Weird donations to the school fair

So it was the school fair last Saturday.  Being on the PTA it is one of our jobs to try and cajole donations out of people for such events.  We're classed as a "deprived area" and many of the kids at school are on free school dinners. 

Times are hard, for everyone.  This year it seemed particularly hard to get anyone unconnected with the PTA to donate.  We have a 'Mufti Day' (it was called an Own Clothes Day in my day) where the children don't wear uniform but either donate something or donate £1 to go into the coffers but some people don't want to do even that.


On Friday we had to sort things in preparation for the next day & sift through the donations.  This is always an interesting task.  Some previous donations have included:

A dried up paint set
Unwashed clothes
Tin of soup
Coloured in colouring book
Half used toiletries
and generally a load of old tat

The Fancy Goods Tombola I always feel is a bit of an oxymoron.  One mans fancy is certainly another's a bit shit.  We started to include a brick a brack stall now as some of the tat donations can certainly be classed as that. 

The stall that always does well for donations is the book stall.  Whilst setting up on Saturday me & a friend spotted a gem.  At first I thought the cover art was a bit unsuitable but then I read the desciption at the bottom. 

My friend ferreted the book away (she has been reading it - for research purposes only - and apparently it is fair worse than I could imagine.  The one bit she read out to me detailed a man luring children into his house). The headmistress eyes popped out on stalks Tex Avery style when she saw it.  Then the Treasurer then found a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover which she then bought as she 'did her dissertation on it'. Yeah, of course she did. 

But it does make me wonder WTF?  Who on earth around here thinks this is suitable to donate to the school.  Yes we need whatever people can give but come on, that's just wrong.  What next?  An influx of 50 Shades of Grey* for the Christmas Fair?


* having read all of the 50 Shades book I feel a blog post coming on...

By the way, don't forget to enter my blogiversary giveaway...

Early night tonight

I can't begin to tell you how tired I am today.

Candle burnt at both ends and in the middle this weekend.

Saturday was the school fair & being on the PTA (I know, I need my head read) I was there all bloody day, including nearly 4 hours of applying glitter tattoos and fielding random questions from children. Also some bright spark decided that I should man the Lolly Tree as well as the glitter tats (and also award many hundred lollies as prizes from another stall which was a pain in the arse as kids kept on thrusting their winning tokens under my nose whilst I was wrangling with a massive queue). And how come people don't say thank you anymore? I think I could count on my fingers the ones that did.
But it's all in a good cause, and hopefully we raised lots of money for the school

Anyway 8 hours day, knackered & covered in glitter I arrive home, Mr DOMADQ greets me with a 'Did you have fun?' I think I nearly took his head off (probably unfairly). 'Fun?' I screeched 'Fun? I've not been at the bloody pub!'
All I wanted to do was collapse in a heap with a huge glass of wine but we had tickets fo the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy so after scrubbing glitter from my face, neck, arms I drove Mr D with a running commentary on my driving (it's like a fecking awful satnav setting) to the theatre. It was good really good. The cast of the radio show performing just that with 2 blokes in the background doing the foley. But I was so exhausted I nodded off a couple of times.

My social life is feast or famine so obviously we went out again last night. Comedy Store Players at Regents Park Open Air Theatre. I love it there. An oasis in the centre of town. It's magical with fairy lights and wine. Having hit every red traffic light on the way there we arrived literally 30 seconds before the performance started. Feeling the strain from the weekend I tucked into my wine a bit too heartily and got quite squiffy. At one point I was even brave enough to shout out a suggestion (type of film "TWILIGHT!" - Mr D hissed 'Shhhush! How much have you had to drink?' at me). A really great night, with great friends which left me with an aching face from laughing so much. I crept back into the house, stage whispering to my friend who was babysitting 'I've had a bit too much to drink...'.

This morning I was hanging. But with a brisk walk to work, a can of coke and my gorgeous boss who kept me hydrated all day I am feeling a bit more human, but fairly old today. I can't do this anymore, I am middle(ish) aged. Think I need an early night.


When looking for photos of tired eyes I found this, yoga for the eyes, am considering giving it a go!

NB don't google match sticks & eyes, it's just yucky



(I think I may have another blog post to come on the school fair re: strange book donations and The Great Tombola Disaster of 2012)

School fayre

Christmas fayre at girls 1 & 2's school today.  I feel I deserve a T shirt with 'I Survived the School Christmas Fayre' on it (instead I have a rather fetching tomato red one with the Friends of..... logo on it for the PTA).  Ah, the PTA, it seemed such a good idea when I volunteered to join but the politics of it is incredible and makes me feel like I'm back at school myself (rather then being a 38 year old woman), but that in itself is a whole other post.

I spend several hours lugging boxes / setting up this morning.  Then 3 mad hours manning a game involving buttons and accidently breaking a bottle of wine intended as a grown up prize - embarrassed moi? (my face was a red as my T-shirt).  Then another hour lugging boxes and tidying. 

I am now fit for nothing but a glass of wine and mind rotting TV.  (ah and Mr DOMADQ is out tonight so I will get to do just that without 'Urgh, we're NOT watching THIS are we?!').

X Factor here I come.