Man – So what do you do for a living? Woman – I’m a female impersonator.

Yesterday I got to see one of the plays my son was in.  I have still yet to be able to watch my daughter in a play, but my wife had booked a day off work for me which allowed me to to watch the Pied Piper of Hamelin.  Watching them grow is always a joy and my son was very proud of his part in the play.  As anyone who has seen the last post will know, this did result in an argument when my son was ill.  He is annoyed as apparently it was not a dress rehearsal that he missed, rather it was his year performing the play for the infants.  But he did get to be there as part of the performance for the junior class, and of course, for the parents.  I did get to see my daughter on the way to watch the play as she was going from one class into another.  I resisted the urge to hug and kiss her, which she told me was a good thing as she says that she would not have forgiven me.  While I am glad that they are growing, I do miss bits of them being younger, one of the things being how they were happy to hold my hands on the walk to school.  Something that they are too cool to do now as it is embarrassing.  I am lucky that I get to experience this (even though I want more) as too many, for one reason or another do not get to do so.

My kids noted I made a stupid mistake with maths today

I have to come clean.  My kids beat me at maths today.  I asked my son a sum, he got it right, but I thought he was wrong.  So I explained what I thought the answer was, while everyone looked at me like I was mad.  

My son has been ill for the last few days, flu and he is better now, but on Monday he was adamant that he had to go to school as otherwise he was to miss the dress rehearsal for the play that his class are preparing.  Fortunately, he is better now.  It did mean that on the weekend that he was not able to ride his bike.  My daughter on the other hand loved being able to do so.  She has got faster, which means that I am going to have to cycle harder to keep up with her, which means that I may be able to cycle to and from work later.  I used to be able to cycle for longer than now when I was a lot younger, but I am so unfit now.

It is my aim to become healthier but as events close to home have shown, it does not matter how fit you are sometimes.  When tragedy strikes, fitness may not be enough.  I do tell my patients that behaviour to help health is to improve odds, and that things can happen to anyone, but when it happens, it is a shock to all close by.  And that again reminds me, and has reminded our family, just how lucky we are.

On a different note, I have been trying to get the kids to play chess more.  It has not worked as well as I would like, but they are still playing it at times.  I have lost a few more tournaments, but I am still enjoying chess and am trying to learn more.  The tournaments that have passed since the last post are Death to Rebel Scum iv, Roses vi and Top of the Pops 16.  My rating had reached an all time personal high on March the 3rd when I hit 1533, but I think that this was a false rating as I had got this by beating a run of players who were not as good as me.  This of course brought back memories from when I joined the Junior School chess club when a lot younger.  I managed to get on the chess team by playing the same player over and over again and beating him.  Why he kept playing me was beyond me, but it did mean that I got to play in tournaments for the school and I remember playing once match still where both I and my opponent, being too afraid to lose played a very defensive game.  But that was the past, and I have to be grateful for having a future when so many do not have one.    

I forgot to post a picture

When I made my post yesterday, I realised that I had forgotten to post a picture taken on the ride.  

My daughter took me around the area as she had been here before and we saw the Roman Circus Centre, but as it was closed, and we were without my son, we did not enter it.

Anyway, an update on chess with me.  Here is a list of the tournaments I have not won but took part in.  For some, I had a chance, for others, I had no chance, but it offered me a learning experience.

Top of the Pops 15

Speed King #112 - Very fast players 4(2)->2 U1500

taechess and friends

House Arryn

Death to Rebel Scum iii

House Tully

<1400 For The Win!

Speed King #106 - Very fast players 4(2)->2 U1500

The Great Battle II

The evil knight tournament

Essex County Open

Roses iv

Amateur Bat'leth Tournament

But my best games in a while have happened today.  I have lost quite a few games today, but I have won two games against opponents much better than me.  One resigned which was great as otherwise I would probably have made an error in the end game but the other was even better as it involved both a bishop and a knight sacrifice to gain position and then win the game.  I do not think that the opening strategy that I have been using is a standard one which equals the playing field when I play against those who have memorised different openings.  

But while I am proud of those two victories, I still have made some very silly mistakes, one a defeat against another parent at our local school yesterday who took the opportunity to punish me.  

I'm not narcissistic. I'm much better than that.

 
Today involved a bike ride with my daughter.  My son had a sleep over last night and we picked him up this morning.  He was tired as he had been up till 2330 and was woken at 0530, and then had a birthday party to go to.  So while he was gone my wife got some much deserved rest and rather than listen to the Arsenal match, I took my daughter out on our bicycles.  She had a lot more input in which route we took, but the downside was that she had a lesson, the hard way, in what hills are like when riding a bike.  But we all need to get better and fitter so that was good in a way.

When it came to picking up my son, he was shattered and we rested for most of the rest of the day.  We did try watching Percy Jackson, my daughter has been reading the books, but it was not what my son needed to watch.  Hopefully both will be rested enough for tomorrow and the rest of the week.

As for me, I know the Arsenal score, and needless to say, after watching the highlights, I am annoyed now that we are out of the FA cup and out last chance of winning something this season. 

I've been trying to buy a train ticket online for over an hour now and I'm getting annoyed. It keeps asking me, 'Where do you want to go?' So I click on the icon that says 'Home' and then it makes me start again.

It has been a while since I have posted about the family.  Unfortunately, I have not taken them out for a bike ride in a while, not since the early part of last month.  They are hoping to go for a ride tomorrow, but we shall see.

We have had a birthday and that went well, in addition we have had a teachers evening at the school where I have seen that the kids are probably better with their ability to write interesting stories than I am!  They still like me telling them stories at night time, and I had better treasure that, for I doubt it will last.

It has been a bad month

It has been one of the worst months in my life.  

But I am lucky, I have a great wife and two amazing children.  I work in a job I love and they support me there.  And I have been lucky enough to have a mother who is an inspiration, and although many things can be said about my father, he loved me in his own way and taught me a lot of things, and taught me what not to be.

As this month has reminded me, the most precious things can be taken away from us and my heart truly goes out to those who have experienced such losses.

Scientists have estimated the brain has the capacity to store 4.7 billion books. Just not the one about my missing keys.

Today we went to see my mother who has had her knee operated on.  However, after a late breakfast, I went with my daughter for another ride on our bikes, and considering that I was wearing my Arsenal backpack, it turned out to be a possible nightmare.  The reason for this was the football team that was coming to town for the FA cup match.  Cycling towards the station, there was a huge line of traffic, but when we got near the station, the reason for this was made clear.  I remembered that Colchester were hosting the scum (or Spurs, or Tottenham for those who are not aware of my bias) when I saw loads of fans leaving the station in football tops and scarves.  And remembering that my backpack has the (old) Arsenal crest, I realised what a huge mistake I had made.  Most fans would have been fine, but with my daughter, I did not feel that it would be a good idea to risk it.  Which considering it was raining and was windy at the time was probably a very good idea.

Once warm at home and fed by my amazing wife, we went to London, first a trip to her parents house, and then to see my mother for the kids to see how she has been and more importantly, for her to see them.  One of my brothers has been amazing and has taken time off work to help look after her, and my other brother has taken his turn starting today.  It was good to see him as well, but I do feel guilty that I have not been able to help in the way that they have.  

The trip back was uneventful, though I did not get the chance to spend with a cousin who had come to visit my mother as we were leaving.  The kids were tired though and had relaxed by the time we had got home to watch the voice.  We all still think it is amazing, and it is great to hear the judges offer constructive comments to those that they do not pick, a big difference compared to the X-Factor.  Another good thing was that Arsenal won, though the errors that Laurent Koscielny made concerned me especially with the way he almost gave a penalty away in our defeat against Chelski as well as leaving Per Mertesacker exposed that resulted in an early red card.  A shame that Colchester lost, but few expected otherwise.  But we could only hope for the magic of the cup to strike around lunchtime...