Month: October 2024

After a very busy week, it’s half term and time for much needed rest, relaxation and fun.

My week has been jam packed, it’s unusual for me to leave work early. I tend to leave around 4.20, which gives me an hour after the children go to tidy and organise. However this week I was gone by 3.35 each afternoon, bar our meeting night, Monday was football training, Wednesday a multi agency meeting, Thursday, a garage appointment for a new tyre and Friday an early finish so we could drive up to Bristol at a reasonable time. Needless to say my diary has been well used this week as I try to juggle all my commitments. It’s that time of year when I start to look for a new diary, I bought this year’s rather randomly at a train station shop last year and it’s been excellent. I’m off the to London by train again in a few weeks so perhaps I’ll be able to get my new diary just before I jump onto the train home!

My motivation for driving down on Friday was so I could do some parkrun tourism. Severn Bridge parkrun has been on my wish list for a long time. However it does need to be done in certain conditions so I had been following the forecast for the past week or so to decide my venue, I had a few reserves as my father in law lives conveniently between a number of parkruns. However on Saturday morning the weather was perfect and I headed over to Chepstow for the run. It is an iconic parkrun, you run across the Severn Crossing across two countries and through three counties. There are so many great touches, flags on the bridge to indicate the border, amazing street art in the tunnel in which you finish, flashing fairy lights on the finish sign and a witty briefing with good natured Welsh / English rivalry. To me whilst being unique, it was also a little journey down memory lane. I did my teacher training placements in South Wales and had my first teaching job there too so I was used to crossing the bridge on my commute. I broke down on it and also got to use the new Severn crossing on the morning it opened, which you can see beautifully from the bridge. The morning was brilliant and I am so pleased to have ticked Severn Bridge off my wish list. I love that wherever you are, you can find a local parkrun on a Saturday morning.

After the parkrun, we had a lovely family lunch out with my father in law before a walk in the warm, autumn sunshine. It was unseasonably warm, short sleeves weather, whilst it’s nice it’s also a further sign of climate change.

On Sunday my son and I went to the driving range, watched by two keen former golfers, my husband and father in law, no pressure there. This was a little more high tech than our usual range and we loved the gizmo which brought up a golf ball for each shot.

As we’ve been staying with my elderly father in law the pace has been slower and given me the chance to rest. I finished Dear Edward which was an excellent read and well recommended. Edward is the sole survivor of a plane crash and it follows his recovery and new life following the crash and the impact of others on his new life. It’s definitely a life affirming book and is not as maudlin as my description might read.

I also used the weekend to start thinking of Christmas. Half term is my kick start to the season where I start to write my lists and plan, not simply presents but specials events, card ideas, themes, menus etc.. I have the Libby app, so read the Christmas editions of Good Housekeeping and Woman and Home to inspire. I also ordered a few decorations that were in my list from last year, some houses for my Christmas village and paper stars for a simple vintage look.

Whilst we are still with my father in law, tomorrow we travel to my parents for a few days followed by other plans for the rest of the week, including all those appointments that teachers always do at half term and a few fun things for my son.

Again much of life is taken up with trying to get our child all the help and support that they need. Whilst my weeks look empty, I’m a furious keyboard warrior in the evenings sending letters to fight their case. I have to admit that AI has been a really useful tool, one letter in which I needed legal references was beautifully written by AI, although I am awaiting how successful it was in affecting the case.

I am in a period of preparation. I have planned and purchased some accessories for our trip to ABBA Voyage. I’m loving the heart glasses which I have for the girls in our party and the headband is delightfully sparkly.

I have had my flu and Covid boosters this week. I made the decision to have them to protect the very medically vulnerable children we have in our SEN school. I arranged it for a Saturday so if I had any ill effects I had Sunday to recover. I did feel a little rough but nothing that stopped my day. I always feel so grateful when having such a vaccination.

We have been putting the final touches to my daughter’s bedroom, it’s had all new furniture, paint and furnishings and looks so much better. I do think a nice rug would complement the room and will be in the lookout on future shopping trips.

After my family admin, I have been doing lots of reading in the evenings as a perfect distraction. Ghosts by Dolly Alderton was excellent, the ghosts were a boyfriend and friends disappearing from life with no real reason or contact. I really enjoy Dolly’s work, it has strong female leads and characters you root for.

This weekend I did find myself with some time alone. This is so rare in my life, except for my weekly parkrun, and I was determined to do something useful with my time. After dropping the boys at the station, I popped into town for a tea and cake and potter and then came home to finally put away my summer clothes and get out the warmer, winter clothes. I do feel nicely organised for the coming months. The time was over so quickly and I picked up two very happy boys at the station as their football team had beaten Arsenal.

This coming week is the last before half term, of course half term is busy so it’s another week of organising days away and packing ready to relax. I’m really hoping that I may get to do one of my bucket list parkruns whilst I’m away, but given its location the w rather will decide my venue. If I don’t do it I will be going to another new parkrun for a little tourism.

A very quick recap as it’s nearly time to write my next post. I prepared the collage last week and then I’ve been busy each evening since so haven’t written it up. It’s this time of year when not much seems to be happening. I’ve a busy time during half term and some lovely plans for the weekends after so plenty to look forward to but for now we’re just doing some jobs around the house. Of course what started as let’s paint the bedroom has developed into more of a project with furnishings and a new bed purchased and I’m now searching local shops for a vintage wardrobe. Thankfully it’s our daughter’s room and as she is away at present we have been able to work in it in a more relaxed approach. As well as the nice jobs of choosing colours and looks, it’s been quite physical too, we have had to chop up her old bed and wardrobe which were both well beyond donation. Her wardrobe was one of the first pieces of furniture we bought for our first house in 2000, so there was a little bit of nostalgia when we were getting rid of it, remembering the lovely excited feeling of buying it originally.

The week did start with Monday night football. The logistics of this are complicated but somehow we managed to coordinate it all, even with the added ‘surprise’ of my son’s school taxi breaking down en route home. I was able to make a quick detour so our plans weren’t too badly affected. The game was entertaining and a good win for our team, however it was a really late night, getting home around 11.40pm ( the reality of rural life ) and there were a few tired days following. It does say something about the Premier League when the first Saturday home game of the season kicking off at the traditional 3pm is not until November.

After a busy Monday, I really needed a quiet week and spent a few nights on the sofa, snuggled up under my blanket reading a few magazines on the Libby app. I love this free app through my library and it saves me a fortune in glossy magazines.

I’ve also been doing some school work in the evenings. I like the creativity of my job and made some sensory activities to accompany a story. The felt carrots are buried in green rice and the task is to harvest the carrots using tweezers for fine motor skills. After working in leadership for many years, I am relishing the fun of being in the classroom.

On my daily commute I have been listening to the audiobook Frankie via my Spotify account. It’s a book by Graham Norton and I don’t often go for a celebrity fiction writer. But he is so good and I loved the story of Frankie, who you are rooting for throughout this book, she really deserves a happy ending. No spoilers but this book was excellent and brightened up my journeys.

Finally it was parkrun’s 20th birthday on Saturday. I celebrated at our home run and was treated to a beautiful sunny run and a morning with all the vibes. I did like the car with the registration plate RUN 5K, obviously a very big fan of parkrun.

So that’s me up to date now. Not long til the next post is due.