I Gotta Feelin

Yowser yowser it's been a long time.

I apologise for that.  I have been away for a week with Luke and my lovely wife, but I've been back almost another week and all week long it's been playing on my mind that I haven't blogged yet.  It was becoming a vicious circle in my head because I have always said that I'd never post for the sake of posting, but then again, I have got a fair bit to comment on. So - here we go!

As I just mentioned, I've been on me hols. We went to Corralejo, Fuerteventura, and it was properly lovely.  We stayed half-board at the Oasis Dunas apartments and they were brill.  When we booked it at Co-op Travel in Wigan, I asked for a pool view.  They didn't let me down.  Here is a Google Map I've just knocked up to show you where we were!  The weather was lovely, too.  We had one overcast day, and that was the day we went to the zoo so that wasn't too bad at all.  I drank Malibu, played on the beach, had a camel ride, and saw my wife naked loads. It was perfect! 

Luke was SO well behaved on the plane both flying out and coming back.  I felt a bit cruel on the way back. We didn't let him sleep all day, a feat that he'd achieved on his own for a few days whilst we were away.  However, our flight wasn't until 20:40 and each day he'd gone without sleep, he was asleep by 20:30 latest.  The bus trip to the airport from the apartments was about 40 mins and my word he struggled. His mum and I literally poked him to keep him awake.  His eyes were rolling as the bus pulled into the airport.

However - once there... he found his second wind.  They had a fantastic park area in the departures lounge and he loved it. Running round like a loon for ages and ages.  Our flight was delayed by approx 1 hour but still Luke kept going.  When we eventually got a gate, we put him in his buggy whilst we queued. Only then did he sleep - and very quickly it was, too.  He slept pretty much all the way home.  We were both so very very proud of him.

We got home a little before 3am on Sunday morning.  I was in work on the Sunday night. Proper boooo that one.  I decided that I'd stay awake and sleep Sunday afternoon before work. It didn't work. I remember it being 5:30, next thing it was 10am when Deb and Luke woke. Bugger.

We have also been for an appointment with Care at Manchester about our "free" go of IVF.  As I was typing that sentence, the delivery man called with the drugs.  Weird. Weird again is that Deb just rang!  Spooky shit man.

Oh - bought a PSP this week. 2nd hand one from Game in Wigan. £59.99! Bargain if ever there was one.  Got a free copy of Gran Turisimo thrown in, too. Very very pleased with that indeed. They tried to flog me a 2nd hand 2gb memory card for it for £14.99 but I resisted.  Found a new 4gb one on play for £13.89. Just need a case for it now - might have a lookski on ebay when I'm done blogging at y'z.

I am missing my children loads. I'm going to be seeing them next weekend but It has been so bloody long since they were last here, it's horrible.  Very.

I am really looking forward to Christmas this year.  I'm not normally one for Christmas and all that, but Christmas is being held in our household this year.  At least the Christmas meal side of it is.  I am both very very scared and excited.  See, I'm not a chef. Not by a long way, but I volunteered my chef-ing, so we'll see how it goes.  I'm confident I won't poison anyone, but they may not entirely enjoy the food that I present to them.

My beautiful wife had an excellent idea for a starter - Cup-A-Soup (Royle Family inspired).  We'll see.

Luke's getting really good with wee-ing in his potty at the moment.  The last few evenings, he's been running round nappy-less and whenever he's needed a wee - off he goes to his potty and does it.  We've even had 2 number 2's in there too! Well done, son!

Riiiiight - I think my work here is done.  I will try so hard not to leave it so long next time. 

Buene Suerte y adios!!

Mission Complete

Hello there reader

Firstly, allow me to apologise for the gap betwixt blog entries.  I have stuff to say, that is a certainty, but for whatever reason, I just haven't came on here to say it.

Ok, as promised, here are some "snaps" of the newly decorated dining room.

We actually chose a different wallpaper initially, but my lovely wife had the sense to ditch it in favour of this floral number.

Those bloody walls took 4, maybe 5 coats of while emulsion to hide the BLUE paint that I discovered once I'd torn the old wallpaper down.  Thanks for that, Mick.

That smashing little boy that seems to live with us likes it, anyway.

I shall digress from happy things to things with have a) saddened, b) enraged, and c) made me feel melancholic.

a) Saddened

We had my children stay with us last weekend and it was ace.  I love how at ease they are when they're here and I love seeing how much they love Luke.  They really do adore him, and him them.  My lovely wife even gets the odd hug or two!  I took them back to Liverpool-on-sea on Sunday afternoon, the 8th November, and they will not be with us again until Friday 4th December.  That saddens me.  My shift pattern dictates that I am working every single weekend in November, and since I can only see the children at weekends, then I have to take the hit. Whilst planning dates for next year, now I know what the score is, I shall plan more wisely, and endeavour to get them here at least a couple of times per month.

b) Enraged

It was initially reported in the media at the beginning of October, but now that a sentence has been passed, it's back in the spotlight once again.

A 16year old boy raped a 7 year old.  His punishment?  A community rehabilitation order.  The child's parents are devout Christians and were able to somehow forgive him.  Judge Adrian Smith took this into consideration and dished out the most disgraceful "punishment" for the most disgusting crime.

So - 8 days later, armed with his rehabilitation order, he kidnapped and raped a 5 year old boy.  It makes me feel sick to the pit of my stomach that this rapist was allowed to walk the streets and 8 days later, did it again.  So the 7 year old boys parents were able to forgive him - well done to them.  Surely, knowing that such a heinous crime had been committed, he HAD to serve some sort of custodial sentence to "rehabilitate" him.

Everything is ok now, though. He has now been sentenced to serve a minimum of 3 years.  3 years and 4 months to be precise, but he'll be eligible for parole after 3 years as he's been under lock and key for the last 4 months.  The judge who presided over the 16 year old's 2nd rape trial also revoked the community rehabilitation order and sentenced him to ... 3 years and 4 months (to run concurrently) for the rape of the 7 year old.  Just to end my enraged section - he raped a 7 year old AND a 5 year old and will spend 3 years behind bars.  This country's judicial system is fucked.

c) Melancholy

I noticed on Facebook this morning that my one time best friend, Danny, recently got married in Cuba.  My earliest memory of Danny is us crashing into each other on our push bikes in 1980.  We both ran off in tears, only to be reunited a few minutes later by our mums demanding we each apologise to the other.

From there on, for the next 15 years, we were inseparable.  We met a few years ago for the first time in several years, at my nephews' christening.  He'd changed so much.  He used to have this hard exterior, but underneath was a funny lad who enjoyed a laugh.  He seemed like someone I used to know vaguely, which is a shame. I wish him well in his marriage, I am certain it'll last. They got together when we were still friends, back in (I think) 1992.

When my dad died in 1998, I was told my a female police officer whilst sat in the back of her car, parked outside my dad's house.  I felt completely numb.  I remember thanking her for telling me.  I then got out of the car, and wandered round the estate where dad lived.  Danny and (his now wife) Joanne, lived on the same estate. I went to their house, knocked, and Danny answered. I told him what had happened, and completely broke down on his doorstep. He hugged me for ages, then made me a cup of tea. I'm now trying to understand why I did that - why I went to his house.  We hadn't been close friends for some years at that point.  He was there for me as a friend when mum died 11 years earlier.  Continuity?  I don't know.

I have just read this last paragraph back and it is so typically me.  It's like I cling on to the past, and never look around me and enjoy what I have now.  I just learned something new about me.

Right - time for me to get a grip.  Myself, my beautiful wife, and my chatty son are flying out to Fuerteventura on Saturday and I am well excited.  I can't wait to spend loads of family time with them. I almost typed "relaxing" then, but I'm sure it won't be.  I am looking forward to spending busy days in the pool or on the beach (Luke really must overcome his irrational fear of sand), then relaxing in our apartment during the evenings.

So I'll be back in a week or so, hopefully, with some more snaps!

T'ra a bit.