This cannot go on!!

Two teenage sons = double the stress every morning because they do not get out of bed!

This morning I resorted to pulling their duvets off their bed in the hope that they would not want to lay there shivering but they did! Admittedly the house is not a fridge but I wouldn't want to be stripped of my duvet first thing in the morning, far nicer to ease out of bed into my fluffy slippers and cosy dressing gown.

I've tried bribery, cajoling, reasoning and then finally full banshee screaming! I have to share with you that it places one in a very very bad mood first thing in the morning!

The Power of Cake!

I do not profess to be a wonderful cook but I do enjoy baking a cake. I have two teenage sons who are willing eaters and they've come to expect something spongy, chocolately or gooey under my glass cake dome in the kitchen each week.

It therefore came as a sort of back-handed compliment and shock when my eldest announced that my coconut and lemon cake had become famous at his school. Why? Well, it transpires that lunchtimes at schools are now used for poker games! My son never having any money, (every coin and note burns holes until it is spent) has resorted to gambling with my lemon and coconut cake! Not only is that hard to believe but that all his gambling friends find it acceptable! It throws a whole new slant on gambling with chips!! :-) x

Not so calm now!!

It couldn't last, I was silly to thing my new calm serene self was actually here to stay. Yesterday confirmed to me that I was definitely back to my worrying-panic-rushing old self! A mere snippet of my day... school run, forgotten PE kits, slight tantrum of no Capri-Sun, writers meeting - I'd forgotten to do the homework, car petrol light now been on for two days, school run, hairdressers with eldest - took hours, rushed dinner, meeting Sister for cinema, running late, forgot youngest supposed to be going to watch Ebbsfleet, dash him to Grandparents - grovel grovel.. make cinema by skin of teeth, relax..ahhh - return home - eldest brandishing hair highlighting kit.. "pleeeease Mum!" Fall into bed at midnight realising no bread for pack lunches and definitely still no Capri-Sun!

Getting back to it....

Tomorrow will mark my return to work (snow ploughs permitting) for nearly a month! It has been an odd time being totally out of routine and despite the pain, crutches and limping I have enjoyed taking it easy.

At 6am tomorrow I've got to delve into the depths of my wardrobe not only to find smart(ish) office clothes but also my working head! I think I'm a bit of a Worzel Gummidge and have appropriate heads for certain occasions - my sensible organised efficient head for work and my creative dreamy one for home. Sometimes the two blend together and it definitely clashes believe me!

So how much writing have I achieved while sitting at home ... none! Why is that? I've discovered I am not alone, others have commented that when time has been handed to them on a plate they cannot actually get down to it and yet when we rush around working we manage to sit down and fit in a few thousand words here and there. Do we only work well when under pressure??

Stress-free!

I'm sitting here typing my blog on Christmas Eve and all is calm, all is bright! Having been confined to the VT for the last couple of weeks with the awkward ankle and then snow storms, followed by ice upon ice for once I had to learn to delegate! I am really not good at the 'D' word - I'm one of those that feels things get done a lot quicker and efficiently if I carry them out - hence I'm run ragged most of the time. But kind family and friends have dashed around getting shopping for me, I reluctantly withdrew my offer of cooking on Christmas Day and for the first time since I was a kid I'm actually twiddling my thumbs and waiting with quite a big bubble of excitement for Christmas Day! I don't think my sons have ever witnessed me so calm - ordinarily I join the rest of the women of the world at this point brandishing a potato peeler and panicking that there is just not enough Quality Street or loo roll to last the two days that shops don't open!

So I say to all my friends out there - I do not recommend falling down a hole as it is fairly painful but I cannot speak highly enough of just sitting down and taking it easy. I will raise my glass (and my crutches!) to you all for a jingly festive time and a spectacular New Year! ;-) xx

Taking a nose dive!

What's been happening? Well the most significant news is that a week ago, in my typical mad rush to do a zillion things at once I rushed out to the boot of my car (to hide my eldest son's Christmas gifts) put my foot down a hole, sprawled myself across the road and subsequently was told by the hospital the following morning that I had torn the ligaments in my ankle. A week later, ankle elevated I'm still in pain and frankly I'm considering getting in touch with MI5 to suggest they use daytime TV as a form of torture, either them or lovely Jack in 24.. mmmm...oops I digress!

Forced rest - what's that all about?? Actually aside from the pain which I am numbing with the odd glass or two of red and prescribed pain killers, I have to admit that for the first time in ages I have time to chat on the phone, time to read the whole of the Radio Times, watch TV adverts (not pre-record everything and have my finger poised over FF) and drink a hot cup of tea. So sensibly I need to take note and when back to full fitness (uh hum!) take the time to look at the sky, watch the flowers and all those feel good things - will I? Would you?? Nah - I'll be chasing down to Sainsbury's and panicking about de-scaling the kettle - normal life will resume and I probably wouldn't cope any other way! :-)