Well what a month it has been. I have been on a complete emotional roller-coaster. In my last post we had recently lost my Uncle Tony through illness, well only five days later it was a double tragedy as my Auntie Pauline also died (his wife). I was very close to both of them as for three years (1995-1998) i lived with them. They were more like a mum and dad to me than an aunt and uncle and the loss was immense. We attended two cremations within nine days and that made three funerals in nine weeks. I hope that we are done with funerals for the rest of this year at least.
I was asked to write a poem to place in the coffin with my auntie and this i did (see my latest poem). Both occasions went ok and it was nice to see that most of the family turned up. I got to see some of my relatives that i don't see too often, my Uncle Phil and Auntie Linda, my cousins Nikki and Lee, also my second cousins Sarah and her husband Craig and her brother Michael. Its sad that the only time i get to see my relatives these days are at funerals.
This will change next year as ..................drum roll please.................We have finally booked our wedding for Tuesday 25th March 2014 and we are both over the moon. We have been together 13 years this year and want nothing more than to be married.
Also since i last wrote I have aged................lol
I am now the ripe young age of 41 (yesterday to be precise). I had a wonderful surprise about two weeks ago when i was told that Sarah (sis from Leicester) and Janet (Leicester mum) were coming up to spend the entire week of my birthday with us. They were going to leave it as a surprise but wanted to give me something to look forward to after the recent bereavements.
They arrived on Sunday and we spent the evening just chatting and catching up with each other. On Monday 15th we did a bit of grocery shopping and then after lunch we spent the afternoon in Blackpool town center taking pics and general larking about. It was a great afternoon and we were all worn out by the time we got back. Tuesday and we spent a lot of the day in Fleetwood, including the market. They all bought craft items from various places and we had a good meal at the Thomas Drummond just of Fleetwood high street. Very nice pub and highly recommended (especially as they do a Jack Daniels Tennessee Steak Burger, yum yum yum). Wednesday it was a chill day and we all just did our own thing really. We did emails, chatted, socialized and got our energy back.
Now we start on my birthday and man what a day !!!!!!!!!! I was informed at the start of the week that we would be going to Liverpool for the day and that i was going to be let loose in the LFC store (mistake !!!!!!!). I got up at about 8.00am and after the usual pleasantries and cup of tea (i cant live without my first brew) i opened my cards and my prezzies. I had the DVD boxset of Rock and Chips and Ian Rush scrapbook journal of Sarah. I had the new Liverpool home shirt of Janet and also another Liverpool top as well. I had a Dads Army piggy bank and a Dads Army mug (DONT PANIC, DONT PANIC !!!!) of Tony, Kieran and Mick (next door neighbours and good friends), a pack of four John Smiths of another Janet.....lol (Tony's mum). Deb had got me the dvd boxset of Boardwalk Empire 1 and 2 and later in the day also got me a awesome Liverpool jacket, a Liverpool dogtag necklace, a Liverpool scarf and a Liverpool phone sleeve (Coutinho shirt design)......................Liverpool being very much the thing here...................
Well we set off at about 9.30 and had a nice pleasant journey with the minimum amount of traffic. I had never been to Liverpool One and could not believe the size of the place. I am from Stoke on Trent and always though that the potteries shopping center was quite big. Its like a flea market in comparison to Liverpool One !!!!. There are literally hundreds of different shops that range from your typical high street shops to your boutiques (you can always tell them because nothing in the window is ever priced !!!!!!!). It was an absolute scorcher of a day and we found the shade wherever possible. After walking through the town centre and dodging in and out of various shops we went in the first of two LFC stores. This one was quite small and all on one level. It was while i was in here that i saw my jacket (see photo album) and immediately fell in love with it. I didnt buy it there and then as I was unsure of spending the amount that it was. Sarah took a picture of me wearing it and all three of them agreed that it suited me and i had to promise that if it was in the LFC superstore that i would buy it..........grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
We stopped for lunch at a lovely little cafe type place called Shiraz and although it was central to town it was very reasonably priced. After lunch (we managed to eat outside but in the shade), we once more ventured into Liverpool One looking for the LFC superstore and found it two doors down from the Everton shop (ironic). They had my jacket in and though i protested i was over the moon to finally own a LFC jacket and this is also when i picked up my dogtag, and phone case (the scarf i picked up off a market stall). All in all it was a fantastic day and the only frustrating thing was trying to find the car park at the end of the day (not very well signposted !!!!!). The journey back was ok and we narrowly avoided a traffic jam on the motorway. Later in the evening i was presented with a birthday cake and Deb filmed me blowing out the candles (41 or 5 ???? LOL). The rest of the night we spent drinking, chatting and laughing. A awesome birthday all round !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its now almost 1.00pm and Deb, Sarah and Janet are at the Hunkydoory shop in Preston buying craft supplies..................
Catch breath and will write soon.
