Rainy

A few people have left comments, wanting to know how the frugality challenge is going. The quick answer: Um, could have been better. It's been completely snot city around here, with poor old Grumbles hacking away like a seasoned smoker for the last week. Which meant that we copped out and bought lots of juice (in plastic bottles, gasp!) which I'd banned for the month, because I am tight and water is good enough for us, got it?!, and also treated ourselves to some rented DVDs.

The DVDs may have been more trouble than they were worth. I grabbed Curious George, because it was cute and it featured a monkey. Grumbles loves monkeys. Too much, it appears, as all she wants to do now, every second of the day, is 'watch the monkey, Mummy!' It wouldn't be so bad, but the lead guy is voiced by Will Ferrell, who would have to be the actor in the world who most makes my skin crawl. Seriously - if I know he's in a movie, than it's all over, red rover. I will barely be able to sit throught it, let alone admit that it might be good, I find him THAT annoying (I dare say he thinks the same about me). But what can you say to a kid who can barely smile for coughing? So it's Will Ferrell's voice a couple of times a day while she recovers, and I scurry around the house trying to find corners to in which to hide away from his voice.

We also had to drive the motherinlawship to the airport at Avalon last night, and on the way home we copped out and bought take away. Oh my goodness, was the Princes Highway scary! The rain was bucketing down, so hard you couldn't even see the lines on the road, but that didn't stop anybody from going less than 110 kph. The West Gate bridge was the worst - the speed limit was 80, and the wind was gusting so hard that it was forcing giant sheets of rain right into us, and you could scarcely see the road in front at all. The car was being buffetted like crazy by the wind, as were all the cars around us - you could actually see them slide across the road as each gust came. My job was to keep an eye on the lines of the road, and direct the Galumph if he strayed from them, while he manned the wheel and tried to navigate the psychotic traffic around us. When we got home, he uttered "That would have to be the most intense and frightening driving experience of my life!", before plunking himself down on the couch, where he pretty must remained, prostrate, for the rest of the evening.

So we've splashed out on juice, rented some DVDs and had one take away. Not bad, really! And only 16 days to go.