TO DO......

It is August, it should be my chilling time but I am about to blog here things that need doing between now and the end of September, mainly as a reminder to myself.

1. One hour a day where possible hacking back Ivy, brambles and other horrible plants in the garden and the removal of grass where it is not supposed to be.

2. De-clutter and sort, small kids bedroom, front and back rooms. Essential purchase for this is IVAR shelving unit, approximate cost:
5 shelves £20, one side unit £10 and back brace £2, totalling £32. Whilst at IKEA I really do need 3 kitchen chairs so will have to gather about £65-£70 before heading there.

3. Decorate at least one of the downstairs rooms - always a big job but needs doing badly. I will probably do the back room first as I am claiming this as my room with no kids stuff in there, that will all be in the front room which I only sit in if I am watching TV though it has a decent sofa. The back room is more Japanese style..ie. sitting on the floor!

4. Plan what I am doing with M and J come September.

5. Sort out GCSE work for D and juggle money to see about purchasing 4 for her.. eeek, that'll be approximately £280 deposit with 8 installments of £140 then....

6. Look through Adult ed brochures and sort out any courses A wants to do.

7. Sort out my OU course.

8. Clear and sort out shed - need sunny day for that which is not very forthcoming at the moment...


9. Keep looking for part-time job that I can fit around the kids and still home-educate - I will not put them in school but would like 16hrs work a week as I reckon I could juggle it. I pray on this so am not stressing, just trusting.

I think that should keep me busy then, as well as running the kids to various over summer activities and sorting them for holidays. I am also planning a day trip to a beach in Wales to make up for our lost holiday. I have about 8 weeks to get all that done so better crack on!

Summer is here but you wouldn't currently know it. It is about 15 degrees which means I feel cold.

We have got through A's GCSE's... just got to wait for the results now. I still have to ring OOL as I have not received a form from them that I should. I also have to pay for the exam she took at the local centre. We did well getting her Sociology for free. I am proud of the fact in 8 months I managed to pay for A's biology GCSE which cost about £330. The problem is D wants me to buy 4 for her to start in September which will mean 8 monthly payments of approximately £140... I will have to find it though but it will make for a tight Christmas...again!
A is going to college in September, she has plans for the future that may mean she only does a year there. I have no problem with what my kids choose, I have always said to them I am happy as long as they have some kind of plan/goal/drive. I could not bear them to just sit on Facebook all day - though A knows this winds me up and makes jokes about being a NEET for the future!

We are supposed to be going camping with a group of people tomorrow. After much deliberation though, I have decided to cancel. The forecast is awful. 17 degrees warmest temperature. Rain nearly every day. I have camped in these conditions but just can't justify spending money on doing it now. It will not be a holiday so I have told the kids we aren't going. The youngest are sad and are hoping their Dad will take them. I would like to take them in August if and when the weather gets back to being like summer. It's a shame because until recently it was lovely and warm here. Our area is under a current hosepipe ban - the first for 14 years - as water levels have plummeted due to lack of rainfall.

I have had some amazingly happy and some difficult times recently. The happy due to events I can't really share on here which is odd. The sad because a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. She recently had to have a double mastectomy and has further surgery to go through. It has shocked me and made me change the way I look at life. I think this is a good thing.
I have decided to be more free and spontaneous.. I'm even going to sort out my passport. I am planning some trips next year without the kids. I will always make sure they are taken care of as I am their Mother, but life is so short and I want to enjoy it so am looking for ways to create a bit of adventure for myself. I will keep you posted. The teenagers think I am having an early mid-life crisis..... rofl

Here are some recent pics:
A and I appeared on BBC Radio Manchester, speaking about youth hostel holidays for youngsters. It was short but we had a fun time!

When it was sunny we had a barbecue and invited folk over - mostly teens :-)



There you go, photographic proof that we did have some sun. Now if I could just find the solar powered marble run that I put in a safe place, before the summer is over, it would be a good thing!