Hallowe'en

Today was my sons first hallowe'en, we got him all dressed up, as a pumpkin and took him to a party with his friends. It was so cute to see them all dressed up, as a pumpkin, witch and vampire. They didn't know what was going on, but it was good fun for the adults.

The other thing about it being hallowe'en is that tomorrow is the 1st of Movember. This year I am taking part, much to my wife's dismay. So tonight I ritualistically shaved my face clean and for the next 30 days , I will be shaving around the MO.

It gives me something to focus on.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

P.S. If you feel like donating or just keeping up with how foolish I look head to http://uk.movember.com/mospace/7088913

You're outta here

Today was a very productive day, my wife cleaned the house and I got some more of the garden done. The biggest thing for today though was that the rubbish furniture was collected and is no longer sitting in the way. So we have an empty bedroom for the time being.

My wife wasn't very well this evening so instead of the usual night of Smallville, I watched a film. It was different but good.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

It's all in my head

The power of the brain is phenomenal. I have, hopefully, conquered my lifelong leg scratching problem. All it took was realising that it was all in my head and focusing on this fact to solve it. I have been repeating this mantra all day and have already noticed a dramatic decrease in my scratching.

It's good to have my head back in a position to win these battles too.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Roast Beef part 2

Today was a good day. A PJ day! We don't do it very often but it was nice to do it today. We still kept busy, tidying the sideboard, the bookshelves and the DVD cupboard. One of my least favourite jobs, we have about 600 of them.

Today was no different, I still wouldn't do it if I could help it. I'd rather have them in a single layer on a DVD unit, than in 8 layers over 2 shelves and stacked on top of each other. But I found it endurable today, even a bit relaxing.

Then I had my 2nd beef roast in as many days, this one was as good as the first.

Now it's time to chill out in front of the TV, enjoying a nice pear crumble.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Roast Beef part 1

Today the clocks went back. Because of this my wife and I agreed to not have any alarms. I still woke up at 6 (7), and I needed the toilet. I went, then flushed as usual, this woke the dog up who in turn woke my son up. We were hoping he would sleep to lessen the effect of the time change. Thankfully he didn't seem to suffer too much.

This afternoon we went to my parents for dinner, a beef roast. I have had conversations with my mum and wife about who is the better cook. As we are having roast beef again tomorrow, I said it could be a decision maker. Unfortunately my dad cooked, so we may never know.

It was a lovely relaxed afternoon and the first beef roast was good.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Bouncebackability

After yesterday today could only be a better day, and it was. It's nice that one bad day doesn't set me back the way it had before. Today was a day off sorting out, after my wife had been for her flu jab. We got all of our homeless clothes sorted out ready for when our new new furniture arrives at the end of November. It also serves the purpose of giving us more space in the 2nd bedroom for everyday things, like drying washing.

It was a slow and boring process, made bearable because it was spent with my wife.

Overall a happy day, compared to yesterday, a very happy day.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

I woke up this morning feeling hopeful. My wife had spent most of yesterday on the phone to the furniture company, and had managed to arrange for all of our furniture to be delivered today. My hopefulness grew when we got a text saying the delivery would be arriving in the morning and even more when we got a phone call before 10 saying it was 5 minutes away.

The delivery drivers arrived and all the furniture got upstairs, despite the seemingly incompetent delivery men. Things then started to go wrong. I noticed a bit of chipboard as I was moving a piece of furniture, I opened it to inspect and found the item was intact. It was one of the 3 intact items.

I grew angrier and angrier with every item I opened. The back of the dressing table was broken. My wardrobe had a big hole in the door. My wife's 3 door wardrobe was just a 2 door and 1 door wardrobe, the 1 door wardrobe had damaged hinges, the 2 door was slanted. My wife's chest of drawers was broken top and bottom, and finally my wife's replacement bedside table was even more wonky than the first.

By the end of it I was fuming and so was my wife. After she had finished putting the colour on my sisters hair she called and spoke to the really good staff member she had spoken to yesterday. We decided to return all of the items and buy new stuff.

So instead of the relaxing father-son bonding time I had planned, I spent the whole afternoon looking at various furniture places for decent, affordable furniture with a dressing table. We eventually bought it in the first place we had visited, but had left due to lack of service.

On the way home we indulged ourselves, and our bad moods, and got coke & popcorn for TV time tonight and Fish & Chips for dinner.

It's been a while since I felt anything but happy, but today has left me feeling, not precisely down but very angry.

From here things can only get better.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Ipswich Incredibles

Today I had a break in my time off for a classroom training session about the refit. It was the first time ever that all 8 members of staff have been in one place. It was great fun and we dominated the Grafton Massive in all the quizzes and games. We really are the Ipswich Incredibles!

Despite the great day, I'm still glad I'm off for another week.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Next day delivery? Try next week delivery!

Today was my sons 9 month birthday, so we took him to pixifoto for a shoot. It was the usual kind of shoot. Lots of lovely pictures followed by a short wait and then the hard job of saying no to buying any. We did it though, we may have had to use all of our collective will power but we didn't spend any money.

After the photos it was shopping then home, lunch and then out to get our son weighed. Still no furniture though. Funny next day delivery.

Thanks for readin

Adam Edward Grant

A half busy day

Everything was go yesterday, well half the time anyway. We got up, had breakfast, washed and dressed quite leisurely. Then we had a call from our landlords husband saying he was coming to put our fence in and remove the old wardrobes and bed. So we rushed around emptying the wardrobes. Then sat and waited for them to arrive.

Once they arrived we had a leisurely lunch and then went upstairs to sort out all our clothes. We also had some of our new furniture arrive, but only our bedside table and my wife's stool.

All in all it was a quiet busy day. Half spent rushing around, half spent doing nothing.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

A load of pollocks

Today was the first of three days off. I spent the day moving furniture, cleaning and generally sorting things out round the house ready for our new bedroom furniture. Normally I'd have felt like I hadn't had a day off at all, but today I still feel refreshed. It's great.

We had one of my favourites for dinner, fish fingers, chips and beans. It was fantastic but could have been better. The fish fingers were pollock, not cod. Thanks tesco online delivery team.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

The final countdown

Today was the last day of work before our refit. So in addition to my normal days work I also had to help close down the shop, dismantle the tills and make sure everything was ready. I had a great day and the close down went well but I am exhausted.

Oh well 3 days off with my beautiful wife and my gorgeous, and mischievous, son. Then 1 day on a training course in Cambridge before another week off.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Christmas? Not yet baby

As our son is going to be going into the second bedroom in the new year, we have had to order our new bedroom furniture. It will be arriving early next week. This means that we have to sort out the spare room to move furniture in and out to make space for our new furniture. What this actually means is that all the Christmas and birthday presents have had to be wrapped and rehomed. This has made my wife a bit crazy and gets frustrated with my inability to help the way she wants me too.

Thankfully she's almost done.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Eat/Sleep

I feel like I have spent the whole day either sleeping or eating. I woke up this morning with my alarm, laid in bed until my wife's alarm went off said good morning, gave her a hug, and I had intended to get out of bed. That's the last thing I remember before I woke up at 10.

Once awake I showered, got dressed and got ready to go out for our lunch. Seckford Hall was, as expected, lovely. Although I did feel they treated us differently to other guests, either due to our age or the fact that we had a baby, but we were the only people not offered tea or coffee at the end of our meal.

I had a headache all day, and by the time we left the resteraunt it felt like a full blown migraine. After visiting pets at home to get dog food, we made our way home. As soon as we got home I felt, and was, sick. I then went and had a lie down, which turned into a sleep. I woke up just in time for dinner.

Since dinner I have not felt so bad, so hopefully I can spend my evening not sleeping or eating.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Polish sausage

I woke up with my alarm this morning and didn't go back to sleep. Unfortunately it did take me an hour to get out of bed. My back was giving me hell. I did eventually manage to make it out of bed, thanks to my wife, and into the hot shower she'd put on for me.

My day at work was fairly standard, although I did get to try the Polish sausages my colleague, who is Polish, has been telling me about. They were fantastic.

I have a day off tomorrow and we're going to Seckford Hall for lunch. It should be a nice day.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Hard work pays off

I finished work at 3 o'clock today, well at least I was supposed to. I eventually left at nearly 4 as I spent time making sure I closed a deal and in return my boss passed me one of his deals over. So I got well paid for my extra hour.

My mum took me and my sisters out this morning for a drink and a snack. It was very nice to see them just us 4. It would have been nice to see my dad as well, but he had a Drs appointment so couldn't make it.

Tomorrow I'm going to get back into getting up when my alarm goes off. Well that's the plan anyway.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Chocolate covered tomatoes

I feel like I've lived at the hospital for the last 24 hours, after my MRI yesterday I was back at the hospital today, this time for my wife as she had 2 appointments. They, thankfully, went by quickly.

After we were finished it was off to my parents to celebrate my mums birthday. It was a good evening. I think my mum loved her present. She even saw the funny side when my oldest sister played a joke on her using one of her other presents, a chocolate fondue set. We had been putting strawberries, marshmallows and cake pops. My sister decided to cover a tomato in chocolate and put some marshmallows on it before giving it to mum.

It was cruel, but very funny.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

M.R.Why

Today was the day of my MRI scan, and I was petrified. My in-laws came round to put my son to bed, and my wife and I went off to the hospital. The scan was of my entire spine and pelvis. After a short wait, I was taken into the room and loaded into the machine. It was like being inside a very small tunnel, it made me very uncomfortable. I fell asleep.

The 45 minutes I was in there flew by, and it was soon over. Now I'm back at home sitting on the sofa ready to watch the season 4 finale of Smallville.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Blessed

Today was one of my best friends weddings. I felt very lucky to be part of his day, even more so when I found out that we were the grooms only non family at the ceremony. I felt doubly lucky to have such an amazing family to share it with. My little boy was an angel all day, and went off to sleep despite the loud disco.

Overall it was a lovely day, and I was very pleased to see my friend so happy.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

What a difference 2 years 2 months & 20 days makes

This time 2 years 2 months & 20 days ago, I was preparing myself for my wedding. The worst things I had to worry about were my wife changing her mind, and my speech.

Today I am preparing myself for my best mans wedding, as I now have an extra person to look after there is a lot more to worry about. So many more things to prepare for. So many more things that could go wrong.

Having a child makes life so much harder, but it's definitely worth it.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Premature combustion

My son hasn't been very well, he's had a cough, a bunged up nose and been generally sniffly and unwell. To try and make him feel better, we have been putting a pillow under his mattress to raise his head. This evening after he had coughed himself sick, I had him on his change mat, checking his nappy and I noticed how much easier he seemed to be breathing. Sometimes, when you try to help, you just make things worse.

The rest of the day was good too, apart from my assistant managers terrible day.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

A day

Today was a day, not a good day, not a bad day, just a day.

Work was ok, enjoyed spending time with my son this morning and evening, looking forward to spending time, watching Smallville, with my wife.

If everyday was like today or better I'd be a happy man.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Bloody government

I had a day off today, I still woke up with my smart alarm at just gone 6. I can remember reading stuff on my phone, then thinking I should get out of bed. The next thing I remember is waking up at 7.23. We had a chilled start to the day, before going shopping. We finished most of our Christmas shopping, did our food shopping and then went to toys'r'us. We were looking at their Toot-Toot drivers stuff. We decided that it was a bit expensive. My wife then wanted to look at feeding and weaning stuff. My son got very interested in what was behind us, pottys. So tonight he had his first try on the potty.

When we got home from shopping I had received a letter from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs telling me that I had underpaid on tax. Their figures showed that I had earned over £6,000 more than I actually had, including over £3,000 of job seekers allowance. This was all during the 2012-13 tax year. I have only claimed job-seekers once in my life, February 2012 to March 2012 , so in the previous tax year. So after lunch I made a phone call. It turns out that their information shows me claiming job-seekers from February 2012 to February 2013, even though they knew I had worked for my employer since March 12th 2012. So I shall be receiving and amended statement showing I owe nothing.

Either that or the job-seekers allowance they think I've had. I think £3,000 in exchange for £600 tax is a fair swap.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Finally

For nearly 6 months we have been expecting a refit in our store. When we first found out about it we were told it would happen within 6-8 weeks. It's finally happening though and we will be closing on the 20th and reopening in our shiny new store on the 6th of November. Can't wait.

Other than that news my day has been fairly normal. Work wasn't great, but I saw my sister, brother in law and nephews this evening. I've got a day off tomorrow too.

Now I'm just waiting for my wife to join me on the sofa.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Fish Supper

I was supposed to be going out for one of my best friends stag do tonight. As my son is ill and because I want to keep the strain off my wife to stop her from becoming ill, I had to let him down. Instead I'm having sausage and chips, sitting on the sofa with my wife.

Overall a good day.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

A bridge too far

After a very late night last night, today didn't quite start as well as usual. I had put my alarm back and it still did it's job, I woke up an hour before feeling like hell, but when it woke me up I only felt like purgatory. I'm not sure what's happened to me but I can't handle late nights any more.

Work was ok, nothing fantastic and when I finished my wife and son picked me up to go to my parents for my nieces birthday party. I love my family very dearly, but after a full day at work seeing all 15 of them is a bit much. Particularly when you add my wife, son and I and put all 18 of us in one room.

I was very impressed by my niece who showed maturity beyond her years when she opened a present, a one direction wristband, that she didn't like, she doesn't like one direction, but she still smiled and said thanks.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

2 hours alone with my son and I survived

I had a day off today, my wife had a baby shower to go to. This meant that I had some time alone with my son. I was scared. I survived, in fact I had a good time. This evening we went to my Uncles 50th birthday party. It was lovely to see so much of my extended family, it was even lovelier to have such a relaxing time.

It was also lovely to see my wife relaxing and even letting herself have a drink.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Crawl

My son crawled properly for the first time today. He's been commandoing around for a while but today is the first day he's got his knees under him and got the movements right. I'd had a good day today but it wouldn't have mattered if I hadn't as I'm so proud of my son and happy.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Dedication

We were having a visit as part of a project to visit all 84 stores in our region in one day. The guy who was visiting had to visit stores in Lowestoft, Norwich, Kings Lynn and Boston as well as ours. Because of this he started early, so he was with us at 7.30.

All of this added up to me waking up at 5.00. I laid in bed and caught up with the world. Then I finally got out of bed. I washed but couldn't face breakfast, so I dried up my sons stuff, filled his steriliser and kettle. Then I finally went up and woke my wife up.

I had to leave the house at 6.30 and this meant I missed my son as he was still asleep. That made today a really long day. I was very glad when I got home and got to spend some quality time with my wife and son.

Long days are really hard.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Must be a full moon

Today was one of those days. We had every nutter, weirdo, fruit loop & freak in ipswich in our shop today. There were some nice customers too but they were few and far between. By the end of the day I was speechless and exhausted.

Tomorrow is another day.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant

Day off with a difference

Normally on my days off I spend the day with my wife and son. Not today though. We are going to my friends wedding in just under 2 weeks, so they both needed something to wear. They went shopping in colchester. I stayed at home to do some gardening.

I started off by turning over the soil and putting in our raised beds. Then I started on the jungle again. I got about half way before I couldn't take any more mentally, this was about 45 minutes after I had had enough physically. I took a break, had some lunch and watched a film. I got a second wind, mentally not physically, so I went and attacked the front jungle. I got it all cleared and even had time to play FIFA before my wife got home.

Even though I missed them loads, it was nice to be able to take the day at my own pace.

Thanks for reading

Adam Edward Grant