End of an era….again…?

It was the over 35’s semi final this evening against Wantage at Wallingford Town FC. I went along expecting to be sub and unsurprisingly I was, bit disappointed but I felt good with my back so was keen to get involved.

It was a quick game but we were poor in the first half and were a goal down. Didn’t get on at half-time and was slowly getting more and more pissed off, eventually we got back into the game and we went 2-1 up. I was put on with 11 minutes left, I was fuming, we scored again and I did some good play to set up a chance that was missed.

Final whistle and we won 3-1, I just got dressed without a shower and drove home, I was so pissed off.

Not sure if it’s my pride, ego or what. They seem to just want fit players and I am not one of those, I have a different quality to give to the team in terms of experience, calmness and quality in possession, but they just want people that are going to run around a lot. I will try and get that little bit fitter but I think my time with the 35s has come to an end, I really don’t know if I want to go back.

Simon asked if I would be available next week implying I would play the whole match, but I don’t want charity, I am either good enough or I am not, clearly for me not to make the starting 11 and then with x5 subs still not get on until the last 10 minutes (4th sub) they don’t trust me to do a job.

It’s been a pleasure but this is ignominious!

*and yes, I am sulking!!

Decent weekend

On Friday I hardly got any work done, I procrastinate so much it’s ridiculous, I know I am doing it yet I can’t help myself. So I was down in Summertown getting stuff for the meal later and then driving Jack to Headington with his mates, just avoiding work!

In the evening Andrew and Alison came over and brought Grace with them and it was a nice evening. Caught up with loads of chat and told them about us travelling to the States in August which they seemed pleased about. It was a boozy or late night, just really pleasant.

Saturday I worked on the patio as we need to get it cleaned up as it looks horrible with the dirt and algae so I spent a couple of hours kneeling down and scrubbing bleach into the damn thing.

I then spent a bit of time downloading a few new podcasts and I found some good ones which I am pleased with and it’s been a bit motivating, we’ll see if it makes any difference or not!

We went to Milton Keynes in the afternoon and took Jack with us and did a bit of shopping, it was quite successful, I managed to get x2 pairs of new shoes and we got other stuff for Tash and Jack

Came home, quite late in fact and had a nice Indian meal that was pre-made…cheats!

Sunday, today, was okay as well. I worked on the patio pressure washing it this time and it took me bloody ages! At least 3.5 hours, I was knackered afterwards and everything ached. I was listening to my phone and podcasts throughout this which was great. I then went to a cycle ride, I have to get back to some degree of fitness, I really have to, so I was slow and steady, quite pathetic really but it was 12 miles in over an hour and I know I can do better but it is the first step…or pedal! We’ll see if I can make it into a routine or not, I am hoping to just have a better shape ahead of our trip to India.

We worked with Jack on some of his homework, he is becoming a real nightmare at the minute, such a bad attitude and argumentative, it’s such hard work and makes this painful. He’s a real teenager and it’s frustrating. Hopefully one day he’ll grow out of it!

In the evening we pottered around and I worked on my laptop and watched TV with Tash.

A nice weekend, as usual it went too quickly!!

Struggling with work & life balance

I'm struggling with everything at the minute

Work is really hard to get motivated for, I just can't be bothered to get my head down and get on with things, I'm distracted by anything other than working, it's ridiculous I know and I am only hurting myself and my family but I am just so tired all the time and make excuses to watch TV or something, I've not really worked hard since December!

My body isn't in good shape either! I am incredibly fat and I am sure this is affecting my back and legs. I'm trying to do a bit more exercise at home now but walking the dog last night I can't run more than 200 metres, that's both through lack of fitness and getting out of breath but also my back/legs hurting.

I'll continue for now to try and lose some weight and get into some shape, especially with our trip to India coming up soon, I am fed up with being embarrassed by fat photos!

Charlottes Gap Adventure–Day 2

Message from Charlotte last night with a video saying how mad Delhi is, provided some video but it seemed normal enough to me. They have a nice room in the hotel which for what they made is amazing. Couple of messages exchanged and we sorted out a WhatsApp group with the Phelans as Miles hasn't touched base with them yet!

Another message from Charlotte this morning saying how tired she was and how much they both hated Delhi so they're not staying any longer and are moving on to Jaipur right away.

Not really sure what that is about but it's their choice, I told her to relax a bit and she's bound to be tired and emotional and it's a completely different culture to what she's used to so it will take time to adjust.

No doubt this will worry Tash but never mind.

She’s tired!!

Got an update later in the day and they had a great day and are really happy – talk about change of mind! They’ve already booked a flight to go down to Kerala which seems a bit early and like they’re running away from the North – seems a shame to me but I’m not going to say too much

London Bus - Colour and B&W Photo

I took this on the Family bus tour to London last year and then using an app obviously tweaked it, I was pleased with the result! (So were a few friends as well…)

Charlotte’s Trip to Asia – Day One

Charlotte and Miles started their Asia Adventure today!

She had a relaxing day doing final preparations in the morning and meeting up with family at lunchtime and then we took her over to Miles house to sort out their bags and then we were off to Heathrow in two cars.

Bit of traffic on the way because of problems on the M25 but we avoided that and were soon parked up in the airport and enjoying a 'last meal' together talking about the coming trip and offering last bits of advice

Saw them off at the luggage check-in and then said our goodbyes - predictably Tash got upset but with good reason, she's off now for 4.5 months - that's a long, long time to be away and all the things that could happen.

Obviously it's crossed my mind the negative things that are out there but you can't dwell on those and just hope there won't be anything 'major'. That's all you can do, they're both sensible kids so I am sure they'll be fine and it will be plain sailing and they will have the time of their lives.

I am both nervous and excited for her.

Came home and I tracked their flight on the internet once it was up and running and the screenshot below shows them over Belgium, I then went to bed!

Really hope it goes well for them, will look forward to updates throughout.