In memory of Able Seaman William Howat, my great great uncle, who died from his wounds on 22 April 1917. He is buried in St Catherine’s British Cemetery, Arras, France. He was just nineteen years of age.
To all the armed forces who continue to fight to protect our freedom and pay for it with blood. Never forget their sacrifice.
Congratulations to the city of Glasgow for winning the bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014! There were a few jitters around the past few days, especially since Nigerian officials seemed to think they had already won but justice was served when Glasgow won with a significant lead! There was no doubt in my mind we would win because I’d rather get wet than shot any day!
We are definitely starting to get into the festive mood Chez Caledonia and encountering all sorts of frustrations when it comes to ordering toys for the kids. My niece turned 8 on Wednesday and she is reaching that in between stage where she wants more grown up things but isn’t quite old enough for the pre-teen stuff. Usually, I just head for the Barbie section but I’m really not impressed with their range this year.
After a lot of catalogue searching and web surfing, I got the idea to concentrate on Hannah Montana because she loves the programme and I was ecstatic to find a range of singing dolls. I wasn’t so ecstatic when I discovered the dolls were only available in the USA and wouldn’t be released in the UK until 2008. Undaunted, I decided to order on Amazon and have them shipped over but the warranty prohibits the dolls being sold outside the US! I was not a happy camper by this stage. I want one of those dolls, dammit! Thank God for Ebay! I bought one instantly and it arrived today!
Now, we are having similar problems with the boys and the Transformers movie merchandise - almost all of it is sold out! We managed to reserve Optimus Prime and I had to nip out at lunch time to pick it up before they sold it to someone else. So, we just have to wait on new stock arriving and we are done. These toys are what my mum is buying for the kids but I seem to have ended up with the headaches. My gift decisions were so easy in comparison! It gets harder every year to get the most popular toys and I totally despise people who take advantage of parents by selling goods on Ebay for two or three times their value.
On a lighter note, the decorations are all up in town and I noticed workmen planting the Christmas trees which are a gift from the people of Norway!
Squuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeee! Bon Jovi are coming back to Glasgow in June 2008 and I’ve got tickets!!!!
I’ve just spent an hour trawling through the wonders of Amazon in search of suitable Nintendo DS games for the my nephews and niece in an effort to get organised for Christmas. The trouble is they are too young for the top rated games but some of the kids ones are just downright awful. I guess I’m going to have to stick with the old family favourites: The Simpsons (Nephew #1 is mad on them), Strawberry Shortcake (suitably frilly and girly for Niece) and I think I’m either going for one of the Mario games or the new Power Rangers for Nephew #2.
I also ordered a fabulous Thomas Kinkade Wonderland Express Christmas Tree. My mum loves Thomas Kinkade’s art but it is way too expensive for us so it’s nice to be able to buy other stuff. I like some of his paintings but I’m not mad keen on the Christian side of things. It’s not really a present for her but she has admired other versions of the table top trees so I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of it.
I’ve also ordered my MacBook Pro and am trying to wait patiently on its arrival but it is so not working! I can’t wait to have a go!