7158/19678
RHLSTP hit one million downloads in the last 30 days. I think that might be our best ever, but it's remarkable nonetheless. Thanks for the support. Listen to double the number next month so we can hit two million!
It has been (you might have noticed) a punishing week, mainly due to looking after my brilliant kids, but also because I've been fitting in work in the gaps in between. Today was the kids' sports day and I watched them taking part in various challenges in the searing morning sunshine. Then I had to dash home to do another two podcast records - an interview with Scott and Jemma Bennett about Scott's loss of a testicle as a 15 year old (for the upcoming, “Can I Have My Ball Back?†Podcast) and then an interview about parenthood with Marianne Levy whose brilliant book, “Don't Forget To Scream†which gives an honest look at the horrors and wonder of motherhood.
Both were lots of fun and bounced me out of the trough of tiredness, but afterwards I had the afternoon to myself. And more. Because Catie had headed off in a car to Blackpool for a hen weekend (there were five women in the car and they all had one of my Soleros - lucky I have a dedicated freezer) and my parents-in-law were picking up the kids (and the dog) and having them overnight.
With Smithers gone (though technically he is back in the house, but in somewhat more powdered form) it was the first night that I have spent entirely on my own for as long as I can remember. There was a part of me that thought I should be going out and letting my hair down. I'd even told Catie that I was going out on the pull and she seemed OK with the idea (probably because she's on a hen weekend so will be up to all sorts herself- if Pornhub can be trusted). But mainly I knew that I was going to use the free time to sleep.
And though I watched a bit more of The Orville (which I really enjoy, but shows that if you make enough money in TV they will just let you remake Star Trek, but with you as Captain Kirk) and some of the tennis and tried to do a bit of reading, I was flagging and went to sleep at 7.30pm. Absolutely tragic. But I couldn't stay awake. And without any kids coming in complaining of tummy aches or nose bleeds I was able to disappear into deep sleep. It was amazing.
But what was equally interesting was that before that wonderful sleep, how lost and alone I felt without anyone else here. I don't want anything else but them. It felt a bit like they'd all died and so seeing their possessions scattered around or toothpasty spit unwashed away in the sink made me feel pretty sad, until I remembered they'd be back after lunchtime tomorrow. I thought about them growing up and leaving home and even though that's years away and I will hopefully be dead by then, it still made me feel empty. Tragically my wife and children are my whole life to me.
