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.

More Wandering Wallets

The strangest thing happened yesterday, my phone rang and I thought it was Robbie ringing to apologise for being totally out of order the previous evening. It wasn't him, it was the police asking to speak to my late husband. I took over his mobile number and I still occasionally get calls from recruitment companies and such like so I asked who it was before explaining that he was dead. The policeman was more than a little surprised and told me that his wallet had been found dropped in a shop door way. This was more than a little disconcerting, I was afraid that someone had stolen his identity or something dubious was going on. To cut a long story short the policeman came to see me and it turned out to be Sam's wallet, he had his dad's business card and private health insurance card in it. Having provided suitable proof and signed the policeman's notebook the wallet was returned to me complete with the £20 that had been in it. It is nice to think that there are still some honest people around. Losing wallets is becoming a bit of a habit with the men of the house, I don't think they are safe to be allowed out on their own!

Secret Weapon 19.06.07

I can't say that Monday mornings ever fill me with unbounded joy, but this morning proved extremely challenging. Thankfully we had planned a slightly later start today due to a GP appointment so Robbie and I were still at home just after 8am, Laura was at home too. As I glanced up my attention was attracted by a flash of movement in the back garden and I realised that there was a man dodging around in the garden. Robbie, who was wearing only PJ bottoms went out to see off the intruder. I am not sure if he intended to scare the fugitive into submission, but it seems he was fairly effective. The man took one look at Robbie and ran shouting and swearing towards our neighbours fence. He cleared the obstacle with ease, but the scene became even more surreal when two policemen popped up and pursued the man. One followed the man into our neighbours garden, but the other clearly felt that enough was enough and gave up. Robbie let the policeman through the house to the street in time to see an extremely vocal and foul mouthed youth man being led towards the police car. With that much drama before 9am it is no surprise that the rest of my day was fairly challenging too.