Schools Out

Well today was the last day of school before the summer holidays and in Heather's case the last day at The Glasgow Academy for a long time, maybe forever? Her school has a prize giving before the children are dismissed and parents are invited so I went along.

Blimey what a big event! When I arrived at the school, the school pipe band were playing in the playground greeting the parents as they arrived. I then went into the big hall (in the senior school) where all the parents and pupils were seated. A short time later, the Rector, Headmistress and Board of Directors came in all dressed in Graduation robes and 'Ascot' hats. All the class teachers had their graduation robes on too! I'm glad I looked half respectable today, pure fluke really.

The prize giving itself was quite boring on the whole and quite irrelevant as Heather's year don't get prizes. Her House didn't even win either :( After the speeches and prize givings, we sang the school song (in latin) then headed back out into the playground where the pipe band played some more.

I spoke to some of the parents and Heather's teacher before heading off home. It was all quite emotional really. All Heather's class had signed a goodbye card for her, sweet as they're only in P1 although soon to be P2.

She also got her report card today too. As expected, it was a glowing report. What a clever cookie :)

Another music recommendation

Gavin DeGraw...brilliant. I downloaded his album from iTunes last night because I liked his single 'I Don't Want to be' and must admit, was pleasantly surprised with the album. It's very Maroon 5 New York styleee rock. Very good and I can highly recommend it (if you like that kind of stuff). Have a squint at his website to hear some samples for yourself.

Donald where's yer troosers?

siblings.JPG
Originally uploaded by Groovy Biscuits.

Just a quick post tonight. Me and the kids spent the weekend in Manchester at my cousin's wedding reception (she was married abroad first).

Hamish looked the business in his kilt and Heather looked very pretty. We all had a great time, seeing the family, etc. Hamish travelled back with my mum and dad in their car and Heather and I flew back.

Incidentally, we found a great budget airline. jet2.com they're like Easyjet but you get seat numbers which is a bonus. They're based in Manchester and fly all over the place for cheap prices. We flew Edinburgh to Manchester return for £126 for 3 of us!!!

I'm going I'm going!!!

live8
Originally uploaded by Groovy Biscuits.

Last night whilst waiting for U2 to come on stage, I checked my mobile to find out I had won a pair of tickets for Live8 Edinburgh!

How lucky am I.

U2 ROCK

Went to see U2 last night at Hampden and it was totally brilliant from start to finish. They did their usual mix of new stuff mixed with the old favourites like 'Pride, in the name of love', 'New Year's Day' and 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'. Then they did a bit about the Make Poverty History campaign which was really moving and they sang 'One' straight after.

2 encores later and they finished with 'Vertigo' which is also what they started with. Just rockin. Only downside was that me and Julie had to walk from Hampden into the city centre to hail a taxi. For those of you who don't know Glasgow, that's a good 2 mile walk.

£65 per ticket ... money well spent :)

What a busy weekend

Sorry there's been no posts for a while, we've had such a busy weekend. Alan came home on Friday morning in time to watch Heather's sports day in the afternoon. Fortunately the weather was great if a bit hot (25 degrees which is hot for Glasgow). She did ok, let's just say she's not the most athletic child although she did come 4th in the dressing up race. Not too bad really. We then took the kids out for dinner on Friday night to the local Brewsters. It was really nice to have us all together again.

Saturday was hectic. Heather had dancing in the morning then straight after, Alan and I went to buy some flooring for the living room, kitchen and utility room. We bought sandstone tile effect laminate for the kitchen and utility room and solid oak flooring for the living room. Seems a shame as we're moving but the carpet was so crap it had to be replaced. The mingin vinyl flooring in the kitchen wasn't much better!

Julie came over to babysit in the evening while Alan and I went to the cinema to see Star Wars Episode III finally. I really enjoyed it, best yet but Alan said it wasn't as good as he'd expected but I think he got carried away with the hype beforehand.

Sunday - father's day - was spent visiting my mum and dad briefly then over to Douglas and Lindsey's for dinner with Alan's parents too.

Alan left on Monday afternoon and won't be back until July when we move!

A taste of loveliness

cream_scone
Originally uploaded by Groovy Biscuits.

I have just had my most favourite lunch EVER! I had some homemade lentil soup followed by a huge fruit scone with loads of clotted cream and raspberry jam. I feel sick now but it was sooooo worth it.

There's just nothing like a cream tea (without the tea in my case!). I spent 3 months in Herm, an island off Guernsey, and the cream teas there were just out of this world. Channel Islands cream is so thick and creamy it's yellow in colour. And seriously fattening too.

I just wanted to share that with you. If there's something you must eat before you die, it's a cream tea. Magic :)

Heather the ballerina

Ballerina
Originally uploaded by Groovy Biscuits.

Heather had her very first dancing display yesterday at the Albert Hall in Stirling. She performed in 'An English Country Garden' ballet and then 'Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head' tap dance.

They were all so cute up there on the stage. There must have been a good couple of hundred people there watching. Heather took it all in her stride and even managed to smile and give me a wave from the stage!

Pushy mother? Who me??????

A worrying state of affairs

Last night I confirmed my suspicions, I am immune to alcohol. My body has developed a resistence to all things bevy related and I just don't get drunk or hungover any more!!! I went on a 'mums from the nursery' night out last night with my sister. It was a meal in the local pub then karaoke. Wendy and I really went for it big time on the booze, downing vodka and cranberry like it was going out of style. I reckon I must have had at least 8 in a 3 hour period - quite a lot really given that I don't get out much.

Anyway at midnight we headed for the late bus (which we missed) so we walked, or in Wendy's case, staggered the 2 miles up the hill to Wendy's house. She was guttered, she even had to stop for a pee in the bushes by the side of the road. Shocking! I was absolutely fine, no effects whatsoever. I got home around 1am then got up again with the kids at 7.30am and felt fine - BIZARRE!!!

Anyway the night was ace, we ended up singing '500 miles' by the Proclaimers at one point. We got a round of applause but by far the best was this guy at the end of the night who got up and did a perfect rendition of South Park's 'Chocolate Salty Balls'. I was absolutely pissing myself, it was sooooo funny. This guy knew all the words by heart and even sang it in character, genius!

Handbags at dawn

Just letting you know that, like Lou, I have added a small poll to the site on the very important subject of handbags. Please be truthful in your voting...thankyou. And one other thing, Colleen McLoughlin (ie Mrs Wayne Rooney) is a victim of fashion, she buys things because they're the latest trend but she has no style imagination of her own which is sad really. But then again, I am soooooo jealous of her handbag collection!!!

7 year itch

For those of you who don't know already, today is our 7th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately Alan had to go back to Bergen at 4.30 this morning so we didn't get to really see each other. He did get me a nice card though (no present as I couldn't decide what I wanted). I bought him a beardtrimmer - romantic eh! I'm not really bothered about anniversaries to be honest, birthdays and Christmas is more important.

I did get a lovely bouquet from Julie (my bridesmaid). It was a really simple hand-tie with 3 large paradise bird flowers and some palm leaves. Very striking and looks lovely on the sideboard in the hall. Thanks for that Julie.

Another weekend over

Well Alan came home on Friday night which was great. Even though we didn't do much, it was just nice to have him around. After Heather's dancing on Saturday we went to IKEA for a quick look at beds to take with us to Norway. It's cheaper to buy here and keep it in the flatpack until we get there. Although the house is furnished, the kids need new beds.

We then went in to see Alan's brother Douglas in his new house. It's looking good, all their furniture apart from their new sofa is in place and it's looking like home. Got the kids to bed then settled down with a curry from the local takeaway. Very yummy but very spicy!

On Sunday we popped over to my mum's briefly then over to the Fort for a new beardtrimmer for Alan. He's grown his goatee back and it's looking a bit hairy! I'm hoping the trimmer means he'll keep it longer as he always shaves it off after a week. Douglas, Lindsey and Abby came over for dinner then both kids in bed early.

Alan left at 4.30 this morning boo hoo. He'll be back in 2 weeks though which isn't so long.

Black coffee and pastrami on rye, HOLD THE MAYO!

I've just downloaded the new single by Gavin DeGraw and am really missing New York. I've only been once (4 years ago) and just bonded with the place. I reckon I was born in the wrong continent. I am so into the whole boho 'Greenwich Village' chic and could quite happily live on coffee and bagels for the rest of my life.

No other news really to speak of. Alan is home this weekend which will be good. We were planning on seeing the new Star Wars movie but we can't get a babysitter - BOOHOO!!! So I guess we'll just have to wait until it comes out on DVD. I don't fancy seeing it in Norway with Norwegian subtitles!

Helped Lindsey (sister-in-law) unpack some of their stuff in their new house. Built their beds, drawers, etc. It's very weird as I have my sister-in-law in the next estate to us then my sister in the estate after that. I'm not used to having family nearby, maybe that's why we're moving to Norway!

On a plus note though, I got an email from an old school chum who I've not seen in oooohhh 15 years. I have spoken to her via email before though as she owns a Glasgow design agency (Tic-Toc) so we've kind of crossed paths over the past few years. Anyway she heard I was leaving and asked me to meet her for lunch next week. How weird is that? We were good friends at school though and just didn't keep in touch for one reason or another. The other weird thing is that she knows Alan as we went to school together too! Will keep you informed.