December 2010

December 31, 2010

A mix-up with our Christmas oyster order meant we received 24 instead of the 12 I’m certain I ordered. Nothing for it but to eat oysters on the half shell for lunch as well… I could get accustomed to this lifestyle — “Shuck me half a dozen oysters for lunch, would you, darling?”…;-)Turkey soup for the girls, which Lyra claims to hate. Adam ended up force feeding it to her. Family outing to the Geffreye Museum, which is a museum of middle class domestic interiors through the ages. At Christmas time, they decorate each room in keeping with their era. I hadn’t realised that Oliver Cromwell, who was a Puritan, outlawed Christmas while he was in power. I wonder if there’s a connection there with the way America (having been colonised by Puritans) still seem to put at least as much emphasis on Thanksgiving as it does on Christmas…

“Mummy, that large red lump on your lip isn’t going away, is it?” Lyra helpfully observed as I was getting ready for our dinner round at Madonna and Laurence’s. Cheers, darling… Asked to bring something sweet, I opted for an idea I’d seen in a food magazine. I melted dark chocolate and butter together, then stirred in chunks of leftover Christmas cake, gingerbread cookies, glacé cherries, walnuts, etc and left it to cool in the fridge before cutting it into squares.

Dinner for six while the kids watched a film upstairs. Everyone but Lyra (who only made it to 11:30) was awake for the countdown. Dispatched a third bottle of bubbly to welcome in the year, which I’d like to think will be better than the last one, though I have my doubts. Left the girls asleep upstairs — Lyra would have been outraged at being deprived of a sleepover opportunity — and headed home about 1:30am…

December 30, 2010

Happy birthday, Drew!
Jane dropped round with her brother Scott’s son Lucas this morning. Scott and his then wife Celine lived in this house before we did, and it was Lucas’ first home, so he was interested to see it. He’s seventeen now, and so like his dad, who I was great friends with at that age. I was surprised how happy it made me to see him all grown up. The last time I saw him was at our wedding, five years old and dressed in a little red toy soldier style jacket with frogged buttons.Had Pete, Pasc and Fay round for tea, and Fay stayed on for dinner. None of the kids were keen on oysters, mum’s fake souffle or the fennel-chicory salad with walnuts and lemon, but they filled up on breadsticks, olives, bananas and chocolate ice cream, washed down with aqueous martinis.

Watched Frost Nixon, which I thought was a really interesting film. My sympathies were consistently with Nixon, played by Frank Langella. I found David Frost to be a bit of a tit. Don’t suppose it helped that Frost was played by that guy who’s made a habit of playing Tony Blair on screen…

December 29, 2010

Took Nova to see the latest Harry Potter film today — a long-awaited girls’ outing. So long awaited that it was hard to find a local cinema still showing it. The Islington Vue had it listed at 6pm, so we caught the bus to Upper Street.Ate dinner at the Fine Burger Company first, which is Nova’s favourite restaurant. Since we last visited, they’ve introduced touch screens at each table for you to place your order, and play various games and quizzes. Nova was very enthusiastic about the Harry Potter trivia game, and eventually recorded the second highest score. FBC and Harry Potter trivia — it doesn’t get better than that in Nova’s world…

Arrived at the Vue to discover that they’d stopped showing the Harry Potter film yesterday. We’d committed too much to give up on the plan now, so we caught the tube into the West End and saw it at the Leicester Square Odeon. I thought it was very good, and as it went further than we’ve managed to read so far, it had the element of surprise as well. Home about 11pm, both knackered — I was in bed before Nova…

December 28, 2010

Lyra came in at 5am, scuppering any likelihood I’d feel like going for a run when I woke up… I’m probably not well enough to go yet anyway. This flu is really clinging on — I’m still congested and croaky. Maybe I’ve caught a follow-on bug? At least the girls seem back on form — still coughing a bit, but otherwise as cheeky/sarky as ever.Did a Waitrose run with Lyra before lunch as Ben, Michaela and the girls were arriving for an afternoon visit/dinner. Traffic problems on the M25 delayed them a couple of hours, and it was too late to go for the planned walk on the Heath.

Started straight in on the bubbly instead, and then — suitably lubricated — we headed into the kitchen to tackle the steamboat. It was a wedding present from Ben and Michaela, who posted it to us from Australia where they were living.

Had a bugger of a time getting the charcoal burning. Michaela ended up doing all the food prep while the three of us worked on creating fire. She made two separate broths — a miso-style one for the girls, and a tom yum one for the adults. Fed the kids first, then ate ourselves into a stupor over the next couple of hours. At least it’s pretty healthy fare: prawns, scallops, squid, pak choy, mushrooms, carrot, tofu, beansprouts…

December 27, 2010

Spent a few hours sorting things out in the girls’ bedroom today — out with the old, in with the new and all that. The main focus was Nova’s Sylvanian animals and furniture. She amassed quite a collection, but most of the time it lives jumbled in various little boxes and drawers.Nova has developed the novel idea of bluetacking her little bits and pieces in place, which makes sense. She spends ages setting them up, and then it all goes flying the first time Lyra pulls something out of the toy drawer below.

Braved Brent Cross at the end of the day to look for a winter coat in the sales. Tried on practically every coat in the mall before settling for the second one I tried on, a purply velvet number. Was sucked into the wool clearance as well, and came out with a great sack of lovely wool for future knitting projects.

Fay slept over, so Adam did a mac ‘n’ cheese for the girls. We ate later — green salad and a fabulously ripe vacherin cheese I bought at Borough Market the other day. Apparently, a boy in Nova’s class claims it as his favourite cheese. Pretty impressive for a nine-year-old palate — this is one ugly ass cheese, and it takes no prisoners tastewise either…

December 26, 2010

I feel like I’m coming down with a new cold bug… I’ve been sneezing like mad all morning, and my eyes are sore and watery. Grrrr…Spent the morning restoring order — getting wine stains out of the white tablecloth, finding homes for the new presents, stripping and boiling down the turkey carcass for soup, etc…

Turkey sandwiches are a highly personal thing — to my mind, the perfect turkey sandwich has: soft white bread; mayonnaise, gravy, cranberry sauce and cold stuffing as well as turkey. With gravy and stuffing still on hand, today’s lunch was turkey sandwich perfection.

Lyra is getting into the joke telling stage. Today’s effort: “Why did the tree cross the bridge? Because the boy was carrying it!”

December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas, everyone!
I thought our 7am start was pretty civilized. The girls dispatched their stockings in short order, then moved onto the presents:

There was just time for a quick bowl of cereal before it was time to get the girls to church for the nativity performance. Adam took charge of that, and I managed to make the turkey stuffing before setting off as well.

It’s the first time I’ve ever been inside a church on Christmas morning, and I must say I really enjoyed it. I don’t know if Christmas services are generally like this, but ours was a series of readings by children, interspersed with scenes from the nativity and carol singing. Nova read her piece very nicely, although she really had to stretch to reach the microphone, and Lyra made a couple of appearances as an extremely cheeky angel. At one point, I noticed her stuffing handfuls of tinsel down poor Alice’s cassock, causing her to writhe and itch.

It felt nice to get out of the house and engage with the community — Christmas can feel a bit claustrophobic and pressured. We knew a number of people through the school, and I returned home full of “goodwill to all men”. Had the melton mowbray on the table, but the time Adam and the girls got back, and we all tucked in with good appetite.

Once breakfast was over, it was steady work all day. Got the turkey in at 1pm — fortunately, it seems sufficiently thawed. Tackled the veg prep next, cranberry sauce, horseradish dressing for the brussel/leek/carrots, cooked down the red cabbage, whisked up a batch of blini. All this interspersed with bouts of housework, table setting, wineglass polishing etc.

There was just time to change before guests started arriving. Anne looked very glamourous in the silver lamé top I’m pretty sure she must have bought for the wedding in Canada…

It all went pretty smoothly getting the food on the table. Even the gravy came good. Ray was a big help in the kitchen, and Elsie took charge of Lyra, who basked in the attention. The food was well received, and we polished off pretty much everything aside from the turkey — we didn’t even start the second side. Jane and Gerry brought dessert — Christmas pudding with brandy butter, and chocolate ice cream for the kids.

My favourite moment was when Nova drifted over to the piano to play a few Christmas carols and everyone began singing. All those voices, young and old, coming together in song brought tears to my eyes…

After dinner, we played charades. I was putting Lyra to bed and missed the classic moment when 95-year-old Anne attempted “The Bridge on the River Kwai”. “Is it ‘The Hills of the Slimy Chinese’?” ventured Ray.

The last guests left about 10pm. Changed immediately into our pyjamas and settled down to watch Scrooge, but only made it to the first spirit before deciding to call it a night…

December 24, 2010

Caught a taxi into town to see The Snowman this morning. It’s fortunate we booked our tickets for Christmas Eve — this is the first day that all of us are fit enough for such an undertaking. Actually poor Adam has had two nights of next to no sleep, so he’s probably the worst for wear…It’s a fun show, packed with kids of course. Even in the din of an audience of under 12s, Lyra’s spectacular cough turned heads. I kept her topped up with sweets, which seemed to help a bit. The show ends with a little “snowfall” on the front few rows of the audience — being old Snowman hands by now, we’d chosen our seats to ensure we’d be snowed on — then it was out to the real snow.

Ate lunch at a Belgo’s across the road — moules and frites for me, sausages or burgers for everyone else. It’s been years since we’ve eaten at Belgo’s — there was a time when it was a mandatory stop on the entertaining visitors itinerary. Left Adam and the girls with their desserts, and did some last minute shopping in Covent Garden.

Dropped by Patricia’s on the way home. She has printed a photobook of her shoot with the girls this summer, which is absolutely beautiful. I was expecting something postcard sized, but this is a beautiful, glossy coffee table book.

Next stop, Pete and Pasc’s, where we exchanged gifts, and ate yet more sausage rolls and cake. We’d talked of going to the candlelit carol service at the United Church, but I felt it would be too much for Lyra after her big day. Nova went along with the Franklyns, and we repaired home.

There was still quite a bit of getting ready for the big day. I’d hoped to do some food prep this evening as well, but by the time finished wrapping and other jobs I had no energy for it…

December 23, 2010

Adam didn’t manage to finish his adidas writing in spite of working through the night, so he ploughed on through and kept at it most of the day. I don’t know how he does that — my brain would collapse…Alina’s family came round for a Christmas visit. Lyra was very pleased to spend time with a friend after her week of illness. Started with tea, baking and homemade sausage rolls, then moved onto the Harvey Wallbangers. Nothing says Christmas to me like a Harvey Wallbanger (or two)…;-) Veronika gave me a beautiful little painting she’d done. I gave her a knitted dishcloth. From each according to her abilities…

They left about 6pm, which gave me just enough time to feed the girls before we were due at the Stillmans’ anniversary party — 66 years since they were married in India on furlough. I didn’t want the girls getting too close to Anne with their nasty coughs, and limited our visit to an hour…

Once Lyra was in bed, I set to and finished the Christmas puzzle. Felt a bit sad doing it on my own — it was always something I did with mum — but satisfying as well. And Nova can join in soon enough…

December 22, 2010

I’m feeling a little bit better today — at least I got a decent night’s sleep, thanks to the cough syrup. My head is clearer and I have some energy again…Spent the morning rolling out and baking the shortbread dough I managed to make yesterday. It got too cold and rock hard in the fridge overnight, and I had a bugger of a time rolling it out. Then before you knew it, it got too warm and sort of flabby to work with. You can tell the biscuits where the dough was too warm when it went in the oven — they tend to flake and bubble instead of remaining smooth and flat. At least they all taste good though…:-)

Started reading Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with the girls at bedtime. I’ve never actually read it before, and was surprised at how many lines from the book have made it unaltered into the film.

Also started my Night Before Christmas puzzle this evening. When I was growing up, it was a family tradition to do this puzzle on Christmas Eve. With no one to help me, it’s not feasible to do it in one evening, and Christmas Eve is now filled with other responsibilities. I bought a puzzle storing device on eBay that allows you to roll up a partially completed puzzle and store it until you’re ready to work on it again. Hope it works…

December 21, 2010

Nova headed off for a sleepover with Amy this afternoon. I was of two minds about it, but she was so keen to go, and she does seem better, aside from the cough. Adam spent a couple of hours shovelling and gritting our road so that we could get the car out. We needed it to take Lyra to the doctor.She’s still not well. She’s become really lethargic, and slept three hours on the sofa this afternoon. Her eyes are permanently at half mast. I think she has swine flu (me too probably), as there’s been a huge surge in it this month. When I checked the NHS website, she had every one of the symptoms, including the optional ones. The doctor diagnosed a urine infection as well, so we picked her up some antibiotics for that, which can’t hurt…

Lyra was interested in a bit of dinner for the first time in days. I made her a little bowl of pasta, which she picked at, and convinced her to eat a few grapes as well…

December 20, 2010

This morning’s 6am interrogation from Lyra was on the subject of throwing up. “Why do people throw up?” she asked. “How does the throw up come out?” and her final pronouncement, “People got to throw up in bowls because pans are for cooking…”I’m probably the sickest family member now, though there’s still stiff competition. Lyra’s stopped spiking such high temperatures, though she’s still wracked by coughing fits, and is as pale as a bowl of milk. Nova’s skin has a greenish cast to it, and her cough is pretty impressive as well.

At least she has a bit of an appetite… When asked what she might like for dinner, she said rice. That put me in mind of congee, which is a wonderfully soothing dish, and perfect for invalids. Made a simple pot from half a cup of rice, litres of water, a piece of ginger and a few green onions and dried shiitake mushrooms.

Reminded me of my days working at Wordsmiths in Vancouver. The office was on Beatty Street at the edge of Chinatown, and I’d often wander down for some lunch — potstickers or singapore rice noodles when I was feeling healthy, congee when I was hungover, or otherwise incapacitated…

December 19, 2010

We’d booked a family ticket to go skating at the Tower of London this morning, but Lyra wasn’t up for it. Adam stayed home to work (and look after her) and I took Etta instead.Discovered the Stillmans struggling up the path through the snow when we set off. They’d arranged some massive 4×4 to convey them back to Heathrow, but it was too high for Anne to climb into. In the end I had to grasp her round the waist and lift her into it, while the taxi driver tugged her arms. Managed it eventually, but a 95-year-old woman shouldn’t be going through this shit…

Turns out that Nova wasn’t well enough for skating either. The tube ride made her feel queasy, and she was a nasty greyish-green shade by the time we got to Tower Bridge. She attempted a few feeble laps of skating, before retiring to the café with a bottle of water while I skated with Etta.

Caught a cab to Chinatown afterwards. I left the girls to do a bit of shopping in the Chinese emporium while I picked up some Asian groceries. Next, we headed down to Gerrard’s Corner to meet Trond and Ben for a dim sum lunch. Nova rallied enough to eat a couple of crispy duck pancakes but her heart wasn’t in it. Her tooth fell out unexpectedly as well, which can’t have helped her enthusiasm for food — apparently it wasn’t even loose yesterday.

By the time we left the restaurant, I was starting to feel ill as well. Trudged Etta home through the drifts of snow, then dragged ourselves up the hill and home. Got straight into my pyjamas and climbed under a blanket on the sofa for the rest of the day.

The Stillmans returned from Heathrow in the late afternoon. Adam returned the bag of groceries they’d bequeathed us a couple of days ago (minus all veggies I’d turned into vegetable soup) plus a pint of milk. Poor things, I hope they’re giving this trip to Canada up as a lost cause. I’m going to ask them to join us for Christmas dinner…

December 18, 2010

Poor Lyra is very sick… She took a turn towards the end of the evening, and we dosed her up with medicine at bedtime. By the time we went to bed ourselves, she was coughing so violently that she’d choke. Her temperature was spiking as well. Gave her nurofen to bring it down, and made the decision to have her in bed with me, and for Adam to sleep in her bed.Neither of us got much sleep… I don’t think we went more than a half an hour at a time before she’d cough herself awake. She found the coughing fits quite distressing, especially when she couldn’t get her breath, and a couple of times she coughed so hard she made herself vomit.

Between all that, she carried on an endless dialogue. A couple of examples of the topics we covered: “Your mum’s not tired, because she’s DEAD, and dead people are always sleeping, aren’t they, mum?” Or, “How are statues made?” “They are carved from wood or stone, sweetie…” “Or witches can freeze people to make statues, can’t they, mum?”

Spent the day collapsed on the sofa with Lyra, exhausted from our sleepless night. If I hadn’t had her in with me, I would have been up a dozen times anyway. And Adam would have had a rotten night as well…

No food for Lyra all day. She ate about three grapes and licked the icing off a biscuit. Nova went of sledging with Etta’s family this afternoon, and returned worse for wear. Now she’s coughing too…

The poor Stillmans were caught up in the travel chaos at Heathrow. The headed off first thing this morning for their flight, spent more than six hours sitting on a plane on the runway before finally being told they weren’t flying that day. And then they had to make their way across snowstruck London to get back home. They are trying to fly to Canada for their granddaughter’s wedding. Personally, I think it’s a pretty big ask to expect your 95-year-old grandparents to fly half way round the world for your wedding, especially at Christmas time…

December 17, 2010

Last day of school until the new year…
It started snowing just as I arrived to pick up Lyra, and by the time we got home there was a real flurry, and a good inch or more settled on the ground. According to the weather forecast, it’s going to be nothing but snow for the next week or so, and a proper white Christmas is on the cards.Living at the bottom of such a steep hill, we can have real trouble getting the car out when the roads are icy. It seemed expedient to get a big shop in now, while we still could. Even with an inch of snow it proved impossible to get the car up the hill. Finally, with help from Adam and a couple of neighbours, we gritted a couple of tire tracks and managed to reach the main road.

The roads weren’t great at the top either, and the traffic was inching along. Made it to Waitrose eventually, where I bought enough food to see us through to the new year if necessary. Covered most of the Christmas dinner essentials — frozen turkey (first time we haven’t had a fresh one); brussels sprouts; potatoes; cranberries; red cabbage; baking supplies, etc.

Made it home eventually, and managed to stash it all away. The garage is only a couple of degrees above zero at the moment, which is handy. Felt much happier to have what I need to make Christmas dinner — it would be pretty stressful to be sitting here with no turkey, and no way to get to the shops to buy one as the days ticked by…

Tonight’s dinner was baron of beef, something I haven’t eaten since childhood. It proved a great hit with Nova, who suggested establishing a new tradition of always eating baron of beef on the day we put up the Christmas tree.

The girls got busy decorating the tree after dinner. Lyra has a tendency to group things together, like all the pinecones in one little enclave. Also, they can only reach about half way up the tree, so some redistribution of ornaments was needed once they were in bed.

I was surprised by a conversation a couple of my team members had about decorating Christmas trees. “What colour are you doing your tree this year?” Heidi asked. “Oh, I’m going for mauve and silver,” June said. “I thought I’d do mine blue and white,” said Heidi. It turns out they both buy new decorations for their trees each year. I had no idea people did that — our tree decorations are a slowly accumulating collection that become more precious to me each time we use them…

December 16, 2010

Today is my last day of childcare before Christmas, but I didn’t have the energy to take full advantage of it. It makes me realise how draining the last months have been. Getting drunk twice in the same day didn’t help either…;-)Went shopping in Muswell Hill with Nova after school. She wanted to pick up a few little Christmas presents for school friends. It was snowing by the time we got home. Just time for a quick bite of dinner before heading off to Pond Square for the annual carol sing. Nova’s school choir and another choir each performed a couple of numbers before the general sing-a-long began. Felt very Christmassy to be belting out carols while the snowflakes swirled around us. Mighty cold though…

December 15, 2010

Even in a dark and silent Manchester hotel room, I awoke on Lyra time — she certainly has me well trained. Had a leisurely breakfast with Tina (mainly a result of the woeful service at the McDonald Hotel), then headed into the office.Arrived to discover than the union and HR had reached a compromise — we have to send a short email by the 29th notifying them of our intention to appeal, but will have until 10th January to submit the outline of our case. That gives me two working days in total (and only one where Tina and I are both working) to prepare our case, which I think is complete crap. But according to my union rep Lorraine, they are within their legal rights to make no accommodation for annual leave.

At the team meeting, I handed out my knitted stars — which I’d also felted and beaded — after making a little speech. Everyone seemed very touched. The project turned into a lot more work than anticipated, but this is the last time the whole team will be together, and it was worth marking the moment.

Went straight from the team meeting to the team lunch, where Tina and I picked up the bar bill as an annual Christmas gesture of goodwill. Not much time for further work before we had to catch the train back to London. There was a brief mention of sketching out the grounds of our appeal, but neither of us felt like it. Finished knitting Adam’s Christmas socks instead…

Spent a couple of hours with my wonderful girls then it was off to the pub for class drinks. Becky had organised tapas, and secured a good turn out. We had two long tables, both pretty much full. Stayed until about midnight, then left Adam to it and headed home to relieve Antonia, who was babysitting for us.

December 14, 2010

Had another good meeting at staff services people today — with the pensions officer this time. My main concern at being made redundant was the impact it would have on my NHS pension, especially as I’m too young to take early retirement (unlike my jobshare). He was able to answer nearly all my questions, and the situation isn’t as bad as I thought it might be. The pension will be “deferred” until I am old enough to claim it, but will keep pace with inflation during that time. And there’s also the option of putting as much as a year’s worth of salary into it, which would boost my earned years considerably.Had my official “at risk of redundancy” meeting with my manager, union rep and HR as well. Pretty much what I was expecting, aside from the part where they informed me that the ten working day appeal period is not adjusted for parttime workers (which I consider discriminatory). Furthermore, although I’d already booked Christmas annual leave ages ago starting tomorrow, my ten-day appeal period would expire during my leave period. Things got quite heated at this point, until we agreed that the union rep and HR would see if they could reach a compromise.

Travelled up to Manchester after work with Tina and Heidi. It was 8:30 by the time we arrived, so we dropped our bags at the hotel and headed straight to the pan-Asian noodle bar that Tina’s such a fan of. I have a snobbish attitude to multi-cuisine restaurants. Fusion maybe, but the whole Asian sub-continent? I think not… However, the food was perfectly nice, and it was fun to put the dieting to one side, and knock back a couple of beers with colleagues as well…

December 13, 2010

Went for a counselling session with someone at staff services today. Oasis is an organisation that provides psychological, employment and welfare support to NHS staff. It’s free and confidential, and I’ve been urging my team to take advantage of it for months. Recently occurred to me that I could maybe use some psychological support myself. I’ve made such a U-turn when it comes to counselling — I used to feel that it may help some people, but it just wasn’t for me. However, since those sessions with Irene after Lyra was born, I’m a convert.Had my last acting class for the term. I haven’t decided whether I’ll continue with it next year, and had thought of finding something closer to home. But I do like my group and the time and day work for me.

Spent most of tonight’s session creating, rehearsing and presenting a fifteen minute drama on the theme of Christmas. My group of five opted for a Memento-style family Christmas — ending with a scene of total devastation, and working backwards through various scenes to reveal how it came about. Received rave reviews for my portrayal of the closeted daughter’s new lesbian girlfriend…;-)

December 12, 2010

Attended the school fair this afternoon with Dave in tow, who’s visiting from Exeter. We exchanged gifts beforehand — Dave gave us a handmade pottery candleholder, we gave him a knitted dishcloth and a pack of sugru — an innovative new product that allows people to customise and repair plastic household goods instead of chucking and replacing them. “It’s a sign of the times,” Dave said, ” these are real ‘age of austerity’ presents.”He had a funny story he come across about how two musicians that David Cameron mentioned as his favourite bands — Paul Weller and The Cure — have gone to the trouble of contacting him to tell him that they don’t want him as a fan.

I’ve started another Christmas knitting project — I’m going to make a knitted star tree decoration for each of the members of my team, instead of the chocolate treat I usually buy them.

Watched ‘Doubt’ with Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman this evening. Great performances by both of them, and an excellent script. Was he a pedophile priest? Probably… Was it the right thing to drive him from his post? Probably… Should she have waited until the end of the school year? Most likely… A film that definitely did what it said on the tin…

December 11, 2010

Evelyn’s dad was here to pick her up by 9:30am for her swimming lesson, but as Lyra went straight to a birthday party with Christine and Alice, we didn’t even see her until early afternoon. According to Gerald, they’ve never had a better sleepover guest. Lyra did everything they were told, ate all her food, tidied her dishes, and even told Alice to stop talking because “it’s time to go to sleep now”. What a little star!Kicked off the Christmas baking with a batch of butterscotch fudge that actually worked for once. I just don’t make fudge often enough, and generally manage to fuck it up somehow…

Dinner was roast ham with Cumberland sauce — the same Cumberland sauce I made last time (that has been lurking at the back of the fridge ever since), greatly improved by the addition of cornstarch.

December 10, 2010

Lyra had her first proper sleepover this evening at Alice’s house. It’s been on the cards for about a week now, and she’s been so looking forward to it. It’s been a useful behaviour modifier as well — “If you kick up such a big fuss about bedtime, maybe you’re too little to go on a real sleepover…” etc.Had an after-school outing with Alina as well. She and her mum Veronika came round for lunch, then we caught the tube to Chalk Farm to see a puppet show of Pinocchio at the Roundhouse. Veronika is an artist, and works as an art educator and lecturer. She was able to swing us free tickets through some connection of hers. I really enjoyed the show, especially the shadow play where Geppetto projected silohuettes of saws to create sharks and sea monsters…

December 9, 2010

Went for a run first thing to compensate for all those calories I injested last night. By the laws of biochemistry, I would have to run about twenty miles to work off last night’s dinner, but I may have compensated for the ‘light cream of chestnut and Stilton’ at least…;-)At the start of November, Adam and I both signed up to a website called Stickk. It came about as the result of a research project into what motivates people to achieve their goals. You specify your goal, agree some milestones, then commit to a penalty for not achieving them by giving them your credit card details and agreeing an amount. You can specify whether you give the money to charity (or an anti-charity like a hated football team, the Tory party etc). You specify a referee who will validate your reports, and can also invite your friends and family to track your progress online.

Adam’s goal was to exercise three times a week; mine was to lose two pounds a week. Since we started, we’ve both managed to achieve our targets, although it’s going to get harder as Christmas draws near. Our contracts expire on 21 Dec.

Made a trip to Brent Cross this afternoon — think I’ve pretty much nailed the Christmas shopping…

December 8, 2010

“I’m the pinkest girl, in the whole wide world!” Lyra announced happily, as she headed off to school in pink dress, pink teeshirt, pink tights, pink knickers, pink coat, pink mitts and pink snowboots.Dinner out at Morgan M with Adam. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a properly fancy meal out, and we both really enjoyed it. They’d enticed us in with an email about their Christmas tasting menu, and we each ordered a different option so we could taste the whole lot:

Christmas menu

Light cream of chestnut and Stilton

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Ballotine of foie gras from Les Landes, Sauterne jelly, fig caviar
or
Seared Scallops chicory tart and onion soubise

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Braised fillet of John Dory, ragout of “Painpol” beans and Hazelnuts, honey roasted pancetta and garlic froth

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Fillet of Iken venison, hare raviolo, sweet potato puree, sauce Grand Veneur
or
Oven roasted Suffolk pheasant, parsnip puree,
liver crouton and bread sauce

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Nougat glace, crunchy nougatine

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Passion fruit soufflé, Passion fruit sorbet
or
Chocolate fondant with milk sorbet, Tia Maria drink

December 7, 2010

Worked from home today, as is usual for a Tuesday. My job share is back from California, so I spent a couple of hours bringing her up to speed with all the bullshit she’d missed last week.Knocked off early to head into town to meet my friend Carol. Started with a pizza and a bottle of wine at the Gourmet Pizza Company at Gabriel’s Wharf. But the evening’s main event was tickets to La Soirée. In a specially erected big top tent behind the Southbank Centre, they are staging “a fusion of cabaret, new burlesque, circus sideshow and contemporary vaudeville”. Not sure how I’d describe it, but I haven’t laughed so hard or gasped out loud like that since I don’t know when…

The image of Captain Frodo contorting his entire body through the head of an unstrung tennis racquet will be with me for a long time. As will that of Le Gateau Chocolat straddling the lap of a bald man in the front row and licking his head like a giant ice cream cone…

December 6, 2010

They are starting the redundancy notice meetings this week at work — both my direct reports had theirs today. I’m noticing that my work is drying up to a large extent. Partly because there is no point in doing some of the things I’d normally be doing, partly because other people are picking it off. At any rate, I had no problem leaving at 5pm…Nova informs me that I’m going out too much… December is always a busy time of year, but I am out three nights this week and three the next. I’m all theirs after that…

In acting class this evening we practiced throwing fake punches. You position yourself so the audience can’t see whether your hand connects, then slap yourself loudly on the chest with your other hand at the moment the punch should have landed. Did fake hair pulling as well. One person puts their hand in a closed fist against the other’s head. The second person grips the fist with both hands and makes like their hair is being painfully pulled.

Once we’d mastered these techniques, we divided into little groups to devise violent skits to showcase our new skills. Mine was a home invasion scene. My husband and I were sitting at home watching telly when two drug dealers forced their way in and proceeded to kick the shit out of us. Even though it was entirely role play, it was still quite upsetting to have someone yell “DOWN ON THE FLOOR, BITCH!” and “SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I’LL KICK YOUR FUCKIN’ FACE IN!!” at you…

December 5, 2010

I don’t feel so good… Funny how that happens when you drink a bathtub-full of champagne…:-< Adam left me to sleep it off until 9am (which counts as a lie in around here). Just about ready to face the world by then…Hannukah chez Garfunkel this afternoon. After some trial and error, Beulah has hit on a formula that works for everyone. We sit down to tea shortly after arriving: sandwiches, cocktail sausages, scones and cheesecake.

Fortified, we head to the drawing room to light the candles and sing the Hannukah song. (In the 15 years I’ve been attend this event, I’ve made little ground in learning either the tune or the words to the Hannukah song. Of course, it doesn’t help that the words are written in Hebrew characters, or the none of the Garfunkels can carry a tune…)

Some very nice gifts this year. Nova was pleased with her pile of books, art supplies and DoodleArt poster (I think it’s actually one that I did at her age) Lyra got a Sylvanians penguin family and the Magic Tooth Fairy Game the telly had manufactured her desire for; Adam and I got new non-stick frying pans, a lovely wine decanter and a book on fonts. A good haul…

December 4, 2010

Morning run on the snowy Heath while Adam cooked a pancake breakfast for the girls. It’s definitely warmer today. Gloves were too much, and I was even wishing I hadn’t worn my thermal top.Went en famille to the opening performance of the “Fantastic Mr Fox” puppet show at Jackson’s Lane — their Christmas show this year. Pretty good, although I couldn’t hear a lot of the words — which is par for the course when the theatre audience has sixty four-year-olds in it.

I’d intended to make the kids pesto pasta for dinner, until I discovered Ewa had used up the pesto. One of those moments when I realise that I’m actually quite territorial about my kitchen and its contents. Improvised a pasta dish from leftover taco meat, salsa, tomato paste, cream, and Old Bay seasoning, which was absolutely delicious. I had to restrain myself, as I’d promised Trish I’d bring a good appetite to her party.

Not that there was any food in evidence when we arrived at 8:30 with Pete and Pasc. Lots of champagne though, and I’d downed several glasses by the time the Swedish buffet was served in the diningroom. Various types of salmon, herring, ham, meatballs, salads, bread, Jansson’s temptation. Ate a healthy plateful, but it was too late to sop up the effects of all that wine… Home about 1am…

December 3, 2010

Felt like I spent the day wandering the icy streets of Highgate. After breakfast, I headed down to Trish’s to help her decorate for her party tomorrow. Returned via the village in time for nursery pick up. Headed home for lunch, then straight off to Lyra’s ballet class at Jackson’s Lane. While she was dancing, I traipsed down to Archway Video. Took her to the library afterwards to return yet another diveedo.Spent half an hour at home — just long enough to sort out the flat, clean the toilet, change the beds etc — then dashed up to the school to pick up Nova, Etta and Amy for the triple sleepover.

Made the girls tacos for dinner, with chocolate brownies for dessert. They spent most of the evening rehearsing the two sketches they’ll be performing in drama next week. The first piece was called “The One Wife of Henry the Eighth” and corrected the historical misconception that he’d changed wives like most people change shirts. The second was a miming piece about a jailbreak — I have to confess to not really understanding what it was about…

Lyra caught the acting bug from the big girls, and insisted on a full staging of Sleeping Beauty (with her in the leading role of course) before she’d consent to go to bed. Made the other three girls bowls of popcorn, and set them up in front of Anne of Green Gables.

Grilled us a couple of steaks for dinner, then retreated to our bedroom with the remainder of the wine to watch “In Bruges”. Felt quite studenty to be drinking wine in bed…

December 2, 2010

I think the snow is turning the cat squirrelly. She’s been really high strung the last few days, jumping on things, attacking people’s ankles, or scratching madly at the carpet by the closet. Actually, I was wondering if the cold may have driven mice into the house, and she hears them moving about under the floorboards.With the forecast for more snow, I decided to do my Waitrose shop this afternoon instead of waiting until tomorrow. Our hill was very icy, and it was touch and go whether I’d manage to get the car up it. Once I reached the main roads, it was okay.

Swung round the gym afterwards. It felt good to get some exercise. I don’t have the gumption to take to the roads in these icy conditions, although I know it’s nothing compared to what Wendy faces running in Prince George.

December 1, 2010

Snow again, but made it to work okay. Work is pretty dismal at the moment. The consultation paper has been reissued — unchanged (quel surprise)… I was glad to be out of there at 5:30.Had dinner with Adam, then headed down to the Angel to see a film with Jane. She suggested “Chico and Rita” — I knew nothing about it, though I’d seen the posters on the tube. I was surprised to discover that it was an animation. Good enough, if a little sacchrine in places. Had a small doze part way through (so did Jane).

Emerged into flurries of snow and a sharp wind. Pretty chilly wait for the bus to take me home…