Sally's World

Paris 2008

Florida 2003

2005

Deion has been made captain of his wheelchair basketball team. So I thought I'd take some photos of him and his team mates in action to mark the momentus occasion.

Go Deion, Go Deion, Go Deion!!!!

He is very proud of himself. And quite rightly so.

Their Coach is a really nice guy called Steve, who plays in the England Wheelchair basketball team, he's so great with the kids, they all love him to bits.

Obviously there are a whole different set of rules and plays...

Here are a few pictures of them completing a set play, You can't tell, but Deion is yelling his head off at about a billion decibels in eerrmmmmm...'encouragement' here!!

Apparently, that is one of his most important duties as captain!

Deions really committed now, he goes every Saturday morning and has an absolutely brilliant time.

Clubs are so important for all kids, I am a huge fan of structured activities... it's such an important part of a child social development and social life, I hate Deion having to miss out. It's hard to find good clubs that are wheelchair friendly, let alone wheelchair based as it were.

Of course there are a few extra issues, there are more than the usual amount of hospital appointments and stays among the team, and for the more fragile kids, more illness, but the club goes ahead no matter whether there are two or twelve kids.

Its also a great excuse for the mums to sit down for an hour with a coffee!!!

Saw this quote, and it made perfect sense to me!!!

"Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool."

I do have a bad habit of making jokes when I am nervous or worried about something….its a sort of nervous energy I guess.

So I had my breast appointment yesterday, and maybe joking to my husband about the fact that three men and one woman felt my breasts…and, if I’m not mistaken, then saying something along the lines of ‘not bad for one day...’ yep, maybe not the best idea!!! He now thinks I'm trivialising it, I think that's the way to go!!!

Well, it was that or say that I was scared shitless, because the first guy, had a feel and looked deep in thought for a moment, and said he had to call his consultant in…then the consultant had a feel and said he wanted to speak to a colleague, and I had to make a choice to either be worried or think that my breasts were so phenomenal, that they thought everyone should have a look!!!!

So I’m going with the phenomenal breast theory!!!

I went of for the scan let the lady squish me into the most uncomfortable contraption known to man….the dreaded mammogram, then I got to go back for the doctor to examine me again.

I don’t think, even in the earliest days of Dave and I dating has my bra been on and off so often…

So now it’s a waiting game (not easy for possibly the least patient person in England), yes the lump is there, yes probably the lump is too hard to be a cyst, but I’m just going to presume its benign…otherwise I may just tip over the edge from mildly hysterical to totally losing the plot!!!

The doctors, nurses and the clinic in general was actually really friendly, and everyone was as gentle as they could be, I have a ton of leaflets and the numbers of support groups…

I shall keep you posted!!!

IT IS NOT MY FAULT…

Okay, so I know I told you about the time I traumatised the postman, I believe I may have mentioned the time I almost accidentally strangled the sales clerk…I think you are all aware of my aversion to a few of the doctors I meet….

Well, we can now add another one to the list… Builders!!! …but it was totally not my fault, it was Crazy Texas Mommy’s fault…I take no responsibility and place the blame squarely on her shoulders.

Click here for proof. http://www.crazytxmommy.com/2009/05/do-hustle.html

See…don’t tell me you watched that video without joining in, admit it, you were doing the hustle in your living room…right…no?????

Well, I thought my moves were pretty good, until I spun around after shaking my booty…and saw the look on the builders face.

In my defence, how was I supposed to know he was going to be looking in the living room window???…and okay, I should have remembered the builders were here putting up a new fence….

Let’s just hope he comes back, he seemed pretty scared, but he should be made of sterner stuff!!!!

Oh my, a friend of mine sent me this, she thought I’d enjoy it, bearing in mind my recently acquired addiction to blogging.

I got the kids to bed, climbed in the bath, turned to page one and started reading, I read the whole thing in one go, I only stopped to top up the water as it had gone cold and to tell Dave to go away…he kept banging on the door to ask me why I was laughing!

The Author describes the blogging addiction quite well, and has a great voice, her sense of humour, whilst being a bit near the mark at times, is great. I’ll look out for the next one….

The book
I feel like a failure. It's now been 351 days since I had sex. That's a carnal drought. If Bob Geldof knew about it he'd hold a concert.

Sarah Sargeant has been single for three years and nine months. She has just spent five months plucking up the courage to ask out a balding man with a paunch who works in her local pub. The gentleman in question informed her that he would rather stay in and watch the "Narnia" movie on DVD. Her pride has not just been bruised, it's been disembowelled. And she vows it's the last time she will ever reach out to a member of the opposite sex. But her family and friends have other ideas. They enter her into a reality TV show against her will, persuade her to go speed dating and even more radically, they encourage her to start a blog. Suddenly Sarah Sargeant is on a mission. A mission to explore 50 ways to find a lover.


About the Author
Lucy-Anne Holmes is an actress living in London. 50 Ways to Find a Lover had its genesis in Lucy's blog, www.spinstersquest.com, cataloguing her real-life love woes. She is currently working on her second novel, in which Sarah Sargeant heads to LA.

This is one of my all time favourite pictures of Aaron, it shows his cheeky smile off just right, this was my favourite outfit for him at the time. We booked him in for proper photos as a celebration, as he had just learnt to hold his head up.

I love to paint, but I never used to have time, I find that drawing and painting calms me, and recreating Aaron's smiles makes me smile too. so i tried to recreate this one onto canvas for Dave...he loves it and it hangs above his desk. He says he can't look at it without smiling...as he can see how much love has gone into this painting.


Just wanted to share this one with you all!

Aaron passed away three years ago now…3 years, two months and eight days to be exact.

So imagine how I felt when I got a lovely big letter through the post, in Aaron’s name, with leaflets and brochures about the adult learning centres that were available to us, as Aaron would be turning eighteen this year and leaving full time, special needs education.

Now, I expect the odd letter from the dentist/opticians/brochures we prescribed to. ..But call me naive, didn’t really expect them from any kind of government run department.

When Aaron should have turned sixteen I got a letter talking about changes in benefits, and other educational provision, and I rang them up and gave them a bollocking that would have made a sailor blush. So it seems strange they have made the same mistake again.

When Aaron passed away, I rang the benefit people, they had no trouble stopping his benefits, I had an adapted vehicle for him at the time part funded by a special scheme, and within a week of his passing they turned up to collect it, with no regard for the fact that I needed it for Deion too, child benefit, yep, all stopped. And worse thing of all, Aaron’s one to one key worker at school, a lovely girl called Mel, who had (understandably) gotten attached to Aaron, was told the day after he passed away that she was out of a job…with complete disregard for the fact that the poor girl was grieving also.

So they don’t seem to have a problem stopping anything that costs them money, no problem making sure that there is no unnecessary outlay…god no, I had visions of them rubbing their hands together at all the money they were going to save now that Aaron was no longer on their list!!!! Bastards!!!!

So now, am I totally stupid in thinking that somewhere in the governments special needs education system, the very system that deals with education of all kids with special needs, that there is information on Aaron, information with regards to his passing???

I’m incensed, angry beyond words…I know its just a letter, I know these people are more incompetent than a bunch of chimps at a tea party…couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery…yep, I know all this…but the truth is these letters are heartbreaking, they put you back months.

I KNOW you dozy, lazy, incompetent arse holes what Aaron SHOULD be doing…you complete utter useless shits…I KNOW about all the thing I SHOULD be having to arrange for my soon to be eighteen year old son….so thank you so much for the reminder, how kind of you, and how lucky you are that guns are illegal in this country, because if I owned one I just might be tempted to use you all as target practice!!!

Is there a government workers manifesto we know nothing of, something along the lines of
1) clients must be thoroughly ignored at all times
2) when it is impossible to ignore them, they must be treated with complete contempt
3) complete disregard for feelings must be adhered to at all times
4) you must never ever call back when you say you will
5) if you see an opportunity to upset/depress/stress/anger a client, it must be taken, at all times.

How many grieving wives/mothers/sons/daughters have to put up with this????

You know when you hear something soooo ridiculous, you have to laugh out loud…


Pop sensation (my ar$e) Lady Gaga, as this woman is known, has said she feels she gets a lot of negative sexual attention…

Oh please….this is a woman who walks down the street and pole dancers gasp!!!


She can’t sing particularly well, she can’t dance particularly well, her only talent it seems is being able to dress up in the sluttiest outfits known to man! She looks like she’s in fancy dress and on her way to a pimps and ho's party whenever you see her, and don’t get me started on the make up…

Another great role model for our impressionable daughters…

Ah, children.

A woman knows all about her children. .........She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favourite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.

A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

The tattoist should have asked for proof of age!!!

Can't really see the problem with this one...Aaron was like this every morning/lunch time/dinner time/mid morning/bedtime/middle of the night...

Football hooligan!

Start 'em young!

This is pretty tempting!

Sadly, all mine have tried this very thing!

Yick!

Wish i'd thought of this!

Boys Show No Fear!

Commandment 1
Marriages are made in heaven. But so are thunder and lightning.

Commandment 2
If you want your wife to listen and pay strict attention to every word you say; talk in your sleep.

Commandment 3
Marriage is grand -- and divorce is at least 100 grand!

Commandment 4
Married life is very frustrating. In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens.
In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens.
In the third year, they both speak and the neighbours listen.

Commandment 5
When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing: Either the car is new or the wife is.

Commandment 6
Marriage is when a man and woman become as one. The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

Commandment 7
Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about something you say. After marriage, he will fall asleep before you finish.

Commandment 8
Every man wants a wife who is beautiful, understanding, economical, and a good cook.
But the law allows only one wife.

Commandment 9
Marriage and love are purely matter of chemistry. That is why wives treat husbands like toxic waste.

Commandment 10
A man is incomplete until he is married. After that, he is finished.


Bonus Commandment ( Story )

A long married couple came upon a wishing well. The husband leaned over, made a wish and threw in a penny.
The wife decided to make a wish too. But she leaned over too much, fell into the well, and drowned.
The husband was stunned for a moment but then smiled,
.
.
.
.
.

"It really works!"

SMILE, IT'S TAX FREE!

I’m so proud!!! Deion went to bed last night, but he didn’t just waste his time daydreaming about computer games and his Christmas presents. He used his time productively to do maths sums. He was practicing his times tables and his adding up. What a genius.

How proud/smug I was when he announced that he ‘was doing maths sums mum!’ as I said goodnight on my way past his room. No way could I moan at him about still being awake now!

“What a good boy,” I said

“Yep!” I’ve figured out that in my life I’ve had approximately nine thousand seven hundred and forty two poops!!!”

What????

I was speechless, unsure of what to say, I just said, “well done Deion, what good maths.”

He went on to tell me that he timed the number of times he goes with the days, weeks, years e.t.c. then continued to tell me that as I am always telling him he is above average, he added a couple extra…ingenious!

“Do you want me to work out how many times you’ve been mum?” he asked.

“No thanks,” I said weakly.

Well Robyn and Jordan heard, and were falling about laughing, and proceeded to help Deion work out how many times various family members have used the toilet.

Its all maths I guess, but sometimes that’s just too much information. Let’s just hope they don’t announce their results to their Grandma, that should be a fun announcement.

Take care

Sal xxx

I told Deion I'd post this yesterday, but the day got away from me, I charged from one appointment to another, to the supermarket, back to the house, to the schools, managed to throw some dinner together before I went off to salsa (which was really hard this week)...


I'd like to introduce you to our newest family member...this is Cocoa, she is tiny, at just 6 weeks old and very very cute, Deion is totally besotted, he named her!


She frightened the life out of our (male) cat Pat though...her mummy was a tabby like Pat, so she headed straight for Pat and started looking for nipples...Pat was Not impressed!!! His look said 'what are you...crazy???'

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty.

The crocodile, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the 'apex predator', can still fall victim to implemented 'team work' strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and 'survival of the pack mentality' bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine. Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the croc preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing. The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the croc.




Not for the squeamish...

JAM is such a sweetheart, she has passed this crown on to me....I have always wanted a crown, I have slight asperations to be queen of the world...well, don't we all...

In order to keep the crown, I have to tell you seven things that are Awe-Summm!!! about me.

1. I have a huge capacity for love, I love my family and friends adn can always be called on for support.

2. I have the most awesome kids...and I take at least some of the credit for that!!!

3. I am artisitc...I can paint and draw, a couple of the ones I have done of Aaron are beautiful...

4. I am actually a very modest person, I don't brag or boast (thats one of the reasons this is hard lol!)

5. I am a hard worker, I throw myself into a task, I'm not afraid of it being hard...and I never give up!

6. Mummy dolphins let me swim with their babies...this may not sound alot, but when we go swimming with wild dolphins, every time a mummy has swam with me, with her baby...its quite rare...but I have been blessed enough to have done this 7 times...

7. I am a great mum....my kids faces light up when they see me, I pray we always have a relationship that good.

Now, I pass on the title and crown to these AWE-SUMMM blogs...

Beauty Be Good
Two Under Two. Whew!
Thoughts by Dena
Crazy Texas Mommy
Funk Squared
3 Boys and A Princess
...and now I'm a grownup

This is just a very quick post to say thank you to everyone…

After yesterdays post, I was overwhelmed by everyone’s words of comfort and support…I’d been bottling it all up for what seems like so long, it was good to get it out…I felt selfish and weak talking and worrying about something that wasn’t even an actually real…just a worry.

But I’m so glad I did, I feel as if a weight as been lifted. I feel ready to face whatever comes next, and know I shall be nagging all the women I know to check relentlessly from now on.

I am certainly not alone.

Thank you all

Sal xxxxxx

1. What’s your current obsession? Salsa

2. What’s your weirdest obsession? Uh oh! towels being folded properly, socks have to match, bottles have to be lined up in order of size...have a certain order for books...I'm scaring you now aren't I???

3. What are you wearing today? White linen trousers, a purple t-shirt and fluffy slippers…what, I’m indoors, I’m comfy!

4. Why is today special? I am grateful for all my babies, the son is shining, I am over my bug…mostly, I love my friends!

5. What would you like to learn to do? Definitely salsa better…I’d love to parachute jump (doing one this year) and fly, hand glide..something thrilling!

6. What’s the last thing you bought? A loaf of bread….does that count, if not, it was some summer clothes for Robyn!

7. What are you listening to right now? UB40 and the traffic a couple of roads away.

8. What’s your favorite weather? Sunny, hot and sunny, sunshine, with a little extra sun, and hot!

9. What’s your most challenging goal right now? Oh god…too many, getting Deion all he needs for secondary school, getting Deion’s hospital results, making Jordan realize that he has to change his socks every day…making everyone else in the house realize the housework, cooking, cleaning and ironing does NOT do itself!!!

10. What do you think about the person who tagged you? She is sweet and funny and I love her blog, I’m honored she thinks I’m worth getting to know!


11. What's your favorite guilty pleasure? Chocolate cake, with chocolate chips, chocolate icing, chocolate cream, on a chocolate plate, with a chocolate fork…

12. Favorite vacation spot? Bimini Bahamas..

13. What would you like to have in your hands right now? Oops, can’t tell you what sprang to mind then…back to the chocolate cake……

14. What would you like to get rid of? Guilt, feeling inadequate at times, most of the government, most of the people than make decisions regarding the health system, the education system and roughly half the legal system!!!

15. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Ooh, a hour floating in a warm sea!

16.Which language do you want to learn? Italian fluently…I only know enough to get by!

17.What super power would you like to possess? Invisibility!

18. What’s your favorite thing about the city you live in? it has an eclectic mix of people, some beautiful buildings, and you can get all your minerals in one breath!!!

19.What’s your favorite piece of clothing in your own closet? I have an oriental style dress which I love, it’s classy, pretty and hardly worn unfortunately!

20. What’s your dream job? Running my own dolphin program.

21. If you had $150 now what would you spend it on? Bills probably.

22. Do you admire anyone’s style? Oh, yes, Audrey Hepburn, her clothes, her attitude, her beauty…her minute size!

23.Describe your personal style. Oh dear, I don’t have one, jeans and sweats mostly, if I go out I like to dress up, but it usually ends up as black trousers with a fancy top, I love oriental style ones.

24. Who’s fashion show would you want tickets to? I have no idea, not one springs to mind…sorry!

25. If you had to slap one person with no repercussions, who would it be and why? Oh, there are so many lol! Definitely Russell Brand, he has to be one of the most annoying people on the planet!

26. What are you most proud of? My kids.

27. If you could choose one person who has passed to have lunch with who would it be and why? Aaron, Aaron, Aaron I’d give anything for some time with him!

Now the rules of this tag:

1. Respond and rework: answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention

2. Tag 7 other people you would love to learn more about. Here’s mine:


Trojan's Corner Trojans a really lovely guy, you should all get to know him better.
Despair, Devastation & Dysfunction always something here to make me think or reflect...whether I want to or not LOL!!!
Is It Just Me? Missy makes me smile every day.
Mysterious Creature a strong determined woman who I admire.
Smelling The Roses And Dodgeing The Thorns always a great blog, always great advice.
darling dialogues a lovely blog, look forward to it every day!
The World According To J... started following JJ recently, and so glad I did, love her attitude to life.

A good laugh is always nice

An elementary school class started a class project to make planters to take home to their parents.
They wanted to have a plant in it that was easy to take care of, so they decided to use cactus plants.

The students were given green-ware pottery planters in the shape of clowns which they painted with glaze.

The clown planters were professionally fired at a
class outing so they could see the process.

It was great fun!
They planted cactus seeds in the finished planters
and they grew nicely, but unfortunately, the children were not allowed to take them home.

The cactus plants were removed and small ivy
replaced them and the children were then allowed
to take them home instead.


The teacher said cactus seemed like a good idea
at the time!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!

There's been some coverage recently about how poorly carers are paid and treated, and its just getting worse...can anyone explain to me, how one of the most important jobs gets the least amount of respect???

This ridiculously small amount of money is supposed to make up for the fact that carers can't go out and earn a full time wage...but where on earth do the government think they will be without carers...they'd be forking out a damn site more money for full time nursing homes, nursing care and residential schools and homes.

Parents who want to keep their children home with them are punished, is it any wonder that single parents find it almost impossible to cope!

The recent increase in the minimum wage has left some carers several hundred pounds out of pocket, Money Box has learnt.

Any carer who works for 16 hours a week at the new minimum wage rate of £5.95 now earns £95.00.

This is above the £95.00 earnings threshold for Carer's Allowance and means they are no longer entitled to the weekly payment of £53.10.

And this revelation comes in the week the government launched a £33 million initiative to help carers.

To read more go to...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/6390409.stm

Its nothing short of insulting...it devalues and demoralises! Something needs to be done NOW!



Please write to your local MP and demand that they take action.

Seeing as we are blogging against disablism today, I will share something that makes me laugh a lot…although you may not agree.

Now I am sick of people looking at me like I am the cruellest mother on the planet if I tell Deion off. Deion may be a wheelchair user, but my goodness, he has a cheeky streak equal to none…and as I believe in equality, I believe I should treat him just as badly as I treat my other children….I’m JOKING!! Of course I’m joking, but if Deion does something wrong, he’s going to get told off just like Jordan or Robyn would. If we are in a shop and he asks for something, I get looked at like I’m evil if I say ‘no’…if I have to tell hi to hurry up, its even worse… but for goodness sake, he’s in a turbo charged wheelchair, why should he need to dawdle, and if I tell him off for running into me or not looking where he’s going, people have actually threatened to call social services…

Aaron too, no special treatment form me I’m afraid…telling him off got me even worse looks, because he looked more limited and couldn’t talk…but he still bloody well knew when he was being naughty.

One day he saw the van but turned the other way (to run away as it were) cos he was sulking with me. I raised my voice and told him to come back, but he ignored me, so I ran after him, stood in front of him and told him to go to the car and stop being so stroppy, he threw me a dirty look and reluctantly turned towards the car.

Two ladies happened to be walking past and muttered what a cruel woman I was for telling the ‘poor little thing’ off….okay…’poor little thing!’ don’t make me laugh. I had to respond, because it is this kind of ignorance, this false sympathy that drives us mad. So I yelled “oh, so just because he’s in a wheelchair, you don’t think he knows how to be naughty?”

Of course, Aaron was laughing by now…he loved a good row…

I went on to explain how ignorant her attitude was, and how she should not presume that disability equals stupidity, how dare she suggest my child does not have the intelligence to be naughty….of course he did, he got up to mischief all the time…ask some of his friends and teachers!!!

It’s as important for Deion to grow up, not expecting to get his own way, as it is all children. What kind of mum would I be if I spoilt him rotten. It’s not that I like him being in a wheelchair, but the easy thing would be to give him is won way, and I’m not in it for the easy life, I am raising three children into strong, independent self sufficient adults.
Deion is keen not to be treated differently form everyone else, if someone goes to give in because of the wheelchair he’ll tell them straight…”it’s okay, I’m not going to play the disability card!” he is perfectly comfortable with his disability, and its important that everyone else is too…that’s how we stop the negative attitude…

Acceptance, embracing, education!!!!