I probably will be washing my hair. As it goes, I seem to have given myself an inadvertent, miniature Hoxton fin today. As a result, I look like Fran Healy's younger, twattier brother. Anyway, I digress.

Tonight I'm taking my young lady out for dinner because that's the kind of caring, sharing guy I am. Then tomorrow, I'm out for pizza and a few drinks in Oxford for a friend's birthday.

Fun all round :)

Friday: No idea, but doing very little is a distinct possibility.
Saturday: Lie-in, followed by an afternoon at Victoria Park (Hartlepool vs. Dagenham & Redbridge) then an un-official school reunion in Yarm in the evening.
Sunday: A day at work, with no distractions.

Unfortunately I'm working tomorrow, but I don't mind so much 'cos A - I'll have the following 2 Saturdays off B - I like the work and,most importantly, Vorgona and Vorgonito are coming back from their extended stay in Moscow tomorrow. Yippeeee!!!!!!
Sunday's gonna be lovely.

Off to St Georges church in Esher this evening to see new Heavenly Records signings Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou. The first date in a tour of tin tabernacle churches.

Rest of the weekend looking suitably relaxed with the FPO including 'The Kings Speech' at a local movie theatre on Sunday.

I will be calling the energy companies and BT tonight to cancel everything and that should take me through until Monday morning.
I hope the hold music is the same music as the restaurant scene in Ferris Bueller...

I'm not happy with you saying I spend my weekends thinking dirty thoughts.
It's not just the weekends, it's all through the week as well.

Need to get my Deaf School tickets sorted for next month. I was probably in the audience of the clip above.
I shall be popping over to Liverpool tonight and celebrating my puppy's first birthday tomorrow, Any excuse for a party.

(Wonder if Hannah does cakes for dogs?)

It felt really good typing that! I can't wait. My first day of paid employment in 8 years. I'm doing some casual work in the music shop down the road. My dream job. And I can ride my bike there. Afterwards I'll probably have a stress-induced headache and need a takeaway and a bottle of wine...

We moved house in November and trying to cover up the previous owners' jauntily coloured rooms with our preferred option of white or off white (I know, so boring) is taking us forever. A minimum of three coats in every room, plus ceilings. Aaarrgh.

The good news is once this room is finished I'll finally be able to unpack all my music and set up the stereo...

To touring car racing at Dubai autodrome. It was shit. How anyone can enjoy car racing beats me. Even he was bored and he's five.

you looked forward to all week long during the long drudge of school?

Well It's a sammy hagar weekend
it's a sammy hagar state of mind
it's a sammy hagar weekend
it's a sammy hagar way of life
we're gonna drink some beer
smoke some pot snort
some coke and then drive
drive over 55 yeah
'cause it's a sammy hagar weekend
it's a big man's day
we got a metallica t-shirt
got a little tiny baby mustache
got a jacked up camero
we're sitting in the parking lot at anaheim stadium
drinking beer
smoking some pot
snorting coke
and then drive drive over 55 yeah
'cause it's a sammy hagar weekend
it's a big man's day
we're gonna drink some beer
smoke some pot
snort some coke
and then drive we drive over 55 yeah
'cause it's a sammy hagar weekend
it's a big man's day
a sammy hagar weekend
a sammy hagar weekend yeah
just cruisin' and boozin' yeah
on a sammy hagar weekend yeah
a sammy hagar weekend
a big man's day

Tomorrow morning food shopping. Tomorrow afternoon I have to buy a pair of shoes - this will cost me £50 of cd money but the heel is coming off my work shoes and it is essential. May even take those to the cobblers so that I have 2 pairs - Imelda Marcos eat your heart out.
My daughter is at a mates for a sleepover so I am hoping that the FPO and I can get to see 127 holes.

Sunday morning I am going to see Birmingham vs Aston Villa which is a bloody 12 noon kick off. Love going to the game but was much better when it was Saturday at 3pm and mid week at 7.45 - now we get tasked with going any hour of the day and any day of the week just to please Sky which is not on. Also this interferes with my gym seesion so if I dont lose any weight this week Murdoch and his minions are to blame.

Going to an Eighties themed fancy dress party on Saturday night where - as I really don't like fancy dress - I'll be turning up in a black suit with black tie, sunglasses and a £2 hat from the local jokeshop in attempt to pass myself off as a Blues Brother.

Sunday promises to be more fun as I'm off for a trial Glider flight that the FPO bought me for my last birthday. Unfortunately this does mean that I can't drink on Saturday night which isn't going to help.

But first, I will be listening to Broadcast's "Ha Ha Sound" on the way home from work and feeling a bit miserable that Trish Keenan died earlier today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-12194530

Buying curtains. Whoop-di-doo!

I've been so poorly this week that I'm not sure I'll be doing any baking this weekend (still knackered, and anyway, last thing I want to do is bake some germs into food for other people)

Instead, have a pic of the biccies I made last week for a friend's new baby...

So tomorrow, we're going round to my sister's to admire the decorating she's done so far, then hopefully I'll have Sunday morning to myself (kids going to the in-laws), then we'll be chilling out with mates in the afternoon.

Something has silenced my alarm clock, possibly the trauma of being roughly manhandled by my naked, barely-conscious form on a daily basis. Occasionally it will give off a feeble electronic whimper as if anticipating further abuse. First thing tomorrow I am going to venture into town and get a new one.

I’ve been making Brian Chan’s origami wolf spider. This morning I unfolded what I’d done as I thought that I’d been a bit careless with it in places. Now I’m having difficulty reassembling the model as the paper has been over-handled. By Sunday evening it’ll either be finished and I’ll be sculpting it, or it will be a screwed up ball of grey paper in my recycling bin.

Tomorrow I’m aiming to finish off something I’ve been writing about the metal band Ratt. It started out small and then, mainly through boredom, blossomed into a 3000 word monster. If I have time I will work some photographs that I took in London into the artwork for another piece of writing.

I need to write to my doctors surgery and ask why they've messed-up my prescription.

At some point I have to go into the loft, which is always fraught with peril.

I’m not working at the moment so everyday’s the weekend. I try to keep busy.

Dear old friends are back in Scotland, visiting from Australia. They're coming to us for Sunday lunch, and a few more friends are joining us too. It'll be a good few years since we were last all round a table.

Saturday will be the usual runaround of dance classes and similar. I'll be trying to fit in time to play guitar as well - I've got a pile of songs to learn, which is great fun, rehearsing on Monday.

* Partaking of wine, beer and chocolate - possibly all at once
* Installing my new car CD/Radio/mp3 player
* Watching the feast of footie on 'Super' Sunday
* Smiling. A lot.

...I've just been offered a social work position, after beginning to despair that it would never happen :-)

Mostly. By some miracle my planning and marking load is relatively light this weekend. (Yay!)

I'm going shopping in the morning - off to the toyshop with the kids, who are spending Xmas vouchers. Nice cuppa coffee and a cake. Simple pleasures that I rarely get to enjoy in term time.

Catch up with my dad Sunday - he is pretty ill (waiting for a transplant) and I feel like I've been neglecting him lately. He's really local to me, but I find it hard to fit him in. I feel bad even writing this here... I dunno if anyone else finds themselves in a similar situation.

Might try to squeeze in a bit of my new Blackadder boxset, and maybe even dust off my guitar or uke. As I say, almost unheard of outside a holiday.

Enjoy yourselves, chums. :)

... on my Christmas present. Luckily Santa doesn't think I'm too old for this malarky

Then tomorrow night, off to Richard Thompson band at The Lowry. Hurrah!

Unfortunately I'll likely have to work at home most of Sunday as I'm so backed up, with a deadline looming. On the bright side, if I get really pissed off I can go and hit something ;)

then pack a case for 6 days in Prague. Early flight on Sunday morning which didn't seem too bad until I worked back from the take off time. I shall be leaving home at 3.30am! Currently adding the Imelda May cd to the iPad for the flight. No complaints though, glad to be working.

I'd have ignored them earlier but some other websites had caught my attention. I'd post the links but.. Er.. Well.. You know..

This weekend I will be sticking stuff into suitcases in readiness for a week's skiing. The mountains are calling.

The weather forecasts are interesting. The jetstream's thrashing about like a headless cobra and no-one's too certain about what's going to happen. The temperature in Meribel is supposed to waver between +10C and -20C over the week. Which will make deciding what to wear on any given day somewhat fun.

Sat - buying hamster food and an extra wheel, trading old PS2 games for beans, raking leaves (weather permitting), hoping Palace win under new manager (my favourite footballer) the legendary Dougie Freedman

Sun - driving up to Hull to look after Mum (home again 3 days after a heart attack) and Dad (in a wheelchair) for a few days (hoping they don't want cups of tea at 3am again, but sure they will)

my son and his chums play at the Electric Circus in Embra. And painting too.

Saturday:
If weather = good
then go to Liverpool by train
attempt to finish book during this and other journeys (In Europe by Geert Mak)
goto Tate Liverpool, see Nam June Paik exhibition
mooch about in Probe Plus ( a wee Lee Dorsey would be good)
raid Chinatown for ingredients
goto FACT, see more Nam June Paik
see 127 Hours or The King's Speech or Blue Valentine
go Home in time for Match Of The Day
else if weather = shit or if Bankbalance=depleted_after_Christmas (sadly likely)
then stay in
do searching more car insurance quotes (see Bankbalance)
create chicken soup while listening to La Traviata on BBC R3
watch DVD (Killer Inside Me or Harry Brown or Harold & Maude)
and watch Match Of The Day.

Sunday:
ponder soup options (see above)
goto pub
meet chums for first time this year
watch Merseyside Derby
drink a selection of foaming ales
since out of beer practice then
if idiot then also watch Spurs v United
totally undo diet for week
also bank balance
stumble home
fall asleep
miss Zen
and Match Of The day 2
wake at stupid o'clock
do not get back to sleep
watch Zen on iPlayer
else....er....not.

Well, it's a plan.

(Any reference to this being like no real programming language will be met with sullen harrumphing.)

...thanks to Mrs Specs_Beard being otherwise engaged.

Thinking of going to the Portrait Photographer of the Year exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery (and risk getting seriously depressed but never mind).

And possibly visit my favourite record shop Sounds of the Universe. [Attaches padlock to wallet.]

but Saturday is set aside for a whole day of drawing for my mothers' 80th birthday present ( see Blogger Takeover thread for explanation ) after two days abstinence.
The last two pictures I painted was one of Mahatma Ghandi as football fan and one of Harry Houdini being attacked by bees ( let's draw a veil over the one of Sigmund Freud at the urinals...full frontal partial nudity and all ).
I'm having a blast!
Will also set aside an hour for more dancing ( see Chubby Checker thread ).
Soup will be cooked, cauliflower and broccoli I think. And a blackberry pie will be baked as well, unless I lose all sense of time when drawing and "wake up" at midnight wondering why I'm so hungry.