Seven weeks later and the summer holiday is just about over. And it's really been rather excellent. The idea was to spend an awful lot of time relaxing, an awful lot of time having a great time with Molly and an awful lot of time writing. I'm not sure about the relaxing - I've not really had the spare time to do that - but the other two have certainly happened (see here)
It used to be a horrible time, this final weekend of the summer holidays. I'd spend it in a horrible mood, futilely thinking up reasons not to go back, trying to work out a way to find something else to do. But not now. Obviously I'm not saying I'd rather be at work - especially not after having a great seven weeks. But there's no great horror in going back. And that's such a wonderful feeling.
I would write more, but hey, it's Sunday night and I've a last night of holiday to enjoy.
Showing posts with label Summer Holiday 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Holiday 2009. Show all posts
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Molly's first premiership game. On the plus side she did see 6 goals.
But on the minus side all but one of them were for the wrong team.
Hull 1 - Tottenham 5. 19th August 2009.
Well, this was an adventure. A while ago Molly brought home one of the Hull City football in the community sponsorship things for a penalty shoot out. Lots of sponsors were tapped up and she got herself a pair of tickets for the Tottenham match. On 18th August. Or at least that's what it said on the letter. But inevitably, these things get buggered about with once tv gets involved. Which is why Molly and I ventured forth to the wilds of Hull today. The 19th August. Which just so happens to be Louise's birthday. Ooops.
Actually it wasn't as bad as that sounds. Luckily we had enough notice and Louise was alright with it. It did help that we celebrated Louise's birthday yesterday, with presents and cakes. Then we left more presents waiting for her on her return from work. And tomorrow we're off for a nice meal. So Molly and I think we've covered the missing birthday quite well.
Okay, onto the match. It was Molly's first premiership match. We took her to see England ladies play at Birmingham City ground many years ago. But this was the first time she's had chance to experience the huge roar of the crowd, the shouts, the chanting, the thrills and the goals. Such a lot of goals as it turns out. Funnily enough I was thinking this might be a low scoring match. Oh dear. 5 Tottenham goals against a Hull team struggling to stay in the premiership. And after the display we saw tonight, it's going to be really, really tough this year.
But despite seeing her team go down 5-1, Molly had a fab night. Loved every moment, from the park and ride to the crowds outside the stadium. From the queues for the horrible hot dogs to the queues for the park and ride on the way back. From the moment she realised it was not just okay, but actually encouraged to shout as loud as she could in support of the team there was no stopping her.
We arrived back home close to midnight. She practically crawled into bed. Tired but very happy. Looked at me with big sleepy eyes and told me she'd had a great day and she loved me very much.
I love being daddy.
Hull 1 - Tottenham 5. 19th August 2009.
Well, this was an adventure. A while ago Molly brought home one of the Hull City football in the community sponsorship things for a penalty shoot out. Lots of sponsors were tapped up and she got herself a pair of tickets for the Tottenham match. On 18th August. Or at least that's what it said on the letter. But inevitably, these things get buggered about with once tv gets involved. Which is why Molly and I ventured forth to the wilds of Hull today. The 19th August. Which just so happens to be Louise's birthday. Ooops.
Actually it wasn't as bad as that sounds. Luckily we had enough notice and Louise was alright with it. It did help that we celebrated Louise's birthday yesterday, with presents and cakes. Then we left more presents waiting for her on her return from work. And tomorrow we're off for a nice meal. So Molly and I think we've covered the missing birthday quite well.
Okay, onto the match. It was Molly's first premiership match. We took her to see England ladies play at Birmingham City ground many years ago. But this was the first time she's had chance to experience the huge roar of the crowd, the shouts, the chanting, the thrills and the goals. Such a lot of goals as it turns out. Funnily enough I was thinking this might be a low scoring match. Oh dear. 5 Tottenham goals against a Hull team struggling to stay in the premiership. And after the display we saw tonight, it's going to be really, really tough this year.
But despite seeing her team go down 5-1, Molly had a fab night. Loved every moment, from the park and ride to the crowds outside the stadium. From the queues for the horrible hot dogs to the queues for the park and ride on the way back. From the moment she realised it was not just okay, but actually encouraged to shout as loud as she could in support of the team there was no stopping her.
We arrived back home close to midnight. She practically crawled into bed. Tired but very happy. Looked at me with big sleepy eyes and told me she'd had a great day and she loved me very much.
I love being daddy.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
More holiday stuff.... the week we've had.
Another holiday week down, 4 already gone. How can that be? Only 3 weeks left? Insane.
The last week has been spent having fun. Back to normal holiday times, after the Anglesey Holiday and the week virtually trapped in the house with the painter at work. So it was back to the Holiday planning sheet....
You'll notice it's a little fuller now than it was last time.
This week has consisted of:
Monday: Mummy surprise
Tuesday: Chill day, market and grandparents
Wednesday: Ikea and Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Thursday: Cruckley Farm with Molly's friend
Friday: Cruckley Farm with another friend - Molly's choice!
Okay, Monday was a big surprise for Louise. Molly and I had been sitting on this for days and days. Our friends and the children were heading up for the day since they couldn't make it up for either Louise's birthday or Molly's. The day was spent at Burnby Hall, running around, feeding fish and running some more. Louise had been led to believe we Molly and I were at the cinema so we picked her up from work (since we were already allegedly in the area anyway) and had great delight in seeing the disbelief on her face as we rounded the corner to see our visitors on the doorstep. Wonderful times.
Wednesday was lovely. The main thing we had to do was go to Ikea to get a couple of bookcase expanders - those things that sit on top of the billy bookcases we all know and love. The reason we need extender thingys? Too many books and graphic novels. My fault, all my fault.
After getting to Ikea and doing the inevitable thing of spending far more than I'd intended to (storage boxes, kids plates and cups - the sorts of things they may as well make compulsary for an Ikea visit really) it was off to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, somewhere I'd meant to go since moving up here. And it was everything I hoped it would be. We had a great few hours there. Could have easily spent many more - we only did about a third of the place in our time there. But it was really lovely.
(Part of Babara Hepworth's Family Of Man and then the photo that everyone seems to take of it)
(Jonathan Borofsky's Molecule Man 1+1+1)
(Some Henry Moore with Molly doing her best impression)
(Part of the Peter Randall Page exhibition that Molly thought was really wonderful, this was "Multiplication By Division")
And after the Sculpture park, into the cafe for a much needed rest and a bit of experimental photography (her idea, not mine!):
She was very tired by the end of the day.
Then onto Cruckley Farm for a couple of days. We'd arranged a couple of play dates for Molly with a friend coming round on Thursday and Friday. And Molly decided she wanted to go to Cruckley Farm with both of them. Cows, pigs, goats, sheep - standard farm stuff really, but lots of open pastures where you can walk through and feed the animals by hand - one day Molly will grow out of these places but I'm glad it's not quite yet.
A good week.
The last week has been spent having fun. Back to normal holiday times, after the Anglesey Holiday and the week virtually trapped in the house with the painter at work. So it was back to the Holiday planning sheet....
You'll notice it's a little fuller now than it was last time.
This week has consisted of:
Monday: Mummy surprise
Tuesday: Chill day, market and grandparents
Wednesday: Ikea and Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Thursday: Cruckley Farm with Molly's friend
Friday: Cruckley Farm with another friend - Molly's choice!
Okay, Monday was a big surprise for Louise. Molly and I had been sitting on this for days and days. Our friends and the children were heading up for the day since they couldn't make it up for either Louise's birthday or Molly's. The day was spent at Burnby Hall, running around, feeding fish and running some more. Louise had been led to believe we Molly and I were at the cinema so we picked her up from work (since we were already allegedly in the area anyway) and had great delight in seeing the disbelief on her face as we rounded the corner to see our visitors on the doorstep. Wonderful times.
Wednesday was lovely. The main thing we had to do was go to Ikea to get a couple of bookcase expanders - those things that sit on top of the billy bookcases we all know and love. The reason we need extender thingys? Too many books and graphic novels. My fault, all my fault.
After getting to Ikea and doing the inevitable thing of spending far more than I'd intended to (storage boxes, kids plates and cups - the sorts of things they may as well make compulsary for an Ikea visit really) it was off to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, somewhere I'd meant to go since moving up here. And it was everything I hoped it would be. We had a great few hours there. Could have easily spent many more - we only did about a third of the place in our time there. But it was really lovely.
(Part of Babara Hepworth's Family Of Man and then the photo that everyone seems to take of it)
(Jonathan Borofsky's Molecule Man 1+1+1)
(Some Henry Moore with Molly doing her best impression)
(Part of the Peter Randall Page exhibition that Molly thought was really wonderful, this was "Multiplication By Division")
And after the Sculpture park, into the cafe for a much needed rest and a bit of experimental photography (her idea, not mine!):
She was very tired by the end of the day.
Then onto Cruckley Farm for a couple of days. We'd arranged a couple of play dates for Molly with a friend coming round on Thursday and Friday. And Molly decided she wanted to go to Cruckley Farm with both of them. Cows, pigs, goats, sheep - standard farm stuff really, but lots of open pastures where you can walk through and feed the animals by hand - one day Molly will grow out of these places but I'm glad it's not quite yet.
A good week.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
More holiday stuff .... painting and painting and birthdays
Had a weird week so far. Painter came round on Monday to start on the house. Just windows, front door, front railings and garage door, just at the front. The house catches all the sun and all the rain on the front so, although we had the whole house done two years ago, the front is in desperate need of a new coat or two of paint. It's also about time we striped the front door done and attempted to reseal it so it stops leaking when we have driving rain.
The plan was Monday; strip paint, undercoat, Tuesday: gloss. But it hasn't worked out like that. Monday went well, Tuesday not so well. About half 1 he'd finished but decided the front door needed a second coat the next day. Unfortunately soon after he left the rain started here and carried on through the early hours of Wednesday. So no painting Wednesday. And since the paint hadn't gone off (or whatever the technical term is) enough when the rain started both garage door, front door and railings needed another coat. Thursday and Friday he put another couple of coats on.
The bad thing about this is that most of the week we've had to have the front door open. This isn't really compatible with going anywhere or doing anything. We've gone out and around town in the mornings when the painter was there, but most afternoons we've just had to stay in and generally relax. Board games, computer, drawing, playing in the garden, bit of cookery but nothing too exciting. Thank god that she arranged to go swimming with friends yesterday!
The other thing that I've had to do this week is sort Molly's birthday out. A big, big surprise for her this year. She's not expecting this at all. She's had a birthday list for ages, with lots of bitty things on it since she knows there's no way we can get her this........
(and you have to promise not to tell her.......)
Oh she's going to be very, very excited in a few weeks when she opens that one. Molly (and Louise) have wanted one for ages. But it's never been the right time and we're not the sort of parent who buys something this big and expensive at any other time than birthday and christmas. So this birthday, with nothing large being asked for, we figured we could just about stretch to getting it.
If I'm really lucky, I'll manage to get a photo of her face at the moment of realisation.
The plan was Monday; strip paint, undercoat, Tuesday: gloss. But it hasn't worked out like that. Monday went well, Tuesday not so well. About half 1 he'd finished but decided the front door needed a second coat the next day. Unfortunately soon after he left the rain started here and carried on through the early hours of Wednesday. So no painting Wednesday. And since the paint hadn't gone off (or whatever the technical term is) enough when the rain started both garage door, front door and railings needed another coat. Thursday and Friday he put another couple of coats on.
The bad thing about this is that most of the week we've had to have the front door open. This isn't really compatible with going anywhere or doing anything. We've gone out and around town in the mornings when the painter was there, but most afternoons we've just had to stay in and generally relax. Board games, computer, drawing, playing in the garden, bit of cookery but nothing too exciting. Thank god that she arranged to go swimming with friends yesterday!
The other thing that I've had to do this week is sort Molly's birthday out. A big, big surprise for her this year. She's not expecting this at all. She's had a birthday list for ages, with lots of bitty things on it since she knows there's no way we can get her this........
(and you have to promise not to tell her.......)
Oh she's going to be very, very excited in a few weeks when she opens that one. Molly (and Louise) have wanted one for ages. But it's never been the right time and we're not the sort of parent who buys something this big and expensive at any other time than birthday and christmas. So this birthday, with nothing large being asked for, we figured we could just about stretch to getting it.
If I'm really lucky, I'll manage to get a photo of her face at the moment of realisation.
Holiday 2009: Anglesey part 3
Wednesday:
The Welsh Mountain Zoo. Molly, like me, loves zoos. It's been a long, long time since we actually went on holiday without visiting some zoo. And it's a great zoo, full of some really great animals:
Most infuriating moment of the day; huge, fat family assembling outside toilets after collective family visit. They're exactly the sort of family you imagine spends all day, every day of their holiday in the caravan park gorging their way through enough cholesterol burgers to kill an elephant without getting up from their poolside chairs until nightfall which they spend watching shite comedians and cabaret acts whilst drinking overpriced pissy beer and eating more cholesterol in a bun. They're almost genetically incapable of looking after themselves and don't even understand even the concept of healthy eating or basic hygeine.
So why, oh please tell me, why on earth are they standing outside the toilets, in a huge zoo, full of people breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out, sharing the same germ ridden air, and the mom is handing around the anti-bac hand-gel and preaching to the children about Swine Flu?
Even better, I saw the youngest kid come out of the toilet and straight away wipe his hands across his top and pick his nose. Somehow I don't think hand gel is going to help that much.
Thursday:
Greenwood Forest Park. Another place we'd been to 3 years previously. And it's pretty much exactly the same as it was. Packed day doing lots and lots and lots of things in a very green millenium project park:
Friday:
Pili Palas, Anglesey's butterfly farm. With surprisingly few butterflies for the time of year. Maybe the cold weather and lack of sun made a difference? Still a fun day out.
Aside from that, a very quiet day.
Saturday:
Home.
A very relaxing holiday for all of us. Anglesey really is a beautiful place. I even got a lot of reading and writing done. Not quite everything I took away with me got reviewed, but very nearly.
The Welsh Mountain Zoo. Molly, like me, loves zoos. It's been a long, long time since we actually went on holiday without visiting some zoo. And it's a great zoo, full of some really great animals:
Most infuriating moment of the day; huge, fat family assembling outside toilets after collective family visit. They're exactly the sort of family you imagine spends all day, every day of their holiday in the caravan park gorging their way through enough cholesterol burgers to kill an elephant without getting up from their poolside chairs until nightfall which they spend watching shite comedians and cabaret acts whilst drinking overpriced pissy beer and eating more cholesterol in a bun. They're almost genetically incapable of looking after themselves and don't even understand even the concept of healthy eating or basic hygeine.
So why, oh please tell me, why on earth are they standing outside the toilets, in a huge zoo, full of people breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out, sharing the same germ ridden air, and the mom is handing around the anti-bac hand-gel and preaching to the children about Swine Flu?
Even better, I saw the youngest kid come out of the toilet and straight away wipe his hands across his top and pick his nose. Somehow I don't think hand gel is going to help that much.
Thursday:
Greenwood Forest Park. Another place we'd been to 3 years previously. And it's pretty much exactly the same as it was. Packed day doing lots and lots and lots of things in a very green millenium project park:
Friday:
Pili Palas, Anglesey's butterfly farm. With surprisingly few butterflies for the time of year. Maybe the cold weather and lack of sun made a difference? Still a fun day out.
Aside from that, a very quiet day.
Saturday:
Home.
A very relaxing holiday for all of us. Anglesey really is a beautiful place. I even got a lot of reading and writing done. Not quite everything I took away with me got reviewed, but very nearly.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Holiday 2009: Anglesey part 2
Monday:
Beach Day. Well, I say beach day. But it was actually a Bruton beach day. All 3 hours of it. We had to wait in on Monday morning for the electric and gas meter to be read - the usual 8 until 12 appointment when they always arrive at 5 minutes to 12. The weather was so nice in the afternoon that we took ourselves down to the beach.
Neither Louise or I are beach people. Or not beach people in the traditional sense. Our favourite beach activity is walking along it when it's a bit cold and wet, enjoying the peace and quiet. We don't like sand everywhere, we don't like being too hot, we can never find anywhere to put down our stuff so it stays clean and dry, the sun makes our eyes hurt when we're reading and there's usually too many people making too much noise and kicking too much sand and water around.
This means that by the time we actually arrive on the beach and get ourselves a place to sit and generally settle down we're practically ready to go home again. Molly, unlike us, is a normal beach type and just starts running around like a loon, sandcastles, water, paddling, swimming, the works.
So this was her day on the beach:
Whereas this, complete with coffee and comics to read, was mine:
Tuesday:
Foel Farm. Like Hemblas Park on Monday but better and with more people.
Molly had a ball: calves and lambs to bottle feed, pigs and goats to coo over. And a giant inflatable to bounce up and down upon even during the couple of showers that we had - the wet just made it more slippery, which meant more falling over and more fun.
Beach Day. Well, I say beach day. But it was actually a Bruton beach day. All 3 hours of it. We had to wait in on Monday morning for the electric and gas meter to be read - the usual 8 until 12 appointment when they always arrive at 5 minutes to 12. The weather was so nice in the afternoon that we took ourselves down to the beach.
Neither Louise or I are beach people. Or not beach people in the traditional sense. Our favourite beach activity is walking along it when it's a bit cold and wet, enjoying the peace and quiet. We don't like sand everywhere, we don't like being too hot, we can never find anywhere to put down our stuff so it stays clean and dry, the sun makes our eyes hurt when we're reading and there's usually too many people making too much noise and kicking too much sand and water around.
This means that by the time we actually arrive on the beach and get ourselves a place to sit and generally settle down we're practically ready to go home again. Molly, unlike us, is a normal beach type and just starts running around like a loon, sandcastles, water, paddling, swimming, the works.
So this was her day on the beach:
Whereas this, complete with coffee and comics to read, was mine:
Tuesday:
Foel Farm. Like Hemblas Park on Monday but better and with more people.
Molly had a ball: calves and lambs to bottle feed, pigs and goats to coo over. And a giant inflatable to bounce up and down upon even during the couple of showers that we had - the wet just made it more slippery, which meant more falling over and more fun.
Holiday 2009: Anglesey part 1
The family Bruton headed off to Anglesey for the family holiday last week. Somehow we managed to sidestep most of the bloody horrible weather you've all been suffering and had a week of perfect Bruton holiday weather. That is, not too hot, not too cold and dry pretty much every single day.
Saturday:
Journey day, leaving Yorkshire to go away on holiday always seems strange as we still think of Yorkshire as our holiday destination anyway - having spent so many family holidays here before we made the move. Journey was fine, no hold ups, not bad traffic and we made Anglesey by early afternoon after a stop off in Bangor.
Why we stopped off in Bangor I really have no idea. It was awful three years ago and it's only gotten worse with time. It's one of those really nasty, bad vibe kind of towns. The sort of city that died a cultural and economic death a few years back but continues to flop around in it's own death throes, unaware of it's own demise. Packed with comedy drunks, abusive chav throwbacks and with very little of interest it was a quick lunch and back out again, with a promise to self to never go there again.
On to Anglesey. It's a lovely place. Perfect relaxing holiday destination, away from day to day stress. Except I'd packed lots of comics and the netbook with a view to filling up the nights with reducing the size of the review shelf. Then we discovered that the bungalow had broadband and I had to spend all week trying to stick to the original plan of writing without an internet connection. Something I mostly managed. Mostly.
We'd been to Anglesey quite a few times in the past; the bungalow we stop at is Louise's sisters. Which means it's a (relatively) cheap holiday - much appreciated at the moment. It also means that we're familiar with all Anglesey has to offer, and Molly had already planned out most of what we'd be doing all week. Which naturally involved regular trips to the pub at the top of the road where she knew there was a pool table she could play on. And we managed at least 3 games a night almost every night - much to her delight.
Sunday:
Parc Henblas / Henblas Park (oh look at me - bilingual Welsh/English. The pointlessness of the Welsh language at times). A few years ago this place was lovely; perfect for the 6 year old Molly; duck races, sheepdogs, tractor rides and a huge bouncy pyramid. But Henblas is looking a little tired and old now, and it didn't help that it was a cold, damp and rather miserable day with about 10 other families there. Ghost town:
But Molly didn't care. Not one bit.
Very few animals? Loved them all anyway.
Tractor ride a bit dull and wet? Had fun and laughs all the way.
Worst Crazy Golf course you have ever seen? Although to be fair it was the worst crazy golf course I'd ever seen last time we were there. It's only a little worse this time. But Molly decided it was going to be fun anyway.
So despite everything we had a great time.
The highlight nearly three years ago was this:
The highlight this time round:
Older, but still the same wonderful Molly.
What a wonderful girl she is.
Saturday:
Journey day, leaving Yorkshire to go away on holiday always seems strange as we still think of Yorkshire as our holiday destination anyway - having spent so many family holidays here before we made the move. Journey was fine, no hold ups, not bad traffic and we made Anglesey by early afternoon after a stop off in Bangor.
Why we stopped off in Bangor I really have no idea. It was awful three years ago and it's only gotten worse with time. It's one of those really nasty, bad vibe kind of towns. The sort of city that died a cultural and economic death a few years back but continues to flop around in it's own death throes, unaware of it's own demise. Packed with comedy drunks, abusive chav throwbacks and with very little of interest it was a quick lunch and back out again, with a promise to self to never go there again.
On to Anglesey. It's a lovely place. Perfect relaxing holiday destination, away from day to day stress. Except I'd packed lots of comics and the netbook with a view to filling up the nights with reducing the size of the review shelf. Then we discovered that the bungalow had broadband and I had to spend all week trying to stick to the original plan of writing without an internet connection. Something I mostly managed. Mostly.
We'd been to Anglesey quite a few times in the past; the bungalow we stop at is Louise's sisters. Which means it's a (relatively) cheap holiday - much appreciated at the moment. It also means that we're familiar with all Anglesey has to offer, and Molly had already planned out most of what we'd be doing all week. Which naturally involved regular trips to the pub at the top of the road where she knew there was a pool table she could play on. And we managed at least 3 games a night almost every night - much to her delight.
Sunday:
Parc Henblas / Henblas Park (oh look at me - bilingual Welsh/English. The pointlessness of the Welsh language at times). A few years ago this place was lovely; perfect for the 6 year old Molly; duck races, sheepdogs, tractor rides and a huge bouncy pyramid. But Henblas is looking a little tired and old now, and it didn't help that it was a cold, damp and rather miserable day with about 10 other families there. Ghost town:
But Molly didn't care. Not one bit.
Very few animals? Loved them all anyway.
Tractor ride a bit dull and wet? Had fun and laughs all the way.
Worst Crazy Golf course you have ever seen? Although to be fair it was the worst crazy golf course I'd ever seen last time we were there. It's only a little worse this time. But Molly decided it was going to be fun anyway.
So despite everything we had a great time.
The highlight nearly three years ago was this:
The highlight this time round:
Older, but still the same wonderful Molly.
What a wonderful girl she is.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
The Holiday Plan
This has been up on the kitchen wall since the start of the school holidays:
Our Holiday Plan.
Possibly the only way I can keep my life in any sense of order during 7 weeks off!
The thing is huge!
Our Holiday Plan.
Possibly the only way I can keep my life in any sense of order during 7 weeks off!
The thing is huge!
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Bleurghhhhhh
Back from holiday.
Immediately stressed and / or ill.
May be able to tell tomorrow morning.
If it's stress it will be okay for a moment as I wake and then kick in. If it's some shite Welsh virus I'll know about it straight away.
It's good to be home.
Immediately stressed and / or ill.
May be able to tell tomorrow morning.
If it's stress it will be okay for a moment as I wake and then kick in. If it's some shite Welsh virus I'll know about it straight away.
It's good to be home.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Summer holiday week 1...
The summer holiday, if you happen to work in education, is a wonderful thing. A wonderful, wonderful thing. 6 weeks of holiday stretch out in front of you, waiting to be filled with adventures and excitement. In fact the only thing better than a 6 week holiday is the 7 week holiday we're currently on. I have no idea how we managed to get a 7 week holiday, but here it is.
Molly and I intend the make the best of it, plans have been planned, schemes schemed and ideas hatched. Molly wants to do everything she can this holiday. I want to do everything we can, but still have a little rest and not break the bank. Free things are very good. Free, exciting things even better.
So this week: Swimming, bike riding (the plan is at least 100 miles in the holidays as Molly gets better and more confident), market, shopping, Big Sheep Little Cow, cooking and end with chilling Friday. Whew. And that's just week 1!
Molly and I intend the make the best of it, plans have been planned, schemes schemed and ideas hatched. Molly wants to do everything she can this holiday. I want to do everything we can, but still have a little rest and not break the bank. Free things are very good. Free, exciting things even better.
So this week: Swimming, bike riding (the plan is at least 100 miles in the holidays as Molly gets better and more confident), market, shopping, Big Sheep Little Cow, cooking and end with chilling Friday. Whew. And that's just week 1!
Holiday Week 1....
Well, things have been rather sparse on the blog of late. Or rather, they haven't, but all that's been posted is various links to stuff I'm doing over on the FPI blog and old reviews from the FPI blog. This is simply because I've got lots and lots of reviews to get done this holiday and have decided to really go for it early rather than leaving it all to the very end.
Hence very little here at the moment,
but all is well, holiday going great. Nearly at the end of the first week. Only another 6 to go now. Bliss.
Hence very little here at the moment,
but all is well, holiday going great. Nearly at the end of the first week. Only another 6 to go now. Bliss.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Holiday time - this relaxing is all well and good ..... but:
Spent the weekend relaxing. A relatively new experience for me. But there's only so much relaxing I can do. Especially when my reviews to do shelf looks like this:
And yes, to my shame it does include things like Tamara Drewe, Alice In Sunderland, American Flagg and more that I haven't gotten round to yet. 36 reviews to get done at the moment, with more review copies expected this week. This is not a complaint. I love getting all of these great books in the post. Just trying to give you an indication of what my holiday is going to consist of.
49 days of holiday left.
36 reviews.
That's possible. Right?
Update, more arrived: 48 days of holiday, 42 reviews. Help!.
And yes, to my shame it does include things like Tamara Drewe, Alice In Sunderland, American Flagg and more that I haven't gotten round to yet. 36 reviews to get done at the moment, with more review copies expected this week. This is not a complaint. I love getting all of these great books in the post. Just trying to give you an indication of what my holiday is going to consist of.
49 days of holiday left.
36 reviews.
That's possible. Right?
Update, more arrived: 48 days of holiday, 42 reviews. Help!.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Summer Holiday 2009. Day 1 / Day 2. Relax.
In a surprise move, I've been neglecting the blog for the last few days or so.
Last week it was all about being utterly, absolutely exhausted and desperately trying to get a few things finished at night before the end of the school term and desperately trying to finish up a couple of halfway written reviews that were causing me grief. But the last couple of days I've actually done very little online at all, checked a couple emails, surfed a little. Most of the last couple of days has been spent relaxing, reading and generally enjoying the start of the holidays.
And what holidays they are. ecause of the way it's worked out this year we've actually got a complete 7 weeks off. I've never known this before. 6 weeks is long but this is amazing. With the extra weekend at the end of the holidays that makes for a stunning 5 days. 51!
So I figure a few days off isn't going to hurt too much.
Last week it was all about being utterly, absolutely exhausted and desperately trying to get a few things finished at night before the end of the school term and desperately trying to finish up a couple of halfway written reviews that were causing me grief. But the last couple of days I've actually done very little online at all, checked a couple emails, surfed a little. Most of the last couple of days has been spent relaxing, reading and generally enjoying the start of the holidays.
And what holidays they are. ecause of the way it's worked out this year we've actually got a complete 7 weeks off. I've never known this before. 6 weeks is long but this is amazing. With the extra weekend at the end of the holidays that makes for a stunning 5 days. 51!
So I figure a few days off isn't going to hurt too much.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Another moany post about work, work and more work.
God, I'm tired. At present all I seem to be spending my time doing is working and writing, writing and working. It gets to the stage about 1am when I can actually feel my eyes hurting and have to fight against the tiredness to just stay awake and stay functioning.
School is now into the grand end of year changeover and sort. It may seem a long time to spend on this sort of thing, but it's now last week in June effectively. We finish on 17th July. This means that I've only got 17 days left at school to get it all done. And, aside from the complete clean off I'm planning, there's a lot of stuff to get done. This year I'm going round every single computer, cleaning it out, trimming the OS, making them all run cleaner and faster and then physically cleaning the mountain of dust out of them as well. Then there's changing all the network stuff over and final year end bacups to clean off the server, plus the website to change over to reflect the new school year; moving all of the galleries for 08/09 to archives and setting up new galleries for 09/10. Lots and lots and lots of work. But all relatively easy and simple. Just got to rush to get it all done.
And on the comic reviews front it's just as busy. The review shelf is looking fairly full but I've got at least 10 books that really need reviewing NOW. After all, when people are kind enough to send them for review I feel some moral obligation to actually review them in some timely manner.
It hasn't helped that the last three reviews have been absolute bastards to write. And every single one of these difficult as all hell reviews was actually of something I figured would be quite easy. The last one took 5 bloody days to get right. Nothing would flow on it for the longest time and then suddenly tonight, all came good.
Probably isn't helping that I'm making time to get a little Wimbledon viewing in as well!
School is now into the grand end of year changeover and sort. It may seem a long time to spend on this sort of thing, but it's now last week in June effectively. We finish on 17th July. This means that I've only got 17 days left at school to get it all done. And, aside from the complete clean off I'm planning, there's a lot of stuff to get done. This year I'm going round every single computer, cleaning it out, trimming the OS, making them all run cleaner and faster and then physically cleaning the mountain of dust out of them as well. Then there's changing all the network stuff over and final year end bacups to clean off the server, plus the website to change over to reflect the new school year; moving all of the galleries for 08/09 to archives and setting up new galleries for 09/10. Lots and lots and lots of work. But all relatively easy and simple. Just got to rush to get it all done.
And on the comic reviews front it's just as busy. The review shelf is looking fairly full but I've got at least 10 books that really need reviewing NOW. After all, when people are kind enough to send them for review I feel some moral obligation to actually review them in some timely manner.
It hasn't helped that the last three reviews have been absolute bastards to write. And every single one of these difficult as all hell reviews was actually of something I figured would be quite easy. The last one took 5 bloody days to get right. Nothing would flow on it for the longest time and then suddenly tonight, all came good.
Probably isn't helping that I'm making time to get a little Wimbledon viewing in as well!
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