Lazy afternoon

Hello, my little blog. I haven't posted an entry in a while! I'm having a quiet moment so thought I'd take advantage of it. It is Father's Day today and Phil is still sleeping. If anyone deserves a lie-in, it is him. He is going to be dismayed to learn that I got up at the crack of dawn to take care of Michael and that I have only had four hours sleep. I feel a bit like death warmed up. Michael is currently having a nap after having fallen asleep in his dinner. I'm always torn between hurrying to get him upstairs for a nap or pausing to take a photograph. On this occasion I did the former.

I had a lovely day yesterday. I went along to the Martijn Fraaij hair salon in Amsterdam and had a professional henna treatment. The salon is on a really beautiful street and I sat at the window, with a dryer over my head just watching the world go by and reading my book on Edward VI. It is quiet moments like this that make the sweetest memories for me. I chose henna because I wanted something completely natural and safe. I used traditional hair colour products as a teenager and they always burned my scalp. I had been thinking about colouring my hair for ages because premature grey hair runs in my family. I held off for as long as possible but in the last few months the amount of grey hair had really increased. I now have a deep, rich and slightly shocking head of red hair. I absolutely love it and so does Phil. Phil is now the only one who doesn't have red hair because Michael's hair colour has been deepening over time. I was wondering whether it was going to go blond but it seems that he will remain a red-head.

Phil and I have always joked about our hair. As I mentioned, premature grey hair runs in my family, but a premature receding hairline runs in Phil's family. Our sons could end up twenty-somethings with wispy bits of grey hair around their ears. I really don't think I am going to mention this to Michael until he is old enough to have a stiff drink in his hand. I'm hoping he won't inherit Phil's hair and will instead inherit mine. I may have grey hair but it is extremely thick.

Anyway... enough talk of hair. The plan for today was to go to Race Planet in Amsterdam. I bought Phil vouchers for go-karting for Father's Day. The fates must be conspiring against us because he hurt his back yesterday when lifting Michael. I don't think he is going to be getting in a go-kart without prescription painkillers and a truss ;o) I shouldn't laugh, really, as it is rotten bad luck for his first Father's Day. He was so pleased with the present, too. I told him that all fathers have the right to try to kill themselves in competition whilst behaving like preschoolers.

Right... I'm off to enjoy the last of my quiet time with some food and a book.