Lasers, Fantastic Beasts and Gagging Over Dinner

What is it about kids and animals that they never seem to sit or sleep on the expensive things you’ve bought them? Take, for instance, Casper (pictured) who will not lie in the lovely and not cheap dog basket I bought him, but lolls about the stairs as if it’s the comfiest place on Earth. And then there’s the kids who refuse to sleep under their (also not cheap) duvets and sleep on top of their beds. I need to turn the heating off in their rooms – that’ll soon make them shift under the covers! Hee hee hee (evil mum laugh!).

Anyway, how’s things? Hope you’re well. We’ve had a full on week again. Last Saturday, I got up early to take the boy to Laser Quest in the southside of Glasgow for his birthday. He’s just turned nine so he and six friends spent the morning shooting each other with lasers and coming out all red-faced and smiling. They then ate pizza and drank diluting juice til it was coming out of their ears. He said it was the best birthday he’d ever had. Myself and the girl waited for them all in a waiting area, shivering in the cold (they had not put the heating on) and listening to the racket of various parties of excited weans as they came in to do various activities. It was all over by 11.30am and I was relieved to get out of the cold and noisy atmosphere and into a warm car.

That afternoon my parents came over and we ate some cake. It was a Stormtrooper cake I purchased at M&S and was nice. I normally bake cakes, but my oven is playing up…it doesn’t cook things evenly which is a nuisance. Note to self: need new cooker.

Anyway, a few days before the Laser Quest visit, I went to a place I hadn’t been to in years and, do you know what? It looks exactly the same. The place: The Griffin Bar, Glasgow. The reason: lunch with my middle sister. The verdict: loved it and had a nice lunch there. Will definitely go back. I used to meet my sister there when she was at art school, it was a favourite haunt of her and her friends. It was good to be back.

I said I’d had a busy week and it was, but it was full of things that aren’t exactly riveting to talk about (mainly cleaning up after the dogs and kids). I have been continuing to write though and make myself write at least 500 words a day on work days and 1000 words a day on non work day. Seems a lot of words, but it’s not really. I’m about halfway through this book.

Talking of books, I finished the Miss Buncle Married book and am now on to Mr and Mrs Haddock Abroad. I can’t remember the author but the book is basically about a couple and their daughter travelling to Europe. It’s meant to be comedic, but I’m finding all the muddles and misunderstandings a bit tedious. I’ll let you know how I get on.

With reference to films now and I took the kids to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I liked it, despite it being a bit predictable (if you’ve seen it you’ll know the bit I mean…at the end with the big reveal of the baddy). The kids didn’t. They moaned about it walking back to the car and I wondered why I had bothered taking them. In fact, the boy spent half the film whispering (sotto vocce) whether it was finishing or not. Very annoying! I liked it and I think I’ll like it even more when I watch it again when it comes out on DVD. The human characters were great, but the star of the show for me was the little mole like creature that loved shiny things (I think they may have based it on a honey badger). Anyway, I want one. If only it were real!

Right, I am going to finish here. I have a lovely meal to prepare that no doubt my children will turn their noses up at, shout “Ew” and make gagging noises. You would think I was trying to poison them sometimes. The other day the boy made a huge fuss because I told him we were having Spaghetti Carbonara.