Today the children at school wrote their own books. They have done loads of hard work lately, and this was a free choice afternoon for them to write a fiction or non fiction tome of their own. I was delighted with the responses, and as they took them home, most of them keenly to finish them off, it meant no marking for me at a time when I am marking assessment pieces and writing reports, plus planning a trip and a unit of english. Not thought about maths yet. Anyhow, I was delighted with the books I saw, which included a non fiction book called 'Football Shooting Strategies' and a version of a Nick Sharratt book, you know those ones where you open half the page and get something funny, like a cheesy princess, cos half the picture goes with the other half of another picture. Well impressed, I was! My favourite title was from an adorable boy who does not find writing easy. It was called 'The dragon and the nit'. Why should a dragon be bothered by a nit, I thought. Then I realised that he has not yet grasped the igh sound, or the i-e way of writing it, and silent k is a mystery beyond him at this tender age. So yes, it was not an original piece about a dragon with a nit infestation, but the classic Knight in shining armour slaying a dragon story.

I got back on the Slimming World wagon on Tuesday night. Despite all my exercise, my weight has crept up to 2.5 lbs above my target zone. And I think now is the time to get it back down in that zone, rathe than when its a few more lbs to deal with. I think with all the cycling I have got complacent and eaten more flapjacks, cakes etc than I would previously have done. So its back to Muller lights for me! In my absence from a Slimming World class ( over 2 years) they have gone all digital, with cards you get your data stored on, a great website with easy syns online to look up and a little reader thingy for the consultant to see your stats at a glance. i am pleased to say, for those of you who love the classic Slimming World set up, there is still a raffle with tickets and a basket of fruit for slimmer of the week. Claire, who runs this class and a million others around Hedge End, is one of the nationally amazing consultants, and is inspiring and lots of fun, and the sister of my ex job share partner at Berrywood, would you believe!

Things that made me laugh lately included cycling around the Isle of Wight. You have to read my other blog at Bike Radar for the full cycling story, but it was the most beautiful day out in the sunshine, 10 hours in the saddle, with the lovely Vicky and Rachel, two of the NCT gang from pre Hannah days. Their bikes were not really up to Millook standard, so to spite me they made me go further up more hills while taking a cross country short cut.

R and H had a great sailing day on Saturday, they were on the water for 5 hours, then H spent a further 2 hours in the water, playing with 4 other girls who she seems to get on really well with down at the club. I had a very special A day, with lots of walking in the woods and going on the train and eating ice cream together ( solero, 5 syns). We were walking along a board walk and got to a bridge. It was narrow, so I asked her if she wanted to go first. She said yes, quickly changed to a 'no, mummy, you go first, there might be a troll. ' So its ok if I get eaten by a troll. She was also concerned that there were crocodiles in the pond and wasn't convinced by my assertions that crocs and alligators don't live in Hampshire. We stamped loudly over the bridge to scare the troll off.

All my cycling is leading to a cycling tan, which goes up to just above my knees, and the bottom two thirds of my arms, despite all the suncream I slap on. I am going to have to try cycling in either my winter leggings again, or a thong, to get a more even colour. I don't know which would be worst option.

Today I had some time at the gym with Andy, the inspiring instructor who believes in health for life rather than doing something cos you ought to. We just have a chat about how things are going with my various events and training and he helps me to think about balance and what I enjoy. I commend him to you. He does sports massage as well if you ever need it, so he tells me.

Apart from work and exercise, I am reading a book by Henri Nouwen called The Prodigal Son. Clearly I am a bit slow on this bandwagon, but having read the Prodigal God by Tim someone twice back in jan/feb, this particular story still has strong messages for me and Henri writes so honestly and is easy to read, and gets me thrilled to the fingertips with the message of God's acceptance and love for me.