The girls and I went to the park today, but on the way after I shouted to A to mind the dog poo she swerved and fell straight in it. SO, YOU DOG LOVERS... EXPLAIN THAT! We were just round the corner so we ran home and put clothes straight in wash and started again. Should have taken the omen and stayed in, as A then hurt her nose and knees later on. We met a man with his children at the park who is Portuguese but left 25 years ago, and is not going back for 5 more years as he ran away from National Service and if he went back would have to do it. Once you are 45 you are excused. Well, there's a story! We walked down to the Range, which we had not checked out yet, but the fabulous foot/cycle access from Thornhill is locked, so you have to walk a bit further to get there. It seems to be a very successful business model - an enormous, out of town Woolies. Why didn't Woolies think of that? Bought a few craft things and let the girls have an early tea in KFC, not something they do very often, so very excited about eating chicken covered in spicy dust. Tennis this morning for the girls and I had a very deep conversation with a couple of tennis course mates who R and I have played a few times. We were talking about parents and step families and the difficulties of relating to people. All very thoughtful.

When we got home, mum and dad had already got here in a taxi from the cruise they have been on. It sounds amazing, I think I would love all the activities available to do on board and the sense of community that must somehow develop between 2000 guests and 1000 staff or whatever it is on such a huge ship. They had been to Rome, Monte Carlo, Corsica, Barcelona, Gibraltar and Palma and had great weather throughout. I meanwhile had benefited from driving dad's car to work which I really appreciated as the weather has been so cold and wild this week. His car is an Agila, the same as G Mary and, now, would you believe it, R's sister in law! I mean, fair enough to buy a car that makes you look like postman Pat if you are over 65, but not before then, Maria, really! Dad has the 1 litre version, which has you begging for another gear when you get to 50mph on the motorway and milk floats are overtaking you. It would be enough to get Jeremy Clarkson on a bike, driving one of those. Still MUSTN'T GRUMBLE as am on the insurance now for both the grandparently Agilas and it was very generous and I am very grateful to have had the freedom to get to work dry this week.

Have noticed more of those Gravel Pits posters with exclamation marks.

I changed the font size for my mum, but she has this amazing software anyway which makes everything enormous and talking. On a computer screen, she has not invented some super power that brings tables and things to life.

I forgot to tell you about my salsa dancing evening, in honour of a very good friend who was 40, we went to El Sabilo in Winchester for a beginners lesson and a very tasty feast of tapas, with loads for vegetarians, and loads to eat. The instructor was great fun and we all swapped around partners so we got to dance with all the men, it was lots of fun and I could see how I had improved. Sadly my regime does not allow for dancing nights, and it was back to the tennis on Monday and Tuesday. I had quite a bad back after the dancing.

Amanda asked if she could give me some advice tonight. 'Bring it on!' I replied, thinking that I had given her more than enough and the tide needed to turn. 'You should dye your hair. I can see some grey ones.' Well thanks, can't think who I could attribute them to! Said it was a sign of wisdom. Am feeling old.

She cooked tea for us all tonight and looked after the girls from 4 onwards and did very well. Now she is out helping at Brownies, though think its more for her enjoyment of her refound childhood really. Had a family game of Monopoly ( Disney version - £4 in charity shop) and she said it was the first time she has sat down with a family to play a game.

Today I took photos of my class doing PE, cos there was a PE specialist in doing the lesson so I got to watch and learn. Then some of my children took photos of all the cars in the staff car park for a Maths lesson. My camera also had the photos of fungi the children took on our walk in Telegraph woods on Sunday. Luckily for you, I won't be blogging these various pictures, mainly cos I struggle to do so, but also because such a mix on a collage is beyond even my tolerance level for bizarre.

We learned about the gunpowder plot today, they love it all, all the plotting and torture and all that stuff. I spent a long time explaining that G Fawkes did not wear a big hat and a lace collar to stand out from the crowd, but to blend in. It is an unfeasibly difficult subject to explain at a level for 6 year olds. This was my snopsis. King James was a bully. He didn't like people who were different from him. He told them to go away or go to prison. Some of them didn't like him being a bully and stood up to him and decided to get revenge by killing him. It didn't work. The bully wins and we all celebrate. Great! How do I deal with the Protestant /Catholic split when you don't do the Tudors till Year 4? And by the way, I am the history coordinator at my school now so these things matter!

Two interesting stories on the news with a God slant. First, about compulsory sex ed for 15 year olds - for heaven's sake, what planet do these people live on? And the soundbites were from the Muslim Council ( against) and the C of E and RC churches (for). Why do they think that churches are the people to ask about sex ed? Interesting huh?

Then, another God story, the poor murderer who confessed in a prayer and was bugged and that got him sentenced as guilty of murder of his mother in law. I mean, apart from my mother in law, obviously, who hasn't thought about murdering theirs at some point? And Jesus says thinking it is the same as doing it in terms of our heart's standing. Or similar. Poor guy. The murdere, not Jesus. Having a quiet prayer at a desperate time. I expect God heard his prayer and I hope he finds a way to a genuine relationship with God in prison, as many seem to do.

Have borrowed my dad's car this week and been really glad as it has been suddenlt bitterly cold and I have had a lot of work to bring home. Worked from 7.45-6.30 at school without a break and then from 9.45-11.30 at home. I did eat my lunch, but it was a working lunch talking to my new job share partner at the same time. She seems great! Laid back and smiley. Opposite of me then. Neurotic and frowning.

Hi, didn't get to finishing as H woke up and she was lovely and dressed and not grumpy. I shot off to play tennis for an hour while A and A watched CBeebies, my tennis truly shocking today, after being 40-0 up I lost a game after going to Advantage Deuce 3 times. Honestly it was like a Wimbledon final, the crowd were on the edge of their seats.

Today has been very exciting for our holiday plans. After a throwaway remark that we hadn't been to Switzerland for a while ( although we did last February, but a different part of Switzerland) we convinced Granny Mary to act and she booked us all flights to go next summer to stay in Wilderswil, near Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland. Suddenly panicked into making plans I booked flights for next year's travel to Portugal to see Paul and Jackie. So, on Saturday we had no holiday plans ( apart from skiing in Feb and R skiing in April) and now we do have two plans!

H is at orchestra and comes home now on her own - what a grown up girl. I know its only across the road but still, its growing up. I remember being at junior school and walking home with my PE kit and a 20lb pumpkin after having swum two miles in the school pool. Them were the days.

I got out in the garden today and attacked some of the weeds and various dead plants, also harvested two decent carrots and two decent beetroot, and noticed some rocket doing really well still. Nasturtiums still great, so rocket and nasturium salad with beetroot and carrot tonight.

A week later, and I was tempted to go out this morning for a run as the sun is shining, but as A was poorly last night I want to be here when she wakes up. Both the girls have been ill, H sounds like Marj Simpson with her croaky throat, and on Thursday she just sneezed solidly for a couple of minutes before the sore throat happened. A was shivering yesterday tea time and had no appetite, we forgot and she seemed ok when we left at 7pm, but when we got back at 11pm she was hot as a bag of chips (is that a good simile?) and Amanda's nursing skills had reached their limit. With a bit of Calpol she had a full night's sleep - well, she didn't wake me up - and so I am planning on letting them both wake themselves up and school is an option for H if she up for it, and not for A. Need to lie low I think. We had Angus staying last week and he went home with a mystery cough which came on about 4 hours before he was due home, and when we got there his tincy incy brother had a cough. So I think the Little Bookham germs are to blame.

Despite being stricken by plague, we have been making the most of half term as you are accustomed to. On Tuesday we took girls and Angus to Paulton's park, and Angus was great for me as he not big enough/keen enough for scary rides, so I got to look after him and go on the tractors twice and train twice. He did go on the log flume, and then I and A had another go, she loves it all. It was a really bright and sunny day and warm, perfect Paulton's weather and really not that busy, the biggest queue was for the Stinger which was only waiting for 2 goes before you. Sadly I had to decline that as Angus too small. Oh rats! As usual I bumped into 4 children from Berrywood, though not the usual Ben and Charlie combo who I normally meet when I am out doing fun things with the girls.

We have a new office chair in the playroom, it is big and black and swivels so I feel a little like Sir Alan Sugar. I have more facial hair.

Wednesday was A's birthday, with 24 children and a bouncy castle, we had it at the youth centre which has been redecorated and looks really decent now. All the children were well behaved and pleasant, and all went well with R doing the mass catering of hot dogs and chips. A seemed very happy with how it went, and it was nice to have Angus there for the occasion. He is into balloons and parties in a big way, so perfect for him. At the end of the two hours I had significantly more grey hairs than at the start, but good to give my hairdresser something to do.

We then travelled up to Surrey to drop Angus off and have a few nights break at my mum and dad's. Phew! We had tea at Granny Mary's, with the Skitts who were staying. Bizarrely, they were in on A's birthday celebrations last year, when we were in Austria and they came over for her birthday tea. We shall have to start making arrangements with them to ensure we are in the same country as them every year. Next year, Mexico!

On Thursday we took the train up to London (after a lovely run for me across Arbrook common) and went to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. We arranged to meet Sarah and Katie ( Evans, not Gale) for a picnic lunch outside the museum, which is at the end of their road. The museum is interesting and free and you spend the whole time gong 'I remember them!' at every display case. Duncan would like it, and Rob G. Which probably doesn't sell it to the rest of you. Matthew, you would too but you have probably already been. Goodness me now I have told the universe that it appeals to the triumverate of geeks, only need to get Tim J on board and no one else would ever go. But, I like it too, OK, and I have a type A obsessive competitive disordered personality, so what I am saying is that all sorts of people like the Museum of Childhood and you would too.

One thing NO ONE would like is Hamleys at half term, our next stop as A has a book which tells her that Hamley's is the biggest toy shop in the world. I think ToysRUs would win on square footage, but still, Hamleys wins for fitting the most humans into the smallest space. They were giving out oxygen masks in the queue to get in. A had birthday money to spend but we managed to steer her away from spending most of it and she has eked it out and still has £10 left. We left, jsut about breathing, and walked down to Piccadily and into St James Park where we watched tourists feeding the squirrels ( yuk - vermin) and saw a pelican and went to the little play park in sight of Buck House. Then back over Westminster bridge in time to hear Big Ben do 5 and get on the train home at Waterloo. A lovely day, we were all tired out at the end of that. I used to like London when I worked there for 2 summers, but now I find the tube so stifling and the streets so busy, I am not used to so many people. I still do like going, just prefer walking to the tube, but that was always the case.

I went to the gym ( Esporta Kingston) in the evening and they were doing a swim clinic, so I joined in and found it useful to have a swimming teacher analyse my stroke. There was me and a guy who does tri who were doing crawl, and then 3 women doing very slow breast stroke, so we had long breaks in bwtween each length, but it was good to think about my stroke. Yesterday morning I was late for a swim date but met up with Lynn at the pool and we helped each other by watching each other and she really helped me as well, so I think my front crawl is a lot more consistent now. Time will tell, as the 2012 Olympics approaches and I will have to make my decision on which events to enter. I am thinking of showjumping at present but have a few obstacles to overcome.

On Friday we had a quiet day, in the afternoon we went to Kingston and I went in the gym and did my first 'brick' training session, think I overdid it as when R came in to find me he said 'goodness you have gone purple'. I really enjoyed the format, where you try and spend more calories each time you do a 10 minute block of CV, and lots of bike to run practice which will help me in the tri season next year, if the 3 day eventing doesn't take off. Then we had a family swim and both R and I went and did a set of front crawl - he did 2 actually but I was still at 150 bpm after the gym. We had a depressing car journey home, with 30 minutes to get out of the car park, Kingston just gridlocked and we were on the wrong side of it to get back to Claygate.

On Saturday, Mary came and took the girls and R to Wisley, where they carved pumpkins and we lit them when we got home and gave out sweets to the children of the neighbourhood, and then R roasted them and made pumpkin soup. Which was pretty good as it goes, pumpkin is a bit bland really isn't it? So he added lots of butter to make it tasty. While the wisleyevents wer happening I popped to Surbiton to check out the charity shops, only got some wellies for H, she is now a size 3 and a half, which is nearly a grown up size, and needs wellies for her upcoming school trip to Beaulieu, where she will spend 4 nights. She has to muck out cows and things like that, so wellies seems fairly essential on the kit list.

We had a happy halloween, thank you, I know some people not as laissez faire (think that the right term) as me about witches and goblins and yoga and herbal medicine, but then they all read Hary Potter, so think some standards a bit awry. Anyway, I think that literature is a great way to introduce children to the scary and the mysterious and I don't have a big problem with halloween as it is practised in Thornhill today. It is a real community event, with mums and dads walking about with their children, no children are out on their own, and its very chatty and social, the only problem is the fireworks which go on and on! So, that's my take on that, we had a nice time and I think we are as infected by the devil as we were before, thank you. However if you want to do a DIY exorcism on me for being blinkered to the evils of the night, you go right ahead in the comfort of your own home and I appreciate your efforts on my behalf. Sincerely, any prayer gratefully received for anything, although particularly for my pumpkins to grow bigger next year.

We had an All Saints day Messy Church, and it all went really well, I think having a programme and finally everyone knowing what they are doing and everyone playing to their strengths made it a really chilled out event. The children seemed happy and the adults joined in without too much arm twisting, as R said, this is all we have! This is our church. Amy puts it nicely, she says we are not all related but we are all in the same family, God's family.

Today I awoke early and drove to work for 7am and then did a run which took me 1 hour 10 minutes and was glorious, perfect sunshine and I ran along the front at Hamble and then through the woods and along a bit more sea front back to Royal Vic and then through the park. Saw a few dog walkers but no other runners. Caught a refuse collector doing a very apologetic wee up against a tree. He was apologetic to me about being caught with his flies undone, rather than the wee being pathetic, it was quite gushing actually since you ask.

We have the lovely cousin Angus staying and also had ma and pa down for lunch. Angus says that everything is boring which is a sad state of affairs when you are 3. I think he just says it to be funny as everyone laughs. We were talking about TVs in bedrooms for some reason, and he said that he didn't have one but Toby Saunders does. Well, Toby Saunders parents, TAKE IT OUT NOW! Having a TV in your child's room is one of the most damaging things you can do for your child's socialisation, verbal skills and sleep habits. In my humble opinion, clearly.

Last night I did have a pathetic attempt at swimming, it was very hot and I was trying to use my float to make me use my legs for crawl. A man gave me some advice on my stroke, which is much needed, and it turned out that he is the guy who has been faithfully texting me with the tri club plans even though I have never been on one of his cycle rides. Anyway, he inspired me to go along to one of the swim training nights at the club on a Tuesday. Reading my tri magazine and Runners magazine have spurred me on to keep training and maybe one day do an Ironman. I mean, to run a marathon is one thing but to do it after a 100 mile bike ride and a 2 mile swim is something else. Proper triathletes train for 15-20 hours a week. I don't know how that would work for me right now. Had chips from the chip shop for tea. Followed by yummy chocolate cake made entirely by H with a little help from her little cousin.