This and That

Holly got the part!!!!  She had an audition for a part in a short play that is being shown in about 8 weeks at the Moray Film Festival.  She had the second audition last night.  There was only two female roles so it was unlikely I thought, that she would get it but she did, she got the part of Lexy in Friends and Neighbours.  We were both jumping up and down with excitement and it took her ages to calm down.

Exams start tomorrow too and the nerves and stress are starting to show and it's poor me who gets it in the neck, so there are lots of deep breaths on my part before I speak after she has "snarled" at me as I know it's not personal!

Jack is a bit listless and lethargic just now, I think he is definitely in teenager mode, requiring a lot more sleep but he did give me such a look yesterday as if to say "will you shut up woman, I'm trying to have 40 winks here!" that I couldn't help but laugh.  He might not be able to speak but he has, like his mum and sister, such an expressive face that you can't fail to know what he is feeling.

Birthday wishes today to my friend's son, Joseph who is 9 today (I think!) and to another friend's daughter, Katie, who is 11 today.  Hope you both have a lovely day and that there is lots of cake!

I got a look at the finalised plans for Jack's bathroom this week and chose the colour of the flooring and the wet wall for the shower. I went for a more masculine colour this time, since he really uses it more than Holly and I do. His bathroom had already been adapted but now he has outgrown the changes made so we have had to give it an overhaul such as ripping out the bath and putting the shower in it's place. Removing old shower and putting in a radiator twice the size of the one there as the room is really cold! Next step is finding out if I am eligible for a grant towards it so here's hoping cos I had to pay half last time, costing me a cool £6,000.  Ouch ouch ouch!  It hopefully shouldn't cost that much on this occasion as they are not knocking into other rooms this time.

an example of a shower for the disabled

I am feeling pretty exhausted right now and January seems like such a long month doesn't it but hey we are only a few days away from the end of it.  It's times like this, when I am so tired that any mention of Father of the Year is enough to make me "growl" and "snarl" like a rabid dog with major issues cos really, apart from paying for his children, he gives me no help with Jack.

He has had Jack 3 hours in the last 2 years.  After running about like a headless chicken to get Jack to his house for said 3 hours this time, last year and then picking him up after, I was really thinking it wasn't worth it.  When Jack goes to his dad, Granny Mac has to go there too as Father of the Year doesn't know how to do any of his personal care, meds, feeding etc, he just lets his mum do it all. It's not that he hasn't been shown how either.  When Jack stayed over night, Granny Mac slept in a bed next to him and got up through the night when Jack had a seizure. Also Jack's dad really doesn't know how to interact with him so Jack gets a few minutes of his time and then his eyes are automatically drawn towards the TV.  I know all this because Granny Mac and Holly have told me.

The final straw was when he brought back the hoist that I lent him and he left it lying in Jack's bathroom in two parts,.  It was so heavy that I couldn't lift it so had to wait for Holly's pals (teenage boys) to come around and they put it back together for me.

So I decided enough was enough.  I told him that he needs to make his life and his house Jack friendly by getting his own hoist and taking Jack to his house and back in a wheelchair accessible taxi.  Suffice to say, it hasn't happened and I refuse to let him come into the house just to peer at Jack for a minute or two then chat to Holly for 20 minutes.  It's his loss and he has missed out on the pure love that Jack has to give and the cheeky little smiles he bestows upon us when you least expect it!  And the thing he does with his eyebrows, raising them at me, questioning what I am doing can have me in hysterics!  But most of all he has missed out on this..............

Cuddles!! They are truly the best

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW isn't he a wee sweetheart?

They both are lovely kids and I love spending time with them.  Holly put it perfectly today when I picked her up at lunchtime as she has conned me into taking her home every Wednesday for the foreseeable future. Wtf???? Anyway, I digress, she said "I love this little arrangement we have going here cos I get to come home and spend time wif my mum and not be alone at lunch times on Wednesdays".  Laughingly, I said "oh and do you think I am loving the fact that you're messing with my day?" and she said "you love it, I know you do!".

Can't argue with that!