Archives: decorating

Moved the kids into their ‘new’ bedroom last night & squeezed ourselves into the old. Our bed actually fitted, which was a relief. It all got a bit fraught though as one of Jacks friends – Jessie – who lives on the adjacent street came by, & wanted to come in just as we were moving things. Jack wanted him to come in, but we said no. We said that he could go out to play if he wanted, but he didn’t want to… thus a standoff of momentous proportions began. He drove us absolutely nutty shouting through windows for Jessie & Jessie hung around quite a lot in the belief that he might actually get into the house. No chance – if we were moving furniture, we did not want the grief of ensuring someone else’s kid gets into no bother. All very fraught, & demoralising. Jack was persistent beyond belief. He made Louise cry & thus distress Eve greatly as well. He made me really mad when Louise had had to just get away from him – he still persisted. He cried until he made himself sick. I was so mad that my response was to put him in the bath – silly boy

Still – they are in the new room now…

A cat drawn before tea time (by Jack).

Weird… I actually finished our/to be the kid’s room last night. The walls are all now painted – 2 walls pistachio & 2 walls varnished lining paper. I might get a couple of days rest while I recoup & maybe sort out a few bits & bobs; reviews & alike.

We should be able to sleep back upstairs again. Louise & I have had to resort to the sofa bed, as it’s been a bit smelly. The kids have not been too put out by this – perhaps a little confused, but they liked ligging on it in the mornings before it got put away.

Do I have a sense of triumph at having finished the room? No, not really; more bemusement. The kids could be in there in a couple of weeks as we are now plotting an expedition to Ikea so that we can get them a bed each. Not sure what other furniture we might need, but we cannot plan for too much at the moment. We will move into their small room while I sort out the decorating of the attic room. A setback up there is the fact that we have leak around the chimney breast again. With all the heavy downpours we’ve had recently a seriously damp patch has appeared. The builders have been called again to have another look at things, but we worry. Louise was talking of having the pot removed & roofed over, but how would that leave us if we wanted to put a fire in? I would like that option to remain. Not that I want a ‘real’ fire – having tended some in my time their a bother in a world of convenience. I do not have the patience to fret over keeping something going & cleaned out like some flipping pet. A mechanical (pet fire) which you switch on & off with gas would be my ideal there. Time may come.

Eve has been a little manic now & then recently. Canniness are still teething. They’ve both been a little over tired of recent due to disrupted sleep – Eve through her teething & Jack as he’s woke a little earlier than he should. They’ve coped well with it though – not really grumpy or anything & still playing together quite well. Jack did get a bit frustrated with his trains last night though, as they would not stay together in a, …uh, train. They are a set not designed for uneven carpets – so they keep coming apart – which makes him howl with frustration.

Eve’s language continues to develop & amuse. Not a good example of her language skills, but; as she woke from her afternoon nap yesterday, she pleaded, “Tooaaasssttt” – to which Louise asked if she would like her to do some toast? “No, crisps!”. Sigh.

A one day weekend… hrumph.

Mind you I did manage to get a lot crammed in on the Sunday. Played with Jack on the Internet & found Spot the Dog in the morning. Louise, Jack & Eve went off to a birthday party in the afternoon & I got on with painting a wall in our/to be their bedroom. I managed the whole wall, although I had my doubts when I was still doing fiddly bits (around the window, behind the radiator with three-quarters of an hour to go. Paint turned out to be too smelly in the room itself, but generally not too bad. The paint was not fully dry, I guess – so Louise & I had to sleep on the sofa bed downstairs. It took me a while to figure out how to get comfortable enough to get to drifting off. Jack was possibly bemused in the night to find an empty bedroom. May go through the whole thing again tonight – as I might try to paint another wall as well.

Getting home late on Saturday was weird. I don’t think I’ve ever been that late home. I guess it doesn’t help when the planned train is cancelled, but that was only a matter of half an hour. Louise & the kids had a good day, by reports. They met Louise’s mum & her sister (Louise’s aunt) in Hebden & had a good pottering day. Louise says that she was not going to let anything worry her & managed it. The kids were delightful, holding Alice’s hand & so on. Charming & loving. They had a good time at the party on Saturday as well. Louise says that Eve was especially extrovert. They all played pass the parcel & suchlike. We came home whistles blaring & still with the excitement of party in the kids. They were a little boisterous & tired: wanting the cake & chocolate left in their party bags. Got a little frayed & made a bit of a mess. We opted for an early bath for them & Jack was asleep before the 2nd Roger Hargreeves Timbuctoo book was properly started. Mind you, so was I.

Hurumph – failed to get an old LJIIIp working with my mac last night … In fact failed so badly that I had to mess about disabling extensions & resorting to Norton System Tools to check things over…. bah! What a pain that was! What a waste of time! A little jaded because of this foolishness. Hey ho -these things are sent to try us.

Would still like to try to get the durn thing running, if for novelty factor alone!

Played out on the backstreet with the kids yesterday afternoon/evening. It was fun & I’m aware that such times may be more limited as the year closes in now. Got all hot & bothered pushing them up on their trucks & trikes only to have them race down again as the weather abnormally warm for the time of year Eve got a hold of a proper skateboard at one point & was surfing down the incline (eep!). She surfed down on her tummy & had a reasonable amount or control, when it came to it, but that does not stop you fretting. She also had a go at standing on it as she saw that I did & Niall (another neighbour’s lad practising with his own board) did. Fortunately she was not facing downhill when she tried that, & was this safe… Not sure if she moved, but she could balance without any problems. Whether she would have enough weight to actually turn it is another matter. You sometimes forget she is not even 2 yet… Soon though – soon.

I painting some of the recent wallpapering with a matt varnish the other night. Stunk a bit during the night, but not so bad. The result on the wall is not so bad either. Not darkened the paper that much. I have realised that this is not the solution for the walls with the polystyrene backing/insulation as it’s likely to mess this up considerably… So, Louise found a very nice shade of green in a paint catalogue (pistachio something) I will see if I have enough brains left from a day at work to pop & get a tin before coming home. Would be useful to get it so that I at least have the option of painting on Sunday. Saturday – tomorrow, is the dreaded 1st Sat shift that I have to now do: 1 Saturday in 3, but then I do have to make up at least some of the hours that I lose on this new system where I get home earlier.

Well – I finished off the wallpapering in the bedroom the other day. As it was just a bit above the door, It was a bit ‘is that it?’ – an anticlimax. I now have to varnish the paper. Joy. Still, that should not take too long, &then it’s protected. I guess we now have to plan an expedition to Ikea to get the kids new beds.

Jack takes a keen interest in Louise’s tum (growing babe). He likes to listen to it, & feel the baby kick. The other night Louise woke up & Jack had fallen asleep on her tum. Whether he’d moved in the night or what it’s difficult to tell, but it’s right sweet.

I’ve been trying to ensure I get to bed early. Well, when I say early, it essentially means, not late. But I have been falling behind on getting what I want sorted done. ZUM! is progressing annoyingly slowly again & My own reviews have slipped again. I am not meeting my exacting demands… thankfully I don’t work for me, or I might get annoyed with me. I remain frustratingly nearly focussed.

We went to a ‘parent’s evening’ at school last night. The 1st of many in this parental duty thing I guess. Jack’s teacher seems overall pleased with him. There were a few interesting insights. It seems he is more serious than we thought he might be. Studious. He was also not that keen at playtimes to start with. They were in the same playground as the rest of the school, & he must have found it intimidating. He would stay near the adult helper/teacher. It’s reported that he is now seen less near the adult, so must be getting used to this. It seems a little odd, as he is such a social creature, but then a playground full of screaming kids intimidates me. Also got an insight into the structure of their learning at this stage, which was interesting. He understands to look at the whole word when reading a word, that sort of thing… so I guess you could say he is doing well. Nothing ill to report at all, really. Louise & I were relieved that the teacher was not strict with us.

Stormy night. The wind was raging & the rain thrashing. The river in town was the highest I’ve seen it… it’s normally at 3, but it’s now 15… but I’ve no idea what the measurement is. It certainly looks dangerously fast.

Bit tired, as for one reason or another I did not get the best night’s sleep. However, I do not feel fatigue tired as I have been of recent.

America (& its British lap dog) started ‘the offensive’ on Afghanistan last night… sigh. Well, I guess it was inevitable, but it does not make it less palatable. Ended up watching a Panorama documentary last night, that seemed to end up vilifying the Taliban leadership & nearer claiming that Bin Laden bank roles their government & engineers the leadership. A bogeyman, it seems, with a pathological hatred of the Western world… If that is the case how has he come to be that way? What, in his upbringing & philosophy has brought this into such a focus? All that the documentary felt like it ended up being a justification for wiping the Taliban off the face of the Earth. They are a foolishly repressive regime, & in some way’s, like the Khmer Rouge, want to rewrite history in a nation for their own ends. The way it was all presented made me sceptical for a more balanced argument though. A balanced argument at the moment seems out of the question. The part of the documentary I wholeheartedly agreed with was that, if Afghanistan is left without assistance, after whatever means are met by this blasting then it will only create more trouble later. It needs help to establish the stability & order that the Taliban claimed they would bring when they came to power. The people there have suffered war & deprivation beyond many western minds imagination.

sigh…

I wonder what it’s like to be American & have such wholesome righteous indignation to cover any doubts & worries.

Still not finished the wallpapering in the bedroom! Well, I have but all except a little patch above the door. It’s delightful to have got thus far. Now I need to put the clear varnish on to finish it all off. I have been distracted by fatigue & silly things; like my printer running out of ink & how to get my mac to record analogue input so that it can be converted to Mp3. I’ve sorted the latter – a little app called “Coaster” helps, but I need to use something better than a dodgy old Walkman with a bad connection on the right hand channel before I can record with any quality. That will have to wait until the attic is sorted & the mac & stereo are closer together.

What have the kids been doing? I feel I should talk about them, but I have trouble thinking of details & anecdotes. They play well together, they are loving & sweet.

Naaah

It doesn’t look like I’ll polish off that room this week. I took a night off & did no decorating last night. I decided that I wanted to put up a ZUM!& review… so I did. We also have Caroline coming up from London to visit us – which will be good! It would be a bit rude of me to do the decorating while she is here tho…

Eve woke at about 10:20 late night – rather upset. She has not woke at this time for quite some time (she sleeps rather well for at least the first 4 hours of the night, as does Jack). She would not settle either, so Louise took over comforting, & still she would not settle. It’s a bit distressing when this happens, as there is plainly something amiss. She was not comfortable… Stomach ache – possibly just trapped wind though as she did a few class farts. It did take her just over an hour to settle down again. She went off to sleep in our bed, me already drifting off & Louise trapped in her daytime clothes as she was not going to let her go. There was no recurrence in the night, so we can but hope that it was wind, & she is over that. She has got some ‘bug’ at the moment as she threw up her tea again last night. It would have stayed down save for the fact that Jack upset her again, & her upset spiralled into distress & puke. This has happened a few times of recent… & Jack has been warned about such foolish behaviour at teatime. Teatime is not going as smoothly as we would like at the moment. It did not help that I was very late home yesterday… the trains going a bit pooh on me, & all that.

New people started at work yesterday. There will be 3 in all, but we only saw 2 yesterday – such is the staggering of the introductions. Too early to say what I think of anyone & how I feel they will fit in. The fact that they turned up in shirt & tie (we have a relaxed dress code, thankfully) makes judgement all the more difficult.

We shall see…

Groggy (gosh, what a surprise) this morning – polyfillering late again… It seems I always find a little that I can do. My alarm is having to protest at me for me to get out of bed. I normally respond automatically & just start the day, but I’m getting a dangerous tendency to lig a little longer.

Eve was reluctant to sleep last night & made quite a fuss about going in the cot, but go she did & fuss she did. It took a good long while for her to calm down, but Louise did not get her out of the cot again. She cuddled her, but did not lift her. We do not want her getting the idea of a precedence set. It was Jack who eventually calmed her down… Well, distracted her by complaining at her that she was being, “Too loud” so he “could not hear the story” I was tying to read. She turned round as if to say “what?” & from then started to settle again. She was excepting enough to lay back down in the cot with her rabbit & milk (not a ‘bottle with a teat’ – she’s never had one of those). Jack drifted off to sleep as I read Whinie The Pooh (he doesn’t like “big books” a a rule, but this one does have quite a few pictures in it). I got up to turn the light out to leave & Eve’s still awake. Uh-oh… Feel like I’ve been caught doing something that I shouldn’t be so I flap my arms nervously, grin sheepishly & say to her that, “I’m just turning the light off” do so & lie back down with Jack again. Just so she knows there’s someone in the room, like. I give it 5 minutes before I check & she has drifted off to sleep now. She was slow blinking when I stood up, so I guess the darkness was the final blow to wakefulness.

Wall work – I still have not finished the wall. It occurs to me it would have been quicker to learn the art of plastering, & skim the whole lot over rather than sitting patching & smoothing & farting about. Still – tiz getting there now. Quite a bit of time put in has left me with the last bit of alcove & the wall to the door. If time is put in & if things go well… I might actually get the bugger done – papered this week.

Got a pot of matt acrylic varnish to go on top – so we should be able to start doing that as well, & then it’s done & I can move to sorting the attic out… Oh joy.

Cooo Just looked at the Manchester skyline as I’m on the train leaving for home & there’s the Manchester Arena getting ready for the games next year.

Trying to think of some anecdotes of what the kids are up to at the moment, but that part of the brain seems closed off at the moment due to me being too tired. Nothing unusual there, then… Alarm had to struggle to wake me up this morning. I put it down to the cough medicine I glugged in the night to allow me to breathe unencumbered. Coughing & wheezing again. Seems like the sort of thing I get from dust, but not been moving stuff about. I guess it could be polyfiller dust… or possibly yer actual cough (as the rest of the family has something at the moment). Kids with dribbling noses & Louise with a ‘razor’ throat.

Louise was saying how the ‘lump’ reacts when Jack & Eve are singing (especially). I think it also reacts when they make a lot of noise. Eve used to react when we were reading Jack to sleep or singing to him. Both of them love singing. Eve has songs that she sings at playgroup, like, “Wind the bobbin up” that comes with actions & wants you to sing & join in with them.

That last bit of typing reminds me how much I enjoy playing with the kids, but make me worry also that I might be treating Eve with more ‘favour’ than Jack. I would love to be completely even handed – treating both equally, but I don’t – as they are not equal really. It’s difficult to expect too much from Eve. She’s too young to respect a single word you say to her, whereas Jack understands fully. Actually, I suspect Eve knows darn well when she is doing wrong, but as with both of them it’s difficult to get them to listen to a word you say. I am starting to expect more from Jack & he does not really like being told not to do something when he has his mind set on doing it. He either gets sad or angry when told not to do something depending on the situation. Sad is OK, & you feel for him or if it seems especially ridiculous you cannot help bug hug & chuckle. Mad is not good, as there seems no obvious way to calm him down. He has kicked me a good few times, & I cannot ignore that, so the situation can escalate. My usual solution if things get fraught is to pick him up & put him down sometimes. If that does not work I take him to his room to calm down. The best way out of that sort of situation really is to distract him onto something else, but I cannot really do that, as I do not like being attacked. I really hope that this does not continue as a trait between us as I hate making him mad. It’s the disciplinarian in me, I guess.

Moved my work PC over to Windoze 2000
today. Still a few things to do to get it functioning as I might
like, but on the whole it was painless. For someone who is not
wholly confident with putting PC’s together in general – with a bit
of help it was all done in a day. The secondary HD (my old one) was
not being detected at 1st, but that was to do with the bios, so
thankfully that was sorted too.

Got all my old files & all that
malarkey, so, hmmm – not so bad.

Still -I liked NT4 even tho I was derided.
I’m derided for being a Mac user tho – so what would I
care?

Not really getting that much done at home
this week. Not really sure why, but – what the hell… I’m too
tired in general to be bothered by it, but can’t switch off enough
to dismiss it.

The kids are going to be tired this evening
– they were both awake before I left for work. Be nice if we could
get them to bed early, but that would be too much to ask. I’ve
designated tonight a ‘don’t prat about on the computer – get some
polyfilering done’ night. Needs must.