A Pain in the Nose!

Robbie abandoned me this weekend to go and play trains somewhere in the deep north. To be strictly accurate I told him to go - I needed some respite, wall to wall Robbie is a bit much to cope with at times. He arrived back after lunch today and talked non stop about his trip, when he finally ran out of words he started on a variety of sound effects of the train going over different types of track. Maybe they will take him for a week next time!!

Laura was moaning at me yesterday because my preferred make of toilet paper smells funny and gives her a headache. I would have thought the smell of the paper was the least of her worries, but I kept my thoughts to myself. She went on to complain that new magazines smell so bad that it makes her feel sick, she said she has to get her friends to read her magazines first to get rid of the smell! Poor old Laura, I know she has an exceptional sense of smell, but I couldn't help laughing at the the thought of her having he magazines read for her!

Family History - Expect The Unexpected

I have been busy working on my family tree, it really can become addictive. I had hit a brick wall with one person but finally I managed to find the missing information and within a day I had gone back another two generations.

Tracing your family tree is an absorbing and rewarding pastime and with so many online resources it has never been easier to trace your ancestors. There will almost certainly be some sad stories and you should be prepared for some surprises including some that may take a lot of getting used to.

Read the full article here

MRI Scan

Photo by KasugaHuang

I had to have an MRI scan today, it was needed to rule out any other possible causes for my hearing loss, but they are almost certain it is caused by nerve damage. Robbie offered to come with me but I said I would go on my own, after all it was no big deal. I didn't really like the scan. I had to remove all the metal on me or on my clothes, then I had to lay down on a narrow bed with a special area for my head to help me hold my head still. The machine was very noisy so I had to wear ear protectors, but I declined the option of listening to music. The bed was gradually moved into a narrow tube, it made me think of a coffin being buried, so I closed my eyes and thought about my family tree instead. It was incredibly noisy, I didn't like that but I knew it wouldn't last long. The whole process took less than ten minutes, but I felt very dizzy afterwards. It was certainly not as bad as a mammogram but I'm glad it is over.

Memories

I am a Radio 4 addict, I even listen to the radio in the bathroom. My favourite radio programme is the Archers, I have been listening to it for so long that I couldn't imagine life without it. I will not admit quite how long I have been listening to the Archers but when we were talking about it last week I realised that I have been listening to it since before Robbie was born! Over the last week or so the series has been dealing with the death of one of the main characters Phil Archer, we knew it was coming because Norman Painting the actor who played Phil died before Christmas, but it is still terribly sad. However the character and the actor who played him had lived long and fulfilling lives and you should not be sad about a life well lived even a fictional one. There are some deaths that are much harder to come to terms with. It is three years this month since Emily's friend Charles died in a car accident. It was such a shock, he was a very careful driver and it was one of those freak accidents that didn't involve excess speed or alcohol, it should not have happened. It happened on a bend on a country road, I think he may have swerved to avoid an animal but I guess we will never know, he came off the road, hit a tree and died of head injuries. He packed a lot of living into his almost 18 years, but it seems such a waste, he had so much potential. His friends friends will not forget him, they still miss him very much. I hope his death with remind other drivers to be extra careful on the road even on routes you take every day.

Revenge of the Pigeon

When we went to bed on Saturday night I remember hearing a slight noise and I thought perhaps it was the radiator. I woke up just before 4am because I could hear a noise I thought Robbie had accidentally allowed the cat into the room and I gave him a prod and told him to sort it out. He said the cat was downstairs and told me to go back to sleep. I heard the noise again and I sat up and put the light on and found the pigeon had decided to get into bed with Robbie! After a chorus of expletives Robbie chased the pigeon around the room wearing only a pair of luminous green socks. I felt sorry for the poor bird, it had suffered enough so I made Robbie put some clothes on! He resumed the chase wearing Homer pants, loud socks and a pair of gloves. It was all too much for the pigeon and shortly afterwards it surrendered, Robbie escorted it to the window and it flew off in search of peace and quiet. Robbie was asleep again within minutes, but I lay awake thinking about the mess and listening to a song that kept playing in my head - 'catch that pigeon' from the Dick Dastardly cartoon!

Look Who Came Down the Chimney!

I first wrote about the bird that came down the chimney over two weeks ago. We could hear the scratching and fluttering but despite pulling out the furniture and opening up the sealed off fireplace we could not free the bird. It seemed to be stuck on a ledge about a foot above the fireplace and there was nothing I could do to get it out. Robbie didn't seem too bothered about it, but every night I would lay awake in bed listening to it scratching and wondering what more I could do to save it. I had almost given up hope, but at lunchtime on Saturday there was an almighty bump and the most enormous pigeon landed with a thud in the fireplace. The poor thing looked rather tatty, but I am amazed that it survived. It eventually flew around the room a few times and we threw the window open to allow it to escape. It didn't seem too keen to redescover the great outdoors so we left it shut in the bedroom with the windows open and when we went back an hour or so later it was gone.

Want Better Staff: Treat Your Employees Like Dogs

I came across this article today and I thought it was worth posting a link to it. I rather doubt the person who really need to read it will realise it is for him/her, but I live in hope, miracles do happen!

'You might think this notion is appalling, but from where I sit it occurs to me that many employees are often treated worse than their bosses dog, or at least they feel like they are............'

Read the full article here http://bizcovering.com/employment/want-better-staff-treat-your-employees-like-dogs/

Back to Normal

It was half term last week and I enjoyed a week off with Sam. I didn't manage to do any of the things I had planned to do because the week just seemed to fly past. Come to think of it I seemed to get through money at an alarming rate too, why are teenagers so expensive!

During last week I allowed myself some time off from my normal writing work to work on my family tree. I was able to make a lot of progress with finding information about a relative who worked in Birmingham as a policeman at the time that Jack the Ripper brought terror to the streets of London. I was even able to find a photo of him and his wife, it is very special to be able to show the children a photo of their great, great, great grandparents. It is such a good feeling when you make progress after coming up against a brick wall for so long.

Pancake Day!

The Tradition of The Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race at Olney

The pretty little English town of Olney in Buckinghamshire holds a pancake race each year on Shrove Tuesday. It is believed that the first race was held as long ago as 1445 so pancakes have been associated with Shrove Tuesday for a very long time.

Read the full story here http://trifter.com/europe/united-kingdom/the-tradition-of-the-shrove-tuesday-pancake-race-at-olney/

The Saga of the Dr Marten Boots

At Christmas I gave Robbie the money to buy some Dr Martens because I didn't feel able to choose on his behalf, I was bound to get it wrong. He enjoyed choosing and finally settled on some cherry red Chelsea boots, when they arrived they had very noticeable grease marks and machine marks on them and they had to be returned. He bought some from another shop instead and they had the same fault, so when he took them back the shop owner checked all the others of that colour and style and they all had the same fault. Since then he has been trying to decide what to buy instead, he has looked around and finally yesterday he found a limited edition pair that he really likes. They are a metallic dark grey colour with red trim, quite sober by Robbie's standards. He was very pleased with his boots but he was even more pleased with the Dr Martens carrier bag - he is just a big kid at heart!

Too Much Detail

I am used to Robbie's odd little ways but I still find them frustrating at times. Who else would count socks into and out of the washing machine? When Sam provided 23 socks to be washed he did the full Sherlock Holmes to establish why there was a missing sock. He counts the stairs every time he goes up and down and he times almost everything he does to the second - he knows exactly how long it takes him to bath, to get dressed, to feed the cats etc. It drives me mad and he knows there is an absolute ban on timing activities that involve me! However last night he took things beyond the limit, he had counted and itemised all the items that had to be washed up! Then a little later he spotted the new bottle of washing up liquid and went into ecstasy about it. He is very fussy about washing up liquid, it has to be his preferred brand in the correct shaped bottle with just the right amount of 'squirt' but this met with his approval because it was retro. He walked around the lounge admiring the bottle and pointing out different fonts and remembering the various TV adverts. We all had to admire it, then he sat at the table with the bottle in front of him still admiring it. Then he announced that he would take it to work to show everyone; you have been warned, if you see Robbie armed with a bottle of Fairy Liquid - run!

High Rise Cat

I have serious concerns about Dave the cat, just lately he has lost weight but he seems to be eating more than ever and he is constantly on the go, climbing and getting into places that he has never bothered with before. Last week he found his way to the top of the fridge freezer and I have been doing my best to put a stop to that. Yesterday he found his way to the top of wall mounted kitchen units and he knocked down and smashed a large plate and a huge glass domed thingy that you cover cakes with. I spent so long trying to pick up all that glass and china but I am still finding little slivers of glass in the oddest places. I suspect Dave may have an over active thyroid gland so within the next few days he will have to go and see his 'favourite' man - the vet!

Things That Go Bump in the Night

While Robbie was sleeping on the sofa bed (he claims to have no recollection of Friday evening and he slept like a log - a very noisy log!) I was upstairs trying to identify a rather odd echoing noise. I eventually concluded that a bird had come down the chimney so on Saturday morning much to Robbie's annoyance I moved furniture, uncovered the fireplace and did all I could to liberate the bird. Robbie was scared and hid behind the door! Unfortunately I couldn't free the bird, but I have left the chimney open in the hope that it will find it's way out. Robbie is not amused, I think he is afraid that the bird will get into bed with him, but I imagine the poor thing has had enough shocks for one lifetime!

The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back

Robbie found himself spending the night on the sofa bed last night. He pushed my tolerance to the limit during the evening. He phoned me to say that he had been delayed and he would not be on his planned train so could I please pick him up at 7.30pm, I wasn't overjoyed because it would mean that we could not eat our meal until well after 8pm. I wasn't too impressed with his attitude either but I got on with preparations for the meal and various other jobs and at 7.29pm I pulled into the station car park to meet Robbie. Almost as soon as I turned off the engine my phone bleeped to signal that a text had been received, I rummaged in my handbag for my phone and read the text (sent at 7.25pm) Robbie had missed his train and was still at the pub, he would text me again soon! To say that I wasn't amused doesn't really get close to my real emotions. I went home again, did Robbie's jobs, fed the rest of the family and waited , and waited ..........and waited. Finally a text arrived informing me that he was on the train and in need of a lift at 10.30pm. He always texts when he knows he is in trouble, he is two afraid to ring. I was very tempted to leave him marooned at the station, but I went to fetch him. He got into the car with a daft grin on his face and told me that he'd had a really good time. At least one of us had! As we drove off he informed me that several of his friends were drunk, and I informed him that he stank of alcohol. I was still waiting to hear anything that sounded remotely like sorry, but when I glanced across at him I saw that he was dozing with the idiot grin still spread across his face. He managed a couple of incoherent sentences before we got home, but when I reversed on to the drive he thanked me as if I was a taxi driver, grabbed his bags and trotted off into the house, leaving me outside! I didn't even get the usual cup of tea as a peace offering.

This morning he appeared at 11am bearing a cup of tea and an apology and promising breakfast. I am still waiting for breakfast an hour later!

Light At The End of the Tunnel

This evening I begged Robbie to apply for another job and finally he seems to be seeing things my way. He has always loved his work and I know it will be hard for him to contemplate moving on, but even he has had to recognise that things haven't been so good for a while. He seems to be constantly under pressure and it is impacting on our home life. I hardly ever see him and when I do I only have to turn away for a second and when I look back he is sound asleep! There has to be a work life balance and at the moment the scales are weighed down by the pressures of work. As I said in my last post, you only get have one life and living well is what matters most. It is easy to get stuck in a rut but it is a little more difficult to acknowledge it and do something about it.

Uphill

I have a friend who lives in Weston -super-Mare and I really admire her address, after the street address comes the area name - Uphill. That seems to sum up huge patches of my, life it all seems to be uphill, so I think it would be cool to have that as an address.

The writer Darrell W Penner recently wrote a short piece called Mountain Paths, I really liked it because it so beautifully expresses that it is not the length of a life that is important, it is the journey.

http://authspot.com/thoughts/mountain-paths/

Say What You Mean

A trivial incident the other day reminded me how important it is to check that the person you are communicating with understands your words in the way that you intended. Just as I was heading off to work I noticed that we were running low on milk so I left a £5 note on top of the TV and sent a text to Sam (who was coming home with Laura) saying "please get milk £5 on TV, keep the change". I thought my meaning was crystal clear, but when I got home the was a little tower of coins on top of the television, I looked across at Sam and said "I told you to keep the change" he looked puzzled and said "I did keep it, I kept it on the TV". My meaning wasn't clear, I had intended to say keep the change for yourself, but he had understood the words to mean keep the change safe.

It reminded me of an incident when Sam was about 8 or 9, he were staying at a hotel and when we went to breakfast the waitress asked each of us what we wanted. She asked Sam if he wanted his egg boiled, scrambled or poached, suddenly Sam looked very confused and very quietly he asked me if the eggs were stolen. He had never had a poached egg before and he was only aware of one meaning for the word poached.

How To Tell A Man's Age From The Position Of His Waistband

Paul Baldwin director of menswear at Debenhams claims that the way a man wears his trousers is directly related to his age. The research carried out by Debenhams shows that waistbands plummet during the teenage years and then steadily creep up until reaching a peak at age 57. Mr Baldwin states that the research is important because the position of the waistband determines how the trousers are made.

Read the full article
http://socyberty.com/men/a-mans-age-is-indicated-by-the-position-of-his-waistband/

Birthday Girl

It has been a busy weekend, it was Emily's 21st birthday on Sunday and she went out to celebrate with all her friends on Saturday evening. It is nice that she is still in touch with many of her old friends from school, her work friends went out with her too. She had already had an evening out with her university friends on Thursday so she managed to stretch her birthday over several days!

I bought Emily a ring for her birthday, she loves rings. I also bought her a very posh jewellery box, some Dr Who DVDs and the full set of Round The Twist DVDs (one of her favourite TV series when she was younger). She had lots of lovely presents and we had a really nice family day, we spent the afternoon with her grandparents and she was able to talk to other relatives on the phone. I think she enjoyed her birthday.