Brain dump on recent events.

I’ve been quieter of late because I have had shedloads too much to do. For over a month I’ve been in the midst of a DIY frenzy which has seen me decorating, laying floors and building and fitting a new kitchen. I’ve also had my girlfriend and her two children move in with me, we’re still sorting out stuff two weeks after moving in, there’s boxes and bags still all over the place, although you can now move in the kitchen and living room. We’ve been making decisions such as what to do with all the items that there is now an excess off mugs and glasses. We’re getting there, though it’ll probably been another couple of weeks before everything else is done. There’s still a bit of painting to do and a couple of floors to lay and the insurance company need to fix my bathroom floor. It’s nearly done. 

Through this I have learned that basic plumbing is relatively simple and straight forward, the reason that I need an electrician to check the installation of my oven and hob is actually to do with it being in the same room as a water supply. I also started wondering why I own books, yes they’re nice and I like them and they take up more space than CDs, but most of the I could have in eBook format, and to be fair only a few are actually rare enough to warrant keeping. I don’t think I’ll really ever re-read them, maybe the odd one, what could do with is a facility to swap a physical book for an eBook version of it. As for my CDs, ever since I put them on display I’ve listened to them more, and a good chunk you can get mp3s of but it doesn’t account for those that are out of print, been deleted or the limited editions. Problem with electronic music is one hard drive crash and it’s away, at least with eBooks on Amazon, they keep note of what you’ve purchases and let you access them again. Also you don’t get the artwork or a nice booklet with an mp3.

Then there are the children, I have “inherited” a seven year old and a four year old. Yes I’ve known them for nearly 2 years, I’ve spent a lot of time around them, I’m aware of what I say and how I phrase it, I also know that they’re good, they are angels and it’s rewarding. However on the flip side, when one of them is tantruming refusing to eat their dinner because it’s “yucky” or if one of them is releasing an ear piercing, mind bending scream because they’ve decided they’re not getting what they want to do, in the heat of the moment, it is on the odd occasion very difficult not to want to get them put up for adoption. It’s a bit like when kids tantrum, it can last for up to an hour, but they come out of it, apologise and everything seems back to normal, so too my patience returns and life continues on again. It can be difficult to try not to be wound up in the first place, especially when you leave the room for two minutes to make a cup of tea and the two of them start bickering over something either because they’ve been couped up due to the awful weather or they’re not feeling so well or boredom has kicked in.

It’s good know that whatever they get up to they are good kids, somewhat trying at times, but then so are all children. I know I used to be exactly the same way. They also take up a chunk of my time, no longer at the weekend can I get up at 10am wander through the living room, chuck on Saturday Kitchen and hope Anthony Worrall Thompson is a guest so I can shout ‘Beard Salad’ at the TV and then potter about playing computer games. It’s similar to a week day, up at some point between the usual 6:45am and if I’m lucky, I might get to sleep in until 8. Wander through stick on some children’s channels and go back and lie awake in bed for a while, before getting asked to make breakfast by little people. It’s then time to fish out my work laptop and potter about on it for the next hour or so, either catching up on TV or pottering on the internet for a bit. And do you know what? I don’t actually mind at all, I’m quite happy with it, then again lack of sleep doesn’t affect me too badly. We are fortunate that the kids go and stay with their dad at the weekend, so we have one night a week where we can sleep in and catch up on any sleep, relax and recover enough to find something fun to do with them on a Sunday afternoon.

I’m still getting used to it, even though not that much has actually changed, there was two nights a week I didn’t stay at Joy’s, now I see the boys for an hour or two more during weekdays than I used to. What I’ve noticed changing is that I now feel more part of a family unit than before, more settled. My space has become “our” space. I can now go home at night and that’s it, there’s no more rushed dinners before scooting out again. I’ll looking forward to being able to start cooking properly again. My house feels much more like a home than it has. Everyone seems happy including the cats. Life has changed, and it’s definitely for the better.