Gotta get organised

We are heading off a couple of days.  Over to England to see the rest of the family and to go to LONG:LEAT.  I've wanted to go there since I was a kid.  So very excited.

But first I need to make 40 mushrooms, a bow and a wedding cake.  Plus, I have to find my glasses.  How does one lose the glasses they are wearing??  Thankfully, have a spare pair or two but I really loved those glasses.  Sigh.

# 2 is desperately excited.  He really can't wait and I'm excited for him.  But first I've got so much to do, so here begins a list.  Another list.  Perhaps I should do lists of my lists?

• Clean out reptiles.
• Find someone who isn't freaked out by the idea of feeding said reptiles.
• Find glasses.
• Sort playroom, the place terrorises me!  How can three little people create such a mess.  Wouldn't mind if the playroom was at the back of the house but it's not.  It's right at the front.  Where people can look in and judge me!  LOL.
• Buy # 1 some new pairs of shorts - he's beat into the ones from last year.  The boy is growing like a weed.
• Find driver's licence.
• Buy birthday presents.
• Find glasses, would make it easier to do all of the above.
• Drink lots of water - boy, but it's humid here.
• Find the back of the camera.  #3's camera, apparently it's my fault it's gone.
• Remember to bring pillows.  I like my pillow.  Cos I'm a sap.
• Find glasses.
• Pack rain jackets, sun hats and sun cream.
• Tax car.
• Wash, iron, tidy stuff away.
• Tidy stuff away,just in case neighbours need to come in and see what a slattern I am.
• What a slattern Himself is.  He's the one who seems to be holding it all together right now.  Three cheers for Himself.
• Return the book I bought last Thursday.  The one I've read and still bought twice since??
• FIND BLOODY GLASSES!

Okay, so underneath is my list of, er, Resolutions. This is my list of things I really, really like.

Lists of lovely things or a list of things I love:
Stationary Shops.  As in 'paper' not ones that are in the one place all the time.  Do love pop up shops too.  
Cookbooks.  They're my porn.  At least that's what G tells me.
My boys feet.  The little boys not Himself's big hairy hoofs
.Lists.  Are you surprised?
Homemade presents.
My Wii.
Having people in my life who've known me nearly as long as I've known me.
Meeting people who are going to become the people who will know me nearly as well as I know me.
Family, some of it anyway xx
Comebacks.  Usually other peoples.  I only ever manage to come back with a comeback once in a blue moon.
Swimming.  In the pool.  In the sea.  Anywhere.  
Decent bookshops where you can play for hours.
Mr. Whatshisname from 500 days of summer and Inception.
Jameson Whiskey.
All those wonderful web people / bloggers and so on that make my day a wee bit more interesting.
Live music.  
Live comedy too and the theatre.Cheese and olives and pate - thanks Leesa.
The pictures - the moving kind.
Pictures - the ones you hang on your wall.Portmarnock Strand and the little beach at Balbriggan.
Fireworks!!!!
Hallowe'en.
Mix tapes.  Or cd's or usb sticks or whatever you're having yourself these days.
A good hang sanger.
Being barefoot.
Paddling.
A good, as in 'eeking it out 'good', book.  
Lying in the sunshine, in the quiet just listening to kids playing or water running or the bumblebees buzzing around.
Cooking.
Cooking for friends.
Baking a cake that rocks it from the very beginning.
Flowers.  Selling them and finding and buying them.
Reading for hours without interruption.
Baking/cooking/creating in my kitchen.  ESPECIALLY in the summer when I can open the back wall.
Noise and chaos.
Cup of good tea - usually made by himself.
Tomatoes.
The zoo.
Kisses.  Especially those from old friends newly seen and the boys.
Prince and Neil Hannon.Having my eyes opened to something new.
Naps.
Fresh anything...food, flowers, music, love.
Billy.
Pretty dishes.
Cycling.
The sea.
Olives
Losethatgirl.com 
Old things with a bit of history.
The color green.
Kerry - not my mate Kerry, although I do love her but Kerry in Western Ireland.  Go there once a year with my pal Carol.
My little family.
My lot of friends.The perfect song at the perfect moment.
Homemade ice cream.  Feck that, homemade anything.
Birthday presents.
Rex and Max.
Butterflies.  But,  BUT, only provided they don't land on me.  They are, after all, glorified spiders.
Spring and Autumn and Summer and Winter I guess.
Holidays and being able to take them.
Simplicity.
Flea and Farm Markets.
Giggling.
Giggling with friends at the flea market.
Cake.  Though not as much as I once loved it although a good lemon tart can make me weep.
Thunderstorms.  Actually, any kind of storm.  Best enjoyed from the indoors out.
Snow.  Not sure about this one anymore - after our three week spell.  Love snow when it's clean and gorgous but hate it when it's slushy and wet and yuk.
Learning.
Laughing.

She's Alive. She's alive!!!

But only just.  Hanging on in here by the skin of my teeth.  Desperate headache that I am refusing to feed with more drugs as I am convinced that's what my body wants.  Drugs or water?  One or the other.  So I guess I should drink more water.  And have a shower.  And get to the bottom of the list of stuff I have to do.  Writing the list would be a good place to start too I guess.

It's been a mental couple of weeks.  Did the market.  Realised we were a little over ambitious with our jars of cookie mix.  Turns out not everyone likes to bake.  Not even if you write the instructions big and make it fun and easy.  Thing is, I kinda get it.  I love to bake.  Love to eat the results too.  But I don't really like baking with the boys, it stresses me out.  Something I have to get over as they have noticed that I bake with other kids and, according to the photos, seem to enjoy it.  How to explain to them that I do enjoy it because it's in someone else's kitchen and I don't have to clean up the mess.  Still, going to do something nice with them tomorrow.  Tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday (my birthday - whooohooo) are my last free days before Christmas.  As such I should be getting well stuck in and tackling all I have to do here.  An example (in no particular order - as usual) 

• Write Christmas cards.  ESPECIALLY the ones that need to leave the country for different continents.
• Sit down and order food for dinner online (cheers Shinners - thanks to your good self I am building my basket in Superquinn.  Delivery is booked for the 22nd and I don't have to fight with traffic.
• Fight with traffic to get remaining presents.
• Work out where I'm going to put 8 adults and 3 boys to sleep on Christmas Eve.
• Hoover.  Everywhere.  Guests coming.
• Source remaining presents.  It's starting to scare me now.
• Change all beds.
• Feed the birds (damn, got that Mary Poppins song in my head now).
• Empty dishwasher.
• Dust.
• Empty my floordrobe.
• Recycling.
• Be at school to paint kids so that they do actually resemble kings, sheep, donkeys, cows and camels!!
• Hoover garden so that it doesn't look so grotty.  Bloody birds throwing their seeds everywhere. 
• Do a dance so it DOESN'T snow.  Can't cope with snow until Christmas eve.
• Make: a Christmas cake, another Christmas cake, a Rubik's cube and 3 ginger cakes.

Am looking at this list and it doesn't actually seem that daunting so why am I doing so much avoiding getting down to it?  I mean, if I just started at the top and worked my way down I'm sure I'd get somewhere . . .  . . but . . . .  me and the borrowed boy want to play with the lego.  I also want to stay in jammies for as long as possible.  It's cold outside.  Etc. etc.