At a guess I would say that about 60% of what I intend to blog about doesn’t make it to the blog. At present there are 52 started posts in my drafts folder. There are e-mails I have sent to myself with ideas and paragraphs. There are voice recordings on my phone to be typed up.

Sometimes I can’t find the right approach to a subject, sometimes I’ll  miss the boat on an event (notice the lack of a Valentine’s Day post) and sometimes I just don’t have the time. On top of all that there are the snippets of things that crop up or happen and I think “If I was at the computer now I would type that into a post” but with a delay of even a few minutes the idea passes or the angle I was going to take gets lost in the maze of my mind.

Rather than let all those snippets go to waste, I thought I’d pretend we are having a cuppa and I am filling you in on bits and pieces of chat and gossip. So, grab your mug and let’s get chatting.

The Schoolyard Scene

Did I tell you about the scene on the school yard the other week? NO? Wait till I tell you! I was waiting for Number Two and his pal to finish up their game. Behind me I heard a mother giving out to a child. I glanced over and saw it wasn’t her child. She was tearing strips off a neighbour’s child for lying to her. I was about to butt in when she started saying “He (her own child) is afraid. He is really, really afraid. He is terrified”. OK, I thought to myself, if my child was really terrified of another child because of his behaviour I would probably give that child a good talking to too. But then it came. The big shock. “He is terrified of his father and me. He would never lie to us. He is so frightened of us he wouldn’t lie. I know he is telling the truth to me and I know you are lying to me”.

Woah missus! Your child is terrified of you? And you think that that is normal and ok and an acceptable way to raise your child?

I was speechless. What would you have done?

 

While Making Tea

Things tend to catch my ear. I don’t mean to eavesdrop but I can’t help if someone is talking near me, can I? Often I’ll hear something and my mind wanders off interprets things into these people lives that may be far from reality.

At work, on my way to make a cup of tea I passed a couple. That’s what they looked like anyway. Their stance, their smiles, their slightly awkward gestures gave me the impression that something is going to happen. They’ll be a couple before long.

„So where do you sit?“ he asked her

„Well you know the corridor to X? You go through there then through the next door and then I’m in the area behind there“ she replied. I imagine there was a fair amount of gesticulating going on as she described the route. I was in the kitchen at this stage, but their chat was audible. „Really? I was never in that part of the building. But I could give you a call and ..“

„I can pick you up from …“ she broke in.

You could almost hear them blush.

„Ok. Well I’d better get going“ she said haltingly just as I walked past with my cup of tea.

He turned go to his office, glancing to her over his shoulder before closing the door.

 

I’m Original. Or Forgettable.

“I copy you because nobody copies you 🙂 “

I got an e-mail last week that said that. I felt so original, like I am alternative and über-cool. Oooh,  someone thinks that things I do are worthy of imitation! Don’t they say that that is the sincerest form of flattery?

Then those three seconds passed and I realised that what my colleague meant was that he put me in cc on his previous e-mail because the others in the project had forgotten that I am now involved in their project and I was missing out on several e-mails.

 

Julia Donaldson on De-Cluttering

You know the book ‘A Squash and A Squeeze’? Well I gave the house a go of that, just not with animals, and it worked a treat. In a January-induced fit of enthusiasm for all things minimal, I took down the curtains to wash them and haven’t got round to putting them back up yet. The sitting room looks so airy and bright, plus there’s no remembering to open them before leaving for work or draw them in the evening.   I also cleared off the windowsills in the kitchen – usually the family dumping ground for anything and everything. I have somehow managed to keep them junk-free and the difference is incredible. The kitchen actually looks clean. So thanks for that Julia Donaldson.