Hi again folks.

Sorry for the delay. Modern technology is great, WHEN it works.

Yep, I had computer problems. But it also gave me some time to invest in activities that I don’t do enough of, reading, walking, and today… hunting.

My youngest son is 14, very smart and artistically gifted. He also is 6 foot, still growing and very physically active. Due to certain circumstances, I was not able to take him hunting for the first time until today. What a day it was!!

We drove up north for an hour to an area in the mountains I know very well from my youth. My father took me hunting in the same area. Well last November dad passed on and my son inherited the same 16 gauge that I learned on back 7 presidents or so.

We walked and looked, walked and looked some more. Talked back and forth as I tried to remind him to walk slower and quieter (I was the same way). What a great day it was.

Were we successful? Well that depends on your definition of success. No we didn’t see any deer but many signs, tracks, scat, and more. We saw 3 grouse but he could not get any shots off due to the thick brush. I was only there as a guide, not to hunt myself. Our feet got wet, the wind was fierce and my legs are still sore from walking up and down hills, through bogs and over logs but it was more fun than I have had in a long time. The scenery was spectacular. Snow on the neighboring peaks, Shimmering lakes about to freeze over soon and so much more.

But best of all, I was in the middle of God’s beautiful forest passing on to my son what I learned from my dad.

Simply priceless

Have a great day with the ones that are important to you.

It took us more than an hour to build and spruce up our 6-feet-Christmas tree with  medium-sized balls in different shades of purple and a few in aqua and navy blues. We used the old decors and kept it simple but nonetheless, it made our home more cheerful and ready for the holidays.  

Then my wife, Tina with our son Gabby and I spent another hour in arranging the contents of these boxes under our tree; after I brought them down from the upper part of one of our wardrobes, so carefully, piece by piece.

That  volume of boxes is only half of the collection of my dad-in-law who stays in Ca with the rest of my wife’s immediate family. The tags of the price per box and warning  signs for its lead coated wires are still there (FYI, lead if ingested will lead to poisoning and eventually to anemia).

After we’ve put up our tree, we’ve raised a village under it!

Don’t you find these ceramic pieces fascinating ?   Look at those snowy roof. Don’t you just wish for a white Christmas?

I like the attention given to those intricate details …

and that wonderful craftmanship and colorful use of pallettes made it really special

The facade of this church  appears so inviting!

and look, there’s a castle too! 

The structures are amazingly beautiful when put together side by side…

A community isn’t complete without its people.  So meet the happy villagers under our tree!  

Love is apparently in the air …even with just figurines!

Everyone is joyful when it’s Christmas!  Even chirping of birds makes anyone happy

I have seen and touched a ball of snow several years ago in Fresno and Sequoia National Parks (or was it in Yosemite?) and an episode of  hail  in Auckland, New Zealand.  I wish one day that I’ll get a chance to  bring my family to a real snowy place and together we’ll create a snow man  The kid-in-me strikes again!

Have you experienced a white Christmas?  How does snow man making feels like ?

Who would not appreciate the harmony and melodies from an orchestra or whenever a band plays, moreso if a choir serenades us with Christamas carols ?

Christmas is really for kids and kid-at-hearts !

Of course Christmas won’t be complete without those reindeers and the white-bearded-old-stout-man clad in red!

Ho Ho Ho Ho !  Have you been naughty or nice ?

When dusk falls,  it’s high time for the entire village to glow!     So let there be (fiberoptic) lights !

We’re done with our tree and the village with its people were already nicely put underneath. 

We haven’t started shopping yet;  afraid if there’ll be an extra budget for it!  ha ha!

However grand we plan and prepare for our celebrations this holiday, always bear in mind that decors and other material things are irrelevant to the ‘reason for the season’  

The biggest question is,  are you ready for CHRISTmas?

May all of us be happier with our families this coming Christmas and beyond!  God bless.

Whew … Right now I feel a little bit in a daze! I know we all have so much going on … in our personal as well as professional lives. Together with the Harvest Festival we have going on right now, as well as the Thanksgiving Holiday and now Christmas preparations, we are being pulled in so many directions! But, that doesn’t mean we have forgotten you. Still, my favorite thing to do when a take a few moments each day is to read the kind deeds you all are doing.

I realized last night that some of you may be wondering what we are doing to contribute to the kind acts. Inspired by many of you, we have had a week of giving around here … cleaning out closets and donating 8 giant bags of clothes, plus we brought in dozens of like-new toys, games and puzzles. My husband and son worked at the soup kitchen all day on Monday – they served over 600 people that day – and you can believe it made quite an impression on my teenager. I have also been making my boys more aware of what’s going on around them … pointing out a lady to help with her grocery cart (they get stuck in the snow on the way out to the car), and I had my oldest offer to pump the gas for an older man – the gentleman told me it reminded him of the old days when that was part of the service – and was so thankful! We have a homeless man who lives down in town, and so we picked up a pre-cooked chicken for him, a couple of apples, a bag of cookies, and a couple of water bottles – the smile alone was a huge reward. As you can imagine, we have become quite friendly with our local PO. So, we brought in a batch of fudge on Wednesday – they were all so grateful to know that we care! Because we are involved in the Scouts, I always order extra wreaths, trees & centerpieces – and bring them to 3 of the senior citizen homes around here. While we have had such a giving week, what I’m really trying to instill in my boys is the importance of year round thoughtfulness – my boys are very fortunate, so it is their responsibility to help those around them.

Okay, so now on to the past few days of winners. Where were we? Oh Yeah .. Days 21 – 28 … Yikes! But, that’s ok – we have something special for each of these winners … they each receive a $25 Gift Certificate from Homespun Hearth! These Gift Certificates are valid from December 1 – 31, 2009, so they can have a little something extra to spend for the holidays.

Our Day 20-28 Winners are…
Patty – 11/25 Post
Kate – 11/22 Post
Karen Propes – 11/22 Post
Cindy C. – 11/20 Post
Linda Lee NH – 11/11 Post
Joanne – 11/6 Post
Amy – 11 /20 Post
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

So, we are nearing the end of our 30 Days of Giving.  On Monday we are going to have 4 Drawings!  2 for the 30 Days of Giving, and 2 for the Harvest Festival!  We have had so much fun with both of these, and it still is not too late for you to be a part of the fun.  If you would like to be entered into our Grand Prize Drawing for the 30 Days, 30 Gifts, 30 Winners Drawing, then be sure to let us know what kind deeds you are up to!  Simply blog us at any of the posts this month, and your name will be added to the drawing ‘bowl’.  Also, for those of you who make a Homespun Hearth purchase between 11/25 and 11/29, you are eligible to win a $100 Shopping Spree or a $50 Surprise Gift… the drawing for these is also on Monday 11/30!

And, it is just about time that you will be able to spend your Homespun Reward Discounts for 2009.  For the month of December, the accumulated points translate into  discounts for the entire month of December. 

Have a wonderful day!

Teresa

Ugh.  So I’ve been trying to decaffinate myself for the past few days since I’m on break.  It’s awful.  I can’t think straight, my head is pounding, my muscles are all aching, I’m flushed and I can’t get a decent night’s sleep.

I feel so icky that I’m miserably achy awake or asleep. 

Let’s back up a bit.  I love coffee.  I love everything about it.  Coffee is like a mom.  It wakes me up in the morning, snuggles me in when I’m down, warms me when I’m cold, and keeps me company when I’m lonely.  I love coffee. 

But let’s face it, too much coffee is not good for you.  It dehydrates you, causes reflux, cardiac arrhythmias, annoys ulcers, and is addictive.  On the other hand, it also relaxes smooth muscles (lungs and intestines- easier to breathe, easier to poo), stimulates brain activity,  increases metabolism and adrenaline, and decreases hunger. 

It’s a love/hate thing with caffeine, isn’t it? 

Of course people inevitably ask, “Why don’t you switch to decaf?”  Well I don’t switch to decaf because the caffeine is half the reason for drinking coffee in the first place.  Let’s face it.  It’s an acquired taste for a reason.

I acquired it when I was (literally) a starving college student way back when.  I couldn’t afford food, so I drank every cup of java I could get my hands on.   It was free just about anywhere you went, after all.  Of course things didn’t stay that depressing for too long, but the taste for coffee remained.

Mmmm… coffee.

… and I heard a little voice inside my head.  It said, “Smoke a turkey, and they will come.”  Or, something to that effect.  Then my sister heard a similar voice.  It said, “Honey, bake a ham, and go forth to your sister’s house.”  My parents heard a voice also.  It said, “Drive due east for a Thanksgiving Feast.”  … and all of us did those very things, and it was good.

So, sixteen people from near and far gathered with love and gave thanks.   Thanks for having the good fortune to be in this family, thanks for the multitude of blessings we enjoy every day, and thanks for being able to meet in the same place at the same time which hasn’t happened in a long, long time.

It was truly an awesome moment in time to look around the circle and see everyone holding hands.  We had a new family member, too.

 This is sweet little Aniston, and her upside down cheerleader doll.  Her upside down funny little cheerleader doll that said, “Howdy Doo, we are here to cheer for you! Yee Haw! Whoo Hoo!”  It was hysterical!  However, if I was her mom and lived daily with said little cheerleader doll, I think I might just run out of batteries for long periods of time …

Speaking of funny voices, my voice decided to be funny and take a vacation.  The first time I have seen all of these people together in one place in years, and I’m croaking out my hello’s and how are you’s.  I suppose some might have seen my inability to talk as a blessing, a little something extra to be thankful for, but don’t even go there, family members … I was not amused!

A little dining action below.

Johnny & Alex with Mom …

My sister’s kids, Robin & Ryan …

Robin is Aniston’s grandmother, which makes Ryan Aniston’s great uncle.  Of course, I remember these two when they were just little squirts, and now they are somebody’s grandmother and great uncle.  How did this happen?  Ok, I know how it happened, but you know what I mean.

Below, Aniston with her mom, Chelsea.  Chelsea is Robin’s daughter.  There’s Grandpa Don in the background, although he is actually Aniston’s great grandpa … and he would probably say that there’s not a greater grandpa than he.  He and my dad might have to work that one out.   

Great picture of my dad and my sister Pam …

Below Daddy is sharing some manly secret with Joshua (Robin’s son, Chelsea’s brother).  Josh’s girlfriend Lindsey also came (in a group picture above), but I didn’t get the chance to visit with her in all the feasting and catching up.  I do hope she had a good time, though.    

Robin also brought her friend, Randy.  Randy is a cool guy and seemed to fit right in.  They are planning to get married, so guess that makes them more than just friends.  At any rate, we should be getting to know Randy even better in the future.  That is, if we didn’t scare the hell out of him!

My sister, Pam, and her husband, Don.

… and of course, Johnny and me.

& our kids … and our own grandpuppy, Bear.  (Aunt Zoe & Uncle Fritz had other obligations and just couldn’t make it to the photo shoot.)

Turns out Bear is a lucky little fella.  Last Tuesday he ran into the street and was hit by a truck.  He had to have minor surgery, but all he lost were a couple of toenails.  Poor little guy is hobbling around now, and he was quite the pampered pooch over Thanksgiving.  He didn’t get to slobber over turkey, but he’s just thankful he can slobber at all!  (and so are we!)

That’s all  she wrote.

Ok, you may be wondering what a Korean-American Thanksgiving is like.  You’re thinking, there’s some ancient Korean rituals involved with a lot of bowing and food that smells like squid or something. 

I know, some of you think “Naw.  It’s Kimcheegirl!  There’s kimchee, of course!!” 

Well let me tell you.  The kimchee comes the day after Thanksgiving.  There’s nothing like kimchee on stuffing (don’t scoff, just try it!).  The kochujang is saved for spreading onto turkey sandwiches- yummm, spicy!  And the kimbop is made with turkey and carrots.  After Thanksgiving. 

On Thanksgiving Day at my house, the children wake us up with a lot of jumping on the bed and yelling.  We all head downstairs and turn on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Pregame Show on tv, turn on the Chistmas music station on the radio in the other end of the house, and start worrying about ruining the turkey.  (Trust me, this is a valid worry.  The first year there was still a plastic bag still inside- there are 2, who knew?  Another year my husband actually set fire to the oven.  The flames were impressive.  Eating in snowsuits while the house aired out was not. Most times it’s that last minute “The turkey is still frozen!” freakout.) 

Next, we have some breakfast and pull up the Christmas Box from the basement.  This box has everything.  Our fake tree (we don’t like to kill trees), knotted up garlands, tangled strings of metallic beads, the ornaments along with the the few kid crafted paper ornaments that we save every year, the aging and tired angel that sits at the top of the tree, and the silk chrysanthemum garlands that get wrapped around the lights of the house. 

Untangling all of these things and watching the parade on Thanksgiving has turned into a family tradition that can’t be beat.  The kids are so excited that we are not too upset about having to figure out how our “foolproof” method for putting it away last year turned into the hours of untangling this year. 

At some point the garlands and beads will finally be on the tree and decorating the house, and the kids will be happily putting ornaments on the tree while being vocal about how sorry they feel for kids who don’t think that St. Nicholas is an actual saint and how the actors that pretend to be Santa in the malls are kind of nice anyway.  My husband and I will be finishing the dinner and debating with each other (again!) about the difference between Canadian thanksgiving (where he’s from) and American Thanksgiving:

1. Americans had it first.  neener neener
2. Canadians celebrate it before Halloween… how can you appreciate all the good things when your house is about to be egged or TP’d?
3. Canadians treat it about the same as Columbus Day.. a day off from work, that’s about it.
4. Americans treat it as the beginning of the Christmas season.
5. Sometimes Canadians have ham for the big day… HAM!  That’s just wrong.
6. No pilgrims.  Only the French.
7. Theirs is on a Monday… and three provinces don’t even get the day off for it.

Throughout the day we normally call just about everyone we know and say Happy Thanksgiving, but for some reason we didn’t this year.  Could it be that 90% of our calls go to Canada where it’s not a big deal or that just about everyone called us the day before and beat us to the punch?

After dinner, our bellies are full and we a watch classic Christmas specials on tv.  The kids think this is one of the big highlights of the day.  We watch clay-mation Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, ‘Twas the Night Beofre Christmas, and The Santa Clause.  During this movie mania, I make popcorn and melted marshmallows and we get out the plastic wrap and make popcorn balls to hang on the tree.  Then the children write out their letters to St. Nicholas and go to bed.

We love Thanksgiving.  We have a lot to be thankful for and the worrying can wait for another day.

We are having a bit of an obsession over here at The NutHatch.

We are Sporcle-ing ourselves crazy. Especially The Ab-Cat and I. When I went into her room last night to kiss her goodnight, she was laying on her bed with her laptop. I said, are you Sporcle-ing? She said yes, she was addicted. Poor Baby.

I can totally understand. I have had several such addictions in the past. Free Cell, Penguin, Jewel Quest, Zuma, The D Show, E-Bay(searching for that elusive Brighton purse), Wikipedia, blobbing.

I saw a little game over at Rocks in my Dryer, and decided to try it. She often has fun links up on her blob. That was it. That’s the whole story. It all slid down the slippery slope of addiction at an alarming pace.

This was the one that started it all. Have a go. I think I missed 10!

Ab and I have dragged Mousey and The Boy into our little sickness as well. We almost identified all of The Duggar Children by name. We excel at the TV category, with other useless information a close second. Mousey got brave and tried African countries. I did great on the United States of America. Except I forgot Connecticut. I do apologize, Connect-icans. The Boy knows his gifts and hustled  the music department. Abby is systematically working through the movie category.

Go check it out, we dare you! And you’re welcome.

P.S. Don’t forget to vote for Suzanne!

I recently took advantage of Amazon’s deal of the day and ordered the first four seasons of the new Who – they were a killer 30 bucks a season instead of the usual 80 plus, so who could say no to that? Obviously since I should be spending money on friends and family and getting Christmas presents I instead jumped all over the sale. When it comes to the Doctor priorities must shift.

Since I knew I would be spending lots of mind numbing quality time with the family I brought the first series home to my mother’s with me. I knew she would like to see it because we generally have similar taste in a lot of entertainment, but watching tv with her is a continual exercise in biting your tongue. She has an unparalleled ability to ask the obvious question in the scene just before it is about to be answered.

“I wonder if she is really an alien?”

“You think he is going to die?”

“Why doesn’t he just use his screwdriver thingy?”

All valid questions, but if you have ever seen any tv show ever you know you are about to find out, so why vocalize them? Yeesh.

—

While watching the special features for series two I quite enjoyed the part of the David Tennant video diary where he takes the camera home to Scotland and films his family’s reaction to his appearance in the Christmas special. Mostly they are not too terribly excited (he’d been in a lot of stuff by this point), but he best part is when his mom whips out a somewhat terrifiying cross stitch portrait of him that was lovingly created and bestowed on her by one of her friends. He seemed unsure if he should be impressed or frightened, and I can’t say I blame him.

None of which stopped me from having to force myself not to immediately download and start working on this masterpiece when I stumbled across it later that day:

Believe it or not I wasn’t searching for this in particular but rather geeky cross stitch patterns in general. If you ask me there are far too many kitten patterns out there and far too few David Tennant’s. I expect anyone reading this to do all they can to rectify the situation. Mankind needs you.

Telling a story:

Signing a few words (This was on our Boston trip)

Quick post tonight. It’s only 8:30 and I’m tired as hell. T. treated to me to dinner tonight and I had this awesome shrimp dish with hot bok choy on the side. It was… different. Tasted about like I think hot lettuce would taste, but it wasn’t slimy or overcooked. Then a giant chocolate chip cookie smothered in gelato… Anyway, suffice it to say that I’m full to my gills.

AM2 told me – when I went there at lunch to see how she was doing during her twelve-hour shift – that she hadn’t been in touch with me lately because she can’t handle my “ugly” moods. Now, I stopped being friends with someone because she always brought me down, and I have enough empathy and sensitivity that I can understand someone saying that to me, but it was still…hurtful. I don’t ever want to make anyone feel that they can’t be with me because of my moods. I know where she’s coming from, but I still felt… bad. Very bad.

Anyway, I wanted to put up a few comments that Sis had made lately that made me smile. Here’s the first -

Nephew3 reminds me SSOOO much of you sometimes…. I was up with him last night for a lot of the night; he made his little hiccup geese comment [that his hiccups sounded like quacks] and then about 1:30 I decided to have a piece of jam & bread and he looks at me with his face pointed away, your crazy little smile and the shifty slidey eyes and says “You donna share dat mum??” I AM raising my siblings lmao…..

I thought that was cute. I guess I’m touched that even if I never have children of my own, my gene are stll being passed on. Here’s the second thing – it’s a bit long, but worth saving. I’ve paraphrased it a bit – consider it half my comments and half Sis’s, though the story is all hers. . .

OMG, I totally don’t know why but this is making me think of Nephew2’s sorting by species exercise from school the other day. I am totally living with Creep here….

Madame gives kids this page of animals in squares to cut out. Page contains in random order:
4 cats        6 dogs
3 cows      2 horses
1 robin     1 rooster
1 hen        4 chicks

Nephew2 has two pages of animals when he comes home [he had to do the exercise twice].

Sticky note on second one reads:
“This is Nephew2’s second attempt at grouping animals by species. He did not know what to do with the 3 birds in the top corner.”

The top page was Nephew3’s second attempt at the species-sorting exercise. It has a line down the middle. One side has Madame’s handwriting noting: “Can’t see their ears” – this is how Nephew2 separated the animals. “Can see their ears” and “can’t see their ears”.

The second page is grouped together in boxes drawn by Nephew2 - cats, dogs, cows, horses, chicks and in three separate boxes in top corner: rooster, hen, robin.

So, I open the conversation:

-Madame wrote a note here
-yeah, i know
-want to know what it says?
-sure! Does it say I did a good job so I got to do it again?
-um, not quite, it says you didn’t know what to do with the top 3 birds. Did Madame ask you where they belonged?
-yeah, and I told her I didn’t know
-um, okay, why wouldn’t they go with these birds down here? [meaning the four chicks he put in one box down in the corner]
-’cause those birds are chicks, they’re babies… baby chickens… that rooster is a grown up boy chicken and the hen is a grown up girl chicken and robins aren’t chickens at all… so I think Madame screwed up and they shouldn’t have been in there at all… maybe she put them in on accident
-ok, one, we don’t use the words ’screwed up’ and two, who decided to sort animals by ears or can’t see their ears?
-I did
-Why?
-I dunno, how else would you group them?
-um, well, I think Madame was more looking for groups like cats, dogs, birds etc or farm animals vs. pets or maybe has 4 legs vs 2 legs, you know, the simple things that would see roosters, hens, chicks and robins in the “BIRD” group….
-yeah, I guess you could do it that way

I’m so glad I’m an aunt to smart children. The boys are just such a treasure to have around, even if they aren’t mine.

My son is home from college, so my wife sends me with him to get the H1N1 shot. She says I need the shot, too, because I have a chronic health condition. She drives us to the designated location for this Saturday, our local community college.

Traffic slows before we get onto the campus. Cars by the dozens share our destination. We want to arrive 30 minutes early so we’ll be among the first to get our shots when they open the doors.

Now we’re on campus, still in the car. A large white van with antennas sits in the parking lot. I count about a dozen police officers and one sheriff’s deputy – and this is just what I can see from where we are at the moment. The sheriff and fire department EMS are also present.

My son and I get out of the car and start walking to the back of the line. On the way I hear someone say that when we get to the back someone from the Health Department will give us tickets. People who come after the tickets run out will not be able to get the shot. It’s a neat system and is needed because before the ticket system a lot of people were breaking into line and there was a lot of tension and worse.

People have brought lawn chairs and blankets. We pass moms and dads with kids, moms alone with kids, dads alone with kids, grandparents with kids and aunts and uncles with kids. Kids in this case includes teenagers. We pass others in the “initial target groups,” which also includes people aged 25 to 64 who have a chronic health condition. We pass people who are way over 64 and are not accompanied by kids. This scene is playing out all across America and the rest of the world. We’ve all seen the photos.

There are thousands of illegal immigrants in our county, but we see very few who might be in that category standing in line. Where are all the others? Are they coming on a different day? Are they coming at all? Did they have a meeting and decide not to all show up at once because they would draw too much attention to themselves? The people in line who look like they might be illegal immigrants are all parents with small children, just doing what any parent would do. I wonder, as we walk by, if anybody in line actually resents these parents and their kids.

Everybody understands the situation. There’s a shortage of a potentially life saving drug. Only certain categories of people are eligible to get the shot. The County website says “once vaccine supply is sufficient and demand in the initial target groups is met, we will be able to expand our vaccination efforts to those beyond the initial target groups.” Wash hands. Wash hands. Wash hands. Purell. Purell. Purell. Bow, don’t shake? Preposterous.

We walk and continue walking. Finally we are at the back of the line, which is the back of the line only for an instant because hundreds more are still coming. From the sky the long line of people must look like a skinny upside-down letter “U,” with the side where people are facing towards the front being much shorter than the side containing people still walking to the rear.

We enter the line and face forward. A Health Department staffer gives us our tickets. Fifteen minutes later the line begins to advance. We feel good now because the still arriving masses have changed our relative status to “front of the line.” Eventually we are within sight of the entrance doors, maybe 150 feet back. Health Department staff are working the lines, keeping them moving and orderly, answering questions, telling people to have their coats off and be ready for the shot because “it will go fast” once inside the building. Now, every 25 feet or so, there are signs specifying who is eligible to receive the vaccination.

I have a few minutes of mental consternation as we get closer and closer to the door. I’m pretty sure I could just keep going and get the shot. Finally, I take a deep breath and decide. I hail down the next Health Department staffer to come by. I give him my ticket so that somebody else can have it. I secretly wish that I could see the person he will give it to.

I am over the age limit for people with chronic conditions. I am 66. My son continues moving forward and I go to wait outside the door from which he will exit after getting the shot.

This is rationing. It is necessary, assuming that the vaccine shortage can’t be helped. We may have more rationing in the future. I’m not saying it’s bad and I’m not saying it’s good. At least the shot is free.

My wife is going to be very angry with me.

Wash. Wash. Wash. Purell. Purell. Purell. Bow? Still preposterous!

Unbelievable! Over a week has passed since we informed DD’s Form Tutor that she was being persistently bullied. We have still heard nothing from the school yet and the harrassment continues. Are these girls ‘untouchable’? Is anyone in school concerned? It certainly doesn’t seem so…

On the plus side, I had a call from Anti-Bullying Cornwall’s Project Manager, Anna Thomas on Thursday. We had a long discussion and she was pretty disappointed that we still have had no contact from the school. She told me she was phoning the school to speak to the Headmaster and would call me back if she managed to speak to him.

She has also arranged to go into school on Tuesday herself, and have a meeting with DD. She will explain that she’s there on her behalf, to help her to get through this and has informed the school that she will be going in, with full parental consent. I wonder what they will think, or if they’ll even care? In circumstances like this, the ‘ABC’ workers teach children coping mechanisms and psychological defenses to help them to deal with bullies, which is more than the school are doing, so I am incredibly grateful for the support from an outside agency. At least we’re not on our own.

I received an email from Anna, saying that she hadn’t managed to get hold of the Headmaster, but that she was looking forward to meeting DD on Tuesday… I have told DD and I think she’s warily looking forward to meeting Anna too. Wouldn’t it be great if the school would take their heads out of the sand, (to be polite), and bloody well do something?

This has got to be one of the most stressful periods we have ever experienced in our lives. The hardest part is seeing your child go off to school in the morning, both of you filled with a sense of dread, not knowing what crap the day will bring, and then just being so relieved that she comes home safe that afternoon. It really shouldn’t be this way, should it? I mean, the school have a duty of care to your children; they are supposed to make sure they are able to receive an education whilst in school. Kids are supposed to be safe when they’re at school, aren’t they? They shouldn’t dread going into lessons, knowing they’ll be ridiculed and humiliated at every available opportunity, should they?

I’m at the stage now where I know this is going to take time to fix, but I’m not backing down. My child has the right to study and learn and achieve. She has the right to be safe at school. She has the right to a proper education and that is what we are fighting for.

Of all the battles I have waged in my life, I never thought stopping my DD being bullied would be the hardest one of all…

I really was not going to make it this year.  My vision of  Thanksgiving dinner was a turkey breast and a ham, but, no, that was not going to be OK because “we have to have stuffing and not that whatever that comes in a box thank you”.  Since those purists pitched in and bought a turkey (21+ pounds), and I was gifted with bread crusts (cut off of the tea sandwiches), I agreed to stuff a turkey and this is the recipe.  First, assess the turkey cavity and cube enough bread to fill it but put the bread in a bowl at this point.  In a large skillet, saute one cube of butter, a large chopped onion, and half a stalk (about 8 ribs) of celery until the veggies are soft.  While they are cooking, add about a teaspoon of ground sage and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the bread and mix.  Then add the vegetables to the bread, stir, and add just enough warm water to just moisten the bread.  “Stuff” the turkey cavity, and bake the turkey according to packaging recommedations.  I keep mine covered the whole time it’s cooking and it is so moist. 

The work was worth it and Carey is now another convert to stuffing, so next year, guess what!