And another month goes by...

 I'm reminded of the song from Come From Away that sings "And then another, and then another, and then..."

TLDR: 

So this past month, we have had covid in the house, we have had a dance festival, we have had uncertainty around DD1's surgery, we have had exhaustion from school, we have had good days out over half term, we have eaten too much and not exercised enough, though I have exercised some.  I have watched a fair bit of TV and not read much (which tbh hasn't helped my MH much) because I know how far behind I am of the reviews of books that I have read over the summer, and I'm behind on my paid work too.  

Positives:

DD1 came 3rd in her Tap Solo at the dance festival.

DD1 & DD2 came 1st in their Caberet Group dance at the festival.

I have gone on some runs when I've not seen my PT, and am s...l...o...w...l...y increasing in speed.  Still nearly an hour to run (and walk) 5Km, but under an hour nonetheless.

I have watched my first Christmas film of the season.

Despite being fully booked and not advertising at all, I am still getting enquiries about maths tuition.

My house is slowly becoming more organised.

I am trying to catch up on reviews a couple at a time.

And another month goes by...

So, I'm still seeing my PT twice a week.  My weight was still going up, and I almost hit 100kilos, which I've never been before.  But, I am still decreasing my size, and have even dropped a bra size when I got measured recently.

As sexy as I look in a bra and a pair of shorts (not!), I am pleased that even *I* can see that my back-fat is going, and I now have a waist again.

Both my girls are now in school, as DD2 recently started year 7.  She does enjoy it, but is very tired.  Having gone from needing 10-12 hours sleep a night, to having to leave the house at 7.30am, return near 5, then rush straight to dance lessons and often doesn't get home aain until 9.30 or 10pm, is a bit of a shock for her.

As schools have gone back, I'm tutoring again now.  My days have changed this year, so I work Tuesday mornings, Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons.  I don't have much free time, though, as I'm still involved with Home Education locally, nationally and politically.  (Ok, I don't know if 'politically' makes any sense in that sentence, but the rhythm made me feel like it needed a third thing there.)

I am trying to read too, but that has slowed somewhat.  As I don't need to wait at dance in the evenings anymore, I don't have as much time to read.  Also, in the few gaps I've had during the day, I have had a bit of a TV binge, watching non-kids TV during the day! Very exciting.  I have recently watched Sex Eduction, Love on the Spectrum, Motherland, and I was getting into Making a Murderer, until my husband joined me one day, and now I'm 'not allowed' to watch it without him.  Yet, since then, we haven't watched it together at all, so if he's not careful I'm going to continue watching it and just not tell him, lol.

And yes, I am aware that I haven't caught up with the book reviews I said I would write a month ago.  Despite everything I've written here (and this feels like a lot to me), I've even more things going on.

DD1 has been having mini absence seizures/blackouts for a while, though she didn't tell me that they had become frequent until last October.  I told her to keep a diary in case it was related to what she had been eating or time of the month or anything like that, and we made an appointment to see the GP.  Fast forward to February, and we were referred to hospital to see a neurologist and to have an EEG.  As part of this, they gave DD1 a general health check and discovered she had a heart murmur.  Not a big surprise or concern as my husband had one when he was little, but they referred us for an ECG.  And another.  And an echo.  And a heart consultant who told use they would be bringing in the big-guns from a nearby city to look at her heart, because she has a hole in her heart.  As you can imagine, this was a bit of a shock, given she was 13yo at the time, fit as a fiddle, loads of dance, and zero symptoms (breathlessness, fatigue, palpatations or enlargement of the heart).

Anyway, we saw the big-gun heart consultant, who did another ECG and echo (which incidentally, is really interesting, as the computor automatically colours the blood blue and red depending on whether the blood has been oxygenised or not).  She confirmed that the hole in the heart is nothing to do with the mini blackouts DD1 had been having, and because the EEG was clear, they (the hospital) are not following that up at the moment.  However, DD1 does not have a hole in her heart - she has two plus a leaky valve! (It's a partial AVSD for anyone who wants to google it.) Due to where the holes are located, they cannot go up the leg/groin to close it, but she will need open heart surgery.  But, it isn't urgent, because she has no other symptoms, so don't worry about it too much.  It's a fairly straightforward procedure, etc etc, and just has to be done before she becomes an adult, as if left unfixed, it could cause massive problems when she's in her 20s and 30s.

Then over the summer we had a virtual consulatation with a surgeon, who said they expected surgery to be in October!  DD1 would have to be in hospital for at least a week, at least a month off school, at least 3 months off dancing.  All of a sudden this became very real!  Due to dance festivals finally starting up again (and the enxt one being in October) we have asked for the surgery to be postponed until the summer term, but we will follow the guidance of the consultant.  Meanwhile, DD1 has had even more hospital appointments, and had to wear a 24hr heart monitor, and been asked to participate in research before/after surgery, so my suspician is that it will be sooner, rather than later.

Oh, and we have got a second dog, Luna.

Guess what I did today?

When I was a kid, I had my ears pierced when I was 11yo, before going up to secondary school. At that age, I was deemed old enough to be able to look after pierced ears myself.

Fast forward to now, and my baby is going to secondary school in September!  Having never been interested before, she has asked to have her ears pierced, and being the same age(ish - DD2 doesn't turn 11 until August), I wasn't going to say no.

Knowing we weren't going to go to Claire's, we looked around and decided to go to Sharon's Beauty for All.  Set up in Sharon's conservatory, we were greeted at the door, and Sharon was even gracious when we were 15minutes late due to my sat nav going haywire and an accident closing a local road.

The room itself is clean and functional, without feeling like a sterile (in the bad way) hospital room.  Sharon  kept everything hygienic, wore a mask and kept sanitising her hands as per covid regs, and used disposable needles and clean, sterile (in the good way!) equipment.

DD2 jumped up on the bed, chose her earrings and Sharon got to work.  Sharon helped calm my daughter down, as DD2 was nervous, and talked through everything.  Not too long later, my daughter was pleased with the result.

That's not what I did, though.  

I decided that if I was going to be going to take DD2 to get pierced, then I should get pierced too.
A lot of blood later (I'm a bleeder, lol), I now have my nose pierced again to match my glasses.
A little purple ring.

All in all, a good experience for both myself and DD2. 
If you want a piercing I recommend Sharon - and she does a range of beauty treatments and nails too.

Weekly Update

My weight this morning was 93.1kg.  I have still been recording my weight, even when I haven't been posting here, and it has been bobbling around the 92-94kilo mark for weeks.  That probably explains some of my apathy for posting updates here, and the fact I've genuinely been really busy.

Recently on TV I watched Strong on Netflix and that inspired me to try focussing on fitness and strength rather than weight.  Then I watched Series 1 of The Biggest Loser (Australia) and I am lighter than all the women (and men, for that matter) at the start of the show, but they quickly dropped weight.  Now, I am not going to be spending 8+ hours each day training, but it has inspired me to start a new exercise routine.  I have even taken some new 'before' pics, but I won't share them (until I see a difference, lol).

I started last week, and aim to do an hour on a Monday and on a Friday.  So far, I have done my 3 sessions in my back garden!  Today I have woken up with an ache in my triceps and in my gluts, so I'm definitely doing something!  I don't know if it will translate into weight loss (especially as I'm not going to go on a strict diet) but it's a start, and I'll hopefully be fitter and healthier.  

It's been nearly a month!!!

My poor neglected blog!  I'm so sorry!  You wouldn't believe how busy I have been - actually, you would, given how sporadic my posting has been so far this year.  I'm hoping I'll have finally turned a corner now, but who knows?  I have been posting mildly more often direct on my facebook page, so if you don't follow it, you should do so now: https://www.facebook.com/MusingsMiddleagedMum .

The Education Select Committee's Inquiry into Home Education is still ongoing.  I have given further submissions, but that hasn't been published yet, nor my personal one.  I'm still involved in helping home educators locally and nationally know their rights, answer their questions, deal with their Local Authorities, etc.  I'm also talking at an upcoming HE conference, so I hope people will have plenty of questions as I'm not good at talking about nothing, lol.  I suppose I should find some FAQs and have them on standby so I can ask and answer my own questions if I need to.  Details of the conference: https://www.learnfree.org.uk/ 

Have I mentioned that DD2 got into the same school as DD1?  So from September, I'll no longer be a home educator! <sob>  I'll still be involved in the community and the politics, but will be stepping down from some of my adminning duties on FB as I don't think it's right that a non-home educator admins local groups.

Weightloss has been a bit up and down.  More up than down, but hopefully that has turned a corner now.  I've got a(nother) new exercise routine that I've paid for so will be sticking with for a while.  Had my first session on Monday, and boy, did I ache afterwards!!!  I hope to be doing this every Monday and Friday for the foreseeable, so hopefully that will have an impact on my weight.  I've also decided to try some monetary incentive.  From a starting weight of 94kilos, for every 1kg I can keep off for a solid 3 weeks, I will put a tenner to one side.  The Pros: If I get down to my dream weight, I'll have £300 to spend on new clothes. The Cons: My weight is up and down like a yoyo, so I could be averaging , for example, 75kilos, and then randomly have 1 day of 82kilos.  But, it's added incentive, so lets see if it works.

I haven't listened to my hypnotherapy CDs for a while either - I've not even had time to take 30min for myself at home.  But, now that the girls' dance classes are back in the studios, I've magically got more time for reading (because I am sat in my car waiting!) so hope to start writing reviews again.

So sorry, again, for the silent treatment.  I hope to be posting more regularly again soon xx

Weekly Update

 A weekly update that is turning into a monthly update. I'm busy - no surprise there!

I started another FutureLearn Course.  Only 3 weeks long, a few hours each week - I've managed 1 week so far, so need to catch up on that.

My work with Educational Freedom is ongoing, as people are always asking for support, as well as the behind the scenes stuff that needs to happen.  I've been contacted by a journalist this morning too, so I need to write a bit for her.

And my working as part of the EHE Alliance is ongoing.  Thankfully I'm part of a bigger team there, but I still need to give my input and am unable to cruise along.

Have I mentioned on this blog I get cysts? Well, I do.  Went to the docs years ago about it and was told "you're just a cystic lady".  Gee, thanks.  This week one burst in my groin, so I've been unable to do any walking (which is reflected in my weight) as I've had an open wound.  It's finally starting to heal today though, yey!, so hopefully won't be too long before I can walk my dog again.  On the positive side, the nurse suggested I may have a condition called Hidradenitis suppurativa or HS, and has arranged a phone appt with a different GP next week, so I can be referred to dermatology.  There actually isn't much they can do, but if I have a diagnosis I can keep antibiotics to hand, so I can treat myself when and as needed, rather than having to go through the rigmarole of making doctor/nurses appointments.  This is another condition that benefits if you are not overweight, so yet another reason why I need to lose weight.

I have finished a couple of books since I last posted too.  Reading really does destress me, so I need to get around to writing those reviews.  Unfortunately, my kindle is still in my car from when I went to the docs last week and I cba to get it out when it was cold and wet.  A sunny day here today, though, so no more excuses.

So back to my weekly update.  Here's my graph for the past 2 months.

Very up and down, but (apart from this past week) there's a definite downward trend.  Once I can start walking again, I need to make sure I go out every day (especially on busy days where I'm tutoring!).

I am feeling strangely motivated this morning though, despite not being able to walk.  Over the weekend I binge-watched Strong on Netflix.  It's about 10 personal trainers and 10 fairly ordinary women who compete to win $500,000 by getting physically and mentally strong.  I particularly liked the fact there was one contestant who was my weight at the start, and she did really well on the show.
So, this morning, I did 1 sit up, 1 push up and 1 Russian twist; tomorrow I will do 2 of each and I will continue as it.  I didn't want to start with 10 or 20 of each in case I found it demoralising - and that was a good call!  The Russian Twist, I could do.  The Push-up I went on my toes (usually I do them on my knees) and managed it.  The sit-up, though.... the one exercise that I could do comfortably... Well, I could do a crunch (I got halfway up), but I don't think it qualifies as a sit-up.  I tried again, getting a bit more momentum into it, and still only got halfway up.  As I said, it's a good thing I didn't try and start doing too many.  Tomorrow I will do two of each, and my strength will improve.

Weekly Update

I have finally finished decorating my study!  Well, the big bits, anyway.  It is painted and has furniture, so though there are a few extra bits and pieces I'm waiting on, it is useable.  And I have been using it all morning, and it is fab!

I have been keeping up tracking my food and exercise. I'm still plowing through the chocolates that I was given for Christmas (I hope I have finished them now) so I've not been dieting as such, merely keeping a note of what I have been consuming.
I am not walking as much as I'd hope, either atm.  I really am quite busy during the day and when it's dark and dreary or wet I cba.  Hopefully the evenings will start to noticeably lighten soon, and that will change.

I have started (re)reading a new book - Diet Trap Solution by Beck and Beck.  I read it before a few years ago, and it's really good.  Very practical, so I need to actually find the time to do some of the exercises, rather than just reading them and moving on.

I have started doing some FutureLearn courses though.  These have been focussed on education, activism and my current course is all about propaganda and mythology.  I managed to do a few in a few days over the Christmas break, but now life is back to normal, I have set aside Monday afternoons to do a week's worth of study of one course (that's usually 2-6 hours, depending on the course).

I still have my book reviews to write, and I'm not reading at all enough compared to what I'd like.  The other half of my room now has a sofa bed in it, so I can hide away up here and read when I want.  The negative of my dog thinking I'm her mum is that she suffers with separation anxiety if she's away from me.  When I'm tutoring, I have her by my feet in this room (she's quieter that way) whereas right now, I have left her downstairs so I can try and build up her tolerance to me not being around ALL the time.  Working from home, I am around most the time, but I already have my own shadow, and I don't need another one, lol.

Five Bean soup

Last week, my friend and fellow blogger Dottie Hines, aka Five Bean Soup, did a post about this blog and it's the very least I can do to return the favour.  

The Five Bean Soup blog is a mix of good wholesome recipes, lifestyle blogs and crafts.  I am in awe of that, as the only craft that I am any good at is MosaiCraft, and that's because it's a fancy colour-by-numbers!  For me, though, it is her recipes that I am most interested in and will be trying out.

Dottie is following a Whole Foods Plant Based diet, which is fairly compatible with the 2B Mindset.  The main difference seems to be what you can eat when (for example fruit and other Fibre-Filled Carbohydrates are not recommended at dinner time on the 2B Mindset) and whereas Dottie avoids all butter and oil, on the 2B Mindset it is considered an accessory. ie. If you eat a massive bowl of peas with a spoonful of butter on top, then it's better the have the butter than avoiding the peas.  Having said that, if Dottie could find an alternative to oil in Treat Recipes, such as my Vegan Chocolate Hummus recipe, I'd be all for that alternative!

I particularly liked her post What I Eat In A Day as it reminded me of recipes that I have on this blog that I had forgotten about. I used to have green smoothies for breakfast, and seem to have fallen out of the habit, but smoothies are certainly compatible with the 2B Mindset.  Other breakfast ideas that I had forgotten about include my Overnight Oats recipe as Five Bean Soup has a recipe for Chia and Hemp Porridge.  Similarly, I had forgotten about some of my quick lunch ideas, which may not be as useful to Dottie (for example Egg Fried Cauli Rice contains eggs!), but as I've been looking for some quick Veggie Most lunches, the reminder has been good for me.

So, have a look at Five Bean Soup, and the accompanying Facebook Page.  Give it a like, a follow and a share. Though not all her recipes are low carb, they are filling and satisfying, with a good range of vegan, veggie and omni options.

Weekly Update Y2w29

I'm a bit delayed with my usual update.  Life has suddenly got really busy - in a good way, but busy nonetheless.

I'm still tutoring atm, though that will end next week, as I've decided to take the whole of August off.  We've not got any plans to go anywhere (yet) but have lots of other projects to do and catch up on.
I'm still doing my MosaiCraft project.  I am now over halfway (currently on base plate 18 out of 30), but it has slowed down a lot, because I'm not sat outside as much as I was at the start of lockdown.  Instead, I am spending much of my time on m computer, not blogging, but working on my new project.  I am trying to spend a few hours each day on it, at least. It is going very slowly though, not least because I am doing it all myself.  I've set myself a deadline of Christmas to have it finished, but I have no idea if that is realistic or not?

Similarly, I am not reading as much as I was.  I am still several books ahead of my GoodReads yearly challenge, and I have a book that I am still yet to review, but I feel like I am spending more and more time on my laptop - much to the chagrin of DD2 who always wants my laptop to play Minecraft!

I'm also still singing with The Collective Virtual Choir.  I'm on my third song with them, but even that has taken a bit of a backseat, and I've been unable to go as many rehearsals as I would like.  Many are being recorded, so I can catch up, but that still requires time to actually watch them.  Today/tonight is the deadline for recording song 3 for feedback, and I still haven't had time to have a go yet, I just hope that when I do, the background noise is quiet enough for the recording to be acceptable.

So, that's all my excuses out of the way.  This past week hasn't been great in all honesty, but focusing on the positives, my weight today (which will be counted as part of next week's update) has finally got below 91kilos - again.  It's almost like to consistently lose weight, I need to reduce the takeaways, reduce the alcohol and up the exercise - who knew??!!

There is still the overall trend downwards from the start of the year, and even my localised peaks are reducing, but I have more work to do.

This week, I have been able to keep drinking Water First, and am hitting my water target of 90 fl oz (2.5litres) each day.  Yes, it does mean that I need the loo lots, but I notice the effect on my body when I don't drink enough, so I'm happy to continue.

I'm also getting back into the habit of eating Veggies Most.  Some examples from this week have included aubergine crisps, meatballs on courgetti spaghetti, and roast turkey with potato salad on a bed of courgettes.  Aiming to eat over half of my meals to be vegetables has been a challenge at times, especially lunchtimes because it's all too easy to make a sandwich or have a bowl of cereal, but yesterday I had an omelette stuffed with mushrooms and spinach, which was delicious, so I need to keep reminding myself that it is possible to eat Veggie Most meals that don't take ages to prepare or cook.

I have had some good news (ish).  For the surgery I want (my reason for losing weight - click on the Mastectomy label in the word cloud to the right), rather than getting down to a BMI below 25, which I thought, depending on the surgeon I may only need to get down to below 28 or even 30!  In real terms, that's still shitloads of weight I need to lose, but slightly less than I thought.

Edit to add:
I totally forgot to mention that over the summer we're changing our house around and redecorating.  DD1 has decided that her box room is too small for her (which tbf it totally is) so is moving up to the Play Room.  The Play Room is a total misnomer - it's really the Kids' Junk Room.  I avoid going up there as much as possible as it's not good for my stress levels.  However, as she wants that to be her room, I'm having to go up there to tidy up all the crap toys, that the girls haven't played with for years and years.  As DD2 still plays with these toys on the rarest of occasions, she wants many of them moved into her room, which means that the big 4x4 Ikea bookcase will need to be moved into DD2's room. 
Additionally, as DD2's room has never been decorated since we moved in 5 years ago, we're taking the opportunity to redecorate - which has involved me spending 2 full days tidying her room too, in order to get the floor empty enough that we can redecorate.  Obviously, it will be easier to redecorate before moving a giant bookcase in there.
And because DD1's new room was the playroom, the carpet is what was in the room when we moved it, and not only was it bad then, it is covered with paint and other stains, so she needs new flooring before she can move in.
DD1's old room, is going to become MY room - yey!  It is going to have a comfy sofa bed that guests can use, but I can read on, and a desk and chair so tht I can work in there, rather than on the dining table as I am atm.  Given I'd quite like to keep tutoring online, it will be a nice quiet room free of distraction, and NOBODY ELSE will be allowed in. Ever! My own space, that I can use to get away from everyone - yes!
So I'm still busy.

People are funny

...weird, that is, not funny haha.  Though I am laughing about it all.  Luckily I'm in a good place mentally, so I can laugh about it; otherwise I fear what it would have done to my mental health.

In this blog I have posted much about my life, on lots of different topics.  I know I swerve from 'the norm' on some things - I'm a Christian, I home educate, I consider myself a naturist, and most recently I voted against the winners of the general election.  Within this blog, though I generally use it for book reviews and for tracking my failure to lose weight, I have posted the occasional more controversial topic.  Yet, it is a post that I thought was pretty middle of the road that has caused a bigger reaction than I expected!

I posted this directly on my Facebook Page in response to the result of the election.  I admit that my tongue was in my cheek when I suggested that the electorate were stupid, selfish or both, but did use the qualifier 'may' and pointed out that it's an opinion not a fact.
The rest of the post, however, was talking about how to help people in the coming days, months and years because I think a Tory government is not good for society, and does not have people's (especially poor people's) best interests at heart.
Finally, as I get prompted by FB on every post I write, I thought this may be a relevant one to actually add a donate button to.  I don't know you, I am not telling you you must donate, I am not saying reading my blog is on the condition of donating, but is something you could choose to do should you wish.  I chose the Trussell Trust because it is an organisation that has food banks nationally around the country.  I could have chosen a food bank that was local to me, but given that I know I have readers all around the country, and indeed around the world, I figured they wouldn't care about a food bank in my little town.

At time of writing, this post on FB has currently got 114 reactions (yey!), 57 comments, and 17 shares!  I naively thought that if people didn't like what I had to say (though as I've said, I didn't think it was controversial) they'd just scroll past and ignore.  There's so much that comes up on my FB newsfeed, that even from pages that I usually like, there is the odd post that doesn't resonate so I simply move on.  If it's a page I haven't 'liked' on FB, unless there was something absolutely ridiculous and needs refuting, if I don't agree with a post I'll either scroll past or at worst, hide it from my newsfeed.

You can probably tell where I'm going with this!  when I woke up Saturday morning, I was surprised to see that I had upset someone by choosing the Trussell Trust to donate to.  In that thread of conversation I was repeatedly told "you really are an idiot"; a different person said "coming to your page with insults, you started your diatribe with the very same insults, because you and millions of other moaners lost an election."  though in an interesting twist these two people then started arguing with each other.  Other comments, in response to my post: "Accept the result and stop preaching to the rest of us. You come across narrow minded, judgemental and bigoted."  being a Christian, I've sat in my fair share of sermons, and reckon I could preach with the best of them; this wasn't it.  Here I was just trying to suggest that people are kind to each other - clearly I failed! Finally (again, at point of writing), I'm told "You are stupid and selfish." Not one to normally boast, but having a Masters degree in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford (and I do have friends who read this blog, who were at uni with me - I'm not lying), I can categorically say I am not stupid.  I may not understand some things, or may lack knowledge in certain areas, but I hold my hands up and am honest if that is the case.  Similarly, I don't think I'm selfish [often. I think everyone, including me, is selfish at times.  I try my best to override that part of myself, and with God's help, I can manage it sometimes], nor do I think it selfish of me to say that we should be kind and love one another.  Surely that's common sense and part of being a good person?

Oh well, you live and learn.  People are funny weird, and I can laugh at it all.

Edited to add some more comments:
Very funny! Begging for our money to line your own pocket, just like many others! Try working for your money like we do!  As much as I wish I was paid for writing my opinions, I'm not, so receive all this abuse for free.
 if you want people to be kind how about giving it a go your self!   In reaction to not understanding the words 'may' or 'just an opinion'.
Your post insults a lot of hard working, decent people   Other than a tongue in cheek comment, that already has been clarified, I fail to see where I have insulted people, but suggesting a few things.

Oh well, you can't please everyone!

Nation's Favourite Hymn

There's an article on BBC News about the Nation's Favourite Hymn as chosen by Songs of Praise viewers.  I really like hymns and songs, the music and the words really relate to me. 

My favourite hymn of all time is an oldie and is number four in the list: Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.  Despite this being sung over and over in school assemblies when I was a kid, it's still my favourite.  Possibly because it's a nod to my Catholic background (ie guilt) for everything that I know I don't do right.  The first verse goes: "Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways! Re-clothe us in our rightful mind, in purer lives thy service find, in deeper reverence, praise; in deeper reverence, praise."  People are often foolish (especially if they think they are wise) especially me, and I like the rest of the lyrics in the other verses too.

Back to the list, I actually like all they hymns in that list, except one: Number One!
I really hate the song Jerusalem.  Like really.  There are not many songs that I can say I hate (the only other one that I can think of, is John Lennon's Imagine - Urgh!) but this is one of them.  

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountain green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

The lyrics don't even make sense. Did Jesus come to England? No. Did he step on England's fields? Nope. Was Jerusalem built here? No-oh. The second verse is a bit better, but are we going to build Jerusalem in England? No.  Heaven on Earth - maybe.  I've heard it said that when Christians are at their best, that is a little of Heaven on Earth.  And of course there's the Belinda Carlisle song, which incidentally I really like, and is so much better than this hymn!

So yes, the point of this blog, was mainly for me to complain about Jerusalem.  And you're lucky I just briefly mentioned Imagine.  I could rant all day about that awful song!

Home Education or Home Schooling?

I've noticed recently that a lot of people who are new to home education use the term 'home schooling'. 
Part of this is due to the fact that home schooling tends to be the American term (where HE is more prevalent than in the UK), and part of this is due to ignorance. [Note: I mean ignorance in the genuine lack-of-knowing sense, as opposed to meaning rude and purposely using the wrong terms.]

But does it make a difference?

Personally, I think it does.  I think words matter and home schooling has a totally different connotation than home education.

I home educate. 
I educate my youngest (as DD1 is now in school). 
I facilitate her learning. 
I encourage her when need be, but generally her own innate curiosity is such that she is learning all the time.
I don't teach her (though I do when she specifically asks to learn something specific).
I don't school her.
I don't make or encourage her to learn as they do in school.
I don't train her or lecture her or coerce her.
I allow her to learn at her own pace, what she is interested in, for as long as she is interested in it.

But isn't it just semantics?

Yes and no.

Thesaurus.com has 'schooling' listed as a synonym of 'education' so in some ways it is no surprise that the words are used interchangeably.

The problem arises when people who don't understand HE use the term 'home schooling' and infer, wrongly, that HE should recreate school.  This is especially a problem if the person using the wrong term works for the LA as an EHEO.

We know that legally, Section 7 of the 1996 Education Act states:
Duty of parents to secure education of children of compulsory school age.
The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable—

(a)to his age, ability and aptitude, and

(b)to any special educational needs he may have,

either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.

There is absolutely no requirement for us to recreate school-at-home, and if you look at my posts from last April, you will see that even with the new guidance, that has not changed.
As more and more people start to home educate, the world is getting more political as some in the government try to rein us in.  We need to keep our freedoms and using terms such as 'home education' can really help.

As many EHEOs already don't understand valid home education approaches, such as unschooling, it is of upmost importance that we keep reiterating to them that we 'home educate' and not 'home school'.  Children do not have to be tied to a table in order to learn.  Children do not have to be kept inside in order to learn.  Children do not have to be kept away from the rest of society and arguably from real life, in order to learn.

Language evolves, and the more often people use certain words of phrases, the more prevalent they will become.  As home educators, I think it is our responsibility to use the correct terms that encourage an opening of the mind to wider possibilities, rather than using an allowed term, that encourages the mind to close and focus in only one direction; especially when discussing with the LA. 
In your own homes? With your own friends? Use whatever phrase you want, but if you say 'home schooling' around me, I will be privately miffed.

(There are other terms that home educators also use to convey their educational approach, such as Life Learning, Life Education, Education Otherwise, and many more which try to show the wider scope of education than simply 'school'.)

A couple of blog posts from other people (2012 and 2016) that also talk about this topic:
Home Schooling Vs Home Education
Forgive the Homeschooling

Put it to the People March

Yesterday, I was able to join over a million other people at the People's Vote March in London.  It was amazing being in so large a crowd, and definitely had a carnival atmosphere.

There are so many pictures online from the event, and it was great to see the giant star on BBC News  which was made and carried by some people who were on my coach!

We had a bit of excitement, when a friend's 15yo son went for a wander without telling anyone... The police were great, and he was soon found.  The worst bit for me (yes, I know, it was much worse for his mum), was when I found him, there was no phone signal for me to tell my friend! But it was alright in the end, and they were soon reunited.

Coincidentally, I also met up with someone I hadn't seen for 15years!  We did the same course at university, and hadn't been in touch since.  Considering it was hard enough for people to meet friends intentionally, it was pure chance to meet someone I knew.  One steward told me yesterday that over 1.5M people had turned up, though I've no idea how such numbers can be verified?

I was very tired when I got back home yesterday, and fell asleep when taking DD2 to bed.  Today, I have been catching up on all the photos and videos online; and have found out that other friends were also on the march.  As it was so big, I'm glad I didn't arrange to meet them too, but hope they all had a good time.

The Revoke Article 50 petition is still going, and has now passed the 5M signatories mark.  A way to check updates, without causing the petition to crash again, is using this website, which also breaks the votes down by constituency, so you can see how many people in your area have voted.

Brexit and democracy

Having triggered Article 50 a couple of years ago, Britain is meant to be leaving the EU at the end of

this month.  Unfortunately, there still is no plan.
As a result, many of us are marching this weekend in support of a People's Vote; where we, the people, can decide on the mess that the country is currently in.

I will be there in my Tshirt and carrying my Brolly, and encourage as many people as possible to come along too.

On Wednesday night, Prime Minister Theresa May made a speech to the nation, telling us how we feel, how she is with us, and it's not her fault, but the MPS for not agreeing with the deal she repeatedly proposes that nobody wants.  I've since seen descriptions of how it was an attempt to hypnotise the nation, and it certainly seems like that - I don't know what else she was trying to achieve?

One impact it has had, however, is to draw attention to a petition: Revoke Article 50. When I signed it, only about 30,000 people had signed.  This has increased massively, to the point where the website crashed this morning!  Every time I refresh the petition page, the number of signatories has increased, and at 14:28 today, it is now up to 972,873! I have even seen one meme suggesting that the House of Commons will take action when the petition reaches 17.4M people, - the number of people who voted Leave in the first place.  I don't know how true it is, but given that  it has increased to nearly a million people in one day, if Brexit is extended even a short while, it won't be long to hit that target.

As for democracy, democracy means that we have a say in politics and who governs us.  It means we can change our minds.  It means that just because conservatives were voted in power once, does not mean that they will stay in power forever.  Just because something was voted in once, does not mean that there is never another vote.  And if new information has come to light - particularly if one 'side' has been accused of electoral fraud and fined - then that vote should be either cancelled or at least redone.  

And that is what the People's Vote is all about - now the general public has more information, and the Leave campaign has been shown to be full of untruths and they still don't have a plan, there should be another vote where people are more informed.

Pringles Ring Engineering Challenge

I saw the Pringles Ring Challenge on Facebook, and I thought that is one I have to try with my girls.  So, this week I bought 3 packets of pringles and we gave it a go.

Obviously, the first thing to do when given a packet of pringles is to empty them everywhere...
though I can attest to the fact that this step doesn't have to be done, as I didn't.

A sneaky peak of DD2
in the background.

The trick is to build the bottom layer thick enough to carry the weight of the pringles that are building up the sides.  Layer them, as if you are building a wall, so they overlap and hold firm.  (Though firm is relative in this case, as all three of us have experiences the pringles toppling sideways.)

DD2 has a gentler touch than DD1, and is well known in our family for balancing things, or building tall towers from bricks, even when she was pretty young.  DD1, otoh, was getting frustrated, until she use her brain and was able to make a pringles ring very easily.

Not sure that was was was expected from the challenge, but is a pringles ring nonetheless!

DD2 and I continued.  It looked like everything was going well for me, until I noticed that the two sides of my ring were unequal heights.


After a bit of readjustment, I managed to fix and complete my ring.

It only had one pringle on the top, so I wanted to make it a bit thicker.  This cockiness caused it all to collapse, but at least I have photographic evidence that I did succeed!

At this point, DD1 and DD2 were turning the table into a campsite by building tents out of pringles.

Eventually, though, DD2 had another go, mixing two different flavours of pringles, and managed to make a heart.  The camera angle doesn't do it justice, so you may need to use your imagination a bit.

Back in the swing of things

Term-time is up and running, and we're back running around after the girls and all their dances and activities.  I am trying to make the most of the time I have, so am currently being good and am sat in the dance studios with my laptop writing this post!

My tutoring has started up again after the Christmas break, as has all the girls' home education groups, leaving me little time at home for everything I need to do, including exercise.  It's now Wednesday, and I for the third day in a row I have no managed to BodyGroove, as I have not had 30min spare.  Technically, that is a slight lie, because I could have tried to wake up earlier, or stay up later, in order to fit it in, but I am someone who needs a lot of sleep. But, I'm not giving up on it.  I do enjoy it, I have noticed it working my muscles and I am losing weight.  I just need to squeeze a bit more out of my day.

I am eating well at the moment though.  The 2B Mindset is firmly implanted in my brain.  I am easily drinking my 90oz of water daily, and for the past 3 days I have had "mix and match" salad for lunch, from the prep I did at the weekend.  I have discovered I didn't prep enough, as I ate the last of the cut cucumber and pepper today, and ate the last of the hummus. I still have portions of vegetables that I can use for the remainder of the week, and some couscous left, but when I meal plan this weekend coming, I will need to prep even more food.

So far, I have managed to keep on top of the Bible readings - I'm aiming for 50 chapters a week.  We had our first meet on Tuesday, and we discussed the verses that spoke to us, and spent some time praying for each other.  Even though we're going at a much faster rate than I anticipated, I think I will get a lot out of the next 6 months.  I had planned to use my study Bible for the readthrough, but I find that I do most of the reading when I am taking my younger daughter to bed (we need to stay with her until she is asleep).  So, I'm reading the Bible on  my phone, highlighting the verses there, and then going through my actual Bible to copy up my highlights.  Only on the second week of the year, but it's working so far.

I'm also reading less than I would usually, as a combination of not having to wait for my children all the time (some days I leave them at dancing or gymnastics whilst I do other things), or because I'm using waiting time to do something else, like writing right now!  I do have 3 books on the go, though: 1 Christian inspirational, 1 non-fiction, and 1 fiction, so I haven't stopped reading altogether - perish the thought! - just getting through books a bit slower than usual.  That said, I am starting to really get into the fiction book I'm reading, so I may end up giving up a few hours sleep for that.

Note to self:
If I can give up sleep for reading, I can give up sleep for exercise. 
I am important and I am worth it!

Can you make money from blogging?

For me personally, up to now the answer has been no. 

That's not a surprised to me, as I know I haven't been putting in the hours that some people do. I am not expecting to make megabucks, or become famous, or anything like that, though a bit of pocket money would be nice.  This blog was set up to see how far it would reach, because my elder daughter wants to blog and vlog when she is older.

As expected, my main audience is in the UK and USA, and I know I have a friend in Australia who checks in.  What has surprised me is the size of the audience I have in France, Germany and India! Bonjour, Guten Tag and Apologies to any Indian followers that I do not know how to speak, let alone write, any of the languages from India.

One of my friends, who admittedly works harder than I do, started a blog at a similar time to me.  Rather than be anonymous, she regularly shares with all her friends, and has lots of followers both on the blog itself and on her Facebook Page.  I, on the other hand, have many fewer*: Follow this Blog, Like my Page and share with your friends!

*Is it Much Fewer, Many Fewer, Much Less or Many Less?  I feel it could be any of them except many less.  Fewer is for discrete objects, and people are discrete rather than continuous - I hope I don't come across half a person, for example! 

Anyway, back to my friend.  She gets sent products to review and keep - why haven't I thought of that!?! So any authors out there, who want me to review your book, I would be delighted to read and review them.  Any writers (cooks/chefs/other) of cookery books, especially ones purporting to aide weight loss, healthy eating, low carb etc I will definitely like to review and try out some of the recipes.  And anyone else who wants me to review anything, please get in touch, or I might have to do it the hard way, and actually write to publishers, manufacturers, and promoters myself.

It has sparked a thought, that I have had in the past, before I even started up my blog, about joining Amazon Associates.  It is actually much easier than I thought, and I can now say "As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases".  I just need to go back through my blog, updating everywhere I have linked to an Amazon book.

Happy New Year!

The Christmas season has passed by very quickly! 

We had a quiet Christmas day at home with just the four of us.  It was really relaxed, good company and good food.  The week after Christmas we visited my family in one part of the country and my husband's family in another.  Then we spent New Year's evening at a friend's house playing games whilst our children played together elsewhere.  And now we're back to reality with a bump. (Not literal - I am certainly not pregnant, now missing several vital parts! lol)

I enjoy getting a calendar every year from the girls for Christmas, and like to spend my NY day copying across new information and schedules.  This seems to be the worst year yet, as after this week, EVERY week is packed.  And my husband has finally badgered me enough to use a shared calendar on our phones, so I've put everything there too - only for him to say there's too much going on and he doesn't know when he needs to be where.  Men!

After chatting with the girls about any resolutions they may have, we have all decided to work together and help each other to achieve them.  My daughters' resolutions are to do with self-care (eg actually brushing their hair daily) and keeping their rooms tidy.

We don't have any pets.  I am allergic to cats and dogs, and other animals, but have said I would consider getting a dog, if... Now, I'm not stupid enough to say "if you look after it" because I'm the adult and I know my children won't immediately be able to switch on that responsibility.  It would be unfair on the dog for it to arrive and for me to not pick up the slack.  So, I went with something else. ...you can prove you're responsible enough to have a pet by keeping your bedrooms tidy for 6 months in a row.  Not perfect.  Not "showhome".  But reasonably tidy and having a clear floor at the end of the day.  My children's bedrooms are not massive, especially given the number of toys they own, but they do have a playroom where all their junk toys can be thrown stored, and I haven't said that room has to be tidy.  Thankfully for me, it's at the top of the house, so I don't have to think about it!

As for me, my resolutions are to do with self-care too.  Namely, being positive in my mind, being positive about how I fuel my body, and being positive about moving my body more.  I am changing my mindset, so there is no such thing as "failure" or "bad days", but instead they are learning opportunities, from which I can grow, learn and do better next time.

2B Mindset has a sale going on some of its products.
And BodyGroove has a 30day challenge for you to join in and move your body!

Christmas is getting closer!

Just over a week until Christmas, and things are finally starting to slow down in the Middle-aged Mum household. 

Most of the presents are wrapped and around the tree.  Now the girls are older, the presents are generally getting smaller, and we don't have to worry about them opening any before Christmas.  They still look, of course, and get excited any time they see one to themselves, but they know they can only touch the label and nothing else.

All the admin stuff I had to do before Christmas has been done: I have finished tutoring for the year, I have completed all the forms for a residential trip I'm organising next year, and I have bought various prizes that we have won for winning Beat the Street in our local area - including donations for a local homeless charity.  The girls have stopped any formal Home Ed they have been doing; their classes have stopped, though dancing continues until the end of this week.

So after having a Tesco shop arrive this morning, most of this weeks will be various Christmas activities.  Lots of baking, we have a HE Christmas Party tomorrow, a friend is hosting a party on Thursday, and we are seeing our town's Pantomime in the theatre on Friday.  Next week, my husband only has Christmas Day and Boxing Day off work, so when we visit family afterwards it'll just be myself and the girls driving up and back.

I will be trying to get the balance between Christmas cheer and eating healthily (water first and veggies most), but will not restrict what I eat.  My aim for this Christmas period is to not gain wait and keep practising the basic principles; any loss will be a bonus. I would like to start getting into the habit of Grooving round the house too, when music comes on.

Merry Christmas everyone, and yes, to the eagle-eyed among you, we do still have our homemade Halloween bunting still up.

God Bless xxx

Crazy Thoughts

So, since passing the 2B Mindset Mentor Certification last night, I've been having some crazy thoughts.

I would like to help other people, and preferably make money doing it.  However, I'm not sure I want to become a Beachbody Coach.  Whilst I would like to get commission for selling the 2B Mindset, from what I've read, in order to make money as a Beachbody Coach you have to sell a lot of products, not least because you have to pay to be able to call yourself a Beachbody Coach.  Doing the 2B Mindset, I like the fact that anyone can do it, and you don't need any specific equipment (except purchasing the videos in the first instance, and a set of scales to monitor your progress) nor any supplements.  One such supplement is Shakeology, and I know people who absolutely love it, so have no qualms promoting and selling it.  That's not me, however.  If people want to have shakes every day and it suits your lifestyle, great.  But, I don't want to feel that I have to flog endless amounts of something I don't use (I prefer to make a green smoothie from scratch) in order to make a profit.  Not only that, in order to progress through the ranks, you need to recruit people to become coaches themselves, and again, that doesn't sit well with my personality.



As I'm now qualified, I can join the Master Team, which does cost a nominal amount, but I don't know what it involves?  If I can make money through it without being a Beachbody Coach, then it's probably worth it for me. However, if all the Tips, Support and Community are specifically for building up the 2B aspect of being a Beachbody Coach, then I don't think I want it.


Now, this is where my thinking is starting to go a bit silly...


Another Health/Wellbeing/Fitness thing I really like is Body Groove and The World Groove Movement.  Personally, I love dancing.  I like how I feel when I've been dancing; whether that be in a Ceroc Class (which I love, but am not particularly good at), in a club/party or even just dancing
round my living room in my slipper-socks.  I've been following Misty Tripoli on Facebook for a few years now, and it's something that I think fits really well with the 2B Mindset of positivity towards our health and our bodies.

There is training coming to the UK in March!  I don't know if I'm going through a mid-life crisis atm (though of course, I'm not yet middle aged), or if I have more confidence after recently starting an Adult Musical Theatre class, or if I'm finally at the age where I don't give a fuck anymore and want to do what I want, but I'm really really really really tempted to sign up for it.  It's "only" $500, and as it's in London I'll have to pay for transport and a hotel for that weekend.  Ahem, I'm not made of money! And I haven't yet discussed it with my husband, either...

Again, it's one of those things that if I become qualified I'll have to pay annually to be able to use the Groove trademark etc, but is a similar cost to the 2B costs so not too bad.  I've done a basic cost outline, and if I can hire the dance studio my girls go to (which do hire them out for fitness classes) and charge £7 per hour session, for 42 weeks of the year (roughly term-time), then I only need 4 people to come each week to make a profit [excluding the initial training costs].  That also excludes insurance, which I haven't considered at all yet.  But 4 people a week, doesn't seem impossible.  And whilst I don't necessarily feel comfortable dancing in front of loads of people, in this situation everyone is in their own zone, rather than watching/copying each other, so I'd only have to shout out various instructions (and join in), rather than teaching a set routine with all eyes on me.

I think it's do-able, but I don't know if I'm crazy?