Saturday, December 29, 2012

Eleven Plus

This was the state of things eleven years ago.


A total of 10.4 lbs of baby, four weeks early (thank you pre-eclampsia for sticking me in hospital during the busiest of times!)  Actually, if we're going to be particularly specific this photo was taken the day after so I should be writing this tomorrow but as the boys' birthday is today...oh shush you idiot!

At this point they were fresh out of SCBU hence the odd skin tone and funny lip colour.  They were the biggest babies in there and that is saying something.  I wasn't happy until I had them in the goldfish bowl cot beside me and here they were.

Hindsight is a great thing.  Had I known then I'd probably have decided to become a single parent rather than continue with a marriage to someone who was still at that point pulling the wool over my bleary eyes.  These two tiny babies showed up and my life felt worth something.

Now they are all limbs and big feet, awkward in their growing bodies and expanding minds.  There is so much to learn I can only hope I have done a good enough job.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Holy Crap!

Like a re-enactment from Lord of The Rings this eagle mistook a Montreal baby for a Hobbit - which all things considering is not a difficult mistake to make.

Lucky for baby he was either too heavy or the eagle didn't much fancy unwrapping his next meal.

I think I have truly seen everything now!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

This Is 41

...and it doesn't feel that bad at all.

(Note:  Next year I get the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything.  Yippee!)

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Hugs Make It Better

Snuggled up on couch, cuddles from the pooch who decides to also hug my feet.  See, the cats *never* do this!

This Is The Sucky Thing About T'internet

Many moons ago (in real terms about 10/11 years) I came up with what I thought was a witty take on an internet nickname.  It incorporated both my nationality in the form of ripping off and changing the name of a famous film that had come out a few years earlier.  I had made a joke at the time that if the protagonist had been female they could have called the film this.

No, I'm not saying it out loud because if anyone does read this and then Google it - well I don't want to involve myself in an online spat...look let me explain further.

So I signed up for Twitter several years ago (2009) and did nothing with it but I had used this nickname and not the moniker I had adopted in the intervening years.  TwoIfBySea; taken from my time living north of Boston and the fact that I now had twins.  Quite clever I thought in a smug yet woolly brained way (like I said, I'd had twins, recently, well you try and think straight!)

You may, or probably may not, have noticed the change in my Twitter name recently.

Turns out someone else thought of this witty take too and they look much more professional and polished that scruffy old me.  I feel strangely and ridiculously sad that I have to kind of give up on the old nickname, the new "old nickname" person doesn't look the type to take kindly to who used it first.

Ach there is more to life to worry about but it does feel sucky.

And yes, today, 1212121212121212 ya ya.

Yeah, so this happened

http://m.cbsnews.com/storysynopsis.rbml?pageType=scitech&url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57558567/asteroid-passes-inside-moons-orbit-buzzes-earth/&catid=57558567

While enjoying the Geminid meteor showers this big bugger nearly made the Mayans think they'd got their dates wrong.

And was it discovered only on Sunday?  Truthfully that is a wee bit close!

Saturday, December 08, 2012

This Town Was A Little Bit Famous This Week

Except they keep saying the Chanel Metiers d'Art show took place in Edinburgh.

http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2012/12/05/chanel-scotland-show-at-linlithgow-palace---vogue-verdict

Hmmn, not quite.  After a couple of weeks of driving locals crazy with curiosity this Tuesday evening saw the show take place within Palace walls.  Indeed the Palace has been verboten for the past few weeks as preparations were made.

"There is going to be a huge glass dome built to fend off the weather."

"Brangelina and George Clooney and the Beckhams are coming!"

"They can't stop us taking dogs for a walk on the Peel!"

Just a few things to be heard around town many times.

The boys were convinced this "Chanel" person was missing out by not getting them to give a personal tour of the Palace.  They being Palace Guides and all, dressing up in 16th century garb and learning three pages of script has to pay off at some time.  As I picked them up from chess club, in the freezing air, clumps of well-wrapped, excited girls were heading towards the Palace desperate to catch a glimpse of someone famous *in their own town*.

In the end there seemed to be a lot of tents pop up in the Peel (park) area and no dome, instead a rather lovely walkway that seemed completely in keeping of the era and atmosphere of the place.  I don't know if any of the supposed A-list guests bothered to make their way to this part of the world.

Yes, our town isn't as glamorous as Paris or London but we have a certain something that cannot be denied!