Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

 I'm beginning to feel that running a marathon is a goal I may not achieve. 2 weeks ago I managed 16 miles, but the last 3 were horrible. This week I ran a really nice first 10 miles, started to feel my knee tighten at 11, stopped to cross a road at 11.5 and it blew completely, leaving me on the side of the road, 5 miles from home in the rain, unable to put any weight on it. Ouch, ouch, ouch.  The good news is that we have lovely neighbours and Elizabeth (a runner herself, more successfully than me) came and rescued me with freshly cooked brownies and a warm jumper. The bad news is that I cant see how this situation is going to resolve itself in the next 6 weeks. Time is ticking. The grown up part of me says this is supposed to be a de-stressing activity, a challenge but fun. It says I have a number of other challenges this year to do - runs, rides and walks - I need to concentrate on the bigger picture. It also reminds me that I have a job to do and hobbling a...

I've probably started the blog a hundred times on how fast time seems to pass, but this photo that Jo sent us this week just sums it up perfectly. Over the holidays we had the pleasure of meeting the newest Obbard (a pink one!) and we reminisced about the times they've all spent together, and how fast they've all grown up. Miss Eleanor Charlotte Holly Obbard is so very cute - much as I can take or leave a baby boy, a little girl brings very different emotions and I could happily have held her for hours. So now we are all back into the work and school and it feels like the holidays were 10 weeks rather than 10 days ago. My new job seems to be shaping up just fine - lots to do but I'm feeling incredibly energised by it all - and the girls are pleased to be back into the routine of classes and clubs. That is, apart from the earlier mornings - none of us are loving that. This weekend Abi came home all excited - she has her own licence trial and she is so excited about...

Quick post as after 2 fun filled, rainy but glorious weeks off its back to work tomorrow and if I don't get a reasonably early night I will be a very grumpy lady in the morning. Actually it's a soft landing to start with - I have a day without meetings, I'm in Reading and Glenn is bringing the girls in to meet me for lunch. Not all bad then. Today was a day of contrasts. One of my 'to do's' was to muck out the kids rooms and more importantly their drawers, over the last months it seems we have put more in and haven't taken anything out, to the point where every time they search for a particular item everything else goes everywhere. This meant I had to hold them at bay while I pulled it all out asking the question "does it fit, do you wear it?". Of course they didn't want to get rid of all kids of stuff that they've grown out of so it escalated into WW3 and we all ended up shouting. I then went downstairs to find they'd trashed the p...

And so another year starts - welcome in 2016! After a quiet (ish - massive fireworks at midnight woke the household) New Year's Eve we had our now annual New Year's Day trip to Sandbanks to blow out the cobwebs and see in the new year. I love this day out - it's always a coffee in Cafe Jazz before a wind swept walk along the beach running in and out of the tide and then off to a restaurant for a big lunch. Today was no different, with the wind blowing as strongly as I've ever seen it and the beach full of people walking, swimming (always a few, looked very chilly today), playing and making the most of the amazing stretch of sand. I love the beach in the winter, wrapped up against the cold and seeing the waves crash in. So much more than the summer when I really don't like beaches - all a matter of preference. This year I'm not planning on setting any resolutions, other than to try and always be thoughtful, patient and kind to myself and others - common sen...

Phew, sneeze and it's all over, all but the final few days of 2015 that is. Izzy and I had a lovely time in Lapland, despite agreeing it probably wasn't our thing. The reality is that we are not a Christmassy family, and so Santa hunting isn't going to cut it, and we prefer a more balanced holiday than this. The cold weather meant that you are either out doing something organised, or inside eating or vegging. Given we weren't doing enough of the first to deserve the second, it didn't feel like the best use of time for me, but we did enjoy the proper snow, we loved the big wide expanses of snow covered forests and the Reindeer racing was great fun. I'm still stunned but how quickly you can knock up a proper snowman when you have proper snow, and it was great to have one on one time, albeit for Izzy this meant watching reruns on Animal Planet mostly. It's also a long way, and eye wateringly expensive. I'm glad we went, it didn't make me wish I'd ...

4 more days to go - almost there! This weekend we have mostly been drinking tea and catching up with family. On Friday we snuck the girls out early from school and headed to Taunton for Christmas Part 1. Of course the girls couldn't imagine seeing Christmas presents with their names on them without asking in a range of endearing ways if they could open "just one". And of course, when one is opened it's fair game and they want to do the lot. As far as I'm concerned I would rather they open presents over the course of a few occasions - at least this way there is a small chance they pause and reflect on what they've been give and by whom. The theme was very appropriately a mox of babies and horses - perfect for our two. While we concentrated on catching up with everyone and quick site visits to see what home improvements have been completed in the last 6 months (all looking very smart), Glenn ventured out on the Tri Ride which we used to do every Saturday mor...

We are definitely into the final dash to Christmas and it's getting busier by the day. Why is it that at this time of year, regardless of your line of work or activity, everything needs to be packed into the last few days of December? I was reflecting last week (as I tried to fit yet another meeting into an already rammed diary) that at no other time of the year do we do this. There's something about the turn of the year that stops people from putting time into the diary post new year - it's as though it's invisible! At least this should mean I have a few quiet days before next year starts to rev up and disappear before our eyes. The last week or so has been overshadowed by all things four legged. Amanda, Alex and the boys spent a lovely, if brief, 24 hours with us last weekend. They are currently feeling a bit sore after making the incredibly difficult decision to take Lily back to the rescue home she came from, a decision made after a long series of events of dete...