I've got that strange feeling that you get when you've been planning something big

for months and months..... and suddenly it's here!

 

I've cleaned the house and emptied the fridge..

Layered up the tinted moisturiser (so my legs aren't 'glow in the dark' white)..

Painted my nails and coloured my hair...

Bought all the maps and read the latest Trip Advisor posts...

Packed the 'capsule wardrobe'...

 

Tomorrow we are leaving on a big adventure..

We've NEVER done anything like this before in our lives..

 

 

We're taking our silver Marcos to Europe for two weeks!

 

I must confess that I even had a worry dream about it all last night....

Normally Mark and I head off to the Welsh borders and walk.

We stay in nice - but fairly cheap - self catering accommodation.

My main expectation of my summer holiday is that I come home a little fitter and a lot more chilled!

 

This time we're staying in proper hotels -

(at the Nurburgring, in a vineyard on the Moselle and in a chateau in the Ardennes)

It could be great - or it could be ghastly.......!

 

I can't remember the last time I was so nervous about going on holiday...

 

Anyway, the whole family are coming round this evening.  It's Mark's birthday and our 23rd Wedding Anniversary while we are away.   Normally I'd pop all our presents and cards into the car and open them during the holiday.  This time space is seriously at a premium, so we decided to celebrate and open everything with the family before we go. 

 

My family have given Mark Euros so that he can buy something to remember the trip - probably a cap from the Nurburgring or something similar.  His main present from me is a leather 'man bag' that he wanted for the trip.  I've also picked up some second hand books for him that he may want to take.  I found a book that analyses the tank battles in 1944 and 1945 in the Ardennes.  I also found him a couple of 50 year old Motoring Journals.  They are full of the quirky motoring information that he loves and I can't wait to see his face when I realises what they are!

 

Obviously things are going to be a little quiet here on my blog -

but I will be thinking of you all and hoping that you're having a good couple of weeks...

All the best,

Jx

 

Help!

Can anyone explain how to remove pictures from the Picassa web album so that I can continue to post newer photos...

Aaagh!

Jx

 

A new addiction!

A couple of hours ago Balisha at Never Enough Time wrote a lovely post about treating herself to some new season apples.  In this post she mentioned eating apple with a little bit of peanut butter.  I immediately commented that I'd never tried this combination before but that it sounded really good and quite healthy (if you don't spread the peanut butter too thick!)

Anyway, I needed a quick snack before my pilates class so I decided to break out my trusty jar of crunchy peanut butter and try it with a large juicy Gala apple.  I can now report that it's not just tasty - it's the stuff of serious snacking addictions!!  Seriously, it's also quite filling so I haven't felt the urge to eat anything else.

I had a Music Teacher's meeting at another school this afternoon so I had to drive myself today.  The down side of this was that I had to keep both hands on the wheel (so no crochet!).  The up side was that I got back to the Worcester area much earlier and had time to have another look at Em's wool sale.  Today I only bought one ball - a pretty pale green yarn which will look fabulous in an Autumnal themed blanket I'm planning.

It was nice to have a treat because the last couple of weeks haven't been particularly great at work.  The pupils are delightful as always.  It's the supposedly 'grown up' people that I work with that have made things very hard.  Yesterday was a crisis point and I feel seriously let down by my Headteacher and his Deputy.  Even though I love working with the kids - and it will break my heart to leave a department that I have ploughed my heart and soul into - I'm not sure how long I can carry on working there.  I've got  to schedule a meeting with the Deputy next week to try and clarify the situation and where I stand.  I'll let you know what happens...

Awards

Before I went on holiday, I was lucky enough to be awarded the Sunshine Award by Jo and the One Lovely Blog Award from Mrs Thrifty.  Thank you for nominating me ladies!.  I'm going to go slightly 'free-style' on this and give a few facts about me as well as answering some sunshine blog questions..

.1.  My favourite colour has to be blue in all its shades.  I love bright blue skies.  The walls of my back bedroom are painted a deep blue, with pale blue and cream soft furnishings.  All my china is blue and white.  I also love combining blue with other colours.  My kitchen tiles have a white, blue and peach pattern.  My wardrobe is full of plain blue items that I can combine with other prints.

.2. My favourite animals are cats.  I've lived with three of them over the last 30 years.  The first was a 'family' cat when I still lived at home.  She was supposed to be a birthday present for my sister but she very quickly became my Dad's cat.  She lived to be more than 20, moving from Oxford to Manchester and then to Worcester in her very old age.  I've had two of my own - Gulliver (a stray silver tabby who died of cancer in 2003) and the current 'Little Prince' - Thomas.

.3. I'm completely addicted to caffiene.  Every 12 months or so I try to give it up.  I'm successful for a few weeks then cups sneak back in.  The main problem is that I can't resist the smell and we have a proper expresso machine in the staffroom.  After an early start and a few hours work at the 'chalkface' I've got no resistance!

.4. In my 30s I was very ill for a while with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  I went to the Doctors thinking that I was suffering from stress and he told me "If you don't stop work now you may never work again."  I was very lucky to find such a 'switched on' doctor at that time. I've been back to full health for years but I still feel lucky that I can enjoy all my long walks and enjoy my life to the full.

.5. I love food shopping.  I find the whole process of planning the meals for the week, creating the shopping list, then pottering around my local town centre incredibly relaxing. 

.6. I also enjoy cooking and would love to have a bigger kitchen, where the whole family could chill out and chat while I'm making something to eat.  My dream would be a proper 'farmhouse' kitchen.

.7. My favourite day of the week is Friday - there's always a lovely sense of anticipation for the weekend.  I'm particularly looking forward to Fridays in this school year because I will be teaching a lovely Year 11 class in the final period of the week.  I will then spend another hour with my Year 11 Diploma group (the most able pupils from that year group).  At 4.30 I'll  drive home for a hour or so of french conversation with my french friend.  Then Friday evenings generally end with a curry and a glass (or two) of chewy red wine. 

I'd like to nominate these blogs for the 'One Lovely Blog' Award.  This award comes with a few rules.

1) Thank the person who nominated you.
Thanks again, Mrs Thrifty (and Jo for 'The Sunshine Award'!!)

2) List seven things about yourself.

3) Pass on the award to fifteen blogs (cheat here if necessary!)

I'm going 'free-style' again here and am passing it on to just five.

Jan at Jan's Journey
Angie at My Quilting Life
Louise at Ramblings of a Roachling
B'ham at Come Away Home
Bonnie at Living Life

Ladies, I hope that you will accept the award, though I understand if you'd rather not. I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy reading your blogs.  There are also several other blogs that I love to read regularly - but I think that you have received this award at least once before.  Consider yourselves hugged!!!

On followers.. and other things

Yesterday morning I opened my eyes and looked across at the clock on the dressing table.  What I saw didn't make sense.  Given that I didn't have my glasses on, I tried swapping the short hand with the long hand.  What I saw made even less sense....!  I rolled over to Mark's side of the bed and checked the alarm clock.  It confirmed the situation.... I had gone to bed at 10.15 on Friday evening and woke up at 10.30 on Saturday morning!  It has to be said that I feel immensely better for sleeping the clock round. 

Yesterday we made the most of the fact that it wasn't raining to squeeze in some walking.  All up, we probably walked about six miles - all on tarmac round the lanes.  Today it's so dreadful I'm not even considering a short walk.  We'd just get completely drenched.  It's a nice chance to catch back on some blogging and reading everyone's recent posts.

Yesterday I read Mrs Thrify's post at New Beginnings about followers and the comments that people sometimes leave on other people's blogs.  Her post has clearly struck a chord with many bloggers and there a several extensive comments on her post that make interesting reading.  It certainly made me reflect a little on how I feel about following and being a follower. 

You see it's important to me that I do my best to be a good follower.  I want to read people's posts, remember the context that they are written in and be able to write something that shows I can remember all of this when I comment.  That takes time.  I love the fact that there are 39 of you out there who take the time to read my waffles... but I worry that I will struggle to keep track of you all if the number grows.  I used to love having penpals when I was at school.  I see blogging as a sort of 21st Century version of all those letters I wrote as a teenager!

At the same time it seems to me that some people judge the success of a blog by the number of people who are following it.  It's easy to get dragged into a kind of 'play-ground' psychology on the internet.... "Why has she got more friends than me?" "What is she doing that I'm not?" etc...  On top of all of this I'm worrying that I'm going to cause offence.  On a couple of occasions people have found me and left really nice comments.  When I've tried to find their blogs to respond I can't find any link.  Some time later I've found their blogs and responded - but by this time they think that I'm unfriendly and unresponsive.  This upsets me.

The bottom line is that I love reading all your blogs.  I feel honoured to be given an insight into so many people's lives and I love the connectivity of the blogging world.  Nevertheless, I am also in awe of the well-established blogs with a huge number of followers. I don't know how you manage the situation so well.

As for 'Stand and Stare'..I'm hoping that this blog will gently potter away in the quieter lanes of 'blog-land'. 

I sincerely hope that this post hasn't caused any offence.