Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

Izzy and Ellie enjoying a joke It's all a bit manic at the moment. I missed writing a post on Sunday and suddenly it's Thursday - new year, new job madness. The weeks are spinning by quickly and it's the end of January tomorrow and we all know that means the year just starts to get away from you! As it's January and I've started a new job I'm very much trying to maintain some balance and hold onto the sense of calm that I'd found over the Christmas break. 3 weeks out of office and a clean break from one company to the next is always going to provide a moment of peace in between the madness. Yoga helps hugely - my twice weekly chance to re-ground myself and breathe deeply. I also love to read books influenced by psychology and biology - I'm fascinated about what's happening in our bodies and brains, particularly as the kids are going through such a seminal stage of their lives. I've just finished one all about how rushing about causes all

Everyone enjoying the winter sun! At last the rain has stopped and this weekend we have had beautiful frosty starts and wall to wall winter sun - what a tonic after what seems like weeks and weeks of rain. It may still be wet underfoot, but in places this morning it was at least frozen mud rather than wading mud.  This feels particularly important at this time of year. On weekdays I feel like I leave and return in the dark and although I make sure I get out to see daylight on a work day, it's hard not to feel like it's permanently dark - roll on Springtime! Despite my moaning about the lack of light, the new year has started well (apart from Izzy would like to point out she has burnt her finger on a hot glue gun while at a sleep over - ouch!). Abi has managed to multiple up her snakes so she has 3 - how she manages to persuade me I do not know but I hope she retains her ability to negotiate into adult life (although I could do without it through her teenage years!). Izzy

I've survived my first week! Of course it's flown by and I've hardly scratched the surface yet but the important thing at this stage is that the people I'm working with appear to be very nice, my team are engaged and up for change, and the office environment is good. Those are some of the key attributes that are hard to deal with if they aren't working and so are key to it being a good place to work. The commute this week has also been a huge improvement on what I was doing previously, even if I'm going to have to find those extra steps I got to and from the station previously somewhere else. On that front I worked out this week that Hyde Park is less than a 10 minute walk away, and immediately from the office you can get straight onto the canal and walk through Little Venice up towards Camden Lock or Maida Vale - very pleasant walking that will change with the seasons and weather given the water. Blink and somehow it's Friday! I know from the past tha

So tomorrow is the first Monday of the year and it's back to work for me (and pretty much everyone else that's office based), with back to school for the girls following closely on Tuesday. Apparently  it's also one of the most miserable days of the year for workers - I certainly don't feel that way so I shall go in feeling positive and ready for the inevitable onslaught of the first few weeks. Regardless of how we feel I think Glenn will be happy to have his peace and quiet restored. I have had a lovely 3 weeks but I'm ready to get started - I've had access to my inbox for the last few weeks and while I've been dipping in to it I don't have the context and so I'm looking at documents without really knowing what's what - time to get into the detail. I have a month of handover and then it will be down to me to make my mark - at least I know what I'm supposed to do this time and I can already see the induction and support is streets ahead

Bit nippy on the beach for our annual New Year walk Welcome 2020! I did mean to post yesterday and provide some reflections on last year but ran out of time, a common occurrence when you are trying to fit in a whole bunch of stuff before friends arrive at 5pm for a NYE get together (although bed before midnight of course!) What would I say about the last year? As ever there have been highs - the girls starting a new school, me starting (and ending!) a new job, Glenn managing to ride very nearly 8,500 miles on his bike and me running a more conservative 1000+ miles. We’ve had lovely trips to beautiful places as well as more mundane but still happy times together, e.g. watching box sets together on Netflix - a new family pastime for me and the girls at least. Of course these are tempered by a few lows - most notably losing dear friends, both human and canine. All in all though we’ve had a happy, healthy year and come into the new decade feeling strong and hopeful. This is such a