My Phenomenal Wife...

My wife is utterly phenomenal. Like ridiculous. I can't believe her endurance.

Right now she is doing everything. Everything. We move house on Saturday, and I've barely lifted a finger. She's done it all, and she's done it all whilst looking after a teething baby, getting up for night feeds, cooking me dinner, letting me gate-crash marriage night with studies and coping with my grumpy, tired self. She's putting up with chaos at home with moving bits everywhere.

My admiration for this woman has at least tripled in the last week, and that's from a tremendously high starting point.

And you know the crazy thing? She'll probably be doing this all over again in a couple of months time. My wife is phenomenal.

3 Years, 1 Baby, 7 Cars...

I haven’t the time to blog, due to tight work deadlines, but Liz just reminded me that it was our 3 year dating anniversary last week! One of the best decisions ever and a night that would change my life forever. I like to think I’m a stats man, a straight thinker. If you want “outside the box” then I’m not your man.

One of the first things I thought of when “3 years” was brought to my attention was just how many cars we’ve had in that time… for the record, it’s 3 years, 7 cars! Here’s the breakdown

- Skoda Fabia – my housemates car which was leant to me for a year. The car we went on our first date in

- Ford Fiesta – Liz’s insanely beat up (by the end) first car in the UK. Served us amazingly well, despite obviously flaws (and lack of obvious floors dues to Liz’s “dump on site” philosophy!)
- Toyota Carina – Belonged to my sister-in-laws parents. We loved this car for a day – it worked! Day 2, the fuel pump broke, £300. After a month the head-gasket blew. Another car down.

- Vauxhall Vectra – Another car from a friend. This time the turbo was broken – 0-30 in 15-18 seconds. We went no where fast.
- Toyota something – my first Automatic car. Came at the right time, fun to drive until I tried putting the non-existent clutch down which was the break.

- Ford Focus – an almost new car. Work offered me a company car, this was my interim. The car of my dreams since I was a wee lad. Loved it
- VW Golf Estate – At 24 I was choosing a car based on the size of its trunk, unexpected. Received with less than 100 miles on the clock, this will now be our car for 2 and a half years.



Wow…

The Worlds Best…

A week ago I asked Elizabeth if we could watch the Champions League matches this week for date night. I am so so glad that I did!!!

For those who are unaware, the Champions League is a soccer tournament which features the best teams from across Europe and culminates in a knock out tournament from the last/ best 16 teams onwards- usually the best teams from Spain, Italy and England dominating. Last season, the semi-finals featured 3 English teams and a Spanish.

In the build up to the match yesterday, I was so pumped it was crazy. The game was Liverpool v Real Madrid- the second leg of a 2 leg game, Liverpool won in Madrid 1-0 to give them the upper hand. I was explaining to Elizabeth how Madrid were the best team in the history of club soccer, having won this tournament 9 times (in comparison Man Utd have won it 3 times) and how they’ve won the Spanish League 31 times. I gave her full player analysis of all 22 men on the field at the start, as well as providing well timed statistics for individual when needs must.

The pre-instated excitement turned out not to be a lot of hyperbole. Liverpool shot out of the blocks, with my current favourite player, Fernando Torres, producing an exhilarating display- turning the once world’s best defender and player inside out on a number of occasions, and using his frightening pace to terrify defenders.

Liverpool ran out easy winners 4-0 with Torres scoring one against his old rivals (he used to play for another Madrid team who are bitter rivals with Real), Gerrard getting 2 goals and an unlikely hero in Dossena getting the 4th goal for Liverpool. 5-0 on aggregate- a real thumping of Real.

It was one of those nights which I will remember for a long time, not least because my wife was by my side the whole time, taking in all the action, when the understated Liverpool crushed “the greatest club in history”

2008 Christmas...

With my mind still on American time and my body just not coping with thinking it's going to work at 4am on a Friday morning, I cannot work, alas I fear I cannot blog. But despite the fact my Math teacher isn't too bright and gave us exactly the same question for our assignment that he did for our work in class, I still cannot work.


Returning from America, people expected me to have many new anecdotes and stories, but I really don't! I had a wonderful Christmas with the in-laws and met some wonderful new brothers and sisters-in-law, and it was just lovely being with Liz's family, on their terms, where they are comfortable. But there were no exciting adventures, I just felt at home and chilaxed American style- which is very similar to English style and which I'm pretty adept at.


Not being with my family for the first Christmas ever was a real strain, almost willing them not to call up because of worry that it would be too emotional. I'm so glad they did though, my affection for my parents is only second to my wife, and hearing their voices was a real godsend. My in-laws gave me many highlights to remember:

Playing in the snow. We get coatings of snow in Britain, flashings of snow, if you will. It was great to have about a foot of snow for the majority of time we were there. It was so much fun to be able to hurl myself to the ground, or simply trip up spectacularly in front of my mother and sister-in-law just before the entrance of the Carousel Shopping Mall, and feel like I'm falling on pillows and marshmallows. I even enjoyed feeling like my face was going to freeze off just so that I could stand amidst a snow storm.


Meeting new family. We had a wonderful wedding celebration while in America- hosted by Loretta- in which 30 or 40 new people (cousins, uncles, aunts and close friends) came along and I had to meet each one and try in vain to remember each one. It was quite the day! But luckily I had Brad, Brad, Bobby and Bob to keep me company and save my bacon, especially Mindy's Brad! I was able to cling on by having fun with a great brother-in-law who had this same initiation only a few years back. Thanks Brad Mac!


Pride FM- where they play Star Spangled Banner and Proud to be an American all day long, non-stop.


Gaining a niece! As mad as I have been getting at Liz for having too many pictures of her (now our) niece around the flat, upon meeting her, I instantly knew why. She was adorable and we had a lot of fun together. Teaching children naughty things that I know I won't have to deal with is something of a speciality of mine, this was no different. We learnt that picking your nose and eating it was fun, that bouncing on sofa's and beds is not wrong, and that hitting people in the face is hilarious. T'was wicked. But I'm not broody just yet. Honest?


Nintendo Wii. Bobby and I ruled the Wii, or the Olympic Games at least- beating each other to World Records was the new Beer Pong. Fencing was a particular highlight, with Bob and I locked into what seemed like a genuine duel of hatred, getting steadily closer to each other and the TV screen while slashing violently, but accurately. My arms are now stacked. Although I'm not sure what's more frightening, how much I unexpectedly enjoyed it, or that my sister also received a Wii and apparently is kicking butt at WWE!


Food. This will be a surprise to no one. If anyone stays with the Watkins' you have to request Loretta's pulled pork and chicken. I will leave it there, it's making me hungry.


Overall, the best thing was seeing where my lovely wife grew up, the sights and sounds of Canastota and the surrounding area's. Meeting her influences, seeing how she is around her family in a comfortable environment. Observing as she engages in conversation with older and wiser generations of her family. How she is the same with me as with them and knowing that I've fallen in in love with someone genuine to the highest degree. I have married a truly remarkable woman and into a great family.


God bless America.

Still Hanging in There...

I noticed today that not one single post in the month of October had been made... which is understandable given wedding plans, honeymoon breaks and getting back into the swing of life. It's been a heck of a month, a life changing one, one might be so bold to say.

The highlight of the month was clearly getting married. Sorry ladies, it's true and most definitely happened. P-Brow is off the market! But I want to be able to devote more time than this to that. It's an event which requires more than just a stop-gap and a mark in the October posting-checklist.

I guess, when all is said and done and I need a quick post to keep the 'at least one per month' dream of dreams alive, football is a fairly safe place to return to. As a married man, I'm yet to kick a football yet, mainly due to a recurrence in a shoulder injury. A bizarre one this time though, with no obvious starting-of-pain point and it fluctuating between agonising and non-existent on a day to day basis.

This reduces my posting possibilities further, to commenting on others playing the game I so love. Talking of the game and love... my wife is amazing! On honeymoon, she not only allowed, but positively encouraged me to go and watch the England v Belarus match as well as watching match of the day with me, a highlights show of the top soccer games played over the weekend.

My notice this week is the consistencies between the English and Spanish champions of the past few years... they are as follows:

Spanish

2000/01 Real Madrid
2001/02 Valencia
2002/03 Real Madrid
2003/04 Valencia
2004/05 Barcelona
2005/06 Barcelona
2006/07 Real Madrid
2007/08 Real Madrid


English

2000/01 Manchester United
2001/02 Arsenal
2002/03 Manchester United
2003/04 Arsenal
2004/05 Chelsea
2005/06 Chelsea
2006/07 Manchester United
2007/08 Manchester United


It amuses me that Man U and Real Madrid have won in the same seasons, as have Valencia and Arsenal, and Chelsea and Barcelona. Uncanny.

I doubt very much that this bears any interest at all to anyone who reads this- but a) it's an observation that I am pleased with, and b) it means that I'm 1-0 for October, which is a relief to you all.