Sunday 8 June 2014

What's been happening at our place.....

Firstly thank you for the suggestions re my blog photos, I will Google around for some answers. As the photos were uploaded from different places, some Picasa, some directly from my PC, I don't know what's going on. And more pics are disappearing from very old posts too - so strange! But thank you for taking the time to comment.
I don't really know where to start, life has been incredibly busy and not just with the cricket for a change. The Builder is nearing the end of a project he's been on for a while and whilst we are stony broke just now the money will be released very soon, so the pressure was on to get it complete. That in itself is a little bit of stress but added to that he has been having various aches and pains for a while now which means he works slower and finds some jobs more difficult than he used to.
He is after all 54 later this year and can't expect to have the energy of an 18 year old
(do they have energy, our actual, real-life 18 year old is mostly asleep!).
On Christmas eve he had a hospital appointment to discuss treatment for the partially slipped disc which had been discovered, that appointment was a mixture of emotions as they started to discuss injections into the disc and possible surgery but ended the appointment by saying as he had the reflexes of an 18 year old (and yes I'll never hear the end of that)
they wouldn't be doing anything other than prescribe painkillers!
As luck would have it he plays cricket with an orthopaedic surgeon who,
on seeing his bow-legged shuffle, said he should get his hips looked at as well, the result of this showed a certain amount of arthritis in his hip joint as well as the slipped/bulging disc.
Fast forward to half term when he played cricket on Saturday and Sunday, mostly as a wicket keeper (crouched down on his haunches for several hours - as you do with a slipped disc and arthritis??) and ended up in extreme pain. He soldiered on until the following Thursday, when he couldn't move and was in agony. At midnight (how like children some men are!) he announced that I needed to drive him to A & E in Norwich as he was worried something very strange had happened in his back - you can imagine the scenarios we went through.
I had to dress The Builder as he could barely move, wake Number 1 son to let him know he was in charge, wedged The Builder into the car and drove into our nearest Accident and Emergency.
He was instructed to stay in the cubicle allocated and wear a gown, so embarrassing to have to undress and dress him again and at this point we realised I'd put his pants on backwards! It made the Doctor (aged about 15) laugh anyway. I wasn't going to whip them off and turn them round, not when the cubicle curtain could have been thrown wide open at any time
to find me with his pants in my hand!
At 5am he was prescribed very strong painkillers and sent home to a very deep sleep for the rest of the day. I stayed awake with the help of coffee as there was a school run to do then there seemed no point in sleeping until an early night beckoned.
Last week he had an official appointment (as appose to a consultation in the cricket club bar) with our surgeon friend who x-rayed his hips once again and was a little bemused by the arrangement and distribution of arthritis in his hip, apparently it's only usually seen in women! - Cue an excuse to rib him forever more! The Tourettes in me wanted to ask if this arthritis could have been caused by him wearing ladies underwear but I wasn't sure, in the formal hospital surroundings,
if he'd have realised I was joking!
So you can imagine how happy I was when The Builder announced he would be fine to play cricket this weekend as he felt the problem was much improved!
 I refuse to take him to A & E again!
On top of that Number 1 son is mid exams, the A levels which will determine whether he gets into the university of his choice, Loughborough. He feels they haven't been going too well and is already talking about other options, it's so tough and there is absolutely nothing we can do to help
other than try to be supportive.
Number 2 son continues to give us grief at every opportunity, only of the verbal kind but hard to take none the less - note to self I must stop "being such an idiot", I'm sure that would help the situation.
Little Miss seems to have been lost in the midst of all this stress and worry which isn't fair. Hopefully her turn to shine will be later today when she takes part in a club gymnastics competition, I'm keeping everything crossed for her. The boys are dotted around the county at cricket so it just leaves me to watch; and cheer!
Oh and I should just mention that in the middle of all this a young New Zealander moved into the garage! Those who've been reading my blog from the start may remember this and the reprieve I had last year. In the intervening time our garage has become full of "stuff", the usual garage type clutter plus those things only a Builder come hoarder would have like a collection of rusty nails
and 3 (non-working) fridges!
The proposition was put to me by telephone in the middle of Tesco by a committee member who said he'd rather speak directly to the organ grinder not the monkey! Apparently this years overseas player who had been staying with another family had only been allowed to stay with them for the first few weeks and now needed new accommodation. It was fine if I said no, I mustn't worry....but he'd be homeless!! Hands up those who think The Builder knew I was about to get that call??
What can you say to that.... the plus side is that a team of people arrived and cleaned the garage and took a load of junk to the tip for us, it's now back to a penthouse suite!
So I have another rent-free lodger............can anyone offer me a place to stay til September??

26 comments:

  1. Men and pain always an adventure. Glad he's better. I knew you'd end up with a lodger, they were setting you up all along. Hope your daughter does well.

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    1. Next time you have a feeling I'm about to have a lodger, please let me know!! I think I must be a bit thick....

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  2. I don't know how you do it, honestly. I hope your other half slows down a bit, at least to heal.....and the exams. We had a stressy session yesterday when flooded with doubt our eldest got teary about not doing well enough for her uni of choice. All we can do it be supportive. Take a bit of me time if you can. xxx

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    1. Oh I do wish the exams were over, only one more to go for my biggest boy. But I know I'll worry til results day! Good luck to your daughter.

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  3. Oh my...I'm surprised the doctor didn't tell your husband to stop playing cricket for awhile until things had a chance to settle down. Good luck to your daughter at her gymnastics competition!

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    1. As the hip surgeon plays in the same team as hubbie I'm sure he wouldn't dare tell him to slow down, hubbie's the captain!!

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  4. As I've said beforeI think you deserve a medal! You can come stay with me, I'm only down the road.

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    1. Thank you for the offer, and we could eat out at Biddy's Tea Room!

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  5. We do have a spare room you can stay in if you don't mind four crazy children making as much noise and mess possible. Or you could come and house sit later, when we are on holiday, you deserve a bit of peace and quiet. I hope all goes well with the A level exams, sometimes exams went better than expected, I am keeping my fingers crossed for your number 1 son. The verbal kind of grief is almost unbearable. Where do teenagers find the energy to be abusive when they can't even bring up the energy to get out of bed? As for the builder, I hope he takes the signs of arthritis seriously and slows down a bit. Glad he is mobile again. Good luck for your young gymnast, hope she will shine tonight. Take care. x

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  6. It sounds like you've had a stressful time of it lately. I hope your husband's pains are resolved soon but I would love to see him slow down too!

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  7. Crikey - it does sound stressful and not the best time at all for the Builder to feel in such pain. You made me think of the children's book Peace At Last - I hope you find some somewhere! x

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  8. Oh my goodness you have had so much going on. Bless your heart for still having a sense of humor about it all. Best of luck with the back, Cricket, exams, the mouthy son, gymnastics and the new guest.
    Hugs,
    Meredith.

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  9. Sorry I missed you previous post - have you changed your privacy settings? What a week you have had! I hope the Builder hasn't caused any more damage playing cricket. My brother in law is in his 80's and still plays cricket so 54 seems quite young in comparsion! Hope you had some help in clearing the garage! Sarah x

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    1. No I haven't changes anything Sarah but odd things are happening on my blog!
      Still playing in his 80's?, oh dear me, there's no hope then!

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  10. What a time you're having of it at the moment, I hope it all sorts itself out for you soon. The builder must be in so much pain, why is it that they won't give up their sports for a while to let things settle down, they're all alike. Try not to worry about Number 1 son, they do tend to panic half way through exams and wonder if they've done well enough. Daniel got in to his first choice with less than the required grades so it's not a foregone conclusion that he won't get in even if he doesn't do as well as he hopes. Still worrying all the same though. Hope the gymnastics competition went well.

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  11. Gosh, that's a lot going on. I do sympathise with the Builder, my other half has had a lot of very bad back pain, including the debilitating type where he can hardly move. I do hope the Builder's reprieve is permanent. Good luck to Number 1 Son, it must be agony for you to have to stay on the sidelines and watch him having a tough time. I do hope he does well enough to get to the university he wants. I'm bumping heads quite a bit with my eldest at the moment, so I can sympathise with the grief from your middle boy. Good luck to your daughter in her gymnastics competition. And well done for taking in the homeless New Zealand cricketer! I'm sure the good karma will be visited upon you very shortly. Have a good week Jay, CJ xx

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  12. I did have a sneaky feeling you'd end up with a lodger! Sorry you feel so stressed and hope hubby's pain is easing, they really can be quite stubborn can't they. Take care of yourself and take a deep breath...
    Patricia x

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  13. Oh gosh sounds like you had a really stressful time what with having to rush to emergency! Glad to hear the Builder is better now. And good luck to your number 1 son. I never took my A levels but can imagine just how tough it is. Take good care Jay and hope things settle down for you

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  14. Well I'd offer our spare room....but you know you would miss the family like mad in reality!. One day they will all have flown the nest and you will miss the chaos.

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  15. Goodness me, what a lot going on there! x

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  16. I'm nodding reading this... husband nearly 51 races Finn Dinghy's & Folk ( type ) boats
    several times a week...is in awful pain in hips & legs - arthritis. Groans ALL the time but off he goes with his sailing kit.

    My 18 year old is great but does tend to look at everything in black & white. He utters, " That's just stupid " all the time & Jess & I are always telling him to " Look at the bigger picture "

    Wish we lived near each other for a real good natter ! xx

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  17. Oh my and I thought I had problems.... what a lot you're having to deal with.

    Re photos if it helps and it is somewhat long winded I edit my photos with PicMonkey and then upload to Flickr and then link to the blog post. Apparently (and I'm not sure how true this is!) Blogger will only host so many photos for so long/have a max storage facility so by hosting through Flickr it safeguards them (to a degree..)

    V x
    FlorenceandMary.com

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  18. Oh my things have been a bit busier than normal for you it seems.
    Your husband must be in an awful lot of discomfort but it must be hard to be sympathetic if he is insisting on carrying on with the cricket.
    I hope that Little Miss did well in her gym.
    Fingers crossed for the best possible results for No 1 son and his uni and exam results, things must be tense.
    As for a teenage son giving you grief, that I can empathise with. How does that sweet little boy turn into a snarling bundle of unpleasantness, I don't want to wish time away but I look forward to the end of that phase!
    Lisa x

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    1. Little Miss did great, thank you Lisa, we came away with a medal! And the teenage boy phase (which we've only had with 1 teenager) is going on a long time!

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  19. Bloody Kiwis, they come and they never leave. (Just kidding!) I know because i am one! i never leave a party before the last person (past tense that) but I did "stopover" with my boyfriend at his flat for two nights and 20 years later i'm still there.

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