THIRTEEN stone, thirteen!!!! Count them, 182 pounds…
I have never been so heavy in all my life, couldn’t believe my eyes when I stood on the scales. Mind you, I shouldn’t have been so surprised, the spare tyre is looking more like a tractor than a car tyre so I’ve been avoiding the mirror recently.
So, it’s the diet and exercise for me in earnest to get down to 11 3/4 again, just in time for Xmas??? Watch this space…large space!
With a bit of a hangover this morning we went to work on some of the outstanding tasks to get my business up and running so we have done the following:
1. Made the url live so that it directs to the proper website now – Dark Enterprise
2. Created a logo that we can use now:
3. Set up the invoice documentation
4. Organised the documents for recording information and online
5. Created business cards using the newly created logo – can’t wait to get these through the post and start handing them out!
All I need to do now is be good at my job and make it a success…!!!
What’s that?
At the Red Lion they have some friends who meet once a month and dress up as pirates – the full monty, it’s incredible the level of commitment they have gone to so as to be pirates. Anyway, they make a good party and as it was Halloween suggested that theme – pirates and vampires (and ghouls etc)
So we went along as usual and had too much to drink and had a good evening.
So…what’s the state of play?
I’ve been made redundant and after various considerations I am going self-employed and intending to work with existing customers to cover admin, projects and SPIRIT. After some initial set backs I now have the following:
1. One day a week with a customer to carry out email campaigns and the like – 12 month contract
2. Projects with another existing customer who has a lot of work in the pipeline to discuss with me – ad hoc
3. Couple of days a week with a third customer – 6 month contract
4. Brand new venture with Jim Austin’s company who do Financial Services, need to get up to speed with their the Finance area but they’re interested in me working with them after I did a training demo and interview on Monday – ad hoc
Needless to say I am absolutely delighted by this turn of events, can’t be happier, in fact, I am a little concerned that I will have too much work…ah well, if it means late nights and weekend work then so be it. Hopefully putting this into print isn’t going to cause a collapse in the promised work but all in all very, very excited for what the future holds…
Mum’s coming round later for my birthday so might open something more fizzy than lager tonight!
Watch this space!
I was 44 this year and had a good day, got up early and helped with the paper round and then the kids gave me their presents. Usual things so that was nice, smellies and Thornton’s toffee and Lovehearts! It’s an accepted tradition that’s what I get and I love that to be fair, I will still expect those from my grand-children!
I then worked in the morning but kept checking Facebook and loads and loads of people were sending messages so that was flattering, didn’t get much work done. Went down to meet Tash in Little Clarendon Street at 1.00pm and we went to Strada Italian restaurant and that was lovely. Got some olives and I had pasta with sausage and she had a fantastic looking pizza, which I’d had that instead if truth be told…ah well…and she didn’t offer me any!
Back home for 3.00pm and Mum came round and more presents and a very generous cheque, doesn’t need to do that any more but she does. Blew out my candles and that and then she was gone round to Grandma’s.
We have Mum and that coming up for dinner on Friday night so we popped ou
We have been so in control of games and this was one of those matches where everything went completely pear-shaped and we ended up losing 4-1. No idea where that result came from, not a good way to spend my birthday I have to say. Had a quick drink afterwards and then came home and caught up with a couple of programmes on TV.
At this time in my life I love watching a couple of series and these include the following…Boardwalk Empire, Grimm, True Blood, Game of Thrones and Hunted. It seems there’s always something on the planner, I didn’t get to bed until 12.30am…got distracted!!!
All in all though, a lovely birthday and I really enjoyed it, except for the rubbish football!!!
What a night last night…it was Kerry’s 40th birthday celebration and we went to London with them, James and Melissa, Paul Cox and his wife Lindsay, Jason and Sharon Millar and Paul & Pauline. Started off at Paul’s house where we were picked up by a huge pink Limousine and then went round to Wayne’s so that was a surprise right from the start. Took some photos and the kids had a look around before setting off to London. That was fun and we had a few drinks an a bit of champagne along the route.
Dropped off at Regent street and then walked down the road to find a bar and had a few drinks before going to the Ice Bar (http://www.belowzerolondon.com) in which we were provided cloaks and went into the bar for 45 minutes in –5 degrees for cocktails. That was a great experience, but it did seem bloody cold!!!
Had a couple more in the bar once that was over and then walked round to Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant called the Maze Grill. (http://www.gordonramsay.com/mazegrill/) More drinks whilst we were waiting and unfortunately Wayne and Kerry had a an argument and the whole night completely soured, it was over his drinking and she’d asked him to slow down and then things just went completely pear-shaped. It was such a shame. We continued with the meal but really might just as well have gone home there and then because the atmosphere hanging over the table was awful.
Anyway, we went ahead with it and the food was lovely, I had the burger as it was the cheapest option there and some olives which both were excellent. There was the option of a steak for £80.00 which I would have loved to have tried, couple of people went for the £30.00 option. I enjoyed myself anyway and it was a laugh but in a bit of a forced manner to be honest, I think people were starting to tire as it was about midnight when we finished. We then called the limo and got a ride home, I was in charge of the music!
Stayed at Wayne’s in the spare room and a bit hungover in the morning
It was a great experience but it was ruined by Wayne at the end and the evening will be remembered for the wrong reasons sadly.
Would I do either again? Yes I think I would, definitely the food and perhaps the ice bar just as a new experience for a friend…
Where will it stop?!?!
I am writing a blog using Windows Live Writer which is posted to Blogger.com. I have a LinkedIn account, a Facebook Account, a personal Twitter account, because I am about to go freelance I now also have a business website and a business Twitter account. I also use Google Analytics to see the feeds to the websites and this blog…
I have now enrolled in Hootsuite and playing with that has been interesting and I can see the advantage of using this functionality. I have just set up an online CRM application to record all the communications and work I shall be carrying out for the business and I have my Google account to use for the online spreadsheet storage and most likely calendars and emails, although I have a personal BT email account, a business email account and a Gmail account as well as my work email account and then an iPhone that means I am accessible 24/7.
And guess what, when I was young…I used to use a simple diary and the local library!!!!
On Saturday morning I created an email to request sponsorship from local companies to get new kit for Jack’s team. I sent out abut 25 emails, just grabbed the addresses from websites and sent them off blindly.
Tash said I was wasting my time but within two hours someone had replied to say they’d be interested but would need to convince the partners of the firm and he’d let me know on Tuesday…today is Tuesday and I’d forgotten until I just received an email to say that they’re all interested and that they’d sponsor us.
How cool is that?!?! Now to sort out the kit order and see how much this will all come to!
Really pleased with that.
So that’s it then, we’ve sent Lewis’s application to UCAS for his attempt to get into University. He’s trying for Electrical Engineering in Loughborough, Cardiff, Plymouth, Nottingham and Coventry so hopefully he’ll get some offers for one or more of them. I think Loughborough will be out of his range but you never know and his exams might improve, he’s certainly working hard for them.
He deserves to get something so let’s wait and see…
Wow…travelling up to London this morning and thought I’d tidy up the voice memos I have made for this year…bad idea, how many?!?!
Haven’t got through half of them in an hour, I don’t think that’s the idea behind making them. It was interesting though to listen to my thoughts as I’ve been travelling to work, making promises to spend more time at home with the kids, plans for football training and moaning about my role and workload. I think I am in a much ‘better place’ right now having listened to the memos from February and May but it did reinforce things that I should be striving towards.
So hopefully this means more interaction and fun with my family, more exercise, less drinking, up earlier in the morning and better focus of my time at work. All very respectable ideas, just wondering how many will come to fruition…watch this space!
So, Charlotte has turned 16 and I think she’s had a birthday to remember!!! Friday night she went out with 4 friends to Joe’s cafe in Summertown for a meal and I went and picked them up at 7.45pm to come home to ‘watch videos’. Little did she know that a surprise party had been organised by Lewis and Rose and there were 20 friends all waiting in our back garden for her to return. She walked in and was obviously shocked, they’d done a fantastic job of keeping it quiet and she had no idea whatsoever. Cue loads of screaming and singing and shouting.
Lewis stayed but Tash, Jack and I went to Paul Holden’s mum’s 90th birthday party down at Oxford City for a couple of hours which was really nice. We then went back to the house around 11.00pm and the place was rocking! No hassle or trouble just all the girls singing and dancing, a bit drunk, but nothing out of order and they were loving it. Slowly people were leaving but at 1.00am I have video of 17 of them crammed into Lewis’s bedroom, including Liam and Jack, singing. One of the neighbours complained but that was fine really and understandable and by about 1.30am they’d all gone home and Charlotte settled down.
We went out on Saturday night for a meal at the Kidlington pub we usually go to and then the next day she went off with Rose to Greece for a week’s holiday, how lucky is she?!?!? In saying that, she paid for it herself with the money she’s earning. She came back yesterday and loved every minute of it I am pleased to say.
She’s grown up into a lovely girl and we’re so very proud of her. Very pretty young thing who still knows where to draw the line and doesn’t drink (too much) or smoke, although she was on a moped in Greece which didn’t go down too well here at home!
She now wants me to take her out in our new car we’ve got, only to the Park & Ride so that she can start learning to drive in preparation for next year when she turns 17. In saying that, Lewis is now driving us around so that he becomes more accustomed to being on the road, it’s a bit nervy but he’s doing okay so far…
God only knows how long this is going to type up. This will just have to be a run through of all we’ve been up to since the last blog!
Olympics, I’ve just updated some posts I’d written ages ago, if only to record them in the blog. We were caught up in the interest and signed up for the Paralympics for the stadium and it was unbelievable. Saw David Weir win gold and the place was mad. Everything in the Olympic village was very, very good, they’d done such a fantastic job on it all. It was all quite a come-down once the games finished, but it was wonderful.
We then went on holiday to Egypt, Sharm El Sheikh, with Wayne, Kerry and the girls and had a great time. Very, very hot but not uncomfortable. It was an all inclusive holiday which isn’t like us at all but we loved it. So many memories but for me it had to be the scuba diving that was the highlight. Lewis and I took to it really well but Wayne unfortunately couldn’t get to grips with it so dropped out. But down under the sea in the aquarium-like water with the most colourful fish you could imagine was wonderful. There are no adjectives that my limited vocabulary can give it justice. We also had a drive out in the desert on quad bikes which was a great experience and the kids got a go at driving which they really enjoyed.
We went into Sharm one night and Jack & Charlotte got to go on a camel which they were dying to do. The place looked pretty good actually but no one wanted to stay out which was a shame. Had some laughs in the evening and we all had a go on the Shish pipes which was good. Staring up the stars and relaxing. Snorkelling during the day was excellent as well because the stretch of beach that we had was perfect for this and we could go and look at the fish as much as we wanted to. Food-wise it was all good and the choice was fine for everyone. I was sick for many days but just got on with it, I did miss one night being so ill but I tried my best not to let it affect anyone else. Definitely would like to go there again and have also got the interest in the scuba diving having done that now.
Forgot to mention, Lewis and Charlotte went off to a night club and didn’t get back in until 5.00am, Charlotte wasn’t sure about it and once she’d been persuaded to go it was her that was the one jumping in the pool that you weren’t supposed to go in and living it up! Party girl in the making here!!!
Summer holiday has been a bit wet this year, the kids have had a good time though so that’s important, plenty of parties, both Lewis and Charlotte are out nearly every weekend, late nights and Charlotte is becoming more of a party animal!
Kids went back to school and Jack has now started at Cherwell, scary! He’s settled in brilliantly and loves it. There are not enough hours in the day, he’s got into the football team and then does lots of activities after school like dodge ball, rugby and so on – he’s not got enough time for his karate and Taurus which is causing us problems and embarrassment.
I’ve missed loads off here, I can’t think for the life of me now all the things that we’ve been up to.
Oh, we’ve booked a skiing holiday for next February which I can’t wait for, should be good.
The hangover has started for the country, the Olympics finished on Sunday night with the closing ceremony and every feels a bit deflated and at a loose end now. The Olympics fortnight has been absolutely brilliant, so good for the country and a real surprise at the success of the team and the organisation – it’s been incredible.
On Sunday night the closing ceremony was basically a huge concert and as much as I enjoyed it the overall feeling is that it was a bit of a let down after the amazing opening ceremony and the quality of the performances of the athletes. I guess it depends on expectation though, I thought it was okay but at the same time I can see why it was criticised, if felt a bit messy and some of the acts just weren’t right.
It was good to see the Pet Shop Boys, the Spice Girls and Eric Idle was funny and hopefully it didn’t distract from the amazing fortnight, I don’t think it did.
It seems strange now not having something to watch on the TV and get excited about, but we have our holiday and then the Paralympics to look forward to. So not all is lost!
This have been unbelievable! Team GB have been so successful and every day has been addictive TV and a feeling of being involved in the shared success is running through the whole country. Where to start??? The cycling has been stunning, Bradley Wiggins, Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Laura Trott, Jason Kenny and so many others making up the teams and they’ve absolutely wiped the floor with the opposition.
But it’s not just there, the Equestrian are winning gold for the first time in 50 odd years, Judo, Triathlon and of course Jess Ennis in the Heptathlon when on Saturday night she won, then Greg Rutherford won the Long Jump to be finished off by Mo Farah in the 10,000m which was a stunning performance. 3 gold medals in the space of about 45 minutes, 6 on the day!
The rowers too are pulling in the medals – it’s been very, very impressive and so intriguing, I can’t help but watch it on TV, or website or catch up on Twitter.
I’ve loved how interested Jack is in it, he won’t move from the telly and is constantly updating me with information about runners and events, it’s brilliant.
Unfortunately, it’s highlighting just how big I am! So I went out for a run this evening and did a load of exercise, won’t be in time for my holiday sadly!
Well, after about 7 years since the announcement of the awarding of the Olympics to London and constant press stories going on about all the problems it’s finally here. At last. Gold place!
Actually, I’m writing this on Day 4 and Gold hasn’t been won yet unfortunately but Team GB have done well in some of their competitions and to be fair, a lot of the previous days have been heats or not the events that we usually do well in. Rowing and Cycling to come. Yesterday we witnessed history though as the Men’s team Gymnasts won Bronzer in the most thrilling and amazing session which saw them briefly have Silver in their pockets until a Japan enquiry on the Pommel Horse edged us out…by a nose! Remarkable achievement all the same though.
So, I’ve jumped ahead of myself slightly. We were unfortunate not to get ay tickets for sessions, although don’t get me started on the number of empty seats visible, so we decided on still being involved by attending the Opening Ceremony concert in Hyde Park. What a brilliant day we had. Everyone has been told to stay out of London, so we hoped that would enable us to drive in with no bother which we did at around 2.30pm on Friday – sure enough – no traffic to talk of. Just as we were pulling into out car park, The Kasey’s were at the traffic lights and waved us down, we were meeting them anyway but that was perfect timing.
Spent the next two hours in the Lady Diana Memorial garden and then wandered down to Marble Arch where it was getting busy. Had a meal in Prezzo and then around 7.00pm went to the concert, not good news, the place was absolutely packed out with queues outside which were moving so damned slowly. I guessed right, it took us over an hour to get in and eventually at 8.10pm we got past three levels of security to see Duran Duran – they were wonderful! Really got the place going.
That was 9.00pm so the screens came on and we had a live link to the Opening Ceremony over at Stratford. Danny Boyle was the director and went through the history of the UK in terms of the Industrial Revolution to the present and it was absolutely spellbinding. It received criticism in the press or Twitter from various individuals who felt it was political or were just too stupid to understand what they were seeing, but the very vast majority of people watching it couldn’t fail to be impressed. Loved it! Some good humour, James Bond and although I am not a fan of Mr Bean his involvement was amusing and worth including for certain. Loads of great music and things that made you very proud.
At around 10.15pm the concert kicked back in and Stereophonics played for just under an hour in which Jack and I got close to the front which was cool, then it was back to more of the ceremony and then it was Snow Patrol’s turn to play and they were fantastic. Charlotte wanted to go to the front with me this time and Jack came along as well and it was lovely for the three of us to be right up there in amongst it. Very special.
Once they played their set it was after midnight and we switched back to the ceremony to see UK enter the arena and also the all important lighting of the flame. There has been so much speculation over who was going to be granted the honour, I think it’s fair to say the overwhelming favourite was Steve Redgrave, with Becks and Daly Thompson pushing close but what happened was a great twist. Becks, Thompson, Daly, ah bugger, some other famous Olympians from the past had nominated a teenager and future Olympic athlete to do it for them. And the torch was something else, petals of a metal flower that turn upwards and lit up…and then the fireworks closed it out. You could see the sky lighting up from where we were!
Paul McCartney then came on and that was the cue for everyone to make their way to the exits. We had a long 20 mins walk and then a wait in the car park for a useless attendant to sort things out but eventually got home at 2.45am, everyone shattered but what an amazing and unforgettable experience.
As I say, I’m writing this a couple of days later but it’s so fresh and the photos and videos that I will include will make the memories stick even more. Now’s just hoping for more medals from the athletes…
Clearly she is messing about but…
As the title suggests…
It’s making me feel quite old now that Lewis is getting home after midnight very often with parties or just working at karate and we’re not staying up worrying about him. We do have the rule that he has to wake us to say he’s home but it’s still the fact that he’s out there late at night with friends or baby-sitting or whatever. Not getting into trouble though I hasten to add.
It made me think of when I was his age and that’s mirrored that as well. I used to sit up with mum watching TV and then when I started going out to see girlfriends or into town I’d get home and creep around so as not to wake everyone up. Full circle…
Charlotte is out at parties a lot more now, but she still likes to be picked up. I don’t mind doing this but it has meant that I am driving around at 3.00am with her and some friends dropping them left, right and centre. Her friends can’t believe it…and to some degree nor can I!!! But at the same time I don’t want her worrying or not going or leaving early because of it.
So, this was the week that Tash has been dreading, Jack finally leaving Primary School which in turn means our involvement with Wolvercote school has come to an end. We worked it out to be 14 years that we’ve been involved so it was all quite sad really as the end of an era in our lives. Admittedly I was a bit less emotional than Tash, but then I’ve not been as involved as her.
Jack repeated his talent show routine and that went down well. Did some singing as well. Some tears throughout from parents and then the class teacher Miss Boaz read out her speech and started crying and that set everyone off! The kids were in floods! Hugs and photos and all sorts. All very sad and draining.
In the early evening there was a school disco organised so we went along to that as we’d organised it, well Tash had, but I helped out on the bar so that was fine, had one or two drinks…Tash was a bit tipsy as well.
Friday came and Tash had the day off so walked Jack up to school and did whatever throughout the day. We then went up to the school at 1.00pm and waited as they all came out. The lads were all in tears again, the girls not as many. When Jack came out it was clear he’d been crying nearly all day! Red, puffy eyes…so that set Tash off.
We pottered around in the playground for a while as they signed each 
Left around 9.30pm and then walking past the White Hart I saw Liam through the window so went in for 30 mins for a half, but it went slow so i had two and came out at 10.50pm instead! Took some prawn crackers as a peace offering and all was fine!
So that’s it then, time to move on. Jack is definitely ready for the jump and looking forward to Cherwell, I am convinced he’s going to be a huge success there, the teachers are looking forward to receiving him already we know from Lewis so that’s a definite benefit!
Had some nice news from Lewis earlier in the week at the Year End Assembly. He’s been a Sports Leader throughout the year and really enjoyed what he’s been doing in terms of involvement for organising Sports activity days with other schools and helping the teachers and so on. He’s had tremendous feedback throughout from other school teachers which has been really pleasing.
One even said that he should consider being a Sports Teacher as a back up if the Engineering doesn’t work out. Anyway, there were awards at the assembly and he and two others, Kathryn being one of them, got the highest accolade of a Platinum Award, so he was pleased with that and sat down.
Then the teachers announced there was an additional award for one of the best Sports Leaders that Cherwell has ever had, Lewis Dark!!! They gave him a ticket to the Para-Olympics next month so he was really chuffed with that recognition, as were we even though we weren’t actually there to witness it.
Very pleased and very proud indeed. Well deserved him.
Tash made her own award for him and Charlotte…
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So back home in the evening, Charlotte was getting ready for her Duke of Edinburgh expedition, it’s only a test one to get them ready for the real thing in a couple of weeks time. Huge great rucksack on her back – I am sure she’ll be fine but it’s going to be hard work…
The lads played against Crowmarsh Orange today in what I expected to be a comfortable match which is what it turned out to be in the end. We started incredibly quickly when Max scored within 2 minutes with a great strike from outside the box and we pushed and pushed but they hit the post twice and should have scored themselves but we were just more clinical and scored again through James Othen.
Then without much to-do Max and James scored again for us to be 4-0 at halftime.
Changed things slightly and they continued to play some good football and the game was petering out until I moved Jack back up front and he suddenly scored two fantastic goals with long range strikes that the keeper could do nothing about from outside the area. He then latched onto a poor defensive clearance and then simply passed it into the net round the keeper for his hat-trick. Nothing too remarkable there…except he did all these in the space of about 3.5 minutes!
Absolutely stunning it was, I was very proud indeed to have witness him to that.
I then went to Lewis’s match as they played their last match of the season against Abingdon – bit of a needle match and Lewis once again played well and we ran out 2-0 winners. Should have been a lot, lot more but their keeper pulled off some great saves and we were a little bit wasteful in front of goal
A good day’s football all in all.
We had a family bucket of chicken…us???
The fat family from Wolvercote?
This piece is bigger than Jack himself…
Going for it!
Woke up at Sue’s early today and then got up for Jack’s birthday, he was really excited today throughout. I think we forget how young he really is sometimes, it was nice to see him so full of enthusiasm.
Anyway, he had the presents on the sofa and kept looking outside and around the house for ‘a bike’ that he was sure he was going to receive. We dragged it out as usual and then asked him to go down to the freezer in the garage to get some bread for the fry up, as he was walking down the path he got suspicious and looked behind himself and we were all looking out the kitchen windows so he knew what to expect when he got into the garage…he was delighted as well.
We then came round to our house and grabbed what we needed and his friends started turning up for the party. Mind you, at 9.47am Jack said to me, “Shouldn’t they be arriving now?”, I think he was a little anxious that no one was going to come to his party, but sure enough they were all here on time and we went off to Bowlplex. There was 10 of them and they split into two teams and an hour passed by quickly. The end was funny as Jack’s team thought that they’d won and were celebrating but when Katie’s score came in it meant the other team had won by 4 points so the celebrations changed very quickly!
We then made it down to Cutteslowe Park and had a picnic and then played rounders and football and it was really nice as the weather was holding out and sun was shining. Couple of hours passed by and we then took the kids home around 2.00pm but some of them stayed and Jack went up to the park to play more football and the like.
Tash and I stayed at home and worked on areas that we could now that we could get into the house. As agreed we then went to the Red Lion at 5.30pm and it was packed. It seems that everyone in Wolvercote turns up on a Friday night! The kids all went over to the park as usual and the adults stayed and had a few drinks..they were flowing a bit too freely tonight and my recent tee-totalness took a bit of hit! Never mind. It was a great atmosphere in the pub, Mum and Derek came down and there was also the Bamptons and the Carrolls.
Jack and all the kids were called into the pub at one point as the candles on his cake were lit and the whole pub sang to him which was lovely.
Then mum called me over for a quiet chat and she told me that she’d had the ‘All Clear’ from the hospital regarding her cancer. Quite clearly that was fantastic news and she didn’t want to announce it to everyone so I did and there was a huge cheer…and more drinks! That really was so pleasing to hear that news and everyone was delighted.
We stayed until about 10.00pm and staggered home..not before catching Mum & Derek eating their chips in the car outside the chippy and we all jumped in to scare them!
To finish Jack’s special day he was aloud to sleep at William’s house for the night. All in all a really fantastic day and one that I hope he remembers.
Jack came downstairs from his bedroom munching on some Dairy Milk chocolate from his birthday, my favourite, and I asked if I could have a little bit. He said there was some in bedroom in his cupboard and as I walked up the stairs he shouted after me,
“Dad, there’s a lot of chocolate there, please don’t get carried away!”
Cheeky git! Although it worked and I only had a bit!
Back to work today, bloody hard to get into the routine having been off for effectively a week, the drive into the office was a long one, no surprise there really as I wasn’t on the road until after 7.00am and it was first day back at work for people. Made it in and got the usual load of problems – nothing changes! I ended up spending nearly the whole day going through emails, not much progress at all.
Tash started her new job today as we caught up later and she said how nice it was and they all made her welcome. She’ll be fine with it and even after some time I am sure that she will take over certain areas, she was saying that they are in the Dark Ages! They have an Inbox but nothing is ever cleared from it!! No folders or calendars to book our rooms or anything, it’s all paper & pens!
She then phoned me later from Taurus gym and said that Mary had been speaking to her about Lewis. Mary said the he was an absolute pleasure whilst over in Belgium and everyone commented on how great he is, what a pleasing attitude and all round nice guy he is. Simple things such as the evening out in the square when they’re all showing off and encouraging people to show off their skills, he was up for it and joined in whereas others shied away.
His conduct and attitude was impressive and both Beci and Sue Dale said that they want a lot more to do with him in terms of being involved in their events, tournaments and even TV Commercials. No idea if they will back it up but who cares, it’s obviously very pleasing to hear that sort of feedback about him
As a parent that makes us both very proud indeed. Well done to him…can we take any credit in the way that we’ve brought him up?!?!? Or is it in spite of our upbringing of him…
Below is a video that Mary took of his team’s performance in Belgium, there’s a few misses in there but they did well and for a team that hadn’t trained with anything like the normal commitment that is required they’d done well. More importantly they had a great time.
They want to go again next year and Mary & Rob want to take a Taurus team which when Jack heard he was desperately keen…are the Belgiums ready for Jack Dark?
In fact, just had a text from Mary & Rob offering to pay for his first driving lesson for his 17th Birthday this Saturday, he’s clearly well respected isn’t he? Good lad.
Team Reaction performing in Belgium
Woke up with a bit of a hangover…Jack’s party last night
Got to work on bringing all the furniture from outside in the garage and office into the house, nice being able to finally see things are taking shape in terms of re-covering the sofa and getting it in and working on the new bureau for inside which Charlotte worked on and did a brilliant job of creating. Impressive watching her as she just got on with it,
She asked a couple of questions but didn’t really need my help at all.
I finished the shelving and it all looks good together and the computer can now be set up in there
Got the TV set up and the lights back on the wall and then Paul and Terry came round to do the skirting again – that’s costing quite a bit - £100.00 just to buy the skirting. This redecorating exercise is certainly costing a lot more than Tash and I originally planned!
But it will look good and it’s needed
Still things that need to be done – but we’re getting there and the house is feeling liveable once more
I've now played football for 35 years (since playing for Quarry when 8 years old) and last night witnessed one of the funniest things in that time
Edge of the box their forward shoots and Justin Merritt gets whacked in the face blocking him from no more than 2 yards away and ref gives a ridiculous penalty against him.
Justin proceeds to use every single swear word imaginable towards the ref and then simple storms off towards our dugout and says,
"Right, that's it, I'M NOT PLAYING ANY MORE!"
The ref was calling him over so as to book him but he ignored him and just walked off the pitch in disgust.
I'm sure that if the ball wasn't on the penalty spot he'd have taken it with him.
It really was the funniest thing I've ever seen on a football pitch and after the match no one said anything to Justin to remind him...NOT!!
It's been a good season and with the news in the changing rooms that Chinnor dropped points made it even more enjoyable evening. It's been good because we've not had it easy and for once the championship was out of our hands and we needed a favour, which we got.
Well done Young Kenny - inspirational.
It's been a pleasure...but suffering for it now after drinking in the 6 Bells afterwards. Great bunch of lads.
I had an interesting problem this week with Jack’s football, I knew I was only going to have 10 players so I emailed the Abingdon manager who the previous week had been beaten 10-0 and I have a good relationship with him and said I’ve only got 10 players – would you mind if I played two lads who are not signed on? He came back to me and said, No! Not acceptable, rules are rules. Their lads are feeling down enough, and the parents and coaches are down so they don’t want to help other teams beat them.
Initially I accepted it but the more I thought about it the more it irritated me. To my mind, are you really that desperate to win a football match that you want the other team to only have 10 players, would you be happy as a coach that 2 boys are sat at home unable to play? The more I thought about it the more cross I got. Sad!
In saying that, when I got to the game, there was the angry Geordie coach who’s an arsehole so it all made sense and clicked into place why I had been refused my request. He’d been kicked out of Grove and is just a horrible sad man. He was his usual ungracious, aggressive hostile person and shouldn’t be involved in kids football – but there you go. So we got on with it and the attitude of our players was just fantastic, I was so proud. They worked so hard and completely played Abingdon off the park and we 2-0 up with really well worked goals – Abingdon got one back. We went 3-1 up, Jack playing well again and got the penalty and eventually our lads tired and Abingdon got back to 3-3 for the end result and they were chuffed and jumping all over the place.
I had their coaches going on and on constantly, really irritating and had we had 11 players we’d have stuffed them. It wound me up to be honest. Shouldn’t let it get to me but it does sometimes.
A good performance though.
After a busy weekend for Easter and then popping into the office for a day to catch up with things meaning I was up at 5.30am, got back home in the evening and then worked until 4.00am to clear items and problems it was nice to think that I now have a couple of days off from work…although we’ll see how much I can avoid emails and calls from work, I don’t hold out much hope!
Anyway, we cleared out the rest of the front room today so that the men who are coming to sand the floor could do the whole lot, as you can see the whole of the downstairs is now empty for them to work through.
You cannot get into the kitchen at all, nor the office or the shed! We have to be out of the house for a couple of days which is perfect timing doing it now because we’re going to be out and about anyway!
Can’t wait for them to finish the work because this means we can start bringing the sofa back in and sort out the TV etc. It’s been a long process.
Before we could set out for Bournemouth I needed to drop Lewis off to go to Belgium, as he’s gone off with Beci & Sue Dale and the skipping team to enter a tournament for European championships.
More decorating over the weekend. We’ve got people coming in to sand the floor down etc whilst we’re away in Bournemouth and we had Paul come round and do the wall-papering whilst I pottered around – looks good. Took him about 4 hours but it was top quality workmanship and it looks great. Money well spent, no way in the world could I have got anywhere near that level. Tash wasn’t around all weekend. She left her job at James Cowper on Friday so they had an evening out, I went and picked her up at 1.15am and she wasn’t too bad, drunk but not terrible although in the morning she wasn’t feeling too well at all.
Shame because she was taking Lewis and Jack to a karate tournament in Birmingham area where they did well – I was kept in touch. Lewis did a black belt kata competition which he won, and the two of them also went into a sparring competition, but they said afterwards that there were some “strange” referring decisions which was a shame and it caused a lot of disagreements – appeared to be favouritism which they were on the wrong end of.
Jack got to 3rd place play-off so that was good – but he didn’t get it
On Sunday, Lewis was doing skipping in readiness for his competition in Belgium next month which will come around very quickly. Tash said they looked good. Charlotte has just been pottering around and doing her homework – so she’s been busy with all that. They have two week holiday now, she had Rose over for the night and were their usual selves – watch Drop Dead Fred!
Last night, my long awaited series 2 of Game of Thrones started and I watched it on the computer and that was good – lot of adverts though. But great to have it back on and looking forward to catching up with all the politics and shenanigans happening in Westeros!
Driving to football on Sunday to play against AFC Brightwell, Jack decided to tell me which professional footballers he's like:
"I've got Maradona's skill and speed, Messi's left foot...and height..I've got Cantona's goal celebration and I've got...Ronaldinho's goofy teeth!"
I almost crashed the car...
We made to the ground and he then had a chance to show me and he certainly did! He’s getting better and better it has to be said and if he doesn’t get Player of the Year again this season I’d be stunned. In saying that, he missed a penalty today but his all-round play and the goal he scored was so pleasing.
Sunday’s match was odd, I only had 10 players in the end and admittedly Brightwell are struggling but the performance of all the team was so pleasing, they won 4-0 in the end and I can still see all four goals in my mind’s eye. I shouldn’t be affected by how the kids do in a match but this time I was made up for the rest of the day…sad really.
What pleased me most was the number of crosses we put into the box and whenever someone was out wide they tried a trick or a skill and one of the goals caused by Fred’s wing play was an absolute pleasure. He’s getting better every single week and he does this ‘lollypop’ as Big Ron would describe it and it sells the defender nearly every time.
So Fred got the ball, did his trick and went past the player as if he wasn’t even there, it was incredibly perfect, put in a deep cross and Pierce scored with his right foot again. Similarly, Jack did some tricks on the edge of the box and was lining up to shoot when shut down by 3 defenders and he changed the angle of his contact so it turned into a pass down the left channel, Pierce crossed and Max headed in. Very pleasing indeed because this is what we’re practising every Friday night, so score two goals from training routines is great!
Anyway, back to only 10 players this week but against Abingdon which is frustrating, but that’s the problem with the location of the team…affluent area so all go away on holidays!
Ah well, we’ll see how it goes!
It’s 5.50am and I am driving into work – got up nice and early! I was up at 3.50am because of loads of work going through my mind but decided to get into the office bright and early. It’s dark but towards London it’s lightening up and looking good. It’s busy on the road already.
So taking the chance to update the diary – notes from the weekend then include:
We spent the whole weekend painting the front rooms and ceilings – looking good. It’s taken ages though.
On Saturday night Tash and I went out on our own to a concert at the New Theatre which was the Bootleg Beatles, we were supposed to be going with Nikki and Gaz but they decided to cancel for some reason, but because we’d paid for the tickets we were not going to do the same so we went along. Admittedly, I wasn’t overly bothered about going in the first place but out of low expectations you can be surprised. It was a really, really good evening. Basically, we had a Beatles concert from when they first set out in the 60’s through their different stages like St Pepper and hippy etc. Really enjoyed it.
Incredibly sad day today in that I attended the funeral for Carl in the morning before going to work. It was well attended by so many people and there were a few old faces that I recognised and who recognised me. There was definitely a good few hundred there.
The service was good, the highlight being the speech written by Leah (his sister) but read out by her husband(?), it was fun and moving speech and captured her life and memories with Carl. All things that anyone that knew him could relate to I suspect. The vicar then went over-board in his part of the service and lost some of the congregation with his well-meaning words of comfort. But never mind that, we’d not gone along to listen to him.
You can only guess at why Carl ended his life, not that I will speculate, if ever it’s understood or explained then I’d be interested, but not in idle gossip. I did like the photo on the Order of Service, it was his one in Oxford Boys in his blazer and tie and that brought back many memories indeed, not just of Carl but the school as a whole and there were a lot of other lads that would have been the same having gone to that school.
I’ll remember Carl as the clown who was centre of attention, laughing and making stupid comments and flicking his wedge cut flowing hair that the never washed so it would retain its style! I think that’s a good memory to hold of someone and it captured what he was like in the later years at school and 6th Form.
Such a shame, such a real sad shame that will haunt his family for ever which is another tragedy.
So another quiet weekend in the Dark household…
As a reward for the efforts I do for the football team they have given me a Red Letter Day for each of the past few seasons which Tash and I enjoy sharing together. We haven’t used last season’s yet so have put some of it by to try Scuba Diving and there was enough left over for Tash and I to have a meal for two and a stay in a Manor House/Hotel just north of Northampton.
Luckily the kids football was all called off on Sunday so we were able to take Lewis to his skipping training session at Redditch at 8.30am and then went into Solihull Shopping centre to get the wall-paper for the front room decorating due in April and then onto the hotel. Lovely old building but also mixed with new office/training conference facilities. We got there around 1.30pm and too the chance to simply relax and do nothing. Had a couple of coffees and then found the gym and sauna and after just over an hour in there got ready for the evening meal.
That was excellent, I stuck to my non-drinking and it wasn’t difficult at all, surprised even myself that I didn’t fancy any of the beers or wine getting taken to tables beside me!
Drove home, got a bit lost, but were home for 1.00(ish) and I spent the rest of the afternoon fixing bike punctures and brakes…hardly the first thing I’d choose to do with a day off but there are you. Still checked emails from work which wasn’t so bad really, usual shit coming in but it could wait for a day.
Nice to spend some time with Tash without the kids, agreed we’d need to do it more often..we’ll see!
Oh, sad new yesterday, Whitney Houston died in her hotel room in L.A. She’d been on drugs etc for many years and was in the papers two days ago looking dishevelled but no-one really predicted that she’d be dead so soon, only 48. Very sad really, asked the kids what they thought but she was not their era so it didn’t really mean a great deal to them. This was my favourite of hers:
Whilst writing, should also mention we went to John Hilland’s surprise 50th Birthday party at the pub in Horspath – really good evening that was. I drove and took Liam, Zoe, Wayne and Kerry and so many people were there. In fact the pub was too small and it was over-crowed, but it was so good to see so many old faces from football and times gone by. It was good to catch up with so many people. I got the piss taken out of me a bit for not drinking, but it wasn’t so bad so I didn’t mind.
Oh, finally, we’ve booked our summer holiday. After a few weeks of research we’re off to Egypt at a 5* all inclusive with Wayne & Kerry and their kids. We, sadly, think that the kids are soon going to be doing their own thing and the number of times that we’re going to get a chance to have a full family holiday together is coming down rapidly so we wanted to do something totally unforgettable and this we hope it is. There will be snorkelling, scuba diving, all sorts of water activities and quad bikes in the desert. We’ve saved for years and this is the last of the savings…or so I’ve been told but I don’t totally trust Tash on that point…looking forward to it, should be fantastic.(http://www.hilton.co.uk/sharmwaterfalls)
Since being back at work after the January break it’s been absolutely manic from one week to the next, whether it’s working in the office or going to see customers – it’s just been so full on. Then tied up at the same time with weekends that have been full, it’s just been incredible. Even taking out half an hour to record this diary entry I feel guilty as I should be catching up on emails or doing some more work or just getting things sorted.
To do something I want to do, it’s hard! No doubt this will come back to bite me because I should have been doing something else.
So, what’s been going on?
Work? Crikey, where do I start?? So far in the last fortnight I’ve done two 60 hour weeks, a couple of times I’ve been working from 8.00am until 1 or 2.00am an then back up again at 6.00am after only 4 hours sleep. Not ideal of course but needed to be done to deal with emergencies and issues that have cropped up. Unfortunately, these were things just for one or two customers and knowing you’re working on these it means everything is building up for other clients as well! We try to maintain the appearance of a swan gliding along, but struggling to paddle under the water!
As always, it should sort itself out and I’ll catch up next week – yeah right!
Went out for a meal with Wayne and Kerry last week, we were going to have them around here but decided to go to town instead – All Bar One – nice to go out just the 4 of us without kids! Got a bit tipsy and ended up at Ask bar until late. We also got onto talking about holidays so it’s something we might be doing with them like and all-inclusive somewhere. Should be good, never done it before but it interests me now.
Heavy head in the morning, and then out in the evening to the Red Lion for 2 year anniversary celebration and there was a quiz, we were with John and Pauline and Liam and Zoe and had a really good night – overdid it of course and stayed until about 1.00am. In the doghouse as a result because of staying out that little bit longer than needed!
1.30am – we then had a phone call from Charlotte saying she wanted to come home, she’d gone out to Rose’s and were sleeping in the field behind their house that backs onto Port Meadow and there was drinking etc then there was search lights and helicopter etc so they panicked about being under-age drinking. Obviously it wasn’t them, someone had disappeared and the police were out looking for them and checking the canal. So she came home! I wasn’t sympathetic but went up there to get her but was drunk cycling past the police up there!
Luckily Jack’s football the following day was a 1.30pm kick off at Wheatley and again, he just looks so dangerous and exciting. Shit pitch to play on, we were losing 2-1 at half time but I had a go at them which is really unlike me, but they turned it around and Jack got 2 goals as did Pierce. We held out and won 3-2 so that was good. Managed to then got to see Lewis playing against Deddington and saw Jane and Mark and they were fine. Nice to hear people complimenting Lewis and he got Man of the Match. Dropped him off at karate afterwards.
We don’t have any TV at the minute! It’s actually quite nice, last Sunday it just “went” – can’t get it sorted for a while. Means we will lose all our saved items on the box when we get a replacement one, ah well. However, it’s meant that we have had a week with no TV, no arguing over it – we’ve had the chess set out and reading books – it’s been lovely. Tempted not to get it fixed!
It does make you realise, how demanding of your attention the TV is and the shit that’s on it!
Well, winter is on its way at last and we’re getting the cold snap come and it’s freezing! –2 degrees at 6.00pm at night – haven’t had any snow sadly though, hopefully that will come.
A very quiet weekend…not! On Friday night I worked quite late and then wrote a note of the times that we’d be doing things over the weekend as I needed to factor in some work, it transpired that I had Sunday night at 10.00pm free, and here’s why.
Saturday morning was Jack’s football with the Oxford City Schools team (after I’d sent a few work-related emails), they have a semi-final in a fortnight so wanted to have a practise match and played against the Vale of White Horse who we played our first match I think. It was a very even match and Jack played left midfield again and did well, his best game for the team so far for certain.We had to leave with 10 minutes left to play and they were losing 0-1 but as a team performance they didn’t deserve to be losing and in fact were the better team. It was pleasing to hear positive comments from the side for Jack so that was good.
We then rushed home to pick up Tash, Lewis, Charlotte and Nanny Sue to travel into London as we had tickets for Cirque du Soleil showing at the Albert Hall. We got parked up in Imperial College by Hyde Park and then found a restaurant that Tash had managed to download some free vouchers on my iPhone on the car journey down…resourceful woman! Lovely Italian meal, nice and easy and then wandered back to the Albert Hall for the show (Totem).
I have to admit I was astounded by the Albert Hall, I simply had no idea it was so fantastically huge! Absolutely massive, I was shocked, checked on the internet and it holds over 5,000. We were right up in the Gods as far away from the stage as you can get but it didn’t matter one bit and we could see all we needed to see. And what we saw was wonderful.
The name Cirque du Soleil conjures up the image of gymnastics and fantastic stunts so you had an idea of what you expect but when you see it live and without harnesses then you simply cannot fail to be impressed and have your breath taken away, some of the acts were simply incredible. They even have the ‘clowns’ and they still did visually impressive stunts but were amusing at the same time. The two hour show (with a break) flew by and it was a shame when it ended, and then we were talking about which act was the favourite and I think we had a general agreement that a couple of a high-wire trapeze swing and the oriental girls on the uni-cycles were the best. But it was a very touch call.
My personal favourite were the uni-cycling girls, they kept going round and flicking what can only be described as metal cat food bowls onto each other’s heads, okay that sounds shit, but it was brilliant! The timing and technique was, well, just …speechless…I don’t have the adjectives to describe it without repeating some from earlier sentences.
Suffice to say – we had a great time!
That’s not all, drove home and got ready in 30 mins and then wandered down to John and Pauline Bampton’s for Pauline’s 40th birthday celebration. Great turn out and the drinks started flowing, had a good chat with people and a bit of a laugh and then as the evening wore on people drifted off. Tash has a headache and wanted to go at midnight but I wasn’t ready so said I’d catch up…mistake…sort of. By 1.00am there was Pauline, John, Jeff, Rob and myself and we proceeded to play John’s iPod and dance for the next two hours in the kitchen, it was funny as fuck. Excuse my French! Pauline videoed some of it – I think my interpretation of Beyoncé's ‘Single Ladies’ – Kurt from Glee has nothing on me! I sincerely hope any videos as now deleted as it must be one of the funniest things you’ll see.
We were laughing at ourselves and it was getting more and more ridiculous as we drank more and kept Pauline up until 3.00am we agreed enough was enough and there’d be sore heads in the morning! As drunk as we were, it was a really funny and memorable evening because you’d probably never see the four of us in the same room again! Ah, until the party up at the King’s Arms in a few weeks…ha ha!
Still I wasn’t finished! With a beer head on I then sat up and started watching Watchmen, but I can’t remember any of it but can remember I couldn’t even see the TV! Staggered into bed around 5.00am!
So, Sunday morning, up at 8.30am as Jack’s football miles away needed sorting out. No hangover as such, in that I wasn’t feeling rough but certainly heavy headed. We played Rotherfield who we drew with on the first day of the season and I was a bit worried because in the game yesterday Jack was knackered having not played for a while and I expected the same of the lads. I had a decent chat with them, geed them up and then we got the game started. I insisted on them that they start to take the rest of the season seriously with a few to moving up the table again, they seemed to take that on board.
What we saw next was a demolition! A short-lived demolition, which I’ll explain. We looked rusty, defensively and in midfield we looked off the pace and were under pressure, but Jack and Max are on fire for us and always a danger going forward and very quickly in the space of 20 minutes Jack scored 2, Max scored 2 and Adam scored 1 to put us very much in control. I was able to take some players off to give our lesser ability players a chance and sure enough Rotherfield got back into it and scored right on half time to make it 5-1. No changes at half time and Rotherfield scored twice more, twitchy parents on the side but we were in control, however, I put Jack back on, twisting and turning on a run he was hacked down to win a penalty which he despatched to secure another hat-trick and did his trademark celebration!
Final score 6-3 which flattered us a bit as we didn’t play well but who cares at the end of the day. We didn’t move up, but we’re with the middle pack which is 7 teams separated by 6 points and all teams we have to play. Hopefully we’ll do well with coming matches.
So straight back to Oxford, 5 mins rest and took Lewis to his football, home to Carterton – I did a decent warm-up and then ran the line. Lewis played well, we does really well at left-back and it’s pleasing to watch him. I probably wind him up with my directions and should let him play his own game more. I’ll shut up one day. So this Carterton side were awful, however, we were worse! Actually, that’s not strictly true, we were really poor in areas and somehow found ourselves losing 3-2 at halftime with some really shoddy goals.
I had a go at them at halftime, stressing how they should be playing, exploiting their defence and how they’d really let themselves down if they lost to this side. It worked briefly and they started the second half really brightly and got a goal back only to go a goal down again (cracking goal by the way, straight into the top corner!). Time ticked by and I had to take Lewis off to karate and we then equalised, as Lewis and I got to the car and looked round we saw Jack Smith thumped a brilliant long drive into the net to put us ahead with minutes to go. I later found out Alfie topped it off with a great free kick to earn us a 6-4 win so that was really pleasing, and VERY unexpected with 10 mins of the game remaining!
Dropped Lewis off at karate and then had a shower and we then drove into Oxford and went to Prezzo in the Oxford Castle and had a birthday meal with mum. My hangover was sort of kicking in by now in that I wasn’t very hungry but I was extremely tired, I tried to ignore it as I didn’t want to be rude but it was hard. Certainly didn’t have a drink! Lewis got dropped off and we had a lovely meal, second time in two days, and a good laugh with Mum and Derek. Derek paid which was a fantastic and unexpected treat. So what’s that make mum now, I reckon 64, yep because I am going to be 44 this year.
Finished and left around 9.30pm and sure enough, home for work preparation for the meeting on Monday from 10-11pm.
What an incredible weekend, packed loads into it and had a lovely time. Same again next week?!?!?!
No not talking about me for once.
At the weekend two Legends of football made a return to the Premier League (well FA Cup).
Paul Scholes who’d retired for Man Utd at the end of last season signed and played against Man City at the weekend and last night Thierry Henry (who’s still playing in the MLS in the US – so effectively retired…) is on loan for Arsenal having left 5 years ago.
Call me a romantic but it’s great to see these two back if only for a short term measure.
Henry had the better return, playing versus Leeds, stalemate, comes on at 68 mins, scores 78 mins and it’s the winner – fairy tale!
Okay, it’s a bit late for this but I thought that I would still update the blog with what we did this year over the Festive period, it was bloody busy I know that much, loads of food and drink, and a bit more drink just in case!
So where to start? I guess the works do just before Xmas. We went out to a local restaurant/pub in Bearstead near Maidstone, it was okay. Very busy popular place, and I could soon see why, the food was excellent and there was loads of it as well. Had a few drinks but didn’t go overboard although everyone wanted me to get drunk – it wasn’t going to happen though!
I took the Friday 23rd off and just helped round the house to get things in place for the coming weekend and eventually got the Xbox sorted out – that was a big saga which I won’t go into here, suffice to say I am pleased and relieved that we finally got a working model before the break.
Friday night we went up to Mum’s house to have Xmas early because she was spending the time at Louise’s and wouldn’t be around as normal. So from about 5.00pm we were up there, had a lovely Chinese take-away meal and then handed out the presents – got some nice things and the kids were spoilt as normal. Jack got a mobile phone and was thrilled, it was really lovely to see him so excited, haven’t seen that sort of childish wonder and thanks in him for a long time, he’s always seemed older than his years, but this was definitely a very excited Jack!
Mum gave Tash and I some money to go towards the camera that I have my eye on so that was appreciated. We stayed until about 10.15pm and then driving home Tash offered to drop me into Oxford as the City Veterans were out on our Xmas night out.
I met up with them in the Living Room and they were absolutely hammered, it was a laugh seeing them like this and I quickly tried to catch up! I saw loads of people I know, a real who’s who so that was good and I was glad to have gone down there. I stayed until the end of the night, by which time I was a little bit drunk and then got some food and bus home. Tash was still up at 2.30am so came to the cemetery to pick me up.
Thankfully not a big hangover for Xmas Eve as we got more things sorted and had a relaxing and lazy day, we met up with the Holdens and the Carrolls in the White Hart and had a couple of drinks. Wayne wasn’t drinking which was no surprise having seen the state of him the night before! It was a nice evening and the new landlord was chatty and trying to get us to like him and go back there as regulars! As the night ended the Holdens went home, and we then went to the Richardsons for their house party. I wasn’t really in the mood and when it got to 11.30pm Tash went with Lucy to midnight Mass (it’s something she’s always wanted to do) I actually left the party at the same and went home to get some normal drink and watch the TV. I had no interest in going to Mass, not for me…
Not too sure what time Tash got back but she wasn’t overly enthused about the experience so we sorted out the final presents and went to bed.
Kids up at 8.00am – not bad for Xmas morning!
Stockings and presents, coffee and croissants, perfect start to the day! Kids were pleased with what they got and enjoyed handing out presents to each other, me and mum – they’re really good kids and great fun. They didn’t get a great deal this year but they didn’t moan and made out they were happy with it all. We then popped round to Sue’s house because she was on her own so more presents handed out and then she went off to get Tiffany whilst we came back to our house for an hour or so to get showered and changed and ready for the long day.
It was nice not having to rush around to be honest when we’re normally having to go over to Mum’s, that’s not to say I didn’t miss going over there first thing but it was nice to not be so hurried. So in our own time we went back to Sue’s and then Tiff/Paul and Nikki, Gaz and all the girls were there. Victoria also bought her boyfriend Jason over. Usual mad time was had by all, loads of food crowded in the kitchen and loads of drink, far too much. It got very rowdy this year, even by dinner time – I thought Tash was going to cut her fingers off the way she was waving the electric carving knife around in a drunken state.
After dinner handed out the presents and then played games, watched telly and the usual things.
It was a really enjoyable day that seemed to fly by. Gaz did his ‘pub quiz’ which he’d been working on for months and it was really good, loads of varied (and hard) questions which my team won in the end by only 4 points. So we were pleased with that effort! As things ebbed and flowed it felt like the night was passing us by a bit so we got the Sing Star out – that certainly got things going and the videos of our singing were soon being uploaded to Facebook – not a good idea as we were not remotely in tune!
Sue had had enough by 12.30am so we got kicked out and home by 1.00am. A thoroughly brilliant day.
Boxing Day…bear with me, there’s loads more…we were really lazy in the morning and then went back round to Sue’s for a big breakfast and catch up and more TV watching. We weren’t really in any hurry but we got on the road to Louise’s (King’s Lynn) by about 3.00pm, dropped our gear off at the hotel we were staying at and then got to theirs around 5.30pm – probably later than they expected but it was okay I think. Had a good evening, handed out more presents, but played a couple of games and had a laugh on the roulette table mum had brought along. Jack won that so he was pleased! Great Grandma and Sue & Simon were there too having been there for Xmas Day as well. Finished up and left around 10.30pm and crashed out at the hotel. We only had a room for 4 so sneaked Jack but it wasn’t a problem.
Next morning nice big breakfast at the Harvester and then we went over to Sandringham to an hour or so’s walk around the forest. Very nice place. But then it would be wouldn’t it as it’s the Queen’s holiday residence. Prince Phillip has been ill and was due out of hospital today so there was a Press presence near by, nothing exciting happened in our time there though – ah well. Once we’d had a quick look around the Gift shop we said our Goodbyes and made our way back hope via McDonalds in Kings Lynn! More videos in the evening when we got home – tired and crashed out.
Tuesday we did nothing all day. Can’t actually remember what we did, I have a feeling Tash, Charlotte and I went to Ikea to get stuff for Jack’s bedroom and a couple of things I wanted, Actually we did do that as I phoned into work from the car-park to check on how things were ticking along
Wednesday we went over to Paul & Pauline’s for a party and that was great fun. Usual faces plus some who are not usually invited but it made it a lovely crowd and it was a great evening, again far too much to drink and I lost playing Spoof for a large glass of Port – which to be fair was actually quite nice, had I not had to down it in one! Don’t really remember much else to add other than I was talking rubbish by the end of the night, so nothing new there.
Bit of a hangover next morning but nothing compared to Lewis and Jack, both were really ill, physically sick. Bit of a shame as we were due to have Pete and Katharine come over in the evening but we had to cancel it in the end as they were so ill. More videos and nothing happening!
Friday we went over to Liam and Zoe’s in the afternoon for a meal and ended up watching the Liverpool v Newcastle match, both teams were pretty poor to be honest and it was painful viewing, especially as Liverpool ended up winning…another nice evening though.
Saturday – New Year’s Eve – already! Katharine and Pete came up around midday for the postponed get-together we were going to have and that was really nice afternoon, they stayed for 3 hours and it was a really good catch up. They were off to Stratford with friends so we relaxed once they’d gone and in fact caught up on a bit of a sleep in readiness for the evening. We’d invited people to come to ours for 7.00pm to start the night and sure enough that soon came round and the door was being knocked on.
The Carrolls, Mum & Derek, Sue, Tiff, Paul and Brendan made up the numbers and after a few bottles of bubbly had been finished we made our way over to the Red Lion in Wolvercote. It was quiet to start with and I could tell a few people were thinking it wasn’t going to be a good night, but we were there at 8.00pm! Gradually it started filling up and the drink started to take effect and the night got livelier and livelier and turned out to be brilliant fun! We’re a bit of a whirlwind as a family group and took over the dance floor all night. Everyone joined in and it was a laugh. Midnight soon arrived and the usual best wishes took place and the party continued until 1.30am by which time it was time to go home, manage one Facebook update and then bed for a well-earned sleep.
The only sad thing was that Lewis was missing, I’d dropped him off at his girlfriend’s, Kathryn, as they were having a family party and he slept the night there. He said he’d had a good time so that was pleasing but it was a shame that he wasn’t sharing it with us!
That’s it I think – New Year’s Day was a lazy day and the Bank Holiday Monday I worked in Jack’s bedroom to sort out the stuff we’d bought from Ikea for his bedroom so I was swearing away sorting out cupboards and the like, got it completed though so that was good and the bedroom looks a lot better now as a result.
What else have a I missed?
Tiffany and Paul got engaged the day before Xmas Eve so everyone was really pleased about that and it made for a great atmosphere as they’re obviously delighted and excited. Paul wants to go to Las Vegas for the bachelor party – Tash has vetoed my involvement in that already!
I am hugely over-weight, trousers don’t fit me so in January I will be working hard to lose some of it, it’s actually revolting and I am not impressed with myself for being so ill-disciplined to have allowed myself to get in this state. Mind you, I’ve written this blog for 45 minutes instead of exercising!
Tash and I got on really well over the break – I didn’t stay up watching TV like I normally do, nor argue about leaving early any times or any of the other silly things that I do to cause arguments, so brownie points for me! I can’t claim to have grown up, because the fact I am even mentioning that I am pleased that I wasn’t causing Tash problems shows a distinct lack of maturity I think!!
Er, I think that’s it. Mammoth update to the blog but then I am sat here in my hotel in Kent, first day back in the office which was really hard to do, it was only a week and a half off this time around but I didn’t do any work at all, it was lovely!
Well, here’s to a Happy New Year, good luck to everyone!
Jack’s team were up against Crowmarsh Orange on Sunday, they’ve struggled a bit and we’re playing well if you forget the Milton match, so I was quietly confident of a good result but at the same time a little nervous that they might shock us in the same way that we’re shocking other teams at the minute.
So the match started and to be fair it was pretty even, we were pushing but they had a couple of players who attacked well and caused us problems down the middle of the park. Then out of one of their corners we broke and Max played Jack through on the half-way line on the right wing and he went the whole length of the half, cut across two defenders and the keeper and slotted into an empty net. It was a very, very good goal – I was really pleased for him. He just then stood in front of our parents with his hand out by his side as if to say, ‘What did you think of that?’ – funny character.
We saw that through to half-time and we then conceded a goal which made it 1-1 and that seemed to kick the team into life and we scored two quick goals from Max after Jack and James played good through balls and then Max got a hat-trick. They scored with a minute to go to make a final score of 4-2. It was a lot more comfortable than that and we should have had quite a few more but for their goalie making some great saves.
What’s so pleasing is that we’re playing well as a team at the minute and putting good passes together and creating chances. All the players are trying to do their job and defensively we’re getting a bit better. Matthew is playing very well as a left-back, his timing and distribution and reading of the game is fantastic to watch. I am certainly going to find it hard to pick my player of the year this year as all of them are doing well.
So that was a pleasure and I was really proud of them.
I then took Lewis to his match and he was against Quarry from top of the A-League in the cup, we knew it would be a hard match and we wouldn’t win but we wanted to give them a good game. Unfortunately we only have 11 players so had little options, we played with 5 in the middle and for the first 35 minutes worked so damned hard and kept them at bay. Although some wayward finishing meant we were lucky to be in the match. We went 1-0 up against the run of play and then with 10 minutes left they scored 3 goals and the game was over then. I was pleased with Lewis, he played well and is growing up well. Unfortunately David wanted to get Thabelo in the game so we took Lewis off because he needs to go to karate and that was a mistake. The shape of the team was gone and we folded and started shipping in crap goals which shouldn’t have happened. No idea what the final score was but when Lewis and I left it was around 8-1.
It’s a shame really because Lewis is a decent left-back and he’s suffering because of his work which is annoying having to leave early. Ah well.
So I am in the office again this week, it’s getting quite hard and a bit of a strain at home because it feels like I am never there at the minute. When I am home we’re flat out with all the jobs needing doing, or taking the kids around or the football. No idea how the week will go, there’s so much on my plate at the minute, it’s so hard to know where to turn next.
I updated my LinkedIn account the other night and when I listed my responsibilities it was then it struck home just how much I am trying to cram into a week, far too much, but I don’t know how to reduce it. I’ll persevere but something has to give for certain. Well, I can talk about it and type it here but that’s not going to get the work done is it??? Best sign off and get on with getting an early night…
