Today, my little otters, is a good day. Your host is on uncharacteristically happy and expansive form.

Feathers in my cap:
1. Deduced the likely cause of my phone's fault (faulty cable), and fixed it.
2. Used plumbing expertise to fix broken toilet-flushing mechanism.
3. Learned (astoundedly) that I passed last month's professional exam.
4. Have job interview this week- could free me of the 'dole scum' jokes by family. Makes me at least a 'jobseeker', surely
5. Let stationary purchase for 2006 so late that a diary is nabbed at half-price- 1.49. Beat that. Since the demise of both my Palm Pilot and mobile phone directory last year, I'm going back to paper, on the crest of the new Luddite wave.

I'm celebrating by cooking up a big pot of veg soup for tonight's tea, to have with baba ganoush, crusty bread and marinated olives. A black bean stew (screw Pythagoras) is simmering on the side for tomorrow. Mmm. I don't care what the GI dieters, the TV fad-dieticians, the candidologists, allergists or colonic irrigators say- gluten and yeast are really, really delicious, and so are fermented beverages like wine, with which I will also celebrate my achievements.

Later:
Not much lasts- take note. While points #2-4 remain true, #1 collapsed after a single successful use. Now I have to take the fucking telephone *point* apart and check its connections, with (ex facto) a high-power light source and my reading glasses. I may yet to seek expert advice on my telecomms problems.

Plus after cleaning, preparing and chopping onions, garlic and celery for my double soups tonight, I dumped the veg mound with their peelings into the bin while distracted by discussing my son's GCSE options. Multi-tasking eluded me that time. At least DoDo enjoyed it. So I chopped onions, garlic and celery again, and DoDo grated carrots to add (as per the inlaws canty and couthy recipe) to the lentil broth.

R passed the professional exam too, and at a better grade than I of course. Not surprising since she'd studied, unlike some reprobates. She came over to share the bay-laced lentil soup, baba ganoush, warm bread and tapenade tonight, the kids jumping all over her without mercy for her recent cold or myalgia. They do adore and delight in her. Tonight we turned off the telly and each gave a recitation. R lisped the aphorisms of Madeline from PG Wodehouse, Nini Lear's 'Owl and thePussycat', Dodo both Burns' 'My Hoggie' and Seamus Heaney's 'Early Purges'. I recommend them all.