Pootling along

Nothing of any great importance happening here. Tamsin's had 3 mornings at playschool this week, while I've finally made a start on trying to get our finances back in order, which have been completely ignored since before Isabelle was born. I've also made slight progress on my To Do List, which has been hanging in the kitchen making me feel guilty but still unmotivated for about 3 weeks. I defrosted both freezers, and it felt great to cross that one off the list. One job down, 20 more to go....

I was unexpectedly on the radio yesterday! A friend who has what seems to be Gloucestershire's only cloth nappy business phoned to say there was a phone-in on Radio Gloucestershire about real nappies, and please would I phone in because so far there were only old ladies calling about how they used to have to boil terry squares in copper pans for hours on end! I did phone the number she gave me, without much of a clue as to what I wanted to say, and felt I was a bit vague and disjointed with what I said to the assistant to whom I spoke, so really didn't expect a call back to go on the show. However, after managing to track down the station on the internet and listening in (couldn't get the station on our normal radios), I was somewhat surprised to hear the DJ announce that "in a few minutes we'll be speaking to Joanna, who's really enthusiastic about using real nappies...". Sure enough, about 5 minutes later I got a call, and spoke for about 5 minutes on air about nappies! I rambled on about the ease of use, money-saving, chemical- and waste-free benefits, and about the lack of poo smells in my kitchen despite a nappy bin etc! I dunno if he was convinced, but I did my best!

Please excuse me now while I have a bit of a rant. I'm feeling frustrated that I can't find a cheap enough skiing holiday to go on. Skiing is something I just knew I would completely adore before I ever did it, and sure enough when I first went for a week in France in about 1988 I loved it. I also did one day on some slopes near Pittsburgh when visiting my brother in the USA in about 1992/3, but that's it! Since then, lack of money has simply prohibited any opportunity to go at all, not helped by the fact that Bill didn't really take to it, so wasn't keen. But having had my 40th birthday in August, I felt it was the best way I could think of to treat myself, and decided to see if we could go in March or thereabouts. But, bearing in mind this has all got to come from non-existent money (aka credit), I had forgotten in my mental calculations that we will be paying for 3 full-price tickets plus an infant, as there seem to be precious little discounts for children on skiing holidays. So I just can't find anything for less than about £1100-1200 and we just can't do that .... So unless I find an astonishingly good last-minute deal somewhere, I think it probably isn't going to happen, again, and I will have to yearn my way sadly through yet another skiing season.

Oh, but I have booked for HESFES! My first time, and it'll be just me and the girls, leaving DH to a blissful week at home with uninterrupted nights and Brio-free days.