Roller skating party and The Corrs in concert
It seems strange to have my youngest daughter turn twelve. It seems like only yesterday she was born. That means I have two teenage daughters, one pre-teen and a son who turned 10 a couple of weeks back. It was something to reflect on in a week with a roller skating party and seeing The Corrs in concert.
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For some reason, Brooke decided that she wanted another roller skating party this year. She had a roller skating party at the same place for her 11th birthday and although she enjoyed it, she never made the trip there again. I figured she would go for something different, but that’s what she decided, and that’s where I am sat typing out this entry.
It’s got to be said that thankfully her roller skating is far better than mine. My roller skating story from a couple of years ago still makes friends laugh whenever I mention skating, and I still wince with embarrassment.
This year has been testing at times. After spending the first few months out of work (and in fact, three of the first four months were spent waiting to join the company I’m with now), money was tight.
So tight, in fact, that I had to stop giving pocket money to the kids for a couple of months, and things like birthday parties were put on hold while bills were paid.
Roller skating party
This has meant that Brooke’s birthday party is five weeks after her birthday. Not that anyone would realise. Brooke hasn’t once moaned at it being late, and even when I told her a few weeks into the year that it would be delayed, she took it with amazing grace. I’m incredibly grateful to her for handling it so well.
All the kids took the financial hardship in their stride, though. Not one mention was made, for example, of the time we had to buy toilet paper from Poundland.
It was noticeable, however, that when I got paid and took the kids grocery shopping (that’s right, the fun never stops when I’m in daddy mode), they made an immediate beeline for the quilted stuff, and I’m sure a reference to bums being wiped with sandpaper was made.
As you can see from the picture above, Brooke had two cakes for her birthday, both made by the lovely Loz. Loz, incidentally, is always open to chats about making cakes for people, and is incredibly reasonibly priced too.
One cake was a normal cake, the other was lactose-free, which was ideal for Brooke and one of her friends.
Work has been busy, and although I feel like things are going slowly, at least I’m starting to make things happen. I still have a lot to learn, but it’s nothing that I haven’t so far taken in my stride.
The Corrs in concert
Work has been busy, and although I feel like things are going slowly, at least I’m starting to make things happen. I still have a lot to learn, but it’s nothing that I haven’t so far taken in my stride.
This week saw a work team outing to Epsom Races. The idea was to meet early, have dinner, go to the racecourse, have some bets and then watch The Corrs in concert after the last race.
I made the mistake of offering to pick up a team member on my way. We ended up getting involved in a case that seemed to have query after query. We eventually got to the race course almost four hours after we had originally planned. That was just enough time to catch the last race and see the concert.

Did the Corrs leave me breathless? No, I was more inclined to runaway… (and there’d be more puns if I could think of more of their songs!)
I was surprised that I knew more Corrs songs than I realised, though even now I couldn’t name them, and I still think that they are mostly interchangable. Having said that, I can now tick “seeing The Corrs in concert” off of any future bucketlist.
Good Night Guarantee
After the event we did our best to find a pub that was open, but having spent time bundling colleagues into cabs, we managed to miss last orders at the nearest pub. It also turns out that there isn’t much to do in Epsom on a Thursday night. Who’d have thought?

Irony at work - They were still banging, drilling and sawing this Good Night Guarantee sign 20 minutes after waking me up.
By 11.30pm I was tucked up in the local Premier Inn and asleep in no time. Although I slept soundly, I was woken early in the morning by a racket outside my bedroom window. I got up to see two workmen drilling and cutting through a metal “Good night guarantee” sign just a few feet from my open window.
The irony wasn’t lost on me…
by DannyUK
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Oh my goodness, the Corrs are still going. Used to listen to them A LOT when I was younger. And yes, I probably know most of their songs. Love the photo of your daughter, she’s so pretty! 🙂
Twitter: fiction_fan
on July 19, 2016 at 12:07 pm
Oh how grown up of your children regarding the money issues! I’m sure you’re extremely proud
Twitter: motherhoodreal
on July 19, 2016 at 8:20 pm
Wow a roller skating party what a lucky girl! I can’t believe the Corrs is still going…
Twitter: tootingmama
on July 19, 2016 at 8:53 pm
I used to love roller skating when I was a kid, totally get why Brooke wanted to do it again – it’s so fab, roller skating, music and friends – awesome and then throw in the Corrs – super, double awesome. And what amazing kids you have!
Twitter: dearbearandbean
on July 19, 2016 at 9:00 pm
A roller skating party sounds fab, can’t wait until my girls are older to have one. I used to love the Corrs
Twitter: Olojay
on July 20, 2016 at 7:51 am
Oh my not heard anything new from The Corrs in ages. I did like Breathless back then though. Lol
Twitter: ofaglasgowgirl
on July 20, 2016 at 9:18 am
Oh wow, your daughters party sounds great, that’s great that there were two cakes so you had one to suit her. I totally forgot all about the corrs, I think I’d only like to see then just to say I’ve seen them really.
Jordanne || Thelifeofaglasgowgirl.co.uk
Twitter: faded_spring
on July 21, 2016 at 11:35 pm
Lol Epsom is dead, where I am originally from Bookham is a little village 20 minutes away and its also quiet. A complete contrast to London! Nothing wrong with Poundland.
Twitter: Myrabev
on July 23, 2016 at 9:23 am
How lovely that Brooke understood the financials at the time and still had a lovely party late or not. That premier inn made me laugh big time, the irony indeed
Anosa recently posted…Fascinating Ideas for a Beautiful Garden Shed
Twitter: HappyAfterBlog
on July 28, 2016 at 9:19 pm
Oh wow, these cakes are so beautiful and it surely was a great party for you all. And you even put writing on the cups!:))
When you mentioned the tp crisis it reminded me of a tv show I once saw. There actually was a family there that didn’t use toilet paper. They were having reusable little towels and they were washing them after o.O That was just so bizzare and gross at the same time:)
The Premier Inn story made me laugh:) Such view definetely deserved a photo but I guess you weren’t really in a mood for taking pics:D
Have a great evening:))
ToTylkoJa recently posted…Miniaturowe buty z korka, haremki i bluzeczka + serial “Stranger Things”