it was a tuesday...

It's eight thirty on a Tuesday evening, and I'm lying on top of the bed in furry slipper-boot things and trying not to slurp my camomile tea too loudly as Hubby is concentrating on his book. I know I turned forty this year but I thought my slide into old age would be slightly more gradual than this. It's only a matter of time before I start eating Battenburg cake and smelling like damp cushions (luckily you can't buy Battenburg out here, or French Fancies, so the total descent into old lady-ness may take a bit longer).

Today I spent quite a long time watching pictures of things blowing up in Afghanistan on Youtube. Why? Because I'm trying to re-write my first chapter and it's from the point of view of someone in Afghanistan. This morning I learnt that there is a huge amount of Youtube footage from Afghanistan, but most of it is unhelpful for my purposes. Unless I change my book to include US Marines shouting 'Holy Shit!' a lot, that is.

After my morning of war footage, I went out to lunch with the chief-of-staff and deputy-chief-of-staff's wives to sort out planning the kids' xmas party. The elephant is ill, so we have nothing for Santa to arrive on, and, worse, there's a rumour that the Santa costume is broken. Furthermore, our potential Santa has defected and will be working the British Embassy that day. Oh no! I'm thinking we might go for a Mrs Santa this year, or is that a bit too 'modern' for the British Army, d'you think?

Twin 2 is looking Christmassy already, as I decided to be a good middle-class mum and do some crafts with the kids yesterday (they were off school for Tihar). I thought we could make Christmas wrapping paper, as you can't buy it out here. We had twelve metres of brown paper, which I thought we could stamp with holly leaves, snowy footprints, etc. There is no such thing as washable paint here, so I had to make do with acrylic...which was where the trouble began. Luckily I had the foresight to make the whole thing happen outside, and make everyone wear very old clothes. However, I hadn't considered their enthusiasm for the task. They really threw themselves into it. No, really, they threw themselves into it. As a result, Twin 2 now has acrylic red and green splodges all over her blonde hair. I guess it will grow out eventually, unlike the green handprints down the side of our white-painted house. I think I shall stick to being a bad and chavvy mother in future and leave creative crafts to the teachers. What's wrong with having an extra Disney DVD on a bank holiday, and keeping walls, hair, clothes and sanity intact?

Gary has been a house dog most of the weekend because they let off bangers all night over Tihar (despite fireworks being illegal in Nepal - not sure where people get them from), and even though he is a wolf, he doesn't like sudden noises. He's been mostly hiding in the wardrobe. However, he's been booted out tonight because the bangers have stopped and Hubby doesn't want him getting any unnecessary ideas about his status. I can't blame him, because if we hadn't taken a stand then I'm sure Gary would be lying next to me right now reading 'Egonomics' and Hubby would be curled up in the wardrobe. Although, come to think of it, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, as Gary is a) furrier, b)cuddlier and c)much less grumpy than Hubby. Perhaps I'll sneak down in a minute and secretly unlock the door, and see how the land lies in the morning...