Are you ready for the World Cup?

Thank you for more ideas about which football team I should support. It's very helpful in my search. I'll know when I find the right one, you just do don't you? The latest suggestions are..

• Aston Villa - sounds good, may be a bit far for me to travel? Is there some sort of air-bus shuttle that could get me to games? I live just outside London.
  

• Wolverhampton Wanderers - Distance problem again. Someone pointed out that black and gold were sooo 80's, I agree. Colours are important to me, but as a true football fan, I will be taking other things into consideration as well.

• Leicester City - Blue and white, very nice. Is it a family friendly club? Would there be a creche available? and somewhere for me to exercise the dogs?
  

• Southampton - Red and white, even better. Do they have good coffee/cappuccino making facilities, fresh croissants etc?
  

So only a few more days to go now, but are you really ready? Here's my checklist.

• Have you decorated your house? Flags,bunting and banners are all eye catching. Giant inflatable footballs are good for tying to your chimney. Perhaps you could ask Coke Cola if they would like to attach one of their stadium size advertisement boards to the front of your house?
  

• If you're not serving up traditional football grub like, canapes, quiche and tiramisu. What about a themed feast for our first game? Try recipes from "The Naked Cook! - Mrs Gomez's Pararguayan kitchen" by Mrs Gomez Senior. Your guests will be surprised and entertained by your creativity.
  

• Have you got the correct heavy duty wall brackets and screws, for your 70 inch plasma screen and speaker system? Yes I know its a little excessive, and you might have to jiggle the furniture around a bit, even knock through to the dining room. But think of the value that sort of kit could add to your home!!
  

• Have you stocked the cellar full of all your favourite non alcoholic beverages? Including tomato juice for any vegans. A good hostess is never short of enough refreshments to go round.
  

• Have you downloaded any football anthems, ready for a good old sing song? No football party should be without such classics like "La La Eng er land" by the Cheeky Gits and "We're on the ball" by Ant and Dec.
  

• Have you learnt how to explain the offside rule? There's always someone that needs it explaining to. So why not dazzle your friends and really study the whole concept of offside, and what it means in football. There is an excellent book, "Offside through the ages - Volumes 1 and 2" by Alan Beeswax. If you're really keen, you could sit a City and Guilds exam in the subject. That might not be possible before Friday though, you would have to speak to them.
  

• Have you thought how to entertain your guests at half time? Here's a really fun idea! Have ready prepared lots of old newspaper, glue, brushes and gold paint etc. Then ask each guest to make their own paper maiche World Cup! Set the timer for 15 mins, and tell them there's to be no football until you have a World Cup in your hands. No cheating though, nobody likes a party pooper.

More posts coming soon. Heatherx