Phoenix 5 – Wansfell Pike

Went to the lakes today with Phoenix 5 for the first time in two years and it was great to get out and be with the lads especially John who I always enjoy being around. It was an early start 5am and it was just John and I in my car because we are will cautious about Covid and having lots of people in the car isn’t really sensible yet, apparently?

Wansfell Pike is a route I have done on many occasions with the Phoenix 5 and as always (rolls eyes) it was wet and cold, raining most of the way up to the top of the fell and most of the way down but at the top it was just very windy and very cold. We sat having our dinner having and a robin landed on the gate about 10m away from me so I broke some bread of and threw it onto the floor and the robin immediately flew down picked it up and flew off, returning about 2 minutes later waiting for a repeat which I did a couple more times each time it took the bread off. This was my favourite part of a really good weekend away.

Returning to Kendall to stay over in the Premier inn we did the usual quiz in The Union pub followed by a shit shower and shave at the hotel and a night out in Kendall. This was my first “night out” not drinking and it was noticed straightaway by everyone there and it took some explaining about my reasons and whether it was forever or for health reasons or just tonight etc. I just said I was having a rest trying to make not having a drink the habit rather than the other way around and that I won’t be drinking for a while is all. This was the most difficult part because the actual not drinking was relatively easy, there was a lad on the walk who I know pretty well but he was drunk later in the night and after quizzing me about why I wasn’t drinking started trying to buy me an alcoholic drink which I brushed off but also Dave Myles also stepped in to stop him doing it. I didn’t need help but it was nice to know my mates respected my sobriety enough to make sure this person didn’t pursue this offer…?

All in all a great day and although I was nervous about it being a sober one it was fine

22 days sober

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Christmas lights ON!

We went into Middlewich for the Christmas light switch on there is usually a craft fair and lots of fairground rides for the kids but again this year it was minimal but as always well attended.

We met up with Kate Chris and their kids to watch the fireworks and go to the pub where I had a Coke which is likely to be my M O for a while now, its not a problem but Chris noticed straight away and that’s my issue what do I tell people who expect me to drink?

3 Weeks Sober

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Naturalisation

Jamie has applied to the British Government to become a Citizen of Great Britain, to become a dual citizen like Reagan and Lincoln. It is the final step in her immigration journey, she does not have to do it because her Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) visa means she can live here without any other visas required, but in the back of her mind there is always the possibility something might change in the future. So recent improvements in here financial situation meant that she has the £1350 needed to apply, this in all honesty was the only reason she has not applied before, so while she has the means why not?

Anyway today she paid the money and sent off the application which is the first step the next is to pay another £150 pounds for an appointment in Manchester to have her biometrics collected, and after that’s done then there is a six month wait to find out if her application is successful and if it isn’t….

So as Jamie always does she focuses on the extremely unlikely possibility that they would reject her application and not realise that ever since setting foot on Blighty 15th December 2008 she has made this country a little bit better every day. We did everything by the book even though it was so difficult and we had to trust that in doing so the authorities would do the right thing by us, which they have done every time. In Jamie’s mind though she had forgotten that technically she was still under the British immigration process even though ILR means she can stay forever, when she started the naturalisation process all those feelings we endured 13 years ago hoping for positive news at each stage knowing that at any point our dream could end, came flooding back.

There is a 1 to the right of the decimal point when considering the percentage chance of her application failing but if I typed the the zeros before it, this would be the longest post I have ever written!

You’re here to stay dude and soon you’ll have a passport to prove it.

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MADPL 21/22 – Week 1

Started a new pool season tonight after the 2019/20 season was disrupted by Covid in March 2020 and finally completed in November 2021 so this new season was quickly turned around so they can try and get back in synch. Our first game was against Dishers away and to put this into perspective I have played 3 frames in 19 months and so have most of my team and that showed with some fine margins is the 5 losses DR & DL both played well but like I said it was fine lines OJ broke off didn’t pot and his opponent cleared up

PJ & MC brought us back into it with some really great pool and then I went on and I thought I played really well and got myself into a winning position only to miss the black twice (so frustrating!) out of players they chose DR & OJ and although the former played well and had chances he gave their guy too many chances, the latter played really well to make the scoreline respectable.

We will get better the more we all play but for now we are back playing pool on a Wednesday

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Sobriety Update

Little update on my sobriety, most of the time it’s fine, it’s as if I have flicked the switch and I don’t even think about drinking but the real pinch point has to be after finishing work and cooking tea. This can be very difficult I think this time more than any other is my trigger, not pool or Sundays bother me right at the moment due to Covid because that’s been taken away from me for the last 18 months so home drinking is the norm now.

Fizzy water helps if I think about having a drink but even that isn’t that necessary most of the time it’s becoming a habit not to drink! I crave a biscuits or sweetness maybe a little more than usual but not much lol

Have I given up forever, I don’t think so my mind set at the moment is I am not going to drink for a year and then I will be allowed to do it again and that helps at the moment.
Jamie asked if I would start again after 12 months because her thought was why do all that just to go back but I can’t think like that yet. My main concern is sticking at it now time.

Days Sober 18

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Denver Broncos

You could say I am obsessed…a bit? I know Jamie never thought she would move 4500miles to be with a man that is Broncos mad, but I absolutely love watching them play live. Yes it has to be live, because of the excitement and anticipation you get with live sport, if it’s already happened you might as well watch the highlights but there is a drawback if they play Prime Time that means a 01:30am kick off but at the moment that does not happen often you have to be considered good to play primetime .

So with all that said, as I write this, the Chiefs vs Broncos has been bumped to Primetime. So on Sunday my game day routine will be to go to bed at 8:30 and set my alarm for 1:20am to watch the match which barring overtime will finish around 5am then it’s back to bed for a couple of hours before getting up and starting work. To my eternal gratitude Jamie does respect my commitment and allows me a lot of grace on a gameday morning, which helps.

Last nights game against the Chargers ended 28 – 13 a great divisional win and sets up next week as a winner goes top of the AFC West my excitement is tempered by our Jekyll and Hyde season which has seen us win 3 lose 4 and then just about beating the Washington Football Team (one we should have won easily) followed by destroying the Dallas (maybe one everyone thought we would struggle against) and then annoyingly getting schooled the Eagles (one most said we would win easily?) So who knows which Broncos will turn up on Sunday either way I will be watching and hopefully silently cheering them on to a win!

Yesterdays blog “Me Time” was about what I like to do and this is exactly the same, this is what I like to do it makes me feel lots of feelings I don’t normally feel and mostly in a good way! I find it very difficult to be selfish to do something for me and although I would love my family to join in with my love of the Broncos, I also wouldn’t want my enjoyment ruined by them not being as interested as me.

The Broncos, because Jamie is from Denver, I have always loved the NFL I just needed a team. I am now #DBFL I remember Elway’s struggles in the 80s and the losses in Superbowls XXI, XXII and XXIV but missed the 90s and the XXXII & XXXIII Superbowl wins. I’ve watched the those games back but it was difficult to get the sense of relief and achievement for him and the franchise, after the fact, like I say “it’s always better live!”

Since 2007 I watched the team grow into a contender not realising what it takes to get over the line and win a Superbowl, from seeing Cutler play for Mike Shanaghan when I visited Jamie in Denver (alas on TV not at Mile High) to watching Orton at Wembley followed by Tebow time praying both could get us deep into the post season but apart from Tebow to Thomas against the Steelers we were nearly men.

Enter Peyton Manning, it wasn’t until he turned up that I realised how important a good quarterback is to a team, but to have a great HOF signal caller meant a very good Broncos team by default became a record breaking Superbowl contender and barring an annoying defeat by the Ravens 2013 and an even more frustrating defeat by the Seahawks in Superbowl XLVIII it was a fantastic time to watch the Broncos culminating in #SB50 a 24-10 win over the Panthers. This will always be one of my all time favourite memories it just made me feel so happy and still does!

Since then the team has lacked a quarterback that can push them to the next level but the team has also been in transition too but I believe the team is almost there again on both sides of the ball and although Teddy Bridgewater is ok we need inspiration…? George Paton might be the key at general manager and hopefully he can either draft a quarterback or get an elite one without mortgaging the next 5 years acquiring one! Time will tell and I will be watching whatever the direction is!

Anyway #GOBRONCOS

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Me Time

I decided to take some time for myself today and just go for a walk so I got Billy and headed down the canal towards Sandbach and turned at Dragons Lane and headed towards Wimboldsley. It was a crisp day when we set out but it soon started to snow which I can’t remember the last time we got snow in Middlewich this early but what started out just a few small whispey flakes turned into an inch of snow by late afternoon.

We walked to the end of the Roman Road and called Jamie to see if she fancied meeting us for a coffee at Hopley Farm

She jumped at the chance so that’s what we did after a game of fetch while we waited for her
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Just need the photo…

I remember taking the original photo but I don’t remember what they were waiting for, Mommy was not there maybe it was Mommy, anyway I took it and then each year I have taken the same photo each Thanksgiving. I hope I can continue doing this for many many years to come! I love these two more than they’ll ever know and watching them grow and become the people they are going to become.

  • 2014
  • 2021

They are both such beautiful happy people and I am so proud of how they are turning out.

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The day after

Jamie and I went for a walk up to Norman’s Wood to let Billy run off a head of steam. We were hoping for a lovely crisp frosty morning but what we got was a dark wet blustery November morning, not that Billy cared!

Fetch it Billy!

It may have been wet but what a beautiful autumn scene everywhere you looked

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Thanksgiving 2021

Jamie added the Facebook post below and I just though no matter what I write today this would sum it up better

We had such an amazing thanksgiving and felt so lucky to be able to bring the family back around the table to celebrate together. A few people were missing and obviously my family is 5000 miles away but none are ever far from our thoughts and never far from our prayers. Thank you to all the well wishers today as well! I am endlessly grateful for my life here thank you so much Alan ?

I did today sober and it was made easy because I drove Dad Liz Uncle Karl and Nannie which I have said before switches a thing in my head and once that happens I’m OK ?

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