Presents and Broken Bones

Another cold start to the day with ice on the could and the temperatures only just rising above zero all day. It was also a day with a busy start because of yesterday's incident at school and the case of the suspected broken finger. On the bright side the sun was shining and remained that way all day and Lucy was coming.

The day started a bit earlier than normal at seven thirty rather than the normal quarter to eight. The plan was to get Emily to the hospital for her x-ray as early as possible to make sure she missed as little of school as possible. Thankfully Catherine can get herself to school if need be and that is what she did this morning. She even feeds the dog before she leaves and lets him out for a walk before putting him back in his spare basket in t he kitchen. With pack lunch made and Emily's bag packed we headed off for Oakham.

Once at the Rutland Memorial Hospital we managed to secure first place in the queue to see the nurse. It turned it that it wasn't surprising as we were first in the queue when we discovered they didn't open up the minor injuries unit until nine o'clock and we were their forty minutes early. It wasn't to bad waiting, it was just nice to chat without anyone else getting in the way and spend some father and big daughter time together. It also meant there was less chance of being late for picking up Lucy although I had primed her mummy just in case I was late picking her up.

It was rather nice that we did get into see the same nurse we saw the same as we did yesterday evening which gave us that continuity of care that is so often important. With the swelling have gone down overnight she was able to find where the break or strain might be and after getting Emily to practice some finger movements and she decided that an x-ray was needed. So we joined the queue at number two and we didn't wait too long before being seen. Emily wasn't keen to go in on her own into the unknown and thankfully they let me in too. As soon as the pictures were taken and even before they were developed the nurse was there and were back in the consultation room waiting for the results. As it turned out Emily not only had broken her finger not in one place but two.

It was just before ten we headed home with Emily's fingers strapped together to get her some pain relief before heading back to Oakham to pick up Lucy together before we went off to school to drop Emily off. It was just as I got home I got the text from Lucy's mummy that she was poorly too and had been to the Doctors> It seems she has the human form of "Foot and Mouth" which although highly contagious is nothing more a mild harmless virus. Basically I texted her back and asked how stop the infection spreading and said we were running a few minutes late. I gave Emily some pain killers and we set off to get Lucy just after getting the reply.

It was lovely to see Lucy's face when she saw Emily. I guess she wasn't expecting it, although she always asks where they are they are even f they are never there when I pick her up. They both walked hand in hand to the car and I carried Lucy's bits and bobs and listened to them chatting. Soon Lucy was all strapped in her car seat and we were off to drop Emily at school before heading off to get some fuel for the car and do a little shopping. On the way home we headed through Oakham only to get caught at the level crossing and for once I wish we hadn't. It wasn't the place I wanted to be however much Lucy loves the trains.

It was just before eleven when we got home. As always we chatted in the car on the way home with Lucy's telling me all her news and when we got home we got a warm welcome from George. I could tell Lucy wasn't her usual self because even before she got home she was asking if she could watch television. It's not something she really does do until she played for ages and needs a rest. In fact she hardly watches television on the weekdays she is here and if she does it only for a few minutes. For example I was surprised on Tuesday that she watched a bit of a film on the PSP but then she did think it was a game and not a film. It's not something she does here.

At lunchtime we headed out to the shops to go look for presents as well as get some presents. The present we had to get was for Emily's Birthday. The night before we decided it was time she had a new phone although she liked her old little phone. The T-mobile tariff wasn't ideal, it didn't have much memory and she even said herself she didn't like texting on it. So I looked at the Orange copy of the Blackberry the Rio. It has many of the standard features you would expect of the Blackberry as well as the Qwerty keyboard that makes texting far easier for her. As well getting for a phone for Emily I wanted to go to Dunelm Mill to look at possible Christmas presents. Lucy loved looking at the Christmas decorations there and I told her we could put up our Christmas tree soon. While we were out Lucy and myself popped into KFC to get something to eat. She so loved her little box of food I will have to get her a snack box again. It seemed to make her feel so grown up.

We could have spent longer shopping but we had go back to Rutland to go and get Emily from School and go back home for Catherine. There was no way we could keep the fact we had brought a new phone for Emily quite with Lucy in the car and so as soon as we saw her and Lucy done her welcome bit we gave her the phone. To say she was delighted would be an understatement, she just loved and I can see why when I played with it. It had all she wanted from a phone plus a little bit more especially when combined with the free internet it will full fill her needs for years to come. Even if it does lack the 3G connectivity provided by the more expensive Blackberries it is some phone for the money. Putting it in context with the basic BlackBerry Curve 8250 doesn't have 3G connectivity either yet it cost a lot more. In fact you could buy three Orange Rio's for the price of one BlackBerry Curve 8250.

When we got home Lucy went off to find Catherine to play with while Emily settled down to learn her phone. Within minutes she had credit and seconds after that she was on the tariff she wanted to give her free internet access as well as free texts. Hopefully it will save her Mum some money who was having to add credit to her phone every other week. With the deal we got she even has an extra £10 credit to play with in the first month. Just what she needs to learn how it works.

It was while Emily was messing with her phone I noticed that Lucy was starting to flag. It is really not like her start rubbing her eyes and just sitting around at that time of day. It was at this point that I thought something was wrong. When I felt her head she had a temperature and when I asked how she felt it was clear she was far less than one hundred present. So it was out with the Calpol to lower her temperature and get her back on her feet. As always it worked a treat and within half an hour she was her usual self and bouncing around the house just in time for a trip to the chip shop in Cottesmore to pick up some food for dinner.

Lucy loves the chip shop and they seem to be falling love with her. She was just being Lucy and managed to get a free lollipop out of them by just smiling and being good. But who couldn't fall in love with someone so cute. Everyone enjoyed there meal and that is the main thing even if it is more expensive than cooking at home.

After dinner there was a little time to play before it was time for Lucy's bath. I love the way she has so much fun in the bath and it is great to join in and have fun too. I just love the way she likes it to be a family occasion and have Emily and Catherine with there too. After she was dry it was off to bed and after her story I gave her kisses and cuddles from all and off she went to sleep. After I knew she was off and all was well I reported back to her mummy all was well.

Soon the house fell silent when Emily and Catherine joined Lucy in the land of nod. For all the fun of the day and all that went on the time to relax is all nice too, Especially after a busy day like today.