As a teacher my life is pretty much planned around the school year and this week my favourite term of the school year began, with lots of outdoor adventures to be had. However, it doesn’t feel very summery yet, as the warmer, sunnier weather is very slow to arrive this year. Its been a pretty drizzly and grey week, at least my new water bottle has at least given me a spark of joy and a hint of summer.

Due to building works at my son’s school, he had an extra week’s holiday this week and Mr S and he took advantage of this and went to stay for a few days in Bristol with Grandad. Consequently it felt quite an odd week, no one really in a proper routine yet. I think it may feel like this for the coming weeks, my daughter has two days off next week and then we have the two consecutive bank holiday weekends. Its been ages since both of my children did the same full week at school due to Inset, building works and teacher strike days. I am thankful that Mr S is at home as I think the juggling of work and childcare would have been pretty impossible over the past few months.

With the boys away, the back to work week for the girls was quiet. In the evenings, my daughter and I have been watching the Marvellous Mrs Maisel, its the final series but the use of forward flashes allows us to know her full history. The costumes, witty dialogue and New York setting are all as perfect as in previous series. The wonderful Ted Lasso also continues its weekly drop, this week’s Amsterdam episode was excellent on so many different levels. I will feel bereft when these two series end.

There was a fitness theme to our weekend, which also featured the London marathon, such an inspirational watch every year. We started Saturday morning with a parkrun, the children and I volunteered on car park duties and then they cheered me on whilst I ran, as they couldn’t be persuaded to join me. Later in the day my daughter and I popped up to a parkrun social event, its always fun to see people out of the parkrun environment, mainly its the clothes, no running gear in sight! On Sunday the boys went off to football, so it was a girls trip to the gym, with the treat of a jacuzzi and sauna after the hard work.

Sunday also saw the test national emergency alert at 3pm, however it appears to have gone off early at 2.59pm and not all the phone networks were able to broadcast it. I’m not surprised about the mess, it kind of sums up the UK at present, more fine tuning required!

Its a quiet week again coming up but the excitement of a bank holiday weekend. When I worked in my former school, a residential setting, we always had to work on this coming bank holiday so I am delighted to finally enjoy it for the first time in 19 years! We have no firm plans soon, I would be very happy to just be pottering around at home.