This morning was most odd. Ady woke me to help get Davies and Scarlett ready to go and I waved them off (after frantic checking of old emails and texting Liza to remember her address as now I actually know where it is to get to I have freed up the bit of my brain that contained details like the flat number etc.)and then had a full half an hour all alone in the house before I had to go to work. Very strange feeling.
Work was bedlam. Wednesday mornings are always chaos anyway but we were shortstaffed with me, Yvonne the boss, moany Sarah and a relief member of staff. We had a HUGE delivery of reservations and returns and it was busy too. So that was a blur of a four hours. I did have a lovely email from Brenda the big boss though and a Barefoot book from Cara the children’s librarian who had been chatting to Davies about them last time he saw her and had been clearing out her sons’ bookcase (she has two boys slightly older than D and S) and had a lovely Leonardo Da Vinci Barefoot book they didn’t want anymore so had left it in my tray to ask if I’d like it :).
I left there and headed to Liza’s to pick Davies and Scarlett up. They had covered Liza’s front room in pictures, accidentally drawn on the sofa and floor,got covered in mud at the park, refused all her kind offers of food and been generally noisy and Davies-and-Scarlett-y. Thank again Liza, it is so very, very much appreciated 🙂 x. Davies got a fab birthday present of pencils and art pad along with a cool homemade Ben 10 card and a chocolate Ben 10 lolly. Scarlett went all wobbly bottom-lipped as I’d promised her last week that Davies’ birthday was well and truly over so Liza very kindly produced a lolly for her too which cheered her up.
We left there on a Scarlett shoe shopping mission. She has wellies and crocs and black Badger shoes only so needed a pair of proper winter shoes now the weather is turning. She’s had boots for the last 3 winters as that solves the not wearing socks or tights issue whether she is wearing trousers or long skirts (she doesn’t really wear short skirts anyway) so we were looking for any colour but black boots. We tried Asda, Matalan, Brantano, Sainsburys but had no joy anywhere. The closest we came to something suitable was a lovely pair of Osh Kosh boots which were £32 – considerably more than I’d intended paying. The quest continues…
They did get a small gift each – Davies got another Ben 10 figure and Scarlett got a cat in a basket toy and I got 2 Tickled Pink t shirts from Asda in honour of payday today.
We also collected the bag of rags from a freecycler that we’d missed earlier in the week, dropped off the allotment paperwork and collected the key so we can now access the allotment and plan to start digging this weekend :).
We had just got in at 4pm laden down with bags, I’d served the kids a speedily prepared tea (Davies, pizza from yesterday, Scarlett eggs and toast) and was bolting down some marmite on toast and a cup of tea myself while trying to sew on the 7 badges I’d left to the last minute to put on Davies’ badger jumper when my parents turned up. They stayed for an hour, distracting the kids from eating and me from sewing and then we all left together.
The kids had a great time at Badgers. I read in the car for a while and then Ady arrived and we went for a long walk and chat including a supermarket visit to get dinner for tonight and some chocolate liqueurs for me :). Back at Badgers we were told that they have a local kids fitness person coming in two weeks to do a session with all of them for which they need to wear trainers. Arse! So not only do I have to spend money on black shoes for them to wear once a week and black trousers for them to wear once a week I now need to get them a pair of trainers each for them to possibly only ever wear once. Of course everyone else already has black shoes and trousers and trainers for school – wonder if I could get away with a pair each of those black elasticated plimsolls?
Home for bedtime stories – one of the tales from the Barefoot book of Monsters and the first two chapters of George’s Secret Key to the Universe which came highly recommended as ‘perfect for Davies and Scarlett’ from a friend and sure enough had them instantly captivated.
And I think that’s about it – this morning feels a very long time ago!
You can get branded trainers for £5 in Sports and Soccer, so easily do-able. I won’t let Buzz play outside in anything else now as crocs are a bugger on keeping toenails clean! He got fed up with me scrubbing them with Milton in the summer.
I LOVE being home alone and plan to order Tony to take the kids away for at least two nights asap so I can pack in peace!
I forgot my own address the other week! I live there I don’t need to remember it!
Were those boots I passed on to you no good for her then?
I got Ernest 8 quid black Diadora trainers from SportsWorld/SportsDirect that are so plain they do for black shoes for BB as well as being trainers – result 🙂
I’ve been wondering how I can get a week at home alone, lol! I reckon if I had that long, I could actually catch up with everything I need to do here.
Thanks for trainer tips – will get some today – I think Woolies do them for about a fiver. It’s just another unnecessary tenner to spend though – grrr. I bet they’ll decide they need PE kit need – well they’ll be doing it in pants and vests! 😆
Alison, she loved all of them to look at but pulled all sorts of faces once she tried them on. I can’t remember the precise reasons now but it was all very goldilocks and the 3 bears with them being too hard, too soft, too salty etc. She did keep (and has worn) the silver shoes and I passed the boots onto Lucy’s Rebecca who was very pleased with them so not gone to waste.
We were talking at J&J’s in August about living alone – it may only have been Michelle, Caroline and I though. I’d love to try it as I’ve never lived alone. Of course the set of circumstances leading to me living alone might not be so attractive but maybe one day, when I’m old…
I hate the random sort of rules for those out of school things. Our guides want black shoes, but I just didn’t do them in the end. She hated them, to get anything in her width I was looking at 40 quid, and it just seemed crazy. We do spend a lot on trainer’s but they sort of have a purpose for Hannah, and at least they are always word out when she finished with them, rather than gowing out of them while they still look new.
I’m with Scarlett: I hate salty boots too.
I’ve never lived alone either; I’ve always shared a house with at least one other person. I’d quite like to live in a flat too – there are some new ones near us that C and I fancy the look of!
I splashed out and bought Gwenny black Crocs for GB – one of their shoe-type styles – but she’s actually been wearing them loads, so I’m not feeling too bad about them. The last pair of black shoes she had were very cheap and very unattractive and she wore them for aaaages until they made her feet hurt (and then for a few more weeks too), so I was quite glad to be able to make it up to her a bit!
Glad Ms R is happily booted 🙂
Dylan says: Salty boots? Delicious!
tis all lies, those children are lickle angels!
i don’t envy you having to buy girly shoes, every single time i take andrew shopping for shoes i end up eyerolling and tutting at the girls section, heels do not belong on little girls!
shoezone do trainers for 4.99, if a size 12 is any good i found black shoes and black plimsoles in the back of a cupboard last night.
and you could have just checked back in your blog to find my full address and postcode 😉 i had to rush round the house looking for a phone credit thingy before i could text you back!