Thursday

Today I woke feeling dull and boring.  Maybe it's the weather which is also somewhat dull and boring and seems to be staying so through the day, according to the BBC.  Everything is damp and dismal and I doubt I will want to go to the allotment today, despite my good intentions (sorry, Beth).  Maybe I just need a good kick up the backside!  Maybe we need a good frost or even, as some of the less reliable papers are predicting, a good fall of snow.  That'd brighten me up!

Yesterday was busy.  After swimming I came home and did a bit of clearing up (not enough) before going off to school where I finally, at long, long last, got the tracker assessments finished.  It's taken ages but it's off my mind at last, thank goodness.  When school finished I whizzed off to the hall to help with the Christmas cards thing during parents evening and then to the other hall for a presentation on the new curriculum and assessments.  It was jolly good too so a pity it was poorly attended.  I hope more go tonight.

During the day a parcel arrived.  It was Beth's birthday present which we are actually going to share and I'm glad it has arrived well before the event.  The other garden shears haven't come and, as they are fairly necessary for the allotment work, I am very much hoping they will arrive today while I am in.

After the presentation had finished, I popped over to Morrisons and they had some cooked chicken pieces reduced, as they often do in the evenings.  I bought a bag of two for just over £3.00, thinking it was a bit naughty but easy.  I rarely get cooked chicken and didn't realise how much meat there was on each one.  I reckon those two chicken pieces will give me four meals plus boiling up the bones and skin to get the last ounce of flavour for a soup stock.  That's really not bad at all, is it?

Apart from waiting in today I have washing and house tidying as the cleaners come tomorrow.  This afternoon I'm in school as a nanny helper, hearing readers, and this evening I have offered to help with the cards again.  It is really nice to be able to support the work of the parents' association.  When my two were at school, I was working, so couldn't get involved as much as I would have done otherwise.  I guess it is catch-up time now.

While swimming yesterday, I chatted to Beth about preparing for Christmas.  I notice that they have King Edwards in Morrisons at the moment and they do make very tasty roasties, so I shall get a couple of bags next week and prepare them for the freezer.  I was also thinking about the pigs in blankets, the cranberry sauce, etc, and we realised that I always do these things over half term.  I may not be working full time any more but half term still holds its own in my life, it seems.

Well, it is past half past seven and time, as Diane says, to get the show on the road.  I will start with a bath and get dressed - I always work better in day clothes than in night clothes.  Then I shall attack the kitchen, get the meat off the other chicken piece and sort it all out.  The fridge needs a tidy and, of course, there is the washing.  I also need to get a bread dough started.

I can't afford to be lazy today, there isn't the time!