Euan went to stay with Ex's parents for a couple of nights, and I went to stay at Simon's, to keep him company and keep him out of the pub. So... We went to the pub.
But as Simon pointed out, 2 pints is a massive improvement on 12 pints, and he even ate something for tea for a change. So I must have been a good influence. Planned which room of his house to attack first with paintbrushes. Played on the X-Box, watched the 51st State. Twas good. Back home Friday (Karl's in Paris for the rugby so I've got extra sprog duties this week). Euan's still snuffly but he's not letting it slow him down, so I'm considering buying him a treadmill with a generator attached. Toddler power! Endless cheap energy! Don't know why no-one's thought of it before.

Finally able to come home properly on Monday, but still no sign of the gas card ordered last week - I had to phone British Gas and nag them, including mentioning Euan ("My friend works for Manweb, and apparently they're legally obliged to make young children a priority and use couriers." - thanks Lou, that gave them the kick needed.) Suddenly all I had to do was collect the card from a shop up the road. Wow, heating!
Euan's been poorly all week. Just snuffly and stuffy. Had to collect him from nursery yesterday - they apologised for phoning. Don't know why. I mean, I get 3 days' care leave entitlement per year for this kind of thing, and it's not like I was thrilled by the prospect of the other 300 cases on my worklist.

Slept late, then Euan came home. Missed him a lot this week.
Wish we could go home, I really need to do a few loads of washing and I feel like I've been living out of a bag for a month. Hope the gas card arrives tomorrow so I can put the heating on. OK, so it's really only been a week. But I get homesick easily.

Went to Dad's on Wednesday. Saw Dad's cousin Rowena and her daughter Isabel, who had popped over for a few hours. Then I bashed down the ceiling in Room 21 (avoiding falling debris, dead bats, lost manuscripts etc).
Thursday: finished destroying the ceiling, started on the wall, tearing down old lath & plaster, and knocking a new doorway. Then started clearing rubble down two flights of stairs and through the Bell Bar to the skip. Fun. Then joined the domino players for a few games, and ended up playing pool until some stupid hour of the morning. Didn't get much work done on Friday, because real ale leaves you with one hell of a hangover.
Simon turned up Friday night (after a four-hour struggle to find Llanwrtyd Wells) and we had a bite to eat with Dad & Cath & Granny.
Sunday morning... the local hunt gathered in front of the hotel then paraded off to applause from (some of) the spectators who had gathered on both sides of the road. Very surreal. I'd never seen "real" fox hunters, it's ironic I should see their first illegal hunt.
Walked the dogs with Simon (not far, because he "doesn't do" walking). Then set off for home. Still no gas card, so back to mum's. Again.
Out to Chester for a bite to eat with Lou. Mexican. Very yummy. Lovely evening.

I got a Valentine's card from Euan. And a text from Reda.
Staying at Mum's for a few days while I wait for a new gas card to arrive (grrr) so I can put the heating on again.

Andrea & Aidan popped round, with Ethan, but yet again Euan was asleep... He finally woke up but decided to be grumpy for a while. At least he didn't beat Ethan up. He was almost sociable.

An outing to Llangollen to see Thomas the Tank Engine, to celebrate Euan's birthday last week. Euan decided to go to sleep instead, and since the weather was freezing, damp and windy, we hid in a café until he woke up... By which time it was too late to go on Thomas, so we just went and looked at trains instead.

A diet of just pancakes with a variety of fillings can't be good for you. Just as well I finally ran out today. Won't be making any more for at least... a month?

Went for a spontaneous pub meal last night with Mum & Grandma at the Beeches. Very nice. Euan behaved, because there was another sprog there (coincidentally also 2 years old last week), and they warbled away at each other in toddlerese. Pizzas for lunch in work today: it was Dave's birthday so he went and collected 14 of them from Deep Pan Pizza, and we all sat around at our desks scoffing them. Then cakes, so I had an eclair. And Andrea emailed me to say she'd brought cakes in to celebrate her birthday too... so I had to eat one! It would have been rude not to.
Then home (lift with Andrea & Aidan), then I made pancakes for me, Dan & Paul (briefly home from Uni). Made millions. I had bought: toffee sauce, chocolate sauce, oranges, lemons, two types of sugar, maple syrup + Jif lemon. You could say I like pancakes.
Going to save some and do a savoury filling and bake them tomorrow.
I'll worry about my weight next week...

Suffering today. Friday was good - lunch in Yales' for Andrea's birthday, very pleasant, although I was a bit tired and didn't finish my meal (unusual for me). Then off to Chester with Simon after work. Drank lots. Played drunken X-Box with Chris at some silly time of night. Spent Saturday mooching around, driving three times round Chester trying to get to Hoole despite road closures, so we could pick up some home-made lasagne from Simon's friend's delicatessen. Went searching for a new car for Simon's mate Steve. Got buses back to Wrexham, feeling a bit better, and went out for a couple of quiet drinks and a catch-up... well, that was the theory. Somehow ended up in town. Stayed until Chicago closed, so presumably 2am. Ish. Taxi queues were horrendous, but I remembered I had a driver's mobile, so one quick call later we were sorted. Can't beat personal service. Must remember to do that in future. Really poorly now. Alcohol is a very bad thing. Euan will be back soon. Maybe I should get some sleep while I can.

Work was hectic, because of the deadline. Karl came round last night to finalise sorting out the finances. Think we got a lot accomplished. Paid off all the council tax today, in anticipation of receiving Karl's share very soon. Went for a pint with Simon at lunchtime, got insulted. Nothing new there. Bought two new pairs of boots in the sales at River Island. Yay! New boots! I should buy new boots every week. Went to Grandma's, then off to the Trevor Arms for tea.