Ooh, and it snowed today!!!  For a nano-second.  One week to go, and counting!

2. If it’s not the cold that no2 child’s got, we will all be ill for christmas

3. Despite making 60 cards, no1 child only got 20 back

4. Which is still a whole load more than we have

5. Have finally distributed cards to neighbours inviting them round on Sunday afternoon, but they probably won’t be able to make it, all except for Beryl, who will bore us to death with her stories of her drunken brother-in-law

Sometimes life is just too predictable.

Pretty ...

There’s 60 kids in little universe’s year at nursery.  There was 6 at his old nursery.  It’s the xmas party tomorrow, and i made the school-boy error of starting to go through the list of names, hoping to eliminate some, by saying “do you play with XXX”.  Of course, the answer was ‘yes’ to every name (well, i soon realised that there was no point in reading out the whole list), and so i ended up with having to make and write 60 cards this evening.  Am somewhat shattered, and proud as i am of my ‘holly leaf motif, TM’, if i have to draw it again (this christmas) i may go slightly insane.

I’ve also started on the mince pies.  Experimenting with different pastries, rather than the normal shortcrust.  The mincemeat is very fruity, and am not entirely happy with my first attempts, need more sugar and longer baking time.  But will get there…trial and error.  Though need more guinea pigs to eat/try them, as obviously they don’t exactly fit with the “get into my size10 jeans by xmas” mission (which to be honest am way off, but there’s always hope).

... not so pretty

Man, do i love an xmas tree!  I smile every time i walk past it, and every time the smell of pine hits me.  Which is frequently!  Certainly feeling very christmassy now – though you wouldn’t know it from the outside of the house.  Note to self, must get a wreath of something classy…must not imitate neighbours across the way and go for all singing/dancing lights.

Nothing momentous to report here.  Went to a yoga workshop on Saturday afternoon, which i was really excited about as there’s no ashtanga really down here (the class i do on a Monday night alternates hatha with ashtanga, but the ashtanga is not what i’m used to…more of a led class, though am obviously taking as much as i can get from it).  However, the course was full of first-timers, and although i got a good-ish work out, it wasn’t the kick up the arse that i was looking for.  Looks like i’m going to have to just bite the bullet and really concentrate on my own practice without the aid or support that i get in London.  But the guy who organised it organises monthly workshops (with different visiting yogis) so worth attending again.  The people were, as ever, nice and friendly, but all a bit old, though at the rate i’m picking up mates i probably shouldn’t be picky…

Failed to get the neighbours xmas cards out in time to invite them round for mince pies today, will distribute/write them tomorrow and then have them round next weekend…just as well as i haven’t actually made the mince meat yet – though have bought the ingredients, so there’s a few jobs for tomorrow (along with writing the xmas cards for no1 child’s nursery, potentially 50 of them!!!!).  Should keep me festive eh?

And so to the party.  Did i mention that it was a retirement do?  No?  Hmmm, don’t think i really realised fully what that might mean.  What it meant was that we were the youngest couple there.  Not that that obviously prevented us having a rare good time, but i did have to stop myself a few times from screaming vitriol at the retirees.  I didn’t realise that i was so angry about the fact that i’ve got no pension, and that everyone older has had it so easy (able to afford homes, even second homes…etc etc), i think the strike has stirred it up in me.  Anyway, the food was lovely, and the booze was overflowing (it was all BYO).  However, it was actually in the college, which was a wee bit strange.  And there were skits.  These were very much enlivened by the second youngest person there, who was representing dem yoot dem by having drunk a bottle of brandy on the train.  She decided to do some interpretive dance to the main man’s speech.  Excellent.  The barn dancing though, was a disappointment.  Mainly because it was run by teachers (with some officious friends helping).  And they couldn’t have explained their way out of a paper bag, let alone the Gay Gordon.  So the majority of the time allocated to traditional dancing was mainly spent being shouted at, or told to be quiet, or both.  And generally by the time the dancing started, and you’d got the hang of it, and it was coming round to your ‘turn’ at the front.  They stopped.  Moved onto the next dance (or 15 mins of instructions followed by 2 mins of music).  To be fair, them oldies probably couldn’t have coped with much more dancing, as it was pretty vigorous.  But still.  Bit disappointing.  Afterwards, i should’ve gone home.  Or at least stopped drinking.  Sadly i did neither.  Instead i got all comedy awful middle-class and started berating Adam for brining a nice bottle of chablis along (i mean really, it was only luck that i managed to find it amongst all the bottles, anyone could’ve drunk it and left me with some Blossom Hill….), which i then proceeded to keep very close by me.  Not even relinquishing it when we got into the taxi, and insisting on splashing it all over my face for the journey back, whilst i think swearing quite profusely.  Still glamorous then.  I did loose the glamour an hour or so later, having finished off the wine, whilst still at a colleague’s of Adam’s house, when i started doing impressions of the hat.  Namely her pterodactyl noise (with flapping arms), plus the AK-47 on helium noise.  After about 10 mins of that i think i decided that it might be time to go home.  Shame.  Had all been going pretty well til that point.  But that’s what happens when you let a new mum out for the first time…well ok, not quite the first time but close enough.

Am still recovering really.  Rhids came round on Sunday and left today, which was lovely, and would’ve been nicer if i’d been less tired and he less ill.  However, have been helped tremendously by the fact that the hat’s now sleeping through.  From 7 to 7.  I know as i type this it will be the jinx, but so far 5 nights on the trot.  Result.  After xmas we’ll have her in no1′s room, and finally, finally, we’ll be able to enjoy our magnificent bed and room, to ourselves!

Right, off to do chores now, we’ve a ‘landlords inspection’ tomorrow, which am slightly shitting myself about.  The house is fine, but have never had one of these before and am nervous that she’ll be in all our cupboards and tut tutting at my drawers.  Don’t really want to have to move…

Oh Auntie Sarah’s advent calendar is truly an artwork!!!  And now filled…with tat…today there was 2 mini stretchy dinosaur things.  He was chuffed to bits, so easy to please.  Other Christmas preparation continues unabated, have also now made over 60 christmas cards, of varying quality (ranging from utterly shite to not quite so bad), and written most of them.  Just need to confirm a few neighbours names in order to invite them over on the 11th, ooh exciting!!!  And write the bloody envelopes…though have ordered 500 (damn amazon and it’s amazing prices) so should be ok if i make a few mistakes.  Oh, and make the mincemeat and mince pies, marzipan and ice the cake, buy and wrap the presents.  Hmmm, lucky i’ve not got anything else to do eh.

In other momentous news, am having my hair cut tomorrow.  The first time in 18 months.  Can’t quite believe it’s been that long, though the fact that it’s so long and dull brown gives it away somewhat.  Fingers crossed they do a decent job; going to Aveda (so i hope so), yet only costing me £40 – bring on those provincial prices!  This in preparation for the weekend barn dance and meeting Adam’s work colleagues, and of course for my sister and Rhids, all visiting over the next few days.  It’s going to be busy.  Will try not to get too overexcited at the Barn Dance and embarrass Adam…

No1 child tried to understand the vagaries of state pensions

We went and stood shoulder to shoulder in the town square, listening to some impassioned speakers and generally making noise and being seen.  It was all very invigorating, though we did slink off to have a nice bit of lunch.  Needless to say, many others had had that idea, though no restaurant was expecting the rush.  So having been turned away from our first choice we ended up in Pizza Express, where we wished for the bad service that we’d had before.  It was appalling.  Starters arrived after the mains, which were cold and soggy, and Cosmo’s pasta was a disgrace.  The hat didn’t mind, she ate practically all my bruschetta, but the rest of us, despite the 40 minute wait, left most of our food.  I did feel sorry for the waiters, and bless them, they did take most things off the bill, but still…When we guiltily returned to the square to resume the position, the demonstration had been moved on, to make way for a Mini Coupe promotion.  That’s capitalism for you i guess.  Though the 3 cars and one lone promo girl didn’t have half the power of the flags and noise that had preceded it.  I almost felt sorry for them.

Right, off to fill in Aunty Sarah’s advent calendar, in preparation for teaching our little universe the power of numbers (via the bribes of christmas).

mwahahaha, me and my innocent elf will be visiting your chimneys soon

Funny how some days you can be more in love with your children than on others…or should you not admit that?  Ah well, today was a good day.  No1 child was on top form, refusing to take off the Father Christmas outfit that we’d bought him and generally looking cuter than a mince pie.  No2 child has, after just over a week or so, started to get the hang of this eating malarkey.  Pesto, pineapple, broccoli, fish, egg and even some mashed potato all made it not only into her mouth, but i think, down her throat.  And without the heart-stopping choking that has been the accompaniment to mealtimes this past week.  She’s almost got a pincer grip, so determined is she to get hold of individual piece of pasta and small bits of fish…!  Yea!  Though the mess has been pretty spectacular too, but luckily have put down a hastily improvised mat to protect my sanity (the thought of having to hoover the carpet every bloody day is enough to drive me to pureeing).  On top of that, she’s also making more ‘conversational’ burbling (non-stop), and moving from sitting to almost crawling (via an eye-watering forward splits manoeuvre)…and her hair might actually be growing.  Have always said that babies start to get interesting at around 6 months and the hat’s certainly starting to deliver on that.  At last…a wee human, not just a babe.

(promise not to keep showing pics of her eating, appreciate that it could quickly become v boring)