Simple Woman's Daybook: 3rd January 2011

Outside My Window ... a cold evening, and a few pathetic damp flakes of snow. A final fling for December's cold and snow - January is forecast to be warmer.

I am thinking ... that I need to kickstart myself and move out of my Christmas and New Year energy slump.

From the learning rooms ... the girls go back to school on Wednesday. Star's first homework project for the new term has been posted on the school website - various drama related tasks, ranging from writing a short biography of a playwright to designing a theatre.

I am thankful ... for lots of family time over Christmas and New Year.

From the kitchen ... yikes! I have completely dropped the ball with menu planning. Must do some tomorrow. I need to go through the freezer and see what is in there that I have forgotten about. I know I have burgers, chicken fillets, meatballs and breaded cod, so they will be on the menu over the next week or two.

I am wearing ... grey cord trousers, grey and purple striped long sleeved t-shirt, hand-knitted bamboo socks (not the best yarn for socks - no stretch!).

I am creating ... things for myself. I knitted a hat over the last couple of days. I have started my aran cardigan - after three false starts trying to get the right mix of needle size and garment size I am six inches into the back - and a pair of chunky mittens. I also need to start a pair of socks for my brother. He got yarn and a promise of knitting for Christmas.

I am going ... to get organised. Ha! How many times do I say that to no effect?

I am reading ... The Tale of Holly How by Susan Wittig Albert (on the Kindle app on my iPad).

I am hoping ... we will soon have a working laptop. I had a minor coffee spill - at least, it looked a minor coffee spill, but the MacBook thought otherwise. Fortunately it was insured, and should be either repaired or replaced over the next couple of weeks.

I am hearing ... Tevye's TV and Star typing on the computer.

Around the house ... still in Christmas mode. I will take the tree and decorations down on Friday, after Twelfth Night.

One of my favourite things ... bargains! Angel, Star and I went shopping today and all managed to find some good stuff in the sales. I got a silky purple dress in Marks and Spencer for £19 reduced from £39, and a cropped jacket in New Look reduced to £5 from £30. I very rarely wear dresses, partly because I find it so hard to find any I like, and even harder to find anything I like that fits.

A few plans for the rest of the week ... Wednesday: orthodontic appointment for Angel, who is very close to the end of her braces phase, then out in the evening for Tevye's office Christmas meal that was postponed due to the snow; Thursday: record office; Friday: out to lunch with my Mum for the first time since her hospital stay; Saturday: First Communion classes start in the morning, in the afternoon Tevye and I are going on a shopping expedition to help him buy clothes (not something either of us relish, but needs must!), then I am playing with the brass band at a golf club in the evening.

A picture thought I am sharing ... none today, as I can't put pictures directly onto the iPad, some Christmas photos are on the MacBook (from where I may never be able to retrieve them - nothing I would be sad to lose, though), and some are still on the camera.

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