Turning in my MAN card

My penis has been inverted, my testicles have been revoked, the keys to shed have been handed over and I'm turning in my MAN card, my wife is officially more man than I am. Today while I was washing up and making lunch, she was hanging pictures! I don't know why, I have never been much of a man when it comes to DIY or mechanical jobs. My wife on the other hand loves the challenge.

Once I'd watched some Soccer Saturday and got over my inferiority, we went out. We spent a lovely evening with the in-laws, even though they ridiculed my drawing of a Jeep.

Hopefully tomorrow I can redeem myself, and claim back some MAN points.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

A lovely and very special little boy

Today we visited my cousin-in-law (yes, that's right, I said cousin-in-law) that is we visited my cousins wife and their son, my 2nd cousin. It was really nice to see them as I'm usually at work when my wife and son see them. My 2nd cousin, bless him, is such a lovely little boy and unfortunately has an as yet an undiagnosed brain condition, thankfully it doesn't stop him being such a fantastic little boy. A lot of the praise for the way he is, has to go to his parents who do a fantastic job with him, despite his problems. I don't know that I could do as well as they do in the same situation, but I would hope I could, even being half as good would still be great.

It was a really pleasant day, and it has made me both sad and happy. Sad to see this beautiful child suffer, but happy to see how well loved and looked after he is. My cousin-in-law and cousin should both be proud of themselves, I know I am proud of them.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Domestic god to a bit of an idiot

I had a very domesticated morning this morning, I woke up to see my son in the bed with us, my wife had got him out of bed. I didn't spend long in there with them as I went downstairs, heated my sons bottle for him then got on with baking, I made a fruit cake, a Victoria sponge and even a loaf of bread, and a tear and share for this evening with my wife. I then waited on my wife's 'mothers meeting' making tea, squash and bringing cake.

I undid all of my good work this evening when after our son had been sick, my wife, having just said he's going to be sick again, just stood there rather than take him to the bathroom or toilet. I lost my temper and snapped at her asking her where she would go if she knew she was going to be sick. I feel like a complete twat.

So it was a mixed day emotionally, mostly high but with a big low at the end.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Exhausted but happy

I was awoken by one of my nephews at 2.30 this morning, his whine of "I need the toilet" got me out of bed and the other 4 decided they needed to go too. It's a good job we have an outdoor loo! 5 minutes later they all decided they needed to go again. Eventually, about an hour later, they went back to sleep and didn't wake again until 5.55, they were so loud that they woke my wife up who was sleeping upstairs at the front of the house, while we were right at the back of the garden.

My wife came out to get us once she was showered and dressed, and the boys had a bit of chill time in front of the TV while I showered. Then they showered one by one and got sun creamed and dressed. Then it was time for a camping breakfast, tins of beans and sausages and bread rolls.

I then took on the challenge of taking down the tent with five excited nephews. I did most of the work but we managed to get it down and had some fun in the process. Then we played some games. Bulldog was a success and wrestling went well until one of the boys got hurt, not badly, and we stopped.

Then I was relieved of my duties by my 2 sisters arriving and taking back responsibility of their children. I only had to focus on my son. We walked to the park, with my mum as well, and went to the open air cinema. I enjoyed the film but I think I was the only one who watched it. My 2 youngest nephews crashed and went to sleep.

After walking home we went to Tesco's to collect the prescription my wife and I forgot all about yesterday. Then we finally stopped, sort of. I had to clean up the Bar-B-Q and my wife cooked dinner. Then we got the washing in, bathed and fed our son. Then changed his sheet because he'd been a little sick. Then showered our son and my wife as he'd been a lot sick.

This evening we have had our friends over, with their Dog, a Husky. We ran around, playing with a football until the dog popped it, then playing with a tennis ball, until the dog was too tired. Then my wife and I sat down, which was a mistake, as I struggled to get off the sofa to go to bed.

A very exhausting couple of days, but a happy couple of days.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

What have I let myself in for

I woke up at 5.30 this morning because I went to bed so early last night. I lay awake for a couple of hours before my wife and son woke up and we then lay in bed for a bit longer. Once we did eventually get out of bed we had breakfast. Leftover burgers and sausages!

Then we went out shopping, after a detour to drop off some cake. We were out so long that we had to feed our son while in Tesco's, which also meant that we had to eat there too, otherwise we wouldn't have eaten. Once home we had just got the shopping unpacked when the first of my nephews arrived.

I had suggested a few weeks ago that I would have all 5 of my nephews, ranging from 10 down to twin 4 year olds, over to camp in the garden. As I lay here now having had a somewhat hyperactive afternoon of putting up a tent, cooking and eating a Bar-B-Q, washing up, having a campfire and a midnight feast at 9.00, I wonder what I've let myself in for.

I must be an idiot.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Welcome to the world

Sorry for the delay in posting, between the sun, the beers & the fighting with my nephews, I felt awful by the time I came to bed and went straight to sleep.

Yesterday was the big day, and when the alarm went off at 6.30 my wife and I were straight out of bed. She got in the shower to wash her hair while I did the washing up, then she fed our son while I did all the downstairs housework. By 8.45, right on schedule, we were on our way to the supermarket.

We got everything we needed and after a quick detour to my parents to pick up a fridge, we were back on our way home. When we got home our son had a nap, and we got back on. I went out in the garden, did a poop scoop, picked up the fallen fruit and cut the grass. My wife prepared potatoes, onions, salad and rolls, as well as feeding our son his lunch.

By 1 o'clock almost everything was done and we got ourselves ready. I showered while my wife, in her own words, straightened her mop and put on her face. By 1.45 we were both ready, and after a few last minute details we were out in the garden, waiting for the hoardes to arrive.

The Bar-B-Q was a success, apart from the beef kebabs which didn't cook properly due to lack of heat. Everyone had a good time, I think, and aside from my aforementioned problems, don't know if it was the beer, the heat or the wrestling, but I felt terrible.

My wife, bless her, cleaned up while I secluded myself to a dark room. Thank you baby, even though I could have done with a bit of sympathy.

All in all a good welcome to the world party, and even though we weren't doing it to get presents, our son still got some lovely gifts.

Thanks to all that came for a perfect afternoon.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

It's not easy doing nothing

I woke up this morning feeling tired. I felt a bit better than last night but not as good as I had been feeling. We got up breakfasted and went to my in-laws, my wife was making a cake for our sons special party tomorrow. The first cake didn't go so well so we spent a lot longer out than expected.

Even though I spent the whole time just sitting and occasionally doing something for our son, I feel exhausted, and I know I've got another few busy days coming up. Hopefully I will start to get back to myself or certainly be busy enough to forget to be down.

It's our big party tomorrow, so I'd better get some rest.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

One step forward and one step back over a cliff

Just this morning my wife remarked how well I was doing with my mood. I agreed, but less than 12 hours later I feel like I've taken a step back off a proverbial cliff.

This evening a family situation has arisen and it has really hit me hard, just when I thought I was starting on the right road, I now feel like I'm right back where I started.

Up until this happened I had been having a good, if busy, day.

During breakfast we had a squirrel in our garden, this made me happy as I love squirrels but according to my wife they are Vermin. After breakfast we went to the farm to get stuff for our BBQ, only to find out that they no longer do there fantastic burger deal. So off to Sainsbury's we went and spent £14 more then we expected on Burgers. Then we went round Homebase, B&M and B&Q looking for something to act as a campfire but that wasn't too expensive. We found a little gas burner that will do the trick.

After nearly 3 hours out it was back home to have lunch, I finally got my sausage roll! Then it was cleaning time. I dusted and vacuumed the whole upstairs of the house, as well as tidying the spare room. My wife cleaned the bathroom, the little star.

Then it was time for a Saturday afternoon tradition, Soccer Saturday. Ipswich lost but Arsenal and AFC Rushden & Diamonds both won.

So I'm back where I started but I'm still ready to fight and will see what the days ahead bring.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Green fingers and a dirty brown face

Today was another gardening day, we waited for our son to be asleep before going out into the garden. I spent an hour and a half weeding and tidying the soil under one of our trees. When he woke up we took a trip out to B&Q to pick up some bits we needed.

After lunch, once my son was napping again, I put a border round the bed of the tree and surrounded it with stones. This was after another trip to B&Q, I'd miscalculated how much border we needed. Circumference = pi x diameter not pi x radius! Once that was finished and looking good I set to work on the bed under the other tree. Before he'd woken up from his second nap I was finished.

Then it was time to tidy up the garden and spend the rest of the day chilling.

It's amazing how therapeutic gardening is. I feel wonderful

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

It's definitely waterproof!

My wife and son have play date every Thursday, so this morning I had some time to myself. I had last nights washing up to do, I still haven't learnt. After that I had almost 2 hours of play. Not the most exciting 2 hours and I have to admit I got a bit bored without them.

Once they were home and we'd had lunch, we went into town. As it was pouring down with rain it gave us an opportunity to test our new rain coats, they work! We got everything we needed to in town and then it was home again.

After dinner, my wife washed up, and I spent some quality time with my son. We watched 4 episodes of Mike the Knight and then had some rough play/hugs and kisses time before his bath, bottle and bed.

Tomorrow is another day in the garden, but first it's more Smallville tonight, we're really rattling though them.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Sunburn & I rock

I've had a very tired day today. When my wife's alarm went off at 7, I grunted and rolled over to go back to sleep. 38 minutes later my wife brought me a cup of coffee and our son. After draining the coffee I felt a bit more alive and I fed our son.

We then went shopping, before we shopped we treated ourselves to breakfast. It was delicious. We then made our way round the store and only had to say no to each other once. After we had unpacked at home, we went to a local park as they had a petting zoo.

We waited in line for nearly an hour, and the closer we got to the front the more annoyed we got at the people ignoring the queue and just walking up. Eventually we got to the front and our son got to stroke a gecko and a snake. Unfortunately all that time queuing left me redder than a lobster. The queue for the other animals moved much quicker and we were soon in with them. Our son stroked a goat, a sheep, a pig and a rabbit.

This evening we made a rookie mistake. We didn't get our son into his bedclothes before feeding him. Of course tonight was a night he decided to fall asleep while feeding, so we then had to wake him up to change him. This left him tired and grumpy and when we put him down he screamed. The first time I came up I gave him some more milk and settled him down. This didn't work. The second attempt was from my wife, who sang to him and gave him a cuddle. The third attempt, and last before resorting to Calpol, was me again. I picked him up and cuddled him tight, rocking gently from side to side. It worked! Before long the eyes were drooping and he was dropping off.

It's now time to get off to sleep having just had after sun applied to my extra crispy shoulders.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

When did I get so old?

With no alarm & my son still asleep I found myself awake a 6.31 this morning. Rather than go back to sleep I got up and got on. By the time my wife's alarm went off I was washed, I'd put the clean washing away and I'd start to get our sons morning milk ready. I then fed my son and got his change bag ready for our day out shopping.

My wife, while looking in her full wardrobe, decides she had no clothes. How very convenient baby! She then pulled out a cardigan I'd never seen her wear before. How do you not have enough clothes when you have things you have not worn for 3 1/2 years?

We were ready to leave just after 9 and after a quick stop to pick up my mother-in-law we were on our way to shopping. Our son slept on the way so was refreshed when we got there. We worked our way slowly round the shops and bought a few little bits but nothing major.

Just after 12 we went for some lunch. My first experience of TGI Fridays, pretty weird going on a Tuesday, it was a lovely meal, despite the stroppy son, who just wanted our food instead of his own. Our waiter was lovely, even noticing my Rushden shirt, I was particularly impressed with his attention to detail, every time I finished one coke he was over with another and when my order, which was brought over by another waitress, arrived it had no chips. As soon as he came over he noticed the missing chips and asked if they were sorting it for me.

After lunch I felt very old. Yesterday was spent gardening and today we bought ourselves proper coats! When did this happen? We bought a couple more things including a pair of Nike trainers for our son before we went home.

Once home, my wife decided that the best way to encourage our son to crawl was to crawl around. So for the next 10 minutes we crawled round him. It had no effect whatsoever, he just looked at us like we were crazy.

I'm pretty tired after a busy day, but as its Tuesday I'll watch Smallville before bed.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Lay-ins aren't what they used to be

Last night I had a late night, well 10.30, and this morning I had a lay-in, 8.20! I can remember a time when a late night would finish in the AM and I would wake from a lay-in in the PM. What happened to me? Regardless of what I have done in the past, 8.20 is now a good time to lay-in until and I was very grateful for it.

Once I did wake up, I had a leisurely breakfast with my wife. We then walked to the post office with our son and the dog, picking up something for lunch too. When we got home it was time to go out in the garden.

In our garden we had 3/4 of a green house, which, like the rest of the garden, has been very neglected. I should explain that it is only 3/4 of a greenhouse because 3 out of 12 panels are missing. Today's mission was to clear the beds, fill in the holes and put down plastic and stones for us to put out planters on.

I spent the morning weeding and turning over the soil, getting very dirty and dusty in the process. After that was done we did a patch job using heavy duty plastic on the greenhouse. Then it was lunchtime. After lunch my wife had a physio appointment, and we went to B&Q to get the stones on the way home.

Once home we made quick work of putting the stones down and then it was time to relax. This evening we had an old friend over for dinner, he has spent the last 9 months living in Spain but is now back for a year. Seeing as we have been saying we will have him over for dinner for nearly 3 1/2 years it was good to finally follow up on our offer.

It was a lovely relaxed evening and our son enjoyed meeting someone new. Particularly as he is so good with children. All the washing up was done before he left, so now it's time to chill out.

Busy day ahead tomorrow, we're going shopping!

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

OMG I'm a Phubber

Woke up this morning at normal time, but as I don't start work until 10 I had a relaxed start to the day. By 8 I was in the kitchen and only then realised I had run out of my meds, thankfully my Dad, who was taking the same as me, has recently changed meds and has some left over. So my wife is going to change her plans for a day at home, in front of the TV, to collect them for me. She's going to time it with our sons nap time which also means I get a lift to work.

In the extra time I had I looked at a few articles on the web. One of these had an intriguing title, it was about 'Phubbing'. I had no idea what this meant, but the article explained it was the act of snubbing someone face to face to interact with your phone. This is incredibly rude and unfortunately something I am guilty of. The first step towards healing is admitting you have a problem so here goes. My name is Adam Edward Grant and I am a Phubber.

Today is my last day at work before my time off, hopefully it will be a busy day so it goes quick, and a productive day so I go out on high. Then it's all fun, fun, fun with my wife and son, well maybe some housework and gardening too. Bring on 5pm.

Today did not go the way I wanted it to. 7 hours felt more like 27, but I got there in the end and I am now off. Once home I spent some time with my son before putting him to bed. We then sat down for a roast dinner, we hadn't had one for ages. Roast Chicken, Roast Potatoes, Roast Parsnips, Carrots, Peas, Yorkshire Pudding and Gravy. Overall 7/10 (the chicken could have been beef, I've had better gravy and I could've done with 1 more potato). Our dinner was disturbed though as our usually perfect son, decided not to go to sleep like he usually does. 3 trips upstairs and some Calpol later and he was asleep.

After a small, compared to last night, load of washing up its time to sit down, put my feet up and enjoy my time off. Starting with a late night watching Smallville.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

P.S. My wife is a Phubber too

What a pile of ... Washing up.

A lovely day off today. I woke up at, well I don't know what time. We had a lovely relaxed breakfast. Then we headed over to see the rest of the family, as busy and noisy as it was, it was fun. We had lunch there too.

After lunch we headed back home, and I spent the afternoon watch Soccer Saturday. Unfortunately results didn't go my way, Arsenal lost, Ipswich lost and Rushden could only manage a draw. My son napped the whole time and didn't wake up until tea time. We all had tea together, which was a nice change, then it was a delayed bedtime.

Once he was in bed I had to tackle the mountain of washing up, I really should have learnt to do it promptly by now. After that was completed, it was an episode of Smallville on the sofa with my wife.

I nice chilled out day.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

What a Rush (Hour 2)

Nothing much to say again today. It was a bit of a scatterbrained day today at work, I forgot to do things, did the wrong things and messed stuff up but I got a few sales and most importantly hit my weekly target with a day to spare.

Once home I had to look after the wife as she had the front door blow onto her ankle and is in a lot of pain. I put it on ice and then strapped it up for the night, once our son was in bed. I also cooked dinner, fish fingers, pasta & beans, although we were supposed to have peas. Then we sat and watched Rush Hour 2 and both had a much needed laugh.

Overall, despite my mess ups, it's been a good day.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Meh - part 2

Today is another one of those days where I'm feeling a bit flat. I've had an ok day but nothing spectacular. I enjoyed my visits from my wife and son and I enjoyed family time this evening but other than that I haven't felt up or down about anything. Another meh day.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

The Auld Enemy

I woke up at usual time as I had my rheumatology referral appointment at 8.30 so it was a bit of a rush to get out of the house. I needn't have bothered, even though I was the first appointment of the day they were running 45 minutes late. Eventually though I did get seen, and after some questions and a check of my joints I was sent for some X-rays and referred for an MRI scan of my back. Hopefully they will show something up, which will help me find out what is wrong with me.

After that it was the wife's turn for an appointment, just at the doctors to sort out her gammy toe. Then it was off for our second round with Tesco's scan as you shop. What a great system, so quick, so easy.

This afternoon was taken up with some gardening until my back could take no more. I did have a small break in the middle of the afternoon for my Occupational Health appointment, which never happened, as I had not updated my phone number with them.

This evening the wife is round my sisters, so after bath time I was going to be on my own doing bed time. The wife did hang around while I was drying the boy, and while I struggled to put his nappy on, he just doesn't stay still. Unfortunately I lost my temper and snapped at the wife. My mood just got the better of me and I took my frustration out on her. Sorry baby.

This evening is sitting in front of the TV watching England Vs Scotland and playing.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Dream a little dream

I had weird dreams again last night, I dreamt that I met David Cameron. I can't remember exactly where but I know it wasn't somewhere I would expect to be, let alone expect to see the PM. In my dream I tweeted about my meeting, but again I can not remember the exact details. Unlike my last dream, I have no idea what this one means. None the less it still woke me up at 6.10 this morning, either the dream or my son, and I didn't get back to sleep.

Regardless of my early start I still felt really good today, and once again performed well enough at work. So I'm really on a roll now. Kinda wish I didn't have holiday coming up. Time with my family will be good though. That's exactly what I'll get tomorrow, although most of the day will be taken up with various appointments, first my rheumatology appointment, hopefully they will have an answer for my pain. Then my Occupational Health telephone appointment.

Once home it was good to have some time with the boy. Plenty of hugs, kisses and laughter before putting him to bed. Then it was time with the wife, sitting on the sofa watching Smallville. She might get a few hugs and kisses too.

Then it's off to bed for a few normal dreams hopefully.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Nothing to see here

Nothing of note really happened today, no strong feelings either good or bad. So all in all I suppose it was a good day.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

We came, we saw, we conquered

Today was my opportunity to show what I was capable of. I was running the store. I got up at normal time for a weekday and was at work at 8.45 even though we didn't open until 10. I spent an hour cleaning and preparing the store for opening as well as preparing my morning brief.

At 9.40 the other staff arrived and I gave my brief, a bit of a break from the norm, with some challenges and I introduced the days incdntive, a straight battle for sales between the 2 guys.

Before I started I was nervous, but my nerves soon went, when the customers started coming, and the boys started selling. We pulled out some big numbers, certainly the biggest for a Sunday in a while. So i'm a very happy boy.

Now it's home for some family time and to rest up for another great day tomorrow.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

The Best of The Best of The Best, Sir!

I woke up feeling good again. A solid, if not outstanding. performance at work yesterday has given me some of my confidence back. That combined with a company message to deliver the best of the best, has really inspired me. We have the best prices, on the best products, with the best packages. We also have the best people to deliver the best performance and the best service, and that includes me. So my challenge to myself is to be the best of the best of the best. To take the tools I've been provided with by the company and to combine them with my skills to not only meet expectations but smash right through them. Like a US marine or a British SAS man, I'm going to put everything I have into everything I do, and deliver the right result at the end of the day. I am a lean mean selling machine. I am one of the elite, and today I'm going to prove it.

What a day! What a day! What a Day! A little bit of inspiration goes a long way and today I smashed it. I led the store in almost every area, pulling out some great deals in the process. Oh and making myself a nice bit of money, now I need to carry this forward and provide the inspiration tomorrow when I run the store.

It was also a good day for football with The Diamonds back in action, a win on the 1st day of their second season and a good start to the campaign for back to back promotions, hopefully I'll be able to catch a game or 2 this year. Ipswich got their 1st win of the season too, a 3-0 against Millwall. Arsenal beat Man City 3-1 in a friendly, Dagenham beat York in the league, and before you ask Dad, Accrington drew. These results all helped my mood.

A nice evening with the in-laws tonight to celebrate my sister-in-laws 21st. That should keep my mood up.

Good food, good company and good fun awaits.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

What a difference a day makes

I woke up this morning and I felt like myself again. It was fantastic! I was up, out of bed, washed, dressed and breakfasted in enough time to get the boy up and have a bit of time with him. As well as being able to help the wife out by vacuuming the living room.

On my way to work I found myself doing something I hadn't done in a while, I was smiling.

I had a really good day at work and my mood stayed all day. I think I may have turned a corner.

Tonight will be a chilled night in with the wife, a nice dinner once the boys in bed and some Smallville.

I hope I feel this good tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Adam Edward Grant.

Today is a gift, that's why it's called the present!

Today was a very hard day, I had a meeting with my store manager and another store manager about the inconsistency of my performance. It involved being asked and answering several questions, some of which were about how I am feeling. This made me very nervous. During the meeting I also had an opportunity to speak to the other store manager about how I could change the way I think about work to stop myself from being down about it. He gave me some very good suggestions and I came out of it feeling very positive.

The rest of the day was easy compared to the morning so it flew by.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

You have to break some eggs if you want to make an omelette

Literally. This morning I was making my wife an omelette for breakfast, I went to the cupboard and got a frying pan and a jug out, then got the oil out, then I went to the fridge and got out some cheese. I stood there for a minute and thought 'have I got everything' before heading back into the kitchen and realising I had forgotten something very important. The EGGs. That should show just where my head is at today.

Unusually for my day off I don't feel myself fully, I don't know whether its nervousness getting the best of me ahead of my Documented Conversation at work tomorrow or just my depression throwing my mind off, but I hope I can get my head straight soon.

I'm usually an intelligent human being but I just can't seem to get my head screwed on right. I wish I could just think clearly as that would allow me to get into the best place to fight this thing. But I don't see that happening any time soon so I'm just going to have to kick its ass from flat on my back.

Other than not feeling right in the head my day off has been good, I really enjoyed spending some family time with the wife and the boy as well as some father/son bonding before seeing my parents too.

A weird day off to say the least.

Thanks for reading.

Adam Edward Grant

Meh

Feel a bit Meh today. The most exciting thing to happen was waking up in a panic because I forgot to set my alarm last night. The rest of my day went like this.

Washed - meh
Had breakfast - meh
Saw the wife and son - yay
Walked to work - meh
Worked in the morning - meh
Saw the wife and son - yay
Worked in the afternoon - meh
Walked home - meh
Saw the wife and son - yay

Hopefully after an evening of Smallville season 2 and maybe a little play on FIFA I will not feel so Meh on my day off tomorrow.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean the worlds not getting at you

I woke up at 5.30 this morning having had a very weird dream. I dreamt that my shop had moved to a shopping centre and that on my way to work wearing my work uniform I was stopped by some customers who were speaking about a deal. I was talking them through there options when one of my colleagues appeared and completely took over to the point I left. I then spoke to my manager who said he'd sent my colleague as he didn't think I'd secure the deal. I was not impressed and once the customers had left the store I confronted my colleague, we had a big row and it ended with me hitting them with a tin of beans before emptying the contents over their head. Very strange and I think I may be a little bit paranoid.

I did manage to get back to sleep and that's where I stayed until my wife woke me up with a cup of coffee at 8. I fed the boy before I got out of bed and then made myself and the wife egg on toast, the wife's were fried and mine scrambled. After that it was back out in the garden for another battle in the ongoing war to make it nice and child safe. We are winning but the war is long.

We had a parcel to collect from the post office, so we took a trip out in the car, picked it up before taking a walk to the shop to spend the £4.57 credit we had on our credit card so we can cancel it for one we don't pay an annual premium to have.

We had every intention of getting back out in the garden but as my wife had a stiff neck I decided it was best to just chill out indoors. This turned out to be a good decision once the heavens opened.

Once the boy was in bed we settled down to watch the last few episodes of Smallville season one before bed.

Hopefully tonight will be a dream free night.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

I'm a burning lethargy of everything I used to be

Woke up at the usual time this morning, but feeling very lethargic and it took me an hour an a half to get out of bed. That meant it was a bit of a rush to get out the door on time for work but I just made it. I need a good day today to hit target for the week and I've a got a day off to look forward to at the end off it.

The lethargy was not helped by the day at work, it dragged on and on and on. But I was working with the funny guys today so at least I laughed a lot. Unfortunately it wasn't the day I wanted it to be, but it was enough.

After work and a walk home it was dinner, bath and bed for the boy, dog out for a walk then watching the big 12th Doctor reveal. I wasn't impressed, but then I wouldn't have been impressed with many people as I absolutely adore Matt Smith as the Doctor and will deeply miss him when he is gone.

The rest of the evening will just be chilling and looking forward to a day off with the family tomorrow.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

The Yo-Yo Effect

Back to work today, and back to feeling nervous. Today I will have a review with my store manager where we will discuss how I will be performance managed. On the plus side Saturday is usually a strong day so should be good. I've had a relaxed start to the day too, including some cuddles from my little man so hopefully that will spur me on too.

After a nervous wait, I had a really positive review and I felt ready for the battle. The day was slow but steady and I came out of it with a very good performance. So I'm happy all round. It's now home to see the boy before his bedtime and to spend an evening on the sofa with the wife.

After a yo-yo day in terms of my mood. It was home to a lovely meal, some quality time with the wife and the boy before we put him to bed. Then after cleaning up the BBQ it was onto the sofa to watch a DVD before bed.

Overall a good day but it had its moments.

Thanks for reading.

Adam Edward Grant

The Sun always shines after the rain

I felt a lot better today. I had a day off but I still woke up at 6.30, got up straight away, showered, and got ready for the day. I fed the boy at 7 and made breakfast for us all. After that, and the boy having a sleep, we were off shopping. It was a quick and pleasant shop for a change and we were back home by 11.15. Hopefully the weather will stay bright now the storms have gone.

After that it was just getting ready for a chilled day. The Brother-in-laws arrived at 1.30 and 3 o'clock and it was an afternoon of playing in the pool, chilling in the garden and enjoying the BBQ. Onc ethe weather turned cooler it was back indoors for a Wii session. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games & Wii Sports Resort were our games of choice and we all had a good laugh.

A very enjoyable day.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant.

Back to life ... Back to reality

Today is my first day back at work and I'm feeling nervous, but if I don't go now I never will. I love my job and find it very rewarding but the pressures of ever increasing targets get to me. I feel like I'm chasing down a moving finish line! Today I have to start early too as we had a POS (point of sale) change, involving changing posters, price tickets etc. The change was last night but as POS champion for our store it is my responsibility to make sure it is 100% perfect.

On my way to work I check up on my other champion role, customer satisfaction surveys, and find that while in my absence we have dropped, we have achieved 80%, the minimum standard in my opinion, for last month! The game all starts again today though as a new month means a clean slate and a fresh opportunity. Lets go get it!

I arrive at work on time and only wait a minute for my colleague to arrive to open the store and then it's down to business. After a frantic hour we were POS perfect and it was time to open the doors. The day passed fairly uneventfully and while I didn't have the day I'd hoped for I was satisfied with my performance. Before I knew it it was time to close and I was on my way home, excited by the prospect of a day off, lounging in the garden with my 2 brothers-in-law and their girlfriends, and a BBQ.

Once home it's straight out in the garden for a lovely dinner, before getting the boy ready for bed, and preparing the pool for tomorrow. After that its a quiet evening in front of the TV with the wife before a play session.

All in all a good, if busy, day for me.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant