Just in case you are wondering...Thanks Wikipedia!

Girlfriend is a term that can refer to either a female partner in a non-marital romantic relationship or a female non-intimate friend.
The term is most commonly used to describe any female person who is in a romantic relationship with another person.
Partners in a non-marital relationship are also sometimes described instead as a significant other, partner or life partner especially if the two partners are living together. At times, since "girlfriend" and "partner" mean different things to different people, the distinctions between the terms are subjective, and which term is used in a relationship will ultimately be determined by personal preference.
When used by a girl or woman about another female in a non-sexual, non-romantic context, the two-word form "girl friend" is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the sexual or romantic meaning. "Girlfriend" is usually used in terms of very close friends and usually has no sexual connotation in that sense of its usage, unless it is in the case of lesbian, bisexual and pansexual women. The term also has currency in LGBT communities and can refer to people of any gender or sexuality.
Though nuanced, there is a significant difference between "girlfriend" and "boyfriend", and "girl friend" and "boy friend". In a strictly grammatical sense, a "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" is an individual of significance with whom one shares a relationship. A "girl friend" or "boy friend", however, is simply a friend identified on the basis of gender. The transition between the two is a significant aspect of adolescent development.
This term when used between men and women does not necessarily imply a sexual relationship, but is often used to refer to a woman who is dating a man she was not engaged to, without implying that she is having sex with him. . It is essentially equivalent to a prior term used, "sweetheart" which is also a term of endearment
PS I am second on a Google search!

Oh I need this...! Missed my 'venting' opportunity!

Blogging is such a good destressor that one could be forgiven for thinking that I have been having a wonderfully stress free life since I last posted!

I think the answer is that the opposite has been true, I have been doing some great headless chicken impressions whilst not managing to find any down time... here I am, new Years resolution no 11 implemented on the 6Th Feb ( not bad!)

Now I am not going to go on about time flying- cos we all know it does, I mean Christmas is still a bright memory and already there is Easter chocolate everywhere you look in the supermarket, making shopping a very stressful outing with the small ones!

Anyway shopping is a thing that seems more distant than Christmas what with the 'Credit Crunch' and me working FULL TIME!

January saw a new dawn, my New Year's resolution to iron (anything- tea-towels are my favourite) lasted all of a couple of days as I got work covering for a colleague who has had an operation! I haven't worked full time since Small Girl was born!

It's a challenge to make sure I have clean clothes and tights! Who wears tights when they don't work? And my hair has had to adapt to vaguely tidy which means I have had to brush it ( sometimes). In fact when looking me over it is best to start from the bottom and work up because it doesn't improve!

Anyway the pupils have been fab and not eaten me alive, I think they like me, as there has been no repeat of the 'Pritt Stuck' pencil case onto the desk!

My home life has adapted well!

Big Boy, while still not achieving a vertical stance before I leave the house, has become adept at clearing up the kitchen last thing at night. So much so, I come down to a Martha Stewart dream environment in the morning and that is definitely the way to win a woman's heart!

All my pre-Christmas practice at seeing the hour of 6am has been valuable as I manage to slip into another day by making a first mug of tea, whilst simultaneously laughing along with Sarah Kennedy, preparing lunchboxes, making the breakfast and feeding the cat.

Where does the time go though as I seem to get no more achieved in 2hours, than I did in the mad 1 hour scramble?

Any spare time I have is spent conjuring up great cheap meals- let me count the ways you can present a turnip as a main course!! More on that subject to come!!!

Worjk Hard & Play Hard

It's been so long! That's because I have been working FULL TIME! As any 'full-time Mum' knows- when you work/exist full-time you certainly do not have any 'me-time' or cleaning-time or washing time for that matter!
Not long now till I am back to the Banks of the Supply List- uncertainty, heart racing and often fulfilling 6.5 hr stints! I am going for the 'short-notice option as my getting up early ( 6.15 now!) seems to be paying off and calm,of a sort ,reigns.
However there was still the time last week when, despite delivering Small Girl to the Minders with Book-bag, Lunch-bag, Gym-bag and Swim-bag, I had completely forgotten to do her hair- even brush it!! Good old saggy hairbands in the glove compartment and an accommodating Minder meant that a catastrophic coiffure was averted!
Meanwhile roles were reversed mid week as Big Boy took the week off to get over having no sleep the week before, it coincided nicely with Small Boy's 'Winter Vomiting' bout so they chilled out and re-bonded while I went out to work- how liberating! I did have to set the Cooker Timer as I left the house and tell Small Girl to go and "sit on Daddy when the timer goes off til he gets up"!
Anyway the end of the week was pretty momentous..I had my first job interview for years. The night before I practiced my outfit ( more important than the questions) and Small Boy watched as I struggled into my 'Emaness' trousers ( de-rigeur for interviews) I squeezed into my power-dressing white top. He looked and said,
" Mummy you look..." No not beautiful or lovely...
"tight!"
I went for the black long tunic look over trousers!
All to no avail- didn't got the job and after the usual demoralising feedback I thought I would stick to Supply...see above...
And that wasn't the momentous bit- which was going out for a girly night with a friend, totally mis-judging how much wine there is in a 'large' glass and staggering home trying to follow the 'transco line' of new tarmac, to prove to myself that I was not that bad!
I still got up at 6 with the babes- but was allowed a brief respite armed with Berocca and nurofen, 2 hours in bed while Big Boy watched the Grand Prix then I was up and in charge again! FULL TIME MUMS ROCK!

Tantrums and Tiaras

This week Big Boy has been working away. And by working away I mean the kind when you can't contact him and you don't know when he is coming in through the door. And yes it would be so easy for him to have another life! But no sadly it's not as exciting as that it is just the heady world of product design!
I have had the week to be a working single mother and what a wake up! Time to spend on my own! It's a struggle not to go to bed with the kids to be honest! I have been setting the watch! Not only to tell me when to get up but also to wake me when I have fallen asleep at the kids bedtime! Then what do I do next? I tried reading! Not even the most exciting thriller could keep me awake, cleaning- the house has been well and truly deep cleaned this week , then what... Internet! I have shopped, shoes, new pan, books for Small Boys birthday, financial advice, medical advice, job advice and finally You Tube!!!
Come back Big Boy, my Love Film subscription lies languishing, unwatched- evenings are not as fun without you!
It's funny I hadn't realised what good company we are for each other in this weird mid-point in our relationship, not the heady intense 'lost in each other' of the pre-children days. Big Boy and I exist in a timetable of mundanities with the occasional spark of disagreements.
Thank heaven for a bit of separation to make me appreciate my life.
Appreciating help and not being a Primadonna- all my plans for Small Boy's birthday 'Dog 'Party came to fruition today. I had been planning for weeks, Lists every where, up at the crack to prepare... so why was I still in my PJ's at 2 ( when I should have been setting up the hall!) A speedy shower- well I can't rush at my age- looking good takes time!
The In-Laws were vital as I collapsed into melodrama trying to decorate the hall 5 minutes before kick off.. 'It's all a disaster, it's all a disaster' was all I could say after weeks of planning!
Well it wasn't and now writing this with half a bottle of Cava inside me I am basking in the Great Mother glow!
Only 9 weeks til Small Girls birthday... plenty of time to plan that Winter wonderland party!! Ideas please!!

Oh my gosh!

I was about to sit down and write this post when I realised my vision was a bit cloudy! Half of the universe was on my glasses! Glad I did not socialise at all today- I would have appeared like a mad woman! All it needed was a bit of sticky tape at the sides!
It could have been much worse though! I nearly had a 'blond moment' last night. I was preparing to go all Mystic Violet hair again, applied the developer and waited but it seemed to be clearer than usual.. no purple stains around the hair line. Belatedly realised I had added conditioner not the creme colour and thus put peroxide only on my hair! Hasty wash out and a blow dry and as yet no blond to speak of...
A real Mars/Venus weekend with Big Boy as after he managed to have a hot shower and it was stone cold for me after ( Saturday morning!) I put forward the theory that the boiler was faulty... 'oh no!' he said,' I must have not turned on the tap, properly!, did I press the red button? was the thermostat high enough? '
After all the water was still hot... until today when it refused to trickle even lukewarm!
Big Boy off to work I had to cancel helping at school and sit with the Yellow Pages.
That is where the Mum's came in (no not the Mum mafia... the other ones, you know), the fourth emergency service?
A speedy group text produced 4 numbers, 2 called back, one came round and voila, hot water, who needs a man... well I did for the final removal of the diaphragm that had the hole in.. (on the Boiler!) but all the rest was true girl power!!

Time waits for no woman!

Ok so the getting up earlier did not happen but you know what, I really enjoyed my lie in Saturday! In fact the kids and I did not leave the house! The weather was so rotten!

After watching Jamie's Army I felt the need to create meatballs! After all did you see the people he had cooking...? If they can do it!!

It was great! Plug the kids into the computer- policed by the kitchen timer, 20 mins, beep then change over ( that is my super parent tip for the day!).

That left me with plenty of quality time with the mince. I am so 'down' with the raw stuff ( modern parlay I believe!). In fact as a past vegan I was surprised how ok I was. It was very therapeutic and the kids had a squidge as well! The only thing was Jamie does love his garlic.

Small Boys first comment was ' it stinks!'

Small Girl said 'I am not eating the burnt ones!

Quick as a flash I said 'They are not burnt they are cooked!'

Well Jamie did say to give them a nice colour!

They did disappear though and 'oh happy day I have some left over to freeze so the kids get a second go at them... Must remember to make it a Friday so they don't breathe garlic over school mates- that would interfere on their popularity no end!!

Small Girl has had a special thing home from school that lets her go on a site a with Maths games. She seems to be doing really well- she isn't bothering me for help! However I felt a spike of 'pushy motherness' as I noticed they had a league table of highest scorers- must give her more time on it... they are all from Malaysia or Thailand wonder how much time they spend on the computer?

Update- did not get Parent Governor! To be honest after the week of disorganisation I had...see Monday! I am deeply relieved! Think I am better as a listening to readers, chatting on the playground, arriving late and forgetting to return letters sort of Mum!!

Must go- we are all scratching again only 4 weeks into term and time for another great Nit hunt! What fun!!

Time flies but is it fun?

A few years ago I decided I would avoid wearing my watch because I felt it was interfering with my natural sense of time. I also thought it would be less stressful!!
Just recently- in an attempt to gain more time in the day I have taken to wearing a watch again... further to this I have started setting the alarm to wake me up half an hour earlier. This is not yet creating enough time for me to get all my 'leaving for work/school jobs' done so I have decided I will set it earlier by 10 minutes each week!
Where will it end? I never feel like I have enough time! And there is that weird time-slip effect that occurs when you think you have everything done and/or under control so you actually sit for a cuppa and Bang! You are late!!
I am invariably late for school on a Monday and Friday- but I have an extra hour before I leave the house- so how can that be?
Being late causes other problems.
On Wednesday I was late setting off for work with Small Boy. As usual no women drivers stopped to let me out, finally let out by man ( girl-power what happened?). I then realise that the last woman to not let me out, the woman now stuck looking at me in her rear-view mirror in the traffic jam, is my Arch Nemesis No1 from my awful past!! I busied my self trying to look cheerful and wonderful miming to the radio and turning to address witticisms to Small Boy. Then coming in the other direction and slowing to wave at car in front of me was Arch Nemesis No2! two of them in close proximity in one moment in one day after avoiding it for over a year!
I nearly turned back for a stiff Gin! But pasting on my best ' I am a wonderful employee, your loss' grin I sailed on!!!!! Deep Breath!
Anyway I survived intact and now am looking forward to my weekend where I plan to get up at the same time and hope that spare time will help me to achieve some of the jobs on my list that I never get to the end of. Deep cleaning anyone?