In The Dark

Coming second in favour of a train in Robbie's affections wasn't such a big surprise, but last night I found that I came second to Network Rail - now that was a surprise! He'd promised to be home by 8pm but there was no sign of Robbie, just a text to say he wouldn't be too late; it's a good thing that the cat is good company or I would start to feel neglected! I lost track of time and when I looked at the clock it was well past 11pm, so I expect him to ring fairly soon asking for a lift from the station. Some time later the phone rang, it was Robbie, but he was totally incoherent, I couldn't make sense of anything he was saying. When I had calmed him down and reminded him of the need to take a breath it became clear that he was lost. He had set out to walk to Birmingham International Station, but the route he knew was locked and in the course of searching for another way into the station he had got lost. I gave him some practical things to do and when he rang me back he had got to the station but by then he had missed his last train. There was one last train to Coventry due soon after midnight, so we agreed that he would get that and then get a taxi from Coventry to Rugby.

While the intrepid traveller was tackling the next stage of his journey, I set out for Rugby in the car. It was a very strange journey, familiar routes seem so different in the dark. I got to Rugby just before 1am and I didn't have to wait too long for Robbie to turn up. He seemed very subdued, maybe he expected me to be angry, but it seemed pointless to be cross, after all he didn't do it on purpose. We saw two foxes on the way back as well as other assorted wildlife, but the only thing I was interested in seeing was my bed. It was almost 2am when we finally got home, Robbie made me a cup of tea, but I was so tired that I was asleep before the tea arrived.

When the alarm clock went off at 5am I was so sleepy that I really didn't want to get up, but Robbie was determined not to be late for his meeting - with Network Rail. After last night I think they must be extending their sphere of influence, I have become accustomed to their various strategies to delay trains and inconvenience passengers, but they managed to delay Robbie before he even got to the train!

Coming Second.

I spent another Saturday without Robbie, he did text a few times, but it doesn't really make up for not being here. I did ordinary things, a trip to the supermarket, housework, my writing work, feeding hungry animals and hungry people and other exciting tasks. Emily was busy packing to go on holiday to Cornwall first thing in the morning, I would love to be in Cornwall again.

Robbie sent me a text asking me if I would like to go to Glasgow on a rail tour, I thanked him but said no. If I go to Glasgow I want to go on a Pendolino, I don't see the point of going on an old train when you could go on a new one. Robbie thinks I am mad, but he is not really in the best position to judge, he is not exactly normality personified! He seemed to take great offense at my lack of good taste when it comes to trains and he tried to get me to change my mind, but in the end he gave up and said he would ring me a bit later on. I waited for his call, but by 2am I gave up and fell asleep.

A few days ago when I had objected to him going on this rail tour he reassured me that he would be home early on the Sunday morning, in time to make me a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich. I woke early on Sunday morning and I was looking forward to seeing Robbie again after almost a week away. I listened to the radio thinking that it wouldn't be long before he got home, time went on, I had my bath, made my own cup of tea and listened to the Archers, but still there was no sign of him. There were no texts, no phone calls, and no reply when I tried to contact him. Lunch time came and went and I got on with my ordinary routine, but I was increasingly worried and annoyed about the lack of contact. Finally sometime after 3.30pm Robbie phoned me with the usual set of excuses. He was too tired to phone last night, he overslept, his phone was dead, there are no payphones in Birmingham, he forgot to ring me.

What annoyed me most was that he thought I would be OK about it - I wasn't! I reminded him that he had been put on a final warning the last time he did this. He seemed to think it was all very trivial - I didn't! Everyone has their limits and he was about to discover mine! At just after 6pm I picked him up from the station.

I had plenty to say, but it resulted in me offering him a choice, me or the rail tours. When put like that it only took him a few minutes to decide - in favour of the rail tours! So he packed his things and I took him back to the station, with him telling me that I had given him an impossible choice. He didn't seem to understand that I found it deeply hurtful (but not surprising) to come second to a train! He plodded off to the platform feeling very hard done by. I waited in the car park and about ten minutes later I got a text saying "OK, you win!" and shortly afterwards he plodded back to the car. The silly thing is I don't want to 'win' I just want a lot more consideration.!

Home Again - Briefly

Robbie arrived home just after 8pm and talked about trains. How does he do that, he seems to be able to talk for hours without ever pausing for breath. He didn't take the hint when I gave him a warning stare so I told him loud and clear NO TRAINS - so he talked about railway people instead!

I really wanted to be cross with him because he only phoned me a couple of times while he was away, but it is really hard to be cross with him for very long. It would have been nice if he had managed to tell me that he had missed me, to be fair he did mention it, but it only took up half a sentence compared with his long and detailed account of being presented with the wrong brand of Marmalade at breakfast!

Almost as soon as he got home Robbie was busy getting his clothes and 'stuff' ready for his trip away this weekend. It was one of those days where everything seems to get in the way and stop you getting on with things so we were both still up when the news of Michael Jackson's death was announced. It is sad when anyone dies before their time especially when they leave young children. It is probably because I am not very interested in music that his career has more or less passed me by, I knew who he was of course, but I couldn't name any of his songs, but I know that he has many fans who will be devastated by his untimely death. It is sad, I suspect that for all his money and fame he has not had a happy life.

Robbie went off to work this morning loaded with his luggage for the weekend, I will not see him again until sometime on Sunday, so I will just have to enjoy my own company until then!

A Quiet Life - I Wish!

I love animals and I couldn't imagine not having pets, but I am starting to think that they are giving me a hard time this week. With Robbie away I intended to enjoy the peace and quiet and make the most of being able to get up a little later, unfortunately when it comes to being noisy early in the morning Robbie has some rivals. At about 5.15am every morning a group of Canada geese fly over on there way from one lake to another and they honk loudly. It is nice that we have two beautiful parks within walking distance and it is nice that they attract wildlife, but why do they need to get up so early! Yesterday it was so loud that I am sure each bird looked into the open window and hooted extra loud as they went past. At least the geese go away, the crow that hangs out in the tree opposite my bedroom window stays there for hours on end making the most dreadful noise, leaving me in bed wide awake thinking of ways to silence a crow!

When I went out to put the bins out early in the morning a bird flew into my face as I walked back towards the house. It really hurt, I hope the bird was OK, I think it was a starling or something of that size, it flew off before I could get a good look at it.

The cats have been causing trouble too, Oreo jumped out of Laura's bedroom window onto the paved area of the garden below. I was terrified, I expected him to be badly injured or dead and I raced downstairs to get to him. I opened the back door and he strolled in looking completely untroubled by his adventure. Not to be outdone by the cats Megan also made her presence felt, she rolled in something unspeakable and she stank. When I mentioned the 'B' word she looked pathetic, I washed the offending area, but I decided to postpone her bath until Sunday - Robbie can do it!

Signal Failure?

He really is a slow learner! There was absolute silence all day yesterday, no texts, no phone calls, nothing. I went to bed at a few minutes to midnight and I was sound asleep when the phone rang. It was Robbie, totally oblivious of the time. I had a moan about the lack of contact and he said that there is no signal downstairs, but higher up in the building he can get a signal. On a believability scale that is poor, so poor that it is almost Network Rail rail standard! I was too sleepy to want to talk much especially when there was a danger of straying onto the subject of trains at any moment. I ended the conversation and settled down to sleep again with a crazy image in my mind of all the people at Robbie's meeting wandering around waving their phones in the air trying to get a signal!

Not having Robbie around has it's compensations, it is much quieter and I get to do as I like. I had liver and bacon yesterday, it is my favourite meal but I hardly ever have it because Robbie doesn't like it. I also got two extra hours in bed this morning, I didn't need to get up until 7am, I could get used to that!

Only a Man Would ......................

I drove home yesterday evening, swung round and reversed my car onto the drive; a manoeuvre that I have done so often that I could almost do it in my sleep. I was surprised to find that I was at least a foot away from the hedge, someone had widened the drive while I was out! I looked again, Robbie had cut the hedge (at long last) and it made the drive so much wider. It was a relief to get the hedge cut but if he thought that would get him out of the doghouse he was sadly mistaken. Even if he had cut every hedge in the county it would not have been enough, I am absolutely furious with him. He didn't tell me that he was disappearing for almost a week because he knew I wouldn't be happy about it. Only a man would think it was better to let me find out by accident at the last minute, and only Robbie would think that doing a job that he should have done weeks ago was an acceptable apology!

When I say he has cut the hedge, he has cut the side next to the drive and he has cut the top of the hedge on drive side, but the other side of the hedge is in serious need of attention and the way he has cut the top has left it looking very odd, as if it has a Mohican hair style! He could have finished cutting it at the weekend if he'd been at home, but by the time he gets around to it, the top will be so high that it will probably require a scaffolding platform to reach it!

Oh well, he has gone now and I will only see him once between now and Sunday night, that should give me plenty of time to get rid of all his railway magazines and stash all his model trains in the loft. I have a few other things in mind too ...................... but he will have to wait and see!

In the Dark

Words fail me. I am absolutely furious with Robbie. He went out yesterday and he came back with such a bad back that he didn't know what to do with himself, but he insisted on going to work today despite being in agony. I told him that one day of now to deal with the pain may prevent a longer absence later if he tries to keep going and does further damage. I should have saved my breath, I have had more meaningful conversations with with a goldfish!

In the course of conversation this morning he let slip that he was going away tomorrow until Thursday! I was really cross, he should have told me about it well in advance. He promised me that he would do all sorts of outstanding jobs if I let him go out this weekend, I let him go out but none of the jobs got done. So now he will go away tomorrow, turn up late on Thursday, go away again on Friday and not return until Sunday. He needs to watch out or he may find that I can manage without him! Mostly I am cross because he didn't tell me about his plans, I am not a mushroom and I don't appreciate being kept in the dark.

Coming Second

Robbie is going to dump me again, I know it and he knows that I know, but I am not going to make it easy for him. It all started when he opened his post yesterday evening, I could see him getting twitchy and I knew he had something to say, but Robbie is not to good at getting to the point. The next couple of hours were spent with him edging around the subject and not actually finding the courage to come right out with it. I was busy filling in student finance forms for Laura, not exactly fun at the best of times and it involved me trawling through a load of old income records so I was becoming increasingly frustrated. It wasn't the ideal time for Robbie to try his luck.

First he mentioned that our holiday dates clashed with a diesel gala again and when I didn't respond he told me how much he loved going to Barrow Hill. Then the word Deltic seemed to crop up in every other sentence, and when he still got no response he plodded across the room to show me the leaflet for the diesel gala at Barrow Hill. Once again he told me what bad timing it was because it was the day we go on holiday to Norfolk. When I glanced at the leaflet and told him not to worry because once you have seen one diesel you have seen them all, I thought he would burst. After a few more heavy hints he gave up and fell asleep with his nose on the keyboard of the laptop, but you can be sure that the same subject will crop up again and again. He has set his heart on going to Barrow Hill, so one way or another that will involve me going on holiday without a husband (again!). Maybe I will have to find a replacement for when the real Robbie isn't available!

Confession Time

Yesterday Robbie rang me at about 8.30am, he usually phones at around that time. He said that he was in London and he wanted to say hello before dashing off to his meeting in Cambridge. I asked him how long his journey to Cambridge would take in total, it was an innocent enough question but t elicited some interesting confessions from Robbie. First came the rather sheepish question "What, including breakfast and meeting friends?" He had been to visit his old friends at Euston, and apparently his three Weetabix wasn't sufficient to sustain him until lunch so he had to have a second breakfast! Then came the confession, he made me get up in the middle of the night and miss the end of my dream because he wanted to go on a Voyager! He could have travelled over an hour later but the lure of the diesel apparently justified the early start! In an attempt to distract me he told me what we could have for breakfast when we go on a Pendolino. That man, if he isn't thinking about trains he is thinking about food!!

Lost for Words!

I was cross when Robbie woke me up this morning, I am never to keen to get up but today I was annoyed because I was having a dream about moving house and he made me miss the ending. I don't know where I was moving too or why I was moving, but I was angry with one of the removal men and I was just in the middle of telling him that I had employed him for his muscle power not for his oppinions and if he couldn't conduct himself properly he could take his spurs and leave because there are plenty of other cowboys who would be glad to get the work. That is when Robbie woke me, just as I was starting to enjoy it! I have no idea why I had that dream, I haven't moved house for 18 years and I have no plans to move. When I stopped to think about it, I realised it was 18 years almost to the day since we moved, but I hadn't thought about that before the dream. Spooky!

Anyway Robbie was very organised this morning because he is going to Cambridge via London today. I upset him by suggesting that it would probably be much easier to travel by coach instead, he was horrified by the suggestion and he informed me in no uncertain terms that people who work for train companies do not travel by coach. I could have reminded him that thanks to Network Rail, most regular rail travellers frequently find themselves travelling by coach. I didn't say any of that because my composure crumbled and all my attention was focussed on trying not to laugh. Robbie was standing there hands on hips looking deeply indignant wearing only a pair of socks and a tie! It was only later that I wondered why anyone would put on their tie before their shirt!

Barriers to Communication

Robbie and I have been having communication problems again. He came to meet me from work and he fell about laughing at my pronunciation of Merry Hill, Robbie insists that the only correct way to say it is to make it rhyme with 'very ill' but I just can't speak like that.

As I was driving home Robbie was chattering on far too fast as usual and I was tuning in an out depending on how much I needed to concentrate on the road. He told me it had been a bad day on the railways because they'd had problems with heart attack spot detectors failing. I was intrigued, I had never heard of this amazing invention and I wondered out loud if it was used for staff or passengers. He gave me a very odd look as if he was about to summon the men in white coats. He asked what I was talking about and then he explained that he hadn't said 'heart attack spot detectors' he had been talking about 'hot axle box detectors'. I was instantly bored, but my confusion was compounded when he went on to tell me that one of his trains had 'sat down' at Burton and it was stuck there until today because another train was off the road and was using the skates – something like that anyway! It didn't make any sense to me, I said that I thought they were supposed to stick to the rails and stay off the road, but Robbie just laughed at me and said that road means rails. I wonder if the doctor can give him some tablets to make him more normal?

Revenge of the Short People

My legs still haven't recovered from the journey on Saturday, it seems that these days we have laws to protect almost everyone from being discriminated about - except short people. I think I will have to start my own campaign against heightism. It is a shame because it spoilt a nice trip, obviously I will have to travel with a foot rest in future - until the short people take over the world! I wonder if they make inflatable foot rests, if not maybe I will have to invent one.

I reminded Robbie that he had promised to take me on a Pendolino and I wanted to plan where we would go, but he seemed quite determined to take me on another HST, I don't think he will give up until I learn to like it! It was nice to go out with him, and I would like to do it more often even if that means enduring an HST. I even said that I would quite like to go on one of his rail tours, but he was very quick to put me off. He explained the logistics and made sure I understood that it just wasn't possible, that's OK, I wouldn't want to come between him and the love of his life - trains!

Sock Thieves

He did it again! What is wrong with that man? At about 1.45am I was sound asleep when Robbie came to bed. For some reason he found it essential to stand over me and prod me to ask if I was asleep. Then the light went on and he spent the next ten minutes looking for his socks, muttering darkly the whole time about sock thieves. He's deluded, who would want his socks! I got increasingly annoyed and he became increasingly irritating. Still proclaiming his conspiracy theory, he turned the main light off, climbed over the bed and switched on his side light in order to rummage in his sock drawer. His light was intolerable, it is like a searchlight and I was furious that yet again he thought it was OK to wake me up and subject me to this sort of torture. Finally he was reunited with his socks, but he refused to turn the light off, he made a big deal about setting the alarm on his phone before very grudgingly settling down and putting out the light. By this time I was furious and ready to harm him, yet again he managed to fall asleep within minutes, leaving me wide awake and unable to sleep. Please, for the sake of my sanity make him understand that waking me up in the middle of the night could be dangerous to his health!

Dangling Legs and Other Problems

Saturday dawned far too early for my liking, but after a lot of moaning and groaning on my part we were on the road and heading for the station. We travelled First Class to Birmingham on a 350; I wasn't impressed because it felt cramped and it looked shabby, but at least it was quiet and we had an uneventful journey arriving in Birmingham slightly late.

I hadn't travelled on a refurbished HST before so I was looking forward to it. I'd been underwhelmed by the livery but I'd heard good things about the refurbishment and was keen to see it for myself. The first problem we encountered was the platforming, it was rubbish, the signage was wrong, leaving us sprinting down the platform to find first class. The platform staff were neither use than ornament - certainly not ornament!

The train looked OK except for the horrible colour of the upholstery and the hideous curtains that looked as if they had been cut down from an old woman's crimpelene dress. The antimacassars looked good, very simple and tasteful, which is more than I can say for the carpet which was too 'busy' and not dark enough, it already looked dirty and shabby. The seats are fairly comfortable if you happen to be a giant, but it is impossible to use the table comfortably because the distance between the seat and the table is to great. I am a bit on the short side but not abnormally short for an adult, so I was annoyed to find that my feet didn't reach the floor when I sat down. The seats were adjustable but unfortunately it required more height than I possessed as your rear end had to be in the seat and your feet in contact with the floor to achieve the required thrusting motion. This was the first of many clues that it had been designed by a man!

Clue number two came when I visited the toilets. They are 'cosy' but I guess there is adequate space for the average contortionist to cope with the 'essentials'. It wasn't the space that bothered me as much as the poor design, the unpleasant smell and the dirty state of the facilities. The toilet tissue does not dispense correctly, it comes out in handfuls, but then it will not flush away. The sink is too low even for someone as short as me! It is not possible to see how the soap dispenser works, so you have to put your hand into the gap and feel around for the soap. This triggers the automatic tap and rewards you with wet cuffs. Then when you have wet hands you have to battle with a towel dispenser that dispenses small soggy strips of tissue, so you have to reach in and grab a few towels. For some reason the towel dispenser is above the sink so while you are doing battle with it the water from your wet hands runs down your arms and drips off your elbows! The final insult was the bin, the gap is too small to put the used paper towels in without pushing your clean fingers into the bin. I returned to my seat with wet cuffs, damp sleeves and soggy elbows, thankful that I had hand sanitizer in my handbag because I had no intention of using that sink again.

It was the bumpiest journey I have ever experienced and I didn't feel safe, even Robbie said it was a bad journey. I wanted to get off but Robbie reassured me that it would be OK.

We lost time at Cheltenham. I thought we had slipped into a parallel universe. The train stopped and the dispatcher came wandering down the stairs looking as if he had escaped from a home for the bewildered and was about ready to be dispatched himself. When he had plodded down the platform and remembered what he was there for we departed several minutes late. There was a really cute dispatcher at Bristol so that was some compensation.

Robbie had to sprint off the train at Bristol because nobody delivered the urns to the train so there had been no hot drinks available between Manchester and Bristol. Apparently the previous week there were no hot drinks available all the way from Manchester to Newquay! There had been a mix up with the reservations too, they had labelled up for the wrong train meaning that a whole first carriage was rendered unusable as the seats were labelled up for people on a different route!

As I was gazing out of the train window my eye fell on the paper notice Headed Manchester Picadilly - Newquay, I wondered why it was necessary to list the starting point, after all even the most 'challenged' traveller knows where they are when they start their journey!

We were delayed from Dawlish onward by an HST in front that was busy going nowhere. Robbie was getting seriously irritated about his timing being messed up, but it was nice to crawl along and enjoy the wonderful views. I couldn't believe that there were so many cranks scattered along the line just to take photos of an HST - what a waste of a Saturday!

We arrived at Plymouth a few minutes late and I begged Robbie to let us travel home on a Voyager, but he wouldn't hear of it. My verdict on the journey, a thumbs down to the refurbished HST and a huge thumbs down to the catering trolley. However there were highlights, the staff were all friendly and helpful and the views from the sea wall at Dawlish were as wonderful as ever.

We spent the day in Plymouth, then we set out on our return journey to Birmingham. My legs were OK just dangling for a while, but then they began to ache and by Taunton they were swollen and painful, so I had to rest them on a rucksack. We saw a kettle at Taunton, Oliver Cromwell, it looked amazing

The ride back was every bit as bumpy, I would much rather travel on a Voyager or a Pendolino, but it was a nice day out. Robbie says I am mad, apparently I don't know a good thing when I see it, he still thinks HST's are wonderful. He says we have to do the journey again soon to check that some of the problems have been put right (he is determined to make me like HST's), but he has promised to take me on a Pendolino next, so I am looking forward to that.

Making a Start

Robbie kept his promise and made a start on the hedge. I got home from work to find Robbie outside with the hedge cutter, but he wasn't cutting the hedge, he was leaning on the Micra chatting on to a colleague - about trains! I think my presence spurred him into action and he cut the front part of the hedge. Now I need to get the hedge at the side if the drive sorted because it is gradually edging across the drive leaving making it increasingly difficult to park the Galaxy on the drive. That will have to wait for a few days because Robbie's arm went dead after cutting the hedge so we will have to let it get back to normal. I can do the lower parts of the hedge but I am not very tall and I can't manage a ladder and a hedge cutter together.

So it looks as if we are going out on the train tomorrow. He said that the people he talks to on his train journeys to Birmingham think he is mad to spend his free time going on a long train journey just to come back again, but I guess it keeps him out of trouble!

A Promise

Robbie is not really into gardening, after all why waste time on gardening when you could be playing trains! This year seems even worse than previous years, possibly because his only incentive to work in the front garden has gone; our very attractive neighbour has moved, so he has no reason to hover in the garden hoping to see her. The gardening situation is now desperate, the hedge is threatening to swallow the house and it is almost impossible to walk up the front path because the hedge is closing the the gap. I have to walk up the path sideways and the postman carries a machete! Robbie keeps telling me that he will get around to it, but so far I haven't seen any action. I can't use the hedge cutter because it is still lacking an electric cable since the last time Robbie cut through it and anyway I find them too heavy to hold up for very long. I have two different pairs of shears, I bought one pair especially to cut the hedge but Robbie has squirreled them away and I cant find them, I keep asking and he keeps promising to get them but I'm still waiting! Anyway I spoke to him about it again this morning and he promised to get the shears for me. I extracted another promise too, he says that he still has a working hedge trimmer and that he will make a start on the hedge. I wanted a Magnus Magnusson type promise 'I've started so I'll finish' but he only promised to 'make a start' so to add a bit of incentive I have agreed to go on a train with him on Saturday if he does a good job.

Us Time?

Robbie wants us to go out and do something special on Saturday, to make up for the weekends when he abandons me and goes off to play trains. I liked the sound of that, but guess what he wants to do – go on a train! He really does have a one track mind. I suggested a couple of other things that we could do, but he said he couldn't possibly miss out on the HST's this summer, so the message is that he wants to spend time with me as long as it doesn't get between him and his trains! Travelling with Robbie is not always a pleasure, in fact it is very similar to travelling alone. I always make sure I have my own tickets and passes because he finds all sorts of reasons to dart off the train when it stops at a station leaving me convinced that he will get left behind, then at the last second he appears. He always meets people he knows and he wanders off to talk to them or to talk to the train staff and he doesn't come back for ages. In the rare moments that he is actually with me, he reads me 'exciting' snippets from his railway magazines, or he gets his quail map out and mutters incoherently to himself. Worse still he gets his notebook out and starts noting down train numbers, and then he tells me in great detail about the last time he saw this or that train. The only good point about Robbie's behaviour is that people don't seem very keen to sit next to us and I like it that way. I will probably go out with him on Saturday as long as he promises to be on his best behaviour!

A Way With Words.

Often when I write the blog I have a moan about the astounding incompetence I encounter in everyday life, but today I am full of praise. I think Virgin Trains could teach us all a thing or two when it comes to communication and media management. At the end of last week I listened to Tony Collins, CEO of Virgin Trains being interviewed on Radio 4. The first thing I noticed was that he had a trustworthy voice – a rarity in the rail industry. What he didn't say was as eloquent as what he said. The interviewer pointed out that the Pendolino had been voted the least liked inter city train by passengers. He focussed on the many benefits the Pendolino offers and refused he to be sidetracked. I don't know who these people are that don't like Pendolino's, I like them very much, and Robbie will rearrange his plans just to travel on a Pendolino. To be honest I prefer them to H.S.T.'s but I know Robbie would argue with me about that. The best thing about the Pendolino is that it is safe, Barry Doe hates them so there is no danger of finding him sitting next to you!!

Anyway back to the Tony Collins interview, the best bit was when he talked about Network Rail, his words were inoffensive and succinct, but we were left in no doubt about the underlying message! Virgin have a way with words, the other day I laughed out loud when I read the Virgin Rail Group response to Network Rail and Office of Rail Regulation comments on West Coast performance. It is not a laughing matter, but it reminded me of my mum. She used to tell me that you have to be careful what you say, but nobody can control what you think. Virgin have turned that into an art, their words are well chosen, but we are left in very little doubt about their thoughts!

Torture!

Why are men such slow learners? I was late going to bed last night because I was listening to the European election results on the radio, and it must have been getting towards 1am when I headed up to bed. Robbie said he would be there in a few minutes so I left my light and my radio on hoping that I would be able to sleep and that Robbie wouldn't disturb me when he came to bed. The problem was that he didn't come to bed and the light kept waking me up so in the end I turned it off. Later I was woken by a searchlight, Robbie had turned his bedside lamp on, and he was kneeling on the bed with his rear end in the air searching under his side of the bed for an Argos catalogue! When I recovered from the shock I yelled at him to turn the light off and let me go back to sleep but he refused and he became increasingly awkward. He then decided to set the alarm on his mobile before turning the light off and setting down. As a final insult he flapped the duvet to let all the warmth out and he kept prodding me just to be annoying. By then I was wide awake and so frustrated that I was ready to harm him, especially when he lay there giggling like Mutley. He was asleep and snoring within minutes, but I couldn't get back to sleep for ages. He needs to watch out because when he least expects it I will get my revenge!

A Lazy Day

Saturday was a lovely lazy day and I needed it so badly after all the rushing around. It was nice to just take our time and do our own thing and for the first time in ages I was able to have some me time on the computer. For weeks before Laura's birthday I was busy creating a huge photo scrapbook for her, it took up every free moment and it almost took over my life. It was worth the effort because Laura loved it, but she was so funny when she looked through the book, she complained about almost every photo of her. Just knowing that it brought back so many happy memories made all the effort worth while.

A Night Out

In our house even little jobs seem to take forever and on Friday morning I still had lots of housework to do. I worked hard and by just after lunch it was done ready for Laura and Emily's friends to come and stay. It was Laura's 18th birthday night out with her friends and the afternoon saw the girls painting nails, straightening hair and doing all that girly stuff that makes me cringe. I took myself off to a quiet corner to get on with my writing work. Laura looked very nice in her new dress, in fact they all looked nice and they all looked very bright and cheerful the next morning considering that they didn't get in until half past three in the morning.

Driven to Distraction.

Thursday went past in a whirl of activity, I still had my usual jobs but I also had to catch up on all the jobs I had put off while I was getting ready for Laura's birthday. One job that simply couldn't be put off any longer was cleaning the hall carpet, but unfortunately I had far too much help. I started by hoovering which prompted Meg the dog to attack the hoover, each time I wanted to push the hoover forward there she was there to chase it back. Picking up an aerosol can had a magical effect, Meg vanished into the lounge to make herself invisible while Oreo streaked past me in the other direction. I sprayed the carpet with the carpet cleaner, and got down on my knees to work it into the carpet but as soon as I put the can down Oreo reappeared to attack the foam that was blocking his way to the kitchen and his food bowl. Meg didn't want to be outdone by a cat and decided that in the absence of her favourite fox poo, this foam would be good to roll in, so I had to work the foam in with one hand while waving the aerosol can in the other to scare away the animals! Fortunately the end result was good, I had to leave it to dry and then hoover it again and it looked much better, so perhaps the exorbitant price for the product was justified after all.

A Challenge

Laura had a lovely birthday with lots of nice presents, I will write more about that later. This morning my post is about going out for a meal last night. We had all agreed to go to Aroma, a Chinese restaurant where you can help yourself to whatever you want. Robbie saw this as a challenge and he managed about three plates of main course food and about the same of afters, by then the rest of us had admitted defeat and had given up on eating in favour of people watching (great fun) so we didn't notice Robbie sneak away from the table again. I was speechless when he came back with a huge plate of curry and I couldn't imagine how he could eat anything else, but he made short work of it. He admitted to feeling full after that and we hurried him home before he made himself ill by eating more food. I don't think he will need to eat again for a couple of days!

A Special Birthday

I think Robbie wishes he was still on holiday, I had problems waking him up this morning. I had to get cross with him before he would get moving so he has been issued with an ultimatum, from now on I will wake him up once, if he doesn't get up that is his problem not mine and I will not change my routine to help him out.

This morning was really busy, it is Laura's 18th birthday and she was really excited about opening her presents. We bought her a ring, she also had clothes and DVD's they were all things that she wanted. This evening we are going out for a family meal. Where have all those years gone?

Everyone Has Limits!

Robbie had a very bad day on Sunday. We had to get up early to go and get the dog from the kennels and I decided to take the other car, but I asked Robbie to bring both car keys with us. It was a reasonably long drive because the kennels is near Milton Keynes and Robbie talked non stop about trains, including a very odd statement about a Pendolino 'sitting down'. It was lovely to get Meg back, but the journey home was hot and uncomfortable. We arrived home to find ourselves locked out because Laura was out and the other key that I had asked Robbie to bring was locked inside the house! I had to drive all the way to my mum's to get the spare key. In the afternoon he kept me waiting outside Tesco for an hour and a half, he should have only bought a few essential food items, but he 'accidentaly' went shopping for clothes! I was not amused, in fact I was furious. He did say he was sorry, but he didn't seem very sorry and when he moved my cleaning stuff that evening and then mocked me for getting cross, he ended up wearing a cup of tea! I did regret it, it was a waste of good tea, but everyone has limits – even me!