Silent Sunday

How Not To Pass Your Driving Test!!

Today, I took my first driving test....and failed!!  Its not the failure that gets to me, its the way I did it!!

I have been having lessons since February, after a four year break.  I originally only had about fifteen lessons but due to money, I had to stop.  But when I took my lessons back up earlier this year, I was determined to see it through and have had a fabulous instructor throughout.
  However, today, the nerves really kicked in and however much I tried not to panic beforehand, I just kept feeling sick and shaky!!  Sitting in waiting rooms never helps the situation, watching the clock count down the minutes until its your turn, awkward silences, and needing a wee was never the best build up to a test!!
  The examiner was lovely, he cracked jokes the whole way through and did not seem too bothered about what I was doing, he even yawned and said how tired he was!!  I did one manouvere, turn in the road, and here is where I really thought I had failed! Done all my checks correctly, and steering, I just forgot to put it into gear and hit the kerb!! This really threw me and i started to panic, but he managed to calm me down by talking about tattooes and the lottery!!  The rest of the test involved just driving around and I managed to forget my nerves and enjoy it.  As we got close to the test centre, I got over excited knowing that it was finished.  I could see my driving instructor waiting for me in the car park, and felt a rush of relief!!  However, another car was coming out of the test centre as I was turning in, and I forgot to steer, froze and almost took off the wing mirror!!  Holy crap, the examiner was now shouting at me, braking for me, and steering for me and I just kept saying, "sorry, sorry, sorry" right up until I turned the engine off!! 
  And then the inevitable words:
"Im sorry but you have failed!"  And then the next question: "Do you know what you failed on?"
My answer:  "My turn in the road?"
"No," he said back glumly, "I was about to pass you until you turned into the test centre and nearly took off the wing mirror!"
My shamed face appeared, bottom lip started to wobble and tears fomed in my eyes!!  How could I have been so ridiculously stupid and not have carried on focussing right to the end?!!!  I just panicked and relaxed a bit too much!!  And yes, a few hours later, I am still kicking myself for knowing I had passed my driving test first time, except for messing up when parking!!  Now, where is that website so I can book my test again.............?

Listography - Lessons I Learnt From my Parents

The listography topic this week threw me a little, its the first one that has really made me think!! Not because my parents didnt teach me anything but because it was not as simple as jottting a few points down, I really had to consider what lessons I took from my parents and how they impact my life.

Lesson 1 - YOU CAN STILL BE MADLY IN LOVE AND MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK AFTER 29 YEARS!!  This is the biggest lesson for me as I look upto my parents marriage and see all the crap that they have been through and still pull through.  With three kids, there was always going to be something that would try and come between them, but they taught me not to forget the important things and thats' family

Lesson 2 - YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS BUT YOU CANT CHOOSE YOUR FAMILY!! Which brings me on nicely to lesson number two, thank goodness I have the most supportive family who have had many opportunities to disown me, (through no fault of my own!) but eventually stood by me and made me see how much you need your family even when you think you dont.

Lesson 3 - BE INDIVIDUAL.  My mum is very unique in the sense that she dresses how she wants, plays the music she wants and definetely does not blend in with the crowd!!  I look up to my mum through this and I can see myself being just like her when im her age.  I hate looking like every one else and if anyone judges me for being different, I rebel and do it even more!

Lesson 4 - YOU MADE YOUR BED, YOU LIE IN IT!!  This lesson comes from my dad, every time I have some sort of dilemma that I have contributed to, this old saying comes out, and once he begins the sentence I tend to finish it knowing exactly what he means!  However, it doesnt always solve the situations im in at the time, but I try not to make the same mistake twice so I think a valuable lesson is usually learnt from this!!

Lesson 5 - MUSIC GETS YOU THROUGH LIFE.  As mentioned many times in my blog, music follows me everywhere, not a day goes by where Im either playing meaningful songs through my ipod or talking about what music means to me! Growing up with a very musical family through all genres, its always been difficult to escape from music so instead, I embraced it and hopefully beginnin to instill it in my little boy too!!

So, now that I have written these lessons out, I agree with four out of five of them and hope to pass them on to my son. The "you made your bed, you lie in it" phrase may not be something I pass on as its more of a statement than a lesson.

For more listographys, visit http://katetakes5.blogspot.com/

The Gallery - Vintage/Retro

This weeks theme is right up my street!!  I absolutely adore anything vintage, and there is a lot of it around, meaning those that missed the era of the 1920s-1970s can experience it for themselves!!  For more gallery photos, visit
http://stickyfingers1.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Gallery


This is my bag!!  Th design portrays vintage to me and although it is a modern version, this "cath kidson" type satchel is my favourite possession at the moment!!

And for the retro theme, I just couldnt resist taking a photo of my favourite cereal from way back when!!

Silent Sunday

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Listography - Gigs

This weeks theme is Gigs, specifically, artists I would like to see live, otherwise we could be here all day with the bands I have seen live!

1: Madonna - yes, a little predictable if you have read my blog before, but being a huge fan, I have never had the money to pay for her extortionate tickets! However, I would definitely see her live as im sure it would be a dream come true for me!

2: Pink Floyd :  After watching Pulse, and David Gilmours' Live at the Royal Albert Hall countless times, this would be my ultimate gig, stunning and leaving the audience blown away.  The closest I have gotten to a gig like this is Muse!! Dreamy music, stunning effects, if Carlsberg did gigs like this, they would probably be the best gigs in the world!!

3: Genesis: and so my prog rock continues, I missed out on the last tour they ever did, again due to lack of funds, but watching their Live in Rome dvd, makes me wish I had taken a loan out for the gig!!

4: Mansun: old indie band who I am a huge fan of, having split up just before I was old enough to go to gigs so this would be an ultimate dream band to see.  Instead, I have their whole back catalogue and re-releases to keep me entertained whilst I wait for their inevitable reunion.....

5: The Eagles: I actually could have seen them at this years Hop Farm Festival but had already booked my Reading tickets, so missed out. Singing my favourite song of all time, Hotel California, and lead singer Don Henley, singing my second favourite song Boys of Summer, I would gladly see this band live.

Visit http://katetakes5.blogspot.com/ for more listographys.

Becoming a juggler!! (an old post, as yet un-published!)

I was inspired today to write a blog about my hectic lifestyle - if you think this will be glamour, glitter and goregousness, think again!!
  I want to re-name my job title, just like most mothers, as a juggler.
Definition - "Juggling" may be used metaphorically, like "multi-tasking," to mean constantly refocusing attention among responsibilities, such as in the title of Juggling Work and Family. ^{[2][3]
 
My responsibilities at the moment are working at a restaurant, working as a nursery assistant, being a mummy, home maker and having time for my family and friends!! This definitely justifies the above definition in my eyes. 
  A typical day for me is getting up to take my son to school who is two bus rides there, getting two bus rides back home, doing the housework or working as a nursery assistant, doing the shopping, getting two bus rides back to pick my son up and another two bus rides to get home, putting the dinner on, going to work at the restaurant and home again!!
  8 bus rides a day is tiring in itself but totally worth it to get my son the best education.  My jobs are important to me and having the money means I can support my family.  I have worked hard to gain my confidence back after having a rough ride over the years so to be able to juggle everything in my life is actually quite rewarding and not very often do i moan about it unless i am having an extremely tiring day!!
  So where do i get the time to begin my main ambition which is to be a writer?  That is the title I am aiming for, and there will be a lot of hard work put into getting it.  Its hard to find the motivation at the end of a long day, when all I want to do is relax in front of the tv!!  Some days I have more time to do writing than others but even then, I set out to do something productive but end up gettig distracted by something else!!} 

The Gallery - Ibiza Times

My first entry into The Gallery,  hosted by http://stickyfingers1.blogspot.com/ where the theme this week is Travel.

I have chosen Ibiza, the place I have been to 16 times!! But this particular holiday last year, was my sons and partners first time abroad, and the time we got engaged on the beach!!  I have so many photos but have picked the best ones to show off our gorgeous holiday.

This is my favourite photo that I took on a morning in Ibiza, capturing the silhouetted palm trees by the pool.

The Med - a thirty minute walk along the sea leads to a very special place.....

The castle at the end of the Med.

My son, Jacob, where he lived for seven days practically!

The beach was not actually deserted at this time, it just seems it and I got lucky with my camera shot!!

And this was taken about thirty seconds before I was rudely dragged away from my drink, onto the beach and proposed to!!

Reflecting.............

My Son and His Technical Side!!

My son is five and a half and yet he knows how to complete guitar hero quicker than me!!  Im still working out how to coordinte my brain with my hands in order to click four coloured buttons to win the game!!
  This has provoked me into writing a quick blog on children and their games consoles.
Now, before my son got clever, I refused to let him play with such items, I dislike the "lazy parenting" way of plonking your child in front of the tv for a quiet life, but we have all been guilty of this, especially me!!  Which is why my son is now a pro at every game he owns and says he is bored when I dont let him on there, even though he has a bedroom full of toys!! 
  However, I have seen a slight advantage or two, of why games at such a young age can be good:

1: It taught my son to read the words, yes, no, exit, start and continue!!
2: It promotes playing fairly, through team work, challenges and single player!!
3: It helps his coordination in the areas that I have failed to progress!
4: It helps him use his imagination through play - when not on his consoles, he imrpovises what he has seen and inputs this into his playtime.

I still dislike my son spending hours on games consoles, I fear for his eye sight, (already being too close to the screen), his concentration span, (he definetely cannot hear anything I ask him, unless its to do with chocolate or a new game!) and his social life, although with the way technology is going, the future of socialising looks set to be an indoor gathering through the tv rather than down the pub!!  I may have made this sound like my son plays constantly on his xbox, (which he does!) but I make sure that as a responsible mother, he has a good education by doing his homework before I lose him to the screen, he gets a decent amount of excersise by playing at the park, and that he eats his fruit and vegetables to give him extra energy to play on his playstation!!
  Whatever happened to playing with sticks, leaves and toy cars?!!!

My first Listography!!

This is my first attempt at doing the Listography, as featured on
http://katetakes5.blogspot.com/

This weeks theme is Ice Creams so my top five are:


1: Screwball!!
I used to love running to the ice cream van with my 50p, and all I wanted to at was the bubblegum at the bottom!!

2: Can get a bit messy when if you dont eat it quick enough but I prefer the ice cream version to the chocolate br!!


3: very refreshing and always quenchies my thirst!


4: So much to enjoy in this ice cream, the mint, the chocolate bits on top, the never ending cone and the best bit of all, the thick chocolate waiting for me at the bottom!!


5: My last choice was a tough one but you cannot really go wrong with a good old tub of ben & jerrys ice cream!!

Silent Sunday