SUMMER HIATUS

Well it's happened again - my going AWOL over the summer months....... I can here you Brits humphing at the mention of summer...... OK, I disappeared for August.......

Wasn't for any earth shattering reason, just bloody busy.

Cricket, as ever occupied much of the time and when it wasn't actually being played it was organising teams for said pastime and if it wasn't arrangements, it was coaching and if not coaching it was pouring (!!) over weather forecasts trying to predict if the game would actually get played........ The team the husband plays for won a cup that the club had never managed to win before, so that was a good night! My two older boys enjoyed playing at senior level and good old fashioned sibling rivalry certainly seemed to sput them on.

Work has swayed from busy, to manically busy back to normal busy. Not complaining, love my job but it can be pretty full on at times.

Managed to persuade the husband to comtemplate a foreign holiday........ I wasn't so persuasive as to manage to get him to actually renew his passport so I guess that will have to wait until next year.

Settled number 2 and number 3 sons into a new high school....... Now therein does lie a tale...... Number 3 son was always scheduled to attend a different school to number 2, who was at our local comp....... I wasn't happy with the standards there and with number 3 being statemented, I was very anxious that his needs would not be catered for at our nearest school. Much agonising and worrying later, I found another reasonably local school with a much more pleasant environment........ The week before the end of term, number 2 son announced he wanted to change schools too......... Marvellous! I realy needed all that hassle. Anyway, I grilled him particularly carefully and his motivation to move seemed well thought out and genuinly considered..... Two new uniforms and two bus passes later and both seem to be settling in well.........

Number one son passed his driving test and turned 18 in August, so you can imagine that it turned out to be a scarily expensive month!

Had a whistle stop tour of Milton Keynes, Bicester, Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon over a weekend and that's about it......

Oh yeah, was in the local paper today in an article about blogging so thought I'd better do some!!!

Have been reading my regular pages but guess now the nights are drawing in I will be a better correspondent........

Talk soon xxx

MAJOR RANDOMNESS

I have been working full time recently as my colleague (and Manager) is on paternity leave. Consequently life has been pretty busy. Add to that mix our biggest client having a peak in production and I have been in danger of meeting myself coming back.

Then today, the most random of experience. My mobile rang at work (fortunately we con;t have any draconian nonsense about personal calls, just some good old old fashioned common sense, i/e/ don't take the piss!). So I duly answered the call and found myself talking to a BBC Breakfast Producer (remember my previous incarnation as part of their technology family??).

Anyway, it transpires that there is a campaign to raise awareness about the legal implications of leaving children aged under 16 home on their own.

Obviously, as a serial mother, they thought I may have an opinion on the matter. I mean, me express an opinion - have I ever????!!!!

I am writing this long-hand in my trusty notepad ready to transcribe once I get near a PC - one that works I might add as the home PC is currently dreadfully poorly thanks to the efforts of number one son.

Just realised I am not wearing any earrings. Curses! The ignominy of appearing on live national television without any earrings....... Will I ever live it down????

(Written on the train to Liverpool St 10th July 2008)

MAMMA MIA

Just watched it at the cinema............ Should be compulsory viewing for ladies of a certain age.


A real tonic and highly recommended.


Book your tickets now!

CHICKEN POX

This question will annoy you all and I know I will receive several conflicting answers............

Is it possible to get chicken pox more than once??????????????

I will tell you what is riding on the consensus soon...........................

DAWN CHORUS

The daughter has been struggling with her sleep just recently – it’s been hot and clammy at night, plus lovely and bright by 5am, hence she’s been very restless.

Saturday morning she woke whilst her daddy was getting ready for work and was raring to go. Her mummy wasn’t! Obviously she needed watching when the husband left for work so I brought her into bed for a cuddle and quick chat. It was quite apparent that she was still tired so after a little “persuasion” she went back to bed.

I climbed back into my lovely king size with its lovely big huggable pillows and duvet and tried to go back to sleep. I tried and I tried and I tried…… And I failed dismally. So there I was lying in bed, listening to the world around me wake up.

The dawn chorus started and how lovely it was too…….. Then a couple of cats decided to have a spat……….. not quite so pleasant……………………. Then my neighbours dog joined in, so we had cats hissing and the dog barking, which woke up not one but two babies in the area.

Dawn chorus my eye, more like bloody dawn cacophony.

Suffice to say I never did get back to sleep!

THAT'S MY BOY

Busy weekend - no surprise there..... Did cricket teas on Saturday, which I do enjoy despite the requirement for a level of physical effort I am not normally known for! Suffice to say copious amounts of fresh cream scones were prepared and consumed. Well I had to taste test them to make sure they were up to standard!

Then on to Sunday......... It was windy - anyone notice that??!! Consequently I decided to get stuck into the washing and subsequent ironing. I was at if for bloody hours - one load in the washing machine, one load on the line and one load being ironed. Talk about Chinese laundry. Anyway, whilst I had my nose to the grindstone, number 4 son was playing 10 pin bowling with his football chums before having lunch together and then their presentation....... Husband took him and they were gone a good few hours..... I wasn't looking my best when they came back - all that steam had made me go decidedly red in the face. Therefore, I was somewhat surprised to be greeted by a beaming husband followed by a beaming son. Well he soon showed me a large, heavy trophy he had won - Manager's Player of the Year. He was absolutely delighted - husband was pretty pleased too! Now number 4 is a happy go lucky little chap, plays his sport to the best of his ability, puts 100% in and will play in any position (including goalie, which I hate as he is forever diving at people's fee). Thus his manager decided that his all round contribution deserved some recognition. He was even presented with his trophy by Mick Mills (former England and Ipswich player). This did cause some consternation because my boys (large and small) are all yellow and green (Norwich City) and Ipswich are the sworn enemy....... I am led to believe it was the most brief of handshakes!

Ah, that's my boy!

NO BETTER ROLE FOR A WOMAN???????????

I was reading my local newspaper on Tuesday when this letter leaped out at me under the title "No better role for a woman". It read as follows:

In years past, mothers in Norwich could walk with their children in car-free streets, or visit one of Norwich’s safe, well-kept beautiful parks. Mothers then were family minded, and didn’t feel compelled to go out to work. They had plenty to do in the home and most, I believe, were content. In today’s culture, not enough time is given by parents to caring for their young children. And this can hinder their development – worse still, see them become delinquents. Nothing reaches a child’s heart like a mother’s love. Some say there is no higher role for a woman than this, simply being a good mum and a wife. Our children are God’s gift to us, deserving of the highest good. Good things happen in a family united in love.

Well, do you know, being held responsible for all societies ills rather pissed me off so I composed a response which read:

"I write to take exception in the strongest possible terms to the criticism of working mothers. I am a working mother of five children, aged from 3 to 17. My children are cherished and the most important priority in my life.

I work, quite simply, to feed them, clothe them, provide them with a home and heat that home.

Virtually every available minute I am not at work I spend with my children, enjoying activities as a family.

His comment that by working I am impeding their development is as inflammatory as it is incorrect. I think he will find that the delinquents our society seems to be producing come from dysfunctional families with absent parents and those who choose to live on state benefits.

Perhaps he would like to come down from the isolated ivory tower he seems to be living in and have a taste of life in the real world where the rest of us are facing rising prices, increased mortgage interest rates and an increasingly uncertain economic future.

I felt alot better getting that off my chest. It was published yesterday though without the final paragraph (most have been too inflammatory) What do you guys think?