30 Days of Thankful: Share-a-Page-Fridays

American blogger and scrapbooker Cathy Zielske began a month long project to record all the things she is thankful for on a daily basis.  You can see the beginning of her album here.  She designed her pages in 6x6 and made them available to purchase for a few pounds.
You can see my first batch of pages here, here and here.

Day 23: thankful for the technology that is the text message.  It meant that I didn't spent 20 minutes standing outside a church hall on a cold, dark and windy night.  Day 24: thankful for the friendships that The Boy Child continues to make at school. 

Day 25: thankful that The Boy Child enjoys his swimming lessons.  Even if he hasn't actually mastered the art of swimming yet.  Day 26: thankful for the written word.  Deb, I'm talking about you.

Day 27: thankful that we don't live in an area where flooding has occurred.  Day 28: thankful that we are in a position to be able to help others.  Times are hard for many and it's good to be able to help in a small way.

Day 29: thankful for the opportunity and the ability to slope off for a picnic at the pictures.  Day 30: thankful that we live in a London suburb where there is plenty of green space.   

There you have it.  A whole month of counting my blessings and recording them.  My life isn't one full of glamour and excitement.  It's ordinary and everyday, yet I still found something or someone to be thankful for each and every day.

And that in itself is something to be thankful for, wouldn't you say?

Photo a Day: 30th November

Photo a Day: 29th November

~ picnic at the pictures ~

The Brainy One and I were able to sneak off again today to see Argo at the cinema. The film stars Ben Affleck and he also directs and co-produces (with George Clooney).  It's about the hostages held in the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and it's really very good.  We both enjoyed it immensely.  

As it started at lunch-time, we took a picnic of M&S sandwiches.  Mine was white Stilton with pear chutney on fruit bread ~ delicious.

And as for how we got to the cinema, we went on public transport.

Cheaper that way.

Photo a Day: 28th November

~ Another bag of books off to a new home ~

Photo a Day: 27th November

Photo a Day: 26th November

~ Good night ~

Hello Monday

Hello to no appointments on the kitchen calendar for this week.  Really?
Hello to venturing out for Christmas shopping.
Hello to the beginning of Advent.
Hello to the start of December Daily.

Hello to possibly seeing both Santa and a helicopter.  Together.
Hello to seeing the Christmas lights in the West End.
Hello to the expected arrival of Elvis the Elf.
Goodness, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

Photo a Day: 25th November

Super stylish overshoes are required when sitting pool side during The Boy Child's swimming lesson.

Photo a Day: 24th November

~ birthday party fun ~

Photo a Day: 23rd November

~ Bummer ~

30 Days of Thankful: Share-a-Page-Fridays

American blogger and scrapbooker Cathy Zielske has begun a month long project to record all the things she is thankful for on a daily basis.  You can see the beginning of her album here.  She designed her pages in 6x6 and made them available to purchase for a few pounds.
You can see my first batch of pages here and here.

Day 16: thankful for the community at school.  Day 17: thankful for the small things and the progress that The Boy Child is making with cleaning his teeth independently. 

Day 18: thankful for London Transport and Oyster cards.  We can easily get to most places in our adopted city on public transport and without too much hassle.  Day 19: thankful for this hobby of mine.  How I love it so.  And the people I have met through it.  

Day 20: thankful for making a new friend at school; one who invites me to her house every Tuesday afternoon for a cup of tea while our children are at their Street Dance class.  She lives opposite the class venue and we can be there in under a minute if required.  Day 21: thankful for the woman on the other end of the phone.  She works for the National Autistic Society and spent twenty minutes answering our questions.  

Day 22: thankful for Sian and the faith she has in me.  If you've never visited Sian's blog, then I suggest you hop on over there pronto.  You won't be disappointed you stopped by.

December Daily 2012 | Photo a Day: 22nd November

I've gone as far as I'm prepared to go with my foundation pages for this year's December Daily.

I used the kit from Studio Calico, which included a 6x4 cloth-covered album and page inserts from Ali Edwards. I printed the pages in a mix of red and green ink.
My album has a double page spread for each day; photo on one side and journaling on the other.

The album came with page protectors, acetate 6x4 sheets and sheets of 6x4 thick chipboard.  I covered four sheets of the chipboard and also added a pocket to one of them.  I decorated four acetate sheets and placed them over the chipboard sheets.

I used ribbon and washi tape on the acetate sheets, making sure that the front and back matched.

The backs of the chipboard sheets are still bare, but I thought I might simply add a full-page photo by printing in 7x5 and trimming to size.

I'm really pleased with the overall look, although I am still deliberating about stamping on the album cover.  Thoughts on that?  I'm worried about messing it up.

I have loads of stuff left over from the Studio Calico kit, so I think I'll be giving it away in my final Happy Mail 2012 post next week.  Check back then if you'd like a chance to win it.

Photo a Day: 21st November

~ November rain ~

We are having terrible weather today ~ stormy, day-long rainfall and dark. Oh, so dark.

But it is also still quite mild.

As my American friends would say, go figure.

Photo a Day: 20th November

Going to see Skyfall last week cost us more than we thought; we inadvertently strayed in to a bus lane and received a fixed penalty notice this morning for £130 (£65 if we pay within 14 days).
I should like to remind readers that I don't drive in London ...

Photo a Day: 19th November

~ A lovely hour spent playing with paper, card, stamps and ink ~  

You can't tell from the photo, but that's the start of this year's December Daily album.

Hello Monday

Hello to donating two large bin bags of old and out-grown clothes to school's Blue Bag day.  The PTA is paid for every kilo donated.
Hello to donating two carrier bags of bric-a-brac to the first charity shop I see. Project De-clutter is on a roll.

Hello to meeting someone I know slightly for coffee.  She thinks that one of her twin sons might be Autistic and wants to have a chat.  I think she's right and needs to demand a second opinion.
Hello to chasing up The Boy Child's Statement of Educational Needs.  I think we're in the home straight with it and am anxious for the help to be put in place as soon as possible.  It is no exaggeration to say that the whole process of Statementing has been the most demoralising process I have ever experienced.
Hello to a routine doctor's appointment.  Something I should have arranged about six weeks ago.  I forgot.
Hello to completing my foundation pages for December Daily.  I treated myself to the kit from Studio Calico and it has arrived.  Just 10 days in transit and no VAT to pay.
Hello to thinking seriously about Christmas. Present buying. Food planning. Inviting people.  New Year plans.
Hello to The Brainy One being away at the weekend.  With the car.
Hello to The Boy Child attending a birthday party on Saturday. Another mum has kindly offered to give us a lift to the venue (too far to walk, no tube station and not on a direct bus route).  I don't like the venue and had been hoping for the prefect excuse not to go.

How's your week shaping up?

Photo a Day: 18th November

~ The Boy Child and I met London royalty today ~

To learn more about the Pearly Kings and Queens, go here. 

Photo a Day: 17th November

Photo a Day: 16th November

I helped out at the PTA coffee morning and second-hand uniform sale.  We didn't make that many sales this time around, but I was glad of the opportunity to chat with several parents I wouldn't normally see on a regular basis.
I also found that the PTA calendar seems to be going ahead without any re-shoots required.  Unless, of course, they asked someone else ...

30 Days of Thankful: Share-a-Page-Fridays

American blogger and scrapbooker Cathy Zielske has begun a month long project to record all the things she is thankful for on a daily basis.  You can see the beginning of her album here.  She designed her pages in 6x6 and made them available to purchase for a few pounds.
You can see my first batch of pages here.

Day 9: thankful for the opportunity to observe The Boy Child at school.  Day 10: thankful for the opportunity to have served in the Royal Air Force.  

Day 11: thankful that The Boy Child enjoys the simple things.  Day 12: thankful for a husband who can take most of the day off in order to come and see Skyfall with me.

Day 13: thankful for the opportunity to be a regular blood donor.  Day 14: thankful for the opportunity to have 30 minutes to myself during the day.

Day 15: for the opportunity to have lunch at home with The Brainy One and to share a moment.

What are you thankful for this week?

This Moment

Alexa, of Trimming the Sails, has invited people to share a moment with her again. Nothing fancy, just a few well chosen words, or a photo, or a scrapbook page. My moment turned out to be a combination of all three and involving a bowl of soup. 

~ click on image to read journaling ~

As I said last month, I don't know how I came across Alexa's blog, possibly through Amy (who has already shared her moment), but I'm very glad I did. She has a wonderful writing style and can easily draw a vibrant picture with her use of words. She's also a fabulous scrapbooker.
Why not join in?  Alexa would love to hear from you.

Photo a Day: 15th November

~ lunch ~

Move More, Eat Well: October

So how did I do in October?

I went to Zumba five {5} times.

I went swimming twice.

I went to Aquarobics twice.

I walked the pooch a total of seventeen {17} times.

The last ten days of the month fell in half-term, but I did manage to book Holiday Gym Club twice for The Boy Child.  I’m lucky that he enjoys going.

Going to the gym is very much part of my weekly plan now and I feel sluggish when I haven’t managed to get as often as I might have liked.  Who’d have thought I would ever think that at the beginning of the year!

As a stay at home mum, you might have thought that going to the gym would be easy to achieve, but I’ve noticed of late  that there seems to be more calls on my time.  I’m not bleating, by any stretch of the imagination and I should be able to organize my time usefully and purposefully.

And, repeating myself from last month, I should stop being so hard on myself.

Perhaps I should look at the big picture: how can I create a sustainable, healthy lifestyle that works for me?  I’m talking about a sustainable lifestyle that will make me feel better and make me look better and make me live the life I want to be living. 

It’s all about my potential, really.  What am I capable of changing today?  What can I do here today in this 10^th month of trying to move more and eat well?

Do I even need to do anything differently?  

Five things I'm grateful for this month:

1. making real-life friends through blogging and scrapbooking
2. the days when autism retreats in to the shadows
3. making a real friend through school
4. the opportunity for an impromptu day out with The Brainy One
5. hearing that The Boy Child is doing so well at school

Photo a Day: 14th November | What Are You Reading?

~ hot cup of tea and 30 minutes with a new book = bliss ~  

The book in question is Dominion by C. J. Samson.  He's the author of the brilliant Matthew Shardlake series of books about a lawyer at the time of Henry VIII.  Dominion is shaping up to be an excellent read ~ what if Great Britain had surrendered in 1940?  For a similar theme, check out Fatherland by Robert Harris.

Photo a Day: 13th November

Photo a Day: 12th November

~ Skyfall and lunch out ~

Hello Monday

Hello to sloping off with The Brainy One to see Skyfall.  I have a thing for Daniel Craig ... sigh.  Hooray for cinemas that have a viewing at 10 in the morning.
Hello to checking out the new mini iPad at the Apple store.
Hello to school photographs being redone and still available by the end of term.  The batch taken in mid-September was deemed rubbish by The Boy Child's school.
Hello to giving my 23rd pint of blood.

Hello to Parents' Evening at school.
Hello to finalising The Boy Child's Statement of Educational Needs.
Hello to helping at second-hand uniform sale and PTA coffee morning.
Hello to finishing putting the newly decorated lounge back together.
Hello to the getting back to the gym.  I've missed two weeks.
Hello to seeing more of Oxfam.  I have five bags of books and one of bric-a-brac to donate. Project De-clutter is under way.

Photo a Day: 11th November | Splat

Imagine the scene:
Just after 10 am, the sun is shining.
I am on the Common with The Boy Child, who is on his bike, and the pooch.

We are playing London Olympics Men's Road Race and TBC is Bradley Wiggins.

TBC wins the bike race, naturally, and he receives a gold medal.
He then stands for the National Anthem, which he heartily sings along to.

We head home.
Splat.
I feel the top of my head.  Nothing there but my hair.
A quick scan over The Boy Child.  Nothing on him, either.
Phew, a close call.
We get home and as I look down to open the gate, I shriek in horror and disgust.
Look away now, if you're the squeamish sort.
That splat sound was the deposit from an airborne pigeon.
With a bullseye on my camera ...    

"Never mind", says The Brainy One, once he's stopped laughing, "It's supposed to be lucky".
I think people only say that to make you feel better about being cr*pped on.

Remembrance

"When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow, we gave our today"

Photo a Day: 10th November

A perfect afternoon for Lego (this is the safari set), as it was cold, wet and miserable outside.

Photo a Day: 9th November

I went in to school and took 86 photos of pupils and staff.  The PTA is putting together a calendar as this term's fund raiser and I was asked to take the photos.
Gulp.
The majority of the photos are fine, I think, but Year 8 may have to be redone ...