week 4 - halfway there!

Hello! What have you been up to? I'm sure your life has been more exciting than mine...it's the end of week four of the school holidays and the kids have finished their English workbooks and got their respective presents. As I write, Twin 2 is sitting in a wildly inappropriate bubblegum pink crinoline-style creation, which was less expensive than I expected, so she also has a kind-of large Polly Pocket thing with pink hair. Ah the rewards of hard work!
Talking of which...you know I revised my first chapter and re-submitted it to the peer review site. I confidently expected to get better reviews this time round, but they are worse! So much for taking on constructive criticism. Anyway, I'm sending the first three chapters off to an agent next week (Rebecca is coming round later, to help me write the synopsis), so fingers crossed.
Hubby is in Pokhara tonight, having his leaving do from the Pokhara office. He'll be there now, probably on his fourth whisky, waiting for the dahl baht to cook (do you think I'll get a present, even though I'm not there?). He nearly didn't make it, because the monsoon storms have been so severe that the airport was closed until lunchtime. He's booked to come back tomorrow, but who knows if he'll make it? People sometimes get stuck there for days, so I'm planning a weekend of single parenthood (brunch in the mess, DVD, then trip out to the ice cream parlour tomorrow; swimming lessons and roast dinner at the embassy on sunday, to be specific). Tomorrow I have to have the car cleaned, or Hubby's successor will have second thoughts about buying it, and we will never be able to afford my creative writing MA course (which clearly, by my current ratings, I really need to do, if I am ever to make it as a novelist). The only problem is that there are no car washes in Kathmandu. No, not one. Luckily someone has agreed to do it for me (I haven't told him that the last time I washed it was six months ago and that we did have a resident rat in the car for a while - wouldn't want to put him off), for which he shall be handsomely rewarded.
So, what's been the highlight of the week? Could it possibly be Twin 2 running across in front of the Headquarters building on the Gurkha Camp singing 'Like a Virgin' (the Moulin Rouge version) whilst her knickers slowly made their way towards her ankles? Yes, it could.
I secretly hope the Cheif of Staff happened to be looking out of his office window at the time and was appalled at the wanton behaviour of my six-year-old.
Right, better go and sort out sleepover room for kids, who have a friend staying tonight (they have already wowed me with a play about aliens, and I'm looking forward to more dramatic performances nice and early in the morning).
Take care x

bean counters

It's just gone nine, and Hubby's asleep, of course. I'm doing a jolly good job of easing myself into Greenwich Mean Time (or is it British Summer Time), by waking up later and later, the closer we get to moving back to the UK.  (Unfortunately Hubby doesn't have that option as he will be working right up until five o'clock in the afternoon on the day we leave - we fly at eight). This means that our house is effectively on different time zones at the moment. When I zipped chirpily in from gym and yoga this evening, he was already beyond monosyllabic and slunk up to bed with a frown on his working-man's brow.
Rebecca Bryan was going to make an appearance tonight, as she has vowed to edit the first three chapters and get them off to an agent before we move. However, I've noticed that it's already nine, and somewhere in the house, if I can find it, is a really good book I'm three-quarters of the way through, and, well, nine pm is a little late to begin one's working day, even if I am progressing towards a different time zone. I hope Rebecca isn't too unhappy with me for my lackadaisical attitude (I'd ask her, but she scares me a bit).
Today the bean counters came round. No, they weren't actual bean counters. But they were actual fork and sheet counters. They gave me a useful list of all the army stuff that we signed for when we moved in three years ago. I spent quite some time today counting cutlery and trying to locate missing electric heaters, etc. Which is partly why I want a bit of time to read my book tonight as I feel like I deserve it, after being very responsible for a couple of hours this afternoon.
What I've come to realise over the course of my time as an army wife, is that the moving doesn't bother me in the slightest. I love moving house and going somewhere new. What I don't love is all the scary bean counting that goes with it. You know, getting fined for not having a tidy garden, or whatever. I remember there being a charge for excessive dog hairs on the sofa when we left Northern Ireland, for example. I'm such a bad housewife (I'm the antithesis of a domestic goddess - domestic demon perhaps?) and have such lamentable attention to detail that remembering to do all the right things to hand over a married quarter is just a bit too scary. And it's not just getting it wrong, it's the embarrassment of admitting that I wasn't a good enough housewife to bother hoovering the dog hair out from in between the sofa cushions, or checking that there wasn't a half-eaten cake in the desk drawer.
So I think Rebecca can come over tomorrow and get stuck into chapters two and three.
Come to think of it, I should have invited her over this afternoon to deal with the bean counters, and maybe she could just take over the whole moving business?
I know she'd do a far better job than me.

Saturday hangover

Went to Hubby's leaving do in the 'yard' (the patch of concrete in between the offices and the workshops at his work) last night. It was the usual sit-about-and-drink-for-three-hours-until-the-dahl-and-curry-is-cooked. They gave a speech for Hubby, but as it was in Nepali we had (almost) no idea what they were saying (I understood two words: 'water' and 'therefore' - good to know all that money we spent on Nepali lessons wasn't entirely wasted), so all that clapping could well have been a response to "What a huge relief this water treatment taskmaster is finally leaving us, and therefore lets hope that the next bloke is a bit more of a pushover" (cue earnest nodding and applause).
Anyway, the workforce are so happy that Hubby is finally leaving that they clubbed together to buy him a nice kukri (curved knife) and a lovely embroidered pashmina for me (one can never have too many pashminas, you know) as leaving gifts. Normally the choice of drink at these functions is: whisky or coke or whisky-and-coke. However this time they really pushed the boat out and there was wine. So I drank far too much wine and Hubby drank far too much whisky and all we have managed to do today is take the kids out to KFC for lunch. Right now everyone is watching Indiana Jones, which is an almost perfect choice for a Saturday hangover.
The reality that we are actually moving is taking hold. I checked out the thirty-day weather forecast for Devon yesterday, and quickly went on to Amazon to buy wellies and get them sent to my parents house. I think I might have to pack the odd pashmina or two as well, as it doesn't look like summer in the UK is set to get terribly summery...
Ooh, keep getting distracted by Indie (it's the bit where they are in Nepal, escaping from the Nazis, just before they get to Egypt), so I'd better go and give it my full attention.
Have a great weekend x

Rescue Remedy

It's raining, raining and raining a bit more here at the moment. Good practice for the UK, I suppose. All the kids have been having bad dreams recently, so I've been dosing them up with that well-known nightmare cure: Bach's Rescue Remedy. Seems to work - might have to give it a go on Hubby, who never seems to sleep beyond about 4.30 am these days.
Apart from bad dreams, kids continue to have a jolly nice summer hols. Remarkably, they are still doing their holiday workbooks, but I think this might only be because I reminded them that there will be a present for every book finished. Son wants a photographic book about Nepal, to remember out time here. Twin 1 wants a pair of slippers because hers are broken. Twin 2 wants two princess dresses. You don't have to be much of a psychologist to figure out their personalities from this: Son is thoughtful; Twin 1 is practical; Twin 2 lives in a fantasy world of her own making and is prone to extravagance and diva-like demands.
Today, we did workbooks, swimming and I escaped for a couple of hours this afternoon whilst they watched a DVD. What I should have done is used the time to go to the gym. What I actually did was to go for reflexology and a bar of chocolate. But when I came back I played hide-and-seek and hunt-the-Barbie for an hour and a half, and that must have burnt up some calories, surely?
Right, nearly bed time. Tomorrow I think I'll do something wildly exciting with the kids, like, erm, workbooks, swimming and a DVD...There's only about seven weeks until they go back to school...
Right, I'm off for some Rescue Remedy.
Goodnight x

Bawhana 'Scissorhands' Rana

This morning we've had haircuts and doughnuts. Does life get any better? Actually, only the kids had haircuts - I wisely opted to get mine done the other week in Dubai, to escape the whirling blades of Bawhana 'Scissorhands' Rana. Still, she did a good job on the kids - fast, too - and it's not just hair cutting, it's cost-cutting as well, because after she's been at their mops, they won't have to have another haircut for at least six months, hurrah.
We went to Cafe Hessed for doughnuts afterwards. I told the lovely Korean owner that she makes the best doughnuts in Kathmandu. It's true (but I also think they might be the only doughnuts in Kathmandu, as I haven't seen them anywhere else in the past two years).
After that we went to get more welfare discs (more of the thrilling Ken and Dierdre at the pottery class storyline in Coronation Street - can't wait) and for a play in the play park.
Tomorrow we've got a leaving thing in the afternoon, so the kids have been practising their speeches. Twins are going to say how much they have enjoyed the swimming pool, and Son plans to say something about how nice and flat the roofs are in Nepal. Whatever they say will be a lot more interesting than anything I could muster up, so I'm going for the supportive wife and mother role (you know, lipstick and a dress and a quiet smile - should work a treat as long as I don't have too many Pimm's and let slip what I really think about BGN...)
Right then, better go and start on the change-of-address letters.
Take care x

jockey-tastic

Hi, Twin 2 is up with Ganga the physio and the others are watching Star Trek with Hubby, and I'm fairly amazed at my lack of hangover. Last night we went to a cocktail party/games night in the mess. It is a bit bizarre to get all glammed up, only to play oversized board games and screech along to Singstar on Wii, but army life is nothing if not surreal. The oversized board game was in fact a horse race, based on the Grand National (the leading horse's syndicate had to down a glass of red wine when the horse made it over Beecher's Brook). I was in three different races, or maybe four (my memory is a bit hazy) and our team won two of them. In the final, Hubby and I entered a 'horse' called Gary Baharda Rai, in honour of our lovely mastiff dog, and we romped home and won ourselves eight thousand rupees (about £70). Not bad, eh? Even with the amount of Mojitos I consumed over the course of the night, we more than broke even. And, even better, I haven't had a real hangover today - I was up by eight cooking french toast for the kids (okay, I had to have a little power nap this afternoon, but then, I usually do on a weekend).
Luckily the do was held at night, as the dim lighting helped disguise the big rash of acne/eczema that has appeared on my chin. I'm beginning to think that I really ought to have splashed out on burka in Dubai, as it would help prevent the looks of revulsion I've been subjected to over the last few days. Even the doctor seemed horrified at the sight of the monstrous carbuncles in my peri-oral area and immediately prescribed antibiotics and steroids - do hope they work, as I don't have the option of growing a beard.
Rebecca Bryan is away right now (and don't tell her about the mojitos or the horse race as she would only disapprove), but before she left she uploaded a revised chapter 1 onto the peer review site. She now just has to review lots of other people's first chapters in order to get some good reviews for hers over the next two weeks - it's a bit of a numbers game. I think she'll have to come back tonight, or possibly tomorrow...
Anyway, have a good weekend xxx

Rebecca

Rebecca Bryan hasn't gone down too well with Hubby. She is too work focussed and a little bit grumpy. Tonight for example, Hubby suggested an episode of Corrie and Rebecca said in her best authoress voice "I have to work". She did not say, "Ooh, yes, and let's eat lots of chocolate whilst we're watching" because that's not what she's like. She is focussed and professional. Later, Hubby came up to where Rebecca was working - at that point she was just saving a document and morphing back into me. He said: "Well, I don't know what you've been working on..."
Rebecca was not very happy that Hubby couldn't know that she has spent the last three years writing, and has just completed a manuscript, especially as she told him she was revising chapter one this week, in order to get it peer-reviewed before entering it into a competition. He appeared to know nothing about this. Rebecca, on the other hand, knew all about super-chlorination and the difference between chloroforms and coliforms, and other water-treatment related work issues.
Rebecca feels that Hubby has scant interest in her writing beyond a potential means to retire early and buy a yacht.
I'm not Rebecca, though, so I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. This time...