The start of another busy weekend!

Where to start? If only I could blog whilst travelling, I'd keep up better! This is a summary of the weekend (15, 16 and 17 June). Oh, this picture is the newspaper after Dad has finished reading it! Because he can't hold it all he reads a page at a time and the paper comes back to us in many pieces!! It takes ages to reassemble - especially on a Sunday :)

Friday morning I think I was in bed until late as mum got up on early shift. Dad was pretty weak and slept a lot during the morning. His eyes get a bit freaky sometimes - he's asleep but his eyelids are ever so slightly open.... it's scary to look at but we don't think it is significant.

I had no errands to run so stayed in all morning - Lorraine had taken the car as hers is still off the road. Around lunchtime, Dad woke up and called me in. When I got into his room he said that "they've been in messing with my medications". I asked who had. "Someone from the army. I'm not supposed to be here, they said I should have died at 11 o'clock this morning". I told him he hadn't died, and was still here with us. "Phone the doctor, and ask if the coroner has been informed of my death" he asked. I resisted.... I said I knew they hadn't. "How do you know". Because I'm here and you're here, and you're still alive. At this point, Dad got a bit agitated, so mum (in the other room but listening) pretended to phone the doctor and called into me that everything was ok, and the coroners hadn't been notified. I passed this message onto Dad. He wasn't happy. "Have I got to go through another night of this? All that palaver with my knees and legs?" (It had taken Dad a long time to get comfy this morning, he had a lot of pain in his bottom.) I explained that it was only lunchtime. He looked at me and said "Have we got weeks of this left?" I said I didn't know, I didn't know how long we had left. He shook his head in frustration. I asked if he could tell me what had happened and he just said "Not yet". If we ask if he was dreaming he always denies it, and says "I don't think so".

A little while later, Lorraine had gone out to pick Emily up from school and to go to the chemist for some prescriptions. Dad started saying he was a bit worried about her. I asked why, and he said: "Well, she's gone to A&E with one of the kids, and you know what Social Services are like for taking kids off people if they've had accidents. You think she'll be ok, don't you? Do you know what I'm getting at?". I said not really, because Lorraine hadn't gone to hospital. "Oh, she's just gone to the pharmacy?" Yes. "Am I having one of those funny things again?". I think so Dad. He just shook his head again.

He then asked me if I thought he needed a sedative to stop it happening. I said no, and that it could be down to his medication, or his blood pressure. I said if it kept happening or if he was scared about it, we'd speak to the doctor. A little later he asked what the noise was. Then he glanced down and noticed his headphones were blaring out on the bed next to him. He just rolled his eyes. He's losing his edge a bit. Not as sharp as he's been up to now. His hands and feet were very cool and his urine is still dark.

Dad caught sight of himself in the centre of the fan today - it's a round shiny piece of metal. He commented that he didn't look any different to last time. "Not too bad" he said. He'd expected to look really awful by now. I told him he didn't.

Lorraine came back at 4 with the kids - Emily and Fran. Fran is Emily's friend and she's coming to London with us because Lorraine can't go now. We headed off to Leeds just after 4 and got stuck in horrible traffic! Got home just before 6, just enough time to shower and change, as we were booked into Jinnah for a meal at 6.45pm.

Because the weekend was for Emily's birthday (although that was in December!) we'd asked for a cake when we booked the restaurant. They're great in Jinnah - they always give you free chocolate cake on your birthday! Emily's face was a treat when they called her over for it... you have to stand in the front of the restaurant while everybody sings Happy Birthday to you. She'd already admitted to having a crush on Yasser (the manager) and so she was blushing like mad (but loving it all really!!).

Got home at 9 and the kids played on MSN and then settled down to watch TV before going to sleep. An early start tomorrow - I have set their alarm for 6am as we are leaving at 7 and they have to straighten their hair and do their make up. Can you believe that these girls are only 12?