Day 129

Still going to the gym! But it has been a flat and emotional week. Rufus hasn't been very well and I've been an emotional wreck. We received parcels from the UK, one from Rufus' mum with fabby stuff in it (including shortbread!) and one from my friend Lisa. A beautifully wrapped and prepared parcel containing sweets... and conditioner for my hair, bodywash, lovely stuff for my face, the ingredients to make Bloody Mary's and the sweetest thing of all.. multivitamins as she is worried about Lungy and my health. She is so incredibly thoughtful, I love her and burst into tears at the wee photo she had enclosed of herself in a lovely card - heavily up the duff but still looking sparkly and beautiful. I miss you Little L!!!!! The journey to the post office is always stressful. In fact driving anywhere in Kathmandu is stressful - the traffic is total chaos, there are no lanes and you have to weave in and out of buses, tractors, cows, carts and motorbikes. But I do like that honking your horn means 'hello mate, I'm right here' and not 'get out my f**ing way'. And if you honk at someone to move - they move, instead of in Glasgow where they would block you in, get out the car and punch you to death with a knife.

To help improve my week, we had a fab dinner with Caspian, Celia and Bianca. Caspian gets up at 6am to go to Tai Chi or something and is inspiring me - well, not to do that obviously, but to keep going to the gym. And Celia is lovely to be around and makes me laugh a lot. The next day we got up early and had a lovely family day at the Garden of Dreams which is by far the nicest place to laze around in Kathmandu. And am still wearing t-shirts and flip-flops and it is November tomorrow, so that is good. Rufus is a little bit better but am very worried about him. Need to call home and speak to his parents, as soon as we can get online - the power cuts have started big time.

Not happy about the girl's school just now either, we went to a parent's evening and Fern is 13th in her class, out of only 21. And Clover failed Nepali which is forgivable but barely passed all the other stuff (although she did get an A in drawing). And the subjects are weird - the General Knowledge class is only about the geography of Nepal and the topic of yesterday's Moral Health class was actually 'The Disadvantages of Being Fat'. They enjoy the school and have lots of friends but I am not convinced the standard of education is any good. It's better than home schooling which we had originally planned but I would ideally like them to go to The British School in Kathmandu which has an excellent reputation, and they could have four good months there. But it is expensive and we just don't have the money. And I guess one advantage of going to a local school is the experience of really living in a city and not copping out and going to the posh private school up the road.

Am trying to spend some time just with Fern just now so I took her to the gym with me and we ran side by side on the treadmill. She's my new running partner! We had really good fun and she only ruined our mother/daughter bonding later on when we were chatting.......'Fern, if you could change anything about me as a mum, what would you change?'. She looked thoughtful for a minute and then said 'I would like more early nights'. This is why I have called her Saffy for so many years!!! What kind of child says that to their parents? How can she be mine? And how do I manage one child who can stay up all night and practically wants to go clubbing, alongside the needs of another who wants to be in bed with a good book.

My teeth have gone weird and shiny and brown and I have no idea why, but I look like Shane McGowan. So am having to spend more money we don't have and see a dentist. It must be the water - but a million thanks to Jo who kindly sent me whitening toothpaste in the meantime. And a million beauty products. Lovely girl! As I write I am also sitting sewing ghost costumes for today's pumpkin festivities at Kilroy's. And then an early night, Fern! Am a little embarrassed that they are going as crap-ghosts-out-of-a-bed-sheet this year instead of my usual fabulous efforts, but as they don't celebrate it here, the locals were more than surprised at two small members of the Ku Klux Klan running about. Happy Halloween everybody. I miss my village.