Lathany

Well, yesterday wasn't terribly successful. However Bea likes her knickers so, the next time all her trousers are clean, we'll give it another shot. Possibly with less TV - she hates leaving the TV for the potty, even when she can see the screen from it.

In other news, I hate play dough. Mainly because I have a son who likes shredding it into small pieces and scattering it around the lounge. At least it vacuums up nicely.

One of my (requested) presents this year was the DVD of The Politician's Wife. Now this series came out when I first moved to Oxford but, for a number of reasons, (including a total lack of interest in TV) I never saw it. However I heard Good Things about it (including from my nominated godmother who died two years later) and always wanted to see it. Consequently the mini-series made it onto various Xmas lists for years, but was always rejected in favour of more findable presents. However this year was different and I spent Saturday and Sunday nights watching it (three hours in total).

Firstly, it's aged rather well. At the time it was produced in response to the actions of John Major's colleagues and, frankly, very little has changed in the political world. Secondly, it stars Juliet Stevenson (along with Trevor Eve and Minnie Driver) which in my book is always a plus. Thirdly, the script is great. The political world seems realistically devious and the characters all come across as intelligent people. The plot is consistent and definitely creates an air of suspense. Even better, the kids aren't annoying and there's an occasional comedy line (the most memorable being in Flora's speech to the Christian Women of the Conservative Party) which doesn't seem out of place. If I have a criticism then it is that I felt there were rather too many sex scenes.

All in all, recommended.

I spent most of the morning on the bathroom floor feeling ill. Fortunately I seem to have more or less recovered, although I still want a walk in the fresh (cold) air. We considered dinner carefully (nope, it wasn't a hangover), but didn't identify an obvious culprit (although bateleur blames the sausages and bacon).

This morning aside, it was a wonderful Christmas meal. I know turkey roast doesn't thrill many people but, hey, I've not exactly spent the month indulging in work Xmas dos and parties. Also the homemade Christmas cake was wonderful.

The panto in question is Oh Yes It Is (aka Cinderella) and is the same as last year. However, it doesn't exactly make the summer repeats, so I didn't feel too cheated by the fact I've seen it before.

Finally, I'm enjoying Monstrous Regiment.

Huh? And the largest window was twenty-one (a shade taller than any other).

So that's that. Tonight - Camus Christmas, tomorrow - Hornsey Christmas. Double turkey has been promised.

So bateleur is now happy.

In other news, Beatrice is famous. We arrived at the checkout in Tesco and parked the trolley (the twins filling the two seats) at the bottom of the till and started to load our shopping into bags. After a pause, the checkout lady (late teens/early twenties) said "Excuse me, but is she Beatrice?"

Turns out that she's the daughter of one of the women who run the twins' playgroup. And her mother has told her all about "clever", chatterbox Bea (who can read her numbers and put huge sentences together). I suspect being one of twins helped make her identifiable as well (although - poor Ryan). I like Chris (who I have the most to do with) and was interested to discover that this girl (who I've seen before) was her daughter.

And Beatrice was delighted with her sudden reputation for brilliance.

With a couple of tiny presents thrown in.

Today is bateleur's birthday. Because yesterday's cake was a moderate success, it's going to get ten glittery candles (he didn't want thirty-two) for this evening. Ryan and Bea were disappointed to learn that they aren't getting cake until after then.

Today is also the day I decided to try and start Beatrice on potty training with the aim of getting her dry over Christmas. So far, it isn't working. She's not even mentioning action in that area to me. Never mind, plenty of time left.

It's a bit "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" if you ask me.

In other news, Beatrice simply does not do justice to Snowman fairy cakes. There's an icing picture perched upon a dollop of butter-cream on the very top. And Beatrice's verdict? "It's the label!"

With three shiny diamond-shaped jewels.

The second parent and toddler group party is over. For which I am grateful. It wasn't bad, but wasn't as well organised as Wednesday and, besides, I'm feeling pretty shattered today. The duo liked it, which I guess is the main thing and I have a pack of six The Snowman fairy cakes (the vanilla ones) in the cupboard because they were leftover. Also, presents were given out (from the club) and Bea and Ryan each have a shiny new colouring book with a tin of twenty-five colour pencils.

My campaign against White Cat continues. Because Ems spends so much time inside now, I have a policy of locking the catflap to 'out only' all the time. So long as I check she's in before we go to bed, then there's a good chance she gets to spend most of the night inside (this morning she was still in at eight o'clock), so that she's not too badly penalised for being the victim of White Cat. And I blame the fleas on White Cat too.

Not long until Christmas now. I just feel slightly sad about looking forward to having a rest rather than the joys of the day and the present opening.

Like the drum on the eighth, I wonder if this is another reference to the Twelve Days of Christmas.

After planning to deflea the lounge over the weekend (apparently there aren't many fleas - but they all like eating me) we finally got around to it last night. At which point we discovered just how much the de-flea spray ponged. We have this theory that the flea eggs are killed by the solvent and there aren't any actual chemicals at all. Emily Marle herself sat around in the middle of it (why? she had a perfectly good catflap) looking unhappy. This morning there are still traces of the stuff, so I've opened both windows again. Fortunately the twins are at playgroup, so are not having to deal with it.

I'm now nearing the end of my Christmas card list. I'm waiting to get a few addresses from people, but then I should be finished. This isn't to say that I'm not going to get at least one card from someone unexpected (I get one - and usually only one - every year), but it'll be interesting to see who it is this time around. There's something very satisfying about posting off a bunch of cards - and this year I get cheers (and counting) from the pushchair to accompany the ritual.

And, finally, bateleur and I acquired another copy of Diablo. This means that we can play joint games and Battlenet won't complain that we're using the same security code. We've just put Blood Raven out of her misery and will be starting the hunt for Cain.