Mud & Mischief

Yoo hoo! I’m here!!

I did Nano. I did my first OU assignment. And I nearly finished Discourse.

So I though it best that I check in, just to let you know I haven’t fallen off the face of the planet, as tempting as it might be at times. I’m still here, still terribly sleep-deprived (teething baby, itchy 4 year old, 5 year old with conjunctivitis, 36 year old doing a 12 and a half hour ‘lunch’ session) but hey, normal service has resumed.

And as it’s nearly the silly season (see post below!), James went and did this - after swiping the little box trees from work. Cute, aren’t they?

Note the smug expression on his face - amazing what 80 LED Christmas lights can do to a man’s disposition.

This is Linkin Park.

Guess who’s going to see LINKIN PARK!?!?!?!?!

25th Jan, I just booked two tickets and I’m soooo happy.

Then James says, “But won’t we be the oldest ones there?”

I am so going to splat him when he gets home.

Ticker removed due to irritating fireworks noise!

This has done the rounds for a few years, some say it’s written by a British soldier, others by a Canadian one.

But it doesn’t matter who wrote it or when or why - all that matters is the feeling behind it.

Read it, pass it on, and all of you, even the atheists, will have something to be thankful about on Christmas day.

ITS CHRISTMAS DAY ALL IS SECURE

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
HE LIVED ALL ALONE
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE
AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE
NO TINSEL NO PRESENTS NOT EVEN A TREE
NO STOCKING BY THE MANTLE JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES AWARDS OF ALL KINDS
A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT IT WAS DARK AND DREARY
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY
THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING SILENT ALONE
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER
NOT HOW I PICTURED A LONE BRITISH SOLDIER
WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I’D JUST READ
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO THE FLOOR FOR A BED

I REALISED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT
SOON ROUND THE WORLD THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY

THEY ALL ENJOY FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE
I COULDN’T HELP WONDER HOW MANY ALONE
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME

THE VERY THOUGH BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE
‘SANTA DON’T CRY THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM I DON’T ASK FOR MORE
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY. MY CORPS’

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP
I COULDN’T CONTROL IT I CONTINUED TO WEEP

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS SO SILENT AND STILL
AND WE BOTH SAT AND SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHTS CHILL
I DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD DARK NIGHT
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOUR SO WILLING TO FIGHT

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE
WHISPERED ‘CARRY ON SANTA ITS CHRISTMAS DAY ALL IS SECURE’
ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT
‘MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT’

After being prompted a couple of times, I thought I’d better say yes, I’m back, I have photos and updates and all that kind of jazz.

But the photos are on James’ puter, and I don’t have the time or the wherewithal to mess around with them at the moment. So for now, just know that I’m going to Flickr them in the next week or so and will share the link with you all then.

And in the meanwhile, I’m going to work on my Nano, get stuck into my OU and then start collating stuff for Discourse, all by the end of the month.

Holiday? What holiday…?