Well, Saturday saw an improvement in Karen’s mental state – not much, but enough to indicate that the holiday would definately improve her wellbeing even further.

We had decided to go for a walk on Saturday and took both dogs for a surprise mid-afternoon walk. Thankfully, I took the brolly as it absolutely bucketed down. We only got as far as Tommy and Eileen’s. They are kindly looking after the house in our absence.

The night was full with us enjoying the “How do you solve a problem like Maria ?” and “Pop Idol” programmes

Sunday (day of the flight) – things picked up. Karen was full of smiles when we met up with the family at the airport. This is the first trip we hadn’t taken the wheelchair on. Mostly, because of the extra security measures and the fact it would be a lot more troublesome. So, Karen ended up walking

• from the car to the airport
• all around the airport
• all the way to the plane
• all the way from the plane to the car (in Alicante)
• all around Carrefour (only shopping centre open on a Sunday !) etc etc…..

Why do I describe all this ? Because she is paying the price for it now !!!! She has been in a LOT of pain since Sunday night. Her right hip seems to be the culprit – it’s not taking the load of all the walking.

Within an hour of arriving at the villa, everyone bar Karen was in the pool. The kids were in heaven (and the adults to be fair). Karen wasn’t feeling well enough to make the big step, but she wasn’t overly perturbed. For our first night, we decided to go to a restaurant within walking distance. But, even this walk (400 yards) was too much for Karen. Karen and I took the car.
Day One

We purposefully had an easier day for our first day today. We stayed at the villa all day and the kids (and adults bar Karen) spent the day in and around the pool. Karen had a great day as far as fun is concerned and when all the kids were getting ready for tea, Karen and I went in the pool together. It was 7pm at night and still warm. (That’s warm spelt C-O-O-L). She was hoping it would ease her pain, but alas it didn’t. She can’t swim now, and so we ended up going round the pool with me carrying her as she did her hydro exercises (big strides, cycling etc..).

It was enough to cool her down and I think she enjoyed the “David and Karen” time.

The whole day was a fun one and enjoyed by all – despite Karen’s pain. While I remember, we had started to knock Karen’s pain patches down and she went a lot of last week on 100ug Fentanyl (morphine). The pain was already getting to her before Saturday of last week, so thankfully (!) we went back to 125ug.

Back to the holiday, we got a takeaway and ate it back at the villa tonight. Fish and Chips for half of us and Chinese for the other half. It went down very well. kp didn’t want anything   But, I bought her a bag of chips and she scoffed the lot.

Karen and I are staying in a hotel to leave space for all the family. Apparently last night, the kids were overexcited and very hard to get to sleep. So, one by one, they had to retire at different times. Louisa (2) was out like a light. Ethan (8) followed 15 minutes later and was also out for the count in no time. Before Abby went to sleep, we started playing Boy’s Name, Girl’s Name, Country, Colour, Food. I’d never heard of it. But it involves picking a letter and then frantically writing down a boy’s name with that letter etc….

Well, Marie slaughtered us all. And we completely forgot about Abby’s (9) bedtime. She ended up going about an hour later, with the big threat hanging over that if she told Ethan that she was up so late, she would go to bed early tomorrow. I doubt very much she will be able to keep that secret !

Karen didn’t join in the game. Karen would nornally be the first person to join in any game. She is known for the volumes she reaches when involved in any form of tournament !!! I think she was concerned that she wouldn’t be able to play it. I know it sounds strange, but her mind isn’t as sharp as it used to be, although I think she would have been ok if she had given it a try. She still enjoyed watching the rest of us and helping Abby out.

So a lovely start to the holiday ! Since I have been back to work for nearly 2 weeks, I have forgotten all my blogging skills and have only took 1 photo so far   Unfortunately, it’s not of Karen, but it is such a nice one of Freddy and Michelle, that I have posted it anyway !