Why I haven't posted for a few days.

Gastro..... uurrgghhh.

Just me and my nephew, struck down on their last day here so that my poor sister had to pack herself out of our house with virtually no help, in between looking after her vomiting diabetic son and her 18-month-old daughter, while I lay uselessly in bed feeling like death. And Fixit had to take the day off to manage our kids and me and try to help the outgoing visitors. Fun.

And being a bit of a Pollyanna type, I tried to find a silver lining to having my guts turned inside out and this was it: I hope I lose weight from this. Is not that a telling comment on our thin-obsessed society?

Actually I did achieve some rather fetching cheekbones from my ordeal. But they were a bit lost in the pale and drawn visage surrounding them.

Our house is still a disgrace. The day I planned to use setting it to rights (after living with 4 kids under age 6 for the week) was spent recuperating. I had to tell the babysitters not to look at my floor, and blamed my now-absent sister for everything. (And by the way sis, you left a heap of stuff behind)

Some snippets from the week.

We all went for afternoon tea at our uncle and aunt's house. The kids roamed happily outside as we grown-ups had an amused conversation about my nephew, laughing about his predilection for finding the dangerous electrical outlet, dismantling everything he came across and generally getting in where he ought not be, when my uncle glanced outside and saw said nephew carrying the Very Sharp Garden Shears. My uncle at once relieved him of the Shears, at which my nephew asked in all seriousness, but what will I cut your plants with?

Climber had a bit of girl trouble this week. He said they surrounded him in the playground, snatched away his special* treat of nanny-noodles**, told him he had to share them with Tyler and then informed him that Tyler was not his friend. This is why I shouldn't go to school, said Climber, darkly.

* because : mean parents hardly ever give him $$ to spend at the canteen.
** our healthy canteen's alternative to crisps and not their actual name but buggered if I can find out what the real name is.

He tried to tell me all this on the car-trip to my uncle and aunt's house as he sat wedged between his younger brother shouting bus, bus, bus in one ear and his cousin asking what are you talking about? in the other. And now I have annoying things on BOTH sides of me! he grumped. I took pity on him and let him travel the rest of the journey in the front with me.

But some of the girl trouble followed him to Halle's birthday party yesterday. When we arrived to pick him up, we found all the other kids playing and a very grumpy Climber barricaded in the cubbyhouse because Jessica had called him a big fat hippopotamus.

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Our table came second at the creche Trivia Night last night.


I suppose that's quite good. But last year we won.

Not that I'm competitive or anything.