March in Review

Acquired this from Holistic Mama, via EarthenWitch (both jolly good reads!)

March in Review , in 1 sentence.

Summary (3 sentence max)
March was good. I blogged everyday, the man learnt what was happening next, and all was relatively quiet on the Ex's front. Oh, and I started getting up earlier and earlier (currently around 4.30!)

Fun

Red nose day, World Book day, life with the family


Challenging

work, electric bill, rising above minor ex stuff.

Thoughtful

She-Ex wanting to "work things out", faith, life,

An insight/thought

Martin Luther King once said ""Forgiveness is not an occasional act: it is an attitude."

Website/blog Find

Words (quote/reading/book recommendation/1 sentence review!/anything word-related)

The rest of the post on forgiveness. Lots of it said a lot to me.

Note to Self

Be more careful with resources!

Favourite Tip/Idea from web

Things like this. Blogging every day.

Slice of home (A photo of a tiny corner of your home, or objects, that represent something about this month)

Growing (Up)

April's theme is "growing (up)"

It's an interesting one I think.

Growing has so many ideas attached to it - plants, families, communities and so on.

Growing up has so many ideas attached to it - children, adults who should have but haven't, adults who have but choose to retain the best bits of childhood, maturity, and so on.

As per usual, here is the dictionary definition!

grow (gr)

v. grew (gr), grown (grn), grow·ing, grows

v.intr.

1. To increase in size by a natural process.

2.

a. To expand; gain: The business grew under new owners.

b. To increase in amount or degree; intensify: The suspense grew.

3. To develop and reach maturity.

4. To be capable of growth; thrive: a plant that grows in shade.

5. To become attached by or as if by the process of growth: tree trunks that had grown together.

6. To come into existence from a source; spring up: love that grew from friendship.

7. To come to be by a gradual process or by degrees; become: grow angry; grow closer.

v.tr.

1. To cause to grow; raise: grow tulips.

2. To allow (something) to develop or increase by a natural process: grow a beard.

3. Usage Problem To cause to increase or expand by concerted effort: strategies that grew the family business.

Phrasal Verbs:

grow into

1. To develop so as to become: A boy grows into a man.

2. To develop or change so as to fit: She grew into her job. He grew into the relationship slowly.

grow on/upon

1. To become gradually more evident to: A feeling of distrust grew on me.

2. To become gradually more pleasurable or acceptable to: a taste that grows on a person.

grow up

To become an adult.

Idiom:

grow out of

To develop or come into existence from: an article that grew out of a few scribbled notes.

---

[Middle English growen, from Old English grwan; see ghr- in Indo-European roots.]

---

grower n.

growing·ly adv.

Usage Note: Grow has been used since medieval times as an intransitive verb, as in Our business has been growing steadily for 10 years. It has been used with an object since the 18th century, meaning "to produce or cultivate," as in We grow corn in our garden. But the transitive use applied to business and nonliving things is quite new. It came into full bloom during the 1992 presidential election, when nearly all the candidates were concerned with "growing the economy." The Usage Panel is decidedly less fond of this development than business leaders and politicans are. Eighty percent of the Panel rejects the phrase grow our business. The Panel is more accepting of, though not enthusiastic about, the phrase grow our way, perhaps because of way's established use in expressions like make our way and find our way: 48 percent accept We've got to grow our way out of this recession. The Panel has no affection for the odd but occasionally heard phrase grow down: 98 percent reject If elected, I shall do my utmost to grow down the deficit.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

---

grow

Verb

[growing, grew, grown]

1. (of a person or animal) to increase in size and develop physically

2. (of a plant) to exist and increase in size: an ancient meadow where wild flowers grow

3. to produce (a plant) by planting seeds, bulbs, or cuttings, and looking after it: many farmers have expressed a wish to grow more cotton

4. to let (one's hair or nails) develop: to grow a beard

5. to increase in size or degree: the gulf between rich and poor is growing

6. to originate or develop: Melbourne grew from a sheep-farming outstation and occasional port to a city

7. to become increasingly as specified: as the night wore on the audience grew more intolerant

See also grow on, grow out of, etc. [Old English grōwan]

growing adj
grower n

Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006

Plenty to think about there I think!

*stretch* *yawn*

Morning world!

I am a sleepy bunny today and no mistake! But then I didn't get to sleep until midnight and the cat trod on me at 6am when I refused to get up at 5. He's now fed, the animals are fed, the fish are checked, and life is good.

I just have to learn how to use this new keyboard, that's all. And I am, and it's good, and I like it.

I also like the new desktop publishing programme I got yesterday (£9.99!) which has done everything I asked it to do, and for around £105 cheaper than Amazon wanted for M$ Publisher. I don't need all singing all dancing - it's the church notices! However, this is excellent, does the job, and is a Serif programme, so all is well.

I like knowing R is asleep upstairs. I was supposed to be going on a leaving do last night, for my head and another teacher. As I'm not sorry either of them is going, I've spoken to the other teacher and expressed my support and thanks for all she has done and will do, and she needs to get away from around here, I didn't go. I find these kinds of do's to be a cross between tact and diplomacy, and straight hypocrisy. I'm not good at the first and don't like the second. I'm not overly sorry to see him go, I don't like his policies and although his manner with the children is good, we so rarely see him that it's a real shame.

So!

Moving on!

R and I sat around in jama's last night, eating chinese and talking and enjoying each other being around. It was great.

We had an email from the She-Ex, which was bizarre, had nothing about BG in it, except to tell us not to tell BG something that a) there was no need for her to know anyway until the entire situation had been resolved. and b) there was no need for us to know anyway if the She-Ex was so determined that BG shouldn't know, and c) there is a whole nother post on the subject of turning to faith in a crisis.

I did pray for the people concerned - who wouldn't in their situation? And I'm not going to say what it was, because the last thing I would want anyone to find was that I had discussed their situation on the net when I don't even know them. It's not my news to spread, share and wallow in. It's not my drama.

And then the She-Ex phoned, so she could tell R the news about the people that we don't know, and he doesn't do praying for people anyway, and then when he said he'd seen the email but he had been having his dinner and not replied, she hung up on him!

So.

Moving on again!

R and BG had a lovely long chat last night. BG was tidying her mothers room so that her mother didn't have to "waste time doing it" Interesting choices of phrases these children have! Happy chatty child though, very glad to talk to Daddy, and we got through first time, which is lovely.

And now I must move on again. I shall read the mail, mind map "growing (up)" as a April's theme, think about blogging about the course/activity I did yesterday, and chill.

I shall make cake, AC has asked that R and I go to KSW today to see his grading (with board breaking!) so I shall take the camera, and all will be lovely. I don't have to do any work, although I may try and rework the template that we have from school for reports to make it more solid, as it is certainly flaky right now.

And that's me done!