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HAPPY BIRTHDAY YORKIE - 10TH OCT
(here with lil bro Bob)

I've been busy - again. It seems like I always am these days, but this is a good thing!

I am going back to a week ago tonight, when I took Yorkie out for his pre-birthday drinks, it being his birthday on the 10th, and that being his weekend off.

I had texted people (in no order, mark & gemma, matt & lelly, garry & jill, ray & sarah, fran & simon, colin & tara, jen & steff, and asked jill to ask olly, ozz and andy as I didn't have their numbers and yorkie's phone is broken.

Garry & Jill and Colin & Tara were doing family things and couldn't make it, Jen was stuck in Carnforth after a bust up with Steff and couldn't get down, and Matt and Lelly were going to try and make it after Matt's bro's wedding and Fran & Simon were working. I felt like I had let him down... left it too late to invite people (3 days ahead) and that this was going to be the biggest let down the the year.

Need not have worried! OK, so we were in the pub a good hour before anyone else showed up (we did get there early though) but that only meant that Yorkie was well on the way to getting shit faced before anyone else, so that was ok.

We met up on the Bobbin. Ray and Sarah made it in first, I was thrilled to see that Olly, Ozz (and his missus, whoes name I still don't remember) and Andy had made it as I hadn't actully managed to contact them myself (YAY Jill!), and then Mark & Gemma turned up, and finally Matt made it, but Lelly was too shattered after spending time with in the (as good as) in-laws had had stayed in. The pub was also full of Yorkie's passing aquenteses (fellow piss heads and general all round good people) so things got off to a good swing.

Which included,

• Random hugs and kisses of anyone within arms reach
• Throwing of people in the air
• Smashing of at least one pint glass
• Banter about (poor) Gemma
• JAGERMEISTER

Now... this last one is always a bit worrying! Yorkie generally sticks to bitter these days. Old Rosie gives his kidneys jip for days afterwards so he tends not to drink that so much any more (plus, it makes him mad! Not the good kind of mad! Any argument we've ever had post booze, he's been drinking that stuff), although he's been drinking Copper Dragon lately which leaves him all loved up (I like when he drinks that!) and an occasional Woods Rum. But... Jagermeister...

It's becoming a tradition, normally when we're in the Yorky pub towards the end of the night. We all down shots of the stuff, and then Yorkie vanishes into thin air (which leads to things like the whole police van inncedent). But I was sloshed too on GnT and didn't think much of it. All seemed to be going well, and not long after we moved off in drips and drabs to The Pub (formally known as the Castle, then KampUs before that, and the Castle Hotel before that... Now a "biker friendly rock venue". I think I'll stick the Castle).

We all got to nattering and I soon forgot about Waring Bell Number 1 (the Jagermeister), particularly when Andy asked to know about my dubious past (soo many gay ex-boyfriends for such a short life!), and when I got chatting to some guy called Keith about a web site for a band he knows. So I missed Warning Bell Number 2: Yorkie being hungry.

He staggered over to me, "I'm thinking about getting some chips. Do you want some chips?" he asks. Mmm, chips, I thought, nice change from pizza, some chips sloshed in salt and vinager.
"Ooh, I love some chips!" I reply happily. He kisses me head and vanished out into the night.

Some time later we all got kicked out the Castle as it was closing time, and Mark asks, "Where's Yorkie?" to which I reply "he went to get some food..."

Much groanings from the remaining punters... (Mark, Matt, Andy, Ozz, Olly, and Andy's 2 mates) and asking what time he left, where did he go, etc, the answer to all was "i don't know...". Mark finally put his finger on it:

"You let him have Jagermeister and then go wondering off on his own for food? Are you mad? He'll be arrested!"

We did look for him for a bit, but they wanted to carry on drinking, and told me "We're going to Hustle, Yorkie knows we're going. He'll meet us there," looking back, a blatent "get this drunken bint out of the street and lets get a drink!" So I agreed and tagged on. Hustle (regalrdless of what they say in that link there) is a dive. It's just a brightly coloured dive. The floors are sticky and covered in brokemn glass, the heating is always turned up to full, the drinks over priced and the clientel... Not my kind of people. But it was open so we went in. Matt bought me a drink and I had a blurry conversation with Ozz about his missus-with-no-name after Mark insisted I took his chair (Gentleman!) Shortly after Andy came over to tell me he was leaving as Olly had been sick and got himself thrown out, and as Andy was staying at Olly's that night he ought to go to.

I was missing my man, my tummy rumbled, and my glass was empty so I said my good byes and headed out into the world. I made a bee-line for Starvin Marvins in the hope that I might once again find a semi-consious Yorkie along the way. No sign of him, so I ordered a small pizza and got a taxi from the rank round the courner, happy in the assumption that I would find my lost lamb as home in bed - or at least at home in a pile on the bathroom floor.

He wasn't at home either. I panicked! Where the hell was he? Should I call the police or the hospital? Should I go back out looking for him again? Nah.... I'll finish my pizza and go to bed.

So I did, and no more than 5 minutes after I got under the covers he fell through the frint door.

"Where've you been?" I asked, glad to see him, and eyeing him up for hiddden packets of chips
"I dunno..." he mumbled "What time is it?"
"About 3.30... Did you get chips?"
He wandered into the front room and say my discarded pizza box, "Mmm pizza...!"
"It's gone"
"Why?"
"You went for chips"
"Did I" checked his hands "Not got any"

And that was that. back to bed for us.

next day, with a mother of a hang over for us both, my mother came round! I love my mum, and I was still pissed when she arrived so I told her I love her quite a bit. Poor Yorkie had been dragged kicking and grunting from bed and forced to dress and make his way into the living room before Mum arrived. He was now slumped in the crator of the settee which is his place, with his feet up, watching the Disney channel and stayed like that the rest of the day, slipping in and out of sleep and trying to to get sucked in be the girly chat me and mum were sharing.

She'd brought him a birthday present, and a bottle of cider which she had picked up for him on her last holiday. He eyed the cider suspicously and smiled his thanks, delining to open it just yet.

Monday we both had work, which was a bummer, but hey life goes on. Tuesday was his birthday. 35 years old! I brought him breakfast in bed (egg butties and coffee) and his presents. 3 DVDs from me ( The Delicatessan, The City of Lost Children and Evolution) and a mini birthday cake, then I brought the gifts from my mum. A DVD of Silent Hill (tip off from me) and selection of cheese.

Now, the cheese thing... My mum knows there are thinks that Yorkie likes. Movies, booze, anything pork, cheese. She asked me if he would like a cheese selection as a gift, and I imagined a cheese board, you know, the kind you get as a gift at Christmas that comes with the actual board and a propper cheese cutting knife. Noooo.... What he got was four invidually gift wrapped cheeses, Camembert, Gouda, Cheddar & Mortzorella, in a plastic bag from tescos! The bag had been sat in the front room since sunday, and when he opened it up he asked way mum had bought him a present that smelled of cabbage. That'll have been the camembert then!

I love my mum. She's a little cracked, but she is BRILLIANT!

Dad sent him £20.00 and he spoke to his sisters. His mum sent an email card she made herself with embarasing photos of Yorkie as a kid (Lets face it, all mums are brilliant!!!). I offered to take him out for lunch, but all he wanted was hot dogs so I made some of those and bought a load of junk food and pop to troff while we watched his DVDs, and the day was a success.

From that point on the week has been kind of down hill. The thunder on Wednesday put a dampener on my mood, and the cleaning companies total lack of communication left me wondering where this damned replacement I'm supposed to be training up was, only to find out that the staff in head office on a monday don't talk to the people who are there on a thursday and they had no idea who I was taking about. She wasn't there anyway.

But on Friday I spent a day with mum, who took me to her hairdressers to have a haircut (first one in five years) and seeing mum again was lovely. I ought to see her more often!