my week

Just to fill you in on some of the details of my week that I did not have time to include yesterday, I have been...

: : Amused at the fact that I slept soundly through the blaring alarm of the mental institute / something of that nature / not sure precisely what it is - building that is behind our house that my bedroom faces - the alarm went off at 2am, accompanied by a call out saying, 'alert, alert, escapee...' or something of that nature and I was oblivious to this drama.

: : To a conference at Ashton Court Mansion not the prettiest of mansions on the exterior (there seems to be a bit of a theme of yellow mansions running through Bristol), but beautiful inside. This conference was run by Play England and was free, with a free cooked lunch with very posh, giant sized cutlery. I cannot give you a brief synopsis of how the day was, because it provoked such extreme emotion in me that if I start talking about it, we will be here for a while. Maybe that's for another day.

(In short, I am horrified and slightly distraught that we as a society have got to a stage where 'play' is being given on prescription - that's right, by GP's, that the levels of childhood obesity are as hideously high as they are, and that conclusions are being drawn that children don't know how to use their imaginations anymore.....Thankyou so so much Mum and Dad for giving the four of us such a wonderfully rich childhood - for not spoiling us with sweetsweetsweets, TV and the like, for not sending us to numerous afterschool programmes and things that meant would have spent very little time with you, for reading to us all the time, for answering the questions of our ever-inquiring minds and generally being wonderful parents. Thankyou thankyou thankyou. I hope you know how eternally valuable the sacrifices and investments you have made have been and will be.)

: : Being creative - making the first Christmas decorations of this year with the girls I look after - making ball-balls (is that how you spell it??!) out of string. We filled water balloons then coated string in PVA glue, wrapped them around the balloons and rolled them in glitter, then hung them from the oven to dry. Lots of fun and a whole lot of glitter everywhere.

: : Baking snickerdoodles - what a wonderful name - with the girls I look after. Delicious little cinnamon cakes / cookies - a combination of the two.

: : Sewing, Sewing, Sewing, though I can't say what just yet.

: : Wedding dress shopping with my beautiful friend Sarah, who looked stunning in all the dresses she tried on.

: : Baking a super-delicious rich chocolate french flourless torte, made using a Divine Recipe, with Divine chocolate. Mmmmmm...There was much appreciation all round from the lovely ladies who consumed the torte.

: : Going to Luv Esther - a musical production of the Bible story of Esther.

All in all, it has been a grand week.