Operation - Organise My Life!

This year I have finally managed to get some semblance of a work/life balance. I don't bring as much work home with me as I used to and what I do bring home is stuff I really want do like curriculum planning.   But despite this, my house is still a tip, I have a plethora of unfinished (or not even started) craft projects in the cupboard and my laundry pile looks like a modern art sculpture of Mount Everest in the medium of pants.   So I have finally decided to 'GET ORGANISED'.

I have to write that in capital italicised letters so that you know I meant it.  I also have to write a blog post about it so that I can be held accountable to someone other than my husband.

The Plan: 

From this week I am going to attempt to do one organised thing per week.  Every week I'll be adding a new thing until it all becomes some sort of positive habit.  I have not idea if this will work but thought I'd journal it - might help some one else.

Week no. 1 - Make and bring my own lunch to work.

Week no. 2 - Go to bed by 10pm each night

Week no. 3 - Hang clean clothes up and put all dirty clothes in the hamper.

Week no. 4 - Put full outfits for child and me into plastic bags a week at a time.

I think that's enough to be going on with... I'll keep the world posted!

****************UPDATE!!!*************

August 2018:

I did it - mostly! I have consistently managed to bring my own lunch to work, I have hung up my clothes and shoved the dirty ones in the hamper and the putting child's outfits into bags has been an absolute resounding success!

I'm still not completely organised - I'm sitting her at my desk with paper stacked around me - but my day to day stuff is getting there. 

Now to work on the bed by 10 pm thing...

Archery and apple cider.

Today was our village fete.  Its the third one we've been to and its lovely.  Last year I won a round of golf for four people by putting a ball repeatedly through a hole. I was as surprised as my golf-mad husband as I hate the sport and have never played.  He was even more surprised when I said I wouldn't give the prize to him...

This year I had a shot (sorry) at archery.  Now, I've done this once before at a driving range in Kent.  (Golf for the men, Robin Hood for the ladies.)  On that occasion, I was a bit reticent as I was then a vegetarian and didn't like the idea of shooting animals, even if they were made of hazel...  That was until I bullseyed a deer shape.  My husband still laughs at the memory of my screaming 'YEEESSSSS! I GOT IT IN THE FACE!!!!!" 

This time I chose to aim at the targets instead. I have to live in this village and don't really need people to witness my ultra competitiveness and apparent bloodthirsty nature.   Again I was pretty good!  All the arrows hit the target and I scored a bullseye that the man on the stall said was impressive.  Sadly there was no big prize but I may be taking a course at the centre down the road.  So watch this space. 

Right now though I'd better get back to these seating plans.

So the 'blog a day' idea never happened!

No. nappies changed so far: 3
No. explosive nappy incidents: 0

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I had pretty much forgotten about this blog - as had anyone I ever told about it too I think. But while I Was looking for another googlesite I made several years ago about my Dog Sledding Adventure in the arctic circle, I happened back upon this.

So what has changed since 2013 for me I hear you cry?  Well, I eventually marked all of those controlled assessments, but not until the October.  I'm still a teacher but am currently on maternity leave.  Yup, I've got a 9 week old little man now. He's currently asleep (shock horror) so am faffing about on here.

I think I'll start this back up. Someone once told me that you have to have one thing lined up to do every day otherwise you'll fester in your pyjamas in front of daytime tv.  Today was meant to be Rhyme Time at the library but we don't make it - my fleece dressing gown was too comfy...
So, this will perhaps make me do something.

I live in a village now and after a C-section and no driving for 6 weeks I have gone a bit stir crazy.  I don't have time for crafty stuff anymore but I do spend an inordinate amount of time 'tidying' or 'moving things around the house' as my other half says.  I have also made lots of plans to decorate our rental place so maybe expect pictures of anything I change.

Right. Lets see how we get on...

A Connecticut Yankee Day - Busy doing nothing...

No. Controlled Assessments Marked: 0
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Yesterday I learnt something important.  If you want to do something interesting in London be aware that EVERYONE ELSE WILL WANT TO DO IT TOO!

Yesterday I tried to go to the David Bowie exhibition at the V&A museum.  They have been sold out of prebook tickets for months but they have 70 on the door on the day if you get there early enough.  I dragged myself out of bed at 7.30am - admittedly I mooched for a bit - and got there
 at 10.10am, just ten minutes after opening time and this was the queue....

In fact it was only half of the queue. The rest snaked behind me for another three hundred yards!

Now I love David Bowie, but I'm not so much an obsessive that I was willing to wait in a queue for two hours only to be told they'd sold out.

So instead I went to the gift shop and bought a make-your-own model Tower Bridge...

Live and learn.

But I did see some of these pretty dresses while i was there...

Dinosaurs and crazy golf

No. Controlled Assessments marked today: 0
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As I sit here drinking decaff coffee and eating yet another chocolate cake for breakfast it occurs to me that by writing this blog I have in fact just given myself another thing to do this holiday.  I must like pressure and deadlines - thats the only explanation for it...  So to challenge this I will not be writing everyday now otherwise its just another thing to feel guilty for!  (Interestingly this is what always happens when I try to keep a diary.  Start writing everyday, then every few days then maybe once a week, until finally I say I'll only write if something exciting happens and it never does so the diary remains empty!)

Anyhoo, yesterday I made ankle bracelets.  This was after Sunday lunch at the pub with the Fam followed by Dinosaur crazy golf in the at times torrential rain.  

When I got home I had to put my fleece, yes fleece, pyjamas on just to avoid a cold!   The plan was to curl up and watch a crappy movie. The 'best' we could find was Jack the Giant Killer.  And indeed it was crappy.  So much in fact that I got bored 20 minute sin and while it was on in the background decided to raid my old jewellery box and dig out my crafty tools.   Sitting cross-legged on the carpet making stuff always reminds me of my old Meccano set. (Oh, how I loved that set even if the bolts always became loose and fell apart before I'd finished making the ferris wheel. . .)

Well, here's what I made.  Not sure how I'm supposed to wear the one that looks like a flip flop while I've got shoes on...

Stuck in Limbo - aka Hatfield

No. Controlled Assessments marked today: 1
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Today I had a proper lie-in! Yes - this is an achievement - it means that the holidays are finally catching up with me.  Ok so I had a dream about work and woke thinking about displays but I didn't wake up until 10am!

I must admit, I didn't learn or make anything today but I did finally go into Hatfield House gardens for the first time. I drive near it most days but have never been in.  And very nice it is too!  I particularly like the art gallery shop and have decided I'd like a Raku Ceramic Polar Bear.

Other than that I had was a day of shopping, eating Burger King (something I still regret) and driving in a massive thunder storm.

Actually, I did learn one thing... how to get back to my car in Hatfield Galleria Car-park after all the the shops have shut.   After buying a lot of crap we went to see 'The World's End' - a funny movie with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who is the best thing in it, bit of a disappointing ending but worth a look - and left the car in the centre car-park. Apparently this is a mistake.  As the signs we read afterwards state, "there is no direct access to your vehicle after the shops close"...  After half an hour of climbing various dodgy back stairs,  walking down deserted corridors and speaking to a nice man on an intercom we finally got in.  I'm just pleased I hadn't been to see a Zombie movie...  So if you find yourself stuck in the same situation, just walk up the way the cars go in - its quicker.

Chocolate Cake and Chinese

No. of Controlled assessments marked today: 0

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Yesterday was too busy to write up what I did so am catching up this morning.

I was in school at the beginning of the week moving classrooms and lugging furniture in 35oC heat.  I couldn't face it the next day but all that tidying doesn't do itself so I went in yesterday morning.  This time to lug filing cabinets and books around the office!  Anyhoo, that all (technically) means I don't have to go back until the last week - Wahoo!!

Combine a busy school morning with a busy family visiting afternoon and a planned Chinese with friends in the evening and I very nearly didn't stick to THE PLAN. . .

BUT, with my Granny's chocolate cake recipe and half an hour to spare I wouldn't be going round to see my friends empty handed.

WHAT I DID:

My Granny's chocolate cake recipe is infamous in our family. I can't quite do it justice but I sometimes have a shot at it. None of the women in our family are what you'd call chef quality cooks but we can bake! Sadly I'm married to a wheat intolerant so if I bake it I eat it - very dangerous for the waistline.

THE RECIPE:

THE CAKE

• 3 medium eggs (weigh them with shells on to find out weight for all other ingredients)
• same weight in flour
• Same weight in sugar
• large tablespoon of cocoa powder

My kitchen never ends as neat and tidy...

Preheat your oven to 150oC.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until fully combined.

Then beat the eggs up in another bowl and gradually add a little egg and a little flour and mix. Do this until everything is mixed up in the bowl. Add the cocoa powder and mix well.

How it should look halfway through mixing

(TOP TIP - If you want marbled cake just don't mix as well.  Looks fancy but very easy!)

How it should look when fully combined with cocoa powder and all ingredients - you are now ready to dollop in tins.

In the mean time  butter and flour your tins - sorry forgot to mention this bit! Rub butter into the sides and bottom of the tin and sprinkle flour on it.  Tap out any excess flour.  This stops the mixture sticking to the tin.

Then just dollop the mix into the tins and shove in the oven for 10-15 minutes for fairy cakes and about 20ish minutes for sandwich tinned cakes.  If in doubt stab them with a knife; if it comes out clean the cakes are done.

BUTTER ICING

• 8 oz of butter
• 3 oz of icing sugar 
• tableish spoon of cocoa powder ( use your discretion for how dark you want it)

Just moosh together the icing mix and then bung it in the fridge to firm back up again so it doesn't drip down your arm when your icing!.  I was a fancy pants this time and used a piping bag - not very successfully I might add but I was impressed with myself... And I forced my mates to eat them after a whale load of chinese so I was pleased!

The arty version but you can't see it. . .

A bit clearer. .

Mmmmmmmmmmm

THE BEST BIT - Licking the bowl.