Norman Ralph

Having arrived back from Sunrise on Monday, I had a day or so to recover before going to meet Liz in Lincoln and then us driving across to Kirkham to visit my mother, the first time that Liz and her will meet. This is quite a scary prospect as I have not introduced my mum to any of my girlfriends since Becky (not that I have had any serious ones, but I introduced Becky to my mum over eight years ago) so I was a bit apprehensive and Liz was actually scared.

Liz was supposed to be working until 9pm on Wednesday, so I had planned to head over about 7ish to avoid the worse of the traffic and take my time, before heading the 200 miles home. In the end Liz managed to wangle her shifts around so that she finished at 4 instead. This meant I could drive over during the afternoon grab some food with liz’s grandparents then amble back to Kirkham, getting in for 9ish rather than after midnight!

On arrival in Kirkham I introduced my mum to Liz and we sat down and had a cup of tea. Liz was really shy and didn’t really speak much which was totally understandable. Mum was really nice to Liz too, not really going OTT, which was one of my worst fears. We ended up crashing fairly early as I had driven 300 miles, Liz had been at work since 7am and my mum had had a long day too. Mum had put us in separate rooms, Liz in mine and me in my borther’s room. When I had been arranging the weekend with my mum we had never really discussed sleeping arrangements – just a difficult subject to broach really – but I wasn’t going to push the issue anyway. For as long as I can remember my mother has had a fairly static policy on the subject and I decided that this wasn’t the time to circumvent it.

Thursday was a really nice day, didn’t really do that much – got up, had lunch, went to pub to watch the cricket then headed out to dinner with my mum. We ended up at an “eat as much as you like” Chinese restaurant in Preston, which I really like as they do unlimited Peking duck and BBQ spare ribs to die for! Liz was a bit overwhelmed with the experience I think, she isn’t a great eater at the best of times, especially when she is a little nervous or self-conscious.

On our return from the restaurant we sat down and watched a film, Jack and Sarah, which is a really nice couple film. Unfortunately I had developed a really bad headache so had to go to bed fairly early again. Liz was amazing and looked after me and basically made me feel better. She is good like that.

Friday was a busy day. We headed over to St. Anne’s to visit Lindsey who has recently given birth to a little girl. I am not usually a baby person but when I was sat there with Lucinda Faith in my arms I could actually see myself with a family one day. That was a mild reaction compared to Liz’s. I think she actually considered getting pregnant there and then!

We left Lindsey’s after an hour or so and headed to Freeport in Fleetwood as I needed some bits and bats and I wanted to drive the length of the Fylde Coast from St. Anne’s to Fleetwood to show Liz Blackpool and my old haunts. I am not sure she was overly excited about the whole thing, but at least she has an idea of my past now.

I cooked dinner on Friday and then my mum sat Liz down and spent the evening (over four hours) showing her photographs of me, David and a few other things – ranging from baby photos to holiday snaps to school shots. I think even my mum got bored by the end!

Liz and I headed back to Leeds on Saturday morning as it was Kirkham Club Day so had to move my car before 9am. We drove back along the A59 as we were not in a rush, we had nothing to do until kieran’s BBQ at 3pm.

I think it was an amazingly successful few days. I think my mum and Liz get on quite well and I really hope they approve of each other. It was nice actually spending time with Liz in a domestic setting too. As much as I love my house in Leeds it isn’t very homely, or private!

My blogging has been a little sporadic recently, not just that, but it has also been a little disjointed. I apologise for this but I have good reason. Things have been going on that couldn’t be openly blogged about and I have been a very busy chap indeed with one thing and another.

Firstly, it is official (because Facebook says so) that Liz and I are going out. We have been for a few days now but unfortunately circumstances dictated a certain amount of discretion. people needed telling in the right order. The right people know, so now the world can know.

There is a story to be told about how this happened and came about but it is not to be shared here, memories are still too fresh and people involved do not deserve to be hurt. Today is the beginning of something beautiful.

I took liz home on Sunday and met her parents and brother. We also ended up meeting Ed and heading to the pub. It is quite a nice little pub and you cannot go wrong with 40p games of pool! Had a cup of tea with Liz then headed home. I hate leaving her.

Monday saw me start fulfilling my duties as A-Soc secretary and also meant getting fed by Sarann. Sarann is an excellent cook and made a delicous sausage casserole followed by rice pudding. The pub followed, which wasn’t the best experience all round. A few demons surfaced and they took some sorting out, I ended up crashing at B’s.

Met MC and went to the cricket this morning, watched the Second XI game. I left about 2pm and headed to uni for a faith and cultural assembly meeting – which was postponed without notice (well everyone but me and Chris got notice). We then had an A-Soc committee meeting followed by a general meeting, Was quite a good meeting and we got lots sorted out. Just need to write the minutes up now…..

Liverpool beat Chelsea!

I had nothing formal on yesterday, a few bits and bats that needed sorting out but nothing pressing and essential. I like these kind of days, they can turn out quite well sometimes. It did!

I was woken up with a message from Chris, suggesting The Library for lunch. Not our usual haunt, but I quite like it in there. With two hours to kill I set about sorting out some admin. Got some emails sent off, confirmed a few bits and sorted out about a weeks worth of post.

Midday rolled round so I headed down to the pub where Chris and I were joined by Sarann and Michelle. Was quite a chilled lunch, although I was dismayed that they are changing their menu – seems to be a trend amongst food places in Leeds. They are changing their burgers and adding more variety apparently.

Following lunch, I headed over to Essentials to get the paper and then headed down to the cricket. I am a season ticket holder at Yorkshire County Cricket Club and this was the first home game of the season. Caught most of the first day of Yorks vs Durham – got there just after the lunch interval and stuck around until about 5.30pm. Yorks had a really good day, Durham won the toss and elected to bat and were 117-3 at lunch. They were eventually bowled out for 247. Abdul Rashid taking five wickets in a glorious spell of slow bowling.

The evening was spent watching the second Champions League semi-final in a packed out Old Bar. Chelsea snuck the result, winning 1-0 at home to a really good Joe Cole tap in following a Drogba run. I think Liverpool should edge the game at Anfield, so this could get interesting. I really hope Man Utd hold off AC Milan next Wednesday and we get an all-English final!