Did I mention…

My feet?

Well I’m going to, as this is my moaning place, and my feet often cause me to moan - and I don't mean in a good way!

I think my problems started last summer, and I think it may have coincided with me putting on weight - which I still have – but am working on.

At first it was just like the normal ‘long day’ foot ache, except it was happening on days when I hadn’t been doing a lot of walking. On days when I did walk a lot, by evening I could barely stumble across the room. And it was just as bad when I awoke in the mornings, sometimes worse.

In fact the only time my feet didn’t/don’t hurt is when I’ve ‘got going’ – and I MUSTN’T stop; as when I do stop, back comes the pain, twofold.

It only took me until Christmas (and our then impending holiday) to realise this wasn’t going to go away on its own. So I went to the doc, who sent me to another doc who specialises in feet.

I was there all of ten minutes. He had me walking up and down his hall, and looked at my feet (didn’t even touch them! Which was a bloody shame as a foot rub has become one of my all time favourite things! And for what he charged, you’d think he could have…)

Turns out I’ve got some sort of fallen arches thing, and I bruise my feet with every step, this in turn produces some sort of protective build up of fluid, which happens every time I stop walking, and so when I start walking again my feet scream at all the nerves. Or something like that, whatever it is – IT BLOODY HURTS.

But not to worry, as he gave me some arch supports (which make me feel like an old lady!) and for a while these have helped. But even with these supports, my feet are now, AGAIN, worse than ever (and I do wear my granny supports all the time, and never walk around in bare feet any more)

Today I even tried wearing boots with heals (yes I know I just said I wear the supports ALL the time, but today was the first day I didn’t, as I couldn’t get them in the boots with my poor swollen feet) in the hope that raising my heals might provide some relief.

Well, as you can tell by the simple fact that you’re reading this, my bright idea didn’t work, and I’m not even sure I’ll be able to get these boots off as they now feel ridiculously tight.

Anyways I’m not to tell you about my big toe nails, as you might be eating, but it’s safe to say they’re paying a price for whatever is wrong.

This is daft, I hate it. I’m only middle aged! Dear heavens what will my feet be like in thirty years?

Don’t answer that!

P.s. the doc dismissed my idea that my weight was playing a part in this – said I wasn’t overweight by medical standards – at least that cheered me up! Though I still think it is partly to blame – maybe my feet just aren’t used to this much pressure ;)

Alive, kicking, and I’m a pedant!

And as it was a teacher telling me so, then it must be so!

I suppose I should be glad that my son’s Catholic school is even teaching the formation of the solar system, on the other, if you’re going to teach kids something, then shouldn’t it be taught correctly?

This all started when I helped P revise for his water cycle test, you know how it happens – you start glancing through their books, and suddenly you read something like:

‘The moon bumped crashed into the Earth, and that’s why the Earth tilts on its axis.’

The correction of ‘bumped’ to ‘crashed’ is the teacher’s, followed by a big tick. Anyways, I’m reading this paragraph thinking ‘WTF? When?! Was I asleep?’

I must have been asleep at some point, because I studied Planetary Science and I sure as heck don’t recall the moon ever bumping, or crashing, into the Earth.

P’s science teacher assured me it did though.

I stood there seriously questioning the stuff I’d been taught, after all, this man is a teacher – and they must know what they’re talking about, right? So I explained I'd been taught the Giant Impact Theory for the moon's formation, and thought it still stood, and wasn't aware the moon had ever come back and given us a shove. To my surprise he agreed and said that that was what the boys would be taught in Seniors.

So I queried why they were teaching my son this other gibberish stuff right now, and apparently kids can’t understand the same things as us, and this is the let’s make it up as we go along simplified version, oh and I’m being pedantic for brining this up.

Seriously, he said that.

Not sure how amused I am about this, am I really being pedantic?

So, here we are again!

I had some great intentions, after all it made sense to write a diary of our holiday so that I wouldn’t forget too soon. But between being on dial up, and the sheer exhaustion of a Disney holiday, it didn’t happen.

But you already knew that.

And now the holiday’s over. In fact we’ve been home a week. Doesn’t feel like it, I can still close my eyes and almost imagine I’m there. And I want to be there, it was fantastic.

Not the Disney stuff so much (though that was great) but the warmth, the prices, the choice, the food, the nail bars, the trashy mags, the tv, the smells, the pool, the heavenly mattress on our bed, the car, the excitement, the lack of calls & emails, Dunkin Doughnuts, and Reece’s peanut butter cups.

And here’re some things I discovered on holiday:

Tour Guide Mike is invaluable for Disney Holidays
Being anal is bloody useful for following Mike’s tips
Other people don’t appear to utilise the fastpass to its full potential
I prefer Universal
Wet n’ Wild is a let down
Discovery Cove isn’t
US cars run on one type of fuel (though with varying quality)
They don’t even sell diesel at fuel stations!
Cigarettes are cheap as chips
Food is cheaper than chips
Including eating out
Chips are crisps
If you want chips, ask for fries
Confused? It’s part of the fun!


And more for my memory than thinking you might care, here’s what we did:

Thursday 13th December: recovered from flights – they were delayed so we reached the villa at midnight (or five in the morning as far as our bodies were concerned!) And we did manage a 5 hour shopping trip to Walmart. Where we lost S – and that’s no joke, though with quarter of an hour and five shop assistants we finally found her wandering the aisles (exactly what we’d said NOT to do!!)

Friday 14th: Magic Kingdom, rides completed by midday (thanks to Tour Guide Mike!) crowds drove us out by 2

Saturday 15th: Lazy morning followed with Premium Outlets (didn’t buy a thing as Premium is still premium, and who needs it with Walmart down the road?!)

Sunday 16th: Sat through an early morning storm and bemoaned the temperature drop, Ripley's Believe It Or Not came in useful. Walmart again this afternoon!

Monday 17th: Epcot, again rides completed by lunch, so went back on the trip to Mars three times! I adore that ride – it’s the closest I’ll ever get to space!! The kids discovered you don’t need to be greedy in America – a double scoop ice-cream is too much to finish, hahaha!

Tuesday 17th: Animal Kingdom, P discovers he adores roller-coasters, and the BH doesn’t (I already knew I don’t!) Man then dies riding Everest, doesn’t put P off, but did play on the BH’s mind.

Wednesday 18th: Universal! Bought the express pass as I had no intention of starting to queue for rides – worked brilliantly! Managed both Universal parks in one day (admittedly we were there 13 hours) Spiderman’s the best IMO, Hulk’s the best in P’s, or the Duelling Dragons, he can’t decide; all wonderful. Oh and I must mention Donkey!

You know, Donkey Trusty Steed, from Shrek, usually played by Eddie Murphy, but I have no idea who was playing the one at Universal, he sounded the same but I might have thought it was completely animated if it wasn’t for the conversation he had with P!

To set the scene: the kids race out of 4D Shrek and see a sign telling them to ‘Come this way’ if they wish to meet Donkey and Shrek – which of course they want to do. But the characters weren’t quite out (it was still early) and so they waited, which was okay on this occassion as they were at the front of what became a long queue. Finally Donkey and Shrek appear and my four darlings rush up to get their autographs and pictures taken.

Donkey: So where you kids from?

Chorus: Jersey!

Donkey: Really? That don’t sound like a Jersey accent!

P: Not New Jersey, Old, the original!

Donkey: Old Jersey? Never heard of it!

P: It’s not called Old Jersey, just Jersey.

Donkey (voice rising): I called it Old Jersey ‘cause you said it was Old Jersey!

P (narrowing his eyes): It’s just Jersey!

Donkey: Ok. So is that like New Jersey?

P: No!

Donkey: How’d you know? You been to New Jersey?

P: No.

Donkey: So how’d you know?

P (glaring)

Donkey (voice has risen to point where everyone is watching): So how’d you know New Jersey isn’t like Jersey?!

P (silent)

Donkey: Come on kid, answer the question!

P (eyes narrowed to slits): Don’t talk to me!

P promptly turns his glare towards the camera, and notices the line of people watching and grinning.

Donkey (voice just as loud as could be): Don’t talk to you? Don’t talk to you?! You came to me! Hey kid, don’t you turn you back on me when I asked you a question! Admit it, you don’t know!

P (red faced but starting to see the funny side, faces his nemesis): I do know! It’s NOT like New Jersey!

Donkey: If you haven’t been there, how do you know that?

P (in a stroke of genius. Or not): Wikipedia!

Donkey (with a shrill voice breaking into laughter): Wikipedia? WIKIPEDIA!! Oh kid, you gotta a lot to learn!

By this time people our ‘go’ had long gone, and though people were obviously amused to watch the banter, I hurried P along before I wet myself from giggling so hard! with Donkey muttering curses about Wikipedia as we left!

Guess you had to be there, but it still makes me giggle.


(See how red the boy is!)



Right, my time’s up for today, and I’ve bored you long enough. For today.

Guess what…

Everyone’s being so damn nice at the moment! And when I say ‘damn’ I don’t mean it with a hint sarcasm – I truly feel that people are being so much more helpful and thoughtful than I usually see. Or maybe I don't usually pay enough attention…

So what has caused this bubble of warmth to grow?

Well, it’s mostly little things like get a dentists appointment within hours of cracking my tooth on Monday (must stop grinding them, the dentist might be super helpful, but she ain’t cheap!)

Reeve was also in pain when he came out of school on Monday, so much so that I rushed him up to the doctors – they waved us straight in (it can sometimes take three weeks to get an appointment!)

Then the boiler started pouring out black smoke (who’d think at 2 years old, the thing would need servicing?!), again, even though it’s a busy time of year and I haven’t used them before, a boiler maintenance chap rushed around and made sure we had heating. Definitely not my usual experience with plumbers (actually, are boiler maintenance men plumbers? Who knows! Who cares, he fixed it!) The bill was also quick to arrive – but heck, we spent one night without heating, and it was worth the cost!

On Wednesday my girlfriends arranged a birthday gift for me – a trip to the acupuncturist! That may not sound like everyone’s cup of tea, but those needles really do help de-stress me, and my mates remembered me telling them – aren’t they wonderful friends?!

On Thursday I saw Cass for our usual cuppa – and she’s got me a gift too! Now I’ve been great mates with Cass since school and we don’t do pressies for each other (just the kids on birthdays) – but she surprised me, though told me to calm down when I bubbled with excitement ;) I don’t know what it is yet, as it’s not my birthday until tomorrow, but just the fact that she remembered and went out of her way to do that, makes me glow.

And then there was yesterday! My sweetheart boss and his wife! Wow they are good to me. Last month they paid for me to go shopping in Southampton for the day (lunch included!), and then yesterday they handed me an envelope full of dollars for our holidays! I was damn near speechless, almost still am!! I mean, if I worked full time in some big organisation I might almost ‘expect’ these bonuses, but not when you work part-time for a small business. I can’t express how touched I am.

I showed the BH the envelope last night, and told him I’d given my boss a big hug and kiss (it’s alright, his wife was right there and also received a hug!) – you know what the BH said? He said for that kind of cash, he’d expect at least a blow-job. Ahem.

Last but not least, I'm getting a new mobile for my birthday, which I purchased on eBay. It arrived - very nice - but the plug was some two pin thing. I contacted the seller asking if he sold adaptors, or if not, could he please tell me if the phone was from China or the US (so I find the correct adaptor). He came back with an apology, and a promise to pop one in the post today! How often does that happen whether you're buying from a shop, let alone eBay?! What a super chap.

So here I am, feeling downright grateful for the people in my life. I’m very lucky. And it's nice feeling like this :)

You might think...

You might think that after being silent for the entire month of Nano, that maybe I had actually done some writing, but no, I didn’t write a word, and I’m a bit bloody surprised November’s about to end too!

Haven’t been up to a lot, but then, I’ve also been so busy I feel like I’ve barely sat down. Guess it must be all that fun I’m having.

Not a lot is new with me, but that’s the joy of kids – when your own life fades into monotony, theirs is a ball!

R’s had meetings about a school ski trip he’s going on in February (lucky little bugger!), he’s also got detention tomorrow (after school, which means the rest of us do too, as we’ll be sitting outside, counting the mind-numbing minutes, one-by-one. And probably seeking out any public loos, if S and J are on form).Thankfully the detention wasn’t for beating anyone up (he saves that habit for his siblings!), but because the dog ate his homework. Not that we actually know that, it could just as easily have been his sisters coloured it in, and then binned it – who knows? At least I know he did do it, having helped him.

Also providing some high life are my parents, who are back from Africa tomorrow and want to see us immediately. Oh goody, guess dinner will be a late one.

J’s got nits, AGAIN. I don’t even have the energy to swear about it this time. And she keeps telling me off, which was kind of funny at first but is fast wearing thin. Today it was because I forgot her brioche from the supermarket, pity the man who marries her. For his sake, I hope he’s rich.

P is still P, my special little man so full of contradictions. He’s wearing me out at the moment. On the one hand he got his SAT results and got 4th best in his school year (I gaped like a fish with the shock of it!!), on the other he can’t have a conversation with anyone without starting a row or trying to scare them. And he’s still practicing his Evil Genius laugh, seems to have got the rest of his act down to pat!

S is another funny one. After starting the term by adding to my grey hair problem, she’s just finishing up her month as her class’s ‘Pupil of the Month’. Go figure. Her teacher recons you wouldn’t know she was the same child. But I know she still the same child! In fact her and P are ‘bestest’ friends now, why am I not surprised?!

And I’m out to lunch tomorrow which will be fun. I think. It’s with twenty of the moms from school, and several offspring. No idea how the numbers grew to that, I swear it was three if us when the plan began. Never mind, it’s sure to be entertaining as we’re throwing in a dog walk to start the event (when it’s not the bosses/kids/Better Halves making demands on us, it’s the bloody dogs!) And we’ve got a dad coming too, brave man. He’s one of the ‘new generation’ househusbands – except this one does it really well ;)

Here’s a sugarpaste character of him and his brood:

This was a Christening cake I made this past weekend. I also had a birthday cake, but didn’t bother photographing it as it was another fairy toadstool, and I think I have at least three posted already.

But I did made a Princess Castle the week before:


And the week before that, it was a Pirate cake:


The week before the pirate cake, I also made another pirate cake, but I won’t bother posting a photo, as you only want to see so many pirate cakes ;o)

As you can see, cakes are sill taking up a lot of my time…which has just reminded me, I should be baking cupcakes for the Christmas Bazaar by now!

Secrets!

We tried, we really did. But the BH was losing interest in this holiday, and as I had scrapbooks and bits ready (and didn’t want to be alone in my excitement!), we had to tell them.

But I think I made a mistake opening with ‘We can’t afford Christmas,’ and adding that ‘We’re not eating Christmas dinner with Nana and Papa this year,’ went down like a lead balloon with P was near crying, J and R and was already sulking, and poor S was totally confused. Bringing out the scrapbooks wrapped in Christmas paper helped with the 3 youngest, but by then R was so deep in his funk to care that more presents were arriving. A glimmer of a smile broke from R when P unwrapped an aeroplane and we told R to work it out!

It took just seconds to realize it meant Disney, but another couple of minutes for them to grasp we didn’t mean just EuroDisney, but the big one, in Florida.

The girls bounced about telling us how much they loved us (you’d think they already did, but apparently now ‘They really mean it’!) P was too stunned to do anything, and R sulked because he didn’t believe us (sometimes I wonder if that boy has actually been raised by *me*, I mean, would I joke about something like this?!!!!!)

Of course within the hour R had perked up and was driving us mad with endless questions, and I can tell P is bubbling as he sits staring at the pictures of the villa we’re renting (and yes, they’re already arguing over who gets which room), the girls seem to forget for a few minutes at a time then suddenly remember and burst in a High School Musical song!

I seriously doubt they’ll do a lick of work at school this week.

One of those weeks

It started with P at the dentist at 8:30 on Monday. We arrived, we waited, we were told our dentist was off sick, so we waited a bit longer to be fitted in with another dentist; but that dentist scratched her head, doubled checked P’s details, then announced she couldn’t find the teeth that supposedly needed filling, and sent us on our way.

Monday afternoon was even less fun when I went to get S from class, and her teacher (Miss B) asked for a word with me. I wasn’t prepared for what she had to say. Never in all the years of being a mom have I had a teacher tell me she’s ‘fed up to the back teeth’ with one of my off-spring (and I guess she really must be – to actually say it!). Apparently S does ‘nothing’, and her standard answer to everything is ‘I don’t know’. When I told Miss B I wasn’t surprised, as that’s what S is like at home too, Miss B told I must have the patience of a saint to put up with S, and unfortunately Miss B doesn’t.

After reading the riot act at my 5 year old, Tuesday (at least) was a good day.

Unfortunately by Wednesday S had landed herself in front of the Headmistress, for scribbling all over the floor when she was supposed to be listening to a story. Again, I’m not too surprised, as her drawing habits also aren't new to us, but I am mortified S is behaving this way out of the home. The others don't let me down like this.

Of course what S doesn’t know, and what really made me cringe, was that on Wednesday morning (just two hours before S’s misdemeanour) I’d been in the same Headmistress’s office begging time off for my little darling.

The following day had me in another Headteacher’s office, this time P’s. This had nothing to do with the time off, but a story my son had told me about an ‘Emo’ he’d seen in the seniors’ toilets. Not being 100% sure what an Emo was (I was thinking ‘baby Goth’) I asked him, and found out he considers it someone who wants to kill himself, and when I asked him why he thought that, I really sat up straight when he told me the knife and blood were good hints!

Being that I couldn’t live with myself if this lad did something awful to himself, I was at the school first thing requesting they look into it. The bizarre thing was, at least four boys had been there, and though a couple had told their parents, no one had bothered telling the school. Later, one mom did call me to say the school had been in contact (in case any of the boys were traumatised by what they had seen) and that she now felt awful that she hadn’t questioned her son properly and reported it.

The end result was P missing a lesson as they went to find the boy in question. So far P hasn’t been beaten up, so here’s hoping the lad is happy people know and are doing their best to give him some help.

Also on Thursday, J got ill. At first it was a headache, but by evening her throat had flared up and she was wheezing, a long night of fever followed. She’s still really poorly, and at 5:30 this morning added throwing up to her list of aliments. The BH took her to the doctor, but he told us to wait it out with plenty of rest. Still cost us £25 mind.

On the up side, I haven’t had any running around this afternoon (as J’s the one with activities on Sat pm), and S was fine about going to gym without J this morning. In fact whilst S was there, I popped off to meet the woman who’s having Kobi over Christmas.

She was lovely, and her house was pretty, which is wonderful for the mutts as she doesn’t lock them in kennels.

I’m a tad worried.

Kobi’s still as mad as a March hare, and I wouldn’t be daft enough to give him the run of my own house, let alone…

A part of me giggles at the thought I’ll be thousands of miles away. Another part is terrified; will she charge me for the damage?

And dear god did that dog piss me off today. He’s taken to roaming, which he isn’t supposed to do because we cut his balls off! ‘Roaming’ isn’t really a good description, from what I gather from people kind enough to recognise and return him, he’s chasing cars, geese, ducks, and bicycles, in fact anything that passes. I wish we could enclose our garden, but it’d taken thousands of pounds, and what pounds we have are being spent on the holiday.

And speaking of money and gardens, our grand Beach tree which sits at the entrance to our driveway has been condemned, due to some fungi rotting its roots. Bad enough we lose the privacy this tree provides, not to mention a 70 year old tree having to come down when it doesn’t -yet- look ill, but adding insult to injury is the cost of removal, £950!!! I mean, how can the tree fellers be serious?! I’m bloody tempted to let the thing come down on its own, and offer it as firewood to whoever would remove it.

And I would, except our insurance is invalid now we know the roots are rotten. Damn me and my big mouth, telling a tree surgeon about the impressive fungi we have growing.

On top of all this, are the secret holiday plans. The deposit’s been sent for the villa (though as Royal Mail are on strike, I needn’t have rushed that!), and I’ve been scourging the web for the cheapest/most comprehensive deal for attraction tickets. I can’t wait.

I’ve also been thinking about Nano. I really want to do it and make it 3 years in a row, but when I stop and seriously think about when, then I don’t think I’ll manage it. And I don’t want to fail at it. What about you lot, any of you thinking of giving it a go?