Obsessions

This is my last week of Neighbours for a very long time, and Sky+ doesn't seem to be giving up today's episode without a fight.
Perhaps it's just helping me wean...

But, I've ordered Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy* which should arrive before we leave this house, and I have a new convert hee hee.  Today when I asked Toots if she wanted to sit down and watch Neighbours with me she said, "No, how about we watch the doctor programme?"  Just what mummy needs after a long morning out with the girls!

*So for those that don't know, I'm a BIG Grey's Anatomy fan.  I started watching it I think just before Toots was born.  Watched the whole of the first season, then had Toots half way through the second, missing out on the final episodes.  Nothing to do but buy the first season, watch it again, then buy the second.  By the time I'd caught up the third season was airing on Sky, we had free satellite, and I was hooked.  I managed to watch every episode of every season, aided by Scott playing football on a Thursday night which gave me the chance to cry in peace.  Anyway, long and the short of it is that Season 7 started in the UK a couple of weeks ago, but aired in the States in September, so whatever I did I was going to miss out on half the season.  So I decided to start from the beginning again and am almost finished Season 2.  The girls are gonna have to fight me for the portable DVD player on the flight!

Haven't Got Time For The Pain

So the whole point of going to the doctor yesterday was to get pills to deal with the tonsillitis before the weekend, and not end up at G-Docs, our out of hours doctor service.

I've had tonsillitis twice before, and both times my throat wasn't sore enough to go to the doctor on the Friday, but by the Bank Holiday Monday the first time, and Sunday the second time, I couldn't sleep and couldn't swallow and had to call up NHS24 who referred me to G-Docs.

So yesterday we went to see the Nurse Practitioner, I got some pills, and thought all would be well.  Last night, however, I started getting stomach pains, and this morning the pain was really quite constant.  I'm not one to be naive about pregnancy and would probably just have put them down to random but normal pregnancy pains, but thought I'd call up NHS24 to see if they could be related to the antibiotics and if it was okay to keep taking the pills.  And of course I end up back at G-Docs this morning to get checked over.

As it happens the doctor said just to stop taking the antibiotics and hope my throat got better, but if not to start taking the pills again and just grin and bear the pain if it comes back.  Super!

Anyway, it meant we got to the Duthie Park by half 10 and after the essential cup of tea and pancake, had a good time visiting the frogs, fish and cacti.

The Frogpark

January 2011

Her own work and words.

And to top it all off, I have tonsillitis, not just a sore throat, but tonsillitis.  Two pills, four times a day, an hour before meals, for a whole week.  Life just gets fairer and fairer.

Rock N' Roll Dream

To update my previous post, the Don's 'hard' today was wearing a T-shirt, sitting in a golf cart with a beer in hand, at 2pm on a working day... If my life improves this dramatically in Midland, rock on America!

Love Buzz

Happy Birthday Little Tiger!!

BUZZ AI EAR!!!!

Here Is No Why

Why do bed covers stay on the bed for nights on end, then seem to mysteriously fall of numerous times a night at other times?  Last night I was up six times between 3.15am and 5.15am putting bed covers back on, and the night before up three times between half 4 and 6am.

A twenty four hour journey, serious jet lag, twelve hour working day and completing American legal paperwork doesn't seem so bad now does it my Don?!?

Especially For You

I ate a truffle slice.

x

At Dawn They Sleep

The one thing that is totally predictable about my kids, is that they are totally unpredictable.
Except for knowing that they'll wake every hour on the hour the first night their father is away from home and their mother needs her sleep after only managing five interrupted hours the night before.

I close my eyes finally at midnight and quickly fall asleep.

Suddenly a presence looms beside me.  It's 1am and Toots is standing next to the bed wanting a cuddle.  I take her back to bed, give her a cuddle, go back to my bed and sleep.

2am bring the incessant cries of Tiger: "Mummy, mummy, mummy, muuummy".  I stumble through and she asks for some water.  Water is given and I make my way back to bed.

At 3am Tiger's on her second round.  She's lost her blanket.

4am and they're both awake.  "Mummy mummy mummy" Tiger cries.  Five minutes later "Mummy, muuuumy, muuuuummmy, Tiger wants you" Toots cries.  I walk through and Tiger is back asleep but Toots now wants some water.

As I finally get back to bed and lie down a text from the Don comes through: "Finally in Midland, hope I didn't wake you".

Nope.  Nope you didn't.

Short reprieve at 5am but an hour later Toots is moaning again.  I tell her it's still the middle of the night (I do love dark winter mornings) and she falls back asleep.

7am they managed to sleep through and at 8am both girls trailed in, climbed into each side of the bed, and snuggled down for a half hour cuddle.  A nice end to the night, but I'd rather have had the uninterrupted night.

Needless to say we gave Toddlers and thirty screaming kids a miss in the morning, and opted instead for tea, clotted cream scones and a good natter with Inverurite Chum.  Yum.

The Final Countdown

And the Don is away.  Me and three for the next two weeks.  But at least now we can finalise some dates.  So the countdown begins...

Saturday 5th February - Return of the Mack, in time for his birthday.
Monday 7th February - Move on Up, and oot our wee hoosie
Monday/Tuesday 7/8th February - Pack Up, organise, and prepare for the movers.
Wednesday/Thursday 9th/10th February - Life is Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box
Friday 11th - The Painter: anyone know a good one?  Time's running out and we need someone in.
Saturday 12th - Cleaning Windows and other such stuff.  Thankfully not by us.
Sunday/Monday/Tuesday 13th/14th/15th - A Long And Sad Goodbye to many family and friends
Wednesday 16th -Bits And Pieces that still need done
Thursday 17th - Fly Away


But first, a cake to bake and two year old's birthday party to host, a thirty three year old's birthday cake to make and a house, loft and garage to organise.  Nae problem for me and three.

P.S. My Don: artists - without Googling?!

And speaking of books, I've decided to write a list of all the books I've read (so far) on the left hand side of this blog.  Not to advertise them, for many are rubbish and many are trashy and many are very easy reads and few are intellectual and few are thought provoking and few are revolutionary, but just because, for once, I'd like a list.

A few years ago the Don decided that his New Year's Resolution was to read a book a month.  I know I read more than that but decided I'd write down all the books I read, along with him, and see what we came up with.  I think I got as far as March, he perhaps got a couple of months further, but then we gave up, so I decided this year I'd use the blog to keep my list up to date.

A wise French lady once posted "Read at least two novel every month, because escapism is a necessity not a luxury" and for me this is definitely true. I think reading is my only real way to escape, and because of that I don't want books that are hard to read, and definitely don't want ones that require me to think.  I want a book I can escape into, be swept away with, long to read, and absolutely devour.  Perhaps not many of the books on my list will be like that, but at least you've been warned it may not be one of the great 'book lists' of the world!

Listen, Learn, Read On

"Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it.  When you do, please don't tell them what happens either.  The magic is how it unfolds".

* * * POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT * * *

What utter garbage.  It's crap.  Nothing happens.  You expect this great something to unfold, and you know what, it doesn't.  It's just a story.  And not a very satisfying one.  Easy to read, yes.  Quick to read, yes.  But...

"Searingly eloquent" - Daily Mail
"ambitious and fearless..." - Guardian
"Impressess as a feat of literary engineering" - Telegraph
"...the most powerful novel I've read in a long time...." - The Gloss (Ireland)

...nope.

Or am I missing something??

What You Need

I've taken all the girls' old clothes out of the loft to sort before our move, and have been staggered to so far fill and organise seventeen boxes.

Seventeen 32 litre boxes.
544 litres of clothes!
Clothes that are only for 0-2 year olds.
0-2 year old girls.

At times like this I'm thinking that if Lightning is a girl it'll be a whole lot easier!!

Our Kind Of Love*

After traipsing around London all day yesterday, running numerous errands in Inverurie this morning, and stupidly clambering with three tots at a play gym this afternoon, I arrived home just before tea in quite some pain.  I achingly eased out of the car, manoeuvred carefully across the ice rink that is the road at the front of our house, and shuffled in to the house, trying to put as little weight on my pelvis, spine or either leg as possible. The Don, who followed me in, kindly enquired as to whether I'd like a chair pulled up in front of the cooker or the counter in order to start preparations for the evening meal.

*Alternative title could be Some Kind of Monster

Hi Ho Silver Lining

Business lounges.  Wonderful things.  The Terminal 5 Galleries Club made the 4am start, the rush to the Embassy, the rudeness of the security men, the repetitiveness of the walk between Paddington Station and the Bakerloo line (think we walked it five times in the space of 5 hours), and the aborted landing at ABZ, pretty worthwhile.

That and obviously getting a chance to see my littlest sister, and shop in Gap Maternity.

And oh, and now that we're 900 pounds and 1,400 dollars poorer, they approved our Visas.  Passports should be returned in 3-5 working days and the Don will make his first trip to Midland at the end of next week, perfectly timed to miss both Tiger's and probably his own birthdays.

Good Ole American Way

Boy it's hard to get kids to sit still for passport photos... I mean I thought babies were hard to pose, but throw in the grumps, constant thumb sucking, frowning, looking everywhere but the camera and point blank refusing to go anywhere near the photographers chair, and it's nigh on impossible!!  Give me a six week old with floppy head any day.

Okay don't, the results weren't that good, though the blood pressure certainly remained lower!

These results, surprisingly, weren't half bad.  Tiger's was a single perfectly timed shot by the photographer as she was balancing on a chair to get the height, but determined not to take her thumb out her mouth or acknowledge the camera in any way.  Even a chocolate bribe only kept her thumb out and her eyes looking up for about two seconds, and then she was chewing.  While getting Toots anywhere near the camera was just a nightmare.  Eventually she sat on my shoulders and briefly glanced up.  And I guess the result is a pretty good reflection of how she really does look half the grumpy toddler time!

Apparently the US Embassy need photos that are less than six months old to process your Visa, so I had to get mine done again too.  The hoops you have to jump through, or rather the number and detail of forms you have to fill in to get a Visa, is just ridiculous.  And the cost!?!!?!  I did find out, however, that by selecting 'homemaker' you totally bypass the education and qualification pages of the form, even though being three and almost two requires you to include the schools you currently and previously attended.

  

Anyway, Visa interview is on Thursday down in London, so assuming the mug shots are accepted (big changes in one, three and five years eh?) we'll let you know how we get on.

Mr Bojangles

Tiger's first attempt at lone creation of Mr & Mrs Potato Head, and ain't she proud:

The Unknown

Little Lightening was scanned today, and as always, wow, what a sight... One baby, two legs, two arms, ten fingers and ten toes, two kidneys, four chambers of the heart; head, abdominal, and femur lengths perfect; somersaults, headstands, we saw it all.  But we'll be darned if we can tell what sex he/she/it is.

In Aberdeen they have hundreds of signs that tell you not to ask the sex because they won't tell you, and it's been this way for quite a number of years.  Anyway, third baby, eighth scan, might as well chance our luck and ask, no?  So we did.  And of course the scanner wouldn't tell us.  But she did direct her scanner thing down that area for quite a while while the Don and I discussed what we could and could not see, and she seemed most amused by some of our conclusions.  But you know, we're none the wiser.

Not that we're that fussed to know!  I don't think I'd be very good at keeping a secret like that, so we're actually quite happy not to know and to have the excitement of waiting and seeing... (or finding out in the States as they're bound to tell us at our first appointment).

Anyway, he's doing well, kicking away like a footballer-to-be, and big.  Well, not that big, but I'm big, and so he feels big, and very very active.  But that's exciting and nice to feel too.  See if I'm still saying that a few months down the line!

Next Year

Big brunch, massive lunch, big brunch, big lunch.  Not a bad way to spend the first four days of the New Year.

And not a bad preparation for the coming year!

 
Downside is over chocolated, over stimulated and over tired kids, leading to tears, tantrums, tummy upsets and narky parents.

Getting back to some sort of routine now sounds quite appealing...