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Happiness is...

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 is also not stupid on this front - she has clocked that all these animals cost money and has negotiated a smaller, but still meaningful, amount for her own uses. So far she has bought new stationery (an ongoing passion of hers), make up (of course) and has her eye on an Apple Watch (Series 2 at least so she doesn't put mine to shame). I'm going to be bankrupt at this rate!

On my part my new job is going well - early signs are all positive. I'm making progress in meeting people in Paddington HQ, and looking forward to getting out with trips to France, Poland, Romania and Turkey (the European side) all going into the diary. I'm in Southampton tomorrow - hopefully adopting that as a weekly thing, and in the process of sorting out a trip to Yeovil to meet the wider Screwfix team and get out to a couple of stores (much to Dad's excitement!)

I read this week that the 17th January is the date most people give up on their new year's resolutions, and that 47.2 years is officially the age at which you are most unhappy with your life (me this summer!). My main resolution for 2020 is to remember to be kinder to myself (life is busy - I need to cut myself some slack sometimes and learn to relax a bit more) and I think I'm doing OK with that one. As for this summer being the low point in my happiness stakes, I have to say that I'm very happy with life at the moment and it it's going to start to get even better after the summer when I've passed through the 47.2 years point then all the better! When I reflect on where I am I couldn't really ask for more - I permanently have my fingers crossed that no-one bursts my happiness bubble, but I'm probably not the only one that feels that way.

The one small blot on the landscape is Glenn who has been suffering from sciatica recently and he is really fed up of it. It's affecting his sleep and he can't sit down for more than a few minutes without his leg starting to feel painful. The good news (in fact without this we would all be suffering) is that cycling is the quickest way to relieve the discomfort so he's making the most of this at least. It means his t-shirt 'I'm only one bike ride away from a good mood' has never been more true! Hopefully it will pass soon - everyone says it is something that comes and goes so fingers crossed it will disappear as fast as it arrived.

So another week and then it's almost February - blimey, the year will be away from us before we know it!

Handsome boy!

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