Is it me or are New Year’s Eves coming around with more frequency these days? Surely they’ve sneakily put in one or two extras in the year when I wasn’t looking?

We’re going for our traditional non-event evening. I could give you the “babysitters impossible to get/too expensive” excuse, but we’d all know that really it’s because Akra and I just fancy a night in without any fuss.

This is the part where I’m supposed to look back over the year, moan at how bad it was and express hope that at least 2005 is BOUND to be better because it couldn’t possibly get worse. At least that seems to be my usual run of things. However, this year is going to be the exception – sorry.

2004, all things considered, was bloody good. No, it wasn’t easy – we had some tough times in there (notably when I wasn’t very well in my pregnancy with Li’l Bhaji) but mostly we had a fabulous time. So far, I can catagorically state I like my thirties. I have two gorgeous children, a husband who I’m looking forward to spending many more decades with and I’m even learning to like myself a lot more. This has been the year where I’ve got a lot more organised, my life seems to be coming together more with some sort of purpose. I’m just hoping that 2005 continues the trend.

Resolutions? I don’t really do resolutions. Not because I’m jaded and cynical. Well, okay… not only because I’m jaded and cynical, but because I tend to be Mrs Self-Help Guru throughout the year anyway. After all, why wait all the way until January for a personal makeover? Generally though, I want to be able to focus on the kids a bit more. I’m not very good at full-on, sit on the floor, neck deep in toys, playing. I find excuses and other things to do. I’ve tackled the chore procrastination in my life, it’s time to put an end to the kid procrastination too before they get to the age where it’s not cool to play with mum anymore.

Let’s see how it goes, shall we?

Why does the speed of my PC always amaze me just after a reinstall?! I dread to think of all the crap it must accumulate to slow it down so much. I’ve gone for the minimalist approach this time and only loaded on stuff as I need them, but I wonder how long these good intentions will last.

I’ve finally switched over to Mozilla Thunderbird for email – long overdue as wrestling with a separate spam filter and email client was getting rather tedious. I’ve sorted out more secure passwords for everything online, using Oubliette to safely manage them all, and just in case I forget to do anything, I’m trialling ITSD Organizer (short for “Is There Something to Do?” – a basic but useful task manager) in order to lose some of these random scraps of paper on my desk.

I’m in danger of being organised here. Do I think I’m coming up to New Year, or something?!

My uncle and cousin visited the Naan Residence yesterday. My uncle (father’s brother) I last saw…. hmm… three years ago, briefly? And my cousin I saw her about thirteen years ago. She’s now fifteen years old. Obviously, she’s changed a bit.

It really was a fantastic day. Lots of talking and reminiscing – my father died around eight years ago now, so it was very cathartic revisiting family stuff from a different perspective. I learned a lot of family history in just a short afternoon. I’m also now addicted to goldfish crackers (cousin brought them over from the US).

So, I think my New Year’s resolution is going to have to be keeping in better contact, and getting some sort of record going of the family stuff so that one day my sons can start find their place in history too.

Words fail me in regards to the earthquake and floods in Asia. I haven’t blogged about it previously because I simply can’t comprehend the scale let alone comment meaningfully. On the Today programme this morning, however, there was a segment where they were reading out eyewitness accounts and one in particular brought home the level of loss and devastation.

It was only a short aside about a mother who had seen two of her four children swept away. She could only carry two of them. She didn’t know which two to hold. Multiply that by tens of thousands and I think I’m beginning to understand.

British Red Cross campaign can be found here.

Well I had a pretty fantastic Christmas as did the boys (at least they seemed to enjoy themselves) – I hope you all did too. I have to confess to feeling slightly sorry for Li’l Bhaji though – Akra Jr gets to play with his own toys AND all of his baby brother’s. Li’l Bhaji only gets to play with whatever Akra Jr lets him at the time!

Now in the aftermath, we’re trying to tidy up the house ready for visitors tomorrow – that in between pigsty stage where you haven’t regained the space the decorations are taking up and neither have you found new homes for all the loot. I seem to have cleared a ton of (still played with, unfortunately) toys into the loft in the hope that the extension will arrive in the not too distant future and we will have space for them again.

I’m also in the process of backing up my main PC. New Year, new Windows install, and I’m nervous already. God only knows what I’ll break this time, but it’s well overdue for it. If I go quiet for a while then I’ve screwed it up…

For the six plus vehicles travelling on the M6 and M5 this evening:

Trust me. It’s just a bit nippy. The only reduced visibility is being caused by you blinding us with your FOG LIGHT! If you’re finding it hard to see the car in front, top up your screen wash at the next service station and CLEAN YOUR WINDSCREEN! SEE – CRYSTAL CLEAR NIGHT!

Message ends.

You know, I sneakily like Christmas Eve far more than Christmas Day itself. It’s in the anticipation, the preparation, the magic. It’s even better with small children in the house because then you have a real excuse for all the juvenile little rituals you’ve built up around yourself for this otherwise dull, dreary and drissly day.

Akra Jr’s had the last advent calendar chocolate, we’ve started tracking Santa, we’re busy discussing whether Father Christmas would prefer a glass of wine or a pint of beer left out for him tonight. I’m sure the Muppet Christmas Carol will make an appearance in the region of our video player in the very near future. I’m cooking up a storm (no, we’re eating elsewhere at Christmas, but I’ve discovered the freezer compartment for Li’l Bhaji’s food is nearly empty and he’s not a big fan of jar food). It all feels very Christmassy despite the rain.

I probably won’t be posting over the next couple of days, so here’s hoping even the most Scroogiest get a sprinkling of Christmas magic over the next 48 hours.

Lots of love,
Pewari.

Okay, mistake number one was not looking where I was going when I rushed downstairs to get something for the kids’ bedtime and walking straight into a door frame.

Mistake number two was trying to bend the toe in question or even walk on it.

OW OW &%^*$^&@ OW

I don’t think I’ve broken it – didn’t think I’d even hit it that hard, to be honest.

Oh, and if anyone clairvoyant can tell me what I’ve done with my cheque book , I’d be very grateful, ta.

Might *you* be suffering from Neurotypical Syndrome? As yet, there is no known cure…

Mental Reminder for next year: Do NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES no matter HOW ORGANISED AND how well you order IN ADVANCE – DO NOT TRUST AMAZON TO GET YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENTS OUT ON TIME!

You really think I would have learned by now not to buy anything time critical on Amazon especially for Christmas, wouldn’t you?! Still, I thought ordering three toys via their site on 2nd December all displaying 24 hour dispatch was a fairly safe bet at the time. How wrong could I be?!

It suddenly occurred to me a week ago, that I still hadn’t received the order (realised they were missing from my “things still to wrap” pile) so I check “Where’s My Stuff” and am horrified to see that delivery date is estimated to be 18th-21st December. I email them and ask if that’s likely to be definite as it was getting awfully close to Christmas. I get a form email back explaining how their dispatch times work and that one of the toys is 1-2 week delivery – ignoring the fact that a) it was originally 24 hour dispatch, and b) 1-2 week delivery should still have got here by now.

I’m feeling a bit nervous, but they’ll still get here, right? I can just make a special trip to give my friend’s kid his present after all. Then yesterday I receive another standard email apologising but due to further delays I won’t receive the toy for another 1-2 weeks.

BASTARDS.

So now, despite being horribly organised this year and getting all my Christmas shopping done online early December, I’m in a rush again. It’s too late to order from another online retailer and get it here in time. I’m going to have to go out into town during the busiest week of the year with a three year old and a seven month old – just what I was trying to avoid in the first place.

Thanks Amazon. And a Merry Christmas to you too.