March has turned into February

It’s grey, wet and dismal outside, just like last month basically. I know this bad weather isn’t exactly breaking news but whereas it came into the week with drama it’s leaving the week like a grey, oppressive, slightly damp blanket. My March bounce has fizzled under the drizzle, I’m drowning under dirty laundry and as usual we’re broke.

Me and Boy Lacer went into town (again) this afternoon whilst Girl Lacer was at nursery, principally to get some ham (we’re completely out of sandwich fillings, oh the exciting life I lead) but really the thought of an afternoon of (much needed) housework following a morning of (much needed) housework was too much so I was looking for an excuse to escape, so I went off in search of some bright shiny shop lights and dragged the poor Boy Lacer window shopping again. I am a great believer (read escape artist) in the principal of ‘going for a walk’; when Girl Lacer was a baby we lived in basically a dormitory suburb with not much to do, so when I used to take her for walks all I could do was wander round the empty streets with only builders and other bored mums with babies as signs of human life. Now where we live there’s a great big shiny shopping centre down the road, filled with chains I used to be able to afford to shop in when we were on two salaries, so today I checked out Monsoon, where they have some lovely 70s inspired Indian tops at far from 70s prices, I discovered a new cookbook I want in Waterstones called In the Mood for Food by Jo Pratt, which looks lovely, just the sort of food I cook and I ate a way too big bar of chocolate.

So after the ham was actually purchased, me and Boy Lacer returned to pick up Girl Lacer from nursery, 20 minutes early, so we had to wait outside in the aforementioned drizzle. We returned via the playing field that is between us and the school, so the Boy Lacer could toddle along without getting in anyones way. About half an hour later (Boy Lacer walks very slowly) we were finally at the gate the other side of the playing field and Girl Lacer rushed the final yards home ahead as usual, however she rushed back, just before me and Boy Lacer were about to enter our front gate, a parcel in her hand and a little bit of stardust on a dreary day.

The Battle for Gullywith by Susan Hill, I ‘won’ it on her blog (I was one of the first twenty people to put my name in the comments section for that particular post), it’s won on the condition that once I’ve read it, it goes to a school, so I’ll be donating it to Girl Lacer’s school, ooh about next Monday (this will definitely not take long to read). I’ve already managed to read the first chapter (I sneaked into the kitchen and shut the kitchen gate) and well if the first chapter is anything to go by it’s going to be very very good. Girl Lacer is already looking forward to when she’s old enough to borrow it from the school library (although I suspect I may end up buying a copy anyway!)