Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

What a week - tonight's long awaited glass of wine is definitely deserved!  So after a long break it was finally back to work and the inevitable shock to the system of having to get up before 6am not one day but 5 days in a row - ouch! All in all its not been painful - just feels like its taken an age to make it through the week and I'll admit I'm glad to have chalked up my first week and got that initial apprehension out of the way. To add to the pressure I also had my first meeting as a member of the Oxford University Audit Committee (yes me, the person who went to Plymouth Poly!!).  I held my own and then some - guess some of the brain cells still there then. One of my biggest concerns was that everyone was going to miss me and that the transition was going to be difficult for Abi and Izzy. Hmmm. I'm not sure if I'm pleased or not to say that I've clearly done a great job in preparing them for my return to work as it seems like they've barely minded...

After the luxury of being away for a few days it has been back to normal, with the now ever-present fact that I'm back to work next week. I'm trying to stay positive but I am naturally quite apprehensive, as well as just a tad tearful that the domestic bliss of the last few months is about to come to a resounding halt. I keep telling myself that it's the start of a new era and will have loads of exciting positives to look forward to. I'm also reminding myself that my brain will kick back in - eventually! - so not to be too hard on myself in the first few weeks.  It will be fine - everyone will adjust and we'll all continue to do the best we can to spend as much time together as possible. The girls are oblivious to all of this due to the long awaited arrival of the hobbit pod - their new playhouse. This arrived on Saturday afternoon in large sections, apparently suitable for construction in just 2 hours with the assistance of "2 strong people". Hmmm...

This week we have mostly been enjoying the South of France and the delights of Mont Ventoux. We planned this trip ages ago and I admit that I hadn't paid too much attention to exactly where we were going - more so on what we were doing. So when I found out that we would be driving almost to Marseille, I was a bit concerned.  The amazing thing about travelling without the kids though is just how much easier it is.  They are both brilliant travellers, but you still have to consider 2 little people, whether they need to stop, the need to amuse them and so on. With just the 2 of us it was a breeze and we flew down to Ventoux with few stops and fewer delays - perfect.  Even more perfect was the cycling - it was just lovely. We travelled on Thursday with plans to do Ventoux together on Friday (1912m of climbing at an average incline of 9.5%), a scenic ride on Saturday and then Glenn would attempt his 'Club des Cingles de Mont Ventoux'  (roughly translates to ...

This week has been full of champagne and celebrations as I had my new job confirmed - woo hoo! If I look back to Christmas I said that the perfect scenario would be to have some time off, get paid to the end of May and then walk into a fab new job at the start of the summer.  Lo and behold this is what has happened - perfect planning or just good luck- who knows but I'm very pleased.  What might have been even better could have been the opportunity to have the summer off with the family, but I'm ready to get stuck back into it and a longer break would have just made it even harder to go back so I think this is a good compromise. The girls are mixed in their response to the news I'm going back to work.  Both were really pleased and proud of me for getting through the partnership process and hearing I'd got the role.  I came back on Tuesday to a series of lovely 'well done Mummy' paintings which they had spent the afternoon doing.   On...