Time flies...

Well, doesn't time fly...half term came and went and I have been back at school a week, with parent evenings next week to look forward too...

So, the rest of half term...

Carl, Dave and I went to the NME Awards tour on Monday night (I got a ticket for Chrismas from Ross and Lou) and saw Mumm-Ra (who were good), The Horrors (who were shockingly bad - lots of flashing while lights and screaming 'singer' who loved himself a bit too much), The View (who are far better on CD than live - I wasn't impressed) and The Automatic (who were cool!))

I went back to Potton on Thursday to see the folks, who are OK. Their fireplace FINALLY arrived and looks very nice indeed. Dad has to have an eye operation (squeamish-squermy-yuck!), but it is on his bad eye so at least he'll be able to see a bit afterwards! Mum and I babysat Joshua on Friday morning - he is soooo cute and kept saying Dadda to everything and da (like ta for thank you!)

While I was 'back home', Carl decided to do some DIY. He sorted out the internal garage door, making it open into the garage, rather than into the hall. He then decided to move the 3 bedroom radiators, so they'd be under the windows (more efficient and freeing up wall space!) He was going to do it earlier in the week, and decided against it, as it was a BIG job, only to do it anyway because he didn't want it to beat him! Check out http://rayspics.blogspot.com/ for piccys of Carl's handiwork!

On Saturday night we met up with Lou, Ross and Dave for a "quick drink at The Cock", which turned into a session, ending up at the new Po residence, drinking too much, eating vast quantities of biscuits and cheese (which was very tasty, and Lou kept saying "I can cut more cheese!") and crawling into bed at 3am a bit drunk and trying not to fall through the ceiling (the floorboards were still up in parts of all 3 bedrooms due to the moving radiators). We were a bit hungover the next morning!!

This week at school has been quite good, doing a major science 'rocks and soils' session! Next week we have Egyptian day and parents eve. Sadly due to having to move Egyptian day from last week (because of the snow day the letters didn't get out in time) we have Egyptian Day on the SAME day as the final parents eve...Mmmm...not sure the eye make-up will come off in time - may have to do it in costume!!

Dave, Ross, Carl and I did the quiz at 'The Cock' on Monday night, coming joint 2nd...well actually, not-joint-2nd, as afterwards we discovered that the team marking ours marked one wrong when it was right....but then there was the spanner/wrench answer (In Cludo which weapon was missing: rope, candlestick, dagger, revolver and lead piping - we put wrench, but the answer was spanner (but it is a wrench in America/Canada!) and it was marked right), so we decided it was karma that we didn't get our £1.50 each prize money!!

Carl and I got tickets to the IOW festival this year. We are taking Carl's little sis. The line up is really good, and coz Carl's folks are islanders, we get to sleep in a bed each night!! Woo-hoo!

The pain was worth it!

What a great weekend! Carl's parents came up and we had a special surprise for them on Saturday (it was/will be their birthday pressies this year!) as it is Barb's birthday next week.

We set off at 10.15am (having got halfway there are realising we'd let our picnic lunch at home!) and arrived at 11am, after taking a long route there and getting a bit lost!

On arrival they still didn't know what the surprise was!! When you get there there is a dirt track and a few metal huts. Barb's only guess was "Are we driving a tank?" Ha ha ha!! Charlotte guessed when we met the people who ran the place (as one of them was wearing a cap with it on.) When we told them, Barb's face was a picture, as she's wanted to do this for years! We were clay pigeon shooting (or clay tile shooting as it is now known!)

We had a safety check before getting down to it! Barb didn't seem to care if she hit anything or not!! We did tiles that went across the sky infront of you, those that arched towards you and some that went away, before doing 2 tiles at a time and a flurry competition! We all managed to hit some (Carl and Bern did the best!) In the flurry, Barb and Bern were together (6 for Bern and 3 for Barb), then Charlotte and me (we both scored 4 each!) then Carl and Barb (Carl got 10 and Barb got 2 - and one was twice!!) Bern got the most tiles in the 2 at a time bit, so he got a little trophy! After a lovely cup of tea we headed off for some lunch (at 3pm!) and ate at the Swan before heading home, collapsing and comparing bruises (I won!!) We then watched a couple of movies, played Simpsons Operation and ate our picnic!


On Sunday we visited Donnington Castle before heading into town to show them around. We had tea and a pasty in the West Cornwall Pasty Co shop (very tasty!) In the evening we went to Indigo Bay for an Indian, which was very yummy. We then attempted to play the Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit game - which was very hard and I think I only answered 2 questions correctly! Oh well!

Tonight we are off to the NME music awards tour in Reading to see The Automatic and The View - Excellent!

Snow day!! Or should it be Ice day?

Shock of shocks, the school was closed today!! What a lovely suprise! It was only decided at 8.20 this morning. Have to say, today would have been a bit on an anti-climax after yesterdays fun events!! Anna and I were very pleased with this result - an extra day to do stuff!!
I stayed at school until 1 o'clock, catching up on bits and bobs, marking and tidying up, before heading off to the tidy-tip with the Lower Juniors recycling for the half-term, followed by trips to homebase and B&Q to get a fuse for our shower (which stopped making hot water earlier in the week! Cold showers are not good when in a chilly house, in winter!)

I did recieve some sad news today though. I found out someone I knew passed away yesterday. I knew she was ill and the outlook was bad...she was the lady who first got me to go to the Salvation Army sunday school when I was about 6 years old. I have very fond memories of her.

Tonight we have Carl's parents and Charlotte visiting for the weekend...if they make it through the weather!! We have a suprise planned for tomorrow...but I wont say anymore in case they see this!
Lou and Ross are moving today too! Yay! I am going to pop over shortly to help bubble wrap stuff - love bubble wrap! *pop*
Also going to the NME award tour in Reading on Monday (thanks to Lou and Ross as it was a Chrimbo pressie!) to see The Automatic - really looking forward to it!

Caro text me today with a classic Comedy Quote from Spaced. (Thanks mate!)

Tyres: Mine's a pint of the black stuff.
Mike: You can't drink a pint of Bovril.

No Snow Day!

Hmmmph! So about 100 schools in Northants and Berks were closed today, but not us!! I started off being a bit miffed by this...and ended up having a fabulous, but exhausting day!!
We made snowmen in the morning - as part of DT and PSHCE (construction and teamwork!). The children had to create snowmen in small groups which had to fit a hard hat on, withstand a snowball pummeling and look pretty!! The children were in their element and we had some super snowmen (as well as a few 'snowcones.') This fed nicely into an extra-long playtime where all the Juniors were building snow 'things' - we had a snow throne, a snow turtle and a VERY large snowball, as well as snowmen and snow dogs!!
In the afternoon we were building bridges...out of food!! It was great! They had lasagne sheets, spaghetti, sponge fingers, malt loaf, potatoes, curley-wurleys, strawberry laces, chewits and bread sticks to work with, and their bridges had to be over a certain height (so a 7cm tank could fit under it), a certain span (to cross the river - yes a tank went under it but we had no boats - and none of the children noticed!!) and be strong and stable enough to hold a train and it's track! The children created some brilliant bridges - whcih worked! I was so impressed - one of those feel good lessons!!
All in all a good, but exhausting day...right, I'm off to bed!!

Comedy Quote: Black Books (season 1)

Manny: Do you think I should wash my beard?
Bernard: I think you should wash it, yeah. Then shave it off, nail it to a frisbee, and fling it over a rainbow.

3 days and counting...

...until half term!

I was off school yesterday as I was poorly sick :o( I started at the end of last week, just in time to feel pants over the weekend! Great timing! I still felt awful yesterday so stayed at home, watching rubbish daytime TV and having no energy to do anything much.

I am feeling better today, so it was back to school...where everyone said I looked ill! Thanks!! I thought I looked ok!! Luckily it was PPA this morning, so only a half day in the classroom, which was plenty!

Looking forward to a week off...where I can catch up on stuff and relax a bit!

Comedy Quote: One of my faves from Spaced...

Brian: Do you think I should lose the waistcoat.
Tim: I think you should burn it. 'Cause, y'know, if you lose it, you might find it again.

Roll on Half Term!

Roll on half term!! - Definitely - I am in need of some rest and a catch-up on all those things I can't fit into my day to day life!
This past couple of weeks have gone by pretty fast! We've had snow (yes SNOW! although not enough of it!), enjoyed a few drinks at the Swan after a particularly rough week at work (and Putin had his hair cut!! I was devastated - I LOVED the legoman/playmobile look!), a visit from Colin and Sonia (along with a lovely meal!), and visited my parents for my mum's birthday...amongst other things!
Monday night, while the guys were at the pub, Joey and I helped Lou with some painting. The Po's have done loads on their house since I last saw it! So Joey and I tacked the master bedroom while Louey enjoed the glossing (yes enjoyed...yes insane!) I spent some time being a glorified paint holder, Joey was comparing the Fratelli's 'Henrietta' to a musical (very good impersonation, but the comparison has completely left my brain!) while Louey said it was more Vic Reeves, and Lou became a 'superfreak' with her weird veiny hands (in the nicest possible way!)
I still have a mound of paperwork, and a to-do list a mile long...maybe it is meant to be that way? Who knows?

Comedy Quote:
Green Wing (S1?)
Mac: I'm assuming you've taken painkillers?
Caroline: I want something stronger. I want the stuff you use... to kill people.
Mac: Nope, saving all that for Guy.

Sometimes life sucks.

OK, I spoke to soon. After feeling all chuffed and happy after all my hard work last week, I am now back to square 1...no, make that stuck in jail...do not pass go...do not collect £200...

Like I said, lots of hours, slaving away, feeling good that my 'to do' list was shrinking (somethings reappear every week, but I'd managed to get rid of things on the list that wouldn't reappear for some time!) only to be given a huge workload, twice the size of the original, and now I am drowning in a sea of paper...again...with no rubber ring to keep me afloat...or a lifeguard...

And I feel pretty crappy too...headache, dodgy tummy, stiff neck, exhausted...so, yeah, pretty pants. On a less 'Woh is me' note, spoke to my mum and she has spent the day in bed as she's ill....and that is unheard off (the last time being approximately 20 years ago when we all had chicken pox and she had shingles and nan had to come and look after us all! Get well soon Mo!

Lou's birthday.....and stuff

I have been very busy this week...and very good too, getting lots of schoolwork done (although I still have a worksheet backlog - still endeavouring to catch up from 'the move') and actually managing to cross things of my 'to do' list and feeling pretty chuffed with myself!
Friday night Carl and I vegged out with some red wine and watched ER that we'd taped the night before. Saturday, after a lie in and a lazy morning watching Scrubs on TV (love it - bit of a comedy fix so am happy!) I went shopping and coming back exhausted! No idea why!! So we had an early dinner (after a late breakfast!), more wine and DVDs! 1st we watched 4 Weddings and a Funeral (a Chrimbo pressie from the Putin's - thanks!) I had seen it many years ago and didn't think much to it, but I really enjoyed it now I am older and wiser!! Then, being early still, we decided to watch Elizabethtown (a rental) and it was pants. After 45mins we switched it off (and that's rare, normally I'll watch to the end for closure but I found it so uninspiring I couldn't be bothered!) and tried something else - The Triangle. It is a 3 part series. I was sceptical at first but enjoyed it...well part one anyway, then went to bed (sooo tired!) while Carl watched part 2.
Today I watched part 2 before being good and getting down to school work! This evening we celebrated Lou's birthday by having a meal at The Rising Sun somewhere on the A4! It was good to get together, celebrate Lou's 28th birthday, and get a visual update on Rossputin's hair - which Joey said is making him look more and more like a playmobile character!! Ha ha!

Thought of another fave GW quote: (Season 1 Ep 2)
Sue: Did you touch my squirrel?
He he...there are so many!!

Comedy Fix?

Hurrah! I finally got my Green Wing DVDs through the post (a week after dispatch!) I brought Season 2 over Christmas, as I HAD to see it in time for the Special (which I saw 3 times (!) with various people - and it got funnier each time I watched it.) So, I now have Season 1 and the special on DVD too. I have just watched the alternate ending, and I must say I prefer it to the actual one...it leaves it more open (for a new series...fingers crossed but I doubt it!) Rather than an alternate ending, it is more of an extended ending, with a more that one person up in the air!
I have to say, it is a bit sad that the powers that be said there is unlikely to be a 3rd season - I love Green Wing (such a funny show, so many hilarious scenes...if you haven't seen it...watch it now!), and shows like it (Spaced, Black Books etc) - they just stop too soon and there aren't enough of them. Where will I get my comedy fix now!?!?!? Answers on a postcard...(or in the comments :o)

One of my fave lines...(Season 1 Ep 3)
Mac: Join me again next week on this episode of let’s make no f**king sense at all when I’ll be waxing an owl.

Happy 2007!

Before I write about the New Year celebrations, resolutions and any other -tions I can think of, I will tell you about the run up to New Year, including Christmas.

We spent Christmas day with my parents and Paul, Sarah and baby Joshua. We arrived home at 4ish Chrimbo eve and had a relaxing evening watching movies. Christmas day was lovely and chilled...I got some lovely pressies including Planet Earth on DVD and smellies and choccies...oh and lots of B&Q vouchers!! We popped over Paul and Sarah's for about an hour in the morning to see Joshua open our pressies to him - we got him a singing penguin for bathtimes which he liked (and we saw it in action at bathtime later on!!) Lunch was back at the bunglehouse and was delicious! I ate so much I must have looked like a football!! We went back over my brothers for tea and ended up playing Simpson Monopoly, where Paul thrashed the pants off us all!! We came back home Boxing day afternoon - which was a little weird, especially after mum getting mushy as we're not in Sandy anymore...

Between Christmas and New Year should be a time of relaxation, recuperation...and other a-ations as well...but no, not for us we've been DIY-ing!! Carl replaced the valve on the hot water pipe and we fixed the hole in the kitchen ceiling (it still needs finishing off but is far better than a gaping hole!!.) We have re-insulated the loft (thanks to the B&Q vouchers!!) and went through the boxes to try and get rid of stuff...we have so much stuff it is untrue - I am such a hoarder...and being a teacher really doesn't help!! So we brought crates to box things up properly. Carl then finished off the flooring in the loft (he did about 1/3 of the loft when we moved in and he is now replacing the bit near the hatch as that needed replacing - so about 1/2 the loft will be floored - lots of storage space!!) I was rather impressed with the amount of stuff I managed to bin/recycle/give to charity!

New Year celebrations were at Dave and Joey's for a 'night at the races.' It was the chance to dress up a bit posh and try to win some fake money on the horses. I was rubbish and lost lots - not as much as Putin though!! Dave and Lou seemed very good at picking winners and had lots of payouts! After midnight we all flagged a bit and ended up watching a programme about annoying celebrities...at about 2.30-3ish we came home, but needing to see who the number one annoying celeb was we had to watch the rest of the show and got to bed at 4.30am!!



Since New Year it is back to work :o( Finding the dark mornings particularly pants and really not wanting to get out of bed at all! On Saturday Chudders and I helped the Po's with their house. The main job was Carl helping Ross with the loft insulation and boarding up (as he is a pro now!) while Lou and I made trips to the tip, destroyed the kitchen (I love hammers!!) and constructed a fireplace...among other things. My fave moments were Lou and I dancing in spaces where cupboards had been, CP trying to pull a unit off the wall but only a bit came off in his hand - luckily I caught him, and Mr Po looking rather like a Teletubby (Po!) Then it was a curry, Green Wing Special (Boo Hoo! No more Green Wing!) and some Peep Show before going home to bed!