]> http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/ jensgems's Blog en-us © 12:57:15 Greasy.com All rights reserved. Wed, Feb 12:57:15 8 GMT 30 http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/mobile_movies.html I am once again Chair of my kids' school Parent Council. I have spent alot of time over the summer looking into different fundraising ideas and have come up with what I hope will be a real winner!! I have organised for a mobile movie company to come to the school and screen 2 films which are fairly recent. The criteria is that a movie has to have been on general release for 4 weeks before it can be shown by a mobile cinema company. Since we live 25 miles from our nearest cinema I think it ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/mobile_movies.html#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:12:27 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/coffee_morning_bake_sales.html I have had no time to do any real blogging for ages. I have been over the head of late with fund raising for the school, a local hospice and now we are starting to fund raise to redevelop a local children's play area. The hard work is proving to be worth it though. As Chair of the PTA all eyes seem to land on me to see whether something succeeds or fails. With this does come some sleepless nights and the feeling that you have to bake till the early hours just incase no-one else can be both ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/coffee_morning_bake_sales.html#comments Wed, 8 Jun 2011 13:57:36 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/zumba___wii.html I have been doing Zumba for several months now, but my trips to the classes have wained a little of late due to family commitments, weather, ill instructors etc so there has been little consistency. But this will now be a thing of the past as the wait is over in the UK for Zumba for the Wii!!!! It looks fab, check out the advert on youtube I have it on pre-order as it doesn't come out until Friday here but then I will be shakin my ass along with the rest of them in the comfort of my own ho ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/zumba___wii.html#comments Wed, 30 Mar 2011 09:01:39 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/balloon_race_fundraiser.html I am sure I mentioned this in the past but..... I am Chair of my kids' school parent council and we were looking for different ways we could help raise funds for our school. One idea (I am a tad smug as it was my idea!!), was to hold a balloon race. We ran off entry form and issued them to the school children to sell balloons to friends and family at £1 a pop! We did far better than expected and sold a whopping 637. When I first mentioned it I said it would be fantastic if we reached 500 ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/balloon_race_fundraiser.html#comments Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:51:16 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/contacts_specs.html I have been a glasses wearer since I was 21. Which sounds better than saying that I have been wearing them for nearly 26 years.....darn it I have given my age away to those who feel the need to work it out! LOL I have had some real goofy (not a phrase used much over here but I like it!) pairs and looking back I wonder what the heck made me to buy such horrid things! As the years have passed my taste has improved, well I think it has anyway. My last two pairs (they were BOGOF) were black wi ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/contacts_specs.html#comments Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:24:13 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_update_stuff.html All I can say is that since the weather has been marginally nicer I haven't been on it for ages now. As a result I don't have a clue what I weigh now. But I hope it is less due to the increased leg work I have been putting in for the past few weeks. I have been reading walking for fitness books and like the notion that 18lb can be lost in a year if you change nothing within your lifestyle other than walking for 45mins 3 times a week. This is do-able and I am sure that the fitter I become t ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_update_stuff.html#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:20:51 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/burns_nicht.html Yesterday was the birthday of Scotland's very own Bard, Robert Burns and to celebrate this we bring oot the Chieftain o' the pudding race......the Haggis. A tasty beast as long as you don't read the ingredients list, which is basically the sweapings off the butchers floor with a wee "puckly" oatmeal thrown in. Along with this delicacy goes chappit neeps and bashed tatties (swede and potato). Music is in the form of the skirl o' the pipes. The kids are busy learning Scottish poetry to perfo ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/burns_nicht.html#comments Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:42:51 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/full_hot_air.html I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew!! As chairperson of my kids school's parent council I seem to be the only one who is coming up with any fundraising ideas for this year! That I don't mind but what I do mind is when my ideas are shot down and the person firing the shotgun at them can't come up with anything better when asked what their thoughts are! The novel idea we are going with (which was an idea of mine) is a Balloon Race. I am hoping that we sell at least 500 balloon ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/full_hot_air.html#comments Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:35:44 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_challenge_week_update.html Having had a bit of an unhealthy weekend I am happy to announce that the wii fit hasn't noticed it!! Last week my stats were BMI - 27.7 Weight - 11st 8lb This week my stats are BMI - 27.55 Weight - 11st 7lb Yay a whole pound off! I can live with that kinda progress. This will mean I will be a size small by the summer. Bye bye muffin top hello sleak me. LOL http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_challenge_week_update.html#comments Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:08:17 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_week.html Update ..... Things were going well until the board ran out of batteries!!! Probably taking bad being used so much!!!! I am not weighing myself daily as I known weight fluctuates daily and it would only get me down. So I will make my official weigh in day a Monday. When I used the software in the past it was purely for the mini games. But i am now getting to grips with yoga and muscles excersises. Jeez mastering the breathing is tricky. But have some "fit" computer generated dude tell your ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_week.html#comments Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:49:52 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/good_news.html It has been so long since I have blogged about family that I am unsure of how much of this story i have included. In brief, my middle child has a Pseudoarthosis of his right Fibula which has resulted in 8 operations to date and for much of the time having to wear external supports on his leg. Also, last summer he was wheelchair bound for two months as he was not permitted to weight bear at all! Well today, after a hospital break of three months, we returned to Glasgow to have fresh x-rays ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/good_news.html#comments Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:40:33 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/reluctant_reader.html My 7 1/2 YO son is a very reluctant reader. It is frustrating that he reads fine (when he puts his mind to it). I have brought my concerns up with his teachers and most are very positive, and helpful and reassure me that it is common for boys to lack enthusiasm for reading. But I worry that he is now in P3 and more of his other subject areas require some reading to progress. I have tried so many types of books etc to try and inspire and motivate his interest. DH and I have always read to o ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/reluctant_reader.html#comments Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:57:23 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_challenge_day_2.html Here we are Day 1 of my Wii fit challenge. I am just under 5'4" and do fall fairly comfortably into the "overweight" category. There really is no excuse other than I claim to be too knackered to excercise!! But as I know all too well that the more physical activity you do the more energy I catually have! I have been a "Gym Bunny" in the past to the extent I actually had a paid subscription to a local gym. I worked out at least 4 times a week before I went into work and often put in another ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_challenge_day_2.html#comments Mon, 17 Jan 2011 11:15:03 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/books_walking.html I read a story today where residents of a town down south are protesting against the proposed closure of their library by withdrawing all 16,000 books in just over a week. The library members have excisised their right to withdraw the maximum number of books they are entitled too at any one time and as a result the shelves are bare! I think this is inspired and hopefully the powers that be will think again! http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/books_walking.html#comments Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:16:59 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_challenge_day_mark_2.html So far, due to family commitments (and visitors) I have not been able to make a start with this challenge....yet. My new DD is now set as Monday, when the kids are at school and nursery and DH is at work. In other news we booked our holiday tonight. Nowhere exotic or even anywhere that requires a passport, but it is somewhere we all love. We are heading to the same holiday park up north we visited last year for 4 nights but this time will be there for 7. There are also a few Geocaches we d ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_challenge_day_mark_2.html#comments Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:02:27 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/mcs_myth_fact.html .... Middle child syndrome that is! I always thought this was a figment of my sister's imagination. She was the middle one and myself the eldest. But now that I have my own middle child I firmly believe that there is something in it. L is the most loving and well behaved little boy when things are going his way but as soon as attentions are diverted elsewhere the "diva strops" commence. For a while I put his behaviour down to the fact that he is a very bright 5 year old and was desperate f ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/mcs_myth_fact.html#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:04:37 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_challenge___day.html We have infact had the Wii for over 18 months and the balance board and wii fit game since a year past Christmas. We got it with the good intentions of shifting my post baby weight (my youngest has just turned 4). I think this is as good a time as any to do this and figure that if I actually blog about it I will actually stick to it!! I can't do my official benchmark weigh in etc today as my daughter is hogging the TV so that will ave to wait until tomorrow. I have to confess to only using ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/wii_fit_challenge___day.html#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:10:19 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/australian_floods.html I have been watching news coverage of the terrible flooding around Brisbane and other Queensland regions lately. These images are more often linked to the flood plain regions of India and third world areas. They are truly terrifying but brings back home that no matter where we live we are all the same and make the best of what is being thrown at us.It has just been reported on TV that the area affected is bigger than the size of France and Germany combined. It is humbling to watch these po ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/australian_floods.html#comments Wed, 12 Jan 2011 10:48:13 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/sad_news.html I was looking over old posts here and found the one where I broke the news of the arrival of our pets rabbits! Sadly one of them passed away last week. Both of my fluffy boys seemed to be holding out well during the extreme weather but something happened to Buzz one night. He was fine when I checked and fed them at night but by the morning he was gone! I have no idea what has happened to him as he seemed to be eating and drinking normally but when they share things it is hard to tell who i ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/sad_news.html#comments Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:37:20 GMT http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/happy_year.html Ok so we are nearly half way through January (OMG half way through January already, where has the time gone?) and I haven't been by here for ages. Things have been chaotic here to say the least with the lead up to Christmas, School concerts, parties, birthdays, Hogmanay and the big day itself. Not to mention the fact that with snow being on the ground here since late November getting out and about has been a challenge at times. The whole snow thing is a culture shock. It shouldn't be as I ... http://my.greasy.com/jensgems/happy_year.html#comments Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:05:50 GMT