5th - 6th March 2010 (Friday - Saturday)

Well well really quite inebriated currently, don't know what will come of things. Littles is upstairs in the process of being put to bed. I think we're all quite tired from the past week and are rather ready for an early night (it's 7:20 here).

OK, Littles put to bed. She's most peculiar with one of the puppets from the Wild Things that she got for her birthday - she'll tell her stuff about school and so on that we could never get out of her otherwise. 'KW' has a unique insight into the workings of her mind.

This keyboard is quite amazing. As far as I'm concerned, I just type. It's all one. However, when it comes to posting blog posts, I can only deduce that I must be far more careless of far faster (or probably both) that I am otherwise, and quite literally every 45 seconds on average something totally new pops up - like, it comes up with 'are you sure you want to navigate away from this page?' (no, I am bloody well sure I'm NOT **** ing finished with it and if you move a step I'll rip you apart electron by electron) - or ceremoniously opens new tabs ad infinitum, or simply posts the blog, or navigates away from it, or stops working, or starts up a random Internet search, or thesaurus search, or go knows what other variety of unwanted tasks. It is really quite out of control, especially after a few units of alcohol. If anyone tells you they don't feel the difference after a 'few drinks', simply, completely, don't believe them. Likewise if you think this is the case with yourself, simply don't believe it. ... Oh, this leads me on to (I wonder why) a recent flag-up regarding my parents. I am lead to suspect that my mother may have been pestering the poor W&W with more phone calls subsequent to our removal to Australia. If this is the case, many apologies for the intrusion and I hope it doesn't happen much - alas, there's nothing much I can personally do about it. Feel free to cut them off abruptly and say bugger off if you feel like it. However, knowing how polite you both are I know this is unlikely to take place. Don't worry yourselves about it if you possibly can. Just remember, they might sound as if they're normal but really they're completely insane. So treat them as such. If you were conversing with someone who was in a straight jacket, dribbling and swearing profusely at you for no reason whatsoever you would not attempt to conduct a normal conversation with them. They are the same. Perhaps you may not believe it but actually it is the case. You can tell them whatever you feel is appropriate in the situation. Although I haven't done so yet, I intend to presently write and inform them of our address, further than that they have no need to know. Details are totally immaterial, they don't care in the slightest, whatever they might tell you. In fact where we are living is totally immaterial too seeing as the still can't remember their granddaughters' birthday but anyway, I'll still let them know. So please rest easy, if at all you can. Think of any charade they might put forth to you as an elaborate magician's trick of sawing someone in half - it's not real, and totally for show. They feel nothing. As you can imagine, an offspring would not say this without conclusive, bitter, and repeated experience. It's true. So much for that - (mouthwash - gargle - spit) and on to more important things, like what the state of my toenails is this month.

Talking of which, I am IMMENSELY satisfied with my new epilator. Was in desperate need of this when we came here, white, fat and hairy from being in Britain too long with a defunct epilator. They've moved on a bit since I was in college and purchased my last one! Very satisfied. Nice.... Don't need to say any more - however there's one area they haven't conquered yet and I don't know if they ever will - underarms. Oooohh so tricky, especially in women of .... slightly more advanced years,if I may put it delicately. Well even in the sprucest of us (ahem - them) there's a certain degree of slack that must necessarily exist in a place like the underarm. let alone once the underarm in question has passed the 40 mark and is - relaxed, shall we say. The skin at the area is.... fine - to the point of translucency. It gets caught up easily in the pincers. I won't elaborate, but there's work to be done. As for bikini, the stakes are obviously even higher but it's actually easier to control..... too much detail. Otherwise, rock on epilators of the modern day.

I guess I should mention what we actually did today. In the morning we had several chores to accomplish, like returning a few more books to the library, buying a duvet cover for the Non, getting two presents for the birthday parties she's to attend, acquiring the mermaid outfit for next weekend, exchanging her faulty lunchbox we purchased a very short while back (20th Feb to be precise, lasted all of about 2 weeks before the zipper broke), and so on. Then came home and had lunch, did a bit of work and went to see an 'house Number 3' property in Hatfield street. (ha ha). another 'Interesting, but no go' one - the same price (actually officially priced marginally more than) the Shack but again with infinitely less potential. Have more than a sneaking suspicion that actually both buildings were designed by the same architect and carried out by the same builders (certainly the same architect and the same painters). Very close to each other physically too. Took lot of pictures of this place and noted the details carefully but it's immediately dropped off the list in any case. Have to say, the more we look at places, the more (at least as far as I'm concerned, the Flea doesn't say much but I think he doesn't disagree to violently) I think the Shack is as genuine an opportunity as we're about to get. You can't purchase a property anywhere in M.H. for less than about that (i.e. 495K), and the essential bedroom area and acreage is very decent, to location rather run down but has potential, and it's still a short walk to the school. I think we're going towards, if we can get the essential renovations we want including stamp duty and fees and purchase price to within 650k, we're interested. Over that it's probably not worth it as the resale value wouldn't cover the costs. Never mind the hassle. But as a house it definitely has 'potential'. In any case, once we get the drawings back we'll definitely contact some builders and see what they have to say about things. Always bearing in mind that someone more decisive might always sweep it away but then that's life, I'm sure there will eventually be more properties turning up. Oh, and 'House Number 4' had been sold and there was no further open viewing, much to our disappointment. Oh well, there goes the rich part of the world.

I seem to have been typing away for a very long time, no doubt aided by the fact that every few seconds this thing opens some other new window that I have no interest in. The Flea just helped me turn off the mouse pad but alas it seems to make no difference at all. Tough titty. Oh well, I'm tired anyway -lots of love to you all and hope you're doing well, V xxxxx\\

p.s. I think Leo would heartily approve of Lara's choice of duvet cover. We kept revisiting the Kmart store to see if we could get a matching duvet cover for her UFO spaceship sheet set, but they never had them - suspect they don't exist. Finally decided that decor must give way to hygiene and said never mind, just chose something and asked her, would you like this pink butterfly set? Or a polka dot set? There's stripes too if you'd like. 'DINOSAURS!!!' So there we are, dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus, Diplodocus, the lot. Also not pictured in flesh and blood, but skeletons. I stand chastised for attempting to gender stereotype her - again. Wouldn't have thought this would be an error I'd make but obviously just as open to these mistakes as the next person. Anyway, dinosaurs it is. Lots of love again.