Hello peeps. How did you find your respective July(s)? Is the plural of July, in fact 'Julies'? But that reads like something to do with a person called Julie, doesn't it? I really can't be bothered to ponder the matter - why ever did I go down this particular tangent?
Right ... on to July's 'doings'.
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This month contains one of my favourite days of the year: The day I switch off the early morning alarm for a huge six weeks. (42 days. 1008 hours. 60,480 minutes!)
I usually keep the moment for switching off the alarm until the kids have gone to school on that last morning of term (they both broke up at lunchtime on Friday 22nd) so I can properly savour it; but this year I couldn't resist; I just had to do it before we'd even left for the school run.
After a couple of weeks of holidays, we shall be breakfasting at 11am, lunching at 2pm, and enjoying the chilling. Bliss!
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I must mention this month, the current appeal by the Disaster Emergency Committee. I'm sure most people who read this blog have seen the ads on TV, or heard them on the radio. The worst drought in East Africa for 60 years has led to terrible consequences in parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan. So many people are without food, water and medicine. This situation is even worse than when Bob Geldof launched his 'Live Aid' appeal in 1985, which is quite a sobering thought. If anyone reading this can spare even a few pounds, I urge you to donate here.
Aren't we so very lucky in this country to not have to face such an awful situation?
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No.2 has had an eventful sporting month. He won his squad's Players' Player of the Year award - and was, of course, very chuffed. However, it made the decision about what to do next season even more problematical because he felt he was really valued by his teammates, and that's a good feeling, isn't it?
Early on this month, he and his team played in a six-a-side tournament. They reached the semi-finals of the Plate (as opposed to the Cup) but got knocked out at that stage. They were knocked out by the team for which he had a try-out and for whom his best friend was playing. I was really proud that he was cheering his friend on all the way in the subsequent matches. The next weekend No.2 guested for the 'potential' new team in an 11-a-side tournament. Again, they reached the latter stages of the Plate, but didn't win. He really enjoyed playing for the new team, but felt he just didn't want to leave his 'old' team. He's been with that Club for 5 years, so it was understandable: the decision was made - he would stay where he was.
Events changed all that around 10 days' later, when we received an email from his coach to say that despite attempts at recruiting, the squad just wasn't going to be big enough for the step up to 11-a-side this coming season. He was therefore reluctantly having to take the decision to fold the team. :( So ... No.2 has now officially transferred to the new club, and the rest of his old team mates are finding new clubs for themselves. Most of them are going either to No.2's new team, or their biggest rivals: both teams are in the same league next season, so those two fixtures will, I'm sure, be played with passion and 'feeling', as well as with the enjoyment of seeing old friends.
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I spent over a third of this month feeling rather poorly. I managed to catch (from No.2) a summer cold. Although the benign-sounding words 'summer cold' are, quite frankly, totally inadequate for the misery caused by the virus with which I was afflicted: After getting through half a box of tissues there were three toilet rolls' worth of snotty nose with fever, sore throat, aches, pains and a chesty cough. Meh :(
Why do we forget, in between experiences, that the so-called 'common cold' can make us feel so utterly dreadful? And why can't anyone develop a treatment which can curtail the sheer horribleness it inflicts? Surely there must be a substance, routine, drug, something to alleviate the symptoms?! As I type, No.2 has another cold: I normally blame school for the germs but since it's the holidays, I can't do that now. I just hope he keeps those pesky germs to himself this time.
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I actually did a bit of sewing this month. No.2 was cast in the end of term school play as James Bond, and thus needed to appear in a smart black 'suit' with crisp white shirt and a black bow tie.
Luckily, my friend 'F' has a lovely black jacket which looks a bit like a DJ. No.2 has some black trousers, and I was able to pick up a cheapy white shirt in Sainsbury's. The acquisition of a black bow tie proved more problematical, so in the end I decided I'd make one. A bit of black fabric and some stitching made the bow; I sewed it to a black ribbon band with velcro for fastening at the back of his neck. It did the job very nicely, even if I do say so myself. As he uttered the immortal line 'Bond ... James Bond ... with a licence to kill', I thought he looked the part.
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Do you, Dear Reader, know of the website Formspring? No.1 and all her friends have accounts on this site, where other people can ask you questions. You get to answer those questions, and publish the results. I'm not quite sure what is precisely the 'point' of that site, but since I once said the same about Facebook, and am now addicted to the darned place, we'll leave that particular question alone.
Anyway, since some kids take the opportunity to anonymously ask quite horrible questions, or make statements which verge on (imho) bullying, I do keep an eye on No.1's account there - she knows this, and accepts that it's something I feel I 'should' do. I have never seen anything untoward asked of her, nor have I seen her say anything about which I have a problem.
This month I saw someone ask her the question 'Are you afraid of what other people think of you?' Her response was
"I used to be ... but now I've realised the things that make me different are the things I like most about myself. I listen to MCR and Bon Jovi instead of Ed Sheeran and stuff from the charts. I wear converse and bright colours, instead of looking like a photocopy of everyone else, like most other people. And I've realised that just because I'm not as 'popular' as some people, doesn't make me any worse than them."
It made me so proud to read that; and it shows she's really growing up. God, I love that girl.
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My mother, having now achieved her "three score years and ten" spent this month 'sorting out'. She has decided she needs to drastically de-clutter ("so you and your brother don't have to do it when I'm dead"), to think about what she wants in the way of a funeral, and what she wants to happen to some of the 'stuff' of which she's very fond. My first reaction, when she wanted to talk about it, was that I didn't want to talk about it, but that was a selfish reaction. Who wants to think about and discuss losing their only parent? However, eventually I relented, and have now been told in no uncertain terms what is to happen! I just hope it's all a long way off.
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This month I have been pretty good about completing more categories in the 111 in 2011 project. I'll leave you with a few of those.
Jewellery
Web
Earth
Square
Steps or Stairs
Distance
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