Hi-Ho Silver, Away!

So, after what feels like eternity, I am finally getting my arse back to that lovely place that we refer to as "Devon"

Ok, so it is actually called Devon, but my statement is technically correct.

None the less, in less than three hours, we will begin the trek to the South West. A gorgeous, beautiful place that... Oh, is about it face the brunt of a massive storm.

Should be fun.

We're going for a week, and this time we're taking ALL the kids. Yes folks, I will be trying to control Dom, Jaysen, Kellie, Molly and Tamsyn into London, then on to Devon.

You see why a hurricane-force storm is no bother to me now, right?

I'm using the rule of thumb that an 80% survival rate for them is pretty good, but I'm willing to let that number drop, depending on how good they l are...

Plans for the week include "not much" "very little" and "sod all" but I also want to explore parts of the moors, eat copious amount of Steak & Stilton baguettes, sample the local breweries, and generally be out and about. Pain & Energy Levels permitting.

Usually before I travel for any real distance, I like to take it easy for a few days in the run up, as travelling and me do NOT go well together. It hurts, it exhausts, and it stresses me out of my brain. This week, however, I feel like I've hardly stopped, and even after being in bed for several hours, I'm in effing agony.

With drugs, I should add.

Saturday was a manic bloody day :-(

And to add to my misery, the clocks went back last night (I say last night, I've been awake since half three, it's now half five... "Tonight" would be more accurate) and while people say "Oh this is the GOOD one, we gain an hour" it's actually horse crap if you're an Insomniac. Forward or Back, it sucks when you can't sleep.

Back: You aren't sleeping, it's all shit. And you watch the clock go Midnight, 0100, 0200 then clicks back to 0100, then 0200, 0300... ANOTHER hour of not sleeping!

Forward: You aren't sleeping, it's all shit. And you watch the clock go Midnight, 0100, 0200 then it clicks forward to 0300, then 0400, 0500... An hour GONE that you will never get back and have lost sleep.

But I digress.

As is usual when in the wilds of Devon, phone sign is, shall we say, a bit naff. Inside the cottage and it's three-feet-thick walls, there is zero signal. Zip. Nada. Outside it comes and goes, depending on where I am on Dartmoor. Luckily, inside the cottage, I will have WiFi, so if you want to chat, install WhatsApp.

Side Note: Do not bother with BBM for Android. It's rubbish, slow, doesn't run well, doesn't actually communicate with every BlackBerry user (which is a joke really) and generally sucks. Honestly, if you want something like it on either iPhone or Android, install WhatsApp or Kik Messenger. BlackBerry needs to realise they are past it, over the hill and crap. There's a reason it's popular with kids... Because they should be counted as a toy.

Anyways, yes, Devon.

I'll probably post the odd photo on my blog or through Instagram... I'll have my laptop too so if I'm indoors vegging out, I may even play some Warcraft or Diablo.

Assuming the storm doesn't knock out the power down there which is quite likely, apparently. Sitting in the quiet, by candle light, with nothing to do except read or talk? WOW the kids are in for a shock!



(Posted from my Sony Xperia Z - excuse typos, strange formatting and similar oddities)

Devon

The cream tea, and the view from James's front garden..

Cozy

Roaring fire in the heart, cold wind blowing across the moors... Yep, we're back in The Land of the Cliche!

Waking View

Waking up to these two views first thing in the morning? Hard life...

Touch Down

Well, we made it safe and sound. The journey to Devon wasn't too bad, but roadworks and a lorry fire outside Bristol caused some pretty mean tail backs, so we didn't get into Exeter til half five, and after a brief car journey, we got to Poundsgate at about six.

The pub is gorgeous and just how I remember it... A few hundred years old to boot. Crazy. So after a long day, what more could you ask for than a Steak & Stilton baguette and a couple of pints of Wychwood Hobgoblin. Kellie opted for the Steak & Onion baguette with a couple of pints of Guinness.

So girly ;-)

We're now back at James's cottage (just across the road from the pub), chilling out, playing with Harry, sat listening to music in front of an open fire.

Bliss.

The weather is crap, but I don't care. Much like the pub cat sitting in front of the fire, it's a bit cliche up here. We're sat in the middle of Dartmoor, the wind is blowing around, it's driving rain, and outside is pitch black - if you're in a town or anywhere with street lights, your not in the dark! We've got a fire burning in the fireplace, and are just chilling out.

I'm sure more blog posts will appear, however, due to The Back Of Beyond not requiring phone service, I can only share, post and upload when at the cottage and stealing James Wi-Fi!

Playing Catchup

As has been noticed by one or two of you, Chez 0ddness has been rather... quiet... of late. Don't worry, no, it isn't you, it's me.

Usually by the middle of March, I am feeling better and cheerier and more "me" after my Winter Gloomy Pants... This year, however, I have not bounced back as much as I had would have liked. Facebook has been ignored, 0ddness has been collected dust, Twitter has been smouldering in the background - even my WhatsApp has been somewhat ignored.

February was, to put it mildly, rubbish. I can't go on Facebook because - and take this however you want to take it - but I cannot abide seeing everyone posting photos of their heart child laying in ICU with pipes, tubes and wires covering them. It's a bridge too far for me, so I have to stay away. There is little worse than scrolling through peoples updates, and suddenly having one of those kinds of pictures emblazoned across my screen.

But I digress...

On top of all this, I've been attending my Therapy and Physio appointments, and I have to say, despite the fact I am trying I can't see the point in them. The Physio is trying to get me to "Normalise" my day, and my Therapist keeps getting me to do flow charts and stuff for "bad thoughts" which just make me end up more confused than when I started.

There seems to have been a constant stream of "stuff" going on in the house this last six weeks - probably longer if I'm honest - but it's all slowly coming to fruition. Those of you that have been reading 0ddness since the Dark Ages will remember that the storms in 2006 blew the living piss out of my fence, and it has been in pieces since then - despite chasing the landlords to get it sorted, and for them to suddenly announce "Not our responsibility any more" I've been chasing them since December... Last week, I snapped, and sent them a long email telling them exactly what I thought of them, and to make matters MORE interesting, I pointed out every little flaw in the house that has been pissing me off - dodgy woodwork, dodgy floor tiles, peeling ceilings - they got it, and then some.

That was Friday. On Monday, I had a phone call from one of the Managers there, all apologies, booked to come to the house to discuss ALL my issues (with the house!) on the following Thursday... And they turned up! I was half expecting them to not to bother, but gold stars all around, a senior manager and her boss spent an hour and a half listening to me rant and rave, point out everything that is shit, and they agreed with me - on everything.  I waited for the catch, they emailed to confirm everything I said was in need of rectification, and a phone call the Monday after that confirming all works would be carried out throughout April.

Including the fence repair.

In other news, this weekend - in an effort to have a little break and chill out - we're heading to Kellies brothers place, 1 A Cottage, The Middle of Nowhere, Devon. You may remember my posts about this place when we helped James move in, not to mention the Helicopter Crash in their garden, and the Earthquake... See here for those posts!

But yes - tomorrow we head into London, then off to Devon for five days. So so can't wait.

On top of this, as has been alluded to on Facebook, I have a new phone! Actually, we both have a new phone each, but thanks to the 0dd Mother in Law, we have shiny new Sony Xperia Z's. And yes, we have new mobile numbers - if you need them, just shout.

And again, yes, I will do a proper review-type-thingie once I've had time to play with it and fiddle around with it. So far: It's massive, gorgeous, and fast!

I'm sure there is more and plenty of stuff I've missed, skipped, glossed or downright ignored... It may or may not come to me, let alone appear on the blog. But, I am alive, and following the wise words of Dory.

Devon!

Anyone following me on here or Facebook will have seen that last weekend, Kellie and myself nipped across to Devon for a long weekend.  I didn't really mention it before, as I kept thinking "Oh, that's weeeeeks away" and then, all of a sudden, it was a few days till we left, and then it became "Shiiiiiit got to sort everything out!"

In my defence, I was ready, packed and sorted almost TWO DAYS before we were due.  Someone was still getting their shit together the night before we left.  Tut Tut...

Anyways, we set out early Thursday morning into London to get on a coach. Now, yes, that might seem a bit of a strange way to travel in this day and age, but the mathematics was simple. Return trip on the train: £50 each. Return trip in a car: £80 for petrol. Return trip in a coach: £12 each.

So, we left London at 1230 Thursday, and set off across the great expanse of England. Now, I'm not completely sure, but the furthest I've ever been in that "kinda sorta" direction is about 30 miles west of London. Yeah, big-time traveller me ;) This journey, however, was pretty much right across England. 350 miles or so.

Nice.

Pretty much the entire journey was spent with me pointing out scenery to Kellie. Because I could. Big hills, big views, vistas, all the rest of it. OK OK, I admit, I love looking, and like to share what I see. Plus, it was all new to me. Every time I went past a road sign saying "Place X - Y miles" I visualised where I was on the map. Exciting stuff...

The journey there was pretty much a straight shot, no real traffic or anything to speak of, and once there, we were met by Kellies brother, James, and his wife, Kat. From there, they drove us back to their little flat in the tiny sleepy village of Ashburton. Wow, talk about postcard-worthy. My friend Stuart lives in the little town of Evesham, and I thought THAT was sleepy when I was there, but Ashburton is something else.

The plan for the weekend was pretty much "Do f$ck all" and I think we almost managed to achieve that. James & Kat, however, are moving this week (Oooh today actually) from their one bedroom flat, into a very large, very old cottage up on the moors. I'm talking granite walls that are two to three feet thick, with a hearth/fireplace I can STAND in dammit! The downside to someone like me... EVERY single doorframe in the place smacked me in the head... Being that they are less than six feet high. Even the ceilings in some part caused me concussion.

Their new place is outside of Ashburton, in a "village" called Poundsgate, on Dartmoor itself. And I use the term village very loosely. Let's see... Six cottages, a pub, a phone box, a bus stop that has one bus a WEEK... erm.... Yep, that's the entire village.

The pub, however. Wow. The Tavistock Inn. For all you American sorts, picture the stereotypical English Country Pub, and you're not far off. Roaring fireplaces, pub-based cats, ales on tap or in casks. And everyone that walks in is known by everyone else already there.

So, between helping decorate the front room of the cottage, and hanging in the pub, we managed a bit of sightseeing too. The moors are amazing, and I was fascinated by the fact that little streams appear from nowhere, run down beside the road, cross the road, then disappear off into the wilderness. The River Dart was beautiful and borderline White Water rapids - where people canoe and occasionally fricking DIE.

Even the couple of days that were a bit grey and miserable didn't bother me - and I hate grey and miserable - and it just seemed normal to me.

The journey back home was a little longer, bit more traffic, and tinged with sadness as Kellie misses her brother... We didn't get back to Kellies till half ten that night, and were pretty much shattered.

So, if you ever decide to head to somewhere pretty, head to Devon. A big thank you for James & Kat for letting us sleep in their living room and for driving us around and showing us the sights. It was an excellent weekend!

Time Flies...

So, here we are in September already.  Blimey O'Reilly.  On a Stick.

You may notice that it's been *cough*a while*cough* since my last blog post.  Thanks to the wonders that is The Summer Holidays™ it's been rather busy in Chez 0ddness.  And pretty much every where else that I've been.  As is usual during holiday time, I've been flicking between Basildonia and Deepest Darkest Canvey, dragging kids, bags, the dog and whatever else around with me.

But today is a momentousday.  Today is the day they go back to school!

And it would seem that no sooner did the calendar hit September 1st, Mother Nature decided "Right, Autumn...  We skipped summer, so lets do this shit!"  Wind, Rain, Leaves, the whole shebang.  I even tested my radiators a few days back, just in case - which was a good job, as the two up-up-stairs had depressurised and weren't getting any hot water inside them.  That could have been a wee bit nipply.

On the bright side, yesterday saw a man come out for my boilers annual service, so I pointed it out to him and he sorted it.  And fixed the boiler that was a borderline pass for trying to kill me with Carbon Monoxide, so that was handy really ;)

Anyways, Me, Kellie and the kids have pretty much been non-stop throughout August.  Keeping the kids entertained was the biggest hurdle.  Decorating her hall-stairs-landing was another bucket of fun - and we kinda sorta removed her bannisters too, which seemed like a good idea at the time.  Then there were birthdays - oh my goodness so many birthdays...  A couple of random parties people put on for... er.. well, just random parties really!

Yes, granted, the weather throughout the summer has been pretty crap er shit er naff, but we made the most of it.  I suppose without much in the way of a proper summer, there wasn't anything in the way of proper sunburn, so that's something ;)

Still, with routines returning and kids going back to school - including Tam who starts at her big school this afternoon (pics to follow!) things should return to normal-ish-ness here.  I even have a few posts ready to go!

Oooh I am so organised.  Now to kick the kids awake at an ungodly hour to forcefeed them cornflakes, put on clothes they hate, to go out in the rain!

(NB, and the Webcam will be on in a bit as well, pointing out the window - thanks to the computer being aaaaall the way upstairs now, the angle will seem slightly different!)

La Weekénd

To say I've had a busy weekend would be what some might call an understatement.  I had planned to keep a bit updated by text message/email, but never found a quiet moment or a peaceful five minutes.

The weekend actually started in motion last Tuesday when I was due to go to Kellies in preparation.  Plans changed and were altered at the last minute, so I had to take my very large bag, plus a bag of damp washing, across Basildon, with Sally to Jo's place so she could dog sit for me.

As it is, Sally is kinda sorta another kid, and Jo was missing her anyway, and much to the chargrin of her hugely ugly kitten, Sally stayed with her for a week.

Once the mutt was delivered, I had to lug my crap back to town for the bus, and then endue rush hour with every plank, numpty and utter moron heading in the same direction as me.  The journey usually takes me 30 minutes, maybe 40 on a busy day.  This trip took an hour.  An hour, surrounded by "people" that I wanted to eject from the bus.

As I stepped off the bus at Kellies end, the skies opened.  I don't mean "it started to rain" but more "I'm going to drown".  There was me in shorts, tee shirt and sunglasses, standing at the side of the road thinking about committing murder.

Once with Kellie, things brightened up, and we set to the ardous task of going through my clothes I had bought to decide which to take for the weekend.  I don't do "smart", so she had a hard task, but ended up helping out, then washing stuff and ironing it all.

And, I might add, when this girl irons, just don't get involved.  Me, I can iron - it was one of the first things mum taught me.  However, my ironing compared to her ironing was more like me comparing my rock-picking-up-skills to an Olympic weight lifter.

Still, it was amusing watch her iron nine or ten items in two and a half hours.

Tuesday evening we went to see Kerry (whose birthday it was Wednesday, and whose weekend away it was) and set to denting the national booze supplies.  We didn't get in too late, and there were no hangovers to report.  Wednesday we sort of just chilled out, and in the evening, Kerrys kids were delivered so we could sit on them while she was wined and dined by her family.

Thursday - once the sproglets were collected - we headed into town and grabbed a few last minute bits, then went to Kerrys (empty) house so I could have a look at her computer.  I won't moan about it here, but GAH!  I also won't mention how my moral support team nodded off in the armchair while I contemplated lobbing the stupid arse thing out the patio door.

Thursday evening we had to ourselves, with Kellies mum getting her wee one as we were heading out Friday morning.  An early-ish night, followed by an early-ish morning saw us finally on our way, collecting others as we went.  Soon, six of us were in the people carrier (dubbed the Fun Bus...), with another two in another car.

The journey was a bit rough, but I had taken the worlds supply of pain killers to start, plus a couple of stops - one for lunch, one for beer - helped out, and we arrived at the Bed & Breakfast at, erm.. some point that afternoon.  A brief dumping of luggage, and some birthday champagne saw us managing to find a pub a few feet from the hotel.  Result.

So we had a few drinkies and headed back to the hotel and got sorted for the evening.  Kellie looked amazing, all dressed up, hair, makeup and everything else, so I was very happy regardless of where we went.  Me, I probably looked like a lardy-boy trying to wear decent clothes, but still...

From the hotel we went to a place called The Long Bar which wasn't all the long - or busy.  The girls danced, the lads drank... Well, the girls drank as well, and did it very well too.  Not long after about ten that night, we decided the bar was a bit quiet and went for a wander and a mooch, looking for something a little more lively.

And we found it.  Tall, gothic-looking, thumping music, people...  We found an old church, converted into a nightclub.  It was so excellent, words don't really do it justice.  The music was great, the atmosphere was great, the people, it wasn't expensive...  The far end of the church was still intact too, with the nave, pulpit and everything else.

It was so good, we decided to stay till half three that morning, and with a tummy full of brewed beverages, we headed out to a kebab store and while our food was cooking, we managed to get some chillis given to us! YAY!

Needless to say, by the time we ate, got in, got sorted out and fell into bed, it was late.  Gone half four in the morning.  Crazy stuff!

Saturday I was nice and hangover free.  Unlike a few of the group.  Kellie was fine-ish, and so Saturday we spent mooching around, exploring, checking out the pubs and sampling local wares in said-pubs.

Saturday night was a first for me...  We got dressed up again and once more Kellie looked amazingly gorgeous.  After a quick bite to eat, we went to a very swanky casino.  Some beers, some roulette, some machines - we didn't lose any money, but Kellie DID break even which was a result.  No one in the group made their fortune I'm afraid, but once again we had an excellent night - and didn't get in till nearly 2am after more evil food...

1x Jalapeño Burger, extra chilli sauce.  Wow.

Sunday we chilled out, wandered the arcades, had some laughs until Mother Nature deemed the weekend was at an end.  The skies opened.  And I mean OPENED.  The journey home was long and painful once again, and we stopped at the pub for a rather large and impressive roast dinner.  Mmm roast pork, all the trimmings.

Once we got in and dumped all our crap, we flopped and chilled out with Mr Jack Daniels.  And that was the end of the weekend and a most excellent time.  I headed home Monday, and by the time I got out, to Jo's, the kids and dog and everything else, I was about ready for bed.

Today I rolled out of bed, the kids and me had a muck around, went shopping and pretty much haven't stopped since.  I DID clear out a cupboard earlier and found a black thing living in the corner.  The label said "Icing Sugar" but I think it was another life form.

And once again, I am home :D

Chilling Out

With me being here with Kellie, we're having a nice quiet evening.  You may notice, of course, that I am on the computer blogging.  Well, yes, but we ARE chilling.  Kellies son isn't here, but as it's her best friends birthday, we have her kids over for the night.

The three young ones (Kellies one, Kerrys two) are in bed, and currently, Kellie and Kerrys oldest are on the PS2 playing Need for Speed of some kind.

We're pretty much sorted for our weekend away - clothes are ready to be packed, once ironed, and there's no sign of stress or hassle, nor any of my usual "OMG I forgot....!" so we're just chilled, relaxed and everything else.

Tomorrow we're going to finish packing everything (bar the wash kits of course), then poodle into town, get a few bits that Kellie needs, then nip to Kerrys where I'm on Computer Repair Duty, then it's back here, chill some more, early night, then early morning to head up to Great Yarmouth.

And more importantly - I am wearing a shirt AND trousers when we're out.... ME!

Friday night we're heading to a bar, Saturday night we're going to a casino, with whatever other activities during the days we are there - then Sunday we come home and Monday I go home to grab the wee ones back again.

The last couple of days I've felt like I've been bumped by a heavy good vehicle - I've got an all-over ache going on which isn't nice, but I'm getting on with it as best I can. My ankle is still tender but usable, my bac kis sore, my legs are killing me - even my hands are aching.

Other than that, things are quiet and relaxed which is all good, and once again I am being looked after.

For those with too much free time and up for a chuckle on Facebook - I've created a Fan Page for 0ddness.  Yes yes, very anally retentive and probably a little bit "Ooooh look at me!" but I had half an hour to kill yesterday and that was the result. If you're on Facebook, you can find the page Here! Feel free to post stuff and piss around on there..

Not like you need inviting to do so, but you know ;)

How To Alienate My American Readers

First off, to everyone from America, and those that know today is more than a movie with Tom Cruise and a movie with Will Smith, happy Independance Day.

However... On that note, I will now be ranting.

Today, Jaysens school celebrated Independance Day.  I'm not sure how or what they did, but the kids all wore Red, White and Blue, there was an "american" themed dinner, and apparently there were various activities.

Which, in and by itself, not too much of an issue.  HOWEVER.

Why the flying fornication are our schools celebrating an American Holiday that technically, we Brits should be pissed about.  WHY WHY WHY did the kids have to wear "American" colours.  Incidently, those colours are not only the Union Jack colours, but more amusingly, the French Flag colours...

But I digress.  The party shop in town has Fancy Dress and various themed stuff for Independence Day.  Asda has a small firework selection available.  The schools are doing stuff and learning stuff about it...

Now, my gripe isn't so much the fact we are trying to celebrate a holiday over here, it's one simple factor.

We don't celebrate Saint Georges Day.  At all.  In any way, shape or form.

I am going to be writing the school a really pissy letter.  Last year, Jaysens class studied Hindu Gods on St. Georges Day.  This year was random normal lessons.  4th July rolls around, and it's Dressing Up, Themed Meals and all the rest of it.

Surely that's akin to Germany celebrating the anniversary of their defeat in WW2.  How the hell can we celebrate a pointless holiday (to us, of course, I'm not American Bashing) over here, when St Georges Day is completely ignored.  Ignored, no less, to avoid upsetting the poxy bloody immigrants and similar "We Don't Like This Country" asshats.

*snarl*

I swear, each and every day, this country loses a little part of itself, and slips further into a random amalgamation of every other bloody country.  I wonder how long till someone at the Government sits and goes through this list and announces the various celebrations we'll be making for each one...

/rant

I've Earned It

It has to be said that I have been a busy little bunny today. And with minimal amounts of procrastination.

All that down there in the post below I have plugged away at pretty much all day. I checked my WoW before I started it all, otherwise had I done it while mid-busy-bunny, I would have stayed put. After the doctors, I headed to Ruths where I was supposed to be heading into town, but various amounts of stress and stuff had cropped up, and in the end she told me to stop flapping and sent me home. The Bitch.

Then I pretty much burnt my way through the house, slogging over this, that and the other, and decided at about 2pm to have something to eat. I hadn't eaten all day. So I sat down with some rabbit food, a banana, a cup of tea, and watched the last episode of House season two. Ooooh. I was good though, I refrained from ripping the cellophane from my season three box, and carried on.

Not long after I restarted, I chucked the dog in the garden, headed off for a pee (hey, you want a classy blog, this ain't it!), collected some rubbish and headed down, opened the back door - to find a brown dog in the garden. Sally, as you know, is white. This was a brown dog... No, wait... My Garden + Heavy Rain + White Boxer = ....Well, you can imagine.

And I'd not long cleaned the floors...

So I strategically placed some laundry on the floor, and got her up into the bath, where I promptly showered, bathed, scrubbed, combed, rescrubbed, recombed and dried the dirty great lump. Sure enough the Brown Dog became a White Dog once more. Do I slapped on her anti-flea stuff, and text Cel to let her know that if she would rather Sally stayed at hers for the weekend, instead of Cel coming here to sort her out, she was sorted.

Cel called very soon after that, and from her tone of voice, I figured that I was being... Well, rather special. I thought I had mentioned it to her, but the more I spoke to her, the more I thought "Dan, you're a spaz" So the dog sitter is sorted now too! She's coming later this evening to collect the stupid-ass mongrel and take her back to hers, and come in during the day to check on the pussy cats.

A little after 5pm, Kellie and her kids turned up for a coffee. Well, the kids got juice, but otherwise, we sat for an hour chatting and chilling, me being very self-conscious of how hot I was. Hot, as in heat, not hot as in my normal physical presence.

They toddled off around six, and I once again set to the house, packing, sorting, arranging... And now here I am, 8pm, and finally, I am done. Granted, there are two items on the list I have yet to do, but the first, "shorts", are in the washing machine. If it gets hot, I am sorted, otherwise, I sleep in them when staying at other peoples houses. No one wants to see my special boxer shorts during the night/first thing in the morning ;) The second item, "shave", well, I'll do that this evening before bed when I have a shower.

My bag is packed, my laptop is packed (those of you that pray to electronic deities, say a pray that my hosts can fix it!), and I even have a sleeping bag packed. I am offically ready...

And aside from a brief babysitting stint in the morning while Ruth goes to see her doc about her STD, I will be doing the off mid-morning. Ish. YAY for a weekend holiday!

And no, Emma, I am not heading to Pompey ;)

St Georges Day

Today is St. Georges Day, which should be a day of flags, street parties and even a Bank Holiday - that is, a day off for everyone. However.

I know exactly what is going to happen this year, there will be token gestures here and there, but for the most part, it WON'T be celebrated because, yup, we don't want to offend the immigrants or foreign nationals.

F'k the lot of em I say. Today is a day where you should be PROUD to be British. If you don't like that fact, there's the airport, there's your flight home, buh-bye now, don't come back.

St Patricks Day is celebrated all over the place because.... Erm... So why is St Georges Day not? Last year I asked Jaysen what they did in class.

"We talked about Hindu Gods"

WTF?? We'd rather learn about every other bastard, but not our own countries heritage. People get in trouble for flying the St George Cross. HOW THE HELL can it be considered racist to fly the flag of your own country when you're already in your own country?! We make so many sacrifices for every other bastard in the world, but what do we get in return?

Accused of being racists and not taking the time to see how our actions can offend the minority.

It's really not that difficult. If you don't want to learn our language, get a job and accept that you are guests in our country, please kindy GET LOST.

So, to everyone, regardless of you being black, white, brown, turquiose or that funny shade of white-that-isn't-white that has it's own name. Happy St Georges Day.

/rant

Relaxing At Home

Well, after a holiday, we're all home, exhausted and in need of a break ;) Luckily, we'd booked off today as holiday for Jaysen, so we're having a lazy day and just relaxing, catching up on laundry and chilling out.

Yep, we had a great holiday, but it is soooo good being home. My own bed, my own bathroom, comfortable sofa, computer and internet, no need to be constantly on the go-go-go.

Holland was lovely, and I will miss the people, the atmosphere, the food... I won't miss their obsession for liquorice and salty sweets, nor the fact that it's so damn flat. It's also going to be nice to cross a road and just watch for traffic... In Holland, we had to check for bikes, then cars (from the wrong direction compared to home!), then trams, then more cars, then more bikes. They even ride scooters/mopeds/vespa on the pavement!

I had some real issues with my knee, and have decided to make a doctors appointment. The journey there was a nightmare even with painkillers, and I've been hobbling around the whole time. My back has been a bit icky, but that's because we've been on the go constantly.

Of course, with Jaysen back at school tomorrow, I'll just have to grin and bear it ;)

Rough...

So, we've decided to come home a day early - the weather went very gross, so to save boredom, we headed off. Which was fine till the captain of the ferry mentioned it being a bit choppy.

Me, I don't mind it at all, and the kids are oblivious. Jo, however is not a happy sailor, so she's not enjoying it. On the bright side, we'll be home by about 10pm!

Unless we sink that is, which means you'll have to read something else from now on ;)

Another Sunset

Can't believe how quickly the holiday has gone. Sunday night already and we leave Tuesday morning. Still, I miss home and look forward to getting back online and hassling people ;)

Lazy

This is a deadly Netherlandian Attack Hound. Most dangerous canine of them all. And this one blocked our path...

The Deadly Lemur

Master of hunting, slayer of children...

Actually, they eat fruit, nuts and bugs, but aside from a sign telling us how shy they are, lots wanted to be itched and stroked through the bars!

Identify This Bird!

Stop the arguing! I am SURE there birds are Starlings, but am being told I'm an idiot. We're in Amsterdam, and SO know I'm right! Someone back me up here!

Amsterdam Zoo

Lucky for me, Jo couldn't get me from across the water when I pointed out I could see her antlers...