Stress in the house has been heightened during the last few days because Bear has been unnaturally quiet and pleasant. It just isn't normal for him to watch me go out with CC and Jay and not make nasty comments but several medical appointments and shopping trips occurred this week without the slightest grumble from him.

I even began to wonder if he might produce a Valentine card yesterday but he didn't. Things were getting back to normal. The speakers on his computer stopped working and, as usual, it was all my fault. He had changed the position of the computer and insisted that he'd taken out the connections one at a time so he would remember where each one went but, in fact, he hadn't plugged in the speakers at all. I got it working but he would not admit that it was his fault.

Today my friend came round to practise her English at the same time as Bear was battling with the computer again.  Yvette had brought a DVD about trains to lend him but when I took it through he started shouting at me because he was having problems. He wanted to make a copy of a CD but couldn't figure it out. He had put the discs in the wrong way round despite the fact that the recorder was clearly marked DVD RW.

I sorted that out but he still moaned at me because I was going to 'talk to someone' instead of standing by to solve his next problem.

It's weird that I feel more comfortable now that he is back to 'normal'. The 'Dr. Jeckyll Bear' just doesn't ring true. At least it means I won't have to feel guilty about refusing to go to England with him whenever he decides to go.

We can all look forward to a well deserved rest from him for a couple of weeks.