A little delay

My good intentions having been overtaken by the realities of a working life, I return today with more under explained yet over exaggerated tales from an arctic-like icy Inverurie.




Rather a vintage picture first (similar to Luca's Dad), we begin with an image taken a few weeks back after returning home from the New Year Lumphanan race. The funny camera angle probably replicates what Carole see's when we wake her in the morning. Based on this I'm not surprised she normally dives back under the covers.




Another photo of a sleeping Luca, with the slightly terrifying Rod Hull-esque emu puppet beside him. At least we can explain the source of his nightmares to his psychiatrist in a few years.




And now surrounded by his favourite cuddly toys. The relatives who gifted them to our young chap have impeccable taste.




Child Services' visit is imminent after placing my son atop a high work surface in socks simply for photographic gratification.




For those with non-bifocal corrected eyesight, you may be able to spot the shark tattoo on the boys arm. It's a permanent one, obviously.

On the subject of Luca, he's presented a good few more challenges lately. Primary has been using his ever more eloquently thought out arguments to battle his Mum. He suckers her into it every time, and my quest over the coming weeks is to catch one of these contests on video - keep an eye on the blog, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Finally, no blog can end without a footballing update. Two more goals yesterday means the descent toward bankruptcy for Grandad Mike gains momentum.

**Useless fact of the day - Lionel Messi holds the world goal scoring record, with 73 goals in a year. Luca currently has 5 goals in 3 weeks. Getting there**

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Snowy Saturday

While Carole and Luca currently galumphing around a snow and mud ridden farm, I'm taking the slightly more sensible option of keeping my toes un-frostbitten inside a perfectly centrally heated house. The memory of Luca's morning football remains fresh and sweet (more on that further down), but first we start in Macduff.

 

 

 

Yes, that windy Northern coastal town received few mentions outside it's own border, but today's the exception. Luca is pictured above in front of it's (painfully cold) coastline, ready for a visit inside the nearby aquarium. Yes, his fish fascination continues unabated.

 

 

Inside now (it took us a good 15 minutes to regain the feeling in our fingers), a slightly worryingly wide eyed child poses in front of a fish. If he was here I'd ask him what type of fish it was. He's extremely knowledgeable on the subject, and life right now is a seemingly never ending audition for a future job on the "Discovery" channel.

There were Wolf Fish inside this tank - I actually remember something! (praise the lord). I only recall as Luca's description of it's whiskers and mouth while we were there were so illuminating. 6 years old and he's educating me.

Slightly less appealing to the kiddie in the half-mast trousers (we've bought him new trousers since) was the beach. "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" doesn't even begin the describe how unpleasant this was.

But back to the football, as this directly affects Grandad Mike's wallet. Luca joined a new football training club last week - in Kintore, so significantly closer to home than last years class. It's been interesting to see the contrast in training techniques between this class and the previous he attended.

His old class has always had an extremely strong emphasis on technical skills, and concentrated very little on speed, strength or competitiveness. His new class, however, is a complete contrast and is almost the footballing equivalent of "Lord Of The Flies". Allied to this, with most of Luca's new compatriots being older and bigger than him (up to 8 years old) his initial nervousness was entirely understandable.

However, he adapted very quickly and very well. Being the new kid (and the smallest too) he spent much of his first session on the periphery of things. However, during the first competitive test he dribbled past three opponents before thumping the ball into the net. Suddenly his confidence returned, and he gained the respect of his peers in the same instance.

His second session, earlier this morning, brought him two more goals in the game at the end, and he literally strutted out the hall at the end. Had he been a peacock his quill feathers would have exploded through the roof.

On the subject of physicality, Carole has discovered a local running club for kids which (if this damned snow ever clears) will be Luca's next activity. Even taking into account my bluster and blindness toward Luca's weaknesses (you mean he's NOT perfect?) his speed is impressive, and he'd run all day given the chance. It'll be interesting to see whether or not partaking in the activity on a more organised basis will suit him.

It sure as heck isn't suiting me right now. I'm supposed to compete in a X Country 10K challenge tomorrow, but the double whammy of Aberdeenshires white out and the drunken night out I have planned this evening may rather hinder this plan.

Back to Luca, it transpires he's a single man again. Apparently he and his girlfriend Sky are splittsville again. They've been dating on and off since they were two years old (am I really typing this?), but this is the second time she's dumped him for another man. This time the lucky beneficiary is a classmate by the name of Ben. His answer to the question of whether he wanted a new girlfriend? "Oh yes"

Jesus wept.

**Useless fact of the day - Around 12 per cent of the Earth's land surface is covered in permanent snow and ice**

Focus

Disclaimer first, being that Luca is currently using me as a makeshift (and somewhat gangly) climbing frame even while I type. With this, I'm surmising that many sections of today's post will make little sense, or at the very least be littered with typo's. 

Now that my excuses are set in concrete, we can continue with the usual nonsense in arial lower case. Above is a scene seemingly ripped directly from "20000 Leagues Under The Sea". Obviously Kirk Douglas has aged well, as a cherubic 6 year old grins from within his air filled chamber. In reality, this was the first picture taken during our midweek trip to Deep Sea World, located under the Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh.

As anyone who's been caught in the tractor beam of his incessant chattering lately can verify, Luca has an absolute obsession with our undersea world. I can't quite recall when his interest was first piqued (though it was encouraged greatly by his visit to Granda Ian's fish factory a year or so ago) but over the past several months he's become more and more fascinated. He even frequently chooses to watch the Discovery Channels on TV over watching cartoons when we have the television on now. Above is a picture of Luca in the undersea tunnels. The grin was permanent.

One of the sharks as it swam overhead, one of the many times I though Luca would meltdown in utter excitement.

 "Luca, stand still for one second so I can take a picture of you"
 "But Dad, look at that and that and that and that and........"

A decent variety of creatures were present, including a set of seals. The one pictured approached the fence where Luca stood and was no more than a foot from him for a few moments. Luca's conclusion? "He doesn't smell very nice"

On our way out, predictably with toy tat from the gift shop in tow. The overpriced plastic nonsense was worth the money for that permanent grin however.

Still on the fishy related theme, the picture above was taken earlier this afternoon in Aberdeen's Maritime Museum. I've lost count of the number of times he's begged to be taken here now, with the picture above showing his (strangely) favourite bit - an old poster showing the different fishes native to our shores. I wonder if my Dad has anything similar at his factories............

But that's the fun over. As of tomorrow both myself and Carole return to work (and Luca to school) after the Christmas/New Year break. A bleakly depressing prospect. Perhaps I've allowed myself to become too sedentary during the period but I'm struggling to motivate myself to return tomorrow. I will of course, as everyone feels like this from time to time but I'm struggling to see a real point in what I do for a living. Is this the onset of middle age depression?

My questioning was exacerbated on Friday when I bumped into an ex colleague at a race. He works for Scottish Athletics these days, having taken the brave jump from our industry. He'd been sacked from a few companies in the logistical game (turnover in our industry is exceptionally high) and eventually came to the conclusion that he shouldn't bother soldiering from company to company, but instead make the leap into doing something he actually wanted to so instead. I envy him.

On the subject of the run, it was one of 3 races in 4 days I entered last week - a 10K, then a 3K, then a 5K. Great fun jumping between the distances, I really enjoyed it. I'd never ran a 3K before, which essentially is a sprint and really good stuff. The 5K was terrific too, and I obliterated my PB in the process. My favourite, however, was the 10K. Carole and Luca had come along to watch me finish, and I heard a small voice screaming "Dad, Dad" from the crowd with just under 1K to go to the finish line. Instinctively I ran off course to locate the young one, and re-entered the race hand-in-hand with Luca. Unbelievably (albeit at a slow pace) he managed to run non-stop with me to the finish line. It was lovely, I was very proud of him.

To finish, in horse related news, we'll know in the next week or so whether any (more) relapses are likely as Harvey comes off the drugs. The likelihood and best courses of action are well discussed, but for now it's just a matter of waiting.

**Useless fact of the day - In 1954's "20000 Leagues Under The Sea", The film opens on what purports to be a copy of Jules Verne's original novel. The book is turned to Chapter One, which is titled "Alarming Rumours!" The actual title to Chapter One in Verne's novel is "A Shifting Reef."**