How Could They Do That?

Sam will be 15 at the weekend, he has been looking forward to a shopping trip to town to buy clothes with his birthday money, but now it looks as if all that will have to be put on hold. Yesterday on his way home from school he was badly beaten up by three men aged about 18 or 19. They wanted his phone and they punched and kicked him between 15 and 20 times around his face and head. He was so upset and frightened that when he rang me I found it very hard to understand what had happened and where he was. Emily and I went straight out to find him but it took a while to locate him. He was in such a state that I took him straight to the surgery to be checked over by the doctor. His face was already badly swollen and very painful, and the inside of his mouth was badly cut, but the doctor hopes that no bones are broken. There is a possibility that his nose is broken and there is some concern about the damage to his right cheek, but nothing can be done about that for a couple of weeks until the swelling has gone down. The police came out to take a statement from him and they are sending someone out to photograph his injuries today. Poor old Sam, I really hope this doesn't spoil his Birthday and Christmas for him.

Too Hot to Handle

Having insisted on heat in the bedroom I looked forward to a comfortable night, but it was worse than before. I was so hot that I thought I was having a senior moment! I went into the bathroom and found that the radiator was so hot that anyone using the' facilities' risked burning their bits. Robbie had been twiddling with the timer and had somehow set the heating on constant and set the thermostat to tropical! He is like a man with a bag of spanners, he goes round sticking them in the works and I run along behind trying to restore order. We now have the timer set at the correct time and it is obediently coming on and going off at the times set. The thermostat is back to normal and sanity has been restored - until the next time!

The Big Freeze

Robbie often comes up with ideas and most of them are totally batty (I think he reserves his sensible thoughts for work) but his latest daft idea has really annoyed me. We have had a couple of occasions recently when he has struggled to get up on time. Any sensible person would tell him that if he stays up working on his timetables until 2am he will not be ready to wake up again at 5am! Robbie has given the matter a lot of thought and has come up with the idea that we are feeling tired because the bedroom is too hot, so without any discussion he turned the radiator off. We only have it on for a few hours morning and evening, but that is enough to take the chill off the room and make it comfortable. Without heat it is so cold that I can't get to sleep for ages and when I wake up in the morning it is so cold that I just want to turn over and go back to sleep. I have had a full and frank exchange of views with Robbie and until normal heating is resumed I am on strike!

Inconvenience

Robbie got home from his course last night, he was tired but he said he enjoyed the course. This morning he was keen to get to work, so I hardly had a chance to talk o him before he was gone. I looked forward to his usual phone call when he got tho Birmingham, but when it came he was more like Reginald Perrin than ever. There was no introduction, like hello or how are you he just launched into a frustrated tirade about the failings of London Midland. Apparently there were no working toilets on his train and by the time he got to Birmingham his need was so urgent that he had to sprint to the Gents! It may surprise him, but I really don't need a daily bulletin on the state of the train toilets!

What Goes Down Will Not Go Up!

It is surprisingly quiet here Robbie is away on a course and I am feeling abandoned, he forgot to ring me last night.

This morning when I took Sam to school he opened the back passenger window of the car, he attempted to put it up again and it wouldn't do anything. So I am stuck with a window like the Grand Old Duke of York - its neither up nor down! This had to happen on a wet day, so I have had to cover the window with some plastic. I hope it will decide to work later on.

I Hate Mondays!

Whoever started that saying 'one step forward and two steps back' must have been thinking of me! Yesterday turned into a disaster, Sam had problems at school, so he arrived home angry and upset. Then when he had settled down I headed off to work and as I was driving along a main road some fool in a great big car pulled out of a parking space right into the side of my car! He just pulled out without looking, I swerved but he kept on coming at me and hit the rear passenger door and the part behind that door. I think he was on the phone. It left me really shaken up, and cross because it really didn't need to happen. I have spent most of this morning sorting out the insurance and the repair. I really could do without this aggravation at the moment. At this rate I don't think I have any chance of having everything ready in time for Christmas.

Grounds for Divorce!

I'm finally starting to feel better after the swine flu jab, it made me feel really rough, but I expect it is a lot better to have the jab than to risk getting swine flu. I really need to get organised now, I still have so much to do before Christmas and it seems as if the days are just rushing past. I have Sam's birthday to think about too, poor Sam, it is no fun having your birthday and Christmas in the same week. I asked him for ideas about what presents he would like and he presented me with a neatly typed page of A4 paper with his wish list neatly divided into categories - if only he put that much effort into his homework! So now I know what he wants, but I will need a second mortgage to afford it all! Robbie's wish list is truly scary among other things he wants some Dr Marten boots with union jack toe caps - no way! I put up with him wearing bright colours and lurid patterns but the union jack toe caps are a step to far, it would be grounds for divorce! He will have to settle for something a little more sober, after all he is not far off 40, it's time he grew up!

A Pain in the Arm

I had my swine flu injection on Tuesday. I have the 'flu jab every year and it usually causes a very painful arm so I was expecting the swine flu injection to be much the same. As usual I got a hard red painful area on my arm but by Wednesday evening the pain was really bad and impossible to ignore, even painkillers don't seem to help. Now I feel as if I have 'flu too, I expect it will sort itself out in a day or two but I feel really rough, I hope it was worth having the jab.

Robbie took Sam to his first gig on Tuesday evening, they went to see Hadouken. They both had a very good time, but I think Sam found it a bit loud. Robbie wore his see through converse with yellow socks, words fail me, it looked horrible. Oh well I should be grateful, at least I didn't have to go with them!

Wonter Woes

1st December dawned icy cold, one of those mornings when the prospect of getting out of bed seems unthinkable and the temptation to roll over and go back to sleep is hard to resist. I had the usual battle with the alarm clock and as usual it won, so by 5.40am I plodded downstairs ready to face the day. I'm not sure why I was surprised to find the car windows covered in a thick layer of ice, but I was; it was the first frosty morning this winter. My carefully timed morning routine had suffered a set back and the prospect of being late loomed large. The ice was soon cleared and I was on my way, but from now on I will need to allow time each morning to clear the windows. I hate winter!

A Big Mistake

I think I have mentioned before that I wear contact lenses but I often don't put them in until I need to go out. On Sunday morning I was in a bit of a hurry because I needed to pick Sam up from church and then we were all going to my mums for a belated birthday celebration for my step father. As often happens the time rushed past, I'd been busy writing an article, then suddenly I noticed the time and I had to rush to have my bath and get ready. I decided to wear my jeans, they are too big really but they are ideal for going to mum's because her dogs jump all over me. I got dressed and rushed downstairs, but when I put my boots on I noticed that I kept treading on the back of the trousers, they seemed to have grown in the wash. Closer inspection revealed my mistake - they were Robbie's jeans! As they say, more haste less speed.