signing in from a country which sure knows how to drink ... we can organise a canny ceilidh (that's meet-up and scots folk dancing and a fair bit of a bevvie - our slang for the booze!) and we sure can be convivial ... but like many here i have fallen foul of the demon drink - they currently reckon it's the biggest cost in our health care system - treating all the associated illnesses, not to mention the frequent Sat night stabbings and fights.
well we have a glorious spring day here - and scotland in spring is beautiful ... will try and load in a photo of our beautiful bluebells - such a gorgeous sight ... and the lochs, hills and bens are fabulous now ... many of them still snow capped ....last year's ferns, bracken making golden hillsides part clad with dark green pine forests and the lush and lovely shades of spring green bursting out all around the lochs - you cannot believe how many shades of green we get in a Scottish springtime!!! (the upside of all the rain we get!!) - all of this an hour's drive out of Glasgow where i live ... and me?? am I there?? no i'm trapped at home hungover - not even enough energy to clean up my tiny little flat.
my son - 12 yr old has burst in full of the joys of life, after a sleepover at his friend's and hastily prepared and off round to another friend's for birthday party - really just playing outside. can i muster the energy to create a lovely home for when he gets back? well - i'll try!! Outside, I catch a glimpse of a builder's bum (a girl has to have some fun!!!) as my amazing neighbour is bent over, tending, nurturing the soil, seeds and plants he is constantly sowing in our shared backyard - am i out there helping him, hell,no - even though formerly gardening was also one of my passions.
last night i stayed late at work - i'm only on a temp contract - medical secretary at major hospital in Glasgow - but was finishing off in that dept - and decided to put in some extra hours (unpaid!!!) to clear some of the backlog and make life easier for the girls next week when i'm off to another dept. I guess I worked solid till 8 or later but then succumbed ... you know, just one ... there were some leftover bottles of vodka & gin in the bottom drawer ... essential office equipment ... but i told you, in Scotland we sure love to party. well they'd been untouched (but fortunately all open, half / quarter full etc) since i'd been there but it was just too much temptation so i sneaked a healthy slug into my coffee mug ... and finished my work half pissed. Fortunately, i woke up in the taxi as it was heading out into the distant suburbs - driver said he thought I'd said Kilmarnock (a good 30 pound fare compared to my 7 pound destination - damn good thing i woke then!)
got home to discover my son was missing - frantic phone around his friends (he had been phoning me on my mobile but i'd forgotten it at home yesterday & couldn't even find it in my drunken state - he'd also texted me to ask if OK to stay over at B's - last place I expected him as they have just moved home and i didn't have number - anyway i involved a few other people in my drunken panic - SO embarrassed today as they phone to see he's OK!!! (one friend's dad I didn't even know i'd phoned!!)
anyway i am - used to be - happy, sociable, outdoors-y sort of person - call myself a girl - but i've just hit 57!!!! and i can tell you my knee & hip joints have in last few months started to seize up with alarming rapidity - my mum had very bad arthritis at end of her life - can't help thinking that the pain and stiffness is part brought on by too much alcohol - anyways, if i wax lyrical about my mountains it's because i used to head out as often as possible into our beautiful wildernesses in Scotland and head for the tops from where the panorama of peaks, lochs, sea lochs (like fjords), sparkling sea & craggy islands is breathtaking - food for the soul!!! so, i really need to ease my knees back on track.
tomorrow i am going to Aberfoyle - Trossachs - about an hour out of Glasgow - and bbbbeautiful ... to cheer on my friend who is doing her first big mountain-bike competition. i'm heading up with another friend who has MS and has decided to go with me on a 3km sponsored walk on 7 June - this is monumental for her - we just started our training in the park Wed evening and she did about 400m with her sticks - sit down on park bench -and friendly blether (scots slang for chat!!) with some fitness freaks doing amazing things in the park!! - then 400m back - so almost a first 1km chalked up - and she felt great after it - no aches and pains - and it was a beautiful evening so onwards and upwards - just about 6 weeks to go - so we will do a little bit tomorrow - and out 3 evenings next week - wish her well please, she is lovely and very brave. there's quite a gang of us going up to support Margo tomorrow, including MS Marion's 2 little grandchildren - so we will be having some fun with the kids - and hopefully I will get a little breather to head up a bit of a hill with a friend while some of the gang are back down at base. Also hoping my very reluctant 12 yr old ("I'm not going") will not be too obstreperous and I know he'll love the company and probably enjoy letting off steam in the countryside and running around - always does, once there, but getting him there is difficult!!! Need to phone his pal today to see if he can come - then he'll really enjoy it.
sorry guys I talk too much - also cos been on the site reading people's stories made me think too much about booze & I've just sipped away a half bottle of red wine that was in the cupboard - you know, yeah? just one will cure the hangover - so please pray for me and stop me going for another bottle
have a great day ye all - and would love to hear from you
lotsaluv
cara
well we have a glorious spring day here - and scotland in spring is beautiful ... will try and load in a photo of our beautiful bluebells - such a gorgeous sight ... and the lochs, hills and bens are fabulous now ... many of them still snow capped ....last year's ferns, bracken making golden hillsides part clad with dark green pine forests and the lush and lovely shades of spring green bursting out all around the lochs - you cannot believe how many shades of green we get in a Scottish springtime!!! (the upside of all the rain we get!!) - all of this an hour's drive out of Glasgow where i live ... and me?? am I there?? no i'm trapped at home hungover - not even enough energy to clean up my tiny little flat.
my son - 12 yr old has burst in full of the joys of life, after a sleepover at his friend's and hastily prepared and off round to another friend's for birthday party - really just playing outside. can i muster the energy to create a lovely home for when he gets back? well - i'll try!! Outside, I catch a glimpse of a builder's bum (a girl has to have some fun!!!) as my amazing neighbour is bent over, tending, nurturing the soil, seeds and plants he is constantly sowing in our shared backyard - am i out there helping him, hell,no - even though formerly gardening was also one of my passions.
last night i stayed late at work - i'm only on a temp contract - medical secretary at major hospital in Glasgow - but was finishing off in that dept - and decided to put in some extra hours (unpaid!!!) to clear some of the backlog and make life easier for the girls next week when i'm off to another dept. I guess I worked solid till 8 or later but then succumbed ... you know, just one ... there were some leftover bottles of vodka & gin in the bottom drawer ... essential office equipment ... but i told you, in Scotland we sure love to party. well they'd been untouched (but fortunately all open, half / quarter full etc) since i'd been there but it was just too much temptation so i sneaked a healthy slug into my coffee mug ... and finished my work half pissed. Fortunately, i woke up in the taxi as it was heading out into the distant suburbs - driver said he thought I'd said Kilmarnock (a good 30 pound fare compared to my 7 pound destination - damn good thing i woke then!)
got home to discover my son was missing - frantic phone around his friends (he had been phoning me on my mobile but i'd forgotten it at home yesterday & couldn't even find it in my drunken state - he'd also texted me to ask if OK to stay over at B's - last place I expected him as they have just moved home and i didn't have number - anyway i involved a few other people in my drunken panic - SO embarrassed today as they phone to see he's OK!!! (one friend's dad I didn't even know i'd phoned!!)
anyway i am - used to be - happy, sociable, outdoors-y sort of person - call myself a girl - but i've just hit 57!!!! and i can tell you my knee & hip joints have in last few months started to seize up with alarming rapidity - my mum had very bad arthritis at end of her life - can't help thinking that the pain and stiffness is part brought on by too much alcohol - anyways, if i wax lyrical about my mountains it's because i used to head out as often as possible into our beautiful wildernesses in Scotland and head for the tops from where the panorama of peaks, lochs, sea lochs (like fjords), sparkling sea & craggy islands is breathtaking - food for the soul!!! so, i really need to ease my knees back on track.
tomorrow i am going to Aberfoyle - Trossachs - about an hour out of Glasgow - and bbbbeautiful ... to cheer on my friend who is doing her first big mountain-bike competition. i'm heading up with another friend who has MS and has decided to go with me on a 3km sponsored walk on 7 June - this is monumental for her - we just started our training in the park Wed evening and she did about 400m with her sticks - sit down on park bench -and friendly blether (scots slang for chat!!) with some fitness freaks doing amazing things in the park!! - then 400m back - so almost a first 1km chalked up - and she felt great after it - no aches and pains - and it was a beautiful evening so onwards and upwards - just about 6 weeks to go - so we will do a little bit tomorrow - and out 3 evenings next week - wish her well please, she is lovely and very brave. there's quite a gang of us going up to support Margo tomorrow, including MS Marion's 2 little grandchildren - so we will be having some fun with the kids - and hopefully I will get a little breather to head up a bit of a hill with a friend while some of the gang are back down at base. Also hoping my very reluctant 12 yr old ("I'm not going") will not be too obstreperous and I know he'll love the company and probably enjoy letting off steam in the countryside and running around - always does, once there, but getting him there is difficult!!! Need to phone his pal today to see if he can come - then he'll really enjoy it.
sorry guys I talk too much - also cos been on the site reading people's stories made me think too much about booze & I've just sipped away a half bottle of red wine that was in the cupboard - you know, yeah? just one will cure the hangover - so please pray for me and stop me going for another bottle
have a great day ye all - and would love to hear from you
lotsaluv
cara
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