Closing the Curtain

The last few days have been quite up and down. We had a lovely Christmas Day and the kids had a lovely time. But it's all over in a flash.

On boxing day we were due to go to my Sisters, we were all going, my mum and dad, my in-laws, my wife and kids. But mum picked up the bug that my brother in-law, my wife and my daughter had got. I don't know if I mentioned before, but my Mum has terminal cancer. She was diagnosed with a brain tumour in November 2006. It was rather advanced and it's a miracle that she is still with us.

But this sickness and diarrohoea (probably spelt wrong I know) bug really knocked her about. Her vision is not very good and her mobility is very poor now. My dad is her carer and does his best, but he has prostate cancer and is getting weak too. So you can imagine, trips to the toilet every half an hour were just too much. So mum was admitted to the hospital on Boxing Day.

Typically, it being the festive season, everything is chaotic. But mum was looking better after a few days. But yesterday she was being sick again. She's also very confused. Her memory has been getting worse over the last couple of months, but as dad as always been with her, it's been easy to put her back on track. But as the hospital won't allow dad to stay, I can only imagine how confused and panicked mum must be at night with no one to re-assure her.

This morning the hospital called dad to come in and help 'calm' her down, which I'm grateful, but I doubt only just now as she been worried. And it would be nice to hear from a doctor. We haven't heard anything about possible treatement or trying to make her feel comfortable. She isn't drinking or eating, you'd think they would at least be giving her fluids, but it just feels like she's been left there.

I have a few moments today, so I was googling as much as I could and reading the Cancer Research UK site, it sort of dawned on me...that, mum is dying. She was dying from the first diagnosis in 2006, and even though she's battled through so much that maybe her body is starting to give up. I'm constantly making excuses as to why she's feeling sick, or why she can't see or walk well. The latest one is that she could have Diabetes Insipidus, which a lot of these new symptoms, increased thrist, always going to toilet and confusion fit, but actually, maybe the doctors just don't want to tell us, but they think her body is shutting down.

If that is the case, then they should tell us and get her out of there. We can make her comfortable at home or the hospice, but just tell us, so we're not waiting for a treatment that may never come.

So that's the last few days. I'll be off to visit in a bit and see if there is anymore news.

I started this blog for some fun, to note all the ativities I get up to. I'm sorry that this is a bit of a sad one.

x

2 sleeps

I’ve neglected the blog over the last few days mainly because Christmas is just 2 sleeps away and there’s lots to do! Actually, there isn’t that much to do, I’m just lazy and leave it all to the last minute.


Watched Four Christmases last night whilst wrapping the kids presents and everyone else’s. Started at 9, finished at 1am. Not bad going, but we’re only half way through. We had two little visitors at 4.30am, I’m not sure if it’s excitement or not. It’s lovely how they both come in together these days. Noah was swiftly packed back to bed, whilst Matilda had to have some cuddles. But the poor little lady is under the weather. Was sick, not a lot, and not food, just phlegm I think. But it kept her awake and us. So, needless to say, bit tired this morning.

Work wise, there isn’t too much I can get done. Preparations for the Aussie Barbie continue along with organising other ideas such as Guitar Hero, Blind Bowling and Geocaching. It’ll be a big push in January especially for a Marathon-mania project.

Tonight I have a rehearsal, for I am one of the voices for the Crib service tomorrow. Which means I need to run home from work. I feel a little bad that Mrs K will be at home cleaning the house and cooking for G-G’s birthday, but I don’t think it warranted a days holiday!

And then Christmas Day we will wake up at ours. Quite excited to see how the kids react. Usually we’ve been at Grandma and Granddads or in Australia, so to have both kids in our house is a first. I’m quite excited.

And now, for your K family tradition, here’s a quick quiz…


1. Why is the Golden Gate bridge painted Plum colour?
2. In Cluedo, whose murder is to be solved?
3. Which island near Hong King is famous for gambling and motor racing?
4. If you walked one mile south, one mile west, and then one mile north and ended up where you started, where would you be?
5. In which city is Trainspotting set?

Obviosuly, I probably won't update again till the New Year, if I can squeeze one last one in before the end of the century, I will, but until then. It's been a crap year...haha, and 2010 can only be better. So have a very merry Christmas.

Spirit of Christmas

I have to be careful, this is the internet and therefore a public blog. And a small reminder, never check your email on your day off. Let's deal with the misery element first. Obviously the bike ride was a week ago and I spent a couple of days taking down signage, it's never a nice job and never pleasant to do it on your own.

But I've just received an email to say it's a disgrace that the signs now litter the Harborne Walkway. Of course, if this is the case, I sincerely apologise, of course, I don't know the state of the walkway (which was already fairly littered last week with usual cans, bottles and refuse, whether it's been resurfaced or not)

It's always the tone of people's emails like that, does a couple of signs really make a big difference in a persons life, have they got nothing better to moan about? Suffice to say, I will try and get out tomorrow, Sunday or at the very least Monday and remove the remaining signs. Another reason why we should have done a road route.

And to end on a high note...here's another comical photo of yours truly.





On a happier note, we got a good a go ahead as we are likely to get in regards to our 'Marathon Mania' project. Thanks to our overseas runners, they are going to run both the London Marathon in April and Norway's very own Midnight Marathon in June. I'll upload some links later, but it's an exciting project and can't wait to tell you all about it, but for now, as I mentioned, it's a day off so let's have some family time.

Just an ordinary Wednesday

That's all it's been. Normal service resumed I suppose. Tomorrow could be a very interesting day. Now, you should always be careful about what you blog about and who is potentially going to read it. So when I blog about work, I guess I should be careful...

...but then I like to be upfront, in person and online. I am who I am, haha. Anyway, to the point in hand. I have my second one-to-one with the CEO tomorrow (the two line managers between me and him are both ob sick leave) now, if I'm honest, and you'll have to forgive me Rob, but I held back a little during our first one and I came out a little disillusioned. But I got over it quite quickly and I hope that I'm able to portray my ideas better this time.

Certainly, we have one Fundraising idea that could potentially be huge and doesn't even require a great deal of work. But word on the street is that the CEO isn't sold on the idea, so enter me tomorrow. I think I have a persuasive argument, and come on, this is my job. If I don't get it right then so be it, but it's my head on the chopping block and I'm happy with that. So hang tight and tomorrow all will be revealed.

Did go down to Lordswood Girls School's Christmas Fayre today to hand out some Australia Day BBQ flyers, seemed a good response, just got to really push the ticket selling next month. Could be a tough month, but gotta go for it.

So, sorry it's dull. Am sure tomorrow will be far more exciting!

What's next?

First day back at work and the event is nearly tidied up and concluded. Which means that it's on to the next one. Sticking to my crazy 'it's winter and I don't care' theme we'll be going for an Australian Day BBQ on the 30th January.

Yes, yes, a BBQ in England in January. I must be mad. But let's face it, I love Australia and I'd love to celebrate Australia Day on the 26th January, and so I'll do it in my own unique way. Quite a bit to organise and not much time to do it, but as long as we can get word out then it should be fine.

Today, I was de-signing the bike route. Took me nearly 4 hours in the car, managed to get to moat of the spots, a few I will do here and there over the next week or so.

Taking tomorrow off, just to get head clear and do some housework as our house isn't anywhere near for Christmas and then Wednesday we'll start the countdown to Aussie Barbie 2010!

Festive Bike Ride...who's up for 2010?

Wow, what a day. Bit of a unique one for me really. I haven't organised a bike ride as an event and actually ridden it. Had it's ups and downs (and no, not just the hills) but overall I can look back at it, smile, cringe, but ultimately know that next years is bound to be bigger and better, not that this one wasn't great.

From the photo, you'll see we were thin on the ground, thinner than I anticipated but nevertheless knew could occur. Bit surprising as apart from being chilly, the weather was superb for January. From left to right we have Phil, Bob, Paul, Yours truly and Rob. We were also joined by Matt and Jonathon from St Johns (eventually!)

Key to an event and publicising it is sticking to the positive stories, which I can do. But I can't let the opportunity for a whinge and a moan to escape. So, here it is short and sweet style; Pub should have been opened up at 7.30am and St Johns should have showed up there not Cannon Hill Park, and as Matt got the idea and was there at 7.30, I don't know why the bikes and Jonathon were at Cannon Hill Park. Whinge over.

All the lads took on the longer route through Frankley and over (and around) the hilly bit. Few rest stops and a leisurely pace back to the pub finished off with some warm soup and a buffet. Overall, I think we all enjoyed it, a good little run out on a pleasant morning, and even a few new ideas for 2010 springing up.

Really must say a HUGE thank you to my wife, my sister, my parents, my in-laws and Jen & Jonathon. Not only were volunteers from work a bit thin on the ground (should I expect more after orgabising a ride the day after the Christmas party?!) but without these guys I couldn't have rode the route and organised it, so thank you so much.

There's always a sense of relief after completing the event. It's pretty much job done for the day and all you can hope for is a good report from your participants. I'll catch up with them in the week. They've raised a fair whack of money, which totally makes it worth it and for that I am really appreciative. I mean it is my job after all, and it will be used to improve people's lives.

So I can look forward to next week, tying off the loose ends of this event and confirming plans for the next event...Australian Barbie on the 30th January. Yep a BBQ in January...right after a bike ride in December. Have I got my seasons mixed up?!?!

Last Minute Panic or Last Day of Training?

I'll let you decide on that one.

The day didn't quite get off to the start I had anticipated. The kids were fed and dispatched to Grandma's quite quickly and easily for a change. Leaving me plenty of time to get myself ready and all the bits and pieces I needed for work.

All good, until I look for my house keys with the key to my bike lock...hmmm, it's not where it usually is. Not anywhere in fact. Better call the lady wife, of course I have this odd suspicion that she might have inadventantly taken my keys instead of hers. But as I am useless at finding things and have a first class degree in losing things, there's always the chance they were here somewhere.

Alas, no, turns out my dear wife had taken my keys and was on her way on the bus to work. Hmmm. Stranded at home, could get some money out to go and get bus, but that doesn't help me in putting the last of the signage up. All sorted in the end and eventually made it to work for 9.30ish and compose myself and think up a new plan of action.

Short story made long that one. So, all the gear for setting up tomorrow was bought home. Only found out in the last few days that I could use the work cars oevr the weekend, oh well. Know for next time. And we won't mention the First Aid Kit.

Anyway, not much left to do tonight, might sign a bit more of the route as it got dark and traffic meant I couldn't do the last Harborne leg. Leaving it last minute I know, but that often clears the mind and structures it better I find.

Must go find something to eat, could be a long night ahead. Happy riding tomorrow everybody. Have fun.

1 day to Go!

It was day 4 of training, but more importantly, there is just one more day to go until the Festive Bike Ride. I feel like I've done nothing but bang on about it for the past couple of weeks, I'm sure you'll be pretty glad when it's over and I stop talking about it.

Training took a bit of a step back today as some of you might be thinking, "aren't you meant to be organising this bike ride?!" And indeed, yes I am. So today started off early with signposting the route. Fingers crossed the signs all last until Saturday, but the route is largely self-explanatory, well it is to me, and everyone will have a map.

Quickest and easiest way to signpost it was to do it on my bike, which was fine, until I started running out of cable ties and 'Straight Ahead' signs. So I made it as far as Cannon Hill Park and then headed for home (always seems to be 70% uphill on the home leg) had a quick bite to eat then headed to the office to do more printing of signs and laminating them. All done, I had a lift to B&Q to get some more cable ties.

So now, I am armed and ready to tackle the Frankley - Harborne leg of the ride. It's dark, but taking the car so should be ok. That will just leave the Cannon Hill Park to Harborne via the canal leg to attempt tomorrow.

So, lots of boring jobs today, but tested the legs, and no doubt will be on the bike again tomorrow. And I'll have to take all the signs down either sunday or monday, so I'm certainly clocking up the miles.

In other news, it was sad to hear that a cyclist died yesterday at the Lancaster Circus roundabaout in town. It involved a bendy bus and sounds pretty nasty. We'll hear two sides of the story that it was the motorist fault vs the cyclist fault, but either way, I don't see why we can't share a road. Birmingham isn't the most cycle friendly city, but if everyone slowed down and relaxed, we'd all get where we wanted eventually and a little less stressed.

And the big news of today was that British Olympian Bradley Wiggins as joined forces with the new British cycling Team Sky. Was always on the cards that they would attract him from Garmin. I can understand that the appeal of riding for a British pro team from their conception must be pretty exciting, but at Garmin, he was well catered for and there were plenty of strong riders to support an assault on the top rides next year. I hope Team Sky can back him in a similar way, and it'll certainly add interest to Le Tour de France 2010.

Ok, well, that's all for tonight. I'll try and update tomorrow, but if not, see you at the Festive Bike Ride.

Training - Day 3

Not much to report today. The ride is 3 sleeps away and I've lost a bit of motivation. We've had a couple drop out, but a couple have said they'll be there on the day, so I'm optimistic.

Hoping they all do they're own sponsorship and it's more successful than mine. Going to have to re-think my strategy, asking for money the week before an event was asking a lot. I might still wear the santa suit on the ride and rattle a bucket or tin on the back!

[Edit] This will teach me for not checking my page before posting...Thank You so much to an amazing friend for a donation! It's pretty amazing, so thank you so much Lucy, Peryn, Carys and Luned. [Edit]

You'll notice one of my links over on the right is to the Believabelles website. I came across them on Twitter, although who pointed me in the direction I have no idea. But they're 3 lasses who are a good laugh and will be riding London to Paris next year. @Lisaseat registered on the Festive Bike Ride yesterday, but I'm skeptical...only because on the same day she announced she was having Vince Vaughan's baby!

Anyhoo. Training today has consisted of a 1.1 mile walk from my house to my parents to drop the Big littl'un off and then cycling the 1.8 miles to work. The diet today will consist of a chicken sandwich, sweets and chocolate cake kindly donated by Sue in my office.



I'll cycle back home and pick the boy up after work, and may cycle in to Harborne to get some decorations to stick on the bike.

In other news, our tree went up last night and the children were lovely in helping. Not so lovley them helping take the tree down this morning!

Have a good day people.

Training - Day Two

Day two of training for the Festive Bike Ride (it's on Saturday, have I left it late to start training?!). The little'uns gave me a glorious lie in, only waking us at 6am.

So, after they were dispatched it was off to work...oh, no, hold on nearly forgot. Off to Doc's to get Swine Flu jab (hope there's no drug testing after this bike ride) and then on to the mile (if that)ride to work and on to Dignity at Work training.

So, armed against Swine Flu and Indignity, I've got to be close to 80% ready for this ride, what do you think?

Of course, if I don't make the £200 then I don't need to bother :-D http://www.justgiving.com/AndyyK

Challenge Accepted

Ok, some of you may know, some of you may not. I've just started (2 months counts as just started yeah?) as Events Fundraiser for a charity in Brum...Focus Birmingham. We support people with visual impairments.

So, what did I think a good Christmassy event would be...you got it...

a Bike Ride!

The other thing you should know about me is I love cycling. Now 'love' is an intersting word to use. I didn't use to get out on my bike very much at all. But after meeting some 2-wheelers during my time in Western Australia I found my love for cycling again...I bought a road bike, even bought one for the mrs...and they sat nicely in the back yard!

But I started watching the Tour de France again, as I used to with my Dad when I was young and that fire started burning again.

We moved back to Brum and I'd had my bike shipped back to and after a year in another shed, it's wheels finaly tasted British tarmac.

And now, well, I'm not doing as much riding as I'd like, it is winter after all, but I'm commuting to work (all of 10-15mins!) and doing the odd longer ride when possible. It has to be said I know very little about bikes and am relying on the knowledge of various websites and my brother in-law who also purchased a road bike and was another reason for getting back on the road.

So, back to the point of the blog...I organised the bike ride and yes 20 cyclists doing a bike ride in December would have been nice, but we're a bit short. But that does give me the opportunity to have a ride, and so somewhere along the line I decided that if I was sponsored £200 I would don a Santa suit and do the ride myself.

I mean, I've scouted the route, albeit it took nearly 4 hours! So, it'll be fun won't it??! Here's hoping.

So, I've accepted the challenge and Day One of training has involved cycling back from work (I'll get the distance of http://www.bikely.com/ in a bit) and stopping off at the chip shop for sausage, egg and chips for tea.

So, if you want to see photos of me puffing up a hill on a bike in a santa suit, you better get donating. Who needs Christmas cards anyway?!?! www.justgiving.com/AndyyK