Passport Application

I finally sent the thing off today but not without the usual mishaps. The way I'm operating, I should be a blonde. I have doubts about some of the essential bits that went in but mostly I'm worried that I might have sent it to the wrong address! Time will tell and for now I'm putting it out of my mind. Two friends came to lunch today. A very civilized lady's gathering. I do like seeing my friends and appreciate it when one of them is prepared to make the drive from Kenilworth. The girls and the fox arrive tomorrow. I'm pretty thrilled and excited. Unfortunately, the forecast is for very cold weather with the possibility of snow. I want to take that little fellow out in the pram and show him off to my neighbours. I thought we could go to Nigel's coffee morning on Saturday and the local elders could admire his red headed cuteness. I get to babysit on Saturday evening when the girls go out for a meal and a break. He sleeps very well now after 7pm so I won't be able to get him up to play with him. Or will I? They won't know. I could say he woke up on his own.

I hate paperwork

It is so easy to postpone the paperwork until it piles up to a point where you have no choice but to get on with it. That is my situation with regard to my Passport renewal. You would think it was fairly straightforward. Not so. First of all, Canada requires renewal every five years and the pictures they want seem to involve a million little stupid specifications. The plus side of that is that you rapidly stop moaning about how god awful you look as you desperately try to work out how many millimeters your chin is from the top of your head. Then you need your Birth Certificate. After much searching, you find it but it looks dodgy. Never mind, it will have to do. They also want my Marriage License. That's fine. I guess I don't need it any more! Then there is the guarantor and the witnesses. When I finally get the new passport, it won't have my British Right of Abode stamp in it so I may well run into trouble "aboding" in the UK. Life was easier when I had a secretary.

The second big problem is one of which I am very ashamed. I find myself whining and complaining about the hard work involved in managing money. Just think of it. I am so lucky to have money to moan about but I guess everything is relative. I spent most of last week opening and closing accounts all over the place. This involved many telephone calls and e-mails. I'm finally getting there but only after taking Alison's advice to hire some help. As she is fond of saying, "Mum, you have money but you don't have time. You need staff." So I'm meeting tomorrow with My Financial Advisor. He is going to cost me a fortune but he makes house calls and I like him. I never realized how hopeless I was at looking after my own affairs. I can do a dinner party for 12 without breaking a sweat but start talking to me about stocks and shares and I'm a wreck.

Fortunately, Alison, Sian and The Fox are coming to Oxford at the weekend. It will be Harry's first look at the dreaming spires. The whole family is coming for lunch on Sunday including Vanessa. Chloe is going to spend Saturday night so that she will be here on Sunday morning to help with the preparations. She is a very good cook and a dab hand with a corkscrew.

Back in the Bucket

My Mummies will insist on the bath in the bucket routine. When they are old and decrepid, I'm going to buy a large bucket and make them bathe in it!!
My Grandma was here last weekend. She did nice things like give me a bottle, praise me when I burped and take me for refreshing walks in my new pram. I can tell she loves me.

Writing Class

My homework for tomorrow is to outline two plots for novels. Here they are.
15 January 2008

Mrs. Edwards Sorts the Family

Introduction: a happily married couple of 35 years. Having breakfast. Reading the paper and commenting on some of their children in relation to newspaper items. Husband retired. Wife still working part time as a speech therapist.

Rising Action: husband goes off to buy airconditioning unit for his study. He has a car accident. What is the outcome of this? He ends up in hospital severely injured. Wife goes to visit him. Son turns up. Children living away are notified and they turn up. Wife is going about in a daze. Children are worried about her. Everyone’s back story gets told through flashbacks in deathbed scenes with Dad. Dad dies after five days.

Crisis: All four children worried about what to do with mother. Mother announces after the cremation that she will be spending three months with each of her children in turn. Children are knocked sideways but feel that they can’t refuse. She makes it clear that she will not be with any one of them for more than their allotted three months. She says that they will all meet up back at the family home in one year’s time.

Falling Action: She starts her visits within a week and the next section of the book is about these three month visits. Each one could have its own crisis. Each little family has its own problems which she attempts to set right. This leads to conflict and the realization that you cannot fix other people and they cannot fix you. She comes away knowing herself much better.

Conclusion: A year later, the family meets up and the mother presents each one with a small jar with some of Dad’s ashes. They are each to scatter them according to how they think best. She saves a larger share for herself and announces that she will be taking them to her husbands homeland, South Africa, where she will scatter them.




Raising Annie

Introduction: A woman in her early 30’s is complaining to her husband about her lousy upbringing. She itemizes all the things her parents did and didn’t do to make her childhood a bad one. These are not instances of abuse or neglect, just the run of the mill criticism and lots of moaning. Her husband seems to agree with her. They are a childless couple.

Rising Action: The woman finds out that she could be a subject in a cloning experiment. She looks into it and agrees to do it as long as she can have the child that is produced. A baby is created which is an exact clone and she is given permission to raise it as her own. This is her dream come true. She can raise herself and undo all the mistakes her own parents made.

Crisis: Many incidents can be recounted during the ‘bringing up’ years. It leads in the end to the husband taking the child’s side against the mother to try to save the child from the influences of this woman who has gone bonkers. Can he do this without telling the child that she is a clone?

Falling Action: Many changes have to be made for this child to grow up in any kind of natural way. The parents, especially Mum, must rethink their lives and their choices.

Conclusion: Haven’t worked that out yet. Child grows up well and they live happily ever after? Child runs away? Parents live a life of regret?

I'm not sure which of the two to settle on. The first one would be easier because it is autobiographical, sort of. I know all the characters. The second one would be more interesting in a way but I would have to find out about cloning. I know you can't clone humans yet but I could pretend. Any comments are welcome.

Harry and his Mummies

Harry again

This is Harry in his bucket. It is a trendy baby bath about which he seems just a trifle unsure.

Harry Malcolm Williams

This is Harry the rugby player

This is Harry the intellectual

Computer breakdown

I came back from Eastbourne on Tuesday afternoon and when I tried to set up my computer, the internet wouldn't work. I tried everything I could think of, to no avail. Next day I rang the BT broadband provider people and spent almost 2 hours on the phone with a very helpful woman. Unfortunately, it still didn't work. I had been crying over this tragedy but I decided to pull myself together and call a Geek. He came to the house and spent 2 hours sorting my machine which was completely clogged with processes that were unnecessary. In the end, he succeeded and he was well worth the money I paid him. Back to Eastbourne - I was there for two days and had a wonderful time. It's the first chance I have had to get to grips with Harry. He is a wonderful baby. He feeds like a dream and sleeps like an angel. I tried very hard to get him to smile but he wasn't quite ready. I'll have to pop down again in a couple of weeks. Maybe he will be ready then. His hair remains very red and he is just too cute for words.

Into the New Year

I expected the New Year to see me quietly ensconced in my little cottage catching up on all my chores and projects. But it seems that I've been partying instead. This involves lovely dinners with Diana, Leo, Zoe and other friends. I'm out again tonight. Where will it all end? Adam is having his birthday party on Saturday. I don't know what he is planning to serve for beverage but he did tell me today that he hit his head on a radiator because he had been driving while drinking beer! What was he driving and where did he get the beer?? The children start back to school on Tuesday so maybe we can all settle down then. I’m going to Eastbourne on Sunday for a couple of days to enjoy Prince Harry & Co. I have to be back for Wed. when my writing course restarts. My homework is to think up and write a brief outline of three plots for novels. I have two of them but I’m stuck on the third. Any ideas?

Welcome 2008

Here is Joe and Adam - Opening presents at the Gee's - Charlie and Rosie - Christmas lunch with all of us.




HAPPY NEW YEAR
I woke up this morning with a happy hangover. My Book club had a New Year's Eve party last night and I celebrated the end of a very bad year. I feel so much better to have got 2007 behind me. Rachel made one of her excellent Sunday (New Year) lunches and then I took Rosie for a two mile walk. It was a warm and lovely day. I'm very lucky to have such children and grandchildren. Tonight I'm going next door for dinner with Diana. My neighbours are pretty terrific as well. Darcy took a lot of pictures on Christmas day and I'll post some of them.