2nd March 2016

**This post may be a little ranty. Well, it's my blog, damn it, and therefore I shall do with it whatever I like!**

So here we are in March already. How time flies!

Except for me, it doesn't.

You might recall my little revelation in the last installation of this blog, back in October when I admitted to the world (which isn't massive...my readership is limited) that I was expecting a bambino!

We were given a due date of 26th February 2016. Back in August when we were given that date at our 12 week scan, it was an age away. To see it come and go...and then a few days after go as well (including leap day, which is a bit of a shame - that could have been fun. Probably not for the kid, I guess) it's a PAIN. Literally.

I am now 40 weeks + 5 days. Yes, 5 whole days. Which doesn't sound a lot and in normal day to day life it's not. When you've been preparing for something and are given a date to work towards, only for that not to happen...it's a bloody long time.

Plus I am getting loads of messages from people asking if I have had the baby yet and when I say no, I get the 'try this' or 'why not' messages back. I'M TRYING! I DON'T KNOW WHY I HAVEN'T HAD THE BABY YET. BABY DOES NOT WANT TO COME! I know people are just excited for us but it feels like we're being judged and doing it wrong because it's not here yet. I have no control over it, soz. All the usual methods of trying to encourage the baby to come have been tried. I won't list them here but you know what they are. Spicy food is the most commonly suggested one. We eat spicy food all the time. Was never going to be the winner!

Anyway.

I finished work when I was 36 weeks pregnant which was also right at the end of January. Perfect. That would give me 4 weeks with which to get everything sorted for the baby and have some time to relax.

I should have worked longer. I'm so bored.

Granted, I couldn't really work longer as I have developed carpal tunnel syndrome with my pregnancy which means my hands are in agony pretty much every single day and typing is a mare. Yes, it is actually paining me to write this post. You're lucky people.

I do get to wear these gorgeous accessories to bed every night though.

My gauntlets. So attractive. It's supposed to help ease the pain. It doesn't. Plus they're attached with velcro straps. Yeah - when you have carpal tunnel, your fingers hurt, go pins and needles-y and sometimes you lose your grip. So getting them off of a morning...not easy in any way.

Grr.

I have done as much nesting as I can. There's more I could do but all my enthusiasm has gone out of the window because I have no idea how long I'll have before baby comes! I might still have AGES to need things to do!

So yes, this baby, whomever it is, does not want to come and meet you, world. Are you offended? I am! My midwife says to consider it a compliment. That it's so happy and comfortable where it is, it doesn't want to go anywhere. I'll just take it's really expensive crib back to the shop then, shall I?

Sorry. That episode of Friends where Rachel is really cranky because she is overdue...it's true. I am Rachel.

ANYWAY. That's me. Grumpy McGrumperson.

So while I sit here in bed, because walking is painful because I have a fully grown baby in my belly that isn't coming out and it weighs quite a lot, I may as well see if I can catch you up on what's been happening since I last wrote.

Not a lot. I'm pregnant and therefore fun things (to me) aren't fun any more.

The end of last year brought lots of annual leave for me. Which I needn't have taken but they only told me that after I booked it all off and made plans.

The office was supposed to be moving from around the corner from here to a place in town. That didn't happen. No idea why. It was also supposed to happen whilst I was on annual leave. At least I didn't miss that, I guess. Although if it does happen now, I'll be on maternity leave. I don't think I was ever meant to be involved in the moving process!

We saved a hedgehog from suffocation. It had buried itself in a load of plastic sheeting and we weren't comfortable with it, so we put it in a box with some cat food, water and blankets. We don't have a garden so didn't want to leave it to roam the alleyways by us, with the rats and broken glass. We called the vets and they asked us to weigh him to see if he would survive winter on his own. He was on the border of the safe weight so we made the decision to keep him overnight.

Yeah, after emptying his bowels everywhere, he did a runner in the night and we never saw him again. Ungrateful so and so.

November was also Paul's birthday, so we went for a few lemonades (me) and beers (him) and a slap up Jamaican meal. Curry goat and rice and pea with dumplings. Delish.

We also decorated the spare room, ready for our little Puddin. Ha. Why did we rush? Sorry. I'll snap out of that.

You know me, I love decorating. This room hadn't been done since I bought the house (which completed on the 26th February 2008...why is that date such a big deal in my life?!) except for a bit of wallpaper and a few shelves. It needed a lot of TLC which we gave it. It still took FOREVER to do though. The walls were dreadful and unevenly plastered so we had to sand EVERYTHING. The paint had chipped on all the skirting revealing that previous owners had painted the whole room bright blue. Bright royal blue. Which required a LOT of primer and gloss to cover. Still probably needs another coat. Which I would do if I could hold a paint brush. But carpal tunnel means I can't.

I love being pregnant, can you tell?! ;)

We chose a shade of pale yellow, after I got obsessed with neutral paint swatches and had about 50 on the wall to choose from. It's a sickness. We both looked at them in different lights at different times of the day and narrowed it down to the yellow or a pale green. I did like the green but it was colder than the yellow.

It took 3 coats of the premium paint to get even coverage. I'd expect that with cheaper paint but not the quality stuff! Never mind, it got done and we're pleased with it. It's just the wood and metal work that needs some extra love but quite frankly I don't think the baby is going to care, somehow.



This is a before pic. Sort of. You can see where I've attacked the cracks etc with the filler!



Paul and sander trying to get rid of the blue under the white and pretty much failing miserably!



This is the best we could do without using paint stripper, which I can't use because oh, I'm pregnant.



A sort-of after shot. This is in bright sunshine with a clean carpet! It is nice and pale in real life, honest!

We also bought some stickers to decorate the walls so it felt a bit more like a baby's room. We can easily remove them and transfer them wherever we want and we're really pleased with them. Here's a sneak peek!

It's so tempting to put googly eyes on all the animals. It almost looks as though we have aready!

Just so you get an idea of scale:

There's a rather dishevelled Paul. Who is 6'3" tall.

So synthetic light makes it look REALLY yellow in there. Ah well, yellow is my favourite colour so I don't mind!

We have very kindly been given a cot bed by one of Paul's colleagues so that has also gone up in there.

The cats have claimed it. Along with the car seat and the pram carrycot which are being stored in the cotbed. We have had to cover everything with towels and cat beds to protect them!

Hmmm. What else...?

We went to visit Ted to pass all Christmas presents on to the family in the Midlands. He got to (sort of) meet his little cousin!



Patting my belly and saying 'baby' is just the cutest thing ever. Fact. Although he now calls me Caiyine and that is also pretty darn cute! He turned 2 yesterday! How can that be?!

What else...?

Oh yes. We had our baby classes! We paid to join a local group to meet other people who have babies due at a similar time to ourselves. They were good. We got to learn things and socialise. Plus Paul got to pretend to be a Daddy to a little one...although he may be demanding a DNA test in the near future...

We named him 'Smash' after a character in 'Friday Night Lights' which we binge watched.

What else?

Paul got a new company car. A shiny red one. I am a non-driving female. I know nothing about cars. It's shiny and red and goes brum. That's about it!

That's about it really. Everything has been about preparing ourselves for our little one's arrival. And we're still waiting.

There were 7 other couples in our baby classes. One couple didn't complete the sessions but we know they have had a little boy. The other 6 couples have also all had their babies. 1 boy and 5 girls.

Does this make my gut feeling that we're having a boy any stronger? Yes. I have thought we'd have a boy since pre-conception and that opinion hasn't changed. I am drawn to boy clothes and toys. I don't know whether that's because I'm used to looking for Ted or general instinct.

Now, to the cats!

Do they know I'm pregnant and things are going on with their Mummy? I really think so. I have to contend with this:

Unflattering bump shot!

Yes, it's a dirty rotten job. Maia loves bump. Bump loves Maia. They kick each other. It's cute. Except when it gets painful. Maia has some sharp claws on her back paws.

I was also extremely privileged this last Sunday when I was feeling sleepy and a bit sorry for myself.

 

I GOT A BARNEY CUDDLE!

An actual 'he came to me and wasn't forced into it' cuddle from a Barnacle! He was purring too!

Paul was upstairs (I take up a lot of room so no space for him on the sofa) and I had to send him a Facebook message from my ipod to come and have a look for himself. Couldn't reach my phone to text him and he couldn't hear me shout - the football was on.

It's a dear diary moment! He has been a little bit clingy recently. Cats are very perceptive, it seems. I have no idea what they are going to make of Junior if when (s)he eventually quits being a lazy bum and decides to be born. Maia is 10. I have had her for 9 1/2 of those years. She's Mummy's girl. Barn is Daddy's boy but apparently loves his Mama a little at the minute.

So I guess we shall see. I'm a bit worried - I'm not going to lie. They're used to being our babies but then having an actual baby who needs all our attention may put their noses out of joint. Maia will be terrified, of course, but Barn...jury is out.

And that's that.

Except for one last thing. Because I couldn't leave you all without a proper 'bumpie' showing how pregnant I am, could I?! Yes, there's a bump in the pic up there but that makes it look like I have a monster of a belly and that was a few weeks ago...oh...yeah...I DO have a monster of a belly!

Make up free and fake smile. You're just lucky I brushed my hair! The postman didn't get the same luck this afternoon! This pic was taken especially for this post as I typed. You're welcome.

For comparison's sake - he's the last pic I gave you at about 20 weeks pregnant. A whole half-pregnancy ago!

OH LOL! I felt massive there as well! HAHAHAHAHA PAST CAROLINE. Little did you know!

The one teeny tiny consolation I have is that if you look at me from behind (which I encourage, by the way), I don't look pregnant! I'm all bump and all up front. I've not really put any weight on as such (except in the belly and the udders) so hoping I won't need a whole new wardrobe after this child decides to grace us with it's presence!

I'm just grumpy because I'm impatient to meet our baby. Paul and I are so ready to get to know the little person that likes to dance at silly o'clock in the morning! We want to know if it's Phoebe or Phoebo!

What do you guys think? Girl or boy? Tiny baby or chunky monkey? WILL IT EVER ARRIVE?!

Feel free to comment with any guesses. And name suggestions. We're still on the market! My colleagues were suggesting loads of boy names before I left and all I kept thinking was 'great cat name'. Doesn't help with the baby thing!

I will post again after baby is here. No idea when. I'm sure there will be a social media announcement. Probably made by someone else, not by us, completely stepping on our toes to tell the world that our baby has come before we are ready to tell the world. Not that it's a pet hate of mine or anything...

Borrowed from the Kicks Count Facebook page. 

So to sum up - due dates are a load of rubbish that should be taken with a pinch of salt and should be renamed as guestimate date because only 5% of babies actually arrive on their due date which should therefore indicate THAT IT IS WRONG. Pregnancy makes you no fun and extra grumpy towards the end, except when you're all nesty, which is actually kinda fun and please let us tell the world we've had a baby - if you want to congratulate us, do it via direct messaging or text. Yeah.

Sort it out, science.

Y'all have missed me, haven't you?!

Catch you on the flip side, when I'll be a Mummy! Unless this baby never comes and I feel the need to rant again...

17th October 2014 - Dislike

Friday morning! Whoop!

Friday in the office is typically awful. It is hands down my busiest day of the week, as I have probably mentioned before.

So imagine my delight to find 11 new cases on my desk with a note saying that I HAD to speak to ALL of the clients today. Yeah. Way to put me a cracking mood on a Friday pre 9am. 

I was very fortunate that some of our associate staff came in today and said that they would call the clients for me as they knew that I was busy and they weren't! I am so lucky that they are lovely!

I was getting on with my day when I got a text from my Mum. My brother had been take to the hospital with ridiculously high blood pressure. Um...that's not good.

So, as you can imagine, I found it quite hard to concentrate for the rest of the day.

I did manage to sort myself a hair appointment for after work, which is an achievement. Especially as I haven't had a hair cut since...February, I think? Bad Caroline.

I spoke with Mum at lunch and got the details on my brother. Not good. He was awaiting test after test to see if they can find out what it was. They thought there could be problems with his kidneys but they need to do more tests etc etc. Not good. :(

I managed to get through the rest of the day, very distracted. I got home and had 30 minutes to kill before my hair appt. I gave up and went early. I think I'd rather sit there than in my quiet house. Luckily my new hairdresser was available straight away so I got started early! Yay!

I've never had a chap cut my hair before but he was lovely and there was no awkward small talk like there normally is. I HATE small talk. He was genuinely interesting to talk to!

Sadly I got a really sore head while I was there. It was banging by the time he had finished with the hairdryer, getting my hair lovely and smooth and straight! I wish I could get it looking that nice!

I got home and told Paul all about the day and my brother. We had dinner (the rest of the chilli!) and watched some tv. My head was sore and I wasn't in the best mood.

We tried to cheer me up by being a bit goofy with Barney.

Yeah. He wasn't impressed. I think we're pretty though!

I them looked in the mirror and realised that my lovely, choppy, sleek and smooth hair cut had become a thing from the 90s.

I have a 'Rachel'. Again. Like I got in 1995 or whenever it was. Grr.

Ok, I never really had a 'Rachel', it's just what people called it when I got layers and my hair decided to go big! But still...this is the only hairstyle I can have?! Stupid volume. People pay so much money to get more volume and I get it in abundance! Take some if you want it! Please!

We watched tv but I really wasn't in a very good mood with all the migraine so I decided to take myself off to bed.

Hopefully news on my bro would be better in the morning as they were keeping him in overnight. :(

PREVIOUSLY...

No posts...oops.

2nd September 2014 - No.

We got up and went to the gym. I'm not even joking! We totally worked out!

That means today will be a good day, right?!

Wrong.

Today was awful. Really really really really awful.

So I'm not going to talk about it.

I came home from my awful day and finished the ironing, being careful not to injure myself again.

When Paul came in, he comforted me after my awful day and brought me a gin and tonic which I pretty much necked straight down.

We watched some Community as I needed something light hearted to make me smile (which it sort of did) and then went to bed. I was knackered as being very upset can do that to you.

Sorry it's a crap post but I really don't want to remember today.

PREVIOUSLY...

2013

9th April 2014 - CAGGA SMASH. Literally.

Just thinking of writing about today makes my heart sink. What a flippin' awful day.

It started ok - it's later get up Wednesday, so I had a little lie in, but Paul got up with the birds I think! He had an exam so actually left for work just as I was going to get into the shower!

Then to work. I took with me a special little delivery which arrived yesterday (but was saving for today as this post will need a bit of happiness and joy!).

A card with a picture of my gorgeous little nephew on it! It now resides on my notice board at work to make me smile when the day goes squiffy. But TeddyBear couldn't even rescue today. :(

I probably shouldn't go into detail about why my day went wrong because this is a public blog and it's work related. Let's just say that someone whom I work with in the fairly big company, not our office, came across as being lazy and expected me to do work for them. It was to do with information which I had already provided to said person...let's think of a name for them...LAA (Lazy and Annoying). Laa had done a bit of corresponding, but then basically left it up to me to do the rest, even though I knew nothing more than what I had already informed them. Laa told me to answer points brought up by another company, which I already had. Why Laa couldn't do it with what I had told them is beyond me.

I was getting angrier and angrier, which was actually giving me chest pain. I have a lot of work at the moment and doing someone else's work because they're too lazy to do it themselves drives me scatty. It was so bad I took myself home for lunch.

What a mistake.

I called Paul when I left the office to see how his exam went. He's confident! YAY! I ranted at him and he was lovely and listened to me! After our conversation, I was home and had to find something for my lunch. I decided to make myself some scrambled eggs in the microwave, so as I was preparing the same, I got a text from my Mum with some good news (for them) so I thought 'I'll call her'. Propping the phone under my chin, I carried on making my eggs and chatting away.

Then I dropped my phone.

Mum was still there so we carried on talking. It was only when I came to hang up that I realised I couldn't see anything on the screen. So I had to take off the battery to end the call!

When I switched it back on again, I heard all the pretty ditties it plays when it starts up, but couldn't see anything. Nothing but a crack at the top of the screen.

SH!T.

Taken from Tumblr

 Needless to say I was rather miffed by this. I got back to work a bit of a mess and called up my phone company who basically told me 'oh no, sucks to be you' and that there was nothing they could do as I wasn't insured by them. Gee, thanks.

Basically my only option was to take it into a shop to get the screen replaced. I made a couple of calls. The cheapest quote I got was £150(!!!!!!!!!!!!). Yeah.

So I got the phone locked in case the place I took it was dodgy, but this meant getting a new sim card sent out. So I had no sim to be able to put into another phone either.

I wasn't thinking straight. Mostly because LAA flippin emailed me again. I reacted badly, and told them "I don't know what you're asking, I've already told you what I know and I'm having a really bad day so going around in circles isn't helping."

To which Laa replied, telling me pretty much exactly what was in the last email but broken into smaller paragraphs.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

A decent excuse for Oliver Queen! Taken from a Gif Party on Io9.

Yep - I wanted to flip the desk.

I tried to calm down and did what was asked of me. I think. I emailed the other company directly with what I thought were the answers.

I got a reasonable and very kind response.

WHY COULDN'T LAA DO IT IN THE FIRST PLACE? WHY GET ME INVOLVED?! I didn't say anything that I hadn't already told Laa. URGH.

So I was VERY angry and upset for the whole afternoon. My productivity pretty much went down to nothing. Which is not good.

After work, I grumped to the train station (train was slightly delayed... extra grumpy) and grumped my way from the station to the phone shop where I got the phone in September to see if they could help me.

Well, the guy in there was actually ace. Chris at EE in Liverpool One, you deserve a gold star in my book. Couldn't do enough to help me! He even said it will cost too much to repair the phone through their shop and recommended a place in Warrington to get it fixed! GO CHRIS!

From there, I went to meet Paul and in turn meet Chris and Ceri at Nand0s. Yes, real Nand0s! We had a quick dinner there (which was nice, but Paul's fake Nand0s is better!) before heading to the cinema. Tonight it is time.

Winter Soldier time! :) *there would be a ticket or screen picture here but you know...broken phone...*grump*

It was good! Lots of explosions, plot twists and WTF moments! Who's good? Who's bad? Who knows? The only thing I know is that Captain America is not unpleasant to look at. That's all I'm saying. :)

After the film, we headed to the car park next to the cinema. As we exited, I saw a big red boat with my name on it! I was all excited! PAUL GOT A BOAT!

Yeah, no. It was the Radio Caroline boat though! WHOOP! The boat that held the pirate radio station which I was named after!

I couldn't get a photo, because broken phone but I borrowed one. Sadly of the wrong side. Can't find one the other way. Urgh.

Taken from The Liverpool Echo

Although a boat that says 'Caroline' on one side and 'Bar' on the other side...could be my boat, right?

We headed home and pretty much went straight to bed as we were both exhausted.

Could we sleep? Could we heck!

*So please note, while my phone is broken, taking pictures is going to be interesting. I may not have one for the next few days unless I can get my real camera working. Ha! Using something for it's actual function! That's a funny joke! Worrying that my phone has a better lens than my camera. 10 mega pixels is so 2008...or whenever it was that I got it...

Maybe I'll draw you my picture of the day?...eek!*

Hulk? Smash. From Tumblr.

PREVIOUSLY...

2012
2013 - only upon writing this post do I discover last year's post. You will probably 'HA' as loud as I did. Can't quite believe it, to be honest!

29/12/2013 - Feeling sorry for myself.

I'm still poorly sick.

Had a bad night's sleep as my stomach was like a cement mixer and I couldn't get comfortable at all. Now I'm sure that some of it is from the massive meals that we had for our dinner, but as that was Tuesday and Wednesday and it's now Sunday, there must be something else going on here.

Nausea is not fun.

Needless to say, the best place for me was bed, so that's where I stayed all day. I rarely got up at all. I'd usually make a joke about how lazy I am, but as I couldn't get comfortable in bed so was fidgeting a LOT, I don't think I'd have been comfortable anywhere else in the house!

How like my father I am sometimes! He gets stomach bugs by just looking at something the wrong way.

I sat and played sims for a while, like I do, cuddled with Maia for a while, like I do, and read some of The Hobbit. Because it's been a while!

Paul played on SimCity for a while, because if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! He realised he needed to pop to the shops to get a few more bits and bobs so headed out after we lost a few hours immersed in our various pixelated games!

He was nice and came back with some medicine for me.

Gently relieves? More like tastes so much like soap that a few hours later I throw up again?!

It probably wasn't helped by the fact that I went down to speak to Paul and I saw him cooking our 'leftovers pie' which I was so excited about. Because who doesn't love turkey, ham and leek pie?

I have a big sad face right now.

It's not like the smell of it could affect me at all, because I can't smell! It really was just the sight of the food that made me go! Stupid poorly stomach.

Oh, while I remember, check out Paul's Christmas present from his mum!

Bright red shiny frying pan! :)

I gave up and went back to bed. Paul was kind enough to do any eating downstairs, and he brought me a slice of bread to keep me going and to see if I could keep it down. I could! Success! There's only so far that water can get you!

I was starting to flag, after the bad sleep, so sat and stared at 'Honest Movie Trailers' on YouTube. If you haven't seen them then I urge you do. They really do make me giggle. Not as much as the 'Bad Lip-synching' ones but they do amuse!

I then gave up, shut the laptop down and tried to get some sleep. Fingers crossed for me...

Nope. After an hour, I was retching again. It's going to be a long night...

24/05/2013 - RIP Boutr0s

Guys, today started badly.

I slept for about 4 hours. I woke up at stupid o'clock because the baby next door WOULD NOT STOP SCREAMING. Seriously. I don't blame the baby. He's a baby. But he was screaming for over an hour.

I understand that when you're a parent, you can't go to your child every time it cries. I know that. I also understand the whole thing about letting it learn to sleep in a room by itself. HOWEVER, an hour of screaming?! This wasn't attention-seeking screaming, this was genuine DO SOMETHING screaming. You know what they did? They put on the AWFUL CD that they always play. Granted, not at the volume that it's usually on during the day, but that's what they did to stop the baby crying. Spoiler. It didn't work.

After an hour of me huffing and puffing and generally being really p***ed off, I remembered my secret weapon: ear plugs. In they went and back off to sleep I went.

Until 3.30am when Barney decided it was a perfectly acceptable hour to stomp all over me asking for attention. I gave him a tickle - he purred and curled up next to my head. Until I stopped tickling him as I fell back asleep, where he started stomping again, then jumping onto the side and knocking bits and bobs onto the floor. With a dramatic exclamation of "Mummy can't do this, Barney! She just can't!" (yes, I refer to myself in the third person), I got up and went to give them more biscuits. Anything to get them to let me sleep!

It worked. I got to go back to sleep. Until 5.40am when the alarm went off for us to get up and go to the gym.

I didn't want to go. But we went anyway. I did some weights. It was tough.

I came home and showered. As I was getting ready for work, I got a text from my Mum to relay the devastating news that my fishy, Boutr0s-Boutr0s, had passed away in the night.

WAAAA!

I have mentioned Boutr0s-Boutr0s before, but for those of you who have not been paying attention, I have had him for over 10 years. Probably more like 11! Granted, Mum has had custody of him for the whole of that time, but he was my fishy. He was a pink kissing gourami and had been a lone-fish for some time. His tank-mate, Ghali, passed away a little time ago.

I can't remember why we decided to name them after an Egyptian politician, but that was his name.

The last ever pic taken of Boutr0s-Boutr0s, taken on 10th May 2013.

Rest in Peace, Boutr0s-Boutr0s. I missed you anyway, but Mummy Hartley will miss you the most. She won't miss how much you cost her over the years, but that empty tank won't be nice for her. :(

On that sad note I went to work and lamented my loss to my colleagues, who thought it was really funny. Meanies.

After work, we debated going to a yoga class, but as a full box of envelopes had just fallen on my head in the office, making me go a little dizzy, we decided to just go home.

I can't remember if I tweeted the picture of the cat grass I started growing last week. This is it now!

 It has come along a treat!

Speaking of treats; as the kitties get one, I feel like we deserve one as well!

This chocolate has been getting a lot of press recently. It's completely Marmite (either love it or hate it) according to the people I know who have tried it.

My verdict: I really don't know! The jelly bits are also popping candy which is the stuff that crackles in the back of your mouth when you eat it.

I can't decide if it's fun or just plain annoying. I only ate the above. Will have to try some more just to see!

Absolutely exhausted, I managed to watch this week's 'Revolution' and then headed to bed. Pretty sure I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.

Today's #FitTeam13 #PhotoFitChallenge: Weights or Body Weights.

I did weights at the gym this morning. I didn't take a picture. Nobody needs to see that. Plus it's a bit weird taking photos at the gym! Instead, I got Paul to take this one of me doing dips at home.

Ignore the crazy amounts of dust on the side of my trousers. Pretend I meant for that to be there...

07/04/2013 - A little perspective

Today's post is going to be a little different. I don't apologise.

This morning I found out that on Friday night a lad I went to school with has died. I don't know details, nor will I ask but the news has come at somewhat of a shock to all of us who went to school together, plus countless others who had met Carl.

The fact is that he was 30. That's nothing. He was married to Fay, whom he met at school and had two young children. It is just so cruel that someone so young has been taken away from his family, just as it is beginning.

This is Carl on the last day of school before our A Level exams. He was 18 here. The boys dressed up in female school uniform, just so you know. It wasn't a regular thing. At least not as I recall!

This was taken at our Sixth Form Ball. Only a few months after the other.

I don't have any sensible pictures of Carl. Except maybe our Year 11 photograph as a class but it's really not a great picture as a whole. I guess that probably says something about the type of chap that Carl was. Always having a good time.

I was never a great friend of his, nor did I really keep in touch after school, but social networking etc keeps certain connections alive. You can see family lives and how people's lives change and grow. I was 11 when I first met Carl. He was in my form for 5 years. During those awkward phases when girls really don't like boys. And then when girls start to quite like boys after all!

I can't write a lot about what he was like after the age of 18 as I don't know. He was a great friend to people that I am still friends with. A caring husband and a loving father.

The news took me by surprise as previously stated. It has shocked me to the core. It's a reminder that things like this can happen to anyone at any time. I know it's not the way to think, but it really puts things into perspective in my own life. I complain about work all the time. We're not going through a great time in our lives at present for a few reasons I won't go into here. Yet we're happy and healthy. We're planning our wedding and the rest of our lives together. I really can't complain any more as we don't have it as bad as some.

I should leave this post here as it's very sombre and not my usual tone. One thing I will be taking from today is that I will tell the people that mean a lot to me exactly that. I know it's not the way to live your life, fearing what is around the corner, but telling loved ones that you care about them is important any day. There is never any harm in making sure that they know that. Telling them one more time is no bad thing.

Sleeping Maia. Just so there is some happiness in this post.

06/03/2013 - Humph

I'm not really going to post today. Today has been a bad day. I won't tell you the details but today pretty much is the suckiest day of the year so far. In fact, it's been one of the suckiest days of the past few years.

That's how bad it has been.

In work, I was incredibly busy. Y'all remember my epic 418% from January. Well, I topped that.

That right there...yep... 511.7%. 60 units...PAH! I laugh in the face of 60 units.

So yeah. That's all you get I'm afraid.

Cancelled #Whedonsday due to the above mentioned suckiness. So I don't even have any of that bonanza to share with you.

Sorry.