ELEVENSES - the next chapter

[MaryAnnSingleton]

here we go !

hotcross - have you had the results from B's ballet exam yet?

Sky here is cloudy - that means no snow doesn't it??

How are things with you MAS?

It's snowing!

No results from ballet yet.

snowing here too,very thick ! Had a nice time seeing my friend -she left early to avoid driving in bad weather.

Are we all out enjoying the snow??
'Tis fab isn't it??

The lovely couple across the road from us (he is a nightclub manager, she is a paramedic and 10 days overdue with their first baby) are completely ski and snowboard mad. They are a real outdoor adventure couple (you know the type) and really really lovely. This morning hey offered to take O (and us, we all went) to the park at the edge of our village which has quite a decent hill to teach O to snowboard. O had been saying he wanted to snowboard for a few months but seeing as he never got the hang of skateboarding (fear and balance/coordination issues) we had pretty much not done anything about it.
So, they find some boots and bindings to fit O (laying around in their loft, as you have...) and take a board, and off we set.

I was O was pretty good! He was not bad at all! And he loved it!
We came back in half an hour ago for lunch and o is already saying he wants to go out boarding again

Dh took some pictures, will see if he can upload one later.

E and I made a fab snowman. It was lovely, half the village was at this hill, great athmosphere

Am frozen though, taking a long time to warm up...

Great to have some time off school - I can't see school being open tomorrow, there is more snow forecast isn't there? I am loving my unexpected day(s) off.
Work have offered me (providing I can make the hours fit my timetable) one hour a day lunchtime supervisoring. Not all Ta's do lunchtime cover, but all lunchtime supervisors are TA's. (all bar one lunchtime supervisor, who is leaving so they want me to take her lunchtime hours) I don't really want to do it, but it takes my hours up to 22 which means that when Boy leaves (if he leaves) I still have 10 hours paid employment left which makes me feel a bit more secure in the job long term (does that make sense?) So I have accepted them for now...

Anyroad, I will stop waffeling, hope you are all well

Picture of O snowboarding is now up... (plus finally the one of him with glasses)

Hope you had a fun day today - school is closed again tomorrow! 'Tis great!!!

lovely ! he looks great in specs - good hair cut too !
brrrr- am chilly,no school tomorrow.

Fab photos! O is a star and looks great in glasses.

We've had a really really lovely day. We had a snowball fight across the fence with our new neighbours first thing, then went down the road
to play with other neighbours in our cul de sac. B had a fantastic time playing with her friends and we had a good catch up with people we wave at as they drive past our house!

Two children came in for lunch with us and stayed most of the afternoon, then we took the dog to the common and sledged until it was dark. B was wailing with the cold in the end, but it was lots of fun. Roll on tomorrow as school is closed again, and I doubt dh can get to work. Hooray!

I'm off to bed now, exhausted and stiff - snow play is definitely a good way to get fit

Thank you Mas - we are havign haircut battles now - his hair was that short (and neat) in the summer and we have managed to keep it like that all this term. But now he wants to grow it. Sob. We have come to a compromise - it can be longer than it is, but NOT shoulderlength or touching his collar. It has to stay layered so that it looks 'shorter' iyswim. We will see...

Hotcross, sounds like you had a lovely day too! Nice to have another day off today. Dh has taken O snowboardign again, E is happily playing in the living room. Have promised her we will go into the garden after lunch to build a big igloo. (want to do it in teh garden so it 'lasts' and won't get kicked down by the local teens the minute our back is turned)

Right, off to put some spuds in the oven for when O and dh arrive back.

school closed tomorrow too ! so dh and T home again, not that Im complaining. I braved the snow at 8 to get to the doctors he had made it too - I only live minutes away,think he had a much longer journey..he has doubled my dose of venlafaxine which I hope won't make me feel bad - I have got used to the current dose and feel ok with it. Trudged out again later to look for milk and to pick up prescription- took ages trying to walk carefully and not fall over !
Sounds as though you two have had fun days - keep warm !

Back to school today
Dh has another day off - he went to work, got there, got told to go home...

Take care in the snow

Oh btw - I was on quite a hefty dose of venlafaxine before it was effective. I had no side effects from it whatsoever. So don't worry

Morning Another snow day for us. Sorry you're back at work Hippi, but more snow is forecast so you may not be back for long!

We were busy yesterday, but quieter today as the children down the road are ill (we will no doubt be incubating the germs too!) The snow is so icy now that it's not much fun to build with, but sledging is getting faster We have wonderful icicles all around which B is busy drawing. Dh managed to get a couple of pints of milk yesterday, so we're OK for hot choc, but meal choices are getting a bit random as we use up what's in the freezer!

I have dh working from home, which is lovely, although it means I have to think about something for lunch, whereas me on my own I'd not bother too much. Oh well.

Hope you're both OK and warm. x

thanks for that hippi - I always fret about medication and was worried about upping the dose. Have walked into town with S and had hot chocolate in the cafe with her and another friend - lovely and cosy.

School was cool today - Boy did not turn up (did not expect him too) so it was a day cutting, laminating and re-cutting letters to create headings for the various display boards in teh school. Lovely and relaxing.
Head teacher walked to Sainsbury's to buy milk for the coffees adn also brought back various tubs of brownies and muffins - trying to buy our affection

E's school closed at 2.15 so the junior school agreed taht parents could come and collect siblings at the same time despite not officially closing until 3.

Am hoping for much more snow at the weekend so we don't have to go into work / school on Monday. Am loving all this time off

Walk into town adn hot choc in the cafe sounds very cosy MAS - lovely way to spend an afternoon!

Hello Hope you both had a good day? (and weekend!)

I've loved having the snow, but now wish it would just miraculously vanish! I wimped out of the school run this morning as our road and those around it are soooooo icy Dh took B this morning, and I ventured out about lunchtime to drive around the block, which I found pretty hairy TBH. I did manage to drive to pick her up, but it was very slippery and I struggled to get back in my parking space. Rather pathetically, dh had to repark the car when he got home Am dreading the morning already

Exciting news! My BIL and his family are on their way back to the UK to live. Hooray! They left South Africa last night to fly to Zambia to renew their passports and are hoping to fly over here by the weekend. It's very exciting, but a bit daunting as they are so 'different' to us. Last time they visited, it was quite exhausting trying to entertain them, but I'm hoping regular contact will make it much easier, and we'll actually get to meet our 18 month old niece

Right, must go and turn out lights again!

how exciting about BIL and family !!
School back today and think dh will drive tomorrow -he drove round the block to test it all -very icy at the top of our road (we're on a bit of a hill) -will miss him.

Oooo, great news about BIL and family!!

Roads and paths around here are very slippery but also oddly slushy in places. School was open as per usual and it was fine to walk there.

Bit cross - our lovely snowman which was at the front of the house was kicked down last ngiht by some teenage yobs. Sob. I hate teenagers sometimes! Dh hollered at them and chased them down the road. Am sooo cross! It has strengthened my resolve to save up and have gates or a hedge across the front of the house forthwith - anything for a bit of privacy!

Long day at school today - Fire Safety training from 4 - 6 pm. Bleurgh!

Have a nice day

grrr at yobs
Both my menfolk back at school/office,though dh leaving early..no post here,at least not the post I'm waiting for - very frustrating as I've ordered some paints that I need to do my picture frames - I have done a selection of Valentine's pics - so am a bit stuck. Childminding later.

Oh Hippi, that's really mean Not that I'm that surprised TBH, I've already told off local kids about throwing snowballs at our windows and doors, and the neighbours' opposite. They had stones in too... Why they feel the need to spoil things I've no idea

What a pain about the post MAS. Ours has just come - postman pulling a sledge - and dmum has posted the hairclip I specifically asked her not to and it's arrived in two pieces and . Why she wont listen I've no idea!

I'm dreading the school run later. Dh dropped B again this morning, I feel a wimp, but I just don't feel particularly safe on the roads ATM. I wish it would thaw!

Urgh, snowballs with stones in is worse
Blardy teenagers!

Do you have to drive to collect B? I would not feel safe driving either. Am going to have to tomorrow though - E has missed one gymnastics session already and she is desperate to go to the next one...

Am loving the idea of the snowman with a sledge! It is nice to finally be getting mail again - we were waiting on important loan paperwork for the new car! Weather permitting we can collect it this weekend. Depends on how snowed under the car dealership still is.
Fingers crossed.

Right, am going to do some chores, then I need to collect the dc at 3, get back here for 3.20, quick cuppa, leave again at 3.45 for my two hour Fire Safety Training talk. (and there won't be a hunky fireman in sight sadly!)

Hi. Another snow day here today[sigh] Have dh and B under my feet, and am desperately trying to get organised for the visitors coming...

Hope the car paperwork came through OK Hippi. Very exciting I could walk to school, but some of it doesn't have a pavement and there is a dodgy crossing of a very busy road too, so I do drive I'm afraid When B starts junior school, it'll be a good walk, but no main roads. Hooray!

Right, mustn't linger here, dh is watching Hope you're both OK?

snow here too - school closed although the website said it was open -T went in and got sent home. Have just walked into town to do some shopping at Sainsb. and lugged it all back again - hard work ! Got to go out later to take T for hair cut.

Another sort of snow day here - arrived at the Lower School to be told it was closed - but the Juniors was open. Luckily my friend K was able to take E home with her so I still managed to work.
Boy was not in school today so I spent the day making a video recorder out of a shoebox and a pringles tube. I got myself into quite a mess with black paint and glue but it was fun!

Snow melting again now, so all back to normal tomorrow!

What a pain about the school MAS. And why was one school but not the other open Hippi? You were lucky to be able to arrange childcare OK. I really do feel that the schools need to get their acts together a bit TBH. Why can't they sort out a system to compare notes with neighbouring schools, then post it asap on the websites, so we all know what's happening? If businesses carried on like this they'd be bust very quickly

We didn't open until 10 today, which was very civilised. In fact, I'd happily start at 10 every day and pick up at 4... I struggled to get the car out so have left it on the main road and will walk to get it later. I was fishtailing down the road earlier which was quite scary!

I'd be very nervous about driving hotcross -dh is staying put,which is sensible.
School open today at 9.55 -T got in a pickle as the two boys he walks with called at 8.10 as usual -they'd misunderstood the posting on the website (I hope we didn't !!) and when he went to knock on J's door,where he assumed they'd gone,they weren't there -so he thought we'd got it all wrong.I told him I thought they might've gone to wait at the other boy's house...oh dear. Am walking him into town later for the dentist-will see how slippy it is.