Skip to main content

So thoughtful....

Sometimes the girls just melt my heart they are so thoughtful.  We were all snuggled up on the sofa watching SCD when Tess Daly announces that the general public will be invited onto the dance floor to experience Strictly in all its glory.  All you have to do is nominate someone who has helped to make other people’s lives better. Izzy said “we should nominate you Mummy”, to which I laughed and said, “I haven’t done anything special”.  Abi looked at me and said “But you make our lives better every day Mummy!”    She then followed this up later as I was putting her to bed by saying “Night Mummy, love you – you make my life special!” Cue happy tears.
The days are drawing shorter and although we’ve been blessed with a fantastic Indian summer, it is definitely beginning to feel autumnal. I have to reconcile myself to the fact that the mornings are now pitch black when I get up, and soon it will be dark before I get home as well.  My diary is completely full until mid-Nov which is a sobering thought, although that does include half term which I’m very much looking forward to.  My work pattern of 90% means I can take more of the school holidays if I generally work a 5 day week. There are definitely weeks when I feel like there’s no time for me at all, but on balance its working and the routine is stabalising for Glenn and the girls which is key for me to feel happy.   I took an afternoon off last week which was lovely – I worked til 1, we had a lovely lunch followed by me squeezing in a 2 hour ride and still managing to pick up Abi and Izzy after school – perfect!
This week is busy at work with a trip to Manchester and a couple of later nights back. I’m learning to practise what I preach (finally!) and flex both ends of the day with a slightly later start if I know I’m not going to make it back in time for the girls’ bedtime. I’m also trying not to let those things which are out of my control stress me out. My train was massively delayed yesterday so I plugged myself into my iPod and zoned out. Would have been nicer to have had a seat, but you can’t have everything in life!
Our house is so very nearly done and I have a constant warm glow about how well it has all come together and the home we have created for ourselves.  When friends are visiting now they are blown away by the transformation – I’m not sure I would make a designer but I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. What is so nice is when we show people round Abi and Izzy get so excited about the bits they’ve had input to particularly their splashback which they love. Izzy was determined to change her bedroom around this weekend which caused some fun and games. Abi wanted a comfy space she could “chill in Mummy”, and Izzy just wanted to know that her headboard was close to Abi’s so it she knocks on the wall Abi can hear and will knock back. This required a bit of though and ended up with a configuration which was a bit awkward in Izzy’s room given its smaller, but there’s no harm in letting them make some decisions about how their rooms look. It lasted 24 hours before Glenn changed it around when they were at school – mean Daddy! To be fair he did apply the original criteria and they are both happy so all is well.  Glenn now has his garage, a wood store, a large garden shed and a new workshop / additional wood store. When you add to this his ride on mower and ride on tractor with trailer, his leaf pig and growing collection of motorbikes, he is a happy man. He wants to get a wood burner for the workshop so it’s nice and cosy in there. I’m thinking of getting a bell system so I know where he is – I fear we may never see him in the house again!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas...

I was sure I write the blog last week.... but, it seems another 2 weeks have flown by and now we are staring down the barrel of the Christmas holidays and the end of the year! Currently it's all about Doug and what a star he has proved to be so far. He has now been with us for 3 weeks and he is (so far, I keep thinking at some point it will change) a pretty chilled out puppy. As a second dog he has been thrown in at the deep end and has been to Sunday lunch with Alan & Sarah (which he loved), socialised at home with friends and their dogs, met babies (he loved Elsie) and started to go for walks. The walking has been a bit different to our previous approaches with new dogs. In the past we have ventured out carefully, making sure that our new baby only walks a short distance so they can experience all the new sights and sounds. Doug's first walk was after Sunday lunch last week, just him and 8 other dogs for bout 45 mins - he loved it! In our defence we didn't let him wal...
Post a Comment
Read more

Welcome Albert James!

So this week has been full of new things - Jess and Chris have welcomed Albert James Wilkinson Rayner to the family, a tad early but all doing well apparently (and so cute!!), I started my new job, Abi has her new shed and Dad got sorted on a phone that wasn't invented before the kids were born!! I always knew this week was going to be full on and it certainly has been. The first thing I had to do was try and sort out my diary which had been filled from dawn to dusk by my predecessor with meetings. I decided to set out as I mean to go on and immediately took out those that started before 9am. While I can get into  the office for 8am , it's a pain and requires me to be on the 6:30am train which is just a bit much every day (stating the obvious). I then made it clear that we don't need to be joined at the hip for the next 4 weeks which is a sensitive process - even though he is retiring it's hard to let go and he is understandably keen that the team are looked after. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Diary management!

This part of the summer is definitely typified by me trying to remember who is supposed to be where and when. Abi likes to be off doing something with someone while Izzy is happier to know she's close to home and so for the last week they've gone their separate ways. Abi has been down in Somerset making the most of Ben and Laurie being about. From what I can tell she's having a lovely time. Apart from the covert phone call one evening to tell me she was 'starving'  (Mum was cooking for the hordes and so it had been delayed), I've barely heard from her. The few calls I have had have very quickly ended in "can I go now" like I'm making her speak to me! Today she switches from Mum and Dads to a night or two with Kerrie - not sure who is more excited! Izzy didn't want to be away for that long so she opted not to go. She's very conscious that Abi and Laurie are joined at the hip when together and Ben has his own things he wants to do so she ...
Post a Comment
Read more