Attended church for the first time in over a decade

well apart from a friend's wedding nearly eight years ago, and it was only the second time as an adult that I've attended a church of England service. I only went because DS is a beaver and he's just been enrolled and one of the conditions is that you'll attend the parade services on a regular basis. I quite enjoyed it but it's very different to what I grew up with in Scotland, there's kneeling on hassocks, strange hymns (to me - although some were nice) and communion was from a communal cup, sorry could not make it to the altar as all I could of think was catching some yucky virus. Plus there's the handshaking which actually is rather nice but a little odd, although to be honest it's been around for years, my friend commented it was quite modern but I think that like me she hasn't been in years.

Then this afternoon we took a stroll in the greenbelt, we visited the open farm which is now closed but its Christmas shop was open so we had a look there for some ideas for presents, and afterwards we parked the car and went for a walk, well the boys did, but DD4 decided that the buggy was much more comfortable, finally we tipped her out and made her run. I have to say that I'm very impressed with Sam as he walks not well but with such cheerfulness, he's constantly falling over but he just picks himself up and carries on, no fussing. Jamie had a ball exploring and it's amazing how fast the time has flown since he was Sam's age, I thought it would be a long time till we could all take family walks, we were much less adventurous 5 years ago when we only had one.

One spot of good news is that I found some toys for 18mo but the bad news is that Michael says I have to wrap them. I was starting to think I must have given them away so it means that Sam will have lots of new toys after Christmas and save me some money.

This week I really want to start getting organised for Christmas, first by inventorying my cupboards and then by wrapping the few presents I have bought and then by buying some christmas cards. So now I'm off to watch the end of Foyle's war and get a good nights sleep.

Forgotten all about this...

but finally remembered and I'm back again.

I've been reading some other blogs for the last fortnight and it' s amazing what other people manage to fit into their day. Of course, their husband's/partners are around a bit more than mine.

This week in particular has gone so fast, Monday is now a complete blur, Tuesday ditto, Wednesday I had an old friend over for lunch which was nice and today I had a new friend for coffee and then Tessa had a friend over in the afternoon to play. Already next week is looking busy and I've manage to overbook on Thursday, so I need to change that. Plus I have to find time somewhere to do some planning for Christmas and make some arrangements. Unlike past years we are really cutting back on pressies for the children this year, which is OK with Sam, he won't notice and Tessa won't notice too much either as long as there's quantity, it's just Jamie who is the problem as he really wants a GBA which is not so expensive but at the mo it's a lot for us plus his birthday is in mid-Jan and he will probably want a party and we just can't afford that as well. Blimey I'm going to start moaning as in many ways I can't understand how come we are so strapped for cash all the time, I don't work but DH does and earns a decent wage but it has to cover 5 of us so maybe it's not so surprising that it doesn't go so far.

Anyway I'm going to have a look at the Hawkins Bazaar Catalogue and pick out some weird and wacky presents which are above all cheap.

The Nine layers of me

Tis is just a brief intro to me:

LAYER ONE:
-- Name: Catherine
-- Birth date: 18 March 1969
-- Birthplace: Chiswick, London
-- Current Location: London
-- Eye Color: Gray
- Hair Color: Brunette
-- Height: 5'7"
-- Righty or Lefty: Righty

LAYER TWO:
-- Your heritage: Scottish and proud of it!
-- The shoes you wore today: black trekkers
-- Your weakness: sweets and a little stubby of beer in the evening when getting dinner ready
--Your fears: mice and sharks. My biggest fear in life though is something happening to my kids or husband.
-- Your perfect pizza: Ham and artichokes with lots of mushrooms
-- Goal you'd like to achieve: raise my children to their fullest potential.

LAYER THREE:
--- Your first waking thoughts: What time is it? Is Michael out of the bath? Do I really have to get up now?
-- Your best physical feature: My eyes
--- Your most missed memory: If my memory is missing, how can I know what it is?
LAYER FOUR:
-- Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi
-- McDonald's or Burger King: Burger King, but don't really like it much either
-- Single or group dates: Single
-- Adidas or Nike: Nike
-- Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: YUCK! Neither, I hate tea.
-- Chocolate or vanilla: Hahahaha!!! Really? Is that a choice? Chocolate!
-- Cappuccino or coffee: Cappuccino

LAYER FIVE:
-- Smoke: NEVER!
-- Cuss: Yes
-- Sing: only alone
-- Take a shower everyday: can't as it's waiting to be fixed, but I bath every day
-- Do you think you've been in love: Definitely, how can you be married or have kids and not be?
-- Want to go to college: Been there, done that, glad it's over with
-- Liked high school: For the most part
-- Want to get married: Been there, done that, wish we'd eloped instead of wasting all that money
-- Believe in yourself: No- I need more self esteem
-- Get motion sickness: only when pregnant so never again!
-- Think you're attractive: Yep
-- Think you're a health freak: Not by any stretch of the imagination
-- Get along with your parent(s): Mostly
-- Like thunderstorms: LOVE them!
-- Play an instrument: nope

LAYER SIX:
In the past month have you:
-- Drank alcohol: Oh yes,
-- Smoked: No - yuck!
-- Done a drug: Taken paracetomol
-- Made Out: Yes
-- Gone on a date: Yes
-- Gone to the mall?: Yes
-- Eaten an entire box of Oreos?: Never!
--Eaten sushi: no
-- Been on stage: no
-- Been dumped: no
-- Gone skating: no
-- Made homemade cookies: no
-- Gone skinny dipping: no
-- Dyed your hair: no
-- Stolen Anything: no

LAYER SEVEN: Ever..
.-- Been caught "doing something": nope
-- Been called a tease: yes, when I was much younger
-- Gotten beaten up: never
-- Shoplifted: never
-- Changed who you were to fit in: yes

LAYER EIGHT:
--Age you hoped to be married: 30 but married at 27,, having been engaged since 23
-- Numbers and Names of Children: 3 - Jamie (6), Tessa (4) and Sam (14 months)
-- How do you want to die: In my sleep
-- What do you want to be when you grow up: I still don't know
-- What country would you most like to visit: New Zealand

LAYER NINE:
-- Number of people I could trust with my life: 2, my husband and my mother
-- Number of CDs that I own: too many to count
-- Number of piercings: 2 - one in each ear-
- Number of tattoos: none!
-- Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: Don't remember, but mostly as a child, for ballet, sports and getting married
-- Number of scars on my body: two, but countless if you count stretchmarks
-- Number of things in my past that I regret: too many to count, but I'm trying not to beat myself up about them.