Monthly Round Up (March 2010)

It is now officially springtime ... hooray and hurrah. Isn't it wonderful to see some colour creeping back into our gardens and hedgerows? And we've had some real warmth in the sunshine too. It won't be long before I get the call to transfer my tootsies into flip flops, in which they will reside until at least September. :D

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I keep meaning to ask if any of you bloggy peeps are Gleeks?

There are several definitions of the word 'gleek' - from the verb to gleek: to squirt liquid (including saliva) through the teeth or from under the tongue; less commonly, squirting saliva directly from the saliva glands or expelling liquid through the sinuses.

Or the Shakespearean verb to gleek: to trick; to make a gibe or jest (at a person).

To a noun Gleek, which is: an English card game for three persons played with a 44-card pack, popular from the 16th through the 18th century. Hmmmm, 44 card pack? Is that a regular pack with 12 cards missing? If so, which cards? See ... this is the sort of brain I have to contend with. Darn thing wants to know stuff, all the time!

Anyway, I don't mean any of those definitions. I'm talking about the modern-day noun Gleek, which is the name given to a fan of the TV show 'Glee'. No.1 is a devoted Gleek - it is her favourite programme of the moment. She owns the CD of the songs from Series 1, and has asked for the CD of the songs from Series 2 for her birthday. I see there is a DVD of Series 1 due out in the middle of April ... that'll be heading our way too, no doubt. For those who have never seen it, it is described as a 'musical comedy drama' - which is kind of different, isn't it? I must admit I have watched every single episode, and sometimes it has made me laugh out loud (no mean feat considering what a grump I've been). It's an American series which only began airing in the UK in January, and which appears to have captured the attention and imagination of loads of folk.

Personally, I think Mr Schuester is rather cute; and that Sue Sylvester (the trainer of the cheerleaders) is hilarious. 'And that's how Sue sees it!' has become a catchphrase in our house - to be tagged on the end of any kind of strong expression of opinion - along with the accompanying 'c' sign the character uses in the show.

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I had some good news regarding Miss Maisie - the insurance company have authorised the repair (rather than writing her off). Phew! The garage can't fit her in until late April, so in the meantime I am driving around in a warped car - which is ok, because I'm a bit warped myself.

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I had a lovely giggle last week outside school whilst waiting for No.2 to emerge from his day's educational experience. Why is my child always almost the last one to leave the building?! Anyway, there were lots of people milling around outside school waiting for their children, when a little girl (aged about 5) rushed out of the gate, shouting at the top of her voice 'Mummy! Mummy!' as she ran to her mother who was stood about two metres away from me. (Oooh, get me with my metric measurements!) 'Hello!' said the mother, 'Guess what?' said the excited little girl ... and then in her biggest, loudest voice (the one that all mothers know and dread) 'Me 'n' Alice are wearing the same knickers!'

Don't you just love little kids?! Her mum had to laugh, as did many of us within earshot.

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Speaking of kids, I had a couple of proud mum moments on account of No.1 this month. Firstly, she was awarded with a certificate for being one of the top five students in the field of 'Creative Arts' in her year at her school (there are 300 kids in her year!). The school had a little ceremony evening, at which other students played music, and presented films and pictures; it was very well done. The fact that the other three girls in No.1's 'gang of four' also got awards, was really nice for them all. (S got hers for Drama, B got hers for Humanities, and J got hers for Design & Technology.) From next September they will perhaps spend less time together as they begin their CGSE courses (and are all taking different options); we'll see.

The other moment came a couple of weeks ago. It's been more than three years since she gave up formal guitar lessons with her previous teacher, but she felt she wanted to go back to having lessons. The former teacher no longer teaches, and I'd been asking around other parents for months. This (new) guy's name kept coming up over and over again. I contacted him to be told he was seeing three prospective students for his one free place, that weekend - would No.1 like to go along to play for, and meet him? She was very nervous as - quite understandably, it felt to her like an audition, and I guess it was in a way. Anyway, we went along on a Sunday morning - she was the first to be seen. He showed us the sort of work he does (very impressive) and asked No.1 to play for him. She felt she'd fumbled it and done quite badly; and when we came out she said she wasn't at all sure about him anyway, wasn't sure if she liked him or would want to work with him or not.

An anxious few hours were then spent waiting for the email, but eventually he contacted us to say that out of the four of them, No.1 "had 'something'" and he'd like to offer her the free place. She was over the moon and immediately said 'yes', but given her earlier thoughts on not being sure, I asked her to think it over. She was still sure she wanted to take the opportunity, so is now attending music lessons with him.

She did good - I'm very proud of her.

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In early March I went to Camera Club one week, to find that the Committee had chosen two of my images to represent the club in a 'battle' with two other clubs. How cool is that? I was really pleased. They'd put forward the snowy window one and the cobweb one I showed you in this post. In this particular battle, the judge was looking at prints and projected images: I haven't yet got brave enough to 'do' prints - perhaps one day? Anyway, the snowy shot scored 18 out of a possible 20 points (so that's twice with the same score now), but the dewy web shot scored major points - 20! Oooh, it was such a thrill. At the end, I got a round of applause, lots of 'well done's and a guy from another club came over and shook my hand telling me he thought it was superb. Wasn't that nice?! Five other images scored 20 that evening, all wonderful shots; I was honoured to have one of mine given that score.

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Earlier this month I managed to finish off the Moscow part of Mafia Wars - the game (along with Farm Town :D ) to which I am addicted at Facebook. I'm thinking I'm getting quite good at this life of crime, having completed first New York, then Cuba, and now Moscow. Am I finished? Not a bit of it ... I'm off to wreak criminal havoc in Mafia Wars Bangkok!

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This was the month I discovered that Georgie-cat likes hamster food. How weird is that?! I was cleaning out Herbie, he was sitting in his exercise ball at my side (he doesn't wander off in it anymore - just sits next to me, bless him) and had just put some new food in his dish. I turned round to sort out his bedding and heard a crunch, munch, crunch sound. On looking over my shoulder I caught this little monkey

eating his food! She seemed to especially like the fruity shape nibbles - perhaps I should get her a packet of her own?

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I'll leave you with a collage of images from my Mother's Day this year (Sunday 14th March); I trust any mums reading this had as lovely a day as I did.

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