5 (and a bit) things this week

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And so to another week. Its been a week of meetings and waiting desperately for the actions, three meetings in and we’re still awaiting for just one action to be made which would help our family. As a consequence all my 5 things of the week have happened mainly in the past 24 hours.

Saturdays are always my favourite day of the week, I love my weekly parkrun and then we try to do something together. I did think our plans this week were quite ambitious as we tried to make everyone’s plans work into my taxi schedule but we did it and all had a great day doing our things, some of which just organically developed. I even managed my first night out since Mr S accident. It was also a day which I felt was more like 36 hours than 24, our achievements were that impressive! One of the highlights of the day was a trip to the driving range. We had lunch out and I realised that we were a few minutes away from a crazy golf course, that being our mum/son thing to do. When we arrived at the big golfing complex, I asked him if he wanted crazy golf or the driving range, as I had played here before and knew there were fun games. ( An unexpected perk of my job) He chose the range and absolutely loved it. He reckoned it could be his summer sport as the football season ends soon, freeing up Saturdays until August. We had so much fun and I also would like to do a bit more golf this summer. The driving range is my limit though, I don’t think I have the time and patience for a game of golf.

It was so nice last night to go out and meet up with some old friends at a party. It also took fine organisation. Mr S needs his rest and as part of his recovery is in bed nightly at 7.30pm. I needed to have everyone in bed and settled before I could leave. I worried that if I got dressed the children would notice I was going out and then visit each others’ rooms and awaken Mr S. So we did our night time routines and then I quickly changed and went to the party, I felt like a teenager sneaking out of the house. The host is a friend through different groups, a former colleague and also a school mum, so there were lots of old friends at the party. I spent the night catching up with everyone’s news and just chilling on a beautiful spring night in the garden enjoying a wonderful live band (and a very loud DJ)

I’ve needed lots of distraction this week and finished the book Sincerely Me and am zooming through Love Nina, an autobiographical tale of being a nanny in London n the early 80s. Love Nina, is highly entertaining and makes you love Alan Bennett even more. Sincerely Me made me reflect on our ability to love and care and the wise words and reflections we can all make.

My final thing of the week was Christmas pudding for tea. Mr S and our son (not so much our daughter) love Christmas pudding and seeing as Christmas 2023 was a very low key affair after Mr S’ accident I picked up a few post Christmas treats to enjoy over the months. Today we had our last pudding, possibly my best food bargain ever at 20p. Like my daughter I don’t get madly excited about Christmas pudding but it did seem quirky to be having it on the May bank holiday. The boys reckoned the puddings will be back in the shops in October, so just another 5 months until they can have their next.

I definitely got v excited this week as it was announced the last ever Gavin and Stacey will air on Christmas Day. I love this series and cannot wait for the finale. Corden and Jones are excellent writers and they never disappoint. Christmas 2024 already seems magical!

5 things this week …

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I know I have started the past two weeks’ entries in saying that the week has been challenging, but this last week has really been the worst of times. I read somewhere that when times are so bad that you can’t see the future to simply take one minute at a time and this is advice I have tried to follow this week. There have been moments of quiet counting and breathing.

Despite all that has happened, there always needs to be sparkles and somehow I’ve managed to find five from this past week. They may be small but have been so valuable and needed in my week.

Firstly it is now less than 100 days to our cruise, never will a holiday have been so needed and wanted. Holiday shopping on Vinted continues to go well, although its always difficult to buy for a sunny season when its been so cold and wet for months now.

To add some colour to the grey days I bought my regular bunch of £2.49 tulips from Aldi, a little bonus when doing the long journey to pick up my daughter from her boyfriend’s house, which has a lovely Aldi en route. I really rate Aldi’s flowers and am looking forward to the upcoming peony season. Fresh flowers always bring me joy.

Another way of adding colour to my day was the pink parkrun cap I picked up on Vinted. It is only available in Australia so when I saw a new one in original packaging, worked out the Australian price conversion and realised it was a great price, I bought it. I got lots of admiration for it on Saturday’s parkrun, I know I will get a lot of wear out of it.

Blossom is a new word game I have discovered online. This week I have spent a lot of time in the A&E department of a hospital over two different days. As both were sudden visits, I didn’t have anything to keep me amused on the long waits so discovered this game online. I love a word quiz and this is my style of games, just needing to compete against myself. I have now packed my Kindle into my handbag so if I am in a similar situation again, I have something to read. I also made sure I had drinks with us before we went the second time as its so hot in the department.

My fifth thing of the week was a suggestion from this week’s Happier podcast, on writing your autobiography in 24 sensations. I had listened to the podcast and then the hours at the hospital gave me time to think of some strong memories and the senses they invoked. I then spent about half an hour jotting it down in my notebook, a lovely little exercise to remember family and friends over the years.

5 things this week ..

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Its been another hard week, when so much that has happened will go unsaid on this entry. My motto is simply ‘that this too will pass’ and life will become happier and healthier for us all. I have felt blessed by friends checking in this week, kind words help you feel less alone and overwhelmed.

As a consequence of a funny old week, there are some quite random things in my 5 thing list, starting with chewing gum. I’m not a big gum eater, simply because I don’t really like mint flavouring nor the mess gum can cause. However, I have discovered biodegradable watermelon gum and its a game changer, I have driven many miles this week, around 400, so a little burst of watermelon has been nice.

On my many journeys I have been listening to the radio and podcasts, Marian Keyes is promoting her new book and has appeared a few times in my listening. I love Marian Keyes her voice has been a tonic and she is so engaging, witty and wise. I particularly enjoyed her appearance on Dish, which is such an entertaining podcast.

On Saturday, I completed a parkrun challenge with a friend, to do all the parkruns in Dorset. That’s 9 different parkruns, over quite a large area. Again I’ve been working out the miles and it was about 440 miles of travelling to visit all the parkruns. It was unusual yesterday to go to a place simply for the parkrun, its taken me nearly 5 years to do this challenge and generally the parkrun has been part of a family day out. However as no no one else fancied the very early start of 7.15am it was me and my neighbour who headed off to Bridport. It was the perfect parkrun day, gorgeous sunny weather, super friendly park runners and team and just a great atmosphere. It seemed the right place to celebrate our achievement. Bridport is a fabulous little town, it was market day and the town was bustling in the spring sunshine, the surprise of a steel band playing in the square provided a beautiful spring soundtrack.

Despite the heavier traffic, we were home for lunch and it was the first al fresco lunch of the year. I am such a summer person and after another wet week, the sunshine was very welcome.

As I write this I have the London marathon playing in the background, one of my favourite Sunday afternoon tv events of the year. I’m in awe of the elites, but the stories of the ‘mass’ are always so emotional and I am in bits, I have so much respect for those who run a marathon. As much as I love my running, I do think a half marathon is my limit.

Apart from the usual clubs and activities, it’s looking quiet next week, after this week I really am hoping for an uneventful, even boring week..

5 things this week ..

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There is an observation that people present a different version of themselves online. I have always maintained this blog as a happy place, full of sparkles, special memories of ordinary moments to big celebrations. I am writing this week’s blog under the shadow of what has been a really difficult week for our family, in which it has been hard to find the positives. It would be easier not to write this week, perhaps in years to come I’ll be able to reflect on what we’ve gone through, now is not the time. However I still (just) believe that there are always little moments of happiness, glimmers in the darkness.

And so to the second week of the holiday and more driving …. I did help Mr S fill in his driving reapplication form this week as he awaits a GP appointment to confirm he is fit to drive. I am definitely counting down the days until we can share the load again. For example, tonight, Monday, I have done a full day at work, picked up my son en route from work, taken him to football training in one town and then had to go back to collect my daughter in another town in the opposite direction, making it a 13 hour day from leaving home to getting back. Its bonkers… However back to last week and a very middle aged trip to the garden centre, which was blooming. I’ve never been a keen gardener simply for time reasons and a very enthusiastic husband. I like to think that when I retire I’ll take on this new hobby but until then, I like a trip to simply see the colours and visit the café and farm shop! Cafes have again been a feature of this week, I feel I could do a guide on local roads (where to avoid the the very many potholes) and local cafes. I am more for the Indie coffee shops but on a trip to big town with my son, I quickly did my jobs, including possibly finding my straw bag for the summer, so I could sit in a café with my book and a coffee whilst he was with friends. I had just sat down with my coffee, when I got the call from my son that as some had gone to get their buses home, he would come back to me early, so no quiet moment for me. One of my #24for 24 is to try the full coffee menus as I always stick to a cappuccino. I have been varying my choices, the cinnamon flat white was undrinkable, but my americano this week was better if not a little strong, leaving me buzzing. I feel I need to switch to decaf going forward.

This week, we decided to use some of our Tesco vouchers for Disney + so we could watch the second series of Welcome to Wrexham. Its the perfect series for us to watch, and our son has been taken by it too, he’s a couple of weeks short of his 15th birthday so we have allowed him to watch it as long as we don’t hear him swearing.

On Saturday, we watched another great football game at our local league club, my son’s team are doing so well at present and were very unlucky not to have won the game, settling for a draw. Our son is so lucky with the teams he gets to watch, this week it was Man Utd and by the end of the season he will have seen all the Premier league clubs bar West Ham (holiday clash) I was talking about this with a friend and the teams I used to watch growing up, supporting my local team were definitely not as glamorous or skilled! Its been interesting watching some England players play for their league teams, Phil Foden was amazing but others have not impressed as I felt they should.

As I am writing this on Monday, I am already back at school and of course the holiday feels a memory now. I am over my busiest day of the week, so things are looking up.

5 things this week

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And so to the first week of the holidays which I am relieved has been the most restful week for months. Christmas and February holidays were simply about Mr S’ accident and recovery and particularly at half term, the week was full of medical appointments. This week he had none which is a reflection of his improved health and wellbeing. We purposefully kept this week quiet and simple. I just needed a week where I wasn’t driving everyone, everywhere all the time.

That is not to say that i haven’t driven this week, I’ve still put the miles in, just fewer than in a typical week. On Tuesday night I had to drive in such awful weather, the driving rain where your windscreen wipers simply can’t keep up and windy conditions which slightly rock your car. I was very relieved to get to the football safely and grateful that the weather had calmed down for the drive home. I like a night match, its a different atmosphere with flares and fireworks and the game played under floodlights. Fortunately it was a 1-0 win for our team, I had thought in such conditions that it would end as a goalless draw so was delighted for the win and to spend the evening with my son in his happy place. It was lovely that it was school holiday and no early start the next day.

This week, I have caught up on some key medical appointments. I have reached the age where I am entitled to a breast screening and by coincidence I needed a cervical smear too. Not the most exciting plans for the week but definitely the most valuable time spent this week.

We have made the most of the fleeting promising weather and on two different days took walks along different parts of the Coastal path, there is nothing as good for the soul as sunshine on your face and the smell, taste and feel of the sea air. Of course, there is always a cafe stop on such trips too. My scone on Friday’s walk was top level, with fresh berries decorating the pot of clotted cream ready to melt onto the warm scone. By coincidence the lady who came to sit on the adjacent table was a former colleague who has recently been in the news for a wonderful feat. It was lovely to see her, congratulate her in person and hear of her national tv and media appearances.

Our big holiday is getting closer and closer, with 17 weeks until sail day. I know how summer becomes a big melee of events, so am trying to do as much as possible in advance. I am so excited to visit Barcelona and see Gaudi’s work on a guided tour from the ship. This week I have been researching the places we will visit so I know what to look for and helpful tips to make the most of my time in Barcelona. It’s nice to have this ready so I’m prepped and ready to go.

This weekend my parents came to visit and it was nice to have time with them, they did so much for us when Mr S was ill and it was great to relax with them. Whilst we couldn’t have an alfresco lunch, seven of us sat around our large kitchen table, with delicious fresh olive bread, cheeses, hams, dips and crisps, happily chatting and laughing. It is always the little ordinary moments that bring the best memories.

I’m delighted to have another week of holidays, this week has fewer plans so I feel this gives time to be creative and relax. Sometimes its wonderful to have the time ‘to be’

5 things this week ..

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I seem to be having very confused thoughts on the title of this post, its either called My week in 5, or 5 Things this Week. I think i prefer the former but don’t have the energy or to be honest, the inclination to go back and rename my posts this year.

This week saw the end of term on Thursday and the early Easter weekend. I can’t decide how I feel about this. I was busy this week so the decorations didn’t go up until Friday evening, which I feel is less time to enjoy them (and I’ve just realised I’ve forgotten to put up my new mantelpiece garland and can’t remember where I put it away safely) There is the thought that having celebrated Easter in the first few days we have more time to relax and enjoy the holiday now but countered against it is not having the time to prepare and ‘be’ in the Easter celebrations. We are actually seeing family for the next two weekends so I suppose we will be taking some of the Easter traditions, time with family, spring meals etc.. to these weekends.

At home, this week we have had the decorator in to paint the downstairs shower room and the children’s new snook (aka playroom) I was a bit worried by the choice of bold colours but we’re delighted with the results. In the montage above is the shower room, its always previously been painted in pastel, light colours but I really think this teal makes it look stylish. The emerald glade green in the snook looks great too but I will wait until we have new furniture and accessories to showcase this room.

Our Easter weekend was a quiet one, but as explained earlier we will have family visiting for the next two weekends. On Good Friday, I had my car’s MOT in ‘big’ town. Normally Mr S and I would simply swap cars for the day but with him unable to drive I needed a different plan and working full time it was a bank holiday MOT. The children were delighted by this as very close by is the big swimming pool with all the slides and rides, so they went there whilst the MOT was carried out. I did think that my car might not pass its MOT as it hasn’t felt right recently and I knew I had a slow puncture as in the past week or so I’ve had to inflate one tyre twice. It did fail but I just got the garage to replace the brake discs and pads and the tyre and it then passed. It was an expensive afternoon but necessary.

Following my expensive Friday, I went to the out of town shopping centre on Saturday afternoon. I went here as Mr S wanted to try a full football match with our son, so I dropped them off and then drove to the shops which were very close. I’m not a fan of out of town shopping malls, they seem to lack the character of town centres but this was convenient to the afternoon’s plans. Despite the number and size of shops it was one of those disappointing trips where nothing excites you and I bought very little. In fact apart from a coffee, I spent no money. I used my Boots points to buy a fancy lip colour and vouchers to buy the poetry book. I always save my Boot points for treats and got lots of free samples from the Clarins counter too, so felt very pleased with my goodies. I have already read the poetry book, it is so good and resonated with me at this time, I need ‘comforting words to strengthen your soul’ As we enter April I do feel that although its going to be a rocky few months with GCSEs, the future is looking brighter. Mr S can go for his driving medical later this month and hopefully drive again from Mid June and with the end of exams and school, my daughter may become happier and relaxed. We paid the final instalment of our cruise this week and do not think that a holiday will ever have been so needed and deserved.

It was lovely on Saturday to see the first real Spring day of the year, blue skies and the sun’s warmth on your face. It was a stunning parkrun in the sunshine and as a busy seaside resort, our numbers doubled from our normal weekly total. Our core team always do special things so there was chocolate at the end and lots of fancy dress. As car park Marshall, pre run, I donned a pair of chick glasses to celebrate the occasion.

Easter Sunday is important to me and I always do a special meal. Sadly this year the recipes didn’t impress as much as normal. I chose as our main from the Asda magazine, a beetroot and celeriac galette. Whilst I love celeriac is just didn’t work in this recipe which was disappointing. I also made key lime pies, using spring flower moulds. I found these too sweet which is surprising for me as I definitely have a very sweet tooth. Next year I may end to do a mock run to ensure an excellent Easter lunch.

It’s the first full week of holidays this week, I’m writing on Tuesday. I have lots of appointments as I need to use my time wisely, but also lots of time to relax and spend as a family.

My week in 5 …

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It has been a busy week and one in which I did a lot of driving, particularly in the evenings. On dark nights, our country roads can be dangerous as deer often jump out and I did scream one night when I missed one by centimetres. My heart was beating furiously and the large deer just sauntered across the road, oblivious to what had just happened.

On Tuesday evening, my daughter and I went to see some of my students perform in the Shakespeare in Schools festival at the main theatre in town. This is such an impressive accomplishment as they have complex learning needs and have worked so hard to achieve what they did. The students did receive a standing ovation and there were tears in my eyes of pride and joy. Even my hard to impress daughter was moved by the performance.

As well as late night I have also had early mornings, and seeing as my daily alarm goes off at 6am, the earlier alarm was tough. I needed to pop into B&Q en route to work to pick up some paints for a decorating project. I was there by 7.15 and got all the items required for the work. We have been wishing to decorate our shower room and transform the play room to a teenage den for a while and had pencilled it in for the spring. However with Mr S accident, DIY is not possible and we have booked a local decorator to do the work for us. We have gone for some bold colours, emerald glade for the den and a teal for the shower room. I feel that neutral accessories with a twist will tone down the room. I wanted a real colour than neutrals, lets live life in technicolour!

With all my driving I have been catching up on my podcasts and have listened to some great interviews, particularly with inspiring women. I was really wowed by Nisha Katina, a barrister who then built the Mongolian Street Food chain of restaurants and then by the Antarctic Fire Angels, Rebecca and Georgina who skied to the South Pole. On Friday night I was captivated by the progress of the ultra runner Jasmin Paris, who became the first female finisher of the Barclay Ultra, an utterly nuts race. The only way to follow is on Twitter with updates from ‘Keith’ and there was lots of refreshing to see if Paris could do it, to come in just 90 seconds off the cutoff was brilliant. Sometimes you simply have to stop and applaud incredible physical and mental success.

Finally, I have definitely become a Vinted fan. I am on my way to getting my whole cruise wardrobe with my favourite brands for a fraction of the price I would have paid on the high street. I love my new Seasalt skirt, a steal at £4.50 as it is in mint condition. I have also bought three pairs of shorts, White Stuff, Fat Face and Boden, for just over £10 combined and again in amazing condition. Having just finished reading Fast Fashion, it makes me feel that I am trying to counter the throwaway clothing so easily available.

Next week is a four day week, which of course at work we’re all trying to convince ourselves is half a week! It’ll be a good week with lots of Easter treats and fun, and then its a two and a bit Easter holiday, only second to the summer on my league table of school holidays.

My week in 5

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I was considering doing 10 things this fortnight when I realised that as some of my highlights are repeats I may as well just do my five. I didn’t manage to do this post last week as I was feeling pretty rough on Sunday and spent most of Mother’s Day, on the sofa cuddled up to my blanket. Life is so full on at present, I did need this day to simply recover for the coming week.

Yesterday saw the end of what seems to have been weeks of parkrun celebrations, our parkrun’s 100th event and then 2nd birthday, and my 100th overall and then 50th at my home parkrun. I did celebrate my 100th with a sparkling badge and tutu and cakes, but was happy to do a quiet run yesterday after my shout out. I am proud of my 100, it took nearly 5 years, but in my defence there was a 70 week COVID pause, as well as a period of Saturday swimming lessons, a summer season of junior cricket and recovery from foot surgery. I’m hoping to do my next 150 a little more efficiently, hopefully within the next 5 years for my next milestone of 250. Until then its a welcome return to the gentle plod of a Saturday run, slowly building up my numbers and maybe ticking off a challenge or town on the 5k app. What will happen first stopwatch bingo, 11 to go or my 250?

There’s been a lot of football in the past fortnight, training and then two home league games. In both the league games, our team was down in both but managed to gain something from each game. Wednesday night’s was one with all the feels and one of the best I’ve ever been to. It was rearranged from an abandoned game in December. The game took place just days after Mr S accident and whilst I was at his bedside in hospital, grandad took our son to the game to give him a little normality in a very scary time. Unfortunately at this match, a Luton player collapsed and had to be resuscitated on the pitch and the game was quite rightly abandoned. I couldn’t quite believe what had happened as our son had then witnessed two potentially life changing incidents in a matter of days. He appears to have coped admirably with what he has seen, but it was wonderful to go to the match and see the player who had ‘died’ for two minutes come out onto the pitch to thank the medical team and fans. There were lots of tributes and special activities around the ground, a focus on CPR, charity information and fundraising, a night where life was the winner. It was a perfect midweek game, a mild, dry night, a live band playing by the outside bars, a real buzz of excitement. The game was spectacular, I don’t really know how as it was pretty evenly matched, but our team found themselves trailing 3-0 at half time. They then came back to win 4-3 on the night, in a game where the atmosphere was unbelievable and the noise incredible. It was one of those ‘I was there moments’. I also feel it was closure on a football game many years ago in 1985. My brother and I used to go to every Reading home game with my dad, but on the last game before Christmas, my dad was helping at the cubs Christmas party so mum took us to the game instead. Reading were 3-0 down at half time and mum with a long to do list for Christmas persuaded us to jump in the car and head into town as the game was lost. My dad having finished the party got to the game for the second half and watched Reading overturn the score to win 4-3. It’s one of our favourite family stories and I don’t think I have left a match early since.

As Mr S continues his recovery by going to bed very early every night, on the nights when I’m not catching up on work, I have been enjoying a film or reading books. I have watched the film ‘Are you there God, its me Margaret?’ I loved Judy Blume’s books as a tween, and yes we all passed ‘Forever’ around our class. This film is just lovely, the sense of 70s seeps through every scene and its such a feel good film, i thoroughly recommend it. I have read a lot of fiction recently so am enjoying some non fiction with ‘How to Break up with Fast Fashion’ I read a similar book many years ago but am still interested in this more recent take on our ongoing and greater obsession with fashion. At the beginning of the year I set myself a little challenge to try and source as much of my cruise wardrobe from charity and vintage shops or preloved on Vinted or EBay. Whilst I do draw the line at underwear and swimsuits, so far I am delighted by a couple of sundresses, a skirt and shorts I have got for the combined total of less than £20.

Finally this week all staff at the special needs school where I work received a delightful gift from Lush, whose factories are very close by. Lush donated beautiful candles and it was such a kind gesture that made us all feel special. Even better there are enough candles for our parents too, so that special feeling will be shared by our whole school community.

My week in 5 …

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This is another one of those weeks where it has been busy without many special events, just the mundanity of life. When life is full of Instagram images of everyone having amazing times, it is easy to forget that this is a curated medium and real life is simpler and sometimes a little bit dull.

This year, I have been reading lots, with Mr S going to bed early each night, I am switching the television off at 7pm and putting on my music and doing school work, such is the life of a teacher, and then either browsing Vinted, my new guilty pleasure, or reading. I am averaging a book a week and this week’s Us Three by Ruth Jones was read in far less time. It was a great story and with a significant part set in the 80s a great nostalgia treat. I did laugh when the characters went to a club in Cardiff which I frequented in the 90s, it hadn’t changed with time! I really admire Jones’ writing from one of the writers of my favourite comedy Gavin and Stacey (and please may the Christmas special rumours be true) to her novels, she never disappoints.

On Monday, I was on football training duty with my son. It is a fair trek to the county town but it was a beautiful sunny spring afternoon and the later sunset was spectacular. It was a treat to see my son train and enjoy his football. I will be on similar duties until Mr S can hopefully drive again in June. This cannot come quick enough as he is not the most patient passenger.

Life is so mundane this week that 2 of my 5 are work related items. I really enjoyed a lesson I taught on Welsh love spoons in which we made our own. It was one of those magical lessons where everything seemed to come together and our soundtrack of popular songs sang in Welsh was beautiful. Secondly, we are embracing world book day next week and busy creating our costumes. My class has chosen Alice in Wonderland and I’m the Mad Hatter. On Saturday afternoon I headed to the random little junk shop which has a rail of clothes for £1. I am going for mad, clashing designs and bought a velvet jacket and stripy blouse for just £2, my hat and wig has also arrived and are fabulous, I am also going for crazy odd knee length socks and odd trainers, its certainly a look!

My final thing this week was a trip on Saturday morning, yes I gave up my weekly parkrun,to go to the open day of the college my daughter hopes to go to. It was interesting and the course does look great. I was delighted to get a few freebies, teachers are always on the hunt for free pens, pads and a tote bag, all indispensable to our daily work!

5 things this week …

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This was certainly a week of running around and by Sunday afternoon, I was wrapped up in my blanket on the sofa desperately trying to finish the excellent book, ‘Hello Beautiful’ before the week started again. I would highly recommend this book, reading the blurb, it looks as if you could predict the story, however it was very different and beautiful to what I was expecting.

As the sole driver in the house at present, I always seem to be driving, life in a rural county means its many miles to anywhere. I was a bit alarmed when on Friday morning, I glanced my car’s reflection in a window and noticed one of my lights had gone. I did not need this, but I remembered the great customer service I had at Halfords a couple of years ago and that they did simple jobs onsite. I went online, ordered my part and booked a fitting slot for the next day as Halfords was on our route to football. What could have been a big drama, actually turned out to be very smooth and simple and I was even able to book my MOT for the end of the month.

My Saturday was a bit nuts, I ran my 99th parkrun, my Flake, came home cooked and ate a macaroni cheese from scratch, went to Halfords for the car repair, got to the football stadium to watch the big match and then picked up my daughter from a friends in a different town on the way home. We got home around 10ish and I was completely wiped. In really unfortunate timing, I had a 9am food delivery and then had to drive to ‘big’ town on Sunday too so Mr S could get his glasses mended and fitted. We were home by early afternoon and I had a few hours on the sofa, genuinely wondering where I had the energy for the coming week.

The highlight of the week was the football, I don’t normally go but as Mr S recovers, I am on football duty. It was a great atmosphere as the visitors were Man City, current treble holders and it did feel a little unreal to be so close to megastars. However they only scraped a 1-0 win and our team definitely deserved at least a draw. It was the best atmosphere I’ve experienced at the stadium and I was a little hoarse by the end of the game from shouting.

My final thing of the week was a new avatar to reflect my decision to stop colouring my hair, I’ve compared it above with the image in my Seaside Sparkles header which was drawn nearly a decade ago. The avatar was more for work and my class web page. I never share my photo online and use an avatar, but I felt my old picture didn’t reflect who I am now. I do think with this look, I need to be bolder with make up and accessories but that’s a task for a later date. Sadly life is so full on that I don’t really have the head space for frivolities at present.