The Green issue

Having written about trivial issues for the last little while , house frau complaints and whinges about uncouth children I am now gearing up my committment to all things "green".While we remain one of the last people to have a Hybrid vehicle in our street , we are the first and only in the street to use a washing line.I am AMAZED that in this climate where washing dries within the hour Americans still put their washing in the drier!!! can you imagine how much energy is lost and while the californians make a big noise about driving Hybrids- putting washing on the line is clearly sniffed at and just a step too far in airing ones dirty laundry. One of the biggest differences between Europeans and the US is that we love a washing line , even drisley old England with its 15 hours of sunshine a year people still optimistically hang out their washing . Whats more spin driers not only wreck the enviroment but they also wreck and shrink your clothes. To be fair Californians are clearly getting a grip of some things .. There is an enormous march organised in Beverly Hills against bottled water - how we are not only getting ripped off but the land fills that are overflowing with with excess plastic. So I expect to see the well heeled taking to the streets in protest.
So this week I have bought biodegradable washing liquid and various green accessories. The great excitement of the week is that Philip has discovered radio 4 online , so I have listened to Womens hour, the news , Jonathon Ross and Chris Evans... it makes the UK feel very far away ,and rather odd. I did not find Jonathon ross funny as I once did-am I becoming soft?!!!!

My screen debut

After the longest school holidays known to man-Gabriels lasted 10 weeks-its back into a gruelling routine of three differnt children at 3 different schools all of whom have o be there at 8am-so i have been in stratergy mode , trying to organise school runs and making a nuisance of myself to parents at Graces new school. I thought i had hit the jack pot with the car pool as one of Graces schoolmates lives litterally round the corner. I made an eager phone call and counted my many chickens before they were hatched. The Father phoned me back in raptures about saving the planet and what a good idea it was as their kid was an only child.. etc etc.. My prayers had been answered all was sorted but then at 8am the next morning the Mother called only to say that it would not work..for some reason I have taken this news very badly and I know these people who I have never met are perfectly within their rights to "Pass" on the car pool but I am certain that I am missplacing my new girl anxiety onto other areas-is that analytical enough for you?? I am trying to resist bitter and cynical retribution but I am afraid it is I who is back in the playground and not my 12 year old child.
On a lighter note , Philip and i were priviliged to be asked to an early screening of our freind Bernard Roses new film in which I have a cameo appearance and Philip has a small talking part. It was clever and dark and and ripped along- Danny Houston the lead was very compelling. It was screeened in the location where it was shot , in the beautiful Beverly hills hacienda.Lets hope it reaches the big screen!!

Cancun

We managed to sandwich our holidays inbetween hurricanes Dean and Felix in central mexico.Yet again we chose the very parent friendly Club Med which to our great suprise was very 5 star in Cancun.6 million had been spent on renovations . While my sportaholism let loose ( I was playing tennis, water skiing and doing water aerobics all within a 3 hour period) Philip prefered the spa. The water skiing consisted of being towed along in a crocodile infested lagoon -I JOKE NOT!!- I spotted at least 3 -which luckily for me put alot of people off and therefore no queues- Apparently the crocs are so afraid of the speed boats no one has been eaten for 20 years.The only downer was being pulled in by customs at 2 am in the morning on the way back due to my strange visa , they took me into a room full of uniformed people which made Gabriel very concerned "Are you in Jail , Mum" he asked

The brown calling card left in a drawer

Another week of fun and frollicks. there was no camp for the children this week so I was the master of entertainments.Luckily our freinds Pete and Lila were visiting from England with their brood 4 CHILDREN-can you imagine!??..the thought of it gives me palpitations and sweats .So it was down to Santa Monica for surfing..errr boogie boarding-Our latest outdoor craze. The next morning I thought I smelt something odd in my six year old sons room..Odd-nastie-odd sewage...I started to search for the source of the smelly smell...under beds , in beds ,eventually I looked through his bedside drawers and voila! He had wraped a piece of his very own poo in some loo paper(considerate for those who would have to pick it up) and placed it in his drawer along with half a rotten lemon..this was the beginnng of my day.start as you mean to go on.Off to mexico tomorrow to bask in the debris of hurricane Dean..what fun

birthdays

This week I got the flu while temps here rose to 105 degrees for several days on the trot. While I snivelled and sneezed I managed to dodge a liver Biopsy only to find out i did not actually need one after all and that my liver was like that of a 20 year old !! Imagine- if only that could be applied to the rest of my being..I was very hyped for this traumatic event and preparing myself for high drama not to say self pity. While i rejoice in my new found liver rejuvenation there are still other areas that need sorting.. i also pride myself on 22 years of being a vegetarian and not drinking coffee..This week also saw many preparations for Graces Birthday, which included a shopping frenzy, taking a gaggle of 6 girls for a manicure-pedicure (in England i would never have dreamed of having such proceedures -now it is second nature), then onto the cinema and then for the evenings finally - a sleepover! A good time was had by all.(except Gabriel who was heart broken at not being allowed to sleep with the girls)

Tissues for my Health issues

I am going to be charged with blog abuse..I have left it so long..What a week I have had .. packed with mini dramas..In England we only go to the doctor if we are ill or in my case near death ( infact i have often left out the middle man and gone straight to casualty). Here health is big BIG business-The Americans do preventative medicine and yearly check ups . cat scans , cameras up the arse etc. I had a medical in may -the first one in my life I might add at the age of 43- if was rather invasive actually and highly unpleasant, but the nice doc kept it light talking about surfing school and Trader Joes (as one does while looking at someones Nether Regions) while I squirmed as he prodded and poked in awkward places.He tested me for every thing imagionable and the results arrived the following day displaying a series of nasties such as anemia , underactive thyroid etc.WOW..he told me I should be injesting iron by the gallon.So as a result of the over zealous medical profession here I am due to have a liver biopsy next friday and am in a medication quandry ..martyr and nothing or full "freelapse" and sedative???we will see.

Rosette

I have been very slack with the poor old blog and neglected it for over a week..oh dear...Alot of the week has been devoted to sporty actvities which are unavoidable in CA. I ride once a week and my teacher David persuaded me to take part in a dressage competition ( the lowest level of course) He said it would be good for me.(humbling certainly) With much resistance I put on my white shirt and breeches (compulsary attire at the Equestrian Centre) not to mention gloves and half chaps and braced myself to compete against various 6 year olds. Mercifully I was spared that humiliation as the other competitors were adults. We were asked to do a simple routine around the paddock , two circles at a trot and to bow to the judges.Luckily i managed to get round the track withut a major mishap and the judge said she liked my blouse which she thought "cute' I knew this was a bad sign as the shirt was obviously better than my riding.Any way i was then presented a with a rosette for 4th place( i think there were only 4 in the competion) but did not ask so that I could fantasise about being 4th in 20 or 30.
My next competative encounter was with my friend Shelly who is so gentle and sweet but turned out to be a fiend on the tennis court. She is one of those people who plead incompetant and turn out to be A1 athletes. (Was she in the 2001 Olympics?)We had a "friendly" game of tennis where she proceeded to wipe the floor with me.My teeth gritted throughout muttering to myself that I was raising my game..