Stuff what did happen today

I had a really bad nights sleep, which was unfortunate as I didn’t go to bed til after 1am, didn’t get to sleep til way after 2am and was awake again at 730am as I had work. 🙁

I headed off to work where I’ve not been for over a week thanks to rota deviations and had previously only been back for one day after my holiday so was feeling a bit disconnected and forgotten I even had a job at all about. I realised I’d left my phone at home so rang to ask Ady to drop it off on his way into work (he was home with D and S for the morning).

It was Rhyme Time and from having sometimes as few as 4 parent and baby couples through the summer we were back with a vengence today with over 20 mothers and 20 babies, so over 40 people crammed in to sing. I had two odd moments while sitting cross legged with a box full of kiddie instruments. The first was someone coming in and asking ‘it is baby rhymetime today isn’t it?’ to which I couldn’t help but reply ‘yes, I’d not really be sitting her like this otherwise!’ but offset with my special tinkling laugh (you may not be familiar with that one, but I do have it in my repertoire along with my more usual downtime throaty, raucous laugh) so as not to cause offence. And then the woman next to me who I had upset the child of by saying ‘Hello, would you like a shaker?’ to asked ‘are you Adrian’s wife?’. I’m sort of not really inasmuch as he is only Adrian when on TV in the same way as I am only Nicola when at the library (or when Ady forgets :rolls:) and I like to consider myself rather more than his wife but I agreed that was one of my many guises and she said ‘oh I used to work with him, we met once in Sainsburys’. Oh how I love to leave a lasting impression ;).

So we sang, and shook our instruments, and it was loud and chaotic and I threw in ‘had an elephant’ to Old McDonald’s farm just because I get a bit power crazed with such a large audience and it’s all I can manage to not split the room into thirds and have them all singing Row, Row, Row your boat in a round.

In the middle of it all I glimpsed Ady communicating that he had left my phone with someone at the counter and then running off again. Apparently he said to her ‘I’ll leave this with you otherwise she’ll drag me in there to sing!’ which was true, I would have said ‘Oh look boys and girls, it’s Humpty Dumpty, does anyone know a song about him?’ and made him come in and pretend to fall off the wall 😆

The rest of the day was fairly tame after that. Our big boss manager is leaving in 2 months so some of us have a plan to liven up the library after she’s gone as she tends to veto all our more innovative and exciting ideas for things. We were talking about ‘getting down with the kids’ and having flash mob style events communicated by text, playing with text in books and texts on mobiles, lib as in library and lib as in liberation and other such radical stuff – get us eh?!

Back at home Mum had been here and it seemed to have gone smoothly. She stayed for a cup of tea and a chat and then stayed with Davies while I took Tarly round to Rainbows. Davies and I sat and sorted out Secret Santa for NicCamp which was partially luck of the draw, partially managed with children in mind and who they would enjoy and be inspired by making gifts for and probably very good to have Davies who is an ace negotiator and diplomat helping me with. Ady arrived home just as I nipped back to collect Scarlett.

Scarlett and I had a funny conversation about what she should take to Rainbows for show and tell. She was inclined to bring a plastic lion she’d bought for 20p at a car boot sale last weekend while I was reminding her of her week including playing in the sea on Monday morning, starting gymnastics, swimming, visiting London for a lecture at the Royal Institution, catching at pigeon in Green Park while picnicking with a large group of friends, visiting the W&G exhibition at Science museum, playing outside til after dark with friends yesterday – all while everyone else was AT SCHOOL. She compromised and took the lion and some photos of the W&G thing but I bet she didn’t show them ;). My Mum was listening and said to her ‘do you know what Tarly, you have a more interesting and exciting life than I do’ which is both true and rather nice to hear her acknowledge to my six year old :).

Back home the kids got into pjs and we read a huge pile of books I’d ordered in while on a Michael Morpurgo kick last week including:

and also and

Scarlett informed me that she is ‘going to give up wine until Christmas because I am only six you know’ – I hasten to add she probably has a sip once or twice a week – which made me laugh.

I very excitedly watched my mate Dayve on the plinth which was very cool. I am on the reserve list so highly unlikely to get a place bearing in mind its impending end but I did at least get a name check from someone on it 🙂

And now, as I have to go and be Nicola again in the morning I should probably go and get some sleep.