Who's life is it anyway?

I'm not sure who's life i'm living but this one is way too fast and busy for me!!
I am three whole days away from moving out of here, I have course work coming out of my ears, endless interviews for the book i'm writing, class project folders piled up, 8 hours of Personal Trainer Shadowing to fit in each week...not to mention packing, sorting and figuring out some kind of breathing time! On the other hand, this week i've had three chill out days...one day full of driving and just not enough sleep!
Serious dose of red bull is required!!
So, come wednesday evening i'm offline indefinately. Its going to be strange not sitting here doing all the things I do and talking to all the people I talk to BUT life is going through a very exciting and worthwhile transition for me at the moment so its all necessary stuff.
I will, however pop on from the library from time to time and catch up but for now i'm not planning on having that much time to do so...I really have to get through the stuff over the next weeks to make everything come into place as much and as soon as I can.
But ya never know, I always reserve the right to change my mind!! :P
Toodlepip guys. Keep smiling!

Debsxx

It's been how long?

How does someone go so long without blogging?
Answers on a postcard!!! :P

Last couple of weeks have been challenging...and sweet...in a variety of ways...neither of which i'm going to expand on...yet!! Instead i'm going to tell you about my new lil friend...Norman!

Norman is really sweet, he is quiet, shy, intelligent and not half as ditzy as usual Norman's go!
Who is he? Well he is my snail! I found him yesterday crawling up my back door...I think we was aiming for the window but got lost!! It was heaving down with rain and I think he wanted somewhere warm and dry to hang out. So I gently pulled him off the door (and the mark is just never going to come off!!) and put him on a left over cabbage in a box...bless him he's still there now eating his way through!
Norman is settled rather nicely on top of my welsh dresser...in a pretty covered box that is done especially by Kirsten! Soon as I find my camera battery charger i'll get some pictures.

I got into Prison Break over this last week or so. I'd seen bits of it on tv but didn't want to get into it cos I knew it was an ongoing storyline...like 24...so I figured i'd get the box set...and I did...and zapped them all in just three days!! Cant wait for Season 2 to come out on dvd too, not the same when its on tv cos its only an hour a time...my way I get to stay up late, hang out my butt the next day and enjoy the pure boy image of Wentworth Miller!!! Sigh...its a chick thing I guess!!

I have 18 more days in this house!! I keep doing the happy dance when I think about it!! I am soo looking forward to getting out of here and on to the next stage of things! I've already been eyeing up blinds, cushions, lamps and all that! I figured I would change my accessory colours in the next house...really make a difference to now and then!
On the other hand i'm not looking forward to doing a load of decorating! If I play my cards right then I wont need to...but if I cant wangle it then I guess a good few chick flicks and some Kaiser Cheif/The Killers cd's are in order!!

Started my new course the other day, oh boy is there a lot of books that go with it!! Its going to take forever to get through each module! But so far its facinating...I am starting to get into it! The maths one is on hold for a month, purely cos my tutor thinks it will be better for the special needs person to contact me and do a basic assessment to see how they can help with my dyscalculia.
So its all good stuff really.

Now i'm off to see what the deal is with hsms, a birdie tells me they're on holiday...that surely cannot be right??!!! I wonder if anyone else is setting challenges in the meantime??

Debsxx

Well i’ve just come back from a bike ride! Not a pushbike, a motorbike! My neighbours who are friends of mine have one and they go off of bike runs most nights. Natasha has been asking me to go for ages but I wouldnt, since losing Mark on one they have scared me. But tonight I felt like I had to push my limits, so I went! There we 12 of us all together, I was on the back of Rick’s bike and it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! I’d forgotten just how free and alive I felt on one! The last time I was on one was years ago when I used to hang out with some bikers back home in the Midlands. I think we must have clocked up a good 100 miles in all! Now my head is feeling like its just totally buzzing and wide awake. I’m going again later in the week, next time its to Swindon which is about 100 miles away, there’s a bike rally going on and since I found that I knew four of the girlfriends I figured ‘why not?’ So i’m looking forward to that!

Kirsten has finally decided she would like to be baptised! I have a problem with them being baptised at 8 years old so I have not pushed it with her. After doing family home evening yesterday about being baptised and what it means etc she left me a note in my bag which I didn’t find till earlier, to tell me that she would like to start making plans and is ready to set a date! This is just so cool for her, i’m alredy excited!
I done my workout earlier and I think i’ve pulled something out in my hip! I haven’t been able to put my leg straight since and its giving me some real jip! Not a lot I can do about it but i’m not giving up tomorrows session, just take it easy is all!

The packing is almost done now thankfully, I still cant believe how much stuff I was hoarding! All I will need to do now is pack up the stuff we use regularly when we finally get a date to move out. The last two houses have fallen through pretty much at the last minute, which ticked me off cos both were just a few days before we were meant to move!

I decided to sit out in the garden to just enjoy the quiet while I have it, no sooner had I got comfy on my chair did it start to rain...but rather than be defeated i'm going to take a walk down the marina...that seems to be my favourite place to go right now...its quiet peaceful and just lovely to walk down.

Will be taking my camera to see if that boat 'sparkle' is back yet :)

Debsxx

Sun, Smiles, Rain and Radical Moods!

This side of the motorway we've had all sorts going on here, rain, sun, smiles and yeah, radical mood swings by all! I hold my hands up, I joined in at one point when I was feeling totally hacked off...I ended up winging a book across the room in sheer frustration!

I'm trying to get to the end of the GCSE maths course i'm doing, even though I struggle with dyscalculia the tutor has set me for being able to achieve a grade C but possibly a B if I 'put in the extra effort'. Apparently that's what my assessment has predicted...and i'm struggling to keep the level. It's not that I cant do the work, heck yes it is! I cant get my mind to comprehend many of the sequences and it makes me feel like i'm stupid and just want to quit. It doesn't help when Scott makes jokes about it, he's a whizz in maths but instead of answering me when I ask a question he tells me the answer, and thats not what I need! If I didn't need this so much i'd have sacked it ages ago. It just doesn't seem worth it in my world. But on I will plod.

My IT course is now complete, i've passed all the units and now just waiting to sit the exam which can take up to about 8 weeks. I'm not too concerned about that one funnily enough!!

Maybe I just need to get away for a day or so and think about something totally different?

Kirsten was off school today with a sore throat, so she spent most the day on the sofa sipping iced lemon water and dangling that imaginary bell! Charley was a little darling and kept going over to her and reading one of his books in his language! He would come into the kitchen to me, get some raisins or fruit or something and go take it to Kirsten, I think it was his way of taking care of her!! Then he decided to wash his hair...with kitchen cleaner! Two sprays and his lil curls were all bubbly, he couldn't figure out what was going on!! Then he thought it was great to bring all of his toys from his room downstairs...one by one wanged over the bannister...I tell ya, I just dont know what happens in his head sometimes!! LOL As my sister said about one of her sons once 'i'm sure he's wired wrong'! LOL Sometimes I think Charley is...especially when he's insisting (and I mean really insisting) that the fly thats buzzing happily round the room HAS to go in the garden, so i'm there then dancing round with a cushion or towel flicking the darned thing towards the door or window!! I wonder who's the cracked on in our house!! :)

Mood swings have been high this last two days in my house...Scott had a very late night at his friends on Saturday, didn't catch up with sleep yesterday so today he was grouchy, Kirsten had a sleepover on Saturday and hasn't caught up with sleep either and me, well you already know about my tantrum! Very mature I can tell ya!

Tomorrow i'm off out with my friend Zoe for a couple of hours...just because if I dont I swear i'm going to go nuts!!! :)

The pictures from hsms will find their way on here soon as I pull my head together...then I can also catch up with some blogs! What a neglectful blogger-buddy I am eh? :S

Right, enough of my moaning, i'm off to bed! :)

Debsxx

Her space, My space catch up

My catch up attempts at the hsms photos. My 'shell' is a picture of Charley hiding in the dryer when he was about 18 months old. His favourite place to sit and play for ages!

Todays is 'hat'. This is one of the cutest pictues I can think of with any connect to a hat!
Hid daddy was packing to go to work in Dubai for a month, so Charleys way of helping was trying out his hat, sitting on the suitcase and babbling away!

Thats all from me, I have a full day today but I might come back later if I get chance and just waffle on a bit! Do what i'm best at eh?!! LOL

Debsxx

None stop day

It's been a funny ole day today. Got up this morning well before the alarm, which is so unlike me! After just four hours sleep I was surprised to find I felt wide awake and ready to go!
So at 6.30ish I was doing Charley's ironing then went on to complete three more modules on my course before I needed to get the kids up. Kirsten was up before her alarm too...scared the life out of me when I walked into the bathroom and there she was!! :S Charley woke up with a temperature again, i'd left his fan on all night cos I suspected he wasn't quite right. We sat on his bed for a wee while and just cuddled. He likes that when he wakes up. I decided to keep him home today even though he seemed ok he was quieter than he usually is. Within ten minutes of taking Kirsten to school he took himself off to bed again. I left his door open, got his drink and waited for him to come down but he didnt, not for four hours. He still has a bit of a temperature but its come down a bit. He was only up for a couple of hours and he was back to bed again for another few hours. I called the GP who has said to take him in tomorrow lunchtime, he thinks he needs some more antibiotics. I'm not happy with this so I'm going to request some tests, whatever this virus is its just not leaving his system and a fifth lot of antibiotics in as many months is not good. So I feel we need further investigation.
I tried to get him into his Thomas the Tank Engine train set or some books, but he just wasn't interested at all, and thats not like Charley. :(
Kirsten was good though, she came home from school with a certificate for her violin. She's now on Level 2 which isn't usually achieved till high school! Thankfully she's going to carry on with the lessons when she goes up in September so I said if that's the case then I might extend her music lessons to flute as well, she's been wanting to play that for ages, but we'll see, I dont want to overload her, she has enough going on with Guides and church as it is!
The Flour Baby is doing really well! She has stopped asking me to babysit, though she does slyly leave him by me when she goes out to play!! Lol I found myself putting clothes aside for it today! Duh What is it with these mothering instincts??!! LOL
My course is coming on well, i'm actually ahead of the time frame i'd given myself so I decided to sign up for an Emotional Intelligence course that will contribute towards the 6 qualifications I need to get to the Fitness Instructor course I intend to do before going on to a Personal Trainer Diploma. All in all it should take me about 4 years to achieve it all if I put the hours in.
I have four courses currently in progress, all are just to put qualifications to what I can do, for the purpose of my cv but as each one is completed I shall be taking on another, I really want to get to the Diploma level and get into the fitness lifestyle.....cos then i'm going to go on to finish the A level psychology I started a few years ago but didn't finish. So its going to be pretty tough going for a while but I dont mind, I need a focus to move on from this stage of my life.
I had a job interview today, my friend called me yesterday asking for my cv as there was a receptionist vacancy at her work so I sent it over to her, not long after I had a call inviting me for an informal interview! I was so chuffed! :) The interview went really well, the girl there was well cool, we even chatted about our kids and the 'fun' of having teenagers!! Lol I'll hear next week how it went. The job itself is pretty straight forward and I don't think i'll have much problems getting into it if it were to happen! Wish me luck, I could do with some good stuff happening at the moment! :)
Other than that not much else is happening here, I didnt do the hsms photo today cos I noticed it was 'boat' and I really wanted to go down to the marina and get a picture of the gorgeous one there called 'Sparkle'....but the heavens opened here all day today and there's no way I was taking Sam out in this weather!! (Sam is my camera if you cant keep up!!!) I might take a walk down tomorrow though and see if 'Sparkle' is there.... :)
I had a funny thing happen to me today, I went to get some stuff from the supermarket, as I was looking through the kids magazines I heard someone talk to me, I turned round and it was my neighbours friend. I was asked out! Me, asked out on a date, can you believe it!! LOL
I didn't accept though, it wouldnt be right. But I walked away feeling good about myself thats for sure!! LOL Now I just have to face him when he goes to my neighbours! Might have to become one of those curtain creepers!!! Lmao Yeah like he's really gonna stalk me or summat!! ROFL
Right, now i'm off to bed, I have another busy day tomorrow.

Debsxx

Making a memory

I've just had a fantastic afternoon!
Charley and I sat at the table doing his 'mess' which is painting to the rest of us. We got some empty boxes, made models, covered them, painted and drawed on them then got a roll of old wall paper and pinned it from one side of the dining room to the other so he had his own paint wall at his level!
I cut shapes out of potatoes for him to use as stampers, he done his footprints, handprints and scrunched up paper to make different effects.
When that was over with he had a shower, got dressed and lay on his bed. I sat by him and he said 'mummy 'ead it' (read it) and gave me his little Bible stories book along with two Postman Pat books. We lay there for over an hour reading and talking about the pictures. We ate chopped fruit and cream, drank banana milkshake and just enjoyed Charley and mummy time. It was just so lovely.
When Kirsten came home he was flat out again so I suggested to her that we do something and she can choose. She wanted to make some crystals from a kit she had a couple of weeks ago. So thats what we done, before making some cinnamon bread and a banana cake!
When she decided to go watch tv I figured I'd push the boat out and see if Scott wanted some mummy time too! As he's leaving home on saturday I kinda figured i'd push a little bit harder than I normally do when I wanna spend time with him...but he was having none of it! 'Oh mum!' he said and rolled his eyes! So I plonked myself on his bed, flicked through his Xbox 360 magazine and mumbled that its a mum thing and he should be used to it by now. Then he done something that he isn't known for doing, he stood up, aske me to stand by him and he hugged me so tight I was almost out of air. My boy stands over me by about 12" or so but thats ok, cos to me he's always going to be my baby, just like Jaymie who is just as tall and more independant. Boys never stop being mummies boys, but I think mine have it in the right context compared to some!
So now i'm sat here on me own...wondering what to do now. I can do more packing, I can do some scrapbooking or I can do more on my course work...but to be honest, I just feel like having company and a good ole chat. Think i'll run up my phone bill and call a few friends and see what they're doing!! Hehehe (Look out Em....it could be you!! :P)

Debsxx

It's a happy day!

Today's word on hsms is Hand...so this is mine...doing what it's spent most the day doing...writing!!

Today is a happy day here, not too sure why exactly there hasn't been any life changing events but everyone was up full of life this morning...even the neighbours cat came in to say hi!
Kirsten is avidly enjoying her new role as a mummy and constantly has the flour baby with her! Yesterday she went swimming, so I was put in a situation where I HAD to babysit!! Doh So there I was sat at the side of pool reading my book and now and again glancing over to see if this darned bag of flour was ok! It was a while till I realised I was getting the raised eyebrow glances! How glad was I when I stopped myself from straightening out its top and tapping it!!! Lmao Ditzy me!!

Kirsten has signed up for a week of football (soccer to my US friends) training, this hacked her off when she realised it coicided with the week she is supposed to be going to stay with my oldest son down in Brighton! Now she's torn what to do so i'm trying to juggle the dates around to see if I can fit in all the plans we've made still! At this point she may have to sacrifice one or two of her activities, she already has a week away with the Guides booked, a week with her Nan and two weeks with Jay. That leaves two weeks for me which is looking like i'll get one of the weeks where i'm booked to teach scrapping for 4 days! Then we have to go get all her uniform and various sports kits for the new school...so my plan to go camping in the Forest of Dean might not happen! More thoughts are probably needed, I dont want to give that up if I can help it!!

So, today i've had a fantastic visit from my Visiting Teachers from church, both are my closest friends so they knew exactly how to 'enter with caution' with all the packing, sorting and cleaning going on! Plus i'm trying to get ahead with two of my courses and finish off the lesson i'm teaching on Sunday! They are good though, it's very relaxed and easy when they come round! The only thing is after i've had a visit like that I find i'm full of questions so have to go find the answers...so I then spent a while doing some scripture study...and yes, I did manage to find the answers, and amazingly enough I found I am 'allowed' to relax a bit...I dont have to achieve everything today or this week!!
The message they chose was from April's General Conference was about 'Gratitude', this seems straightforward enough? I thought so, but I doubt I'd have given much gratitude for my challenges!! So after listening to Bonnie D Parkin this is the bit that made me think:

Blessing Basket

Let me share a sweet story with you. A family was going through a difficult time. It was hard for them not to focus on their challenges. The mother wrote: "Our world had completely crumpled, so we turned to Heavenly Father for guidance. Almost immediately we realized that we were surrounded by goodness and were being cheered on from every side. We began as a family to express our gratitude to each other as well as to the Lord daily. A close friend pointed out to me that our family's 'blessing basket' was overflowing. From that conversation came a sort of game, which my children and I grew to love. Before family prayer each night we would talk about how our day had gone and then share with each other all of the many blessings that had been added to our 'blessing basket.' The more we expressed gratitude, the more there was to be grateful for. We felt the love of the Lord in a significant way as opportunities for growth presented themselves."

What would a "blessing basket" add to your family?

This I could relate to completely but i'm always inspired to realise that there's always a way through, even by the seemingly small things we can make almost any challenge somewhat more bearable! One of the things I already do is when I find I am angry or annoyed at someone in particular I will sing one of the childrens hymns to change my mental attitude! Sounds daft but it changes the negative to a positive and I dont feel like i'm any less of a nice person for it! The Lord can and will help any of us if only we ask Him and listen for His quiet spirit to guide us!

Thats my spiritual thing happening for the day and something i've set myself to work on...amongst the thousand other things!! LOL It's all good stuff though and an effort that i'm happy to make for the best of my family and myself if nothing else.

Now its bucketing it down with rain here, been red hot this morning so I figured i'd take Charley down the river to feed the ducks, but its not worth it now! That'll please him when he wakes up! Not!

Ok got more course work to do so i'm off for now.
Debsxx

Not going to do todays hsms photo...purely cos 1. the only 'tired' thing I can think of today is me and 2. cos I refuse to post myself on here two days in a row!!
But i'll be going through the girls blogs later to see what they've come up with!!

The Grandma thing had me crying with laughter yesterday...no I didn't babysit...nor did I accept the 2nd time when she went off to Guides!! I did however offer to have 'him' in my room but thats only cos Kirsten slept in my bed again!! LOL
I really hope i'm a better Grandma to a real child than I am to this one!!! LOL

I went to my friend Becky's last night for a few hours, we had so much to chat and laugh about it was great to just relax and forget the serious side to life. Becky is going to come and be the photographer for the scrapbook weekend retreat (more details to come in the next few days), then she will submit the best shots to a variety of publications to promote the craft, I will do the write up for it so i'm looking forward to all that. Finally we have decided when we are going out and its going to be a great occassion to really dress up and be girlie....I love dressing up and being girlie!!! Photos will be taken on the evening as its a ball we're going to!! :)

Even though time was getting on when I got home, I managed to complete another unit on my course, out of 6 modules there were three that I just couldnt get my head round and it was starting to bug me. However, as my tutor was online at the same time he helped me comprehend it and eventually I got it done. The problem I have is that I have dyscalculia it takes me quite a while to comprehend numbers, yet strangely enough i've always worked with money and figures and even though it takes me longer I do get there and my end results are seldomly wrong or far out!! But there ya go, a diagnosed dysfunction!! :) This course is a great challenge for me but one that, if I get the qualification will be recognised through most parts of the world, so who knows, maybe one day Superman might come along and whisk me away to Hawaii, Tahiti or Bali or somewhere equally as exciting!!! Dreams are ok you know!! :P

Today i've had my check up with the doctor about the meds i'm on to keep food down, the tablets are making me ill so I told him i'd rather just be without them and deal with it. However, he has decided that i'm losing too much weight too quickly and now i'm anaemic he feels I should go see a dietician. My arguement is that I eat healthy anyway, i'm no expert but I do know something about how to eat, when to eat and what to eat! I've had an internal scan to see whats happening and that showed nothing so its an unconfirmed conclusion its just my bodys way of dealing with all the challenges that i've faced lately. Anyway, it could all be worse so i'm not going to focus on this particular challenge. I had the same thing happen after I had Scott, it lasted 6 months then out of nowhere it put itself right, so now i'm 3 months into, if history is anything to go by then I have about 3 months to go!!! LOL Ho hum!!

I had two online interviews today...dont ask how that works, i've never heard of them like that before. Both were with the same company but different departments, one is in sales and the other is a PA. Not sure how its going to go but time will tell. The postman bought me a letter from a previous interview that told me that I am 'over qualified', that was for a PA job that seemed to be titled wrong, it was more like an office dogs body with a title!! Still, a job is a job and this one has gone.

So, what else can I ramble on about? The sun is out again today, I am currently sat in the garden enjoying the birds that are feeding and washing in the bird bath, never really been into birds but I had to admit that i'm appreciating just sitting and watching them, we get some really pretty coloured ones around lately. If I could be bothered i'd get a picture...but I cant so I wont!! LOL

Now i'm off to do more packing, still have lots to sort through which i'm finding quite exhilarating throwing stuff that for the life of me I cant figure why I have it!!

Have a great day, whoever you are :)

Debsxx

New baby in the house and another leaving home!

The theme for Y6 kids in Kirsten's school is Flour Babies...a charity week where the kids make a baby out of a bag of flour and treat it as a real baby for a whole week.
So now i've just realised i've become a grandma at a mere 38!!! Oh how Kirsten is laughing!!

Ok here is Jack...minus his hat which he has lost somewhere round school already!!!

So, now Kirsten has a 2lb flour baby called Jack, he is she smallest in the class and is officially premature!! LOL She has Guides tonight so Jack has to go with her...now she's digging through Charley's old baby stuff to see if she can find the baby carrier! She is then covering a box to make a little bed and even managed to get a blue dummy to attach to its wrist!
Tomorrow she is planning to get Charley's baby toys for him, and possibly convert his bed to double up as a car seat! To add to its 'fun' she has put together a variety of Charleys stuff such as a cup, a muslin, bibs, blankets and even a tiny teddy bear!! She even wanted to get some glasses so he'd be the same as Charley!! Lol Bless her! I'm intrigued how long this will last though, as good as she is with Charley I cant see her taking it everywhere with her for a full 5 days!!!


I have to say, she's done a pretty good job making him, but i've warned her, if he moans like she does they're both in the shed!! She finds it all rather amusing when I call her from her room to say she's forgotten her baby, or i'll say to her 'can you please comfort your baby, his crying is very peircing!!' Well responsibility and all that eh? :)
So, to combine this with todays hsms photo of the day here is me playing Grandma, and I tell ya...I'm not that impressed just yet!! LOL

I dont think i'm looking very amused huh? LOL

I've had a pretty calm weekend this week all things considered. I had planned on sorting out the rest of my office and the washroom ready for moving house, but it was so hot there's no way I could lump boxes and stuff about so I focused on getting all my paperwork sorted, got a class for my site researched, almost finished my lesson for next week in Relief Society and got to spend lots of time with the kids. Charley has become the Mega Mission Destruction Machine, he is so happy just getting all his toys out and doing his own thing in the garden but he leaves a mega trail behind him! He decided that it would be a great idea to share his raisins and chopped carrots with the fish! I'd love to know what goes through his head at times!
This week i'm trying to get myself in gear to achieve a million and one things. I seem to have a growing list of essential to do's but one pair of hands just aren't fast enough!
Scott has decided to go to college for the remainder of his A level studies, but that means that he's now leaving home...on Friday/Saturday! I tell ya, it was hard last year when Jaymie left home, I thought I was going to hyperventilate with panic but having two kids leave home is getting rather personal!!! :P No, Scott is moving in with my brother who is a Uni lecturer and Microsoft Designer and able to get Scott some fab on the job training and experience before he goes to uni next year. I know he'll be ok up there, (Grant lives about 100 miles away) but still, this is my 6' baby we're talking about! I dont believe I ever signed up for my kids to leave home!! Lol
Next week will probably have me all tearful...its the mother hormone stuff going on! Isn't it supposed to be better after the first one? All I can think is that i'm thanful I have at least 7 years before Kirsten thinks of leaving home!!
Hmm...kids have a lot to answer for!!

Debsxx

Update: Within minutes of posting this, Kirsten was invited to go down to the marina with our neighbours...the first thing she said was....'mum can you babysit?' Need I say more? :)