Skip to main content

Back to work blues

Ahhh, we've had such a nice week off, and over so quickly - always the way. It seems as though it's a case of blink and it's over. I suspect I've written that before.  So while everyone else appeared to be jetting off to sun or snow, we stayed put at home and on reflection I'm glad we did. We managed to get out and get active a lot - walking, cycling, swimming, riding and so on - and we had lots of down time which was very much needed after a few busy weeks at work.



One of the reasons we didn't go away was the garden project which is now well under way and looking fab even though it's really just started. The other reason of course is the pupster who couldn't possibly be left for a whole week - what would he do without us?!? We have at least now introduced him to Nanny Di so we have cover when we need it. She took one look at him and stated very clearly "they won't both fit in my house", so future dog sitting will be in situ at our house. I suspect they will prefer this and Glenn definitely thinks it's preferable as they can babysit the ever growing bike collection at the same time!



Highights of my week off are many. As ever it's not one big thing that stands out but lot's of little things. It's a good way to think about life actually - it's the little things that make the difference. In no particular order then:
- the fact that we went swimming and the pool was virtually empty which meant while the girls played I actually got to do some proper lengths. It's a measure of just how far their swimming has come that I'm confident enough to get my head down in the water and leave them to play, checking only briefly every length that they are still ok.
- the sign Abi made for her newest money making venture 'Dog Walker and Training'. This is following me booking Bertie in for puppy socialisation classes. While he is a complete star for the most part in the house, he goes loopy whenever we are out and he sees anything that moves - people, birds, bikes, etc. He loses all sense of recall and I worry he's going to get splatted on the main road running out after something. So off to puppy school to try and calm him down. Girls are coming with me so I think it will be training all round! Abi's class costs noticeably more than this one - lets hope its value for money!
- seeing family - Mum and Dad came up to see us on Wednesday - nice to catch up over lunch and prove my baking skills are almost up to Dad's high expectations!
- spending time with friends, just kicking back and relaxing over food, wine or out and about - we have such lovely friends and it's good to stop and appreciate them every so often.



So back to work for me yesterday and off to activity camp for the girls this week. The latter is much to Abi's disappointment and it's clear we will struggle to get her to attend this sort of thing much longer. Izzy still happily trots off, safe in the knowledge there will be people to talk to and play with. Abi on the other hand is reaching the stage where she would rather be at home with Glenn, in her own space. I am torn between knowing if she's at home she will get bored after a while so it's not quite the easy solution she thinks it is, while knowing that she hates doing the same thing over and over again and camp is quite repetitive. It's ok for me, I just go to work. I think I may have to be more creative come the summer - no pressure!






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

All about Izzy

This weekend has mainly been about Izzy, mostly because Abi has been off riding again and so we've hardly seen her. This has its pros and cons - on the one hand Izzy gets lots of attention and the choice of what to do. On the other she misses Abi and when big sister arrives home we have the inevitable few hours of resettling which seems to involve tears as a matter of course. I did have a moment of despair this evening when I looked across to the table just before Sunday dinner - normally a happy time - to see both of them, heads on arms, holding back tears. Luckily a bit of food and a game of 20 questions to share what everybody had enjoyed about their weekend and we kind of managed to get back on track by dessert. When asked what she wanted to do, Izzy immediately shouted "Jo Jo" so my task was to sort out a visit with Jo, the boys and Ellie. No matter how much time passes they still love to see each other and the first task is always the same. Edward and Izzy have t...
Post a Comment
Read more