Monday 30 July 2012

Passports have been printed and are now just sitting there waiting to be collected by DX. It's torture! We have been into town to do some jobs and lots of stuff is packed. I am gradually ticking things off the list. The doggies are loving their new dog flap. It didn't take them any time at all to get the hang of it. The poor things are going to be awfully lonely. Especially in the evenings when they usually get lots of love and cuddles. I hope they don't hate us for abandoning them when we get back.
I'm really nervous about going to the house. I hope it isn't in a dreadful state. I have no recollection of what clothes I have left there, and I have very little room to take many with me. Or footwear. That makes me anxious lol. I can't really fit in much reading material for my course either. Just 2 letts revise science and maths books but I guess that will keep me going. I'll have to get stuck in when we return. We have Lucinda from Taiwan arriving on the 20th. She's a 33 year old lady on a workaway scheme. Her placement fell through for 10 days, so she is coming to us for board and lodging until 30th, in return for 24hours work a week. I am hoping she is a good cook and loves kids! (and dogs). Either that or she is into DIY!
Sorry for the blogging hiatus, on Thursday I received letters from the passport office, saying the children's passports couldn't be issued because the counter signatory appeared to be a relative....ahhhhhgggggggg!!! It has been stressful since then. I filled in new forms and got a friend to sign them and another photo, then sent them off recorded delivery, guaranteed next day. They weren't processed until the afternoon, which meant they couldn't be fast tracked until the next working day, today, Monday. Talk about cutting it fine. I have called this morning and made payment, a further £120, and in 4 hours they will be ready, in Peterborough. They will then go into the hands of DX the courier company, at the end of business today, when I shall be able to track them using my postcode. They SHOULD arrive between 9am and 5pm on Tuesday. We fly at 7.55am on Wednesday.
I haven't slept properly and there is loads to do. I can't wait until we get there and I can stop worrying!

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Yes yes yes! Got my placements for my course. First is at Colyton Promary, 5 mins away, second is Feniton Primary, 28 mins away according to google maps, and that's through the lanes so no traffic jams I reckon. Feniton is ofsted outstanding, and I'll be teaching reception. At Colyton I'll be teaching yr1/2. I'm so excited.

Monday 23 July 2012

Slept like a log after taking night nurse. Day 2 of filling the trolley for the beach and it seemed a bit more arduous than yesterday, even though I actually feel less ill. I burnt my back where I couldn't reach to get the cream on, and now it feels like I've been whacked across the back with a bat! The children have had the time of their lives though. Flo is with all the bigger girls which she loves. They all went to the sweet shop today, each with a pound to spend, and she went along holding hands with everyone under strict instruction to keep her safe. Joe is a real water boy. He took his body board down today, and Dad came down after work and brought the fishing stuff, although they didn't catch anything. I lugged the trollies home and cooked up my birthday haggis, it was really yum, much to everyone's surprise. We had it with neeps and mash. All the kiddies are arriving at 10 in the morning to watch a film, before we head off for day 3 at the beach. STILL no passports ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Sunday 22 July 2012

What a lovely day! Just goes to show, that even when you really can't be arsed, and feel like poo, you should always make that little bit of effort, because invariably, the effort really pays off.
I filled the shopping trolley for the beach, and we headed off at around 1pm. We took the doggies for a walk to the marshes first, then knocked for friends and headed down to the beach. It was gloriously sunny, and a lovely day was had by all. The forecast is good until Friday, so we plan to do the same all week. I still feel poo and full of cold, but I feel good for the sun on my skin, and the fresh air and good company.

Friday 20 July 2012

Sorry, got a bit upset and emotional yesterday. Some people can be so hurtful and thoughtless. It was the last day of school today, and I swerved it completely. My husband is off on Friday's, so he did the school run, and came home with cards, photo's and wine as thank yous from my daughters' teacher. There was a class picture signed by all the children, so sweet and it got me all teary again. Flo took in a number 1 teacher pen for the teacher, and some fairy dust, in a bottle on a necklace, for the teachers assistant, as well as cards. Joe took cards and malteesers. I sent in cards for all the KS1 teachers and assistants, with some choccies and a birthday card book for Flo's lovely teacher. It's such a lovely school, just in general, but by comparison with France, well, there is no comparison.
This afternoon, Joe has gutted and filleted the mackerel he caught, then lightly seasoned them and drizzled them with olive oil, before putting a slice of lemon on top and grilling them to perfection. He made himself a salad and then served us up the mackerel, as he's unfortunately not keen on it himself.
He went along to the science roadshow at the town hall, which he really enjoyed, then they watched the Lorax, which they both loved. Joe's tooth came out in a toffee, Flo is having a sleepover in his room, to be near to the fairies when they come. All is well and good. Except me, I have a stinker of a cold. Just what I need at the start of the holidays.
The passports haven't come. We now have 3 nights booked in a ready tent at a lovely site in Pals on the Costa Brava, as well as flights and car parking, everything is crossed that they come soon.
I've had some really sad news today, two people in my family are splitting up, after being together for almost 25 years. I am totally shocked. It's such a shame. It's early days and not public knowledge, so I can't say anymore, other than how very sad I am.

Thursday 19 July 2012

Today's assembly.
1.
One more step along the world I go,
one more step along the world I go;
from the old things to the new
keep me traveling along with you:

Refrain:
And it's from the old I travel to the new;
keep me traveling along with you.

2.
Round the corner of the world I turn,
more and more about the world I learn;
all the new things that I see
you'll be looking at along with me:

3.
As I travel through the bad and good,
keep me traveling the way I should;
where I see no way to go
you'll be telling me the way, I know:

4.
Give me courage when the world is rough,
keep me loving though the world is tough;
leap and sing in all I do,
keep me traveling along with you:

5.
You are older than the world can be,
you are younger than the life in me;
ever old and ever new,
keep me traveling along with you:
Judge me, go ahead. We judge people all the time. But know this, I am conscientious and I really care. I do my best, all the time. I get it wrong sometimes and I mess up occasionally but I try really hard to afford people the benefit of the doubt. Grant me the same....... I love deeply and with all my heart, and as a consequence I hurt deeply when you ridicule and slight me.... aren't we all the same? Don't we all feel such hurt? Today, as a grown woman, an unkindly comment from a  thoughtless person made me cry.... I was and am really upset. Good friends gave me kind words and cheer. For that I am grateful xxxxxx

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Just testing my blogging skills from my new phone. It's a wee bit tricky but I'm getting the hang of it. Uninvited birthday critters on my sons head! I can do without that. That's what my son said too, bless him. Today was long, busy and exhausting but nice. Shame no card from Mum, just a call but she says she doesn't "do" cards. Helping at school again tomoz, plus son's celebration assembly and then collapse. Overwhelmed by all my lovely birthday wishes, a big thank you to everyone. I can't keep my eyes open, so I must sleep now x

Sunday 15 July 2012

I should just ignore my hair, then I wouldn't get so fed up about it. I know I shouldn't, I know it's only hair, but it's horrible! I should console myself with the fact that even when it's longer it doesn't look nice, but I can at least hide behind it a bit when it's longer. I feel terrible stressing about hair when there are people with real things to stress about. Maybe I need a good hat?
It's not sunny, hubby is at work and I am trying to smile and be cheerful. I am taking the children to Pecorama (gardens, train ride and play areas in Beer) at 1pm. It's free entry today, and we've never been. We're meeting some of the children's friends there so I can't back out, I can't back out anyway because the children are expecting to go. I don't feel like it at all. Never mind, I'm sure it will be OK once we get there. This week is hectic with a capital H. Son has a walk from Beer to Branscombe on Monday, daughter has class party and needs party clothes, Tuesday I am helping in year 2, Wednesday is my daughters celebration assembly and I'm helping all day with year 5/6 fun day, then it's Rainbows Olympic event and Scouts fishing trip. Thursday is my son's celebration assembly, and friday is the last day and toy day. Parents are also invited on Tuesday or Thursday to watch a powerpoint of year 1's highlights at 3pm. Oh, and my son has swimming on Tuesday and Thursday. I think that's most things school related covered. It's the Marshes on Monday for the last Junior Rangers and we are all invited there to see a presentation too.... I'm bound to forget something!

Friday 13 July 2012

The World Of Country Life was lovely, and I am whacked. Totally worn out! I think it's the coach travel that does me in. I hate it. There was one puke up, it came without warning and didn't make it to the bucket. Poor Miss Whitworth, the student who has been on my course this year, got the clean up job. I tried to help with my supply of wet wipes and perfume, so that we weren't gagging as much as we might have been.
The children had a brilliant day. There wasn't enough time to do everything, we could have stayed another few hours and still not got the most out of it. The weather was shocking, and my daughter felt icky on the way back, and was in tears when we arrived. I think she was just physically and emotionally drained. She puts so much into everything, that she's just wiped out after an event. I feel the same, so I can see where she's coming from. What a fantastic school though. The teachers and teaching assistants are amazing.
My husband's had a busy day, he's prepared our dinner and boarded some of the loft. He's repainted the bathroom floor and collected and put up the trellis to take the strain of the jasmine over the gate. He's a star! My daughter now has second wind, I, on the other hand, do not.

Thursday 12 July 2012

Swimming this morning was lovely, nice to see the pool with it's roof on finally, so the torrential rain didn't matter. It matters here though! Water plopping off the light bulb in the kitchen, and splashing in a pan on the window sill. Glad the flights are booked, they had gone up a further £50 but nowt can be done but to grin and bear it. Since the time we arrived at the airport a day late for our flights, I am totally paranoid about making reservations. Car park is also booked, and Mrs Tomlin is all set to take on the dogs. Pheweeeee. Just awaiting passports now.
Mac cheese is prepared, so I spose I'll be heading back to school to collect the 4 kiddies shortly. IN THE BLOODY RAIN YUK!!!!! Just learned that some friends attempted to get to Lyme to see the Olympic torch on it's journey and aborted the mission, so I don't feel so bad now about deciding not to bother.
My course leader for next year has reviewed my assignment, and her comments were favourable. I'm chuffed. She also informed me that we shall be spending the night camping on the 5th October, and now has me down as the 'outdoorsy type' from my assignment. Lol, she's barking up the wrong tree there. One night should be OK. She said there are 10 places in a yurt, but the rest would have to be in tents, and that actually it would be nice if we were all in tents. I could hardly say, book me a place in the yurt please could I? I'm rather disappointed, I've always wanted to have a go in a yurt. Camping without alcohol is no fun at all! This is where we're going.
http://www.embercombe.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=76&Itemid=160

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Today has been exhausting! If ever I was thinking I'd like another baby, today was a great point in time to refer to and remind me what it's like having a baby, and that I 'm probably not up to the challenge. Three children under the age of 2 came to visit today. The toys in my playroom where not all entirely suitable, and mostly ended up tipped out in a heap on the floor, and then bashed very hard against the floor until they were practically smashed to pieces. As they reached for something I would see in my mind what was going to happen to it, then dash to get there first and try and sneak it away and offer an alternative. The crane ended up in the cupboard under the stairs and the china tea set just about managed to get put up high in time. There were a few casualties, and my daughter was furious when she got home tonight. She thought the play room was a real mess, I said 'now you know how I feel when I look in there after you've finished playing', she was not amused.
Year 1 are swimming tomorrow, so I am there all morning, then it's a trip to the World Of Country Life on Friday. Next week it's my daughters celebration assembly on Wednesday, and then I've been asked to help with the year 5/6 fun day for the rest of the day. That suits me, it's my Birthday, but I don't have other plans.
It's then Rainbows Olympic evening. Daughter came home tonight from Rainbows with a paper plate that I must fill with cheese and pineapple for her to take next week. Each child has a plate marked with a food. It was the Scouts AGM and BBQ tonight, so the boys have been there for the evening. My son is now in the bath getting rid of the bonfire smell that is customary after Scouts. Both children have a brother and sister friend over tomorrow for tea so it's macaroni cheese on the menu. Everything is just a blur at the moment and I'm sure to forget something major. I need to clear up the dinner things still and get my son off to bed. I won't be far behind if I'm lucky. I've painted another bit of floor today. Slow and steady wins the race!

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Lighting the fire is a sure way to get the sun to come out it seems. Now the oven is on as well and it is sweltering in here. I'm cooking salmon (for three of us, daughter is having fish fingers), in baking sheet parcels, with couscous and coriander, (coriander only in two, as son won't like it!) Then there is oven roasted sweet potatoes with sweet red peppers, cherry tomatoes and spring onions, kids won't eat any of that (big sigh), and fine green beans, we ALL eat those thank goodness!
Today at school was challenging, there was a supply teacher who had been left blank sheets for the class to work on in pairs, filling in information about different countries that they have all chosen previously. The sheets didn't have the titles on, ie they weren't labelled with headings like, population, continent, currency etc so the poor supply teacher had a right job trying to get them all started. Then in numeracy we were using a 'bee bot' to try and programme directional instructions for it to draw shapes. Bee bot's are little moving toys in the shape of a bee, that have buttons on the top to send it in different directions. They only really go backwards and forwards, but they rotate left and right at 90 degree angles. The explaining was hard, but the children could easily programme the bots to trace a square or an L shape or even a T shape. They could even do it all in one go, then set the bot off to complete the shape. It was much harder getting them to plot the directions in point form on a white board.
My daughter said she felt sick and had a sore tummy, so she had to come home with me after her lunch. She has made quite a miraculous recovery this afternoon, although she does have diarrhea (I can never spell that!)
I feel that progress is being made. We now have the dates from hubby's work, even though the flights on those dates have gone up in price now by £200. We have someone to look after the dogs, and it won't cost a fortune. We have found out that it will only cost £70 to park at Bristol airport for 18 days which is cheaper than return tickets for us all on the train,so that's brilliant. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together.
A lovely lady that we know in France, who is a retired special needs teacher, is going to do daily phonics lessons with my son when we get there, which is absolutely fantastic. She is also going to collect the key from the agents, as she is in France at the moment, and she will read the electric meter, and give the reading to the electricity board so they don't send our estimated bill to the debt collectors. Hurrah!
There is light at the end of the tunnel. Fingers crossed now that the passports come back in time.

Monday 9 July 2012

I read a friend from junior schools blog and it's brilliant! http://hpmcq.com She says things that are wonderfully true, and that I can totally identify with, and she puts them in such a brilliant succinct way. She has a real way with words. She doesn't tell everyone everything, and reveal all the mundane drivel that goes through her mind like I do, perhaps she doesn't have mundane drivel in her mind like I do! She is cool. I am not cool. Never mind, that's me. I bet she doesn't cut her own hair all off either lol.
Today I am cold. It is really cold. I have finished my assignment and mailed it off, so that's good and a weight off my mind. My son seems mildly boosted by the good comments in his school report, and my praise and encouragement. He is trying to be more organised and got his bag ready this morning and cut his nails, without prompting. They are attempting to go for a coastal walk with his class today. He is wearing shorts. I hope he isn't cold too.
I plan to do some reading and some tidying and washing. Talking of washing, my husband came home from work the other day and ripped his clothes off immediately, as if there were a bee up his jumper, he threw them down by the washing machine and then the stinky bonfire smell reached my nostrils. He had knocked off a glass bottle in the museum at work, which he subsequently found out contained a liquid called 'train smoke'. Apparently it is used to make the museum exhibits smell authentic and old. His clothes still smelled smoky after one wash, so did his phone cover which also went through at 60 degrees! He was mighty glad though that it had been 'train smoke' he smashed, because he found out the next day that the other bottle next to it contained 'farmyard'. It did make me laugh.

Sunday 8 July 2012

It's been a very sunny day, yippee!! I hate lonely Sunday's without my husband. They make me grateful that I'm not a single parent. I often spare a thought for people bringing up children on their own. It must be really tough. Not just physically and emotionally, but not having another person there to hear and see what you experience, and share the daily grind, laughter etc must be very difficult.

I did some work on my first assignment about play in childhood today. Meanwhile, my children wound each other up and failed to play together nicely all day. Except when we finally got out of the house and went for a lovely walk with the dogs. We went to two parks and my son took his bike. They played and laughed together beautifully, it was a joy to see. Therein lies the moral of the story etc....

The silly Mildred Hubble dog had eaten all my strawberries (all 3 of them), and has made a good start on the raspberries. If it's not slugs and snails, it's a dog. Incredible!

Murray sadly lost the tennis. Maybe next time I reckon.

And oh, I nearly forgot to say that we nearly disappeared under flood water yesterday. It rained so much that the Axe Estuary almost burst it's banks and all the local fields were swamped and lake like, with everything but the tree tops submerged. Who would have thought it was July.

Husband STILL doesn't know what dates he can have off in August. The flight prices have all changed now, and it's going to be nigh on impossible to organise everything we need to organise in time, and cheaply now. So that's poo.

Saturday 7 July 2012

My husband collected my daughter from school yesterday, they waited to get home (in the rain), before opening the all important school report. She read it herself, when she saw the name of her teacher for next year, she lept from the sofa and jumped in the air! Up and down over and over again shouting yes, yes, yes and waving her arms with joy with the biggest smile on her face. Her report was shining. The teachers comment said -
It has been a pleasure teaching her this year. She has brought so much to our class with her entertaining personality. She is a natural leader and enjoys organising games and activities for her friends and has proved to be an ideal class representative for the school council. She approaches all her tasks with an enthusiastic attitude and is very conscientious. She listens carefully to instructions and is always keen to offer interesting thoughts and ideas to class discussions. It is lovely to see her flourish in her environment and enjoy her time at school so much. I certainly enjoy seeing her smiley face every morning! She should be very proud of her achievements this year and I wish her every success in year 2. Well done!
This comment actually brought a tear to my eye. How lovely.
Then we called our son and opened his report (with a little trepidation). It was thankfully brilliant. Despite the obvious difficulties with reading and writing, he is doing really well and has lots of amazing achievements this year too. He is above average in science, and doing very well in maths. His ICT effort and achievement were both A's. In his teachers comment she wrote that in class discussions he gives valued insights and demonstrates and expresses his wide ranging general knowledge. In music and drama it said he exudes enthusiasm. His CAT (cognitive tests) showed his non verbal reasoning scores were above average, which confirms he is a little brain box. Just as I thought! We made sure we heaped him with praise and told him he was doing really well. That he is a incredibly bright and that he shouldn't let his extra difficulties get him down. Easier said than done!

Friday 6 July 2012

The fire is lit and we are awaiting a months worth of rain over the next 24 hours.... this summer is not panning out as it should. I have a poorly boy at home today, he was home yesterday as well. He has a really sore throat, feels like razor blades when he swallows, poor thing. I painted some stairs yesterday and cleaned the house from top to bottom, not that you would know it today as it is back to the usual state. My daughter had her favourite friend over for dinner. This is a friend that she thinks is the bees knees. A girl she thinks is just about the best at everything in the world. I have no idea why she thinks she is so much more impressive than her other friends, but it's just typical that this girl can take or leave my daughter. Isn't that always the way? I don't hold it against her, there are other girls that think my daughter is pretty cool, and she hasn't got the time of day for them really, so what goes around comes around, as they say. My Nan always used to say "you run, they follow, you follow, they run". She was talking about boyfriends, but I think the principle works well for children's friendships too.
I spoke to Grandma this morning, she has cataracts in both eyes and has been waiting to get them seen to since last November. How appalling. She lives at home totally independently at the age of 87, she's not a burden on anyone, not costing the NHS loads of money in care etc, and she can't see the ball or scores when she watches Wimbledon. We were talking about the film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I watched it recently, and she went to see it at the cinema and loved it. She said the guy that plays the owner of the hotel was brilliant and I suggested she would like Slumdog Millionnaire. I'm sure she would like it, so I said I would send it to her, but on account of her poor eyesight, she can't set up her DVD player, because the text on the menu screen is too small. I asked about getting her eyes done privately but she said it costs £2500 for each eye, and that she hasn't really got that kind of money. It's disgraceful!

Wednesday 4 July 2012

What was I thinking, not wearing wellies to the marshes! What a doughnut. It was shin deep in places and inevitably water crept into my boots via the zip. One foot is soggier than the other. Fortunately, no children fell in during pond dipping, or even fell in the mud, and they all had a fantastic time with Meg the Ranger. It didn't rain, well not too much, which seems to be all we can be grateful for this summer. My daughter will find out whose class she is in next year on Friday. The classes will be mixed year 1&2, so she has the chance of having the same teacher again. This could be negative, because it might mean it is a bit 'samey' but she LOVES her teacher so much, that I think she will be upset if she is put in another class. We will just have to present the positives, whatever the decision. My son also finds out, but his choices are devil and deep blue sea, so either way, it doesn't really matter!
What to cook for dinner is presenting me with problems at the moment. There is no good reason, other than it seems to be a total chore. I really am not feeling inspired. I would quite happily live on takeaway this week, or salad and picky bits if it was actually summer.
The bills are all paid, and the account is practically empty and the holiday is not yet booked. Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Car passed the MOT yippee! School this morning went well, but dare I mention it again, the rain is torrential. It's the school play tonight, we got soaked on the way home and had to change, so I imagine we will get soaked again, and have to sit through the show all soggy and wet.
I had a coffee and a lovely chat this afternoon with my dear friend. Really nice people, who are decent, and on the same wavelength, are hard to come by, and I am so lucky to have found my friend, her husband and her gorgeous son.
We have been checking out flights and dates for our trip back to France. My husband is struggling to get the right dates off from work, the price of flights varies so massively and there are so many things to coordinate. Why are things so complicated? Dog sitters, hire cars, airport parking at this end and/or lifts to and from airports. If we manage to sort it all out, it will be a miracle. Anyway, thats my moan for the day over. Hubby is due shortly and we must dash to collect the car and get to the show.........

Monday 2 July 2012

Sorry to go on about the weather but OMG OMG!!!! This is ridiculous. It's freezing cold, windy and raining non stop. I've had a very unpleasant morning trying to sort out a car insurance cock up of huge proportions at loads of extra cost to me, followed by passport nightmares, french electric bill disasters, MOT headaches and general paperwork blues. With all that, and a back drop of stormy winter weather, I am more than ready for holidays of some kind. Sadly, my holidays will be mostly spent cleaning, sorting and repairing and decorating in France. At least one can hope that the weather will be good. Aside from all that joy, I have noticed the onset of jowls. I was so busy stressing about my wrinkles and crows feet, that the jowls and the equivalent of bingo wings on my inner thighs had temporarily escaped my notice. The jowls are now much more noticeable because, since my fabulous new haircut wouldn't go right after 3 days, I have chopped bits off my hair daily, resulting in a short, escaped from mental hospital style, that now shows off my jowls and leaves me nothing to hide behind at all. They say we make our own destiny, so I think I have been using the wrong ingredients in life! I need to sort out my filing, eat healthily and stop smiling or smile more to combat the jowls. Incidentally, is there a name for inner thigh bingo wings? Does anyone else suffer, and what can one do to combat them?

Sunday 1 July 2012

The weather has been intermittently good.... I guess that's as good as it gets in the UK. We had a lovely hour or so on the sandy beach in Lyme Regis yesterday which was nice, apart from the wind. I know we English are always complaining about the weather one way or another, but wind and sand = annoying!
We watched Danny The Champion of the World with the kids, it was a lovely film but a struggle to keep the kids watching. Not fast paced enough or action packed enough for them, although they stuck with it and enjoyed most of it. We've been down to Byrne Jones the local chemist today to get passport photo's for the kids. Not smiling was hard, my daughter looks positively miserable in her photo due to her attempts to keep a straight face. What a silly rule! I think smiling should be compulsory. Who introduced that ruling? It's ridiculous. There are so many silly rules these days. If you have encountered any lately, please leave me a comment. I love a rant about silly rules!
I've just been sent a video from my course that I have to comment on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiDV6uOY9QI

It expresses sentiments that I wholeheartedly agree with! I have just booted my son off his xbox and sent him down to the local council flats where his friend lives, to play out. At least council accommodation incorporates relatively safe outside areas for children to play (even if it is to the annoyance of the neighbours!). I've blogged about it before, but I am really disgruntled that kids don't play out any more. There is nowhere my 6 year old could play out safely on her own around here.

We are trying to plan our summer. We would really like to get over to the house in France if money and other commitments permit. I can't wait to see the old place and catch up with friends. I wonder how the children will find it? My daughter is looking forward to it, but my son hasn't made his feeling known yet. My Dad finishes his tour on the 23rd of July so he will be back in France from that date. I really look forward to seeing him. I love my Dad!