Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

It's official, I'm definitely being out manipulated by my children. Obviously this was ever the case but it's getting more sophisticated and I fear where it will end! On Sunday the girls had an all day party, arriving home damp and tired at 5.30pm. Before I'd dropped them off that morning we'd had a bit of a set to - all due to me losing my temper because they were shoving each other and bickering rather than getting themselves ready to get out the door on time. I could have maintained my cool was it not for the trailing round the house, no sense of urgency, iPad in hand.... You get the picture! Anyway, peaceful day and temper restored I made the point as we came through the door that there was to be no bickering. Roll forward a nano-second and Abi turns to Izzy and calls her an idiot. Izzy retaliates and we are back to square one. So I send Abi to her room, furious that they seem incapable of listening and responding to a simple request for peace. Abi comes back

Yesterday passed in a whirl of family and friends so I'm writing this sitting on the train on the way into London. It's freezing cold (has been for days) and thick fog - the drive to the station was a bit scary - perfect start to the working week! We had such a lovely day yesterday with Mum, Dad, Kerrie and Ryan all with us for lunch, followed by the last ever 'quick Sunday cup of tea pre (their) slightly crispy roast chicken dinner because they stayed longer then a they intended to' with Sharron and Simon before they move to Leicestershire. We are going to miss them being just round the corner. I spend most of my time talking about Abi and Izzy on this but for a moment a word on Kerrie. She's turned into such a lovely young lady (albeit in her mind not so young... "I'm going to be 27 this year" shock, horror!) and seeing her and Ryan together and so happy is great. You know they are grown up when they appreciate what's going on in other people

Abi has provided the title for this week's blog after a Saturday night out that we will never get back. The good news is that they had Jo Jo to come and look after them so went to bed with hair plaited perfectly having had a very happy evening. The evening in question was the Village Society annual curry and quiz night which last year was chaired by our neighbours. This year, having done their duty, they allowed the original 'Quiz Master' to take charge and it was a very different affair. The venue was the same, the food was the same and I'm sure most of the people were the same, but the questions had basically been written by a well meaning octogenarian and you needed to be one to have even the slightest clue. It was a bit like being in a mix of Mastermind and University Challenge while answering questions on someone else's specialist subject! He kept urging us to think laterally if we didn't know the answer. To give you an example of this in reality: Q:

It's becoming increasingly obvious that our children are not going to follow the normal course. While their friends got Barbies and mermaid tails (why?!?) for Christmas, ours got their motorbikes and they absolutely love them,. So much so that we now have sulks if there isn't a clear idea of when the next outing will be. Both are alarmingly competent already and happy to ride round on flat ground to practise changing gear and moving up and down through the gears. I'd like to say its a family affair but they head off into the distance (so far mostly into a misty murk which is quite disconcerting as you almost immediately lose sight of them) with us running after them through long rough grass wishing we'd worn more sensible clothes. Running in wellies is not a thing for a very good reason! This also means of course that Glenn is kept very happy as he now has 2 more bikes to his 'stable' to fettle with, buy stickers for and generally keep occupied with. Abi

So - new year already and back to work the day after tomorrow - eek! Amanda and I have just been chatting on the phone and said the same - while we don't mind going back to work (the routine and absence of chocolate / cake / booze etc. will be a good thing!) - we do mind going back to the 5am starts. No one needs that in their life - if only there was a way to live somewhere nice, have a stimulating job and not have to get up at the crack of dawn everyday. Answers on a postcard please. The holidays have been lovely - we've seen lots of friends, managed to get out and about enough but not too much, entertained and relaxed - just what was required. I will admit that while Christmas Eve and Boxing Day were a perfect mix of family and friends, in anticipation of a Christmas Day with 50% of the family playing Scrooge (Glenn and Abi) I threw a massive strop right from the start and was particularly grumpy. I tried to shake it off with a run but even that didn't work and s