Amandababble Week Fourteen

I’ve spent the first half of the week with my head in the washing machine, not hiding, but tackling the mountain of filthy clothes that the boys have ventured home with after a couple of weeks away. I’m not sure exactly what it is they DO with their clothes, but they look like they’ve leant them to the England rugby team to practice in and then worn them straight after for a night of fun at a foam party, followed by a food fight in a chilli factory – yuk!  The upside is they are lousy at emptying their pockets and I have made £3.85 in loose change – result! I shan’t mention the telephone number I have found and binned – sorry Sadie from Liverpool – whoever you are, but even your handwriting looked debauched and you don’t spell telephone with an ‘F’! Nuff said. 

So the boys were back and STARVING but unfortunately I have also had my head in a laptop, when it wasn’t in the washing machine, and food shopping has been very low on my agenda, hence the empty cupboards. In truth, with the kids being away for a couple of weeks, I had forgotten the locust-like swoop that they make on the kitchen every hour, ridding my home of every carb or sugar dusted morsel that they can find.  It was only when I heard the slamming of cupboard doors and the groaning into the empty fridge that I realised my faux pas.  I grabbed the car keys, only to find the workmen had dug up the road outside our house and I couldn’t get the car out! We live in the middle of nowhere and the only option as to cook up a freezer buffet! Yeeeha! This I did with gusto.

…I think my legendary, hash-brown-pea-sweetcorn-spring-roll-mint-vienetta combo will go down in history as the most innovative breakfast ever!

It’s been a tense week for them, we got their GCSE results on Thursday – both seemed outwardly calm, but were pacing the halls like expectant fathers from 6am on the day they came out, (and judging by what I also found in the boys laundry, at least one of them might well be. I’ve started knitting just in case.) They did great and we move onwards and upwards, I told them what my lovely Grandad Joe told me when I opened my O’Level results a hundred years ago… ‘They never seem as important as they do at the moment you open that envelope.’ He was right of course, no one ever seems remotely interested in the C I got for Metalwork or my D in Maths.  My mum however, still proudly shows all visitors the fish slice that I made on the lathe, I personally think it was of at least B grade standard, but those were the days when we hadn’t invented the word ‘re-mark’ and any complaint to the staff at my school, would have invited ridicule from the staff room door while they blew Lambert & Butler smoke in my face.

These are our last few days with the boys before they go off to get cleverer and we go off to the Bermuda triangle (every time I write or say that, Barry Manilow pops up in my head, singing and shaking his maracas – go away Barry!) and we are having two mini breaks – I write from… Bournemouth! Its brilliant! We spent yesterday on the beach laughing, eating chips and building a windbreak out of our Tesco bags for life. The sun glimpsed occasionally from behind the cloud and when it did we cheered. I actually managed to take my cardi off twice! We are staying in a really grotty hotel, with swirly pube laden carpets, sticky walls and plastic notices taped to every surface that covers everything from their smoking policy to why you must not sit outside on the window sill, apparently you might fall. Well, that’s my morning scuppered then.  But you know what? Its all good, because we’ve had chips and one of the boys has been hit in the head by a rogue Frisbee and they had cans of cold cider before they went to sleep. Its been a day for making memories, golden days that when I am far away, I shall re-visit and it will make me smile.

This weeks ITV This Morning short story is a good one – thank you for all your lovely feedback and as usual, for those that missed it – here’s the link http://itv.co/1f2ZoOW

Right, the beach beckons. It’s a bit grey but I’m feeling really sunny as I get to spend the day with my boys.

If you do one thing this week – dance.

Mandy x

 

©Amanda Prowse – all enquiries PFD ajhughes@pfd.co.uk. +44 (0)20 7344 1084