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!

It's (almost) Christmas!!!

I can't believe it's 3 months since I last blogged.
And no one was worried!! Hey, that's love for you!!!!


So, it's 2 days before Christmas and I'm now past the bah humbug stage - which is great for all those who live with me, because crabby and cranky me is not a good combi!!


We have been busy - not doing big things, just getting on with life.

Lou and Andrew had their engagement party, which was a fab night -

 

seeing people who I haven't seen for ages and catching up.
The above is a photo of the happy couple!!!

Linda has moved down from Skye. Her new flat looks nice and we've met up a couple of times to catch up.

And Matthew's sister died - we were kind of expecting it, but it's still a shock when it happens - you just don't think that people a similar age to you should die.

So i'm really looking forward to Christmas this year.
It'll be funny not having Lou about 1st thing, but she and Andrew will be about during the day. They're going to stay with Andrew's mum and come here - lou to get fed while Andrew eats at his mum's house, then to use to see what kind of goodies we have on offer!!

Asda food delivery this afternoon, so I should go and get fed, then I might think of catching up on the ironing!!!

Take care all of you and have a good time over the next few days
 

my crazy life: Strange things are happening..............

my crazy life: Strange things are happening..............: ................Admit it - you're singing along thinking of Toy Story - aren't you?!?! No - well WHY NOT?!?!?!?!? But some stra...