I keep thinking there must be loads of things that have happened over the last week or so but I can't remember them. Old age!
To update you on the ant situation, they started getting everywhere, all over the worktop & everywhere which was horrible but prompted us to be really clean & tidy (for a while). Then last week when P was bringing the paper recycling sack back in after the bin men had been he realised it was crawling with ants. So that's how they've been getting in - we've been bringing them in! So this week there's been no ants at all which is good, especially as I really don't like having to kill them.
I am actually trying to have a major tidy-up as there are several birthdays coming up, especially P's Dad who is soon going to have a very significant birthday. Really hoping P's brother & his wife will come, maybe a couple of his carers as well. I don't think he wants a huge fuss though.
The problem with so many birthdays so close together is it means lots & lots of cake & I've just got back into the healthy eating scene after a major lapse over Easter. P is really supporting me in this - he arrived home from Somerfield last night with a cherry pie, chocolate mousse & a box of chocolate brownies!

Hi I'm back. Not been blogging as a) couldn't manage to sign in last time I tried & b) not been well largely due to side effects from osteoporosis drug. Saw doctor this morning & he said the fact that tablets were giving me a sore throat was potentially serious so 'Perhaps we need to try a more expensive drug' so I'm trying another which I take once a month instead of once a week & we'll see what happens.

On Saturday J hurt his leg on trampoline, think it's just a strained muscle. Wrote letter to teacher asking if he could stay in at playtime then when he tried to stay in at lunchtime as well she shouted at him. Not very happy about this but P had a governor's meeting with acting head that evening so had a bit of a word.

My brother popped in for a visit on Friday evening which was nice. His mother in law had been with them for Easter & he'd just taken her back. He says she's doing well.

Since I've been to healing service I haven't had the really horrible feeling in my head I've been having. Just sort of waiting to see how it goes, really.

Have signed up with an online/telephone tutor service mainly to help J with homework although they also do tests to monitor his progress. Tonight was the first night, the problem was though that the phone lines are open from 4 - 7 & he didn't start his homework until about 6.40 so I think we need to start earlier in future. He said they were nice & helpful when he phoned though.

P, Digger, runner beans, tomatoes, strawberries & aubergines all doing well.

What a lovely sunny day we're having! Just like the middle of summer!
J didn't have a good start with new teacher. She told him off for not paying attention in Maths & he was most indignant as it's 'the third time we've done percentages and I understood it the first time so how am I supposed to just sit there and listen?' I think I'm going to have to write her a note as if a child has been diagnosed as having ADD I don't think it's ok to tell him off for not paying attention. Sadly we're stuck with our present education system which means the children are spending nearly all their time revising for their SATs rather than being able to learn something interesting & challenging. If anyone from the government reads this SATS ARE STUPID OK!!! Children, teachers & parents all hate them. They are ruining children's education. Well that's my opinion anyway.
He brought home a letter last night saying he was going on a trip today & needed to be at school at 8.40 wearing casual clothes. All his casual trousers were on the line but managed to dry out his trackies on the electric airer. Bad traffic jam this morning but got him there just on time. Rushed home to get ready for house group which was at Lucy's house which is lovely. Really is like something from Ideal Home Show. She has a huge dining room in which you feel you should be having a medieval banquet or something. Only 4 of us there & had a good time but did spend most of time chatting. I led the worship bit which went ok. I'm not stressing out so much about the group, the other people are all really nice & I do enjoy their company.
There's more I wanted to write about but must rush, things to do before school.

Hello it's me, finally able to get hold of the laptop again, ie J gone back to school & P gone back to work. Wasn't sure if J would go back today as he has a very bad cold & ear ache. Was hoping he would as church was running an Alpha breakfast this morning & Louise had said she'd come. Anyway J got up ok & put on his uniform although there were a few outbursts of 'Do I have to go to school?'He's quite worried as his teacher is now the acting headteacher so he's got a different teacher for this term who's reputed to be a bit strict. I wrote a note to her explaining he wasn't very well & couldn't hear properly so hopefully he won't get told off for not being able to hear what she says.
Getting ready for school was quite organised as I'd got most of J's stuff together the night before. Thankfully I'd realised on Saturday that I'd been mistaken in assuming that empty PE bag + empty laundry bin = washed PE kit. What it actually = was PE kit crumpled at bottom of school bag. As it was nice & sunny though I got it washed on time.
I phoned Louise to check she could come to the breakfast & she couldn't cos she's got the cold as well. In fact she sounded quite bad. Have horrible feeling that J might have given it to her as he stayed there most of Monday & Tuesday.
The reason he was staying there was that P & I went to a healing service near Eastbourne. We set off in the rain wearing our winter clothes & got there to find bright sunshine & everyone in summer gear. I felt a bit silly in my boots.
It was quite nice to go away, just the two of us & I think it was the first night we've had away without J since he was born. I'll tell you about healing service in next post but something really strange happened on Beachy Head. We parked the car & P pushed me along the cliff edge & the scenery was absolutely amazing. The really sad thing was though that at one place near the top there were all these little crosses & bunches of flowers.
Anyway P had pushed me further than he intended & wasn't too keen on pushing me all the way back as the ground was quite rough so he left me looking out to sea & went to get the car. It should only have taken him 5 or 10 minutes biut he was ages so I was wondering if the car wouldn't start or something. Then he phoned & said he'd been busy talking. Turned out as he set off he bumped into someone he used to work with years ago who has a 2nd house in Eastbourne. Then as he was walking on he heard someone calling & it was someone who used to come to church whom we hadn't seen for about 15 years & who now lives in Eastbourne. Amazing or what?!!

Haven't been able to write anything for a few days as been busy, busy, busy but here's a quick update:

• We spent Maundy Thursday at Old Warden air museum. I think P could look at old aeroplanes for ever ('just look at those struts!') but after 3 hours J & I had definitely had enough & retreated to the restaurant to eat cake. They also have a bird of prey centre & we watched 2 displays which J absolutely loved. It was good but I found it a bit disconcerting when a hawk pulled the head off a chick right in front of me then sprayed me with feathers.

• In the evening P & I went to the Maundy Thursday supper & communion while J was at Tim's. Supper was really good, succumbed to temptation to have second helping of pavlova.

• Good Friday service quite short & simple but still moving. In the afternoon spent an hour in prayer room while P took J for a walk. I was really looking forward to just sitting quietly but the person who was there with me kept chatting. Trouble is she's quite a lonely person so just enjoyed chance to get out. When she saw I was down to do 2 hours on Saturday she said she'd like to come too. I spent most of the time on Saturday writing out prayers on post-its to put on the wall. I also did a painting of the empty tomb with a hill with 3 crosses in the background. I think my effort could be generally said to be pathetic. On Sunday P did a painting of exactly the same scene which was about 200 times better. We had quite a few people turn up for the prayer rooms, considering some people had families visiting & others were away.

• About 15 of us turned up for breakfast at 8.30 on Easter Sunday. I just had fruit but there was cereal, croissants & toast as well. There was a very nice atmosphere but it seemed a bit of a wait until the service at 10.30. I felt I had to sit at the front as the church has been rearranged - they've lowered the platform so the musicians go on there now & in front of them are several rows of chairs for children, To the side at the front they've put chairs for disabled people so I felt I'd better sit there. I'm not used to being right at the front, I felt I had to keep looking really interested during the sermon. It also became apparent that having the children alone at the front away from the supervision of their parents could have certain disadvantages. It was a nice lively service anyway. By the end of the day I was tired out which was a shame as P's Dad came over for dinner & I was struggling to keep awake. Still I think he enjoyed it. J really enjoyed his Easter eggs as well, so did I actually. P had made a simnel cake but I just didn't have room for any.
  

On Wednesday I went to the coffee morning & also P & I helped set up the prayer rooms. I'd spent ages on Monday typing out verses from the Bible & P had made a cross, nails & crown of thorns on Wednesday morning. P laid the cross on some purple cloth which Linda had brought & we arranged some simple verses from Psalm 22 round it. I think it looked pretty effective when we'd finished. We put up a poster of Isaiah 53 on the wall & also some verses about hope & fear as somebody had put up some sheets on which to write our hopes & fears. Also we put up 'the great commission' from Matthew's gospel to read on the way out. Mavis also made a little Easter garden as well.
In the other room some others put up displays about various charities we support & a map showing the whereabouts of some of the people we support abroad.
I think it all looks good, I just hope a lot of people come to it, so far not many have signed up.
I'd better go now, J is begging to use the computer & I need to do some tidying.

On Tuesday P & I went to the Ideal Home Exhibition for which we had free tickets. In a way it was a very sobering experience. When we've been previously it's been really crowded with long queues for everything but this time it was so quiet. We didn't have to queue for the show homes we just went in. Hardly anybody seemed to be spending any money, a lot of the stallholders were standing around doing nothing & apparently some of the big firms had already given up & gone. It just really brought the recession home to us.
Last time we went I got dragged in for a makeover & they put this anti-wrinkle stuff on my face which felt really uncomfortable all day. As well they kept saying 'You look so much better now!' & even calling over complete strangers & saying 'Doesn't she look better!' This was a bit disconcerting as I hadn't thought I was all that wrinkled to start with. This time I kept saying to myself 'No make-over, no make-over...' but being something of a sitting target I ended up being dusted with a 'super-all-in-one-make-up-mineral-powder'. P said this gave me a healthy glow, personally I think it made me a bit orange. Anyway he bought me some. You can take a horse to water, though, but you can't make it drink, ie you can buy someone super-all-in-one-make-up-mineral-powder but you can't make them dust it all over their face.

J & I had a big fight today. This was because he said that because he was sitting on the sofa with his lunch on his lap he couldn't be expected to get up & turn off his X-box so I had to do it, whereas I expressed the opinion that he could put the plate down, get off his bottom & stop treating me like a servant. You can take whichever side you choose.
The other crisis today has concerned the ants. Hundreds of them crawling out from under our sofa!
We each have a rather different reaction to this.
P is really puzzling about how they got in seeing as the house is meant to be totally sealed (but ants are like small,right?).
J is hotly defending himself & claiming that the fizzy cola bottle sweets left in an open bag under the sofa are nothing to do with him. They must have belonged to his friends or else I must have been meant to throw them out & forgot. Yeah, right, whatever.
My reaction on the other hand is 'Eeek!!!' I spent this morning squashing ants with a rubber eraser & thinking 'I'm sure there was something else I meant to do with my life.'
If only I could think what it was.

I was at the church lunch yesterday & talking to someone who works with a charity that takes wheelchairs to poor parts of the world & he was saying how people come crawling or else have to be carried to get these wheelchairs & they're so grateful even though they don't have proper roads & will get bumped to bits. I just feel so ungrateful after my moan on Saturday about being in the wheelchair at social events. What would life be like if I didn't have one & didn't have a car & didn't have shopmobility? I just wouldn't be able to go out at all. Really I should be so thankful for my life, I've got so much.
Also at the church lunch I offered to take a baby so the girl holding her could eat some crisps. As soon as I picked her up she started whacking me on the nose! So I was saying through gritted teeth 'What a cute baby, ouch!' Good lunch though.

Yesterday after school there was a little reception to say goodbye to the headmaster who's leaving. It's a shame he's going cos he's very nice but he's going off to do charity work which is very worthwhile.
It was a nice reception but I was sitting in the wheelchair with J's schoolbag, lunch box, coat & PE kit piled on my lap & I spent several minutes stranded like that in the middle of the room with no-one to talk to & I just can't handle that sort of thing very well. Social occasions are difficult with the wheelchair, I can't just go over & talk to someone, I can't just sidle up & join in conversations, I'm nearly always at tummy (or bottom!) level with the people I'm talking to & most people seem really awkward like they don't know what to say to me. What I feel like shouting is 'Hey, I'm just a normal person!'
What is perhaps the worst is people who come up & start talking to the person with me while completely ignoring me & sometimes even bashing me with their shoulder bag. You wouldn't believe how many bags I've been bashed with.

J has (very reluctantly) gone off on a hike with the cubs. I'm sure he'll enjoy it though, well actually I'm not sure, he might enjoy it.

It's nice & sunny so I think I'm going to sit outside.

J woke up in seriously happy mood this morning. Is this because it's the last day of term I wonder? He was sitting on my bed cheerfully chatting about the game of cricket they had at school yesterday. I had agreed to take Mavis to the doctors straight after school so it was a bit of a rush. Now she's sitting in our kitchen because I'm taking her to the dentist later. She is desperate to help us tidy up so I gave her a pile of books & CDs to dust. I hate dusting books, I just don't like the feel of dusty books.
It's really strange because some of us have suggested having an Easter breakfast after the prayer rooms finish on Easter Sunday & hardly anyone seems to remember that we had a breakfast last Easter Sunday. I've just been saying to P & Mavis that we had toast & fruit & it was snowing & the children were outside playing snowballs & got really wet & they're just looking at me blankly. I just read out my blog from last Easter to them & they said 'If you say we had a breakfast then we must have done.' P says even the minister doesn't remember! And I think I'm the one who's memory is going.

P went to help at cubs on Monday, teaching them how to use a map & compass. He came home really cheerful because he'd managed to keep their attention for the whole hour and a half & they all seemed to be enjoying it. With our cub pack that's no mean feat.
He was out at a goodbye meal for the headmaster who's leaving on Tuesday & had to have yesterday off to recover. He just can't take the pace. The good thing was that he put together a set of shelves which are temporarily in the living room & also put up a big shelf in our bedroom. It's so exciting having shelves. The cupboards & shelves in J's room are looking good as well. I can foresee the day when all our books are neatly stacked & I can have photos on display again.
The church is having open 'prayer rooms' over Easter & I've been roped in to help. We're trying to make some displays to do with the passion. I said I'd type out some Bible verses on the computer & also make a crown of thorns. The trouble is while we've got plenty of briars I'm not sure how to make them into a crown. P says it's no problem & he'll do it, which is good. Otherwise I can imagine I'd have a lot of scratches.

I'm going to have a bath & put some things on my shelves.

There are some people in my life I'm just so thankful for. One of them is P who has put up with such a lot over the years. One of the things that makes me feel bad about this osteoporosis thing is that it's just one more thing for him to deal with but he's been so good about it even though he can't even hug me hard now in case it breaks a bone. He's had a talk with J as well & explained to him that using Mum's legs as a trampoline is now not a good idea.
I'm really grateful for Becky as well because when I came out of the doctors on Monday I felt I just couldn't go home & cry on my own & I went round her house & literally cried on her shoulder. When she came to the coffee morning yesterday she'd got me some pink roses. She's so nice.
Thank you to the friend who phoned me up yesterday as well, it was really good of you & nice to have a chat.
I phoned the National Osteoporosis Society helpline yesterday & they were quite helpful & said most people who use wheelchairs will end up with some osteoporosis in their spine (but why has no-one ever warned me?) but the drug I'm on will reduce my risk of a fracture by 50% which is quite good really. They're going to send me an information pack as well & said phone them anytime I've got a question.
So anyway I'm feeling a lot more positive about it all, although when I told somebody at church about it last night & somebody else piped up 'Oh, there's nothing they can do about that, your spine will just crumble' it didn't really help.
Never mind, God's looking after me, I know I'm going to be alright & really it's a good job I did break my rib & found about it before I broke something worse.