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Simple times

It's the simplest things that make us happy. Today has been a day of lazy starts, raking up leaves, muddy winter walks with good friends followed by mince pies and then Sunday dinner, bath and bed. It was definitely a late start with Abi as our weekend alarm clock not waking up til 8am - very unusual. Obviously we are not then able to get up immediately as everyone wants a cuddle so it was nearly 9am before poor Scooby got out for a walk. Once upon a time I'd be horrified at this late start thinking it such a waste of time. Now it's the highlight of my week - everyone together making the most of time to lie in bed, chat and snuggle up together.

Saturday has taken a new turn as after a period of watching the girls do their riding lessons, I decided to join in and have a go myself. Despite it being 25 years since I last sat on a horse I seemed to have retained at least the basics and so after a crash taster session last week on my own I've joined a small group of very lovely ladies and I now have an hour lesson at the same time as Abi. This works very well - Abi has half an hour which by the time they've all got on and going means she has about 15 mins left over at the end before I'm done. This means she gets to hang out in the stables with the older girls, brush a horse or put tack away, perfect in her eyes. Also means I feel I'm getting a bit more for my money as she's learning about looking after horses as well as riding them. Izzy either comes with us and hands out in the van watching something in the player, or stays with Glenn. That's assuming he's not at one of the many rugby matches there seem to be at this time of the year.

We are gearing up for Christmas and as the girls go into the last week of term, I go into the last 2 weeks of work and the inevitable silly season. In BP there was a Christmas lunch and maybe a drinks evening. In EY there's a dinner almost every night in December  - ugh. I'm sticking to my guns and only doing the ones I need to - as few as possible please! I still wonder who these things are for. I'm still waiting to meet the person who really enjoys / looks forward to a corporate event. Or one where it made the difference in selling something / building a better relationship. I'm sure if we offered an evening with your significant other versus an evening with your work mates, most would choose the former. I'll keep pushing for some sanity in amongst the madness! Christmas will also mark 6 months in my new job. I'm settling in, building a good reputation, meeting great people and really enjoying going out and speaking to people in companies which are household names. As of this week we've also just hired a number of my old team, all great people who I'm looking forward to working with again. Not a bad effort given the short time I've been there. Some of the things I first worried about I'm now reconciling myself too. Most importantly I'm making it work with Glenn and the girls - I'm generally getting home at a reasonable time and I've not missed anything too important. That's more critical than anything else and more and more my goal is to help others do the same.

Final praise is for the wonders of technology. It may bring many ills but it also brings great joy. When I was in Switzerland this week I tried FaceTime with the girls for the first time. It was wonderful, not so much for the conversation, but to see Abi just staring into the screen clearly so pleased to be able to see me as well as hear me. It was so much more personal for them. It also meant I could show them my hotel room and given them a sense of where I was. The girls then wanted to speak to Ben and Laurie this weekend in the same way. Watching them as they spoke was priceless - so much laughter and smiling, despite the fact that for the first 5 mins I don't think anyone finished a sentence! I had to drag them away after about 15 mins - this is clearly going to be the way forward - the simple things are always the best.

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