Doing jobs and missing sleep ....

Friday 27^th Sept

I like to think of Friday as my day off. A difficult concept to grasp perhaps, for someone who doesn’t actually have a job. But given the regular things I do every week, Friday is the one day I’ve got nothing regular on. So how did today get to be so busy?

I don’t know if it was the autumn sunshine but I felt like I should get on with things. So it was I painted the bathroom ceiling, for starters. Followed by window cleaning, a visit to the butchers and various other little jobs. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I enjoyed them, but I did feel a sense of satisfaction at getting them out of the way. The one problem it did throw up was the realisation of all the other jobs, which need doing around the house.

Looking out of the back windows I know the time has come to tidy up the garden for the winter. That means cutting back bushes, trees and hedges, and then weeding, plus grass cutting. I think that can wait until tomorrow, when I can get Mrs P to join in. Of course it will also necessitate a trip to the council tip, which I certainly don’t want to do at the weekend. Unless I have a desire to spend at least half-an-hour queuing; which I don’t.

The eldest drives herself to work for the first time this evening, comes home and changes, and then drives to a party. So it is that Mrs P and I are lying awake in bed at midnight, waiting for her to come in. I know this is the fate of many parents of teenagers today, but just because you’ve got something in common with lots of other people it doesn’t mean you have to like it. She comes in not long after midnight, happy and cheerful, and we get a chance for some sleep. I fear this is only the start.

Yours needing a nap.

Jay

Mucky mirrors and the spectre of Fifa 14 ...

A beautiful day means a pleasant walk to and from the library for me. In summary of my morning in the library, it was “all quiet on the IT front”, but at least it meant I had a chance to do the weekend’s crossword. The folk’s house still looks like a bomb has hit it, as the new kitchen construction continues, but at least the electrician has identified and rectified what caused Tuesday’s electricity failure.

I spend the afternoon cleaning, ironing and vacuuming. As a house husband of some standing this is becoming a little like second nature to me. The biggest challenges I have, are the built-in mirrored wardrobes we all have in our bedrooms. To be honest it’s the girls that cause the problem. Creams and spray marks, added to seemingly hundreds of finger prints mean I spend a disproportionate amount of time polishing mirrors. How is it the youngest has no marks on his, but the eldest and Mrs P make a right mess of theirs?  

The youngest as usual spends time on the computer and his Xbox this evening. In fact he runs both at the same time. It must be some sort of teenage multi-tasking. He logs off early this evening but I fear this may be the calm before the storm. Fifa 14 is launched tomorrow, and he has pre-ordered his copy, along with his mates. This means we may see little of him for the next week or two. Depending on levels of homework, which always takes priority, we may need to ration his time online, which I can see, being very unpopular.

Yours keeping it clean.

Jay

Wednesday 25th Sept

I wake up and yesterdays’ insect bite is still irritating me. I have an enormous desire to scratch it, but I know that way lays possible infection. I get zero support from the family at breakfast who just tell me to “man-up”. I would but it is irritating, and I so want to scratch it. I spend most of the day in my “It ain’t half hot mum“ shorts again, not a picture of sartorial elegance.

After the days ironing, which I must say I think I’m actually getting quicker at, and as there have been less complaints recently, I might even be getting better at too, it’s time for tea. Mrs P made chilli last night and so I only have to boil some rice, and heat up the chilli, nice and easy. I’ve taken to mixing my chilli with dollops of sour cream and crushing in tortilla chips, delicious. So nice in fact, that I go for a second bowl, and there’s the problem. I’ve overeaten. What should be a pleasure becomes a pain, in this case a stomach pain. Echoes of Christmas Dinner syndrome. On the bright side, it takes my mind off my insect bite.

Mrs P and the youngest go out to watch a football match, and the eldest goes to visit her friend in hospital, leaving me in on my own for part of the evening. This is definitely not normal. I’m used to being on my own during the day, but not in the evening. No reason they should be any different, maybe it’s just the dark outside, but it doesn’t feel right. Not helped by the fact we have 100 television channels, and nothing worth watching on any of them.

Yours philosophical as ever.

Jay

Tuesday 24th Sept

I manage to get out of the door on time this morning, having got everyone’s breakfast on the table and cleaned up afterwards. The teenagers are off to school and Mrs P has gone to work. My walk to and from the library is very enjoyable, though I’m wondering how long I’ll be able to continue before I’ll need to wear a coat. On the way back I stop by the folk’s house, where the new kitchen installation is in full swing. The builders managed to damage a water pipe and cut off all water to upstairs for a few days, on top of which most of the wiring needs changing out. So the job is beginning to assume a life of its own, which the folks are not particularly happy about.

I’ve been bitten. At least that’s what it looks like. Having got through the summer unscathed, some parasite has now sucked into the back of my knee, and half my leg hurts. Throbbing, aching, rubbing. Once home I dig out an old pair of shorts to wear, so as not to inflame the bite. I look like something out of “It ain’t half hot mum.”

In the evening we all go round to the outlaws to say our farewells to Mrs P’s auntie, how is heading home to the USA tomorrow. Whilst there the old fella calls me to say they’ve lost all electricity in the house, and could I come and take a look? Talk about the blind, leading the blind. So I drop the family at home and go round. They have had a new fuse box fitted today and something must have shorted, or broken. After flicking various levers up and down in the dark, I manage to restore most of the power to the house. A victory, and one for which they are both grateful. I even surprised myself.

Yours thinking of charging for call-outs.

Jay

Monday 23rd Sept

It’s Monday morning and so Mrs P and I are pushing a supermarket trolley around the shop. Well I’m pushing as Mrs P selects what we need, and I try to resist impulse purchases. We’re in a bit later this morning, and so it’s a bit busier, but on the plus side the bakery has some cakes out to taste, and so my elevenses consist of free mini chocolate donuts today. Yummy.

I help Mrs P with her cleaning, following her obediently around the house with the vacuum. I think maybe I’m getting inured to housework; can’t say I enjoy it but I get on with it. Mrs P appreciates the help, and we are finished in time to go for a walk before the kids get home. We walk up the road and through the woods. The local woods are a dog walker’s paradise, and we find ourselves shifting quickly as Labradors and assorted other breeds rush past us chasing balls. At the far end we can look down on a building project we’ve been following. There is a house that has been gutted and is being rebuilt, but two rather interesting outbuildings, possible work studios have been built, and what looks like a sauna in the front garden. We are not being nosy neighbours, just curious.

The kids arrive home looking tired after a day at school. I think it might be not getting enough sleep at the weekend is the problem, but they are of an age now where I can’t switch off their bedroom lights unfortunately. We are though slowly pulling back on the youngest’s use of the Xbox, so hopefully that might help.

Yours enjoying the unseasonably mild weather.

Jay

Friday 20th Sept

I start the day by cleaning the bathroom; well I figure it can only get better from here on. Having then done all the bits and pieces around the house I’ve been avoiding, I get to the thing that I’ve really been avoiding. Well for the past 5 months at least. My tax return. Yes, and to be honest I don’t know why HMRC want one from a house husband either. It’s not as though I work for a living. Rightly or wrongly I always feel slightly nervous at this time, even though it’s always above board. You just never know with the tax man. As it happens I get halfway through completing it online, and then I realise Mrs P has some information I require. So I save what I’ve done and put it aside until next week.

I open the cupboard for a snack and am astounded at the variety of cakes and biscuits we have in. 4 types of biscuits, 5 types of chocolate biscuits, two cakes and some muffins. It’s not as if we have people around. They are all for us. I must have a word with Mrs P, as I can see a way to cut the shopping budget. Though I expect she’ll just answer back that they were all on offer. It may well be an argument I can’t win, but I’ll give it a go.

In the evening we are invited into the neighbours for dinner. The food and company are as ever excellent. The only downside is that we are taking the eldest to look at Warwick University tomorrow, and so I cannot imbibe in the red wine. Well a couple of small glasses with dinner, and Mrs P ensures that is all I have. Oh and I lost the biscuit/cake argument as well.

Yours still sober.

Jay

Thursday 19th Sept

Well the BBC misled me about the weather again this morning. Forecast for fine weather, so I don’t take a coat as I walk to the library, and what do you know? Here comes the rain and I’m wet. Still as I do like walking in the rain, it’s quite a pleasant walk. The library is busy enough this morning but I manage to finish reading most of the weekend’s papers. I have not yet succumbed to the modern onslaught of getting your news online. Call me old fashioned but I like a physical newspaper. I also think it exposes me to more and varied information. If I looked at online newspapers, I might only click on the main news headlines and sport sections, so missing a lot of the stuff I read by turning pages in the traditional newspaper.

I stop by the folks house for a cuppa, and they are emptying the kitchen, because they are having a new one fitted starting tomorrow. This is causing small amounts of stress, but as I remind them in less than a week it’ll be done, and in the scheme of things it’s not that long.

I spend the afternoon cleaning, vacuuming and then ironing in front of the baseball on TV. I’m starting to worry what I’ll watch with my ironing when the season finishes next month.

In the evening I go to the season ending meeting of the local umpires association. Like all of these types of meetings, it’s the same people bringing up the same issues, and rehashing the same ground again and again. Scoring pedantic points, off each other. So boring at times. I think I’ll give the monthly meetings a miss through the winter. If people want to attract new members to clubs and associations, they sometimes need to look at the old members first.

Yours looking towards a change in the weather.

Jay