Skip to main content

Phew...

Another win for Izzy & team!
Well that's January pretty much done - a whirlwind of school, work and play as ever. I'm trying not to wish the time away, but I'm only too conscious that February is a short month and then it's March and then forget it... summer will be upon us and then it will be 2023!!  

This week we have been looking forward to the summer and decided to throw Covid caution to the wind and book a holiday. Glenn and I have been determined that we would find somewhere new to stay, with the girls equally determined that we go back to Jerry and Pauline's again. While we absolutely love them, we are more than ready for a bit more luxury than it offers, not least for someone to have cleaned under the bed and put some sheets on the bed that are less than 25 years old!

Knowing the pressure was on, we spent a few evenings looking for the perfect place - same area but more modern - preferably with enough room for others if they chose to join us. We finally came across what looks like an amazing place outside a village called Monpazier. It has 4 bedrooms, a lovely looking pool and was very recently refurbished so ricks all the boxes. Izzy was immediately sold on the idea having seen the photos (they'll look good on Instagram). Abi was a bit harder to win over but finally came round to it. Simon and Sharron then got on the case and they have booked into a hotel in the village so the plan is coming together nicely.


The final question is whether Kerrie and Elsie could join us. Kerrie couldn't face the long drive down so we hatched a plan today whereby we will drive down the Friday / Saturday and she, Abi and Elsie will follow by plane on the Monday. We can pick them up and as longa s we dont all want to go somewhere by car (we wont have enough seats) we will be laughing! I am trying not to think too hard about who is going to be the responsible adult out of the 3 of them - but as Kerrie said, she'll be 32 by then - surely she can get on a plane and get to France!

It is so good to think that we might be moving away from the relentless pressure of the last 2 years of pandemic. This week BoJo threw all caution into the bin and has pretty much scrapped all the Covid rules. While I think this makes sense - we have to learn to live with it - I suspect it's more to do with the fact he's being investigated by the met police as well as his own internal affairs team. Never mind, we'll take it whatever the reason. 

Also this week I have been suffering from a cold which I think is far worse than most people's experience of Covid these days. I have been sleeping really poorly and so I'm knackered which isn't great when work has been so busy. We are starting to get back into going back to the office so there is also the shift in routines to get used to. While I'm keen to get back in a few days a week, the trains are still operating on a reduced service and so it's not quite as easy as it seems. It will all come back in time so I'm trying to accept what will be will be. I've been trying to take it easy this weekend as a bit of recovery time but its quite a challenge - there is always so much to fit in.

So Sunday night again and the brink of another week. Laurie will be 16 this week - if that doesn't make us all feel old I don't know what does. Mind you, Ben has been off travelling to Serbia and Switzerland this week with his videography business - maybe he can give Kerrie and Abi some travel tips!!

The gorgeous Elsie - growing up
so quickly

  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ypres

Walking around the lake in Ypres while waiting for the rugby to finish! A wet Monday evening after a lovely long weekend away in Ypres - just the two of us and just what I needed after what has been a relatively stressful few months of decision making. The decision is now made however and on Monday I resigned my job in order to join a new company in January. This will be the same role, but a company that hopefully offers more long term stability than my current one. It's been hard going through the initial round of telling people.Despite only being there for 7 months I've made some good friends and very quickly become established and everybody who I've told has been happy for me but very sad that I'm going - it hasn't made it easy. I do feel like I've been through the mill a bit this year - what with leaving EY, ramping up to a big new role, finding out it probably didn't have the longevity I was looking for and then going through the process of finding ...

Cough, cough

Izzy - can't do a photo without rude finger gestures It's fair to say that the last couple of weeks have been rough. I managed to get the cough Mum had a while back and it has been horrible! Both Dad and Glenn seemed to get a very mild version of it but Mum and I got the full dose and I can safely say that it has been a stark reminder of just how bad a viral infection can be. It also illustrates the whole Covid experience - some get it worse than others. For me it has meant that for over 2 weeks I have had the worst cough which has left me unable to sleep properly. I still can't sleep lying down fully, and have to be propped up on pillows on my back which is not my favoured sleeping position! It has also meant that Glenn has spent the last 10 days in the spare room because I have been coughing so badly he is unable to sleep in the same room. Thank goodness we didn't all have it - we'd have shaken the house to its foundations! It has also meant that I have been exhau...

Welcome Albert James!

So this week has been full of new things - Jess and Chris have welcomed Albert James Wilkinson Rayner to the family, a tad early but all doing well apparently (and so cute!!), I started my new job, Abi has her new shed and Dad got sorted on a phone that wasn't invented before the kids were born!! I always knew this week was going to be full on and it certainly has been. The first thing I had to do was try and sort out my diary which had been filled from dawn to dusk by my predecessor with meetings. I decided to set out as I mean to go on and immediately took out those that started before 9am. While I can get into  the office for 8am , it's a pain and requires me to be on the 6:30am train which is just a bit much every day (stating the obvious). I then made it clear that we don't need to be joined at the hip for the next 4 weeks which is a sensitive process - even though he is retiring it's hard to let go and he is understandably keen that the team are looked after. ...