Friday Quick Takes

• This week, I discovered Funky Monkeys and what a place it is! (For you lucky ones who don't need to know, FM is a franchise of indoor playgrounds for children.) Now, while it could certainly be regarded as a primary coloured hell on earth, and NO ONE in their right mind would go there sans children, it does have its bonuses. Luke loves it- he gets to socialize, play, climb and fall down, while I get to drink endless coffees and catch up on my emails, without feeling guilty. (I'm not altogether sold on the background playlist though- 'I'm sexy and I know it ' seemed a tad inappropriate for the under fives. Where's the Wiggles when you need them??) I also had a bit of a 'moment', on discovering Luke, hungrily licking the (stolen) Philadelphia off someone else's bagel. By the time I'd clocked him, it was too late and he was nonchalantly sporting a white ring of evidence all over his face. I was faced with a dilemma- prise it from him and risk a two year old's earsplitting wrath, thereby drawing unwanted attention to ourselves, or keep my head low and hope the rightful owners were finished eating. (Okay, I totally did the latter, and as luck would have it, they were just leaving, which is just as well because I couldn't have returned the gnawed, soggy mess anyway!)                                                                                                                                            
•  I also had a little run in with a pillar this week. Late as usual for a school pickup, I was half way up our lane, when I met a tractor and trailer coming down. To put you in the picture, depending on where one meets another vehicle on the narrow lane, someone always has to reverse, and as I was closest to a driveway, it was me. So off I went, and (I'm just gonna be modest here), expertly reversed down the lane into our neighbour's driveway. In fact, I was in the process of mentally congratulating myself, when I went a teensy bit too far and knocked our tow bar into a red brick pillar, denting the bricks at the bottom. Crap crap crap! Needless to say, Loverboy was NOT thrilled. (I mean I sucked it up and all, but the way he went on, you'd think I did this all the time! But that little bust up with the hedge was AGES ago AND it was -20 at the time, FFS). The funny thing was, when I 'fessed up to our lovely neighbour, and after he'd established that I hadn't reversed over his dog, he laughed and asked if I was looking for things to write about on my blog... You know that moment when you realize that actual, real people read the nonsense that you write...yes that!                                                                                                             
• Welllllll, I succumbed and bought 'Fifty shades of Grey', just to find out what all the fuss is about. Marian Keyes, (did I possibly already mention that she follows me in on Twitter!?), called it 'Fifty Shades of Shite' which I'll admit put me off a bit. All I know is, the main character is called Christian and it all gets very bold and dirty, but Peeps, I was weaned on my Granny's Jackie Collins collection, so how bad (or good?) can it be? If you've read it, do share...                             
•  I can't BELIEVE the weather is this awful for June. I mean, even by Irish standards this is dire. It's also slightly unsettling, when we've just spent a fortune on a 'caravilla' (Thank you Ursula! I SO prefer this to 'mobile home'). The upshot is, that we won't be going anywhere hot for DECADES...now, THAT'S depressing! But,the good news is, it's Friday, it's wine time later and I've got Christian Grey to keep me company. Happy Friday loveliesxxx