Disappointment | But I Smile Anyway...

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 264 – Disappointment to Hope

22 Mar 2020 33 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Disappointment, Spiderman, Spidey, Spidey's Serene Sunday

“Carve a tunnel of hope through a dark mountain of dissapointment.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

You’re really directing that one at me, aren’t you, Spidey?

Because, Peeps, if you didn’t pop over yesterday, you wouldn’t know that I had excitedly posted about my appearance on a proper radio station, TalkRadio. I had been invited last month, to talk about my book.

I was even more excited as I would have met one of my favourite authors, Amanda Prowse, who was to be on the show as well, and Hubby Dearest and I were making plan to stay in London the night too.

Then this coronavirus came around. The weekend away got cancelled, but I was told we could still do the interview via phone, and that everything was going to be dome by phone, for the safety of everyone.

I waited, stomach churning, for 8.45pm when they were calling me. Shortly before, I got a message. Could we make it a little later at 21.20? The discussions in play were running a little late.

Okay, fine, no worries.

I tried to notify everyone that knew.

Then about five minutes before, my phone rang.

“I’m so sorry, Ritu, I really didn’t want to do this, but we are going to have to postpone your appearance. The discussion regarding CoronaVirus has just exploded, and the phonelines are going crazy. I really wanted a balanced show where there was talk about something current and serious, then you, bringing in the lightness to the show.”

Drat!

This bloody CoronaVirus has a lot to answer for!

He’s calling on Monday to arrange a rescheduled date.

But what about my nerves? My excitement? My disappointment?

I was down at first.

But then I thought, am I really that shallow?

Yes, it would be great to get my voice heard, today, so people knew more about my book. But am I really bigger than what is happening around us?

Surely there is more sense in an expert answering questions about a very serious situation, than them cutting the questions off, so they can talk about a book, which might get resented instead.

A different, less corona-led day would be better, definitely.

I can still promote my book, myself until then.

It’s what I have been doing.

And a different day gives me more time to prepare, and hopefully a better chance to talk!

There, hope from dissapointment!

Apparently my name was already mentioned online… who knows? Someone may look up my book out of interest!

So… tell me, have you had to get over a big disappointment before?

Have a peaceful Sunday, Peeps. And enjoy your week! ❤

Explosive Anniversary Celebrations!

22 Nov 2015 38 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blogging, Bluewater, Bomb, Disappointment, Explosion, TGI Friday's, Threat, Worry

As you all know, it was our anniversary earlier this week in the week, on a school night, we decided the celebrations would happen on the weekend.

So, after the cold start to the day (it’s also ending pretty cold too!) we headed out to Bluewater for a little light shopping and dinner, with the kids in tow.

Well, we got there and found a huge section of the massive shopping centre had been cordoned off… no explanation, but around a third of the mall, upstairs and downstairs was shut to the public.

What was going on?

No one was giving anything away, but there were police officers, as well as the Bluewater staff, guarding the cordon lines, and just shooing everyone away.

So, we headed off in the opposite direction. Surely if there was anything life threatening, the whole centre would have been evacuated!

I did ask another shop assistant whether they knew anything… (it’s me, I had to ask! Hubby Dearest was rolling his eyes behind me!) They were none the wiser, but told us there were several rumours flying around, from a small fire, to a baby being left, to the one no one wants to hear… about a suspect package… Still no one appeared to be panicking so we carried on with our business.

After loitering for around an hour, we decided that we would cut the shopping short, as all the places we wanted to go to were actually in the cordoned off area.

Time to find a place to eat. Now this is never an easy decision, as Lil Princess is such a fussy eater! So even with so much variety around us, we ended up at TGI Friday’s! Don’t get me wrong, I love me a bit of TGI’s! But tonight… was a flop from the off!

Firstly we were in a queue, but that’s to be expected on a Saturday night, and were told there was a 25-30 minute wait. Ok, no worries. The kids were hungry. We went to the bar for milkshakes, for the kids, a beer for Hubby Dearest, and the odd cocktail, for me… only to be told that they could make no blended drinks, milkshakes or cocktails, as their bar blenders had shorted, and there was a huge electrical fault!

But the lovely bartender made the kids a great fruit concoction, and even let them choose which colour it would end up. They were happy. My cocktail ended up as a Pepsi, as our table was ready early, and I didn’t have time to choose something else.

But the food tonight… what a let down!

The kids had hotdogs… how can you go wrong making hotdogs? Well Lil Princess’s one was burned, after being left under a plate warmer for too long! And my steak, which should have been well done, was medium!

Hubby Dearest was disappointed as his Fajitas were not sizzling, like they usually come.

Only Lil Man was satisfied with his food!

We showed them the problems, and they were rectified but it put a downer on the meal. The manager came, offered us free dessert, which we weren’t planning on having, so I requested a discount instead. Result! We got 50% off!

And as we were about to leave, the Manager brought over complimentary brownies, with an Anniversary message on it, as Hubby Dearest had mentioned that this was meant to be a celebratory meal!

Our ‘present’ from TGI Friday’s!

We left, thinking at 8.45pm, things might be calm. The cordons were still in place. Lil Princess needed the toilet, so as I went in, taking her, there was an announcement, that shoppers shouldn’t panic, but they might hear a small bang, as there was going to be a controlled explosion. Yikes!

Sure enough there was a bang that we heard, as we were about to leave the building…

Had we just escaped a foiled terrorist attack? I didn’t know, but I was glad to get back home.

The Internet showed stories about the part evacuation of Bluewater, and the suspect package… What evacuation? We were there the whole time, and there had been no announcements!

A colleague of mine works there part time, and the shop she works in had been shut about an hour earlier for precautions.

I still found it all very strange. If something could have posed a threat, why wasn’t the building evacuated fully? Within the cordoned area, there is a Food Court, and that was still running, with entry and exits via the outside.

Safe at home, I just found out that apparently it was an empty shoebox, with tissue paper in it… Oh well, you can never be too safe!

So there you have it, my Explosive Anniversary Celebration!

Thank goodness it was nothing serious… but I still am thanking God we got home safe and sound. 🙂

Solar Eclipse!

20 Mar 2015 10 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Disappointment, Solar Eclipse, Supermoon

This was the sky we were faced with, come eclipse time...

So the South East of England, our area, was meant to experience a partial eclipse of the sun today. 85% coverage of the sun would be visible today. The older kids were prepared, they’d made pinhole viewers, colanders were handy, mirrors, all sorts.
…
We got 85% alright… In fact more than 85%… It was 100% cloud coverage!
The little ones were so nonplussed… They couldn’t understand the hype!
But the annoying thing… 3.30pm… Home time, and the most brilliant sunshine with a totally cloudless sky!
Still we watched a live feed from somewhere where they had 100% and the kids saw the actual full Eclipse!
And another natural phenomenon tonight, a Supermoon to see tonight!
Hope the clouds stay away!

A huge disappointment

06 Feb 2015 11 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogging, Cancellation, Disappointment, Friday, Frost, Game, Match, Nutella, Sad, Snow

Those of you who follow my blog know just how much I want some snow here, and it’s just not happening. Tuesday morning greeted me with a teeny tiny layer that dissipated within a couple of hours, so BOO! to that!
Yesterday was so promising! It was cold, we started with sleet and short flurries of the great white stuff! I played with my class outside in the afternoon, and we were accompanied by minuscule hailstones.
After school, on a visit to town with my two monsters, there were beautiful huge flakes falling…yay!
So I hoped, with some anticipation, that I would wake to at least some snow.
Did I? Did I heck!
There was none. Nothing. Nada.
Not even a speck of frost on my windscreen!
No fair!!!

And in other disappointing weekly news, Lil Man’s match, his first ever football match was cancelled (obviously not due to the weather!).training had been cancelled because of the ‘snow’ on Tuesday, and then his coach, our PE teacher at school, managed to give himself a head injury on Wednesday, due to a whiteboard with a mind of its own! So he was signed off, and that led to cancellation of match, and some very disappointed players…(but they were also concerned about the coach, honestly!)

So to make today feel better I’ll have a slightly naughty but yummy breakfast!