holiday and no work today

We have been on holiday

at the ariport at silly o'clock

our hotel had its own yeti :)

we went to a water park

we had slushys

we had rain

and no work today as the church group is at their headquarters :)

tea for four

Today me & Evie are meeting up with a couple of my friends...

...we are going to a tea shop, Evie has already told me that she is going to have a tea cake and a hot chocolate :)

Although I am not sure that she will like the tea cake :)

I am sure that there will be something yummy that she will chose :)

cathedral picnic

Yesterday me and Evie had a picnic in the grounds of Chelmsford Cathedral :)

We got our lunch from McDonalds (Evie had a chicken nugget happy meal) :)

We found somewhere shady to sit

Evie eating a chicken nugget

As it was so hot and Evie was getting tired we went for an iced drink before heading home :)

Evie drinking an iced chocolate drink with cream

Then we headed home via the park :)

on the swing

When we got home I found a letter about Evies appointment and there was no date but said to call a phone number to book it.

I hope that there isnt a long waiting list and she can be seen in the school holidays.

yesterday was a Daddy and Evie day

While I went to work yesterday James and Evie went to Southend :)

They had a great day...

...Evie told me all of the fun things they did...

..she had a smoothie and a bacon roll in Costa, played in the arcades, and went of loads of rides at Adventure Island and she had sausage in batter and chips for her lunch :)

Today she wants to have a picnic with a McDonalds happy meal :)

We have to go into town anyway today :)

cloudy sports day

Today is Evies sports day :)

I have put a green t-shirt (the same one from last year as all I could get at the time was a slightly larger size) in her bookbag already.

The weather today is for thick cloud (but I will still put sun cream on her anyway) and will give her a bottle of water and she has a hat that I will put in her bag too.

James has today off so he doesnt have to rush home from work either :)

size tens

On Friday I took Evie into town and we went to get her some new tap dancing shoes (after the others got left at the dance centre), incidentally we still avent heard anything from them as to whether they were left there or not!

I got Evie size ten shoes and when they were fitted on her they werent too big so it sounds like she would have needed new ones now anyway :)

We still have another week off of school...

On Saturday I heard that some special pokemon were in London and as Chelmsford isnt that far from London I decided (while James looked after Evie) to get the train.

I was sitting on the train and a whole group of glamorously dressed ladies got on and as one was sat next to me I asked her where they were going? She said they were doing a bottomless brunch, she said that I could join them if I liked :) I respectfully declined :)

I did really well and manged to get 27 of them :)

invitation and lunch

When me & Evie were walking to school she started getting upset telling me that she was going to miss me after our lunch...

...I told her that after all morning with me and lunch then she would probably be pleased to see the back of me for a couple of hours :)

She wasnt having any of it!

So when the school gates opened she walked in and I watched her walk into her classroom before going in through the school office.

I double checked that I was having lunch with Evie and yes I was (I was one of the last people to get a space so I was pleased) I think its bad that they couldnt have spaces for all of the parents so that was a shame.

I went into the classroom and I had to do some filing it was just writing letters of the alphabet.

hen it was English and they had to write invitations to the 200th birthday party of the lighthouse, as part of their Lighthouse Keeper things that they are doing.

I read with L which was nice too :)

I then had to sort out more of their reading books, and then it was time for lunch.

So I waited outside the main hall until it was time for Evies class to go in...

...when it was time L (who was going to sit with us decided to go in on her own anyway) so I waited for Evie and she gave me a big hug and we went in.

Evie got both of our trays and I got our cups and we each got our cutlery.

Our lunch was really nice I tried some of Evies gravy (as I dont really like gravy) and in return Evie tried some of my stuffing (she didnt like it and didnt spit it out but I got her to wash it down with some milk).  The dessert was nice too, and Evie ate everything...

...its the first time I have seen her do that at school so that was good.

And we even finished in time for her to have a play after too (which we didnt last time).

Then it was time for me to go and Evie did get upset but then she was waving at me without looking at me so that was good :)

helping and lunch

Not only am I helping in Evies class today, but we also have another Year 1 lunch experience...

...today its roast chicken with yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, and seasonal veg with fruity jelly for dessert :)

When they gave the forms out they said that spaces were limited and the morning I handed in my form with £2.50 a couple of hours later there was a parentmail message saying not to hand in any more forms as all of the spaces had been allocated.

Evie has even said that she wont get upset today when I leave her class as she knows that she is having lunch with me.

Another Mum asked me if her daughter L can sit with us also that will be nice hopefully it will make Evie eat a bit quicker and will take her mind off me going home after our lunch.

snowday too

So today is our second snowday we walked with a lot of moaning and groaning to the local retail park...

a snowy Evie

...we went to Costa

Evie eating her cream

We both had a warm drink - I even splashed out and got Evie a small hot chocolate :) she was impressed that it came with cream and a flake.  She will probably want one again now that she has had the decadence that it is :)

I also bought us a brownie each as we were going to brave the freezing temperatures home again :)

our footprints in the snow

We are back home now in the warm and we will have to see if her school is open tomorrow or not...

filling next week

Next week is the half term holiday...

...we have an eye appointment one day, hairdressers (and getting her feet measured after) another day and lunch with James Mum & Dad another day.

Which means we have 2 days to think of stuff to do.

I would like to go to the cinema, there are a few good things on so I will have to see what takes her fancy.

At the moment she doesnt want to see anything!

a walk in and a phone call

Today at work I had a phone call about booking a conference room, but as I dont know how to get into the booking records so I took her details and someone will call her back.

And then a bit later someone walked in off the street and asked what they did there and I sent him off with some leaflets about the place :)

I must admit I did look around later to make sure that he wasnt hanging around...

I have left a note of the 2 things for my boss :)

And the kids are still enjoying filling the drip trays on the water cooler!  Although this time one also had milk added to it also!

strendon

Friday was the first day of Evies half term holiday...

...we decided to go to a trampoline park.

Everything was going well :)

We were jumping on the trampolines (I was exhausted after 10 minutes :)) and Evie was going on the bag too (its like a bouncy castle base that you can jump onto from a trampoline).

We went back onto the trampolines and then 10 minutes from the end Evie was crying saying that she wanted to go now...

...one of the marshalls came over to make sure she was ok, Evie told her that she had hurt the back of her knee.

They then got a first aider to come over to check Evie over (he got her to bend her legs, wriggle her toes and to bend her ankles.

Luckily everything moved ok.

He said that he though that she had stretched a tendon and for her to rest up for the rest of the day and if she was still in pain on Saturday to take her to the doctors to make sure that it was nothing more serious.

I had to sign their accident book too

After we got out shoes on we went upstairs to the cafe (Evie was able to walk upstairs so that was good) and she had a chocolate muffin and a strawberry slushy, and then we headed home.

We had some lunch and she was feeling much better.

I asked her every now and again about her knee and she said that it was better :)

So that was a relief.

We now have the rest of the week to get through...

y1 parents evening cords and jumping

Yesterday I had Evies first year 1 parents evening.

There was table in front of the teacher with folders on and the timetable in order that parents can look at the English and Maths books first for 10 minutes.

She said that Evies letter formation isnt very good...

she doesnt start writing at the top of the page (she teds to start in the middle)

she doesnt follow instructions too easily

she is unco-ordinated (and wants me to get her to practice jumping jacks with her)

She isnt very good with numbers of objects..

There was a positive too that she is a sweet girl :)

I thin went to her classroom to look at her other books...

...it was quite funny seeing the comments that her teacher was writing in the books.

The funniest one was a maths thing she was doing and she had to put in certain numbers (7+3) that added to 10, Evie decided to use different numbers, (I cant even remember if the numbers she used added to 10 anyway) but the teacher wrote that she was supposed to use the numbers that they wanted her to use :).

When I went for my interview (the job that I got) I asked what the dress code was and the guy said smart/casual, so yesterday after I went in to fill out a whole load of paperwork (I still have the handbook to read) I treated myself to some grey cords.

And as its the first day of the half term holiday Im taking Evie to a trampoline place (there were only 3 places left for the 12pm time slot) I really wanted 11am but they were already sold out, I have booked online and we will have lunch in the cafe upstairs after :).

cakes and advent chocolates

On Friday Evies school took part n the worlds biggest coffee morning...

..LOL I even bought a tub with me so that I could get a couple of cakes for James & Evie :)

In reception year Evie was allowed to eat her cake in her classroom but from Year 1 they make the kids wait to eat their cakes :(  Evie had chosen a butterfly cake :)

the victoria sponge was for me, Evie had the brownie and then I had the cupcake yesterday

Yesterday we were doing our grocery shopping, and in the seasonal aisle I saw that they had advent calendars, so me & Evie chose one each :)

my one

Evies one

We have got to get one for James now (although he will not be having it! :))

visp

A few weeks ago I applied for a 12 month accounts job contract for a large law firm...

...yesterday I was checking my e-mails and got an e-mail from them saying that they were impressed with my application :)

And as part of their selection process they would like me to do a video interview.

I have until midnight on Monday to do it...

I was supposed to be meeting a friend for a coffee this morning but she has blown me off, so I will do it after I have taken Evie to school.

Hee hee a part of me is thinking of donning David Bowie type make up to make me stand out from the crowd :)

But my artistry skills are rubbish so perhaps not...

no chinese for me

As I was told on Thursday that I would be called on Friday morning I kept my phone close to hand (even not letting Evie play on my phone went I went to get  a drink while we were out).

I eventually got called at 12.45 pm and was told that it was very close but there was someone else with more experience.

So no chinese takeout for me (well not yet anyway... :)).

charity interview

Yesterday I had my interview for a paid job with a charity...

...like interview #7 the charities base is in a house (the houses next to it are all boarded up where the whole block is due to be demolished.

There was one really oddball question (the others were to do with addicts).

How would I feel if I got offered the job?

I said that I would say hooray and get a chinese

and then they asked...

...how would I feel if I didnt get offered the job?

I said that I would keep on looking and that this is my 11th interview so Im used to getting rejections now :)

I also said if I get the job I get the job and if I dont I dont.

I really cant work out what answer they wanted :)

I will find out this morning (after they have slept on it)

They also said that there were 70+ applicants so I did well to get an interview :)

school trip day

Evie has her very first school trip today :)

I wasnt chosen to be one of the parent helpers - which is a bit of a shame - hopefully Evie will enjoy herself more if Im not there cramping her style :)

And Evie is having a tantrum because she cant wear her school dress!

Evies lunchbag is by the front door and her lunchbox is in the fridge and an icepack is in the freezer (I just have to do her water :)).

interview #8 the clue was there

After dropping Evie off at school I went straight into town for my interview,,,

..I got there bang on time, then 15 minutes later the ladies supervisor came down to say that the person doing the test wasnt in yet as there were cows on the line :)

And that I should get myself a coffee while I was waiting.

Meanwhile another lady turned up (the person after me) and while we were walking up the stairs she asked the other lady where she came in from and she said "x" and she said "so you are near to the music school them" my ears pricked up as the reason I applied for the job was because I thought it as in Chelmsford, so I asked her if the job was in "x" and she said "yes" so I said oh ok it did say Chelmsford as the location, and she said yes this is their head office.

The lady eventually turned up and I did my test first (it was looking at a spreadsheet and answering questions and then on another tab working out the hours that each teacher was working) I didnt manage to finish it but I did pass their end test by knowing how to save the spreadsheet :)

I had my interview and they asked me 8 questions...

...one of them was how I would promote the music school?

so I reeled off a load of suggestions - one of them being having a mini concert in town, to so prospective clients how well the students play :).

I will find out next week :) I am not sure if I will get it as I am quite a way away from the music school :).

I might as well see what happens.:)

interview #8

Yesterday I went into town (after dropping Evie off at school), I was sitting there colouring in my book drinking an iced latte and I heard my phone ringing (it was on my lap).

It was a lady telling me that I had been shortlisted for a job that I had applied for :)

It is for an admin clerk for a music school.

It is Saturday mornings 8.30 am to 1.30 pm in term time.

I have to do an excel test before my interview...

...so I am going to do a search online for excel tests and do some "playing about" on excel, as I havent used it properly (apart from my food diary and Evies birthday party) for over 5 years.

My interview isnt until Wednesday