Answers... Edit: I've added the necklace photo. in Summertime, and the living is easy... 2015

do you plan to ever take a trip to the USA? Food Master.

Not in the near future, however I used to live in the USA, I was in Florida from the age of 23 to 25. I’ve also visited Georgia, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Illinois, Wisconsin, California, Nevada as well as stopped in airports in Missouri, Washington D.C., New York and more! I don’t particularly want to visit the States at the moment because of the cost of air fares for the four of us. If I was going to spend that much I would want to visit Cuba and Latin America.

Oh, If you had a son, what would you name him and why? Sugar free

Our boy choice was always set in stone - Dylan. We both love that name and considered it for a girl too. However it didn’t seem to suit either girl when they were born. Now the girls have said they’re glad they weren’t boys because they don’t like Dylan!

I would like to ask you to take pics of the jewelry and things you always have on even when you’re nekkid. (I.e., in the tub.)
krebiz

This is my diamond ring (bought with money my nana left) and the ring that Rich bought me (and I bought him one) as commitment before we were ready to get married.

This is a bracelet that Talaia made for me and a hair band. I usually have more hair bands which are useful at school when kids need to tie their hair up for PE.

Engagement ring (amethyst and silver) and wedding ring (silver and gold).

Huge, chunky, love-it-so-much watch! Also two scraggly bracelets which need replacing.

Left ear. All gold and one with a diamond. I can’t wear Crap, it makes my ears go black.

Right ear.

A bit of the necklace, bought in 1988 in Spain. I thought I had taken another picture but it isn’t there…

I found the photo of the necklace

Ceylon Sapphire
What are you proud of?
What do you wish you could have a “do over? ”
Do you wear nail polish?

I am proud of many, many things. I was brought up to believe in myself and to have pride in all I do. I think it’s important to teach children pride. When my kids show me their work I don’t only tell them that I think it’s great, I ask them what they think and why they think it. The basics I’m proud of are my family and our way of living. My independent determination; when I want something I put on the blinkers and work at it until I have it. I’m proud that this year will be the 30th anniversary of the start of my running. I’m proud that, at the age of 32 I decided to learn a foreign language in which I’m now conversationally fluent and pretty good at deeper stuff too. I’m proud of the fact that I figuratively stick up the middle finger at challenges. Pride is, too often, considered a negative trait but it really shouldn’t be. We should feel good about what we do. Big-up your achievements, enjoy what you do and go beyond your own fears.

As for a do-over, that’s tough. I am a strong believer in not regretting your past because it is a huge part of who you are today. A part of me wishes that I had known about eldest daughter’s autism when she was a toddler so that I could have reacted far more appropriately to her tantrums which were based on her autistic traits. I can see that clearly now and know how I should have reacted. On the other hand, knowing that she was autistic then would probably have meant her autism was more extreme than it is. Although I do remember the health visitor questioned it once, but quickly dismissed it. I want to go back to that 3 year old and hold her tightly, let her know that it’s all okay.

Do I wear nail polish? Well, firstly let me tell you that I love my nails. They grow beautifully and evenly and are one of my great features. I don’t paint my finger nails because I like them au natural and normal nail varnish doesn’t last more than a couple of hours! I do, however, paint my toe nails. They aren’t actually painted at moment because I have a black toe nail and I want to keep an eye on it. My toes are usually some bright, garish colour or a combination of many bright colours!

thesunnyabyss
*if you weren’t working with children what do you think you’d like to do?
what was the path not taken in your life?

I always wanted to work with children, but I didn’t originally train for that. My college education was in Sign Writing. I spent one year studying general art and design then three years doing sign writing. I really loved it but came into that world just as computers were spewing out speedy plastic signs. People didn’t want the cost or time of a hand painted sign. I still have my brushes and mahl stick though. My first jobs were: picking potatoes, jewellery shop sales assistant, waitress, chamber maid, cleaner, laundry assistant, kitchen assistant. Then I became a transport escort with social services. I worked on a bus, along with a driver, picking up adults with special educational needs (learning difficulties was the term then) and taking them to various day centres in the area. Then taking various groups on trips and joining them e.g. swimming, picnics, the gym, shopping etc… And taking them home at the end of day. I really loved that job but personal circumstances caused me to need to escape and so I moved to Florida. And that was when my journey into childcare began.

ElvenAssassin
Do you have a booklist for the year? If so, what’s left? If not, what books are currently in your “to do” list?

I do not have a book list. I prefer to be more spontaneous with my reading e.g. last weekend I read Goodnight Mr Tom. It wasn’t on a list, it was something I had heard parts of at school and I wanted to know the whole story. If I had a list I would have had to put Goodnight Mr Tom at the bottom of that list. Again, I don’t really have a to do list. I have Sue Grafton X on pre order, it’s due out on August 27th, and I bought The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society yesterday. There’s also a book whose title I can never remember that I want to read. Something about Dairy Queen.

Charis
If you didn’t need to work, how would you spend your time?
What are some of your goals for the next five years?
What’s your biggest personal struggle?

Ooh Charis, if I didn’t have to work… I would probably still work in a part time capacity because I enjoy getting out there. But I would run at a sensible time, and my house would look like a page from a house magazine (fantasies are so fun, there’s no way this would happen!). The reality is that I’m tempted to home school. I really feel that the only advantage to going to school, for my girls, is the social side. I believe schooling should have far less classroom time, far less sitting down at desks. If I could open my own school I would create outdoor class’rooms’. Our home schooling would involve exploration and discovery, history lessons in history settings, maths in huge 3 dimensions, e.g. yesterday we were at the park on this equipment:

Basically it is on an angle and spins as you walk on it. I had both girls on it and we worked out the best position to be on to make it move faster or slower, we worked out that having only one person on made it move faster because there was less weight. It was great fun!
We would learn about English language through so many different media and of course we would learn Spanish. sigh.

Goals for the next five years… Keep doing my job well until the girls no longer need me to be at school. Then I plan to train to teach English as a foreign language so that I can work, locally, with kids who come into schools without any English.
Also, carry on not eating sugar. Life is much simpler without it, it cuts out one big part of life which is thinking about my weight, feeling Crap and all that went with it. Also having more opportunity for date nights with Rich; sometimes it feels as though we’re just existing.

My own personal struggle. It’s in working with Grown Ups. You see, children tell you to your face if they’re annoyed whereas grown ups have learned to hide it and have big bitch sessions. And one off the main problems is that sometimes I get caught up and join in. My resolution for my job is to not let that happen and then I get caught in a situation such as last Wednesday when, well let’s start this in a new paragraph.

There will be a new teacher starting at our school in September, I know him because he works in the school in which I volunteered, or at least did up until this week. He hasn’t had chance to get his room ready and will be spending most of the summer organising it. I had noticed that the display boards needed to be cleared - two looked very nice but the others had bit of paper hanging on them, staples hanging out of them, years worth of staples! I decided to sort it out before going home on the last day of term. The room was dark when I went in so I thought it was empty but, after a few minutes someone spoke. I looked around and saw there was a teacher in there, a teacher I’ve got on with in my four months at the school and who is leaving our school. Then another TA came to join us and, well I’m sure you can guess. So I was in there, removing staples, the teacher was helping and the other TA was faffing, although not actually doing much. The bitching started and I tried to keep quiet and stay out of it, but I really don’t remember if I managed. I think I made non committal mouth noises, and I left the room once I’d sorted out the boards, I went to find something else to do. I went back to say goodbye only to find more TAs and more bitching. I just want to get on with my job and get on with my co workers. I don’t want management to associate me with The Complainers, but how do I avoid the situations? more sigh.

Rider
How many boyfriends prior to meeting your husband?

As I’ve said previously, my husband doesn’t like me to talk about previous relationships on here, and to me? No matter how many relationships I had prior to my husband, the only one that has ever mattered is the one with him. No one else could come close to being as special as he is. So, I’m sorry to not answer your question but that’s the true answer.

Last updated July 26, 2015