D-Day

Well, today is the day I find out how K has done in her 11+ exam. I am taking a late lunch so I can be at home when she arrives with the letter in her hot little fist. To be honest, I am not hugely worried, we went to see all the local schools and we settled on the ones she likes best, I know she tried her best and that is all that matters.

We are off to Milton Keynes after work tonight, we will have a look at the lights in the Middleton Hall and have a look round the shops, I am still like a child when it comes to pretty lights and trees etc. I still love to drive round our town and see the decorations people put up on the outside of their houses.

I will buy K a little something to say well done no matter what her grade; no doubt it will be something sparkly or pink! She is such a girly girl.

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Having a friend to tea

K is all excited, I have said that next week I will take an afternoon off work and she can have a friend to tea. She is going to ask Ethel today and I will ring her mum tonight.

It may sound a strange thing to get excited about, but because I work full time and K used to go to a childminder, she missed out on having friends to tea. I have no idea of the etiquette, do I take Ethel home or does her mum come to collect her? Do I ask them to do some homework or just let them have fun together? Do I have to organise some form of activity or do I leave them to it?

It will be nice for K, the only people she has had for tea before have been her cousins!. I know Ethel is vegetarian, does this mean I can make Quorn Lasagne?

So many questions, I never realised it would be so much pressure!

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Bank of Mum and Dad

I have just realised, the older K gets, the more my cheque book and purse is opened…. I don’t begrudge any of it, but this month they seem never to have been out of my handbag. So far this month I have paid out for the following:

New School Trousers, K no longer fits in school trousers, she is just too tall and they pull across her bum. In reality I was quite pleased because I bought her some plain grey trousers from Bon Marche for £12.00 which is cheaper than school ones from M&S!

New Judogi (the suit they wear) She has had hers a year and has grown out of it. They have to be a certain length and hers is halfway up her calves.

Christmas Child appeal, two shoe boxes to be filled one for church and one for school. She loves to think that a child somewhere will smile because of the things she has put in her box. (I am lucky to have such a thoughtful child, I really am)

School Photographs, they will be the first with her new hair cut, she looks more grown up than ever since she had approximately 6inches cut off her hair.

School Trip, they went to the British Museum to look at the Egypt and Greek exhibitions, she loved it.

Add to this the judo subs, school disco and Secret Santa for Guide Holiday and the Bank of Mum and Dad has been well and truly overworked!

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Remembrance...

The Inquisitive Mind of a Child

Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?
Selling poppies in town today.
The poppies, child, are flowers of love.
For the men who marched away.

But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?
Why not a beautiful rose?
Because my child, men fought and died
In the fields where the poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?
Why are the poppies so red?
Red is the colour of blood, my child.
The blood that our soldiers shed.

The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.
Why does it have to be black?
Black, my child, is the symbol of grief.
For the men who never came back.

But why, Mummy are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain.
My tears are my fears for you my child.
For the world is forgetting again.

Author unknown

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24 women and girls have fun in Milton Keynes!

What a weekend! I had a great time. I got off to a bit of a shaky start, I was unpacking and realised I had left all the craft materials at home. One short drive later I picked them up. The girls arrived at 6.30 and soon started unpacking and settling in, there were cases and bags everywhere which we decided to store in the boys toilets out of the way! The evening flew by, they made their stockings and their paper chains, and we strung popcorn and generally had a good laugh. After hot chocolate, we sent them all to bed at about 10ish. That was just the start! There was wall knocking, giggling, whispering, talking and general naughtiness going on until well after midnight! At 1.30am I threatened to make them all sleep in the corridor with no mattresses, they soon went quiet after that.

Saturday passed in a blur, my tester arrived and was really nice, my Patrol Leaders showed her round and then she joined in the fun. She had Christmas dinner with us which has been prepared and cooked (under supervision) by one of my patrols. She seemed genuinely sad to leave us and I am sure she would have stayed longer if she could. By 8.00pm Saturday night, the girls were beginning to flag; I sent them all to bed at 9.00 and not one of them complained! We did not hear a peep and we adults were able to enjoy the Festival of Remembrance on the TV.

Sunday dawned bright and clear, not one of the girls checked the timetable and started to pack their bags before I had done room inspection. I made them all unpack and put everything back, it sounds petty but they had other things to do during the morning, not pack! At 10.40 we mustered in uniform for our own Act of Remembrance. They all respected it beautifully; we had a chat about the meaning of the poppy, why we wear it and what it signifies. We had some readings, including the ‘Inquisitve Mind of a Child’ and ‘In Flanders Fields’. I can only hope that others respect the tradition of Remembrance as these 10-14 year olds did.

The upshot of it all is we had a brilliant weekend and I need to send my training book and my evidence file and I should have my license! Wahey!

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Wish me luck

Well it is here, after weeks of planning and filling in forms, I am taking my Guides away for the weekend. I have stuff piled everywhere ready for the off and all I need to do now is wait for the shopping to be delivered tomorrow morning.

The girls are being dropped off at 6.30pm and my tester is coming on Saturday Morning. Hopefully all will be in order and I will pass my test and get my Holiday License.

Wish me luck!

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Counting my blessings.

Do you know what, sometimes all we do is moan, I was going to write a post about how I hate the clocks going back, how I hate to drive home in the dark, and how I can't wait for the clocks to go forward again next March. But no, I am not going to moan today.
Instead I will write about how I am loving my life at the moment, I am counting my blessings as they say.

1. I have a beautiful, intelligent, happy daughter. I have managed to get her to age 10 with no major injuries, illnesses or upsets.

2. I have a great bloke who loves me despite my weirdness. Thinks I am lovely, and actually wants to be with me.

3. I have a wonderful close family, my sister is my best friend as is her husband and my parents.

4. I have a lovely home, I live with mum and dad, it works for us and it is the home I grew up in.

5. I have my faith, it underpins my life and gives me strength and peace.

6. I love my job, I have a great boss and get to play with figures all day, what more could a girl ask for.

7. My Guides and Rangers mean the world to me. If you had told me at aged 18. I would still be a Guider 16 years later, I would not have believed you.

8. My health, I have resigned myself to the fact that my eye will never look normal, if other people want to look it is down to them.

9. I am never bored, from blogging to geocaching, family tree research to American drama's, I have great hobbies

10. I am me, all my idiosyncrasies make me what I am. It has taken me 30 odd years to realise, I am fine just the way I am, I don't have to live up to anyone else's ideals.

There you have it, my top ten. What are your blessings?

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I won't be cross.....honest

Come on, who did it? Which one was it?

Who is it who taught my daughter to cock her head on one side and raise one eye brow at me? All of a sudden I am being given the same looks that I used to give grown ups! I always swore that I would be a hip parent, I would know what the latest fashions are, which bands are in and which are out and who is at number 1. I have to confess I am rubbish at it!

What is this facination with lumionusly coloured clothes? K has socks that come above her knee which are all the colours of the rainbow? Why are these socks worn with little black ballet pumps and knee length denim shorts? Why does she prefer 'girl boxers' to plain white cotton knickers with a little bow? Why do jeans have to be dark colours and either skin tight or baggy as hell? Why when I ask any of these questions, am I given the look, the eyebrow and a slight disdainful shaking of the head.

Why does she have to grow up, Why?

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I am a lucky lucky lady...

I have started buying a few bits to put away for K's Christmas presents. As I was walking through the shops with a hair dryer in my hands, it suddenly occurred to me how very lucky I am.

When K was little, I went through hell every year wondering how I was going to hide the huge boxes her presents came in. There was the Barbie car, the dolls house, the bike, the scooter, and countless other huge boxes that are inevitably three times bigger than they needed to be. My sister has two small boys one 2 and one 5, she is going to drown under a sea of cardboard boxes, every year it seems the boxes get bigger.

This year K has given me her list after she proudly informed me last year that she no longer believes in Father Christmas (I am ten now mummy, not a baby). I looked at it and realised I could probably get everything into a small rucksack. She wants clothes, books, games and earrings.

So for all you lovely mummy's out there, who will be struggling with the ELC huge boxes and Fisher Price ginormous ones, you have all my sympathies, hang in there, and I promise not to look too smug as I waltz past with a couple of tops and some jewellery in a little tiny bag.

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Busy bee!

I am such a busy bee at the moment and I am loving it. I am doing my Guide Holiday License next month, I am taking the girls to a residential house in Milton Keynes. It will be brilliant, we are doing a Christmas theme. We will be running the Holiday like a traditional family Christmas, with paper chains, Christmas trees, crackers, Christmas dinner, board games, party games and general merriment. The girls will be doing the cooking and all other household chores. It will be great fun, I am loving organising it and know full well I could not do it without Em to help me. Running the Guide and Ranger Units is what Em and I do together and we have great fun. We started brownies in 1997 and from there we have opened a Guide Unit and a Ranger Unit. We have a waiting list for Guides and must be doing something right as the girls seem to really enjoy it.

On top of this, Em and I have been invited on to the committee for the 20:10 20:10 20:10 celebrations for our Division. This is when at ten past eight on the 20th October 2010 all members of GirlGuiding will re make their promise as a finale to our centenary year. We are hoping to do this outside in the dark with candles and glow sticks, to make a real 'Mountain Tom Moment'. We have 700 members in our area, so hopefully about 500 will come and it will be really special.

On top of this, we are hoping to take the girls camping twice next year as well as other events too. It is going to be a busy, busy year. I am glad I bought the Scrapbook to put all my memories in!

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