The Beach or My New Word

I am just back from Lunch on the Beach. It's where I used to go to swim. At the moment I just catch some rays, hoping to be less white.
I people watch a lot. That doesn't mean I perv, but I genuinely watch bodies, expressions, gestures, aspects, styles, stances, and poses of peoples bodies and try to figure it all out. Like why is it always the women with the smallest breasts who go topless, and those who have fake ones.
In all my meandering on that I have coined a word a Mokini. Yes it's a mono kini but I called it a Mokini before you did. A mono kini is basically just the bottom part, as opposed to a one piece, which is a nonkini. Another word coined.
I think I might have got too much sun.
Still I look at water and I wait for my physio to give me the go ahead. I hope I can start swimming again soon.

He is gone for a while and a part of me with him.

Boy who has been with us save the odd weekend since early June and for a good part of May is gone again. Last Friday I had to take him to the dentist. He had been with his Mam for a weekend and I picked him up on a Sunday. On the Thursday I got a text message telling me he had a broken tooth and it was urgent he saw a dentist. It took me a week to get organised. Let me explain. I have no insurance for my Son because I work in Monaco, I dont' have the 'family book' my ex does and so I needed the French social security number. I replied to her text and asked her for it straight away. I got it on the Saturday when we bumped into her by accident in the Supermarket. Yes I am having a bit of bitching session.
Monday I got the name of Dentist off a friend, rang and booked. It was his first visit Friday. He was excited. More so when he entered the waiting room to find the only other person there was a girlfriend who had moved from school. Apparently they had been very close at one point. They spent 20 minutes giggling. Her mother tried to make conversation with me but was obviously uncomfortable. I guess I must be perceived as a bad father somewhere in the community.

Boy had two holes in his teeth. At 8 years of age his mam only gets him to brush his teeth before he goes to bed, so once the dentist was done with it was home for mouth wash and tooth brushing lessons. Eye drops for conjunctivitis and an awful lot of hugs as we were both aware the weekend, the week, the month, the time was nearly up.

Sophie, the mother of one of the boys in his class, bumped into me outside the village school. She asked for my number to invite us to eat. I had known already herself and Thierry were different, she is one of the 3 women in the community who has ventured to have a conversation with me, to break the ice. She is a kind person, perhaps a bit like I would be with a stranger back home.

I gave her my number we exchanged names, I made sure she would ring, but like an idiot I didn't ask for her number. If she doesn't ring I will get her number and invite them the next time I see her.

They are really the only couple that have reached out to us at all. I wonder about village politics of the bourgeois here. I mean it really makes me wonder.

To be honest I don't think many of them talk to me ex either. Given most of them are blow ins I wonder what rocks their boat, what goes on behind their doors. Do they even know I exist when they walk past without saying hello.

One guy has a restaurant, it's nice. We eat their and brings friends when they come to visit. We are known so to speak. Yet when he comes to pick up his child he doesn't say hello. He knows my son, we have talked about the school. He told me everyone knows my son. Is it that out of context for him to say nothing?

All the while I berate myself severly for not being more forward myself. Damn lack of confidence in another language can be very demeaning.

Do I really intimidate all these people? Why is it only certain women, two who incidently look like they could be sisters have spoken to me?

There is nothing as bizzare as people.

I am missing boy an awful lot already.

Quick One

I don't have arthritis or rhumatism. I have a severe groin strain, tendonitis in both heels, buggered disc in my lower back, siatica, torn muscle in my arm,deformed knee cap and a pain in the ass. :-) Other than that I am fine and rehab starts tomorrow.
Have had boy with me for most of the last month and wow it's just so fine. He is turning into a challenging argumentative stubborn lying testing little man. I am trying to deal with it with humour and not put up too much resistance. It's tough to know what is the right thing to do, but I would rather this challenge than not have the opportunity to be with him at all.
The sun is shining, we are in high summer, no fires yet but hotter than usual for this time of year.
Things are moving slowly on all fronts but they are moving. Thank God lover has the patience I don't have for all the paper work.

The Good News

The news, North East West and South, bring me information from the four corners of the compass and you bring me the NEWS, alternatively you me bring me new information, and therefore any number of new things becomes the news.....

I am rambling. My visit to the surgeon was interesting, I tried to teach him how to use his computer, he tried to pull me apart and make me scream. I did once or twice, but not a girl. The screams were more low down Dublin North City, like "Arrrghh HOly Fuck don't do that again or I will burst you! " He did it anyway, probably because he doesn't understand what that means.
We muddled through in French and English, Franglais. My French is good as far as it goes, but more and more often I find myself not able to finish a phrase. I am expressing myself in French in ways I haven't done before. So I come up against a wall when I realise I don't know the verb, or the emotion or the adjective I am looking for.

For the moment I don't need surgery. I am permitted, even advised to SWIM and BIKE ( hey that is two thirds of an Iron Man) but my bike has been nicked so I am miffed. I have a crushed disc that will probably get infiltrated but by what or who I don't know. I have severe tendonitis in my ankles, both of them, I have a number of muscular issues in the back due to compensating. The knees are fine, just a deformation of the patella, ( his words not mine, I felt like saying 'hey bucko that's most sore place I have and you tell me I am fine, maybe I should explain burst to you a bit more finely)...

He is worried about the tops of my femurs apparently I have some problem there that needs to be fixed. More scans, more radios, more expense. If I was in Ireland this would cost me thousands, it will finish at a few hundred bucks I reckon. But I will be fit at the end. This guy seems to know his stuff.

Last week I had my brother, nephew and sister in Law from Farmington Maine here. It was fun. Boy was here all week but wow is he turning into a changeling. Contradicting everything, grumpy, not eating, spots starting already on his face.....at 8....yuck it's going to be tough for him.

We worked our way through it, if I stand back I know a lot of it is excitement at being around us for long, and tiredness from being up so late. He is a trooper. This morning his school bag was 8.5Kg, I had to aruge long and hard to make him leave some stuff at home. When I opened the bag I realise no one had checked it for a few weeks. Okay my bad for the 4 or 5 days he was here, but really. I had to wash it. Picture it, your dad naked at the sink scrubbing your bag, your step mam putting on her make up, dad going crazy cause he is asleep hungry and naked and wants to get dressed and we should have left the house 10 minutes ago....boy is barefoot and not eating breakfeast.....arrrrgh what a mess but what fun.......no really, you have to laugh if not you have to cry.

Saturday morning we signed up to buy an appartement. September 1st is D day. It's slightly bigger than where we are, more central ( bad point) not as nice an area ( bad point) closer to work ( good point) higher and brighter( good point) not as good a view ( bad point) parking private but not covered ( good and bad), it will ours( worth about 50 good points).........and so on and so on. I am getting a bit anxious because it will be a disaster zone when my 80 year old parents arrive at the end of September.

So back to swimming on Thursday. and then to find a cheap bike somewhere :-) ....

It's hit 30-34 C the last few days. If you don't know what that is google it. I love it but it is way too hot.