Monday morning

The weather is doing it's best to make this a miserable Monday, it's pouring with rain. Was going to upload a video to make it a bit more cheerful but I can't work out how to do it.
Got J to summer school early this morning. Having to reset my timings because in the back of my mind I'm still thinking I have to get him to the village by 9 o'clock. Going to be a lot worse in September when I have to get him there by 8.15. One of my friends moved so they were next door to her son's senior school, I can see a lot of sense in that.
Talking of moving the man who's buying Dorothy's house from us hasn't replied to last couple of letters from solicitor. He was ringing up all the time wanting to know what was happening, now it's gone quiet. Really hope he hasn't pulled out.

Update

• J living in his tent most of the time now.

• Woman who stormed out of church meeting back at church this morning as if nothing happened. Sort of avoiding talking about it.

• Have been eating our runner beans & they're yummy.

Pictures

Some pictures of J's creation at Sunday School last Sunday. Still trying to work out link to Jeremiah.

This is a view of J's junior school.

This is a blurry picture of the apparatus.

This is the door to the new classrooms.

Yesterday I learned a new skill. This probably sounds a bit pathetic but I finally got round to learning how to load pictures from the camera to the computer.
So flashing back to last Monday this is where we went - the beach!

Louise picked up J & me & we went to join some of the other mums & children at the seaside. J had a really good time playing on the beach with the others, something he hasn't been able to do a great deal. The only down bit was when...
One of the girls was buried in the sand & laughing & giggling & obviously enjoying it. J volunteered to be next but as soon as they started covering him in sand you could see he didn't like it & he liked it even less when they poured water on top. He stuck it out to the end though. Don't think he'll volunteer for that again.
Poor Louise had to push me up a steep slope back to the car. Tried to get boys to help but all they did was push me round in circles. She didn't seem to suffer any permanent damage.

Still thankful

I'm trying to keep thinking of more things for which to be thankful because I'm tempted to feel a bit low & frustrated by my health at the moment & yet I know there are so many things I take for granted & there are so many people in the world so much worse off. I've been reading a couple of blogs by people I know who are working in Africa & they do bring home the gap between us & them. One girl from our church who is going to train a a doctor has been working in Ghana & she said 2 new-born babies died in her arms, one because there were no antibiotics & one because there was no incubator. Yet it's not as simple as just buying them an incubator as there's the whole question of training & maintenance. It's made her very determined to become a doctor & help make a difference.
It's the same with education. I've been stressing out over whether J should go to one excellent school rather than another excellent school & yet there are so many children who don't get the chance of going to school at all. Yet at the same time I suppose it's important that our children get the chance to achieve their potential so they can do their best to make the world a better place.
Talking of which J thought Summer School was brilliant! Was Mum right to make him go or was Mum right? He really enjoyed the work, liked the teachers & made another friend, all the things I hoped would happen. This morning he went off all enthusiastic & cheerful.
We also heard yesterday that he's been put in the top sets for every subject for when he starts. I really think, knowing how J is, that wanting to stay at the top will be a far bigger incentive to work than trying to get to the top which is how it would probably have been at grammar school.
Every time I go to his school I just think 'I really like this school.' And I do, I just like it.

Which side of the motorway?

Yesterday P & I drove to meet the man from whom I'd bought a scooter on ebay. (J had slept over at Tim's & spent the day there). Trouble was we'd agreed to meet at Northamtpon service station not realising part of it is one side of the motorway & part the other. So we were one side & he was the other but of course we didn't know that for sure & he didn't have a mobile. After 15 minutes P went in & asked for directions to the other side & we managed to find him. It's a nice little scooter, nice & small so it fits easily in the car & will be useful if we go camping. I'm also hoping J will be able to lift the parts & assemble it so we'll be able to go out to more exciting places.
The weather was a bit awkward yesterday, very hot in the car but when we got out it was a bit damp & windy. We stopped off in Buckingham which I found a bit disappointing mainly because despite having a by-pass it had a very busy road running through it. And the museum charged me full price even thought I couldn't get round everywhere. And it was a bit short of places selling ice cream!

Thankful Thursday

Some of the other blogs I read do this thing called 'Thankful Thursday' where each Thursday they think of 10 things to be thankful for. (Could there also be a Moaning Monday?)
Anyway here I am having a go:

Today so far I am thankful that:

1) The door didn't come off its hinges when J slammed it.
2) He eventually agreed to have a bath & get ready for summer school.
3) After falling over at Tim's house yesterday he's only having to go to summer school with a sprained wrist & not a broken one.
4) When he said he thought his school might be 'too easy' I didn't totally lose it. This is the boy who could have gone to grammar school & chose this school instead!
5) We got there just on time.
6) When I was coming out of the drive at the same instant the post van was coming in we managed not to collide.
7) I found a parking place at the dentist.
8) I think the dentist is managing to sort my teeth out.
9) Despite the bad pain in my legs I've managed to get J to summer school, put on the washing & hang it up, load the dishwasher & get to the dentist.
10) P & I are still speaking to each other despite discovering that the week he's booked off to go to Wales is same week I've booked J's sporting activities at leisure centre with his friends. He's sure he told me & I'm sure I told him (I think).

Daughter of some former church members was at church today with her gorgeous 5 month old twins. I spent most of service cuddling one of them which was lovely. Only thing was she was a bit sick over me but most went on my cardigan which I took off & rolled up. J would never have just sat on someone's lap like that, he had to be stimulated the whole time. Hasn't changed really.

(J groaning as one of his teeth just fell out unexpectedly.)

Lady who stormed out of church meeting not at church this morning.

J made amazing creation in Sunday school - 2 meringues, strawberries, choc fingers, magic stars, jelly pigs etc apparently this has something to do with Jeremiah. Have been teaching him about importance of generosity & sharing.

In addition to tent we bought a little beach tent which might act as a store for my scooter if we go away. J set it up outside & wanted to sleep in it on his own but I flatly refused. He then wanted P to sleep with him but he refused as it looks like rain. So now he is going to sleep in it in the living room. This is ok but how am I going to stay up to watch television?

In fact it's amazing how big a small tent can seem when it's indoors.

I just had a thought- perhaps we could use it as a quiet area for our next prayer rooms.

A quick update:

• Have got another tent, the other one was just too big & hard to get up. J keeps going on & on & on & on about having his friends over for a sleepover in it.
  

• Have bought a little mobility scooter on ebay, haven't picked it up yet.

• Little girl who was on activity day & has swine flu is getting better.

• Got J's SATs results. If you don't know anything about SATs 3 is below average, 4 is average, 5 is above average & 6 is a lot above average. Each level is also divided into a, b & c, a being the highest. What he got was 5b for Maths & Science & 4a for English. English is always a bit of a problem area for him so we felt his result was quite good but we were disappointed with the others as he was predicted to do better & his teacher assessment was 5a for Science & 6c for Maths. Had a word with his teacher & said I didn't know if we were being a bit petty as he still did get good results. He had a look at his papers & said he felt Science was fair as although it was obvious J knew all the answers he hadn't always written enough. However he felt in both Maths & English he'd been marked too low & there have been a lot of complaints about poor marking this year so he's asked for his papers to be re-marked.

• A few weeks ago the housegroup came round & tidied my house for me!
  

Drove home from meeting in heavy rain, thunder & lightning. It all quietened down but apparently there was another bad storm in the middle of the night. J & I slept through it though. J got up to go the loo later & the power was off.
So J got up this morning for his last day at primary school. As it was a special day I let him have cheesecake for breakfast as well as his scrambled egg (I know, I know, bad mother of the year award). He went into school with 2 shirts, one for the others to write all over & one for assembly. P also went in later as a governor to be at the assemblies.
I had a nice relaxing day then Louise pushed me in at picking up time to see the teachers being given their presents, then we said goodbye to them (when we told one of them he was J's favourite teacher he seemed really touched) & that was it. Outside the temporary Year 4 teacher who was also leaving was surrounded by children who were hugging him & clinging onto him, some of them in floods of tears. He was obviously really popular. I've never seen anything like it really.
The children were given a lovely year book which 2 of the parents made with photos & a bit about each child.
I felt a bit like I was going to cry but J was fine, he's so ready for senior school now.

Yesterday evening I went to church meeting. This was quite an important one as we were discussing some possible major changes to the building, chief of which was replacing the pews with chairs. Surprisingly there was general agreement to go ahead apart from the lady sitting next to me who by her body language was obviously unhappy. I was waiting for her to speak up & say so when suddenly she got up, shouted at the minister & stormed out slamming the door behind her. This was just a really awful thing to happen & I don't know what to say to her, I really don't.
From some of the conversations we've had at the coffee morning there are going to be others in the village who don't like it. But at the end of the day the church building is just a building & most of us are feeling the right thing is to move forward & modernise it. It's hard though.

To go back to yesterday, after the dentist I went into town & met up with P. After scooting round the shops I got to school just in time to pick up J who then went home with Adam. Went home & checked emails - one from organiser of activity day to which P took group saying one of the children who was there has been diagnosed with swine flu. Contacted all parents of our group, said no need to panic, there were lots of children there, child concerned probably didn't come near our group. One mother then emailed me back & said her daughter had just been diagnosed with swine flu. So it's just a case of keeping an eye on the children & watching out for any symptoms. Apparently we should still send them to school if they seem healthy even if they've been in contact. There was only today left at school anyway.
A couple at church have already had swine flu, they were both ill but not allowed any visitors & confined to their house for 5 days with their healthy & lively children aged 3 & 11months. What a nightmare!

To go back to earlier in the week, cos I meant to write about it & forgot, on Tuesday we had a breakfast at the housegroup. The main attraction at this was the minted fruit salad P had made for me. This was absolutely delicious. This is how it's made:

Chop up some mint & mix with some honey or maple syrup & some apple juice (or any juice you like). Adjust quantities to taste. Then bung in any fruit you like. We had lots of different berries +orange, apple, mango, melon, cape gooseberries & grapefruit (which seemed to go with the mint really well). Mix it up & leave overnight. Mix again, garnish with some mint leaves then serve.

At the breakfast we also had croissants, baguette, cold meat, cheese, jam & cake. Lucy had laid out the table beautifully in the garden & we were having a lovely time. Then it started raining. So we went indoors & continued to have a lovely time.

We have had a lot of changeable weather recently, it's nice & sunny & all of a sudden it's pouring with rain. It's what they call British Summer I suppose.

Having my tooth done didn't hurt at all! This was in spite of the dentist having to delve deep into the roots where he found some disgusting brown gunk. And today it's not aching any more which is good because it's been aching slightly for years. I kept saying this to my previous dentists & they said there was nothing they could do. Nothing they wanted to do more like.

Managed to get to school early so J could go to village shop to buy biscuits for his teachers. Even though we got there 3 minutes before the time we left home yesterday he was wailing 'What if there's a long queue & I'm late for school?' Told him that if he said he was late because he was buying them biscuits I could guarantee they'd be understanding. Anyway he wasn't late.

J's report said he was 'incredibly well behaved'. Is this really the same child who has been slamming the bathroom door & yelling 'I'm not going to school!' in the mornings?

The children had to write their own 'reports' on the year. This is what J put;

'At the beginning of year 6 we were given easy work and easy homework and spellings I already know. The first trip in year 6 was the trip to the Golden Hinde and I'm not sure whether it was the original or a replica. And we had to document everything about it. Doing the year 6 fund raiser was great fun. There was a load of new stuff built for the school and the library is still not finished! Then the residential trip which is the best part of year 6. The second best part was the leavers party.
Overall year 6 was not the best of years as most of the work was revision that I did not need to do. But all the trips were excelent!'

Today I'm going to try & get a present for the school 'from J'.He wanted to get tennis balls to make up for all the ones he's hit over the fence but they said they've got loads of tennis balls & they'd like Lego or something like that for 'wet play'. I also am going to try & get him to write a thank you letter.

But first I'm off to the dentist who is going to 'have another go at that root canal'.

Something so good happened on Monday:

J WON A ROSETTE AT SPORTS DAY!

He got his team off to a good start in the wheelbarrow relay & they won! He got a first place rosette
for the first time ever in his last ever sports day race at primary school. After 7 years of watching our son come last at sports day we saw him win.
He is so pleased with himself.
Yes!!!

Woke up really not feeling well. This was quite a problem as was going with J to ' school leavers service at Anglican church'. Wondered quite how traumatised J would be if his mother was actually sick during service. My Mum was sick once at Parents Evening cos she'd accidentally put daffodil bulbs instead of onions in the steak & kidney pie & it's not one of my best memories. Managed to get up but couldn't face food. P had left early (in pouring rain) to go to young people's activity day. Louise came & picked up J & me (with spare school tie as J had left his in our car). Leavers service really good. Children were presented with a copy of the gospel of Matthew. (When they were asked how many gospels there are no-one answered!) Becky then dropped me at home & took J & Adam along for rest of activity day. By then it was bright & sunny.
Spent afternoon asleep. P & J had great time at activity day. Makes all the hassle involved in organising it seem worthwhile.

Yesterday evening was year 6 leavers inflatables party which got off to a very good start. There was a giant inflatable slide & an obstacle course. There were sumo suits & a knock each other off the pole game & a football shooting game. There was also a game of rounders going on. The children had a wonderful time & the parents sat chatting & eating their picnics. At this point our picnic seemed a bit inadequate as the people next to us unloaded bottles of wine & tubs of delicious looking delicacies from M & S. We meanwhile took out our peanut butter sandwiches.
After an hour of this a few raindrops began to fall. Then more & more rain came. The children continued to have a good time, the slide being now even more slippery. And there was an ice cream van. The adults however looked increasingly miserable,huddled on their wet picnic rugs under umbrellas, apart from the few who copped out & went into the school hall with fish & chips.
Anyway, the children really enjoyed themselves, and that's the main thing. And I'm ever so grateful to the mum who shared her umbrella with me.

Really haven't been feeling well this week, this is partly because have been overdoing it trying to clear out Dorothy's house so feet were really painful for a few days. Also have had pain in abdomen for last few weeks which I was hoping would go away. Went to doctor last week, he said it could be infection & gave me antibiotics. Took antibiotics, felt better, finished antibiotics felt worse. Made an appointment for yesterday morning which wasn't very convenient as it was school Open Day. Popped in first to see J's class doing science experiments & have a go at J's electronics worksheet for parents, then P pushed me back to car & I went to doctor who gave me more antibiotics & said see specialist if it carries on. Sounds fun.
Then went back to school where P happily involved in helping with science experiments, J coercing parents into doing his electronics & his friend Adam making explosions with vinegar & soda bic outside the door. Suddenly the teaching assistant looked at J & exclaimed 'Are you alright?' He looked about to heave. However it turned out that the latest craze is for these sweets that taste really sour until you've sucked them for 60 seconds then they turn sweet. The challenge of course is to see if you can last 60 seconds. Turned out P had actually gone to shop & got some of these for J to eat & give to his friends while they were in class! Words failed me really.
Then J got into an argument with a girl, saying she'd nicked some of his batteries. I thought he was being a bit hard on her so got him to give her a sweet but she didn't like it.
Then we all had a picnic in the blazing sunshine, had a look through J's workbooks & went home.

The play was seriously brilliant! They all did so well. There were quite a few children off so several had had to stand in at the last minute. There was a rumour that Henry would be back last night & it would have been nice for him to get the chance to do his part. However he didn't turn up & J did really, really well. He said his words clearly & looked so happy & confident, so different from last year. The main character in his scene completely forgot his words but he made it so funny. He was just calling out 'Somebody tell me the lines please,' & if anybody had the script they didn't admit to it so the others on stage were prompting him with the wrong words & we were all rolling around with laughter.
It was a comedy about school days with scenes about dinner ladies, auditions for the school choir, Jimmy Fixit the school handy man etc. It was very funny & there was some really good singing & dancing.
At the end there was a bit where some of the year 6s were recalling their memories of school (actually I wish they'd let all the year 6s do it) but anyway one boy's memory concerned J. He said one day J had leaned back on his chair so far he fell through the door then he knocked to come back in again. J's version of events is that he was standing up, tripped either over the chair leg or a trainer, he's not sure which, fell against the door handle so the door opened & he fell half way through. On the way home J & Adam were talking about it & A was saying 'It was Mr H teaching us that day' & J was saying 'No it was Mr P'. I don't know, he seems to have gone down in history anyway.
So it's Open Day on Friday, Leavers party Saturday, Leavers church service Sunday, Sports Day Monday & then on Friday that's it - the end of J's primary school days.

Had an email from the scout leader saying there were so few scouts there on Tuesday he nearly went home. I wonder if perhaps somebody should have mentioned to him that it was the night of the school play.

Last night I was checking through some of my old posts and in some cases deleting bits.Some things are better deleted. Anyway I noticed one at Christmas where I said I'd post a picture of my poinsettia but I forgot.

I got given this plant the previous Christmas & it said on the instructions it should be in a warm place so I put it next to the heater & it shrivelled up. However when I went to throw it out I noticed some new buds so I kept it & tenderly nurtured it so it would produce this wonderful, amazing, beautiful display last Christmas:

Impressive eh?

Went to coffee morning this morning. There is this rather eccentric man who comes who has a habit of asking every female in sight if she'll marry him which is disconcerting for women, especially when it's the first time they've ever stepped through the door. I'll call him Cyril. Cyril is also very deaf.
Anyway another old man from the coffee morning crowd recently died & some of us went to his funeral & his daughter came in this morning & made an emotional little speech thanking us for being there & for our friendship to him. Cyril turned & looked at her:
'Are you married?' he said.
Was talking to Linda from church & also someone who used to be a teacher & they both feel we've made right decision re school.
I'm off to see how my little thespian fared this afternoon.

Last night was the first night of the schoolplay. J, whose part was so small as to be microscopic, has had a lot of conversations recently which have started 'Don't want to be in stupid play...'
But yesterday P picked him up from school & he burst though the door yelling:
'Guess what? Henry threw up last night so he's got to stay off school for 2 days & I've got his part!!'
Henry's part involves 15 lines! J was so hyper he was almost unbearable & made it clear that actors of his standing shouldn't have to bother with such trivial matters as ironed shirts, clean trousers, polished shoes, cut nails & brushed hair.
Just as he was going out of the door he said 'Oh Dad, I need a brick, a trowel & a toolbox.' Just like that. Then he decided he didn't want the brick after all & left it on a kitchen chair which is ok but I can't lift it.
Anyway Becky saw it last night & said he did very well. We're off to see it tonight. Will let you know how it goes.

On Sunday we had a church barbecue round someone's house during which:

• I enjoyed lazing around looking at their beautiful garden
• J & the other children had a great time in the pool
• There was a huge flat screen TV if we wanted to watch Wimbledon
  
• I reassured the lady next to me that the red blob on her salad was a pomegranate seed & not half a ladybird
• Spoke to minister & he felt we'd made right decision re J's school
• I sort of wished I hadn't had the lemon cheesecake as well as Becky's waffleberry pie
  

Talking of houses there's this really awkward situation at church. A nice young couple (he comes to our housegroup) have bought a bungalow next door to an old lady at church whom we've known for yonks & they want to convert it into a house. The trouble is she's opposing it & has actually started a campaign in the village on the basis that there'll be no housing left for the old folk if all the bungalows have gone. He came to the housegroup very worried that she's got all her friends & relatives & neighbours to write against it & nobody's supporting them & writing in on their behalf. Because we think she's being a bit unethical & unreasonable & her real reason is she doesn't want all the dust & noise of building work we decided to write to the council on the young couple's behalf.
It's very awkward though, I'm almost avoiding the old lady because I don't want to get into a conversation about it.

At the same time as having to make the decision about school we also sold Dorothy's house. We have sold it as a plot of land as the house is in such a bad state it'll have to be knocked down. the man who bought it said it's to build a house for his son & family to live in, hope this is true & he's not secretly a developer who'll turn it into something horrendous. P arranged for a lady from the bric-a-brac stall on the market to come round & see if there was anything she wanted. I hadn't been in there for ages & it was so embarrassing, it was in such a state - damp, smelly & mouse nests in the drawers. The trouble is P is going through everything bit by bit saying 'That might come in useful' & I'm saying 'I don't want it in the house, it smells, why don't we just chuck it all in a skip?'

Monday & Tuesday were J's induction days at his new school. I got in a slight panic as I'd never driven there myself but the journey was quite straight forward & I came to the school entrance & turned in, wondering why there had been such a long queue of traffic ahead.
'Er, Mum, it said visitor's entrance the other way,' said J.
Oops. I was in the teacher's car park.
Two caretakers stopped work & leaned on their brooms staring at me as if I was the vilest criminal that ever lived. At this point I realised that to get to reception J just had to cut across the grass and sneak round the side of the building and I'd miss all the traffic.
Neat eh?
Anyway when we went to pick him up (going in the right entrance this time) he was full of it, his tests had been easy, they sell ice cream in the snack bar on hot days, he liked the teachers & best of all he'd made a friend!
Great, wonderful, such a relief... But then...
On Tuesday I dropped him off at school & went to the housegroup. We were sitting in Lucy's lovely garden having a discussion about 'dealing with distraction' when my mobile rang. It was the education office saying J had got to the top of the grammar school waiting list & they were offering him a place!!!
We went back to look round grammar, we've had a lot of discussion, a lot of agonising & a lot of advice from a lot of people but in the end we've decided to stick with technology college.It's where J really wants to go & somehow it just feels the right school for him. He's also worried about how sporting the grammar school is which I can understand. Also P isn't happy about how far he'd have to travel.
So that's it. The good thing though is that he seems very positive about his school, feels it's his choice & says he's going to work hard. I've told him he's got to get good GSCEs to prove the people who are saying he should go to grammar school wrong. We are thinking that perhaps he'll try for grammar school in the 6th form but that's a long time off. We'll see.

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while- a) have had trouble signing in & b) had a bit of an eventful week last week.
It's hard to know where to start but perhaps I'll do it starting from the Saturday before last which is when we went to a barbecue some friends held for people aged 40-60. This was a pleasant evening (although there was torrential rain half way through). It was also nice to be with people more my own age rather than being surrounded by glamorous young mums whose idea of being overweight is only just being able to squeeze into their size 8 jeans. (Not that I don't enjoy their company,it's just that sometimes, well, you know...)
The thing was though that the other women I spoke to had got beyond the young children stage & they had careers. So it was like:
'I'm deputy head of a girl's school, what do you do?'
'Er...'
This made me think about my life and how I spend my time. Sometimes it's so easy to just spend my time picking up other people's socks or wasting time just surfing the net looking up stupid stuff. I'm determined to try & focus on some of the things I really want to be doing & make sure I set aside time for them.Perhaps I should get J to pick up his own socks.
Anyway,watch this space.