Freedom!

I can tell you, with the greatest authority, that this week will fly past in a flash. Why? Because today Colin has gone off to London for a week on a job.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my Collypops loads, but I couldn’t wait to get rid of him this morning. Just lately he has been a huge pain to live with, and the thought of a whole week without him is absolutely wonderful. We can eat what we want (he won’t let us have fish when he is here because he doesn’t like the smell …), we can watch what we like on TV (instead of American Chopper, How It’s Made and Mythbusters – all great programmes, but not on the 5th time of watching the same bloody episodes!), and there will be none of his moaning and shouting because one of us breathed slightly too loudly! On the downside, he will no doubt be on the phone to us constantly, but at least he’s not here!

He’s a man, and he’s smelly (as all men are), so my first task tonight when I get home is stripping the bed and putting fresh bedclothes on … so I am guaranteed a whole four nights of clean, fresh smelling bedclothes that stay on the bed all night long with as much room as I like (unless of course Ethan decides to come and snuggle up in bed with me).

What is it about men that they seem unable to grasp the concept of the simplest request? I told him on Saturday that he needed to sort out what clothes he wanted washing, yet it took several more reminders to actually get him to give me his washing, at 9.30 pm last night. Yep, 9.30 pm. Now, my washing machine takes an hour and a half to do a load of washing, and there was a full two loads worth there … so it was 1.00 am by the time I’d done both loads of washing and got them both dry in the tumble dryer. AND I folded them all up and left them in a pile for him on the chair, AND I told him I’d done that … yet he still tipped all my other nicely folded washing out of the basket and threw it everywhere in a search for socks. The git!

I’m not denying that he works long hours (sometimes seven days a week and very often very late nights), but I work hard too, with my job at the hospital, trying to keep on top of the business, looking after the kids and trying to keep the house in some sort of order – but just lately his extremely selfish side has come to the fore. It’s not uncommon for him to expect me to change/cancel MY plans in favour of what he is doing; or he’ll invite his Mum down and then tell me he’s working all weekend so he’s not going to be around; or he’ll make promises about what he’s going to do and then just not do it (prime example – my kitchen, which nearly two years down the line still shows no signs of ever being finished).

Forgive me if I just say – he’s away for a whole week … yyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!