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Welcome home (part 2)

You're like me Kiera, you had a whole family already waiting for you. One day I'm sure you'll understand how lucky that makes you. But for right now it just means you have more people to love you than you could hope for.

And what's not to love about you? You are crazy beautiful. Sure, you slept most of this first time we met, but I could still tell that about you. I think it was the elegant, long fingers you have. And your gorgeous eyelashes. You’re a bundle of perfect.

I hope you never doubt your beauty and your perfection, Kiera.

You get to be a little sister. This is great! I know this, because I too am a little sister. Let me tell you, this job is pretty special, and although it might not seem like it at times, having an older brother is brilliant! 

You’ll get to play with him. This is usually more fun than playing by yourself. Your big brother will have lots of good ideas to make playing more fun. Like how my big brother invented water races. We’ll teach you and John how to play it, but maybe in Nanna and Pops’ house. Just a word of warning though, if he suggests that you and he go ahead and dig a swimming pool in the back garden, this will not go down well with Mummy and Daddy. 

You'll get to ride your bikes together. You’ll play with his friends and you won’t let the fact they are boys stop you. You'll spend time with Dad and John when they're out in the garage working on projects. You two will be silly together and you'll make each other laugh until you are ready to explode. But be a good sister. Don't blame him for things he didn't do. Say like, if you cut your My Little Pony's hair off, don't blame it on him. He'll get shouted at and you'll feel terrible.

I hope your brother is the coolest, funniest person you know, Kiera.

And you are a daughter! The older you get, the more this will mean to you, because you’ll get to discover just how, in big ways and small ways, you are just like your mum and dad.

Mummies are wonderful. She’ll be able to teach you how to make coconut kisses, paint a picture or write in bubble writing. Learn from her creativity. Your mum will teach you to try new things, not be scared but to believe in yourself.

When she gets dressed up to go out somewhere special, you’ll know she’s going to be the prettiest person there. In fact, you’ll think she’s the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen, because she is. You’ll get to clip clop around in her shoes and be just like her.

But mums are clever too. She’ll probably be the first person you turn to when you need help. She’ll know the right words to say. Listen to her, she will know you best.

I hope your mum is your role model, Kiera.

Daddies are great too. He'll know just what to do in any situation. He'll know how to make anything and fix anything. You should spend time just talking to him because you’ll get to really know him and you’ll discover how smart he is.

He loves you so much that even when you mess up, he is still going to give you a big tight Daddy hug and tell you it’s ok. Like how my dad did when I was out on my first driving lesson with him and I hit and drove over a concrete bollard because I yet to master braking.

You’ll be excited for when he comes home from work because you’ll know it means you’re going to get spun around and around in a way that only daddies can do.

I hope your dad is your hero, Kiera.

This is your home, this is where you'll feel more love than you could hope for.

Welcome home Kiera, welcome home.

Welcome home

Well done Kiera! You made it! I am so excited you're here, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one!



[I'll write more tomorrow when I get to meet her. Eeeeee!]

Doctor, doctor

I went to the doctor's the other day. I know, normally a blog isn't the sort of place to share your doctors' visits, but this one was definitely blog worthy so why not.

Right, so you know about my sore knee when I cycle. Well last week I went swimming and it was sore after swimming. Even I know, with my lack of any medical qualifications whatsoever, that swimming is one of the 'best' sports to do when you're injured (gosh, I nearly sound like an athlete). So I made myself an appointment. Of course, being an 'on the day appointment' they can't tell you who it's with until you show up.

When I checked I forgot to ask who I was seeing, but as I know a few doctors that do locum work I thought I should embarrass myself and go back up and ask. You know, to be forewarned is to be forearmed and all that. When she told me the name I was glad it was not the same as the three doctors I had been thinking of.

"Wait, Dr. Jones*? Not Dr. Jimmy Jones* that helps with >insert certain Methodist event here< ?'" I thought to myself. I don't know him that well so he hadn't been on my radar of possible doctors.

I immediately discounted the thought.
"Nah, there has to be a million Dr. Joneses in NI", for he has quite a common name.

But as I sat on in the waiting room I thought to myself  "Oh well, at least if it was that Dr. Jones*, I was only going about my knee". There is an endless list of potentially embarrassing ailments I could be going about. I genuinely think if that had been the case I would have lied when I got in there and it was him. Isn't that awful?!

Anyway, you don't need to be a genius to know where this story is going. Yes, that's right, when I walked into the room who was staring back at me but Dr. Jimmy Jones*.

We had a good laugh about it and what not and I explained about my knee and what made it sore. He asked me some questions and then said he needed to see it. This should have been obvious to me and yet it was only as he said the words I remembered my grave error. In a bid to be quick in the shower I had forgone shaving my legs.

Oh. Die.

I like to think we got over that awkward hurdle without too much embarrassment. Well, I imagine he's seen worse and after a few squeezey and pressure tests (no really, I have no medical qualifications) he said I would have to go for an x-ray. As he filled out the form that I would need we continued to chat about that certain Methodist event and his upcoming holiday. But this is the best part. During this time he asked me no questions relating to the form. Nada. Zippo.

It was only when I got home I realised he ticked this box. Of his very own accord.

I'd like to state right here, right now that I am most definitely not pregnant. But that's not the point, I could have been.

So maybe he wasn't the only one embarrassed. Or maybe he made a judgement call based on the state of my legs.

Yeah, ok, fair enough. Probably that second one.



*His name has been changed. Doctor-patient confidentially goes both ways. I think.

The Young Ones

If you haven't seen this TV programme you really should. It was on tonight and last night, and the last part is tomorrow. It follows what happens when a group of elderly celebrities go back to a time when they were in their prime, 1975. They live together in a house decked out in 1975, eat food they would have eaten 1975 and do activities they did in 1975. The scientific theory (yes actually a Harvard study was done) is that if they go back to a time when they could do everything then, even though they are 35 years older, they will think themselves young again and surprise themselves with the things they thought they weren't able to do.

In the programme you see them able to do things they thought they couldn't, and you see them come alive again when they are tasked with doing something they love. So we see Lionel Blair at the London Pallendium, Dickie Bird at Lord's and Liz Smith painting. The effect it has on them is amazing. In tonight's programme, a group of carers were brought in and it was fascinating to see how they reacted to them. (You can see the final programme BBC1 Thursday 16th September at 9.00pm. And all three on the iPlayer here.)

A lot of what they show and suggest for ways of keeping a 'youthful spirit' are things my grandpa would have done. He cut the grass until he was in his 90s which kept him active, he looked after our cat Dusty who gave him companionship, and more or less til the end he was in charge of what he ate because he went shopping at Tesco, which kept him in charge of decisions.

It's an interesting programme for me though in more ways than this though. I thought I might have been having some sort of mid-life crisis. Why? Well this is why.





















Karen Marathon said I was like a roller skating ninja. I like that description.

See, it's not a crisis to go back to the late 1980s and have roller boots again. Oh no, I'm just going back to a time when I could roller skate to see if I still can. I can and it's super fun!

The truth is Lynsey and Caroline got a pair each and I was not hard to convince into getting some too. Turns out there's loads of places you can get them online nowadays. Who knew?! Lynsey and I went out again on Sunday morning along the sea front. Honestly, you would have thought we were in Santa Monica. The sun was shining, we were right by the sea and we had our sunglasses on. Hollywood! All that was missing was the Bodyform dog. Might get one of those too. Well that study did say it's good to have companionship.

Plus the girl in those ads had a really good speed built up with the dog pulling her.

Happy five years

Today is my blogging anniversary, my blogiversary if you will. Much like Josh and Donna in The West Wing, I have an earlier blogiversary but I chose to celebrate this one. As five years ago today I wrote my first post on here (that actually stayed). There have been highs and lows since (I think I'm definitely in a blogging low right now) but I didn't want this to pass without it being noted. My life is so different now compared to then. And yet so strangely the same. And on here I have a record of most, ok, some of it.

Happy birthday Tina the Princess. You could start school now, if, you know, you were a real person and not a blog.