It's hard work

figuring out how to tie shoelaces AND a tie in the same night.

Due to a spectacularly poor displaying of parenting on my part, Jimbo has made it to the ripe old age of 11 and has never had a pair of shoes with laces, so therefore has never been taught to tie them. Oooops. I blame velcro.

Fortunately, this evening, Jimbo managed to get the knack of the shoelaces and there was much applause, and then a certain amount of deliberate untying and retying to prove he could do it. He managed to do his new school tie a few times as well, but we need more practise - the tie is brand new, stiff as a board and really quite thick material so it's tricky. Also, the school crest has to be exactly underneath the knot of the tie when it's done (and they are sticklers for it at his new school apparently), so we will be doing more tie-tying tomorrow.

In other news, I have had to speak to a friend to make sure that they are alright and that they are looking after themselves, putting themself first, in difficult personal circumstances - they lost a parent last week and knowing this person as I do, I suspect that they will battle on, putting everything else first and worrying about things like work when actually, what will be needed is time to grieve. I have done what I can for now - but I will, along with others, be watching closely to make sure that there are enough of us to catch our friend when the inevitable wobble happens.

On a less significant note, I have lost 4lbs in a week by eating (mostly) healthily. Increased my intake of veg significantly, replaced white rice and pasta with wholemeal, snacks of the naughty kind largely substituted for cereal and very low fat yoghurt. Still allowing myself some treats, which is why I will be waiting by the door tomorrow for my delivery from The Baking Bird. Yum yum - can't wait.

Busy day on the whole. Managed to get a massive amount of work done in readiness for next Monday. I reckon 2 more days and I should have it all sorted. All I need to do now is get James to the shops to purchase 4 pairs of shoes for school. Yeah - 4. Shoes, trainers, football boots and astro turf shoes. I hope that growth spurt doesn't happen anytime soon!

Oh yeah, and finally, yet another text to he who continues to disappoint. No response. It's 4 months since any contact - phone, text, email, visit. In that time, so many key moments have happened for James. I don't understand how someone can't find just a few moments to try and share those moments with him. And yet still I tell James that he must not shut any doors, that he must remain open to any communication that occurs. Yet I fear, more so than ever before, that it just isn't going to be forthcoming from the other end. It's so sad.