Whirling like a spinning top

Phew! What a weekend! Yesterday? Took one son to Xscape for snowboarding, made soup, took another son to Paisley for orchestra rehearsal, back to Xscape to collect no.1 son, baked buns before lunch. Took middleman to his guitar lesson, nipped into Morrisons, and after tea, went to Asda in search of useful stuff like an extension cable and freezer labels. Cable - yes, eventually. No freezer labels.

Today was marginally better. To church for Boys Brigade service and "march past", then home briefly. To Godmother for lunch and a very pleasant afternoon. Home, eventually hungry enough to need tea. I just had soup, as I'm over my limit for Weight Watcher's points at the end of the week, and I don't see how I can exercise enough to put it right!

WHY do boys decide at 8.55 pm on a Sunday, that they do have work to be done for school on Monday morning?!

Meanwhile, I have done a little research reading. I'll finish the reading and get back to writing, tomorrow or the next day. About time too!

Thanks to http://www.esljunction.com/ for the image.

Officially a Clown! (Pseudo Supermum, not the child)

Remember Ocarina-Kid lost his new jacket? While at the school today, I asked about it. Was invited to double-check the lost-property basket, and found ...

... a sweatshirt with his name inside!

I proudly removed it, and headed for the car. It wasn't much consolation to realise he had actually lost something else!

Back home, there was a minor problem - no sweatshirt. I must have dropped it in the playground. What a clown!

Fortunately for me - and for Ocarina-Kid - one of the school secretaries retrieved it, and sent him home with it at the end of the day.

You might well ask whether he got his carelessness from his mother!

Those illusive "exercise points"!

Weight Watchers allow you gain yourself extra points for treats if you take exercise. Yesterday and today, I got off the subway a stop early and walked in to work. This is supposed to be A Good Thing. Indeed, yesterday I had walked for 45 minutes by the time I had been to see my research supervisor. Today I only notched up 20.

So - I have to leave home earlier, to allow time for the walking. I only took a short lunch-break, and after work I went back - by subway - to where I'd parked the car this afternoon, then drove back into town so I could attend an early evening event at work. (I needed the car to get me home again quickly afterwards, but city parking is expensive so I didn't want to be parked in a multi-storey all day.)

This is where the wheel, metaphorically, came off. I spent 50 minutes in traffic getting back to work! Finally got home to gulp down a small coffee then take Small-Fry to Junior Boys' Brigade. I got my dinner at about 8 pm. By that stage I was tired, hungry and my feet ached. I'm going to be late at work tomorrow too, but you can be sure that I won't bother trying to fetch the car. I'd rather use the underground and hope it doesn't break down!

Encouragement Needed!

Went to see my research supervisor today, and assured him that - gastritis notwithstanding - I really was going to write some more of my chapter before I see him next.

So - if you're reading this now, please send a Comment and encourage me to get on with it. (And NOT to write long Pseudosupermum postings or get embroiled in Weight Watchers message-boards!)

Looking forward to hearing from friends and supporters!

Thanks!

Image thanks to http://www.kerismith.com/WishJarTales/images/henry.jpg

I'm a Survivor!

Well, we had our party. Considering there were 9 boys at the table, they were really quite civilised. The beefburger beanbake went down well, as did the Arctic roll and chocolate crackling sauce, and of course the cake. Plenty of fizzy drink, too (but no caffeine - I knew they'd be hyper enough without it!).

I even slipped away afterwards for a weigh-in at Weight Watchers. Another 2 lb lost, so that was quite satisfactory.

I'm learning the hard way that quite innocuous food can upset my poor tum - I had canned spaghetti in tomato sauce and fishfingers for lunch. Within an hour, I sensed it was causing problems. Gulped down some natural yoghourt, and what do you know? Problem gone. Simple! But it's a bit depressing when I thought I was on the mend.

After the party, and the clear-up, Cello-Kid and his friend went back to their hall of residence ready for the rest of the week. He to the music school and the friend to the dance school. But I'm knackered - there was no way I was going to do any research reading tonight! I did a bit of gentle preparation for tomorrow's evening meal, and the bedtime routines for Viola-Kid and Ocarina-Boy, then a pile of ironing. Do you see my halo shining?

My own bathtime now - must take care not to get the halo wet!

Angel thanks to http://www.silk.net/

Bathroom image thanks to http://www.angelscentedbath.com/

Oranges ...

Had to dash to the Orange phone shop this afternoon with Cello Kid. He had 6p left on his top-up, but the top-up card was locked in his hall of residence. Not a lot of good. Now we have a spare card, which I'm going to keep - and his phone is operational again!

... and Lemons

I've baked the 2nd birthday cake, and it's covered in bright yellow, lemon-flavoured icing. With the dolly mixtures all round the edge, and the appropriate lettering in the middle. Should be a winner. One guest has a nut allergy. No nuts have gone anywhere near that cake. But if any of them has an allergy to E-numbers, then I hope they know not to eat bright yellow icing!

Me and Ten Men (or, the Feeding of the Five Thousand)

When I pointed out to SuperSpouse that tomorrow afternoon's party entails me cooking for ten men, he accused me of exaggeration. One man (that's him) and nine boys, he said, is not the same as ten men. No, I suppose not. Otherwise I might as well invite a football team home to tea. Which could be more entertaining, I suppose ...?!

Right now, as well as my own four males, we have an Aberdonian here for a sleepover tonight. That's five males to breakfast. Then they have to go and collect a sixth from Milngavie - he needs transport to and from the cinema outing tomorrow afternoon, so he's coming to lunch. Six males to lunch.

And however you look at it, a grand total of ten to tea. I haven't yet worked out what they'll all sit on! Hmmm ....

Picture thanks to Melrose Troop 68

Enter the Catering Corps!

Cello-Kid is having a birthday outing on Monday. They're going to a film then coming home for Beefburger Beanbake - something my Mum used to make for us. I can do Beefburger Beanbake for ten - no bother. But it suddenly dawned on me I needed a catering-sized birthday cake, too. Oh, he had one for his hall of residence last Tuesday (the actual birthday) - but how can you have a birthday PARTY without a cake. So now, there is one. Last week it was a square chocolate cake. Tonight it's a round plain sponge, to be iced tomorrow. And he wants dolly-mixtures to decorate it. Big kid!!

Boot up the backside!

That's what I need. I discovered the Weight Watchers message boards. What a good way of wasting time! Right now, I'm going to get back to some research reading. Feeling unwell for a couple of weeks has really set me back, and it's hard getting back into the swing of things.

But I do know that lurking on message boards is unlikely to win me a doctorate! (Neither is baking apple and blueberry muffins this morning - 2.5 Weight Watchers points - but it sure was tasty!)

The highs and the lows ... Hallucinating about Chocolate

On Wednesday night, I made a garden vegetable soup out of the Weight Watchers book, which even the boys (who don't do a lot of vegetables) said smelled good. It looked a bit weird, once I'd cooked it thoroughly, but it tasted okay when I had it for lunch yesterday, and didn't affect my digestion. Fine. Then I had plain fromage frais, and a slice of bread, and felt quite full. In terms of the bland diet, it wasn't quite a white meal, but it was pretty pale! I've had a lot of porridge and plain yoghourt recently, too!

Today, I was disorganised. I had a low-cal packet soup and Go-Ahead biscuits for my lunch, and that doesn't really fit into either of my diets. However, it didn't disagree with me. I must be getting better. Imagine my chagrin at not being able to share the wine and chocolates which my colleagues had at teabreak this afternoon, though. I had herb tea and tried to feel virtuous. Boy, it was hard!

Meanwhile, back home, Viola-Kid has muttered fitfully about a sore stomach - with no fever or other symptoms - and was very disconsolate when we suggested going to school yesterday. Both SuperSpouse and I simply had to be at work (short of appendicitis or a broken leg!), so Viola-Kid went to the childminder. He doesn't seem very ill to us! Today was a school holiday, and he got checked over by our GP. There doesn't seem to be much amiss. Bland diets seem to be de rigeur in my house!


Image thanks to http://www.israelity.com/ and http://www.wines.com/

I'm still working out what I can eat that fits in with Weight Watcher's Core Plan, AND fulfils doctor's orders for "a bland diet". If I see another crispbread with cream cheese, I shall SCREAM ... Anyway, I've made a garden vegetable soup and hope it won't disagree with my poor tummy tomorrow lunchtime!

We had whole-college staff training on Monday, and the choice of fruit and sandwiches would have gone down well with most people there. Sadly, it didn't agree with me. How I suffered!

We had half-college staff training on Tuesday too, but I nobly took my own crispbread and cream cheese, followed by yoghourt. I had herbal tea instead a couple of cups of coffee, and I was fine. Bored, hungry, but fine.

Today - go on, look at your calendar - had "Pseudo-Supermum, this is not your day!" written across it. I'd signed up for a meeting at Uni. It was changed but I seem not to have been told. Various things didn't go according to plan at work, and Smallest Boy lost his NEW waterproof jacket during morning playtime. By the time I got home, I was ready to chew off the head of anyone that accidentally crossed me.

Helped at Junior Boys' Brigade this evening - not feeling at all like going - and ended up very glad to have had a diversion for a couple of hours. So I'm all smiles again, even though I'm starving!

Of course, you can pick up news about Maddie McCann just about anywhere! Yes, maybe I was naive to state that the BBC was reliable. They've had that reputation for so long, but there has been evidence of unreliability this summer, hasn't there?

So, how do we know when there is bias? Maybe there's bias throughout the media, one way or another.

Try the Mirror, and see what you make of that. And the Portuguese press gives you yet another slant.

It's amazing what's coming out. Nine adults, copious bottles of wine in Praia da Luz that night, a little girl crying for her Daddy on evenings prior to her disappearance. A mother whose diary says she can't cope and isn't supported with the burden of childcare. (I know what it's like having three children under five.) The strong suggestion that Maddie was overdosed on sleeping pills - by someone who shouldn't have been administering sleeping pills to a child, but was medically qualified to get it RIGHT - if, indeed she did it. Of course, after a couple of bottles of wine, maybe it wasn't so easy.

But then again, what would I know? Two glasses of wine is plenty for me! And right now, I can't even have one, on doctor's orders. Blooming gastritis!

... so I spent most of today in bed, getting dressed in time for the boys coming home from school. I was shattered after yesterday's gastric flare-up. I wrote a couple of letters, read the newspaper, then slept for several hours. Who on earth would have thought that canned kidney-beans would prove so indigestible for someone with gastritis? Then when I woke up, I had a splitting headache because although I'd remembered to take the acid-inhibitor this morning, I'd forgotten the regular medication to help prevent headaches. What a cloth-head I am!

(Image thanks to http://www.ecureme.com/)

Of course I should really have been attending two events in Edinburgh, and I'd been looking forward to both of them. But, given that I was under doctor's orders to report immediately to the health-centre if I had another recurrence of yesterday's torment, it would have been a bit daft to propel myself 90 minutes in the opposite direction. Apart from feeling ill!

Have you been following the Madeleine McCann case? All along, we've wondered quietly whether the parents had anything to do with her disappearance. You don't like to voice your suspicions for fear you come across as unsympathetic or disbelieving.

• A worthwhile website to follow for updates is the ever-trustworthy BBC news site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
• Find Madeleine official website
  
  

A slice of pizza and a piece of chocolate birthday cake. Tummy fine, weight-loss unaffected. Indeed, I lost 4 lbs in my first Weight Watchers Week.

A lamb chop, carrots and cauliflower. Whoa! Owch! Approved by Weight Watchers but not bland enough for the tummy.

Okay, then. What about a packed lunch for today? Homemade vegetable soup (with very well-cooked kidney-beans), canned pears and a yoghourt. From 2 to 6 pm, I seriously thought I was going to end up in Casualty. I got home, made a hot-water-bottle, phoned my doctor, and doubled up the medication.

SuperSpouse went out to a committee meeting then a choir-practice, and I hoped I wouldn't have to take the boys to Casualty with me. Luckily, the tablets kicked in before I had to take any decisions.

How can a sore heel lead to stomach pain this bad?

A couple of weeks ago, I was prescribed anti-inflammatories for my foot. This kind of tablet haven't agreed with me in the past, but the doctor hoped these sugar-coated ones would be safe enough. They weren't. I stopped taking them a week past Thursday. Then, late last Sunday night, I had one glass of wine before bed. And snoozed a bit.

Suddenly - OWCH! On a scale of 1-10, I'd give the foot 1.5, and the stomach 6 or 7. Not good. SuperSpouse wondered how bad it had to be before you called for an ambulance.

By Monday afternoon, I had a diagnosis of gastritis, different tablets for the stomach, and nothing for the heel. Oh, and a recommendation to eat a bland diet. I also joined Weight Watchers on Monday evening, so I'm eating a bland diet off the list of approved foods. I can hardly FAIL to lose weight!

Unfortunately, I still have the sore heel (predictably) but also the sore stomach intermittently. At least I've left a message for the physiotherapist about the heel.

None of this must get in the way of two family birthdays this month, so I have just baked a chocolate birthday cake for the first event. Looks good, smells good, but I won't be touching it. Humph!

Image from HowStuffWorks.com, with thanks.

The geriatric hamster is still going strong - he's clearly unaffected by his accident last Friday.

Pseudo Not-so-Supermum excelled herself today. Cooked, washed, changed the boys' bedding from lightweight summer to normal duvets, did a spot of gardening ...

... just don't ask about the bread-machine.

Yesterday, everyone was delighted by my home-made bread rolls and lentil soup. Just before lunch-time today, I decided that they'd be even more delighted if I set more dough going for another batch of rolls for our tea.

Well, the machine did its stuff, and "beeped" to tell me the dough was ready for my attention. I covered the worktop with flour, greased the baking trays and melted some butter to brush on the rolls. Then opened the bread-machine.
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MORAL - IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW CAREFULLY YOU MEASURE THE INGREDIENTS IF YOU FORGET TO PUT THE PADDLE ON THE SPINDLE.

(Need I say more?! We had Hovis for tea.)

Thanks to http://www.essexuncovered.com/clubbersshop/ for the image. Appropriate, huh?