Sunday 18 May 2008

Speech Day


Saturday was Speech Day at No1 daughter's school.
She was very nervous but excited about her Prize for Creative Writing and insisted we got there early. The town was full of beautiful cars and smartly dressed people.
The Marquee was fabulous, as always, and the choir and speeches were truly impressive. We had to forgo a harp recital from my daughter's old harp teacher though, as she'd been asked elsewhere.
Daughter No2 was interested because she also wants to go to the school. Although she fidgeted and yawned a lot, she thought it was all rather nice, if not boring when the actual prizes were given out. I meant to tell Darling Husband to pace himself on the clapping, one should never clap heartily because stamina is needed to retain any feeling in the tarsals, but fortunately he's very tough.

Daughter No3 was intrigued by the whole thing. Why did some chairs have pink cushions? "I want to sit on a chair with pink cushions!"
"No Darling, those are for the Head and her speakers"
"That's not fair! Why do speakers need cushions? our speakers sit on the side in the kitchen!"
(sigh!)
She enjoyed standing on Darling Husband's lap and waving frantically at her big sister while grinning and giggling.
Big sister tried very hard to ignore the elevated scampster, and fortunately there were two very badly behaved boys further back who managed to annoy people far more and save us from being forcibly removed during the proceedings. I only had to take her to the loo once, so all in all I considered the morning very successful.

Canapes, wine and fruit juice were offered after the Ceremonies. Darling Husband was in a terrible hurry to get back to his cattle, but once he had a glass a of wine planted in his hand by a long standing friend, he became quite amiable and time suddenly seemed so terribly unimportant.
Daughter No3, who will normally not eat anything except Jaffa Cakes, tucked into the sausage rolls in an almost industrial manner.
I noticed a female hovering expectantly, waiting for an opportune moment to join the conversation (about Tractors) that Darling Husband and his friend were having. I quickly stuck my head in the middle of the mechanical conversation and said quietly, "I suggest you move immediately if not sooner, because you are imminently to be joined by Mrs (nameless)." I swear the two of them should enter the next Olympics, their reactions were lightening fast and we were out of there.

In the afternoon I indulged myself in some TV..The Importance of Being Earnest was on. Myself and three girls snuggled up on our enormous sofa and laughed at the most brilliant Oscar Wilde Play ever.

Our evening was then another extreme dimension altogether.
We were going to the Theatre with friends...perfectly civilised you may think, but we were going to Ebbw Vale Leisure Centre...a bit of a culture shock after our formal morning.
Ebbw Vale has the most beautiful stark landscape surrounding it, the wastelands of the steel years. The sky was black and threatening a storm and the sun was just going down, it was a very dramatic scene.
We waited in line outside the 'theatre' while the actors warmed up.
It was bloody freezing and we were sorely tempted to go and join them, but we weren't allowed in until they'd finished.
We were going to see "Blackwatch".
No-one was allowed in or out while the performance was going on and we were reminded over the tannoy, to use the toilet before the performance started.
The toilets were scary. Once I had scaled three flights of stairs, and gone through two doors and along a corridor I discovered there was one ladies toilet. Presumably most people gave up long before they got there, so there was really only need for the one. It had a huge dent in the wall and a little graffiti. The taps were reluctant to work and the hand towels were very strange.
I worried I would never see Darling Husband again if I couldn't remember the maze of old fire doors and twisty steps.

The play itself was the hardest play I've ever had to watch. I felt uncomfortable, like I shouldn't be privy to much of the content. It was the most brilliant piece of theatre. There was much bad language, violence and vulgarity, but all put into the context of a regiment and they're experience of Iraq, it worked without question. I sincerely advise anyone to see it, but it's gritty stuff.

After the play we were all exhausted emotionally and none of us wanted to finish the evening on such a sombre note, so we adjourned to an Indian restaurant and ate far more spicy food than can be safe or legal.
The restaurant has been refurbished beautifully, not one dodgy print on the wall, no flock wallpaper and the menu was all spelled correctly, it was almost a let down.
Our friend ordered the set meal for four, my husband ordered the same.

The waiter was obviously having trouble, he managed to stamp on Darling Husbands foot each time he approached the table.

We have yet to go out with our friends and not have something daft happen.

Darling Husband has found a stone in his food, he's been served what looked like road kill and declared to the waiter that it's the best meal he'd ever had in that place (with a straight face, and able to ignore the rest of us crying with laughter), he's had to march into the kitchen demanding to know where our vegetables are, and even had mint sauce served with his pudding.
But best of all, and it must be because he's so gorgeous, he's been kissed on the top of his head by a waitress!

14 comments:

the mother of this lot said...

Well, at least you can't say you had a boring weekend. Unlike me.

Anonymous said...

You definitely live life to the full. Congratulations on your daughter's prize. You must feel very proud.

I'm going for a lie down after reading all this!

CJ xx

Mean Mom said...

OK, I followed the 'elsewhere' link. Which one was the harpist? Was she the one in the funny hat?

My husband, on one occasion, marched into a hotel kitchen, to find out what had happened to our coffee. It was a very pretentious hotel, the service was hopeless and husband had downed rather a lot of wine, whilst we were waiting. He certainly caused some consternation!

You packed a lot into your weekend! Feel as if I must have wasted a lot of time, during mine, now!

Grit said...

you are very brave to go to emotionally challenging theatre like that. i once went to a three hour monologue where we were not allowed to use toilets; it was a man justifying why he had to eat the fellow survivors of a plane crash. now i go to see the lion king or wind in the willows and that's it.

Carah Boden said...

Nothing I love more than snuggling up on the sofa with my girls and a good bit of telly :)

Do I remember Ebbw Vale from It's a Knockout (or am I going mad?)? God I loved that programme - Eddie Waring and Stuart Hall, what a combination!

Well done for your girl and Creative Writing prize. Proud mum and dad.

I was at the theatre last night. Paul Merton. So not very challenging! Perhaps more enjoyable..?? I have no shame...

Milla said...

WINE! you are offered wine at your child's school, not grey coffee or bleak tea? Where's the justice in that.

Pig in the Kitchen said...

I was at that wedding too! the harpist played beautifully.
Pigx

Gone Back South said...

That sounds like a top weekend. I hope Darling Husband's foot has recovered.

Expat mum said...

I echo Milla's disbelief at the offer of wine at a school event. I think (seriously) it's illegal here. But I do love the reminder to go pee before the performance

Millennium Housewife said...

Expatmum - illegal? Wine? How do USA parents get through all the recitals/prize giving/teacher's meetings? MH

Great blog Frog, how did daughter win the award, I have yet to bribe successfully enough, maybe more jam tarts next year MH

Anonymous said...

Was that all in one day? I'm exhausted just reading it. And wine at a school do? I must refer our school to this post. We get lukewarm tea in crinkly disposable cups.

Great post.

Frog in the Field said...

Hi MOTL,
I certainly did not have a boring weekend! Thanks for visiting.

Hey Crystal, yes I am very proud.

Hi Mean Mom, The harpist wasn't in the picture (tut!)

Hi Grit,
We are terribly brave, you know. Couldn't see one about a cannibalistic air traveller though, ouchk!

Hello, HOTH,
Paul Merton? I'm his biggest fan, he's just fab! I'm very jealous.
I used to love it's a knockout too, Stuart Hall used to completely lose the plot laughing!

Hi Milla,
no grey coffee, sorry.
We do have tea and coffee, sometimes, it's usually pretty good. Always good biscuits on offer too..yum! (sorry)

Pig, you were NOT at that wedding!!
Were you?
You know Pig, seriously, she brought a huge harp here for us to borrow, and gave us a half hour recital, here, in our sitting room!!!

Hi Gone Back South, Darling Husband's foot is just fine and well protected in his steel toe-capped boots, (he also has steel toe-capped wellies) don't you worry.

Hey Expat Mum, how are you?
Wine illegal at school events? My God, how do you cope??
Here ladies, is a trully brave woman..

Hi Millenium Housewife, indeed, how do they get through all that stuff?
Dearest Daughter no. 1 won the prize for her literary creativity. I believe the entire English Department conceeded she should win it......but who am I to know? We're not allowed to read a bloody word she writes!!
May I also take this opportunity to say, no bribes were passed between ourselves and the school..not with those fees!

Welcome Guinea Pig Mum, nice to see you!
Tea in disposable cups? That's outrageous!! I should put in a formal complaint to the Chairman of the Board of Governors immediately! It was rather a lot in one day!

Teenage Rampage said...

God! I'd kill to win a prize like that! I love writing! I've started writing a book, but it's starting to drag a bit; knowing me i'll start from scratch about six times before finally being satisfied. I know how you feel with the daugters frog! My two sisters are right pains! They either completely ignore you or they don't shut up right when you want them to! At least you did something over the weekend! I was stuck in the house completely bored. Well I stayed at my aunts house on the friday with my sisters; we were fighting over the shower and everything...

Frog in the Field said...

Hi Teenage Rampage,
I've just nipped over to your Blog, you write very well, good luck with your book!