Grump

Tab and Zac, both having a little cry on our bed. I forget why - suspect we'd told them they couldn't watch TV...

Through a stranger's eyes

Husband and I had a weekend away without the children (bliss!) and decided to go to the cinema. While he queued for tickets, I stood back and watched him and wondered if I would still fancy him, were he not "mine" and if I didn't know him. I decided that yes, I would. Phew! Then I took a photo of him to record the moment.

Pounding

I took this photo in the gym, of my favourite treadmill (it has a garden view!). I spend about an hour and a half every week pounding away on this machine or one of its neighbours, so I feel I am intimately acquainted with it, and it seemed about time to record a picture here. However, today was a more interesting day than this photo suggests, and maybe I should have taken a photo at my sister-in-law-to-be's surprise birthday party instead.

Light

The light was much more dramatic than it's come out in this photo. I was driving to work, hearing all sorts of apocalyptic credit-crunch stuff, and the sky was dark but with sun on the trees and houses. I felt like perhaps the world was ending. Then I realised it was just the grim bypass I have to drive on every day.

Just because

I thought she looked adorable, and she was sitting on the table in front of me nattering away, so I took a photo.

Back again

Another course held at the hotel where I got married. I decided to get a nicer photo of it. It's only marginally nicer.

Husband is very stressed this week, and my house is still full of dust. However, the food at the hotel was gorgeous, and there were sweets on the tables. Little things...

Let it snow

All is well with the world. Husband home from looooong trip away, we have heating, and then we woke up to a white world this morning AND due to it being Sunday, there was no need to try to get to work, so we could enjoy the snow.

EXCEPT I had to go and spoil it by deciding I absolutely needed to go to the gym as a matter of urgency. Got the car stuck several times, and also had some horrible slidey moments. I was really daft. But I felt much better for a good old treadmill-pound.

Wonderful

Look what we had fitted yesterday!

The house is all toasty, and for the first time since we moved in, we have hot water on demand. It's a lovely boiler, I have to say. I'd never before appreciated how great they can be.

Blame it on the boogie

What would Friday night be without my friend Leah and some dancing?!

I've no idea where I got the eye patch. I don't think I brought it home with me, so chances are I stole it from someone and then returned it.

When the music got rubbish, we took pizza home to my house and shouted along to MTV (which had better tunes). Thank goodness my mum had kindly invited the children to stay at her house - she felt I deserved a Saturday lie-in after coping so admirably in Husband's absence.

Safe storage

The children on each end of this little row are mine, and I think this hide-in-the-lockers idea was theirs. Wish I'd got a better photo, it was hilarious!

So true

I put this up in the kitchen as my motto for the week. Husband's been away, we've had no heating, and three walls have been removed from the house. We soldier on! The kids have loved it actually - I'm far more lenient about bed-sharing when it's cold, so we've all ended up in the same bed by morning every night.

Eek

Some walls have been removed. Those poles were holding up the upstairs rooms, for a while. It's all a bit scary. However, there's now a nice system of steel beams and the like in place, and it's looking much more like a big room rather than several small rooms without walls...

Leaves and graffiti

This was the view from the car park near work today. Urban meets rural. Or just a scabby corner of a grubby old town.

The husband

Hungover as he may have been (he was on a stag night last night), I felt the need to photograph the husband today, as he's spending the rest of the week 500 miles away.

Santa Claus is coming

Decorations have appeared in our town. Zac was very excited - "I expect they mean Father Christmas, don't they?".

Neat freak

Not sure why Tabitha felt the need to clean her shoes with a babywipe, but she was absolutely determined...

Gambling anonymous

This is a weird little shop/amusement arcade full, as far as I can tell, of fruit machines. It's quite central in our town, and has been open as long as I've lived here, but I've never been in it, or seen anyone going in or coming out (although sometimes shadowy shapes can be seen within). It also has no name.

Still no heating

This little heater has become my closest friend.

Partly as a result of the constant cold in our house, and partly as a result of doing too much dancing and screaming in not enough clothes over the weekend, I have a horrendous cold and no voice. And my childminder's ill too, so everything's a bit out of kilter...

Scarily grown up

and very beautiful. I took this photo of Yasmine yesterday for my best friend Jenny, who bought the gilet Yasmine is wearing. I was supposed to hide it until her birthday, but as we have no heating and Yasmine is averse to most layers of clothing, I let her open it early. She is delighted with it! And as you can see, it perfectly accessorises her new boots.

I may

have done too much Going Out this weekend. I certainly didn't get enough sleep.

But such fun! This is me with two schoolfriends (Amy and Vanessa) in another pub toilets, of course. We thought it would be Just Like Old Times, but in fact the town was completely empty and spookily quiet - no hordes of screaming crowds like in t'old days. However, this meant we had fewer spectators when we crammed pizza into our gobs at midnight, so probably we shouldn't have moaned.

In other news, my sister arrived today from London for a visit, and we still have no heating.

Another Friday...

...another slightly drunken blurred pic of Leah and me. This was taken at the Scouting for Girls gig. Which was incidentally FANTASTIC. I tried to take photos of the gorgeous Roy, but they didn't come out very well.

After the band finished playing, we all exited the venue to the strains of "Jim'll Fix it for You - and you and you" and moved on to some cheesy clubs to dance the rest of the night away. I came home with a pink glittery cowboy hat.

Travel

We spent a lot of time in the car today. Yasmine had a music theory exam, and there was much rushing to and fro. After this photo was taken, I bought chips for the children for them to eat in the car - they were delighted.

Yasmine's very confident about her music exam and says she reckons she's got "at least a merit". Must speak with her about counting chickens! Results are out 19th December...

Simba

Yasmine took this photo of our cat worrying about another night of fireworks.

We didn't have any - although we did find an ancient, bent sparkler from last year, and lit that to much excitement from the children.

School run

View of my route into town. Not very exciting - summed up the day a bit!

Cake

We made our Christmas cakes today. I took this photo when the children had moved onto the serious task of scraping out and licking the bowl.

Dear Father Christmas...

This is Zac today, intently concentrating on copying out his dictated Christmas list ready to send it up the chimney to Father Christmas - highlights thereof include "all the Mr Men books in a box" and "a fire station doll's house set".

Doesn't she look happy?

I don't think she wanted me to take the photo.