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Do you think that will do the trick ?
I would like to earn the right to put the Sevitz button on my site. I hope the photo will help despite the lack of tucked in jeans or fishnets or cowboy themed boots.
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24.10.04 21:25 |
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My stomach is going to burst
I met The Boy and Him Indoors outside Hammersmith tube station afer work today (Olympia is closer to our destination but it involved changing). The men had had a busy day. The Boy had been recording with the choir in the morning (CD = perfect christmas present for grandmothers) and then they both went to the Imperial War Museum. The Boy had been given a choice of restaurants for the evening and went for Lebanese so we tried Chez Marcelle and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was as usual wondering why when I try to make green beans or aubergine and chick pea biziet it never tastes the same as in the restaurant, if anybody knows the secret please tell me (unless the secret is to use half a bottle of olive oil). Tomorrow The Boy is all mine (day off). I will have to think of something exciting to do. |
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26.10.04 21:59 |
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We live and learn...
Now the next time Christine picks up the phone and hears "it's me, did you have anything planned for today ?" she will probably say, "actually I do" instead of letting me drag her and the children into London. No it wasn't that bad really. Equipped with family travelcards and packed lunches we made our way to Bethnal Green to the Museum of Childhood. South West Trains obliged by having a train ready for us and the same with Waterloo and City and the Central Line. The kids enjoyed the museum very much, they had a look around at the toys and we had lunch outside on one of the picnic tables (yes I know it's October and it's cold and windy outside, but hey, it wasn't raining so there was nothing to complain about really... maybe we are becoming brits after all !), after that the kids went to listen to the spooky story time and to look at some more toys. We then decided the kids could do with a run around and took them back on the tube to Lancaster Gate as Hyde Park seemed a good bet for general running around with a few things to look at to avoid whinges and moans bout aching feet and something to aim for (the play area at the Knightsbridge end of the park). We nearly got to practice the "what you should do if you get left behind on the platform and the rest of us are on the tube" instructions which I have been drilling into The Boy since he was old enough to be out of a pushchair. Luckyly we had a sharp eyed driver who spotted him on his own and reopened the door t let the rest of us out (and very thankful I am too as I am not sure I ever want to check if he has been taking it in). The park was fun. We looked at the fowls, giggled at the signs warning against worrying the wildlife (how can you tell if a duck is worried ?), tried to spot all the mice on the Peter Pan statue, the children had a walkaround the Diana memorial fountain and we can confirm that there were no bathers in the Serpentine this afternoon. We then carried on the toy theme by popping into Harrods on the fourth floor. We rounded up the day by getting some fudge in the food halls (they have a chocolate fountain in there you know...). Then our good luck ran out. We went to get a Piccadilly tube, there were some signs apologising for some delays due to signal failures at Kings Cross (always a bad sign). We had to let a couple of trains go as there was no way the 6 of us could squeeze in, only everybody seemed to feel the same way and the platform was getting more crowded and the trains did no look any emptier. We walked out and found out that they had closed the station to new entrants to avoid overcrowding the platform. We took a bus to Victoria only to find that all the trains between platfor 9 and 19 were delayed for some reason or other and that Victoria Station is not big on informing people who do not normally travel through them. A quick phone call to Him Indoors to advise of where we were and another to The Boy's Father to check which trains were going to Clapham Junction "all of them as long as you go from 9 to 15", he appears to be right. The train from Clapham was delayed too (to say it like a station announcer would on the tanoy, it is important to put the stress on the right word "the next train for platform five is the *short pause* delayed 1927 to Woking"). For some reason the mood did not deflate too much and we still managed to giggle our way back and I managed to get a few nice pictures of the happy faces of the kids on the train home. Maybe Christine won't say no to another last minute outing after all. |
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27.10.04 23:46 |
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October Monkey
This month Blork invites us to relate a "Dining Horror Stories". The first thing that sprung to mind was every single meal with The Boy’s paternal grandmother, then I remembered another occasion with a high cringe factor. ffice The place – Oxford The time – Easter Sunday (about 10 years ago) Our host – The Boy’s Father’s Best Friend The cook – The Best Friend’s Girlfriend on a rare week-end from Cambridge The dinner was doomed from the start despite the lovely food. The cook had been volunteered by our host and all offers of helped had been turned down on her behalf without checking with her (after all there is nothing to cooking a Sunday roast for 8 with a vegetarian option in a student kitchen which is not yours is there?). The host was completely oblivious to the guilt some of us felt as it was clear that what she had had in mind for Easter week-end did not involve cooking for a bunch of his childhood friends and their respective partners. To add insult to injury he had added to the guest list the girl who kept his bed warm while his girlfriend was away (tasteful!). We all new who she was - apart from his girlfriend of course. Soon the friends fell back into old habits and giggled at private jokes and reminiscing about their teenage years, oblivious to their partners’ clear lack of enjoyment. |
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28.10.04 13:42 |
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Mr Sandman...
I could not sleep last night. Millions of thoughts were going round and round in my head. Paths that could have been travelled, choices, trivial rubbish. Like my brain had gone into overdrive. Normally I am a heavy sleeper. I can sleep anywhere anytime and it takes a lot to wake me. I tried the usual things that are guaranteed to send me off like a song on repeat with the headphones on, fairly loud to drown thoughts - no success. End result I am really tired and to make sure I did not fall asleep at work I loaded up the caffeine. Now I am tired and hyper... not a good mix. Going out for lunch, better avoid booze: tired, hyper and tipsy would make for an even worse mix. Imagine not knowing if I should be laughing or go into weepy mode. |
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29.10.04 11:08 |
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It's good to talk
Because my family lives on the other side of the channel, most communication takes place via the telephone. My mum calls and I call her. On average we get to talk about once a week (unless there is an imminent visit to plan). My brother and my sister send me pictures of their respective children in one liner emails. My brother calls me when he needs something and I call him from time to time. Occasionally I call my sister. Recently I have started calling my sister more often becaus I have found the quality of my mother's reporting is lacking. Last year she called me to announce my cousin's baby was born... she had forgotten to mention she was pregnant and that she had got married. After our last conversation I called my sister and found out that my mother used her usual need to know basis in imparting news. She had not mentioned that: my sister has sold her flat, bought a house and is moving in November. She had not mentioned that my brother's son is now statemented with a full time learning support assistant (this is big news as it means my brother is begining to accept the obvious) and that my nephew's optometrist is going to include him in a study of children with similar problems (general gross motor skill, social development and speech delay, optic nerve and gastric problems). Mind you there could be another explanaition. Maybe my mother is not inept at passing news, she is just under the impression that her brood talk to each other... |
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29.10.04 23:56 |
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Since all the shops think it's christmas already
Him Indoors decided I could have my present early... be bought me an MP3 player. I suppose I was a bit low tech when travelling. I still used an old fashioned tape playing personal stereo. The main drawback is that some of the tapes were getting pretty worn and a couple have recently gone to tape heaven including one which had sentimental value and which I will find hard to replace. On one side it had a selection of tracks from a CD called Ruby Trax (Nov 1992). Should have disliked it as it is: 1) a compilation and 2) a compilation of covers 3) the covers are exclusively of songs which were once number 1. Fave tracks were: Teenage Fanclub covering Mr Tambourine Man, The Frank and Walters covering I'm a believer, Kingmaker covering Lady Madona (the only Beatles song I actually like), Ride covering The Model and The Manic Street Preachers covering Suicide is Painless (not sure if it counts as irony). I have some great memories attached to these songs. What do you think ? Should I try and get the CD on e-bay (and pay over the odds for a handful of songs) or is it time to move on and make some new memories with a bunch of brand new songs to go with my brand new toy? Otherwise sleep is still eluding me. Managed to grab about 4 hours in the last 3 days and my brain is slowly turning to mush. |
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30.10.04 23:48 |
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