Good friends

Well yesterday was roasting hot here - 90 degrees in the shade! Too hot to do anything except...go to an airconditioned shopping mall of course! Oz had a blast - we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe - he couldn't eat he was so excited! I ate so much - HUGE portions in America. We met up with a couple of Terry and Kirsti's friends for lunch who I've met before - Carleen and Gina - which was great.

I bought 4 pairs of shoes at Torrid, plus this bag and a dress for $15. Lovely. Got a very funky swimsuit as well.

Oz had fun playing on the giant food in the food court and going on the carousel with Kirsti.

Then my friend Mary flew in from Texas with her daughter. Yes - from Texas - just for an overnight visit. I'm so blessed with my friends! So Tiff and I hung out with her and her daughter last night.

Today Poppy flew in from St Louis! I feel so loved! Clara Jane was an angel on the flight but we had a huge mix up at the airport. We were planning on hiring a car - I thought Poppy was booking it, she thought I had. Then there were major headaches trying to deal with it all so we ended up getting a taxi back to our house ($100 !!!!!) So we were housebound all afternoon and it was roasting hot. Mary and her daughter came over - so did Susan and Evelyn. Oz had slept very early in the day on the way to the airport so was an utter psycho from 5pm onwards....

But he ended the day with another bath - this time with the blonde Clara Jane. A player I tell you. A player indeed....

Lovely lazy sunday

What a wonderful day. Woke up to lovely sunshine and had breakfast outside - banana nut waffles and English breakfast tea. Perfect. Oscar slept really well last night - woke up briefly at 3.30 am (8.30am UK time) but I slept in the basement with him last night so I just quieted him down, told him it was still night time and he went back to sleep. Woke up at 7am. Hoorah!

After breakfast we played for a while and then went to one of my favourite places - Walmart! I love Wally World. Mooched and browsed and bought some presents for Rob. Oscar felt hot so we bought a thermometer (I'd not brought one) and he had a low grade fever - I thought he wasn't himself. It's also really hot here - 80 degrees - so we took a quick detour to Marshalls and bought him some sandals - Purple Tevas (I'd only brought trainers which need socks - not good in this weather) then headed home to the air conditioning and calpol.

He didn't eat lunch but went down for a good long nap. My stonecutter chum Tiffey came over in the meantime and she and I had a great gossip. Oz woke up at 3 and we had a chilled afternoon listening to Terry playing guitar (Oz was mesmerised) and playing in the garden.

This evening some friends of Kirsti and Terry who have become friends of mine, Hal and Susan, came over with their daughter Evelyn. Evelyn is nearly 6 months older than Oz - they met in October last year and fell in love....and here is the continuation of their love story!

Playing around.....having a few drinks...ending up naked together..

What can i say. My son the player....watch this space!

Had fried chicken for dinner from Chicken Shack - yum yum yum. Now watching a dvd of Sapphire and Steel - memory lane!!! I'm off to bed soon....more tomorrow!

Live From The Motor City….

I’m here! The flight was awful – totally full though I played the sympathy card and got to keep my buggy on board in an overhead locker. Oz only slept for about an hour, three hours into the flight. And then that was it. There was a lot of turbulence which meant he had to sit on my lap – not fun. He could have been a lot worse...but he could have been a lot better if you know what I mean! There were some other kids sitting next to us - a 4 yr old and a 16 month old - who had great fun playing with eachother and Oz - and we also managed to charm a little old lady who has 8 great grandchildren and kept cuddling Oscar and singing him lullabies in an effort to make him sleep - it didn't work but it was lovely of her.

So all in all – as bad as I thought it would be but hey – I’m here now. Oz was very excited –I thought he might sleep in the car on the way to K’s house but he was wide awake pointing out trucks and cars and singing The Grand Old Duke Of York!

K has got loads of really fab toys in for him – so he had about half an hour manically running around playing – not interested in eating. Then bath, bed and he went down without a murmur.

I am very sleepy – feel like I’m on a boat – a bit woozy. Am going to eat some crab Rangoon (dumplings from the local Chinese takeway that I got hooked on last visit) and then crash. Just wanted you to know I’m here, I survived the flight and can’t wait to get on with having fun.

Packing....or an idea to keep Oz quiet on the flight

Put him in the hold

Apologies for the interruption in service....

No excuse really! I'm really tired at the moment - have been since we got back from Center Parcs - that's what a holiday does for you!! Also really aware that I'm flying out to Detroit on Saturday so this week has been manic - in between teaching and trying to keep Oscar out of trouble, I've been packing, sorting, organising insurance - all those little things.

I'm dreading the flight but it's only 8.5 hours (eek!) and when I get there we're going to have a blast. Not only do I get to hang with my sister, Poppy is also flying in midweek and we're off to Frankenmuth to stay here which will be amazing. I'm getting my haircut, shopping a lot - it will be a blast.

I'm taking the laptop so will be online and blogging while I'm there.

So think of me around lunchtime on Saturday - trying to hold a wriggly ginger beast on my lap for takeoff! I'll update soon...

Tagged by Zoe

Haven't been tagged for ages! Cool! It's a hard one this as so many of my answers are similar to Zoe!! I had to think very hard and am not always original (that should have been my first line!)

I AM: tired, excited (about going to Detroit in a week), full of pasta

I WANT: A big box of chocolates and a small slave to rub my feet!

I WISH: for happiness for everyone. Naive maybe. But it's what I wish. And I wish I had a teleport machine too.

I HATE: Curry. It's the only thing I can think of!

I MISS: my sister who lives too far away (though I see her next week!) and all my friends who live far afield.

I FEAR: anything bad happening to people I love. And anything bad happening to me so Oscar is left without me.

I HEAR: Monkey Music songs going round and round in my head all the time! And Oscar shouting on the baby monitor "Hairy Cheese Beast" (which Rob has taught him) when he should be going to sleep

I WONDER: Whether seagulls fart....there was a discussion on the radio this morning that claimed they couldn't - and it's been on my mind all day - I'm deep me...

I REGRET: not making lifelong friends with David Walliams in the National Youth Theatre so he'd give me an acting job now!

I AM NOT: good at maths. Or tidy.

I DANCE: with Oscar - every day.

I SING: for a living.

I CRY: all the time! Especially at NSPCC adverts

I AM NOT ALWAYS: focused. Since having Oz I tend to get distracted...

I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: damn good banana bread. And chicken amore. And all sorts of food - I'm a better cook than I thought.

I WRITE: with a keyboard - I can type faster than I write so I rarely use a pen these days - isn't that sad....

I CONFUSE: myself. Trying to think about seagulls bums

I NEED: a giant hot bubble bath

I SHOULD: make my very tired husband some dinner instead of doing this

I START: at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start.

I FINISH: eventually!

I TAG: Jodi, Kel, Jess

Lovely lovely lovely weekend

Sorry I didn't post yesterday - was too tired! Exhausting but lovely weekend. Here's a potted history...

Got there on Friday about 3pm which was what I hoped for. I don't know what I was thinking when I packed but when I unpacked I had only brought 1 pair of shoes (thong sandals) and 3 tops - 2 of which were vest tops. Oscar had enough clothes for a week!! We spent Friday afternoon exploring - on the bikes - Oz LOVED being on the back of Rob's bike <-



Saturday morning Oz was in the creche - Rob and I had leisurely strolls round the village then hired a rowing boat for half an hour - the last time Rob rowed me round a lake was on our honeymoon so it was lovely. Though he was CRAP at it!! We swopped half way round the lake and I was much better than he was! Though we both had the problem of one arm stronger than the other so we went round in circles a lot. It was still a great laugh for both of us - can't imagine what it would have been like if Oz had been in the boat - pandemonium!

Saturday afternoon we were in the pool - so much fun - Oscar was in heaven - they provide these little yellow lifejackets so he was really bouyant - there's an area where there are light currents that sweep you round in a big circle - he loved it - held on to my fingertips and Rob's so was floating between us kicking his legs. I got a disposable underwater camera so will post pics of us in the pool when I've got it developed and scanned (probably next year then)




He went down like a dream every night - exhausted! And slept for 2 hours minimum each lunchtime - and we ended up sleeping too! I certainly did and on Sunday Rob did too. Very relaxing. All that bike riding and swimming knackers us out!


Sunday morning we went for a jazz brunch at the diner - it was so yummy - TONS of food and a live trad jazz band - Oscar was transfixed - first by the band,
then by the chocolate fountain - he ate 10 chocolate covered strawberries!


He fell asleep on the back of the bike on the way back to the villa! Bless!

Monday morning we were packed and out and in the pool by 10am! Met up with some friends who were starting their holiday there that day for lunch. Drove home in record time.

So a great family weekend break - highly recommend Centre Parcs to anyone. We last went when Oz was 4 months old and it was lovely but it was SO much better now he's old enough to appreciate it - there are lots of playgrounds and indoor play areas - he had such fun.

I'm so tired I'm off to bed early. Here's my fave pic of Oscar taken this weekend

Off to Centre Parks

so no goss from me until Monday evening. I've been madly packing and tidying all evening (cleaner comes tomorrow) so meant to post but now it's too late.

We seriously need this break - even if it's just the weekend. Rob is already in jubilant mood. Can't wait.

Speak soon - hope you all have lovely weekends. Thanks for all the fab comments over the last few stressy entries - do appreciate you all


xxx

You'll NEVER believe this

cos I almost don't. I've heard of deja vue but this is ridiculous. Wednesday - Monkey Music - lovely morning - sun shining - great lesson plan - playing drums to soul bossanova by Quincy Jones.

One of the mums paid for her term's fees in cash which I don't much like as I have to write MM HQ a cheque - but that was ok. I was packing up at the end of the morning - put the £81 in my purse. Loaded the car. Drove to pick up Oz. Went to get parking money out of my purse....

You guessed it. Gone.

AGAIN!

Drove back to the church. Not there. Took EVERYTHING out of my car. Not there. Unpacked all the music boxes. Not in there. Burst into tears - more because I'd lost £81 and I couldn't afford to replace it. Drove to my Mum's - cried some more while she took my car apart looking - I nearly rang Moxie but was too upset. Mum told me not to think about the money - she'd give it to me - bless her heart - and she even gave me an old purse of hers that was almost identical.

Picked up a very tired Oscar! Came home - stressed and emotional. I couldn't believe I'd done it again - on the same day as last time - same place - same "no idea where I could have lost it!"

At 5pm my phone rang. It was the office. One of the nannies from my last class had found it on the floor in the car park and had kept it for me.

I'd cancelled my cards (AGAIN for no reason) but I've got the money back.

I know I said this before but I SWEAR I'm going to be more careful. Luckily the amazingly compact Wonderbag I won from Lesley on Ebay arrived today. I'm going to ensure my purse is in there and it goes across my body so I can still carry the instruments.

Either that or I'm leaving my sodding purse behind next Wednesday......

Things are getting slightly better...

Thank you to everyone who offered technical support! The wireless connection has miraculously started working again - no idea why or how...was just about to ring Moxie but it fixed itself. The only thing that isn't behaving is MSN Messenger....keeps freezing on me - not sure why so sorry if I've been chatting with you and suddenly disappeared - it's not me doing it on purpose!

Hoorah

We got a new toy today...my friend Marion's daughter has grown out of this so she gave it to us. Oz LOVES it. It's like a park in the garden now - all we need is a swing and I need never leave the house again!

Having a quiet day today - may pop to Asda this afternoon. My Mum is back from her travels tomorrow - both Oscar and I have really missed her - can't wait to see her.

Looking forward to next weekend in Centre Parcs - I think we'll decide that's our official anniversary celebration and forget this week happened. I took my ring in to be re-sized so when I get it back, Rob can give it to me properly. (And the ring.)

One of those days

I'm having one of those days where EVERYTHING is going wrong. Starts off this morning where I stubbed my toe TWICE getting out of bed - that should have been a sign.

The traffic was so bad this morning - I was in a stationery traffic jam for 40 minutes - that I arrived at my class at 9.30 - when I was supposed to start teaching. No time to unpack properly - sort myself out - do a warm up - nothing. The whole morning was stressful and difficult. A kid threw up on me.

On the way home I got caught in traffic again. Then this afternoon, I went shopping, everywhere I went was massive queues. Oscar has been a trooper - but it's suddenly hot and everyone is bothered. Then the car park exit wouldn't accept my ticket. I had to park up, go back to the machine, check it had been paid - it had - go back, put Oz back into the car, try again - no deal....

Then got some bad news from my family which I won't go into online. No one is dead or anything but there's stress. My friend Julie's husband is in hospital with an unknown virus. Some friends of friends who I know well are splitting up after 15 years together. It's pouring down bad news.

Rob is out tonight. Luckily Oscar went down like a dream... But now my internet connection on the laptop won't work. It's connecting to the wireless modem but internet explorer doesn't know it - when I click on internet options it has no connections and I've tried to reinstall the wireless modem software - it says it cant find the router even though it's also telling me it's connected. I've tried putting in all sorts of different settings - none of whom are working -any internet whiz's out there can help?

I'm just feeling like I've been shat on from great heights all day long. And I'm fed up.

Ok now I feel guilty

He did forget. He freely admits that - he forgot something else too...he'd bought me a ring - our engagement ring was very cheap - blue topaz and cubiz zirconia - I used to tell every one it was sapphire and diamond but it wasn't. Then the zirconias fell out. So I haven't worn an engagement ring for years. And I've hinted...for years.

He ordered this one a few weeks ago and was supposed to pick it up on Tuesday. So he came home with it -it IS sapphire and diamond. Ceylon sapphire - palest blue. And real diamonds. I've never had real diamonds before. It's too small - I have to wear it on my little finger - but I can get it resized.

So now I feel like the world's biggest bitch. We've both had a bad day. For nothing.

I'm not sure how to make it better but I'm going to try.

Today

he forgot.

Decade....

As of tomorrow I will have been married for ten years. TEN YEARS! A whole decade. Seems like such a long time...and then again it doesn't. I met Rob when I was 19 and he was 18 - though he turned 19 a week later. We were students in Leicester. I had purple hair. He had a leather jacket with a map of the world in the lining. I was loud. He was quiet. I was (and am) an extrovert. He was (and still is) painfully shy. I did performing arts. He did biology. I had lived all over the world. He had never left the country. In fact had never been on a train until he came to university.

We were opposites.

We got together...well I don't know if I want to tell you how exactly we got together(Moxie knows - shhhh)...but put it this way - he made a move, a very bold physical move - he was a bit drunk - I was a bit of a tart! I thought he'd be a one night stand. He moved in the next day. We have hardly been apart since. We skipped the whole dating thing - just moved in. And that was that.

15 years later....we're happy, we're a family. This last year and a half with Oscar in our lives has been the most emotional of our long relationship - the most amazing and the hardest. We've had to work at our relationship more than ever and we've still got to work harder.

But 10 years ago tomorrow, I married him.

We had two weddings - both on the same day (I picked May 4th so he'd always remember it - May the Fourth Be With You...). We had a registry office do in the morning - here's my favourite pic of the day... My dresses were designed by a drag queen (hence the boobage)

Then we split up - gave each other the rings back - and met a couple of hours later at Charlton House and had a humanist wedding - it wasn't legal (hence the morning ceremony) but it was the ceremony I wanted - walking down an aisle on my Daddy's arm - wearing a huge frock, bridesmaids - the whole caboodle. My friend Gina sang "Dream a Little Dream of Me" instead of hyms - it's our song - and we read this poem to each other - taking a verse each..

I promise to give you the best of myself...
And to ask of you No more than you can give...

I promise to accept you the way you are...
I fell in love with you
For the qualities, abilities,
And outlook on life that you have,
And i won't try to reshape you
In a different image

I promise to respect you
As a person with your own
Interests, desires, and needs,
And to realize that those are
Sometimes different--
But no less important--
Than my own

I promise to share with you...
My time, my close attention,
And to bring joy and strength
And imagination to our relationship.

I promise to keep myself open to you...
To let you see through
The window of my personal world
Into my innermost fears and feelings,
Secrets and dreams.

I promise to grow along with you...
To be willing to face change
As we both change
In order to keep our relationship
Alive and exiting

And finally,
I promise to love you
In good times and in bad,
With all I have to give
And all I feel inside...

In the only way I know how...
Completely and forever


He's the only man I've ever known. My only boyfriend. My only love. We've grown up together. He's amazing. As I type this I can hear him singing "Skinny Marinky Dinky Dink" to our son as he puts him to bed.

I can't remember my life without him. Soon, in about 5 years, I'll have been with him for longer than i'll have been without him. And I love that.

So to my husband. You're amazing. Here's to 10 more...

(of course he doesn't read this blog - he doesn't know where it is....but I might show him this entry!)