He packs his lunch in a Sunblest bag............................

...................The children call him bogey.

Now some of you will know EXACTLY what i'm on about, others will be scratching their heads and others will be asking "what the HECK is a Sunblest bag?????"

Well, for the uninitiated, the words are from the song Dignity, by Deacon Blue.

And I was at their concert last night here in Glasgow!!!!!

Louise, Peter and Paul bought me 2 tickets to see them for my birthday!
Lou lived in the vague hope that  may take her, but instead, I took my friend Pauline.
And boy did we have a BLAST!!!!!!

We were up on high in the Armadillo, but even at that, our seats were good - looking down on to the centre of the stage, Watching Ricky Ross strut his stuff, Dougie Vipond give it welly on the drums and the lovely Lorraine McIntosh warble away!!!!

Deacon Blue have been around for the same length of time as Matthew and I have been married - which wasn't just last month!!!
They are SOOOOO much better than all these boy/girlie bands who lip synch and mime along to the songs.

This is full in yer face singing and music that makes you want to get up and clap, dance and cheer the night away!!!!!

Pauline and I reckoned they were looking good and hadn't really aged.

Then we realised that we are of a similar age - and i'm not sure that either of us could jump about a stage, singing, playing instruments and generally just having a great time!!!!!!

What made it even more special for Pauline and I is that we are both carers and to get a night out - especially during the week and know that Luke and Peter are looked after (so we don't need to worry or rush home!!).

So this was bliss and it made the little drinky poo go down a  lot better!! ( thank you Pauline!!!!)

We also met our friend May at the concert, along with her hubbie Pat. He had been told to bring plenty cash, lest the 3 of us get lifted by the police and we needed bail money!!!!!

The songs are brill (did I mention that?!?!?!)
Mainly, I think because they are well written about life and experiences that many of us have. And they are so well sung. And they seem to enjoy what they do!!!!

And thanks to our taxi service (aka Lou and Andrew!!) we got there and home safe.

Still singing away!!!

We tried to convince them it was a rubbish concert, but I don't think they believed us!!!!

Oh, and the Sunblest bag - Sunblest is a brand of bread and comes in the plastic bag type covering. When the bread is done, people will keep the bag and use it to put there lunch sandwiches into it.

See us Glasgow folk - we were into recycling long before it became trendy!!!!!

After the Referendum...............

............................Well, wasn't that a roller coater of 24 hours, topping off 2 years of debating, talking and working out what way to vote.

And working out WHY you wanted to vote that way.

It's now Sunday evening. Nearly 3 days since the polls closed at 10pm on Thursday evening.
My life hasn't changed THAT much in the past few days.
I still listen to Peter laughing at whatever he has on his laptop, or whatever DVD he's watching.
I'm still listening to Paul doing his music practice.
Matthew still going off to work in the morning, Lou popping in and out and the cats still need fed.

But yet.................................

I still feel as if my country is changing and i'm not sure what to make of it.

Scotland voted No to independence last Thursday.. Yes - it was a 55/45% . Enough to ensure it was an ok result, but not exactly a thumping "we want to stay in the Union" vote.
After all. 1.6 million of the registered electorate voted to GO.

That is a fair number of people in a small country.

I kind of came late to deciding what way to vote.
Some of the girls on a carers group were more active about the referendum than I was.
But about 4 or 5 months ago, I had a chat with one of the Dads at art class. I kind of wanted to see what others were thinking.
He explained Constitutional Law (well, as best you can in a short time) and I began to think "not fair" when he told me of things.
So I asked more questions of people and kind of got to the stage I knew i'd vote yes.

But it was annoying that the leaders of the 3 main Parties barely looked in our direction.

They were telling us from afar "don't leave - we love you".

Eventually, hoddit, doddit and the other one,........................... Sorry, Cameron, Clegg and Milliband got there act in gear and got on a train to Glasgow.

But just seeing them on the news made ne want to stick my foot through the tv and certainly didn't want me to vote for them.

I was at a meeting with the DFM last Tuesday, along with about 20 other carers. This was a great morning - I was so inspired by these woman, who till then, I had only met on line. (and a couple of guys as well!!)

Each one of us asked questions and we got answers.

If I hadn't already known I was voting yes, I would have decided there and then that I was.

But alas, the results were not to be.


The aftermath............................

Well, Friday night in Glasgow city centre was not a nice place to be - and I am so glad I wasn't there.
But the less said about that the better.

What IS annoying me - and many more - is the fact that Hoddit, doddit and the spare promised things for the Friday if it was a no vote. They would look after us.

But the goalposts have been moved and we still wait to see what they will offer.

I have heard that at least one ex Home Secretary has said that wanting to be independent of the UK should be banned.

(Please remind me where I live. Is it the UK in the 21st century, or Russia/Eastern Europe in the 1950's or in a part of the world where you are not even allowed to vote, never mind even think that you could get up and aske for independence????)

BUT  - what has happened is that people have come out in their thousands, millions to vote either way .

They have talked, discussed, argued, persuaded.

No longer will we be silent.

Lynne, Fiona, Jacqui and Kathy - and all the others in our carers on line group, it will be a privilege working with you in whatever way to get out message across, make people listen to what we have to say and work towards making sure that not only are our politicians held to account, but working towards another referendum, whenever that will be.

One more day...........................

..............one more day to the referendum.

We have listen to debates, talked to friends, work mates, even talked to random strangers.

We've read the fliers, the books, the pamphlets and the papers.

Some of us have even wanted to put our foot through the TV when things have been said!!!

So you'd think we'd know what way we're voting.

But some still don't know.....

That is their right, I suppose, but I am hoping that people do come out and vote. I do care how the vote goes, but I also respect other peoples wishes and I am not going to jump on them and tell them they are wrong.

What I WILL say is this - I have met a lot of people on line who have been passionate about what they have to say. I have talked to people and learned a few things - which is no bad thing.

And yesterday, I got to meet some of the on line carers that I have got to know.

About 20 of us had a meeting with the Deputy First Minister.

First of all, it was a privilege to meet these carers, who I "just" knew from FaceBook. It was as if I had known them for years and they were all so passionate about their caring rolls. Not all of them care for young children, some care for adults children, some for parents, some for partners.
We all have different issues, different things we wanted to ask, but to be honest, when I heard the questions, any one of them could have been asked by any of the carers.

The DFM sat with us and we told our concerns - individually.
She listened and never once said that any issue we raised was stupid or not worth giving a reply to.

Even the people who were undecided, she gave us all time.

To be honest, up till about a year ago, for me, she was just a Politician you saw on the news.
Then, one evening, while visiting a friend whose son had just died, she came in to pay her respects and talk to the family.
No big show, no fanfare of trumpets. It wasn't till my daughter nudged me and said "look who has walked in".

She didn't need to be there.
She could have turned up to make herself look good.
But she didn't.
She just wanted to help comfort a family at a time they were grieving - just like everyone else who was in the house that night.

So she certainly went up in my estimation.

And yesterday, listening to us all - she could have said she didn't have time, but she made the time.
There were tv crews and cameras.
But they were asked to leave so we could talk without wondering if what we said would be taken out of context or twisted by some one.

The best photo for me tho, was the one with the DFM munching one of the cakes that Fiona had made!!! She actually made cake eating look almost good!!! (the cakes were lovely - right down to the little signs that said yes!!!)

So Lynn, Fiona, Colette, Alison and all the rest - it was great to meet you and I would love to do something again (even after the referendum with no tv cameras!!!)

And whatever the result, work on the future of Scotland starts 9am Friday morning.
If Fiona brings the cakes, i'll make the tea!!!!

Don't you just love a man who gives you free....................

........................tickets for the Commonwealth Games!!!!

We had all the hassle of not actually getting our opening ceremony tickets because something went wrong with my credit cars.
I've been moaning for centuries that it was a load of hassle having the games in the city - roadworks, diversions, blah, blah blah

Yeah - just call me the Grinch, cos I am!!!

The games started on the 23rd of July.
I took a mad notion of trying to get tickets for something, Anything.
Just so we could say we had seen something.
But if we could afford it, the tickets were for something I knew Peter just wouldn't sit through.
Or the tickets were outrageously expensive - over £100 for one ticket for the opening ceremony!!!!

For that price, I could stay at home, order in a meal and drinks and STILL have money left over.
So I thought I had lost my chance.
Till Alisadair for Enable phoned me about something totally different!!
He got my woes and said he would go off and see if any of the tickets that had been given to Enable were still about.
Now - give that one of the senior workers had bee in to support Peter, said that there HAD been tickets, but she had been on holiday and as far as she knew, they were all gone - I didn't hold out much hope.

BUT - 3 tickets were found for the opening session of the Rhythmic Gymnastics on the afternoon of the 24th - were we interested?!?!?!?

Interested - I nearly bit his hand off and promised to be the bouncer at his stag night!!!

SO Thursday morning we set off to collect our tickets at the office.
Then on to the Hydro to watch the event.
The Hydro is a new arena that has been built here in Glasgow. Only opened earlier in the year, but by all accounts, people have enjoyed going to concerts here and the views of the floorspace were good.

Mind you - we were up in the GODS!! The ticket should have come with some oxygen and a full kit of climbing gear!!!

But once we got the seats and settled down it was good.
Views were fine and ok - we couldn't see the screens that the results were on because of lighting rigs, but that was kind of minor.

The event was the hoop and the ball, so all the contestants had 2 routines to do. It was amazing watching them perform.
And the noise the spectators made - if you were Scottish, you got a cheer.
If you had a Scottish sounding name., you got a cheer.
(pity the poor South African girl wedged between 2 scots!!!!)

If you dropped the ball or the hoop we gave them a cheer, because after all the hard work you've done to get here - well - a cheer is good!!!

Peter did do well and enjoyed most of it, but by about 3, he really was getting antsy and wanting to go home!!
But not before we posted selfies on FB and Twitter, just to let people see we had been there!!!!

Our journey home was longer than usual, mainly because of all the extra people and traffic, but it was ok. One couple asked where they should get off to go to the swimming, so we kept them right!!

We've been watching a lot of the events on TV and to be honest, the weather up till yesterday was great.
Sun.
More sun.
Oh, a gentle breeze.

But now we're back to the summer default - rain, rain and eh - more rain!!

To be honest, I have been avoiding the centre of Glasgow most of the time. Mainly because of the crowds and knowing what Peter is like if it's busy and someone just stops in front of him, or accidently bumps him.
We did got to George Square last Saturday - got a couple of pics at the big event logo and had a bit of a wander. There is also the Merchant City Festival going on just now, but looking up the side streets, I decided to give it a miss that day.

But it was nice being in the crowds.

My friend and I were going to take Peter and her son today, but the rain has been almost non stop all day, so we thought it best to stay put at home.
Just as well really - Lou came in this afternoon and said that town was really busy - probably busier that even last weekend.

So the closing ceremonies are tomorrow night.
It'll be kids of sad to see everyone pack up and go, but in a way, i'm kind of looking forward to being able to get into the city without wondering if the bus will be diverted.
Or if roads will be totally closed off an the bus will take me to a part of town I don't want to be in and is no where NEAR anywhere I want to be.

Mostly, I think the competitors have enjoyed being in the city and when I have been out, I've seen them shopping or out enjoying the various things going on.

Ok - so Usain Bolt has been quoted (and denies) that it was a pile of poop.

But who cares about him - he's ONLY the fasted man on the planet.

When you're watching the swimming and the guy who thought he'd get gold gets beaten by another scot - he he he - the look on BOTH their faces said it all and he bubbled tears when they played the Scottish National anthem.
Or the Scottish athlete who had been really sick, was in the hospital in the games village, drip in her arm 12 hours before her final - and she got a silver!! (I think the whole of the country were at her back shoving her round the track!!! 
Seeing the athletes who were gracious in defeat and gracious in winning, when they went to shake the hands of others

In the past couple of weeks, there has been barely a hotel room to be booked and some of the halls of residence at one of the universities were being used.

It's been a good party, but please - can you all go home now, till we tidy up and get back to normal!!!

Disney here we come...............

.....................And then we were dragged home, kicking and screaming!!!!

Basically we had a blast, with a couple of iffy bits to make me cry (once) and get really annoyed (twice!!).
But apart from that, a great time!!

Condensed version of our outward journey - hours to wait in Heathrow, then the Paris flight was delayed, missed our slot and eventually arrived in Paris. Had a LONG walk from Terminal 2A to F - the overhead board said a 10 - 12 minute walk.

Yeah, if you were Usain Bolt, with no luggage, nor a boy to make sure didn't wander off in front or lag behind and weren't having to stop to ask people if you were going the right way!!!! (we did find out on our return journey that there was a shuttle bus!! Yeahhhhh)

We missed the bus, but luckily another family were there so we chatted.

At the hotel, there was an incident with me at the right room, but the wrong block - so I was trying to open someone else's room with my key!!! It wasn't till the 2nd time I went back to Reception and the girl came back with me that I realised what i'd been doing and I burst into tears. The girl was lovely and told me it was ok - It wasn't the worst mistake that had ever been made!
No - that was what we did next - going to the hotel restaurant for dinner. 54 Euros for dinner and a drink - I almost expected to see a highway robber serving the food!!! Given we have been to Disney before and we know roughly the prices, this was an outrageous way of getting money from us for food that wasn't exactly great. We have done the buffet before at other Disney hotels and usually they are pretty good value . Sadly not the case this time!!

But after a decent sleep and a good breakfast we went off to the park.
Got our special assistance pass, asked some questions................ the staff were great with Peter and he even blagged a free Mickey toy.

Man - I should let him pick my lottery numbers - I might actually WIN something. That boy could fall in the Clyde and come up with a bunch or doses and a bar of chocolate!!!!!!

I even ventured on Thunder Mountain. Not quite as bad as I remember, but still bad enough for a fearty like me!!! I think every God on the planet got an earful from me asking to calm me down!!! 

We met Snow White, Saw the Mad Hatter and Alice and generally had a blast.

They have a Spring Festival just now and as we waited for the Parade, the music for the song Daisy, daisy was playing - I started singing it to Peter and  the Cast Member who was beside us joined in. We had a good time chatting with her and other people who were beside us.

After dinner we headed off back to the hotel and some much needed SLEEPPPPPP!!!!!

Wednesday we spent in the Studio Park.
This same cast member was working in the info place and reminded us that when the characters were out, to use our pass the get to meet them a bit quicker than having to wait in the line.

So off we went to do some rides, a couple of shows, then we saw that the Princesses were out. I asked if we could  meet Mulan, to be told NO - even tho I had shown the pass. I was so shocked I didn't even argue. I asked another cast member if we could meet another character and she told me that they had been told not to accept any special assistance passes to meet the characters that day - we would have to wait in line like everybody else.

I wanted to yell that I would LOVE to wait in a queue for nearly an hour to meet one character, but my son just couldn't cope with that and everybody would have a crap  day if he decided to get antsy and annoyed when others invaded his space .

Oh, the joys!

At the parade, we met this young man who was there with his dad. We got chatting and it turns out that they have annual passes for Disney, go at least twice a year, have a camper van, so that helps cut down on some expenses. Carl was a lovely young lad and he and Peter seemed to get on well. The dad was a giggle as well and he told us that there have been a few changes at Disney over the past couple of years - not huge ones, but niggly little things and that I should get in touch to let them know I was unhappy.

The parade was good and after that we went to do a couple of other things, ten back to the hotel.
We had our Character Dinner that night. It was great - not as many characters as at the breakfast, BUT - they stay about for longer and come to your table 3 or 4 times you are there. We really enjoyed our dinner, much better value than the hotel.
We planned to go and see the Dreams show, but by 9.30pm, I knew Peter was gubbed. so we went back to the hotel.

Next day, back to the main park, more characters to meet and more importantly, more people to meet!! We met some lovely folk, and got some lovely Karma (too long a story, but I managed to tell this Spanish guy that his girls were lovely and that they were just being kids - he really appreciated that. The next day he saw us, passed on the vouchers they had for the afternoon treat since they were going home at lunchtime that day - how nice)

We were at the parade again and met the same cast member!! Did she ever sleep, I wondered - still had a smile on her face!!! She was furious about the staff in the other park and said it shouldn't have happened.

Friday came all to quickly.

Yes, we did have a good time, even with the hassles.
What surprised me was how I managed to deal with it all on my own with Peter.
ANd I am planning it as part of his respite again!!!

Our journey home was uneventful till we passed through the Eye Recognition bit and went on to the security . FOr some reason, Peter and I ended up in the Fast Track bit!!!! This guy came up behind us and asked if it WAS FT. I said yes, but that I din't think we should be in it. He laughed and said he didn't think he should be there either!!! I said we should just blagg our way thru - if we looked confident, they wouldn't notice!!!!
So we were chatting as we waited, started loading up our trays to put thru the x ray machine. He said "they'll check what you're reading on your kindle" My reply was that it wasn't 50 shades of grey - that was boring - the Karma Sutra was much better!! By this ppoint we were almost on the floor giggling. Peter looked at us as if we had lot our marbles!!!!

Ah - but that Karma again. Peter's stuff went thru the machine ok. Then my tray came thru, an alarm went off, a red light flashed and my tray ws pulled to the side. I started to panic, cos Peter ws merrily getting his stuff together and I knew he would panic if he turned round and saw I was gone. So I asked this guy if he could make sure Peter was ok. He said "Yes - i'll get him sorted and bring him round to where you are"(do you ever meet someone and just click with them? Well, it was like that)

So i'm getting asked if I have any liquids - yes, I bought Perfume and moisturiser at duty free in Paris.
Did I tell them that my end destination was somewhere other than London?
Yes, I did, but I wasn't sure if the woman had actually heard me.

Luckily, because it was 100mls of perfume, they wouldn't confiscate it, but they had to take that and the clarins moisturiser to be tested.

Ok.

By this time, Peter and the guy we had met were back with me - I was really thankful that he stayed and chatted because I think I would have been freaked a lot more is someone hadn't been with me. Peter had told him we had two cats and this guy had one - called Ninja who was the laziest, most un ninja like creature you could ever imagine  - that made me laugh. I got my stuff back, sorted it and we said our goodbyes. But I think the guy was sent along behind us to help us.

We did have a good time and I will be booking again (Social worker just doesn't know that yet!!).
So i'm going to work on giving out more good Karma as thanks for a good trip and in prep for the next one!!!

Spring has sprung

.......................well, for a day or two and then decided it was too cold and went back under the covers!!

I even managed to make a start on trying to tidy the garden.
Not a good idea - I spent the next day in agony!!!!

So we are still making wedding plans.
I have asked if I can have a wand!!!
The kind that usually the flower girls have.

C'mon people - you know by now that I don't like doing normal!!!

My reasoning is that I can wander round the venue in the evening and anyone who has the bare faced cheek not to be enjoying themselves, will be zapped into a frog!!

The rate i'm going, the only thing i'll be wearing is a colour coordinated strait jacket that matches the bridesmaids!!!

And the men in white coats will be on hand to whisk me away to a safe place!!

Oh, the joys of living in this crazy house.
Well, you've got to be like this when your sanity has gone awol and is refusing to return.
(actually, I hear tell there is a UN Treaty banning be from ever approaching my sanity again!!)

Ah, well......................

Peter has another contribution to an art exhibition coming up. I'm not too sure when it is, but I think the theme is "me" and he has been doing pics of all of us and compiling a bit of info about himself. Couple of extra sessions and hopefully the work will be done.

We were at a meeting last night with Enable - they wanted some feedback about the support they offer and what they could do to change things and how people could get involved in things like interviews.

You all know me - I'm up the back rabble rousing!!!

But it was good to meet people and hear about what they do.

And it's 7 weeks and 4 sleeps till our Disney Adventure!!

Not that I am counting!!!!

If it's Sunday................

....................It must be another Wedding Fayre!!

Well, it's actually Monday now, but Louise, her friend Charlene and I spent the whole DAY at one yesterday.
I kid you not.
Arrived at 11am, left at 4.30pm and I fell as if I almost walked a Marathon in between!!!!

This one was The Scottish Wedding Fayre. It's held twice a year in the SECC in Glasgow. Best advice given is to wear comfy shoes and take a bottle of water to drink while walking - you need it!!!

Louise had booked the Catwalk Show, because the main aim of yesterday was to get some inspiration for the dress. She has tried on a couple of dresses, but given that she is (hopefully) only ever going to get married once, you are allowed to go a bit crazy on the shopping!!!

So we went to where the show was taking place, grabbing a couple of bits of wedding cake along the way. And very nice cake it was too!! A bit of Victoria sponge and a bit of lemon drizzle - and yes - it was nice.

We settled down in our seats and waited for the models to strut there stuff.
Lovely dresses, veils, headdresses - most of the models were smiling and looked reasonably happy.
Apart from one - who had a face like fizz.
So much fizz we could almost hear it!!!!
C'mon - you are meant to be showing off these lovely dresses, inspiring these girls to buy something and you look as if you'd much rather be ANYWHERE but in that hall.
In the end we decided that she had been dumped by a boyfriend at the altar and had been condemned to model bridal wear for all eternity!!!

Then came the guys in the kilts.
Mmmmm!!
Even better when they did a twirl and you caught a glimpse of bare flesh near their bum!!! The did, however, have skimpy underpants on, thus our eyes were not hurt by a flash of man bits!!!!

The dresses were lovely and they did show a couple "mother on the bride" outfits. Charlene announced that I turned up in a certain one, she'd be phoning a taxi to take me home.
Then another wedding dress was shown, and the comment was that if Louise wore that one, she'd be in the taxi with me!!!! 

We spent the rest of the day touring most of the stands, finding out what was o offer, some things were good  (eh - cake, cake and eh - more cake!!) some were down right weird - like a survival box with various items like spare kilt pins, hankies, condoms and such.
Ok - a good idea, but when you have Charlene, you can bet your boots that she will have these supplies, allocating them to various guests to distribute them as required!!!!
Yes, a very organised wummin - just what you need in your Matron of Honour!!!

In fact, we (half) joked that Charlene is the official bouncer for the wedding.
She is not scared to keep you in check, make sure you know what you are doing and if she thinks you're being rowdy, she will have no problems in asking you to leave!!

We thought it would be a good idea to set up a company called "Charlene's Bouncers"!!! All your wedding security needs sorted!!
Louise really wanted to try on a wedding dress to let Charlene see it on - one that she had already tried. But the queue was long every time we went back to the stand, so eventually we decide to just go and look at other dresses.
We were almost going to head home , but Charlene could see that Lou really wanted to try one on.
So at one stand, she found a dress that might be worth trying.

Off we went with one of the staff to try it on.
While Louise was in the changing room, another girl came out to show her friend the dress she had on. The friend said she looked lovely (and she did). But the girl complained that she looked "fat"!! Well, if she was, I must be enormous!!! I said that she certainly wasn't and commented that after me having 3 kids, well - you didn't bother too much!

He comment was "oh, I've got 4 kids". my thought was "and you don't look much older than Lou and Charlene". Meanwhile, Charlene's comment as this girl went back into the room to change was "D'ya not think you should have done it the other way round - get married first, THEN have kids!!"
And we both thought "Virginal white - after 4 kids!!!!!"

See what I mean - someone who speaketh their mind and is not scared to do so!!!

By this time, we decided home was the best place to be. Charlene hobbled to her car, while Lou and I  crawled to the station to get the train .

A good productive day.

But i'm still wondering how i'm going to get Peter into a kilt!!!

Monday Mornings.................

It's 9.04 am on a Monday morning, so in keeping with my resolution to blog more, here I am!!!
I feel as if I have done half a days work already - internet banking and phoning to sort out cover for one of Peter's days of support.

And those dishes are lurking in the sink. I swear the b*"££y things breed faster than rabbits!!!!

Things are back to something like normal here - Matthew back to work after 2 weeks off. Which was great, but we didn't do anything, but just being able to sleep a bit longer in the morning.

8am is a long lie in this house!
Plans for today - shower, tidy up, then shopping at the Fort. Going to buy Peter a couple of t shirts for the holiday (13 weeks time we will be going!!).

I am at the stage of not really too bothered about the hol - we had the excitement of booking it, the wait to see if we would get the nod about using the respite money. And it all went a bit flat after that.

So now I have to live a "normal" life for a few weeks!!!

Mind you, another Wedding Fayre in a couple of weeks.

Cake to sample.

Candy Carts to raid.

Basically a time when Louise will just shake her head and wonder what to do with me!
Well, the planning needs to have a bit of fun in it!!!

Ah well - I have a need to get washed and dressed - just as well this isn't Skype - you'd all get a fright at the sight of me just now!!!

and the award for brazen cheek goes to...........

.......Well, you know it would have to be me!!!!

So what, you are asking, prompted this cheek?

Well, it' all to do with Peter's respite. Over the past three and a half years, we have done quite a bit and even managed to get a couple of out of the box things.
I have told of our times on Skye, which have been great, Peter has been to kielder 3 times and had great times. And going to the family in Daley. Peter has made new friends, been to places he'd never been before and had a really good time.


Oh and he went on the sleeper to London on the sleeper, something he wanted to do.

But the last few months, things have changed. We didn't get to Skye this time -lots of reasons and now Linda is living back down here. There was also dissention in the ranks about kielder. Paul is going away with his girlfriend and her family. Matthew wants To go elsewhere. And I have no desire to zipwire or canoe.
So I started thinking.
And I reckoned the budget could stretch to a trip to Disney.
So I went on line to check out the prices.

I got one price and then went off to the office to run it past the team.
It was decided that I would need to run it past the social worker because it was so different.


Eventually, I managed to get the sw and explained our plans. He asked me to email the proposal to him, the coatings and what our expenses would be. I told him I would also price up the BA flights, because the flights that were in the package were easyjet and by the time you add on luggage and pre board, the price is not as cheap as they make out.

So I did the e-mail. Explained what we had done before, how things have changes and that the outcomes would be met and there would still be a substantial amount of money for other respite.
Then Lou and I went off to price the holiday with the flights we wanted.
The hotel I had looked at, the room had gone, but the girls checked another hotel on a different day. And the hotel and flights were well within budget. They said they would put a hold on it and I would let them know the next day.

Thursday morning, I phoned the senior again. Gave him the price and dates, went over a few things. Gave him my mobile number because Lou and I were going off to look at wedding things.
So off we went, had a great time looking at stuff. Trying not to check the phone.

Back in the car, thoughts turning to other wedding goodies, the phone rang.
It was the social worker.
We could go ahead and book the holiday!!
I am surprised none of you heard the screams!!!!!

So wedding thoughts abandoned,, we headed off to the travel agents. As soon as we walked in, they knew it was going to be booked - they could tell by the look on our faces.


So Peter and I go off to Disney on the 12th of May. We are staying at the Santa Fe hotel.
Are we looking forward to it???
What do you think!?!?

Part of me is stunned that we actually got to do this. Just shows that if you state your case well and plan it out, you might just get what you want!!

So all I need to do now is save some money to spend while we are away.

And brush up on all the Disney songs!