Marianna and I stayed around my mum and dad's this week because I was still ill, and so Anthony could paint the house. It was nice being home for a bit, though putting up with Bracken for the week was something of a test! I did drag myself in on Tuesday for full council (webcast HERE) and the challenge to the cabinet decision to close Victoria Primary School. School closures are always really emotive and this one was no exception - the public gallery was full of people yelling and jeering. 

It's hard because I can understand that people are upset about change, etc, but at the end of the day you've got to make decisions that improve education, even if they mean closing schools which have lots of nostalgia attached to them. I think we'll only see more of it in Wales going forward - the birth rate is falling, and tiny little local schools are a thing of the past. I mean, it wasn't like schools in the 1950s needed economies of scale to buy iPads, media suites and sports equipment!

I didn't make overview and scrutiny on Wednesday; my head was just swimming. I went to bed about 5:30pm and slept through. Thursday I went to town for a bit to buy a Mother's Day present and that was it. Saturday was back to normal: I had advice surgery in the morning, then we stayed on for a bit to look around the Hope Dog Rescue spring fayre. 

After that we had to go and replace the broken microwave, walk Bracken, and then in the evening Anthony and I went to the Cwmbran Community Council dinner at Greenmeadow Golf Course. It was nice, but I couldn't stop worrying about Marianna who had screamed the place down as we were leaving - I have officially turned into one of those mothers! 

☆ READING: The Adjustamatic World Book Day Bloggers' eBook - I was really pleased to take part in this cute project, and it's a sweet keepsake for Marianna.

☆ WRITING: How to Grow Your Blog with Pinterest.

☆ WATCHING: Extreme Cheapskates. It makes me feel decadent!

☆ LISTENING: The endless singing of Marianna's favourite toy, the Chicken from the VTech Baby Toot-Toot Animals Chicken Coop. 'I sit on my eggs to keep them warm, to keep them safe from any harm,' and 'Hi, there, I'm a chicken, I love living on the farm.'

☆ WEARING: I wore high heels for the first time in ages last night; my feet are regretting it...

☆ EATING: I had an awesome cupcake from the Hope Rescue Spring fayre yesterday.

☆ REVIEWING: All the books I read in February - read more HERE.

It's been a pretty good week for the blog. My domain authority went up from 19 to 23, and my Tots100 score went up from #193 to #160. We had 62 people link up to the Friday Frivolity linky this week - there's still time if you want to join this week's! - and I also posted about my February competition wins.

I put together a new media kit too. It looks pretty good, if I do say so myself!