Friday 14 March 2014

I'll be with you soon!

Just popping in to say I will be back soon, I really want to write some more about our Sri Lanka cricket tour but time doesn't seem to permit me to actually put my brain into gear right now.
 
I thought once we'd got Christmas, 2 birthdays and 2 trips out of the way I'd have a little time to gather myself together before the start of this years cricket season, but it seems not! I don't believe there actually is a cricket season anymore anyway, the boys (all 3 of them) play all year round, indoors in winter and outdoors in summer - and when there isn't a match they're training.
 
In the "olden days" the football season used to overlap the cricket season at each end of the year, Easter and the end of August. We always used to book a holiday for the first 2 weeks of September - it was either that or get a divorce! We even got married on the first free Saturday after the end of the cricket season - The Builder would agree to miss a game or two of football but not cricket. Unfortunately it wasn't a cricket-free Sunday
so the honeymoon couldn't start til Monday - but I digress!
 
Anyway, I'm the sort of person who, when I'm asked to do something, has a brain that screams "no you can't possibly fit that in" and a head that nods and says "yes that's no problem at all"
 
Which is why, on one evening this week I am picking Little Miss and a friend up from netball, taking the friend home, driving from there to give a talk on our school in Gambia to a group of Cubs and Beavers, then driving straight to gymnastics to drop Little Miss off, then back the Cubs and Beavers to talk to a second group, then back to gymnastics to pick up Little Miss, hopefully stopping to do a bit of a food shop in my spare time before we find our way home!
Where is The Builder you may ask?
Well he has to drive Number 1 son to a cricket session about 20 miles away, in the opposite direction. So that will leave Number 2 son to come home alone and feed himself, we've promised someone will be home before his bedtime - parental failure I know!
 
So I'll gather myself very soon and tell you all about Sri Lanka, I can tell you one thing though - it is full of blooming cricket pitches!
 
I'll leave you with a photo of my Big Boy and me, taken at his birthday meal last Friday,
 just a few friends (family friends not "his" friends - that's way too embarrassing, apparently!)
and family to celebrate with him. He ideally wanted to go out for beers with his mates but as he had a day at Nottingham University on Saturday it ruled out Friday and as he had a cricket training day on Sunday it ruled out Saturday night. Well I say a training day, after turfing him out of bed at 8am on Sunday and driving him 15 miles to the venue we discovered that the course is actually next Sunday!! Doh! (parental failure again!)


Keeping up the family tradition of comedy specs! (see previous post)
I can't believe he's got to this after being mistaken for a Cabbage Patch Doll in his earlier years!

 
 
 

 

32 comments:

  1. Love that baby photo of your son. Cabbage Patch Doll!! lol.

    I have the same problem with the brain thinking one thing and then my action reflecting the complete opposite, so reading that made me laugh out loud.

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    1. The cabbage patch doll was his twin, especially when number one son had a dummy (soother?) - sadly the doll is not ours so is no longer his companion

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  2. Oh what a little sweetie he was. Your schedule sounds hectic, mine has moments like that as well, and I fear it will only get worse. Hope it all goes well, and that you have a good weekend. CJ xx (PS What a good woman you are, postponing your honeymoon because of cricket. I do hope you are fully appreciated!)

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    1. He certainly looked like a little sweetie and he is one now I suppose - I know I'm not alone in these manic moments of life - it helps to know that!

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  3. Awww, bless him, Cabbage Patch Doll indeed! I think as parents, we're always here, there and everywhere. I thought it would get easier now that Daniel's at uni, but no, Mick's going to pick him up tonight, he's home for the five week Easter holidays and has to vacate his room, so he'll be back with all his gear in tow. The other week we got a phone call saying that the screen on his phone had broken, could we take my old phone over to him so that he could use that while he got the screen mended. It's a good job he's not at a uni that's at the other end of the country.

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    1. I get tired just reading your blog, how do you do it? I've always been a lazy soul who was forced to get more done than I ever wanted to, but since retiring I've turned into a real slug.
      I love the story of having to shoe horn your marriage in between cricket matches. I have a "strange" wedding story I'll tell you some time.

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    2. I have visions of plenty of trips to Uni Jo, some at his request but some for my benefit!
      And I am very lazy by nature, none of this come naturally! Tell us the wedding story......

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  4. See- Cabbage Patch dolls can turn into swans....er...no, that's not quite right - don't embarrass the poor lad - but you know what I mean! And I know what YOU mean by shoe-horning in yet another obligation into an already too full schedule. However, life would be SO boring, wouldn't it, without the stress and panic etc? Never mind, when the children have left home, and you are ready to retire life will....become even MORE hectic! I was waiting for everything to calm down - does it heck as like! Lxx

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    1. Oh crikey, no light at the end of the tunnel then?!

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  5. Ahhhh life...never slows down..eh Jay?
    You look great in your photo...not like Deidre at all!!!
    Will wait for your posts...I do enjoy them♥️
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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    1. Deidre was banished when the specs were binned!

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  6. I know what you mean about fitting everything in. I'm sooo way behind with reading and commenting, let alone blogging. Since John retired two weeks ago, my feet haven't touched the ground! Not complaining though. Lovely picture of your boy and you.
    Patricia x

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    1. It must be a nice kind of busy now though, I look forward to more "us" time.

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  7. I am a classical no-thinking-yes-saying woman. You look great without your Deirdre glasses and the short hair! Your young man looks quite like you actually. I am going to do some blog history research to find out about your school in Gambia project, this sounds very interesting. Have a great weekend. Cx

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    1. Hi Christina, I never think he looks like me.
      I've mentioned the school only a tiny bit on the blog, mainly because nowadays we don't do too much and our contacts are not so strong, however we did raise the money and build a whole school so if we do nothing else I'm happy to say we did something - it was a collective effort from family and friends. Feel free to email me if you'd like to know anything in particular - enjoy your weekend x

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  8. Lovely picture of you and your son. Life will slow down when they have all left home. You have a few more years yet and many cricket matches and practices before then! Sarah x

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    1. Thank you Sarah, yes a few more years yet.....

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  9. I remember those kind of days. And now I miss them! Sweet picture of you and #1.

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    1. Really Beryl? Maybe I should savour them more?

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  10. You are SUPER MUM !
    A helper at a school for language impaired children where I once worked told the children babies came from cabbage patches. We were at a farm letting the children dig ( cabbages ) I fear she was mistaking REAL babies for cabbage Patch Dolls !
    ( so I reported her - I did ! I mean, the children were confused enough as it was ! )

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    1. I wish I was super, then I wouldn't forget quite so many things!
      And the cabbage patch incident is dreadful, and hilarious, at the same time! We are always very honest about how things work with in "real life" - with the exception of Father Christmas and discussions as to whether he actually exists - not so honest there are we? as someone once kindly pointed out a few years ago.

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  11. Cabbage patch! Bless him!
    What a busy mum you are, you are always busy doing something (or 6 things!) for your children, no wonder you need your spa weekend!
    Lisa x

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    1. That annual spa break can't come round soon enough Lisa!

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  12. You're a busy lady we'll still be here waiting for you on your blog when time permits. Hope the busy schedules leaves you some time for yourself.

    Victoria
    FlorenceandMary.com

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  13. I can't believe both our 18 year old boys, with their matching specs, have a helium birthday balloon in their photos!

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  14. Arrgghh, I managed to miss the No.1 Son Birthday post - so sorry; I hope you and he had a great day/weekend
    I'm feeling your pain on not having enough time to do anything/everything, although your life does sound infinitely more hectic than mine; the reason I never have enough time to do things is because I'm so easily distracted by all the things that don't really need to be done, but seem so much more interesting than the things that do need to be done. If you see what I mean?!?

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  15. Gosh you've got an 18 year old!! That is incredible!~ well done mama, you must be so proud!

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  16. Gosh, kids and their sporty and non sporty engagements eh? I'm lucky that I've only got the one but that's bad enough for poor disorganised me.....sigh. Oooh, Sri Lanka, now that's a place I've always wanted to visit. I'm all agog! xx

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  17. Happy birthday to him!
    Sounds like your schedule is a whirlwind right now--like mine will be in another month. Hope you can keep all those practices and games straight and cheer through it all!

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  18. Great photo of you and no. 1 boy. Hope your schedule settled down a bit...or at least you get a bit of rest in between the frantic moments :-) PS I'm totally envious of his cabbage patch doll. I always wanted to a bald Premmie but ended up with "Harriet" with thick brunette plaits :-)

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  19. HI there, just popping in to say hi and hope all is well with you! I am of course writing amid all the March Madness here -(bball abounds in all rooms) something you know about except in the cricket family.

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