Stuff that’s been happening…

Hello all you lovely people!

Once again I return from the depths of over-worked, under-paid pit of desperation!  I have done my time and I crawl, on my hands and knees, to the safety of the weekend…

Oh crap, I’m working again.  Well, I do get Saturday off, but Sunday and Monday will be spent staring at a computer screen, looking at databases and numbers.  Just think of the money….. I have to keep reminding myself!  I’m fortunate to have my overtime approved in these austere times, mainly because I’m too damn busy during the week!

You know the worrying fact though… the work we are doing is actually making me kind of proud.  Please, for the love of God, don’t tell them that!

Anyway, that’s work.  Now at home, a couple of interesting things, both incorporating plastic food.

The positive; my boy has started trying to play football with anything that resembles a ball.  This led me to laugh at him.  Quite a lot.  Sounds harsh I know, but you keep a straight face when a fifteen month old starts dribbling around the front room with a plastic lettuce…..  Come on, you’d laugh wouldn’t you?!

On the flip side, an image that I didn’t think I’d ever see.  The same boy sitting there, quite content, watching Curious George or something, happiliy sucking on a bright orange plastic carrot.  A parent shouldn’t have to see that.  Sit behind a chair, or hide behind the curtains or something, please….

However, this weekend is a big one for the daughter.  She is being taken away by her aunty and uncle and cousin, and will be spending a week away from us, down in Dorset.  This is the first time that she has spent a long time away from us, the first time she’s been to Dorset (although I’m sure it’s lovely) and a first time sleeping in a tent.  I personally think they’re going to have their work cut out, but I can guarantee that the daughter will love it.  But I say this now, when she comes back all happy and excited about her adventure, I’m still not going camping.  I’ve lasted 32 years without doing it, I’m not starting now!

On a lighter note, the football finishes this weekend.  The final game of the season.
It’s been a tough season for Portsmouth.  Three bosses in six months, languishing near the foot of the table and football leagues itself, it’s been a scary time to be a Pompey Supporter!

But along comes Andy Awford, now permanent manager and winner of Manager of the Month for April, produces 4 wins and a draw and suddenly we’re mid table!  Win on Saturday and we finish in tenth, some achievement.  Next year we’ll be back at the top of the league, I’m sure!

Anyway, enough from me at this point.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I should be back soon.  I promise!

My Darling Flower Girl

Wedding Fever. Gardening Sucks.

Look at that, I get to over a hundred followers and I go quiet.

{ tumbleweed }

Do you ever get that?  There’s so much rattling around in the old noggin’ but as soon as you sit in front of a computer – nothing.  Couldn’t think of anything to say.

Which is unusual really, since I have the ability to ramble on profusely.  Anyway.

This last weekend was a busy one.  We had a wedding to go to.  Ooooooooh.

I’m very much of a casual man myself, exceedingly happy in slobbing around in a pair of trackies and mangled old jumper, but every now and again the need to break out the old suit returns.

I do like wearing a suit.  I think I look quite good in a suit.  Others may not agree, but it’s about self confidence.  Large people can look good too!

Imagine an overweight Toadfish from neighbours in his best Men In Black get up.  That’s me.

However, wearing a suit on a particularly warm day is horrible.  Warm = understatement.

The day was nice, the wedding was sophisticated and the happy couple looked fantastic.  The ceremony was as good a wedding I have seen, luckily I only had to be in one photo (don’t like posing for photos, well, maybe under the right circumstances….) and the reception afterwards was good.  Food and music a perfect combination.

I am so happy for the couple.  I mean, I’ve been the brother-in-law now for six years and known them for about ten, so was well chuffed to finally see them get wed.  They are so suited to each other it’s sickening!  Well, good luck I say.  They already have a daughter but I reckon the next step is number two.  Why not….

Meanwhile, whilst I know all the attention should be on the bride and groom, my focus was on one of the flower girls, as it was my darling daughter.  She looked stunning.  So proud.

Don’t she look pretty!  Quick, model agencies, sign her up before she eats all my chocolate!

Other than that, I’ve been gardening for the last four days, late into the night on a couple of occasions, and have tidied my shed.  It’s been a productive week really, until I get back into the office.  Then it all stops.

I don’t usually bother with the garden.  I’ve tried every year to make it better, but I get bored.  I can’t afford to spend loads on shrubs and water features, or even sort out the ant problem, but hey I try my best.

Then the rain comes and it all seems worth it.

Bugger.

Where’d that puddle come from?!

WARNING: DO NOT go into the bathroom with no shoes on!

This is the new sign that I now have to hang on my bathroom door.  And why?

Sophie has reached a new milestone, going to the toilet on her own.  Completely on her own.  As in up the stairs ON HER OWN, going to the toilet ON HER OWN, sorting herself out ON HER OWN, washing her hands ON HER OWN and then back down the stairs ON HER OWN.

Come on, admit it, it’s pretty impressive isn’t it!?  For a two year old to be able to do this, well, I’m so very proud.

It’s good enough that she can go up and down the stairs unaided.  It can be a pain though, she just disappears!  One minute watching the TV doing some drawing, next minute I hear her banging about upstairs, playing in her room!  She’s too quick…

Anyway, yes, toilet on her own, only one accident to date.

This parenting lark is a doddle…..

Back in the room…

Now, I know I have been here before and you’ve heard it all, but there is a reason!

My absence from posting has been, mainly, because of two reasons.

1.  I’ve been decorating
2.  The Olympics have been on

Not great excuses really, are they?  But it’s the truth.

I have finished painting Sophie’s room and she is now moved in and settled.  The bright pink surroundings have not phased her and it is simply known as the ‘pink room’.  Nice.

She’s happy, the wife’s happy because I finally finished it.  I’m not happy.

No, I’m not.  I’m happy ‘coz it’s done but now it just means I have to start on the rest of the house.  This does not fill me with joy.  Oh well, never mind.

And the second excuse, sorry, reason was two weeks of sport.

Now, I’m not a huge fan of track and field sports, I mainly stick to the football, but there is something drawing to some of the stranger, underworld sports.  Like what do they wear when they are shooting those pistols?  I thought I had turned onto a repeat of Robocop….

Anyway, it was being hosted in my country for the only time I’m ever going to see it, so I sat down every day and watched at least a couple of hours worth.

This does nothing for my schedule.

So there you have it, I apologise for my absence, but weren’t the Olympics good?!

Proud to be British.

Bedroom painted pink and girly? Check.

This house now comes complete with one pink bedroom.

A girly paradise, with pink curtains and a pink lampshade.

What more could you ask for.  Ok, I can’t do anything about the deep blue carpets or dark varnished cupboard doors, but everything else is taking shape.

Not only that but the new bed is on order too.

Get me…

So before long, the princess will be in her very own bedroom.  Which, quite frankly, is downright scary.

It just goes to remind you of how quickly things are moving.  Next year she will be three and starting in nursery / playschool (if I ever learn to drive) and no doubt will start coming home with a new found confidence and demanding nature.

‘Daddy, can I have a skinny latte, hold the cream………. Cressada had one today at nursery and it was simply divine……..!’

Good god, I hope it doesn’t come to that.  I’m so thankful that I’m not posh.

It also makes the next three months seem very short indeed.

Obviously, the reason we’re moving Sophie into her own room is to leave that one as a nursery, for the next one.

Which is due in three months.  108 days.

Oh. M. Gee.

50 Shades of Pink

Why is painting such a pain the ……….. rear?

On Saturday I painted what will be Sophie’s room.  It’s going to be a lovely pink colour.

It was supposed to be a light pastel pink.  It’s not.  It’s a dark pink.  But still acceptable.  I mean, it’s not Barbie pink or shocking pink at least.

But why is it that you never have enough paint.  I thought I bought enough to do it properly but no, turns out I need a couple more tins of the stuff.

So, what’s the matter, I hear you say?

Well, I don’t know if you recall me saying this but, I can’t drive.  The nearest shops are a 30 minute drive away.  The place I got the paint from is a further 30 minutes.

Now, that’s an hour’s drive. 

That would be one hell of a walk!

Now I have to buy it online and wait for it to be delivered.  Next week.

Do you know how long it took me to build up the motivation to even start this project?!  Lord knows how long it’s going to take me now……

Week 15: A Wise Decision?

So, here we are at Week 15.  It’s still early days, but I shall reiterate the quickness of the journey.

Once again, for the fruitists, I believe the size is that of an apple (about 10cm).  And again, a specific type has not been mentioned.

As this whole episode is nicely rumbling along at its own pace, one’s thoughts are automatically drawn to that of names.  ‘Conversations’, read heated debates, have already started within the household.  Well I say started, they are more re-runs of the previous conversations from the first time.

There’s always an element of the automatically ruling out any name that resembles, or states, fruit, counties, countries and / or fictional character names.  Imagine in 20 years, the trauma that you have caused poor old Shrek…

You then move onto sensible names, and you realise just how many of them have been taken.  Obviously, more than one person can have the same name, I mean I’m the fourth in my family, but when all the names that you like are also the names of friends, it becomes more difficult.  And when it’s the same name as previous pets………

You always think that your friends are going to think, ‘aww, you named the child after me…’ when in reality, that was the last thing on your mind, you just forgot about them at that exact moment when you decided on one name.

And then, my god, the decision of whether they have a middle name.

Really?  They don’t really serve a purpose do they?

I can’t really comment, because I don’t have one myself, but some people insist on having one.  Like it’s some sort of exclusive status symbol.  O-kay…

Anyway, this is all a side topic.  The main question, drawn from the title, is this a wise decision?

With the activity of our daughter the past couple of weeks, we would be mad to have another child.  The devil has visited our house, and he’s decided to stay for a holiday.

Sophie has certainly embraced the whole ethos of ‘terrible twos’.  Backchatting, disobeyance, shouting, mood swings.  I’m not going to say where I think she has inherited these…

I don’t know why they start, or indeed how to stop the bleedin’ things, but I know that they weren’t present earlier.  Maybe she has gotten in with the wrong crowd, you know loitering on sofa corners, dealing My Little Pony….

Maybe it’s just my tolerance level has plummeted and, no wait, it’s definately her.  What used to be daddy’s little girl has started early on the journey to teenhood.

Oh christ, soon it’s going to be in stereo….

The preparation begins…

Obviously, as it is the main topic of this blog, we are expecting our second bundle of mischief, which means that we have to ready the house and the first born to the new arrangements.

The latest stage we have challenged is sleeping.  Sophie has been in her cot bed since about 7/8 months and we’ve never really had any problem.  Only one bad case of ‘the monsters under the bed’.  Which was resolved with the help of Mickey Mouse.  Another story.

We live in a three bedroom house, which currently has a master bedroom, Sophie’s bedroom and daddy’s game/office/spare room.  It looks like daddy is going to lose out and the third bedroom will become baby’s room.  I don’t mind losing my place of solace for the sake of family harmony.  If we have any guests, however, they will be severely pissed off having to share a room with a baby…..

A debate has raised its head in the household though, in that I think having your own bedroom at the age of 2 is a bit spoilt.  Shouldn’t young children be sharing a room, so that they can bond, play and learn to like each other?  I have been led to believe that my views on this subject are somewhat draconian and that in this day in age, each child should have their own wing complete with bathroom, games room and sleeping annex for all the stuffed toys.

Anyway, the whole crux of this story is that we have had to push forward with getting Sophie into her own bed so that baby will have a cot (we’re too poor to splash out on a new one!).  We started a couple of weeks ago.  So far, so good.

She has adapted well, and sleeps normally.  Although, all we have done is take the sides of her cot off, so there may still be a slight familiar feeling and that when we do actually buy her a new bed, things may be different.  But I’m optimistic.

Although last night was the first time that when she needed to go to sleep, she decided to get up and help herself to her toys.  Granted, she did at least go for her books and not the loudest toy in the room.  False hope?  Tonight I’ll probably  be awoken by the sound of her sitting at her electric piano, blasting out her renditions of lullabies at the sound of twenty jackhammers.

Oh well, fingers crossed.

Another excuse…

Dear readers, I apologise once again for the lack of activity on this blog over the last couple of days.  This is mainly because:

1.  I get distracted by a hyperactive child wanting to play all the time; and
2.  I have had intermittent internet connectivity.

Not exactly groundbreaking, but relevant, I feel.  Every time I went to write something I either got within 2 foot of the computer and was dragged away into the garden, or I sat there and it didn’t work.  Not my fault, ‘onest guv’!

Anyway, what a lovely weekend we have had.  If you’re not in the UK then I’m afraid I couldn’t comment on your weather, but over here we have experienced some unseasonal high temperatures.  This has led to every man, woman and dog being dragged outside into the blazing hot sun, just so that they can ressemble a cooked lobster, generally with millions of other people on one strip of beach.

(You may gather here that I am not a sun worshipper.  Being in the position where I no longer require shampoo, I have to take extra precautions leading to me staying indoors)

Nevertheless, Sophie loved being outside and interacted with pretty much the only thing I can do, and that is kick a ball.  I don’t really get into the spirit of ‘tea parties on the lawn’ but I had an excuse that there was sport on the TV.  Dad excuse No 2.

Wherever you were or are, I hope that the weather is good and that you have all had a peaceful weekend.  And if you piled to the seaside in all the traffic, all I can say is;

Baa.