There was a huge buzz around this house when I passed it this morning on my way to the Therapy Centre. People were putting out the flags, all were dressed in the official Croatian gear, they were getting drinks and food and a big screen set up. – When I walked back to the apartment this evening, it was really quiet.

Same stuff on the TV. The French burning fireworks. The Croatians with tears in their eyes. I mean – they should have won, the Croatians. The first two goals by the French were just bad refereeing and bad luck. The Croatians were the ones with the enthusiasm, the real determination to make it to the end, the believe that they could make the impossible possible. They came second. In the world!

What’s wrong with that? Anybody. Tell me! It’s the Croatians who should have the fireworks burning and who should be celebrating through the night. Instead, they are sad, because they just came second. In the world! – Unreal.

And. Putin should have shared that umbrella. No. Being a gentleman and the host, he should have passed it on personally to the Croatian Prime Minister whose hair-do got really close to a complete melt down. And you can say about Putin what you want: he has more to worry about than his hair (or what little of it is left).

When I participated in the F.O.T.T. training yesterday, one of the instructor recommended to contact the ‘grande dame’ and original developer of this therapy, Kay Coombe, to tell her about our project. So I sent her an email which she almost immediately answered. An hour later, we had the most inspiring phone conversation making plans about her and her organisation’s involvement in the An Saol Project.

Pádraig had a quiet day today. We went out for a walk and then watched the match while having his dinner. We will need to spend more time together exploring how he perceives his stay in the Therapy Centre. It’s a great place and he is really well looked after by great staff. But it’s still a hospital-type environment with all that comes with it. There are some really good, excellent people here with brilliant ideas we are exploring and which are really promising.

Bring on week 2!

And remember: sometimes, being no. 2 ain’t that bad.