this week, next week

This week was my last physio appointment. At least, it was my last as long as I'm 'a good little doctor' as she put it, and do my exercises properly. Otherwise she's threatened to haul me back in by my ear for another 5 - 10 weeks of hell.

It's helped. I've got a better range of motion than I had, more strength, far more ability to hold heavy weights directly out in front of me whilst wanting to die. All to the good, considering Sherlock, who is a weight growing daily heavier and taller and one that cannot be convinced not to jump on me at unexpected times. Not that I've really tried. I'll probably be sad when he grows out of it. Although I wouldn't mind if he limited it to after 8am.

Next week...L has something planned for Monday, and Sherlock has plans to take Mrs Hudson out somewhere. I'll be fascinated to find out where he takes her. He says he's going to clean the kitchen floor to earn money for it, and he's got to wash L's bike as well.

Thursday is Mycroft's birthday, and he's off school Friday to Sunday. I'm going to see about fetching him after classes are over on Thursday so we can all have dinner together...and then on Friday we're off to see Nicky and her family, and Rachel. It's not exactly last year's stargazing extravaganza, but Mycroft's happy with it. It'll be nice for him and Carla to see each other again, and his mum will be with us Thursday evening.

DW linked to this leadership reaction course in the comments of L's post. It sounds like a lot of fun, but even better would be to watch Sherlock's class doing it. I can't decide if they'd be brilliant at it or just ignore the instructions entirely and jump in the water. Either way, I'm pretty sure it would be entertaining. 

removable teeth

Hello, this is Mycroft.

John and I went to this museum of surgery today. They have an operating theatre from the 1800s, with tiered standing room all around it so students could come and watch the operations. We came up this spiral staircase:

badgers

Because I thought it should be collected somewhere... 

Badger Tales

by Desert Wanderer, A from NW, and ReReader
(Lightly edited to make the bits go together more smoothly.)

*

Once upon a time, in a garden far, far away (like, in Ipswich or something) lived two badgers, named George and Jack. They met each other over the scene of a honey pot theft that left another badger badly bitten. Of course, being our heroes, the badgers recovered the honey pot and gave the thief a good what-for.

During the scuffle, George had broken a claw and was very put upon. "Alas and woe betide me," he cried. "How ever am I to get yummy grubs and mealworms to eat without my claw?!"

Jack smirked at his funny language, but still felt bad for him. "Alas and woebetide?! Have no fear! I can fix a claw, for, before I became a crime-fighting badger, I was the greatest pawicurist in the whole county."

resolution

Well, let's see. Last year, I said I would...

1. Learn to cook one thing so Mrs Hudson can have a night off once in a while
2. Keep anyone I care for from getting kidnapped
3. Live

Three for three, not bad. Possibly the trick is to aim low. Nevertheless...

1. Run more (more than currently would not be difficult)

2. Keep everyone I love out of hospital (doesn't seem like it should be difficult, right?)

3. Get a life

Working at the surgery's a decent start, but I can do more. Need to do more, I think. Also, more physio for my shoulder. I stopped before I should've when I got out of hospital, which was stupid. Never got back to it, and it's good enough most of the time, but could be better. 

I was going to do a sort of summary of the year in list form, but looking back over all the entries... Maybe tomorrow, after I've had more sleep. 

Happy new year, everyone. I hope it brings you everything you want, or at least everything you need. 

in other news

At some point, someone asked to see our bookshelves. I suspect RR, but I didn't write it down, sorry. This is from Mycroft's room, though the Smyth Grammar is now at school with him. He says to tell you he has the Great Scott with him as well. I think it's some sort of classics joke.

In other news, I had a job interview this morning at a local surgery. It confirmed what you all already knew and what I suppose I knew as well - my schedule really doesn't allow for another job, even with all the free time I have in the day.

The woman who interviewed me - Sarah - was very nice about it, but in the end there are too many variables I can't work around. So, nothing regular, but she is having me in two days next week when one of her other doctors is off, so that's something. She says if it works out (by which I suppose she means I do a decent job and don't fall asleep at my desk?) it might be a semi-regular thing when she needs someone to fill in.

Not bad. 

open

Nameless wanted to know: What impact do you think that blogging so openly about your life has had on you?

Blogging about what we do and where we go and so on...oddly, I don't think it's had much effect at all. Occasionally someone will mention the blog, and I think it's getting slightly wider play now than it used to, but I think L probably gets more fallout from it than I do. 

Apart from that, I'm not really sure how open I've been, to be honest. I mean, I do try, and I think I'm better than I used to be, but on the whole, this expressing one's emotions business...I'm not at all good at it. And I try a lot harder with L in person than I do on here. 

Even so, I think it's been good for me. It's certainly been easier than I expected, in a lot of ways. You hear a lot about the way people behave online and I thought I'd get a lot more criticism from people than I have. Instead, nearly every person who's commented here has been more kind and understanding than I had any reason to expect. Thank you. It makes things easier, a bit, especially this month when some of these entries have felt like slowly pulling out my own intestines. (No one should feel guilty about that, by the way. It's my own choice to do them.)

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that  I think it's good practice for being more open with L and the boys, and I really need the practice. It wasn't something I thought of as at all important up to now. Which, looking back on my life, explains a lot. 

as requested

One year today, I let Dr E bully me into starting this blog, mainly because it was easier than doing anything else she wanted me to do, like discuss my feelings or get on with my life.

...It seems to have worked unexpectedly well. Good job, Dr E. 

another guest post

Hello. This is Mycroft. I can't sleep, and I don't want to wake anyone up, so I thought I'd talk to the internet. Why not? Everyone else is doing it.

I wanted to say something anyway. Thank you. You've all been really kind to me, and generous in speaking about your own experiences at school, and I haven't replied, mostly. Because I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say a lot of the time.

It helps, to hear so many people agree that things will improve eventually, even if I'm not sure I believe it.

It's five now. Sherlock will probably wake up soon, so I'm not sure there's any point in trying to go back to sleep. We're going to go to the motorcycle shop today, where John got his protective clothing, so that I can get some too. I didn't think I'd ever ride a motorcycle in my life, so I suppose some things can change. I'm going to go downstairs now and make tea and wait for everyone else to wake up.


I probably won't know what to say to the responses to this post either. But anyway, thank you.

back to the polls

Right, I still have nothing to say, really, but I'm tired of that last post staring at me from the top of the list.

91 people voted for the Oxford comma. 94 voted again. All of you who voted against, why? It isn't always necessary, but I can't think of an instance where it's actively detrimental to the sentence, so why not just stick it in there? You must have your reasons, so please explain.

Sad roses, abandoned in the park.

the most trouble

Hi. Sorry about the lack of updating. I'm afraid my brain isn't working properly the past...oh, week or so. As Lestrade has said, Sherlock's been...difficult. I think it's good though. A bit. In a way. At least he feels secure enough to act like a complete brat? And it's not all the time. He was very sweet on the way to school this morning, for no reason I could see. Held my hand and talked about learning to ride a bike in the summer and reminded me when we got to school that he's "the most trouble, right? I am, right?" Heh. I think he's proud of it. 

Anyhow, in poll news, Three Men in a Boa won by a landslide. The new one is up. Sherlock's said he'll do cover art for the one that eventually wins... "If it's a good one and if I feel like it. Maybe." 

more interesting with the final letter knocked off

Some of the book titles people came up with in the comments were so good I thought I'd put them in the poll. There's fifteen (if you did more than one I picked the one I liked best - I know, it's terribly objective and scientific), so I'll do them in three sets of five, and then I suppose the final three to find the ultimate winner. Maybe there could be a prize? I don't know what though. Let me know if you've got any ideas.

I hardly know how to talk about this weekend. Lestrade's been more amazing than usual. He doesn't seem to even realize that most people wouldn't have had that talk with Sherlock, that most people would just about tolerate the boys, if that, much less tell them stories and arrange fake crime scenes for them and try to help them grow up. I'm not sure he even sees there's anything for me to thank him for, and perhaps it's silly to thank him for being who he is, but I am incredibly thankful for that nevertheless.

going very fast

I still find it hard to believe they just let us stroll off with one of their very shiny motorcycles yesterday, given the slightly mad glint in Lestrade's eye. Maybe it's just that they don't know him as well as I do. Perhaps, to them, he looked like a sober and respectable D.I., whereas, to me, he looked ready to run off with the thing to Argentina and live in sin with it.

pizza wins

A short post as we're leaving early for Borough Market so we're not left picking through the dregs. I thought Lestrade might want to reschedule after yesterday, but he wouldn't hear of it. I suppose it's as well to have a distraction. He would like you all (and the rest of the world) to know that he's "fine, absolutely fine, thank you."

Pizza and Chinese tied for first place in the poll. My own preference, Thai, was in last place. Hm. I note ligature is still lingering last in Lestrade's poll as well, giving me the most unpopular murderous dinner date combo possible. Just as well Lestrade doesn't like Thai and I don't (currently) want to strangle anyone. It's clearly out of fashion.

If I've missed anything vital on the new poll, do tell me. I don't think I can actually edit the poll once people have voted, but maybe I can do another later. 

sloths on ice

No, the subject certainly does not refer to Mycroft. He's terrifyingly fast on ice. If he stays with this, I foresee many Thursdays spent silently hoping for minimal wipeouts and no broken bones.

Yesterday, Trista posted this baby sloth photo in the comments. I was up reading comments at 4am, which perhaps explains the little journey my brain took regarding the zoo keeper who clearly smuggled that sloth out of the zoo.

more jokes

I enjoy how all the math ones are also related to baking.

From Book Geek:

Q: What do you get when you cut a jack o'lantern by its diameter?

A: Pumpkin Pi!

From Jessica B.: 

If z is the radius and a is the thickness of the crust, what do you get?

pi*z*z*a

or pi*z^2*a 

Either way, it's tasty!

Also from Jessica B, in the chemistry department:

NaCl/KOH

Lestrade read me this one and wouldn't show me her explanation. It took me about two hours to get it (I was sick, all right?) and then I groaned a lot. Because I am much nicer than he is, her explanation is below the cut.