Birthday grump.

It was my birthday on Sat. Im 31 now, going on 78. My mother took the children (which admittedly was nice of her) for a weekend so me and Colin got to spend some time together. Well Sat anyway. We were planing to go to Kew Gardens but it was raining and without driving it would have taken us 2 hours to get there. So we went to Tate Modern instead. I didnt bring my camera with me today, so i'll post some pictures later. It was nice and i got a great book for Leo from their shop. After that we indulged in a long peaceful walk along the southbank of the Thames, past the National Festival Hall and the Wheel down to Waterloo. There i remembered that i saw on Ravelry a knitting shop iKnit just around the corner from there, so we went to check it out. It was a lot smaller than i thought, they evidently used wide angle lens to take photos of it for their website. I asked the owner about their weekly meetings and he told me that yes, they have weekly meetings and 20-50 people turn up. Well first, i cannot possibly imagine 50 people fitting into that shop without it being some kind of train in a rush hour experience, second there is a bar there! You see i dont drink, i have intolerance to alcohol so the idea of being stuck standing up with a lot of drunk women in a very small space does not rock my boat. Not one bit. And the owner told me (proudly) that yes, on meeting days there tend to be more drinking and chatting than knitting. Hmmm.

Anyway, they had a sale on so i got myself some Noro Cash Iroha 2 balls in purple and Regia Sock yarn in beautiful varigated whites with pastel rainbow colors. Love love love varigated yarn.

So after that we had lunch in a small Japanese place in Soho and then got some DVDs and went home, to curl up in front of Sin City. I liked it. Violent yes, but beautiful too.
On Sunday it was party time. I started cooking at 10am, people were coming at 3pm. Now i would much rather not to have a party, but you know Russians, they like to celebrate every possible occasion so i sort of had to for my family.

I made a massaman prawn curry, fragrant rice, yellow mung dal, lime and ginger chicken hot pot with sweet potatoes and grated beetroot with garlic and herbs. For dessert i made a poppy seed and tahini roll and carrot cake. I really did cook a lot of food.

My mother arrived in a terrible mood. Absolutely rotten. And from then on it all just went down the hill, with her criticizing everything about me, my house, my way of life, the way i look and the way i bring my children up. With a full blast of " your children will grow dumb because you dont spend time with them and you will burn in hell because you have a Buddha statue in your bedroom". And so on and so forth for 4 hours non stop. Now i know my mother and i know how difficult she is at times, but it was my birthday party and i did make a huge effort cooking. So i could do with a well done or thank you or any of those things. And so eventually my patience run out and i told her (very calmly, honest) that if she hated everything about me and my life so much, then she should leave. To which of course she grabbed her coat and my 15 year old sister and stormed out. Well she tried to storm out but it didnt quite work because she forgot first her bag then her umbrellar and had o send my little sister to fetch it.
So there, im still a bit uneasy about the whole thing and i know she is my mum and all, but iam not apologizing, and im not even feeling guilty. There has to be a limit to how much abuse i can take at one time. And that was it.

Hell

I think if hell exist then my personal hell would be that job i have just finished. i had to change all the colors to the one two tones colder. like red to yellow, orange to
green, yellow to blue on the pictures of dancing people, that includes their skin. Now
go figure that one. My eyes hurt!

Super Leo

In Leo's nursery teachers have asked parents to create a front page for child's achievement book. It had to represent something that the child likes. So today, when there was a break between jobs coming in, me and my darling husband came up with this masterpiece:


I admit it is slightly over the top, but hey, it made everyone laugh and Leo will surely love it. So it must be good!

Obsessive behavior

This is where my true craziness comes out: obsessing over things. I have been looking for a book that i dont remember the name or the writer of, but remember the plot. It was given to me by a good friend of my ex husband about 9 years ago, and after reading it i have lent it to my sister's ex boyfriend never to see it again. I have completely forgot about it until something in my head (probably some chemical instability) made me
remember it and so i have been feeling in desperate need to read it again for past .. five weeks! It is terrible. Im trying to go on about my daily life as usual, but there is that constant nagging thought in my mind about the book, and what i can possibly do to find it. I have spoken to my sister in hope she could remember the name of the guy (of course she laughed) then i spoke with my mother wondering if she remembered the name of the guy (she told me to stop waisting her time). Then i have registered with 4 sci fi forums, describing the plot to see if anyone recognizes it (the book is sci fi) still no result. I am even considering contacting my ex to try to get the contact of his fried that gave me the book in the firs place. And i know that is a bad idea. But im so desperate it hurts. Now does that sound just a bit crazy? So, if anyone does read my blog, please, please i beg you, do you have any ideas how would i find a book by just its plot?

He won

He came, he saw, he won. Im happy. And hopeful that the change will come. And that he won't be shot by some crazed skinhead. And i hope for the end of this war. He has a lot to show for himself, and i hope he does.

Catch up

I know, i haven't been very good lately in blogging, we were extremely busy last week, not so much this week, but the time just seem to fly past me...
So we were doing H&M advertising for spring/summer09 last week, well still bits and bobs this week, and some Children in Need Pr stuff, so we are pretty busy with all that. So much so im writing this instead of working. And i have been knitting, im half way up one of the sleeves on the Christmas Cobblestone. And of course it is election day today, and even though we cant vote, we can pray that Obama wins. I guess we will find out soon enough.
And on Sunday we went to the Natural History Museum to see dinosaurs. It took us 3.5 hours to get there across London, because London transport doesnt actually work on Sunday. But oh well, children loved it so i guess it was worth it in the end. Some pictures:

On being a foreigner.

Yesterday night was the first time my English-speaking baby has realized that i have an accent when i speak English. We were talking about Scooby Doo and i was saying something about his friend Wendy when Leo said:
-Mommy, its Wendy, not Vendy.
-Thats what i said, Leo, Wendy.
(Looking at me with amusement) No Mommy, its Wendy!
-Yes, Wendy.
(Starting to laugh) It Wendy Mommy!
-Thats what im saying! Wendy!
(Leo, bursting out laughing) Wendy Wendy Wendy!!!
(me,irritatedly) Wendy Wendy Wendy!
Leo laughs so had he falls off the sofa and i stomp into the kitchen. Its tough being a foreigner! Even your own 4 year old laughs at your accent.