Not quite the relaxing summer I hoped for

That about sums it up. We ended the academic year with the threat of redundancies in our department. This soon turned out to not be a threat but reality. Two of our seven and a half members of teaching staff were made redundant. We all had to re-apply for our jobs and generally justify our existence. I was OK but it was a very stressful time

We started the summer holidays with himself in hospital. A fairly major infection which took a while to sort out kept him in for 10 days. My peaceful few days at home before the school holidays started didn't happen as I was in and out to the hospital, visiting and delivering supplies.

After that, I was working a couple of days every week to get things organised for the new academic year. My mother was here for a week but we didn't do much, which included several things I had meant to do. We have a new kitten (number 2 son's birthday present) which is fun but time-consuming, expecially cleaning up after it or chasing number 2 son to clean up after it.

Our main holiday was spent camping just south of the Lake District at Bolton-le-Sands. It was good, the first three days especially so, as it was warm and sunny and there was no wind! That last point is significant. By the Wednesday of our stay, the wind was getting up a bit. On the Thursday night I got very little sleep because of the noise. Not too worried about the tent falling down, but the noise was awful. Not only was everything flapping about but there was heavy rain as well. Even light rain makes a fair amount of noise on a tent roof. The boys, of course, slept through most of it, even number 2 son who managed to forget to do a BM before he had his bedtime snack and had a hypo about 10 minutes after he'd finished. So we were up quite late while he ate a couple of bowls of breakfast cereal. I woke him up every few hours to check he was actually asleep and not in a coma, but he was fine. The last night of our stay we came back to the tent after a day out and the back had blown in. One of the guys had snapped and the pegs across the back attaching it to the ground were out. Luckily we had some spare pegs so we double pegged the back and tied the guy together and survived the night. Another night without much sleep.

Number 1 son has been working a lot this summer. He has been doing split shifts and zooming back and forth on the train. He had a great time and is enjoying spending some of his income. Of course, it's not much fun for us when he phones at just after 11pm to say he's missed the last train (or it has been cancelled) and he needs to be collected (him and his bike - which is actually my bike). He got his GCSE results this week and they are OK. Not as good as we had hoped, but a lot better than we feared. We did the school supplies shopping this week, he starts 6th form in ten days time.

Number 2 son is just starting his GCSEs this year. It will be a tough couple of years all round because he's not known for doing homework or coursework so it could be a complete nightmare. Almost every negative comment on his reports for the last three years have been for lack of homework, now it's a lot more important. He wants to get better results than Number 1 son. It's possible, but not if he doesn't get his act together. We have still to get his school stuff sorted out, including new shoes which isn't easy, given he's a size 13 already, just like his brother.

At the moment my mother is in hospital having been admitted in the middle of the night by ambulance. Chest pains. It seems not to have been anything serious and she may go home today. I will still need to nip up there (over a 100 miles each way) to make sure she has everything she needs, like food and milk and to see that she's OK. Good timing Mum, I really need to be doing that on a Bank Holiday Weekend when the world and his family will be driving somewhere. I'm not even thinking about the M25 roadworks which took me almost an hour to get through last time I went.

I still have some things I need to sort out before starting back at work properly but they won't take long, I hope. I went in one day this week and did nothing but go to meetings and do student enrolments. I hate meetings!

Maybe next term will be a little less activity packed. I can hope I suppose.

Date posted: 28 Aug 2010

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A difficult time

It has been a tough few weeks in the Madwoman's household. Himself's mother died suddenly on Easter Sunday. Basically her heart stopped. A nice way to go for her, but not so much fun for the family, especially for her oldest grandchild who went to see if she was alright and found her. That must have been really hard for him.

So, the funeral was arranged and of course we all went. All four of her children with their partners, all of her nine grandchildren and the older ones took their partners. The funeral was held at the church mother-in-law attended regularly and the minister spoke about how she made such a good contribution to the church community with her husband (who died some time ago) and in her own right. He talked about how their marriage had been a real partnership. He talked also about how important mother-in-law's Christian faith was to her and how she lived a good life. Lots of people got up and talked about how mother-in-law loved her family, her children and grandchildren. How she was a kind and generous person.

She loved her children so much that she only remembered two of the four in her will. Not as in she only left things to those two, but as in she only mentioned those two. There was not a single mention of any grandchildren, except in the case that one of the named children would fail to inherit, nor of her sister (who was so distressed that she was too ill to attend the funeral).

Not surprisingly, some people feel rather upset. Himself and I were not surprised to be left out since we never expected anything different, but having those expectations confirmed stung a bit. Not even being mentioned stung a bit more. We, and the other invisible family members, are not to receive even a momento to remember her passing or her existence.

The two offspring who were mentioned have decided to "honour" her memory. Fair enough. Except, I doubt that their children will get exactly what was left to them in the will, so I'm not quite convinced about the honouring bit.

One of the least thrilling experiences of my life was having to explain to my children that their Nana, despite what she said, and despite what was said at the funeral, really didn't care for them very much. It would have been nice not to have had to explain it, but they are Facebook friends with their cousins and some of those cousins were very angry at the way their parents had been treated and said so. Personally I think that anybody can leave their money to anyone or anything they want, it's their money, but obviously a quarter share in something has to be better than a kick in the teeth. I'm glad we didn't have to jump through the hoops that the others did to get included. Mind you, going to watch football with your mother once a week (unless something more interesting comes along) isn't that difficult, especially if you aren't going to be allowed to watch football at home, but I digress.

Betrayal is word that keeps popping into my mind. That woman betrayed everybody, the beneficiaries and the others. What she didn't do was betray her relationship with her long dead spouse, he dominated her right to the end, and she let him.

Date posted: 09 May 2010

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Are these people real?

A friend directed me to this article

I know it's aimed at Americans, but really, how daft do you have to be to feed your kids some of the muck they are talking about? I doubt it's just an American problem. Do people not read the writing on the side of the packet? All those years getting decent labelling on packets of processed foods and people don't bother to read them. This article puched so many buttons for me that I don't know where to start.

"Ditch the kids' yogurt and replace it with simple, real, wholesome yogurt not marketed as a "fun" food or to kids."

How about "don't buy any food marketed as being fun for kids". Now, that's a novel idea, letting kids eat real food. I don't see whe people think feeding kids has to be fun or difficult or anything. My kids ate pretty much the same as us right from their first solids. Now No. 1 son eats almost anything and No. 2 son eats most things. They are not picky eaters, and we must have saved hundreds of pounds by not buying special food. If I am not prepared to eat something then I'm certainly not going to offer it to my children.

"Can the instant oatmeal and instead opt for whole oats you can microwave."

They mean porridge. What's wrong with cooking it in a saucepan? It'll taste nicer, the texture will be better, and you won't have to scrape dried-on porridge from inside the microwave either.

"Be picky about the peanut butter you choose and pick the brands with fewer ingredients."

The peanut butter I buy has only one ingredient, peanuts. I don't get putting other things into it. Why would you? I once accidentally bought some American peanut butter. One mouthful and I spat it out, talk about disgusting. What kind of moron puts sugar in peanut butter? No wonder kids are getting fat if they have sugar in everything.

I always used to read the labels on processed food, because I want to know what I am eating. Now, with No. 2 son a type 1 diabetic that has become even more important. Too much food has too much sugar in it. Low fat foods are positively toxic in many cases because of what they put in to replace the flavour and bulk provided by the fat. In terms of processed food I buy bread, soups, some breakfast cereal (the 100% wholemeal sort or porridge), butter, cheese and whole milk greek-style yoghurt, jam and marmalade, some cooked meats like ham and so on and the occasional pack of sausages and cans of soup, tuna, tomato and baked and other processed beans like borlotti beans and chick peas. That's pretty much it. Meat and vegetables are fresh or frozen, and I cook our dinner from scratch almost every night and I know what's in it. There is nothing difficult about this, it doesn't take any longer to cook a dinner for 4 people than to cook one dinner for children and a different dinner for adults and there's a whole lot less washing up. That could be a new slogan "Save the planet - feed your kids real food."

Date posted: 04 Mar 2010

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As good a time to start as any

The new year started with a bang in the Madwoman's household. Onfortunately it wasn't celebratory fireworks.

Himself, having been living with a dormant malignant melanoma in his eye for a few years was told that the melanoma had somehow managed to reattach itself to a blood supply and was growing. The only option really was to remove the whole eye and the cancer with it. He was in and out of hospital within 3 days. The surgeon says they got the whole tumour out and there was no evidence that it had spread elsewhere. At the moment we are waiting for an appointment for a prosthetic eye that isn't blank. Himself has to wear an eye patch when he goes out so as to avoid scaring small children and making people feel a bit icky. We are used to it now, but it's going to be Easter before the new "eye" is ready.

All this was going on in late January, some time after the Madwonan's mother fell and cracked her head open on a door. It was on the first day we had really heavy snow round here, but this was an indoor accident. The police had to use their big red key to get in. Luckily the worst damage was to the doors. A few days in hospital and 7 stitches later and mother was returned home, somewhat shaky still, but definitely on the mend. As to how she managed to pass out in the first place, the jury is still out. It wasn't a stroke, that much is certain as they have tested and scanned and poked everything that might tell them. The current theory is that it was a stress reaction, so now she's on tranquilisers and sedatives and whatnot. If nothing else Mum is sleeping better than she was, which has to be a good thing.

On the home front No. 1 son trundled happily through his GCSE mock exams and decided which A levels he wants to do and where he wants to do them. The current selection is Drama, Spanish, French and English with Critical Thinking as the top-up. He is worried that the school won't want him to go back if his results aren't good enough so is now doing some work. The other option was to do Music, but all the slacking off has taken its toll and his Music teacher won't have him until he's at Grade 5 in at least one instrument. Even then she won't be very happy.

No. 2 son did his SATs. On the basis of no visible work and no revision he came 11th out of all the kids in his year in Science and achieved level 7 in Maths. Brat. Feedback from Parent's Evening is that he's bright but lazy and disorganised. No change there then. He has chosen his GCSE subjects now, I dread to think what he is going to do about his coursework.

The Madwoman herself has just moved buildings at the place she works. It's an educational establishment so of course moving offices and classrooms and equipment across from one building to another during term time and half way through the academic year is a brilliant idea (not). I have no idea which moron came up with that plan, but you may be surprised to learn that all did not go according to plan and chaos reigns. It wouldn't be so bad but exactly the same thing happened last academic year.Some people never learn. Oh well, the washing and ironing are still with us, not that I do a great deal of the latter, just look at the ironing basket and think I might get round to it one day, but not today.

Date posted: 28 Feb 2010

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Driving Wheels get tired too

All is chaos in the Madwoman's family. First day back at school after a rather unexpected break and nobody is ready. That's no surprise. Getting anything done round here is not unlike kicking a dead whale uphill.

So today we have no 1 son who was, when I asked last night, 'ready for school' who hadn't packed his bag or his clarinet - and he has a lesson today. This evening he asked me to wash and repair his school trousers but has yet to produce them. It's nearly bed time. My bed time!

Number 2 son woke up claiming he felt ill, wasted an hour wandering round claiming to be ill and saying he felt sick, and then went back to bed. If he isn't chased every five minutes from 9pm until 10pm he will sit up. Just telling him to go to bed doesn't get the slightest response. I wonder whether removing his Internet access at 9pm might help.

I just warned both of them that it's time to get ready for bed. Did I get a response, yes they both said "in a minute" and did nothing. Battle has been joined!

Date posted: 11 Jan 2010

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Tension Mounts

Will it snow enough for there to be no school again tomorrow? That's the question. My sons are looking out of the window and wishing hard, but I think they will be massively disappointed. Snow is falling, but not a lot, and it's not expected to last for long either. It is noticeably warmer than it was yesterday. Not that it's exactly hot out there, but the snow that we had before is no longer covered by a sheet of ice. This has to be an improvement.

It has been an interesting few days, one way and another, culminating in a quick trip from here to my Mother's house to take her some food. She had a fall at home on Monday and was hospitalised for a few days. Originally they were to keep her there until tomorrow but sent her home on Thursday - to a cold, empty house with limited food supplies. Since she isn't yet well enough to go out by herself to get any food and the pavement outside her house is sheet ice (or was when I was there on Monday, on Tuesday and on Saturday) I had to take her some essentials. She is 89 years old. Many shops in her area aren't doing deliveries because it's too risky, what other option was there but to go shopping and take it up to her? A 200+ mile round trip for some bread, milk, vegetables, fish and toilet paper. Going was fine, coming back was less so. The M2 was down to one lane and I had to drive in the tracks of the car in front as the snow blew horizontally across the road. Not the best journey on the planet, but I survived.

They say this winter will be pretty bad for a while yet with more severe weather in a couple of weeks. Deep joy. I wonder if they will get enough supplies of grit and salt to replenish what they have used this time before they need it again.

Date posted: 10 Jan 2010

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If You Are Innocent You Have Nothing To Fear

Oh yes? Yeah right.

That's the argument we get when anybody protests about the growing surveillance that's happening in our society. Standard response "If you are innocent you have nothing to fear". How about "BECAUSE" I am innocent I have plenty to fear? Because if I happen to be coming home late at night on my own the nice protective camera operatives (you know the untrained, unregistered, potential pervert ones) can "keep an eye on me" to make sure I get home safely. Nothing wrong with that? Except that now, they know where I live. Think about that. Pick any person going about their lawful business, causing no trouble for anybody, all innocent and above board and anybody can use the surveillance cameras to find out where they live and, if it's after dark they'll have a pretty good idea whether they person they are watching is going home to an empty house. Then they tell me I have nothing to fear.

What about my kids, and all the other nice innocent little kiddies on their way to school, or to the park to play with their friends? Being watched by some pervert on CCTV, because no harm will come to them will it? Except somebody knows where they live, where they go to school, and where they are right now. I don't know who's watching my kids, my innocent kids, who have nothing to fear.

Right now somebody you don't know is watching somebody you care about, your kids, your mum, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your aunty, your granny. They know where they are and then know who they are with, they know where they have been and they can probably make a guess where they are going. They can watch who goes into your home and who comes out. They can guess when you are alone and when you have company, they can see when you go to bed, they can see when your home is empty. If they watch long enough they can build up a picture of your routine, and they can make sure the CCTV cameras are pointing away from your home when they want them to.

Nothing to fear? I think not.

Date posted: 05 Apr 2009

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