Slow time

Izzy making the most of a trip to Dun Elm -
I've clearly created a home furnishing monster!

Ah, what a treat it is to have some slow time to catch up and not have to rush around quite so much as usual. Obviously when I planned these 2 weeks off I was assuming that i would be spending much of the time with the kids and Glenn, but it seems they have other ideas! While Glenn has been about of course the kids have their own plans. Abi has obviously been at Angie's - where else would she be after all - and Izzy seems to flit in and out, sometimes here, sometimes not.

As a result of this I have quickly adjusted and had a lovely week, pottering around with lots of long dog walks, tea and cake with local friends, extra yoga classes and enough other stuff to fill my time very nicely. If I had to say now what I had done and when I wouldn't have a clue, but looking back the week passed very pleasantly and I'm feeling pretty relaxed.

On Friday it was my turn to do the run to Tollard Royal to pick Abi up. I wanted to go for 2 reasons - when I do it we seem to have a smoother transition of her back into the house, I think the time being able to chat to me and download before she gets home is helpful, and also I wanted to pin Angie down on her plans for the following week as well as the details on the house for New Year. The latter was a bit hazy - we know what week we have booked of course, but it wasn't immediately clear from the website what facilities there are and already there are questions on numbers of bathrooms. As Abi said "get over it, if you don't want to share a bathroom, don't come!" Seems straight forward enough! I got enough out of her to work out the gist of what's available and basically it's an old house with no en suite facilities - we'll survive! By the time we got home Abi was nicely chilled and we had a lovely afternoon and evening despite the fact that it was torrential rain outside. We sat down to watch a film and Abi suddenly said "Can you smell burning?" We went outside and sure enough there were clouds of smoke billowing across the garden, despite the pouring rain! We weren't the only ones to have smelt it and our neighbours were also out there trying to see which house was burning down! After a bit of checking we concluded it must be the new people who have rented at the other end of the cul de sac burning removal boxes in the rain - why would you do that??

Saturday Abi disappeared to Mia's (of course) and then Sunday it was a case of getting ready for Centre Parcs. What this meant in reality was lots of procrastination and "We'll do it tomorrow Mummy" so I gave up on them - I can't and won't be responsible for everything. I had to hot foot it into London on Monday morning to go to a meeting, which meant a quick turnaround to get back by lunchtime and pick them both up (having checked their packing) to take them to Warminster before |I went onto see Mum and Dad (on my own - what a treat!!). Despite them having bacon sandwiches and an apple about 30 mins before we left, as soon as we drove away from the house they both informed me that they were "starving" - how?! I offered up a few options and in the end just thought sod it - I wouldn't do this very often but we can stop at the MacDonalds on the way and get something quick otherwise we'll be even later. Bad parent but in my defense I have waited until they are nearly teenagers before doing this and it's only the second time I've ever done it. It's probably better tor relent sometimes or they will just go there behind my back anyway and chicken wraps can't be as bad as a double cheeseburger and thick shake (I hope!) It kept them going until we got there so did the trick.

So off they have gone to Centre Parcs with Kerrie and Ryan, we've heard a few bits and pieces and all seems to be going brilliantly - stories to follow in next week's blog I hope. I on the other hand had a truly lovely 24 hours with Mum and Dad, walking, talking and eating cake - there is a theme to these couple of weeks off I see!