Camping it up....

Second son leaves for camp tomorrow...it's his first school trip involving nights away from home.  He's looking forward to it, but is also slightly nervous.  I have today to organise clothes, bedding, medication and anything else that's on the "things-to-bring-to-camp-list".   Nothing like a little last minute panic to start the day!!

Interesting things I found down the back of my couch this morning

A straw with a skeleton attached to it
Half a museli bar
C3PO's head (eww)
Three drumsticks
A random remote control.   I've pointed it at everything in the house.  No dice.
A piece of yellow cord
Two USB's
Eight of those little stick things you draw on a DSi with, all thoroughly chewed
A little bottle of lavender oil
38 lolly wrappers
A plastic stop sign
3 bakugans
One pair of extremely ripe Cavendish Road High School socks (thanks, Kit)
Enough nerf bullets to start a small spongy war
and people think housework is boring.....

R'n'R

Today is FF's social club outing....it usually involves a hotel stay somewhere and much drinking.   In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever seen some of his workmates sober.   This year, we've decided to flout convention by skipping the dinner and the drinking, and having our own getaway.....FF has booked me into the day spa, while he has a nap, then we've got a bottle of wine, some take out and some DVD's.   ( Just to fill in any gaps in  our one child free night, heehee. )   I feel relaxed just typing it.

The beginning of the end of Twentyten.

Jeez, we're here again.  November and the end of another year in sight.   This year has been a mixture....lots of good, tempered with a not so healthy dose of crap just to keep me balanced.   It's over six months since I stopped the second job in order to concentrate on second son, and the results have been mixed.  This has been by far the hardest year for him, and he's struggled healthwise and otherwise.  He's currently off school for a couple of days,(again),  dealing with some stomach problems that have been an ongoing deal throughout the year, so we're having a total revamp of diet and routine (again) to see if we can hit the right formula.  On the brighter side, Firstborn has sailed through the year with only a few bumps along the way, and he's dealt with those in a remarkably adult manner.  He's grown about 5 inches (not including his hair, which has a life of it's own) and has grown in maturity as well.  I try not to dwell on it too much, 'cos the whole transformation to adult thing is unsettling to say the least.  (The very least).  Nanna is mostly back on her feet after almost five very, very long months.  It's taking some time for her to get her groove back, and for me to stop hovering, but we're getting there slowly.   Plans for our medieval handfasting are starting to take shape, we've booked the venue, the caterers and got the guestlist organised, and are starting to deal with the all important costuming issues, lol.  The boys (including the biggest one) have chosen weapons of suitably lethal vintage, and Nanna and I are interwebbing our fingers to the bone in search of suitable patterns for them, as they all insist on Lord of the Rings style garments, as opposed to anything remotely Rennaisance.  As Sebi put it "Real Gondorians don't wear tights"  Be still my heart.

Close to home.

On a street corner two minutes walk from where I sit in my house stands a mannequin dressed in dark trousers and a white crop top.   She's supposed to look like a teenage girl who was found dead in a nearby house four years ago.  Police have reopened the case after new information was found.   There are signs on the street corner that read  "Can you help?".   I can't.  To be one hundred percent honest, I don't even remember hearing  anything about it four years ago.   You'd think something that close to home would leave an impression.  According to reports she was seen "in a distressed state"  close to where her body was later found.  If she was so distressed, why didn't anyone stop and help?  Maybe they tried, and she told them she was OK.  But she wasn't.  Otherwise her plastic look-alike wouldn't be standing by the corner asking for help.....and waiting for answers.