Day 796

Day 796...

And we have had a Tuesday and we have had a full day in work.

This was the first working day of my last week at pre-school. The morning was spent taking one of my team through the process for claiming the government issued funding. And the afternoon was chance for myself and my deputy to catch up, go over a few outstanding items and make sure that we are as up to date with everything as we can be.

I will still be involved with the pre-school in my capacity as committee chairperson and I have the task ahead of converting the pre-school into a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, but the day-to-day operation and management will no longer be mine!

We had the lovely Jon visit from our local Asda this morning. Jon is their community champion and comes out to visit the pre-school when he can, he runs activities with the children and supports us with our fundraisers. He very kindly brought me some flowers and my favourite chocolate...

I arrived home late afternoon to a freshly brewed coffee and before I knew it it was time to head down 'our gym'. Simon has been keeping a tally of how often we have worked out since we set up the gym during the very first lockdown...we have hit workout 200 today!

So I think it's time to put up our feet and I'll see you tomorrow.
xx

Day 649 - Boxing Day 2021

Day 649...

The day after Christmas and as it is known here in the UK, Boxing Day. A day to either catch-up with those you missed yesterday or as was the case here to chill out and pretty much do nothing.

We had a lovely day yesterday that was spent with Molly and Dan home for a few days and my dad joined us for some of the festivities.

After the traditional Christmas Day breakfast of Mickey waffles (well the 'kids' indulged) it was a civilised approach to opening presents which we spread throughout the day. This gave us all chance to enjoy the exchange whilst also allowing me time to cook the dinner.

In the lull between present opening and eating Molly and Dan were able to load their car up with the remainder of Molly's stuff that they hadn't yet been able to get down to Dan's house. This involved loading the car with a kick bag, a mountain bike, resin craft making supplies while at the same time making sure there was room for their overnight bags and Christmas presents and goodies.

Simon fetched my dad just in time for Christmas Day dinner; a traditional affair with turkey, pork, veggies, pigs in blankets, stuffing and even mashed potatoes! The only time that I ever make mashed potatoes, and again this is for the benefit of the 'kids' (and my dad)!! Pudding was a choice of traditional Christmas pudding or chocolate sponge pudding and custard!

The remainder of the afternoon saw more present exchanging, grazing on food and after Simon had take my dad home we opened up the board games. Ethan had bought Molly a Disney themed drawing game for Christmas so we gave that a go which led into us playing the classic Pictionary! Much laughter was had by all.

Christmas Day 2021

Today we got up steadily but with purpose as Molly and Dan were heading back down south and wanted to leave in good time to be able to spend the remainder of the day with Dan's family.

This left the remainder of the day very quiet. I was able to sort through my Christmas presents and just as I was going through them Simon disappeared only to reappear with two more presents for me! He'd suddenly realised that there were a couple of items missing and so had dashed off to retrieve them from their hiding place! 

Suffice to say Disney featured pretty heavily in my haul!

Nightmare Before Christmas poncho

Mickey hoodie

Frozen earrings

Apron - Disney style

More earrings...because a girl can never have enough!

Cute Mickey sweater vest (or as I would call it a 'tank top')

Disney Villains Bag

I have been a very lucky lady as Simon went out of his way to get me this gorgeous, limited edition, Loungefly bag...

...plus this very stylish and amazing leather jacket...

Then it was time to sit in front of the TV, complete some more of my latest jigsaw, drink coffee (with an odd splash of Kahlua!) and simply doing nothing.

A time to stop and recharge ones batteries so to speak. A time of year when there is really nothing to do, or nothing that can't wait until the new year. It is strange not to have Molly here and I miss her so much. I think it is times like this that we have the space to consciously appreciate those around us and miss those who live far away or who are no longer with us. I miss my mum even more at this time of year as she would always embrace Christmas with such vigour and she is one reason why I love this time of year so much. So I will continue to love all things Christmas and keep her with me and keep traditions going while creating our own new ones.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Bank Holiday Monday

Day 285...

Another slow and steady sort of day on what is called here in the UK a 'bank holiday'; this is basically a day that is classified as a public holiday, and is marked by the fact that the banks are closed.

Many moons ago I used to work for one of our high street banks and always enjoyed the Christmas period. We used to work till about midday on Christmas Eve and it would often be worked in fancy dress. We would then be in the local pub by about 1pm which was always such a great time. And on years when Christmas fell over a weekend we would enjoy the bonus of 'bank holidays' by having a break from work of four days! Those were the days!

Now working in education I do benefit from having a couple of weeks off over the festive period, and as Simon's work tends to shut down for the same amount of time it is great to have time off together, and time off as a family.

So today has been fairly standard; a mix of online shopping, ironing, a few odd jobs and more R2D2 building for Simon. But I did decide to gather up all of my Christmas presents and find a home for them all to live so thought I would share some of them here with you.

My good friend and podcast co-host, Michelle, knows me so well...I have a big soft spot for the attraction Mr Toads Wild Ride that used to be at Walt Disney World and can now only be found at Disneyland, so this mug is just right...

And then knowing my love of Disney jewellery she gave me this necklace which is gorgeous...

...and Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without some chocolate...

Couple of my favourite chocolate bars!

There of course had to be a little Star Wars in this years presents with Molly getting me this Stormtrooper themed gift...

Stormtrooper Bottle Stopper

And Simon got me this Loungefly purse which is just soooo cute...

I also received a couple of Disney books; this first one is 'Disney Book of Maps; A Guide to the Magical Worlds of Disney and Pixar'...

...this is a beautifully illustrated book and covers 25 films from Peter Pan to Snow White to A Bugs Life to Coco and more. Each film has its own 'map' depicting the story as well as a synopsis and an overview of the key characters.

But the present that brought me to tears was this book; Birnbaum's Walt Disney World The Official Vacation Guide 2020'...

...so it may seem a little strange why a guide book for the year just ending would bring me to tears, so let me explain.

When Simon and I first visited Orlando, Florida back in 1991 we had little, if any, knowledge about Walt Disney World and the Orlando area and so being the organised people we are (and before the days of the internet!) we bought ourselves some guide books one of which was the Birnbaum's guide to Walt Disney World.

Well suffice to say I read the book from cover to cover and my love and obsession with Disney World began. Each year we visited after that it became a tradition to buy the latest version, just in case anything had changed so that we would be as up to date as possible with new attractions, restaurants and hotels. Those were the days when travel research was by way of reading a physical book rather than sat staring at a screen. I now possess 17 Birnbaum guides including ones 'For Kids', Dining Guides and even a couple for Disneyland. Getting a Birnbaum guide book has now become a key part of our vacation.

For a multitude of personal reasons we have not been able to visit Disney World since 2013 but 2020 was going to be our year; all the things that had been stopping us in years gone by were no longer an issue and we were getting ready to book a trip and then 'you know what' happened. Simon knows how much I have missed my Disney fix and this gift meant the world to me acknowledging the sadness of not being able to go but embracing the hope that we will get there as soon as we possibly can.

Take care out there, and hopefully we can all get back to doing what we love as soon as possible.

xx