So.

The grocery shopping is done, the bathrooms have been dealt with, the carpets have been vacuumed, and all our muddy, sandy, salty, grassy camping clothes and towels have been washed and dried. I may be abandoning my husband and son for a couple of days while the girls and I visit my folks, but at least they won't starve to death or die of cholera. Or have to go to work in grubby clothes.

You could admire my effiency, were it not for the fact that I also washed Emily's phone.

I did hear something clunking in the washing machine, but I thought it was just the buckle on her jeans.

Alas, no. Her phone endured more than an hour of swishing around in 40 degree water.

The moment when we fished the poor drowned corpse out was tragic in the extreme.

But, we took it apart and dried it out, and lo and behold, it still works! The battery is dead, but the phone itself seems okay. Such a relief, as I really feel that she needs a phone now that she and her friends are venturing further afield sans adults.

The book we listened to in the car was a huge hit with everyone, by the way. It is pretty intense in some places, but we were all totally gripped by the story. Philip Pullman really is an amazing writer.

Oh, and I have a movie recommendation as well - we watched Howl's Moving Castle the other evening, and it was wonderful. It's an anime movie, by the same people who did Spirited Away, and is based on the book by Diana Wynne Jones, who is one of my all-time favourite authors. Much as I love Harry Potter, JK Rowling pales by comparison. Diana Wynne Jones did it all first, and did it better.