Another Week of Learning - LSNED 18th - 24th September

Having "caught up" with my pages, up to 17th, I've had a week of non-scrapping.  I have managed to keep notes of my little "Lessons", so I will be able to make my pages soon.  This is my summary of the past week's Learning:

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Saturday 18th September

After all the problems of the previous 3 weeks, our little guinea pig had to be put to sleep. I posted on the Friday, about how sad I was.  Once again I was touched and amazed by the many, many kind comments and supportive messages left on my blog, by some of my many blog friends. It brought home to me how very lucky I am to have this network of friends, that has built up over the past 11 months and who give me so much support and encouragement, especially if things are not going well - or indeed, if they're going extra-well!

Today's Lesson:
I am so lucky to have all my blogging friends.

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Sunday 19th September

J. and I spent the morning busily tidying and cleaning, ready for a small invasion in the afternoon.  He had 3 friends round, from 3-7pm, to play games, eat pizza and generally celebrate his forthcoming birthday. 

The boys headed out into the garden, where they stayed for about an hour and a half, playing various games and jumping on the trampoline.  Then they came inside and played some silly games, ate their pizza and cake and had fun playing Mario Karts races on the Wii. 

In past years, we've spent time and money organising "events" for J's birthday - a trip to the local indoor playground, with food laid on; cinema and a meal out; bowling plus burgers; sledging at the nearby indoor ski-slope etc etc.  It can get very expensive and it was a relief this year, when J. said he'd rather invite friends to celebrate at home.  From the enjoyment they obviously had, it was an excellent idea - and it saved us lots of money, as we only had to pay for the pizza delivery and the cake!

Today's Lesson:
Fun can be (nearly) Free!

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Monday 20th September

Monday was a "normal Monday" - I went to my mother's, with her shopping that was delivered first thing. I collected her pension and prescriptions, also the eggs from the "egg lady" in the village. I sorted out her laundry (a neighbour hung it out, so I brought it in, folded it and put it in the airing cupboard), did a few jobs for her, helped her organise her money for bills etc.  This is what I do every Monday morning, unless I'm away on holiday. 

In the afternoon, I was feeling very tired, so I did almost nothing.  There were jobs to do, but I didn't do them really - I ate my lunch, read a book and rested. 

A friend of J's was due in the afternoon, to visit and have tea with us, but they didn't show up - again. His mother has, over the years, proved herself very unreliable - he was due last Thursday, but when I called to see what had happened, as they were 45 minutes late, she said they couldn't come! Dinner was on the stove - I froze the extra portion for another day; on Monday I didn't even call to see what had happened - and she didn't call to apologise. She doesn't seem to realise it's really rude.

I am so used to it now that I've given up worrying and just shrugged my shoulders; but I feel sorry for her boy.  We will probably not see them again now, as they move to New Brunswick, Canada on 1st October. This weekend we are so busy, so I don't think there will be time to drop by and say hello/good bye, but I will try to make time for it. In spite of everything, they're a really nice family and we'll miss them.

Today's Lesson:
Hmmm.... one was that an unreliable person will probably always be unreliable - even if it may be their last chance.

Also, I learned a new idea from Alexa of Trimming the Sails, for a "Catching Up Page" method.

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Tuesday 21st September

It was a really lovely day on Tuesday; so lovely that I ventured out into the garden, took the cover off the bench and sat there to eat my lunch. 

Sherlock was very pleased about this.

I really enjoyed sitting in the sunshine, reading for a little while and soaking up the warm rays.  The weather forecast for later in the week is wind and rain again, so I'm glad I made the most of this little opportunity. 

Today's Lesson: 
Make the most of the sunshine - it may not last long!

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Wednesday 22nd September

I had an appointment with the osteopath, for a routine "adjustment" treatment.  I've still got some problems relating the the fall I had, including a little stiffness and soreness in my upper back (not all the time though), pins and needles, with weakness in my hands - especially the left one, which is clumsy and has little grip, also a regular feeling in my ears, that they are full of water. 

The osteopath explained the cause of this problem.  I now understand how the bones of the skull are constructed, how they make very small movements and how these movements (or lack of) can interfere with the body's normal processes - including the draining of fluids from in and around the ear canals.  It seems that the tightness of my back and kneck muscles are causing problems with the "occiptal" bone and stopping my ears from draining properly, so that they feel clogged.

She loosened things up a bit for me, but ultimately I think that I need to concentrate on my kneck exercises and my posture, to minimise the muscle tightness that is causing the problems in the first place.

Today's Lesson: 
The bones of the skull are delicately balanced and easily impeded by muscle problems.

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Thursday 23rd September

It wasn't sunny this morning, but it was dry and fairly warm.  I was supposed to go into town, to do a number of jobs that have been collecting over the past month or so.  Instead, I pottered about the house, doing "indoor jobs", like cleaning and laundry, putting off the trip into town...

Of course, it rained - in fact it poured with rain!  So I didn't go into town, as I didn't want to be soaked to the skin - and after all, it will wait til next week... Hmmm...

I did have an odd sort of day really. One of those where I had no motivation to do anything.  I made myself do some jobs, including making a start on a "birthday card" for J. - which is in fact a 12" scrap page, as it'll go in an album and be kept for ever. I've all but given up on cards for J. and D. now - they like having a scrap page and the pages look great on the mantlepiece too!

Of course, it being a non-motivated, fuzzy kind of day, I didn't do very well with the scrap layout and had to put it aside to try again on Friday, as it just wouldn't go any further and I was stuck.

Today's Lesson:

Well, I suppose this sums up the general procrastination - "Go out Early and avoid the Rain!"

(a bit like "The Early Bird catches the Worm", isn't it?)

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Friday 24th September

Amazingly I made it to the end of the week... such a weird and woolly kind of week, where nothing quite got finished as expected and motivation was a bit scarce!

This morning, J's school held their annual Coffee Morning, in aid of Macmillan.  I went to this for an hour and a half. It was amazingly crowded this time - they had moved the cakes table and halved its size, from the last few years' arrangements.  They'd also let people into the hall, to sell things on stalls (presumably they charged for the stall, then the people kept their sales/profits).  This all meant there were less tables and chairs available for people drinking coffee to sit at and chat. It was hot, stuffy and noisy, with everyone milling about and having to shout at each other to be heard.  The children were taking it in turns to play us music, on various instruments, but to be honest, unless you were right next to them, it was too noisy to hear them - they just added to the general bedlam!  It was a shame, because the event is usually very well organised and enjoyable. I did not enjoy this one - it was an hour and a half of torture really.  Luckily, just as I got to the point where I was beginning to feel a bit odd, they opened a couple of the outside doors and got some air flowing - phew... it was nice to be able to breathe again! 

I hope they still raised plenty of money for Macmillan, but it would have been nice to be able to sit and relax, to chat with the other parents and to actually find our children and speak to them!

I did manage to look at the stalls, towards the end, when the crowds cleared.  I bought these, to get me started on Christmas books:

I have to plan ahead by at least one Season!

So, after a bit of lunch to recover (I didn't have cake - the stall was too crowded to get near it!), I had another bash at J's birthday page.  Today the ideas came along with almost no effort and it has ended up looking great (finished version to follow after the Birthday!).

Work in Progress. Inspiration just struck!

Today's Lesson:

Apart from "Don't go to the Coffee Morning next year!"...

I suppose the lesson was that you sometimes need to give a project a break; which can make a big difference to your ideas!

So there we are - a week of Little Lessons.  Once this manic weekend is over, I'll try to get time to make the pages to match.  It's going to be a great little album, once it's finished... that is giving me the incentive to try and make all those pages and "keep up"!

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