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The Day I Broke Into My In-Laws House #notacriminalhonest

24 Jul 2019 46 Comments

by Ritu in Family, Humour Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Break In, Family, Saving The Day

Yup… that day just came to pass.

Bitmoji Image — No, actually I prevented that happening!

It wasn’t quite the evening I had envisaged. I had been busy filling in my new school diary ready for next year. The kids were busy with their friends outside and Hubby Dearest was chilling with a beer and the TV on.

I’d just packed my school bits away, and got the kids inside, ready to get showered, when the phone rang. Usually my Mum-In-Law waits for us to call her, but it was her number on the display, so I answered it, worrying that something was wrong.

Well… it was.

Apparently one of the kids (naming no names, Lil Princess…) had opened Mum-In-Law’s bedroom window rather wide, and left it open, so a gust of much needed wind had swept into the room and slammed her door shut.

Such a hard slam that the door refused to open!

Oo-er!

So the request was made.

“Could you come over and climb up a ladder, get on the flat roof and shimmy into the bedroom to try and open the door from the inside? Or bring Lil Man, he’s skinny and nimble…” (Cheek! I know I put on weight, but not that much!)

Well, Lil Man was in the shower, and I wouldn’t have wanted to risk him getting stuck or hurt, so Spider Woman here (or Idiot Girl, some might say) huffed over there.

Yup. I huffed.

Because there are others who may have been able to do this daring rescue mission… except, Dad-In-Law is too old, Mum-In-Law has too many health issues, Bro-In-Law wouldn’t have fit through the window, Sis-In-Law had only just got in from a crazy day at work, and Hubby Dearest, well, he’s only just recovering from his own injury!

So, actually there wasn’t anyone else.

I still huffed, mumbling during my exit, “Here’s hoping I don’t end up doing an injury to myself too, climbing through bl***y windows!”

Hubby Dearest told me to leave it, but I couldn’t. The window was wide open, and near a flat roof… too much temptation for someone who wanted to break and enter, without breaking…

I arrived.

Found ladder with Sis-In-Law.

Mum -In-Law tried to tell me to leave it, as whilst I’d been driving over, Hubby Dearest had called his mum and told her that it was very silly to expect me to climb up a ladder and possibly hurt myself (Oh, ye of little faith…) but if you know me, you know I am determined, and if I have set my mind to a task, I will achieve it, however silly!

I reminded her about the fact that she has her important ‘stuff’ in her room, and that open window would jsut be too easy a target… she stepped back and allowed me to begin.

Climbed up, with an audience. Mum-Im-Law, Bro-In-Law and Sis-In-Law. Mum-In-Law thrust a screwdriver in my hand as I ascended. “When you get it open, just take the damn barrel out!”

I tried to get in but the window was a tad too high, and nimble as I am, I wasn’t that flexible to jump through the opening, so went down again, got a stool and headed back up again.

Successful shimmy, (thought my chest might just be a little battered from dragging myself in!) and I entered the house in a way I never dreamed I would have to do.

But the door was stuck fast.

The barrel had totally gone. The handle just turned in my hand. I was thankful for the screwdriver then. I had to wedge it gently through and manually push the barrel to open.

Once that was done, I wasted no time in removing this ancient lock and barrel from the door, handed all the bits and pieces to Mum-In-Law (not before I had to get her to hold my legs as I hung back out of the window to rescue the abandoned stool – that must have been a sight!) and pootled off home.

So there.

That is the story of when I broke into my In-Laws house.

You’re welcome.

Moral of story – When Ritu tells you something seems a bit faulty, check it out instead of waiting for clamity to strike. About a month ago I mentioned that said door was sticking sometimes and when closed, could only be opened from the inside… because the barrel wasn’t turning fully… See! Listen to The Ritu!

One Liner Wednesday – #1LinerWeds – Growing Up

24 Jul 2019 41 Comments

by Ritu in #1linerweds Tags: #1linerweds, #onelinerwednesday, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, growing up, Linda G Hill

Savour each and every moment – they grow up far too soon. Hold their hand as long as they let you, kiss them goodnight, cherish every cuddle – for soon they think they are too old for all that…
Ritu 2019

It was Lil Princess’s Year 6 Leavers Prom last night… and tomorrow is her last day at Primary school.

The end of an era for her, and for me as a parent at our school.

I can’t quite believe how fast time has flown.

For Linda’s #1linerweds challenge.

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #263 Good&Evil

23 Jul 2019 30 Comments

by Ritu in #ronovansweeklyhaikuchallenge Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Challenge, Good & Evil, Haiku, Ronovan's Weekly Haiku Challenge

Dear Ronovan is celebrating 5 years of weekly Haiku prompts this week!

This week, we have:

Good & Evil

Yin And Yang, Counterpart, Supplement — Pixabay Image

Ying and Yang of life
Sometimes Evil rides ahead
Good will always win

Ritu 2019

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #263 Good&Evil

Chai And A Chat #42 #ChaiAndAChat

22 Jul 2019 41 Comments

by Ritu in Chai and a Chat Tags: #ChaiAndAChat, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Catch Up, Chai and a Chat, end of term

Hey there Peeps! Welcome back to the madness that is the life of Ritu! Got that cuppa? Right, let’s get on!

If we were sipping chai together I’d say ‘Phew! One week to go…’ Yup the holidays are almost upon us, but not quite!
If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that I haven’t had the same amount of runnin around that the last few weeks have contained, but there has still been a lot of school based ‘stuff’ that has been going on, which means the days are ending much later than usual. My colleague in nursery is getting to grips with taking over the whole shebang with out me next year, and she is fantastic at what she does, but is not as confident on the technichal stuff. The last few yers, I have kept the IT side of things running, so it has been a few late evenings of quick tutorials!
If we were sipping chai together I’d mention excitedly, that I received my first lot of class stationery, you know, the official stuff. My own stapler, labels, velcro, pencils etc, and though that doesn’t sound too interesting, it is, very much so, for a stationery addict like me! Can’t wait to get labelling on all the little baskets I have ready!!
If we were sipping chai together I’d let you know we had the Reception class parent assembly where the children ‘performed’ for their parents and carers, talking about what they have done this year. It was extremely cute! As teachers we have also been giving performances of our own. but more about that next week!
If we were sipping chai together I’d whisper that the pile of things of rmy new classroom is getting rather large now, taking over my bedroom, not to mention what I stored in the attic! I think Hubby Dearest will be relieved once the holidays start, and I can finally take these boxes into school! We can have at least a quarter of the bedroom back! I just don’t have anywhere in school to store these things and if I took them in, and left them in one of the rooms, you never know who might help themselves!
If we were sipping chai together I’d say that kid wise the Lils of the family had their last tutoring session for this academic year, and they were very glad! Lil Man has now finished school for summer and loves to rub it in, but Lil Princess and I still have until next Thursday, officially, and I know I will be in for at least a week after that, setting up!
If we were sipping chai together I’d breathe a sigh of relief and say there was NO CRICKET this week! It was lovely to have a Sunday where I could have a real lie in!
If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that on Friday, we had a staff meal out to celebrate the impending wedding of our headteacher. It was a lovely night out, much needed, and the food was good too! We were presented with these funny little tablet things which foxed us, as to what they were, until we popped them into water and realised they were little hand towels for use after our sticky ribs!

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This was jsut so cool!

If we were sipping chai together I’d happily tell you that on Saturday Pops came down with my mum’s brother and wife, my aunty and uncle. I haven’t seen my uncle in 18 years, and my aunt in 8 years, so it was an emotional few hours, full of love and laughter. As mum was in Finland, she was feeling left out, so kept on calling us! But what a lovely afternoon. Family is everything, really.

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My other mother ❤

If we were sipping chai together I’d ask you if you knew that Sunday was #NationalDoSomethingStupidday? Well, I was not stupid on Sunday, I was a bit premature and did my stupid stunt on Saturday. Yup, you guessed it #ClumsyRituStrikesAgain! We popped into Halfords, the car and bike place, after Pops had left. Lil Man wants a new bike, and has been saving up. So the rest of the family traipsed upstairs and I went to ask for one of the advisors to look at my car, as the AC wasn’t working, and the radio wasn’t picking up any stations. There was a few minutes to wait, so I checked on the others, and satisfied that they were still busy, I went back down, except I managed to miss the last step, and found myself sprawled across the floor, with an audience of around 6 people. How embarrassing! The cashier asked if I was okay, to which my bruised ego answered that I was perfectly fine… however, both feet hurt, my toes hurt, my knees hurt, my shoulder hurt…OUCH! I sat back on the offending step and waited for the advisor to call for me. Oh, I ached all evening, and woke up on Sunday to a graze that appeared on one foot as well, and hobbled around all day…. Feeling rather sorry for myself!
If we were sipping chai together I’d admit that I was rather proud of Lil Princess. We had an italian day at school on the Friday and her year group all got to make pizza which was transported home in a pizza box they had all designed and decorated themselves. Hers was lovely, and when she explained all about her design, my heart melted! If my daughter had a pizza restaurant it would be called Amore with the slogan, L’amore è nell’aria – which means Love is in the air 💜 It would be a couples restaurant and her tagline would be Girl Girl, Boy Boy, Girl Boy as it would be a place where ALL couples are accepted and celebrated . Bless her little cotton socks!

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Amore!

If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d tell you that this week will be hectic for various reasons, and most of them school related. We have the School Talent Show on Monday, our next Transition Day on Tuesday for all the school children to meet their new teachers for the next year, Lil Princess’s Year 6 Leavers Prom, my last full day in Nursery on Wednesday, and on Thursday, I’ll have two lots of nursery end of year celebrations with the children and parents, tmy Reception class Graduation, and Lil Princess’s End of School Assembly!
hing for cake or cookies I’d say that on Friday and the following week, I have roped in the kids to come and help me with classroon rearrangement in my new classroom! I will have my own room, finally, and can’t wait!
If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d mention that, touch wood, nothing has been planned for the weekend, so I might just catch a break! (Shhhh! Don’t tell the universe what I’m planning!)

Over and out!

Tell me how your week has been!

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 230

21 Jul 2019 55 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, books, Family, reading, Serene, Spidey's Serene Sundays

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
Groucho Marx

Oh, I loved this quote, Spidey!

This weekend I have been talking reading and books a lot, with my uncle, who came to visit me. This is my mum’s eldest brother. My Mamaji. And he lives in Kenya. I haven’t seen him in 18 years, since my wedding,

He’s a very special man to me. Another dad. And someone who has inspired me to read. Both him and my mother read copiously when I was younger, and though life may not allow them to read as much, even in retirement, they are both like me and would rather have a good book in their hand, than an eye on the goggle box, as my mum always calls it!

My Mamaji treated himself this trip, to an All New Kindle Paperwhite, and he brought it with him, to compare with mine, and to discuss book-related matters.

He’s a non-fiction reader more than fiction, and my memories of him are always of him with his nose in a book or the paper. I remember his bedroom in Kenya distinctly, with piles of books lining walls too!

In fact he was nearly a PhD Graduate in the 60s, but due to personal problelms, he never finished it, and it is a regret he feels keenly. He studied here in London, at Queen Mary’s College and Imperial College, both of which his took my aunt, my Mamiji, to visit last week!

There was a trunk filled with his belongings in my parent’s garage. My mum has kept it safe since it was entrusted to her care in the early 70s and she hasn’t dared open it, or get rid of it.

A couple of weeks ago, Mamaji stationed himself in the garage of Pops and Mum’s house, to rummage through his memories. The trunk was filled with all sorts, including a handmade suit of his, some other hilariously 60s clothes and TONS of books. When I phoned mum that day, she was laughing as she told me how he was like a child in a toyshop, delving into the memories of an extremely precious time for him.

I was in awe of his memory.

Even yesterday, as he mentioned the titles of some of the books, and the authors, some of whom had been his PhD lecturers, his eyes glistened with pure joy. He told mum to give the books away, as he can’t take them back, but he also had a ‘small’ list of ones he would ask her to keep, for memory’s sake.

I know I shall be rummaging around in that trunk before they get given away, to get another insight into Mamaji and his younger life.

Before he left, his parting words to me were, “Send me that book of yours when it’s done.”

Another member of my family who has been such a strong, silent support of my writing dream. He was so proud the day my poetry book came out, and I know I just need to do this, get this book published, not just for me, but for all those dear to me, who have so much faith in my ability.

So… tell me, who is part of your silent support group?