..I have been looking back and thinking that it has had more ups and downs than a yo-yo!
But that's life, and I only have to look at the photos that I took over the year to remind me that it really wasn't such a bad year, and that things got better as the year progressed.
Christmas is nearly upon us, Christmas is being spent with family this year.
I am missing escaping to the sun and hate the cold weather, and where I once poo-pooed the theory of S.A.D now I'm starting to think there is such a thing!
Still, I am looking forward to next year and have a new set of books from the OU to start. I have decided that, while I have no work to speak of, I will go for Honours (a 2:1 or a First if all goes well) and signed up for S339 (Understanding the Continents), and, in case that goes pear-shaped, U316 (Environmental Web). I'm rather apprehensive having had almost a whole year away from serious study and am hoping that I will get back into the swing of things in January.
Seasons Greetings to anyone who's celebrating Christmas, may it be a happy, peaceful and safe one.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
No ordinary November!
What a month!
17th Nov: letter arrives saying Katie failed her 11+ by 14 marks. Shock. Everyone, from family to school, expected her to sail through it because of her strong verbal reasoning and writing skills. Tears(Katie)and stress(me)all weekend...why did we decide to push the decorating through to finishing that particular weekend...simply because we never expected the result we got! Still, the stress got the paint on the walls at a spectacular rate and did I take out my frustration with that paint roller!
We decide to go to the review panel and I hand in my review letter stating why she deserved to pass and quoting her Year 5 level 5s, and we start to visit selective and non-selective schools.
The very next day, I get a phonecall from the Admissions Manager at the council to say there was a software error and Katie did in fact pass, with 80 marks above the pass mark and with the maximum score for her writing. Relief! Joy! Excitement! Hurried up to school to give Katie the news, quick hug from her and off she trotted to tell her friends. Teacher opened a box of Celebrations chocolates for the class, bless her.
All sorted, visited half the number of schools now and Katie is ready to choose her favourite.
This week we found out that someone had cloned our credit card and had a whale of a time! What a time to have a credit card cancelled, right before Xmas. Thank heavens I signed up for Tesco's card a few months ago to save for OU courses! So now I am in a muddle searching for receipts so we can tally up what we spent and what is fraudulent.
The run of bad luck continued yesterday when I decided to put a tenners worth of unleaded in my diesel car! It took me a trip to Maidstone and a school run to notice it was spluttering a bit but I put it down to the cold. On my way to collect hub from the station is suddenly dawned me that I might have used the wrong pump. Oh dear, or as son said, " big do-do's". Abandon car in car park and ring mum to collect hub and get car mechanic's tools and some empty cans and a can of diesel.
Two hours later the dinner I left to keep warm in the oven is pretty much ruined while hub and car mechanic friend empty the tank and put in diesel. Car starts and doesn't splutter or smoke. I think I have been lucky, but I'm still wary when I start the car and when I am driving. Fingers crossed for the next few journeys.
What will the rest of the week bring? Hopefully nothing, if, as the saying goes, things happen in threes.
I'm staying home today and doing boring stuff like ironing and washing, and looking forward to destressing at hub's Xmas party on Saturday.
17th Nov: letter arrives saying Katie failed her 11+ by 14 marks. Shock. Everyone, from family to school, expected her to sail through it because of her strong verbal reasoning and writing skills. Tears(Katie)and stress(me)all weekend...why did we decide to push the decorating through to finishing that particular weekend...simply because we never expected the result we got! Still, the stress got the paint on the walls at a spectacular rate and did I take out my frustration with that paint roller!
We decide to go to the review panel and I hand in my review letter stating why she deserved to pass and quoting her Year 5 level 5s, and we start to visit selective and non-selective schools.
The very next day, I get a phonecall from the Admissions Manager at the council to say there was a software error and Katie did in fact pass, with 80 marks above the pass mark and with the maximum score for her writing. Relief! Joy! Excitement! Hurried up to school to give Katie the news, quick hug from her and off she trotted to tell her friends. Teacher opened a box of Celebrations chocolates for the class, bless her.
All sorted, visited half the number of schools now and Katie is ready to choose her favourite.
This week we found out that someone had cloned our credit card and had a whale of a time! What a time to have a credit card cancelled, right before Xmas. Thank heavens I signed up for Tesco's card a few months ago to save for OU courses! So now I am in a muddle searching for receipts so we can tally up what we spent and what is fraudulent.
The run of bad luck continued yesterday when I decided to put a tenners worth of unleaded in my diesel car! It took me a trip to Maidstone and a school run to notice it was spluttering a bit but I put it down to the cold. On my way to collect hub from the station is suddenly dawned me that I might have used the wrong pump. Oh dear, or as son said, " big do-do's". Abandon car in car park and ring mum to collect hub and get car mechanic's tools and some empty cans and a can of diesel.
Two hours later the dinner I left to keep warm in the oven is pretty much ruined while hub and car mechanic friend empty the tank and put in diesel. Car starts and doesn't splutter or smoke. I think I have been lucky, but I'm still wary when I start the car and when I am driving. Fingers crossed for the next few journeys.
What will the rest of the week bring? Hopefully nothing, if, as the saying goes, things happen in threes.
I'm staying home today and doing boring stuff like ironing and washing, and looking forward to destressing at hub's Xmas party on Saturday.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Uphill all the way!
Not much time to blog lately. The pace of life is relentless :)
Katie sat her 11+ last Saturday. She had no trouble writing a good story with all the required elements, had a good bash at the Verbal reasoning paper, but struggled with the maths paper. Unfortunately alot of the things that I and school had practised with her did not seem to come up - fractions, percentages, ratios, means, modes, ranges and medians, bar graph interpretations, geometry, etc. Having talked to other parents I feel less concerned as many other children found it tough. We've waited almost a wek for the results, just one more week to go. She's convinced she hasn't passed and has been miserable all week. But I'm not so sure. She deserves to pass and I cling to that thought! I think she's having a bit of a mental melt-down. Every piece of homework this week has been like pulling teeth!!
Sam, having had a mature moment or two this week, bless him, settled down to some serious revision for an approaching GCSE science exam and some internal assessment tests. Topic - genetics. Yuck! He's got a good grasp of it all though.
I've made some serious progress this week in Spanish. I can proudly say that I am now getting to grips with not two but four tenses :)
Just to top it all, I've been getting up at 5am to drive hub to the station. I'm fine til about 8pm, then I kinda keel over and switch off! Unusual for me, I'm normally a bit of a night-owl.
Katie sat her 11+ last Saturday. She had no trouble writing a good story with all the required elements, had a good bash at the Verbal reasoning paper, but struggled with the maths paper. Unfortunately alot of the things that I and school had practised with her did not seem to come up - fractions, percentages, ratios, means, modes, ranges and medians, bar graph interpretations, geometry, etc. Having talked to other parents I feel less concerned as many other children found it tough. We've waited almost a wek for the results, just one more week to go. She's convinced she hasn't passed and has been miserable all week. But I'm not so sure. She deserves to pass and I cling to that thought! I think she's having a bit of a mental melt-down. Every piece of homework this week has been like pulling teeth!!
Sam, having had a mature moment or two this week, bless him, settled down to some serious revision for an approaching GCSE science exam and some internal assessment tests. Topic - genetics. Yuck! He's got a good grasp of it all though.
I've made some serious progress this week in Spanish. I can proudly say that I am now getting to grips with not two but four tenses :)
Just to top it all, I've been getting up at 5am to drive hub to the station. I'm fine til about 8pm, then I kinda keel over and switch off! Unusual for me, I'm normally a bit of a night-owl.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
What happened to October?!
It whizzed by!
It was a busy month.
There was a ton of GCSE and Year 6 homework and some 11+ practice for Katie, the beginnings of my venture into tutoring, gathering the last of the carrots, tomatoes and spring onions in the garden,
and the holiday paid for with the last of my earnings this year!
We all got to dabble in stuff we enjoy...for the kids, playing with the dog and exploring on bikes..
for Lee, chatting to the owners with a few beers,
for me, a spot of sunbathing with a good book, swimming and a bit of amateur photography..
my god was the water cold!
It was warm, but cool enough to venture inland, unlike in the summer, to Ronda:
for a take-away pizza on the steps of this beautiful church...
to see Puente Nuevo and the bandits museum for a bit of history on the region.
We experienced a wonderful drive through the Sierra de las Nieves National Park where we spotted a few eagles flying high above some great rocks (the eagles kept the kids happy, the rocks fascinated me, hub just drove and drove and avoided the goats!)
Decorating the conservatory followed the holiday. First it needed emptying, new flooring went down, followed by 6 coats of paint (yes 6, and I can still see a tinge of orange under the new 'Mint Crisp'!) Still to do are new balustrades, and blinds to keep the room cool (yes, that can wait, no chance of heat now!) and some furniture to buy (we had hand-me-downs-for everything..sofa, table and unit, can't wait to choose my own furnishings!)
More photos to go on Flickr soon.
Having finally logged onto the OU's First Class system after all the painting I read of the death of Hilma Miles, a super lady, a smart cookie, who gave me advice on courses on more than one occasion and whose website has been really handy at times. What a loss, and at such a young age. At least she died doing something she enjoyed. RIP Hilma.
That's brings me to November.... GCSE Science revision for Sam, 11+ day for Katie, Xmas shopping (ugh!), an ECA to begin while the kids are at school, and completion of the conservatory decor.
Finally, as some readers might remember, hub has been desperate to change jobs as a result of the shifts that are, in his own words, "killing" him. Well, he has the opportunity to try changing to a 4 nights on, 4 days off, 4 days on, 4 days off pattern. It has it's benefits...more time off and less nights in the long run, but also has it's disdvantages...shifts running into weekends and longer shifts (as if he needs longer shifts...he's already gone from the house 14 hours a day!) He's giving it a trial run anyway, let's hope it's a bit easier on him.
It was a busy month.
There was a ton of GCSE and Year 6 homework and some 11+ practice for Katie, the beginnings of my venture into tutoring, gathering the last of the carrots, tomatoes and spring onions in the garden,
and the holiday paid for with the last of my earnings this year!
We all got to dabble in stuff we enjoy...for the kids, playing with the dog and exploring on bikes..
for Lee, chatting to the owners with a few beers,
for me, a spot of sunbathing with a good book, swimming and a bit of amateur photography..
my god was the water cold!
It was warm, but cool enough to venture inland, unlike in the summer, to Ronda:
for a take-away pizza on the steps of this beautiful church...
to see Puente Nuevo and the bandits museum for a bit of history on the region.
We experienced a wonderful drive through the Sierra de las Nieves National Park where we spotted a few eagles flying high above some great rocks (the eagles kept the kids happy, the rocks fascinated me, hub just drove and drove and avoided the goats!)
Decorating the conservatory followed the holiday. First it needed emptying, new flooring went down, followed by 6 coats of paint (yes 6, and I can still see a tinge of orange under the new 'Mint Crisp'!) Still to do are new balustrades, and blinds to keep the room cool (yes, that can wait, no chance of heat now!) and some furniture to buy (we had hand-me-downs-for everything..sofa, table and unit, can't wait to choose my own furnishings!)
More photos to go on Flickr soon.
Having finally logged onto the OU's First Class system after all the painting I read of the death of Hilma Miles, a super lady, a smart cookie, who gave me advice on courses on more than one occasion and whose website has been really handy at times. What a loss, and at such a young age. At least she died doing something she enjoyed. RIP Hilma.
That's brings me to November.... GCSE Science revision for Sam, 11+ day for Katie, Xmas shopping (ugh!), an ECA to begin while the kids are at school, and completion of the conservatory decor.
Finally, as some readers might remember, hub has been desperate to change jobs as a result of the shifts that are, in his own words, "killing" him. Well, he has the opportunity to try changing to a 4 nights on, 4 days off, 4 days on, 4 days off pattern. It has it's benefits...more time off and less nights in the long run, but also has it's disdvantages...shifts running into weekends and longer shifts (as if he needs longer shifts...he's already gone from the house 14 hours a day!) He's giving it a trial run anyway, let's hope it's a bit easier on him.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Sesame Street & James Blunt
A friend from school shared this with me. It made me smile...perhaps it could be included in the numeracy planning for infants!
http://www.videofantastica.com/view_video/18919/
http://www.videofantastica.com/view_video/18919/
Monday, September 24, 2007
Hmm.
Yesterday:
An unplanned, but much enjoyed, bucket and spade session at Minnis Bay. Warm breeze, blue sky, sunshine, icecreams and sand. What a treat.
Today:
Socks are on and I'm staying indoors!
An unplanned, but much enjoyed, bucket and spade session at Minnis Bay. Warm breeze, blue sky, sunshine, icecreams and sand. What a treat.
Today:
Socks are on and I'm staying indoors!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Anniversary weekend
If you want somewhere peaceful and beautiful to visit for a weekend I can recommend Braunston and the surrounding area. Braunston is a tiny village just of the M1 J15. It consists of a mill, 4 pubs, a chippie, a church, hotel and a village store. We happened to find out about a place offering romantic breaks on good ol' Ebay. Here's where we stayed, a cottage in the grounds of the Mill...
with all the luxuries needed for romance down to tealights and red petals around the tub and bed!
and the table already laid out for romantic dining...
We did alot of walking (good for the soul as well as the legs!) along the canals and to and fro pubs. We ventured away from the cosiness of the cottage into Daventry (not a bad little place, especially if you like scouring charity shops for books!) and 'down the road' to Stoke Bruerne, home of one of the many locks on the Grand Union Canal.
I'd not seen 'canal country' before, and I was enchanted! It really helped that the sun decided to shine strongly just as we sat outside yet another pub for lunch. I could have sat there forever!
But we had a boat tour down to Blisworth Tunnel to do...
and our audio tour to finish (available from the museum and worth it), so walk again we did!
We also took a wander around Braunston Marina, both of us were fascinated by the canal boats that were up for sale. Such variety in decor!
But the wind was up (see piccie) so we didn't stop long (no coffee shop or pub here!)
Sunday was even chillier! We drove up to the Draycote Water reservoir, had hot choclate and a muffin overlooking the reservoir, at which point my camera played up and this was the only photo that came out...a rather chilly me with a rather unscenic backdrop!
A brisk walk and we marched back to the car, drove back to the cottage, turned on the electric fire, cosied up on the leather sofa with the freebie Chocolate Eclair sweeties....and fell asleep! :) Completely contented with romance rekindled after a lovely weekend.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
15 years
This time 15 years ago I was at mum's having professioanl photos done in the garden and around the house, I was so excited. Nerves on my wedding day? Not me, I loved every minute! I remember being so, so happy. Stand me in front of a whole load of people today and I'd be trying to avoid the situation!
We honeymooned for 3 weeks in Florida, did the Disney thing, splashed out on a convertible and cruised down International Drive, and down to Daytona beach to pose :)
We even had matching swimwear ;)
We're celebrating next weekend in Nottinghamshire in a cosy cottage with jaccuzi. No cooking, we'll be trying out all the pubs within walking distance :)
I'm having a lovely day today. I sold my first 11+ practice paper on ebay five minutes ago! I picked up an old printer and a stack of books for free from Freecycle
and the Volcanoes, Tsunamis and Earthquakes books arrived. Now I can say bring on those cold winter nights, I have something to occupy me when hub is at work!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Volcanoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis...and Spanish!
I signed up for this short course. One of my passions, earth science. I've forgotten alot of what I learned a few years ago when I took Geology, but I have plenty of time on my hands and with the nights drawing in I could do with some intellectual reading. Perhaps this will get me back on the road to topping my BSc up to a BSc Hons over the next few years. I'll be able to research a volcano or earthquake for SXG390 (how cool is that!), and maybe go for the ultimate toughie Understanding the Continents (just look at those course reviews! Alot of hard work!). Might have to do someone's ironing to fund it though, LOL!
If any OUers out there have any of the S267 books gathering dust could I please borrow them. I sold mine on ebay earlier this year when we decorated and lost a ton of shelf space... I'm a fool...never part with books!
Mum and I also enrolled on a Spanish course at Gillingham Adult Education Centre for 20 weeks starting mid September. Will be good to get some speaking practice.
If any OUers out there have any of the S267 books gathering dust could I please borrow them. I sold mine on ebay earlier this year when we decorated and lost a ton of shelf space... I'm a fool...never part with books!
Mum and I also enrolled on a Spanish course at Gillingham Adult Education Centre for 20 weeks starting mid September. Will be good to get some speaking practice.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Miffed!
I only popped to the shops to get Sam a new school blazer, but was lured by a lady from Herbalife offering a free 1 minute body fat percentage test. I've always wondered what my body fat percentage is after watching Ian Barber of the A List Diet programme,Discovery Home & Health, commenting on the body fat percentage of various individuals.
I wasn't prepared when she told me mine was 39.something% (I'd said to Sam while we waited that I thought it'd be something like 32%) and my BMI was 27 (that I had expected because I'd checked it recently). Miffed but determined to get that figure down!
The lady's advice...less carbs, more protein. She identified that my diet is too high in carbs (I knew that because I don't like meat) and I need to make a bigger effort to have smaller snacks and include more protein (aside from cheese because of its fat content). Perhaps part of the problem is that I am very unimaginative and lazy in the kitchen and haven't discovered ways of making meat more appealing.
So let's see, more protein sources...nuts (and seeds?), yoghurt (I hate plain yoghurt, need to experiment with flavouring it), umm....what else?! Stumped! Time to think, what did I learn on the OU short course on nutrition?! The knowledge is in there somewhere, I just need to find it!
I wasn't prepared when she told me mine was 39.something% (I'd said to Sam while we waited that I thought it'd be something like 32%) and my BMI was 27 (that I had expected because I'd checked it recently). Miffed but determined to get that figure down!
The lady's advice...less carbs, more protein. She identified that my diet is too high in carbs (I knew that because I don't like meat) and I need to make a bigger effort to have smaller snacks and include more protein (aside from cheese because of its fat content). Perhaps part of the problem is that I am very unimaginative and lazy in the kitchen and haven't discovered ways of making meat more appealing.
So let's see, more protein sources...nuts (and seeds?), yoghurt (I hate plain yoghurt, need to experiment with flavouring it), umm....what else?! Stumped! Time to think, what did I learn on the OU short course on nutrition?! The knowledge is in there somewhere, I just need to find it!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Decorating
While I'm on the topic of decorating I realised I hadn't taken any photos of the 'study'/'den' below the conservatory. Does that sound odd? Our house is built on a slope, step out of the dining room (on ground level from the front of the house) into the conservatory, go downstairs through the study to the garden.
There's only a couple of jobs left to do...hide all the wires around the laptop, get certificates up on the wall (propped up on the bookshelves at the mo) and tidy under the stairs (to the left of the photo below, behind the fan).
New bookcase from Ikea. Very strong. Contains OU books and fave novels I don't want to part with...
Computer corner, Lee made it from triangles of strong worktop, saves space!
My treadmill, closed up 'cos I haven't been on it since we got back from Spain! It's usually turned sideways facing the window for breeze and scenery!
Wandered around the garden with my camera,
here's our new (always full lately!)waterbutt and compost bin...
and the lettuces...I moved a few to the flowerbed and they like it better there than in the veggie plot!
I have red lettuces ready to plant out, but I've run out of room!
Last weekend Lee made some trellises (pl?) to support my tomato plants, he did a good job!
There's only a couple of jobs left to do...hide all the wires around the laptop, get certificates up on the wall (propped up on the bookshelves at the mo) and tidy under the stairs (to the left of the photo below, behind the fan).
New bookcase from Ikea. Very strong. Contains OU books and fave novels I don't want to part with...
Computer corner, Lee made it from triangles of strong worktop, saves space!
My treadmill, closed up 'cos I haven't been on it since we got back from Spain! It's usually turned sideways facing the window for breeze and scenery!
Wandered around the garden with my camera,
here's our new (always full lately!)waterbutt and compost bin...
and the lettuces...I moved a few to the flowerbed and they like it better there than in the veggie plot!
I have red lettuces ready to plant out, but I've run out of room!
Last weekend Lee made some trellises (pl?) to support my tomato plants, he did a good job!
Standing joke
Hub and I joke that everytime he decorates it's sunny, and whenever he fancies a rest, or a day out, it rains. Yesterday he started plasterboarding the wall in the conservatory which has a huge settlement crack and removing the wobbly bannisters and spindles. Yep, you guessed it, out came the sun and it was HOT! Today he's been putting a ventilation pipe in the airing cupboard to vent into the loft (new British Gas regs, one pipe not good enough!), fixing an outdoor light for a neighbour, laying some new white stones under the window and in the flowerbed out the front, and yes, it's hot again!
Monday and Tuesday will be rest days before his nightshift...get your wellies ready....
Before:
First board up!
Last bit!
Look, no bannister or spindles!
Got some new blinds in the Argos sale, only ours are 6 ft long, bargain price of £2.99 each!
Shopping list:
corner computer desk
sofa
wallpaint (what colour? something earthy? Allow for fading!)
laminate flooring
Monday and Tuesday will be rest days before his nightshift...get your wellies ready....
Before:
First board up!
Last bit!
Look, no bannister or spindles!
Got some new blinds in the Argos sale, only ours are 6 ft long, bargain price of £2.99 each!
Shopping list:
corner computer desk
sofa
wallpaint (what colour? something earthy? Allow for fading!)
laminate flooring
Friday, August 24, 2007
Tracey, a friend from school, was telling me about Facebook about a month ago. Naturally (I love new stuff!) I ventured off into cyberspace to check it out. At the time I couldn't see much about it that was exciting, but having had another look today I discovered my sister had found me listed there. Now it seems lots of people I know use it...my brother in law, my cousin's wife (great as I'd lost their email address), some OU peeps (hi Nogbad!). Not as good as Friends Reunited for tracking down old school friends though as far as I can see, unless Facebookers set up profiles with their maiden names. It has photo storage space, that's always handy. Looks like it could be fun, I got me an aquarium to which Facebookers can add fish,
and a 'wall' and notebook on/in on which to leave comments. You can also view books being sold by facebookers on the Marketplace. I'll stick around there I think, although this blog and Sparkpeople will still be my main stays for my idle ramblings.
and a 'wall' and notebook on/in on which to leave comments. You can also view books being sold by facebookers on the Marketplace. I'll stick around there I think, although this blog and Sparkpeople will still be my main stays for my idle ramblings.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Entrepreneurism?
That's the biggest word anyone will get out of me this week!
Something to occupy me, and maybe raise some spending money for our next holiday - I've been creating practice maths Eleven Plus papers with answers for parents. Nothing flashy, just word documents, but with the type of questions that need practising. I've stuck a few on ebay. I'm now waiting to see if anyone buys! I don't suppose it'll make me rich but it'd be nice to think that I get a few pounds richer and some parents out there get to pay less than the papers that can be bought in stationers and on other websites. Luckily Sam is a whizz on Paint and put up with my grumbles as I huffed my way through trying to create seemingly simple stuff like this:
Definitely not a good earner per hour given my Paint skills, but it has kept me occupied :)
Something to occupy me, and maybe raise some spending money for our next holiday - I've been creating practice maths Eleven Plus papers with answers for parents. Nothing flashy, just word documents, but with the type of questions that need practising. I've stuck a few on ebay. I'm now waiting to see if anyone buys! I don't suppose it'll make me rich but it'd be nice to think that I get a few pounds richer and some parents out there get to pay less than the papers that can be bought in stationers and on other websites. Luckily Sam is a whizz on Paint and put up with my grumbles as I huffed my way through trying to create seemingly simple stuff like this:
Definitely not a good earner per hour given my Paint skills, but it has kept me occupied :)
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