just another morning here

At least it’s been quite a nice one, busy as usual but with added Steve For once he wasn’t working, so was around to pick up the pieces at home, so that helped!
Saturday was orchestra as usual; while I stayed on duty for Chamber, Steve brought the younger two home for lunch and to get ready as they were due at the Cathedral for a rehearsal at 2pm. They picked Anna and I (plus a hitchhiker from orchestra ) up and we all headed into town.
We shopped while they rehearsed, which was nice, haven’t done that for ages! I had book tokens and a bit of birthday money to spend, and Steve was in a generous mood too so we all benefited from that, I think!

We ended up back at the Cathedral for a concert involving five school choirs as well as the county junior choir, plus the Cathedral choristers as well. It was lovely, each choir did a piece on their own, as well as some they’d rehearsed together. We sat on one side which was nice because we could see, although in retrospect I wish we’d sat where the sound was better, but never mind.

The kids really enjoyed themselves. I was moved to tears by one school; during their performance they stopped singing and signed for a whole verse, which for some reason got to me!
My sisters and brother in law came to watch too (madness!) and we all went out for dinner afterwards, at a lovely little veggie restaurant, then back to our house for a film too. Fab end to the day

Sunday has been busy too, catching up on homework, housework, etc. Some of us went to church, Steve only just remembered that he had to work in the morning!
After lunch I went to the annual memorial service for miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death (harrowing as ever, not sure why I do it but they keep asking me to participate and I feel obliged. It’s a nice service, if such a service can be nice. Plus I meet and catch up with people who’ve been to the support group in the past, which is good. Plus in some perverse way it’s quite nice to remember, even if it is painful. One hour a year won’t kill me).
Then later on Anna and I popped out to have a quick rehearsal with an accompanist that we’d not met before. Very amused to find red phone box and pillar box in his front garden!

I went, as usual on the first Tuesday of every month, to open up for Miscarriage Support Group, only to find that the locks had been changed. On further investigation it turned out that the organisation who had been letting me use the room have gone, and the room is now in use by someone else. They kindly let me use the space this evening (luckily, as I had people coming from an hour away!) but I can’t use it next month or any more after that. It had been a very unofficial arrangement anyway so I’m not surprised that they didn’t know about me, nor I about the changes which were obviously afoot.

So there, the decision that I’ve been wavering over for a couple of years now is out of my hands – I haven’t really got the time or energy to go chasing after another free room in the city (as if I’d find one), and to be honest, the number of people that come is minimal – sometimes not enough to call it a support group really. And I think that after 6 years of hosting it singlehandedly I’ve probably done enough. In some ways it’s a shame, because it means there is nothing like that available for people in this area, but I shall stay on the MA phone contact list and still be available that way. Can’t imagine that I’ll ever feel any less strongly about pregnancy loss and its effect on people.

So anyway, if you have landed here looking for the Exeter Miscarriage Support Group, I’m afraid it is no longer in existance, in support group form – but please do get my phone number from the Miscarriage Association and I’d still be really happy to chat.

Working backwards, just to be confusing.

Today Josiah and I accompanied Anna’s class to the local high school for a ‘Cool Science’ show. It was quite fun, and basically consisted of sticking various items into liquid nitrogen to demonstrate various things. Josiah enjoyed it as much as all the Y6s, and even answered a question, which astounded me somewhat, that he had the confidence to stick his hand up! He then threw a wobbly on the way home which wasn’t too helpful (he wanted to walk on the outside of the narrow pavement near the busy road, I wanted him to walk on the inside), but never mind. Photos are rubbish but give you an idea …

Yesterday we were in school again making Momos with yet another group of children – Abbie was there this time so that was nice. I was on my own, the other mum couldn’t make it, so it was more hectic than usual. Oh, and the school photographer was there so the kids kept disappearing to have photos taken – but that did mean that Josiah got to be in the girls’ group photo so an added bonus there.

And back at the weekend, a photo from the balloon launch that took place at the MA’s 25th Anniversary study day. I found it a strangely emotional and moving part of the day, surprisingly, despite not usually being touched by that sort of thing.

One of the women who comes to the miscarriage support group has just suffered her second 20week miscarriage in a row, almost exactly a year after the first. Can’t bring myself to blog much as I’m gutted on her behalf, and speechless, there is just nothing to say, and no answers to give. Glad she rang to tell me, and we took a card & flowers round this evening, a worthless token in some ways, but I couldn’t not do anything.

My post-GCSE-long-summer-to-fill sister has come to stay for a few days which is great (makes for built in babysitting! ), so we’re busy. Have been to Joe’s nursery parents’ evening tonight with a good result – he will leave with the bulk of his school-bound friends at the end of term, but we can carry on borrowing reading books for as long as we want!

Film night here last night, we watched Million Dollar Baby, and are re-watching it with Esther tonight- I’m no good at film reviews but it’s a good’un, we’d recommend it (not that we recommend films, ever), Clint Eastwood is excellent in it.