Sixes and Sevens (and eights)

Well I don't normally respond to prompts and memes and tags and the like but in the spirit of it all I'll do the one that Miranda tagged me for - the seven Christmas things.

7 Things I Must Do Before My Parents Arrive
My parents are not arriving. Well, my dad is popping in on his way back from NY en route to Lusaka, but its not the same thing. I'm going to see Mother, in my home village, the wee cluster of dwellings known as Kapani Ruins. (we never quite knew why it got that name. Was it because the place looked so ruinous, or the inhabitants?)
Before we fly, I have a week to:
1. Get Christmas puddings and Christmas crackers.
2. Find a lift from Lusaka to the valley
3. Buy pressies for the girls
4. Find someone to feed the cats
5. or find a kennels that will house them (such a last minuter I am)
6. Do the admin I've been putting off since December last year when I was supposed to do it before Christmas! Aaaah!
7. Spend one full day polishing and finishing off my script. It has to be launched into the world in 2009 and it must look its best.
8. Prepare 'the room' for our lodger who arrives early in January.

Aaaah! Thats 8!!

find a medical aid. aaah thats 9. Do that creative voices list that was supposed to done last week. Get malaria tablets. Aaah. Stop it. Can we stop this one now?

7 Things I've been Doing Instead Of Preparing For Christmas
1. Reading blogs
2. Spending time with a friend who hasn't been well
3. Gardening
4. Reading blogs
5. Loitering on facebook
6. Reading James Martin's The Meaning of the 21st Century. Awesome book. Must.
7. Reading up on 2009's astrology

7 Things I Can't Do This Christmas
1. Spend time with my sister
2. Swim in the sea (my man and I usually try to get the ocean once a year, and its usually at this time)
3. Eat Christmas pudding (unless I can be bothered to make a wheat free version)
4. Swim in the river (it's full of crocodiles)
5. Forget to take malaria tablets (that's more of a mustn't than a can't)
6. See my Granny, who is in Cornwall and too frail to travel now. See my Grandfather in the flesh, but I will definitely see him in my minds eye wearing a silly paper hat and insisting we all do the same.
7. Talk to Angela Merkel in person about the climate change deal.

7 Christmas Wishes
1. A strong global climate change deal (how likely is this?) go and make your voice count over here. If serious planning doesn't happen now, Christmases are going to be less and less fun in years to come.
2. For the 'secret issue' to go really really well.
3. For Janine to find healing, peace, and a route to a stress-free existence
4. To see elephants as we eat Christmas lunch at my uncle's spot. (Very likely.)
5. For those gorgeous girls to have the time of their lives
6. For my admin pile to do itself
7. For the admin angels to appear

7 Things I Say As Christmas Approaches
1. Can't we do it tomorrow rather?
2. Oh! I forgot.
3. I'm just quickly going to check in on facebook
4. Oh! I forgot!
5. Thank you B, thank you B, thank you so much for going along with the Zambia plans even though we haven't been to your family for so long!!
6. Who will feed the cats?
7. Do you think I've left it too late?

7 Celebrities I'd Invite For Christmas Dinner
Hmm. I'd love to say - Angela Merkel and all the big heads who are supposed to be hammering out the global climate change deal, along with Obama and James Martins, author of the amaazing book I'm reading. But I'd like a festive Christmas, so I'll arrange that dinner party next month. Lets see
1. Stephen Fry - the wittiest, most erudite and articulate man alive. Superb conversation guaranteed (and my uncle's his biggest fan)
2. Emma Thompson coz she's his buddy and she's also extremely witty and clever and so down to earth and wonderful and I'd cast her in my play if I could.
3. Eric Francis - he's not a celebrity but he's my favourite geopolitical current affairs astrologer environmentalist
4. Richard Branson. I have some business to discuss with him over a couple of gin and tonics
5. Alan Ginsberg (you didn't say they have to be alive)
6. Oh well in that case, my grandfather. He's famous. Sort of.
7. Well if we really can go there, then Katherine Hepburn. Without a doubt.

ooh - can I have one more? Jeremy Clarkson. He'd have a ball testing out 4x4s in the mud. With a winch or two for extra games.

7 Favourite Festive Foods
See Miranda's post for a description of why we don't really have a strong grounding in Christmassy foods. But, still -
1. Marzipan
2. Pimms, or any minty refreshing drinks
3. I love the smell and taste of cinammon, and I know this is a Christmassy smell, from the time I visited my German aunty. I love chewing cinammon sticks raw.
4. Ice cream
5. Prawns. Its so much better to have light seafood for an African Christmas than heavy roasts
6. Anything that comes out of my uncles kitchen will be delicious. Usually some freerange game meat, I imagine. I'm not a vegetarian, though I am rigorous about only eating 'happy meat'. It doesn't get much more organic than Luangwa kudu.
7. I love Christmas pudding but due to a wheat allergy it usually means I have to donate the whole of the next day to the back of my eyelids. I must make wheat free something for myself.

Gosh, I'm exhausted now. And I think most of the people I would tag have already been tagged. Except maybe you, Chimera. I'm supposed to tag 7 people, but - oh go on, you know if you want to....

I'm just going to check in on facebook quickly