Where've my flowers gone? Jon says it's his fault! Actually he blames the university because they've finally de-activated his account which is fair enough. Oh well. He can sort it out he says. He also says half his photos will have gone too; I shall investigate...Yup, they've gone too. I expect it will go on his 'to do' list.

Edit (by Jon): There you go, petal.

Hellllllooooooo

I'm getting ready for Christmas already. Well, we're sorting out the play at school and I've had this excellent website pointed out to me. The idea is that kiddies can sing along to the backing tracks, which is great when you can't play piano. I know the bloke who's set it up and he can take requests. I've requested Little Donkey and it should be up on the site soon.

I should also tell you about my ex-husbands site. Good for nice pressies and stuff. I've seen the products and they're beautiful. He's the one who told me about the music site.

So yes, we're sorting out the play. Reception kiddies are not the best singers at the best of times. They alternate between mumbling and moving their lips around in a random fashion, to suddenly shouting out the two words that they do actually know. The girls are going to be angels and the boys are going to be clouds. The reason for this is that I have 16 boys, who are very boyish. I didn't fancy my chances of attaching little lacy wings to them and getting them to agree to getting up on stage. I don't acre what people say, boys and girls are quite different in the way they generally behave. The boys are full of energy and bash everything. They shout and run around and need to have lots of space. This book is supposed to be very good. The play is lovely to do but I always seem to end up stressed with a wonderful tension headache after each practice. Anyway, I should go and get on with my planning...

Well Jon and I went to see An Inconvenient Truth at the weekend. Everyone should see this film, just like the reviews say. You've heard it before, and it's the in thing now, but my God, it really brings home what's happening right now. Do you know that there's now evidence of polar bears drowning because they can't find solid enough ice to climb up on in time? The graphs that were shown were scary. They weren't guess work. They were fact. But the good thing was that we can do something. We've just bought a gadget that switches off all peripherals that are attached to the computer when it shuts down. Think of the impact if all offices had to use these. Jon has finally agreed to switch off the NTL box and DVD at the wall. They only take a couple of minutes to reboot in the morning and the DVD seems to set its clock using the digital signal. Even little energy saving bulbs have a huge impact globally.

It also talks about restrictions on cars' emissions. The US drags its heels behind even the Chinese because they say it will kill the US car industry to change the way they do things. They say there would be vast unemployment and collapse of the industry. Fair point, except that the two car makers that are seriously struggling compared to EVERY other maker are Ford and GM. Why? They can't sell their cars outside the USA. Maybe Ford in Europe is different? They make little eco cars. GM in particular are in real dire straights.

Really, just go and see it. And think what the world might have been like if we were fighting a war on global warming, instead of terror. Had Al Gore been made president, I think the world would be such a different place now... Bush's position on this, in a leaked memo, is to shift the issue of global warming into theory rather than fact. I think the worst thing is that the changes are going to have a huge impact in our lifetime, let alone that of our children.

It seems to be getting worse. I can't believe some of the comments on the BBC site. They are mainly from Americans. One girl actually said' Go Israel!!' I understand that there are always two side to each argument but to act like a cheerleader, well that's just sick.

Anyway, I found a good site. It's all about the evil man that is George Bush. Have a look. Also Michael Moore's site is worth a look. The death toll in Iraq, of citizens is frightening. Are we doing anything yet? Nope, still 'discussing'.

Ofcourse, the worst thing is that we let George Dubbya do whatever he likes. Infact we lend him our army bases, and never criticise. In Arab eyes, we are as bad as they are, and that makes me sad. Bloody Tony Blair. He's going to be towed away in the back of a car, with glinty eyes in the same way as Margaret Thatcher was. It's a shame, as he's lost sight of the party and has been corrupted by power. I used to really believe in him until we attacked Iraq. On false grounds. Which he seem to have got away with???

We sit and do nothing.

I thought long and hard about what to write for this post. Afterall, it is clear that the world is divided into those who think it is ok to bomb cities because two of your soldiers were taken, and those who do not.

The situation in the middle east was not caused by any one act. It is the culmination of decades of conflict. To try and see it from one side or the other is difficult when you do not live there, or have a direct involvement.

Hezbollah are a respected organization in the middle east and are seen as a resistance movement. Wikipedia says 'Resistance movements can include any irregular armed force that rises up against an enforced or established authority, government, or administration. This frequently includes groups that consider themselves to be resisting tyranny. Some resistance movements are underground organizations engaged in a struggle for national liberation in a country under military occupation or totalitarian domination.' Now the US and UK and Israel see them as terrorists. This is why Lebanon will not be able to get rid of them, or stop their actions.

The question of Palestine is the root cause of the conflict and until that is sorted out, then peace is not possible. From an Arab point of view, there are certainly two sets of rules. For years, the Palestinians have lived in undignified and desperate conditions. They, according to the west, brought this on themselves for not accepting the initial carve up of their homeland. They should not have fought, and should have accepted their land being given away. However, they did fight, along with the Arab world and lost more land. Not only that, but they little bit of land they were left with has been invaded and build upon and occupied. They have not been respected. But that's ok, isn't it. They are not equal. Through the continual backing and support of the US, Israel can do pretty much anything and when the UN tries to object, or place sanctions, the US veto it.

The anger, amongst Arabs is huge. Stories have circulated for years which I was not aware of but seem to be common knowledge over there. Sharon the Butcher becoming Prime Minister was the icing on the cake, for many Arabs.

I am certainly not anti Jewish, but I am am anti Israeli policy. I believe that everyone is equal. I accept that the Jewish people have a right to Israel. I do not believe that Israel should be wiped from the map, but I strongly believe that the Palestinians need to be given a large portion of their land back. No buffer zones. One side should not be entitled to a buffer zone, when the other side is not even entitled to a proper government and an army. If people can not fight officially, the only way is underground.

In situations of harmony and happiness, there is no place for fanaticism. Hitler came to power on the back of the humiliating sanctions that were put upon the German people after WW1. The way to stop suicide bombers, which I do not believe in, is to give them a reason to live and be happy with their life.

I went to the PLO website and looked at their 'facts'. Now obviously, they are from the Palestinian point of view, but they still make for sad reading.

I do not understand how the response from Israel, to get back to the present, is ok on any front. I do not understand how bombing cities is ok. I did not understand why we were allowed to do the same thing to Iraq. Collateral damage is an awful phrase that does not even pay proper respect that real, ordinary, human lives have been lost. By the thousands. By the tens of thousands, if you add up everything since this all began. It is not ok. There is a quote which I saw at the Holocaust Exhibition.

'All it takes for evil to prevail is for good people to sit and do nothing'.

Lost in Lost

Woooo hooooo. What's in the hatch?? Tonight is the start of the new series of Lost. I've been waiting to find out what the monster is and what's in the hatch.

Bank holiday weekend was ok. Jon and me had our first married argument. In the Tesco car park. It involved a DC15 Dyson and a garden centre with no food. We solved the problem by going to Wimpole Hall so I could atleaset say that we did something and not just potter and vacume (not allowed to call it hoover), over the weekend. Jon's very good at dealing with an irrate, weeping Shami.(In a Tesco car park.) He goes ultra calm and soothing. I went all puffy and blotchy but Jon bought me some Dandilion and Burdock, which is the best drink, and all was well thereafter.Mind you, it is a cracking 'tool', as Jon calls it. Mr.Dyson is a genius as he's turned cleaning the floor into man's work. All because of the sturdy build and the joy/disgust at seeing how much gunk you can suck out of the carpet (2 drums full, for the record).

And then I saw that Nadia has blogged and I thought I ought to get on with it. So there we are. Not much to report. Oh yes...casting my mind back the the great MFI kitchen disaster, we're getting a bathroom from them. But it's ok as it's free, with tesco vouchers. I also won't rip out the old batroom before the new one arrives! I want hotel chic but that's quite tricky in a space smaller than 2m x 2m. Oh well. We'll see...

From D-vor-C to Mrs. C

Gosh, I have been a bit tardy in the old blogging area! I have actually been quite busy getting married and what not but hey ho. Yes, I did it. I am now a new woman with a new name but not new initials. We got married on April 2nd, at The Felix in Cambridge. It was a fantastic day, if a little windy! As promised by the hairdresser, my hair remained in place. I had a helmet of hair but it looked nice, so I'm told. I was so excited that I couldn't eat which was rather gutting as the food is bloody lovely there. Jon looked suitably dapper in his handmade suit and 'gucci' shirt, don't you know. I think that a good time was had by all and lots of dancing by the look of the photographs.

The photographs are brilliant but I don't like the fact that I held my bouquet up and you're supposed to hold it down over your tummy. The result was that I look quite compact and short of body. Being a short of body person at the best of times, I wish in hindsight that I'd gone for an elongating pose such as one to make me svelte and elegant. I also have a rather splendid heaving bosom, thanks to my lovely underwear. Trinny and Susannah would have been proud of my underwear. Good in real life, but a little dominating in some of the photographs. But I look really happy, which I was. Jon, as ever, looks lovely as he is photogenic.

And now it's on with our lives. It's easy to get so caught up in the 'Big Day' mentality that you forget what it's really about. I always knew that me Jon and me were a good team and getting married just confirmed it. We work so well together. The day is just a day, but as that cheesy saying goes, we've got the rest of our lives together. (So long as Jon keeps buying me rings; I've joked that I'm on husband number 2 with 6 to go. The aim is to have a ring on each finger. Rings on the thumbs and 10 husbands would be too much!)