It's Monday, therefore I'm feeling blue. Not quite as prevalent as "I think, therefore I am" but it's as poetic as I'm able to get at 1pm on a wintry Monday afternoon.
And wintry it most certainly is. My usual thirty minute commute to the office almost trebled this morning - To one hour and fifteen minuted to be precise. We've had a number of snow flurries these past few days, with a relatively heavy storm hitting as we slept last night which predictably left us with chaos on the roads.
It was still snowing this morning as I ran the fart monsters out for their walk to the park. Unlike my shivering self they love the snow greatly, with Sima in particular being greatly excited as she bounces through the snow drifts like a demented spring bunny.
Carole and I are just off the back of enjoying/enduring a Luca free weekend. We had my works Christmas party on Saturday night which necessitated a night for Luca with his Grandparents. Not a problem for him, he loves it there. His Granny keenly collected him from our house at noon on Saturday, and Luca and I watched her car arrive in the street from our living room window.
"Look Luca, there's Granny Jo's car"
"Granny Jo, Granny Jo! We go in the car now?"
"Yes, you're going in Granny's car"
"Not Daddy's car?"
"Not Daddy's car, no"
"Daddy coming too?"
"No, I'm staying here. You're going in Granny Jo's car and going to Granny's house"
"And see Granda and Unc Ross?"
"Yes, you'll see them too"
"I like Granny Jo's house. Give me a jelly sweetie now please Daddy. And chocolate" Huge smile.
I didn't give him any sweeties or chocolate. I kept them and ate them after he left. They were good.
Carole and I - guiltily - enjoyed the few hours of peace Luca's absence gave us before we left for the party. In fact, as the snow tumbled down outside we briefly considered not going but come 6pm we were in the car edging steadily toward Aberdeen.
The party - at the Hilton Treetops Hotel - was worth making the effort to attend though. A dressy affair, the food was good (apart from the mushroom soup, uuurrrggghhhh) and alcohol endless. An abiding memory would be watching a colleagues partner proudly showing off his cartoon character tattoo on his arm - with his ex-wife's name inked underneath. Oops......
Sunday was a little more sedate. Carole was bouncing first thing, in complete contrast to my grey faced "I'm so ill, I'm never drinking again" persona. She eventually convinced me to jump in the passenger seat of her car at noon and we made tracks back toward Aberdeen to collect my car. After a brief sojourn at the shops I hopped into my iced over motor and drove steadily toward Banchory to collect Luca while Carole returned to Inverurie to prepare my hangover dinner.
Luca was in the middle of his afternoon kip when I arrived, which gratifyingly gave me the opportunity to stop and shakily hold a hot cup of coffee. Mum had made pancakes too which were delicious. The last time I remember Mum making pancakes was during Kelly's hippy faze. How long ago was that? 15, 16 years? Back then Kelly used to buy clothes only from second hand shops and had Led Zeppelin on permanent rotation on the stereo. And she had Steve too. Does everyone remember Steve?
Nostalgia eh?
Anyway, I digress (do I overuse that word?). I eventually decided the time was right to wake the little man. Luca had other ideas however. He gave me a half grin as I lay beside him before gently slapping my face and closing his eyes again. As I was still a little dozy too I decided to close my eyes as well.
Half an hour passed before Mum came up to find us snoring beside one another in bed.
Even at this point Luca was distinctly unimpressed with being awoken and it took quite some time for him to accept no longer being in bed. Eventually though a combination of cuddles and sausages dipped in red and brown sauce (in that order) woke him sufficiently for him to accept being bundled into the back of his Dad's car to begin the ginger journey home.
His Mum got to play with him briefly before he went to bed, at which point Carole and I settled down to insurmountable amounts of soup, chocolate and ice cream. Perfect! Our evening movie of choice ("The Holiday") was less so however and easily wins the award for the most predictable, saccharine load of old smelly socks I've seen since "Rod, Jane and Freddie's Christmas Musical Adventure" circa 1981.
**Useless fact of the day - "Of all animals, the boy is the most unmanageable" (famous quote by Plato)**
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