Going Down With The Ship

Last week was half term and also my son's birthday, which was the only day I took off last week, so this weekend I thought about doing some things with him that he would enjoy, but it didn't really happen, Saturday we were going to take him to the park to play with his new radio controlled plane, unfortunately not one of the professional ones but one made from foam. Instead we went to town and did a quick run in and out so that he could by himself a Ben 10 duvet set and to pick a couple of bits up from the supermarket, we got home and by the time we were ready to go anywhere the temperature had dropped, so we stayed in and played the Wii for a little bit, I then cooked dinner which seemed to take hours.
On Sunday I went down to the market to stock up on chicken and mince again, but for a change I was on time and went to where the van is normally parked and it was there, so I then spent half hour wandering round town which was closed as it was half 8 and looking at the new shop, the closed shops and the ones I hadn't seen before. I found out there is a guitar shop which I didn't know existed and though we only had one where we are. I spotted the adult underwear shop also not knowing we had one, then I came across Woolworth's, ours has now been cleared out and there is so much floor space, I can't think if what will replace it, hopefully it won't be a pound shop as we already have two of those in town.
At 9am Costa coffee opened, I wish it had been an independent cafe bit none were, so I went in and ordered a large latte and this thing was massive, it had a handle on both sides and you needed them it was that heavy, I finished it off after taking about 15 mins and heaed back to where the van was, I got chatting the the belly buster server and he said that the butcher was on his way and that he would put a tea on his account for me, after about 10 mins the butcher arrived and I got what I needed and headed home an hour later than planned.
When I got in my son came rushing downstairs as he was hungry because he wanted to have breakfast with me and not by himself, so I put the meat in the kitchen and have a quick breakfast with him before I start wrapping the meat for the freezer.
The gf gets up and dressed we head over to the park with my son's bike and plane and also my radio controlled boat to have a go on the pond, well the plane doesn't fly, I think it was to windy or not enough thermals and my son can't get his bike across the park to ride as it was to hard going for him so we head down to the pond. The boat I have was brought for me a for a Christmas present about 2 yrs ago by the gf and i loved it, but have only used it twice (including yesterday) so I am going to take it out more often. We get to the pond and switch the boat on and the controller and all is working fine, I then give my son the controls and things start to get messy, he wasn't doing to badly but then hit the boat straight in to the side of the pond so there is no longer a point on the bow of the boat, I let him carry on after checking the damage out and this time he sideswipes the boat and it starts to list to one side, I think it has now got a whole in the side, but luckily it is where the battery has come loose and is on one side, so I replace this and put it back in the water but it is only going round in circles, I take it out once again and find that the properller is jammed by a a bit of plastic and a screw, where it has come from I don't know, I remove that and the boat works fine again. The boat is zooming across the water and my son is controlling it well when both me and his mum shout no not there, he lets go of the forward controller to late and the boat ends up in the middle of the pond stuck in the reeds, my son is now upset as we have told him off for not listening and me and the gf are a bit angry, we calm down and after trying to get the boat out of the reeds by trying to force it through the reeds without any joy, so there was only one option, someone had to wade out to get it, it couldn't be my son as even though it isn't that deep, if he fell over with his clothes on he would struggle to get back up and also the water was extremely cold, the gf's excuse was that she wasn't going to go in because she only has one pair of trainers and there was no way she was going in without something on her feet, so who did that leave, yup me. I go and get the car and park it closer to the pond so that I don't have to walk to far dripping wet, when I get back to the pond, hoping the boat has somehow got freed, I see it is actually deeper in the reeds and i am definitely going to have to wade in and get it. I give the gf all of the stuff in my pockets so none of it gets ruined as I would probably fall in if it was on me and I get to the edge of the pond and am starting to lower my feet in when the gf thinks it would be funny just to push me to get it over and done with, If I could have used the F word i would have done, so I lower my feet in and feel the cold dirty water filling my shoes, then my socks soaking up even more, then my legs are going in slowly and my jeans seem to attract water at a stupid rate, I stand up and the water comes to just above my knee and I start wadding out, for some reason I'm nervous, I'm not sure why, maybe I thought Jaws was going to come and get me or maybe i was going to find that there was very large hole and I was going to disappear down it, I get closer and closer to the boat and the water is getting a bit higher, luckily though it stays below testicle level and i get the boat and turn round and get back ashore. When I am back we go to the car where I strip off my jeans and put my shoes back on and drive home, the gf says that she will open the door to the house so I can run straight in and I tell her not to worry and I don't car what the neighbours think, so we park up almost outside the house and I grab what I can from the boot and head on in and go for a shower to warm up.

The weekend evening's have seen me spending a lot of my time on my x-box playing Call of Duty 5, its a great game and some of the snags that were in the past games have been taken care of, Friday I was on it till 2am, Saturday was about 12/1 am and Last night was about 12.30 am, this was after having a a few beers whilst ironing and catching up on some TV, I played on line with the gf's brother and was shockingly bad, I don't know whether it was the beer or the way that I am used to playing the game but I would just charge right in guns blazing and find myself dead and starting again, I have said to myself to not play it tonight, to tired anyway, and that the earlist I am going to play is Wednesday night and spend some time with the gf in the evening.

Another Birthday Another Year Older

Yesterday was my son's 5th Birthday, how the time has gone.

I remember hearing how I was going to be a dad and the inner turmoil that I felt at the time, then thinking that its going to be a different life now, watching when he was born and being the first to see what sex he was once he was born, his first birthday when he was a bundle of joy and didn't know what was really happening, his second birthday when the gf had made him a birthday cake that wasn't really edible and my son just sat in a high chair and chomped away at it with it covering his face, third birthday was his first proper party with all his friends dressed as pirates, forth was held at the sports centre on the ski slope with all of his friends sledging. This year we had his part at the sports centre again and there was 13 lovely children all doing as they were told, ok maybe not and I probably dreamt this, all of his friends played well but when it came to the games some got bored or wouldn't listen which makes it hard work for you, but we got there in the end. He was thoroughly spoilt by us, his friends and his nan and granddad, that last night when they had left he just didn't know what to do, so we sat him down to relax got a takeaway and then read him a couple of bedtime stories, he was out like a light by 8pm.

Busy times

I have been having a look at what I am getting to be up to through out the year, so far I have three things definitely happening and a maybe.

First
Going to see Metallica live at the O2 Arena in March. I have seen Metallica live 3 times now, the first was in 1996 when I saw them at Earls court and they played their loaded Tour, it was a great set and even though they played some of the songs from the loaded album (not all that great) they still played their good stuff and it was great to see them live. Second time I saw them was July 07 at Wembley stadium, it was the day after Earth day or something but I wasn't interested in that and neither were they, they had played a couple of songs there but they really wanted this night to go well, they again played a great concert, the third time was at Reading 2008 and even though it wasn't their longest gig it did rock.

Second
A frined at football is getting married some time this year and I have been invited to his stag do (two in 2 years not bad going). this time we aren't going to Scotland but to Wales, not fancy hotels or hostels for us though, we will be camping out under the stars, it is a Survival Bushcraft weekend, this should be a great laugh and if we don't like it much we can always get a cab in to town and party the night away.

Third
The Reading Festival, not much has to be said on this except it starts Thursday (well for me) and ends Monday, alot happens in between that sometime I remember and sometimes I don't but i do know it is always great fun.

The maybe is me going to see my mum in France with my son and hopefully gf but she doesn't like flying and also doesn't think of it as a holiday, as we are staying with family, well I will try and get it out of her if she is going to come or not and the sooner I know the sooner I can get it booked and look forward to it.

Time for a Visit

This weekend me an my son went and visited my Aunt, the last time I saw her was back in 2007 at my Gran's funeral, the last time my son saw her must have been Christmas 2006. I have kept trying to make plans with my aunt be either she has been busy or I have or I just never got round to it. So we left Saturday after dropping the gf of to work, stop one was for some petrol as I didn't fancy being stranded anywhere, so we set off and it had snowed the night before so the hills surrounding us were covered and looked great (yes should have put the camera in the car). the motorway part of the journey was fine and clear of snow and ice, but looking around you had a feeling that it couldn't last as there was snow all around most of the way to my Aunts. We came off the motorway and was following the road when we came to a round about that wasn't there the last time I was, I vaguely remember it in the building process, so i got a bit confused as to where I was supposed to be going, so I pulled off one way and went over the bridge that I know I'm supposed to go under, so i am looking at a way to get off when my son pipes up in the back, "Dad I am feeling sick", not good I think so I find a place to pull in and get him out of the car and stand back as his crisps and juice reappear. Once he is sorted and back in the car I turn around and we get to the right road again and carry on with our journey, we have to stop a couple of times as he thinks he is going to be sick again but isn't, we finally get to my aunts and I get to have a cigarette as I won't smoke in the car if my son is in there to.

My Auntie is a lovely lady and when I was little she would look after me lots, I would spend 1-3 weeks with her during my Summer hols, other holidays she would have me stay as long as possible and was always pooping down at weekends to see me, she has one rule though, "I am Auntie and you only listen to me", which is great as when ever she was about or I was staying at hers she just let me get on with things and mum and dad didn't really have a choice in the matter and this is what it was like when my son and I were at her house. We got in the front door and first thing was hugs then for a cuppa, she asked my son if he wanted anything but as he was shy didn't say much, so she offered him some toast, straight away he said yes, the when that was gone, biscuits were offered and so were sweets, I looked at him and said maybe later, but my aunt said, "don't worry your at your aunties now and you can do what you want" so I maybe her favourite nephew but I have no authority when I am at hers, well when it comes to spoiling my son anyway. Whilst my son was settling in we put the TV on and he started watching transformers and my aunt took her dog for a walk.

We went to the local city farm once my Auntie was back from walking the dog and my son got to see the turkeys, geese, chickens, lamas and horses, we also saw the sheep and cows but he wasn't that interested in them. we spent about half hour there and wandered of to the the market, but my son was hungry and we went in to KFC, I didn't really want to but as before auntie was there saying do what you like, so I got him a kids meal and I had a coffee and some popcorn chicken. All warmed up we went to the market which had also changed since I was last there, before the stalls used to be in side the building, but they have now made little shop fronts instead, it looks nice but I preferred the old set-up. I took my son for a little walk along the river and showed him the water wheel that is still there.

after our little walk we went back to my aunties to warm up and have a cuppa and relax before going out for diner, whilst waiting around we put the football on for a while and played with his dinosaurs, whilst playing my aunties boyfriend turned up and we met and chatted about things, he is in to Pink Floyd and supports Liverpool, so not a bad bloke in my book, he then went and got his guitar out and started playing for a bit and my son wanted to join in, I thought this might be a problem but my he passed the guitar to my son and showed him what to do, because the guitar was a bit big my aunt gave my son her mandolin to play which as the size was quite good for him he did quite well and even learnt how to play a G chord, I don't know where he gets his musical abilities as I have none. we got in to a bit of a jamming session (well make a noise and try and make a tune) but my son really seemed to be able to pick out a tune and go with it, not on the mandolin but with the tambourine and claves.

After band practice we went to a local Chinese buffet place, when I was told where it was i thought it was round the back as we were actually going to a pub, little did i know that the pub is the restaurant. We had a good meal and my son was getting a bit tired by the end of it so he played the DS whilst I passed food to his mouth just so he would eat something. We got home about half 9 and I put my son straight to bed and he was out like a light, even though my aunt put the telly on for him to watch, I went to be after a couple of drinks and watching match of the day.

Yesterday we got back about half one which wasn't to bad going as it only took an hour to get back from my aunts and this time there were no sickness stops . Arriving home i spotted the the gf in her PJ's and was about to shout her when she sat down and put the blanket over herself, so I sent our son to knock on the window and surprise her, she came to the door and let him in whilst i struggled to bring all of our stuff in. we relaxed for a while, then i sorted out some of the washing that had been dumped on my bed as she had had guests round the night before. Once there was some sanity with it I went and cooked dinner for us which we all eat and my son almost finished even though he was shattered. after putting him to bed the gf had a bath and I had a shower just to freshen up and also to hope that my luck was in, we sat and watch supernatural then a couple of family guy's whilst I was massaging her feet and legs, each time moving further and further up and she dragged me upstairs and that is where I shall leave it ;o)