Hunt for piano teacher

I was about to upload a photo then I realised I'm using the laptop and the recent photos are on the desktop on which I'm doing the scanning. Duh. 

Still trying to find a piano teacher for J. This is a bit hampered by fact that what piano teachers round here don't seem to do is answer the phone, or reply to answerphone messages. Sigh.

There's been a lot of debate in our household about which teacher is suitable based on their names and looking them up on facebook. Several have been rejected for all sorts of reasons, mainly on my part and mainly irrational. P was given the number of one female teacher and I felt her name implied she wore high heels and short skirts and low-cut tops and P said that was totally unreasonable which of course was right so in the end I phoned her but she didn't answer anyway and meanwhile someone gave us the name of a man who's near J's school and seems ok but he hasn't answered either and meanwhile P's got a mobile number from his noticeboard at work so if Mr Nearby School doesn't call back I'll give him a go.

It is getting a bit of a long time without a teacher now. Perhaps I'll call the mobile number anyway.

Life

Ok another load of washing on. Another photo almost scanned.

Sun is shining. Loads of insects flying round outside. Starlings eating us out of house and home. 

Must be something interesting I can write about.

The thing about my blog is that it really is a sort of diary for myself and at the moment my life isn't hugely exciting and sometimes it's a bit on the dire side. I know sometimes I moan and say this aches and that aches and I can't sleep but in real life I hardly ever moan and complain. What I'm hoping is that some day I'll look back at my blog and think that's how bad it was then and this is how good it is now.


 

I'm so glad I've got a washing machine

Really I'm incredibly grateful I've got a washing machine. Really, really I am. After 5 years without one...

Monday

Went to church yesterday and the roads beginning to flood. Apparently got worse overnight and some seriously bad today but can't get to them to have a look. J went back to school today. Hooray! Seems quite a lot better. Left really early in case had problems due to floods but didn't and got to school half an hour early so just sat in car. It's a lovely sunny day now but might be more rain during the week.

Had another not able to get to sleep night. Got up and made a hot drink at about 2 am and got to sleep after that. 4 hours sleep just isn't enough though.

Sitting doing some scanning. I'm way, way behind with it and really it should be finished by the time P leaves work but I can't see how that's possible (something to do when I can't sleep perhaps?). I just went through this long phase when I just couldn't motivate myself to do it, partly because of endless health problems. P set it up yesterday so I can just do it without any mental effort which is nice as I can do other things at the same time.

Listening to new CD I got - 'Lifted High' by Worship Central which is seriously good.

When I picked up Mavis to take her to church yesterday she gave me a great big box of expensive chocolates. She belongs to a chocolate tasting club and gets extra boxes sometimes. Very yummy. Not too good for weight loss programme though.

Only 50 people at church yesterday which is really not very many. Perhaps bad weather put them off. Had good sermon yesterday - on not being afraid to step out in your calling. More and more convinced that my calling is not being a minute-taker. I don't mind doing it as a side-line but there must be more to life. Actually minute-taking went ok at church AGM, just one person who talks a bit fast who was a bit hard to keep up with. The strange thing at the church meeting though was that hardly anybody said anything. Apart from the leadership talking about finance, the building plans, the Church Anniversary and the search for an associate minister hardly anyone else said a thing.

Better go and check on washing machine. Life is so exciting.

 I'm realising that sitting writing my blog seems to make the scanning go faster. Good.

Ramblings on a rainy day

Last night went to church AGM which honestly was just plain boring (don't quote me). When got home and went to bed couldn't get to sleep and ended up taking sleeping tablet at 1.30 am which was bad move but then it was Hobson's choice - spend all day feeling awful due to no sleep or spend all day feeling awful due to taking sleeping tablet too late. Was woken up at 8 am by P phoning. 'What about J, shouldn't he be going to school?' I muttered. 'I still don't think he's well enough,' said P. So I phoned school and went back to sleep and woke up again at 9 am and have spent all day feeling out of sorts and staying indoors with J who is slowly getting better and looking out at the rain and not really achieving anything apart from one load of washing.

A really stressful situation has arisen involving a solicitor which involves me having to pay tax on some money I have not yet received, which honestly would anyone feel happy about? I'm just not going into the details right now. I don't even want to think about it.

Talking of phoning school P said tonight that if I'd told him that the office staff at J's primary school gave me a hard time over their attendance figures when I phoned and said he was sick then he'd have sorted them out. 

For some reason tonight P started reading out recipes from an Italian recipe book and I started miming as if I was preparing them which J found hysterically funny, especially my attempt at chopping artichokes. Hmm.

Today I've been thinking that all I'm ever going to be at church is a minute-taker and prayer bulletin writer. Is that all that God wants me to be? If it is then that's fine but is it really? Is that what my calling in life is? Is any of it really advancing the Kingdom of God?

Trees

Trees outside the Tate Gallery.

Pictures of London

Cake!

The seriously expensive and almost too beautiful to eat cake we had in a cafe in London.

It's raining it's pouring

The word 'wet' would not even begin to describe the weather we're having.

J has gone down with a sore throat again and so is off school again.

Last night went to a social event at 'other church' for which P made a yummy chocolate and cherry flan. As soon as I got there my legs started aching intensely but when I woke up this morning they were ok. Strange.

I'm going to see if I can find some photos. 

Getting a shower

Something else good is that P is putting in our shower. Yes!

Easter and norovirus

We went away for Easter, to my brother's in Wales via Ironbridge. Ironbridge was really good, had a nice hotel right by river and enjoyed museums. Weather pretty terrible as in wet and very cold. On last day there got call to say my younger niece had norovirus but wasn't too bad. Decided to stay another night in Ironbridge and see how she was. Next day she seemed to be better and the following day was her birthday. We convinced ourselves it would be ok and drove to Wales through snow (!) but when got to my brother's it was hot and sunny. Niece had nice birthday (with her boyfriend!) but her norovirus symptoms returned. A couple of days later her sister went down with it then her granny (who lives there half the year) then my brother. My sister in law meanwhile had vague symptoms of feeling generally ill not sure what it was. We managed to have a nice Easter though and went to some really good services at the Anglican church and most of us went out for a meal on Easter Sunday. We were undecided as to whether we should head back home early while we were still well but were concerned that we might get ill on the journey. Sudden onset of vomiting in traffic jam on M25 not fun. Finally we decided to go back on Thursday, a day earlier than we'd intended. However my sore throat which had got almost better had got a lot worse and J went down with a sore throat too and we felt he wasn't well enough for the journey. On Thursday J stayed at home with my brother and P and I went round a seaside town and a craft centre and had a light lunch. Lovely sunny day, had a really good time. Went home, gave J some lunch, sitting at the table having a cup of tea when P turned white, grabbed a bowl and rushed to the bathroom where he spent most of the next couple of hours.
P was a lot better on Friday, though drained so we travelled back on Saturday. I'm just so grateful it didn't hit him while we were out or on our journey home.
Since we've been home J's throat is better and he's been at school all week and hasn't had any hint of norovirus. Meanwhile I've had a wretched week. First of all my arm started really hurting (possibly the result of bouncing a baby in Wales)  then my throat got bad again, then I started getting pains in my tummy  then I started feeling sick and dizzy which is how I'm feeling right now. I don't know if you can get norovirus mildly which is what's happening to me but I feel terrible and fed up. Illness go away.
 Good thing is that P's been off most of the week so he's done most of the school runs.