'Make me fart like Stan's silver moon sparklings...'

Misheard from Sixpence None The Richer's 'Kiss Me' (it's in the chorus).

I mention it as the tune has been running through my head this weekend. E has it on CD.

Plus it bugs her when I mention it, a lovely jangly pop song ruined by my puerile sensibilities. And selective hearing of course...

Anyway, its lunchtime and I'm nursing my latte in the usual location. Nice to have some time off, the coursework has been submitted and there is no rush with the matched betting right now. I have four weeks to go at work and I'm realising I will miss the place. Well, the kids anyway.

I was helping a two and a half year old girl as she climbed the rope wall the other day. A dainty, poised little thing, lets call her Marty. Now Marty will have the world in her thrall when she's bigger. She's pretty, tall with killer eye-lashes already. However her poise left her momentarily as she climbed. M let out an extravagant, reverberating fart like a middle aged man motorboating one into a leather sofa. Stunned,  I asked Marty 'Was that you?'. She said not a word. I then said 'We say 'excuse me', dont we?'. Marty meekly said 'excuse me' to recover some of her dainty composure. 

When you're around little kids no day is the same. They can go from contentment to gut-wrenching torment in an instant. The highs are higher. The lows more stormy and intense. All you can do is hope to keep them somewhere in the middle. The irony is, by the time they've mastered that...they're off to school!!!!

That home straight now...

Just one month at work to go through. Most people would be demob happy right now, but I'm drained, anxious and fundamentally un-relaxed. Working at my current place has broken my body clock for good I reckon. Even on a day off I'm awake at 6.30 or so, my senses seemingly flicked on like a switch. The morning commute is a joy as Bushy Park is beautiful and calm just before 7am on a sunny summer morning. I would love to park the car and go for a gentle stroll for an hour but I don't think the boss would approve!

Now the people I work with are the most professional and dedicated group I have ever had the privilege of being alongside. They have taught me alot. However I need to get a personal life back, I long to exercise again and to enjoy pursuits at a leisurely pace that normal people enjoy. Hard core professional people don't have much time for their families, to nurture them and help them grow and I fear being one of such a dedicated group. 

Still, I've got to plaster a smile on my face and get on with it. Despite the busy-ness and the dedicated-ness I will miss the kiddies I've grown to have a bond with. Soon though I'll be getting a new batch in much less strenuous circumstances. 

A.

You give England another chance and look what happens?

England 1 Uruguay 2. Depressingly familiar result.

I no longer feel distraught when our national football team is defeated, only a gnawing sense of delusion and disappointment.

I watched the game with E with no expectations, but felt my hope rising slightly when England strung some passes together in the first half. 'You never know', I thought, 'we could pull off a result.' Looking back now, it's amazing I still care after all the mediocrity and false dawns. The team could certainly be marked 'A' for effort. They sweated and toiled honourably as you'd expect good Englishmen to do. Where was the class though? Where was the swift passing  which would give one of our forwards space to do something special??? Everytime Sterling received the ball somewhere dangerous it seemed he would stop, giving the Uruguayans a chance to catch up!! Long gone are the days when a Gazza or a Hoddle (or even a McManaman!!?) could look up and knock a 40 yard cross field ball for a forward to run onto. I realised today that it has been 18 years for me since the word 'sublime' could be attached to the England football team. Gazza's goal against Scotland still makes my hair the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.. as does the brilliant team goal against Holland. Nowadays watching the Three Lions play just makes me feel numb.. and a little depressed....

A.

The Long Slog before Move Day

I have an acronym for the next most important day in our lives. Move Day (MD). 

August 1st is when we'll be packing up our chattels and backing out of 17 First Avenue for the last time. We've paid out several large chunks of cash for the house and a movers deposit and have alot more money to put down before we move.

Thats ok. My matched betting money has been a welcome buffer from life over the last few months. Trouble is I won't have much left by the time we move, and expect to be picking up the financial pieces come the autumn. In the meantime the World Cup is proving a fertile ground to build up my stash before I hand it over to our new landlords. The nice thing is the bookies are keen to throw money to suck new punters in and a canny bettor can profit whatever the result may be.

Currently most of my cash has ended up at an exchange (where the money goes if your bets lose - this is normally what you want). I'll be taking it out for the next round of offers which will come out for the England match on Thursday. Come the final on July 13th I'm confident I'll be back with a decent pile of cash.. before I have to give it all away again... 

A.

Dizzy at 27 months

At the Garlic Farm, IOW. May Bank Holiday

Dizzy discovers her huge Hello Kitty. She is thrilled!