End of term

School holidays are upon us once again. S will be going to a playscheme for four days and with the extended holiday weekend in the middle of the two week break, this time of year never seems too bad.

Yesterday S came home from school with a multitude of Easter goodies and his report. On it he had been given the chance to write about what he enjoys at school, by sticking on symbols to represent his favoured activities. He had ‘written’:

I enjoy music, cooking, shopping and videos.

Life skills are very important, of course, but could someone please tell that child that he also goes to school to learn!

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Bring Me Sunshine

Well after trying to get used to losing the hour yesterday and waking up every single hour last night, you’d think I’d be a miserable old crone.

A tired one yes, but something about the weather today has really bucked me up. 

I’ve been extremely busy at work today but despite this I bounced out of work tonight.  Partly I think it has something to do with the lighter nights, it makes me feel more like doing things. 

And partly because last night my husband and I set about putting the secret project website together.  We created the header graphics and started making the home page look inviting.  I’d already worked on some of the info last week, but last night we uploaded parts of it and it’s amazing how it really perked me up.

I can’t say too much about it yet, I have to keep it under wraps.  But it won’t be too much longer.

I’m working on it now, so I shall have to be brief on my blog tonight, I’m fired up for getting more work done before I start getting too sleepy.

So I hope the intrigue has set in and off I go to get on with my homework tonight.

Oh yes and maybe it’s because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and only have four more days of full time work to contend with.  Yippee.

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I’ve just noticed that Emma has updated her blog today.  This really made me laugh.

I’m feeling slightly demob happy as next week is my last week of full time.  I am then on countdown of two months temping at three days per week.  This will suit me better as I need to get cracking on my secret project.

One of the girls I work with seemed slightly bemused by the fact that I said I had had no intention of working past March.  I’ve also made it clear that I don’t want a full time job out of it.  Perhaps that does seem strange to some, but I have projects I need to fulfil and if it means temping a bit longer with no strings attached then so be it.

I’ve been kept busy all this week which always helps the days go faster.  I still can’t help clock watching though, something I’ve never done before.  It’s probably because, no matter how nice I think the people are, I just don’t want to be there.  Fact.

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Parenting - Wrestler More Like!

Don’t the storybooks fill your head with crap when you’re growing up?  I mean, come on who has been swept off their feet by a knight in shining armour (more like a shite in Knighting Armour!), lives in a cottage with roses round the door, bakes cakes all day and lives with a permanent soft glow around them.

If that’s you, then I’ll be honest - I’m jealous and I don’t want to hear about your perfect life. 

Do I sound a little bitter and twisted?  Hell yes I am feeling that right now, but that’s because of complete and utter lack of sleep.  Why, because I’m a PARENT.

For some reason when we have children a little cell is lit up in our body that says ‘wake up at every teeny, tiny sound’  while your partner/boyfriend/husband has a little cell that is lit up that says ’sleep through EVERYTHING!’

Maybe in cavemen times when roles were carved out in stone ie women cook, look after children, ug, men hunt, protect ug, that would have been okay.  But times have changed and roles are really mixed up.  Yet women may have more work piling up on them and still need the ability to wake in the night, be on call 24/7 and still smile.   Or is that grimace!

The reason I am tired is I let my 9 year old have a friend for a sleepover last night.  All fun and good, the child that stays over is very well behaved. 

I also allowed them a little freedom and let them stay up until 11.00 pm because everyone was having a good time and it was a Friday night.  (I shall so pay in moods tomorrow, but hey ho my own fault!). After having had a computer ban for the last week and a half, I allowed them back on last night so hence why they were having more fun.

I sent everyone up to bed and my 9 year old declared that he and his friend were going to get up in the middle of the night and come downstairs.  "I don’t think so darling" I said.  "We’ll creep down and you won’t hear us" he said.  "Don’t forget mommy is a very light sleeper" I said. 

And so the conversation continued with me declaring that if the sirens didn’t get him, then the invisible dogs would.  This kind of freaked my younger son out a little, but what the hell!  (Only joking it was all done in the best possible taste and fun.)

One of the syndromes they don’t write about in parenting books concerning 9 year old, hormonal raging boys is the SA syndrome.  That’s Smart Ass Syndrome if you want to know the latin term. 

The secondary syndrome by the way is LB Syndrome (latin name Little Bugger syndrome - more on that another time). The third one for future reference is SOIFOMF Syndrome (latin name Show Off In Front Of My Friends Syndrome).

My 9 year old was obviously on a mission to outwit me.  Can’t be having that . . . . .

I got them all off to bed.  And what was my first move? I password protected the computer so he couldn’t get on it without adults around.  Not that they can get on to the internet, but we don’t believe in children having free reign without adults about.

And note I am a VERY light sleeper.  So at 4.18 am this morning I heard noises on the landing.  "What are you doing?"  I boomed.  Silence.  I lay still and heard another noise.  "What are you doing?" I repeated.  Nothing.  At the same time, very opportune for me,  a cat must have run across our garden and set the security light off.  Instant lighting!

I crept downstairs, went into the living room and no immediate sign of them.  I gazed around the room and spotted my son hiding up a corner and his friend hiding under our table.

To cut a long story short I made them go back up to their room.  Did I do the right thing, I don’t know.  But how would it have sounded if when the friends mom came to pick him up I’d have said "yeah, they had a really late night, then they got up just after 4.00 am and did their own thing".  How would you feel?

It didn’t end there.  And this is where the LB syndrome comes in.  It went quiet for a bit, so I though great, they’ve settled down.  No, they were just biding their time until after 5.00 am when they obviously thought it would be okay to start playing the guitar!

I am not kidding.

I went into their room and quietly explained that they weren’t being fair on the rest of the household, to keep the noise down and to save arguing I shut the door on them to minimise the sound of their voices, which worked. 

At about 6.00 am they went back downstairs and in fairness they kept fairly quiet until nearly 7.00 when the noise level started increasing and found out they had got the playstation out.  I had completely forgotten this was in the living room as this had been part of the ban as well.

I still can’t decide if I should drop this or tackle my son later when his friend has gone home.  I am taking time out to consider how to deal with this, but won’t make a fuss in front of his friend.  I did however ensure they weren’t allowed the computer until 8.00 after they had eaten breakfast, washed and dressed and then only for an hour or so.

Oh yes and while all this was going on, my husband was blissfully fast asleep.

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Give Me More Weekend

Goodness, don’t the weekends go fast.  Too fast for my liking. 

Mind you this one was a really good weekend. It started well as I  only worked half day Friday. Woohoo! There was a function on at school for the parents, so I left early to attend and it was worth it.

Saturday we went to Telford Park and spent a really enjoyable day there.  It’s an absolutely huge park, there really is something for all ages.  In one part of the park is a Wonderland with nursery rhyme characters dotted about with their houses.  For example Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the three little pigs.  There were also small gentle rides like the teacups and a maze. 

The main playground is huge.  There is an abundance of apparatus for children from areas for the little ones up to a ’spiders web’ climbing frame.

Plus for us old fogies, somewhere to get a nice hot cuppa!

Mothers Day was also lovely.  My mom decided to spoil me this year and cook for me instead of the other way round.  I always find that when someone prepares food for me, I end up eating more than normal, so very yummy indeed.

Don’t forget to check out the latest entry on

A Parallel Universe       

You’ll never take flowers for granted again!

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Mother’s Day

It was Mother’s Day here on Sunday.

I didn’t get flowers. We don’t have them in the house because S will try to eat the flowers and drink the water.

S usually makes some sort of card at school but I searched his book bag in vain. I think they were too busy with Red Nose Day last week as I had earlier in the week been presented with a keyring with a very unflattering photo of S wearing his Red Nose! (For readers outside the UK , Red Nose Day is a bi-annual national fundraising day for the charity Comic Relief www.rednoseday.com)

I did, however, get a box of chocolates from M, together with a card which he forgot to also sign for his brother. S can only write his name with a lot of help. But it was special, because for the first time ever M had chosen and paid for the chocolates and card himself rather than rely on his father to get them.

The words on the card read:

‘A toast to you on Mother’s Day, the woman who taught me everything….call yourself a responsible parent?’

Says it all really!

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Marriage

I never married because there was no need. I have three pets at home that answer the same purpose as a husband.  I have a dog that growls every morning, a parrot that swears all afternoon and a cat that comes home late at night.

Marie Corelli 

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36

When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping.  Men invade another country.

Elayne Boosler

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You’ve Got a Friend in Me

Well I rolled in last night at 12.30pm. On a school night as well.  Stone cold sober I might add.  I went out with 5 people who I used to work with for a good gossip, meal and general hilarity.

I was not disappointed. 

I thank my lucky stars that I have such good friends, who I can be myself with and let my hair down with. I came home feeling very relaxed if not very, very tired. 

Not a good day to be looking at spreadsheets and inputting data onto a computer, if I’m honest.

Still.  You’ve got to do these things.

There ended up being just the three of us at the end (me with my two bestest friends).  I think the poor restaurant staff were itching for us to leave, evening turning the main lights on . . . but we were very comfortable.  So big apologies to them. 

And just when I thought the evening couldn’t get any better, one of my best friends had bought a present for myself and my other friend.  Could it be perfume? . . . . no, could it be jewellery? . . . . no, could it be bubble bath? . . . . . no.

It was better than all of those things . . . . it was a box of lovely, yummy, childhood sweeties with a lottery ticket. 

How fab and how thoughtful was that?

There was a Freddo, Dolly Mixtures, Love Hearts, Fudge, Milky Bar, Tooty Frooties and Chewy Refreshers.

Plus, it all came contained in this gorgeous little box

While checking out the links for the sweets, I came across this lovely little site - www.lovehearts.com.  This looks fab for children’s parties. Plus this quirky  sweet site www.aquarterof.co.uk.

I obviously can’t recommend them as I’ve never used them, they just looked fun.

But I admit I am bookmarking the love hearts site.

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Promotion

Caught this on Cathy’s blog.  Looks really good.

Just in case any of you have missed this news on other blogs, Mike at Troubled Diva is compiling a book of funny blog posts by UK based or expatriot bloggers, to be published by Lulu.com with all profits going to the wonderful charity Comic Relief, whose next Red Nose Day will be on Friday.

Thanks for the news Cathy.

-  .  -  .  -  .  -

At work today I was promoted from filing clerk to photocopying clerk.  Sounds boring I know, but in actual fact it was great. 

I wanted to be in my own little world today and I love being given jobs where I can just tootle off and get on with something at my own pace and on my own.   What may appear to be rubbishy jobs to some, to me at the moment are like oh yeah!

I think you get to a point in your life when things that may have bothered you in the past, suddenly don’t, but that can also work the opposite way too.

I decided to have another walk to the shops today.  Mainly I was on one of my ’sod it why shouldn’t I’ missions.  I’m seeing my really good friends tomorrow night and I fancied wearing something new. And because I wanted something nice to wear, could I find anything . . . . NO.

I tried on two lovely looking tops in Next and both looked like maternity tops on.  I don’t really want people thinking I’m pregnant when I’m not.  I have to say I was a bit disappointed and not just because of tomorrow night.

You see my Birthday is coming up and one of the treats I have is that I get taken clothes shopping by my mom.  It’s my annual wardrobe update and I really look forward to it.  It’s a girly day out with mom and she is very generous with me.

I always come home feeling like the cat who got the cream, ate it and was given some more, ate it and was given steak and so on! 

I think you can gather that I always feel good after the shopping session. 

I’m hoping that they will have changed their stock before then as I couldn’t see much that I liked.  I’m also hoping that it was probably because I was in a rush and that when I go back I’ll be like a kid in a sweetie shop.

Principles on the other hand had some great stuff but way too expensive.

I also didn’t like the crowds today, although I did largely ignore people.  When I want something, I focus, aim forward and then just keep walking . . . fast. 

So I shall get ready tomorrow night in about 10 minutes, then spend an hour looking for something to wear.   

Oh well, that’s a girl’s perogative I suppose!  And with friends like mine, I could turn up in a sack and they wouldn’t care.

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