I am here.......

Another week gone by nearly. And the rain has not stopped. Parts of England are having dreadful flooding. I am fine. I live on a hill. But the rain......... I am so sick of rain. The allotment is a swamp. I should have grown rice. Paddy fields. Now there is a thought.

I have survived another school inspection today. I have all my marking up to date. I have a stunning display up in the classroom. I have eaten too many biscuits. It is clearly the new Boss Lady's fault. We never had biscuits before, or rarely, and now she has arrived, is reed slim, and loves biscuits. We get biscuits (cookies to my American friends.... your biscuits are our rolls) in abundance now. I need to avoid the staffroom, or I will morph into a blob of epic proportions. Don't talk to me about will power. I ate mine.

What else........ did I mention the rain? And the fact that I had to switch on the heating again yesterday? It is the end of JUNE. It is summer. Wimbeldon is on. In the rain. It is 6 degrees right now, and more foul weather is forecast for the next 5 days.

So let's recap:

1. We have a new Prime Minister.


2. Rain
   
3. Inspectors at work


4. Rain


5. Tennis
   
6. Rain


7. Biscuits


8. And that would be rain again


9. Wonderfully supportive messages


10. More rain


11. Many things to be thankful for
    
12. Except for the rain

I have a wonderful meme to do, after His Singer nominated me for a Blogger Reflection Award. What a lovely surprise, and I am so honoured. I have gained so much from all my super blogging friends all over the place. So much. And I have so many people to choose from to nominate, that it will be hard to settle on just 5. I will post that soon, and I also need to do the Woman to Woman post for Morning Glory about quotes too. I will be late.

As you can see, I am here. I am reading your posts, but am trying to take a little while to reflect too. Work gets in the way a little too much at times. But your messages have been so amazing, and I am truly touched by the love and care you have shown me. I am one very lucky lady.

(I have no idea why there are big gaps in this post. Blogger is misbehaving.)

Trivia on a Thursday

Thanks so much for all your lovely comments. I have not had the time to visit you all yet, but fully intend to this weekend. I topple into bed every night with a growing list of all the things I meant to do and never got round to doing. Groan.

There are lots of posts about at the moment on being "busy". I absolutely agree with them all. We spend too much time doing and too little being. I am the supreme example of this at the moment. I was wide awake last night when my mother and my son went to bed, and 2 minutes later, I dozed off in the chair and woke near midnight. I never did do all that paperwork I intended doing.

I have just deleted a paragraph of moans. I have been thinking about Heather all day. It sort of puts things into perspective. So what if the Inland Revenue NEVER answer their phones, and just tell you to try later? So what if school politics are still volatile? So what if you constantly feel guilty for not taking your mother out more often?

And now for something very different... I am watching a TV programme called "The Human Footprint" and it is all about the lifetime of an average person and the stats involved. Apparently the average marriage lasts 11 and a half years now. That is appalling. They showed the average number of clothes you will buy in a life time. It covered an entire ancient church. We have seen a pile of food that the average person will eat in a life time, and also the sewage generated. I could have done without that part. It is fascinating. The average age we will reach is 78.5 I think. We will get through 15 computers each. The environmental cost of producing a small laptop is the same as a car. We will send 40 tons of waste to landfill sights in our lifetime. Each. (See why it is fascinating?) We will each own on average of 8 cars each. We walk over 15 000 miles in a life time and drive average 452 652 miles. Which means 136, 900 litres of petrol. 59 foreign holidays. TV is watched average of 2 944 days in our lives. 8 years. 40% of people do NOT read at all. This is all British, I add. 2455 newspapers. 24 trees will be used for each of us to read those papers. We will vote in about 50 elections. Drink 74 802 cups of tea. (Not me!) 314 visits to the doctor. 30 000 tablets prescribed. 61 and a half litres of tears. We will have had 104 390 dreams. Our memories and dreams are the most enduring things we possess. Each of us will know on average 1700 people.

So, it is time for sleep again. Tomorrow is Friday, and another week has flown by. I need to slow down.

A year ago

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Sleep
2. Time to relax
3. Warm home
4. Chat with my daughter
5. Powerpoint conquered

And lovely messages from friends who worry about me. Year 10 girls who were stars today, a son who cheerfully unpacks the dishwasher, the prospect of an early night. Lots of little things. They matter.

Tomorrow it will be a year since Geoff's first heart op. A year. It seems like a life time sometimes, and just a blink of time at others. How life has changed in that year. I never for a second considerd the possibility that he might die. He only lived another 4 months. It seems so unreal still. If I could have looked down the tunnel of time a year ago, there is no way on earth I could have envisaged my life as it is today. And thank heavens I am not given to speculation about the future, because I do not want to begin to think about where next year will see us all. The past year has been a rollercoaster of epic proportions.

The one thing I am sure of though, is that the love of family and special friends will continue to be as steadfast as it has always been. Wobbly times are allowed.

So, a year on from back then, just 365 days ago, what is this family's "State of Nation"? Andrew and Ann are happy, settled and working hard. My son has matured into a very special and caring man. I am so proud of him. Diana is settled and happy in New Zealand, and living her life to the full, and likewise, I am so proud of her too. And David is here, and has also matured beyond recognition, into a gentle, happy young man, with his whole life ahead of him. Proud of him? Oh yes.

And me? Teaching full time, being a Mum, daughter, sister, friend. Facing decisions about initiating a lawsuit, inquests, juggling finances, and just managing one day at a time. Housegroup, church, book club and allotment. Books, blogging, emails and long baths. (Drowning books in those baths on a regular basis.) Older. Greyer. Wiser. Quieter. More introspective.

Different. Very different.

And faith? Immeasurably greater. Stronger. Nearer. Refined by fire.

This is not a sad post. I am not sad tonight. Weary. But grateful we have all got this far, and hoping that serenity is not an impossible dream.

She's on her way

Well, for those of you in New Zealand, Diana is on her way home. Thank you all for making it possible for her to be here with her family, and for being the reason she is excited to be going home, and throwing herself back into her life on the other side of the world. You get to be the lucky ones. We will miss her.

She is right. The last few weeks have a feeling of unreality. Now it is time to get on with a changed life. Different. But a life, none the less. There is a big gap at the moment. And it is made all the larger after seeing her disappear into the departures lounge. This time was even worse than the last.

Tomorrow is sort out the house day. Providing, of course, it is not too hot to do anything. And soon we will be off to Switzerland. So there is always something to look forward to.

Sport Saturday

1. Electric fans
2. Being a colonial
3. Imagination
4. Hayfever medicine
5. Sons who make coffee for their mothers

For the next 5 days, the temperature looks like staying in the 30s. Summer is here!

Today is the day everyone stays home to watch either the football or tennis. England play Portugal, and Murray plays Roddick. Or Nadal plays Agassi. Then someone else plays someone else tonight at football. Whatever. Flags are flying everywhere....from cars, houses, poles. People are wearing England kit everywhere you look. I do not want to think what will happen to the nation if England lose. National mourning I suppose. Oh all right then..... COME ON ENGLAND!