What we did on the weekend.

Let's see...

Saturday morning we rose early to get the kids ready so we could go to Kerry Greenwood's book launch for her latest Corinna Chapman tale. We were stressing a bit about this, as we had been hearing dire warnings that the Westgate and Kings Way would be blocked solid due to interminable roadworks on the M1. I tried to allow as much time as possible, and checked the traffic on the web, and didn't quite believe it when the route showed as green the whole way. Mim wanted to get back in time to go to her bellydancing class at 1:00, and decided at the last moment that she would forgo the launch so that she could get to one class in three weeks (last week we were at my Grandmothers, next week we will be at my uncle's farm past Alexandra). As it turns out, the way in was clear.

I was worried that the girls would behave themselves (given the mentions in the book of obnoxious kids and their obnoxious parents), but I think they did quite well. Miss S wanted to see the goings-on, and demanded to be held up (at which point she would shove her tiger in my face and ask “can you see a tiger?”), and she could smell popcorn, and wanted it, and generally was bored out of her skull and just wanted to explore. But she is four, and she didn't run too far, and came back when asked. Abi was probably bored too, but was quieter about it. And they've had an experience that not many kids have. But still. They started showing signs of low blood sugar, and flat blank refused to try the rose-water muffins (and I didn't get a chance to try any myself...) or christmas cake, so I went to the cafe next door and got them some cake there. That fixed the blood sugar, but they were still antsy after the signing, so we vanished. (Sorry, bar_barra... without mimdancer there, I didn't feel competent enough to risk my luck, even to find people to give goodbyes to.)

And Mim hadn't needed bother miss it after all. Not only did we get back in time for her to leave, there was a Sooper Special event on at her bellydance studios, and normal classes were cancelled. Notification? Why would you need that? Surely everyone is excited enough to be going to the weekend-long series of classes as to not even bother going to the classes, and not need to be told, no? No?

Needless to say, when Mim returned, she was very calmly spitting blood in blank-faced fury. If she had known this beforehand, she could have gone to the launch, met our friends, we could have had a chance to talk, but no.


That night we went to dinner with Mim's father, as he was celebrating his ‘anniversary’ with his girlfriend. We arrived at the restaurant right about the time the girls are usually going to bed. Mim's father suggested we sit over in the corner. We sat near him. Not that it mattered, because when his friends turned up they just sat in the kids' chairs, and we were shunted off to the corner anyway. Mim's father's friends, by the way, are some of the ugliest people I've met. Selfish, crude, cold, arrogant, pushy, ugh. I would be perfectly happy to never meet them again.The kids, when we got them out of there at 9pm, were exhausted, but had been well behaved considering. Mim's father's response was to inform us that ‘it's good for them’, and seemed perplexed at why Mim is so angry with him.


Sunday morning, Mim and the girls were going to go to a craft market in Mornington with MiL, but they decided instead to go to Mim's sister's place, to help look after her, as she was unwell. I went to the Kindergarten working bee, were I worked, and thence to the Scribes' Guild meeting. Where I handed over a GoA scroll, and Þorfinn told me he would recommend to the provost of scribes that I am ready to take on a Peerage scroll.

And then I went home, and we had pizza delivered, and we sat and stared into space, and then we went to bed.

Next weekend looks almost as full. And the weekend after that. And after that, and...


Um, yeah.