We're Gonna Have A Boy!

I'd like to introduce the little baby on the left. We don't have a name yet, but I can now introduce that ickle one as my son.

I have to admit, Sherri and I are still to a certain degree in a state of shock. Not as much of a shock obviously as when we found out we were having a baby, but right up there and biting at it's ankles.

Having had 4 girls, statistics either showed that we were more than likely to have another girl... or that after 4 girls, maybe it was time to throw a boy in the mix. We pretty much thought the first scenario was going to unfold before us, but some one upstairs had other ideas.

Unlike his Dad, my son so far has no qualms about willy waving, which is how we found out to start with. When the person doing the ultrasound says it's close when comparing his willy to the umbilical chord, you know he's gonna follow in his fathers footsteps. Oh my word, did I say that? Any who...

So the idea of keeping all Sarah and Lucy's clothes for this baby, has pretty much fallen by the wayside. No son of mine is going to be wearing pink, anytime soon. Oh my word it's gonna cost a fortune, especially if he's gonna be a hockey player. There go my lie ins. 5am hockey practice is the norm here, so I better get some sleep while I can. Ah well, at least I'll be able to start the day off with a nice Timmy's.

OK so what names are we mulling about. To be honest, we hadn't really seriously considered boys names, but my mother in-law reminded me of something, that I'm sure Sherri would rather I forgot. I always said if I had a son, his first name would be "Sir". Not that we'd use it, but just imagine when he's old, he can legitimately call him self "Sir Jake" or what ever other names we decide to give him. Not sure if I can swing this one past Sherri, but I'm gonna give it a go.

So we're all on cloud nine. I felt the baby moving for the first time last night. Think I'm going to have to get used being kicked.

Anyway, time for me to hit the publish button and get some sleep..... while I still can LOL

Kosmo We Love You!

I'm sitting here at 1am on the 11th November uploading a huge photo album of Kosmo. It's 1 year today that we said goodbye, but hardly a day goes by that we don't think of him.

Although I had lots of pets as a kid, I never had a dog. Getting Kosmo was one of the most rewarding things I've done since being in Canada, aside from the obvious like raising a family and being married to a wonderful woman.

With Kosmo, it was like having another guy around, to make sense of all the crazy female stuff that goes on around the house. When he was first diagnosed with epilepsy, we so wanted to believe that it could be easily controlled with medication and indeed it was for about 18 months. However the attacks came more often and after each one, you could tell he was finding it harder to recover. Towards the end it was so obvious it was becoming a huge strain on him.

Having Kosmo pass away on Rememberance Day, is a fitting tribute to the best friend a man can have. Losing Kosmo has been like losing a part of me and it's hard not to feel sad. However I have so many fond memories, as do we all, that the sadness soon passes and is replaced with the joy of having him in our lives, be it for such a short time.

To Kosmo Meeks, forever a part of our family. Wherever you are, I hope you know how much we love you.

Shaping Young Minds!

We're doing a half day of training soon. It's one of those things that gets everyone away from the office and even if they guy talks a load of old crap, if it gets us thinking then it's pretty much worth it. Anyway in preparation for this half day, the guy organizing it sent out 3 questions that he wants answering before the half day. One question in particular really got me thinking. This question, was along the lines of "Who has been your greatest influence good or bad". When my mind reads a question like that, I don't even think of the negative side, preferring not to dredge the sludge that is my memory.

The immediate answer to that question, quite predictably is my Dad. From my Dad I got a real passion to learn. Whether that was because as a young kind, I really wanted to cram my brain full of stuff, I don't know. Maybe it was just my way of connecting with my Dad and wanting to please him. Anyway no matter what the reason, I became quite the absent minded professor and my Dad has a lot to do with that. Well not the absent minded bit, anyway.

So taking the obvious answer of my Dad out of the equation, who else could possible have had a great impact on my life. Well that man would be Steven Maw. No he's not famous or anything like that. In fact, as I understand it, a few years after I left junior school, he passed away. Yeah, at the time I was totally oblivious, youth has a way of putting blinkers on you, like a pre-pubescent on the hunt for candy at Halloween. Steven Maw was my teacher for year 4 I think it was in the infants at Moorfields Primary School. The picture you can see on the left is of him,
Helen Hewstone, my teacher for year 5 (I think) and I think it must be Michelle Loader as Michelle Leather was in my year and that's almost definitely not here, although maybe my memory is a little hazy, especially if the photo is circa 1976. It was taken on a school trip to Swanage. I never really found out what Swanage was, as I never went. My brother did, as did the last year of primary, a year before I got the chance. By the time I got to class 8, we only had the choice of Sayers Croft, which was also very nice and holds many fond memories for me.

Anyway I got distracted. Steven Maw, was a teacher who really struck a chord with me. There was something about him, that really managed to inspire me and got me to want to work. He was also very musical and encouraged my singing greatly. I can remember our class singing Sloop John B, the old beach boy hit. Now I don't remember ever hearing the record before, but I started singing a canon, of it and he really seemed amazed. Not as amazed as me, as I didn't even know what a canon was. Anyway that's a memory that always stuck with me. Another couple of songs that he sang and got us to sing a lot were "Football Crazy", which was a real favorite of the class and another tune called "You'll Never get to Heaven", where each class member would add a name and a reason why they would never get to heaven. It always managed to get some real laughs. It amazing how inventive kids can be.

I left Moorfields in 1979. I often meant to go back while I was in secondary school. It would have been easy as it was just a few minutes away. Anyway, I never did. It was only when I left secondary school, that I bumped into someone and got chatting, and found out Steven Maw had died a few years after I left Moorfields. This really knocked me for six and I really regret not having the opportunity of meeting him and just saying thanks. I've spoken to a few people about him over the years and it seems that everyone has different memories of him, some fond and some not so fond. To me though he will always be a special part of my childhood.

If anyone has more memories of Steven Maw or some photos, please send them my way. I would love to get hold of some photos, including me at Sayers Croft.