Wednesday 30 December 2009

nearly New Year

Hello, probably for the last time in 2009. What are you doing for New Year's? In a bid to be more sociable (Hubby and I took a personality test recently, which proves we are both sociopaths) we have arranged to go out for a meal with two other couples (sadly I am not going alone to a fancy dress pirate party with missionaries this New Year). The only problem is we don't know where. All the big hotels seem to be doing amazing New Years spangly events, but all we want is a plate of pasta and a bit of bubbly (not even that in Hubby's case as he is on duty so will not be drinking). Hope we can find somewhere normal where we don't have to pay a million rupees for a seat and watch some dubious 'entertainment' all night.
Feeling quite un-festive now as all the chocolate has gone. Went to the gym this afternoon to get the bad news - only put on one kilo this xmas (didn't stuff my face quite so much as last year, also the portion sizes in Thailand were paltry and I was hoping in fact to have lost some weight as a result, but no such luck).
I'm getting through the post Christmas holidays, although tomorrow looks a bit dire as we have just been blown out by the kids only friends (everyone else in the expat community has sensibly fled the country for the chilly, depressing post-xmas lull). I took them all riding today, which was a jolly expensive way to spend an hour, so I'm not doing it again tomorrow. Might have to resort to feeding the pigeons in Patan Durbar Square (kids have no interest in the seventeenth century erotic carvings/stunning architecture/religious symbolism on the temples and palaces in the UNESCO World Heritage site, but show them a plate of corn and a few scrawny birds and they're happy), or even the play park on camp (please, no - surely I can think of something better than this?). Oh well, only two weeks left to go...
Happy New Year!
ps - got given a Christmas present from the hairdresser today when I took the girls for a trim. All the kids got a painted head of the Hindu god, Shiva (who as I recall, is the god of death). So that's a nice cheery Christian gift for the customers, then.
Anyway, must give computer back to Hubby, who desperately needs to do something geeky.
xxx

Sunday 27 December 2009

catch up

So, the usual Internet problems here. We’ve just switched to a provider who promised super fast broadband, but it’s pants. Hubby says it’s typical, rubbish service because ‘the whole country is falling apart’, which sounds overly cynical, but is in fact true. There was even a leader in the Economist about it last week. Apparently the country is on the brink of yet-another (or rather, the same old) crisis. The choice seems to be between coaxing the (pro Chinese, natch) Maoists back into the peace process or letting the (pro Indian) army hold sway – although as I’m not a Nepali, this isn’t a choice for me, of course. The Maoists are getting increasingly restive – there were three days of bandhs before Christmas, but we missed it all as we were sunning ourselves on the beach in Thailand. Quite nice to escape political unrest and freezing cold marble floors for a few days (and this time Twin 2 managed not to vomit on the plane, so that was good). We were home in time for Christmas, and thankfully Father Christmas was not in the least confused by our lack of chimney (probably rather grateful to just have an open door and a set of stairs to contend with). He didn’t bring absolutely everything the kids wanted, unfortunately. In fact Hubby told me that Twin 1 was in tears at 5am Christmas day, because her stocking presents were rubbish. But I put this down more to being woken up at 4.45 Christmas day by her brother and sister. Blimey, I’d be in tears if I was woken up at 4.45 am and forced to wear Disney Princess lip gloss and eat chocolate coins.
We opened the rest of the presents much later in the day, and there were no tears, although I did have a minor anxiety attack when I opened my one from Hubby. It’s a new mobile phone. But you can also use it as an MP3 player, cam corder, GPS, and camera. I think if you press the right button it will also massage your feet and pour a large G&T. Which is fab, really it is. But it does entail me actually reading and digesting the instruction manual, and I am Mrs Luddite, so it’s all, well, just a little bit scary. Poor Hubby is trying to resist the urge to wrest it from me and take it away for some geeky tinkering. You know how they say that the best presents are the ones you want to keep yourselves? This Christmas present is certainly an example of just that. However, I’m not letting him have it because I have just trained it to recognise my handwriting, and I’m not going back to using horrible pokey text messaging ever again. No siree, Bob.
Anyway, it’s all over now. I polished off the last of the chicken and Hubby had the remains of the xmas pud for supper tonight (the kids had cheese and biscuits in front of the Lion King: there are now biscuit crumbs all over the floor where they were roaring in sympathy with whatever was going on, on screen, and bits of half-eaten cracker fell out of their mouths - delightful).
So, we’ve had a beach holiday, and the thrills of Christmas Day, and now there’s only a mere three weeks to go until the children go back to school (I curse the British School and its generous holiday entitlement: why can’t they just get a poxy two weeks, like all the kids in the UK? I mean it is supposed to be a British School, so should that Britishness not also extend to meagre holidays? It should, surely?)

Wednesday 9 December 2009

easy life

Feeling like a proper lady of leisure now the book is finished. However, I have just sent the first four thousand words off to my creative writing group for critiquing on Monday. I'm a bit nervous because the standard of the group is pretty high, and I'm worried that their insightful comments will make me feel that my efforts are a bit pants. We'll see.
In the meantime I have time to do inane things like wrap presents and do the make up for the Twins' xmas play. Actually I won't be doing that today as today's performance has been postponed until Friday. There is supposed to be a big valley-wide bandh (strike/stoppage) today, so the school assumed that nobody would actually be able to make it past the burning tyres and flying bricks to watch 'Humph the camel' at the British School. However, as it turns out, the Maoists are getting soft on us, because they have partially cancelled today's bandh, which now only applies to businesses, not transport. This, I'm told, is because today is a big wedding day in Kathmandu (out here astrologers choose wedding dates, and today is a particularly auspicious day, astrologically-speaking, so there are shed-loads of weddings planned). How absolutely sweet of them to call off part of their bandh so as not to spoil anyone's wedding day. Who says the political can't be personal? You know, it gives me a really warm and fuzzy feeling about the whole people's revolution thing.

Monday 7 December 2009

the end is nigh

Feeling quite excited because I have just finished editing the final draft of the book, hurrah. Now I need to go and get printer cartridges and lots of paper so that I can print it all out. This is such good timing as this week is ending up filling up with stuff. I have promised to do face painting for Twins xmas play, and there also seems to be random bits of admin to attend to. Anyway, I'm so thrilled that I might have to go to the supermarket and buy a celebratory can of diet Coke or something (woo hoo).
I know the fact that it's finished doesn't mean anything. It may will be a load of rubbish. But at least it is a complete load of rubbish!
Right, I could write more, but I need to go and buy stuff.
Cheerio x

Friday 4 December 2009

Friday I'm in love

Feeling rubbish, much worse than when I had swine flu the other week. So fed up with having chapped nostrils and snot on permanent send.
Anyway, enough moaning. I'm off in a bit to get some reflexology and spend lots of money on cashmere (Hubby's Xmas jumper plus four pashminas for cousin's relatives - who are actually also relatives of mine, too, I suppose). The cashmere man will love me and hopefully give me a big fat discount next time I want to buy something for myself.
After that I'm off to school for the assembly, because Twin 1 is being presented with a 'fifty house points' certificate. She's been banging on about it all week, so I have to be there to witness her moment of glory on stage. Not quite sure how she has managed to get fifty house points though. We had a parents' evening earlier this week and the teacher tried, in a diplomatic and professional way, to point out that Twin 1 is a stubborn bossyboots who refuses to accept when she's in the wrong. Of course the teacher didn't actually say that, but we knew what she meant when she said she hadn't ticked the box for 'can distinguish between right and wrong' because she felt that was a target that Twin 1 was still working towards...
Twin 2, on the other hand, can distinguish between right and wrong, but apparently has no concept of what a repeating pattern is, or how to use a pair of scissors.
I can't really take it all that seriously because they are only FOUR. At their age, Son hadn't even started school, so having targets, boxes to tick and parents' evenings all seems a bit silly to me.
I'm quite sure that by the time they leave home to go to university, Twin 2 will know how to use a pair of scissors and Twin 1 will have some rudimentary idea of morality.
Cousin is still here - looks like he might have Swine Flu - we can only hope that he will be well enough to board the plane tomorrow.
Anyway, it's Friday and I'm in love. Not sure love is reciprocated though as Hubby can't bear to have romantic dealings with anyone as chapped and snotty as me.
Right, should get some lippy on and get down the cashmere shop, I suppose!
Bye for now x

Thursday 3 December 2009

the usual feelings of guilt

Um Bum. I really should be at the partner's club meeting right now. It's a general meeting, so I expect they'll be talking about all kinds of important things, and eating samosas.
I do feel guilty, but Hubby quite wisely warned me that if I went along, I'd end up getting sucked in, and I really don't want to have to spend my days organising raffles/bingo/shopping trips. So I'm skiving. In fact, I've had a very productive morning and have edited almost up to Act three of the book, which is great (although I do worry, as I'm doing it, that perhaps I should have written more - but ninety-odd thousand words must be enough, don't you think? I'm wracked with self-doubt!)
Anyway, there was something else I was going to tell you about, but it has flitted out of the vacuum that is my brain these days...
Sorry, anyway, need to go and dry my hair now so I don't leave the house looking like the love-child of Wurzel Gummidge and Courtney Love.
xxx