New Year Resolutions

I've just looked up my post for last New Year and I had flu. So I'm very thankful for being relatively healthy this year, except my leg is hurting. It hurts every morning when I wake up but usually eases off if I stand on it for a little while but today it's kept hurting. Never mind it will get better.

I'm sort of wondering about some resolutions, perhaps:

1)    Pray and read the Bible at the start of each day as far as possible
2)    Get up on time and be generally better organised in the mornings
3)    Sort out our bedroom so instead of a dumping ground for clutter it becomes a peaceful, harmonious and restful place to be
4)    Finish my essay
5)    Get back into my dark blue jeans
6)    Sort out my kitchen cupboards
7)    Spend some time with God praying about future and especially about church situation

8)    Go on a healing course
9)    Wear nail varnish more often
10)  Get my hair cut regularly

You know what, I'm going to do all these, not all at once but I'll work towards them so by the end of the year they've happened. Where's the nail varnish?

Goodbye 2011

So here we are saying goodbye to 2011. It's been a funny sort of year really, some good bits but some not so good and a year when I've felt God had been encouraging me a lot and saying things are going to get better so I'm looking forward to 2012 and hoping this will be the year when amazing things happen.

Would you eat this?

When we were at the market the other day P bought a brace of woodcock being delighted they were so cheap as they are a delicacy, apparently. The other night he prepared them the 'traditional way'. With a flourish he presented me with my plate. My woodcock sat on a bed of toast with two clawed feet hanging off the edge and curled up in the middle a head complete with feathers, a rather sad expression and a beak.

There was just  no way  that any of that was going into my mouth, however much effort P might have put into it, however much it might cost in a restaurant, however much he might call me a 'townie'... I was not going to eat it. In fact I could hardly bear to look at it. 

Give me 5 day old cold leftover turkey any day.

Family games and a theft

J beat me at monopoly inevitably. Yesterday I played him at Scrabble and we ended up arguing because he was being such a bad loser. The trouble with games and our family is we all have different skills. Anything to do with numbers or strategy and J is streets ahead, general knowledge or artistic skills and P is up there, words and I'm the winner. There must be some game where we're all on a level playing field. When we were at my brother's last year we played 'courts' which was good - one person is defendant, one the judge, one the defence lawyer, one the prosecution, others police, jury, witnesses etc. You have to make up a crime scenario etc and it's really good fun. You need quite a lot of people though.

P is working on our new sewage system, our old one being inadequate (you don't want to know details), this isn't much of a fun job for him really. When he went to fill up his digger with diesel the other day he found his diesel supply had disappeared together with some hydraulic oil. Seasons greetings to you too thieves. Ok I'll forgive you, I'll pray for you but please can you not nick any more of our stuff.

Good day

Had great time today visiting friends, good company, delicious food, J happy with their boys, bliss! If you're reading this thank you so much, we had a really good journey home and I'm sorry I jogged the table and spilt the drinks.

 

Christmas

J didn't wake up until 7.40 yesterday - joy! Came and sat on our bed and opened stocking. At what age do you stop stockings I wonder.

P started cooking as soon as he was up, got turkey in oven and went to church. Quite a short service. As usual children took up their presents but J felt he was too old. He did help light Advent candle.


Sort of friend who used to coach J in French and German came in and sat next to me, nice to catch up. Becky and family came along as well and I got to cuddle the baby. So cute.

Brought Mavis back here. Had a very nice lunch. J very helpful with cooking and laying table etc. Mavis can be a bit difficult at times and she was a bit difficult yesterday but we coped. J got me to play Monopoly City with him. Good fun but didn't finish. Playing Monopoly with J seriously scary - he's ruthless.

Went on skype and talked to my brother and family.

Today did a bit of shopping, got 3 pairs of trousers in sales and none of them fit, they will when I slim down a bit.

J is ath this moment reading my blog. Help! 

Happy Christmas

I'm going to say Happy Christmas now in case I don't make it onto the computer tomorrow.

Have a really nice and blessed day.

Christmas Eve

Feeling nice and relaxed, everything just about ready for Christmas. Missing being with my brother and family but it's nice being at home. 

On Wednesday got up far too early to take Mavis for blood test. Then our friend Joanne came round for coffee. She's going to be on her own for Christmas as she doesn't get on with her daughters in law (how sad!) but won't come to us as she says she just wants to be on her own.

Had a nice shopping trip with J on Thursday including a hot chocolate in Caffe Nero. P and I went in rain to Christmas market last night and delivered cards and presents in village. Before I even woke up this morning P had been round Waitrose trying to go early to avoid crowds. Then he and J went and got turkey and delivered cards to neighbours. This afternoon went round to Louise and Steve's to give them their presents and ended up staying a couple of hours. P has been doing a lot of cooking - I think he's preparing a banquet. He and J iced cake (which is massive). I thought the yellow thing on it was a crab buit apparently it's a manger. I've made the bread sauce, might be a bit lumpy.

J mega-excited. Has just tripped over my scooter (which wasn't parked in usual place because J had left stepladder in middle of room after hanging up decorations) in rush to look for his stocking which we haven't been able to find. Think he's just a bit bruised.

Just found stocking and still has chocolate coins in it from last year!

Outnumbered on tonight. Yay!

Internet limit

During J's absence our internet usage dropped dramatically and it became obvious what was the reason we keep going over our limit - J playing games.

Carol service

Just as the nativity finished yesterday it started snowing huge flakes which was quite romantic but then it turned to sleet. Today it's cold and icy but no snow.

For years and years we have been to the five o'clock candle-lit carol service at church but last year due to the bad weather it was cancelled and we went to the service at 'other church' which was absolutely brilliant and J enjoyed it. This caused a bit of a dilemma this year but two factors influenced our decision - an email from one of the organisers at usual church saying 'shall we just do it the same as last year' and J saying 'Do I have to go to the candle-lit service?' So feeling a bit disloyal we headed off to 'other church' and it was really, really good again - cafe church style with chairs round small tables with cakes and mince pies, tea, coffee or hot chocolate, an excellent choir, lively carols sung in a worshipful style, funny videos and a really well delivered talk with a serious message on forgiveness and a chance to say hello to several friends and get to know a couple of new people.

On Christmas day we'll be back to usual church. 

A 6 ft king

There can't be many church nativities that have a 6ft king. It was meant to be younger children in the nativity but they kept dropping out so J, Adam and a teenage girl had to step in as the 3 kings. J towered above everybody else. They did a very dignified performance I think. A king has always been J's favourite role, I've lost count of how many times he's done it. He sulked when he was a shepherd, his antlers fell off when he was Rudolph in the school play and as for the time he was a squirrel and had to wear tights...

Piano exam result

Phew he passed

P's job shock

For some time P has been thinking about taking early retirement if he can get a good deal. He was having discussions with his managers about this and training others up to take over his job. Ok, fine ...then...

.... the other day he gets a letter from his boss saying they have to make a post redundant and it has to be P or a woman he works with. She's also interested in early retirement. So what's going to happen? How will they decide who goes? What if he's not allowed to go? Would redundancy be better than retirement or worse? To complicate things the possibility of a job in another department has come up if they can get funding. 

At the moment it's all totally up in the air. Definitely a pray and trust in God situation.

Yummy Nepalese food

On Thursday night we went to a Nepalese restaurant. Food was very nice, similar to Indian but spices a bit more subtle and with a hint of Chinese influence. The dish I liked best was the spicy potatoes. Nice to have a night out just the two of us.

He's back

My boy is safely back from Germany having had a brilliant time. Didn't have any snow there which they were expecting. Shared a room with his 3 best friends which was really good (went to sleep about 11!). Bought me some chocolate marzipan and a wooden puzzle and P some dark chocolate. He was a bit tired this morning but got up wanting scrambled egg as getting cooked breakfast withdrawal symptoms and then wanted to catch up with the back log on his advent calendar but spoilsport mum said no, not all in one go. He's been round Tim's most of the day. I've finished letter and posted cards and even wrapped some presents. Just got P to clean windows and mirrors. A bit more tidying to do before Christmas. Ok a lot more tidying to do before Christmas.

Snow!

It's snowing!

Christmas tree

Here it is the Christmas tree:

Isn't it good?

I'd be lost without you

This morning at coffee morning we had a couple of men singing songs to make it Christmassy. They were really good but they started off singing this mournful love-song repeatedly singing the line 'I'd be lost without you'. There was this whole line of widowed women looking like they were just about to burst into tears. By the end of it I was beginning to feel a bit weepy. We managed to get them to sing some more cheerful stuff after that - 'So Here It Is Merry Christmas....'

I've invited Mavis to come to us on Christmas Day. She said that she'd had nowhere to go and she'd been trying to get the Salvation Army to take her but they were full up. That seriously made me feel awful.

Must get on with that letter.

Letter writing time

On the school website they've got a blog written by one of the teachers on the trip saying how they're getting on. Isn't that a nice idea! They're having a great time apparently.

Yesterday I had a nice long lie-in. Mmmm. Then I wrote all my Christmas cards (I think) which is really early for me. Just have to write the Christmas letter. This is a bit of a serious undertaking since I managed to unintentionally offend one of my relatives with it one year and she didn't speak to me for months. Actually I think I'll take the attitude that if someone chooses to be offended by anything that's up to them and that particular person won't receive a letter.

Someone in my family, mentioning no names, said that because of the recession let's not do cards or presents this year. So I thought ok if you can't afford it I understand and I never know what to get you anyway although I do feel not sending cards is going a bit far and I'll probably still send you one. Fine. Then in an email the other day this person said the money they'd save by not sending us presents they'd donate to charity. This is kind of weird. Shouldn't the money you donate to charity come from what you'd have spent on yourself not what you'd have spent on other people?

I know some people have hundreds of cards to write and it's a real chore but I really miss the days at church when we all gave each other cards. Now we sign one big card and give the money to charity although we still give cards to a few people. I just liked the chance to write a nice message to someone and perhaps say thanks for all you've done this year and I liked all the cards sitting prettily on the shelf. 


What am I going to write in my letter?

 

School report

This year J has been working very hard at Graphics and has managed to get an A* for every piece of work. When we got his report he'd only got an E+ and also had an E in English and C- in Science and ICT. These are the four subjects in which he's started his GCSE courses. English has never been his best although he's been doing ok but he's very good at the other three. I emailed his Graphics teacher and she said his grade for the work they've done so far is A* but the way they have to report it is as which grade he would get if he took the GCSE exam now and as they've only covered a small amount of the work he would only get an E+ but obviously as they get closer to the exam that grade will go up.

Isn't this confusing? 

I think all school reports need is four columns  working well/not working well       behaving/not behaving

That's all we want to know.

School trip

What had been meant to be an organised & punctual departure for J's school trip somehow descended into a chaotic, me discovering J had just stuffed everything into his case instead of folding his clothes, him frantically trying to stuff his shoes in, P crumpling everything even more in an effort to get it all in, me yelling that what was the point in me washing and ironing clothes if they were going to end up like that, J agreeing to carry his shoes in separate bag, still not able to find camera, P pointing out it was J's responsibility to look after his camera and why hadn't he put it away and he should me more responsible with his possessions and here he can use this other camera but it's not as good, J forgetting his watch which P had bought specially, me repeatedly pointing out how many times I'd told J to get everything ready the night before, J just grunting, ending up in mad dash to get to school on time making it by just a couple of minutes during which journey I asked J to promise to wash and brush his teeth and wear his coat and have a great time. Then he was getting on the coach with his friends and the teacher was checking his passport and we were driving off and I was blinking back the tears.

Then P got to work and opened his briefcase and guess what was inside - J's camera.  He must have borrowed it sometime.

A lady who lunches

I've been out for lunch twice recently - we had our coffee morning Christmas lunch. This year we went to a different restaurant and it was very nice - and cheaper. Instead of  a long table we had tables of four which was cosier. Then on Friday I went out with some of the people from other church housegroup as we were saying goodbye to someone who's moving away. I don't know if I mentioned her before but she lost her second baby at birth about a year ago and now she's pregnant again which is lovely. 

Lions, hyenas and crocodiles have been at the hippo.

Dead hippo

For some reason we are sitting watching a programme about a dead hippo.  Really there's this  horrible bloated dead hippo lying there with its legs in the air and scientists are watching through secret cameras to see which animals come and eat which bits of it.

Actually I've just told P I have to watch the Strictly results cos otherwise I'll hear it on the radio in the morning & that spoils it.

Tomorrow J is going on another school trip so have been helping him pack. Mysteriously his camera has vanished off the face of the earth.

Can't find Strictly Results on iplayer & now the vultures are moving in on the poor hippo. Aaaagh.

Bottle-top Christmas tree & a sore foot

Over last few weeks youth club have been making a Christmas tree banner. When I say the youth club doing it I mean Emily's daughter, another girl, J, Tim and Adam have been coming along with several of us parents and between us we've been doing it. Yesterday the younger element spent quite a lot of time turning cartwheels and playing on the musical instruments in church. This tree is made from plastic milk bottle tops which are covered in fabric with a bit of padding then stuck on fabric in the shape of a tree. J did some calculations to work out the ideal number of bottle tops. P got them each to have a turn at the glueing yesterday.
This morning in church was the grand unveiling of our efforts and it looked very good. What's more J even gave a little talk about how it was made and did very well.

Yesterday evening was a meal at other church monthly family housegroup. Had a very nice time - turkey for the third time this year and some pleasant conversation. Only thing was I'd taken off my boots cos they've got a cream carpet and they've got a labrador which must weigh about 10 stone and he trod on my foot. Ouch. 

Wild weather

Weather wild today - wet and strong winds. At least it isn't snowing. I've ordered some plastic track things to put under your wheels if you get stuck in snow and it mustn't snow until they arrive.

Just had a round robin Christmas letter from someone from my ante-natal class saying how her daughter got Grade 3 piano last Christmas then Grade 4 in the summer and is taking Grade 5 at Easter. Also she's enjoying her extra GCSE in Astronomy. And the family really enjoyed their Mediterranean cruise. Sigh.

I can't think what to write about myself in my Christmas letter. I don't think I've done anything much different this year to last year. Put on a few pounds? Watched lots of 'Come Dine With Me'? Put off writing essays? There must be something.

The wind sound like it's about to blow the roof off.

Piano exam

J finally went back to school on Tuesday which was his piano exam day. So I took him in for PE and half of drama then picked him up for exam after which he was returned for English and after school Mandarin. Still he got his attendance marks.

 Tuesday morning was just one of those mornings - overslept, couldn't find tie, couldn't find homework diary, frantically scribbling letter to teacher, car windscreen iced up, roadworks, lots and lots of roadworks...Anyway we had thought J would have a good practice before school but he didn't (and as far as he was concerned it was all my fault). I picked up P then we got J and drove 37 miles to the exam centre. This long journey (I've just worked out altogether it was an 80 mile round trip, don't even think about cost of fuel) was because teacher had said this was much better centre than previous one and he was right. The last one had no piano in the waiting room but this one did and they had organised practice sessions for each entrant. The other parents/teachers were saying 'That's really good' to their children, I was saying 'You're still not holding that minim down long enough'. At the other centre he wasn't allowed to try the piano in the exam room first but here he was allowed to warm up and what's more it was a Steinway. 

I've noticed that's there's a distinct gender difference with music exams, girls tend to come out and say 'I played a couple of wrong notes I've failed,' and in some cases burst into tears. Boys on the other hand come out saying 'I did fine, apart from a couple of wrong notes.'

Anyway he said his pieces went fine (wish I felt so confident), his scales went a bit er wrong, the sight reading was really easy but his singing was off pitch. We shall just have to wait and see.


There was an advert at the exam centre for a book about helping visual learners to play music, wonder if it might be helpful.

Bit of an update

J & I should be at church but we're not. He's on his top bunk coughing & I'm lying here keeping him company & trying to rest my leg. I'm really hoping P brings us back a couple of turkey rolls from the church lunch. With stuffing & cranberry sauce please.

Had a text from Sophie my housegroup leader whose house was burgled this week. I don't know what was taken but I know it included some of the children's stuff. Horrible, horrible thing to happen. There have been a lot of break-ins round here lately. One woman at church arrived home to find her front door smashed in then two men came running out of it holding her daughter's ipod. Don't think they would win any intelligence contests though as they had parked just across the road. As they drove off she filmed the number plate with her mobile & it wasn't long before the police came knocking.

My friend Becky's granddaughter made her appearance a week ago - in the back of the ambulance. The ambulance took an hour and a half to arrive & it was a quick labour. A bit traumatic especially as no pain relief apart from a bit of gas and air at the end. Ambulance man got drenched when her waters broke. Still she's a lovely little baby with a pretty Victorian name & her mum's recovering.

J has started wearing his glasses & there don't seem to have been any problems at school. I think he's impressed with how much better he can see.

Dinner guest

Me trying to convince J that we should invite Mavis who is elderly, lonely but often behaves in a way that is quite difficult, to Christmas dinner:

'Remember Jesus said that 'If you do it to the least of these you do it to me, so when we have Mavis over really we're having Jesus over so treat her just like she's Jesus.'

J: 'You mean I should pray to her?'

Bad leg

Today my right leg is so painful that I can hardly walk on it. Has this been caused by waiting hand & foot on my sickly son? I don't know but I wish it would get better, I've got to get ready for Christmas.

A poorly J & a Christmas Fayre

Ok blue background looks stupid.

The main thing that has been happening over the last few days is that J has been ill. He came home from school on Tuesday night all shivery & when I took his temp it was 38.1. Oh dear. Had aches & pains & sore throat plus slightly runny nose. Really seems like flu. Been lying around in bed or on the sofa ever since but has now made it to the computer so things looking up. I thought that since we all had swine flu the winter before last & J & I had flu last winter that we wouldn't get it this year. I was wrong.
Big concern is piano exam next Tuesday. Is he going to be well enough?
Tomorrow we were going to see our friends who we had to cancel in October because I was ill now we've had to cancel again. 

P & I have just popped in to Christmas Fayre at J's old junior school. Very nice but as usual so crowded it's hard to get round. We were waiting in a queue to get into one of the rooms & suddenly realised that what we were queuing for was Santa's grotto. Perhaps we're just a little bit too old. Reminded me of the first time I ever took J in there when he was 4. He came out most indignant 'Father Christmas asked me what I wanted for Christmas & I said a train & he gave me a fire engine!' I could see his point.


Actually the other night when I asked him if he'd brushed his teeth I could see he was contemplating lying about it & I went into this lecture about the evils of lying. Then he said 'You lie sometimes'. 'Ok, give me an example.' 'Santa.' Hmmm.


At the fayre I had some really nice mulled wine & felt I ought to try the chocolate fountain & buy some cupcakes. I also got a really nice little decorated box with paper flowers on top. Someone's getting that for Christmas.

Hello

Hello we went over our internet allowance again so poor little blog has had to wait. What does this blue background look like?

Keep trusting

Yesterday had a sort of 'What's the point of my life?' day and yes I know, I know there's a lot of point to my life and God has a plan and a purpose for me and nothing is impossible for Him. I know that but sometimes I lose the plot. However today I feel more positive. It's another beautiful day. J is still in bed coughing and groaning. Hope he's better soon.

When I was reading my Bible this morning I really felt the verse in James about 'the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well' and I thought wow.

Bonfire night

Fun day?

I had my hair cut a lot shorter yesterday. Can't decide if I like it or not.

Lovely sunny day. 

J  off school with another cold. Was going to go into town but stuck indoors with piles of washing & a sniffing teenager who says I annoy him but expects me to wait on him hand & foot. Yippee.

A difficult school run

A lovely sunny day today. Had chaotic start to the day as J needed to sort out recording equipment for an English assessment and ended up borrowing my mobile. I think leaving it until ten to eight was a bit last minute. Had one of those journeys where it's just one hold-up after another. As I was waiting behind 3 coaches coming out of school one of the Dads whom I know came over and said my front driver side tyre was really low. As I went up the road the petrol light came on. So I could potentially have a flat tyre and run out of petrol and I hadn't got my mobile. Great. I made it home and managed to pump a bit of air into the tyres. Hope it hasn't got a puncture. I honestly feel we get more than our fair share of tyre and wheel problems.

J's week currently goes: Monday lunchtime Steel Pan club, Monday evening Scouts, Tuesday evening Mandarin class, Weds lunchtime Art Club, Weds evening Piano Lesson, Thursday evening Art Club, first Friday in the month Youth Club. Keeps him off the streets I suppose but I'm finding it so hard to keep track that last night I thought Scouts finished at 9.15 when it was actually 9.00. One of his friend's mums phoned me and asked if I wanted her to bring him home - a sort of tactful way of saying 'I'm waiting here with your son where on earth are you?' Oops.

He has a piano exam in a few weeks. Believe me J and piano exams is a very stressful combination, stressful for all the adults concerned that is.

Visit to the opticians

Yesterday J and I went to the optician. His sight had been gradually deteriorating over the last few years and last night he'd reached the stage where he has to start wearing glasses. He chose some snazzy black and green ones but I don't think he's very keen on wearing them. I can totally understand how he feels, I went through the whole of senior school needing glasses and not wearing them. This did have the advantage that I developed quite a good memory as I had to memorise what the teacher was saying as she said it. I really hope J wears his though.

I have to have a pressure test on my eyes once a year as my Dad now has glaucoma. My result was fine - better than average, but this horrible thing happened during it. The optician made a joke and laughed and his spit went all over my neck! Seriously yuck.

A nice evening

My brother arrived eventually and we had a nice time together. P had made a chicken dish with chickpeas and almonds - yum. My brother brought me some chocolates - I love you little brother. Half of them had toffee pieces in them, such a shame that P and J don't like toffee. My brother and I stayed up late doing the quizzes on the 'embarrassing bodies' website. ( I can never understand that programme - you've got a problem which is so embarrassing that you've had it for years because you can't face going to the doctor so what do you do - you go on TV and display it to several million viewers). Anyway according to these quizzes I'm depressed, dyspraxic, got mild OCD, poor hand-eye co-ordination, a medium risk of developing diabetes and kidney disease and a geographic tongue. Yikes. Apparently a geographic tongue is where some of the little hairy bits are missing so if you eat spicy foods it hurts and even toothpaste can cause you pain and that's true for me - toothpaste does burn my tongue. So now I know why. However it isn't serious. Not sure about all the rest of the stuff though.

Sunday

Remembrance Service this morning, went very well. J was one of standard bearers for scouts. Very moving, I was fighting back tears during Last Post etc.

J went off to cinema after lunch to celebrate friend's birthday then on to Pizza Hut. He saw 'Johnny English' which he says was very good & he had a large (ie huge) popcorn & orange drink then most of a Hawaiian pizza & a load of ice cream. Feeling a little bit under the weather now, surprisingly.

We went to a local history exhibition which P found very interesting & I felt a bit bothered by the number of people invading my personal space - it's just a wheelchair thing, ok, they sort of squeeze past too close.

Then we drove home the long way to look at the Autumn colours which are so beautiful. 

The last few hours I've been tidying up & P's been cooking a special meal because my brother's coming but he was meant to arrive an hour and a half ago & he hasn't because he's stuck in traffic. Sigh.

J is doing German homework which he's left to last minute because it's a review of a film he's recently seen & he said he'd leave it until he got back from the cinema except he said he'd got to have a 'relax' first when he got home. 'Your life's one life's one long relax' I said.

I'm hungry.

School

I'm just about coming to terms with the whole bullying thing. I don't feel good that my son was bullied and beaten up and I certainly don't feel good that he lashed out and hit the bullies nor do I feel good that he didn't tell anyone. I keep wondering if I was too hard on his head of year and I did apologise to her for having got so emotional but I still don't feel that initially she handled it well.

Now we just have to work on preventing such a situation arising again. He has a 'bullying diary' in which he's meant to write down any incidents in which anyone does anything unpleasant to him and show it to his head of year. He doesn't feel very comfortable with this understandably. He's only had one 'incident' so far when a boy thought he was sitting on 'his' stool and pushed him off so his head collided with his friend John's head. He says that boy just 'tends to be violent' and he doesn't feel it was personal. Anyway the boy's going to be 'sanctioned'.

I'm praying that everything will settle down and there won't be anything else to write in the diary.

Apart from this J is happy at school. He's been invited to join the 'gifted and talented arts props club' which paints the scenery for the school plays. As a reward he'll get a free ticket for the play and a mention in the programme. Wow!

 

Brrr

J has spent the day lounging around looking very sorry for himself. He's not coping well with havibng gone to bed at 3 am. Still he did enjoy the night hike. Early to bed tonight I think.

Had a trip to local large hardware store with P to get some plumbing pipes and paint. Exciting! (not)

P has made a cake, just gone to the oven to get it and there has been an almighty crash. Apparently when he tried to get the cake rack out of the cupboard everything stared falling out. Apparently it's my fault cos I put the stuff in the cupboard.


Because I don't feel our house is as warm as it should be I've been doing some research into heat loss and am wondering if the metal ties which loop round the roof panels are acting as 'thermal bridges' and conducting some of the heat out. P is going to try spraying round them with insulating foam. I'm also insisting that everyone shuts the outer door before opening the inner door and vice versa. I really would like to be a bit warmer. Watch this space.

I actually struggle at this time of year when it first turns cold as my body thermostat doesn't seem to work very well. While I'm currently wearing several layers of fleece P is in shirt sleeves.

My son stopped by the police

Last night J went on a night hike with the scouts during which they played a cops and robbers game. While their team were hiding in the bushes from the 'cops' a torch beam suddenly shone on them - it was the real police wanting to know what they were doing. Thankfully they believed them and actually checked up the road to see if the pretend cops were lurking in a parked car.

11/11/11

We will remember

Ampersand problems

I've just realised that every time I've typed an ampersand in the last few posts something strange has been happening. I've gone through and changed them all to 'ands'. Wonder if I can contact Blogger about it.

Shopping trip

On Thursday P and I went to a new shopping centre that's opened near us. It's sad but I really like going round new shopping centres. We tried some Indian sweets (not sure about them really), bought a fleece and trousers for J and a shirt for P and then had a Caribbean lunch. I wasn't very adventurous and just had barbecued chicken and 'rice and peas' as I don't like 'hot 'spicy food, but it was very nice. Then I bought a new pair of brown shoes and hunted desperately for something to wear to the wedding. I found what seemed to be a long top/short dress which was quite a pretty fabric and had long sleeves which I really want as it's winter and it was really reduced. When I tried it on it was really strange, I couldn't get my legs through it. Then I realised the bottom part wasn't a skirt - it was shorts. How strange. As it was so cheap I've bought it and am going to try cutting off the shorts and also take in the top which was a bit baggy. If I can manage to do that and get some smart trousers I think it will look ok.

Other other church

This morning we went to another church which is a 'plant' from 'other church' and is in a village near to us. It's very small. I don't think there could have been more than 20 people there. To my surprise the first person we met was the lady who used to do my ironing and whose daughter worked at J's pre-school. I had no idea they went to church. We also met a couple of other people we recognised from Faith Camp and the man sitting next to me was a friend of a friend. It was quite an informal service with the children happily running/crawling round until it was time for Sunday School. The worship and sermon were very good. Although J wouldn't say so I think he actually quite enjoyed it. There weren't any older children/teenagers but apparently there usually are some. We'll give it another try sometime. They do a cooked 'mega-breakfast' once a month. Perhaps we should try that sometime.

Bonfire night

Last night we went to a firework display/BBQ. P took some awesome pictures. When I can get on the other computer which is almost impossible when P and J are at home I'll upload some of them.

We were mentioned on the radio

When I was sitting at the Woman to Woman conference I was sitting in a row with other people in wheelchairs and there was this woman next to me who had come from Leicester by train. She had come with a friend who had to leave early and wasn't quite sure how she would manage to get back to the station. When P came to get me I asked him to push her out to the front and she said she'd phone for a taxi. When we got out she was saying she couldn't hear what they were saying on the phone so I phoned up the taxi firm for her. We decided to wait until the taxi came which was quite a while and then P helped her into the taxi. I was worried about her but couldn't see what more we could do and was really praying that someone would offer to push her from the taxi to the platform.

Anyway on Thursday P was listening to Premier Radio in the car and there was this bit about 'good deeds' and this woman came on and said she was from Leicester and she'd been to the Woman to Woman Conference in a wheelchair and her friend had had to go early but this woman next to her and her husband and son had helped her and got her into the taxi and then the taxi driver had pushed her to the platform and how thankful she was. Wow! Actually the best bit was knowing that the taxi driver had helped her to get to the train ok. Thanks Lord.

What's more, she won a box of chocolates for her contribution.

Phone call

One early morning phone call from head of year. One emotional conversation (emotion being entirely on my part), what amounts to as close to an apology as we'll probably get and she says she is going to find out what's really being going on and she and special needs teacher are going to see what more they can do to support J.

Right I'm now going to leave all this aside and enjoy my day.  

Another bad day

I'm feeling better but today have been upset.

Lsat night J's head of year phoned & said while she sympathised with what had happened J had hit the other 2 boys with his badminton racket so she felt he had to be sanctioned. Being sanctioned meant going into solitary confinement today ie working in room with just a teacher there. Ok, if he hit someone he should be ' sanctioned' fair enough. Then I asked her if they were going to deal with the bullying situation & she said she was dealing with each boy in turn & J was first. 

Then this morning I got all panicky re his special needs & had they taken them into account & they said they'd get a laptop but I still wasn't happy about it. I was feeling really unhappy about J having hit someone which is so unlike him then I thought 'it is really unlike him'. Tonight I said to him that he really had to tell us exactly what had been happening & when he did it is just so upsetting & has been going on such a long time & he put up with it without telling anyone then it all just erupted. I am so unhappy that the school had put him into isolation all day without first having properly found out what had driven him to it & my son had been treated like a criminal when he is really a victim of long-term bullying for whom it finally became all too much. If they wanted to punish him a little bit ok but they've gone over the top. And what's annoying me as well is that the boy who punched him will presumably be excluded which ok isn't very good on his record but will he be shut up in a freezing cold room & not allowed out for lunch? No, he'll be at home playing computer games.


And also if you were in a court of law they'd gather all the evidence before sentencing anyone. Wouldn't they? Ok Boy 1 might have put in his statement that J hit him with a racket but he just might have omitted to mention the song he made up about J's hair & got all his friends to sing along to. Every time they saw J. Since last Christmas.

So this evening I wrote a long email to his head of year telling her what we thought, well not the computer games bit. I tried to word it very nicely & I showed it to P & J to make sure they agreed with it because it says on the anti-bullying website that you shouldn't take action without making sure it's ok with your child.

So watch this space.

Actually I think in a few weeks time I'm going to delete this page because I just don't want to look back & remember this.

Herman lives on

I'll just mention that Herman survived and the cake was really nice. Son of Herman is now bubbling away on the worktop.

Squeak

Woke up this morning & thought 'What's that squeaking sound?' then realised it's my chest. This virusey thing is really weird, it comes and goes. On Saturday felt well enough to go to Woman to Woman conference in London, well ok I was a bit unsure about going but I was sooo looking forward to it - Anne Graham-Lotz and Jill Briscoe were speaking. It was awesome and I'll tell you more about it later but journey a bit hard-going due to engineering works and lift not working at Limehouse Station. Towards the end I suddenly started sneezing a lot which was awful because I didn't want to infect everyone around me. I stayed in bed yesterday morning but then felt better and went to 'other church' in the evening but today I have felt bad. I think I'd better rest.

Fruit & veg

Listen, J, I know vanilla comes from a plant but I really don't think you can claim ice-cream as one of your '5 a day'.

Good school trip & I'm ill

On Friday P took J to school for 4.45 to set off on trip to WW1 Battlefields site in France/Belgium. I was quite worried as I'd forgotten to tell P that car needed petrol so couldn't get back to sleep until he was back home. During the morning I had a phone conversation and exchanged several emails with Year 9 administrator. She is taking statements from everyone involved and says they will get to the bottom of it all. Problem was that both J and Head of Year were on trip and then it was half term so a bit of a delay.

After lunch P and I set off for Surrey as Pierrepont, the healing centre I go to, were celebrating the 25th anniversary of Ellel ministries. Journey took a bit longer than we hoped, took detour through Guildford to avoid traffic and went round in circles for a while. Eventually got to hotel where we were staying overnight. Decided to try and find cinema in Guildford but ended up going round in same circles we had before. Had quite a nice meal in a restaurant instead. Managed (just) to resist the choc fudge brownie with vanilla ice cream and marshmallows and hot chocolate sauce. Didn't sleep very well as room a bit hot and we could hear every step taken by the people in the room above and for some reason they took a lot of steps in the night. However disabled access was very good and staff very helpful and it was a nice room.

Saturday was lovely day and we had awesome time. Couldn't believe how much teaching spoke to us, I have been studying Joshua recently and teaching was all from Joshua and about how we can break down our own personal 'walls' and come to a place of breakthrough. I need breakthrough, I really do. We had a nice lunch and met several people we knew and got to know some knew ones. Then at the end of the day they said we could have some prayer if we needed it which I found really helpful and they offered to pray for P as well.

Almost as soon as we got out of the gates I started to feel a bit unwell. We were driving to pick up J straight from trip, stopping at Sainsburys to get sandwiches on the way. We thought we'd have plenty of time but when J phoned to say they would be early I was a bit concerned as it was the teacher in charge was the same one who led the trip in Year 7 where they had to wait for us to arrive (not really our fault) so it would be really embarrassing. We managed to get there before J and he got off the coach with a big bag of Belgian chocolate and he'd had a very good time. A bit mystified by French breakfast though - 'It was just a croissant & a pain-chocolat'. I asked him if he was moved by seeing all the gravestones 'Spose', he said.

That night in bed I felt like I was still travelling and when I got out of bed the floor was definitely wobbling. I spent Sunday in bed and missed church and spent Monday in bed &and missed going to visit our friends and spent this morning in bed and missed the social highlight of the year - the Over 60s coffee morning and I'm going to have to go and lie down again in a minute. So I'm a bit fed up really. I'm still a bit dizzy and have a sore throat and J is saying he's got a sore throat and is a bit dizzy. Is this the same germ he's had for the last few weeks or a new one?

If you're reading this, friends we missed seeing, we will rearrange for another day when we're all better. 

Bad day

It was when I picked up J that the day turned bad. As soon as I saw his face I knew something was wrong, he was pale and shaking and fighting back the tears. Then he told me that someone had punched him hard on the ear and smashed him against a wall. I looked in his ear and there was dried blood which was a bit scary so I called in at the doctors and the receptionist said we could see the nurse (they are so good at our surgery). Anyway the nurse looked in his ear and said it was just a cut to the inner ear, nothing serious but watch out for signs of head injury etc and she thinks he can still go on his trip.
As soon as we got home I got J to tell me the full story. Turns out there's this boy (boy 1) who's been teasing him about his hair colour for over a year. J played badminton today against a friend of his (boy 2) and there was a mix up about the score - J mistakenly thought it was a draw but in fact boy 2 had won. Boy 1 then came over and accused J of being a cheat and a bad loser and J erupted with frustration and hit him lightly (he says) on the arm with the racket. Boy 2 then started swearing at him and J hit him with his racket then boy 2 grabbed him up and swung him round (must be a big boy) but stopped when the teacher started walking towards them. As J was walking out of the changing room boy 3 (who has previously been violent to J and is threatened with permanent exclusion if he does anything else) deliberately blocked his way. Boy 2 then smashed him into the wall and tried to kick him. J kicked back in self-defence and boy 2 punched him hard in the ear. This was witnessed by at least 3 other boys, 1 of whom may have filmed it.

I feel so upset about it and I'm trying not to feel really angry with these boys.
I have left a phone message with the year 9 administrator and sent her an email with all the details so they had better sort it out. I said to her that in the whole of J's time at school there has never been a single incident of bad behaviour and he had never been aggressive to another child so if he lashed out at boy 1 with his racket it must have been due to the frustration of being bullied for over a year.

I wish he'd told us about the teasing.

Don't go shopping when it's just turned cold

Today I got up ridiculously early so we could go and meet the SENCO. It actually went quite well, we are all really encouraging J to go and ask her for a laptop to use on class when he has lessons with a lot of writing. He is quite reluctant partly because he doesn't like going to the 'special needs room' and partly because he feels embarrassed about using the laptop in front of the others. This is sad really.

Then I dropped P off at work and went shopping to get a few things for J's school trip. Today was the first day it had turned cold which actually is not a good day for me to go shopping because when I popped into Mountain Warehouse to get J a money belt I also picked up a shaggy fleece, gloves, scarf and warm socks (all for me that is). In M and S I picked up some fleece lined ankle boots and thermal tights. Well they say it's going to be a cold winter. Actually I really did need the boots as my lace-up shoes are finally giving up the ghost after 7 years.

After I got home the friend of a friend who's moving from a caravn to a house came over with her husband and a van to pick up the fridge, cooker and cupboards from P's dad's house. Her husband is deaf and dumb and such a sweet person. It's amazing how much he communicates just by facial expressions and grunts - he got across 'Are you sure the electricity's off before I unscrew this cooker socket?' remarkably well.

It's sad sorting out P's dad's stuff.

Poor Herman

Yesterday I met up with the woman who was leader of the housegroup at 'other church'. We met at a coffee shop and had a nice chat. She's a nurse at a local hospital and while we were there one of the doctors she works with came in and came over and sat with us. He was very sweet. Anyway it was really nice to see her again. She was telling me about one of the women in the group whose second baby died at birth last year and now she's pregnant again which is really lovely.

Yesterday I was given a 'Herman sour dough starter' which is like this yeasty thing you look after and feed for 10 days then you can use it to make bread or cakes. Trouble is it says in the instructions not to use a metal bowl or spoon so I was careful to put it into a plastic bowl - using a metal spoon. I think I may have killed it.

J just had a piano lesson which actually went quite well.

KANGAROOS!

Ok it's not P's fault he was coughing in bed last night but I am so seriously sleepy today,

The scout campfire went well although there was a bit of a long wait for hot chocolate at the start. There was this amazing bloke leading the singing dressed in a blanket covered in scout badges and doing some impressive dance moves. This is the sort of song we sang (to the tune of Frere Jacques):

Cuddly koalas, cuddly koalas
Possums too, possums too
Wallabies and wombats, wallabies and wombats
KANGAROOS! KANGAROOS!

I'll say no more. Except I don't see why J begrudged me 2 marshmallows in my hot choc.

Tired

P off work today as his cold is bad.

Last night in spite of being exhausted I couldn't sleep. Went round to pray with someone at church (as in usual church) this morning. We meet up every so often to pray together. I can't believe how much I moaned. Normally I try to be positive. I've got so much for which to be thankful, what am I moaning for? Just tired, I suppose. I am so tired. I've got to go and pick up J then go to family campfire with scouts if he's up to it and then go to church meeting.

Perhaps I'll have a sleep first.

Still more random thoughts

• My cleaner, with whom I now get on very well, has started at uni (nearby that is), which means she can't come so much which is a shame but it does in a way get a bit threatening when someone else keeps sorting out your stuff so at the same time I don't mind too much but I do miss chatting to her.
• A colleague of P's is emigrating to Australia and was selling off some of her furniture. We went and picked up a corner unit, a full length mirror, a set of shelves (one of those covered with fabric which lifts up at the front) and we also got a couple of radios. The corner unit really transforms the dining room, I think, especially with my spider plant on it. P says it sticks out a bit so ultimately will have to go somewhere else and he's not sure about the plant. I really like the shelf thing but can't work out where to put it. Hmm... There is so much sorting out to do in the house, it's overwhelming at times.
• After that we went to a craft fair but all I bought was some face cream. It was a lovely Autumn day for a drive though.
• Last Saturday we went to the family housegroup at 'other church'. This was at the leader's house and we had a meal together then did this thing where there were a load of postcards with sayings on them on the floor and we had to pick a couple to say something we thought about our family. I chose 'I love you', 'Keep calm and carry on' and 'Dead fish swim with the tide'. It was a good evening but we were concerned about one of the men who's waiting for MRI results. We prayed for him and then they prayed for me as well.
• The night before we'd been to a 'movie evening' at the church youth group. This is now run by my friend Emily and her husband. The young people had been making videos which we all watched. They had done so well. Emily's daughter had worked really hard doing one on the guide dog puppy they had looked after, Adam had interviewed the school technology technician, J and Tim had interviewed P about being a governor and Becky about being Beaver leader and the other things she does in the community, 2 girls did one on the charity 'Send my Sister to School' and 2 others on the negative aspects of beauty pageants for children and a boy had done one on the history of the village. All very good and it was encouraging to see how much of a social conscience they had.
• Tomorrow night is our quarterly church meeting.

Some more random thoughts

• J has joined the scouts again. The group (or is it troop or something?) in our village closed down a couple of years ago due to lack of leaders but now it has an enthusiastic new leader and he's gone back again. When he was in it before his shirt completely swamped him, now it hardly fits. He wants to sign up for the winter camp - sleeping in a tent in January, brrr.
• We've been invited to a wedding and I'm wondering what to wear. The only dress I have is a summer one and really it doesn't fit very well anyway. My usual 'smart' outfit has very thin sleeves and won't look good under my smart coat which is a problem as it's in winter. So should I get a new dress? Should I? P said to 'make something' but the last item of clothing I made was a maternity skirt so I'm a bit out of practice. I could get a casual sort of dress and wear a scarf or something with it for the wedding and then get some more wear out of it.
• We have actually managed to get an appointment with the SENCO at J's school to discuss what support he needs. We should have had this 2 years ago, I think. I blame the parent liason officer who seemed to see her role as preventing parents coming into contact with teachers at all cost. She's now left & been replaced by an 'adminstrative officer' for each year, one of many changes at school. Anyway this appointment is at 7.30 one morning, a tad early for my liking.

I can't believe what P just did

Last night I missed Strictly Come Dancing because we were out. So today I started watching it on catch-up but paused because P and J wanted to watch 'Night at the Museum 2' (which was a bit stupid I thought). Anyway that finished then P went and switched back to BBC 1 to watch Antiques Roadshow and got the end of Strictly and even though I was screaming 'turn it off, turn it off' I saw who was going off. So it's spoiled for me and is he in the least bit repentant?  No.

The reason we're all slumped like zombies in front of the TV is that we are tired and poor J also has a bad cold and P has what is so far a mild cold and my legs are seriously achey. The reason we are tired is that last night we went with Becky to a quiz which was a nice evening but went on really late, we didn't get to bed until just before 12 and this was a quiz that started at 7.00. There were 4 music rounds as well, mostly being recent pop music so we were very grateful for Tim's sister who knew most of them. Right up to the end it looked like we were going to win and J was calculating how to divide up the prize money (the first quiz I've ever been to where the prize was money, usually it's 3 bottles of wine and 2 boxes of chocolates to divide between 8). Anyway we didn't win, we came fourth.

I had one of those mornings at church where I didn't feel well enough to go though to coffee which was a bit miserable really. J didn't make it at all and stayed at home coughing. I hope he's well enough for school tomorrow.

Bit of a random update

• We are basically all fine although J & I have been struggling with colds/viruses & he had 2 days off last week.
• P is working hard on the house, we have had a major sort-out of the utility room & he has put up 4 shelves in there. We are also sorting out the study & P is painting our book-case from the old house which was dark wood but is now white. Plan is to clear out junk from study & move book-case & keyboard in there. P also has made & put up barge boards & is planning new sewage system. As well we are trying to clear out his Dad's house which isn't easy. A friend of someone at church is moving from a caravan to a council house & is taking the fridge, cooker & 1970s cupboards which she loves. Always happy to help someone escape from a caravan.
• I have taken up jam & jelly making as a hobby, mainly due to the large amount of fruit this year. Have had some issues re deciding when it's set so in some cases have made toffee instead.
• J is approaching his Grade 2 piano exam which is so stressful. He has this habit of playing his pieces at twice the speed they should be but his teacher says this would lose him marks & it would be a totally crazy reason to lose marks & he's never ever had a pupil lose marks for playing too fast before so please don't be the first. Every practice session is accompanied by shouts of 'Slow Down' & 'I AM BEING SLOW!'
• J seems to be enjoying school this year, he has started Graphics as his GCSE Technology option & really likes it. With a father who works in Graphics though his homework has to be perfect!
• We went to a local Dyslexia charity yesterday & they were really helpful & gave us some good advice & tips. They recommended a study guide to help J with essays & I thought it might actually help me with my essay. I'd just love to get beyond this one so I've finished the module & can start another one. I've ordered the book anyway. We've got an appointment to see the Special Needs co-ordinator at J's school next week (at 7.30 one morning!) to discuss the situation re his GCSEs.
• P has been planning to retire next May but they've asked him to stay on. He's not sure what to do now but I think if they want him to stay they will in some way have to make it worth his while.
• For the first time yesterday went into the adult section to buy J some new trousers. He's now taller than me!
  

I'm back again & gone digital

Hello little blog, I'm so sorry I've neglected you so badly. I just don't want to talk about the internet issues we've had, it's just too tiresome for words. It would take too long to explain but as part of the long drawn out saga we finally went digital on our TV. I was quite concerned about this as I thought the boys might end up spending too long watching it but who's the one who's recording Downton Abbey & Strictly & Educating Essex & watching repeats of Come Dine With Me? Er, yes it's me. The novelty will wear off though I suppose.

What's really good though is that we now have really good reception. Can't wait for Wimbledon - I'll actually be able to see the ball.

On hold

Blogging suspended due to internet issues. Normal service will resume in October.

Goodbye Wales

Below is a video of us leaving Wales - on our way to Ireland.

View from our cabin

Beach in Wales

Sunday in Wales

On Sunday we went to a very good family service at a large Anglican church in town, together with my brother's sort of mother in law, whom I'll call Mary, who lives with them half the year. A lot of the young people were away at Soul Survivor. Then we went to meet my brother's partner & my younger niece at a horse & craft show. It turned out to be a nightmare to try & park & we ended up so far away Mary couldn't walk but she was happy to sit by the harbour for a while while P pushed me to look at craft stalls & J tagged along. Had what was really the most delicious pasty I've ever had - chicken & mushroom, pastry was so crumbly just melted in my mouth. Didn't manage to meet up with rest of family. Went on beach for a little while - video in post above.
In evening my brother hosted a barbecue for several of his friends & us, to celebrate Mary's birthday. Very good time, lots of yummy food. P & my brother in cave-man mode in charge of barbecuing.
Afterwards J, his cousin & a friend went off for a walk in the dark & were gone what seemed to be ages. I was a bit concerned as he's not used to night walks but they were all fine.
Also played Barbies with younger niece. Have suspicion that she gets Barbies out cos she thinks I enjoy playing with them while she's really too old.

Saturday in Wales

We had a great time in Wales with my brother & his family & the sun shone. On the Saturday we went into the local town where I bought a tee shirt to slim into & J got a gameboy game & P went to the butchers to get food for a barbecue. In the evening we went to a wonderful Spanish restaurant where P & I had tapas which consisted of lots of little courses while the others had main courses so we started eating before them & were still eating our series of mini-mains while they were on deserts. We tried some very interesting food. The potatoes were wonderful, sort of roasted with their skins on with spices & sea salt.

Sorry guys

These were our prawns. Felt a bit like they were looking at me.

Trip to Wales

We set off for Wales on August 15th, had a nice easy first part of the journey, called in to see friends on the way (nice to see you again), continued to have a remarkably good journey apart from one little hold up on a narrow Welsh road when we encountered:

Milking time!

No chocolate

Before I go on to update my life I will just mention that I am now on my fifth day in a row without chocolate or biscuits. This has been achieved by asking P & J to hide them. It has become necessary because we have just come back from Ireland where people are very nice & hospitable & if you call round to see them they lay out a massive spread for you & feel offended if you don't eat it. Well that's my excuse anyway. I managed to put on 5lbs in a week but have now lost 3 of them.

I'm just thinking that I seriously love Ireland. It's beautiful & the people are lovely. Wish I was still there.

Tent

We are back from camping, as in sleeping in a tent at Christian Camp. Weather alternated between really hot & really wet. Had good time. J's friend Tim came too, some issues with J re sharing his bedroom. Tim had his own tiny tent but not suitable for use during day so he came in J's room. All flared up a bit when Tim said he'd like to come again. I went off & prayed about it feeling a bit upset & can you believe it, when I came back someone gave the boys a tent! They had bought it & found it was too small so were giving it away. So boys can have a room each in future. Thank you Lord!

Anyway now there's damp & crumpled clothes & bedding everywhere & the washing machine's playing up. Down to earth with a bump.

We've got Broadband!

On Wednesday took Mavis to coffee morning & J to John's house, 9 miles away then back to pick up Mavis in time for ambulance to take her to her exercise class. Felt little bit like taxi service. Then waited at home for Broadband engineer. Thankfully as soon as he tested it it went off. After over an hour working on it including disappearing off for ages he found the fault was at the exchange & fixed it! It's a whole new world noe. I'll be able to put pictures on my blog again without losing them half way through uploading. J'll be able to do research for his home work without major hassle. I'm able to send emails without losing connection at the moment I press 'send'... the possibilities are endless...

Right now I have to go to help J with piano practice. Sorry.

Update

• Just been to Pizza Express as J's treat for having worked hard at school.
• J got prizes for Maths & Exceptional Effort this year -well done J.
• He is now on holiday.
• We have had lots of rain.
• On Saturday we went to a quiz at 'other church'. One of those quizzes where we scored really well on every round except the one where we played our joker. Never mind. Did win a box of chocs for the extra quiz at the break. Got to know another couple a bit better which was nice.
• Broadband situation still really bad. Engineer coming tomorrow.
• Having fun with new shredder. When sorted out papers to shred found cheque for £23 among them.
• Isn't all this phone hacking business just really awful?
  

Shaving foam & Worcester Sauce

I have had continuous broadband connection for almost an hour! Amazing!

On Tuesday night we went to J's school play as his friend John had a part & was singing a solo. The play was Bugsy Malone & the beginning was a bit confusing I thought, mainly because I couldn't hear everyone's words but otherwise very good. Half way through the interval there was the loud sound of a computer shutting down. Then the drama teacher stood up & announced they'd the lost computer connection & there would be a delay while they rebooted it. After a bit of a wait she stood up, looking like she was about to burst into tears & said the connection was completely gone, no chance of getting it back & would we mind waiting while she went & got the cd with the soundtrack on it. I felt really sorry for her especially as this was the performance in front of the headmaster & the mayor & his wife.
Anyway after a bit more of a wait during which I had my first ever experience of Worcester Sauce flavoured crisps, the second half started. And it was actually better than the first half, everyone seemed much more relaxed, probably because the disaster had already happened so things couldn't get any worse so they might as well enjoy it (reminded me a bit of my driving test). John did his bit at the end & it went very well.
When they did the shooting they used guns which shot shaving foam. The last scene involved a massive shoot-out in which everyone shot everyone else in a mad frenzy & they all ended up dead. There definitely seemed to be a bit of score-settling going on in some cases.
All in all it was a very enjoyable evening. Not sure about the crisps though.

Don't buy this shredder

If you are ever tempted to but a £17.99 shredder from WH Smith then don't. No good. Says can do 5 sheets but can't even manage 2. Mine lasted just 5 days before literally grinding to a halt.

What's that noise?

As I'm sitting here there are terrible noises coming from our roof - a sort of crashing sound! What is going on up there? Must be some sort of bird or animal but what? An eagle? A mountain lion? Or just a manic pigeon?

I'm in a sort of sad, sort of bad mood today didn't really feel like housegroup but went anyway. Sophie who's the leader was saying she's thinking of doing missionary work abroad sometime. I'm not sure though as she can't bear to step out of the house unless her hair & make-up are immaculate & is always dressed up to the nines. When she was baptised she missed the prayers at the end as she hadn't finished blow-drying her hair. You do tend to have to rough it a bit as a missionary. Still God often chooses the most unlikely of people & it might be the making of her.

J came home yesterday & said his German teacher who's also his head of year is leaving which is sad as she's been very good (although I thought she did flirt a teeny bit with P at the anti-bullying evening, might have been my imagination). His French teacher who is also a very good teacher is also leaving & so is his drama teacher whom he likes. The 2 language teachers have got promotions to be heads of department at other schools & the drama teacher is going to Thailand. So a lot of change.

You win some...

Yesterday morning was a bit frantic with P & J trying to finish their exhibits while I was outside saying 'Open, open' to my cactus which was sitting on the car bonnet to get the full sun. We got everything there with a few minutes to spare. When I got to my section there was an impressive money tree grown by Becky's husband & a rather tatty prickly cactus. It was immediately obvious that the contest was between me & the money tree. A man in faded grey cords who owned the prickly cactus explained very earnestly that he'd made the mistake of repotting it into old compost.
Anyway when we went back in the afternoon P had won first prize & the handicraft cup. J had won second, his friend Tim having come first, & my cactus came first! So a very successful first attempt all round.

J's friend Adam had done very well & won the cup for the men's cooking entry - a victoria sponge. Becky & her family are very, very keen & competitive & all came away with cups or shields.

A good afternoon. Hmm what shall I enter next year?

A prickly problem

Last night went to a concert at school in which J playing steel drums again. Whole evening was really good.

Tonight I'm going to another concert - choir in which 'old' housegroup leader sings is performing at our church.

P & J are staying at home to work on exhibits for Gardening Society show tomorrow - J doing a computer design of a castle & P a model gyrocopter.

As for my cactus - it has had 2 buds on it for a while & on Monday when I had it out in the sun they both opened - beautiful but I thought they'll be gone by Saturday so P suggested putting it in the bedroom which is quite dark. They then closed up again but have been slowly opening. The good news is that I think they will be open for tomorrow. I don't know what the competition's like though. I might get there to find 6 foot high cacti covered in blooms.

Friday

Today went to what was actually last one of 'new' housegroup because it's closing down. Funny thing is I don't know why it's closing down, when asked the leader said 'Well it was only for a season'. Obviously she's got her reasons. Possibly there will be another group starting up in another town, don't know who will lead it though. Afterwards went out for lunch. I was mentioning my theology course & how much I enjoy it but how hard I find it to write essays & this woman who's really nice but very intense said 'I'll pray for more time for you to do it in,' but I had to admit time is not the issue, I have plenty of time. Then she said: 'I'll give you some advice on how to do it, I've been to university.' I didn't like to say I've been to university too. Anyway I have made a start on my second essay & I'm determined to get on with it. Surprisingly no-one at the table knew that Paul wrote more than 2 letters to the Corinthians.

Picked up J who had a ball of pink slime in his hand he'd made in Science - 'Stop throwing that round the car, don't wipe your hands on your trousers, don't wipe them on the car seat either & DON'T WIPE THEM ON ME!'

He'd also got the drawstring bag he made in textiles which is a nice bag but really I think a whole school year to make just one bag isn't all that impressive, I mean when I was at school I made an embroidered gingham apron & a flowery skirt, or was that in 2 years? I can't remember. I can remember that I never, ever wore the things. I can remember that my needlework teacher really didn't like me. I can remember that needlework lessons were the closest I ever came to a teacher making me cry... Let's try & forget needlework lessons.

Grass

Who would have thought it - both Sharapova & Nadal beaten?

Today went to church picnic. In someone's garden with a swimming pool. I didn't go in water as there's a limit to how many people I wish to view me in my swimming costume. I'd invited Louise who came with Adam & his sister but her husband stayed at home to mow the grass. Becky's husband who was meeting her & 3 of their children there & bringing lunch decided he first had to mow their lawn. So, like an hour later, watching everyone else eating & 3 children whining with hunger he finally turned up. P throughout the afternoon kept saying 'Can we go now, I need to cut the grass' & in the end managed to drag me away early. What is it with men? Can't they just go to a picnic & enjoy it without worrying about their grass?

We are actually considering entering something in the village Garden Society Annual Show. P & J are thinking of entering model aeroplanes, P a photo, J a computer design & me a cactus. I'm a bit nervous though as I've heard it can get seriously competitive. We should be safe though if we stay away from vegetables & cakes. I wonder which cactus to choose.

Had awesome time at healing service on Friday, felt really close to God & felt like He was saying He never wanted me to be ill.

J & I were at home all day yesterday as P went to a Governor's training course.

Don't want to talk about yesterday's weigh-in.

Steel drums

Because J's school is so big if there's a play or concert or anything you usually only get to go if your child is taking part. J has recently joined the steel drums club. After only going twice he was asked if he would play at the Sixth Form Summer Show & the 'Summer Soiree', whether this is because he has prodigious talent or because they're desperate for players I'm not sure. Anyway we went along to the show on Wednesday & it was really good. The steel band played outside the entrance & were quite impressive. Ok they had positioned themselves on the disabled slope so we couldn't get in but the school business manager came & let us in the back way through her office which was nice of her. Then we had a look at the art displays & nibbled the snacks. I wanted to stay for the fashion show but the boys weren't keen. A good evening. Looking forward to next performance.

Solar heating

The other thing that happened yesterday was we got our solar heating fixed. For some time it has been making gurgling noises & making a horrible smell when it gets hot. I adopted the 'ignore it & it'll go away' approach for several weeks then on Monday suddenly got in a panic & thought 'what if it blows up'. The complication is that the firm who put it in have gone out of business although there's a rumour that they are trading under another name. You can however go on their website & leave your details & they'll forward them to a firm who can help you. After I'd done this I started thinking what if they just forward them to their new name & what if we get a load of cowboys doing it. This was the day our broadband started seriously playing up so I was trying to look on the web for firms & it was cutting out every few minutes. On Tuesday a lady phoned up & said she was from a solar heating firm & managed to convince me they're ok - just a one man band ie her husband. When I found out they live in the village I originally came from I thought they must be ok. Anyway he came yesterday, found there was a leaking joint through which ethylene glycol was dripping out & when it got hot it was making a burning smell. So hopefully it's fixed now. I don't like the thought of us breathing in all those fumes though. Thought solar heating was meant to be good for the environment.

Yesterday

Yesterday J's school was closed due to strike. He & 3 of his friends arranged to meet up at one friend's house. J asked if we could pick up one boy on the way which was quite a detour. I looked up address online & was quite pleased at how well I'd memorised map - until I realised we'd somehow ended up in Tesco's car park. Anyway I was driving nearly 2 hours altogether. Glad that friend's mum brought J home. They had a good time, made cookies & went out to MacDonalds for lunch, although J would rather have gone somewhere else as thankfully he doesn't like MacDonalds.

P's suggestion that as it was meant to be a school day they could spend the day studying seemed to fall on deaf ears. Surprising that.

(Poor Tsonga, can hardly bear to watch).