White

A snow-plough! A snow-plough! My kingdom for a snow-plough!

Yeah, dream on missus, the chances of getting a plough out here are slim to anorexic at the moment given the depth of white stuff around the city. But I am very smug in the knowledge that Hungary is at lot better prepared for the arctic conditions than some countries I could mention, where nannas and grandpas are digging in for the long haul. At least I know at some point there will be a snow-plough steaming up the ski-slope which is the road to our house at the moment and I won't have to risk permanent back injury extending my shovelling activities further down the hill. Oh, and we have LOADS of salt. Nyer.

Still its all very pretty innit. I am planning another sledging extravaganza later, if I can get this essay in the bag before school turfs out. Yes, I am on another deadline and no, I haven't done enough work for it so I am sweating a bit. I am only on my Blog so people will see that I didn't run off with the man in red over the festive period and to practice my typing (at least that's my story, I am definitely not procrastinating or avoiding...).

By the way, Happy New Year! We had a quiet one as usual in this house, well as quiet as it gets with excited children and a nutcase puppy under your feet. We bravely took on Boy-Next-Door's bundle of energy while the family went back to Portugal for Christmas and oh boy will I never ever volunteer for that again. A lovely dog, when he's sleeping. He's like a coiled spring and has been re-christened The Destoyer after chewing his way through three dog beds, three garden chair cushions, copious amounts of cardboard, a plastic ball, a doormat and a pair of shoes. Still, Tiggy was very chuffed with the replacement bed his embarassed Mummy presented us with when she came back and The Destroyer now has to sleep on the floor. The dummy.

Santa was very generous in our house and Nobby now has a new passion in life - Wii-fit. It has been such a hit with the whole family - best scene of the holidays was Pickle finding the box on Xmas morning, his face lighting up and him running round the room yelling 'Santa got me a Wii!! He got me a Wii!!' before running upstairs to write a thank you letter before he'd even switched it on. Now that's precious (and I am so glad he has it in him). I think both my siblings and my parents each have one as well now. Even if we can't meet up more than once or twice a year we can still challenge each other to unlock new yoga moves or get professional status on the hoop-twirl. Nobby now has no qualms about my studying into the evening as he can easily go and work out or enjoy a leisurely round of golf all in the comfort of his own basement. And Pickle thinks creating ugly effigies (avatars) of his enemies on the Mii function is super sport.

Well, I think my typing has had enough practice now, back to the slog, the end is in sight, I think. And if I need motivation I can just look out the window at all the cars stuck in the snow and be grateful how much I need to stay by the laptop.