Pretty Feet

One of the things I love to do especially on holiday is people watch. Hubby and I loved sitting on the veranda in Sorrento looking at the sea etc however it was always nice to have a laugh about our other holiday makers. One night four people sat down beside us a Polish woman and three English people. The Polish woman was quite a beauty but all she spoke about was clothe's and shoe's now don't get me wrong I love both but to bring fifteen pair's of shoe's for five night's in Sorrento and two in Capri even to me seems crazy. Oh yes she made sure everyone knew she was going to Capri for two night's. They got louder and louder trying to outdo each other. A few nights later we are having a drink (got to love ammeretto) and one of the couples sat beside us she kept lifting up her foot and looking at it and then I heard" ooohhh pretty feet" from her partner I'm sorry but I really felt like laughing.

The one thing that really annoyed me was when some couple's were dancing and people sitting there saying bad footwork etc I felt like saying get up yourself and show us then. On saying that we met some lovely people and had a laugh with them .

Idoit Vs the Mossies

Hello everyone. Sorry I have not been around. No excuses bar a holiday and not being arsed. Oh and moving.....

So anyway last week saw myself and Aoife return to Spain to chillax for a bit. The weather was great, got upgraded to a merc, had a new sat nav so no pressure driving about. All in all a great trip. Apart from one little thing...

The mood was light and a cool breeze wafted from the fan on the counter. Having just finished eating, Aoife and Idiot sat having a few drinks at the bar enjoying the warmth and the prospect of no work the next day.

All of a sudden there is the explosive sound of windows breaking and the restaurant is filled with 7 foot high sword wielding mosquito's. Attracted to Idiots sensitive skin and sweet blood they immediately pounced. Stabbing furiously they managed to eek as much as they could before getting to fat. Left ankle, right ankle. Right heel, left side of ribcage, right side of ribcage, left elbow. The attacks were fast and no riposte possible. Top of head, right temple. Idiot starts to get angry and slaps like a moron trying to rid himself of the 7 foot pests. Then the whoreson of all mosquito's arrives and decides to make it personal... neck 7 times, right elbow twice, right forearm 6 times.

Staggering out of the massacred restaurant Idiot and Aoife weave there way toward the sanctuary that is air con and finally get to sleep......

A metamorphosis has occurred that night and Idiot awakes to find gigantic pustules all over his body. He wants to scrape of his skin, the itchiness is nearly overpowering. Through the day the pustules grow until he looks like a leper with a gigantic right forearm. The pain becomes unbearable and the two weary travellers set of to find a pharmacy....

A week and a bit later and the marks remain. Where is that whoreson of a mossie now? Is he waiting? Thirsting for a further taste of Idiot??

Will let you all know about the move next time

Idiot

I am so gonna get me one of these doormats!

Seriously, this is my life!

I don't seem to have any proper post material at the moment. I have no 49£ type opinions.

I was trying to come up with something, but all I have is where I'm at the moment.

My responsibilities are working from home, parenting, cleaning the house and cooking, in no particular order. And it's just too much for me. I can't summon the energy or organisational skills to do any of it properly - all the tasks seem to block out each other and I end up just avoiding the lot, sitting online all day and getting deeper and deeper in the mire.

No, no, people say, Jo, you should see my house - well, Ive seen your houses and you don't have rooms piled high with stuff so your children become lost in them, or a bedroom covered with dust and cobwebs and 90% of the families clothes. It's in dire straights, yet each day slips by without me doing anything about it.

I swear, I could happily just sit and read and write and eat porridge - perhaps I should grow a thorn forest around my house - oops, no, wait, there's one there already.

So what are the tricks? How do you housekeepers out there manage to motivate yourself? What should I do to change, or rather, become efficient.

This is really an Infantasia post but other than that, I've got nothin' for ya. I miss the 49£ posts, but as Milan says, it's hard to make the effort without any feedback or contributions.

What's going on? Should we all take an official holiday?

Speaking of which , that's the other think I've been thinking about - I would so so love to go to California and see my family - my beloved cousin is pregnant again and I still haven't seen her two year old! I'd be nice to go before my daughter starts school. Ideas on how I can get an extra 5 grand, please. I'm tempted to put a 'send Jo to California' paypal button on the blog. I wonder how far that would get me?

Right, that's yer lot. I'm not going to post again til there's at least six other personal posts up. Videos and links don't count.

Well, that was a bad idea

Went to Smyth's tonight, in Carrickmines, to finish off the "List".  Thought, hey, the baby won't sleep, and since they're open til 11, should be quiet in there.

Damn was I wrong.  WHAT A ZOO!  

And people, I don't know how much clearer I can say this...if you're going to be rude, take it somewhere else.  We all know things are stressful this time of year, I don't need your attitude on top of it.  Have a laugh.  Enjoy that you're buying things to make kids happy.  Except you...yes you, with the OVERFLOWING shopping cart.  Even if you had 10 kids that is a ludicrous amount of crap to be buying (I can say this, I know someone with 12 kids, and she doesn't buy that much crap for them).

Man, people are narky this time of year.  I need to remember to smile, not let them dump their crappy attitude on me, and enjoy the fact that we'll see family and friends we care about and can cuddle kids and watch bad movies on tv while eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate.  And maybe....just maybe if we wish hard enough....it'll snow.

Oh, I got all my stuff on the list and the guy at the till looked at me crazy when I said "Happy Christmas!" to him...then he smiled and said it back.  I think people have forgotten to say it enough :-).

Busy busy busy

It's almost Thanksgiving.  Yep, turkey day in the US.  We celebrate it here, cause..well, why not?  It's Christmas Lite, really.  No ham, but most of the same recipes.  But we have a fun new way to do it.

Remember, I have (minor) food allergies.  Our oldest son has more severe ones, and now we've found out the younger (11 months) has 'em too.  This is now our list:

raw onions

raw carrots

raw celery

green Skittles

dairy

eggs

shellfish

strawberries

nuts

potato 

wheat

Just think what our breakfast table is like.  Forget that...we can't really do much takeaway anymore!

So with Christmas coming, at least I can test some recipes for Thanksgiving.  Since we're still learning how to bake with soy flour.  It's a whole new world, let me tell you.  I thought dairy and eggs were hard...HA!  

Anyway, Turkey Day is coming, and I have turkey. Will brine it tomorrow.  Now I need to hunt down fresh cranberries and sweet potatoes.  And make marshmallows.  What am I doing posting all this, instead of doing it?  Procrastinating :-D!

Poll: Should men cook for Christmas?

A friend is reading Maeve Binchy's book This Year It Will Be Different and brought up a hot potato (so to speak) at our bookclub the other night: are men supposed to help cook the Christmas meal? Is it inappropriate to even bring up the topic?

A lot of the stories in the book describe the woman doing all of the cooking and preparation, and nothing would sway you from thinking it's the Way It Should Be. TV shows do the same thing; commercials show women bringing food to the table to the smiles of her children and husband. To quote after a few glasses of wine : "Shouldn't that lazy bastard be up off his ass at least helping if not cooking the whole meal himself?"

Do you folks (guys and girls) think the media of all sorts still can't let go of the stereotype of Woman Cooks, Man Sits? Is it only the 21st century and we should wait longer? Or is it only if you're a famous TV chef that it's ok to be a man cooking?

Views of a family packing

Well, travelling. We leave on the 9:30 ferry, for a 2:30 flight, then a 7:30 flight. Phew. We have our limit of baggage, that's for sure!!



See that on top of the car? That's two more duffel bags.




My stepfather, who lives up the road, has a habit of stripping our place clean of any sweets once we leave. So Atreus left this message on the board of the kitchen...about 2 steps from the cookie jar.

She's here

Just so you all know, MW has arrived safely.

Now, to crack open the tequila.......

While I'm Away....

I'm away to the sunny south east for a couple of weeks and just wanted to wish Midge a happy and safe(?) journey for Monday.....just messing with ya about the safe bit. You'll be fine...honest ;-)

Happy holidays!