Life is ....

Winter is settling in and it's not only the seasons that are changing (more of that to hopefully come later). In prep for the cold weather coming in, we had a log delivery and for the first time, there was a brief moment when the Weedude was moderately helpful. Filling his little wheelbarrow with logs and dumping them close to the store......that was quickly replaced however, with him taking a ride in the wagon and being part of the load on each trip.

Life is busy but it's all good. A is growing up far too quickly, he's a beaut of a boy but bleddy hell, he's tiring. I guess it's the same for all parents but how I miss proper lie-ins. L and me take it in turns at the weekend to get an extra hour in bed but it's not really the same.

He loves swimming but not being in the lake (yet). He loves the beach and ocean but the waves are a bit much for him at the moment. Risking taking, bouncing, leaping and mountain biking (or, rather him on his Strider bike or in the trailer behind me) are all things he loves.

Only pre-school but he has a flipping school uniform (at 3yrs old)

New piece of kit - Marin San Quentin 3

He did attempt the learner board

His first flight

Lollies for the ear drums

Hanging in the square (Brno)

Even though life has been and continues to be very hectic, we have managed to get back to the coast a few times (and should catch up with friends in a couple of weeks) and I've still been hitting the lake for some wakeboard sessions - not as many as I'd like. Todays session was the first one in a winter wettie but as I thought I'd packed my spring suit, it was proper cosy dropping in the water with a 5:3 on.

In other geeky news, I've just ordered my first Apply Mac laptop this weekend. Lets see if I can cope with the switch from Windows to Apple.....how hard can it be?

Growing up & getting older....

Life is good but it's definitely having its ups and downs this year. Mentally, things are good but my body is taking a bloody good beating. Sport, motorbike crashes and possibly age are taking their toll.

Outside of our little family unit, it was a very sad day when Jojo (possibly Ls closest friend) lost her battle with cancer. We all know cancer can be a right ol' fucker. My mum, dad and now little sis have all had it or still have it and are taking the fight to the c*nt but you losing Jojo the other month was a proper kick in the metaphorical nuts for L. 

As friends we don't see enough of one another. Growing up gets in the way and we just don't have the time to make those important physical contacts. Then, when you lose someone (as I still feel about my dad), you feel guilty for not spending enough time with them and only then realising you had so many more questions for them.

Jojo and L taking their foamies down to the surf.....neither of them were any good but they had a blast trying, only eventually to leave them on the sand and just splash about like kids.

In Between injuries, I have actually made some progress with my wakeboarding. A ripped rotator-cuff and then a motorbike crash have taken their toll.

Can't even pop to the shops now, without the Weedude wanting to 'help'.

Playgroup (or whatever it's called) is now a thing and the boy loves it.

One Easter Egg hunt and he was addicted. Every time friends came around, we had to recycle and hide the same eggs - at least it reduced the amount of chocolate he consumed. 

Bumble-bee is no more. Took a spill and killed off the poor machine. With grown-up things getting in the way, I think it'll be a few years until I'm allowed to buy a replacement.

Visiting a Didcot Steam Day was very exciting by all accounts.

Pizza time.

He always needs friends (dinosaurs on this occasion) to share his bathtime.

Getting a new mountain bike and so was checking my kit. I forgot how hard I have hit the ground on occasions.

Syncing-up for the Blenheim Tri.

Kiddies weren't technically allowed in the transition area but the Weedude was oddly allowed in on my shoulders. He gave my bike a quick once-over.

My my best time (slowest for a while) but considering I'd written-off my motorbike a week earlier, I'm ok with it.

It's all about the adventure with the boy at the moment. Either on his own, with Ted (the dog) or with friends.

After a tiring day, a snuggle and a read on my Voit blanket.

She might be old and a tad tatty but already she's been a great little alternative to camping. Unfolding and setting her up takes a couple of minutes - even in the midst of a storm. The Weedude loves 'Kitty' as if she was a member of the family. Explaining to him that it's not his own play-house is sometimes a problem.

Getting personal...

I'm always wondering how personal to get with a blog and over the years, I have just opted to give about  60% picture of my life - obviously the better side of life (usually).

Like a lot of people, I do tend to struggle with this dark side of the year and along with a number of friends, can struggle to keep the black-dog at bay. Had a slight addition to this grey side of life this year....

It'll be 10 years since I lost my dad to cancer(s) later in the year. My mum is what I guess you'd call a cancer survivor and my little sis is presently going through the tail-end of some aggressive cancer treatment. All three of them have had breast cancer and even though we have always tried to give cancer the middle finger and smile about life, it hasn't been and isn't easy. Mum misses dad (as we all do) and my little sis getting hit rather seriously by cancer was a proper kick in the nuts. Obviously it raised a huge number of questions about me and my health. 12 months ago I ripped my shoulder joint muscle and L and the Doc feared I'd had a stroke (I hadn't) but it did result in me having a bucket-load of tests done - they simply pointed out that as a result of a lot of sport over the years, I'm slowly wearing out). They did however find out that I have stupidly high blood pressure but there's not a lot about my lifestyle I can do to change it. So, fast forward a little and you have me talking to my Doc about cancer and cancer in my family. Filled in a huge form and once filled in, it was grim reading and it resulted in me again being sent to see a specialist. My little sis has the geno missing and so she asked me to see about getting tested. I did rock up to see the specialist but after a well-being chat that lasted about 60mins, I decided there was very little point in finding out as I wouldn't do anything differently and my logic is 'what will be, will be'. Getting further tests done to check me out, took a little longer but to reduce the length of this blog, I got the last of the results through last week and I don't have any cancer. I felt  a little bad telling my little sis this but obviously it is very good news. Got to keep an eye on thing but then so does everyone. I might take the geno-test should my boy want to know as he grows up or if I do get hit by the big C but happy not to.

Anyway, I think all this has taken its toll on me a little more than I would like to accept. Thinking I could get some bad news, did get me thinking (I think too much as it is) and I think I have to accept that I'm a grown-up now but there is a big chunk of me that just wants to buy a boat and with my little family, sail away. Being a grown-up is hard work and sometimes it gets to you.

So, there it is. I've shared something a little deeper than usual. I'll return to normal services later.

My little family xx