A time of peace and goodwill to all men (and women and children too !)

The shops are getting busy ( or they would be if anyone had any money to spend ) , people are starting to buy enough food and drink to feed a (not so small) army , every book, CD, game or DVD you have wanted in the last 6 months is released - all within a couple of weeks of each other, ...  all you hear on the radio is continuous Slade, Wizzard and Cliff Richard ... yes, December has arrived , Christmas is approaching, and approaching FAST ! (19 days and counting .... )


Sometimes the "true" spirit of Christmas - that of peace and goodwill to all, of thinking of others - it can be lost amongst all the rush to buy and wrap presents  and endless partying and drinking. There is something you can do that will help to restore the balance, and regain some of that lost spirit - and all it involves is writing a few more Christmas cards than you might usually do .... .


Those who have read this blog before, or know me personally, will know that I have a keen interest in Human Rights issues, and that I am a supporter/member of Amnesty International ( an non-governmental organisation that campaigns on human rights). Amnesty runs a campaign each year at this time called the Greeting Card Campaign. It simply consists of a list of cases from around the world, of individuals and groups, that Amnesty are highlighting. They might be for someone who is missing, or has been arrested and imprisoned without trial, or has been tortured or harassed or persecuted ... the same reasons why these cases are highlighted all year around. The difference with this campaign is that you are not asked to write letters of appeal to the authorities on behalf of these people ( although you can if you wish to ) .... you are asked to write and send Greetings Cards to the people themselves, or to their families or communities. The cards are to have simple messages inside - to show that others are thinking of them, that they are not alone at this special time of year.(You can find details of this year's cases here - Xmas card campaign ).  I have taken part in the campaign in the past, and it does make a difference in peoples lives .... you do, sometimes, get feedback from the people you have sent the cards to (I have received cards of thanks from Indonesia and Sudan by post before).


In addition to this annual appeal, Amnesty International is asking people to do a little more this year , as it is a special year for them - it is their 50th anniversary !. On UN Human Rights Day (10th December - the anniversary of the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the set Rights everyone is entitled to ), it is asking people to Write For Rights - to write a letter of appeal on behalf of a select number of highlighted cases ( details of these can be found here - Write for Rights ). A lot of the campaigning and appeals are done electronically now - using e-mail, social networking and blogs - but just this once, Amnesty wants people to do it the old fashioned way, and to put pen to paper to hand write their letters .... to give them, like the greetings cards, the personal touch. They are likely to have more affect this way ..... less likely to be dismissed by those in power and influence too.


So you can recapture just a little of the old sharing, caring spirit of Christmas if you want to. All you have to do is be willing to write just one more Christmas card (or one short letter) when you complete those for your friends and family this year. It may just be another card (or letter) for you .... but it just could be a link to the outside world , a sign that they are not forgotten, for someone else. It is said , we are all one family in the end .... we are all Human.

Times, they are a changing .....

Changes have been going on at the Fun Factory in the last few months. Firstly, I am not longer in the bakery all day long . There has been a rethink at Head Office about the In-Store Bakeries they run, and it has been decided that the way the are staffed needs to be changed. They want fresh goods avaliable later into the day, but this cannot be done by having one person in the bakery all day - this would mean someone doing more than 10/11 hours a day. It has decided that we must have one person in the morning ( 6am to 11am ), then a second person for the afternoon/evening (working 2pm to 5pm). This means a change to my working day, but not a change to my hours luckily ( still working full time hours .... cannot afford to lose any hours ). I now do the morning shift in the bakery , although I haven't managed to finish at 11am yet .... more like 12 or 1pm. Someone else ( Zoe ) is working in the section during the afternoon/evening shift. I now work on the shopfloor during the rest of my working day, completing price and date checks for the store. So what do I think about this change .... not much really ! All this change just so the customers can have warm bread for ONE hour more ... Zoe hadn't really worked on the section before ( and she has just returned to work from maternity leave,so is suffering a bit from Baby Brain) so she isn't very fast when she really needs to be ... the waste figures are going up and not down as they-who-must-be-obeyed want and I am the one getting stick over it ...  I'm not achieving what they want from me, in regards to the price/date checks, because I am spending time telling Zoe what to do or covering her shift because she has gone sick ... no, I'm not sure their plan is working very well. But this is what they want, so I just have to get on with it and try and make it work .... it is not helping my state of mind much though - the Darkness has returned at regular intervals ..... 


The other change is that, after most of the year without one, we now have a deputy manager again - and like Tony, our manager, it is someone who has been here in the past. His name is Mark, and he was last here about five years ago as a team leader/ trainee manager. I get on with him fairly OK, but he is a complete wind-up merchant .... he just loves taking the p*** out of people .... and I am a major target. He has always been like this, as far as I can remember, but unlike in the past, I'm more likely ( and able ) to fight back .... think he is starting to realise that now !. He has taken over responsiblity for the Fresh /  Chilled food side of the store, which is not a bad thing ( ..... I think that department has changed hands at least 3 times in the last 4 months ), but also means he oversees things in the ISB. I have already been told ( by him ) that he managed to improve sales/waste on the section in one of his last stores in less than a month, and expects to do the same here .... we will see. I have heard the same kind of thing from countless people in the last eight years .... lets see if Mark can succeed where so many others failed .... only time will tell. I do believe he is beginning to realise it isn't as easy as he thought though ......


So, there have been changes at the Fun Factory, but much is unchanged. Life goes on much as it always has there .... and I still get very fed up with it all. This is the longest I have ever been at one store/location ... and I am getting itchy feet. Really need to get away before I do something I might regret .....or I go totally bonkers !! Who knows, the waste problem might just be solved .... by me leaving ! All this is just words at the moment .... but it might be time to talk less and act more ..... we will see !

The ebb and flow of (my) petite obsessions

Back onto happier subjects (or happier to me anyway .. ) - my petite obsessions, both old and new.

There has been some disquiet on the fan forums connected to the Maestro, in particular @ Blah Blah Cafe. In the last few months, there has been a number of high profile members saying that they are leaving the forums, declaring they no longer have an interest in the Maestro and his work. Reasons given for these decisions have gone along the same lines - he isn't doing anything new ...  that his concerts have become repetitive and almost ' boring' ... that he is trading on past glories ...  that the promised 'new' album hasn't arrived yet and they are tired of waiting ... it goes on. It is sad that people come to feel this way about someone they have had an interest in for years,that they have invested so much time, money and effort in, but people change, and so do their interests. Things that seem important and vital at one point in your life can seem the complete opposite further down life's path. I can kind of understand where they are coming from - I have felt the same at times about things. I admit I am (maybe) not so excited by the stuff Jean Michel is doing at the moment than I have been in the past ( the concert @ the O2 arena last year was still amazing , but ... ), that it has been a L-O -N-G time since the last album, but I don't feel like the disenchanted fans, I haven't given up following him.

Perhaps I am being just a blind fangirl, perhaps my interest in the Maestro isn't as intense or informed as some of those who are unhappy, but my petite obsession with him is still there. It might not be as strong as it has been in the past, but it is still there. I have come to understand that, for me, my petite obsession ebbs and flows like the tide, but there is always a strong basic interest there. I love the work he has already produced , and probably always will do - it is almost part of my make-up, part of who I am now, I have been following so long . The petite obsession will have high points, will become more intense, around events like concerts and album releases, but it will mostly fall back to a constant norm after those, waiting for the next high to happen - and that is good enough for me. Anyway, I have more than one petite obsession or interest in my life - when one is declining back to its norm, another will be reaching its high point. That is the way it works. Perhaps this is what has happened to those disenchanted fans, but one interest has completely overridden another rather than just existing in balance with each other ..... or perhaps Life has given them something more important to concern themselves with ... I don't know. All I know is that for me, the Maestro and his music continues to connects to me in a way that is almost beyond description, and while that remains to be true, my petite obsession will continue - it is as simple as that.

I mentioned that as one obsession falls back, another seems to rise. In my case, that definitely seems to be true. As my long time obsession with the Maestro has returned to its default levels, my interest in a certain skinny Scot has gone from strength to strength ... yes, I'm talking about the (former) 10th Doctor - David Tennant.

It seems as if DT never stops working. Since leaving Doctor Who, he has done so much work ... audio plays for Radio 4, readings for audio books, a few films, TV dramas, voice-overs for ads, performing with the RSC and in the West End ... it goes on. My fear of him disappearing off our screens, and off the public's radar hasn't come to pass. Finding a few more fan sites devoted to him on-line has helped continue to fan the flames of obsession ( more information is always good ), but it is being maintained by the quality of ( most ) the work he has done ( I'm not blind to the "cash-cow" stuff he has done too ... ). Yes, I openly admit that he is easy on the eye *ahem*, but my interest in him is about more than just his looks - I'm not that shallow ( well, not quite ! ). His voice - be it his natural Scottish lilt or one of the many accents he uses ( especially the slightly posh English one ... ) is his most appealing and powerful asset. I find it just so expressive, there is so much emotion and feeling contained in it. Much as I find him attractive, and enjoy looking at photos or seeing him on the big/small screen ( and on stage ), I don't connect with him as strongly that way as when I am just listening to him during a radio play . Headphones on, eyes closed, the world shut out .... all there is is THAT voice ... bliss - I could listen to him for hours. I suppose his voice was the thing that turned my developing interest in him during the 10th Doctor period into a full blown petite obsession. It has the same affect on me as the Maestro and his music - connects to me in a similar way, and is as equally inexplicable as to why - it just IS. I expect this obsession, like that of the Maestro, to continue , in one degree or another, for a very long time .....

.... or perhaps not !

Following on from the last post here, Life hasn't 'begun' for me - yet. Four months on from my 40th, and almost nothing has changed - mainly because I haven't taken any steps or done anything to change it in any form. Why ? ... unfortunately I have allowed a major attack of the Darkness in to take over my thoughts for a large part of that time. It is a bit of a Catch 22 situation - Life gets me down, so I say to myself I must change it, but because Life is getting me down I become prone to attacks from the Darkness. While going through one of those periods, I don't feel like doing anything .... all motivation has drained away and, at its worse, almost everything seems pointless ( but not to the point of ending life itself - I've never got to that position and hope I never will ... ). Hence I don't feel like doing anything, so I don't, so nothing changes, so Life continues as usual, so I become fed up ... and so it goes on. I am determined to break this cycle though ... be it through help from others or just channeling my thoughts in a more positive way. I know I have said this before ( starting to sound like a cracked record on this subject .... ) but I can and I will do it. Just writing this helps in its small way ..... a step on a road to positive change. Perhaps I should focus more on small steps rather than looking for major leaps of change .... more likely to achieve what I want then !


Going back to the Darkness and its causes .... the main trigger, as usual, has been the Fun Factory. The feelings of being (virtually) invisible, unwanted,or the opposite and being in the way continue ... it lead to frustration at everyone and everything. I understand that they are both causes and, at the same time, symptoms of my state of mind, but they have been very real and ever present never the less. The work itself is just the same, as are the challenges I face ... mainly time restrictions and the thorny subject of the waste levels. I continue to fight on - somedays I win, mostly I don't ( leading to the frustrations et al ), but I know I cannot stop fighting, as if I don't fight I cannot ultimately win. Not winning , however long it takes, is not a option .... I am there until I find something else ( or they get rid of me .. ) .... so I have to deal with the work and my feelings ... I just keep my eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel, for there is some there and I will reach it.


Life at home has been up and down too, probably because of my dark state of mind .... the Darkness invaded all parts of my life, not just work - that was why it felt so overpowering at times. I felt like I had descended into a rut and nothing was getting me out of it. Frustrations with Mum and bigbrother have loomed large, triggered by something and nothing. They are both as controlling as ever, but not all the time .... don't allow them to be. Bigbrother is improving slightly, but that has more to do with the fact that his attentions are elsewhere now than anything .... he has a new 'special friend' . I don't know anything about her ( it is a 'her' ), not even her name - not important I know, but it would be nice - or how serious he is about her, so I cannot call her his girlfriend ( to be blunt and base , a new 'f***buddy' would be more true ...), but he is spending an increasing amount of his non-work time with her. This is not making Mum happy .... so the atmosphere is frosty to say the least. I don't think Mum is unhappy because he might have found someone special ( at least, I hope not ... he is entitled to do that ), more because he is out most nights he is not working with her until the small hours. Both Mum and I have turned into Human equivalents of an alarm clock .... I am fairly sure if we stop, he would be unable ( or unwilling ) to get up in time for work. As I said, this didn't create a great atmosphere at home .... Mum became even more prone to moaning ... and that didn't help my state of mind. It appears that bigbrother is getting himself a ' normal ' life .... I hope he remembers that I am allowed one too ....


Despite of the negative tone of this post, it hasn't been all doom and gloom since June. There have been high points as well as the lows - a visit to London to see DT ( that is David Tennant to those who don't know ) in Much Ado About Nothing in the West End was one ... more about that in a separate post I think !. That definitely brought a huge smile to my face and lifted my spirits for a while ( and gave me a chance to drool ... sorry 'admire'  DT in person ... *hee hee*:-) ). That upbeat feeling didn't last long though. There was a downside to dampen even this experience - even though I had only one ticket and planned to go on my own, Mum and bigbrother still had to come up to London with me ( lots of arguments over that .... just gave in for a quiet life ), and I was unwell on the coach journey home ( first time I was travel sick in 15 years ... ) .... but despite that, it was worth all the drama connected. There were other small things that made sure Life wasn't total darkness too .... cinema trips, DVD's I watched, music I heard ... the Darkness wasn't all consuming.


So, 3/4 of the year has passed, and I am pretty much as I was when it began .... in danger of allowing myself to sleepwalk through another period of my life. Not sure if that is entirely good - or bad . Still have the nagging feeling that I need to kick-start life, that there is more to it than what I am experiencing. Only I can do something about it though .... now the Darkness has faded more to the background ( I will not tempt fate to say it has totally gone ), now would be a good time to stop moaning about it and start doing, isn't it ? !

Life Begins (apparently.... )

... Or so the expression says. Yes, I have come to the point in time where I can no longer describe myself as being 30-something, I have hit "middle-age" .... I turned 40 last week. So did I feel any great change in my life ? Did I suddenly go from being full of life to being full of pains ? Have I started to dress or act any more like society says I should at my age ? Umm .... No actually.


Nothing has happened. I'm still the same person I was a month, a year ago. I still look the same ( I think ) .... and after all, what does 40 look like ? I don't think I look 40, but I leave it up to others whether they think I look older or younger. I do the same for my actions .... sometimes I'm like a spoilt child, sometimes I'm as wise as the hills . Age is a state of mind .... and in my mind I'm anywhere between 16 and 116 in any one day, depending on my moods.


My life is unchanged by the passing of another year .... not that there is much "life" to change. Despite apparently now reaching the middle of my life span, I get the feeling that my "life" hasn't really begun yet ... there is still so much to do and see, to experience, to hear and feel ... I'm not an adult yet, more I'm stuck in a period of endless adolescence. After all , I'm still unattached, still at home with Mum and bigbrother, no partner, no children, no mortgage ... I spend my evenings on-line in my room or watching DVD's .... I am the eternal teenager ! . I'm not unhappy , but sometimes, just sometimes, I get the feeling that there has to be more to my time on this earth than THIS. In the end, it is not going to change unless I do something about it myself ... no-one else can live my life for me. Perhaps it is time for me to shake myself out of this mindset. Perhaps the expression is right, perhaps life does begin at 40 .... I hope so. Only time will tell ......

A little (musical) time travel

Let me tell you a little story .....

Once upon a time, not so long ago ( but longer than she wants to admit ! ), there was a young teenage girl. She was just a normal girl, trying to get through school and life as best she could. When things became difficult, she took comfort in reading books ( she loved reading ), and listening to music. Money was tight in her family, so she didn't own that many records, but she loved listening to the radio, and she was content (most of the time) doing that. One Christmas, her Mum gave her, as well as the usual books and smellies, an extra special present - an album from a particular popular band she knew the girl liked . The girl listened to it .... and just fell totally in love with it . It became her favourite, and the band that made it her favourite band. She followed the band from then on, their music forming the soundtrack to her teenage years .... the background sound to homework, the music she danced around her bedroom too before going out .....

Time moved on, and so did the girl. Her life changed - school became work, her teenage years turned into her twenties and thirties ... she grew up and became an adult. Responsiblities and commitments came her way, she fell in love and got her heart broken. New experiences came along, the world opened up to her ... but she still enjoyed losing herself in a good book, or drifting away from her problems through a magical tune. She listened to lots of different music now, her mind opened to a whole world of new sounds and artists .... but there in the background was still THAT album and THAT band from her teenage years ... and she still loved it. The band were not as popular as they once were, but they were still around performing and producing music, and she continued to follow and listen, their music a link back to a simpler time in life ( not that she realised they were at the time.... ) and a continuing source of new elements to her life soundtrack.

Then one day, after quite a long period of time, the girl ( now a woman), saw on the internet that her favourite teenage band were releasing a new album. She was curious about it, but wasn't sure she would be buying it - their last album was a bit of a disappointment to her ; a case of trying a little too hard to be current and up to the minute ... to her, it just wasn't them .... or the version of them she liked. She was interested in them, but not as much as she used to be - she had the music she liked from them on CD ...... perhaps she would skip this release if it was anything like the last one. Then she found that there were tracks from the new album posted on the net, and her curious nature got the better of her ... perhaps she would listen to just one or two ... so she did - and found she loved them. It may have been a new album, but the music took her straight back to the first time she heard them ... the years melted away, and she was that teenager dancing around her bedroom again. Her life had become a bit dark and depressing lately, so anything that would take her back to a happier time, a simpler time , could put a smile back on her face ... could transport her away from here and now ( even if it was only for an hour or so ) could only be a good thing ... Perhaps she would be buying this album after all ....

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If you hadn't already guessed, I am/was the teenage girl dancing around her bedroom , and the band I have mentioned is Duran Duran. I remember one Christmas my Mum giving me the "Rio" album as a present ( I must have been about 11 ), and me totally falling in love with it. I enjoyed the music, - the pop tunes like Rio and Hungry Like The Wolf which were being played endlessly on the radio, but also and almost even more, the slower "album" tracks like The Chauffeur. I followed them all through my teenage years , when they were the biggest band on the planet, and continued through the lean years of the 90's and early 2000's ( yes, I've even got Thank You, Medazzaland and Pop Trash ! ), although my petite obsession with the Maestro and his music meant that they faded to the background more then ( but were still there ). I was happy when Astronaut came out ..... and equally disappointed when I heard Red Carpet Massacre ... so when I heard about All You Need Is Now late last year, I wasn't sure I wanted to get it. Those doubts faded away when I heard those extracts on the Net .... as I said before, it was as if the last 30 years melted away. The music isn't a direct copy of Rio though .... it has its spirit, its sense of youthful exuberance, but this is tempered by better musicianship and more mature themes .... the end result of Thirty more years experience of Life. I really like what I have heard ( my favourites must be Girl Panic for its sheer pop energy, The Man Who Stole a Leopard and Before The Rain - a new Chauffeur ?). I cannot wait for the album to be released in physical form in March ( at the moment only avaliable as a download from iTunes ), so I can indulge in some more musical time travel .....

Just a simple journey ... (not!)

Sometimes, the most simple and mundane tasks become very complicated....

It was Saturday. Mum and I were going to Southampton for a look around the shops ( more variety there ). Nothing unusual there , we had done it countless times before. We would catch a bus to Fareham, walk to the train station, then take a train to Southampton. A simple shopping trip .... which turned into a bit of an epic journey.

All was going to plan until we reached the train station. We had bought our tickets, and were walking to our designated platform, when we saw a notice detailing engineering work on the lines that weekend .... affecting trains to Southampton Central ... BOTHER !. If I had seen that BEFORE buying the tickets, we would have probably changed our plans, and gone shopping in Fareham or Portsmouth instead. But never mind - we had our tickets, and didn't want to waste them. Work on the lines didn't make the journey impossible, just a little more complicated ( buses replacing the train for a portion of it ). So, we waited for the train.

Two trains were due within 5 minutes or so, both terminating a few stops before Southampton itself (but at different stations to each other ). The first one arrived while I was still debating which one we wanted ... quickly decided that one would do, so stepped onto it, turned around .... and saw the doors close in front of me - and Mum still standing on the platform. She hadn't followed me ... and then things got worse. I tried to open the door again, but it wouldn't open .... and then the train pulled off ! PANIC ! I had to think fast. I knew the next train due would be taking basically the same route to Southampton, so Mum could catch that one ..... but I had no way of knowing if she would or if she would just stay standing on the platform ( in my infinite wisdom, I had forgotten to take my mobile with me, so could not call her to find out ). I took a chance, and got off the train at the next station. The info boards said the following train ( the one Mum might have caught ) would stop there too - I just had to hope she had. The second train arrived after the longest five minutes of my life, and as it pulled in, I looked frantically in the windows, trying to see Mum. I couldn't ( windows tinted, and train going too fast ) ... my heart sank. Just then, the doors to that train opened, and a guard stepped out and looking at me, asked if he could help as I looked lost. I explained what had happened .... and he said he thought someone matching my story WAS on the train, in the next carriage. Quickly, I stepped on that train, made my way to the next carriage .... and there, sitting in the corner, looking just as lost as me was Mum!. It seems fate was smiling on me ....

After that *little* hiccup, we both continue the journey together to where the train terminated. We still hadn't reached central Southampton, just the outskirts ( Woolston) - the rest of the trip would be by a 'rail replacement service' ... ie: a bus. Leaving the station, we looked around ... but couldn't see any bus, or anyone to ask about where it might be ( Woolston is only a small station - ticket machine, platform and not a lot else  ). Perhaps fate wasn't smiling on me after all. I couldn't just stand there all day ...... decided there was nothing for it - we would walk the rest of the way ( it wasn't miles and miles, but it wasn't a five minute stroll either ). So that is what we did ... and eventually, by bus, train and foot , we reached West Quay and the shops. What should have been a quick 30 minute trip by rail turned into an hour and a half epic trek ..... we were both shattered , and hadn't even hit the shops yet !

We didn't end up spending that much time shopping in the end ... somehow all the appeal had faded away ( no idea why ..... ;-) ). After an hour or so, we steeled ourselves for the return leg of our adventure. Thankfully, it went a lot smoother than the trip in. Found a rail replacement bus to take us back to Woolston, then after a bit of a wait ( and a bit of a scrum @ the station ... seemed most of the Southampton-bound trains were stopping there ... cue a lot of people and luggage, most who didn't really know where they were ... ) a direct train back to Fareham, and finally a bus ride home. All in all, a morning shopping spree had turned into a six hour test on my nerves and energy ... all because of engineering work on the lines. I think, next time, I will check the train availablity on-line BEFORE leaving home .... and make sure Mum is with me before I step on board anything !! Don't think I want to repeat that experience anytime soon, thank you very much .....

Lazy Sunday

It may be a New Year, but the wheels of change turn very slowly in my little world. Sunday followed the pattern of so many other Sundays ....wake up (or be woken up) about 8.30, breakfast, visit Nan's grave to refresh the flowers, a little food shopping, return home to cook/eat Sunday Lunch, watch TV / DVD's for the afternoon before a wash/bath then bed. That is how it goes, week in, week out, following the same timetable laid out in Mum's head, with little variation. There may be a drive around the area, if bigbrother is home too, or we all might go out if something particular has been planned, but that is how it generally goes on a Sunday. You could set your watch by it all. Sometimes .... most of the time ... it suits me just fine - other times it drives me mad. Today was somewhere between the two states.

I know these feelings can make me frustrated, grumpy, bad tempered .... but do I do anything to change it, do I say anything ? No, I don't, and that just fuels the frustrations even more. I need to sort myself out, say to Mum what is wrong when I feel like this, even if it is all a bit selfish. She may not even realise anything is wrong. Things cannot change ( if I really want them to change, that is) if I continue to just silently stew in the corner. I have to live my own life - it that fits in with others, all well and good, if it doesn't .... I have to open my mouth and say something - it is my life in the end. This may all sound a bit melodramatic, a bit over the top ... perhaps it is ... but I do need to make changes, both at home and work. I need to be me, and not a version of me I think everyone around me wants just to keep them all happy .... I need to be happy too, happy to be me.

The blog is dead .... long live the blog !

So here we are .... a sparkling New Year.  2010 is now history, and 2011 has arrived .... and my contribution to this blog in the last year - one, solitary post. Not good ! Basically, I had allowed this little piece of me and my thoughts in cyberspace to quietly die through neglect - the blog is dead.

Well, not quite. A New Year, a new state of mind, a new start. I had revived this blog once before ( just after I first created it in 2005 - the very first version of this lost in the mists of time (OK, I deleted that attempt)), I can do it again .... I want to do it again.

So, here we are. I am still around, my life is fairly unchanged - bigbrother is still bigbrother, mum is still mum. No knight on a white charger has come along and whisked me off my feet (like that was ever going to happen !), so we are still all together in the same house. Life at The Fun Factory still has its ups and downs ( yep, still there too), the revolving door of management there has slowed but not stopped turning completely, it and the people I work with there are still driving me nuts at times ....  . My periods of darkness come and go, but are getting less frequent ( I hope ). My petite obsessions with the Maestro and DT continue unabated ... and might just be mentioned here from time to time ( OK, a lot ! *hee hee* ) ..... life in general continues on its way.

So a New Year, a(nother) new beginning for this blog ... welcome back into my little world.