When I despair,
I remember that all through history
the ways of truth and love have always won.
There have been tyrants, and murderers,
and for a time they can seem invincible,
but in the end they always fall.
Think of it - always.
Mahatma Gandhi
Welcome to my Family Room. Come and join us for a cup of good ol' British tea.
Kick off your shoes
(where's that air freshener!!?) find a place to sit, and I'll introduce you.
I live in the UK and my birthdate is 13th August 1970.
I live with my hubby, Mark and 2 children, Christopher and Holly.
It is thanks to my son Chris that this page has been created
(or should that read "blame him!") He taught me the basics regarding
both html and computers in general, and he was only 11 at the time!! He's now 19. Once Chris had taught me the basics, I picked the rest up as I went along.
Chris made 2 of his own websites, both when he was 11.
His first was a family homepage and his second was
a site advertising a charity event which he helped
to organise with his friend Stacey, in aid of cancer.
The event raised over £1,300 and was very well received, being covered in the media.
Unfortunately, the server that hosted the sites, decided to start charging for the web space. No notice was given.
They just took the sites down. Wasn't that nice?
It's a pity, but there is nothing we can do about it.
We have had the computer a little over 11 years now,
and I honestly don't know how we managed without it! It took me a while to
grasp that there was no blinking cursor, or binary to learn, and that you
controlled everything using a mouse. The afore mentioned mouse taking me
2 days to learn how to control!
I still bore my children rigid with my ramblings on the
era when hitting a square ball between two stick like objects was something
to get highly excited about (remember Tennis on the Atari??)
All of the graphics (unless stated otherwise), were made by me.
I made all the globes, dividers, logos, graphic gifts and the backgrounds on
these pages using a combination of the "Serif design cd", "Paint Shop Pro 6, 7 and 8"
or "Photo Impact 5 and 6" "Photoshop 7" and related plugins.
I am not brilliant at making graphics, and I'm hoping to get
better
as I learn more. Please bear with me.
Ok, so now a little more about me and mine to get you aquainted.
As I said, I am married to Mark and have 2 children, Christopher, who is 19
(going on 40!) and Holly who is 13
and a proper little madam, no,
not like her mother *s*) I am a typical proud mum, and love my children
to pieces.
Christopher won a scholarship 8 years ago, to attend grammar school, and did very well, passing all 9 GCSE's with 4A*'s, 3A's and 2 B's.
He then left to attend college and has recently (Aug 07) found out he achieved straight A grades in History, Sociology and Government and Politics!
He's now (potentially) on a gap year, after working at the local primary school (and working there for years voluntarily before that!!) he's now working at an EBD school before starting uni in Sept 08, where he will be studying teacher training.
He's enjoying the EBD (Emotional, Behavioural Difficulties) school SO much at the moment that he may extend his gap year.
Holly too passed her entrance exam and won a scholarship to the same school!!
She started in September 2006.
Holly is animal MAD!!!! She is passionate about animal rights and animals feature heavily in ALL her conversations!
I am lucky enough to have visited lots of countries over the years.
I have been to Austria, Belgium, Holland, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal,
Yugoslavia, Switzerland, East Germany, Bulgaria, Russia, Slovenia,
Czechoslovakia, Monacco and Monte Carlo, Poland... and there are probably others that I can't recall now! I enjoyed
my stay at each of these
countries, all for very different reasons, and I'm privileged to have seen many interesting sights and met with some fantastic people. East Germany is a
country that I have travelled extensively in.
On one particular re-visit I met up with my pen-pal Anja, whom I had met a couple of
years before. Ok, enough about me, on to hubby, Mark.......
Mark works for a large chain of casinos, he loves the job, but not the hours
which are a real killer! We met when we were both 15 although we didn't date for a while. We had Saturday jobs in the
local supermarket! We have been married over 17 years now.
Mark's a chess fanatic (yawn!) and taught both Chris and Holly how to play chess.
As a result Chris was chess champion at school and now runs the chess club at the local primary school.
Me? Well, I absolutely loathe the game!!!
I think it's mind numbingly boring (or am I just not clever enough?? *s*)
We love spending time together as a family. Two of the things we enjoy
doing most are hiking and camping. We bought a great tent for this purpose,
a large American style one. It is supposed to be an 8-person tent, however, I think
the manufacturer was actually referring to Snow White and the seven dwarves
in this description!
Mark has recently found a new hobby. Fishing. He reckons it's a wonderful way to chill out. I can't help feeling it's cruel but he and his mates inform me
that fish don't have feelings in their mouth,(as opposed to men who have no feelings full stop!!....I'm KIDDING!) so they don't feel the hook.
I am yet to be convinced!.....plus, maggots stink to high heaven! GROSS!!
My hobbies and interests include reading (although doesn't everyone say that!?) web design and graphics, sky diving and white water rafting. No, wait a minute, scrap the last 2. I was just testing you were actually reading this!
I LOVE ballet (watching, not participating...have you ever seen a hippo in a tutu??) and classical music. Tchaikovsky is my favourite and I've lost count of the times I've seen the Nutcracker!
Mark reckons I go to the ballet to see men in tights, which is an absolute shameful lie! *grin* My latest hobby is jewellery making (and then selling it) which is doing rather well!!
I love and adore elephants too (have a rather large stuffed toy collection that sits on my headboard,and usually fall on my head at night!) which is why I've put
here!!!
I also adore the actors Colin Firth and Gerard Butler......although I probably shouldn't have mentioned that after mentioning
elephants, as they are totally unrelated!! I prefer British actors (not biased am I!?) and I like actors that have been in a wide genre of films. I LOVE musicals which is why Gerard just pips Colin as he was great as the phantom (although Peter Karrie was amazing in the stage version!!) The fact that Colin and Gerry are both gorgeous has nothing to do with my decision!!.....Mark's rolling his eyes!
Until recently, I was deputy in a P.S.P group, and had been so for just over 16 years now.
Before you get excited, P.S.P stands for Pre School Playgroup, NOT Paint Shop Pro, of which I struggle along with *s*
I now work (since Sept 2006) in a college nursery and am really enjoying it!
I have been a nursery nurse since finishing my training at college where I gained my N.N.E.B
and E.S.B.with college credit and of course first aid
certificates,
which have to be updated regularly. I've just completed my level 4 qualification with the Open University, which I'm relieved about!
I also work (in a voluntary capacity) as chairperson of the After
School Committee at the local primary school
Click on the photo album below to
open it and see photos of us all
The Louise's Lodge™ name,
graphics, and website content are
the property of and
copyrighted to Louise's Lodge
and are protected by English Copyright
laws.
Copyright © July 2000 and beyond, Louise's Lodge.
The
copying, altering, or reproduction of these
graphics is prohibited.
Any Questions or Comments
should be sent to Louise's Lodge
All Images & Text Copyright © Louise's Lodge. Broken links should be reported here
