Did The Earth Move For You?

I'm asking this question because out of all the people I've seen today- people at work, my family, people at Songsters... only one person (and that was Claire Howell, who was probably just being nice) believed that I felt the earthquake last night. But I really did! For those of you who don't know, I live in Southend, which is quite a long way away from Lincolnshire. But there was a definitely a rumbling noise and movement- something in my room even rattled a bit. I was still trying to get to sleep when it happened, which is probably why nobody else felt it- I doubt it would have woken anybody up!

I know I'm not helping the drama queen thing... although after seeing Cloverfield, I have to admit that the thought 'What if someone has awoken a sleeping monster and it's stomping around?' very, very briefly crossed my mind. That is how overactive my imagination can be when it's dark and I'm on my own...

Anyway, not much else to report, apart from that I have relaxed the chocolate ban a little. I am now allowed chocolate mousse and chocolate custard (in other words, school desserts- although those two things aren't usually served on the same day). I tried to explain to the children that the mousse didn't really count as chocolate, but unfortunately the packaging was not on my side:

Finally, I walked into a card shop the other day and thought this card had 'good taste' written all over it:

It's true. They really do have a card for every occasion.

A Funny Coincidence...

So, on Thursday we were strolling through the streets of Copenhagen (as you do) when suddenly John spotted THIS:

What are the chances?!
I take back any possible sarcasm from the previous post. Video fireplaces have obviously taken off in Denmark in a big way...

In the same street, I also bumped into this guy (admittedly he doesn't look all that pleased to see me, but maybe he didn't like people leaning on his walking stick):

Copenhagen is GREAT.

Whoever came up with this must be a millionaire...

So, today Heather and I were killing time in the Rainforest Cafe shop. We looked around at all the souvenirs- mugs, T-shirts, cuddly animals, monkey hats etc. All pretty rainforest based stuff, as you would expect. Then, just as we were able to walk downstairs to eat, this caught my eye:

GENIUS.

Kids Say The Stupidest Things Continued...

I haven't posted about school in a little while. So as a celebration of half term arriving (yay!) here are a few more anecdotes...

1) It was in the news last week that people with the 'blue eyes' gene can all be traced back to the same ancestor, and that it happened due to a genetic mutation. Which led to one child coming to the following conclusion (very loudly at the lunch table):

'Everyone, did you know that all people with blue eyes are mutants?'

2) During the same meal, I noticed that one of the children had 'finished' his lunch in a record 2 minutes and was standing at the door ready for playtime. The following conversation occured:

Me: James, have you actually opened your packed lunch? You can't be finished already!

James: I've finished my lunch.

(I open lunchbox to find a whole pile of sandwiches and some crisps)

James: Oh. I didn't know they were there.

3) Hannah was reading aloud from a non-fiction book when she stated that:

'The Snugglers were very good at hiding things.'

I told her the term was 'smugglers'.

'Yes,' she agreed, before carrying on.

'Back then, there were lots of Snugglers' Caves...'

I have a feeling they weren't as cosy as they sounded.

4) Finally, I set a piece of homework last week which required the children to write a reply to this distressed woman's letter:

52 Wood Lane

Darksville

Thursday 31st January

Dear Class,

My daughter Goldilocks keeps running off into the woods. She won't listen to a word I say. What can I do to make her listen and do as she is told?

Yours faithfully,

Goldilocks' Mum

Year 2 children are supposed to spend half an hour on their homework, and as a class we went through some examples of thoughtful advice that could be given. The children produced some fantastic letters, but one child in particular stood out as having obviously put a lot of thought, time and effort into his reply:

Dear Goldilocks' Mum,

Lock her in her room.

Yours sincerely,

Charlie

Eat your heart out, Jeremy Kyle.

Chocolate Tuesday

Yes, it's that time of year again. It's hard to believe Lent is nearly upon us already... I could've sworn Christmas was only last week. Last year, I tried to give up chocolate for Lent. I know it's not very original, but it really is such a big part of my life that giving it up always is a tough challenge. Unlike the year before last, when I gave up yoghurt... (I don't even really eat yoghurt). Anyway, I would have succeeded last year had it not been for those pesky M&M's:



In a moment of madness at a youth event last year, I confused them with these:

In my defence, they really did look like Skittles. When I realised what I'd done (it was quite near the end of Lent too, if I remember rightly) I reacted a little bit like this...

... Which I'm sure went down well during the quiet time of reflection at said youth event (I'm can't recall why we were asked to eat sweets, but we were!) Anyway, this time I will succeed. People have either laughed or scoffed disbelievingly when told about the challenge (apart from my dad, who just said 'Well, I shouldn't worry, you've eaten enough in the last two weeks to cover the whole of Lent...') so I'm determined to prove everyone wrong!

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, today has been spent (and the remainder of the day will be spent) eating as much chocolate as I can. It's just dawned on me that as of tomorrow there will be no more Kisses (of the Hershey's variety), no more Toffee Crisp Popcorn (why even bother going to the cinema?!) and according to Ben, no more Bourbon biscuits. I don't think they count as chocolate. Do they?

Wish me luck.

In the last 24 hours...

My mood has gone from this:

And this...

To this:

Hmm. Last night, I went to see 'Mamma Mia!' (as you may have guessed) in London. It must seem like I go to see shows all the time, but I really don't... Anyway, I loved every minute of it and was in a really good mood this morning, humming away to 'Honey, Honey' and other such tunes. I was curious to see how they would fit all those Abba songs into one storyline, but they just about managed it! I'm very excited about the film version coming out in July.

Then, this afternoon we went to see Sweeney Todd, and for the first time in my entire life I discovered a musical that I didn't immediately fall in love with (unlike Tim). It was really well made and the acting was superb, but there was just a little too much gore and depression for me. That wouldn't normally put me off, as I really enjoyed 'Jekyll and Hyde' when it was touring as a musical, but for some reason this one just didn't appeal. It's a first. Maybe there'll be a stage version and I'll really like that.

In the last 24 hours I have also discovered that one of my all-time favourite restaurants (when I was younger) is no longer as magical as it used it be. I won't mention the name of it, but it has moving gorillas, elephants, toucans etc. and a tropical storm every 20 minutes*. Which is all very well and good, but it was very much a case of 'Spot the Waiter'... even when he was delivering water, I blinked and missed him (he kinda threw it down on the table as he ran past). Then, as John was trying to sort out the change I'd left on the table for a tip, he raced past, picked up the pound coins, and disappeared without saying a word! Rude.

* It sounds a little bit like the Jungle Cafe in Southend (minus the tropical storm), but that's not the place I'm talking about...