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.

two gallants

I discovered the Two Gallants on YouTube the other day. Best newish band I have heard in ages. A great rock, punk, folky mix created by two young guys. I particularly like this song, Despite What You've Been Told.

fame...at last

Just heard from Typepad that they want to feature our blog on their front page...which is nice. I hope I haven't fallen for some kind of scam. I'm not sure why they would want my credit card details, but it seemed above board. Just kidding. About the credit stuff, not about being a featured blog.

oh, god...

I must admit that I am very lax about going to the dentist. I haven't been for absolutely ages, but I had to make an emergency appointment this morning because one of my back teeth was hurting and it seemed loose. Well, after much poking and prodding and sticking big f**k-off needles into my poor mouth, which had me squirming in pain, a very unsympathetic dentist ripped out the tooth. It's amazing how much discomfort you can put up with. I was able to control my unreasoned reaction, which was to punch her in the mouth, and run screaming from the room. I had another tooth removed once when I was a child, but I completely forgot how horrible it was. I could feel every push and tug, and the feeling of it being wrenched from my mouth made me feel a little bit sick. Oh, well, it's done for now. The good news is that they have really improved the local anesthetic, because after less than an hour, the slack-mouth-ed-ness of it all has gone away. I guess now I have to decide what I want them to do with the gapping hole in my mouth. Do I really need all those teeth? Surely having one missing isn't going to be a problem. It's at the back and no-one can see it.

The good news is that after a bit of a clean and descale, my teeth actually look okay. Certainly good enough for another few years of black coffee and fags.

sitting here...

...drinking one of the worst cups of coffee that I have ever tasted. The panini was awful too. Just thought I'd say that.

guitar man

Since Rock Cake let Babycake play with his guitar, we have had a child overtaken by the need to strum anything that looks remotely like a guitar and squeal loudly with delight. So far he has attempted to play a picture of a violin and a book cover containing a somewhat abstract representation of a guitar.

I would get him a small toy one for Christmas, but is it really responsible? Should I really be encouraging my boy to follow in the footsteps of Keith Richards, Axl Rose and James from Metallica? Then again, I could encourage him to take up the violin and he could end up like Nigel Kennedy. Now that doesn't bear thinking about.

ebaying

The iPhone gives me the freedom to post from anywhere. You really do not want to know where I am right now. I have been trying to sell some stuff eBay and been doing pretty well so far. However my attempts to sell a 5G 30Gb iPod has been hard work. For some reason it has been targetted by scammers. eBay has withdrawn the listing twice already. I am now getting emails from eBay and Paypal telling me that as soon as I provide proof that it has been shipped, the money is waiting to go onto my account. I tell you, it's enough to shake a boy's confidence in eBay. Perhaps the rumours are true, and eBay really is going through some kind of massive database crisis.

low cunning

After almost two weeks of Babycake being unable to sleep before half ten, due to toothache, we have tried all remedies and are now at our last resort, the car. Mr McMuffin has taken him for a drive and hopes that if the boy sucks up a nice warm bottle of milk, he just might fall into an (early) sleep.

I hear that there are babies that sleep through the night from three months of age and go gladly to bed and can be left alone in the night. I would like one of these mythical creatures next please.

relaxing

I was moved to post, while sitting in our local Starbucks. Haven't got much to say except I love my iPhone! Oh, and to tell you that I have decided to rationalize my technology. I am currently running five auctions on eBay. Made about £300 so far, which is pretty good. Paid for the iPhone at least. Now, how am I going to pay for that super-slim Macbook when it comes out in January?

iPhone tips no.1

You probably are not surprised to hear that I have been playing with my iPhone quite a lot since I got it. My main concern has been how to access files - documents, movies etc stored on my Mac. I think I have it sussed now. Two apps are going to make my life much easier. The first is a fantastic little program, called iPhone Remote that sets up my Mac as a server and allows me to access practically everything stored on it through a neat GUI on the iPhone. It will even stream music and movies. Oh, it's still in beta, but as far as I can see it is stable and works well. The other app is called FilemarkMaker, which creates bookmarks of documents, PDFs work best, that can be synced with the iPhone and accessed offline. I'm not entirely sure how it works, but I can say that it works well.

weird...our most popular posting

Mail Order Husband

wait...it gets better

Mrs McMuffin is now campaigning to take the iPhone to London tomorrow. She is going to some conference or something and is certain that she will not be able to survive the day without access to her email and the internet. She is also worried that she will get lost without the help of google maps. I know that she has told me not to get her one for Christmas, but I wonder if she is protesting too much.

still loving my iPhone

It's everything that I hoped it would be. It is the fantasy machine that I have been looking for. Everything just works. Sure it's not perfect and I would like a couple of things to be different. Believe it or not, even Mrs McMuffin wants one. So I now have my upgrade path sorted! I am even surprised to find that the rather puny camera is actually pretty good if you are used to some of the rubbish ones that come with some mobile phones. This has been written on my iPhone. Just thought I'd say that.

amazing

I am posting this from my new iPhone. It is a bloody beautiful machine. Oh, joy. Many days and weeks of techy playing.

terminator

Have they such short memories? Do they really think this is an appropriate name?

oh, I forgot to mention...

Mrs McMuffin is pregnant again. We discovered the good news only a couple of days after having a very grown up discussion about whether we should have any more children. We decided not to.

where does the time go...

The truth is that I have no idea. Our days and nights have been taken up with looking after Babycake, eating, sleeping and working. Not much else. I will try to post some more later about all the not so exciting nothingness. For now, here is a photo of Babycake, who is now 21 months old, after he proudly put his hat on by himself. It's upside down and back to front, but doesn't he look beautiful?