Louder

I nearly lost a friend this week.  A very old friend.  Through stubbornness.
We were watching The Celtic being hammered, four goals down at half time.  He likes a debate/argument does my friend and I was happy to oblige, until he hit a nerve.  And I got angry.  And raised my voice. I almost never raise my voice, unless I am singing, and I certainly wasn't singing!  I had to leave the bar and cool down in the back alley. (I had only had two drinks at this stage.)  After about ten minutes I decided to go back inside and watch the second half of the game but as soon as I got to my barstool I just took my coat and left. I was still angry.
Eight days later and still no contact.  It was eating me up,  why hadn't he called to apologise?  Then it hit me, maybe he didn't think he had to. So I bit the bullet, sent him a message saying I was sorry to have raised my voice to him. He replied saying he never meant to 'touch a nerve '.
I'm glad I didn't let a 35 year relationship go down the pan.

Good Week

This week our middle daughter had tests for a cancer scare. We all had a very tense week.  She got positive (GOOD!) results the same day as the tests were done.
Also this week baby daughter learned she got accepted into college,  in Limerick!  Which means she can live at home, and possibly get a part time job to help with expenses.
Good week.

More Dreams

The dreams continue, but these more recent ones are about life, not death. More specifically early life, babies and very young children.  In one dream I tried to adopt a toddler who was a nonverbal autistic kid. I was the bus driver who took him from the orphanage to the crèche every day. The only time he smiled was when he saw me and took my hand. The authorities and red tape blocked my efforts to adopt him.

In another dream I was showing off my grand-nephew Adam to all and sundry.  A very proud uncle I was. Unfortunately Adam doesn't exist,  at least not yet.

It's a holiday weekend here, I'm just in from entertaining at a wedding in the city, 300 guests! Obviously they all loved me.

I've just been to our Jimmy's place but the light is still off, sadly.  I so dearly miss my big brother.

Goodnight to you all my friends,  it's good to know you are all out there watching in. I'm a lucky man to have you all in my life.  I've been even luckier to meet a couple of you in person,  one in particular on many occasions,  and have been glad to have her as a house guest six times now. I do hope life will bless me with many more blogger meetings.

It's the Ma's birthday tomorrow, she would have been 92. I feel her happy presence about me all the time and have only happy memories of her.

XXX

Dreams

So, last night I had this dream. I dreamed the world I lived in, people's brains were still active for ten days after they died. Certain (chosen) people (of which I was one) looked after the deceased for these ten days, washing them, changing their clothes daily, talking to them and holding them until it was time for them to move on to the next phase.
The previous night I dreamed zombies were trying to drag me out of my house throughout the letterbox.
Discuss.

Fire, Death & Cider

My wife's oldest brother, Ger, died this time last year. He had a heart attack and died instantly.  He was a year older than me.
His anniversary mass was held yesterday, I didn't go, I was doing the catering for about thirty people.  Apparently I'm good at it.  But I think I'm just better at catering than being in church.
Turns out it was a rather fun day and not a bit solemn,  and everyone loved my food. Which is always good.

I lit a fire in the pit tonight, played some old style country music and drank cider.

Coffee Mates

I had an errand to do today at one of the banks at the shopping centre.  Afterwards I decided to have a wander around and bumped into my oldest and best pal Jim. He was shopping for a birthday present for his daughter to give her mother, his second ex-wife. He settled on a coffee mug.

He also showed me some beard oil he had just bought which was on sale, so I had to get some too.

We walked about for a while before deciding to go for coffee.
"I think about death every day!" he suddenly said.
"Yep, me too."
The conversation continued, and we ended up laughing so loud it drew the attention of the other customers.
Jim and meself are in contact daily.  If not in person, then with a phone call or by text. But it has been a while since we sat down in a coffee shop for a chat.
After drawing the attention of the other patrons with our loud guffaws we decided to leave. With our matching SALE bags containing our bottles of beard oil.

We drew more attention when we quite casually kissed goodbye.
Yep, we're at that age when we don't give a rat's arse what people think.

I'm drinking bourbon just now, JB will be horrified.

Marty is back.

I know, nobody reads this anymore,  but I'm still here.  I hope to get back to actual writing again,  still love you all.

Facebook Holiday

I deactivated my FB page ten days ago. It was much easier than giving up the ciggies.  But, like giving up the ciggies, I can't honestly say that I'm finished for good.  (As in it took me numerous attempts with the baccie!)
Anyway, I've had texts from FB friends wondering if I'd blocked them. It's not you, it's FB.

Don't Jump Into The First Tattoo When You've Been Drinking