Teenagers!

I can imagine the first impression my son Ricky makes with some people:




Emo. Trouble. Slacker. ASBO.

Do you know what I see? I see a 15 year old boy with a great future ahead of him.

Ricky plays rugby for Chesterfield Rugby Club U16s and is actually very talented. He gets good grades in school, though he could do better if he studied harder (just like his mother!). He is singing with a band, currently nameless but they're writing and practicing.

Okay, he isn't a Stepford Child. He doesn't get along with his younger brother a lot of the time, his room looks like a science project gone wrong and he doesn't always do his homework. He is a teenager, after all.

But he is ambitious, not only with his rugby and the band but also with a future career. He wants to go to university to study psychology so he can become a counsellor for teenagers. This is because he also has compassion for other people.

Imagine just how proud I was to see the time and effort Ricky put into a YouTube video, with the help of his friends, for World Suicide Awareness Day. Wow. Just wow.

The purpose of this blog post is to reaffirm the old saying:  you can't judge a book by its cover.  If you see a strangely dressed, black haired teenager, don't assume they're not worth anything.  You might just be looking at my son.

So What's New?

Happy 2012 everyone! No matter how good 2011 was for you, I hope 2012 is better.

I started the year by ticking an item off my bucket list, bringing in the New Year at the Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh. Excellent concert with Bombay Bicycle Club and Primal Scream that even my teenagers Ricky and Jack enjoyed. And the fireworks over Edinburgh Castle! Immense!

But now it's back to life as usual, and in my line of work, that means our busiest month of the year preparing accounting and tax papers for our clients before the 31 January deadline. It's not as boring as it sounds. Honest.

I also aim to start studying for my Legal Executive qualification next month. Yes, it will decrease my leisure time but will increase my career prospects so it has to be done!

But David is making sure that I have a lot of things to look forward to this year to keep me sane. He helped me tick four things off my bucket list in 2011 (I also drove a single seater race car at Silverstone, spent St Patrick's Day in Dublin drinking Guinness and met Martin Corry) and this year is working on taking me to Paris so I can go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, whilst we also go over for France v England in the Six Nations, and a ski trip next winter since that is something I have always wanted to do.

I also become a Nan (note: not "Granny"!!!) this year, not once but twice. My first grand baby Elyzabeth Sue (Ely) is due in just a few weeks and No 2 is due in June. More regular trips to Texas are now required!

Last year I also got to catch up with my nieces and nephews in Texas and will have another one joining the bunch in July.

I'm exhausted just blogging about everything I have to look forward to this year!

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