You learn something new every day!

There are many occasions when I wish I could put a smile on the faces of my children but I rarely succeed.  Teenagers seem to turn drama and disapproval into an art form and even when they are no longer teenagers old habits die hard, so it is very unusual to see all three of them smiling at once. 

Tonight was an exception, all three of them were helpless with laughter. I guess on balance I would rather have them laughing at me than sitting there looking miserable. The cause of the hilarity King Richard III, or to be more accurate it was a joke about him that led to the laughter. It was confirmed today that a body found buried beneath a car park in Leicester was Richard III the last Plantagenet king, and the last king of England to die in battle. Having warned me that it was in slightly bad taste my daughter shared a joke from Twitter 'What was Richard III doing in the car park - dogging'

My other daughter was crying with laughter at my reaction and she made this comment on Facebook
That awkward moment when your stepdad has to explain what dogging is to your mother.. 'You are joking arent you...? What are they, double jointed?!'

Oh well, it was nice to see them happy, and it led to a nice family evening, with everyone chatting and laughing. They helped me to choose a ringtone for my new phone, it is 'Me and Mrs Jones' - it was the obvious choice really!

Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober - 1 Thessalonians 5:6 King James Version

Robbie wanted to go out on Friday evening, I wasn't keen because he'd had a very challenging week and I knew that he was very tired and struggling to cope with pain from his back and legs. However it was the anniversary of his friend's death and he needed to meet with other friends to remember better times. I begged him not to be too late home because I was tired too and I didn't want to be too late to bed.

We had spoken on the phone before he went out and I kept my mobile close to me hoping that he would remember his promise not to be too late. It remained silent all evening so I sent him a text to say that I was going to bed and he should ring me when he needed a lift. I sat in bed listening to the radio and doing some writing on my netbook, trying to stay awake. He finally rang to say that he needed picking up at midnight and I asked him to ring me again when he got to Rugby just to make sure that I hadn't dozed off. Time marched on and no call came, so I set off for the station, I thought Robbie had just forgotten ring. 

When I got to the station I began to worry that Robbie may have fallen asleep, so I rang him several times and sent texts for him to contact me, but there was no reply. A stream of people wandered wearily around to the car park indicating that Robbie's train was in, I looked and looked but there was no Robbie. After a brief flurry of activity the car park was still and silent again and I was still there waiting. Time passed very slowly but eventually a few more weary travellers came into view, another train had arrived, but after a brief moment of hope my heart sank, there was no sign of Robbie. By this time I was seriously worried, my mind raced, perhaps he'd had a bad fall, perhaps he had even fallen under a train ........... Finally the truth became clear, a rather confused text from Robbie revealed that he had fallen asleep on the train and ended up in Buckinghamshire. A phone call followed and a rather unhappy Robbie admitted that it would be a long wait for him to make his way back. I wasn't best pleased, but at least he was safe, so I couldn't be too angry. We finally got home at about 2am - not the best start to a weekend! 

It's a little bit funny this feeling inside .......... - Elton John

Robbie didn't have the best start this morning, he arrived at the station and realised that he had left both his blackberries on the dining table, so I had to make a mercy dash to reunite him with his phones. I wasn't best pleased but when I saw his guilty grin I couldn't be cross with him. When he leaned into the car to give me a kiss and to say thank you, he mentioned that he had a strange pins and needles type pain at the top of his leg, just below his buttock. He said it felt a bit like when the injection is wearing off after dental treatment. I was worried because it did not sound like his usual sort of pain.


When I checked on him a bit later on he mentioned that the discomfort seemed to be moving down his leg and it was very itchy. I didn't hear from him again until later that morning when the cause of his problem had been discovered. He was out until late last night and when he came home he decided that he had wash his 'smalls' because he wanted to wear his favourite pair the next day. I was tired and left him to it. Apparently he didn't check the dryer before he put his items in to dry. I had washed all my kitchen cloths earlier in the day and somehow a small flat scourer found its way unnoticed into Robbie's pants! By the time he had got to work it had worked its way down his leg and as he made himself a cup of coffer it fell out from his trouser leg!

The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers - Thomas Jefferson

There are many things that I love about Robbie, but his choice of newspaper is is not one of them. I detest the thing I resent the waste of paper and I resent the waste of money, I would rather he spent it on a railway magazine, even if he spent it on  Lego or any of his other many and varied obsessions it wouldn't seem so pointless. I have managed to change or modify many things about Robbie over the years, but he remains stubbornly attached to his limp lefty newspaper, so I do my best to ignore it.

Yesterday evening we settled down in the lounge, me with my laptop and Robbie across the room with his newspaper. I was lost in my own little world writing the blog when I glanced up to see Robbie holding his phone out to the cat, and more worrying still the cat was looking at it as if he was reading a text! I asked Robbie what he was doing and with a totally serious expression he said that he was showing the cat the time to prove that he had to wait another hour until feeding time. 

I shook my head in disbelief and settled back to writing the blog. A little later completely out of the blue Robbie asked "How much does mum pay for David's socks these days". It seemed such an odd question that I had to ask him to repeat it in case I hadn't heard him properly. I told Robbie that I have never given a passing thought to the price of my step father's socks - but thanks to Robbie I have now! Once he get's started on a subject there is no stopping him and I heard all about the advantages of loose top socks, a very good deal he had spotted; the price, the colour, it went on an on until I begged him to stop.

Finally he was quiet and I went back to what I was doing. Peace reigned for a little while, then Robbie's voice rang out asking "Have you noticed that you don't often see radishes in the supermarket these days?" I thought about it for a minute and decided to try my luck with a one word answer - no! It was worth a try, but it just encouraged him to provide more radish related information. I listened for a while but I really couldn't summon up much interest in radishes. I asked if he had ever eaten a radish and he informed me that he hadn't. I informed him that he hadn't missed much! I told him that if he was that interested I would buy him some radishes, but he quickly declined and told me that it just was something he had been reading about. 

So now yo know why I dislike that dratted newspaper, it puts ridiculous ideas in his head!

Norfolk Here We Come - Again!

Robbie set the alarm on his Blackberry to the time that he wanted to wake up, so at a stupidly early time the alarm went off. For a small phone it makes a very loud noise, it could wake the dead, but it doesn't wake Robbie - apparently that's my job!  The alarm went off and sleeping beayty didn't flinch, I shouted at him to turn it off and he said yes but did nothing. I yelled louder, this time he obeyed and turned the alarm off, but he didn't wake up! This process was repeated ever 5 minutes until 5.20 by which time I was ready to kill. I made dark threats about the fate of his Blackberry and he woke up sufficiently to turn the alarm off completly before pulling the covers over his head and going back to sleep. I went off and had my bath and got on with my morning routine before trying to wake him again, but after a series of insults (from him) he finally got up and waddled off to the bathroom to have a shower. 


By some miracle we were ready to leave the house at 8.20 and after a quick detour for fuel and to buy Robbie some breakfast we were on the road just before 9am. heading for Norfolk. This time we were going to collect some of my mum's luggage to make her journey home a little easier on Saturday. Traffic was fairly heavy but we made good time and we were at the bungalow just after 11.30. It was so nice to be close to the sea again, to look our across the beach and to listen to the rythum of the waves, to me it seems like the heartbeat of the earth.


My mum and stepfather took us for lunch in Mundesley, it was very nice, lamb shank with vegetables and yorkshire pudding. Afterwards we took my mum shopping in North Walsham while David (my step father) relaxed back at the bungalow. As we set off for North Walsham a butterfly fluttered across the windscreen of the car and then it fluttered alongside the passenger window until we reached the end of the lane. Then as we travelled along the very pretty country road to North Walsham Robbie noticed that we had a stowaway, a grasshopper was travelling on the windscreen wiper. Foolish as it may seem I had vague worries about it not being able to get back to it's correct habitat, but by the time we reached North Walsham my attention had been taken up with other things. 


We spent a happy couple of hours in North Walsham, Robbie bought some railway magazines and a couple of prints of old railway posters but I had more practical matters in mind, I bought some oven cleaner! As we drove back Robbie made a series of excited squeals and pointed out of the window. Usually this signals that he has seen a train, but as there was no railway line nearby I realised that it must be something else. He wasn't pointing out of the window he was pointing at the window, the grasshopper was hitching a lift back on the passenger window! I think it bailed out at almost the same spot that we picked it up!


Robbie had a bit of a sulk because I was unable to stop at exactly the spot he requested to enable him to  take a photo of a tractor in an adjoining field. He got over it eventually and it was such a nice day that we were able to go and sit in the garden with a cup of tea, or in Robbie's case a cup of coffee. Later on we went for a walk on the beach and I found a lovely 'wishing stone', if only it really could make my wishes come true.


We sat outside and watched the bats flying around the garden for a while, but then Robbie decided to go and have a shower because he was too hot. I went in and chatted to my mum, then after an hour or so we realised that Robbie was 'missing in action', he hadn't made it to the shower he was sprawled across the bed fast asleep. He didn't surface again, so when I went to bed I had to wake him up and ask him to move so that he wasn't blocking the entire bed. He answered me, but when I asked him to move he lifted his legs in the air, peddled vigorously and then resumed his original position. It took consiberal effort to shift him but eventually he went off to have a wash and get ready for bed. I stood at the window looking out at the moon on the sea and wishing that I could hang on to the precious times that sometimes seem so fleeting.

Soon Robbie was fast asleep again. I snuggled under the duvet, but it was a long time before I fell asleep. I lay there listening to the sounds of the sea and remembering the many happy times and a few sad ones spent here. This little bit of Norfolk will always hold a special place in my heart.

On Target

In a way I had been dreading Thursday morning, what if the unthinkable happened, what would I do then? The problem was that I was not in control, I had done my best or at least I thought I had, but this wasn't about me. All I could do was get on with my morning and wait for the phone to ring. 


At last the phone took pity on me and rang. A rather cheerful voice at the other end informed me that he had passed. He had some very pleasing results and most important of all he had got more than enough to get into the sixth form of his choice. After a huge sigh of relief, I was the proud mum full of congratulations and cross with myself for my moments of doubt.


So why was I so anxious, I don't recall being this nervous when his sisters got their results. He is every bit as bright and able as his sisters, but perhaps not as diligent. The girls were able to continue to the sixth form at the same school, but 'the son who must remain nameless' wanted to change schools. We all agreed that it would be the best option for him, and he had been offered a place at the better school (the one his sisters attended) but he needed at least 8 good GCSE grades in order to take up his place. Perhaps it isn't so surprising that I was anxious, so much depended on his results.


Today I took 'the nameless one' to the new school for a meeting to sort out his timetable and do all the necessary  paperwork before starting school a week on Tuesday. He will be one of only a handful of boys at an all girls school, but I am certain it is the right place for him. It is not always easy for him to cope with ordinary things because of his Asperger Syndrome, but the next couple of years will be very important not just in achieving good A level results but in helping him to become independent enough to thrive at university. 

Who Are You Calling A Nerd??"

I have written before about my elderly mobile phone, it is nine year old and still going strong  - well to be totally honest it isn't exactly going strong, but it does still work. I am waiting to inherit my daughter's backberry she has just got an iphone and has kindly offered mum her old phone. Anyway my present phone works well enough to cope with a few texts every day, mostly texts from Robbie. I still get teased my texts, my son looks at me shakes his head and says "Mother, you are the only person in the world who writes a text in whole sentences with punctuation!". It seems that I can't win because Robbie moans at me for using templates and tells me to make my texts more personal, but this post is not really about my writing style, it is about Robbie's texts.


Robbie can be very persuasive especially when he wants to convince me that I want to get up before the birds on as Saturday morning and spend the whole day travelling on trains. I got one of those kind of persuasive texts from him one day last week, a subtle blend of flattery, temptation and pleading because he wanted me to play trains with him on Saturday. Te odd thing was that the final word of the text "nerd" was rather insulting and not in the 'Uriah Heep' style of the rest of the text. I responded with "Did you call me a nerd" and there was rather a long silence before I go a rather embarrassed response. Apparently he thought he was sending an emoticon, but because my phone is like me (a bit behind the times) it just named the emoticon rather than creating a winking face or whatever it was. I have warned Robbie to be careful who he sends these things to, otherwise his texts could contain unexpected insults!

Time to Say Goodbye?

I have often written about the things that Robbie does to annoy me, but I rarely write about the things that I do to annoy him - yes it's true, I am not perfect!! One of the things that makes Robbie absolutely furious is my attitude to mobile phones. Robbie would find it more acceptable to go out without underwear than to forget his phone, while I still see my phone as something to bury in my handbag just in case I need it. 

I am not sure why there is such a difference in our attitudes to mobile phones, Robbie says that it is because I am old, but I am not so sure, perhaps I am just not as sad as Robbie! I have always seen phones a tool to use when I choose to and I refuse to let the phone rule my life. If someone rings and I don't answer they either know me well enough to contact me some other way or they can wait until I am not busy. 


Sometimes if Robbie rings me on the house phone and it is engaged, he will ring me on the mobile, that annoys me so much. I may have two ears but I only have one mouth, I can't talk to two people at once, so why can't he call back later? I hate having my life ruled by the phone. I am sure there is some hidden connection between my phone and the bathroom door. as soon as I get in there the phone rings and I have to dash downstairs to answer it - and it is almost always Robbie!!

In 1972 Bill DeWitt wrote "The bathtub was invented in 1850 and the telephone in 1875. In other words, if you had been living in 1850, you could have sat in the bathtub for 25 years without having to answer the phone." That sounds like luxury to me. 


Despite my feelings about phones, I have to admit that I have a great sentimental attachment to my mobile phone. It is old now (bought in 2002 in fact) but it has been a very good phone and I didn't see the need to replace it while it was still working. It has been the cause of considerable teasing, and it is known by most of my friends as 'the brick' but I have never been that bothered about what other people think. Now it has gone silent, even when the ringtone is on the loud setting it just gives a faint buzz. It has been like that for months and it doesn't cause me any problems, but it drives Robbie mad and putting up with Robbie in evil troll mode is not fun. So perhaps it is time to admit that my phone has seen better days. I will be sad to say goodbye, there are a lot of precious memories associated with that phone.

Ups and Downs

Several weeks ago I wrote about the mishap I had with my mobile phone, it took a tumble into a (newly cleaned) toilet. I dried it straight away and then took it apart and placed it into a zippy bag full of rice to draw the moisture from the phone. It stayed in the rice for a fortnight, but when I tried the phone it still didn't work, so it went back in the rice for another couple of weeks then I too it out again, but the phone was still dead. Before I had a chance to put the phone back in the rice, Meg (the dog) stole the bag of dry rice and ate it all, I was scared she would get badly dehydrated but she survived with no ill effects, I guess I should be grateful that she didn't eat the phone!

The phone was an old friend, it belonged to Eric my first husband, he bought it in 2002 and when he died in 2003 I kept it. I know it is silly sentiment really, but it helps, there was a voice message on it that Eric left when he was messing around with his new phone and I was so sad to lose it. I had also lost lots of texts, my birthday calendar and loads of important numbers. I had another phone but it just wasn't the same. I had given up hope of recovering the data, but a friend said she would take it to a place that had helped her with her phone. Amazingly they got the phone working again, and when I got it back I had a huge grin on my face. In the next few days I will be backing up all the data! It has been a difficult week, but getting my phone and all the data back has means a lot to me.

In Trouble Again

Robbie is in the dog house yet again. He has been forgetting to phone me because he is too busy, then when he did mange to remember to pick up the phone he managed to annoy me even more - he has been mixing with the wrong kind of people! I may not be there to keep an eye on him but he needs to remember that he has left me to do his packing for our holiday next week!!

A New Pastime 30.12.07

Well, I've had Robbie at home now for a full week and it's been great, but perhaps it's a good thing that his return to work is in sight. He says I wear him out, and there are a few tell tale clues that he is missing work. On Friday he couldn't resist ringing work from the fruit and veg section of the supermarket, and every hour or so he gives me an update on the state of the railways. Yesterday he went on and on about some charter or other having to be cancelled at short notice.

Robbie had some railway dvd's for Christmas and it has been nice to have the time to cuddle up together and watch them. I found the one about Brunel really interesting, I have already watched it twice. Robbie likes the British Transport Films series, I got him the most recent volume for Christmas but we still enjoy watching the old ones again. Robbie's favourite is a film about the Blue Pullman, but I like one called Farmer Moving South. It is amazing, it was made in 1952 and it records the complicated process of moving an entire farm from Yorkshire to the home counties - by train! Even then it must have been a huge undertaking to transport all the livestock, farm machinery and even the hen houses by train. I could watch that film over and over again. We haven't just been watching dvd's we have found a new pastime and we are finding muscles that we didn't know we had! I am referring to bowling on the Wii! I love it, I cant cope with the noise of real life bowling, but on the Wii you get all the fun without the noise and without the annoying people. We were still playing at 2am the other day!

I almost lost Robbie again on Friday, he was supposed to be outside sorting out the rubbish ready for a trip to the tip, but I glanced out of the window and noticed that he was chatting to the neighbours and was gradually straying across the drive towards their house. Much to his disappointment I went out to 'rescue' him. I think I will have to have him fitted with a homing device!

Saying the Wrong Thing 12.09.07

You may be wondering how our kitten Oreo is getting on. I know it is a stupid name but the children insist on keeping the name and if Robbie had a say in it he would probably want to name him Royal Scots Grey after his favourite train!! Poor little thing. I have started to call he kitten Archie because he spent his first few days arching his back and spitting at Megan (the dog) whenever she got too close. Meg has stopped trying to round him up and only shows interest in him at mealtimes when she does her best to eat his food as well as her own, she also seems to find that water from the cat's water bowl tastes much better! I fell over the kitten yesterday and I am covered in bruises as it was a confined space and I fell on some shopping bags containing large books - the kitten is fine.

Robbie is trying very hard to stay in my good books. He fell into a 'heffalump trap' at the weekend, we were discussing my birthday which looms large on the horizon and I said that he had married an old woman - he 'accidentally' agreed with me! I wasn't overjoyed.

The phone worked for less than 12 hours and it has now failed again. I can't write any more about it due to the boundaries of good taste!