Taped

When I met the husband (in August 2000) I was still living in the land of cassettes.  He bought me, for my first christmas present, a new stereo that had a cd player.  I was beside myself with excitement at the application of new technology to my life (not to mention being beside myself with excitement at the clever, gorgeous, funny and incredibly generous catch I’d landed only 4 months previously).

Today, I still love cds but I do occasionally hanker for my cassettes.  I’ve got a lot on cassette that we never bothered to get on cd.  To mention but a few, Guns n Roses (Appetite for Destruction, not that Use Your Illusion rubbish), Dubstar, Sneaker Pimps, Dust Junkys, various soundtracks (The Crow and The Commitments leap to mind immediately but there are others that don’t begin with a C) and all sorts of other curiosities.

I had a sudden need to listen to Sweet Child of Mine last week so I got down the big box, where all the cassettes and vhs videos hide, and picked out a few choice albums to listen to.

There’s something to be said for listening to an album over and over and over again, then hiding it for 10 years and listening to it again with fresh ears.

I have been totally living in the past for the last week – it’s been great.

I Can’t Stand The Rain

(as a brief aside, is one of my favourite songs from The Commitments – one of my favourite films)

The husband, on the other hand, doesn’t seem too unhappy about the fact that we were having a bar-b-que so, as far as I was concerned, he would be bar-b-queing come rain or shine.

We had a lovely day.  We got to see lots of people that we don’t see very often – some of them we haven’t seen since this time last year but we’ve vowed to rectify that.  Some of them we’ve only seen a couple of times since this time last year but we’re going to try and put that straight too.  Some of them we see fairly regularly and we plan to continue that.

The girl was fascinated by her new cousin

I got a cuddle too (in the spirit of Naked Blogging Day I’m going to try and post more pictures of me that aren’t the most flattering – this was taken this morning – no make-up, hungover, still in pyjamas – see what my family have to put up with every morning?  Poor things!).

Our BBQs are always a bit of an “aunty-fest” for my two.  They love having so many aunts around, especially ones that bring small babies (thank you Aunty M), ones that bring older cousins to look up to in awe (thank you other Aunty M) and ones that bring pink nail varnish and have baby bumps to be lovingly petted (a new baby for Aunty D and Uncle P, their first, due in October – yay!)

I should explain about the nail varnish.  I don’t like putting it on the girl – all those chemicals – yuck.  But, I suppose, occassionally it doesn’t hurt.  We made a deal, me and the girl.  I told her that if she stopped picking her nails, which looked horribly bitten, then the next time we saw Aunty D I would let Aunty D put nail varnish on her (Aunty D and the girl are going to get on very, very well over the years what with their mutual love of all things pink and glittery)

Best of all, we have the same people here every year for whom we are the mutual contact.  It’s lovely to see everyone catching up and having a lovely time.  It warms the very cockles of my heart.

A Long But Lovely Day

We have a BBQ once a year. We have friends and family over and it’s always a really lovely day (even when it rains).

Unfortunately we miscalculated this year and the husb and I ended sleeping on the sofabed downstairs. That won’t happen again!

Over the Rainbow

There’s a side to my life that I haven’t really talked about here before.  I’m not sure why, but it’s probably because I tend not to take pictures when I’m doing it and this blog is all about the picture.

I spend about 5 hours a week working for the vicar of our parish church.  I take the children to Sunday School at the church most Sundays and because of that I knew he was looking for someone to do a bit of administrative work for him.

Before I had children I was a PA (personal assistant or secretary) by trade and, when I think back to it now, I think I was probably quite a good one.  I really enjoy organising people, especially when it’s in a one to one situation.  I’m good at planning and setting things up and I’m incredibly nosy and controlling – all qualities that a good PA needs.  I can also type at some ridiculous speed (I can’t remember my wpm but I can type as fast as you speak with a 99% accuracy rate.  Yes, I am being smug.  It’s not much of a skill in the grand scheme of things, but I’m bloody good at it).

When I realised the vicar was looking for someone it seemed like too good an opportunity for me to pass up.  I was right and it has been a total win-win situation.  I got to dust off my somewhat rusty secretarial skills (unused for nearly 5 years) in a very friendly and non-aggressive environment.  He got his inbox and filing system sorted out for free.

I’m not sure which of us it was that suggested, one Thursday morning in the church office, that the church would benefit from a Brownie pack but I somehow ended up volunteering to look into it.

It turns out that our area is awash with Brownie packs but that Rainbow packs (junior Brownies – aged 5-7) are few and far between around here and the District Commissioner for our area would far rather have a Rainbow pack set up.

Not only have I looked into it, but now I’ve volunteered to run the pack.

I’m trying to see it as another string to my bow but I am mildly panicked about the amount of time it will take and the sheer amount of information that I have to soak up.  On top of planning what we’ll do each week, I’ll have to be in control of a fair amount of data, I need to appoint a treasurer, set up a bank account, keep on top of volunteers (once I’ve found some), do risk assessments, complete health & safety and first aid training, learn about small girls (because obviously I don’t know about them) and complete various courses finally leading to a Girl Guiding UK Leadership Qualification.

I will essentially become a manager of people.

Something I never thought I’d be.

I’m just a PA, after all.

I’m simultaneously excited and terrified.

And yes, I’ll keep you posted.

Knees-Up

If my legs looked like the boy’s do, I think I might move with a bit more caution. But then, I’m not the boy.

The Gallery – Friendship

I hope, as the years go by, that they will remain friends.  That no matter what twists and turns the tracks of their lives take, they will be there for each other.

The theme for this week’s gallery is “Friendship”.  I am lucky to count my siblings as some of my closest friends.  They are the people I turn to first in times of trouble and joy (after I’ve thoroughly bent the husband’s ear, of course).  I hope that the boy and the girl develop such a strong a relationship.  They can, if they choose, be each others strongest champions over the course of their lives.

Experimenting

I’ve been playing with some of the camera apps on my iPhone.  I am very lucky to have such a willing volunteer.

The boy has hit “maximum movement whenever I realise a camera is being pointed at me” mode.  So, fewer sharp pictures of him for the next few months I fear.

Garden Update

It’s very exciting.  My veg are doing so well that I’ve had to create a category just for them.

The husband very kindly dug over the end of the garden for me and we’ve actually planted out some of our veg.  First to test the ground are sweetcorn, courgettes and lettuce.  I wish we hadn’t done it on the day before the hottest day of the year but we’ve (actually, mostly the husband as I’ve been trying to make sure the kids don’t drown themselves in the paddling pool) been throwing lots of water at them so I’m hoping that they’ll be ok.  We’ve also put all the tomato plants down that end of the garden so that they don’t get (a) lonely and (b) trampled on by children.

The husband has planted beer traps – sorry slugs but I need the veg, I can’t have you eating it and at least you’re getting a happier ending than if we’d put pellets down or salted you every morning.

This has gone much further than I ever thought it would.  I know there’s still plenty of time for things to go wrong but I’m actually starting to believe that we might harvest something at some point.  If we do, you’re all invited for tea.

Party in the Park

The girl got invited to the birthday party of one her friends from nursery.   It was this afternoon and was held at a local park so it wasn’t really a drop and run party.

There is a long-running joke amongst my friends that I know all the mothers locally, but that really isn’t true.  For instance, I knew that I wouldn’t know any of the parents at todays party (including the parents of said friend), so I was a bit apprehensive.  It’s been about four and a half years (my first ante-natal class) since I’ve had to walk into a situation where I knew no-one.  I remember that occassion clearly, I was so nervous that I rambled on about anything and everything.  They must have thought I was quite odd but they took pity on me and I’m still friends with that group.

Today though, I found myself grounded by the girl.  She gives an instant conversation point that the other parents can relate to, so my mind isn’t constantly skittering around trying to find interesting things to say.  She calms me.  Having her little hand in mine reminds me of what’s really important, the fact that my family loves me, not what other people think of me.  Her trust in me makes me trust myself.

I find that I feel the same when I’m in new situations with the boy as well.  A big part of the reason that I coped so well with all his hospital visits last year was because I was with him.  He gave me faith in myself because he believed, without question, that I was doing the right thing for him.

Thank you, my children.  You may just be the making of me.

Summer’s Here

and the paddling pool is out