Wholesome

My Dad’s home at the moment, he’s been having monumental toothaches and apparently the Kuwaiti dentists have given up on him. He was supposed to be coming back at the end of this week anyway as he and Mum are going to Iceland for their 30th wedding anniversary, which scares me a little. 30 years! That means they’re getting old, and so am I , and I don’t like that thought. My mum was 19 when she got married, six years younger than I am now, and my dad was 24. When my Mum was my age, I was already 18 months old. Comparing my life theirs at my age, things are so different. I can’t imagine being with someone for thirty years, it’s insane. It’s reassuring, though that people do it.

So yeah, Dad’s home and I had a bit of a family weekend, which was nice. On Friday, Simon and Rachel came over to Reading and we went out. Rachel now has a full time job and so funds all Si’s social activities, which is amazing; I think it’s more the fact that Rachel would never get to out if she didn’t, rather than her wanting to. Either way, it’s a nice set up Si’s got going on there. They’re both great company and they get on really well with Ally, even though on Friday he wasn’t drinking, which is a relief. No awkwardness or anything and I didn’t have to play host at all, we just all got on and had fun, ending the night ringing on Chris Allen’s doorbell at midnight for no reason whatsoever.

Saturday afternoon I went home to Mum and Dad’s to watch the football and the rugby, which was good, obviously. I tend to follow Wales in the rugby more than England, but it was still an enjoyable result, and I’m looking forward to next Saturday (even though I think England will get absolutely spanked – especially on last night’s evidence, SA were pretty unstoppable against the Argies). We managed to cram in a meal at the Golden Retriever between the footy and the rugger as well. That place has really gone downhill in the last year or so – the menu has shrunk to about a quarter of the size it was, and the quality of the food is pretty poor. 5 out of 10.

A lazy Sunday was then had, after an alcohol-free Saturday – I think that must be a first for the year – topped off with a roast lamb dinner with the whole family all eating together. Bethan came over with Dave and I think it’s the first time that all five of us have been together for at least 3 or 4 months. I think Matt and Ali’s wedding was the last time. It was really good. While we were gorging our faces, Ally and Baz were running the Henley half marathon (remember I was training for a half marathon? Well, predictably, I failed). Ally ran it in under two hours, Baz wasn’t far behind him and they did us all proud, raising a proper decent amount of money for Melanoma Research (I think).