Goodbye, Michael!

I'm gonna make a change,
for once im my life
It's gonna feel real good,
gonna make a diference
Gonna make it right...

As I, turn up the collar on
my favorite winter coat
This wind is blowing my mind
I see the kids in the streets,
with not enought to eat
Who am I to be blind?
Pretending not to see their needs

A summer disregard,a broken bottle top
And a one man soul
They follow each other on the wind ya' know
'Cause they got nowhere to go
That's why I want you to know

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
(If you wanna make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
(Take a look at yourself, and then make a change)
(Na na na, na na na, na na, na nah)

I've been a victim of a selfish kind of love
It's time that I realize
That there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan
Could it be really me, pretending that they're not alone?

A willow deeply scarred, somebody's broken heart
And a washed-out dream
(Washed-out dream)
They follow the pattern of the wind ya' see
'Cause they got no place to be
That's why I'm starting with me
(Starting with me!)

I'm starting with the man in the mirror
(Ooh!)
I'm asking him to change his ways
(Ooh!)
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
(If you wanna make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
(Take a look at yourself, and then make a change)

Good things come to Take That's fans!

(The Manchester Wheel)

And who says that good deeds don’t get rewarded? Mine did, although I’m not sure I could really consider mine a good “deed”. Well, I was asked Monday morning very early to step in for and interpreting assignment in court as a colleague of mine who had “chickened” out at the last minute and decided to call the solicitor’s firm to tell them she wouldn’t make it! Somehow I don’t blame her as the court case was a very nasty one and not everybody can put up with that kind of pressure. So there I was driving to court without any preparation on the subject matter whilst mu client was trying to change the interpreter’s details in court. I worked in court Monday and Tuesday and it was tiring, absorbing and very distressing. At 4pm on Tuesday afternoon I was totally shattered! I really don’t know how solicitors and barristers can go through this every day and survive. Anyway, on my way back to the solicitor’s, a lady lawyer I’ve known for quite a while told me she had a spare ticket for a concert later on and asked me if I wanted to join her. The concert was Take That’s at the Old Trafford Cricket Club in Manchester. How could I refuse the kind offer (and free as well)??? Shattered, yes, but not too shattered for Take That!!! So after a couple of frantic phone calls with my husband and kids and another pretty longish car journey there I was sitting in front of the stage for the second time within less than three weeks. Another wonderful show, nothing better to recover from some nasty work!!!!!!!!
I know, I know, now I’m a official Take That’s “groupie”!!! …but there many worse things in life…:) :) :)

(Gary Barlow/Take That in his clown outfit and kid's bike)

Recycle Week

Most of you, dear friends, know Karen aka Almost Mrs Average of The Rubbish Diet who’s been teaching us how to slim down our bins and improve our recycling, thus giving our environment a chance in the future. If you read her blog you will see how much she has achieved in over a year and how much she has influenced all of us. Following Karen’s advice I’ve proudly managed to half my weekly rubbish, started composting and create a small (very small!) vegetable garden.

Now, next week is Recycle Week and Karen has invited British Mummy Bloggers community (http://britishmummybloggers.ning.com)to/ spread the news and take a recycle pledge. My pledge is as follows:

Reuse my plastic bags

I know it seems like an easy pledge, but this is a big issue for me, as I’m always in a hurry and always end up at the cash point realizing that I've left them in the car!

The "rules" are:
1. Visit http://www.recyclenow.com/ and sign up to one of the pledges to waste less.
2. Share details of your pledge on your own blog.
3. Choose five other bloggers, who will also be up for a bit of recycling fun.
4. Come back to this post at The Rubbish Diet and share your pledge with others, by placing a link to your pledge in the comments field.
5. Optional - as a thank you to all involved The Rubbish Diet will be publishing a British Mummy Bloggers' Recycle Week carnival on Monday 29th June. To be included, simply submit your favourite post revealing the progress of your pledge by Saturday 27th June - email to karen[at]therubbishdiet[dot]co[dot]uk.

Without tagging any individual blogger friend, please consider yourselves ALL tagged, Mummy Bloggers and everybody else, in the UK and abroad!

Good luck and thanks for taking part to the Recycle Week Campaign.

Happiness

The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that one is loved;
loved for oneself, or better yet, loved despite oneself.
Victor Hugo

This my daughter's idea of happiness: holding a little lovely dog in her arms.

And my idea of happiness is just watching her being so happy! Why can things be as simple as a child's smile???

(The little dog is called Bambi by the way. Doesn't he look a bit like a baby deer?)

My daughter's big day

Last Saturday was my daughter’s big day. No, she didn’t get married, she is only nine! And she didn’t have any important exam, performance, football match or similar. It was the day of her First Holy Communion. For non-Catholics – probably most of you, my dear friends – this is the colloquial name for a person's first reception of the sacrament of the Eucharist. It is a very important event for an Italian child (and for adults too), as the Eucharist is one of the central focuses of the Roman Catholic Church. My daughter had been preparing for this moment since September and she was very excited. We had friends over from Italy (although unfortunately my parents couldn’t make it) and after the ceremony we went to a lovely pub-restaurant (owned by friends of ours) in the Yorkshire Wolds and had a fantastic meal. The weather was sunny and warm and we couldn’t have been luckier.

Bless to me, O Lord,

The work of my hands.

Bless to me, O God,

The work of my mind.

Bless to me, O God,

The work of my heart.

The Greatest Night

The Greater Night for sure. Absolutely amazing show from start to finish, jaw dropping! We managed to dodge the rain and the evening was fantastic. I’ve just read that we were over 50,000 people in the Stadium of Light but everything went perfectly.

Before the show.

James Morrison


TT on their "elephant"

Everybody was excited and happy, my daughter and her friend who are still small and couldn’t see perfectly were held up on the shoulders in turn by some very kind young men next to us and we had all a fabulous time. I do not want to spoil it for whoever of you who’s got a very good taste and is going to see Take That soon, so I won’t go into too many details.

Gary Barlow

Even the supporting acts were great: Gary Go - I didn’t know before - was a positive discovery and James Morrison does not need any introduction and he’s great live. And then the circus tend “opened” up and the greatest show of all started among a gigantic air balloon, circus acrobats and of course Take That with their wonderful music and vocals.

Howard Donald

Relight my Fire setting


After two hours of solid show (not just a concert, but a real show, a feast for your eyes!), the evening finished with the beautiful Rule the World and only the boys on stage and real fireworks in the background. I didn’t think it could have been possible for them to top their Beautiful World tour but they did it again!

Both my daughter and I would go again tonight and tomorrow and the night after if we could. Her first concert was a real success!

Greatest Day

My daughter and I are leaving in a few minutes to travel to Sunderland to see the great Take That in concert! It's the first date of the tour so we're expecting fireworks!!!

We are terribly excited, me more than her! Wish us sunshine as the weather forecast for the North-East is not very good. I will report back soon! Ciao!

A little guest

For a few weeks we had a little hedgehog in the garden. He was so sweet and lovely. We looked after him until a few days ago we found a colony of little hedgehogs in a neighbourhood’s garden we thought he belongs to so hopefully he is now reunited with his brothers and sisters. My daughter called him “Spillo” - which means “pin” in English – and she was totally devoted to him. Big tears when she had to part from him, of course!

An appeal to all drivers! Please be careful when you drive and don’t run over these little wonderful animals.

Apart from being so cute, hedgehogs are a powerful form of pest control. Did you know that a single hedgehog can keep an average garden free of pests by eating up to 200 grams of insects each night? They also keep away grass snakes, snails, rats and similar unwanted “guests”.