Quiet, introspective weekend

Did not manage to get out for a run last week. I really felt like I needed to get new shoes first but couldn't find the time to get to the shop. Excuses, excuses.....

The weekend hit and we spent Saturday morning taking FB to his therapy session. His therapist is really pleased with how he has progressed and reckons the next meeting may be the last one he needs. FB is delighted at this - he always moans about having to do the exercise programme and the prospect of not having to do it any more is very pleasing to him.

After therapy, FB, SB and I hit the big bookshop on the way home and blew most of the Christmas book tokens. Funnily enough, I will happily spend time in bookshops with the boys - I never get to the stage in there that I do in Toys R Us where I am on my knees and weeping "Please just pick something and let us leave!" One substantial pile of books later ("No, you can't have the pop-up Pirates of the Carribean album, that barely counts as a book!") and we headed for a sports shop.

SB has just started going to football training and I had promised him some proper kit. (My brother approves: the lack of football in our Scottish home has prompted him to accuse us of child abuse in the past.) Unfortunately, the views of SB and myself on what was suitable diverged when I saw the price of the Manchester United shirt he wanted. My unwillingness to cough up well over £30 for one small shirt meant I was clearly a horrible mother who just spent her days thinking up new ways to make her son unhappy. So no joy there.

Sunday dawned and we all piled into the car to take FB to his karate class. He is a brown belt now and is just doing his training for the next grading which, if he passes, will give him his first coloured tag on his belt. Husband, who tries to walk the 4 miles or so into (or back from) work a few times a week, had bought good walking shoes and needed to try them out properly, but could only do so indoors in case he wanted to return them. So I suggested I take him to the gym and he could try them on the treadmill. (Sidenote here: husband went to boarding school for many years and has, as a result, an absolute horror of communal activities and changing rooms that has kept him well away from locker rooms and the like since he was 18. He also occasionally mutters under his breath something about "green fish pie" but I don't press him on that.)

I promised him he didn't have to hit the changing rooms and that the gym would be quiet and I'd show him how to work the tready, so he agreed. FB was set up in his class, SB settled down with his Gameboy in a corner and Husband and I hit the gym. Showed Hubby how the treadmill works and set him going on his 45 minute walk. I took the next door machine and did a 30 minute run, with a 5 minute cool down. Covered about 4.3km then went off and did some stretches and situps while I waited for hubby to finish up. He rather enjoyed the experience and the shoes got the thumbs up, so successful morning all round. I got blisters in exactly the same place AGAIN, so will definitely absolutely promise, go for new shoes next week.

I spent the afternoon hunting down a football top for SB (finally found an Italy one which met with approval) and have spent the evening veg-ing (sp?) out before the week starts all over again.

Note: whole weekend narrated, no mention of housework. Heh.