And men think women are complicated?

Miniature Earth

Whilst browsing yesterday I came across this website (you need to click on your language of choice for the video to play). It was very interesting, not least because I've recently bought the book If The World Were A Village for the children.

Both it and the video can really bring home how privileged some people are, including myself. I have to say the video is a little schmaltzy and probably made for the American market (as in my opinion it seems to be targeted at that part of the western world) but definitely brings home in a very visual way the world (or should I say village?) in which we live.

Update and general catch up

Life has moved on since my last post in more ways than one.

Firstly my mum turned 60! Yes, 60 and did we, by which I mean my whole family, let her forget it? No! We've been building up to it for months now and at every possible opportunity have managed to mention 'bus pass/seniors discounts/heating allowance etc.' in almost every conversation. Even Katarina got in on the act and has been pulling grandma's leg unmercifully - she's obviously been well trained.

My step-dad, Richard (yes, another one), planned a surprise meal for various family and friends. Actually surprise is a bit of an overstatement because mum knew something was going on but not the actual where or who so it wasn't that much of a surprise. I don't know about anyone else but I had a great time. It was so nice to meet up with family members I either haven't seen in a long time and in one case haven't even met yet. My cousin Kurt and his wife Helen each fall in to one of the previous categories. Richard (my Richard) and I really enjoyed talking with them and Helen is so lovely. Kurt's not so bad either

I've finally got around to uploading the photos from the dinner party and, putting on my best "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" voice, they are to be viewed in a nostalgic 1950s humourous style (for those of you with trombone arms: just click on the little pictures for the big picture!):

Scrapbooking wise I've not been very pro-active. I did complete one LO which I have been trying to complete for months. You know what I'm talking about. The LO you take to each and every crop, pull out of your tote, shuffle the photos around on the page, play with the embellishments and then end up putting away saying "I'll have a look at it another time!". The same LO that then stays in your crop bag untouched until the next cropping day where you take it out and repeat the whole process again. And again. It's not that it was a hard photo to scrap. It's not. I mean look at that photo. It's just that I really wanted to do justice to it, not over crowd and take any focus away from it. I also was adamant that I wanted to use this particular range of Christine Adolph paper as it is just so 'right' for the photo. I also knew that I wanted to use that quote too (from the movie To Have and Have Not). Anyway, I finally completed it and I'm really pleased with it too. It's my current favourite and will be until I do the next LO, LOL!

Life is settling back in to the school year routine. Noah is slowly settling down to school life. We have had a few incidences where he, shall we say, has physically shown his displeasure with children who either annoy or irritate him. But his teacher and I are teaching him other tools in which to handle himself on these occasions. I must admit to feeling a little guilty about sending him to school at such an early age and have asked myself whether or not I should have held him back, at least for this term, but apart from him needing to learn how to control his temper, academically he is more than ready. And most importantly he loves school, is desperate to learn how to read and spell and obviously isn't unhappy there as he is currently demanding to be allowed to stay at school for lunch. How can you explain this to a 'just 4' year old? His sisters take their lunches to school, why can't he? But he needs to only be going for half days at the moment, he is exhausted when I pick him up at lunch time. However, it is only for a little longer as after the October half term he will be staying until after lunch, still only half days, thankfully, but at least he will feel happier trotting off with his packed lunch with 'the sisters'.

I also applied for a job. I feel ready to get back in to the work force but am trying to avoid falling back on the old steady of accountancy. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it once but it wasn't a career path I chose. It chose me, I sort of just fell in to it and luckily happened to be quite good at it. But each and every time I've stopped work, due to popping out more children, I have promised myself that I wouldn't go back to it, that I'd do something I really wanted to do, not just take the easy option. However to be honest I don't think it would necessarily be the easy option now. I have been out of the work force for so long that I'm completely out of touch with the current tax/company rules and regulations and ought to go back to study in order to get a decent job. I would really have to be desperate to further a career in accounts to do this and quite frankly I'm not. Desperate that is! Unfortunately I heard yesterday that I didn't get the job I applied for. It was, apparently, a very close call but close calls do not get you the job. I would be lying if I said I wasn't really, really (and I mean really) disappointed, because I am but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes, isn't it?

Onwards and upwards, eh?

Finally, and I apologise for my verbal verbosity (is that an oxymoron?), I have restarted at the gym. Well I say restarted, I went twice last week and this week not once so... but it's a start... it's better than not having gone at all... and this week isn't over yet...

Oh, and I feel sure I owe someone a tag but I can't remember who tagged me and what the tag was, so if it was you then feel free to drop me a gentle reminder.

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

And I hate waiting. I'm so not a patient sort of person. Actually, in some aspects of life I am but when it comes to something I really, really want, then no! No patience whatsoever.

And at the moment there are quite a few things I'm really wanting and am waiting on so my patience is being pushed to the limits. It's making me really antsy and full of nervous energy. Good job I decided to restart at the gym this week...

Busy, busy, busy

Busy getting to grips with html as I've decided to move away from blogdom and move in to having my own website. Not sure how it will work but I have bought my own domain name and now just need to get sort out hosting and put something together.

It's not that I don't like blogging but more that I can't seem to get my blog to do what I want it to do. A website will give me more flexibility in creating something more in line with what's in my mind (scary stuff really!). The down side is that I'm not sure I can incorporate the capability for readers to leave comments but as I don't get many comments (not a fish for more I can assure you) I'm not really that bothered about having that function.

I will continue posting here until I'm ready to switch over but you won't need to worry about a change of web address as I'm pretty sure I can set up something within typepad that will automatically map to my new site.

We'll see....

Back to school

I've just realised that I haven't blogged about this. I've obviously been avoiding the issue. I can't believe that Noah is going to school.

His first day was last Wednesday (6th September). Doesn't he look cute? I was building myself up to having to drive him to school, Richard coming with me for emotional support, when Noah announces that no, I'm not driving him to school, he's going on the bus with 'the sisters' (his collective name for Katarina and Harriet). What?!?!?! I don't think so.
Because of where we live and where the catchment area school is (in a neighbouring village) it has been deemed too far and not safe for the children on our estate to walk to school. North Wiltshire District Council therefore provide a couple of mini buses which take the children to and from school. Which is great, at least most of the time. The downside is that I don't get the opportunity to chat at the gates with other parents, perhaps a good thing, and likewise don't get the opportunity to speak with the childrens teachers. I applied for Noah to have a place on the bus but didn't intend for him to actually start to take the bus until much later in the year, perhaps not even until he starts school full time in January. He obviously had other ideas. He is 'grown up' now, or so I'm informed, and should catch the bus.

This was a real conundrum for me. I've always maintained that I am raising adults, I am not raising children. I want my children to grow up in to caring, independent adults, who, even though they know we will always be there for them, won't be dependent on their parents to be able to make their way in life. Probably not a popular view of what a parent should do but it's ours. So on one hand if he feels he wants and is happy to take the bus then he should. On the other hand he is only just 4, he is the youngest in his class, in fact the whole school, and he's my baby. I'm not ready for him to grow up.

But if Noah feels confident and independant enough to catch the bus,
should I stop him? Is it right to stop him? I decided it wasn't, put
him on the bus with 'the sisters' and then promptly jumped in to the
car and followed the bus up to school! Besides wanting to make sure he
was really alright, I am a scrapbooker and I needed those lining up in
the playground shots.

He was fine. Why wouldn't he be? Katarina is a great big sister. She made sure he was buckled up on the bus, sat by him and helped him get off the other end. I'm glad we drove up though, and not only because of the look on his face when the bus pulled up in school, but because I wouldn't have wanted to miss this milestone. He was a little upset, bless him, and looked quite worried but just as he was getting off the bus he saw myself and Richard and his little face lit up. He was still feeling the enormity of it when it came time to line up in the playground.

The school decided this year to stagger the intake, 10 children on Wednesday, a different 10 children in on Thursday and another 10 children on Friday. It wasn't until the following Monday that all the children attended.

And Noah? He's still insisting on going on the bus. I've decided, after a few days of following in the car, that if he's happy with this then so should I be. Continuing to drive up to the school by myself is more about my feelings, my insecurities than it is about his. And so I've stopped. It's the beginnings of loosening the apron strings. My children are growing up and they are independent, they are confident (mostly, Harriet can sometimes be the exception) and that is ultimately how it should be.

I'll finish with a few more pictures of all the children, on the drive of how house before on the first day.

Dentists and retail therapy

Related? In the normal world? Probably not. In mine? Definitely.

I had to go to the dentists this morning. Uggggh. Just some repair work to a filling but I needed an injection. Uggggh again. So I'm sitting at the pc, feeling sorry for myself, my baby's now in school, the whole right side of my face, from just below my eye down to my chin, is completely numb and I'm dribbling coffee all over myself, and I suddenly (!) find myself dropping things in to an online basket.

Ahhhhh. Retail therapy. There's nothing quite like it. Want to know what I bought? Hmmm? Hmmm?

		Two sets of gorgeous Autumn Leaves stamps. I'm loving the calendar set in particular but the build-a-flower set looks pretty good too.
Some fabulous rub-ons, because, as we all know, a girl can never have enough rub-ons! These are all by American Crafts and I have ordered the Jack Jr Mini-Marks in both black and white and have splashed out and bought both sets of the Mini-Marks colour flourishes.
		And some great looking overlays. These were really popular a couple of years back and then seemed to go out of fashion but I am loving these ones by Autumn Leaves (liking most of what is coming out of them lately). How simple will it be to create funky looking LOs with these?

And that's about it, although, between you and I, something rather strange seems to be happening. When I logged back on to the site it seems as if, bizarrely, another basket is filling itself up but this time with some very scrummy 7Gypsies stuff. How can this be happening?

*** Edited to add: For the sake of freedom of information, and because it seems people want to know where to buy these items, I mean which site to avoid, I should tell you that Two Peas In A Bucket should be avoided at all costs! ***

An interesting tag part 2

OK, I have a few minutes before the girls are home from their first day of school (more on this tomorrow) so I thought I'd put my mind to Gillie's recent tag which is a surprisingly non-scrapping related one.

I like it. It's interesting and on first glance seems to be purely blog related. So onward...

1) Are you happy/satisfied with your blog and with its content and look?

First, the look. In a word? No. Not really. I mean it's OK and I am in the process of re-decorating it, giving it a fresh lick of paint but there are some things I'd really like to do that I just don't seem to be able to work out. Partly because I have yet to teach myself some html but also I suppose, if I'm honest, because I'm just so tired that unless I can make it do what I want it to do at the click of a button, then I just can't be bothered. At the moment, anyway. As for content. Yes. Mostly. Although I would like to 'roll up' my lists (I have a vague idea of what this is but am not 100% sure!), perhaps add another page or 2 so my main page doesn't look so cluttered. I don't like reading other blogs where there is just too much stuff going on either so really don't like it on my own.

2) Does your family know about your blog?

Yes although only my sister reads it. For my mum it's a bit like Antarctica. She knows it's there but has no desire to visit it. This is good because I can moan about her and she doesn't know. LOL. Oh, but I suppose my husband and eldest daughter are family, aren't they? And they read it too (which means I have to watch my language just in case Kat is looking...).

3) Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog or do you just consider it a private thing?

No I don't feel embarrassed about my friends knowing about my blog. It's why I started blogging in the first place, so they could keep up to date with what was going on with us all in Canada. Although I must admit to feeling embarrassed about blogging about certain subjects. My faith for instance. But if I'd wanted a private blog I either wouldn't have made my blog public, and therefore wouldn't be doing this tag in the first place, or I would have just kept a journal on my pc.

4) Did blogs cause positive changes in your thoughts?

No. Not much more I can say about that really.

5) Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or do you love to go and discover more yourself?

I love blog hopping, generally by clicking on links in other blogs and then other links from those blogs and so on... I obviously like to read my friends blogs and there are a few blogs I read regularly. If I find a blog I really like whilst browsing then I will add it to my list of blogs, watch it for a few days/weeks and if it doesn't live up to it's original expectation it then gets the chop. Ruthless, aren't I?

6) What does visitor counter mean to you? Do you care about putting it on your blog?

Hmm, yes and no but only because it's interesting to know if anyone out there is actually reading my blog. I've currently got a counter but am thinking of removing it when I revamp things. I do, however, like the NeoCounter thingy as I find it fascinating to see where in the world the people who log on come from, currently 36 countries!

7) Did you try to imagine your fellow blogger and give them real pictures?

I'm assuming a real picture of myself? My personality etc.? No. Didn't consider my fellow bloggers at all. I did, as I've said, consider my family and friends and I obviously didn't need to imagine them! And they know me so I can only be myself.

8) Admit.  Do you think there is a real benefit in blogging?

If you are talking about deep issues here, like, does blogging save the world? Then no but if you mean in a surface sort of way then yes, I do. Personally I find it quite therapeutic but I suppose a journal would provide the same sort of therapy. LOL. But it is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends all around the world so in that respect it closes the distance between us, especially now at this time when travel is so much more accessible and family members are often on different sides of the world.

9) Do you think that bloggers' society is isolated from the real world or it interacts with events?

It obviously interacts with the real world and current events. You only have to look at all the blogs out there and at some point someone will be talking about current political, social and popular events.

10) Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it's a normal thing?

I'd be lying if I said criticism didn't annoy me. I don't think anyone likes criticism. But if it's constructive then it is worth hearing. It may not change whatever is being criticised but I will always take it on board - and then discard it!

11) Do you fear some of the political blogs?

No, because I don't read any. Shock! Horror! I'm such a pleb. And obviously very shallow with only a small amount of brain.

12) Were you shocked by the arrest of some bloggers?

I would have been, if I'd heard about the arrest of some bloggers. On what grounds were they arrested?

13) Do you think about what will happen to your blog after you die?

Never. Who cares? I won't.

14) What do you like to hear?  What song would you link to your blog?

I don't like to hear anything when I log on to a blog. It irritates me, not because I may not like their taste in music but I do begrudge being forced to listen to the same track over and over and over again. And I also have a habit of opening blogs in tabs and if more than one blog has a song linked in it then I get this awful cacophony of sound which is enough to make me close down all the windows and go and do something else (more useful) instead. {Sorry started to head off in to the realms of 'Why Don't You?' a TV program from my youth that for some bizarre reason I really liked}. I have in the past been guilty of doing just this but stopped because if it annoys me when I look at blogs it will annoy others looking at mine. Lately I have taken to just putting in little player buttons so the choice is theirs to listen - or not.

Phew! Finished. Interesting though and made me think about things that I don't normally. My brain is now tired so that's all for today, folks...

Oh, but I forgot (see, small brain) I'm supposed to tag 5 other bloggers. Do I know 5 other bloggers, that's the question? I'll give this some thought and choose my victims at some future point that I haven't decided upon yet.

IF, this sounds like the sort of tag you'd like to receive then just let me know and, well, I'll tag you!

*** Edited now to add that due to some of the comments to this post I am now going to tag:

• Jules



• Chrissie

I'll think of another few as the week progresses so warned! ***

An interesting tag part 1

And I'm meaning for the word tag to be understood in both its English and German
meaning.

Tag = Day

And yesterday was an interesting day. Not interesting good but interesting
bad. I had an awful day mostly due to hormones and 'women’s problems' but then
decided I could no longer put off the dreaded trip in to town to buy shoes and
trainers and all the other little things needed for school on Wednesday.

Big mistake. Or should I say mistakes?

Mistake number 1 was going in to town. Full stop.
Mistake number 2, forgetting to charge my cell phone and not finding out
until I was in town and unable to make any phone calls.
Mistake number 3, trying to use my visa card. I should have realised
that the new pin number I requested from my bank, which arrived a few days ago,
wouldn't work with my card. That it was actually for Richards’s card. Not that
he requested a new pin, or in fact that the pin that did arrive was actually
still his old pin.
Mistake number 4, trying to phone the bank to get things sorted upon
which I discovered mistake number 2 and therefore had to resort to using public
telephones! How much have they gone up in cost? Two phone calls and £2.50
lighter in my purse later only to be told that they issued the pin number
incorrectly and would have to order me another one. "Hello?" - this
is me, just as the pips were going and no more change in my purse to continue
the conversation, trying to find out if they actually are going to order a new
pin, for the correct card?
Mistake number 5, thinking that 4:15pm is a good time to go to Clarks and get the shoes and trainers
needed for 3 children. Cue a three quarters of an hour wait, a child, not mine
I hasten to add, adding screaming/tantrum sound effects for 1/2 hour of that
wait (why, oh why did it take his father over 1/2 hour to come to the
conclusion that seeing as this particular child didn't need shoes perhaps he
could take said child outside for a bit?). Suffice it to say by the time I
actually got served, had bought shoes that none of my children particularly
liked, the shop had officially been closed for over 15 minutes and we had to
wait for the security gate to be lifted in order to leave.
Mistake number 6, bribing my children earlier in the day with the
'treat' of having McDonalds for supper if they were good during our shopping
trip. The last thing I needed was a trip to McDonalds but a promise a promise,
or a bribe is a bribe.

I mellowed during the evening helped strongly by a couple of
fermented/distilled drinks.

Today has been better, if only slightly. Trying to find some quiet time and
prayer I was twice interrupted. First by Royal Mail, a nice interruption as it
brought my Ali
Edwards idea book, and the second time by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Both before
9am!

The day did get better and I managed to get in and out of town, with 3
children in tow, relatively unscathed and with all the necessary items returned
and/or bought. Phew. Roll on tomorrow...

I am an artist

Apparently. An encouraging artist to be precise.

I stumbled across a site today, whilst blog hopping (no idea if this term exists but it should), which, like many, many similar sites out there, assesses your personality type. However unlike the majority of those sites which just seem to skim the surface Personal DNA seems to delve a little deeper, not much LOL, but a little. And I also really like the interface, the way in which all the questions are asked and the different interactions there are to answer those questions. I particularly liked the little bucket things, reminded me a little of the question 'is the cup half full or half empty?'.

So I took the test. Well, you have to don't you? It is quite lengthy, 10 pages worth but fairly quick to whizz through and this is some of what it threw back 'About Me':

Your appreciation of beauty, ability to think abstractly, and innovativeness make you an ARTIST.

Never one to be tied to a particular way of doing things, you let your
imagination guide you in discovering different possibilities.

You would rather seek out new experiences than stick to your everyday habits, taking in as much of the world as possible.

Your eye for
beauty and your willingness to consider different perspectives make
your creative efforts interesting - even though you may not realize this
yourself.

You prefer to think about things before voicing your opinion, considering a wide, diverse range of options.

While there are forms and styles that you prefer, you tend to keep an open mind when it comes to your artistic preferences.

You are curious about things, interested in the "why" more than the “how.”

You have an active imagination that leads you express yourself in a distinct way.

You're not one to force your positions on a group, and you tend to be fair in evaluating different options.

You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well.

Generally, you
believe that you control your life, and that external forces only play
a limited role in determining what happens to you.

There is also a section on 'How You Relate To Others' and thoughts on how you can be different (do I want to be?).

And they also provide a very pretty coloured personal dna map which you can link to on your blog post (in either a block or bar format). If you hover over the various colour sections it will tell you which trait that colour represents. I like this, it's like my own little personal bar code!

Encouraging Artist

Antsy

That's how I'm feeling at the moment. I think it's because it's now September, which in some ways feels a little like January. It's a time for new beginnings, new starts, new school uniform, new shoes. And it makes me feel like I want a new start, a new life, a new way of doing things, a new organised home where I know where everything is and don't have to spend time hunting around for those elusive things that other members of this family just throw carelessly into some deep, dark abyss, never to be seen again (I know Harriet came home from school with 3 school cardigans. How many can I find? None!).

The children go back to school this week. What does this mean? For Katarina it means she is entering Year 6, an important year and, for her, an exciting one. She, and her classmates, are now the oldest in the school. They have to set an example, they take on more responsibility. She has her first real trip away. Away from home, away from her family, away from me. She's excited. I'm scared.

For Harriet it means that she is now entering Key Stage 2. She's not really sure what this means - neither do I. More work I'm sure for certain. I think she will see very little change but for Harriet any change, no matter how small, is a matter for worry, for fear, to be overcome. But she is getting better at doing this and I know she is looking forward to her new male teacher. It will be the first time she has been taught by a man but I know that she will do well. She has always related more with men than with women so it will be interesting to see how she does in the coming school year.

And for Noah? My baby? He is starting school for the first time. In 2 days. Noah starting school has more implications for me than it does for him I think. In some ways he still feels like such a baby. He is only just 4 (31st July), he still calls himself "mama's snuggle bug", he still needs help wiping his bum! But in other ways he is more than ready for school, probably because he has 2 older sisters and like any child with older siblings is always striving to do more than they are ready to do. I've noticed his vocabulary increasing over the last couple of months. Coming out with words and phrases he's never used before and using them in the proper context. Trying to spell. He raided my stash of scrapbooking stickers (yes, I do have stickers even if I don't use them anymore!) and stuck some on the living room door - 'M' 'E' 'M' 'S' - "look mummy, that says Mickey Mouse!".

So is he ready for school? Yes. Am I ready for him to go to school? No. But I have to let go. I better get used to it. It is just one of many times that I will have to let go over the years until my children become adults.

I'm still feeling antsy. I want to go through the house from top to bottom. I want to de-clutter (don't we all?), I want to have a Spring cling in Autumn, I want some 'me' time again (not something I'm getting much of at the moment with 3 children home all the time). I want to get started on our house, to stamp our own personality on to it, to redecorate, to be pulling together colour swatches and looking at curtains and cushions and paints.

I'm feeling... I'm feeling... I'm feeling like it's time to get started. Perhaps even get a job?

Hi, my name's Jools and

I'm a bad blogger. It's been 9 days since my last post.

LOL! I'm sorry. I am alive. I am busy. But I will be back. Just as soon as the children are back at school and aren't interupting me every 5 minutes - I mean, you'd think they could sort themselves out and cook their own supper, for example, don't you?