Happy New Year!

Feeling ridiculously good - happy, lucky, contented good, not hyper, stimulant-fuelled good - this New Year's Eve. No particular reason - it's just feeling more important this year than any other so far to feel lucky that my life's in a good place, with a prickling feeling about those whose life isn't.

We're chez nous tonight, as usual, having a blast of popcorn, great music, probably some Jools Holland, some sparklers, and definitely the London fireworks on tv at midnight. And a splendidly undisturbed lie-in in the morning. 6 Music's been on all afternoon - bah humbug to whichever government, tory or labour, had the daft idea to try to axe it.

To everyone who has put up with my random thoughts this year, inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry - a massive thank you, and I hope next year will be everything it should be, and more.*

Much love xx



* of course, we will ignore the 3 weeks or whatever length of boredom that shall be the olympics ;)

Resolutions 2012

1. Must. Not. Have. Any. More. Pretzels. In. The. House. Ever...
2. Must stop buying vintage Quality Street tins. Its getting silly now...
3. Ditto posters. Even ones that are not massive. I do not have enough walls.
4. Must remember that cleaning CAN be relaxing, de-stressing and CAN involve the whole family.
5. Maybe I should start delegating the cooking too, for the same reasons.
6. Will read more books again, even though magazines are easy visual eye candy.*
7. Will sort my books out so they are grouped properly, instead of bunging new ones into random available spaces.

*Have started John Steinbeck and Robert Capa's 1947 "Russian Journal". Saw some fuss in the press about schools allegedly copping out by setting Steinbeck's mere 6-chapter "Of Mice And Men" to year 10 kids. Michael Gove, Minister for Something To Do With Making Children Cleverer, thinks children should read 50 books a year. That's one a week. Maybe he means short-ish books. I'm not tying either of my kids to chairs to make them "achieve" a novel a week...

Something Silly...

One of those moments where

It's No Longer Christmas

but not yet New Year's Eve?

A bit bored?

You should be doing Other Things*?

Then follow these quick and easy steps:

1) Go on this: http://www.howjsay.com/
2) Ask it how to say "vajazzle"**

And then:
3) Leave me a comment with what YOU ended up asking it to say




* Like your tax return, decluttering your email inbox...


**It sounds quite different from how Amy Childs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vTzuZk1OHA says it ;)

Lazy Sunday Afternoon...

... It's getting embarrassing. Up til yesterday I hadn't written a single card, and since Thursday they've started pouring through the letterbox. Including a hand-delivered one from people whose address I don't know*, and even one thrust into my hand by a mate in town yesterday morning. As usual, they are getting blu-tacked up across the mantelpiece, as I never quite get round to putting up ribbon or Sensible Stuff on which to affix them.

So today I set aside the Whole Day to do nothing but write cards. Not that I'm writing that many, its just that they won't stand a chance of getting anywhere in time if I don't send 'em tomorrow. Obviously that freed me up to have a pyjama morning, catching up on blog-reading. And having a few more mince pies. Then it looked quite nice and warm out so I threw on a heap of garments from the pile on the floor and headed out into the garden to put the bulbs in.

     

That may be a tad late, but not as late as New Year's Eve which was when I got round to doing them once. Yep, I'm all about the optimism that post-December 22nd means we get longer days again, and it'll only be 6 weeks or so before some snowdrops and daffodils start poking through.

While I was out there prodding about with the bulbs the 12 year old asked if we were going anywhere - erm, no. Though we could go out for a walk if he wanted... he decided he didn't want, and miraculously the 14 year old came out with me instead. He's just started back at school again, and is being confident about doing things again. I suspected that conning me into upgrading his phone to a blackberry had something of the ulterior motive about it... whereas him having internet on his phone now gives him no reason not to visit our relatives over the christmas holidays. Win-win.

*Before we went out I wrote 2 cards and put in my handbag, just in case, including one for the people whose address I don't know. And strangely enough, who did we bump into on the way home...

Oh Heck .... Two Weeks To Go

Well, what a surprise it is to discover that I am Quite Behind With Things this Christmas. So unlike me...

We've got the tree, Glittery Mary and Bertram, and various other sparkly draperies about the place. We've now had two consecutive weekends of eating mince pies. Which is very slobbish behaviour, and is setting me up to want to hibernate a bit, watch rubbish films, that sort of thing. Not to clean the house or do lists, or any kind of silly rushing about.

In fact, apart from some fairly random, and not completely comprehensive, online purchasing of presents, I've been looking for more Marys online - wooden ones, that might smell of churches. Or even fabulous waxy, plastic ones, all the way from Argentina. They are apparently very In Demand for Christmas and going for £££. I blame the Treasures From Heaven programme Andrew Graham-Dixon, Love God of the Reliquary, did the other night http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012248j


           
                 


Yesterday, while I should have been Busy Doing Other Things,  Singing In The Rain was on tv. I was getting quite annoyed by the clipped, hurried way the lines are delivered, but ended up finding these adorable posters:

     

Channel 5 Sex Drugs And Rock n Roll

Have a look at this for 60s fabulousness! Boutiques, Biba, Ossie Clark.... and Cilla and Lulu.


http://www.channel5.com/shows/sex-drugs-and-rock-n-roll-the-60s-revealed/episodes/episode-1-381

Glitter And Grit

Thank you for all your lovely comments about Bertram, Norris and Glittery Mary.... they probably WILL end up hanging around way past January ;)

Heaven knows what anyone will make of my blog if they end up on it after searching "Paperchase".

(Mightily pissed off, and not able to find what they were looking for,

if the non-rise in followers yet ever varying and odd search phrases in the stats are anything to go by). 

****************

On non-glittery matters, I am banging on doors of routes to help the 14 year old, and have spent much of the day on forums and on the phone - tomorrow I have to write to the director of education outlining the many and dismal failings so far for which he/she has to take responsibility, in order to snowball this thing.
And the jury is out about getting a social worker involved, but I'm doing that too.

B is for.....

.....Bertram!

Who has come to live with us for Christmas. But then again a red flock reindeer isn't just for Christmas is it. And it won't need to go walkies at stupid o'clock in the morning...

While New Things were creeping into the house, I realised I had always wanted needed a good ol' bit of Catholic Kitsch. Look who was waiting for me in the window of Paperchase. A glittery Mary!!!

Um, can anyone see a 2nd reindeer?