Read instructions before use

Someone once told me, or I read, or I saw or I heard that you could stuff all the expensive fancy eye creams - the best thing to get rid of big dark baggy rings under your eyes was Preparation H.

I have a few of the expensive (bought for me as gifts) and inexpensive (self-purchsed) eye creams but still look like an extra from the Michael Jackson 'Thriller' video, so decided to give the Preparation H a shot.

So I am layering it on and my 'ever-curious-soon-to-be-hormonal-but-already-experimenting-with-mummy's-cosmetics' daughter is watching me and studying the packaging and after a moments deliberation pipes up with 'mummy, why does it say to put it on after you go to the toilet?'

Good question. Who would like to answer??

I want to be a Play Therapist when I grow up

It all started in a year 8 employability class when one of the pupils asked me what I'd like to do when I grew up.

Stage two was when we had to take Dolly up to hospital rather unexpectedly last week to have a series of scans and tests done. Now you would think that to an eight year old all the prodding, scanning, probing, jabbing and widdling on demand might seem a tad disconcerting, as it certainly was for mum.

Not at all. Thanks not only to the super medical staff on the ward and in the radiology department, but largely to the wards Play Therapist.

Don't you mean physiotherapist I hear you say. No. Play Therapist. Someone who looked after the little patients by providing suitable games, puzzles, activities and crafts to keep them occupied between examinations and tests.

Someone who explained in child friendly terms exactly what would be happening and why. I found that useful myself! Someone who played 'Where's Wally?' to expertly distract whilst bloods were being taken. And someone who made mums and dads a proper mug of tea.

Brilliant job, and that's what I want to be when I grow up.

PS Dolly say hospital fish and chips are the best in the world

PPS all tests came back clear :-)

Sent from my iPhone

Life without the internet

First the router, now the modem. Makes you realise just how reliant
you have become on the old tinterweb when you don't have it.

Im going to have to actually walk into a shop to buy my groceries!
And does anyone know if you can book a hotel by telephone?

Worst of all, no access to online coverage of tomorrows Ulster match.
Might have to see if I can borrow a wireless set for that one.

So, if you're trying to communicate with me in a hurry, you might want
to forego email and try the phone. I'm sure we have a landline
somewhere...

Sent from my iPhone

Nice day for it

We had a bomb scare in town today, about half a mile from where I am currently working. That meant police checkpoints and roads closed and diversions and big traffic tailbacks.

I was sitting in the tailbacks thinking where else but Belfast would you see people move out into the streets to watch a bomb scare? Hairdressers and their customers all standng at the cordon watching the bomb disposal robot approaching the package. Men with pints lounging against the wall watching and chatting with the police at the cordons. Mums with prams and shopping chatting while taking in the goings on. Kids hangning out of windows overlooking the site. And me sitting in the traffic queue with the roof down on the mini.

Of course, if it had been raining, that would have been a completely different story! Wouldn't it be good if it could be like this all the time?? ;-)

This arrived today

I need a (virgin) man

I haven't been able to use my desktop for some time as first of all I
had a router issue and now I have an ongoing Internet issue. I feel
the resurgance of my love affair with the Virgin man coming on!

Hmmmm. Judy, do you think ...??

Sent from my iPhone, and thank the Lord I have it!!

Father Ted moment

I was showing some pupils pictures of Paris and we had already oohed and ahhed at the Eiffel Tower when I switched to a picture of the Arc de Triomphe nicely lit up at night.

One pupil suddenly says 'look Miss, there's that other tower in the picture too. WOW! That arch must be massive, the tower looks tiny beside it.'

I actually heard myself saying it ... no, it's not small, it's just .....

Economics

Reading a post on Steve's blog reminded me of an experience I had myself.

In sixth form I too studied Economics. I did the 'O' level in one year (I have a B grade Steve) and in the second year went on to do the 'A' level, where I didn't do quite so well ;-) As part of our course we were encouraged to buy an entire set of essay answers written by a professor of Economics from the London School of Economics, which I of course did.

Having done well enough to get to university I followed a degree that required a certain amout of Economics knowledge so in the first year we had lectures in Economics. The module was assessed by an assignment, the title of which was 'What is the function of the Bank of England?'

Now, there was a girl who had not only been at my school, but also in my 'A' level Economics class doing the same course as me, and we were the only two in the entire year group who had ever studied Economics before. We decided that, rather than re-invent the wheel, we would just copy our 'What is the function of the Bank of England?' essay from our set of essay answers written by a professor of Economics from the London School of Economics because, frankly, we had a dozy old codger for lectures who wasn't even going to notice that she'd received two identically written essays.

We expected A grades, as you would. Disappointing then when my copy of the professor of Economics essay was graded at C- and my friends identical copy of the professor's essay got a B+. Go figure