is boggling right now.  Woke up this morning to hear that the rioting has hit Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds... Why ??? The rioting was supposedly a protest against the alleged gang member killed by police in Tottenham... So how does that affect anyone else in any of these other cities ???

Perhaps I'm getting the totally wrong idea but it seems to me that the rioters are just looking for an excuse to do something they consider fun.  They're mostly teen agers, these people that are looting shops and burning private homes, burgling private homes, robbing people on the street... There is no reason for their behaviour, though when asked one of them said it was to 'get his taxes back'.  Does he even know what he's talking about ??? I'm sure he isn't making enough to have any serious money withheld from him...

I agree that the Tory government has been seriously mistaken in how they've taken the decision to cut public services so far and so fast and so deep... Then the universities have raised their tuition fees, the employment situation is dire and students are not even paid minimum wage... But that doesn't give them the license to loot shops like Debenhams and JB Sports, etc... Stealing clothes, alcohol, cigarettes, electrical equipment... Even worse is breaking into innocent people's houses to steal from them, jumping and robbing people on the street, burning buildings that have nothing to do the government, ripping out the hearts of their communities....

It saddens me to no end that the young people think it's fun to carry on this way: destroying things that belong to everybody, hurting innocent bystanders... The rage and fury and grief are building up inside me and I pray for everyone affected by the callous and heartless actions of others... I also pray for the future of the children in this country, that they will find help and hope....

Hopefully, this blog will soon be filled with positivity and joy...

London's Burning

Rioting in London... Started in Tottenham because a 29 year old man was shot and killed by police. But the rioters didn't attack the police station, they looted shops and burned down people's homes !  And now the rioting is preading to Croydon, Clapham and even leaving London and infecting Birmingham...

  And what are the rioters doing ??? Setting fire to buildings and looting stores: stealing mobile phones, televisions, alcohol, cigarettes, clothing, sporting goods, etc... I find it absolutely disgusting !!

I also find this horribly heartbreaking.  How can they destroy their own communities ??? Do they want to live in a burned out war zone ??? Don't they have any respect for themselves ??? I guess not... How sad...

I don't understand how someone can use a death as an excuse to wreak such havoc... Do they feel hopeless, helpless, frustrated ???  Or is it just pure greed and opportunism ??? And what sort of penalty will these people pay ??? Will they even be caught ???

England is my home now, has been for almost seven years, and I'm sitting here in shock.  I don't understand how people can sink to this sort of level. It grieves me and infuriates me to no end...