“You can never get enough of what you don’t need to make you happy.” ~Eric Hoffer
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L’Atelier des Lumières
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| Paris metro |
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Seine at dusk
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Adam’s sad, ‘no more wine?’ face
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Bonfire night
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Autumn
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Pink…
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…and blue
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November 30, 2018Friday. What with having two day mini-break in the middle of the week, I really should have applied myself to client work today, but found it hard to motivate myself…Lyra left for school without getting me to sign her homework planner. I realised within a few minutes and texted her. She was anxious about being late, so I threw a coat over my pyjamas and set out to meet her. I assumed she’d run back towards home, but instead she waited at the top of Jackson’s Lane while I walked the streets of Highgate in my nightwear…>:( Made butterscotch fudge this afternoon — definitely not my finest batch, but better than some. I’ve made fudge so stiff I couldn’t spread it in the pan, and so runny that it needed to be served frozen. Despite cooking it longer than the specified five minutes, this fudge ison runny side. I’m wondering if it’s a result of using a different brand of evaporated milk… Put in a good session on my yoga mat. I might not finding time to run at the moment, but I’m pretty consistent about doing those back exercises. I’ve settled on a mix of yoga, Pilates and some of my running hamstring stretches that takes about twenty minutes to complete. I was spared the violin two-step this afternoon, as Lyra was off to Sissy’s party. She popped by briefly with Ellie to grab the gift I’d wrapped minutes earlier and the headed off together. Those two are thick as thieves at the moment…
Nova out with Iris at a fancy cookbook launch party (of all things). She submitted her draft English coursework in today, which has been hanging over her head. Her next big hurdle is the Cambridge interview next week… |
November 29, 2018Slept badly, which made for a groggy start to my day. Got up in time to fix Lyra a packed lunch. Turns out that she got up early yesterday morning to empty the dishwasher, woke up Nova, and made a cooked breakfast for the two of them. Sounds like she looked after her big sister rather than the other way round…There was a certain amount to sort out round the house and I didn’t get to any client work until mid-afternoon. Broke off to pop to the shops for a couple of things for dinner. Brooksby’s is now filling some of the gap left when Raj closed down — they have a lot of more specialty items that Tesco doesn’t carry, which is good to see. Made spag bol for dinner, Lyra’s transitioning away from vegetarianism now. We still eat vegetarian much of the time, but when I do cook meat she’s more inclined just to eat with the rest of us rather than have than a veggie alternative. Spent best part of an hour sorting out Lyra’s new Echo Dot. She set it up herself initially, and for some reason it has stopped working. I’m a bit averse to engaging with those AI type devices (reading too much Noah Yuval Harari perhaps), but she bought it with her own money. Got there in the end… Practiced some guitar after dinner. I definitely getting better. My fingertips are feeling rough and a bit tender from pressing on those steel strings, but that goes with the territory. Read with Lyra before bed. We don’t do that often these days, but we both enjoyed spending some time together after my night away. When Adam got home from his meeting at 10pm we watched a Ray Donovan before bed. |
November 28, 2018Had a dreadful night’s sleep… The room was like a sauna, and Adam woke up (and turned the lights on!) at 4:40. Opening the window made things a little better, and eventually I slept until almost 8am. Though of course, that’s still only 7am in London…Overall, it’s a pretty good hotel room for Paris. The lobby’s a bit shabby, but the room itself is nice — not ridiculously small, very clean, with a lovely bed and a powerful shower. Set out about 9:45 for Atelier des Lumières — a former foundry that has been converted into a new digital art space — stopping for a coffee en route. The current exhibition is on Klimt and Hundertwasser. Animated images of their artworks accompanied by music are projected on every surface of the vast hall, creating an immersive kaleidoscope of colour, light and sound.
We’d reserved a local restaurant for lunch called Le Servan. The moment you walked through the door you knew that you were in good hands. There was a a calm, brisk efficiency to the place, and even on a Wednesday lunch it was packed. I had a tempura egg served on curly white endive, followed by grilled bream, cauliflower gratinée and lardons, then a delicious piece of goats cheese for dessert. Afterwards, we moseyed back to the metro and returned to the hotel to collect our bags, before carrying on to Gare du Nord. We’d built in room for error, and were consequently far too early with plenty of time to buy macarons from Fauchon for the girls before going through. Many years ago now, Adam promised to by my Chanel #5 whenever he came to Paris, and there was time for that too. The train home was uneventful — which is precisely what you want from a journey, especially one that involves spending half an hour at the bottom of the English Channel. Pulled into St Pancras on time, and travelled to Highgate on the tube. Nova was home, but Lyra was still at netball training. I was going to fly at it and cook something, but then thought sod it, and ordered pizza instead. Adam headed straight off to a meeting, getting back about 9:30. We caught up on Little Drummer Girl. I’d definitely enjoy it more if Ididn’t find the main characters so unlikeable… |
November 27, 2018Up at 6:15 to finish my trip preparations. I thought i was pretty much of top of everything, but not quite ready to leave with Lyra at 7:30. Made it to St Pancras in good time and sailed through the check-in. The lines were reasonable and I had no luggage.Arrived in Paris just after 12pm. I hadn’t realised the hotel we’d found was so conveniently located for Gare du Nord.
Even though I wasn’t carrying much it made sense to swing by and drop off a few things, leave my passport in the safe, etc. Marriage is knowing the code your husband will use to programme the safe without having to ask… Set off towardsthe centre of Paris, stopping for a bowl of soup and a coffee at a trendy cafe, managing fine with my servicable (if badly accented) French.
Wandered down to the Marais, with the vague intention of going to go to the Picasso Museum. Having overshot, I decided that the afternoon was so unexpectedly bright it seemed a shame to spend it indoors. Instead I moseyed along through Place des Vosges, and then the garden of the Hotel du Sully, which I’ve never visited.
Headed towards the Seine next, and crossed over to Notre Dame, earning a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower and Pantheon. The daylight was dwindling by this point and the wind picking up. When the rain started, I checked in with Adam to see how much longer he was planning to work. His event was near to wrapping up, so we arranged to meet in the Bourse in half an hour. I was going to catch a metro, but then the rain lifted and I decided to walk. I love walking when I travel places — it’s my absolute favourite thing to do. (When I checked my step counter at bedtime I’d walk more than 15 km round the streets of Paris.) Crossed the Seine again, and made my way alongside the Louvre, wending my way by instinct towards the Bourse. When we met up we both fancied a drink, and grabbed a couple of beers and a snack in a little non-descript bar. Left in time to walk to our restaurant. We chose Pramil for its location, and also liked the sound of the patron. It reminded me a bit of Les Associés in Crouch End actually. The food was pretty good: I had broccolini with anchovies; followed by onglet, pommes purée and mushrooms; then an apple compote. Service where the place let itself down. The waitress was clearly uninterested, and clearly no service professional. It was as if he’d persuaded his girlfriend to help against her will. It was 11pm by the time we got back to the hotel, and I pretty much fell straight asleep… |
November 26, 2018Had a breakfast date with Veronika at her studio this morning. It was good to spend a bit of time together. We haven’t really got our friendship back on track since all that drama around their wedding. It feels like time to move on from that…Walked home afterwards via post office so I could mail Ali’s birthday present. Finally got stuck into my massive great list, plugged away at what I could manage and and occasionally striking off something unfeasible. I did make the Christmas cake. It’s a good recipe that I make every year, aside from the baking time, which seems really out of whack. By my reckoning the cake seemed pretty much done in two hours but the recipe says it needs four to four and half hours. I settled on three, and I definitely wouldn’t have wanted it to get any darker… Drove Lyra to and from her violin lesson, which I rearranged so she can go to Sissy’s birthday party on Friday afternoon. It’s a shame there’s not something local I could do for 45 minutes, instead of coming home and then heading out again twenty minutes later. Made carrot soup for the girls’ supper. Nova ate and left to babysit while I was chauffeuring, and I fed Lyra when we got back at 7:15. Plugged away at stuff until about 11pm, then took myself off to bed. I’ve decided to travel super light. Just my handbag with my passport, toothbrush, contact lens case and a change of underwear. I was planning to stick something for going out in Adam’s suitcase before he left, but that didn’t happen, so I’ve opted for something comfortable to travel in and walk round Paris that will also work for eating out somewhere nice in the evening… |
November 25, 2018Woke up completely alert at 6am this morning and could tell there was no way I was falling back asleep….Got up and did my back stretches, then made a batch of lemon poppyseed muffins, plus got the Christmas cake fruit soaking in brandy so I can bake it tomorrow. Lyra has karate at 9:30, so fed her early then waited for the other two sleepyhead to emerge and ate with them. We were expected at Nick and Jane’s for Sunday lunch at 1pm, but with Adam getting ready to travel to Paris this evening, we were a bit late setting off. Columbia Road flower market is always an issue when we visit them on Sunday as they live half a block away, but we managed to nab a parking spot at the end of their road. It was great to catch up — we stopped sharing an office with Nick in July, and I haven’t seen Jane or Frea for ages before that. Jane made a lamb stew with orange and tomatoes plus roast veg, followed by ice cream and berries for dessert. Lyra and Frea are within a year in age, and they got on nicely, Nova hung out with the grown ups, which is where she feels more comfortable these days. We left not long after 4pm, so Adam could finish packing and catch his train to Paris. Traffic was awful, and he had a frantic few minutes throwing stuff in a suitcase before I whizzed him down to Archway to catch the tube. None of us felt like dinner — tea and toast covered it. The girls finished homework before bed and I drew up a megalist of everything I need to sort tomorrow, so I can join Adam in Paris on Tuesday. Our first time leaving the girls on their own in the house overnight… yeeps… |
November 24, 2018I had vague intentions of running this morning, but a bad night’s sleep and the need to do ice skating this week put paid to that idea. In my general sluggish disorganisation I also forgot to weigh myself before breakfast — no bad thing, as last night’s dinner will definitely count against me.Tied Lyra’s new skates as tightly as possible which she said felt better than last week, but she’s still very aware of the difference in size. She’s doing such precise things with her feet that can see how it would be a problem if they are suddenly two sizes larger. Headed home for a bit, then back out again to Muswell Hill, mainly to buy birthday presents for a raft of parties Lyra is attending. Most of her friends seem to be born in November and December. At least I hope that’s the case — I can’t afford to be buying presents at this rate. The ones that come to mind are: Alina, Nina, Ali, Ellie, Sissy, Lucia, Gabby, Iris, Saya, and I’ve probably forgotten a couple… Hit a few other stores as well — Holland & Barratt for dried fruit, the pet shop for fish tank chemicals (and an advent calendar for the cat(!)), and Sainsburys for a grocery top-up. Just time for a bit of lunch before I needed to whiz Lyra her down to Ellie’s house. They are travelling as a group to a karaoke bar in Upper Street for the party. It was about 3pm before had a minute to do anything I’d remotely consider “for myself”. Made jambalaya for dinner. I was in the middle of cooking when Tanja rang to ask if we could collect Lily from the party. I told her were weren’t picking up Lyra as she was going from the party to a get together at Arthur and Walter’s. I could tell something wasn’t quite right, so I said we’d be happy to pop down and collect Lily anyway and drop her back home. Tanja thanked me then burst into tears and hung up. Things are clearly not running smoothly in their lives at the moment. We aren’t particular friends, so I don’t know any details, but I’m happy we were able to help… |
November 23, 2018Despite years of resisting the trend, I agreed to buy Lyra a Christmas jumper this year, as she’s been asked to wear one when her orchestra performs at the Christmas fair next weekend.I was half way to town before I remembered that it was Black Friday. “It shouldn’t be too bad,” I thought. “I keep hearing how everyone is shopping online these days?” Not on Black Friday they aren’t… Oxford Street was heaving, and the shops all rammed. On the plus side, there were bargains to be had. Found a jumper that successfully straddled the cute/tacky line, plus a few other Christmas/Hannukah items before I had my fill of shopping and crowds.
Had our long-awaited family dinner at ChicknSours this evening. It was pretty busy, and we ended up crowding round a smallish table better suited to two or three. Lyra was worried it wouldn’t be able to hold all the food I’d promised they could order. We started with a round of drinks and most of the starters on the menu, followed by three different chicken burgers and an order of fried chicken, and three orders of fries. The place was clearly understaffed as well as overcrowded. The front of house guy took our order, and a couple of things got muddled up. They forgot one starter, then brought the girls’ main dishes, but not ours. When we spoke to the waitress, she swiftly brought the missing starter, another beer, an additional plate of kimchi nachos — all of which she comped. They also said they’d comp the two delayed main courses… The food was all excellent — no complaint there. When the bill arrived, I gave it a read through. Our two mains appeared, but two beers we’d ordered weren’t. When I pointed it out, they immediately comped the main courses and threw in all the beers for good measure. If we’d stayed much longer, they would have been paying us to eat there…;-) |
November 22, 2018The cold weather continues… -1°C this morning. Used the excuse of my morning meeting with Basil to keep the heating on all day. With the oven on high to bake the bread which had finally managed to rise, it was tolerably warm upstairs.Did a bit of work on the UNEP site as well, then took a break. I was planning to fast today, but I didn’t feel like it. This cold weather made me want to carbo load. Had a thick slice of fresh bread, some kisir and a spanakopita as well, along with a pot of Earl Grey tea. Nova’s winter concert this evening. I went on my own — they’ve hiked the ticket prices to almost £10 (no doubt in an effort to raise desperately needed funds), but it has backfired in our case. While we regularly shelled out £15 in tickets, this concert would have cost £25 for us all to attend. I always really enjoy the musical events at her school, and Nova’s wind band were as strong as ever: Had a beer and started the new series of Ray Donovan when I got home. Happy to be back in that twisted world, but sad to see that they’ve killed off Abby. In retrospect, her breast cancer diagnosis in the last series was a pretty strong clue that her contract negotiations weren’t going smoothly…;-) |
November 21, 2018Now that the temperature has dropped to 0°C, the house is like an ice box… After doing my back exercises, I dressed in four layers, thick socks and slippers, plus wrapped myself in a blanket, before sitting at my desk. Stayed reasonably warm that way, except for my fingers and nose, which were like ice…Did a bunch of work on the UNEP FI website, getting it ready for the launch of the principles of responsible banking next week. They have brought us in far too late, and there is only so much we can do the improve the site in the available time, but better late than never I guess. Broke my rule about eating meals anywhere but the table, and retreated downstairs with my bowl of leftover curry to eat it in our bedroom under the duvet. Had to be firm with myself to climb back out of that cozy warmth when I was done. Baking bread today, which I was hoping we could have for dinner, with the tomato-potato soup but it took an age to rise and was far from ready when I needed to bake it. Usually I stick it in the fridge to ensure a slow rise overnight, but that won’t be necessary. Adam worked in the evening, and I read my interminable novel, the witch-vampire trilogy that Mary recommended. Feels like I’ve been reading it forever — but according to the Kindle I’m only 23% through… |
November 20, 2018It has turned very cold here and feels like November at last. When I sat down to work after the girls had left, within ten minutes I was up again to add another layer and wrap myself in a blanket. And that was before the heating switched off…Got stuck into a more cooking than usual. Finding myself with stranded dishes/ingredients from our cancelled Thanksgiving meal, tonight’s dinner was spanakopita, beetroot hummus and kisir, with a slice of chocolate salame for dessert. Adam represented us at Highgate School’s presentation of their plans to redevelop the buildings right next door. The only solution that is at all workable for us is for the whole idea to be cancelled. Anything else would be hugely disruptive and probably unlivable with…:-( He got back just in time to run me down to the Holloway Odeon to meet Jane. We saw Widows, an interesting twist on the classic heist film where the widows of a criminal gang who died “on the job” are put in a situation where they need to carry out the next robbery. Good, edge-of-the-seat stuff, and a couple of twists I didn’t see coming. Actually it put me in mind of that Christmas story mum used to read me where Mrs Claus did the present run one year and changed it all up… |
November 19, 2018Adam was up early to do the second session of “bowel preparation”. Not much fun… I was planning to run, but have twanged my right quadricep somehow, and it wouldn’t have been a good idea…Did my stretches on my cushy new yoga mat instead. Such a dramatic difference to the old mat. Actually, I’m not entirely comfortable with it yet — it feels a little too comfy… Worked on the UN website structure and blocked out the pages, Adam sent my draft to them in the early afternoon before we headed off to the Whittington for his appointment. Waited about twenty minutes before Adam was processed by the nurse, then left when he went through to the operating room. They’re going to sedate him before the colonoscopy as his suspected adhesions could make things painful. Picked up a few groceries in Archway then headed home. Nova stopped in briefly before heading up to Highgate School for her mock Cambridge interview, which Pasc’s friend Sarah has very kindly arranged it for her. Sounds like it went well. She said the guy was challenging, but gave her lots of constructive criticism and positive feedback as well. Prepared a sweet potato mac&cheese for Lyra to pop in the oven, then headed down to the hospital to wait for Adam. They hadn’t called for me to collect him yet, but I thought it made sense to be on hand.
In a funny coincidence, Oliver and Doron were at the Whittington at the same time. Oliver has fallen and badly broken his wrist — the Garfunkel’s getting their money’s worth from the NHS today. In terms of Adam’s test, they idn’t find any internal blockages or adhesions, though the adhesions could also be on the outside. He has a meeting with the gastroenterologist in the new year to review test results and plan next steps. I hope no news is good news, but it’s frustrating not knowing what is causing the attacks. Reminds me of our “unexplained miscarriage” years… |
November 18, 2018I felt remarkably spry when I woke up at 6:45am. The only thing wrong with me was a lack of sleep. I’m always incredibly careful with whisky night, trying only a cm or so of each bottle in my shot glass, and drinking lots of water.I could have happily gone for a run, but we’d arranged to meet Ben and Michaela at London Bridge at 11:45, and there wasn’t quite enough time. Made sure Lyra got home from her sleepover at Charlotte’s, and off again to Nina’s bowling party, then set off. Our plan was to grab something to eat in the market and then walk by the river, but we hadn’t realised that it is still closed on Sundays. It has become such an established thing, with some stalls open every other day of the week I’d assumed that would extend to Sunday as well. Headed east towards Bermondsey and Maltby Street market, which was in full flow, to have some lunch. I went for a pav bhaji, Adam — who was supposed to eat a light lunch — went for a small portion of kedgeree (and a craft beer).
Walked a bit more, then stopped for a coffee and a sitdown visit before heading back to London Bridge and home. Adam won’t be eating again until after his procedure, but I made a tofu veggie stirfry and rice for the rest of us. Having heard some pretty grim stories about the “bowel preparation procedure” which he started at 7pm, it seemed to make sense for him to base himself in the flat for the night while Nova bunked up with her sister. Having prepared for the worst, it didn’t seem as bad as all that… Though of course, I wasn’t the one going through it… Nova has been offered an interview at Cambridge — so proud of her! |
November 17, 2018Adam took Lyra ice skating (with her new skates, which arrived on Wednesday). I’d planned to go for a run, but got down on the floor to do some stretches first, where I was distracted by my Japanese textbook from when I lived in Tokyo, and ended up blowing it off.Instead, I made a batch of lemon poppyseed muffins for when they got back. I thought the batter was a little different to last time, and as soon as I bit into one could tell something was different. They tasted nice, but texturally were a bit odd. Running back over what I’d done, I realised I’d forgotten to add any oil to the batter. They were totally fat free, which made them sort of spongy instead of crumby. Not bad, though it remains to be seen how they will keep… Drove Lyra and Nina to the cinema in Muswell Hill to see the new Harry Potter film — Lyra’s surprise birthday present for Nina. I was going to pick up the salmon for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner, but having read through the details of what Adam needs to do before Monday’s colonoscopy, it seemed silly to have a big meal tomorrow afternoon, so he called Ben and Michaela and cancelled. We’re still going ahead with whisky night though. Left about 6pm to make it to Pad’s on time. He gets very anxious if people are late, and we were pretty relieved to arrive by nine minutes past seven. Unsurprised to find that he, Dave and Cath were well already stuck into the pakora bhaji and first round of whisky. There were eleven whiskies on offer this evening. My favourites were the Glenfiddich IPA, the Highland Park Viking’s Honour, and the Aberlour. Pad made curries for dinner, followed by pear-chocolate crumble, then cheese. Very nice…
Left about midnight to catch a bus off the Stoke Newington High Street. Waited less than ten minutes, then made a good connection to the 271 at Highbury Corner as well, which meant we were home by 12:45am… |
November 16, 2018Despite the government’s withdrawal bill going down like a lead balloon yesterday, Teresa May seems to be hanging in there. Though I can’t see why anyone would want the job at this juncture… Nothing too pressing today on my schedule today, so I tried to steer away from client work. Cleaned the bathroom and kitchen, did some cooking and other bits and bobs. We’re meeting Ben and Lu for dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Hampstead this evening. Things that were causing me stress seem like fun ideas again. A couple of days ago I was thinking maybe we should cancel, or have them round here for a bowl of gruel…;-) Had lots of running around to do first — the four legs of violin drop-off and pick-up, then tearing across N6 to deliver Lyra to Alina’s surprise party in time, then racing home in order to head straight out again. Dinner itself was lovely, after which we headed back to theirs for wine and cheese. They’re just back from Paris and had some good suggestions for things we might do when I join Adam out there in ten days’ time. Home about 12:30am… |
November 15, 2018Lyra came in this morning looking bright-eyed and well rested. I think it’s likely the Lemsip suppressed her cough allowing her to sleep more deeply. She’s definitely feeling better for it…Adam headed off to Brighton first thing to attend a sustainability conference. I’m meeting him at the O2 this evening for the ATP tennis finals. I can’t remember who we have for the doubles, but we’re scheduled to see Federer’s third singles match. That’s a treat — it’s always a pleasure to watch him play, and he can’t have too many more years left of his career… My finance client very pleased with the work I did last night (and shipped this morning) before going for my run. Once I got some necessary emails out of the way, I sat down to watch the Parliament channel and caught the end of the EU withdrawal bill debate. It looks to be dead in the water, and prompting cabinet resignations and of flurry of letters of no-confidence in the Teresa May. If the party receives a certain number of letters (48 I think), it will trigger a leadership race. Uncertain times… The UN money arrived this afternoon!! About bloody time, but still very pleased!!! Had to leave at 5pm to get to the O2 in time. I left the girls something to make for dinner with general instructions they’ll no doubt ignore. At the venue, we took advantage of the special lounge that O2 customers get to use. Ordered a pint and sat in comfy chairs to watch the first set of doubles on a cinema-sized screen Venus/Klaasen v Farah/Cabal. Made the shift upstairs to the arena between sets. We were feeling flush enough to opt for a second pint and even split a personal pizza. (I’d been going to smuggle in some sandwiches, but once the money hit the bank I’d shelved that plan.) Tonight’s singles match was Federer v Kevin Anderson. Anderson is a very good player, and it’s no mistake he’s ranked number four at the moment. He started strong, but the result was never really in doubt. It is such an unalloyed pleasure to watch Roger Federer play tennis. Home about 10:45. Life is good… |
November 14, 2018Happy birthday, Wade! One more year until the big 50…
It should be straightforward (though because of his emergency appendectomy it’s likely to be painful). If the doctor find any polyps they’ll remove them during the procedure, which will would take longer. I’m going to join Adam in Paris for a day at the end of the month. He’ll go out on the Sunday for the UN launch event/conference, which is spread over two days. I’ll take the train on Tuesday after the girls leave for school and stay the night. We’ll have a meal or something, then pootle around on the Wednesday before travelling back together in time for family dinner. On the subject of the UN, we still haven’t received any money, but I’m starting to believe it might actually show up by the end of the week. Only the two and a half months late… Put in a chunk of work on Gilda’s website. I can’t work on it for too long at a time — it gets hard on the eyes after a while, and requires a lot of attention to detail. When the eyestrain set in, I popped to the chemists to collect some OTC meds for Lyra’s persistent chesty cough — Lemsip and Vics VapoRub, two things I go for when I’m afflicted. Had a late supper when Lyra got back from netball training — Japanese root veg curry and rice — a nice cheap, satisfying meal. Worked on a marketing presentation for my finance client in the evening, putting in about three hours before bed. |
November 13, 2018No fecking money, surprise, surprise… And now Adam has one of his contractors threatening court action if he doesn’t payby Wednesday (tomorrow) for money owed since May. We managed to scrape it together, so at least that’s no longer hanging over our heads…Plus the wretched Coop bank decided to add to his misery by yanking his £2000 overdraught without notice. He cancelled this morning’s meeting and spent half an hour on the phone wheedling it back again, then tried to get the UN finance guy on the phone without success… In a funny turn of events, the UN contacted him about doing another chunk of work, and invited him to the launch event in Paris at the end of the month. Once all that dust had settled, I went for a 2.5 mile run. I was very conscious of my back the whole time and felt a couple of small twinges towards to end. I probably wouldn’t have even noticed them if I wasn’t being so vigilant, and they never developed into anything. Did some work setting up questionnaires for the mining company materiality analysis I’m working on, then made a trip to the grocery store. Got most of the food in for Thanksgiving dinner this Sunday (aside from the salmon, which I’ll buy on the weekend). Arepas for dinner with the girls (Adam was out at a networking event). Homework, violin, a little telly, then bed… |
November 12, 2018Lyra came into our room at 6am feeling rough. She fell straight back asleep and was so hard to wake at 7am, I decided to keep her home for the day. I’m invigilating, but Adam was able to work from home this morning, so it wasn’t an issue.I was supervising a guy resitting his calculator maths paper. He clearly wasn’t feeling very gungho about it. There was lots of sighing and lying his head on the desk, and an early toilet break. He was allowed an 113 minutes, but gave up just after an hour. I encouraged him to give it another look through and to guess on the questions where he wasn’t sure, but I can’t support him any further. The UN payment saga stretches on…:-( It beggars belief that the fucking United Nations isn’t set up to pay contractors into different currency bank accounts, but that is the latest excuse for the delay in starting to pay our invoice. The admin guy now says the first installment will reach Adam’s bank account tomorrow morning, but I’m not holding my breath… So, the ice skate order has been cancelled as they don’t have a pair in her size. Got back onine and found an outlet up in Grimsby that will ship them down. These Jackson Mystiques are very popular — they are the cheapest proper quality ice skates on the market. I could easily be spending another £200 on her skates (not that I would)! Made veggie fritters for dinner, then headed off to a committee meeting. It very all very fraught — who could have guessed that a neighbourhood forum could be such a hotbed of seething animosity? (JK Rowling actually, now I think of it, in The Casual Vacancy…) There were a few bottles of wine provided, and everyone partook pretty freely — Dutch courage and loosening tongues… Had another glass with Adam when I got home to recover from the experience. Watched an episode of The Little Drummer Girl (or most of one anyway) before bed… |
November 11, 2018Remembrance Day, and 100 years since the WW1 ended… There was a pecial service at the church and in normal circumstances we would have gone.Adam was even meant to lay a wreath on behalf of fallen St Michael’s students. But Lyra had a competitive netball match in Acton, which Adam needed to drive her to, and I would have felt conspicuous going without the family. Did the Pilates class instead, which was good — I’ve remembered another exercise to do at home. I’ll try to make a point of that, so that I don’t need to pay for a class every week to get the benefit of the exercises. Made carrot and ginger soup for lunch. Nova left before it was ready to do some studying with Clara, so I waited and ate with Adam and Lyra when they got back. I enjoyed not looking at my phone or computer so much last Sunday, that I’ve decided to do it again today. Spent the afternoon reading my book, an interesting novel called The Tortoise and the Hare, by Elizabeth Jenkins. Adam joined me — his book group is tonight, an he has made barely a dent in this month’s novel — The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne. He didn’t finish it, but had read a lot further by time he needed to leave. Dinner with the girls — crispy tacos with kahlua ice cream for dessert. Lyra belatedly discovered a mass of French homework she needed to do for tomorrow, so gave her a hand with that, followed by violin practice. Once she was tucked away, I watched the final episode and a half of A Discovery of Witches. So long as you accept that it’s complete nonsense that barely sustains it’s own silly logic, it’s also pretty good fun. During the show, my phone suddenly burst into an unfamiliar trilling sound. Turned out to be Greg calling me through Messenger. It was a surprise all round, as neither of us knew you could do that. It was great to hear his voice and to have a bit of a catch up…:) |
November 10, 2018The new ice skates I ordered for Lyra a few days ago haven’t arrived yet…:( It was pelting with rain by the afternoon. This didn’t phase Nova, who headed off to her drama class in Muswell Hill, or Lyra who was meeting Lucia and the twins to hang out on the Heath. Romance is budding between Lucia and one of the twins, which is what’s driving all this meeting up. Originally one twin was keen on Lucia; it now appears she’s keen on the other one. Surprisingly, this doesn’t seem to be an issue… Put in some work on the Google forms for the materiality analysis project that we need to send to the client on Monday, and made some pea risotto for the girls’ dinner. Got a lift to Lizzie’s 50th birthday party with Pete and Pasc. There was lots of food on offer, and I was glad we hadn’t eaten. Enough people we knew to chat with for the evening — Laurence and Madonna, Sarah and Sam, Adam and Lynn, Trish and Adam, Silvia and David — the usual suspects. There was also a silent disco. I’ve only ever seen them in send-ups of media luvvies, and was definitely not drunk enough to give that a go. In fact ended up stopping drinking early enough that I was fine to drive their car back when we left at 12:30am… |
November 9, 2018Down to the high school again this morning, though I was careful to get up early enough to do my back exercises first. I can remember only one proper exercise from the Pilates class, so I did that plus a mishmash of yoga stretches and strengthening. My stiffness and reduced range of motion is pretty discouraging, but at least it doesn’t hurt any more. It occurred to me that I might have been losing range of motion over the last couple of years without noticing, as I’ve been pretty crap at doing any yoga or other flexibility exercise. That has changed, as of now… Spent some time on Gilda’s website then sent her an invoice for the initial piece of work. She paid it by the end of the day which is nice. I wish the UN had more compunction about paying their contractors in a timely fashion… Had to do both the violin runs again. I’d love it if Adam could to be home a bit earlier on Fridays and do one of them. It’s not that the trip itself is particularly onerous — it’s having to set off and do it again fifteen minutes after getting home that’s the pain in the ass… Nova was out at a party this evening, so no dinner for her. Both Adam and I were feeling dicey about tomorrow’s weigh-in, so I had only Lyra to feed — pesto pasta, always a popular choice. |
November 8, 2018Went for my first run since my back seized up. I was extremely careful, jogging along gently as if running on thin ice, with my abs constantly engaged. Wasn’t even out of breath at the end, but was pleased that my back felt completely fine.Did some stretching before and lots afterwards. I’m being pretty scrupulous about those floor exercises… Made black bean burgers and sweet potato fries for the girls’ supper. I was fasting, and Adam was out somewhere or other doing something, as per. Started watching A Discovery of Witches, which Mary has recommended. Reserving judgment… |
November 7, 2018Resisted the temptation to turn on the telly again when I got up this morning… Most of the kids like that don’t return for sixth form, but there he was today, polite and seeming chastened. I’m guessing his parents learned of his antics when the results arrived in August and launched a rocket up his backside, or maybe a lightbulb has gone on in his own head. When I got home at noon, I turned on CNN to catch up on the midterm results. Overall it’s positive, with the Democrats gaining control of the House (though unfortunately not the Senate as well). There is some dodgy stuff going on though, particularly in Georgia where the Republican who is running for State governor is also in charge of running the election(!), and Florida seems a pretty stinky as well. It’s not over yet… Nova was out babysitting and getting fed there, and Adam was off playing backgammon in the pub for the evening. Fried rice for dinner for Lyra and me… |
November 6, 2018Down to the boys’ high school this morning to invigilate an exam — non-calculator maths GCSE retake. Although it’s a proper exam (not a mock), there are few kids sitting it and I was on my own with ten candidates . It wasn’t that long, and everyone seemed pretty focussed so it was no problem.Phil and his daughter Lilly (friends from Cortes Island) came round for dinner this evening. He’s from Bedford originally, but ended up marrying my friend Sue who he met travelling. His mum died a few years ago, and his dad has met — and now married — a new partner, so they were over for the wedding. They arrived hauling two big suitcases, and were clearly intending to stay overnight. He hadn’t mentioned that, and normally stays with a friend in Tottenham when he’s in town. Wasn’t that big a deal to shift Nova upstairs to share with Lyra for the night… Adam was out at an evening meeting, so we waited until he got back to have dinner. Thai seafood yellow curry and rice, with an apple crumble for dessert. Lilly is fifteen now and the spitting image of her mum. People say that about both my girls sometimes but I don’t see it. Phil was most impressed with how much homework our girls appeared to be doing — though appearances can be deceptive…;-) Stayed up late to watch the first of the US midterm election returns. After some initial anxiety things started looking good. To bed about 1am… |
November 5, 2018Lyra had the Monday blues about going to school this morning… Welcome to the rest of your life, I thought, but refrained from saying. Though naturally I’d be so pleased if that isn’t her future…Felt pretty chilled after my mini digital detox, and had no desire whatsoever to pick my phone up. Almost an aversion, if anything… Tackled some housework, then spent a good half hour doing my stretching and strengthening exercises. I can feel some soreness from the Pilates despite it all feeling easy enough at the time. Adam got back from New York around noon. It was great to see him — he looks absolutely shattered and apparently only got a few hours sleep a night while he was out there. Looking at him, I can easily believe it… I needed to do a grocery shop, so he came with and we caught up while cruising the aisles. Good way to keep himself from afternoon napping as well. He made a couple of phone calls when he got back, ate dinner, then crashed pretty heavily in his chair. Watched some telly on my own, gave him a nudge when it was time to go to bed. |
November 4, 2018Slept through to 8:30am, but was still pretty whacked out. I hate it when my phone sucks me in like that. At the time, it seemed necessary to read minutiae about the US midterm elections and the outrage over Arron Banks being interviewed by the BBC. To compensate, I’ve decided to avoid my phone and laptop as much as possible today.Got Lyra off to karate then myself organised to go to Pilates with Kate. I was a bit apprehensive — I’ve only done Pilates once before and as I recall it veered between ludicrously easy and completely impossible, with little ground in between. I really liked the Persian woman leading the class, and could see almost immediately how useful it’s going to be for my back. Afterwards two separate women came over to tell me their experience of serious back issues that were completely resolved by Pilates. I guess they probably wouldn’t be in the class if Pilates hadn’t worked for them, but I found it encouraging. Crossed paths with Lyra at the door — she was off to have a drink with Lily. Came back to ours afterwards and hung out for a while. I think it’s good for them to spend some time away from school together. They’ve been comfortable friends for years, right up until last August, but since starting school their relationship has become strained. Lily is finding it difficult to adjust to secondary school. Her confidence has taken a hit and she sees Lyra as a lifeline. Lyra is also dealing with the significant challenge of secondary school as best she can and is finding Lily a bit of an anchor. Lily headed off after a couple of hours, leaving Lyra a few minutes of downtime before Lucia arrived. Almost immediately, they headed out for one of those meet-ups with the twins, Saya and a couple of other kids. Millie dropped her back at 6:30. It turns out that not faffing around with my phone or computer frees up a lot of time. Did a whack of housework — changing beds, washing floors — read a good chunk of Not Wanted on the Voyage (and two other books I have on the go), sliced a tray of hasselback potatoes, made some coffee ice cream — and even had time for a spot of meditation. After dinner, I gave the kitchen a thorough cleaning, read a bit more then ran myself a nice hot bath. Asleep before 11pm… |
November 3, 2018Felt groggy and bleh when I woke up this morning. Got my ducks in a row eventually and headed upstairs to make muffins for brunch. Cranberry-orange this week to make a dent in all the extra orange juice hanging around from making bloodsucking jellies.We ended up eating them so late there wasn’t any point in having any lunch. Did some client work, prepped dinner then took Lyra to her old primary school bonfire night. We both felt a bit weird being back there. There was a group of kids she hooked up with, and after a while I fell to chatting with the few parents I knew. The bonfire itself was impressive, a little more impressive than planned… At one point we all had to retreat a good twenty metres. Then one of the fire marshalls ran a hose down there in a big hurry and soaked the grass around it which was catching fire. Sank a couple of beers while I was there, and was feeling pretty mellow by the time we got home. Put the rice on and the chicken in, then sat down with Lyra to watch The Sixth Sense. It’s a good enough film, but I remember it being a lot scarier. Truly, Madly, Deeply was showing on the BBC. It was about twenty minutes in but we watched it anyway. I love that movie — Juliet is such a little babyface, and it was poignant to see the young (and now dead) Alan Rickman. Lyra really enjoyed it but got too tired, so I’m going to get my hands on a version to watch together. I should have gone to bed myself when it ended, but didn’t, and ended up waking up stiff and chilly about 2am. Of course, when I relocated myself downstairs I was unable to sleep and got sucked into the Twitterverse for over an hour..:-( |
November 2, 2018My back is feeling a little bit better each day… I’d describe it as tender rather than painful. I’m starting to get a bit of mobility back, and can very specifically feel where the problem is — just to the right side of my spine and quite low down.Did a couple of hours on Gilda’s site. I’m doing it as a fixed price, butstill should be keeping track of the hours. The work is pretty low level, so I wouldn’t be charging the top end of my rate anyway, but it would be good to know how much time I end up spending on it all the same… Whole lot of chauffeuring kids about today. I collected Nova from school so she could get to her babysitting job in time, ferried Lyra to violin, headed back to collect her, then ran her down to Lucia’s for a sleepover. I wasn’t feeling very hungry, which isn’t surprising as I move so little these days — aside from some very gentle stretching on my yoga mat. A bit of leftover risotto and a piece of toast did for my dinner… I finally finished watching Strangers. I was dismayed to discover there was an eighth episode that hadn’t downloaded — it was still available on iPlayer. I did enjoy the Hong Kong locations, and actually recognised a few places like Yau Ma Tei temple park and Wan Chai. (I really gave Hong Kong a thorough going over when I visited a few years back, walking miles every day.) To bed too late… |
November 1, 2018Remembered to say rabbits this morning… I know it doesn’t make any difference, but I prefer to do say it all the same. Reminds me of that Irish joke when the visitor asks Mrs Murphy if she believes in the “little people” and she replies, “of course I don’t, but they exist all the same…”Was planning to have a fasting day, but was thrown off course by Veronika’s birthday. The original plan to meet for a coffee somehow morphed into lunch at Cote. I would have felt a bit of a plonker sitting there sipping coffee while everyone else tucked into steak and chips. It was pelting with rain coming and going… it really feels like things have shifted to welcome in the winter… Nova is babysitting tonight, but I made dinner for Lyra: witch fingers, green beans, tabbouleh salad and the bloodsucking jellies for dessert. “Why does our ketchup have nonsense on it?” she asked, when I brought the bottle to the table. “It’s Polish,” I said. “No way!” she exclaimed.
Violin practice then straight to bed. Lyra is tired these days, what with school itself, plus fighting off a cold/cough. I’m still trying to watch bloody Strangers — it can’t be that good or wouldn’t keep dozing off in it. Managed to drag myself through another episode and a half before heading to bed myself… |
