Archives: attic

Up in the attic… It kinda dawned on me yesterday that it’s quite an ‘important’ landmark in the house – us moving up there. It’s something we’ve been working toward for quite a while, & to actually have made it… It’s… well, it’s satisfying. It’s not like I’ve finished work up there though… & there are not a dozen other things I need to do… Oh, stop tainting the moment, Paul.
Eve was doing well with her potty training. She’s been a bit tired & certainly run down (too excited to go to sleep & up too early in the morning). Her concentration is not what it should be & she’s had more than her fair share of ‘accidents’ & has been, on occasion, plain wilful. Louise has started a ‘star system, & by yesterday evening she was up to 10 out of 12 for a balloon… but then 9 again by bedtime. Jack also has a vested interest – Eve could not have a balloon & Jack not – so they will both have one. Jack has tried to be encouraging as well.
Jack was in a stroppy mood yesterday. A few curt sulking sessions. He was playing with his friend Jessie – with the ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ collection & some dispute arose about the role of their respective trains. Jessie was not happy with what Jack wanted to do & Jack was probably unwilling to back down (this is not an argument – this is just a, “& then my train” discussion). Jessie got upset by this & as he does, just went off in a huff. Jack doesn’t understand this. Jessie then goes all “not my friend” which Jack also doesn’t like, so he came back up the hill with his forehead laid on the steering bar of his scooter; all forlorn. Not answering “What’s the matter queries & being jolly surly. He eventually relented to a cuddle, but was still only communicating in “Nuuurks” (as Eve does).

When the kids were asleep last night, we moved bedrooms. Thankfully it was not a noisy affair. We’ve now got a relaxingly large room to sleep in instead of a room that is only just bigger than the bed (well – it is a king size). It’s funny – the bed seemed bigger…
We went to Louise’s sister’s yesterday. Adventurously setting off to Leeds to meet them. It all worked rather well getting there (what with being able to set off early as the kids were up early). They took us to their house once we met up & the kids enjoyed themselves. Jude fell asleep on me (for about the 3rd time that day) & I managed to absorb more & more sleepiness to the point where I also sat down with him resting on me & fell asleep… That was a bit weird, & I suspect a bit rude… or at least bad etiquette. No one seemed to mind though. Amazingly the kids did not try to wake us. Back home & the day seems over far too quickly.
Bah
Louise said this morning, as I left how pleased she was with the house again. Actually moving upstairs has made the house seem bigger.

One of those mornings where my mind was really convinced I was still n bed, but I was actually getting up, & doing those routine ‘getting up’ things.
I could do with some more sleep, but then, I always say that… I like sleep… I never have enough. Before I worked, I slept a lot more & revelled in the waking up dreaming state… which is quite impossible nowadays.

When I got home yesterday the house was empty…. No Louise or kids… I thought that perhaps they had gone shopping… I thought about joining them for a bit, then thought I had better get on with some work! The carpets are coming, the carpets are coming! So, in preparation for Friday I cleared just about as much as I could from the floor space in the attic area. The cupboards of the eve’s are now stuffed to the gills, but all the important heavy things are away. The wardrobe is still out, but that can be easily picked up & moved (it’s a kind of tent construction thing – quite funky). I even remembered to call the carpet cleaning people re the stairs which still have much ingrained dust from when they were doing the building work up there. We might actually be up there next week! Walls are not painted, paint on the beams is not striped, but hey… we can work on that!

Oh they’re my favourite trains, are those ones – the old ones than don’t even have a drop down table on the back of the seat in front for you to use & swing around on suspension springs better suited to slinkeys. Thankfully today, we have a better train.
Now, I can’t remember a jot of what’s been doing. My brain is empty this morning. I will try to tease some glimmer of though like a tortoise being tempted out of a shell with a nice bit of crisp lettuce.
The carpets are due this Friday – they are coming to fit them! Ah, that just reminds me of something else I forgot – to get call the people we want to clean the stair carpet.
Must … try…. to…. remember….
um
This will be good though as we will be able to move into the attic space even though I have not completed lots & lots of things. This is immaterial – we will be up there! Woo! I will paint strip, paint & scowl at the damp plaster that still seems to refuse to dry out. Perhaps the presence of people up there will help… I dunno. Scare it away with our contempt of it or something?

How did the weekend go? Hmmm – well at some point Jack was in angry defiance mood. I suspect this was Friday. That evening he was very mad with me for stopping his shower & we were in a stand off situation. He angry with me & me, as usual, not backing down. He’s still in the bath – sitting down & reusing to get out. This could have continued a while, but fortunately Jude was still awake & Louise needed to get something. She handed him to me & Jude smiles at Jack & Jack just melts. He loves his brother. Jack plays up for Jude & I melt. I love my kids.

We went to Bradford on Saturday. Another ‘out of the blue’ “lets go to…” from Louise. I like these – unplanned & haphazard. Can’t really recall what we did. No real impact on memory. I wonder if we did anything that might impress itself on Jack & Eve’s memories? Ah – we met one of the teaching assistants that were attending to Jack’s class on the way home. She’s nice – she has a family of her own, but she stopped for a chat with Jack. Jack likes to engage people.
Sunday – we -um- what was it?
We did a little tidying & sorting – moving a cluttered shelf of toys from the front room to the back. The front room carpet is also due a ‘replace’.
Oh – & what else we’ve gorn & done? Louise, I suspect, would not like me reporting this, as it’s our private lives – but this journal thing documents our lives (kinda). We have moved our mortgage to the (hateful*) Halifax. In doing so we keep our outgoings about the same & my personal cover is better, & we have a little money for home improvements!
(* I say this out of knee jerk on long dissipated chagrin at being manoeuvred out of a job I quite enjoyed)

No typing yesterday as I was too wet – I was dripping & the keyboard is not waterproof. Was dipping today as well – but I seem to have stopped dripping now.
Back into the attic last night – hopefully the start of a better routine. Paint stripping again – the nasty layers of white gloss off the beams – but there are a few jobs that need doing. I have to concentrate & focus better. Louise said last night that she feels I’m more positive at the moment – hinting that I might have been in a rut of recent… Perhaps I have? Jack did not sleep so well – kept calling out when he roused for someone to visit him. Staggered off a couple of times in a very sleepy fashion, but did not get in his bed – which is what I suspect he wanted. I blame this for my grogginess this morning.
Interestingly on Wednesday night he was in the bath on his own for a good while – I was reading to Eve while Louise fed Jude, & then Louise & I were chatting… Jack was chuntering away to himself & I eventually investigated. He was acting out a little tableau with lego brick & cars as characters (they are imported unofficial bath toys). He was telling tales of woe – a sombre voice describing how ‘they all died – there was no food, only drink’ & things like that – then a few sobs & so forth. The sobs are what might have got my attention in the 1st place as I checked on him – he smiled sweetly & said that he was not really sad. When he came to get out of the bath & Louise had gone downstairs he burst into despairing tears. Louise came up & we had quite a performance – although it was pretty obvious he was ‘enlarging’ his emotions… hmmm….

We disappointed Jack last night. He was keen to go to the park again & we had basically said, yes, OK… but then he went off to play with Jessie, & came back half an hour later & we said it was all too late now. He howled at the injustice of it all. He had not heard the warning not to go out as we were due to go. Eve was even more tired than yesterday, so it would have been far too much for her. She is back to whingeing a lot at the moment. Was doing it at 05:00 this morning (nyyyuuurg). It drives Louise a little to distraction. It’s probably all to do with teething.
They came to measure up for fitting carpets yesterday – the attic & the front room. We will get a quote in the next couple of days… & I imagine that we’ll take it (even though it will be more than we want it to be). It will be most pleasant to actually have the carpet in the attic (after all this time). The walls may not be painted, but it’s time we were thinking of moving up there. Didn’t manage any painting last night, as Jack was not keen to go to sleep. I went up to convince him asleep, & ended up asleep myself. Louise woke me at 10 to watch some of the wonderful inanity of Big Brother, & then… to….
…bed

Another torturous journey back home from picking Jack up. A lot of, “No, don’t do that!” & “Stop that!” He refuses to listen to instruction at the moment & the last straw was his messing about with the rock-salt/grit in the salt bin at the top of the stairs from Harley to Ryod Street. I grabbed him by the back collar & frog marched him home. He was forced to sit inside for 10 minutes. Eve pottered along behind us like there was nothing unusual about me forcing a crying older brother home.
He gets over things very quickly. Oh, & we had another run in later on. He drew on Eve’s hand with a felt tip pen & then denied it. It was plainly obvious that he had. He looked me in the eye & said that he had not, but he was lying, he smirked & leant forward as he looked me in the eye. I took the pen off him for lying, not for drawing on Eve’s hand… He burst into tears. Louise was a bit mad at me for that as she says she would have let that slip, as she thinks he knows that we know he is lying. I do not like lying at all (probably because I’ve never been any good at it). I am not completely convinced this level of complicity exists, but it is the first time he has lied to me like that, & I wanted to ensure that I make it clear that I do not accept such things. I guess I’m much more absolute than Louise. He got the pen back quite quickly as he said that he would be good. He managed to write a nice list of names of name of people to invite to his birthday party.
The kids went off to sleep at a proper time. It’s funny how when they do that you feel so much more enthusiastic about the evening. I managed to get a bit of painting done in the attic & some important clearing up. Small but useful progress.

Was going to do some attic painting last night – but it was 9:30 before I surfaced from the kids room (urg). They were not for sleeping last night. Eve ended up in Jack’s bed & Jack ended up in Eve’s bed. It might have been a coming storm that did it. As I Louise nudged me awake (I’d fallen asleep with them as usual) it was bucketing down outside. You could hear the water sloshing down the back street. It’s difficult to be really certain, but it seems like the attic wall is not getting any wetter – the leak may be cured! I just wish it would actually dry out – then we’d be sure.
Jack called just the once in the night, but I think that was more because he had kicked off the cover & needed it back. He went straight back to sleep.
A week today we’ll hopefully be headed off on holiday.

Everyone was out when I got home yesterday. They’d all gone to Safeway & the park (or both?). I ran about getting a few jobs done – moving stuff about in the attic so that I could get to more skirting board & paint it… Sanding the wall I had put varnish on so that it could be painted, clearing up the mud around Jack’s excavation in the front garden – stuff like that.
Also nipped off with a requested chat with neighbour Nick as he was thinking of buying some new stuff for his mac. Waffled a bit, but I don’t think I gave him any misinformation.
Was Jack any better behaved yesterday? Well… not out & out aiming to be naughty when he was around me, but he was being cheeky & giving some back chat. It was just as well I was not at Safeway cafe with them as he apparently was pinching all the milk portions (for coffee & tea) & drinking them. Louise said that he got through quite a lot That would have wound me up terribly – it annoys me when he does that. Having said that… I have to admit that if I have a plate of chips there I will have an obscene amount of mayonnaise with them. I get through quite a pile of little sachets, so that’s me abusing the system as well.

Have proper bags under my eyes again this morning. Up to late doing a spot of decorating with Louise.
Well – Jude does not have a cough in his chest – although he sounds wheezy, it’s all ‘in the head’. Eve does not have a heart murmur, but there is no diagnosis as yet as to why she seems to go a little blue-lipped occasionally. The Dr commented that she had dark rings on her eyes – which is something we hadn’t really noticed. She wants to give her a blood test, but being new to the practice (apparently) she wants to check with the health visitor & a pediatrician 1st (I think that’s what Louise said). She took Louise seriously, which was good – Louise did not feel that she was facing skepticism over what we were saying, perhaps because the Health Visitor had assured the Dr that we were not wastrels? We’ve also been given direction if Eve seems to do the same again. All in all a positive step forward.
Everyone was in the park when I got home – which was a bit weird. I didn’t know where anyone was, but I suspected, & went looking. When we got back Jack pestered & pestered to have the stabalisers taken off his bike. I wonder what put it in his head? I was not willing to start with as the brake is in an awful position for him to be able to effectively use it. Andy – our good neighbour adjusted it for us (so now I know how to). Now all I need is a spanner that fits that bolt. Jack woke before I left for work again this morning. The 1st thing he asked was whether I would take the stabalisers off today…