Playing away...

We don't often get out for the day now at work, so it was a rare chance to go to another play centre in Stevenage today for a meeting of the PPA (the Play Providers Association). The meeting was held at a fantastic new centre called 360 Play (so called because they're open 360 days of the year). It had only been open 6 weeks and was absolutely stunning in terms of things to do with the children and the facilities. They're in a completely different league to us!

We weren't able to arrive at the start time of 10am as we had things to do at work before we left but we were able to get there at just after 11am. Dad's new SatNav was playing up and when he took it off the windscreen to try and reset it, she kept barking at him to "Turn right on Alley!!" even though we were on the M1. We stopped to sort her out and obviously I had the right touch beacuse from then on she behaved and took us straight to the door!

360 Play is situated on a Leisure Park with cinemas, restaurants and other leisure venues all around, so a bit different to us in our little industrial estate! We walked in and the Manager met us, telling us we could either go and see an Activ Kids demonstration or we could go upstairs and have a general chat with the other members. Thinking that the Activ Kids stuff would be good at work we plumped for that (it was more my idea really) and went and sat down on some very low benches.

The man giving the demonstration started talking and told us not to worry, we wouldn't be doing any hard exercise, just some moving about to see for ourselves what Activ Kids do...we all looked at each other in alarm and my Dad wagged his finger at me, looking none too amused! We were then told to all stand up, move the benches against the wall and start walking around in a circle. Like idiots, we did what we were told but when he told us to start skipping, we fled! There was no way I was going make myself look like a total idiot and my parents agreed with me!

We escaped to the restaurant area and met another play area operator who'd walked out of the demonstration as well. She said it wouldn't work in a play area as all the children wanted to do was play and we had to agree. Phew! We had a lucky escape! We had a chat with her and then the Manager of 360 Play rounded us up and tried to get us to go upstairs. Dad was far more interested in having a cup of coffee and looking around but we were eventually presuaded to go up to one of their party rooms where the rest of the PPA members were sitting.

We're not actually members yet, I hasten to add. Joining has many benefits with the most attractive being a 5% rebate for what we spend at Booker. As we spend a hefty amount there every week, joining for that reason alone would make it worth it and offset the cost of membership.

We tiptoed into the room and found a seat at the back, listening in to the conversation about adult parties at some of the play centres. One place in Portsmouth holds regular adult nights and sleepovers for over 18s! The mind boggles! It's certainly something I wouldn't want to do at our place! There were quite a few pretentious prats there, using the stupid "business speak" that gets up my nose and which they think makes them seem very important. Why they can't just use plain English, I do not know.

As a small family business - which has probably been running longer than most of them have been working - we felt a bit out of our depth, but there were some very friendly people there and some organisations desperate for our business. Indeed, when we stopped for lunch we were assailed by reps who wanted to know our email address and phone number.

One of the managers of 360 Play sat with us and she was very down to earth so it was great to swap horror stories about our industry and to know we're not alone! We'll definitely be joining and making use of the forum where we can all seek help and guidance.

We had to leave before it ended as I had to pick up Sophie from school to take her back to work with me. Gladys MKII took us on a very different route back to Junction 12 of the M1 but we were back at work before 3pm and getting ready for two parties in the evening.

I stayed with Sophie until she finished just after 6pm and then it was home and time to relax!

Winter tightens its grip!

This morning the sky looked very ominous and when I went out into the car park to pick up the litter it was very sleety and extremely cold. The Tesco delivery man arrived, grumbling about the weather, and said there was a warning of a big snowfall on the way. He didn't say whether it was meant for today or later in the week, but I won't hold my breath!

We had another busy day at work, made even more hectic as we were manning Reception in Polly's absence. I picked Sophie up from school, went to Booker with her and then escaped home as I'm going to be at work late for the next two nights. It was sheer bliss to get home, light some candles and relax in my lovely cosy home!

A little deaf!

Mum and I went down to Kent today to see Nan and take her to Specsavers for a hearing test. She's 92 now and is more than a little deaf which makes having a conversation with her a bit difficult! I'm quite softly spoken and don't really like shouting so we'd been urging her to go and sort out her hearing for a long time.

We took Dad's Mondeo as the forecast was saying we might have some snow and I wanted a nice big, heavy car to feel safe in! I took it very easily on the M1, though, but didn't see any safety cameras lurking on the bridges, just lots and lots of roadworks!

We had an excellent journey down with no snow at all, which was a touch disappointing. For a while now I've been having a secret fantasy of some really bad weather, hopefully happening on a Sunday night/Monday morning so it doesn't disrupt us at work too much. Some really deep snow to bring the country to a halt and give us all a "Snow Day" to remember! You know what they say...be careful what you wish for!

We took Nan into Dartford - always such a pleasure (NOT!) -  and had lunch before heading off for her hearing test. The result was as we expected - she definitely needs a hearing aid in both ears, but the question is, what type? They range from the bog standard NHS type to the super deluxe ones that cost over £1000! Ohhh! I don't want to get old!

After taking her shopping to Sainsbury's we drove back to her flat, had a well-earned cup of tea and then turned the nose for home, hoping that we'd have a good journey home in the rush hour traffic.

It wasn't too bad and we did get the odd flurry of snow near Luton which made me a bit excited. I drove to the pub to pick up my car, had a quick drink with Keith and Dave and went home to put the dinner on before heading back out to pick Keith up! Phew! The time is flying again!

A shopping spree!

I have been very naughty today (and could have been even naughtier) and I've bought a few things for the house which I fell in love with.

Mum, Sophie and me went off to BHS and Homesense in the afternoon as I needed a new lampshade for the living room to replace the one that was old and torn. I saw lots of lovely things in BHS but not really what I wanted - a creamy shade with purples and greens to tie in with the curtains. We trekked next door to Laura Ashley and I immediately saw what I was looking for - a lovely classic, pleated shade with exactly the right shade of purple. It will go against the wall so I needed it to stand out slightly. Ignoring the beautiful bedspreads, curtains and mirrors, we went next door to Homesense and bought a new picture for the living room and a beautiful rug for the bedroom in shades of teal and brown which matches the curtains and the throw exactly. It was then that I spotted a gorgeous chair in the same shade of blue as the wallpaper and I knew I had to have it.

However, I knew I'd be hard pushed getting my purchases into my little A1 already so I asked if I could put the chair aside and pick it up later in the week when I could borrow Dad's car. To my amazement, they said no! Maybe it was a good idea...I can go and think about the chair and decide whether I really want it...or need it!

Granted a reprieve!

I woke up this morning with the awful feeling I get when I know I have to go into work. It meant that I couldn't really settle to anything although I did manage to give my filthy little Audi a good scrub!

Half way through the morning I learnt that our weekend cook hadn't turned up for work. This turn of events meant that Polly had to come in, which I felt extremely bad about. She was already down to work on Sunday so she had to give up her whole weekend, poor thing.

When I took Sophie in the place was busy but nicely busy and Polly assured me that she could manage as they had enough staff despite the assistant cook also calling in sick! I stayed for about an hour and brought out some more chairs from our storage unit so that customers could find somewhere to sit. The weather today has been bright and sunny but a little chilly so as I drove away I thought it couldn't be as busy as last week...

How wrong I was! At 4pm when I went to pick Soph up the car park was full! Polly told me that it wasn't as bad as it looked as one large party was just about to leave, so I escaped home but I still felt guilty! The good thing is that Polly will at least have two days off as the three of us will cover Reception when we re-open on Tuesday.

In the evening we all walked up to Mum and Dad's house for dinner which was lovely. It was very cold and the sky was sprinked with stars but because of the half moon, not as dark as we imagined it would be. We had a lovely beefy stew for dinner and some very good Italian wine and looked at lots of old photos!

The end of another week...

This week has, quite literally, passed in a blur! I can't believe that another weekend is looming but it's tinged with a bit of worry as I'm planning to come in on Saturday to help out. Last Saturday was absolutely manic and if Sophie's in anyway it makes sense for me to stay for a couple of hours.

Sophie and I were supposed to be having our hair cut this evening but Polly couldn't get anyone to work so my poor little daughter had to go in. I went home and then returned to work to pick her up at 6.30pm. I was met by Sophie saying they had a "situation" and I discovered that a couple had "lost" an ipod belonging to their son and could I check our CCTV cameras?

The ipod was in the son's jacket pocket and had disappeared. We looked back on the CCTV but I couldn't see anything, and certainly not someone taking the ipod out of the pocket. I explained that I'd have another look on Monday and took the couple's phone number but I don't hold out a lot of hope, to be honest. Why they couldn't have left the gadget in the car (in the glove compartment) or hired one of our lockers to keep it safe I do not know!

After I finished with the couple I gave Polly a lift home, so all in all I was home far later than I anticipated!

Birthday Boy!

Today Mikey is 12 years old! I can hardly believe it! Where have all the years gone?

We celebrated in the evening by going to his favourite restaurant, The Mandarin Buffet, in Northampton which is a large restaurant serving a variety of Chinese dishes. I imagined, as it was a very cold January evening, (it was sleeting as we drove in) that it would be quiet, but no! The place was absolutely heaving!! We found it very difficult to get parked and the awful weather conditions certainly didn't help matters!!

We met Mikey's friend Mitchell inside the restaurant and then we were shown to a large round table. The place was chaotic and very noisy, not my choice of place to have a meal, but it was Mikey's birthday so it was his decision. The two boys amused themselves by trying a variety of foods, but mainly concentrated on seeing how many Fortune cookies they could open and spread all over the table!

When we left the weather had dried up but it was still very cold. Will we get some snow after all?