Where has March gone???

Thank you to so many people for their kind words and support over the last month, I know I have fabulous friends, colleagues and an amazing family and I am really grateful for everything that you have all done to keep me positive and keep my spirits up!
Thank you also to everyone who has e-mailed asking where my blog has been!
I know it has been a while but it has been a tough few weeks but I feel that I am on the road to recovery (which has seemed like a long and winding road with bumps, lumps and hiccups!). I still have little voice and quite a bit of pain so it has been fairly quiet at home (Ian thinks that is a good think I am sure!) but hopefully I can see light at the end of the tunnel!
So with lots of time on my hands and to take my mind off of stressing about work, students, exams, marking etc I have tried to keep busy. I have read loads and made lots of cakes. It's easy to do as I don't need to talk to anyone!

When the consultant said "Don't talk,  relax and don't worry or you could cause permanent damage" - you would think that that would be easy advice to follow! 
Oh my word - easier said than done!
I think I inherited the worry gene from my mum!
Anyone that knows me knows that I don't sit still and don't often stop running around. Me - relax??? ha ha!
So keeping me busy I took on a few more cakes as well as the orders I had. Therapeutic and calmimg, for a while and there is only so much daytime tv a girl can watch!

Fisrt was Amanda's daughter's 18th, a pretty pink affair.

Katy asked for a Hawaiian themed Elvis cake for her mum and I had made most of the models during half-term so it was a case of making sure Elvis was blinging and mum was relaxing on a sunbed for her 50th. It was super cute and it was so lovely seeing Katy again even if I couldn't speak to her very much!!

Little Charlie was 1 - How time flies and although I missed his party, he loves "In the night garden" so a brightly coloured character cake was so much fun - I think I am well up on CeeBeebies now, even watched a couple of episodes to see what it was all about. It's bizarre and a little disturbing in parts (What's the Ninky Nonk???) but hopefully Charlie loved Upsy Daisy.

Liam's birthday cake next and a three tier, black white and silver cake meant my kitchen was covered in silver spray and dust for days - It kept me busy cleaning!
A Charlton fan (like most of my family) meant a badge and a man in Charlton strip on top - cute!

Then came my gorgeous sister's baby shower. She is expecting twins and I am so excited!
It was a chance to show her how much she is adored and how excited we all are in the family. Now having so much time and not sleeping well meant lots of shopping on the internet. This has been going on for weeks and you probably remember that I blamed my noisy neighbour for keeping me up. I suppose I am rather grateful that I looked up so many websites and found so many beautiful things. I went with a Noah's Ark theme (I love animals!!) and this was reflected in all the decorations, balloons, table covers and table ware.The cake was easy too and I had made all the cupcake toppers in haf-term in preparation so the animals were ready to go on top!

Everybody had their own cupcake box and could choose which animal they wanted to take home!
Mum and dad were fab and we had a production line going to make up party bags one evening. I love party bags!

Everyone had champagne truffles, chocolate bars, baby charms for keyrings, "Bonne Maman" jam, a Noah's Ark candle, and a baby cookie!
It was lovely seeing people's faces as they were leaving, clutching a party bag - they are not just for children!!!!
Mum and dad helped with the food and we had enough to feed an army!
It was such a lovely day and I couldn't have done it without my adorable nieces who read out all the quizzes and questions, explained all the games and who were absolutely amazing. they were my voice for the day and I love them for it!
My sister's friends were all so lovely and spoilt her rotten. She is amazing and really deserves to be spoilt. I know that she had a lovely day and now we are all waiting for the twins to arrive.
Baby clothes made fab roses and lovely bouquets!

Dad put his capentry skills to work and made a gorgeous wooden Noah's ark and mum has been knitting like crazy. These twins are going to be spoilt rotten! (My sister too!)

Kirsty need a celebration cake for her 40th and her ginger hero was just the ticket!
I was flagging a bit and struggling so was so glad that my friend Pen helped out - well helped to keep me awake and kept me laughing all evening!
Pen thought it would be good to have a competition to make a muscleman out of fondant but unfortunately due to Pen's glass of wine (or two) her's was a little too disturbing too use!
Pen did all the talking and directing and instructing (ha ha) Thank's Pen - your a star!!!

So three weeks later and several visits to the consultant and a wonderful speech therapist I hadn't seen much change. With no voice still and still feeling a bit down, cards from school and friends kept me going and 8D - you are the best!!!
I miss my girls so much and I hope they are all behaving!

A few more cakes (It has been four weeks!!!) and I feel less anxious. Leah's christening cake was a cutey and she was an absolute star at her Christening. She has grown so much!

Cupcakes for Jo's son Tom (although forgot to take a photo!) had beer, cricket and Millwall shirts on as well as 18 and his name.
Alison's cake was a challenge and certainly kept me occupied. She wanted a Mini Countryman car (and I have to admit had never even heard of one!). Chocolately and gooey I tried to match it to her car and it took a while trying to get all the deatils right, the lights, the grill and the windows - more silver glitter and more dust!

I was really pleased with the result and hope she liked it!
A "Belle" cake for a three year old reminded me of making this cake for my niece. I love Disney and their characters.

The Landlord of our local pub turned 50 last week and he loves to fish so this fisherman cake seemed ideal for him. He loved it!

Last weekend was Pete's birthday - 60 - going on 18!
He is my neighbour and I love him dearly. He is one of the funniest people I have met and makes me laugh all the time. Pete is fab and a loyal Charlton supporter so a big cake was a must!
He played hockey (hence the orange hockey shirts), loves football, loves a pint (or two!!!), loves Charlton and most of all loves Carol, so all of these needed to go on his cake, somewhere.
He had a great party and certainly doesn't look 60!

So that's about it as far as cakes go. They have certainly kept me busy whilst I have been off and I am grateful as I needed to take my mind off targets, results, marking and teaching.
Mother's day was lovely and it was so nice to see both my family and Ian's and thank you for being patient in trying to understand what I say!
What would we do without family????
It makes you realise that you take things like your voice for granted and I know for sure that I don't always look after it. Now I am paying the price and am hoping to get it back soon or I will need to rethink my career path!
What do you do when the only job you have ever really loved doing becomes impossible to do?
I love my job and I have missed it more than anything. There is nothing like a classfull of eager and enthusiastic students to make you feel proud. Then again, not all of them are that eager...or enthusiastic come to think of it! But they are all fab and do make me proud. The staff are great too!
So now I feel a bit more positive and with the thought of surgery making me do all the exercises the speech therapist is giving me - I want to thank everyone for their texts, e-mails and visits and hope to be back to normal (as close as!) soon xx