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Eek, December!!

Blimey, it’s December already and so we head into silly season where everything needs to suddenly be completed before Christmas and every night is party night. I could do without both. We seem to have no one available at work to do anything and I’ve got a whole bunch of things that need doing. The last thing I need to add to that stress is a whole bunch of work drinks. Particularly when I have to factor in a 2 hour commute home which is bearable only because I’m not trying to do it after 3 glasses of wine at 9pm. Oh and the fact that if I do have a drink, poor Glenn then needs to pick me up as there are no taxis from my station. On the plus side there are school events to save me from some of this. Luckily for us, both the London and Thames Valley Christmas parties coincided with Abi’s school play - hooray for fortunate diary clashes! It meant I could make an acceptable excuse and not have to drag Glenn to a festively decorated tent to make polite conversation to someone he doesn’t know and may never meet again.

Abi’s play was lovely. Despite having complained bitterly about the 3-line whip requiring her to take part, missing the Saturday rehearsal and generally not engaging until the last moment, she ended up really enjoying it. This year it was Fiddler on the Roof, which apparently is about a family that needs to leave the town they live in. Anything else to the story? No, that’s it. What about the fiddler? Oh, he plays a violin. OK. Abi has clearly inherited my complete lack of rhythm and when the chorus went right, she went left but she did it with a smile on her face  and that’s what counts. Izzy say in the audience with me and sang along, having only seen a couple of
 the rehearsals (I think she went to more than Abi) - I suspect we’ll see more from her next year!

After the excitement of 2 late play nights Abi was shattered on Saturday morning and so while I took Izzy to the stables she made the most of the quiet time and lounged in bed, sort of dressed but mainly in relax mode. It was definitely like having a teenager in the house suddenly! Izzy has stepped up a gear in her riding and is now in a slightly more advanced group so she’s having to do less chat, more effort.this week she was jumping JuJu which is real progression given that’s the pony that threw her off and she’s had been nervous of. She did really well and although the instructor kept a hand on her headcollar, she said at the end she’d have been prepared to do it alone. Today we went to Enborne and saw 3 of her classmates riding in the Sunday show there. It’s amazing the different when you have your own pony, are confident and have had more practice. One of them in particular is very good and super confident - quite something to watch.

This weekend’s sad news was that the passing of Alex’s Mum. No matter how good an innings someone might have had, or the circumstances of their passing it’s still so hard to accept. It makes me even more grateful that we have Mum and Dad. I know I don’t stop and make the point often enough about how much I value their insight, love and support, but I do! Always there, no matter what, no matter when. I know how lucky I am and I hope my girls feel the way I do when they are older.

Abi and I have walked a lot together this weekend and that’s where she tells me how she feels. This weekend we had a wild walk across the ridgeway in the mist which was brilliant up until Bertie took off after 5 deer just as dusk was falling. It took more than 10mins for him to finally come back, up which time I was getting worried and it was getting really dark. I’m not sure he could see what the fuss was about. I was in the garden this afternoon when Abi came and found me with dogs and leads with a “come on, walk time!” I love that she loves to walk and talk. I think it will stand us in good stead. She’s interested in school discussions and has asked if we can put St Gabriels on the list for consideration. It wasn’t on our list for a number of reasons, but she’s adamant she doesn’t want to be in a boarding school or to have a long journey. We’ll keep an open mind.  Izzy on the other hand thinks they don’t do enough sport there and wants a school with lots of opportunity in that respect, regardless of location. She’s also still of the mind that boarding school is like Mallory Towers and so that’s definitely an option.... could we end up with completely different choices for them? Aghhh -
more decisions!!


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