December already?

It seems everyone is getting ready for Christmas and stepping it up a gear! Decorations are flying up everywhere and towns are having Christmas Lights ceremonies. I feel i am letting the side down a litte, with the advent calendars on the door and cards recieved early in the holders on the wall...I'm done! LOL
I wont be putting the tree up until the children beging their school holiday,
I wont be wrapping presents (not that i have bought any) until at least Dec 20th and
I wont decorate the cake until Dec 22 when i am sure i cannot put any more brandy in it!
I'm not a scrooge though, not by any manner of means! This is how we do it in our house! Since we got married, since the kids could give input on when they want the tree up and since we are big on our own traditions!
I am in awe of everyone that can do it this early and not get fed up of it all by Dec 15th! I wish i was more like that..so i made an attempt on the blog and will add more decorations soon! LOL

I spent 3 hours studying today and am looking forward (kinda) to my run tomorrow! I will post to let you all know how it goes if it doesn't kill me! hehe.

Pick n Mix post.

Bit of a mish mash post here, lots of little bits going on around here.
The girls auditioned for the school show of Bugsy Malone last week. They have been told that they both have parts, but which parts are tbc! Becky made me promise to tell you all that she is only 1 of 3 year seven children given a part! She is so pleased with herself! So *yaaay girlies!*
They are also both auditioning for solo's in the school Christmas concert. Rae will also be playing her sax, can't wait to see that, singing and playing, haha!! (she didn't find that funny either!)

David is playing the Christmas thing BIG this year! Lots of star wars and lego, so when i said he might not get it all he replied with:
"oh it's not all from you Mum, I'm asking Sants Claus for this and this, and you and Dad can get me this and this!"
Darn that kid is far too smart!
He is hoping to be a narrator in the school play, one with only one line please! For a child who is so confident at home he sure plays a shy lad at school really well!

I have been psyching myself up for Dec 1st and the FIRST run! As well as that i have a confession to make!
I worried myself sleepless for two nights trying to decide if i really am capable of being a good teacher, will i qualify etc etc. Self doubt, gets you every time there's something big to do and i have enough self doubt to go round all of us!
My parents say i can, my hubby says he believes in me, the kids think it's awesome, i have two friends that teach both say I'd be great. So why don't i believe it all? Is it because if it all goes wrong i wont be too disappointed?
I spoke to M and J today and they both told me to behave and put my mind at rest. So M and J i thank you from the bottom of my heart and i WILL take you up on all offers of help (which have been duly logged!).

Not quite moving house!

Over a year ago now Rich and I decided that the children needed space. More space in our cosy compact quarters! So we had a huge change around upstairs. We moved out of the biggest bedroom in the house to make way for the girls as they are growing so fast we figured they needed a lot more room to dance with hair brushes, to play instruments and have friends over. We moved David into the girls room, the middle sized room, as he too needed room to build with his Lego, fly his star wars space craft, drive his action men around and generally be a boy that loves to play with his toys! So that left Rich and I in the teeny weeny littlest room! I kid you not! The bed is a double, one side is against the main wall, the other is a foot away from the door! We fit 2 sets of draws in there but it's been ok as really we only sleep in there and do not need to use it like the kids do.
Well we have decided we are ready as a couple to upgrade. Which means someone has to downgrade! David has that privilege bless him. So we are moving into his room, where it will be wonderful to be able to walk around our bed once more, he is getting the closet room, on the promise of his own PC and a new PC desk! So today is mini moving day. When we are all done and all is clean and tidy and how we like it, i will take photos and post them. I'm not doing before pictures as its a real mess up there LOL! Sorry!

University contacted!

Well i got in touch with Portsmouth Uni today! *scary* I emailed them about course info and burseries, applications etc etc. Hopefully i will hear from the soon. I'm hoping to be a student this time next year hahaha!!
Thats all the news so far!

A date is set for me to start.

The lovely Deb over at "from Stilettos to Sneakers" is a marathon runner ( i know!) Well she guest blogged for Steph at "Problem solving Mom"a couple of days ago. And has inspired me..yep to go running! I have marked a half mile route (starting small) and am begining on Dec 1st so that i can get into it before the new year and not get fed up post Christmas. Hopefully i will get into routine. It's not that far, it won't take much out of my day..and it will be dark in the evenings so nobody will see me or at least recognise the wheezing mad lady trying to run bent doubled over! So thanks girls - it IS all your fault!
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
I have also spoken a great deal to my wonderful hubby. We have agreed that i can take two exams next year (maths and biology as i never really tried to pass them at school - to my shame) and then i can go onto a government scheme to become a primary school teacher! Its a 3 year plan but i am going to set it in motion! Its only taken me 35 years to decide what to be when i grow up and now i am here. I want to be a teacher!

Wow i have a plan! I think i better have a sit down now!! haha.

Shot myself in the foot and it smarts!

Long story coming up, get a coffee and read on!
In our small unit at work, the one where we deal with the 1 - 2 year olds, we split the group in half(ish) and the staff are equally split to cover ratios of children. Now all of us get on with some of us! I work immediately with C, B, any students and occasionally J.
The other group have E and two others the i affectionately call Dumb and Dumber!(please do not judge me too harshly its my coping strategy!)
For example, I asked one of them to lay the floor cloth down for mealtime. She ignored me. Five minutes later i hear the same person say "shall i lay the floor cloth?", she looks at the children and repeats the question (as if they will answer her!) and keeps muttering it until i say "Yes, lay the floor cloth, good idea" (sarcasm i lost on this person so i get away with it a lot!).The other person is relatively new to us, she came in and tried to re-organise how we do everything, she undermines senior staff members (it's like car crash TV, you don't want to watch but cannot help it!)She micro manages everything. Trying to constantly take over. She is a lot older than all of us, same age as my Mum and doesn't take too kindly to us qualified folks giving advice or handing out jobs!
I have tried so hard to be understanding, give settling in time. To teach our ways of doing things, to allow for initiative, to request things are done without being bossy but now i think time is up. No, now i know time is up!

E has just returned from her holidays, she is finding D and D hard going! I have to agree with her!
One of them could not make a decision if it was life depending, and the other micro manages everything (except messy play!) ALL THE TIME!
I have been watching, and despairing, of the micro managing and lack of anything going on up top with these two for a couple of days now. E is ready to get her shot gun out. So i speak to her. I advise not asking them to do things as this leaves things open to interpretation! I advised short instructions using words of one syllable and giving instructions that are concise! (Really yes this is how it has to be done with these two.) So she tries and still she seems to be ignored by micro manager, the other one seems to be coping with this new strategy!
So i quietly speak to our manager. I tell her i think E is going to snap and when she goes it is NOT going to be pretty (funny but not pretty!).
Well you guessed it..the upshot of all this is that E and my lucky self are swapping rooms. I have the lucky task of working with Dumb and Dumber! Because apparently i can cope with them. (*see me twitch!*) E feels terrible, i told her not to be silly and just pray for me!
Of course part of me wants to run and hide under my duvet until i wake up from this nightmare. Another part of me looks forward to the challenge, (but that is a real small part of me) but mostly my main thoughts were, wow this'll make some great blogging material!! (Do you think it's an obsession? LOL)

Well done if you suffered all that with me! and thanks!

My Christmas gift plans!

All we seem to hear about in the news lately is credit crunch, businesses failing, banks suffering, how to cope with the pressure of Christmas on a shoe string etc etc. It hits home when in one business 2 people are made redundant and everyone else must take a 10% pay cut from Jan 01 2009 (not where i work, but someone close to me.). I was chatting about this with a work colleague, who seems to think because we work in a Nursery we will all be ok. She cannot see that if parents are made redundant the first thing to go will be the childcare..so we lose the children and so on until we are over staffed and we all know what comes next. I have often wondered how my place of work has such a sharp turn around of staff. Having been there just over 2 years i have seen 20+ people come and go. I have questioned it privately. But only now am i glad that so many have left and moved on. It means that i am one of the longer serving workers and therefore i won't be one of the first out. Selfish, yes. Self preservating, yes. But no, it does not stop the worry.
Then i got to thinking about Christmas and coping with the family. So i have come up with a list of gift ideas that will work for me!!

1.My children will have their usual allowance spent on them.As we saved for that!
2.Rich and I are NOT buying for each other, not a thing..we want a new house
next year so we agreed on this!!
3.Nieces and Nephews..are all getting Books..3 for 2 offers everywhere.
Makes sense to me!!
4.Sisters / Brothers ect ect..The classic "photo in a frame!" and maybe some wine!
5.Parents - Photo in a frame and i am splurging getting books made for them!
6. Other children (friends of family) home made cards, gift vouchers for
sleepovers with the kids!
7.Friends - photo in a frame (so versatile!!) and vouchers for babysitting!

So hopefully it wont break the bank this year and we can enter 2009 even if not in credit!! We have collected our store points (Nectar vouchers) all year so they will pay for the Christmas food, Turkey etc etc!


Some of the Christmas cards to put home made vouchers in for Christmas this year.

Tis' the season..

For sick, icky kids. Snotty noses, watering eyes and high temps and rife at the moment. No not in my house, in my place of work.
We sent numerous children ( six babies) home yesterday with 40 degree temperatures. Their parents felt they were ok to be at nursery in the morning, or they had dosed them up on paracetamol for breakfast and it had worn off by lunch time. It makes me so cross. These are babies who need to be cuddled, they need to feel loved, and mostly they need to be with Mummy or Daddy. When they get like this it takes a member of staff out of the ratios to look after one child. And then when we ring Mum or Dad and tell them their child is ill, they come running like they care (remember they sent the child in, in the first place) or they turn up grudgingly to collect their sick child. OK, i know they are paying to have their child with us but come on people this is a baby, your baby, it's not a commodity or status symbol, or even "the next progression" (great job, marriage, kids, there life plan complete)it is a small human life that YOU are responsible for. Am i completely wrong? Does having a great career mean you can just dump your baby and run? I appreciate some parents NEED to work, some WANT to work and some HAVE to work. But when your child is ill, work can wait. So you miss a meeting, or your boss gets grumpy well that's just tough luck on them. Start putting your kids first.I wonder how many of the ones we sent home yesterday will be there today?

A birthday vacation without me?

Well i had worried that today was going to be a quiet affair, with Becky being so poorly this week. But she is a LOT better today! Woohoo!
I woke up to my three littlies singing happy birthday, my wonderful hubby with a cup to tea in his hand, that's when i knew today was still going to be a quiet one irrespective of Becky's health...I went to thank them all and hey presto my voice has taken a vacation! No warning, no requests to water the plants, it just up and left! (I know, how rude!) So it is i must spend my 35^th birthday playing a day long game of charades with three children who find it hysterical to see me frustrated because either they are deliberately not guessing my orders / requests or i really am as bad as they are making me out to be! Good job i'm not an actress really!

Update on sicknote!

She has either "slapped cheek" or "scarlet fever!" We are waiting for her symptoms to either get worse or stay the same! I am going with slapped cheek at the moment as she seems to fit that description better ;)
At least its nothing more serious which the Dr thought may be the case yesterday! Still always good to err on the side of caution!
Thanks for the well wishes ;)

Poorly kid

I was called to collect Bex from school today. She is sooo poorly :(
She has a rash all over her face, neck, shoulders and torso. She aches all over to the point i cannot touch her and she has a sore throat.
The Dr. saw her, (when i rang to ask for an appt he told me to bring her in as he would see her right away!)he said it might be allergies or viral so he gave piriton and wants to see her in the morning!
So far the pirition isnt working and the poor girl keeps crying because she aches so much. My heart breaks for her.
I guess she will be off school tomorrow, a day on the sofa with her duvet is in order I think!
On a happier note i met her tutor tonight, she has settled well into senior school and they are pleased with her. Her guitar teacher says she is making really good progress! I'm really proud of her and can't hug her :( She looks awful and is currently fast asleep in her bed. Hope she is better in the morning. I hate seeing the kids ill.

Something made me sad today....

There aren't too many things that really shock me, crumbs i was a soldier once. There aren't too many things that make me real angry or disappointed but today i overheard a mother and her child and i was just devastated for the poor kid. I do not know them, the child goes to my sons school. That is where any relationship with us ends. But as we were waiting to meet the girls, David and I stood by a tree outside the school gates. It was not raining hard but the awful fine mist that soaks you through! The child arrives at it's mother (term used so loosely here) and the conversation goes:

mother: "Why the f*** are you late?"
child: "My teacher wanted to see me. I got star of the day!" (child sounds quite pleased with self)
mother: " who gives a f*** I'm soaking wet, lets get f****** home."

My heart just broke. I do not know these people but i was so sad for that child. Star of the day is something earned, for being good, working hard and pleasing your teacher. It IS something to be celebrated not thrown away and stamped on. While the child had no certificate to speak of, it must have been truly crushed that its hard work did not please it's parent. I was absolutely astounded how a lady posing as a mother could be so cruel. So what she was wet, so what the child came out a little later than usual, is that not totally made up for by the teacher deeming it necessary to praise the child for its achievements?

My poor son looked at me and said
"That wasn't very nice was it Mum?"

I just hugged him. The hug of a Mum who loves her child whether good, silly, naughty or mean. He is my son and i love him regardless. Don't all Mums?

I hope the childs father was a little more receptive to the child's news.

So little person, whoever you are, I am taking a moment out of my day, even if you never ever read this, to say Well done to you. For being star of the day, for getting an award that was well deserved because it was well earned. be proud of yourself, I am proud of you.

Nothing new really!!

Well i figured that since i had nothing special to write about i'd give you all something new to look at ;).

If you see my links to other blogs in the side bar >>> there is a new one called Becky land...it is the new blog of my 12 year old daughter! She has decided to join the world of bloggers! Feel free to leave her some encouragment and love ;)

To my US of A friends Good Luck with the elections - hope you get the guy you voted for!!

Bloggers block?

*honoured*

The lovely Deb over at Stilettos to Sneakers has tagged me for a little ol' award! Thanks Deb - you are a cool lady~if not slightly insane due to to the marathon running ;) ~ and i thank you!
I have to post 6 things that make me happy!!
My nominations are at the bottom of the post ;)

6 things:

1. Waking up everyday with my Husband. Sounds odd? Well he was a soldier once, and was away in tours ALL the time. So now it is great to open my eyes and see him sleeping next to me. knowing he is beside me and safe. Perfect start to the day for me.

2. My 3 kids! They are such nice people to be around. All 3 of them can make me laugh a lot, they can hold a good conversation and amazingly they all get along!

3. Chocolate. When all else fails a bar of Galaxy will make it better.

4. My friend Beccy. She's my sounding board and confident. I am comfortable with her when talking, gossiping, laughing and especially in those silences that are never uncomfortable. She is just so great to be around.

5. When Rich' kisses me for no reason. When we are curled up together and he just kisses the top of my head. Just one kiss that says you are my whole world. I know I'm loved.

6. My bed. I could be an Olympian in sleeping. And i would win hands down! I love getting into a fresh, ice cold bed and snuggling into my duvet. Getting warm and cosy, not daring to move into a "cold spot" and just falling asleep peacefully. I hate leaving it in the morning - i have to have the alarm clock outside on the landing or i will not get up!

Did you ever have a time where you felt that you have nothing to blog about..but oh so much going on in your head? I think i would be a psychologists dream client (or a complete nightmare!) right now!
Swamped with thoughts of work, career options (where do i go now??), kids and Christmas (yes i dared to say the "c" word - sorry all) to name but a few!
I think i must be in a lull! I've been making my Christmas cards (there i go saying it again!) and getting kind of prepared!! But the blog? Well the mind is blank. I want so much to post something witty, incite full, though provoking...but nope something happen between the brain and fingers and it all goes awry.
Maybe I'm just trying too hard and should just let go...or maybe i should open a bottle of wine and watch The Notebook again! LOL.

Award Nominations:

Jen and her life surrounded by testosterone.

Gen and her Quads.

The Lovely AVT coach.