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May. 27th, 2009
All in the cooking
May. 27th, 2009 03:17 pmLast night I slept better than I have in weeks. I woke late, and so did everyone else, and the children got each other breakfast, and I got my mother breakfast, and then I cleared the two downstairs rooms which had turned into miserable pits, and did a load of laundry and a load of dishes and made everyone lunch, and now the house is bearable and we're all fed and Mum is making the skirt in this user icon into two sundresses for the children, and the oven is preheating for the dinner (mutton roast, new potatoes, various veg), and I'm about to have my second coffee of the day.
So that's all good.
The children have watched some Fun With Phonics DVDs and cut some magazines up to glue pictures to things (scrapbook pages mainly) and there were some complicated Playmobil scenarios, but now they are watching CBeebies.
I found Linnea's tutu, which she has really outgrown at this stage, and her paleontology hammer and some bits of her T-Rex skeleton, so that was nice.
So that's all good.
The children have watched some Fun With Phonics DVDs and cut some magazines up to glue pictures to things (scrapbook pages mainly) and there were some complicated Playmobil scenarios, but now they are watching CBeebies.
I found Linnea's tutu, which she has really outgrown at this stage, and her paleontology hammer and some bits of her T-Rex skeleton, so that was nice.
JANEY MAC and also WELL HOLY GOD
May. 27th, 2009 05:10 pmI took out the passport application forms and the old passports and the long form birth certificates and had a quick shufti at the passport website and then sat down to read the forms.
They've changed the bloody blasted damn walloping regulations again.
Cue me phoning around everyone from a qualified profession in Reading. The bank manager refused to do it because of the regulations for a British passport application, which ARE NOT RELEVANT. The doctors refused to do it because they don't witness signatures, they just sign forms. The dentist wasn't answering the phone. Then I turned to people we know socially and realised that one of our closest neighbour-friends qualifies and called him and asked him and YES YES YES HE CAN DO IT.
That's a currently employed practising accountant who can be phoned at his place of work on a landline number almost any time during office hours. We already know that if you happen not to answer the phone they send the damn forms back.
So now I just need to get the photos taken. The passport office helpfully sent us a little plastic pouch into which to place the photos to check they qualify, and a sheet of instructions with sixteen sample photos showing the most common errors.
Luckily there's a Snappy Snaps handy where I can get photos taken and reject the ones which don't qualify without having paid for them. So that's a nice project for the near future.
Anyone who knows how to get Emer photographed with her knowledge and without having her smile, please let me know.
They've changed the bloody blasted damn walloping regulations again.
Cue me phoning around everyone from a qualified profession in Reading. The bank manager refused to do it because of the regulations for a British passport application, which ARE NOT RELEVANT. The doctors refused to do it because they don't witness signatures, they just sign forms. The dentist wasn't answering the phone. Then I turned to people we know socially and realised that one of our closest neighbour-friends qualifies and called him and asked him and YES YES YES HE CAN DO IT.
That's a currently employed practising accountant who can be phoned at his place of work on a landline number almost any time during office hours. We already know that if you happen not to answer the phone they send the damn forms back.
So now I just need to get the photos taken. The passport office helpfully sent us a little plastic pouch into which to place the photos to check they qualify, and a sheet of instructions with sixteen sample photos showing the most common errors.
Luckily there's a Snappy Snaps handy where I can get photos taken and reject the ones which don't qualify without having paid for them. So that's a nice project for the near future.
Anyone who knows how to get Emer photographed with her knowledge and without having her smile, please let me know.
Free time: Counting on my fingers
May. 27th, 2009 09:06 pmThis is Day 147 of 2009. We got back from Mum's in Cork on 31 December 2008. From Day 1 of 2009, my calendar shows...
10 of the first 90 days scheduled for either going away or having people here.
59 of the following 91 days scheduled for either going away or having people here.
17 of the following 62 days scheduled for either going away or having people here or dental surgery.
This does not include casual neighbours dropping in / popping out to meet people in an unscheduled fashion. And that last 62 days includes some stuff as yet unscheduled, mind you.
86 of 243 days - that's something like 35%, I think.
Crikey.
10 of the first 90 days scheduled for either going away or having people here.
59 of the following 91 days scheduled for either going away or having people here.
17 of the following 62 days scheduled for either going away or having people here or dental surgery.
This does not include casual neighbours dropping in / popping out to meet people in an unscheduled fashion. And that last 62 days includes some stuff as yet unscheduled, mind you.
86 of 243 days - that's something like 35%, I think.
Crikey.
(no subject)
May. 27th, 2009 10:46 pmToday's weather was grey and cloudy, here, and the house got very little daylight until late afternoon, when I walked into the front room and saw Linnea lying on the windowseat with the muslin curtains twisted around her legs, watching television with yellow sun pouring over her.
The morning reminded me of The Laughing Day and that moment made me think of it all the more.
The morning reminded me of The Laughing Day and that moment made me think of it all the more.