Um, Okaaayyy - Figures

You are the Death card. Death is a stage in the
cycle of life. Without death, there would be no
room for new things to grow. When you receive
the Death card in a tarot reading, fear not;
Death is only an indication that transformation
is about to occur. Death allows us all to
evolve by removing that which is no longer
needed. The end of one cycle makes way for a
new one. Old behaviours and patterns which have
tied us down are released. Death cleans house
so that we don't have needless drains on our
energy. In Death's ruthless destruction there
lies compassion. Image from: Danielle Sylvie
Taylor
http://members.limitless.org/~morpheum/gallery.html


Which Tarot Card Are You?
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5 Goals for 2006

Nothing like copying the idea from other blogs :-)

5 Personal Goals for 2006 (for me, Jon's are different)

Lose at least a stone every two months and use exercise bike regularly.

Redecorate our bedroom and clear it out, turn it into somewhere nice to be instead of the hell hole it currently is.

Clear clutter through a combination of ebay, charity shops and bin.

Say "yes" more often to Emily and Jon.

Say "no" more often to everyone else.


5 Work Goals for 2006 (again, for me, Jon's are focused differently)

Actively seek more writing contracts instead of waiting for them to fall into our laps.

Change online shop software, get a fresh stand-alone domain and revamp the shop category by category, line by line.

Switch the answerphone off and make more effort to deal with those endless phone calls, at least a few of which might actually be orders or people we want to talk to, as opposed salesmen and people expecting the impossible.

Investigate new ideas such as fairy letters and the zodiac fairy.

Consider going back to doing personal, face to face astrology consultations.


5 Home Ed Goals for 2006

Be more structured (albeit in a loose, unstructured kinda way....) so we cover some history, geography, science, music and art every week as well as the standard English and maths. Give the topic based approach a miss for a while unless a new burning passion emerges which has to have our full attention.

More physical activity of one kind or another. Yoga classes. Gymnastics in the garden.

Get up earlier :-)) having thought through the day before what we're actually getting up earlier for. Better planning and time management, in other words.

Make better use of the library and less use of our wholesale book accounts....

Encourage fiction reading without discouraging the avid non-fiction reader we have.

Kitty Igloo

Romeo and Juliet in an igloo Emily made for them on top of her bed.
Ordered new collars for them today from Kitty Collars - very cute! The ones we originally bought from ebay when they were tiny don't have any elastic in, so aren't safe. Grrrr. Then we bought a second lot from various petshops, but they're not soft enough to sit right. Sigh. Finally settled on two today that have quick release fittings, ID tags and are lovely and soft. Hopefully should finally do the job then! As soon as the collars arrive they're having one day wearing them indoors to get used to them....and then kitty freedom beckons. Still quite scared of letting them go, but they're nearly seven months old now, and desperate to go out. Can't keep them indoors forever, and wouldn't want to in any case.....I feel that cats need more freedom than that.....so, wish us luck for those first few nail-biting days!

Enchanted Narnia

At last - proper snow!

Today was set to be a busy day with a doctor's visit, hectic orders, writing deadlines and umpteen trips to the post office for Jon laden down with packages. But overnight the snow fairy finally did her magic. There's something utterly enchanting about waking up to a winter wonderland - never fails.

So despite our busy schedule, Emily and I were out in the swow before breakfast:

She's spent most of the day outdoors with one or other of us. We took the kittens out for their first taste of snow, which Romeo enjoyed rather more than Juliet did, and we had fun identifying the various animal tracks we found in the garden.
Later on while I got on with work, Jon and Emily went off for a wintery walk to Scotter Church and its surrounding beautiful, pristine woodland which of course was instantly christened Narnia. Here, because after all snow doesn't happen very often "round these parts" is a large selection of pics:
Climbing over the stile into Narnia

This is soooo much fun!

Tree Climbing

In the magical climbing tree

A well earned rest in Narnia

Throwing snowballs at Dadddy from the tree

A sleeping snow queen

and two views of Scotter Church looking rather pretty in its seasonal coat:


Made a snow cat in the garden too, and finally made it inside just before dusk!

We've just finished setting up this National Geographic Rock Tumbler which was another of Emily's presents from Nana and Gramps. Think she surprised Gramps because she could already identify the rough stones which came with it without needing to use the reference chart, lol. She's really looking forward to making Daddy a Tigers Eye pendant and me a Carnelian ring in a couple of weeks when the whole tumbling process is finished. We've got an easy source of rough gemstones via one of our wholesalers (plus the beach near the caravan which is famous for its agate) so this could hopefully turn into a hobby which runs and runs.

Had a phone call from the Mum of one of Emily's old school friends today, confirming that her daughter can come to Emily's party. We had a lovely long chat and a catch up, so that was a nice way to round off what's turned out to be a much, much nicer day than the one we were anticipating!

And A Lovely Time Was Had By All

Had a magical Christmas :-)) Hope everyone else did too.

Christmas Eve night was wonderful. Nana came with us to the carol service, which was standing room only - good job we got there early! Emily sang her heart out and we walked home through the churchyard and the long way round by candelight from her Christingle candle. After a takeaway pizza supper it was bed time. Emily and I heard sleigh bells from outside in the garden as she tried to go to sleep. She was so excited I thought she was going to burst! Oddly, Daddy didn't hear them - I think he was busy at the time ;-) - but there were definitely reindeer flying overhead!

Jon and I got sidetracked watching a film and didn't get to bed until around 2 a.m. - and were interrupted at half past three by a thrilled to bits child landing on the bed yelling "Santa's been!!!". Hmmmm. Next year, Santa is under strict instructions not to visit this house until nearly dawn, lol. Told Emily it was too early to open her stocking and she'd better come in and cuddle down with us until a more reasonable hour. Well of course, that worked. Not. One and three quarter hours and not one wink of sleep later, we gave in, and the stocking was officially opened at 5.15 in the morning. Although even Emily couldn't stop yawning, never mind us two!

We went downstairs afterwards for a lovely candlelit breakfast (yes, it was still dark) before getting back to the Christmas tree for the proper pressies. Emily was delighted with everything.
Last present from us to be opened was a gorgeous, authentic Tudor/Elizabethan dress with a detachable ruff and a hooped, split gown. Fits perfectly and has been very much a favourite over the last couple of days!

My pics of Emily wearing the dress have all come out blurry; did take a photo of someone else's photo (since our scanner gave up the ghost a long time ago) but that didn't come out well either. Will post one when I get one. Her other pressies from us included lots of Barbie bits, new dolls house furniture/accessories, keyboard, crystal lab, audio books, greek goddess outfit, PC games, jigsaws, board games and the usual girlie type bits and bobs.

After watching Snow Queen (during which I fell asleep) and a good old play, we went down to spend the rest of the day with Nana, Gramps and Grandad. Emily was thrilled with her presents from David and Barbara in Canada, as were we - the funny hats went down a treat and were worn for most of the day! Christmas Dinner was cooked by a valiant Jon (still suffering quite a lot) and was absolutely scrumptious and good fun with fresh mistletoe all over the table for plenty of kisses :-)) and musical crackers with whistles in for us all to play tunes while Emily conducted. Emily's yule log was deeeeelicious! After dinner while we grown ups were still eating, a certain someone was delighted to discover an extra delivery from Santa - lots and lots of books which we'd kept back from the main presents. Told her they were too heavy for the reinderr to carry overnight ;-))

More playing, then time for the grown ups to open their pressies and for Nana and Gramps to give Emily hers. She was over the moon with lots of real "grown up" artist stuff - an easel, proper canvas, oil paints, palette knives, watercolours and so on. I feel some proper art lessons coming on in the new year! We grown ups all loved all of our bits, and Nana and Gramps were especially pleased with various St Bees bits we'd found for them - old prints and history pamphlets and the like. I'll have to wait for my main present from Jon though. He's bought me a beautiful heart shaped glass pendant which is to be filled with his blood (always wanted one of those....it's my goth instincts, lol) but we managed to lose the sterilisation instructions so the deed hasn't yet been done!

It was a lovely day. Think Emily was a little sad when it came to and end, as were we. We don't get a proper break for full-on family time anywhere near often enough :-( Will have to change that in 2006.

Boxing Day and today have been very relaxed. We must have played a thousand games of Cluedo, Emily's listened to her Narnia tapes at least 57 times and we've all enjoyed Treason in the Tower a lot too. Dolls house stuff and new Barbies have been well and truly played with to bits, the Barbie/Pegasus PC game has also been played to death and Horse Adventures has been enjoyed too. They're quite well done, those two games. And not as annoying to listen to in the background as some, lol!

Having been promised "heavy snow throughout Lincs" on the weather yesterday, we were rather disappointed to find today snow-less, unless you count the odd flurry that didn't have a chance to settle. Still, it is finally snowing properly as I type, although how long for is anyone's guess. Back to work with a vengeance tomorrow. Orders have piled up like mad, we've got doctors to get to and deadlines to meet. Oh yes, and the small matter of a 7th birthday party to plan that I STILL haven't sorted out!

Darkness is Falling...

...as I write, and we're heading into a peaceful Christmas Eve night. Well, I say peaceful - I know a certain someone who's rather excited about tomorrow.

I don't know how old I was when that magical feeling about Christmas vanished, but I do remember waking up one Christmas morning wondering what all the fuss was about. Quite a sad moment, that was. Thankfully, Emily's still young enough - just? - to listen out for sleigh bells tonight and be absolutely awe inspired by the candelit carols and the thrill of the run up to the big day. Long may it continue!

It's been a busy Christmas Eve, but we've got there in the end. Emily and I baked the yule log - I hadn't realised how tricky swiss roll recipes are for those of us who are somewhat culinarily challenged, lol. Still, the end result looks scrummy:

Emily has also made brandy snap fruit baskets, wrapped up presents for the assorted cats and kittens and put the finishing touches to the Christmas cards she was making. We'll be off to the carol service shortly, and then back to snuggle down for a cosy evening before Emily eventually goes to bed, and the reindeer arrive with their special delivery :-)))

Merry Christmas everyone!

Absolutely Livid: Business Related Rant

Well, we were, although we've calmed down a little now. Had a threatening letter from a certain "world's most famous hypnotist" (according to him) and his solicitors, demanding that we remove five of his products from sale and undertake to never sell them again, and threatening to sue us for profits made thereon. Now, any regular readers may recall the considerable time, effort and expense Jon went to in preparing to attend a court case ***in support*** of this same hypnotist's legal action against his record label. At the end of which, we were told that the titles in question were being withdrawn, but that all existing retailers were to be permitted to sell off existing stock, which is what we were doing. Mr Hypnotist has evidently done a U-turn. Again.

Well now, that's his perogative I'm sure, but to be threatened in that way after all the effort we went to. Well. Since he appears to be so litigation happy I'll refrain from commenting in public as to my opinion of the man, but let's just say we're disgusted. I daresay we could have taken our own legal advice and stood up to the demands which, I'm fairly sure, have no basis in law. As a matter of principle, however - because we have more important things to do with our lives and our time - we've chosen instead to just eradicate him and all of his products from our business lives completely. Be damned if we're going to comply with someone's little power games by being ditcated to over which items of theirs we can and cannot sell. Could hit our new year motivational/self help sales pretty badly, but hell, that's not the point. Don't want to be associated with that particular "brand" any more, thanks very much.

Anyway. Apart from being so downright childish/petty/insert-your-own-adjective, that particualar development could be seen as a blessing in disguise. We've been umming and aaahing about the direction our online shop sales are taking, and this looks likely to be the prod we needed to take things off for a total re-vamp and re-think. Come New Year, we'll be looking to switch from Actinic to (perhaps) OS Commerce (assuming I can make head or tail of it), streamlining everything, moving to a new domain and switching directions slightly. All good, positive, long overdue stuff. Funny how it takes something nasty to really give you the impetus to change things for the better.
--------------------------------

Meanwhile, back in the real world, it's still nearly Christmas. Jon's doctor's appointment was cautiously positive, we'll have to wait and see what happens with that. Emily's spent the day still wrapping presents (ever get the feeling you may have overspent?) and this afternoon we've made various homemade choccies: dark chocolate covered Brazils for Gramps, milk choc marzipan balls for Nana, and milk and white chocolate rum truffles for everyone. Emily had a ball shaping the truffle balls from the half solidified choc, cream and rum - she looked like a chocolate covered elf by the time she'd finished!

She's also played a lot on this site/ which Hazel pointed out to us a few days ago. Great games!

Tomorrow Romy and Hazel are coming to play which will be fun, assuming I can clear up our sitting room sufficiently to give them somewhere to sit. Then lo, it shall be Christmas Eve - and we'll still have a Yule Log to bake, Christmas cards to make and probably - at this rate - pressies to wrap before the long-awaited carol service.

10 days until Emily's birthday and counting. Had an awful dream last night - that her birthday afternoon had arrived and I hadn't prepared anything for this party: no decorations, no activities/games in mind, no food, no party bags, no nothing. I had to run around like mad trying to amuse some very disappointed and bored children whilst trying to pretend that this was how I'd meant it to be all along and ignore the hurt and embarrassment on Emily's face. Horrible stuff, woke up really shaken. Suppose I'd better actually get something concrete worked out before I get another kick up the bottom from my subconscious which is clearly more organised than the rest of me!

Did you get the beer, darling? Even better than that...

Sigh. I am so not a born shopper. Braved Tescos today. There was just one - one! - item on my list, and that was a box of beer. Emily and I came back several hours later with a boot full of stuff that we didn't need. And no beer. I'd completely forgotten about it. Although to be fair, in my defence, I was going to get some more wine, but having worked out that the wine aisles were so crowded you couldn't fit a cork down them let alone a trolley and a nearly seven year old, I abandoned that thought, and with it, evidently, thoughts of any other kind of alcohol. Oh well. Daresay we'll survive. I'm not going anywhere near the shops again until after IT is over, that's for sure.

Emily's cold seems to have come back, but she's made a valiant effort this afternoon at making some Christmas cards for our nearest and dearest, and wrapping pressies. It seems I may have spoken too soon about the slow down in orders, since today's been busy on that front, most of them accompanied by "delivery before Christmas please" requests. Yes, Madam, I'll just go and saddle up the reindeer.

Jon's reading Emily "Not the End of the World" by Geraldine McCaughrean at bedtimes as the moment. It's a dark, fictional re-telling of the Noah story, written from the point of view of a young daughter who has to cope with the violence, wonder why they're not saving any humans, deal with the second-class nature of being a female at that time, and so on. Brilliant book, has made her think and question such a lot. Two interesting reviews of it here and here. Exquisitely written. It deals with a lot of difficult issues so it's not a light and giggly book by any means, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone wanting something thought provoking and moving.

Jon's in a lot of pain, which is obviously causing a great deal of concern. We're looking for some answers from the doctor tomorrow. Why is that if you search on the internet for information on a women's health issue you get more information than you can shake a stick at. Search for a male issue and the information is woefully inadequate. Likewise with clinics, screenings etc. Seems we womenfolk are rather better cared for than the blokes. Our surgery does at least have a well woman clinic but ask them about a well man clinic and they look at you as if you've just landed a spaceship on their lawn. Grmrrrmmmpphhh.

Well, I'm off to wrap both presents and orders. One with rather more glee than the other.

Unleash the Beast?? Yeah. Sometimes. (Evil Laugh)

Actually, I do have a hell of a temper, so I suppose it kind of fits.....


Hi, person! You are the very long Christmas list.
That means that you could either be naughty or
nice, although you may go along with nice more.
You may consider yourself the regular guy/girl.
You don't like it, though, when people take
advantage of your goodness. You can easily get
mad and leash out the beast. You may try to
control your anger, which is a good thing.
People could like that about you. Yeah, Merry
Christmas =)


What Christmas Figure Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Relax, It's Nearly Christmas :-)

Emily's over the worst of her cold now, although Sunday was pretty bad. Unfortunately, I've now got it (and it's horrrribblle) which means Jon's in line for getting it smack bang over Christmas itself. I'm sure he'll love cooking Christmas Dinner with a raging sore throat and a temperature :-( He's also in some considerable discomfort from "a man thing" we thought had been resolved (and I'm sure he'll love me telling the world that...) so it's back to the doc on Thursday for him. Double :-(

Health niggles aside though, things are going pretty well. Suspiciously so, in fact. I shouldn't feel this calm with 4 days to go until Christmas and 12 to birthday. I'm sure something will crop up and bite me on the bum when I least expect it, though, but for the moment we're about as serene as we ever get.

Emily went out for the day with Nana and Gramps today and came back laden with goodies, some of which she kept hidden until she could shut herself in her room with wrapping paper and tape, emerging later with a big grin and some secret pressies. :-)) Here she is with Nana comparing notes on the shopping spree:
The temporary child-free zone meant Jon and I could finally get to grips with the large pile of pressies that has been cluttering up the bedroom, so we spent the day doing our traditional what's-for-Xmas-what's-for-birthday sort through. Everyone's presents are now accounted for, apart from one or two from ebay which have failed to arrive. Hrrrmppph. How come we run around like a madly running around thing getting orders out to people to make sure they catch the last recommended post (today), but when I order something from someone else, two weeks ago in some cases, they just can't be bothered??

Anyway. So. Apart from the above-mentioned last minute order packing today, orders have dwindled now. Part of the cycle, I guess people aren't ordering now because they know they can't rely on getting stuff in time for The Big Day. It'll go potty again with a New Year self-help/motivation rush, so we're not too worried. Plus it gives us a chance to actually b-r-e-a-t-h-e. All the writing deadlines have been met (just) with the exception of a certain mobile phone company who wanted 40,000 words by Christmas. And which I said they could have. On the 3rd December. And which they could have had, except that they have yet to send me the rest of the spec. I'm fully expecting it to arrive tomorrow. With two working days to go. Ahem. Doormat I may well be, but that one 'aint going to happen.

Education-wise - well, the usual Christmassy stuff. *looks around shiftily when someone asks what that actually is*. Lots of arts and crafts. Oh and lots of Christmas poetry reading too, so that counts. We still have Christmas cards to make for friends and family, choccies to make for family and a yule log cake to make, but hey, we'll fit it in somewhere. Even the kittens are slightly calmer. Looked everywhere for Romeo this morning. Found him curled up on the windowsill, behind the blind, on a pile of crimble cards we've yet to put up. Awww, bless!

Oh yes, and there's a party to plan too. Still don't know what that will actually *involve* as such, although I do now know that the room will look rather fab. Well, I think so anyway. Last time we held a party for Emily was for her 5th birthday, and I was a nervous wreck for weeks beforehand. This time I'm rather more chilled. I'm sure it will be just fine. And I might actually get to enjoy it too. I must be mellowing in my old age. Hold that thought.

Poorly

Emily's got a stinking cold. Yesterday she threw up all over the bathroom floor (and no, I still can't find the febreeze), this afternoon's she's been sick twice. She slept in little ten mintue bursts last night, has a raging temperature, a sore throat and a general air of misery :-(

Still, I guess at least we're getting it out of the way now and this does mean (hopefully) that she won't be poorly over Christmas and her birthday. We were only saying the other day that it had been a while since her last cold. Talk of the devil, and all that. Sigh.

Well, Wednesday we went to see The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe film. It wasn't quite as magical as I'd hoped, but it was a good film all the same. Mind you, my tolerance for it may have been somewhat underminded by having sat through nearly 40 minutes of adverts before it started, at which point my legs were already wanting to be elsewhere. Emily loved it, but I agree with Hazel's mention on her blog that I'm surprised it was a PG. It was definitely uncomfortable viewing in some parts, especially Aslan's humiliation and death at the stone table.

Thursday we went to the HE Christmas party with Hazel, Colin and Romy. That was good fun in parts, although Emily really doesn't cope well with extremely boisterious groups which led to some tears and uncomfortable moments. Friday we tried very hard to get some work done, gave up and had lots of cuddles instead. We also spent lots of time making decoupage photo frames for Nana, Gramps and Gradnad for Christmas, each painted a different colour with symbols of their favourite things on.

Today Emily was invited to Romy's Taekwondo Christmas party. We went along early with Hazel and Colin to watch Romy's lesson, and were very impressed :-)) Unfortunately, Emily's poorliness had really kicked in before the party actually started, and we had to leave early as she was crying, shivering, shaking and about to be sick.

So as weeks go, it's been a bit of a mixture of laughter and fun with a fairly large dose of tears thrown in for good measure. Not just Emily's either. We've got masses of deadlines to meet before Monday; we have more orders than we can cope with; I still have very little idea on what's happening with this birthday party; we can't move for boxes; kittens are driving us up the wall; and assorted other stresses and strains are beginning to show too. Time to pull selves together, get a reality check and realise that life is supposed to be FUN!

The Worry Fairy Bank

Emily designed a worry fairy bank last night while Jon was reading to her at bedtime. She can never just sit and listen, lol, she always has to be drawing or making something at the same time. Takes after her Daddy in that respect. Me, I can do "sit still quietly" for hours at a time given half a chance....

Anyway, it was very endearing. She came trotting out of her bedroom to show me what she'd done. It's a big folded chart with a pocket on the front, and the idea is that she writes her worries on slips of paper, puts them into the worry fairy bank, and overnight the worry fairy comes to check what's bothering her and makes the worries disappear. Awww, bless!

I must confess I sneaked a peek (with permission!) at what was written on the current bank deposits. To my relief it didn't feature such things as "not getting enough Christmas presents" or "not getting a decent education". Our little one is evidently worried about fires, aliens, people getting ill and black holes and the sun burning out. Ah yes, the black holes/dying sun issue is back to haunt us again. That all started about a year ago, when we thought we'd do a space project. Got a lovely book and Emily vanished off to read it. Next thing we knew she was sobbing her heart out because she'd read about black holes and that one day the sun may die thereby robbing us poor souls of a half decent world in which to live. Needless to say, the space project never really got off the ground after that, but that particular worry still rears up every now and then :-(

Anyway, as far as I know the worry fairy did come to visit in the night, because I asked Emily this morning how she felt about her worries and she said they'd all gone. Apart from the dying sun. Sigh. Not much we can do about that one.

Yesterday we took Grandad for a blood test and then braved the High Street on a pressie buying mission. Didn't buy anything at all for all the people we were supposed to be buying for, but did buy some more snow queen party stuff which cheered us up no end. Town centre was packed, heaving and horrid. Thank heavens for the internet.

Today we've done tons and tons of mental maths, which went astonishingly well. We had carols playing all the way through which seems to have helped, rather than distracted. Hmmm. May investigate a musical background for our work in future. We also went off to see Cinderella in the theatre. Yet again, for the second year running, we were the only non-school people in the building, and yet again it was absolute murder, with several of the little "darlings" kicking the backs of our chairs throughout, with their adult supervisors either unable or unwilling to stop them. The din was deafening and the panto was a good half hour too long - but Emily thoroughly enjoyed it which is after all what matters. Next year though we are NOT going to the panto before the schools break up!!!

Christmas Ballet and a Visit from Santa

Emily did her Christmas ballet show today, which was lovely. Here she is in her Miss Christmas outfit afterwards. She spent ages the other day writing out her Christmas cards, so she distributed some at ballet today, together with a party invitation for her friend Kayleigh. We've had four acceptances for the party now, so we're just waiting to hear from two of Emily's old school friends; she sent invitations in the post to them yesterday.

Plans to turn a room downstairs into a magical winter grotto for the party are, um, proceeding apace. Kinda.

Meanwhile, Santa came on an "early scouting visit" to our street this evening in a big lit up (and exceptionally noisy) sleigh, pulled rather disappointingly by a knackered old volvo instead of the requisite team of prancing reindeer. Still, he and his elves were very jolly and loved Emily's Miss Christmas dress (was unable to prise her out of it once ballet was over). She sat with the man himself in his sleigh and told him what she wanted for Christmas and he promised (rather rashly, if you ask me) to do his best. Hmmm. Thanks Santa.

Downsizing the Christmas Tree

OK, I finally cracked. After "fixing" the Christmas tree on average five times a day for the last week, I've had enough. We now have a much smaller Christmas tree, since it's had the bottom half of its branches removed and all tinsel, decorations and assorted shiny kitten attractors replaced at a high level. Look at them - the picture of injured innocence...

Honestly, the kittens have gone completely potty. Pottier than potty. We're now all bearing the scars of a week in which anything that moves, tinsellated or not, has been attacked. Grrmmmph.

On a trip into the garden earlier this week, Romeo decided to eat some bird seed that we'd scattered about. Later that evening, we noticed a yukky stink. A certain kitten had done an extremely runny poo (too much information, I know) all over our bed....and all over the stock which had just been unpacked on our bed. "No, Mrs Customer, I'm afraid I have no idea why your Archangel Oracle Cards whiff a bit. It's a mystery." Minutes later, with several very expensive hardback books in the bin bag, Romeo decided to throw up with a vengeance. Nice. That's what you get if you have a kitten that eats EVERYTHING. Grrrmmpph again.

We had a fabulous time glass painting at Romy's on Monday afternoon. The finished items were supposed to be presents, but Emily decided she likes them so much she doesn't want to part with them, lol!

We've spent this morning designing and making party invitations and generally faffing about with festive crafty stuff. Earlier on in the week we did lots of maths, and started on a KS2 Year 3 English book with lots of work on prefixes and suffixes.

Healthwise, Emily went to the dentist yesterday and was given a glowing bill of health. Jon went for a diabetic eye check up on Wednesday, and still has near perfect vision. Grandad apparently needs yet another blood test. Honestly. Still, I guess everyone needs a hobby. Some people paint, some people knit, Grandad has blood tests.

Busy week next week - we're going to the pantomime on Tuesday, on Wednesday we're off to see the Lion, Witch & Wardrobe film with Hazel and Romy and on Thursday it's the local home education group Christmas Party. Romy has also invited Emily to the Christmas party at her Taekwondo club, which should be fun. Last ballet tomorrow, so Emily gets to go in fancy dress and put on a show for proud parents.

Having somewhat rashly agreed to this Snow Queen party malarky, I'm now spending large amounts of time trying to come up with exciting party ideas. More grrrmmph. And Christmas won't stop getting closer. And we have four major writing deadlines to meet between now and Xmas, plus we've got a new commission from a mobile phone company the deadlines for which are also urgent. Ho-ho-ho!

Christmas Crafts & Party Planning

Well, despite my best efforts to hold back the tide of time (we're simply not ready for December!!) both Christmas Day and Emily's Birthday are approaching with relentless speed.

So it was time to get organised. We've finally bought some pressies. It's a killer having Christmas and Birthday within a week of each other. Thank heavens for the trusty bits of plastic tucked away in the wallet.

Meanwhile, we've got a Winter Snow Queen birthday party to plan. And orders are still flooding in. And writing deadlines are approaching with speed. And we've got family Christmas presents to make. And the email never stops arriving and the phone never stops ringing. It's slightly busy up here just now.

Among all the chaos, there has been the odd productive moment. On Saturday, Emily had a wonderful time at ballet, practising for a Christmas show they're putting on next week. Meanwhile, Jon went Christmas shopping in Ashby high street, and managed to find all the presents he'd told me about previously - I was supposed to be getting them when I took Emily to ballet last week, but couldn't find any of them!! I contest that we must have been visiting two different high streets. I'm not rubbish at shopping. Can't be. We females are supposed to be good at that. It's in the genes, apparently. Although I loathe shopping - which might explain why I failed my Xmas shopping mission dismally.....good job Jon's there to go back and get all the bits I failed to spot!

Emily spent a happy couple of hours on Saturday afternoon doing a British Kings and Queens jigsaw obtained from the charity shop for a bargain 50p, and making some chocolates to hang on the tree. On Sunday morning she helped Nana and Gramps decorate their Christmas tree, while I attempted to get some work done. Sunday afternoon we played, faffed about a lot and Emily did some window art from this Klutz set which turned out very nicely indeed, especially with half a ton of glitter added to it.

Yesterday I packed orders all morning, Jon rushed about like a madly rushing about thing and Emily did LOTS of drawing and art. We finally had a breather to sit together in the afternoon, and made the most of it with two big crafty sessions - the first to make frosty branches with glittering leaves:

and the second to make tissue paper baubles.

We're off to visit Hazel & Romy this afternoon and do some glass painting, which sounds lovely. After which that'll be another day ticked off leaving only 26 days until our baby girl is 7!!!!!!!

Tree's Up!

Yes, yesterday we braved it and put up the Christmas tree. Emily loved decorating it, and was especially pleased to re-discover some of the most precious decorations, ones Aunty Barbara and Uncle David gave her each year when she was little and ones she made at playgroup before she started school. She also had fun decorating her bed with (fake) holly, bows and tinsel so it's now a Chritmas Princess' bed. Surprisingly, the kittens showed hardly any interest in the tree or the bed yesterday afternoon and last night.

Bedtime was rather fraught though, as Emily suddenly developed a panic about what if the kittens broke her special decorations. No amount of reassurance seemed to work, and I'm afraid I rather lost patience and said a few ill judged things along the lines of "If Christmas decorations are more important than the kittens perhaps we shouldn't have had kittens in the first place. Perhaps we should take them back." Which, naturally enough, didn't exactly help. Ahem. Another bad Mummy moment. Still, all was resolved in the end - the most special decorations have now come down and been wrapped up to keep safe for next year when kit-bits are no longer kits-bits and will presumably be less manic.

Because manic they certainly have been this morning. They've had a ball this morning climbing the tree, pulling branches out, playing football with baubles, dragging tinsel around the house, getting their heads stuck in the frame round Emily's bed, eating her pretend robin (!) and much more jolly fun besides. Sigh. Think I was lulled into a false sense of security yesterday when they weren't that fussed. But then they do tend to sleep most of the afternoon having been manic in the mornings, so I guess I just hadn't bargained for Morning Christmas Kittie Play Heaven.

Meanwhile, work is still potty and busier than we can manage. We've had some very productive discussions about where we're headed with the business in the New Year, though, so that's quite exciting. I've got plans to get a lot more structured with Emily in the new year too. She's had way too much time left to her own devices recently, and although up to a point that suits us and I can see the benefit of it for Emily too, beyond that point I don't think it's benefiting either Emily or us. Hmmm. We shall see how things develop.

Tree's Up!

Yes, yesterday we braved it and put up the Christmas tree. Emily loved decorating it, and was especially pleased to re-discover some of the most precious decorations, ones Aunty Barbara and Uncle David gave her each year when she was little and ones she made at playgroup before she started school. She also had fun decorating her bed with (fake) holly, bows and tinsel so it's now a Chritmas Princess' bed. Surprisingly, the kittens showed hardly any interest in the tree or the bed yesterday afternoon and last night.

Bedtime was rather fraught though, as Emily suddenly developed a panic about what if the kittens broke her special decorations. No amount of reassurance seemed to work, and I'm afraid I rather lost patience and said a few ill judged things along the lines of "If Christmas decorations are more important than the kittens perhaps we shouldn't have had kittens in the first place. Perhaps we should take them back." Which, naturally enough, didn't exactly help. Ahem. Another bad Mummy moment. Still, all was resolved in the end - the most special decorations have now come down and been wrapped up to keep safe for next year when kit-bits are no longer kits-bits and will presumably be less manic.

Because manic they certainly have been this morning. They've had a ball this morning climbing the tree, pulling branches out, playing football with baubles, dragging tinsel around the house, getting their heads stuck in the frame round Emily's bed, eating her pretend robin (!) and much more jolly fun besides. Sigh. Think I was lulled into a false sense of security yesterday when they weren't that fussed. But then they do tend to sleep most of the afternoon having been manic in the mornings, so I guess I just hadn't bargained for Morning Christmas Kittie Play Heaven.

Meanwhile, work is still potty and busier than we can manage. We've had some very productive discussions about where we're headed with the business in the New Year, though, so that's quite exciting. I've got plans to get a lot more structured with Emily in the new year too. She's had way too much time left to her own devices recently, and although up to a point that suits us and I can see the benefit of it for Emily too, beyond that point I don't think it's benefiting either Emily or us. Hmmm. We shall see how things develop.

Christmas Is Coming

I seem to have lost the art of regular blogging. This may have something to do with being snowed under with orders - blogging kinda takes a backseat when you have upwards of 300 items to pick and pack of an evening. Still, it's all good. Obviously. Even if it doesn't always feel that way at this time of night.

Let's see, what's been happening? Well, over the last couple of days Emily's done some baking - we tried making nice star biscuits with boiled sweets in the middle, a la Usborne Christmas Cooking book....but they turned into what Emily named Boiled Sweet Explosions instead...boiled sweets somehow managed to melt to cover the entire baking sheet (so tough it took me ages to get the darned things off) rather than sitting neatly in their little circles as they were supposed to. Grrrr. We've also been Christmas shopping to....wait for it.... Tescos. OK, so we didn't get anything very exotic, although we did pick up a new party/Xmas/Birthday outfit for Emily since she's well and truly outgrown last year's offering. She's grown over an inch during November. Clothes can't keep up!!

Some vaguely educational things went on yesterday too, but I can't quite remember what. I think I'm suffering from stress induced amnesia.

Today we had a ball. Romy and Hazel came over to play, make gingerbread biscuits and make hanging angels - to hang on the tree, that is, not an exercise in capital punishment! The girls seemed to have enormous fun weighing, measuring, mixing, rubbing, kneading, cutting out and then icing and sprinkling. Hugely messy but rather tasty too!

Emily has decided that December is official Crafts Month (like she ever has a month that isn't) and wants to do "at least" one craft a day from here so it should be a busy month! We haven't got our tree and decorations down from the attic yet (although tomorrow is pencilled in for that, if we get ten minutes to breathe) but a little pink fibre optic tree I ordered from ebay **weeks** ago finally did put in an appearance today just in time to delight a certain small person, and is taking pride of place in her bedroom adorned with her (already large!) collection of home made decorations. The kittens think it's rather entertaining too.