Xmas on its way

Well, Xmas is getting closer again and at the end of November we were hit with the first of the snow and unbelievably icy temperatures. And as per usual the whole country ground to a halt and everyone panicked or crashed their cars and our office was closed for two days. All a bit sad really.


One nice thing was getting football called off! We've been able to enjoy time as a family and yesterday was lovely, went to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (it was okay, but the kids loved it) and then went to Milletts to see Father Xmas after having been to Appleton this year and their Tree Barn so we have everything ready for setting up the decorations


On Saturday Taurus were performing again with Talent Oxford and it was really pleasing to see Jack in such a starring main role, he's damn good at what he does. He's really able and throws himself into things with a gusto, he was brilliant. Will post a video when we get hold of one!


Had some really sad news yesterday, a chap from the Summertown committee was killed in a car accident yesterday, drove into the back of a lorry and car caught flames. Wife and two young kids left behind, isn't that tragic? Didn't really know him to be honest as I'd not been to many meetings but still such a shame.


Actually, bit sad about that so will sign off as not in the mood to carry on writing at the minute.

OMBL Representative

Jack went for trials to get into the OMBL Rep side on Saturday and was successful. I was so very proud of him, really, really pleased.


There was at least 70 kids there and some great talents so it was especially pleasing that he shone enough to be noticed. He was the only one from Summertown that even went, but he got stuck in and he'll make friends with people there. Lots of faces I recognised, mostly coaches and parents but all the best players from the league were there.


That made my weekend which was about the only highlight unfortunately, it's been a rubbish one, we got beat 6-2 for the u10s with 6 players missing, very frustrating. Ah well, it's only kids football!

A Wicked Experience

Had a great weekend in London. We took the day off on Friday and tried to get Take That tickets in the morning but failed miserably because of server issues as everyone in the country tried as well. Wandered round Oxford St & Hamleys and had an early meal in Prezzo so we could take the kids to watch Wicked. 


What a great show that was, luckily it was just up the road from the hotel so we were able to walk. It was fantastic, Charlotte saying it was  the best one she's seen. It's the first time I've been at a show where there is a standing ovation at the end. Loved it.


Next day we did the tourist thing and went round Covent Garden, Houses of Parliament, Downing St, Trafalger SQ and back to Covent Garden. Jack got a caricature done with his money which we were against but so glad that he did do it as it was brilliant. 


Sunday was Halloween which as usual everyone made a big effort and the street was really busy with loads of families going up and down scrounging off us! I did the music again and that was fun.


Oh, and the German student arrived. So all in all, a busy weekend!

Our Kenya Safari book

Kenya Safari 2010 by Julian Dark | Make Your Own Book

Happy Birthday to me

Has a great day today, spoiled by the family. Went to Turnpike and had a lovely meal paid for by mum.


Now work tomorrow so early night!

Travelling on a Friday

I can't win! Last week was a nightmare getting home from the office as I left late and was stuck on the M25. This week I thought I would travel in by train and got the 6.30am one then got stuck on the line and delayed for 40 minutes because of cables being nicked and signal problems. Travel on the road would have been even worse apparently as there were accidents. I need to make sure I am not travelling on a Friday really - I have had enough bad experiences of this to last me a lifetime!!

Hanging by a thread

Probably not a good time to be posting but I reckon I might be getting sacked tomorrow...I have a meeting with the MD (my boss) and it's the frostiest of relationships with him at the minute it's a nightmare. Working all the hours possible and have done 25 hours in the last two days but still can't get up to date or deal with all that's coming in.


Well, I think it would be weight off my shoulders but God only knows how the rest of the family would take it. I might be over-reacting and over-worrying once again but it wouldn't surprise me one little bit if my meeting was accompanied by the Company Secretary tomorrow! Well, instead of talking about it, it's 11.20pm and I need to put together some documentation to back up my situation and argue my case

Placebo Effect and Hippocratic Oath

In my quest to learn something..,I looked up the two points above. I had a good idea what they were but to confirm:


Placebo Effect results when a patient is given a tablet/cure which doesn't actually have any chemical effect at all. It's conning the patient and using mental suggestion to fool them into thinking they're better


Hippocratic Oath - this was originally attributed to Hippocrates about 500BC and was along the lines of 'every doctor will do his best and honour his patients'. It stuck for 1,000s years and contrary to popular belief is no longer a requirement for Medical students but it's still remembered!

First game of the season

I was hungover admittedly but I was okay!


On Sunday we had Lewis & Jack's first matches of the season. Jack beat Summertown Comets 14-1, he only scored the one goal, a right-footer from distance which was good and then Lewis won 2-1 to Harwell & Hendred scoring with the last kick of the match so all in all a successful weekend. Lewis did well and defended against his player well. It was straight off for him to run a karate session and straight to bed for me!


I am going to stop drinking for quite some time now, until the next offer anyway...!

Night out & mad religion

Not looking forward to tomorrow morning if I am honest! Why not? It's the first game of the season for Jack's team, surely you should be excited I hear you ask. Well, it's the night before that's the problem!


We're all out on the town tonight for Wayne's birthday and I think there will be over 20 of us old-timers scaring the young girls of Oxford. Starting at 5.30pm for cocktails is going to make it a very long night indeed so probable hangover tomorrow morning!


9/11 anniversary is tomorrow and there is a pastor in the States who was planning to burn copies of the Koran to demonstrate his hatred of Islam. Unsurprisingly the followers of the Islam faith are not amused and are demonstrating and planning attacks on anyone remotely 'American'. I was reading this and thinking what a fucked up world we live in, is it really necessary to have a pissing contest as to who's God is best? It's always been that way and it winds me up so much. Funnily enough though I was reading this and said to myself, "Thank God I am an Atheist!", and then laughed out loud when realising the contradiction. I know, little thinks please little minds but it did amuse me. Sadly a quick Google search confirmed I wasn't a comic genius as that phrase has been used time and time before...


Anyway the pastor how bowed to pressure from all over the world and cancelled his planned book burning, but it  shows that some nut with a congregation of only 50 can cause some panic and hatred so easily.


Not a pleasant thought!

New Regime

I have created an "I will..." list at the start of the week and listed all the things that I will/want to achieve with my life, short term and long term. So far so good but then it's only a few days old. What's on the list I hear you say...well nothing too exciting but a couple of key ones are to learn more and then to update on here what I have learned so that it's remembered!


Also some other things:

• Improved confidence, productivity, learning & stop wasting so much time doing rubbish things
• Get up earlier in the morning - aiming for 6.00am
• Become more sociable - going to be a tough one that
• Get down to under 12 stone and run 15 miles a week

So nothing earth-shattering but we'll have to see if there is anything I can cross off, as and when I do then I will update the blog as a record of my achievement! 

Out in the Kayak

Made it out in the kayak yesterday for an hour and a bit. Charlotte, Jack, Tash and I went as far as the Perch and back again but the skeg made all the difference and we actually got it working well. Met with some new neighbours as well who seem very nice and all that. They want to use Charlotte as a student model so that was nice to hear. What else? New student arrived, Maria from Italy, very nice girl. I did a BBQ and then it was Tiffany's birthday so they got a limo and went into Oxford.

Back to work today

Well, back to the grindstone today after a week away in Weymouth with the family and the Holdens. Had a good time but the weather was crap and the camp-site was basic to say the least, but we made the best of a bad job. We came home a day early as I think we'd all had enough and the day we decided was dry and warm so it was a chance to pack up in decent weather and actually get out of the field which was a worry for me! Going in there I got stuck in the mud and needed pushing out.


Weymouth was fine though, watch City play their match down there on the Saturday and went on walks etc so good fun.


Will be getting back into the routine now as well as Jack's football training started on Sunday and Lewis's starts tomorrow so all good fun.


Not looking forward to the next fortnight with work though to be honest - there is so much on my plate it's scary! Oh well, best crack on...

Empty house..

Tash and the kids have been at Standlake since Monday but are due home today sometime. They've had a great time and the weather has held up, it was forecast heavy rain so they've been lucky and have been wake-boarding and in the ringos etc. It's meant it's been quiet here but i have looked after Max the student and he's a really nice lad.


It's also meant I have got some work done without being distracted and clocked up 22 hours already in just two days! Probably not healthy but necessary unfortunately. Well, another day begins so best crack on with things.

Charlotte's back!

Having been away for a week with her friend Issy, Charlotte returned yesterday and it was lovely to see her. She had a great time and the photos of where she stayed looked fantastic, the people live in a huge mansion it seems in lovely grounds. 


Busy weekend - Friday was Katie's birthday so we all met up in Pizza Italia which was nice and then yesterday it was Brendan's birthday so this time it was Pizza Hut for a kids party. He enjoyed himself for his 4th birthday.


Got lots of jobs done that I have been meaning to do including organising the start of the boys football season and also trying to organise a tour to Butlins at the end of the season for their Football Festival for Jack's u10s. It's quite expensive but I think people will be up for it, hope so anyway as it will be great fun to go to.


Well, incredibly busy week with work so best crack on - Tash is off to Standlake for 3 days so peace and quiet here!

Education Direct has been sold...

Big News yesterday when we were all called into the meeting room with Jason and he announced that the Mailing Centre has been sold to JEM, another much larger mailing house, and all staff will keep their jobs but will become staff for Jem and the Education Direct name will also go with it. We'll become known as The Education Company now.


Surprisingly there was no problem and everyone accepted it with good grace, quite unbelieveable really, it all goes ahead in the next couple of weeks, but has been in the planning for over a year. I was surprised, didn't have any idea that this was occuring.


Went out for a drink with Darren and Jason in the evening and food to discuss this situation but didn't really establish much more to be honest! Interesting times!

Jousting at Blenheim Palace

Went to Blenheim Palace for a jousting display on Sunday but it was only Jack as Lewis was left at home to concentrate on some English work and Charlotte is away with Issy. It was fun and as much as it was all pantomime the strength and power of these horses was still very impressive.


We were both shocked at the size of Belnheim and its grounds as the jousting was in the 'back garden' which is somewhere we've never been to before, we'll definitely make an effort to get there again before our passes expire.


It gave Jack the need to make a sword which we did in the afternoon and spent time whittling it into a point but sadly it snapped so we had to go across into Port Meadow to find some more. That was interesting as we found an area that we've not explored before so that's another walk that will have to be done in the near future!


Photos of the jousting are here

Running with Tash

Went out for a run this morning with Tash, we didn't do so well, she needed to stop twice and we go at a much slower pace, but it was a nice morning - actually it pissed down with rain halfway through so not so good!


Just dropped them into Oxford to do some shopping for Birthday presents although Tash came home from Bicester Village with Xmas presents!!! It will be quiet in the house next week, Charlotte is off to the coast with Issy and I am working away for most of the week which I am disliking more and more to be honest.


Well, I should be doing some work so best crack on!

Lewis is a baby sitter!

Our attempts to help Lewis raise a bit more money took a step further last night when he has his first baby-sitting role looking after Ben and Dominic across the road, not bad for £4.00ph so he came back in at 10.30pm with £16.00...

He's also been asked by Sensei Jake to help on Wednesdays and Sundays with the karate classes which is a real bonus (£5.00ph) which he could really do with, not just for the money but also the responsibility and taking his karate skills that one step further. Well done him.

Keeping fit...

Had a really good run last night, 6 miles in exactly an hour - quickest time and pace for quite a long time, really pleased with myself!


I also upload the video for Lewis and Jack performing at the skipping Championships last night and this is below, I love it seeing them perform together and the cheers for Jack is really pleasing - he's definitely a performer!

Taurus Performance at the Skipping Gala night

This is the video of Team Taurus performing

Team Taurus perform at BRSA Gala Night

The team were invited to the British Rope Skipping Championships Gala Night to perform a couple of routines which went really well. The Championships had been on for four days and the Gala Night was a competitive night for some of the countries and in between the competition there were various acts either skipping or dance or whatever.


The crowd was at least 1500 noisy people, mostly made up of parents and competitors from throughout the tournament. The demo teams that worked for about 10 minutes were brilliant and it was close between South Korea, Belgium and USA but it finished in that order.


However, Taurus were involved in two demos, they did the Rugby routine which went down well and it was brilliant to have Lewis and Jack performing, Jack got huge cheers when his tricks came off. The whole team were then on near the end to perform their routine that will be used in Talent Oxford. They got huge cheers throughout and were really impressive. They got a standing ovation at the end which was incredible, the noise was deafening. It was such a great feeling for everyone involved with the team and obviously as parents we were all proud as punch. Didn't want to leave really as everyone was on a high but eventually left at the end and got home for 1.00am! But it was so worth it. Haven't got decent video of the performance because of where we were sat but will look out for some asap! 


A great evening

Summer Holiday in Devon

We went to Devon for the first week of the summer holiday and had a great time camping at Braunton and surfing at Saunton Sands. Weather was fine and we did well with the surfing so that was an added bonus. We took our niece, Katie, along and she seemed to enjoy it as well.


Definitely fancy going back to the same place as it was perfect for us


Photos available on this link

Early start

Dropped the student off at 6.45am so when I got home I wheeled the kayak down to the river and went down a mile and a half exploring. It was lovely drifting along in the early morning with no hassles from the river boats. Couldn't believe the number of fisherman out and about, there were loads.


Got back and after sorting out the car for the trip to Devon tomorrow we went to Aston Pottery to meet my mum and have a tour of the pottery and that was interesting. Treated ourselves to a nice lunch and then dropped the boys off at Team Taurus. 


Katie was dropped off at ours and after dinner at Sue's, Charlotte, Katie and I went for another trip down the river! Talk about over-kill but Charlotte was really insistent so we went down to the Perch and back. It was hard work as we didn't work as a team and kept turning round which was really frustrating but I kept quiet and we carried on. They enjoyed it though. Bit worried as one of the sides started to slowly deflate - we can't have a puncture already surely? Bit pissed off if we have and will send it back.


Well, off to Devon tomorrow, can't wait, surfing and exercise and fresh air and no work! See you later!

Kayaking in Wolvercote...

Well, got out on the kayak today at Wolvercote and enjoyed it. Hard work and we found that missing the skeg seems to make hell of a difference because we kept getting turned which was really frustrating. Have ordered one so hopefully that will solve the problem. Spent an hour or more going up and down the same stretch but need to go further afield next time. 


The furthest Charlotte, Jack and I went was to the Perch and back, took an hour.

Photos available on this link

Holiday time...well sort of

Kids are now on School Holidays for the next 6 weeks, lucky them, but it will fly by in no time at all. I was working from home today and it's getting harder and harder to cope with this job, I don't know what I can do. I wish I knew what to do. Just always feeling so out of my depth. Oh well, I now break up for a week and we're off to Devon on Monday.


No doubt it will be a manic weekend as we prepare for Monday, but to make things more manic is the canoe has arrived. It's huge as well! Can't wait to try it out on the river and if things go to plan in the morning then we'll take the kids down there in the afternoon. Should be a laugh.


Charlotte is at Rosie's tonight with her friends, they have a great time each week when they have their sleep-overs and it was good to have a chat with Shaun and Amanda, Shaun's really into his fitness and everything and showed me his canoe and kayak(s) so I was jealous! Well, best start saving for the next one!


Will let you know how the canoeing tomorrow goes....

Squirrels

Just heard on the news this morning that Squirrels can be regarded as a pest and disposed off accordingly. The example the chap on the TV gave was that if there is one in your house you're not allowed to capture it and set it free into the wild so you have to kill it and he said you could use a trap or shoot it. Shoot it?!?! Can you imagine walking round your house with a shotgun firing at a small furry animal running around the place? Talk about needing to redecorate afterwards!

Homesick already???

Bit fed up actually, I am stuck away for the week in Rochester and it's the last week at school so that means that they're having their end of term activities etc and Jack had his sports day today. Tash is useless and couldn't tell me what he'd done well in so will need to speak to him later and find out.


Managed to continue the fitness drive last night at the Village hotel - love it there, ran for 20 mins, rowing machine for 25 mins, bike for 20 mins and the sweat was dripping off, I was soaked! Bloody hard work. The went and did 20 lengths in the pool, I hate swimming so much but persevered and feel good for it. 


Not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep this up but it's worth making the effort, I look bloody awful at the minute and won't be taking my top off on the beach!


Well, best get on with work, should be interesting, got my document back from Jason and he's slated it and I need to re-do the whole thing, I am not very good at my job it has ot be said - I seem to get everything wrong!

No joy at the Orthodontist

Frustrating day yesterday, spent the morning at the Orthodontist in the JR with Lewis and after God knows how long they confirmed the worse and they won't be able to mend his teeth on the NHS. Really disappointing as it means that it's going to cost us £1300 to get them sorted. We don't have that sort of money! Will have to see what we can do.


Came into work and finished "You only live twice" on the audio book, enjoy listening to these so much.


Work was fine, busy. Got to stay at the Holiday Inn tonight (nowhere is free, it's unbelievable!). Anyway, went in the gym and worked hard on the bike and then on the rowing machine, did about 6000m, arms ached! Lasted just over an hour in there, but they're so boring. Tried the pool and then the sauna but I get restless so went an had antipasta in the bar which was lovely!


First big signing of the season for football, Joe Cole has signed for Liverpool after being made a free agent by Chelsea in the summer. He was holding out for more money at Chelsea and I think he's signed for less at Liverpool, but not bad is it - £90k per week!!! I just need one week of that to pay off the mortgage.

Jack's Tribute to Jack Black!

Not sure what to say or think about this, I think the Demon has gotten into him:

Easy like a Sunday...

Lovely day today, egg muffins in the morning and then pottering around the house until we went out to Shotover Park for a family picnic. Lewis was still tired from D of E yesterday so he didn't want to do the cycle ride that we planned. But it was fun and we had the usual good laugh we always have there. Found a rope swing which they all went on. 


Went to the sand area that I grew up in as a kid and made some damns which then burst with all the water and swamped the lower damns! Great fun and l will never grow too old to do! 


Relaxed for a couple of hours and played tennis, let the kids have a driving lesson in the car park and then I ran home. 


6.75 miles without stopping, took just over an hour, went through town and it was very hot and humid but did okay. Driven now by not looking good, I need to lose so much weight and get in shape. 


New student arrived today, Jorge, from Spain and he's here for a week.


I'm off to Kent for a full week in the office, should be interesting!

Update

Okay, I've been very quiet for a couple of years but I fancy trying to update this on a regular basis now and see what happens!

Had a great night last night with Katharine and Pete coming round and Tash did well with a lovely dinner. Drank far too much wine but it wasn't a drunken night at all. Learned even more interesting things about them both, really relaxing and lovely evening

Charlotte had Georgia and Rosie stay the night, waiting for them to emerge from the garage and will then cook them pancakes.

Need to sort out the garages today, Holdie phoned last night from Standlake as they borrowed our airbeds and we'd not given them the stoppers! Oh dear, they were trying to plug the holes with crayons. Oops...

Right, catch up later!