If Carlsberg made blogs.....

This would probably be the best one of the year.

So we have been North- and returned.... not without the usual drama though.

I was ill on the day that we went up there (23rd December) and spent the whole 6.5 hour journey thinking that I may not even make it all of the way. I went to bed at 6:00 pm (pretty much as soon as we arrived) and did not get up for 16 hours!! That means that it was officially NOT man flu. On the plus side, I have discovered Night- Nurse (it's a medicine,) meaning that I will never struggle to sleep again.

I was too ill on Christmas eve to go and see the Snowman at the Sage in Gateshead, Elaine's Gran was a guest of the NHS, and so her seat was also n0t used. It sounds like we both had a close call as Tim walked out at the interval and would not retake his seat- I am not sure if it was to do with 'Artistic Differences' with the director, or just the start of his troublesome behaviour which is still plaguing us tonight?

Christmas day was great- I felt OK, Elaine was OK, and we managed to keep a lid on Tim's behaviour for most of the day. Elaine's gran was given a pass out for a couple of days, and we all received numerous great presents- Thank you to those people who are reading this and sent gifts. William and Kathrine now owe Stan and Jo a new patio door (having bought Tim as baseball!)

Mom swept to new levels of inexplicable gifts, when she gave me a toilet seat..... I have yet to understand.

Roy and Sian scored a winner with their PlayStation Karaoke game- already played and enjoyed in Sunderland. It actually listens to what you sing and provides critique- like the words 'Tone Deaf.'

We gave Tim a Karaoke tape player and 6 hours of Monkey Music tapes.............. we are more stupid than we look!

Katie got her first dolls pram and was very pleased- she uses it a bit like a wheelbarrow, to carry around whatever she picks up, which is often rubbish and food crumbs.

I was sadly too ill for the boxing day dip, but Roy still went ahead- dressed in a loud shirt and Tim's new policeman's outfit. We saw a few too many Borat look alikes showing almost all of their flesh, otherwise it was an entertaining morning.

Roy and Sian decided to bring their new daughter Evie up with them- apparently they thought that 9 weeks is too young to be home alone! She was officially declared by many as 'Nee bothaa leek'

We drove back yesterday, and now Elaine is coming down with what I had.... her mother also has it.

The wife

I am feeling in need of company. What a sign of the times that I turn to the blog!

Ben is out having a chinese meal with work colleagues tonight. I am backwards and forwards upstairs to poor Katie who keeps waking up because she can't breathe properly. She is on antibiotics for her chest and has some eyedrops too.

Today we went on a pre-school trip to the pantomime in Ayesbury. Not to be recommended. Poor Paul Daniels and the dreadful Debbie Magee have hit an all time low in their career. Debbie Magee seemed to have pinched all the high pitched singing roles, and it was just excrutiating. But Tim and Curtis seemed to enjoy it, although Tim was a bit scared to go to bed tonight in case Peter Pan and Tinkerbell turn up in his bedroom.

We are going back to Waddesdon tomorrow to see the aquarium on the stairs, all being well with KP.

We visited our German neighbours across the road last night. They have built some kind of Christmas model village which takes up half their lounge (literally), all fashioned with mock snow and streets and hills. There is an ice-rink with skaters, a train, a big wheel and a carousel. We thought Tim would love it but he was very non-plussed.

The snow in Boulder looks amazing. Check out Big Williams world if you haven't seen it already.

Family Antics

I have been away on a course- not for the whole time since my last post, but a fair bit of it. This means that I have eaten too much bad food, and that Elaine is fed up with me being away. I did try to cheer her up by pilfering my own body weight in mini mars bars from the snack area in the conference centre that the course was held in.

The course was the second bit of my project management course..... I have now done 7 days, but have 3 left to do. I cannot believe that there is anything else to learn about the subject, it's all quite obvious, you just need to use acronyms at all times, and have a "breakdown structure" for anything that you have ever dreamed of.

Now riddle me this!

We had a family picture sitting on Sunday- highly recommended for those who suffer from low blood-pressure- it is a sure fire way of getting it back up again.

We could not find a white sandy beach and a golden sunset, but did get some good shots this time!

Now this is a real treat- a cut out and make.... cardboard stormtrooper!!! Will somebody actually make this one I wonder?

In other news, we have managed to drop our video camera- just 2 days before Tim's first ever Nativity play. It still plays back, but just makes films of "Bicester in the dark." I have taken the back off and it didn't make things any better- nor any worse which was amazing!