Exercise, fitness and fainting

So the snow has melted and with it the excuse to not exercise. Even though if it's still cold and it's hard work. For some CF reason my base (after a month of doing bugger all) fitness is a lot lower than everyone else in our bike club; so while they can get to the top of the hill and take nice pictures like this one, I'm at the bottom of the hill still cycling like a madman trying to catch up, grrrr! I will get there one day...

The lodger

There is a new lodger in our house. She is called Holly and she is very furry. Her previous owners were going to send her to a cat's refuge because their son was allergic to her, so we have stepped in. So far so good; she likes being stroked, she likes being picked up and carried like a bloated-furry baby ;-) , she likes being combed, and she definitely likes begging for tins of tuna when I'm making Abby's sandwiches. Also; she really doesn't want to stay in the house for the first two weeks so keeps trying to escape whenever we open the front / back doors.

Because we don't know whether our kids will be allergic we have laid down some ground rules: no sleeping on beds, and Abby must wash her hands after stroking and picking up Holly. I do like having a cat around, they're good company, even if cleaning out litter trays is a bit of a pain...

Gallons of rubbing alcohol float down the A6...

Well it was our turn to host the New Years eve party this year, so we bought a karaoke machine, loads of wine and beer, and made 3 huge currys (on new year's eve) to feed the screaming hordes. We dispatched our kids to the in-laws, but some of our mates were bringing their kids so we set up the Wi in the front room for them to play. Everyone enjoyed the party, especially the karaoke; I never knew our friends were such frustrated rock stars ;-) Was a good night, at least until someone found the absinthe. Anyway, on balance, having been on both sides now, I think it's much more relaxing going to someone else's party! It's too much of a stress trying to work out whether you've got enough food / drink for everyone. In the end we made too much, but that meant we had lots of leftover curry to eat for the next few days ;-)

The party was a bit controversial because two of our mates are in the process of getting divorced, and because they (G and N), are currently ignoring each other, this meant we could only invite one of them because if we invited N, then G would refuse to go, along with his mates. I'm trying not to get involved and just hoping they can patch things up for the kids really, (their kids are the same age as Abby and Oscar.) When did life become so complicated? Also someone (not me) decided to invite an old school friend of mine who I've not seen since I left school some 2o years ago! I was a bit worried at first that he might turn up mob handed or something, but in the end he arrived and was more nervous than me, stayed for a couple of beers and a brief chat about the old days, and left; so it was no big deal really. Sometimes I think you drift away from friends after school for a reason, and maybe some blasts from the past should be kept in the past. My sister is adamant she never wants to get in touch with anyone from her old school and I kind of know what she means...

I don't know, but as the years go by I seem to be enjoying alcohol less and less, maybe it's the hangover / comedown, or (since the kids have arrived) any gleeful piss up is tempered with the knowledge that I have to be awake the morning after to entertain the children, but I don't enjoy it half as much as I used to. Maybe my body's getting old ;-) By the end of new year's day I was ready to go to bed at 8PM...I'm wondering if this is a CF thing, but every time I drink heavily, the next morning my lungs have much thicker mucus to bring up, and in the case of major bender, it can take a couple of days for the sputum to return to it's normal, more manageable thickness. I can also get terrible guts the next day as well. Alcohol sucks! Never again will I get drunk... ;-)