Just when you think life couldn't get any busier.......

I seem to have been my usual busy self since Christmas and now it's all catching up with me. Too many evenings out, too much housework and definitely too much marking are taking their toll. Last night I was at a 60th birthday party wishing I was at home having a night in with a DVD and a glass of wine!

Am I getting old?

Things don't look like they are going to ease up any time soon, either.

I've got a concert next Saturday which I'm not quite ready for.

I still need childcare for the afternoon rehearsal while hubby is at City's match.

I've got another Parents' Evening tomorrow.

Oh, and just one small extra little thing to stress me out........

I somehow need to change from this:

to this:

Why?

Because we've got the inspectors in this week!

Flash, bang, wallop!

Remember these?

Last year I made a load of these Valentine Cupcakes and sold them in our staff room in aid of the Haiti Disaster Fund.

Well, our Head of Food Technology hadn't forgotten and a couple of weeks ago she asked me if I would do a Valentine Cupcake Demonstration for the Year 11 Home Economics pupils.

They've been working hard on their GCSE assessments and she thought it would be nice for them to have a lesson that was a bit different.

I thought it would make a change too, so I agreed.

So over the last couple of weeks I've been busy making demonstration cakes, cakes for pupils to decorate, heart decorations and a handout of recipes and information.

The demonstration is tomorrow, so tonight I made the buttercream.

Or rather, I tried.

I put the butter and icing sugar in the mixer bowl.

I turned it on.

I thought it sounded a bit different.....

Then.................

............. a flash, a bang, some smoke and all the sockets in the kitchen blew!

My mixer is no more!

Aaargh!

A Working Mum No More

It's the end of an era.

It doesn't feel right.



No longer a working mum.





Not me!!

Nooooooooo

My Mum

This week my mum retired.

She is no longer a working mum.

She can sit back and enjoy her retirement.

Or, knowing my mum, buzz around like a busy bee doing lots of other stuff instead.

(Hmm, so that's where I get it from!)

Tonight we're going out for a family meal to celebrate and instead of a cake, I've made some cupcakes for the occasion.

Now, what kind of cupcakes do you make for a retiring working mum?



Shoes and handbags, of course!

Feeling Guilty

I'm feeling like the worst mother in the world at the moment.

Last week daughter complained of a sore throat and, given that she is very rarely ill and has never had a day off school, I dismissed it as "You're just getting a cold and not used to it" and ignored her.

On Thursday night she kept getting up and coming into our room complaining of a sore throat, headache, feeling sick, etc. I checked her temperature (normal) gave her Calpol and sent her back to bed. On Friday I still planned on taking her to school, but after she threw up her breakfast I gave in and kept her off school.

On Saturday I started with the same symptoms.

We've both now got what our GP called "a nasty throat infection".

Nasty!?

I can see now why she didn't eat for three days - you can't!

My throat is so sore I can't speak; I've got earache, headache and feel nauseous.

I feel so bad for not believing her.

And for trying to make her eat toast.

I should have known she was ill when she turned down a pony riding party she'd been invited to on Saturday.

Daughter and I have spent the last four days under a duvet on the sofa watching Indiana Jones movies and trying to eat ice cream to ease the pain.

Husband has excelled himself with filling the last four days with football and today he's going straight from work to City's match.

Sometimes I wonder who there is to look after me.

At least he didn't complain there was no dinner for him when he came home from work at 8pm last night.

If there was, he would have been wearing it!

A WM on the Verge's Guide to Motherhood

I've noticed, since writing this blog, that Jan/Feb is when I get really fed up with being a Working Mum on the Verge and hanker back to my old, carefree, child free, easy life. In fact, I started this blog in February when I was feeling weary with the drudgery of it all. I know it will pass as Spring returns, but in the meantime...........

To warn my still childless friends of what would befall them should they venture over the precipice into motherhood I am now going to post five things that no-one ever tells you before you have children:

1 You will never finish a cup of tea again.

Yes, my friends, enjoy that peaceful cup of tea from start to finish because you'll forget what that is like. After 3 - 4 years of motherhood, you may think that you can do it. You make that cup of tea, sit down and take the first sip, but then......................... "Mummeeeeeeee, can you wipe my bottom?" or a child will appear in front of you in tears having spilt/lost/broken something that you then have to clean up/find/repair. No, that undisturbed cup of tea is now the stuff of legends.

2 You will never enjoy a bar of chocolate again

Should you be lucky enough to sneak a bar of Green and Blacks into your shopping basket without your offspring noticing, you won't be able to enjoy it. You either have to eat it in secret in the kitchen while your child is engrossed in CBBC or suffer the accompanying whining of "Can I have some? Why not? That's not fair, you have chocolate and I don't. Wah, wah, wah" taking all the enjoyment out of that piece of Maya Gold.

3 You will never go out with your husband again.

You will go out, just not together, because going out together would entail arranging a babysitter. This means that either you hire one thus doubling the cost of your evening, or you have to chauffeur one to and from your house before and after the event or you engage your MIL. Let's face it, after a lovely night out with your husband, who wants to come home to face the MIL? Much easier to get a DVD and a takeaway and never speak to your husband again.

4 You will never read a book on holiday again

I used to take 9 or 10 books on holiday with me, lie down on a sunbed for a fortnight and read them. Now the chances of getting past chapter one are virtually zilch. Books are for the undisturbed, childless holidaymaker. Mothers have to admit defeat and buy a magazine (just one is enough) at the airport and dip into it five times during the fortnight.

5 You will never see a film when it is released.

The only time you will go to the cinema will be for the Odeon Kids Movie on a Saturday morning. You will be an afficionado of all films by Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks and will know all the names of the Chipmunks (including the girls). All other films will be ordered from Lovefilm to watch at home when they are released on DVD (see point 3).

So there you have it.

WM's guide to things they never tell you about motherhood.

Be warned!

The Weight Loss Secrets of Working Mum

Happy New Year!

New Year is traditionally a time when a lot of us make a resolution to lose weight.

Well, I won't be making that resolution this year!!

Permit me a moment of smugness ...........

You remember at the start of June I embarked on a quest to lose 16lb?

I said if it worked I'd let you know how I did it.

Well ............

................... ta dah!

So, how did I do it?

Well, I decided that:

1. I can't take out an evening to attend a weight loss class (far too busy being a working mum)
   
2. I love messing about on the internet
   
3. I love cooking (and baking, which was one of my problems)
   
4. I don't want a faddy diet, I want to eat sensibly and healthily again, permanently
   

So I put it all together and decided to join tescodiets.com which is all conducted via t'internet. Perfect!

I chose the Light Choices Recipe Plan so I could still indulge my love of cooking, I picked up a few new recipes which went down well with the whole Working Mum Family (who knew daughter would love Chinese Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup?) and I managed to kick the sugar habit (I still bake the cakes and biscuits, but I give most of them away).

It took a bit longer than intended, but I got there in the end, just two days before Christmas!

So I have lost the pounds I had gained and I have regained the healthy eating habits I had lost.

Now I need to find a new New Year's Resolution!

PS This was not a sponsored post, but if Tesco want to credit me a few more Clubcard points for my favourable review, I wouldn't say no!

New Year's Day

Who knew I would be spending New Year's Day filling in holes, sanding down and repainting a wall in daughter's new bedroom?

Why?

Because I married a man deficient in the DIY gene.

How difficult is it to hang a mirror?