With thanks to Wife in the North for her idea ...

Here is what I have been given this week...

A hard time by my 7 year old for making him switch off the TV
Too many unsolicited pizza delivery leaflets
Some lovely scrapbooking presents by my scrapping buddy Stef
An afternoon off courtesy of Jasper's mum
A guilty conscince by the list of spellings sitting untouched in my youngest son's holiday homework folder
Some coupons by the supermarket
A burnt hand by the Aga
A demand for £11 from Customs and Excise for an unwnated parcel
A clamping release fee of £300 , yes £300 that a whole other story
A good time by my new friends at North Cheam crop
Grief by my 12 yr old for having to do homework as well as go to school
A cup of tea every morning by my lovely husband

Here's what I have given this week
Not enough

Easter may be over but the easter holidays are not. Worse .. eldest son has to go back to school a whole week sooner than youngest. He's incensed. Never thought I'd reach the day when I said no to another Cadbury's Cream Egg. Even mini eggs have lost their appeal. Back in London after an idylic time at the cottage and the first thing I notice is the constant roar of jets overhead. Not quite the peaceful hoot of an owl or the restless baa of a sheep in the fields that I've been used to this last week. London stinks , literally. Saw a pigeon sadly strutting around a Bp garage forecourt on the North Circular Road on the way home and wondered why on earth it would choose to shack up in dirty old London when it could choose to live anywhere , then I realised that was me.

I've just tried to log in and was told unceremoniusly ... Blogger - unexpected error. Suppose that sums up my blog really.

If only the essays I had to write at school were as easy as blogging. I never think about what I'm going to write here. Somehow, the logging in process seems to prompt my inspiration. My 12 year old son announce today that he loved writing essays . You could have knocked me down with a feather. This is the same child that would hide if he saw me sharpening a pencil in anticipation of the potential horror at me asking him to come and do his English homework. His new found enthusiasm must have something to do with the fact that he 'writes' everything now straight onto his laptop. I winced at the thought of having to shell out £1500 on this piece of required school equipment but had I known then that it would have transformed his mistrust of the written word into such enthusiasm , I would happily have paid thousands more !

Spring has sprung and we're out in the garden again. We now know where the cat's toilet is located. Bang slap in the middle of the lawn. The grass is strewn with teh detritus of an exhausting day's play. Last year's summer toys look rather shabby having been wintered out for the last few months. Mind you the kids don't seem to mind. I'm determined to enjoy these first few flushes of sunny weather before the flies appear and the hospipe bans loom.