Recovery!!!!!

15 days at home is at an end today, as tomorrow I am returning to work. I have seen the doctor and he has given me the all clear to return, as long as it is light duties. I was sure that the time off, would be a nice break from work. Its strange that I have missed it and am looking forward to going back. My ideal that I would make quite a good dole scrounger, has been blown out the water. Sat at home, day in day out, is really not for me and I am looking forward to seeing what the big wide world looks like again.

Above is the picture of the house that we liked the look of while we were in Canada, and the vision is whats keeps me focused as my knee gives me pain and the wait starts to get me down. The operation I have had is an Anterial Cruciate Ligament full reconstruction and the recovery time is longer than they first imagined, as the doctor wasn't expecting the damage to be so severe. He is however very pleased with his work, and told me that it should prove to be a knee that will be as good as new. Lets hope he is right!!!!!!!!

Nobleford in the Snow

Harry has sent some pictures of his house in Nobleford. I think the idea might be to make me jealous, but the thought of -30 isn't the most appealing in the world!! It looks quite bleak and Mr Darcy looks freezing!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lauren's Nativity

This was my second Nativity in 2 days; I'm being spoilt. Lauren played an Angel just like Emma. This was a joint play, of years 1 and 2. All the year 1's played Angels and acted as the chorus. It was very funny and well acted by all the children. Its hard to believe the eldest child was only seven.

Camp Christmas!

This was Sarah's first appearance as Mr Claus. Somebody suggested that this year he had been a bit camp. (You can tell why by the picture!) Sarah's little friend Chloe new who she was, despite the put on deep voice; so I think she might need some acting lessons for next year.

Emma's Nativity

Today it was Emma's first Nativity play. Its the first time I have been able to attend one of these plays and I enjoyed it a lot. They all did ever so well and it was a pleasure to watch. As you can see Emma played an Angel and she sounded like one too.

Twelve Days In The "TIN BOX"

I met Jono late on the Thursday night. He dropped down out of the lorry, with a Cheshire cat grin, spread all over his face. Three months ago I had the same face, but this time it was him going on holiday and me having to work for the best part of two weeks. Ah well knuckle down and get on with it I told myself.

The highlight of the first week was the strike by the Dover dockers. These people, normally on the French side, really do my head in. They have no consideration for any of us drivers who are just trying to get a job done. You manage to keep all your cards looking good and hey presto the dockers have downed tools again and everything comes to a standstill. Now its going to be a month of dodging french coppers, waiting for the tacho to overwrite, because the produce always has to be there regardless of hours. It should be just a point of parking up when the times up, but the boss never agrees.

After having 24 hours off in Ramsgate, the brain dead mission began. "Tom please meet Kevin and take 1 box of flowers to Rotterdam" he said. Now far be it for me to criticise the boss, but a 44 ton truck and 1 BOX of flowers. I can't fathom it. It must be paying a fortune! (but I don't think so.) It had to be there for 8 o'clock in the morning and I arrived 2 o'clock. Can Tom sleep for 9 hours? (I don't think so) Five hours later I'm up and walking the two miles to the delivery with the flowers on my shoulder. An hour later I'm back at the lorry and the Van Dongen jobsworth is on my case for parking in the wrong spot and now I HAVE to move the truck. I told him politely to go away!

Then for the purpose of the police Jono drove to Anterpen, because there is a deadline to be at the Banana place. Has the boss planed well? Has he bo***cks! If the police caught me, would he back me? I don't think so! Is he grateful? I don't think so! All this done for one box of flowers! If he learnt to count, it would be a start. When I got down to to Paris, I went straight around to the delivery point, and was told to come back on Sunday. They can't even tell me when the delivery day is. Just a bit of information would have saved me an hour of waiting and the argument with the French man, when I told him my gaffers would of let me know if it was Sunday and that he should just get on with it. The joys of Logifrance!

The weekend run went nice, apart from the added Worcester and Cheltenham, which meant we had to change over down there. This meant Jono getting up at 2 o'clock and me fighting with the traffic to get home, but who cares I've got four days off which I'm really looking forward to.

Halloween 2008

My sexy wife! She looks like grot-bag off of Emu. I don't have a lot to say about this party, for the simple reason I was not there. I have been informed it was a big success. I hate it when I miss things. I suppose it comes with the job.

Everybody came back absolutely frozen and with wet feet, as they spent the entire night outside. I think Kahn was too house proud to let people inside! (I suppose we can forgive her though as she has just got the house how she wants it.)

All the kids went trick or treating and came back with an abundance of sweets, which they still haven't finished, four days later.

Hopefully the next time we have a party like this one, it will be in Canada.

Fingers Crossed!!!!!!!!!!

A Weekend at the Olds

We left at 10 o'clock and a nice 4 1/2 hour drive later, through the drama of whinging kids, we arrived to the smell of a fantastic curry. I always look forward to my mothers cooking and this was no exception. We unpacked the car and hung the keys up for the night.

My brothers time keeping was not up to scratch, so as a consequence we all sat there staving waiting for him to ring. He eventually did, so Dad went to get him and I cracked open the first beer. It was an evening of good catch up, cold beer and tasty food.

It was the first time I've met my brothers girlfriend. A very nice 16 year old young lady. I managed to put aside how young she was, but couldn't quite get around the fact that she didn't know that a baby sheep was a lamb. (What is the world coming to?) I suppose they belong together, because Luke was having trouble with it as well.

On Saturday we got wrapped up and went out to find conkers in the woods. (Little did we know all the conkers had gone) We had an hour or so in the park, during which time both Lauren and Jake managed to do the monkey bars on their own. They were highly delighted with themselves.

We had a trek through the woods and found a saw lying on the floor. This was hidden up a tree out of the way of kids by the old man. We had a little chuckle at his expense when one of the branches gave way. On the way back to the house we found a rope swing which swung out over the river; all the kids had a go as the river was dried up and then ended up walking up the river bed looking to see if there were any trolls under the bridges.

On the evening we had a nice meal in a restaurant called Ask. Grandad and Jake had a pizza and the rest of us had pasta. (Apart from little Miss Fussy of course. She had Garlic bread on its own.) After this we went to the guild hall to watch the wrestling. It took Jake a little while to get in to the swing of things, but he was soon cheering with the rest of them. The American contingent spent the entire night cheating, but predictably the English won through and the Smackdown Warrior was crowned champion. He was a six foot six giant of a man, who was a look alike to King Leonidas out of the film 300. (I'm sure I saw Sarah eyeing him

We had a lazy day on Sunday. Normally we have to travel home, but as I was not back to work until Tuesday, it was a welcomed change to eat a big roast dinner and not drive home. I shared a bottle of port with the my Dad and Sarah and my Mum drank a lot of wine. (I think Sarah did the majority of it though)

All in all a fantastic weekend. I don't think we will have many more of them in England so we need to make the most of them now.

Thanks a lot Mum and Dad!

Hull Fair 2008

If we still had a house we would have remortgaged today, such is the impact of the fair these days. However, really good fun! This picture was taken with three children dying to get going.

The first ride was the tea cups. Emma looked very nervous to begin with, but she soon got with it. Then the girls went on the mini wheel and Jake got ready to go on the fast one, but chickened out when he saw the speed of it. When the girls got off, it was around to the merry-go-round. Jake sat on Bianca, Emma was on Jay and Lauren got Conrad. Emma look nervous again, but once it got going she was all smiles.

If you look at the bug rollercoaster above, I thought it looked a bit tame for Jake. Once he saw the basher ball swinging above his head, the ride took a whole new meaning as it got whacked from one way to the other. The woman who was sat behind became the best look alike boxer, ducking and diving as she tried to dodge it. (She was hit a few times. Score!)

Sarah and Syl took off to the donkey derby. Every single fair its the same! (in fact any ammusment place we go to) Now I thought I would be very good at this. I was rubbish! I came last. TWICE. Syl won though, so it was the first and last fluffy toy of the night.

The kids went in the fun house and the hamster wheel took them all by suprise. Each one straight on their arse. (Check the movie below).

The food tonight was out of this world. It was calorie after calorie. I started with a Bavarian Smoked Hot Dog, followed by Bob Carvers chips and mushy peas. Later I had a Waffle with a chocolate sauce, (only as a second choice because there were not any pancakes). I walked away full and content.

OH whats that! Pancakes! I can see pancakes! Stop! Stop! Sarah one of those please. Now this was really nice. Unfortuatley I had to share it. Lauren was looking at me drooling. You would have thought that she had not had anything. I don't think I could have finnished though. I felt sick and still do now.

All in all a fantastic evening. All the kids came home with a prize and the house is now full of junk. Syl will want it shifting soon, but hey whats new.

Tattoo's

St Lawrence College Badge of Arms.

Here is a picture of Sarah's second tattoo. (Referred to as the tramp stamp). Only joking! I have always wanted to have a tattoo but have never really decided on exactly what I want to have. One of the lads that I work with, has suggested going to the tattooist with ideas of what I would like included in the design and they will do the rest.

Now I was under the impression that you walked in the parlour and picked a picture off the wall. This was always my problem, (apart from the fact that its going to hurt) because it was not personal to you. The fact that the artist will design for you, has renewed my interest and I have started putting some ideas together.

There are some intricate details out of my schools badge of arms that I am interested in including in it. I have always liked the Irish clover. I would like to hide my children's names in there somewhere as well. The tiger emblem from Leicester rugby club and the English rose. Quite how this would work? I don't know! (I am thinking also of the maple leaf as well, but not too sure on this idea.) That's the problem for the designer though.

Ipod Blues

Sarah did not look this happy when I told her that I had lost her ipod. I can't believe that it has gone! One minute I am listening to it on the treadmill and the next minute it has disappeared. I searched the floor for an hour. The treadmill has been taken apart and searched and still nothing has been found. I have come to the conclusion that someone has swiped it.
The worst part is I have now got to replace it. ( And wouldn't you know it, its the ipod touch. Bloody expensive!)
Now I am thinking the best place to buy the replacement is at the duty free shop at the "Le Shuttle". But due to the recent fire this will involve a lot of sitting around and waiting, because the train is only running through one tunnel. Dilemmas for a Monday!


The wait for my Labour Market Opinion (LMO) is now starting to play on my mind. I don't think it should. They did say it would take about six months, but considering I have not had any contact with the firm since we were in Canada and everybody is asking if I have heard anything, I think I can be forgiven.

Today I have to go and meet Jono and go back to work. Four days seems like a lifetime now. How easily you forget the fact, that it used to be weeks away. The plan as it stands is to go to Worcester and do two deliveries in the morning. From there I am guessing down to Paris, but that will be clarified in the morning. I hope its straight out and no collections!

Birthday number 32

I have decided to start this blog on my birthday, which seemed as good a day as any. The idea of this blog is so that when we finally make the move to Canada, friends and family can follow what we get up to.

I started looking into this move a few years ago and decided that it was something that I wanted to do. The wife was not convinced at the start, but I am glad to say that she is now on board. Now that we have sold our house, it is just a waiting game for the the work permit.

In July we went to stay with a friend of mine in Nobleford, Alberta. The results were a good job offer and finding a place we would like to bring up our children.