2/16/08 11:55 am
I am a bit fed up this morning. BJ kept me awake for hours and Rhys threw up half the night. Maddeningly he is fine this morning. Harry is at his Stagecoach class and Dan has just gone out to fetch him. Anna-Louise is practicing her violin and Rhys is building towers and knocking them down again shouting "Krachen" very loudly over and over again. BJ is asleep now, looking like an angel.
As for Torchwood, well last Season we kept getting Gwen thrust at us and now it's Rhys. Since he got a larger role to play all the message boards etc are full of rubbish about how great he is and how wonderful an actor he is and how they want to see more of him.
Well I don't like him. I can't understand half what he says, I think he is unattractive, I think the role he plays is boring and I think the actor isn't that good anyhow. Most people seemed to have liked "Adam" and especially enjoyed seeing Rhys and Gwen together. So ein Quatsch!
If we have a season three I hope we don't get more Rhys because the more folk say they like him the more I hate the character.
2/21/08
Well, it's been a busy week. Took BJ out shopping with me along with Rhys. He was admired by everyone and Rhys smiled at everyone too. How to be a hit with people--just go out with a toddler and a baby.
We watched Episode 7 of Torchwood on BBC 3 and I realized that I am actually quite disappointed with Season Two, despite the fact that I keep reading how much better it is than Season One. Season One had too much Gwen and she was really stupid and irritating throughout, but Season Two just lacks something to me. It started off quite well except the weird scene where Jack finds Gwen's wedding ring and her eyes nearly fall out of her head. The next two weren't too bad but since then-------. Now I read that Jack and Rhys are going to clash in Episode Ten over what is best for Gwen, since, the tension and feelings between Jack and Gwen is the cornerstone of the show. ??????? I still don't like Gwen much and think she is very plain. {We have HD}. I am not interested in seeing three episodes devoted to Owen followed by Jack moping over Gwen. This ridiculous Jack/Gwen thing is ruining the show for me.
I started watching Torchwood because I am a great JB fan, but even the lure of him does not make me want to watch him and Gwen because I HATE GWEN. I don't like Eve's acting style and I don't like the scenes with Rhys either. I didn't like the episode Adam although most other folk seemed to and I didn't like Episode 7. It is so strange because we are continually told by everyone that Jack is a flirt and will go with anyone but in the show he never has sex at all. All he does is look pathetic at Gwen now and again, apart from kissing Ianto and John and the other Jack. As far as I can see Jack is celibate. Also, we were promised more Ianto but we haven't had much of him in the last few episodes.
I really hope they don't make Season three because then JB will be able to go back to the stage and if they do we will get Jack/Gwen. Since Episode One each episode has gotten worse and the last one was dire. Owen in a night club!! His eyes going black!! Martha getting old and then young again {how many times has that happened in Sci-Fi?}!! That ridiculous stuff with the glove!! No wonder they wont show this at home--it really has become rubbish.
Anyhow, I am not watching any more. In season one I just disliked Gwen--now there's boring Rhys shouting incomprehensibly too. Meat was awful and I do not want to watch Rhys and Gwen in or on a bed again, and if I see Jack with tears in his eyes once more over Gwen I will start breaking dishes. Harry is still going to watch because he likes the Weevils and Dan will watch with him. Anna-Louise is watching the Thursday night version. She loves JB and would probably watch him if he just stood motionless for an hour.
Rhys is getting to be quite a talker but is sill very small. I hadn't realized just how small he is until I took him to the birthday party of one of his nursery friends. He was the smallest there although not the youngest. He doesn't seem to grow very fast and I am starting to become worried. Dan says he is still very young {he is 19 months old} and is using all his energy on other things at the minute, like learning to talk. He certainly can say more than any of the other kids at the nursery his age, and even says more than some of the older ones too. I just wish he would suddenly grow taller. He is so cute with his blond curls and green eyes {yes, they are green now} but I want him to grow taller.
In contrast, BJ is growing beautifully and putting on weight. He is a big baby but long, not fat. He will actually sleep for three or four hours at a stretch at night now, so I am hoping for further improvement. He still seems to think the day time is the time to sleep though and it's so noisy here in the day time, what with road mending and traffic etc. I have begun to wonder whether he likes the noise and it is too quiet for him at night. Perhaps I should put some music on by his crib!!
Anyhow, I am tired of getting fed up over Torchwood so I am not watching it from now on. I expect I will get a detailed account of each episode anyhow and I will still write fics and make walls etc too.
2/21/08 11:42 pm
Actually Dan says he thinks I have a bit of Geburtsdepression. Maybe he is right. I have been a little grumpy lately.
2/22/08 03:31 pm
Feel much more cheerful today. BJ slept for FIVE hours last night without waking. This afternoon I fell asleep after I had put Rhys down for his nap. BJ was asleep too, looking positively angelic. When I awoke I was expecting to have to change his diaper. I sat up straight and there on the sofa with him in her arms was Anna-Louise, looking mighty pleased with herself. Evidently he awoke and she changed his diaper herself. She assured me that she had done everything that I do including applying cream etc. She is 9. I am lucky to have such a wonderful, thoughtful daughter, especially considering how grumbly I have been lately.
Then Harry came in with a bunch of flowers he had bought for me with his allowance. I do really have the greatest kids in the Universe. I don't deserve them.
2/28/08 12:53 am
Well, Torchwood has, as my neighbor Molly would say, gone down the drain. The last three episodes have been boring rubbish and this last one on BBC 3 was the worst. I am only watching it now to see JB. It really is dire.
Gwen seemed to be in charge this episode for no apparent reason. Jack was there, but just sat saying nothing while she gave out orders. Weird. I had to feed BJ half way through and then Rhys woke up and sat up and then threw up all over himself and screamed and woke up Anna-Louise. By the time I had sorted him out I had missed most of the second half of the episode. Just as well though, according to Dan.
Saw the preview of next weeks episode and Gwen is kissing Jack and saying she wants to marry him. Great, just what we need to spoil what little enjoyment there is in the thing already. It is evidently about her getting hugely pregnant overnight, presumably with an alien. Who thought up that rubbish? Some man. It must have been a man. I wont watch it. I have no intention of boring myself to death with Gwen the whore and Rhys the bore and Jack going all weepy over her again when he is supposed to be in a relationship with Ianto. It makes him look like a bastard and Gwen like a whore and Rhys like an idiot.
It wouldn't be quite so maddening if I didn't keep reading everywhere about how good Torchwood is when I think it's getting worse every week. However, I have an IQ of 148, have two honors degrees and speak four languages so-----. Mama had all our IQs tested one year. She had to pay for it. I still don't know why she did it! Of course, several kids and years later mine has almost certainly dropped a bit!!!!
Anyhow, the kids are fine, except for Rhys who has had a stomach virus. I thought he was better today--however. A toddler throwing up and having diarrhea is gruesome. Poor little man. BJ is blooming and is seriously gorgeous. He is going to be real good looking when he is older. I can tell. Oh, he is totally bald now. Just thought I would mention that. He is still fantastically lovely though, even bald. Rhys is cute and his eyes are now the same green as Dan's which, silly though it sounds, has made me very happy.
Anyhow, I have had my moan so I am going to try to get some sleep now.
Diary
3/14/08 04:52 pm
Well, it is a while since I have gotten around to writing this. Anyhow, have time at the minute because Dan's Mother has come to stay with us for two weeks. Dan went to the Airport and fetched her last Week. She looked healthy and seemed very pleased to see all of us, even me, which made me feel somewhat guilty as I was not eager to see her!
Anyhow, she has actually been a big help to me and is great with the kids, especially BJ and Rhys. Good news about Rhys, as I was worried about him being so small, but he has suddenly started to grow quite a lot and has needed some bigger clothes and shoes. I was very happy to have to buy him bigger shoes---that sounds weird but it's true. BJ is smiling a lot and is sleeping more at night too, which is a relief. He is already nearly two months old--how time flies!
I am looking more like my old self now and am very happy about that. Geraldine Ann has started to grow hair now and looks less like a bald version of her Daddy {Anna and Will's baby that is}, in contrast to that, BJ was born with some dark curls and is now completely bald!
Had a strange but wonderful experience with Dan's Mother the second day after she arrived with us. I was bathing BJ and Rhys was at the other end of the bath {I have one of those baby baths you put over your own large bath--I've had it for ages}. Dan's Mother was leaning over the bath and playing with Rhys and talking to him as she bathed him, when suddenly she told me that she had been upset when Dan married a girl who wasn't Jewish, but that she had completely revised her opinion about that now as I was obviously a great wife and a fantastic Mother to the kids and she was sorry she had ever doubted that our marriage would be a success. She said she could tell that I made Dan very happy and that was all a Mother could ask for.
Since we were in confession mode I made my own little contribution and told her that I had not been eager to have her stay but that I had been quite wrong to think that and I was very very glad that she was here now. While I dried BJ and she dried a screaming Rhys {he didn't want to leave the bath} we looked at each other and for the first time ever I felt close to her and felt a fondness for her that I had never felt before. O.K., she has her faults--but don't we all have faults?
She has seemed different this vacation with us. She seems more relaxed somehow. Or maybe it's just me--I don't know. I think we have both accepted each other with all our differences. Since she lost family in the Holocaust it must have been a shock when Dan married me, a German, even though I was born so long after it all finished. Anyhow we are doing fine right now.
Rhys is talking a great deal more now and, thanks to Dan's Mother's input, he can speak three languages. He mixes them all up together in a fascinating and, in my humble opinion, extremely intelligent way. The kids all call Dan's Mother Babcia, because she wanted them to. Rhys can't manage that yet so he says Babci. Her given name is Maryleczka, but actually at home in N.Y. she is almost always called Mary.
Anna-Louise has developed a passion for the song "Feeling Good". She has been trying to play it, without any music, on her violin for what seems like ages. Anyhow, yesterday she finally got it right, much to everyone's great relief. To make things even more alarming, every time she started to try to play it Rhys ran and fetched his drum, so we had that banging away too.
Harry is still with the same girlfriend. She is very nice and a sensible kid so Dan and I are pleased about it. We don't get too enthusiastic though in front of Harry as I know from personal experience that parental approval, when you are 13, is sure to end any relationship!
Must close now as I can hear BJ shouting for his next meal and no-one else is equipped to give it to him!
*
March 31st 2008
Well, Dan's Mother has gone and we are actually missing her! She was a great help with the kids so I probably miss her most, which is hard to believe but true! We were getting to be real friends when she left and I miss her now.
Anyhow, Harry has two exams to do before he gets his Black Belt in karate. We are very proud of him. He has always worked hard at his karate and deserves success. He is in the top group at school for Physics and Math and is doing great there too. He has also decided to forget about trying to get rid of his curls and let his hair do what it will! In this I am slightly ashamed to admit he is more adult than his Mother.
BJ can now hold his head up quite well without too much wobbling {at least for a little bit}. He has become very vocal and makes lots of noises. He laughs a lot. He has a lovely laugh. Everyone we meet is enchanted with him. He is, though completely bald. This, in my experience, means he will probably have curls.
Rhys is a darling. He has become attached to a set of books for toddlers that Dan's Mother bought him and we have to take them with us wherever we go. When we all went out to Lunch last week he sat in his High Chair, after he had finished eating, looking at his books and turning the pages slowly. He looked very serious too. It made me think of a Little Old Man reading his Newspaper. It was amusing.
Anna-Louise and I are real pals, as they say here. She is doing great with her Violin and is doing Piano as well. When we watched "I'd Do Anything" on Saturday she and I analyzed the contestants performances together. We don't like Francesca and Anna-Louise told us firmly why SHE didn't like her. She noticed that Francesca cannot sing upper notes and stay in Key and also has decided that the wretched woman has a speech Defect too. It's true that her singing is very Hissy. I don't know why she is in the Competition anyhow as when the other were working hard she was off with a cold. I think she should have been eliminated at that stage.
I came to the conclusion that the Lee Mead thing was a fix and I'm starting to think that Francesca had already got the part of Nancy. Mead was inclined to sing flat when pushed and I have to keep reminding myself that MOST people are not cursed with perfect pitch. I can often ignore it when folk are only very slightly off pitch but sometimes it is very difficult. I hope I am wrong about this but ALW saved her and she sang off key yet again. It is only on notes above C {that is an octave above middle C}. I cannot see how she will be able to sing "As long as He needs Me" though.
Weird though it sounds, when I was at school we had a production of "Oliver". I think a Teacher translated it {Probably illegally} into German. Despite being a girl, I played Oliver. We sang all the songs in English and did the speech in German. It must have been really strange now I think about it but at the time I was 9, so I thought it was fantastic. Gisela keeps everything, so I am sure she must have some Photos from it. Now I have thought about it again I must ask her if she does have some. I remember I had a cap and it kept falling off my head because of my curls. The boy who played the Artful Dodger was called Dieter. He was 11 and I had a crush on him. He could dance and I have two left feet so he spent ages trying to teach me to move without looking clumsy. I met him once years later and I confessed I had had a crush on him. He laughed and said he had had one on me too but I was too young for him! For some unexplainable reason I was always more popular with boys than with girls.
Dan is hard at work on a Patio this week. He can't sing anyhow, so it doesn't affect his ears when people sing flat the way it does mine. I think Rhys is going to be musical as if anyone sings badly near him he cries and holds his hands over his ears. I hope he doesn't have Perfect pitch.
As for Torchwood---well--I think it is over. JB is in Canada until the very end of July and is doing Panto from December, and this doesn't leave time enough to film a Season of Torchwood. If the BBC make it without him I will not watch because HE IS TORCHWOOD for me. The BBC have not made any announcements about a new Season, and I think if there is one it will be so different from the First Two it will be unrecognizable. Anyhow, JB is always busy so there will be plenty of other opportunities to see him. I hope he doesn't spend too much time abroad though unless it is in Germany, as I can then see him.
Had a look at Torch-wood, the site I had all the bother with. Discovered that someone thinks you can say "Ianto lied in bed". Actually, you can lie any place, I thought. Didn't comment though as folk there obviously like to spell badly. According to one person the web is a new development and therefore Grammar and Spelling mistakes are acceptable! Huh??? Dan told me that what they all really objected to was realizing that a German can write English more accurately than they can. That is what DAN said, by the way. I didn't think that way. I still don't know what all the fuss was about really.
Going off line now to do the usual. I seem to spend a great deal of my time with food------buying it, eating it, cooking it, feeding it to BJ etc etc.
April 4th 2008
Well, Dan, Harry and I watched the last Torchwood. I definitely think there will be no more. With Tosh and Owen gone it wouldn't be the same anyhow. There will be lots of opportunities to watch JB in things and I think folk will continue to write some Jack/Ianto fics too. It is a great pity. What a waste. Anyhow, I am too busy to write fic myself at the minute.
The BBC have made no announcements about Torchwood. There are many rumors floating around still. Personally, I think JB told them at the end of filming that he couldn't fit in a whole season again. He wants to return to the Stage. They cannot have Torchwood without him---so----.
It was a pity too that I had to feed BJ half way through the final episode. I watched while I was feeding him so I probably didn't get the same impression of it that other folk did. It's difficult to get all emotional about the death of two fictional characters when you are breast feeding a baby. I find feeding babies is very satisfying. It's hard to explain in words. Anyhow, I saved my emotion for Declassified as BJ was finished by then!
On a totally different subject now--- Rhys has learned how to get out of his crib. He can't get downstairs though so he stands by the top Gate and shouts. Unless we are upstairs ourselves {he knows where we are] and then he shouts by our door. He's far more reliable than any alarm!(local)
April 10th, 2008
Well, Monday WAS an exiting day! Dan took a day from work as the kids are on Vacation. We decided to go to Alton Towers. All of us. We had a big, sit down, breakfast and while we were eating I noticed that both Harry and Anna-Louise seemed to be scratching their heads a lot. Dan looked in Anna-Louise's hair. Anyhow, she had head lice. We examined our heads. We all had them, except BJ, who is of course, bald.
Anna-Louise promptly had hysterics and kept screaming that she was unclean {what DO they teach them at school I wonder}. Dan went out to buy some stuff to remove them and came back with something called Nice 'n Clear, which is supposed to be environmentally friendly or something. We abandoned Alton Towers and had a fun time washing our hair, then drying it and applying the stuff, and then combing all the little-er--buggers--and their eggs out with the supplied combs. Anna-Louise sobbed the whole time. It was difficult to treat Rhys as he seemed to think the shampooing bit was it and he protested loudly about having his hair wetted YET again. Anyhow, by mid afternoon we were all Lice free and Rhys was asleep and Anna-Louise was chatting on the phone to her friend Carly, who, it seems, has had Head Lice as well and underwent a similar treatment for them on Sunday. Perhaps the whole school has them---worrying thought. Molly next door told me on Tuesday that we should regularly examine our heads for them. She seemed surprised that none of us had had them before.
Listening to Anna-Louise on the phone was interesting. She was actually laughing about the Head Lice. HMMM. I was glad BJ is bald. He is seriously cute though. We went to Alton Towers yesterday and at one point got caught in an huge traffic jam. We stopped for a drink and to use the Toilets and I sat in a corner and was just getting ready to feed BJ when a Waitress came rushing over and said " I'm sorry Miss {MISS?} but you can't do that here." They had a baby changing room and I was sent there. There was no chair so I had to sit on the floor. Dan was mad and wanted to speak to the Manager but of course he wasn't available. Eventually, some guy in a suit knocked on the door of the Changing room and shouted that I could use the staff's break room. I had almost finished by then so I didn't bother. He did apologize very nicely though and we had our drinks and snacks free. He was the Under Manager, evidently, or was it the Assistant Manager? The second in charge anyhow.
I couldn't leave BJ with anyone because you can't when you are breast feeding. I did attempt to try him with a bottle but he just screamed and turned red. So he has to go where I go or starve. Anyhow, despite that we had a great day. Dan took a lot of photos which are up to his usual standard of being totally weird. Heads missing, feet missing, people with poles growing out of their heads etc.
We have new next door neighbors, on the other side, Molly is still on one side. They were all born in England but are originally from Bangladesh. He is called Clive and she is called Andrea {which are not very Bangladeshy I don't think}. They have four kids, three girls and a boy. The boy is the youngest and is one month older than Rhys. The girls are aged 5, 8 and 10. Anna-Louise and the 8 year old, who is called Fern {FERN!!}, are already friends. They are making a great deal of noise as I type this, trying to play duets on the piano. Harry has gone out with friends. Rhys is building towers and knocking them down again and Dan is playing with BJ so I nave some free time to type this.
Was mad with ALW for knocking out Cleo in "I'd do Anything" and keeping Keisha. Can anyone ever imagine Keisha playing Nancy? She has enormous talent but NANCY--no. Francesca sang flat again but I am aware that most people don't hear things the way I do and maybe didn't notice. My Mother always says Perfect Pitch is a gift but it isn't--it's a curse--and no--it doesn't stop YOU singing flat--it just means you notice right away and stop singing. It took me years to learn to NOT stop singing or playing whenever I made even a tiny error.
Have to go now as there are jobs to do. [When isn't there?}.
Hammersmith Apollo- April 13th 2008
4/14/08 09:32 am
Well, I FINALLY got to see John. We had to organize things very carefully. Anna and Will had BJ and Rhys, Anna-Louise went to her friend Carly for a Sleep -Over and Harry spent the night with our friends The Potters. {For anyone who has read my diary-I like folk to read it by the way-these are the people who have have Boris, the glue stealing St. Bernard}. Anna had strict instructions to call me if BJ needed to be fed or anything. That's the problem with feeding them when they DEMAND it, you haven't a routine. As a family we are not really into routine though.
Last week Dan collected Julian, his school friend from New York, from the Airport, and he has been staying with us. He is Gay and is CRAZY about JB. {He is crazy about Dan too--hmmm}. He came to the Concert with us. We didn't have far to travel to get to the Venue and so when we arrived there were people EVERYWHERE. We eventually were asked to form queues at the doors, which we did and at around 7pm {forgot my watch AGAIN} we were let in. We had already had our tickets scanned when we entered the building so we went to find our seats right away. I couldn't see too well so I sat on my coat and Dan and Julian's Jackets. Then I found I could see between two heads and had a great view actually.
When John came on we gave him a great welcome and I thought Julian was going to pass out for a minute as he suddenly went quite white. He was fine the next moment and I realized I could see John very clearly and he looked Fantastic, wearing a dark shirt and a Grey suit. Someplace not far from us several famous people were sitting and there was a bit of a commotion when they arrived. It was Lee Mead, Denise Van Outen, Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori. They all looked just like they look on TV. Naturally, being the most organized family on earth, none of us had cameras except on our phones so we didn't take any photos at any time. Even Julian didn't have a camera with him. Our chaos obviously is contagious!
John made a joke about Denise having one Joseph so he thought he would have three. I won't list what John sang because lots of people are doing that anyhow, but I loved Man of La Mancha and Where is Love was good because it reminded me of when I played Oliver. If anyone reads this and finds this weird I must explain that we did it when I was at School. I had very short curly blond hair and a Teacher actually suggested that I played Oliver. We did the dialog in German and sang in English--which--when I think about it now--must have been VERY ODD. Where is Love was the first song, which wasn't a Scottish Folk Song, that I learned to sing all the way through in English so it has special memories for me.
Three of the Josephs came on after The Interval and sang three songs together. I liked the last one best-You'll Never Walk Alone-- as Keith sang the opening and he has a seriously great voice. However, I must say that Ben James-Ellis's voice has improved 100% since he was in the Joseph program. I didn't ever like Lee Mead but I suddenly felt a bit sorry for him. He has been stuck playing Joseph and will for ever be associated with it and the Music is largely Crap and is the worst ALW has ever written. {However, he seems to be making the most of his fame.} Daniel Boes, can't spell that, was excellent also I have to add. Strangely, all three of them looked better in the flesh than they ever did on TV. Even Keith looked quite cute and gorgeous.
John looked gorgeous of course all the time, but he is one of the best looking, if not the best looking, man on TV. Whenever he is on TV I only look at him. He has massive charisma. When the second half started he had changed his suit and now wore a white shirt. When he sang I Am What I Am he put on a different jacket which had sequins or something on the lapels. The songs he sang from the latest album sounded lovely and better live than on the album. The audience were fantastic and we chatted to a number of people near us. At the interval I wanted to phone Anna but couldn't find anyplace quiet enough, so in the end I went to the Ladies and sat there in a cubicle and phoned her. She told me everything was fine and not to worry and that both Rhys and BJ were asleep. I did worry though. BJ isn't three months old yet. I kept thinking I shouldn't have left him and that I was a bad Mother. When John came on again I forgot everything else though.
More to come as have to stop now. Infants calling----
April 14th, 2008
More Hammersmith.
Two costumes were brought on the stage at different points in the show. Captain Jack's Great Coat was appreciated by everyone and later the Costume he wore for Dancing On Ice {which I didn't see at the time but have seen little bits since on YouTube}. Evidently someone called Robin Cussins voted him off. I haven't had time to look up this person but he didn't like John I suppose!! The idiot!!!
John sang I Wont Send Roses. He remarked that Scott said it reminds him of John. I know the words of this and it doesn't seem like my idea of John. He had everyone clapping to Amarillo and said we were not noisy enough. Dan whistled a few times which I admit I found somewhat embarrassing. At the interval Dan and Julian disappeared to the Bar and were gone the whole interval. I wandered aimlessly about and found a flight of stairs. There was no-one about so I ventured up them and was stopped by a man joking that I was trying to get to the dressing rooms. I dutifully came back down again.
John was so marvelous that the time flew past and I was surprised when the ending arrived. He came back on stage and sang That's Life. I have heard this before I think but I have no idea who originally sang it or if it was from a show or not. He also sang something called Milly Molly Mandy. I have never heard this before but he used to sing it when he was four years old in Glasgow. I read the reviews of the other Concerts and was expecting it. I like his version of Your So Vain and the story of Carly Simone singing it to him down a telephone was real weird.
He sang Moon River which I have always thought was a very boring song. However, having heard John sing it I have changed my mind. He made it sound beautiful. At times people shouted out various things and at one point someone shouted something and John said we all needed to improve our Diction. Being rather overwhelmed by the occasion and everything I had to get Dan to tell me what that meant. John said he gave good diction and I had to have that explained to me too. Well, I have come to the conclusion that having kids softens your brain and I have FOUR.
I love John's version of Everything She does Is Magic, which he said he was singing for his niece. I have just recalled that the Second Half started with Feeling Good. He started singing it in the dark before he came in to view. I have always loved this anyhow and LIVE it is really SOMETHING. I liked the story of Robbie Williams at Cannes being exhausted and the snort he made to tell us just what exhausted him. The tale of drinking 12 bottles of champagne well---
John told us the Story behind Time After Time. That is --why he put it on his album. The Gay man telling his parents he was HIV positive. This was particularly upsetting because of being with Julian. He isn't HIV positive but he knows folk who are and two people who have died of Aids. He became upset during the song and I had to give him a tissue. He was very quiet and restrained about it and I only noticed because I was sitting between him and Dan. I love Julian and I wish he could find someone like John has found Scott, to love him and appreciate all his good qualities. He and Dan were at School together and have known each other since they were 6 years old.
We heard the story behind the inclusion of Please Remember Me which we all already knew from the Autobiography. It was different to hear John himself telling us these things though and much more moving emotionally. He is so good at conveying everything and so fantastic LIVE. I have heard now that he is definitely doing Season Three of Torchwood but after this night I almost didn't care. John belongs on Stage with a LIVE audience. He is so alive on Stage and understands his audience perfectly and can literally have a huge number of people in die Palme seiner Hand.
It was a wonderful evening which we will remember for a long time. I was worried again about the Little ones when we emerged into the night air. I was glad to arrive at Anna and Will's and made the astounding discovery that both BJ and Rhys had slept ALL THE TIME we were out. We spent the night there and what a squash it was! I ended up feeding BJ at 2.30am. I was exhausted but he was an angel. Rhys slept through the whole night and didn't wake up once.
This morning Anna-Louise told me quite seriously that she had enjoyed staying with Carly but it was TOO QUIET so she couldn't sleep. Just what this conveys about our household I dread to think. She has gotten her hands on the Concert Program and I haven't seen it since. Harry, as usual, was not very communicative about his evening. He shared a room with John, who is 18 months his junior but around his size, and they seem to have had some kind of Midnight Feast, but I couldn't find out any more about it. He appears to have enjoyed it though.
On a totally different subject Julian told me he is learning German. He has started with one of those books they sell to teach travelers how to manage on Vacations. He showed it to me. He bought it second hand. In one section it tells the traveler how to manage in an emergency. One example reads Nicht nur hat es die ganze Zeit geregnet, sondern ich habe mir auch noch das Bein gebrochen. Which really made me laugh. I presume that is what you could say when you arrive home after the trip with your leg in Plaster!! I must add that it is a very old book. I was particularly impressed with the list of emergency words and phrases, some of which were--Rufen Sie die Polizei, Gefahr, feuer, Gas, Gehen Sie weg, Hilfe, Holen Sie Hilfe, and my favorites Vorsicht, Halt. What terrible vacations these folk must have had!
Diary -April 22nd 2008
4/22/08 05:38 pm
I now have a cough and so does Rhys and Dan has gotten the cold. Yesterday I went around to the Doctors and of course had to take BJ as well as Rhys. My usual Doctor wasn't there, so I had to make an appointment with one of the others. This one is from Northern Island and I couldn't understand most of what he said. Unfortunately, he seemed to have difficulty understanding me too.
We had the most fascinating conversation which really would make a great comedy sketch. Eventually I came away with two prescriptions, both for some kind of cough syrup. Mine is revolting but Rhys's must be nice because he swallows it eagerly and then says "more cough" and stands with his mouth open waiting for another spoonful.
My car wouldn't start but Clive next door got it going again. He laughed and said he didn't mean to be rude but it really was a bit of an old banger. I am not at my best in the morning anyhow as I am an evening person, and having a cold and cough doesn't help. I said I thought a banger was a sausage. Clive laughed and said it was but an old banger was a car that was a bit decrepit. I said we couldn't afford another car and Dan drives the best one as he has to go to work all over the place, being a builder. Clive apologized and said he was just joking anyhow. This whole conversation has left me with the idiotic idea that my car resembles an old sausage. Dan always names our cars and the one he drives is called Rudolf {it's red}. The one I drive is called Tesia. It was named by Dan. That's one of his Mother's names. It is also Anna-Louise's other name.
This morning BJ rolled over all by himself. This is quite advanced for his age. He seemed surprised at his new ability! He has always been very lively even before he was born. Maybe he'll turn out to be a famous athlete!! He is still bald but gorgeous anyhow.
Rhys is very chatty now. Unfortunately he must have overheard me saying to Dan, during a conversation about Torchwood, oh bugger Gwen. He now says "bugger Gen". He says bugger very clearly but he hasn't quite managed Gwen yet. We are ignoring it and hoping he'll forget it soon!
Never eavesdrop on your kid's conversations is a good rule to try to follow. I keep telling myself that. Overheard Carly and Anna-Louise talking about their respective Mothers. Discovered that Carly's Mother is thinner than me and is able to touch her nose with her tongue and wiggle her ears. Obviously a superior being all around then! Anna-Louise, in a somewhat limp attempt to praise me, said that breast feeding makes people fat and that I can make one tin of soup feed four people!! Well that's good then and much more useful than being able to wriggle your ears or touch your nose with your tongue but obviously less fun.
Harry has another new girlfriend. In explanation he told us quite seriously that he is "playing the field until he is older". When Dan asked him how much older he said "around 16." Hmmm. I must be ancient then. I can't help feeling that the expression "playing the field" should only apply to sport. Dan told me that chasing girls when you are 13 IS sport. So that's O.K. then.
BJ now sleeps longer at night and only wakes around 2-3am. He has an incredibly loud scream. Dan says he is going to be musical as he has such fantastic lung power! Dan is not very musical.
Talking about music we are all watching "I'd do anything". I don't like Jessie much but it is partly her hair as I never like anyone with curly hair. It is daft I know but that's how I am--daft. She also seems very boring to me and her stance when singing is unattractive. I like Jodie but Sarah is my favorite now. I can see her as Nancy. I know all about "Oliver" as I have sung it myself. With the boys I don't think anyone of 13 should get the role {like Kwayedza, Jonny and Jordan}. My Harry is 13 and his voice broke last year. If a 13 year old gets the role he may have to leave quite soon and they will have to look for someone else.
That's all for now as tasks are waiting----
April 24th, 2008
"It's not necessarily as far-fetched as it sounds. While men's sperm determine a baby's gender, it could be that certain nutrients or eating patterns make women's
bodies more hospitable to sperm carrying the male chromosome---"
Just read this from Time Magazines Web Site. According to them if you eat a good diet which is rich in nutrients you are more likely to have a boy. So, to get another girl I really need to skip meals etc----so that's that then--what absolute cod swallow---
Diary-April 25th 2008
4/25/08 05:20 pm
Dan came home early yesterday bearing the Torchwood Magazine. Since then we have all had a look at it and now, even as I type, Anna-Louise is searching through it for pics of JB. When she finds one she cuts it out and sticks it in a Scrapbook. She is already onto her fourth JB scrapbook---
I was slightly amazed to read yet again the same old rubbish about the writers wanting to show that working for Torchwood is dangerous etc etc and that is why they decided to kill off two characters. I feel like shouting to them---get back into the real world, you're writing a series in which the main star is supposed to have been born in the 51st Century and is immortal, and Cardiff is situated over a rift in Space and Time and you're talking about REALITY--WHAT SORT OF LIVES DO YOU FOLK LEAD? The fact is Burn wanted to leave, and has done, and since he was already dead anyhow {that's so like real life isn't it?} they decided merely killing him wouldn't be sufficiently dramatic so they had to kill off someone else. Ianto has had a surge of increased popularity, Jack is the star and is immortal anyhow and, unfortunately for some folk, they wouldn't kill off Gwen so that left Tosh. QED. Nothing whatsoever to do with reality. They really do think the average TV viewer is an idiot.
Getting back to reality-BJ slept until 5am last night. Of course, his dim Mama didn't. She woke up and went to see if he was still breathing----Rhys is saying more and more words in both German and English. It is the right time to learn a language when you are very young. He will grow up bi-lingual. It's very useful when we go to see Mama and when she comes here as she doesn't speak much English--she's never really gotten over the bombing of Hamburg although she wasn't even there when it happened!! When she is here though she's never at all---brain has gone numb----she told me that probably the folk who bombed Hamburg are all dead now and it was all Hitler's fault anyhow---hmmm----
Have to end now as BJ is yelling and Rhys is lying on the floor behind me having a tantrum about something----now that's REALITY