Crazy Laws

Saw this today, some of these are just plain daft but they made me laugh out loud - I am sure there are piles more, know any?

Ice skaters in Frankfurt, Germany are subject to a speed limit of 50mph.

Legislation was passed in the early 1900's in Florida banning unmarried women from going parachuting on Sunday.

A law in Kentucky states that locals must bathe once a year.

Edward VI decreed that everyone must walk to Church on Christmas day - although this law is still on the statute books it's not enforced!

It is an offence for women of 'ill repute or evil looks' to enter a cheese factory in Ferrara, Italy.

In the Canadian province of Quebec, margarine and butter must be different colours

Bird lovers in New Zealand, passed a law stating that all cats are to wear at least three bells when they are outdoors, to stop them catching birds!

It's illegal in New Jersey to slurp soup in a restaurant 'to the annoyance of other customers'.

(Taken from the book 'Laws and Disorders' and 'Crazy Laws and Lawsuits' by Robert Allen)

Has it really been 9 years?!

Robin has beaten me to it, he has already posted on his blog about today, but I really did feel that the day could not go by without a blog entry for me too.

Today we are celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary! Yes, 9 years ago on a mild and bright winters day we got married at St Clements Church, Oxford. Now each time we go past Joy refers to it as our 'Wedding Church'. And it will always be just that for us.

So thank you Robin for being my love, for looking after me, for making life far more interesting than I was expecting, (!!!) for our children.... and all that we still have to look forwards to.

Could I be more proud?

I have been dreading this day. We had the reminder through the post just before Christmas for Elias's pre-school immunisations, and today was our appointment.

Perhaps it was a good thing that I had almost forgotten, and had to rush around like a mad thing to get us there in good time - there was less time to think about how exactly I was going to pin my little guy down in order to have the two injections. But it should be policy that you should not have to wait for 45 minutes to see the Doctor just for the initial check up, before even getting to the fun bit!

Elias was great though, he played pretty contentedly with the one bead toy and two books for all that time. Then, he was an angel during the height, weight, ears and other checks. But I really did think my good luck probably wouldn't last much longer!

I was wrong. Elias then sat on my knee while the nurse gave him an injection in each arm, he barely even flinched! I was pretty dumbfounded, and SO proud. He got to choose stickers which he happily showed off to anyone who'd look for the rest of the day.

I love it when my kids throw me a curve like that, when they react in a totally unexpected way. When my little guy gives me a glimpse of the amazing character he's becoming. Today I am a very proud parent.

Ikea DISAPPOINTMENT

Only a very daft person would not have happened to notice that I really like Ikea - I'm not going to bother going into the many and varied reasons today as I have a big moan about them.

On Saturday afternoon we packed the kids in the car and set off for Milton Keynes, which is where our nearest store now is. We were all pretty jolly despite the rain and general greyness, and we got to listen to 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe' on CD which was really fun.

We got to MK with no problems, but as soon as we spied the first Ikea sign there was total gridlock - and it was not budging an inch. So there we were with the store visible in the distance but no chance of reaching it within a bearable space of time.

So we turned back and headed for home after driving the 50 minutes or so to get there!

Why on earth have they gone and built a new store and not made the transport links to it better? That's just plain daft.

To make matters worse, we were still 20 minutes from home when Elias was sick all over himself and his car seat. It was not a good afternoon.

More on that Ikea post...

News article on the BBC

'Lost' nearly over........

We have been recording and watching 'Lost' ever since it crashed (get it??!) onto our small screens last year - it has been entertaining, confusing and certainly watchable.

But I must say that whoever decided to make us all wait 2 weeks to watch the last 2 episodes was a total dope - if there is one thing that is bound to make people irritated it is bound to be making them wait to see the last one (or two in this case) in a series. Who schedules these things????

Needless to say - we'll be watching tomorrow night one of the episodes.... Probably both, but it's a little annoying also that they start at 10pm - some of us have to get up with the kids for a normal school morning the next day - unfair!

A new development with Ikea

New IKEA approach - apparently on the news today.......


Commenting on the plans, IKEA's Property Manager, Scott Cordrey, stated:

"IKEA recognises that many people have to travel long distances in order to shop with us. Our ambition is to come closer to our market and, to achieve this, we intend to double the number of stores we currently have in the UK over the next five years.

Our site searches are now focused on town centre /edge of centre locations where IKEA can anchor regeneration by linking town centre shopping to a visit to our store.
This means a more flexible IKEA approach with stores built on much smaller sites, of compact design, with elevational details that respect the urban environment where we shall be trading.

Coventry is our first example of this new flexibility in a city centre location”

So maybe there is hope for Oxford after all?????

Learning new skills

This year we are really encouraging the kids to learn to ride their bikes and learn to swim.

I've already mentioned that we are now paying for unlimited use of some Oxford pools - which has been great so far. Elias is constantly asking to go and swim now, before Christmas he'd not even dip a toe in! Joy is all set for school swimming lessons starting on Monday with a gorgeous new swimsuit and swim hat

For Christmas Elias had a new bike with stabilisers, he's still getting to grips with peddling but seems rather taken with the bike which will no doubt help. For Joy, we decked her out with arm and knee pads and a matching helmet as she's working on getting her balance right without stabilisers.

The picture above was taken just before we took them both out with all their new gear for a cycle.

Can't believe I've not mentioned this already!

Most people who have come across this blog will have noted that I really like Ikea - for me it's great to have a store with such a vast choice of home furnishings all in one place, and have the option of cheap and cheerful to pricey and very nicey! (aw, that was a little too cheesy methinks!)

But one of my major gripes has been that our nearest one was in Wembly - at least an hour away (on a good day!) So our visits have been infrequent.

I am pleased to know that the new Milton Keynes store has opened earlier than expected, which means for us, a closer store without having to go anyplace near to London traffic.

We'll be visiting very soon.

Good repairmen/plumbers/builders/carpet fitters are hard to find

A few days ago our dishwasher started making a nasty noise and then ceased working - argh!

We fell into the 'dishwasher trap' when we moved into this house 5 years ago, as there was one here. Thing is, once you have got used to using one you can't really go back! And when the dishwasher that belonged to the house died 2 years ago we bought a new one for ourselves. Up till now it has been fab (Whirlpool) so I can't really grumble.

And what made it all so much easier to bear was already knowing of a good repair man, who came the next day and has got it working (and has gone away to investigate an odd pump noise that is still lingering) It got me thinking about how invaluable it is to know the right person for the job, and be confident that they are not going to fleece you and do shoddy repairs.

It also made me frustrated (again) that we are still trying to get vinyl flooring put down in the bathroom. It has been really annoying to have the person get here (eventually) and give a quote, have to wait for the landlord to okay it, and then not be able to reach the guy again for the past month. And so we've had bare floorboards for 6 months now. Does anyone know a person who can lay board and then vinyl????

Out with the old.... In with the new

Firstly may I wish you a Happy New Year, no doubt every other blog is doing the same but hey, hope it's a happy one for you nonetheless.

As you might imagine, the years end is a pretty normal time to reflect on the year you've had, and think about plans and expectations for the new one. Looking back over 2005, it has been fraught with struggles and seemingly only dotted with a few special times.

Robin has been job-hunting for a long time and the stresses associated with that had seemed never-ending - but, just a little before Christmas he was offered a new job and so we'll start the new year with a new job for him - Hurray!

We've also been moving things around in the house, and as a result have taken the opportunity to clear out unwanted/not needed possessions - you'd be amazed at just how much stuff has been hanging around this place, cluttering and not being used! I'll start the runs to the charity shops and tip tomorrow.

I expect lots of changes this year, and I hope - they'll be for the better.