A question answered

So one of my biggest questions regarding religion was 'if God does exist, and he is a loving, kind and just God, then WHY DO SO MANY INNOCENT CHILDREN (AND ANIMALS) GET HURT BY THEIR OWN FAMILIES? Unfortunately I live in a country where, in the last few years, our news has been dominated by children being beaten, generally at the hands of a family member, beaten so often that they eventually end up dead (and these are children under 5). And, although a story such as this has not hit the HEADLINES for some time, recent accounts in newspapers tell of similar tales, such as the mother who gave her 7 children marajuana, because it made them sleep, and now they wouldn't be quiet without it! WHAT?! And this of course then begged the question - how come 'these people' can have lots and lots of children (we have an awesome welfare system), and TJL and I (who are 'good people') are struggling to get pregnant? And then lately there have been untold news stories involving animal cruelty, which I also despise, so don't get me started ... lol

ANYHOW, (long story LONG ... lol), the answer to my question came to me this morning - Perhaps God is 'allowing' these things to occur so WE can finally realise how much we NEED HIM and his FORGIVENESS. And, obviously, we are NOT GETTING IT. I mean, how blunt does He need to be? CHILDREN ARE BEING BEATEN TO DEATH HERE! We have been living the 'free' life. The life we THINK we want. We don't have to commit to anyone. We don't have to answer to anyone. We can just do whatever it is we want to. And look where it's got us! No one cares about anyone any longer. It is NEVER our fault - my upbringing was rough, my father left my mother for another woman, when I was 7 my cat murdered a mouse and now I'm a serial killer. I mean, seriously, there are just no consequences for our actions anymore, we always blame everyone else. We never stand up and say 'I am to blame, I am human, please forgive me!'

We believe that our life is in our hands, and it's not. God knows his plan for us, and when so many people choose not to follow that path, the result is what we have today - a selfish, rude, uneducated, violent, blaming society. We need God. I need God. I really hope, and pray, that more and more people start to wake up to the fact we need to beg for his forgiveness. Because we have denied Gods existence for so long, and we have stopped asking for forgiveness for our sins, we, as a society, are now reaping the rewards of this denial, and I DON'T LIKE IT.

And so, the more I open my mind and life to God, the more my questions are being answered. And I think that this is just awesome! I feel truly blessed that God has come into my life. Sure, I have a whole lot to learn, but it is going to be a fabulous journey!

My Bible has arrived - did I post that already?

*Disclaimer* I am extremely new to religion, and the Bible, so please excuse my, no doubt many, faux pas. If you are well versed in these matters please feel free to 'educate' me, in the nicest possible way

Anyway, my first Bible arrived yesterday. It is a version that 'should' read so people of today can understand it. I think that this is a good thing, considering it is my first one. I am not too sure how one should read it, so I am reading it from the beginning. So far its tough. I have a science brain, and so, well, I need MORE background information. There just isn't enough DEPTH for me, YET! I read some things and say 'but WHY?' or 'I DISAGREE' and then I ponder it, and say, 'Well actually ...' and I can, hmmmmm, believe it? I am not sure that this is the phrase I want to use, perhaps I can understand how 'it' works, ('it' being the laws of the bible). Boy oh boy, do I have a LONG way to go! But, thankfully to all the bloggers I can access, (and read practically daily), I have help and assistance with insights, and meanings, and encouragement, to further my study and teachings.

To break up the monotony of my post, I did a bit of shopping today - candles, a file system to note down happenings of significance during the years (thanks for the idea fellow blogger - steadymom), a surf t.shirt and card for Dad, for fathers day. Totally forgot to buy a whiteboard pen, AGAIN!

The other thing I had a think about today was letting the man lead in the family (well, in our case lead me, since we have not been blessed with children as yet). And I thought that in this day and age most men don't know HOW to lead, or are to afraid to, incase they make a mistake, and get blamed, yelled at, abused. So I have decided that my job is to encourage my partner to lead, to build up his confidence and self esteem so he is confident in taking a leadership role. I guess that this is another symptom of the decline of religion in our society. There are no longer defined roles that we each learn and know how to 'play', this leads to 'confusion' and then 'conflict' (lets be realistic, in times of difference one person really does need to submit to prevent constant conflict). I really think that a lot of us out there are 'running around in a state of confusion' because we really do not have any solid ground upon which to stand, no societal rules that apply - except for the big ones like 'murder'. I am hoping that if I can learn to submit (not at all in my nature, or the way I was raised), and I can learn to build TJL up, then we can live a fairly happy and harmonious life - I'm not a fool, I know we won't be perfect, but hopefully this will enable us to survive times of turmoil and to live in the moment during times of joy.

Before and after

I had an eye combo today (brows tinted and waxed, eyelashes tinted). I attempted to take a before and after photo. So this top photo is the before. Yes, I should NOT pull my hair back so severely, but, well, no excuses, its what I do, and a very hard HABIT to break. I'm working on it (and I'm working on the double chin AND the potatoes in the background - put them away Micha!)

The after photo. I think there is a bit of difference, it is very noticeable in the real world. I really dig how I have an artwork (Bali sarong thing) hanging in the background, and all you can see is a 'butt'. Potatoes in the first shot, butt in the second. Gee I am a talent at self portraiture.

Babysitting

TJL's Mum has gone out of town to a wedding, so we are looking after his little brother, George.

Now this guy is spoiled rotten. He SCREAMS bloody murder, THROWS his food on the floor, RIPS the wallpaper, and has been known to BITE. On his last visit he got into my highlighters and cracked ALL of the casings, and then pulled the ink spongey thing out from inside. To say he is destructive is an understatement! He should not be left alone for a second.

He is so fussy with his food, that if you give him a carrot he bites and SPITS OUT the 'outside' part of the carrot, and eats the sweet, juicy inside part only.

If he is not screaming, (or barking like a dog), he is asking 'what you doing?'

Don't let his cute, innocent looks fool you. This guy will probably outlive us all!

Hi, I'm George, and my favourite 'trick' is to ring like a telephone REALLY REALLY loudly

'See how cute I am, is it any wonder I am soooooo naughty'

So aside from ringing like a telephone, screaming, and barking like a dog, George can say 'what you doing?', 'Goodnight my darling', 'hello Georgie' and 'naughty boy' (he got THAT one right!)

They apparently live to about 90, and I think he might be OUR inheritance - May TJL's mother live a full and healthy life!

Photographing around town

I spent a couple of hours taking a few photographs around our little town yesterday (population 2100). And we are rural from the town, so as you can imagine, its quite a dinky wee place. It does have a lot of lovely old buildings though.

This is the historical society building (TJL tells me it used to be the Westpac Bank)

This lovely old building does have a 'museum' on the first floor, on the road frontage. I was surprised to see that all of the windows along the side were totally gone. The sign says that there used to be a pool hall in the bottom. TJL thinks it used to be a sewing factory in its hey day.

The town hall - front

The town hall - behind the facade (corrigated iron)

The old BNZ bank, now a second hand shop

The former Post and Telegraph Office - now a persons residence

The Police Station - perhaps it always was - we don't know

Mural - sorry it's a bit dark and I need to reshoot

Other part of mural

Mt Taranaki (or Mt Egmont). Taranaki is famous for two things - dairy cows, and this mountain

Jealousy is an ugly thing

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I had a bit of an Godly moment yesterday. I have been struggling at work, with all the negativity, and getting drawn into conversations that fuel the negativity, and I had a realisation that I, myself, am negative mostly through jealously. How I had this realisation is that an email from one of the factories came through thanking 6 girls from the lab for all of their contribution in some extra testing that has been done. I was not one of them and my INSTANT reaction was 'well thats not fair, I don't know HOW to do that test, IF I knew how to do that test then I would have helped do the testing, and then I, too, would have this big thank you that went lab wide'. So of course I deleted the email (didn't thank me, I don't want to keep it) and sat and stewed it over for a minute or so, with my thoughts (thank you Satan) saying, well it's not like some of these girls are as INTELLIGENT as me, and not all of them work as HARD as me, life is SO UNFAIR! And then, BANG, it hit me, as I was telling Satan to GO AWAY, God said 'you are bitter and mean about these girls because you are JEALOUS! (and selfish too when I think about it). I have this very weird attitude that if I am not being thanked then NO-ONE should get thanked, they are overshadowing me. Well that is just plain BUNKIM. Gees, I think this girl (ie me, a very very old girl ... lol) needs to GROW UP! Who are they overshadowing me in front of, certainly not God, he sees and knows all. And EVERYONE deserves to be recognised for the hard work that they do, not just me. So I think that this little experience has been a bit of an eyeopener for me. Plus seeing how pleased some of them were at receiving this recognition, after I swallowed my pride and showed them the email (as they had not gotten to their computers yet), seemed to make most of my jealousy disappear. I won't be fixed 'overnight' but I am glad that I am starting to recognise where some of my negative behaviours are rooted, and its nice to know that when I send Satan away from my thoughts, God is quick to fill in the 'gap'

I still do not know how to distance myself from the negative conversations. I TRY to distance myself, and to participate and create 'fun' conversations, but there are some ladies who do 'whisper' and sometimes they 'whisper' to me. I do not want to become further isolated from my work colleagues, as I already feel a bit on the outside having not grown up in the area. However, I actually do not have an interest in who has been cheated on/broken up/got into a fight/etc, but the less I listen to these conversations, the further isolated I feel as I have no idea as to what is going on. BUT, now I think about it, the majority of the ladies who participate in these conversations may think of THEMSELVES as the 'cool kids' (bearing in mind the average age of them would be around 40), I am not actually too worried whether they LIKE me or not, it's not like I am particularly fond of their behaviour and WANT to socialise with them (just have to because of work). So, if I put their little 'click' aside then there is still another selection of ladies who I do like, and can socialise with, and perhaps my energy is better spent on forming 'bonds' with them, rather than 'cringing' at, and 'sighing' at, and 'wishing they were different' at the 'cool kids'. I also have to loosen up and stop thinking that if 'such and such was worthy of my friendship then they wouldn't want to talk to so-and-so, I mean, if they like me then how could they possibly like them? Wouldn't they MUCH rather sit with ME and talk to ME than THEM (see how like a child I am!) Well hasn't this been an eyeopener! I am VERY self centred, and VERY judgemental, and VERY dictatory (if there is such a word). I tend to be a bit of an unhappy and grumpy person, and that is all down to ME and how I INTERPRET the world.

Goodness God, haven't you got me thinking A LOT about MY behaviour rather than other peoples behaviour. Lesson learned, not to say I won't need to learn it again, and again, I just hope I am a bit quicker to learn, and slower to judge in the future. It should save myself a lot of unnecessary heartache.

2 weeks down

Well I am two weeks into my BFL programme, and I have lost 1kg! Yay for me. I must admit I am not overly struggling with it. Sure I get home from work, and I don't want to work out, but I do it, and at the most it only takes me 45 minutes, so really, its just sweet as. The food is not much of a problem. I am eating heaps of fruit, 2 kiwifruit, 1 orange, and grapes each day. When I look at it that way it doesn't look that much, but compared to my usual average of 0 each day, then its not so bad. I have probably simplified the diet somewhat (ie lunch and dinner involve 1 fist size of vege, 1 fist size of carbs, 1 palm size of meat), but I am not trying to be a 'champion', and if it is working so far, its working! Hooray! Heres hoping I keep it up! I am past my 2 week 'fall off the wagon' stage (just).

Not much else is happening - just work, home, sleep.

I tried really, really hard to control my mouth today. Epic Fail! Of course I got roped into a couple of conversations at work today, but went 'arghhhh' at myself afterwards. Will try again tomorrow, with God's assistance of course. I was saying 'Go Away Satan' whenever a nasty thought crossed my mind, but, as I said earlier, he did get in there a couple of times. I even switched off my car stereo today so I could open my mind to God. I need to practice this far more often.

I sure hope my bible arrives soon, I feel like I am floundering with this whole 'discover religion' thing.

Arhhhhh ... home alone

TJ has gone out to the rugby tonight, with Honk and his kids. I guess I could have gone, I think TJ invited me, but I was just a bit too busy getting his dinner ready early, getting the washing in, feeding the chickens (sick chicken appears to be feeling a lot better. I think TJ will have to let them out around lunch-time everyday as she may be getting picked on), doing the dishes, feeding the dog, and down-loading Lightroom 3.0 .... wonder if I forgot anything ...

Paid first installment for website today. Was in a bit of a panic as to whether I would have the full amount in time for the final payment - but way hey hey, the bank 'invited me' to increase the limit of my credit card so I did. Now I KNOW that this is not the best solution BUT it is only incase I don't have the funds to pay for the site fully when required, and once it is paid I will pay the credit card off, AND re-lower my limit. Exciting times, I must admit.

I also went onto VistaPrint and ordered some more business cards (free), car door magnet (free), pad (free), fridge magnets (50 for $50) and a pen (free). It did cost for having the back of my business cards printed ($7.00) and to upload an additional image ($7.00), and free postage - must have been a couple of extra costs because the total came to $75ish I think. Below is the image I used for my magnets.

Carriage driving at Horse of the Year 2010

I did want to use the following image for some things, but unfortunately I have cropped from a larger picture, and so not of excellent quality for printing, apparently. I do love it though, he is such a dude of a pony.

Shetland Pony - Horse of the Year 2010

Time to get folding up the washing now - joy of joys. And it should be early to bed as it is back to work tomorrow (yep thats right folks, starting work on a 'Saturday' - actually technically I should have started today BUT since I had 3 days where I had to go in for training on my days off I had today off as well).

Arghhhhhhhhh I just remembered I was supposed to head into town today and fill my ute up with diesel. Lucky TJ has a tank of it down at the milking shed, better head down there now and fill up!

Dear Lord, thank you for providing me with a reminder to fill up my ute BEFORE I get into it tomorrow at 5.30am and realise that I did not have enough fuel to get to work. Please help me develop my photography business, and thank you for providing the funds with which to pay for my website. Please continue to bless, protect and guide my self, my family, my friends, and my animals. Amen

Temptation - arghhhhhhhhh

Awesome training day today. We learned about pest control for work (I work in the Dairy industry, and since we manufacture dairy products for human consumption, pest control is of the utmost importance). Tomorrow is day two of the course, where we are learning about pathogens. Anywho, the tutors for the course are so nice, that they provide us with bowls of LOLLIES - now this is week two of Body for Life for me, and I have not only had to survive a Pizza Day at work (where I had two slices, and made it my 'free day), going out for lunch with everyone from work, meeting my web designer at a cafe, and now two days of training where they provide lunch (meat pies, quiches, multiple bread sandwiches) and LOLLIES! So I ate my crackers and cheese (and had one mini, tiny, quiche), ate my banana, and I ate 1, thats ONE, lolly - which was a mistake, as I wanted more, but I didn't have any. Sheesh - talk about testing me Lord! Just need to survive tomorrow, and then hopefully I can get back to normal (well as normal as I can get ... lol). I did complete my exercises when I got home, so I'm still doing well on that front.

Awww, just had a phone call from my Dad and Mum. The little rescue dog that I gave them is doing really well. Plus Dad has been out on my old bike, go DAD! And then Mum had a sad story about a funeral she is going to on Friday. It is her cousin Junes son, who died in exactly the same spot as her cousin June (ie his mother) did a few years ago. June skidded in roadworks, as the roadworks sign had fallen down and so she hit them faster that she should have and skidded in the gravel and hit a tree. Not to sure how her son did it, but mum thinks that it might even be the same tree - all she knows is that he was not wearing his seatbelt. Terrible, sad tale. As many people have said before me, treasure all those around you as you never know what is around the corner.

Dear Lord. Thank you for blessing me this day, with training and further knowledge, with the health of my chicken, with the delicious HEALTHY food that I enjoyed, and for the phonecall from my parents. Please watch over, bless and protect my family, friends and animals. Please bless my fellow bloggers in their dreams, goals and hardships. Amen

Week two of BFL

So week two of Body for Life began on Sunday. I think it is going ok. I hope it is going ok. According to the book I probably won't notice results until week 8, so I just have to hang in there. Hopefully I have my portion sizes under control. I have not eaten a chocolate bar (unless you count protein bars - of which I only have 1 per day on my days off work), and I have not had any takeaways (unless you count a wrap from subway for lunch yesterday which had a wee bit of bacon and cheese in it). I have also completed the exercises everyday (aside from rest day), including exercising after a 12 hour work day! Which is good for me.

I met with my web designer yesterday, so that should be all go now. It is going to cost around $3000.00, but hopefully it will cover its own costs, eventually. I have written down a few goals for myself, such as once a month heading out for a day just taking photos. Attending an event at least once a month. And I am going to go to a local camera club meeting next Tuesday, to see what it is like, as more motivation to get really into my photography. I also 'plan' (this is not written down) to hopefully get a collection of images in the hopes of having them displayed in one of the local galleries or cafes.

Now I am getting the house in order, and I will hopefully have an awesome website which will make it easier to upload photos, hopefully I will really get back into photography full swing.

Patiently waiting for my bible to come from Amazon.com (well as patiently as I can ... lol). Here's hoping I can 'interpret it' - not that I am lacking in intelligence, I am just not sure if I have that kind if intelligence - I'm a scientist, I like things to be 'factual' and easy to understand, I have never been very good at 'interpreting' stuff. Some people can 'read things' in paintings, I can only see what I see, and know if I like it, or not ... lol

And that would be the interesting parts of my life, I had to go into work today for 1.5 hours of training, and I have to go in for the next 2 days for training, at which point I have taken the first day of my new roster off. I sometimes get amazed at the people at work who have no interest in attending training. Sure a lot of them have been there for 10 to 15 years, and I have only been there for 2, so they are probably over it, but I think learning new things and progressing 'up' is what makes it interesting. Crazy that after 2 years I am considered 'senior staff' and those same other people are not. I mean, today I had to go in on my day off, and I did - someone else was 'asked' to go in and they declined. And then they wonder why I get asked to go and do different stuff, and they don't. It has taken me a long time to learn it, but when you get asked to 'do something' by a boss you say YES! Especially when it concerns vocational development.

So life is progressing along quite nicely. The only other thing I really need to begin working on is helping out T more on the farm. I make it tough on myself by giving myself 'rubbish' excuses. And I know how tired T is, and at this time of year having a clean house, clean clothes, and tea on the table is not quite enough for him.

Dear Lord. Thank you for blessing me with the opportunity to further myself at my paid work, and in my pursuit of a photography career. Please give me the strength and wisdom to help T out more on the farm, and to help me focus on what is important rather than the frivolous. Please continue to watch over and forgive myself, T, my family, my friends and my animals. Amen

All Creatures Great and Small

I went into Paper Plus today, and thought that I might be able to buy a bible, all to no avail, could not see one anywhere. Might have missed it, and too ... embarrassed to ask (NZ is a very non-religious country), so I didn't end up getting one. I keep asking T where his is, but he has no clue. So I have ordered one from Amazon, of course I ended up ordering a few other books as well, ooops! Better write that down in my daily spending accounts before I forget. Oh dear, get yourself back on that financial track MJ, quick smart!

I finally got around to getting my 'bikini wax' done today. 10 weeks since the last one, so a bit ouchy - bikini wax is in ' ' for a reason as she's all bare down there, TMI perhaps, but it is what it is. I actually find it a lot cleaner being hair free, and I have been doing it for about 3 years, so has become the norm I guess.

Also did a HUGE supermarket shop today, just over $300 worth (and when its only the two of us, sheesh). Lots of fresh fruit and veges, and meat too. Our freezer is currently full of roasts and bacon, and thats about it, so got some chicken, chops and steak - num num num!

Body for life is going well. Not too sure if I am eating exactly right, but my portion size is definitely smaller, and now I have begun exercising, I can only be heading in the right direction. And healthy, non-processed food can only be good for me. Not that I ate a lot of processed foods before, just not as many fruits and veges, and, as I already said, PORTION SIZE!

I tried to 'dress-up' for T tonight. Hmmmm none of my skirts fit me, so it was just a smarter than usual top, and my best jeans, and HIGH HEELS - felt a right wally! Shoes hurt, couldn't see shoes under my jeans - doh. At least I tried, and he knew that I tried. Baby steps MJ, baby steps!

Dear Lord. Thank you for blessing me this day by providing my with the means to have fresh fruit, veges and meat. Thank you for giving me the strength to stick to my diet plan, and the bravery to dress up for T. Please continue to help and guide me on my journey of spiritual enlightenment and self fulfilment and my desire to please and serve T. Please watch over and bless my family, friends and animals. Amen

All things bright and beautiful

Had a great day today, perhaps a bit too much TV watching, but a good day all the same.

Got myself out of bed around 7.30ish, really can't remember. Put away bench dishes, and turned dishwasher on once I loaded up T's morning dishes. Had Bran and Yoghurt for breakie, chucked on a load of washing, and headed out to help T with the calves. I am slowly getting my confidence in feeding them back. Always takes me awhile to get myself sorted, heavens help me when I get the determination up to help T milk again. I know if I get stuck in and learn it I will be fine, but gee I'm so lazy these days that I just don't get out there. And I know that its the bloody TV holding me back, AGAIN. My TV free didn't last long, but heck, easy enough to resume again.

So I did a few loads of washing, potted up a few new and old pot plants, cooked a very nice Roast Dinner (of which I perhaps ate a bit too much of, but not in the same size league of old). Finances are sorted. Dishes are done for the night, and I have the bed to make. And then there is one more day off until work again on Thurs (ooooh and it's payday tomorrow!).

Dear Lord. Thank you for a big blue sky day, which bought many joys. Please continue to bless and watch over T, my family, friends, and animals. Please give me the energy and dedication to provide T will all of his needs. Amen

Day two of Body for Life

I officially started my body for life programme yesterday. I have been eating fairly sensibly for the last few weeks, well kinda - does a chocolate bar a day count? Just a small one? Regardless, I began the programme in earnest yesterday (with Saturdays being my free day). Yesterday went well. 20 minutes on the bike, easy peasy, perhaps a bit too easy so tomorrow I will step it up a notch, and I certainly was not hungry. Today I did upper body with weights. I think it went ok. I bought a small dumbell set, hopefully it will work ok for lower body when I get to it on Wednesday. I was a bit pushed for the final sets of a couple of workouts, and perhaps not quite pushed enough on others, but it was certainly better than nothing. I am a bit hungry today though. Plus, before I started, in earnest, I was not craving chocolate at all (ok, so I had been eating some, but even then I was not CRAVING it craving it), and now, its what I want. I can wait 4 more days until Saturday (actually its only 3, as its pizza day at work on Friday so I'm changing my free day to Friday).

I think I worked out why I have been so down lately. Its mostly because I so desperately want to have children, and I am TERRIFIED that I have left it too late. And when you feel surrounded by people who have kids, well, it just makes me feel even worse. I know I should focus on what I DO have, but. No, NO BUTS MICHA, FOCUS ON WHAT YOU DO HAVE!

Dear Lord, please help me stay focused on my journey to health and fitness, and also on building my wealth. Please help me to keep calm, and keep my mouth shut and my mood positive when helping T out on the farm, and when I am at work. Please encourage me to focus on positive thoughts at work, and to live in the moment not in the wishes of the past or the dreams of the future. Please continue to watch over all of my family, friends and animals, and give me the courage to go after what I want. Amen

From a couple of days ago

Arghhh, having such trouble with the internet today. I think its Safari, but having no real idea of these things, I could be wrong.

Woke up early yesterday morning, and instead of talking to myself, constantly in my head, I decided to listen to God. What a wise decision! First thing I heard was 'Don't act like a child'. You see, I am currently on a visit back home, and no matter how hard I try, as soon as I am in the presence of my parents and sister, I act like an awful teenager all over again. Ugh! Second thing I heard was 'Keep your opinions to yourself'. Yes, I have to admit it, I am one of those childless people who 'knows' how children should be raised. Its so great to be me, and well, to receive my advice, how lucky are YOU! The third, and final thing, which also covers the first two, was 'Make YOURSELF proud of YOU!' And that sums it up perfectly. Make myself proud of me. So many times I have visited and hated myself on the return journey, due to my immature behaviour. So silly, when one is almost 39 years old! I also determined that I would say 'YES' to any request from my nieces (who can ask) and nephew (who can't yet) to any invitations to play.

This trip, so far, I have made myself proud of me. My sis and her family are all down with a bit of a tummy bug. I cleaned up the house after everyone had left yesterday (and believe me, there was A LOT of stuff to clean). Today I have cleaned up as everyone has gone. The girls and I have played lots of games, watched a Tinker-Bell movie, helped them with Mummies computer, on which Mummy currently plays far too much Zombie computer game - its turned her into a Zombie. Luckily I am outspoken enough to tell her to turn the jolly thing off, sit on the floor, and play a game of Cats Eye with us. And, no, my sis is not usually like that. She is a great mother, who showers them all with attention (usually), perhaps too much attention at times.

Unfortunately, I also possibly overstep the bounds, and ‘discipline’ the girls. Only in the sense of ‘fair play’. G gets told off if she is not giving T a fair go. And T gets told off if she is pushing the boundaries and trying to get G into trouble. I may be old and childless girls, but I am not stupid and blind.

C is a bit of a whinger. I would possibly think he is teething (no expert, obviously, but his cheeks look a little rosy. But he is always whiney. And why? I think it is because my sis and her partner always pay him attention when he is. I tried to say, ignore him, but my sisters way of ignoring him is to tell him she is ignoring him. Yeah, sorry, doesn’t work for me. But as I said, I am rather opinionated and I should learn to keep it to myself.