Phases

Ok, so I dunno whether it's the summer approaching or a hankering for yesteryear but I have found myself travelling down the road of reminiscence lately, and particularly watching the early seasons of Sex and the City. Please don't laugh. It represents a time in my life where I was so carefree and self-indulgent - a fact which I quite freely admit! I've re-watched Seasons 1 and 2 to date and every so often I catch a glimpse of how my life has been shaped by this show - this may sound mad, but the spirit behind the lives of these fictional 4 women I find awesome and fascinating and utterly desirable. Yes I know it's rude and full of things 'people don't talk about' but OMG how refreshing! Desperate Housewives doesn't even come close. I recall the nights in with the gals @ the granny flat - Abs, Hann & Anna, sucked into a world of glamourous New York where you can wear dresses all the time and go out for cocktails - thus began our love affair with cocktails at the Dock! We saw the show as educational, an easy way we could find out answers to the questions we were all afraid to ask! Those were the months of Rose wine and cosy girl times. Now we're all married I kinda miss that. It's not the same!

I also find myself giggling at how Carrie Bradshaw has shaped my fashion sense over the years...every so often there is a scene where she'll be wearing an outfit or toting a bag or accessory that I scoured shops all over Liverpool to find lookee-likees - from the horseshoe necklace to full circular skirts, to high high heels, to a big white Fulton umbrella, to 50's tea length dresses and ballet dancer buns, to clutch purses, to ponchos and so much more. Funny how we (or maybe just me??) are shaped by popular culture. I won't ever forget those days and how much fun it was to dress up and go drink champagne. Right, that's it, I'm invoking the days of yore, rallying the gals and getting our asses out on the town. Pronto!

Have a Cosmopolitan on me!!

Jamie Oliver triumphs again!

So, last night the Kennaughs & Stoff and Sarah ventured to the Walls for good food, good wine and GREAT company (even if we do say so ourselves)!! Luce kicked off the proceedings with a fabulous Bruschetta and a bouteille de Beringer (pink and fizzy - YUM!) and I followed it with a 5-hour slow roast beef with veggies, red wine gravy and crusty bread for dunking. I was very nervous for it to work and be tasty, not least because Lucy's nickname is 'Gordo' after Gordon Ramsay!! She is such a talented chef I was worried the main course wouldn't work. But work it did - Praise the Lord for Jamie Oliver! We all agreed it was yummy. Then after a long rest and trying not to slip into a food coma, we partook of Sarah's AWESOME chocolate/blueberry Pavlova - WOWEE it was gorgeous! After dinner it was coffee and sophisticated conversation (for the girls - the boys practiced their WWE moves on one another) (*rolls eyes*) A really great night with wonderful friends and one that we need to repeat more often - thanks guys for coming over, you're fabulous!

And so to today, relaxing, looking for holidays on t'internet, watching the Monaco Grand Prix (Please God can we go there one day!) possibly venturing over to the Barnes' later on - Bank Holidays are where it's at!

Over and out xxx

PS - Happy Birthday Wen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hallelujah!

Today I handed in my Portfolio. Come July I will be an officially qualified counsellor. OH-MY-GAH! That thought is simultaneously enthralling and frightening! Seems like I've been working for sooooooooooooo long for this, and it's finally within sight. YAY! Not entirely sure how it'll pan out in terms of usage...I'm thinkin' maybe a Masters, part time obviously, whilst I am still working for the Local Authority.

Had my first impassioned work-rant at a rather high up dude t'other day. What I find so utterly frustrating is the lip-service that is paid to Children's Rights. People are all so 'Yes yes we're all about the kids' when really what they mean is 'Yes yes we're all about the kids up to a point but at the end of the day we don't really give a stuff about the rights of young people in the Care system and we don't care about communicating openly and honestly with them when decisions are being made about them that will affect their lives. Yes we recognise that BY LAW they have a right to be involved in decisions about their lives, but actually it gets in the way of us doing our job as the professionals we are' It's such bullshit.

My entire role revolves around a need to be transparent and to be able to openly communicate with and on behalf of the young people I represent. If 'professionals' are going to begin censoring what they say to young people via me then the role is obsolete and actually we haven't progressed at all in terms of how we involve young people and encourage them to engage in their own lives. The statistics for 'Looked After children' SUCK - in terms of achievement, mental health, education, employment, drugs, alcohol, crime, teenage pregnancy. At almost every turn they are a vulnerable demographic. So, why aren't we doing more?

Sometimes things just get my goat.

(Paulo is that enough about my 'real life' for ya??!! :)

The Maeve Binchy Code

Have been to see it. Quite good I thought, though it has been subjected to the 'great' and time-honoured American cinematic treatment of grossly over-explaining anything and everything that is significant and central to the plot. I appreciate that it's a difficult novel to dramatise (which may, peut-etre, beg the question why bother trying to at all!!), but Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon was tremendous in his over-enunciation of 'Fleur de Lise' and "'Neath ancient Roslin lies...' etc etc - just in case the Yanks didn't get it! Haha.

All in all a good film though, don't really see what the big Christian hoo-haa has been about, I reckon it's a well plausible theory! Not saying I think it's true or my faith has been shaken to the core or anything, just that it's a fantastic theory. (AND a GREAT book!!)

LOVED the Disney movie/Post-Modern-approach-to-faith ending 'What it comes down to Sophie is what you believe. Why couldn't Jesus have been a good man and a father?...' (I paraphrase but it was sommat like that, all soft focus and violins...) And as for the 'Nope, maybe I'll do better with the wine' bit, all I have to say is 'Gawd Bleyss Ameryica'!

BUT Paul Bettany was whoop-de-do brillo, dead evil and his eyes were especially good. Thought Audrey Tatou aka Amelie (GREAT film!) was great, and Tom Hanks was ok but not massively believable as Robert Langdon. Gandalf as Lee Teabing was ace.

Et voila my review!

My verdict: READ THE NOVEL!

When I grow up.....

....I wanna be just like Dr. Tanya Byron. Wowee, whatta gal! She is a true genius and spends her days sorting out problem parents who reckon that their KIDS are the ones with the issues! PAH!Thanks to Dr. T terms such as 'rapid return' and 'sliding in' have become commonplace. Parents around the globe are having their lives revolutionised by her interventions and I am hopelessly addicted to seeing what happens. I often find myself agreeing smugly with Dr. T and her expert observations, and then yelling at kids when I'm at work. Oopsie, my bad! But what I am so riveted by is how it's actually all common sense, and often all we need is someone who is impartial, independent and unconditional, who provides us with the right conditions for us to explore our behaviour and idiosyncrasies and ultimately to grow and change. Now, I know she's not God, but she's kind of like God in that we, as human beans, respond well to boundaries and being allowed to change when someone unconditional lets us....bit of a spacky analogy but hopefully you get what I mean. Dr. T is cool, God is cool. I've developed an addiction to 'House of Tiny Tearaways' and I'm supposed to be doing an essay.

See God? I need boundaries!

Over and out.

Little Ted being dead cute!!!

'Nuff said!!

CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here she is! The bride-to-be, Ms. Ulrike Hirsch! Yep indeedy, Rikes has gone and got herself all engaged! Hearty congrats to Craig and Ulrike, I love you guys and I'm so happy for you! Bring on the wedding! Masses of love, me xxxx

What a game!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice one Liverpool - you ROCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sucks to be West Ham!

Tonight, tonight.....

Ladies and Gentleman, Mr Dave Matthews!!!!

*thunderous applause*

Yep indeedy people, tonight's the night we shall sojourn to fair Mancland to the Academy to witness the musical marvel, nay, miracle, that is this wondrous and talented chap! Needless to say there is MUCH excitement in the house of Wall...

Can't think of anything deep and meaningful to say so this'll have to do...

Love y'all...

PS - CATE! I would LOVE it if you came to Port Sunshine - just say the word and we can arrange it!

Issues

If people don't get commenting soon, I ain't gon' post no more.....

And finally....

Three posts in one day! Look at me 'doin a Tim'!! Anyways, couldn't blog sans mentioning that at long last WE HAVE TICKETS TO SEE DAVE MATTHEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Live, in the flesh, in Manchester, in 2 weeks.....ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHH! (I may pee my pants with excitement!) Granted, Mr Matthews will be without the rest of the band, Carter et. al, however he himself will be here and we CANNOT WAIT!

Ahhhhhhhhh, Dave.................. *sighs with happiness*

Oh Happy Day!

Sunday April 30th, 2006 was our first wedding anniversary - a whole year appears to have flown by without us really noticing! We celebrated in style with a weekend in Pwlhelli (or however you spell it) and dinner at The Mariner (yummy Welsh steak restaurant). REALLY good to get away, AND a convenient Bank Holiday too which makes future anniversaries tres bon. Hard to believe this time last year we were swanning around Barcelona, with all the smugness of just-marrieds! Thanks to all of you who were with us for the Big Day and who have supported and loved us through our first year! And most of all HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my lovely hubby! I love you...

The littlest Heywood...

Well here he is folks! No longer going by the moniker 'Vincent', Edward 'Little Ted' Heywood is home from the hospikal and settling into life chez Heywood! He is soooooooo cute and teeny tiny he freaks me out ever so slightly - but I am pleased and proud to report that K & A are ever-so natural parents - ducks to water and all that jazz. I quickly got over my 'I might break him' fear and he happily let me feed him his bottle which was really rather cool! The most splendid news of all is that Rich and I have been asked to be god parents - signalling significant goings-on in the spiritual lives of my family! - and naturally we have accepted with glee and are bursting with pride!

See you soon Little Ted, maybe we need to get you a blog??!!