Month: March 2022

My weeks …. the ones with lots of running and flowers.

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This is one of my fortnightly catch ups instead of my preferred weekly posts. Last week I wanted to wait to the half marathon on Sunday to write up my race, but feeling tired I chose to wait until Monday night. We then got the Ofsted call on Monday at work and my whole week was changed.

So much has happened in the past two weeks, I don’t really know where to start. My professional life was particularly busy on both weeks, there’s a lot going on at present and its an important period of my career, change is ahead… The Ofsted inspection was a bit of a surprise (we were working on it being a bit later due to pandemic delays) and it also coincided with a Covid outbreak at work. Our town is now in the black rating for Covid, the worst on the chart. This made for a very different style of inspection as my first one leading the education department. However it was a positive experience and I was so proud of my team and students. I have been given 4 bunches of flowers in the past few days, one from my children for mothers day which is today and the others for my work on the inspection. Its lovely to be appreciated.

It has also been a busy running period. I love my parkruns but until last weekend the closest was 20 miles away, however one has now opened in our town, less than a mile from home which is much more convenient and eco friendly, no more car journeys. For the first week, we all went to help the set up and the girls ran whilst the boys cheered us on. I hadn’t been expecting to run this Saturday but a Covid cancellation of our planned activity (not us) meant I could run. Its a stunning but brutal course, 4 hills and possibly the hilliest parkrun in the country. I’m loving it, its hard but as it is only 5k manageable. Next week, I’m visiting my parents and planning on doing their local parkrun, its flat and fast, quite a contrast. In addition to the parkruns, I also managed to tick off one of the items on my 22for2022 list, run a half marathon last Sunday. It was extremely well organised and the first half was delightful, flat, a mix of the prom and country park in spring bloom, but the second half was definitely much harder with a few steep hills. I was so pleased to have completed it, especially as its only five months following my foot operation. My next running challenge is to complete 50 parkruns and then I’ll need to think of a new goal. I do like a little running challenge.

Family time has been quite limited in the past fortnight, I worked late this week due to Ofsted and my son has been away on scout camp this weekend. However last Saturday we all made pizzas from scratch. We have a different theme each Saturday as our special meal of the week. The pizzas were fun to make and delicious and simply quality family time. This week with my son away we did Chinese as he’s not keen in it and we love it.

Unusually, we’re not together next weekend either as we’re off to our parents separately, the boys are off to Grandad’s to see a special car show and do some jobs for him and the girls are off to my parents for shopping and a catch up. Then we’ll be back together for lots of family time, especially during the Easter holiday.

This week I’m looking forward to a quiet, non eventful week, i need one!

My weeks … with a few too many tough times.

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Sometimes, life just doesn’t work out how we would like it to and I’m feeling a bit sad at present. Its not one thing, just a perfect storm at home of teenage angst, sibling rivalry and jealousy and whilst I try to compartmentalise my life, work is pretty horrible too. I am looking for a new job but working in such a niche position means that this is challenging. I did have an interview this week but despite positive feedback was told that I needed a greater breadth of experience in my field. I am finding that looking for a job is very time consuming, preparing a stand out application form and then all the work to prepare for the interview. I am still a bit bruised from my experience last week and have another interview tomorrow. However, Mr S is really good at not only comforting me but offering a sense of perspective and encouragement and I feel ready for the next interview.

It was pancake this past fortnight and for the first time ever, I had a total fail at pancakes. I have no idea what happened, I make them as a treat throughout the year and have never had a problem, yet this Shrove Tuesday, they stuck to the pan (regardless of the quantity of oil) It just seemed to sum up my week, but in fairness we all laughed it off and I’ve promised to practice again soon.

With all the focus on work, there’s not been much time for other things. I have been burning my fancy candle to enjoy little pleasures on challenging days. I have escaped into books, I’ve never seen the film Wonder, and was keen to read the story which was wonderful, a five star read. I’m around half way through The Light We Lost, which is very readable. I’m finding that I don’t have the desire to sit through any of the gritty dramas or thrillers on tv at present, the one programme I am watching is The Marvellous Mrs Maisel, I love the fashion and style of the drama which is full of brilliant characters.

When things get you down its always good to recognise the nice bits in life. On my way to school one morning this week, I saw a group of women in the sea jumping the waves, their laughter filled the bay and their happiness was infectious. I also took the children to the swimming pool as they were keen to return to the inflatables they had done in the half term and their enjoyment helped me too. I did miss parkrun one Saturday but returned this week, the best prescription for a tough week. One of the presenters of my favourite podcast, With Me Now had visited one of our local parkruns and I really enjoyed listening to the podcast as his report did reflect its great setting and friendly feel. Its a big week for me running wise next week, a secret venue on Saturday and then my first half marathon race for well over a decade on Sunday. I think my time as a 48 year old won’t quite reflect my PB as a 36 year old but my aim is to run every step and enjoy it. Given all the issues I had with my foot, I am so pleased to be able to even start a half marathon 5 months after my operation.

I am hoping for a good week, fingers crossed everything works out.