party

My Sunday Snapshot Flashback to 1999

Do you remember New Year Eve 1999? For me it has a particular poignance, it was the night my life changed forever. The other evening I spotted this photo on my Cousin’s daughter’s Facebook asking if any of the family knew who it was.

Why am I sharing it with you? Well, it’s me!

The me I used to be in 1999.

I was happy, my marriage had ended but we’d finally come to peace with that. I had a fantastic job which I loved, my children were growing up, the eldest at Secondary School and the youngest in her last year at primary. We were at a party with all the family at a local pub function room and everything was going well. I’d had a few drinks but I wasn’t drunk. My ex was working as a taxi driver and had promised us a lift home so no worries. (Although we could have walked home in 20 minutes from this pub!) And it was the beginning of a New Millenium.

2000

The worst year of my life and I’ve had some bad years. I can’t even tell you what happened but the very next day my world imploded. This night was the last time I saw my Mum in five years and the last time our family was all together. There were other family parties, but they were fractured. Our family was fractured.

Isn’t it strange how one simple photo can mean so much. I’ve not even seen this photo before. I guess my cousin was going around taking photos of everyone. I probably would have hidden if I’d seen him coming, I hated having my photo taken.

My cousin’s daughter said she didn’t recognise me. I can understand, this really is a different me, I’m no longer that person and never will be again.

Life Goes On

Twenty One Years into the new century and life goes on. I met someone new, Graham, and we had three more children together. I did make some peace with my Mum just after Star was born and she got to meet both Star and Boo before she passed away.

I do try not to dwell on the past, it’s not something that can be changed. You can go over and over about all the things that you could have done differently, but it doesn’t make any difference once it’s been done. You have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get on with your life.

It has just been a jolt seeing the old me just hours away from becoming the different me.

I guess I had one chance to party like it was 1999……

More of my Sunday Snapshot photos.

My Sunday Snapshot – Dancing Weekend

by Anne Sweet 4 Comments

Dancing

Dancing time! On Friday we went to a party, it was my cousin’s daughter’s son’s 16th birthday. That’s my first cousin twice removed to be precise. The kid’s were glued to their mobile phones for a lot of the evening, but we do have a ‘turn off’ time which happens even if not at home. Luckily, turn off time happened just as the DJ started to play party dances and the kids couldn’t resist a bit of Cha Cha Slide!

The Red Shoes

Then on Saturday it was ballet time. My friend and I had been looking forward to Mathew Bourne’s ‘The Red Shoes’ for a long time. It was a fabulous show, although maybe a little more true to the story than his previous performances that we’d seen. Cinderella was set in World War II and Romeo + Juliet in an Asylum for young people. I will write more about The Red Shoes in another post but it is based on the film of the same name which was inspired by the Hans Christian Anderson Story. It’s quite a dark story based on vanity.

Weekend

I think I’ve had enough now with a party and a ballet two nights in a row and Storm Dennis keeping me awake. The rest of the weekend needs to be spent resting.

What have you been up to this week? What are your plan for today? I wish I could just sit on the settee cuddled up in my blankets all day. I think I will for most of the day, but I guess there will still be jobs to do. Thankfully, its half term this week so I won’t need to worry about getting all the uniforms ready for tomorrow. Yay! for small mercies.

We don’t really have many plans for the half term holiday, but once I have recovered from this weekend I’m sure we will think of something to do. Maybe if the weather settles a little we may even go and get some fresh air.

My Sunday Photo 7th April 2019

by Anne Sweet 9 Comments

The Birthday Party Meal

I’m a bit late sharing these photos, they are from my Sister-in-Laws birthday party meal a couple of weeks ago.

The Selfie

I love this selfie Graham did of us with the family having their party meal in the background. I’ve blurred the edges a bit because we managed to catch some strangers on the next table too. Graham always looks so serious in his selfie photos though.

The Kids

At the other end of the table were the kids, this is only half of them and the middle one is not mine, that’s ‘Squidge,’ my Nephew’s youngest daughter. The lady turned away is my nephew’s older daughter…I really think huge age gaps are thing in our family (My Mum, my Brother, Me and My Nephew!) My Nephew’s older daughter is having a baby in June, so my nephew is going to be a grand dad!

Back to the photo, I was a little too far away to see what the kids were up to
(I didn’t take this photo.) It was nice to see them enjoying their food. However, when I viewed it I was very annoyed with Boo! Just look at her with her mobile phone on while she’s having a meal. That’s a big No No at home, and the same goes for when we are out for a party meal. I can’t really blame her though, she was only copying what most of the adults were doing.

Word of the Week #13 2019 – Out

by Anne Sweet 7 Comments

Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week, a nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. You reflect back on the past week and sum it up in one word. Then share your word with us in a blog post, with as little or as much explanation as you like. This week my word is out, you can read more about that later.

There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. Do try to stick to the theme of summing your week up. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest board devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mix (formerly Stumble.) Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

My Word of the Week

This week I’ve been out a lot. If I’m honest it’s been too often, and now I’m worn out.

Out Shopping

Monday it was shopping, I had to get some birthday cards, a Mother’s Day card for my Mother-in-Law and a couple of little extra bits and bobs.

(flashback- I remember taking a very young Star into a supermarket one day and she asked me what we were going to buy. I said, ‘oh just some bits and bobs.’ Five minutes later she came up to me in the shop and said ‘Mummy, I can’t find any Bits or Bobs anywhere!’)

Out to Party

Tuesday, it was my very lovely Sister-in-Law’s 50th birthday and we all went out for a meal. We went to a pub that I’ve not visited before. I checked online and it said it was fully accessible. When we got there we entered at the front and found steps leading down to our reserved tables.

Boo spotted a ramp so I went to the other side of the bar to find that there were steps leading down to the ramp. We did notice a door on the other side though, so there was an entrance that led to the ramp. I went outside and made my way around the pub, but I couldn’t find a way around the back. So I went the other way and after fully circumnavigating the pub I finally found the entrance with the ramp. I was frustrated and upset as well as tired. At this point I just wanted to go home, but instead, I painted on my happy face and made my way to the party tables.

I decided it would be nice to park up my wheelchair and sit at the table. it makes me feel just like anyone else when I do this. An hour or so later I had to be helped back into my wheelchair. The entire left side of my body had gone completely numb and I was in danger of just slipping under the table.

On the way out, one of the staff told me they had lift for wheelchair users. It was right by the front door.

When we got home I was all but ready for bed. But first I had a huge dose of self pity to work through.

Out to Naidex

Wednesday it was time for Naidex45, a disability exhibition at the NEC Birmingham. I was nowhere healthy enough to attend, but I’d had my tickets for months and I didn’t want to miss it.

It wasn’t too bad, I survived the day intact. I didn’t find my next wheelchair as I had hoped. However, I did have a very interesting conversation with a lady about a new device which sounds amazing. I won’t say any more just yet, but I’ll spill the beans soon.

Today, I’m staying put. I’m not going out again for a while, I need some time to recover. It’s such a lovely day I’ve got the patio doors open and enjoying some of the outside while sitting inside.

So Now it’s over to you, what word or phrase sums up your week?

Raisie Bay

Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML

I’ll Never Dance La Macarena Again at a Family Party

by Anne Sweet Leave a Comment

On Saturday evening we went to a family party. It was a proper party, you know the type where a hall is hired and decorated, there is a dance floor and a DJ, a fabulous buffet and a couple of the new additions, a sweet store and photo booth.
The hall was full with party goers and everyone was set to have a good time.

The kids had great fun chasing the disco lights around the room before the adults had plucked up the dutch courage to fill the dance floor. They also loved the photo booth and took up so much time in there we had to drag them out to let others have a go. They enjoyed dancing along to their favourite tunes and playing with new friends that they made. I used to love parties like this when I was their age and it looks like they love them too. They didn’t want to go home, even at 11.30pm!

young children chasing the disco lights across the dance floor

I was happy to sit in my chair and watch the fun. Having hubby top up the drinks and wait in the queue to fetch me food. I’d been chatting online with someone earlier about how I’d never been much of a dancer, well, not after my teenage years had passed anyway. I would dread that moment when a friend or family member would grab me up to dance. I admit, I have no rhythm, no style, I never knew where to put my feet or my arms and always felt totally clumsy and a little bit ridiculous. Not any more though. Now I can’t dance for real. There is no wiggle, no co-ordination, no balance, nothing. So it’s a good thing isn’t it? Something to be thankful for. Who’s going to drag me on the floor in my wheelchair?

I have a confession to make though. I used to love party dances, oh yes, I knew them all, ‘La Macarena,’ Whigfield’s ‘Saturday Night,’ ‘Oops Upside Your Head,’ even the ‘Cha Cha Slide.’ You don’t have to worry about where to put your hands and feet so long as you already know the routine. You may look as daft as hell, but at least everyone else dancing looks just as daft, it’s all uniform, everyone is doing the same or at least trying too. That’s the only time I felt comfortable dancing. There is one I’ve not tried yet, Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) and my girls were on the dance floor leading the way.

my two girls dancing to Watch Me Whip, Watch me Nae nae

Suddenly, I felt a pang.

I’ll never whip or nae nae, or hop and slide, or even Macarena ever again. I felt sad.

But only for a while.

I’ve had my time, years and years of parties like this, years of dancing whether I wanted to or not. I’m lucky, I’ve had fun, I’ve got drunk until I’ve fallen over, I’ve danced on tables, I spent the next day in bed swearing never ever again! (some things you don’t miss eh!)

Now I can watch my little ones having fun and get my enjoyment from them at a family party.

There is no need to focus on the can’t dos. Life is more than the things you can or cannot do. I have to let go of the past, accept life the way it is now and have faith that life will still be good.

Accept what is, let go of what was, and have faith in what will be.

Dad and the two girls giving me the thumbs up sign

Subscribe to blog via Email