I know it's been fairly paltry of late. What can I say? I've been away, but now I'm back. Right now Hubby is downstairs in the kitchen perfecting a mushroom and curly kale lasagne and the house is full of street kids. No, not actual street kids, just kids from the street (although occasionally it does feel as if the house has become a refuge for street children, with my own being the most guttersnipe-ish of all). I've just been for a run and done sixty seven sit ups. I know! I'll have a washboard stomach in no time (or even a dashboard stomach, as one not-very-bright babysitter once described it to me). I didn't do any press ups, though, because my shoulder is still hurting from the whole manual labour thing earlier this month (although worth the pain as the grass is coming on nicely, thanks).
So we've just done the whole relatives thing this week, with a trip to Devon to see grandparents and aunty and one set of cousins. The cousins are a bit like an Amazonian version of the seven dwarfs. I don't mean that they are teeny tiny and live in South America. What I mean is that my Twins have christened them with dwarfish names. They are: Lovely, Kind, Beautiful and Glorious (not sure who is which) and they are all young ladies between the ages of ten and sixteen with long flicky silky hair (of which I'm particularly jealous). It rained a lot in Devon, so we cut our trip short and went to Weymouth to see the other set of grandparents, and managed to have a picnic in the two-hour slot of sunshine. Then we went on to London to see another aunty and cousin with long flicky silky hair (of which I'm jealous), who was in the closing ceremony of the Olympics, dressed in pink. This may trump being an Amazonian dwarf, but I'm not sure. I'll have to ask the Twins when they're not too busy (they are very busy at the moment, playing 'librarians', their current favourite game. I have no idea why, but it does make me feel that I should introduce them to some more exciting role models - wonder if you can get Wonder Woman on DVD?)
Now we're back home and I should really have spent today getting through a mountain of washing, but Hubby took the kids out to see another aunty (they have several), although the other cousins with long, flicky hair were busy (one is about to become a solicitor and the other a vet - all my nieces are so high achieving and have such gorgeous hair, it does make me feel academically and follically lacking), so I used the time to tinker with the dissertation - I think it's finished but I'm not brave enough to actually send it in yet...
We are now onto the last week of the hols. And I know most other mums are probably whooping at this point and can't wait to get the little blighters back to school. However the truth is that I'm a teensy bit nervous. I have just about finished my dissertation, and when the kids go back to school I'm no longer a student, or a full-time mum, and I have promised to get my arse in gear and go out and earn some money. Which isn't scary at all, honest!
Right, time for some veggie lasagne. Ta ra xxxx