31 January 2013

You can make me do right or you can make me do wrong

John pointed out earlier that Jo and Lisa's wedding is only 2 weeks away... so just writing this inbetween practicing like mad.

Definitely fish and chips for dinner tonight. I think Sherlock's mum is taking him out somewhere to eat, so we get to slob out and not feel guilty :) Fish, chips and mushy peas...heaven.

Went to see Mum - the weather was a bit awkward. High winds, rain showers, really got a beating on the motorway, but got there fine. Had a coffee and 'prepared', mentally speaking. Then found the home.

It is quite nice. Mum's one of the youngest in there, though. Not sure she's really made any friends yet. But the garden is nice, if she's there for long enough for the weather to get better. It's all very...well, you know, it's geared up for everything she needs. Proper rooms for physio as well as places to relax.

John said it all seemed okay. The staff seemed nice enough - efficient. Her room's only small, but she's not supposed to be spending loads of time in there, so it's fine.

She seems a bit more like my Mum again. Suppose I've accepted we'll never get along, exactly, but...well, we're back to how we used to be, a bit more. She even asked about our wedding, which is good on two fronts - one that she brought it up, and two that she remembered about it in the first place. She was fairly...dismissive, I suppose, about it all. But then she's done it four times, so... yeah, well, sometimes we really are too alike.

104 comments:

pandabob said...

I'm glad your mum seems more herself, that's an important step towards the future really and the place sounds like it'll be good for her so more progress might be possible you never know :-)

But then she's done it four times, so... yeah, well, sometimes we really are too alike.

I'm a bit unsure what that's supposed to mean but something about it feels a bit uncomfortable and I don't know why.

Have fun practicing and spending time with John and enjoy your lazy dinner :-)

Anonymous said...

You may be alike on some levels, genetics will bite a person given half a chance, but you seem more able to learn from your mistakes.

Greg Lestrade said...

AnonyBob - that bit probably shouldn't have been as closely associated to the bit about being married. It was more general. Like...I think both of us firmly keep our hopes down, sometimes. Almost sabotage ourselves, so we're right, too. Which, obviously I have no intention of doing with John! But...well, yeah, generally sometimes we're both too stubborn in the same ways to get along.

Anon - I hope so, God I hope so.

pandabob said...

okydoke that makes far less worrying sense :-)

I think its natural to keep expectations of life as low as possible, it saves disappointment.

REReader said...

What's the expression...hope for the best, prepare for the worst? (Only you need to prepare for the best, too! ;))

It sounds like you're having a nice low-key evening, for a change of pace. :)

Greg Lestrade said...

AnonyBob - yeah, I know exactly what you mean. But also, sometimes I do believe that life lives down to your expectations, so...well, it's easier to think positively once one good thing happens to you, for sure. And John and the boys are certainly a positive influence on me.

RR - yeah, but it's far too easy to prepare for the worst and then make the worst happen, to prove yourself right.

REReader said...

I know just what you mean, unfortunately. Which is why I now make a point of preparing for the best as well! :) (And making plans for everything in between, just so I can then leave it all alone.) Of course, my t'ai chi/meditation teachers are all about not planning or preparing but staying in the moment, but I can't quite do that. Yet!

(It's all just mind games in a way, everyone has to find what works for themselves.)

pandabob said...

I'm glad you have John and the boys Greg, you deserve more good things in your life :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

...just been hit by hurricane Sherlock...

REReader said...

:)

I guess you had a good evening, too, Sherlock?

Greg Lestrade said...

He's put ALL his bike gear on and is now sitting on the back of my bike telling his Mum how it all works, all muffled from within his helmet (she refused the offer of mine or John's, to take advantage of the bluetooth...)

John gave me a very pointed look as I'm out here with bare feet and he KNOWS who I'll be warming them up on...

John H. D. Watson said...

It's too cold to be walking around outside barefoot!

Greg Lestrade said...

You always say they can't get any colder!

Sherlock told his mum my bike is better than yours :P

John H. D. Watson said...

He only says that because you go faster than I do :P

That's not the point!

Greg Lestrade said...

Think he actually said it because he couldn't possibly say that Mycroft got to ride the better bike and he didn't! (Nevertheless, he's correct, whatever his reasons...)

We're coming back in. He's exhausted all his bike-related subjects. And I've hinted it's bedtime...although he's horribly wide awake.

REReader said...

:D

I hope Mrs H was suitably impressed. :)

John H. D. Watson said...

And L has just put his ice cold hand on the back of my neck

Greg Lestrade said...

fairly sure the back of your neck threw itself at my hand...

Mrs H...made me - us - an offer. She said she was asking me first because I was likely to 'be more awkward about it'. Am I awkward?

John H. D. Watson said...

Of the two of us, I would've said I'm definitely more awkward about most things. What was it?

Sherlock said...

I asked Lestrade and he said that he asked his phone when he went to see his Mum and it told him to ask Sally to do it, but that's silly because Sally doesn't even know his Mum and wasn't there and then it told him to drink more coffee and handcuff first, ask questions later.

I think all he did was drink more coffee. Mummy said she hoped he didn't put his Mum in handcuffs because it would be a bad example.

Greg Lestrade said...

She offered us a night in The Savoy - or hotel of our choosing - for our wedding night, as her gift to us.

She said it was one night we should be guaranteed not to have to lift a finger. And then she winked outrageously and said she was sure we'd have other things lifting...

Greg Lestrade said...

Sherlock, your Mum knows I'm never a bad example... ;)

Now, c'mon, bed. You can read or something.

John H. D. Watson said...

...Mrs Holmes said that?

I can almost guarantee I would've been awkward. How were you?

pandabob said...

that's one canny app Sherlock ;-)

And that's a lovely thing for Mrs H to offer you two. She really does appreciate how lucky she is that her boys have you both :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

She said that.

I was...would you believe gracious?...it probably came out a awkward. I don't know, I mumbled something about her not having to, and we really couldn't accept, and...well, she said 'Nonsense' in exactly that way Mycroft does.

But I assume you were going to ask for the night off...so, well, I think we might be getting a night in a posh hotel.

Sherlock said...

Oliver at school said his Dad got married to someone who wasn't his Mummy and then they went on holiday and he wasn't allowed to go! You can't go on holiday without me and Mycroft you won't, will you? Oliver said it was a thing people do when they get married and he said his Dad went to the moon for his holiday but that's not true at all.

REReader said...

What a lovely and appropriate gift!

Sherlock, that really is the best app ever--maybe especially when it's silly!

REReader said...

Sherlock, when people go on holiday right after they get married, it's called a honeymoon trip, so I think Oliver didn't understand that bit right. And some people do go on a honeymoon trip and some don't. Usually when they do they go just the two of them. Although, I have friends who married people who had children, and a few if them made it a trip for the whole family--it depends what they decide.

John H. D. Watson said...

L - I was, indeed, going to ask for the night off, yeah. At least.

Greg Lestrade said...

:) Good. I don't intend to be in any sort of shape to be leapt upon by Sherlock at 5am the next morning...

As for...the offer. It's up to you, she's your boss.

John H. D. Watson said...

I don't have any particular objection to a night in a nice hotel... I sort of thought we might go somewhere though, if we could work it out.

Anon Without A Name said...

Aww, that's lovely of Mrs H. And really quite funny as well :-)

I can't imagine why she thought either of you would be awkward about it :-p

Greg Lestrade said...

Somewhere...after? I mean, like, a honeymoon?

John H. D. Watson said...

Yeah, if that's all right? With work and Sherlock and everything, I know it might not be possible, but...I was just thinking about it.

Greg Lestrade said...

Of course it's alright! I was just...checking.

I don't think going somewhere nice (and close!) on the wedding night means we can't get away somewhere. We don't want to spend half our wedding day travelling somewhere, do we? We can get away the next day - or whenever works out - for more of a holiday.

Any idea where?

John H. D. Watson said...

Yeah...sort of... How would you feel about it being a surprise?

Greg Lestrade said...

I'd...feel surprised?

I think, from you, I can cope with a surprise, yeah.

...I can hear Sherlock singing. How long before we tell him to settle down?

John H. D. Watson said...

You can think about it. I mean...we've got a while yet. And it's fine if you'd rather know, I just thought it might be...I don't know. Something.

...Until one of us is forced to get up for some other reason?

Greg Lestrade said...

...well, I need a piss and a painkiller, so I'll go.

I'm glad he had such a good time with his mum, it's lovely to see him happy. Just not at 11pm with school tomorrow...

John H. D. Watson said...

Yeah, it is nice.

Greg Lestrade said...

...he said he ate a whole quail. And an ice cream sundae with chocolate brownie in it.

He has promised to read quietly now. And he says our honeymoon would be better if he came on it with us.

John H. D. Watson said...

That...explains a lot.

Greg Lestrade said...

Yeah. And he still moaned he could smell fish and chips and why couldn't he have some... he has hollow legs! I hope he's not a little horror for you in the morning.

John H. D. Watson said...

I'm sure he'll be fine.

...I'm sure I'll be able to cope with it, at least.

Greg Lestrade said...

I have no doubts about your ability to cope.

Want to cope with my cold feet in bed?

John H. D. Watson said...

Yeah, all right.

Greg Lestrade said...

you sound so eager ;)

John H. D. Watson said...

Might have to arm myself with a hot water bottle...

Greg Lestrade said...

Don't worry, you get to pick and choose which of my body parts come near you. You don't want cold feet? They stay away.

John H. D. Watson said...

I want all of your body parts.

There was no way to make that sound not odd. I tried several out in my head.

Greg Lestrade said...

I want all of yours, too.

You need to fight Sherlock for rights over my brain though. He's got a jar with my name on it ;)

C'mon, before I'm so tired I stick my toothbrush in my ear.

Greg Lestrade said...

Ugh. Too early.

REReader said...

*checks timestamp* O_O

Much. Definitely!

Greg Lestrade said...

And pissing down with rain.

Sherlock seemed fairly cheery. Think he'll be tired later though.

REReader said...

I hope you don't get drenched--or at least can dry out thoroughly and don't have to go out in the rain for any length of time.

And it's lovely that spending an evening with his mum made Sherlock so happy. :)

pandabob said...

I'm glad Sherlock was ok this morning, maybe he'll catch up on his sleep over the weekend and give someone a lie in (I know its unlikely but its a hope ;-) )

Is work in or out of the rain today? either way good luck with it.

Greg Lestrade said...

In and out, but it stopped raining :)

Sherlock also adamant that our honeymoon would be better if he came. I explained it would be all the sloppy lovey kissy stuff he hates, but no luck convincing him yet.

REReader said...

Is it not wanting to miss any fun things, or wanting to be sure you come back promptly? :)

(You know, Sherlock, that would be a very special wedding present that no one else could give them--sending John and Lestrade off on their honeymoon trip with good grace. Of course, it would be hard, but that's what would make it so special.)

pandabob said...

I'm glad its stopped raining if you're having to be out in it :-)

Do you think Sherlock might be persuaded out of going on your honeymoon with you if you let him and Mycroft plan a familymoon for a few weeks after? a friends of mine got married and went away for a few days with her new husband and then a few weeks later, when it fit with school holidays, they all went away together to celebrate familyness of it. I know your situation with the boys is different that lone parents getting married again and including the kids but its just an idea :-)

Anonymous said...

I think that's a lovely idea, Anonybob! That way everyone gets to celebrate and have time together.

L, I hope your day is going all right.

John, I hope hurricane Sherlock wasn't too much a force of nature this morning. What days do you have Krav Maga?

Take care, everyone.

Greg Lestrade said...

I think he genuinely believes we'd have more fun if he came :)

REReader said...

Awww. :)

(And by his definition of what's fun, he may be right... ;D)

John H. D. Watson said...

Pip - they offer the beginning classes four days a week, and I try to go for two, usually Tuesday and Thursday. Sherlock wasn't bad. He told me about all the places all four of us should go on our honeymoon...

Greg Lestrade said...

I shall be checking with him that your surprise trip wasn't really all his hard work and planning :)

John H. D. Watson said...

If we end up actually on the moon, you'll know it was his idea.

Greg Lestrade said...

Some things I'm planning might be rather complex in zero gravity...

John H. D. Watson said...

I'm sure artificial gravity can be arranged in our moon hotel.

Anonymous said...

I believe velcro is the answer apparently, but not if they use an oxygen rich atmosphere

Greg Lestrade said...

Excellent. The journey, though... Won't be able to keep my hands off you for that long.

Maybe we can divert his energy to planning a 'honeymoon' for all of us, like AnonyBob said.

Sherlock said...

Why can't you use velcro in an oxygen rich atmosphere?

REReader said...

Come to think of it...it's been, what? 45 years since we landed a man on the moon? We were definitely supposed to have moon vacations by now. Also jet packs! Where's my jet pack? I feel so cheated!

(Velcro is quite flammable in a high-pressure, high oxyen environment, Sherlock. It sticks in my head as something that came up in investigation into the Apollo 1 fire.)

Anonymous said...

As REReader said it is very flammable and was indeed part of the problem with the fire on Apollo One that killed three astronauts (Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee and Ed White). At that point they used close to 100% pressurised Oxygen as the atmosphere on the ship and the combination of the flammable materials (not just velcro, other things as well), some electrical faults and the oxygen caused a fire. The astronauts were killed by toxic fumes.

That said they still use velcro, just less of it and they don't use a 100% oxygen atmosphere any more as far as I know.

Greg Lestrade said...

John is enough risk of spontaneous combustion, ta

John H. D. Watson said...

Maybe if we limit his choices a bit, yeah.

Right, no Velcro.

Greg Lestrade said...

Velcro sounds uncomfortable anyway.

Want anything special for dinner, boys? Got any plans for our weekend?

Sherlock said...

Can we make mango eggs pleaseeeeee?

Greg Lestrade said...

We need to order things from the internet for that, kiddo.

I was thinking of cod wrapped in pancetta? With some greens?

And then we can order the stuff to make mango eggs and make them soon, okay?

How about we make some of these...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wKg40PXkVHQ/UONC1L8wHzI/AAAAAAAADD8/cyM7m1sjPzg/s1600/macaroons.jpg

Small Hobbit said...

Those macaroons are .... words fail me.

Sherlock friendly might be the best description?

REReader said...

They look awfully me-friendly to me, SH! Mmmmmm... :)

(And Blogger is refusing to take comments from Safari. :?)

Greg Lestrade said...

They're dead easy to make, and he can do them whatever colour takes his fancy. If he's not sulking too much about mango eggs...

Anonymous said...

blogger is fine from Safari if this comment goes through for me

REReader said...

(Thanks, Anon--but it wasn't working AT ALL, kept deleting the commnets, until I logged out of and then back into Blogger. Which is even weirder because did the same thing when I tried posting anonymously. *sigh*)

Those macaroons look very yummy--do you have a recipe you could share, please, L? :)

Sherlock said...

Can we put glitter on them?

John H. D. Watson said...

The void sounds delicious. Sherlock also wants glitter on that but I've said no.

John H. D. Watson said...

...Cod. Not void.

Greg Lestrade said...

Glitter on macaroons - yes. And we can make them different flavours and colours, too.

I will post a recipe.

REReader said...

Thank you! :)

Kestrel337 said...

Well, I WAS craving enchiladas. Now I want whatever you call that fish dish.

Neither appear to be in my future.

Greg Lestrade said...

Sorry about that, Kestrel!

Danger, what do you think of this:
http://www.titaniumera.com/titanium-rings/detail?cid=622&pid=963

John H. D. Watson said...

I like it. Very nice, and simple.

Greg Lestrade said...

Like me then ;)

Sherlock said...

Why do you get rings? Can I have one?

John H. D. Watson said...

Silvery like you... and increasingly like me.

They're wedding rings, Sherlock. You get them when you get married. Well, not everyone does, but a lot of people do.

Greg Lestrade said...

It's hard to get rings when you're still growing, Sherlock.

And, for me, it's to show other people that John and I have made a commitment to each other. Obviously other people won't know it's John exactly, unless we're together, but they'll still know that there's someone I've promised to be with, and be faithful to, and who I love.

REReader said...

I was taught that it's wedding rings (instead of some other piece of jewelry) because, being circles, they have no end, and so symbolize love and commitment.

John H. D. Watson said...

That's a much better answer than mine. :)

Sherlock said...

But then you wore your other one even when you definitely didn't want John to know you were with anyone because you wanted to do kissing with him.

Greg Lestrade said...

Yeah...well, that was because I wasn't feeling too good about myself, and I wanted people to think someone loved me, so I kept it a secret that they didn't. And it was a silly thing to do, and I wish I hadn't.

pandabob said...

Oh Greg, I'm so glad you've come so far since then. You're a special bloke and you deserve special people who love you :-)

Sherlock said...

John is a MILLION times better so you should get a big ring with his name on it and tell people.

Greg Lestrade said...

He certainly is, and I will tell people, don't worry.

AnonyBob - thanks. You too.

Although I'd never have come this far without John being so completely amazing and never giving up on me, and putting up with all sorts of ridiculous insecurities I've had.

pandabob said...

That would be why he deserves you Greg and all the lovely things you've done for John are the reasons you deserve him :-)

I hope Sherlock went to bed ok :-)

John H. D. Watson said...

L - you've done the same for me, you know.

Greg Lestrade said...

I...yeah, I hope I have, and will continue to.

AnonyBob - Think Sherlock is pretty tired tonight, he went off to bed without any major protests or delaying tactics.

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