Kids back to normal school timetable today OMGWOW. Am torn between "woo yay!" and "oh crap," because suddenly I have to revive my dozen weekly alarms (not just waking up, but managing the kids' complicated school and hobby schedules), and not only that, suddenly I myself am expected to do stuff. The pressure is back… Continue reading Ok, break’s over: 5 things 8.6.20

Both kids back at school, after a slow start since M was still coughing and had to miss the first of this two days a week. But imagine the happiness when the time finally came. Never has (near) normality been such a thrill.We had friends over for dinner. Well, drinks that turned into dinner. It's always… Continue reading Ups, downs and dead ends: 5 things 25.5.20

State of quarantine: filing my nails now counts as an achievement, but to be fair, it kind of always felt that way. This post is coming to you two days late, partly because Monday sort of slipped by me (I mean who the hell knows what day it is any more) and partly because I've… Continue reading Real life threatens to return: 5 things 6.5.20

Stage of cabin fever: alternating between smug satisfaction at cooking/baking efforts and extreme grump at having to cook ALL THE DAMN TIME. Similarly, C alternates between randomly declaring "I'M BORED" and "I LOVE MY FAMILY" (and has rearranged her room twice more, with at least one more effort planned). She has also opened a "restaurant"… Continue reading Mood swings, mood roundabouts: 5 things 14.4.20

Cabin fever status: day drinking (and bedtime boozing). Sourdough, like everybody else. Experimenting with eyeshadow like I'm 13 again. Oh, and C has rearranged her furniture three times. And, amazingly enough, the kids seem to have settled into a mellow mode for mockdown,* in which they (sometimes) hang out together and (mostly) nobody winds up… Continue reading Talking ’bout a revolution: 5 things 6.4.2020

A few weeks ago I happened to be listening to War of the Worlds and it was just a fun slice of retro. Now it feels really quite painful. All that apocalypse! The incredibly sudden and bewildering break with life as you know it! The virus! Eish. Still excellent choons, though, obviously. Current stage of quarantine… Continue reading NA NA NA NAAAAA: 5 things 30.3.2020

So it's officially a pandemic and while that surprises exactly no one, exactly no one knows what to actually expect, or how to find the balance between paranoid and not paranoid enough. Life is obviously not going to be normal for the next few weeks or months. But how bad is bad? We've cancelled Claudia's… Continue reading Shit’s getting weird: 5 things 16.3.20

In the spirit of celebrating small victories, let me report that I'm feeling quietly smug about managing to keep the house moderately clean and presentable. Very moderately. My standards are pretty low. But we have a fairly steady cleaning routine and it basically works and I greatly enjoy that weekly feeling of having Done Right… Continue reading Shiny: 5 things I’m getting right, 9.3.20