sunflowers and starry nights

Last weekend I caught up with S, known her for 17 years now - one of the NCT group. It was nice to see her and she led me to her (and her late father's) favourite Indian take away. Now a must try. I wasn't up for another Halloween party and saw BigA off in his Where's Wally costume and it's girls had a cozy night with the most recent jigsaw. 

I am not able to reveal who I have in the secret Santa of course but did consider getting the presents while in Turnpike Lane. Still thinking what I'll do about a present for M for Christmas, I'm a bit sad she won't be with us. 

On Sunday I finally met up with a lovely ex B teacher. She is one of those genuinely lovely people with a great number of funny stories. We also used her to look over A's portfolio - and although she doesn't teach that specification, she was hugely reassuring and helpful in terms of advice about next steps, how to link the various ideas and what A can do to prepare for a portfolio based interview. I hope to see her a bit more often too as she really is someone who I enjoy the company of and isn't now my 'junior.' 

School wise - well, the interim Head that started the school year has had his contract ended. A new - very short term Head is going to be at the school next week and Governors haven't given much information about the plan... I remain feeling out of the loop. Apparently they may have appointed a Head for January, but not confirmed. 

I woke up on Wednesday to the grim looking prospect of a Trump win, my heart sunk. Utter disbelief that anyone could vote for him. It isn't even the party it's actually him. But we must remember that it can't last forever. The day was solemn as a result and many whatsapp between people in the fug of disappointment. 

I've been to a beautiful interactive Van Gogh exhibition this week. A very good friend sorting it all. A special thing to share and to remember. It was lovely to be in central London too, looking at the style of the place, we also went to a rather fabulous food court. This is how millionaires spend their money - cheese almost as expensive as Philadelphia in Malawi! Although the bite of cold was in the air we warmed up with a pint and chatted the evening away. 

BigA and I have also decided to try and get paint on the hallway walls - there are lots of lumps and bumps but really when do you stand in a hallway and look that closely at the walls? And so we got some bits down from the loft, and along with the paint brushes, some photo albums. I still haven't found the one I'm looking for but these ones had the occasional appearance of Daren which is what I was hoping for, each one covering a phase of my time at Uni and reminded me of how much Daren and I had. 

The girls have been busy with school and their jobs but mostly they still seem ok and looking forward to M turning 18 in a few days. 

Last night we had friends from my NCT group over for dinner. Just great to have been able to keep those contacts and connections. And all because we were women who didn't want to pay for the sessions and found each other in the Wood Green one.