Nellie

Firstly, I wanted to say a very big thank you to all of the kind and thoughtful comments that you took the time to leave yesterday.  I will get back to you in my usual fashion, but computer time is restricted at the mo (hence constantly posting a day late and then backdating – is that very bad?).  So…..

Thank you.

Granny was no better today than yesterday, but also no worse.  She’s not in pain but she can’t get up on her own and she’s not eating or drinking enough.  She’s unhappy, bored, lonely, tired and frustrated that she can’t just get up and do what she wants to do when she wants to do it.  I wanted to pick her up and take her home with me.

The best thing that could happen would be for her to be moved from the large hopsital she’s in to a smaller community hospital where she will be looked after, in my opinion, with much more regard for her as a person rather than a patient.  The ward she’s in seems to be a conveyor belt where each patient is “seen to” in turn.  I can’t articulate how angry, frustrated and sad I am to see these people, all of them elderly women, looked on as just another box to tick in the charts.  Another job to complete before the staff go off shift.  I have had mixed experiences with the NHS but mostly, when it’s been treatment for the boy, I couldn’t fault it and I really appreciate that it’s a service that we don’t have to pay for.  I know that there are wonderful people that work in hospitals (and all the other services) but there just don’t seem to be many on Granny’s ward.   Sigh.

One thing that did make me smile today was this ginormous (yes, that is a word) picture in one of the stairwells.

And thank you to lovely S who sent me a link to this elephant.  Sadly I fear you’ve vastly overestimated my skills!  This is more my standard.

Gribbit

I’m in the west country at the moment, visiting my Granny who’s very ill in hospital.

I was in a toy shop last week, looking for a toy for a birthday party gift when I spotted a little pack of origami paper. I used to do origami when I was younger but had completely forgotten about it until I got the paper home and started folding. I won’t say it all came flooding back, but it had a reassuring familiarity to it.

I expect you’re wondering how the above two things can possibly be related?

I got the train down today, without the children, and found I had too much time to think.  Even watching a film on my iPhone didn’t really take my mind off things.  

I found the reassuring familiarity of folding and the fact that I had to concentrate really hard to get good folds on a jiggly train quite useful for staving off thoughts of what I’d find when I got to the hospital here.

I made this.

He’s a long way from perfect but I rather like him.

Granny is a little better than I thought she’d be and I’m glad I came. 

I’m horrified by the things that have happened to her since she’s been in hospital but that is a whole other blog post and I’m not sure that I’m ready to write it yet.

Anyway, I’m off to see if I can find instructions for an origami elephant now.  Granny likes elephants.

It Warms My Heart

I love it when they do this.

Sunday Snippets

That lovely and clever Marylin over at Pure Unadulterated Softthistle has come up with a fab idea for those of us short of things to say on a Sunday.

Mine, of course, is photographic because posting daily I don’t really have much left over on a Sunday!

The boy, making a splash as usual

The party blower is mightier than the sword

Wonder Woman

Why not join in with your own Sunday Snippets next week?

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

I haven’t heard from the people that I applied for a job with.  As interviews are being held on Monday I assume that I’m not going to.  Oh well, never mind (sobs, pulls out hair, gnashes teeth and wails), it doesn’t bother me.  Much.

In happier news, the husb and I went to the Hard Rock Festival in Hyde Park yesterday.  Headlining the main stage were Pearl Jam.  Thanks to the husb’s fabulous parents, we were able to get there in time to have something to eat and get to Hyde Park nice and early.  The sun was shining, the drinks were cold and the music was great.  It was a lovely anti-dote to not getting an interview, not that I’m bothered about it of course.

I saw this,

which instantly made me think of Softthistle and made me smile.

I was feeling a bit arty farty so I took this*,

on the iPhone through my sunglasses.

We had a very relaxing evening

*if you’re interested, that picture is also here.  On my other blog.  You know, the one you didn’t know I had because I wasn’t convinced that anyone would want to look at any more of my photos.  I was inspired by Kerry from Cloud of Starlings who’s posting a photo a day from her iPhone (or at least she was.  Where are you Kerry? I’m missing you).  It’s a photo a day from my iPhone with categories to show which Apps I’ve used to take/edit them.

A Romantic Meal for Two

The husband and I rarely go out for a meal.

Our babysitting tokens are spent on the much more important business of gigging.

Not tonight though. Tonight the husb and I are having a romantic meal for two in a secluded location.

Before going to see Pearl Jam at Hyde Park.

So, pint and a burger at Victoria train station then.

It’s going to be a good night!

Another Green Update

My veg have come on since the last update.

Bubbles

I made it through the informal tour of the premises, meeting with the person who would employ me and handing over of my precious application form earlier today.  I kept my mouth shut, thus ensuring I didn’t put my foot in it, so I think that went ok.  I should find out by the weekend if the hours that I poured into the application form were well spent, as interviews are next week.  At least it isn’t a long drawn out process.

It’s been a gorgeous day today, so we’ve been playing in the garden.  I gave the kids bubble mixture, although I did quickly confiscate the boy’s bubbles as all he wanted to do was (a) chase and pop the girl’s bubbles and (b) eat the bubble wand.

To take my mind off things I set myself the task of getting a picture of the girl in the process of blowing bubbles.  Not as easy as you’d think, although we got there eventually.

In the process of trying to get that picture, I also got this one.

Is it just me or does this happen to other people?  I set out to get one shot and accidentally get a completely different one that I really like.

Wish Me Luck

I used to be a secretary.

I gave up work in 2005 to look after my children.  I am immensely lucky that I was able to do that and I am, and always will be, thankful that the husband was able to make that possible for me.

I filled out a job application form this evening.

Goodness, that sounds easy, doesn’t it?

It doesn’t hint at the fact that I’ve been preparing myself for it since the weekend.  The hours spent digging out my old CV, old tax papers to work out old salaries and old certificates to remind myself of exactly how few qualifications I have.  Or the even more hours spent poring over my personal statement.  Trying to make myself sound perfect for the job, the completely right person.  Or the anxiety that has been pressing down on me since I first spotted the job opportunity.  The anxiety that is increasing with thumbscrew turns every hour that my informal tour of the premises, meeting with the person who would employ me and handing over of my precious application form comes nearer.  This is only the informal bit.  If I actually get offered an interview I dread to think how I’ll be feeling.

The silly thing is, we don’t need me to get this job.  I’ll need to get a job in the nearish future, definitely when the boy starts school full time.  The world won’t end if it’s not this one.

But, and it’s quite a big but, it’s the perfect job for me and I desperately want it, I need it for myself.

It’s only me that’s exerting the pressure and causing the anxiety.  You’d think that knowing that would make me less anxious wouldn’t you.  You’d be wrong.

Here’s my application paperwork spread all over the table.  The old CV, tax forms and certificates mentioned above.  Also the application form filled in rough and neat, the job description and person spec.  I’d forgotten how involved the whole process can be.

Sorry for the blurriness, it’s intentional.  I didn’t have time to pixelise all the text that would have given you far too much information about me and my potential employer.

Shiny

Our electric kettle broke. Actually, it sprung a leak which surprised me. I didn’t think kettles did things like that. I thought they either stopped turning themselves off, stopped boiling water or blew up.

We have really hard water where we live.  Soon the shiny new kettle will be covered in water marks which will become increasingly more difficult to remove (mainly due to my laziness and lack of wiping the kettle on a daily basis to get rid of them).

For now though, I am rejoicing in its sparkly newness.