half term - sort of

oooohhh dear 3 days this time :-o

Well yesterday i was at work, came home did a bit of piano practice then went for a swim - ok wednesday done ;-D ;-D

Tuesday

* went swimming as normal

* came home and did piano practice - again, as usual

* mum and i went to explore the new asda - predictably it was pretty chocka with everyone doing the same thing 8|

* we went to collect Lynne, and as it turned out Claire.

* went to toxteth annexe to collect my new log sheet and memory stick. confused marie by telling her i wasn't really there cos i was on holiday. Liverpool is back in work but everyone else is on holiday this week!!

* went to brewers fayre for lunch - we ended up at the same table as last time me and mum went there :-o ;-D

* at first Claire was worried about her diet but by the time we were ready for dessert the diet had temporarily gone out the window and she had chocolate indulgence along with me and Lynne ;-D

* after that spent the rest of the night slobbing about - was too full to do anything else LOL ;-D

* today has been a not so good day

* went swimming, did my 64 lengths as usual - that was ok :-)

* did my piano practice when i came home

* had a nurse's appointment at 10.40 when i got there there was only 2 other people in the waiting room and of the 3 of us i was the first to go in :-D That was fine - all normal but what surprised me was that she asked me to demonstrate my inhaler technique to check that i was using it properly and efficiently. She's never asked me to do that before :-S

* had an opticians appointment to check my contact lenses, again that was fine. What surprised me about that is that i didn't have to pay for it :-o :-D

*went to do a bit of fun shopping after the optician's, bought a few bits and pieces, including a subway sandwich for my lunch.

* when i went home i intended to do some more piano but by then the effects of the flu jab had kicked in and my right arm was heavy and painful so i gave up on that idea. i just ate and watched telly instead LOL ;-D

* went to the dentist at 4.10pm I'd decided to ask if i could pay beforehand while i still felt human - they laughed at that description ;-D Went up to see Jenny and she offered to do a scale while i was there so she did that after she'd stabbed me while it was taking effect. She then got down to the nasty stuff and because one of my teeth was actually broken i had a weird contraption strapped to my face so she could rebuild the tooth :-o When she'd finished i felt pretty shaky but was trying not to let her see cos she'd make me stay there to calm down LOL She was asking if i was ok and she could tell but she said just take a few deep breaths and take it easy - be careful. Thankfully because i'd already paid i was able to go straight out to the car to come home. When i got back in the car i felt quite shaky and weepy so sat there for a few minutes before i set off. While i was driving home i still felt shaky and weepy but held it together while i drove home.

* since i've been home i've not done much. I've drunk LOADS of water, done a very small amount of work for tomorrow and basically just chatted to friends on msn.

* 3 1/2 hours after i'd got home from the dentist my mouth was thawed out but now is sore :-( I'm hoping to keep off the painkillers till bedtime.

sunday monday

oops a daisy - 2 days' entry again hehe

Sunday

*went swimming and was very energetic. did 80 lengths in total - 60 lengths crawl normal speed, 10 lengths what i call power-crawl and 10 lengths breast stroke :-)

*was out too early for church so went for a short walk along the prom - the wind was howling and my ears were freezing :-o

*went to church. Fr Gerry looking for volunteers to put on blonde wig and get photographed for some display or something to do with the Christmas play - "Scrooge meets Abba" so i said i'd do it LOL

*after church did an hour piano practice then spent most of the day sorting through CD tracks in order to create an ideal aural CD - big job

Monday

*swimming again first thing as normal - didn't feel quite so energetic just did my normal 64 lengths ;-D

*more piano practice. Was wishing the other day that i had a lesson today - really looking forward to my next lesson cos i feel as if i've improved since last time :-) I was wondering if any of my pupils ever feel like that :-/ Probably not 8|

*was going out to town with mum today via her work to put her pay claim in - i actually saw the inside of Hugh Baird hehehehe. We also met a few of mum's colleagues so i got introduced

*got the train into town, went to see the crystal spider at exchange flags - was most impressive when you stand right undereath :-D

*went to explore new bit of Liverpool 1, not very exciting cos a lot of the units still aren't open yet 8|

*we then went to rapid for my mum to *price* some stuff for a new kitchen - she actually ended up buying a sink and new taps cos they were in the discount section. We left them in the shop to collect later.

*went to find the chinese buffet place for lunch. It was really obvious but somehow we mised it last time we were in town :-S

*was pretty busy but we still got seated quickly and the service was excellent and very efficient :-)

*went shopping round the 99p store then to the market. mum wanted a new handbag - which she got but i also got a new bumbag and a new silver handbag to go with my ballgown :-)

*went back to collect stuff from rapid and got taxi home. Taxi was 2/3 price of the delivery charge from the shop :-o

*got home really tired

*did some more CD cataloguing

*Had tea of soup with potatoes and one piece toast

oops missed a day

oops i need to do entries for 2 days now ;-D

FRIDAY

* swim 50 lengths, first 41 at normal speed then all odd-numbered lengths at power-speed :-)

* went to Colin's, just as i got to his house he was taking in his recycling bag - not sure who was more shocked, him that i was standing there or me that he'd come out just as i was about to knock on the door ;-D

* chatted and did a tiny bit of piano playing before going out to class

* walked down to 'town', i was wearing my new boots. it was the furthest i've walked in them and they were fine

* went to pay for room, library diary gone missing - just write it on paper

* went up to class, a few people were already there

* did colouring-in for nearly the whole 2 hours LOL ;-D ;-D

* sat next to Joan, was catching up also with Lynne, Jean, Margaret, Moy and later Jo

* Joan asked did i have my flute with me - no. It seems now i need to have a flute piece ready for 'calligraphy' class too

* back to Colin's after class

* eating lunch but talking too much, Colin had to go back out before i'd eaten it all ;-D He wanted me to play some piano before he left so i put my lunch away

* while Colin was out i did LOADS of practice - about half an hour of flute and nearly 2 hours of piano :-o

* didn't even go back to my lunch

* Colin got back about 3.15ish i did more piano and played "Danse de la Chevre" on flute for him

* went to teach Suzanne, almost couldn't be bothered leaving :-$ Got there a bit late but was ok

* didn't do much when i got home - had tea, relaxed doing computer stuff and sorted dishes

SATURDAY

* had a lie-in till 8.30

* went to Post Office Sorting Office to collect 4 parcels for mum :-o One was liquid - i could hear it sloshing ;-D

* did the shopping - spotted Asda's diesel was 106.9p p/l

* went to sainsbury's for other little bits - Diesel there was 106.9p p/l :-D That's the same price as it was in January - if it goes below 105.9p p/l it will be the cheapest it's ever been while i've had a diesel car :-o :-D

* also went into Sainsbury's shop and Instore next door. As i was getting back in the car afterwards i clonked my head with the car door :-o :-(

* nanna was here when i got home but mum helped me put the shopping away

* my head was sore so i got an icepack from the freezer, wrapped it in a teatowel and strapped it to my head with a dressing gown cord - looked a bit like rambo ;-D

* knew there was a match on at Goodison and wanted to know if i was safe on Queen's Drive at 1.15ish so i actually went to the everton website to get the kick-off time :-o Thankfully kick-off was 12pm so they'd all still be in the ground when i was going past

* had lunch, got changed etc went to teach Anna.

* overestimated the time it would take to get to Anna's so sat in a car park for a while to kill some time. There's no point going early cos she only gets home from dancing just as she's due to start clarinet with me. Their burglar alarm was sort-of sounding cos an engineer was working on it. Anna was in a great mood - really happy and lively :-D She's so easy to work with when she's like that :-D

* went to Lucy - she was in "I can't" mood 8| But one of her pieces was really good - except for the missing slurs!

* went to dancing - no Kate again. Was intending not doing wings but at one point my feet forgot, i did the action and really hurt my foot again :-( Just as it felt like it was getting much better 8|

* Ann said she spent 8 hours doing her accounts yesterday :-o She said she was very crabby by the end of it ;-D

* Came home did another 1.5 hours piano practice :-o Had my tea then chilled out in front of the computer before doing the dishes.

* will be going to bed soonish - need to remember to put clocks back tonight!!!

still going

* Swimming as normal

* As i was walking across the carpark they put the car park lights on - makes a change usually no lights at all.

* in, 40 lengths, showered, dressed, hair done - all in less than an hour :-D

* 1st school easy

* 2nd school gates closed when we got there, Jen was just in front of me, she opened the gates and i'm in the road indicating waiting to turn in - blocking the road as i wait :-$ Nothing i could do though

* got into school, half our kids not available so we end up with loads of little people too - as usual very little samba done :-(

* 3rd school, easy again. Clarinets VERY good - got stickers, flutes not so good - no stickers "That's not fair" Tough!

* 4th school - nomadic music teacher again. 1st lesson in teeny room ONLY JUST room to move. Next 2 lessons in an empty classroom - much better :-)

* 5th school children already in room waiting for me - moved tables etc out of way - :-D 2 lessons fine. Going out met mum of one of my pups with a clarinet asking me to check it for her daughter. Took her into staff room for me to test the instrument - seemd quite nice. Think i got a few dirty looks from other teachers in the office-type bit of the staffroom - oops!

* went fun shopping afterwards - got few bits and pices

* did just over an hour piano practice - Elegie coming along nicely :-)

* done a machine load of washing tonight - 6 swimming kits ;-D

* fish in parsley sauce for tea - very nice :-)

* been wearing my new boots today - surprisingly comfortable :-)

Lots of swimming

* did my 64 power-lengths at the baths as normal

* Came home and did some piano practice

* Had lunch

* went out and bought new boots

* went to pick Neil up

* drove to pool

* got to changing room, found had no 10p piece for locker, went back to reception - neil did the same

* got into pool to find neil had done 5 lengths already

* did a few lengths, was discussing length of pool, asked lifeguard - it's 100ft or approx 31.3m - 6m longer than my normal pool

* water was lovely and warm

* got chatting to some bloke

* bloke kept chatting for AGES

* got fed up with him, i started messing about doing handstands, rolls etc then started doing lengths. Eventually he decided to swim too - he was doing butterfly and i got a free butterfly lesson from him :-D He got out and we were messing around doing widths of the pool - seeing could we do a width in a single breath. Both of us could :-) Neil suggested / wondered would it be possible to do a width upside down in one breath. I tried quite a few times but couldn't manage it :-(

* we did a few more lengths before getting out - i made my total to 30, not sure what Neil got up to

* got out went to get showered and changed. The showers were pathetic! Not much more than a little dribble so it took me ages to wash my hair! GGRRR

* went to Morrisons on the way back to Neil's. I got a smoothie and some milk, Neil got a smoothie and some yoghurts

* went back to his house, sat chatting for a while before i came home

* had to do some paperwork :-(

* had my tea - grey pasta with yellow bits hehehe ;-D

* sorted out dishes and stuff for swimming / work tomorrow. I've decided i need to do a load of washing tomorrow night - purely just swimming kits :-o There's already 5 sets of swimming gear and there'll be another by tomorrow evening :-o

day 2

* swim 50 power-lengths ;-D

* heard on the radio there was a crash on M57 where i was intending going so went to school a different route and was there at 8.45 :-o :-)

* school was doing practise SATs so could only have my first group for 15 minutes and the other yr 6s not at all :-(

* next school was total chaos - music room blocked off, community room in use, ended up in the "creative room" which looks more like a store room with 2 photocopiers and a long work-table down the middle 8|

* Last school = hell-hole school, no more needs to be said!!!!

* went back to the office afterwards to get a clarinet fixed and Jeni had asked me to take a violin back too

* Came home did some piano practise, sorted out bag for thursday

* rang Colin about friday

* sorted out lunch for tomorrow

* helped mum make tea - savoury bread and butter pudding with bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, and a small amount of sausage - currently eating it, very tasty :-)

first post of new regime

* Normal monday morning - swim 50 lengths :-)

* 3 pupils in 3 hours in my first school - situation normal although the lessons are only meant to be 20 minutes each! Did sort out new timetable for next half term.

* Dinnertime, Mary had a bit of a go at me about registers - my system is not good enough for them - their system is not good enough for me so i guess i'll be doing double records!

* 2nd school - only one pupil but she did very well

* 3rd school only 1 group - first pupil no instrument and last group out on trip - left school at 2.15ish, was home by 2.40.

* had a power nap LOL

* did some piano practice

* Had tea

* went to my piano lesson - was good fun, no wobbles and mostly ok. Helen says i need to be more "body-aware" and learn to relax more - all the time, not just when playing the piano.

* home for chillout then bed

Wow, I've found my way back!

Right, it's SUCH a long time since i updated in here i've decided i'm gonna try and do at least a very short entry every day - some days may be literally just a line or two, some may be bullet points and others may be longer.

I'll try and remember some of the high and low points since my last entry before i get onto the business of doing (almost) daily entries

Right, bullet points for now and i may expand on these later - doing this is also for me to be able to remember things i've been up to as much as telling other people.

* Pat and Frank came to stay for the weekend

* Katie and I went to Blackpool to see karen & Graham, Beck and Dan. I fell outside the hotel and BADLY bruised my foot (we're 3 weeks down the line and it's still quite painful)

* Frank wanted to push me round Asda in a wheelchair - i was having none of that!!!!!

* One Tuesday all the knowsley peri staff were helping with Celebration of Acheivement so we spent the day (or evening, or both) at the Phil - was very pleased, easy day and didn't have to go to hell-school that day! Afterwards i went music shopping then went to give blood.

* A couple of weeks ago mum had an appointment at the hospital and she's been given the all-clear from the cancer she had 4 years ago and has been signed-off from the hospital books :-D We went out for sunday lunch to celebrate and we too Kath with us.

* Last night one of my colleagues had a 50th birthday party and the first half of the night was ceilidh dancing - i had great fun :-D After the food was a jazz band - wasn't impressed while they wer playing proper jazz but after they had a break they started playing normal stuff that you could dance to - that was much better :-)

* Mum's old schoolfriend Val who she hasn't seen for 20+ years turned up on our doorstep today. She lives in Germany but was over here visiting family and found herself with a couple of hours spare so came to see my mum.

* Been out for tea with Katie and Catherine tonight - very nice :-)