8194/21114
Absolute delight to get back to my family at lunchtime. The good thing about being away is that the kids seem to have realised how much they like having me around (works the other way round too of course). I got hugs and kisses and "I love yous" and Phoebe was even laughing at my jokes. The kids were spilling over with things to tell me and both looked taller than when I left on Wednesday. Had I accidentally travelled to an alternate universe?
They were both obsessed with a new Paint By Numbers app on the phone. I remember being jealous of my brother having a proper paint by numbers set with (I think) actual oil paints, though at the time I was too young to be able to have one myself as I didn't have the dexterity required. I was 28 years old. Actually I might as well have been. I still couldn't do it even now.
I could do the iphone version though as you just had to click the number and it filled in for you. You were able to even paint in photos so Phoebe took a picture of me and I coloured that in. Ernie, who can get a little frustrated and cross, finds this app very soothing. I found it a bit boring, but it was great to be doing stuff with these little idiots that I created (with a little help from Catie) and not just lying in a hotel room feeling ill.
I still felt ill. We watched the Disney live action Cinderella film and I drifted in and out of sleep. Then we walked the dog before heading to a local curry house for dinner. We played a version of Last One Laughing, proving I'd be very bad at the game, especially if my son was one of the other contestants, cos he was full of jokes and turns of phrase that made me crack up straight away. It was coming round to his turn and he said "Back to little old me" in such a disarming tone. Both of them, tragically for them (if they follow in my footsteps for the unhappy life of a comedian) are very funny. I found it harder to make them laugh, but to be fair it was my night off and they've heard all my testicle jokes anyway. But we were all basically laughing together as a family (we'd have been out of the real game so fast) and it was glorious.
They'd been watching the
SNL Journey skit with their mum and did a pretty decent job of remembering it (and getting the timing right) which was funny too.
There weren't too many other people in the restaurant and we mainly kept a lid on all this anyway, but it would have taken some real sourpusses to not enjoy a family having so much fun together.
There have been so many meals with fights and tears (and that's just from the parents and then we got off the bus) that when you get a day like this it feels so special.
Do I want to miss out on stuff like this so I can go and perform to a few dozen people in Lincoln? Or would we not get this kind of day if I didn't go away? I'm not sure. But I am very keen to get as much of this as possible, so maybe the foot needs to come off the gas, or I make sure my work is mainly going on when they are at school.
I still have a very packed week ahead of me and that really carries on til the end of May, but I might be heading to some important choices over June and July. But I want to make any decisions with a clear head, when I'm not run down and poorly. I think it's going to be more about getting the right balance rather than giving anything up. I have to say that if I am offered the Death in Paradise lead detective gig I will have to turn it down.
