Shopping with Melanie

We started the day well.
The piles of logs that my friend John and I prepared for William were stacked and Will called to say he was on his way up to collect them. He thought a single trip would do it. I told him that we were now getting gentlemen callers asking to take away the wood free of charge to heat their 5 bed mansions for the winter months. It's true, but I wanted to put a bit of pressure on Will to come and take the two trees away. We were going out, and I said I wasn't able to help load the trailer, but that wasn't a problem for super Will, although the last thing he said was "my back is playing up a little." It's probably all that sunbathing in Israel last week.
Mel and I dropped Rosanna off at East Croydon Station for her weekend sleepover staying with a Uni friend in Brighton. As she exited the car she said "I can't wait dad, I have never been clubbing it in Brighton before." I didn't know about this plan and advise all daughters not to tell their dad their real plans when going away for the weekend, not until they are at least 34 years old. So I now have to try to get to sleep without worrying about her. When you look at it sensibly there isn't much to worry about though because doesn't Brighton have a boy-boy culture. I hope so anyway, I am banking on this to get me through the night. I have a full day on Saturday so need my sleep, breakfast at my friend Nick's house, then off to Rugby with Gabriella at Twickenham to watch England lose to Australia while eating jelly beans, then back home to light a fire for Gabriella and her friends who need feeding with hot dogs before they all walk round to Carshalton Park to the Fireworks display, and then Melanie and I are off round to Nigel and Linda's for dinner. I expect to be tasting various single malts there before winding our way back home and into bed. Melanie will want to watch X Factor, and I will probably be drunk by then, yes it happens once a year, and fall into a stupor.
Then on Sunday morning I shall be up early, and off to Springfield Church to watch Will very carefully as he preaches his sermon on Dignitas and the church's stance on taking your own life. Apart from me, does anyone else find his sermons make them want to go to Switzerland to end it all? So if you are bereft of something else to do come along and listen to the philisophical debate. I suspect he might bring me into it as I have discussed this 'option' with him before, and it is an option for some after all.
I am someone who doesn't want to die at all, ever, not until I have completed everything on my very long list of to do's, so I will not be taking that path, I do expect to be given large amounts of controlled drugs if the pain becomes unbearable, but that's not the same thing so I am told. I have lived enough to know that whatever you think will happen, won't, and you get caught out by a completely unexpected result if you try to plan for an eventuality. If Will looks like he has a bad back, then fair enough, but if he bounces around as he usually does, like he has just swam a few laps of The Sea of Galilee, then I might well heckle him. He doesn't reckon much on Dan Brown's writing either and like so many believes the De Vinci Code was worthy of philosophical public debate rather than being viewed as a jolly good read with a cliffhanger at the end of every single chapter...what more could you ask for?

So back to today. We went slowly around the shops in Croydon, together. My right lung has been playing up so I have to take it easy, not enough oxygen gets to my muscles and they feel weak when you compare them to how I used to be a few short years ago. I was once able to jog and years ago run around a bit. Now Gabriella tells me she could beat me up. I live in fear of her. Melanie must have found my blog about shopping because she was ever so nice. We had to have Sushi in the basement of the new shopping centre called Centrale. Sushi apparently has no calories whatsoever, so she can eat it. I took the opportunity to eat a few bits of raw Tuna before it gets banned by Gordon Brown. If you have never tried it then I would urge you not to as the world stock of Bluefin Tuna is diminished, and anyway it doesn't taste of anything. I have mine with slices of something pink, which might be a Japanese ginger root. Then I was allowed to look at the boys toys and even at the Single Malt Whiskies before she grew tired and gently pulled me away. I did manage to buy two bags of the proper Jelly Beans though. You know, the ones with all the nice flavours they don't fill the preboxed packages with. I absentmindedly had a handful as I was being led through the stationary and gift wrapping. It isn't theft if it is an automotive thing, like swerving when a swarm of bees flies into your car window. I paid for what was left before leaving the store. They were ever so cheap, must be a sale on. On arriving home the wood piles were still on the driveway, but I don't care because it all adds fuel to my heckling on Sunday morning. Have a good weekend yourself and try to stay warm.