Less Carbs, More Yoga

On a mission NOT to feel as bad as I did last week ever again! So as the title says, less carbs and more yoga.

Isn't this relentlessly grey weather depressing, like living at the bottom of a bucket!!!

Even the Xmas market in town failed to make me feel better today, it was too crowded, too gaudy and too full of "Christmas tat!". Bah humbug and all that.

I am very fortunately going to hear the Messiah at St Pauls on Thursday evening, let's see if a bit of high culture can't do the trick.

The AB is off ski-ing with school in a couple of weeks, I am envious if only that she will have snow and mountains and hopefully a bit of sunshine. The actual skiing, not so much, I'm a bit of a coffee skier, "I'll ski down this green run and then I'll have a cup of coffee!". Toy boy off to Holland tomorrow working having been in Germany last week. I'd like to be in Norway now though , I've only been once and I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Beautiful place, lovely people....maybe I could sneak a weekend flight to Oslo....

The "old trouble" (endometriosis) has kicked off again - which means pain, at the minute to the point where it hurts so much I feel sick.

And it's cold - what I call "Fen Cold" a deep damp accompanied by a biting cold east wind that pushes the cold and damp deep into your bones.

Viz - I feel shitty!

Sorry.

Survivors

God I loved the original series of "Survivors" when I was twelve. It inspired countless kids games and as many fantasies about how I would live if I was "the only one left alive!" - having a small swarm of younger brothers and sisters you can see how that fantasy was quite appealing.

The remake is on BBC 1 tonight and I hope, beyond hope, that it matches up to my fond memories. Otherwise it's back to working out whether it's better to stake out a supermarket or take over a farm early on!

When you're stacking shelves in Tesco's you'll wish you'd listened to your mother!

It's exam time for the AB - and as the pampered public school educated offspring of doting professional parents she's not worried - why should she be?

Because I, her screaming harpy of a "first generation to go to University" mother say she should be that's why! I didn't battle my way through the 11 plus , 10 o Levels and 4 A Levels so that she could be a slacker! No - that isn't the way it's supposed to work.

So she is subjected to a constant barrage of questioning about how may Latin declentions she has by heart and whether she has really done the practice French comprehension that she said she had - whilst listening to the sound track of High School Musical 3, obviously.

I periodically scream "it won't be my fault when you're sweeping the streets! I've done my best!" not sure it's helping.

Buy this Book!

Among the links to this blog is one to "Skips Acorn Treasury" the delightful blog of the Fabulous Mr Goss.

What you may not know is that he has written the latest Torchwood novelisation "Almost Perfect"...and not unexpectedly it's wonderful. A delightful combination of watching Torchwood and spending an evening getting mullered on daiquari's and setting the world to rights with Goss. And whilst each of those things is great fun together they are a combination I've found both entertaining and utterly compelling - so go, buy read....honestly there are many many worse ways to spend £6.99. It may well save you from wasting another evening watching "I'm A Celebrity" and if it sends you out to look at the world through a wholly more cynical eye then so much the better.

7 Things - Stolen from Everyone!

7 Things I plan to do before I die:

1. Take a month’s holiday in India and Sri Lanka
2. See the Northern Lights
3. Own an Irish Draught Mare
4. See my daughter grown up, independent and happy in whatever way works for her.
5. Have mad curly silver hair (ok it’s mad and curly now but when it’s silver I think it will be wicked!)
6. Tango in Buenos Aries
7. Spend a summer travelling around Europe from Norway to Portugal and all points in between.

7 Things I do now:

1. Cook from scratch all the time. Everything – even curry and crispy duck with pancakes and make my own bread.
2. Ride horses.
3. Take my Jack Russell on Long Walks.
4. Do yoga
5. Tap dance in private!
6. Read books – all the time.
7. Iron sheets – because they are just better that way. (Yes and duvet covers and pillow cases)

7 Things I can't do:

1. Eat Marmite (eww yak ewwwwww!)
2. Be at any kind of a height without my knees turning to jelly (who had to close their eyes and be led across the glass bridge into the Bull Ring Car park? yes that would be me)
3. Run. Well Ok I can run, a bit, but I hate it; my chest and running are ergonomically incompatible.
4. Make meringues – it’s a mental block thing
5. Sew – as in make clothes sew.
6. Draw or Paint
7. Watch soaps – East Enders or Corrie or whatever else there is, not my thing.


7 Things that attract me in the opposite sex:

1. Tall and well built (call me shallow but I just can’t find it in me to fancy a short, skinny bloke)
2. Rough accents – Cockney, Yorkshire, Geordie – I married an almost Brummie for heaven’s sake.
3. Wearing something other than a suit to work; suit = no vote
4. Doing stuff – don’t care what you are into so long as you are into something, no couch potatoes please.
5. Competence – not being able to cook or iron or look after yourself is a major turn off
6. Being chatty – life is too short for strong and silent
7. Not being shy – in my humble experience all shy people are arrogant bastards who just can’t be arsed to think about any one else.

7 Things I say most often:

1. You haven’t got a hope in hell of winning this case.
2. I’d love to help you but I’m afraid it’s only a practising certificate not a magic wand.
3. Please pay me £2000 on account.
4. In my respectful submission
5. Which one of us went to law school?
6. You aren’t going to be happy with the outcome unless the judge says he loves you and wants to have your babies. And I think the chances of that happening are frankly slight.
7. £180 an hour.


7 Celebrities that I admire:

1 Stephen Fry – the brain, the delivery, what a guy!
2. David Tenant – he’s the Doctor nuf said.
3. Amanda Redman – I just think she’s cool
4. Eva Green (Big Girl crush on Vesper Lynd)
5. Ian Rankin
6. JK Rowling
7.Richard Armitage ( or is that not the kind of admiration you were thinking of?!)

7 Favourite foods:

1. Roast Lamb and Mint Sauce
2. Chilli Squid
3. Fiorentina Pizza
4. Chocolate Mousse ( the kind with no cream and made with very dark chocolate)
5. Roast Goose and Apple Sauce
6. Brownies
7. Digestive Biscuits with Philadephia Cheese

Your bog standard weekend.

On Friday's the standard form of email sign off seems to have become "have a good weekend" - which is nice. But slightly leaves me feeling as if I'm missing out on something.

My standard weekend follows the same basic format that it's done for years, it goes like this -

Saturday - get up and clean the house right through, do the washing and ironing. Take the dog for a decent walk.By then there is only time to make some tea and watch some drivel on the telly current drivel position is occupied by Strictly Come Dancing and Merlin.

Sunday - either swim or go to gym first thing, home for a big breakfast then head off to stables and ride for a c couple of hours . Snack lunch - then more dog walking, both weekend days it's usually 5 miles or so per walk. The home cook a giant roast for everyone , have some wine and collapse in a heap. Go to the cinema may occasionally substitute for collapse in a heap.

I've done a quick straw pole of my mates and really - not all that unusual. Probably go to about 6-8 parties a year, less than 1 a month! And to the pub once in a blue moon, because I don't know anyone at the pub so what's the point?

Crackered

Working in London for 3 days I spent one night in a fabulous suite at the Fox in Smithfield - can I say wow, TWO flat screen tvs and a huge slipper bath and my own balcony. Such a shame it was work and I was on my own. Day 3 was an emergency stop over however - it's ages since I've done a emergency shirt and knickers run to M&S - and there were NO hotel rooms in London anywhere.

Fortunately I was saved by a lovely friend who lives in Brockley, I went and stopped at her house, which was fab and involved the obligatory couple of hours in her local wine bar, "Mr Lawrence" - if you are in Brockley do call in, it has nice wine, nice big comfy arm chairs and food too.

After spending 30 hours in meetings over 3 days came home last night and slept for 11 hours straight. This morning I'm off to ride the horse.

And nicey - have been to the gym twice this week and done yoga every morning. I still hate the treadmill but I'm slowly learning to live with it.

Bang and Sparkle!

So Lippy where have you been?

All over the place mate!

This morning I schooled my friends horse for her, he's a perfect little gent but tends to canter like a rocking horse. Making him stretch out is a bit of a stretch for both of us, so after three quarters of an hour we were both pretty sweaty and decided it was job done! Then came home and did some work.

On the work front at the minute I seem to be spending vast amounts of time explaining to other lawyers that it is NOT POSSIBLE to be a "sleeping director " of a company. You took the money - therefore you have to go to the board meetings. I honestly feel like asking " Did you actually go to law school ?Or were you just asleep at the back of the class?!"


Many thanks to Nobody Girl for holding my hand over hotel rooms - yet again! Just my luck to be searching for last minute accomodation when there is a huge travel conference in town. And I need my beauty sleep as I have a scary meeting with HSBC in Canada Sq the next day - eep.

Went to the AB's school bonfire party on Wednesday night - hence the bang and sparkle in the title, And it was fab - have a sneaking suspicion that some of this terms school fees may have gone up in smoke that night the fireworks were so spectacular. The kids went feral around the grounds with their mates and all the adults stood coooing over the fireworks. Typical! Going to see some more in the Abbey Gardens tomorrow. And I bought our New Year rockets from Waitrose today - they are huge, the TB will have a fit!!! And they were on "two for one" so he is going to be outside shivering for hours letting in the new year - oh well, maybe we should just line everything up (all 30 of them) and light them at a run?!

Have a banging sparkly weekend - and catch you next week.

Oh and if I'm a bit absent I'm trying to write a novel this month. I know, joke, I can hardly string a sentance together at the best of times. If you would like to monitor my progress go to nanowrimo website and look for andien. I may even post an extract for general mocking!!!!

Haloween

Well, I'd bought mini milky ways and little packets of maltesers and did we get a single trick or treater? No.

Our kid went out and after last year's dissapointment ; 3 granola bars , an orange and an apple - we live on a very middle class road, full of doctors! She had clearly managed to educate the neighbours and came back with what I thought was a massive haul of smarties and mini mars bars. But I was brought up to speed by her mate who said " we did much better when we lived in Essex, all the chavs give you loads!"