Donna Matthews

Category: Live, Love, Learn

  • Really?

    I just heard an advert for Peppa Pig World that if you buy a ticket during a limited time you can get the second day free. I have a couples questions here; when they say the second day is free do they mean real days or Peppa Pig days? I ask this because Peppa’s days appear to be about 6 minutes long. Any parent or grandparent who has been subjected to Peppa Pig knows this. My next question is why? Why would any sentient being want to endure a second day? 6 minutes long or not!
    I know the kids adore it, not quite sure why but I can confirm that my grandkids never and I do mean never hit the Peppa Pig wall. They can watch the same episode over and over with as much glee and joy as the previous one millionth viewing. How this is possible is beyond me but hats off to the creators of Peppa because they must know more about how our kids brains work than we do. Example, they can watch Peppa endlessly without complaint but get them to come away from the telly to do some other activity and immediately you hear “I’m bored!” You want to shout “you won’t know what bored is until you have kids and the Peppa Pig of their day is driving you nuts!” I realised my Peppa threshold was once and truly breached when I heard myself practically begging my 4 year old granddaughter to watch Doc McStuffins just for a change!!

  • More Funny Workplace Behaviours

    As our project team continues to grow we are getting introduced to an even more diverse group of people and with that some new behaviours. As I promised you I would do I’m keeping you informed of the very best of them. One of my current favourites, which I have yet to personally experience, but have had been fully briefed on by someone who has, is the low volume murmur. My colleague/informant started hearing this quite yet persistent noise. At first she thought it was some background noise from the office equipment. Then realised no one was using the printer or other devices. She looked around to see if anyone else was reacting as if they too heard something. Nope, everyone was head done, hard at work. Soon after it dawned on her that one difference was that she had a new desk neighbour. By this time the noise was starting to burrow its way into her brain. So, she slyly watched the new arrival and saw her lips moving and could hear the “h
    mmmmmummm”.
    Now at least she had confirmation that she was not losing her mind, she felt marginally better. This lasted for a total of 2 minutes because now that she knew what is was and where it was coming from it was no longer possible to tune out. The questions started to bubble to the surface of her mind in rhythm to the “hmmmmmumm” “Is this noise because she is reading and thinks she is doing it silently?” Could she be humming the most tuneless song known to man?” “Or is she on a mission to drive me insane before the end of her first day?” At this point my informant could no longer suffer alone so she quietly started asking others sitting in the general vicinity if they too had noticed the additional undertone that had emerged. Of course she had to do this using messaging technology so as not to make the new person uncomfortable. It was soon confirmed that several other people were on the brink of migraines from trying to first figure out what the noise was and second trying to block it out. All had been extremely unsuccessful in the latter!
    For clarification this started on Monday of this week, we are now at Wednesday and no one has broached the subject with the murmurer. The British politeness gene is still in clear evidence in our office. If this was happening near me I would have had to take swift action. Newbie or not something would have been said or duct tape may have been deployed as a solution!

  • Why does the Yang have to follow the Ying so quickly?

    I know the title of this post is a bit befuddling but I hope it will all become clear. This past weekend is a great case for my question. I attended a family wedding on Saturday and it was fantastic. Everyone did something to make the day a success. Whether it was preparing food, decorating the village hall (which was the venue), creating flower arrangements etc. it all came off without a hitch even the weather did its part to make the day perfect.
    It was back to work this morning so that meant an early night last night to be ready to tackle the week ahead which I knew would have its own set of challenges.

    I had a feeling when I woke up this morning and found a cold sore that had developed overnight, that it might not be a great day. My taxi was booked for 7:00 a.m. and it arrived promptly giving me hope that maybe I was wrong and cold sore was not an omen for the remainder of my day. I ensured that the driver knew the route I wanted to take and mentioned that I might close my eyes for awhile (hoping this would say) “I’m too tired to chat”. However that message did not get across on the first attempt. An hour later as we approached a queue of traffic I took my opportunity to shut my eyes for a few minutes. When I opened my eyes and looked around I got the distinct feeling we were not where we were supposed to be. I caught sight of a mile marker post just as it flashed by and I thought for sure it said M40 (we were meant to be on the M42. ) Even if you don’t know specifically where I’m talking about I’m sure you get the point I was not on the correct motorway! I waited for the next junction sign to make certain I was right before speaking. Sure enough the next sign comes up and I now know I’m in the wrong place.
    I said to the driver “we are on the M40 not the M42″ he said ” are we?” Which worried me even more. I wondered if he too closed his eyes for a while! He apologised profusely but the damage was done. That error added another hour and a half to my journey getting me to work at 10:45 instead of 9:00’ish.
    Finally I arrive at work and there are 3 people waiting to speak to me. This was another bad sign. After these 3 impromptu meetings one of which contained more bad news I returned to my new desk (yes yet another seating change on Friday) to find out they did not set up my equipment properly and my laptop refused to play nice with my mouse or my monitors. Getting itself in such a tizzy that it eventually “blue screened” technical term for “going belly up!” I had to raise a HelpDesk call then wait for IT to arrive. In the end it was 12:05 when I was finally able to log in and start to work.

    So back to my question “why does Yang have to follow Ying so quickly?” I had a beautiful weekend (the Ying) then the Yang (my rubbish day today) could not wait to balance the scales.
    The good news is I will always remember the wedding and will completely forget the rubbish day.

  • One Snowy January Day

    There are certain events and special days that mark and shape our lives. Some of these are obvious and many of them are public knowledge such as birthdays, weddings anniversaries and so on. Most of the days in our lives when we wake up we have no clue how significant that day will turn out to be. Five years ago on the 13th of January was exactly one of these days for me. I was due to have lunch with someone I had been chatting to online. We had been in touch almost every day for about 2 months. I should have known, the minute I woke up and looked outside, that the day would be a good one because it was snowing. I love the snow and I still get as excited as a little kid when the white stuff comes down!
    We had planned to meet at my local pub. This also turned out to be a bonus because I literally could not drive out of our neighbourhood, it was totally impassable. I got ready and walked down to the pub which is about 3/4 of a mile from my house. It was one of those perfect snowy days where there are only a few cars on the road and all sounds are muted by the blanket of snow. It was bitterly cold as well but that didn’t seem to bother me as I crunched my way down the path towards the pub. There was a sizzle of excitement running through me that I thought was a combination of the snow and the meeting now only minutes away. Like the weather outside I too had a flurry, this one of emotions buzzing around. Excitement yes but also hesitation, what if she shows up and has 3 heads? What if we find that after two months online there is nothing else to say or we don’t have things in common etc. I didn’t have to wait long to find out I had nothing to worry about. Once in the pub and the initial greeting hugs over we started to talk and did not stop. In one way It was like I had known this incredible person my whole life yet in other ways I couldn’t wait to get to know her better. I never wanted that lunch to end and in a way it didn’t. Five years have now passed and we still have not runout of things to talk about. We have been married for three years, have seen 4 grandchildren born and have a very busy and wonderful life. So, moral of the story, what appears to be a “normal” day can turn out to be one of the most important and special days of your life. I now try to wake up each day thinking “what incredible things are going to happen today?”

  • So Long 2014

    I remember writing my blog at this same time in 2013, where I was more than happy to see that year come to a close. This year has been very different. The pain and loss of last year was replaced with a lot of joy, laughter and good times. We welcomed two new members to our clan and we have been watching them grow and flourish, with their respective big sisters watching out for them, while they too are changing every day.

    We were able to visit family in the States and be visited by family and friends from abroad throughout the year. 2015 is looking like it will be a good one as well with more company coming with whom we can share all the delights of England.

    Pam and I are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. We look forward to 2015 and everything it has in store for us this year. With the riches that our incredible family and awesome friends bring to us we hope your New Year brings you everything you wish for.

  • December 17, 2011

    I have always heard that as you get older time seems to speed up. I found this to be true but in other respects certain things feel like they have been part of your life forever even if it is truly only a few years. On December 17th, three years ago tomorrow, is when these anomalies in time really kicked in. It was on this day that my incredible partner joined me at the Registry Office in Oakham (a community in rural Rutland in the heart of England), to exchange vows that would bind us for the rest of our lives. At that very moment I went from being a single person with no children to a married person with 2 kids (I hate the “step” people use in these circumstances), with 2 daughter’s in-in-law and 2 grandchildren! How cool was that?

    Since then we have welcomed 2 more grandchildren into this world. So in some ways, like when I think of that crisp December day it feels like yesterday, then when I look at everything that has happened since that day it feels like this has been my life forever. All I know for sure is that on that day my life changed into this awesome dream that I am now living. Thank you to Pamela for this wonderful gift and to the rest of our crazy Wilks side of the family for the love you share with me every day.

  • Another Eventful Journey to London

    This morning I was dropped off early at the train station and started my trip into London. Thinking I now had the choice of 3 trains so no rushing required. As I arrive at the platform I see that the first two trains are delayed by 15-20 minutes. When the first train arrived it was standing room only, it was followed by another standing room only train directly behind it. So, now I have to just jump on and hope for the best. I stood for awhile and then a jump seat opened up. I sat down and realised that the dimensions of the jump seat did not match the dimensions of my backside. After about 20 minutes I could not feel my right leg as my bum was hanging half off the seat! There were a couple other things that I did not take into account when I took this seat. Firstly, it is directly in front of the toilet. Secondly, the jump seats are much lower than a normal seat. As the parade of gentlemen, who obviously drank too much coffee this morning, continues into and out of the toilet. I realise that when the train stops in Paddington I will have to hoist myself up out of the seat with a numb right leg. Not a pretty sight I will assure you.

    Off the train and onto the platform I now see that we have come into Paddington Platform 1 which is the furthest possible point from the taxi rank which is past Platform 12. Oh well, off I go. I get to the escalator and it is not working…no way I’m walking up those stairs! There were actually queues waiting for the lift. I wait my turn and then as the lift opens I see the queue for the taxis is further back than I have ever seen in all my years of doing this journey. I look at my watch and the early start I had has now evaporated and I will be lucky to get to the office before my meetings start. Finally I get into the cab and I am immediately hit with the powerful smell of cherries. My driver had two plastic or glass cherries hanging from his mirror and this was his air freshener. It was more like an oxygen destroyer! I could not breathe without opening the window and sticking my head out. I know these guys like to keep their cabs clean and tidy but there is a limit to how much freshener is too much. I paid for my taxi and inhaled a deep breath of cherry free air. I finally made it to the office…now my day can begin.

  • Should we be afraid?

    I travelled into our London office today and the atmosphere on the journey in was very different. It is the first day back to school for many districts but the usual buzz that comes with this day was not in the air. Instead there was a strained and tense feeling at the station, on the train and on the streets as you walked. People were looking at each other a bit closer, checking out what you were carrying. The government raised the alert level last week and you can really tell a difference. I am sitting here in central London in what I am told is a bomb proof building. When I learned that last week at first I thought “how sad that we have to bomb proof our buildings” but then that knowledge actually made me feel safer. I don’t know how it is for you but for me I am stuck between wanting to know as much as possible about the threats we are facing and not wanting to know so much that I become concerned enough to change my plans and actions. It is that fine line between vigilant and overly cautious. I would like to say that it does not bother me and I will always do the British thing and “keep calm and carry on” however, I have to admit it I do feel a bit uneasy today on a journey that I would not usually think twice about taking. How are you feeling?

  • Birthday #50

    Awesome, incredible, fantastic…pick your most positive adjective and it will fit to describe today. Leading up to this milestone day I was not feeling overly enamoured with idea of turning 50. However, I have changed my mind and I think 50 is very cool. If today was any indication of how the future will be I’m ready for it!
    I have been blessed to have had so many wonderful people in my life. I have been influenced, coached, mentored and loved by theses people. You all have touched my heart and left your impressions. I could not start to name you all but you know who you are. I carry you with me today and always.

  • Goodbye 40’s

    In just around 4 hours I will be turning 50 years old. In so many ways it seems impossible but when I look back at all that I have experienced in these 49 years it is truly amazing. All the good times and the not so good have made me who I am today. If you look at your life as a mosaic and think that all of those individual moments sewn together represent your journey. There will be bright moments and darker ones but it takes all of them to complete your personal picture. I think my mosaic is looking pretty good and I hope it is many more years before it is complete. Goodbye 40’s, let’s see what the next decade brings!