I should have been a man.

I really should have been a man.

Just think how easy that would have made the last few days.

I would have taken to my sickbed with out any regrets or worries. I wouldn't have spent the last 24 hours organising and re-arranging for my children to be looked after or even just brought home!

I could have cancelled work without a thought because someone else could pick up the slack, I wouldn't have been letting people down.

And then I would not have felt compelled to use up every shred of energy I possessed in my malarial-ridden body making the downstair of my house look less like an old-fashioned open air tip.

(Something lovely to distract from the above bile. Granma made this for BabyMan.)


Right. I feel better for having said that. Thanks for bearing with me.

Am currently very excited as CK has said my birthday present is on en route to Trash Towers right this very minute. It is the sort of thing that wouldn't really work very well as a surprise, not least because as a scientist he likes to do lots of research and discussion when buying the 'big' items. So for the past three weeks we have had magazines and online searches galore for comparative studies of (wait for it... oh I am so excited I can hardly breath) Digital SLR cameras!!!!!!!

Woohoo!! My birthday present is a new DSLR camera. I haven't used an SLR in eleventy million years and (since having a play with a friend's a few months back) I really miss it. In two weeks exactly I will become the proud possessor of a Canon EOS 400D.

Yes. It is on its way now and no, it isn't coming via the moon. But over the years we have become pretty good at anticip....................ation. What with all the parcels arriving from Australia. If my kids can get that when something arrives before their birthday it goes away until the day then I probably should too. Oh! But how exciting!!

And just so you know how clever Granma is - this is the piece she did for Princess C-W.

And as I am working on my birthday CK is going to take the next day off. He normally tries to have the actual day but this year he has plans which do not include other people's children [Monkee Maker stop it! And Miss Kitty - you too! ;-)].

Once we drop the childer at school we are off to beautiful Bath for a day of picture snapping and possibly some very yummy lunch somewhere nice. I might even have to head into a shop or two just for a little look around! Then head home for the Friday traditions here at Trash Towers - sweetie day and picky tea. But picky tea is a whole other post!