headbanging

Do you ever feel like banging your head against the steering wheel of your car through sheer frustration at your inability to change your situation and your lack of control over your life? No? Oh, then that must be me then.

Never in a million years did we think we wouldn't be in a house by now. And never did we think that we'd ever be priced out of the Ipswich market! But we have been. We spent the weekend looking at houses that were too expensive and not very nice! I've just spent a good half an hour on the phone with the estate agent discussing the TOO EXPENSIVE house that I thought we'd walked away from but find we just can't. HE believes they've over priced their house and really wants to get it for us, but THEY want to hang on and see if they can find some MUG who's prepared to pay the overinflated price they have it on the market for! GRRRRRRRRRRR BANG BANG OUCH.

Coupled with that I had a BAD day at work. This boy that I seem to have been saddled with kicked off in a big way and I had to get him taken to the withdrawal room, which shook me (as he was throwing things) and shook my confidence with my inability to deal with him and having to recourse to senior staff. GRRRRRRRRRRR BANG BANG OUCH.

I left my car at my sister's last night as we'd been round there for SUnday lunch and to celebrate my neice's 21st (again) and this morning had to walk the girls to schoool and me to work - we all looked like drowned rats. GRRRRRRRRR BANG OUCH.

I just have this urge to go to bed and stay there.

Can A Woman have Too Many Bags?

In the absence of anything constructive to tell you about homes or jobs I have decided to blog about my handbags. Andy thinks I have too many, but hey, a girl needs to coordinate her wardrobe!

1. My trusty Kangol bag - good with jeans but now sadly covered in oil and scuffs where it got caught in my bike wheels on holiday!
2.
3 My very much admired green 'grown up 'bag complete with Lily and Agathe doggie
4 My Patrick Cox handbag
5 My 'rag' bag woven for me by Lettie! What a clever woman that Lettie is.
6 My hippie chick Monsoon bag from a few years ago. It reminds me of Barcelona because I took it there!
7 My 'free with a magazine' bag, which I love.
8 Yet another Monsoon stripy leather bag. A trusty favourite.
9 Haven't used this for a long time...a bit old lady.
10 My very very cheap H&M summer bag - already a couple of years old.

And finally..... my favourite new bag on the block, my slouchy suede Boden bag which I forgot to photograph earlier and so had to do it in the dark .

Aren't you just loving the eighties exposed brick work going on in our house?

Three things

Holly has been learning German for three weeks.

Today in German her teacher set up role plays in which one person asked the other where they were from and the other had to say they were from a country that the teacher had named. THe teacher told Holly that she (Holly) was from France.

Girl: Wo wohst du?
Holly: J'habite en France

Teacher: (apoplectic) Was? Vat ist dis? Dis ist ein German lesson, nicht ein French lesson!
Holly: But you said I was from France.


(how I laughed when Holly told me this) Holly can't help it if she's too clever for her own good.

A PRIZE FOR THE FIRST CORRECT ANSWER

Can you recognize the famous painting in the background? (Well it was famously painted) The answer is here

It's the way I was dragged up!

Hello,

As much as I love my parents I do feel that they slipped up on their child raising in one area. They never taught me to be a guest. I had no idea that when you go to someone's house you take something and when you've been at someones house you always phone/write to thank afterwards. It's something I learned in adulthood. Now I think they should have spelled it out to me, because as an adult I notice that my parents do ALWAYS turn up with something in hand and ALWAYS ring/write to thank afterwards. I was too busy being a child to notice such things, so my mother should have sat me down and told me!

Last Friday I was invited to my (newish) friend Wendy's with the girls after school to swim in their pool. Nicola was also invited. She phoned me before hand and asked me what I was taking - it hadn't occurred to me to take something, as it was just a swim in a pool, no meal or anything - I mean how far does one take it? So Nicola kindly bought some posh biscuits from both of us!

On Thursday, I invited Nic and Wendy round to lunch. They both turned up with lovely gifts (posh balsamic vinegar and a lovely bottle of Rose wine). They were clearly brought up well! And after lunch, two texts thanking me for a lovely time.....

My two oldest and best friends Bridget and Caroline are the best guests ever, always have been. Caroline turns up for our weekends with a whole Tesco shop! Bridge brings heaps of booze!

Now that I'm grown up I (nearly) never turn up anywhere without something and now I tend to bring more to overcompensate.

When my father in law, came to visit for a month earlier in the year he brought nothing by way of a token gift, or at least something for the children. He claimed he had no luggage space for gifts - hmm. Modern etiquette eh?


I think I have to go now, I have to tell my children something.....

Try THIS QUIZ ON MANNERS!

Well, it's not like me to be so miserable so I'm vowing to be a happy bunny from now on! But hang on, I've just to complain a bit more....

My job....not sure about it. Don't want to say too much just incase - and my photo is up on my blog so it wouldn't take much to find it....

I hardly ever seem to be in the classroom, but I'm either in this room where some kids come for extra help, or in a room called the Isolation Room for kids that are internally excluded (there has been no one in there yet). This is what the LSA's did in my last job. They would go round with the kids that needed special needs etc. All very good if that's the sort of thing you like but I don't like it...I feel guilty saying it but it's not what I like doing. (I wrote a lot more and then removed it). I'll hang on and see what transpires, I might be able to ask for more classroom time further along the line.

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Houses - huh, who needs them. We have a lovely pet cemetery here, trees, grass, a sunken bath and mock tudor firplace in a 70's bungalow - lovely!
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Oh yes, some good news.....my brother's new baby was born on Sunday! So welcome to the world Ferdinand! (with a name like that, he could start a war - geddit?!) (He is half Austrian - so you never know!)

Hope deferred sicketh the heart.

We didn't get the house. Worse things can happen. But for a while my heart is sick.

Yet another tiny tiny update

The BIG house in the WRONG area isn't on the market - it was a mistake. But we are still awaiting the ANSWER from the vendors of the EXPENSIVE house. Was a very silly girly and drove past twice today and had a good look at the house we may or may not have by Christmas. Ever the optimist, there is champagne in the fridge - I think we'll drink it whatever the outcome!

(and if we don't get it something else'll come up!)

tiny update

Hello,

Yesterday evening at 6.20 (when estate agents are usually in the pub) I got a phone call from the agent saying that the vendors of the EXPENSIVE HOUSE in the RIGHT area are going to see a house today and if they like it and want to make an offer they will accept our offer because the house they are seeing is cheaper and therefore they can take the reduction on their house.

However, this morning I got up and checked the internet to find that the BIG HOUSE in the WRONG area is back on the market - it might just be a computer mistake not showing the SOLD on it - but it was showing sold yesterday and the agent told me it had gone. Andy wants the BIG house in the WRONG area more than he wants the EXPENSIVE HOUSE in the RIGHT area - ho hum.......we're going to see the BIG HOUSE again today if there has been a mistake.


PTB bollocks.

Yawn...not houses again

Hello,

I'm in a bit of a state today. The reason is this:

After my busy day yesterday I got in and immediately looked on the internet to see if there were any new houses on the market. To my dismay the BIG house in the WRONG area has now been sold! I was SO pissed off. Then I did something really naughty because I'm so fed up with this house business, I phoned the estate agent (and spoke to the partner of the company) and told him I would increase the offer on the other house we have an offer in on by a very small amount and if they say no again then we will withdraw all offers and look elsewhere. Although I really want the house, the cost of the mortgage we will need will be very very scary.

Day Off

Hello,

Got a day off today! Got to fit alot in now in one day off per week....allotment, tennis, coffee with tennis women, haircut, TK Maxx, read 'Saturday' by Ian McEwan for tonight's Book Club! How much of this will I fit in?

Well, I'm glad I didn't write much about my new job at the beginning of the week as to be honest I was feeling distinctly underwhelmed by it all. Now, though, the children have entered the equation which makes all the difference. It feels like such a natural milieu for me.

Compared with my last job though this one is completely different. They seem to have conflated the special needs department with the teaching assistants. Special needs has a very large umbrella (of course) and so coming through our special teaching room are children of all ages and abilities. What I find so notable compared with my last job is that in this school there appear to be hardly any behavioural issues and because of an abundance of resources and budget there is the time/staff/etc to help the children with mild SEN problems. It's great that these children aren't falling through the net, but it also highlights the discrepencies in what's happening nationally. Also, in this school there are only 11 children with English as an additional language!

I suppose I shouldn't say too much about my job (you never know who's reading), but in my experience of two days' I am of the belief that some of the teachers wouldn't last two minutes in a school where behaviour is an issue!

Shall I have a radical haircut like the lovely, famous Tat?

Phew What a scorcher!

28 degrees here in East Anglia. Shame I have to go to work!

Steve Irwin is dead!

Sunday

Hello,

I've got a hangover today. It's quarter to two and I'm still in my dressing gown! I'm trying all cures known to humankind.....lemon and water, loads of vitamin C, flopping around, lying down, saying 'oooooh' alot. So far, I still feel hungover.

Went to a party last night! It was good fun. Funny how time flies at parties. You arrive at 9 and when you next look at the clock it's 2 in the morning! And it's not until you go to the loo and are sitting on there all alone with a bit of time to reflect that you realise quite how drunk you are!

Have to report, though (shhhhhh) that the hostess' husband also got drunk and invited me upstairs to see his guitar collection, a rather sizeable collection at that. He kept putting different guitars around my neck and encouraging me to strum the three chords that I knew! I felt a little bit uncomfortable to say the least, don't know why, all probably very harmless, but I don't know the man, only met him twice.

Anyway, that aside, I cemented some new friendships, which was nice.

Bye, going to lie down again.....

saturday

Hi there,

It's Saturday. Work was fine yesterday. Lots of nice people to meet, a free lunch and lots of sitting around being told stuff! Same again on Monday before the hordes of kids arrive on the Tuesday! That's it really. Nothing more to report.

House update: The actual partner of the estate agent that we mostly deal with spoke to me yesterday in a 'let's get you a house' sort of way. We have two offers in on two houses. One offer is for the big house from a while back which is in the 'prime' residential area and therefore too expensive for us. BUT it isn't selling and we have an offer in which is the HIGHEST we can afford. The other house is the one I recently put on which we increased our offer on. We aren't prepared to go higher because the area isn't as good, neither is it in the right school catchment area. BUT the agent yesterday said "why don't you raise the offer on the W house by x amount and your offer on the N house by x amount and I'll get you one of them! " I said to him "I wish we could but raising our offer on the W house is a step too far we just can't afford to" to which he said "oh come on, it's only a term's school fees" (our children are not educated privately, although he clearly thinks they are!). The offer on N house is quite a bit lower and he just couldn't understand it. He said to me "Well I don't know what your budget is because of the differing offers" - SO I HAD TO EXPLAIN TO HIM IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE AREA. Why do they play it so thick sometimes. BUT, I have noticed that THAT particular agency isn't getting many houses to sell at the moment and must be desperate for a sale. We really do like the big house on N road, but we don't think it's worth upping our offer by quite a lot to get it. But, I don't know what to do. There's nothing else to buy, it's getting to me. I want a garden, I want the kids to have nice bedrooms and a feeling of being settled. I don't want to be poor though. I'm pissed off about it all really. I really thought they would accept our offer. PTB PTB PTB

Hello,


Look at this. I got it from him - who is a link on Molly's blog. (Hmm this blog slutting!)

Well, I'm going to admit now that I have some 'meed-ya luvvie' friends at the mo. This is a hitherto unheard of thing, unless you count the time Ben Von whatshisface from Curiousity Killed the Cat (that band in the eighties - nothing on YouTube yet though) came to my party - when I lived on the Fulham Road and had friends that went to The Wag on a Friday night!

Firstly, the lovely Tat has a three page spread in the new magazine Tonic Can you believe it? Well done Tat. Go see Tat's blog to see more details.

Secondly, the lovely Lettuce's hubby has had a book published and will be seen this Sunday on BBC1 (I'll let her give you the details, as it's her hubby, and really I shouldn't be telling you this! hahah, but you know how impressionable I am!). And I've just noticed as I've linked this that Lettie has done a THING on Tat!

Thirdly, my friend Mick (he who ran the marathon) has also had a book published which is being serialised in the Independent! and will no doubt be all over the 'meedya' soon.

So there you go, fame awaits! Only a matter of time before the fame stick tickles me by association! I could sell some of their drunken stories to the News of the World! (but I never would, and I'll wait until they're more famous)

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It's very early in the morning, I have to go to work today! WTF - work! I have NO idea what I'm going to wear, or do, for that matter! More later!


So the holidays are over (for me) - another few days for the children - who incidentally won't be home alone today, they have an eighteen year old neice waiting for University to start in three months time (!) stepping into the breach. I had a lovely 'fin de vacances' in the form of a couple of days at Lettuce's (and her famous husband! - who wouldn't give me a signed copy of his book, incidentally because, he said "you wouldn't read it"! - huh). We went to the pictures (a Scanner Darkly, with my lovely Robert Downey Junior, who I LUUURRRVE), we went to the London Aquarium and ate lovely food on the South Bank, drank rather a lot with the wonderful Molly, and had a long (two hour) visit to TK Maxx!

On the way back me and the girls (bad grammar tch) went to Blue Water and, complete excitement for yours truly - Yo Sushi has returned to Blue Water! Sadly, I wasn't hungry enough to partake but I intend to revisit soon with a rumbling tummy!

Well, finally, if you've clicked on the all the links in this post you're either bored and got nothing to do, or highly interested in the ramblings of an impressionable person!

Bye for now (I think it's the early morning and the very strong coffee that's done it!)