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Chai And A Chat #205 #ChaiAndAChat

26 Sep 2022 24 Comments

by Ritu in Chai and a Chat Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Catch Up, Chai and a Chat

Morning, Peeps. It’s Monday again. Where is the time going? Week five in school already!

My drink is in hand… are you ready?

If we were having chai, I’d say that school has been good but hectic. We still know Ofsted will be calling at some point, and until that is done, we are all on tenterhooks. There are so many plans and hopes for school this year, and September is when we are all getting our heads around everything. This week my children started their first-ever full-time week. Though it was only four days, you could see the tiredness in their eyes by Friday (as you could ours!) But they coped exceptionally well. You can certainly see the characters coming out now. I am in each of my two classes two days a week, along with one day of management time, and it whizzes by. I am getting to know 60 children well, instead of 30, which is a feat in itself and keeping track of the almost 40 we have in Nursery. All a joy to behold! (Is it any wonder I am shattered!)
If we were having chai, I’d tell you things at home are always busy, too. Lil Princess wasn’t feeling unwell one day, which had her messaging me from school, wanting to go home, and me trying. to contact her school to find out what was going on, a doctor, and juggle a child who had been struggling with his behaviour in class, resulting in me needing to speak to several parents, too… All at once! And Lil Man picked up his first cold, so it was teenage stroppiness, times 2 as he insisted he was fine when he wasn’t!
If we were having chai, I’d say that I made a conscious choice to not do any housework or ironing during the week, and Saturday found me cleaning and washing, changing bed linen, and unpacking grocery shopping, as well as taking Lil Princess to her optician’s appointment, and cooking a roast dinner! Hubby Dearest was tackling the windows, inside and out, and giving the summer house a clean, too! Sunday, devoted to that huge ironing mountain, and then chilling!
If we were having chai, I’d give you a peek at Sonu Singh since we didn’t get one last week. He’s been keeping his Daddy company in the week and taking great pleasure in waking me up at the crack of dawn every morning to get his food! But, as the cold weather begins to creep in, it is lovely to have him curling up with me, warming my feet!

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This week, it is pretty manic in school, with me at a training session all day, today, then staff illnesses and planned absences meaning the whole school will be trying to club together to ensure all avenues are covered all week! I can’t even remember what is happening at home! Oh, yes, a Futures Exhibition for Lil Man, and a special appointment for Lil PRincess on the weekend!

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Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 394 – Book Heaven

25 Sep 2022 27 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, books, reading, Spidey's Serene Sundays

“She reads books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.”
Annie Dillard

Thank you, Spidey, for finding another quote that suits me just fine!.

Firstly, sorry for posting late!

But, this, as you will see from the gist of my post, is where the above quote is relevant.

As soon as I start school in September, things begin to happen.

Life goes from a comfortable speed to powering ahead with me a the wheel of a large truck, trying to keep all my cargo safe.

my team and their wellbeing
my new class, and settling them into their new life in school
new initiatives and expectations to be implemented in school
my family and their various needs, be it being taxi mum to their emotional health and wellbeing
keeping house, even after long days (that ironing pile seems to double when we are working!)
having time for Hubby Dearest, who is juggling his own cargo load
giving Sonu Singh plenty of love
new pressures of keeping to a better budget with all these rising costs…
my own health and sanity, not helped by the onset of Perimenopause

As you can imagine, all this leaves me pretty shattered at the end of a typical working day.

It means that I have no energy left for my other passion which is my writing. I have editing to do. I have a new book to start plotting… But I don’t have the headspace or the time to do either.

What I won’t forgo, though, is my time with a good book.

Reading is like food for my soul. A moment to dip into the lives of others and to forget what is going on around me at any given moment.

It’s true that I read much less in the week, as I find I am asleep by 9.30pm, but I will always read a few pages at least before my eyes close.

My Kindle is brimming with at least 150 unread books that I have downloaded over the years, and my little trolley of unread books holds around 50 more physical books I have either been sent to read or have picked up on my visits to bookshops. My Amazon Wishlist has plenty more that I want to read… one day…

I don’t think I will ever reach the end of my TBR pile, virtual or otherwise, and I am not sad about that at all. It means that I will always have a tap of beautiful stories to turn on and sink into when I have nothing left to give to the world…

So, tell me, how many books are on your TBR?

Wishing you a wonderfully peaceful Sunday, Peeps!

#SoCS Sept. 24, 2022 – Home

24 Sep 2022 27 Comments

by Ritu in #SoCS Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Linda G Hill, Socs

Linda’s SoCS prompt.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “home.” Use it as a noun, a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. Enjoy!

Home is where the heart is.

That is something I truly believe.

There is not just one place I call home.

Of course, the house we bought last year and live in with our family is our forever home. It is a very special place where we have hopes and dreams of living in for many, many years to come.

But I still consider the house I lived in with my in-laws to be home, too. My pad in the town, so to speak.

Then there are the houses I associate with my direct family abroad. Or there used to be, but the family living there has sold the properties I thought of as home… There were 2 specific places in Kenya where I spent many a week every summer. Pops’s family home, and Mum’s family home.

And I can’t forget our home in Finland where my brother lives! Yes, it would be a squash and a squeeze, but my brother’s house is my home, too.

Sometimes I think wherever I lay my hat is my home since even when we are away, and it’s the end of the day/night, we’ll say, “Shall we go home, now?” meaning the hotel/flat we are staying in.

It’s like wherever I feel comfortable and happy, that is home.

But the one special place that will always be the #1 home for me. My parents’ home. Where I grew up. Where I felt the most amount of love. Where I left, feeling ready to live my own life. Where I go back and feel like I never left. Where my Pops and Mum are.

That is home.

And I hope that our forever home will be the place my own children feel that same pull as they grow older and fly the nest…

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Sept. 24, 2022

Chai And A Chat #204 #ChaiAndAChat

19 Sep 2022 22 Comments

by Ritu in Chai and a Chat Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Catch Up, Chai and a Chat

Morning, Peeps. It’s Monday again, and the morning of the Queen’s funeral.

I’ve got my cuppa, and will spend the morning watching the proceedings on the TV since school is closed today.

If we were having chai, I’d say that school was an excellent place to be, with the children beginning to stay for lunches with us. You can tell this is the year group who have been least affected by the last couple of years’ lockdowns, as it feels like a more typical intake compared to the last couple of years. There will always be wrinkles to iron out, but nothing that appears to need industrial action! We stayed with the children for their lunches last week to ease them into it all and allow our lunchtime supervisors to become familiar with them and their personalities.
If we were having chai, I’d say that I had a first this week. Lil Man is no longer a Lil Man, as he was invited to his first proper party, with his mates all getting to that turning 18 time of life! We live a little further out now compared to before, so it was engineered that we spent the evening with the in-laws, and were able to pick him up before heading home at around midnight. It’s scary, that first time, letting go. But he has a sensible head on his shoulders and as long as he keeps it that way, there are no worries. I think he had a good time, but he was shattered after!
If we were having chai, I would tell you that I have nothing more to report, since the week has been busy with school… Sonu Singh is fine, but a reluctant model this week, so no pics today!

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This week, school is only 4 days what with HRH the Queen’s funeral today. The children start full time with us as well, so I am sure I will be even more knackered than usual, too!

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 393 – Of Queues and the British

18 Sep 2022 26 Comments

by Ritu in Spidey's Serene Sundays, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Queue, Spidey's Serene Sundays

“An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an ordely queue of one.”
George Mikes

Thank you, Spidey, for a little humour at this sombre time.

I think that if you have social media or access to a news channel or the internet, wherever you are on this planet, you will have heard of ‘The Queue’ or the ‘QueueEII’ (Not coined by me, but rather clever, don’t you think?)

The queue I am referring to is the queue all self-respecting Brits have been in training for all their lives.

It’s the queue that has stretched for 5 miles across London for those well-wishers who want to pay their respects to the late Queen, who is lying in state at Westminster Palace until before the funeral tomorrow.

People, including David Beckham (not one to push ahead, but wanting to pay his respects the way everyone who wishes to, should) are queueing for up to 17 hours, slowly walking at 0.1 miles an hour, shuffling towards the Palace, where they get a chance to personally pay their respects to our late Monarch.

It is the Queue of all queues. You get a wristband, you can’t save a place for others, there are toilets and water stations open along the way. If you wish to join, you are advised to bring food, drinks and blankets, and even stools to aid your wait. (Stops short at tents. No TENTS allowed!)

The Queue has its own YouTube channel and Twitter account and even its own weather mention!

It is a queue that has shown the most British of Britishness, where new friends are being made, and the general atmosphere is one of respect, and knowing they are part of a huge piece of modern British History in the making.

Some say the queue will be responsible for bringing Britain out of Brexit, and a part of the European Union again, as it stretches so far that France sees the latest to join the queue as it snakes onto their turf… (a little joke I read somewhere on Twitter!)

There was an accessible queue too, but that has now closed for any new joiners.

But, what an amazing show of respect from the people, not only of Britain but others who have come from other parts of the world, to do the same.

Charlie King 3, as one of my newest Reception students, told me he was called (I love it, King Charles the Third will always be Charlie King 3 to me from now on!) and the new Prince of Wales even came out to meet some of those at the front of the queue who had been there slowly moving all night, and they marvelled at the stoicism and will of those there, remarking that, had she witnessed it, the Queen would have truly appreciated this outpouring of love because that is exactly what it is.

Alas, I am not able to be a part of this queue, but I have all the channels on which to watch it happen in live action… And I will watch the emotional send-off, tomorrow, on TV at home.

So, are you good at queueing, or have you been a part of this historic Queue?

Wishing you a wonderfully peaceful Sunday, Peeps!