A note from my dad: Congratulations to Christine for completing the 5k run. Only a few months ago she couldn’t even run to the end of her garden. She was showing me the picture of her crossing the finishing line and I thought that at last she has managed to grasp the idea of a race. I was remembering a certain playschool sports day in 1987 or 1988. I have attached a couple of pictures I took.

When I was a kid, some days I would get fed up with my mum and dad niggling at each other, sharing those little bitty remarks that seemed completely unnecessary. I would close my eyes in the back of the car and sing Backstreet Boys songs to myself shut out the noise. A few weeks ago, I was talking to my mother on the phone, and having a conversation with Mr C at the same time.

Me: What’s that smell? Dad: What? Me: It’s really strong, fragrance, soap, something like that? Dad: Oh, yes, it’s probably that candle shop. Me: No… it smells like Lush. Dad: Never heard of it. Me: It’s a really cool soap shop. They make handmade soaps and shampoos and things in big blocks and you can go in and just grab a chunk. Like the cheese counter, only not edible. Dad: Oh, I don’t think we have one of those.

Because my brother is away at the moment and has limited space available, I get to look after all his videos for him. I have collected from him all the series’ of Friends that are out, and today he brought me six seasons of Buffy. Now this is a real treat, because I only manage to catch the occasional Buffy episode and although I love it, I never seem to know what’s going on.