Anna's Girls

Decisions decisions decisions

2012-01-17T21:45:00.002Z

One of the worst things about being a lone parent is having to make decisions about my lovely girls on my own. Nobody to talk things through with, yes I have family to talk to about things, but it is still all down to me. Nobody is quite enough, I would love to be able to talk it all through with Nigel but of course I can't. Sophie is in year 5 at school now, and so moves up to secondary school, or high school as it is known in West Yorkshire, in September 2013. I am already starting to think through the application which will have to be completed in September this year. Pros and cons for all the options, so I will have to do my research, go and visit, and talk things through with various people.

It is hard, this lone parenting lark. I'm not much enjoying the ride lately, but I know it is just the same old roller coaster ride. Some highs, some lows. The lows are proving tricky at the moment, it will pass, hopefully soon. Need to keep busy, lots to arrange, so wish me luck!

I am still here, honest!

2011-11-01T11:39:00.004Z

Hello residents of blog land! Such a long time since I blogged, I've not been in the right place to blog lately but I am at home today with yet another kidney infection so I thought I would pop in and update.

The biggest change this year has been that I've been working full time since February. I love having my own class, being part of school and all that, but working full time is no fun when coping as a lone parent too. My girls have suffered while I've been putting the hours in. Teaching full time does take up my whole life. I've been grumpy and shouty with the girls, and that's not good. I finish my contract in just under 7 weeks' time, and then I am going back to supply teaching. It is the better option for the girls and for me, as I have much more time for them.

This year has been an interesting one. At the end of January, I spent 3 days in hospital, having been rushed in with suspected appendicitis. Fortunately it was just a severe kidney and bladder infection, but it has left me with recurrent infections every few weeks. Because of this, we had to cancel our planned trip to Egypt at February half term, which was disappointing, but had to be done. We are booked to go next February so we will experience all that is Egypt next time instead.

Work plodded on until the Easter holidays, and we spent some time in Scotland with my parents. It was gorgeous in early April, and we came home all sunburnt! The next half term was stressful as my class was year 6 and so they were taking their KS2 SATs tests. Once that was out of the way, we moved on to preparing for the end of year production, which was Beauty and the Beast. In the middle of all that, the girls and I had a week in Portugal with our friend Avril, and then I spent a week at Ingleborough Hall with my class for their residential visit. The end of term was a total whirlwind, so I was glad when the holidays arrived!

We rushed around doing this and that over the summer, spending a week in Majorca with my family in a beautiful villa. Then before we knew it, we were back to school. Usual stuff going on, workload getting heavier and heavier. I love teaching but I don't love the paperwork that goes with it!

So now I am on countdown to the end of term. Lots to do, both with work and at home. I've joined a choir, the Rodillian Singers, and I am loving being a part of a musical group again. I have various plans for 2012 so I am very excited for how things will move along. I have had the usual roller coaster of ups and downs with how I have been feeling, lately has been a bit of a downer but I think that seems to be my pattern. My mood usually dips around now, so I need to find a way to help lift it in these darker months.

Keep checking back, I will be sharing various crafty loveliness soon I promise!

Aviva Life Insurance TV Advert

2011-01-23T22:47:00.000Z

Have you seen it? First time I did, I wailed. Well, not quite wailed, but I did have a good cry about the sentiment expressed in the advert. It is about a family where the dad, played by Paul Whitehouse, has died leaving behind his wife and two children. They are packing to go on holiday, and initially you think all four of them are going, but then it becomes clear that the dad has died. The daughter says, "It won't be the same without dad.'

The point of the advert is to encourage people to take out life insurance so as to offer their families financial security should the worst happen. Since Nigel died, I have discovered that there are an awful lot of people out there who have either no cover or very little cover. I can't stress enough how important it is to have cover, even though so many people think that it will never happen to them. I used to think that, but look, it happened to us so it could happen to you. Fortunately we had taken good financial advice from Andy Tams at Total Solutions. If you're in the Leeds, West Yorkshire area and have never seen a financial adviser, then I can recommend this firm completely.

I can still remember the phone conversation I had with Andy, a few hours after Nigel died. I rang him from Portugal at around 9am, Nigel had passed away just before 3am so it wasn't long after. I could hear his jaw hit the floor from all those miles away. It was probably the absolute last thing he would have expected to hear in a phone call from me that morning, but as soon as I had finished talking, he put everything into action so that some things were well on the way to being sorted by the time I arrived back in the UK the following Sunday evening.

It is so important to be insured. Even a low level of cover is better than nothing!

So I had a weep, it doesn't happen as often any more. I still miss Nigel every day, just not in a way that makes me quite so sad now. I'd love him to see how the girls are growing up more and more every day, but hey ho, such is life.

A Christmas Kiss!

2010-12-12T23:14:00.002Z

Once again I seem to have neglected my blogging. If truth be told, I have not felt so great for the last month or so, and blogging has not been top of my priorities I'm afraid.

Today was just such a great day, I felt compelled to come and post about it. In July 2008 I decided to take the girls along to a new church. For various reasons, the church we had been attending was not where I saw us in the long term, so I took the plunge and we went along to the Abundant Life Church in Bradford. ALC is unlike any church I had been to before, it is very modern, welcomes all, and has an enormous Sunday school, known as Kids' Church at ALC. The girls were welcomed into Kids' Church with open arms, and before I knew it, I had been roped in to help with various things, as well as be involved in the Christmas performance of Scrooge.

Since then, the girls and I have attended church on a pretty regular basis, and we have made some wonderful friends there. Every Christmas, I would watch in amazement as members of the church were honoured in a campaign called 'Christmas Kisses'. Never in a month of Sundays did I think I would be chosen. Well, this year, a lovely lady called Clare Hooper decided she would nominate me to receive a Christmas Kiss. The other members of the committee agreed, and so today would be my special day. I had no idea it was going to happen, in fact I had a busy day planned at church, which on reflection I can see was full of ruses to ensure I was in church to hear it all!

Charlotte Gambill, one of the pastors, started talking about the first person to receive a Christmas Kiss, and talked about how this person was a widow, bringing up two children after her husband had literally dropped dead whilst on holiday. Then she said my first name, and I realised it was me! She talked about how I had coped when Nigel died, and how I had decided to make the move to ALC. Then she talked about how I instantly dived in and got involved, which I definitely did!

Meanwhile, I sat and listened, amazed that this could be me, and steeled myself for going up on stage, something I was not looking forward to! Imagine how I felt when Charlotte then handed me a bag from Tiffany & Co! Church had decided to buy me some gifts which they felt Nigel would have given me had he been here (cue tears at this point, plus I'm welling up as I type this). Apparently inside the bag is a bracelet, engraved with 'loved' because church wanted me to know that I am truly loved, even when life is proving to be a real struggle for me. And it didn't end there! In January I am being treated to a spa weekend with my lovely friend Dawn. Gobsmacked doesn't even come close to how I was feeling at that point.

I decided I needed to thank everyone, so took the microphone from Charlotte and spoke to church. I'm not sure how many people were there, but I think it was at least 900 as it looked like a full house to me! I talked about how life had not been easy for me, but that ultimately the ups and downs make life what it is. Anyone who believes that everything in life will run smoothly is in for a shock. I remember listening to Paul Scanlon, our senior pastor, speak in October 2008, about how the journey of life is a rocky road, with some easy times and other much more difficult times where the road would seem almost impassable. I sat at the back of church and sobbed my way through that service, because the realisation had hit me that my life was progressing just how it was intended to progress. It wasn't a case of woe is me, the journey is tough so I'll give up, the tricky times just made me want to fight harder to carry on.

I've been on a rockier part of the journey of late, and am proud that I've come through it. Receiving my Christmas Kiss today has made me realise just how much lies ahead that I have to look forward to, even though Nigel isn't here to see it. I miss him every day still, that will never go away. I bite my tongue now when people say, almost crossly, that I should be over him by now. It is never going to be something I get over, more that I make the most of the life that I have without Nigel. I still find myself thinking about ringing him up to tell him something during the day, not so often now but it does still happen. The girls' nativity plays last week made me realise how proud he would be of our beautiful girls.

Being a widow is part of me, its not something that will go away. Now I just have to make sure I continue to grow into the person I want to be, not dwell on the past and the difficult times. There will still be times where I feel as if sadness is overwhelming, but that's ok. With the support of people at ALC, my family and so many wonderful friends, things are going to be A-OK.

Triggers that pop up every now and again

2010-09-29T21:13:00.003Z

It's a funny old world, that much I do know. Life is ticking along nicely in so many ways, and then all of a sudden, totally out of the blue, something pops up and reminds me of just how I felt when Nigel died.

I heard on a forum I use of a little girl in a friend's child's class. Her daddy died at the weekend, totally out of the blue. The little girl was in reception, so my heart learched, and I remembered how it was for Sophie, starting 'Big' school just a matter of weeks after her daddy died. This girl had already started, but still, hearing of what had happened made me think back to that time. It makes the memories seem raw all over again, albeit for a short time, but still raw and upsetting.

Then I have a big decision to make about the future. So many things to think about, a decision I'd rather be making with Nigel, and I can't. I know that the decision I make will come good, I just can't decide which option to go for!

Anyway, here's a photograph of the girls on the first day of this school year. So grown up, I can't quite work out how time seems to be going so quickly! Sophie is in year 4 this year, and Alex has moved into year 2. I'm in new year groups too, working one day a week in nursery, and one day in year 1. All great so far! Long may it continue!

I haven't forgotten about crafting, honest! I just haven't taken any photographs of my projects lately, I will soon I promise!

Enjoying the view from a beautiful meadow

2010-08-08T10:40:00.003Z

I was shown this a while ago, and I think it is a pretty good description of how I have felt over recent years. I must say I am now totally in the place to be admiring the beautiful meadow without worrying about what could happen, about possible pitfalls and so on. Life is short, enjoy today, worrying about what COULD happen is a huge waste of energy. I miss Nigel, I don't deny that, and I am sad that his life was cut short. He has missed our beautiful daughters growing up, and I have taken on the role of both parents which is a taxing role believe me! Despite all this, mostly our lives are full of happy times. No deep, dark, depressed days any more.

So read this, and think about how it could have an impact about how you feel about your life!

Imagine walking through a lovely meadow. The sun shining. Looking up at a beautiful sky. Bright blue, lots of fluffy white clouds drifting by. Butterflies fluttering amongst the buttercups and daisies. Your fingers brushing the tips of the long grass as you walk.....and then suddenly, you stumble.

You manage to catch yourself after faltering for a bit. You dust yourself down, and keep on walking, admiring the beautiful surroundings. You stumble again, this time falling into a deep, unmarked pit. You keep falling and falling, grabbing out and flailing wildly to try and get a grip on something, anything. After what seems like forever, you stop your slide downwards and hit rock bottom. You are exhausted from your sudden and unexpected decent into darkness.

Before you know where you are, and what has happened, you are at the bottom of a deep hole with no idea how you got there or how to get out. You can see a chink of light in the top, but its quite far away, and you cant trust that the chink of light is the only way out, but you claw towards it anyway, even though you are exhausted and bruised and battered from your fall.

Its a lonely time in this hole. Only you and the darkness. You couldnt see anyone else even if they were there, because of the darkness and coldness of your environment. But once you realise where you are, you know you have to clamber out and,` if you are lucky, someone will pass by and offer a hand of help to pull you out.

Despite being exhausted, and bruised and battered, you clamber you way to the top, and you finally make your way out of the hole. Yet you are still shocked and stunned by what happened. How could you miss such a big hole in front of you? Why couldnt you see it coming? How come no-one before you has fallen into this hole (you think) and not thought to block it up? Many people before you has managed to walk through the meadow without falling into this pit, why couldnt you have seen it coming, or prevented it, or just had a better journey?

You are stood, standing in this beautiful meadow, but all you can think about is the dark hole that you have just fallen into and clambered out of, how sore and aching your body is, and how tired you are. The beauty around you means nothing for a while. But you are grateful to be out, and you realise you should appreciate the beautiful surroundings.

You keep walking, but you find yourself no longer admiring the sky, the clouds, the butterflies, the flowers. You are busy looking at your feet. Concentrating hard, because, you dont want to fall into another pit, and waylaid by your aching bones and tired body.

You lose sight of all the beautiful things around you because you are continuing your journey looking only down at the ground, on alert for danger. You dont appreciate the sky, the clouds, the flowers, the butterflies, because you are too scared of falling down another hole, you still have the bruises from the last fall.

You are terrified that, if you take your eyes off terra firma for a moment, you could slip down that hole again and you wont find your way out so easily this time.

It is a long, lonely journey, spent staring at the ground, before you trust your surroundings, and your instincts enough again to appreciate your journey, and realise its beauty. To wander through the meadow staring at the beautiful blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

A big long gap again...

2010-07-28T04:11:00.002Z

Apologies everyone for not posting! Life has been hectic, mad, fun, a bit sad sometimes, and full of new challenges. We are currently in the USA, the girls are at summer camp and I am on a bit of a road trip with some friends. Tomorrow I am heading to Amish Country, and I am staying in a beautiful traditional lodge, so that should be fantastically relaxing.

On Thursday, 29th July, it would have been my tenth wedding anniversary. It will be a day tinged with sadness, wondering how life would have been if things hadn't changed that day, and also one to remember all the fantastic things we celebrated together that day in 2000.

So please, raise a glass to Nigel and to me, still here, still battling on (lol) and remember that day with a smile, not tears.

I will post all about our trip next week once we are home!

Kayaking time!

2010-05-10T11:05:00.005Z

On Saturday the girls tried something new- kayaking! Sophie's cub pack had been offered a session at Leeds Canoe Club, and I asked if Alex could join in too. Fortunately she could, so we headed down to the River Aire at Kirkstall on Saturday afternoon.

I wasn't sure how the girls would feel about being out on the water for the first time in a kayak on their own, but they did fantastically well! One of the ladies from the canoe club was very impressed with how Alex did as she was 2 years younger than the cubs. Sophie looks like a seasoned pro in the photo above!!

It was a fantastic afternoon, the girls loved it. Sophie was even brave enough at the end of the session to get out of her kayak when it was in a row of all the kayaks, and crawl across the kayaks and back round to her own boat! Her friend Bonnie did it too, in fact the girls were braver than most of the boys! They got a bit cold towards the end, so were very glad of a hot cup of tea when they came off the water.

The girls will be canoeing in the US this summer so this was a great starting point. Sophie has done so many wonderful activities since she joined cubs, and did some great stuff with Beavers. It was a shame she had such a bad experience with Brownies, as I know there are loads of great Brownie packs out there, just not the one Sophie joined! I remember my brother doing much more exciting activities with his cub pack when I was a Brownie, so I was quite envious of what he got up to. I can definitely recommend cubs for girls if you can join a pack which is as good as 4th Morley (Gildersome)!

More crafting tomorrow when I am planning on launching various Stampin Up promos, so watch this space! If you do want to order anything Stampin Up then drop me an email annajahead@yahoo.co.uk

Until then, have a great day wherever you are!

More cards

2010-04-28T08:49:00.002Z

On Saturday we went to my friend Avril's 60th Birthday lunch at Zachary's, a fabulous restaurant in Fulneck, Pudsey. We had a wonderful lunch, the girls got to choose exactly what they wanted to eat too which was great. Sophie is a big fan of roast dinners, so she went for roast sirloin of beef, yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings. She definitely enjoyed it as it barely seemed to touch the sides, then her plate was empty! Alex chose her favourite, spaghetti bolognese. If spag bol is on the menu, then the chances are Alex will choose it! When we are on holiday, quite often it appears on children's menus in restaurants, so she will usually choose it, and eat the lot.

My gift to Avril for her birthday was all the invitations and place cards for her birthday lunch and then party afterwards at home, so when I made her card, I tied it in with that. It is a nice simple card, using pink passion and glorious green cardstock from SU, Avril's name is stamped in pink passion ink using the Big Deal Alpha once again. Then I added some stickles glitter to the centre of the flowers as bling is always good!! The ribbon is not SU but is a pretty close match I think. I punched the flowers using my beloved retro daisy punch, I have this in 3 different sizes and use it a lot. It isn't a shape made by SU as yet, but it shows how you can incorporate what craft stuff you've already got with the SU products. One of the reasons I held off signing up for so long was because I love to use other brands of products too, especially in my scrapbooking. But now I am getting much, much better at using SU stuff alongside what I've already got, to great effect.

My second card is a horse card made for a 21st birthday. I don't own anything horse related craft wise, so I had to resort to google images for this card. The cardstock I used is SU textured in creamy caramel, chocolate chip and close to cocoa. Well, I think I have got that right! I need to learn all the different names lol. The rosette is made using two circles punched out, then mounted on three scalloped circles layered together. The 'ribbon' is just cut from more card. The 21 is doodlebug stickers, which I had in my lettering box. I'm a bit of a fan of letter stickers and chipboard letters, so I have ordered the SU chipboard letters to try. Hopefully they will be here soon so I can have a play.

Long weekend this weekend, the girls have a training day on Friday, and then it is May Day on Monday. Lots of lovely things planned, including seeing Peppa Pig Live on Saturday!

Have a great weekend, whatever you're doing!

2010-04-22T20:54:00.003Z

Made a card this afternoon for a very lovely young man who is becoming a teenager tomorrow. Elliot is simply gorgeous, he makes me smile whenever I see him, and says so many wonderful things which keep both me and his mum in stitches regularly!

The card is made using a combination of Stampin' Up! supplies and other stash. The name is stamped using the Big Deal Alpha set, I love this alphabet, and have been using it on so many projects lately. It is stamped in Ballet Blue onto Whisper white cardstock. The name is then matted onto brilliant blue card, then onto a card blank which is from Craftwork Cards. The three strips of dotty papers are SU designer papers, I love them, so versatile and as they are double sided, even better value for money. The star is punched using a SU punch, one which I use on a lot of projects. The number stickers are Doodlebug I think, have had them a while! All in all, this card took me just over 10 minutes!

I raised the star up using dimensionals to create a bit more interest on the front. I like to do this on both cards and scrapbook pages, as everything stuck down flat can get a bit boring!

This mini book is a new baby book which I was asked to make by my friend Jackie. Her brother and his fiancee were expecting their first baby, and had decided to call him Thomas Luke. They decorated Thomas's room using a Winnie the Pooh theme, and so Jackie asked me to make this book because she wanted something personal to them. It measures 8"x6" and each page is decorated slightly differently, ready for a 6x4 photograph to be stuck in. I just hope the new parents like it! Obviously this isn't made using SU products, other than the striped ribbon which is tied to the bind it all wires.

So, as you can see I've been fairly busy craft wise! As a result, tomorrow is housework day. I have a mountain of laundry to sort, so that should keep me amused. Then on Saturday we are off to a special meal to celebrate my friend Avril's 60th birthday. Sophie is also singing at the Morley Music Festival with her school choir in the morning, so a busy day! Hopefully I'll be back with more crafting soon.

Busy busy busy!

2010-04-17T20:33:00.003Z

So it has been a few weeks since I last updated this blog, where to start really!

April started with Alex's 6th birthday on Good Friday. She says it was her best birthday ever, and I must admit, she did have a wonderful day! She had 12 friends round for a craft party, and each child went home with an A4 sized canvas with their name on, plus Hello Kitty for the girls and Batman for the boys. All the children managed really well, and were very well behaved, which was a complete bonus!

After Alex's birthday, my pal Heather and her girls came to stay. We had a lot of fun, and took the three eldest girls to an art day in Harrogate which went down very well indeed.

Sophie went to her friend Lydia's birthday Pyjama Party too, and as Lydia is loving playing schools just lately, I decided to make her a sign for her room, saying that it was her classroom!

Here's a card I made, lots of old stash used up on this one which I had found during some tidying up. The girl is coloured to look like Lydia too, I like to do that when colouring in a card.
This week we have been up in Scotland with my parents. We stayed in a log cabin, I have stayed there several times since I was 13, but not since having the girls. We had a fabulous time, the weather was great, no rain, and we spent a lot of time on the beach. The girls are at their happiest when they are digging in the sand, collecting shells and constructing sand castles. We got back yesterday, and now it is back to reality. Homework to do, reading to do, washing from last week, etc etc..

Oh, that and I became a Stampin Up! demonstrator last week!!

Recuperation and crafting to while away the time

2010-03-23T20:20:00.006Z

While I have been recovering from my operation, I decided to get scrapping again, something I've not done in quite a long time at home, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! It was great to get back to scrapping, and now I have rediscovered my mojo, I will be doing more of it for sure.

The first layout I made using the Scrapagogo February kit, absolutely gorgeous to use as always. The photographs on the LO are moo cards, using that size and format is a nice change after always going for standard photographs. The subject matter is Sophie and her best friend Jennifer, who moved down to Buckinghamshire last summer. Whenever the girls meet up, they continue where they left off, great friends and always happy to see each other. These photos were taken at Legoland, and I love the expressions on their faces!

A little close up of the detail on the clock face I used on one corner of the journalling. The kit came with these adorable cupcake brads, so I had to use one to anchor the clock hands.

The second LO is made using a kit I picked up from Sarah's Cards. I had seen this kit at a crop, and so decided to order one for myself. Once again the photos are moo cards, and it was fun to see just how many photos I could get on one LO!

The pictures tell the story of our day at Bekonscot Model Village, which is very close to where Jen and her family live now. We had been before back in February 2007, and loved it, so were very happy to have a return visit. Hopefully we will be going again when we visit Jen and co. Close up shot of one of the little badges from American Crafts which came in the kit, just gorgeous!

My final LO is just a very simple one using more moo cards of Bekonscot. I didn't want them to go to waste, so decided on the less is more approach! Very quick and easy to do, and a nice addition to my album without taking a long time to complete.

All in all a good day's scrapping! It certainly stopped me from thinking too much about my discomfort, so Thursday last week was a good day! I am still sore now, but much less so, and the trapped wind from the keyhole procedure has just about gone now. I get tired very easily, which is really frustrating, but that will pass soon I am sure. Onto the next drama in the household- Sophie has a sore lump on her gum which looks like it could be a dental abscess, so off to the dentist we go tomorrow!

A strange week this week

2010-03-19T22:00:00.002Z

Monday and Tuesday were spent in hospital after surgery on Monday afternoon. I'm on the mend now but it has been a rough week. Just got to be careful not to overdo it, today was a bit much as I am now feeling very tired.

So I will sign off for now, see you soon!

New stamps

2010-03-04T19:10:00.005Z

I decided to treat myself to some new stamps last week, and chose this lovely Magnolia Ladybug stamp. Sophie was due to go to a party after school today, so last night I inked this little beauty up to make a card for her friend Bonnie. I coloured the image using my Copic Ciao markers, and am pleased with the end result. I've recently done an online course in colouring with the copics, and learned a lot about blending. I'm intruiged to know if the copic sketch markers are better to use, but for now I am more than happy with my ciaos.

The image is matted on red cardstock, then onto a black mat which has been embossed using my Big Shot and a cuttlebug embossing folder of hearts. Bonnie's name is stamped with the Stampin Up schoolbook serif set, and then the card is finished off with a red ribbon tied in a knot. I bought another Magnolia stamp at the same time as I bought this one, so I may well ink that up tonight.

That's about it for now. Usual stuff is ticking along nicely. Next big job to tackle is the garden. I need to pressure wash the paving slabs as they are looking very grimy after the winter, and get rid of some broken garden furniture. We are keen to grow some veg this summer, so I need the space which this furniture is taking up to put some pots and troughs in place ready to plant some seeds. I know nothing about growing veg, but the girls are keen to help, so we will give it a go! All hints and tips will be gratefully received!

A letter from Alex

2010-03-02T22:11:00.002Z

Alex is 5 years and 11 months old now, she wrote this last week. When Nigel died, she was only 2 years 4 months, so she has spent more of her life without him than she has with him now. A few weeks ago she went through a very unsettled patch, crying at bedtime on several occasions because she was sad that she had had 2 years less with Daddy than Sophie had. To comfort a child who feels like this is so hard, as it is a painful experience for me too, but Alex only has one parent, and I have to deal with it.

I talked to several friends about what to do about this, and I have decided I will write a letter back to Alex, saying:

Dear Alex

I love you too.

Every single day I wish daddy was alive still. I know he was so very proud of you, and he would be even more proud of you now.

Love from Mummy.

What else can I possibly say?

Game Over, or was it?

2010-02-28T22:41:00.003Z

I spent all of yesterday in Coventry at the Scrapagogo event, GoGo Game Over. It was a fabulous day, and I made some brilliant projects. I will photograph them tomorrow hopefully, when there just might be enough light to do it!

I've not blogged in a while, so time to play catch up!

Over the half term holiday, we had a fun filled week in Llangollen with my friend Heather and her two girls. Alex and Erin are the same age, so entertained each other (I use the term loosely at various points, you know how kids fall out with each other at times!) while Sophie loved spending time with Swyn. At two years old, she is even more strong willed than Alex was at that age, and that takes some doing!

I did have a hairy evening, when Alex had an allergic reaction to something, and so we had to dash all the way to the nearest out of hours service, which was a 50 minute drive away. A bottle of piriton later and we were headed home again. It took a good ten days for the rash to subside, no idea what caused it though.

The rest of the week was spent going for a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine, painting pottery, finding more geocaches and going swimming. All good fun, and enjoyed by all!

Back to reality this last week tho, busy in lots of ways. I will definitely share some of my crafty projects soon. I have also booked flights for us to go to the USA in July for a special summer camp for the girls, they are so excited already, and I am enjoying planning which geocaches I am going to do during my week without them! I want to stay fairly local to the camp so that I am reachable if they need me, but as there are over a thousand caches in the area I think I will be able to find plenty to do!

Enough for tonight, another busy day tomorrow, in fact a busy week again! Have a great week wherever you are and thanks for reading.

Birthday card time

2010-02-03T14:47:00.003Z

This first card is made using a lovely new Greetings Farm stamp which arrived yesterday. Sophie is off to a party tonight and the little girl is called Dollie. Unusual name, yes? But if everyone had the same name life would be boring!

Anyway, Sophie is off to the brickworks to a soft play party. I think this year will be the last year Sophie's friends go for soft play parties as they are all getting to be too tall to go in the soft play areas! No doubt Alex will be put out that she is not invited, but I have no desire to sit in this particular play area while she plays too, so I will drop Sophie off and pick her up later!

The second card is for a special friend of mine who is 40 on Friday. Perhaps I should not be putting this up on my blog yet, but I want to show her that I have remembered, unlike some people who shall remain nameless! She's had a tough year this year, so I hope this coming year is better for her. We are off to Llangollen at half term to a holiday house with our 4 girls, I am really looking forward to that! The 40 on the card is very subtle, can you spot it? This stamp is also a new arrival in my house, an Anya stamp from the Greetings Farm range of stamps. She is just so cute, I had to ink her up straight away. Both images are coloured using my copic markers, can't remember which shades, I never keep track of things like that! The letters on the top card are some stickers I found in my stash. No idea where they came from! The Super friend letters are AC Thickers, I love those, wish I had more!

I will share pics of my newly decorated craft room soon, it is almost organised, just a little more to do! Ciao for now!

Stampin Up Workshop at My House

2010-01-31T21:50:00.003Z

Just in case anyone wants to come along, I'm having a Stampin Up workshop at my house on Friday 5th February at 8pm. If you're in Leeds and would like to come, leave me a comment and I'll get in touch. If you're not local, but want to order Stampin Up products, you're welcome to do that too! Again, leave me a comment and I'll be in touch.

So how has your week been?

2010-01-29T15:52:00.000Z

It seems as if time is rushing past me at the moment. I have been really busy since New Year, sorting out this, that and the other. This week has been an assortment of dental appointments, swine flu jabs, chiropractic appointments and time spent doing all the usual mundane things that being a parent involves. Sophie had to have a filling and Alex was having a filling and a tooth out. Unfortunately, Alex's extraction didn't go quite to plan, so she ended up screaming in the dentist's chair. All very traumatic for both her and me, it is times like that when being a parent is so, so hard. Watching your child being put through a painful procedure is something I don't want to repeat.

I managed to find some bunk beds to fit in Alex's room, the smallest bedroom in the house. It was a challenge to say the least, as shorty bunk beds in general seem to come with narrow mattresses, and that was something I didn't want to buy. I finally found a company which made bunks in different lengths but with a full width, 3 foot mattress. The bunks are 5'9" in length, and so fit beautifully. Alex's last bed was a divan single, which fitted well, but bunks are always longer, so wouldn't fit at all. I started putting the beds together last night, and finished them off today. All I have to do this evening is attach the safety bar and ladder, then Alex can have her first night in her new bed! I am hoping she sleeps all night in the bunk, as she has a habit of waking and coming in to my bed. She has been better since I got her a thicker duvet and a sheepskin effect under sheet, so maybe the attraction of sleeping in a bunk bed will keep her there every night.

I made the decision to renew my membership to the WAY foundation a couple of months ago. I paid my membership fee in October or November, then forgot to tell the membership secretary that I had done it, so I finally got round to emailing her. I have no doubt that there are some people I know through WAY who will presume I rejoined because I am single again, but I actually joined before everything changed over New Year. If it gives them something to obsess over, so be it, it gives me a bit of a giggle to think that they have nothing more interesting to fill their lives with! Something I have discovered is that, sadly, having widowhood in common with someone does not mean you will find kindred spirits. There are some really bitter people out there, and I am determined not to become one of those people. I was dealt an unkind hand when Nigel died, and life is full of struggles, but the one thing I want to do is live my life to the full, and give my girls the most positive experience I possibly can. I have been thinking a great deal about the events of August 10th 2006 lately, remembering how everything changed in an instant. Tears are still shed from time to time, but a lot less frequently than they were in the early days. Perhaps the thing I find most sad is that Nigel can not see how his girls have grown into wonderful young ladies. Yes, if you share my religious beliefs in heaven, he can see from there, but he is not here with us now to experience the fantastic journey with these two girls. I love them both so very, very much, and even though it is hard word, it is worth every minute!

My craft room is still in chaos, must get in there this weekend and put it all away. My desk is pure white now, and the walls are pale blue. Looks ace, so I will finish it all off very soon and share pics.

Have a great weekend wherever you are!

My special quilt

2010-01-21T00:45:00.003Z

If you've been reading my blog since the early days back in 2006, you may remember the beautiful quilt which was made for me by my online friends from around the world. I had put it on the spare bed, but when I was in the spare room the other day, putting Christmas decorations away, I decided it was time to put it back on my bed. It has been so cold over the last few weeks, and sleeping alone can get very chilly sometimes!

I have been so warm since I put the quilt back on my bed, plus I have loved looking back at all the squares, remembering the people who made the squares. Some of them have moved on from the forums I was on then, in fact so have I from some of them, but it was very reassuring to see the squares made by people I am still friends with. I am blessed to have a great deal of very good friends, both online in various communities, and also in real life. They have been there for me, through thick and thin, keeping me going, reminding me that I'm doing a great job even when it seems like my life is one constant battle. Life as a lone parent does often feel like I am wading through mud up to my waist, but I know we will get there eventually. It might not be via the usual route, or even the route I planned when the girls were born, but we will get there in the end!

I'm off to get cosy under my quilt, so night all!

Exciting news for me!

2010-01-11T16:46:00.002Z

I've been accepted onto the team for the Crafty Storage Blog! I am so chuffed! Time for me to get looking for more storage ideas out there on the internet! Leave me a comment if you've seen anything interesting.

Along the same vein, my craftroom has been repainted now, and I am starting to put things back in which is a job and a half! Watch this space for new pics very soon!

Happy 2010!

2010-01-03T17:31:00.004Z

Here's my first card of 2010, made for my mum's birthday today using two Gorjuss girl stamps. I stamped the right hand image, then masked it and stamped the other girl, so that they look like they are standing together. The idea is that the girls look like my two gorgeous girls, saying Happy Birthday to their Grandma!

The images are stamped and then coloured with my copic markers in a range of shades. I can never remember which shades I have used, as I tend to pick up a selection, and use them all until I am happy with the effect. The coloured cardstock is DCWV, and has a white core which I have revealed by sanding gently round the edges. I punched the bottom of the cardstock with a Martha Stewart border punch., then cut out a strip of purple cardstock to go on top. Lining up the punched base of the strip was really easy, and I like how it looks! The oval sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.

So here we are, 2010, a new year, new start. Lots of exciting things to do this year. I face it as a single woman again, things didn't work out as hoped, and I reached the point where I didn't feel valued within the relationship. It proved that love is not enough, so it was time to move on. For now I am enjoying being with my girls and waiting to see what the future holds.

The snow has continued to fall here, in fact I had to abandon my car yesterday outside my friend Avril's house as I couldn't get up the hill her house is on. Fortunately my friend Bill came and picked me up, then came back with me this morning to get the car. It was very slippery, and took a little while, but I was very glad when I finally got the car back home!

Back to school for the girls tomorrow, then there will be time for me to get this bombsite of a house back in order! I have the decorator coming to repaint the playroom, Sophie's room and my craft room. Can't quite decide what colour to have my craftroom though, so tomorrow I will go and get some colour charts from B&Q before Ben arrives on Tuesday. I need to get more organised, start to do things with my time at home which I enjoy, instead of wasting time on the internet!

Happy New Year to all my readers, I hope you have a great year, I know it is definitely my aim to do so!

White Christmas!

2009-12-25T22:35:00.006Z

Another year over with! We have had a fabulous Christmas this year, the snow has made it so special. The girls have loved every minute out in it, and are now sledging queens! Hearing them laugh so much this morning was infectious, they were so happy to be outside in the sunshine, sliding down the hillside on two red plastic discs.

The girls both received Gogo hamsters, which seem to have become this year's must have toy. They love them to bits, and have played with them over and over again already.

Tomorrow we head to my brother's so I will sign off for now.

Happy Christmas!

Tale as old as time

2009-12-20T22:19:00.002Z

This week we have been involved with Beauty and the Beast at church. We did two performances, one on Saturday and one on Sunday, and we loved every minute of it! The girls and I were villagers, and the picture above shows the girls during a story telling session with Belle. The rehearsal schedule was full on, but it is easy to forget the graft when the performances go as well as they did! There were a couple of comedy moments, got to happen really at some point!

My parents came to see the performance on Saturday and loved it. Several friends came too, which I really appreciated. Not everyone made it because of ill health, and also the weather was not kind to those who were travelling from further afield.

The story of Beauty and the Beast is most definitely a favourite in our house now. The girls love singing all the songs, in fact Sophie was gutted that she wasn't allowed to be in the Mob Song or the Gaston song (set in a tavern)! Alex was more concerned that she hadn't been chosen to be a teacup, but unfortunately we were on holiday when the auditions took place back in August. Alex also managed to fall head first off a chair whilst sat backstage this evening, and whacked her forehead nicely. She's got an impressive lump and bruise, bless her!

I love being part of the drama team at church, it is an amazing team to serve on and so rewarding when we get to the final shows. Both girls thoroughly enjoyed being involved this year, Sophie was in Scrooge last year but this was Alex's first year. Somehow I think we will be back next year, and we will make sure we are at the auditions so we get a look in for more of a part!

Time to sleep now, exhaustion was passed a few days ago, the enjoyment of it all has kept us going but now it is time to crash and sleep!

A change is as good as a rest, right?

2009-12-12T07:15:00.002Z

Next week is the end of an era for me. I decided back in October to resign from my permanent teaching job and switch to doing supply teaching. My notice period is up next week, so I will leave on Wednesday. I've been there for ten years, so my plan is that a change will be as good as a rest. Teaching is family friendly in that you get holidays the same as your children, but it is not so flexible if something happens during term time such as a child being ill and needing hospital visits. Of course, I have had time off to be with Alex over recent months as I am entitled to it, but it is not limitless, and I have juggled childcare at other times. Supply teaching will give me more flexibility as I can choose when to make myself available for work. If Alex or Sophie is poorly, then I don't work that day.

I will be sad to leave the children at school, and the staff too, but this decision is not one I have made lightly, and it is definitely the right one. My parents were not impressed initially, but after I explained it all to them, they too can see that in the long run it will be the right choice for me. It was announced at the Christmas concert on Tuesday night that I would be leaving, and I must admit that I was very touched by the reaction of the children and their parents, their obvious feelings that I should not be leaving brought a lump to my throat.

So January 2010 will see a new start in terms of employment for me. I am confident that I can pick up plenty of supply work fairly locally. Now all I need is to send out my CV to local schools.

The last couple of weeks have been difficult emotionally. I carried out a supreme act of kindness for someone, and then had it thrown back into my face very unpleasantly, which took by totally by surprise. I was deeply, deeply upset and hurt by everything that happened, so I will be thinking very carefully about anything I do in future for others. It's a shame really, but I can't face going through all that again.

Anyway, time to get up and ready to face the world. Today I am going to the gym first, then we are off to see Where the Wild Things Are at the cinema. Have a great day, wherever you are!

I want to win this candy

2009-11-15T22:31:00.000Z

http://passionforcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/11/wow-200000-hits-blog-candy.html

So here's the link!

Hooray I made a card!

2009-11-03T11:18:00.002Z

Hooray, finally I remember to take a pic of a card I made. This is a commission for a friend's grandson who turns 18 later this week. Card design pinched from the lovely Julie, stamps are from the Stampin Up Cheers to You set, I have used this so much, it's a fab set. Card blank is SU too, no idea what the colour is called, all I know is it is pale yellow! The papers are one of the designer paper sets. Scalloped circles punched with the SU punch, letters are SU too. Numbers are Gin X rub ons which I have had for eons. I coloured the beer mugs with my copic markers.

Here's hoping he likes the card!

It has been a stressful few days here as Alex had her tonsils out on Friday. She was given diclofenac painkiller, and unfortunately reacted to it. She had a nasty wheezing attack which scared me and the staff on the ward. We came home on Friday evening, and she spent most of Saturday laid on the sofa. On Sunday she was in considerable discomfort, and as a result stopped eating and drinking and taking medication. We ended up back in hospital, with dehydration and a chest infection, so more medication was needed. Finally she started to eat and drink again, and so we could come home late on Sunday evening.

Her throat is healing well, it is just smelly as it heals which is perfectly normal apparently. Her chest is bothering her, and she has ear ache too, but painkillers are keeping these under control most of the time. We are on house arrest, as she has to stay in for 2 weeks to avoid infection. Deep joy! Being with an ill child is hard work and very tiring, but hopefully in the long run she will be much better health wise. For now I am spending my days on the sofa with a clingy child so wish me luck!

Got to love Anya stamps

2009-10-17T08:03:00.002Z

Just a quick post, with a terrible pic I took with my phone. This is Rock Star Anya, a stamp by the Greetings Farm, coloured with my Copic markers. I used my tempting turquoise stampin up marker too so that it would tie in perfectly with the colour of the cardstock. Sorry it's not a better picture but I made this at the last minute so had to drop it off to the recipient as soon as it was done.

Another stressful week, however I have been much more in control of what has been going on, and feel much happier about it all. Finally seem to be shaking off the after effects of swine flu, still very tired though so need to catch up on sleep at half term when the girls go to stay with my parents for a couple of nights. Alex had her pre op assessment yesterday, so fingers crossed now that she doesn't come down with anything before October 30th.

I'm going to make a start on my Christmas cards this weekend, hopefully not too many to make! Otherwise we will be having a nice quiet weekend, it would have been Nigel's birthday tomorrow so no doubt we will be at his grave to leave some flowers. HappyBirthday Nigel.

That sinking feeling

2009-10-12T22:40:00.002Z

seems to have reared it's ugly head again. Hence the lack of blog posts. I've been really ill, swine flu attacked both Alex and I, and 3 weeks later I am still not back to full health.

On a more positive note, Alex will be having her tonsil surgery on 30th October. Sounds strange to say 'positive' about a painful operation, but I know that in the long run it will have a positive effect on both her life and mine and Sophie's.

I've also been making some decisions about the future which will hopefully make life much easier and more pleasant. All very cryptic at the moment, and tbh nothing that exciting for anyone other than me and the girls, but still not something I can share yet.

Thank you for continuing to read my blog. I will post more very soon. Today I heard that a family friend has died whilst on holiday in Majorca. Majorca seems to be the sudden death hotspot lately. Our friend had a massive heart attack, completely unexpected. Understandably it has shocked me to the core, and brought back memories of the night Nigel died. I will be thinking of J as she begins her life as a widow, and hope and pray that she can bring her husband home safely on his final journey very soon.

Look how they've grown

2009-09-13T22:05:00.002Z

First day back at school last Monday, Sophie going into year 3 and Alex into year 1. Both girls have settled already and are very happy with their new teachers.

Alex has been really poorly since we got back from Majorca, her ear got very badly infected, and we ended up in the ENT clinic while they suctioned out all the debris from her ear canal. Bless her, she was brave! I was dismayed to discover that her tonsillectomy and grommet round 3 fitting won't be taking place until December now (unless a miracle happens with the waiting list hmmmm...) so the next few months will be tough for her. Her hearing is diminishing already so I am hoping and praying that we get through the coming weeks without too many periods of illness.

Sophie is doing me proud which makes me smile on the inside as well as the outside. She will be over the moon tomorrow as I have booked her first cello lesson for after school. She is so keen to learn, so I hope she gets on with it.

It was my birthday yesterday, I turned 34, and I must say I had a wonderful day. The celebrations started on Friday night with Matt, who was unfortunately working yesterday, and continued until today really. Many gifts, many cards, and time spent with some truly amazing people. I did get some lovely crafting gifts, so I will share them with you very soon!

A bit of this and a bit of that

2009-08-31T21:20:00.007Z

Ok proof that I do craft sometimes... a commission for a 50th Wedding Anniversary card or a friend of a friend. I took an arty angled shot but Blogger won't let me upload it for some reason. The card itself is made from greyboard and covered in Bazzill as it is a keepsake card, so needed to be a bit sturdier than a standard card blank. The hearts are cut with my cricut.

We spent last week in Majorca, we had a great week enjoying the sunshine, and most of all enjoying the pool at the villa. My brother and his family came too, as my mum and dad had treated us all to the holiday. The four children loved the pool, in fact Alex would have spent all day in it if I had let her! Her swimming has come on so much because of swimming every day. Sophie is a super swimmer already! Sam, my nephew, had a blast improving his swimming too, and Olivia, my 2 year old niece, actually floated in the pool without an adult holding her! She had her armbands on, but nobody holding her!

Here's my nephew Sam jumping into the pool. Then comes Sophie, who looks as if she is suspended in mid air in this shot!

Finally, Alex making jumping into the water look like lots of fun!

We landed back at Leeds Bradford on Saturday night, so since then I have been unpacking, sorting out and the suchlike. This afternoon I went to have my eyebrows threaded with my friend Dawn, goodness, that hurt! The end result is impressive, but the tears were rolling down my face while it was being done. Amazing what can be done with a piece of thread!

Back to school this week... doesn't seem like we've had almost 7 weeks off. Just debating a weekend at Featherdown Farms at half term, Sophie is keen to go camping, and I think this may well appease her for now! The idea of sleeping in a sleeping bag fills me with horror lol.

Enough for now, hope you've all had a great summer!

Three years on

2009-08-09T23:11:00.002Z

Here we are again, another anniversary, or sadiversary as some people call it. Yes, a truly sad day, as on this day 3 years ago my Nigel died. In an instant I went from being his wife to being his widow, the last thing I expected at the age of 30.

This year, I am fortunate enough to feel that now is the time to focus on happiness. I need to look back and remember the happy times Nigel and I shared. Two of the happiest days of our life together look me straight in the eye on a daily basis. We had our ups and downs, who doesn't, but the down parts are the parts I want to leave behind me now. Never forgotten, just kept at the back of memories, pushing the good ones to the front.

The last year has been very different. I have done so much, met so many wonderful people and developed new friendships, continued friendships from the past, dealt with my own sadness and decided what it is I want to aim for with my life with my two beautiful girls.

The night that Nigel died is still as clear as day in my mind, in fact it is so clear it could have been yesterday. Remembering that night doesn't fill me with fear any more, it has happened and I can't change that now. Sometimes a desire to change it has crept into my mind, but realistically I know that death really is final, can't be changed, no matter what. Acceptance of that is something I know many people struggle with, strangely enough I was able to accept that Nigel was gone much sooner that people around me expected. I have no idea why this was the case, and I know so many people who can take months, even years to accept that someone is gone.

Grief is a very personal thing, there is no right or wrong, no prescribed time for a bereaved person to 'get over' their loss. I can honestly say that I will never get over losing Nigel, for me it is more about moving in a different direction, using what has happened to help turn me into a stronger person. I have had to be both mum AND dad to the girls, a difficult job at the best of times. Military precision is the only way forward, unless anyone has any other suggestions!

Still, life is moving on, I think about Nigel in a happier way now. Of course I miss him, and I am often saddened that he did not see the girls grow up, and that they didn't get to know him as they grow up too. They have so many people that care deeply about them, and support me on this tricky journey that is life as a widow. I have experienced so many happier times in 2009, my girls are developing into wonderful young ladies, and I have a new partner to share my life with. He is very understanding and considerate of how life has changed these last three years, and knows me well enough to ask directly rather than ignore anything which arises about the past.

So here's to more happiness, life can be good again, I know the journey will not always be smooth, but it is a journey I want to make with a positive outlook. I never realised I would have room in my heart for so much love, for the girls, for M, and for Nigel.

We love you, I hope I am doing you proud in how I am bringing the girls up. If you could see them now, you would be smiling broadly. They are characterful, amusing, beautiful, clever, and little minxes when the mood takes them. You look right back at me through their eyes. Those eyes are smiling more and more now. Three years, seems like yesterday but also an eternity. Happy memories are here to stay now.

Hooray, its the end of term!

2009-07-17T06:39:00.001Z

The last month has flashed by in a veritable blur! I have managed to ram all sorts of activities into the recent weeks, mostly work related but a couple of fun ones too. I will upload more pics soon I promise, but I just wanted to share a book I made for a colleague of mine who is retiring from school. I can't show you the inside as it contains photographs of the children I teach, but this is the cover of a memory book I made. It is made using the June Popsicle Parade kit from Scrapagogo, gorgeous to work with as usual. I spent a wonderful day last weekend with the ladies from Scrapagogo at a day retreat called 'Colour Me Happy'. What a day I had! I will photograph the layouts and projects I produced when the rain stops lol.

I am very glad it is the end of term now, looking forward to some later starts in the morning! Back soon, I have been a bad blogger and I apologise!

Cardiology review

2009-06-27T21:36:00.002Z

Last week I took the girls back to cardiology for their annual review. They both had an ECG done, and also an echo scan of the heart. The ECGs revealed that both girls have markers which could be indicative of heart disease in years to come. So more tests to come, including another 24 hour mobile ECG in a month's time. I am glad that we are aware of this problem, but still the news has left me feeling sad and worried about the future. I want my girls to live life to the full, do everything they can with their lives, not live in fear of what might happen with their hearts in years to come, so I am going to do my absolute best to keep them healthy. Scary prospect, it is an enormous task, so wish me well please.

A new obsession has arrived

2009-06-15T22:36:00.002Z

Hmm Blogger has uploaded my pics in a funny order, so now I have to rejig what I want to say! This is Sophie and her best friend Jennifer. They have been friends since they were 4, meeting at gymnastics class and then ending up in the same class at school. In a few short weeks, Jennifer and her family are moving down to Buckinghamshire because her daddy is working out of London most of the time. Jennifer's mum Sarah is one of my closest friends.

To say we will miss them is an understatement. I understand completely their reasons for moving, family life is so important, and it was getting harder and harder with work being in London. I do wish they were staying here, but that's just me being selfish because I don't want to lose a good friend on my doorstep, and also for Sophie to lose her best friend. Sarah has been a complete rock since Nigel died, there are lots of other people who have been amazing too, I am truly blessed. Life moves on, and in this case it is moving on in a way which I am not looking forward to. Of course, I wish Sarah and co every happiness in their new home and life in deepest, darkest Bucks, but I know I will feel immense sadness when they leave. I know we will keep in touch, telephone and other such modern contraptions. Will still miss them tho!

The new obsession which has hit us is geocaching. It is, to cut a long story short, treasure hunting with gadgets! You use a GPS to find a specific spot somewhere, and in that place someone has hidden a cache. Kind of tricky to explain, but it is great fun to do! It means you have to get outside and enjoy the countryside, so since Friday the girls and I have done lots of walking. As yet, Alex has only done one cache, but that is down to her being tired and needing to get an early night on Saturday. She came with Sophie and I today to find Gomersal Treasure, and was delighted to bring home a bangle we swapped for a trackable geogem. Sophie did me proud on Saturday when she walked almost 4 miles in search of 3 different caches. She only moaned at the end, honest....!
A rare shot of all 3 of us, taken by me holding the camera at arm's length whilst stood in the middle of a rhubarb field in Gomersal. Did you know we live in the Rhubarb triangle? No, neither did I until recently!

And finally, a picture of the girls with the cache and the find, in this case a bangle that Alex is clutching. Now to plan which cache to try and find on Friday with my friend Rebecca who is even more obsessed than us!

Bit of a theme here methinks!

2009-06-06T11:06:00.004Z

It is Matt's birthday today, Happy Birthday Matt! Seeing as the gift he really wanted was an iPod, I have gone with a bit of a theme with his card and his cake. The outside of the cake is painted with edible paint, all done by hand with a brush. Looks effective, if I don't say so myself!

Tonight I am off to a charity ball at Elland Road, where Matt will be DJing. My lovely friends Dawn, Stephen, Linda and Lindsey are coming with me, so I hope we have lots of fun. Unfortunately I won't get to spend too much time with Matt, but we can celebrate his birthday another time. I do have a rather nice bottle of Bollinger chilling in the fridge for when we get back from the ball tho ;)

Other than that, I am wading through a very busy life atm trying to get this, that and the other sorted out. Bye for now!

A quick card

2009-06-05T11:25:00.004Z

Apologies for the bad picture, but I took it in poor light last night before we went to the birthday boy's party. This card was for my friend's youngest who is 4 today, Happy Birthday Oliver! The image is of course a Hanglar, coloured with my promarkers. Star punched with my SU punch, corners on the red card punched using an EKSuccess ticket punch. Patterned paper is DCWV Nana's Kids collection.

Off to a ball tomorrow night so I am looking forward to that. It is my lovely M's birthday tomorrow, so Happy Birthday! Need to make him a card but still undecided. Will get my thinking cap on tonight and see what I come up with. I have a lovely dress and new shoes to wear tomorrow night, so it should be fun!

Candy Winners!

2009-06-02T21:35:00.002Z

To make it fair I used www.random.org to choose the numbers of the winning comments.

1st prize of the candy pictured goes to my friend Jules, laughable really but she was comment number 32 so she wins! Jules is going to give her prize to a mutual friend of ours who loves to craft but is very new to the crafting world, and doesn't have much stash yet. Jules asked if I minded, and I said it was absolutely fine!

2nd prize of some images and ribbon and something else which I haven't decided on yet goes to pigglet who was comment number 1, the second number generated by random.org.

And 3rd prize, even though I didn't quite get to 50 but I almost did, goes to Agus.

Ladies, please get in touch and I will pop your prizes in the post! Email me on annajahead (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk taking out the spaces etc!

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Life is hectic, still getting sorted after a week in Portugal over half term. Brought up some interesting questions and decisions were made. I'll post more about them later in the week, had a very busy day at work today and so I'm off to bed.

Candy Time!

2009-06-01T23:22:00.001Z

When I was in Bermuda, I realised that my blog counter was about to pass the 100000 visitor mark. In fact, I must update my counter as it can't accommodate all the visitors now! So in honour of all the visitors, it is candy time! This post will stay at the top until the closing date for my candy!

On offer:

5 promarkers in black, satin, cinnamon, dusky pink and pastel pink

Stampin Up Pretty Posies stamp set, brand new and un mounted

A ribbon grab bag in lovely spring shades.

I will also add in some stamped images of Gorjuss girls, Sugar Nellies, Anya from the Greeting Farm and who knows what else!

If you want to be included in the draw, leave me a comment and link to here from your blog please. If I get more than 25 comments I will add in another prize of more goodies. More than 50, which I know is a little ambitious, and there will be even more candy to be grabbed! I am happy to post worldwide, so don't let your location put you off commenting!

The draw will close on 1st June, so plenty of time to spread the word!

Neglected no more

2009-05-09T23:04:00.002Z

Hmm seems to have been ages since I last blogged. Having arrived back from our wonderful trip to Bermuda (thank you Jan!!), we overcame jetlag within a few days. The first night back, the girls both slept for almost 16 hours non stop! Once I had sorted everything out and put it all away, it was back to normal routine in the relatively cold UK. Life was so laid back in Bermuda. The girls played outside almost all the time, loving the freedom that the children there have compared to here. Alex missed her morning visits to George and Mary, who live next to Jan, to play with their dogs, Brandy and Princess.

The girls were back at school the following Monday, with me back the next day. I ordered some new stamps while I was away, the new Gorjuss girls from Sugar Nellie. I've had a lot of fun playing with them since they popped through my letter box, and here are two I made today. Alex had a party this afternoon for two of her friends, Lily and Laura. The papers on both cards are Stampin' Up, I should know their names but alas I can't remember! I know the second card is from the designer paper collection, in rose red, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong lol!
I love colouring these in, and have had great feedback for the cards I have made using them so far. They are stamped onto shapes cut with my new nestability dies, finally I got the shapes I really wanted!

More regular posts will follow, I promise. I might even do some scrapping at some point too! Alex kept me up all night on Thursday due to an ear infection, so my priority at the moment is catching up on sleep!

On that note... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

An evening with Ron

2009-04-13T13:56:00.002Z

Did you know that the headquarters of Bacardi is in Bermuda? No, neither did I until we walked past it on Saturday night! They moved here for tax reasons apparently! Their building is very beautiful indeed, with perfectly manicured lawns and flower beds out front. I had to take this picture with my iPhone as Bacardi is my tipple of choice lol.

Today we are heading into Hamilton again, the capital city of Bermuda. Time for a spot of souvenir shopping, as we are going home on Wednesday. I can't believe that our time here is almost done, we have had a fantastic time, Jan and Lyndon have looked after us so well. The social life for expats here is amazing, I don't think I could keep up with it long term lol. I know my liver was complaining when I was handed a bloody mary at 11.30 yesterday morning! Patrick has gone back to school today, and Katrina goes back tomorrow, so it is quieter here than it has been (understatement of the century I think!). Tomorrow we are hopefully going back to Horseshoe Bay, last chance before we leave. I am not looking forward to going back to wearing shoes and socks and thick clothes back at home. I love being able to wear sandals and summer clothes here.

Oh well, it has been great. Back to reality soon...... although I am very much looking forward to seeing my lovely M! He couldn't join us due to work committments, and I have missed him very much, so it will be great to be back and see him again.

Have a great day, wherever you are!

Got to love ER

2009-04-11T11:12:00.002Z

I'm a huge fan of the TV show ER, watched every season since it started many years ago. My favourite character was killed off eons ago, cried buckets over that lol.

Anyway, I digress. Yesterday morning, Sophie, Alex, Jan and I spent 2 hours in the company of the ER staff at King Edward VII hospital in Hamilton. Oh joy. Last Monday, Sophie fell whilst out playing with the local kids. The road here is quite gravelly in places, so she grazed her side just above her left hip quite badly. As the week went on, it wasn't healing, despite being covered with a dressing and cleaned very carefully. It had got an infection in it, so off we headed to the ER (A&E for anyone who is a bit lost!). Got there at just the right time, as it got really busy about 20 minutes after we arrived. The doctor agreed that it was infected, and prescribed oral antibiotics, antibiotic cream and to keep it clean and covered for a few more days.

Then to the crunch. Time to pay. I have great insurance, would never go on holiday without it, even before Nigel died whilst in Portugal. But the King Edward VII hospital does not accept foreign insurance, so I had to pay and then claim back. Good job I had a credit card otherwise I would have been scuppered. $459 (£313!!!) later we headed home. Eeek. Expensive set of antiobiotics and cream, don't you think? The care we received was great, very friendly staff, they did their best to put Sophie at ease as her wound was very sore. Just a warning really to anyone who is ever tempted to not bother with travel insurance. I can recommend insure and go, they were superb when arranging everything when Nigel died, all I had to do was make a phone call to their crisis line and they sorted everything out. It's a phone call no one wants to have to make, but thank goodness I had insurance. From what I've been told, it would have cost well over £10000 to repatriate Nigel if I had not had cover. That's a cost a new widow can do without!

The rest of Good Friday was spent at two parties. Here in Bermuda, it is traditional to fly kites on Good Friday, so the girls had a go... not very successful though lol. Jan and I sat on the porch of her friends who were hosting the party, sipping rum punch. It was very hot here yesterday, gorgeous blue skies and lots of sunshine. Not really ideal kite flying weather, but the Bermudians seemed to manage it better than we did! Once that party was finished, we headed back to Jan's for a barbecue. Several friends and neighbours joined us, and we had a fantastic evening out on the patio. Jan's a really good cook so dinner was delicious. Drank a lot of rum too.... oops! Today we are just relaxing here, then tonight we are going to the FOlk Club in Hamilton which is very good apparently. Should be fun! I'm off to sit in the sunshine so have a great Easter weekend, whatever you're doing!

A day at Dolphin Quest

2009-04-09T21:07:00.002Z

Wowsers what a day! Today was the day for swimming with dolphins. It is something we have been looking forward to since I booked our flight tickets to Bermuda last year. Alex was a little hesitant initially, but soon got into the swing of it.
We were in the water for an hour, thank goodness for the oh-so-stylish wetsuits we donned.We stroked the dolphins, swam with them using a water scooter, fed them and got them to do various tricks. The girls and I had permanent grins on our faces throughout! Tired now though, so an early night is on the cards. I have plans for the photographs which were taken, so if anyone can recommend dolphin themed scrapbook stash, please leave me a comment!

Do you deserve a ducking?

2009-04-08T20:20:00.002Z

Today we went across to St George's, which used to be the capital of Bermuda, until Hamilton took over that role in 1815. Every Wednesday and Saturday, there is a ducking for the tourists. The town crier brings out a woman who has been convicted of being a gossip and a nag. She is then seated in the ducking chair, and 5 men from the audience of tourists help to duck her in the harbour. It all makes for a very amusing show! The town crier then kindly posed with the girls and Jan's son Patrick, along with Bear .

After a bite to eat, we headed back to Jan's, and the girls have been playing outside this afternoon. Sophie came a bit of a cropper yesterday whilst running around on the road, and has a pretty impressive scrape all up her left side, so she has been taking a less active role today. Having removed the dressing on her wound to much screeching, I am sure she will be fit enough for our special trip out tomorrow.

I have booked all three of us in to swim with dolphins tomorrow at Dolphin Quest .

It is something we have all wanted to do for ages, and I have saved carefully to be able to do it. Not cheap, I know, but it is definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We watched some friends swim with dolphins when we were in Portugal last year, and the girls have wanted to do it since then. Hopefully there will be lots of photographs to share tomorrow!

I've just realised my blog has had almost 100000 hits since I started it back in August 2006. Once I am back in the UK next week, I will be offering some special blog candy to celebrate, so watch this space!

Overcrowded beaches of Bermuda...

2009-04-06T21:28:00.006Z

Random arty shots of the sea :D

As you can see, the beach was rammed full of people today... apparently the Bermudians don't go to the beach until May because it is too cold!! It certainly wasn't too cold for us though, we had a wonderful day at Tobacco Bay beach, with a picnic on the sand at lunchtime. We then went to Convict's Bay beach to do some beachcombing, which the girls loved doing. Jan found a glass stopper which was beautifully smooth from the sea. Sophie was delighted to find acrab shell.

This park was next to Convict's Bay beach, Alex was very excited to see her name on the sign!

Other than that, we are continuing to have a fabulous time. The weather was gorgeous today, here's hoping it continues while we are here!

Horseshoe Bay

2009-04-05T20:20:00.002Z

Just look at that beach! This is Horseshoe Bay, on the south shore of Bermuda. The sand is so fine, and it is ever so slightly pink because of tiny grains of coral. It was very windy when we were there yesterday, but still I could see how beautiful it is. It was raining too, so not a good beach day lol. Still, today has been gorgeous weather so we will head back to the beach while the weather holds.

Today we went for brunch just up from this beach. Never have I seen such an amazing spread. I had sushi for the first time in a while, and it was excellent. The girls enjoyed bacon and eggs, washed down with a Shirley Temple! Now the girls are in the pool again, and I am going to go out and sit in the sun with my book. Bliss... only thing missing is my lovely M who is back in the UK working hard... oh well, plenty of times for holidays together in the future. We are loving Bermuda so will definitely be back!

We made it through the Bermuda Triangle!

2009-04-03T17:57:00.003Z

The view from Jan's house... not bad eh! We arrived in Bermuda yesterday, after a very long day which started at 4am. Our first flight took us down to Gatwick, and then we spent most of Alex's 5th birthday hanging around the airport. The flight to Hamilton took 7 hours, and Jan was there waiting for us when we got through immigration. Since arriving, and handing over copious amounts of Galaxy chocolate to Jan's teenage daughter, we have slept a little, I've drunk plenty of rum, and the girls have been in Jan's swimming pool.

Here's a happy Sophie, even though the water was freezing!

We have a special guest with us in Bermuda, this is Bear and he is raising money for a very special little girl who needs her own multi sensory room. He has travelled over 50000 miles, and fundraising is going well. If you'd like to help Katie, go to Bear's site here.

Alex has to wear an ear band-it to protect her ears from the pool water. She has wax ear plugs under the band to stop the water from getting in. Still can't believe my baby turned five yesterday!

The girls are very taken with this inflatable pool monster!

Well that's all for now. Tonight I am going into Hamilton with Jan and her husband Lyndon for a night out with other expats. The girls are staying here with Jan's daughter, so it will be great to get out and see more of Bermuda. We drove through Hamilton this afternoon, and Jan pointed out her favourite haunts. Tomorrow we are going out and about again, not sure where to yet. Fingers crossed the weather is ok, rain was forecast for today but it never arrived. It was as warm as a good day in summer in the UK, so very pleasant really.

Now to get ready to go out, so bye for now!

My little beauties

2009-03-29T23:10:00.002Z

Just a quick post really with the latest pic I have of my beautiful girls. We went to Nostell Priory last week, and had a fantastic afternoon walking through the grounds. There is an amazing adventure playground which the girls always make a beeline for, so if you are ever in the area, do check it out.

My mojo has returned!

2009-03-29T16:20:00.004Z

My desire to craft had left the building, so it has been great over the last few days to actually want to craft. I've had all sorts of things out to play with them, and the end results have fuelled my desire to craft even more. I won't be doing any crafting while we are in Bermuda so I hope my mojo doesn't go walkabout again!

I've mostly been making cards, but I have made a very special mini book which is top secret until I have given it to the recipient, my ever lovely M. Just hope he will like it!

The first card is a Hanglar & Stanglar stamp, coloured using my promarkers, and then complimented with Stampin Up patterned papers. Grosgrain ribbon in yellow and a Craftwork Cards sentiment finish it off.

This is another Hanglar & Stanglar stamp, this time coloured in a monotone colourway of luscious browns. First time I've done one like this and I enjoyed it so I will try it again. The patterned papers are SU designer papers in chocolate chip, I love those, but the SU copyright print in one corner of the paper drives me nuts! I always end up leaving it where it shows, so have to redo it! Ribbon is from an old kit I had from Little Silver Hat before they closed. I miss those kits. No sentiment yet, as I haven't decided what occasion this card is for.

The final card is for my baby's 5th birthday, which is on Thursday. Not quite sure how she can be 5 already, seems like yesterday when I was in hospital having her. Time passes by so quickly when children are little. Alex seems so grown up now, not the toddler she was when Nigel died. She likes to think she is so sophisticated, which always makes me laugh! She is very, very determined, and does like to get her own way (don't we all?). Her behaviour is heaps better than it used to be, and she is a joy to spend time with (most of the time). She looks more like Sophie now, they are like two peas in a pod. Right down to the matching glasses they both wear now!

Her card is made using all Stampin Up supplies. The name of the paper is summer picnic, which I got it in a paper share from Jules. Brads are from the hodge podge hardware set. Letters and number I cut on my cricut using the Learning Curve cart. I used real red cardstock to mat the paper, and to cut out the number 5. The letters are cut from the summer picnic paper. All edged with Stardust stickles as Alex does love a bit of bling when she does any crafting!

So there you go, some photographs of my crafting at last! Here's hoping I don't leave my mojo behind in Bermuda. Can't believe we fly on Thursday, it has come round so fast! We are very excited, suitcases are being packed this weekend, and then we fly from Newcastle to Gatwick and then Gatwick to Hamilton. Almost 9 hours in the sky, but it will be worth it. Can't wait to see Jan and her family, she has bought special ice cream which is hidden in the freezer for when we arrive lol. I will try and update while I am there, so watch this space for pictures of sunshine and sand!

Beautiful flowers

2009-03-22T17:43:00.004Z

Look at these beautiful flowers which arrived today! They were sent to me by my lovely M, he sent them from the girls, seeing as they are not quite old enough to arrange things themselves yet! They are such beautiful flowers, I had gone right off flowers after receiving a florist shop full when Nigel died, but now I am ready to be spoiled on appropriate days again. I am so touched that M felt he wanted to do this for me and for the girls, so thank you so much, I love them!

I also received a beautiful new top, and some smellies to pamper myself with. All in all a good day.

Backache city

2009-03-21T12:35:00.002Z

Been AWOL as I have been suffering big time with my back. I have had two episodes of muscle spasm across the top of my back, to the extent that I have had to resort to diazepam to be able to sleep, so great is the pain. I actually cried when I rang to say I wouldn't be at work on Wednesday, as I had coped on my own all night whilst in agony. Not good. Normal service will be resumed very soon as I can't even contemplate sitting at a craft desk right now.

So the surgery did it's job

2009-03-09T22:42:00.002Z

Alex's surgery back in January has been completely effective! We went back to see her consultant, Mr Knight, today, and she had a hearing test too. Last time she had her hearing tested, it was way down, but today it was back up to within normal levels. I was so relieved, after the last test I nearly cried, her hearing was so bad. Removing her adenoids has helped too, and she is no longer snoring and waking as often at night. Now it is just a waiting game to see how long this set of grommets lasts, and once they have fallen out, will the glue ear return? No-one can predict whether it will or not, I had hoped it wouldn't after the first set, but obviously it did. It isn't worth worrying about this now, I am just hoping and praying that the glue ear doesn't return.

This is a picture I took once Alex was back on the ward after her op. The blood on her pyjama top shows she did have a bit of a heavy bleed whilst in theatre. By this stage, Alex had eaten loads, and was happily playing with the Littlest Pet Shop set which was on the ward. Amazing how quickly children bounce back, Alex was fully recovered from the surgery within a week.

Other than the hospital visit this morning, today has been mostly mundane. Housework, nothing exciting really. Getting back into my usual routine has been good, working a full week last night knocked me for six! Work tomorrow and Wednesday, then I suppose I had better start on preparations for our big trip to Bermuda in 3 and a half weeks from now (hooray!). Need to dig out various bits and pieces to take with us. Plus summer clothes, it will be pleasantly warm when we get there. Got to be better than the arctic temperatures which seem to have reinstated themselves here today. Trogging up the hill to school this morning was no fun when met with icy blasts. So much for spring weather!

Enough for now, time to sleep.

New Look!

2009-03-07T16:48:00.003Z

I put my name on a list to have my blog redesigned by VKDesignCo a while agao, finally I got to the top as Veronica is one popular lady, and I must say I am over the moon with the end result! Now I need to rediscover my crafting mojo, it has gone missing of late what with working full time this week. I honestly don't know how mothers of children the same age as my girls manage to work full time, keep their homes under control and also not be as grumpy as hell. Lone parents especially, how do you do it? I have been so tired this week, I was very glad to get to Friday evening. I did enjoy this week at school, the Joseph Project was great fun, and enabled me to teach in a way which suited me down to the ground. Still, I was in bed early every night just about, but my head was so full of information from the day that sleep did not arrive. Argh!

Tonight I am going to the new Nando's restaurant near here, it has only recently opened, and I really enjoy their food. The ordering system is somewhat bizarre, but if you ignore that bit, Nando's is great!

Enough waffle for now. I will craft this week, got a load of cards to make for my lovely friend Jill, so watch this space. I have failed miserably to get my hands on any Gorjuss stamps, but I will keep trying. It's not as if I don't have enough stamps already...

Waterfall walking

2009-03-03T19:59:00.005Z

Yesterday I headed up into the Yorkshire Dales with the year 6 children I teach. They are spending this week at Ingleborough Hall, doing all sorts of great activities like caving, tree climbing and treasure hunts. Obviously I couldn't stay with them, but I had a really good time walking 4.5 miles alng the Ingleton Waterfall Walk. It was quite strenuous in places, so I was very impressed by the lack of moaning from the kids! My legs did ache a little when I got home, nothing that a long soak in the bath didn't sort out. My new walking boots are nicely muddy, and fortunately I didn't get any blisters!
The rest of the week, I am working with the year fives on a special project, all about Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat! It has been a lot of fun so far, and the other activities planned promise to be just as enjoyable. By Friday I will be pretty tired, but the project makes it all worthwhile.
So work dominates for now, no time for crafting. Not got the energy anyway!!

A special card

2009-02-28T19:46:00.002Z

for a special friend who is 40 today!

Made using the toadstools from the Unfrogettable Stampin Up set, it is a bit of a joke between my friend and I, coloured using my promarkers and then highlighted with stickles. The 40 is AC Thickers. The card blank was a big one I got from Craftwork Cards, really great size for a special card!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T16:03:00.004Z

It would seem I have been MIA lately, apologies for that. I just seem to have been so busy! Walking to and from school each day in the snow took up massive amounts of time, as the paths quickly turned into ice lined death traps! On Wednesday I was on my way to collect Sophie from Brownies when I came across my neighbour, CLaire, who had slipped on the ice on the next road from ours, and landed squarely on her bum. I'm not sure which was bruised more, that or her pride!

I have a card to share, sorry about the picture quality, note to self, recharge EOS batteries so that I can take decent pics. So I took a pic with my iphone, but it just isn't the same. The card I have to share today is a Valentine's card, I made it last night and left it to dry overnight. The image is a rather lovely hanglar, and the sentiment is a rub on from a Scrapagogo kit a few months ago. Not sure of the make, as I only had a bit of the sheet left. I made the card to send to someone special... without giving too much away my life is certainly picking up nicely, I am very happy with how things are progressing, and he is very sympathetic when it comes to my widowed status. I am liking it all very much, strange after being alone. Not alone for the entire time since Nigel died, but nothing worth really remembering until now.

So there you go, like after widowhood can be happy, it has it's good days and bad days, and I am enjoying life being full of happiness just now.

Happy Valentine's Day!

oo ETA: candy over on Belinda's blog, it is very lovely, go and have a looksie!

Snowed in

2009-02-05T11:32:00.004Z

I know not everywhere in the country has been blessed with the snow like we have, but it has been very deep here. My back garden is still under a foot of snow, and it is snowing again today!

This is how my drive is looking after I cleared it on Tuesday night after work, aided by my very lovely neighbour Mary. The snow here is still falling, and is not looking like it will clear in the next couple of days at least, a proper winter at last.
The girls have loved the snow, getting to and from school has been a military operation so I have had plenty of exercise this week. My childminder lives down a very steep hill, so I have had to park at the top and walk down to drop the girls off on the days I am at work.

To end with, here's a special canvas I finished last week,. It was for Kate to give her friend Josie, who has moved from Leeds back to Scotland. Kate was at preschool with Sophie, and they enjoy playing together when they meet up, in fact I must arrange to meet up with Kate, her mum Deb and big sis Ellie sometime soon.

oh, and watch out for the March edition of Essentials Magazine. It is out now in the shops... have a look on p.32!

At last the car is sorted

2009-01-30T16:06:00.003Z

Phew
it has worn me out!
I am now the proud owner of a brand new Touran 2.0 TDi SE after standing up for myself and my rights. Hoorah!

Dreaming...

2009-01-24T08:13:00.002Z

It's good to have dreams, well I think so anyway! Some of mine are of the ilk that probably won't ever be fulfilled, but are still nice to have ticking away in the back of my mind... you know the ones I mean, 'When I win the lottery, first I will buy' etc etc. Fingers crossed my numbers come in at some point, but hey, I am quite happy with how things are for now!
I fulfilled one dream when I was 21. When I was younger I spent a great deal of time playing my violin and viola in various orchestras, touring the world and seeing the sights along the way. One thing I wanted to do was fit in a stint of playing professionally. I didn't think it was something I wanted to do long term, but I wanted to have a go! While I was living in Enschede in the Netherlands, I did a spot of freelance playing with Orkest van het Oosten, a professional orchestra which was based in the town. I loved every minute, improved my Dutch whilst there, and got to expand my repertoire too. I toyed briefly with staying on in Enschede, instead of returning to Leeds to complete my BMus degree, but eventually decided to go back to Leeds.
I don't get the time to play as often as I would like, it is something I know will get easier once the girls are older. Getting out in the evenings has to be planned with military precision, and sometimes unforseen obstacles get in the way so trips out have to be shelved.
Another dream I have had since childhood is also performance related, this time involving my voice rather than my violin or viola. When I was a child, my parents had the LP of the Joseph soundtrack. I have listened and listened to it, buying it on CD as times progressed. Obviously the role of Joseph isn't quite right for me, but I have always harboured secret desires to take the role of the narrator. My girls are big fans too, we watched Any Dream Will Do on TV, and last February we went to see the touring production of Joseph when it came to Leeds. I do rather like Lee Meade, always good to have someone who is kind on the eye as well as a good singer lol. We listen to the most recent recording of Joseph (featuring Jason Donovan so not actually that recent) on my iphone, connecting it up when we're in the car. It has to be one of our favourites, and we must look like complete nutters when we are all singing along. But do we care? Not a chance!
SO one day... will I fulfill my dream and sing the role of the Narrator in Joseph on stage?
Maybe one day... until then I can dream, but my dream doesn't feature the waistcoat Keith wears for performances because I don't like it! Haha, small things to make me smile, eh!

A day at the hospital

2009-01-22T22:55:00.002Z

Alex's ENT surgery was today. She had a new set of grommets fitted, and also had her adenoids removed. She had a heavy nosebleed in theatre, so was in there for a little longer than usual. On coming round, she was very upset, but calmed down eventually once we were back on the ward. She is now fast asleep in my bed, and has to have ten days off school, so I hope her recovery is smooth.
I am exhausted, it was upsetting to see her in discomfort but I am very glad it is all done.

Final chapter?

2009-01-19T14:30:00.002Z

It would seem that the saga of the car is almost complete.... I spoke to my contact at VW head office today, and VW have agreed to replace my heap of junk/tiguan with a touran, brand new and hopefully far more reliable!
Fingers crossed it all gets sorted very quickly....

Do you 'get' your child's maths homework?

2009-01-16T12:52:00.001Z

There are so many different ways of teaching calculations in maths lately that I know many parents get confused! Hey, I'm a primary school teacher and I get a bit confuzzled from time to time. Here's an interesting take on current trends in teaching maths. Watch and enjoy!

Scrapagogo Colour me Happy!

2009-01-13T18:51:00.003Z

Hooray I bagged me a spot on Scrapagogo' Colour Me Happy day retreat in July! It is in Warrington, so doable from where I live. Most retreats seem to be too far from here, or cost so much that they are out of my league. That and they are weekend long affairs, which realistically I can't manage. My parents help me out so much, but I just don't feel comfortable asking them to take the girls for extended periods. The full length Getaway was just too long for me, much as I would have loved to have gone. Plus it booked up too quickly for me to get organised. So Colour me Happy is booked, and I am so excited about it all, I think I might burst!

News from the sickbay: Sophie is a bit better today, still very ropey, but chirpier which is a good sign. Mum and dad are on their way down as I type so that I can go back to work tomorrow.

Flu has arrived

2009-01-12T23:34:00.002Z

My poor Sophie has got flu. Having been off colour for a few days, she succumbed to it overnight and is really quite ill. I can't remember her being ill like this since she last had flu, which was when she was almost two. I was pregnant with Alex at the time, and we both had flu. We spent two weeks in bed, Sophie was a very active toddler so it showed how poorly she was.
This time it seems to have hit her just as badly, she has laid on the sofa all day and not moved, bless her. It is so hard to watch your child feel so horrid and be unable to do anything other than give calpol and nurofen :(

My craft room

2009-01-11T17:02:00.006Z

I have spent my weekend having a HUGE sort out in my craft room as it had turned into the world's biggest dumping ground. It is not quite finished, but a million times better than it was, so I am ready to share it with you!

Here's my desk. It goes along under the window which is at the front of my house. It's made to measure from MDF, and as you can see I have the stuff I use the most right at hand. Most of the Scrapagogo boxes on top of the shelves are empty, just need to get them down now and throw them out.

Here's a close up of where I keep my Stampin Up markers and my promarkers. On the top shelf is white card ready to stamp onto. Next to the little shelf is my tote, which has all sorts of tools in it that I use regularly. You can see my ATG gun behind it, what a gadget, I love that yellow gun! I have my rolls of adhesive tape on a chrome mug stand, an idea given to me by Julie which is very handy. In the boxes next to the tote I have inks, various adhesives, and then pots of pencils, and other pens.

This pic shows the storage I had built to measure for my really useful 12x12 boxes. I have all sorts of patterned paper in those, and one ox houses all my letter stickers. I am currently loving AC Thickers as my friend Jan kindly gave me 3 more packs for Christmas!. On the worktop is my printer. I have room to craft with a friend (Julie!!!) or otherwise to do my paperwork for school at that end of the workspace.

I have plans to have a go at quilting this year, and my sewing machine is at the ready! Underneath I have my albums, and two more RUBs with flowers and chipboard in.

Here's my ribbon racks, and above them the bar I store my SU punches on. The ribbon racks are tie racks from Ikea and were not expensive at all. I even put them up myself, which involved wielding my DeWalt drill at a brick wall!!

Next we have my acrylic paper stacker, which I bought when an online shop shut down. Then there is my kitchen trolley on which my cricut expression lives. Underneath are some canvasses I picked up cheaply when the Works shut down. Plus the cards I have made but not sent yet. Next to that,my SU ink caddy. Not full yet!

Here's my SU stash. I lve SU stamps, I have really got into stamping since Monica came to do a workshop early last year. I make as many cards as I do scrapbook layouts now. Above is my Christmas stash, I am part way through Shimelle's JYC so hopefully I will finish that soon. Underneath is my beloved sizzix.

The last two pics are of general storage, which houses cardstock, embellishments, my BIA and Dreamkutz, and all sorts of other crafting delights.

So there you go, that's my craft room. Now it is finally organised more effectively, I am planning on doing an awful lot more crafting in 2009. I have got off to a good start, so here's to a great crafting year. Thanks for looking, and please do leave me a comment!

Saga continues...

2009-01-07T22:54:00.001Z

not sure what the outcome will be but today has not been good.
In a word, if you are thinking of buying a Volkswagen and you live in or around Leeds, do NOT buy it from Leeds Volkswagen, Richard Alexander Volkswagen as was. Crap service does not even come close, unfortunately for me.

The saga of the car

2009-01-05T22:12:00.002Z

So in October last year I bought myself my dream car. Sounds ridiculous, but the Tiguan I bought really was my dream car.
When I was a teenager, my parents and I would often go for a walk around where we lived. At the top of the road I lived on was a garage selling second hand cars. For several months, on the forecourt stood a blue 4x4, a small one, and I would admire it every time we went past. I remember being gutted to find it had been sold! Since then, my dream car has always been a small, blue, 4x4, and the tiguan ticked every box for what I was looking for.
My heart led the way when it came to buying the tiguan, so now I am having to be sensible and follow my head. The tiguan has broken down twice in the two months since I bought it, including last week when I was down in Reading. Having spent time looking into the fault which has occurred, it seems to be one which happens rather too frequently for my liking in certain Volkswagens.
Realistically, VW have sold me a car which is not fit for purpose. No fault of the guy who sold me the car, a rather lovely man called Russ, or even the guy in the service department, called Lee, who has bent over backwards to help me since the car started playing up. I can not fault them, it is just so very unfortunate that the car is a complete dodo! Now comes the tricky part, getting VW to acknowledge that I am within my rights to return the car. I can reject it within 6 months of purchase, and I fully intend on doing so. I would gladly accept another VW in return, but under no circumstances can I have another Tiguan. Having looked at the options available, I would rather have a Touran, and there is a model which has the same list price as the Tiguan I bought.
Wish me luck, VW are not going to give me what I want without a fight, hopefully it will be a very ladylike one! I just hope they realise that I will not give up easily!

Craft wise, I seem to have rediscovered the desire to craft! I am aiming to craft every day in 2009, some days I will complete more than one item so that gives me a headstart if I miss a day. My running total can be seen over to the right. Once I find the disc to put the software for my camera on my new laptop, I will upload some pics. So far I have made 5 cards, 2 ATCs and done 3 scrapbook layouts. I have many lovely craft stash items to use up, and I am enjoying it very much!
Enough for now, work tomorrow, time to sleep!

Oops I forgot!

2009-01-02T08:49:00.002Z

Before Christmas I received a lovely surprise of a PIF from Diane In it were some gorgeous stamped images, ribbon, and a beautiful card made by Diane. Thanks Diane, I have had fun with the images!
I am off to my mum's this weekend so when I return I will offer up 3 PIFs, watch this space!

Happy 2009!

2009-01-02T00:45:00.003Z

Crept up on me nicely! This week has rushed past, my car decided to malfunction again so that knocked my planning for six. No idea where the car is now, somewhere between Basingstoke and Leeds on the back of a towtruck. I am hopeful that some kind soul will bash it and it will be written off, such a piece of junk it is!
Anyway, moving on, NYE last night was fantastic. There were 30 of us here celebrating in style. We bettered last year's empty bottle count, to such an extent that I dare not count them all... The kids played on the wii and in the playroom (must tidy that later) and the adults chatted and drank. And then drank some more! It was good fun, even though my head was a little cloudy this morning...
I'm raring to go with 2009. Lots of plans that I won't share just yet so watch this space.

I am working on a craft project, namely a card/scrapbook page/craft project a day in 2009. So far so good as I made two cards earlier. It is my mum's birthday on Saturday, so had to sort a couple out for her.

It is getting late now, so I will be back soon with photos of what I've been making. Adios for now.

So how was it for you?

2008-12-26T22:38:00.002Z

Christmas 2008 is done and dusted. Over in a flash as usual. Tomorrow we are off to my brother's for a couple of nights, so no posts until we return.

On Christmas Day I took a heart shaped wreath to Nigel's grave. The Christmas flowers placed there by his mum and sister, along with mine, looked beautiful in a sad sort of way. The cemetery was very busy, lots of people remembering their loved ones who are not with us any more. I didn't stay long, never do to be honest. I like to show that I am remembering, but not to dwell to long on what could have been...

Signing off for now, have a great few days!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T12:34:00.001Z

Hope all my readers are having a wonderful Christmas! Ours is certainly going very well!
Here's my favourite carol for you to enjoy.

Wow a week has passed already!

2008-12-20T15:43:00.002Z

A week since my last blogpost. Busy as ever, fitted so much in this week my head aches just thinking about it! Not much crafting has been done, which is no surprise!

Today, the girls and I took part in a photoshoot for Essentials magazine. We will be appearing in the March edition, which due to the delights of the publishing world, goes on sale in February. Lots of photographs were taken, and this time I will be getting them all to keep on a CD. We enjoyed taking the photos most of the time... Alex was not impressed with one of the tops she was supposed to be wearing, so following negotations she wore the one sent for Sophie which was too small.

Whilst talking to the journalist who has compiled the article from this blog, the conversation turned to what the future holds. Did I see myself having a relationship with another man? I have room in my life for someone else, yes, just haven't met him yet! Whoever it is will have to realise that Nigel still is and always will be a big part of our lives. The girls talk about him in some way every day, even if it is just in passing.

Being ready for someone else in my life doesn't change how much I miss Nigel. I know I will love him forever. Not a day doesn't go by when I don't think about him. Christmas time is more poignant without him. Just to ask his opinion on things for the girls would be great. I suppose wanting his input will be something I will always miss. I know he would have boiled over with pride last week when the girls were in their school plays.

Anyway, I have presents to wrap tonight... wish me luck, I may be some time!

In pursuit of happiness

2008-12-13T20:13:00.002Z

As I've said recently, life is pretty hectic at the moment. However, hectic this year has brought me massive happiness as I have thoroughly enjoyed this week. First came the performances of Scrooge by year 5/6 at the school I teach at. I played the piano for the songs the children sang, and the script was written by my very talented colleague Debs. I really enjoyed being a part of it this year. I mean, I have enjoyed previous years, but for some reason this year was my favourite Christmas production to date. The children worked hard to achieve the fantastic end result, and I was very glad to be part of it.

Then today was the first performance of Scrooge at our church, Abundant Life in Bradford. Sophie and I arrived at church at 9am this morning, after having been at rehearsals until 11pm twice this week. We were raring to go, and after a run through before lunch, the cast were buzzing in anticipation for the first performance at 2pm. Wow, it was so much fun to be on stage! Sophie loved being Harriet Cratchitt, and I found being a party guest to be an absolute delight! Admittedly I did have to wear a frock made from curtain fabric, but I definitely looked the part.

Both Sophie and I are absolutely whacked, we will sleep well tonight that's for sure! Tomorrow we will perform Scrooge again, at 6pm, to a full house I believe. Back in September, when I auditioned for Scrooge, I was pushing myself out of my comfort zone to go along and sing and act in front of a panel of people who I didn't know. Now I am very glad to have done it, and will hopefully be involved in future productions at ALC.

Being involved in Scrooge has also helped me get to know more people at ALC. The girls and I have been welcomed whole heartedly into the church, invited along to all sorts of events, and included in working as part of the team in a very positive way. I ummed and ahed for an absolute age about switching churches, and am now certain it was the right thing for us as a family. Amazing how trying something new can have such a positive effect on my life.

These last few months have been busy, enjoyable, and full of new experiences. The end result has been a feeling of happiness, unlike anything I have experienced in a long while. So long may this feeling continue!

Personalised message from Santa!

2008-12-08T10:39:00.002Z

Get your own personalised Santa greeting!

Sophie

Alex

Scrooge!

2008-12-08T09:50:00.002Z

Apologies for the lack of posts, I am massively busy atm so I am finding it difficult to fit anything in, never mind blogging!

Anyway, at the weekend, Sophie and I will be appearing in Scrooge! It is at our church, but it is way more than just a church production. I have really enjoyed doing it, Sophie has adored being Harriet Cratchitt, and we'd love anyone who is in Bradford or around the area to come and see it.

The website is here and tickets can be bought online, so do come along!

Day 2: Winter Weather

2008-12-02T22:02:00.002Z

I don't think there could have been a more fitting prompt for today's page in JYC. I woke this morning to discover that snow had fallen overnight, and it had settled! I had to clear the windscreen before we could leave, as the snow had frozen into ice on the bottom layer. The journey to work was a little hairy, as there was black ice a plenty on the roads.
My journalling talks about how I would love to have a true white christmas, having only experienced one, whilst skiing in Bulgaria in 2000. I have vivid memories of snowy days as a child, including my gorgeous brown snow suit which I inherited from my brother!
Pics to follow, once I have uploaded them from my camera onto here!

Day 1 : Journal Your Christmas

2008-12-01T23:03:00.003Z

So far so good, I completed my page for my JYC. No photo yet as I did it once the girls were in bed, so an awful time for taking pics. The first page had to be a manifest, setting out what I want to achieve in doing JYC, and also why I am doing it.
In short, I am doing JYC because Christmas is an important family time, and I want to record how important it actually is. Family is so very important to me since Nigel died, adjusting to being 3 instead of 4 has been themost difficult journey I have ever made. I feel more comfortable with it now, but it has taken a lot of work. Even now, I still find myself experiencing hiccups. Certain situations remind me so much of how things could have been, but now never can be.

I want the girls to be able to look back over my journal and remember how we enjoyed our Christmases together. Three or four, there are happy memories to be mulled over. The Christmas before Nigel died, 2005, we had just had a conservatory built onto our house, so we made the most of the newfound space in the living room that year. Alex had been very ill just before Christmas, with a blue light ride to hospital early one morning, so family time together was very precious that year. Poignant now, looking back.

It is late and I am working tomorrow, so time to sleep. I wonder what tomorrow's JYC prompt will be...

December already

2008-11-30T23:54:00.002Z

As I'm writing this, December is about to arrive... it was 11.54 when I started to type and it will no doubt be after midnight when I finish!
I have my box of advent goodies to open each day, chosen for me by Tracy, on of my team mates over on UKScrappers. I am very excited about what is in it, as I know Tracy has great taste... I hope! I hope Annwen, who I sent to, enjoys the goodies I chose for her.. the present on December 4th is a personal favourite...mmm.
Today (or yesterday if you go by pre midnight) was the Christmas launch at our church. The decorations are out of this world, the girls were wide eyed with wonder as we entered the Youth and Community building, which has been transformed into Whoville from the Grinch story. It is only a couple of weeks until Sophie and I will be appearing in Scrooge, so if you are local to Bradford and fancy coming along to see it, let me know!
I had a tooth out on Friday, and it seems to have healed very well so far. I have managed to land myself a nasty cold though, so healing vibes please.
Other than that, nothing to report so I will sign off for tonight.

Christmas is coming

2008-11-26T23:36:00.003Z

Well it's not long til Christmas now, less than a month. Am I organised? Am I heck! Not doing too badly so far though.
I've decided to do Shimelle's Journal Your CHristmas class this year. I am aiming to do as much as I can on the right day, wish me luck! Christmas is an emotional time of year for everyone, especially if someone you love is missing, so I figured doing this class would be therapeutic almost!
We are counting down to Scrooge now, performances are on 13th and 14th December. Sophie is very excited! Me, I'm looking forward to it all, just need to get through everything without passing out from exhaustion!
Enough for now, time to sleep.

Wonderful weekender!

2008-11-24T20:10:00.002Z

Got back at lunchtime from our weekend at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest. We've been to Center Parcs several times now, this has to be our best holiday yet! We packed in loads of swimming, bowling, climbing, puppet making, dinner at Rajinda Pradesh, an encounter with owls and a morning at the Spa for Jo and I. We also cycled lots too, and were blessed with wonderful weather. Never have I seen such beautiful blue skies in November.
Back to reality now, as I have loads to sort out, and a hospital appointment with opthalmology for Alex. Tomorrow we collect her first pair of glasses!

Pamper party time!

2008-11-20T18:33:00.002Z

This evening has been Sophie, my eldest daughter's seventh birthday party. She is actually seven tomorrow, but as we are off to Center Parcs for the weekend, the party was today. My friend Becky, who is a mobile beautician, came to do a pamper party, and each girl had their finger nails and toe nails painted, and some glittery makeup and lip gloss on. Not too much makeup as I am not a fan of it but it looked just right.
The cupcake is one of a batch that I made for the party guests to take home. I decided not to bother with party bags, as ultimately the contents of the bags get binned. I'm certainly not willing to fork out a small fortune on gifts for the guests, so I decided a cup cake and painted nails was plenty.
Tomorrow we are off to the Nottingham site of Center Parcs. My lovely friend Jo, who I have known since we were 11 (eek, that's a long time lol), is coming to join us. For Sophie's birthday dinner, she has chosen to go to Rajinder Pradesh, the Indian restaurant at Center Parcs. My girls will eat korma now, and enjoy going out to restaurants, so we are off there! On Saturday, the girls are going to the kids' club while Jo and I spend a couple of hours in the Spa, Aqua Sana. No treatments, just relaxation in the various rooms which will be much needed given the amount of stress I am feeling lately. Then Saturday afternoon we will swim in the Swimming Paradise, go bowling, and then have a bit of a cycle no doubt. Sunday is owl watching and puppet making. And more swimming! Then Monday we come home. Busy but also relaxing which will be great. We will also be washing it down with plenty of vino, always better to drink with friends than on your own I find.
I will post again after the weekend, so have a good one, whatever you're doing.

Good news from bad news

2008-11-17T20:45:00.002Z

Unfortunately Alex's glue ear is definitely back. Her hearing is considerably diminished because of this, so the consultant we saw today (a different once from last week thank goodness) approved Alex's grommet surgery. She may also be having her adenoids removed, they are planning on having a look at them once she is under the anaesthetic. I was ready for another horrendous appointment like last week, so it was a massive relief for the appointment to go so smoothly!
However, my car decided to pack in on the way back, it is now in the garage and I have a hire car until it is fixed. If I'm lucky, it will come back valeted which would be a real bonus, and save me a job too.
Feeling better mood wise for having got Alex's op sorted. Now I hope she gets to the top of the list sooner rather than later. Unless there is a fairy godmother out there to magically produce the money for her to have it done at Bupa! Anyone offering? LOL.

Always look on the bright side of life...

2008-11-15T22:48:00.003Z

Am finding it a bit difficult to look on the bright side atm. Life is busy, being on my own is feeling very lonely again. It will pass, I know it will, and feeling like this is par for the course.
So apologies for the short post. Here's to a better day tomorrow...

Happy Birthday Evan!

2008-11-13T16:09:00.000Z

My friend's son is 6 today, happy birthday Evan!

Alternative ways to solve glue ear

2008-11-11T22:46:00.002Z

Tried them all unfortunately. Alex has had cranial osteopathy, altered diet, used the nasal balloon thing that I can't remember the name of. Even with perseverance,I have not seen any change in her symptoms. Hence my keenness for her to have another set of grommets fitted. Putting my daughter through surgery she doesn't need isn't something I would never do.
So if anyone can sort Alex's glue ear for me, please speak up now!

A day at the hospital

2008-11-10T19:54:00.002Z

Well, several hours to be precise.
Alex was screaming in agony last night. Looks like the glue ear is back with a vengeance. I barely slept all night, and kept Alex off school today. I rang ENT in desperation, and managed to arrange an appointment this afternoon.
The policy on fitting grommets in Leeds appears to have changed, so despite the fact that grommets helped when Alex had them fitted in 2006, she will have to jump through hoops to get another set done. And in the meantime I get no sleep and get closer and closer to the edge. I am tempted to video Alex when she is screaming in agony,and play it to the silly SHO who suggested that I just grin and bear it, offering calpol and nurofen to help with the pain. Grrr.. I have 2 children and know how to manage pain in children, alas the pain meds available did nothing to help Alex last night. SHO strangling session anyone?

Ink and Rubber challenge

2008-11-09T12:54:00.005Z

Here's my take on the Ink and Rubber challenge 2. The instruction was to use a punch from Stampin' Up, so I have used my scalloped edge punch. The stamp is from the Christ is Born set, stamped in old olive. Patterned paper from the Holiday Treasures set, ribbon is always artichoke, and the brads and ribbon slidge come from the hodge podge hardware set. I was inspired to make this card after seeing how Julie used this stamp on her card.

ATC Swap

2008-11-05T12:34:00.002Z

Just sorted these out for posting, it is an ATC swap I have been running over on ILWS. All the ATCs have been made using Stampin Up stamps. I mounted them on a canvas and will put them on the wall in my craft room, not sure where yet!
Some members of the swap went AWOL which was a shame, the ones I received are beautiful! Thanks to everyone who participated!

Solitary bottle

2008-11-05T11:35:00.002Z

Cleared out my bathroom cabinet last night as my ensuite is being repainted. The last thing I took out was Nigel's bottle of aftershave. I have, of course, cleaned the cabinet since he died, I just always put his aftershave back in. I don't think there will ever be a time when I don't keep his aftershave in there. Every so often I take off the lid and smell it. He loved that aftershave for as long as I can remember. I think we chose it together when we went to Amsterdam for a short break in 2000. He always like to buy a new bottle when we went on holiday, and he had been planning on buying some on the way back from Portugal in 2006. Fortunately he had some left, otherwise I think I probably would have bought some,just so I could remember how he smelled. If ever I drove his car, I always ended up with the smell of it on my hands, as he was generous when he splashed it on in the mornings. It would then rub off on the steering wheel!
Amazing how a smell reminds you so much of a person...

The Wedding

2008-11-03T23:14:00.004Z

Finally I get round to sharing a couple of photographs from Trudie and Mark's wedding. Note to self, must get them printed and give them to Trudie! That has to be the worst part of having a digital camera, actually remembering to get them printed. I got lots of compliments for the invitations and associated stationery which was lovely. I enjoyed being child free that day!
The wedding was held at the Otley Chevin Lodge country house hotel, which was a beautiful setting. All the rooms are in log cabins, and the main hotel overlooks a lake. The food was good, I could be tempted to go back for a nice meal in the main restaurant.
Nothing else to report, other than my heating was broken and is now fixed, and I have lovely new Roman blinds in 3 bedroom windows. I could lie and say I made them myself but alas, I did not!

When were you born?

2008-11-01T18:14:00.002Z

Just been browsing UKScrappers to find a thread asking which decade I was born in.
Well, I am a seventies child, having been born in 1975.

This was me when I was at nursery school in 1979, aged 4. Check out those glasses! I did this LO a while back now, but the thread on UKS reminded me lol. It was made using a Scrapagogo kit I bought on the marketplace at UKS, before I started subscribing to the monthly kit. How life has progressed since then!
Bit of a drama this morning when I attempted to call out British Gas to fix our central heating. Sorry, we can't come til Monday. My mind was filled with horrific images of us freezing over the weekend. We all went to bed last night in many layers, and extra blankets on the girls' beds. I was cold, so today I have bought me a new duvet, I am looking forward to snuggling under that very soon. Fortunately, my brother in law was able to fix my heating, so the house is much more bearable tonight! My boiler is on it's way out though, so now I need to sort out the money to pay for that.
Tomorrow we have a swimming party, fortunately I can sit on the side and watch! SO what are you all up to this weekend?

Hallowe'en pumpkin time

2008-10-31T21:29:00.001Z

My first ever carved pumpkin! Not a great photo, but all I had with me was my phone. We went to a Hallowe'en party at a friend's house, and we had lots of fun. The girls did a short tour for trick or treating, nothing major. Alex came back because she was frightened, bless her!
We spent the day at an open farm today, the girls loved it, and the rain held off! It was very cold, but copeable with. Tomorrow we are staying around the house, mostly because we need to clean out the guinea pigs and do a few bits and pieces. Plus the girls have been very busy this week, so it will be nice to just chill out at home.

Might get some crafting done tomorrow night... fingers crossed...

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2008-10-29T09:01:00.001Z

Can you hear it?
Yes, that's right, it's the sound of silence... my house is blissfully quiet as the girls are still at my mum's! I do miss them, but have got loads done while they've been away. I am going up to Durham this afternoon to get them, in my beautiful new car.
So, this morning is my last chance to get some final jobs done, so enough for now.

Off to a wedding!

2008-10-25T09:20:00.003Z

Remember the wedding invitations I made a few months ago? They're here if you missed them. Well, today is the day of the wedding! I am so excited, first wedding I've been to in ages, and I'm going without the girls too. Chance to let my hair down and relax completely.
I'll be back tomorrow with some craft projects I hope, as the girls are away until Thursday.
Bye for now!

Getting over it

2008-10-21T21:35:00.002Z

I still get asked from time to time if I have got over Nigel's death. Hmm. Then I have to explain that no, I haven't got over Nigel's death, and that I never will. To me, I explain, it is more about getting on with my life in a different way to how I'd planned it. It is hard to explain the disappointment I feel that my life is not how I had hoped. However, I am working hard to make my life something more than full of sadness because Nigel has died.
It is easy to let sadness overwhelm my life, but I must admit that I feel I am getting better at controlling such sadness. Different dates are hard, like birthdays, anniversaries, etc, so I have to prepare myself mentally about looking positively to the future.
I wonder how life would be if Nigel was still here? If he had survived his heart attack, he probably would have had to have had major heart surgery, so he would have had to make some changes. It would have meant changes for us too, but to what extent we'll never know.
We would most probably still be living where we are now, with me working at the same school, Nigel still at the council, and the girls settled at their school. Nigel would still be enjoying a pint at the New Inn, just round the corner.
Easy to wonder how life would have been if it wasn't for the events of August 10th 2006...

Five more sleeps

2008-10-20T21:00:00.004Z

Til half term hurrah! Then on Saturday I am off to Trudie and Mark's wedding. I made their invitations and am making the place cards on Wednesday night. It is only a small wedding, 25 guests to toast the newly weds. The girls are off to stay with my parents, as I am going to the wedding alone. Plus I am staying overnight at the hotel, which has a spa attached to it. Note to self, ring hotel and see if I can go and have a bit of a relax on Saturday in the spa before the wedding at 3.

I am then having a couple of days to myself at home, time to get some bits and pieces sorted in peace and quiet. I am also planning on getting some extra sleep, during the day if necessary. I think that is possibly one of the most taxing aspects of being a lone parent. If the children wake in the night, there is only me to deal with them. My parents are down at weekends, but not every weekend, and also not during the week. Alex was poorly during the night on Saturday, and I was on my own with the girls that night. She screamed and screamed in absolute agony. Her grommets have come out now, so it is looking as if she is starting with ear problems again.

Coping with a child in pain, no sleep, and then a full day afterwards is hard. I am feeling almost drunk with tiredness tonight, so I am off to my bed shortly. Two more working days for me, then Becky,my beautician friend is coming on Thursday to get me ready for the wedding, which is always nice. Friday I am meeting with Clare Hooper at church to discuss how Love Bradford can help WAY. I am also hoping that my new car will be registered by the weekend!

Craft wise, I made 20 Christening invitations today, for my lovely online buddy Gwen. She's had a rocky ride over the last year, so I was honoured when she asked me to make the invitations for TK's christening. I forgot to take a photograph of them, doh! I will make another one similar, as it is handy to have as a christening card tbh. I need to build up some stock cards for me to send, as more often than not I end up buying one at the last minute!

And on that note, good night!

Wii Games for sale

2008-10-19T15:45:00.003Z

Shrek 3 £12.50 inc p&p

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption £17.50 inc p&p

Trauma Center: Second Opinion £14.50 inc p&p

Super Paper Mario £16.00 inc p&p

Paypal preferred, but am willing to accept cheques too. Once your cheque has cleared I will post the games. P&p is first class recorded.

Interested? Email me annajahead at yahoo dot co dot uk

So this is what I planted

2008-10-19T13:27:00.002Z

The flowers in the pot on the pedestal of the headstone are from Nigel's mum. In front of the headstone, you can see the ornamental cabbage and the two cyclamen plants that I planted. I have put plenty of slug pellets down as there are so many of the little beasts about just lately.
I don't go up to the cemetery that often, I will be there more often from now on, need to keep an eye on my cabbage!

Birthday boy

2008-10-18T08:26:00.002Z

This was taken in December 2005, two months after Nigel's 40th birthday. I have a photograph of Nigel which was taken on his birthday, but I can't find it just now, so this one will have to do.
So, 3 years ago, amazing how life changes, isn't it? There was no way we could ever have imagined how things would change the following summer. Really, it is the stuff of nightmares, no-one ever thinks it will happen to them. People still think that it won't happen to them, and while it is a little extreme to spend your time worrying that it could happen to you, I also think it is blinkered to think that it definitely couldn't. No need to think negatively, by any means, just never ever presume that it won't be you!

That was then, this is now. Today Alex has a birthday party to go to, her buddy Katie is 4, so we are off to a playgym to help her celebrate. I get to drink coffee while she plays, which suits me fine! Then later we will take some flowers to Nigel's grave, which I tidied up yesterday. Weeds a plenty were growing, so I hacked them away. I also cleared the grave next to Nigel's, as I felt sad that the couple whose ashes are there had clearly not had anyone to visit in a very long time. I don't go up there that often, as I find it very distressing, but when I do, I have a little mental chat with Nigel. Nigel's grave has a lovely sunny position, so it is always sheltered and warm there. I need to wash the headstone at some point, the base is a little dirty and needs cleaning. Also, the heathers which the girls and I planted for his birthday 2 years ago have died, so time for some new plants.

Time to crack on with the day, so raise a glass to Nigel later if you will. Here's to all the fabulous birthdays we celebrated in the past.

Sunshine on a rainy day

2008-10-17T06:20:00.003Z

Spent the day at Skelton Grange with one of the year 3/4 classes I work with.What a fabulous place! We had a great day,the kids were enthralled by it all. We went pond dipping, mini beast hunting, played games with sorting animals by habitat, assembled food chainns and used keys to help identify the creatures we found on our searches.

Can you see the waterboatman we found? We also found newts, bloodworms, dragonfly larvae and lots of other teeny critters.
I must admit I was worried on Wednesday evening, it was absolutely siling down with rain here, but the rain abated while we were at Skelton Grange, only drizzling at the end which made it a much better day than I'd thought it would be! I am planning to take my girls there at some point, need to work out when we can get to one of their open days!
And so to the weekend...