Reasons to be Cheerful

Today, the news has been telling us that GCSE results are down for the first time ever.  English exams have been marked really harshly with the grade A boundary being raised by 10%.  Thankfully, neither of these statistics have been relevant to my daughter!  Ella has done amazingly well and got six A*s, two As and two Bs.  Her A*s are in both English Literature and Language, Maths, German, Geography and Chemistry.   Her results are even more remarkable because of the problems that she has endured this last year.  I hope her success proves to her just how brilliant she is.  We are so proud of her for so many reasons!

We officially have taken our house off the market having missed the window of opportunity for relocating.  With the new term about to start I am not going to give my children any unnecessary upheaval.  Freddy is due to start nursery, Kizzy is going into year 5 and Ella, with her fabulous grades, will be starting a new college to study her A'Levels.  Although I initially wanted to escape this place, things have changed.  Throughout the summer Ella's circle of friends have become closer and tighter and my house has become the place to be.  Last night we had seven 16 year olds sleep over, so they could go to collect their results together.  They are all good kids and it makes me so happy to see my daughter having fun with such a lovely bunch.  They have forbidden us to move!  I am happy to stay.

Ella and her friends with their results.

My amazing 16 year old daughter!

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I also heard some really sad news this week, as a lad who we knew very well has died while at V Festival.  He was one of my son Joe's best friends when they were growing up on the estate where we used to live.  He spent a lot of time at our house and was a real cheeky chappy.  He always made us smile with his antics.  It is so tragic that he has died aged just 22.  The coroner's report has proved inconclusive.  Although this obviously isn't a reason to be cheerful, it reminds us to hold our loved ones closer and be so grateful for each other.  RIP Timmy x

Things That Make Me Smile!

Reasons To Be Cheerful This Week

This week has seen two really fabulous pieces of news come our way.  Firstly, after over two months of being on redundancy notice, Ian's job is now officially safe.  Someone else taking another job made enough room for manoeuvre to save Ian's role (although the other bloke up for redundancy with him is not so lucky.) So for now we can breathe again!

Secondly, my gorgeous daughter Megan has graduated with a high 2:1 in Business Marketing and Management.  She's got some interviews lined up for internships and marketing roles and intends to carry on living in Manchester.  I'm so incredibly proud of her; her ambition, her tenacity and her drive.  She refuses to take a backward step, always looking onward and upwards, however hard that is.  Plus she is a wonderful daughter!

Thirdly I have made some top buys this week that have made me very happy!

Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson

I bought this book as my summer read, but read it in two days because I couldn't put it down.  S J Watson is actually a friend of one of my friends, who is credited in the acknowledgements.  I've seen him chat on Facebook with the author at the time the book was released and have had an interest in reading it ever since.  I finally got around to buying it this week and I'm so glad I did.  

It is a tense, psychological thriller revolving around a woman with a rare form of amnesia following an accident.  In an attempt to piece together her life, in which she is unable to make or store new memories, she begins to write a journal which she re-reads every day.  She soon realises that she is not being told the whole truth.  As the story progresses we share her doubts, her fears and her confusion in this brilliantly written book.  I loved how the plot unravels through her suspicions, as written in her journal, giving us clues and doubts alongside plausible explanations for everything that happens.   Forget Christian Grey...buy this instead!

  

Festival Wellies From Primark

We have booked up to go to The M Fest Family Music and Food Festival in Leeds.  Given the unpredictability of British Summertime, we have prepared ourselves for all eventualities...from sun cream and sunglasses to wellies and waterproofs.  I was so happy when I found these cute little boots in Primark for just £10!  They are comfy and more usable than full length wellies...plus they are girly with a leopard skin print design and a bow!  I'll be rocking that festival chic look!

My last reason to be cheerful this week is the fact that Ian has a good friend with a great allotment who is kind enough to share!  We received a huge bag of rhubarb, a fraction of which I have photographed here!  I predict a plethora of crumbles and syllabubs ahead.

Reasons to be Cheerful

This week has been pretty good.  I enjoyed an impromptu lunch out with Ian and Freddy at a garden centre as Ian was working from home for the day on Wednesday.  We had a buy one get on free voucher so it was a bargain too.  Funny how food always tastes better when it's free!

We had a little wander around and bought Freddy a lolly which he thoroughly enjoyed. I remembered how much I hate lollies when he started biting on it, but he loved it and I'm not going to deprive him of a treat!

My Boy Lollipop

I am very cheerful that the snow has melted although more is forecast for tonight.  We had fun in the snow, but I'm always glad to see the back of it!  Freddy found one of the remaining lumps of snow which he promptly threw at his dad!

The Last Snowball!

We had our house valued yesterday and were quite surprised that it was worth more than we thought.  Although that doesn't necessarily mean we will sell it, it is nice to know how much equity we have to play with should it all go ahead.  In de-cluttering and tidying, I have re-discovered many of the things I really like about this house, so I'm a lot happier in that respect.  Our bedroom had become a dumping ground, but it has been restored into a haven of tranquillity now it's all tidy and uncluttered!  Next step is to sell/donate and dump everything we've sorted out to go.  Each step we take feels so cathartic and moves us towards where destiny will take us!

My kids continue to delight, amaze and astound me everyday.

Megan has just come back from Paris and survived Arctic temperatures, an attempted pick pocketing and a mis-understanding with a bus driver who thought she had propositioned him when all she asked was whether he had a bin!!  It could only happen to my Megs!!

Freddy has had absolutely no potty related accidents and he has stayed dry every night.  What a star!  I'm such a happy mummy :)

Link up at Michelle's and discover more reasons to be cheerful!

Reasons to be Cheerful First of 2012

Can you believe it! Michelle's Reasons to be Cheerful has reached its first anniversary.  Over the last year she has reminded us to find the good in our everyday lives, smile at the little things and be aware of how blessed we really are.
So, here we are in 2012 and ready to see the positives every week in this brand new year.  Things haven't started brilliantly for us so far.  I've had a fall, the wind has destroyed our fences and we've all got re-runs of our coughs and colds.
However, there are always things to be cheerful about!
1:  We had a wonderful Christmas this year at Ribby Hall Holiday village.  All my children were together along with Joe's girlfriend and my parents for a magical experience.  We saw Santa, we had an amazing Christmas dinner, we went swimming, me and Ian had a Spa Day and we shared lots of love and laughter.  Ian also gave me the engagement ring and proposal I have waited 15 years for!  (OK so we are already married...but it's never too late!)  I'm still on a high!
2:  I fell over, as I mentioned above, and although my hand swelled up and bruised, I didn't break it.  Thinking about the prospect of having a cast filled me with dread so I am breathing a huge sigh of relief!  A reason to be cheerful indeed.
3:  I am enjoying having my daughter Megan home for an extra week before she returns to university.  It's lovely having her company.  The little girls are back at school so having my big girl home has softened the blow.  I just wish we weren't both riddled with germs.
Link up at Mummy From the Heart and share your reasons to be cheerful!