Brrrrrrrrr...

It's cold.  Never mind 'Sun's out, guns out' - in this house we're at the 'Sun's gone, heating's on' stage.  Mr G is insulating the summer house. There's bubble wrap and foil everywhere and how he can breathe in there with the glue fumes is beyond me. He'll be high as a bloody kite later, which is all I need.

The illnesses have started, Ryan and Caitlin are both off school with hacking coughs and sore throats. Yay. Mr G was floored yesterday and was on the sofa, with a patchwork quilt.  There have been two noteworthy child insults for you.

Running from the bathroom. Stark naked. It's literally about three metres from my room. Seven or eight steps at the most.  Mistimed it, face to face with my twelve year old at the top of the stairs.  Who said...

Ryan: My childhood is ruined. RUINED!

And yesterday, sitting down for a rare moment with a coffee waiting for the children to arrive from school. Adam bursts through the door.  Adam is all about the food, 'bout the food... While he's eating breakfast he wants to know what's for lunch and if possible, tea...

Adam: What's that smell? Cod? Are we having cod for tea? I can smell cod.  Yay!  

Me: *stands up* Right that's me off for a shower... 

Mr G: *patchwork quilt vibrating because he's laughing underneath it* Best have a bath too. And another shower after... to be sure...

The house feels funny without Dan.  For one, the aroma of teenage boy is noticeably absent... His room is clean and tidy... He turns twenty next Monday, which is when he starts Uni properly, this week is Freshers Week. I doubt very much that he will be wanting to spend his weekend with us, or have a party or barbecue, which is a bit sad but he's a grown man now and he has his friends, old and new to celebrate with.  

Crusaders play their play off game this weekend, they take on Keighley after Oldham beat them last weekend.  If it had been at Oldham we'd have probably been able to go, but Keighley is too much of a stretch, especially on a Sunday.  Gutted, but hey ho.  Whatever league they are in, we've got our season tickets for next year and will be there for every home game (at least!) cheering them on.  Good luck Cru!  #fearnothing

My mind fog seems to have cleared a bit, the morning sneezing fits seem to be getting better, and not lasting as long.  Maybe it was 'just' hay fever.  And now that the weather is... shite... it's diminishing?  One thing I do know though.  I've always been a bit disdainful of people who say 'Oh, I have allergies'.  Don't get me wrong, I would never say anything to their face, of course, I'm not a nasty person.  But what I do have is an evil little voice in my head, which sounds a little bit like Eric Cartman mimicking them.  I apologise.  Never again will I mock, or think 'MAN UP!'  I stand shoulder to shoulder with you, eyes streaming, nostrils itching like I never thought humanly possible, sinuses throbbing and unable to concentrate on the most basic task.  Roll on Winter.

So, on the agenda, painting porches, bathrooms, the kitchen, oh and the hall, stairs and landing top to bottom AGAIN thanks to my children and a) scuff marks and b) fake blood.  Christmas prep.  It seems like an eternity away to children, but when you're an adult and each week passes like a day?  That's scary stuff! 

I'm also setting up a new blog, because as you may have seen from my blog tagline or whatever that thing is called up there at the top... I am nearly 40.  Fml.  And seeing as I have done absolutely sod all with my life apart from churn out offspring, cook and be sarcastic, turning 40 is as good a reason as any to spend some time on me, doing what I want to do.  And in some cases what I really don't want to do - because sometimes we need to stretch ourselves, right?  So look out for that new blog, coming soon, where I give myself from now until the last day of 40 (because I started late... and I can't even think of 40 things yet...) to complete some challenges.  This honks of disaster already :-D  Happy.  Days.