In case anyone is still wondering what to get me for Christmas… I want one of these!

Okay, so why do children wait for the really quiet part of a baptismal ceremony to say in a very loud stage whisper “who is the man in the big white dress?”

Can you tell we’re not regular church goers?!

You know, it’s one thing I’m really grateful to the Internet for. Not that my real life mummy friends aren’t incredibly special to me and extremely appreciated, but sometimes you just need a geek perspective:

• to share your excitement when your eldest child starts enjoying Star Wars for the first time (do you *realise* how many people out there don’t even know the *plot* of Star Wars?!)

• to understand the sheer bliss of acquiring a wireless LAN card for the laptop so you can go to bed early and surf the Net.
• to appreciate the huge childhood developmental milestone of being able to manipulate a mouse to play all the games on Cbeebies
• to not raise their eyebrows when every second parenting discussion starts “an Internet parent friend of mine…”

So, thank you to all my fellow geeky mummies for being there when I needed them the most. You make me feel a little less alone… and weird…

Why is it that when you get one child’s sleep patterns into something resembling normal, the other one then decides a) to have a night terror at 8.30pm sending everyone into a panic and waking up the babe in the process and b) to wake up at 4am wide awake and ready to play.

Just drip feed me caffeine and sugar, okay?

Apologies for the downtime yesterday – something to do with the DNS registration apparently. Many thanks to Cliff for sorting it all out!

However, I have not been lazy while in the throws of blogging withdrawal symptoms. I have been experimenting with a new community photo blog site called Fotothing (because one photo blog just isn’t enough… obviously).

I am very pleasantly surprised. It’s delightfully easy to upload photographs and give them captions. The community side of things is also done well, with comments system (which tracks if you get any replies to comments posted on other people’s photos), friends lists and easy browsing. There is also a weekly challenge similar to Photo Friday if you’re a bit lacking in inspiration.

My fotothing, if you’re interested, can be found here.

Ahem. You know I said that I would be NaNoWriMoing this year? Well, I’d still like to do it, but I have just got the opportunity for some part-time, writing work from home starting second week of November.

Understandably, paid work comes first and I’m really excited about writing as a career, so I may be putting NaNo on the backburner this year. I might start the first week but if it gets too much then try and set some “leisure” writing time aside each week with a longer term goal than one month instead.

Now all I have to do is backtrack with all the people I have told I’ll be writing another novel this year!

The first thing anyone says when meeting Li’l Bhaji for the first time is “doesn’t he look like his mother/father/brother!” Personally, I find it really hard to see the rest of us in him, he’s just himself. However, yesterday Daddy was trying to calm the babe down when things just got a bit much for him. I looked up and the two were swaying silhouetted against a sunny window; two sets of ears sticking out and glowing beautifully.

Ahhh…. at last. I can see a family resemblance! Poor kid.

Should this be my theme tune?! (Sung to the tune of “Bohemian Rhapsody”)

Naan, just killed a man
poppadom against his head
Had lime pickle now he’s dead.
Naan, dinner’s just begun
But now I’m gonna throw it all away.
Naan, ooh, ooh Didn’t mean to make you cry
If I’m not back from the loo by this time tomorrow
Curry on, curry on
Cause nothing really Madras.
Too late, my dinner’s gone
Sends shivers down my spine
Bottom aching all the time
Goodbye onion bhaji, I’ve got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and use the loo.
Naan, ooh, ooh
This dopiaza is so mild
I sometimes wish we’d never come here at all.

[guitar solo]

I see a little chicken tikka on the side
Rogan Josh, Rogan Josh, pass the chutney made of mango
Vindaloo does nicely Very very spicy
Meat!
Byriani (Byriani)
Byriani (Byriani)
Byriani and a naan
(A vindaloo loo loo loo)
I’ve eaten balti, somebody help me
He’s eaten balti, get him to the lavatory
Stand you well back
‘Case the loo is quarantined…
Here it comes
There it goes
Technicolor yawn
I chunder
No!
It’s coming up again
(There he goes)
I chunder, it’s coming back again
(There he goes)
Coming back again
(up again)
Here it comes again.
(No no no no no no NO)
On my knees, I’m on my knees
On his knees, Oh, there he goes
This vindaloo
Is about to wreck my guts
Poor meee.. poor meeee…poor MEEEEEE!

[guitar solo]

So you think you can chunder and then feel alright?
So you try to eat curry and drink beer all night?
Oh maybe, but now you’ll puke like a baby
Just had to come out
It just had to come right out in here.

[guitar solo]

[slow bit]
Korma or dopiaza
bhaji, naan or saag
Nothing makes a difference
Nothing makes a difference
To meee….
(Any way the wind blows….shshshsh)

[via Mumsnet]

Well I’m popping down to London for the day to see family, but in case you’re having a lazy Sunday, can I recommend these beautifully crafted little games?

[via Burnt Toast]

*CRUNCH* *SQUELCH*

“Oh shit, I’ve just trodden on a snail.”

The footpath outside the front of our house is flanked on both sides (is that tautology?) with low bushes that are home to a host of creepy crawlies including it’s most popular residents: worms, slugs and snails. When Akra Jr was two years old, it used to take us half an hour to travel the few hundred yards along this path as he would insist on inspecting in detail each and every snail we came across.

Now, with the current wet weather, this path has become a slug and snail slalom. Most days I remember to weave the pushchair and us along, narrowly avoiding the squelch factor. Every now and then I forget.

Now, slugs I think are fair game, but I do feel sorry for the snails. Which is bizarre really, as snails are just slugs with a fancy home and better PR. Oh, apart from the extra squelch factor that slugs seem to have – their innards seem to be almost luminous and spread a lot further than the average snail.

RIP little snail. I *am* sorry.