that's Christmas sorted then

Got O's Big Present today. I'd got him something else, ages ago, but he wrote his Santa List at the weekend and it seems he has his heart set on Texter the Robotic Puppy. I'd never heard of it, I thought perhaps it was some kind of txting dog thing but a google for 'robotic puppy' reveals the thing's called 'Teksta' and available in Woolies for 30 of our English pounds. So now it's safely stashed in the back of the filing cabinet, along with his other pressies. Most of which are from ebay or TK Maxx. The Chocolate Orange is probably the only one that's new and not last season's. Meanwhile my poor parents have spent all day looking for the "Shark Boy and Lava Girl" DVD for him. They wanted to get him a DVD and asked me what he'd like, I said that one cos he loved it at the cinema and his friend has the DVD, so I knew it was available. So mum and dad have ShopYouths in every dvd shop in their town looking for it, before finding out it's not been released in the UK yet. Oops.

Now I just have to think of something for R's birthday. It's not fair, our anniversary, his birthday and Christmas all happen within a month of each other. Anniversary pressie I have already. Christmas is easy because we've already decided we don't want presents. Well we do, obv (I personally would love an ipod and a nice shiney new bike) but the peeps in Kashmir probably needs tents more, so we've agreed on donations instead of presents this year. Everyone else is getting books or Lush things or something from the Oxfam catalogue (unless we guilt trip them into the Kashmir thing too bwahahahahaha).

Other news: Trin and girls are coming this weekend hurrah! I hope they get here thro the wind and snow eep. Mr Branson's trains not like snow. Better pack wooly hats, a shovel and a hip flask, just in case.

acceptable face of capitalism

I am supposed to have 0 money. I do have some money but the Inland Revenue quite unreasonably expect me to give it to them soon. Bah. So I'm not supposed to be spending anything (much). Plus I'm up to here with rampant consumerism and there's still 6 weeks to go till Xmas. But today I had an anti-consumerist shopping spree. Went to The Basement for vegan-but-nice lunch and while I was there, got myself some fair trade footwear. Then on to Oxfam books and another few quid spent on lovely lovely books mmmmm books hurrah.

Haven't told Trin yet that it's Buy Nothing Day next Saturday!

Here is an extract Jack and the Bean Stalk by O:


The beans grew and grew. Jack was shocked.

I :heart: sums

I am finding this maths short course worryingly interesting. There is something nice and soothing about manipulating the numbers and watching the answer come out. I'm currently loving algebra.

Be prewarned, I am almost certainly in my maths comfort zone and this time next week I will be tearing my hair out and throwing books around the house and ranting about how stoopid it all is.

come the glorious day

Manchester is over run with, infested with, plagued with, luxury flat developments. You'd think there'd be a limited on the number of feckwits with too much money who could afford urbane urban sophisticate open plan beech and chrome palaces in the sky but no. The skyline is still as full of cranes and scaffolding as ever, ever corner you turn you see old buildings being converted or new buildings going up, to provide more flats for yuppy wankers and more trendy bars for them to drink in. The BBC's northward relocation is going to make things worse. But of all of them, if I get to chose one to be the first to be blown up come the revolution, it will be this one:



This is 'The Hacienda', built on the site of the old Hacienda and marketed with the phrase that triggered a screaming rage everytime I cycled past it "The party's over. Now you can come home". Walking past it yesterday morning, as we walked along the canal into town, I read on the back of it a timeline of the Hac, and then the famous quote "That's all over. You'll never see the hacienda. It doesn't exist. The hacienda must be built".

Now, I wasn't much of a raver even when I were a lass and I only went to the Hac a few times. And I firmly believe Anthony H Wilson is an agent of Satan. But that's not really the point. What I hate is the way the city is being airbrushed and glossed over, everything sleek and clean and airbrushed and corporate. Stop homogenising my world!

Oh and I bet few of the wankers who live there know that where quote comes from, or have ever heard of situationism.

Rant over, back to work.

P.S. Freedom for Tooting!

you know you live in the big city when ...

... you're watching Britain's Toughest Towns and it shows Donal driving past your house.

And you know you live in a real community when you take your kids* swimming and meet neighbours and kids from school and staff from school at the pool, and the lifeguards are kind and friendly to the kids, and the people in the papershop when you stop to get a paper on the way home know you won't be buying sweets cos Friday is the kids' sweets day and you have lunch in the local cafe and the kids interupt your neighbour's late lunch with his new girlf by telling them bad jokes. And you think, for all its problems, living round here is way better than alot of other places.



* I still only have one, but we took B along with us

quick update

sorry peeps, been busy busy. O was 6 on Friday, we had his party on Friday after school. 15 very loud and very lively kids, it was fun but knackering. First thing Saturday me and O drove up to Durham to visit my best friend C for her birthday (R had to stay home and work awww). Our friend M (lovely man) was there too. Saturday as Bommie Night, Sunday we all went to Marsden Bay. I admired the lovely rocks, O insisted on stripping off and jumping about in the sea. The North Sea. In November. I know we are having an unseaonally warm autumn but it was still mad. He warmed up with hot chocolate in the grotto where we had lunch. Then the long drive home. Only the amount I love and miss C could get me to drive up and down the A1 in a weekend. I hate that road. Back home Sunday night and now started on my maths course hurrah (sort of).

I am vastly proud of O right now. Last week he got two gold star awards for good work at school. On Saturday he managed to see most of a fireworks display - for the past 3 years he has been terrified of fireworks. And as soon as he heard we were going to the beach he was determined to go in the water - this time last year he was terrified of the sea, too, and became hysterical when taken anywhere near it. Now he's a complete water baby. I love my little (not so little now he's 6!) boy.

Eid Mubarak

Thinking of everyone marking Eid ul Fitr in Kashmir this year.

note to self:

I am an old married lady. I must not attempt to flirt with the Nice Young Man who works in the cafe. Even if he did wink at me over the falafel.

Festival of Lights

Subh Diwali!

return of the curse

The doctor said I had to have my lovely IUS taken out cos its 5 years was up. After 5 blissful period free years, the reality of the return my real menstrual cycle is coming as a bit of a shock. Where did I put those white trousers, I need to go roller skating.