12 years, 1 month and 5 days

I am recovering from my daughter's 12th birthday Pamper Party last night. I gave 6 facials, 6 mini pedis/manis, 6 shoulder/head massages.  They devoured 7 pizzas, countless fruit kebabs & fresh juice mocktails. They ate all the banana & maple syrup cupcakes (more about those later).

Every single one of those girls said please and thank you. They were helpful and gracious. They showered her with the most thoughtful gifts including a home made friendship token booklet which included "coupons" to redeem for "hugs" and "a shoulder to cry on". I honestly could not have been more touched by the incredible friendship these girls showed to my daughter.

 

It has always been difficult for my daughter at her birthday.  First off, her birthday is Christmas Eve.  No one wants to come to a birthday party on Christmas Eve.  I have tried.  Then her brother became a chorister and even her family party had to be squeezed in between his singing responsibilities.  We tried to fit her party in between everything else that was going on but we were never that successful.  She hasn't really complained about it all that much.

We don't have much money.  If I could find 2 pennies to rub together, I'd be rich.  So the prospect of trying to fund a birthday party seemed just out of our reach.  But one morning at about 3 am (because that's when I get my best ideas) I had a brainwave to throw a small pamper party at our home with a few of Abigail's friends.  After all, I'm a Neal's Yard Remedies consultant.  I've got all the gear.  I've been trained on how to give a wonderfully effective facial.  I know how to paint nails.  I've got one of those Indian head massage thingymajigs.  I've even got one of those spa foot baths that takes up space in the spare bedroom. And I've got buckets and buckets of wonderfully natural and organic Neal's Yard Remedies products to use.  I could even possibly, maybe teach the girls a few tidbits about how important what we put in and on our bodies is.

Initially, I limited it to four girls.  Then it became 5.  A few days before the party it became 6, 7 if you include Abigail.  I had enlisted the help of a couple older girls we know who had volunteered to help.  I could do this.

That was a big commitment from me.  Struggling with my depression and anxiety there are few times when I feel strong enough to take a stand and say I can do something, especially something as big as a birthday party, which requires meticulous planning, a task I used to be able to do in spades but these days find all a bit overwhelming.  I made a list.  Then I made another list.  I tried to combine the lists.  I wrote up a carefully crafted time line of what I would need to do when.  I made more lists.

Still I experienced some hiccups along the way.  The girls who were going to help couldn't in the end.  They had some school commitments.  OK, no big deal.  I adjusted the plan.  I would just have to work more quickly and do things at the same time and maybe not do everything I had hoped.

 

I made the banana and maple syrup muffins and realised when I took them out of the oven that I used plain flour rather than self raising flour.  Oops.  Not a lot I could do about it so I just went with it.  Then I cooked the second batch a bit too long.  Like 10 minutes too long.  I made extra frosting and topped up their flatness and covered up their darkness with tons of icing sugar and butter and hoped the awesome flavour would compensate for their density and hardness.  

I got all the beauty equipment laid out in the lounge with stations for each treatment.  That's when I realised there wasn't adequate seating for 7 girls.  There was for 5, 6 at a push, but not for 7.  OK, well, they were going to have to figure that out.

 

Then my grocery delivery was late.  Not really late but just enough to cause me about 15 minutes of accelerated heart rate, shallow breathing, and curling up in a small ball.    

One of the girls came home with Abigail directly after school.  Thank goodness.  I put the girls to work on cutting up the fruit and putting it on to skewers for the fruits kebabs. 

Before I knew it, everyone was arriving.  Parties are fun.  First it was all quiet.  Next thing I knew I had 7 12 year old girls giggling away in the next room.  

They got their juice and kebabs.  One by one they got their facials, massages, manis, and pedis.  I don't think I got everyone's nails painted.  A couple of the massages were very short.  Everyone got an exquisite facial though.  One girl displayed an incredible talent for doing everyone's hair in a complex style.  We had fishtail plaits, we had inside out plaits, we had around the head and down the side plaits.  We had countless photos of the girls with cucumber slices on their eyes and they relaxed with their face masks on.  We had meditative music.  We had an exhaustive debate on the merits of music by Justin Beiber.  We sang with Taylor Swift at the top of our lungs.  I had a shockingly well informed discussion with one of the girls telling me all about why palm oil is so bad.  Inside I was rejoicing.

 

But I was running out of time.  In a state of panic, I had requisitioned the help of my husband to do some nail painting.  The girl looked horrified but Abigail assured her that her father was in fact must better at painting nails than her mother.  This is a true statement.  

 

The end came all too quickly.  I don't think I've ever said that about a child's birthday party before.  One girl wrapped her arms around my waist and gave me a proper hug when it was her turn to leave.  I almost burst into tears.

Abigail told me as we were tidying up that it was the best party ever.  Not just the best birthday party or her best party, but the best party she had ever seen in her life.  She went through all of the gifts she was given and marvelled at how thoughtful and how much effort must have went into the carefully chosen "just for Abigail" gifts were.  She told me she was very lucky to have these girls as her friends.  She told me how lucky she was to have me as her mum.  She put herself to bed and it wasn't even 8 pm.  She was exhausted.

I collapsed on the sofa with a glass of cider in hand.  I was exhausted.  It was worth every single moment.

Strictly Come Dancing

Sebastian had a themed birthday party on Saturday: Strictly Come Dancing.

He had been excited from the moment he got the invitation. He designed his own costume and practiced his dance moves. I messed up with the costume because I couldn't find a red satin shirt. We settled for a white satin shirt after the fourth dance shop let us down.

But he came up trumps with his dance moves and even won a prize at the party.

The girls are still talking about what an amazing dancer he is! Guess those ballet lessons are paying off.

Check him out!

Party Carousel

Phew....I have sat down for the first time in about 5 days! I am sure that it is Saturday morning but only because my children are home from school and I do not have to go to work. But in just a couple hours I will be out the door again.

Our former neighbour, Gill, is treating me and the children to a production of Monster Hits at Norden Farm. We are so looking forward to it.

Last week was an endless carousel of Christmas parties, at work, at school, with friends. I had several evenings where I didn't get home before 1 am. We danced. We drank. We ate. We laughed. We have more than excessively done the Merry bit.

The company Christmas party was one of the best I've been to. My company is not renowned for throwing great Christmas parties but we outdid ourselves this year and just about everybody hit the dance floor for several hours! I doubt we were very productive the next day.

The children had Christmas parties on Thursday at school and Sebastian was sad to see one of his classmates, Hannah, go. She and her family are moving to Australia. Hannah and Sebastian have sat next to each other at their work tables since Reception and have grown quite close. Sebastian shed a few tears when he was unsure who he will work with in the New Year. Abigail was in her element partying the morning away at school. She talked a mile minute telling us all about that evening.

One of the biggest highlights of our Christmas celebrations is always the Carol Service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The children spend the morning of their very last day of term at the service. One is struck by the sheer beauty of the architecture of the chapel and then the vast history contained within those Gothic walls simply overwhelms you. And then the children begin to sing. And it is magic. The last verse of O Come All Ye Faithful never fails to bring tears to my eyes. The choir is stunningly talented. It is one of the few times I see a chapel of that size and grandeur packed to standing room only.

My last day in the office is Monday. I will have some time off dedicated to shopping and holiday preparations. We've got still more parties to attend. Our babysitters are loving it!

And hopefully, I'll have a wee bit more spare time to pontificate here. Be safe in your holiday celebrations and remember only 9 more shopping days left!

Impromptu R&R

Yesterday's blog silence nearly killed me. The disease has obviously taken over.

We had a fabulous Sunday. In the morning we went to this Farm Shop in Addlestone which had American food supplies. I was able to get a bit of Stove Top, Wheat Thins, and Kraft Mac & Cheese. You don't want to know what I paid for one of those little blue boxes.

Then Abigail and I went off to a birthday party for her friend, Theo. Theo is the baby brother of Isaac who was born just 1 week before Seb. His mum and dad went to the same birthing classes Marc & I did. So I got to meet up with a couple mums from that group and our neighbour, Adrienne.

When we were leaving the party, Adrienne realised that the day wasn't quite over and the weather was beautiful so she invited us round to her family's home. I went home, hung out a load of laundry, grabbed my husband, children and dog a bottle of Pimms, a bottle of lemonade and walked over to their home. The children played with the dog and out about in the garden. The adults sat and drank 2 pitchers of Pimms. After a couple hours Keith offered up some pasta for the children which they thoroughly enjoyed. A little while later a the sun was nearing the horizon, we decided we needed to go home for the bath and bed routine.

What a great afternoon. We laughed and talked and talked and laughed. The children played and had a great time with Bailey. Bailey was shattered when we got home! He fell fat asleep in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Thanks to the O'Hara's for having us round. We had a great time!

Party Season Official End

The Party Season has now officially ended with the celebration of Abigail's brithday with all of her mates. We went to Cheeky Charlie's in Maidenhead and the children really enjoyed themselves. To be honest, so did the adults. It was a small enough group of children (and most of them were siblings) so there were only a few parents and we all got to chat while the children played, ate, and made the most amazing party hats. Abigail is now convinced that her birthday lasts for about 4 weeks and she has requested presents everyday! Thanks to the mums who were there and gave a helping hand. It was all so easy. Phew!

Now I get to rest. No parties until June!

2007

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone's celebrations were fabulous (and everyone made it home safely). Did you see those London fireworks? They were spectacular even on television. I can't imagine what they were like if one was actually there. Must add that to the list of things to do! Maybe in a few years.....

Our friends, Sean & Helen, with their 2 children, Sam and Lottie, came to visit yesterday and brought in the new year with us. We had lunch and then withstood the weather to go for a walk around the Great Park in the drizzle and grey skies threatening overhead. We tired out the children, the dogs and ourselves and came home just in time for the skies to open up.

Marc was left to bbq ribs in the pouring rain. The children are close in age so they really enjoyed turning our house upside down and playing with everything simultaneously. The adults managed to empty copious quantities of alcohol, eat gluttunous quantities of food, play games and chit chat the new year in!

Today we are clearing up the mess from yesterday and resting for work tomorrow. Did you make any new year resolutions?

And the Parties Continue-Without Us

Yesterday we were invited round to some neighbours home for drinks and dinner. Thanks to Keith and Adrienne for a lovely evening. The chidren had a great time eespecially when they all decided to get out the box of costumes (check out Abigail's shoes). Seb isn't in the photo because he still isn't feeling well and just sat around being grumpy. We unfortunately left quite early since he was so gfunder the weather. As a result the plans we had for this afternoon had to be cancelled and we are having an inside day. Both children are still barking with coughs and running slight temperatures. At least Abigail isn't complaining about her earche. Just as well as the monsoons seems to have arrived. It is dumping rain on us and the wind is blowing a gale. Hmmmm, doesn't feel much like Christmas!

The Holiday Party Season

The Christmas season is an endless cycle of parties. Typically this consists of everyone getting together (some people you don't like and some you don't know), drinking way too much, dancing when perhaps they shouldn't, eating overpriced, cold, bad food that has been prepared for the 100s of people that have been guilted into coming to the obligatory office christmas doo. Well, not here, I say.

The party season started a bit early for me on 30 Nov with the celebration of the launch of a new company intranet which I project managed the last half of 2006. The team worked very hard and we played very hard. We hired out the top floor of Que Pasa, a bar in Staines. They did great party food and the drinks were free (well, the company paid). We drank and talked (like drunks do) then said a very sad farewell to our fearless leader, Kirk Downey, who is off to greener pastures (or warmer weather, sunnier skies, sandier beaches) in Australia. He will be missed. At 1am I found myself in the town centre of Staines wondering how to get a taxi, I tried ringing and waking my husband but he showed no sympathy for my plight. I finally wandered (aka stumbled) into a mini-cab office (Niall's cabs) and after a 20 minute wait with people dunker than I (scary!) poured myself into a cab and navigated the dark path up to my house. For fome strange reason I couldn't quite get the keys to work but eventually then co-operated and the stairs presented the next greatest challenge. I did finally make it up to the top of the house. I know this because I woke up in bed the next morning. The middle bit is fuzzy.



Friday I didn't feel so well, must have had a bug.....the hangover bug.



Saturday was yet another party. This one was at Stirrups Country House Hotel in Maidens Green and was for the parents of the children in Year 1 at St. George's School. The food was great, it was good value and the company was fun. It was really great to see that the dads are getting to know each other. Thanks goes to Ian Richardson who paid for our table's wine! Also, congratulations to the other St. George's table who won the quiz. They got robbed on the tie break so didn't get the bottle of champagne. But the quiz master's instructions were vague (flawed) and Janet did put the sock on (just on her hand). He didn't specify the foot - without the shoe! Well done, Janet! Babysitting was provided by Uncle John and Auntie Mary. Children were returned without any visible scarring or bruising so all in all a success!



Sunday evening was the PTA Drinks party at St. George's School with entertainment provided by the school choir. What a delight that was! Mrs Day did a fabulous job getting the parents/teachers/staff to participate in the singing of The 12 days of Christmas. The mulled wine was delicious (as always) and the school kitchen did a fine job with the canapes. Babysitting provided by Lucy, Sebastian's riding instructor at Blue Acres Stables on Ham Island. When we got home, Seb's bedroom was tidy. Must have her babysit more often!



Last night was another works doo for the project I worked on for the first half of 2006. Isi did an amazing job finding a venue (Legoland). The theme was "Hot in Havana". The starters and soup were great but the chicken and lemon tart were dire! I may have another career in gambling (with play money) as I cleaned up at the Black Jack table but I think that had more to do with Ranjit's cheating than my skill/luck. The dance music was the best so far and some of the dance moves on the floor will never be seen again (or at least until we consume that much alcohol again!). My favourite part of the evening has to be the bumper cars. Baz and Trevor/Olga were speed demons. My driver (aka Neil) was amazing and I escaped with no permanent whiplash. Made my way home just after midnight and so far this morning I don't seem to have caught the same bug I had last week. These are just a few of the revellers. To see the rest of the photos follow the Photo Library Link on the left.