Hello Everyone...
My brother recently had a very odd conversation with his ex-wife, that got me thinking. So... a little background... my brother married a Russian lady, who turned out to be a bit of a 'nutter' (a cultural thing? Or just that she's crazy?... I really don't know). He has had some very hard years but through it he has gain custody for his two children (on a 50-50 shared residency, even after all the lies she has told... it has gone some way to re-affirm my faith in English justice and the law ~ even though he had to fight every step of the way AND it has cost the family a small fortune! But that is neither here nor there considering those two beautiful innocent children are now given much needed balance in their otherwise weird and warped lives!).
Anyway, his ex-wife recently told him off for buying his 10 year old daughter a 'black' rucksack for school (at this point I must point out that she does not work saying that the British benefit system is there so that she doesn't have to - meaning Annabelle's school items and clothes are bought by her father, and rightly so, he takes his responsibilities to his children very seriously), he pointed out to his ex-wife that the choice of colour had been Annabelle's, that it was ideal for school and what were her objections ~ big mistake, because? She told him! (upsetting poor Annabelle in the process and showing us all once again why she is a bit of a 'nutter')...
"a 'black' bag is for funerals" ~ how many school rucksacks have YOU seen at a funeral?
"Annabelle will turn out gay if she has a 'black' bag" ~ what??!*!??? I can't even get my head around that reasoning
and "by the way... she's getting FAT" ~ why would you even say that in front of your pubescent daughter?
I have to say, I think my brother handled the situation brilliantly (but then he has had years of practice at trying to reason with the unreasonable). He just walked away (I, on the other hand, would in all likelihood of had a raging argument with the 'nutter') .
So, my thought processes are now working overtime... do people really think this way? Or is this only one rather odd woman's view? And if so, how will her influence effect my niece and nephew's outlook on life? Is this how Russians are raised? Is this the beliefs of all Russians? Would it even matter if your daughter turned out gay? Does it matter where she finds love? Or who with? Has the human race not evolved and become more understanding, more knowledgeable and more tolerant? Is all our politically correctness just a sham and we really are thinking that if a girl wears black, it will influence her life choices? I don't think this way... but do others?... my answer?
I hope not!
On a recent visit (Halloween), the family (brother, niece, nephew, daughter, future son-in-law, other niece) all descended on me. Oh what fun we had, all getting together and catching up with our lives. The photograph I scrapped is of my daughter (at the bottom of the pile) getting a load (a heavy load) of love from everyone...
In the kit... Twelve 12x12" double sided patterned papers from the 'Cedar Lane' collection | Two 12x12" sheets of cardstock: Bubbles and Blackberry Swirl | One pack of Fitzgerald Glitter Thickers: Teal | One pack of Ephemera | One pack of Word Jumble Stickers | One pack of 3D Arrow Embellishments | One exclusive, custom mixed pack of Pretty Pink Posh Sequins | One vellum bag of wooden butterfly buttons.
I bought some glitter words add on ~ this 'snuggle up' just seemed so appropriate!
I used my very old typewriter to add some journaling and went back over some of the letters with a pen to add a little bit of interest
'love this' came from the puffy sticker embellishment add on
Those colourful wooden butterfly buttons were fab along with the Pretty Pink Posh exclusive sequin mix
More fussy cutting from the 'Town Square' patterned paper
Et Voile!
From the look of this layout, you'd never guess that the kit is almost killed!
Now to decide if I make one more layout or whether to use the last few bits in my PROJECT LIFE, decisions, decisions...
Blah... blah... blah...