Googleween

So here is a totally unique experience, Halloween Google style.  So today we went, along with Darth Vader, Super Mario and a sort of dinosaur/frog/monster to check out the activities, and of course, in Google style everything was in abundance, well executed, well attended and, most importantly free.  It has struck me that many of the things Google does, and make available could be done over in the UK too, the volleyball courts, the infinity swimming pools, ping pong tables, massage chairs, electric pianos (with headphones) etc etc except for A) the cost to the company, it would have to be a very successful, profitable company B) better weather.  I think the unpredictable nature of the UK weather there are things that are done over here that just couldnt be done at home, swimming in external infinity pools in the rain just doesnt appeal..... :-(  Some great costumes though, many little mermaids and various star wars characters (including a baby dressed as Yoda - cool!), but the best of the day was the banana (adult) holding their son, dressed as a monkey :-)  I liked that a lot!  Also i loved the reptile area, a giant tortoise, geckos, turtles, tarantualas, many many snakes including a couple of Boas - they were amazing, many of these we could touch, it was great to see the large tortoise.  Well done Google, a good event!

Catch up, catch up

Ooo time is slipping by.  I keep meaning to write but then the need to do something else over takes me. Right now I had promised myself I was going to gen up on Richard III - I am going to see it with KEVIN SPACEY in it in San Fran on Wed night and I dont know the play at all.... Shakespeare is always better if you have a clue about what is going on!  I love Hamlet, but studied it to death for A Level.  Anyhow, on top of that I have been nesting like mad, so we have a lot of little chores completed, patching boys holey trousers, moving furniture, sourcing furniture solutions (fingers crossed new bunk bed tonight to help tidy the mess that is Son#1's room), clearing out garage, organising all the paper work that comes home from school - etc etc.  AND I am getting into the swing of things preparing for the Christmas sale.  I was at pottery last night and stayed later than I expected but paid the price later from too much standing (v achy sore back), although I did get tree decs made, 2 clocks and a mug glazed and 2 more mugs built....  Also we have the count down to Halloween so that involves getting costumes sorted out (Check), treats bought (er, not check), and some pumpkin cake made, and pot luck food for scouts decided upon, bought then prepared..... still a few things to get done there.  Also, rather annoyingly the camera has mysteriously bust. so I need to source and buy a new one, but the flaw in that plan is NO MUN, luckily it was just a 'cheap' (ie $100, gulp) one.   Hmmmmm need to have a think about that......  Have decided to sell my didge internet radio as I am now relying on my ipod and a ipod dock for BBC radio 2 and its is doing quite well, it even seems to do Listen Again shows, which it didn't do before, so the Internet Radio is now redundant.  Don't think I will get it in time for the class Halloween party on Friday tho in order that I can buy a new camera....

Tiredness and time

Oh it really hit me yesterday, I woke up sore and hobbled about all day, then as the day wore on I because hit with the full force of tiredness.  I dragged myself to pottery and only stayed 2 instead of 3 hours.  Then last night, despite my tiredness had the worst sleep ever. So this is it, for the next 2.5 months...... It seems the only decent sleep I get is my nap in the middle of the day.  And the time, where is it going to, everything seems to be crammed into the little empty chunks.  I have started reading Neglected, by Lisa Genova, and so far it is about a mum of 3 with a high powered job and huge financial commitments, and the lifestyle she maintains on a daily basis makes me think a) she is mad, really really mad b) I must be lazy.   I don't (think) I judge working mums, I just dont know where they get the energy. I am usually there for the kids but even then don't have the energy to listen to everything or pay attention all the time. I am resentful I don't have as much time as I'd like to be a human being, so how would I cope if I had a job on top of all that.  And the ridiculous thing is that I kind of yearn to have a bit of an income and a bit of self worth, that I think I could only get through some kind of job.  I thin the answer might be self employment, in an area I really enjoy, which is why I am pursing crafty things, but that is me and all the other stay at home mums so Lord knows how I would  make it work vs all the other stay at home mums in the same boat.  I have started putting together some things pottery and crochet-wise for a Christmas craft fair being organised by the boys PTA but I really need to ramp up production as the fair is on 1 Dec and come the evening (optimum crafting time) I am usually bushed and during the day I am usually busy.  Come on Kirsten, sort it out!!!!

Halloween

We've been here just over a year now, so its interesting to see all the different holiday preparations all over again.  We started really with 4th July, then Labor day now Halloween is ramping up.  Already, a month before the big event people are decorating their homes and Halloween paraphernalia has been on sale for at least a month already.  Halloween is big here.  Growing up in England, for me, Guy Fawkes night was always bigger, but in NI and Ireland Halloween has been quite the event the last few years, especially in Derry!  But I think we are all being subjected to the influence of our transatlantic cousins and now we are seeing more and more Halloween celebrations over in the UK.  Here, they have the Thanksgiving/Fall celebrations, and the decorations are subtly different, still plenty of orange and brown/black colours but the Thanksgiving decorations involve turkeys and scarecrows; Halloween is more witches and goolies and ghosts.  The two older boys will both have been on visits to pumpkin farms by the end of today, and all over the place are 'fake' pumpkin patches, that will no doubt turn into Christmas tree farms once Halloween is over.

Eoin came home yesterday from a trip with the scouts, laden with his own enormous pumpkin (eek, what am I going to do with it - quick, need a recipe for pumpkin pie), and tales of hay rides and pumpkin shooting.  When asked what he shot the pumpkin with the said 'a pumpkin gun of course', yes of course, silly me.  I expect Finn to come home from school today with another, hopefully smaller pumpkin after his class trip, but these are things they would definitely not get to do a home.  Subtle differences.  At home the weather is very autumny, rainy and windy - here it is cooler but pleasant and sunny, still wearing short sleeves most of the time and summer pjs still.