Skip to main content

Day trip!

We have literally spent the whole day driving across the country, for a 20 minute cuddle with a tiny little puppy that doesn't know us from Adam - the things we do for fun! Today Abi and I set off before 9am (miracle given she didnt get home from Devon until gone 8pm last night) to meet Betty for the first time. Of course we didn't find a puppy close to home so this was a 300 mile round trip and, I kid you not, we only spent 20 minutes there. It's ridiculous but apparently expected and we are not alone - Jon and Lucy drove to the Peak District yesterday to meet their new puppy - a slightly longer trip than even ours and they have to do it again in 3 weeks! 

The good news was that after plenty of discussion we agreed that just Abi and I would go. Izzy is way too much like Glenn in this respect and could see no point in spending the whole day in the car if we weren't even going to bring her home, so she and Glenn stayed put. While of course it might have been lovely to have them all with me.... in reality I'm not stupid and I knew that it would be much easier (and more relaxing) if just 2 of us went. Betty is super cute and it was lovely to meet her and her Mum who is a very chilled, lovely dog, so I'm feeling good about the whole situation, even if we do have to do the whole thing again in 5 weeks time. 

The rest of the weekend also seemed to pass in a blur. Work doesnt seem to have eased up at all in August despite it theorectically being a quiter part of the year and every day is packed. I have started going into the office once a week as well which has been good if a bit strange. The trains are still incredibly quiet and there is a country wide debate raging about what the future of the office should be, and whether all those people who have relished giving up the dreaded, crowded, dirty, expensive commute really need to pack back onto the trains just to save a few sandwich shops. The government would like everyone to go back but even their own workforces are rebelling - its no surpise - we've proved we can work well from home - why would we opt to go back? For me I've found one day a week in the office has been a really positive thing - it's grounded me back into work and I get the social intercations which are more difficult online, but I also get the benefit of no commute for the other four days. That said I will need to get my head around the journey home. Both times in the last two weeks Ive missed my train home - no longer it appears can you rock up to the stationwith only a few minutes to spare. For some reason they don't show the platform numbers at my end of the station so each time Ive got there to find no information and no time to run to the other end of Paddington to find out. Luckily each time I've not had to wait too long for the next one and with so few people travelling, it's not as though they will be too busy. Tomorrow I'm off to our Southampton office for the first time which will be good - we just need to find the right balance for everyone to work well with the new found benefits of moe time to balance in other ways. 

The most exciting news of the last 6 months is that tomorrow the kids go back to school - woo hoo!!!!! I am so excited for them, even if they are pretending not to be too excited for themselves. Izzy has had a countdown on her phone for weeks so I think she is secretely excited even if she won't admit it. I think the school has done a good job with welcome videos, emails and other comms - some things will be different but I hope not so much that they don't just enjoy being back with their mates in a normal learning environment. Being the area it is, I think the risk (fingers crossed) of some big uptick of cases locally meaning more disruption should be low and so we can hope this is the start of proper routine again - my goodness me that is going to be a shock to the system! So it's early to bed for everyone tonight and no doubt the wek will race by and we will all be shattered by Friday - nothing changes there then!

Comments

Post a Comment

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sunny days

As we stare down the barrel of a second national lockdown I'm not ashamed to report that I'm feeling pretty angry about the whole thing. So much for 'world beating test and trace' systems and the ability to get super granular with the way in which we respond to coronavirus. I get the fact that nationally we are seeing rates of infection and (apparently) hospital numbers rising, but the data says that in our neck of the woods we have 3(3!) cases per 100,000 people and so I cannot see why we should have to lockdown in the same way that Bolton needs to when their rates are at 190! The average for England is 16 so surely we aren't at a point where we need to take the same approach everywhere? Part of the reason I'm ranting so much is that after 2 weeks back at school I'm finally getting my Izzy back again. She has thrived with the social interactions school gives her and (although she complains about it) has loved being back. Instead of the morose, withdrawn gir...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more