Friday 18 December 2009

Plans go wrong again

It seems impossible to plan anything with any conviction these days. Take today for instance... last day of term... almost there with the Christmas shopping and card giving.

Today was the day when my 6 year old would take his presents in for his best friend and teacher... and I would get my hair cut ready for Christmas. But yesterday the teacher came out onto the playground to meet me with the dreaded words... "I'm afraid he's not been very well all day..." So we went home, kept warm, dosed up with Calpol and hoped for the best. But in the middle of the night a temperature raged and this morning he woke up with a headache and sore throat.

Ah well...for a moment there I was almost organised. Luckily a friend came to the rescue and took the teacher's present and card in for me. Unfortunately the hairdresser had to be cancelled. I'll give me fringe a quick trim myself and that'll have to do! But see what I mean - I just can't plan anything with any certainty anymore!

Tuesday 15 December 2009

Role swap - if only!

My hubby insists that if he were at home, the house would be clean, the fridge would be full, hot meals would constantly be bubbling away on the stove and a scene of domestic bliss would greet me upon my return from work everyday.

This of course, p*sses me off.

Partly because he forgets that I actually work (from home) which means that I don't have all the time in the world to devote to the upkeep of the house.

But, having said that, I'll be the first to admit I am not a natural when it comes to housework. To me it is and always will be a huge chore. And, as I am not very organised, I find it hard to just knuckle down to the tidying up etc. I'd say our house is clean and tidy(ish) in a creative sort of way - rather than a showhome sort of way.

Hubby reckons that if he were at home he would build the extension that we can't afford and he would still have time for a round of golf.

Now I know that you are wondering how on earth I've managed to restrain myself from braining him with the frying pan... but I do so wish that I could swap roles with him. Not for a week or a month but for about a year... which I think would give him long enough to realise just how much effort goes into looking after small children.

I know I couldn't do his job because he has to make people redundant and I just couldn't do that - but I'd be quite willing to work full time outside the home and let him do house work just to see what happens.

Is it just me or does anyone else have a hubby who thinks he could do a better job?

Monday 7 December 2009

Help it's December and I can't cope (again)...

Every year it's the same... I just seem to have far too much to do. I mean, I'm always busy - you know what it's like with kids, you just never seem to stop - and then someone plonks Christmas on you as well!

What with all the shopping, card writing, wrapping, tree-putting-upping... santa letter-writing etc...it's enough to give any organised mother a nervous breakdown let alone one as disorganised as me.

Don't get me wrong - I luurve Christmas - as in the big day, big turkey dinner, pressie opening, cracker pulling, paper hat wearing, alcohol drinking, sofa snoozing, sharade playing, all-over-in-a-day-lot!

It's just December that I hate!

And if I thought it was bad before my kids went to school - it's a million times worse now...

Can you buy and wrap a gift for your child...
Can you make a costume for the school play...
Can you supply jars of sweets and cakes for the fair...
Can you attend the fair...
Can you spend lots of money...
Can you fill in forms and pay money for various Christmas trips...
Can you purchase Christmas photos (and fill in forms and write cheques)...

And on top of that there's the job of writing Christmas cards for all the class mates (half of whom can't read anyway) writing Christmas cards for the parents and buying unwanted presents for the teachers...

Hubby says - you can say no - you don't have to do it all... but then I'll just look like scrooge... so I guess I'll just go along with the whole rigmarole for another year and look forward to the big day when I can raise a large G&T to myself for getting through the whole thing in one piece for one more year! (Bah humbug I say!)

Sunday 6 December 2009

Pets R Us

Amazingly we've accumulated lots of pets!

For ages we didn't have any - then suddenly last February we decided to get a couple of hens. It was a spur of the moment thing. One Friday night I happened to say that I'd quite like to keep hens and to my surprise hubby agreed. That was it, the next day I persuaded him to convert the shed into a chicken coop - and by 5pm I was the proud owner of two Rhode Island Reds!

By July hubby decided he'd quite like a fish pond. So being the handy kind of man he is, he built one and we bought about fifteen assorted types of fish. Some died, but we still have at least ten - they're very difficult to count!

Then a miracle occurred and we got our gorgeous dog back who'd been re-homed over two years ago - circumstances have changed so I am once again able to provide him with a good life with lots of company and decent (almost daily walks... (ie: I don't go out to work full time anymore!)

Then yesterday my eldest stepson arrived with a hamster. He's not so keen on cleaning out the cage regularly and has asked me if I can look after her here - so there we have it... two hens, ten(ish) fish, a dog and now a hamster.

Hurrah! At last we're a real family again!

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Computer chaos

Yes it finally happened. My computer crashed and I lost everything!

I know it's all my own fault for not backing up properly, but when your life's in as much of muddle as mine - backing up is not the kind of thing that gets done. Backing up is for organised people who have routines and can remember where they left their keys. Some days I can barely remember where I left my kids let alone my keys!

I lost my emails... I can live with that... I lost some documents... again, there's not much point worrying about that...but I lost photos and video footage of the kids which really does upset me.

I've got some photos on CD but I know there's a batch that are gone forever - and video footage of Christmas morning and birthday parties.

The computer man came round on Monday morning with my blank computer and offered to re-install all of my programmes - but of course I didn't have a clue where the discs where... anyway... to cut a long story short - my very early new year's resolution is to GET ORGANISED!

Wish me luck!