Stammerings from the Stow

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Now that I have to go along to all these awful plays etc, I realise just what my parents went through when *I* was a kid.

I sat through the most AWFUL 80 minutes of shite on Wednesday for Abbi's Brownies District Parents Show, and in an hour's time I've got to sit through the school's 'International day' show. And I have HEARD her practicing the song - and I just hope that the others have better voices than her, cos she is DIRE.

I'm on call this weekend too, so I couldn't even get completely plastered before going, LOL.

I shouldn't grumble really - the last few weeks have actually been really good ones for me and mine - everything's just slotting into place, we've had a great time, Abbi's been cool, and we've had the company of some fab friends. I feel like I've been bobbing along on a little cloud of happiness

Obviously there's always a few flies in the ointment (eg my dad's operation on Tuesday - but work are being so cool about me helping my parents out after he's had that), and the general lack of money, but we've been breezing through it all.

And my mate got the all clear that her cancer hadn't spread, which was SUCH a relief...and i have about 4 or 5 gigs booked up and ready to go to (one I booked back in November last year!!) so the rest of 2009 is going to be lovely lovely. i am sure of it

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I know that it's a fantastic experience for Abbi to be going to Sicily.

I know that she's going to love it.

I know that we're unlikely to be able to afford to take her away with us anywhere abroad for the next couple of years.

But it doesn't stop me from panicking that my baby girl is going away!! Away!! Abroad!! to Sicily!! Without any parents!!!

She's going to fall into Etna. or miss the coach and noone will notice. or get earthquaked. or be sold to the mafia. Or used as a drugs mule.

So it didn't help that the headteacher in Sicily just called ME to check what time the children were getting there today.

"Erm....they're leaving at 3am TOMORROW!"

So now....more panic. it hasn't exactly put my mind at ease!

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She's been learning about matter, and how it can change states. EG water into ice etc.

She had some homework about it all, which she did the majority of, and very well I hasten to add, so she does really understand the principles etc.

Anyway, the last bit of her homework (which she has done today) instructed her to draw some diagrams where matter has been changed and is unable to change back to its original state.

apparently she has drawn diagrams of someone eating some food and it coming out as poo.

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was a brilliant day/night yesterday - although not due to any crap old bollocky mushiness or anything

We decided to invite BD and Loon round and have a proper 'dinner party' with three courses and actually sitting at the table - which we've never done before (I have done in the past, but not since I've been with TN).

Firstly, that meant we had to get chairs of course luckily loon could provide the two extras we needed.

She came down with the range of Walkers special crisps for us to taste test- and generally, they tasted vile! Then we went over the Pose, and met BD....and played Fluzz / zombie Fluxx for a couple of hours, before going back and setting the table and TN started cooking.

We had:

Asparagus wrapped in pancetta topped with poached egg
Pan-fried duck with a cherry jus, duchess potatoes and green beans
Homemade crappy heart cake with strawberry coulis and homemade sweet white wine ice cream (my course)

we were VERY pleased with how it all turned out. seemed to go down well with our 'guests' too *snigger*

then, back over to the Pose to meet up with all our other local mates, listen to the cheesey 'Valentine' choons, and watch BD get flirted with by some little Brazilian gay guy! Tres tres funny.

then Frances & John came back over with us when we left about midnightish, and we played Wii games til silly o'clock before wavign everyone off.

Lovely lovely time! xx

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As I was walking down the platform at Euston today, I had the eerie feeling that I was actually in blade Runner, or some 80s sci-fi futuristic kind of film setting.

It was really because of the ads on the tube. there have been proper full-sized flat screen ads on the tube walls opposite the platforms for some time now, but this morning, they were showing a couple of ads, and one of them was for the Toyota iQ


Now it's a pretty 'concept' car, and I think that, plus the fact that Euston was looking very bright and clean this morning, plus the two big screens were playing different ads, with the nearest being the iQ one.

When I was little, the idea that the ads could move and be almost interactive as you were walkign past them seemed like a real flight of fancy, but now, it seems liek we're finally getting into the realms of how we thought the future would be!

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I didn't mention in my last post how great NYE was. Abbi was home with us, and then BD and MrWalsh came round.

We played Wii games all night, and then at about 12.30 after Abbi had gone to bed, we just drank, listened to music and chatted til about 4.30.

It was a really good night, it's good to have good friends to share these things with. There's not many single men that would be dead happy to spend their NYE with a 9 year old, and make it a fantastic night for her.

Although MrW DID swear in front of her a couple of times, and I told her to start a swear box, and he ended up handing her a bunch of notes and telling her that would last the rest of the night! LOL - she's richer than me and TN now!

Anyway she was back to school today and was up, dressed and ready for school before my alarm had even gone off because she was so bloody excited. Silly little thing that she is.

So - the 'season' is well and truly over - and life can now return to normal.

Phew.

Oh - apart from the wedding on friday.

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I love New Year.

There's something about the idea that you've got a whole year ahead of you on your brand new calendar, and you've got the chance to make it exactly what you want.

Of course, it also means Christmas is well and truly gone and forgotten, which I feel is a good thing.

It also means a chance to close the door on the last year, which generally people seem to think is a good thing. i've found that if you ask people "So, how was your year then?" they always seem to reply in the negative.

Is it that everyone is just really down on their lives?

And it doesn't seem to matter what their situation is, or where in the world they are, or however good you think their life is - they seem to have a downer on it. Which I think is really sad.

2008 was......challenging, LOL - but i'm loving our lives really - there's so much worse in the world we could be going through, and my lovely little family has each other, and we're happy with each other, which is more than money could ever buy.

We've got good friends, we've got pretty decent family (WHEN we want them) and we're healthy and happy as we're gonna be.

2009 is gonna be even better

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I've had a great weekend - and finally today, I was feeling a little Christmassy, although that soon disappeared once scabs went to bed.

I went out with Tom, Sarah & Justine on friday night to ooze, which is a fab little risotteria that i've been to a couple of times, but not for ages.

I haven't seen tom and sarah for ages, and it was a fantastic night, that ended up with us in some little italian cafe watching italian TV that was showing some kind of 'You've been framed' type programme. Although the clips kind of spoke for themselves, Tom was translating the awful commentary for us

Then yesterday we had a lovely lazy day before the whole xmas rush. did a bit of housework, played some games, and then BD came over and we got chinese and watched 1408 (which wasn't great).

Today, me and abbi played some Wii games and then went to see Hansel & Gretel at the Barbican, which wasn't exactly a panto (she saw H&G panto on Thursday) but was way darker...and you also walk through the sets - it's a 'Promenade Performance' - and it was amazing. So you start off walking through a pine forest and the smell just made it Xmas, and then there was a scene outside the house, then you go into it, and they play out another couple of scenes while you're standing around the edges of the room, then you walk through the forest again - and there were lots of scary bits that made the kids jump and afetr a couple more scenes and some more walking through some odd sets you get to the gingerbread house, and there's a big banquet and then the witch etc etc and it all gets VERY dark and scary like a proper Grimms fairy tale. so you all know the story and they get away in the end, but it was so brilliantly done, and not at all cheesey.

Me, BD and Scabs cme home from that and TN had done us a huge roast with all the trimmings - melt in the mouth belly pork that he'd gone down the butchers for this morning after I'd craved it last night and BD had never had it!

Once that was over, it was time to go to the church, which was amazing again. All in candlelight. there werte about 300 people there, it was packed - and the choir was 25-30 strong, and with a fantastic pianist - no orchestra like last year though. and we sung our little hearts out to all the carols. and teh choir sung some songs by themselves too, including one that made me cry (I have a thing about choirs) - it was exactly the same arrangement as this one that I'd never heard before, and even for people that don't do religion or anything, I think it's a beautiful piece.

I've had a wonderful, magical day with my baby, and she's been good as gold.

the end to a perfect weekend

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Abbi has this lovely new friend who joined her class this year called Kimiyah.

TN has been chatting to her dad a lot who is a nice guy, Iranian originally I believe, moved her 15 years ago or something - Kimiyah has 2 older brothers.

Anyway - she came round after school yesterday and stayed for dinner, and the two of them were watching Unbeatable Banzuke with me (such a class show!!) and Abbi was totally hyperactive, jumping around and leaping on her, and just generally being the usual mobile Abbi-noise and annoyance that she always is.

So Kimiyah (laughing as a joke) said "If you don't leave me alone, i'm going to have to get a restraining order out on you!"



How the hell does a 9 year old know about restraining orders??

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Just finished watching Survivors tonight and TN said that if it was him, he'd have found as many weapons as possible, gathered as much food as possible, and found a small-holding somewhere remote and away from everyone.

Me: I'd finally manage to get away from you
TN: You'd be dead!
Me: is that what it would take to get away from you?
TN: Yes. Yes it would. I've told you that before. you can't escape from me.

And that, is us.

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Was looking at a couple of baby photos of scabs on the comp and she saw one and had this conversation

"Is that me?"
"Yep"
"awwwwww.......I want to see more pictures of me?"
"Why?"
"Because I'm pretty!!"

vain vain vain child. are all kids like this, I wonder?