"Treat your friends as you do your best pictures, and place them in their best light."

Day 85:

Ive distanced myself from FB since all this lockdown craziness started but today I signed in and was greeted by this and it really perked me up. This smug face (because of that amazing boy of mine) hasn't changed in the 9 years he's been with me. Becoming a dad was my defining moment and it has shaped everything I have done since that special day. Ive been through happy times, Ive been through heartbreaking times but he's been there next to me through it all. Theres not a person on this planet I could love more, my best friend. 

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

We've spent years trying to get Opeie to favour one toy in hope that he will have a little buddy that he takes everywhere. I've always thought it was cute when a child has a companion  that must go everywhere with them. I had kind of hoped it would have been the cat in the hat toy we got in Florida a couple of years ago or his Paddington bear but sadly no. Opeie has however found himself a sidekick thanks to an unexpected gift from nanny and grandad.

Rose the cat came into our lives about 5 weeks ago and since her arrival she has been everywhere with opeie, keeping him company and meeting his friends. It's 3am at the moment and I've just been in to check on him and as expected, Scrunched up tight in his arms is Rose.

A couple of days ago Opeie informed us that yesterday was Rose's birthday and he wanted to buy her a present. So while we were seeing friends yesterday afternoon we popped to the shops in search of a gift for Opeie's beloved cat. 

Yesterday we made her a party hat, sang happy birthday to her and gave her a special birthday dinner. She even got to go out on a long scooter ride with us which Opeie loved, she was shattered after though and fell asleep on Opeie's helmet, to cute!

I think Rose is here to stay, with all the toys that the boys have its great to see that Opeie has become attached to one that is clearly more important than any of the others.

"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat."

After an exhausting day yesterday, both me and Mrs M fell asleep around 8 putting Opeie down to bed. Falling asleep this early never works out well for me and after waking up at 12:30 to turn all the lights off downstairs etc i woke up again at 3:30 after a bad dream and that was me up for the morning. As i lay on the sofa on my laptop i realised what i was doing and started to chuckle. Since becoming a cat owner i have become that guy that sits and watches cute cat videos (much to my surprise).

Polly has become a massive part of our lives and i couldn't imagine not having her in the house now, even though Shes very independent and doesn't like being picked up at all. Shes not the sort of cat that sits on our laps at night and goes to sleep, affection is all on her terms (a little like Mrs M haha), but when she wants some fuss she will come looking for it.

She has no interest in running about outside and even if we leave the back door open she'll step outside for a sniff and then run back in to the warm. Despite not going out she has still made some new friends who visit her regularly through the glass. There's one sitting at the glass as i type this.

Polly has taken it upon herself to be our protector, she will sit on the arm of the sofa with us of an evening and while Opeie is napping she will usually be found close by watching over him. Having Polly about has been great for Opeie, especially as Seth isn't with us all of the time, They have become the best of friends and despite my negative attitude at the start of our cat owning adventure i have come to adore the beautiful yet grumpy little lass.

Now back to my cat videos...

“When you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.”

Sometimes in life and I'm sure it happens to pretty much everyone, you go through a rough patch. Maybe everything is getting on top of you, you've had to make a life changing decision, Lost a close family member or friend. Whatever it is that's going on its nice to know that you have people out there looking out for you. Its lovely to know that Mrs M, the boys and M's family are there for me and i will never take that for granted. Sometimes though people you have only known for a short time do the most amazing kind things.

We had had a really awful few weeks,  it was just one bad thing after another being thrown at us and it had got to the point where we were wondering 'whats next?' 'How could things get any worse?'. We're really positive people and i like to think we work hard at making our own good fortune but sometimes things are out of your control and things can very quickly get on top of you.

Last Sunday, early morning there was a knock at the door and i thought 'great whats this now?' as i said loads has been going on and it was causing me to be a little pessimistic in regards to daily situations, no body knocks our door on a Sunday morning unexpectedly. I opened the door and there stood a courier holding a package. Couriers don't generally come on Sundays so that was a surprise in itself, i signed for the package and said goodbye. As i turned to close the door i opened the package and stood silent for a minute before saying 'what?' in a loudish voice. Mrs M, Clearly feeling as pessimistic as i, called through the house 'Oh no, what is it?' I walked into the room smiling from ear to ear. Mrs M repeated 'what is it?' in a slightly more abrupt voice so i handed her the package.

Now I'm not going to tell you what was in that package (sorry), I'm not even going to mention who it was from (but i know you will read this so again thank you.), the important part of the story is the sentiment. The package was from another blogging family. A kind and caring group of people that we already felt lucky to call friends before this event. It seems that they had been thinking about us and the unfortunate list of things that had happened to us over the previous weeks and wanted to let us know this in a very thoughtful way. When speaking to them to say thank you they explained that they too had been in a similar situation once and someone had done something similar for them and they felt they wanted to share it with us.

I would usually be quite clear about the fact i have lost my faith in humanity, let down by my extended family and friends i thought were close. But recently we have been lucky enough to meet a few people who have quickly become our close friends, people we can trust and people we have a lot of time for. This gesture of kindness has had a huge impact on us because it has made us realise even more so that our friends are watching out for us.

Sundays surprise package set something in to motion and since then we've had one piece of good news after another. It seems our life now has a new path, There are big things later in the year to look forward to, and a new company to work with on the blog (which i am really excited about). Its great to know that despite recent events we can start moving forward again with smiles on our faces. I feel so lucky at the moment to have the friends and family that we do and i hope (although i know!) we can be there for them as much as they have been there for us!

"Tea, though ridiculed by those who are naturally coarse in their nervous sensibilities will always be the favorite beverage of the intellectual."

One of the last things i thought i would hear when picking Mrs M up from work is ' One of the girls has bought you a present', exciting! It seems that our friend Kelsie has been brushing up on her Gifts from the Pirates adventures and has been reading all about our Fox hunt. I was so chuffed when i opened the bag to find a dapper looking fox staring back at me, monocle and all. This is the first fox item bought for us and it is much appreciated.

Within 10 minutes of walking through the door the gentleman fox had been washed out and was full of tea. A good old cup of tea just cant be beaten and drinking from my new mug made it all that more enjoyable. Thanks Kelsie that was really kind of you and a lovely surprise.

The Gifts from the pirates fox hunt returns very soon for part 4!

"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none."

When I use the term 'best friend' I'm usually referring to Mrs M, Seth or Opeie. These are the three people I trust the most. I really don't find it easy to trust people after the life I've had full of selfish and bitter family members, untrustworthy friends and a list of destructive relationships with people that never really cared about me and had very little respect. Mrs M jokes about me being a little hermit like and sometimes antisocial but other people have pushed me to be this way.

There is someone else though that managed to get past my hardened exterior and I'm so glad he did. Having people to trust in your life is really important and outside of my family he is the one person I completely trust and would go out of my way to help him out. In fact i shouldn't say 'outside of my famiIy' because he is very much a big part of our family. I was going to write a post about the great Saturday afternoon we had and what we got up to but as we drove home I thought I'd just dedicate the post to Chris and use the pictures from the day out (ill leave you to come up with your own story from the pictures).

I've known Chris for quite sometime but we didn't speak for many years. It wasn't until a year and a half ago that we ended up out at the same birthday do and our bromance began to blossom. Unlike many of the people I know, Chris makes a huge effort when it comes to our friendship, he's an all round top bloke and the boys love him too.

One of the things I love most about Chris is that like me he says what he feels, once when me and him were out with Opeie I made a comment about us looking like a happy gay couple, to which he responded 'if I were gay I'd be proud to have a guy like you, you're a great bloke', that was a real compliment.

Having someone else in my life that i can trust pushes me that little bit closer to restoring my faith in humanity, I really couldn't ask for a nicer friend!

P.S Nanny Roo, if you're reading this Opeie picked himself some new wellies this weekend, i thought you would approve...