Never Giving Up

During Mutual a few months ago, one of the boys, threw a ball to me. Actually, that isn't quite true, he didn't throw it to me, he threw it at me, by lobbing it in the direction of my head. The expectation was clear, he was acting the fool and was hoping to amuse his fellow Young Men, and maybe impress a few of the Young Women at my expense. Knowing this young man as well as I do, I could tell that he had envisioned the ball sailing over my head or perhaps even better in his mind, hitting me in the head and for my embarrassment or shock to add to his comedic timing of having thrown the ball whilst I was getting everyone's attention and asking all to settle down.

He isn't a bad kid. He made a decision in the heat of a moment and it was the wrong one.

His plan to humiliate me failed, because of one tiny detail that he forgot to factor into his plan, mainly because he didn't know me as well as he thought he did. He didn't know that I used to play Netball and still have pretty good hand, eye coordination, even for an overweight forty-year-old!

What We Are Eating W/C 14th September 2019

Is it just me or has this week flown by? Don't get me wrong, I am 100% fine with the year flying by, but could we all possibly have just one week where we can all catch our collective breath and have a Hot Chocolate before we start the next chore/event/moment etc?!

Yeah, didn't think the world was going to stop just for me.

Buffalo Wings And A Blue Cheese Dip

Flyfour has had a few meals in restaurants attached to Hotels in the last month or so, because he has been working away from home and it's about the only perk of being away from the children and I and of course our very comfortable bed!

Flyfour is celiac, which means that he can not eat gluten or wheat without triggering an immune response in his body, which causes inflammation and damage to the small intestine and this causes him a lot of pain, discomfort and doesn't smell too good either. Luckily, one of the restaurants he was eating at, had a good menu with each of the dishes that was gluten-free being marked and allowed Flyfour to pick something he knew he could eat.

Excuse the bad photo, but Flyfour took it just to show me, it wasn't for a blog post!

A Little Bit Of Gardening

Yesterday we were supposed to have had a little more work done to our garden, with the same team who did the massive overall a couple of years ago. We asked them back to do a couple more sets of raised planters down the lawn (so I can keep them tidy more easily) and they've agreed to stake the plum tree for us so that it isn't practically laying down. They had to change the date they were coming and now next Monday the team will be with us, bright and early!

With them originally having planned to come mid-week this, of course, meant that this past weekend, the children, Flyfour and I did some work in our garden. It was normal autumn things, pruning back the sweet peas, weeding, picking up leaves, deadheading etc. Things that we would have done eventually this Autumn, but with having our fab garden team booked in gave us a more urgent deadline!

Avenue Q #Review

We had two tickets to go and see Avenue Q thanks to Milton Keynes Theatre and Top Ender agreed that as she went not that long ago with Flyfour, in Northampton as a Daddy Daughter treat, that it was time for Dan Jon Jr to go and see it and to finally understand some of the quotes that our family seem to have ingrained into our consciousness, as Flyfour and I originally saw the show a good eight years ago and immediately added some words and phrases to our vocabulary.

Just in case you have no clue about Avenue Q, it's a musical comedy featuring both Puppets and Human actors... it's basically a very famous Kids TV show for grown-ups and teenagers and kids like Dan Jon who are a little bit more mature and ready to hear songs about porn, depression, sex and alcohol... I know it's not the sort of thing you'd think I'd go and see with an eleven-year-old either.

However, I've never been one to be accused of being sensible, so off we went. Even saying to the lovely lady at the Theatre who said the show had an advisable age of 14, that we had discussed this as a family and having seen the show a few times before, I was happy to be taking Dan Jon to see the show.

Babysitting And Ragers!

Many years ago, I used to babysit for what seemed like the entire town I grew up in. Seriously, I babysat almost every night, sometimes even babysitting for multiple homes in one night. And I loved it. Those young children that I looked after for a few hours, whilst their parents were out were like my little brothers and sisters, in fact, three of them were my bridesmaids because they meant so much to me and my family.

Recently, one of the little girls I used to babysit for has moved near to where I live now. Of course, she is all grown up, married and has several young children of her own, but it is great to see her every so often out and about in the community and at Church and just being the fabulous woman that she is.

It's made me a little nostalgic however, I mean look how cute I was!

Five Things I Learnt In My First Week

Last week was my first week in full-time employment in about eleven years and as I spent time over the weekend thinking about how I did, what I could do better and what my plan of attack for the next week would be I realised that I learnt five things and I wanted to share them with you.

Now, these five things might not be groundbreaking, they might not even be things that I should have taken from my first week but they are things that I feel that I learnt and things that I know will stick in my memory too.

What We Are Eating W/C 7th September 2019

Writing the meal plan for this week was like pulling teeth! It was hard, it was painful and at the end of it, I didn't want to eat anything, do anything or even get up off the sofa. However, after a lot of consultation with the family, a few eye-rolls from me and not helpful suggestions from a google search I finally decided upon what we'd be eating.

September is a super busy month for us as a family, so I wanted some meals that we all love, that are relatively easy to make, will fill us up and as always aren't going to break the bank with their cost. I think I picked well, especially as for four of the seven nights, it's just the children and I!

Tell Me Something I Don't Know

Many years ago, I learnt that if I wanted the children to tell me something all I had to do was ask them. Well, not ask them directly but ask them in a way that inspired them into answering me. The way that I got around this was by asking them to;

Tell me something I don't know.

Normally, Dan Jon and Top Ender will then tell me something that they think I might not know. It might be something that they have learnt at school, something that they have read in a book, something they saw on the Internet, or on TV or learnt at Church or read in their Scriptures or even something that their Dad told them.

It's a conversation opener and one that I love to use, and normally only allow the children to stop after they have told me three things. Which is why one Sunday morning as Dan Jon and I were on our way to Church, I asked Dan Jon to tell me something I didn't know. Dan Jon claimed he knew nothing new and so asked me to tell him something that he didn't know. In fact, he'd like to know something about Elephants.

Dan Jon The Insult-er!

When Top Ender, Dan Jon and I were having our meal out last week the server had asked if we wanted a couple of children's menus, which I declined. Top Ender at nearly 16 is most certainly old enough to have a grown-up menu and Dan Jon at 11 could probably eat a small horse by himself if he wanted.

As we were talking during the meal, Dan Jon started to explain a thought he had had to Top Ender and I, that was amusing him.

He started by looking at me in the eye and claiming;

"I can't wait until I'm really old, like you".

First Day Of School

The children are both back to school today.

In previous years, I've dropped Dan Jon off at his Primary School and then walked back to an empty home, waiting for time to pass and for me to get used to them not being here every minute of every day again.

The Entertainer #Review #Gifted

When I heard that Shane Richie was going to be coming to Milton Keynes in The Entertainer, I was really excited. I knew about The Entertainer as it was a play I'd read when doing my Theatre Studies A-Level as it was by John Osborne (he of Look Back In Anger fame) and I read everything I could to try and give me a wide knowledge... also I think Shane Richie is lovely and so couldn't wait to see him in the role of Archie Rice. I was even more excited when I was given two press tickets to see it too.

As always, my theatre companion for the evening was Top Ender who was looking forward to this updated version of a play and had even gone online to research it a little as she knew nothing about it and was excited to see how a play was shown in three Acts.

It's The First Day Of My New Job

It's the first day of my new job today and I'm worried.

I'm worried that I'm not good enough (imposter syndrome sucks am I right?).

I'm worried that I won't fit in.

I'm worried that I'm going to forget all the names of all the people I'll be working with.

I'm worried that my first-day outfit is wrong.

I'm worried that they made a mistake hiring me.

It's the first day of my new job today and I'm excited.

I'm excited that I've got an opportunity to grow.

I'm excited to see how I will adapt to new people.

I'm excited to meet new people and learn all about them.

I'm excited to wear something other than my "Mum" uniform.

I'm excited to prove they were right to hire me.

Called Out At Church

Before I start this post, I need to tell you a little about one of my closest friends. She is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is in my ward and is also one of my counsellors in the Young Women's presidency. Our friendship is the sort of friendship where everything is on the table. She can tell me to my face if I'm being an idiot or overthinking things and I can tell her the same. I can tell her about any issues I'm having with my children or ask her the most stupid of things and she doesn't judge and she can do the same, although without the stupid questions as she's rather smart.

I seriously love this woman so much.

So my friend was taking the lesson one particular Sunday, the topic was "How can I be in this world, but not of it?" and she had a talk, titled Overcoming The World which she had cut into pieces and the Mia Maids were to decide if it was a snippet that represented "Overcoming the world" or one that represented "Overcoming the world results in".

Whilst they had been discussing some of them, a quote had been shared and the Young Women were busy writing down this quote, and so whilst they were doing that I had been asked to read out the snippets of the talk so they could do two things at once. Some of our Young Women are so talented, that one of the young women created this graphic in her notebook for the quote. It is so beautiful, but I'm not surprised as she is very talented.

What We Are Eating W/C 31st August 2019

I actually can't believe what is going to happen this coming week. My new job, the children going back to school, the end of Summer, the end of an era... I'm so excited and ready for this new challenge and chapter in our lives.

A Meal Out Instead Of A Night Away

The children and I were going to go away for a night.

We'd spend the day having fun, maybe hit up a museum or two, a picnic lunch and just have fun together. We decided we would stay somewhere near the Seaside and not too far from where Flyfour was working, so that he could meet up with us after he'd finished work and as a family we'd go to the amusements and have chips looking out to Sea and spend time playing on the beach as the sun went down. We'd have breakfast together the next morning, along with an early morning walk along the beach before Flyfour headed back off to work and we'd spend the day having more fun, before meeting Flyfour at home that evening.

And then we didn't.

I Could Have...

I didn't know what to write.

I could have written something about the amazing places I've been recently, or I could have written something about the amazing experiences I've had recently, but it seemed a little odd talking about these wonderful things when I'm not feeling all that wonderful.

Ashland Lakes

On Bank Holiday Monday, Dan Jon and I were having a bit of a lazy day. We'd both got up when we had wanted to (although my wake up time was a few hours before Dan Jon's) and after we were both dressed and ready to go we had an equally lazy breakfast at McDonald's before heading off for a walk at Ashland Lakes. Really, it was just so we could say we at least did one thing, rather than just sit at home all weekend whilst Flyfour and Top Ender were away camping.

We used to go to Ashland Lakes quite a lot when the children were small, it was fun to walk across the stepping stones and try to not get our feet wet, but as they started to get more involved with clubs and activities after school, we eventually had no time to go.

Even the occasional picnics that my Mum and I would have at Ashland Lakes has dropped off as her balance has become more of an issue. I don't want her falling into the lake as I don't think I'd ever be able to get her out of the lake if that did happen!

Dan Jon and I thought the lake looked beautiful, well apart from the odd bit of rubbish and a lot of algae in the lake. There is a bacteria problem or something in the lake and a disease that the fish have and together they are causing issues for fish, humans (so don't go swimming in it), cats and dogs. It was something to do with the heatwave last year, and from what my local fishermen friends told me the lake is going to be closed for fishing for some time.

Luckily, some of the lake is still beautiful and not overrun with the algae and Dan Jon and I spent ages standing on the bridge looking out at the view and admiring how beautiful it was. I think it helped that we were in the shade and that there was a little duck family to swim around keeping us amused with their antics.

It wasn't just the three ducks on the top lake. We saw several ducks, geese, swans and a lot of seagulls who seemed to be laughing each time Dan Jon told a joke, so we weren't sure if they were actually listening to our conversation, or if they were just brilliant with their timing!

It was a lazy walk and as it was so warm, we didn't worry about walking up far enough to see the wave/snake sculpture that is between the lakes and the woods instead, going back to the comfort of the air conditioning in the Car.

An Allergic Reaction

I was sitting in the garden having lunch when I heard a weird cracking or popping sound. I immediately realised that the pods on my Sweet Peas were ready to be harvested, as they were harvesting themselves! So I did what any normal person would do, I picked as many of the pods that were ready to be harvested as I could, found an envelope and popped the seeds from the pods into the envelope. It was a lovely afternoon, sitting in the sun and doing something that reminded me of my childhood.

A couple of hours later and I felt like I had something in my eye. So I gave it a rinse and hoped whatever it was in my eye would wash away and I'd feel more comfortable. It didn't work and my eye was still just as uncomfortable. Not long after, I started sneezing and my nose started running and both eyes started watering and my face was just uncomfortable.

When Flyfour got home, he took one look at me and asked what was wrong with my face. Which at any other time would NOT be the way to greet your wife, but was really the only question he could ask as looking in the mirror, I did not look right!

Dan Jon's Eye Appointment

As if there wasn't enough to worry about with Diabetes, at our last appointment with the Diabetic team, they mentioned they wanted Dan Jon to start going to annual eye checks too. We knew it was coming because with my Mum being a Type One Diabetic for so much longer than Dan Jon she has all the various appointments that one day Dan Jon will have too.

The appointment came. It was the last appointment I'll be able to take Dan Jon to for a while, with my new job starting, and so to me, it was a big thing and so Dan Jon and I sat together in the waiting room, cracking slightly inappropriate jokes, playing I-spy and having a good old chat.

Eventually, the nurse called Dan Jon's name and after a quick eye test put some drops into Dan Jon's eyes, and came back a few minutes later to put the dilating drops in too.

Then after a few more minutes of waiting, we got to meet with the Doctor.