Hooooo boy!!!!

I didn't think I'd be posting again so soon (I usually don't, as you know) but something Jen mentioned yesterday made me rethink. More on that in a moment. Anyhoo, the other Saturday we had our latest board game evening at my neighbours' house and it was really fun. The first game we played was one of Charlie's so he could feel included. We split into two teams and one member of each team had to get his side to guess whatever was written on a card and do this as many times as they could while up against a timer (although Charlie got extra time, of course). Anyway, at one point Charlie ran up to his team and then just stood there completely still. Philippe burst out laughing but since Jen has played this game with him before she was able to guess "a tree" - so maybe he was better at this stuff than we all thought. Mind you I laughed so hard that I leaned back in my chair and nearly went arse over t..t when I realized it was actually a bar stool!!! Julian managed to grab me and I never went all the way over (nor did I hurt myself) but we were all in fits of laughter after that, although for all the wrong reasons!

One of my ex's nieces posted on FB a video of her husband and seven year old son playing ice hockey and I was dead impressed. They live in Pittsburgh and dad is a Penguins fan so I guess it's not so unreasonable to imagine that the little boy would already be playing ice hockey, but wow, colour me impressed. Then again, Charlie is going with the school for another skiing lesson next week (weather permitting) so I guess it's only natural for kids to be somewhat good at local sports. In fact that was how Stan's son, Sam, ended up representing Nigeria in the cross country skiing (he didn't place sadly). He was born in France to a French mother and Nigerian father and grew up here, so yeah, that's how come that young Nigerian man can ski so well!

I was due to look after Charlie again on Wednesday but Jen asked if I could keep Elynn too as she had developed what Jen thought was otitis (again). However the daycare then sent out a message to say that they had several cases of mastoiditis and asked everyone to get their child checked as they would not accept any child where this was confirmed. I'd never heard of it but apparently it is an infection of the large bone behind the ear and can lead to permanent hearing loss and/or meningitis!!!! Wow, no wonder the daycare wanted those children isolated! Anyway Jen got a doctor's appointment the next day and it was confirmed to be just otitis but as she'd had such a bad night the night before I kept her at home anyway. I reckon the antibiotics and pain medication kicked right in because she was as good as gold (they both were) and I'm pleased to say they're both doing okay again now. Jen was explaining to me that Elynn makes certain hand gestures to express herself (so do I sometimes, but usually only when I'm driving) and it turns out that the daycare teach basic sign language to all the kids so that they can express themselves even if they can't yet talk! How brilliant is that!

So I found a bunch of stickers in a draw and we started sticking them all over our faces to send a photo to mom to show that we'd all gone down with strawberry-itis! That was great fun until someone buzzed at the intercom and I took in a package from the mail lady with a couple of strawberry stickers on my forehead (the ones I'd missed when we were taking them all off)! Luckily I had Elynn in my arms so I hope she doesn't think I'm actually insane! On the Wednesdays when I have Charlie, if the weather is good we'll walk down to daycare with the stroller and pick her up early. While it was cold on Wednesday it wasn't wet so I asked Jen who was picking Elynn up today - me or her. She just looked at me like I was mad when she said "nobody, she's sitting right next to you"! Oops, old lady bloopers again!

Anyhoo, the reason I wanted to post again today was because of something that happened after the old fogies spat with Chantal on Tuesday. I didn't mention it yesterday because I thought it was gross but when Jen made her comment I was intrigued. I'm not a very good judge of character (never have been) so here goes. I mentioned that I had been over at the bank when the spat happened and that I'd bumped into Chantal on her way out as I was on my way back. After I found out what happened I did comment to the others that I bet Luis (her Portuguese partner) was gonna get it in the neck when she got home (he hadn't been at club that day). Either way, she looked perfectly fine and I just waved to her. Not long after I'd heard about all the drama one of the ladies asked for the key to the ladies' bathroom and then came back with a disgusted look on her face. Apparently someone had pooped in one of the stalls and smeared it all over the place! Turns out that Chantal had said she had a bad stomach and was the last person to have used the bathroom key. My first reaction was that she hadn't looked at all unwell when I crossed paths with her and in any case, I don't care how ill you are (or if it's your child) you always make an attempt, at least, to clean up after yourself - but she hadn't done this! She's not one of the older ladies either (she's probably around 60) and would appear to be in good health. I happened to mention the spat and the filthy bathroom to Jen yesterday and without batting an eyelid she said "that was your payback for the fight"! Now Jen used to be a psychiatric nurse, something she intitially loved but ended up hating, what with all the physical abuse the nurses endure and finally quit after covid. Hearing her say that made it all seem so obvious but of course that was never on my radar. If Jen is right, I think Luis is in much more trouble than anyone would imagine - that woman gives off Kathy Bates vibes in Misery! The only thing I wish I'd asked Jen was did she think Chantal would show up to club next Tuesday or would we never see her again. They're both booked on our day trip to Lyon at the end of the month and, I believe, the trip to Spain in September. Will they show as a couple, will just Luis show up, will he dump her? Hmmm, I'm not a psychiatric nurse so I wouldn't know what to think but boy talk about the drama. Peyton Place had nothing on this!