Silent Nights

Hello, you may remember me. I used to write here a little bit. My hard drive bit the dust. Back up and running and now I'm racking my brains thinking what anyone would possibly want to read about here.

So I'll do a little Hot/Not Hot:

Hot

• Christmas day was choice - choice people, choice kai, choice presents. Sweeney spent the day in full Spiderman regalia, including undies. Choice;
• having three days off in a row after the frenzy that was the week before Christmas;
• Patricia Grace's Tu. I'm so actually reading it;
• Prairie Home Companion on the National Programme. Somehow all that dour Minnesota-ness about snow and Lutherans is a real signifier of summer for me;
• seeing Sweeney hang out with his families on Christmas day - especially his Dunedin cousins and auntie and uncle - what a nice bunch of people;
• Wonky Donkey. Haven't enjoyed reading a book about a terribly disabled, musically tasteless animal with giantism and a chirpy countenance so much ... ever;
• having Mum to stay. She brought trifle. Hope she makes another one ...

Not Hot

• the squealy noise coming from my front passenger wheel;
• this latest batch of weather. Not hot at all;
• the spuds I served up for dinner last night. Took ages to boil, then they went instantly grey. Epicurean, indee ...;
• One Red Dog tonight. We went there for dinner just after 5pm and left at 5.35pm, without even getting a glass of water. Loads of staff about, and only a fine spray of punters, but no-one coming for our order or anything. We scarpered to The Craftsman, which was kind of fabulous, as it turns out. Bad, bad dog ...;
• hayfever. And buying hayfever medication, only to have all symptoms disappear;
• Little Dorrit's over. Oh, stink.

I'll leave it to Wonky Donkey to sign off. Hee Haw!!

Wherever I Lay My Hat

This week's My Place and Yours meme, from Meet Me at Mike's and Myrtle and Eunice is all about what it takes to make you feel that you're really at home. I've been thinking hard about this one. I tried to remember what it was that made me feel a bit more settled when we moved back down to Wellington before Sweeney was born. And it was ...

this frypan, this casserole, this chopping board and this knife. Really. I've had them all for more than 20 years, put out a lot of food from those implements. And you know what?? Sometimes, it's tasted entirely adequate. Hurrah!!

And the calendar-thingy that Kimberley brought back from the UK - that's been with me in all the places I've lived since. Even Transplant House. Actually, the knife and chopping board came with us to Transplant House also.

In other news, our excellent friend Bela came for a sleepover. It was fun, if not entirely to plan. I had a plan, involving a few drinks at a nice local bar, then a panto, then back home for some pyrotechnics and 12 hours of zzzzz.

What happened was 25 minutes at the panto, two children gripping my legs in social terror for the whole 30 seconds we were at Matt's party at the Hawthorn, then a fraught visit to the supermarket before we headed home to watch Watership Down and eat potato chips on the furniture. Look at them, deeply concerned at whether Bigwig would make it or not ...

It's okay, he's all right.

Then, less than eight hours after hitting the sack, they were up again. All hopped up on breakfast, here's what they did for aaaaaaages ...

Realised I'd never thought of a policy about jumping on the couch until today.

Met up with Bela's excellent parents for Yum Char, which was indeed yummy, then we headed home for the droopiest afternoon we've had in a while. Sweeney snoozed for two hours (!) on the couch, and I watched Fred Claus with my hands in my lap. Monumental acting talent involved, and Kevin Spacey looked kind of sexy, in a black specs, cruel kind of way. I put it down to my 5.30am start doing my head in.

When Sweeney woke up, he tried using the camera. Took some great portraits of his toys, the floor, the ceiling, his fingers, a cloud mass through a grimy window.

And this old bat ...

The Heat

What's Hot:

• We had spaghetti bolognese-type dinner tonight, quick to whip up, easy to insert veges into, and Sweeney actually ate all of his. It took him a while to get going, but once he was into it ...;
• It's going to be sunny on Saturday;
• The two P5 parking spaces the council has finally installed outside Sweeney's preschool;
• Sweeney's current fave book is Dr Seuss' I Wish That I Had Duck Feet. Lovely;
• My Jodhpur boots from Minnie Cooper were a bit worn down on the sole, and Sandy not only resoled them, but added on an extra layer of something that makes them tougher and, I think, more comfy. Thanks, Sandy!!;
• I have just another hoop or two to jump through, then I really will have a Proper Job lined up and ready to go. Oooh-err.

What's Not:

• It's really rather chilly here tonight;
• I've been knackered all week and have hardly read anything or done any chores beyond the bare minimum to keep us dressed, fed and kind of clean;
• the Chorus/Telecom vans that take up the P5 parking spaces outside Sweeney's preschool every morning;
• my Capos from Minnie Cooper may have to be retired after nine years of faithful service. Resoled and reheeled multiple times, but now the actual leather has sprung a teensy split and may not be salvageable;
• I'm so anxious about getting confirmation of the Proper Job, I can hardly stand it. Blerg.

More hotness and notness is available from Loobyloo. Always a splendid read.