Skip to main content

Vision 2020


What an interesting week. We've had highs and lows as we embarked on a big conversation about the future, but after some soul searching and silence we have found our way to a plan which seems to be good for all. The discussion of last week - should we stay or should we go now - made it obvious that while I might be ready to throw everything up in the air and caution to the wind, the rest of the family are (thankfully) a bit more cautious. Glenn and I tiptoed around the discussion until Friday when we sat down and had a proper chat about what the future plan should be. My plan B was a 3 year idea which combines the kids being able to finish Thorngrove, us having more time to enjoy what we've done here, enough time to save up the bulk of the kids senior school fees and time for Glenn to find us the perfect property in the SW which reduces our mortgage to next to nothing. Perfect! We've even found a lovely coeducational independent school which, on paper admittedly, looks very like Thorngrove with a big focus on sports, great grounds and great exam results. It's quite an old school (established in 1604) and so has some funny traditions including the annual family cross country run which is described as bonkers and the fact at the head boy and head girl are allowed to keep a pig in their final term! The girls now have something tangible to aim for! Who knows if our own 'vision 2020' will stand up to time, but it feels great to have a plan.


This weekend the kids and I popped down to Taunton to see everyone and have an impromptu birthday meal for me. The original timing was dictated by both Glenn being at the rugby and Abi in particular hoping to see lambs being born. They got to see and hold some but unfortunately (for them rather than Mum and Dad) no pet lambs and none born while we were there. We had a lovely 24 hours and then headed home so that we could have a relaxing Sunday with Glenn and get on tops of things before the week ahead. Bertie went off to Juliet's given Glenn was out all day and Freya came with us - she's definitely turning into a 'take anywhere' dog! She soon got into the routine and before we could blink she'd worked out that the kitchen bench is fair game for the dogs and managed to get onto it. She then spent the rest of the time we were there happily watching goings on from her new perch, snuggled up amongst the cushions. When we got home she clearly appreciated she's not getting up on the furniture but trotted off to make a nest on the cushions in my study - I don't have the heart to say no, she looks just too comfy!

Back to work and next week is a bit of a rubbish one.  Between some tough things that need to be done and 2 nights either away or late it's not ideal. This said I'm feeling so much more positive than last week. It's amazing how a plan helps - now being there for the next 3 years is a means to an end - it's all in purpose of something. Three years sounds like a long time but it will spin by in a flash - I can't believe it's mid March already - the year is fast forward already - goodness it will be Christmas before we know it!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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 ...

Blame the jet stream...

Shed prep, with oversight from the dogs Apparently we have the jet stream to blame for the truly awful weather we are having right now. I blame our builder - if he had got his act together and sorted out Glenn's workshop roof as he promised, sods law the sun would be shining from dawn to dusk. Instead it's still pouring every half hour and Glenn is constantly worried about how much water is coming though the roof / walls / floor etc. Apparently he 'literally' just needs to put the ridge on the top and the gully down the side and it will all be fixed. We are literally at the point of wanting to do him some actual bodily harm. The moment he disappears the better. This week he was also literally going to clad the office ("done") and has failed everyday to turn up and do it (which in my book is literally not "done"). He was also going to have Gary come and finish the electrics (not done), whack down the paving slabs (not done), render the last of the bri...

Ypres

Walking around the lake in Ypres while waiting for the rugby to finish! A wet Monday evening after a lovely long weekend away in Ypres - just the two of us and just what I needed after what has been a relatively stressful few months of decision making. The decision is now made however and on Monday I resigned my job in order to join a new company in January. This will be the same role, but a company that hopefully offers more long term stability than my current one. It's been hard going through the initial round of telling people.Despite only being there for 7 months I've made some good friends and very quickly become established and everybody who I've told has been happy for me but very sad that I'm going - it hasn't made it easy. I do feel like I've been through the mill a bit this year - what with leaving EY, ramping up to a big new role, finding out it probably didn't have the longevity I was looking for and then going through the process of finding ...