Today was one of those days when you really begin to feel you just should have stayed in bed....

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It was 'back to school' day, after a few days off, as I had been unwell, and needed to go to hospital for some tests (which I've not heard anything about as yet - I'm guessing it's a case of 'no news is good news').

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So, the 'plan' was to get back into the schooling, and get things happening again.  This all began with me sleeping in far too late, but not to worry, we did have a bit of late night with watching the closing ceremony of the Olympics, after all.

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And there I am - about to get moving and drag the young ones from their slumber, when whamo!  Those 'twinkling lights' begin to flicker in front of my eyes, meaning just one thing - a migraine is on it's way - wonderful.

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I take some pain killers, and call the youngins (several times), and then decide to 'quickly' answer a couple of emails, as well as typing up a fax which needed to be sent this morning.  The fax was dependant on the answer contained in one particular email, but naturally, when I went to open the email, the computer spat a fruity, and in the end, it took 40 MINUTES to open - which included shutting the whole thing down and trying again, but  no, let's just add to the time already wasted this morning - just long enough to place me in, shall we say, not the BEST mood to begin the week.  Of course, the light from the computer was killing my head, but, we got there in the end, took a deep breath and had a cuppa, and eventually continued on.

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But why, oh, why, is it that on the very day one is suffering from a migraine, do science experiments crop up in the older one's text books that involve dropping books on the floor?  And why, I have to ask, was this also the very day that the younger ones charge outside and make the exciting discovery of what happens when you pound on an old drum? 

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Anyway, the day continued - I was struggling, but, I was determined to 'make it' through the lessons.  After lunch came Science with my 3rd, 5th and 6th graders.  We were to boil some water and place it in various containers to test conductivity.  All was going well - the water took some time to boil, but eventually, it was almost boiling, when my 12 year-old commented, as casually as you like, 'By the way, the stove is on fire'.  And so it was.  Flames shot out of the element, and smoke began billowing from the stove.  So, instead of our planned, organised Science experiment, we ended up with this:

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I called my 'knight in shining armour', and sent the children outside, practising our 'fire drill'.  I just had to photograph it, but when the flames only grew higher, I left darling hubby to handle it, and shot outside as well (being so brave and all, I thought someone had better look after the children).

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After it was extinguished, and amongst all the smoke, we did eventually get the 'planned' experiment done, but then I resigned to the fact that the rest of the lessons were just not meant to be, and so hubby loaded up most of the children and headed for the tennis court.  I settled down for a movie, while my darling 11 year old cooked chocolate cake - which she thought may just be the thing!

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Ah well, tomorrow is another day (and yet, this one ain't over yet!)..........

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