Day 816 & Day 817

Another couple of days together...

Day 816...Monday

The day started with an early morning walk of 2.3 miles in 48 minutes and whilst it was a tad grey it didn't stop us enjoying our new normal.

The morning was spent catching up on a few jobs around the house until lunchtime. It was around this time that I received a text message from preschool letting me know that they'd had the dreaded Ofsted call! This meant that tomorrow would be inspection day and they wanted to know if I could be available.

Being part of the early years education sector means that all settings are inspected by Ofsted every few years. We'd been waiting for our next inspection ever since we moved into our new premises over 2 years ago, so whilst it didn't come as a surprise it still left everyone feeling nervous and anxious.

We have a fantastic team at preschool who all do an amazing job with passion and care but as soon as inspection gets mentioned everyone tends to self doubt themselves. This is only natural as the thought of someone who you don't know watching every thing you do and firing random questions at you can be enough to cause even the most confident of people to falter.

I then received another text asking if I could pop down in the afternoon to just go over a few things. So I jumped in the car and spent just under a couple of hours with them to reassure and answer questions to help get them ready for tomorrow.

Back home and Simon and I could resume our plans which was to run a couple of errands, one of which involved a trip to Lidl - whoop! By the time we arrived home it was quite late in the afternoon and so we decided to get a little exercise in. Simon jumped on the exercise bike while I concentrated on my body-weight exercises.

And with that Monday was done.

Day 817...Tuesday

So rather than getting out for a walk today I was up and out early to go into work to assist, where I could, with their Ofsted inspection.

I spent the morning with the team and my time was mainly spent interacting with the children which is something that I haven't done for quite a long time now. The inspector was lovely and spent lots of time talking to the staff and observing various activities. But around 12.30pm I had to make my excuses to leave. I spoke briefly with the inspector in case there was anything she needed me for, or any questions she had for me in my new role of committee chairperson, but all was good.

I needed to get home to play taxi service for Simon as he had an appointment at the fracture clinic at Derby hospital. So after a quick bite to eat for lunch we headed off to the wonders of Derby hospital. I had to kick Simon out of the car as the queues for the car parks were so long. It took me almost 25 minutes to get into a car park and get parked up. I then had the fun pastime of waiting for Simon in a rather warm car while writing this blog.

It was when I received messages from Simon telling me that a lady he was sat next to had been there an hour and forty minutes that I began to be a tad concerned as to how long we would be there for. Think we'd been spoilt by the efficiency of our local walk-in centre last week who'd been able to assess, x-ray and cast Simon's wrist in about 40 minutes straight!

Well after I'd been sat in the car waiting for about and an hour and a half I decided to go for a wander, stretch my legs and get out of the rather warm car. I managed to find a bench that was in partial shade and with a little breeze that was way more comfortable than sitting cooped up in the car. I messaged Simon to see how things were progressing and ten minutes later my phone was lighting up with a ton of messages from him, and just as I was about to reply Simon appeared at my side. It would appear that being in the depths of the hospital meant that the messages he'd sent hadn't physically been sent until he'd moved away from the fracture clinic and consequently they'd all arrived in my inbox at once!

Simon is now sporting a very smart looking, slimmer and less awkward cast in black! The consultant was happy with how the break was looking and it is now a case of keeping it in cast for about 4 weeks and hope that when he goes back all will be healed.

By the time we arrived home I'd received an update on the proceedings at pre-school. We will know the result in a few weeks time but until then it's a waiting game.

As Simon had missed a few hours of work this afternoon he spent a little time catching up this evening before we finally settled down with a cuppa to watch some TV.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 799...Last Day

Day 799...

And we have reached Friday...

...last day of this term...

...and last day at pre-school for me...for good!

I set off for work at the normal time armed with goodies for my team. When I arrived at work I was greeted by this attached to the front door...

Suffice to say there were more 'dodgy' photos displayed inside along with a massive banner wishing me a 'Happy Retirement'.

But the day started with me handing out some gifts of chocolate and alcohol to my team along with some cakes and strawberries and cream to keep us going throughout the day. My team knowing that 'sweet stuff' is not really my thing anymore had prepared a more keto friendly option for me...

Mmmm meats and cheeses!!!

Although there was still work to be done over the course of the day it was a much more relaxed and chilled out kind of day compared to the normal hustle and bustle.

Midway through the day the children presented me with my leaving card and gift to which I am extremely thankful to all my staff...

Card made by the children...much bigger than it looks here!!

Gorgeous Disney Couture Kingdom Junkyard Mickey necklace

And although it has been my last day at work I will be staying involved with the pre-school as chairperson on their committee. 

I started on the committee way back in 2001 when Ethan started at the pre-school. I'd volunteered as a parent helper whilst heavily pregnant with Molly and I was talking to one of the staff and happened to  mention that I used to work for a bank. Their ears pricked up and asked if I would like to take on the role of treasurer...I said 'yeah, ok, don't see why not' and the rest is history.

After a couple of years on the committee I moved into a paid role of 'administrator' before eventually joining the team as an early years practitioner in 2004. I attended evening classes to study for my level 3 childcare qualification which I'd achieved by mid 2005 and by 2008 I was manager! 

We grew from a small pre-school that opened for just 5 mornings a week to a very busy full five days a week venture. A small team of four grew to eleven at it's peak. During my tenure we have been inspected by Ofsted three times, I helped the pre-school move premises back in 2002 and then again in 2020, we've held so many fundraisers from cake sales to Christmas fairs to sponsored bounces to 'Back to School' discos, fashion shows, retail evenings and more.

And not only was this the pre-school that both Molly and Ethan attended it was also the pre-school (or playgroup as it was known) that my brother and I attended way, way back in the early 1970's. So I cannot walk away completely I will continue to support them as best I can in my new role of chairperson I just won't have to 'go to work' anymore.

So what will I be doing in my 'retirement'? Well at the moment I really don't know, but what I do know is that I am going to take my time to figure out exactly what I would like to do with my time and for a change put my wants first!

But back to today...and back home; my first task of the late afternoon was to jump online and record an episode of the Disney Dream Girls podcast for this coming weekend. 

My next task was to get out my cosplay outfit ready for Em-Con tomorrow with our fellow Star Wars geeks the East Midlands Garrison. I needed to make sure my boots were clean and comfy to wear and I needed to try on my wig to make sure I remembered how it should look. Thankfully both tasks were completed with ease - phew!

And now I think it's time I stop typing as we have the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series to start watching this evening...I think we better get it watched so that we don't get it spoiled tomorrow as we will be amongst a large contingent of other Star Wars fans!

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 785

Day 785...

So today has been Molly's birthday and it is the first birthday she has not been at home for but not to worry she is coming home for the weekend tomorrow and as Simon's birthday is on Monday we will be having a bit of a celebratory weekend.

My day started with getting to grips with my new sports/smart watch thingy! Simon had bought himself one to track fitness, pulse, steps etc and I was feeling left out so when I arrived home yesterday he had surprised me with a lovely pink version.

So as I was not in work today I was able to arrange my day into an order that fitted best with what I wanted and needed to do. Once my new watch was working I headed off to Lidl for my weekly top-up shop as well as buying a few extra treats ready for the weekend.

Back home and it was time to get on with a little work. I am in the process of going through all the documentation that has been created over my time with pre-school and having a good clear out of now redundant items.

Lunchtime saw Simon and I take a walk over the fields completing 1.9 miles in 39 minutes. The afternoon saw me carrying on with more pre-school work as well as sorting through some more paperwork relating to my dads estate. 

Late afternoon I was at my dads house as we are having to have it valued so that the estate can be settled, and ultimately the house will be sold. I think that is going to be a very strange experience as it was the only house I ever knew growing up as we had lived there since it was built in the very early 1970's, and we moved in when I was about three years old.

The day was then rounded out with an AGM meeting of the pre-school committee. We needed to swear in a new committee which means that as I am stepping down from my paid role of manager I will be taking on the volunteer role of Chairperson!!

And that was Thursday and I will see you tomorrow.
xx