This has got to be a quick post as I’ve got an hour to type and get ready for work.

Back from Yorkshire! The trip down was very smooth. Train came in early – how often does that happen? – by about fifteen minutes, and we got the tube and the bus almost one after another. Very good. A lot better than the trip up anyway. The bus took ages to come, and there were delays on the central line. Note to UK tourists – the central line is crap! I was a bit annoyed with Kate because she’d left me with a rucksack and a sling bag to carry for her while she sauntered off in the morning to Alexander school with one of those mini rucksacks – about the size of a handbag. I had to carry those two big bags and consequently I was hot and fuming when the bus didn’t come and when we had delays, noisy kids, and all that. To make matters worse there were these giggly girls next to me in the train station playing a video on their phone over and over again. All I could hear was “Wooooooooooo!” over and over again and them giggling. I was in such a bad mood I would have socked anyone who tried to pick an argument with me or jostled behind me onto the train. Thankfully I arrived late at the school before that could have happened.

Spent Thursday watching telly and discussing what to do on Friday. Did about 100 pressups while folding the order of service for the wedding. Kate’s dad and I spent quite a while trying to work out how to align a border for the front page, as it would misalign once we got to printing 2 pages on an A4 sheet. We traipsed around, trying to mess about with borders, even tried Publisher, and after about half an hour or so I suggested using a text box instead of a page border which allowed us to drag in into shape. Brian would probably criticize me for taking “so long to come up with the solution when he uses Word and Publisher frequently” to his friends in the pub.

The plan of action for Friday, according to Kate’s mum, was to go to Young’s in the morning to get the suits sorted, then go to the flower lady to work out the flower arrangements, then to Lord’s for the photograph arrangements, and then to see the cake decorations. We managed to squeeze all in one day. I made a mental note to thank Marlene at the wedding and to mention how things run smoothly when someone’s in the background sweating it out to make sure that they do.

I went upstairs to bed early on Friday night. Brian went to the pub, came back later than usual and was drunk – not violently, but he came back drunk and in that sort of mood; talking for the sake of it, saying things to provoke people, making an absolute arse of himself and being proud of it. I was trying to watch the news and gave up.

Saturday – I did bicep curls with my luggage and managed about 100 per arm before Matthew the munchkin came to visit. He looked – well, he was – twice the size since I last saw him in December. He was a lot more alert and responsive too. Whereas in December he was a little tot that occasionally made noise and vomited and looked at you, he was bashing things against the floor, holding things firmly by the hand and was more aware of people. We had a great time playing with him, and he must have too, as he refused to go to sleep at his usual times during the day. He particularly likes it when you roll your lips back and make the explosive “perk” noise. I did it several times and each time he would stop whatever he was doing and look at me. He is cute! Kate was so sad when he left.

Sunday – just a trip down to the Geordie Pride to settle room bookings and stuff like that. We went in the morning and spent the rest of the day pratting about and waiting for the train. It’s not to say I didn’t enjoy a break from London, but I was glad to get back. It’s always nice to be on your own turf, I think, doing the things you like, being comfortable in your own home. I feel a bit out of place sometimes when I go to Yorkshire, because the only things to do seem to be to watch telly, talk about DVDs, broadband and download rates, drink, and not much else. I have different interests – I love watching American sports like NFL, NHL and MLB and things like fitness appeal to me. And Kate’s dad can sometimes say things dismissively about people as well – “he reads the Guardian… whenever he picks it up on the train” or “256MB Compact Flash – ‘Pretec’…hmm” which is sometimes quite annoying. And he goes on for no end at times about the things that interest him – drink, download rates, broadband, DVDs – and looks down on people who don’t have much interest in those.

Enough rattling on – need to get ready to leave for work. Today it’s just half a day at Bedford, so I’ll try to get my music photocopied for the week ahead.