Is it just a love/hate thing?

I've been thinking lately about some of the books we see, that people either love or hate to extremes.

For example:

The hunger games, Harry potter and Twilight.

Having just finished the Twilight books, I started to wonder about all the hate that this collection of books receives.

Then realized that I have directed the same amount of hate, myself, at the Harry Potter books. Which begs the question why?

Is it primarily a case of numbers? Is it only natural that books that generate a huge following, will also generate a huge collection of haters?

Because lets face it, everyone is different. What one person loves, another will hate. Surely that is the case with any book.

This however, makes the prospect of making it big, a very scary thought for us writers.

Having read all of these series of books, I have to say that they were nowhere near as bad. as the haters might lead us to believe. I disliked Harry Potter not for its content or anything that really had to do with the book at all.

But because my first attempted read, was when I was forced to highlight every animal mentioned; due to working for a film farm.

I did later go back and read the first book again, as well as all the others. I found them slightly weak for my taste and at the time had some aversion to the style of writing, which, I felt, was dumbed down way to much. Something that I find is common for the young adult market; if Harry Potter can really be classed as that. I still think of it as primarily kiddy fodder.

At any rate, I could see that the writer had a good imagination and some great ideas, but they were never going to make it onto my shelf of awesomeness.

However, hunger games and twilight have proved a different matter. I have both sets and have really enjoyed reading them. Twilight's, Bella is a little annoying, but there are other areas of the book and characters that make up for that.

Yet, I'll admit. I did put off reading Twilight because of all the bad press it received. I didn't want to be one of the pathetic people that read it, or worse one of the ones who enjoyed it. Now, I am pleased to say I am both.

The reality is, I think that I would have been more pathetic, if I hadn't read it, based on other peoples opinions. Because ultimately I would have lived my life, forever judging the books unfairly, as well as missing out on books that I really enjoyed.

It's not just young adult books that gain this kind of love/hate attention though. Recently fifty shades of grey had the same effect on readers the world over.

I dived straight into the fifty shades books, curious about all the fully grown women who were swooning over them and was seriously disappointed in the female population afterwards.

The writer had skills, I am not going to deny that. I am sure she could be a great writer, but at that point I wasn't feeling it. I just found the books repetitive and was left with the horrifying notion that way to many women had a cruddy sex life, if they felt they needed a Mr Grey to improve things.

Personally, I find plenty of enjoyment in the sexual-antics department, without the need for whips, chains or any other painful intrusions. Each to their own I guess.

Another part of me wondered if it was truly the content of the books that was driving this fanatic behaviour from women, or more the fact that they felt they should love it, because they might seem boring if they didn't.

I also often found that on expressing my own dislike for the book and my reasons why, that others would also admit that they had found them repetitive and a bit boring. People who only moments before had been singing there praises.

So are we like sheep now? Just blindly following others, still even as adults trying to fit in and appear cool and if so why?

Shouldn't we have left that behind when we grew up?

Isn't it a little scary that so many of us, still hide our true feelings or avoid things for fear of what others will think, just because we are afraid of being judged?

So tell me, what are your thoughts on these kinds of books?

Do you still read them?

Do you do so with an open mind or do you go in already determined to hate them?

And why do you think these books produce such a strong love/hate reaction?

I'd really be interested to hear your thoughts.

Love and hugs
Joss xx

Friday catch up.

I've noticed that a lot of blogger take the time to talk about there week on a Friday and so I have decided to start doing the same, in order to help get me blogging a bit more.
So this is my official first Friday Catch up.

So we started the week with a beautiful bank holiday Monday. We didn't do much, besides relaxing at home, but it was still a really pleasant day. Sadly our Tuesday was to see that change. We'd noticed Monday night that Kye had started coughing quite a bit and so we got out the Vix vapor rub. That stuff has proved a life saver for us time and time again when it comes to our son, as it helps keep his airways open and stops him getting so bunged up that his asthma just goes mental.
When Tuesday morning came however, Kye was in a terrible state. He was sick all over his bed and his wheezing was so bad we were about ready to pack our bags and head to the hospital.
More Vix was applied, his pumps were taken and we waited with baited breath to see if they would have any effect. Thankfully they did but only brought it down enough that we felt for the time being hospital could be avoided.
Now, normally when Kye is sick like this my husband will stay home with us just encase, but having been off a whole week himself very recently for norovirus, this was just not an option, as we needed his wages in full this week.
So, for the first time ever, I found myself at home alone with my son when he was very very ill. First thing i did was call my mum, as she would be my back up if Kye needed to get to the hospital fast. Calling Dan or his works office if he had no signal, so that they could go and find him and inform him that me and Kye were on our way to the hospital. Not driving myself, I would need to call an ambulance, so Dan would have to follow after us in the car.
I got Kye's things packed ready to go just encase and then spent the day closely monitoring him  and trying to keep him quiet, calm and occupied.
To my relief, by lunchtime he was improving to more comfortable levels and looking a lot better if still not anywhere near close to a hundred percent.
He has now been home all week, this horrible cold that I now also have, is only just relinquishing it's hold on him, and allowing him to breath at a pace that means he can move around a little more.
So my week has been mostly about caring for him and administering vix and his pumps.
I did have a visit from my mum yesterday. It was her birthday on Wednesday and mine is tomorrow. So we just had a catch up and she help me get somethings done around the house that I was struggling with due to my disability and it was just a really nice day.
I've also been reading a lot and playing minecraft.
But my latest addiction is a program called switched at birth. It's fictional drama, about two girls who are switched at birth. One of them is deaf and so it throws up all kinds of interesting story lines and plot twists. As the families try to get to know each other, and there biological daughters/parents/siblings in the case of the brother. As well as the girls trying to figure out who they might have been and dealing with the jealousy that arises between them all.
I haven't gotten into a program this much in ages.
So as I mentioned earlier it is my birthday tomorrow. The last birthday of my 20's, as I will be 29. I'm not liking that much and keep focusing on the fact, unwillingly that I will be 30 next year. Yikes!
So would very much like everyone's assurance or at the very least little white lies, about 30 being fabulous lol. To help me get through this lol.
Last of all we had a letter this week informing us that our 21 thousand will soon be in the bank. This is great as it means we will finally be able to finish, renovating our home. Happy days.
I Hope you've all had a lovely week.
Love and hugs
Joss xxx

more interesting questions as promised.

So for those of you who don't know, my last blog post was used to answer some interesting questions from the course I am doing in English language and literature. I got a bit in depth with the questions and so decided that I would come back and answer the other questions at a later date. Well! that date is here. 

So lets get started. 

Who are my heroes. Why?

This is a tough one, but there are a few people I really admire. Firstly the female writers who paved the way for other women with the work. Such as Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen. I cannot imagine how horrible it must have been to be around in a time when the only way for you to get your work taken seriously, was to write under a name that seemed more manly and am so grateful for the work they did that means today, female  authors get the same recognition as men for their work. 

Another of my hero's is my husband and men like him. The real men, the guys who go out everyday and work hard to support their family. The men who stick around to raise and support their kids, whether still with their mother or not. The real men. 

Last but far from least. The single mothers and fathers out their who are doing it alone. I cannot imagine how tough that must be. I frequently need my husband to help not only support me when it comes to our son, but also to discuss the right cause of action with. To be alone, doing these things by yourself I think is amazing. My mother raised my sisters and I, by herself and struggled everyday. Not only to raise us right but to earn enough to support us all and ensure we had everything we needed, as well as quite a few things we didn't need, but wanted. 

She made mistakes yes, some pretty big ones too, but we all make mistakes, we are human after all, however, she always tried her hardest and that's what counts. 

Having a son with asthma, who gets sick a lot. I don't feel that I could cope without my husbands support and having someone by my side who is just as afraid as I am, just as protective, and just as determined to ensure that our son gets better and that we do everything we can to protect him. I applaud those who manage to stay strong when coping with a sick child alone, when working hard  to protect, care and raise, their children right. 

I know not all single parents do this, but those who do I think are hero's. 

Who would I least like to be? Why?

I would least like to be my sister. Because she goes out of her way to hurt others, has emotional damage that means she has three different children with three different fathers, and choose to have them, in part, so that she would not have to work; but could instead claim benefits.
I know that parts of our childhood were rough and we all have damage, but a bitter heart  and lazy attitude doesn't help that any. 

My sister is so smart, if she wasn't she wouldn't be so great at manipulation. If she set her mind to it she could achieve so much and I just wish she could see that and the value of working hard for what you really want in life. 

Just because we were broken doesn't mean we have a right to break others, just means that we have to work a little harder to achieve our dreams. I've done it, as has my other sister and I know she could too if she set her mind to it. 

If I could create an ideal world what would it be like?

I think just one with out without war. Where people understand that you can not possibly fully understand what someone else has been through or is going through, unless you had walked in there shoes. 

A world were people don't idolize famous people or footballs star, but instead those who risk there lives to save others. Who work hard to support a family, whilst earning a low wage and so on and so forth. 

A fairer world all round I guess. Where people aren't always striving to be the richest, the most powerful or the prettiest. 

Well, that's all the questions answered now. I hope you enjoyed my answers and I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings. 

love and hugs 

Joss xxx 

Interesting questions.

So it's been a while, yet again, since I have been on here. Why do I always feel as if every time I come on here to post, I say that? Oh yeah, that's because I pretty much do lol.
Ok I know I need to pull my finger out and that is what I am currently trying to do. I figure with Insane Reno now in paperback and my next novel under way that it is really time to start pulling my finger out and focusing on the more productive things in life. Blogging being a part of that, along with trying to get a diploma in English Language and Literature and of course, getting my second novel done.
Am I taking on to much? Maybe but if we don't try we never know.

So getting back on track, in my English language and literature course, I was asked some very interesting questions that really got me thinking and so I thought for today's blog post I would try to answer those questions here. Try being the important word here as they are pretty tough questions.

They are however, questions that are meant to inspire you to think, write and share. So lets give it a go. Feel free to have a go at answering them yourselves to and just leave me a link to your post if you share your thoughts, as I would be very interested to hear them.

So the Questions:

1) If I had only one message to share with the world what would it be?

I guess for me it would have to be that we all need to stop being so judgemental. Just because someone is different from what you or I perceive as the norm, does not make them weird, or something to be afraid of, or someone that we should  ridicule or to hate.

Unless we have walked in someone's shoes we really cannot judge their choices, style or anything else about them. To often, I feel, we look at people and we think they are this or that, based on either there appearance or their actions without fully getting to know someone.

I know from personal experience that people are inclined to believe the worst of someone just from first glance and it is so wrong.

let me give you a few examples of this.

First off I am a bigger woman, I am a bigger woman, because I like junk food too much. I am not gonna lie and claim all kinds of stuff that isn't true, there is no point. The simple fact is I eat to much and don't exercise enough.

This started when I met my husband, before I met him I was bigger than I would have liked to be but I kept my weight under control because I walked a lot. In fact I walked miles and miles along the cliffs with my dogs and other peoples dogs everyday.

However, when I met my husband he wasn't a big walker and so slowly I stopped walking too. I would still run the dogs out quickly but I didn't go miles and miles like I once had and I stopped walking other peoples dogs as well.

The sudden drop in activity combined with my continuation of my less than healthy eating habits means I ballooned pretty quickly.

Now, I use a mobility scooter to get around. So instantly a large number of you are probably thinking that it is because I am fat. But that is actually not the case. I use a mobility scooter because when I had my son I had an epidural and it went wrong, the result being that my spine has been damaged so badly that I can only stand for very short periods now and only walk very short distances. Literally from one room to another in my house.

Now, my weight naturally doesn't help in the sense that it puts more pressure on my damaged spine, but my doctors have assured me that regardless of my size I would have ended up where I am now, because of the epidural.

However, people see you out on the scooter and see your size and they assume you use it because you are fat. Coming to terms with a disability especially one that may ultimately leave you paralysed is a terrible thing and incredibly difficult.
When you add to that hurtful comments of others and their completely wrong judgements it makes it so much harder.
The result a lot of people in my situation stop going out at all, because they can't cope with peoples disgusted stares and nasty comments.

Although I haven't done this myself completely yet, there are times when I have been tempted to hide away too. It was actually my mother-in-law who stopped me, because she said to me, "Jossie, you have as much right to be here as they do." and she is right of course I do. So does everyone else.

Ultimately all we do when we judge others is make ourselves look bad. We don't know what that homeless guy has been through. We don't know why that mother gave up her children. We don't know why that big woman is in a wheelchair.

perhaps the homeless guy, once had a home and a family. Perhaps he once had a job just like yours and a life just like yours, with nice things and a pretty house. Maybe he lost his whole family in a terrible accident and couldn't bare to be in that house any more, or couldn't bare to work, to function in the way he once had.
The result, he lost everything he owned as well as everyone he loved.

Maybe the mother gave up her children to save them from being abused by her violent husband. Maybe she cries herself to sleep every night, from missing them. Perhaps she'd give anything to have them back, but she's scared of what he'd do to her if she left him.

And the big woman in the wheelchair, well maybe she's just like me :(

so if I could leave the world with one message, it would be to stop judging, because even in the most broken of places, truly special people can be found.

2) When have I felt happiest, saddest, angriest?

My happiest moments come from watching my son and my husband playing together. Hearing there laughter and joy instantly brings a smile to my face. The love they have for each other, the love that we all share for each other, is an amazing thing, it helps us to see that no matter what happens in life we will always have each other, and what better gift could you ask for.

My saddest moments, are when my family are sad, when people are care about are sad. You feel as if you can handle anything that is thrown at you, but when you see someone you love suffering. You just want to pull them into your arms and kiss away all their tears, fears and problems. When I can't do that. When I can't make everything okay for them again, it really makes me sad.

My angriest moments are when I see a bully picking on someone. I don't think anyone has a right to make anyone feel small or worthless and I think those that do it, do so because of their own insecurities. I hate bullies and bullies always make me very angry.

I am going to leave these questions here for now and come back and do more tomorrow, simply because I did not realise just how long this post would get after just 2 questions. So I will do this in several parts, throughout this week, love and hugs Joss xx

Top ten movie countdown blogfest post.

So today is the top ten movie countdown and you have no idea how hard this is going to be for me. For one I have a terrible memory lol and often remember the film but forget the name and for two there are so many amazing films to choose from, where can I possibly begin and how can I possibly list them from one to ten. At any rate I am going to give it my best shot.
But first if you want to check out others thoughts on this, which you absolutely should its a great blogfest, you can do so here:
Top ten movie countdown.

So where to begin well a movie that always has me glued to the screen and undoubtedly ends with me balling my little eyes out, is the Green mile.It's probably a really obvious choice but I don't care because it is absolutely brilliant.
It is such a sad and heart warming tale, with such an amazing mix of characters and actors, that it will always be one of my all time favs.

number 2 for me has to be my childhood fav, Labyrinth. As a kid I watched this film to death, and knew it word for word. I just love the imagery, love and fun that runs through this whole movie and will always have a special place for it in my heart, no matter how old I get. My puppy dog is even called Ludo after one of my fav characters in this film lol. Ludo friend!!
If you've never seen it you have too.

in the number 3 slot, seeking a friend for the end of the world.
Omg I loved this film and of course balled my eyes out too. Hey! I am a weeper I can't help it.
This is the ultimately love story, showing that age ain't nothing but a number and that love can develop in even the most unusual circumstances. It's a film full of laughs, heart warming moments and lets not forget a dog called sorry lol.
a must see in my opinion.

Fourth place goes to The help. 

I really loved this film for me it showed people with true courage and made me smile, laugh and sob a little too. The things people once faced because of small minds is devastating and to watch them overcome it in such a brilliant way was wonderful. Another must see if you ask me. 

fifth place goes to all of the Saw films.
Yes they are twisted but they are also incredibly clever and leave you glued to the edge of your seat and burying your head in your lovers neck, as you whisper, "Just tell me when it's over." and throw the occasional glimpse over your shoulder.

Let the games begin. Mwahahaha....

Sixth place goes to sleepless in Seattle another amazing love story. That has you laughing, crying and praying that everything works out okay in the end.

Seventh place, goes to The invisible. Omg this film did so many things to my emotion it was insane, and of course had me weeping. I can't do it justice with words so I hope the trailer does.

eight place goes to the freedom writers.

I just loved this film, and again it made me smile and made me cry. As I watched this teach go out of her way, to give her students hope, to encourage there dreams and to help them achieve there full potential, just brilliant.

Ninth place goes to the twilight movies, I know a lot of people hates these and I was averse to them for a long long time, but eventually I caved and once I did and watched them, I loved them.
So love it or hate it, my ninth place goes to twilight.

and last but far from least.

In Tenth place, Forest Gump. Because life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get lol.

I am sure I have missed some awesome films and I cannot really class these as the right order from one to ten either as I love them all, but I hope you find some inspiration and joy from them should you watch them.
love and hugs all
Jossie xxxx

The Overcoming Adversity Bloghop

I was meant to do my overcoming adversity blog post yesterday but life in it's chaotic nature got in the way, apologies for that but I hope you enjoy my attempt at the wonderful bloghop. Love and hugs Joss xxx

Beating the Odds

“She’s dyslexic; there’s no doubt about it.”  The words still rang in her head, all these years later, as she sat at her computer; mouse curser, hovering over the email from the latest publisher to whom she’d sent her work.

As long as she could remember, she had dreamed of being a writer. Those words, back when she was a child, had seemed to put an end to any hope of that dream coming true, and yet she’d continued to try, working very hard at school, taking any extra help that was offered, at least at first; until life succeeded in distracting her for a while.

However, here she now sat; twenty eight years old, and too afraid to open the email before her. Would it be a rejection? Had her editor done enough? Were her words clear enough, clever enough, good enough?

There was only one way to find out, and yet fear gripped her.

She should have given up, should have walked away from that dream and tried for the other; but, with her disability, animal care was no longer an option. After all, how could someone, who at times, struggled to care for themselves, possibly care for animals?

No, this was her only hope. She had to jump for this dream or simply give up on her dreams, altogether. Years of work and all that time spent fighting her Dyslexia, striving to learn what seemed to come so naturally to everyone else had brought her to this point. She couldn’t walk away now.

Finger, hovering for a moment; she took a deep breath, clicked the left mouse button and closed her eyes as silently she begged for good news. Opening them, she scanned the page, her hands flying to her mouth; tears coursing down her face. She felt like a fool, as she sobbed uncontrollably, forcing herself to read again; to process the words before her to the full.

She’d been accepted, they wanted to publish her book, and her dream had come true.

*

            She’d spent the start of her year, crying over her disability, feeling useless and worthless, as she was forced to take to the four wheels of a mobility scooter in order to get around. Ashamed and humiliated, she had been certain that her life was over. But now, here she sat; her book in her hands, a real book, no longer, just loose sheets of paper with printed words, but a real book with a cover, acknowledgements, and her name big and bold for all to see.

            However, as one disability had been revealed to her and accepted by her, she had overcome another; she’d beaten her dyslexia, had achieved what had once seemed so impossible and become a published author.

Her back might never heal, but she had her proof anything is possible; no matter how great the odds may seem. At last, she felt hope, hope for the future, and freedom from the despair that had threatened to devour her.

           

update on life in the Solheim family.

I have been neglecting my blog for some time now and am feeling somewhat guilty about it, so I am going to try to make a very conscious effort to update it at least once a week. I figure that once a week should be an easy enough target to achieve and should I do better than that, then great.

So what’s new in the Solheim house. 

Well we have some new friends, I can't remember if I told you about our kittens or not, but we now have to kitten Timmy and Tizzy. They are twins as they were born in the same sack, and Tizzy has already been off to the vets and been spayed. We don't want any little accidents, especially as her brother lives with us too. Timmy will be off to the vets as well soon, living as we do in the country, there are a lot of feral cats around on the farms and so we felt the responsible thing to do, was have Timmy done so he at least isn't adding to the feral population. 

Timmy and Tizzy, (Tizzy is the one with the most black)

Tizzy of course was named after Tizzy in Insane Reno, while Timmy was named after TIMMEH!!! from south park. Husband and sons choice when it came to his name. 

They are very sweet little cats, and Tizzy is a funny little girl, she likes to go around on your shoulder and also to crawl under the quilt to sleep. Timmy too has his quirks, he'll let you cuddle him quite happily until his sister walks in and then he acts like he's to tough for cuddles and goes and sits at the end of the bed, he loves to hunt but hasn't quite mastered doing so in the tree and as a result his pounces while in the tree frequently result in him tumbling to the ground. He scares the hell out of me sometimes doing that, but so far he hasn't done himself any damage. 

other new additions to the family are pipsqueak (aka Gary, I'll explain shortly) and Pigwig, two beautiful little Guinea pig boars. They were my Christmas present from hubby this year and are absolute sweethearts. Pigwig is a very gentle boy who is a little shy, although his confidence is growing everyday. 

pigwig

We named him pigwig because of his funny hairstyle lol. looks like he has a bald spot and could do with a wig lol, when pigwig first came to us he had a bit of a bite on his nose, caused by one of the other guinea pigs he was with, thankfully that has healed very nicely now, bless him. 

pipsqueak aka Gary

Pipsqueak is the real character out of the two, he is very bossy, likes to make sure you know he is there and has to be louder than everything else. Which means he frequently argues with the oven timer. When it starts beeping it is very hard to hear over pipsqueak. Because he is very self-opinionated,  my husband took to calling him Gary, after someone we know who is very similar, it's starting to stick more than pipsqueak is, I frequently call him Gary myself now without even realising it. 

Gary/ pipsqueak is an escape artist. He has worked out he can squeeze through the bars of their cage and frequently does so, usually when he deems you are taking to long to come and top up his food bowls. (please note that his food bowls can be full when he does this, just in pipsqueaks opinion they are not filled with the right things)  What follows is an awful lot of guessing on what it is that he does want and if you don't have it, you can expect a whole lot of complaining. This morning while I was feeding the cats pipsqueak decided I was taking too long, only I didn't realise he was out, until he made me jump out of my skin, when he brushed past my ankle, apparently I was taking too long on the cats and he'd had enough of waiting. 

any who, as I got the guinea wigs for Christmas, I guess I should tell you all about ours. 

The start of the Christmas holidays were less than pleasant this year, as I caught Norovirus, was very weak and feeling very poorly. Nothing would stay down and all I could do was sleep, I was very worried that it was going to last until Christmas, however, God was nice to me and Christmas day I was feeling a lot better. I was still pretty weak so couldn't stand for long periods of time, without getting dizzy or feeling faint, but well enough that we were able to join my husbands mother, sister, and a friend for a lovely Christmas day. 

Kye of course was overjoyed with all his presents and we all had a great time, especially playing Kye silly new dog game. In which you have to feed the dog and be the first too scoop so many doggy do's lol. We got a bit of a jam at one point and Dan was forced to blow into the dogs mouth in order to remove it, that and the way the dog seems to fart as you pump the lead, made for a very entertaining game, that had us all in stitches. We're a little immature lol. 

Dan giving the doggy do game mouth to mouth 

My two boys full after their Christmas Dinner. 

What else is there to say, well we got the first proof of Insane Reno, there is no greater feeling than holding your own book in your hand for the first time and knowing that all the hard work paid off. However, we did decide to give it another quick edit before putting it out there in paperback form. We just finished the edit and I should be sending it off to my publisher today, so we can get the paperback ball rolling. 

me holding my paperback of Insane Reno. 

If you are still in the process of trying to get your book published then don't lose heart and never give up it is a truly amazing experience and well worth all the work involved. I bawled my eyes out when my proof copy arrived in the post lol, tears of joy though, that's for sure. 

2012 was a year of ups and downs. Learning just how bad my back was and that I had spinal stenosis was not so fun, as well as coming to terms with all that meant, was certainly hard, but getting a publishing deal and being able to buy my book from Amazon was amazing  hoping 2013 is has just as many good points, if perhaps a few less lows lol. 

we sold our Skyline too, that went of to France to help people learn to drift. I think it's great that it will be doing what it was made to do and was quite happy to see it go and we are now on the search for a new car, a saab 95 estate, diesel, it looks like it may be a long search, but when we find one, it means we will be able to take my mobility scooter everywhere with us and give me lots more freedom. 

If of course I still have it, as the new changes from disability living allowance to pip, means that many disabled people could be losing there motobility items, car's, mobility scooters and wheelchairs. I think this is terrible, I know without speedy McNipster my mobility scooter, I will very much be home bound. As I am not strong enough yet in my arms to get my wheelchair, that I brought, up the hill outside our home. I have no idea how I will get my son to school and can't afford to buy a mobility scooter, but if they do make the changes to pip me and lots of people like me will be losing there freedom. I don't want to dwell on that however and am keeping my fingers crossed that, that does not happen. 

lets talk about something nicer, Ludo.

Ludo has well and truly grown into an almost fully grown boy, as you can see with Harley laying on him here. bit blurry pic here apologies, but it was hard to get the shot when they were laying on me and I was trying to hold the cam where I couldn't see the screen to snap it. I did my best. 

His training is coming along well in the sense that he is doing what I ask, but I need to somehow find a way to get him calmer as everything is done a great speed.

I made the mistake the other day of teaching him how to remove my headset, not because I need him to actually do that, but because he was bored and wanted to learn something and as my back was quite bad and I was struggling to move that day, I needed it to be something where I didn't need to move from where I was. 

I now regret it whole heartedly as whenever Ludo wants your attention, which is a lot, he starts nudging my head set off, then back on, off, on, off, on over and over, until you cave in and play tuggie with him.
I think I need to wait for him to grow up a bit and get into a more calm place before fully going at the training, unless someone knows away to help get him into that calmer state. 

Any tips gratefully received

So I think that is pretty much everything that has been going on, I am of course working on Annie which is coming along nicely, I think it is going to be somewhat longer than Insane Reno, but we shall see. Hope you are all well and happy and had nice Christmases love and hugs, Joss xx.