It is Mark' s birthday. It has started off with pressies (well received, I think - he is very difficult to buy for) and now he has taken himself off to the osteopath. Not as a result of the presents, I might add.


Oliver is off a-Pokemon-ing for the day, so I am left to my own devices. heh heh heh. Here are my intentions:


1. Get out all the gifts from the wardrobe thus far purchased for Oliver and make a list of what we have


2. Make mince pies (somethng I almost never do as they seem cheaper and easier and nicer than mine, but saw a recipe using ground almonds in the pastry, and think this will make all the difference. (yes Kim, I know you always do this....no one likes a smarty pants ;) )


3. Make cherry & almond flapjacks


4. Douse, sorry, feed my Christmas cakes with the last half of a bottle of brandy (the first half of the bottle already being in the cakes)


5. Squeeze in some exercise. I am uncomfortably aware of the tightening of my waistband and too-snug fit of jeans around my inner thighs. Problem is, for the first time I ever remember, I really just don't want to exercise. sigh.


6. Finish my second beaded bauble whilst watching Foyle's War. I love Michael Kitchen.


7. Ignore no 5.


8. Feel guilty for not doing no 5.


9. The usual drudgery: washing, washing up, changing the bedclothes......


10. Dye my hair. Well, cover the greying, darkening roots really. I have a box of 'natural baby blonde' waiting for me. How the word 'natural' can be incorporated into a box of hair dye positively bulging with artificial chemicals is beyond me...


This years tree:




Fabulouso.

monday continued...

and, yes - victory is mine. I have battled the mattress and emerged triumphant. I have taken on the might of horrible chores and come out in front. All hail me.

Tee hee. Failed at McDonalds though.

Oliver did tremendously well today by getting on with his english, unsupervised and then knuckling down to maths with me, and also doing a little of that unsupervised, which he doesn't really like to do.

Have made an oven-roasted vegetable soup for tea, to scoff with garlic bread and played an epic game of Pokemon with Oliver, which I lost. Poo.

All in all, so far, today is a very good day.

diary of a day

Here is how I see today panning out:

1. chop up double foam mattress into 4 bits (very heavy otherwise and will not fit in car)
2. load into car (after clearing out general crap that already lives in the car and relocating to the garage)
3. clean up dining room now full of foam bits
4. have shower now I am covered in foam bits and sweating from the efforts of nos 1, 2 and 3.
5. do maths and english with Oliver (hmmm)
6. do general housework (dishes/washing crap)
7. go to dump via shops to get leaving present for Sylvie (Oliver's Spanish teacher who is buggering off back to Madrid)
7. give in to lunch at McDonalds (can't see me avoiding this if my timings are off....)
8. spend the afternoon pretending to watch interesting TV with Oliver but actually trying to sneak in a snooze before
9. giving Oliver his tea and taking him to a friends for her to deliver him to Cubs
10. going to work for a rest for 4 hours......

As I write, I have just sat down after achieving no 1 on my list. For this gargantuan task Mark had left me a Stanley knife. This was a bit like cleaning a toilet with a toothbrush so I abandoned that and got a Spear & Jackson saw to complete the job. Har har. report back later.....