A Newsy Kind of Post

Apologies for the gap in service but Lia's been a bit under the weather. I'm not sure what it is - a tummy bug or teeth but she's had a very upset stomach for the last few days and has been off her food.

Thankfully she's on the mend now and back at nursery (I'm jumping every time the phone rings in case it's them to say she's worse) and I am back to normal at work. I don't mind being at home with her (of course) but if one or both of us is ill the pair of us get very bored and snippy very quickly. She's been a tad pathetic for the last few days, lying around or asking for hugs which is very strange for my independent little thing and never a good sign. Not eating is also a HUGE deal as normally getting her to stop is the difficult part but she did eat a bit last night (hence the return to nursery) and will probably feel better being distracted by all the activity there.

It's nice not to be doing the nappies either...

In other news my quest against laziness is having mixed results. I've not been much better with cleaning but I have done some more stash-reorganisation (filed all my magazine designs, freebies and working copies) and have also made a small 'brag book' of Lia pictures for my Mum's christmas. I just have to make three more of the things for the Greeks - Aunt, Grandmother and Great Grandmother.

I'm also proudly able to claim that I have pretty much finished my Christmas shopping!!! I only have one person left to buy for and I've put a call in to a friend for assistance with that so I don't have to do much except pay her for her efforts and wait for the postman (as long as she agrees to it of course). I'm getting one of my stitchings framed for my Step-Dad so took four more to be done as well so this coming Saturday I should be the proud owner of five framed pieces (the first I've had done professionally) which is another tick in the 'getting round to it' box.

In other news DH heard today that he has finally been released from any and all military obligations in Greece. The back story to it all is that he never did his military service - he'd put it off to study and was due to go back to Greece after he completed his Master's Degree here in 1998. The plan was scuppered because we met on the course and he elected to stay for a bit longer (nine years and counting) so eventually he was court martialled in his absence and it's all been dragging on for years.

The rules about military service in Greece change all the time and the latest is that if you live permanently in another country and have done with seven or more years full employment there you are exempt from the service. It was a bit of a pain proving it (they required every payslip for seven years plus p60s and letters from employers) but it's done now and we don't have to worry about him not being allowed to leave Greece when we go back (previously they could arrest him at the airport and throw him into military prison!)

So that's great, it's a huge worry gone for us and his family. Because it involved the courts his sister has been representing him (she's a lawyer) and of course now she's having a baby that's a bit difficult. Talking of the imminent arrival she's had her mid-way scan, all is fine and it's a boy! That's good for Lia I think as there'll be less comparing along the way and she'll still be the princess of the family.

There's no news on name choices yet but I'm still holding out for Achilles to be included somewhere as that's my FIL's name and DH has been insisting that if we have a boy he'll be named after his Grandfather! I insist that it will be the middle name only, over my dead body will my child be called Achilles (I'd have to give up work and home school for a start. LOL) so if SIL uses the name I'll be totally off the hook. Fingers and toes are all crossed.

So that's us for now I think. I made the brave move to the beta version of the new blogger so if anything goes wrong with my blog it's not my fault...