Categories: uncategorized
Date: 07 December 2005 09:31:10
Well, it wasn't as much of a bonus as it might have been. There's a problem with the school sewers and we're all hoping to be sent home, but Mr Dynorod is convinced he can have it sorted within the hour. Can't imagine the smell having dissipated by then, mind, but perhaps that's just because, along with the majority here, I really want them to shut the school and send us home. SEND US HOME! SHUT THE SCHOOL! PLEEEEEEASE! But at least it gives me chance to sneak into the computer room (one of the few rooms to have escaped the smell) and update my wiblog.
Well, as Blonde's tip has reminded some of you ;) , the Smudgelets and I had a weekend of excitement last weekend as I sneaked them out of school early (tut tut) and whisked them away to Stratford. Well, I am not sure that "whisked" is quite the right word. We arrived at East Cowes to catch the 2.30pm ferry on Friday to be informed that that, and the 3.30 were cancelled due to 70mph winds on the Solent. We could either go home and return in the hope of getting on the 4.30 or we could book in and wait and be sure of getting it. Hmmm.. decisions! So we sat there for two hours, to be met with the information that the 4.30 was now also cancelled. My sister was sitting at the other side in Southampton waiting to get across to us, too. Finally her boat arrived at about 5.30pm and they loaded us straight aboard. By 6pm we were underway, finally arriving in our little travellodge sanctuary at about 10pm. Straight to bed, boys, straight to bed. (Anyone who reads here regularly will know the importance of Tiddles getting his sleep!!!)
Saturday, a lovely lie in :D Then off to Stratford we went to browse the shops - best of all was the handmade sweet shop complete with chocolate fountain, like an Aladdin's cave for chocoholics. We did the Shakespeareance which was rather good - sitting in a mock-up of the Globe theatre and watching holographic images of Shakespearean characters discussing his plays... and getting poor Smudgelet down off the ceiling when they recreated a scene from Macbeth with a clap of thunder and lightning which reverberated round the room and was accompanied by a howling gale which lashed around our heads very effectively!
Highlight of the weekend - Great Expectations at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. A bit of a culture shock, suddenly changing from Shakespeare to Dickens, and I was afraid the boys might find it a bit long and "grown up" for them, but it was fantastic... and front row seats made it even more of an experience. They were entranced, as was I. In fact, the best moment of the entire weekend was looking at Tiddles' eyes and seeing in them the same wonder and awe he showed when I first took him to meet Father Christmas and when we first went to the circus. He was totally drawn into the experience. Again, my non-reader, non-writer discovering the joy of language and literature.
Sunday followed with a quick trip into Stratford again for food and a tour of Shakespeare's birthplace. It sent a tingle down your spine to realise that the floor we were walking on was actually the floor where Shakespeare himself had walked many a time. It's a lovely house, and quite big really, and well worth a visit if you're ever in Stratford. Tiddles looked at me suddenly and declared in a rather quiet voice, as he touched the floor in Shakespeare's hallway: "Mum, I think this visit has changed my life. Thank you so much for bringing me." His spending money went on a most beautiful quill pen and ink. (Smudgelet was a bit more mundane - he saved his in order to buy sweets with it later!)
For me it was just so special to get away and spend a weekend with my boys - in fact, I have to admit that the most special moment, better even than watching the play, was to lie in bed on Sunday morning with a boy sneakily snuggled in on each side of me, and just sit and doze and chat and eat croissants in truly decadent manner. As adopted children the boys aren't allowed in my bedroom as a rule and, while it is useful to have a part of the house where I can escape and can put things that I don't want them to see such as Christmas presents etc, it's rather a shame we don't get these morning-time cuddles more often.
Home now, and back down to earth with a bump, (having gained pounds in weight and spent even more pounds in money!) but that is for another blog.