As well documented I have become a fanatical fan of the Denver Broncos I love following the Broncos but with a season only 17 weeks long there is a lot of off season especially when we haven’t troubled the post season since winning Superbowl 50

So I listen to podcasts and read any websites that might have news about team acquisitions through the draft free agency or trade and tonight one of the biggest trades was made to make Russell Wilson our new quarterback. The trade looks like costing 2 x firsts 2 x seconds, Noah Fant, Shelby Harris and Drew Lock which is huge but in the AFC West we wree playing for 3rd Place without at least a very good QB so we will see now because he is one of the best in the league?

It excites me to think that yet again Denver might be a force to be reckoned with again, the problem is that we won’t see him play until September but I am hoping I might be able to see them and Wilson live if our trip Mommy is planning actually happens?

What a weekend, I love my family and life in general, I would not want to change what I have for the world but it was so nice to spend this weekend alone with Jamie, just the two of us. We had arranged for Reagan and Lincoln to stay at Nannies and for Billy to be walked by one of Jamie’s friends so we got on a train and went down to London for a couple of days.

First job was to check into the hotel and as we checked in I recognised the lead singer on the band we were going to watch later, Craig Finn, leaving the hotel so I spoke to him and asked for a photo to which his initial reaction was “uh” but swiftly relented and posed with us for a second. Great start to the trip and after dropping the bags in the room, we got back on the tube to London Bridge to see one of the clinics where Jamie works.

I wanted to see where she works so that when I am talking to her I can picture where she is, and although it was closed on a Saturday she showed me that it was right next door to the Shard which was so cool to to know. We then explored the surrounding area and Jamie realised just how much was right there where she worked, literally 3 minutes walk was the Golden Hinde ship next to the river and the Globe theatre just around the corner to name just two. We walked along the embankment and across the Millennium Bridge to St Pauls Cathedral to see where Princess Diana was married before getting back onto the tube to Harley Street the other clinic Jamie works at, I was impressed how at ease she was on the public transport system already since beginning work there, but how little she’d seen or realised was right there to see if she wanted to venture? Very easy for me to follow her as she navigated the London Underground and arrive at Harley Street without missing a beat, not as impressive as the other but so prestigious to be able to say “she has an office in Harley Street” From there we got a bus back to Camden again she just new which one to get on so we were back at the hotel in plenty of time to shower and get to the Electric Ballroom to see the support act ‘His Lordship’ who promised a lot with two rockabilly sounding tunes to start with but we both said they were shit by the time they left the stage.

At 8pm The Hold Steady took to the stage and for the next two hours were superb thoroughly entertaining a sold out night two of a three night residency, they are a band I have listened to for a few years now although I quickly realised I did not know any of the songs well enough to sing along to, although I’d heard them all an many occassions. We both just hoped that Stay Positive was part of tonights set because that was our favourite and we could definately sing along to that but alas after only a three song encore they left the stage to an ovation and two slightly disapointed fans (not a complaint mearly an observation…) Jamie needed to go find a seat for half an hour during the gig because her back would not have handled standing for such a length of time and as we left I wished I’d done the same as my back was in half, oh how times have changed the two of us moaning that they didn’t play the one we know as we hobled out into the street like a pair of old people!

Hungry we went to an “american style diner” and had the best wings this side of the Atlantic, according to Jamie, to go with a chicken burger and beef burger for me a great end to a great day and I was glad to lay my head down in bed before midnight although the night was not good trying to sleep through the noisiest aircon in the world.

The Holiday Inn Camden was right next to the locks and we had room 508 The Penthouse Suite overlooking the locks which was so picturesque as London views go with a balcony to view it from was lovely. Sunday was a lazy start followed by a walk around Camden Market which was AMAZING and something we may have missed if I hadn’t insisted on finding the steps where the Clash are stood on the cover of their first album so I could get the obligatory photo in the same place. The market and Camden in general was so eclectic and vibrant it is somewhere I want to visit again maybe when we come to renew the kids American passports we can stop there again and use it as a base to explore surrounding London some more too?

We went for breakfast at the same diner as lastnight before making our way back to Euston, again with ease, to catch our train home which is where I am sat now writing this blog.

Like I said at the beginning it has been a great weekend and I have spent it with my best friend we just like being together all the time but to get to be alone is even more special when life can seem to pass by sometimes when our attentions are focused on work and the children we can forget what a special relationship we have until we remind ourselves with a trip away like this? I should also mention that this whole weekend was done sober making it 113 days since my last drink!

“We would like to let you know that Reagan informed the school that a pupil was in possession of a forbidden item and the school have thanked her for telling the truth”

Woah what? Our immediate thought was ‘snitches get stitches’ Who has she told on, and What was this person in possession of? Is she in danger will the school be able to protect her… the lack of information in the phone call just set our imaginations racing.

When Reagan got home from school Mommy asked her What happened at school and got the stock “nothing much” answer, but a tiny prompt by Mommy and “Oooh I got taken out of PE and had to write a statement because Nikki brought a pocket knife to school and she told me so I knew about it but I didn’t actually see it”

With jaws on the floor floor we had the wait what a KNIFE! Yeh it was yesterday but we were asked to write a statement today.

So apparently the girl Reagan sits next to in most lessons told her yesterday that she had a pocket knife, she also told others and showed the knife to some of the others also. At some point either late yesterday or early today the girl was confronted by the school the knife presumably confiscated and she was not seen at school again for the rest of the day.

Reagan told us there was 3 girls removed from PE her and two other to write statements along with others from other classes too, so it wasn’t just her. We managed to play down the seriousness of what she had just told us but also stressed that the police will be involved so the girl will be in real trouble, we also told her there is no reason to carry a knife other than to cause harm don’t hang around anyone who thinks that’s cool etc Just trying not to show the concern we were feeling that there was “a knife at school!”

We praised her for telling the truth at school and that we were proud of her and that telling the truth is always the best option and would always be commended. The last thing we said was do not go talking bad about the girl because she made a mistake and will likely be in ALOT of trouble but will be back at school soon and deserves a second chance!

I suppose I should talk about Russia and the fact that they have invaded the Ukraine which has turned the world against Vladimir Putin imposing sanctions on Russia and the Russian people. Now I am not informed enough to know what is happening on the ground but the headlines are terrible showing all Ukrainians men women and children fighting the might of the red army with anything they can find to resist to the death….?

The reason I feel I must mention it in my blog is because Reagan and Lincoln are seeing the images and hearing the word “war” and they feel worried that we will have to fight the war like the Second world war.

We sat them down and reassured them that it is highly unlikely there would ever be another world war because the rest of the world are able to impose restrictions on other countries in the hope that they feel bad and stop doing what they are doing either because the civilians revolt or they can not run the country without help from the rest of the world.

Now, I understand how ignorant I sound but it is enough to help them not worry, if it didn’t and they needed me to be more informed to help them understand I would take more notice but for now my ignorance is still bliss…