Well, last week I said I'd given my notice at work, and this week I've had my exit interview and had a farewell in the end of term meeting, so that's nice. The interview was good - it gave me a chance to say what I think is wrong and what needs fixing in the hope that the things that bug me get sorted to some degree, ready for the next guy. The farewell was nice enough, though some people were somewhat perplexed when they misheard me and thought I was telling them I was starting a career as a taxi driver. Never mind! So, two weeks left at work, then about a month off when I get to do some exciting stuff like change nappies and move house, and then it's time to start doing that tax advisin' thang.
Things are going OK with Bethany at the moment, though her eating and sleeping have been somewhat disrupted. It doesn't help that she's extremely difficult to wind. Ironic that in 5 years or so we'll be telling her for burping, huh? Still, we're getting by. I've just set her down to sleep after her feed, and she seems to have settled OK which is a good thing. Ali is pretty frazzled at the moment, but she's in bed and hopefully getting some good sleep, so she should recover to some extent.
The dedication last week went very well. The service was good, and Beth behaved well enough that Ali and I could stay in church to hear the whole sermon. It was good to have all our families and some friends together with the church to dedicate her. The barbecue afterwards was delicious, and it was great to sit and chat with people I don't get to see enough of. It was the first time my brother had seen Beth, and it was something of a surprise to see how emotional and excited he was by it all! I wouldn't have expected it from him, but it's all good. He's a very proud uncle! I've got some great photos from that day, so I'll upload them sometime soonish.
That's about it really... here's a few random mainstream musical thoughts:
- Eleanor, Put Your Boots On sounds more like Belle & Sebastian than Franz Ferdinand.
- The new single by Rhianna, or however you spell her name, is truly awful. R&B meets EMO with unsurprisingly awful results.
- The new Justin Timberlake single is distorted junk, but annoyingly stick-in-heady.
- I think I do like Muse' Supermassive Black Hole after all. Album might be a purchase for next month.
Right. I'll try to get photos up tomorrow. Bye for now...
PS WTF was Zidane thinking, eh?
Oh man, I'm tired. It's my job to feed Beth at 10:30pm and put her to bed, which is all well and good, but it does mean I end up sleeping in the same room as her and get woken up when she needs her next feed at 3am. Still, it takes the pressure off Alison and it'll only be for a few more weeks so... I guess that's OK.
Bethany is 3 weeks old today. She's putting on weight and getting bigger. Her eyes have changed colour and it looks like she's got her eye's from Ali's side of the family. She's doing well. She's more alert now, which is cool because she can actually see things a bit better and looks around a bit more curiously. We're having a thanksgiving/dedication service at church on Sunday for her, which should be good. I'll give an update next week.
I've been back at work this week, which has been a bit tough, but we've managed. Ali's mum has been down for the week, which has been good as she's been helping out around the house, cooking and so on. Helps to take the pressure off while we adjust to my being back at work. Hopefully Alison will get on alright when she's home alone next week.
In other news:
- I'm not all that surprised or sorry to see England go out of the world cup. We deserved it, to be honest, given Sven's rather mystifying selection of strikers in the squad.
- It was a shame to see Murray go out of Wimbledon without getting much further than last year. Hopefully he'll do better next year. I've been rather enjoying Rafael Nadal's matches though. Also, I caught some of the seniors doubles last night, which was very funny. Not exactly the most serious event it seems.
- I've got series 1 of 24 on DVD, and Ali and I have started watching that now. Quality.
- Our house buying is moving along nicely. The solicitor is shuffling lots of paper and dealing with many people, which is what they're paid to do, so that's good. We should be moving house sometime in the middle of August.
That's about all I can think of right now. There might be more, but my brain is a bit fried right now. Bye.
Hi there.
Just a quick post to show you all a couple more pictures. Enjoy...
So far, having a baby is hard work. It's also awesome.
Both Alison and I are getting less sleep than ever, which is tough, but to be expected. I'm coping with it better - partly because I just do, but mostly because I'm not having to stay up hours at a time with a baby sucking milk out of me. Fortunately, Ali is managing to get some naps during the day, so she's holding up pretty well. Myself, I'm finding the lack of routine a bit harder to deal with! With a demanding baby and demanding wife, I'm having to accept that whatever I'm doing at any given time has to be dropped if needs be. Cups of coffee are microwaved over and over before I finish them; my computer lies open on the floor for days, waiting for me to return to it; and phone calls end abruptly. I'm getting to grips with it by setting myself fewer, more achievable tasks. That way I can get to the end of the day and know I did something, rather than just feeling like I ran from pillar to post trying to keep up with a baby who can't even crawl.
So, it's difficult, but it's also really cool in it's own way. It's amazing to see this little tiny person that we have quite literally made, and who has almost limitless potential to become practically anything. I'm looking forward to seeing her grow and develop and learn everything as she goes. It's really weird to see her at the moment and know she can't do anything but eat and sleep and poop, and even then only do those things by reflex and instinct. Yet in time, she'll learn and her brain will figure out how to move her head and limbs in a controlled fashion, and how to eat and talk, and think and everything. Brilliant!
Thanks to you all for your good wishes and comments and texts and cards and stuff. We're very touched! I'll get some more pics up sometime soon. I've got some really good ones of Beth and Alison. Bye for now.
Regular Urban Survivors by Terrorvision is a great, if rather dated, album, which I had a listen to the other day, much to my pleasure. Some good lyrics on there.
I'm stressed as anything. I'm not sleeping right at all. I think it's this whole job/baby/move house thing. Three life changing events in the space of a few months... great. Anyway. Let's not moan.
The baby is due in 10 days, which is pretty scary. It may not actually be here for two weeks after that, at which point they induce labour, but either way that's pretty soon. I think we've got all the gear we need, but I wouldn't say we feel ready in any way. It's quite scary, but in quite an unreal sort of way. As far as I'm concerned so far it's just involved Alison getting bigger and bigger and not feeling very well. I think it'll get a whole lot more real when the baby actually appears, and then the sheer magnitude of what lies before me will probably hit me pretty hard. Still, on the plus side, it can't be that hard, can it? Stay tuned to watch me eat my words...
We've found a house, which is good. Might help relieve the stress. It's in Atherton, just outside Manchester. It's a 3 bedroom semi at the end of a close, and it's very fancy. The people selling it have done loads of work on it and it's really well kitted out. We've made an offer and it's been accepted, so it's just a case of getting the survey and mortgage and all that stuff sorted. Good stuff.
I forgot something in my "thing I like" list the other day... Those new Cadbury's Creme Egg/Dairy Milk bars! They're delicious. Clearly a great idea in the world of chocolate. I salute the Cadbury's person who came up with that one.
That's about it for now... More when I get round to it. I still want to write about scary computer games and books by Chuck Palahniuk. Later people.
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