Just Emma

Hello, lovelies.            With Christmas fading from memory, it can only mean one thing in my household, it’s panto time. A month of writing the script, four months of rehearsing one night a week till January when my entire life is taken over and consumed by our local community theatre group’s yearly pantomime. Costumes have been either bought or made. The bar is fully stocked. And my Amazon buying history is a little eye opening. But all our efforts are put on to the stage where my ready, willing and able actors perform in front of packed pews. And this year was no different. But with the uncertainty of Covid, and the rules ever changing to us even being allowed to put on a show, should this have been the year for us all to have taken the time off and not to have bothered with it all? Is the world ready for us to start donning the make-up and 4” heels as we perform? Or is the very best time to air out our costumes, put on the greasepaint and show the w...

Hello, lovelies.            There is nothing better than being invited to a party. A good party can lift a bad mood. It can be morale building. You can meet your future partner or make that all important network. Parties come in all shapes and sizes. From large lavish formal dos to small intermit affairs. A party brings fun, plenty of food and a modicum of booze. I love a good party, who doesn’t? From the planning to the clear up, parties can go down in history as a make or break event. And over the past two years we’ve learnt to hold online parties, trying our to do our best in these crazy times. And now we can all forward to 2022 and all the good times we are finally able to have. We can all count on the fact that we have followed the rules, even when it was difficult and painful to do so. We held back from celebrating with our friends, family and colleagues through our Christmas and the New Year. And now it is time to let our hair down and celebrate as ...

         Hello, lovelies.                 Is the old saying, It’s a man’s world, really true? Should we listen to our predecessors, and as a woman only expect a life of care giving and always to be standing at the back of the room, never making the big decisions? Is my only true goal in life to take care of my man, no matter who he is and what he does? Or is that an old fairy tale, told to woman through the millennia and it is now time to stand up and be counted. Even if we have been found guilty of the most heinous crimes, all done for the sake of the ‘love of our life’? Should we women get a softer sentence, just because we were ‘just doing as we were told’? Or is it about time that we woman stand up and show the world just how strong and capable we really are? And not be able to hide behind the excuse that we women just didn’t know or understand what was really happening.            I ...

Hello, lovelies.            And just like that, we’re on the 5th January. How did that happen? It went - Christmas eve, Boxing day, New years eve and now, here we are. And for a brand-new year, it hasn’t started out on the best footing. I come to sit down to write this blog after burying my daughter’s pet hamster, that popped its clogs after 2 years of living with us. After my impromptu funeral ceremony and digging a big enough hole so my dogs are not tempted to dig the poor hamster back up, I thought that I was home free. But no. The never-ending list of things that I must get done never seems to go down. The kids, the laundry, the mounting pile of bills. And I find that all the lovely Christmas spirit has gone. The cold hard reality of 2022 has hit me right between the eyes. But surely, there must be more to life than this? What happened to living my best life, full of fun and laughter (and my mattress stuffed with all the cash I could ever need.) Oh, an...