Nadolig Llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda

Or, to put it another way, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I have been up since seven, but awake since four - another of those inexplicable nights when I sleep for a few hours and then lie awake for the next few, but maybe, this time, it was the sound of sleigh bells which woke me, unlike some years in the past when I was Santa, which involved trying to grab an hour's sleep in between creeping into the children's bedrooms to deposit their presents when they had finally gone to sleep and responding to the delighted cries when they woke up and discovered that "he's been!"

It was a very narrow window, which resulted in my spending Christmas day feeling sick with tiredness. I have never been able to deal with lack of sleep!

But these days, Christmas day is calmer. Dad is here for the week and Keith insists on cooking Christmas dinner. What a gem he is!  Reason given is that he doesn't think I can do it properly but, who cares? I can take the insults if it means I am excused culinary duties.

Younger Daughter will arrive around one o'clock and we will see Elder Daughter and husband on Friday.

AND, just for the moment, IT'S NOT RAINING!!!

Have a good one, everybody!

What you can do with lights and sheep

I found this on a post by a friend of ours on Facebook and I'm not sure where it comes from but it does permit sharing, so here goes...
 This is what Keith will be aiming to do next Christmas when he has finished experimenting with LED sequencing.

Get into the mood!

Miserable, rainy day.

You want uplifting? Try this!

Words of wisdom

I found this on Elder Daughter's Facebook a few weeks ago and saved it. Today, I thought I would share it with you:

LETTER FROM A MOTHER TO A DAUGHTER:

"My dear girl, the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all,
 try to understand what I’m going through.
If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don’t interrupt to say: “You said the
 same thing a minute ago”... Just listen, please. Try to remember the times when you were little and
 I would read the same st

ory night after night until you would fall asleep.
When I don’t want to take a bath, don’t be mad and don’t embarrass me. Remember when I had to run
 after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl?

When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don’t
 look at me that way... remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately,
 getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life’s issues every day... the day you see I’m getting old, I ask
 you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through.

If I occasionally lose track of what we’re talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can’t, don’t be nervous,
 impatient or arrogant. Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you.

And when my old, tired legs don’t let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offere
d mine to you when you first walked.

When those days come, don’t feel sad... just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of
 my life with love.

Santa Gangnam style

If you are yet to get into the festive mood, maybe this will do it!

On the other hand, maybe it will just remind you of all the shopping still to be done!

Making things, including mistakes

Yesterday, Keith spent about eight hours making ... something. The reason for the lack of detailed information here is that the electronic stuff he does means little to me, to say the least; not that I reject it as not being worthy of notice, simply that for me, it is like presenting me with a book in Mandarin Chinese. Anyway, revenons a nos moutons, as the French say. I gather it was some sort of circuit and he spent a lot of time bent over his work station, interspersed with staring at his computer screen, but finally, he had done it.

It had been a bit of a steep learning curve and had involved a few mistakes and setbacks, but, as he commented,

"I have learned far more by making mistakes than I would have done if it had all gone smoothly."

Words of wisdom, I think.

Sorry?

Much has been written about the tragic events following the hoax call made by two presenters of the Australian programme, 2Day FM Radio. The presenters in question, Mel Greig and Michael Christian have been taken off air and it is said that both are receiving  counselling. Despite trawling the internet, however, try as I might, I cannot find anywhere any indication that they themselves, as opposed to the radio station,  have actually apologised for their little'joke' or offered their sympathy to nurse Jacintha Saldanha's family.
Admittedly, neither could have anticipated such an outcome to what started out as a stupid, juvenile prank, but part of being a grown up is taking responsibility for your actions and apologising when the occasion warrants it. Running away and going into hiding can come afterwards.
Let's hope the 'intensive counselling' they are reported to be undergoing enables them to understand this.