on the 6th, 7th and 8th day of Christmas..........................

21 items - swans, geese and milking maids!

think of it as a hold up in the postal system!

Did you know that Swans mate for life? If their partner dies they live alone for the rest of their lives.......................that is so romantic, but i doubt a swan thinks its romantic! It's just what it does. Shame more humans can't be like that instead of 'flitting' from one partner to another, maybe then there would be no need for the CSA or family courts, or children of divorced parents growing into confused and angry adults?

On the Fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me....................

Thats more like it!
A truly romantic gift, was it an engagement ring?

or a wedding ring?

An eternity ring?

And although I know it refers to the 5 books of the old testament

I really want to take a more romantic view of this gift!

I have fallen behind a bit with the 12 days, the plan was to post one a day (obviously!) but life happens, especially my life and at this time of year!
the day this should have been posted - 28th December - I spent a rather stressful time with my Dad, whilst never the easiest person to get on with, this week was just 'special' when we arranged the day he said to me 'don't get here before 11' which to me means be there sometime after 11! thanks to a clothing crisis (me, why do I always forget to do my laundry over Christmas?), tantrums (middle child) and a lorry from Italy driving far too slowly along a road far to narrow for it, got to love sat navs eh?! Anyway we got there at noon - not good enough apparently, he was cross and after being there for a couple of hours it was obvious we had to leave. I appreciate they had to get back to sort out the dog, but I am not sure Dad had to make it so obvious he wanted us to leave!

on the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me............................

four calling birds

mmmmmmmm well I am assuming the author didn't mean a group of birds on a party line, so some research into the true meaning is needed.

I have to say I am finding this very interesting, I had always assumed that this song was simply a love song, so to find out it has biblical references is very enlightening!

ok four calling birds, means the four Gospels or the four evangelists
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
but as they are typically portrayed as Angel, Lion, Ox and Eagle I am not sure how they got demoted to four calling birds!

So I looked up calling birds, apparently its a blackbird - as calling used to be colly and colly is an old word for black - so there you have it. day one you get a partridge, day two you get french hens, day three you get turtle doves and on day four you get blackbirds - plain, noisy, bullying balckbirds! Maybe they had a lovers tiff on day four?

on the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me.............................

26th December 2007, Boxing Day

The 3 french hens signify Faith, Hope and Charity
very good sentiments indeed.

Faith, mmmmm havent had a lot of that in a long time, this family seems to have been dealt more than its fair share of 'stuff' over the last few years. I could be very deep about this and say its God testing us, or that we are paying for past sins, but from where I stand it is just so unfair (hey a bit of kevin the teenager came out there for a minute).

Hope, yup always have plenty of that, I hope I will make it through another day without throttling the kids, I hope I can keep up with my coursework, I hope there is enough money in the bank to pay the bills. But most of all I hope for peace and harmony, for my children to grow up strong, brave and wise, and for me and my family to keep our good health.

Charity, mmmmmmm well everyone has their own individual take on Charity. Some will drop coins in a box and consider that their bit, some will stand and shake that box. Others give up their time to help others or ensure all their shopping and gifts are ethically bought. Me? I think Charity is about thinking of others with every act we make and doing what we can to make the world a nicer, kinder, brighter place.

Now onto it being Boxing Day - I have often idly wondered why it was called that, but never that bothered to look it up, so tonight I have and here is what I found

Why is 26 December called Boxing Day in England?

Traditionally, this was the day to open the Christmas Box to share the contents with the poor.

interesting, goes hand in hand with the french hens - faith in those who have to help those who have not, hope of the poor for the box to be shared with them and Charity from those who share

I hope Christmas has bought you cheer and goodwill and lots of love and kindness from those dear to you

good stuff, bad stuff

Good stuff - middle daughter has succeeded in wearing her thumbguard and hasn't had to wear it during the day for 2 weeks now. And last night she slept without it, and without sucking her thumb!

Bad stuff - I didn't get the job, I thought the interview went really well, but I am obviously not the right person for them *sob*. I had stupidly got my hopes up about it and am really rather disappointed not to get it.

On the Second day of Christmas my true love sent to me.............

25th December 2007

2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments

dont' know why, but apparently it does, maybe someone could enlighten me?

So today is Christmas day (well tomorrow, I am posting this on the eve, my family are very tolerant of me but internet time on Christmas day is a big no-no!) a day of hope, love and good will. A day when we can relax and enjoy the company of the ones we love. we are spending the day at home with Mr.B's Brother and his Wife (Uncle D and Auntie J) visiting. I hope middle daughter won't have too many meltdowns, I hope smallest daughter will understnad that not ALL the presents under our tree are for her, and I hope eldest daughter will manage a whole day without a teenage strop or nasty dig at her sisters or stepdad *sigh* I can live in hope.

Merry Christmas everyone I hope you have a wonderful and restful time, and I hope all your dreams and wishes come true.

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me.............

24th December 2007

A partidge in a pear tree

The popular song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is usually seen as simply a nonsense song for children. However, some have suggested that it is a song of Christian instruction dating to the 16th century religious wars in England, with hidden references to the basic teachings of the Faith. They contend that it was a mnemonic device to teach the catechism to youngsters. The "true love" mentioned in the song is not an earthly suitor, but refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person who is part of the Christian Faith. Each of the "days" represents some aspect of the Christian Faith that was important for children to learn.

http://www.cresourcei.org/cy12days.html

Personally I like the song because it's jolly and cheerful!

I had planned a lovely romantic dinner for Christmas eve, it is our first married christmas after all, and in line with the first true love gift I had thought a lovely meal of partridge followed by pears soaked in coffee. But as Tesco didn't deliver the Partridge (sent 2 poussin instead!) and I forgot to buy the tin pears, we will make do with roast beef and yorkshire puds instead!

lots of people and a moment of moist eyes!

whats going on then?

Being a shockingly nosey person, I put a visitor counter on this blog, generally I get a steady plod of 3 - 5 visitors a day

But today I have had 21 visits! Why the interest? what have I said thats so amazing - wish I knew!

Today we went to watch smallest child (3 in February) in her school play, she was an evil monkey in The Wizard of Oz! mmmmmm well cast methinks! Joking aside though, it was fantastic the story was reworked by the drama club and they even choreographed the dancing themselves - all the kids in the school were included from the littliest nursery pupil to the top of year 6 (although it is a very small school!) but fantastic, and yes I shed a tear or 2!

O boy O boy O boy!

I have been full time Mumming for 7 years now - more or less to the day - after middle child was born, I decided not to return to work after my maternity leave finished.
So apart from raising 3 daughters, keeping house, being a good (hahahaha) wife, being a Brownie guider, running my own business until youngest child arrived, plus voluntary work with the toy library and the NCT, and now my OU course - I havent really done anything with my time (do you notice the tongue in cheek tone there?)

But now the time has come for me to take a break from my long term relaxation and to think about getting a job!

One such thing caught my eye a week or so ago in our local paper, I phoned for a form, received it, completed it (first application form in a very long time) and posted it back.

And today - surprise surprise - I had a phonecall inviting me in for an interview, a week on Monday.

I haven't had an interview for a job in over a decade! So to say I am nervous is an understatement!

and the job? Cook at our local firestation - yum yum