Well I am so grateful for a quiet weekend as this week has been mad. My highlights today (apart from parkrun) were a walk along the quay and riverside of a local town and an ice cream and then buying a bunch of peonies at the market, some of life’s simple pleasures. At around this time of year I get the perfect storm of family celebrations, end of term treats at school and clubs and the humdrum of everyday life. It can be a little overwhelming and this week I did something I have never done in my 27 years of owning a car, I forgot my MOT. Fortunately I realised this on its due date, but phoning around I discovered there was no chance of getting a MOT for around 10 days in our town, so had to reorganise my week so I could go to the ‘big’ town after work and get it done at Halfords. It was a nervy drive over as I wasn’t sure where I stood on my insurance but I got over safely and I was very impressed by Halfords, I was in and out within the hour with a pass and no recommendations. Fortunately, I don’t use my car much during my working week and walk to work so not having a car made no real difference to my day.

Last Sunday was Fathers day and another family celebration, so we went to see the new Jurassic Park film. I have to admit the franchise is not really my style and I wasn’t a huge fan of the film, but those who chose it enjoyed it and I had a comfy seat for a few hours. We came home to cakes and bakes needed for the week ahead so it was busy Sunday night.

Unusually for me, I found myself out on both Monday and Tuesday evenings. Monday was for a drink on a seafront bar, the bar was on the seafront and the view was soothing and beautiful. On Tuesday, my daughter and I went to see a production at the local theatre funded through a Platinum Jubilee grant called Swim. Sea swimming has become a huge thing in our community and there are big numbers of mainly women who pop into the sea everyday of the year (not me, I run by and wave) The production was brilliant, so empowering and joyful. The production started in the theatre with a presentation of what wild swimming meant to the swimmers and there were some lovely and very thoughtful comments. Then the audience went outside where around 50 women did some choreography on the beach and in the sea, accompanied by the best summer songs, bright and gorgeous costumes and props and a huge crowd clapping and singing, it was so uplifting.

Wednesday evening was my emergency MOT so I found myself walking in the sunshine whilst I waited, listening to the latest edition of the running podcast, With Me Now, featuring a profile of my home parkrun. It was a brilliant episode and totally caught the spirit of our parkrun. I did parkrun this morning (before a quick dash to an opticians appointment) and achieved a rare groundhog day where you do exactly the same time on the same course in consecutive weeks. I never run to a watch so had not planned to do this but am chuffed to have done so!

On Thursday, I popped over to my new school to hand in some documentation and sign some forms. I am so excited about my new job and can’t wait to start, its definitely the right time for a new start professionally. At the school, there are a number of people I have worked with before, SEN is a small world, so it will be nice to see friendly faces come September. I have a new notepad and already have ideas …

I’ve not watched much tv this week, but I have been reading just before bed. The book A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning-Wroe may not appear to have the most appealing plotline, Aberfan tragedy, an embalmer as the protagonist but it is a lovely read and one I am finding every spare moment to read.