Halloween 2020

So. Yeah. As previously discussed, 2020 has pretty much sucked donkey balls.


Suck it with the censorship Facebook 🀬🀬🀬


And the one thing my kiddos really look forward to is Halloween. And, this year? No. Just no.

We could go Trick or Treating, Melrose hasn’t banned it


Which I personally consider batshit but even Salem only cut back rather than completely stopped things…


But that just seems like asking for trouble. We’ve managed to stay safe this far, to the best of our knowledge, so no on ToT.

However we kept Halloween traditional up to a point.

Today we have:

Watched Spooky Movies

  1. Paranorman
  2. The Witches (1990 with Anjelica Hutson not 2020 with Anne Hathaway)
  3. Kiki’s Delivery Service

We thought we had done quite well on TT (as she is a huge Goth – even at age 4!) and has already watched, and loved so many scary films.


No, seriously, Labyrinth and Goosebumps 2 are her current best things ever


But at bedtime she fell asleep then woke up scared of zombies and Bad witches. Damn. Well, it’s a good thing we put The Addams Family off I reckon.

Eaten Holiday Food

Mealtimes were fluid and we just kept food flowing in a mixture of:

  1. Hot Dogs
  2. Popcorn
  3. Smores

As you can see, TT demanded an apple around 4pm so that was good πŸ˜‚πŸ€£

Worn our costumes

Well the kiddos did at least.

I did mention my daughter was a massive Goth yes? We therefore let her “borrow” some of my makeup:

She felt that purple glittery lipstick and black glittery eyeshadow finished off her “spooky bat” outfit rather well. She was happy, so I didn’t disagree god love her πŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œ

  • We have left a bowl of candy out on the front porch, and the kiddos carved pumpkins last weekend.
  • Here is #1 Son drawing his own design:

    Here is TT’s initial design and through to completion:

    And here they both are in pride of place on the front stoop:

    They are still there! I’m genuinely shocked that neither squirrels nor trash pandas have nabbed or destroyed them!

    So, 2020 hasn’t taken everything from us. And we are still here and happy.

    TT has declared that

    This is the best Halloween ever

    So I’ll take that. Right now? I’ll take that.

    Taming the beast

    And by this I mean purely TT’s hair πŸ€£πŸ˜‚

    The hus-creature and I disagree on her hair muchly.

    This is his belief:

    Whereas I see it more like this:

    The truth? Is probably somewhere in the middle.

    Anyway, a bone of contention is “Baby’s First Haircut”.

    Now please let it be known that I am actually not totally averse to her having a trim. I just don’t want her hair as short as her brother’s!

    I mean, since she’s never had it cut, it’s all over the place length-wise and it’s fine to the point of unmanageably flyaway – but it’s so pretty.

    But as a result, it’s bloody hard to keep neat. Loose is…. not possible. Not when she persists in still getting food everywhere at every meal πŸ™„ She also hates having tangles brushed out, so no, we don’t wear it loose unless (and until) the band(s) fall out.


    And did I mention the flyaway? This happens often πŸ™„πŸ₯Ί


    A ponytail seems easier, and it’s certainly the easiest style for me to achieve. But it doesn’t stay. The standard baby hair bobbles don’t stretch far enough, the interim ones don’t grip, and the smaller adult style? Like the ones I use? Her hair is too fine to use them singly.

    So, I learned to braid.

    This seems like a simple skill no? Especially as I can crochet (Also knit but crochet seems the most directly comparable skill). But I had never, ever, mastered it.

    I’m also dyspraxic, as well as suspected ADHD; and so these aren’t conducive to learning this type of thing. But here is my current skill level:

    On the left was a few days ago (we’ve since lost that pink band πŸ™„) and on the right is today’s.

    I’ve since added a new product into our hair care routine.

    Hair Shots By Amy

    I discovered them while we were away at Great Wolf Lodge (having a Mommy and Me Pedicure πŸ₯°) and we picked up the Cupcake one as that was:

    my favourite

    According to madam

    Thing is? To me and her dad it smells vile πŸ€£πŸ˜‚ totally fake and cloyingly sweet. But it does make her hair smell nice to her. She adores using “my smelling”. It also dries and fades out to something more tolerable to my nose at least.

    It also seems to act as a slight detangler and, I discovered today, controls her hair enough from ponytail to braid, to allow me to braid almost to the bottom of her hair.

    Technically, you’re only supposed to use it on the scalp – the instructions are:

    Lift hair and spray directly onto your head, 3-6 times depending on hair thickness.

    But that’s tricky, so I spray on her parting, especially as that changes through brushing, and lift a few segments. Now also along her ponytail pre-braiding.

    And, I wanted to try it myself. Yes yes I know, but it’s marketed to “all ages and all hair types” and I’m suffering in this heat wave.

    I’m also an addict of all things Cotton Candy scented. No, really, you ought to have seen the amount of Snow Fairy crap I purchased from Lush over the winter.


    Yes, I agree that Lush has turned devil incarnate on the marketing campaigns, and the prices are ludicrous, but apparently bubble bath is not a thing out here, so I occasionally indulge myself. Also the USA products are manufactured in Canada not the Poole factory so I can pretend it’s not so evil.


    So I decided to try this one

    I love it.

    I’ve had numerous compliments on my hair when out and about since I started using it. It’s particularly good as I don’t like over-washing my hair given I basically fry it to oblivion once every four months in order to go full unicorn πŸ€£πŸ˜‚

    There’s also anecdotal evidence that it helps prevent head lice – something to do with “disguising the smell of the hair” (for which I read: disguising the smell of blood under the skin on the scalp).

    That’s clearly not been proven in any kind of standardised FDA approved testing, but paediatricians out here are already starting to spout it so why not.


    I’m not certain which scents are unisex though, so for now #1 Son is safe πŸ€£πŸ˜‚


    But hey, so far we’ve only had one bout of those nasty crawling buggers in total so anything that is chemical-free and might help keep that so? Gets a huge thumbs up in my book.

    I will say though, that these aren’t cheap. Just under $15 a bottle, but it seems to last a while. Going to try the strawberry next on her when I need to replace my own bottle – I use more than she does πŸ€£πŸ˜‚

    Self Care 2019 v. 1.0

    I’ve done so many of these that at this point I feel that they should be numbered!

    As mentioned, my anxiety is giving me issues. My PCP doesn’t appear receptive to the idea that I know it’s anxiety not depression. Yes, we are considering switching doctors.


    But there is major snow with more on the way, the hus-creature is about to be in Seattle for a week, I have concerns about my ongoing prescriptions, and therefore it’s a total PITA to switch right now.


    So, I’m trying good old-fashioned ways of dealing for now.

    I’ve been going back to the nail salon every two weeks. It’s helping – my nails look pretty and I don’t feel the temptation to gnaw on them quite as much.


    I still do – but only once they snag or break. Sadly, with current weather, this happens quite often.


    And I got my hair did on Saturday.

    This is involved, intricate, and takes roughly five hours.


    Which is why it only happens once every four months!


    So the “before” shot:

    I hate pastels. So having had them attached to my head for the preceding month has been nothing short of torture. So I needed to see them die.

    Now, this time my very talented stylist

    Samantha Vallery – she works at Hair By Christine in Somerville

    didn’t feel the need to bleach everything – and I bow to her expertise. She is the lady who cuts and colours hair professionally after all. If you aren’t going to listen to your damn stylist then why are you there?

    Which left this very interesting “in progress” shot:

    That dark line just below the pink? That is not a shadow oh no. What that bastarding thing is, is a tidemark of permanent brown dye. That has been on my head since just before I went back to work after having had TT. Let us think about this for a second. The Tiny Tyrant is now three. Three years old. (I know, I can’t believe it either!) So that tidemark is over two years old.

    I would very much like it to bugger off now. As would my Sam – she was pulling worse faces than me while doing my new colour πŸ€£πŸ˜‚ she has declared it her mission to fix it. I do not mind this at all ☺️

    We think that by September, what we can’t bleach out (and this colour has outlasted many attempts to shift it) can finally, finally, be cut out. Can’t cut it too soon else I lose a lot of length – and that… just won’t happen.

    Else this couldn’t:

    Yes, this is my hair for the next four months. I’m in love. It’s beautiful.

    Once my roots start growing through again though it’ll make me sad πŸ€£πŸ˜‚ but with the ombrΓ© built in this time, it’s at least easier for me to upkeep it.

    And… no blue! I’m really embracing the pink these days.

    And the self care hasn’t been limited to purely physical.

    In the last month (ie January) I’ve had two bad flare ups of pain – each lasting four days.


    Yes yes, I know I need to see the doctor, but see above. I’m also trying to amass data on these new and annoying bouts of pain so that when I inevitably need to see a new doctor, I can at least attempt to bypass the tedious penis-waving (not literally) that will no doubt occur. I mean, what would I know about my body and medical conditions after all right?


    And the hus-creature has been worried about me bless him for – as previously documented – he’s a bloody amazing man you know.

    So he went foraging. To a shop in Brighton (an 80 minute round trip) and found so many things of joy, beauty and wonder.

    Ok so, I loathe Angel Delight. But the rest? Everything is now in my cupboards. I can have hot Ribena – which is my true comfort drink when I’m unwell.

    Self care – it’s important y’all.

    Self improvement

    Starts here.

    Actually, it started last week when both the hus-creature and I joined a gym!

    Yes I know, I can hear you all laughing hysterically. But it’s true.

    Through ruthless calorie counting, and as close to a daily walk around beautiful Melrose as I can, I have managed to shift just over 20lb.

    And I’m really proud of that. But I need to keep the momentum going. And I’m getting very familiar with my town now, and I needed to step it up a gear. So gym it was. You have 24/7 access and, after the first 30 day’s, can access any branch globally as part of your membership πŸ™€

    So, yesterday I went for my induction session.


    I feel that it should be noted that I had attended the gym pretty much daily last week barring Wednesday. I had signed the “I promise I won’t sue you if I hurt myself” disclaimer, and I remembered how most of the main machines worked so while I was waiting for them to book me in, off I went.


    With the lovely Erik. Well he was very friendly and very good at his job.

    I told him I hated him at least twenty times during the course of that hour, to which he merely laughed – the evil man!

    But I did recant at the end of the session.

    They seem positive that if I regularly attend (and I will) I should be able to reach my initial goal weight within a reasonable time frame – which I want to have done by next summer.

    I will wear a pretty bikini goddammit

    However I seem to have mildly overdone it πŸ€£πŸ˜‚

    I will also in part attribute this to going out on the town last night with my wonderful H πŸ’—πŸ’—πŸ’—πŸ’—

    We danced, we laughed and we got very, very drunk πŸ˜‚πŸ€£ we were total dirty stop outs and didn’t get home til 1am!

    Yes, I am rocking navy lipstick πŸ˜‰

    It matched my dress. My TARDIS dress. No I won’t be wearing it as an everyday look, but I put full face on for the first time ever by myself

    It all comes under the self care banner. I’ll never be a “girly girl” but I can enjoy the occasional benefit from it.

    Oh and the hus-creature? He still needs to sort out his induction – but he threw his back out again this week. Hopefully he can sort it out next week.

    Me, I won’t be going to the gym tomorrow. We have a stupidly full schedule and I can barely walk so…

    The Second week of camp(s)

    So Wednesday this last week was Independence Day. And because his teacher (not unreasonably) had booked a little extra annual leave – well it’s not really annual leave when you’re not supposed to be working is it – #1 Son was only in “summer learning Academy” camp for two days this week.

    Monday was fine. He had a great day and everything was brilliant. You see, they send home daily worksheets of the things that he’s been doing; and I’ve seen such an improvement in them that it reassures me that this was definitely the right thing to do for him.

    However Tuesday? Tuesday was not so good. The wonderful H’s daughter did the pick up run as H herself was I think feeling under the weather due to impending dental torture and it just wasn’t a good day. The report I got back was that he had not done anything and had really gotten grumpy with the teacher. What I got out of him (and I’m actually impressed he told me) was that:

    They had been learning about dolphins again and he had already learned about dolphins 10, 20, 100 days before in real school and he did not need to learn about them again.

    He also claimed that he had tried to tell the teacher this and that she just hadn’t listened to him and didn’t understand him. Now I’m a tad sceptical about this as I’m fairly sure this teacher knows what she’s doing (as they seem to have a lot of experience with neuro-atypical children) but he felt that she wasn’t listening and he ran out. Of the classroom. First time he’s done that actually in a good few months. I can’t say I was impressed with the behaviour but I am impressed that he at least told me the truth. We then had a nice talk about it and I try to explain (as I have done many times before) that he’s got to learn the simple stuff before he can learn the more exciting stuff.

    I also tried to explain that the teacher didn’t necessarily have a good clear indication of which children had already learned about dolphins versus which children had not as these are kids who come from across the town and across the different primary schools that may even be cross district but I doubt that actually, as it does all seem to be the Melrose schools rather than some of the others that they seem to have around here.

    Not sure exactly how much of it sunk in but he cheered up a bit and we had a better day the following day. Hopefully this means a better week this week as he is back at camp Monday to Thursday this week.

    Another potential issue is that his current therapist is leaving the practice where we’ve been taking him since last year sometime I forget exactly how long and is going into private practice. I panicked a bit when the hus-creature told me this because quite frankly I can’t go through the changes again. However she did say that she will continue to take our insurance so hopefully we could just knows him across when she leaves in August. I can’t I just can’t go through explaining it all the new therapist, getting him to see the new therapist, building up that report again it’s just not going to be good. So hopefully we’ll have a clear indication this week what she plans on doing about her current clients.

    I mean I can’t blame her, there is so much more money in private practice, but we’ve been through this before. Still, at least this one was able to be honest with us about it and not just leave us in the lurch.

    Wednesday was pretty uneventful really. I recently made a new friend – another friend who previously only lived in my computer and is now part of my real life.

    We are currently educating each other on films. Apparently if you’ve never seen “The Princess Bride” you must forever be shunned in this country. So he has educated me (and to a lesser extent the hus-creature – who is normally playing video games and rolling his eyes whilst we watch films and act like children πŸ˜‚) on:

    1. The Princess Bride
    2. Red Line

    I have introduced him to:

    1. Labyrinth

    I also have The Dark Crystal and Leon on my side of the list πŸ˜‚πŸ€£

    It seems to be becoming a somewhat weekly thing, and it’s nice to have another friend who lives in-state.

    The rest of the week was pretty uneventful until Saturday when #1 Son had Reading summer camp.

    Which apparently went a bit better than the week before. Which is great. He’s still so bad at focussing, but he’s coming on in leaps and bounds so I’m confident he will be at the level he needs to be at come end of August.

    The new principal of his school has been elected, and it is Candidate A – who has the PhD in Education Administration and the neatly trimmed beard.

    While I think I personally would have preferred candidate B – who was keen and had not yet had a principal-ship I knew A would get it, and from the talks they both gave, both have a style that ought to benefit my son, so we will attend whatever “Meet And Greets” are held and go from there.

    TT has been her usual happy self and there have been some wonderful days:

    And me? I’ve taken my mental health in my own hands. I have been walking in the evenings. Usually a minimum of 2km a day. It started because I needed to return books to the library and it’s just slightly too far away to easily take the kids.

    And then I rediscovered PokΓ©mon Go (look it up and if you have a Smartphone go get it) and for the last week or so I have been simply “following the pokΓ©stops”.

    See, one of the benefits to living in this country is that everything is on the grid system so you can pretty much wander in a circle except it’s not really, and you will eventually find yourself back home after doing either a giant loop or maybe a lollipop/balloon shape on the map.

    I mean yes, I do also have Google Maps which I use to cross check, but more often than not I simply find myself back on Main Street after about 45-60 minutes of rambling and then I just toddle home.

    And the scenery is beautiful:

    And I’m learning the local geography, am getting my heart rate up and am not getting bored. All bonuses really.

    And catching Snorlax πŸ€£πŸ˜‚

    No, really, I did – and without the stampede!

    Dieting

    Yep. The dreaded D-word.

    I got fat. Stupidly so. There’s no denying it.

    See, I now live in a country where comparatively? I’m not that fat.


    Well, unless I lived in LA or San Francisco, or similar, but I digress.


    And I let that lull me into a false sense of security.

    But I’m unhealthy at the weight I’m at.

    No, I will not be disclosing what that actually is. That is my own personal shame.

    But after two weeks of strictly monitoring what I eat when, I’ve shifted almost half a stone. Which is a positive thing.

    I’m not sure I’ll be where I want to be come September when we return to the UK briefly, but I’m positive I won’t be 200+lb.

    It’s tough, and some days I quite frankly want to claw someone’s face off, but calories in being less than calories out is the only sure fire way to lose.

    And I can still occasionally have a beer and a pizza (or half of one at least) so it’s not that bad.

    Except for last Sunday, when I wasted 300 calories on two cans of Pepsi* – I was bloody livid.

    *The gits are in the process of rebranding. They are turning full-sugar Pepsi from blue to white.

    Except their diet versions are bloody silver:

    So I nabbed two white cans out of the drinks bin at the baby shower and knocked them back thinking “yay diet”.

    Nope. The hus-creature pointed it out to me mid-way through the second and, quite frankly, I could have cried.

    Ah well, you live and learn. I won’t be doing that again.

    Wow long time

    No post.

    Been a busy busy week and at so many points I found myself thinking “I must blog about today” and then it was late and I was tired and thought “I will do it tomorrow”

    Well tomorrow never comes does it?

    So, my last few days:

    Friday:

    We all accidentally got very tiddled. Which happens when you drink three bottled beers with a 9%ABV and add a glass of mead somewhere in the mix. Whoops. It was fun, and Momma and I chewed the fat, put the world to rights and ganged up on the hus-creature a little poor boy!

    Saturday:

    Momma and I were going to go to the pub for a drink, but both of us were feeling tired. (This is not a euphemism, amazingly I was not hungover!)

    So instead, momma kindly volunteered to stay in with the (asleep) sproglets and we went to the cinema.

    Where we had a (really not good*) meal at the bar-which-pretends-to-be-a-restaurant and saw BLACK PANTHER!!!

    And if you have not yet been to see this masterpiece GO NOW. No, seriously, I’ll wait right here.

    We didn’t get home til gone midnight, but mom had opted for an early night anyway so it was all good.

    Apart from TT having a poop accident in her pants but one just isn’t worth fretting over.

    *We sent back our nachos. It really was that bad πŸ™€

    Sunday:

    This was another quietish day, but #1 Son wanted a haircut.


    Well, we felt that it was more than a little hard to tame, so for once we gentlyencouraged a cutting of hair


    But there is only one barber in the whole of Melrose who is open on Sundays, so off we trotted.

    And, rather unsurprisingly, it was very busy. We wanted to give the poor Mothership a break from her beloved grandchildren so we decided to take them both with us.

    On the way out, #1 Son somehow caught a splinter in his finger 🀭 so daddy took him back upstairs to remove it whilst I stayed outside with TT – we had just gotten her strapped into the stroller and letting her out again was a nightmare I just did not want to deal with!

    He was extremely brave – daddy managed to get half of it out with tweezers, but the bastarding thing snapped halfway out. So then enter the very experienced Nanny (the Mothership) with a sterile needle. And she got it out! And as he was so brave we decided that, regardless of cold, we would take him for an ice cream after the hair cut.

    To try and limit the boredom factor for the kids, and to get more errands done, I sat with #1 Son in the barber’s whilst daddy took TT to the pharmacy to pick up my prescriptions


    We actually had to pay a deductible this time – one whole quarter


    Sadly we were nowhere near the chair by the time they were done. Fortunately we had the foresight to pack both tablets, so the kids were mostly contained, but it was still rather hair-raising*.

    There was one cute moment though. There were a pair of brothers roughly of an age with #1 Son and TT, and, since there were only two barbers on shift, one decided to wait for his colleague to finish with his current client and not seat someone else in his chair so that both boys could be done together.

    As a parent with two bored and fractious children this was slightly frustrating, but also wonderful to see from a customer service perspective.

    Well we did eventually get to the chair, and for a kid with sensory issues he handled it like a total trooper 😍😊

    It was a full scissor cut with a slight buzzing of the nape – and since he hates the clippers this was amazing.

    It has been four days since the cut though, and it is already growing back enough to start spiking up at the back sigh. The perils of thick wavy hair I guess.

    *Pun not intended πŸ˜‚πŸ€£

    Monday:

    Not much of note to report beyond being four weeks post op and doing reasonably well. As long as I don’t overdo it too much I’m pretty okay. I did ensure that I renewed my ibuprofen scrip because I could!I’ve been doing some regular driving practice and tonight we went via the mall. Ostensibly to give me some more lengthy practice on a different route, but we also planned to pop in to their pet store to get some cat food, as we are running low on her majesty’s dry feed.

    Big Mistake. For, you see, not only was it a very small store designed only for dogs; but they were also selling dogs. Or puppies rather. Stored in large aquarium style tanks.

    Not going to deny, as a Brit this shocked and appalled me. I mean, they seemed happy enough but still…

    It made me sad. So I went and did a little shopping in Newbury Comics and had a happy again. Game of Thrones t-shirts? Check! Game of Thrones socks? Check!

    Right this is already stupidly long so I shall continue it in another entry!

    Two weeks post-op

    Well, 15 days really.

    I am 99% off the Percocet, and I have a few tablets left. I’m not being a hero, I’m still taking ibuprofen but only when it’s not “stinging/burning in the incision” pain – because let’s face it, pills won’t help with that, so why take them?

    I’ve had some ups and downs but as long as I take frequent rest breaks I’m doing okay.

    I am wearing clothes* – and it’s amazing how good that feels. Socks still cause me issues, but the hus-creature is helping me out there.

    I even took my binder off yesterday to sleep, and I’ve not put it back on!!!!

    Yes it stings a bit so I’m monitoring and assessing, but it had gone from “oh my goodness I love this and I am never taking it off” to scratchy and irritating so we are seeing how we go.

    I even managed to make the kids some lunch yesterday!

    Our weekend was lovely. From Friday to yesterday we had a visit from the lovely Diana who has been momma’s friend for years 😁

    So on Saturday they both went into Boston to do the tourist thing and paint the town red.

    Sadly the duck boat wasn’t an option because of frozen rivers – it’s still bloody cold here.

    They didn’t get home til after 9 ok – dirty stop outs πŸ€£πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ˜‚

    I kid, I kid, I was actually thrilled mom got some decent time to enjoy herself free from my kids and in adult company.

    We all had a lovely time, and I’m hoping she will visit again in the summer πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ˜

    There was actual snow on Sunday – mom has been looking forward to big snow. It’s mostly almost melted again already.

    Today they children have been playing nicely together.

    This is #1 Son showing TT that his Halloween mask isn’t scary πŸ’•πŸ’•πŸ’•

    He is on schoool holidays for the rest of the week – send gin!!!

    No, he’s been amazing, and is actually doing some reading and writing practice.


    We have discovered if we reward bribe him with chocolate/candy after a certain amount of work he is much more receptive – whatever works!!!!


    TT is being stubborn about potty training, but we will get there!

    *Nothing fancy – just leggings and a t-shirt but hey, it’s clothes

    One week post surgery

    It was oh so tempting to write post-partum there πŸ˜‚πŸ€£

    I’m doing really well considering. If you had asked me last week if I’d be up and about daily (though in really short bursts) I would have tried to either smack or strangle you.

    My pain levels are overall lower than they were – though by no means gone. As long as I wake up between 5-6am to take a pain pill I’m comfortable. I’m only on one Percocet at a time (plus the ibuprofen) so I think I’m doing really well.

    Had a shower last night (first one since I got home, but I did have one in the hospital!) and it totally wiped me out.

    I’m still crash-napping for an hour or so at a time, which is having a bit of an effect on my circadian rhythms, but honestly right now I think it’s the equivalent of “sleep when the baby sleeps”.

    I’m eating proper food without issue, though my appetite is still greatly reduced (no bad thing) and prune juice is still very much my friend.

    I’m walking much easier though sitting upright is still too uncomfortable after five minutes or so.

    Physically getting up or lying down is the worst of it right now, that plus coughing or laughing.

    Overall though, I’m recuperating rather well I feel.

    Just wish I had the headspace to pick up my needles or hooks.

    Burns Night

    So on Saturday, the hus-creature and I went out for a pre-op last hurrah which co-incided with his office’s idea of going to a Burns Night bash.

    So out we went.

    You cannot say that The Haven didn’t make an effort.

    Included in the meal was a nip of a very glorious whisky:

    The Bruichladdich Octomore

    Yes, that’s dollars a shot! It retails at over $150 a bottle. And it’s peated. But honestly, it was glorious.

    This was my tipple for the evening:

    It is a Sherlock Holmes:

    Basically a posh Hot Toddy, but it was delicious. Normally when cocktails are an option I mix and match to switch it up, but this was so good I didn’t bother.

    I got my nails done πŸ’—

    <<<<< apparently I can keep for surgery (in six days πŸ™€πŸ™€πŸ™€)

    It was a lovely evening. We didn’t get home til 01:30 though as we were apparently on the last train home so we were stuck waiting stationary for over half an hour for the last trains on other lines. Such fun!

    Our sitter was amazing though bless her – kept her informed and paid her a “we are sorry the travel time sucked” bonus.

    Then on Sunday I got my hair redone. This is the first time since we moved.

    So a lot needed bleaching:

    (Please note that the original blue still won’t die!!!)

    The reaction of the kids was hilarious too. #1 Son loved it.

    You are blonde like me mummy.

    TT? Oh no. She hated it. Would not come near me at all. Ran into her room, glowered at me, shook her head, stayed with daddy. The lot really.

    Even when it was finished she spurned me πŸ€£πŸ˜‚

    However the following morning she came wandering in, looked at me and said:

    Mommy beautiful head

    And touched it, so I am now apparently forgiven. Interestingly, #1 Son is/was most annoyed that I didn’t keep the blonde. And did not accept the explanation that it didn’t suit me πŸ˜‚πŸ€£πŸ‘πŸ»