Expensive day

I got a text from Sam's dad last night, saying he had hurt his back so couldn't drive to bring Sam back to me. I agreed to go over to Boston to fetch him, but on pulling up outside his house I somehow managed to burst my front tyre, and dent the wheel. No spare. Crap! Not a lot of mobile wheel replacers around on a Sunday evening :( Ultimately decided that the only option was to phone Lis and Alan, Lis was in the bath but Al, being the wonderful man he is, drove down to fetch Sam and myself. We spent the night with them - Sam slept like an angel, while I spent the time stressing about a) leaving my poor Beattie in the roughest part of town (see here) and b) how I was going to contact the educational psychologist who was due to make a home visit first thing this morning.

This morning saw an early start, and Al got us down to Bush Tyres for 8am, meaning the manager could send the mobile recovery van out to me before it started on the day's tasks. Excellent :) Things were starting to look up. Meeting the fitter at the car, he reckoned that although I would clearly need a new tyre, the actual wheel was only minimally damaged and could probably be hammered back into shape. He duly fixed the wheel and changed the tyre, during which time I received a phone call from the Ed Psych's secretary, saying she's ill and would have to rearrange the appointment. With no rush to return to Lincoln, we went back to Lis and Alan's.

Lis was due at the doctor's so we all went up there, and I suggested that while we were there we could nip into the travel agents. Just to look, of course.... We left above an hour later, with a holiday booked! Turkey, in June - I can't wait. Last year I fulfilled my dream of visiting Vesuvius and Pompeii, this year it will be Troy and Ephesus!!!

We spent the afternoon relaxing in the garden, and today ended on a much more positive note than yesterday. But my poor bank account won't know what's hit it, what with a holiday and new tyre...oops!

Here's hoping that the rest of this week is rather calmer. Lilly and I are off to Leeds at the weekend, to see Example, supported by Wretch 32. This year is a social whirl :)

S xx

Catching the limited rays of sun

I had a lovely weekend, despite the torrential rain - went out for lunch with a friend on Saturday and discovered the most amazing puddle, which we had to drive through (many times!). After a yummy lunch and a wander around the garden centre, we headed home to cook dinner ready for some other friends to join us. Had a great evening with dinner, laughter, chocolate cake, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. What more could a girl want?!

Monday saw Sam having one of his trademark lie ins - after waking briefly at 8am, he went back to sleep until midday, totalling 18 hours in bed! When he eventually woke up, we joined Grandad Tick Tock for some lunch, followed by some sundrenched time in the garden.

Sam and Grandad watched the fish in the pond.

 Then Sam led Grandad on a trip down the garden path...

Before emerging in the wheelbarrow!

Which of course Mummy had to get into as well! No one was willing to push me though :)











Back to rain today though, rubbish! Come on summer, where are you hiding??

S xx

Leave my baby alone!

Really wish these germs would leave my little man alone. Sam was sent home from school again today. He'd been out of sorts this morning and choking as if he would vomit but he didn't do, and wanted to go to school, so I sent him in; but by 9:30am I had the receptionist on the phone asking me to go to fetch him. Poor little thing was pale, limp, and bursting out in tears at random intervals. So I rushed home with him (I'd been waiting in for a delivery between 7am and 1pm, figured it would be typical if they showed up during the few minutes I was out!) and we settled down on the sofa. Pretty quickly he got his lunchbox out of his bag, and soon perked up after a bit to eat and drink.

As it turned out, the delivery hadn't happened while I was out and the guy soon turned up with our shiny new television. So this afternoon I have done some rearranging of furniture, setting up of the new television, and now we have a TV in our living room instead of separate living room and TV room. The living room is the one to get all the sunshine, so if we ever get any I am very excited about spending more time in this room (without the ongoing fight over whether or not to watch CBeebies...).

Sam took himself off to bed at 16:45, refusing dinner or even a drink, so I figured that rather than causing an argument I would just accept it - we'll have the argument in the small hours of the morning, if necessary! Sam's in bed, I've moved some sofas around, and am now relaxing in front of my posh new TV! I'll be early to bed, ready to deal with whatever tomorrow throws - I assume that Sam's illness is still the same germs / virus that has been pestering him for the last month or so. I just don't understand how anything can have survived the huge dose of antibiotics he was given!!

S xx

A brief but brilliant break

How was everybody's Easter? Ours turned out to be really good, when it could have been very different :)

Months ago, I booked the weekend at Lis's Bach so that Sam, Rick and I could go down. Since then Rick and I have split up, but rather than cancelling our weekend away I asked our friend Lilly if she would like to come - we've been talking about going to the Bach for years, but she spends most of her life at work (or abroad) so it's not been easy to find time. Looking at the bank holidays, we discovered that although she was working Saturday morning, we could leave at lunchtime and have two nights away before being back Monday night. So we did, and it was great!

We headed down via Cromer, where we nipped into Morrisons for some shopping (mainly chocolate, it being Easter and all!), then down to the Bach in time to get Chinese takeaway for dinner. Sam went to bed, and Lilly and I got huddled up to watch a film. Sunday morning saw a drizzly start but we decided to brave it and head to Pettitts - we passed through rain on the way there, but it held off for most of the day. We had a great day with lots of laughs (and an injury, Lil bruised her coccyx which was painful for her but hilarious for me! Sorry Lilly, love you!).

Sam finally got the chocolate cake that he had been requesting all week - thank you Nanny Janny :) (Lilly's mummy treated us to some Easter cakes)

 ...and very much enjoyed burying himself in the sand. He was at it for ages, even asking other people to help. All the adults around found it hilarious!

 Mummy decided she had to be brave, as Sam wanted to go on the slide. Much screaming, from me....

 ...but eventually it became fun, and Sam and I went time and time again.

 Auntie Lilly wasn't keen to go on the train, but Sam insisted - and she survived :)

 I had planned to stop for an ice cream on the way home, but it looked like rain was going to stop play for us. However just as we reached Mundesley, the rain stopped :) Obligatory trip to the beach...

 ...and eating of ice cream. Bubblegum flavour for Lilly...

 ...strawberry for Sam...

 ...and fudge for Mummy.

 On returning to the Bach, I left Lilly and Sam in the car for a few minutes whilst I set up the Easter Egg Treasure Hunt. Here they are deciphering a clue...








...and here's everything they found! Space hoppers, perfume, and lots of chocolate!

Phew, that was a busy day! Night night :)













Yesterday the weather gave up on us, and rained all day. So rather than going to the park as planned, we just headed home very slowly, along the coast road, stopping in Hunstanton briefly for lunch.

It was a fantastic break, and we're looking forward to going back for a bit longer, with hopefully better weather :)

S xx

Pretty things :)

Well what a lovely day I had yesterday - there were smiles, there was laughter, and there were tears. I went wedding dress shopping with my best friend Helen :) The wedding isn't until 2014 but she wanted to just see what was out there - as it happened, she absolutely fell in love with "the one", and my goodness did she look beautiful. We've been friends since we met 16 years ago, and it's so good to see her life come together so perfectly. I won't describe the dress or post a photo, just in case word gets back to the groom (I don't think he reads my blog, but it's really not worth the risk!), but she looks so stunning in it that I had a little weep!
It was a lovely girls' day out with the bride, the mother of the bride, the mother of the groom, the bridesmaid, the bridesmaid's mother, and myself (the maid of honour, wahooooo!!!). Helen tried dresses, then we went for a lovely pub lunch (thank you Carolyn!), followed by a return to the shop to try on a few bridesmaid's dresses. Didn't imagine we'd find the right ones for myself and Alice, but actually one I tried fits in perfectly - it suits me and my style, and also matches the style and theme of the wedding, as well as looking great next to Helen's dress. Result! Now we've got two years to wait before going shopping again for Alice's dress - she's only 10 but will be nearly 13 by the time of the wedding, so her figure will change so much that we can't even make a decision on style at the moment. Mind you, she fell in love with one and was very reluctant to take it off!

She was also beside herself looking at the tiaras, and tried on at least two different tiaras with each dress, just to see how they looked :) I must confess, when she put one on me my smile did get a bit bigger and I felt almost like a princess, and I'm secretly very very excited about the prospect of maybe wearing one on the big day (well, if Alice gets one then I want one!!!)

I also now completely understand those girls who get swept away with the details of a wedding, and almost forget about the marriage itself! Dresses, jewels, it's all so amazing and beautiful. If I ever get married, I don't think there's much chance of it being a low key affair!

Whilst we were prancing around and feeling pretty, Sam was having a day with Nanny and Grandad - and from what I can work out he very much enjoyed himself :) He's learnt all sorts of new words, and is finally eating again. His thrush has nearly gone, and even his cold is improving at last. We're currently chilling out - everytime I suggest something to do, Sam says "No Mummy, go to sleep" and lies down! Ah well, I don't mind having a quiet afternoon :)

S xx