Parlez vous Anglais?

Mum and Dad have been here this weekend helping us with all kinds of stuff, just dropped them off at the airport

We'll be moving on Wednesday so the flat is full of boxes and piles of stuff to be sorted

We won't be having our phone-line fitted until at least the 7th of November so I'm going to have to go cold turkey on the internet access

We might also have to wait a while for the TV to be set up

Ah well, guess all that will give me more time to unpack everything!

Mum & Dad are coming tomorrow!

The spare room is sorted

The kids have been remarkably well behaved, even when helping to make Rhys' birthday cake for tomorrow

We have power at the house

All is good

(continuing the theme of unimaginatively-named posts)

I am getting steadily more stressed by everything that needs doing but I have to prioritise things today 'cos Mum and Dad are flying in tomorrow morning!

So today's jobs include:

* sorting out the spare room

* making the spare bed

* general cleaning duties (although this seems rather pointless due to the high levels of dust being generated by moving stuff that hasn't been moved in 4 years)

* supermarket trip - hoping that the bank have sorted themselves out and we have enough money in the account to cover this

* packing, packing and more packing

The kids are bored, I'm bored... this doesn't bode well

a.k.a another day in the riveting life of sminchin, aged 32 and 8 months-ish.

As I've managed to waste the best part of the morning doing pretty much nothing, I'm going to have to work hard at the packing this afternoon. This has been made substantially easier by Mike actually providing boxes and tape after several days of asking!

After lunch I'm taking the kids to my MIL who's going to take them swimming. I'm going to head home and then pack like a crazy thing until Mike comes back from working on the house and then we'll head over to join the boys for an early birthday celebration for Rhys. We'll also be celebrating our icklest niece's half-birthday 'cos she's 6 months old on Friday *bless*

We've decided that next Wednesday is going to be our official moving day, this is both thrilling and terrifying at the same time!

Have a good Wednesday everyone

After proving to myself yesterday that I am not meant to be an at-home Mum (this isn't really news, TBH) I've decided to take the kids out this afternoon.

We're going to a shopping centre where they can go in the padded cell supervised play area and I can do the things I need to do without them dragging along behind me.

This is good for all of us

The most important thing I need to sort out this afternoon is Rhys' birthday present, I can't believe he's turning 9 on Friday!

... but the boxes are downstairs in the cave (storage room) and I don't have the key so instead I'm planning to:

* watch daytime TV

* help Jamie with his homework

* do some baking

* visit my hard-working boys at the house with some baked goods

Not a bad plan for the day

I'll leave you with some cartoons from here (Sorry Kelly!)

Progress is being made

Mike, my BIL and FIL have been working there all day... kind of boring for us left at home but it means we might actually have a bathroom ready soon

Here are some photos from today

All kinds of things are being done, the kitchen was half-fitted when I was there at lunch-time but it's now fitted. The floorboards will start to be done on Friday and into next week. The solar panels and wiring are being finished off so the electricty and heating can be turned on soon.

We move the week after next!

... I've been asked if I've lost weight - hahahahahahaha, nope!

I've been told I look tired - that one's far more believable

The truth is I'm working on my last couple of nerves, there's too much going on and the kids are playing up

I've been upset by a few rude people today and I'm crawling through the week to get to our half-term holiday Just don't remind me how much I have to do over half-term including packing and moving!

I checked with someone during a meeting whether they knew about an important thing happening this week and I got told that they were listening and they spoke English - basically, shut up and butt out. I told her that I wouldn't bother being concerned for her in the future... remarkably assertive for me.

Also Rhys has lost his coat at school

And some idiot winked at me after nearly causing a head-on collision between us. Why did he wink? How stupidly annoying. He wouldn't have acted like that if Mike'd been driving :S

I'm teaching poetry tomorrow