Happy 16th Birthday

So we finally reach Sweet 16….years since I launched SimeWorld, and it’s time for my annual update.

Well let’s start with my family. Joanne is still working for Knowsley Education, and doing a fantastic job at updating her skills. She alreay has BSL Level 1 under her belt along with a Braille qualification, and she is currently studying for BSL Level 2. Matthew started Uni at Liverpool John Moores in September on a 3 year degree course in Media Studies. Heather in now in her GCSE year, and is considering leaving school in July to start at a catering college.

As for me, well I am happy to report that I am still working for the same IT company in St Helens and I am studying for my third Microsoft MCP which would gain me an MCSE qualification. I’m always trying to learn new things in work, as it keeps things interesting and it doesn’t do any harm to be up to date with the newest technologies either.

Speaking of learning new things, Joanne and I have been pushing ahead with Frame Of Mine – a pocket-money business which came about when we made a memorial frame for somebody as a one-off. It proved popular and we’ve made a LOAD since then. We don’t really have the time or resources to push it as much as we would like, but we keep it ticking over enough to give us some spending money for our holidays.

I may have taken a few liberties with holidays over the last 12 months actually, as I’ve been to Palma, Tenerife, Amsterdam, Nice and Malaga! I did say that it’s important to live your life now as you never know what’s around the corner. Unusually I don’t have any other holidays lined up yet, so I think that task could be high on my agenda.

Finally, I have started filming my Dad at home talking about his life. When he comes to our house he often tells stories to us all, and I am amazed to be still finding things out about his life all the time. It seemed like a good idea to get some of this on film, so I plan to video him talking about his life and then roughly edit it together so that I can show my wonderful Dad to many generations down the line.

Until next year, take care of yourself and your loved ones, and above all else…..be kind.