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Happy birthday to me

Izzy's birthday cake for me...
we are none of us sure she nailed
the design!!!
All I want for my birthday is planning permission... and some work surfaces in the kitchen... and a house that is registered with the council so that we can try and sort a phone line and internet services... and the list goes on (and on and on). This Saturday we did our normal trip to see how the Barn is progressing and I will admit to feeling pretty disheartened. We arrived to find that the dripping pipe we had pointed out in the utility room last weekend was still dripping, and instead of being a small leak, quickly fixed, it was now a huge damp patch all over the back wall. When Glenn touched the plaster board it disintegrated in his hands, leaving a huge hole - great! I feel like we are one step forward (this week Glenn made the surround for the bins / log stack and the block paving almost got finished) and three steps back (utility room / painting still not finished / media room plug socket still not moved etc. etc. etc.). Anyway, enough of my whinging about builders - I'm hoping soon this will be a dim and distant memory and we will be enjoying sipping something nice on the terrace watching the sun go down...

On the plus side, the Barn is proving to be brilliantly located and when we were down this weekend Kerrie, Mum and Dad and Amanda all popped over to say happy birthday. Amanda sent me a text to ask if we were there and was with us 15 minutes later - how cool is that?! I'm so looking forward to being able to see everyone without it being a huge logistical exercise. The idea of being able to walk with Kerrie on the beach, or with Mum and Dad (or anyone else in fact) is so exciting. 

Kerrie is looking so well - she is now 6 months pregnant and blooming, She now has a proper bump and there's no denying there's a little one in there. We can't wait to be close so that we can be with her through the last weeks and then on hand when bubs arrives. The girls are a bit worried that they aren't going to get enough chance to babysit - I suspect they'll be fed up of her before too long!

This week also marked the monumental milestone of the kids returning to school at last. They went off on Monday dressed in sports kit (all a bit on the small side) and despite the requirement to wear masks all day it was like they'd never been away. They came home tired but happy and it was a pleasure on Tuesday afternoon to see them sitting down to do their prep without being pushed, clear on what they needed to do and motivated to get on and do it. On Wednesday evening it was the same - they both sorted out their science folders and took real pride in making sure they had all their notes together in one place. By the end of the week they were tired but in a good way - tired from having done something.

On my part it's been a strange week of transition. I was so keen for the girls to go back to school but the house was quiet without them and I found it weird not having to fill the spaces in between meetings with a run around the house checking everyone is working! I also have been relegated again to the position of parent rather than bestie - of course they no longer need me in the way they have over the past few months while they have had no normal social interaction. It's that closeness that I've missed this week more than anything else, but I'd trade that for them having a normal existence and their own friends any day. 

So we now have less than a month in theory until we move - the countdown proper is beginning!

Home clothes day for 
World Book Day - happy girls!

 

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