I'm back

Oh. My. God.

I've just realised that it has been over a week since I wrote anything here. Sorry. No real excuse, I was just taking a short breather from blogging, and all is well here.

My novel is also still on the backburner due to having to spend all my time on paid work and studying at the moment. I wish I was the sort of writer who could stay up burning the midnight oil, but I'm not. I get too tired, especially when son 2 is deciding to get up ridiculously early...5.30 am on Saturday!

Half term has also just begun. It only seems a minute since he was last on holiday but here we are again, another two week half term, a house full of noise and chaos and me trying to read my study books. The paid work will have to wait until he goes back to school, I'm afraid, though I did do a little yesterday. It is fortunate that my boss is also my husband...

Three notable things...

1. Son 1 had a great weekend at home, doing normal teenage things...

2. It has stopped raining at last.

3. Son 2 will have two days of playscheme this week. Hooray!

Depressing

I'm not usually greatly affected by the news. But these last few weeks have been particularly gloomy. The cyclone in Burma and the refusal of the regime to accept international aid. The earthquake in China and the devasting effects of substandard building. The senseless murder of Jimmy Mizen, contrasted with the quiet dignity of his family. Gordon Brown. The credit crunch and the accompanying feeling of guilt as I shop in Tesco and realise I should look even more closely at every price label...

Then of course there are all the things that have been happening here. Earlier this week a phone call from the hospital, saying that son 1 had done a runner, sent me into a panic. (He hadn't, he was chilling out in the grounds but hadn't told anyone and they didn't search properly). Hubby has been away on a short break since Thursday, so son 2 and I are home alone. So far so good, but I'm exhausted due to sleeping worse than usual.

I've upped my medication temporarily and am floating around in a cloud of relative detachment to get me through this grey, feeling sorry for myself and others phase...

Three notable things:

1. During this difficult period bookersatz is being updated slightly less regularly, but we still welcome contributions at any time and aim to post up at least one review every week.

2. I loved the idea of this poster to encourage kids to read.

3. I so wish I had seen this last month. I'll never be able to go to Liverpool Street station again without thinking of Rick Astley!

Catching up

I think I am currently brain dead.

I spent last week writing an essay. The word 'intertextuality' is now firmly lodged in my brain. Hubby looks despairing when I interrupt a conversation to say 'ooh,that's intertextual'. The essay was sent on Friday, but I have no idea whether I really answered the question. I was just relieved to get rid of it. Now for the second half of the course and a change of emphasis...

My writing has totally stalled, due to the intensity of this course and all the other stuff which is going on around me at home. I am behind in updating bookersatz. I've got books I need to read and review. Another half-term is fast approaching, I have paid work to complete by the summer holidays. I need to get a grip.

Son 1 is still up and down. He's just had a great weekend, but the previous one was difficult, he wasn't well at all. His peers will be starting their GCSEs this week, while he has now been out of education for two years. We live in a different world now.

Three notable things:

1. I have just spent a fortune on new clothes for son 2 who is growing rapidly in all directions...

2. I have finally found another mascara which doesn't irritate my eyes or make me look like a panda, after my old favourite was sadly discontinued. My girlie readers will understand the importance of this!

3. I lost the magnetic bracelet which helps my arthritis in town today.

Up, up and away...

Last Tuesday morning I looked out of the window to see if son 2's school bus had arrived and couldn't believe what I saw. A large bunch of red and silver metallic balloons was bouncing around in the gutter outside our driveway.

I wasn't sure whether to run outside and pick them up, but leaving son 2 unsupervised, even for a moment, can have dangerous consequences and I really didn't want him to become obsessed with balloons just before school. So I decided to leave them, thinking that the breeze would soon take them further on their journey, hopefully before the arrival of the school bus.

Five minutes later the bus was outside the house. The bus driver had parked further out than usual, carefully avoiding the balloons, which were still there. Thankfully son 2, who once had a serious balloon obsession, ignored them completely and was soon on his way. I picked up the balloons and brought them into our porch, thinking they would be an evening treat for him. Each balloon was emblazoned with 'Mercedes Benz Direct'. I still have no idea where they had come from.

After school son 2 completely ignored the balloons in the porch. The same happened on Wednesday. It wasn't until halfway through Thursday evening that he decided they might be fun to destroy. We spent the next two days retrieving helium balloons from our ceilings until he had finally burst them all.

There is no accounting for the autistic mind.

(Yes, I should have taken a photo and no, I couldn't find the camera... Sorry.)

Three notable things:

1. Boris is the new Mayor of London. Hmm. But I can't complain really, as I didn't bother to vote.

2. An Open University day school in London on Saturday gave me a welcome escape.

3. What is it with Austrians and cellars? Life can be stranger than fiction but this latest case is truly horrific beyond belief.