But I Smile Anyway…

Well hello there!

Another week, another hot drink and time for a catch-up!

• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d say I’ve had an interesting half term. Not busy, but not quiet by any means!
• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d tell you I got my nails done, again! This time a rather fetching and grown up deep purple. And Lil Princess joined me with some Halloween themed nails too!

• If we were sipping chai together, I’d let you know that Lil Man definitely needs braces, so we are just waiting for them to be fitted. It’s going to be painful, I know, but if he listens, they could be off within a year.
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d mention pumpkins. No, I don’t do pumpkin spiced lattes etc, the thought makes my stomach turn! But we do usually carve designs on them, ready for Halloween. This time, however, we won’t be home much in the evening, as Lil Princess has her first Halloween party to go to. It means we won’t be out and about, or at home waiting for trick or treaters. However, Krispy Kreme Donuts had a children’s workshop where the kids could carve pumpkins for the shop to use as decorations, so they got their fill there!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d let you know I nearly had my own Halloween scare the other day in the local shopping centre as Lil Man and his friend disappeared for nearly an hour. They had already been out and about and met back up with us. Being too cool for pumpkin carving, they felt us too boring to sit with, so mozied off around the corner. But they didn’t just sit at another booth, they disappeared! We tried to phone both of them – 27 calls, I made! Text messages, WhatsApp, nothing. Jeez kids, how come when you are at home your phone isn’t out of your hands, yet when we need you to answer a call or text, you can’t!  I was getting panic attacks, thinking my child had been kidnapped, hurt, in trouble… And was ruing the fact that I had taken my inhaler out of my bag, fearing an asthma attack! Anyway over 45 minutes later they sauntered over to where we were frantically waiting, with not a care in the world. “We were just over there mum,” pointing to a seat made out of an old car outside the TGI Fridays. No, they weren’t we had walked past several times, in anxiousness! “Then the last ten minutes, we went to the Lego shop.” Really??! Are you f***ing kidding me? I had been trying to work out how I would word this to my Hubby Dearest, that I had lost our son, and he had been with his friend in the Lego store?? Needless to say, they got chastised, both in the shopping centre, and all the way home, and in the evening too… I went all Indian mum too, grabbing his ear (lightly, honestly!) And the phone was confiscated for an evening too. I think I’m okay now. Who told me to have kids…?
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d be so excited to share that my Pops and Mum came over for two nights. We had such a lovely time to catch up, but it was marred only by the fact that Lil Man ended up with a crazy temperature for two days, and any plans we had to go out were scuppered. Still, quality time with them was the best. ❤ Pops is looking so wonderful, and mum is just my ever-loving mum, as always!

• If we were sipping that chai together, I’d tell you Hubby Dearest has been back on the phone to Sky, this time on my parents’ behalf, and managed to negotiate a much cheaper monthly rate, brand new equipment, and installation for them too. He is such a dude, I love him 😍
• If we were sipping that chai together I’d tell you that we remotely celebrated my dear brother’s 40th birthday as well! Now we are a pair of siblings, 40 and over! Yikes!

• If we were sipping that chai together I’d suddenly remember that I forgot to mention that Lil Princess and I have tickets to go and watch the real Little Mix next year! How exciting!!!!

And for the week ahead?

• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies, I’d tell you I am back to school again today… But excited for several events coming up, the first being Halloween! We are planning on pumpkin carving with the children in Reception… wish us luck! And the school Halloween Disco is on as well, time for that after school teacher duty, for two discos – the 4-7-year-olds one and the 7-11-year-olds one!
• If we were sipping that chai together, I’d say I am secretly scared that Lil Princess is going to that Halloween party… it seems kinda grown up, and she is only 10! She wants to be a zombie cheerleader. I mentioned that last week. The costume is here.  Yes, adults will be there, but the girl whose party it is is rather mature, though she’s the same age, and, well, she’s my little girl… She’s only ever been trick or treating with me… Not sure I’m ready to let go…
• As I mop up the crumbs I’d mention that with the clocks having gone back at the weekend, the mornings may be easier, but now I will be worrying about the kids walking home in the evening in the dark!!!

So, what’s your week been like, and what are you looking forward to?

If you want, drop a line in the comments, or even link back to this with a Chai and a Chat post of your own!

Well hello there!

A week has gone by and it is definitely time for our weekly catch up over a chai, or any beverage you fancy!

• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d tell you, first and foremost that I am on half term break! No getting up extra early for a week at least, and with kids being that little bit older, they like lay-ins too, so win-win!
• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d also lament over the fact the fact that, though the migraines haven’t made a reappearance in the last week, I had an earache, followed by a terrible sore throat, culminating in the infamous teacher’s half term exhaustion cold! But I am fighting, it, sipping herbal remedies and taking it as easy as I can.
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d tell you that we had a wonderful evening of pizza and giggles, to say a fond farewell to one of my Reception team colleagues. She is just amazing and is going to be sorely missed, but she is off to another position where she will be able to use her fantastic skills in a more practical way. I wish her well.
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d tell you how excited we were to announce to the kids at school this week, that as of next week, we will officially be having a school dog! Three days a week, one of our staff will be bringing in her beautiful Labrador, as a therapy dog for children who need that calming influence, and also it will be an opportunity for others to learn about responsibility.
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d tell you that we have been looking at houses. There is a big chance that we may decide to move. Not far, but a new place, or if not, it’s time to do a big renovation on our current home. Tough decisions. Do we just find a new place, and seamlessly move in, or face a few months of upheaval, but create our dream home in the wonderful location we already live in?
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d tell you that the teenage angst has not calmed down in the house (and I don’t expect it to for a good while) but it hit a real head last week, when a certain teenager managed to smash his phone screen… apparently it fell less than a foot, and not just cracked, but a piece was gouged out! I think there was a sense of frustration involved to be honest, when he realised that his charger wasn’t working one morning, followed by a throwdown of said phone, though he won’t admit that! Then… there was a meltdown of epic proportions as he wouldn’t have a phone for a day! A replacement was found, but it wouldn’t be usable for a day as it needed charging etc. I even managed to get his phone repaired within two days, with a screen protector and new charger thrown in for £40… pretty reasonable. Then I found out that a certain someone had worked out how to top up their phone using my account! I shall not disclose how much, but it was a pretty penny, and I was not happy. Funds have been recovered from his bank account, and all pocket money suspended for a while!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d whisper to you that I can’t stop eating. Seriously, it is terrible. I crave all the stuff I know I shouldn’t eat, even though I surround myself with healthy options. My waist is not going to thank me!

And for the week ahead?

• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies, I’d tell you that I am beyond excited that Pops and Mum are coming over to stay for a few days at the end of the week. Mum hasn’t been here for over a year so I can’t wait!
• If we were sipping that chai together, I’d tell you that this week is meant to be a week of relaxation, but every day has something planned… I will rest, honest (somehow…)
• As I mop up the crumbs I would tell you that it’s Halloween next week, and Lil Princess has been invited to her first Halloween party… she wants to be a Zombie Cheerleader… Eeek!

So, what’s your week been like, and what are you looking forward to?

If you want, drop a line in the comments, or even link back to this with a Chai and a Chat post of your own!

Well hello there!

A week has gone by and it is definitely time for our weekly catch up over a chai, or any beverage you fancy!

• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d tell you that my exhaustion has not stopped. In fact, it near killed me at the beginning of the week, with a two-day migraine, that got me sent home from school on Monday and kept me off on Tuesday too. I even missed a trip to take the children to the library, so you know it was bad!
• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d tell you I was pretty nervous about going back to school, but that everything was actually pretty good in the end!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d let you know that another extremely special BBF of mine had her 45th birthday, and we celebrated by her drinking her pink gin present, followed by me getting another migraine!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d be complaining about the fact that my taxi service is back in service now too, now that Lil Man’s indoor Cricket training has started up! Meh!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d be discussing the 11+ tests, and telling you how hard it was to see and hear about the children who had passed/failed – cried/jumped for joy, all for this selective education that is not actually accessible to everyone, and the results of which can affect a child negatively, if they think, at 11, that they failed.
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d confess that I have become a Baby Shark addict and that I play it as a get-up and dance song with my nursery children on the two days I am in charge of them!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d tell you that we had a wonderful Friday evening with my Brother in Law and his wife. It was an impromptu evening full of food, drink and a whole lot of belly laughter!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d mention that we had a day out as a family on Saturday and I had the joy of taking a certain young lady for her first bra fitting – EEEK! We went to the cinema and watched Night School, which was really funny, but also touched upon Special Educational Needs – a topic close to my heart.
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d say that Sunday was almost idyllic, with me sitting on the sofa most of the day, unless I needed to feed people, reading. My perfect downtime.
• If we were sipping chai together, I would tell you that Pops cataract operation went really well, and hopefully, the follow-up appointment will be positive, resulting in him getting a date for the other eye op too!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d be showing off my lovely french manicured nails too. I do love a fresh set of nails!!!

And for the week ahead?

• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies, I’d let you know that I am trying not to count down, as every day is a new day, but that this is the last week before our October half term week off! 
• I would mention that it is harvest festival at school this week and that I need to remember the donations for the food banks that my kids need to take in!

So, what’s your week been like, and what are you looking forward to?

If you want, drop a line in the comments, or even link back to this with a Chai and a Chat post of your own!

Well hello there!

I have decided upon a new feature on my blog, which will appear on a Monday morning because I think it is always good to celebrate your victories or be able to open up about any difficulties, then build that bridge to get over them and focus on the coming week.

And what better way to do that than to catch up over a cuppa, a chai for me, but you can join in with any beverage!

• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d tell you I am exhausted. It’s been a week of craziness, trying to get all the schools looked at before we put in our applications for Lil Princess’s secondary school. When did she get so big? I’d mention how hard it is to decide, do we go with the same as her brother, or another school? She likes them all, and in all honesty, they are all Ofsted-rated Good and have much to offer. I am confused! I tell you what, Headteachers sure know how to sell their schools!
• If we were sipping a chai together, I’d tell you that I have had a stressful week at work, trying really hard to be that positive person, despite certain situations. I may have on occasion been delivering PanAm smiles, rather than genuine ones at a few points, but hopefully, things are smoother.
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d mention that my absolute bestie celebrated her birthday on the weekend, and I was gutted I couldn’t be with her, but so happy to be a part of her life – Happy Birthday Buzz!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d moan about how annoying it is when people decide to announce they are going to visit, at the last minute, and you have to change all your plans! Seriously, that bugs the heck outta me!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d excitedly tell you that I was chosen as one of five writers to take part in a TUFF rodeo challenge over at Charli Mills Carrot Ranch! So, my writing must amount to something… Meh to the Daily Mail and Penguin Random House who didn’t shortlist my novel!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d want to pull my hair out and tell you parenting a teen and a tween is really hard! What with demands for new consoles because everyone else has one, to sim cards for a phone, because I will lose all my friends if I don’t have their numbers before we start secondary. Er, hello…It’s October. You have until next July before you leave, and if others have phones, get a pen and paper, and write the numbers down!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d be proud to announce that I was part of an official blog tour for one of my favourite authors, Amanda Prowse, for her newest book, The Coordinates of Loss. Amazing book, seriously!
• If we were sipping chai together, you’d notice I am swishing my new hair around, as I got a lovely cut and colour done on Sunday morning. Love a haircut!
• If we were sipping chai together, I’d also mention that I had a loooong video chat with my brother in Helsinki, and did some virtual babysitting with my baby nephew, Finndian #2! So cute!

And for the week ahead?

• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies, I would tell you I am looking forward to a week of nothing major planned for a change! Aside from one afterschool activity that I need to be a taxi service for, and getting my nails done on one day, there is blissfully nothing to rush around for!
• I would also tell you that Pops and Mum are back from Finland, and Pops is doing great, but he has another operation today, this time on one eye for cataracts that are forming, so we are praying for a straightforward procedure.
• I have implemented a new chart system thingie with my kids, to combat the attitude and behaviour, and to get them to earn their pocket money… wish me luck!
• Maybe, if I am organised, I can get one with my editing, or researching agents to send the synopsis off to!

So, what’s your week been like, and what are you looking forward to?

If you want, drop a line in the comments, or even link back to this with a Chai and a Chat post of your own!