Oh Dear!

It’s quite shocking how long it has been since my last blog post.

What can I say?  The summer has been rather challenging and hasn’t left me much time or head space for writing and so I have felt that there has been little to blog about.

Summer is always difficult, trying to juggle work and childcare.  Although the boys are a bit older now and don’t need constant supervision, I can’t just abandon them for the duration – no matter how much they might like me to.

I did have a couple of weeks off, but unfortunately on my way to work my car died 20 miles away from home – literally – the engine conked out and I had to be towed all the way home.  Not a pleasant experience. It made me realise just how much I rely on my car, just to function, as I live in an area where you can’t do anything without having wheels.  The car was eventually resurrected because it was worth nothing for scrap but every journey in it now gives me the hibigeebees.  I’ve just lost faith in it.  

At the beginning of September my step-son got married which involved a degree of organisation and also an influx of guests.  My husband has a big Irish family who were staying in various houses around Chester and all needed to be catered for – they all give us such good hospitality when we go over there so only right to reciprocate.

And of course the summer wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory visits to A&E, and yes the plural word of visit is the one I meant to use – well that’s my boys.

So, the summer was stressful and exhausting but the wedding turned out to be a brilliant day, and didn’t my boys scrub up well?  Spot the child who caused one of the A&E visits.  As it was a rural wedding it wouldn’t be complete without a tractor either.

All Over!

It’s incredible isn’t it? We spend months preparing for Christmas and then its all over in a flash. Every year I sit down to Christmas dinner and wonder what all the fuss was about.

But I’m not being Ba Humbug anymore. Christmas is such hard work but I do love the giving of presents. Seeing the boys' faces light up as they open their presents. And sometimes the smallest of things bring the biggest delights - like the packs of Go Go’s - small plastic toys which are collectables and cost about a pound - which were the winning gifts this year.

 

I did have a lucky escape though. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve I put all the boys’ presents in the cupboard under the boiler in our spare bedroom. Normally I keep them in the wardrobe but I don’t like filling the sacks from there in case the rustling wakes them up. All was fine on Christmas Eve but overnight the boiler developed a leak and flooded the cupboard beneath. If it had happened a few hours earlier - well I don’t like to think!

 

We had a quiet Christmas Day, just the four of us. We went to church in the morning, the boys were shepherds in the nativity and it was lovely to sing all the carols. It was nice to take a few moments to remember the real meaning of Christmas which often gets lost amongst all the commercialism. Then we went for a drink in our local and met up with friends before dinner and an evening in front of the Christmas tele.

 

Boxing Day wasn’t quite so relaxing as we invited both families round. At one point the house was filled with twenty five people including eight children, so it was a little chaotic at times but nice to see everyone together.

 

Now its over and this is the time of year I really look forward to. No work, no school and once all the family commitments are fulfilled, I can slob out in my PJ’s until lunchtime, reading, writing and just doing exactly what I want.

 

What’s that darling? You want to play on the Wii? No problem!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas too!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Yesterday I was poleaxed with a really bad headache – not a great start for NaNoWriMo, but I managed to redeem myself later.

Having two young children doesn’t go hand in hand with illness so usually I drag myself out of bed and just get on with it no matter how bad I’m feeling.

But yesterday it was impossible, I just felt as though my whole head was being crushed in a vice.

Fortunately, hubby was around so he was able to take the boys to school. They were a little concerned though because they are not used to seeing me take to my bed. I reassured them that it was just a headache and I would probably be OK to pick them up later.

By the afternoon I was feeling a little better, mainly thanks to super strength pain killers, but as hubby called in from work he offered to pick them up while I pottered gently around the house.

I managed to pull myself together enough to take the boys to their swimming lessons but afterwards was exhausted so went for another little lie down.

At bedtime my youngest was worried but I reassured him that after a good night’s sleep I would be back on form. Quite rightly he pointed out that I had said that I would be OK to pick them up from school but I hadn’t. Cue guilt complex!

Later the older one asked me if bad headaches could cause brain damage. Nice one I didn’t think I was acting that badly. When I said no he answered:

“But you’ve had a bad headache today and earlier you forgot something.”

I was tempted to tell him that that happens as you get older or when you’re juggling so many things at once that you’re bound to let something slip but instead I asked, “What did I forget?”

His answer was “I can’t remember.”

Can’t win can you?