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Bring me sunshine...

 It's the early May bank holiday and goodness me if that isn't the sun, although its a bit 'now you see me, now you don't...' This morning we had glorious sunshine and I sat outside with Sharron drinking coffee in the suntrap that is our patio. This afternoon Zsara and I headed out for a windy walk and got drenched, although neither of us cared - it was a proper blow away the cobwebs walk and its was wonderful.

This weekend has been dominated by us watching the ever blackening sorry state that has been my thumb. I managed to have a comedy moment which I wish we'd caught on camera - in hindsight only. In a moment of carelessness I caught my thumb in the car door as I shut AND locked it, only then to drop my keys in shock and not be able to reach them...because my thumb was firmly caught in the door! I managed to use my foot to claw my keys into reach, picked them up and released my thumb, only to have it them expand rapidly to twice its size and go a deep shade of purple / green / black - eek! We then had an on-going conversation over the next 48 hours as to the best course of action. The online advice was to go to A&E where they would either advise leaving it or put a hot needle through the nail to release the pressure - not a nice thought. I left it until today but the pressure was getting worse rather than better, and decided it was the only option. I couldn't see the point of going to A&E though so Glenn heated up a large needle and I bravely pushed it through, with 2 children refusing to watch from around the corner. Actually it didn't hurt at all and if you can ignore the sizzling noise as it went through it was pretty uneventful, until it perforated all the way through and there was a fountain of blood released and immediately relief for me! Then everyone crowed around for a look! It's been amazing how quickly the colour has come back so my top tip is no matter how horrible it might sound - if this happens to you then its the right way to go.

As with every weekend its been busy and after double sleepovers on Friday (one planned one not), we had 2 tired children on our hands yesterday evening so after tea we all settled down in the newly upgraded playroom to watch The Empire Strikes Back on the big screen. This would have been far more comfortable if we'd also had the new sofa, but not to matter, the 4 of us crammed ourselves into the little sofa and made the most of it. This was the girl's first foray into Star Wars and they loved it - particularly the emerging Princess Leia love story and the fact that there was minimal blood and gore even when people keeled over with minimal dramatics dead. In that respect it's a really good one for the kids. No matter all the online commentary about the lack of special effects and shaky sets (true) - they loved the simplicity of it all and so did I.

The other big event of the week was attending a 'Future Schools' event at Thorngrove. I was hoping that this would help me think about what school might be good for the girls when they hit 11 or 13 but all it did was confuse me massively. It did open my eyes to the eye watering cost of senior school and the recognition that if we plan to send them to one of the more sought after mixed independent schools we had better start saving now otherwise we simply won't be able to afford it. It's also really challenged me as to what is the best option for them. I want them to have a good education, but not at the expense of every other aspect of our lifestyle, including the little work life balance I have at the moment if I have to ramp back up to 100% to pay for it. I'm also conscious that they are all rounders and these schools specialise on providing the best of everything, which of course you pay for. Who knows what the right answer is, but £70k plus in annual school fees doesn't feel like it for us. As ever, at least having started the thought process it means I can now think about the options and get everyone into a place of common understanding and agreement - another to do to add to the list!


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