Photo's? Pah, who needs them?

A photo-less blog today. No, it's ok, please come back. I promise to keep this brief, and you can skim over the boring bits. By using this method I finished the last Dan Brown novel in 37 seconds.

I wish I'd had my camera with me this morning however. With the weather slowly clearing I drove through to picturesque Scolty Hill this morning with Yoda to run the hill and surrounding forest walks. Despite the excess of snow still covering the higher sections we had a great time, with Yoda's little legs (on only her 2nd ever run) keeping pace admirably.

An hour in, however, we noticed a manically waving hand in the distance. Edging closer we quickly realised who it belonged to - Dad! It transpires he'd had a similar inclination to visit the hill for a hike. With it being my first visit in years, and Dad's first visit of 2013 the coincidental nature of our decision to visit the same place on the same day, at almost the same time quite uncanny.

We spent the next couple of hours exploring the forest walks together and somehow briefly getting hopelessly lost, but I really enjoyed the time together. Despite my knees (in running shorts remember now at walking pace) turning a little blue toward the end.

Following an après walk coffee at Ross' former workplace (Tease), I drove Dad home, passing Mum as she approached the street having come from coffee with the girls. Following another coffee at Arbor Court I realised this was the first time I'd seen Mum without Luca's presence in memory. Having a conversation with her without continual interruption was my second unique experience of the day.

Did you skip over the past few paragraphs? Should I avoid mentioning football to avoid you skipping this one too? Only after I mention Aberdeen's terrific victory yesterday and Partick Thistle going 4 points clear at the top of the First Division. 'Mon the Jags!

Luca and Carole arrived home from the timeshare in Grantham on Thursday night, where they'd spent much of the last week with Liz and (latterly) Jane and Max too. A 5 star luxury retreat by all accounts, which of course it was going to be when I wasn't able to get the time off work. Hey, wait a minute, Carole sent me photo's of it. Here's Luca in the jacuzzi:-





What did I do all week while they were gone? As Depeche Mode famously declared, "Enjoy The Silence". Aside from running the Garioch 10k (it was soooooo cold) all I did was work, clean and walk the dogs. It was marvellous. Isis and I even made up. Our love/hate relationship has swung slightly toward the former for now.

I'm rambling now, of course, so I'll finish up now and put Luca to bed. But only after we share one last Easter Egg. Of course.

**Useless fact of the day - The UK has the seventh highest consumption of chocolate in the world**

He'll find a way to ruin it

Hot off the press - Luca is going to be the Page Boy at (my cousin) Kieran's wedding later this year. He'll be alongside a Flower Girl, a young Nairn based relative of bride Julie.

It was so nice to get the call and offer from Kieran, and now begins an intensive eight month training routine with Luca. My intention is to train him to do what he's told in order to avoid ruining an entire wedding. What's the odds?

Please excuse the typos and grammatical errors tonight. I have the radio on in the background as Noel Gallagher (former Oasis songwriter/guitarist) is appearing on Russell Brands show on XFM. Both individuals walk that fine line between hugely witty and moronic, but as much as I was looking forward to it they're both rather edging toward the latter.

Referring to moronic, I'm also leaning toward the latter myself. I was sitting on the toilet earlier reading a book (is there any better place?) and reached the end of the page. It took me three attempts at "swiping" the page before physically turning it. I'm so used to reading books digitally these days I'm losing my familiarity with actual hard copy paper. The realisation sent a terrifyingly cold shiver down my spine. It was either that or I'd just leaned back against the flush handle.

I must admit the book was actually a comic. A minor point, but important nonetheless as my maturity is at stake here.

Our small dog is sulking with me today. I invariably get rather lonely when I go out running, so last night Yoda accompanied me. Even at a reduced pace and distance the heroic pup still struggled somewhat. Much like myself, however, will she improve from "atrocious" to "adequate" in time? Or will those stumpy little legs simply get stumpier?

My next run is Sunday, the local Garioch 10k. However, we have snow forecast all week this week so I'm surmising the fun factor may be lacking. My overtly "flamboyant" sleeveless running shirt may remain at home this time.

Harvey remains a physiological enigma. One good day followed by another as bad as the good days are good. Carole struggles hugely with this, quite unsurprisingly, and it's become an unfortunate situation cruel for all involved. Quiet support is all that can be provided.

Unlike the rather un-quiet new addition to our driveway, Carole's new BMW 4x4. Very pretty it is, and far more appropriate to our surroundings than the lower, sportier Honda. And I'm getting an early shot of it! Carole is taking my car to the garage tomorrow, having exchanged wing mirror kisses with another car when borrowing the beast last week.

My gaffer taped wing mirror may not have impressed my new employers. Yes, I'm now an employee of Pentagon Freight. How's it been? Different. More leisurely, with a different structure and ethos to ASCO. How will this fit in with my personality? Time will tell.

Ooh, I think I have some photo's:-




I baked a cake for Luca, which he adorned with a coating of marshmallows. All good until he actually bit into it and facially demonstrated his disdain for the taste of my creation. How the hell did I get a chocolate cake wrong? Even the worst chocolate cake is still a bloody chocolate cake.




Luca also received a new keyboard from a friend this week. This was the 5th photo I took, and the only one where I convinced him to smile with teeth. I don't know why he has a problem flashing his pearly whites but he does.




And, least interestingly, my mud coated trainers after last nights run with Yoda. Or is this just mud with a bit of shoe underneath? Unless you're Carole or my Mum and Dad you'll (again) be delighted you don't live here and need to endure the endlessly shitty weather with which the North East of Scotland continually treats us.

The next blog entry will be on Wednesday night, when I'll provide a number of photos of my Mum on her imminent birthday. Will there be cake? With my skills she'll be praying to God (and anyone else who may be listening) that our local Tesco runs out of flour between now and then.

**Useless fact of the day - The most expensive wedding cake in history cost $30 million dollars**

Sore feet, sore throats

Luca is off school today on a "sickie". He's much better than yesterday (where he shivered and snoozed through the whole day) but is still coughing several times a minute.





Rotten photo above, but his colour is coming back and he's a little more chatty now. Although is that a good thing?

I bailed out of our illness infected house yesterday, destined for a 10k race in Nairn (near Inverness). The weather was surprisingly nice (was that really sunshine we witnessed?) and I posted a personal best time too. Conversely, however, I was still a little disappointed having been training at faster paces recently. Que sera sera.

Having received many chides for the long sleeve tips I invariably wear to events, I at last addressed this. Deciding on the extremist opposite approach, I chose a sleeveless top to accentuate my inner gay man. Carole was appalled when she viewed pictures from the race, see link below:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gurnnurn/8525548672/in/set-72157632907064900/lightbox/

There'll be more to report later, but right now Luca in insisting I watch the movie "Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus" with him. Yes, this is a real film. But I'm. Not expecting Citizen Kane.

**Useless fact of the day - The largest octopus ever discovered was (only) 4 metres long**

Bleeuurrgh

Cordialements from a house infested with bugs. Luca's raking cough provides the background to today's blog, typed by my sweaty, shaky hands.




Tyler, Luca's best pal, stayed with us overnight last night. It was the first time they'd seen one another since he and his Mum moved to Aberdeen at Christmas. Luca has been so excited this week, his sense of anticipation growing daily. Yesterday morning, an hour before Tyler was due to arrive, the young shaggy head quietly approached me in the kitchen, took my hand and whispered "I just like him so much, y'know".

The timing stunk though. I'd arranged to meet a couple of old footballing buddies in town for a few afternoon shandies, while Carole was going to a gig with one of her friends in the evening (her friends son is in a band - youth is long behind us....) so time was tight.

Allied to this, of course, is the flu-ey bug hanging around. Carole sounded like a grizzly bear all week, which predictably has eventually caught up with Luca and I. The 6 year old is certainly suffering the most however. I became very popular with the boys last night when insisting they sleep in separate bedrooms. However, the necessity of that decision was demonstrated only ten minutes after they'd gone to bed as the perma-coughing Luca began throwing up bile in bed. I spent most of the next few hours with him, watching him evacuate some gloriously coloured substances from his stomach.

He's still rasping and raking this morning, but at least his temperatures down a little. However, the plan for Tyler's dad to take both to the swimming pool today will obviously, but sadly, have to be postponed for another week.

I'm struggling rather though. The necessity of my early arrival home from the pub yesterday now seems a blessing in disguise, as a hangover allied to this bug would be a real Sunday treat. Rather idiotically however (well, this is me) I'll still be accompanying a friend to Nairn later this morning for another 10K race (see race link http://www.nairnroadrunners.co.uk/4964/index.html). I'm current analysing the course to see which section would be most comfortable to curl up at the side of the road and go for a shivery, sniffly nap.

**Useless fact of the day - The flu has been around a long time, with Hippocrates having written of a similarly described affliction**