The Progeny War

Recently I've been feeling strange, just not myself.  A little bit odd.  Somewhat unsettled. Why is that?  Is it because I'm not working for the first time in 21 of my 35 years??  A little loss of identity? Guilt? Shame? WHAT??

Anyway...boredom with those feeling overtook me and I took myself of into a corner and had a word.

So, there are things about my life I don't like.  Some of them I can change, some of them I can't.  For example, I have a cranky husband, loving but cranky (I know this is a blog land where everyone has perfect partners but I guess I'm just a rebel) and short of giving him a frontal lobotomy there is not a whole lot I can do...  Likewise, the dog insist on pooing on the route between back door and car door.  What's a girl to do?

But there are things I can sort...and so begin the Progeny Wars.  Before I go any further I'd like to point out that this is a war of attrition and that I have not actually taken arms against my children.

There are three things that my kids do that really get on my wick, I'm gonna list them...

1.  They complain about the clothes I put out for them for school.  Choosing the only non-uniformed school in the universe seemed like a good idea at one stage.  They complain loudly about my choices yet are unwilling to choose their own clothes.

2.  They dis my cooking.  OK, this is understandable but seriously I can cook without poisoning them to death, surely that is sufficient?  Have they ever known any better?  Is their cooking any better, I ask you?? 

3.  Bedtime....For the Love and Honour of anything that is Divine or Holy in any religion..why do my kids hate going to bed so much?  Why do they think its my fault that they have to sleep?  Why do they wriggle around their beds for hours before exhaustion overtakes?  Give in, I think, give in...

On balance, I'm not a cool mum with loads of cash so there is feck all I can do about the coolness of their clothes.  Seriously though, are there many 4 year old boys out there that are anally particular about every item of clothing??  Personally, I believe as an adult he'll be a fashion designer or gay.  My Dad will be so pleased if he's gay, we (my 3 siblings and I) believe he really wanted one of us to be homosexual.

Back to the Progeny War..

I did some humming and hawing about what to do on the food front.  I contemplated attending cookery school, I thought about getting a house keeper but in the end I settled on porridge.  Yup, porridge.  After a few days of porridge for dinner, my culinary offerings will seem like haute cuisine........

As far as bedtime goes...until now the kids went down around 8.30pm with a story on each ipod.  That has now stopped, bedtime is 7pm SHARP, with no story and absolutely no toys in bed.  To police this I have taken to sitting on the landing until they are asleep.  This would be an entirely selfless act if it were not for the laptop (my sisters keeping me company on skype), my knitting and a glass of wine.  Its selfless to the point that my perfect husband (see how I slipped back into proper blogging there) wandered out to me with a fresh glass of vino and said that he thought I actually enjoyed being out there....  Seriously dearest, how could I?  No Sky Sports to keep me company?!?!  ;-)

Anyhooooo.  So far I am winning the war of attrition and my children still (seem to) love me...but I will keep you posted.

Overall though I have decided to stop being a weirdo and get back to enjoying my life, after all the glass is half full...I just wasn't looking at it properly!

Big kisses to you all,

'Lula xxxx

Where does the time go?

This week our Little Woman turned 8!! 

I really, truly, honestly don't know how that happened...  It was only a blink-of-the-eye-ago that two of my aunts visited us in hospital and told me that the first 6 weeks were the hardest.  Unbeknown to them I was feeling a little overwhelmed at that very moment and thought that I was entirely incapable of managing six whole weeks.  Yet, here we are 8 years later and I want the time to slow down, our Little Woman is growing up too fast.

I'm trying to negotiate a growing up hiatus, I'd like her to stay 8 for the next 5 years or so, when she will turn 9 and remain that way for a further 5 years.  She is less than impressed with my proposal!

Today was the birthday party, with around 30 kids here to celebrate.  The day was LOUD, giggle-filled and fun.  The theme was a Spa Day with foot spas, face masks and mani/pedi's for all.  Even the boys took their turns in the foot spas but they fiddled with the dials rather than relaxed!!

She received enough gifts to open a toy shop and they collectively consumed enough calories to feed a small nation for a week...

...now its all over and the Little Woman is sitting on the floor playing with her new toys.  We asked her what the best part of the day was and was told there was too much to choose just one best bit.  Happy Days!

And I'm about to crack open a nice bottle of red to celebrate/drown my sorrows at the passing of another year.

Wishing you all a fun filled weekend!

xoxox Valula xoxox

West Wing Hooking

Recently I have begun watching the complete box set of The West Wing.  Obviously I'm a bit behind the times on this one!!  I recall someone raving about it during my student days but it was one of those series that somehow went under my radar.

My Other Half has chosen to overdose on sports coverage instead of watching it with me, which means I get to watch it on the laptop with my legs snuggled under the duvet....bliss!  I'm quite caught up in it and really look forward to the next time I will get to sit down for an episode or two.

To double the enjoyment I've been using the WW time to do a bit of hooking, as a result I now have two baby blankets!!  Yay.  I agreed to make these sometime ago but had found it slow going (as I don't particularly like making blankets) but with the WW on too the whole thing became much more enjoyable.  Comfort crochet almost.

Here are my West-Wing-Baby-Blankets:

An Attic24 ripple blanket

And a random Granny-Square blanket (pre-blocking photo)

At the moment my hooks and needles are empty and its making me a little twitchy.  My Other-Half thinks that knitting/hooking are like heroin to me!

I have signed up for Tikki's Mystery KAL but as a novice knitter I imagine it will require my undivided attention...so not sure what to do with my WW time...

TTFN,

xoxox Valula xoxox