“Tired Mummy Brain” meets “Assignment Due Brain”

Tomorrow is the last day I have available to get my last assignment written.  Usually this wouldn’t be a problem, but I have tired mummy brain 😦

Elise, did the sweetest thing earlier, so sweet it brought tears to my eyes! She simply got a chair out for me, so I could sit at the table and get on with some study! I’d been grumpy with her most of the day as I’d been trying to juggle her being clingy and studying, yet she could still see past that, love me and give me what I wanted/needed.  It was humbling receiving her love when I haven’t been very lovable.  And the best part of the day was when she snuggled up to me for a bedtime cuddle, looked me straight in the eyes and beamed the biggest (and possibly cheekiest) smile and whispered to me:

“I Love You Mummy! You’re the cutest and bestest mummy in the world! Tonight I’m going to wait til you’re asleep and then I’m going to cuddle up to you so you can sleep tight”

Tonight, even though tired mummy brain has a serious chance of success, she has inspired the assignment due brain, and I WILL get this assignment done – for her, for my other children but most of all for our FUTURE.  I will continue, and I will succeed!

Kids have an uncanny way of knowing what we need to hear and when – we NEED to listen to them, children can be the greatest medicine and inspiration we will ever know.  Our children are our future, our hope – if we neglect them, and don’t find time for them to just be with them and make them feel special, needed and wanted, what hope is there for the future…?

Can you imagine the future without the love of a child, without the trust of a child, without a child’s smile and their simple words that touch our hearts so powerfully – that’s not a future I want, so I will make time for them (any child that’s in my life) and make sure our future is full of hope!

But for tonight, I think that I will indulge the tired mummy brain, go to bed and wake up tomorrow ready for another day, awaiting the blessings that are our children 🙂

Peace and blessings to everyone x

Wow time has flown!

Firstly I want to apologise for not writing on here for ages – time really has flown by, it really doesn’t seem possible so much time has past, life is on fast-forward!

An update on my degree.  Well it’s almost the end of the 2nd year and my exam is on the 10th October, it’s coming up too fast, and I have got a fair bit of revision to do before then.  My assignment scores have been consistent and I’m on track for a 2:1 would be a first if I was at a ‘brick’ uni, but hey I’m doing well 🙂

It’s been the summer holidays, and I have been spending some amazing time with my children – we have completed lots of walks and seen some beautiful scenery.  We have been inspired and filled with love and laughter.

I’ve also started a healthy eating plan, as I am trying to lose some weight.  Over the holidays I have managed to lose almost 9lbs and 19 inches too 🙂  I feel so much better for losing the weight and hoping to lose another stone to bring me to the lower end of my ideal weight range.  This is in the hope that it will continue to reduce the pain in my joints and muscles and that I will have more energy to spend doing the things I love!

A bonus of changing the way I am eating, is that I have become much more aware of portion sizes and I have rekindled my love of cooking.  There have been some interesting (and very yummy) kitchen experiments as well as new favourite fruits and vegetables

Crochet a little happiness: Granny squares for blanket

red and orange granny square

As you may recall, I have been asked to crochet a blanket for a wheelchair user.  I decided that the quickest and easiest way of completing such a big task would be to make several granny squares and stitch them together afterwards.

I am using the same colours I used in the rainbow poncho for Elise (that was the request).  I have got a comprehensive guide for which colours are going to be used, but no firm decisions as to how I am going to arrange them all yet.

red and white granny square

I was thinking about starting with red in the middle, then doing squares with all the colours of the rainbow, then joining them together and doing a red border around those squares, then doing the same thing through all the other colours.  This would mean for every 6 squares I made they would be formed into a mini-blanket which would then eventually be made up into one full size blanket.

This idea is good in theory, excpet I would be left with all the colours of the rainbow with white, and I wouldn’t have the one central colour to join them all together.  So will need to think about this little dilema.  There’s plenty of time to think about it though, as got a lot more squares to make yet.

A Chance in Time – Ruth Ann Nordin – 3*

I actually feel a little guilty of only giving this book 3*, perhaps I should have given it 4* as I would definately re-read this book.

This book is based in history and involves time travel, only in this story the time-traveller is a man.  Most other books I have read with time-travel as a theme involve women travelling, although I guess the ultimate time-travellers are Dr Who and that guy from Back to the Future.

Anyway back to a Chance in Time; Penelope (the main character) was widowed about a year previously and had been living off the small farm that her and her husband owned.  She was a mail-bride and left a wealthy family to pursue a marriage for love, or rather a marriage where her being unable to have children would be an issue.

One day, whilst going to the near-by town to purchase the goods she needs, she finds a man laying on the side of the track.  He is unconscious.  With somewhat more strength than youd imagine she would possess, she manages to secure the man to her horse and take him back to her cottage.  She nurses him back to health and in the process falls in love with him.  He also, reluctantly, falls in love with her; however he knows he must leave her.

Distraught by the knowledge of his leaving, he does what he can to improve the farm so she can survive.  He vows to time-travel, find some gold and bring it back to her, leaving it somewhere she will find it.

You could really sense the feelings growing between Penelope and the man – it was a gentle and very moving progression of emotion under circumsatnces that had been forced on them both. 

I found myself caught up in their emotions and really felt their pain and love for each other.

To find out whether he succeeds in returning with gold, leaving her for good for his own time or remaining with her dispite everything you’ll just have to read the book for yourself and find out.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004G095J2/ref=r_ea_s_t

QI: The Second Book of General Ignorance – John Lloyd etc – 4*

Well I treated myself to this when it was on the kindle deals, and wasn’t disappointed in it.

At times it feels a bit random, but then I guess there’s no logical way of writing about facts that people thought they knew but actually didn’t.  For a book of facts it is written in a way that makes the facts accessible to everyone, and by not staying on a particular topic for too long you don’t end up with glazed-over eyes wondering when it will be over.

One thing is for sure with this book – be prepared to learn things you ‘knew’.

Questions looked at include:

How many legs does an octopus have? (and NO it isn’t 8)

Who made the first aeroplane flight?

National Anthem: God Save the Queen (all 6 verses)

God save our gracious Queen,

Long live our noble Queen,

God save the Queen!

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us;

God save the Queen!

***

O Lord our God arise,

Scatter her enemies

And make them fall;

Confound their politics,

Frustrate their knavish tricks,

On Thee our hopes we fix,

God save us all!

***

Thy choicest gifts in store

On her be pleased to pour;

Long may she reign;

May she defend our laws,

And ever give us cause

To sing with heart and voice,

God save the Queen!

***

Not in this land alone,

But be God’s mercies known,

From shore to shore!

Lord make the nations see,

That men should brothers be,

And form one family,

The wide world over.

***

From every latent foe,

From the assassins blow,

God save the Queen!

O’er her thine arm extend,

For Britain’s sake defend,

Our mother, prince, and friend,

God save the Queen!

***

Lord grant that Marshal Wade

May by thy mighty aid

Victory bring.

May he sedition hush,

And like a torrent rush,

Rebellious Scots to crush.

God save the King!

Taken from http://ingeb.org/songs/godsaveo.html.

Although verse 6 may seem excessive, and not a great way of keeping Scotland united, it is thought that these words were first sung when Bonnie Prince Charlie set foot on Scottish soil, and was a “prayer” to save him from the Scottish Uprising, and keep him safe so he could become the rightful King.

Verse 4 has been put in bold, as I think no matter where we come from, we could learn a lot from this verse.  Right now the last part of this verse is my personal prayer:  I pray that through all the unrest that we see throughout the world, one day, we can live like brothers – accepting of each other’s differences and embracing one common goal of living in harmony.

Lord make the nations see, That men should brothers be, And form one family, The wide world over.

Update

The second year of my law degree officially starts in 2 days time (ok technically it starts tomorrow seeing as it is past midnight).  I have been busy preparing for the course to start and checking that all the forums, software and databases are working.

I have also been asked to crochet a blanket for a wheelchair user (in the same colours as the rainbow poncho)  I’ve been inspired by ChrissyFresh: A Granny A Day Project and have decided that I am going to crochet enough granny squares to make this blanket – I have a plan and know exactly what colours I’m using for each square, I just have to find the time to get the hooks out.  I currently have 3 squares for the blanket (pics up soon) and I am also doing a rainbow blanket for Elise.

My eldest son, Ryan, has been unwell this week, I received a phone call from his school on Monday morning and I had to pick him up.  We got half way home and he decided he was going to vomit all over the inside of my car and down the windows too as he tried to get his head out the window – poor kid was so upset and kept apologising to me because he had made a mess.

In between being a ‘nurse’ to Ryan I have been taking in an engagement party dress – I have been horrified at the construction of this dress and, although it does look absolutely beautiful from the outside, the stitching quality and fabric placement has been just awful.  I did a fitting tonight after band practise and just need to do a couple of minor adjustments for a final fitting on Sunday, which should also be the time I hand it back and think myself lucky I won’t have to see it again (here’s hoping).

Talking of band practise, the little girl I’m teaching to play cornet is making me so proud, and is now on a planned introduction to the band rehearsal, she should hopefully be playing out with them in 5 weeks time when the band is next responsible for providing the music in our morning Church service.

I will hopefully get the book reviews out the way tomorrow (or should that be later today?) I haven’t slept yet so it’s still today (Thursday).  Will have to arm myself with Twitter and my Kindle so I can refresh my mind on the books and get the reviews done.  I honestly haven’t forgotten that I have a back-log, it’s just someone has hidden the life-remote-control and life is currently running on fast-forward.  I wish someone would return the life-remote-control so I can press pause for a few minutes and get some peace.

Can you find 30 books of the Bible in this paragraph?

The paragraph below contains a hidden books of the Bible. See if you can find 30 books!

This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an

airplane seat pocket on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu,

keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much he passed it

on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this while

fishing from his john boat. Another friend studied it while playing

his banjo. Elanie Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it

she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend

judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup

of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are really

easy to spot. That’s a fact. Some people, however, will soon find

themselves in a jam. Especially since the book names are not

necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are

forced to admit it usually takes a minister or a scholar to see some

of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in our genes

is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this

paragraph. During a recent fundraising event, which featured this

puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new record. The

local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported

that this puzzle was of the most difficult they had ever seen. As

Daniel Humana humbly puts it, “The books are all right here in plain

view hidden from sight.” Those able to find all of them will hear

great lamentations those who have to be shown. One revelation at may

help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their

numbers. Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the

middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete really

well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember, there is

no need for a mad exodus, there really are 30 books of the Bible

lurking somewhere in this paragraph waiting to be found.

God Bless!

(I cannot for the life of me remember where I found this originally – but found it in onenote when I was organising and sorting out the pages)

Don’t list the books you find, just leave a comment saying how many you can see – I’m up to 28 now – the last 2 are being rather elusive.

********

I found the  last 2 🙂

(3 February 2012)

A Rainbow of Things to do with your Children

Rainbow reminder of things to do with your children

Red:  Reading – anything and everything

Orange: Origami or other paper crafts

Yellow: Yawn – get active together, sports, exercise

Green: Great outdoors exploring – enjoy nature

Blue:  Blow bubbles or other water play 

Indigo: Independence skills – cooking, baking, washing (anything that promotes their independence)  

Violet: Vision games (I Spy with my little eye something beginning with… or describing what you can see and getting them to guess what the object is)

There are 7 colours and 7 days of the week -why not choose a colour a day and have a rainbow week 🙂

30 Things About Me:

https://jdaviesx.wordpress.com/about/30-things-about-me/

This was a Twitter trend and I decided to write this up on a page instead of writing it all in a blog entry