Steve Westrop

OK, OK, thanks for all the nagging.  Sorry!  Not been doing a great job of updating the blog, so will try to summarise the past month or two and will try harder in future 🙂

Could be a long post, so rather than show all of it on the front page I'll set it to only show this first bit unless you wanna see it all.  You do? OK, just click the link to see more.  Easy, eh?! 😉 

We managed to get away for a few weeks in the Summer which was great.  Spent most of it visiting family.  SJ saw all of his grandparents in the space of a few days, which must get a little confusing when four of them are referred to as "Nanny".  Really must find a way to differentiate, but the names we use for them all probably aren't suitable 😉

Spent a few days in Marple too. Was very strange being back up there, especially after everything that has happened.  We survived though, and was great to see Gem and Binks finally getting married… and Laura as a bridesmaid (see, told you I'd mention it!).  Totally horrendous journey to Manchester as a lorry had overturned and parts of the M6 was closed, and the rest were just solid!  Was worth it in the end, though!  The hotel was great.  One of the advantages of having a disabled room is that there's room for a cot in the bathroom, so SJ has a dark quiet space to go to sleep in!  The pool was right by our room too, so he could go swimming whenever he wanted 🙂

SJ goes to Nursery one day a week now.  I was quite bad at the end of the Summer, which forced us to rethink how we do things.  As much as I didn't want to have to give in, admit defeat, and use child care, we had to be sensible.  He totally loves it, though, and never wants to come home!  It's good for him and helps me to get a break, which makes the rest of the week easier.

I've been a lot better on the whole this month, though I think most of that is down to getting a day off and having a better routine with SJ.  He's sleeping far better during the day now, which also helps, and deperately trying to crawl and walk the rest of the time!

Hev's settled in to the new term, a new class, and new responsibilities, but still struggles to be out all day.  She's missing her old class and colleagues though. 

We finally got Incapacity Benfit sorted, after many phone calls and arguments to the local office and, in the end, the district office also.  Have appealed against Disability allowance, but not heard back as yet, and waiting to get a Blue Badge – again, will make things much easier as walking is becoming increasingly difficult and I now tend to use wheelchair or scooter whenever possible when we go out.

"Cognitive disfunction" has been the biggest problem lately, though I managed to convince Hev that a Nintendo DS with the Brain Training game thing would help immensely.  If anyone wants to buy any other games for my birthday next week, then please feel free 🙂  Apparently I have a "Brain Age" of 53.  Felt better knowing Hev's was 74 hahaha

I have an appointment for physio at last – woo, progress – and have been declared unfit to work for the rest of the year. 

Puzz1ed1PCservices now has a live website and is open for business, so to speak.  There's also a fantastic range of Christmas Cards launched by Phoenix, so I'm trying to sell those now too.  If you want to know more about either venture, see the relevant site!

Think that's the bulk of the news ofr now.  The photo album has been updated, and there have been several tweaks to the software and system but won't bore you with those.

Hopefully will add more news in the next day or two.