Spread your wings and fly away

Dogs booked into the kennels for a week in August. Left it a bit late this year to book which is not good as they had trouble fitting us in but as we are regular customers, i.e. dogs go on their hols there every year, they managed to fit us in somehow. Now all we have to do is find somewhere to spend the week. Sent an email to my aunt to see if we can go there if not will have to find a cheap holiday somewhere, but I need to get away!

Then a trip to the vet to get the dog's vaccinations up to date. Due to the confusion on their certificates they were overdue so are having to have two lots instead of one. Glad it wasn't just me that found what was written last time confusing, the vet misread it as well and it took a good ten minutes for her to work it out and tell us we were overdue! So with the deposit for the kennels and the vets bills we have gone over our monthly budget again! ON top of this she has said our grey will probably have to have a couple of teeth removed as they are in a bad way. Now I attempt to brush his teeth everyday, something which is difficult as all he wants to do is chew toothbrush, chew my finger or lick the tube of doggy toothpaste and will not let me get to his back teeth. However he is an exracer and they do tend to have bad teeth as during their racing years they only get sloppy food and never anything hard to chew on, He gets dry food now as it is the only one that doesn't upset his stomach but he eats it so fast it doesn't touch the side of his mouth - however he does get a few chew sticks but obviously this is not enough. So now I will need to get onto the insurance company and make sure we are covered for operations of this kind which I am sure we are.

Oh well better go and feed them!

one side note, wi today was good lost 1Ib which I am pleased with as I was convinced I had put on!

I have decided I have a problem. Nothing serious just the inability to say the word no. Now I have no problem saying this to hubby when he annoys me, or to the kids when they keep asking for something, but for some unfathomable reason when asked to do something for someone else I never say no.

This evening, classic example, at a board of Governors meeting and asked to sit on a key dials panel. I have no idea what this is, no idea what to do apart from monitor the core subjects and make sure that standards are raised, and I said yes when my head was screaming no. Bloody bloody stupid woman. So now hubby not impressed when I said that I was going to cut back on my commitments to find that I have taken on another one - as well as this I am also chair of personnel and curriculum commitee, SEN governor, recruitment governor. Also KS3 governor at the other school that I am govenor at and I know that they are looking for more from me.

note to self must learn to say NO!!!

Sun is shining away, windows wide open to let in what little of a breeze there is, and I notice that the windows need cleaning and there is so much dust everywhere. So today has been one where instead of enjoying the sun I have attempted to clean this pigsty I call home. IT isn't going to feature just yet on 'how clean is your house' but I think if I leave it any longer Kim and Aggie will be beating a path to my door.

I have thrown away junk mail that my husband has accumulated and dumped on the dining room table - we can now eat at the table instead of precariously balancing plates on our laps once more. The Carpet has been hoovered well, and everything is polished in the living room so it sparkles once more. The kitchen isn't too bad it just needs the floor to be washed and the worktops need their weekly disinfecting (son does it during the week when he washes up but not to my standards). The cupboards need cleaning as well as they haven't been done for a while.

It isn't as though we are dirty, we aren't, just a messy adult, two kids and two dogs mean that things are not always as spotless as they could be. I try to keep on top of it during the week but sometimes when I get home from work I just want to cook tea and chill. Hubby tries, he really does, but he comes home and sits in front of the telly and I end up feeling like all I am here for is to clean and tidy so hence it only gets done well once a week. However as I was away last week it didn't get done hence the mess now.

My MIL doesn't like my house, she likes everything spotless so it drives her mad to see anything in our house out of place so I brought a plague and put it on my wall where she could see it. She isn't impressed and didn't find it funny but it sums us up well and as I say at least you feel comfortable in our house, it is home from home. Our sign reads

A tidy house is a sign of a wasted life

Oh well back to the tidying.

Well being classless is interesting. I spent today marking work for the teacher I work with so that when she gets back she will not have any to do (kind aren't I) and because she has been buried away under reports there was quite a bit. I hasten to add this falls outside my usual duties but noone quite knew what to do with me as it is only the class I work with that is away this week and there were enough teaching assistants to go round so one more in a class would have been one too many. Fortunately I have made enough time in hand so I can have tomorrow off, Friday being my day off anyway.

New headteacher is not at all popular and she hasn't officially started yet. She has reorganised the year groups and gave out envelopes to all year heads with their year groups today then walked away before they could question her decision - and some of them are not happy at all. I have been moved again but have a sneaky suspicion that it may be in my favour so obviously I am keeping my head down and smiling to myself.

Eldest son has announced he is now officially on the Gifted and Talented register and is doing summer school for two weeks in the summer. when I asked him what he was gifted and talented at he replied "no-one knows mum, think it may be because I turn up at school!" Says it all don't you think? Anyway he got a 7 in Maths for his Sats and a 6 in Science so he is pleased with that. He is however dreading his English result as that is his weakest subject and his GCSE French is not going to be great as he missed a paper due to being very ill that day. He doesn't seem too bothered though as he says he can catch up as he is taking French next year. Not quite sure where he gets his brains from, but he is very studious and has a plan for the rest of his life which is admirable for a 14 year old and yes I am proud of him!

One last thing is I notice my last post is posted twice, this is interesting as I only clicked on the submit button once!

Oh well other child is waiting patiently to read to me and do his exercises so better go!

Anyone who knows me well will tell you I am crap at maths. I struggled to get my o level and it wasn't an excellent grade, but I just about passed. As the years go by I am gradually getting better but I still struggle to understand what I am doing - personally I think I have a phobia with numbers.

The curriculum allows children to try a variety of methods to add and subtract, multiply and divide numbers. The idea behind this is that a child will find a method that they are comfortable with and use it - unlike when I was at school where you were shown one way of doing things. For the most part most children do find this beneficial though as a parent I often am faced with children's homework and find that the method they are using is alien to me. Some children however need to be told just one way otherwise they get confused easily - I am sure I would be one of those children!

Today I took some children from our school to another one in the area where they were holding a maths day. Like me they were apprehensive at the thought of doing maths all day, and were not looking forward to it. However the day turned out better than they thought. There were lots of maths board games to play and they could also construct things using Knex- the idea being that what they constructed had to hold a tin of beans and go down a slope without dropping it. Some of the games required you to use your number facts, some mental arithmetic and some you needed to think really hard about and plan ahead, as you would in a game of draughts or chess. The children had fun, and so did I, made all the better that the bloke who was in charge was quite dishy and needed my help (yes he singled me out but think that was because he confused me with someone else but who am I to complain), and the day turned out better than expected.

I brought back with me a few ideas that we could use in lessons and fed this back to the numeracy co-ordinator in school. Whether anything will be done about it or not is another matter, but I have always maintained that there is no longer enough play in lessons in primary schools as the curriculum is far too structured and children don't get to develop their skills. There seems to be an increase in children that need to have more knetic stimulation in class to learn and playing games is one way of doing this and I do think that one lesson a week could be set aside for children to play games of this sort. Afterall far too many children are coming into schools nowadays having no idea how to play or socialise.

Oh well off my soapbox now and off to make a cup of tea.

Anyone who knows me well will tell you I am crap at maths. I struggled to get my o level and it wasn't an excellent grade, but I just about passed. As the years go by I am gradually getting better but I still struggle to understand what I am doing - personally I think I have a phobia with numbers.

The curriculum allows children to try a variety of methods to add and subtract, multiply and divide numbers. The idea behind this is that a child will find a method that they are comfortable with and use it - unlike when I was at school where you were shown one way of doing things. For the most part most children do find this beneficial though as a parent I often am faced with children's homework and find that the method they are using is alien to me. Some children however need to be told just one way otherwise they get confused easily - I am sure I would be one of those children!

Today I took some children from our school to another one in the area where they were holding a maths day. Like me they were apprehensive at the thought of doing maths all day, and were not looking forward to it. However the day turned out better than they thought. There were lots of maths board games to play and they could also construct things using Knex- the idea being that what they constructed had to hold a tin of beans and go down a slope without dropping it. Some of the games required you to use your number facts, some mental arithmetic and some you needed to think really hard about and plan ahead, as you would in a game of draughts or chess. The children had fun, and so did I, made all the better that the bloke who was in charge was quite dishy and needed my help (yes he singled me out but think that was because he confused me with someone else but who am I to complain), and the day turned out better than expected.

I brought back with me a few ideas that we could use in lessons and fed this back to the numeracy co-ordinator in school. Whether anything will be done about it or not is another matter, but I have always maintained that there is no longer enough play in lessons in primary schools as the curriculum is far too structured and children don't get to develop their skills. There seems to be an increase in children that need to have more knetic stimulation in class to learn and playing games is one way of doing this and I do think that one lesson a week could be set aside for children to play games of this sort. Afterall far too many children are coming into schools nowadays having no idea how to play or socialise.

Oh well off my soapbox now and off to make a cup of tea.

Oh joy

Today my class are off to Dell Farm for the week http://www.luton.gov.uk/internet/Education_and_learning/Schools_and_colleges/Educational_visits/Residential%20Study%20Centres

First stop is Whipsnade for the day - muggings is to meet up with them there so that there is enough adults supervising the children - can you tell how pleased I am about that - Whipsnade in the rain!! It is so exposed there, and very windy and they do not like the children eating their lunch in the cafe so it means we will get very wet! Fortunately do not have to stay with them all week, which means I will be working in a different class each day.

So wish me luck!

Saw this on Kizlode's blog earlier so thought I would do one of my own. Not very interesting, mainly as I found it hard to think of thirty interesting things about me!

1) I am the eldest child of two

2)I can play the clarinet and the recorder and have taught both.

3)I have played and sung at the Royal Albert Hall

4)I studied A level music and History but left school before I took the exams

5)I have met Roy Castle, Paul Daniels and Tom Baker

6)I stood next to Sean Connery in a pub in London while he conversed with Michael Caine.

7)I have had four marriage proposals

8)I always wore lots of rings and bracelets when I was younger and rattled a lot

9)Dark chocolate gives me migraines

10)My record collection contains anything from classical, pop, 60s rock to heavy rock music depending on what mood I am in.

11)I have seen UB40 and Meatloaf and Sister Sledge in concert – it was only one of these that I actually wanted to go to the other two was to accompany a younger sister and a friend.

12)I giggle a lot

13)I used to have very long hair

14)I got Chicken pox in 1976, when it was very hot. Spent three weeks off school sunbathing in the garden and itching!

15)I have a burn mark on the top of my left arm due to getting very sunburnt when I was a young child (not when I had chicken pox)

16)I love dogs, but not too keen on little ones you fall over

17)The first time I have ever been on a plane was last year when I went to Ireland for the weekend

18)I love cross stitching, which I have been doing since I was 13, but cannot sew.

19)I passed out when I had my ears pierced

20)Most people think I am quite confident, though in reality I have very low self esteem

21)I would love to live by the sea

22)Both my children were born by emergency caesarean

23)I had to have a blood transfusion after my first child was born and if it wasn’t for my MIL being there at the time I would have died as the wrong type of blood was given

24)I hate liver, kidney and fish

25)I love eating raw vegetables

26)I cannot draw

27)I have far too many cuddly toys, one of which is a huge bear that sits on top of the telly in my bedroom

28)I love Eeyore

29)I love reading books my favourite type being historical fiction

30)I collect Beatrix Potter figurines and Spode china.

The kids are upstairs playing and hubby has decided his van needs tidying, so he has been out there all afternoon doing just that. This is the man who announced this morning that he will be spending the day with me and not working, as he hasn't seen me all week, yet what is he doing? Tidying up his van! Love him to bits yet he drives me mad at times.

To be fair though, it is partly my fault. I have sat here all afternoon playing about on the computer. I have treated myself to an MP3 player and have downloaded some tracks onto it. then following a discussion with a friend about Lordi and that I had treated myself to their single (the winning Eurovision song) she sent me details of a site that I can watch some of their other videos on. Great site www.youtube.com. So obviously I just had to browse, so have been playing Metallica (nothing else matters is one of my favourites), Iron Maiden, Guns and Roses, Lordi, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake and Def Leppard just to name a few. Hubby and I don't have quite the same taste in music.

Also treated myself to the Eagles greatest hits today as well. Was offered tickets to their concert in Twickenham last Saturday but two things stopped me from going:

1) Hubby didn't want to go and couldn't find anyone that would want to go at short notice that liked the Eagles
2) I was going away the next day and needed to pack.

Pathetic excuses really, if I had more notice I could have found someone to go with but there we are.

Oh treated hubby to Sandi Thom single "I wish I was a punk rocker", - he likes it a lot and it is growing on me gradually!

Away from music managed to get a couple of Christmas pressies for the kids - yes I know it is still 6 months away (just) but I like to make a start so that I can manage to avoid the rush towards Christmas. Hopefully I can get most of it out of the way before then and don't have to find the money to finance Christmas all in one go!

Well enough rambling, better go and see if 'other half' wants a cuppa, then again may leave him out there a bit longer as he is so quiet!

to be home!

I am exhausted.

5 days at an activity centre with far too many children and on the go all day from 6 in the morning (which is when I had to get up out of bed) till 12 at night (which is when I crawled back into bed!)

Absolutely shattered, but had a great time and the kids enjoyed it.

off to bed now!

Suitcase packed.

Lists made and bag being packed with goodies for us adults when we get our much needed rest at 10 in the evening! Bag has to include enough bags (otherwise known as nappy sacks ) incase children are ill on the coach and wipes to clean up with - and know I will forego this as I am likely to make more mess - don't even deal with my children when they are ill!

Kingswood beckons and I have to be at the school at 9.30 tomorrow morning - an unearthly time for a sunday. Weather forecast for Cromer suggests anything from very hot weather to rain, just for a change.

Hopefully all I will need to remember is to pack my toiletries and make up tomorrow - yes i am that vain I cannot go out without mascara and a little bit of powder on my face. Weather forecast is for rain with a bit of sun inbetween times - oh joy! - needless to say I have packed enough clothing to see me through a month let alone a few days! I can never be accused of travelling light!

Most of the activities are outside and you are fed at least 3 times a day, 2 course meals at each one so not much chance of losing weight next week - may miss a meal see how I am feeling lol!

Oh well blogland have a good week!

Weigh in went well, lost another 2 Ibs no idea how, but sometimes these things happen.

Work as well today when it should have been my day off, but I needed to sort out a couple of things, then hit the shops as I needed a new suitcase. I am going away with 126, year 6 children on Sunday for the week to Kingswood in Cromer http://www.kingswood.co.uk/

I get to this stage where I think what the hell was I doing volunteering for this? Fortunately one very supportive husband who is rearranging his work schedule so that my children still have a parent to come home from school to, a neighbour who is collecting youngest from school for us during the week and a mother in law who is running him to school in the morning!

I must admit I do enjoy it. I usually have 16 children in my group to supervise and once I have read the the riot act on how to behave for me, and they realise I mean business, the most trying child is angelic by the time we leave on Friday. My eldest says it is because I give them the 'evil eye', I know it is just because they realise what a wonderful person I am.

Oh and incase you look at the website, the activities are brill, but I don't take part I sit and watch at a safe distance and supervise - I will break out into a sweat if my feet have to leave the ground!

Stolen from Kizlode http://kizlode.blog.co.uk/ who stole it from rithompson http://random-veryrandom.blog.co.uk
who stole it from Helly100 http://helly100.blog.co.uk

I AM: happy

I WANT: To be fit and healthy

I WISH: I could pay off my mortgage

I MISS: My friend

I FEAR: dying slowly

I HEAR: the football on the radio

I WONDER: Why people hate each other so much

I REGRET: Life is too short for regrets

I AM NOT: very athletic

I DANCE: like a mad person

I SING: at the top of my voice (making a racket more like)

I CRY: when I am emotional

I AM NOT ALWAYS: happy despite what my friends think

I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: a lot of signs

I WRITE: a diary

I CONFUSE: myself regularly

I NEED: someone to sort out my house

I START: too many cross stitching projects at once

I FINISH: work soon for the holidays yipeeeeee!

Youngest child's headteacher phones me at work. Apparantly she sent me a letter home with son about finding a governor to do interviews tomorrow, except I didn't get the letter, therefore I am now going to be on the interview panel for an HLTA -oh joy! Fortunately I have the day off tomorrow so don't have to book anytime off, but I had planned to spend it sorting out what to wear next week when I am away with year 6 and doing some housework. Not much chance of that now as I will be spending all day in son's school. Wonderful!

Despite it peeing down with rain outside it is very warm and muggy here weather wise, think we may be in for a thunder storm.

Well meeting new head went well all things considered. Got the yeargroup I wanted, the teacher I didn't want, but it is only a year to it won't hurt me, but she seems to be quite keen on professional development so have given her a list of courses that I want to go on including a Learning Mentors course. All duly noted in her book. As she called me into the office by my first name I had to ask her how she knew that it was me. Her reply "on my notes against your name is has an infectious laugh, is often giggling and often hums away to herself, so far today I have seen you do all three so it could only be you!" Well it could be worse I could be miserable couldn't I, but that is not my way at all. Anyway I love my job.

Especially today.

I was told that we were going to meet the new headteacher today and be told what year group we would be working in. New Headteacher starts in September, but has sorted out where all the teachers are going and upset at least half of them, so you can imagine how nervous us Teaching Assistants were.

Anyway, new head turns up to meeting 20 mins late and says how valuable we all are (yeah right can you see the ulterior motive coming) says she can't stay but will only see the TAs that will not be in tomorrow morning the rest of us she will see individually sometime tomorrow. So I am none the wiser as to which year group I will be working with but have discovered that the teachers have been told which TAs will be working with them - hold on there shouldn't we have been asked?

Ok in a way we were asked, on paper, where we wanted to go, but in my case there is one yeargroup I don't necessarily want to go in and have asked to stay with the teacher I am working with at the moment, problem is she is being moved to the yeargroup I don't want to go into whereas the person I least want to work with is moving into the yeargroup that I do want to work in - dilemma - what are the chances that I get either one of these? Oh well no good speculating on what might happen, I may be asked to do something completely different tomorrow!

We had a lovely day today.

As I will not be here for Father's day next week, thought I would treat hubby to a pub lunch somewhere nice today. Unfortunately eldest son could not be with us as he had arranged to go to a friends house, but to be fair to him it was a spur of the moment decision. Anyway after driving around for a while we came upon a lovely pub in Henlow, called the Crown , that wasn't very busy and serves what can only be called huge portions of delicious melt in the mouth food. We throughly enjoyed it and can see us making the trip out there more often, especially as it was quite reasonably priced as well.

So now I am sitting in front of a footie match doing some cross stitch. Started on Eldest son's Christmas pressie though cannot see me finishing it in time but will give it a go. Just put it away as DH has gone to collect him from his friend's house, but here is what I have done so far.

Having put that away for now I was left with a dilemma (I am in stitching mood), do I do the Florida one, the baby sampler for my cousin's baby due in October or our wedding sampler (ongoing project we have been married 16 years this year )

So decision made I chose the Florida one. this I brought when we were in Florida last year to remember our holiday by and I fell in love with it.

The above picture is not very good photo but you get the idea!

Well off to do some more stitching now. Have a good evening everyone!

Today I am shattered.

I have had a sleepless night, and not because I had a couple of glasses of wine at a friends house yesterday evening, but by the fact that hubby's hayfever has returned with vengence. we all suffer from hayfever, but Hubbys is the worst out of all of us - something that I get the blame for because apparently before he met me he never got it - there is logic there somewhere though be dammed if I can find it!

Two months ago I got him his hayfever pills as any dutiful, loving wife would (yeah right) and told him to start taking them. He refused, afterall his hayfever always starts up in February and goes on until end of September, and yet there had been no sign of it so as far as he was concerned it was going to by pass him this year.

Unfortunately not.

So there I was last night lying in bed, while he sneezed, blew his nose, coughed for England, complained that his throat was sore and kept getting in and out of bed. Eventually at two this morning he went downstairs to get himself a drink and to (his words)"give me a break" which lasted all of 5 mins. By this time I am wide awake and wanting another pint of water to drink so now I am up and down all night, muttering under breath. This is not helped by the fact it was a very warm night and I wonder why I didn't bring the fan to bed with me as I was so uncomfortable!

He has now, I am pleased to say, taken his tablet, though going by past experiences it will not kick in until later in the week and this morning has gone to work with swollen eyes that keep leaking, a runny nose and an itchy throat, and I couldn't help but mutter those words..........

"I told you so."

Come in for a little while from the sun. Been sitting there sorting out threads and making a start on my latest cross stitch project. It is called Dragon Ride
http://www.sewandso.co.uk/cgi-bin/find/db.cgi?db=zoom&do=search_results&Prod_Code=17696&ww=1

I had the stupid idea to do this for my eldest Son for Christmas, however it is done of linen and the chart symbols are really small. So should be fun trying to do this when he isn't around to see - but at least it keeps my hands of food!

It is hot and I am loving it - for now anyway. Hate the gloom of the winter and love it when the sun shines. Plan to dit out in it later once I have quickly dusted and hoovered downstairs.

Not, however, looking forward to the weekend. I am so fed up with hearing about Wayne Rooneys flipping foot and whether he will play or not. At the moment the radio reporter is talking to some idiot of a supposed England fan in Germany who puts all supporters to shame with his stupid comments - all the radio has been talking about is the forthcoming game. Hubby will insist upon shopping early tomorrow so he can sit in front of the box and shout at the players (like they can hear him) and the kids will be sent upstairs so they don't have to listen to the bad language that will be forthcoming as well. Can you tell I am NOT a fan of football?

Managed to persuade hubby he really doesn't need a flag on his van, we have one that is a permanent fixture on the side of the house - we are English and proud of it - something that causes some amusement with our neighbours as the majority are Irish and a couple are Italian (their flags fly outside their house as well!). We all get along ok, think they have got used to DH weird sense of humour by now!

Positive note, lost 31/2 Ib at weigh in this week so celebrated by having beans on toast for breakfast with poached eggs - oh the joy lol!!

Well off I go now to enjoy the sunshine see you later!!

This was sent to me by email though I have seen a few blogs with this on as well.

The Famous Five list...

5 things in my fridge:
Carrots - love them raw
Milk - Too much full fat, not enough skimmed
Low fat margarine
Philadelphia cheese
mango chutney
(mmm think I need to go shopping)

5 things in my wardrobe:
Too many shoes for me to possibly wear
Lovely black skirt
Several black tops
couple of black jumpers
Black basque - hubby brought it for christmas one year only wore it the once!
(can you see a pattern here?)

5 things in my pocket / handbag / wallet:
In my handbag there is
1 purse
mobile phone
lipstick
mirror
pen

As I sit here waiting for the washing to finish spinning, the sun is shining, the windows are open and it is lovely and warm outside. What are the kids doing? One is trying to get Lara Croft through the next level unsuccessfully while the other is watching a very old King Kong movie and moaning because I will not let him watch Team America! Hubby is working today, just as well really as we are overdrawn at the bank due to a direct debit being paid earlier than it should have been.

Now I am particularly anal about our money. Statements are scrutinised and cross checked against what I have written down, (yes I write all my expenditure in a book)so that I know how much we have in the accounts at any one time. It drives my family mad that I spend time pouring over the household accounts as I call them, but then again hubby gets paid weekly and not always a set amount either - it all depends on the size of the house he wires or what other electrical work he does. So I always make sure we have enough each week put aside to cover that weeks direct debits, with shopping money his wages do not go very far at all. So was really annoyed to find that a direct debit had been paid on Thursday instead of on Monday, therefore making me overdrawn. The bank tells me the ppl I have the direct debit with took the money early, the people that need to be paid tell me that the bank paid them early - who is lying? Needless to say not a happy bunny about this and I will be making sure one or the other of them will pay the bank charges!

I must admit this is the first time I have had any problems with our bank as over the years they have been very good to us so I suppose I should allow for one technical blip. I will monitor everything even closer in future though!

Anyone out there that knows where I can get an on/off switch for the computer tower? It is the switch you press when you want to turn the computer on in the mornings. PC world says they don't do them, Maplin - got the same response from. Mine is not working properly at all, takes at least 10 minutes to turn computer on in the mornings now by keep pressing it (all I get is the red LED light up, not the green one, so have to keep switching on and off until green one comes up and computer starts to load).

Thanks in advance.