Well, having just replied to Kelly's blog and thanked her for mentioning me on hers, I thought I'd better update my own!
My big news is that I'm going to Uni!!
Gonna b a student!
I've just been offered a place at Plymouth University to study Occupational Therapy, it's a full time 3-year degree course and it's what I have been wanting to do forever, now is a good time to take the plunge because Josh will be starting school. the ironic thing is my Dad has worked as a lecturer at Plymouth Uni for 32 years, and is leaving this July!! It's a good thing though because he'll be more able to help when I need someone to pick up the boys etc.
I am really looking forward to the course, every OT I've ever met just LOVES being an OT and it feels like the right direction for me. I am worried about the practical side of things though; how I'll cope with organising the kids, how I'm gong to get any housework done ever, whether we'll have enough money and things like that. I'm sure it will all fall into place.
As for the rest of the family, the boys are great. Ro has lost both his front so looks cheekier than ever! He has another tae kwando grading in a week to become a brown belt. Josh is spending his time between being batboy and a power ranger (lots of jumping about making swishing noises for both of these, with added cape for the former) Phil is growing his hair again (Yay!) obviously that doesn't take much of his time and effort, so he's filling in the rest by working, playing guitar, looking for cars (both our cars have been on their last wheels for a while now). He cooked me a really lovely meal the other night to celebrate my Uni place, it's great to feel so supported.
The animals are all looking great now after their traumatic year. Kaber has had a new lease of life after having his operation, Cybil is totally happy again (although I think she has lost some hearing - or gained some stubborness - not sure which) and we haven't killed this hamster yet. (we thought we had but we had just sent her into hibernation by turning the heating down - pet hamsters aren't meant to hibernate and it could have been dangerous. she's happy now though in her new spot in the kitchen nearer the rayburn).
A story that might be worth telling here is our snowy adventure. We were at Mum and Dads for a band rehearsal in 2 seperate cars (I had come straight from work) when Mum said it had started to snow and the weather reports said it could be heavy so we'd better go . Phil went with the boys and we said we'd meet at the garage for petrol and follow each other. It was quite a slippy slow road to the garage butI got there waited, no sign of the boys. I tried phoning, phoned Mum who hadn't heard anything, decided to set off slowly through the rapidly thickening snow in case the'd come off the road. Nearly back to bridestowe and still no sign. I manage to get through on the phone eventually and they are stuck in a back raod (Phil had decided to get home quickly). My car seemed to coping well so I said I'd come around the main roads and try to get to them. About an hour later I was not far from them when I came to a long dip in the road with cars all abandonned either side. I had to try so took it slowly and got to the bottom in a fairly controlled way. Up the other side was not so easy. I had to swing the steering side-to-side to get any grip at all and in this way edged up the hill. I couldn't make it though and had to abandon my car at the side and phoned the boys again. they were starting to panic, Phil hadn't managed to raise any neighbours and the boys were only wearing pyjamas. i had some warmer clothes etc for them and a sleeping bag in my car so packed a bag and started to walk to them. It was so beautiful, I have never seen snow like it. It was calf deep on the main road and still snowing heavily. I got to the boys (who were very happy to see me!) after maybe 1/2 hr later and told them I had passed a guest house sign, did they want to snuggle here in the car or try there? "Guest house please!!" So i trudge back to the guest house, the owner was still up luckily (it was gone midnight now) and said he would get a room ready, if we wanted to open the gates and drive in. . .I dont think so. . .have you seen outside in the last hour? AH! So back to the car, get the boys covered in coats and onto our backs to the safety of the guest house. It was knee deep now and the hardest thing to do! I don't know how Phil managed to carry Ro, it was one of those "keep going, keep going. . ." times. Anyway, a beautiful warm, clean dry room awaited us, with a kettle, TV, two very grateful boys , lots of hugs. It was almost like heaven. The guys at "Fairview Lodge" couldn't have been any nicer, and we had the most amazing cooked brakfast in the morning I have ever had! they even sat with they boys while me and Phil tried to dig my car out the next day.
Amazing. Sorry quite a long story, I'd not written it down before!
that's it for this installment! I hope to get round to another before I graduate.
Cheers All
xx

Been a while. . .

Hey there,
thought I'd get caught up on my blog as Ro wanted to edit his (maxsloopymooch) and I'm off sick from work at the mo so have a bit of time to do these things!
We've all had horrid colds, poor Josh has had a rattly chest for a week, Phil has been suffering too and has had continual headaches too, I just managed through a gig on Sunday and really started croaking yesterday. Ro somehow got away with a light cough, I think the virus mutated inside him before he gave it to us.
Talking of mutants, Sybil the cat is much better she looks a lot less gruesome than she did, I'll post a pic when I can get her to lie still on the scanner. Caber (The Dog) does have to have his lump removed as it has started to ulcerate. He's in on Thursday, then we'll put him to work cleaning chimneys or something to pay for it.
Poor Hammie-Ham-Jo died suddenly one night. I think I was more upset than Ro, Josh helped me bury him and everything, dragging his reluctant big bro with him to chose where. I'm sorry if this seems too soon, but we have another hamster now. Also called Hammie-Ham-Jo, some Kids have no sentimentality.
On the same day as buying the new hamster I bought Josh 2 new fish (Called "Becky" and "Becky". I said that was good because he wouldn't know which was which, they then became "Becky" and "Which" - How brilliant is that?!) Unfortunately Becky and Which didn't last the night, Our horrid solitary other fish (A ciclid or something - which I think is called "fire-engine")
must have assassinated them.
Anyway enough of pets!! Ro has decided he wants to be an artist so is very excited about his first exhibition. (He had the idea tonight and wants to turn his bedroom into a gallery tomorrow) He does a fab line in superheroes, really imaginative. The rest of the Powers are just snot and phlegm on legs. and the legs part only counts when you're standing up.
So, bet you're glad you read my update huh?! Hopefully it at least made you feel better for not having this cold yourself, at least you're not one of our pets.
: )

Catching up

Hi there,
I have been asked to update the blog by people I see every day. Weird eh?
Well, that's life in the 2000's !!
So what's been going on? The boys are fab, Ro has been to beavers and made his "promise" to do his duty etc. Both Phil and I went to the ceremony and after the kid's promises the rather stern Scout Leader asked for all previous scouts / cubs / brownies to stand and restate thier promise. I very much enjoyed nudging Phil to his feet and watching him mumble something about God and the Queen. Hilarious! Ro ws great though, he was even given an extra bit to say and was the only boy who spoke without a microphone. Really clear and confident.
Josh is brill, still loving "scallywags" pre-school. He's getting pretty tired though and we're seeing a few PROPER tantrums!! Luckily these have only been at home so far, I'm yet to be watching a kicking-screaming boy throw himself on the floor of the supermarket. Well, not my own anyway. Theye are both onto Harry Potter at the moment which I am very happy about, and have even persuaded Ro to let me read him the books!! Yay! Josh runs about on a "broomstick" practising the "Swish and flick" of a wand. He even had a little scratch on his forehead which he said was his Harry Potter scar.
Me and Phil are trying to buckle down for winter, we are at the final stages of plumbing in the rayburn which I can't wait to light! Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Update on the mutant animals - Cybil is looking much better, she got quite ill with infections in her ears but she's all fine now and much happier (although I get the feeling she's being bullied now by other cruel cats who don't know about valuing diversity, as she's not going outside much. I wouldn't mind but getting up for a pee in a cold bathroom is bad enough without the cat crap in the bath.)
Caber is well, despite carrying an "egg" on his leg as Josh calls it.
A new addition to our furry freak show is Hammy-Ham-Jo who, I discovered the other day, has lost a finger. Ro now remembers Hammy's toe looked "all bent" after he accidentally closed the cage door on his toes the other day. (Oouch!).
Well, I'll try to keep the blog more up to date in future as I keep remembering things I want to write but it's late, I'm tired and I guess there's a limit to how much you want to read in one go!
Till Next time
: )

A selection of Power pics. . .

I haven't worked out how to set this out properly, there is no real reason for the cat to be at the top and Phil at the bottom. Maybe it's in "Attention received" order ; )

A real, proper-job post

Ok so maybe "enjoys regular blogging" was an overstatement, but if its on a CV you're supposed to exaggerate right?!
So you actually wanna know about "The Powers that be from Devon"?
OK,
I'll tell you about our week.
Ro has been to school, just started in year 2, and he is really loving it. It's great because he found last year quite hard (being fairly new and moved up into class 2 early was quite a challenge for him) so it's fab that he's really happy and motivated now. He also went to Little Pumas (Tae kwon do) which he's been doing for a while. He has a grading on Monday and he will then be a blue belt - with more badges for me to sew onto his uniform!!
We also briefly visited cubs as we had to walk his friend down and Ro is now desperate to join the cubs. More blinking badges!!
Josh has just started preschool and is loving that too. It's a lovely preschool, it had an "Outstanding" ofsted report which is quite an achievement. I've noticed Josh being a little more independent since he's been going on his own this week. Happy to play on his own, walk slightly apart from me etc. It almost seems sad as i write it, but I'm actually really happy. He seems to have grown in confidence already. He still tells me he loves me a million times a day. "Mummy, I luff chew". I'll never tire of that!
Phil has been workin hard, although work seems a little quiet, his firm seem to be weathering this "credit crunch" better than many other local welding firms. (It bugs me that the "credit crunch" sounds like a bar of chocolate). It's always a double edged sword with overtime, if there is loads available, it's really tiring for Phil so when there is none it's great to have him home at a decent time, but we struggle a bit with the old moolah. (We could always feed the kids on credit-crunches)
I've been on a training course for two days this week (crisis prevention intervention) and on the other 3 days have had the lovely Orlagh here. (I share childcare with her Mum) She's just turned one, loads of fun and adored by the boys.
I got some lovely pictures of them all today, I haven't downloaded them yet though. When I do I'll get them on here.
Musically things have been great, after a load of fab gigs this summer, we have been keen to keep the momentum going, so a meeting with a PR lady this week was just what The Madding Crowd needed. She's going to get some work for us at some more suitable and better paid venues next year. Watch this space. . .
What else? The dog, cat, hamster and fish need a mention I guess. Especially poor Sybil the cat. She had her ears removed a couple of weeks ago (a type of skin cancer very common in white cats) and is looking very sorry for herself. They got horribly infected and despite antibiotics, basically exploded. Now that may sound gruesome to you, but you didn't have to go to the vets with her. So now there are no stitches left and nothing left to stitch, she is being left with higher dose antibiotics for the wounds to heal as they are . (Obviously whatever discomfort I feel looking at her is nothing to what she may be feeling - but she looks like a mangled ferret). Before any one calls for her to be put to sleep, she doesn't seem in any pain and is eating, purring, getting lots more attention than usual, so we're going to give her the best chance we can. Caber the dog should be having an operation too to remove a lump but I'm reluctant to put him through it at 12, and to be honest, none of this comes cheap. I can't feed my kids on credit-crunches forever. So if anyone want to see pics of my mutant pets, drop me a line. . .
Hmm, that's about it really for the mo.
The sun is shining for the whole weekend apparently so we promised the kids a night in the tent and a campfire. I'm so excited!! (Really, I am!)

Blogging Marvellous

Ok, so I'm now a blogger.
To be honest that doesn't sound great does it?!
I don't know if it is something I will proudly display on my C.V. "Enjoys regular Blogging..."
I guess it could be fun though, I can write whatever I like, whatever I feel knowing that even though the whole world will have access, nobody will read it.





Or will they?






You aren't you?






Yikes, this is not for the paranoid is it?






Don't answer that. . .