Chatter!!

Wow! It seems like forever since I posted on here - probably cos it is!!! Life is so very very busy!! Two weeks ago, I joined the gym at the nearby Leisure Centre - there is actually one at the local secondary school, but it isn't very good to say the least! The one I go to is much better equipped, and everyone is really friendly. I have decided that enough is enough - since I quit smoking 18 months ago, I have put on loads of weight - and so I decided that joining the gym would be a better way to lose weight than starting smoking again!! I also know myself pretty well, and if I was to just go on a 'pay as you go' basis, I wouldn't go if I didn't feel like it, which is why I decided to go for the membership. As I hate wasting money, and am determined to get my money's worth out of anything, this means that I will definitely go regularly!! In fact, I have been at least 4 times each of the last 2 weeks and intend to do the same each week. I know that weekends and school holidays will be the times I don't get to go as I am at home with the girls by myself, but my gym membership also gives me free swimming, and as the girls already get their swimming free over there, we will just have to swim regularly over the holidays! So, in 2 weeks time, I will have my measure and weigh-in to see how much weight I've lost! I already feel so much better in myself, so any weight I lose will be a major bonus!!

Anyway, also keeping me busy have been the girls!! On top of all their usual after-school stuff, Lucie has just started Country Dancing and recorder club too - am not sure quite how she will get on with recorder club as it is very basic and she already knows all of the notes that they learn, but she wants to do it, and am sure she will just have fun playing it with her friends! And I am a great believer in music being fun - they'll then work at it without realising it!!

Alice and Emi are really enjoying practising for their recorder exams at the end of this year. They have chosen some lovely pieces, and they even know all of the scales they need to know for it!! Its just the aural part they don't enjoy, and neither did I when I did my music exams, so I can sympathise, but they still have to do it!!

We've also had a full couple of weeks with fitting in getting Emi and Claudia together. For those who don't know from me talking about her last year, Claudia is a really good friend of Emi's, but they only get to see each other once or twice a year as Claudia lives in Egypt with her family, although when they leave England this time, they are actually going to Romania before going back to Egypt at some point! So, the family have been staying with their relatives in Liphook, and we have fitted as many visits in as possible, including a sleepover here last night! They are leaving England on Thursday and are staying with other grandparents till Wednesday, so we are hoping to squeeze in another get together for them on Wednesday evening! What is so lovely is that when they get together after being apart, it just seems as though they haven't been apart!!

Anyway, just one more thing which is really fun! I saw this on someone else's blog - can't remember who it was now, but anyway. What you do is to go to google and search for '(your name) wants' eg, for me, I typed 'Joy wants'. You then list the first 10 search results - some of them are very funny!!

I did it for my girls and for me, and this is what came up :

Emily wants:

a pony
cosmetic surgery
to be a cowgirl
to meet 4 people
revenge
to be a writer
to see a marriage counsellor
to save money
long, flowing Rapunzel hair

Alice wants:

to send a message to bob
out
to query a database
to talk to bob
to turn on/off a public light switch
to send holiday cards to all her friends and family
to buy a few roses
to search the city for Dieter's mother
to download a file from the server
politicians to support teachers

Lucie wants:

Daddy
to go onto further education
happiness for Lauren
to leave the highchair
the photos to sing to you
to run the wrecking yard association
to move to the country
to be a childrens author
to become a model
racist lyrics banned

Joy wants:

Eternity
to require insurance
a baby in her belly, but not in her life
to help you live longer
to reform the laws in all 50 states
to grow
to transform what is not right
to ensure that those pesky lights in the four guest cabins, two salons, and owner's suite consume as little electricity as possible.
to meet 4 people
to end certain areas of scientific research


I did have to ignore some of them as a few were repeats and also some were not particularly suitable to post here for my girls! But, they were fun. Am just a bit concerned about one or two of them - I don't think Emi wanting cosmetic curgery at age 10 is too great an idea - and I certainly don't want a baby in my life or my belly right now!!