Friday 30th October 2008 - Part 2

Enjoying the photos? It's Halloween tonight (as I'm sure you all know and are dressed appropriately for) and we're - trying - to create Luca's first memory of "Samhain". However, as with most things, it hasn't all gone to plan! I decked out the house (the first photo is only one of many) in spiderwebs, Halloween tinsel, skeletons, etc while he slept this afternoon, and it all started promisingly when he woke to be greeted by the scary scenery. "Ooooh", he exclaimed "whatsthis???". Unfortunately this was the last thing that went right! Firstly he proceeded to try to pull down anything that hung at his level (which is a lot nowadays due to his rapidly burgeoning height spurts), and swiftly followed it up by having a paddy when I tried to put his devil outfit on! The photos above are of my second attempt to clothe him in the garb, taken when his mum arrived home from work to help! Suffice to say the outfit came straight off when the attempts at photographing the event ceased!

Apart from that he's been a cheery sod today!

Once he departed for the land of slumber I cooked tea again for Carole. Tonight it was posh burger and chips. The burgers were of the mini homemade variety and an amalgamation of a number of ingredients, while the chips were actually finely sliced potato garnished with oil and pepper before being roasted.

It was edible. Barely....

**Useless fact of the day 2 - According to one claim of the first hamburger, Charlie Nagreen served the world's first hamburger at the Seymour Fair (Outagamie County Fair) in 1885. "Hamburger" Charlie decided to flatten a meatball and place it between slices of bread to increase portability**

Friday 30th October 2008

Merely a brief entry today I'm afraid, and only because I'm on the PC transferring a movie from CD to my MP4 - Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell. Has anyone seen it? Apparently it's quite a "straight" role for Ferrell. I have to admit that one of his older films, Anchorman, makes me crack up just by remembering it. We've already done a greatest film list and I'm annoyed I left this one out!

Todays the last official day of my holidays, and probably is just as well. I'm starting to feel a bit like a housewife. I need a point to the day! However, that isn't to say todays been bad, just simply uneventful. This morning Luca and I strolled into Inverurie to drop off a DVD and pick up some Halloween goodies -including an outfit for Luca to wear tonight! Yes, I'll be taking photo's, though knowing what he's like he'll run and hide every time I get the camera out! He's snoozing just now, and I think he may be for some time - I fed him the same Brazilian dish I made for Carole last night (the really heavy one....) which he loved but his eyelids dropped faster than an Obama popularity poll once the bowl was emptied.

This afternoon I'll be hoovering and cooking. I am now officially gay.

Remember the days where you spent your holidays looking at the bottom of a pint glass? Long time ago in a galaxy far far away it seems! Would I swap it though? No.

**Useless fact of the day - When we die, we detriorate much slower than humans did in the past. Why? It is believed to be due to the build up of preservatives in our body from what we eat during our life**

Thursday 29th October 2008

No photo's today I'm afraid, and no excuses for not having taken any either - I'm still off on holiday and had a day free of responsibilities!

Though not entirely - I had Luca to look after while Carole went back to work. It was a rotten day in Inverurie (plus ca change?) so we headed for Banchory just after 9am in search of better weather. It was a tad brighter, and the obvious bonus was mum being around. Her retirement is nice and handy for occasions such as this.

She wasn't shocked by Luca's burn marks, having seen them after the previous session, and she and Luca had a whale of a time. Strangely I felt a little incidental. Although everyone wants to see the wee one, there's generally enough people at mum and dad's for me to chat with while he causes his usual whirlwind of chaos. However, as we were there during "skivers hours" and mums attention was obviously taken by Luca I had to suffice with watching "Star Wars The Clone Wars" on Sky Movies. Which was really crap.

We came home at lunchtime and just messed around for most of the afternoon before heading to the supermarket to buy ingredients for the meal I was going to prepare - a Brazilian Feijoada. It's a traditional Brazilian dish, eaten mainly by the underprivelaged. It's made primarily of various beans and meat, and was pretty tasty (ish). Very filling! We also watched a DVD I'd rented called "The Mist", which was terrific. Horrific ending though, not recommended for anyone with kids.

**Useless fact of the day - More people speak Portugese in Brazil than in Portugal**

Wednesday 29th October 2008

The pictures featured above were taken yesterday morning at 0700 - 1 hour before we were due to leave on the drive to Livingston! Thankfully, by the time we'd passed the south side of Aberdeen most traces of the snow had evaporated leaving us with a reasonably easy journey therein. The second photo also includes our new dog pound - I thought it may shrink our garden too much, but it actually looks better than the previous plant and shrub base we had there.

We got to Livingston hospital in plenty of time for Luca's appointment, and as expected the specialist was more than happy to continue with this, the second session. After an interminably long wait (2 and a half hours between the check up and the surgery), we took Luca through to be gassed. As I stated last time, it's quite disturbing watching him be sent to sleep. This time I sat Luca on my knee while he took the gas, and lay him down on the bed just as he passed out. Fifteen minutes later we got called through to see him - no problems with the laser treatment again thank god. However, unlike last time (where it took a long time to be fully brought round from the gas) he woke immediately upon hearing our voices as we entered the room. He jolted himself up and literally threw himself at me - it was almost a case of catching him! Although clearly not in any physical discomfort, he was very upset this time around. Likely due to a combination between the lack of food (it was now almost 3pm and we hadn't been allowed to feed him since 8am) and the manner in which he woke. He sobbed heavily as he lay on my shoulder, and wouldn't allow anyone alse to touch him. Carole fed him a banana which abated the tears temporarily, before we elicited our decision to continue with a very sharp exit. We knew he'd be happier back in the familiar surrounding of the car, and this theory proved correct. Before I continue, see the pictures below which I took of him last night:-

As you can see, he's been afflicted with the same red blotches as last time. Obviously it's far too early to know whether this session will change anything further from last time, although we'll have a good idea within the next month as the marks from the laser treatment fade.

As you can tell by his playful demeanour in the second photo, he's not been affected by the treatment. Although initially upset on awakening, he settled down once we got back in the car, and wolfed down his tuna sandwich. He then proceeded to eat dad's egg sandwich, followed by dad's chocolate flapjack. Carole, wisely as was proven, chose to drive home, so her food remained her own in the front of the car. I sat in the back of the car watching Luca eat ALL of my food, rueing the decision I'd taken to not eat until Luca was allowed!

Thankfully there was a packet of Haribo in the door of the car, so I was able to eat a few of these without Luca noticing they were there. Not the most filling lunch I've ever head but hey.... Luca continued his ravenous streak throughout the journey, shouting at his mum until she gave him some of her crisps, and eating all the biscuits and snacks we keep as emergency rations in his bag. This encompassed a finger of fudge, a packet of chocolate buttons and a good few plain biscuits!

We eventually got home around 7pm and rolled Luca out the car. Due to the fact that by this time he resembled a spotty Augustus Gloop we skipped preparing tea for him and just gave him a small bottle before we packing him off to bed. He'd stayed awake throughout the journey home (chatting literally all the way! He's turning into his Aunt Jane!) so he zonked out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Carole and I just took it easy afterwards. The temperature in Inverurie was zero (!) so we had the heating on as well as the fire - snuggling in the living room in such conditions was the only option! It worked out quite well as it allowed us to watch "Dead Set" on TV. It's a 5 part series on every night this week on E4 and is terrific - watch it if you haven't yet, it's on again at 10pm tonight.

Luca woke sharp this morning (about 630 am, though I imagine this is nigh on lunch time for dad.....), so I crawled out of bed to get him up. He was in great spirits, so after breakfast (about 9am) he and I headed into Aberdeen to the central library. Always good to get new music and books, but the main attraction was just getting moving. Much as I enjoy holidays I feel like a bit of a wastrel if I just hang around the house. Luca had fun at the library (despite being in shy mode), though he was far more animated later in the morning when we went to the supermarket. It was all a bit much for him though, as now (it's mid afternoon as I type) he's fast asleep, with no signs of re-animation for a considerable time yet!

Before I forget, any of the dates for the holiday is good for us - I delayed our decision as I needed to know when Luca's next appointment was. As the main specialist isn't in the UK much we have to fit in with him, rather than vice versa. The next appointment is February, so we'll appropriate ourselves in with everyone else.

Before I go, nice to see dad's still big on his lists - everyone else needs to play along though, don't let dad and I be the only geeks! We know Kelly in particular is a geek (though she gallantly tries to hide this) so open up!

The next list will surely have to be the best album. I'm finding this one tough though as tastes change over time. For example, which Nirvana album do I put in ("Nevermind", "In Utero"??), will I enter an album no-one else has ever heard of ("Team Ping Pong" by "Bearsuit" for example), will "best of" albums be allowed ("U2", "Smashing Pumpkins", "Girls Aloud", etc......)?

Just to clarify, I am deadly serious about Girls Aloud - we can't be pretentious all the time, surely it's OK to enjoy just great "pure pop"?

No? OK then.....

**Useless fact of the day - Ping pong, badminton and soccer are, as commonly known, 3 of the most popular sports in China. However, surprisingly, the most popular is basketball. Not too many slam dunks I'm guessing though......**

Sunday October 26th 2008

My usual appalling attempts at photography and videography are featured above. The photo was taken yesterday while Luca and I were having a bit of a rough play time, even the dog was joining in the rambunctiousness - despite his lack of spark! Carole wisely disappeared upstairs... The video won't be particularly interesting to most of you, but hopefully Luca's Aunt Jane will appreciate it - it's just a little proof that he talks about his big cousins all the time!

Lucy - hopefully after next year he'll be doing the same about Cade and Braeden - not long now I guess! As long as the holiday commences as intended, things can change so suddenly in life that planning events can sometimes be as illogical as DHL workers being shot dead by their own security guards on Afghanistan.

Luca has been ill since Friday night, although I missed seeing him that night due to a combination of working late (last day before holiday) and a brief gym stop off. However, I did see him on Saturday - he was a bit of a mess. He was burning up and displayed no sense of energy. Indeed, he slept late in the morning and again for a long period in the afternoon which isn't like him. As such, we kept him at home all day - we have to ensure he's fighting fit for his hospital appointment on Tuesday.

Thankfully he woke up looking and acting 100% better today - guess it was just a 24 hour thing. I'll be taking him out to Banchory to see his grandparents shortly which'll be good for him. And me, I'm really not good at spending too much time in the house!

In reference to dad's list of all the gigs he's been to, I think I'll display a few I've been to too - I won't list every songle one due to the fact some were a little embarassing (such as a Prodigy tribute band....) allied to my lack of any kind of decent memory! However, the best I've seen would certainly be the following:-
Biffy Clyro (Aberdeen Music Hall, circa 2003)
Muse (T In The Park, circa 2001)
Grandaddy (Glasgow, circa 2001)
Rocket From The Crypt (Lemon Tree, circa 1996)
Suede (Music Hall, circa 2000)
Radiohead (Aberdeen Exhibition Centre, circa 2002)
Hell Is For Heroes (Dundee, circa 2003)
Bjork (T In The Park, circa 1993)

Biffy Clyro and Muse were expecially good. I saw both bands before they became particularly commercially successful, which is always the best time to see someone - when you catch a live act just when they're on the cusp of fame you can almost feel it - they'res a buzz, an energy and almost an expectation (or belief) from the band and crowd that something really great is imminent.

That was actually quite a hard list to establish. From memory I probably find it easier to recall the bad gigs I've been to. Of which there are many! Ignoring small bar bands who were crap, the worst successful bands I've seen were:-
Razorlight - so boring I should've brought a pillow and had a kip
Feeder - successful 90's band, but every song sounded just like the last - start quiet, then go into a REALLY LOUD CHORUS
Kasabian - just really, really poor
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - up themselves, poor musicians, so poor it seemed the gig would last forever

Hopefully by by the time I check my email again Lucy may have made her once-a-year blog entry;) And Kelly will have woken from her slumbers and realised she doesn't need to run every day! I get tired just reading about how far she runs!

And mum - did you notice Kelly's use of the word procrastinate in her latest blog? What's I tell you?

**Useless fact of the day - Some of the most well known disastrous gigs include:-
-Amy Winehouse at Birmingham NIA last year (drunk out of her skull, she was incoherent, wobbly on her legs and even threatened the crowd with violence for booing her. Unsurprisingly, she walked off stage during the encore)
-Frank Zappa at the Rainbow Theatre in London in 1971 (a deranged fan pushed Zappa into the concrete-floored orchestra pit. His band immediately thought he was dead, but ultimately he was left with hideous injuries including a crushed larynx, head trauma, serious fractures and injuries to his back, leg and neck. He was wheelchair bound for a year-and-a-half)**

Thursday 23rd October 2008

Not a blog per se today, more of a "dear lord we will all die in an attack of the giant spiders" B-movie type of entry fashion thingummybob.

These are from Australia, so I hope this puts Kelly off her idea of emigrating!

Wednesday 22nd October 2008

Well? What's the general consensus on Luca's new haircut? I'm not sure either photo demonstrates how short his hair is! We had visitors tonight, so Luca was a bit over excited, hence the lack of photo's. He morphed into road runner - with dad as poor Wile E Coyote tring to catch him!

Also, the kennel for the new dog pound was delivered tonight too, so after Saturday (once it's complete) Carole will be the only hairy animal in the house! Luca and I will have to join forces in buying hats together to keep our heads warm.....

No real news tonight -other than Luca, like Samson, losing his locks and likely his powers - so I will bid you adieu

**Useless fact of the day - Common hair myths are bountiful (such as cutting or shaving hair makes it grow faster or thicker), but one that is correct is that if you smoke you are 4 times more likely to go grey**

Tuesday 21st October 2008

My first thought is a response to Kelly's blog - I'm afraid I should have told you that "Burn Before Reading" was a rotten movie, all the movie mags and broadsheets have been advising against it even before it was released. Apparently the extended previews were a goods enough indicator of it's lack of quality. Though the fact it was directed by the Coen Brothers (up themselves without the intelligence to back it up) and starred Brad Pitt (possibly the worst "name" actor I've ever seen) probably was already a pretty good indicator....

Not that Carole and I have seen a decent movie for a while though. The next ones coming out in the cinema that we're looking forward to are "Rec" (remake of a Spanish zombie movie), "The Day The World Ended" (blockbuster remake of the 50's schlocker) and Saw 5 (oh yes....). Now mums retired I suppose I should start to think of taking her to the cinema at some point too. Though probably not to Saw 5.....

Carole and I were glad when the work day ended yesterday as we were both still a little tired from the weekend. It's strange how just sitting in a car can tire you out! I did muster the energy after work to pop along to the gym again though, I'm starting to get back into it a bit now which is good. I'll probably go at least a couple more times this week, my energy is starting to build up now - I guess this is partly due to my body now starting to fully recover from the years of smoking! Unfortunately I can't yet start any of my "projects" (loft, bookcases, etc) as I found out last night I'm skint! Well, my cash account is anyway. What with Manchester, Lincoln, new MP3, takeaways, DVD's, etc, etc I've spent more than normal this month. Oops! Have to be very frugal till next week! Still, I'm paid next week and happily am on holiday again so I'll aspire toward getting a lot done.

It is dependant on the wee man though. As previously mentioned, on Tuesday we're heading down to Livingston again for Luca's next session of laser surgery, and we'll be keeping him off nursery for the rest of the week following that. As I'll be "daddy day care" while Carole's at work I'll have to keep him busy - I'll see how handy he is with a hammer and nails.

Probably handier than dad, that's for sure.

On Friday I'm - maybe - heading to Banchory with Luca. Carole's cooking fajitas for Guthrie and his brother as a thanks for building our new dog pound. I'll take a photo of the pound tonight, maybe with Luca inside. Best place for him, it can double as his jail for when he's bad! He and I will come and say hello to Gran and Granda for a bit until the fajita's are no longer in my house - Carole loves them, but they send my body into near convulsions!

**Useless fact of the day:- In the UK alone, there are over 25000 DIY related injuries per year.
That figure may increase exponentially next week**

Monday October 20th 2008

I'm certain by now you've read dad's blog, so I would guess you don't need to hear too much more about the weekend down in Manchester! Suffice to say however, it was great. Although with the combination of seeing Ronaldo in the flesh and innumerable glasses of claret we considered digging out the sedatives for Carole!

I've no photo's to post (dad took most) but I'll have a good one scanned and posted in the next week or so - Carole and I had our photo taken with the Champions League and Premiership trophies. For the Americans reading this, the Champions League trophy is the biggest, most prestigious trophy any football club side can win in the world.

Dada has neglected to post a photo I took of him and granda in Glasgow, which was a good one - hopefully this will be posted soon.

We got to Banchory mid afternoon on Sunday to find that Luca and Isis hadn't, as expected, driven mum to madness. In fact, she looked postively chilled when we arrived (surprisingly)! She wasn't too happy though as her oven had died on her just before we arrived. As such, she gave Carole and I the apple crumble she'd prepared, it just needed another half hour in the oven. I don't think dad and Ross were too happy to see it go! I will report it was delicious!

We got home about 5 and got Luca fed, bathed, etc, before bedtime. I took care of it as by this time Carole was running on empty! Luca was easy though, mum obviously took good care of him while we were away. We did put him down on time though, even though we were desperate to spend time with him having been away all weekend - tiredness won that race! We just watched rubbish telly and ate apple crumble (mmmm...) after he went down.

What a rubbish blog. My next one will be better, I promise!

**Useless fact of the day - Manchester Utd regularly sign players for huge sums (£20 million, £30 million, etc) these days, but in 1927 their record signing was Hugh McLenahan from Stockport County. They bought him for 3 freezers worth of ice cream**

Thursday October 15th 20089

No photo's tonight I'm afraid, I didn't get home until almost 8pm tonight, by which time the wee man was already tucked up in bed. I did sneak up to see him though, and he was still wide awake. He reached his arms up, intimating he wanted a cuddle so I lent down into the cot, further and further until SEARING PAIN!!!

"Eyes" he exclaimed, as his right forefinger went halfway through my iris toward my brain....

I then came back downstairs, and raked through the shopping bags of food I'd acquired before I came home. I pulled out a bunch of flowers and presented them to Carole. She grizzled and growled a bit before declaring "what have you done?", her stare impregnating through any defences I may have had left.

Anyway, that was my arrival home from work. And people wonder why I work late.....

Just joking. The events listed above, however, are unfortunately truthful.

Thankfully the homemade soup she'd made improved my outlook slightly, though her choice of TV viewing afterwards - "The Underdog Show", where Z list celebrities parade around rings with dogs - brought me back down again.

Thankfully the best programme on TV - "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" was on after. Whew, day ends well.

Just noticed dads blog about addresses he's lived in. Had a few myself. They are:-
Hertford (England)
Balerno (Edinburgh)
Banchory
These 3 addresses with mum, dad and the three others who teased me;)

Station Road (Banchory)
Whitehall Place (Aberdeen)
George Street (Aberdeen)
Walker Road (Aberdeen)
Menzies Road (Aberdeen)
Cairngorm Place (Aberdeen)
Tollohill Drive (Aberdeen)
Oak Drive (Portlethen)
Rae Circle (Inverurie)
These 9 addresses as an "adult". Yes, I've moved house quite a lot! I haven't even mentioned the caravan in Bucksburn I almost lived in too....

Tomorrow Carole, Luca and I are heading to Banchory, where we'll stay the night before leaving at 0800 on Saturday morning for Manchester. To say Caroles excited is like saying Craig likes a surfboard.

**Useless fact of the day - Speaking of Craig, I'm sure he'll have issue with this fact, but what the hey. An English chemist has been employed by NASA to recreate the smell of space in a bottle. Apparently the smell is akin to fried steak and hot metal. No doubt Craig will now email through a lengthy diatribe discussing why space smells, and why that's relevant**

Wednesday 15th October 2008 - 3rd entry!

Many apologies for the appalling photo's tonight, I'll have the camera situation rectified ASAP! I took these tonight, but the main problem was that Luca, albeit good naturedly, was not remotely interested in posing for a photo. I even tried doing a video with him, and getting him to do his party tricks (reciting the words he knows, rolly pollys, dancing, etc) but he shook his head to every suggestion and finished with trying to slap the camera out of my hands!

Awkward and then some! Just like his mum!

Glad to see Lucy has posted at last! With regard to her thoughts on the holiday, this may prove a debatable issue! However, dad, Ross, Carole and I are going down to Manchester this weekend, and with the drive taking 5-6 hours each way we'll have plenty of time to discuss the holiday and which option is most appropriate.

Obviously we'll be completely ignoring the points Lucy and Kelly have made thus far;)

Lucy also mentioned the kids will swim most of the time - nuh uh! Luca has a thing about water, insofar that he's terrified of it. Even baths are a nightmare. Swimming pools are a no go zone. We will try to assimilate him before we go but it's looking like he's a man for terra firma!

It's been a while since I stopped smoking now (I'm not counting the weeks/months, that makes it tougher for some reason) but I'm still struggling. There's a lot of ex smokers who read this - it does get easier doesn't it? At least the weight has started to go on at last, albeit only half a stone. It's weird how much extra time you have though, I've even asked Carole to find me some jobs to do around the house! Always better keeping busy......

Dad seems to enjoy his "best of" lists just now, so the latest suggestion can be for "Ross's greatest haircuts ever":-

1 - As it is, spectacularly long (albeit split ended)

2 - Blade 2 shaved (simple and stylish, although the static electricity it caused short circuited many items)

3 - The "loo brush" (sported briefly in his childhood years, we need to locate photo's of this look)

4 - The curly mop (easily maintained style, with extra style provided whenever the wind blew)

We could do a list for Kellys greatest, but it would take us years to list the hairstyles she's had this month alone.....

**Useless fact of the day - The most stylish haircut of this year for women has been "mid length bob, but smoothed for that soft look". Apparently this is the style someone called Leighton Meester prefers, who is apprently a trend setter. I'm sorry, but as they'd say in The Simpsons- Worst. Useless Fact. Ever**

Wednesday October 15th 2008 - Part 2

Just a quick post to register my astonishment that Ross will be moving out! Good on him, though maybe best if he gives it another 6 months to properly plan and put himself in a better financial position?

Dad's thoughts on best actors are pretty good ones. In my "useless fact" below I've listed the critics greatest actor of all time - though I'm not a huge fan of his. De Niro was a great, though he's not made a great movie in at least 20 years. Sorry, I thought Meet The Parents, Meet The Fockers, etc were truly terrible! I'd add Harrison Ford as a very natural actor (very underrated, perhaps because he doesn't shout throughout movies in the way Tom Cruise and his ilk do) and John Malkowich as a very intense one. Actress wise I'm struggling a bit, though Kathy Bates in Misery was astonishing. On a recent scale, the best acting performance I've seen in years was Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight - a true masterclass.

**Through most publications, Al Pacino has been crowned the greatest actor of all time by movie critics**

Wednesday October 15th 2008

Another day, another dollar. And another blog entry as I should be working.....Apologies for the lack of new photo's, but I didn't get a chance to go online last night. I got home from work just before Luca's bottle time, so I got him fed and mum took him off to bed after while I popped back out to pick up a DVD from blockbuster - we got a freebie voucher in Sundays paper so took advantage of it. I got "The Ruins", a horror, which was pretty creepy - there was a little gore which caused us to look away a few times, but it was mainly what I'd classify as an "old school" horror, and was very effective for that. Worth a watch if you get a chance.

Once that was finished I had a bit of measuring to do in the loft, as well as looking for any cracks, asbestos, etc, etc. Thankfully it looks good so I can go ahead with getting it insulated (which'll make the temperature up there bearable as well as saving a couple of hundred a year in energy bills, which isn't to be sniffed at in this current financial climate).

Tonight I'll try to clean out the insides of both our cars - as long as it isn't nigh on pitch black when when I get home, as it was last night! I really hate Scotland sometimes. My cars filthy from lugging the dog around, while Carole's is due to our wee family spending around 16 hours living in it going down and coming up the road last week! There's bits of sandwiches, crisps, Haribos, etc everywhere!

I'll also try to get online to add some photo's!

**Useless fact of the day - When David Beckham scored THAT goal that started his (annoyingly) highly publisised career (the one he scored from the half-way line against Wimbledon) he was wearing the wrong boots - his boot sponsor had sent him the wrong boots, they were actually for a Scottish player called Charlie Miller, and even had Millers name sewn into the side of them. Once Miller found out what his magic boots had achieved he demanded they be returned to him, which they duly were. They obviously didn't help him though, as for the last few years Miller has been languishing in the Norwegian and Australian leagues, while Beckham is now the highest earning footballer of all time**

Wednesday October 14th 2008

The most important issue to address today is the holiday situation for next year - out of the two options dad has found the first looks more suitable. The second seems more spectacular, but perhaps too spectacular when you consider Cade, Braeden and Luca will be buzzing around!

I haven't checked yet, but I'd also advise we choose the location which is highest above sea level. As Lucy is guaranteed to cry at the end of the holiday we need to ensure we're not at any risk putting the villa underwater;)

I would be worried about Lucy's riposte to that, but as she seems to have given up updating her blog I probably don't need to worry!

The holiday aside, at present I'm looking at options for properly insulating our loft. The best price I've had thus far is just under £200 (materials and labour). I've also applied for a governmental grant (which we're all entitled to apparently) so I'm waiting on a call back on that to confirm. Carole seems chuffed with the idea as it means I'll move my PC/stereo/comics/etc back up to the loft and move out of the cupboard I've adopted as my computer cubby hole!

More Luca pictures tonight

**Useless fact of the day - Adams Calendar (also known as Africa's Stonhenge) is a man-made structure. However, this is a man made structure built tens of thousands of years before modern man came into existence through evolution.....**

Monday October 13th 2008 - Part 2

Part 2 of today's blog, and this is the opportunity I afford myself to include the bits I've previously forgotten to mention. Though I've already forgotten most of what I'd originally forgotten but consequently remembered as my memory hasn't even survived the preceeding sentence!

I'll try though! Firstly, I have to mention the Peter Kay TV programme last night (Britains Got The X Factor Soapstar Jesus Superstar on Ice or something...). I think he's a terrific comic, and his stand up set at Blackpool in the early 90's is without doubt the funniest thing I've seen in my life. He's (deliberately) disappeared off the scene over the last few years, and this was his big comeback. We put our foot down on the way home in order to see it. However, although it was (for us) easily the most eagerly anticipated British TV programme in years it was also the most disappointing. It lasted almost 2 hours and neither of us laughed once. Seriously. Talk at work today revolved around it too, everyone seeming to think they'd maybe missed the point to it, that there was a subtely or nuance they'd missed.

Nope, it was just crap, so bad it could be a career ender. Such a shame when real talent disappears before it's time.

This morning I took Carole's BMW to work, as she was using my 4x4 to pick up Isis from the kennels. We also had Guthrie and his brother round today finishing off Isis's new dog pound. We'll be able to keep her outside during the day just now, nothing will be damaged and we won't need to spend our days hoovering dog hair either. Bliss....

If you've read dad's blog, you'll already know that he's obtained 4 tickets for the Manchester Utd game on Saturday, so he, I, Ross and Carole are going. Carole may seem like a surprise name to the list, but she's been wanting to go to Old Trafford for a while now (her dads a Man Utd fan, and she's always enjoyed the big games at Pittodrie I've taken her to as well) so this will be a first for her, I just hope the game and atmosphere are electric so she (and dad, Ross and I!) can make the most of it. We'll be driving down and staying over, so Luca will stay with Granny Jo while we're gone.

Carole's had to cancel a night out with Jenny (the partner of one of my friends) as a consequence, so hope they can get something re-arranged soon.

I'm sure by now you've watched the posted video of Luca with his Granda Mike playing the pian o. Mike's a superb Jazz pianist, so hopefully Luca will follow suit. Based on the fact he was touching the keys rather than just ramming his hands down hopefully offers a potential positive.

Lastly, dad mentioned his list of the greatest movies of all time, and as I'm a buff I need to get involved in this too. However, in direct contradiction to my (frankly) obscure music tastes, my movie preferences are of the more commercial variety. The perfect example being the most recent movie I watched (on my new MP4!) being Die Hard 4, a proper blockbuster. It was better than I thought, though it suffered from the common movie peoblem I've complained about before. Big, tough Bruce Willis (who's already beaten up or killed a few men up to this point) get's his ass kicked by a 7 stone, 5 ft 2 inch woman. Please Hollywood, stop doing that nonsense!

Anyway, my top ten are:-

The Cube, The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight, Magnolia, Crash, Goodfellas, Anchorman, Jaws, Dawn Of The Dead, Airplane

To call some of these choices controversial would be an understatement, but film choice is a purely personal choice - even highly rated fims such as Schindlers List and Munich leave a lot of people (including myself) cold. I'm looking forward to Lucy's list most of all, as I'm sure it'll include Muriels Wedding in there somewhere.......

**Useless fact of the day - cracking your knuckles will not cause arthritis, the cracking noise is actually just nitrogen gas between the joints popping. In fact a doctor proved this by cracking the knuckles on only one of his hands for 50 years, with no difference showing between his two hands**

Monday 13th October 2008

Monday morning, and my first day back to work after my week off. As usual I wish I'd booked my first day back as a half day to ease myself in, it's always hard coming back!

We arrived home from Lincoln around 7pm last night, having set off at 11am. It was a long journey as Luca decided he wouldn't sleep and chatted/gibbered/whined all the way! It was maddening, but he wasn't too bad and mainly just wanted someone to talk to. I tried to listen to my MP3 when it was Caroles turn to drive but was constantly disturbed by various shouts from Luca, intimating that I should not do this!

We'd stopped at Johns house near York on the way up briefly (he's her step brother) to say hello and give Luca a break from the car. Unfortunately, John and his partner have a labrador which, despite being friendly, scared Luca half to death. It was another case of having to carry Luca almost the whole time as he had a death grip on me! Unbeknownst to me Carole had another reason for wanting to stop off - she was dropping an engagement ring off to John he'd asked her to pick up, and he proposed to Jill after we left! So congratulations to them both!

It was sad to have left Lincoln, it's a pretty part of the UK and the weather was warm (no North Sea gales!) every day. Luca and Max really enjoyed playing with each other, and Luca recited his cousins names (Mmmmax, Benny) a thousand times on our way home. Everyone was extremely hospitable during our stay and it couldn't have been easier or more pleasant.

I'll do a proper post tonight with photo's

Saturday October 11th 2008

Greetings from another sunny day in Lincoln. I'll start this off with an introduction on the adjoining picture. This was taken narey an hour ago, and is of Luca eating his breakfast resplendant in his new bib - it's a Lincoln City one. Mike and I went to Licoln V Rochdale last night, and I had to pop into the club shop while there to pick up odds and sods, the only disappointment being there were no strips small enough for him.

I actually watched the game alone last night as Mike and I got separated - I went for a pie before the game kicked off, and couldn't find him thereafter! I didn't think finding him would be a problem, but with nigh on 5000 fans present (at an English 3rd division game! Almost as high as many Aberdeen attendances) and Mike not having entered the mobile phone age yet we were pretty much scuppered!

The pie was worth it though, great braised steak interior with fluffy pastry....

If anyone's interested, the game ended 1 - 1 and was worth seeing - they're certainly at the very least on a par with Partick Thistle, probably better.

However, it was after our arrival home that things became interesting. There was a party a couple of doors down from Mike and Val's which got completely out of control. Mass brawls erupted in the street around midnight, and the police were called with 9 vehicles plus riot dogs appearing! And this is a good neighbourhood! I'd actually got myself involved a short while before the police arrived as the fights were spilling onto our property, which left us worried about vehicle and property damage, so I threw on jeans and shoes and headed out to make sure no-one touched Carole's BMW - we would have seen WW3 had that happened! Thankfully I was able to physically separate some fighters (most were only about 16 ish) without anyone taking a swing, though we found out later that there were blades present so that probably wasn't the cleverest thing to do....

The funniest bit came just after the police arrived, as Mike returned home from his apres football pub jaunt. There were still people screaming at each other, police bundling people into vans and general chaos still apparent, yet Mike casually wandered through the epicentre of it, barely even giving the commotion a cursory inquisitory glance!

This aside, since we've been down here we've had a trip to the cinema (Tropic Thunder, avoid it), a tour of Lincolns bars (Mike took me on a rec of the best ones yesterday), a history lesson in the cathedrals/arches/castles/etc and a trip to Nottingham city centre for shopping - Carole actually bought clothes for herself for once, she's unlike most women and detests shopping (which is wonderful for my bank balance!)

I bought comics. Well, what did you expect?

Today Carole's taking Luca to visit an auntie, and then the whole family are getting together for a meal at 5pm in a fish restaurant. This will likely be our last major act before heading back up the road on Sunday, first thing sharp.

I've likely neglected to mention a large number of items, but I'll update the blog accordingly during the course of next week. I've also got a cracking video of Luca playing the piano, but this PC's moving too slow so I'll upload that one back at home - you'll hopefully see it tomorrow night.

One last paragraph before I get me/Carole/Luca ready for the day - Luca's been good as gold since we came down, he's had no full scale tantrums, slept without objection and been affectionate with everyone. He even slept through the "Lincoln riots" last night! Though the minute I hit the "publish" button, he'll likely fulfill "sods law" and turn into the spawn of the demon he can be.....

**Useless fact of the day - Youth crime figures for Lincoln have been falling faster than the national average. Guess last night will have screwed those figures up...**

Thursday October 9th 2008

I've surprised myself by gaining access to the internet while away from home - I'm typing this from Liz and Tom's PC while Luca "entertains" their poor cat. This is his first experience with a cat and it hasn't gone well. He's scared of the cat, and vice versa, and even tried to stamp on it's tail so I think we may keep Luca and cats separate for a few years yet.....

We arrived in Lincoln around 6pm last night, after having left home at 10am. It was, as per normal, a long journey. My back side was aching on arrival, but Carole reckons that's due to the fact it's too bony!

Mike and I headed straight to the pub and had a few shandys before coming back for tea - Val had baked apple crumble so I wasn't going to miss that! Luca went down really well at 8pm, and was followed very shortly by his mum and dad. Sitting in a car for 8 hours eating Haribo's is surprisingly tiring!!

I'll update again, hopefully tomorrow - this one is brief as Luca is getting grumpy and we need to get him back to Mikes for a kip before he becomes tantrumus!

**Useless fact of the day - Carole's use of the English language is appalling, and encapsulates such made up words as "tantrumus"**

Tuesday 6th October 2008

I'm a little on edge about entering a blog today, having read mum's item earlier about her piece'n'crisps sandwich I'm not sure I can offer any challenge today....

But try I will, as this will likely be my last entry until next week. We leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow to drive down to see Caroles family in and around Lincoln. I'm a bit funny about using other peoples PC's due to the likelihood I'll break them, so you'll get a wearisomly long email on my return. Unless I find an internet cafe somewhere - do they still exist?

Today has been a wipeout due to the weather, it's been tipping it down all day. However, although there was a number of things we couldn't do, we still managed to get shopping done, receive a huge delivery of material for Isis's new dog pound, ship her to the kennels, pick up my new Champix prescription (though it's just a crutch now, I won't actually take any of the tablets), got to the gym and got all the packing done. Luca, however, has been a nightmare. He had a few paddys today, long and excruciatingly noisy ones. I would have got another video of him done today but he didn't stop gurning long enough.....

I'm also prepped for the journey tomorrow - I've got two audiobooks and two movies (Die Hard 4 and Rocky Balboa) downloaded onto my MP4 so they should keep us going until the travel sickness kicks in!

**Useless fact of the day - since the 1970's there has been around 250 commercial movies made about comic book characters. Paramount plan to release another 10 by the middle of next year alone**

Monday 6th October 2008

I hope you're enjoying the more regular photo/video update I've been providing of late. If you watch the video above you'll notice Luca is starting to become VERY aware of the camera - although unfortunately far less aware of dads orders!

Actually, he's very good when the camera's not about, and does everything I tell him too, just like his mum.

Yeah, right!

I'll try to make this blog as detailed as possible as my next few entries will be brief and illegible due to the broken knuckles which Carole will inflict on me as a consequence of the last two paragraphs. I'm on holiday now for a week, so chill out time can commence. I went to Pittodrie with dad on Saturday, but have to disagree with his opinion that we wuz robbed, having now seen the highlights on TV they clearly show our penalty goal to have been a blatant dive by Lee Miller so it should actually have been worse! On Sunday Carole and I went to see "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" at thje cinema, which was half a great film. The targets were very very cleverly and subtly targeted, but the film lost it's way toward the end and finished swimming in a pile of it's own slush. However, Simon Pegg is always watchable, as is Megan Fox (for alternative reasons) and we were laughing out loud on a number of occasions which is a rare thing for stiff upper lipped Brits such as ourselves.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I'd better mention this now lest I forget. Luca is gaining a dual accent. As he has an English mother and Scottish father (each of whom teach him different words) he's now speaking in a rather peculiar fashion. "Car", for example, is spoken with a plumb in his mouth, while "toast" is pronounced in a similar fashion to a grizzled, bearded Peterhead sea captain.

Back to the movie, I sort of over-filled my pick-n-mix bag as normal, and was forced to eat £5 worth of stale chocolate raisons, rum fudge, chocoloate mice, etc as the movie went on. Well, it's rude not to finish them. This is usually an OK thing to do, but we were going straight to Banchory after to pick up Luca from his grandparents, and knew mum would feed us before we left. As indeed she did, in trough fulls! I can't complain too much, as despite my sore chocolate filled stomach I actually had a couple of servings it was so good! She's actually baked dessert too (rather than bought it which is rare these days!), an apple sponge which I took a serving of too, but Luca decided he liked this too and ate all mine. He then moved around the table eating his grans and uncle Ross's too, so I guess grans baking get's the thumbs up from him!

Today I got Luca ready and waved he and Carole goodbye - my first day off and the house to myself! I headed straight into town to pick up a few things, mainly the new MP3 I needed. I'd done a little research online, and have plumped for a "Creative Zen" due to the sound quality - I think Lucy has something similar too. It's great fun, and sounds streets ahead of my previous ones. I'm presently loading it up for the long drive we'll have on Wednesday. I've downloaded a couple of audio books in particular - "The Men Commandments" by Christian O'Connell and a tour biography by Frank Skinner - which should keep us grinning on the way down. As the MP3 plays videos too I've also stuck a couple of "Family Guy" and "Transformers" episodes on there too which I'll watch when Carole decides to listen to her Stone Roses album again for the 30th time......

I picked Carole and Luca up tonight and let Carole relax while I dealt with the smelly one. He and I also took a trip to the supermarket again - it's his new favourite place. In fact, the photo at the top is of Luca tonight playing with his new cars. He spotted these as we walked down the aisles and insisted on them!

Lastly, try to avoid watching the new(ish) Incredible Hulk film, the one with Edward Norton and Tim Roth. Remember how the first one (the one with Eric Bana) was really awful? Somehow this new one surpassed this......

**Useless fact of the day - Dependant on which magazines you believe, generally the John Travolta movie "Battlefield Earth" from 2001 is regarded (critical reviews wise) as the worst movie of all time. I've seen it, I didn't think it was that bad. It wasn't good but......**

Thursady October 2nd 2008

Good evening. As you'll (hopefully) see above we are now able to upload videos! This one was taken this morning as I got Luca up for his breakfast, he's a cheery wee thing! Next time I'll remember to switch lights on and open the curtains so you don't get such a fuzzy picture!

I had the zombie DVD to return to Blockbuster when I got home tonight, so I ran into the house to pick up the DVD, only to be faced with a slightly hyper and desperate for attention little boy. One of Caroles old pals from South Africa was on the phone to her, so between that, Luca and cooking my tea her multitasking skills were stretched! As such, I decided (nay, he decided) that he should come with me. We ran out into the rain toward the car, with Luca's grin turning into a scowl when he realised we were taking mums car - he prefers mine, Not sure why, but possibly because it's much higher up and gives him a better vantage point? However, he behaved so we drove through the driving rain (is there any other type of rain in Inverurie?) to the video shop then Tesco to pick up odds and sods. He loves Tesco, so many people about and so many items to knock clear off the shelf! He's incredibly eagle eyed, and despite me going at a fair old pace throgh the store (as I was carrying him and my arms fall off after a time....) he noticed his favourite yoghurt amongst the hundreds of other brands and demanded I stop and go back so he could have it! After we'd bought our food he noticed a kid, probably around 14 years old, pulling his hat on and off. Luca immediately decided this was a game and gave the poor kid a start by shouting "boo" at him as we walked past!

He went down well tonight, so we've just been chilling and watching bits and pieces of the live games on TV tonight. There's 4 live games tonight on BBC1, Channel 5, ITV3 and ITV4, and probably more on Sky Sports. However, even for a football nut like me it feels like extreme overkill. The football bubble in the UK will burst, and it could be any time.

It's still more interesting than cricket or basketball though....

Anyway, for those of you who have a memory, I mentioned yesterday I had a new game to play - songs that remind you of people. It was a game we devised at work (it was a very rare quiet time!) and is pretty self explanatory. Nothing too obvious like "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" for Lucy, more a little obtuse such as "Run Like Hell" by Pink Floyd for Kelly, "Cut Your Hair" by Pavement for Ross for or "Spanish Eyes" by Engelbert Humperdinck for Carole. If anyone actually understands what on earth I'm on about then let me hear your suggestions!

**Useless fact of the day - The song "Chew And Hiccup" by Book Oven is regarded as the longest (traditional) pop song ever written, as it goes on for 240 minutes. Must be one hell of a drum solo in that....***

Thursday 2nd October 2008

No videos yet I'm afraid - I neglectfully left the video camera at home today. However, I think I'm clear tonight (not working late, no classes, no gym, not cooking, no bad DVD's etc) so I'll sit down and properly sort this tonight! I actually took a new video of Luca this morning when I got him up. Very cute, and very representative of our morning schedule. He's the anti-Victor Meldrew. Until luchtime.

Kelly, I'll dig that book out tonight and mail it to you. And don't worry about cooking skills, my attempt last night consisted of putting chips in the oven and black pudding on the frying pan for me, and lettuce leaves and a pre-made prawn cocktail in a bowl for Carole. And Carole still thought it was one of the better meals I've made her.....

The black pudding didn't taste so good while watching entrails and intestines being ripped apart and eaten by zombies on TV though.....

I'll be back tonight with a proper blog!

**Useless fact of the day - Apparently the most famous person ever to have come from Truro (where Kelly and Craig live) is a biologist called Henry Bastion. He died in 1915**

Wednesday 1st October 2008 - 3rd entry!

Good evening! Third post of the day, but only photo's for you I'm afraid. My PC is still determined not to upload videos. I'll find a way when there's more time. The photo on the left is from a few months ago, but even then you can see how much Luca is ourgrowing the wolfdog! Poor Isis has now resumed her position at the bottom of the food chain! The second is from the last week or so and shows Luca having his dinner, very likely to have been mere seconds before he decided it was more appopriate to place it in mums ear.....

As stated, I'll have more time another night to sort this video malarkey out. I think the problem is with our internet connection, so I may take the camera to work and plug it into my work PC - no doubt it'll be fine from there.

I was later online tonight than intended (it's 1130pm right now) as I had my smoking class tonight. This evenings was my last session. I'm pleased I've got through it, as I've been good and haven't lapsed at any point. However, it was worrying to figure out tonight that I'm the only one in the class who has actually managed to stop - everyone else has never stopped, or stopped for a period and started again. It's a real case of "glass half full or half empty syndrome" as Carole's really proud that I'm the only one on the course who's done it, yet I'm more concerned with the fact that since everyone else has failed I'll likely fail at some point too.

Negative thoughts aside, I phoned home to say hello to Luca before the class (as I go straight from work and don't get home until after he's in bed). It's a really nice thing to do,as he instantly recognises my voice these days and shouts "dad, dad". Very cute when I say night to him and he replies "night night dad" too.....

Since I knew the poo machine would be sleeping when I got home anyway, I brought home a DVD for Carole and I - "Day Of The Dead". It's a remake of the old George A Romero zombie horror and was better than you'd expect (though hardly Oscar worthy....)

My brain is tired, so my earlier promise of a new "game" will go unfulfilled until tomorrow.

**Useless fact of the day 3 - It's scientifically proven that zombies could exist! The most compelling piece of evidence involves a parasite called "toxoplasmosa gondii". This parasite can only breed inside the intestines of a cat. However, they have to get inside the cat first. As it can only infect rats it actually takes over the rats brain and intentionally makes it scurry across to where cats may be in order to be eaten.....**

Wednesday October 1st 2008 - Part 2

First day of the new blog, and I'm already forced to create my second entry of the day. Mum has already spotted my "useless fact" in my earlier entry and has taken exception! Mum, I meant it disingenuously, I love your blog! First you spend a paragraph telling us about a "Murder She Wrote" plotline, and then you followed it up yesterday by giving us the lyrics (chorus AND verses!) to an Abba song. Genius!

In response to Kelly's blog - it's too early for Christmas pies, it's only December when I eat a box a day, but thank you anyway! Remember to email me your address so I can get that book down to you.

Carole (at last) emailed me her top ten singles of all time, as follows:-

1) Creep - Radiohead
2) Crazy - Knarls Barclay
3) Love Spreads - The Stone Roses
4) Kiss From a Rose - Seal
5) Layla - Eric Clapton
6) Blood Brother - The Mission
7) She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
8) Free Bird - Lynard Synard
9) Riders on the Storm - The Doors
10) Down in a Tube Station at Midnight - The Jam
10a) Christine - Souxsie & The Banchees

I'm shocked she didn't list "Luca" by Suzanne Vega, but I'm sure she'll realise her mistake of ommission upon reading this! She's also told me to mention that she has (at last) allowed me a shot of her new BMW, which was great fun. I'll neglect to mention that I forgot there was a 6th gear until I got home......

I need recommendations - my cheap MP3 has started to die on me (the sound is deteriorating and it doesn't switch on every time now) so I need to search for a new one. However, I need to keep costs down so can anyone recommend a cheap MP3, but with good sound quality? I hear Creative Zen are really good for sound? Don't fancy the slightly tinny noise of an Ipod (and couldn't afford one anyway!), but only need around 2GB.

And yes, that's another old photo of Luca! Last years Aboyne games if I remember correctly.

I've devised a great game which I'll play on tonight's blog....

**Useless fact of the day 2 - The name "Luca" means "Man From Lucania" and was the 629th most popular boys name in the UK last year**

Wednesday October 1st 2008

Hello, good morning, welcome to Luca's new blog. Dad very kindly set this new blog address up for me after my pitiful attempts to master a basic PC. The main advantage to this new blog is that I'll now be able to post far more pictures and videos such as this old one. From tonight I'll post new ones, but this is one of the few I have access to from work! My old blog will remain active (http://www.freewebs.com/lucastewart/blog.htm) however, just in case you ever want to view the old updates.

We had a quiet night last night, and just curled up in front of the TV to watch the live Manchester Utd game. They're Carole's team so I suppose I should take her to Old Trafford. Someday.... I didn't see much of Luca as he went to bed pretty sharply last night, though consequently it meant we heard him from early this morning. From 6am onwards all we could hear was "la la la la, nananana nananana nanana nanana, row row row, dad, boo". It's Carole's day off but she's not had any kind of lie in today!

One of Caroles workmates (who she "affectionately" calls "Big Gay Guthrie") is coming round today to check out the back garden. He's a handyman in his spare time, so he's going to put up our dog pound in the area of garden I cleared a week or two ago. We've lived in Inverurie around a year now so we've been a bit slow in getting this done, despite the constant hoovering of Isis' dog hairs we're faced with with her mooching around the house all day! Also, she's damaged one of the stair guards while we've been out too, so this is becoming a necessity rather than a choice.

I'll be posting a second entry tonight when I get home with some videos and pictures.

**Useless fact of the day - It is approximated that, as of 2008, there are currently over 50 million blogs posted on the worldwide web. Most, however, are not of the same quality as mums**