Home Ed Activity Residential

So last week was the long-awaited for HE Residential.

Wow!  It was amazing!

We went with JCA Adventures, and we couldn't have asked for a better week for the kids.  The weather was great, there was a huge number of activities on offer, and the instructors were absolutely fantastic.  Both instructors Mike and Molly had a really big rapport with the kids, they were energetic and encouraging, without being forceful - that was one of my fears, that the instructors would force the kids to do things they didn't want to do, and make life miserable for everyone.  But, it wasn't like that at all, they were brilliant.  They took charge, and made life easy for us supervisors/parents.

I even managed to do something extreme for me!

Over 25 years ago, when I went on my residential to Skern Lodge in primary school.  When younger I used to be quite active and went on many outings with Mendip Outdoor Pursuits.  I preferred water-sports (especially kayaking) but gave everything a go, and would look forward to the Christmas Caving Party each year.  However, I had (and still have) a fear of heights, so though I have tried climbing and abseiling, they are not for me!  Anyway, at Skern Lodge we did abseiling.  As I had done it before and knew I didn't like it, I didn't want to do it.  Everybody had a turn, and they persuaded me to have a go.  And I did it... but it took me 30min to abseil 124ft, and meant we missed lunch; but I did get the Abseiling Award Certificate, lol.

So anyway, after a week's worth of activities, and seeing all the children doing amazing things and push themselves, I had a go and did the Leap of Faith!

At the top of the 12m pole is a small platform  (no bigger than 1 square metre), and then you had to jump to a trapeze suspended in the air a little way away.  Ok, so I didn't jump.  I couldn't even stand on the platform!  But I did manage to climb up the rope ladder, hold on to the top as the pole was swaying in the wind, and bum-shuffle my way to the edge and lift off it.

Given I don't normally go above 3 steps on a ladder, and I can't go up spiral staircases (they type of you in church towers or castles) at all, this was a huge achievement for me!

Unfortunately, the organisational side of things let them down - we were given the wrong rooms when we arrived on Monday, and when group 2 arrived on the Wednesday; the catering for allergy sufferers wasn't as good as it could have been; and even the souvenirs that we had purchased had a spelling mistake on them!  Fortunately, none of the kids were affected by these issues (and we will be sent new merchandise with the correct spelling), so I have come away thinking that I could do it again next year.  So when I posted previously Remind Me Not To Do This Again, please keep reminding me, as though there were hiccups (and shout-out to Sarah who was fantastic at sorting everything out for us on-site) I've come away with happy memories and wanting to do it all again...

Weekly Update No20

(Yes, No19 is missing.  I did consider calling this one No19, but thought it best to stick to being aligned with the weeks.)

My weight this morning was 94.7kg, so I have put on weight over last week.  I'm not surprised, because last week the food was bountiful!  There was a buffet for each meal, so although there was a choice on the menu, you could mix and match what you wanted.

On Monday I ate too much and felt bloated.  In my head, I wanted to carb up as I knew I would be using more energy than normal. In fact, every day I more than doubled my daily step target (8K steps). But actually, I didn't need to eat that much.  So the rest of the week, I avoided extra potatoes/pasta/rice and had a main with a huge pile of salad.

Now I'm home, I'm going back to having smoothies and a proper dinner in the evening.  Tesco Man has already delivered today's shopping, so I'm looking forward to eating healthily again.

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, today's my birthday, and a friend set up a little party for me at a regular HE meet for the kids.

A vegan vanilla sponge, covered in icing and fruit, jam doughnuts, crisps and more fruit on the side. Yum. (I'm not vegan, but my friend is.  The cake was lovely and moist, really sweet and delicious.)

When there, I was asked what I had been given for my birthday, I had to confess that I'd received nothing so far.  

Actually, that's strictly not true, as I know some family have put some money straight in my bank account - since we were kids, my sister and I have given each other a fiver for our birthdays.  As her birthday was yesterday (though there are 2 years between us), I would giver her a £5note, marked somewhere, so I could tell whether she had returned the same money to me or not!  As we're not in the 21st century, we do the same routine, but over bank transfer!

I do know of two presents that I am getting today.  The first because DD1 kept repeating that my husband had bought a CD, despite that he was trying his best to stare at her, and convince her to stop talking, and that she shouldn't be saying anything, because he definitely did not buy a CD...  DD1 just did not pick up on it at all, until I stated quite calmly that my birthday was in a couple of days, and perhaps the CD was for me, and that he didn't want me to know because it was meant to be a surprise, and that he was pulling that silly face because he was trying to get DD1's attention to stop talking... "Oooooooh!!! Yes, we didn't buy anything. Nope!" No, of course not dear, lol.
And then yesterday, my husband said that he had bought me a new screen cover for my phone, which should arrive today, so that can be for my birthday too.

I had been subtle and send him a link to a massager that had been recommended to me, but he hadn't commented on it, lol.  Apparently it's very good for toning up the stomach muscles too.
And in totally unrelated news, it turns out that we have sex more often than the average couple so maybe the massager isn't needed. Sorry not sorry  for the TMI.

So, Happy Birthday to me!  After getting up at 7am for the washing machine repair man, going to our usual HE club in the afternoon, I am now sat waiting for DD1 to finish her dance lessons, so I can drive her to her gym lessons, whilst DD2 has more dance lessons, then my husband will pick her up.  And finally, I'll go to my church's growth group tonight. This is with new people as the previous 2 groups were getting too large, so they have split them again, so there are now 4 groups.  

I don't know what is planned for tea, but I hope my husband is buying cake.  Yes, I'm trying to lose weight, but it's my birthday only once a year.

Weekly Update No18

And the first time I missed Monday!  17 successful weeks isn't bad for someone with my memory! Haha.

I've gained weight again this week.  My usual up-and-down pattern is continuing.  I'm not going to dwell on it, but move on and try again.  It's my birthday tomorrow, and there will be cake.  I might even have a birthday week...

Then next week, I am supervising a load of HE children on an activity residential, so I won't have much control over what I eat (certainly won't be a smoothie for breakfast and lunch), but will probably be more active than I usually am.  If I remember, I'll try and post my weekly update on Sunday, otherwise Update No19 will be missing.

Musings about Bea Jaspert's Blog Post on being a Gender Critic

I've just read this blog post by Bea Jaspert on Medium.

It's really interesting reading, not least because I find myself ignorant, conflicted and confused by the matter. It is hard to find people who can coherently explain opposing points of view, without going tribal, us and them, and throwing insults around. I am ignorant (in the genuine sense) and I want to learn more. I understand there are some people who are intersex or have multiple sex chromosome combinations, beyond the simple XX or XY. I understand gender dysphoria**. What I don't understand is changing your gender identity when you don't want to change your body? I even understand, to a point, is changing the descriptor you use for yourself to a gender-neutral one, as a way to try and promote equality. What I struggle to understand is why can't we celebrate diversity, rather than seemingly forcing a change? As a child, I wore blue, I had more male friends than female, I got on better with boys, I loved football and had a season ticket at Old Trafford, I enjoyed maths and science, I hated fashion, make-up and especially shopping, I liked rock music, rather that pretty-boy-band pop, I drank pints... I could go on. I am female. I love being female, and I find it crazy that some girls with traits such as mine could be convinced that because of these external things, they may actually be a boy. Similarly, why can't boys like pink, wear dresses, play with dolls, like fairies over action heros, want to grow up to be a dad or a childminder or anything else, without people thinking they are gay (which they may or may not grow up to be) or considered to be less male? The world needs more caring men! Why are we so scared of diversity, that we're coming full circle almost and restricting things to male/female, but based on likes and dislikes, rather than science? I'm not even going to attempt to talk about things that I don't understand. I saw a meme comparing the treatment of Caster Semenya and Michael Phelps. I can't find that, but did find this article from the Washington Post talking about it. Again, I don't know the full details, but it appears from what I have read is that Caster Semenya is being treated totally unfairly. What I do know, however, it that women do need to have safe spaces. I spent a few months of my childhood living in a women's refuge, and I would hate to think that the women's safety and privacy could be shattered by a man, who identifies as a women. Before my words get twisted, I'm not accusing all men as being predatory, nor am I accusing all men who identify as women as doing so in order to be predatory, however, women who have finally got to the shelter of being in a women's refuge have been through hell. They need time to recover and grow. They will be on edge, they will be scared, they may make mass generalisations about men, but most of all they need time and they need to feel safe. Safety isn't just a physical thing, they need to mentally and emotionally recover too, and that may not happen if a man is present. If a female identifying trans person has suffered violence, yes, they need to be supported and made safe too. Just, as there are female refuges and male refuges, there should also be various gendered trans refuges too. Going back to Bea's blog, the comments about identifying as female in the boardroom, or in other scenarios, to claim businesses have equality etc. As a feminist, that is a terrifying prospect. Sexism is real and is innate within our culture. Big businesses are already known to be unethical, so this 'get-around' isn't as far-fetched as it might seem at first glance. So, am I a gender critic? I don't know. I don't understand enough either way to make that call.

**For clarity, I'm highlighting this has been edited. I previously mistakenly used the term body dysmorphia, rather than gender dysphoria. As I have repeatedly said, I am ignorant, so I apologise if I have accidentally offended anyone. That certainly wasn't my intention. If anyone reading this is confused about the terms, please read this article or this article.

Weekly Update No17

I've lost 1.5kilos since last Monday (over 3lbs) which is good going.  I'm not getting overly hungry having just a smoothie during the day (not least because I'm being 'naughty' and having a whole bottle a day, rather than two thirds of one - it's only 500kCals in total, so I figure that's fine, the weightloss will just be slower), and am having a proper diner in the evening.

I've even eaten at a restaurant this week, carefully choosing to ensure I eat Veggies Most, and my weight is still slowly coming down.  Yey!

Other than that, I've been a bit quiet this week.  I got the results from my annual mammogram (until I have my mastectomy), and everything was clear.  I also had my ultrasound scan on my abdomen, because of the stomach pain I get. My gall bladder, pancreas, spleen, liver, kidneys and more were all checked, and all look healthy.  So no gall stones, and no pancreatitis. The next step is a camera down my throat to see what could be the problem.

I'm also not reading as fast as I normally would like.  A combination of factors, including the fact I'm trying to keep reading 50 Bible Chapters each week, which is taking up some of my time in the evenings.  I'm still ploughing through Lorna Doone, which I'm enjoying but need to be awake enough to read it (which usually means, after I've read 15-20 chapters of the Bible, I'm too tired to concentrate).  I've also discovered the Chapters App, which are slightly animated short stories, and are really easy to read, chick lit where you can choose your own path. Some of the stories are more graphic than others, so not suitable for young children, but any teens that read Young Adult fiction would be fine.  I've even read one of the stories for real (Dirty Little Secrets by Liliana Hart - well worth reading) so they are real novels (rather than made-up fluff, for the app) and I'm interested in reading some of the real books to see how they compare to the choices I've made.

I've also started doing another MosaiCraft - DD2 had one that she can't be bothered to finish, so I'm completing it for her.  It should be finished next week.

Voss Water Bottle

Before our trip visiting family over Easter, I popped to the shops to buy drinks for the journey, and I was really impressed by something I found - Voss Water.  It costs only £1.80 in Asda, for 800ml of water.  At this point you may be thinking "Only? I can buy water for around 50p!" but the difference is that this water comes in a glass bottle!

Given, that buying good quality water bottles cost from a fiver upwards, with this, you get a reusable water bottle, plus mineral water, for less than two quid.  No more throw-away plastic, no more plastic that gets "recycled" by our councils (aka burnt as fuel or sent abroad), but eco-friendly glass.  I hope other water providers follow suit.