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Bunny And Puppy
Mar. 6th, 2016 11:18 pmThis weekend I headed back home to my parents for Mother's Day although it turned out to be something of a busted flush. This was largely due to illness as my mother phoned my father on Sunday morning to say that she could no longer host us as she was full of cold. I spoke to her later in the day and she sounded terrible, and although she admitted she was disappointed not to see us, understandably she thought it would be best to recuperate. This meant that my sister and I weren't going to meet up with my grandparents for the family meal at my mum's house as we had planned, although I did say that I would visit my grandmother and grandfather independently as I hadn't seen them since Christmas. However, later in the day, upon phoning them, we discovered that they too were full of cold and they said it would be best to come another time. In addition to all this, I had also hoped to pick up my electric guitar from my father, only to discover that it's now in London with my brother and he won't be returning it until the middle of the month. Consequently, with best laid plans and all that, I have only got to see my father and sister - and have had to leave my mother's presents at my dad's - although this did make for a more relaxing and enjoyable weekend as I was based in just the one place.
One advantage of all this was that I managed to keep my diet largely on track. On Friday, I discovered that I had gone beyond my first target, weighing in at 84.8kg, below 85kg for the first time in a decade and I even found an old jumper which now fits me. Consequently my new target is 83kg, or below 13st. Whenever I come to my parents there is always rich food on offer, particularly at my mother's, and I did fear a slight derailment. Going into Sunday, I feared this would be my lowest exercise day since getting my Fitbit as entertaining my grandparents would mean we couldn't get out for a walk due to their infirmities and by the time they had left, it would be too dark to walk down the narrow country roads. However, it turned out to be my best ever exercise day, clocking in at over 27,000 steps as I enjoyed a stroll in the sunshine around the village in which I grew up in the morning before my father took me to Saltburn where we walked along the cliff top overlooking a rather choppy sea. The wind was biting but exhilarating, while the ground was a little soggy and slippy underfoot, so much so that we decided to walk alongside a disused railway line for a bit as the lack of grip on my shoes was causing me problems. It was great enjoying the fresh sea area although our excursions have made me feel rather tired. It was also the case on Saturday when my dad took me to the market town of Richmond, where we walked by the banks of the River Swale before going to the Station complex - a cinema, tea room, art gallery and small independent shopping centre which has been formed out of the old railway station. Upon entering the building I immediately spied a giant poster for Zootropolis (Zootopia) and had a strong desire to go and see it, wishing that our release date wasn't so much later than pretty much everyone else's (March 25 to coincide with the Easter holidays for those who don't know and who are wondering). Indeed this was one of the reasons I visited my parents this weekend as I could largely be away from any potential spoilers as the US release date was Friday, not to mention plenty of my friends seeing it at Nordic Fuzzcon in Sweden too.
There was a fair amount of food too - my Dad took us to one of our regular country pubs, The Bay Horse in Great Broughton, where my sister, father and I enjoyed a two course meal while later in the day we had haggis, neaps and tatties from Marks & Spencer no less. I'm glad that haggis is becoming easier to get here and I do hope this continues as its ubiquitous in Scotland and one of my favourite ever things, ever since I first tried it on a geology field trip to Arran back in 2002. Today we had roast salmon and jacket potato, with delicious juicy tomatoes that my father cooks so well. He is a great cook and although there was a lot of food, it was all of good quality and reasonably healthy. Furthermore, having burned off 3,800 calories today, I wasn't feeling too guilty about the excess, not least because aside from sharing a bottle of wine, I didn't touch any alcoholic drinks.
My father and I talked a fair bit, with my sister generally preoccupied with her PhD thesis, which she is hoping to complete in May. It was good chatting as always, both in the house and on the numerous walks we enjoyed together, and the fact I spent the whole weekend in one place definitely made it less stressful. I will have to come back to see my grandparents again while both my mother and father will visit by month's end to see the attic, which is now largely finished as this weekend Wolfie laid the flooring and did the skirting board. My dad will also come to deliver my guitar and perhaps check out the BrewDog bars too as he is a shareholder. Being in the house where I grew up is always strange and this village hasn't changed all that much (aside from a couple of new builds), with the same people and same issues as always. I spoke to one of the neighbours for the first time in a decade and little seems to have changed, while even the community boards around the village hall are still highlighting the same thing such as the use of village buses. This resulted in some reminiscing, aided by birthday/graduation/leaving cards and other paraphernalia I have kept for many years as I raided the chest of drawers in my bedroom. Some of it was from university, others from my travels and some cards were from people I don't even remember, although I think I probably worked with them at some point. Many names I had forgotten but were brought back to life in my mind while other cards and objects brought back other memories such as the three year period prior to joining the Fandom when I was more bunny than puppy. I was also a little weirded out when I saw a card from an ex-girlfriend addressed to Wolfie, my current partner's name. Strange times and odd recollections but worthwhile nonetheless although the feelings don't get any less strange being here. This was highlighted perhaps by my rather strange dream on Saturday where I was Donald Trump's running mate and I kept insisting he wasn't as extreme as he appears to be. I have no idea where that came from, but it's not the first surreal dream I've had here. Anyway, I head back to Leeds in the morning, initially having thought I would be at my mother's, someone with whom I was unlikely to get much time to speak what with her parents being around (plus she is a little worried about my grandparents' health right now so I thought a private chat after the meal would help). Consequently, I am leaving from Darlington station which is a good half hour drive from here before heading straight into work pretty early in the morning. Fortunately my dad can drop me off and turn up late for work but it is a bit of an inconvenience for all concerned. Still, it has been a good weekend nonetheless and I'll hopefully get to see my parents again by the end of the month, by which time the final bits and pieces should be done in the attic.
One advantage of all this was that I managed to keep my diet largely on track. On Friday, I discovered that I had gone beyond my first target, weighing in at 84.8kg, below 85kg for the first time in a decade and I even found an old jumper which now fits me. Consequently my new target is 83kg, or below 13st. Whenever I come to my parents there is always rich food on offer, particularly at my mother's, and I did fear a slight derailment. Going into Sunday, I feared this would be my lowest exercise day since getting my Fitbit as entertaining my grandparents would mean we couldn't get out for a walk due to their infirmities and by the time they had left, it would be too dark to walk down the narrow country roads. However, it turned out to be my best ever exercise day, clocking in at over 27,000 steps as I enjoyed a stroll in the sunshine around the village in which I grew up in the morning before my father took me to Saltburn where we walked along the cliff top overlooking a rather choppy sea. The wind was biting but exhilarating, while the ground was a little soggy and slippy underfoot, so much so that we decided to walk alongside a disused railway line for a bit as the lack of grip on my shoes was causing me problems. It was great enjoying the fresh sea area although our excursions have made me feel rather tired. It was also the case on Saturday when my dad took me to the market town of Richmond, where we walked by the banks of the River Swale before going to the Station complex - a cinema, tea room, art gallery and small independent shopping centre which has been formed out of the old railway station. Upon entering the building I immediately spied a giant poster for Zootropolis (Zootopia) and had a strong desire to go and see it, wishing that our release date wasn't so much later than pretty much everyone else's (March 25 to coincide with the Easter holidays for those who don't know and who are wondering). Indeed this was one of the reasons I visited my parents this weekend as I could largely be away from any potential spoilers as the US release date was Friday, not to mention plenty of my friends seeing it at Nordic Fuzzcon in Sweden too.
There was a fair amount of food too - my Dad took us to one of our regular country pubs, The Bay Horse in Great Broughton, where my sister, father and I enjoyed a two course meal while later in the day we had haggis, neaps and tatties from Marks & Spencer no less. I'm glad that haggis is becoming easier to get here and I do hope this continues as its ubiquitous in Scotland and one of my favourite ever things, ever since I first tried it on a geology field trip to Arran back in 2002. Today we had roast salmon and jacket potato, with delicious juicy tomatoes that my father cooks so well. He is a great cook and although there was a lot of food, it was all of good quality and reasonably healthy. Furthermore, having burned off 3,800 calories today, I wasn't feeling too guilty about the excess, not least because aside from sharing a bottle of wine, I didn't touch any alcoholic drinks.
My father and I talked a fair bit, with my sister generally preoccupied with her PhD thesis, which she is hoping to complete in May. It was good chatting as always, both in the house and on the numerous walks we enjoyed together, and the fact I spent the whole weekend in one place definitely made it less stressful. I will have to come back to see my grandparents again while both my mother and father will visit by month's end to see the attic, which is now largely finished as this weekend Wolfie laid the flooring and did the skirting board. My dad will also come to deliver my guitar and perhaps check out the BrewDog bars too as he is a shareholder. Being in the house where I grew up is always strange and this village hasn't changed all that much (aside from a couple of new builds), with the same people and same issues as always. I spoke to one of the neighbours for the first time in a decade and little seems to have changed, while even the community boards around the village hall are still highlighting the same thing such as the use of village buses. This resulted in some reminiscing, aided by birthday/graduation/leaving cards and other paraphernalia I have kept for many years as I raided the chest of drawers in my bedroom. Some of it was from university, others from my travels and some cards were from people I don't even remember, although I think I probably worked with them at some point. Many names I had forgotten but were brought back to life in my mind while other cards and objects brought back other memories such as the three year period prior to joining the Fandom when I was more bunny than puppy. I was also a little weirded out when I saw a card from an ex-girlfriend addressed to Wolfie, my current partner's name. Strange times and odd recollections but worthwhile nonetheless although the feelings don't get any less strange being here. This was highlighted perhaps by my rather strange dream on Saturday where I was Donald Trump's running mate and I kept insisting he wasn't as extreme as he appears to be. I have no idea where that came from, but it's not the first surreal dream I've had here. Anyway, I head back to Leeds in the morning, initially having thought I would be at my mother's, someone with whom I was unlikely to get much time to speak what with her parents being around (plus she is a little worried about my grandparents' health right now so I thought a private chat after the meal would help). Consequently, I am leaving from Darlington station which is a good half hour drive from here before heading straight into work pretty early in the morning. Fortunately my dad can drop me off and turn up late for work but it is a bit of an inconvenience for all concerned. Still, it has been a good weekend nonetheless and I'll hopefully get to see my parents again by the end of the month, by which time the final bits and pieces should be done in the attic.
