mmm...

Interesting.

waiting

Sitting on Starbucks waiting for one of my minions to turn up. We agreed to have supervision here for a change. He should have been here 26 minutes ago. While I am writing, perhaps now is the time to mention that Starbucks coffee is sh*t. For me the best coffee is served by Cafe Nero, but they are a fairly small chain and are sometimes hard to find. Which coffee do you prefer?

strategy

Babycake has become increasingly difficult to get to sleep at night. He has even managed to stay up to 23:10 on a couple of occasions, and that's with only an hours sleep during the day. It is usually my job to settle him at night. We lie on the coach, him with his bottle, me with mine, watching TV. I didn't realist that he was. Using the TV to distract him from sleeping. The last couple of nights we haven't watched any TV and he has been asleep within 20 minutes. Cunning, eh?

He is sleeping in my arms as I type, one handed, of course, on my iPhone.

on a more positive note...

I got a very nice jacket from Marks and Spencer at the weekend, properly cut to cover my emerging bump (how can I be so big so early on? And it's not twins!) and a really cheap, enormous parka from Tesco's (of all places) to protect me from the elements when we go to Berlin in December.

I am stupidly excited about going to Berlin. I have wanted to go there since I first heard about the Wall and I'm not sure why, but I still want to go now the wall is gone and see how it's all turned out. I was very jealous of Gypsy Tart and Rock Cake for getting there before us, so when they suggested we all nip over just before Christmas, we didn't hesitate. I have been trying to recollect the three years of German I was forced to take at school (I was pretty good at it, but really hated the sound of the foul language in my mouth) and teaching Babycake to ask for beer. He has not been cooperative, but then he still refuses to call me 'Mummy', so what do you expect?

I have also finished a significant part of my course and it went really well thanks to my colleagues who both happen to be Social Workers with a Welsh connection. I think that is significant. I now have four assignments to write and submit before the end of December, plus a heavy workload, yet am feeling optimistic. It might be something to do with actually feeling like I'm not going to pass out with exhaustion about four times a day and I hope I am finally enjoying the benefits of a supercharged second trimester. It's about time.

cheating cheaters

I have to agree with Mr McMuffin about the Tutankhamun exhibition. It was worthy in its own right, but a disappointment, because we thought we were going to see the same exhibition as the one they toured in the 70's. I was one of the fortunate people who saw it in London 35 years ago, when I was only 5 and I can still remember so much about it. I kept telling Mr McMuffin about the mummy and the scary statue of Anubis, but we didn't see either. What a cheat.

I am also in a moaning mood about maternity clothing. Being a tall and fairly slim sort of person, it hasn't always been easy to find clothes to fit me, but things have got a great deal better over the last decade. Sadly the maternity market hasn't caught up and apart from Topshop, try getting a pair of trousers with a leg length of 34". Now my skinny flare and 'boyfriend' maternity jeans are great, but not really suitable for work, so I perused the rather more expensive world of Isabella Oliver and found a simple (and pricey) skirt, designed with proportion and balance to suit tall women. I was sold and phoned up (the very accessible) information line and was just about to place my order when I decided to make a last minute comparison of the lengths of the 'tall' and 'normal' skirts. They were both the bloody same. Apparently they make no changes to their cut or stock, they just designate a few pieces suitable for us taller than average types. Needless to say, they did not get a penny out of me.

So, as Gap do not sell maternity clothes in the UK, I have been reduced to ordering anything in a 6L from Ebay and while it's quite exciting, it's not the most coherent way to meet your clothing needs. As a side moan, when did clothing sizes become so large? I'm pretty much a standard UK size 12, but I need an 8 in Marks and Spencer for some clothes and a 6 in Next. Judging by the Gap trousers I got from Ebay, they're doing the same thing in the US and I'm fast approaching a size 4 and I'm not even that skinny! Rant over.

tutankhamun

Standing outside The O2 having been to see the Tutankhamun exhibition. It was interesting but I feel cheated. The mask wasn't there even though they use it to advertise the show. What cheaters!

unbelievable

I received a telephone call this evening from 3 Mobile. It was a recorded message telling me that they wanted to talk to me about renewing my contract but all their operators were too busy to talk to me! This little bit of madness had me ranting to Mrs McMuffin for some several minutes.

oh dear...

He has gone from the sweet child who loves ice-cream to the monster who came shopping with me today. It's a bit sad really but I am sure he is suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder and Paininthearseism. It really was a case of if I said white, he would say black, but of course he doesn't really talk, so rather he would scream and shout and collapse to the floor in protest. The 'terrible twos' seem to have started.

By the way, I took the photo with my iPhone. I think it takes pretty okay snapshots.

how could you...?

It was our birthday a few days ago, on the 17th. It has been four years since we started this blog. You forgot. How could you? It's alright, it doesn't matter, it's only a birthday, I'm sure there will be plenty of others for us to celebrate together...I'm going to bed now....No, really, I'm going to bed now. Goodnight all, and happy belated birthday greetings to us. Hip, hip, hooray etc.

how did that happen...?

According to our stats, in 2005 we had 290,000 hits. This year we have 95,000 so far. That means we have lost nearly 200,000 hits over the last two years. How did that happen? Where did you all go? I hope you have been well. I'll probably do a post about the current state of our stats soon.